April 1945 - Turning point month in world history

One of the most important months in the history of World War 2 easily was April 1945. It was not the end of the conflict yet. The war would not formally end until september of that year with the Japanese surrender. What did happen that month was that three of the biggest world leaders, Franklin Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler, And Benito Mussolini all died within days of each other.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882. An only child, his father James was a cousin of the 26th president Teddy Roosevelt (1901-1909). F.D.R.'s political career began when he was elected to the new york state senate in 1910. He supported Woodrow Wilsons run for the presidency and after Wilson won he was rewarded with the post of assistant secretary of the navy in his administration. In 1920 he ran for vice president with a Mr. James Cox but they lost to Warren Harding.
In 1921 he was stricken with Polio. The result of the illness was that he lost the use of his legs and would never walk again. He spent the rest of his life in a wheel chair.
Encouraged by his wife Elenor he continued in politics and went on in 1928 to be elected Governor of the state of new york. As the depression deepened he ran for president in 1932. He won his first of Four terms in office as he swept Herbert Hoover out of the white house. During the depression he put Americans to work with public projects like building roads, bridges and the Hoover dam.
By 1940 war had broken out in Europe. F.D.R. wanted to join the fight but the mood in the country and the Congress was that we stay out of the conflicts going on there. When Pearl Harbor occured that mood was evaporated overnight and the country was eager to engage the enemies.
The war did not go well at first. The U.S. suffered great defeats both at the hands of the Nazis in Europe and the Japanese in the Pacific. By 1943 the tide was turning and it began to become somewhat clear that victory would not only be possible but probable all be it at great cost and effort. F.D.R. lead the fight for most of the way but he would not live to see the end of it. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage (better known as a stroke) on April 12, 1945 at the home of Lucy Mercer, A woman who was rumored to be his companion.
Benito Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883. He became the founder and leader of the Italian fascism movement. He started off as a school teacher and later became the editor of a socialist party newspaper called "Avanti" which means Forward or Let's go in Italian. He was after a while removed from this position because of his opposition to party policies. He reacted to this by forming his own paper called "il Popolo D'italia" which translates into the people of Italy. He would use this paper to spread his propaganda all over.
In 1919 he formed an even more interesting group called "Fasci di Combatimento" (Fascists of Combat). This group was armed and they fought with all who opposed their views. When Musolini threatened to march on the capitol of Rome with this group in 1923 they were instead invited to join the government in a coalition. Once they were let in they wasted little time taking over and silencing all opposition.
Mussolini spent the 1920's and 30's looking for wars to fight in places like Ethiopia in Africa and in 1940 he joined Hitler in fighting the British in Europe. After a number of military disasters it became clear that the italian army was in over its head and Mussolini was removed from power in 1943 and the Italians sued for peace with the allies. Towards the end of the war Mussolini tried to secretly leave Italy and escape to Switzerland with his mistress. During this flight he was caught by some Italian partisans. He was shot to death on April 28th 1945 at a place called Giulino Di Mezzegra just 16 days after F.D.R. Died from his stroke.
Adolf Hitler was not born a German. He was born in Austria on April 20th, 1889. He was a High School Dropout before he tried his hand at being a painter. Not really having a great deal of talent but still managed to sell some works and make some money at it but not much. In 1918 he decides to join the Bavarian army. In 1919 he joins the National Socialist German Workers Party. You know it better as the Nazi Party. By 1921 he rose to become chairman.
During the Great depression Hitler promised the German people relief from their economic nightmare with the promise of jobs if they would vote the Nazis into power. They did and once he became Chancellor in 1933 he ruled out all other rival political parties and took over as Dictator. With his secret police (Gestapo) he made sure all opposition was broken down. He created Jobs for Germans by building weapons in preparation for war. He needed those weapons to not only create jobs for the German people but to also be more than ready for when he wanted to start World War 2. Once the war started he had some early success. He quickly took over France in 1940 and had England on it's knees. If It had not been for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 which forced the U. S. Into the war the British may very well have been overcome. The crazy thing about the attack on Pearl Harbor from a military point of view is the timing. They did this while they were busy fighting the Russians on the other side of Europe. So attacking the Americans at that moment meant that the Germans were going to have to fight two different wars at the same time on opposite sides of their country. The Russians on the eastern front and the Americans on the western front. This military blunder would prove to be too much for the German war machine to handle at the same time. He basically bit off more than he could chew. The truth for any army is that fighting two seperate wars at the same time on two seperate fronts is at least one too many.
As the war progresses over the next few years both the Americans and the Russians succeed in wearing down the German defences and by April of 1945 the Russians are at the door of the German republic looking for their revenge. Hitler senses this impending defeat. With his country being overrun by U.S. forces on one side and Russians on the other he decides to, in his under ground bunker, to poison his German Shepard dog, have his new wife Eva Braun, whom he married only the day before, take poison as well and then shoots himself to death in the head with a revolver. He left orders to have his body burned in order that it not fall into the hands of the coming Russians who got to Berlin ahead of the Americans. The date was April 30, 1945. Two days after Mussolini was caught and killed and a little more than two weeks after F.D.R. died.