Finland never officially joined either the Allies or the Axis and was at war with the Soviet Union at the outbreak of World War II. Needing help in 1940, the Finnish joined forces with Nazi Germany to repel the Soviets. When peace between Finland the Soviet Union was declared in 1944, Finland joined with the Soviets to oust the Germans.
Switzerland, Spain, Portugal and Sweden declared neutrality during the war.
The Soviet Union lost the most soldiers, in excess of seven million.
The number of civilian casualties in World War II may never be known. Many deaths were caused by bombing raids, massacres, starvation and other war-related causes.
It is believed that approximately six million Jewish people died in Nazi concentration campsduring the war. Also killed were hundreds of thousands of Roma people and people with mental or physical disabilities.
The Lend-Lease Act was created to allow the United States to lend or lease weapons, equipment, or raw materials to any nation fighting the Axis. Eventually, 38 nations received about $50 billion in aid. Most went to Great Britain and the Soviet Union.
In 1948, the United States created the Marshall Plan to help rebuild war torn Europe. Eventually, 18 nations received $13 billion in food, machinery and other goods.
In March of 1974, Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese soldier still fighting the war, was found by a search party on the island of Lubang in the Philippines. After he is convinced the war is over by his former commanding officer he is then flown to Manila and formally surrenders to President Ferdinand Marcos. Mr. Onoda died January 16, 2014, at the age of 91.
Source Credit: CNN
Source Credit: CNN
Other Fact of World War II
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