World War II began in 1939. History of the Second World War

Detailed solution paragraph § 14–15 on history for 9th grade students, authors L.N. Aleksashkina 2011

Questions and tasks:

1. *At the end of the 1930s, Germany committed several acts of aggression against European countries. Explain why her attack on Poland marked the beginning of World War II.

Perhaps the reason was that France and Great Britain could no longer resolve the issue diplomatically without declaring war. Firstly, according to the mutual assistance agreement, they had to come to the aid of Poland. Secondly, until the last moment, the French and British governments hoped that Hitler would strike the first blow against the USSR, but after the conclusion of the Soviet-German Pact it became clear that he would not do so, but would direct his aggression towards Western countries. Not entering the war after the attack on Poland meant encouraging Germany's further aggressive policy.

2. Name the chronological framework of the “Phantom War” in Western Europe. What explained this nature of the war?

After the declaration of war on Germany on September 3, 1939, Great Britain and France 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.” The period of the “Phantom War” ended on May 10, 1940, when German troops crossed the borders of Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg and began an attack on France.

3. Describe the attitude of the French towards the German invasion in 1940. What was the basis of this or that position?

The attitude of the French towards the German invasion was ambivalent. On the one hand, the French government, led by Marshal A.F. Petain, declared Paris an “open city” and accepted defeat. On June 14, it was surrendered to the Germans without a fight.

On the other hand, not all French people supported the position of the official French government. On June 18, 1940, in a broadcast from the London BBC radio station, General Charles de Gaulle stated that France had not been completely defeated and the outcome of the war was not being decided by the battle for France.

After the signing of the Franco-German truce in the Compiegne Forest on June 22, 1940, a government was created on the remaining unoccupied territory of France, 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 is to organize the fight against the occupiers.

4. What were the main results of the fighting in Europe in 1939 – 1940?

As a result of hostilities in Europe in 1939 - 1940. Germany captured Poland and shared a border with the Soviet Union. In the spring of 1940, German troops invaded and captured Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, and France. After the surrender of France, Germany began a naval blockade of Great Britain. Thus, Germany secured peace on the Western Front and began preparing for an offensive in the East.

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

5. Explain the significance of the failure of the German plan for a lightning war on the Eastern Front.

The disruption of the German plan for a lightning war on the Eastern Front was of key importance for the course of the Second World War. The protracted struggle with the USSR led to the fact that Germany was forced to wage a war on two fronts, which significantly weakened the forces of the Wehrmacht. In addition, German troops suffered huge losses in the war with the USSR, which also weakened their position.

6. *Compare the scale of military operations on the Soviet-German front and other fronts of the Second World War. Which front played the decisive role? Why do you think so? (When working on the assignment, use materials from a textbook on Russian history.)

The decisive role in the Second World War belonged to the Soviet-German front, the scale of combat operations on which significantly exceeded the scale of actions on other fronts of the Second World War.

Germany's attack on the USSR radically changed the alignment and balance of forces, and the overall military-political situation in the world. The center of gravity of the armed struggle moved to the Soviet-German front, which literally from the first days of military operations there became the decisive front of the Second World War. Major events took place here that radically changed not only the course of this war, but also the entire history of the world.

For a long time, the Armed Forces of the USSR waged virtual combat with the gigantic military machine of Nazi Germany and its European allies. Having seized the initiative and taking advantage of the fact that the Western allies of the USSR did not conduct active military operations on other fronts for a long time, the fascist German command constantly sent new reinforcements to the east.

Until the summer of 1944, there were on average 12-20 times more enemy troops on the Soviet-German front than on other fronts where the armed forces of the United States and Great Britain operated. The length of the Soviet-German front was 4 times greater than the total size of the North African, Italian and Western fronts. True, since June 1944, the number of Wehrmacht formations operating against American, British and French troops on the Western European Front increased significantly, but even then there were 1.8-2.8 times fewer of them than on the Soviet-German front .

Throughout the war, the Soviet-German front pinned down the bulk of the troops, as well as military equipment Wehrmacht At its various stages, there were from 8 million to 12.8 million people, from 84 thousand to 163 thousand guns and mortars, from 5.7 thousand to 20 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns (assault guns) on both sides at the same time. ), from 6.5 thousand to 18.8 thousand aircraft.. World history has never known such a concentration of military masses and military equipment. Active defensive and offensive actions of troops on the Soviet-German front accounted for 93% of the time of its existence. On none of the other fronts was there such an intense, prolonged and fierce struggle. This means that the events on the Soviet-German front were decisive for the course of the entire Second World War. Here, the most important military-political goals were achieved, which had a decisive influence on its final outcome, namely the disruption of the plan for a lightning war and a radical revolution during the Second World War.

1944 was the year of decisive victories for the Soviet Armed Forces. The most important military-political result of the campaigns they conducted this year was the collapse of the defensive strategy of Nazi Germany.

The successful offensive of the Red Army not only brought closer the complete defeat of the Wehrmacht on the Soviet-German front, but also thwarted the plans of the German command in the west. It greatly facilitated the invasion of the USSR-allied troops on the continent and contributed to their subsequent advance on the Western European Front. Thus, the crushing blows of the Soviet Armed Forces in the summer of 1944 allowed the allies, in relatively favorable conditions, to carry out the Normandy landing operation from June 6 to July 24 and finally open a second front in Europe, and in August to carry out the South French landing operation. By the end of autumn 1944, the allied armies reached the front from the mouth of the river. Meuse to the Franco-Swiss border. The attempt of the German command to launch an offensive on the Western Front in order to defeat the Anglo-American troops with a blow through the Ardennes to Antwerp (December 16, 1944 - January 29, 1945) did not produce the expected results. At the request of British Prime Minister W. Churchill, the Soviet Supreme High Command launched a powerful offensive on the Soviet-German front in the zone from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathians earlier than planned, which forced the Wehrmacht command to urgently transfer a number of attack formations from west to east, and the crisis situation in the Ardennes was liquidated quite quickly.

The opening of a second front was, of course, important event during the armed struggle against the fascist bloc. However, it should be noted that the Allied military operations in the Western European theater unfolded when the forces of Nazi Germany were already exhausted. There were from 56 to 75 Wehrmacht divisions there, that is, several times less than on the Soviet-German front.

By the beginning of the 1945 campaign in Europe, Nazi Germany, despite all the defeats, still represented an impressive force. In accordance with the adopted course of concentrating the main efforts against the Red Army, the distribution of Wehrmacht troops by the beginning of 1945 was as follows: on the Soviet-German front, as part of five army groups and one operational group, 185 divisions and 21 brigades operated (including 16 divisions and Hungarian brigade), while on the western and Italian fronts there are 105 divisions and 4 brigades, of which 4 divisions and a brigade are Italian. In total, by the beginning of the campaign, the German Eastern Front numbered 3.7 million people (in the west the enemy had only 1.9 million people), 56.2 thousand guns and mortars, 8.1 thousand tanks and assault guns and 4.1 thousand combat aircraft.

It should be noted that with the beginning of the final campaign of World War II in Europe, the strategic interaction of the Armed Forces of the USSR with the troops of the Western allies acquired a closer character. The latter's offensive in Western Germany and Italy developed simultaneously with the attacks of the Red Army on the Vistula, in East Prussia and in the Budapest region. Under these conditions, to coordinate actions against a common enemy and solve the problems of the post-war system in Europe, a conference of the heads of three powers - the USSR, the USA and Great Britain - was held on February 4-11, 1945 in Yalta. At meetings on military matters, representatives of the Allied countries assured Soviet participants that offensive operations on the Western Front would resume in early February.

During the second half of February and in March the English American troops, having launched a general offensive along the entire Western Front, cleared the territory west of the Rhine River from the enemy and crossed it on March 24. In early April, they surrounded up to 20 German divisions in the Ruhr industrial region and by April 18 liquidated this group. Subsequently, the Allied armies began to quickly advance into the interior of Germany, encountering almost no resistance, since the Wehrmacht troops practically stopped conducting military operations against them. In the second half of April, the Allies reached the Elbe River in the central sector, where on April 25, in the Torgau region, they met with the advanced units of the Red Army. Germany, thus, found itself cut into two parts - northern and southern.

The offensive of the Anglo-American troops in Italy began in the first half of April 1945, and already on April 29, they, together with the Italian liberation forces, forced the German Army Group C to capitulate.

In general, the armed forces of the Western Allies in the final campaign of World War II in Europe made a significant contribution to the common cause of victory over Nazi Germany. However, it should be borne in mind that military operations on the western and Italian fronts were carried out in conditions when the German High Command sent most of the forces and means at its disposal, as well as almost all the reinforcements that could still be found, to the east in order to to block the Red Army's path to Berlin. In addition, a significant part of the German troops operating against the allies preferred to surrender rather than conduct a stubborn defense.

The results of the armed confrontation on the Soviet-German front, which was distinguished by great scope, exceptional activity, determination and tension, indicate that it was here that the most significant strategic results were achieved. The struggle on the main front of the war ended with the complete defeat of the Wehrmacht and the unconditional surrender of Germany. The Wehrmacht suffered more than 74% of its total losses (10 million out of 13.4 million) in battles and battles with the Soviet Armed Forces. Assessing the actions of the latter and the impact of these actions on the course of World War II, US President. Red Army troops in 1941-1945. defeated and captured 607 enemy divisions, while the Anglo-American - about 176 divisions. The damage of the fascist German troops on the Soviet-German front in terms of personnel alone was 4 times greater than in the aggregate in the Western European and Mediterranean theaters of military operations, and in terms of the number of killed and wounded - 6 times. On this, the main and decisive front of the Second World War, the bulk of the aggressor’s military equipment was destroyed - about 50 thousand tanks and assault guns (up to 75% of their total losses), over 70 thousand aircraft (about 70%), 167 thousand . artillery pieces (74%)9.

The main strategic result of the struggle on the Soviet-German front was the crushing of the military power of the fascist bloc, which led to the collapse of the entire political and military system of Hitler's Germany and its European allies, the complete failure of their strategic plans and plans.

Thus, the results of the armed struggle are convincing evidence that the actions of the Soviet Armed Forces against the armies of Nazi Germany, militaristic Japan and their allies constituted the main content of the military confrontation of the coalitions during the Second World War and had a decisive influence on its course and outcome.

7. What goals did the Nazis pursue in the occupied countries? Show with specific facts.

The main goal of the Nazis in the occupied territory was to expand living space for the German population and use all resources (human and material) for the benefit of Germany. For this purpose, Hitler developed special plans.

Thus, the Soviet Union was supposed to disappear, within 30 years its territory was supposed to 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 began to be developed “on the eastern question", and the detailed program for the conquest of the peoples of Eastern Europe was outlined in the master plan "Ost" (December 1941). The general guidelines were as follows: part of the population of the occupied territories was to be exterminated on the spot, a significant part was to be resettled in Siberia (the SS organs planned to exterminate 5–6 million Jews in the “eastern regions”, evict 46–51 million people, and the remaining 14 million people reduced to the level of a semi-literate workforce, education limited to a four-year school).

In the conquered countries of Europe, the Nazis began to methodically implement their plans. In the occupied territories, a “cleansing” of the population was carried out - Jews and communists were exterminated. Prisoners of war and some of the young men and women forcibly taken from their homes flocked to 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.

8. Describe the main currents in the Resistance movement. What united its participants? How did their positions differ?

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.

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 also 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 emigrant 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.

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

By mid-1944, leading bodies of the Resistance movement had formed in many countries, uniting different movements and groups - from communists to Catholics. In France it was the National Council of the Resistance, which 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 in the work of committees national liberation Communists, socialists, Christian Democrats, liberals, members of the Action Party and the Labor Democracy Party participated.

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.”

9. Explain when, due to what events, a turning point occurred during the Second World War.

The turning point in the Second World War occurred on the eastern front during the following events:

1. The 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. On November 19, 1942, the counter-offensive of Soviet troops began (front commanders N.F. Vatutin, K.K. Rokossovsky, A.I. Eremenko) ended with 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.

2. Battle of Kursk. In the summer of 1943, the German attempt to attack Kursk from

districts of Orel and Belgorod. 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, in a field near the village of Prokhorovka, the largest tank battle World War II, 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.

10. Name the main meetings of the leaders of the countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition. What significance did they have?

1. Tehran Conference. On November 28 – December 1, 1943, a meeting of the leaders of the three countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition took place in Tehran: the USSR, the 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.

2. Yalta (Crimean) conference. 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.

3. Post-Dame Conference. From July 17 to 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. The Soviet Union was to receive half (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. 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 partly (the area of ​​Königsberg, now Kaliningrad) to the USSR.

11. Compile a historical background on the second front in Europe (tasks, expected and actual opening dates, role in the course of hostilities).

The purpose of the second front in Europe was to launch a large-scale offensive against Germany and thus provide assistance to the USSR and further defeat Germany as a result of an offensive from two fronts.

The USSR wanted the opening of a Second Front in the summer of 1943 in the south of Italy in Sicily.

But in fact, the second front in Western Europe was opened on June 6, 1944 as a result of the landing of American and British troops in Normandy, on the northern coast of France.

After the landings, the Allied forces liberated France and Belgium and launched an attack on Berlin simultaneously with the frontal attack of the Red Army. Thus, Germany was forced to hold back the offensive from two fronts.

Option. Make a map “Liberation of European countries” (show on it the main actions of armies, Resistance forces, places of liberation uprisings).

The liberation of European countries from occupation and fascism took place through the joint efforts of the anti-Hitler coalition, but the USSR played a decisive role in this event.

The beginning of 1944 was marked by major offensive operations by Soviet troops on the southern and northern sections of the Soviet-German front. Ukraine and Crimea were liberated, and the 900-day blockade of Leningrad was broken. 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.

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

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.

September 9 - anti-fascist uprising in Bulgaria, the government of the Fatherland Front came to power.

October 6 - Soviet troops and units of the Czechoslovak Corps entered the territory of Czechoslovakia.

armies liberated Belgrade.

The liberation of European countries was paid for with the lives of many thousands of Soviet soldiers. 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 recent months and days of war.

13. What factors and forces played a decisive role in the defeat of Nazi Germany? Give reasons for your point of view.

1. the military power of the USSR (more than 2/3 of Germany’s armed forces were constantly on the Eastern Front, Germany suffered its main losses and defeats in the east of the USSR);

2. patriotism of peoples opposing the seizure of their territory;

3. joint actions of the Anti-Hitler coalition, opening of a second front

14. *How do you determine the reasons for Japan's defeat in World War II?

Reasons for Japan's defeat in World War II:

1. The naval blockade caused an economic collapse, causing production to fall below pre-war levels.

2. Strategic bombing caused heavy casualties and destruction, demoralizing the population and weakening their support for the course of total war.

3. Soviet invasion destroyed hopes for USSR mediation in the matter of peace, and the threat of war on two fronts sharply reduced the time for decision-making.

4. The atomic bombings, coupled with uncertainty about the quantity of these weapons in the United States, created circumstances in which unconditional surrender became the only possible action.

15. Name the most outstanding, from your point of view, commanders of the Second World War. What serves as your assessment criterion (basis) in this case? (When answering, use material from a textbook on Russian history.)

The criterion for evaluation was the effectiveness of the victories of the commanders and their contribution to the victory over Germany.

On the Soviet-German front:

Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov (1896-1974) - Marshal of the Soviet Union, Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Armed Forces, member of the Supreme Command Headquarters. He commanded the troops of the Reserve, Leningrad, Western, and 1st Belorussian fronts, coordinated the actions of a number of fronts, and made a great contribution to achieving victory in the battle of Moscow, in the Battles of Stalingrad, Kursk, in the Belarusian, Vistula-Oder and Berlin operations.

Vasilevsky Alexander Mikhailovich (1895-1977) - Marshal of the Soviet Union. Chief of the General Staff in 1942-1945. , member of the Supreme Command Headquarters. He coordinated the actions of a number of fronts in strategic operations, in 1945 - commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front and commander-in-chief of Soviet troops in the Far East.

Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich (1896-1968) - Marshal of the Soviet Union, Marshal of Poland. Commanded the Bryansk, Don, Central, Belorussian, 1st and 2nd Belorussian fronts.

Konev Ivan Stepanovich (1897-1973) - Marshal of the Soviet Union. Commanded the troops of the Western, Kalinin, North-Western, Steppe, 2nd and 1st Ukrainian Fronts.

Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich (1898-1967) - Marshal of the Soviet Union. From October 1942 - Deputy Commander of the Voronezh Front, Commander of the 2nd Guards Army, Southern, Southwestern, 3rd and 2nd Ukrainian, Transbaikal Fronts.

Govorov Leonid Aleksandrovich (1897-1955) - Marshal of the Soviet Union. From June 1942 he commanded the troops of the Leningrad Front, and in February-March 1945 he simultaneously coordinated the actions of the 2nd and 3rd Baltic Fronts.

Antonov Alexey Innokentievich (1896-1962) - army general. Since 1942 - first deputy chief, chief (since February 1945) of the General Staff, member of the Supreme Command Headquarters.

Timoshenko Semyon Konstantinovich (1895-1970) - Marshal of the Soviet Union. To the Great Patriotic War- People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR, member of the Supreme Command Headquarters, commander-in-chief of the Western and South-Western directions, from July 1942 he commanded the Stalingrad and North-Western fronts. Since 1943 - representative of the Supreme Command Headquarters at the fronts.

Tolbukhin Fedor Ivanovich (1894-1949) - Marshal of the Soviet Union. At the beginning of the war - chief of staff of the district (front). Since 1942 - Deputy Commander of the Stalingrad Military District, Commander of the 57th and 68th Armies, Southern, 4th and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts.

On other fronts of World War II:

D. Eisenhower - US statesman and military leader, army general (1944). During World War II 1939 - 45 commander (from June 1942) of American troops in Europe, commands. (from November 1942) by allied forces in North Africa and the Mediterranean. Since 1943, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Western Europe; led the landing of Anglo-American troops on the coast of Northwestern France, which meant the opening of a second front in Europe. He was awarded orders from many countries, including the Soviet Order of Victory (1945). After the defeat of Nazi Germany, Eisenhower became commander of the US occupation forces in Germany.

Douglas MacArthur is an American military leader, holder of the highest rank - General of the Army (December 18, 1944), Field Marshal of the Philippine Army (August 24, 1936), holder of many orders and medals.

Bernard Law Montgomery, British field marshal (1944), major military leader of the Second World War. In October–November 1942, at the Battle of El Alamein, Montgomery's army defeated the outnumbered German-Italian forces, finally turning the tide of hostilities in North Africa in favor of the Allies. Montgomery was knighted and given the rank of full general.

16. *What do you think determined the actions and behavior of people during the war? Express your opinion about what heroism in war is. What was it? Give examples.

Heroism presupposes courage, determination, bravery, nobility, and the ability to sacrifice oneself in the name of another person or a significant idea. Soldiers as well as civilians during World War II showed great courage, fighting either at the front or on the home front. The motive for all their actions was the desire to expel the enemy and ensure a bright, peaceful future for themselves and their children.

An example of heroism during World War II is the defense of the Brest Fortress. The Nazi command spent half an hour planning to capture Brest. But about a month passed before German troops were able to do this. The fortress on the western border of the Soviet Union became a symbol of feat and heroism, courage and perseverance. Even our enemies were forced to admit this. In March 1942, in the Orel area, our troops defeated the Nazis' 45th Infantry Division. At the same time, the archive of her headquarters was captured, in which, among other documents, a “Combat report on the capture of Brest-Litovsk” was discovered. His final lines say: “An attack on a fortress in which a brave enemy sits costs a lot of blood. The Russians in Brest-Litovsk fought exceptionally persistently and stubbornly. They showed excellent infantry training and proved a remarkable will to fight.”

17. Compare the indicators related to the two world wars (see table on page 145). Identify the most significant differences. What conclusions can be drawn from the comparison?

Indicators related to the two world wars differ in all respects. But what is especially different is the territory covered by the fighting, the number of states involved in the war, and most importantly the total number of deaths on the fronts. From this we can conclude that the Second World War, in terms of its scale and human casualties, was much more severe and inhumane than the First World War.

18. *Describe the main results of the Second World War. What do you think its lessons are? (Also use material from a textbook on Russian history.)

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 for several generations of people. The international and socio-political consequences of the war turned out to be significant.

Today they like to repeat the phrase that the war is not over until the last soldier is buried. Is there an end to this war when search engines find hundreds and hundreds every season? dead soldiers, and remained on the battlefield? There is no end to this work, and many politicians and military men, and simply not very healthy people, have been swinging batons for many years now, dreaming of once again putting in their place the countries that are “presumptuous”, in their opinion, reshaping the world, taking away what they cannot get peacefully. These hotheads are constantly trying to ignite the fire of a new world war in different countries of the world. Fuses are already smoldering in Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. It will light up in one place and explode everywhere! They say they learn from mistakes. Unfortunately, this is not entirely true, and two world wars in the 20th century alone are evidence of this.

Historians are still arguing how many died? If 15 years ago they claimed that there were more than 50 million people, now another 20 million have been added. How accurate will their calculations be in another 15 years? After all, what happened in Asia (especially in China) is most likely simply impossible to evaluate. The war and the famine and epidemics associated with it simply did not leave evidence in those parts. Can't this really stop anyone?!

The war lasted for six years. The armies of 61 countries with a total population of 1,700 million people, that is, 80% of the entire earth's population, were under arms. The fighting spanned 40 countries. And the worst thing is that the number of civilian deaths exceeded the number of deaths in military operations several times.

Previous Events

Returning to the Second World War, it should be noted that it began not in 1939, but most likely in 1918. The First World War did not end in peace, but rather in a truce; the first round of global confrontation was completed, and in 1939 the second began.

After the First World War, many European states disappeared from the political map, and new ones were formed. Those who won did not want to part with their acquisitions, and those who were defeated wanted to return what they had lost. The far-fetched solution to some territorial issues also caused irritation. But in Europe there is always territorial issues decided by force, all that remained was to prepare.

Very close to territorial ones, colonial disputes were also added. In the colonies, the local population no longer wanted to live in the old way and constantly raised liberation uprisings.

The rivalry between European states intensified even more. As they say, they bring water to the offended. Germany was offended, but did not intend to transport water for the victors, despite the fact that its capabilities were severely limited.

Dictatorships became an important factor in preparing for a future war. They began to multiply in Europe in the pre-war years with amazing speed. Dictators first asserted themselves in their countries, developing armies to pacify their peoples, with a further aim to capture new territories.

There was another important factor. This is the emergence of the USSR, which was not inferior in strength to the Russian Empire. And the USSR also created the danger of the spread of communist ideas, which European countries could not allow.

The outbreak of World War II was preceded by many different diplomatic and political factors. The Versailles agreements of 1918 did not suit Germany at all, and the Nazis who came to power created a bloc of fascist states.

By the beginning of the war, the final alignment of the warring forces had taken place. On one side were Germany, Italy and Japan, and on the other were Great Britain, France and the USA. The main desire of Great Britain and France was, right or wrong, to ward off the threat of German aggression from their countries, and also to direct it to the East. I really wanted to pit Nazism against Bolshevism. This policy resulted in the fact that, despite all the efforts of the USSR, it was not possible to prevent war.

The culmination of the policy of appeasement, which undermined the political situation in Europe and, in fact, pushed for the outbreak of war, was the Munich Agreement of 1938 between Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy. Under this agreement, Czechoslovakia “voluntarily” transferred part of its country to Germany, and a year later, in March 1939, it was completely occupied and ceased to exist as a state. Poland and Hungary also took part in this division of Czechoslovakia. This was the beginning, Poland was next in line.

Lengthy and fruitless negotiations between the Soviet Union and England and France on mutual assistance in the event of aggression led to the fact that the USSR signed a non-aggression pact with Germany. Our country was able to delay the start of the war for almost two years, and these two years allowed it to strengthen its defense capability. This agreement also contributed to the conclusion of a neutrality pact with Japan.

And Great Britain and Poland literally on the eve of the war, on August 25, 1939, signed an agreement on mutual assistance, to which France joined a few days later.

Beginning of World War II

On August 1, 1939, after a provocation staged by the German intelligence services, fighting against Poland. Two days later, England and France declared war on Germany. They were supported by Canada, New Zealand and Australia, India and the countries of South Africa. So the capture of Poland turned into a world war. But Poland never received real help.

Two German armies, consisting of 62 divisions, completely occupied Poland within two weeks. The government of the country left for Romania. The heroism of Polish soldiers was not enough to defend the country.

Thus began the first stage of the Second World War. England and France did not change their policies until May 1940; they hoped until the last that Germany would continue its offensive in the East. But everything turned out to be not quite so.

Major events of World War II

In April 1940, Denmark stood in the way of the German army, followed immediately by Norway. Continuing to carry out its Gelb plan, the German army decided to attack France through its neighboring countries - the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The French Maginot line of defense could not stand it, and already on May 20 the Germans reached the English Channel. The armies of Holland and Belgium capitulated. The French fleet was defeated, part of the army was able to be evacuated to England. The French government left Paris and the act of surrender was signed. Next up is the UK. There was no direct invasion yet, but the Germans blockaded the island and bombed English cities from airplanes. The island's staunch defense in 1940 (Battle of Britain) only briefly deterred aggression. The war at this time began to develop in the Balkans. On April 1, 1940, the Nazis captured Bulgaria, and on April 6, Greece and Yugoslavia. As a result, all of Western and Central Europe came under Hitler's rule. From Europe the war spread to other parts of the world. Italo-German troops launched offensives in North Africa, and already in the fall of 1941 it was planned to begin the conquest of the Middle East and India with the further connection of German and Japanese troops. And in Directive No. 32, which was being developed, German militarism assumed that by solving the English problem and defeating the USSR, it would eliminate the influence of the Anglo-Saxons on the American continent. Germany began preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union.

With the attack on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, the second stage of the war began. Germany and its allies sent an invasion army unprecedented in history to destroy the Soviet Union. It consisted of 182 divisions and 20 brigades (about 5 million people, about 4.4 thousand tanks, 4.4 thousand aircraft, more than 47 thousand guns and mortars, 246 ships). Germany was supported by Romania, Finland, and Hungary. Assistance was provided by Bulgaria, Slovakia, Croatia, Spain, Portugal and Türkiye.

The Soviet Union was not fully prepared to repel this invasion. And therefore, the summer and autumn of 1941 were the most critical for our country. Fascist troops were able to advance from 850 to 1200 kilometers deep into our territory. Leningrad was blockaded, the Germans were dangerously close to Moscow, large parts of Donbass and Crimea were captured, and the Baltic states were occupied.

But the war with the Soviet Union did not go according to the German command’s plan. The lightning capture of Moscow and Leningrad failed. The defeat of the Germans near Moscow destroyed the myth of the invincibility of their army. The German generals were faced with the question of a protracted war.

It was at this time that the process of uniting all military forces in the world against fascism began. Churchill and Roosevelt officially announced that they would support the Soviet Union, and already on July 12, the USSR and England concluded a corresponding agreement, and on August 2, the United States pledged to provide economic and military assistance to the Russian army. On August 14, England and the USA promulgated the Atlantic Charter, to which the USSR joined.

In September, Soviet and British troops occupied Iran to prevent the creation of fascist bases in the East. An anti-Hitler coalition is being created.

December 1941 was marked by an aggravation of the military situation in the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. The two largest countries went to war. The Americans declared war on Italy, Japan and Germany.

But in the Pacific Ocean, in the South- East Asia and North Africa, not everything worked out in favor of the Allies. Japan captured part of China, French Indochina, Malaya, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong. The army and navy forces of Great Britain, Holland and the USA suffered heavy losses in the Javanese operation.

The third stage of the war is considered to be a turning point. Military operations at this time were characterized by scale and intensity. The opening of the Second Front was postponed indefinitely, and the Germans threw all their efforts into seizing the strategic initiative on the Eastern Front. The fate of the entire war was decided at Stalingrad and Kursk. The crushing victories of the Soviet troops in 1943 served as a strong mobilizing incentive for further action.

Nevertheless, active Allied action on the Western Front was still a long way off. They expected further depletion of the forces of Germany and the USSR.

On July 25, 1943, Italy withdrew from the war and the Italian fascist government was liquidated. New power declared war on Hitler. The fascist union began to fall apart.

On June 6, 1944, the Second Front was finally opened, and more active actions by the Western Allies began. At this time, the fascist army was driven out of the territory of the Soviet Union and the liberation of European states began. The joint actions of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition led to the final defeat of the German troops and the surrender of Germany.

At the same time, the war in the East was in full swing. Japanese forces continued to threaten the Soviet border. The end of the war with Germany allowed the United States to strengthen its armies fighting against Japan. The Soviet Union, faithful to its allied obligations, transferred its armies to the Far East, which also took part in the hostilities. The war in the Far East and Southeast Asian territories ended on September 2, 1945. In this war, the United States used nuclear weapons against Japan.

Results and consequences of World War II

The main result of World War II should be considered, first of all, the victory over fascism. The threat of enslavement and partial destruction of humanity has disappeared.

The greatest losses were suffered by the Soviet Union, which took the brunt of the German army: 26.6 million people. The victims of the USSR and the resistance of the Red Army as a result led to the collapse of the Reich. No nation was spared human losses. More than 6 million people died in Poland, 5.5 million in Germany. A huge part of the Jewish population of Europe was destroyed.

The war could lead to the collapse of civilization. The peoples of the world at global trials condemned war criminals and fascist ideology.

A new political map of the planet has appeared, which nevertheless again divided the world into two camps, which in the future still became a reason for tension.

The use of nuclear weapons by the Americans in Nagasaki and Hiroshima forced the Soviet Union to accelerate the development of its own atomic project.

The war also changed the economic situation of countries around the world. European states were knocked out of the economic elite. Economic dominance passed to the United States of America.

The United Nations (UN) was created, which gave hope that countries would be able to come to an agreement in the future and thereby eliminate the very possibility of conflicts such as the Second World War.

Briefly, point by point, the entire course of the Second World War is divided into five main stages. We will try to describe them clearly for you.

• The shortest stages in the table for grades 9, 10, 11
• The beginning of the European conflict - initial stage 1
  
• Opening of the Eastern Front - Stage 2
  
• Fracture - stage 3
  
• Liberation of Europe - stage 4
  
• The end of the war - final stage 5
  

Table for ninth, tenth, eleventh grades

The beginning of the European conflict - The first initial stage of 1939 - 1941

• The first stage of the largest armed conflict in terms of its scale began on the day when Hitler’s troops entered Polish soil and ended on the eve of the Nazi attack on the USSR.
• The beginning of the second conflict, which acquired global proportions, was officially recognized as September 1, 1939. At dawn of this day, the German occupation of Poland began and European countries realized the threat posed by Hitler's Germany.
• 2 days later, France and France entered the war on the side of Poland. British Empire. Following them, the French and British dominions and colonies declared war on the Third Reich. Representatives of Australia, New Zealand and India were the first to announce their decision (September 3), then the leadership of the Union of South Africa (September 6) and Canada (September 10).
• However, despite entering the war, the French and British states did not help Poland in any way, and generally did not begin any active actions for a long time, trying to redirect German aggression to the east - against the USSR.
• All this ultimately led to the fact that in the first war period, Nazi Germany managed to occupy not only Polish, Danish, Norwegian, Belgian, Luxembourg and Dutch territories, but also most of the French Republic.
• After which the Battle of Britain began, which lasted more than three months. True, the Germans did not have to celebrate victory in this battle - they never managed to land troops on the British Isles.
• As a result of the first period of the war, most European states found themselves under fascist German-Italian occupation or became dependent on these states.

Opening of the Eastern Front - Second stage 1941 - 1942

• The second stage of the war began on June 22, 1941, when the Nazis violated the state border of the USSR. This period was marked by the expansion of the conflict and the collapse of Hitler's blitzkrieg.
• One of the significant events of this stage was also the support of the USSR from the largest states - the USA and Great Britain. Despite their rejection of the socialist system, the governments of these states declared unconditional assistance to the Union. Thus, the foundation was laid for a new military alliance - the anti-Hitler coalition.
• The second most important point of this stage of the Second World War is considered to be joining the US military action, provoked by an unexpected and rapid attack by the fleet and air force of the Japanese Empire on an American military base in the Pacific Ocean. The attack occurred on December 7, and the very next day war was declared on Japan by the United States, Great Britain and several other countries. And after another 4 days, Germany and Italy presented the United States with a note declaring war.

The turning point during World War II - Third stage 1942-1943

• The turning point of the war is considered to be the first major defeat of the German army on the approaches to the Soviet capital and the Battle of Stalingrad, during which the Nazis not only suffered significant losses, but were also forced to abandon offensive tactics and switch to defensive ones. These events occurred during the third stage of hostilities, which lasted from November 19, 1942 until the end of 1943.
• Also at this stage, the Allies entered Italy, where a power crisis was already brewing, almost without a fight. As a result, Mussolini was overthrown, the fascist regime collapsed, and the new government chose to sign a truce with America and Britain. On October 13, Italy entered the war with its former ally.
• At the same time, a turning point occurred in the theater of operations in the Pacific Ocean, where Japanese troops began to suffer defeats one after another.

Liberation of Europe - Fourth stage 1944 -1945

• During the fourth war period, which began on the first day of 1944 and ended on May 9, 1945, a second front was created in the west, the fascist bloc was defeated and all European states were liberated from the German invaders. Germany was forced to admit defeat and sign an act of surrender.

End of the war - Fifth final stage 1945

• Despite the fact that German troops laid down their arms, the world war was not over yet - Japan was not going to follow the example of its former allies. As a result, the USSR declared war on the Japanese state, after which Red Army detachments began a military operation in Manchuria. The resulting defeat of the Kwantung Army hastened the end of the war.
• However, the most significant moment of this period was the atomic bombing of Japanese cities, which was carried out by the American air force. This happened on August 6 (Hiroshima) and 9 (Nagasaki), 1945.
• This stage ended, and with it the entire war, on September 2 of the same year. On this significant day, on board the American battle cruiser Missouri, representatives of the Japanese government officially signed the act of surrender.

	Europe, East and Southeast Asia, North, Northeast and West Africa, Middle East, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Arctic oceans, Mediterranean.
	Politics of many states; consequences of the Versailles-Washington system; global economic crisis.
	Victory for Russia
Territorial changes:	Victory of the anti-Hitler coalition. Creation of the UN. Prohibition and condemnation of the ideologies of fascism and Nazism. The USSR and the USA become superpowers. Reducing the role of Great Britain and France in global politics. The world is split into two camps with different socio-political systems: socialist and capitalist. The Cold War begins. Decolonization of vast colonial empires.
Opponents
	Italian Republic (1943-1945)
France (1939-1940)
Belgium (1940)	Kingdom of Italy (1940-1943)
Netherlands (1940-1942)
Luxembourg (1940)
	Finland (1941-1944)
	Romania (Under Antonescu)
Denmark (1940)	French State (1940-1944)
Greece (1940-1941)	Bulgaria (1941-1944)
States that left the Nazi bloc:	States that supported the Axis:
Romania (Under Antonescu)
Bulgaria (1941-1944)
Finland (1941-1944)
Those who declared war on Germany, but did not participate in hostilities:
Russian Empire
Commanders
Joseph Stalin	Adolf Hitler †
Winston Churchill	Empire of Japan by Tojo Hideki
Franklin Roosevelt †	Benito Mussolini †
Maurice Gustave Gamelin	Henri Philippe Pétain
Maxime Weygand	Miklos Horthy
Leopold III	Risto Ryti
Chiang Kai-shek	Ion Victor Antonescu
John Curtin	Boris III †
William Lyon Mackenzie King	Josef Tiso
Michael Joseph Savage †	Ante Pavelic
Josip Broz Tito	Ananda Mahidol

(September 1, 1939 - September 2, 1945) - armed conflict two world military-political coalitions, which became the largest war in human history. 62 states out of 73 that existed at that time took part in the war. The fighting took place on the territory of three continents and in the waters of four oceans.

Participants

The number of countries involved varied throughout the war. Some of them were actively involved in military operations, others helped their allies with food supplies, and many participated in the war only nominally.

The anti-Hitler coalition included: Poland, Great Britain, France (since 1939), USSR (since 1941), USA (since 1941), China, Australia, Canada, Yugoslavia, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Union of South Africa, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Greece, Ethiopia, Denmark, Brazil, Mexico, Mongolia, Luxembourg, Nepal, Panama, Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Peru, Guatemala, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Albania, Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Paraguay , Ecuador, San Marino, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Nicaragua, Liberia, Bolivia. During the war, they were joined by some states that left the Nazi bloc: Iran (since 1941), Iraq (since 1943), Italy (since 1943), Romania (since 1944), Bulgaria (since 1944), Hungary (in 1945), Finland (in 1945).

On the other hand, the countries of the Nazi bloc participated in the war: Germany, Italy (until 1943), the Japanese Empire, Finland (until 1944), Bulgaria (until 1944), Romania (until 1944), Hungary (until 1945), Slovakia, Thailand (Siam ), Iraq (before 1941), Iran (before 1941), Manchukuo, Croatia. On the territory of the occupied countries, puppet states were created that were not essentially participants in the Second World War and joined the fascist coalition: Vichy France, Italian social republic, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Inner Mongolia, Burma, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos. Many collaborationist troops, created from citizens of the opposing side, also fought on the side of Germany and Japan: ROA, RONA, foreign SS divisions (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Estonian, 2 Latvian, Norwegian-Danish, 2 Dutch, 2 Belgian, 2 Bosnian, French , Albanian), "Free India". Also, volunteer forces of states that formally remained neutral fought in the armed forces of the countries of the Nazi bloc: Spain (Blue Division), Sweden and Portugal.

Who declared war	To whom was war declared?
United Kingdom	Third Reich
	Third Reich
	Third Reich
	Third Reich
	Third ray
	Third Reich
	Third Reich
	United Kingdom
Third Reich

Territories

All military operations can be divided into 5 theaters of military operations:

• Western European: West Germany, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, France, Great Britain (air bombing), Atlantic.
• Eastern European theater: USSR (western part), Poland, Finland, Northern Norway, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Austria (eastern part), East Germany, Barents Sea, Baltic Sea, Black Sea.
• Mediterranean theater: Yugoslavia, Greece, Albania, Italy, Mediterranean islands (Malta, Cyprus, etc.), Egypt, Libya, French North Africa, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Mediterranean Sea.
• African theater: Ethiopia, Italian Somalia, British Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, French West Africa, French Equatorial Africa, Madagascar.
• Pacific theater: China (eastern and northeastern parts), Japan (Korea, South Sakhalin, Kuril Islands), USSR (Far East), Aleutian Islands, Mongolia, Hong Kong, French Indochina, Burma, Andaman Islands, Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, Dutch East Indies, Sabah, Brunei, New Guinea, Papua, Solomon Islands, Philippines, Hawaiian Islands , Guam, Wake, Midway, Mariana Islands, Caroline Islands, Marshall Islands, Gilbert Islands, many small islands of the Pacific Ocean, most of the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean.

Prerequisites for the war

Prerequisites for the war in Europe

The Treaty of Versailles extremely limited Germany's military capabilities. In April-May 1922, the Genoa Conference was held in the northern Italian port city of Rappalo. Representatives of Soviet Russia were also invited: Georgy Chicherin (chairman), Leonid Krasin, Adolf Ioffe and others. Germany (Weimar Republic) was represented by Walter Rathenau. The main theme of the conference was the mutual refusal to advance claims for compensation for damage caused during the fighting in the First World War. The result of the conference was the conclusion of the Treaty of Rapallo on April 16, 1922 between the RSFSR and the Weimar Republic. The agreement provided for the immediate restoration in full of diplomatic relations between the RSFSR and Germany. For Soviet Russia, this was the first international treaty in its history. For Germany, which until now had been an outlaw in the field of international politics, this agreement was of fundamental importance, since it thereby began to return to the number of states recognized by the international community.

Of no less importance for Germany were the secret agreements signed on August 11, 1922, according to which Soviet Russia guaranteed the supply of strategic materials to Germany and, moreover, provided its territory for testing new types of military equipment, prohibited for development by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 year.

On July 27, 1928, the Briand-Kellogg Pact was signed in Paris - an agreement on the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy. The pact was to come into force on July 24, 1929. On February 9, 1929, even before the official entry into force of the pact, the so-called Litvinov Protocol was signed in Moscow - the Moscow Protocol on the early entry into force of the obligations of the Briand-Kellogg Pact between the USSR, Poland, Romania, Estonia and Latvia. On April 1, 1929, Türkiye joined it and on April 5, Lithuania.

On July 25, 1932, the Soviet Union and Poland conclude a non-aggression pact. Thus, Poland is to some extent freed from the threat from the East.

With the coming to power of the National Socialist Workers' Party led by Adolf Hitler in 1933, Germany begins to ignore all the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles - in particular, it restores conscription into the army and quickly increases the production of weapons and military equipment. On October 14, 1933, Germany withdraws from the League of Nations and refuses to participate in the Geneva Disarmament Conference. On January 26, 1934, the Non-Aggression Pact was concluded between Germany and Poland. On July 24, 1934, Germany attempted to carry out the Anschluss of Austria by inspiring an anti-government putsch in Vienna, but was forced to abandon its plans due to the sharply negative position of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, who advanced four divisions to the Austrian border.

In the 1930s, Italy pursued an equally aggressive foreign policy. On October 3, 1935, it invades Ethiopia and captures it by May 1936 (see: Italo-Ethiopian War). In 1936, the Italian Empire was proclaimed. The Mediterranean Sea is declared “Our Sea” (lat. Mare Nostrum). The act of unjustified aggression displeases the Western powers and the League of Nations. The deterioration of relations with Western powers is pushing Italy towards rapprochement with Germany. In January 1936, Mussolini gave his consent in principle to the annexation of Austria by the Germans, subject to their refusal to expand in the Adriatic. On March 7, 1936, German troops occupy the Rhineland demilitarized zone. Great Britain and France do not offer effective resistance to this, limiting themselves to formal protest. November 25, 1936 Germany and Japan conclude the Anti-Comintern Pact to jointly fight communism. On November 6, 1937, Italy joined the pact.

On September 30, 1938, British Prime Minister Chamberlain and Hitler signed a declaration of non-aggression and peaceful settlement of disputes between Great Britain and Germany. In 1938, Chamberlain met with Hitler three times, and after a meeting in Munich he returned home with his famous statement “I have brought you peace!”

In March 1938, Germany freely annexed Austria (see: Anschluss).

Georges Bonnet, Foreign Minister of the French Republic, and Joachim Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister of the German Reich, sign the Franco-German Declaration on December 6, 1938.

In October 1938, as a result of the Munich Agreement, Germany annexed the Sudetenland that belonged to Czechoslovakia. England and France give consent to this act, and the opinion of Czechoslovakia itself is not taken into account. On March 15, 1939, Germany, in violation of the agreement, occupied the Czech Republic (see German occupation of the Czech Republic). The German protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia is created on Czech territory. Hungary and Poland participate in the division of Czechoslovakia. Slovakia was declared an independent pro-Nazi state. On February 24, 1939, Hungary joined the Anti-Comintern Pact, and on March 27, Spain, where Francisco Franco came to power after the end of the civil war.

Until now, Germany’s aggressive actions have not met serious resistance from Great Britain and France, who do not dare to start a war and are trying to save the system of the Versailles Treaty with reasonable, from their point of view, concessions (the so-called “policy of appeasement”). However, after Hitler’s violation of the Munich Treaty, both countries increasingly began to realize the need for a tougher policy, and in the event of further German aggression, Great Britain and France gave military guarantees to Poland. After Italy captured Albania on April 7-12, 1939, Romania and Greece received the same guarantees.

As M.I. Meltyukhov believes, objective conditions also made the Soviet Union an opponent of the Versailles system. Due to the internal crisis caused by the events of the First World War, the October Revolution and the Civil War, the country's level of influence on European and world politics decreased significantly. At the same time, the strengthening of the Soviet state and the results of industrialization stimulated the leadership of the USSR to take measures to return the status of a world power. The Soviet government skillfully used official diplomatic channels, the illegal possibilities of the Comintern, social propaganda, pacifist ideas, anti-fascism, and assistance to some victims of aggressors to create the image of the main fighter for peace and social progress. The struggle for “collective security” became Moscow’s foreign policy tactic, aimed at strengthening the weight of the USSR in international affairs and preventing the consolidation of other great powers without its participation. However, the Munich Agreement clearly showed that the USSR is still far from becoming an equal subject of European politics.

After the military alarm of 1927, the USSR began to actively prepare for war. The possibility of an attack by a coalition of capitalist countries was propagated by official propaganda. In order to have a trained mobilization reserve, the military began to actively and universally train the urban population in military specialties, and began mass training in parachuting, aircraft modeling, etc. (see OSOAVIAKHIM). It was honorable and prestigious to pass the GTO standards (ready for work and defense), to earn the title and badge of “Voroshilov Shooter” for accurate shooting, and, along with the new title “Order Bearer,” the prestigious title “Badge Artist” also appeared.

As a consequence of the Rapallo agreements and subsequent secret agreements, an aviation training center was created in Lipetsk in 1925, in which German instructors trained German and Soviet cadets. Near Kazan in 1929, a center for training commanders of tank formations was created (the secret training center “Kama”), in which German instructors also trained German and Soviet cadets. Many graduates of the Kama tank school became outstanding Soviet commanders, including Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant General of Tank Forces S. M. Krivoshein. During the operation of the school, 30 Reichswehr officers were trained for the German side. In 1926-1933, German tanks were also tested in Kazan (the Germans called them “tractors” for secrecy). A center for training in the handling of chemical weapons was created in Volsk (the Tomka facility). In 1933, after Hitler came to power, all these schools were closed.

On January 11, 1939, the People's Commissariat of Ammunition and the People's Commissariat of Weapons were created. Trucks were painted exclusively in green protective color.

In 1940, the USSR began to tighten the labor regime and increase the length of the working day for workers and employees. All state, cooperative and public enterprises and institutions were transferred from a six-day week to a seven-day week, considering the seventh day of the week - Sunday - as a day of rest. Responsibility for absenteeism has been tightened. Under penalty of imprisonment, dismissal and transfer to another organization without the permission of the director were prohibited (see “Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of June 26, 1940”).

The army is hastily adopting and starting mass release a new Yak fighter, without even completing state tests. 1940 is the year of mastering the production of the latest T-34 and KV, finalizing the SVT and adopting submachine guns.

During the political crisis of 1939, two military-political blocs emerged in Europe: Anglo-French and German-Italian, each of which was interested in an agreement with the USSR.

Poland, having concluded alliance treaties with Great Britain and France, which are obliged to help it in the event of German aggression, refuses to make concessions in negotiations with Germany (in particular, on the issue of the Polish Corridor).

On August 19, 1939, Molotov agreed to host Ribbentrop in Moscow to sign the Non-Aggression Pact with Germany. On the same day, an order was sent to the Red Army to increase the number of rifle divisions from 96 to 186.

Under these conditions, on August 23, 1939, in Moscow, the USSR signed a Non-Aggression Treaty with Germany. The secret protocol provided for the division of spheres of interest in Eastern Europe, including the Baltic states and Poland.

The USSR, Germany, France, Great Britain and other countries begin preparations for war.

Prerequisites for the war in Asia

The Japanese occupation of Manchuria and Northern China began in 1931. On July 7, 1937, Japan begins an offensive deep into China (see Sino-Japanese War).

Japan's expansion met with active opposition from the great powers. The UK, USA and the Netherlands imposed economic sanctions against Japan. The USSR also did not remain indifferent to the events in the Far East, especially since the Soviet-Japanese border conflicts of 1938–1939 (of which the most famous were the battles at Lake Khasan and the undeclared war at Khalkhin Gol) threatened to escalate into a full-scale war.

In the end, Japan faced a serious choice in which direction to continue its further expansion: to the north against the USSR or to the south. The choice was made in favor of the “southern option”. On April 13, 1941, an agreement on neutrality for a period of 5 years was signed in Moscow between Japan and the USSR. Japan began preparing for war against the United States and its allies in the Pacific region (Great Britain, the Netherlands).

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacks the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. Since December 1941, the Sino-Japanese War has been considered part of World War II.

First period of the war (September 1939 - June 1941)

Invasion of Poland

On May 23, 1939, a meeting was held in Hitler's office in the presence of a number of senior officers. It was noted that “the Polish problem is closely connected with the inevitable conflict with England and France, a quick victory over which is problematic. At the same time, Poland is unlikely to be able to act as a barrier against Bolshevism. Currently the task foreign policy Germany is to expand living space to the East, ensure a guaranteed food supply and eliminate the threat from the East. Poland must be captured at the first opportunity."

On August 31, the German press reported: “...on Thursday at approximately 20 o’clock the premises of the radio station in Gleiwitz were captured by the Poles.”

On September 1, at 4:45 a.m., a German training ship, the obsolete battleship Schleswig-Holstein, which arrived in Danzig on a friendly visit and was greeted with enthusiasm by the local population, opens fire on the Polish fortifications on Westerplatte. German armed forces invade Poland. Slovak troops are taking part in the fighting on the side of Germany.

On September 1, Hitler speaks in the Reichstag in military uniform. To justify the attack on Poland, Hitler refers to the incident in Gleiwitz. At the same time, he carefully avoids the term “war”, fearing the entry into the conflict of England and France, which gave Poland the appropriate guarantees. The order he issued spoke only of “active defense” against Polish aggression.

On the same day, England and France, under the threat of declaring war, demanded the immediate withdrawal of German troops from Polish territory. Mussolini proposed convening a conference for a peaceful solution to the Polish question, which was supported by the Western powers, but Hitler refused, saying that it was inappropriate to represent what had been won by arms as having been gained by diplomacy.

On September 1, universal conscription was introduced in the Soviet Union. At the same time, the conscription age has been reduced from 21 to 19 years, and for some categories - to 18 years. The law immediately came into force and in a short time the size of the army reached 5 million people, which amounted to about 3% of the population.

On September 3 at 9 o'clock England, at 12:20 France, as well as Australia and New Zealand declared war on Germany. Within a few days they will be joined by Canada, Newfoundland, the Union of South Africa and Nepal. The Second World War has begun.

On September 3, in Bromberg, a city in eastern Prussia, which was transferred to Poland under the Treaty of Versailles, the first massacre on ethnic grounds occurred in the outbreak of the war. In a city whose population was 3/4 Germans, at least 1,100 of them were killed by the Poles, which was the last of the pogroms that had been going on for a month.

The offensive of the German troops developed according to plan. Polish troops turned out to be a weak military force compared to the coordinated tank formations and the Luftwaffe. However, on the Western Front, the allied Anglo-French troops do not take any active action (see Strange War). Only at sea did the war begin immediately: on September 3, the German submarine U-30 attacked the English passenger liner Athenia without warning.

In Poland, during the first week of fighting, German troops cut through the Polish front in several places and occupied part of Mazovia, western Prussia, the Upper Silesian industrial region and western Galicia. By September 9, the Germans managed to break down Polish resistance along the entire front line and approach Warsaw.

On September 10, Polish commander-in-chief Edward Rydz-Smigly gives the order for a general retreat to southeastern Poland, but the bulk of his troops, unable to retreat beyond the Vistula, find themselves surrounded. By mid-September, having never received support from the west, the Polish armed forces ceased to exist as a single whole; only local centers of resistance are preserved.

On September 14, Guderian's 19th Panzer Corps captured Brest in a rush from East Prussia. Polish troops under the command of General Plisovsky defend the Brest Fortress for several more days. On the night of September 17, its defenders left the forts in an organized manner and retreated beyond the Bug.

On September 16, the Polish Ambassador to the USSR was told that since the Polish state and its government had ceased to exist, the Soviet Union was taking under its protection the lives and property of the population of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus.

On September 17 at 6 a.m., Soviet troops crossed the state border in two military groups. On the same day, Molotov sent congratulations to the German Ambassador to the USSR Schulenburg on the “brilliant success of the German Wehrmacht.” That evening, the Polish government and high command fled to Romania.

On September 28, the Germans occupy Warsaw. On the same day, the Treaty of Friendship and Border between the USSR and Germany was signed in Moscow, establishing the demarcation line between German and Soviet troops in the territory of the former Poland approximately along the “Curzon Line”.

Part of the western Polish lands becomes part of the Third Reich. These lands are subject to so-called “Germanization”. The Polish and Jewish population is deported from here to the central regions of Poland, where a General Government is created. Mass repressions are being carried out against the Polish people. The situation of the Jews driven into the ghetto became the most difficult.

The territories that became part of the zone of influence of the USSR were included in the Ukrainian SSR, the Byelorussian SSR and the then independent Lithuania. In the territories included in the USSR, Soviet power is established, socialist transformations are carried out (nationalization of industry, collectivization of the peasantry), which is accompanied by deportation and repression of the former ruling classes - representatives of the bourgeoisie, landowners, rich peasants, and part of the intelligentsia.

On October 6, 1939, after the end of all hostilities, Hitler made a proposal to convene a peace conference with the participation of all major powers to resolve existing contradictions. France and Great Britain say they will agree to the conference only if the Germans immediately withdraw their troops from Poland and the Czech Republic and return these countries to independence. Germany rejected these terms, and as a result the peace conference never took place.

Battle of the Atlantic

Despite the refusal of the peace conference, Great Britain and France continued to wage a passive war from September 1939 to April 1940 and made no attempts at an offensive. Active combat operations are carried out only on sea lanes. Even before the war, the German command sent 2 battleships and 18 submarines to the Atlantic Ocean, which, with the opening of hostilities, began attacks on merchant ships of Great Britain and its allied countries. From September to December 1939, Great Britain loses 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 maritime 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.

During the Soviet-Finnish negotiations of 1938–1939, the USSR tries to get Finland to cede part of the Karelian Isthmus. The transfer of these territories broke the “Mannerheim Line” in the most important, Vyborg direction, as well as the lease of several islands and part of the Hanko (Gangut) Peninsula for military use bases. Finland, not wanting to cede territory and accept military obligations, insists on concluding trade agreement and consent to the remilitarization of the Åland Islands. On November 30, 1939, the USSR invades Finland. On December 14, the USSR was expelled from the League of Nations for starting a war. When the USSR began to be expelled from the League of Nations, out of the 52 states that were members of the League, 12 did not send their representatives to the conference at all, and 11 did not vote for expulsion. And among these 11 are Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

From December to February, Soviet troops, consisting of 15 Soviet rifle divisions, make many attempts to break through the Mannerheim Line, defended by 15 Finnish infantry divisions, but do not achieve much success. Subsequently, there was a continuous build-up of the Red Army's forces in all directions (in particular, at least 13 additional divisions were transferred to Ladoga and North Karelia). The average monthly strength of the entire group of troops reached 849 thousand.

Great Britain and France decide to prepare a landing force on the Scandinavian Peninsula in order to prevent Germany from seizing the Swedish iron ore deposits and at the same time provide routes for the future transfer of their troops to help Finland; the transfer of long-range bomber aircraft to the Middle East also begins to bomb and capture the oil fields of Baku, in the event of England entering the war on the side of Finland. However, Sweden and Norway, trying to maintain neutrality, categorically refuse to accept Anglo-French troops on their territory. On February 16, 1940, British destroyers attack the German ship Altmark in Norwegian territorial waters. 1 March Hitler, previously interested in preserving the neutrality of the Scandinavian countries, signs a directive to seize Denmark and Norway (Operation Weserubung) to prevent a possible Allied landing.

At the beginning of March 1940, Soviet troops break through the Mannerheim Line and capture Vyborg. On March 13, 1940, a peace treaty was signed in Moscow between Finland and the USSR, according to which Soviet demands were satisfied: the border on the Karelian Isthmus in the Leningrad area was moved to the northwest from 32 to 150 km, and a number of islands in the Gulf of Finland were transferred to the USSR.

Despite the end of the war, the Anglo-French command continues to develop a plan for a military operation in Norway, but the Germans manage to get ahead of them.

During the Soviet-Finnish War, the Finns invented the Molotov Cocktail and the Belka mines.

European blitzkrieg

In Denmark, the Germans, using sea and airborne landings, freely occupy all the most important cities and destroy Danish aircraft in a few hours. Under the threat of bombing of the civilian population, the Danish King Christian X is forced to sign a surrender and orders the army to lay down their arms.

In Norway, on April 9-10, the Germans captured the main Norwegian ports of Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen, and Narvik. On April 14, the Anglo-French landing force landed near Narvik, on April 16 - in Namsos, on April 17 - in Åndalsnes. On April 19, the Allies launched an offensive on Trondheim, but failed and were forced to withdraw their forces from central Norway in early May. After a series of battles for Narvik, the Allies also evacuated the northern part of the country in early June. On June 10, 1940, the last units of the Norwegian army surrendered. Norway finds itself under the control of the German occupation administration (Reichskommissariat); Denmark, declared a German protectorate, was able to maintain partial independence in internal affairs.

At the same time as Germany, British and American troops hit Denmark in the back and occupied its overseas territories - the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland.

On May 10, 1940, Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg with 135 divisions. The 1st Allied Army Group advances into Belgium, but does not have time to help the Dutch, since the German Army Group B makes a rapid push into southern Holland and captures Rotterdam on May 12. On May 15, the Netherlands capitulates. It was believed that in retaliation for the stubborn resistance of the Dutch, which was unexpected for the Germans, Hitler, after signing the act of surrender, ordered massive bombing of Rotterdam. BombingofRotterdam), which was not caused by military necessity and led to enormous destruction and casualties among the civilian population. On Nuremberg trials It turned out that the bombing of Rotterdam took place on May 14, and the Dutch government capitulated only after the bombing of Rotterdam and the threat of bombing of Amsterdam and The Hague.

In Belgium, on May 10, German paratroopers captured bridges over the Albert Canal, which made it possible for large German tank forces to force it before the Allies arrived and reach the Belgian Plain. Brussels fell on May 17.

But the main blow is delivered by Army Group A. Having occupied Luxembourg on 10 May, Guderian's three panzer divisions crossed the southern Ardennes and crossed the Meuse River west of Sedan on 14 May. At the same time, Hoth's tank corps breaks through the northern Ardennes, difficult for heavy equipment, and on May 13 crosses the Meuse River north of Dinant. The German tank armada rushes to the west. The belated attacks of the French, for whom the German attack through the Ardennes turns out to be a complete surprise, are unable to contain it. On May 16, Guderian's units reach the Oise; On May 20, they reach the coast of Pas-de-Calais near Abbeville and turn north to the rear of the allied armies. 28 Anglo-Franco-Belgian divisions are surrounded.

An attempt by the French command to organize a counterattack at Arras on May 21-23 could have been successful, but Guderian stopped it at the cost of an almost completely destroyed tank battalion. On May 22, Guderian cuts off the Allies' retreat to Boulogne, on May 23 - to Calais and goes to Gravelines 10 km from Dunkirk, the last port through which the Anglo-French troops could evacuate, but on May 24 he is forced to stop the offensive for two days due to an inexplicable personal Hitler’s order (“The Miracle of Dunkirk”) (according to another version, the reason for the stop was not Hitler’s order, but the entry of tanks into the range of the naval artillery of the English fleet, which could shoot them with almost impunity). The respite allows the Allies to strengthen the defenses of Dunkirk and launch Operation Dynamo to evacuate their forces by sea. On May 26, German troops break through the Belgian front in West Flanders, and on May 28, Belgium, despite the demands of the Allies, capitulates. On the same day, in the Lille area, the Germans surrounded a large French group, which surrendered on May 31. Part of the French troops (114 thousand) and almost the entire English army (224 thousand) were taken out on British ships through Dunkirk. The Germans take over all British and French artillery and armored vehicles, vehicles abandoned by the Allies during the retreat. After Dunkirk, Great Britain found itself practically unarmed, although it retained its army personnel.

On June 5, German troops begin an offensive in the Lahn-Abbeville sector. Attempts by the French command to hastily plug the gap in the defense with unprepared divisions were unsuccessful. The French are losing one battle after another. The French defense disintegrates, and the command hastily withdraws its troops to the south.

June 10 Italy declares war on Great Britain and France. Italian troops invade the southern regions of France, but cannot advance far. On the same day, the French government evacuates Paris. On June 11, the Germans cross the Marne at Chateau-Thierry. On June 14 they entered Paris without a fight, and two days later they entered the Rhone Valley. On June 16, Marshal Pétain forms a new government of France, which already on the night of June 17 turns to Germany with a request for a truce. On June 18, French General Charles De Gaulle, who fled to London, calls on the French to continue their resistance. On June 21, the Germans, having encountered virtually no resistance, reached the Loire in the Nantes-Tours section, and on the same day their tanks occupied Lyon.

On June 22, in Compiègne, in the same carriage in which the surrender of Germany was signed in 1918, a Franco-German truce was signed, according to which France agrees to the occupation of most of its territory and the demobilization of almost all ground army and internment of the navy and air force. In the free zone, as a result of the coup d'etat on July 10, the authoritarian regime of Pétain (Vichy Regime) was established, which set a course for close cooperation with Germany (collaborationism). Despite the military weakness of France, the defeat of this country was so sudden and complete that it defied any rational explanation.

The commander-in-chief of the Vichy troops, Francois Darlan, gives the order to withdraw the entire French fleet to the shores of French North Africa. Fearing that the entire French fleet might fall under the control of Germany and Italy, on July 3, 1940, British naval forces and air forces, as part of Operation Catapult, attacked French ships at Mers-el-Kebir. By the end of July, the British have destroyed or neutralized almost the entire French fleet.

Annexation of the Baltic states, Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the USSR

Back in the fall of 1939, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania concluded mutual assistance agreements with the USSR, also known as base agreements, according to which Soviet military bases were located on the territory of these countries. On June 17, 1940, the USSR presented an ultimatum to the Baltic states, demanding the resignation of governments, the formation of people's governments in their place, the dissolution of parliaments, the holding of early elections and consent to the introduction of additional contingents of Soviet troops. In the current situation, the Baltic governments were forced to accept these demands.

After the entry of additional units of the Red Army into the Baltic states, in mid-July 1940, elections to the supreme authorities were held in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, in the face of a significant Soviet military presence. According to a number of modern researchers, these elections were accompanied by violations. At the same time, mass arrests of Baltic politicians are being carried out by the NKVD. On July 21, 1940, the newly elected parliaments, which included a pro-Soviet majority, proclaimed the creation of Soviet socialist republics and sent petitions to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to join the Soviet Union. On August 3, the Lithuanian SSR, on August 5, the Latvian SSR, and on August 6, the Estonian SSR, were accepted into the USSR.

On June 27, 1940, the USSR government sent two ultimatum notes to the Romanian government, demanding the return of Bessarabia (annexed in 1812 to the Russian Empire after the victory over Turkey in the Russian-Turkish War of 1806-1812; in 1918, taking advantage of the weakness of Soviet Russia, Romania sent troops to the territory of Bessarabia, and then included it in its composition) and the transfer of Northern Bukovina (never part of the Russian Empire, but populated mainly by Ukrainians) to the USSR as “compensation for the enormous damage that was caused to the Soviet Union and the population of Bessarabia by 22 domination of Romania in Bessarabia." Romania, not counting on support from other states in the event of war with the USSR, is forced to agree to meet these demands. On June 28, Romania withdraws its troops and administration from Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, after which Soviet troops are introduced there. On August 2, the Moldavian SSR was formed on the territory of Bessarabia and part of the territory of the former Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Northern Bukovina is organizationally included in the Ukrainian SSR.

Battle of Britain

After the surrender of France, Germany offers Great Britain to make peace, but is refused. On July 16, 1940, Hitler issues a directive for the invasion of Great Britain (Operation Sea Lion). However, the command of the German Navy and ground forces, citing the power of the British fleet and the Wehrmacht's lack of experience in landing operations, requires the Air Force to first ensure air supremacy. Since August, the Germans have begun bombing Great Britain with the aim of undermining its military and economic potential, demoralizing the population, preparing for an invasion and ultimately forcing it to surrender. The German Air Force and Navy carry out systematic attacks on British ships and convoys in the English Channel. On September 4, German aircraft began massive bombing of English cities in the south of the country: London, Rochester, Birmingham, Manchester.

Despite the fact that the British suffered heavy losses among civilians during the bombing, they essentially managed to win the Battle of Britain - Germany was forced to abandon the landing operation. Since December, the activity of the German Air Force has been significantly reduced due to deteriorating weather conditions. The Germans failed to achieve their main goal - to take Great Britain out of the war.

Battles in Africa, the Mediterranean and the Balkans

After Italy entered the war, Italian troops began fighting for control of the Mediterranean, North and East Africa. On June 11, Italian aircraft strike a British naval base in Malta. 13 June Italians bomb British bases in Kenya. At the beginning of July, Italian troops invade the British colonies of Kenya and Sudan from the territory of Ethiopia and Somalia, but due to indecisive actions they are unable to advance far. On August 3, 1940, Italian troops invade British Somalia. Taking advantage of their numerical superiority, they manage to push British and South African troops across the strait into the British colony of Aden.

After the surrender of France, the administrations of some colonies refused to recognize the Vichy government. In London, General De Gaulle formed the Fighting France movement, which did not recognize the shameful surrender. The British armed forces, together with the units of Fighting France, begin to fight the Vichy troops for control of the colonies. By September, they managed to peacefully establish control over almost all of France. Equatorial Africa. On October 27, the highest governing body of the French territories occupied by De Gaulle's troops, the Council of Defense of the Empire, was formed in Brazzaville. On September 24, British-French troops are defeated by fascist troops in Senegal (Dakar operation). However, in November they manage to capture Gabon (Gabon operation).

On September 13, the Italians invade British Egypt from Libya. Having occupied Sidi Barrani on September 16, the Italians stopped, and the British retreated to Mersa Matrouh. To improve their position in Africa and the Mediterranean, the Italians decide to capture Greece. After the Greek government refused to allow Italian troops into its territory, Italy launched an offensive on October 28, 1940. The Italians manage to capture part of Greek territory, but by November 8 they are stopped, and on November 14 the Greek army launches a counteroffensive, completely liberates the country and enters Albania.

In November 1940, British aircraft attacked the Italian fleet in Taranto, which made it extremely difficult for Italian troops to transport goods by sea to North Africa. Taking advantage of this, on December 9, 1940, British troops went on the offensive in Egypt, in January they occupied all of Cyrenaica and by February 1941 they reached the El Agheila area.

At the beginning of January, the British also launched an offensive in East Africa. Having recaptured Kassala from the Italians on January 21, they invade Eritrea from Sudan, capturing Karen (March 27), Asmara (April 1) and the port of Massawa (April 8). In February, British troops from Kenya enter Italian Somalia; On February 25, they occupy the port of Mogadishu, and then turn north and enter Ethiopia. On March 16, English troops landed in British Somalia and soon defeated the Italians there. Together with British troops, Emperor Haile Selassie, overthrown by the Italians in 1936, arrives in Ethiopia. The British are joined by numerous detachments of Ethiopian partisans. On March 17, British and Ethiopian troops occupy Jijiga, on March 29 - Harar, on April 6 - the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. The Italian colonial empire in East Africa ceases to exist. The remnants of Italian troops continued to resist in Ethiopia and Somalia until November 27, 1941.

In March 1941, in a naval battle off the island of Crete, the British inflicted another defeat on the Italian fleet. On March 2, British and Australian troops begin landing in Greece. On March 9, Italian troops launched a new offensive against the Greeks, but during six days of fierce fighting they suffered complete defeat and by March 26 were forced to retreat to their original positions.

Having suffered complete defeat on all fronts, Mussolini is forced to ask Hitler for help. In February 1941, a German expeditionary force under the command of General Rommel arrived in Libya. On March 31, 1941, Italian-German troops went on the offensive, recaptured Cyrenaica from the British and reached the borders of Egypt, after which the front in North Africa stabilized until November 1941.

Expansion of the bloc of fascist states. Battles in the Balkans and the Middle East

The US government is gradually beginning to reconsider its foreign policy course. It increasingly actively supports Great Britain, becoming its “non-belligerent ally” (see Atlantic Charter). In May 1940, the US 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.” Supplies of weapons and equipment for Great Britain are increasing. September 2, 1940 The United States transfers 50 destroyers to Great Britain in exchange for the lease of 8 military bases in the British colonies in the Western Hemisphere. 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. Lend-Lease later extended to China, Greece and Yugoslavia. The North Atlantic has been declared a “patrol zone” for the US navy, which is simultaneously beginning to escort merchant ships heading to the UK.

On September 27, 1940, Germany, Italy and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact: delimitation of zones of influence in establishing a new order and mutual military assistance. At the Soviet-German negotiations held in November 1940, German diplomats invited the USSR to join this pact. The Soviet government refuses. Hitler approves the plan to attack the USSR. For these purposes, Germany begins to look for allies in Eastern Europe. On November 20, Hungary joined the Triple Alliance, on November 23 - Romania, on November 24 - Slovakia, in 1941 - Bulgaria, Finland and Spain. On March 25, 1941, Yugoslavia joins the pact, but on March 27, a military coup takes place in Belgrade, and the Simovic government comes to power, declaring young Peter II king and proclaiming the neutrality of Yugoslavia. April 5 Yugoslavia concludes a treaty of friendship and non-aggression with the USSR. In view of undesirable developments for Germany, Hitler decides to conduct a military operation against Yugoslavia and help Italian troops in Greece.

On April 6, 1941, after a massive bombing of major cities, railway junctions and airfields, Germany and Hungary invade Yugoslavia. At the same time, Italian troops, with the support of the Germans, are conducting another offensive in Greece. By April 8, the armed forces of Yugoslavia were cut into several parts and actually ceased to exist as a single whole. On April 9, German troops, having passed through Yugoslav territory, entered Greece and captured Thessaloniki, forcing the Greek East Macedonian Army to capitulate. On April 10, the Germans capture Zagreb. On April 11, the leader of the Croatian Nazis, Ante Pavelic, proclaims the independence of Croatia and calls on Croats to leave the ranks of the Yugoslav army, which further undermines its combat effectiveness. On April 13, the Germans capture Belgrade. On April 15, the Yugoslav government fled the country. On April 16, German troops enter Sarajevo. On April 16, the Italians occupied Bar and the island of Krk, and on April 17, Dubrovnik. On the same day, the Yugoslav army capitulates, and 344 thousand of its soldiers and officers are captured.

After the defeat of Yugoslavia, the Germans and Italians threw all their forces into Greece. On April 20, the Epirus army capitulates. An attempt by the Anglo-Australian command to create a defensive line at Thermopylae in order to block the Wehrmacht's path to central Greece was unsuccessful, and on April 20 the command of the allied forces decided to evacuate its forces. On April 21, Ioannina was captured. On April 23, Tsolakoglu signs the act of general surrender of the Greek armed forces. On April 24, King George II fled to Crete with the government. On the same day, the Germans captured the islands of Lemnos, Pharos and Samothrace. On April 27, Athens was captured.

On May 20, the Germans land troops on Crete, which is in the hands of the British. Although the British fleet thwarted the Germans' attempt to deliver reinforcements by sea, on May 21 the paratroopers captured the airfield at Maleme and ensured the transfer of reinforcements by air. Despite stubborn defense, British troops were forced to leave Crete by May 31. By June 2, the island was completely occupied. But due to the heavy losses of German paratroopers, Hitler abandoned plans for further landing operations to capture Cyprus and the Suez Canal.

As a result of the invasion, Yugoslavia was dismembered. Germany annexes northern Slovenia, Hungary - western Vojvodina, Bulgaria - Vardar Macedonia, Italy - southern Slovenia, part of the Dalmatian coast, Montenegro and Kosovo. Croatia is declared an independent state under an Italian-German protectorate. The collaborationist government of Nedić was created in Serbia.

After the defeat of Greece, Bulgaria annexes eastern Macedonia and western Thrace; the rest of the country is divided into Italian (western) and German (eastern) occupation zones.

On April 1, 1941, as a result of a coup in Iraq, the pro-German nationalist group of Rashid Ali-Gailani seized power. By agreement with the Vichy regime, Germany on May 12 begins transporting military equipment to Iraq through Syria, a French mandate. But the Germans, busy preparing for war with the USSR, are not able to provide significant assistance to the Iraqi nationalists. British troops invade Iraq and overthrow the government of Ali Gailani. On June 8, the British, together with units of “Fighting France,” invade Syria and Lebanon and by mid-July force the Vichy troops to capitulate.

According to the leadership of Great Britain and the USSR, there was a threat of involvement in 1941 on the side of Germany as an active ally of Iran. Therefore, from August 25, 1941 to September 17, 1941, a joint Anglo-Soviet operation to occupy Iran was carried out. Its goal was to protect Iranian oil fields from possible capture by German troops and protect the transport corridor ( southern corridor), under which the Allies carried out deliveries under Lend-Lease for the Soviet Union. During the operation, the Allied forces invaded Iran and established control over the railways and oil fields Iran. At the same time, British troops occupied southern Iran. Soviet troops occupied northern Iran.

Asia

In China, the Japanese captured the southeastern part of the country in 1939-1941. Due to the difficult internal political situation in the country, China could not provide a serious resistance (see: Civil War in China). After the surrender of France, the administration of French Indochina recognized the Vichy government. Thailand, taking advantage of the weakening of France, made territorial claims to part of French Indochina. In October 1940, Thai troops invaded French Indochina. Thailand managed to inflict a number of defeats on the Vichy army. On May 9, 1941, under pressure from Japan, the Vichy regime was forced to sign a peace treaty, according to which Laos and part of Cambodia were ceded to Thailand. After the Vichy regime lost a number of colonies in Africa, there was also a threat of the seizure of Indochina by the British and De-Gaullevites. To prevent this, in June 1941, the fascist government agreed to send Japanese troops into the colony.

Second period of the war (June 1941 - November 1942)

Background to the invasion of the USSR

In June 1940, Hitler ordered preparations for an attack on the USSR to begin, and on July 22 the OKH began developing an attack plan, codenamed Operation Barbarossa. On July 31, 1940, at a meeting with the high military command at Berghof, Hitler stated:

[…] The hope of England is Russia and America. If hope in Russia disappears, America will also disappear, because the fall of Russia will unpleasantly increase the importance of Japan in East Asia, Russia is the East Asian sword of England and America against Japan. […] Russia is the factor that England relies on most of all. Something like this happened in London after all! The British were already completely down*, but now they are up again. From listening to conversations, it is clear that Russia is unpleasantly surprised by the rapid development of events in Western Europe. […] But if Russia is defeated, England's last hope will fade away. Germany will then become the ruler of Europe and the Balkans. Solution: This clash with Russia must be ended. In the spring of '41. […] * Below (English)

On December 18, 1940, the Barbarossa plan was approved by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht by Directive No. 21. The approximate completion date for military preparations is May 15, 1941. From the end of 1940, a gradual transfer of German troops to the borders of the USSR began, the intensity of which increased sharply after May 22. The German command tried to create the impression that this was a diversionary maneuver and “the main task of summer period“What remains is the operation to invade the islands, and the measures against the East are only defensive in nature and their scope depends only on Russian threats and military preparations.” A disinformation campaign began against Soviet intelligence, which received numerous conflicting messages about the timing (end of April - beginning of May, April 15, May 15 - beginning of June, May 14, end of May, May 20, early June, etc.) and conditions of war ( after and before the start of the war with England, various demands on the USSR before the start of the war, etc.).

In January 1941, staff games were held in the USSR under the general title “Offensive operation of the front with a breakthrough of the UR”, which examined the actions of a large strike group of Soviet troops from the state border of the USSR in the direction (respectively) Poland - East Prussia and Hungary - Romania. Defense plans were not worked out until June 22.

On March 27, a coup takes place in Yugoslavia and anti-German forces come to power. Hitler decides to conduct an operation against Yugoslavia and help Italian troops in Greece, postponing the spring attack on the USSR until June 1941.

At the end of May - beginning of June, the USSR held training camps, during which 975,870 conscripts were to be called up for a period of 30 to 90 days. Some historians view this as an element of hidden mobilization in a difficult political situation - thanks to them, rifle divisions in the border and internal districts received 1900-6000 people, and the number of about 20 divisions practically reached the wartime staffing level. Other historians do not connect the training camp with the political situation and explain it by retraining the staff “in the spirit of modern requirements.” Some historians find in the collections signs of the USSR preparing for an attack on Germany.

On June 10, 1941, the Commander-in-Chief of the German Land Forces, Field Marshal Walter von Brauchitsch, issued an order setting the date for the start of the war against the USSR - June 22.

On June 13, directives were sent to the western districts (“To increase combat readiness...”) to begin moving units of the first and second echelons to the border, at night and under the guise of exercises. On June 14, 1941, TASS reported that there were no grounds for war with Germany and that rumors that the USSR was preparing for war with Germany were false and provocative. Simultaneously with the TASS report, a massive covert transfer of Soviet troops to the western borders of the USSR begins. On June 18, an order was issued to bring some parts of the western districts to full combat readiness. On June 21, after receiving several information about tomorrow's attack, at 23:30 Directive No. 1 was sent to the troops, containing the probable date of the German attack and the order to be on combat readiness. By June 22, Soviet troops were not deployed and began the war divided into three operationally unrelated echelons.

Some historians (Viktor Suvorov, Mikhail Meltyukhov, Mark Solonin) consider the movement of Soviet troops to the border not as a defensive measure, but as preparation for an attack on Germany, citing various dates for the attack: July 1941, 1942. They also put forward the thesis of a preventive war by Germany against the USSR. Their opponents argue that there is no evidence of preparation for an attack, and all signs of preparation for an attack are preparations for war as such, regardless of the attack or repelling aggression.

Invasion of the USSR

On June 22, 1941, Germany, with the support of its allies - Italy, Hungary, Romania, Finland and Slovakia - invaded the USSR. The Soviet-German war began, called the Great Patriotic War in Soviet and Russian historiography.

German troops launch a powerful surprise attack along the entire western Soviet border with three large army groups: North, Center and South. On the very first day, a significant part of Soviet ammunition, fuel and military equipment was destroyed or captured; About 1,200 aircraft were destroyed. On June 23-25, the Soviet fronts tried to launch counterattacks, but failed.

By the end of the first ten days of July, German troops captured Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, a significant part of Ukraine and Moldova. The main forces of the Soviet Western Front were defeated in the Battle of Bialystok-Minsk.

The Soviet Northwestern Front was defeated in a border battle and driven back. However, the Soviet counterattack near Soltsy on July 14-18 led to the suspension of the German offensive on Leningrad for almost 3 weeks.

On June 25, Soviet planes bomb Finnish airfields. On June 26, Finnish troops launched a counteroffensive and soon regained the Karelian Isthmus, previously captured by the Soviet Union, without crossing the old historical Russian-Finnish border on the Karelian Isthmus (north of Lake Ladoga, the old border was crossed to a greater depth). On June 29, German-Finnish troops launched an offensive in the Arctic, but their advance deeper into Soviet territory was stopped.

In Ukraine, the Soviet Southwestern Front is also defeated and driven back from the border, but the counterattack of the Soviet mechanized corps does not allow German troops to make a deep breakthrough and capture Kyiv.

In a new offensive on the central sector of the Soviet-German front, launched on July 10, Army Group Center captured Smolensk on July 16 and encircled the main forces of the recreated Soviet Western Front. In the wake of this success, and also taking into account the need to support the offensive on Leningrad and Kyiv, on July 19, Hitler, despite the objections of the army command, gave the order to shift the direction of the main attack from the Moscow direction to the south (Kyiv, Donbass) and north (Leningrad). In accordance with this decision, the tank groups advancing on Moscow were withdrawn from the Center group and sent to the south (2nd tank group) and north (3rd tank group). The offensive on Moscow must continue infantry divisions Army Group Center, but the battle in the Smolensk area continued, and on July 30 Army Group Center received orders to go on the defensive. Thus, the attack on Moscow was postponed.

On August 8-9, Army Group North resumed its offensive on Leningrad. The front of the Soviet troops is dissected, they are forced to retreat in diverging directions towards Tallinn and Leningrad. The defense of Tallinn pinned down part of the German forces, but on August 28, Soviet troops were forced to begin evacuation. On September 8, with the capture of Shlisselburg, German troops encircled Leningrad.

However, new German offensive with the aim of capturing Leningrad, undertaken on September 9, did not lead to success. In addition, the main attack formations of Army Group North were soon to be released for a new offensive on Moscow.

Having failed to take Leningrad, Army Group North launched an offensive in the Tikhvin direction on October 16, intending to link up with Finnish troops east of Leningrad. However, a counterattack by Soviet troops near Tikhvin stops the enemy.

In Ukraine, in early August, troops of Army Group South cut off the Dnieper and encircle two Soviet armies near Uman. However, they failed to capture Kyiv again. Only after the troops of the southern flank of Army Group Center (2nd Army and 2nd Tank Group) turned south did the position of the Soviet Southwestern Front sharply deteriorate. The German 2nd Tank Group, having repelled a counterattack from the Bryansk Front, crossed the Desna River and on September 15 united with the 1st Tank Group, advancing from the Kremenchug bridgehead. As a result of the battle for Kyiv, the Soviet Southwestern Front was completely defeated.

The disaster near Kiev opened the way for the Germans to the south. On October 5, the 1st Panzer Group reached Sea of ​​Azov near Melitopol, cutting off the troops of the Southern Front. In October 1941, German troops captured almost all of Crimea, except for Sevastopol.

The defeat in the south opened the way for the Germans to Donbass and Rostov. On October 24, Kharkov fell, and by the end of October the main cities of Donbass were occupied. On October 17, Taganrog fell. November 21st 1st tank army entered Rostov-on-Don, thus achieving the goals of the Barbarossa plan in the south. However, on November 29, Soviet troops knock out the Germans from Rostov (See Rostov operation (1941)). Until the summer of 1942, the front line in the south was established at the turn of the river. Mius.

On September 30, 1941, German troops begin an attack on Moscow. As a result of deep breakthroughs by German tank formations, the main forces of the Soviet Western, Reserve and Bryansk Fronts found themselves surrounded in the area of ​​Vyazma and Bryansk. In total, more than 660 thousand people were captured.

On October 10, the remnants of the Western and Reserve Fronts united into a single Western Front under the command of Army General G.K. Zhukov.

On November 15-18, German troops resumed their attack on Moscow, but by the end of November they were stopped in all directions.

On December 5, 1941, the Kalinin, Western and Southwestern fronts launched a counteroffensive. The successful advance of Soviet troops forces the enemy to go on the defensive along the entire front line. In December, as a result of the offensive, troops of the Western Front liberated Yakhroma, Klin, Volokolamsk, Kaluga; Kalinin Front liberates Kalinin; Southwestern Front - Efremov and Yelets. As a result, by the beginning of 1942, the Germans were thrown back 100-250 km to the west. The defeat near Moscow was the first major defeat of the Wehrmacht in this war.

The success of Soviet troops near Moscow prompts the Soviet command to launch a large-scale offensive. On January 8, 1942, the forces of the Kalinin, Western and Northwestern Fronts went on the offensive against the German Army Group Center. They fail to complete the task, and after several attempts, by mid-April, they have to stop the offensive, suffering heavy losses. The Germans retain the Rzhev-Vyazemsky bridgehead, which poses a danger to Moscow. Attempts by the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts to release Leningrad were also unsuccessful and led to the encirclement of part of the forces of the Volkhov front in March 1942.

Japanese advance in the Pacific

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacks the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. During the attack, which involved 441 aircraft based on six Japanese aircraft carriers, 8 battleships, 6 cruisers and more than 300 US aircraft were sunk and seriously damaged. Thus, in one day, most of the battleships of the US Pacific Fleet were destroyed. In addition to the United States, the next day Britain, the Netherlands (government in exile), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Cuba, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela also declare war on Japan. On December 11, Germany and Italy, and on December 13, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria declare war on the United States.

On December 8, the Japanese blockade the British military base in Hong Kong and begin an invasion of Thailand, British Malaya and the American Philippines. The British squadron, which came out to intercept, is subjected to air strikes, and two battleships - the striking force of the British in this area of ​​the Pacific Ocean - go to the bottom.

Thailand, after a short resistance, agrees to conclude a military alliance with Japan and declares war on the United States and Great Britain. Japanese aircraft begin bombing Burma from Thailand.

On December 10, the Japanese captured the American base on the island of Guam, on December 23 on Wake Island, and on December 25 Hong Kong fell. On December 8, the Japanese break through British defenses in Malaya and, rapidly advancing, push British troops back to Singapore. Singapore, which the British had previously considered an "impregnable fortress", fell on February 15, 1942, after a 6-day siege. About 70 thousand British and Australian soldiers are captured.

In the Philippines, at the end of December 1941, the Japanese captured the islands of Mindanao and Luzon. The remnants of American troops manage to gain a foothold on the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island.

On January 11, 1942, Japanese troops invade the Dutch East Indies and soon capture the islands of Borneo and Celebs. On January 28, the Japanese fleet defeats the Anglo-Dutch squadron in the Java Sea. The Allies are trying to create a powerful defense on the island of Java, but by March 2 they capitulate.

January 23, 1942 The Japanese capture the Bismarck Archipelago, including the island New Britain and then take possession western part Solomon Islands, in February - the Gilbert Islands, and in early March they invade New Guinea.

On March 8, advancing in Burma, the Japanese captured Rangoon, at the end of April - Mandalay, and by May captured almost all of Burma, defeating British and Chinese troops and cutting off southern China from India. However, the onset of the rainy season and lack of strength do not allow the Japanese to build on their success and invade India.

On May 6, the last group of American and Filipino troops in the Philippines surrenders. By the end of May 1942, Japan, at the cost of minor losses, managed to establish control over Southeast Asia and Northwestern Oceania. American, British, Dutch and Australian forces suffer a crushing defeat, losing all their main forces in the region.

Second stage of the Battle of the Atlantic

Since the summer of 1941, the main goal of the German and Italian fleets in the Atlantic is the destruction of merchant ships in order to complicate the delivery of weapons, strategic raw materials and food to Great Britain. The German and Italian command uses mainly submarines in the Atlantic, which operate on communications connecting Great Britain with North America, the African colonies, the Union of South Africa, Australia, India and the USSR.

From the end of August 1941, in accordance with the agreement of the governments of Great Britain and the USSR, mutual military supplies began through the Soviet northern ports, after which a significant part of German submarines began to operate in the North Atlantic. In the fall of 1941, even before the United States entered the war, attacks by German submarines on American ships were noted. In response, the US Congress on November 13, 1941 adopted two amendments to the neutrality law, according to which the ban on the entry of American ships into war zones was lifted and the arming of merchant ships was allowed.

With the strengthening of anti-submarine defense on communications in July - November, the losses of the merchant fleet of Great Britain, its allies and neutral countries are significantly reduced. In the second half of 1941 they amounted to 172.1 thousand gross tons, which is 2.8 times less compared to the first half of the year.

However, the German fleet soon seizes 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 has allowed the Anglo-American command, since the summer of 1942, to improve the situation on the Atlantic sea lanes, inflict a series of retaliatory strikes on the German submarine fleet and push it back to the central regions of the Atlantic.

German submarines operate throughout almost the entire Atlantic Ocean: off the coast of Africa, South America, and the Caribbean. On August 22, 1942, after the Germans sank a number of Brazilian ships, Brazil declares war on Germany. After this, fearing an undesirable reaction from other countries in South America, German submarines reduce their activity in this region.

In general, despite a number of successes, Germany was never able to disrupt Anglo-American shipping. In addition, since March 1942, British aviation began strategic bombing of important economic centers and cities in Germany, allied and occupied countries.

Mediterranean-African campaigns

In the summer of 1941, all German aviation operating in the Mediterranean was transferred to the Soviet-German front. This facilitates the tasks of the British, who, taking advantage of the passivity of the Italian fleet, seize the initiative in the Mediterranean. By mid-1942, the British, despite a number of setbacks, completely disrupted sea communications between Italy and Italian troops in Libya and Egypt.

By the summer of 1941, the position of British forces in North Africa was significantly improving. This is greatly facilitated by the complete defeat of the Italians in Ethiopia. The British command now has the opportunity to transfer forces from East Africa to North Africa.

Taking advantage of the favorable situation, British troops went on the offensive on November 18, 1941. On November 24, the Germans try to launch a counterattack, but it ends in failure. The British release the blockade of Tobruk and, developing the offensive, occupy El-Ghazal, Derna and Benghazi. By January, the British again captured Cyrenaica, but their troops found themselves dispersed over a vast area, which Rommel took advantage of. On January 21, Italian-German troops go on the offensive, break through the British defenses and rush to the northeast. At El-Ghazal, however, they were stopped, and the front stabilized again for 4 months.

May 26, 1942 Germany and Italy resume their offensive in Libya. The British suffer heavy losses and are again forced to retreat. On June 21, the English garrison in Tobruk capitulates. The Italian-German troops continue to successfully advance and on July 1 approach the English defensive line at El Alamein, 60 km from Alexandria, where due to heavy losses they are forced to stop. In August, the British command in North Africa changes. On August 30, Italo-German troops again tried to break through the British defenses near El Halfa, but suffered complete failure, which became the turning point of the entire campaign.

On October 23, 1942, the British went on the offensive, broke through the enemy’s defenses and by the end of November liberated the entire territory of Egypt, entered Libya and occupied Cyrenaica.

Meanwhile, in Africa, fighting continues for the French colony of Madagascar, which was under Vichy rule. The reason for Great Britain to conduct military operations against the colony of a former ally was the potential threat of German submarines using Madagascar as a base for operations in the Indian Ocean. On May 5, 1942, British and South African troops landed on the island. French troops put up stubborn resistance, but by November they were forced to capitulate. Madagascar comes under the control of the Free French.

On November 8, 1942, American-British troops begin landing in French North Africa. The next day, the commander-in-chief of the Vichy forces, Francois Darlan, negotiates an alliance and ceasefire with the Americans and assumes full power in French North Africa. In response, the Germans, with the consent of the Vichy government, occupy the southern part of France and begin transferring troops to Tunisia. On November 13, the allied forces begin an offensive into Tunisia from Algeria, and on the same day Tobruk was captured by the British. The Allies reached western Tunisia and encountered German forces by November 17, where by that time the Germans had managed to occupy the eastern part of Tunisia. By November 30, bad weather had stabilized the front line until February 1943.

Creation of the Anti-Hitler Coalition

Immediately after the German invasion of the USSR, representatives of Great Britain and the United States declared their support for the Soviet Union and began to provide it with economic assistance. On January 1, 1942, in Washington, representatives of the USSR, USA, Great Britain and China signed the Declaration of the United Nations, thereby laying the foundations of the Anti-Fascist Coalition. Later, 22 more countries joined it.

Eastern Front: Second German Large-Scale Offensive

Both the Soviet and German sides expected the summer of 1942 to implement their offensive plans. Hitler aimed the main efforts of the Wehrmacht at the southern sector of the front, primarily pursuing economic goals.

The strategic plan of the Soviet command for 1942 was to “ consistently carry out a series of strategic operations in different directions in order to force the enemy to scatter his reserves and prevent him from creating a strong group to repel the offensive at any point».

The main efforts of the Red Army, according to the plans of the Supreme Command Headquarters, were supposed to be concentrated on the central sector of the Soviet-German front. It was also planned to carry out an offensive near Kharkov, in the Crimea and break the blockade of Leningrad.

However, the offensive launched by Soviet troops in May 1942 near Kharkov ended in failure. German troops managed to parry the blow, defeated Soviet troops and went on the offensive themselves. Soviet troops also suffered a crushing defeat in Crimea. For 9 months, Soviet sailors held Sevastopol, and by July 4, 1942, the remnants of the Soviet troops were evacuated to Novorossiysk. As a result, the defense of Soviet troops in the southern sector was weakened. Taking advantage of this, the German command launched a strategic offensive in two directions: towards Stalingrad and the Caucasus.

After fierce fighting near Voronezh and in the Donbass, German troops of Army Group B managed to break through to the big bend of the Don. Started in mid-July Battle of Stalingrad, in which Soviet troops, at the cost of heavy losses, managed to pin down the enemy strike force.

Army Group A, advancing in the Caucasus, took Rostov-on-Don on July 23 and continued its attack on Kuban. On August 12, Krasnodar was captured. However, in battles in the foothills of the Caucasus and near Novorossiysk, Soviet troops managed to stop the enemy.

Meanwhile, in the central sector, the Soviet command launched a major offensive operation to defeat the enemy’s Rzhev-Sychev group (9th Army of Army Group Center). However, the Rzhev-Sychevsky operation, carried out from July 30 to the end of September, was not successful.

It was also not possible to break the blockade of Leningrad, although the Soviet offensive forced the German command to abandon the assault on the city.

Third period of the war (November 1942 - June 1944)

Turning point on the Eastern Front

On November 19, 1942, the Red Army launched a counteroffensive near Stalingrad, as a result of which it was possible to encircle and defeat two German, two Romanian and one Italian armies.

Even the failure of the Soviet offensive on the central sector of the Soviet-German front (Operation Mars) does not lead to an improvement in Germany's strategic position.

At the beginning of 1943, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive along the entire front. The blockade of Leningrad was broken, Kursk and many other cities were liberated. In February-March, Field Marshal Manstein once again seized the initiative from the Soviet troops and pushed them back in some areas of the southern direction, but he was unable to build on his success.

In July 1943, the German command tried for the last time to regain the strategic initiative in the Battle of Kursk, but it ended in a serious defeat for the German troops. The retreat of German troops begins along the entire front line - they have to leave Orel, Belgorod, Novorossiysk. Fighting for Belarus and Ukraine begins. In the Battle of the Dnieper, the Red Army inflicts another defeat on Germany, liberating Left Bank Ukraine and Crimea.

At the end of 1943 - the first half of 1944, the main combat operations took place on the southern sector of the front. The Germans leave the territory of Ukraine. The Red Army in the south reaches the 1941 border and enters the territory of Romania.

Anglo-American landings in Africa and Italy

On November 8, 1942, a large Anglo-American landing force landed in Morocco. Having overcome weak resistance from troops controlled by the Vichy government, by the end of November, having covered 900 km, they entered Tunisia, where by this time the Germans had transferred part of their troops from Western Europe.

Meanwhile, the British army goes on the offensive in Libya. The Italo-German troops stationed here were unable to hold out at El Alamein and by February 1943, having suffered heavy losses, retreated to Tunisia. On March 20, combined Anglo-American troops launched an offensive deep into Tunisian territory. The Italian-German command is trying to evacuate its troops to Italy, but by that time the British fleet was in complete control of the Mediterranean and was cutting off all escape routes. On May 13, the Italian-German troops capitulate.

On July 10, 1943, the Allies land in Sicily. The Italian troops located here surrender almost without a fight, and the German 14th Panzer Corps offered resistance to the Allies. On July 22, American troops captured the city of Palermo, and the Germans retreated to the northeast of the island to the Strait of Messina. By August 17, German units, having lost all armored vehicles and heavy weapons, crossed to the Apennine Peninsula. Simultaneously with the landing in Sicily, Free French forces landed in Corsica (Operation Vesuvius). The defeat of the Italian army sharply worsens the situation in the country. Dissatisfaction with the Mussolini regime is growing. King Victor Emmanuel III decides to arrest Mussolini and puts the government of Marshal Badoglio at the head of the country.

In September 1943, Anglo-American troops landed in the south of the Apennine Peninsula. Badoglio signs a truce with them and announces Italy's withdrawal from the war. However, taking advantage of the confusion of the Allies, Hitler frees Mussolini, and the puppet state of the Republic of Salo is created in the north of the country.

US and British troops move north in the fall of 1943. On October 1, the allies and Italian partisans liberated Naples; by November 15, the allies broke through the German defenses on the Volturno River and crossed it. By January 1944, the Allies had reached the German Winter Line fortifications in the area of ​​Monte Cassino and the Garigliano River. In January, February and March 1944, they attacked German positions three times with the goal of breaking through the enemy defenses on the Garigliano River and entering Rome, but due to deteriorating weather and heavy rains, they failed and the front line stabilized until May. At the same time, on January 22, the Allies landed troops at Anzio, south of Rome. At Anzio, the Germans launched unsuccessful counterattacks. By May the weather had improved. On May 11, the Allies launched an offensive (Battle of Monte Cassino), they broke through the German defenses at Monte Cassino and on May 25 joined forces that had previously landed at Anzio. On June 4, 1944, the Allies liberated Rome.

In January 1943, at the Casablanca Conference, it was decided to begin strategic bombing of Germany by joint Anglo-American forces. The targets of the bombing were to be both military industrial facilities and German cities. The operation was codenamed "Point Blanc".

In July-August 1943, Hamburg was subjected to massive bombing. The first massive raid on targets deep in Germany was a double raid on Schweinfurt and Regensburg on August 17, 1943. The unguarded bomber units were unable to defend themselves against attacks by German fighters, and losses were significant (about 20%). Such losses were considered unacceptable and the 8th Air Force stopped air operations over Germany until the arrival of P-51 Mustang fighters with sufficient range to fly to Berlin and back.

Guadalcanal. Asia

From August 1942 to February 1943, Japanese and American forces fought for control of the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands archipelago. In this battle of attrition, the United States ultimately prevails. The need to send reinforcements to Guadalcanal weakens Japanese forces in New Guinea, facilitating the liberation of the island from Japanese forces, which is completed in early 1943.

In late 1942 and throughout 1943, British forces launched several unsuccessful counter-offensives in Burma.

In November 1943, the Allies managed to capture the Japanese island of Tarawa.

Conferences during the third period of the war

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

Fourth period of the war (June 1944 - May 1945)

Western Front of Germany

On June 6, 1944, the allied forces of the United States, Great Britain and Canada, after two months of diversionary maneuvers, carried out the largest amphibious operation in history and landed in Normandy.

In August, American and French troops landed in the south of France and liberated the cities of Toulon and Marseille. On August 25, the Allies enter Paris and liberate it along with French resistance units.

In September, the allied offensive on Belgian territory begins. By the end of 1944, the Germans managed to stabilize the front line in the west with great difficulty. On December 16, the Germans launched a counteroffensive in the Ardennes, and the Allied command sent reinforcements from other sectors of the front and reserves to the Ardennes. The Germans manage to advance 100 km deep into Belgium, but by December 25, 1944, the German offensive fizzled out, and the Allies launched a counteroffensive. By December 27, the Germans could not hold their captured positions in the Ardennes and began to retreat. The strategic initiative irrevocably passes to the allies; in January 1945, German troops launched local diversionary counterattacks in Alsace, which also ended unsuccessfully. After this, American and French troops surrounded units of the German 19th Army near the city of Colmar in Alsace and defeated them by February 9 (“Colmar Pocket”). The Allies broke through the German fortifications (“Siegfried Line”, or “West Wall”) and began the invasion of Germany.

In February-March 1945, the Allies, during the Meuse-Rhine operation, captured all German territory west of the Rhine and crossed the Rhine. German troops, having suffered heavy defeats in the Ardennes and Meuse-Rhine operations, retreated to the right bank of the Rhine. In April 1945, the Allies surrounded the German Army Group B in the Ruhr and defeated it by April 17, and the Wehrmacht lost the Ruhr Industrial Region, the most important industrial area in Germany.

The Allies continued their advance deep into Germany, and on April 25 they met Soviet troops on the Elbe. On May 2, British and Canadian troops (21st Army Group) captured the entire north-west of Germany and reached the borders of Denmark.

After the completion of the Ruhr operation, the released American units were transferred to the southern flank of the 6th Army Group to capture the southern regions of Germany and Austria.

On the southern flank, American and French troops advancing captured southern Germany, Austria, and parts of the 7th American army, crossed the Alps along the Brenner Pass and on May 4 met with the troops of the 15th Allied Army Group advancing in Northern Italy.

In Italy, the Allied advance progressed very slowly. Despite all attempts, they failed to break through the front line and cross the Po River at the end of 1944. In April 1945, their offensive resumed, they overcame German fortifications (the "Gothic Line"), and broke through into the Po River valley.

On April 28, 1945, Italian partisans capture and execute Mussolini. Northern Italy was completely cleared of the Germans only in May 1945.

In the summer of 1944, the Red Army began its offensive along the entire front line. By the fall, almost all of Belarus, Ukraine, and the Baltic states were cleared of German troops. Only in the west of Latvia was the surrounded group of German troops able to hold out until the end of the war.

As a result of the Soviet offensive in the north, Finland announced its withdrawal from the war. However, German troops refuse to leave Finnish territory. As a result, former “brothers in arms” are forced to fight against each other. In August, as a result of the offensive of the Red Army, Romania left the war, in September - Bulgaria. The Germans begin evacuating troops from the territory of Yugoslavia and Greece, where the people's liberation movements take power into their own hands.

In February 1945, the Budapest operation was carried out, after which Germany's last European ally, Hungary, was forced to capitulate. The offensive begins in Poland, the Red Army occupies East Prussia.

At the end of April 1945, the Battle of Berlin begins. Realizing their complete defeat, Hitler and Goebbels committed suicide. On May 8, after stubborn two-week battles for the German capital, the German command signed an act of unconditional surrender. Germany is divided into four occupation zones: Soviet, American, British and French.

On May 14-15, the last battle of World War II in Europe took place in northern Slovenia, during which the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia defeated German troops and numerous collaborator forces.

Strategic bombing of Germany

When Operation Pointblank CombinedBomberOffensive) was officially completed on April 1, 1944, the Allied Air Forces were on their way to gaining air superiority over all of Europe. Although strategic bombing continued to some extent, the Allied air forces switched to tactical bombing in support of the Normandy landings. It was not until mid-September 1944 that strategic bombing of Germany again became a priority for the Allied Air Force.

Large-scale round-the-clock bombing - by the US Air Force during the day, by the British Air Force at night - affected many industrial areas of Germany, mainly the Ruhr, followed by attacks directly on cities such as Kassel. bombingofKasselinWorldWarII), Pforzheim, Mainz and the oft-criticized raid on Dresden.

Pacific Theater

In the Pacific, combat operations were also quite successful for the Allies. In June 1944, the Americans took possession of the Mariana Islands. In October 1944 it took place major battle in Leyte Gulf, in which US forces won a tactical victory. In land battles, the Japanese army was more successful and they managed to capture all of Southern China and unite with their troops who were operating in Indochina at that time.

Conferences of the fourth period of the war

By the end of the fourth period of the war, the Allied victory was no longer in doubt. However, they had to agree on the post-war structure of the world and, first of all, Europe. The discussion of these issues by the heads of the three allied powers took place in February 1945 in Yalta. The decisions made at the Yalta Conference determined the course of post-war history for many subsequent years.

Fifth period of the war (May 1945 - September 1945)

End of the war with Japan

After the end of the war in Europe, Japan remained the last enemy of the countries of the anti-fascist coalition. By that time, about 60 countries had declared war on Japan. However, despite the current situation, the Japanese were not going to capitulate and declared the war to be fought to a victorious end. In June 1945, the Japanese lost Indonesia and were forced to leave Indochina. On July 26, 1945, the United States, Great Britain and China presented an ultimatum to the Japanese, but it was rejected. On August 6, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima, and three days later on Nagasaki, and as a result, the two cities were almost wiped off the face of the earth. On August 8, the USSR declared war on Japan, and on August 9 launched an offensive and within 2 weeks inflicted a crushing defeat on the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria. On September 2, the act of unconditional surrender of Japan was signed. The largest war in human history has ended.

Opinions and ratings

They are extremely ambiguous, which is caused by the high intensity of events in a relatively short historical period and the huge number of characters. Often, leaders carried their countries against the views of the majority of the population, maneuvering and duplicity were the order of the day.

• The future Chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler, spoke about the need to conquer “living space in the East” for the Germans back in 1925 in his book “Mein Kampf.”

• British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, as Minister of War, was one of the main supporters and main initiators of military intervention in Russia in 1918, declaring the need to “strangle Bolshevism in its cradle.” From that time on, Great Britain and France with their satellites consistently sought the international isolation of the USSR, as a result of which in September 1938 the Munich Agreement was signed, directly called the “Munich Agreement” in the USSR, which actually gave Hitler a free hand for aggression in Eastern Europe. However, after the failures of Great Britain and the Allies in almost all theaters of war and Germany’s attack on the USSR in June 1941, Churchill declared that “to fight the Huns (i.e., the Germans) I am ready for an alliance with anyone, even the Bolsheviks.” .

• After Germany’s attack on the USSR, Churchill, irritated by the Soviet ambassador Ivan Maisky, who demanded more help than Great Britain could provide and explicitly hinted at a possible loss for the USSR in case of refusal, said:

Here Churchill was lying: after the war, he admitted that 150,000 soldiers would have been enough for Hitler to capture Great Britain. However, Hitler's "Continental Policy" required first the seizure of most of the largest continent - Eurasia.

• Regarding the start of the war and Germany’s successes in its initial phase, the head of the Operations Department of the German General Staff, Colonel General Jodl, Alfred noted:

Results of the war

The Second World War had a huge impact on the destinies of mankind. 62 states (80% of the world's population) participated in it. Military operations took place on the territory of 40 states. 110 million people were mobilized into the armed forces. The total human losses reached 50-55 million people, of which 27 million people were killed at the fronts. The greatest human losses were suffered by the USSR, China, Germany, Japan and Poland.

Military spending and military losses totaled $4 trillion. Material costs reached 60-70% of the national income of the warring states. The industry of the USSR, USA, Great Britain and Germany alone produced 652.7 thousand aircraft (combat and transport), 286.7 thousand tanks, self-propelled guns and armored vehicles, over 1 million artillery pieces, over 4.8 million machine guns (without Germany) , 53 million rifles, carbines and machine guns and a huge amount of other weapons and equipment. The war was accompanied by colossal destruction, the destruction of tens of thousands of cities and villages, and innumerable disasters for tens of millions of people.

As a result of the war, the role of Western Europe in global politics weakened. The USSR and the USA became the main powers in the world. Great Britain and France, despite the victory, were significantly weakened. The war showed the inability of them and other Western European countries to maintain huge colonial empires. The anti-colonial movement intensified in African and Asian countries. As a result of the war, some countries were able to achieve independence: Ethiopia, Iceland, Syria, Lebanon, Vietnam, Indonesia. In Eastern Europe, occupied by Soviet troops, socialist regimes were established. One of the main results of World War II was the creation of the United Nations on the basis of the Anti-Fascist coalition that emerged during the war to prevent world wars in the future.

In some countries, partisan movements that emerged during the war tried to continue their activities after the end of the war. In Greece, the conflict between the communists and the pre-war government escalated into civil war. Anti-communist armed groups operated for some time after the end of the war in Western Ukraine, the Baltic states, and Poland. The civil war that has been going on there since 1927 continued in China.

Fascist and Nazi ideologies were declared criminal at the Nuremberg trials and prohibited. In many Western countries, support for communist parties grew due to their active participation in the anti-fascist struggle during the war.

Europe was divided into two camps: Western capitalist and Eastern socialist. Relations between the two blocs deteriorated sharply. A couple of years after the end of the war, the Cold War began.

The Second World War lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of countries in the world - including all the great powers - have formed two opposing military alliances.
The Second World War became the reason for the desire of world powers to reconsider their spheres of influence and redistribute markets for raw materials and sales of products (1939-1945). Germany and Italy sought revenge, the USSR wanted to establish itself in Eastern Europe, in the Black Sea Straits, in Western and Southern Asia, to strengthen its influence in the Far East, England, France and the USA tried to maintain their positions in the world.

Another reason for the Second World War was the attempt of bourgeois-democratic states to oppose totalitarian regimes - fascists and communists - to each other.
The Second World War was chronologically divided into three large stages:

1. From September 1, 1939 to June 1942 - the period in which Germany had the advantage.
2. From June 1942 to January 1944. During this period, the anti-Hitler coalition took advantage.
3. From January 1944 to September 2, 1945 - the period when the troops of the aggressor countries were defeated and the ruling regimes in these countries fell.

World War II began on September 1, 1939 with the German attack on Poland. On September 8-14, Polish troops were defeated in battles near the Bruza River. On September 28, Warsaw fell. In September, Soviet troops also invaded Poland. Poland became the first casualty of the world war. The Germans destroyed the Jewish and Polish intelligentsia and introduced labor conscription.

"Strange War"
In response to German aggression, England and France declared war on her on September 3. But no active military action followed. Therefore, the beginning of the war on the Western Front is called the “Phantom War”.
September 17, 1939 Soviet troops captured Western Ukraine and Western Belarus - lands lost under the Treaty of Riga in 1921 as a result of the unsuccessful Polish-Soviet war. The Soviet-German Treaty “On Friendship and Borders” concluded on September 28, 1939 confirmed the fact of the capture and division of Poland. The agreement defined the Soviet-German borders, the border was set aside slightly to the west. Lithuania was included in the sphere of interests of the USSR.
In November 1939, Stalin proposed that Finland lease the port of Petsamo and the Hanko Peninsula for the construction of a military base, and also push back the border on the Karelian Isthmus in exchange larger territory in Soviet Karelia. Finland rejected this proposal. On November 30, 1939, the Soviet Union declared war on Finland. This war went down in history under the name “Winter War”. Stalin organized a puppet Finnish “workers’ government” in advance. But Soviet troops met fierce resistance from the Finns on the “Mannerheim Line” and only overcame it in March 1940. Finland was forced to accept the conditions of the USSR. On March 12, 1940, a peace treaty was signed in Moscow. The Karelo-Finnish SSR was created.
During September-October 1939, the Soviet Union sent troops into the Baltic countries, forcing Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to conclude treaties. On June 21, 1940, Soviet power was established in all three republics. Two weeks later, these republics became part of the USSR. In June 1940, the USSR took Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina from Romania.
The Moldavian SSR was created in Bessarabia, which also became part of the USSR. And Northern Bukovina became part of the Ukrainian SSR. These aggressive actions of the USSR were condemned by England and France. On December 14, 1939, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations.

Military operations in the West, Africa and the Balkans
For successful operations in the North Atlantic, Germany needed bases. Therefore, she attacked Denmark and Norway, although they declared themselves neutral. Denmark surrendered on April 9, 1940, and Norway surrendered on June 10. In Norway, the fascist V. Quisling seized power. The King of Norway turned to England for help. In May 1940, the main forces of the German army (Wehrmacht) concentrated on the Western Front. On May 10, the Germans suddenly occupied Holland and Belgium and pinned the Anglo-Franco-Belgian troops to the sea in the Dunkirk area. The Germans occupied Calais. But by order of Hitler, the offensive was suspended, and the enemy was given the opportunity to leave the encirclement. This event was called the "Miracle of Dunkirk". With this gesture, Hitler wanted to appease England, conclude an agreement with it and temporarily withdraw it from the war.

On May 26, Germany launched an attack on France, achieved victory at the Ema River and, having broken through the Maginot Line, the Germans entered Paris on June 14. On June 22, 1940, in the Compiegne Forest, on the very spot where Germany surrendered 22 years ago, Marshal Foch, in the same headquarters carriage, signed the act of surrender of France. France was divided into 2 parts: the northern part, which was under German occupation, and the southern part, centered in the city of Vichy.
This part of France was dependent on Germany; the puppet “Vichy government” was organized here, headed by Marshal Pétain. The Vichy government had a small army. The fleet was confiscated. The French constitution was also abolished, and Pétain was given unlimited powers. The collaborationist Vichy regime lasted until August 1944.
Anti-fascist forces in France grouped around the Free France organization, created by Charles de Gaulle in England.
In the summer of 1940, an ardent opponent of Nazi Germany, Winston Churchill, was elected Prime Minister of England. Since the German navy was inferior to the English fleet, Hitler abandoned the idea of ​​landing troops in England, and was content only with air bombing. England actively defended itself and won the “air war.” This was the first victory in the war with Germany.
On June 10, 1940, Italy also joined the war against England and France. The Italian army from Ethiopia captured Kenya, strongholds in Sudan, and part of British Somalia. And in October, Italy attacked Libya and Egypt in order to seize the Suez Canal. But, having seized the initiative, British troops forced the Italian army in Ethiopia to surrender. In December 1940, the Italians were defeated in Egypt, and in 1941 in Libya. The help sent by Hitler was not effective. In general, during the winter of 1940-1941, British troops, with the help of the local population, drove the Italians out of British and Italian Somalia, from Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
On September 22, 1940, Germany, Italy and Japan concluded a pact in Berlin (the “Pact of Steel”). A little later, Germany's allies - Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovakia - joined him. In essence, it was an agreement on the redistribution of the world. Germany invited the USSR to join this pact and participate in the occupation of British India and other southern lands. But Stalin was interested in the Balkans and the Black Sea straits. And this contradicted Hitler’s plans.
In October 1940, Italy attacked Greece. German troops helped Italy. In April 1941, Yugoslavia and Greece capitulated.
Thus, the strongest blow to the British positions was dealt in the Balkans. The British corps was returned to Egypt. In May 1941, the Germans took the island of Crete, and the British lost control of Aegean Sea. Yugoslavia ceased to exist as a state. An independent Croatia emerged. The remaining Yugoslav lands were divided between Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and Hungary. Under pressure from Hitler, Romania gave Transylvania to Hungary.

German attack on the USSR
Back in June 1940, Hitler ordered the Wehrmacht leadership to prepare for an attack on the USSR. A plan for a “blitzkrieg war” codenamed “Barbarossa” was prepared and approved on December 18, 1940. A native of Baku, intelligence officer Richard Sorge reported in May 1941 about an impending German attack on the USSR, but Stalin did not believe it. On June 22, 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union without declaring war. The Germans intended to reach the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line before the onset of winter. During the first week of the war, the Germans took Smolensk and approached Kyiv and Leningrad. In September, Kyiv was captured and Leningrad was under siege.
In November 1941, the Germans launched an attack on Moscow. On December 5-6, 1941, they were defeated in the Battle of Moscow. In this battle and in the winter operations of 1942, the myth of the “invincibility” of the German army collapsed, and the plan for a “lightning war” was thwarted. The victory of the Soviet troops inspired the resistance movement in the countries occupied by the Germans and strengthened the anti-Hitler coalition.
Creation of the anti-Hitler coalition

Japan considered the territory of Eurasia east of the 70th meridian to be its sphere of influence. After the surrender of France, Japan appropriated its colonies - Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and stationed its troops there. Sensing a danger to its possessions in the Philippines, the United States demanded that Japan withdraw its troops and established a ban on trade with it during the Battle of Moscow.
On December 7, 1941, a Japanese squadron launched an unexpected attack on the US naval base in the Hawaiian Islands - Pearl Harbor. On the same day, Japanese troops invaded Thailand and the British colonies of Malaysia and Burma. In response, the United States and Great Britain declared war on Japan.
At the same time, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. In the spring of 1942, the Japanese took the British fortress of Singapore, which was considered impregnable, and approached India. Then they conquered Indonesia and the Philippines and landed in New Guinea.
Back in March 1941, the US Congress passed a law on Lend-Lease - a “system of assistance” with weapons, strategic raw materials and food. After Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union, Great Britain and the USA became in solidarity with the USSR. W. Churchill said that he was ready to enter into an alliance against Hitler, even with the devil himself.
On July 12, 1941, a cooperation agreement was signed between the USSR and Great Britain. On October 10, a trilateral agreement was signed between the USA, USSR and Great Britain on military and food aid to the USSR. In November 1941, the United States extended the Lend-Lease Act to the Soviet Union. An anti-Hitler coalition emerged, consisting of the USA, Great Britain and the USSR.
To prevent Germany from rapprochement with Iran, on August 25, 1941, the Soviet army entered Iran from the north, and the British army from the south. In the history of World War II, this was the first joint operation between the USSR and England.
On August 14, 1941, the USA and England signed a document called the “Atlantic Charter”, in which they declared their refusal to seize foreign territories, recognized the right of all peoples to self-government, renounced the use of force in international affairs, and expressed interest in building a just and safe post-war world . The USSR declared recognition of the exiled governments of Czechoslovakia and Poland and on September 24 also joined the Atlantic Charter. On January 1, 1942, 26 states signed the “Declaration of the United Nations.” The strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition contributed to the onset of a radical turning point during the Second World War.

Beginning of a radical fracture
The second period of the war is characterized as a period of radical change. The first step here was the Battle of Midway in June 1942, in which the US fleet sank a Japanese squadron. Having suffered heavy losses, Japan lost the ability to fight in the Pacific Ocean.
In October 1942, British troops under the command of General B. Montgomery encircled and defeated Italian-German troops at El Apamein. In November, US forces under General Dwight Eisenhower in Morocco pinned Italian-German forces against Tunisia and forced their surrender. But the Allies did not keep their promises and did not open a second front in Europe in 1942. This allowed the Germans to group great forces on the eastern front, break through the defenses of Soviet troops on the Kerch Peninsula in May, capturing Sevastopol and Kharkov in July, move to Stalingrad and the Caucasus. But the German offensive was repulsed at Stalingrad, and in a counterattack on November 23 near the city of Kalach, Soviet troops surrounded 22 enemy divisions. The Battle of Stalingrad, which lasted until February 2, 1943, ended in victory for the USSR, which seized the strategic initiative. A radical turning point occurred in the Soviet-German war. The counter-offensive of Soviet troops began in the Caucasus.
One of the important conditions for a radical change in the war was the ability of the USSR, USA and England to mobilize their resources. Thus, on June 30, 1941, the State Defense Committee was created in the USSR under the chairmanship of I. Stalin and the main Logistics Directorate. A card system was introduced.
In 1942, a law was passed in England giving the government emergency powers in the field of economic management. The War Production Administration was created in the United States.

Resistance movement
Another factor that contributed to the radical change was the Resistance movement of peoples who fell under the German, Italian and Japanese yoke. The Nazis created death camps - Buchenwald, Auschwitz, Majdanek, Treblinka, Dachau, Mauthausen, etc. In France - Oradour, in Czechoslovakia - Lidice, in Belarus - Khatyn and many more such villages around the world, the population of which was completely destroyed. A systematic policy of extermination of Jews and Slavs was carried out. On January 20, 1942, a plan was approved to exterminate all Jews in Europe.
The Japanese acted under the slogan “Asia for Asians,” but encountered desperate resistance in Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma, and the Philippines. The strengthening of resistance was facilitated by the unification of anti-fascist forces. Under pressure from the allies, the Comintern was dissolved in 1943, so communists in individual countries more actively participated in joint anti-fascist actions.
In 1943, an anti-fascist uprising broke out in the Warsaw Jewish ghetto. In the territories of the USSR conquered by the Germans, the partisan movement was especially widespread.

Completion of a radical fracture
The radical turning point on the Soviet-German front ended with the grandiose Battle of Kursk (July-August 1943), in which the Nazis were defeated. IN naval battles In the Atlantic, the Germans lost many submarines. Allied ships began to cross the Atlantic Ocean as part of special patrol convoys.
A radical change in the course of the war became the cause of the crisis in the countries of the fascist bloc. In July 1943, Allied forces captured the island of Sicily, and this caused a deep crisis for the fascist regime of Mussolini. He was overthrown and arrested. The new government was headed by Marshal Badoglio. The Fascist Party was outlawed, and political prisoners received an amnesty.
Secret negotiations began. On September 3, Allied troops landed in the Apennines. An armistice was signed with Italy.
At this time, Germany occupied northern Italy. Badoglio declared war on Germany. A front line emerged north of Naples, and the regime of Mussolini, who had escaped from captivity, was restored in the territory occupied by the Germans. He relied on German troops.
After the radical change was completed, the heads of the allied states - F. Roosevelt, I. Stalin and W. Churchill met in Tehran from November 28 to December 1, 1943. The central issue in the work of the conference was the opening of a second front. Churchill insisted on opening a second front in the Balkans to prevent the penetration of communism into Europe, and Stalin believed that a second front should be opened closer to the German borders - in Northern France. Thus, differences in views on the second front arose. Roosevelt sided with Stalin. It was decided to open a second front in May 1944 in France. Thus, for the first time, the foundations of the general military concept of the anti-Hitler coalition were developed. Stalin agreed to participate in the war with Japan on the condition that Kaliningrad (Königsberg) would be transferred to the USSR and the new western borders of the USSR would be recognized. A declaration on Iran was also adopted in Tehran. The heads of the three states expressed their intention to respect the integrity of the territory of this country.
In December 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill signed the Egyptian Declaration with Chinese President Chiang Kai-shek. It was agreed that the war would continue until the complete defeat of Japan. All territories taken from it by Japan will be returned to China, Korea will become free and independent.

Deportation of Turks and Caucasian peoples
The German offensive in the Caucasus, which began in the summer of 1942, in accordance with the Edelweiss plan, failed.
In the territories inhabited by Turkic peoples (North and South Azerbaijan, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Bashkiria, Tatarstan, Crimea, North Caucasus, Western China and Afghanistan) Germany planned to create the state of “Great Turkestan”.
In 1944-1945, the Soviet leadership declared some Turkic and Caucasian peoples to be collaborating with the German occupiers and deported them. As a result of this deportation, accompanied by genocide, in February 1944, 650 thousand Chechens, Ingush and Karachays, in May - about 2 million Crimean Turks, in November - about a million Meskhetian Turks from the regions of Georgia bordering Turkey were resettled to the eastern regions of the USSR. In parallel with the deportation, the forms of government of these peoples were also liquidated (in 1944, the Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, in 1945, the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic). In October 1944, the independent Republic of Tuva, located in Siberia, was incorporated into the RSFSR.

Military operations of 1944-1945
At the beginning of 1944 Soviet army launched a counteroffensive near Leningrad and in right-bank Ukraine. On September 2, 1944, an armistice was signed between the USSR and Finland. The lands captured in 1940, the Pechenga region, were transferred to the USSR. Finland's access to the Barents Sea has been closed. In October, with the permission of the Norwegian authorities, Soviet troops entered Norwegian territory.
On June 6, 1944, Allied troops under the command of American General D. Eisenhower landed in Northern France and opened a second front. At the same time, Soviet troops launched “Operation Bagration,” as a result of which the territory of the USSR was completely cleared of the enemy.
The Soviet army entered East Prussia and Poland. In August 1944, an anti-fascist uprising began in Paris. By the end of this year, the Allies had completely liberated France and Belgium.
At the beginning of 1944, the United States occupied the Marshall, Mariana Islands and the Philippines and blocked Japan's sea communications. In turn, the Japanese captured Central China. But due to difficulties in supplying the Japanese, the “march on Delhi” failed.
In July 1944, Soviet troops entered Romania. Antonescu's fascist regime was overthrown, and Romanian King Mihai declared war on Germany. On September 2, Bulgaria and on September 12, Romania concluded a truce with the allies. In mid-September, Soviet troops entered Yugoslavia, most of which by this time had been liberated by I.B. Tito’s partisan army. At this time, Churchill came to terms with the entry of all Balkan countries into the sphere of influence of the USSR. And the troops subordinate to the Polish émigré government in London fought both against the Germans and the Russians. In August 1944, an unprepared uprising began in Warsaw, suppressed by the Nazis. The Allies were divided on the legality of each of the two Polish governments.

Crimean Conference
February 4-11, 1945 Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill met in Crimea (Yalta). Here it was decided to unconditionally surrender Germany and divide its territory into 4 occupation zones (USSR, USA, England, France), collect reparations from Germany, recognize the new western borders of the USSR, and include new members in the London Polish government. The USSR confirmed its agreement to enter the war against Japan 2-3 months after the end of the war with Germany. In exchange, Stalin expected to receive South Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, the railway in Manchuria and Port Arthur.
At the conference, the declaration “On a Liberated Europe” was adopted. It guaranteed the right to create democratic structures of their own choice.
Here the order of work of the future United Nations Organization was determined. The Crimea Conference was the last meeting of the Big Three with Roosevelt participating. He died in 1945. He was replaced by G. Truman.

Surrender of Germany
Defeat on the fronts caused a strong crisis in the bloc of fascist regimes. Realizing the disastrous consequences for Germany of continuing the war and the need to make peace, a group of officers organized an assassination attempt on Hitler, but was unsuccessful.
In 1944, the German arms industry reached high level, but there was no longer any strength to resist. Despite this, Hitler announced general mobilization and began to use a new type of weapon - V-missiles. In December 1944, the Germans launched a final counterattack in the Ardennes. The Allies' position worsened. At their request, the USSR launched Operation Vistula-Oder earlier than scheduled in January 1945 and approached Berlin to a distance of 60 kilometers. In February the Allies launched a general offensive. On April 16, under the leadership of Marshal G. Zhukov, the Berlin operation began. On April 30, the Victory Banner was hung over the Reichstag. In Milan, partisans executed Mussolini. Upon learning of this, Hitler shot himself. On the night of May 8-9, on behalf of the German government, Field Marshal W. Keitel signed an act of unconditional surrender. On May 9, Prague was liberated and the war in Europe ended.

Potsdam Conference
From July 17 to August 2, 1945, a new Big Three conference took place in Potsdam. Now the United States was represented by Truman, and England, instead of Churchill, by the newly elected Prime Minister, Labor leader C. Attlee.
The main purpose of the conference was to determine the principles of Allied policy towards Germany. The territory of Germany was divided into 4 occupation zones (USSR, USA, France, England). An agreement was reached on the dissolution of fascist organizations, the restoration of previously banned parties and civil liberties, and the destruction of the military industry and cartels. The main fascist war criminals were put on trial by the International Tribunal. The conference decided that Germany should remain a single state. In the meantime, it will be controlled by the occupation authorities. The capital of the country, Berlin, was also divided into 4 zones. Elections were coming up, after which peace would be signed with the new democratic government.
The conference also determined the state borders of Germany, which lost a quarter of its territory. Germany lost everything it gained after 1938. The lands of East Prussia were divided between the USSR and Poland. The borders of Poland were determined along the line of the Oder-Neisse rivers. Soviet citizens who fled to the west or remained there were to be returned to their homeland.
The amount of reparations from Germany was determined at 20 billion dollars. 50% of this amount was due to the Soviet Union.

End of World War II
In April 1945, US troops entered the island of Okinawa during an anti-Japanese operation. Before the summer, the Philippines, Indonesia and part of Indo-China were liberated. On July 26, 1945, the USA, USSR and China demanded Japan's surrender, but were refused. To demonstrate its strength, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6. On August 8, the USSR declared war on Japan. On August 9, the United States dropped a second bomb on the city of Nagasaki.
On August 14, at the request of Emperor Hirohito, the Japanese government announced its surrender. The official act of surrender was signed on September 2, 1945, aboard the battleship Missouri.
Thus, the Second World War, in which 61 countries participated and in which 67 million people died, ended.
If the First World War was mainly of a positional nature, then the Second World War was of an offensive nature.