Background of the war, alleged allies and opponents, periodization

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

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

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

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

In 1933, the National Socialist Workers' Party, led by Adolf Hitler, came to power in the country. Germany openly declares its unwillingness to comply with the Versailles agreements and withdraws from the League of Nations on October 14, 1933, without accepting the proposal to participate in the Geneva Disarmament Conference. The expected negative reaction from the Western powers did not follow. Hitler was unofficially given free rein.

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

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

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

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

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

The periodization of the Second World War is rather complicated. The conducted research allows us to distinguish at least 5 significant periods in the Second World War:

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

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

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

June 1944 - May 1945. Opening of the second front. The retreat of German troops to the borders of Germany. Capture of Berlin. Capitulation of Germany.

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

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

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

September 1, 1939 Germany annexes Poland. September 3, the governments of France and Great Britain, connected with Poland by peace treaties, announce the start of hostilities directed against Germany. Similar actions followed from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Union of South Africa, Nepal and Newfoundland. The surviving written eyewitness accounts suggest that Hitler was not ready for such a turn of events. Germany hoped for a repeat of the events in Munich.

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

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

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

On October 6, 1939, Hitler invites the opposing sides to enter into peace negotiations, wishing by this to consolidate Germany's official right to annexation. Having not received a positive answer, Germany refuses any further actions for the peaceful resolution of the contradictions that have arisen.

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

Considering the refusal of the peace conference as a desire to continue the war, Hitler sends troops to capture Denmark and Norway. On April 9, 1940, the Germans invade the territories of these states. On May 10 of the same year, the Germans occupied Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Attempts by the combined Franco-English troops to oppose the capture of these states were not successful.

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

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

In the winter and spring of 1941, the Balkans, Greece, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Lebanon were engulfed in hostilities. Japan invades the territory of China, Thailand acts on the side of Germany and receives part of the territories of Cambodia, as well as Laos.

At the beginning of the war fighting conducted not only on land, but also at sea. The inability to use land routes for the transport of goods, forcing the UK to strive for dominance at sea.

The US foreign policy is changing to a large extent. The American government understands that it is no longer profitable to stay away from the events taking place in Europe. Negotiations begin with the governments of Great Britain, the USSR and other states that have expressed a clear desire to counteract Germany. Meanwhile, the confidence of the Soviet Union in the ability to maintain neutrality is also weakening.

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

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

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

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

Group "North" - Commander Field Marshal von Leeb. The task is the capture of Leningrad.

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

Group "South" - Commander Field Marshal von Rundstedt. The task is to take control over Ukraine.

Despite the creation of the Evacuation Council on June 24, 1941, more than half of the strategically important resources for the country, enterprises of heavy and light industry, workers and peasants, turned out to be in the power of the enemy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In October 1943, the British, US, and Soviet Foreign Ministers met in Moscow to discuss the forthcoming Tehran Conference. Actually the conference itself was held from November 28 to December 1, 1943 in Tehran. It was attended by Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. The Soviet Union managed to achieve a promise to open a second front in May 1944 and various kinds of territorial concessions.

In January 1945, the allies of the anti-Hitler coalition gathered in Yalta to discuss further actions after the defeat of Germany. The Soviet Union undertook not to stop the war, directing military power to achieve victory over Japan.

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

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, which was the reason for the US entry into the war and the start of hostilities in the Philippines, Thailand, New Guinea, China and even India. At the end of 1942, Japan controls all of Southeast Asia and Northwestern Oceania.

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

Enlisting the support of the Americans, the British made repeated attempts to oust the Nazis from Africa and Italy. This was done only by 1945 in the course of the Tunisian and Italian companies. Since January 1943, regular bombardments of German cities have been carried out.

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

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

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

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

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

On September 2, 1945, the act of unconditional surrender of Japan is signed. World War II ends, negotiations begin between the former allies in the anti-Hitler bloc regarding further fate Germany and fascism itself. In Nuremberg and Tokyo, tribunals are beginning to operate, designed to determine the degree of guilt and punishment for war criminals.

World War II claimed the lives of 27 million people. Germany was divided into 4 occupation zones and for a long time lost the right to independently make decisions in the international arena. In addition, the size of the indemnity assigned to Germany and its allies was several times greater than that determined at the end of the First World War.

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

Commanders

Side forces

The Second World War(September 1, 1939 - September 2, 1945) - the war of two world military-political coalitions, which became the largest war in the history of mankind. It involved 61 states out of 73 that existed at that time (80% of the world's population). The fighting took place on the territory of three continents and in the waters of four oceans.

Military operations at sea in World War II

Members

The number of countries involved varied over the course of the war. Some of them were active in the war, others helped their allies with food supplies, and many participated in the war only nominally.

The anti-Hitler coalition included: the USSR, the British Empire, the USA, Poland, France and other countries.

On the other hand, the Axis countries and their allies participated in the war: Germany, Italy, Japan, Finland, Romania, Bulgaria and other countries.

Background of the war

The prerequisites for the war stem from the so-called Versailles-Washington system - the balance of power that developed after the First World War. The main winners (France, Great Britain, USA) were unable to make the new world order sustainable. Moreover, Britain and France counted on a new war to strengthen their positions as colonial powers and weaken their competitors (Germany and Japan). Germany was limited in participation in international affairs, the creation of a full-fledged army and was subject to indemnities. With the decline in living standards in Germany, political forces with revanchist ideas led by A. Hitler came to power.

German battleship Schleswig-Holstein firing on Polish positions

1939 campaign

Capture of Poland

World War II began on September 1, 1939 with a surprise German attack on Poland. The Polish naval forces did not include large surface ships, were not ready for war with Germany and were quickly defeated. Three Polish destroyers left for England before the start of the war, German aircraft sank a destroyer and a mine layer Gryf .

The beginning of the struggle at sea

Operations on communications in the Atlantic Ocean

In the initial period of the war, the German command expected to solve the problem of combating sea communications, using surface raiders as the main striking force. Submarines and aviation were assigned a supporting role. They were supposed to force the British to transport in convoys, which facilitated the actions of surface raiders. The British intended to use the convoy method as the main method of protecting shipping from submarines, and to use long-range blockade as the main method of combating surface raiders, following the experience of the First World War. To this end, at the beginning of the war, the British established naval patrols in the English Channel and in the Shetland Islands - Norway region. But these actions were ineffective - surface raiders, and even more so German submarines, were actively operating on communications - allies and neutral countries lost 221 merchant ships with a total tonnage of 755 thousand tons by the end of the year.

German merchant ships had instructions to start the war and tried to reach the ports of Germany or friendly countries, about 40 ships were sunk by their crews, and only 19 ships fell into the hands of the enemy at the beginning of the war.

Operations in the North Sea

With the outbreak of war, a large-scale laying of minefields in the North Sea began, which fettered active operations in it until the end of the war. Both sides mined the approaches to their coast with wide barrier belts of dozens of minefields. German destroyers set up minefields off the coast of England.

German submarine raid U-47 in Scapa Flow, during which she sank an English battleship HMS Royal Oak showed the weakness of the entire anti-submarine defense of the British fleet.

Capture of Norway and Denmark

1940 campaign

Occupation of Denmark and Norway

In April - May 1940, German troops carried out Operation Weserübung, during which they captured Denmark and Norway. With the support and under the cover of large aviation forces, 1 battleship, 6 cruisers, 14 destroyers and other ships in Oslo, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik, a total of up to 10 thousand people were landed. The operation came as a surprise to the British, who belatedly got involved. The British fleet in battles 10 and 13 in Narvik destroyed German destroyers. On May 24, the Allied command ordered the evacuation from Northern Norway, which was carried out from June 4 to 8. During the evacuation on June 9, German battleships sank an aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and 2 destroyers. In total, during the operation, the Germans lost a heavy cruiser, 2 light cruisers, 10 destroyers, 8 submarines and other ships, the Allies lost an aircraft carrier, a cruiser, 7 destroyers, 6 submarines.

Operations in the Mediterranean. 1940-1941

Activities in the Mediterranean

Military operations in the Mediterranean theater began after Italy declared war on England and France on June 10, 1940. The fighting of the Italian fleet began with the laying of minefields in the Strait of Tunis and on the approaches to their bases, with the deployment of submarines, as well as with air raids on Malta.

The first major naval battle between the Italian Navy and the British Navy was the battle at Punta Stilo (in English sources also known as the battle of Calabria. The clash occurred on July 9, 1940 at the southeastern tip of the Apennine Peninsula. As a result of the battle, neither side lost But Italy was damaged: 1 battleship, 1 heavy cruiser and 1 destroyer, while the British - 1 light cruiser and 2 destroyers.

French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir

Capitulation of France

On June 22, France capitulated. Despite the terms of surrender, the Vichy government had no intention of handing over the fleet to Germany. Distrustful of the French, the British government launched Operation Catapult to seize French ships located in different bases. In Porsmouth and Plymouth, 2 battleships, 2 destroyers, 5 submarines were captured; ships in Alexandria and Martinique were disarmed. In Mers-el-Kebir and Dakar, where the French resisted, the British sank a battleship Bretagne and damaged three more battleships. From the captured ships, the Free French fleet was organized, meanwhile the Vichy government broke off relations with Great Britain.

Operations in the Atlantic in 1940-1941.

After the surrender of the Netherlands on 14 May, the German ground forces pinned the Allied troops to the sea. From May 26 to June 4, 1940, during Operation Dynamo, 338,000 Allied troops were evacuated to Britain from the French coast near Dunkirk. At the same time, the Allied fleet suffered heavy losses from German aviation - about 300 ships and vessels perished.

In 1940, German boats ceased to operate under the rules of prize law and switched to unrestricted submarine warfare. After the capture of Norway and the western regions of France, the basing system of German boats expanded. After Italy entered the war, 27 Italian boats began to be based in Bordeaux. The Germans gradually switched from the actions of single boats to the actions of groups of boats with curtains that blocked the ocean area.

German auxiliary cruisers successfully operated on ocean communications - until the end of 1940, 6 cruisers captured and destroyed 54 ships with a displacement of 366,644 tons.

1941 campaign

Operations in the Mediterranean in 1941

Activities in the Mediterranean

In May 1941, German troops captured about. Crete. The British Navy, which was waiting for enemy ships near the island, lost 3 cruisers, 6 destroyers, more than 20 other ships and transports from attacks by German aircraft, 3 battleships, an aircraft carrier, 6 cruisers, 7 destroyers were damaged.

Active actions on Japanese communications put the Japanese economy in a difficult position, disrupted the implementation of the shipbuilding program, and complicated the transportation of strategic raw materials and troops. In addition to submarines, the surface forces of the US Navy, and above all TF-58 (TF-38), also actively participated in the battle on communications. In terms of the number of Japanese transports sunk, carrier forces were second only to submarines. Only in the period of October 10 - 16, the aircraft carrier groups of the 38th formation, having subjected naval bases, ports and airfields in the Taiwan, Philippines, to strikes, destroyed about 600 aircraft on the ground and in the air, sank 34 transports and several auxiliary ships.

Landing in France

Landing in France

On June 6, 1944, Operation Overlord (Normandy Landing Operation) began. Under the cover of massive air strikes and naval artillery fire, an amphibious landing of 156 thousand people was carried out. The operation was supported by a fleet of 6 thousand military and landing ships and transport ships.

The German navy offered almost no resistance to the amphibious landings. The Allies suffered the main losses from mines - 43 ships were blown up on them. During the second half of 1944, in the landing area off the coast of England and in the English Channel, as a result of the actions of German submarines, torpedo boats, and mines, 60 Allied transports were lost.

German submarine sinks transport

Actions in the Atlantic Ocean

German troops began to retreat under pressure from the landed Allied troops. As a result, the German Navy lost bases on the Atlantic coast by the end of the year. On September 18, units of the allies entered Brest, on September 25 troops occupied Boulogne. Also in September, the Belgian ports of Ostend and Antwerp were liberated. By the end of the year, the fighting in the ocean had ceased.

In 1944, the Allies were able to ensure almost complete security of communications. To protect communications, they at that time had 118 escort aircraft carriers, 1,400 destroyers, frigates and sloops, and about 3,000 other patrol ships. Coastal aviation PLO consisted of 1700 aircraft, 520 flying boats. The total losses in the allied and neutral tonnage in the Atlantic as a result of the actions of submarines in the second half of 1944 amounted to only 58 ships with a total tonnage of 270,000 gross tons. The Germans lost 98 boats at sea during this period alone.

Submarines

Signing of Japan's surrender

Action in the Pacific

Possessing an overwhelming superiority in forces, the American armed forces in tense battles in 1945 broke the stubborn resistance of the Japanese troops and captured the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. For landing operations, the United States attracted huge forces, so the fleet off the coast of Okinawa consisted of 1,600 ships. For all the days of fighting off Okinawa, 368 Allied ships were damaged, another 36 (including 15 landing ships and 12 destroyers) were sunk. The Japanese had 16 ships sunk, including the battleship Yamato.

In 1945, American air raids on bases and coastal facilities in Japan became systematic, with strikes carried out both by coastal naval aviation and strategic aviation and strike carrier formations. In March - July 1945, as a result of massive strikes, American aircraft sank or damaged all large Japanese surface ships.

On August 8, the USSR declared war on Japan. From August 12 to 20, 1945, the Pacific Fleet conducted a series of landings that captured the ports of Korea. On August 18, the Kuril landing operation was launched, during which Soviet troops occupied the Kuril Islands.

September 2, 1945 aboard the battleship USS Missouri Japan's surrender was signed, ending World War II.

The results of the war

The Second World War had a huge impact on the fate of mankind. It involved 72 states (80% of the world's population), military operations were conducted on the territory of 40 states. The total human losses reached 60-65 million people, of which 27 million people were killed on the fronts.

The war ended with the victory of the anti-Hitler coalition. As a result of the war, the role of Western Europe in global politics. The main powers in the world were the USSR and the USA. 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. 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.

History of World Wars. - M: Tsentrpoligraf, 2011. - 384 p. -

It would seem that the answer to this question is absolutely clear. Any more or less educated European will name the date - September 1, 1939 - the day the Nazi Germany attacked Poland. And the more prepared will explain: more precisely, the world war began two days later - on September 3, when Great Britain and France, as well as Australia, New Zealand and India, declared war on Germany.

True, they did not immediately participate in hostilities, waging the so-called waiting strange war. For Western Europe, the real war began only in the spring of 1940, when German troops invaded Denmark and Norway on April 9, and on May 10, the Wehrmacht launched an offensive in France, Belgium and Holland.

Recall that at that time the largest powers of the world - the USA and the USSR remained out of the war. For this reason alone, there are doubts about the complete validity of the date of the beginning of the planetary slaughter established by Western European historiography.

And therefore, I think, by and large it can be assumed that it would be more correct to consider the starting point of the Second World War as the date of involvement in the hostilities of the Soviet Union - June 22, 1941. Well, from the Americans it was possible to hear that the war acquired a truly global character only after the treacherous Japanese attack on the Pacific naval base at Pearl Harbor and the announcement in December 1941 by Washington of war against militaristic Japan, Nazi Germany and fascist Italy.

However, Chinese scholars and politicians most persistently and, say, from their own point of view, convincingly defend the illegality of the countdown of the world war adopted in Europe from September 1, 1939. I have repeatedly encountered this at international conferences and symposiums, where Chinese participants invariably defend the official position of their country that the start of World War II should be considered the date of the unleashing of a full-scale war in China by militaristic Japan - July 7, 1937. There are also such historians in the "Celestial Empire" who believe that this date should be September 18, 1931 - the beginning of the Japanese invasion of the North-Eastern provinces of China, then called Manchuria.

One way or another, it turns out that this year the PRC will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the start of not only the Japanese aggression against China, but also the Second World War.

One of the first in our country to seriously pay attention to such a periodization of the Second World War, the authors of the historical perspective prepared by the Foundation collective monograph"Score of the Second World War. Thunderstorm in the East” (author-comp. A.A. Koshkin. M., Veche, 2010).

In the preface, the head of the Foundation, Doctor of Historical Sciences N.A. Narochnitskaya notes:

"According to the established historical science and in the public mind, World War II began in Europe with an attack on Poland on September 1, 1939, after which Great Britain, the first of the future victorious powers, declared war on the Nazi Reich. However, this event was preceded by large-scale military clashes in other parts of the world, which are unreasonably considered by Eurocentric historiography as peripheral, and therefore secondary.

By September 1, 1939, a truly world war was already in full swing in Asia. China, fighting Japanese aggression since the mid-1930s, has already lost twenty million lives. In Asia and Europe, the Axis powers - Germany, Italy, and Japan - have been delivering ultimatums, bringing in troops, and redrawing borders for several years. Hitler, with the connivance of Western democracies, seized Austria and Czechoslovakia, Italy occupied Albania and waged war in North Africa, where 200,000 Abyssinians died.

Since the surrender of Japan is considered the end of the Second World War, the war in Asia is recognized as part of the Second World War, but the question of its beginning needs a more reasonable definition. The traditional periodization of World War II needs to be rethought. In terms of the scale of the redistribution of the world and military operations, in terms of the scale of the victims of aggression, the Second World War began precisely in Asia long before the German attack on Poland, long before the Western powers entered the world war.

The word in the collective monograph was also given to Chinese scientists. Historians Luan Jinghe and Xu Zhiming note:

“According to one of the generally accepted points of view, the Second World War, which lasted six years, began on September 1, 1939 with the German attack on Poland. Meanwhile, there is another view of the starting point of this war, in which different time involved more than 60 states and regions and disrupted the lives of over 2 billion people around the world. The total number of mobilized from both sides amounted to more than 100 million people, the death toll - more than 50 million. The direct costs of waging the war amounted to 1.352 trillion US dollars, financial losses reached 4 trillion dollars. We cite these figures to once again indicate the scale of those huge disasters that the Second World War brought to mankind in the 20th century.

There is no doubt that the formation of the Western Front meant not only the expansion of the scale of hostilities, it also played a decisive role in the course of the war.

However, an equally important contribution to the victory in World War II was made on the Eastern Front, where the eight-year war of the Chinese people against the Japanese invaders was going on. This resistance became an important part of the world war.

An in-depth study of the history of the Chinese people's war against the Japanese invaders and understanding of its significance will help to create a more complete picture of the Second World War.

This is what the proposed article is devoted to, in which it is argued that the actual date of the start of the Second World War should be considered not September 1, 1939, but July 7, 1937 - the day when Japan unleashed a full-scale war against China.

If we accept this point of view and do not strive to artificially separate the Western and Eastern fronts, there will be all the more reason to call the anti-fascist war ... the Great World War.

The author of the article in the collective monograph, a prominent Russian sinologist, full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.S. Myasnikov, who does a lot to restore historical justice, to properly assess the contribution of the Chinese people to the victory over the so-called "Axis countries" - Germany, Japan and Italy, who aspired to enslave peoples and world domination. An eminent scientist writes:

“As for the beginning of the Second World War, there are two main versions: European and Chinese ... Chinese historiography has long been saying that it is time to move away from Eurocentrism (which, in essence, is similar to negritude) in assessing this event and admit that the beginning of this war is falling on July 7, 1937 and is connected with the open aggression of Japan against China. Let me remind you that the territory of China is 9.6 million square meters. km, that is, approximately equal to the territory of Europe. By the time the war began in Europe, most of China, where its largest cities and economic centers were located - Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Guangzhou, was occupied by the Japanese. Almost the entire railway network of the country fell into the hands of the invaders, its sea coast was blocked. Chongqing became the capital of China during the war.

It should be borne in mind that China lost 35 million people in the war of resistance against Japan. The European public is not sufficiently aware of the heinous crimes of the Japanese military.

So, on December 13, 1937, Japanese troops captured the then capital of China - Nanjing and committed mass extermination civilians and the robbery of the city. 300 thousand people became victims of this crime. These and other crimes were condemned by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East at the Tokyo Trial (1946-1948).

But, finally, objective approaches to this problem began to appear in our historiography... The collective work gives a detailed picture of military and diplomatic moves, which fully confirms the need and validity of revising the outdated Eurocentric point of view.”

For our part, I would like to note that the proposed revision will cause resistance from Japan’s pro-government historians, who not only do not recognize the aggressive nature of their country’s actions in China and the number of victims in the war, but also do not consider the eight-year extermination of the Chinese population and the all-out plunder of China to be a war. They stubbornly call the Japanese-Chinese war an "incident" allegedly caused by China, despite the absurdity of such a name for military and punitive actions, during which tens of millions of people were killed. They do not recognize Japan's aggression in China as an integral part of the Second World War, claiming that they participated in the global conflict, opposing only the United States and Great Britain.

In conclusion, it should be recognized that our country has always objectively and comprehensively assessed the contribution of the Chinese people to the victory of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition in World War II.

High assessments of the heroism and self-sacrifice of Chinese soldiers in this war are also given in modern Russia, both by historians and leaders Russian Federation. Such assessments are duly contained in the issued by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for the 70th anniversary Great Victory The 12-volume work of prominent Russian historians "The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945". Therefore, there is reason to expect that our scientists and politicians, during the events planned for the upcoming 80th anniversary of the start of the Japanese-Chinese war, will treat with understanding and solidarity the position of the Chinese comrades, who consider the events that took place in July 1937 to be the starting point that then fell upon almost the entire a world of unprecedented planetary tragedy.

The largest in human history, the Second World War was a logical continuation of the First World War. In 1918, Kaiser's Germany lost to the Entente countries. The result of the First World War was the Treaty of Versailles, according to which the Germans lost part of their territory. Germany was forbidden to have a large army, navy and colonies. An unprecedented economic crisis began in the country. It worsened even more after the Great Depression of 1929.

German society survived its defeat with difficulty. There were massive revanchist sentiments. Populist politicians began to play on the desire to “restore historical justice”. The National Socialist German Workers' Party, headed by Adolf Hitler, began to enjoy great popularity.

Causes

Radicals came to power in Berlin in 1933. German state quickly became totalitarian and began to prepare for the coming war for dominance in Europe. Simultaneously with the Third Reich, its "classic" fascism arose in Italy.

The Second World War (1939-1945) is an event not only in the Old World, but also in Asia. Japan has been a source of concern in this region. In the Land of the Rising Sun, just like in Germany, imperialist sentiments were extremely popular. China, weakened by internal conflicts, became the object of Japanese aggression. The war between the two Asian powers began as early as 1937, and with the outbreak of conflict in Europe, it became part of the general Second World War. Japan became an ally of Germany.

In the Third Reich, he left the League of Nations (the predecessor of the UN), stopped his own disarmament. In 1938, the Anschluss (accession) of Austria took place. It was bloodless, but the causes of World War II, in short, were that European politicians turned a blind eye to Hitler's aggressive behavior and did not stop his policy of absorbing more and more territories.

Soon Germany annexed the Sudetenland, inhabited by Germans, but belonging to Czechoslovakia. Poland and Hungary also took part in the division of this state. In Budapest, the alliance with the Third Reich was observed until 1945. The example of Hungary shows that the causes of the Second World War, in short, were, among other things, the consolidation of anti-communist forces around Hitler.

Start

On September 1, 1939 they invaded Poland. A few days later, Germany declared war on France, Great Britain and their numerous colonies. Two key powers had allied agreements with Poland and acted in its defense. Thus began the Second World War (1939-1945).

A week before the Wehrmacht attacked Poland, German diplomats signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. Thus, the USSR was aloof from the conflict between the Third Reich, France and Great Britain. By signing an agreement with Hitler, Stalin was solving his own problems. In the period before the start of World War II, the Red Army entered Eastern Poland, the Baltic States and Bessarabia. In November 1939, the Soviet-Finnish war began. As a result, the USSR annexed several western regions.

While German-Soviet neutrality was maintained, the German army was engaged in the occupation of most of the Old World. 1939 was met with restraint by overseas countries. In particular, the United States declared its neutrality and maintained it until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Blitzkrieg in Europe

Polish resistance was broken after only a month. All this time, Germany acted only on one front, since the actions of France and Great Britain were of little initiative. The period from September 1939 to May 1940 received the characteristic name " strange war". During these few months, Germany, in the absence of active action by the British and French, occupied Poland, Denmark and Norway.

The first stages of World War II were short-lived. In April 1940, Germany invaded Scandinavia. Air and amphibious assault entered the key Danish cities without hindrance. A few days later, the monarch Christian X signed the capitulation. In Norway, the British and French landed troops, but he was powerless before the onslaught of the Wehrmacht. The early periods of World War II were characterized by the overwhelming advantage of the Germans over their enemy. The long preparation for the future bloodshed had an effect. The whole country worked for the war, and Hitler did not hesitate to throw all new resources into her cauldron.

In May 1940, the invasion of the Benelux began. The whole world was shocked by the unprecedented destructive bombing of Rotterdam. Thanks to their swift throw, the Germans managed to take key positions before the allies appeared there. By the end of May, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg capitulated and were occupied.

In the summer, the battles of World War II moved to French territory. In June 1940, Italy joined the campaign. Her troops attacked the south of France, and the Wehrmacht attacked the north. An armistice was soon signed. Most of France was occupied. In a small free zone in the south of the country, the Pétain regime was established, which went to cooperate with the Germans.

Africa and the Balkans

In the summer of 1940, after Italy entered the war, the main theater of operations moved to the Mediterranean. The Italians invaded North Africa and attacked British bases in Malta. On the "Black Continent" then there was a significant number of English and French colonies. The Italians at first concentrated on the eastern direction - Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Sudan.

Some French colonies in Africa refused to recognize the new government of France headed by Pétain. Charles de Gaulle became the symbol of the national struggle against the Nazis. In London, he created a liberation movement called "Fighting France". British troops, together with de Gaulle's detachments, began to recapture the African colonies from Germany. Equatorial Africa and Gabon were liberated.

In September, the Italians invaded Greece. The attack took place against the background of the battles for North Africa. Many fronts and stages of World War II began to intertwine with each other due to the ever-increasing expansion of the conflict. The Greeks managed to successfully resist the Italian onslaught until April 1941, when Germany intervened in the conflict, occupying Hellas in just a few weeks.

Simultaneously with the Greek campaign, the Germans launched the Yugoslav campaign. The forces of the Balkan state were split into several parts. The operation began on April 6, and on April 17 Yugoslavia capitulated. Germany in World War II looked more and more like an undisputed hegemon. Pro-fascist puppet states were created on the territory of occupied Yugoslavia.

Invasion of the USSR

All previous stages of the Second World War faded in scale compared to the operation that Germany was preparing to carry out in the USSR. The war with the Soviet Union was only a matter of time. The invasion began exactly after the Third Reich occupied most of Europe and was able to concentrate all its forces on the Eastern Front.

Parts of the Wehrmacht crossed the Soviet border on June 22, 1941. For our country, this date was the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Until the last moment, the Kremlin did not believe in the German attack. Stalin refused to take the intelligence data seriously, considering it disinformation. As a result, the Red Army was completely unprepared for Operation Barbarossa. In the early days, airfields and other strategic infrastructure in the west of the Soviet Union were bombed without hindrance.

The USSR in World War II was faced with another German blitzkrieg plan. In Berlin, they were going to capture the main Soviet cities of the European part of the country by winter. For the first few months everything went according to Hitler's expectations. Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States were completely occupied. Leningrad was under blockade. The course of World War II brought the conflict to a key turning point. If Germany defeated the Soviet Union, she would have no opponents left, except for overseas Great Britain.

The winter of 1941 was approaching. The Germans were in the vicinity of Moscow. They stopped on the outskirts of the capital. On November 7, a festive parade was held dedicated to the next anniversary October revolution. Soldiers went directly from Red Square to the front. The Wehrmacht was stuck a few dozen kilometers from Moscow. The German soldiers were demoralized by the most severe winter and the most difficult conditions of warfare. On December 5, the Soviet counteroffensive began. By the end of the year, the Germans were driven back from Moscow. The previous stages of the Second World War were characterized by the total advantage of the Wehrmacht. Now the army of the Third Reich has stopped its world expansion for the first time. The battle for Moscow was the turning point of the war.

Japanese attack on the USA

Until the end of 1941, Japan remained neutral in the European conflict, while at the same time fighting with China. At a certain moment, the country's leadership faced a strategic choice: to attack the USSR or the USA. The choice was made in favor of the American version. On December 7, Japanese aircraft attacked the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. As a result of the raid, almost all American battleships and in general a significant part of the American Pacific Fleet.

Until that moment, the United States did not openly participate in World War II. When the situation in Europe changed in favor of Germany, the American authorities began to support Great Britain with resources, but they did not interfere in the conflict itself. Now the situation has changed 180 degrees, since Japan was an ally of Germany. The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Washington declared war on Tokyo. Great Britain and its dominions did the same. A few days later, Germany, Italy and their European satellites declared war on the United States. Thus, the contours of the unions that clashed in a face-to-face confrontation in the second half of the Second World War finally took shape. The USSR had been at war for several months and also joined the anti-Hitler coalition.

In the new 1942, the Japanese invaded the Dutch East Indies, where they began to seize island after island without much difficulty. At the same time, the offensive in Burma developed. By the summer of 1942, Japanese forces controlled all of Southeast Asia and much of Oceania. The United States in World War II changed the situation in the Pacific theater of operations somewhat later.

Soviet counteroffensive

In 1942, the Second World War, the table of events of which, as a rule, includes basic information, found itself at its key stage. The forces of the opposing alliances were approximately equal. The turning point came towards the end of 1942. In the summer, the Germans launched another offensive in the USSR. This time their key target was the south of the country. Berlin wanted to cut off Moscow from oil and other resources. For this it was necessary to cross the Volga.

In November 1942, the whole world anxiously awaited news from Stalingrad. The Soviet counter-offensive on the banks of the Volga led to the fact that since then the strategic initiative has finally been with the USSR. In World War II, there was no more bloody and large-scale battle than Battle of Stalingrad. The total losses of both sides exceeded two million people. At the cost of incredible efforts, the Red Army stopped the Axis offensive on the Eastern Front.

The next strategically important success of the Soviet troops was the Battle of Kursk in June - July 1943. That summer, the Germans made their last attempt to seize the initiative and launch an offensive against the Soviet positions. The plan of the Wehrmacht failed. The Germans not only did not succeed, but also left many cities in central Russia (Orel, Belgorod, Kursk), while following the "scorched earth tactics". Everything tank battles The Second World War was marked by bloodshed, but the battle of Prokhorovka became the largest. It was a key episode of the entire Battle of Kursk. By the end of 1943 - the beginning of 1944, Soviet troops liberated the south of the USSR and reached the borders of Romania.

Allied landings in Italy and Normandy

In May 1943, the Allies cleared North Africa of the Italians. The British fleet began to control the entire Mediterranean Sea. The earlier periods of World War II were characterized by Axis successes. Now the situation has become just the opposite.

In July 1943, American, British and French troops landed in Sicily, and in September - on peninsula. The Italian government renounced Mussolini and a few days later signed a truce with advancing opponents. The dictator, however, managed to escape. Thanks to the help of the Germans, he created the puppet republic of Salo in the industrial north of Italy. The British, French, Americans and local partisans gradually recaptured more and more new cities. On June 4, 1944, they entered Rome.

Exactly two days later, on the 6th, the Allies landed in Normandy. Thus was opened the second or Western Front, as a result of which the Second World War was ended (the table shows this event). In August, a similar landing began in the south of France. On August 25, the Germans finally left Paris. By the end of 1944, the front had stabilized. The main battles took place in the Belgian Ardennes, where each of the parties made, for the time being, unsuccessful attempts to develop their own offensive.

On February 9, as a result of the Colmar operation, the German army stationed in Alsace was surrounded. The Allies managed to break through the defensive Siegfried Line and reach the German border. In March, after the Meuse-Rhine operation, the Third Reich lost territories beyond the western bank of the Rhine. In April, the Allies took control of the Ruhr industrial region. At the same time, the offensive in northern Italy continued. April 28, 1945 fell into the hands of the Italian partisans and was executed.

Capture of Berlin

Opening a second front, the Western allies coordinated their actions with the Soviet Union. In the summer of 1944, the Red Army began to attack. Already in the fall, the Germans lost control of the remnants of their possessions in the USSR (with the exception of a small enclave in western Latvia).

In August, Romania withdrew from the war, which had previously acted as a satellite of the Third Reich. Soon the authorities of Bulgaria and Finland did the same. The Germans began to hastily evacuate from the territory of Greece and Yugoslavia. In February 1945, the Red Army carried out the Budapest operation and liberated Hungary.

The path of the Soviet troops to Berlin ran through Poland. Together with her, the Germans also left East Prussia. The Berlin operation began at the end of April. Hitler, realizing his own defeat, committed suicide. On May 7, an act of German surrender was signed, which entered into force on the night of the 8th to the 9th.

Defeat of the Japanese

Although the war ended in Europe, bloodshed continued in Asia and the Pacific. The last force to resist the allies was Japan. In June, the empire lost control of Indonesia. In July, Britain, the United States and China presented her with an ultimatum, which, however, was rejected.

On August 6 and 9, 1945, the Americans dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These cases were the only ones in human history when nuclear weapons were used for combat purposes. On August 8, the Soviet offensive began in Manchuria. The Japanese Surrender Act was signed on September 2, 1945. This ended World War II.

Losses

Studies are still underway on how many people were injured and how many died in World War II. On average, the number of lives lost is estimated at 55 million (of which 26 million are Soviet citizens). The financial damage amounted to 4 trillion dollars, although it is hardly possible to calculate the exact figures.

Europe has been hardest hit. Its industry and agriculture were restored for many more years. How many died in World War II and how many were destroyed became clear only after some time, when the world community was able to clarify the facts about Nazi crimes against humanity.

The largest bloodshed in the history of mankind was carried out by completely new methods. Entire cities perished under the bombing, centuries-old infrastructure was destroyed in a few minutes. The genocide of the Second World War organized by the Third Reich, directed against Jews, Gypsies and the Slavic population, terrifies with its details to this day. German concentration camps became real "death factories", and German (and Japanese) doctors conducted cruel medical and biological experiments on people.

Results

The results of the Second World War were summed up at the Potsdam Conference, held in July - August 1945. Europe was divided between the USSR and the Western allies. IN Eastern countries communist pro-Soviet regimes were established. Germany lost a significant part of its territory. was annexed to the USSR, several more provinces passed to Poland. Germany was first divided into four zones. Then, on their basis, the capitalist FRG and the socialist GDR emerged. In the east, the USSR received the Kuril Islands, which belonged to Japan, and the southern part of Sakhalin. The communists came to power in China.

Western European countries after World War II lost a significant part of their political influence. The former dominant position of Great Britain and France was occupied by the United States, which suffered less than others from German aggression. Started the process of disintegration In 1945, the United Nations was created, designed to maintain peace throughout the world. Ideological and other contradictions between the USSR and the Western allies led to the start of the Cold War.

The day of the end of the Second World War is the day when Japan, which continued to fight even after the defeat of Germany, signed the Act of Surrender. After the capture of Berlin and the surrender of Hitler's Germany, the USSR, fulfilling its allied duty, began hostilities against Japan. According to the recognition of the world community, including the Americans, the entry of the USSR into the war against Japan in June significantly brought the end of the World War closer. During the battles against the imperial Kwantung Army, our troops lost 12 thousand people killed. Japanese losses were 84,000 killed and 600,000 captured. Japan signed the Instrument of Surrender on 2 September.

On September 2, 1945, after the surrender of Japan, World War II became history. This story is still alive today. In the forests and fields, even now they find many shells, mines, caches with weapons that the warring parties left behind. Until now, search teams are finding civilian graves and mass graves of soldiers all over the world. This war cannot be over until the last soldier is buried.

How our fathers and grandfathers beat the enemy

In this war, the USSR suffered colossal economic and human losses. More than 9 million soldiers died on the fronts, but historians call a larger figure. Among the civilian population, the losses were much worse: about 16 million people. The population of the Ukrainian SSR, the Byelorussian SSR and the Russian SFSR suffered the most.

In the battles near Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, victory and the Glory of the Russian People were forged. Thanks to the exceptional courage of Soviet soldiers and officers, who, at the cost of their lives, broke the back of the "fascist hydra" and saved the people from complete annihilation, as Hitler and his entourage planned. The feat of our army will always be glorious for centuries.

Often, miracles of heroism and unprecedented courage awed the enemy, forced him to bow his head before the courage of our fighters and commanders. From the first days of the war, the Germans and their allies faced serious resistance. Many outposts that were planned to be destroyed in the first few hours of the war held out for several days. The historian Smirnov told the world that the last defender of the Brest Fortress was taken prisoner by the Germans in 1942, in the month of April. Our pilots, when they ran out of ammunition, boldly went to ram enemy aircraft, its ground combat equipment, railway echelons and enemy manpower. Our tankers in a burning tank did not take their vehicles out of the heat of battle, fighting to the last breath. It is worth remembering the brave sailors who died along with their ship, but did not surrender. Often, soldiers closed the embrasure with their chests in order to save their comrades from the lethal machine-gun fire of the enemy. Left without anti-tank guns, the fighters tied themselves with grenades and rushed under the tank, thereby stopping the fascist armored armada.

World War II began counting its bloody pages in September 1939 when Germany attacked Poland. The massacre lasted for 2076 days, taking away thousands of human lives every day, not sparing the elderly, children and women. The end of the Second World War is a truly great event that marked the establishment of peace throughout the world.

Day of the end of World War II. Holiday date.

The celebration of this day is enshrined at the state level. In accordance with the Federal Law "On the days of military glory and memorable dates in Russia" September 2 is the day military glory- Date of the end of World War II.

In 1941, a non-aggression pact was signed between the USSR and Japan. Although after the Nazi troops crossed the border of the Soviet Union, Japan did not enter the war, opening the Western Front, nevertheless, the ruling elite of the country of the "Rising Sun" did not leave the thought of aggression. This is evidenced by the covert mobilization in Manchuria and the doubling of the size of the Kwantung Army.

After the surrender of Germany, the Japanese government wanted to find ways through the leadership of the Soviet Union in July to conclude a peace agreement. Although the emperor's envoys did not receive a refusal, they were told that they could not be accepted due to the participation of Stalin and Molotov in the Potsdam Conference. Japan did not agree to peace terms even after the USSR, three months after the end of the war in Europe, in accordance with the obligations assumed during the Yalta Peace Conference, officially declared war on her and stopped all diplomatic relations.

After the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the defeat of the Kwantung Army, the defeat of the fleet in the Pacific Ocean, the military government of Japan agreed to the terms of surrender on August 14. On August 17, the order was handed over to the troops. Not everyone received an order to stop resistance, and some Japanese could not imagine themselves as defeated, categorically refused to lay down their arms and fought right up to September 10th. The capitulation began on 20 August. And on September 2, the undecided Act of Surrender of Japan was signed on the cruiser Missouri of the US Navy. The signing was attended by representatives of all countries that fought against Japan and its satellites: the USSR, the Netherlands, China, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, France and New Zealand.

The next day, the date of the end of the Second World War, in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, became an official holiday: Happy Victory Day of the USSR over Japan! But for a long time this date was ignored at the state level. But in the Russian Federation this day is celebrated annually in memory not only of those who brought the defeat of Japan closer, but also of those who went through the heat of the war from the first day to the last day.

Traditions of the end of World War II

It is actively celebrated in the Far East, where hostilities took place between Japan and the USSR. On this day, it is customary to honor veterans of the Great Patriotic War. In cities, concerts are held in the Houses of Officers, in various theaters and concert halls. Traditionally, flowers are laid at the soldiers' memorials, the Eternal Flame, the monument to the Unknown Soldier, and memorial services are served in churches. In military units with soldiers, educational activities are carried out aimed at instilling pride in the Russian army.

In addition, events dedicated to this date are held all over the world. Recently, it was announced in Austria that memorial events would be held in the capital, and a watch would be set up at the monument to those who died in the war. A brass military band will also play on the square in Vienna. These actions are aimed at ousting from the life of Europe the nationalists who hold mourning events for the defeat in the Second World War. Festivals and concerts are held in other countries.

Let there be peace...

World War II 1939 - 1945 became the worst massacre in the history of mankind. The war was on five continents, more than 73 states participated in it, which is approximately 80% of the world's population at that time. Millions of Soviet soldiers gave their lives so that this war for all mankind ended with the victory of the anti-Hitler coalition.

On the day the Second World War ends, I would like to believe that there will be no more military conflicts, that evil was forever buried under the ruins of the Reichstag, that there will be no more pain or human suffering on Earth.