Our planet has known many bloody battles and battles. Our whole history consisted of various internecine conflicts. But only human and material losses in the Second World War made mankind think about the importance of everyone’s life. Only after it, people began to realize how easy it is to unleash a bloody slaughter and how difficult it is to stop it. This war showed to all the peoples of the Earth how important the world is to all.
The value of studying the history of the twentieth century
The younger generation sometimes does not understand how the Great Patriotic and World War II differ . The history of the years that have passed since their completion has been rewritten many times, so young people are no longer so interested in those distant events. Often, these people don’t even really know who took part in those events and what kind of losses mankind suffered in World War II. But the history of his country must not be forgotten. If you watch American films about World War II today, you might think that only thanks to the US Army did victory over Nazi Germany become possible. That is why it is so necessary to convey to our younger generation the role of the Soviet Union in these sad events. In fact, the people of the USSR suffered the greatest losses in World War II.
The premise of the bloodiest war
This armed conflict between the two world military-political coalitions, which became the largest massacre in the history of mankind, began on 09.09.1939 (in contrast to the Great Patriotic War, which lasted from 22.06. 1941 to 8. 05. 1945 g.). It ended only 2. 09. 1945. Thus, this war lasted 6 long years. There are several reasons for this conflict. These include: a deep global crisis in the economy, the aggressive policies of some states, the negative consequences of the Versailles-Washington system that was in effect at that time.
Participants in international conflict
In this conflict, to one degree or another, 62 countries were involved. And this despite the fact that at that time on Earth there were only 73 sovereign states. Cruel battles took place on three continents. Sea battles were fought in four oceans (Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Arctic). The number of warring countries has changed several times throughout the war. Some states participated in active hostilities, while others simply by any means helped their coalition allies (equipment, equipment, food).
Anti-Hitler coalition
Initially, in this coalition there were 3 states: Poland, France, and Great Britain. This is due to the fact that it was after the attack on these countries that Germany began to conduct active hostilities in the territory of these countries. In 1941, countries such as the USSR, the USA, and China were drawn into the war. Further, Australia, Norway, Canada, Nepal, Yugoslavia, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Belgium, New Zealand, Denmark, Luxembourg, Albania, the Union of South Africa, San Marino, Turkey joined the coalition. To one degree or another, coalition allies have also become countries such as Guatemala, Peru, Costa Rica, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Panama, Mexico, Argentina, Honduras, Chile, Paraguay, Cuba, Ecuador, Venezuela, Uruguay, Nicaragua , Haiti, Salvador, Bolivia. Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Liberia, Mongolia also joined them. During the war years, those states that ceased to be allies of Germany joined the anti-Hitler coalition. These are Iran (since 1941), Iraq and Italy (since 1943), Bulgaria and Romania (since 1944), Finland and Hungary (since 1945).
World War II (Allies of Germany)
On the side of the Nazi block were such states as Germany, Japan, Slovakia, Croatia, Iraq and Iran (before 1941), Finland, Bulgaria, Romania (until 1944), Italy (until 1943), Hungary (until 1945), Thailand (Siam), Manzhou-Guo. In some occupied territories, this coalition created puppet states that had practically no influence on the world battle arena. These include: the Italian Social Republic, Vichy France, Albania, Serbia,
Inner Mongolia, Montenegro, the Philippines, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. On the side of the Nazi bloc, various collaborative troops, created from among the inhabitants of the warring countries, also often fought. The largest of them were RONA, ROA, SS divisions created from foreigners (Ukrainian, Belorussian, Russian, Estonian, Norwegian-Danish, 2 Belgian, Dutch, Latvian, Bosnian, Albanian and French). On the side of this bloc, the volunteer armies of neutral countries such as Spain, Portugal and Sweden fought.
Consequences of war
Despite the fact that the alignment on the world stage has changed several times over the long years of World War II, its outcome was the complete victory of the anti-Hitler coalition. Following this, the largest international United Nations Organization (abbreviated as UN) was created. The victory in this war resulted in the condemnation of fascist ideology and the prohibition of Nazism during the Nuremberg trials. After the end of this global conflict, the role of France and Great Britain in world politics decreased significantly, and the USA and the USSR became real superpowers, dividing new spheres of influence among themselves. Two camps of countries with diametrically opposed socio-political systems (capitalist and socialist) were created. After World War II, a period of decolonization of empires began throughout the planet.
Theater of war
Germany, the Second World War for which it was an attempt to become the only superpower, conducted hostilities in five directions at once:
- Western European: Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, United Kingdom, France.
- Mediterranean: Greece, Yugoslavia, Albania, Italy, Cyprus, Malta, Libya, Egypt, North Africa, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq.
- Eastern European: USSR, Poland, Norway, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Austria, Yugoslavia, Barents, Baltic and Black Sea.
- African: Ethiopia, Somalia, Madagascar, Kenya, Sudan, Equatorial Africa.
- Pacific (in cooperation with Japan): China, Korea, South Sakhalin, the Far East, Mongolia, Kuril Islands, Aleutian Islands, Hong Kong, Indochina, Andaman Islands, Burma, Malaya, Sarawak, Singapore, Dutch East Indies, Brunei, New Guinea , Sabah, Papua, Guam, Solomon Islands, Hawaii, Philippines, Midway, Mariana and many other Pacific islands.
The beginning and end of the war
The first losses in World War II began to be calculated from the moment the German troops invaded Poland. Hitler paved the way for an attack on this state for a long time. 31. 08. 1939 the German press reported the seizure by the Polish military of a radio station in the town of Glevice (although this was a provocation of saboteurs), and already at 4 a.m. on 1. 09. 1939 the warship Schleswig-Holstein began shelling the fortifications in Westerplatte (Poland). Together with the troops of Slovakia, Germany began to occupy foreign territories. France and Great Britain demanded that Hitler withdraw troops from Poland, but he refused. Already 3. 09. 1939 France, Australia, England, New Zealand declared war on Germany. Then they were joined by Canada, Newfoundland, the Union of South Africa, and Nepal. So the bloody Second World War began to quickly gain momentum. The USSR, although it urgently introduced universal military duty, did not declare war on Germany until 22. 06. 1941.
In the spring of 1940, Hitler's troops began the occupation of Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Then the
German army went to France. In June 1940, Italy began to fight on the side of Hitler. In the spring of 1941,
fascist Germany quickly captured Greece and Yugoslavia. 22. 06. 1941 she attacked the USSR. On the side of Germany in these military operations were Romania, Finland, Hungary, Italy. Up to 70% of all active Nazi divisions fought on all Soviet-German fronts. The defeat of the enemy in the battle for Moscow frustrated Hitler's notorious plan - Blitzkrieg (lightning war). Thanks to this, the creation of the anti-Hitler coalition began already in 1941. 7. 12. 1941, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States entered this war. The army of this country for a long time fought with its enemies only in the Pacific Ocean. Britain and the United States promised to open the so-called second front in the summer of 1942. But, despite the fierce battles in the territory of the Soviet Union, the partners in the anti-Hitler coalition were not in a hurry to engage in hostilities in Western Europe. This is due to the fact that the United States and England were waiting for a complete weakening of the USSR. Only when it became apparent that the
Soviet Army rapidly began to liberate not only its territory, but also the countries of Eastern Europe, did the allies hasten to open a Second Front. This happened on 06.06.1944 (2 years after the promised date). From that moment on, the Anglo-American coalition strove to be the first to liberate Europe from German troops. Despite all the efforts of the allies, the Soviet Army was the first to occupy the Reichstag, on which it hoisted its
Victory Banner. But even the unconditional surrender of Germany did not stop the Second World War. For some time there was military action in Czechoslovakia. Also in the Pacific, hostilities almost did not stop. Only after the atomic bombing of the cities of Hiroshima (6. 08. 1945) and Nagasaki (9. 08. 1945), carried out by the Americans, did the Japanese emperor understand the futility of further resistance. As a result of this attack, about 300 thousand civilians died. This bloody international conflict ended only 2. 09. 1945. It was on this day that Japan signed the act of surrender.
Victims of World Conflict
The first large-scale losses in World War II were suffered by the Polish people. The army of this country was not able to confront a stronger enemy in the person of German troops. This war has had an unprecedented impact on all of humanity. About 80% of all people living on Earth at that time (more than 1.7 billion people) were drawn into the war. Military operations took place on the territory of more than 40 states. During the 6 years of this world conflict, about 110 million people were mobilized into the armed forces of all armies. According to the latest data, human losses amount to about 50 million people. At the same time, only 27 million people were killed on the fronts. The remaining victims were civilians. The countries that lost the most human lives were the USSR (27 million), Germany (13 million), Poland (6 million), Japan (2.5 million), and China (5 million). The casualties of other warring countries were: Yugoslavia (1.7 million), Italy (0.5 million), Romania (0.5 million), Great Britain (0.4 million), Greece (0.4 million). ), Hungary (0.43 million), France (0.6 million), USA (0.3 million), New Zealand, Australia (40 thousand), Belgium (88 thousand), Africa (10 thousand) .), Canada (40 thousand). More than 11 million people were killed in fascist concentration camps.
Losses from international conflict
It is simply amazing what kind of losses World War II brought to mankind. History shows the 4 trillion dollars that went into military spending. The warring states material costs amounted to about 70% of national income. For several years, the industry of many countries was completely reoriented to the production of military equipment. So, the USA, USSR, Great Britain and Germany during the war years produced more than 600 thousand combat and transport aircraft. The weapons of the Second World War in 6 years have become even more effective and deadly. The most ingenious minds of the warring countries were occupied only with its improvement. Many new weapons were forced to come up with World War II. The tanks of Germany and the Soviet Union were constantly modernized throughout the war. In this case, more and more advanced machines were created to destroy the enemy. Their number was in the thousands. Thus, more than 280 thousand armored vehicles, tanks, and self-propelled guns were released. More than 1 million various artillery guns came off the assembly lines of military factories; about 5 million machine guns; 53 million assault rifles, carbines and rifles. Colossal destruction and the destruction of several thousand cities and other settlements brought with it the Second World War. The history of mankind without it could follow a completely different scenario. Because of it, all countries were thrown back in their development many years ago. The elimination of the consequences of this international military conflict took enormous funds and forces of millions of people.
USSR losses
I had to pay a very high price to end the Second World War faster. Losses of the USSR amounted to about 27 million people. (according to the latest estimates of 1990). Unfortunately, getting the exact data is unlikely to succeed, but this figure is most consistent with the truth. There are several different estimates of USSR losses. So, according to the latest technique, about 6.3 million are considered killed or died from wounds received; 0.5 million deaths from diseases, sentenced to death, killed in accidents; 4.5 million missing and captured. The total demographic losses of the Soviet Union are more than 26.6 million people. In addition to the huge number of deaths in this conflict, the USSR suffered enormous material losses. According to estimates, they amounted to more than 2600 billion rubles. During World War II, hundreds of cities were partially or completely destroyed. More than 70 thousand villages were wiped off the face of the earth. 32 thousand large industrial enterprises were completely destroyed. The agriculture of the European part of the USSR was almost completely destroyed. Restoring the country to its pre-war level took several years of incredible efforts and huge costs.