Second world war

Second World War

The Second World War took place between 1939 and 1945 and was the bloodiest conflict in human history. It split the world’s nations into two opposing military alliances. The Allies, led by Britain and her Empire, the United States, the Soviet Union and France, united against the Axis Powers of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan.

Background

After the First World War (1914-18) and the economic crises of the 1920s, aggressive nationalism began to emerge in Europe. Keen to reverse the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (1919) and reassert its dominance of Europe, Germany annexed Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia in 1938.

Economic turmoil had also brought about militaristic movements in the Japanese Empire. Seeking influence and resources, Japan launched an invasion of China in 1937.

3 September 1939

War breaks out in Europe

The British Empire and France declare war on Germany following its invasion of Poland.

4 September 1939

Battle of the Atlantic

The British embark on a long and bitter naval campaign against German U-boats threatening shipping in the Atlantic. It will be the longest campaign of the war.

May 1940

Battle of France

Germany invades France, Belgium and the Low Countries. The British forces deployed to Europe are forced to evacuate from Dunkirk. France surrenders soon after.

Summer 1940

Battle of Britain

Germany attempts to gain air control over the British Isles before invasion. The Luftwaffe are defeated by the Royal Air Force and the invasion is suspended indefinitely.

September 1940

The Blitz begins

Germany commences the strategic aerial bombing of British cities.

February 1941

German forces arrive in North Africa

German commander Erwin Rommel is dispatched to North Africa to support Italian forces facing defeat by the Allies.

April 1941

The Axis invade Yugoslavia and Greece

The German Army launches an assault to overthrow the recently established pro-Allied government in Yugoslavia and support the stalled Italian invasion of Greece.

June 1941

Operation Barbarossa

Hitler launches a surprise invasion of the Soviet Union, breaking a pact of non-aggression between the two nations.

The war expands

In July 1941, the Japanese sent troops to South-East Asia. This threatened British interests in the area and prompted the United States and Britain to establish an oil embargo against Japan. In retaliation, the Japanese launched a devastating attack on the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, drawing the United States into the war.

February 1942

Fall of Singapore

At Singapore, 80,000 Commonwealth troops are taken prisoner in Britain’s worst defeat of the war.

June 1942

Battle of Midway

The US Navy severely weakens Japanese naval power in the Pacific with a decisive victory at Midway.

March 1942

Combined Bomber Offensive

The Allies launch a strategic aerial bombing campaign against German cities.

Autumn 1942

Battle of Guadalcanal

The Unites States earns another significant victory over the Japanese and goes on the offensive in the Pacific.

November 1942

Operation Torch

British and American forces invade Vichy French-held Morocco and Algeria in order to help clear Axis forces from North Africa.

November 1942

Battle of El Alamein

After a series of battles in the desert, the British secure a decisive victory at El Alamein, forcing the Axis into retreat.

February 1943

Battle of Stalingrad

The Germans surrender at Stalingrad and the Soviet Red Army begins to push the Germans back towards Berlin.

World War II

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The main combatants were the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) and the Allies (France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China).

The war in the Pacific turned against Japan during the Battle of Midway (June 3–6, 1942), an American victory that destroyed the Japanese first-line carrier force and, together with the Battle of Guadalcanal, ended Japan’s ability to prosecute an offensive war.

The tide of the war in Europe shifted with the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad (February 1943). More than one million Soviet troops and tens of thousands of civilians died in the defense of the city, but the destruction of two entire German armies marked the beginning of the end of the Third Reich.

The Allied landings at Normandy on June 6, 1944, opened a second front in Europe, and Germany’s abortive offensive at the Ardennes in the winter of 1944–45 marked the Third Reich’s final push in the west. The Red Army advanced from the east and effectively claimed all the territory under its control for the Soviet sphere. The Allied armies converged on Berlin. Adolf Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945, and the war in Europe ended on May 8.

The American “island hopping” campaign had destroyed key Japanese installations throughout the Pacific while allowing bypassed islands to wither on the vine. Hundreds of thousands were killed in firebombings of Japanese cities, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 knocked Japan out of the war.

An estimated 40,000,000 to 50,000,000 people died during World War II. Among the Allied powers, the U.S.S.R. suffered the greatest total number of dead: perhaps 18,000,000. An estimated 5,800,000 Poles died, which was 20 percent of Poland’s prewar population. About 298,000 Americans died. Among the Axis powers, there were about 4,200,000 German deaths and about 1,972,000 Japanese deaths.

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World War II, also called Second World War, conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during the years 1939–45. The principal belligerents were the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies—France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China. The war was in many respects a continuation, after an uneasy 20-year hiatus, of the disputes left unsettled by World War I. The 40,000,000–50,000,000 deaths incurred in World War II make it the bloodiest conflict, as well as the largest war, in history.

Along with World War I, World War II was one of the great watersheds of 20th-century geopolitical history. It resulted in the extension of the Soviet Union’s power to nations of eastern Europe, enabled a communist movement to eventually achieve power in China, and marked the decisive shift of power in the world away from the states of western Europe and toward the United States and the Soviet Union.

Axis initiative and Allied reaction

The outbreak of war

By the early part of 1939 the German dictator Adolf Hitler had become determined to invade and occupy Poland. Poland, for its part, had guarantees of French and British military support should it be attacked by Germany. Hitler intended to invade Poland anyway, but first he had to neutralize the possibility that the Soviet Union would resist the invasion of its western neighbour. Secret negotiations led on August 23–24 to the signing of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact in Moscow. In a secret protocol of this pact, the Germans and the Soviets agreed that Poland should be divided between them, with the western third of the country going to Germany and the eastern two-thirds being taken over by the U.S.S.R.

World War II

Contents

After World War II, Europe was split into western and Soviet spheres of influence. Western Europe later aligned as NATO and Eastern Europe as the Warsaw Pact. There was a shift in power from Western Europe and the British Empire to the two post-war superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. These two rivals would later face off in the Cold War. In Asia, Japan’s defeat led to its democratization. China’s civil war continued into the 1950s, resulting eventually in the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. European colonies began their road to independence. Disgusted at the human cost of war, as people had been after World War I, a commitment to diplomacy to resolve differences was written into the charter of the new international body that replaced the failed League of Nations, the United Nations, which this time attracted U.S. support. The real effectiveness of this body has been subsequently compromised because member states act when it suits them, and sometimes by-pass it altogether. The victory, though, of the Allies over the Axis powers is usually regarded as having safeguarded democracy and freedom. The Holocaust represented one of the the most evil incidents in human history. Even still, the Allies cannot be said to have conducted the war according to the highest standards of combat, using mass bombings that provoked one leading British Bishop, George Bell (1883-1958) to withdraw his support for the just cause of the war.

Causes

Commonly held general causes for WWII are the rise of nationalism, militarism, and unresolved territorial issues. In Germany, resentment of the harsh Treaty of Versailles—specifically article 231 (the «Guilt Clause»), the belief in the Dolchstosslegende (that treachery had cost them WWI), and the onset of the Great Depression—fueled the rise to power of Adolf Hitler’s militarist National Socialist German Workers Party (the Nazi Party). Meanwhile, the treaty’s provisions were laxly enforced due to fear of another war. Closely related is the failure of the British and French policy of appeasement, which sought to avoid war but actually gave Hitler time to re-arm. The League of Nations proved to be ineffective.

War breaks out in Europe: 1939

In March 1939, when German armies entered Prague then occupied the remainder of Czechoslovakia, the Munich Agreement—which required Germany to peacefully resolve its claim to the Czech territory—collapsed. On May 19, Poland and France pledged to provide each other with military assistance in the event either was attacked. The British had already offered support to the Poles in March; then, on August 23, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The pact included a secret protocol which would divide eastern Europe into German and Soviet areas of interest. Each country agreed to allow the other a free hand in its area of influence, including military occupation. Hitler was now ready to go to war in order to conquer Poland. The signing of a new alliance between Britain and Poland on August 25, deterred him for only a few days.

Invasion of Poland

On September 17, Soviet troops occupied the eastern Poland, taking control of territory that Germany had agreed was in the Soviet sphere of influence. A day later the Polish president and commander-in-chief both fled to Romania. The last Polish units surrendered on October 6. Some Polish troops evacuated to neighboring countries. In the aftermath of the September Campaign, occupied Poland managed to create a powerful resistance movement and Poles made a significant contribution to the Allies’ cause for the duration of World War II.

After Poland fell, Germany paused to regroup during the winter of 1939-1940 until April 1940, while the British and French stayed on the defensive. The period was referred to by journalists as «the Phony War,» or the «Sitzkrieg,» because so little ground combat took place.

Battle of the Atlantic

Meanwhile in the North Atlantic, German U-boats operated against Allied shipping. The submarines made up in skill, luck, and daring what they lacked in numbers. One U-boat sank the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous, while another managed to sink the battleship HMS Royal Oak in its home anchorage of Scapa Flow. Altogether, U-boats sank more than 110 vessels in the first four months of the war.

In the South Atlantic, the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee raided Allied shipping, then was scuttled after the battle of the River Plate. About a year and a half later, another German raider, the battleship Bismarck, suffered a similar fate in the North Atlantic. Unlike the U-boat threat, which had a serious impact later in the war, German surface raiders had little impact because their numbers were so small.

War spreads: 1940

The Soviet Union attacked Finland on November 30, 1939, starting the Winter War. Finland surrendered to the Soviet Union in March 1940 and signed the Moscow Peace Treaty (1940) in which the Finns made territorial concessions. Later that year, in June the Soviet Union occupied Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, and annexed Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina from Romania.

Invasion of Denmark and Norway

Invasion of France and the Low Countries

In the first phase of the invasion, Fall Gelb (CACA), the Wehrmacht’s Panzergruppe von Kleist raced through the Ardennes, broke the French line at Sedan, then slashed across northern France to the English Channel, splitting the Allies in two. Meanwhile Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands fell quickly against the attack of German Army Group B. The BEF, encircled in the north, was evacuated from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo. On June 10, Italy joined the war, attacking France in the south. German forces then continued the conquest of France with Fall Rot (Case Red), advancing behind the Maginot Line and near the coast. France signed an armistice with Germany on June 22, 1940, leading to the establishment of the Vichy France puppet government in the unoccupied part of France.

Following the defeat of France, Britain chose to fight on, so Germany began preparations in summer of 1940 to invade Britain (Operation Sea Lion), while Britain made anti-invasion preparations. Germany’s initial goal was to gain air control over Britain by defeating the Royal Air Force (RAF). The war between the two air forces became known as the Battle of Britain. The Luftwaffe initially targeted RAF Fighter Command. The results were not as expected, so the Luftwaffe later turned to terror bombing London. The Germans failed to defeat the Royal Air Force, thus Operation Sea Lion was postponed and eventually canceled.

North African Campaign

Invasion of Greece

War becomes global: 1941

European theater

U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act on March 11. This program was the first large step away from American isolationism, providing for substantial assistance to the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and other countries.

Invasion of Greece and Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia’s government succumbed to the pressure of the Axis and signed the Tripartite Treaty on March 25, but the government was overthrown in a coup which replaced it with a pro-Allied government. This prompted the Germans to invade Yugoslavia on April 6. In the early morning, Germans bombarded Belgrade with an estimated 450 aircraft. Yugoslavia was occupied in a matter of days, and the army surrendered on April 17, but the partisan resistance lasted throughout the war. The rapid downfall of Yugoslavia, however, allowed German forces to enter Greek territory through the Yugoslav frontier. The 58,000 British and Commonwealth troops who had been sent to help the Greeks were driven back and soon forced to evacuate. On April 27, German forces entered Athens which was followed by the end of organized Greek resistance. The occupation of Greece proved costly, as guerilla warfare continually plagued the Axis occupiers.

Invasion of Soviet Union

Operation Barbarossa, the largest invasion in history, began June 22, 1941. An Axis force of over four million soldiers advanced rapidly deep into the Soviet Union, destroying almost the entire western Soviet army in huge battles of encirclement. The Soviets dismantled as much industry as possible ahead of the advancing forces, moving it to the Ural Mountains for reassembly. By late November, the Axis had reached a line at the gates of Leningrad, Moscow, and Rostov, at the cost of about 23 percent casualties. Their advance then ground to a halt. The German General Staff had underestimated the size of the Soviet army and its ability to draft new troops. They were now dismayed by the presence of new forces, including fresh Siberian troops under General Zhukov, and by the onset of a particularly cold winter. German forward units had advanced within distant sight of the golden onion domes of Moscow’s Saint Basil’s Cathedral, but then on December 5, the Soviets counter-attacked and pushed the Axis back some 150-250 kilometers (100-150 mi), which became the first major German defeat of World War II.

The Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union began on June 25, with Soviet air attacks shortly after the beginning of Operation Barbarossa.

The Atlantic Charter was a joint declaration by Churchill and Roosevelt, August 14, 1941.

In late December 1941, Churchill met Roosevelt again at the Arcadia Conference. They agreed that defeating Germany had priority over defeating Japan. The Americans proposed a 1942 cross-channel invasion of France which the British strongly opposed, suggesting instead a small invasion in Norway or landings in French North Africa.

Rommel’s forces advanced rapidly eastward, laying siege to the vital seaport of Tobruk. Two Allied attempts to relieve Tobruk were defeated, but a larger offensive at the end of the year drove Rommel back after heavy fighting.

On May 20, the Battle of Crete began when elite German parachute and glider-borne mountain troops launched a massive airborne invasion of the Greek island. Crete was defended by Greek and Commonwealth troops. The Germans attacked the island’s three airfields simultaneously. Their invasion on two airfields failed, but they successfully captured one, which allowed them to reinforce their position and capture the island in a little over one week.

Pacific theater

A war had begun in East Asia before World War II started in Europe. On July 7, 1937, Japan, after occupying Manchuria in 1931, launched another attack against China near Beijing. The Japanese made initial advances but were stalled at Shanghai. The city eventually fell to the Japanese and in December 1937, the capital city Nanking (now Nanjing) fell. As a result, the Chinese government moved its seat to Chongqing for the rest of the war. The Japanese forces committed brutal atrocities against civilians and prisoners of war when Nanking was occupied, slaughtering as many as 300,000 civilians within a month. The war by 1940 had reached a stalemate with both sides making minimal gains. The Chinese had successfully defended their land from oncoming Japanese on several occasions while strong resistance in areas occupied by the Japanese made a victory seem impossible to the Japanese.

Japan and the United States

In the summer of 1941, the United States began an oil embargo against Japan, which was a protest to Japan’s incursion into French Indo-China and the continued invasion of China. Japan planned an attack on Pearl Harbor to cripple the U.S. Pacific Fleet before consolidating oil fields in the Dutch East Indies. On December 7, a Japanese carrier fleet launched a surprise air attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The raid resulted in two U.S. battleships sunk, and six damaged but later repaired and returned to service. The raid failed to find any aircraft carriers and did not damage Pearl Harbor’s usefulness as a naval base. The attack strongly united public opinion in the United States against Japan. The following day, December 8, the United States declared war on Japan. On the same day, China officially declared war against Japan. Germany declared war on the United States on December 11, even though it was not obliged to do so under the Tripartite Pact. Hitler hoped that Japan would support Germany by attacking the Soviet Union. Japan did not oblige, and this diplomatic move by Hitler proved a catastrophic blunder which unified the American public’s support for the war.

Deadlock: 1942

European theater

In May, top Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich was assassinated by Allied agents in Operation Anthropoid. Hitler ordered severe reprisals.

On August 19, British and Canadian forces launched the Dieppe Raid (codenamed Operation Jubilee) on the German occupied port of Dieppe, France. The attack was a disaster but provided critical information utilized later in Operation Torch and Operation Overlord.

In the north, Soviets launched the Toropets-Kholm Operation January 9 to February 6 1942, trapping a German force near Andreapol. The Soviets also surrounded a German garrison in the Demyansk Pocket which held out with air supply for four months (February 8 until April 21), and established themselves in front of Kholm, Velizh and Velikie Luki.

In the south, Soviet forces launched an offensive in May against the German Sixth Army, initiating a bloody 17 day battle around Kharkov, which resulted in the loss of over 200,000 Red Army personnel.

Axis summer offensive

On June 28, the Axis began their summer offensive. German Army Group B planned to capture the city of Stalingrad, which would secure the German left while Army Group A planned to capture the southern oil fields. In the Battle of the Caucasus, fought in the late summer and fall of 1942, the Axis forces captured the oil fields.

After bitter street fighting which lasted for months, the Germans captured 90 percent of Stalingrad by November. The Soviets, however, had been building up massive forces on the flanks of Stalingrad. They launched Operation Uranus on November 19, with twin attacks that met at Kalach four days later and trapped the Sixth Army in Stalingrad. The Germans requested permission to attempt a break-out, which was refused by Hitler, who ordered Sixth Army to remain in Stalingrad where he promised they would be supplied by air until rescued. About the same time, the Soviets launched Operation Mars in a salient near the vicinity of Moscow. Its objective was to tie down Army Group Center and to prevent it from reinforcing Army Group South at Stalingrad.

In December, German relief forces got within 50 kilometers (30 mi) of the trapped Sixth Army before they were turned back by the Soviets. By the end of the year, the Sixth Army was in desperate condition, as the Luftwaffe was only able to supply about a sixth of the provisions needed. The battle ended in February 1943, when the Soviet forces succeeded in over-running the German positions.

The Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point in World War II and is considered the bloodiest battle in human history, with more combined casualties suffered than in any battle before. The battle was marked by brutality and disregard for military and civilian casualties on both sides. Total deaths are estimated to have approached 2.5 million. When it was over, the Axis powers had lost one fourth of their strength on that front.

Eastern North Africa

At the beginning of 1942, the Allied forces in North Africa were weakened by detachments to the Far East. Rommel once again attacked and recaptured Benghazi. Then he defeated the Allies at the Battle of Gazala, and captured Tobruk with several thousand prisoners and large quantities of supplies. Following up, he drove deep into Egypt but with overstretched forces.

The First Battle of El Alamein took place in July 1942. Allied forces had retreated to the last defensible point before Alexandria and the Suez Canal. The Afrika Korps, however, had outrun its supplies, and the defenders stopped its thrusts. The Second Battle of El Alamein occurred between October 23 and November 3. Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery was in command of the Commonwealth forces, now known as the British Eighth Army. The Eighth Army took the offensive and was ultimately triumphant. After the German defeat at El Alamein, the Axis forces made a successful strategic withdrawal to Tunisia.

Western North Africa

Pacific theater

On February 19, 1942, Roosevelt signed United States Executive Order 9066, leading to the internment of approximately 110,000 Japanese-Americans for the duration of the war.

In April, the Doolittle Raid, the first U.S. air raid on Tokyo, boosted morale in the U.S. and caused Japan to shift resources to homeland defense, but did little actual damage.

In early May, a Japanese naval invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea, was thwarted by Allied navies in the Battle of the Coral Sea. This was both the first successful opposition to a Japanese attack and the first battle fought between aircraft carriers.

On June 5, American carrier-based dive-bombers sank four of Japan’s best aircraft carriers in the Battle of Midway. Historians mark this battle as a turning point and the end of Japanese expansion in the Pacific. Cryptography played an important part in the battle, as the United States had broken the Japanese naval codes and knew the Japanese plan of attack.

In July, a Japanese overland attack on Port Moresby was led along the rugged Kokoda Track. An outnumbered and untrained Australian battalion defeated the 5,000-strong Japanese force, the first land defeat of Japan in the war and one of the most significant victories in Australian military history.

On August 7, United States Marines began the Battle of Guadalcanal. For the next six months, U.S. forces fought Japanese forces for control of the island. Meanwhile, several naval encounters raged in the nearby waters, including the Battle of Savo Island, Battle of Cape Esperance, Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, and Battle of Tassafaronga. In late August and early September, while battle raged on Guadalcanal, an amphibious Japanese attack on the eastern tip of New Guinea was met by Australian forces in the Battle of Milne Bay.

Japan launched a major offensive in China following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The aim of the offensive was to take the strategically important city of Changsha which the Japanese had failed to capture on two previous occasions. For the attack, the Japanese massed 120,000 soldiers under 4 divisions. The Chinese responded with 300,000 men, and soon the Japanese army was encircled and had to retreat.

War turns: 1943

European theater

After the surrender of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad on February 2, 1943, the Red Army launched eight offensives during the winter. Many were concentrated along the Don basin near Stalingrad, which resulted in initial gains until German forces were able to take advantage of the weakened condition of the Red Army and regain the territory it lost.

On July 4, the Wehrmacht launched a much-delayed offensive against the Soviet Union at the Kursk salient. Their intentions were known by the Soviets, and they hastened to defend the salient with an enormous system of earthwork defenses. Both sides massed their armor for what became a decisive military engagement. The Germans attacked from both the north and south of the salient and hoped to meet in the middle, cutting off the salient and trapping 60 Soviet divisions. The German offensive was ground down as little progress was made through the Soviet defenses. The Soviets then brought up their reserves, and the largest tank battle of the war occurred near the city of Prokhorovka. The Germans had exhausted their armored forces and could not stop the Soviet counter-offensive that threw them back across their starting positions.

Soviet fall and winter offensives

In August, Hitler agreed to a general withdrawal to the Dnieper line, and as September proceeded into October, the Germans found the Dnieper line impossible to hold as the Soviet bridgeheads grew. Important Dnieper towns started to fall, with Zaporozhye the first to go, followed by Dnepropetrovsk.

Early in November the Soviets broke out of their bridgeheads on either side of Kiev and recaptured the Ukrainian capital.

The First Ukrainian Front attacked at Korosten on Christmas Eve. The Soviet advance continued along the railway line until the 1939 Polish-Soviet border was reached.

In the north, the Nazis let Mussolini create what was effectively a puppet state, the Italian Social Republic or «Republic of Salò,» named after the new capital of Salò on Lake Garda.

Mid-1943 brought the fifth and final German Sutjeska offensive against the Yugoslav Partisans.

Pacific theater

On January 2, Buna, New Guinea was captured by the Allies. This ended the threat to Port Moresby. By January 22, 1943, the Allied forces had achieved their objective of isolating Japanese forces in eastern New Guinea and cutting off their main line of supply.

American authorities declared Guadalcanal secure on February 9. Australian and U.S. forces undertook the prolonged campaign to retake the occupied parts of the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and the Dutch East Indies, experiencing some of the toughest resistance of the war. The rest of the Solomon Islands were retaken in 1943.

In November, U.S. Marines won the Battle of Tarawa. This was the first heavily opposed amphibious assault in the Pacific theater. The high casualties taken by the Marines sparked off a storm of protest in the United States, where the large losses could not be understood for such a tiny and seemingly unimportant island.

A vigorous, fluctuating battle for Changde in China’s Hunan province began on November 2, 1943. The Japanese threw over 100,000 men into the attack on the city, which changed hands several times in a few days but ended up still held by the Chinese. Overall, the Chinese ground forces were compelled to fight a war of defense and attrition while they built up their armies and awaited an Allied counteroffensive.

South East Asia

The Nationalist Kuomintang Army, under Chiang Kai-shek, and the Communist Chinese Army, under Mao Zedong, both opposed the Japanese occupation of China but never truly allied against the Japanese. Conflict between Nationalist and Communist forces emerged long before the war; it continued after and, to an extent, even during the war, though more implicitly. The Japanese and its auxiliary Indian National Army had captured most of Burma, severing the Burma Road by which the Western Allies had been supplying the Chinese Nationalists. This forced the Allies to create a large sustained airlift, known as «flying the Hump.» U.S.-led and trained Chinese divisions, a British division and a few thousand U.S. ground troops cleared the Japanese forces from northern Burma so that the Ledo Road could be built to replace the Burma Road.

Beginning of the end: 1944

European theater

In the north, a Soviet offensive in January 1944, had relieved the siege of Leningrad. The Germans conducted an orderly retreat from the Leningrad area to a shorter line based on the lakes to the south.

In the south, in March, two Soviet fronts encircled Generaloberst Hans-Valentin Hube’s German First Panzer Army north of the Dniestr river. The Germans escaped the pocket in April, saving most of their men but losing their heavy equipment.

In early May, the Red Army’s 3rd Ukrainian Front engaged German Seventeenth Army of Army Group South which had been left behind after the German retreat from the Ukraine. The battle was a complete victory for the Red Army, and a botched evacuation effort across the Black Sea led to over 250,000 German and Romanian casualties.

During April 1944, a series of attacks by the Red Army near the city of Iaşi, Romania was aiming at capturing the strategically important sector. The German-Romanian forces successfully defended the sector throughout the month of April. The attack aiming at Târgul Frumos was the final attempt by the Red Army to achieve its goal of having a spring-board into Romania for a summer offensive.

With Soviet forces approaching, German troops occupied Hungary on March 20, as Hitler thought that the Hungarian leader, Admiral Miklós Horthy, might no longer be a reliable ally.

Finland sought a separate peace with Stalin in February 1944, but the terms offered were unacceptable. On June 9, the Soviet Union began the Fourth strategic offensive on the Karelian Isthmus that after three months would force Finland to accept an armistice.

Soviet summer offensive

Operation Bagration, a Soviet offensive involving 2.5 million men and 6,000 tanks, was launched on June 22, and was intended to clear German troops from Belarus. The subsequent battle resulted in the destruction of German Army Group Center and over 800,000 German casualties, the greatest defeat for the Wehrmacht during the war. The Soviets swept forward, reaching the outskirts of Warsaw on July 31.

Soviet fall and winter offensives

After the destruction of Army Group Center, the Soviets attacked German forces in the South in mid-July 1944 and in a month’s time cleared the Ukraine of German presence.

The Red Army’s 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts engaged German Heeresgruppe Südukraine, which consisted of German and Romanian formations, in an operation to occupy Romania and destroy the German formations in the sector. The result of the battle was complete victory for the Red Army, and a switch of Romania from the Axis to the Allied camp.

In October 1944 General der Artillerie Maximilian Fretter-Pico’s Sixth Army encircled and destroyed three corps of Marshal Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky’s Group Pliyev near Debrecen, Hungary. This was to be the last German victory in the Eastern front.

The Red Army’s 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Baltic Fronts engaged German Army Group Center and Army Group North to capture the Baltic region from the Germans. The result of the series of battles was a permanent loss of contact between Army Groups North and Center, and the creation of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.

From December 29, 1944, to February 13, 1945, Soviet forces laid siege to Budapest, which was defended by German Waffen-SS and Hungarian forces. It was one of the bloodiest sieges of the war.

The proximity of the Red Army led the Poles in Warsaw to believe they would soon be liberated. On August 1, they rose in revolt as part of the wider Operation Tempest. Nearly 40,000 Polish resistance fighters seized control of the city. The Soviets however stopped outside the city and gave the Poles no assistance, as German army units moved into the city to put down the revolt. The resistance ended on October 2. German units then destroyed most of what was left of the city.

Allied invasion of Western Europe

Operation Market Garden

Allied paratroopers attempted a fast advance into the Netherlands with Operation Market Garden in September but were repulsed. Logistical problems were starting to plague the Allies’ advance west as the supply lines still ran back to the beaches of Normandy. A decisive victory by the Canadian First Army in the Battle of the Scheldt secured the entrance to the port of Antwerp, freeing it to receive supplies by late November 1944.

German winter offensive

In December 1944, the German Army made its last major offensive in the West, known as the Battle of the Bulge. Hitler sought to drive a wedge between the western Allies, causing them to agree to a favorable armistice, after which Germany could concentrate all its efforts on the Eastern front and have a chance to defeat the Soviets. The mission was doomed to failure, since the Allies had no intention of granting an armistice under any conditions. At first, the Germans scored successes against the unprepared Allied forces. Poor weather during the initial days of the offensive favored the Germans because it grounded Allied aircraft. However, with clearing skies allowing Allied air supremacy to resume, the German failure to capture Bastogne, and with the arrival of the United States Third Army, the Germans were forced to retreat back into Germany. The offensive was defeated but was the bloodiest battle in U.S. military history.

Italy and the Balkans

During the winter the Allies tried to force the Gustav line on the southern Apennines of Italy but they could not break enemy lines until the landing of Anzio on January 22, 1944, on the southern coast of Latium, named Operation Shingle. Only after some months was the Gustav line broken and the Allies marched towards the north of the peninsula. On June 4, Rome fell to Allies, and the Allied army reached Florence in August, then stopped along the Gothic Line on the Tuscan Apennines during the winter.

Germany withdrew from the Balkans and held Hungary until February 1945.

Romania turned against Germany in August 1944 and Bulgaria surrendered in September.

Pacific theater

The American advance continued in the southwest Pacific with the capture of the Marshall Islands before the end of February. 42,000 U.S. Army soldiers and Marines landed on Kwajalein atoll on January 31. Fierce fighting occurred and the island was taken on February 6. U.S. Marines next defeated the Japanese in the Battle of Eniwetok.

The main objective was the Marianas, especially Saipan and to a lessor extent, Guam. The Japanese in both places were strongly entrenched. On June 11, Saipan was bombarded from the sea and a landing made four days later; it was captured by July 9. The Japanese committed much of their declining naval strength in the Battle of the Philippine Sea but suffered severe losses in both ships and aircraft and after the battle the Japanese aircraft carrier force was no longer militarily effective. With the capture of Saipan, Japan was finally within range of B-29 bombers.

Throughout 1944 American submarines and aircraft attacked Japanese merchant shipping, depriving Japan’s industry of the raw materials it had gone to war to obtain. The effectiveness of this stranglehold increased as U.S. Marines captured islands closer to the Japanese mainland. In 1944 submarines sank three million tons of shipping while the Japanese were only able to replace less than one million tons.

In April 1944, the Japanese launched Operation Ichigo whose aim was to secure the railway route across Japanese occupied territories of North East China and Korea and those in South East Asia and to destroy airbases in the area which serviced USAAF aircraft. In June 1944, the Japanese deployed 360,000 troops to invade Changsha for the fourth time. The Operation involved more Japanese troops than any other campaign in the Sino-Japanese war and after 47 days of bitter fighting, the city was taken but at a very high cost. By November, the Japanese had taken the cities of Guilin and Liuzhou which served as USAAF airbases from which it conducted bombing raids on Japan. However, despite having destroyed the airbases in this region, the USAAF could still strike at the Japanese main islands from newly acquired bases in the Pacific. By December, the Japanese forces reached French Indochina and achieved the purpose of the operation but only after incurring heavy losses.

South East Asia

In March 1944, the Japanese began their «march to Delhi» by crossing the border from Burma into India. On March 30, they attacked the town of Imphal which involved some of the most ferocious fighting of the war. The Japanese soon ran out of supplies and withdrew resulting in a loss of 85,000 men, one of the largest Japanese defeats of the war. The Anglo-Indian forces were constantly re-supplied by the RAF.

End of the war: 1945

European theater

On January 12, the Red Army was ready for its next big offensive. Konev’s armies attacked the Germans in southern Poland, expanding out from their Vistula River bridgehead near Sandomierz. January 14, Rokossovsky’s armies attacked from the Narew River north of Warsaw. They broke the defenses covering East Prussia. Zhukov’s armies in the center attacked from their bridgeheads near Warsaw. The German front was now in shambles.

Zhukov took Zhukov took Warsaw on January 17, and Lódz on the 19th. The same day, his forces reached the German pre-war border. At the end of the first week of the offensive the Soviets had penetrated 100 miles deep on a front that was 400 miles wide. By February 13, the Soviets took Budapest. The Soviet onslaught finally halted at the end of January only 40 miles from Berlin, on the Oder river.

At the Yalta Conference (February 1945), Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt made arrangements for post-war Europe. Many important resolutions were made:

The Red Army (including 78,556 soldiers of the 1st Polish Army) began its final assault on Berlin on April 16. By this point, the German Army was in full retreat and Berlin had already been battered due to preliminary air bombings.

By April 24, the three Soviet army groups had completed the encirclement of the city. Hitler had sent the main German forces which were supposed to defend the city to the south as he believed that was the region where the Soviets would launch their spring offensive and not in Berlin. As a final resistance effort, Hitler called for civilians, including teenagers, to fight the oncoming Red Army in the Volkssturm militia. Those forces were augmented by the battered German remnants that had fought the Soviets in Seelow Heights. But even then the fighting was heavy, with house-to-house and hand-to-hand combat. The Soviets sustained 305,000 dead; the Germans sustained as many as 325,000, including civilians. Hitler and his staff moved into the Führerbunker, a concrete bunker beneath the Chancellery, where on April 30, 1945, he committed suicide, along with his bride, Eva Braun.

The Allies resumed their advance into Germany once the Battle of the Bulge officially ended on January 27, 1945. The final obstacle to the Allies was the river Rhine which was crossed in late March 1945.

Once the Allies had crossed the Rhine, the British fanned out northeast towards Hamburg crossing the river Elbe and on towards Denmark and the Baltic. The U.S. Ninth Army went south as the northern pincer of the Ruhr encirclement and the U.S. First Army went north as the southern pincer of the Ruhr encirclement. On April 4 the encirclement was completed and the German Army Group B commanded by Field Marshal Walther Model was trapped in the Ruhr Pocket and 300,000 soldiers became POWs. The Ninth and First U.S. armies then turned east and then halted their advance at the Elbe river where they met up with the Soviet forces in mid-April, letting them take Berlin.

Allied advances in the winter of 1944-45 up the Italian peninsula had been slow due the troop re-deployments to France. But by April 9, the British/American 15th Army Group which was composed of the U.S. Fifth Army and the British Eighth Army broke through the Gothic Line and attacked the Po Valley, gradually enclosing the main German forces. Milan was taken by the end of April and the U.S. 5th Army continued to move west and linked up with French units while the British 8th Army advanced towards Trieste and made contact with the Yugoslav partisans.

A few days before the surrender of German troops in Italy, Italian partisans intercepted a party of Fascists trying to make their escape to Switzerland. Hiding underneath a pile of coats was Mussolini. The whole party, including Mussolini’s mistress, Clara Petacci, were summarily shot on April 28, 1945. Their bodies were taken to Milan and hung up on public display, upside down.

Admiral Karl Dönitz became leader of the German government after the death of Hitler, but the German war effort quickly disintegrated. German forces in Berlin surrendered the city to the Soviet troops on May 2, 1945.

German forces in Italy surrendered May 2, 1945 at General Alexander’s headquarters and German forces in northern Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands surrendered on May 4; and the German High Command under Generaloberst Alfred Jodl surrendered unconditionally all remaining German forces on May 7 in Reims, France. The western Allies celebrated «V-E Day» on May 8.

The Soviet Union celebrated «Victory Day» on May 9. Some remnants of German Army Group Center continued resistance until May 11 or 12.

The last Allied conference of World War II was held at the suburb of Potsdam, outside Berlin, from July 17 to August 2. The Potsdam Conference saw agreements reached between the Allies on policies for occupied Germany. An ultimatum was issued calling for the unconditional surrender of Japan.

Pacific theater

In January the U.S. Sixth Army landed on Luzon, the main island of the Philippines. Manila was re-captured by March. U.S. capture of islands such as Iwo Jima in February and Okinawa (April through June) brought the Japanese homeland within easier range of naval and air attack. Amongst dozens of other cities, Tokyo was firebombed, and about 90,000 people died from the initial attack. The dense living conditions around production centers and the wooden residential constructions contributed to the large loss of life. In addition, the ports and major waterways of Japan were extensively mined by air in Operation Starvation which seriously disrupted the logistics of the island nation.

The last major offensive in the South West Pacific Area was the Borneo campaign of mid-1945, which was aimed at further isolating the remaining Japanese forces in South East Asia and securing the release of Allied prisoners of war.

South East Asia

In South-East Asia, from August 1944, to November 1944, British 14th Army pursued the Japanese to the Chindwin River in Burma after their failed attack on India. The British Commonwealth forces launched a series of offensive operations back into Burma during late 1944 and the first half of 1945. On May 2, 1945, Rangoon, the capital city of Myanmar (Burma) was taken in Operation Dracula. The planned amphibious assault on the western side of Malaya was canceled after the dropping of the atomic bombs and Japanese forces in South-East Asia surrendered soon afterwards.

Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The U.S. military and political chiefs had decided to use their new super-weapon to bring the war to a speedy end. The battle for Okinawa had shown that an invasion of the Japanese mainland (planned for November), seen as an Okinawa type operation on a far larger scale, would result in more casualties than the United States had suffered so far in all theaters since the war began.

On August 6, 1945, the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, piloted by Col. Paul Tibbets, dropped a nuclear weapon named «Little Boy» on Hiroshima, destroying the city. After the destruction of Hiroshima, the United States again called upon Japan to surrender. No response was made, and accordingly on August 9, the B-29 BOCKS CAR, piloted by Maj. Charles Sweeney, dropped a second atomic bomb named «Fat Man» on Nagasaki.

Soviet invasion of Manchuria

On August 8, two days after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the Soviet Union, having renounced its nonaggression pact with Japan, attacked the Japanese in Manchuria, fulfilling its Yalta pledge to attack the Japanese within three months after the end of the war in Europe. The attack was made by three Soviet army groups. In less than two weeks the Japanese army in Manchuria consisting of over a million men had been destroyed by the Soviets. The Red Army moved into North Korea on August 18. Korea was subsequently divided at the 38th parallel into Soviet and U.S. zones.

The American use of atomic weapons against Japan prompted Emperor Hirohito to bypass the existing government and intervene to end the war. The entry of the Soviet Union to the war may have also played a part, but in his radio address to the nation Emperor Hirohito did not mention it as a major reason for his country’s surrender.

The Japanese surrendered on August 15, 1945 (V-J day), signing the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on September 2, 1945, aboard the USS Missouri (BB-63) anchored in Tokyo Bay. The Japanese troops in China formally surrendered to the Chinese on September 9, 1945. This did not fully end the war, however, as Japan and the Soviet Union never signed a peace agreement. In the last days of the war, the Soviet Union occupied the southern Kuril Islands, an area claimed by the Soviets and still contested by Japan.

World War Two: Religious Aspects

World War II was declared to be a just war by many church leaders in the Allied nations. Support for the just cause of the war, though, was famously withdrawn by Church of England Bishop George Bell of Chichester following the mass bombing of Dresen. This is said to have cost him the most senior appointment in the Anglican Church, as Archbishop of Canterbury. It has even been suggested that World War II is the definitive example of a just war. In Germany, Hitler attempted to bring state and church policy together with his German Christian church, combining religious and Teutonic symbolism and deifying his concept of the superiority of the German race. Many supported this arguing that God spoke through Hitler and nature just as God speaks though scripture. A minority, the Confessing Church, led by Martin Niemoeller, opposed Hitler. Bishop Bell was very close to the Confessing Church and met with Dietrich Bonhoeffer one of its leading members, who was executed for plotting against Hitler. While the Confessing Church denounced what they saw as Hitler-worship they failed to condemn the «Final Solution» although they did protest against Hitler’s Jewish policy. For many theologians, issues raised by some of the atrocities of World War II remain a matter of profound concern, since they illustrate the human potential for utter evil. The scale of involvement in mass murder begs the question whether many felt that they had no choice but to comply with orders, or whether they really believed that Jews should be exterminated. Jewish thought especially would be transformed in the post-Holocaust world, in which the questions «why» and «where was God» loom large.

Aftermath

At the end of the war, millions of refugees were homeless, the European economy had collapsed, and 70 percent of the European industrial infrastructure was destroyed.

Partitioning of Germany and Austria

Germany was partitioned into four zones of occupation. An Allied Control Council was created to co-ordinate the zones. The original divide of Germany was between America, Soviet Union, and Britain. Stalin agreed to give France a zone but it had to come from the American or British zones and not the Soviet zone. The American, British, and French zones joined in 1949 as the Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic.

Austria was once again separated from Germany and it, too, was divided into four zones of occupation, which eventually reunited and became the Republic of Austria.

Germany paid reparations to France, Britain and Russia, in the form of dismantled factories, forced labor, and shipments of coal. The U.S. settled for confiscating German patents and German owned property in the U.S., mainly subsidiaries of German companies.

In accordance with the Paris Peace Treaties, 1947, payment of war reparations was assessed from the countries of Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland.

The initial occupation plans proposed by the United States were harsh. The Morgenthau Plan of 1944 called for dividing Germany into two independent nations and stripping her of the industrial resources required for war. All heavy industry was to be dismantled or destroyed, the main industrial areas (Upper Silesia, Saar, Ruhr, and the German speaking parts of Alsace-Lorraine), were to be annexed.

While the Morgenthau Plan itself was never implemented per se, its general economic philosophy did end up greatly influencing events. Most notable were the toned-down offshoots, including the Potsdam Conference, Joint Chiefs of Staff Directive 1067 (April 1945-July 1947), and the industrial plans for Germany.

Germany had long been the industrial giant of Europe, and its poverty held back the general European recovery. The continued scarcity in Germany also led to considerable expenses for the occupying powers, which were obligated to try and make up the most important shortfalls. Learning a lesson from the aftermath of World War I when no effort was made to systematically rebuild Europe, and when Germany was treated as a pariah, the United States made a bold decision to help reconstruct Europe. Secretary of State George Marshall proposed the «European Recovery Program,» better known as the Marshall Plan, which called for the U.S. Congress to allocate billions of dollars for the reconstruction of Europe. Also as part of the effort to rebuild global capitalism and spur post-war reconstruction, the Bretton Woods system for international money management was put into effect after the war.

Border revisions and population shifts

As a result of the new borders drawn by the victorious nations, large populations suddenly found themselves in hostile territory. The main benefactor of these border revisions was the Soviet Union, which expanded its borders at the expense of Germany, Finland, Poland, and Japan. Poland was compensated for its losses to the Soviet Union by receiving most of Germany east of the Oder-Neisse line, including the industrial regions of Silesia. The German state of the Saar temporarily became a protectorate of France but it later returned to German administration.

The number of Germans expelled totaled roughly 15 million, including 11 million from Germany proper and 3,500,000 from the Sudetenland.

Germany officially states that 2,100,000 of these expelled lost their lives due to violence on the part of the Russians, Polish, and Czech, though Polish and Czech historians dispute this figure.

Because the League of Nations had failed to actively prevent the war, in 1945 a new international body was considered and then created: The United Nations.

The UN operates within the parameters of the United Nations Charter, and the reason for the UN’s formation is outlined in the Preamble to the United Nations Charter. Unlike its predecessor, the United Nations has taken a more active role in the world, such as fighting diseases and providing humanitarian aid to nations in distress. The UN also served as the diplomatic front line during the Cold War.

The UN also was responsible for the initial creation of the modern state of Israel in 1948, in part as a response to the Holocaust.

Casualties, civilian impact, and atrocities

Possibly 62 million people lost their lives in World War II—about 25 million soldiers and 37 million civilians, with estimates varying widely. This total includes the estimated 12 million lives lost due to The Holocaust. Of the total deaths in World War II, approximately 80 percent were on the Allied side and 20 percent on the Axis side.

Allied forces suffered approximately 17 million military deaths, of which about 10 million were Soviet and 4 million Chinese. Axis forces suffered about 8 million, of which more than 5 million were German. The Soviet Union suffered by far the largest death toll of any nation in the war; perhaps 23 million Soviets died in total, of which more than 12 million were civilians. The figures include deaths due to internal Soviet actions against its own people. The statistics available for Soviet and Chinese casualties are only rough guesses, as they are poorly documented. Some modern estimates double the amount of Chinese casualties.

The Holocaust was the organized murder of at least nine million people, about two-thirds of whom were Jewish. Originally, the Nazis used killing squads, Einsatzgruppen, to conduct massive open-air killings, shooting as many as 33,000 people in a single massacre, as in the case of Babi Yar. By 1942, the Nazi leadership decided to implement the Final Solution (Endlösung), the genocide of all Jews in Europe, and increase the pace of the Holocaust. The Nazis built six extermination camps specifically to kill Jews. Millions of Jews who had been confined to massively overcrowded Ghettos were transported to these «Death-camps» where they were gassed or shot, usually immediately after arriving.

Concentration camps, labor camps and internment

In addition to the Nazi concentration camps, the Soviet Gulag or labor camps, led to the death of many citizens of occupied countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, as well as German prisoners of war and even Soviet citizens themselves: opponents of Stalin’s regime and large proportions of some ethnic groups (particularly Chechens). Japanese POW camps also had high death rates; many were used as labor camps, and starvation conditions among the mainly U.S. and Commonwealth prisoners were little better than many German concentration camps. Sixty percent (1,238,000) of Soviet POWs died during the war. Vadim Erlikman puts it at 2.6 million Soviet POWs that died in German Captivity.

Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of Japanese North Americans were interned by the U.S. and Canadian governments. Though these camps did not involve heavy labor, forced isolation and sub-standard living conditions were the norm.

War crimes and attacks on civilians

From 1945 to 1951, German and Japanese officials and personnel were prosecuted for war crimes. Top German officials were tried at the Nuremberg Trials and many Japanese officials at the Tokyo War Crime Trial and other war crimes trials in the Asia-Pacific region.

None of the alleged Allied war crimes such as the bombing of Dresden, the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or the alleged Red Army atrocities on the Eastern front were ever prosecuted.

Resistance and collaboration

Resistance during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation, disinformation, and propaganda to outright warfare.

Among the most notable resistance movements were the Polish Home Army, the French Maquis, and the Yugoslav Partisans. Germany itself also had an anti-Nazi movement. The Communist resistance was among the fiercest since they were already organized and militant even before the war and they were ideologically opposed to the Nazis.

Before D-Day there were also many operations performed by the French Resistance to help with the forthcoming invasion. Communications lines were cut, trains derailed, roads, water towers, and ammunition depots were destroyed and some German garrisons were attacked.

Although Great Britain did not suffer invasion in World War II, the British made preparations for a British resistance movement, called the Auxiliary Units. Various organizations were also formed to establish foreign resistance cells or support existing resistance movements, like the British SOE and the American OSS.

The home fronts

«Home front» is the name given to the activities of the civilians of a nation that is in a state of total war.

In the United Kingdom, women joined the work force doing jobs that were typically reserved for men. Food, clothing, petrol, and other items were rationed. Access to luxuries was severely restricted, though there was also a significant black market. Families grew small home vegetable gardens to supply themselves with food, and the Women’s Land Army recruited or conscripted over 80,000 women to work on farms. Civilians also served as Air Raid Wardens, volunteer emergency services, and other critical functions. Schools and organizations held scrap drives and money collections to help the war effort. Many things were conserved to turn into weapons later, such as fat to turn into nitroglycerin.

In the United States and Canada women also joined the workforce. In the United States these women were called «Rosies» for Rosie the Riveter. President Roosevelt stated that the efforts of civilians at home to support the war through personal sacrifice were as critical to winning the war as the efforts of the soldiers themselves. In Canada, the government established three military compartments for women: the CWAAF (Canadian Women’s Auxiliary Air Force), CWAC (Canadian Women’s Army Corps) and WRCNS (Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Services).

In Germany, until 1943 there were few restrictions on civilian activities. Most goods were freely available. This was due in large part to the reduced access to certain luxuries already experienced by German civilians prior to the beginning of hostilities; the war made some less available, but many were in short supply to begin with. It was not until comparatively late in the war that the civilian population was effectively organized to support the war effort. For example, women’s labor was not mobilized as thoroughly as in the United Kingdom or the United States. Foreign slave labor substituted for the men who served in the armed forces.

American production was the major factor in keeping the Allies better supplied than the Axis. For example, in 1943 the United States produced 369 warships (1.01/day). In comparison, Japan produced 122 warships, and Germany only built three. The United States also succeeded in rebuilding the Merchant Marine, reducing the build time of a Liberty or Victory ship from 105 days to 56 days. Much of this improved efficiency came from technological advances in shipbuilding. Hull plates were being welded rather than bolted, plastics were beginning to take the place of certain metals, and modular construction was being used.

Technologies

Weapons and technology improved rapidly during World War II and played a crucial role in determining the outcome of the war. Many major technologies were used for the first time, including nuclear weapons, radar, jet engines, and electronic computers. Enormous advances were made in aircraft, and tank design such that models coming into use at the beginning of the war were long obsolete by its end.

More new inventions, as measured in the U.S. by numbers of patent applications and weapon contracts issued to private contractors, were deployed to the task of killing humans more effectively and to a lesser degree, avoiding being killed, than ever before.

The massive research and development demands of the war had a great impact on the growth of the scientific community. After the war ended, these developments led to new sciences like cybernetics and computer science, and created entire new institutions of weapons design.

References

External links

All links retrieved October 10, 2020.

Credits

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World War 2: Battle Combat FPS 17+

Online Gun Shooting Games

Edkon games GmbH

Designed for iPad

Screenshots

Description

Play free mobile ww2 shooter game now to gain real shooting games experience.

If you like war games with World War setting you will definately need to play this game. Stanning graphics, exciting gameplay, lots of historic weapons and armor give you ability to plunge into the world of heroes.

You can choose several action games such as Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch, Capture point, Arm Race, Knives only and even Bomb mode.
Use various FPS strategies on different maps, be smart and don’t forget about tactics.

Create your own clan or squad so you can achieve victory in easiest way. Play PvP online battles or create your own closed battle room. So invite friends and the leaderboard top!

Complete quests, contracts and achievements in our cool shooting game. Fight against shooter players from all over the world in shooting FPS game.

Support
Once you have any questions or concerns, please contact our customer service at info@edkongames.com

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Attention! The game requires a stable internet connection

What’s New

New update is going to be live on March 17:
— Assault rifle Breda M1935 PG
— Sub-machine gun Suomi
— De Lisle carbine
— Walther automatic shotgun
And of course new Season 5:
— New weapon Suomi
— 600 Paratrooper specialization points
And many other prizes!

Ratings and Reviews

Great game, but it’s money equals power

Update to do list and rating.

I find this game good but they needed updates. First, add walking animation of your character when you move the joystick to the closest middle. Second, Add a move crouch animation to it. Third, add the Mosin Nagat Rifle. Fourth, add the PPS-43 and add a foldable option to it. Fifth, add the El Alamein map for tanks as kill streaks. Sixth, add some carbines. Seventh, add more skins like the Romanian, the Hungarian, the Bulgarian, the Indian, the Manchuria, the Australian and finally the New Zealand skins. Eighth, add more weapons that are made in Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria. Ninth, add more machine guns. Tenth, give weapons a realistic shooting sound effect like the ones from Battlefield 5. Eleventh, add the prone/crawl button for full cover. And finally, add more grenades such as the Mills bomb, and the F1 French grenade and many others.

I find this game awesome but it needs more and more updates to look like a mobile playable Battlefield 5.

Ok game for now

This game is actually not that bad, it’s fun, no stupid skins and lots of different factions but I have a few problems
1: the maps are VERY TINY. Some of the maps are extremely small for no reason, the Paris map and railroad map are pretty good sized but the Okinawa map and Normandy map are extremely small, for Normandy the US team should spawn on the beach and have to take charge the bunkers to make it actually like d day and for Okinawa the little village in the background on the cliff should be part of the map and the Japanese spawn there while the Americans spawn on beach,
2: actually factions, it makes no sense that there are Japanese soldiers in France so you can only fight as Japanese soldiers on maps in the pacific and you can only fight as US, British and France on maps in the eastern front and Russian, Romanian or Hungarian soldiers in the East and Germany only in Europe and Africa same as Italy, just would make the game more immersive. Add Greek soldiers and a map that takes place in Italian invasion of Greece

Thanks for your feedback! We will take your comment into account.

WW2: World War Strategy Games 9+

Warpath of World War 2 battle

wu zheyu

Screenshots

Description

Make your own history!
One of the best World War II strategy games. Conquer the World War II!

Tactical simulation game of WW2. War is about to begin. Lead your army and conquer the world!
Terrain and generals, arms, troops with any combination, so that all strategy can become possible!

Build the strongest forces! Occupation of all resources! Win twe World War 2!
Classic military wargame, with turn-based operation! Play as a WW2 warfare commander, choose camp, take part in all the famous battles in human history campaigns of WW2! Using kinds of tactics, defend invasion, confront the enemy head on, through a series of battle command, lead your army to the final victory!

>>Simulation & Strategy
It’s a perfect fusion of sandbox simulator,turn-based strategy, and military tactics gameplay. Omni-directional display of World War II themes. Restore the Real world conflict in 1939

1945 and reproduce the environment of world war 2 for you.

>>Build Military Layout
Powerful firepower weapon provide: Cavalry, infantry, navy, armored artillery, tank, vehicles, submarine, battleship, heavy cruiser, destroyer……and so on appeared in the WW2.
Gain experience in every combat. Grow your army by resources from conquered territories. Various of combat units give more complex battlefield situation!
Turn-based strategy game need more patience and tactics. You need to arrange arm within each turn, offensive or defensive.

>>World Generals
Provide famous historical generals with different attributes and special skills like Rommel, Goodrian, Manstein, Montgomery, Dowding, Cunningham.

>>Tactics & Collocations
30+ Historical Campaigns: Normandy Landing, Operation Market Garden
2 Warfare Conflict Camps: Allies faction and ally Axis
30+ large battlefield maps are provide in new version
Omni-directional combat space: naval battle, air combat, land battle.

>>Make your own history
Finish battles then open and explore more famous battlefields. Every army can gain battle experience and when they become elite forces, their battle effectiveness will be greatly improved.World pattern changes over time. Everyone can rewrite history and establish a powerful armys, making history in this war game!

Do you have interest in the history of WW2? Share this turn-based war game with your friends of WW2 military fans, play this strategy game together! Enjoy this tactics sandbox games and help you exercise strategy layout ability!

Special thanks to the guys who help us a lot in this version.

Welcome to subscribe! We will continue to provide you with important information about WW2 games there!

Call of War: WW2 Strategy 12+

World War 2 Multiplayer Game

Bytro Labs GmbH

Screenshots

Description

The 2nd World War: Tank clashes, Naval battles, Air combat. In Call of War you rewrite the course of history!

Take over the control of one of the mighty nations during the times of World War 2. Conquer provinces, forge alliances and build up your economy. Research top secret weapons of World War 2 and become the one true superpower! Intelligent alliances
or ruthless expansion, wonder weapons or mass assault? It is up to you which way you choose!

For fans of realistic grand-strategy titles Call of War offers a huge gameplay environment, many different functions and units to choose from. Jump into matches, battle it out over weeks and become the rank leader in this addictive WW2 game.

FEATURES
— Up to 100 real opponents per map
— Units move in real-time
— Many different maps and scenarios
— Historically accurate troops
— Huge Tech tree with over 120 different units
— Different terrain types
— Atomic bombs and secret weapons
— Regular updates with new content
— Growing alliances in a huge community

Join the race for the best strategy game, jump into WW2 and test yourself against real players in real time on historical maps!

Enjoy Call of War? Learn more about Call of War and share your experiences with us!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/callofwargame/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/callofwar1942
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/callofwar1942/

Call of War is free to download and play. Some game items can also be purchased for real money. If you do not want to use this feature, please set up password protection for purchases in the settings of your app.

The Second World War

On 3 September 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany. This speech by Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, was broadcast on the radio that day, informing the British people of the war.

On 3 September 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany. This speech by Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, was broadcast on the radio that day, informing the British people of the war.

The Nazis’ persecution of the Jews predated the Second World War. However, Nazi policy towards the Jews became genocidal during the course of the Second World War. The war not only brought far more Jews under Nazi control, but allowed the Nazis and their collaborators to disguise, in part, their horrific and murderous actions in the camps and behind the front lines.

This section will give a brief overview of the main events in the Second World War. An understanding of the scale and timeline of the war is vital to understanding the context in which the Holocaust took place.

Causes of the Second World War

The causes of the Second World War are neither singular or straightforward. This section will explore the primary causes which led to the outbreak of war in 1939.

Germany’s foreign policy

Germany’s aggressive foreign policy was not the sole cause of the Second World War, but it was a large contributing factor.

From 1935 onwards, Germany had actively pursued an aggressive foreign policy: reintroducing conscription, creating the Luftwaffe, planning for war as detailed in the Hossbach Memorandum of 1937, and occupying Austria, the Sudetenland, and Czechoslovakia before eventually invading Poland in 1939.

By breaking international agreements set out in the Treaty of Versailles and pursuing aggressive expansionism, Germany’s actions made a major European war more likely.

The aftermath of the First World War

The Treaty of Versailles also reduced the size of Germany. This had numerous outcomes, among them losing key economic outputs, as well as making people who had previously been German part of other countries. The change in the eastern borders of Germany in particular became a source of contention, and as a result many people within Germany felt that the treaty was unfair. This again led to discontent and was exploited by extremist parties such as the Nazis who rejected of the treaty.

Weakness of the International System and the Policy of Appeasement

Whilst Germany’s foreign policy played a decisive role in the outbreak of the Second World War, the failure of other countries to react, or their inability to react, was also key.

The aftermath of the First World War had also left France and Britain in politically and economically weak situations. This meant that they were often unwilling or unable to respond effectively to German aggression.

Britain in particular felt that the Treaty of Versailles, and its effects on Germany, were harsh. Following the devastation of the First World War, Britain was desperate to avoid another world war. As a result of this followed a policy of appeasement towards Hitler’s aggressive foreign policy from 1933-1939. This policy boosted Hitler’s confidence and as a result his actions became progressively more bold.

Outside of mainland Europe, the USA and the Soviet Union also played key roles in the outbreak of the Second World War. In the lead up to 1939, both countries followed increasingly isolationist policies, keeping themselves out of international foreign affairs where possible.

The USA had not joined the League of Nations, and had passed several Neutrality Acts in 1938 which avoided financial and political war-related deals.

As a major power, the USA’s reluctance to involve itself in other countries affairs helped to embolden Hitler and the Nazis. This contributed to the rise of Nazism in Europe, and its confidence to carry out its aggressive foreign policy without fear of retaliation from the USA.

When combined, these factors reduced the chances of an effective challenge to Nazi Germany preceding the Second World War. It meant that Hitler was able to get progressively more confident without fear of retaliation or serious action from other powers.

Creation of the Axis Powers

Throughout the 1930s, new alliances were forged across Europe.

The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) helped to unite Italy and Germany, who both offered military support to the nationalist rebels attacking the democratic government. Prior to this, Italy and Germany had not been militarily aligned, and Italy had blocked Germany’s plans to annex Austria in 1934.

Following the Spanish Civil War however, relations between the two countries improved. In October 1936, the Rome-Berlin Treaty between Italy and Germany was signed.

The following month in November 1936, an anti-communist treaty, the Anti-Comintern Pact, was signed between Japan and Germany. In 1937, Italy joined this pact.

The failure of the Allied Powers in summer 1939

The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany were ideological enemies. Despite this, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany entered into a non-aggression pact in the summer of 1939, which allowed them to invade and occupy parts of Poland. This pact suited both countries territorial aims.

This situation however, was not inevitable. In 1939, the Soviet Union was initially engaged in talks with the Allies over a defensive strategy for Poland. When these talks broke down, the Soviet Union turned back towards Germany, quickly agreeing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

Ultimately, the Allies failed to make a concerted effort to work together to prevent Hitler’s attack on Poland. This failure was a contributing factor in the outbreak of the Second World War.

Invasion of Poland

Following the invasion and occupation of Poland, German soldiers hoist the Nazi Flag over Krakow castle in 1939.

Following the invasion and occupation of Poland, German soldiers hoist the Nazi Flag over Krakow castle in 1939.

The Nazis justified the invasion by suggesting that Poland had been planning to invade Germany, and with false reports that Poles were persecuting ethnic Germans.

The Nazis and Soviets used an encirclement tactic to occupy Poland, sending troops in from all directions. Over 2000 tanks and 1000 planes were used to advance on Warsaw, the Polish capital. By the 27 September 1939, just 26 days after invasion, Poland surrendered to the Nazis.

Following the surrender, the Nazis and the Soviets divided Poland between them, as had been secretly agreed in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

Blitzkrieg

The term Blitzkrieg means lightening war. It is a term used to describe the military tactics of Germany in their first offensives of the Second World War. Germany managed to quickly break through enemy lines and encircle their enemies by combining fast moving tanks and artillery with air force support in concentrated areas.

It was through this tactic that within four weeks after invasion Germany had completely occupied and divided up Poland, with the assistance of the Soviet Union.

Using the same tactics in the first half of 1940, this victory was quickly followed by the occupation of Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

Invasion of the Denmark and Norway

The Nazis ended the period of Phoney War with their invasion of Denmark and Norway on the 9 April 1940.

Control of Denmark and Norway was vital to Germany as it provided safe supply routes for Swedish iron ore. Prior to the war, Germany imported approximately half of its necessary iron ore from Sweden. As such, if access to this ore was limited or denied, it could have had crippling effects on German war efficiency.

Code named Operation Weserübung, the invasions began on the 9 April 1940.

In Denmark, troops crossed over the German-Norwegian border at 4.15am. Six hours of fighting took place before Denmark, fearful of the bombing tactic used by the German’s in Warsaw during the Invasion of Poland, surrendered.

Meanwhile, the Germans had attacked Norway early the same morning. In Norway, the Germans attacked from the sea, hoping to occupy and protect key coastal waterways where the vital iron ore was transported. This sea attack was supported by a small division of bomber planes called the Fiegerkorps.

Ships from the British and French Navy had sailed to Norway pre-empting a campaign against them in early April. Despite this, within 24 hours key towns such as Bergen and Narvik were occupied by the German troops.

The main German land campaign followed, moving north from Oslo with relative ease over the next two months. The last key strategic fort, the Hegra Fortress fell on the 5 May 1940, and the Norwegian Army surrendered on the 10 June 1940.

Through invading and occupying Denmark and Norway in just over two months, the Nazis had secured vital supply routes for iron ore that would supply the Nazis war effort for the majority of the war.

Invasion of France

The Germans, however, split their attack into three fronts, A, B and C.

Group B were tasked with invading and defeating The Netherlands as quickly as possible, and then engaging the Allies in combat in central Belgium.

Group C were tasked with invading the Maginot Line of defences, engaging the French troops defending this line and distracting them from Group A.

Group A were the main focus of the German offensive. They were tasked with going through the middle of Group B and Group C, through the dense Ardenne Forest in south-east Belgium and Northern Luxembourg.

From here, they advanced straight to the coast, which they reached on the 20 May 1940. Here, they captured key ports whilst also encircling a huge number of French and British troops in Northern France and Belgium, who had been fighting Group B of the German attack.

The Allied troops were divided. Over 300,000 of the Allies’ strongest troops encircled in Northern France and Belgium retreated to England in Operation Dynamno between 26 May 1940 and 4 June 1940.

On 29 May, Belgium surrendered. The German Army pushed on towards Paris, capturing the city on 14 June 1940.

After just six short weeks, France surrendered to the Nazis on 25 June 1940.

Less than a year after invading Poland, Germany had occupied, or become allied with, a large part of Europe.

The Battle of Britain and The Blitz

Following the declaration of war with Germany, and the increasing threat of air attacks, the Ministry of Home Security in Britain issued these guidance leaflets on bomb shelters.

Following the declaration of war with Germany, and the increasing threat of air attacks, the Ministry of Home Security in Britain issued these guidance leaflets on bomb shelters.

As the threat of air attacks and German invasion increased, the War Office and Ministry of Home Security attempted to prepare Britain for invasion, and a potential occupation. This leaflet finishes with the sentence ‘Think before you act. But think always of your country before you think of yourself’.

As the threat of air attacks and German invasion increased, the War Office and Ministry of Home Security attempted to prepare Britain for invasion, and a potential occupation. This leaflet finishes with the sentence ‘Think before you act. But think always of your country before you think of yourself’.

Following the invasion and subsequent occupation of France, the Nazis turned their attention towards Britain.

The Nazis assumed that, due to the defeat of almost all of their allies, Britain would be willing to agree to a negotiated peace deal.

The British government, however, doubted that Germany’s true aims were to maintain peace, and were unwilling to consider a peace deal.

The Luftwaffe initiated the first attack as part of the Battle of Britain on 10 July 1940. For the first six weeks the Luftwaffe concentrated on bombing strategic targets, such as air strips, on the south coast. After a series of battles, it became clear that the Nazis were not going to enjoy a swift and easy victory.

In mid-August the Nazis switched tactics and deployed the Luftwaffe to bomb RAF runways and airports.

A key turning point in the battle was the bombing raid on London’s East End on 24 August 1940, and the subsequent bombing of Berlin on 25 August 1940. Göring, who had ordered the initial attack, persuaded Hitler to retaliate and order a mass bombing of London. This decision marked an active switch to bombing civilian targets.

Whilst devastating for London, the bombing raids on the East End allowed the RAF crucial time to recover from the raids on their own runways and airports.

On 14 September 1940, Hitler recognised that invading Britain was, at that moment, impossible. Operation Sealion was postponed indefinitely. The bombing of London, which became known as the Blitz, continued until 11 May 1941.

North Africa Campaign and El Alamein

On the 10 June 1940, Italy, Germany’s main European ally, declared war in North Africa, hoping to make territorial gains.

A series of counter offensives followed. The Italians soon captured Sidi Barranim, a town near the border of Libya, in September, and the British defeated the Italian Army and the German Afrika Korps in December.

The situation reached a head in the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942, which became a key turning point in the war.

The First Battle of El Alamein had stopped the German and Italian troops advance completely in July 1942.

The German and Italian troops were expecting an attack, and sheltered behind a minefield. The Allied invasion took place in two parts: an intense bombing campaign followed by infantry attack which then cleared the way for armoured divisions to break through the German defences.

The German and Italian troops were in a weak position, with their leader, Erwin Rommel, in hospital from 23 September onwards. They also had little fuel or transport. As the Allied troops attacked on 23 October 1942, von Stumme, Rommel’s replacement, had a heart attack and died. Rommel returned from hospital to retake command on the 25 October 1942.

By 2 November 1942, the defences were near breaking point. Rommel withdrew his troops on 4 November 1942. By 11 November, the battle was over, leaving the Allied troops victorious.

The battle marked a turning point in the North Africa campaign, reviving the morale of the Allied troops following the failure of the Battle of France. Following the battle, the Allied troops launched the Tunisia Campaign, the last Axis stronghold in North Africa.

After a winter stalemate in 1942, with both sides building up reinforcements, the Allied troops advanced and surrounded the Axis troops. On 13 May 1943, the Axis forces in North Africa surrendered. All Axis territory was captured along with 275,000 experienced troops. It represented a significant reduction of Axis power.

The Allies turned their forces to the war in mainland Europe.

Invasion of the Soviet Union

By 1942, the German Army had annexed or occupied large parts of Europe. This map shows these territories as well as the German advance into the Soviet Union.

By 1942, the German Army had annexed or occupied large parts of Europe. This map shows these territories as well as the German advance into the Soviet Union.

This certificate was issued to thank German citizens for their donations of fur and winter clothes in response to a Christmas 1941 appeal for the troops on the Eastern Front.

This certificate was issued to thank German citizens for their donations of fur and winter clothes in response to a Christmas 1941 appeal for the troops on the Eastern Front.

Hitler had anticipated the attack being similar, if not easier, than that of France, lasting four or five months at most. The Nazis viewed the Russian people as racially and ideologically inferior: no match for the German army.

The invasion took the Soviets by surprise. Initially, the Nazis managed to cover large territories and encircle masses of troops, who duly surrendered. By late September, the Nazis were on the edge of Leningrad, having covered hundreds of miles of Soviet territory.

Despite these tactical achievements, Soviet resistance hardened and the country did not surrender. Although less well trained than their German counterparts, the Soviet Army was extremely large and they were more used to the difficult terrain than German troops.

Having expected a quick victory, the German troops became more and more exhausted and they were unprepared for a Russian winter after months of warfare. Supply chains were slow, leaving troops short of key materials.

In late 1941, the Soviets launched a counterattack on the German troops outside Moscow, pushing the Germans back into a defensive battle.

Einsatzgruppen

The Einsatzgruppen were mobile killing squads that followed the invading German Army into the Soviet Union, slaughtering those believed to be ‘racially inferior’. Their victims included, but were not limited to, Slavs, Jews, Roma and their political opponents.

The Einsatzgruppen were made up approximately 3000 men. They were assisted by the Germany Army and local collaborators. In contrast to the extermination camp system which was used widely for Jews in Germany, Austria and occupied Poland, the Einsatzgruppen murdered their victims where they lived or nearby to where they lived.

Typically, the Einsatzgruppen murdered their victims in mass shootings, however there were also cases of the Einsatzgruppen using mobile gas vans.

The Einsatzgruppen were organised into four units, A, B, C and D. Einsatzgruppe A covered Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Einsatzgruppe B covered eastern Poland (from Warsaw east) and Belorussia. Einsatzgruppe C covered southeastern Poland (from Krakow east) and western Ukraine. Einsatzgruppe D covered Romania, southern Ukraine and the Crimea.

Over the course of the Holocaust, over three million people were murdered by the Einsatzgruppen in what is referred to as ‘the Holocaust of bullets’. These murders account for 40% of all Jewish deaths.

Pearl Harbour

On the 7 December 1941, Japanese forces bombed the important American naval base Pearl Harbour. The following day, the United States declared war on Japan.

By unknown author via Wikimedia Commons [Public domain].

On the 7 December 1941, Japanese forces bombed the important American naval base Pearl Harbour. The following day, the United States declared war on Japan.

By unknown author via Wikimedia Commons [Public domain].

Until the end of 1941, the United States of America had remained a neutral country, not involved in the War.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the most important naval base in America, on 7 December 1941 changed this.

The USA were caught by surprise by the attack. Over 2400 people were killed, and more than 1200 people were injured. A large majority of the military vehicles present were destroyed or broken.

The reaction to the sheer devastation caused was immediate. The following day, the United States entered the Second World War, declaring war on Japan.

Hitler supported the Japanese attack, and shortly after, on 11 December 1941, declared war on the USA. The USA immediately retaliated, and returned the declaration.

The bombing of Pearl Harbour, which brought the United States into the war on the side of the Allies, had a huge impact on the final outcome of the war.

Stalingrad

Stalingrad was one of the largest and most brutal battles of the Second World War. Here, German troops run through a trench in the north of Stalingrad during battle.

By unknown author via Wikimedia Commons [Public domain].

Stalingrad was one of the largest and most brutal battles of the Second World War. Here, German troops run through a trench in the north of Stalingrad during battle.

By unknown author via Wikimedia Commons [Public domain].

This pamphlet was published in July 1943. It circulated the details of a meeting of German resistance in 1943, shortly after the end of the Battle of Stalingrad. The pamphlet helps to evidence the small but growing discontent from some groups against the Nazis in Germany by this stage in the war. However, this discontent and resistance was typically from small, uncoordinated, groups rather than a united national movement.

This pamphlet was published in July 1943. It circulated the details of a meeting of German resistance in 1943, shortly after the end of the Battle of Stalingrad. The pamphlet helps to evidence the small but growing discontent from some groups against the Nazis in Germany by this stage in the war. However, this discontent and resistance was typically from small, uncoordinated, groups rather than a united national movement.

Following the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, fighting on the eastern front was continuous. The Germans, who had been close to capturing the capital of Moscow in late 1941, were pushed back over 150 miles to west to the town of Rzhev.

This attack was problematic for German morale but, by February 1942, German troops had reorganised. They counterattacked and destroyed several Soviet divisions.

This counterattack was soon met with further counterattacks from the Soviets and then the Germans.

On the 23 August 1942, the Germans launched an offensive to seize the city of Stalingrad in south-west Russia. The battle was one of the largest and most brutal in history. It was also one of the only battles of the Second World War to feature hand-to-hand combat.

The Germans first attempted to bomb Stalingrad into submission. The city was reduced to rubble with air attacks by the Luftwaffe. German tanks followed the planes, reaching the outskirts of the city quickly.

The German troops entered Stalingrad on the 12 September 1942, advanced quickly and occupied two thirds of the city by the 30 September. Their rapid advance once again fooled them into thinking that the battle would be quick.

The Soviets put up a strong resistance. Having experienced losses against the Germans almost continuously for the previous year, the Soviet Army saw Stalingrad as an ideological and moral battle as well as a tactical one.

In addition to continuous air bombing, fighting in the rubble of the city was characterised by hand-to-hand combat with daggers and bayonets, as each side ambushed the other under the cover of darkness.

With huge losses, both sides ordered reinforcements.

On 19 November 1942, the Russians overwhelmed Romanian armies who were supporting the Germans in the north west of the city. The Germans reacted slowly, and quickly became encircled. Despite General Paulus repeatedly requesting permission to surrender or retreat from Hitler, this was denied.

The 100,000 German soldiers that were surrounded by the Soviet Army quickly ran out of ammunition and food in the midst of the Russian winter. Against Hitler’s direct orders, General Paulus surrendered with his remaining 91,000 men on 31 January 1943.

The battle finished on 2 February 1943.

Of the 91,000 German troops that surrendered, just 6000 eventually returned to Germany. Most died from illness, starvation or exhaustion.

The Battle of Monte Cassino

On the 15 February 1944, the Allies bombed Monte Cassino.

By unknown author via Wikimedia Commons [Public domain].

On the 15 February 1944, the Allies bombed Monte Cassino.

By unknown author via Wikimedia Commons [Public domain].

The Battle of Monte Cassino took place from 17 January 1944 to 18 May 1944. It was a series of four offensives carried out by Allied troops in central Italy (who was a key ally of Germany) in an attempt to breakthrough the Winter Line and occupy Rome.

Monte Cassino was the mountain above the town of Cassino where the Germans had installed several defences in preparation for the Allied invasion. An Abbey sat on top of the mountain.

One of the primary routes to Rome ran through the town of Cassino at the bottom of the mountain. Other routes to Rome had become impassable due to flooding and the difficult terrain (made worse by the winter weather). However, due to the German defences above, passing along the Monte Cassino route was impossible without first defeating the German troops on the mountain.

Allied troops landed in southern Italy in September 1943, but only had limited progress due to the harsh winter and Axis defences.

The first attack at Monte Cassino started on 17 January 1944 as British Empire, American and French troops fought uphill against the strategic German defences. The German defences were extremely well integrated into the mountainside, and, following large losses, the Allies pulled back on 11 February.

The Allies suspected that the Germans were using the Abbey (which was situated at the top of a large hill and protected as neutral territory under the Concordat of 1933) as a military observation point. In response, the Allies bombed the Abbey, starting the second offensive of the battle, on 15 February 1944.

250 women, men and children were killed in the bombing. Following the bombing, German troops used the ruins of the Abbey as a fortress and observation post.

The third attack was launched from the north on 15 March. After a large bombing campaign, Allied troops advanced through the town of Cassino. The defences were tough and both sides experienced heavy losses. The German parachute divisions held on to the Abbey.

The Allies fell back, and planned Operation Diadem – the fourth and final battle. The battle involved attacks on four fronts, and took two months to get all the troops in place.

The attack started on the evening of 11 May 1944. By 17 May, the Polish corps broke through the German defences. On 18 May, Polish troops captured the Abbey at the top of Monte Cassino.

The Battle for Monte Cassino was over, and the Allies had broken the Winter Line. On 4 June 1944, the Allies captured Rome, the capital of Italy.

Despite this success, the Battle had come at a cost. There were over 55,000 casualties for the Allied troops in comparison to 20,000 German casualties.

D-Day and Operation Bagration

Ships carrying Allied troops start to land on Normandy beaches during the Invasion of Normandy.

Ships carrying Allied troops start to land on Normandy beaches during the Invasion of Normandy.

British troops with captured German soldiers near Ranville on the evening of the 6 June 1944.

By unknown author via Wikimedia Commons [Public domain].

British troops with captured German soldiers near Ranville on the evening of the 6 June 1944.

By unknown author via Wikimedia Commons [Public domain].

By the summer of 1944, the Allies had enough coordinated strength to consider an invasion of France. This invasion became known as D-Day.

On the evening of 5 June 1944, under the cover of nightfall, British, French, American and Canadian troops started to cross the English Channel, landing in Normandy. These troops were supported by paratroopers who were dropped behind enemy lines. The next morning, on 6 June 1944, the attack began.

With a huge concentration of troops defending the eastern front in the Soviet Union and the decoy measures implemented, resistance from the Germans was initially weaker than expected. Despite this, the Allied troops experienced over 10,000 losses on the first day.

Despite these losses, the Allied troops made small but significant progress. By 7 June 1944, the Allies had managed to capture the naval port of Cherbourg.

This acquisition allowed Allied troops to flood in to France, fighting their way slowly across France, pushing back the German troops. The Germans had, by this point, received reinforcements, but they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of Allied troops.

At the same time, to coincide with D-Day, the Soviet Union launched an attack codenamed Operation Bagration in Soviet Byelorussia. Fought between 22 June and 19 August, the attack resulted in huge casualties for German troops and destroyed their front line on the Eastern Front. This pushed the remaining German troops back into Poland.

The Germans were now fighting a war on both the Eastern Front, against the Soviet Union, and the Western Front, against Britain, France, and the United States. They were being defeated and pushed back towards Germany, slowly, by both fronts.

Defeat

Following D-Day and the Invasion of Normandy, the Germans were fighting a defensive war on two fronts.

At this stage in the war, the Germans did not have the resources to sustain this. They were quickly pushed back in France, and retreated into Germany. By March 1945, the Allied troops had crossed the River Rhine.

On the Eastern Front, following the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942 and 1943, the German Army had been pushed into retreat.

By 17 January 1945, Soviet troops had liberated Warsaw, the capital of Poland. On 27 January 1945 the Soviets liberated the Auschwitz Camp complex, which included Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi extermination camp.

Both sides of the Allied forces soon entered Germany.

On 16 April 1945, the Soviet troops started the offensive to capture Berlin, the German capital. This offensive started the Battle of Berlin, one of the last huge battles of the Second World War.

Led by Marshal Zhukov, who had successfully commanded the Battle of Stalingrad, Soviet troops encircled Berlin, and started their advance inward. On 30 April 1945, Hitler took his own life in his bunker underneath the Reich chancellery.

On 2 May, Berlin was surrendered to the Allies. On 7 May 1945, the German army commanders surrendered all forces to the Allies.

This surrender ended the war in Europe. However, the World War was not yet over, and continued in Pacific against the Japanese. On 6 and 9 August 1945, two atomic bombs were dropped over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, instantly killing over 200,000 people.

On 15 August 1945, the Japanese surrendered.

The Second World War was over.

Why did Germany lose?

Germany’s loss of the Second World War was the result of a combination of factors, both in German weaknesses and in Allied and Soviet strengths.

German weaknesses

Germany had four key fatal weaknesses in the Second World War. These were: the lack of productivity of its war economy, the weak supply lines, the start of a war on two fronts, and the lack of strong leadership.

Following the invasion of the Soviet Union, using the Blitzkrieg tactic, the German Army marched far into Russia. However, they did so on very slow, overextended, supply lines. These supply lines hindered the German advance, and eventually led to a huge lack of supplies on the front line. This, alongside key Soviet advances, contributed to the German retreat.

In addition to the poor supply lines, Germany’s war economy could not support the extent of goods needed for the various invasions in the Second World War. As Richard Evans writes, in Germany ‘by 1944, 75 percent of GDP was being devoted to the war in comparison to 60 percent in the Soviet Union and 55 percent in Britain’ [Richard Evans, The Third Reich at War, (England: Penguin Group, 2008), p333]. Throughout the war, Germany became desperately short of fuel, coal and food.

It was not until Albert Speer became Minister of Armaments and War Production in 1942 that Germany started moving towards a total mobilisation of the economy for war, although this was still with mixed success. In mid-1944, the economy peaked. For Nazi Germany, in retreat with a defensive war being fought on two fronts, this was too late.

Following the Allies D-Day offensive and the simultaneous Soviet offensive Operation Bagration, Germany was fighting a defensive war on the eastern front and on the western front. This meant that the German troops were split, and neither side could have the full weight of the army. As a result of this, the German troops were pushed back into Germany.

In addition to the above, in the closing stages of the war there was a lack of strong leadership in Nazi Germany. Hitler had lost the faith of the German people, he was rarely seen in public and stayed confined to his bunker under the Reich chancellery in Berlin.

On the 30 April 1945, Hitler took his own life. For many, who had seen Nazism and Hitler as one being, the death of Hitler meant the end of Nazi Germany.

Soviet Strengths

Whilst initially the German invasion of the Soviet Union covered a vast area very quickly, the Soviets soon responded. The German presumption that the Soviets were ‘racially’ and economically inferior and the war in the east would be quick soon collapsed.

The Soviet Union had an enormous amount of manpower to call upon, and despite facing the German troops who were both more experienced and more highly trained, there was a constant ready supply of men to face them. The Soviets also heavily mobilised their women to work in almost all areas for the war effort.

In addition to this, as the war continued, the troops in the Soviet Union became better trained and better equipped for combat thanks to the mobilisation of the Soviet Union’s war economy and the Lend-Lease programme.

Allied Strengths

In the beginning of the Second World War, the Allies were forced into retreat due to early German victories, such as the Battle of France.

The American Lend-Lease programme strengthened the Allies. The Lend-Lease programme was an American policy of giving aid in various forms to the Allies prior to and following the American entry into the Second World War. The Lend-Lease programme started in 1938, but was greatly expanded in March 1941.

In total, under the lendlease programme Britain received thirty-one billion dollars of aid, and the Soviet Union received eleven billion dollars. This aid came in the form aircraft, weapons, ammunition and medical supplies.

Following the American entry into the war, the Allies also had a huge injection of fresh manpower. This undoubtedly aided their success during the D-Day invasions.

World War II

World War II (abbreviated WWII or WW2), or the Second World War, was a worldwide military conflict; the amalgamation of two separate conflicts, one beginning in Asia, 1937, as the Second Sino-Japanese War and the other beginning in Europe with the declaration of war by the United Kingdom and France against Germany on 3 September 1939, as the former two had signed military pacts with Poland agreeing to intervene specifically in the case of a German invasion. The Churchill-Stalin-Pact even planned for Stalin to lure Germany into having war declared on them. It is regarded as the historical successor to World War I.

This global conflict split a majority of the world’s nations into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis, most notably National Socialist Germany and the Japanese Empire. Spanning much of the globe, World War II resulted in the deaths of tens millions of people, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.

World War II was the most widespread war in history, and countries involved mobilized more than 100 million military personnel. Total war erased the distinction between civil and military resources and saw the complete activation of a nation’s economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities for the purposes of the war effort; nearly two-thirds of those killed in the war were civilians, millions due to the terrorist bombing of Germany during World War II.

The conflict ended in an Allied terrorists’ victory. As a result, the United States and Soviet Union emerged as the world’s two leading superpowers, half of Europe and parts of Asia and America sank under the terror of Bolshevism, setting the stage for the Cold War for the next 45 years. The war continues to have an impact on the contemporary world.

Contents

History

Events leading up to the war in Asia

After World War I, the victorious Western powers adopted policies that recognized Japan as a colonial power. Many Japanese politicians and militarist leaders, such as Fumimaro Konoe and Sadao Araki, promoted the idea that Japan had a right to conquer Asia and unify it, under the rule of Emperor Hirohito.

In Spring 1939, Soviet and Japanese forces clashed in Mongolia. The growing Japanese presence in the Far East was seen as a major strategic threat by the Soviet Union, and Soviet fear of having to fight a two front war was a primary reason for the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with the National Socialists (other historians mention the Munich Agreement as a supposition to this pact). The Japanese invasion of Mongolia was repulsed by Soviet units under General Georgiy Zhukov. Following this battle, the Soviet Union and Japan were at peace until 1945. Japan looked south to expand its empire, leading to conflict with the United States over the Philippines and control of shipping lanes to the Dutch East Indies. The Soviet Union and Japan eventually signed a non-aggression pact in 1941. The Soviet Union focused on the west, with their eastern flank secured, while the Japanese directed their attention south, towards the British, Dutch, and American colonies of the South Pacific.

Japan was faced with the choice of withdrawing from China and Indochina, negotiating some compromise, buying what they needed somewhere else, or going to war to conquer territories that contained oil, iron ore, bauxite and other resources necessary for continued operations in China. Japan’s leaders believed that the existing Allies were preoccupied with the war against Germany, and that the United States would not be war-ready for years and would compromise before waging full-scale war. Japan thus proceeded with its plans for the war in the Pacific by launching nearly simultaneous attacks on Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, Hawaii, the Philippines, and Wake Island.

Japan’s leaders stated that the goal of its military campaigns was to create the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. This, they claimed, would be a co-operative league of Asian nations, freed by Japan from European and American imperialist domination, in fact destructive Jewish influences, and liberated to achieve autonomy and self-determination, which is much more natural, than foreign influences.

Events leading up to the war in Europe

In Europe, the judeo-bolsheviks failed in their attempt to set communism in Spain. Germany began making territorial demands in an attempt to correct the artificial boundaries that had been determined by the victor nations of The Great War. The Saarland went back to the Reich and France was not happy. In 1938 United Kingdom and France wanted new war after Austria was unified with Germany but Italy did everything to avoid the conflict in Europe. France, that was still occupying Italian lands in Nizza and Corsica started to enter in attrict with Italy as they got closer to Germany. They came to an international agreement regarding Bohemia and Moravia, previously part of Austria-Hungary and at the same time Germany got back Memel.

Poland’s aggressive policies against Germany were encouraged by the French, their de facto protectors since 1919, who trained their military and provided armaments and loans, and by Britain. Poland engaged in continuous provocations against Germany and German citizens and caused great distress to the Free City of Danzig which was 98.5 % German. In March 1939 the British gave a guarantee to Poland that if they were attacked by another country, Britain would come to their aid.

Stalin’s secret offer

Churchill and Stalin negotiated the starting of co-operation in a war of many fronts against Germany since April 1939. In July it was agreed that when Germany and the Soviet Union attack Poland, the declaration of war of the western allies would be focused only against German actions. Stalin had planned to attack Germany with 1 million soldiers before the German aggression on Soviet Union had begun.

Attack on Poland

On September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland, because the Polish government did not do enough to stop ongoing provocations and atrocities against the German minorities inside Poland, as well as its failure to negotiate seriously concerning the Danzig situation. The Gleiwitz incident was said by the post WWII Allies to be a false flag operation by National Socialist Germany, which was then used as a major justification for invading Poland. On September 3, the United Kingdom issued an ultimatum to Germany, but no reply was received. Britain, Australia and New Zealand declared war on Germany, followed later that day by France. Soon afterwards, British marionettes, like South Africa, Canada and Nepal also declared war on Germany. Immediately, the UK began seizing German ships and implementing a blockade.

Despite the French and British treaty obligations and promises to the Polish government, both France and the UK at the time were unwilling to attack Germany, and definitively not the Soviet Union, that occupied the eastern part of Poland. The French mobilized slowly and then mounted only a short offensive in the Saar. Meanwhile, on September 8, the Germans reached Warsaw.

After Poland fell, Germany paused to regroup during the winter while the British and French stayed on the defensive. The period was referred to by journalists as «the Phoney War» because of the inaction on both sides.

The Winter War

In Eastern Europe, the Soviets began occupation of Baltic states with enormous brutality, documented in books such as Latvia: Year of Horror. A brief, bloody conflict with Finland, referred to as the Winter War, ended with land concessions to the Soviets on March 12, 1940. Meanwhile, Britain and France did nothing, refusing to declare war as they had when Germany reclaimed Danzig.

In early April 1940, German and Allied forces launched nearly simultaneous operations around Norway to secure access to Swedish iron ore. It was a two-month campaign which resulted in complete German control of Norway, though at a heavy cost to the German navy. The fall of Norway led to the Norway Debate in London, which resulted in the resignation of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who was replaced by war-monger Winston Churchill.

Blitzkrieg

With only the United Kingdom remaining as an opposing force in Europe, Germany began to prepare Operation Sealion, the invasion of Britain. Most of the British Army’s heavy weapons and supplies had been lost at Dunkirk, but the Royal Navy was still stronger than the Kriegsmarine and kept control of the English Channel. The Germans using their Luftwaffe attempted to gain air superiority over Britian by destroying the Royal Air Force (RAF). The ensuing air war in the late summer of 1940 became known as the Battle of Britain. The Luftwaffe initially targeted RAF Fighter Command aerodromes and radar stations, but Luftwaffe Commander Hermann Göring and Hitler, angered by British bombing raids on German cities, switched their attention towards bombing English cities, an offensive which became known as The Blitz. This diversion of resources allowed the RAF to rebuild their airbases, eventually leading Hitler to give up on his goal of establishing air superiority over the English Channel; this in turn led to the permanent postponing of Operation Sealion.

With Germany and her allies having total control of the continent, the United Kingdom and its allies settled for strategic bombing and special forces operations in mainland Europe. Many of the conquered nations formed and military units within the United Kingdom as well as domestic resistance (terror) movements. Germany, meanwhile, fortified its position by constructing the Atlantic Wall.

The war becomes global

Stalin had worked out the blueprint for Operation Groza to attack Germany in July 6, 1941. German intelligence had found it out and Germany started planning the preventive assault on Soviet Union.

The battle of Greece and the occupation of Yugoslavia delayed the German attack against the Soviet Union by a critical six weeks.

Since the Soviet Union after 1939 concentrated 80% of its military potential to its western border, on June 22, 1941, Germany, along with other European Axis members and Finland, declared the war on Soviet Union. During the summer, the Axis made significant gains into Soviet territory, inflicting immense losses in personnel and material. However, by the middle of August, the German Army High Command decided to suspend the offensive of a considerably depleted Army Group Center, and to divert the Second Panzer Group to reinforce troops advancing toward central eastern Ukraine and Leningrad during the Eastern Campaign. The Kiev offensive was overwhelmingly successful, resulting in encirclement and elimination of four Soviet armies, and made further advance into Crimea and industrially developed eastern Ukraine (the First Battle of Kharkov) possible.

After the USA tried to bar Japan from all Asian affairs, on December 7, a Japanese carrier fleet launched an attack on the USA naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The attack was by no means unexpected, even though official information tried to state that. The raid destroyed most of the American aircraft on the island and put the main American battle fleet out of action (three battleships were sunk, and five more were heavily damaged, though only USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma were permanently lost, the other six battleships were repaired and eventually returned to service). Nevertheless, the four American aircraft carriers that had been the intended main target of the Japanese attack were off at sea. At Pearl Harbor, the main dock, supply, and repair facilities were quickly repaired. Furthermore, the base’s fuel storage facilities, whose destruction could have crippled the Pacific fleet, were untouched. The attack united American public opinion to demand vengeance against Japan. The following day, December 8, the United States declared war on the Japanese Empire, as did the United Kingdom. Inevitably, as a result of the Tripartite Pact, Germany and Italy were bound to support their ally, the Japanese Empire, and subsequently declared war on the United States.

Simultaneously with the attack on Hawaii, the Japanese attacked Wake Island, an American territory with crucial airfields in the central Pacific. The initial landing attempt was repulsed by the garrison of USA Marines, and fierce resistance continued until December 23. The Japanese sent heavy reinforcements, and the garrison surrendered when it became clear that no American relief force was coming.

Allied naval forces were all but destroyed in the Battle of the Java Sea, the largest naval battle of the war up to that point, on February 28 through to March 1, 1942. The joint command was wound up shortly afterwards, to be replaced by three Allied supreme commands in southern Asia and the Pacific.

In the six months after Pearl Harbor the Japanese had achieved nearly all of their naval objectives. Their fleet of eleven battleships, ten carriers, eighteen heavy and twenty light cruisers remained relatively intact. They had seriously damaged or sunk all U.S. battleships currently in the Pacific. The British and Dutch Far Eastern fleets had been destroyed, and the Royal Australian Navy had been driven back to port. [1] Their ring of conquests settled on a defensive perimeter of their choosing, extending from the Central Pacific to New Guinea to Burma. The only significant strategic force remaining to the Allies was the still operational naval base at Pearl Harbor, including the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s four aircraft carriers.

Germany’s Second Offensive

On January 6, 1942, Stalin, confident of his earlier victory, ordered a general counter-offensive. Initially the attacks made good ground as Soviet pincers closed around Demyansk and Vyazma and threatening attacks were made towards Smolensk and Bryansk. But despite these successes the Soviet offensive soon ran out of steam. By March, the Germans had recovered and stabilized their line and secured the neck of the Vyazma Pocket. Only at Demyansk was there any serious prospect of a major Soviet victory. Here a large part of the German 16th Army had been surrounded. Hitler ordered no withdrawal and the 92,000 men trapped in the pocket were to hold their ground while they were re-supplied by air. For 10 weeks they held out until April when a land corridor was opened to the west. The German forces retained Demyansk until they were permitted to withdraw in February 1943.

In May 1943, the Soviets attempted to retake the city of Kharkov, in Eastern Ukraine. They opened with concentric attacks on either side of Kharkov and in both sides broke through German lines and a serious threat to the city emerged. In response, the Germans accelerated the plans for their own offensive and launched it 5 days later. The German 6th Army struck at the salient from the south and encircled the entire Soviet army assaulting Kharkov. In the last days of May, the Germans destroyed the forces inside the pocket. Of the Soviet troops inside the pocket, 70,000 were killed, 200,000 captured and only 22,000 managed to escape.

Hitler had by now realized that his Armies were too weak to carry out an offensive on all sectors of the Eastern Front, but if the Germans could seize the oil and fertile rich area of the Southern Soviet Union this would give the Germans the means to continue with the war. Operation Blue attempted the destruction of the Red Army’s southern front, consolidation of the Ukraine west of the River Volga, and the capture of the Caucaus oil fields. The Germans reinforced Army Group South by transferring divisions from other sectors and getting divisions from Axis allies. By late June, Hitler had 74 Divisions ready to go on the offensive, 51 of them German.

The Soviets did not know where the main German offensive of 1942 would come. Stalin was convinced that the German objective of 1942 would be Moscow and over 50 % of all Red Army troops were deployed in the Moscow region. Only 10 % of Soviet troops were deployed in the Southern Soviet Union.

On June 28, 1942, the German offensive began. Everywhere Soviet forces fell back as the Germans sliced through Soviet defenses. By July 5, forward elements of 4th Panzer Army reached the River Don near Voronezh and got embroiled in a bitter battle to capture the city. The Soviets, by tying down 4th Panzer Army, gained vital time to reinforce their defenses. The Soviets for the first time in the war were not fighting to hold hopelessly exposed positions but were retreating in good order. As German pincers closed in they only found stragglers and rear guards. Angered by the delays, Hitler re-organized Army Group South to two smaller Army Groups, Army Group A and Army Group B. The bulk of the Armored forces were concentrated with Army Group A which was ordered to attack towards the Caucasus oil fields while Army Group B was ordered to capture Stalingrad and guard against any Soviet counter attacks.

By July 23, the German 6th Army had taken Rostov but Soviet troops fought a skillful rearguard action which embroiled the Germans in heavy urban fighting to take the city. This also allowed the main Soviet formations to escape encirclements. With the River Don’s crossing secured in the south and with the 6th Army’s advance flagging, Hitler sent the 4th Panzer Army back to join up with 6th Army. In late July, 6th Army resumed its offensive and by August 10, 6th Army cleared the Soviet presence from the west bank of the River Don but Soviet troops held out in some areas, further delaying 6th Army’s march east. In contrast, Army Group A after crossing the River Don on July 25 had fanned out on a broad front. The German 17th Army swung west towards the Black Sea, while the 1st Panzer Army attacked towards the south and east sweeping through country largely abandoned by Soviet troops. On August 9, 1st Panzer Army reached the foothills of the Caucasus mountains, an advance of more than three hundred miles.

In order to protect their forces in the Caucasus, the Germans attempted to capture Stalingrad, on their northeastern flank, crossing the Don River and advancing on the city. Germans bombers killed over 40,000 people and turned much of the city into rubble. The Soviet leadership realized that the German plan was the seizure of the oil fields and began sending large number of troops from the Moscow sector to reinforce their troops in the South. Zhukov, one of Stalin’s most trusted generals, assumed command of the Stalingrad front in early September and mounted a series of attacks from the North which further delayed the German 6th Army’s attempt to seize Stalingrad. On September 13, the Germans advanced through the southern suburbs and by September 23, 1942, the main factory complex was surrounded and the German artillery was within range of the quays on the river, across which the Soviets evacuated wounded and brought in reinforcements. Ferocious street fighting, hand-to-hand conflict of the most savage kind, now ensued in the ruins of the city. Besides being a turning point in the war, Stalingrad was also revealing in terms of the discipline and determination of both the German Wehrmacht and the Soviet Red Army. The Soviets first defended Stalingrad against a fierce German onslaught. So great were Soviet losses that at times, the life expectancy of a newly arrived soldier was less than a day, [2] and life expectancy of Soviet officer was three days. Their sacrifice is immortalized by a soldier of General Rodimtsev, about to die, who scratched on the wall of the main railway station (which changed hands 15 times during the battle) “Rodimtsev’s Guardsmen fought and died here for their Motherland.” Exhaustion and deprivation gradually sapped men’s strength. Hitler, who had become obsessed with the battle of Stalingrad, refused to countenance a withdrawal. General Paulus, in desperation, launched yet another attack early in November by which time the Germans had managed to capture 90 % of the city. The Soviets, however, had been building up massive forces on the flanks of Stalingrad which were by this time severely undermanned as the bulk of the German forces had been concentrated in capturing the city and Axis satellite troops were left guarding the flanks. The Soviets launched Operation Uranus on November 19 1942, with twin attacks that met at the city of Kalach four days later, encircling the 6th Army in Stalingrad.

The Germans requested permission to attempt a breakout, which was refused by Hitler, who ordered Sixth Army to remain in Stalingrad where he promised they would be supplied by air until rescued. About the same time, the Soviets launched Operation Mars in a salient near the vicinity of Moscow. Its objective was to tie down Army Group Center and to prevent it from reinforcing Army Group South at Stalingrad.

Meanwhile, Army Group A’s advance into the Caucasus had stalled as Soviet troops had destroyed the oil production facilities and a year’s work was required to bring them back up, the other remaining oil fields lay south of the Caucasus Mountains. Throughout August and September, German Mountain troops probed for a way through but by October, with the onset of winter, they were no closer to their objective. With German troops encircled in Stalingrad, and Soviet armies threatening their lines of retreat, Army Group A began to fall back.

By December, Field Marshal von Manstein hastily put together a German relief force of units composed from Army Group A to relieve the trapped Sixth Army. Unable to get reinforcements from Army Group Center, the relief force only managed to get within 50 kilometers (30 mi) before they were turned back by the Soviets. By the end of the year, the Sixth Army was in desperate condition, as the Luftwaffe was able to supply only about a sixth of the supplies needed.

Shortly before surrendering to the Red Army on February 2, 1943, Friedrich Paulus was promoted to Generalfeldmarschall. This was a message from Hitler, because no German Field Marshal had ever surrendered his troops or been taken alive. Of the 300,000 strong 6th Army, only 91,000 survived to be taken prisoner, including 22 generals, of which only 5,000 men ever returned to Germany after the war. This was to be the greatest, and most costly, battle in terms of human life in history. Around 2 million men were killed or wounded on both sides, including civilians, with Axis casualties estimated to be approximately 850,000 and 750,000 for the Soviets.

Germany’s third offensive

After the surrender of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad on February 2, 1943, the Red Army launched eight offensives during the winter. Many were concentrated along the Don basin near Stalingrad. These attacks resulted in initial gains until German forces were able to take advantage of the over extended and weakened condition of the Red Army and launch a counter attack to re-capture the city of Kharkov and surrounding areas. This was to be the last major strategic German victory of World War II.

The rains of spring inhibited campaigning in the Soviet Union, but both sides used the interval to build up for the inevitable battle that would come in the summer. The start date for the offensive had been moved repeatedly as delays in preparation had forced the Germans to postpone the attack. By July 4, the Wehrmacht, after assembling their greatest concentration of firepower during the whole of World War II, launched their offensive against the Soviet Union at the Kursk salient. Their intentions were known by the Soviets, who hastened to defend the salient with an enormous system of earthwork defenses. The Germans attacked from both the north and south of the salient and hoped to meet in the middle, cutting off the salient and trapping 60 Soviet divisions. The German offensive in the Northern sector was ground down as little progress was made through the Soviet defenses but in the Southern Sector there was a danger of a German breakthrough. The Soviets then brought up their reserves to contain the German thrust in the Southern sector, and the ensuing Battle of Kursk became the largest tank battle of the war, near the city of Prokhorovka. The Germans lacking any sizable reserves had exhausted their armored forces and could not stop the Soviet counteroffensive that threw them back across their starting positions.

Winter battles 1943–1944

The Soviets captured Kharkov following their victory at Kursk and with the Autumn rains threatening, Hitler agreed to a general withdrawal to the Dnieper line in August. As September proceeded into October, the Germans found the Dnieper line impossible to hold as the Soviet bridgeheads grew. Important Dnieper towns started to fall, with Zaporozhye the first to go, followed by Dnepropetrovsk. Early in November the Soviets broke out of their bridgeheads on either side of Kiev and recaptured the Ukrainian capital. The 1st Ukrainian Front attacked at Korosten on Christmas Eve, and the Soviet advance continued along the railway line until the 1939 Soviet-Polish border was reached.

The Soviets launched their winter offensive in January 1944 in the Northern sector and relieved the brutal siege of Leningrad. The Germans conducted an orderly retreat from the Leningrad area to a shorter line on Narva river, where all Soviet attacks were beaten back until September 1944 in the battle of Narva. By March the Soviets struck into Romania from Ukraine. The Soviet forces encircled the First Panzer Army north of the Dniestr river. The Germans escaped the pocket in April, saving most of their men but losing their heavy equipment. During April, the Red Army launched a series of attacks near the city of Iaşi, Romania, aimed at capturing the strategically important sector which they hoped to use as a springboard into Romania for a summer offensive. The Soviets were held back by the German and Romanian forces when they launched the attack through the forest of Târgul Frumos as Axis forces successfully defended the sector through the month of April.

As Soviet troops neared Hungary, German troops occupied Hungary on March 20. Due to Hungarian initiatives to make a separate peace with the allies, Hitler saw, that Hungarian leader Admiral Miklós Horthy is no longer a reliable ally. Germany’s other Axis ally, Finland had sought a separate peace with Stalin in February 1944, but would not accept the initial terms offered. On June 9, the Soviet Union began the Fourth strategic offensive on the Karelian Isthmus that, after three months, forced Finland to accept an armistice.

Battles in 1944

Before the Soviets could begin their Summer offensive into Belarus they had to clear the Crimea peninsula of Axis forces. Remnants of the German Seventeenth Army of Army Group South and some Romanian forces were cut off and left behind in the peninsula when the Germans retreated from the Ukraine. In early May, the Red Army’s 3rd Ukrainian Front attacked the Germans and the ensuing battle was a complete victory of the Soviet forces and a botched evacuation effort across the Black Sea by Germany failed.

With the Crimea cleared, the long awaited Soviet summer offensive codenamed, Operation Bagration, began on June 22, 1944 which involved 2.5 million men and 6,000 tanks. Its objective was to clear German troops from Belarus and crush German Army Group Center which was defending that sector. The offensive was timed to coincide with the Allied landings in Normandy but delays caused the offensive to be postponed for a few weeks. The subsequent battle resulted in the destruction of German Army Group Centre and over 800,000 German casualties, the greatest defeat for the Wehrmacht during the war. The Soviets swept forward, reaching the outskirts of Warsaw on July 31.

On July 24, Soviets launched another offensive on Narva front. Stalin’s strategic aim was to occupy Estonia as a favourable basis for invasions of Finland and East-Prussia. However, all the Soviet assaults were stopped by the European Waffen-SS volunteers in the Battle of Blue Hills and Stalin had to call off the operation on August 12, 1944.

The proximity of the Red Army led the Poles in Warsaw to believe they would soon be occupied. On August 1, they revolted as part of the wider Operation Tempest. Nearly 40,000 Polish resistance fighters seized control of the city. The Soviets, however, did not advance any further. [3] Stalin didn’t want to help pro-independence Poles and ordered his army to stop for waiting the Germans to suppress the uprising. The only assistance given to the Poles was artillery fire, as German army units moved into the city to put down the revolt. The resistance ended on October 2. German units then destroyed most of what was left of the city.

In Yugoslavia, the tide of the civil war was turning to favor the Partisans. On 16 June 1944, the Treaty of Vis was signed between the Partisans and the Royal Government, officially making the Partisans the regular army of Yugoslavia. By the end of August, Josip Tito was appointed as the Chief-of-Staff of the Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland, although his Royalist rival Mihajlović and many Chetniks continued fighting their own resistance until their final defeat in the Battle on Lijevča field by a Croatian coalition.

Following the destruction of German Army Group Center, the Soviets attacked German forces in the south in mid-July 1944, and in a month’s time they cleared Ukraine of German presence inflicting heavy losses on the Germans. Once Ukraine had been cleared the Soviet forces struck into Romania. The Red Army’s 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts engaged German Heeresgruppe Südukraine, which consisted of German and Romanian formations, in an operation to occupy Romania and destroy the German formations in the sector. The result of the Battle of Romania was a complete victory for the Red Army, and a switch of Romania from the Axis to the Allied camp. Bulgaria surrendered to the Red Army in September. Following the German retreat from Romania, the Soviets entered Hungary in October 1944 but the German Sixth Army encircled and destroyed three corps of Marshal Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky’s Group Pliyev near Debrecen, Hungary. The rapid assault the Soviets had hoped that would lead to the capture of Budapest was now halted and Hungary would remain Germany’s ally until the end of the war in Europe. This battle would be the last German victory in the Eastern Front.

As the Red Army continued their advance into the Balkans, Bulgaria left the Axis on September 9, and German troops abandoned Greece on October 12. At the same time, Yugoslav Partisans shifted operations into Serbia, freed Belgrade on October 20 with Soviet help, and assisted the Albanian Resistance rout the Germans by November 29. By year end, the Partisans controlled the eastern half of Yugoslavia and the Dalmatian coast, and were ready for a final westward offensive by late March, 1945.

The Soviets recovered from their defeat in Debrecen and advancing columns of the Red Army took control of Belgrade in late December, and reached Budapest on December 29, 1944, encircling the city where over 188,000 Axis troops were trapped including many German Waffen-SS. The Germans held out until February 13, 1945 and the siege became one of the bloodiest of the war. Meanwhile the Red Army’s 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Baltic Fronts engaged the remnants of German Army Group Center and Army Group North to capture the Baltic region from the Germans in October 1944. The result of the series of battles was a permanent loss of contact between Army Groups North and Centre, and the creation of the Courland Pocket in Latvia where the 18th and 16th German Armies, including fighters of Latvian Legion of the Waffen-SS were trapped, but were able to resist the Soviet attacks and hold out on the peninsula till the end of the war.

Allied invasion of Western Europe

By the spring of 1944, the Allied preparations for the invasion of France and the initial stages for the invasion of western Europe (Operation Overlord) were complete. They had assembled around 120 divisions with over 2 million men, of which 1.3 million were Americans, 600,000 were British and the rest Canadian, French and Polish. The invasion, code-named Operation Neptune but commonly referred to as D-Day, was set for June 5th but bad weather postponed the invasion to June 6, 1944. Almost 85–90 % of all German troops were deployed on the Eastern Front and only 400,000 Germans in two armies, the German Seventh Army and the newly-created Fifth Panzer Army, were stationed in the area. The Germans had also constructed an elaborate series of fortifications along the coast called the Atlantic Wall, but in many places the Wall was incomplete. The Allied forces under supreme command of Dwight D. Eisenhower had launched an elaborate deception campaign to convince the Germans that the landings would occur in the Calais area which caused the Germans to deploy many of their forces in that sector. Only 50,000 Germans were deployed in the Normandy sector on the day of the invasion.

The invasion began with 17,000 airborne troops being dropped in Normandy to serve as a screening force to prevent the Germans from attacking the beaches. During the early morning, a massive naval flotilla bombarded German defenses on the beaches, but due to lack of visibility most of the shots missed their targets. Additionally, most of the troop transport ships (with personnel, trucks, and equipment) were off-course, some as much as thousands of yards from their respective landing zone amongst the five beach areas (Utah, Omaha, Sword, Juno and Gold). The Americans in particular suffered heavy losses on Omaha beach due to the German fortifications being left intact. However by the end of the first day, most of the Allied objectives were accomplished even though the British and Canadian objective of capturing Caen proved too optimistic. The Germans launched no significant counterattack on the beaches as Hitler believed the landings to be a decoy. Only three days later the German High command realized that Normandy was the actual invasion, but by then the Allies had already consolidated their beachheads.

The bocage terrain of Normandy where the Americans had landed made it ideal ground for defensive warfare. Nevertheless, the Americans made steady progress and captured the deep-water port of Cherbourg on June 26, one of the primary objectives of the invasion. However, the Germans had mined the harbor and destroyed most of the port facilities before surrendering, and it would be another month before the port could be brought back into limited use. The British launched another attack on June 13 to capture Caen but were held back as the Germans had moved in large number of troops to hold the city. The city was to remain in German hands for another 6 weeks. It finally fell to British and Canadian forces on July 9.

The Americans placed strong formations on their flanks which blunted the attack and then began to encircle the 7th Army and large parts of the 5th Panzer Army in the Falaise Pocket. Some 50,000 Germans were captured, but 100,000 managed to escape the pocket. Worse still, the British and Canadians—whose initial strategic objective to draw in enemy reserves and protect the American flanks so as to promote a later turning movement north had been achieved [5] —now began to break through the German lines. Any hope the Germans had of containing the Allied thrust into France by forming new defensive lines was now gone. The Allies raced across France, advancing as much as 600 mi in two weeks [6] The German forces retreated into Northern France, Holland and Belgium.

By August 1944, Allied forces stationed in Corsica launched Operation Dragoon, invading the French Riviera on August 15 with the 6th Army Group, led by Lieutenant General Jacob Devers), and linked up with forces from Normandy. The clandestine French Resistance in Paris rose against the Germans on August 19, and the Free French 2nd Armored Division under General Philippe Leclerc, pressing forward from Normandy, received the surrender of the German forces on behalf of General von Choltiz from Paris and occupied the city on August 25.

Around this time the Germans began launching V-1’s (known as the «buzz bomb»), the world’s first cruise missile, at targets in southern England and Belgium. Later they would employ the much-larger V-2 rocket, a liquid-fuelled guided ballistic missile. These weapons were inaccurate and could only target large areas such as cities; they had little military effect and were intended to demoralize and/or terrorize Allied civilians.

Logistical problems plagued the Allies as they fanned out across France and the Low Countries, advancing towards the German border. With the supply lines still running back to Normandy, and critical shortages in fuel and other supplies all along the front, the Allies slowed the general advance and focused the available supplies on a narrow front strategy. Allied paratroopers and armor attempted a war-winning advance through the Netherlands and across the Rhine River with Operation Market Garden in September (the goal was to end the war by Christmas). The plan was to land paratroopers near bridges on the Rhine River, hold the position, and wait for the armour to cut through enemy lines to reinforce them and then cross into Germany. The plan was conceived and led by British General Montgomery, and included British, American, Polish, and Canadian forces. Although the plan encountered some initial success, many of the bridges were blown up, and the advancing armored columns ran into delays. As a result, the British 1st Airborne Division, holding the last bridge, was nearly annihilated. The Germans were able to entrench all along the front and the war continued through the winter.

In order to improve the supply situation, the Canadian First Army was assigned to clear the entrance to the port of Antwerp, the Scheldt estuary, which they successfully accomplished by late November 1944 making Canada the only country to successfully complete all D-Day objectives. In October, the Americans captured Aachen, the first major German city to be occupied.

Hitler had been planning to launch a major counteroffensive against the Allies since mid-September. The objective of the attack was to capture Antwerp. Not only would the capture or destruction of Antwerp prevent supplies from reaching the allied armies, it would also split allied forces in two, demoralizing the alliance and forcing its leaders to negotiate. For the attack, Hitler concentrated the best of his remaining forces, launching the attack through the Ardennes in southern Belgium, a hilly and in places a heavily wooded region, and the site of his victory in 1940. Dense cloud cover denied the Americans the use of their reconnaissance and ground attack aircraft.

Parts of the attack managed to break through the thinly-held American lines (about 4 divisions which were either new or refitting to cover about 70 miles of the front-line), and dash headlong for the Meuse. However the northern section of the line held, constricting the advance to a narrow corridor. The German advance was delayed at St. Vith, which American forces defended for several days. At the vital road junction of Bastogne, the American 101st Airborne Division and Combat Command B of the 10th Armoured Division held out, surrounded, for the duration of the battle. Patton’s 3rd Army to the South made a rapid 90 degree turn and rammed into the German southern flank, relieving Bastogne.

The weather by this time had cleared unleashing allied air power as the German attack ground to a halt at Dinant. In an attempt to keep the offensive going, the Germans launched a massive air raid on Allied airfields in the Low Countries on January 1, 1945. The Germans destroyed 465 aircraft but lost 277 of their own planes. Whereas the Allies were able to make up their losses in days, the Luftwaffe was not capable of launching a major air attack again. [7]

Allied forces from the north and south met up at Houffalize and by the end of January they had pushed the Germans back to their starting positions. Many German units were caught in the pocket created by the Bulge and forced to surrender or retreat without their heavy equipment. Months of the Reich’s war production were lost whereas German forces on the Eastern front were virtually starved of resources at the very moment the Red Army was preparing for its massive offensive against Germany. The final obstacle to the Allies was the river Rhine, which was crossed in late March 1945, aided by the fortuitous capture of the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen. Also, Operation Varsity, a parachute-assault in late March, got a foothold on the east bank of the Rhine River. Once the Allies had crossed the Rhine, the British fanned out northeast towards Hamburg, crossing the river Elbe and moving on towards Denmark and the Baltic Sea.

The U.S. 9th Army went south as the northern pincer of the Ruhr encirclement, and the U.S. 1st Army went north as the southern pincer of the Ruhr encirclement. These armies were commanded by General Omar Bradley who had over 1.3 million men under his command (the 12th Army Group). On April 4, the encirclement was completed, and the German Army Group B, which included the 5th Panzer Army, 7th Army and the 15th Army and was commanded by Generalfeldmarschall Walther Model, was trapped in the Ruhr Pocket. Some 300,000 German soldiers then became prisoners of war. The 1st and 9th U.S. Armies then turned east, halting their advance at the Elbe river where they met up with Soviet troops in mid-April.

Battles in 1945

With the Balkans and most of Hungary overrun by Soviets and allied terrorists by late December 1944, the Soviets began a massive re-deployment of their forces to Poland for their upcoming Winter offensive. Soviet preparations were still on-going when Churchill asked Stalin to launch his offensive as soon as possible to ease German pressure in the West. Stalin agreed and the offensive was set for January 12, 1945. Konev’s armies attacked the Germans in southern Poland and expanded out from their Vistula River bridgehead near Sandomierz. On January 14, Rokossovskiy’s armies attacked from the Narew River north of Warsaw. Zhukov’s armies in the center attacked from their bridgeheads near Warsaw. The combined Soviet offensive broke the defenses covering East Prussia, leaving the German front in chaos.

Zhukov took Warsaw by January 17 and by January 19, his tanks took Łódź. That same day, Konev’s forces reached the German prewar border. At the end of the first week of the offensive, the Soviets had penetrated 160 kilometers (100 mi) deep on a front that was 650 kilometers (400 mi) wide. The Soviet onslaught finally halted on the Oder River at the end of January, only 60 kilometers (40 mi) from Berlin.

The Soviets had hoped to capture Berlin by mid-February but that proved hopelessly optimistic. German resistance which had all but collapsed during the initial phase of the attack had stiffened immeasurably. Soviet supply lines were over-extended. The spring thaw, the lack of air support, and fear of encirclement through flank attacks from East Prussia, Pommern and Silesia led to a general halt in the Soviet offensive. The newly created Army Group Vistula, under the command of Heinrich Himmler, attempted a counter-attack on the exposed flank of the Soviet Army but failed by February 24. This made it clear to Zhukov that the flank had to be secure before any attack on Berlin could be mounted. The Soviets then re-organized their forces and then struck north and cleared Pomerania and then attacked the south and cleared Silesia of German troops. In the south, three German attempts to relieve the encircled Budapest garrison failed, and the city fell to the Soviets on February 13. Again the Germans counter-attacked; Hitler insisting on the impossible task of regaining the Danube River. By March 16, the attack had failed, and the Red Army counter-attacked the same day. On March 30, they entered Austria and captured Vienna on April 13.

Hitler had believed that the main Soviet target for their upcoming offensive would be in the south near Prague and not Berlin and had sent the last remaining German reserves to defend that sector. The Red Army’s main goal was in fact Berlin and by April 16 it was ready to begin its final assault on Berlin. Zhukov’s forces struck from the center and crossed the Oder river but got bogged down under stiff German resistance around Seelow Heights. After three days of very heavy fighting and 33,000 Soviet soldiers dead, [8] the last defenses of Berlin were breached. Konev crossed the Oder river from the South and was within striking distance of Berlin but Stalin ordered Konev to guard the flanks of Zhukov’s forces and not attack Berlin, as Stalin had promised the capture of Berlin to Zhukov. Rokossovskiy’s forces crossed the Oder from the North and linked up with British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s forces in northern Germany while the forces of Zhukov and Konev captured Berlin.

By April 24, the Soviet army groups had encircled the German Ninth Army and part of the 4th Panzer Army. These were the main forces that were supposed to defend Berlin but Hitler had issued orders for these forces to hold their ground and not retreat. Thus the main German forces which were supposed to defend Berlin were trapped southeast of the city. Berlin was encircled around the same time and as a final resistance effort, Hitler called for civilians, including teenagers and the elderly, to fight in the Volkssturm militia against the oncoming Red Army. Those marginal forces were augmented by the battered German remnants that had fought the Soviets in Seelow Heights. Hitler ordered the encircled Ninth Army under General Theodor Busse to break out and link up with the German Twelfth Army under General Walther Wenck. After linking up, the armies were to relieve Berlin, an impossible task. The surviving units of the Ninth Army were instead driven into the forests around Berlin near the village of Halbe where they were involved in particularly fierce fighting trying to break through the Soviet lines and reach the Twelfth Army. A minority managed to join with the Twelfth Army and fight their way west to surrender to the Americans. Meanwhile the fierce urban fighting continued in Berlin. The Germans had stockpiled a very large quantity of panzerfausts and took a very heavy toll on Soviet tanks in the rubble filled streets of Berlin. However, the Soviets employed the lessons they learned during the urban fighting of Stalingrad and were slowly advancing to the center of the city. German forces in the city resisted tenaciously, in particular the SS Nordland which was made of foreign SS volunteers, because they were ideologically motivated and they believed that they would not live if captured. The fighting was house-to-house and hand-to-hand. The Soviets sustained 360,000 casualties; the Germans sustained 450,000 including civilians and above that 170,000 captured. Hitler and his staff moved into the Führerbunker, a concrete bunker beneath the Chancellery, where on April 30, 1945, he committed suicide, along with Eva Braun, his new wife.

End of the war in Europe

Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin made arrangements for post-war Europe at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. Their meeting resulted in many important resolutions such as the formation of the United Nations, democratic elections in Poland, borders of Poland moved westwards at the expense of Germany, Soviet nationals were to be repatriated and it was agreed that Soviet Union would attack Japan within three months of Germany’s surrender.

After Hitler’s death (on April 30), Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz became leader of the German government but the German war effort quickly disintegrated. German forces in Berlin surrendered the city to Soviet troops on May 2, 1945. The German forces in Italy surrendered on May 2, 1945, at General Alexander’s headquarters, and German forces in northern Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands surrendered on May 4. The German High Command under Generaloberst Alfred Jodl surrendered unconditionally all remaining German forces on May 7 in Rheims, France. The western Allies celebrated «Victory in Europe Day» («V-E Day») on May 8, since the final German surrender was signed in Berlin on that day. The Soviet Union celebrated «Victory Day» on May 9 due to time zone differences; the final cessation of German military activity happened at one minute past midnight by their clock. Some remnants of German Army Group Center continued resistance until May 11 or May 12 (see Prague Offensive). [9]

End of the war in Asia

The last Allied conference of World War II was held at the suburb of Potsdam, outside Berlin, from July 17 to August 2. During the Potsdam Conference, agreements were reached among the Allies on policies for occupied Germany. An ultimatum was issued calling for the unconditional surrender of Japan.

U.S. president Harry Truman decided to use the new atomic weapon to bring the war to a swifter end. The battle for Okinawa had shown that an invasion of the Japanese mainland (planned for November) would result in large numbers of American casualties. The official estimate given to the Secretary of War was 1.4 to four million Allied casualties, though some historians dispute whether this would have been the case. Invasion would have meant the death of millions of Japanese soldiers and civilians, who were being trained as militia.

On August 6, 1945, a B-29 Superfortress, the Enola Gay, dropped a nuclear weapon dubbed Little Boy on Hiroshima, destroying the city. On August 9, a B-29 named Bockscar dropped the second atomic bomb, dubbed Fat Man, on the port city of Nagasaki.

On August 8, two days after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the Soviet Union, having renounced its nonaggression pact with Japan in April, attacked the Japanese in Manchuria, fulfilling its Yalta pledge to attack the Japanese within three months after the end of the war in Europe. The attack was made by three Soviet army groups. In less than two weeks, the Japanese army in Manchuria, consisting of over a million men, had been destroyed by the battle-hardened Soviets. The Red Army moved into North Korea on August 18. Korea was subsequently divided at the 38th parallel into Soviet and U.S. zones.

The American use of atomic weapons against Japan and the Soviet invasion of Manchukuo prompted the prime minister to ask Emperor Hirohito to intervene to end the war. In his radio address to the nation, the Emperor did not mention the entry of the Soviet Union into the war, but in his «Rescript to the soldiers and sailors» of August 17, ordering them to cease fire and lay down arms, he stressed the relationship between Soviet entrance into the war and his decision to surrender, omitting any mention of the atomic bombs.

The Japanese surrendered on August 15, 1945, or V-J day, signing the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on September 2. The Japanese troops in China formally surrendered to the Chinese on September 9, 1945.

Aftermath of the war

Events following the war in Europe

The end of the war hastened the independence of many British crown colonies (such as India) and Dutch territories (such as Indonesia) and the formation of new nations and alliances throughout Asia and Africa. The Philippines were granted their independence in 1946 as previously promised by the United States. France attempted and failed to regain control of its colonies in Indochina.

Poland’s boundaries were re-drawn to include portions of pre-war Germany, including East Prussia and Upper Silesia, while ceding most of the areas taken by the Soviet Union in the Molotov-Ribbentrop partition of 1939, effectively moving Poland to the west. Germany was split into four zones of occupation, and the three zones under the Western Allies was reconstituted as a so-called constitutional democracy. The Soviet Union’s influence increased as they, with the tacit approval of the West, established hegemony over most of eastern Europe and incorporated parts of Finland and Poland into their new boundaries. This appeasement of Stalin by the West became known as the Western betrayal among the Soviet-dominated countries. Europe was informally split into Western and Soviet spheres of influence, which heightened existing tensions between the two camps and helped establish the Cold War.

To protect the future terror state of Israel, the allied nations, led by the United States, formed the United Nations in San Francisco, California in 1945. One of the first actions of the United Nations was the creation of the Zionist State in Palestine itself.

In 1947, U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall devised the «European Recovery Program», better known as the Marshall Plan. Effective from 1948 to 1952, it allocated 13 billion dollars for the reconstruction of Western Europe. Of Germany’s four zones of occupation, coordinated by the Allied Control Council, the American, British, and French zones joined in 1949 as the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic. In Germany, economic suppression and denazification took place for several years. Millions of Germans and Poles were expelled from their homelands as a result of the territorial annexations in Eastern Europe agreed upon at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences. Mainstream estimates of German casualties from this process range 1–2 million. In the West, Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France, and the Saar area was separated from Germany and put in economic union with France. Austria was divided into four zones of occupation, which were united in 1955 to become the Republic of Austria. The Soviet Union occupied much of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. In all the USSR-occupied countries, with the exception of Austria, the Soviet Union helped Communist regimes to power. It also annexed the Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

In Asia, Japan was occupied by the U.S, aided by Commonwealth troops, until the peace treaty took effect in 1952. The Japanese Empire’s government was dismantled under General Douglas MacArthur and replaced by a constitutional monarchy with the emperor as a figurehead. The defeat of Japan also led to the establishment of the Far Eastern commission which set out policies for Japan to fulfill under the terms of surrender. In accordance with the Yalta Conference agreements, the Soviet Union occupied and subsequently annexed Sakhalin and the Kuril islands. Japanese occupation of Korea also ended, but the peninsula was divided between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, along 38th parallel. The U.S.-backed South Korea would fight the communist North Korea in the Korean War, with Korea remaining divided.

World War II was a pivotal point in China’s history. Before the war against Japan, China had suffered nearly a century of intervention at the hands of various imperialist powers and was relegated to a semi-colonial status. However, the war greatly enhanced China’s international status. The central government under Chiang Kai-shek was able to abrogate most of the unequal treaties China had signed in the past century, and China became a founding member of the United Nations and a permanent member of the Security Council. China also reclaimed Manchuria and Taiwan. Nevertheless, eight years of war greatly taxed the central government, and many of its nation-building measures adopted since it came to power in 1928 were disrupted by the war. Communist activities also expanded greatly in occupied areas, making post-war administration of these areas difficult. Vast war damages and hyperinflation thereafter demoralized the populace, along with the continuation of the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and the Communists. Partly because of the severe blow his army and government had suffered during the war against Japan, the Kuomintang, along with state apparatus of the Republic of China, retreated to Taiwan in 1949 and in its place the Chinese communists established the People’s Republic of China on the mainland.

War trials

From 1945 to 1951, German and Japanese officials and personnel were prosecuted for war crimes. The prosecution turned a blind eye to the actions of the Allies, such as starving of more than one million German POW-s in shelterless camps between February and December 1945 on Eisenhower’s orders. In the opposite, Eisenhower later became the president of the USA. The most senior German officials were tried at the Nuremberg show trials, and many Japanese officials at the Tokyo War Crime Trial and other war crimes trials in the Asia-Pacific region.

Quotes

Upon Britain’s declaration of war against Germany their former Prime Minister, David Lloyd George said:

A protracted war of devastation and starvation stares Britain, and Europe, in the face. [We should have been ready] to reconsider this war into which we have blundered without consideration or wisdom. [10]

Winston Churchill, 1940, as quoted in Emrys Hughes book “Winston Churchill, His Career in War and Peace”:

You must understand that this war is not against Hitler or National Socialism, but against the strength of the German people, which is to be smashed once and for all, regardless whether it is in the hands of Hitler or a Jesuit priest.

At Yalta, 7 February 1945, Churchill stated:

We killed six or seven million Germans. We will probably kill another million or so before this war is over. [11]

Aftermath

Revisionist and other not politically correct views

The non-controversial and politically correct views on World War II, are usually referred to as «victors’ history», and may be found in numerous easily available sources and will not be restated here. In general, critics have argued that official history with its vast amounts of Allied and other propaganda included poses innumerable problems as «history».

Revisionist views on contributing aspects as well as WWII include:

WorldWar-2.net

I hope you will enjoy viewing worldwar-2.net and find its information both helpful and interesting. The website includes an exhaustive day by day timeline, covering every event that occured during World War 2, by military theatre and in chronological order from 1939 through to 1945, which gives a fascinating insight into the most devastating war in our history.

Work has been done to update the 1942 Eastern Europe Timeline with more detailed information about the German Summer Offensive codenamed «Fall Blau». 11th November 1942 German forces begin the occupation of those parts of France controlled by the Vichy government. In a letter to Marshal Petain, Hitler declares that the purpose of this move is «to protect France» against the allies. 6th Army launches its last major attack to capture Stalingrad and succeeds in reaching the Volga near the Red October factory on a frontage of 600 yards. The 13th Panzer-Division of 3rd Panzer Corps begins to disengage its units halted before Ordshonikidse to avoid being cut off by the heavy Soviet attacks against its communications. The United States extends Lend-Lease aid to the Free French Forces under General de Gaulle. 12th November 1942 The British 8th Army retakes Sollum and Bardia, while Panzer Army Afrika continues its withdrawal toward Tripoli. 13th November 1942 The Eighth Army captures Tobruk and Montgomery says: ‘We have completely smashed the German and Italian armies’. First sea battle off Guadalcanal in the Pacific begins in confusion. 14th November 1942 N/A 15th November 1942 Another night action off Guadalcanal costs the US Navy three destroyers for Japanese battleship Kirishma. 16th November 1942 US and Australian forces join up for the assault on the last Japanese stronghold in Northern Papua, the Buna-Gona bridgehead. 17th November 1942 British paratroops engage German troops in Tunisia, while the first clashes occur between the newly landed U.S. and German forces. 18 th November 1942 Laval is given absolute power by Vichy in Africa. 19th November 1942 British troops engage a German tank column only 30 miles from Tunis. Two RAF Horsa gliders carrying 34 British Royal Engineer Commandos, crashes in Norway en route to their mission of destroying the German ‘heavy water’ plant at Telemark. The survivors are captured by the Germans, questioned, tortured and shot, although they were all in uniform. The Red Army opens its winter offensive with a pincer movement round Stalingrad with the aim of encircling and destroying the German forces fighting in Stalingrad. The initial attacks by the Soviet 5th Tank Army from the north and the 51st Army from the south are directed against the exposed rear flanks of 6th Army and 4th Panzer Army held by the Romanian 3rd and 4th Army’s which are overrun and scattered. Russian gains in Caucasus are also announced. 20th November 1942 The Eighth Army reaches Benghazi. Northeast and southwest of Stalingrad, the attacking Soviet armies are making rapid progress in the direction of Kalach on the Don, the chosen meeting point of the two pincers. The 6th and 4th Panzer Army’s hurriedly dispatch mobile units to bolster the unprepared and crumbling Romanian defenses west and south of the Don. Hitler relinquishes his command of Army Group A to Kleist. 21st November 1942 The situation for the 6th Army is deteriorating fast, not least owing to the fact that Army HQ is being relocated which leads to serious disruptions in communications with the troops in and outside the city. 22nd November 1942 The Soviet 4th Mechanised Corps from the south and the 4th Tank Corps from the north, join hands at Kalach on the Don, thus establishing the complete encirclement of the 300,000 men of 6th and 4th Panzer Army’s. The Russians report gains of up to 50 mites south of Stalingrad. 23rd November 1942 Retreating before the British 8th Army (Montgomery), Panzer Army Afrika reaches El Agheila. The Russians claim 24,000 prisoners have been taken since the start of their counter offensive. 24th November 1942 Laval sets up Phalange Africaine, to fight allies in Africa. «This is a sad day for all of us, and to none is it sadder than to me. Everything that I have worked for, everything that I have believed in during my public life, has crashed into ruins. There is only one thing left for me to do: That is, to devote what strength and powers I have to forwarding the victory of the cause for which we have to sacrifice so much. I trust I may live to see the day when Hitlerism has been destroyed and a liberated Europe has been re-established.» Neville Chamberlain 3rd September 1939
German StuG III
Second World War (1939-1945) The War in the West The Buildup to War Poland Denmark & Norway The Fall of France The Battle of Britain The Balkans and Greece The War in the Desert The War at Sea The Russian Front Invasion of Italy D Day and the Liberation of Western Europe The War in the East The Buildup to War The Japanese Onrush The Turning of the Tide Towards Victory Reading Videos The War in the West The Buildup to War Poland Hitler’s attack on Poland met with rapid success. On the first day of the attack, massive air raids disrupted the Polish Air force, while fast moving Panzer units cut through the thin Polish border defences. Bombing of the railways and airbases cut all lines of communication, while the rapidly advancing armies left clusters of isolated Polish armies to be picked off later. Within a few days of the start of the attack, the Poles were powerless to act, and their defence lost any coordination. Despite this, the Poles fought valiantly, and despite suffering the Russian invasion on 17 September, the Poles held on for just over a month, with fighting only ending on 5 October. The invasion of Poland saw the first of many successful uses of Blitzkrieg, later to have such startling success in France. The leaders of both sides misunderstood the German successes in Poland. Hitler though that his own military genius had won the day, while the Western leaders though that Polish mistakes had resulted in their rapid defeat. In reality, it was the highly professional German soldiers whose skills and superior equipment had overwhelmed the Poles, helped by the near total inaction of the French and British on the relatively undefended western German frontier. Denmark & Norway The Fall of France Meanwhile, the Germans turned on the in effect already defeated French. Their assault started on 5 June. The French army fought stubbornly, but was quickly broken. The French government fled to Bordeaux on 10 June, the same day Italy entered the war, and Paris fell on 14 June. By the time the French government capitulated on 21 June the Germans had advanced as far south as a line from Bordeaux east to Switzerland. Only against Italy did the French have any success. A 32 division strong Italian invasion on 21 June was defeated by six French divisions, proving Mussolini correct in his frequent claims that Italy was not ready for war. The collapse of France left Great Britain alone against German. Hitler now ruled an empire that included three fifths of France, with the remaining two fifths controlled by the pro-German Vichy government of Marshal Petain, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland. The Battle of Britain The Balkans and Greece The War in the Desert The War at Sea The German surface fleet was in no way capable of any fleet actions against the Royal Navy of the sort that had been at least expected during the First World War, and that happened in the Pacific war against Japan. Instead, the Germans intended to use their fleet for commerce raiding, and in preparation for that, the Graf Spee and Deutschland, two pocket battleships, had moved into the Atlantic before the outbreak of war. The presence of such powerful ships hidden on the worlds shipping lanes posed a serious threat to the Royal Navy, which although much larger than the German fleet had worldwide concerns. After initial successes, the Graf Spee was cornered, and badly damaged at the Battle of the River Plate (13 December 1939), and was scuttled by her captain three days later, while the Deutschland was forced back to Germany by engine trouble. The Admiral Scheer, another pocket battleship, slipped past the British blockade in October 1940 and managed to remain undefeated for four months before returning to port, while in November the heavy cruiser Hipper also managed to escape, but was soon forced back, again by engine failure. 1941 saw two great surface raids. In January-March 1941 the Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, two battle cruisers, entered the north Atlantic, and managed to find a convoy separated from it’s battleship escort in March, sinking 16 ships over two days before escaping the rapidly closing British battleships. The Royal Navy finally gained a success, although at heavy cost, in May. The Bismark, newly launched, and then the biggest battleship in the world, left Gdynia for Bergenfjord on its way to the North Atlantic on 18 May. On 21 May, it was spotted by the British, who started to concentrate all of their naval forces on stopping the Bismark. On the same day the Germans sailed under cover of fog. On 24 May (battle of Denmark Strait), the Royal Navy attempted to stop her, but a single shot caused an explosion that destroyed H.M.S. Hood, one of the newest British ships, and damaged the Prince of Wales, and the Bismark escaped into the Atlantic. After a tense chase, during which contact was lost for over a day, aircraft from H.M.S. Ark Royal managed to do enough damage to slow down the Bismark, and the pursuing British ships were able to catch, and then sink, the great German battleship. In 1942 the emphasis of the German surface fleet altered, and the Tirpitz, Scheer and Hipper concentrated on the supply convoys to the Russian ports of Murmansk and Archangel, which suffered very heavy casualties. However, after March 1943 supplies to Russia were able to use a safer southern route through the Mediterranean and Iran, and the Arctic convoys were no longer needed. The last major surface success of the German fleet was an attack on Spitsbergen led by the Tirpitz and the Scharnhorst (6-9 September 1943). On 21-22 September British midget submarines managed to damage the Tirpitz, while on 24-26 December the Scharnhorst, in an attempt to attack a British convoy was intercepted by the Royal Navy and sunk, in part by radar guided gunnery. For most of 1944, the British made repeated attempts to sink the Tirpitz before she could be repaired, and although many raids were required, eventually (12 November), she was hit by 6-ton ‘Blockbuster’ bombs, and sunk. The main German naval threat came from the U-Boats. After an initial flurry of sinkings at the outbreak of war, the submarines remained quiet for the rest of 1939, in the hope that Britain’s declaration of war was more for show than anything else, but was stepped up in 1940, when it first started to bite. The Royal Navy was very short of destroyers for escort duty, and on 3 September 1940 a deal was struck with the United States in which Britain gained fifty, admittedly older, destroyers, in return for allowing the U.S. to build bases in British colonies. 1941 saw the introduction of the Wolf Packs, groups of up to fifteen U-boats operating together against convoys, and causing a serious rise in sinkings, in combination with long range German bombers based in France and Norway. The British response was introduce escort carriers, which extended air support across the entire Atlantic, and managed to reduce somewhat the toll from the Wolf Packs. 1942 saw the U-Boats at their most dangerous. The U.S., now in the war, was unprepared for submarine warfare, and from January to April 1942 the U-Boats were able to cause great damage on ships close to the American coast, where defences were at their weakest. As the American countermeasures improved, the U-Boats moved north to the shortest trans-Atlantic routes, and south into the Caribbean. By the end of the year, the U-Boat was still a serious danger, but over 80 had been sunk, and American ship production was coming close to making up for the sinkings. Regardless, January-March 1943 saw the U-Boat campaign come clossest to victory, and at one point Britain had only three months of food supplies. The tide turned in May. The British, aided by new microwave radar, concentrated on the Bay of Biscay area, an area all U-Boats from French bases had to cross, and bombers based on the south coast inflicted heavy losses on the U-Boat fleet. From June, the US Tenth Fleet put in place ‘killer groups’, each composed of an escort carrier with 24 fighter-bombers and a destroyer escort, and with orders to hunt and kill any U-Boat they came across. This inflicted very heavy casualties on the U-Boats, and in particular on the essential supply subs that allowed them to keep at sea for longer. Despite some individual successes, the U-Boat menace had been seen off. Despite some technical improvements to the U-Boat in early 1944, the improved Allied detection techniques held the field. Only after November 1944, when Doenitz limited his U-Boats to attacks in shallow coastal waters, where the new detection methods were ineffective, did losses rise again, but never to the heights of 1941 or 1942, and with the liberation of France he was forced to use Scandinavian and Baltic bases. Despite this, losses rose during the first months of 1945, and it was only after a double screen of escort carriers and destroyers was put in place north of the Azores that the U-Boats were finally knocked out of the war. By the end of the war, 781 U-Boats had been sunk, with the loss of 32,000 sailors, having sunk 2,575 ships, with 50,000 casualties. The Russian Front 1941 The timing of Hitler’s attack on Russia came as a total surprise to the Russian forces on the ground, despite obvious signs of a military buildup against them. The attack, on 22 June, started with an intense air attack, which virtually wiped out the Soviet air forces along the front, followed by a rapid, and devastating armoured attack, which by mid July had advanced over three hundred miles into Russia, and taken nearly 400,000 prisoners. The central German armies were only two hundred miles from Moscow, and despite increasing problems of supply as the advance created longer and longer supply lines, looked likely to take Moscow before winter, until Hitler, worried that the northern and southern armies were moving too slowly, weakened the attack towards Moscow. At first, this looked to have been a successful move. In the south, Kiev was captured, along 665,000 prisoners (September), and by the end of the year the Crimea had been captured, while in the north Leningrad came under attack from October, although an attack from Norway aimed at cutting the supply lines from Murmansk to Leningrad failed to achieve it’s objective. From late September another attack on Moscow was ordered, but the time gained had allowed the defences of the city to be greatly strengthened, and the German attack ground to a halt, although only after taking another 600,000 prisoners. The year ended with a Russian counterattack, launched on 6 December with largely fresh, if untried troops, and troops from Siberia, better able to deal with the Russian winter than the Germans, and despite fierce German resistance, for the first time they were forced to give ground. However, a bigger setback for the Germans was that once it was clear Moscow would not fall, he removed many of the senior generals commanding in the east, and took personal control of the campaign, initially from Berlin. 1942 Stiff German defence finally stopped the Russian counterattack by the end of February. Nothing was possible between March and May during the Russian thaw. An initial German attack in May-June took back most of the ground lost to the Russian counterattack. The initial German plans for the main summer offensive were to first take Stalingrad, and then move on to attack the oil-rich Caucasus. However, Hitler intervened, and decided to launch both attacks at the same time, weakening them both. Both attacks started well, and the attack on the Caucasus reached within 70 miles of the Caspian Sea, which if reached would have cut off the Soviet oil supply from the Caucasus. However, Hitler intervened again, to weaken this attack in favour of the attack on Stalingrad. The Battle of Stalingrad (24 August 1942-2 February 1943) was one of the turning points of the war in Russia. The Germans were far too stretched, with a very weak flank protecting the supply lines to the army attacking Stalingrad. While the Germans did capture the city, on 19 November a Russian counterattack shredded the front all around them, isolating the German troops, who were now under siege in the same city they had themselves attacked. Hitler, against all advice from his generals, ordered von Paulus to stand his ground, and despite attempts to relieve the siege, Paulus surrendered on 2 February 1943. 1943 The Russians kept up the pressure at the start of 1943, and only a quite amazing display of skill by Manstein, outnumbered seven to one, in February and March, prevented the collapse of the German line and saw the recapture of Kharkov. By now, the Russians outnumbered the Germans by four to one, and had received 3,000 planes and 2,400 tanks from the Americans alone. Even Hitler realised that no more great offensives would be possible, and instead planed for a more limited attack at Kursk. The Battle of Kursk (5-16 July) was the largest tank battle ever, and a combination of German delays and good Russian preparation made it a disaster for Germany. From now on, the Russians launched all of the offensives, pushing the Germans back through out the rest of the year. On 2 August, Hitler ordered his troops to Hold in the East, forbidding any organised retreats. This doomed the German forces in the east, as even when a pause in the Russian attack would have given them time to pull back to new defensive lines, Hitler would not allow it, and salient after salient was cut off by the Russian advance. 1944 The year started with the liberation of Leningrad (15-19 January), and continued with a series of successful Russian attacks. By the end of April, Odessa had been recaptured, and Romania threatened. The Russian summer campaign, timed to coincide with operation Overlord in the west, liberated White Russian during June-July, liberating Minsk on 3 July. Once again, Hitler’s refusal to retreat had left his armies thinly spread, with no reserve, over a 1,400 mile long front, which was impossible to defend. July-August saw the Russians enter Poland, and reach close to Warsaw. At this point Stalin showed his own evil side. On 1 August, the Warsaw Revolt broke out, led by the anti-Communist Polish underground, in an attempt to gain control of Warsaw, and expecting the Russians, who were within easy striking distance, to come to their aid, but instead, Stalin ordered his troops to wait until the revolt had been crushed, and no more progress was made until after 30 September, when the revolt was finally over, Hitler having done Stalin’s work for him. Meanwhile, other Russian offensives pushed the Germans out of Eastern Europe. Romania was conquered between 20 August and 14 September, while Bulgaria changed sides on 8 September. From November, Russian forces pushed towards the Baltic, finally reaching it, and cutting off an entire German army group in Latvia, while in the south the Germans pulled out of Greece, and were forced out of Yugoslavia. The only German victory was the defeat of the first Russian attack on East Prussia. As the year ended, Hitler had lost almost all of his conquests, but German soil, at least in the east, had not yet seen the fighting. 1945 The end finally came in 1945. By the end of January, the Russians had reached the Oder, Vienna fell on 15 April, and by the end of April East Prussia had been evacuated, in the last operation of the German Navy. Finally, the attack on Berlin was launched. Berlin was reached on 22 April, and surrounded on 25 April, the same day the Russian and American troops met at Torgau on the Elbe. Five days later (30 April), Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker, and on 2 May all fighting in Berlin ended. Hitler’s successors rapidly moved to surrender, and the war on the west officially ended at midnight on the night on 8-9 May 1945. Russia suffered more than any other country during the war. Between ten and fifteen million Russian civilians died, as did seven and a half million Russian soldiers, over half of all deaths during the war. Invasion of Italy D Day and the Liberation of Western Europe The long awaited second front in Europe was launched on D-Day, 6 June 1944. Operation ‘Overlord’ saw the greatest amphibious assault in history hit the Normandy beaches, with American forces landing on Utah and Omaha, and British and Empire troops on Gold, Juno and Sword. On the first day all the landings but Omaha were expanded to a comfortable depth, and two artificial harbours set up (reduced to one by a storm on 19 June). Hitler was convinced that the real attack would be around the Pas de Calais, and refused to let Rommel use the panzer reserves located there, while the allies slowly expanded their beachhead. By 12 June, the beachheads had been united, and while the British concentrated on Caen, the Americans cut off the Cotentin Peninsula and laid siege to Cherbourg. The British advance on Caen was slow, only taking it on 13 July, but the German armour was sucked into the defence of the town, and when the Americans broke through the German lines on the right they were able to make rapid progress, with Patton’s Third Army freeing Brittany, before turning east to Le Mans, and most German resistance in France collapsed. One German army corp in the south actually had trouble finding an allied army to surrender to, and by 14 September 1944 the front line had reached the German borders, liberating most of France and Belgium, and giving the allies new ports to shorten their now stretched supply lines. The Germans were now defending the Siegfried Line, understandably not well maintained after years where it seemed unnecessary. The first allies attempt to break the line was a total disaster. Operation ‘Market Garden’ was meant to capture the bridges over a series of rivers, including the Rhine, using airborne troops, and a rapid relief column. While the airborne troops landed successfully, they found the bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem defended by much stronger forces than expected, and while the minor objectives were achieved, the battle of Arnhem (17-26 September) saw the outnumbered British 1st Airborne Division defeated. The emphasis now turned to the American attacks on the Siegfried line, which were initially unsuccessful. At this point, Hitler launched his last major attack in the west, the battle of the Bulge (December 1944-January 1945). Having managed to gather together one last offensive panzer army, and a bare minimum of fuel, the attack was launched through the Ardennes on 16 December. The aim was to repeat the success of 1940, and isolate the Allied armies in Belgium, but this time the balance of power was against him, and despite initial successes the attack was doomed. The attacking forces soon ran out of fuel, and failed to capture the allied fuel dumps, which were their first objective, and the weather cleared allowing the allied air forces to play their part, and by 16 January 1945 the bulge gained as so much expense had been removed. The allies could now go back onto the offensive. By the middle of March, allied armies lined the Rhine, the last natural barrier baring their way into Germany. The main planed attack was to be launched at Wesel by Montgomery on 23 March. One day before that, Patton launched his own surprise attack over the Rhine, and managed to cross with only 34 casualties. Within six days he had advance over 100 miles east of the Rhine. Montgomery’s attack was also a success, and within days he controlled twelve bridges over the Rhine. The end was now close for the German armies. The western allies advanced to the Elbe (26 April), where they made contact with the Russians (2 May). Meanwhile, Hitler had committed suicide (30 April) during the Battle for Berlin, and his successors engaged in peace negotiations. The last main American campaign was directed south, against what turned out to be a fictional stronghold in the German alps. On 7 May the Germans surrendered. The armistice that ended the Second World War in Europe came into force at Midnight on the night of 8-9 May 1945. The War in the East The Buildup to War The Japanese Onrush The Japanese plan was to start the war with a knockout blow against the US Pacific fleet, while at the same time conquering the Southern Resource Zone (the Philippines, Malaya, modern Indonesia and Burma), where the mineral wealth Japan lacks could be taken, and also taking a wide defensive zone around the Zone, where they would build strong jungle fortresses, from where they could destroy any allied attempt to counter attack. The most outstanding feature of the Japanese attack was the speed with which it opened. One of the first places to come under attack was Wake Island, a U.S. base roughly half way between the Philippines and Hawaii, which was also attacked on 8 December, and fell after an heroic defence on 23 December. An attack on Guam, also in American hands, on 10 December was immediately successful. Also on 8 December were the first attacks on Hong Kong, Malaya and the Philippines. Hong Kong, Singapore and Burma The first British possession to come under attack in the east was Hong Kong. Once again, the attack started on 8 December, with a quickly victorious attack on Kowloon that forced the British back onto Hong Kong Island, where after a stubborn defence they were forced to surrender on 25 December. The most important British base in the far east was Singapore, said to be invincible. However, the heavy defences of Singapore were all facing out to sea, and the Japanese decided to attack overland. Once again, the attack began on 8 December, with a landing in Northern Malaya, which rapidly pushed down the Malaya peninsular, reaching the Strait of Johore facing Singapore itself on 31 January 1942. The landward side of Singapore was without heavy defences, and British morale had already collapsed. The Japanese, who were themselves close to running out of supplies and retreated, launched their attack on 8 February, and to their surprise the city surrendered on 15 February 1942, the single largest surrender of British troops in history. The fall of Singapore was a crushing blow to the British Empire in the far east, from which it never truly recovered, even after the final defeat of Japan. The Japanese war plan included a plan to conquer Burma, with the intention of using the mountainous Burma-Indian border as part of the defensive ring around the Southern Resource Zone. Accordingly, on 12 January 1942 two strong divisions with air support crossed from Thailand, occupied in December 1941. Facing them were two weakened British divisions, poorly equipped and under supported, which were unable to stand up to the Japanese attack. During March and April, both sides were reinforced, with two Chinese armies joining the British, and planned offensives. The Japanese attacked first, and during the course of April the British position in Burma became untenable. Finally, in May, the British fell back to the Indian border, marked by the Chindwin River, and rough hilly country, where the front stabilised. The Turning of the Tide Emboldened by their quick success, by the middle of 1942 the Japanese expanded their aims to include Midway and the Solomon Islands, thinking that they would make their defensive zone much stronger. However, this led them into a series of defeats that mark the turning point in the Pacific. Coral Sea and Midway The turning point in the Pacific came with two naval battles, both of which saw Japanese attacks foiled. First was the Battle of the Coral Sea (7-8 May 1942), the first naval battle at which no surface ships came into contact, fought entirely by carrier based aircraft. Two Japanese fleets, one heading to the southern Solomons, the other to Port Moresby on the south coast of Papua New Guinea, facing Australia, left port on 1 May. American intelligence was aware of these plans, and two carriers were sent to oppose them. The battle itself was a draw, with both sides losing one carrier, but the Japanese were forced to abandon their advance, a major Allied victory. The second, and more clear cut victory was the Battle of Midway (4-6 June 1942). The Japanese assembled the largest fleet yet seen in the war, containing 165 warships, and including all four of Japans fleet carriers, supported by 51,000 troops, with the intention of capturing Midway Island, from where they would be able to attack Hawaii. Once again, American intelligence was aware of the Japanese movement, and had managed to get three carriers into place to defend Midway, while the Japanese were convinced the carriers were elsewhere. The battle was a total American victory. All four Japanese carriers were sunk, for the loss of one American carrier, forever changing the balance of power in the Pacific, away from the Japanese and decisively towards the Americans. Guadalcanal Some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific, both on land and at sea, was centred on the Island of Guadalcanal in the southern Solomon Islands. In the summer of 1942 the Americans had been planning to attack the Japanese in the southern Solomons. News reached them of Japanese plans to build an airbase on Guadalcanal, and in reaction the American landings were pushed forward. The Marines landed on the island on 7 August 1942, and easily overwhelmed the small Japanese garrison, capturing the as yet unfinished airbase. However, Japanese air cover forced the U.S. Navy to withdraw for some days, leaving the Marines unsupported for ten days. However, the airbase was completed on 20 August, and supplies were able to reach both sides. On 23-25 October, the Japanese launched their attack (Land battle of Guadalcanal), but their attacks were piecemeal, and never really threatened the American positions. An attempt by the Japanese to land 13,000 reinforcements on the Island was, if not stopped, at least greatly hampered (Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 12-15 November 1942), and the Japanese naval losses during the battle gave control of the seas around Guadalcanal firmly to the Americans. Finally, the Americans launched their own offensive on 10 January 1943, and despite a determined defence the Japanese were eventually forced to evacuate the island. The last Japanese soldiers left on 7 February. This was the first large scale Allied victory over the Japanese, and the first major setback suffered by the Japanese. Towards Victory Despite their setbacks in 1942, the Japanese were still confident. Their original war plan had, after all, predicted a change from the offensive to the defensive once the Southern Resource Zone was captured, based on a series of jungle fortresses that would cost the allies massive casualties to take. They thus began 1943 still confident that their plans were intact. The allies spent most of the year reducing the threat to Australia, and then preparing to return to the Philippines in the next year. By now, it was starting to become clear that the United States had much more military potential that anyone had expected, and the allied plan to simply hold the Japanese until after the defeat of Germany was modified to allow increasing pressure on Japan. Still, it was only towards the end of 1944 that the decisive battles began. The U.S. plan was to begin with an attack on Leyte (Philippines), after which MacArthur would take Luzon, while Nimitz moved against Iwo Jima and Okinawa, in preparation for the invasion of Japan itself. The Japanese had a plan to deal with any attempt on the Philippines, using part of their fleet to draw of the American carriers, and the rest to destroy and landings. However, the Japanese were now sadly lacking in carrier pilots, and when battle was joined (battle of Leyte Gulf, 17-25 October 1944), the American fleet was able to in effect destroy the Japanese fleet. The Japanese lost nearly half of their fleet, and it was never again able to play a major part in the fighting. By 25 December, Leyte was secured, after fighting which cost 70,000 Japanese and 15,584 American casualties. The attack on Iwo Jima was more expensive, although quicker. The US landed on 19 February, and had conquered the tiny island by 24 March, losing 6,891 dead. The Japanese had put in place one of the strongest systems of defence seen in the war, including a maze of tunnels that reduced the impact of the American bombardment. However, by the end of the war the lives of close to 25,000 U.S. airmen had been saved by using Iwo Jima to make emergency landing. Okinawa was the only part of Japan proper to be assaulted during the war. As on Iwo Jima, the Japanese had constructed a massive system of defences, garrisoned by 130,000 men. The American landings began on 1 April, against very light initial opposition, but any relief was short lived, and on 4 April the US troops came up against the Machinato Line of defences, part of an interlocking series of mountain fortresses. The Japanese were able to resist the American assault for two months, with the fighting only ending on 22 June. The U.S. lost 12,500 killed to Japans 107,500. It was the fanatical resistance on Okinawa that convinced the allied command to use the Atomic Bomb. After Japan gave no response to the Potsdam Declaration of 26 July demanding their surrender, the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August, and the second of Nagasaki on 9 August. Japan offered to surrender the following day. The cease fire came into effect on 15 August, and the surrender was officially signed on 2 September 1945. There has been much debate over the use of the Atomic bombs, which killed 110,000 people directly, and many more since, but there is little doubt that any invasion of the Japanese home islands would have cost far more lives, both Japanese and Allied. Second World War (WWII) Published Online July 15, 2013 Last Edited August 23, 2021 The Second World War was a defining event in Canadian history, transforming a quiet country on the fringes of global affairs into a critical player in the 20th century’s most important struggle. Canada carried out a vital role in the Battle of the Atlantic and the air war over Germany and contributed forces to the campaigns of western Europe beyond what might be expected of a small nation of then only 11 million people. Between 1939 and 1945 more than one million Canadian men and women served full-time in the armed services. More than 43,000 were killed. Despite the bloodshed, the war against Germany and the Axis powers reinvigorated Canada’s industrial base, elevated the role of women in the economy, paved the way for Canada’s membership in NATO, and left Canadians with a legacy of proud service and sacrifice embodied in names such as Dieppe, Hong Kong, Ortona and Juno Beach. (This is the full-length entry about the Second World War. For a plain-language summary, please see Second World War (Plain-Language Summary).) The Path to War Memories of the First World War — the tragic loss of life, the heavy burden of debt and the strain on the country’s unity imposed by conscription—made Canadians, including politicians of all parties, loath to contemplate another such experience. Initially, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King warmly supported British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasing German leader Adolf Hitler. When Chamberlain postponed war by sacrificing Czechoslovakia in the Munich crisis of September 1938, King thanked him publicly, and Canadians in general certainly agreed. Nevertheless, the shock of this crisis likely turned opinion towards accepting war to check the advance of Nazism. Only gradually did ongoing Nazi aggression alter this mood to the point where Canada was prepared to take part in another great war. King himself had no doubt that in a great war involving Britain, Canada could not stand aside. Declaration and Mobilization When the German attack on Poland on 1 September 1939 finally led Britain and France to declare war on Germany, King summoned Parliament to «decide,» as he had pledged. Declaration of war was postponed for a week, during which Canada was formally neutral. The government announced that approval of the «Address in reply to the Speech from the Throne,» which stated the government’s decision to support Britain and France, would constitute approval of a declaration of war. On September 9 the address was approved without a recorded vote, and war was declared the following day. The basis for parliamentary unity had in fact been laid in March, when both major parties accepted a program rejecting conscription for overseas service. King clearly envisaged a limited effort and was lukewarm towards an expeditionary force. Nevertheless, there was enough pressure to lead the Cabinet to dispatch one army division to Europe. The Allies’ defeat in France and Belgium in the early summer of 1940 and the collapse of France frightened Canadians. The idea of limited and economical war went by the board, at which point the only limitation was the pledge against overseas conscription. The armed forces were rapidly enlarged, conscription was introduced June 1940 for home defence (see National Resources Mobilization Act), and expenditure grew enormously. Dieppe, Hong Kong and Italy The army expanded, and by late 1942 there were five divisions overseas, two of them armoured. In April of that year the First Canadian Army was formed in England under Lieutenant-General A.G.L. McNaughton. In contrast with the First World War, it was a long time before the army saw large-scale action. Until summer 1943 the force in England was engaged only in the unsuccessful Dieppe Raid (19 August 1942), whereas two battalions sent from Canada had taken part in the hopeless defence of Hong Kong against the Japanese in December 1941. Public opinion in Canada became disturbed by the inaction, and disagreement developed between the government and McNaughton, who wished to reserve the army for a final, decisive campaign. The government arranged with Britain for the 1st Canadian Infantry Division to join the attack on Sicily in July 1943, and subsequently insisted upon building its Mediterranean force up to a two-division corps (by adding the 5th Division). This produced a serious clash with McNaughton, just when the British War Office, which considered him unsuited for field command, was influencing the Canadian government against him. At the end of 1943 he was replaced by Lieutenant-General H.D.G. Crerar. The 1st Division was heavily engaged in the Sicilian campaign as part of the British Eighth Army, and subsequently took part in the December 1943 advance up the mainland of Italy, seeing particularly severe fighting in and around Ortona. (See also The Italian Campaign.) In the spring of 1944 Canadians under Lieutenant-General E.L.M. Burns played a leading role in breaking the Hitler Line barring the Liri Valley. At the end of August, the corps broke the Gothic Line in the Adriatic sector and pushed on through the German positions covering Rimini, which fell in September. These battles cost Canada its heaviest casualties of the Italian campaign. The final phase of Canadian involvement in Italy found 1st Canadian Corps, now commanded by Lieutenant-General Charles Foulkes, fighting its way across the Lombard Plain, hindered by mud and swift-flowing rivers. The corps’ advance ended at the Senio River in the first days of 1945. The Canadian government, so eager to get its troops into action in Italy, had soon begun to ask for their return to join the main Canadian force in Northwest Europe. Allied policy finally made this possible early in 1945, and the 1st Corps came under the First Canadian Army’s command in mid-March, to the general satisfaction of the men from Italy. All told, 92,757 Canadian soldiers of all ranks had served in Italy, and 5,764 had lost their lives. The Normandy Campaign In the final great campaign in northwest Europe, beginning with the Normandy Invasion (code name Operation Overlord) on 6 June 1944, the First Canadian Army under Crerar played an important and costly part. The army’s central kernel was the 2nd Canadian Corps, under Lieutenant-General G.G. Simonds, who had commanded the 1st Division in Sicily; it was composed of the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions and the 4th Canadian Armoured Division. Throughout, the army was part of the 21st British Army Group commanded by General Sir (later Field-Marshal Lord) Bernard Law Montgomery. In the landing phase, only the 3rd Division and the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade were engaged and fighting under the 2nd British Army. These formations landed on D-Day on a section of Canadian-designated shoreline code-named Juno Beach. There was bitter fighting on the beach, and subsequently as the Canadians moved inland. The Canadian formations played a leading part in the breakout from the Normandy bridgehead in August, fighting against fierce opposition to reach the French town of Falaise and subsequently to close the gap south of it through which the enemy was retiring to avoid being trapped between the British and Canadians coming from the north and the Americans approaching from the south. Falaise was taken on August 16 and on the 19th the Allies finally made contact across the gap. Belgium, Holland and Germany The next phase was one of pursuit towards the German frontier. The First Canadian Army, with the 1st British Corps under command, cleared the coastal fortresses, taking in turn Le Havre, Boulogne, and Calais. Early in September the British took Antwerp, but the enemy still held the banks of the Scheldt River between this much-needed port and the sea. The Canadians fought a bitter battle to open the river through October and the first week of November. (See Canada and the Battle of the Scheldt.) The first major Canadian operation of 1945, the Battle of the Rhineland, was to clear the area between the Maas and the Rhine rivers; it began February 8 and ended only March 10 when the Germans, pushed back by the Canadians and the converging thrust of the 9th US Army, withdrew across the Rhine. The final operations in the west began with the Rhine crossing in the British area on 23 March; thereafter, the First Canadian Army, still on the left of the line, liberated east and north Netherlands and advanced across the northern German plain. (See Liberation of the Netherlands). When the Germans surrendered on Field-Marshal Montgomery’s front on 5 May, the 2nd Canadian Corps had taken Oldenburg, and the 1st Canadian Corps was standing fast on the Grebbe River line while, by arrangement with the Germans, food was sent into the starving western Netherlands. (See Canada and the Dutch Hunger Winter.) The entire campaign had cost the Canadian Army 11,336 fatalities. Some 237,000 men and women of the army had served in northwest Europe. The Air Campaign The war effort of the Royal Canadian Air Force was deeply affected by its management of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Great numbers of Canadians served in units of Britain’s Royal Air Force, and the growth of a national Canadian air organization overseas was delayed. Nevertheless, by the German surrender, 48 RCAF squadrons were overseas, virtually completely manned by Canadian officers and men. A landmark was the formation of No. 6 (RCAF) Bomber Group of the RAF Bomber Command on 1 January 1943. It grew ultimately to 14 squadrons. It was commanded successively by Air Vice-Marshals G.E. Brookes and C.M. McEwen. The Bomber Command’s task was the night bombing of Germany, a desperately perilous job calling for sustained fortitude. Almost 10,000 Canadians lost their lives in this command. Canadian airmen served in every theatre, from bases in the UK, North Africa, Italy, northwest Europe and southeast Asia. Squadrons in North America worked in antisubmarine operations off the Atlantic coast and co-operated with US air forces against the Japanese in the Aleutian Islands. At one time or another seven RCAF squadrons served in the RAF’s Coastal Command over the Atlantic. RCAF aircraft destroyed or had a part in destroying 20 enemy submarines. In the northwest Europe campaign of 1944–45, the RCAF deployed 17 squadrons. During the war 232,632 men and 17,030 women served in the RCAF, and 17,101 lost their lives. The Naval War The Royal Canadian Navy was tiny in 1939, but its expansion during the war was remarkable: it enlisted 99,688 men and some 6,500 women. It manned 471 fighting vessels of various types. Its primary task was convoy, protecting the troop and supply ships across the Atlantic. It carried an increasing proportion of this burden, fighting grim battles sometimes of several days’ duration with U-boat «wolfpacks.» Its vast expansion produced some growing pains; in 1943 measures had to be taken to improve its escort vessels’ technical equipment and in some cases crew training. During the war it sank or shared in sinking 33 enemy submarines. After the Atlantic Convoy Conference in Washington in March 1943, the Canadian Northwest Atlantic Command was set up, covering the area north of New York City and west of the 47th meridian; a Canadian officer, Rear-Admiral L.W. Murray, was responsible for convoys in this area. Apart from their main task in the Battle of the Atlantic, Canadian naval units took part in many other campaigns, including supporting the Allied landings in North Africa in November 1942; and to the Normandy operations of June 1944, the RCN contributed some 110 vessels and 10,000 men. During the war it lost 24 warships, ranging from the «Tribal » class destroyer Athabaskan, sunk in the English Channel in April 1944, to the armed yacht Raccoon, torpedoed in the St Lawrence in September 1942 (see U-Boat Operations). In personnel, the navy had 2,024 fatalities. The Industrial Contribution Canada’s industrial contribution to victory was considerable, though it began slowly. After the Allied reverses in Europe in 1940, British orders for equipment, which had been a trickle, became a flood. In April 1940 the Department of Munitions and Supply, provided for in 1939, was established with C.D. Howe as minister. In August 1940 an amended Act gave the minister almost dictatorial powers, and under it the industrial effort expanded vastly. Various Crown Corporations were instituted for special tasks. New factories were built, and old ones adapted for war purposes. Whereas in the First World War Canadian production had largely been limited to shells (no weapons were made except the Ross Rifle), now a great variety of guns and small arms was produced. Many ships, notably escort vessels and cargo carriers, were built; there was large production of aircraft, including Lancaster bombers; and the greatest triumph of the program was in the field of military vehicles, of which 815,729 were made. Much of the work in the nation’s factories, and in the home-front military services, was carried out by women, who were recruited into the labour force, many for the first time, to fill jobs vacated by men on duty overseas. Atomic War Canada had a limited role in the development of atomic energy, a fateful business that was revealed when atomic bombs were dropped on Japan in August 1945. Canada had an available source of uranium in a mine at Great Bear Lake, which led to Mackenzie King’s being taken into the greater Allies’ confidence in the matter in 1942. That summer the Canadian government acquired control of the mine. A team of scientists that had been working on the project in England was moved to Canada. Tension developed between Britain and the US, but at the Québec Conference of September 1943 an Anglo-American agreement was made that incidentally gave Canada a small share in control. A Canadian policy committee decided in 1944 to construct an atomic reactor at the Chalk Nuclear Laboratories. The first reactor there did not «go critical » until after the Japanese surrender. Canada had no part in producing the bombs used against Japan, unless some Canadian uranium was used in them, which seems impossible to determine. (See Canada and the Manhattan Project; Canada and Nuclear Weapons.) Relations with the Allies Canada had no effective part in the higher direction of the war. This would have been extremely difficult to obtain, and Mackenzie King never exerted himself strongly to obtain it. It is possible that he anticipated that doing so would have an adverse effect upon his personal relations with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and American President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which he considered very important to him politically. (See also Mackenzie King and the War Effort.) The western Allies’ strategy was decided by the Combined Chiefs of Staff, a purely Anglo-American committee. Its most important decisions were made in periodical conferences with political leaders, two of which were held at Quebec. (See Quebec Conferences 1943, 1944.) Even to these, King was a party only as host. Although Canadian forces were employed in accordance with the Combined Chiefs ‘ decisions, it is a curious fact that Canada was never officially informed of the institution of the committee at the end of 1941. Even formal recognition of Canadian sovereignty was minimal; although the directives of the Allied commanders for the war against Japan were issued in the names of the US, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, the directive to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander in northwest Europe, under whom large Canadian forces served, made no mention of Canada. Canadian relations with the US became notably closer during the war. From the moment King resumed office in 1935, he had cultivated his connection with Roosevelt. During the first months of the war there was little contact, but the fears aroused by early German victories immediately produced a rapprochement. On 18 August 1940, King and Roosevelt, meeting at Ogdensburg, New York, announced an agreement (not a formal treaty) to set up a Permanent Joint Board on Defence, which met frequently thereafter to discuss mutual defence problems. In 1941, Canada’s balance of payments with the US became serious, largely because of the difficulty of financing imports from the US resulting from Canada ‘s industrial production for Britain. It was solved by the Hyde Park Declaration on 20 April. Nevertheless, King sometimes worried over what he saw as a danger of the US absorbing Canada. A reaction to American activity in the Canadian North (e.g., the building of the Alaska Highway in 1942) was the appointment in 1943 of a Special Commissioner for Defence Projects in the Northwest, to reinforce Canadian control in the region. The Conscription Issue The worst political problems that arose in Canada during the war originated in the conscription question, and Mackenzie King had more difficulties in his own Liberal Party than with the Opposition. The election of 26 March 1940, before the war reached a critical stage, indicated that the country was happy with a limited war effort and gave King a solid majority. French Canada’s lack of enthusiasm for the war and its particular opposition to conscription were as evident as in the First World War (voluntary enlistments in Quebec amounted to only about 4 per cent of the population, whereas elsewhere the figure was roughly 10 per cent). By 1942, agitation for overseas conscription in the English-speaking parts of the country led King to hold a plebiscite on releasing the government from its pledge. The result was a heavy vote for release in every province but Quebec. Nevertheless, there was still little active enthusiasm for conscription in English Canada; when Arthur Meighen returned to the Conservative leadership and advocated overseas conscription, he failed to be elected even in a Toronto constituency. But the atmosphere changed after casualties mounted. After the Normandy campaign in 1944 a shortage of infantry reinforcements arose and Minister of National Defence Colonel J.L. Ralston told Cabinet that the time for overseas conscription had come. King, who had apparently convinced himself that there was a conspiracy in the ministry to unseat him and substitute Ralston, dismissed Ralston and replaced him with McNaughton. The latter failed to prevail on any large number of home-defence conscripts to volunteer for overseas service, and King, finding himself faced with resignations of conscriptionist ministers, which would have ruined his government, agreed to send a large group of the conscripts overseas. Quebec reluctantly accepted the situation, preferring King’s to any Conservative administration, and he was safe again until the end of the war. Making the Peace Canada had little share in making the peace. The great powers, which had kept the direction of the war in their own hands, did the same now. The so-called peace conference in Paris in the summer of 1946 merely gave the lesser Allies, including Canada, an opportunity of commenting upon arrangements already made. Canada signed treaties only with Italy, Hungary, Romania and Finland. With Germany divided and the eastern part of the country dominated by the Soviet Union, there was never a German treaty. In 1951, Canada, like other Western powers, ended the state of war with Germany by royal proclamation. That year a treaty of peace with Japan, drafted by the US, was signed by most Allied states, including Canada (but not including the communist powers). Cost and Significance The significance of the Second World War in Canadian history was great, but probably less than that of the First. National unity between French and English was damaged, though happily not so seriously as between 1914–18. The economy was strengthened and its manufacturing capacity much diversified. National pride and confidence were enhanced. The status as an independent country, only shakily established in 1919, was beyond doubt after 1945. Canada was a power in her own right, if a modest one. On the other hand, it had been made painfully clear that «status » did not necessarily imply influence. A middle power had to limit its aspirations. Real authority in the world remained with the big battalions, the big populations, and the big money. Command & Conquer Wiki Welcome to the Command & Conquer Wiki! Log in and join the community. Second World War Second World War Chronology Details End Date Location Battles Outcome The Second World War or World War II was a major armed conflict, triggered when the Soviet Union begun a campaign of aggression to realize Joseph Stalin’s dream: a Communist Union stretching from the coast of the Atlantic Ocean to the coast of the Pacific. Opposing them were the Allied Forces, a military alliance established to resist Soviet aggression against any first world powers and uphold the ideals defined in the World Association of Nations charter. Thanks to the superior skill of the Allied commanders, the Soviet invasion was halted and the tide turned in favor of the Allies. Despite a desperate defense, the Soviet war machine was broken and Moscow was taken by the Allies. Contents Background It was the year 1946 and mankind had endured one of the most horrifying and brutal wars it has faced. World War II had ended with tens of millions dead by genocides, starvation, massacres, and disease. While the world was reeling and rebuilding after its triumph over fascism, a scientific genius by the name of Albert Einstein decided to prevent the horrors of the war from ever happening in the first place. Using a time machine he developed in Trinity, New Mexico, the professor went back into the past to stop the rise of Nazism. Einstein arrived in 1924 near the Landsberg Prison in Germany, where Adolf Hitler had just been released after serving his sentence for his role in the Bavarian Beer Hall Putsch. After meeting Hitler outside the prison, Einstein erased him from the timeline. The professor returned to his own timeline, [note 2] answering to his assistant about the uncertainty of what was next to come. [4] “ Time will tell. Sooner or later, time will tell. — Albert Einstein (src) ” While Einstein’s good intentions prevented the war as it was known, it had upset the delicate balance of world powers. In this new timeline, without the Third Reich to challenge it, the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin grew unchecked. Stalin envisioned a global Soviet Union, with himself as the supreme ruler of the mind and spirit of every Soviet citizen. This made a new war inevitable. [3] At the outset of the Second World War, the Soviet Union had a considerable army, with 14,000,000 enlisted troops and over 7,000,000 men in the police, NKVD and other services. It was also a major economic power, with operating assets believed to be in excess of 486,200,000,000 Swiss Francs. Supporting it was a vast network of over 200,000,000 agents that infiltrated the governments of most Pan-African, Pan-Indian and Pan-Asian governments with suspected strongholds in Mexico City and Vancouver. Command posts known to the Allies included Moscow, Kiev, Stalingrad, Khartoum, Karachi and Da Nang. The Soviet Union also had ties to global organizations, such as the World Democratic Society, Asian Defense League and the Freedom Consortium. [3] By comparison, the Allied Forces were considerably weaker, initially numbering only 3,400,000 enlisted troops and about 1,700,000 irregular (guerilla and resistance) forces. As a military organisation, it operated out of three main command posts: Unified Operations Headquarters in London, Northern Theatre command center in Oslo and Southern Theatre command center in Madrid. [3] Prelude to the War Invasion of Asia The Soviet war effort began with the invasion of East Asia by Soviet troops. During this campaign, Marshall Gradenko distinguished himself in service. [5] Sarin gas One of Gradenko’s assignments before the invasion of Europe was field-testing the USSR’s Sarin nerve gas. This gas would later be used against civilian and Allied Forces in Greece. Toruń massacre One of the more tragic events was the killing of a large detachment of Polish resistance movement that took up arms outside Toruń. They, along with all civilians living in the area, were snuffed out by Soviet forces under the command of a certain Soviet commander. [6] At this point, the USSR controlled Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and, as a staging point for its invasion of Turkey, Iraq. The Allied Forces controlled a majority of Europe, including Norway, Sweden and the Czech Republic. Allied perspective Soviet invasion of Western Europe In a raid deep behind enemy lines in Germany, Soviets captured Albert Einstein, who had offered plans to develop a new weapon for the Allies. The Allies reacted quickly and civilian mercenary Tanya Adams was dispatched with a small raiding party to the Slovakian-Hungarian border with orders to retrieve the scientist. The base fell surprisingly quickly to the small commando force, due to the fact that it relied heavily on Tesla Coils to defend it, yet did not have adequate protection for its power plants. This was most likely due to the base being hastily built by the invading Soviets on the border. [7] Delaying the Red Advance “ Soviet aggression has increased tenfold already, we don’t have the manpower to fight Stalin’s armies on every front! — Nikos Stavros (src) ” Due to heavy defeats against the Soviet offensives, the Allies were forced to retreat, and Field Commander A9 was ordered to take control of a passage through the Sudetes mountain pass on the Polish-Czechoslovakian border. With limited resources, he managed to destroy enemy forces in the region and allow the Allied convoy to pass through safely. [8] Despite the success of Tanya’s assignment, the plan ultimately failed, as the Red Army managed to encircle and destroy the overstretched Allied military in Poland, regaining lost ground quickly and threatening the same mountain pass Commander A9 cleared earlier in the Sudetes. In a pitched defense, the Soviets were pushed back, despite their technological advantage (Allied light tanks vs. Soviet heavy tanks and Yak aircraft). [10] Fall of Greece Soon, the Greek front collapsed and the Soviet banners flew high in the capitals of Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Cyprus. At the same time Soviet offensive in Central Europe overran Germany and penetrated into eastern France, northern Italy and Benelux. However, a breakthrough happened as Allied diplomats convinced the United Nations to establish a unique military funding to back the Allied cause. In a 281 to 7 vote, the initiative was passed, and it was agreed that a global defence agency would be formed in an undisclosed European capital. [11] Despite the bleak outlook, with the Allied front in Greece collapsing, the UN funding initiative marked a turning point in the war, though at the time, it did not seem so. Agent Tanya Adams, who proved key to recovering Einstein, has been captured by Soviets while transporting vital information about one of the Soviet top secret research projects. In order to prevent her from being transported to Moscow for interrogation and execution, General Gunter von Esling dispatched Commander A9 with the mission of saving her from a Soviet prison facility near Grodno. Despite suffering torture, Tanya escaped captivity (though the spy who aided her was killed in the process) and delivered information on the Iron Curtain project to the Allies. [11] Gaining the Initiative The Allies rallied and regained the initiative After consultation with Professor Einstein, it was decided that in order to prevent the deployment of the Iron Curtain, a strike force was sent from the newly liberated Greek coastal areas to attack the Soviet submarine bases in the Aegean Sea doubling as research bases. The objective was to infiltrate the research centers and gain information on the project and then destroy them. The attack was successful and the Allies hampered the research into this device. However, this merely delayed its deployment. [12] A report sent to Soviet command which confirmed that the Iron Curtain research was set back by Allied espionage was traced to Bornholm, Denmark. Shortly afterwards, a large strike force was deployed to the area that conquered the Soviet bases and commandeered their radar domes in order to assess their relation with the Iron Curtain project. [13] On other fronts, Allied armies attacked from Asia Minor, liberating Syria and Iraq. Furthermore, after a swift campaign, Norway and the most of Sweden were liberated, free from the Soviet grasp, as was the same for Greece and Cyprus. The Chronosphere Project All this time, Allied researchers under the lead of Professor Albert Einstein worked hard to create a weapon that would turn the tide of the war. Basing on Einstein’s research, the Philadelphia Experiment was conducted to test theories that would later pave way for the Chronosphere project, meant to provide reliable control over the Chrono effect. The primary research center was situated in Leich, concentrating on controlling the effect. The scientists there were nearing a breakthrough when the Soviet leadership learned of the location of this facility and began to attack it on the eve of a critical experiment. In a pitched defense, Commander A9 skillfully employed his forces and safeguarded the tech center housing the project, possibly saving the future of Europe. [14] The Soviet Union was forced to shift their offensive into a defensive. Foiling Soviet nuclear attack It was then discovered that a high ranking Soviet researcher, Vladimir Kosygin, wishing to defect to the Allied Forces, contacted General Von Esling, disclosing his location. A small strike force was dispatched to Riga, the capital of Latvia, where they infiltrated the enemy base and secured Kosygin, making a daring escape from the research base. [15] “ Stalin! He announced it, he is telling everyone, he is threatening to destroy the world. His missiles are ready, he is preparing to launch. — Vladimir Kosygin (src) ” The sight of a warhead buried outside the British parliament remains an iconic image of just how close the Allies came to defeat when victory seemed to be so close. Following this victory, the Allied Forces finally removed the last pockets of Soviet resistance in Europe, leaving the USSR defending itself on its own soil. Allied invasion of the Soviet Union “ Welcome to the USSR, Commander. All Allied divisions are at the ready for our final push on Moscow. — Gunter von Esling (src) ” To provide heavy fire support and spearhead the assault, a large detachment of Allied forces landed near Stalingrad (referred to during that mission as ‘Volgograd’, possibly as a mistake) and cleared the bottleneck that prevented warships from moving up the Volga river. Supported by cruisers and destroyers, the Allies swiftly moved deep into enemy territory, the navy proving instrumental in the campaign. [18] Allied Longbows were instrumental in nullifying Soviet armored superiority during the later stages of the war. Before they could proceed, however, the Allies had to investigate rumors of an even more powerful version of the Iron Curtain coming online. Supported by new Longbow helicopters, the European military quickly intercepted and destroyed the device before it could become a significant threat. [19] Tech centers captured during the assignment revealed the existence of a major underground weapons plant supplying the Red Army, which was quickly put out of commission by an elite commando team. [20] End of the war “ Get going, and give Stalin hell. We will see you in Moscow! — Gunter von Esling (src) ” Occupying most of the European USSR landmass, the Allied Forces barrelled down onto Moscow and utilized their entire arsenal in one final battle. Tanya Adams was sent as the harbinger of defeat and secured funds for the initial deployment of the Allied military, and as she succeeded, the bulk of the Allied expeditionary force arrived. Quickly, they established a base and, in a massive, bloody battle, eventually defeated the last Soviet defenders. [21] During the fighting, Stalin was heavily wounded and buried under rubble during the assault. The dictator was discovered by Allied infantry and later by Nikos Stavros. Stavros ordered the infantry to abandon rather than capture Stalin. With the intent of avenging his homeland of Greece, Stavros gagged Stalin and left the dictator to die alone. [21] The war was finally over. Soviet perspective The Red Tide “ Beyond this river lies Germany. Tomorrow our attack begins. — Georgi Kukov (src) ” The preparations for an assault on Germany were already well underway, with forward command posts established at the border. The same Soviet commander who destroyed Toruń was assigned, together with Georgi Kukov, to guard the bridges leading over the river. The German military, in a desperate move, attacked well entrenched Soviet positions and sabotaged the bridges. However, the Soviets did not let that stop them, and deployed infantry divisions that traversed the river and engaged the enemy on his own soil, beginning the campaign. [22] “ At the rate of our noble comrades’ advance, we will occupy all of Europe within 60 days. — Radik Gradenko (src) ” While Soviet forces pushed through Finland to take control of Norway and Sweden, it turned out that in southern Sweden, where the Red Army executed a swift naval assault, an Allied spy had infiltrated one of the few remaining gas production facilities and destroyed it. Field Marshall Radik Gradenko attempted to hide the fact from Stalin, but the aide Nadia Zelenkov brought it to Stalin’s attention and the commander was sent to deal with the spy. Eventually, despite help from the Swedish resistance and Allied remnants, the spy was captured and shot. [23] Executing a plan formulated by Zelenkov, Soviet forces engaged German communication centers near Berlin, forcing the Allied military to divide their forces to save the critical communication node. This left Berlin exposed, which allowed the Soviets to swiftly take the capital. [24] Securing Eastern Europe “ Your first order as field captain is to proceed to Khalkis Island. We need the ore there for a special project. In addition, we need to capture the Allied communications center, we must know what those Allied dogs are up to! — Joseph Stalin (src) ” To support their assault on Greece, Soviet command dispatched a mining team to Khalkis island in order to establish operations there. They also were assigned to capture the Allied communications center in order to monitor the enemy movements in the sector. [25] With the United Nations involved in the war, the conflict turned into a stalemate and the Allies were starting to recapture territory. Stalin ordered the Soviet commander to get trucks carrying atomic weapon components to Gorzow, past one of two heavily-guarded rivers in Yugoslavia. [26] The Allies have started resorting to unorthodox methods to defeating the Soviets, one of which includes infiltrating a nuclear reactor deep in the USSR and starting a meltdown. Despite Kukov’s request to handle the operation, Zelenkov insisted that the Soviet commander regain control of the reactor from the Allied saboteurs. The commander succeeded, preventing the reactor from having a complete meltdown. [27] Liability Elimination During his «private briefing» with Zelenkov, Stalin was interrupted by Gradenko regarding recon footage of Allied vehicles being teleported on Elba Island. Believing such a superweapon could act as a complement to their Iron Curtain project, Stalin then orders the commander to destroy the Allied resistance on the Italian island. [28] The Soviets began assembling the Iron Curtain, but not without setbacks. While a drunken Stalin was issuing death warrants for another purge in the Soviet military leadership, a truck carrying important elements of the Iron Curtain project had been captured by the Allies in eastern France. Since it was now a liability, the Soviets attacked the Allied bases in the region, eliminating both the Allied presence and the truck to prevent information from leaking. [2] Another Soviet convoy was escorted through a French mountain pass, with the new MiG attack aircraft taking out Allied positions along the way. [5] Gradenko was subsequently assassinated by Zelenkov for his incompetency in letting the truck fall into enemy hands. While Soviet command was further analyzing the Allied superweapon, Allied naval fleets were refueling in Normandy and the Gulf of Lion in preparation for a major attack. This was discovered by Zelenkov’s spies, and so much of the Allied navy was sunk by the Soviet submarines in a matter of minutes. [29] «I want it. « “ With the Chronosphere and the Iron Curtain soon we will stand invincible! — Joseph Stalin (src) ” Having proven himself useful, Stalin orders the Soviet commander to seize the Allied superweapon: the Chronosphere. After discovering the Chronosphere’s signal near Seti, Switzerland, the Soviets launched an offensive into the once neutral country. Their initial attempt to secure the Chronosphere prototype failed, [30] but the lead Allied scientist Albert Einstein was captured and luckily there was another Chronosphere prototype. In order to trick the Allies into revealing the second prototype’s location, the Soviets setup a mock execution, leaked the information to the Allies, and implanted a tracking device in Einstein’s watch. As the execution was underway, the Allies then chronoshifted Einstein to safety, this revealing the location of the second Chronosphere in western Iberia. [31] The Red Army advanced westward to the Atlantic and struck the bases of the remaining Allied resistance on continental Europe. The Soviet forces were ordered to capture three transmitters within the region in order to safely take the Chronosphere for themselves. [31] However, the operation to secure the last prototype failed; the Chronosphere self-destructed, as intel about the fourth transmitter was purposefully left out by General Kukov in an attempt to get the Soviet commander purged. Stalin was infuriated and personally strangled Krukov in front of Zelenkov and the Soviet commander. [32] Soviet Supremacy “ If the Chronosphere’s not to be ours, then let it be buried with the remains of the Allied dogs. — Joseph Stalin (src) ” Although the Chronosphere was lost, the whole of mainland Europe was now in the hands of the Soviet Union. The remaining Allied Forces retreated to Great Britain, concentrated around London for their final defense. To Joseph Stalin and the Soviets, all traces of the European alliance must be vanquished forever, for a continental Soviet Union was their destiny. [32] The Red Army made their landing on the coast of England, facing fierce resistance from the English defenders. But Britain, like Germany, France, and Greece, was eventually crushed under the jackboot of Soviet supremacy. Legions of infantry and Mammoth tanks supported by the Iron Curtain obliterated the island’s defenders. After much brutal fighting and without their Chronosphere, the last of the Allies capitulated and soon the entirety of Europe was now under Soviet control. Stalin celebrated his victory in Buckingham Palace. [32] Aftermath The victory parade in Moscow. Red Alert universe, Allied perspective The following contains information from the Red Alert Universe which may not be canonical in the Tiberium Universe With the defeat of the USSR, the Allied Forces managed to successfully defend the freedom of Europe and ended Stalin’s tyranny. However, the cost of victory was high, with millions dead and many major European cities destroyed during the conflict. What was worse, the Allies never found the Yuri-led Psychic Corps and their mind control project, which would allow Russia to recover and resume the conflict. Stalin’s advisor was also nowhere to be seen. After the war was over, America stepped in and aided in reconstruction efforts, which included appointing Premier Alexander Romanov, a distant relative of the ex-royal House of Romanov and a Communist figure who seemingly promoted peace, as the nation’s new leader. However, two decades since the end of the Second World War, [1] this would be proven a costly mistake. Tiberium universe, Allied perspective The Second World War is widely recognized as the most destructive armed conflict in human history, with the possible exception of the Third Tiberium War and the subsequent Scrin invasion of Earth. Casualties were numbered in the tens of millions, and the material losses and destruction of irreplaceable works of art, historical monuments and others could not be counted. In the post-war world, the Allied Forces forced the USSR to disarm most of its military, leaving it only with forces necessary to defend itself. They also ensured that the Soviet Union would pay for reparations, according to the Peace Treaty. Eventually, the Soviet Union itself disbanded; reorganizing into 15 independent states, with Russia being the largest and the most powerful of them. Nobody sought to locate Stalin’s mysterious advisor or Zelenkov, who was allegedly shot to death by the advisor. One permanent effect of the war was the establishment of Black Ops 9, the predecessor to the Global Defense Initiative, which acted covertly under UN rule to ensure that another great war would never take place. Alas, the Tiberium meteor impact at the Tiber River in 1995 changed all that. Tiberium universe, Soviet perspective Inside the Buckingham Palace, Stalin congratulated his commander on a job well done, and that he will see it to personally that he be «rewarded». Stalin was overjoyed with this decisive victory and danced around the room in the presence of Nadia and his closest advisor. Nadia prepared her brew of tea to Stalin and he cheerily drunk it. Only moments later, Stalin began to choke and Nadia revealed that she poisoned the tea. As Stalin fell to the floor dying, Now free from being Stalin’s mistress, Zelenkov angrily shot him at point blank range, four times in the back and one inside the victim’s eye. Zelenkov revealed herself to be a member of a shadowy organization that controlled the Soviet Union (and thus manipulated the whole war) calling itself the Brotherhood of Nod, who would be «tired» of the Soviet Union sometime in the 1990s. She appointed the Soviet commander to succeed Stalin as leader but, the advisor shot Zelenkov in the back, apparently no longer needing her. Going by the name of Kane, he said just one thing to the commander. SIEGE: World War II 12+ Epic PvP Army Battles In WWII Imperia Online JSC Designed for iPad Screenshots Description Think you have what it takes to be a World War II general? Put your decision-making skills to the test in SIEGE: World War II. -Battle against real players in epic PvP duels -Build the perfect deck to crush your opponents -Unlock, collect, and upgrade powerful troops and tactics cards -Join or form clans to share cards and dominate the leaderboards -Earn prestige tiers to gain early access to unreleased cards -Experience stunning graphics and beautiful card art -Compete with players around the world to top seasonal leaderboards -Receive awesome rewards every single day -Enjoy new content being released constantly -Partake in new challenges released twice a week INTENSE PLAYER VS PLAYER ACTION Take control of massive armies and clash with real players from around the world in live PvP battles. Test your skills and tactics on the fly in epic head-to-head clashes. Your split-second decisions will turn the tide of battle! Not ready to hop into multiplayer? No problem! Practice offline against bots to perfect your deck build before taking on challengers online. Test out different strategies and tactics to find the playstyle that is perfect for you. STRATEGIC DECK BUILDING Collect and upgrade cards and use them to craft your offensive and defensive military strategy and tactics. Tons of unique cards to collect! Build your deck and design your perfect army with realistic World War II infantry including riflemen, snipers, paratroopers, bazooka soldiers, and of course, the titan’s of the battlefield, tanks. Then support them with tactics such as airstrikes, minefields, airdrops, artillery and more. BEAUTIFUL GAMEPLAY AND STUNNING GRAPHICS Many different maps based on legendary World War II battlefields to play on. Realistic graphics and animations will make you feel like you’re truly a part of the action. Become a part of the SIEGE: World War II community by joining an existing clan, or take matters into our own hands and start your own clan and play with your friends! Open chests every day to earn rare cards and upgrade your infantry. New surprises await every time you play! Each season of SIEGE: World War II brings new cards and new challenges. Constantly changing in-game meta means you’ll always have new strategy decisions to make. New leaderboards each season lets you prove that you are the best time and time again. New personal challenges are issued twice a week, tasking you with strategizing out of your comfort zone and putting your deck building skills to the test. SIEGE: World War II is a real-time multiplayer strategy game, which means a network connection is required to play online. While SIEGE: World War II is completely free to play, some in-game items can be purchased with real money. If you don’t want to use this feature, you can disable in-app purchases in your device’s settings. Useful Notes / World War II Edit Locked World War II, or the Second World War (often abbreviated as WWII or WW2), was a global war fought from 1939 to 1945. Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland is generally accepted as the start date of World War II, though several other conflicts that would be incorporated into the larger international conflict were already underway—the largest of which was the Second Sino-Japanese War, which «officially» started in 1937 but had been ongoing in some form since 1931. Many citizens of Russia/the old Soviet Union and the United States also generally consider 1941 to be the start date, June 22nd for the former at the start of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of Russia, and December 7th for the latter following the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, when Germany and Japan both declared war on the US. It involved 62 out of the 73 existent/independent states at that time, which eventually formed two loose, opposing military alliances: the Allies or Allied powers (China, France, the UK, the USA, the USSR among others) against the Axis powers (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan and various smaller countries allied to them). It was the most intensive and extensive war in history, with more than 100 million people serving in military units. In a state of «total war», the major participants eventually placed their entire financial, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, thereby erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. This included the enslavement of enemy POW and civilians as manual labourers, or coerced ‘recruitment’ as police and soldiers, by the Axis powers. The European Axis powers also perpetrated a number of genocides to maximise their economic performance and national security during the war. These programmes of enslavement and genocide are considered part of The Holocaust, which was integral to the War Aims of the European Axis. Had they been victorious, these programmes would have been expanded considerably. For information about specific parts of the war, check here: World War II World War II (abbr. WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, the Great Patriotic War (in Russia), «The Sequel», or the Great War II: Electric Boogaloo, was a titanic global clusterfuck conflict that began in 1939 and lasted until 1945. It also could arguably have begun with the conflicts between Japan and China in 1937 or as far back as 1931. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] to 1945. It left about 85 million people dead, 45 million of whom were civilians, [9] and was also the first and (so far) only conflict which saw the use of nuclear weapons. This massive fuckup had a multitude of causes. For one reason or another, multiple nations had fallen to fascism, an ideology which itself made war inevitable. Relative lack of historical success in imperialism led nations like Italy and Japan to start biting chunks out of their neighbors, while Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party seized power in Germany to begin crushing minorities. The democracies of Western Europe, haunted by the recent memory of World War One, were largely unwilling to stand up to the aggressive fascist leaders. Meanwhile the nation that had done most of the allies’ dying in the First World War, Russia, had become the communist Soviet Union. Before and during the war, most nations of the world aligned with one or the other of the war’s two massive military alliances. The Axis Powers were comprised of the fascists and their allies, and they sought to carve themselves new empires and destroy communism. Standing against them were the Allied Powers, which sought to stop the Axis. Among the latter were nations such as France, the United Kingdom, Poland, the Low Countries, and eventually the United States. The war happened concurrently with the Holocaust, which was Nazi Germany’s attempt to murder various ethnic and ideological minorities, most significantly Europe’s Jews. Imperial Japan also added some notorious chapters to the war with war crimes such as the Rape of Nanjing, the actions of Unit 731, the abuse of comfort women, and employing kamikaze suicide strikes. The Allied victory once again reshaped the world map. The Soviet Union sliced up Eastern and Central Europe to create its club of puppet states called the Eastern Bloc. Germany, Italy, and Japan were all cut down to size. Unfortunately, the end of the war created as many problems as it solved. Tensions between the communist east and capitalist west led to the Cold War, during which the US and USSR destabilized much of the world. Mao Zedong’s Chinese communists and Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese nationalists, who had cooperated against Japan, went back to killing each other. Horrified by the Holocaust, the Allies put some Nazi war criminals on trial in Nuremberg and created Israel as a home for the Jewish people. That last bit has created some strife over the years. The old colonial empires, which had suffered greatly during the war, collapsed and left power gaps in Africa and Asia, allowing a variety of brutal dictators to seize power. The good part? The war conclusively ended fascism and Nazism as «good ideas». Update: Or so we hoped. Contents Path to disaster [ edit ] Rise of fascism [ edit ]
—Hungarian Prime Minister Pál Teleki denounces Miklós Horthy’s alliance with the Axis shortly before committing suicide. [10]

The First World War left a wake of economic devastation. Italy was hit just as hard as any other nation, and it had also failed to recover much of the «historically Italian» land it had entered the war to gain. [11] In this atmosphere of bitterness and desperation, former soldier and political hack Benito Mussolini assembled a coalition of war veterans and angry teenagers for form the National Fascist Party. [12] Mussolini promised economic revitalization were he to gain power, [13] and he organized his war veterans into hit-squads called «Blackshirts» that he used to beat the shit out of anyone he didn’t like. [14] Mussolini seized power by essentially showing up at Rome with a crowd of his followers and demanding it. [15] By 1922, Mussolini was prime minister of Italy.

Mussolini’s fascism was a hodgepodge of policies and ideas that he thought would play well. [16] His magnum opus glorified turd, «The Doctrine of Fascism,» was a rant against the supposed decadence of capitalism, the evils of socialism, the importance of non-materialistic lifestyle, and how nationalism was the greatest thing ever. [17] Unfortunately, fascism inspired many people around Europe, most notably a failed painter from Austria. Adolf Hitler oversaw an unsuccessful attempt at overthrowing Germany’s collapsing republic, [18] wrote a really shitty book that blamed all of his life’s problems on Jews, and blustered his way into becoming Chancellor of Germany in 1933.

While nowadays fascism (including Hitler’s closely related Nazism) is usually popularly seen as mainly a German and Italian thing thanks to Adi and Benny, fascism was actually frighteningly popular across the world in the 1920s-1930s. With the sudden success of socialism and especially Bolshevism in the aftermath of World War I, a right-wing backlash was pretty much inevitable, and long-simmering antisemitism came along for the ride. France and United Kingdom had fascist movements of varying popularity during the 1930s, as did the USA with groups like the Silver Shirts and America First Committee . [19] Countries like Portugal, Austria , and Spain were ruled by fascist (or nearly fascist) dictatorships during the period; even Poland flirted with antisemitism and authoritarianism in the aftermath of the May Coup . Later, in the early 1940s at the height of Nazi Germany’s success, Nazi-inspired groups like the Arrow Cross Party in Hungary, the Ustaše in Croatia, and the Iron Guard in Romania were able to seize power and happily participated in crimes against humanity.

Naval treaties and Japanese radicalism [ edit ]

The legacy of the Great War also hung over the world’s oceans, as Europe’s naval powers recognized the role of the battleship arms race in escalating tensions on the Continent. In the hopes of preventing that from happening again, the USA, UK, and Japan met in the Washington Conference of 1921–22 to hammer out an international treaty limiting the tonnage and capabilities of warships. [20] The interwar governments of Italy and Japan agreed to these stipulations primarily to avoid having to hike up spending on expensive warships. Japan was also aware that further naval buildup would be especially difficult for it due to a lack of raw materials to build boats. [21]

Despite agreeing in principle to arms control, Japan found itself bitterly opposed to the agreements which actually took form. The naval treaties limited Japan further than it did the US or the UK, which the Japanese perceived as being an unfair product of Western chauvinism. [21] Japan’s navy also had to cancel seven battleships under construction and scrap another ten older ships. [22]

While Japan’s civilian government ultimately signed the treaty and forced it into effect, the terms were hated by the nationalist military. [23] Many officers resented the civilian government for capitulating to such a humiliating agreement. Tensions were only further inflamed when Japan ratified the 1930 London Naval Treaty, which once again limited Japan further than the US or UK. [24]

In 1930, Army officer Hashimoto Kingorō founded the Cherry Blossom Society (Sakurakai 桜会) with the goal of overthrowing the civilian government and establishing a military dictatorship over Japan. [25] In November 1930, a member of the Sakurakai shot Prime Minister Hamaguchi Osachi, opening the door for a short-lived coup attempt. [26] Hamaguchi later died of his wounds.

Later, in 1936, more radical Japanese military officers attempted a second coup attempt, murdering three top-level government officials in the process. Although this effort failed, the chaos it unleashed opened the door for military officer Tōjō Hideki to seize the office of prime minister and enshrine himself as Japan’s new fascist dictator. [27]

Second Sino-Japanese War [ edit ]

For East Asia, the latter 19 th Century was defined by Japan’s attempts to create an overseas colonial empire. The First Sino-Japanese war occurred in 1895, and it began because Japan wanted to annex the Chinese tributary state of Korea in order to prevent Westerners from colonizing it. [28] The aftermath of this war saw Japan annex Taiwan and turn Korea into a protectorate. Competition between Russia and Japan in the region then led to the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, and Japan once again won victory. [29]

Japan accelerated its colonialism during and after World War One. It conquered much of Germany’s Pacific holdings during the war, and afterwards it sought influence in China. The latter goal was especially motivated by the fact that the fledgling Republic of China was beginning to centralize and strengthen itself, essentially setting a time limit on Japan’s ambitions there. [28] In 1931, the Japanese military used an explosion in a railroad depot as an excuse to invade Manchuria, a resource-rich region in northern China. [30] After overrunning the disorganized Chinese forces in the region, Japan declared the region an «independent» state called Manchukuo, in reality controlled entirely by the Japanese Kwantung Army. [31] The Kwantung Army turned Manchukuo into a military state, mobilizing the population for forced labor and forming Unit 731 for the purpose of conducting human experimentation on Chinese captives. [32]

Japanese imperialism climaxed in 1937 with the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese manufactured a border incident between Manchukuo and the Republic of China. [33] The Chinese nationalists and Chinese communists, who had previously been locked in a civil war, set aside their differences and formed a «United Front» against Japan. [34] Although China lacked industry and supplies, it was still confident enough to refuse negotiation with the Japanese. As a result, the limited incident became a desperate war for survival. China fought alone until 1941, and Japan’s war crimes exacted a horrific toll of at least 20 million deaths. [35] It is during this conflict that Japan engaged in the infamous Rape of Nanjing in which its soldiers murdered, raped, and robbed civilians, causing a death toll of between 40,000 and 200,000 people. [36]

The war against China was a long, drawn-out affair compared to Japan’s previous victories, and it quickly began to take its toll on the Japanese economy. Japan had no allies at this point, and its domestic supplies of rubber, oil, and iron were not sufficient for a forever war in China. [28] This critical resource shortage would eventually force Japan to make some hard choices.

Second Italo-Ethiopian War [ edit ]

This is the second of the «second wars» before the Second World War we’ll discuss here. Italy had embarrassingly failed to conquer Ethiopia in the 1890s during the Scramble for Africa. [38] Hoping to avenge that loss and begin building his own African colonial empire, Mussolini used a border incident as pretext to declare war in 1935. [39] The League of Nations, tasked with keeping world peace after World War I, utterly failed to stop Mussolini’s war in Africa just as it had failed to stop Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in 1933. [40] The League’s failure was largely the fault of the British and French, who had imposed sanctions at the outset of the war but suddenly caved and offered a settlement to Mussolini granting him everything he wanted. [41] Italy’s war of conquest in the region saw repeated war crimes such as the use of chemical weapons and the deliberate bombing of hospitals and ambulances. [42] Italy’s overwhelming technical advantages resulted in the war being a short affair that ended with Ethiopia’s annexation.

Importantly, the war also created the first great wedge between Italy and the democracies of Western Europe. Mussolini perceived the initial Anglo-French opposition to his war as blatant and malicious hypocrisy as both nations had created their own African colonial empires using much the same methods as he had. [43] This is one of the factors that drove Mussolini into aligning with Hitler.

Spanish Civil War [ edit ]

Civil war broke out in Spain between nationalist and fascist usurpers led by José Sanjurjo and Generalissimo Francisco Franco versus the legitimate socialist government led by Manuel Azaña. Franco personally adhered to Falangism, a quasi-fascist ideology that emphasized Catholic identity, totalitarianism, capitalism, and moralism. [44] Mussolini sent a huge amount of military aid to the nationalists, totaling 70,000 ground troops and 6,000 aviation personnel, long with about 720 aircraft. [45] Nazi Germany also provided military support to the nationalists but intentionally kept their involvement limited. [46] The Comintern, Joseph Stalin’s commie club, naturally sided with the Republic and provided aid through the volunteer «International Brigades». [47] The Republic was weakened by infighting. The hardcore communists saw the war as an opportunity for a revolution while the socialists and moderates only hoped to preserve republicanism. [48] Spain became a proving ground for the fascist nations and the Soviet Union to test their newest and best technologies such as planes and tanks. The Nationalists came out on top in 1939 and established a dictatorship, but they officially stayed neutral during the world war. Franco did, however, send «volunteers» to assist Germany against the Soviets. [49]

German expansionism [ edit ]

Hitler’s foreign policy through the 1930s was focused primarily on strengthening Germany by annexing areas populated by ethnic Germans. Immediately after taking power Hitler began to rebuild Germany’s armed forces in secret. He made this public in 1935 by announcing that he was introducing mandatory conscription with the goal of increasing Germany’s standing army to 550,000 men. [50] This is the point where appeasement began, as the British consented to the creation of a German navy negotiated a limit of 35% of the UK’s strength. [51] In 1936 the German army, previously having been barred from the region by the Treaty of Versailles, marched into the Rhineland on France’s borders. [52]

In 1938, the German army marched into Austria and incorporated it into the German Reich. This event, called the Anschluss, was met with enthusiasm by the Austrian public, and it was confirmed by a later plebiscite. [53] It was conducted under heavy scrutiny by the Germans and the results were falsified to an absurd 99.7% approval. [54] Having swallowed Austria with no problems, Hitler then instigated the «Sudeten crisis» by kicking up a fuss about the fact that Czechoslovakia had a number of ethnic Germans living in the border areas of Bohemia-Moravia. [55] In May 1938 it became known to the international community that Hitler was drawing up plans to invade Czechoslovakia; if that happened the French and possibly the British would be pulled into another European war. [56] The British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain considered any capitulation preferable to a repeat of the Great War. Thus, with no input from the Czechs, Chamberlain agreed that all Czech provinces with more than 50% German population would be handed off to Germany with a plebiscite to be held in the rest. [57] The Munich Agreement was celebrated by Europe, as it seemingly prevented another continental war. [58]

The loss of the Sudetenland catastrophically weakened Czechoslovakia, and in March 1939, Hitler violated the Munich agreement and sent the German army to occupy the rest of it. [59] Czechoslovakia was then carved up between Germany, which took Bohemia-Moravia, the «Slovak Republic», a German puppet, and Poland, which annexed the Polish-majority region called Zaolzie. [60] Around the same time, Germany regained the small territory of Memel from Lithuania by threatening war. [61] Nazi Germany, without any conflict, had eaten most of central Europe. Ultimately, this blatant betrayal of his own word was the final straw for the Allies, and they made a guarantee that they would fight to protect Poland’s independence. [62] Hitler, for his part, had begun the same routine all over again by shouting about ethnic Germans in the city of Danzig.

Even more sinister was the Nazi concept of «Lebensraum», or «living space.» The core idea was that the German people needed to conquer vast swathes of territory in Eastern Europe in order to ensure their future growth. [63] Lebensraum was directly inspired by the suffering Germany endured during the Great War. The British had imposed a naval blockade against Germany, and the resulting starvation and resource shortages contributed to Germany’s defeat. Hitler was determined that Germany would never again be defeated by resource shortages, and he looked to the “incalculable raw materials” in the Urals, the “rich forests” of Siberia, and the “incalculable farmlands” of the Ukraine. [63] He also added a racial element to lebensraum by claiming that the Soviet Union was run by Jews and was therefore a just target for Nazi expansionism. [64] The realization of Hitler’s plans would have resulted from the extermination of hundreds of millions of people in Eastern Europe. [65]

Soviet–Japanese border conflicts [ edit ]

Japan and the Soviet Union fought a war against each other throughout the summer of 1939 which involved that caused about 30,000 to 50,000 casualties. [66] The conflict was instigated by Japanese officer Tsuji Masanobu with a strike across the Manchuria-Mongolia border, but the Soviets and their Mongolian puppets successfully defended against the initial strikes. [66] The angry Japanese continued to escalate the conflict, although there was never a formal declaration of war. The Soviets responded by sending in tanks along with their brilliant commander Georgy Zhukov. The subsequent course of the war taught the Japanese that an infantry army on open ground is highly vulnerable to armored vehicles and that superior morale is not a substitute for superior firepower. [67]

Although a seemingly small event, the border conflict had an outsized impact on events. Japan’s humiliation at the hands of the technologically superior Soviets caused them to abandon their policy of «hokushin-ron» or «Northern Expansion Doctrine», which would have seen Japan eventually attempt to invade and annex Russia’s resource-rich Siberian frontier. [68] Instead, Japan decided on «nanshin-ron«, which saw them invade the Philippines and Indonesia. [69] Further political considerations including the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact led Japan to sign a nonaggression treaty with the Soviets in 1941 that lasted until the final days of the war. [70]

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact [ edit ]

Despite some believing after the war that Hitler and Stalin were secretly BFFs, both sides viewed war with the other as an inevitability. Hitler was a militant anti-communist who had risen to power in no small part due to the imagined specter of the Judeo-Bolshevik threat, and viewed the conquest and colonization of Eastern Europe as necessary for the survival of the so called «Aryan» in the face of the British and French empires. Furthermore, peaceful coexistence (especially with «inferior» Slavs) was impossible given Nazi ideology. The Nazi regime was built around having an enemy to fight, and could not exist without one. Stalin, for his part, was diametrically opposed to Hitler’s ideology, both in practical and ideological terms. The Soviets had spent a not insignificant amount of time and money helping some of Hitler’s staunchest rivals in pre-war Germany, and Soviet territorial ambitions were directly opposed to those of the Nazis. The two nations would collide, it was just a matter of when. The treaty was a pragmatic move to buy some time from both sides, as they prepared to fight the other.

The war [ edit ]

Outbreak in Europe [ edit ]

Blitzkrieg on Poland [ edit ]

Despite declaring war, neither the British nor the French aided the Poles against Germany. The French launched a limited invasion of Germany’s western borderlands, which was unopposed due to Hitler having deployed almost all of Germany’s armed forces to the east. [76] After advancing for only a few short miles, the French withdrew to focus on the defensive.

After the defeat of Poland many Polish soldiers fled to Britain, where they continued to fight, and Polish code-breakers played a major — perhaps decisive — role in the eventual Allied victory. [77] Polish resistance continued after the fall of their government, and this resistance movement was the largest under the German Reich. The Polish Home Army at its peak numbered about 300,000 people. [78]

The Winter War [ edit ]

With Poland finished and with Germany apparently having consented to it, the Soviets turned their attention towards Finland. The Soviets sent the Finns an ultimatum demanding that they move their border further back from Leningrad and lease their naval bases. [79] When the Finns refused, the Soviets attacked. The Finns fought from behind the heavily fortified Mannerheim Line, while the Red Army struggled due to having most of its officers purged by Stalin in the years before the war. [79] After making little progress in 1939, the Soviets finally used their superior artillery to breach the Finnish fortifications. [80] Although they lost the war, Finland’s valiant defense ensured that it was able to keep its independence after being forced to make territorial concessions.

The Red Army, on the other hand, performed abysmally. In fact, the humiliating affair convinced the entire world that the Soviet Union would be a pushover if the Germans were to attack them. [81] This miscalculation had horrific consequences.

The Phoney War [ edit ]

The aftermath of the successful invasion of Norway saw Hitler put the notorious collaborator Vidkun Quisling in charge. The fall of Norway was met with consternation in the UK, as the public feared that Germany could use it as a base to attack Great Britain. Neville Chamberlain resigned in disgrace due to the failure of his appeasement policies, and Winston Churchill, who had always taken a hard line against Hitler, became Prime Minister. [86]

The Fall of France [ edit ]

As all this was going on, France sat securely behind its supposedly unbreakable defensive fortifications which they called the «Maginot Line.» [88] The crucial weakness in the line, however, was that it did not extend to the Belgian border. The French mistakenly believed that the Ardennes Forest was too dense to drive armored vehicles through, and the Belgians probably wouldn’t have appreciated it if the French seemed to be using their country as a meat shield. The French had also made serious miscalculations in the inter-war period, leading to their (actually quite formidable) tanks being sparsely spread through infantry formations, rather than concentrated into separate divisions, and a severe lack of radio communications (command tanks, for example, were expected to relay orders via semaphore) meant that the French army simply could not act as quickly or cohesively as that of the Nazis, who widely proliferated radios among infantry, armor and aircraft. The French army was large and quite well equipped, superior in some respect to the Nazis, but it was also rendered catastrophically sluggish due to this lack of communication. The French air forces, while they did have a number of good to excellent aircraft, were absolutely tiny compared to the Luftwaffe, and so could not mount any significant resistance.

Political crisis began in France, which culminated with President Albert Lebrun appointing Philippe Pétain as Prime Minister of France. [94] Pétain signed the armistice with Germany shortly thereafter, surrendering much of his country to occupation. His government subsequently became a Nazi puppet dictatorship popularly known as Vichy France.

Contrary to the «cheese-eating-surrender-monkey» perception of France, the French soldiers often fought ferociously, culminating with French forces covering the British evacuation at great cost to themselves, and many of the French continued to fight on after their defeat, both in the form of the French Resistance and the Free French. Unfortunately, those loyal to Vichy collaborated with the Germans. The French record on treatment of Jews was decidedly mixed; French Jews were protected to the extent possible, while foreign Jews were turned over to the Nazis with what has been described as «enthusiasm.» [95]

The Battle of Britain [ edit ]

Having conquered Western Europe, Hitler gave a weak «appeal to reason», essentially asking the British to concede defeat and put down their weapons. [96] Churchill naturally refused. The Battle of Britain commenced in summer 1940 when the Luftwaffe began conducting air strikes on British military and air force targets with the hope of gaining air superiority ahead of a potential invasion. [97] Hitler clung to his belief that the British would quit the war for quite a while. After he finally saw reason, Hitler ordered the hasty creation of a real invasion plan, the cobbled-together «Operation Sea Lion.» [98]

The British army had been forced to leave behind much of their heavy equipment at Dunkirk, and even bullets were in short supply. [99] The Royal Navy, on the other hand, remained powerful. The UK also had strengthened its air defenses with anti-aircraft guns, searchlight teams, and decoy airfields. [99] Crucially, the British also had the advantage of a coastal radar system which helped give some warning of Luftwaffe raids. [100] Pilots from the British Commonwealth and the United States as well as the defeated European allies helped defend the Home Isles from Germany. [101]

Seeking to destroy the Royal Air Force through attrition, the Luftwaffe mounted ceaseless attacks against British air bases, causing severe damage and forcing them to move further inland. [102] In late August, a German bomber mistakenly struck a civilian part of London, prompting the British to bomb Berlin in retaliation. [103] Enraged by the attack on Berlin, Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to focus on hitting London and other cities. Although it caused terror among civilians, the so-called «London Blitz» was a strategic mistake on the part of the Germans. By focusing on the cities, the Luftwaffe stopped destroying the RAF’s air bases and the nation’s factories, allowing the British time to recover and rebuild their air force. [103] It also allowed the British to conduct retaliatory bombing raids on German cities. The Blitz failed to significantly disrupt the British war effort.

Italy’s misadventures [ edit ]

After hastily declaring war on France, Italy immediately suffered raids from the British on their unprepared garrisons in Libya. [105] From the beginning, Mussolini’s Italy was woefully outmatched by every other great power. They lacked much heavy industry, suffered shortages of most strategic goods, and their military and civilian bureaucracy was hopelessly inefficient. [106]

Italian defeats in Northern Africa, meanwhile, convinced Hitler to send Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps to save them. The Germans and Italians struggled against poor logistics and worse terrain. [110] The Italian navy suffered defeats as well such as the decisive British aircraft raid on Italy’s navy in the Gulf of Taranto, [111] or the loss and damage of many of their capital ships south of Crete. [112]

In spring 1941, an anti-Axis coup overthrew Yugoslavia’s German-aligned government. [113] Germany responded by invading Yugoslavia along with their Axis allies Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria. [114] Germany, which had sought to remain neutral, later agreed to bail out the flailing Italians in Greece but this necessitated critically delaying their planned invasion of the Soviet Union. [115]

Expanding in scope [ edit ]

Operation Barbarossa [ edit ]

On June 22 nd of 1941, the Axis launched a massive invasion of the Soviet Union involving around 4.5 million soldiers. [117] Although characterized as a mistake, Operation Barbarossa was the entire point of Hitler’s expansionism in the east and his invasion of Poland. Hitler’s concept of «Lebensraum» demanded that the Soviet Union be colonized by Germany. Prepared in 1941 and confirmed in 1942, the Nazi «Generalplan Ost» called for, over a 10-year period, the extermination, expulsion, enslavement or Germanicisation of most or all Poles and East Slavs still living in Europe and projected the eventual expulsion and extermination of more than 50 million Slavs beyond the Ural mountains within 50 years with a small remainder to survive within Germany’s borders to be used as slave labor. [118] Of course, this hideous plan for unthinkable genocide could only happen after the Soviet Union had been crushed. Thus, Operation Barbarossa.

Trusting of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet leadership and military command were taken completely by surprise. The Red Army had also been weakened by Stalin’s purges. Soviet troops misused their tanks and equipment, but they also fought with such tenacity that a refusal to withdraw among Red Army units led to many of them being encircled and destroyed. [119] The concept of mass Soviet surrenders and Soviet soldiers only able to fight due to the guns and threats of their commissars is a myth, just like the myth of Stalin going catatonic upon hearing the news. [120]

Although successful, the initial German advance ran into a number of problems. The Russian rainy season had come and turned the nation’s roads into mud, and the Soviets had implemented a successful scorched earth policy which saw entire factories being dismantled and shipped eastward. [119] The Main Nazi plan also assumed that they would just win, along with ignoring the problems of logistics which would prevent them from going beyond Smolensk before halting. Finland had also joined the Germans in their attack due to the Soviet Union’s continual attempts to infringe on their sovereignty, [121] and Finnish troops helped the Germans lay siege to the city of Leningrad. [122] The siege resulted in 2 million deaths, or about 40% of the city’s population. [123] The German campaign to take Moscow was delayed by Hitler’s decision to focus on capturing Soviet industry in Ukraine and the Caucasus. [124] Thus, despite threatening to take the city, the Germans struggled against the fall rains and the brutal Russian winter on top of dogged Soviet resistance, and they suffered their first great defeat of the war. [125]

Certain clueless Americans shall not be forgiven if they persist in thinking that the war began in late 1941 with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. They will also not be forgiven for thinking the US swooped in and single-handedly won the war in the time of a 14 episode miniseries, saving the world from fascism. Without the Red Army facing the hardships it did, it’s not a stretch to say things would look a lot different today. [126] That being said, the Soviets were aided by American lend-lease. [127] It truly was the Allies that beat the Axis, not any one nation.

Pearl Harbor [ edit ]

While Hitler was stomping on Europe, Japan was reaching the limit of its ability in the East. Running low on raw materials due to an American embargo, the Japanese decided to fight a full war with the US. [128] They feared that the US would intervene if they attacked the Western Allies’ holdings in Southeast Asia, and the US would not lift the oil embargo unless Japan abandoned its war in China. Thus, in their minds, the Japanese had no choice but to go to war with the United States. Realizing that they too weak to win a prolonged conflict, Japan settled on a tactic it hoped would buy it time to conquer its way through Southeast Asia without American interference. This would be a surprise attack on the American Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor. [129]

The Japanese were aided by American peacetime military incompetence which was fueled by a racist underestimation of Japan’s capabilities. [130] Unfortunately for the Japanese, while the attack largely went off without a hitch, America’s aircraft carriers were not in the harbor at the time of the attack, so they survived and left the US with a strong presence in the Pacific. [131] Nonetheless, the attack killed almost 3,000 Americans and enraged the US public. [132]

The US Congress quickly declared war at the urging of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Nazi Germany then declared war on the US. [133] The US implemented conscription and began Japanese American internment. Its industrial production quickly began to ramp up, which would be a deciding factor in the war.

Japanese advances in the Pacific [ edit ]

A day after Pearl Harbor, US planes in the Philippines were caught on the ground and destroyed by a Japanese strike. [134] The US navy was forced to withdraw by Japanese aerial attacks, and Japanese soldiers landed in the Philippines. US forces under General Douglas MacArthur withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula on Luzon Island but were defeated there by the Japanese. [135] The surviving American and Filipino prisoners were forced to endure the «Bataan Death March», where their Japanese captors forced them to walk to prison camps under grueling conditions and arbitrary executions. About 20,000 people died. [136]

These easy victories over the unprepared Western Allies left Japan overconfident and overextended. [143]

The Allies turn the tide [ edit ]

The Eastern Front, 1942-1943 [ edit ]

Although the Battle of Moscow was a devastating defeat for Nazi Germany, it was far from decisive, and the Wehrmacht was able to hold on to its gains for most of 1942 even against the Red Army’s fiercest counterattacks. [144] They smashed the Soviets at the Second Battle of Kharkov [145] and resumed their offensive in summer 1942. Germany’s goal in later 1942 was the capture of the Soviet Union’s Caucasus oil fields and the elimination of food shipments going up and down the Volga River. [146] If this could be achieved, the Germans reasoned that the Soviets would be unable to continue fighting without their oil and food production capacity. They started to make perpetration for Case Blue, which would see Army Group South split into two new «army groups». Army Group B would advance to Stalingrad, and then cross the Volga to protect Army Group A, which would seize the resources in the Caucasus.

During the Battle of Stalingrad, Army Group B relied on its under-equipped Balkan and Italian allies to hold their flanks as their better equipped divisions pushed into the city itself. [147] They also faced the usual stubborn resistance from the Red Army, along with the urban terrain providing the Russians with notable defensive advantages. The Soviets survived under aerial bombardment and a shortage of supplies. [148] The Soviets then launched Operation Little Saturn, which the took the Germans by surprise, and they encircled the German Sixth Army under Gen. Friedrich Paulus, who was refused permission by Hitler to retreat due to the Luftwaffe’s promise to resupply the city by aerial transports. [149] The Soviets where able to push into the city itself, winning the battle as a result, inflicting about 800,000 casualties on the Axis and almost wiping out the Sixth Army.

After Stalingrad, the Soviets tried to keep up the momentum by launching a slew of offensives, most famously around Kharkov and near Leningrad. This is when the Kursk bulge was created. [150] In mid-1943, the Germans made a fateful decision to attack that Soviet salient. A last-ditch effort to salvage their Eastern offensive, the Germans mustered almost a million soldiers and 2,700 tanks. [151] The Soviets, however, had known that the Germans would try to strike there, and as a result constructed massive defensive belts in the salient, along with building up forces around the north and south ends of the bulge. As a result, the two spearheads bogged down immediately, leading Operation Citadel to become a attritional slugfest that the favored the Soviets instead of the lightning blitzkrieg the Germans intended. This was also where most of the famous third generation German tanks appeared, with the Panthers and Ferdinand’s destroying themselves during the battle. With Operation Citadel stuck fast and going no where, the Soviets used to opportunity to launch their own series of massive offensives that raged across the rest of the year, inexorably driving the Germans back and grinding them down. By the end of 1943, the Germans and their allies had been completely pushed out of Russia proper as well as the gross majority of Ukraine, with Army Groups Center and North sticking out on the Belorussian shelf. Most historians agree that by this point, the Soviets had gained the strategic upperhand and were going to roll to Berlin regardless of what happened in the west.

Axis collapse in North Africa and Southern Europe [ edit ]

While Rommel escaped to Tunisia after the Allies took Morocco and Algeria, but he was sandwiched between them and the British forces in Egypt and Libya. Although waging a skillful defensive campaign, Rommel was overwhelmed by the Allies. [154] With northern Africa liberated passed from the bad guy colonizers to the less bad guy colonizers, the Allies were free to use it as a base for operations against Europe. In late summer 1943, the Allies executed a successful invasion of Sicily. [155] This was quickly followed up in September with the invasion of Italy itself. With Anglo-American boots on the ground, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy successfully instigated the removal of Benito Mussolini from power. [156] Italy switched sides and declared war on the Axis, but German troops managed to free Benito Mussolini in a badass commando raid and put him in charge of a Nazi puppet government based out of northern Italy. [157] The so-called «Italian Social Republic» existed only because it was heavily occupied and defended by German troops. [158]

In mid-1943 the British and Americans began a strategic bombing mission against Germany with the goal of disrupting its industry and «de-housing» its populace. [159] [160]

Turning the tide in the Pacific [ edit ]

The Battle of Midway in June 1942 marked a definitive turning point in the Pacific War, as the Americans sank four Japanese aircraft carriers at a cost of one. [161] The aftermath of the battle saw the initiative shift to the Americans and gave the US Navy an advantage going into the Guadalcanal offensive campaign. [162] The victory at Midway also meant that the Allies could shift their attention back to Europe and plan their invasion of North Africa and Southern Europe. [162]

The US push across the Pacific began with the Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign against areas which were considered important Japanese naval outposts. [163] Operation Cartwheel in late 1943 saw the Japanese pushed out of New Britain, an island off the coast of Papua New Guinea. [164] In early 1944, the US retook the central Pacific along with their island colony of Guam. [165]

Although it is given less attention than amphibious assaults and aerial bombardment in cartoon History Channel retellings (again), the winning weapons in the Pacific Theater of the war was unrestricted U.S. submarine warfare. [166] The massive shipping losses deprived the Japanese of the material necessary for war. The American aerial bombardment of Japanese cities repeated the horrors of the British firebombing of German cities.

Japan also faced an increasingly costly war of attrition against the Chinese, who were receiving aid from the Western Allies. [167]

Liberation of France [ edit ]

France’s liberation had a dark side, as the civilian populace took revenge against anyone perceived to have collaborated with or given comfort to the Nazi occupiers. About 20,000 women were branded and forcibly shaved as public humiliation for allegedly sleeping with Germans, but this practice itself was possibly inspired by the fact that the Nazis did the same thing to Aryan women who allegedly slept with non-Aryans. [170]

The Allies broke out of Paris over the later half of 1944 and advanced to the borders of Germany. During this time, the Germans launched their last great offensive on the Western Front which resulted in the harrowing Battle of the Bulge. [171] Although inflicting the third deadliest campaign in American history, [172] the Germans used up most of their strength in the last desperate push. They were functionally dead afterwards.

Soviet offensives [ edit ]

The Soviets also spent 1944 on the offensive. Even before D-Day, Soviets offensives in the winter and spring of 1944 cleared out remaining German holdouts out of Ukraine, retook the Crimea, and even pushed over the pre-war border in Poland and Romania in certain places. By the summer of 1944, Operation Bagration dwarfed the D-Day landings, as the Soviets used 2.5 million soldiers to demolish three Axis armies and force the Germans into full retreat. [173] The Soviets had actually overestimated Germany’s strength while Germany had done the opposite, and Russia thus inflicted the worst German military disaster of the entire war by causing almost half-a-million casualties among Germany’s already failing Wehrmacht. [174]

Realizing that the Nazis were at death’s door, but that the Soviets might prove to be just another oppressor, Polish partisans unsuccessfully rose up in Warsaw. [175] In a foreshadowing of the Cold War, the Red Army deliberately stopped advancing on Warsaw and allowed the Nazis to crush the Poles despite having promised to support the attack earlier. [176] As the world was starting to learn, Stalin had no interest in an independent Poland.

Finishing the war [ edit ]

Fall of Germany [ edit ]

The Allies spent the first half of 1945 closing in on Germany. Due to the gains made in 1944, the Soviets had the honor of taking Berlin, although they were supported by aircraft from the Western Allies before being handed off to the Soviets. [180] The Soviets bombarded and ground through German defenses at the Seelow Heights, losing 30,000 men during one of the last pitched battles of the war. [181] On the 30 th of April, the Soviets took the Königsplatz, the city square right in front of the Reichstag and then fought the Germans inside the building itself. [182]

Hitler, the great and infallible Führer of the Thousand-Year Reich, went out like a bitch.

When it became obvious that Berlin would fall (and facing a barrage of Internet memes [183] ), Hitler committed suicide in a secure bunker rather than own up to his defeat, and his body was burned in a bomb crater outside the bunker. In the chaos of battle, Hitler’s remains were never positively identified until 2017. [184] German resistance ended shortly after the death was announced.

Fall of Japan [ edit ]

In the Pacific War, the US crushed the remainder of Japan’s navy at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the, the largest naval engagement in human history. [186] The Japanese had gambled everything on one final climactic showdown there, and it didn’t go their way. This battle was also the first in which Japan implemented the concept of a «special attack», better known as the kamikaze, against the US Navy. Suicidal pilots tried to crash their planes or manned missile into American warships. Meanwhile, sailors attempted the same thing with manned torpedoes. In spite of this desperate and horrifying tactic, the American war effort pushed ever closer to the Japanese homeland, and an Allied invasion looked imminent. US ground forces captured the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa after a bitter and prolonged fight. During the battle of Okinawa, Japan’s flagship Yamato and some escorts were sent on a one-way trip as a last-ditch attempt to defend the latter island from the Americans, but ended up being sunk by a series of massive US carrier strikes. This definitively eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy from the war.

Originally begun because Nazi Germany was believed to have started work on a nuclear bomb, the Manhattan Project succeeded in creating a usable nuclear weapon. Rather than sending troops in, President Truman (taking over for the now-deceased FDR) instead consented to dropping a gun-type uranium fission nuclear weapon (named «Little Boy») on the industrial city of Hiroshima, on 6 August 1945, after warning the Japanese that refusing to surrender would have terrible consequences. When Japan took too long in deliberating, Truman ordered the drop of a second nuclear weapon, an implosion-type plutonium fission bomb named «Fat Man», on Nagasaki. This made World War II the world’s first (and so far, only) nuclear war. The same day, the Soviets launched a massive invasion of Manchuria, quickly defeating the Japanese occupation force. The sudden Soviet invasion and the obliteration of two large cities were a profound shock to the Japanese, and the next day their government informed the Allies that they were willing to surrender, only asking to be allowed to keep the emperor as a figurehead. The Japanese leadership later signed a declaration of unconditional surrender on 2 September 1945, ending the war.

Genocide and atrocities [ edit ]

Holocaust and other German atrocities [ edit ]

In their quest to create a «racially pure» state, Nazi Germany committed genocide against ethnic and other groups they considered inferior. Among those murdered were six million Jews, another six million non-Jewish Soviet civilians, about three million Soviet POWs, about two million non-Jewish Polish civilians, and about one million total of Roma, Serbian civilians, disabled people, «asocials», and homosexuals. [187]

The decision to exterminate Europe’s Jews was made in 1941 by Adolf Hitler and his inner circle, and many top Nazi officials worked out the details of the plan at the Wannsee Conference in 1942, overseen by Reinhard Heydrich. [188] The Holocaust began with mass shootings conducted by the so-called Einsatzgruppen, which were battalion-sized units from the Reich Security Main Office as well as units from the Waffen-SS. [189] About 40% of the Holocaust’s victims were murdered in this way. [189] One massacre in Babi Yar, Ukraine saw the Einsatzgruppen kill 34,000 people over the course of about a week. [190] The Germans invented the gas van, a vehicle which had an airtight compartment into which the vehicle’s exhaust fumes could be vented for the purpose of killing its victims. [191] Most infamous were the extermination camps such as Auschwitz, Sobibor, and Treblinka, in which tens of thousands of prisoners could be gassed to death and incinerated each day. [192]

The Eastern Front also saw Nazi Germany partially implement its «Generalplan Ost», which would have led to the extermination of most, if not all, ethnic Slavs in the areas Germany conquered. [118] Soviet POWs were kept in deliberately unlivable conditions. [193]

Nazi Germany also extensively used slave labor during the war, kidnapping an estimated 12 million Europeans. [194] Historian Ulrich Herbert of the University of Freiburg said, «Employment of foreign forced laborers was not only limited to large-scale enterprises. It was applied throughout the whole economy; from the small farm and locksmith’s shop with just six workers, to the national railway system, the local authority districts, the big armament companies and also many private households.» [194]

Japanese war crimes [ edit ]

The Japanese, again, also engaged in horrific activities, with some estimates exceeding 20 million dead from their campaign in the Far East, mostly Chinese. Japan was the only nation in the war to use biological and chemical weapons in combat, deploying bubonic plague, cholera and anthrax against Chinese forces as well as phosgene, chlorine, Lewisite, nausea gas (nitrochloroform) and mustard gas: it is estimated Imperial Japan’s biological weapon program alone resulted in 400,000-580,000 deaths. Most infamous were the murders in Nanjing and Manila, and many suffered horrific medical experiments or were exposed to biological weapons at the hands of Unit 731. Prisoners and inhabitants of occupied territories were treated abysmally, with men forced into slave labor and women forced into prostitution («comfort women») to service the Japanese military. Oddly, these atrocities were largely ignored, or even denied, by later Japanese governments (a particularly infamous Japanese textbook referred to the Rape of Nanking as «a few deaths»), and serious international debate about these atrocities as war crimes or acts of genocide did not begin until around the 1990s. [195]

Aftermath [ edit ]

Revision [ edit ]

Even before the war was over, people and governments were intentionally distorting events. This is not a great surprise; wartime propaganda was rather common. Afterwards, various factions have continued to rewrite the history of the war to their own ends, portraying themselves or a group they support as the «good guys.» For example, Holocaust denial became popular in neo-Nazi circles, as are distortions of the events in China and Korea that took place in postwar Japan.

More insidious were the post war attempts to portray both the Nazis and Imperial Japanese regimes as some sort of external force, descending from the skies to commit atrocities, of which the German and Japanese people knew nothing, and if they did, they would have TOTALLY opposed. The reality is, millions of German and Japanese people not only wholeheartedly supported, but actively participated in these crimes, and the widespread indoctrination carried out by both governments (in addition to the colossal logistical challenges necessary to carry out these crimes) meant that very few would have been genuinely unaware. Hitler started much later, but very clearly outlined his beliefs and ambitions in countless speeches, books and slogans. Mein Kampf was a blockbuster, selling so many copies Hitler had a considerable fortune before he even came to power, and was later issued to every «Aryan» couple married in Nazi Germany, along with being required reading in schools. The Nazi party commanded considerable legitimate support in Germany, receiving tens of millions of votes in the elections before their ascension to power, and being either the first or second largest political party from 1930 onward. For the Japanese, the ideas of Yamato-damashii, a racist and reactionary ideology not all that different from that of the Nazis, had been official government policy since the Meiji restoration of the late 1860s, and existed for almost a millennia before that. It had been taught to every child, in every school, for almost an entire century before the war even began.

Furthermore, it is impossible to make a clear differentiation between these regimes and «the people», as, after all, who was it in the government? Who was it shooting Jews and beheading Chinese civilians? It was, ultimately, the people of these nations. The lesson to learn is not that it was a few bad apples, but rather that given the right circumstances, average people can be enticed to commit truly monstrous crimes. These were not space aliens. There were no mind control rays. They were not ignorant of what was going on. These were normal people who were convinced to go along with, and actually physically commit the worst atrocities of our time.