The 1930s was a time of darkness, much anger was built in the face of the Wall Street Crash, the Great Depression settled upon the world.
In 1933 in Germany, the Government crumbled, the Weimar Republic fell to its knees after the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler rose to power. He quickly took over and introduced a staggering state of worry across all of Europe.
The German Army was rebuilt, bringing further doubt of peace being maintained, new elements of the military introduced such as the German secret police named the Gestapo. The S.S., a private army dedicated to Hitler, dedicated only to him solely, instilling a new kind of fear into the hearts of German citizens, as well across the world.
Through speed and surprise, the German expansion began, stretching into the Rhineland, followed by the seizure of Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938. The worry of the British and French people only increased.
The Allies of Germany such as the Italians and the Japanese began strengthening their militaries enforcing a bout of Fascism into the eyes of the people. It wouldn't be long before Manchuria and China were introduced to the wrath of the Japanese Empire.
On September 1st 1939, The German Armed Forces invaded Poland, with lightning blitzkrieg offensives, the fierce might of the German Army soon overwhelmed all of Europe by 1940, standing at the doorstep of the United Kingdom poised for the kill. But with bravery and courage, the British people hold out against the German Army, providing a beacon of hope for the people of Europe.
But it would prove to be mild at best, the German Naval Forces, tightened a noose around the Royal Navy, cutting off supply convoys and threatening the life-blood of the oversea forces in Africa and South East Asia.
In 1941, the German military launches a series of invasions against the British-controlled territories of North Africa, combined to their coordinated invasion of Soviet Russia therefore breaking a pact held with the Russians.
But what followed would be a defining mistake on Hitler's part, the Russian forces reacted with the policy of a scorched earth, Hitler's battle-hardened forces drove deep into Russia reaching the outskirts of the capital city of Moscow.
The Russian winter settled in, Moscow and Leningrad were not captured, the German Army suffered a major defeat solidifying a hope that victory was possible.
December 7th 1941, hoping to set off fireworks to the worsening situation in the world, Japan's Imperial Navy sets off on a daring raid against the US Naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii with nearly 2,500 American lives lost. An infuriated American people declares war on Japan and Germany immediately.
It was Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's words stated in the aftermath of the successful raid on the American Naval forces that he had said, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant, and to fill him with a terrible resolve."
In the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Empire begins expanding its territories continuing their efforts in China, conquering the entirety of the South East Asia, in addition to the Philippine Islands as well, they stood on the doorstep of Australia and New Zealand poised for the kill.
But what would soon follow from the Americans would only be seen as a repercussion to ring out across the world.
Despite the early successes of the Axis Powers, it would only prove to be futile, as the might of the Soviet Union was just beginning to fight back, the Americans in the Pacific and Europe beginning to take the fight to the German and Japanese Alliance.
But in the thick of it all, there would be a long-lasting and tiring road to victory, a road filled with suffering, pain, fear, anger and hate… but in the midst of it all, men would be changed by their experiences, changed by the traumatic sight and violences of war itself.