In this course, we will take a brief look at the major developments leading up to and through the catastrophe that was World War II. Obviously this is intended to be the briefest overview of some of the major political and military activities in the major theaters: Asia, Europe, North Africa, the Eastern Front and the Western Front. We'll focus on how these events impacted the conflict. For example, among the topics to be reviewed are the Japanese invasion of Manchuria; the Munich Agreement; September 1, 1939; December 7, 1941; battles at El Alamein; Midway; Stalingrad; Kursk; Saipan; and Normandy.