1. First period wars (1 September 1939 - 21 June 1941 G.) Start wars "invasion German troops v country Western Europe.
The Second World War began on September 1, 1939 with an attack on Poland. On September 3, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany, but they did not provide practical assistance to Poland. The German armies in the period from September 1 to October 5 defeated the Polish troops and occupied Poland, whose government fled to Romania. The Soviet government sent its troops into the territory of Western Ukraine in order to take under the protection of the Belarusian and Ukrainian population in connection with the collapse of the Polish state and prevent the further spread of Nazi aggression.
In September 1939 and until the spring of 1940, the so-called “strange war” was waged in Western Europe. The French army and the English expeditionary force that landed in France, on the one hand, and the German army, on the other, sluggishly fired at each other, did not take active actions . The lull was false, because the Germans simply feared a war "on two fronts."
Having defeated Poland, Germany released significant forces in the east and delivered a decisive blow in Western Europe. On April 8, 1940, the Germans occupied Denmark almost without loss and landed airborne assault forces in Norway to capture its capital and major cities and ports. The small Norwegian army and the English troops who came to the rescue resisted fiercely. the battle for the northern Norwegian port of Narvik lasted three months, the city passed from hand to hand. But in June 1940 Allies left Norway.
In May, German troops launched an offensive, capturing Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg and through northern France reached the English Channel. Here, near the port city of Dunkirk, one of the most dramatic battles of the initial period of the war unfolded. The British sought to save the remaining troops on the continent. After bloody battles, 215,000 British and 123,000 French and Belgians who retreated with them crossed to the English coast.
Now the Germans, deploying divisions, were rapidly moving towards Paris. On June 14, the German army entered the city, which had left most of its inhabitants. France officially capitulated. Under the terms of the agreement of June 22, 1940, the country was divided into two parts: in the north and in the center, the Germans ruled, occupation laws were in effect; the south was ruled from the town (VISHI) by the Petain government, which was entirely dependent on Hitler. At the same time, the formation of the Fighting France troops began under the command of General De Gaulle, who was in London, who decided to fight for the liberation of their homeland.
Now in Western Europe, Hitler had one serious opponent - England. Waging war against her was greatly complicated by her insular position, the presence of her strongest navy and powerful aviation, as well as numerous sources of raw materials and food in overseas possessions. Back in 1940, the German command seriously thought about conducting a landing operation in England, but preparations for a war with the Soviet Union required a concentration of forces in the East. Therefore, Germany relies on waging air and sea wars against England. The first major raid on the British capital - - London - was carried out by German bombers on August 23, 1940. Subsequently, the bombing became more fierce, and from 1943 the Germans began to bombard British cities with military and industrial targets with flying shells from the occupied coast of continental Europe.
In the summer and autumn of 1940, fascist Italy became noticeably more active. At the height of the German offensive in France, Mussolini's government declared war on England and France. On September 1 of the same year, a document was signed in Berlin on the creation between Germany, Italy and Japan of the Triple military-political alliance between them. A month later, Italian troops, supported by the Germans, invaded Greece, and in April 1941 - Yugoslavia, Bulgaria was forced to join the tripartite alliance. As a result, by the summer of 1941, at the time of the attack on the Soviet Union, most of Western Europe was under the control of Germany and Italy; Sweden, Switzerland, Iceland, and Portugal remained neutral among the large countries. In 1940, a large-scale war began on the African continent. Hitler's plans included the creation of a colonial empire there on the basis of the former possessions of Germany. The Union of South Africa was supposed to be turned into a pro-fascist dependent state, and the island of Madagascar into a reservoir for Jews expelled from Europe.
Italy also expected to expand its possessions in Africa at the expense of a significant part of Egypt, the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, French and British Somalia. Together with the previously captured Libya and Ethiopia, they were to become part of the "great Roman Empire", the creation of which the Italian fascists dreamed of. On September 1, 1940, January 1941, the Italian offensive, undertaken to capture the port of Alexandria in Egypt and the Suez Canal, broke down. Going on a counter-offensive, the English army "Nile" inflicted a crushing defeat on the Italians in Libya. January - March 1941. the British regular army and colonial troops defeated the Italians from Somalia. The Italians were completely defeated. This forced the Germans in early 1941. to transfer to North Africa, to Tripoli, the expeditionary force of Rommel, one of the most capable military commanders of Germany. Rommel, later nicknamed the "Desert Fox" for his skillful actions in Africa, went on the offensive and reached the Egyptian border in 2 weeks. The British lost many strongholds, retaining only the fortress of Tobruk, which protected the path inland to the Nile. In January 1942, Rommel went on the offensive and the fortress fell. This was the last success of the Germans. Having coordinated reinforcements and cut off enemy supply routes from the Mediterranean, the British liberated the territory of Egypt.
- 2. The second period of the war (June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942) Nazi Germany's attack on the USSR, the expansion of the war, the collapse of the Hitlerite Blitzkrieg doctrine.
- On June 22, 1941, Germany treacherously attacked the USSR. Together with Germany, Hungary, Romania, Finland, and Italy came out against the USSR. The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union began, which became the most important part of the Second World War. The entry of the USSR into the war led to the consolidation of all progressive forces in the world in the fight against fascism and influenced the policies of the leading world powers. On June 22-24, 1941, the government, Great Britain and the USA declared their support for the USSR; in the future, agreements were concluded on joint actions and military-economic cooperation between the USSR, England and the USA. In August 1941, the USSR and England sent their troops into Iran to prevent the possibility of creating fascist strongholds in the Middle East. These joint military-political actions laid the foundation for the creation of an anti-Hitler coalition. The Soviet - German front became the main front of the Second World War.
70% of the personnel of the army of the fascist bloc, 86% of tank units, 100% of motorized formations, and up to 75% of artillery acted against the USSR. Despite brief initial successes, Germany failed to achieve the strategic objectives of the war. In heavy fighting, the Soviet troops exhausted the enemy forces, halted his offensive in all the most important directions, and prepared the conditions for a counteroffensive. The decisive military-political event of the first year of the Great Patriotic War and the first defeat of the Wehrmacht in the Second World War was the defeat of the Nazi troops in the Battle of Moscow in 1941-1942, during which the Nazi blitzkrieg was finally thwarted and the myth of the invincibility of the Wehrmacht dispelled. In the autumn of 1941, the Nazis were preparing an attack on Moscow as the final operation of the entire Russian company. They gave it the name "Typhoon", apparently, it was assumed that no force could withstand the all-destroying fascist hurricane. By this time, the main forces of the Nazi army were concentrated at the front. In total, the Nazis managed to assemble about 15 armies, numbering 1 million 800 thousand officer soldiers, over 14 thousand guns and mortars, 1700 such, 1390 aircraft. The fascist troops were commanded by experienced commanders of the German army - Kluge, Goth, Guderian. Our army had the following forces: 1,250,000 men, 990 taks, 677 aircraft, 7,600 guns and mortars. They were united in three fronts: Western - under the command of General I.P. Konev, Bryansky - under the command of General A.I. Eremenko, reserve - under the command of Marshal S.M. Budyonny. Soviet troops entered the battle near Moscow in a difficult situation. The enemy deeply invaded the country, he captured the Baltic states, Belarus, Moldova, a significant part of the territory of Ukraine, blockaded Leningrad, reached the distant approaches to Moscow.
The Soviet command took all measures to repel the upcoming enemy offensive in the western direction. Much attention was paid to the construction of defensive structures and lines, which began in July. In the tenth of October, an extremely difficult situation developed near Moscow. A significant part of the formations fought in the environment. There was no solid line of defense.
The Soviet command faced extremely complex and responsible tasks aimed at stopping the enemy on the outskirts of Moscow.
In late October - early November, at the cost of incredible efforts, the Soviet troops managed to stop the Nazis in all directions. Hitler's troops were forced to go on the defensive just 80-120 km away. from Moscow. There was a pause. The Soviet command won time to further strengthen the approaches to the capital. On December 1, the Nazis made their last attempt to break through to Moscow in the center of the Western Front, but the enemy was defeated and driven back to their original lines. The defensive battle for Moscow was won.
The words "Great Russia, and there is nowhere to retreat - behind Moscow" - flew around the whole country.
The defeat of the German troops near Moscow is the decisive military-political event of the first year of the Great Patriotic War, the beginning of its radical turn and the first major defeat of the Nazis in the Second World War. Near Moscow, the fascist plan for the rapid defeat of our country was finally thwarted. The defeat of the Wehrmacht on the outskirts of the Soviet capital shook the Hitlerite war machine to its foundations and undermined Germany's military prestige in the eyes of world public opinion. Contradictions within the fascist bloc escalated, and the calculations of the Hitlerite clique to enter the war against our country, Japan and Turkey, failed. As a result of the victory of the Red Army near Moscow, the prestige of the USSR in the international arena increased. This outstanding military success had a huge impact on the merging of anti-fascist forces and the activation of the liberation movement in the territories not occupied by the fascists. The battle near Moscow marked the beginning of a radical turn in the course of the war. It was of great importance not only in military and political terms, and not only for the Red Army and our people, but also for all the peoples who fought against Nazi Germany. Strong morale, patriotism, hatred of the enemy helped the Soviet wars to overcome all difficulties and achieve historic success near Moscow. This outstanding feat of theirs was highly appreciated by the grateful Motherland, the valor of 36 thousand soldiers and commanders was awarded military orders and medals, and 110 of them were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Over 1 million defenders of the capital were awarded the medal "For the Defense of Moscow".
The attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR changed the military-political balance in the world. The United States made its choice, rapidly reaching the forefront in many sectors of the economy, and especially in military-industrial production.
The Franklin Roosevelt government announced its intention to support the USSR and other countries of the anti-Hitler coalition with all the means at its disposal. On August 14, 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill signed the famous "Atlantic Charter" - a program of goals and concrete actions in the fight against German fascism, as the war spread around the world, the struggle for sources of raw materials and food, for control over maritime transportation became more and more acute. in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. From the first days of the war, the allies, primarily England, managed to control the countries of the Near and Middle East, which supplied them with food, raw materials for the military industry, and replenishment in manpower. Iran, which included British and Soviet troops, Iraq and Saudi Arabia supplied the allies with oil, this "bread of war". To protect them, the British deployed numerous troops from India, Australia, New Zealand and Africa. In Turkey, Syria and Lebanon, the situation was less stable. Declaring its neutrality, Turkey supplied Germany with strategic raw materials, outbidding them in the British colonies. Turkey was also the center of German intelligence in the Middle East. Syria and Lebanon, after the capitulation of France, increasingly fell into the sphere of fascist influence.
A threatening situation for the allies has developed since 1941 in the Far East and vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean. Here, Japan became louder and louder about itself as the sovereign master. Back in the 30s, Japan made territorial claims, acting under the slogan "Asia for Asians."
England, France and the USA had strategic and economic interests in this vast area, but were preoccupied with the growing threat from Hitler and initially did not have sufficient forces for a war on two fronts. There was no opinion among Japanese politicians and the military - where to strike next: not the north, against the USSR, or to the South and Southwest, to capture Indochina, Malaysia, India. But one object of Japanese aggression has been identified since the beginning of the 30s - China. The fate of the war in China, the most populous country in the world, was decided not only on the battlefields, because here the interests of several great powers clashed at once, incl. USA and USSR. By the end of 1941, the Japanese made their choice. They considered the destruction of Pearl Harbor, the main American naval base in the Pacific, the key to success in the struggle for control of the Pacific.
Four days after Pearl Harbor, Germany and Italy declared war on America.
On January 1, 1942, Roosevelt, Churchill, Soviet Ambassador to America Litvinov, and China's representative signed the United Nations Declaration in Washington, based on the Atlantic Charter. Later, 22 more states joined it. This most important historical document finally determined the composition and goals of the forces of the anti-Hitler coalition. At the same meeting, the joint command of the Western Allies was created - the "joint Anglo - American headquarters."
Japan continued to achieve success after success. Singapore, Indonesia, many islands of the southern seas were captured. There was a real danger for India and Australia.
Nevertheless, the Japanese command, blinded by the first successes, clearly overestimated its capabilities, scattering the forces of the fleet of aviation and the army over a vast expanse of oceans, on numerous islands, in the territories of the occupied countries.
After recovering from the first setbacks, the allies slowly but steadily switched to active defense and then to the offensive. But a less bitter war was going on in the Atlantic. At the beginning of the war, England and France had overwhelming superiority over Germany at sea. The Germans did not have aircraft carriers, battleships were only being built. After the occupation of Norway and France, Germany received well-equipped submarine bases on the Atlantic coast of Europe. A difficult situation for the Allies was developing in the North Atlantic, where sea convoys from America and Canada to Europe passed. The way to the northern Soviet ports along the coast of Norway was difficult. In early 1942, on the orders of Hitler, who attached more importance to the northern theater of operations, the Germans transferred the German fleet there, led by the new super-powerful battleship Tirpitz (named after the founder of the German fleet). It was clear that the outcome of the Battle of the Atlantic could influence the further course of the war. A reliable defense of the coast of America and Canada and sea caravans was organized. By the spring of 1943, the Allies had achieved a turning point in the battle at sea.
Taking advantage of the absence of a second front, in the summer of 1942 fascist Germany launched a new strategic offensive on the Soviet-German front. Hitler's plan, designed for a simultaneous attack on the Caucasus and in the Stalingrad region, was initially doomed to failure. In the summer of 1942, priority was given to economic considerations in strategic planning. The capture of the Caucasian region, rich in raw materials, primarily oil, was supposed to strengthen the international position of the Reich in the war that threatened to drag on. The primary goal, therefore, was the conquest of the Caucasus up to the Caspian Sea and then the Volga region and Stalingrad. In addition, the conquest of the Caucasus was supposed to induce Turkey to enter the war against the USSR.
The main event of the armed struggle on the Soviet - German front in the second half of 1942 - early 1943. was the Battle of Stalingrad, it began on July 17 in unfavorable conditions for the Soviet troops. The enemy outnumbered them in the Stalingrad direction in personnel: 1.7 times, in artillery and tanks - 1.3 times in aircraft - 2 times. Many formations of the Stalingrad Front, created on July 12, were recently formed by the Soviet troops, it was necessary to hastily create defenses on unprepared lines.
The enemy made several attempts to break through the defenses of the Stalingrad Front, encircle his troops on the right bank of the Don, reach the Volga and take Stalingrad on the move. Soviet troops heroically repulsed the onslaught of the enemy, who had overwhelming superiority in forces in some areas, and delayed his movement.
When the advance to the Caucasus slowed down, Hitler decided to attack simultaneously in both main directions, although the Wehrmacht's human resources had been significantly reduced by this time. With defensive battles and successful counterattacks in the first half of August, Soviet troops thwarted the enemy's plan to capture Stalingrad on the move. The German - fascist troops were forced to get involved in protracted bloody battles, and the German command was concentrating more and more new forces to the city.
Soviet troops operating northwest and southeast of Stalingrad pinned down significant enemy forces, helping the troops fighting directly at the walls of Stalingrad, and then in the city itself. The most difficult trials in the Battle of Stalingrad fell on the lot of the 62nd and 64th armies, commanded by Generals V.I. Chuikov and M.S. Shumilov. The pilots of the 8th and 16th air armies interacted with the ground troops. Great assistance to the defenders of Stalingrad was provided by the sailors of the Volga military flotilla. In fierce four-month battles on the outskirts of the city and in itself, the enemy grouping suffered heavy losses. Its offensive capabilities were exhausted, and the aggressor's troops were stopped. Having exhausted and bled the enemy, the armed forces of our country created the conditions for a counteroffensive and crushing the enemy near Stalingrad, finally seizing the strategic initiative and making a radical change in the course of the war.
The failure of the fascist German offensive on the Soviet-German front in 1942 and the failures of the Japanese armed forces in the Pacific forced Japan to abandon its planned attack on the USSR and switch to defense in the Pacific at the end of 1942.
3.Third period wars (19 november 1942 - 31 December 1943) root fracture v progress war. crash offensive strategies fascist block.
The period began with a counteroffensive of the Soviet troops, culminating in the encirclement and defeat of the 330,000th German fascist group during the Battle of Stalingrad, which made a huge contribution to achieving a radical change in the Great Patriotic War and had a decisive influence on the further course of the entire war.
The victory of the Soviet armed forces near Stalingrad is one of the most important glorious heroic annals of the Great Patriotic War, the largest military and political events of the Second World War, the most important of all on the path of the Soviet people, the entire anti-Hitler coalition to the final defeat of the Third Reich.
The defeat of large enemy forces in the Battle of Stalingrad demonstrated the power of our state and its army, the maturity of Soviet military art in both defense and offensive, the highest level of skill, courage and stamina of Soviet soldiers. The defeat of the fascist troops at Stalingrad shook the building of the fascist bloc and aggravated the internal political situation of Germany itself and its allies. Friction between the members of the bloc intensified, Japan and Turkey were forced to abandon their intention to enter into a war against our country at a favorable moment.
Near Stalingrad, the Far Eastern rifle divisions fought steadfastly and courageously with the enemy, 4 of them received the honorary title of guards. During the battle, the Far East resident M. Passar accomplished his feat. The sniper squad of Sergeant Maxim Passar provided great assistance to the 117th Infantry Regiment in carrying out combat missions. On the personal account of the Nanai hunter, there were 234 destroyed Nazis, in one battle two blocking machine guns of the enemy fired a strong barrage at our units M. Passar, approaching at a distance of 100 meters, suppressed these two firing points and thereby ensured the advance of the Soviet troops. In the same battle, M. Passar died a heroic death.
The people sacredly honor the memory of the defenders of the city on the Volga. Recognition of their special merits is the construction on Mamaev Kurgan - the sacred place of the city of the hero - a majestic monument - an ensemble, mass graves with eternal fire on the square of fallen soldiers, a museum - a panorama "Battle of Stalingrad", a house of soldiers' glory and many other memorials, monuments and historical places . The victory of Soviet weapons on the banks of the Volga contributed to the consolidation of the anti-Hitler coalition, which included the Soviet Union as the leading power. It largely predetermined the success of the operation of the Anglo-American troops in North Africa and allowed the Allies to deliver a decisive blow to Italy. Hitler tried at all costs to keep Italy out of the war. He tried to restore Mussolini's regime. Meanwhile, an anti-Hitler patriotic war was unfolding in Italy. But before the liberation of Italy from the Nazis was still far away.
In Germany, by 1943, everything was subordinated to the provision of military needs. Back in peacetime, Hitler introduced compulsory labor service for all. Millions of prisoners of concentration camps and inhabitants of conquered countries deported to Germany worked for the war. All of Europe conquered by the Nazis worked for the war.
Hitler promised the Germans that Germany's enemies would never set foot on German soil. And yet the war came to Germany. The raids began as early as 1940-41, and since 1943, when the Allies achieved air superiority, massive bombardments became regular.
The German leadership considered a new offensive on the Soviet-German front to be the only means of restoring the shaken martial law and international prestige. A powerful offensive in 1943 was supposed to change the situation at the front in favor of Germany, raise the morale of the Wehrmacht and the population, and keep the fascist bloc from collapsing.
In addition, fascist politicians counted on the inactivity of the anti-Hitler coalition - the United States and England, which continued to violate their obligations to open a second front in Europe, which allowed Germany to transfer fresh divisions from the west to the Soviet - German front. The Red Army had to fight again with the main forces of the fascist bloc, the area of Kursk was chosen as the site of the offensive. To carry out the operation, the most combat-ready Nazi formations were involved - 50 selected divisions, including 16 tank and motorized divisions, concentrated in the Army Groups "Center" and "South" north and south of the Kursk salient. Great hopes were placed on the new Tiger and Panther tanks, the Ferdinand assault guns, the new Focke-Wulf-190 A fighters and the Hentel-129 attack aircraft, which arrived at the start of the offensive.
The Soviet high command prepared the Red Army for decisive action during the summer-autumn campaign of 1943. A decision was made on a deliberate defense in order to thwart the enemy's offensive, bleed him dry and thus create the prerequisites for his complete defeat through a subsequent counteroffensive. Such a bold decision is evidence of the high maturity of the strategic thinking of the Soviet command, the correct assessment of the forces and means, both of their own and the enemy, of the military and economic capabilities of the country.
The grandiose Battle of Kursk, which is a complex of defensive and offensive operations of the Soviet troops to disrupt a major enemy offensive and defeat his strategic grouping, began at dawn on July 5 (map)
The Nazis did not doubt their success, but the Soviet wars did not falter. They shot fascist tanks with artillery fire and destroyed guns, disabled them with grenades and set fire to bottles with a combustible mixture, rifle units also cut off enemy infantry with fighters. On July 12, the largest oncoming tank battle of the Second World War took place in the Prokhorovka area. A total of 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns met in a small space. In a fierce battle, the Soviet wars showed an unprecedented feat and won. Having exhausted and bled the shock German - fascist groupings in defensive battles and battles, the Soviet troops created favorable opportunities for going over to the counteroffensive. The Battle of Kursk lasted 50 days and nights, an outstanding event of the Second World War. During it, the Soviet armed forces inflicted such a defeat on Nazi Germany from which she could not recover until the end of the war.
As a result of the defeat of the German fascist troops near Kursk, Germany's foreign economic situation deteriorated sharply. Its isolation in the international arena increased. The fascist bloc, formed on the basis of the predatory aspirations of its members, was on the verge of collapse. The crushing defeat near Kursk forced the fascist command to transfer large land and air forces from the west to the Soviet-German front. This circumstance made it easier for the Anglo-American troops to conduct a landing operation in Italy and predetermined the withdrawal of this German ally from the war. The victory of the Red Army in the Battle of Kursk had a profound impact on the entire subsequent course of the Second World War. After it, it became obvious that the USSR alone, without the help of its allies, was able to win the war, completely clear its territory of invaders and unite the peoples of Europe, languishing in Nazi captivity. The boundless courage, steadfastness and mass patriotism of the Soviet wars were the most important factors in the victory over a strong enemy in the battles on the Kursk salient.
The defeat of the Wehrmacht on the Soviet-German front by the end of 1943 completed a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War, which began with the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops near Stalingrad, deepened the crisis of the fascist bloc, gave scope to the anti-fascist movement in the occupied countries and Germany itself, and contributed to the strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition . At the Tehran Conference in 1943, the final decision was made to open a second front in France in May 1944. war German fascist front
4. Fourth period wars (1 January 1944 - May 9, 1945) rout fascist block, exile enemy troops per limits THE USSR, creation second front, release from occupation countries Europe, full collapse fascist Germany and her unconditional surrender.
In the summer of 1944, an event occurred that decided the outcome of the war in the west: Anglo-American troops landed in France. The so-called Second Front began to operate. Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin agreed on this back in November-December 1943 at a meeting in Tehran. They also decided that at the same time the Soviet troops would launch a powerful offensive in Belarus. The German command expected the invasion, but could not determine the beginning and place of the operation. For two months, the allies carried out diversionary maneuvers, and on the night of June 5-6, 1944, unexpectedly for the Germans, in cloudy weather, they dropped three airborne divisions on the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy. At the same time, a fleet with Allied troops moved across the English Channel.
In 1944, the Soviet armed forces fought dozens of battles that went down in history as examples of the outstanding military art of Soviet commanders, the courage and heroism of the soldiers of the Red Army and Navy. Having carried out a series of successive operations, in the first half of 1944, our troops defeated the fascist army groups "a" and "South", defeated the army groups "North" and liberated part of the Leningrad and Kalinin regions, right-bank Ukraine and Crimea. The blockade of Leningrad was finally lifted, and in Ukraine the Red Army reached the state border, in the foothills of the Carpathians and on the territory of Romania.
Carried out in the summer of 1944, the Belarusian and Lvov-Sandomierz operations of the Soviet troops covered a vast territory. Soviet troops liberated Belarus, the western regions of Ukraine and part of Poland. Our troops reached the Vistula River and together captured important operational footholds.
The defeat of the enemy in Belarus and the successes of our troops in the southern Crimea of the Soviet-German front created favorable conditions for delivering strikes in the northern and southern directions. Areas of Norway were liberated. In the south, our troops began to liberate the peoples of Europe from fascism. In September - October 1944, the Red Army liberated part of Czechoslovakia, assisted the Slovak National Uprising, Bulgaria and the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia in the liberation of the territories of these states, and continued a powerful offensive to liberate Hungary. Carried out in September November 1944, the Baltic operation ended with the liberation of almost all of the Baltic states. 1944 became the year of the end of the directly people's, Patriotic War; the battle for survival is over, the people have defended their land, their state independence. Soviet troops, entering the territory of Europe, were guided by the duty and responsibility to the people of their country, the peoples of enslaved Europe, which consisted in the need for the complete destruction of the Nazi military machine and the conditions that would allow it to revive. The liberation mission of the Soviet Army corresponded to the norms and international agreements developed by the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition during the entire war.
Soviet troops unleashed crushing blows on the enemy, as a result of which the German invaders were expelled from the Soviet land. They carried out a liberation mission in relation to the countries of Europe, played a decisive role in the liberation of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, as well as Albania and other states. They contributed to the liberation from the fascist yoke of the peoples of Italy, France and other countries.
In February 1945, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta to discuss the future of the world after the war was drawing to a close. It was decided to create an organization of the United Nations, to divide the defeated Germany into zones of occupation. By agreement, two to three months after the end of hostilities in Europe, the USSR was to enter the war with Japan.
At that time, in the Pacific theater of operations, the Allied forces carried out operations to defeat the Japanese fleet, liberated a number of islands occupied by Japan, approached Japan directly and cut off its communications with the countries of the South Seas and East Asia. In April - May 1945, the Soviet armed forces defeated the last groups of Nazi troops in the Berlin and Prague operations and met with the Allied forces.
In the spring of 1945, relations between Britain and the United States, on the one hand, and the USSR, on the other, became more complicated. According to Churchill, the British and Americans feared that after defeating Germany it would be difficult to stop "Russian imperialism on the road to world domination", and therefore decided that in the last stage of the war, the allied army should advance as far as possible to the East.
On April 12, 1945, US President Franklin Roosevelt died suddenly. His successor was Harry Truman, who took a tougher stance towards the Soviet Union. Roosevelt's death gave Hitler and his entourage hope for the collapse of the Allied coalition. But the common goal of England, the USA and the USSR - the destruction of Nazism - prevailed over the intensified mutual distrust and disagreements.
The war was over. In April, the Soviet and American armies approached the Elbe River. The physical existence of the fascist leaders also ended. On April 28, Italian partisans executed Mussolini, and on April 30, when street fighting was already going on in the center of Berlin, Hitler committed suicide. On May 8, an act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed on the outskirts of Berlin. The war in Europe is over. May 9 became Victory Day, a great holiday for our people and all mankind.
5. Fifth period war. (9 May) 1945 - 2 September 1945) rout imperialist Japan. Liberation peoples Asia from Japan. Ending Second World war.
The interests of restoring peace throughout the world also demanded the quickest elimination of the Far Eastern seat of war.
At the Potsdam Conference July 17 - August 2, 1945. The USSR confirmed its consent to enter the war with Japan.
On July 26, 1945, the USA, Britain and China presented Japan with an ultimatum demanding immediate unconditional surrender. He was rejected. On August 6 at Hiroshima, on August 9, atomic bombs were detonated over Nagasaki. As a result, two cities, completely populated, were actually swept off the face of the earth. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan and moved its divisions into Manchuria, a province of China captured by the Japanese. During the Manchuzhur operation of 1945, the Soviet troops, having defeated one of the strongest groupings of the Japanese ground forces - the Kwantung Army, liquidated the center of aggression in the Far East, liberated Northeast China, North Korea, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, thereby hastening the end of World War II . On August 14, Japan surrendered. The official act of surrender was signed on board the American battleship Missouri on September 2, 1945 by representatives of the United States, England, the USSR and Japan. The Second World War is over.
The defeat of the fascist-militarist bloc was the logical outcome of a long and bloody war, in which the fate of world civilization was decided, the question of the existence of hundreds of millions of people. In terms of its results, its impact on the lives of peoples and their self-consciousness, and its impact on international processes, the victory over fascism has become an event of the greatest historical significance. The countries participating in the Second World War passed a difficult path in their state development. The main lesson that they learned from the post-war reality is to prevent the unleashing of a new aggression by any state.
The decisive factor in the victory over Nazi Germany and its satellites was the struggle of the Soviet Union, which united the efforts of all peoples and states in the battle against fascism.
The victory in World War II is the common merit and the joint capital of all states and peoples who fought against the forces of war and obscurantism.
The anti-Hitler coalition initially included 26, and by the end of the war - more than 50 states. The second front in Europe was opened by the Allies only in 1944, and it must be admitted that the main burden of the war fell on the shoulders of our country.
The Soviet-German front from June 22, 1941 to May 9, 1945 remained the decisive front of the Second World War in terms of the number of troops involved, the duration and intensity of the struggle, its scope and its final results.
Most of the operations carried out by the Red Army during the war years were included in the golden fund of military art, they were distinguished by decisiveness, maneuverability and high activity, original plans and their creative implementation.
In the course of the war, a galaxy of commanders, naval commanders and military commanders grew up in the Armed Forces, who successfully carried out command and control of troops and fleet forces in operations. Among them G.K. Zhukov, A.M. Vasilevsky, A.N. Antonov, L.A. Govorov, I.S. Konev, K.K. Rokossovsky, S.K. Timoshenko and others.
The Great Patriotic War confirmed the fact that an aggressor can be defeated only by combining the political, economic and military efforts of all states.
In this regard, the fact of the creation and activity of the anti-Hitler coalition - a union of states and peoples that have united their efforts against a common enemy - is valuable and instructive. In modern conditions, war with the use of nuclear weapons threatens civilization itself, so the people of our planet today must recognize themselves as a single human society, overcome differences, prevent the emergence of dictatorial regimes in any of the countries, and fight for peace on Earth by common efforts.
September 2 is celebrated in the Russian Federation as "The Day of the End of World War II (1945)". This memorable date was established in accordance with the Federal Law "On Amendments to Article 1 (1) of the Federal Law "On the Days of Military Glory and Commemorative Dates of Russia", signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on July 23, 2010. The Day of Military Glory was established as a sign of memory of compatriots who showed selflessness, heroism, devotion to their homeland and allied duty to the countries - members of the anti-Hitler coalition in the implementation of the decision of the Crimean (Yalta) conference in 1945 on Japan. September 2 is a kind of second Victory Day for Russia, victory in the East.
This holiday cannot be called new - on September 3, 1945, the day after the surrender of the Japanese Empire, the Day of Victory over Japan was established by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. However, for a long time, this holiday was practically ignored in the official calendar of significant dates.
The international legal basis for establishing the Day of Military Glory is the Act of Surrender of the Empire of Japan, which was signed on September 2, 1945 at 9:02 am Tokyo time on board the US battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. On behalf of Japan, the document was signed by Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and Chief of the General Staff Yoshijiro Umezu. Representatives of the Allied Powers were Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers Douglas MacArthur, American Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander of the British Pacific Fleet Bruce Fraser, Soviet General Kuzma Nikolaevich Derevyanko, Kuzma Nikolayevich Derevyanko, General Su Yong-chan, French General J. Leclerc, Australian General T. Blamey, Dutch Admiral K. Halfrich, New Zealand Air Vice-Marshal L. Isit and Canadian Colonel N. Moore-Cosgrave. This document put an end to World War II, which, according to Western and Soviet historiography, began on September 1, 1939 with the attack of the Third Reich on Poland (Chinese researchers believe that World War II began with the attack of the Japanese army on China on July 7, 1937).
Do not use prisoners of war for forced labor;
To provide units that were located in remote areas with additional time to stop hostilities.
On the night of August 15, the "young tigers" (a group of fanatical commanders from the department of the military ministry and the capital's military institutions, headed by Major K. Hatanaka) decided to disrupt the adoption of the declaration and continue the war. They planned to eliminate the "peace advocates", remove the text of Hirohito's speech accepting the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and ending the war by the Empire of Japan before it was broadcast on the radio, and then persuade the armed forces to continue the fight. The commander of the 1st Guards Division, which was guarding the imperial palace, refused to take part in the rebellion and was killed. Giving orders on his behalf, the “young tigers” entered the palace, attacked the residences of the head of the government of Suzuki, the lord custodian of the seal K. Kido, the chairman of the Privy Council K. Hiranuma and the Tokyo radio station. However, they could not find the tapes with the recording and find the leaders of the "peace party". The troops of the capital's garrison did not support their actions, and even many members of the "young tigers" organization, not wanting to go against the emperor's decision and not believing in the success of the case, did not join the putschists. As a result, the rebellion failed in the first hours. The instigators of the conspiracy were not tried, they were allowed to commit ritual suicide by ripping open the abdomen.
On August 15, the address of the Japanese emperor was broadcast on the radio. Given the high level of self-discipline among Japanese statesmen and military leaders, there was a wave of suicides in the empire. On August 11, the former Prime Minister and Minister of the Army, a staunch supporter of an alliance with Germany and Italy, Hideki Tojo, tried to commit suicide with a shot from a revolver (he was executed on December 23, 1948 as a war criminal). On the morning of August 15, the minister of the army, Koretika Anami, committed hara-kiri "the most magnificent example of the samurai ideal", in a suicide note he asked the emperor for forgiveness for his mistakes. The 1st Deputy Chief of the Naval General Staff (formerly the commander of the 1st Air Fleet), the "father of the kamikaze" Takijiro Onishi, Field Marshal of the Imperial Japanese Army Hajime Sugiyama, as well as other ministers, generals and officers committed suicide.
Kantaro Suzuki's cabinet has resigned. Many military and political leaders began to lean towards the idea of a unilateral occupation of Japan by US troops in order to save the country from the communist menace and preserve the imperial system. On August 15, hostilities between the Japanese armed forces and the Anglo-American troops were stopped. However, Japanese troops continued to offer fierce resistance to the Soviet army. The units of the Kwantung Army were not given the ceasefire order, and therefore the Soviet troops were also not instructed to stop the offensive. Only on August 19, Marshal Alexander Vasilevsky, Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Forces in the Far East, met with Hiposaburo Hata, Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army, where an agreement was reached on the procedure for the surrender of Japanese troops. The Japanese units began to hand over their weapons, this process dragged on until the end of the month. The South Sakhalin and Kuril landing operations continued until August 25 and September 1, respectively.
On August 14, 1945, the Americans drafted "General Order No. 1 (for the army and navy)" to accept the surrender of Japanese troops. This project was approved by American President Harry Truman and on August 15 it was reported to the allied countries. The project indicated the zones in which each of the allied powers had to accept the surrender of the Japanese units. On August 16, Moscow announced that it generally agreed with the project, but proposed an amendment - to include all the Kuril Islands and the northern half of the island of Hokkaido in the Soviet zone. Washington has not raised any objections to the Kuriles. But with regard to Hokkaido, the American president noted that the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the Pacific, General Douglas MacArthur, was surrendering Japanese armed forces on all the islands of the Japanese archipelago. It was specified that MacArthur would use symbolic armed forces, including Soviet units.
From the very beginning, the American government did not intend to let the USSR into Japan and rejected allied control in post-war Japan, which was provided for by the Potsdam Declaration. On August 18, the United States put forward a demand to allocate one of the Kuril Islands for an American air force base. Moscow rejected this impudent harassment, saying that the Kuriles, according to the Crimean agreement, are the possession of the USSR. The Soviet government announced that it was ready to allocate an airfield for the landing of American commercial aircraft, subject to the allocation of a similar airfield for Soviet aircraft in the Aleutian Islands.
On August 19, a Japanese delegation headed by the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, General T. Kawabe, arrived in Manila (Philippines). The Americans notified the Japanese that their forces were to liberate the Atsugi airfield on August 24, the areas of Tokyo Bay and Sagami Bay by August 25, and the Kanon base and the southern part of Kyushu by the middle of the day on August 30. Representatives of the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces requested that the landing of the occupying forces be delayed by 10 days in order to increase precautions and avoid unnecessary incidents. The request of the Japanese side was granted, but for a shorter period. The landing of advanced occupation units was scheduled for August 26, and the main forces for August 28.
On August 20, the Japanese in Manila were handed the Act of Surrender. The document provided for the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces, regardless of their location. The Japanese troops were to immediately cease hostilities, release prisoners of war and interned civilians, ensure their maintenance, protection and delivery to the indicated places. On September 2, the Japanese delegation signed the Instrument of Surrender. The ceremony itself was structured to show the United States' primary role in defeating Japan. The procedure for the surrender of Japanese troops in various parts of the Asia-Pacific region dragged on for several months.
World War II (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 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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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. The German state quickly became totalitarian and began to prepare for the coming war for supremacy 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 in 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.
Germany soon 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 of the "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 naval assault forces entered 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 of the 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 were destroyed.
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 the 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". All tank battles of the Second World War were 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 the Apennine 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. So the second or Western Front was opened, as a result of which the Second World War was ended (the table shows this event). In August, a similar landing 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. Communist pro-Soviet regimes were established in the eastern countries. 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.
World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries - including all the great powers - have formed two opposing military alliances.
The Second World War was the reason for the desire of the world powers to revise the spheres of influence and redistribute the markets for raw materials and sales of products (1939-1945). Germany and Italy sought revenge, the USSR wanted to establish itself in Eastern Europe, in the Black Sea Straits, in Western and South Asia, to increase influence in the Far East, England, France and the USA tried to maintain their positions in the world.
Another reason for the Second World War was the attempt of bourgeois-democratic states to oppose each other totalitarian regimes - fascists and communists.
World War II was chronologically divided into three major phases:
- From September 1, 1939 to June 1942, the period in which Germany dominated.
- From June 1942 to January 1944. During this period, the anti-Hitler coalition took over the advantage.
- From January 1944 to September 2, 1945 - the period when the troops of the aggressor countries were defeated and the ruling regimes in these countries fell.
World War II began on September 1, 1939 with the German attack on Poland. On September 8-14, in the battles near the Bruz River, the Polish troops were defeated. Warsaw fell on 28 September. In September, Soviet troops also invaded Poland. Poland became the first victim of the World War. The Germans destroyed the Jewish and Polish intelligentsia, introduced labor service.
"Strange War"
In response to the aggression of Germany, England and France on September 3 declared war on her. But active hostilities did not follow. Therefore, the beginning of the war on the Western Front is called the “Strange War”.
On September 17, 1939, Soviet troops captured Western Ukraine and Western Belarus - lands lost under the Riga Treaty of 1921 as a result of an unsuccessful Polish-Soviet war. The Soviet-German treaty “On Friendship and Borders” concluded on September 28, 1939, confirmed the fact of the capture and partition of Poland. The treaty defined the Soviet-German borders, the border was set aside a little to the west. Lithuania was included in the sphere of interests of the USSR.
In November 1939, Stalin offered Finland to lease the port of Petsamo and the Hanko peninsula for the construction of a military base, as well as to push back the border on the Karelian Isthmus in exchange for more territory in Soviet Karelia. Finland rejected this proposal. On November 30, 1939, the Soviet Union declared war on Finland. This war went down in history under the name "Winter War". Stalin organized a puppet Finnish "workers' government" in advance. But the Soviet troops met the fierce resistance of the Finns on the "Mannerheim Line" and only in March 1940 overcame it. Finland was forced to accept the conditions of the USSR. On March 12, 1940, a peace treaty was signed in Moscow. The Karelian-Finnish SSR was created.
During September-October 1939, the Soviet Union sent troops into the Baltic countries, forcing Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to conclude agreements. On June 21, 1940, Soviet power was established in all three republics. Two weeks later, these republics became part of the USSR. In June 1940, the USSR took Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina from Romania.
In Bessarabia, the Moldavian SSR was created, which also became part of the USSR. And Northern Bukovina became part of the Ukrainian SSR. These aggressive actions of the USSR were condemned by England and France. On December 14, 1939, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations.
Military operations in the West, Africa and the Balkans
For successful operations in the North Atlantic, Germany needed bases. Therefore, she attacked Denmark and Norway, although they declared themselves neutral. On April 9, 1940, Denmark surrendered, and on June 10, Norway. In Norway, the fascist V. Quisling seized power. The king of Norway turned to England for help. In May 1940, the main forces of the German army (Wehrmacht) concentrated on the Western Front. On May 10, the Germans suddenly occupied Holland and Belgium and pressed the Anglo-French-Belgian troops to the sea in the Dunkirk area. The Germans occupied Calais. But on the orders of Hitler, the offensive was suspended, and the enemy was given the opportunity to get out of the encirclement. This event was called the "Miracle of Dunkirk". With this gesture, Hitler wanted to propitiate England, conclude an agreement with her and withdraw her from the war for a while.
On May 26, Germany launched an offensive against France, achieved victory near the Aime River and, breaking through the Maginot Line, on June 14 the Germans entered Paris. On June 22, 1940, in the Forest of Compiègne, at the very spot where Germany surrendered 22 years ago, Marshal Foch, in the same staff car, signed the act of surrender of France. France was divided into 2 parts: the northern part, which was under German occupation, and the southern part, centered in the city of Vichy.
This part of France was dependent on Germany, a puppet “Vichy government” was organized here, headed by Marshal Pétain. The Vichy government had a small army. The fleet was confiscated. The French constitution was also abolished, and Pétain was given unlimited powers. The Vichy collaborationist regime lasted until August 1944.
The anti-fascist forces of France grouped around the Free French organization, created by Charles de Gaulle in England.
In the summer of 1940, an ardent opponent of Nazi Germany, Winston Churchill, was elected Prime Minister of England. Since the German navy was inferior to the English fleet, Hitler abandoned the idea of landing troops in England, and was content with only air bombardments. England actively defended itself and won the "air war". This was the first victory in the war with Germany.
On June 10, 1940, Italy also joined the war against England and France. The Italian army from Ethiopia captured Kenya, strongholds in Sudan, and part of British Somalia. And in October, Italy attacked Libya and Egypt in order to seize the Suez Canal. But, having seized the initiative, the British troops forced the Italian army in Ethiopia to surrender. In December 1940, the Italians were defeated in Egypt, and in 1941 - in Libya. The help sent by Hitler was not effective. In general, during the winter of 1940-1941, British troops, with the help of the local population, drove the Italians out of British and Italian Somalia, from Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
On September 22, 1940, Germany, Italy and Japan concluded a pact in Berlin (“Pact of Steel”). A little later, Germany's allies - Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovakia - joined him. In essence, it was an agreement on the redistribution of the world. Germany invited the USSR to join this pact and participate in the occupation of British India and other southern lands. But Stalin was interested in the Balkans and the Black Sea straits. And this was contrary to Hitler's plans.
In October 1940, Italy attacked Greece. German troops helped Italy. In April 1941, Yugoslavia and Greece capitulated.
Thus, the most severe blow to the positions of the British was dealt in the Balkans. The British Corps was returned to Egypt. In May 1941 the Germans took the island of Crete and the British lost control of the Aegean. Yugoslavia ceased to exist as a state. An independent Croatia emerged. The remaining Yugoslav lands were divided among themselves by Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and Hungary. Under pressure from Hitler, Romania gave Transylvania to Hungary.
German attack on the USSR
Back in June 1940, Hitler instructed the leadership of the Wehrmacht to prepare for an attack on the USSR. Was prepared and approved on December 18, 1940, a plan for a "blitzkrieg" under the code name "Barbarossa". A native of Baku, intelligence officer Richard Sorge in May 1941 announced the impending German attack on the USSR, but Stalin did not believe it. On June 22, 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union without declaring war. The Germans intended to reach the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line before the onset of winter. During the first week of the war, the Germans took Smolensk, approached Kiev and Leningrad. In September, Kiev was taken, and Leningrad was under blockade.
In November 1941, the Germans launched an offensive against Moscow. On December 5-6, 1941, they were defeated in the battle near Moscow. In this battle and in the winter operations of 1942, the myth of the “invincibility” of the German army collapsed, and the plan for a “blitzkrieg” was frustrated. The victory of the Soviet troops inspired the resistance movement in the countries occupied by the Germans, strengthened the anti-Hitler coalition.
Creation of the anti-Hitler coalition 
The territory of Eurasia to the east of the 70th meridian Japan considered the sphere of its influence. After the capitulation of France, Japan appropriated its colonies - Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and stationed its troops there. Sensing the danger to their possessions in the Philippines, the United States demanded that Japan withdraw its troops and established a ban on trade with Japan.
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese squadron launched an unexpected attack on the US naval base in the Hawaiian Islands - Pearl Harbor. On the same day, Japanese troops invaded Thailand and the British colonies of Malaysia and Burma. In response, the United States and Great Britain declared war on Japan.
At the same time, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. In the spring of 1942, the Japanese took the British fortress of Singapore, which was considered impregnable, and approached India. Then they conquered Indonesia and the Philippines, landed on New Guinea.
Back in March 1941, the US Congress passed a law on Lend-Lease - an “assistance system” with weapons, strategic raw materials and food. After Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union, Great Britain and the United States became in solidarity with the USSR. W. Churchill said that against Hitler he was ready to enter into an alliance even with the devil himself.
On July 12, 1941, an agreement on cooperation between the USSR and Great Britain was signed. On October 10, a trilateral agreement was signed between the USA, the USSR and Great Britain on military and food aid to the USSR. In November 1941, the United States extended the Lend-Lease Act to the Soviet Union. An anti-Hitler coalition emerged, consisting of the USA, Great Britain and the USSR.
In order to prevent a rapprochement between Germany and Iran, on August 25, 1941, the Soviet army entered Iran from the north, and the British from the south. In the history of World War II, this was the first joint operation between the USSR and England.
On August 14, 1941, the United States and England signed a document called the Atlantic Charter, in which they declared their refusal to seize foreign territories, recognized the right of all peoples to self-government, renounced the use of force in international affairs, and showed interest in building a just and secure post-war world . The USSR announced the recognition of the governments of Czechoslovakia and Poland, who were in exile, and on September 24 also joined the Atlantic Charter. On January 1, 1942, 26 states signed the “Declaration of the United Nations”. The strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition contributed to the onset of a radical turning point in the course of World War II.
The beginning of a radical fracture 
The second period of the war is characterized as a period of radical change. The first step here was the Battle of Midway Atoll in June 1942, in which the US Navy sank a Japanese squadron. Having suffered heavy losses, Japan lost the ability to fight in the Pacific.
In October 1942, British troops under the command of General B. Montgomery surrounded and defeated the Italo-German troops at El Apamein. In November, US troops under the command of General Dwight Eisenhower in Morocco pressed the Italo-German troops against Tunisia and forced them to surrender. But the allies did not keep their promises and in 1942 they did not open a second front in Europe. This allowed the Germans to group large forces on the eastern front, break through the defenses of the Soviet troops on the Kerch Peninsula in May, capturing Sevastopol and Kharkov in July, and move towards Stalingrad and the Caucasus. But the German offensive was repulsed near Stalingrad, and in a counterattack on November 23 near the city of Kalach, Soviet troops surrounded 22 enemy divisions. The Battle of Stalingrad, which lasted until February 2, 1943, ended with the victory of the USSR, which seized the strategic initiative. A radical turning point took place in the Soviet-German war. The counteroffensive of the Soviet troops in the Caucasus began.
One of the important conditions for a radical turning point in the war was the ability of the USSR, the USA and Britain to mobilize their resources. So, on June 30, 1941, the State Defense Committee was created in the USSR under the chairmanship of I. Stalin and the main Logistics Directorate. A card system was introduced.
In 1942, a law was passed in England giving the government emergency powers in the field of management. In the United States, the Office of War Production was created.
Resistance movement
Another factor that contributed to the radical change was the resistance movement of the peoples who fell under the German, Italian and Japanese yoke. The Nazis created death camps - Buchenwald, Auschwitz, Maidanek, Treblinka, Dachau, Mauthausen, etc. In France - Oradour, in Czechoslovakia - Lidice, in Belarus - Khatyn and many more such villages around the world, the population of which was completely destroyed. A systematic policy of extermination of Jews and Slavs was pursued. On January 20, 1942, a plan was approved for the extermination of all Jews in Europe.
The Japanese acted under the slogan "Asia for Asians", but ran into desperate resistance in Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma, and the Philippines. The unification of anti-fascist forces contributed to the strengthening of resistance. Under pressure from the allies, the Comintern was dissolved in 1943, so the communists in some countries took an active part in joint anti-fascist actions.
In 1943, an anti-fascist uprising broke out in the Warsaw Jewish ghetto. In the territories of the USSR conquered by the Germans, the partisan movement was especially widespread.
Completion of a radical fracture
A radical turning point on the Soviet-German front ended with the grand Battle of Kursk (July-August 1943), in which the Nazis were defeated. In naval battles in the Atlantic, the Germans lost many submarines. Allied ships began to cross the Atlantic Ocean as part of special sentinel convoys.
A radical change in the course of the war caused a crisis in the countries of the fascist bloc. In July 1943, the allied forces captured the island of Sicily, and this caused a deep crisis of the fascist regime of Mussolini. He was overthrown and arrested. The new government was headed by Marshal Badoglio. The Fascist Party was outlawed, and political prisoners were granted amnesty.
Secret negotiations began. September 3 Allied troops landed in the Apennines. An armistice was signed with Italy.
At this time, Germany occupied northern Italy. Badoglio declared war on Germany. A front line arose north of Naples, and the regime of Mussolini, who had fled from captivity, was restored in the territory occupied by the Germans. He relied on the German troops.
After the completion of the radical change, the heads of the allied states - F. Roosevelt, J. Stalin and W. Churchill met in Tehran from November 28 to December 1, 1943. The central place in the work of the conference was occupied by the question of opening a second front. Churchill insisted on opening a second front in the Balkans to prevent the penetration of communism into Europe, and Stalin believed that a second front should be opened closer to the German borders - in Northern France. So there were differences in views on the second front. Roosevelt sided with Stalin. It was decided to open a second front in May 1944 in France. Thus, the foundations of the general military concept of the anti-Hitler coalition were worked out for the first time. Stalin agreed to participate in the war with Japan, on the condition that Kaliningrad (Königsberg) be transferred to the USSR, and the new western borders of the USSR would be recognized. Tehran also adopted a declaration on Iran. The heads of the three states expressed their intention to maintain the integrity of the territory of this country.
In December 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill signed the Egyptian Declaration in Egypt with Chinese President Chiang Kai-shek. An agreement was reached that the war would continue until the complete defeat of Japan. All the territories taken from it by Japan will be returned to China, Korea will become free and independent.
Deportation of Turks and Caucasian peoples
The German offensive in the Caucasus, which began in the summer of 1942, in accordance with the Edelweiss plan, failed.
In the territories inhabited by the Turkic peoples (North and South Azerbaijan, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Bashkiria, Tatarstan, Crimea, the North Caucasus, Western China and Afghanistan), Germany planned to create the state of "Great Turkestan".
In 1944-1945, the Soviet leadership declared some Turkic and Caucasian peoples in cooperation with the German occupiers and deported them. As a result of this deportation, accompanied by genocide, in February 1944, 650,000 Chechens, Ingush and Karachays, in May - about 2 million Crimean Turks, in November - about a million Turks - Meskhetians from the regions of Georgia bordering Turkey were resettled in the eastern regions of the USSR. In parallel with the deportation, the forms of state administration of these peoples were liquidated (in 1944, the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, in 1945 the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic). In October 1944, the independent Republic of Tuva, located in Siberia, was incorporated into the RSFSR.
Military operations 1944-1945
At the beginning of 1944, the Soviet army launched a counteroffensive near Leningrad and in right-bank Ukraine. On September 2, 1944, an armistice was signed between the USSR and Finland. The lands seized in 1940, the Pechenga region, were transferred to the USSR. Finland's access to the Barents Sea has been closed. In October, with the permission of the Norwegian authorities, Soviet troops entered the territory of Norway.
On June 6, 1944, Allied forces under the command of American General D. Eisenhower landed in northern France and opened a second front. At the same time, Soviet troops launched the "Operation Bagration", as a result of which the territory of the USSR was completely cleared of the enemy.
The Soviet army entered East Prussia and Poland. In August 1944, an anti-fascist uprising began in Paris. Before the end of this year, the Allies completely liberated France and Belgium.
At the beginning of 1944, the United States occupied the Marshall Islands, the Mariana Islands and the Philippines, and blocked Japan's sea lanes. In turn, the Japanese captured Central China. But due to difficulties in supplying the Japanese, the “campaign to Delhi” failed.
In July 1944, Soviet troops entered Romania. The fascist regime of Antonescu was overthrown, and the Romanian King Mihai declared war on Germany. September 2 - Bulgaria, and September 12 - Romania signed a truce with the allies. In mid-September, Soviet troops entered Yugoslavia, most of which by this time had been liberated by the partisan army of I.B. Tito. At this time, Churchill resigned himself to the entry of all the Balkan countries into the sphere of influence of the USSR. And the troops subordinate to the Polish government in exile in London fought both against the Germans and against the Russians. In August 1944, an unprepared uprising began in Warsaw, suppressed by the Nazis. The Allies did not agree on the legitimacy of each of the two Polish governments.
Crimean Conference
On February 4-11, 1945, Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill met in the Crimea (Yalta). Here, a decision was made on the unconditional surrender of Germany and the division of its territory into 4 occupation zones (USSR, USA, England, France), the collection of reparations from Germany, the recognition of the new western borders of the USSR, and the inclusion of new members in the London Polish government. The USSR confirmed its consent to enter the war against Japan 2-3 months after the end of the war with Germany. In return, Stalin expected to receive South Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, the railway in Manchuria and Port Arthur.
At the conference, a declaration "On a liberated Europe" was adopted. It guaranteed the right to create democratic structures of their own choice.
Here, the order of work of the future United Nations was determined. The Crimean Conference was the last meeting of the "Big Three" with the participation of Roosevelt. In 1945 he died. He was replaced by G. Truman.
The defeat at the fronts caused a severe crisis in the bloc of fascist regimes. Realizing the disastrous for Germany to continue the war and the need to conclude peace, a group of officers organized an assassination attempt on Hitler, but unsuccessfully. 
In 1944, the German military industry reached a high level, but there was no longer any strength to resist. Despite this, Hitler announced a general mobilization and began to use a new type of weapon - the V-rocket. In December 1944, in the Ardennes, the Germans went on the last counterattack. The position of the allies worsened. At their request, the USSR launched the Vistula-Oder operation ahead of schedule in January 1945 and approached Berlin at a distance of 60 kilometers. In February, the Allies launched a general offensive. On April 16, under the leadership of Marshal G. Zhukov, the Berlin operation began. On April 30, the Banner of Victory was hung over the Reichstag. Mussolini was executed by partisans in Milan. Upon learning of this, Hitler shot himself. On the night of May 8-9, on behalf of the German government, Field Marshal W. Keitel signed an act of unconditional surrender. On May 9, Prague was liberated and the war in Europe ended.
Potsdam conference
From July 17 to August 2, 1945, a new conference of the "Big Three" was held in Potsdam. Now the United States was represented by Truman, and England, instead of Churchill, by the newly elected Prime Minister, Labor leader K. Attlee.
The main purpose of the conference was to determine the principles of the Allied policy towards Germany. The territory of Germany was divided into 4 zones of occupation (USSR, USA, France, England). An agreement was reached on the dissolution of fascist organizations, the restoration of previously banned parties and civil liberties, the destruction of the military industry and cartels. The main fascist war criminals were tried by the International Tribunal. The conference decided that Germany should remain a single state. In the meantime, it will be controlled by the occupying authorities. The country's capital Berlin was also divided into 4 zones. There were elections after which peace would be signed with the new democratic government.
The conference also determined the state borders of Germany, which lost a quarter of its territory. Germany has lost everything it has gained since 1938. The lands of East Prussia were divided between the USSR and Poland. The borders of Poland were determined along the line of the Oder-Neisse rivers. Soviet citizens who fled to the west or remained there were to be returned to their homeland.
The amount of reparations from Germany was set at 20 billion dollars. 50% of this amount was due to the Soviet Union.
End of World War II
In April 1945, US troops entered the island of Okinawa during the anti-Japanese operation. Before the summer, the Philippines, Indonesia and part of Indo-China were liberated. On July 26, 1945, the United States, the USSR and China demanded the surrender of Japan, but were refused. To demonstrate its strength, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6. On August 8, the USSR declared war on Japan. On August 9, the United States dropped a second bomb on the city of Nagasaki.
On August 14, at the request of Emperor Hirohito, the Japanese government announced its surrender. The official act of surrender was signed on September 2, 1945 aboard the battleship Missouri.
Thus, the Second World War, in which 61 states participated and in which 67 million people died, ended.
If the First World War was mainly of a positional nature, then the Second World War was of an offensive nature.
