Name: World War II for Kids | A world war 2 crash course for kids
Uploaded: 2025-07-01T12:26:46.000Z
Duration: 9 min 16 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Hi, my name's Willie, and I'm here to tell you about World War II.

Transition words & phrases

Now hopefully you've been briefed on World War I, because that's where we're picking up from.

The collapse of the Central Powers, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire, which includes Turkey, brought about the end of World War I.

This collapse brought a treaty, a very important treaty, the Treaty of Versailles.

And this Treaty of Versailles was signed in the Palace of Versailles in France, in the Hall of Mirrors.

Now it's not really a lot of mirrors, but it was just like some artwork, and it was like really cool.

They signed this treaty, which required Germany to give back all the land they acquired during World War I.

They had to fully disarm, meaning they had to give up all their guns, their tanks, and their planes.

And they had to pay back billions of dollars in damages.

So the end of World War I brought prosperity to the United States.

Excuse me while I slip into something more comfortable.

It was a time of wonderful automobiles and the growth of industry.

Women won the right to vote, which was fantastic.

The world was working to recover from the devastation of World War I.

But then in 1929, when the stock market crashed, it threw not only the United States into a depression, but the whole world went into a depression.

The depression covered the globe, and most everyone was in despair.

And then 1933, a gentleman by the name of Adolf Hitler rose to power and became the Chancellor of Germany.

And as head of the Nazi party, Hitler did not want to abide by the Versailles Treaty.

Hitler's position was that Germany should not, could not, and would not abide by the Treaty of Versailles.

Hitler of Nazi Germany, the fascist regime of Italy with its dictator Mussolini, and Emperor Hirohito of the Empire of Japan formed the Axis Powers.

Each regime had its individual goals to expand their power and control throughout their region of the world.

And though each member agreed not to interfere with each other, they, however, did not combine their efforts.

In 1935, Benito Mussolini sought to enlarge his power and influence by aggressively colonizing across the Mediterranean Sea, the country of Ethiopia, and Northern Africa.

And the Empire of Japan continued its hostilities against China and throughout Asia and the islands of the Pacific Ocean.

Great Britain and France declared war against Nazi Germany when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.

This bold act of violence occurred unprovoked.

Now those that opposed the Axis Powers were called the Allies or the Allied Powers.

They were France, Great Britain, Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Poland, China, Greece, the Netherlands, and the countries belonging to the United Kingdom and Yugoslavia.

Canada, Australia, Brazil, and the Soviet Union later joined with the Allies.

The United States did not join up with the Allied Powers at this time, but provided money and war materials.

In London, the clacks and sound of the air raid siren struck fear and terror with all the civilians, and it meant one thing, run to a bomb shelter.

The London Blitz during 1940 and 41 was a series of bombing raids by the Nazis.

Other cities in England were also bombed.

They continued their work of resistance to Hitler and the evil Nazi attempt to overtake all in its path.

The Nazi regime was responsible for carrying out one of the most despicable acts of genocide ever imagined.

Called the Great Holocaust, the Nazis gathered 11 million Jews and those whom the Nazis deemed undesirable and imprisoned them in concentration camps.

The United States was not fully involved in the war until Japan bombed the U.S. naval fleet unprovoked on the island of Oahu, territory of Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.

We lost a lot of great men and women that day.

The very next day, the U.S. of A. under the President Franklin D.

The United States joined the Allies to help prevent the spread of tyranny across the globe.

The Battle of Midway was an important victory for the Americans against Japan in the Pacific.

Many battles would be fought, some lost and some won by the Allied powers.

But a series of important victories began to decisively change the tide.

The invasion of Italy by the Allies resulted in the surrender of Mussolini and his fascist regime.

And on June 6, 1944, the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy, France.

D-Day, also known as the code name Operation Overlord, was an important victory because it reversed the course of World War II, breaking the Nazi grip on France and setting the stage for the liberation of Europe.

And later, at the Battle for Paris, Nazi Germany surrendered to Allies and France became free once again.

The Battle of the Bulge was the last major battle of the Western Front.

Taking place in a densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia and eastern Belgium, northeast France and Luxembourg, in December of 1944, Germany launched a counteroffensive in hopes of turning the tides of war in Hitler's favor.

Hitler's armies took the Allies by surprise, but after a hard-fought battle, the Allies were victorious.

The armies of Imperial Japan continued their aggression against the United States in the theater of the Pacific until August 6, 1945.

Truman ordered the most devastating weapon ever conceived, the atomic bomb.

To be dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the only nuclear bombs to be used in warfare, Japan then offered their unconditional surrender.

World War II would reveal some of the most despicable people who would ever rise to power.

But World War II would also develop America's greatest generation.

Men, women and children would sacrifice everything to assist in the war effort for the cause of freedom and liberty throughout the world.

If you're looking for more teaching resources, check us out at ClarendonLearning.org.