World War II was a conflict that affected virtually every part of the world during the 1930’s and 40’s. The main countries that were involved in the war were divided into two powers: the Axis and the Allies. The Axis powers consisted of Germany, Italy, and Japan while the Allies were France, Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union.
In many respects, World War II was caused by the first world war. Germany's bitterness after the first war and their willingness to seek control by force, combined with world's desire to avoid conflict at all cost contributed to the Second World War. Also because many problems were left unsolved by World War II, they also contributed to this war.
There are many different viewpoints about how World War II, as there were many contributing factors which cannot be summed up easily. There are also many different events that lead up to World War II which are different for all the countries involved. In this page, I will discuss the events leading up to World War II for Germany and Japan. I will also discuss the war crimes committed by Japan and Germany during World War II and their reasons/justifications for their actions. During this research I used many sources – books, other web sites, the Museum of Tolerance, and movies. I will give a brief review of some of these books and movies, and also recount my museum experience.