Period of World War 2. Events of World War II

THE SECOND WORLD WAR 1939-45, the largest war in human history between Nazi Germany, fascist Italy and militaristic Japan and the countries of the anti-fascist coalition that unleashed it. 61 states, over 80% of the world's population, were drawn into the war; military operations were carried out on the territory of 40 states, as well as in maritime and ocean theaters of operations.

Causes, preparation and outbreak of war. The Second World War arose as a result of a sharp aggravation of economic and ideological contradictions between the leading world powers. The main reason for its emergence was Germany’s course, supported by its allies, towards revenge for the defeat in the First World War of 1914-18 and the violent redivision of the world. In the 1930s, 2 hotbeds of war emerged - in the Far East and in Europe. The exorbitant reparations and restrictions imposed by the victors on Germany contributed to the development of a strong nationalist movement in it, in which extremely radical movements gained the upper hand. With A. Hitler coming to power in 1933, Germany turned into a militaristic force dangerous for the whole world. This was evidenced by the scale and growth rate of its military economy and armed forces (AF). If in 1934 840 aircraft were produced in Germany, then in 1936 - 4733. The volume of military production from 1934 to 1940 increased 22 times. In 1935, Germany had 29 divisions, and by the fall of 1939 there were already 102 of them. The German leadership placed special emphasis on training offensive strike forces - armored and motorized troops, bomber aircraft. The Nazi program for gaining world domination included plans for the restoration and expansion of the German colonial empire, the defeat of Great Britain, France and posed a threat to the United States; the most important goal of the Nazis was the destruction of the USSR. The ruling circles of Western countries, hoping to avoid war, sought to direct German aggression to the East. They contributed to the revival of the military-industrial base of German militarism (US financial assistance to Germany under the Dawes Plan, the British-German Naval Agreement of 1935, etc.) and, in essence, encouraged the Nazi aggressors. The desire to redivide the world was also characteristic of the fascist regime of Italy and militaristic Japan.

Having created a solid military-economic base and continuing to develop it, Germany, Japan, and also, despite certain economic difficulties, Italy (in 1929-38 the gross volume of industrial output increased by 0.6%) began to implement their aggressive plans. Japan occupied the territory of Northeast China in the early 1930s, creating a springboard for attacks on the USSR, Mongolia, etc. Italian fascists invaded Ethiopia in 1935 (see Italian-Ethiopian wars). In the spring of 1935, Germany, in violation of the military articles of the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919, introduced universal conscription. As a result of the plebiscite, the Saar region was annexed to it. In March 1936, Germany unilaterally terminated the Locarno Treaty (see Locarno Treaties of 1925) and sent its troops into the Rhineland demilitarized zone, in March 1938 - into Austria (see Anschluss), eliminating an independent European state (of the great powers, only the USSR protested) . In September 1938, Great Britain and France betrayed their ally, Czechoslovakia, by agreeing to Germany's seizure of the Sudetenland (see Munich Agreement of 1938). Having a mutual assistance agreement with Czechoslovakia and France, the USSR repeatedly offered military assistance to Czechoslovakia, but the government of E. Benes refused it. In the fall of 1938, Germany occupied part of Czechoslovakia, and in the spring of 1939 - the entire Czech Republic (Slovakia was declared an “independent state”), and captured the Klaipeda region from Lithuania. Italy annexed Albania in April 1939. Having caused the so-called Danzig crisis at the end of 1938 and having secured itself from the east after concluding a non-aggression pact with the USSR in August 1939 (see Soviet-German treaties of 1939), Germany prepared to capture Poland, which received guarantees of military support from Great Britain and France.

The first period of the war (1.9.1939 - 21.6.1941). The Second World War began on September 1, 1939 with the German attack on Poland. By September 1, 1939, the strength of the German Armed Forces had reached over 4 million people, about 3.2 thousand tanks, over 26 thousand artillery pieces and mortars, about 4 thousand aircraft, 100 warships of the main classes were in service. Poland had an armed forces of about 1 million people, armed with 220 light tanks and 650 tankettes, 4.3 thousand artillery pieces, and 824 aircraft. Great Britain in the metropolis had an armed forces of 1.3 million people, a strong navy (328 warships of the main classes and over 1.2 thousand aircraft, of which 490 are in reserve) and an air force (3.9 thousand aircraft, of which 2 thousand are in reserve) . By the end of August 1939, the French Armed Forces numbered about 2.7 million people, about 3.1 thousand tanks, over 26 thousand artillery pieces and mortars, about 3.3 thousand aircraft, 174 warships of the main classes. On September 3, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany, but did not provide practical assistance to Poland. German troops, possessing an overwhelming superiority in forces and equipment, despite the courageous resistance of the Polish army, defeated it in 32 days and occupied most of Poland (see German-Polish War of 1939). Having lost the ability to govern the country, on September 17 the Polish government fled to Romania. On September 17, the Soviet government introduced its troops into the territory of Western Belarus and Western Ukraine (see March of the Red Army 1939), which were part of Russia until 1917, in order to take under protection the Belarusian and Ukrainian population in connection with the collapse of the Polish state and prevent further advance of the German armies to the east (these lands were classified as part of the Soviet “sphere of interests” according to the Soviet-German secret protocols of 1939). Important political consequences in the initial period of World War II were the reunification of Bessarabia with the USSR and the entry of Northern Bukovina into it, the conclusion of agreements in September - October 1939 on mutual assistance with the Baltic states and the subsequent entry of the Baltic states into the Soviet Union in August 1940. As a result of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-40, although at the cost of great casualties, the main strategic goal pursued by the Soviet leadership was achieved - to secure the northwestern border. However, there was no complete guarantee that the territory of Finland would not be used for aggression against the USSR, because the set political goal - the creation of a pro-Soviet regime in Finland - was not achieved, and the hostile attitude towards the USSR intensified. This war led to a sharp deterioration in relations between the USA, Great Britain and France with the USSR (12/14/1939 the USSR was expelled from the League of Nations for the attack on Finland). Great Britain and France even planned a military invasion of the USSR from Finland, as well as bombing the oil fields of Baku. The course of the Soviet-Finnish war strengthened doubts about the combat effectiveness of the Red Army, which arose in Western ruling circles in connection with the repressions of 1937-38 against its command staff, and gave confidence to A. Hitler in his plans for the quick defeat of the Soviet Union.

In Western Europe, until May 1940, there was a “strange war”. The British-French troops were inactive, and the German armed forces, using the strategic pause after the defeat of Poland, were actively preparing for an attack on Western European states. On April 9, 1940, German troops occupied Denmark without declaring war and on the same day launched an invasion of Norway (see Norwegian operation 1940). British and French troops landed in Norway and captured Narvik, but were unable to resist the aggressor and were evacuated from the country in June. On May 10, Wehrmacht units invaded Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg and struck France through their territories (see French Campaign of 1940) bypassing the French Maginot Line. Having broken through the defenses in the Sedan area, tank formations of German troops reached the English Channel on May 20. On May 14, the Dutch army capitulated, and on May 28, the Belgian army. The British Expeditionary Force and part of the French troops, blocked in the Dunkirk area (see Dunkirk operation 1940), managed to evacuate to Great Britain, abandoning almost all military equipment. German troops occupied Paris on June 14 without a fight, and France capitulated on June 22. Under the terms of the Compiegne Truce, most of France was occupied by German troops, the southern part remained under the rule of the pro-fascist government of Marshal A. Pétain (the Vichy government). At the end of June 1940, a French patriotic organization headed by General Charles de Gaulle - “Free France” (since July 1942, “Fighting France”) was formed in London.

On June 10, 1940, Italy entered the war on the side of Germany (in 1939, its armed forces numbered over 1.7 million people, about 400 tanks, about 13 thousand artillery pieces and mortars, about 3 thousand aircraft, 154 warships of the main classes and 105 submarines) . Italian troops captured British Somalia, part of Kenya and Sudan in August, and in September invaded Egypt from Libya, where they were stopped and defeated by British troops in December. An attempt by Italian troops in October to develop an offensive from Albania, which they occupied in 1939, into Greece was repulsed by the Greek army. In the Far East, Japan (by 1939, its armed forces included over 1.5 million people, over 2 thousand tanks, about 4.2 thousand artillery pieces, about 1 thousand aircraft, 172 warships of the main classes, including 6 aircraft carriers with 396 aircraft and 56 submarines) occupied the southern regions of China and occupied the northern part of French Indochina. Germany, Italy and Japan concluded the Berlin (Tripartite) Pact on September 27 (see Three Power Pact 1940).

In August 1940, aerial bombing of Great Britain by German aircraft began (see Battle of Britain 1940-41), the intensity of which sharply decreased in May 1941 due to the transfer of the main forces of the German Air Force to the east to attack the USSR. In the spring of 1941, the United States, which had not yet participated in the war, landed troops in Greenland and then in Iceland, creating military bases there. German submarine activity intensified (see Battle of the Atlantic 1939-45). In January - May 1941, British troops, supported by a rebellious population, expelled the Italians from East Africa. In February, German troops arrived in North Africa, forming the so-called Afrika Korps, led by Lieutenant General E. Rommel. Going on the offensive on March 31, Italian-German troops reached the Libyan-Egyptian border in the 2nd half of April (see North African campaign 1940-43). Preparing an attack on the Soviet Union, the countries of the fascist (Nazi) bloc carried out aggression in the Balkans in the spring of 1941 (see Balkan campaign of 1941). German troops entered Bulgaria on March 1-2, which joined the Tripartite Pact, and on April 6, German troops (later Italian, Hungarian and Bulgarian troops) invaded Yugoslavia (capitulated on April 18) and Greece (occupied on April 30). In May

the island of Crete was captured (see Cretan airborne operation 1941).

Germany's military successes in the first period of the war were largely due to the fact that its opponents were unable to unite their efforts, create a unified system of military leadership, and develop effective plans for joint warfare. The economies and resources of the occupied countries of Europe were used to prepare for war against the USSR.

Second period of the war (22.6.1941 - November 1942). 22.6.1941 Germany, violating the non-aggression pact, suddenly attacked the USSR. Together with Germany, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, and Italy opposed the USSR. The Great Patriotic War of 1941-45 began. Since the mid-1930s, the Soviet Union has taken measures to increase the country's defense capability and repel possible aggression. Industrial development proceeded at an accelerated pace, the scale of military production increased, new types of tanks, aircraft, artillery systems, and the like were introduced into production and put into service. In 1939, a new Law on General Military Duty was adopted, aimed at creating a massive personnel army (by mid-1941, the number of Soviet armed forces increased by more than 2.8 times compared to 1939 and amounted to about 5.7 million people). The experience of military operations in the West, as well as the Soviet-Finnish war, was actively studied. However, the mass repressions unleashed by the Stalinist leadership in the late 1930s, which hit the Armed Forces especially hard, reduced the effectiveness of preparations for war and affected the development of the military-political situation at the beginning of Hitler’s aggression.

The entry of the USSR into the war determined the content of its new stage and had a colossal influence on the policies of the leading world powers. The governments of Great Britain and the USA declared support for the USSR on June 22-24, 1941; in July - October, agreements on joint actions and military-economic cooperation were concluded between the USSR, Great Britain and the USA. In August - September, the USSR and Great Britain sent their troops into Iran to prevent the possibility of creating fascist support bases in the Middle East. These joint military-political actions marked the beginning of the creation of an anti-Hitler coalition. On September 24, at the London International Conference of 1941, the USSR acceded to the Atlantic Charter of 1941.

The Soviet-German front became the main front of the Second World War, where the armed struggle became extremely fierce. 70% of the personnel of the German Ground Forces and SS units, 86% of tanks, 100% of motorized formations, and up to 75% of artillery acted against the USSR. Despite major successes early in the war, Germany failed to achieve the strategic goal of Plan Barbarossa. The Red Army, suffering heavy losses, in fierce battles in the summer of 1941 thwarted the “blitzkrieg” plan. Soviet troops in heavy battles exhausted and bled the advancing enemy groups. German troops failed to capture Leningrad, were shackled for a long time by the defense of Odessa in 1941 and the Sevastopol defense of 1941-42, and were stopped near Moscow. As a result of the defeat of German troops in the Battle of Moscow in 1941-1942, the myth of the invincibility of the Wehrmacht was dispelled. This victory forced Germany into a protracted war, inspired the peoples of the occupied countries to fight for liberation against fascist oppression, and gave impetus to the Resistance Movement.

By attacking the American military base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Japan launched a war against the United States. On December 8, the USA, Great Britain and a number of other states declared war on Japan, and on December 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the USA. The entry of the United States and Japan into the war affected the balance of forces and increased the scale of the armed struggle. The Moscow meetings of 1941-43 between representatives of the USSR, USA and Great Britain on the issue of military supplies to the Soviet Union (see Lend-Lease) played a major role in the development of allied relations. In Washington, on January 1, 1942, the Declaration of 26 States of 1942 was signed, which was later joined by other states.

In North Africa in November 1941, British troops, taking advantage of the fact that the main forces of the Wehrmacht were pinned down near Moscow, launched an offensive, occupied Cyrenaica and lifted the blockade of Tobruk, besieged by Italo-German troops, but in January - June the Italo-German troops launched a counter-offensive , advanced 1.2 thousand km, captured Tobruk and part of the territory of Egypt. After this, there was a lull on the African front until the fall of 1942. In the Atlantic Ocean, German submarines continued to cause great damage to the Allied fleets (by the fall of 1942, the tonnage of sunken ships, mainly in the Atlantic Ocean, amounted to over 14 million tons). At the beginning of 1942, Japan occupied Malaya, the most important islands of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Burma, inflicted a major defeat on the British fleet in the Gulf of Thailand, the British-American-Dutch fleet in the Javanese operation, and seized supremacy at sea. The American Navy and Air Force, significantly strengthened by the summer of 1942, defeated the Japanese fleet in naval battles in the Coral Sea (May 7-8) and off Midway Island (June). In Northern China, the Japanese invaders launched punitive operations in areas liberated by partisans.

On May 26, 1942, an agreement was signed between the USSR and Great Britain on an alliance in the war against Germany and its satellites; On June 11, the USSR and the USA entered into an agreement on the principles of mutual assistance in waging war. These acts completed the creation of the anti-Hitler coalition. On June 12, the United States and Great Britain made a promise to open a second front in Western Europe in 1942, but did not fulfill it. Taking advantage of the absence of a second front and the defeats of the Red Army in the Crimea, and especially in the Kharkov operation of 1942, the German command launched a new strategic offensive on the Soviet-German front in the summer of 1942. In July - November, Soviet troops pinned down enemy strike groups and prepared the conditions for launching a counteroffensive. The failure of the German offensive on the Soviet-German front in 1942 and the failures of the Japanese Armed Forces in the Pacific Ocean forced Japan to refrain from the planned attack on the USSR and switch to defense in the Pacific Ocean at the end of 1942. At the same time, the USSR, maintaining neutrality, refused to allow the United States to use air bases in the Soviet Far East, from where it could launch attacks on Japan.

The entry into the war of the two largest countries in the world - the USSR and then the USA - led to a gigantic expansion of the scale of combat operations in the 2nd period of World War II and an increase in the number of armed forces participating in the fight. In opposition to the fascist bloc, an anti-fascist coalition of states was formed, which had enormous economic and military potential. By the end of 1941, on the Soviet-German front, the fascist bloc was faced with the need to wage a long, protracted war. The armed struggle also took on a similar character in the Pacific Ocean, in Southeast Asia and in other theaters of war. By the autumn of 1942, the adventurism of the aggressive plans of the leadership of Germany and its allies, designed to achieve world domination, became completely obvious. Attempts to crush the USSR were unsuccessful. In all theaters of operations, the offensive of the aggressor armed forces was stopped. However, the fascist coalition continued to remain a powerful military-political organization capable of active action.

The third period of the war (November 1942 - December 1943). The main events of World War II in 1942-1943 developed on the Soviet-German front. By November 1942, 192 divisions and 3 brigades of the Wehrmacht (71% of all Ground Forces) and 66 divisions and 13 brigades of the German allies were operating here. On November 19, a counteroffensive of Soviet troops began near Stalingrad (see Battle of Stalingrad 1942-43), which ended with the encirclement and defeat of a 330,000-strong group of German troops. An attempt by the German Army Group Don (commanded by Field Marshal General E. von Manstein) to release the encircled group of Field Marshal F. von Paulus was thwarted. Having pinned down the main forces of the Wehrmacht in the Moscow direction (40% of German divisions), the Soviet command did not allow the reserves Manstein needed to be transferred to the south. The victory of the Soviet troops at Stalingrad was the beginning of a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War and had a great influence on the further course of the entire Second World War. It undermined the prestige of Germany in the eyes of its allies and raised doubts among the Germans themselves about the possibility of victory in the war. The Red Army, having seized the strategic initiative, launched a general offensive on the Soviet-German front. The mass expulsion of the enemy from the territory of the Soviet Union began. The Battle of Kursk in 1943 and the advance to the Dnieper marked a radical turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War. The Battle of the Dnieper in 1943 upset the enemy’s plans for a transition to a protracted positional defensive war.

In the autumn of 1942, when fierce battles on the Soviet-German front pinned down the main forces of the Wehrmacht, British and American troops intensified military operations in North Africa. They won a victory in the Alamein operation of 1942 in October - November and carried out the North African landing operation of 1942. As a result of the Tunisian operation of 1943, the Italo-German troops in North Africa capitulated. British-American troops, taking advantage of the favorable situation (the main enemy forces took part in the Battle of Kursk), landed on the island of Sicily on July 10, 1943 and captured it by mid-August (see Sicilian landing operation of 1943). On July 25, the fascist regime in Italy fell, and the new government of P. Badoglio concluded a truce with the allies on September 3. Italy's withdrawal from the war marked the beginning of the collapse of the fascist bloc.

On October 13, Italy declared war on Germany, and in response, German troops occupied Northern Italy. In September, Allied troops landed in southern Italy, but were unable to break the resistance of German troops on the defensive line created north of Naples, and in December they suspended active operations. During this period, secret negotiations between representatives of the United States and Great Britain and German emissaries intensified (see Anglo-American-German contacts 1943-45). In the Pacific and Asia, Japan, switching to strategic defense, sought to retain the territories captured in 1941-42. The Allies, having launched an offensive in the Pacific Ocean in August 1942, captured the island of Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands; February 1943), landed on the island of New Guinea, ousted the Japanese from the Aleutian Islands, and inflicted a number of defeats on the Japanese fleet.

The 3rd period of World War II went down in history as a period of radical change. The historical victories of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk and the Battle of the Dnieper, as well as the victories of the Allies in North Africa and the landing of their troops in Sicily and the south of the Apennine Peninsula, were of decisive importance for the change in the strategic situation. However, the main burden of the fight against Germany and its European allies was still borne by the Soviet Union. At the Tehran Conference of 1943, at the request of the Soviet delegation, a decision was made to open a second front no later than May 1944. The armies of the Nazi bloc in the 3rd period of World War II were unable to win a single major victory and were forced to take a course towards prolonging hostilities and switching to strategic defense. Having passed through a turning point, World War II in Europe entered its final stage.

It began with a new offensive of the Red Army. In 1944, Soviet troops dealt crushing blows to the enemy along the entire Soviet-German front and drove the invaders out of the Soviet Union. During the subsequent offensive, the USSR Armed Forces played a decisive role in the liberation of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, the northern regions of Norway, in the withdrawal of Finland from the war, and created the conditions for the liberation of Albania and Greece. Together with the Red Army, troops from Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia took part in the fight against Nazi Germany, and after the truce was concluded with Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary, military units of these countries also took part. The Allied forces, having carried out Operation Overlord, opened a second front and launched an offensive in Germany. Having landed on August 15, 1944 in the south of France, British-American troops, with the active support of the French Resistance Movement, joined forces with troops advancing from Normandy by mid-September, but German troops managed to leave France. After the opening of the second front, the main front of World War II continued to be the Soviet-German front, where 1.8-2.8 times more troops from the countries of the fascist bloc operated than on other fronts.

In February 1945, the Crimean (Yalta) Conference of 1945 was held between the leaders of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain, during which plans for the final defeat of the German Armed Forces were agreed upon, the basic principles of a general policy regarding the post-war structure of the world were outlined, decisions were made to create occupation zones in Germany and an all-German control body, on the collection of reparations from Germany, on the creation of the UN, etc. The USSR agreed to enter the war against Japan 3 months after the surrender of Germany and the end of the war in Europe.

During the Ardennes Operation of 1944-1945, German troops defeated the Allied forces. To ease the position of the Allies in the Ardennes, at their request, the Red Army began its winter offensive ahead of schedule (see Vistula-Oder Operation of 1945 and East Prussian Operation of 1945). Having restored the situation by the end of January 1945, British-American troops crossed the Rhine at the end of March and in April carried out the Ruhr operation, which ended with the encirclement and capture of a large enemy group. During the Northern Italian Operation of 1945, the Allied forces, with the help of Italian partisans, completely captured Italy in April - early May. In the Pacific theater of operations, the Allies carried out operations to defeat the Japanese fleet, liberated a number of islands, approached Japan directly (on April 1, American troops landed on the Japanese island of Okinawa) and cut off its communications with the countries of Southeast Asia.

In April - May, Red Army formations defeated the last groupings of German troops in the Berlin Operation of 1945 and the Prague Operation of 1945 and met with the Allied troops. The war in Europe is over. The unconditional surrender of Germany was accepted late in the evening of May 8 (at 0:43 a.m. on May 9, Moscow time) by representatives of the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France.

During the 4th period of World War II, the struggle reached its greatest scope and tension. The largest number of states, armed forces personnel, military equipment and weapons took part in it. Germany's military-economic potential declined sharply, while in the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition it reached its highest level during the war years. Military operations took place in conditions when Germany found itself facing the armies of the Allied powers advancing from the east and west. Since the end of 1944, Japan remained Germany's only ally, which indicated the collapse of the fascist bloc and the bankruptcy of German foreign policy. The USSR victoriously completed the unprecedentedly fierce Great Patriotic War.

At the Berlin (Potsdam) Conference of 1945, the USSR confirmed its readiness to enter the war with Japan, and at the San Francisco Conference of 1945, together with representatives of 50 states, it developed the UN Charter. In order to demoralize the enemy and demonstrate its military power to its allies (primarily the USSR), the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6 and 9, respectively). Fulfilling its allied duty, the USSR declared war on Japan and began military operations on August 9. During the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945, Soviet troops, having defeated the Japanese Kwantung Army (see Manchurian Operation of 1945), eliminated the source of aggression in the Far East, liberated Northeast China, North Korea, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, thereby accelerating the end of the war. On September 2, Japan surrendered and World War II ended.

Main results of the Second World War. The Second World War was the largest military conflict in human history. It lasted 6 years, the population of the participating states was 1.7 billion people, 110 million people were in the ranks of the Armed Forces. Military operations took place in Europe, Asia, Africa, in the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic oceans. It was the most destructive and bloody of wars. Over 55 million people died in it. The damage from the destruction and destruction of material assets on the territory of the USSR amounted to about 41% of the losses of all countries participating in the war. The Soviet Union bore the brunt of the war and suffered the greatest human casualties (about 27 million people died). Great victims were suffered by Poland (about 6 million people), China (over 5 million people), Yugoslavia (about 1.7 million people) and other states. The Soviet-German front was the main front of World War II. It was here that the military power of the fascist bloc was crushed. At different periods, from 190 to 270 divisions of Germany and its allies operated on the Soviet-German front. British-American troops in North Africa in 1941-43 were opposed by 9 to 20 divisions, in Italy in 1943-1945 - from 7 to 26 divisions, in Western Europe after the opening of the second front - from 56 to 75 divisions. The Soviet Armed Forces defeated and captured 607 enemy divisions, the Allies - 176 divisions. Germany and its allies lost about 9 million people on the Soviet-German front (total losses - about 14 million people) and about 75% of military equipment and weapons. The length of the Soviet-German front during the war years ranged from 2 thousand km to 6.2 thousand km, the North African front - up to 350 km, the Italian front - up to 300 km, and the Western European front - 800-1000 km. Active operations on the Soviet-German front took place 1320 days out of 1418 (93%), on the Allied fronts out of 2069 days - 1094 (53%). The irretrievable losses of the allies (killed, died from wounds, missing in action) amounted to about 1.5 million soldiers and officers, including the USA - 405 thousand, Great Britain - 375 thousand, France - 600 thousand, Canada - 37 thousand, Australia - 35 thousand, New Zealand - 12 thousand, Union of South Africa - 7 thousand people. The most important result of the war was the defeat of the most aggressive reactionary forces, which radically changed the balance of political forces in the world and determined its entire post-war development. Many peoples of “non-Aryan” origin, who were destined to perish in Nazi concentration camps or become slaves, were saved from physical destruction. The defeat of Nazi Germany and imperialist Japan contributed to the rise of the national liberation movement and the collapse of the colonial system of imperialism. For the first time, a legal assessment was given to the ideologists and executors of misanthropic plans for conquest of world domination (see Nuremberg trials of 1945-49 and Tokyo trials of 1946-48). The Second World War had a comprehensive influence on the further development of military art and the construction of the armed forces. It was distinguished by the massive use of tanks, a high degree of motorization, and the widespread introduction of new combat and technical means. During the Second World War, radars and other radio electronics, rocket artillery, jet aircraft, projectile aircraft and ballistic missiles were used for the first time, and at the final stage - nuclear weapons. The Second World War clearly showed the dependence of war on the economy and scientific and technological progress, the close interconnection of economic, scientific, military and other potentials on the path to victory.

Lit.: History of the Second World War. 1939-1945. M., 1973-1982. T. 1-12; Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg. Münch., 1979-2005. Bd 1-9; World War II: Results and lessons. M., 1985; Nuremberg trials: Sat. materials. M., 1987-1999. T. 1-8; 1939: History lessons. M., 1990; Resistance movement in Western Europe. 1939-1945. M., 1990-1991. T. 1-2; The Second World War: Current Issues. M., 1995; Allies at War, 1941-1945. M., 1995; The Resistance Movement in Central and South-Eastern Europe, 1939-1945. M., 1995; Another war, 1939-1945. M., 1996; The Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945: Military-historical essays. M., 1998-1999. T. 1-4; Churchill W. The Second World War. M., 1998. T. 1-6; Zhukov G.K. Memories and reflections. 13th ed. M., 2002. T. 1-2; World wars of the 20th century. M., 2002. Book. 3: World War II: Historical sketch. Book 4: World War II: Documents and materials.

In the early morning of September 1, 1939, German troops invaded Poland. Goebbels’s propaganda presented this event as a response to the previous “seizure by Polish soldiers” of a radio station in the German border town of Gleiwitz (it later turned out that the German security service staged the attack in Gleiwitz, using German death row prisoners dressed in Polish military uniforms). Germany sent 57 divisions against Poland.

Great Britain and France, bound by allied obligations with Poland, after some hesitation, declared war on Germany on September 3. But the opponents were in no hurry to get involved in active struggle. According to Hitler's instructions, German troops were to adhere to defensive tactics on the Western Front during this period in order to “sparing their forces as much as possible, to create the preconditions for the successful completion of the operation against Poland.” The Western powers did not launch an offensive either. 110 French and 5 British divisions stood against 23 German ones, without taking serious military action. It is no coincidence that this confrontation was called a “strange war.”

Left without help, Poland, despite the desperate resistance of its soldiers and officers to the invaders in Gdansk (Danzig), on the Baltic coast in the Westerplatte region, in Silesia and other places, could not hold back the onslaught of the German armies.

On September 6, the Germans approached Warsaw. The Polish government and diplomatic corps left the capital. But the remnants of the garrison and the population defended the city until the end of September. The defense of Warsaw became one of the heroic pages in the history of the struggle against the occupiers.

At the height of the tragic events for Poland on September 17, 1939, units of the Red Army crossed the Soviet-Polish border and occupied the border territories. In this regard, the Soviet note said that they “took under protection the lives and property of the population of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus.” On September 28, 1939, Germany and the USSR, having practically divided the territory of Poland, entered into a friendship and border treaty. In a statement on this occasion, representatives of the two countries emphasized that “thereby they created a solid foundation for lasting peace in Eastern Europe.” Having thus secured new borders in the east, Hitler turned to the west.

On April 9, 1940, German troops invaded Denmark and Norway. On May 10, they crossed the borders of Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg and began an attack on France. The balance of forces was approximately equal. But the German shock armies, with their strong tank formations and aviation, managed to break through the Allied front. Some of the defeated Allied troops retreated to the English Channel coast. Their remnants were evacuated from Dunkirk at the beginning of June. By mid-June, the Germans had captured the northern part of French territory.

The French government declared Paris an "open city." On June 14, it was surrendered to the Germans without a fight. Hero of the First World War, 84-year-old Marshal A.F. Petain spoke on the radio with an appeal to the French: “With pain in my heart, I tell you today that we must stop the fight. Tonight I turned to the enemy to ask him if he is ready to seek with me ... a means to put an end to hostilities.” However, not all French supported this position. On June 18, 1940, in a broadcast from the London BBC radio station, General Charles de Gaulle stated:

“Has the last word been said? Is there no more hope? Has the final defeat been dealt? No! France is not alone! ...This war is not limited only to the long-suffering territory of our country. The outcome of this war is not decided by the Battle of France. This is a world war... I, General de Gaulle, currently in London, appeal to the French officers and soldiers who are on British territory... with an appeal to establish contact with me... Whatever happens, the flame of the French resistance should not go out and will not go out.”

On June 22, 1940, in the Compiègne forest (in the same place and in the same carriage as in 1918), a Franco-German truce was concluded, this time meaning the defeat of France. In the remaining unoccupied territory of France, a government was created headed by A.F. Petain, which expressed its readiness to cooperate with the German authorities (it was located in the small town of Vichy). On the same day, Charles de Gaulle announced the creation of the Free France Committee, the purpose of which was to organize the fight against the occupiers.

After the surrender of France, Germany invited Great Britain to begin peace negotiations. The British government, headed at that moment by a supporter of decisive anti-German actions, W. Churchill, refused. In response, Germany strengthened the naval blockade of the British Isles, and massive German bomber raids began on English cities. Great Britain, for its part, signed an agreement with the United States in September 1940 on the transfer of several dozen American warships to the British fleet. Germany failed to achieve its intended goals in the “Battle of Britain”.

Back in the summer of 1940, the strategic direction of further actions was determined in the leadership circles of Germany. The Chief of the General Staff F. Halder then wrote in his official diary: “Eyes are turned to the East.” Hitler at one of the military meetings said: “Russia must be liquidated. The deadline is spring 1941.”

In preparation for this task, Germany was interested in expanding and strengthening the anti-Soviet coalition. In September 1940, Germany, Italy and Japan concluded a military-political alliance for a period of 10 years - the Tripartite Pact. It was soon joined by Hungary, Romania and the self-proclaimed Slovak state, and a few months later by Bulgaria. A German-Finnish agreement on military cooperation was also concluded. Where it was not possible to establish an alliance on a contractual basis, they acted by force. In October 1940, Italy attacked Greece. In April 1941, German troops occupied Yugoslavia and Greece. Croatia became a separate state - a satellite of Germany. By the summer of 1941, almost all of Central and Western Europe was under the rule of Germany and its allies.

1941

In December 1940, Hitler approved the Barbarossa plan, which provided for the defeat of the Soviet Union. This was the plan for blitzkrieg (lightning war). Three army groups - “North”, “Center” and “South” were supposed to break through the Soviet front and capture vital centers: the Baltic states and Leningrad, Moscow, Ukraine, Donbass. The breakthrough was ensured by powerful tank formations and aviation. Before the onset of winter, it was planned to reach the Arkhangelsk - Volga - Astrakhan line.

On June 22, 1941, the armies of Germany and its allies attacked the USSR. A new stage of the Second World War began. Its main front was the Soviet-German front, the most important component was the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the invaders. First of all, these are the battles that thwarted the German plan for a lightning war. In their ranks one can name many battles - from the desperate resistance of border guards, the Battle of Smolensk to the defense of Kyiv, Odessa, Sevastopol, besieged but never surrendered Leningrad.

The largest event of not only military but also political significance was the battle of Moscow. The offensives of the German Army Group Center, launched on September 30 and November 15-16, 1941, did not achieve their goal. It was not possible to take Moscow. And on December 5-6, the counter-offensive of the Soviet troops began, as a result of which the enemy was thrown back from the capital 100-250 km, 38 German divisions were defeated. The victory of the Red Army near Moscow became possible thanks to the steadfastness and heroism of its defenders and the skill of its commanders (the fronts were commanded by I. S. Konev, G. K. Zhukov, S. K. Timoshenko). This was Germany's first major defeat in World War II. In this regard, W. Churchill stated: “The Russian resistance broke the back of the German armies.”

The balance of forces at the beginning of the counter-offensive of Soviet troops in Moscow

Important events occurred at this time in the Pacific Ocean. Back in the summer and autumn of 1940, Japan, taking advantage of the defeat of France, seized its possessions in Indochina. Now it has decided to strike at the strongholds of other Western powers, primarily its main rival in the struggle for influence in Southeast Asia - the United States. On December 7, 1941, more than 350 Japanese naval aircraft attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor (in the Hawaiian Islands).

In two hours, most of the warships and aircraft of the American Pacific Fleet were destroyed or disabled, the number of Americans killed was more than 2,400 people, and more than 1,100 people were wounded. The Japanese lost several dozen people. The next day, the US Congress decided to start a war against Japan. Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.

The defeat of German troops near Moscow and the entry of the United States of America into the war accelerated the formation of the anti-Hitler coalition.

Dates and events

• July 12, 1941- signing of the Anglo-Soviet agreement on joint actions against Germany.
• August 14- F. Roosevelt and W. Churchill issued a joint declaration on the goals of the war, support for democratic principles in international relations - the Atlantic Charter; in September the USSR joined it.
• September 29 - October 1- British-American-Soviet conference in Moscow, a program for mutual supplies of weapons, military materials and raw materials was adopted.
• November 7- the law on Lend-Lease (transfer by the United States of America of weapons and other materials to opponents of Germany) was extended to the USSR.
• January 1, 1942- The Declaration of 26 states - “united nations” fighting against the fascist bloc was signed in Washington.

On the fronts of the world war

War in Africa. Back in 1940, the war spread beyond Europe. That summer, Italy, eager to make the Mediterranean its “inland sea,” attempted to seize the British colonies in North Africa. Italian troops occupied British Somalia, parts of Kenya and Sudan, and then invaded Egypt. However, by the spring of 1941, British armed forces not only drove the Italians out of the territories they had captured, but also entered Ethiopia, occupied by Italy in 1935. Italian possessions in Libya were also under threat.

At the request of Italy, Germany intervened in military operations in North Africa. In the spring of 1941, the German corps under the command of General E. Rommel, together with the Italians, began to oust the British from Libya and blocked the Tobruk fortress. Then Egypt became the target of the German-Italian offensive. In the summer of 1942, General Rommel, nicknamed the “Desert Fox,” captured Tobruk and broke through with his troops to El Alamein.

The Western powers were faced with a choice. They promised the leadership of the Soviet Union to open a second front in Europe in 1942. In April 1942, F. Roosevelt wrote to W. Churchill: “Your and my people demand the creation of a second front in order to remove the burden from the Russians. Our peoples cannot help but see that the Russians are killing more Germans and destroying more enemy equipment than the United States and England combined.” But these promises were at odds with the political interests of Western countries. Churchill cabled Roosevelt: “Don’t let North Africa out of your sight.” The Allies announced that the opening of a second front in Europe was forced to be postponed until 1943.

In October 1942, British troops under the command of General B. Montgomery launched an offensive in Egypt. They defeated the enemy at El Alamein (about 10 thousand Germans and 20 thousand Italians were captured). Most of Rommel's army retreated to Tunisia. In November, American and British troops (numbering 110 thousand people) under the command of General D. Eisenhower landed in Morocco and Algeria. The German-Italian army group, sandwiched in Tunisia by British and American troops advancing from the east and west, capitulated in the spring of 1943. According to various estimates, from 130 thousand to 252 thousand people were captured (in total, 12-14 people fought in North Africa Italian and German divisions, while over 200 divisions of Germany and its allies fought on the Soviet-German front).

Fighting in the Pacific Ocean. In the summer of 1942, the American naval forces defeated the Japanese in the battle of Midway Island (4 large aircraft carriers, 1 cruiser were sunk, 332 aircraft were destroyed). Later, American units occupied and defended the island of Guadalcanal. The balance of forces in this combat area changed in favor of the Western powers. By the end of 1942, Germany and its allies were forced to suspend the advance of their troops on all fronts.

"New order"

In the Nazi plans to conquer the world, the fate of many peoples and states was predetermined.

Hitler, in his secret notes, which became known after the war, provided for the following: the Soviet Union would “disappear from the face of the earth”, within 30 years its territory would become part of the “Greater German Reich”; after the “final victory of Germany” there will be reconciliation with England, a treaty of friendship will be concluded with it; the Reich will include the countries of Scandinavia, the Iberian Peninsula and other European states; The United States of America will be “permanently excluded from world politics”, it will undergo “complete re-education of the racially inferior population”, and the population “with German blood” will be given military training and “re-education in the national spirit”, after which America will “become a German state” .

Already in 1940, directives and instructions “on the Eastern Question” began to be developed, and a comprehensive program for the conquest of the peoples of Eastern Europe was outlined in the “Ost” master plan (December 1941). The general guidelines were as follows: “The highest goal of all activities carried out in the East should be to strengthen the military potential of the Reich. The task is to remove the largest amount of agricultural products, raw materials, and labor from the new eastern regions,” “the occupied regions will provide everything necessary... even if the consequence of this is the starvation of millions of people.” Part of the population of the occupied territories was to be destroyed on the spot, a significant part was to be resettled in Siberia (it was planned to destroy 5-6 million Jews in the “eastern regions”, evict 46-51 million people, and reduce the remaining 14 million people to the level of a semi-literate labor force, education limited to a four-year school).

In the conquered countries of Europe, the Nazis methodically implemented their plans. In the occupied territories, a “cleansing” of the population was carried out - Jews and communists were exterminated. Prisoners of war and part of the civilian population were sent to concentration camps. A network of more than 30 death camps has engulfed Europe. The terrible memory of millions of tortured people is associated among the war and post-war generations with the names Buchenwald, Dachau, Ravensbrück, Auschwitz, Treblinka, etc. In only two of them - Auschwitz and Majdanek - more than 5.5 million people were exterminated. Those who arrived at the camp underwent “selection” (selection), the weak, primarily the elderly and children, were sent to the gas chambers and then burned in the ovens of the crematoria.

From the testimony of an Auschwitz prisoner, Frenchwoman Vaillant-Couturier, presented at the Nuremberg trials:

“There were eight cremation ovens at Auschwitz. But since 1944 this number has become insufficient. The SS forced the prisoners to dig colossal ditches in which they set fire to brushwood doused with gasoline. The corpses were thrown into these ditches. We saw from our block how, about 45 minutes to an hour after the arrival of the party of prisoners, large flames began to burst out of the crematorium ovens, and a glow appeared in the sky, rising above the ditches. One night we were awakened by a terrible scream, and the next morning we learned from people who worked in the Sonderkommando (the team that serviced the gas chambers) that the day before there was not enough gas and therefore children were thrown into the furnaces of cremation furnaces while still alive.”

At the beginning of 1942, Nazi leaders adopted a directive on the “final solution to the Jewish question,” that is, on the systematic destruction of an entire people. During the war years, 6 million Jews were killed - one in three. This tragedy was called the Holocaust, which translated from Greek means “burnt offering.” The orders of the German command to identify and transport the Jewish population to concentration camps were perceived differently in the occupied countries of Europe. In France, the Vichy police helped the Germans. Even the Pope did not dare to condemn the removal of Jews from Italy by the Germans in 1943 for subsequent extermination. And in Denmark, the population hid Jews from the Nazis and helped 8 thousand people move to neutral Sweden. After the war, an alley was laid out in Jerusalem in honor of the Righteous Among the Nations - people who risked their lives and the lives of their loved ones to save at least one innocent person sentenced to imprisonment and death.

For residents of occupied countries who were not immediately subjected to extermination or deportation, the “new order” meant strict regulation in all spheres of life. The occupation authorities and German industrialists seized a dominant position in the economy with the help of "Aryanization" laws. Small enterprises closed, and large ones switched to military production. Some agricultural areas were subject to Germanization, and their population was forcibly evicted to other areas. Thus, about 450 thousand residents were evicted from the territories of the Czech Republic bordering Germany, and about 280 thousand people from Slovenia. Mandatory supplies of agricultural products were introduced for peasants. Along with control over economic activities, the new authorities pursued a policy of restrictions in the field of education and culture. In many countries, representatives of the intelligentsia - scientists, engineers, teachers, doctors, etc. - were persecuted. In Poland, for example, the Nazis carried out a targeted curtailment of the education system. Classes at universities and high schools were prohibited. (Why do you think, why was this done?) Some teachers, risking their lives, continued to teach students illegally. During the war years, the occupiers killed about 12.5 thousand teachers of higher educational institutions and teachers in Poland.

The authorities of Germany's allied states - Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, as well as the newly proclaimed states - Croatia and Slovakia, also pursued a tough policy towards the population. In Croatia, the Ustasha government (participants of the nationalist movement that came to power in 1941), under the slogan of creating a “purely national state,” encouraged the mass expulsion and extermination of Serbs.

The forced removal of the working population, especially young people, from the occupied countries of Eastern Europe to work in Germany took on a wide scale. General Commissioner “for the use of labor” Sauckel set the task of “completely exhausting all human reserves available in the Soviet regions.” Trains with thousands of young men and women forcibly driven away from their homes reached the Reich. By the end of 1942, German industry and agriculture employed the labor of about 7 million “Eastern workers” and prisoners of war. In 1943, another 2 million people were added to them.

Any insubordination, and especially resistance to the occupation authorities, was mercilessly punished. One of the terrible examples of the Nazis’ reprisal against civilians was the destruction of the Czech village of Lidice in the summer of 1942. It was carried out as an “act of retaliation” for the murder of a major Nazi official, “Protector of Bohemia and Moravia” Heydrich, committed the day before by members of a sabotage group.

The village was surrounded by German soldiers. The entire male population over 16 years of age (172 people) was shot (the residents who were absent that day - 19 people - were captured later and also shot). 195 women were sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp (four pregnant women were taken to maternity hospitals in Prague, after giving birth they were also sent to the camp, and newborn children were killed). 90 children from Lidice were taken from their mothers and sent to Poland, and then to Germany, where their traces were lost. All houses and buildings of the village were burned to the ground. Lidice disappeared from the face of the earth. German cameramen carefully filmed the entire “operation” - “for the edification” of contemporaries and descendants.

Turning point in the war

By mid-1942, it became obvious that Germany and its allies had failed to carry out their original war plans on any front. In subsequent military actions it was necessary to decide which side would have the advantage. The outcome of the entire war depended mainly on events in Europe, on the Soviet-German front. In the summer of 1942, the German armies launched a major offensive in the southern direction, approached Stalingrad and reached the foothills of the Caucasus.

Battles for Stalingrad lasted more than 3 months. The city was defended by the 62nd and 64th armies under the command of V.I. Chuikov and M.S. Shumilov. Hitler, who had no doubt about victory, declared: “Stalingrad is already in our hands.” But the counteroffensive of Soviet troops that began on November 19, 1942 (front commanders N.F. Vatutin, K.K. Rokossovsky, A.I. Eremenko) ended in the encirclement of German armies (numbering over 300 thousand people), their subsequent defeat and capture , including commander Field Marshal F. Paulus.

During the Soviet offensive, the losses of the armies of Germany and its allies amounted to 800 thousand people. In total, in the Battle of Stalingrad they lost up to 1.5 million soldiers and officers - approximately a quarter of the forces then operating on the Soviet-German front.

Battle of Kursk. In the summer of 1943, an attempt by a German attack on Kursk from the Orel and Belgorod areas ended in a crushing defeat. On the German side, over 50 divisions (including 16 tank and motorized) took part in the operation. A special role was given to powerful artillery and tank strikes. On July 12, the largest tank battle of World War II took place on a field near the village of Prokhorovka, in which about 1,200 tanks and self-propelled artillery units collided. At the beginning of August, Soviet troops liberated Oryol and Belgorod. 30 enemy divisions were defeated. The losses of the German army in this battle amounted to 500 thousand soldiers and officers, 1.5 thousand tanks. After the Battle of Kursk, the offensive of Soviet troops unfolded along the entire front. In the summer and autumn of 1943, Smolensk, Gomel, Left Bank Ukraine and Kyiv were liberated. The strategic initiative on the Soviet-German front passed to the Red Army.

In the summer of 1943, the Western powers began fighting in Europe. But they did not open, as expected, a second front against Germany, but struck in the south, against Italy. In July, British and American troops landed on the island of Sicily. Soon a coup d'état took place in Italy. Representatives of the army elite removed Mussolini from power and arrested him. A new government was created headed by Marshal P. Badoglio. On September 3, it concluded an armistice agreement with the British-American command. On September 8, the surrender of Italy was announced, and troops of Western powers landed in the south of the country. In response, 10 German divisions entered Italy from the north and captured Rome. On the newly formed Italian front, British-American troops with difficulty, slowly, but still pushed back the enemy (in the summer of 1944 they occupied Rome).

The turning point in the course of the war immediately affected the positions of other countries - allies of Germany. After the Battle of Stalingrad, representatives of Romania and Hungary began to explore the possibility of concluding a separate peace with the Western powers. The Francoist government of Spain issued statements of neutrality.

On November 28 - December 1, 1943, a meeting of the leaders of the three countries took place in Tehran- members of the anti-Hitler coalition: USSR, USA and Great Britain. I. Stalin, F. Roosevelt and W. Churchill discussed mainly the question of the second front, as well as some questions of the structure of the post-war world. US and British leaders promised to open a second front in Europe in May 1944, launching the landing of Allied troops in France.

Resistance movement

Since the establishment of the Nazi regime in Germany, and then the occupation regimes in European countries, the Resistance movement to the “new order” began. It was attended by people of different beliefs and political affiliations: communists, social democrats, supporters of bourgeois parties and non-party people. German anti-fascists were among the first to join the fight in the pre-war years. Thus, at the end of the 1930s, an underground anti-Nazi group arose in Germany, led by H. Schulze-Boysen and A. Harnack. In the early 1940s, it was already a strong organization with an extensive network of secret groups (in total, up to 600 people participated in its work). The underground carried out propaganda and intelligence work, maintaining contact with Soviet intelligence. In the summer of 1942, the Gestapo discovered the organization. The scale of its activities amazed the investigators themselves, who called this group the “Red Chapel.” After interrogation and torture, the leaders and many members of the group were sentenced to death. In his last word at the trial, H. Schulze-Boysen said: “Today you judge us, but tomorrow we will be the judges.”

In a number of European countries, immediately after their occupation, an armed struggle began against the invaders. In Yugoslavia, the communists became the initiators of nationwide resistance to the enemy. Already in the summer of 1941, they created the Main Headquarters of the people's liberation partisan detachments (it was headed by I. Broz Tito) and decided on an armed uprising. By the fall of 1941, partisan detachments numbering up to 70 thousand people were operating in Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1942, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (PLJA) was created, and by the end of the year it practically controlled a fifth of the country's territory. In the same year, representatives of organizations participating in the Resistance formed the Anti-Fascist Assembly of People's Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ). In November 1943, the veche proclaimed itself the temporary supreme body of legislative and executive power. By this time, half of the country’s territory was already under his control. A declaration was adopted that defined the foundations of the new Yugoslav state. National committees were created in the liberated territory, and the confiscation of enterprises and lands of fascists and collaborators (people who collaborated with the occupiers) began.

The Resistance movement in Poland consisted of many groups with different political orientations. In February 1942, part of the underground armed forces united into the Home Army (AK), led by representatives of the Polish émigré government, which was located in London. “Peasant battalions” were created in the villages. Detachments of the Army of the People (AL) organized by the communists began to operate.

Guerrilla groups carried out sabotage on transport (over 1,200 military trains were blown up and about the same number set on fire), at military enterprises, and attacked police and gendarmerie stations. The underground members produced leaflets telling about the situation at the fronts and warning the population about the actions of the occupation authorities. In 1943-1944. partisan groups began to unite into large detachments that successfully fought against significant enemy forces, and as the Soviet-German front approached Poland, they interacted with Soviet partisan detachments and army units and carried out joint combat operations.

The defeat of the armies of Germany and its allies at Stalingrad had a particular impact on the mood of people in the warring and occupied countries. The German security service reported on the “state of mind” in the Reich: “The belief has become universal that Stalingrad marks a turning point in the war... Unstable citizens see Stalingrad as the beginning of the end.”

In Germany, in January 1943, total (general) mobilization into the army was announced. The working day increased to 12 hours. But simultaneously with the desire of the Hitler regime to gather the forces of the nation into an “iron fist,” rejection of his policies grew among different groups of the population. Thus, one of the youth circles issued a leaflet with the appeal: “Students! Students! The German people are looking at us! They expect us to be liberated from Nazi terror... Those who died at Stalingrad call on us: rise up, people, the flames are burning!”

After the turning point in the fighting on the fronts, the number of underground groups and armed detachments fighting against the invaders and their accomplices in the occupied countries increased significantly. In France, the Maquis became more active - partisans who carried out sabotage on railways, attacked German posts, warehouses, etc.

One of the leaders of the French Resistance movement, Charles de Gaulle, wrote in his memoirs:

“Until the end of 1942, there were few Maquis detachments and their actions were not particularly effective. But then hope increased, and with it the number of those who wanted to fight increased. In addition, compulsory “labor conscription,” which in a few months mobilized half a million young men, mostly workers, for use in Germany, and the dissolution of the “armistice army,” prompted many dissenters to go underground. The number of more or less significant Resistance groups increased, and they waged a guerrilla war, which played a primary role in wearing out the enemy, and later in the ensuing Battle of France.”

Figures and facts

Number of participants in the Resistance movement (1944):

• France - over 400 thousand people;
• Italy - 500 thousand people;
• Yugoslavia - 600 thousand people;
• Greece - 75 thousand people.

By mid-1944, leading bodies of the Resistance movement had formed in many countries, uniting different movements and groups - from communists to Catholics. For example, in France, the National Council of the Resistance included representatives of 16 organizations. The most determined and active participants in the Resistance were the communists. For the sacrifices made in the fight against the occupiers, they were called the “party of those executed.” In Italy, communists, socialists, Christian Democrats, liberals, members of the Action Party and the Democracy of Labor party participated in the work of national liberation committees.

All participants in the Resistance sought first of all to liberate their countries from occupation and fascism. But on the question of what kind of power should be established after this, the views of representatives of individual movements differed. Some advocated the restoration of pre-war regimes. Others, primarily the communists, sought to establish a new, “people's democratic power.”

Liberation of Europe

The beginning of 1944 was marked by major offensive operations by Soviet troops on the southern and northern sectors of the Soviet-German front. Ukraine and Crimea were liberated, and the 900-day blockade of Leningrad was lifted. In the spring of this year, Soviet troops reached the state border of the USSR for more than 400 km, approaching the borders of Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Romania. Continuing the defeat of the enemy, they began to liberate the countries of Eastern Europe. Next to the Soviet soldiers, units of the 1st Czechoslovak Brigade under the command of L. Svoboda and the 1st Polish Division, formed during the war on the territory of the USSR, fought for the freedom of their peoples. T. Kosciuszko under the command of Z. Berling.

At this time, the Allies finally opened a second front in Western Europe. On June 6, 1944, American and British troops landed in Normandy, on the northern coast of France.

The bridgehead between the cities of Cherbourg and Caen was occupied by 40 divisions with a total number of up to 1.5 million people. The Allied forces were commanded by American General D. Eisenhower. Two and a half months after the landing, the Allies began advancing deeper into French territory. They were opposed by about 60 understrength German divisions. At the same time, resistance units launched an open struggle against the German army in the occupied territory. On August 19, an uprising began in Paris against the troops of the German garrison. General de Gaulle, who arrived in France with the Allied troops (by that time he had been proclaimed head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic), fearing the “anarchy” of the mass liberation struggle, insisted that Leclerc’s French tank division be sent to Paris. On August 25, 1944, this division entered Paris, which by that time had been practically liberated by the rebels.

Having liberated France and Belgium, where in a number of provinces the Resistance forces also launched armed actions against the occupiers, the Allied troops reached the German border by September 11, 1944.

At that time, a frontal offensive by the Red Army was taking place on the Soviet-German front, as a result of which the countries of Eastern and Central Europe were liberated.

Dates and events

Fighting in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe in 1944-1945.

1944

• July 17 - Soviet troops crossed the border with Poland; Chelm, Lublin liberated; In the liberated territory, the power of the new government, the Polish Committee of National Liberation, began to assert itself.
• August 1 - the beginning of the uprising against the occupiers in Warsaw; this action, prepared and led by the émigré government located in London, was defeated by the beginning of October, despite the heroism of its participants; By order of the German command, the population was expelled from Warsaw, and the city itself was destroyed.
• August 23 - the overthrow of the Antonescu regime in Romania, a week later Soviet troops entered Bucharest.
• August 29 - the beginning of the uprising against the occupiers and the reactionary regime in Slovakia.
• September 8 - Soviet troops entered Bulgarian territory.
• September 9 - anti-fascist uprising in Bulgaria, the government of the Fatherland Front comes to power.
• October 6 - Soviet troops and units of the Czechoslovak Corps entered the territory of Czechoslovakia.
• October 20 - troops of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia and the Red Army liberated Belgrade.
• October 22 - Red Army units crossed the Norwegian border and occupied the port of Kirkenes on October 25.

1945

• January 17 - troops of the Red Army and the Polish Army liberated Warsaw.
• January 29 - Soviet troops crossed the German border in the Poznan region. February 13 - Red Army troops captured Budapest.
• April 13 - Soviet troops entered Vienna.
• April 16 - The Berlin operation of the Red Army began.
• April 18 - American units entered the territory of Czechoslovakia.
• April 25 - Soviet and American troops met on the Elbe River near the city of Torgau.

Many thousands of Soviet soldiers gave their lives for the liberation of European countries. In Romania, 69 thousand soldiers and officers died, in Poland - about 600 thousand, in Czechoslovakia - more than 140 thousand and about the same in Hungary. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers died in other, including opposing, armies. They fought on opposite sides of the front, but were similar in one thing: no one wanted to die, especially in the last months and days of the war.

During the liberation in the countries of Eastern Europe, the issue of power acquired paramount importance. The pre-war governments of a number of countries were in exile and now sought to return to leadership. But new governments and local authorities appeared in the liberated territories. They were created on the basis of the organizations of the National (People's) Front, which arose during the war years as an association of anti-fascist forces. The organizers and most active participants of the national fronts were communists and social democrats. The programs of the new governments provided not only for the elimination of occupation and reactionary, pro-fascist regimes, but also for broad democratic reforms in political life and socio-economic relations.

Defeat of Germany

In the fall of 1944, troops of the Western powers - participants in the anti-Hitler coalition - approached the borders of Germany. In December of this year, the German command launched a counteroffensive in the Ardennes (Belgium). American and British troops found themselves in a difficult position. D. Eisenhower and W. Churchill turned to I.V. Stalin with a request to speed up the offensive of the Red Army in order to divert German forces from west to east. By Stalin's decision, the offensive along the entire front was launched on January 12, 1945 (8 days earlier than planned). W. Churchill subsequently wrote: “It was a wonderful feat on the part of the Russians to speed up a broad offensive, undoubtedly at the cost of human lives.” On January 29, Soviet troops entered the territory of the German Reich.

On February 4-11, 1945, a conference of the heads of government of the USSR, USA and Great Britain took place in Yalta. I. Stalin, F. Roosevelt and W. Churchill agreed on plans for military operations against Germany and post-war policy towards it: zones and conditions of occupation, actions to destroy the fascist regime, the procedure for collecting reparations, etc. An accession agreement was also signed at the conference The USSR entered the war against Japan 2-3 months after the surrender of Germany.

From the documents of the conference of the leaders of the USSR, Great Britain and the USA in Crimea (Yalta, February 4-11, 1945):

“...Our unyielding goal is the destruction of German militarism and Nazism and the creation of guarantees that Germany will never again be able to disturb the peace of the world. We are determined to disarm and disband all German armed forces, to destroy once and for all the German General Staff, which has repeatedly contributed to the revival of German militarism, to confiscate or destroy all German military equipment, to liquidate or take control of all German industry that could be used for military purposes. production; subject all war criminals to fair and speedy punishment and exact compensation in kind for the destruction caused by the Germans; wipe out the Nazi Party, Nazi laws, organizations and institutions from the face of the earth; to remove all Nazi and militaristic influence from public institutions, from the cultural and economic life of the German people, and to take together such other measures in Germany as may prove necessary for the future peace and security of the whole world. Our goals do not include the destruction of the German people. Only when Nazism and militarism are eradicated will there be hope for a dignified existence for the German people and a place for them in the community of nations.”

By mid-April 1945, Soviet troops approached the capital of the Reich, and on April 16 the Berlin operation began (front commanders G.K. Zhukov, I.S. Konev, K.K. Rokossovsky). It was distinguished by both the offensive power of the Soviet units and the fierce resistance of the defenders. On April 21, Soviet units entered the city. On April 30, A. Hitler committed suicide in his bunker. The next day, the Red Banner fluttered over the Reichstag building. On May 2, the remnants of the Berlin garrison capitulated.

During the battle for Berlin, the German command issued the order: “Defend the capital to the last man and to the last cartridge.” Teenagers - members of the Hitler Youth - were mobilized into the army. The photo shows one of these soldiers, the last defenders of the Reich, who was captured.

On May 7, 1945, General A. Jodl signed an act of unconditional surrender of German troops at the headquarters of General D. Eisenhower in Reims. Stalin considered such a unilateral capitulation to the Western powers insufficient. In his opinion, surrender had to take place in Berlin and before the high command of all countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. On the night of May 8-9, in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, Field Marshal W. Keitel, in the presence of representatives of the high command of the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France, signed the act of unconditional surrender of Germany.

The last European capital to be liberated was Prague. On May 5, an uprising against the occupiers began in the city. A large group of German troops under the command of Field Marshal F. Scherner, who refused to lay down their arms and broke through to the west, threatened to capture and destroy the capital of Czechoslovakia. In response to the rebels' request for help, units of three Soviet fronts were hastily transferred to Prague. On May 9 they entered Prague. As a result of the Prague operation, about 860 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were captured.

On July 17 - August 2, 1945, a conference of the heads of government of the USSR, USA and Great Britain took place in Potsdam (near Berlin). Those who took part in it were I. Stalin, G. Truman (US President after F. Roosevelt, who died in April 1945), and C. Attlee (who replaced W. Churchill as British Prime Minister) discussed “the principles of the coordinated policy of the allies towards the defeated Germany." A program of democratization, denazification, and demilitarization of Germany was adopted. The total amount of reparations it had to pay was confirmed as $20 billion. Half was intended for the Soviet Union (it was later calculated that the damage inflicted by the Nazis on the Soviet country amounted to about $128 billion). Germany was divided into four occupation zones - Soviet, American, British and French. Liberated by Soviet troops, Berlin and the capital of Austria, Vienna, were placed under the control of the four Allied powers.

At the Potsdam Conference. In the first row from left to right: K. Attlee, G. Truman, I. Stalin

Provision was made for the establishment of an International Military Tribunal to try Nazi war criminals. The border between Germany and Poland was established along the Oder and Neisse rivers. East Prussia went to Poland and partially (the region of Königsberg, now Kaliningrad) to the USSR.

End of the war

In 1944, at a time when the armies of the anti-Hitler coalition countries were conducting a widespread offensive against Germany and its allies in Europe, Japan intensified its actions in Southeast Asia. Its troops launched a massive offensive in China, capturing a territory with a population of over 100 million people by the end of the year.

The strength of the Japanese army at that time reached 5 million people. Its units fought with particular tenacity and fanaticism, defending their positions to the last soldier. In the army and aviation, there were kamikazes - suicide bombers who sacrificed their lives by directing specially equipped aircraft or torpedoes at enemy military targets, blowing themselves up along with enemy soldiers. The American military believed that it would be possible to defeat Japan no earlier than 1947, with losses amounting to at least 1 million people. The participation of the Soviet Union in the war against Japan could, in their opinion, significantly facilitate the achievement of the assigned tasks.

In accordance with the commitment given at the Crimean (Yalta) Conference, the USSR declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945. But the Americans did not want to give up the leading role in the future victory to the Soviet troops, especially since by the summer of 1945 atomic weapons had been created in the United States. On August 6 and 9, 1945, American planes dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Testimony of historians:

“On August 6, a B-29 bomber appeared over Hiroshima. The alarm was not announced, since the appearance of one plane did not seem to pose a serious threat. At 8.15 am the atomic bomb was dropped by parachute. A few moments later, a blinding fireball broke out over the city, the temperature at the epicenter of the explosion reached several million degrees. Fires in the city, built up with light wooden houses, covered an area within a radius of more than 4 km. Japanese authors write: “Hundreds of thousands of people who became victims of atomic explosions died an unusual death - they died after terrible torture. The radiation even penetrated into the bone marrow. People without the slightest scratch, seemingly completely healthy, after a few days or weeks, or even months, their hair suddenly fell out, their gums began to bleed, diarrhea appeared, the skin became covered with dark spots, hemoptysis began, and they died in full consciousness.”

(From the book: Rozanov G. L., Yakovlev N. N. Recent history. 1917-1945)

Hiroshima. 1945

As a result of nuclear explosions in Hiroshima, 247 thousand people died, in Nagasaki there were up to 200 thousand killed and wounded. Later, many thousands of people died from wounds, burns, and radiation sickness, the number of which has not yet been accurately calculated. But politicians didn't think about it. And the cities that were bombed did not constitute important military installations. Those who used the bombs mainly wanted to demonstrate their strength. US President Henry Truman, upon learning that a bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima, exclaimed: “This is the greatest event in history!”

On August 9, troops of three Soviet fronts (over 1 million 700 thousand personnel) and parts of the Mongolian army began an offensive in Manchuria and on the coast of North Korea. A few days later they went 150-200 km into enemy territory in some areas. The Japanese Kwantung Army (numbering about 1 million people) was under threat of defeat. On August 14, the Japanese government announced its agreement with the proposed terms of surrender. But Japanese troops did not stop resisting. Only after August 17 did units of the Kwantung Army begin to lay down their arms.

On September 2, 1945, representatives of the Japanese government signed an act of unconditional surrender of Japan on board the American battleship Missouri.

The Second World War is over. 72 states with a total population of over 1.7 billion people took part in it. The fighting took place on the territory of 40 countries. 110 million people were mobilized into the armed forces. According to updated estimates, up to 62 million people died in the war, including about 27 million Soviet citizens. Thousands of cities and villages were destroyed, innumerable material and cultural values ​​were destroyed. Humanity paid a huge price for the victory over the invaders who sought world domination.

The war, in which atomic weapons were used for the first time, showed that armed conflicts in the modern world threaten to destroy not only an increasing number of people, but also humanity as a whole, all life on earth. The hardships and losses of the war years, as well as examples of human self-sacrifice and heroism, left a memory of themselves in several generations of people. The international and socio-political consequences of the war turned out to be significant.

References:
Aleksashkina L.N. / General History. XX - early XXI centuries.

World War II 1939-1945

a war prepared by the forces of international imperialist reaction and unleashed by the main aggressive states - fascist Germany, fascist Italy and militaristic Japan. World capitalism, like the first, arose due to the law of uneven development of capitalist countries under imperialism and was the result of a sharp aggravation of inter-imperialist contradictions, the struggle for markets, sources of raw materials, spheres of influence and investment of capital. The war began in conditions when capitalism was no longer a comprehensive system, when the world's first socialist state, the USSR, existed and grew stronger. The split of the world into two systems led to the emergence of the main contradiction of the era - between socialism and capitalism. Inter-imperialist contradictions have ceased to be the only factor in world politics. They developed in parallel and in interaction with the contradictions between the two systems. Warring capitalist groups, fighting each other, simultaneously sought to destroy the USSR. However, V. m.v. began as a clash between two coalitions of major capitalist powers. It was imperialist in origin, its culprits were the imperialists of all countries, the system of modern capitalism. Hitler's Germany, which led the bloc of fascist aggressors, bears special responsibility for its emergence. On the part of the states of the fascist bloc, the war bore an imperialist character throughout its entire duration. On the part of the states that fought against the fascist aggressors and their allies, the nature of the war gradually changed. Under the influence of the national liberation struggle of peoples, the process of transforming the war into a just, anti-fascist war was underway. The entry of the Soviet Union into the war against the states of the fascist bloc that treacherously attacked it completed this process.

Preparation and outbreak of war. The forces that unleashed military warfare prepared strategic and political positions favorable to the aggressors long before it began. In the 30s Two main centers of military danger have emerged in the world: Germany in Europe, Japan in the Far East. The strengthening of German imperialism, under the pretext of eliminating the injustices of the Versailles system, began to demand the redivision of the world in its favor. The establishment of a terrorist fascist dictatorship in Germany in 1933, which fulfilled the demands of the most reactionary and chauvinistic circles of monopoly capital, turned this country into a striking force of imperialism, directed primarily against the USSR. However, the plans of German fascism were not limited to the enslavement of the peoples of the Soviet Union. The fascist program for gaining world domination provided for the transformation of Germany into the center of a gigantic colonial empire, the power and influence of which would extend to all of Europe and the richest regions of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the mass destruction of the population in the conquered countries, especially in the countries of Eastern Europe. The fascist elite planned to begin the implementation of this program from the countries of Central Europe, then spreading it to the entire continent. The defeat and capture of the Soviet Union with the aim, first of all, of destroying the center of the international communist and labor movement, as well as expanding the “living space” of German imperialism, was the most important political task of fascism and at the same time the main prerequisite for the further successful deployment of aggression on a global scale. The imperialists of Italy and Japan also sought to redistribute the world and establish a “new order”. Thus, the plans of the Nazis and their allies posed a serious threat not only to the USSR, but also to Great Britain, France, and the USA. However, the ruling circles of the Western powers, driven by a feeling of class hatred towards the Soviet state, under the guise of “non-interference” and “neutrality”, essentially pursued a policy of complicity with the fascist aggressors, hoping to avert the threat of fascist invasion from their countries, to weaken their imperialist rivals with the forces of the Soviet Union, and then with their help, destroy the USSR. They relied on the mutual exhaustion of the USSR and Nazi Germany in a protracted and destructive war.

The French ruling elite, pushing Hitler's aggression to the East in the pre-war years and fighting against the communist movement within the country, at the same time feared a new German invasion, sought a close military alliance with Great Britain, strengthened the eastern borders by building the “Maginot Line” and deploying armed forces against Germany. The British government sought to strengthen the British colonial empire and sent troops and naval forces to its key areas (Middle East, Singapore, India). Pursuing a policy of aiding the aggressors in Europe, the government of N. Chamberlain, right up to the start of the war and in its first months, hoped for an agreement with Hitler at the expense of the USSR. In the event of aggression against France, it hoped that the French armed forces, repelling the aggression together with the British expeditionary forces and British aviation units, would ensure the security of the British Isles. Before the war, the US ruling circles supported Germany economically and thereby contributed to the reconstruction of German military potential. With the outbreak of the war, they were forced to slightly change their political course and, as fascist aggression expanded, switch to supporting Great Britain and France.

The Soviet Union, in an environment of increasing military danger, pursued a policy aimed at curbing the aggressor and creating a reliable system for ensuring peace. On May 2, 1935, a Franco-Soviet treaty on mutual assistance was signed in Paris. On May 16, 1935, the Soviet Union concluded a mutual assistance agreement with Czechoslovakia. The Soviet government fought to create a collective security system that could be an effective means of preventing war and ensuring peace. At the same time, the Soviet state carried out a set of measures aimed at strengthening the country’s defense and developing its military-economic potential.

In the 30s Hitler's government launched diplomatic, strategic and economic preparations for world war. In October 1933, Germany left the Geneva Disarmament Conference of 1932-35 (See Geneva Disarmament Conference of 1932-35) and announced its withdrawal from the League of Nations. On March 16, 1935, Hitler violated the military articles of the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919 (See Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919) and introduced universal conscription in the country. In March 1936, German troops occupied the demilitarized Rhineland. In November 1936, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, which Italy joined in 1937. The activation of the aggressive forces of imperialism led to a number of international political crises and local wars. As a result of the aggressive wars of Japan against China (began in 1931), Italy against Ethiopia (1935-36), and the German-Italian intervention in Spain (1936-39), fascist states strengthened their positions in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Using the policy of “non-intervention” pursued by Great Britain and France, Nazi Germany captured Austria in March 1938 and began preparing an attack on Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia had a well-trained army, based on a powerful system of border fortifications; Treaties with France (1924) and the USSR (1935) provided for military assistance from these powers to Czechoslovakia. The Soviet Union has repeatedly stated its readiness to fulfill its obligations and provide military assistance to Czechoslovakia, even if France does not. However, the government of E. Benes did not accept help from the USSR. As a result of the Munich Agreement of 1938 (See Munich Agreement of 1938), the ruling circles of Great Britain and France, supported by the United States, betrayed Czechoslovakia and agreed to the seizure of the Sudetenland by Germany, hoping in this way to open the “path to the East” for Nazi Germany. The fascist leadership had a free hand for aggression.

At the end of 1938, the ruling circles of Nazi Germany began a diplomatic offensive against Poland, creating the so-called Danzig crisis, the meaning of which was to carry out aggression against Poland under the guise of demands for the elimination of the “injustices of Versailles” against the free city of Danzig. In March 1939, Germany completely occupied Czechoslovakia, created a fascist puppet “state” - Slovakia, seized the Memel region from Lithuania and imposed an enslaving “economic” agreement on Romania. Italy occupied Albania in April 1939. In response to the expansion of fascist aggression, the governments of Great Britain and France, in order to protect their economic and political interests in Europe, provided “guarantees of independence” to Poland, Romania, Greece and Turkey. France also pledged military assistance to Poland in the event of an attack by Germany. In April - May 1939, Germany denounced the Anglo-German naval agreement of 1935, broke the non-aggression agreement concluded in 1934 with Poland and concluded the so-called Pact of Steel with Italy, according to which the Italian government pledged to help Germany if it went to war with the Western powers.

In such a situation, the British and French governments, under the influence of public opinion, out of fear of the further strengthening of Germany and in order to put pressure on it, entered into negotiations with the USSR, which took place in Moscow in the summer of 1939 (see Moscow negotiations 1939). However, the Western powers did not agree to conclude the agreement proposed by the USSR on a joint struggle against the aggressor. By inviting the Soviet Union to make unilateral commitments to help any European neighbor in the event of an attack on it, the Western powers wanted to drag the USSR into a one-on-one war against Germany. The negotiations, which lasted until mid-August 1939, did not produce results due to sabotage by Paris and London of Soviet constructive proposals. Leading the Moscow negotiations to a breakdown, the British government at the same time entered into secret contacts with the Nazis through their ambassador in London G. Dirksen, trying to achieve an agreement on the redistribution of the world at the expense of the USSR. The position of the Western powers predetermined the breakdown of the Moscow negotiations and presented the Soviet Union with an alternative: to find itself isolated in the face of a direct threat of attack by Nazi Germany or, having exhausted the possibilities of concluding an alliance with Great Britain and France, to sign the non-aggression pact proposed by Germany and thereby push back the threat of war. The situation made the second choice inevitable. The Soviet-German treaty concluded on August 23, 1939 contributed to the fact that, contrary to the calculations of Western politicians, the world war began with a clash within the capitalist world.

On the eve of V. m.v. German fascism, through the accelerated development of the military economy, created a powerful military potential. In 1933-39, expenditures on armaments increased more than 12 times and reached 37 billion marks. Germany smelted 22.5 million in 1939. T steel, 17.5 million T pig iron, mined 251.6 million. T coal, produced 66.0 billion. kW · h electricity. However, for a number of types of strategic raw materials, Germany depended on imports (iron ore, rubber, manganese ore, copper, oil and petroleum products, chrome ore). The number of armed forces of Nazi Germany by September 1, 1939 reached 4.6 million people. There were 26 thousand guns and mortars, 3.2 thousand tanks, 4.4 thousand combat aircraft, 115 warships (including 57 submarines) in service.

The strategy of the German High Command was based on the doctrine of “total war.” Its main content was the concept of “blitzkrieg”, according to which victory should be achieved in the shortest possible time, before the enemy fully deploys his armed forces and military-economic potential. The strategic plan of the fascist German command was to, using limited forces in the west as cover, attack Poland and quickly defeat its armed forces. 61 divisions and 2 brigades were deployed against Poland (including 7 tank and about 9 motorized), of which 7 infantry and 1 tank divisions arrived after the start of the war, a total of 1.8 million people, over 11 thousand guns and mortars, 2.8 thousand tanks, about 2 thousand aircraft; against France - 35 infantry divisions (after September 3, 9 more divisions arrived), 1.5 thousand aircraft.

The Polish command, counting on military assistance guaranteed by Great Britain and France, intended to conduct defense in the border zone and go on the offensive after the French army and British aviation actively distracted German forces from the Polish front. By September 1, Poland had managed to mobilize and concentrate troops only 70%: 24 infantry divisions, 3 mountain brigades, 1 armored brigade, 8 cavalry brigades and 56 national defense battalions were deployed. The Polish armed forces had over 4 thousand guns and mortars, 785 light tanks and tankettes and about 400 aircraft.

The French plan for waging war against Germany, in accordance with the political course pursued by France and the military doctrine of the French command, provided for defense on the Maginot Line and the entry of troops into Belgium and the Netherlands to continue the defensive front to the north in order to protect the ports and industrial areas of France and Belgium. After mobilization, the armed forces of France numbered 110 divisions (15 of them in the colonies), a total of 2.67 million people, about 2.7 thousand tanks (in the metropolis - 2.4 thousand), over 26 thousand guns and mortars, 2330 aircraft (in the metropolis - 1735), 176 warships (including 77 submarines).

Great Britain had a strong Navy and Air Force - 320 warships of the main classes (including 69 submarines), about 2 thousand aircraft. Its ground forces consisted of 9 personnel and 17 territorial divisions; they had 5.6 thousand guns and mortars, 547 tanks. The strength of the British army was 1.27 million people. In the event of war with Germany, the British command planned to concentrate its main efforts at sea and send 10 divisions to France. The British and French commands did not intend to provide serious assistance to Poland.

1st period of the war (September 1, 1939 - June 21, 1941)- the period of military successes of Nazi Germany. On September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland (see Polish campaign of 1939). On September 3, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany. Having an overwhelming superiority of forces over the Polish army and concentrating a mass of tanks and aircraft on the main sectors of the front, the Nazi command was able to achieve major operational results from the beginning of the war. The incomplete deployment of forces, the lack of assistance from the allies, the weakness of the centralized leadership and its subsequent collapse put the Polish army before a disaster.

The courageous resistance of Polish troops near Mokra, Mlawa, on Bzura, the defense of Modlin, Westerplatte and the heroic 20-day defense of Warsaw (September 8-28) wrote bright pages in the history of the German-Polish war, but could not prevent the defeat of Poland. Hitler's troops surrounded a number of Polish army groups west of the Vistula, transferred military operations to the eastern regions of the country and completed its occupation in early October.

On September 17, by order of the Soviet government, Red Army troops crossed the border of the collapsed Polish state and began a liberation campaign into Western Belarus and Western Ukraine in order to protect the lives and property of the Ukrainian and Belarusian population, who were seeking reunification with the Soviet republics. The campaign to the West was also necessary to stop the spread of Hitler's aggression to the east. The Soviet government, confident in the inevitability of German aggression against the USSR in the near future, sought to delay the starting point of the future deployment of troops of a potential enemy, which was in the interests of not only the Soviet Union, but also all peoples threatened by fascist aggression. After the Red Army liberated the Western Belarusian and Western Ukrainian lands, Western Ukraine (November 1, 1939) and Western Belarus (November 2, 1939) were reunited with the Ukrainian SSR and the BSSR, respectively.

At the end of September - beginning of October 1939, Soviet-Estonian, Soviet-Latvian and Soviet-Lithuanian mutual assistance agreements were signed, which prevented the seizure of the Baltic countries by Nazi Germany and their transformation into a military springboard against the USSR. In August 1940, after the overthrow of the bourgeois governments of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, these countries, in accordance with the wishes of their peoples, were accepted into the USSR.

As a result of the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-40 (See Soviet-Finnish War of 1939), according to the agreement of March 12, 1940, the USSR border on the Karelian Isthmus, in the area of ​​Leningrad and the Murmansk Railway, was somewhat pushed to the north-west. On June 26, 1940, the Soviet government proposed that Romania return Bessarabia, captured by Romania in 1918, to the USSR and transfer the northern part of Bukovina, inhabited by Ukrainians, to the USSR. On June 28, the Romanian government agreed to the return of Bessarabia and the transfer of Northern Bukovina.

The governments of Great Britain and France after the outbreak of the war until May 1940 continued, only in a slightly modified form, the pre-war foreign policy course, which was based on calculations for reconciliation with fascist Germany on the basis of anti-communism and the direction of its aggression against the USSR. Despite the declaration of war, the French armed forces and the British Expeditionary Forces (which began arriving in France in mid-September) remained inactive for 9 months. During this period, called the “Phantom War,” Hitler’s army prepared for an offensive against the countries of Western Europe. Since the end of September 1939, active military operations were carried out only on sea communications. To blockade Great Britain, the Nazi command used naval forces, especially submarines and large ships (raiders). From September to December 1939, Great Britain lost 114 ships from attacks by German submarines, and in 1940 - 471 ships, while the Germans lost only 9 submarines in 1939. Attacks on Great Britain's sea communications led to the loss of 1/3 of the tonnage of the British merchant fleet by the summer of 1941 and created a serious threat to the country's economy.

In April–May 1940, German armed forces captured Norway and Denmark (see Norwegian Operation of 1940) with the aim of strengthening German positions in the Atlantic and Northern Europe, seizing iron ore wealth, bringing the bases of the German fleet closer to Great Britain, and providing a springboard in the north for an attack on the USSR. . On April 9, 1940, amphibious assault forces landed simultaneously and captured the key ports of Norway along its entire 1800-long coastline. km, and airborne assaults occupied the main airfields. The courageous resistance of the Norwegian army (which was late in deployment) and the patriots delayed the onslaught of the Nazis. Attempts by the Anglo-French troops to dislodge the Germans from the points they occupied led to a series of battles in the areas of Narvik, Namsus, Molle (Molde), and others. British troops recaptured Narvik from the Germans. But they failed to wrest the strategic initiative from the Nazis. At the beginning of June they were evacuated from Narvik. The occupation of Norway was made easier for the Nazis by the actions of the Norwegian “fifth column” led by V. Quisling. The country turned into Hitler's base in northern Europe. But significant losses of the Nazi fleet during the Norwegian operation weakened its capabilities in the further struggle for the Atlantic.

At dawn on May 10, 1940, after careful preparation, Nazi troops (135 divisions, including 10 tank and 6 motorized, and 1 brigade, 2,580 tanks, 3,834 aircraft) invaded Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and then through their territories and into France (see French campaign 1940). The Germans delivered the main blow with a mass of mobile formations and aircraft through the Ardennes Mountains, bypassing the Maginot Line from the north, through northern France to the English Channel coast. The French command, adhering to a defensive doctrine, stationed large forces on the Maginot Line and did not create a strategic reserve in the depths. After the start of the German offensive, it brought the main group of troops, including the British Expeditionary Army, into Belgium, exposing these forces to attack from the rear. These serious mistakes of the French command, aggravated by poor interaction between the Allied armies, allowed Hitler's troops after crossing the river. Meuse and battles in central Belgium to carry out a breakthrough through northern France, cut the front of the Anglo-French troops, go to the rear of the Anglo-French group operating in Belgium, and break through to the English Channel. On May 14, the Netherlands capitulated. The Belgian, British and part of the French armies were surrounded in Flanders. Belgium capitulated on May 28. The British and part of the French troops, surrounded in the Dunkirk area, managed, having lost all their military equipment, to evacuate to Great Britain (see Dunkirk operation 1940).

At the 2nd stage of the summer campaign of 1940, Hitler’s army, with much superior forces, broke through the front hastily created by the French along the river. Somme and En. The danger looming over France required the unity of the people's forces. French communists called for nationwide resistance and organization of the defense of Paris. The capitulators and traitors (P. Reynaud, C. Pétain, P. Laval and others) who determined the policy of France, the high command led by M. Weygand rejected this only way to save the country, as they feared revolutionary actions of the proletariat and the strengthening of the Communist Party. They decided to surrender Paris without a fight and capitulate to Hitler. Having not exhausted the possibilities of resistance, the French armed forces laid down their arms. The Compiègne Armistice of 1940 (signed on June 22) became a milestone in the policy of national treason pursued by the Pétain government, which expressed the interests of part of the French bourgeoisie, oriented toward Nazi Germany. This truce was aimed at strangling the national liberation struggle of the French people. Under its terms, an occupation regime was established in the northern and central parts of France. France's industrial, raw materials and food resources came under German control. In the unoccupied southern part of the country, the anti-national pro-fascist Vichy government led by Pétain came to power, becoming Hitler's puppet. But at the end of June 1940, the Committee of Free (from July 1942 - Fighting) France was formed in London, headed by General Charles de Gaulle to lead the struggle for the liberation of France from the Nazi invaders and their henchmen.

On June 10, 1940, Italy entered the war against Great Britain and France, striving to establish dominance in the Mediterranean basin. Italian troops captured British Somalia, part of Kenya and Sudan in August, and in mid-September invaded Egypt from Libya to make their way to Suez (see North African campaigns 1940-43). However, they were soon stopped, and in December 1940 they were driven back by the British. An attempt by the Italians to develop an offensive from Albania to Greece, launched in October 1940, was decisively repulsed by the Greek army, which inflicted a number of strong retaliatory blows on the Italian troops (see Italo-Greek War 1940-41 (See Italo-Greek War 1940-1941)). In January - May 1941, British troops expelled the Italians from British Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Italian Somalia, and Eritrea. Mussolini was forced in January 1941 to ask Hitler for help. In the spring, German troops were sent to North Africa, forming the so-called Afrika Korps, led by General E. Rommel. Having gone on the offensive on March 31, Italian-German troops reached the Libyan-Egyptian border in the 2nd half of April.

After the defeat of France, the threat looming over Great Britain contributed to the isolation of the Munich elements and the rallying of the forces of the English people. The government of W. Churchill, which replaced the government of N. Chamberlain on May 10, 1940, began organizing an effective defense. The British government attached particular importance to US support. In July 1940, secret negotiations began between the air and naval headquarters of the United States and Great Britain, which ended with the signing on September 2 of an agreement on the transfer of 50 obsolete American destroyers to the latter in exchange for British military bases in the Western Hemisphere (they were provided to the United States for a period of 99 years). Destroyers were needed to fight the Atlantic communications.

On July 16, 1940, Hitler issued a directive for the invasion of Great Britain (Operation Sea Lion). From August 1940, the Nazis began massive bombing of Great Britain in order to undermine its military and economic potential, demoralize the population, prepare for an invasion and ultimately force it to surrender (see Battle of Britain 1940-41). German aviation caused significant damage to many British cities, enterprises, and ports, but did not break the resistance of the British Air Force, was unable to establish air supremacy over the English Channel, and suffered heavy losses. As a result of the air raids, which continued until May 1941, Hitler's leadership was unable to force Great Britain to capitulate, destroy its industry, and undermine the morale of the population. The German command was unable to provide the required number of landing equipment in a timely manner. The naval forces were insufficient.

However, the main reason for Hitler’s refusal to invade Great Britain was the decision he made back in the summer of 1940 to commit aggression against the Soviet Union. Having begun direct preparations for an attack on the USSR, the Nazi leadership was forced to transfer forces from the West to the East, directing enormous resources to the development of ground forces, and not the fleet necessary to fight against Great Britain. In the autumn, the ongoing preparations for war against the USSR removed the direct threat of a German invasion of Great Britain. Closely connected with plans to prepare an attack on the USSR was the strengthening of the aggressive alliance of Germany, Italy and Japan, which found expression in the signing of the Berlin Pact of 1940 on September 27 (See Berlin Pact of 1940).

Preparing an attack on the USSR, fascist Germany carried out aggression in the Balkans in the spring of 1941 (see Balkan campaign of 1941). On March 2, Nazi troops entered Bulgaria, which joined the Berlin Pact; On April 6, Italo-German and then Hungarian troops invaded Yugoslavia and Greece and occupied Yugoslavia by April 18, and the Greek mainland by April 29. On the territory of Yugoslavia, puppet fascist “states” were created - Croatia and Serbia. From May 20 to June 2, the fascist German command carried out the Cretan airborne operation of 1941 (See Cretan airborne operation of 1941), during which Crete and other Greek islands in the Aegean Sea were captured.

The military successes of Nazi Germany in the first period of the war were largely due to the fact that its opponents, who had an overall higher industrial and economic potential, were unable to pool their resources, create a unified system of military leadership, and develop unified effective plans for waging war. Their military machine lagged behind the new demands of armed struggle and had difficulty resisting more modern methods of conducting it. In terms of training, combat training and technical equipment, the Nazi Wehrmacht was generally superior to the armed forces of Western states. The insufficient military preparedness of the latter was mainly associated with the reactionary pre-war foreign policy course of their ruling circles, which was based on the desire to come to an agreement with the aggressor at the expense of the USSR.

By the end of the 1st period of the war, the bloc of fascist states had sharply strengthened economically and militarily. Most of continental Europe, with its resources and economy, came under German control. In Poland, Germany captured the main metallurgical and engineering plants, the coal mines of Upper Silesia, the chemical and mining industries - a total of 294 large, 35 thousand medium and small industrial enterprises; in France - the metallurgical and steel industry of Lorraine, the entire automotive and aviation industry, reserves of iron ore, copper, aluminum, magnesium, as well as automobiles, precision mechanics products, machine tools, rolling stock; in Norway - mining, metallurgical, shipbuilding industries, enterprises for the production of ferroalloys; in Yugoslavia - copper and bauxite deposits; in the Netherlands, in addition to industrial enterprises, gold reserves amount to 71.3 million florins. The total amount of material assets looted by Nazi Germany in the occupied countries amounted to 9 billion pounds sterling by 1941. By the spring of 1941, more than 3 million foreign workers and prisoners of war worked at German enterprises. In addition, all the weapons of their armies were captured in the occupied countries; for example, in France alone there are about 5 thousand tanks and 3 thousand aircraft. In 1941, the Nazis equipped 38 infantry, 3 motorized, and 1 tank divisions with French vehicles. More than 4 thousand steam locomotives and 40 thousand carriages from occupied countries appeared on the German railway. The economic resources of most European states were put at the service of the war, primarily the war being prepared against the USSR.

In the occupied territories, as well as in Germany itself, the Nazis established a terrorist regime, exterminating all those dissatisfied or suspected of discontent. A system of concentration camps was created in which millions of people were exterminated in an organized manner. The activity of death camps especially developed after the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR. More than 4 million people were killed in the Auschwitz camp (Poland) alone. The fascist command widely practiced punitive expeditions and mass executions of civilians (see Lidice, Oradour-sur-Glane, etc.).

Military successes allowed Hitler's diplomacy to push the boundaries of the fascist bloc, consolidate the accession of Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Finland (which were headed by reactionary governments closely associated with fascist Germany and dependent on it), plant its agents and strengthen its positions in the Middle East, in some areas of Africa and Latin America. At the same time, political self-exposure of the Nazi regime took place, hatred of it grew not only among broad sections of the population, but also among the ruling classes of capitalist countries, and the Resistance Movement began. In the face of the fascist threat, the ruling circles of the Western powers, primarily Great Britain, were forced to reconsider their previous political course aimed at condoning fascist aggression, and gradually replace it with a course towards the fight against fascism.

The US government gradually began to reconsider its foreign policy course. It increasingly actively supported Great Britain, becoming its “non-belligerent ally.” In May 1940, Congress approved an amount of 3 billion dollars for the needs of the army and navy, and in the summer - 6.5 billion, including 4 billion for the construction of a “fleet of two oceans.” The supply of weapons and equipment for Great Britain increased. According to the law adopted by the US Congress on March 11, 1941 on the transfer of military materials to warring countries on loan or lease (see Lend-Lease), Great Britain was allocated 7 billion dollars. In April 1941, the Lend-Lease law was extended to Yugoslavia and Greece. US troops occupied Greenland and Iceland and established bases there. The North Atlantic was declared a “patrol zone” for the US navy, which was also used to escort merchant ships heading to the UK.

2nd period of the war (22 June 1941 - 18 November 1942) is characterized by a further expansion of its scope and the beginning, in connection with the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR, of the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45, which became the main and decisive component of military warfare. (for details on the actions on the Soviet-German front, see the article The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941-45). On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany treacherously and suddenly attacked the Soviet Union. This attack completed the long course of anti-Soviet policy of German fascism, which sought to destroy the world's first socialist state and seize its richest resources. Nazi Germany sent 77% of its armed forces personnel, the bulk of its tanks and aircraft, i.e., the main most combat-ready forces of the Nazi Wehrmacht, against the Soviet Union. Together with Germany, Hungary, Romania, Finland and Italy entered the war against the USSR. The Soviet-German front became the main front of the military war. From now on, the struggle of the Soviet Union against fascism decided the outcome of the World War, the fate of mankind.

From the very beginning, the struggle of the Red Army had a decisive influence on the entire course of military warfare, on the entire policy and military strategy of the warring coalitions and states. Under the influence of events on the Soviet-German front, the Nazi military command was forced to determine methods of strategic management of the war, the formation and use of strategic reserves, and a system of regroupings between theaters of military operations. During the war, the Red Army forced the Nazi command to completely abandon the doctrine of “blitzkrieg.” Under the blows of the Soviet troops, other methods of warfare and military leadership used by the German strategy consistently failed.

As a result of a surprise attack, the superior forces of the Nazi troops managed to penetrate deeply into Soviet territory in the first weeks of the war. By the end of the first ten days of July, the enemy captured Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, a significant part of Ukraine, and part of Moldova. However, moving deeper into the territory of the USSR, the Nazi troops encountered growing resistance from the Red Army and suffered increasingly heavy losses. Soviet troops fought steadfastly and stubbornly. Under the leadership of the Communist Party and its Central Committee, the restructuring of the entire life of the country on a military basis began, the mobilization of internal forces to defeat the enemy. The peoples of the USSR rallied into a single battle camp. The formation of large strategic reserves was carried out, and the country's leadership system was reorganized. The Communist Party began work on organizing the partisan movement.

Already the initial period of the war showed that the Nazis’ military adventure was doomed to failure. The Nazi armies were stopped near Leningrad and on the river. Volkhov. The heroic defense of Kyiv, Odessa and Sevastopol pinned down large forces of fascist German troops in the south for a long time. In the fierce Battle of Smolensk 1941 (See Battle of Smolensk 1941) (July 10 - September 10) The Red Army stopped the German strike group - Army Group Center, which was advancing on Moscow, inflicting heavy losses on it. In October 1941, the enemy, having brought up reserves, resumed the attack on Moscow. Despite initial successes, he was unable to break the stubborn resistance of Soviet troops, who were inferior to the enemy in numbers and military equipment, and break through to Moscow. In intense battles, the Red Army defended the capital in extremely difficult conditions, bled the enemy’s strike forces dry, and in early December 1941 launched a counteroffensive. The defeat of the Nazis in the Battle of Moscow 1941-42 (See Battle of Moscow 1941-42) (September 30, 1941 - April 20, 1942) buried the fascist plan for a “lightning war”, becoming an event of world-historical significance. The Battle of Moscow dispelled the myth of the invincibility of Hitler's Wehrmacht, confronted Nazi Germany with the need to wage a protracted war, contributed to the further unity of the anti-Hitler coalition, and inspired all freedom-loving peoples to fight the aggressors. The victory of the Red Army near Moscow meant a decisive turn of military events in favor of the USSR and had a great influence on the entire further course of military warfare.

Having carried out extensive preparations, the Nazi leadership resumed offensive operations on the Soviet-German front at the end of June 1942. After fierce battles near Voronezh and in the Donbass, fascist German troops managed to break through to the big bend of the Don. However, the Soviet command managed to remove the main forces of the South-Western and Southern Fronts from the attack, take them beyond the Don and thereby thwart the enemy’s plans to encircle them. In mid-July 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad 1942-1943 began (See Battle of Stalingrad 1942-43) - the greatest battle of military history. During the heroic defense near Stalingrad in July - November 1942, Soviet troops pinned down the enemy strike group, inflicted heavy losses on it and prepared the conditions for launching a counteroffensive. Hitler's troops were unable to achieve decisive success in the Caucasus (see article Caucasus).

By November 1942, despite enormous difficulties, the Red Army had achieved major successes. The Nazi army was stopped. A well-coordinated military economy was created in the USSR; the output of military products exceeded the output of military products of Nazi Germany. The Soviet Union created the conditions for a radical change in the course of the World War.

The liberation struggle of the peoples against the aggressors created objective prerequisites for the formation and consolidation of the anti-Hitler coalition (See Anti-Hitler coalition). The Soviet government sought to mobilize all forces in the international arena to fight against fascism. On July 12, 1941, the USSR signed an agreement with Great Britain on joint actions in the war against Germany; On July 18, a similar agreement was signed with the government of Czechoslovakia, and on July 30 - with the Polish émigré government. On August 9-12, 1941, negotiations were held on warships near Argentilla (Newfoundland) between British Prime Minister W. Churchill and US President F. D. Roosevelt. Taking a wait-and-see attitude, the United States intended to limit itself to material support (Lend-Lease) to countries fighting against Germany. Great Britain, urging the United States to enter the war, proposed a strategy of protracted action using naval and air forces. The goals of the war and the principles of the post-war world order were formulated in the Atlantic Charter signed by Roosevelt and Churchill (See Atlantic Charter) (dated August 14, 1941). On September 24, the Soviet Union joined the Atlantic Charter, expressing its dissenting opinion on certain issues. At the end of September - beginning of October 1941, a meeting of representatives of the USSR, USA and Great Britain was held in Moscow, which ended with the signing of a protocol on mutual supplies.

On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a war against the United States with a surprise attack on the American military base in the Pacific Ocean, Pearl Harbor. On December 8, 1941, the USA, Great Britain and a number of other states declared war on Japan. The war in the Pacific and Asia was generated by long-standing and deep Japanese-American imperialist contradictions, which intensified during the struggle for dominance in China and Southeast Asia. The entry of the United States into the war strengthened the anti-Hitler coalition. The military alliance of states fighting against fascism was formalized in Washington on January 1 with the Declaration of 26 States of 1942 (See Declaration of 26 States of 1942). The declaration was based on the recognition of the need to achieve complete victory over the enemy, for which the countries waging war were obliged to mobilize all military and economic resources, cooperate with each other, and not conclude a separate peace with the enemy. The creation of an anti-Hitler coalition meant the failure of the Nazi plans to isolate the USSR and the consolidation of all world anti-fascist forces.

To develop a joint plan of action, Churchill and Roosevelt held a conference in Washington on December 22, 1941 - January 14, 1942 (codenamed “Arcadia”), during which a coordinated course of Anglo-American strategy was determined, based on the recognition of Germany as the main enemy in the war, and the Atlantic and European areas - the decisive theater of military operations. However, assistance to the Red Army, which bore the main brunt of the struggle, was planned only in the form of intensifying air raids on Germany, its blockade and the organization of subversive activities in the occupied countries. It was supposed to prepare an invasion of the continent, but not earlier than 1943, either from the Mediterranean Sea or by landing in Western Europe.

At the Washington Conference, a system of general management of the military efforts of the Western allies was determined, a joint Anglo-American headquarters was created to coordinate the strategy developed at the conferences of heads of government; a single allied Anglo-American-Dutch-Australian command was formed for the southwestern part of the Pacific Ocean, headed by the English Field Marshal A.P. Wavell.

Immediately after the Washington Conference, the Allies began to violate their own established principle of the decisive importance of the European theater of operations. Without developing specific plans for waging war in Europe, they (primarily the United States) began to transfer more and more naval forces, aviation, and landing craft to the Pacific Ocean, where the situation was unfavorable for the United States.

Meanwhile, the leaders of Nazi Germany sought to strengthen the fascist bloc. In November 1941, the Anti-Comintern Pact of the fascist powers was extended for 5 years. On December 11, 1941, Germany, Italy, and Japan signed an agreement on waging war against the United States and Great Britain “to the bitter end” and refusing to sign an armistice with them without mutual agreement.

Having disabled the main forces of the US Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, the Japanese armed forces then occupied Thailand, Hong Kong (Hong Kong), Burma, Malaya with the fortress of Singapore, the Philippines, the most important islands of Indonesia, seizing vast reserves of strategic raw materials in the southern seas. They defeated the US Asiatic Fleet, part of the British fleet, the air force and ground forces of the allies and, having ensured supremacy at sea, in 5 months of war they deprived the US and Great Britain of all naval and air bases in the Western Pacific. With a strike from the Caroline Islands, the Japanese fleet captured part of New Guinea and the adjacent islands, including most of the Solomon Islands, and created the threat of invasion of Australia (see Pacific campaigns of 1941-45). The ruling circles of Japan hoped that Germany would tie up the forces of the United States and Great Britain on other fronts and that both powers, after seizing their possessions in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, would abandon the fight at a great distance from the mother country.

Under these conditions, the United States began to take emergency measures to deploy the military economy and mobilize resources. Having transferred part of the fleet from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, the United States launched the first retaliatory strikes in the first half of 1942. The two-day Battle of the Coral Sea on May 7-8 brought success to the American fleet and forced the Japanese to abandon further advances in the southwest Pacific. In June 1942, near Fr. Midway, the American fleet defeated large forces of the Japanese fleet, which, having suffered heavy losses, was forced to limit its actions and in the 2nd half of 1942 go on the defensive in the Pacific Ocean. Patriots of the countries captured by the Japanese - Indonesia, Indochina, Korea, Burma, Malaya, the Philippines - launched a national liberation struggle against the invaders. In China, in the summer of 1941, a major offensive by Japanese troops on the liberated areas was stopped (mainly by the forces of the People's Liberation Army of China).

The actions of the Red Army on the Eastern Front had an increasing influence on the military situation in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and North Africa. After the attack on the USSR, Germany and Italy were unable to simultaneously conduct offensive operations in other areas. Having transferred the main aviation forces against the Soviet Union, the German command lost the opportunity to actively act against Great Britain and deliver effective attacks on British sea lanes, fleet bases, and shipyards. This allowed Great Britain to strengthen the construction of its fleet, remove large naval forces from the waters of the mother country and transfer them to ensure communications in the Atlantic.

However, the German fleet soon seized the initiative for a short time. After the United States entered the war, a significant part of German submarines began to operate in the coastal waters of the Atlantic coast of America. In the first half of 1942, losses of Anglo-American ships in the Atlantic increased again. But the improvement of anti-submarine defense methods allowed the Anglo-American command, from the summer of 1942, to improve the situation on the Atlantic sea lanes, deliver a series of retaliatory strikes to the German submarine fleet and push it back to the central regions of the Atlantic. Since the beginning of V.m.v. Until the fall of 1942, the tonnage of merchant ships from Great Britain, the United States, their allies and neutral countries sunk mainly in the Atlantic exceeded 14 million. T.

The transfer of the bulk of the Nazi troops to the Soviet-German front contributed to a radical improvement in the position of the British armed forces in the Mediterranean and North Africa. In the summer of 1941, the British fleet and air force firmly seized supremacy at sea and in the air in the Mediterranean theater. Using o. Malta as a base, they sank 33% in August 1941, and in November - over 70% of cargo sent from Italy to North Africa. The British command re-formed the 8th Army in Egypt, which on November 18 went on the offensive against Rommel's German-Italian troops. A fierce tank battle unfolded near Sidi Rezeh, with varying degrees of success. Exhaustion forced Rommel to begin a retreat along the coast to positions at El Agheila on December 7.

At the end of November - December 1941, the German command strengthened its air force in the Mediterranean basin and transferred some submarines and torpedo boats from the Atlantic. Having inflicted a series of strong blows on the British fleet and its base in Malta, sinking 3 battleships, 1 aircraft carrier and other ships, the German-Italian fleet and aviation again seized dominance in the Mediterranean Sea, which improved their position in North Africa. On January 21, 1942, German-Italian troops suddenly went on the offensive for the British and advanced 450 km to El Ghazala. On May 27, they resumed their offensive with the goal of reaching Suez. With a deep maneuver they managed to cover the main forces of the 8th Army and capture Tobruk. At the end of June 1942, Rommel's troops crossed the Libyan-Egyptian border and reached El Alamein, where they were stopped without reaching the goal due to exhaustion and lack of reinforcements.

3rd period of the war (November 19, 1942 - December 1943) was a period of radical change, when the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition wrested the strategic initiative from the Axis powers, fully deployed their military potential and went on a strategic offensive everywhere. As before, decisive events took place on the Soviet-German front. By November 1942, of the 267 divisions and 5 brigades that Germany had, 192 divisions and 3 brigades (or 71%) were operating against the Red Army. In addition, there were 66 divisions and 13 brigades of German satellites on the Soviet-German front. On November 19, the Soviet counteroffensive began near Stalingrad. The troops of the Southwestern, Don and Stalingrad fronts broke through the enemy’s defenses and, introducing mobile formations, by November 23 encircled 330 thousand people between the Volga and Don rivers. a group from the 6th and 4th German tank armies. Soviet troops stubbornly defended themselves in the area of ​​the river. Myshkov thwarted the attempt of the fascist German command to release the encircled. The offensive on the middle Don by the troops of the Southwestern and left wing of the Voronezh fronts (began on December 16) ended with the defeat of the 8th Italian Army. The threat of a strike by Soviet tank formations on the flank of the German relief group forced it to begin a hasty retreat. By February 2, 1943, the group surrounded at Stalingrad was liquidated. This ended the Battle of Stalingrad, in which from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943, 32 divisions and 3 brigades of the Nazi army and German satellites were completely defeated and 16 divisions were bled dry. The total losses of the enemy during this time amounted to over 800 thousand people, 2 thousand tanks and assault guns, over 10 thousand guns and mortars, up to 3 thousand aircraft, etc. The victory of the Red Army shocked Nazi Germany and caused irreparable harm to its armed forces damage, undermined Germany's military and political prestige in the eyes of its allies, and increased dissatisfaction with the war among them. The Battle of Stalingrad marked the beginning of a radical change in the course of the entire World War.

The victories of the Red Army contributed to the expansion of the partisan movement in the USSR and became a powerful stimulus for the further development of the Resistance Movement in Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Greece, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and other European countries. Polish patriots gradually moved from spontaneous, isolated actions during the beginning of the war to mass struggle. Polish communists at the beginning of 1942 called for the formation of a “second front in the rear of Hitler’s army.” The fighting force of the Polish Workers' Party - the Ludowa Guard - became the first military organization in Poland to wage a systematic struggle against the occupiers. The creation at the end of 1943 of the democratic national front and the formation on the night of January 1, 1944 of its central body - the Home Rada of the People (See Home Rada of the People) contributed to the further development of the national liberation struggle.

In Yugoslavia in November 1942, under the leadership of the communists, the formation of the People's Liberation Army began, which by the end of 1942 liberated 1/5 of the country's territory. And although in 1943 the occupiers carried out 3 major attacks on Yugoslav patriots, the ranks of active anti-fascist fighters steadily multiplied and grew stronger. Under the attacks of the partisans, Hitler's troops suffered increasing losses; By the end of 1943, the transport network in the Balkans was paralyzed.

In Czechoslovakia, on the initiative of the Communist Party, the National Revolutionary Committee was created, which became the central political body of the anti-fascist struggle. The number of partisan detachments grew, and centers of the partisan movement formed in a number of regions of Czechoslovakia. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, the anti-fascist resistance movement gradually developed into a national uprising.

The French Resistance Movement intensified sharply in the summer and autumn of 1943, after new defeats of the Wehrmacht on the Soviet-German front. Organizations of the Resistance Movement joined the unified anti-fascist army created on French territory - the French Internal Forces, the number of which soon reached 500 thousand people.

The liberation movement, which unfolded in the territories occupied by the countries of the fascist bloc, fettered Hitler's troops, their main forces were bled dry by the Red Army. Already in the first half of 1942, conditions arose for the opening of a second front in Western Europe. The leaders of the USA and Great Britain pledged to open it in 1942, as stated in the Anglo-Soviet and Soviet-American communiqués published on June 12, 1942. However, the leaders of the Western powers delayed the opening of the second front, trying to weaken both Nazi Germany and the USSR at the same time, so that establish their dominance in Europe and throughout the world. On June 11, 1942, the British cabinet rejected the plan for a direct invasion of France across the English Channel under the pretext of difficulties in supplying troops, transferring reinforcements, and a lack of special landing craft. At a meeting in Washington of the heads of government and representatives of the joint headquarters of the United States and Great Britain in the 2nd half of June 1942, it was decided to abandon the landing in France in 1942 and 1943, and instead carry out an operation to land expeditionary forces in French North-West Africa (Operation "Torch") and only in the future begin to concentrate large masses of American troops in Great Britain (Operation Bolero). This decision, which had no compelling reasons, caused a protest from the Soviet government.

In North Africa, British troops, taking advantage of the weakening of the Italian-German group, launched offensive operations. British aviation, which again seized air supremacy in the fall of 1942, sank in October 1942 up to 40% of Italian and German ships heading to North Africa, disrupting the regular replenishment and supply of Rommel’s troops. On October 23, 1942, the 8th British Army under General B. L. Montgomery launched a decisive offensive. Having won an important victory in the battle of El Alamein, over the next three months she pursued Rommel's Afrika Korps along the coast, occupied the territory of Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, liberated Tobruk, Benghazi and reached positions at El Agheila.

On November 8, 1942, the landing of the American-British expeditionary forces in French North Africa began (under the overall command of General D. Eisenhower); 12 divisions (over 150 thousand people in total) unloaded in the ports of Algiers, Oran, and Casablanca. Airborne troops captured two large airfields in Morocco. After minor resistance, the commander-in-chief of the French armed forces of the Vichy regime in North Africa, Admiral J. Darlan, ordered not to interfere with the American-British troops.

The fascist German command, intending to hold North Africa, urgently transferred the 5th Tank Army to Tunisia by air and sea, which managed to stop the Anglo-American troops and drive them back from Tunisia. In November 1942, Nazi troops occupied the entire territory of France and tried to capture the French Navy (about 60 warships) in Toulon, which, however, was sunk by French sailors.

At the Casablanca Conference of 1943 (See Casablanca Conference of 1943), the leaders of the United States and Great Britain, declaring the unconditional surrender of the Axis countries as their ultimate goal, determined further plans for waging war, which were based on the course of delaying the opening of a second front. Roosevelt and Churchill reviewed and approved the strategic plan prepared by the Joint Chiefs of Staff for 1943, which included the capture of Sicily in order to put pressure on Italy and create conditions for attracting Turkey as an active ally, as well as an intensified air offensive against Germany and the concentration of the largest possible forces to enter the continent “as soon as German resistance weakens to the required level.”

The implementation of this plan could not seriously undermine the forces of the fascist bloc in Europe, much less replace the second front, since active actions by American-British troops were planned in a theater of military operations that was secondary to Germany. In the main issues of strategy V. m.v. this conference turned out to be fruitless.

The struggle in North Africa continued with varying success until the spring of 1943. In March, the 18th Anglo-American Army Group under the command of the English Field Marshal H. Alexander struck with superior forces and, after lengthy battles, occupied the city of Tunisia, and by May 13 forced the Italian-German troops surrender on the Bon Peninsula. The entire territory of North Africa passed into Allied hands.

After the defeat in Africa, Hitler's command expected the Allied invasion of France, not being ready to resist it. However, the allied command was preparing a landing in Italy. On May 12, Roosevelt and Churchill met at a new conference in Washington. The intention was confirmed not to open a second front in Western Europe during 1943 and the tentative date for its opening was set as May 1, 1944.

At this time, Germany was preparing a decisive summer offensive on the Soviet-German front. Hitler's leadership sought to defeat the main forces of the Red Army, regain the strategic initiative, and achieve a change in the course of the war. It increased its armed forces by 2 million people. through “total mobilization”, forced the release of military products, and transferred large contingents of troops from various regions of Europe to the Eastern Front. According to the Citadel plan, it was supposed to encircle and destroy Soviet troops in the Kursk ledge, and then expand the offensive front and capture the entire Donbass.

The Soviet command, having information about the impending enemy offensive, decided to exhaust the fascist German troops in a defensive battle on the Kursk Bulge, then defeat them in the central and southern sections of the Soviet-German front, liberate Left Bank Ukraine, Donbass, the eastern regions of Belarus and reach the Dnieper. To solve this problem, significant forces and resources were concentrated and skillfully located. The Battle of Kursk 1943, which began on July 5, is one of the greatest battles of military history. - immediately turned out in favor of the Red Army. Hitler's command failed to break the skillful and persistent defense of the Soviet troops with a powerful avalanche of tanks. In the defensive battle on the Kursk Bulge, the troops of the Central and Voronezh Fronts bled the enemy dry. On July 12, the Soviet command launched a counteroffensive on the Bryansk and Western Fronts against the German Oryol bridgehead. On July 16, the enemy began to retreat. The troops of the five fronts of the Red Army, developing a counteroffensive, defeated the enemy’s strike forces and opened their way to the Left Bank Ukraine and the Dnieper. In the Battle of Kursk, Soviet troops defeated 30 Nazi divisions, including 7 tank divisions. After this major defeat, the Wehrmacht leadership finally lost its strategic initiative and was forced to completely abandon the offensive strategy and go on the defensive until the end of the war. The Red Army, using its major success, liberated the Donbass and Left Bank Ukraine, crossed the Dnieper on the move (see the Dnieper article), and began the liberation of Belarus. In total, in the summer and autumn of 1943, Soviet troops defeated 218 fascist German divisions, completing a radical turning point in the military war. A catastrophe loomed over Nazi Germany. The total losses of German ground forces alone from the beginning of the war to November 1943 amounted to about 5.2 million people.

After the end of the struggle in North Africa, the Allies carried out the Sicilian Operation of 1943 (See Sicilian Operation of 1943), which began on July 10. Having absolute superiority of forces at sea and in the air, they captured Sicily by mid-August, and in early September crossed to the Apennine Peninsula (see Italian campaign 1943-1945 (See Italian campaign 1943-1945)). In Italy, the movement for the elimination of the fascist regime and exit from the war grew. As a result of attacks by Anglo-American troops and the growth of the anti-fascist movement, the Mussolini regime fell at the end of July. He was replaced by the government of P. Badoglio, which signed an armistice with the United States and Great Britain on September 3. In response, the Nazis sent additional troops to Italy, disarmed the Italian army and occupied the country. By November 1943, after the landing of Anglo-American troops in Salerno, the fascist German command withdrew its troops to the north, to the area of ​​Rome, and consolidated on the river line. Sangro and Carigliano, where the front has stabilized.

In the Atlantic Ocean, by the beginning of 1943, the positions of the German fleet were weakened. The Allies ensured their superiority in surface forces and naval aviation. Large ships of the German fleet could now only operate in the Arctic Ocean against convoys. Given the weakening of its surface fleet, the Nazi naval command, led by Admiral K. Dönitz, who replaced the former fleet commander E. Raeder, shifted the center of gravity to the actions of the submarine fleet. Having commissioned more than 200 submarines, the Germans inflicted a number of heavy blows on the Allies in the Atlantic. But after the greatest success achieved in March 1943, the effectiveness of German submarine attacks began to rapidly decline. The growth in the size of the Allied fleet, the use of new technology for detecting submarines, and the increase in the range of naval aviation predetermined the increase in losses of the German submarine fleet, which were not replenished. Shipbuilding in the USA and Great Britain now ensured that the number of newly built ships exceeded those sunk, the number of which had decreased.

In the Pacific Ocean in the first half of 1943, the warring parties, after the losses suffered in 1942, accumulated forces and did not carry out extensive actions. Japan increased the production of aircraft more than 3 times compared to 1941; 60 new ships were laid down at its shipyards, including 40 submarines. The total number of Japanese armed forces increased by 2.3 times. The Japanese command decided to stop further advance in the Pacific Ocean and consolidate what had been captured by going over to the defense along the Aleutian, Marshall, Gilbert Islands, New Guinea, Indonesia, Burma lines.

The United States also intensively developed military production. 28 new aircraft carriers were laid down, several new operational formations were formed (2 field and 2 air armies), and many special units; Military bases were built in the South Pacific. The forces of the United States and its allies in the Pacific Ocean were consolidated into two operational groups: the central part of the Pacific Ocean (Admiral C.W. Nimitz) and the southwestern part of the Pacific Ocean (General D. MacArthur). The groups included several fleets, field armies, marines, carrier and base aviation, mobile naval bases, etc., in total - 500 thousand people, 253 large warships (including 69 submarines) , over 2 thousand combat aircraft. The US naval and air forces outnumbered the Japanese. In May 1943, formations of the Nimitz group occupied the Aleutian Islands, securing American positions in the north.

In the wake of the Red Army's major summer successes and the landings in Italy, Roosevelt and Churchill held a conference in Quebec (August 11–24, 1943) to again refine military plans. The main intention of the leaders of both powers was to “achieve, in the shortest possible time, the unconditional surrender of the European Axis countries,” and to achieve, through an air offensive, “undermining and disorganizing the ever-increasing scale of Germany’s military-economic power.” On May 1, 1944, it was planned to launch Operation Overlord to invade France. In the Far East, it was decided to expand the offensive in order to seize bridgeheads, from which it would then be possible, after the defeat of the European Axis countries and the transfer of forces from Europe, to strike Japan and defeat it “within 12 months after the end of the war with Germany.” The action plan chosen by the Allies did not meet the goals of ending the war in Europe as quickly as possible, since active operations in Western Europe were planned only in the summer of 1944.

Carrying out plans for offensive operations in the Pacific Ocean, the Americans continued the battles for the Solomon Islands that had begun in June 1943. Having mastered Fr. New George and a bridgehead on the island. Bougainville, they brought their bases in the South Pacific closer to the Japanese ones, including the main Japanese base - Rabaul. At the end of November 1943, the Americans occupied the Gilbert Islands, which were then turned into a base for preparing an attack on the Marshall Islands. MacArthur's group, in stubborn battles, captured most of the islands in the Coral Sea, the eastern part of New Guinea and established a base here for an attack on the Bismarck Archipelago. Having removed the threat of a Japanese invasion of Australia, she secured US sea communications in the area. As a result of these actions, the strategic initiative in the Pacific passed into the hands of the Allies, who eliminated the consequences of the defeat of 1941-42 and created the conditions for an attack on Japan.

The national liberation struggle of the peoples of China, Korea, Indochina, Burma, Indonesia, and the Philippines expanded more and more. The communist parties of these countries rallied the partisan forces in the ranks of the National Front. The People's Liberation Army and guerrilla groups of China, having resumed active operations, liberated a territory with a population of about 80 million people.

The rapid development of events in 1943 on all fronts, especially on the Soviet-German front, required the allies to clarify and coordinate war plans for the next year. This was done at the November 1943 conference in Cairo (see Cairo Conference 1943) and the Tehran Conference 1943 (See Tehran Conference 1943).

At the Cairo Conference (November 22-26), the delegations of the USA (head of delegation F.D. Roosevelt), Great Britain (head of delegation W. Churchill), China (head of delegation Chiang Kai-shek) considered plans for waging war in Southeast Asia, which provided limited goals: the creation of bases for a subsequent attack on Burma and Indochina and the improvement of air supply to Chiang Kai-shek's army. Issues of military operations in Europe were viewed as secondary; The British leadership proposed postponing Operation Overlord.

At the Tehran Conference (November 28 -December 1, 1943), the heads of government of the USSR (head of delegation I.V. Stalin), USA (head of delegation F.D. Roosevelt) and Great Britain (head of delegation W. Churchill) focused on military issues. The British delegation proposed a plan to invade South-Eastern Europe through the Balkans, with the participation of Turkey. The Soviet delegation proved that this plan does not meet the requirements for the rapid defeat of Germany, because operations in the Mediterranean Sea are “operations of secondary importance”; With its firm and consistent position, the Soviet delegation forced the Allies to once again recognize the paramount importance of the invasion of Western Europe, and Overlord as the main Allied operation, which should be accompanied by an auxiliary landing in southern France and diversionary actions in Italy. For its part, the USSR pledged to enter the war with Japan after the defeat of Germany.

The report of the conference of the heads of government of the three powers said: “We have come to complete agreement as to the scale and timing of the operations to be undertaken from the east, west and south. The mutual understanding we have achieved here guarantees our victory.”

At the Cairo Conference held on December 3-7, 1943, the US and British delegations, after a series of discussions, recognized the need to use landing craft intended for Southeast Asia in Europe and approved a program according to which the most important operations in 1944 should be Overlord and Anvil ( landing in the south of France); The conference participants agreed that "no action should be taken in any other area of ​​the world that could interfere with the success of these two operations." This was an important victory for Soviet foreign policy, its struggle for unity of action among the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition and the military strategy based on this policy.

4th war period (1 January 1944 - 8 May 1945) was a period when the Red Army, in the course of a powerful strategic offensive, expelled fascist German troops from the territory of the USSR, liberated the peoples of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and, together with the armed forces of the Allies, completed the defeat of Nazi Germany. At the same time, the offensive of the armed forces of the United States and Great Britain in the Pacific Ocean continued, and the people's liberation war in China intensified.

As in previous periods, the Soviet Union bore the brunt of the struggle on its shoulders, against which the fascist bloc continued to hold its main forces. By the beginning of 1944, the German command, out of 315 divisions and 10 brigades it had, had 198 divisions and 6 brigades on the Soviet-German front. In addition, there were 38 divisions and 18 brigades of satellite states on the Soviet-German front. In 1944, the Soviet command planned an offensive on the front from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea with the main attack in the southwestern direction. In January - February, the Red Army, after a 900-day heroic defense, liberated Leningrad from the siege (see Battle of Leningrad 1941-44). By spring, having carried out a number of major operations, Soviet troops liberated Right Bank Ukraine and Crimea, reached the Carpathians and entered the territory of Romania. In the winter campaign of 1944 alone, the enemy lost 30 divisions and 6 brigades from attacks by the Red Army; 172 divisions and 7 brigades suffered heavy losses; human losses amounted to more than 1 million people. Germany could no longer make up for the damage suffered. In June 1944, the Red Army attacked the Finnish army, after which Finland requested an armistice, an agreement on which was signed on September 19, 1944 in Moscow.

The grandiose offensive of the Red Army in Belarus from June 23 to August 29, 1944 (see Belarusian operation 1944) and in Western Ukraine from July 13 to August 29, 1944 (see Lvov-Sandomierz operation 1944) ended in the defeat of the two largest strategic groupings of the Wehrmacht in the center of the Soviet -German front, breakthrough of the German front to a depth of 600 km, the complete destruction of 26 divisions and inflicting heavy losses on 82 Nazi divisions. Soviet troops reached the border of East Prussia, entered Polish territory and approached the Vistula. Polish troops also took part in the offensive.

In Chelm, the first Polish city liberated by the Red Army, on July 21, 1944, the Polish Committee of National Liberation was formed - a temporary executive body of the people's power, subordinate to the Home Rada of the People. In August 1944, the Home Army, following the orders of the Polish exile government in London, which sought to seize power in Poland before the approach of the Red Army and restore pre-war order, began the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. After a 63-day heroic struggle, this uprising, undertaken in an unfavorable strategic situation, was defeated.

The international and military situation in the spring and summer of 1944 was such that a further delay in the opening of a second front would have led to the liberation of all of Europe by the USSR. This prospect worried the ruling circles of the USA and Great Britain, who sought to restore the pre-war capitalist order in the countries occupied by the Nazis and their allies. London and Washington began to rush to prepare an invasion of Western Europe across the English Channel in order to seize bridgeheads in Normandy and Brittany, ensure the landing of expeditionary forces, and then liberate northwestern France. In the future, it was planned to break through the Siegfried Line, which covered the German border, cross the Rhine and advance deep into Germany. By the beginning of June 1944, the Allied expeditionary forces under the command of General Eisenhower had 2.8 million people, 37 divisions, 12 separate brigades, “commando units”, about 11 thousand combat aircraft, 537 warships and a large number of transports and landing craft.

After the defeats on the Soviet-German front, the fascist German command could maintain in France, Belgium and the Netherlands as part of Army Group West (Field Marshal G. Rundstedt) only 61 weakened, poorly equipped divisions, 500 aircraft, 182 warships. The Allies thus had absolute superiority in forces and means.

The instability in Europe caused by the First World War (1914-1918) eventually resulted in another international conflict, the Second World War, which broke out two decades later and became even more destructive.

Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist Party (Nazi Party) came to power in economically and politically unstable Germany.

He reformed the military and signed strategic agreements with Italy and Japan in his quest for world domination. The German invasion of Poland in September 1939 led to Great Britain and France declaring war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II.

Over the next six years, the war would claim more lives and cause destruction across a larger area of ​​the globe than any other war in history.

Among the estimated 45-60 million people who died were 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis in concentration camps as part of Hitler's diabolical "Final Solution" policy, also known as .

On the way to World War II

The devastation caused by the Great War, as World War I was called at the time, destabilized Europe.

In many ways, World War II was born out of unresolved issues from the first global conflict.

In particular, Germany's political and economic instability and long-term resentment over the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles provided fertile ground for the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist (Nazi) Party.

Back in 1923, in his memoirs and in his propaganda treatise “Mein Kampf” (My Struggle), Adolf Hitler predicted a great European war, the result of which would be “the extermination of the Jewish race on German territory.”

After receiving the position of Reich Chancellor, Hitler quickly consolidated power, appointing himself Führer (Supreme Commander) in 1934.

Obsessed with the idea of ​​​​the superiority of the “pure” German race, which was called the “Aryan”, Hitler believed that war was the only way to obtain the “Lebensraum” (living space for settlement by the German race).

In the mid-30s, he secretly began rearmament of Germany, circumventing the Versailles Peace Treaty. After signing treaties of alliance with Italy and Japan against the Soviet Union, Hitler sent troops to occupy Austria in 1938 and annex Czechoslovakia the following year.

Hitler's overt aggression went unnoticed, as the United States and Soviet Union were focused on domestic politics, and neither France nor Great Britain (the two countries with the greatest destruction in the First World War) were eager to enter into confrontation.

Beginning of World War II 1939

On August 23, 1939, Hitler and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin signed a non-aggression pact called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which created frantic anxiety in London and Paris.

Hitler had long-term plans to invade Poland, a state that Britain and France guaranteed military support in the event of a German attack. The pact meant that Hitler would not have to fight on two fronts after invading Poland. Moreover, Germany received assistance in conquering Poland and dividing its population.

On September 1, 1939, Hitler attacked Poland from the west. Two days later, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany, and World War II began.

On September 17, Soviet troops invaded Poland in the east. Poland quickly capitulated under attack on two fronts, and by 1940 Germany and the Soviet Union shared control of the country, according to a secret clause in the non-aggression pact.

Soviet troops then occupied the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) and suppressed Finnish resistance in the Russo-Finnish War. For the next six months after the capture of Poland, neither Germany nor the Allies took active action on the Western Front, and the media began to refer to the war as “background.”

However, at sea, the British and German navies engaged in a fierce battle. Deadly German submarines struck British trade routes, sinking more than 100 ships in the first four months of World War II.

World War II on the Western Front 1940-1941

On April 9, 1940, Germany simultaneously invaded Norway and occupied Denmark, and the war broke out with renewed vigor.

On May 10, German troops swept through Belgium and the Netherlands in a plan later called "blitzkrieg" or lightning warfare. Three days later, Hitler's troops crossed the Meuse River and attacked French troops at Sedan, located on the northern border of the Maginot Line.

The system was considered an insurmountable protective barrier, but in fact, German troops broke through, making it completely useless. The British Expeditionary Force was evacuated by sea from Dunkirk at the end of May, while French forces in the south struggled to put up any resistance. By the beginning of summer, France was on the verge of defeat.

Prerequisites for war, alleged allies and opponents, periodization

The First World War (1914-1918) ended with the defeat of Germany. The victorious states insisted on Germany signing the Versailles peace agreements, according to which the country pledged to pay multimillion-dollar indemnities, renounced its own army and military developments, and agreed to seize some territories from it.

The signed agreements were largely predatory and unfair, since the Russian Empire did not take part in them, which by this time had changed the political structure from a monarchy to a republic. In view of the ongoing political events and the outbreak of the civil war, the government of the RSFSR agreed to sign a separate peace with Germany, which subsequently served as a reason for the exclusion of Russians from the number of peoples who won the First World War and the impetus for the development of economic, political and military relations with Germany. The beginning of such relations was laid by the Genoa Conference of 1922.

In the spring of 1922, former World War I allies and adversaries met in the Italian city of Rapallo to work out an agreement regarding the mutual renunciation of any claims against each other. Among other things, it was proposed to abandon the demand for indemnity from Germany and its allies.

During mutual meetings and diplomatic negotiations, the representative of the USSR Georgy Chicherin and the head of the delegation from the Weimar Republic, Walter Rathenau, signed the Rapallo Agreement, restoring diplomatic ties between the countries that signed it. The Rapallo agreements were received in Europe and America without much enthusiasm, but did not encounter significant obstacles. After some time, Germany received an unofficial opportunity to return to building up weapons and creating its own army. Fearing the communist threat posed by the USSR, the participants in the Versailles agreements successfully turned a blind eye to Germany's desire to take revenge for its loss in the First World War.

In 1933, the National Socialist Workers' Party, led by Adolf Hitler, came to power in the country. Germany openly declares its unwillingness to comply with the Versailles agreements and on October 14, 1933, withdraws from the League of Nations, not accepting the offer to participate in the Geneva Disarmament Conference. The expected negative reaction from the Western powers did not follow. Hitler unofficially received freedom of action.

On January 26, 1934, Germany and Poland sign the Non-Aggression Pact. On March 7, 1936, German troops occupy the Rhineland. Hitler enlists the support of Mussolini, promising him help in the conflict with Ethiopia and renouncing military claims in the Adriatic. In the same year, the Anti-Comintern Pact was concluded between Japan and Germany, obliging the parties to take active measures to eradicate communism in the territories under their control. The following year, Italy joins the pact.

In March 1938, Germany carried out the Anschluss of Austria. From this time on, the threat of World War II became more than real. Having secured the support of Italy and Japan, Germany no longer saw any reason to formally comply with the Versailles Protocols. Limp protests from Great Britain and France did not bring the expected effect. On April 17, 1939, the Soviet Union proposed that these countries conclude a military agreement that would limit German influence on the Baltic countries. The USSR government sought to protect itself in case of war by gaining the opportunity to transfer troops through the territory of Poland and Romania. Unfortunately, it was not possible to achieve agreement on this issue; the Western powers preferred a fragile peace with Germany to cooperation with the USSR. Hitler hastened to send diplomats to conclude an agreement with France and Great Britain, later known as the Munich Agreement, which involved the introduction of Czechoslovakia into Germany's sphere of influence. The country's territory was divided into spheres of influence, and the Sudetenland was given to Germany. Hungary and Poland took an active part in the division.

In the current difficult situation, the USSR decides to move closer to Germany. On August 23, 1939, Ribbentrop, endowed with emergency powers, arrived in Moscow. A secret agreement is concluded between the Soviet Union and Germany - the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. At its core, the document was an attack agreement for a period of 10 years. In addition, he distinguished between the influence of Germany and the USSR in Eastern Europe. Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Bessarabia were included in the sphere of influence of the USSR. Germany received rights to Lithuania. In the event of a military conflict in Europe, the territories of Poland that were part of Belarus and Ukraine under the Riga Peace Treaty of 1920, as well as some native Polish lands of the Warsaw and Lublin voivodeships, ceded to the USSR.

Thus, by the end of the summer of 1939, all the main territorial issues between the allies and rivals in the proposed war had been resolved. The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria were controlled by German troops, Italy occupied Albania, and France and Great Britain provided guarantees of protection to Poland, Greece, Romania and Turkey. At the same time, clear military coalitions similar to those that existed on the eve of the First World War had not yet been formed. Germany's obvious allies were the governments of the territories it occupied - Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Austria. The regime of Mussolini in Italy and Franco in Spain was ready to provide military support. In the Asian direction, the Mikado of Japan took a wait-and-see attitude. Having secured himself from the USSR, Hitler put Great Britain and France in a difficult position. The United States was also in no hurry to enter into a conflict that was ready to break out, hoping to support the side whose economic and political interests would most closely correspond to the country’s foreign policy course.

On September 1, 1939, the combined forces of Germany and Slovakia invaded Poland. This date can be considered the beginning of the Second World War, which lasted for 5 years and affected the interests of more than 80% of the world's population. 72 states and over 100 million people took part in the military conflict. Not all of them directly participated in the hostilities, some were engaged in the supply of goods and equipment, others expressed their support in monetary terms.

The periodization of World War II is quite complex. The conducted research allows us to identify at least 5 significant periods in the Second World War:

September 1, 1939 - June 22, 1944. The attack on Poland is aggression against the Soviet Union and the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

June 1941 - November 1942. The Barbarossa plan for the lightning seizure of the territory of the USSR within 1-2 months and its final destruction in the Battle of Stalingrad. Japanese offensive operations in Asia. Entry of the United States into the war. Battle of the Atlantic. Battles in Africa and the Mediterranean. Creation of an anti-Hitler coalition.

November 1942 - June 1944. German losses on the Eastern Front. Actions of Americans and British in Italy, Asia and Africa. The fall of the fascist regime in Italy. The transition of hostilities to enemy territory - the bombing of Germany.

June 1944 - May 1945. Opening of the second front. Retreat of German troops to the borders of Germany. Capture of Berlin. Surrender of Germany.

May 1945 - September 2, 1945. The fight against Japanese aggression in Asia. Japanese surrender. Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals. Creation of the UN.

The main events of World War II took place in Western and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa and the Pacific.

Beginning of World War II (September 1939-June 1941)

On September 1, 1939, Germany annexes Polish territory. On September 3, the governments of France and Great Britain, bound by peace treaties with Poland, announce the beginning of military actions directed against Germany. Similar actions followed from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Union of South Africa, Nepal and Newfoundland. Surviving written eyewitness accounts suggest that Hitler was not prepared for such a turn of events. Germany hoped for a repeat of the events in Munich.

The well-trained German army occupied most of Poland within hours. Despite the declaration of war, France and Great Britain were in no hurry to begin open hostilities. The governments of these states took a wait-and-see position, similar to that which took place during the annexation of Ethiopia by Italy and Austria by Germany. In historical sources, this time was called the “Strange War”.

One of the most important events of this time was the defense of the Brest Fortress, which began on September 14, 1939. The defense was led by the Polish General Plisovsky. The defense of the fortress fell on September 17, 1939, the fortress actually ended up in the hands of the Germans, but already on September 22, units of the Red Army entered it. In compliance with the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Germany handed over the eastern part of Poland to the USSR.

On September 28, an agreement on Friendship and the border between the USSR and Germany is signed in Moscow. The Germans occupy Warsaw, and the Polish government flees to Romania. The border between the USSR and German-occupied Poland is established along the “Curzon Line”. The territory of Poland, controlled by the USSR, is included in Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus. The Polish and Jewish population in territories controlled by the Third Reich were deported and subjected to repression.

On October 6, 1939, Hitler invites the warring parties to enter into peace negotiations, thereby wanting to consolidate Germany’s official right to its annexation. Having not received a positive response, Germany refuses any further actions to peacefully resolve the conflicts that have arisen.

Taking advantage of the busyness of France and Great Britain, as well as Germany’s lack of desire to enter into an open conflict with the USSR, on November 30, 1939, the Government of the Soviet Union gave the order to invade Finland. During the outbreak of hostilities, the Red Army managed to obtain islands in the Gulf of Finland and push the border with Finland 150 kilometers from Leningrad. On March 13, 1940, a peace treaty was signed between the USSR and Finland. At the same time, the Soviet Union managed to annex the territories of the Baltic states, Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia.

Considering the refusal of the peace conference as a desire to continue the war, Hitler sends troops to capture Denmark and Norway. On April 9, 1940, the Germans invade the territories of these states. On May 10 of the same year, the Germans occupied Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Attempts by the combined French-English troops to counter the seizure of these states were unsuccessful.

On June 10, 1940, Italy joined the fighting on the side of Germany. Italian troops occupy part of French territory, providing active support to German divisions. On June 22, 1940, France made peace with Germany, with most of the country coming under the control of the German-controlled Vichy government. The remnants of the resistance forces under the leadership of General Charles de Gaulle took refuge in Great Britain.

On July 16, 1940, Hitler issues a decree on the invasion of Great Britain, and the bombing of English cities begins. Great Britain finds itself under an economic blockade, but its advantageous island position does not allow the Germans to carry out their planned takeover. Until the end of the war, Great Britain resisted the German army and navy not only in Europe, but also in Africa and Asia. In Africa, British troops collide with Italian interests. Throughout 1940, the Italian army was defeated by the combined forces of the Allies. At the beginning of 1941, Hitler sent an expeditionary force to Africa under the leadership of General Romel, whose actions significantly undermined the position of the British.

In the winter and spring of 1941, the Balkans, Greece, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Lebanon were engulfed in hostilities. Japan invades Chinese territory, Thailand sides with Germany and gains part of the territories of Cambodia, as well as Laos.

At the beginning of a war, fighting takes place not only on land, but also at sea. The inability to use land routes to transport goods forces Great Britain to strive for dominance at sea.

The foreign policy of the United States is changing significantly. The American government understands that staying away from the events taking place in Europe is no longer profitable. Negotiations begin with the governments of Great Britain, the USSR and other states that have expressed a clear desire to counteract Germany. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union's confidence in maintaining neutrality is also weakening.

German attack on the USSR, eastern theater of operations (1941-1945)

Since the end of 1940, relations between Germany and the USSR have gradually deteriorated. The USSR government rejects Hitler's proposal to join the Triple Alliance, since Germany refuses to consider a number of conditions put forward by the Soviet side. Cool relations, however, do not interfere with compliance with all the terms of the pact, in the validity of which Stalin continues to believe. In the spring of 1941, the Soviet government began to receive reports that Germany was preparing a plan to attack the USSR. Such information comes from spies in Japan and Italy, the American government, and is successfully ignored. Stalin does not take any steps towards building up the army and navy or strengthening the borders.

At dawn on June 22, 1941, German aviation and ground forces cross the state border of the USSR. That same morning, German Ambassador to the USSR Schulenberg read out a memorandum declaring war on the USSR. In a matter of weeks, the enemy managed to overcome the insufficiently organized resistance of the Red Army and advance 500-600 kilometers into the interior of the country. In the last weeks of the summer of 1941, the Barbarossa plan for the lightning takeover of the USSR was close to being successfully implemented. German troops occupied Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Moldova, Bessarabia and the right bank of Ukraine. The actions of the German troops were based on the coordinated work of four army groups:

The Finnish group is commanded by General von Dietl and Field Marshal Mannerheim. The task is to capture Murmansk, White Sea, Ladoga.

Group "North" - commander Field Marshal von Leeb. The task is to capture Leningrad.

Group "Center" - commander-in-chief von Bock. The task is to capture Moscow.

Group "South" - commander Field Marshal von Rundstedt. The goal is to take control of Ukraine.

Despite the creation of the Evacuation Council on June 24, 1941, more than half of the country's strategically important resources, heavy and light industry enterprises, workers and peasants, were in the hands of the enemy.

On June 30, 1941, the State Defense Committee was created, headed by I.V. Stalin. Molotov, Beria, Malenkov and Voroshilov were also members of the Committee. Since that time, the State Defense Committee has been the most important political, economic and military institution in the country. On July 10, 1941, the Headquarters of the Supreme Command was created, including Stalin, Molotov, Timoshenko, Voroshilov, Budyonny, Shaposhnikov and Zhukov. Stalin took on the role of People's Commissar of Defense and Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

On August 15, the Battle of Smolensk ended. On the approaches to the city, the Red Army struck the German troops for the first time. Unfortunately, already in September-November 1941, Kyiv, Vyborg and Tikhvin fell, Leningrad was encircled, and the Germans launched an attack on Donbass and Crimea. Hitler's goal was Moscow and the oil veins of the Caucasus. On September 24, 1941, the offensive against Moscow began, ending in March 1942 with the establishment of a stable front line along the Velikiye Luki-Gzhatsk-Kirov, Oka line.

Moscow was able to be defended, but significant territories of the Union were under the control of the enemy. On July 2, 1942, Sevastopol fell, and the way to the Caucasus was opened for the enemy. On June 28, the Germans launched an offensive in the Kursk area. German troops took the Voronezh region, Northern Donets, Rostov. Panic began in many parts of the Red Army. To maintain discipline, Stalin issues order No. 227 “Not a step back.” Deserters and soldiers simply confused in battle were not only subjected to the censure of their comrades, but also punished to the fullest extent of wartime. Taking advantage of the retreat of the Soviet troops, Hitler organized an offensive in the direction of the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. The Germans occupied Kuban, Stavropol, Krasnodar and Novorossiysk. Their advance was stopped only in the Grozny area.

From October 12, 1942 to February 2, 1943, battles for Stalingrad took place. Trying to take possession of the city, the commander of the 6th Army, von Paulus, made a number of strategic mistakes, due to which the troops subordinate to him were surrounded and forced to surrender. The defeat at Stalingrad became a turning point in the Great Patriotic War. The Red Army moved from defense to a large-scale offensive on all fronts. The victory raised morale, the Red Army managed to return many strategically important territories, including Donbass and Kurs, and the blockade of Leningrad was broken for a short time.

In July-August 1943, the Battle of Kursk took place, ending in another devastating defeat for German troops. From this time on, the operational initiative forever passed to the Red Army; the few victories of the Germans could no longer create a threat to the conquest of the country.

On January 27, 1944, the blockade of Leningrad was lifted, which claimed the lives of millions of civilians and became the starting point for the offensive of Soviet troops along the entire front line.

In the summer of 1944, the Red Army crosses the state border and forever expels the German invaders from the territory of the Soviet Union. In August of this year, Romania capitulated and the Antonescu regime fell. The fascist regimes actually fell in Bulgaria and Hungary. In September 1944, Soviet troops entered Yugoslavia. By October, almost a third of Eastern Europe was controlled by the Red Army.

On April 25, 1945, the Red Army and the troops of the Second Front opened by the Allies met on the Elbe.

On May 9, 1945, Germany signed the act of surrender, marking the end of the Great Patriotic War. Meanwhile, World War II continued.

Creation of the anti-Hitler coalition, actions of the allies in Europe, Africa and Asia (June 1941 - May 1945)

Having developed a plan for an attack on the Soviet Union, Hitler counted on the international isolation of this country. Indeed, the communist power was not particularly popular on the international stage. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact also played a decisive role in this. At the same time, already on July 12, 1941, the USSR and Great Britain signed a cooperation agreement. This agreement was later supplemented by an agreement on trade and loans. In September of the same year, Stalin for the first time turned to Great Britain with a request to open a second front in Europe. Requests, and subsequently demands, from the Soviet side remained unanswered until the beginning of 1944.

Before the US entered the war (December 7, 1941), the British government and the French government in London, led by Charles de Gaulle, were in no hurry to reassure new allies, limiting themselves to supplies of food, money and weapons (Lend-Lease).

On January 1, 1942, the Declaration of 26 states was signed in Washington and the official formation of the anti-Hitler coalition was actually completed. In addition, the USSR became a party to the Atlantic Charter. Agreements on cooperation and mutual assistance were concluded with many countries that by this time were part of the anti-Hitler bloc. The Soviet Union, Great Britain and the United States become the undisputed leaders. A declaration on achieving a lasting and just peace was also signed between the USSR and Poland, but due to the execution of Polish soldiers near Katyn, truly strong relations were not established.

In October 1943, the foreign ministers of Great Britain, the USA and the USSR met in Moscow to discuss the upcoming Tehran Conference. The conference itself took place from November 28 to December 1, 1943 in Tehran. Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin were present. The Soviet Union managed to achieve a promise to open a second front in May 1944 and various kinds of territorial concessions.

In January 1945, allies in the anti-Hitler coalition gathered in Yalta to discuss further actions after the defeat of Germany. The Soviet Union pledged to continue the war, directing its military power to achieve victory over Japan.

The rapid rapprochement with the Soviet Union was of great importance for Western European countries. Broken France, besieged Great Britain, and more than neutral America could not pose a serious threat to Hitler. The outbreak of war on the Eastern Front distracted the main forces of the Reich from events in Europe, Asia and Africa and gave a noticeable respite, which Western countries did not fail to take advantage of.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, which became the reason for the United States to enter the war and begin hostilities in the Philippines, Thailand, New Guinea, China and even India. At the end of 1942, Japan controls all of Southeast Asia and Northwest Oceania.

In the summer of 1941, the first significant Anglo-American convoys appeared in the Atlantic Ocean, transporting equipment, weapons, and food. Similar convoys appear on the Pacific and Arctic oceans. Until the end of 1944, there was a fierce confrontation at sea between German combat submarines and Allied ships. Despite significant losses on land, the right to supremacy at sea remains with Great Britain.

Having secured the support of the Americans, the British made repeated attempts to oust the Nazis from Africa and Italy. This was achieved only by 1945 during the Tunisian and Italian companies. Since January 1943, there have been regular bombings of German cities.

The most significant event of World War II on the Western Front was the landing of Allied forces in Normandy on June 6, 1944. The appearance of the Americans, British and Canadians in Normandy marked the opening of the Second Front and marked the beginning of the liberation of Belgium and France.

The final period of World War II (May - September 1945)

The surrender of Germany, signed on May 9, 1945, made it possible to transfer part of the troops that took part in the liberation of Europe from fascism to the Pacific direction. By this time, over 60 states took part in the war against Japan. In the summer of 1945, Japanese troops left Indonesia and liberated Indochina. On July 26, the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition demanded that the Japanese Government sign an agreement on voluntary surrender. There was no positive response, so the fighting continued.

On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union also declares war on Japan. The transfer of Red Army units to the Far East begins, the Kwantung Army located there suffers defeats, and the puppet state of Manchukuo ceases to exist.

On August 6 and 9, American aircraft carriers dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, after which there was no longer any doubt about the Allied victory in the Pacific.

On September 2, 1945, the act of unconditional surrender of Japan is signed. The Second World War ends, negotiations begin between the former allies in the anti-Hitler bloc concerning the future fate of Germany and fascism itself. Tribunals begin to operate in Nuremberg and Tokyo to determine the degree of guilt and punishment for war criminals.

The Second World War claimed the lives of 27 million people. Germany was divided into 4 occupation zones and for a long time lost the right to make independent decisions in the international arena. In addition, the amount of indemnity imposed on Germany and its allies was several times greater than that determined following the First World War.

Counteraction to fascism in Asian and African countries took shape in an anti-colonial movement, thanks to which many colonies acquired the status of independent states. One of the most important results of the war was the creation of the United Nations. The warm relations between the allies, established during the war, cooled noticeably. Europe was divided into two camps - capitalist and communist.