HELP your children to understand what VE Day is all about with information that they can easily digest.

Here, in bite-sized form from PlanBee,  are some leading key questions and more importantly, the answers;

When did World War Two start?

World War Two began on September 1, 1939.

When did the war end?

During World War Two, the Axis troops captured and occupied many countries, including France and Poland.

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By 1944, many of these countries were being freed by the Allies. Italy changed sides in 1943 and declared war on Germany. Germany and the Axis powers were losing.

On April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler committed suicide. A week later, Germany surrendered.
On May 8, 1945, Britain’s Prime Minister, Winston Churchill announced that the war was over. This was known as VE Day (Victory in Europe Day). However, the war wasn’t officially ended all around the world until September 2, 1945.

Who were the Nazis?

The Nazis were a political party in Germany, officially called the National Socialist German Worker’s Party. Their leader was Adolf Hitler.

In 1933, the German people voted Hitler and the Nazis should run Germany. The Nazis believed that Aryans (people with blond hair and blue eyes) were the ‘master’ race and that all other people were inferior.

Hitler wanted to eradicate ‘lesser’ people from Germany to make the country a world leader.

Why did World War Two start?

In World War One, from 1914-1918, Germany was one of the countries that lost the war, and was blamed by many countries for the war.

Germany had to sign an agreement that said they were to blame for the war, that they had to pay a fine, lose some of their acquired land, and be allowed only a small army.
Adolf Hitler and the Nazis ignored the agreement and secretly started building up their army and taking back lands they had lost.

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland with one million soldiers.

France and Great Britain decided to support Poland, so declared war on Germany. This was the start of World War Two.

Which countries fought in World War Two?

Those who fought against Germany were known as the Allies. Those who fought with Germany were known as the Axis. The Axis countries included; Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria.

The Allied countries were; Great Britain, France, United States, Greece, Australia, Canada, Belgium, India, Poland, South America, and many more.