World War II Facts You Should Know.
June 10, 2019 by ThySista
Filed under Opinion, Politics, Weekly Columns
(ThySistas.com) When it comes to remembering history and looking at the things which happened in the world that impacted us today, one of the stand out has to be World War II. This war is the most recent large scale war in our history and one of the biggest events we have ever seen.
Today we wanted to think about some of the history and the questions such as How Many WW2 Veterans are Still Alive? And we will share some real facts about the war which you should know.
- The Nazis started way before 1939
We all assume the the Nazis only really made their mark from 1938-39 and onwards but this isn’t the case. In fact, they had been growing since 1934.
- Britain and France were allies
When we think of World War II we think a lot about the allies. And the main ones from the start were Britain and France.
- The Sino-Japanese war began in July 1937
This might not seem relevant but many see this as the catalyst for the start of World War II.
- The Nazi-Soviet Pact
Germany and the Soviet Union formed an alliance in August of 1939 and this meant that from the beginning Germany had a lot of strength to invade Poland.
- The Nazis invaded Poland
On 1 September 1939, the Nazis made their first big move on the polish people and invaded them. This was a huge tipping point for the British who decided that war was on the cards.
- Neville Chamberlain declared war on Germany at 11:15 on 3 September 1939
This was one of the most significant moments in the last 100 years as war was declared and the next 6 years would be filled with death and destruction.
- Poland lost everything
Being the first to be hit by the Nazis, Poland bore the brunt of a huge force and this made a big dent in their country. They lost 70,000 men, 133,000 were wounded, and over 700,000 were taken as prisoners.
- Britain didn’t start on the offence
Despite declaring a war in Germany and the Nazis, Britain wasn’t actively fighting in the war at the very beginning and this made a lot of the public mad.
- Britain won in Argentina 17 December 1939
A lot of things happened during the early days of the war but not a lot know that the Germans reached as far as South America. Luckily, Britain defeated them and this was the last they saw of them.
- The Soviets tried to invade Finland
In amongst the craziness of the war, The Soviet’s tried to invade finland. However instead a peace treaty ended up being created.
- The French Army was huge
Even though France was one of the countries to be hit the hardest by the war, it still had one of the largest armies in the whole world so this really did make a difference.
- Germany ignored the Maginot Line
One of the main ways the Germany was able to reach France was actually to go through Belgium and Luxembourg first causing chaos as they went.
- The Germans used Blitzkrieg tactics
The Germans used a lot of tactics when invading different countries and one of these was Blitzkrieg. They had huge armoured vehicles and aircrafts which were used to make rapid gains on land. This was actually a tactic which was formed by Britain a few decades earlier.
- Nazis wanted a world of one race
The Nazis wanted white people with blue eyes and blonde hair and this was the main thing they were aiming for with the attacks. Anyone who was not like this was to be killed.
- Dunkirk saved 193,000 British and 145,000 French troops
During the war there was a particular battle which occurred at Dunkirk and this battle was one of the most crazy of the war. The good news is that an evacuation was made and this helped to save the lives of many British and French soldiers.
- Mussolini declared war on the Allies
Mussolini was another dictator around at the same time as Hitler and he made the decision without telling the Germans to head over the alps and invade France. However he ended up incurring many casualties of his men from
Frostbite and this was a failure for him.
A lot of things happened during the war which impacted the future and it’s always good to go back and see what occurred.
Staff Writer; Natasha Ford
