Grandpa Dan Goes to War

When I was a child, my grandfather told me stories about the war. He was the son of a Jewish family that had fled Poland. Grandpa Dan joined the British army when the war started. He wanted to hit back against the Germans who had driven his family from their home.

For many Europeans, the Second World War began in September 1939. That’s when Germany invaded Poland. In response, Poland’s allies, Britain and France, declared war on Germany.

For others, the war started earlier. The Second World War started because three major “Axis” powers wanted to conquer other countries. These were Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and Imperial Japan. In Asia, the war began as early as 1931, when Japan invaded China. Africa saw the beginnings of war in 1935. That’s when Italy invaded Ethiopia. In Europe, Italy conquered Albania earlier in 1939. Germany, too, had annexed Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia before it invaded Poland.

In general, though, we date the start of the Second World War to 1939. Germany’s invasion of Poland angered Britain and France. Their armies could confront the Axis powers. Britain and France had not wanted to get involved. But after Germany invaded Poland, they had no choice. By late 1939, Britain and France (and their colonies) were at war with Germany.

A terrible year, 1939–1940

Following the declaration of war in Europe, two almost-separate wars ran in parallel for two years. In Asia, Japan continued to make war on China. Chinese generals responded with counter-attacks. However, their troops were poorly armed. They were not very unified. Still, various Chinese forces managed to slow and even stop Japanese progress.

In Europe, meanwhile, Germany and Italy set about annexing smaller states. In the north, Germany occupied Denmark and invaded Norway. Then, in May 1940, German forces swept into France through Belgium. The Germans drove the French and British to the coast. France was forced to surrender on June 25.

At this point, Germany was clearly winning. Italian leader Benito Mussolini and his Fascist government declared war on Britain and France. After France fell, he turned eastward and south. In October, Italy declared war on Greece. Deeply outgunned, Greek fighters nevertheless managed to repel the Italians. Britain sent what aid they could to the Greeks. It wasn’t a lot. With help from German forces, the Italians finally managed to conquer Greece.

The war spreads, 1941

Britain’s allies were mostly conquered. France had fallen under German control. The British now stood almost alone against Germany and Italy. Britain hoped for help from the United States. However, the Americans were more worried about Japanese forces in the Pacific. The U.S. put an embargo, or ban, on selling oil to Japan.

Then, on June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany leader Adolf Hitler decided to invade the Soviet Union. Hitler hoped the conquest would be quick, as it had been in France. However, the Soviet Union was larger than France. There were more people. German troops struggled to pass Moscow and began to freeze as winter came.

Britain and the Soviet Union were very different. Britain was capitalist, meaning the people own business and property. The Soviet Union was communist, meaning the government owns everything. Nonetheless, these countries came together to fight the Nazis. Soon, Britain got another great ally. On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Soon, Germany declared war on the United States.

The hinge of fate, 1942

The United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union formed a powerful alliance. But the Axis powers continued to advance. Then the tide shifted in the second half of 1942. This was partly a result of the massive industrial power of the three allies. The U.S., Soviet, and British forces and their allies had huge amounts of new weapons. Another reason was Allied intelligence gathering. Allied intelligence broke both the Japanese and German codes. Code- breaking informed the United States that Japan was going to invade Midway Island in June. American naval forces managed to arrive just in time.

Midway was the first in a series of victories for the Allies that changed the course of the war. In October and November of 1942, a British-led army drove German and Italian forces from the North African town of El Alamein. My Grandpa Dan was among the troops. The Germans and Italians fled back into Libya. But probably the most important victory was in February 1943. Then, the Soviets defeated a German army at the Battle of Stalingrad. This began the long push back towards Germany.

Driving to victory, 1943-1945

The Axis powers were not yet defeated. Soviet forces fought a huge war against German troops across Eastern Europe. Chinese forces worked with the British in Burma. Allied forces recaptured island after island from Japan.

Grandpa Dan was involved in driving German and Italian forces out of North Africa. From there, the British and American forces invaded Italy. They landed on the mainland in September 1943. Mussolini’s government soon fell. But German forces held on, forcing a massive battle at Monte Cassino.

In June 1944, British, U.S., and allied forces landed in Normandy, in northern France. They began to push toward Germany. The forces in Italy continued to push north, towards Germany. But these efforts were all smaller than the Soviet push into Germany from the East. Eventually, everyone met in Germany. Finally, in April 1945, the Soviets captured Berlin. Germany surrendered.

Still, Japan was not defeated. Japan had lost its empire. It had almost no navy or air force left. Still, the Japanese refused to surrender. The United States made the decision to use the nuclear bomb. The United States dropped two nuclear bombs on Japanese cities. On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was bombed. Three days later, Nagasaki was attacked. Japan was forced to surrender.

The Second World War was over, but it left a long legacy. That legacy is global in scale, as you will see over the rest of the course. But it is also very personal. Grandpa Dan’s memories of the war stuck with him. He shot soldiers, but he did not call these people “enemies.” All these years later, it is this kind of human dimension that keeps me interested in history.