The largest in human history, the Second World War was a logical continuation of the First World War. In 1918, Kaiser Germany lost to the Entente countries. The result of the First World War was the Treaty of Versailles, according to which the Germans lost part of their territory. Germany was forbidden to have a large army, navy and colony. The country has experienced an unprecedented economic crisis. It got worse after the Great Depression of 1929.
German society barely survived its defeat. Mass revanchist sentiments arose. Populist politicians began to play on the desire to "restore historical justice." The National Socialist German Workers Party, led by Adolf Hitler, began to enjoy great popularity.
Causes
The radicals came to power in Berlin in 1933. The German state quickly became totalitarian and began to prepare for the upcoming war for supremacy in Europe. Simultaneously with the Third Reich, its "classical" fascism arose in Italy.
The Second World War (1939-1945) is an event not only in the Old World, but also in Asia. Japan was a source of concern in this region. In the Land of the Rising Sun, just like in Germany, imperialist sentiments were extremely popular. The object of Japanese aggression was China weakened by internal conflicts. The war between the two Asian powers began in 1937, and with the outbreak of conflict in Europe, it became part of the general Second World War. Japan was an ally of Germany.
In 1933, the Third Reich left the League of Nations (the predecessor of the UN) and ceased its own disarmament. In 1938, there was the Anschluss (annexation) of Austria. It was bloodless, but the causes of World War II, in short, were that European politicians turned a blind eye to Hitler’s aggressive behavior and did not stop his policy of absorbing new territories.
Soon, Germany annexed the Sudetenland, inhabited by Germans, but belonging to Czechoslovakia. Poland and Hungary also took part in the section of this state. In Budapest, the alliance with the Third Reich was respected until 1945. The example of Hungary shows that the causes of the Second World War, in short, included the consolidation of anti-communist forces around Hitler.
Start
On September 1, 1939, German troops invaded Poland. A few days later Germany declared war on France, Britain and their many colonies. Two key powers had allied agreements with Poland and defended it. Thus began the Second World War (1939-1945).
A week before the Wehrmacht attack on Poland, German diplomats entered into a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. Thus, the USSR was aloof from the conflict between the Third Reich, France and Great Britain. By signing an agreement with Hitler, Stalin solved his own problems. In the period before the start of World War II, the Red Army entered Eastern Poland, the Baltic states and Bessarabia. In November 1939, the Soviet-Finnish War began. As a result, the USSR annexed several western regions.
As long as German-Soviet neutrality remained, the German army was occupied with the occupation of most of the Old World. The outbreak of World War II in 1939 was met with restraint by overseas countries. In particular, the United States declared its neutrality and maintained it until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Blitzkrieg in Europe
Polish resistance was broken just a month later. All this time, Germany acted on only one front, since the actions of France and Great Britain were of a low-initiative nature. The period from September 1939 to May 1940 received the characteristic name of the “Strange War”. During these few months, Germany, in the absence of vigorous action by the British and French, occupied Poland, Denmark and Norway.
The first stages of World War II were transient. In April 1940, Germany invaded Scandinavia. Air and naval assault unhindered into key Danish cities. A few days later, the monarch Christian X signed the surrender. In Norway, the British and French landed, but he was powerless against the onslaught of the Wehrmacht. The early periods of World War II were characterized by a general advantage of the Germans over their adversary. Affected by the long preparation for future bloodshed. The whole country worked for the war, and Hitler did not hesitate to throw all new resources into her cauldron.
In May 1940, the invasion of Benelux began. The whole world was shocked by the unprecedented destructive bombing of Rotterdam. Thanks to their swift throw, the Germans managed to occupy key positions before the allies appeared there. By the end of May, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg surrendered and were occupied.
In the summer, the battles of World War II moved to France. In June 1940, Italy joined the campaign. Her troops attacked the south of France, and the Wehrmacht - the north. A truce was soon signed. Most of France was under occupation. In the small free zone in the south of the country, the Peten regime was established, which went on cooperation with the Germans.
Africa and the Balkans
In the summer of 1940, after Italy entered the war, the main theater of operations moved to the Mediterranean. The Italians invaded North Africa and attacked British bases in Malta. On the "Black Continent" then there was a significant number of English and French colonies. The Italians at first concentrated on the east - Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Sudan.
Some French colonies in Africa refused to recognize the new government of France, led by Pétain. Charles de Gaulle became a symbol of the national struggle against the Nazis. In London, he created a liberation movement called the “Fighting France”. British troops, along with de Gaulle's troops, began to recapture the African colonies from Germany. Equatorial Africa and Gabon were liberated.
In September, Italians invaded Greece. The attack took place against the backdrop of the fighting for North Africa. Many fronts and stages of World War II began to intertwine with each other due to the growing expansion of the conflict. The Greeks managed to successfully resist the Italian onslaught until April 1941, when Germany intervened in the conflict, occupying Hellas in just a few weeks.
Along with the Greek campaign, the Germans launched the Yugoslav campaign. The forces of the Balkan state were split into several parts. The operation began on April 6, and on April 17, Yugoslavia surrendered. Germany in the Second World War was more and more like an unconditional hegemon. On the territory of occupied Yugoslavia puppet pro-fascist states were created.
Invasion of the USSR
All the previous stages of World War II faded in scale in comparison with the operation that Germany was preparing to conduct in the USSR. The war with the Soviet Union was only a matter of time. The invasion began exactly after the Third Reich occupied most of Europe and was able to concentrate all its forces on the Eastern Front.
Parts of the Wehrmacht crossed the Soviet border on June 22, 1941. For our country, this date was the beginning of World War II. The Kremlin until the last moment did not believe in the German attack. Stalin refused to take intelligence data seriously, considering them to be misinformation. As a result, the Red Army was completely unprepared for Operation Barbarossa. In the early days, airfields and other strategic infrastructure in the west of the Soviet Union were bombed unhindered.
The USSR in World War II was faced with yet another German blitzkrieg plan. In Berlin, they were planning to capture the main Soviet cities of the European part of the country by winter. The first months, everything went according to Hitler's expectations. Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states were completely occupied. Leningrad was in a blockade. The course of World War II led the conflict to a key milestone. If Germany had defeated the Soviet Union, she would have no opponents except overseas Britain.
The winter of 1941 was approaching. The Germans were in the vicinity of Moscow. On the outskirts of the capital, they stopped. November 7 was a festive parade dedicated to the next anniversary of the October Revolution. Soldiers directly from Red Square went to the front. Wehrmacht stuck a few tens of kilometers from Moscow. German soldiers were demoralized by the most severe winter and the most difficult conditions of warfare. On December 5, the Soviet counterattack began. By the end of the year, the Germans were driven back from Moscow. The previous stages of World War II were characterized by the total advantage of the Wehrmacht. Now the army of the Third Reich for the first time stopped in its global expansion. The battle of Moscow was a turning point in the war.
Japan attack on the USA
Until the end of 1941, Japan remained neutral in the European conflict, while fighting with China. At some point, the country's leadership faced a strategic choice: attack the USSR or the USA. The choice was made in favor of the American version. On December 7, Japanese aircraft attacked the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii. As a result of the raid, almost all American battleships and, in general, a significant part of the American Pacific fleet were destroyed.
Until this moment, the United States did not openly participate in World War II. When the situation in Europe changed in favor of Germany, the American authorities began to support Britain with resources, but did not intervene in the conflict itself. Now the situation has changed 180 degrees, since Japan was an ally of Germany. The day after the raid on Pearl Harbor, Tokyo declared war on Washington. Great Britain and its dominions did the same. A few days later, Germany, Italy and their European satellites declared war on the United States. So finally formed the contours of the unions that clashed in full-time confrontation in the second half of World War II. For several months now, the USSR was at war and also joined the anti-Hitler coalition.
In the new 1942, the Japanese invaded the Dutch East Indies, where they began to take island after island without much difficulty. At the same time, offensives developed in Burma. By the summer of 1942, Japanese forces controlled all of Southeast Asia and a large part of Oceania. The USA in World War II changed the situation in the Pacific theater of operations a little later.
Soviet counteroffensive
In 1942, the Second World War, the table of events of which includes, as a rule, basic information, was at its key stage. The forces of opposing unions were approximately equal. The fracture occurred by the end of 1942. In summer, the Germans launched another offensive in the USSR. This time, their key target was the south of the country. In Berlin, they wanted to cut Moscow off oil and other resources. For this it was necessary to force the Volga.
In November 1942, the whole world was anxiously awaiting news from Stalingrad. The Soviet counterattack on the banks of the Volga led to the fact that since then the strategic initiative has finally come to the USSR. In World War II there was no more bloody and large-scale battle than the Battle of Stalingrad. The total losses on both sides exceeded two million people. At the cost of incredible efforts, the Red Army stopped the Axis offensive on the Eastern Front.
The next strategically important success of the Soviet troops was the Battle of Kursk in June - July 1943. That summer, the Germans last attempted to seize the initiative and attack the Soviet positions. Wehrmacht plan failed. The Germans not only did not succeed, but also left many cities in central Russia (Oryol, Belgorod, Kursk), while following the “scorched earth tactics”. All tank battles of the Second World War were notable for bloodshed, but the Prokhorov battle was the most ambitious. It was a key episode of the entire Kursk battle. By the end of 1943 - early 1944, Soviet troops liberated the south of the USSR and reached the borders of Romania.
Allied landings in Italy and Normandy
In May 1943, the Allies cleared the Italians of North Africa. The British fleet began to control the entire Mediterranean Sea. The previous periods of World War II were characterized by the success of the Axis. Now the situation has become the exact opposite.
In July 1943, American, British and French troops landed on Sicily, and in September on the Apennine Peninsula. The Italian government renounced Mussolini and a few days later signed a truce with the advancing opponents. The dictator, however, managed to escape. Thanks to the help of the Germans, he created the puppet republic of Salo in the industrial north of Italy. The British, French, Americans and local partisans gradually conquered more and more new cities. June 4, 1944 they entered Rome.
Exactly two days later, on the 6th, the allies landed in Normandy. So the second or Western front was opened, as a result of which the Second World War was ended (the table shows this event). In August, a similar landing in the south of France began. On August 25, the Germans finally left Paris. By the end of 1944, the front had stabilized. The main battles took place in the Belgian Ardennes, where each side made for the time being unsuccessful attempts to develop its own offensive.
On February 9, as a result of the Colmar operation, the German army was stationed in Alsace. The Allies managed to break through the defensive Siegfried Line and reach the German border. In March, after the Meuse-Rhine operation, the Third Reich lost territories beyond the western bank of the Rhine. In April, the Allies took control of the Ruhr Industrial Area. At the same time, the offensive continued in Northern Italy. On April 28, 1945, Benito Mussolini fell into the hands of Italian partisans and was executed.
Stages of the Second World War | date | Events |
| Stage 1 | 1939 - 1941 | Invasion of Poland, Blitzkrieg in Europe, African Campaign |
| 2 stage | 1941 - 1942 | Attack on the USSR, Attack on Pearl Harbor |
| 3 stage | 1942 - 1944 | Counterattack of the Red Army, landing in Italy |
| 4th stage | 1944 - 1945 | Landing in Normandy, defeat of Germany |
| 5 stage | 1945 | Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing, defeat of Japan |
The capture of Berlin
Opening a second front, the Western Allies coordinated their actions with the Soviet Union. In the summer of 1944, the Red Army began the liberation of Belarus. Already in the fall, the Germans lost control of the remnants of their possessions in the USSR (with the exception of a small enclave in western Latvia).
In August, Romania withdrew from the war, previously acting as a satellite of the Third Reich. Soon the authorities of Bulgaria and Finland did the same. The Germans began to hastily evacuate from the territory of Greece and Yugoslavia. In February 1945, the Red Army conducted the Budapest operation and liberated Hungary.
The path of Soviet troops to Berlin ran through Poland. Together with her, the Germans left East Prussia. The Berlin operation began in late April. Hitler, realizing his own defeat, committed suicide. On May 7, an act of German surrender was signed, which entered into force on the night of 8/9.
The defeat of the Japanese
Although the war ended in Europe, bloodshed continued in Asia and the Pacific. The last force opposing the allies was Japan. In June, the empire lost control of Indonesia. In July, Great Britain, the USA and China presented her with an ultimatum, which, however, was rejected.
On August 6 and 9, 1945, the Americans dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These cases were the only ones in human history when nuclear weapons were used for military purposes. On August 8, the Soviet offensive began in Manchuria. The Japan Surrender Act was signed on September 2, 1945. This ended the Second World War.
Losses
Research is still being conducted on how many people were injured and how many died in World War II. On average, the number of claimed lives is estimated at 55 million (of which 26 million are Soviet citizens). The financial loss amounted to 4 trillion dollars, although there is hardly any way to calculate the exact numbers.
Europe was hit hardest. Its industry and agriculture have been recovering for many more years. How many died in World War II and how many were destroyed became clear only after some time, when the world community was able to clarify the facts about Nazi crimes against humanity.
The most massive bloodshed in the history of mankind was carried out with completely new methods. Entire cities died under bombing, centuries-old infrastructure was destroyed in a few minutes. The genocide of the Second World War, organized by the Third Reich, directed against Jews, Gypsies, and the Slavic population, is still horrifying with its details. German concentration camps became real "death factories", and German (and Japanese) physicians carried out cruel medical and biological experiments on people.
Summary
The results of World War II were summed up at the Potsdam Conference, held in July - August 1945. Europe was divided between the USSR and the Western allies. In eastern countries, communist pro-Soviet regimes were established. Germany lost a significant part of its territory. East Prussia was annexed to the USSR, several more provinces passed to Poland. Germany was first divided into four zones. Then, on their basis, the capitalist Federal Republic of Germany and the socialist GDR appeared. In the east, the USSR received the Kuril Islands belonging to Japan and southern Sakhalin. In China, the Communists came to power.
Western European countries after World War II lost a significant part of their political influence. The former dominant position of Great Britain and France was occupied by the United States, the least affected by German aggression. The process of the collapse of the colonial empires began. In 1945, the United Nations Organization was created, designed to maintain world peace. Ideological and other contradictions between the USSR and the Western allies became the reason for the beginning of the Cold War.