World War two project?

Question

I am doing a small essay type thing for remembrance day on world war two, and my role in my group is to provide general facts about the war, such as the years the war lasted, the names of some major battles, what countries were involved and what countries were vicorious.
I know that it was between 1939-1945(right?)
that it started on september first when the nazi's invaded poland, adn that a few days later on sept. 3 britain and france were at war with germany.
I would like to know:
-the main allie countries
-the main axis(or whatever the term is) countries
-a summary or the war in simple english(I have done tons of research and don't understand it)
-I figure the good guys won, but wich countrie were victorious?

ok I got almost everything I just need to know the names of a few famous battles, when they took place and where.

Answer 1

~The actual start of the war can be defined by the first shots fired. However, the seeds of war were sown with the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 and with the refusal of the western powers to allow Japan to grow and prosper for at least 150 years.

Germany and the USSR invade Poland in September '39. Great Britain and later France honor their treaty obligations and declare war on Germany, but not the USSR. The official war in Europe is thus begun.

However, other than declaring war, the allies do nothing. For six months, the Phoney War, or as Churchill called it, the Sitzkreig continues until April, 1940. Meanwhile, Stalin and Hitler continue their invasions beyond Poland into Eastern Europe and Scandinavia in accordance with the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop agreements. The inaction and lack of resolve of the allies emboldens Hitler to invade the Low Countries and France. The Battle of Britain begins and Lend-Lease aid keeps the British afloat. The aid package is later enlarged to include the Soviets, but the USSR gets little in the way of military supplies, which was just as well because US and British weapons were grossly inferior to the Soviet counterparts.

Heydich and Goebbels brilliantly convince Stalin that his generals are planning a coup. Stalin purges his general staff. The Nazis realize they will have to fight the Soviets some day. In June, 1941, while Stalin is rebuilding his army, the Germans launch Operation Barbarossa. They underestimate the Soviet resolve, Soviet leadership, Soviet tactics and the superiority of Soviet weapons, particularly artillery and tanks.

Stalin orders a strategic fighting retreat while he moves his factories east of the Urals, pumps out weapons and supplies and establishes superb defenses at Stalingrad and along the route there. The Russian winter did not repel Barbarossa: Operation Uranus and the combination of Soviets tactics, Soviet arms, Soviet weapons and the blood of 1.5 million dead Soviet troops and civilians at Stalingrad alone did that job. The Wehrmacht effectively is finished when Paulus surrenders the 6th Army at Stalingrad, and Kursk is icing on the cake.

Compared to the battles at Stalingrad, Leningrad, Kursk and Kharkov, the Normandy invasion was a walk in the park and frankly of not great significance in the defeat of the Nazis. By June, 1944, Hitler's defeat was a forgone conclusion and all his best troops and most of his best commanders were already laying dead on the Eastern Front. The Red Arrny would have marched through Berlin and continued to the French beaches had Overlord never happened. Look up the casualty figures sometime. 10 million dead Soviet troops and 15 million dead Soviet civilians vs about 350 thousand US troops in both the European and Asian theaters combined. British casualties were about the same as the US numbers. US history books to this day fail to honor the heroics of the Red Army but, be that as it may, as Churchill told Roosevelt in 1940, the only force on earth that could successfully take on the Wehrmacht on the continent was the Red Army. Thus, the US joined the war in Africa against inferior German troops whose supplies and reinforcements had been diverted to the Volga. As to who the 'good guys' were in Europe, I imagine the Algerians and Egyptians were equally displeased whether occupied by the Germans, the French or the British. The Middle East oil was being siphoned all by all sides at one time or another during the fighting.

The Pacific war actually started in earnest in1937 with the Second Sino-Japanese War. It had been going on for 6 years before that, beginning with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, but the real fighting started with Marco Polo Bridge incident in July '37. Technically, that war was contested only between China and Japan from '37 to December, 1941. However, the US, the UK, Germany and the USSR were supplying China with arms, troops (albeit not officially) and materials throughout the '30s. Eventually, Germany switched sides with the signing of Tripartite Pact in September, 1940.

The UK and US were attempting to relegate Japan to the status of a second rate nation by limitations on her naval and ground forces. By trade embargo, the western powers were deliberately denying Japan the natural resources and finished goods she needed to develop her industry and join the 20th century. Japan has never had the resources on the home islands necessary to maintain her economy or feed her people. China was the obvious place to expand and Japan coveted various fiefdoms of the British Empire in Asia as well. Imperial US holdings throughout the Pacific basin were desirable, too.

The US bases at Pearl Harbor, Midway, Guam and the Philippines were daggers aimed at Japan's head and heart. The US never made it any secret that that dagger would be used. When the US beefed up Subic Bay and Clark Field and planted 15,000 marines around Manila Bay in November, 1941, US involvement in the Pacific war was inevitable. Tojo and Yamamoto wanted to keep the US out of the war. Negotiations over the embargoes and military restrictions had failed and Japan was well aware of US involvement in China. The US Pacific bases were a constant threat to Japanese security.

Tojo and Yamamoto devised a plan to knock out the US Pacific Fleet in one fell swoop, after which, it was hoped, the US would enter into realistic and meaningful negotiations. Pearl Harbor was the means by which this would be done. There was never any plan to engage in a prolonged war with the US or to invade the US mainland. The attack was intended to bring about a quick victory and peace and a treaty whereby trade with Japan would be opened up. From a Japanese point of view, the Rising Sun was in a fight for her very survival long before the troops landed in Manchuria, and her mortal foes were the Western powers and their Asian empires. A stunning victory followed by a just treaty would have alleviated much of the problem.

Had Yamamoto followed up the attack on Pearl by taking out Midway and Subic Bay, and had the carriers been in port, the strategy may have worked. The Japanese High Command and cabinet really didn't believe they could succeed, but they also knew war with the US was just around the corner. It made eminently good military sense to strike first rather than to fight a defensive war. After Pearl Harbor, the Second Sino-Japanese War officially became part of WWII.

Did the good guys win? That is a matter of perspective. Our once allies the Soviet Union beat the Germans and the Chinese won the land war against Japan. Chiang Kai-shek was booted off the mainland to Formosa and Mao rose to absolute power on the mainland. Meanwhile, Japan - bad guy - has been granted the right to exist and to grow and to prosper. The monster of the Yellow Peril that we so avidly wished to destroy in the thirties was reborn from the ashes and nuclear glow of the war.

There is no "simple" summary of a global total war which saw fighting of one sort or another on six of the seven continents over a span of 6 years (14 years if you consider the Manchurian Invasion to be the actual start). Obviously, you haven't done 'tons' of research or you wouldn't be asking such basic questions like the names of the parties involved.

Answer 2

Good Guys- England, France, United States, Russia
Bad Guys- Germany, Italy, Japan

Summary, Germany Attacks Poland, then Netherlands, Belgium, France and occupies them, Then attacks England, before Germany is victorious he attacks Russia which is a big mistake, the winter of 1942 really hurts them at the Battle of Stalingrad. Meanwhile, The United States enter the war 2 years after the invasion of poland when Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. Battle of the pacific between US and Japan (Midway, Guadacanal, Iwo Jima Etc.). In Europe, the Allies retake Europe when they lauch Operation Overlord (invasion of Normandy.. D-day) Less than a year later Hitler commits suicide, Germany Surrenders, US Drops atomic bombs on Japan. Japan finally surrenders, Soldiers come home, make some good loving with their wives and girlfriends, and Boom, the Baby Boomer generation is born. WW2 is quite extensive, Good luck on your essay