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In 1952 Jonas Salk, working at the University of Pittsburgh, developed a vaccine. After tests it was announced to the world on April 12th 1955 by Dr Thomas Francis.

Sanitation improves, Polio increases

Most diseases decrease as sanitation gets better, but Polio was an exception. Noted as far back as Egyptian times, many communities had become fairly immune to Polio. Polio does not generally attack babies and infants and so many children had already become exposed and immune to polio by the time they reached 5 years old.

Developments in sewage treatment in the 19th and 20th century meant less infants met Polio at a young age. This led to a sudden increase in Polio at the beginning of the 20th century.

By 1952 the US alone had 58000 cases, resulting in over 3000 deaths a year and over 21000 people with some sort of paralysis.

Salk’s Research

A graduate of New York School of Medicine, Jonas Salk was granted a fellowship at the University of Michigan under the guidance of Thomas Francis. In 1947 he moved to a job at the University of Pittsburgh, and in 1948 took on government funding to investigate different forms of polio. Salk used this work to also investigate the possibility of a vaccine. He put together a team: Byron Bennett, L. James Lewis, Julius Youngner, as well as a secretary.

Salk’s team wasn’t the only team working on polio. Notable scientists on similar projects were Albert Sabin at the University of Cincinnati, and Hilary Koprowski and Herald Cox at New York’s Lederle Laboratories. All these scientists had success, but the nature of their vaccines affected their place in history.

Koprowski was the first to develop a vaccine, using a live polio virus. In 1948 he gave the vaccine to himself, and did not appear to suffer any affects. He then tested it on 20 children to see whether they picked up the necessary antibodies; 17 did, and 3 were believed to already have them. Koprowski’s vaccine was picked up by some foreign countries, but the US did not give him permission to widely use a live virus. Koprowski would later use his vaccine on a quarter of a million children in the Congo, with no issues.

Salk and his team, on the other hand, were developing their vaccine using a dead virus.

The Vaccine

On April 12th Jonas Salk announced he had developed a vaccine for polio. This vaccine was created by giving infants an ‘inactivated’ (dead) polio injection, thus making them immune.

Dr Thomas Francis, Salk’s former mentor, then began the largest medical experiment in history, testing 1.8million children across 44 states of the US.

From 35 000 cases in the US in 1953, the number fell to 161 in 1961.

Salk made a famous quote in an interview about his vaccine: when asked why he had not patented to earn money, he replied ‘Would you patent the sun?’

Improvements

In 1957 Albert Sabin began trials of an oral vaccine. The oral vaccine was licenced in 1962. The oral vaccine was often given on a sugar cube.

Currently many developed countries give a series of polio vaccines to babies. It is not recommended to adults in developed countries because they have probably already encountered polio, but is given to adults in 3rd world or developing countries.

Wider Success and Issues

The polio vaccine has a very high success rate. The issue now is getting the vaccine to the world. In 1993 China immunized 80 million children in two days. The following year only 5 cases of Polio were reported.

The WHO began a widespread Polio vaccine programme after it was introduced. By 1988 there were 350 000 cases reported worldwide. By 2012 the number was 223. The Polio vaccination remains on the WHO’s most important vaccinations list.

In 1990 the WHO believed 500 000 cases of paralysis had been stopped by the vaccine.

Salk and Sabin are both widely known scientists today. While Koprowski publicly said he didn’t mind the lack of recognition his vaccine received, as it allowed him to continue research unmolested by the media (he also developed a rabies vaccine), it is believed he personally felt hurt. In 2007, 6 years before his death, he was finally given an award. The award was named after Sabin.

The last surviving member of Salk’s team, Julius Youngner, died in 2017.

Ronald Reagan announced May 6th 1985 to be ‘Jonas Salk Day’.

1972 and a Lopsided Election

1972 was a Presidential election year in America, with the vote scheduled for November 7th. President Richard Nixon decided he would run again for the Republican Party. Things were not so easy for the opposing Democrats, whose favourite Teddy Kennedy (President John F. Kennedy’s brother) decided he wouldn’t stand. This left the race wide open and, in a surprise result, George McGovern – who had started the campaign in 5th place – ended up winning the Democrat nomination. Despite problems with the Vietnam War, President Nixon was a red-hot favourite to win against the outsider.

A Seemingly Unrelated Break-in

At this time the Democratic Party had their National Committee Headquarters at the Watergate Complex in Washington D.C.. Just after midnight on June 17th a security guard at the complex noticed something unusual: tape had been placed over the latches on the door, allowing them to close but not lock. He removed the tape but, upon returning an hour later, found the tape had been replaced. He called the police who entered the building and found 5 people burgling the Democrats office.

Initially this looked like the Democrats’ disastrous election was getting worse. However, within hours the FBI had suspicions something bigger was happening. They had found two of the burglars carrying address books, both of which listed the name E. Howard Hunt. Hunt was a former CIA officer.On June 19th the FBI announced that one of the burglars was a security aide for the Republic Party.

Despite this, the break-in did nothing to help the Democrats’ cause – indeed, they were embarking on their own scandal. On July 13th they announced Thomas Eagleton as their Vice President candidate, only for it to be quickly found that Eagleton had suffered depression and undergone electroshock therapy in the 1960s. Eagleton withdrew after only 18 days. Obvious that they had not bothered to check their own candidate, the mess the Democrats were in was far bigger news than the burglary, which was still being investigated.

The Investigation Expands

The connection between the Watergate break in and the Republican Party grew stronger when, on August 1st, the FBI found $25 000 planned for Nixon’s re-election in the bank account of one of the burglars. This linked the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (Nixon’s official campaign) to the crime, and made it impossible for the Republicans to say the security aide was working alone.

By October 10th the FBI had found links between all five burglars and the Nixon re-election bid, plus evidence that the US Attorney General had a fund for intelligence-gathering on the Democrats. Nixon and the White House, however, denied any link to the break in.

Although the Republicans were slowly getting tied to the break in, it was too little and too late to affect the presidential election. With the Democrats still looking incompetent, Nixon won re-election in a landslide, taking 49 states (only Massachusetts and the District of Colombia didn’t vote Nixon) and winning the electoral vote 520 vs 17.

The Media Begins to Uncover a Conspiracy

The FBI was investigating the Watergate incident, but it was the media – notably the Washington Post and the New York Times newspapers – that began to get some of the most important information. The Washington Post’s reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, in particular, were at the heart of this, helped by an anonymous source called ‘Deep Throat’. Deep Throat passed the reporters information that linked the burglary and a cover-up to the Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA, and the White House.

As Woodward and Bernstein began investigating and publishing the information they were getting, the White House said the reporters were on a witch-hunt. This argument was accepted by much of the public who had a low opinion of the press. However, the reporters’ stories did not escape the FBI’s attention, who followed the leads and found most to be entirely correct. ‘Deep Throat’ was clearly a reliable source who had access to key information.

The Watergate Tapes

With pressure from the newspapers and FBI growing, February 7th 1973 saw the senate voted 77-0 to allow a senate team to investigate the possibility of a connection between Republican officials and the break in. By March, that investigation had reached as high as Presidential Counsel John Dean. The White House continued to deny knowledge of any plans to break in, but the burglars themselves were beginning to turn, claiming the government was committing perjury.

As evidence and voices of those involved grew, an effort was made to distance the Presidency from the affair. First, Dean and a few other high level officials decided to take the blame. Then, on April 30th, Nixon began to ‘clean house’, removing senior aides who were in danger of prosecution. The hope was that with Dean in custody, and the suspected aides no longer working for him, there would be no method for the investigation to get any higher. It was an idea that was quickly undone.

On July 13th White House assistant Alexander Butterfield was in a preliminary hearing when he admitted that the White House recorded conversations in its offices. Realising the importance of this information, Butterfield was quickly requested to formally testify in the investigation. On July 16th, on live TV, Butterfield admitted to the investigative committee that the White House recorded conversations. The Watergate investigation was now circling around the President.

‘I’m not a crook’

After Butterfield’s testimony, the investigation asked the White House for the tapes. Nixon refused, claiming Presidential priveleges. New Attorney General Archibald Cox insisted, and Nixon began to seek people who could remove Cox from the investigation. This move was met with a negative response as no politicians wanted to be seen as Nixon’s henchman, and the public saw this is a clear admission he had something to hide. On November 17th 1973 Nixon went on TV and famously said ‘I’m not a crook’. However, the suspicion – and the soon the evidence – would say otherwise.

Nixon under investigation

The investigation went into a time of evidence collecting before, on March 1st 1974, seven high-level officials were prosecuted. President Nixon was secretly listed as a co-conspirator. Over the following month other officials were prosecuted.

It was becoming impossible for the White House to not release the tapes, but Nixon’s circle had a choice: to release the full recordings, or edited versions. On April 29th 1974 they decided to release edited versions, only for the US Supreme Court to demand, in July, that the full tapes be released.

When the White House released the tapes, the recordings revealed Nixon had been involved in a cover-up, with audio of him telling John Dean to pay blackmail money. However, there was something wrong with the evidence: 18.5 minutes of recordings were missing. When questioned, Nixon’s personal secretary said she had done this by accident, but analysis found the deletion had occurred on 5 different occasions.

Although it was not yet known what was on the missing recordings, the discussion with Dean was enough to convince Congress to impeach the President. This they did in the first half of 1974.

The ‘Smoking Gun’ Tape and the End of Nixon

On August 5th 1974 a final tape was released, and this sunk the President. Recorded days after the break-in, the recording had Nixon clearly discussing blocking the investigation by asking the CIA to call the FBI and create false claims of national security. This was more serious than asking Dean to pay blackmail money; this was evidence of deliberately interfering with an investigation and perverting the course of justice.

On August 8th Nixon resigned. Vice-President Gerald Ford took over and immediately pardoned Nixon, on September 8th 1974, meaning Nixon would not spend time in jail. His name and presidency, however, was tarnished. In an election that the Republicans were guaranteed to win, Nixon’s White House had unnecessarily destroyed itself.

Afterwards

The Watergate investigation initially had an effect on Nixon’s health, and he spent the last part of 1974 ill, requiring one surgery and then rest in California. He was also disbarred from the legal profession, removing his pre-political profession, and quickly found most people in politics didn’t want to meet him. Nonetheless, he wanted to quickly return to public life, not least to rebuild his reputation and ease the financial strain his legal fees had caused. He duly began writing his memoirs, and also agreed to a series of television interviews with British journalist David Frost in 1977, covering his Presidency, including Watergate. For the interviews Nixon was paid $600 000. Around 50 million people watched the shows, making them the most watched political interviews in television history.

The rest of Nixon’s life was spent in mixing politics with writing. He made occasional political appearances outside America, including meeting world leaders such as Deng Xiaoping in China (where Nixon had famously visited in the early 1970s), and became a reasonably successful writer. He died in 1994.

Watergate turned reporters Woodward and Bernstein into household names. Their reporting won the Washington Post the Pulitzer Prize in 1973, and both went on to successful careers. Their work on Watergate was turned into the Oscar-winning movie ‘All the President’s Men’, released in 1976.

Although some suspected the identity of informant ‘Deep Throat’, it was confirmed in 2005. It was William Mark Felt Sr., an Associate Director of the FBI. Felt’s position meant he received all Watergate investigation information and saw the pressure and corruption in positions above him, including the destroying of evidence by the FBI Director, L. Patrick Gray.

Since Watergate the suffix ‘…gate’ has been given to many political scandal or cover-up.

At 07.58 local time an earthquake measuring 9.3 and lasting 8-10 minutes – the the longest in time and third largest in force ever recorded – struck in the ocean near Sumatra, Indonesia. The tsunamis this triggered struck at least 14 countries. It’s exact death toll is unknown, but general estimates range from 250 000 to 300 000+ people.

Foreshadowing Disaster

On November 2nd 2002 an earthquake measuring 7.3 hit near Sumatra, Indonesia. Only 3 people died. However, the movement of the plates had left them badly out of line.

The Scale of the Earthquake

The quake involved two ruptures of the earth’s surface: the first 400km long followed by another 100 seconds later. The area releasing energy was 160km long. The fault slipped 15m and it is believed the whole earth vibrated 1cm.

The one earthquake accounted for 1/8th of all seismic activity in the hundred years to that date. If added together, the Chilean earthquake of 1960, Alaskan earthquake of 1964, and Sumatra earthquake of 2004 accounted for 1/2 of seismic movement in the previous 100 years.

Timeline

00.58 GMT (07.58 Indonesia): The first earthquake strikes off Sumatra and is felt in several countries. It is initially measured at 8.9. Although there is a Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), none of the countries in the region are a part of it.

01.00 – 01.30GMT (08.00-08.30 Indonesia): The tsunami hits north of Indonesia, including Banda Aceh. Tsunami waves also hit India’s Nicobar and Andaman Islands.

02.30 GMT: Beaches in Thailand are hit by the tsunami, killing locals and tourists.

03.00 – 03.23 GMT: The tsunami reaches India and Sri Lanka.

04.00 GMT: The Maldives is the next country hit by the wave.

07.00 GMT: The tsunami reaches its final countries on the east of Africa.

A Failure in Warning Systems

There were earthquake and tsunami warning centers set up around the Pacific, but they were run by developed countries and did not connect to the poorer nations that were hit. For most people the only warning they got before the wave was the sea retreating and divers reporting strong currents and no fish.

By the time the US system in Hawaii and the Australian system in the north of the country understood what was happening, the damage in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand had already been done.

Deaths and Damage

It is impossible to know the exact number of people who died because of the Indian Ocean Tsunami: the wide area the disaster hit, and the poverty of some of many areas, means there is some guesswork. For example, the US Geological Survey initially estimated 227 000 people died, but the Indonesian Government puts the death toll in Indonesia alone at 220 000.

A rough approximation of the death tolls per country is:

Indonesia: 168000
Sri Lanka: 35000
India: 18000
Thailand: 8000
Myanmar: 600
Somalia: 289
Maldives: 108

Several other countries suffered deaths.

The tsunami also resulted in widescale environmental destruction, with habitats destroyed, plantations lost, drinking water contaminated, and waste and chemicals spread over a large area. It is impossible to know the damage to animal life and ecosystems in the area.

Rebuilding and Continued Threat

International aid poured into the region to help the humanitarian effort. However it will take generations to rebuild the areas and families hit.

In 2005 the plates near Sumatra moved again – causing an 8.7 quake, the 7th largest since 1900.

Who were they?

The Wright Brothers’ parents had 7 children, but the last two (who were twins) died in infancy. Wilbur and Orville were the youngest surviving boys. It is said their interest in flight came from a toy helicopter their father brought home for them.

Although Wilbur was born in Indiana, the brothers lived in Dayton, Ohio. They worked in a bicycle repair shop (and had knowledge of other machines, such as printing presses), which helped them understand engineering designs.

Designs

The idea of flight was growing in popularity. In the 1890s gliders were becoming more sophisticated, and basic motors were being placed on them. But when the German Otto Lilienthal – a pioneer in gliders – died in a crash in 1896 the brothers began to think about controlling aeroplanes.

Another pioneer of flight – England’s Percy Pilcher – died in an accident in 1899. The brothers were sure that control was the ‘third part’ of flying needed to be successful, as wings and motors were already in use.

Controlled Flight

Whilst many had experimented with gliders, the Wright Brothers’ finally made a major breakthrough by working out how to control a plane: inspired by their knowledge of bicycles they made a three-axis system that allowed a pilot to move the vehicle.

Preparation

By 1900 the brothers had created a controlled glider, which they experimented on. They made over 700 flights with this glider, learning not only about the machine but also how to pilot.

Their next step was to find a way to power the plane. As no engine manufacturer could meet their demands they made their own.

Power

Gliders had already been equipped with engines. The brothers, however, needed a light engine in order to ensure their control system continued to work.

No company could build one, and so they worked with their mechanic Charlie Taylor to build one. After many tests the design they decided upon resembled a fuel-injection system: gravity fed fuel and air to the engine with gravity, rather than with a pump.

A day of flight

On December 17th 1903 the brothers decided to try their machine. It was a day of flight, with a total of four efforts, and the brothers took turns flying their plane. They spoke of having trouble controlling the machine at first.

The first flight lasted 12 seconds and went 120 feet (piloted by Orville). After two more efforts, the final flight lasted 59 seconds and went 852 feet (piloted by Wilbur).

Aftermath

With a first flight in the books, reporters arrived to see their next effort. It failed. This may have helped the brothers as they were able to experiment. By the end of 1904 they had a machine flying for 5 minutes. By 1908 they could do an hour and take a passenger (despite not flying in 1906 or 1907).

From a bicycle repair shop, the Wright Brothers became famous. However, their controls patent was debated until 1914. The brothers won, but it is suspected that their refusal to follow up stopped them building a monopoly.

Notes

Orville is perhaps the more famous of the brothers because he undertook the first flight and was seen as being smarter. But Wilbur, the older brother, is seen by experts as the driving force. It is also believed Wilbur did all the flying until 1902 in an effort to protect his younger brother.

France had hoped to have the first plane. When word came that the brothers had done it, newspapers suggested it was not true. In 1908 the Wright Brothers flew in France and got an apology.

There is some argument about whether those who flew before the brothers deserve more credit: whilst the Wright Brothers made controls, the wing designs were copied and their mechanic Charlie Taylor helped build the engine but is largely forgotten.

Continuing a Plan

Prior to the arrival of the NHS, Britain’s health care system was organised according to the 1911 National Insurance Act, which gave medical coverage to workers (part paid by the worker, part by the government) and benefits to the unemployed.

However, during World War II the political establishment decided that more had to be done to repay the people who had sacrificed so much for the country. An idea was put together to rid society of the 5 Great Evils: squalor; ignorance; want; idleness; and disease. William Beveridge, an economist, was asked to compile a report on how society could improve (and pay for such improvements).

In 1942, Beveridge published his report. ‘The Beveridge Report’ outlined the idea of Britain having a welfare state with everyone in the country having a ‘national minimum’ – meaning the government would help those who were in the lowest economic class. Within this idea was the idea of creating a national health service that could treat all its citizens.

1944 White Paper

There had been some disagreement about exactly what the NHS should involve. A 1944 white paper finally stated the principles of the NHS:

Services were provided free at the point of use
Services were financed from central taxation
Everyone was eligible for care (even people temporarily resident or visiting the country)

The paper said local councils should look after medical care.

A New Government

Before the 1945 General Election the Labour Party promised to introduce the NHS.

They duly won, with Clement Attlee replacing Winston Churchill as the Prime Minister.

Aneurin Bevan was given the job of setting up the NHS. He looked at a 1944 report that suggested local councils managed health care. Deciding this would not work – local councils had neither the money nor organisation – he said there had to be a national service.

Bevan is often called the ‘father of the NHS’, although the title is also given to William Beveridge who wrote the 1942 report.

The NHS Begins

England, Scotland and Wales all had separate NHS acts, but they were all introduced around the same time. By 1950 all had the NHS.

The Spirit of ’45

The NHS is part of a movement now labelled ‘The Spirit of ’45’ in which Britain attempted to country a fairer post-war country. Millions had died in the war and it was felt a better, more caring society was needed.

Note

The UK was not the first country to introduce universal health care: the USSR had it in 1937, but it did not cover the countryside.

New Zealand was the first country to manage complete universal health care, introducing it from 1937 to 1941.

The Shadow of World War I

World War I (1914-1919) had killed over 15 million people. The manner in which it ended, however, would lead to the beginning of World War II.

– The Treaty of Versailles, made after World War I, allowed the winners to dominate and brought Germany to its knees (it was paying reparations for its defeat and suffering hyperinflation). As German money became useless it had to start giving up materials. A strong nationalistic movement began in Germany. From this rose the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (commonly called the Nazi Party) and Adolf Hitler.

– In Asia Japan, an ally of the winners in World War I, stepped up efforts to build its empire. By 1937 it was already in control of much of East Asia and in a war with China. It’s military ‘war machine’ was the strongest in the region.

The Nazi Party’s Rise and Ambition

In 1928 the Nazi Party only won 1.1% of the vote in a national election. However Germany’s instability was leading to violence, and the Nazi Party used this instability (and their own violence) to build support. At the same time The Communist Party in Germany was also fighting against the failing democratic parties.

Although they disliked each other these two parties began to change German politics. Democracy failed, and there were many murders and assassinations at the time. In a 1930 democratic election the two undemocratic parties won 50% of the vote.  The democratic parties in Germany had to start working with the undemocratic.

In 1933 a coalition made Hitler chancellor of Germany, one of the most powerful positions in the country. An act later gave him ‘temporary power’ of Germany (an agreement made whilst Nazis surrounded the building threatening war within Germany if the act wasn’t signed). Hitler then banned all non-Nazi parties. By 1934 he was dictator.

Some people began to fear what Hitler’s Germany wanted to do. In 1938 Britain’s Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain met Hitler in Munich to discuss peace. It is believed that Hitler said ‘Ja, ja’ (yes, yes) to all Chamberlain’s requests, then signed an agreement. When Chamberlain returned to his team he patted his pocket where the paper was and said ‘I’ve got it’. Hitler, meanwhile, told his Foreign Minister: ‘Oh, don’t take it so seriously. That piece of paper is of no further significance whatever.’ Chamberlain is often seen as naive in believing peace was assured. Hitler would later say to his generals ‘Our enemies are small worms. I saw them in Munich.’

The Invasions of Poland and Finland, and World War Begins

On September 1st 1939 Germany invaded Poland. Refusing to leave, the UK and its allies declared war on Germany 2 days later. September 1st is widely seen as the day World War 2 began.

This was not the only time Poland was invaded, however: on September 17th the USSR also invaded from the east. Germany and the USSR decided to divide up the country.

In November the USSR also invaded Finland. At this point ‘The Allies’ believed the USSR would fight with the Germans, rather than against them.

Blitzkrieg, More Invasions and The Maginot Line

The German army used a military tactic known as blitzkrieg: using lightning strikes to take countries at high speed. It continued west, taking Denmark and Norway in April 1940 (Denmark fell within a few hours; Norway took a couple of months). The UK’s inability to help Norway led to their Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain being replaced by Winston Churchill.

France had built a series of strong defenses called ‘The Maginot Line’ against the German border to repel attacks; however, the Germans instead took the flat lands of Belgium and Luxembourg, bypassing the Maginot Line completely on their way into France. Many now perceive the Maginot Line as folly, although in truth there were Belgian and French forces beyond it. Nonetheless, against the quick German tanks and airstrikes these were quickly defeated. On June 14th 1940 Paris fell, and the country surrendered 8 days later.

The UK began taking control of countries in an effort to stop Germany invading them.  Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Isles all came under British control. The British also sank the French navy, fearing the Germans would use it.

As the Germans were moving on the Western Front, so was the USSR in the east. The Soviets took Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Bessarabia (in Romania). German and Soviet cooperation, however, was failing.

The Axis and Allies

In September 1940 Germany, Italy and Japan signed an agreement that created ‘The Axis Powers’. This agreement stated that any country (except the USSR) that attacked an Axis country would have to fight all three nations. The Axis was later joined by three more countries: Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia.

Germany approached the USSR to see if they would join the group. At first the USSR showed interest, but talks eventually failed. Suspecting the USSR might join The Allies Hitler, in December 1940, ordered his forces to prepare an invasion of the USSR.

With the US already supporting the UK (but not yet fighting) the war now had clear sides: The Axis Powers and The Allies.

Europe: A War on Two Fronts

By the end of 1940 Germany had taken most of Europe, stopping on the west at the Spanish border and the English Channel. Plans were drawn up to invade the UK, and in the meantime the German air force (The Luftwaffe) bombed much of England. Many cities were destroyed, and children were sent to the countryside to reduce casualties. The Royal Air Force (RAF) fought the Luftwaffe in the skies, a battle known as The Battle of Britain.

Hitler offered the UK an end to the war in July 1941. The UK refused.

On the Eastern Front The Axis Powers began Operation Barbarossa, the effort to remove the USSR’s military and open up more space. From June to October 1941 much of western Russia was ceded to the Axis, but the Soviets did not lose their two main cities (the siege of Leningrad, which lasted until 1944, is the longest in history).

The holdouts by the USSR and the UK were important: it stopped Germany’s momentum and ended the German army’s successful blitzkrieg strategy.

Africa and The Pacific

Europe was the main theatre for much of the war, but it was not the only part; indeed, like Germany, the USSR was fighting a war on two fronts because Japan was invading much of the Pacific. It had taken land from Korea and the USSR, many of the small islands, and was well into China (the Chinese themselves also fighting something of a civil war at the same time). Like Germany, Japan’s wartime conduct was brutal: estimates at how many died under Japanese occupation range from 3m to 14m, and included massacres and human experimentation.

The US, UK, Germany and The Netherlands all had interests in South-East Asia and Indochina. In an effort to remove Japanese influence Allied countries began a full trade embargo, cutting Japan’s supplies. This put pressure on Japan to either negotiate or expand its war. The Japanese government offered to remove troops from threatening positions if the embargo was lifted and the US stopped giving aid to China. The US countered by saying Japan had to completely remove itself from China if it wanted to trade. As the Japanese military was never going to agree to this the countries were ready for war.

On December 8th (December 7th in western time zones) Japan began a full offensive against UK and US areas in the Pacific, including the bombing of the US fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The US, UK, China and Australia all declared war on Japan. The Germans, who were in the Axis, agreed to help Japan. The USSR, already stretched, tried to stay out of this conflict.

Africa too saw conflict, particularly in the north where Italy invaded in 1940. This victory, however, did not last long: The Allies pushed the Italians back into Europe, and Hitler was forced to bring troops to the Mediterranean to stop The Allies taking control in Greece.

1942: A Change of Momentum

1942 is the year the war turned.

The Axis’s advance through Europe stopped on both fronts. Meanwhile Japan lost the important Battle of Midway (near Hawaii) to the US, reducing their control of the Pacific.

Germany then suffered two big defeats. First, they lost in North Africa. After that came the devastating loss in Stalingrad, one of the deadliest and most miserable battles of the war. Initially the Germans had taken control of the city, but the city was then surrounded by the Soviet army. Stuck in the Russian winter they were killed, starved and frozen.

Many war historians put the Battle of Stalingrad as the pivotal moment of the war. Germany took huge loses and began to lose the Eastern Front.

The Axis Goes Backwards

In 1943 Italy surrendered. Germany, however, took Rome and rescued the Italian leader Mussolini.  Meanwhile the US took control of the Pacific, commanding most of it by early 1944. Germany tried one more push into the Soviet Union in July 1943, but it failed and for the first time in the war Hitler abandoned an attack before it was complete. Hopes of keeping what they had were quickly killed: a week later the USSR began a counter-attack.

On June 6th 1944 (known as D-Day) the Allies landed on the beaches of Northern France. By August Paris had been retaken and France was on the way to being restored. On the Eastern Front the USSR not only took back all territory it had lost, but began to make moves into German territory. The USSR put new leaders into Romania and Bulgaria, which duly swapped to the Allies. In the Pacific Japan lost control of Burma and China, and the Prime Minister resigned. The UK also saw a new leader at the time, with Clement Atlee replacing Winston Churchill.

1945: The End

The Allies had retaken western and eastern Europe by the beginning of 1945. The next step was to move into Germany. In February, March and April the Germans and Italians were pushed back.

April was a month of many changes. On April 12th the American President Franklin Roosevelt died – he was replaced by Harry Truman. On the 28th Italy’s leader Benito Mussolini was killed by his own countrymen. The next day Germany ceded Italy – which it had been controlling since Italy surrendered in 1943 – and the day after that (April 30th) Adolf Hitler committed suicide.

On May 8th Germany surrendered. Japan was the only major Axis country left fighting. On August 6th and August 9th the US became the first country to use nuclear weapons in warfare, dropping atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Japanese surrendered on August 15th. This meant ‘total victory’ for the Allies.

Aftermath

After the war the United Nations was built; the victors (US, UK, USSR, France, China) made themselves permanent members with the power of veto. This has made them the most powerful UN members.

The US, USSR, and Europe went in different directions after the war. The US and USSR began an effort to become superpowers, leading to The Cold War. Europe, meanwhile, had seen it’s imperialism start two global wars. Many of the colonies went independent and the empires died away, leading to less powerful countries but more stability in the area.

Germany and Japan changed their national policies, focusing more on manufacturing than territory. This would make them leading economies by the 1980s.

The US’s use of nuclear weapons changed the potential of warfare.