Key things to know about World War II

1. As in World War I, the U.S. was led by a Democrat president - Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), the most popular president in American history, and the only president to serve more than two terms (he served from 1933-1945)

2. The Axis powers, Germany, Italy, and Japan - the enemies of the United States and the Soviet Union - were united under a number of agreements, the original of which was originally written between Germany and Japan in 1936, called the Anti-Comintern pact. Anti-Comintern is short for "Anti Communist International", and was created for Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan to unite in a fight against communism, and the Soviet Union. When Italy joined, it became known as the "Tripartite Pact". The ideologies of Germany and Japan were racialist, claiming that the "race" of the Germans and the "race" of the Japanese were superior, and were thus destined to conquer and rule over other peoples - which they were entitled to either enslave or annihilate. The doctrines of the Soviet Union and the United States that all peoples were equal and should share the world's resources equally, was a direct obstacle to the Japanese and German doctrine that only the Japanese and the German "races" should be able to control the world's resources.

3. The United Nations, created in the middle of World War II as a way of the nations of the world to to permanently unite against the Axis powers, specifically mentions Japanese Imperialism, German Nazism, and the Tripartite Pact in its founding documents. The anti-communist, racialist doctrines held to by the Germans and the Japanese, were seen as the enemies of a free, united world under the United Nations, with the two main superpowers - the United States and the Soviet Union - destined to take the lead.

4. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin were very close allies, and the U.S. and the Soviet Union were very close allies. There was no anti-communist sentiment in the Roosevelt administration; in fact, communists and pro-Soviets served at various echelons of the Roosevelt administration. (All of FDR's writings are available in an online website dedicated to FDR. They can be searched for keywords like "Stalin", "Soviet Union", and "Russia" to verify FDR's attitude towards the Soviet Union).

5. The largest turnouts of Communist voters in the United States were during the elections before and during World War II. Communism was seen as an acceptable option in the U.S. during FDR's administration, and Eleanor Roosevelt had at times invited communist university students to the White House for discussions.

6. In spite of the pride many Americans feel about fighting in World War II, the amount that the United States suffered in World War II is only minimal compared to what the other key countries suffered: the United States lost less than 1/2 million soldiers in World War II (and few thousand civilians). The Soviet Union, on the other hand, lost over 10 million soldiers and 11 million civilians. China lost over 40 million people total. Germany about 6 million, Japan around 3 million.

7. Prior to the end of World War II, people in the United States who were vocally anti-communist, were also supporters of Adolf Hitler. Henry Ford is a prominent example of an American, who before World War II publically supported Hitler (and Hitler also publically supported Henry Ford). Anti-communism and Nazism were synonymous before World War II - Americans who were anti-communist also were supporters of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

8. During the 3 days between the dropping of the first atom bomb and the second on the Japanese, the Soviet Union began the invasion of Manchuria and defeated the Japanese forces in China. This was in complete cooperation with prior agreements made with the U.S. government - the overthrow of the Japanese in World War II was a combined effort of the Soviet Union and the United States. The Soviet Union's defeat of the Japanese Army in China was a decisive blow that caused Hirohito to surrender and end World War II.

9. Then, the United States and the Soviet Union were faced with the task of clearing out the Japanese from Korea and setting up a Korean government. This task was divided between the two, the Soviet Union clearing the Japanese from the North, the United States clearing the Japanese from the South. While the Soviet Union allowed Koreans who had fought against the Japanese to take control in the North, the United States, much to the shock of the Korean population, allowed Korean war criminals and collaborators with the Japanese, to take control of the South. This was the first step in the United States implementing anti-Roosevelt, pro-Nazi policies after the end of World War II.