History of the Second World War 1939 1945 History of World War II

The Second World War(September 1, 1939 - September 2, 1945) is a military conflict between two world military-political coalitions.

It has become the largest armed conflict in mankind. 62 states took part in this war. About 80% of the entire population of the Earth participated in hostilities on one side or another.

We bring to your attention a brief history of World War II. From this article you will learn the main events associated with this terrible tragedy on a global scale.

First period of World War 2

September 1, 1939 The armed forces entered the territory. In this regard, after 2 days, they declared war on Germany.

The Wehrmacht troops did not meet decent resistance from the Poles, as a result of which they managed to occupy Poland in just 2 weeks.

At the end of April 1940, the Germans also occupied Denmark. After that, the army annexed. It is worth noting that none of the listed states could adequately resist the enemy.

Soon the Germans attacked France, which was also forced to capitulate in less than 2 months. This was a real triumph for the Nazis, since at that time the French had good infantry, aviation and navy.

After the conquest of France, the Germans turned out to be head and shoulders stronger than all their opponents. In the process of conducting the French campaign, Germany became an ally, headed by.

After that, Yugoslavia was also captured by the Germans. Thus, Hitler's lightning offensive allowed him to occupy all the countries of Western and Central Europe. Thus began the history of World War II.

Then the Nazis began to seize African states. The Fuhrer planned to conquer countries on this continent within a few months, and then launch an offensive in the Middle East and India.

At the end of this, according to Hitler's plans, the reunification of the German and Japanese troops was to take place.

Second period of World War 2

The battalion commander leads his soldiers on the attack. Ukraine, 1942

This came as a complete surprise to Soviet citizens and the country's leadership. As a result, the USSR united against Germany.

Soon, this union was joined by those who agreed to provide military, food and economic assistance. As a result, countries have been able to rationally use their own resources and support each other.

Stylized photo "Hitler vs Stalin"

At the end of the summer of 1941, British and Soviet troops entered, as a result of which Hitler had certain difficulties. Because of this, he was unable to place military bases there, necessary for the full conduct of the war.

Anti-Hitler coalition

On January 1, 1942 in Washington, representatives of the Big Four (USSR, USA, Great Britain and China) signed the Declaration of the United Nations, thus laying the foundation for the Anti-Hitler coalition. Later, 22 more countries joined it.

The first serious defeats of Germany in World War II began with the Battle of Moscow (1941-1942). Interestingly, Hitler's troops approached the capital of the USSR so close that they could already see it through binoculars.

Both the German leadership and the entire army were confident that they would soon defeat the Russians. Napoleon once dreamed of the same thing, entering during the year in.

The Germans were so overconfident that they didn't even bother with appropriate winter gear for their soldiers, because they thought the war was almost over. However, everything turned out quite the opposite.

The Soviet army accomplished a heroic feat by launching an active offensive against the Wehrmacht. He commanded the main military operations. It was thanks to the Russian troops that the blitzkrieg was thwarted.

A column of captured Germans on the Garden Ring, Moscow, 1944

During this period, Soviet soldiers won one victory after another over the Wehrmacht. Soon they were able to completely liberate the territory of the USSR. Moreover, the Red Army played a crucial role in the liberation of most European countries.

On June 6, 1944, one of the most significant events in the history of the Second World War took place. Anglo-American troops landed in Normandy and opened a second front. In this regard, the Germans had to leave many territories and retreat back.

In February 1945, the famous Yalta Conference took place, at which the leaders of three states took part:, and. It raised the most important questions related to the post-war structure of the world.

In the winter of 1945, the countries of the Anti-Hitler coalition continued their offensive against Nazi Germany. And although the Germans sometimes managed to win certain battles, in general they understood that the history of the Second World War was coming to an end, and would be taken in the near future.

Soviet soldiers in the trenches on the outskirts of Berlin. In the background is a captured German grenade launcher "Panzerfaust", 1945.

In 1945, during the North Italian operation, the allied forces managed to take control of the entire territory of Italy. It is worth noting that the Italian partisans actively helped them in this.

Meanwhile, Japan continued to suffer serious losses at sea, and was forced to retreat to its borders.

On the eve of the end of World War II, the Red Army won brilliant victories in the Berlin and Paris operations. Thanks to this, it was possible to finally defeat the remnants of the German groups.

Red Army soldier Shirobokov met his sisters who had escaped death. Their father and mother were shot by the Germans

On May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered unconditionally, and the next day, May 9, was proclaimed Victory Day.

Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signing the act of unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht at the headquarters of the 5th Shock Army in Karlshorst, Berlin

Cries of jubilation were heard in all the streets of the country, and tears of joy were visible on the faces of people. The last time in a similar way to China .

The military operation, which lasted less than 1 month, ended with the surrender of Japan, which was signed on September 2. The biggest war in human history is over.

Results of World War II

As mentioned earlier, World War II is the largest military conflict in history. It lasted for 6 years. During this time, more than 50 million people died in total, although some historians give even higher numbers.

The USSR suffered the most damage from the Second World War. The country lost about 27 million citizens, and also suffered severe economic losses.

On April 30, at 22:00, the Banner of Victory was hoisted over the Reichstag

In conclusion, I would like to say that the Second World War is a terrible lesson for all mankind. Until now, a lot of documentary photo and video material has been preserved, helping to see the horrors of that war.

What is worth - the angel of death of the Nazi camps. But she was not alone!

People should do everything possible so that such tragedies of a universal scale never happen again. Never again!

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In the early morning of September 1, 1939, German troops invaded Poland. Goebbels propaganda presented this event as a response to the “capture by Polish soldiers” of a radio station in the German border town of Gleiwitz that had occurred the day before (later it turned out that the German security service organized the staging of the attack in Gleiwitz, using German suicide prisoners dressed in Polish military uniforms). Germany sent 57 divisions against Poland.

Great Britain and France, connected with Poland by allied obligations, after some hesitation, declared war on Germany on September 3. But the opponents were in no hurry to get involved in an active struggle. According to Hitler's instructions, the German troops during this period were to adhere to defensive tactics on the Western Front in order to "sparing their forces as much as possible, create the prerequisites 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 divisions without taking any serious action. It is no coincidence that this confrontation was called the "strange war."

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

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

In the midst of the tragic events for Poland on September 17, 1939, units of the Red Army crossed the Soviet-Polish border and occupied the border territories. In connection with this, the Soviet note said that they "took under protection the lives and property of the population of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus." On September 28, 1939, Germany and the USSR, which practically divided the territory of Poland, concluded a friendship and border treaty. In a statement on the occasion, the representatives of the two countries stressed that "thus creating a solid foundation for lasting peace in Eastern Europe." Having thus secured new frontiers in the east, Hitler turned to the west.

On April 9, 1940, German troops invaded Denmark and Norway. On May 10, they crossed the borders of Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and launched an offensive against France. The balance of power was about equal. But the German shock armies, with their strong tank formations and aircraft, managed to break through the Allied front. Part of the defeated Allied troops retreated to the English Channel coast. Their remnants were evacuated from Dunkirk in early June. By mid-June, the Germans captured the northern part of French territory.

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

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

On June 22, 1940, in the Compiègne forest (in the same place and in the same carriage as in 1918), the Franco-German truce was concluded, this time meaning the defeat of France. On the remaining unoccupied territory of France, a government headed by A.F. Petain was created, 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 struggle against the invaders.

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

Back in the summer of 1940, the strategic direction of further actions was determined in the leading circles of Germany. The chief of the general staff, F. Halder, then wrote in his official diary: "The eyes are turned to the East." Hitler at one of the military meetings said: “Russia must be liquidated. Deadline - spring 1941.

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

1941

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

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

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

The balance of forces at the beginning of the counteroffensive of Soviet troops in Moscow

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

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

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

Dates and events

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

On the fronts of the world war

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

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

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

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

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

"New order"

In the Nazi plans for the conquest of the world, the fate of many peoples and states was predetermined.

Hitler in his secret notes, which became known after the war, provided for the following: the Soviet Union "will disappear from the face of the earth", in 30 years its territory will become part of the "Great German Reich"; after the "final victory of Germany" there will be reconciliation with England, a treaty of friendship will be concluded with her; the Reich will include the countries of Scandinavia, the Iberian Peninsula and other European states; The United States of America will be “excluded from world politics for a long time”, they will undergo a “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” .

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

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

From the testimony of a French prisoner in Auschwitz, Vaillant-Couturier, presented at the Nuremberg trials:

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

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

For residents of the occupied countries who were not immediately destroyed or deported, the “new order” meant strict regulation in all spheres of life. The occupation authorities and the German industrialists seized the dominant positions in the economy with the help of laws on "Aryanization". Small enterprises were closed, and large ones switched to military production. Part of the agricultural areas were subject to Germanization, their population was forcibly evicted to other areas. So, about 450 thousand inhabitants were evicted from the territories of the Czech Republic bordering on Germany, about 280 thousand people were evicted from Slovenia. Compulsory deliveries of agricultural products were introduced for peasants. Along with control over economic activity, the new authorities pursued a policy of restrictions in the field of education and culture. In many countries, representatives of the intelligentsia - scientists, engineers, teachers, doctors, etc. - were persecuted. In Poland, for example, the Nazis carried out a targeted curtailment of the education system. Classes in universities and high schools were banned. (What do you think, why, for what purpose was this done?) Some teachers, risking their lives, continued to conduct classes with students illegally. During the war years, the invaders destroyed about 12.5 thousand teachers and teachers in Poland.

A tough policy towards the population was also pursued by the authorities of the states - allies of Germany - Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, as well as the newly proclaimed states - Croatia and Slovakia. In Croatia, the government of the Ustashe (participants of the nationalist movement that came to power in 1941), under the slogan of creating a "purely national state", encouraged the mass expulsion and extermination of Serbs.

The forced export of the able-bodied population, primarily young people, from the occupied countries of Eastern Europe to work in Germany took on a wide scale. Commissioner General "for the use of labor" Sauckel set the task of "completely exhausting all available human resources in the Soviet regions." Echelons with thousands of young men and women forcibly driven from their homes were drawn to the Reich. By the end of 1942, the labor of about 7 million "Eastern workers" and prisoners of war was used in German industry and agriculture. In 1943, another 2 million people were added to them.

Any disobedience, and even more so resistance to the occupying authorities, was mercilessly punished. One of the terrible examples of the massacre of the Nazis over the civilian population was the destruction in the summer of 1942 of the Czech village of Lidice. It was carried out as an "act of retaliation" for the murder of a major Nazi official, the "protector of Bohemia and Moravia" G. Heydrich, committed by members of a sabotage group the day before.

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

Break in the war

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

Battles for Stalingrad lasted over 3 months. The city was defended by the 62nd and 64th armies under the command of V.I. Chuikov and M.S. Shumilov. Hitler, who did not doubt victory, declared: "Stalingrad is already in our hands." But the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops that began on November 19, 1942 (front commanders - N.F. Vatutin, K.K. Rokossovsky, A.I. Eremenko) ended with the encirclement of the 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 - about a quarter of the forces that were then operating on the Soviet-German front.

Battle of Kursk. In the summer of 1943, an attempt by the German offensive on Kursk from the Orel and Belgorod regions ended in a crushing defeat. From the German side, more than 50 divisions (including 16 tank and motorized) participated in the operation. A special role was assigned to powerful artillery and tank strikes. On July 12, the largest tank battle of the Second World War took place on the field near the village of Prokhorovka, in which about 1,200 tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts collided. In early August, Soviet troops liberated Orel 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 the Soviet troops began along the entire front. In the summer and autumn of 1943, Smolensk, Gomel, Left-bank Ukraine and Kyiv were liberated. The strategic initiative on the Soviet-German front passed to the Red Army.

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

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

On November 28 - December 1, 1943, a meeting of the leaders of the three countries took place in Tehran- members of the anti-Hitler coalition: 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 organization of the post-war world. The leaders of the United States and Great Britain promised to open a second front in Europe in May 1944, starting the landing of allied troops in France.

Resistance movement

Since the establishment of the Nazi regime in Germany, and then the occupation regimes in Europe, a movement of resistance 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. Among the first, even in the pre-war years, the German anti-fascists entered the struggle. Thus, in the late 1930s, an underground anti-Nazi group arose in Germany, headed by X. Schulze-Boysen and A. Harnack. In the early 1940s, it was already a strong organization with an extensive network of conspiratorial groups (in total, up to 600 people participated in its work). Underground workers carried out propaganda and intelligence work, keeping in touch with Soviet intelligence. In the summer of 1942, the Gestapo uncovered the organization. The scale of its activities amazed the investigators themselves, who called this group the "Red Chapel". After interrogation and torture, the leaders and many members of the group were sentenced to death. In his last speech at the trial, X. Schulze-Boysen said: "Today you judge us, but tomorrow we will be the judges."

In a number of European countries, immediately after their occupation, an armed struggle began against the invaders. In Yugoslavia, the communists became the initiators of the popular 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 autumn 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 (NOLA) was created, 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 Council for the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOYU). 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 under his control. A declaration was adopted that determined the foundations of the new Yugoslav state. National committees were created on the liberated territory, the confiscation of enterprises and lands of fascists and collaborators (people who collaborated with the invaders) began.

The resistance movement in Poland consisted of many different groups in their political orientations. In February 1942, part of the underground armed formations merged into the Craiova Army (AK), led by representatives of the Polish government in exile, which was in London. "Peasant battalions" were created in the villages. The detachments of the People's Army (AL), organized by the communists, began to operate.

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

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

In Germany, in January 1943, total (universal) mobilization into the army was announced. The working day has increased to 12 hours. But simultaneously with the desire of the Hitler regime to gather the forces of the nation into an "iron fist", the rejection of his policies in different groups of the population grew. So, one of the youth circles issued a leaflet with an appeal: “Students! Students! The German people are watching us! We are expected to be freed from the Nazi terror... Those who died near Stalingrad call on us: get up, people, the flames are kindling!”

After the turning point in the course of hostilities on the fronts, the number of underground groups and armed detachments that fought against the invaders and their accomplices in the occupied countries increased significantly. In France, poppies became more active - partisans, sabotaging railways, attacking German posts, warehouses, etc.

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

“Until the end of 1942, there were few maquis units and their actions were not particularly effective. But then hope increased, and with it the number of those willing to fight increased. In addition, the compulsory "labor service", which in a few months mobilized half a million young men, mostly workers, for use in Germany, as well as the dissolution of the "truce army", prompted many dissenters to go underground. The number of more or less significant resistance groups increased, and they waged a guerrilla war, which played a paramount role in exhausting the enemy, and later in the unfolding battle for France.

Figures and facts

The number of participants in the resistance movement (1944):

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

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

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 diverged. Some advocated the restoration of pre-war regimes. Others, above all the Communists, sought to establish a new, "people's democratic government."

Liberation of Europe

The beginning of 1944 was marked by major offensive operations by the Soviet troops in the southern and northern sections of the Soviet-German front. Ukraine and Crimea were liberated, and the blockade of Leningrad that lasted 900 days was lifted. In the spring of this year, Soviet troops reached the state border of the USSR for more than 400 km, approached 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 named after L. Svoboda, formed during the war years on the territory of the USSR, fought for the freedom of their peoples. T. Kosciuszko under the command of 3. 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 strength of up to 1.5 million people. The Allied forces were commanded by the American General D. Eisenhower. Two and a half months after the landing, the Allies began to advance deep into French territory. They were opposed by about 60 understaffed German divisions. At the same time, resistance detachments 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 was proclaimed head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic), fearing the "anarchy" of the mass liberation struggle, insisted that the French tank division of Leclerc be sent to Paris. On August 25, 1944, this division entered Paris, which was practically liberated by that time by the rebels.

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

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

Dates and events

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

1944

• July 17 - Soviet troops crossed the border with Poland; released Chelm, Lublin; 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 invaders in Warsaw; this performance, prepared and directed by the government in exile in London, was defeated by the beginning of October, despite the heroism of its participants; by order of the German command, the population was expelled from Warsaw, and the city itself was destroyed.
• August 23 - the overthrow of the Antonescu regime in Romania, a week later, Soviet troops entered Bucharest.
• August 29 - the beginning of the uprising against the invaders and the reactionary regime in Slovakia.
• September 8 - Soviet troops entered the territory of Bulgaria.
• September 9 - anti-fascist uprising in Bulgaria, coming to power of the government of the Fatherland Front.
• October 6 - Soviet troops and units of the Czechoslovak Corps entered the territory of Czechoslovakia.
• October 20 - The troops of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia and the Red Army liberated Belgrade.
• October 22 - units of the Red Army crossed the border of Norway and October 25 occupied the port of Kirkenes.

1945

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

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

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

Defeat of Germany

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The establishment of an International Military Tribunal to try Nazi war criminals was envisaged. The border between Germany and Poland was established along the Oder and Neisse rivers. East Prussia retreated to Poland and partially (Königsberg area, now Kaliningrad) - to the USSR.

End of the war

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

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

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

Historians testimonial:

“On August 6, a B-29 bomber appeared over Hiroshima. The alarm was not announced, since the appearance of one aircraft did not seem to pose a serious threat. At 8:15 a.m., an atomic bomb was dropped by parachute. A few moments later, a blinding fireball flashed over the city, the temperature at the epicenter of the explosion reached several million degrees. Fires in the city, built up with light wooden houses, covered an area within a radius of more than 4 km. Japanese authors write: “Hundreds of thousands of people who became victims of atomic explosions died an unusual death - they died after terrible torment. Radiation penetrated even into the bone marrow. People without the slightest scratch, seemingly completely healthy, after a few days or weeks, or even months, their hair suddenly fell out, the gums began to bleed, diarrhea appeared, the skin became covered with dark spots, hemoptysis began, and in full consciousness they died.

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

Hiroshima. 1945

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

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

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

World War II is over. It was attended by 72 states with a total population of over 1.7 billion people. 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. Mankind paid a huge price for the victory over the invaders who aspired to world domination.

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

References:
Aleksashkina L. N. / General History. XX - the beginning of the XXI century.

A terrible war with large-scale human losses did not begin in 1939 year, but much earlier. After the First World War 1918 almost all European countries acquired new borders. Most were deprived of part of their historical territory, which led to small wars in conversation and in mind.

The new generation brought up hatred for enemies and resentment for the lost cities. There were reasons to resume the war. However, in addition to psychological reasons, there were also important historical preconditions. The Second World War, in short, involved the entire globe in hostilities.

Causes of the war

Scientists identify several main reasons for the outbreak of hostilities:

Territorial disputes. War winners 1918 England and France divided Europe with their allies at their own discretion. The collapse of the Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire led to the emergence 9- ty new states. The lack of clear boundaries gave rise to great controversy. The defeated countries wanted to return their borders, and the winners did not want to part with the annexed territories. All territorial issues in Europe have always been resolved with the help of weapons. It was impossible to avoid the start of a new war.

colonial disputes. The defeated countries were deprived of their colonies, which were a constant source of replenishment of the treasury. In the colonies themselves, the local population raised liberation uprisings with armed skirmishes.

Rivalry between states. Germany after the defeat wanted revenge. It has always been the leading power in Europe, and after the war was largely limited.

Dictatorship. The dictatorial regime has grown considerably in many countries. The dictators of Europe first developed their army to suppress internal uprisings, and then to seize new territories.

The emergence of the USSR. The new power was not inferior to the might of the Russian Empire. It was a worthy competitor to the United States and leading European countries. They began to fear the emergence of communist movements.

The beginning of the war

Even before the signing of the Soviet-German agreement, Germany had planned an aggression against the Polish side. At the beginning 1939 year, a decision was made, and 31 august signed directive. State contradictions 30- years led to the Second World War.

The Germans did not admit their defeat in 1918 year and the Versailles agreements, which oppressed the interests of Russia and Germany. Power went to the Nazis, blocs of fascist states began to form, and large states did not have the strength to resist German aggression. Poland was the first on the way of Germany to world domination.

At night 1 September 1939 of the year German secret services began to carry out Operation Himmler. Dressed in Polish uniforms, they seized a radio station in the suburbs and called on the Poles to rise up against the Germans. Hitler announced aggression from the Polish side and began hostilities.

Through 2 Britain and France declared war on Germany, which had previously concluded agreements with Poland on mutual assistance. They were supported by Canada, New Zealand, Australia, India and the countries of South Africa. The outbreak of the war became a world war. But Poland did not receive military and economic assistance from any of the supporting countries. If English and French troops were added to the Polish forces, then the German aggression would be instantly stopped.

The population of Poland rejoiced at the entry into the war of their allies and waited for support. However, time passed, and help did not come. The weak side of the Polish army was aviation.

Two armies of Germany "South" and "North" as part of 62 divisions opposed 6- to the Polish armies from 39 divisions. The Poles fought with dignity, but the numerical superiority of the Germans proved to be the decisive factor. Almost for 2 weeks, almost the entire territory of Poland was occupied. The Curzon Line was formed.

The Polish government left for Romania. The defenders of Warsaw and the Brest Fortress went down in history thanks to their heroism. The Polish army lost its organizational integrity.

Stages of war

FROM 1 September 1939 before 21 June 1941 The first phase of World War II began. Characterizes the beginning of the war and the entry of the German military into Western Europe. 1 September The Nazis attacked Poland. Through 2 France and England declared war on Germany with their colonies and dominions.

The Polish armed forces did not have time to turn around, the top leadership was weak, and the allied powers were in no hurry to help. The result was the complete cupping of Polish territory.

France and England before May next year did not change their foreign policy. They hoped that German aggression would be directed against the USSR.

In April 1940 The German army entered Denmark without warning and occupied its territory. Norway fell immediately after Denmark. At the same time, the German leadership was implementing the Gelb plan, it was decided to attack France unexpectedly through the neighboring Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The French concentrated their forces on the Maginot Line, and not in the center of the country. Hitler attacked through the Ardennes behind the Maginot Line. 20 May the Germans reached the English Channel, the Dutch and Belgian armies were capitulated. In June, the French fleet was defeated, part of the army managed to evacuate to England.

The French army did not use all the possibilities of resistance. 10 June the government left Paris, which was occupied by the Germans 14 June. Through 8 days signed Compiègne truce (22nd of June, 1940 years) - the French act of surrender.

Great Britain was to be next. There was a change of government. The US began to support the British.

spring 1941 the Balkans were captured. 1 Martha fascists appeared in Bulgaria, and 6 April already in Greece and Yugoslavia. Western and Central Europe were dominated by Hitler. Preparations began for an attack on the Soviet Union.

FROM 22 June 1941 on 18 november 1942 of the year the second phase of the war began. Germany invaded the USSR. A new stage began, characterized by the unification of all military forces in the world against fascism. Roosevelt and Churchill openly declared their support for the Soviet Union. 12 July The USSR and England signed an agreement on common military operations. 2 august The United States pledged to provide military and economic assistance to the Russian army. England and USA 14 august promulgated the Atlantic Charter, which the USSR later joined with its opinion on military issues.

In September, Russian and British troops occupied Iran to prevent the formation of fascist bases in the East. The Anti-Hitler coalition is being created.

The German army met strong resistance autumn 1941 of the year. The plan to capture Leningrad failed, as Sevastopol and Odessa resisted for a long time. On the eve of 1942 year lightning war plan gone. Hitler was defeated near Moscow, and the myth of German invincibility was dispelled. Before Germany became the need for a protracted war.

At the beginning December 1941 The Japanese military attacked a US base in the Pacific. Two powerful powers entered the war. The US declared war on Italy, Japan and Germany. Thanks to this, the anti-Hitler coalition strengthened. A number of mutual assistance agreements were concluded among the allied countries.

FROM 19 november 1942 before 31 December 1943 of the year the third phase of the war began. It is called a turning point. The military operations of this period acquired a huge scale and intensity. Everything was decided on the Soviet-German front. 19 november Russian troops launched a counteroffensive near Stalingrad (Battle of Stalingrad 17 July 1942 G. - 2 February 1943 G.). Their victory served as a strong stimulus for the following battles.

For the return of Hitler's strategic initiative in the summer 1943 years carried out an attack near Kursk ( Battle of Kursk 5 July 1943 - 23 august 1943 ). He lost and went on the defensive. However, the allies of the Anti-Hitler coalition were in no hurry to fulfill their duties. They were waiting for the exhaustion of Germany and the USSR.

25 July the Italian fascist government was liquidated. The new head declared war on Hitler. The fascist bloc began to disintegrate.

Japan did not weaken the grouping on the Russian border. The United States replenished its military forces and launched successful offensives in the Pacific.

Surrender (defeat) of Japan 2 September 1945 of the year.

FROM 1 January 1944 on May 9, 1945 . The fascist army was driven out of the USSR, a second front was being created, the European countries were being liberated from the fascists. The joint efforts of the Anti-Fascist Coalition led to the complete collapse of the German army and the surrender of Germany. Great Britain and the United States conducted large-scale operations in Asia and the Pacific.

10 May 1945 of the year - September 2, 1945 . Armed operations are carried out in the Far East, as well as the territory of Southeast Asia. The US used nuclear weapons.

Great Patriotic War (22 June 1941 of the year - 9 May 1945 of the year).
World War II (1 September 1939 - 2 September 1945).

The results of the war

The greatest losses fell on the Soviet Union, which took the brunt of the German army. Died 27 million human. The resistance of the Red Army led to the defeat of the Reich.

Military action could lead to the collapse of civilization. War criminals and fascist ideology were condemned at all world trials.

AT 1945 in Yalta signed a decision on the creation of the UN to prevent such actions.

The consequences of the use of nuclear weapons over Nagasaki and Hiroshima forced many countries to sign a pact banning the use of weapons of mass destruction.

The countries of Western Europe have lost their economic dominance, which has passed to the United States.

The victory in the war allowed the USSR to expand its borders and strengthen the totalitarian regime. Some countries have become 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 hoped to solve the problem of fighting on sea communications, using surface raiders as the main striking force. Submarines and aviation was 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 - 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. fighting Italian Navy began with the laying of minefields in the Strait of Tunisia 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 of Punta Stilo (also known in English sources as Battle of Calabria. The collision took place on July 9, 1940 at the southeastern tip of the Apennine Peninsula. As a result of the battle, neither side suffered losses. But Italy was damaged: 1 battleship, 1 heavy cruiser and 1 destroyer. And the British have 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. At Porsmouth and Plymouth, 2 battleship, 2 destroyers, 5 submarines; 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 German air attacks, 3 battleships, an aircraft carrier, 6 cruisers, 7 destroyers were damaged.

Active actions on Japanese communications put the Japanese economy in a difficult situation, 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, the 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 6,000 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 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 USA 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) was sunk. The Japanese sank 16 ships, including battleship Yamato.

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

On August 8, the USSR declared war on Japan. Pacific Fleet from August 12 to 20, 1945, he 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 world politics was weakened. 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. -