Military Alliances During World War II

To this day, World War II has been the largest and deadliest conflict in history. World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945. With over fifty nations involved, fighting took place in almost every part of the world on land, sea, and in the air. The conflict was partly caused by the economic crisis of the Great Depression and by unresolved political tensions following the end of World War I. There were two military alliances during the war, the Allies and the Axis powers. Germany and Japan were two of the Axis powers during World War II. Along with Italy, these countries were the major powers that fought against the Allies, including the United States and the United Kingdom. While the unresolved tensions left from World War I played a part in starting
He received rigorous instruction in military and religious matters, along with other subjects such as math and physics” (“Hirohito,” Internet). When Hirohito assumed the throne, Japan was faced with political instability, economic turmoil, and an increase in militarism. A universal male suffrage law was passed, but the country faced challenges such as a declining economy and political assassinations. Hirohito exercised his authority by dismissing prime ministers and witnessing a shift towards military leadership. All while that was happening, Japan’s conflict with China kept growing, “In 1931, Japanese army officers initiated the so-called Manchurian Incident by detonating a railway explosion and blaming it on Chinese bandits. They then used the event as an excuse to take over Manchuria in northeastern China and set up a puppet state there. Excursions into other areas of the country soon followed, and by 1937 war had broken out” (“Hirohito,” Internet). This event led to the massacre of over 200,000 civilians and additional prisoners of war. Fueled by this violence, Japan took the next step in solidifying their power and getting ready for the biggest war the world has
During that same month, Japan sent its troops to occupy French Indochina. In response to this, the United States set economic sanctions and an embargo on oil and steel. Not too long after this, Hirohito agreed to the decision to fight the United States and on December 7th, 1941, Japanese planes bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. Killing over 2,500 men and destroying over 18 U.S. warships. The attack on Pearl Harbor came as a surprise to the U.S, however tension had been growing between the two countries over years, due to their competing interests in Chinese markets and natural resources from Asia. Hawaii, was unexpected due to its remote location in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 2,000 miles from the U.S. mainland and 4,000 miles from Japan. Due to this, many people did not anticipate that Japan would initiate a war by attacking such a distant island (“The Path to Pearl Harbor,” Internet). The United States declared war on Japan a day later, as well as on Germany. In turn, the other Axis powers declared war on the U.S. (“Hirohito,”