About the main stages of the Second World War in brief

Briefly, the entire course of the Second World War is divided into five main stages. We will try to describe them in an accessible way for you.

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

Table for the ninth, tenth, eleventh grades

Stages of the Second World War briefly by points - the main
The Beginning of the European Conflict - First First stage 1939 - 1941

• The first stage of the largest armed conflict in terms of its scale began on the day when the Nazi troops entered the Polish land and ended on the eve of the Nazi attack on the USSR.
• September 1, 1939 is officially recognized as the beginning of the second conflict, which has acquired global proportions. At the dawn of that day, the German occupation of Poland began and the countries of Europe realized the threat posed by Nazi Germany.
• After 2 days, France and the British Empire entered the war on the side of Poland. Following them, the French and British dominions and colonies declared war on the Third Reich. The representatives of Australia, New Zealand and India (3.09) were the first to announce their decision, then the leadership of the Union of South Africa (6.09) and Canada (10.09).
• However, despite the entry into the war, the French and British states did not help Poland in any way, and in general did not start any active actions for a long time, trying to redirect German aggression to the east - against the USSR.
• All this eventually led to the fact that in the first war period, Nazi Germany managed to occupy not only Polish, Danish, Norwegian, Belgian, Luxembourgish and Dutch territories, but also most of the French Republic.
• After that, the battle for Britain began, which lasted more than three months. True, in this battle the Germans did not have to celebrate the victory - they never managed to land troops on the British Isles.
• As a result of the first period of the war, most European states found themselves in fascist German-Italian occupation or became dependent on these states.

Opening of the Eastern Front - Second stage 1941 - 1942

• The beginning of the second stage of the war was June 22, 1941, when the Nazis violated the state border of the USSR. This period was marked by the expansion of the scale of the conflict and the collapse of the Nazi blitzkrieg.
• One of the landmark events of this stage was also the support of the USSR by the largest states - the USA and Great Britain. Despite their rejection of the socialist system, the governments of these states declared unconditional assistance to the Union. Thus, the foundation of a new military alliance, the anti-Hitler coalition, was laid.
• Second the most important point At this stage of World War II, joining the US military operations is considered, provoked by an unexpected and swift attack by the fleet and aviation of the Japanese Empire on the American military base in pacific ocean. The attack took place on December 7, and the very next day war was declared on Japan by the United States, Great Britain and a number of other countries. And after another 4 days, the German and Italian presented the United States with a note declaring war.

The turning point in the course of World War II - The third stage 1942-1943

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

Liberation of Europe - Fourth stage 1944-1945

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

End of the war - Fifth final stage 1945

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

Main stages of World War II

Conventionally, historians divide the Second World War into five periods:

The beginning of the war and the invasion of German troops in the countries of Western Europe.

World War II began on September 1, 1939 with the attack Nazi Germany to Poland. September 3 Great Britain and France declared war on Germany; the Anglo-French coalition included British dominions and colonies (September 3 - Australia, New Zealand, India; September 6 - South African Union; September 10 - Canada, etc.)

The incomplete deployment of the armed forces, the lack of assistance from Great Britain and France, the weakness of the top military leadership put the Polish army in front of a catastrophe: its territory was occupied by German troops. The Polish bourgeois-landowner government already on September 6 secretly fled from Warsaw to Lublin, and on September 16 to Romania.

After the outbreak of the war until May 1940, the governments of Great Britain and France continued their pre-war foreign policy course only in a slightly modified form, hoping to direct Germany's aggression against the USSR. During this period, called strange war» 1939-1940, Anglo-French troops were virtually inactive, and armed forces Nazi Germany, using a strategic pause, were actively preparing for an offensive against the countries of Western Europe.

On April 9, 1940, units of the fascist German army invaded Denmark without declaring war and occupied its territory. On the same day, the invasion of Norway began.

Even before the completion of the Norwegian operation, the military-political leadership of fascist Germany began to implement the Gelb plan, which provided for a lightning strike on France through Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. The German fascist troops delivered the main blow through the Ardennes mountains, bypassing the Maginot Line from the North through Northern France. The French command, adhering to a defensive strategy, deployed large forces on the Maginot Line and did not create a strategic reserve in the depths. Having broken through the defenses in the Sedan area, the tank formations of the German fascist troops reached the English Channel on May 20. On May 14, the Dutch armed forces capitulated. The Belgian army, the British expeditionary force and part of the French army were cut off in Flanders. On May 28, the Belgian army capitulated. The English and part of the French troops, blockaded in the Dunkirk region, succeeded, having lost all heavy military equipment, evacuate to the UK. In early June, fascist German troops broke through the front hastily created by the French, on the rivers Somme and Aisne.

On June 10, the French government left Paris. Without exhausting the possibilities of resistance, the French army laid down its arms. On June 14, German troops occupied the French capital without a fight. On June 22, 1940, hostilities ended with the signing of the act of surrender of France - the so-called. Compiègne truce of 1940. According to its terms, the territory of the country was divided into two parts: in the northern and central regions a fascist German occupation regime was established, the southern part of the country remained under the control of the anti-national government of Pétain, which expressed the interests of the most reactionary part of the French bourgeoisie, oriented towards fascist Germany (the so-called Vichy government).

After the defeat of France, the threat looming over Great Britain contributed to the isolation of the Munich capitulators, the rallying of forces English people. The government of W. Churchill, which replaced the government of N. Chamberlain on May 10, 1940, began to organize a more effective defense. Gradually, the US government began to revise its foreign policy course. It increasingly supported Great Britain, becoming its "non-belligerent ally".

Preparing for war against the USSR, fascist Germany carried out aggression in the Balkans in the spring of 1941. On March 1, fascist German troops entered Bulgaria. On April 6, 1941, the Italo-German and then the Hungarian troops launched an invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece, by April 18 they occupied Yugoslavia, and by April 29 the mainland of Greece.

By the end of the first period of the war, almost all the countries of Western and Central Europe were occupied by fascist Germany and Italy or became dependent on them. Their economy and resources were used to prepare the war against the USSR.

The attack of fascist Germany on the USSR, the expansion of the scale of the war, the collapse of the Hitlerite doctrine of Blitzkrieg.

On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany treacherously attacked the Soviet Union. The Great Patriotic War Soviet Union 1941 - 1945, which became the most important part of the 2nd World War.

The entry of the USSR into the war determined its qualitative new stage, led to the consolidation of all the progressive forces of the world in the fight against fascism, influenced the policies of the leading world powers.

The governments of the leading powers of the Western world, without changing their previous attitude towards the social system of the socialist state, saw in an alliance with the USSR the most important condition for their security and the weakening of the military might of the fascist bloc. On June 22, 1941, Churchill and Roosevelt, on behalf of the governments of Great Britain and the United States, issued a statement of support for the Soviet Union in the fight against fascist aggression. On July 12, 1941, an agreement was signed between the USSR and Great Britain on joint action in the war against Germany. On August 2, an agreement was reached with the United States on military-economic cooperation and the provision of material support to the USSR.

On August 14, Roosevelt and Churchill promulgated the Atlantic Charter, which the USSR acceded to on September 24, while expressing a dissenting opinion on a number of issues directly related to the military operations of the Anglo-American troops. At the Moscow meeting (September 29 - October 1, 1941), the USSR, Great Britain and the USA considered the issue of mutual military supplies and signed the first protocol. In order to prevent the danger of creating fascist strongholds in the Middle East, British and Soviet troops entered Iran in August-September 1941. These joint military-political actions laid the foundation for the creation of the Anti-Hitler coalition, which played an important role in the war.

In the course of the strategic defense in the summer and autumn of 1941, Soviet troops offered stubborn resistance to the enemy, exhausting and bleeding the forces of the Nazi Wehrmacht. The fascist German troops were unable to capture Leningrad, as the invasion plan envisaged, they were for a long time fettered by the heroic defense of Odessa and Sevastopol, and stopped near Moscow. As a result of the counter-offensive of the Soviet troops near Moscow and the general offensive in the winter of 1941/42, the fascist plan for a "blitzkrieg" finally collapsed. This victory was of world-historical significance: it dispelled the myth of the invincibility of the fascist Wehrmacht, forced fascist Germany to wage a protracted war, inspired the European peoples to fight for liberation against fascist tyranny, and gave a powerful impetus to the resistance movement in the occupied countries.

On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a war against the United States with a surprise attack on the American military base at Pearl Harbor in the Pacific Ocean. Two major powers entered the war, which significantly affected the balance of military-political forces, the expansion of the scale and scope of the armed struggle. On December 8, the United States, Great Britain and a number of other states declared war on Japan; On December 11, Nazi Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.

The US entry into the war strengthened the anti-Hitler coalition. On January 1, 1942, the Declaration of 26 states was signed in Washington; in the future, new states acceded to the Declaration.

On May 26, 1942, an agreement was signed between the USSR and Great Britain on an alliance in the war against Germany and its partners; On June 11, the USSR and the USA concluded an agreement on the principles of mutual assistance in the conduct of war.

Having carried out extensive preparations, the fascist German command in the summer of 1942 launched a new offensive on the Soviet-German front. In mid-July 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad 1942-1943 began, one of the greatest battles of the 2nd World War. During the heroic defense in July-November 1942, Soviet troops pinned down the enemy strike group, inflicted heavy losses on it, and prepared the conditions for a counteroffensive.

In North Africa, the British troops managed to stop the further advance of the German-Italian troops and stabilize the situation at the front.

In the Pacific Ocean in the first half of 1942, Japan managed to achieve dominance at sea and occupied Hong Kong, Burma, Malaya, Singapore, the Philippines, the most important islands of Indonesia and other territories. The Americans, at the cost of great efforts in the summer of 1942, managed to defeat the Japanese fleet in the Coral Sea and at Midway Atoll, which made it possible to change the balance of power in favor of the allies, limit Japan's offensive actions and force the Japanese leadership to abandon its intention to enter the war against the USSR.

A turning point in the course of the war. The collapse of the offensive strategy of the fascist bloc. The third period of the war was characterized by an increase in the scope and intensity of hostilities. The decisive events in this period of the war continued to take place on the Soviet-German front. On November 19, 1942, a counter-offensive of the Soviet troops near Stalingrad began, culminating in the encirclement and defeat of 330,000 troops of the pr-ka. The victory of the Soviet troops at Stalingrad shocked Nazi Germany and undermined its military and political prestige in the eyes of its allies. This victory was a powerful stimulus further development the liberation struggle of the peoples in the occupied countries, gave it greater organization and purposefulness. In the summer of 1943, the military-political leadership of fascist Germany made a last attempt to regain the strategic initiative and inflict Soviet troops defeat

near Kursk. However, this plan was a complete failure. The defeat of the fascist German troops in the Battle of Kursk in 1943 forced fascist Germany to finally switch over to strategic defense.

The allies of the USSR in the anti-Hitler coalition had every opportunity to fulfill their obligations and open a 2nd front in Western Europe. By the summer of 1943, the number of armed forces of the United States and Great Britain exceeded 13 million people. However, the strategy of the United States and Great Britain was still determined by their policy, which ultimately counted on the mutual exhaustion of the USSR and Germany.

On July 10, 1943, American and British troops (13 divisions) landed on the island of Sicily, captured the island, and in early September they landed amphibious assaults on the Apennine Peninsula without encountering serious resistance from the Italian troops. The offensive of the Anglo-American troops in Italy proceeded in an atmosphere of acute crisis, in which the Mussolini regime found itself as a result of the anti-fascist struggle of the broad masses, led by the Italian Communist Party. On July 25 Mussolini's government was overthrown. Marshal Badoglio, who signed an armistice with the United States and Great Britain on September 3, became the head of the new government. On October 13, the government of P. Badoglio declared war on Germany. The collapse of the fascist bloc began. The Anglo-American forces landed in Italy launched an offensive against the fascist German troops, but, despite their superior numbers, were unable to break their defenses and in December 1943 suspended active operations.

In the 3rd period of the war, there were significant changes in the balance of forces of the belligerents in the Pacific Ocean and in Asia. Japan, having exhausted the possibilities of a further offensive in the Pacific theater of operations, sought to gain a foothold on the strategic lines conquered in 1941-42. However, even under these conditions, the military-political leadership of Japan did not consider it possible to weaken the grouping of its troops on the border with the USSR. By the end of 1942, the United States made up for the losses of its Pacific Fleet, which had begun to surpass the Japanese fleet, and stepped up its operations on the approaches to Australia, in the North Pacific Ocean, and on Japan's sea lanes. The Allied offensive in the Pacific Ocean began in the autumn of 1942 and brought the first successes in the battles for the island of Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands), which was abandoned by Japanese troops in February 1943. During 1943, American troops landed on New Guinea, ousted the Japanese from the Aleutian Islands, and a number of tangible losses to the Japanese naval and merchant fleet. The peoples of Asia rose ever more resolutely in the anti-imperialist liberation struggle.

The defeat of the fascist bloc, the expulsion of enemy troops from the USSR, the creation of a second front, the liberation from the occupation of the countries of Europe, the complete collapse of fascist Germany, and its unconditional surrender. The most important military and political events of this period were determined by the further growth of the military and economic power of the anti-fascist coalition, the growing force of the strikes of the Soviet Armed Forces, and the intensification of the actions of the allies in Europe. On a larger scale, the offensive of the armed forces of the United States and Great Britain unfolded in the Pacific Ocean and in Asia. However, despite the well-known intensification of the actions of the allies in Europe and Asia, a vital role in the final crushing of the fascist bloc belonged to the Soviet people and its Armed Forces.

The course of the Great Patriotic War irrefutably proved that the Soviet Union was capable of achieving a complete victory over fascist Germany on its own and liberating the peoples of Europe from the fascist yoke. Under the influence of these factors, there were significant changes in the military-political activities and strategic planning of the United States, Great Britain and other members of the anti-Hitler coalition.

By the summer of 1944, the international and military situation was developing in such a way that a further delay in the opening of the 2nd front would lead to the liberation of all of Europe by the forces of the USSR. This prospect worried the ruling circles of the United States and Great Britain and forced them to hasten their invasion of Western Europe across the English Channel. After two years of preparation, the Normandy Landing Operation of 1944 began on June 6, 1944. Until the end of June, the landing troops occupied a bridgehead about 100 km wide and up to 50 km deep, and on July 25 went on the offensive. It took place in a situation when the anti-fascist struggle of the Resistance forces, which by June 1944 numbered up to 500 thousand fighters, was especially intensified in France. On August 19, 1944, an uprising began in Paris; by the time the allied troops approached, the capital was already in the hands of the French patriots.

At the beginning of 1945 favorable conditions were created for conducting the final campaign in Europe. On the Soviet-German front, it began with a powerful offensive by Soviet troops from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathians.

Berlin was the last center of resistance to Nazi Germany. At the beginning of April, the Nazi command drew up the main forces to the Berlin direction: up to 1 million people, St. 10 thousand guns and mortars, 1.5 thousand tanks and assault guns, 3.3 thousand combat aircraft, on April 16, the Berlin operation of 1945 troops of 3 Soviet fronts, grandiose in scope and intensity, began, as a result of which, the Berlin operation was surrounded and defeated enemy grouping. On April 25, Soviet troops reached the city of Torgau on the Elbe, where they connected with units of the 1st American Army. On May 6-11, troops of 3 Soviet fronts carried out the Paris operation of 1945, defeating the last grouping of Nazi troops and completing the liberation of Czechoslovakia. Advancing on a broad front, the Soviet Armed Forces completed the liberation of the countries of the Central and South of Eastern Europe. Fulfilling the liberation mission, the Soviet troops met with the gratitude and active support of the European peoples, all the democratic and anti-fascist forces of the countries occupied by the Nazis.

After the fall of Berlin, capitulation in the West took on a massive character. On the eastern front, the fascist German troops continued, wherever they could, fierce resistance. The purpose of the Dönitz production, created after Hitler's suicide (April 30), was to, without stopping the fight against the Soviet Army, conclude an agreement with the USA and Great Britain on partial surrender. As early as May 3, on behalf of Dönitz, Admiral Friedeburg established contact with the British commander, Field Marshal Montgomery, and obtained consent to the surrender of Nazi troops to the British "individually." On May 4, an act was signed on the surrender of German troops in the Netherlands, Northwest Germany, Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark. On May 5, fascist troops capitulated in Southern and Western Austria, Bavaria, Tyrol and other areas. On May 7, General A. Jodl, on behalf of the German command, signed the terms of surrender at Eisenhower's headquarters in Reims, which was to come into force on May 9 at 00:01. The Soviet government expressed a categorical protest against this unilateral act, so the Allies agreed to consider it a preliminary protocol of surrender. At midnight on May 8, on the outskirts of Berlin, Karlshorst, occupied by Soviet troops, representatives of the German high command, headed by Field Marshal W. Keitel, signed an act on unconditional surrender armed forces of Nazi Germany. Unconditional surrender was accepted on behalf of the Soviet government by Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov together with representatives of the USA, Great Britain and France.

Defeat of imperialist Japan. The liberation of the peoples of Asia from the Japanese occupation. End of the 2nd World War. Of the entire coalition of aggressive states that unleashed the war, only Japan continued the struggle in May 1945.

From July 17 to August 2, the Potsdam Conference of 1945 was held by the heads of government of the USSR (JV Stalin), the USA (H. Truman), and Great Britain (W. attention was paid to the situation in the Far East. In a declaration of July 26, 1945, the governments of Great Britain, the United States, and China offered Japan specific terms of surrender, which the Japanese government rejected. The Soviet Union, which denounced the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1945, confirmed at the Potsdam Conference its readiness to enter the war against Japan in the interests of ending World War II as soon as possible and eliminating the hotbed of aggression in Asia. On August 8, 1945, the USSR, true to its allied duty, declared war on Japan, and on August 9. The Soviet Armed Forces began military operations against the Japanese Kwantung Army concentrated in Manchuria. The entry of the Soviet Union into the war and the defeat of the Kwantung Army hastened Japan's unconditional surrender. On the eve of the USSR's entry into the war with Japan on August 6 and 9, the United States first used a new weapon, dropping two atomic bombs on the cities. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are beyond any military necessity. About 468 thousand inhabitants were killed, wounded, irradiated, missing. This barbaric act was intended, first of all, to demonstrate the power of the United States in order to put pressure on the USSR in solving post-war problems. The signing of the act of surrender of Japan took place on September 2. 1945. The 2nd World War ended.

Ours won

Figase briefly ... To begin with, Stalin and Hitler entered into an alliance and both torn apart Poland. France and England were allies of Poland and declared war on Germany. But Hitler attacked both of them, drove the British across the strait, captured Holland, Belgium, Denmark and half of France. I wanted to cross over to England, but I realized that I would not have enough strength. He went to the Balkans, captured Yugoslavia and Greece. Then he realized that they were close to Stalin on the same planet, and Stalin himself was about to attack him, he decided on an adventure, to attack and defeat the Red Army in order to secure himself for a long time from an attack from the East, and only then deal with England. But he miscalculated, the complete defeat did not work out, and initially he did not have the resources for a long war. At this time, Japan captured everything around itself and also decided to remove a competitor in the Pacific Ocean in the face of the United States - and struck at the American fleet. But they also miscalculated in the end, the Americans quickly recovered and began to push the Japanese around all the islands. Hitler suffered a terrible defeat at Stalingrad, then his plan for an attack on Moscow in the summer of 1943 failed, and after that, his resources became very bad, all that was enough was fierce resistance on all fronts. In 1944, after the defeat of Army Group Center in Belarus and the landing of the allies in Normandy, things got really bad, and in the spring of 45 it was all over. Japan was finished off in August after the nuclear bombing of their cities .... Well, this is quite already on the fingers and briefly.

1939, September 1 The attack of Germany and Slovakia on Poland - the beginning of the Second World War. 1939, September 3 France and Great Britain (together with the latter its dominions - Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) declared war on Germany. 1939, September 17, Soviet troops cross the border of Poland and occupy Western Ukraine and Western Belarus. 1939, September 28 Capitulation of Warsaw - the end of the organized resistance of the Polish army. 1939, September-October, the USSR concludes agreements with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on the deployment of Soviet military bases on their territory. November 30, 1939 The beginning of the Soviet-Finnish war, which ended on March 12, 1940, with the defeat of Finland, which ceded a number of border territories to the USSR. 1940, April 9 The invasion of German troops in Denmark and Norway - the beginning of the Norwegian campaign. Main events: the capture by the Germans of the main strategic points of Denmark and Norway (by 10.4.1940); landing of allied Anglo-French troops in Central Norway (13-14.4.1940); the defeat of the Allies and the evacuation of their troops from Central Norway (by May 2, 1940); Allied offensive on Narvik (12 May 1940); evacuation of the allies from Narvik (by 8.6.1940). 1940, May 10 Beginning of the German offensive on the Western Front. Main events: the defeat of the army of the Netherlands and its surrender (to 14.6.1940); the encirclement of the British-French-Belgian grouping on the territory of Belgium (by 20.5.1940); surrender of the Belgian army (27.5.1940); evacuation of British and part of French troops from Dunkirk to Great Britain (by 3/6/1940); the offensive of the German army and the breakthrough of the defense of the French army (06/09/1940); the signing of an armistice between France and Germany, under the terms of which most of France was subject to occupation (6/22/1940).

May 10, 1940 Formation of a British government led by Winston Churchill, a resolute supporter of a war to victory. 1940, June 16 The entry of Soviet troops into Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 1940 June 10 Italy declares war on Great Britain and France. 1940, June 26, the USSR demands that Romania transfer Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, which it seized in 1918 (the Soviet demand was satisfied on 28.6.1940). 1940, July 10 The French Parliament transfers power to Marshal Philippe Petain - the end of the III Republic and the establishment of the "Vichy regime" 1940, July 20 Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania become part of the USSR. 1940, August 1 The beginning of the air battle for Great Britain, which ended in May 1941 with the recognition by the German command of the impossibility of achieving air superiority. 1940, August 30 Romania cedes part of its territory to Hungary. 1940, September 15, Romania cedes part of its territory to Bulgaria. 1940, October 28 Italian attack on Greece, spreading the war to the Balkans. December 9, 1940 The beginning of the offensive of the British troops in North Africa, which led to a heavy defeat of the Italian army. 1941, January 19 The start of the British army offensive in East Africa, which ended by 18.5.1941 with the surrender of the Italian troops and the liberation of the Italian colonies (including Ethiopia). 1941, February Arrival of German troops in North Africa, which went on the offensive on 31/3/1941 and defeated the British. 1941, April 6 Offensive of the German army with the assistance of Italy and Hungary against Yugoslavia (its army capitulated on 18.4.1940) and Greshi (its army capitulated on 21.4.1940). 1941, April 10 Proclamation of the "Independent State of Croatia", which included the Bosnian lands in its composition. 1941, May 20 German parachute landing on Crete, culminating in the defeat of the British and Greek troops. 1941, June 22 The attack of Germany and its allies (Finland, Romania, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia) on the Soviet Union. ..Further from the source..

World War II, brief chronology
September 18, 1931
Japan attacks Manchuria.

October 2, 1935 - May 1936
Fascist Italy invades Ethiopia, conquers and annexes it.

October 25 - November 1, 1936
Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy sign a cooperation agreement on October 25; On November 1, the Rome-Berlin Axis is announced.

November 25, 1936
Nazi Germany and imperialist Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact against the USSR and the international communist movement.

July 7, 1937
Japan invades China, World War II begins in the Pacific.

September 29, 1938
Germany, Italy, Great Britain and France sign the Munich Agreement obliging the Czechoslovak Republic to cede the Sudetenland (where key Czechoslovak defenses were located) to Nazi Germany.

March 14-15, 1939
Under pressure from Germany, the Slovaks declare their independence and create the Slovak Republic. The Germans violate the Munich Agreement by occupying the remnants of the Czech lands and create the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

March 31, 1939
France and Great Britain give guarantees of the inviolability of the borders of the Polish state.

August 23, 1939
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact and a secret annex to it, according to which Europe is divided into spheres of influence.

September 3, 1939
Fulfilling their obligations to Poland, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.

September 27-29, 1939
September 27 Warsaw surrenders. The Polish government goes into exile through Romania. Germany and the Soviet Union divide Poland between them.

November 30, 1939 - March 12, 1940
The Soviet Union attacks Finland, unleashing the so-called Winter War. The Finns ask for a truce and are forced to cede the Karelian Isthmus and the northern shore of Lake Ladoga to the Soviet Union.

April 9 - June 9, 1940
Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrenders on the day of the attack; Norway resists until 9 June.

May 10 - June 22, 1940
Germany invades Western Europe - France and the neutral Benelux countries. Luxembourg occupied 10 May; The Netherlands surrenders on 14 May; Belgium - 28 May. June 22, France signs an armistice agreement, according to which German troops occupy the northern part of the country and the entire Atlantic coast. In the southern part of France, a collaborationist regime is established with the capital in the city of Vichy.

June 28, 1940
The USSR is forcing Romania to cede the eastern region of Bessarabia and the northern half of Bukovina to Soviet Ukraine.

June 14 - August 6, 1940
On June 14-18, the Soviet Union occupies the Baltic states, arranges a communist coup in each of them on July 14-15, and then, on August 3-6, annexes them as Soviet republics.

July 10 - October 31, 1940
The air war against England, known as the Battle of Britain, ends with the defeat of Nazi Germany.

August 30, 1940
Second Vienna Arbitration: Germany and Italy decide to divide disputed Transylvania between Romania and Hungary. The loss of northern Transylvania leads to the fact that the Romanian king Carol II abdicates in favor of his son Mihai, and the dictatorial regime of General Ion Antonescu comes to power.

September 13, 1940
The Italians are attacking British-controlled Egypt from their own-ruled Libya.

November 1940
Slovakia (November 23), Hungary (November 20) and Romania (November 22) join the German coalition.

February 1941
Germany sends its Afrika Korps to North Africa to support the indecisive Italians.

April 6 - June 1941
Germany, Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria invade Yugoslavia and divide it. April 17 Yugoslavia capitulates. Germany and Bulgaria attack Greece, helping the Italians. Greece ceases resistance in early June 1941.

April 10, 1941
The leaders of the Ustashe terrorist movement proclaim the so-called Independent state Croatia. Immediately recognized by Germany and Italy, the new state also includes Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croatia officially joins the Axis states on 15 June 1941.

June 22 - November 1941
Nazi Germany and its allies (with the exception of Bulgaria) attack the Soviet Union. Finland, striving to regain those lost in time winter war territory, joins the "Axis" just before the invasion. The Germans quickly captured the Baltic states and by September, with the support of the joined Finns, besieged Leningrad (St. Petersburg). On the central front, German troops occupied Smolensk in early August and approached Moscow by October. In the south, German and Romanian troops capture Kyiv in September, and Rostov-on-Don in November.

December 6, 1941
The counteroffensive launched by the Soviet Union forces the Nazis to retreat from Moscow in disorder.

December 8, 1941
The United States declares war on Japan and enters World War II. Japanese troops land in the Philippines, French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) and British Singapore. By April 1942, the Philippines, Indochina and Singapore were occupied by the Japanese.

December 11-13, 1941
Nazi Germany and its allies declare war on the United States.

May 30, 1942 - May 1945
The British bomb Cologne, thus for the first time transferring hostilities to the territory of Germany itself. In the next three years, Anglo-American aviation almost completely destroys big cities Germany.

June 1942
British and American naval forces stop the advance of the Japanese fleet in the central part of the Pacific Ocean near the Midway Islands.

June 28 - September 1942
Germany and its allies are undertaking a new offensive in the Soviet Union. By mid-September, German troops make their way to Stalingrad (Volgograd) on the Volga and invade the Caucasus, having previously captured the Crimean Peninsula.

August - November 1942
American troops stop the Japanese advance towards Australia at the Battle of Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands).

October 23-24, 1942
The British army defeats Germany and Italy at the Battle of El Alamein (Egypt), forcing the troops of the fascist bloc into a disorderly retreat through Libya to eastern border Tunisia.

November 8, 1942
American and British troops land at several locations along the coast of Algiers and Morocco in French North Africa. An unsuccessful attempt by the Vichy French army to thwart the invasion allows the Allies to quickly reach the western border of Tunisia and results in Germany occupying southern France on 11 November.

November 23, 1942 - February 2, 1943
The Soviet army counterattacks, breaks through the lines of the Hungarian and Romanian troops north and south of Stalingrad and blocks the German Sixth Army in the city. The remnants of the Sixth Army, which Hitler forbade to retreat or try to break out of the encirclement, capitulate on January 30 and February 2, 1943.

May 13, 1943
Fascist bloc troops in Tunisia surrender to the Allies, ending the North African campaign.

July 10, 1943
American and British troops land in Sicily. By mid-August, the Allies take control of Sicily.

July 5, 1943
German troops are undertaking a massive tank attack near Kursk. The Soviet army repels the attack for a week, and then goes on the offensive.

July 25, 1943
The Grand Council of the Italian Fascist Party deposes Benito Mussolini and instructs Marshal Pietro Badoglio to form a new government.

September 8, 1943
The Badoglio government surrenders unconditionally to the Allies. Germany immediately seizes control of Rome and northern Italy, installing a puppet regime led by Mussolini, who was released from prison by a German sabotage squad on September 12.

March 19, 1944
Anticipating Hungary's intention to withdraw from the Axis coalition, Germany occupies Hungary and forces its ruler, Admiral Miklós Horthy, to appoint a pro-German prime minister.

June 4, 1944
Allied troops liberate Rome. Anglo-American bombers hit targets located in eastern Germany for the first time; this goes on for six weeks.

June 6, 1944
British and American troops successfully land on the coast of Normandy (France), opening a Second Front against Germany.

June 22, 1944
Soviet troops begin a massive offensive in Belarus (Belarus), destroying the German army of the Center group, and by August 1 they are heading west, to the Vistula and Warsaw (central Poland).

July 25, 1944
The Anglo-American army breaks out of the bridgehead in Normandy and moves east towards Paris.

August 1 - October 5, 1944
The Polish anti-communist Craiova Army raises an uprising against the German regime, trying to liberate Warsaw before the arrival of the Soviet troops. The advance of the Soviet army is suspended on the eastern bank of the Vistula. On October 5, the remnants of the Home Army that fought in Warsaw surrender to the Germans.

August 15, 1944
Allied forces land in southern France near Nice and move rapidly northeast towards the Rhine.

August 20-25, 1944
Allied troops reach Paris. On August 25, the Free French Army, supported by the Allied Forces, enters Paris. By September the Allies reach the German frontier; by December, virtually all of France, most of Belgium, and part of the southern Netherlands are liberated.

August 23, 1944
Appearance Soviet army on the Prut River encourages the Romanian opposition to overthrow the Antonescu regime. The new government concludes a truce and immediately goes over to the side of the Allies. This turn of Romanian policy forces Bulgaria to surrender on September 8, and Germany to leave the territory of Greece, Albania and southern Yugoslavia in October.

August 29 - October 27, 1944
Underground detachments of the Slovak Resistance, led by the Slovak National Council, which includes both communists and anti-communists, raise an uprising against the German authorities and the local fascist regime. On October 27, the Germans capture the city of Banska Bistrica, where the headquarters of the rebels is located, and suppress organized resistance.

September 12, 1944
Finland concludes a truce with the Soviet Union and withdraws from the Axis coalition.

October 15, 1944
The Hungarian fascist Arrow Cross party carries out a pro-German coup d'état to prevent the Hungarian government from starting surrender negotiations with the Soviet Union.

December 16, 1944
Germany launches a final offensive on the western front, known as the Battle of the Bulge, in an attempt to retake Belgium and split the Allied forces stationed along the German border. By January 1, 1945, the Germans were forced to retreat.

January 12, 1945
The Soviet army undertakes a new offensive: in January it liberates Warsaw and Krakow; February 13, after a two-month siege, captures Budapest; in early April, he expels Germans and Hungarian collaborators from Hungary; having taken Bratislava on April 4, he forces Slovakia to capitulate; April 13 enters Vienna.

April 1945
Partisan units led by Yugoslav communist leader Josip Broz Tito capture Zagreb and overthrow the Ustashe regime. The leaders of the Ustaše party flee to Italy and Austria.

May 1945
Allied forces capture Okinawa, the last island on the way to the Japanese archipelago.

September 2, 1945
Japan, which agreed to the terms of unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945, officially capitulates, thereby putting an end to World War II.

Briefly, the entire course of the Second World War is divided by points into five main steps. We will try to describe them in an accessible way for you.

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

Table for the ninth, tenth, eleventh grades

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

• The first stage of the largest armed conflict in terms of its scale began on the day when the Nazi troops entered the Polish land and ended on the eve of the Nazi attack on the USSR.
• September 1, 1939 is officially recognized as the beginning of the second conflict, which has acquired global proportions. At the dawn of that day, the German occupation of Poland began and the countries of Europe realized the threat posed by Nazi Germany.
• After 2 days, France and the British Empire entered the war on the side of Poland. Following them, the French and British dominions and colonies declared war on the Third Reich. The representatives of Australia, New Zealand and India (3.09) were the first to announce their decision, then the leadership of the Union of South Africa (6.09) and Canada (10.09).
• However, despite the entry into the war, the French and British states did not help Poland in any way, and in general did not start any active actions for a long time, trying to redirect German aggression to the east - against the USSR.
• All this eventually led to the fact that in the first war period, Nazi Germany managed to occupy not only Polish, Danish, Norwegian, Belgian, Luxembourgish and Dutch territories, but also most of the French Republic.
• After that, the battle for Britain began, which lasted more than three months. True, in this battle the Germans did not have to celebrate the victory - they never managed to land troops on the British Isles.
• As a result of the first period of the war, most European states found themselves in fascist German-Italian occupation or became dependent on these states.

Opening of the Eastern Front - Second stage 1941 - 1942

• The beginning of the second stage of the war was June 22, 1941, when the Nazis violated the state border of the USSR. This period was marked by the expansion of the scale of the conflict and the collapse of the Nazi blitzkrieg.
• One of the landmark events of this stage was also the support of the USSR by the largest states - the USA and Great Britain. Despite their rejection of the socialist system, the governments of these states declared unconditional assistance to the Union. Thus, the foundation was laid for a new military alliance - the anti-Hitler coalition.
• The second most important point of this stage of the Second World War is the joining of the US military operations, provoked by an unexpected and swift attack by the fleet and aviation of the Japanese Empire on the American military base in the Pacific Ocean. The attack took place on December 7, and the very next day war was declared on Japan by the United States, Great Britain and a number of other countries. And after another 4 days, the German and Italian presented the United States with a note declaring war.

Turning point in the course of World War II - Third stage 1942-1943

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

Liberation of Europe - Fourth stage 1944-1945

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

End of the war - Fifth final stage 1945

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

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

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

The war went on for six years. The armies of 61 countries stood up under arms with total population of 1700 million people, i.e. 80% of the entire earth's population. fighting covered 40 countries. And the worst thing is that the number of civilian deaths exceeded the number of those killed in hostilities by several times.

Previous events

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

After the First World War, many states of Europe disappeared from the political map, new ones were formed. Whoever won did not want to part with the acquisitions, and whoever was defeated wanted to return what was lost. The far-fetched solution of some territorial issues also caused irritation. But in Europe, territorial issues have always been resolved by force, it only remained to prepare.

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

The rivalry between the European states became even more aggravated. As they say, they carry water on the offended. Germany was offended, but was not going to carry water for the winners, despite the fact that its capabilities were severely limited.

An important factor in the preparation future war became dictatorships. They began to breed in Europe in prewar years with amazing speed. Dictators first asserted themselves in their own countries, developing armies to appease their peoples, with a further aim at capturing new territories.

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

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

By the beginning of the war, the final alignment of the warring forces took place. On one side were Germany, Italy, and Japan, and on the other, Britain, France, and the United States. The main desire of Great Britain and France was right or wrong to remove the threat of German aggression from their countries, and also to direct it to the East. I really wanted to push Nazism against Bolshevism. As a result, this policy led to the fact that, despite all the efforts of the USSR, it was not possible to prevent the war.

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

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

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

Beginning of World War II

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

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

Thus began the first phase of World War II. England and France did not change their policy until May 1940, they hoped to the last that Germany would continue its offensive to the East. But everything turned out not quite so.

Major events of World War II

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

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

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

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

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

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

December 1941 was marked by an aggravation of the military situation in the Pacific. The Japanese attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. Two major countries entered the war. The Americans declared war on Italy, Japan and Germany.

But in the Pacific South-East Asia and North Africa, not everything went in favor of the allies. Japan captured part of China, French Indochina, Malaya, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong. The forces of the army and navy of Great Britain, Holland and the United States suffered heavy losses in the Yavan operation.

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

Nevertheless, active actions of the allies on the Western Front were still far away. They waited for further depletion of the forces of Germany and the USSR.

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

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

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

Results and consequences of World War II

The main result of the Second World War in the first place should be considered the victory over fascism. The threat of enslavement and partial destruction of humanity has disappeared.

The greatest losses were suffered by the Soviet Union, which took the brunt of the German army: 26.6 million people. The victims of the USSR and the resistance of the Red Army as a result led to the collapse of the Reich. Human losses did not bypass any nation. More than 6 million people died in Poland, 5.5 million in Germany. A huge part of the Jewish population of Europe was destroyed.

War could lead to the collapse of civilization. The peoples of the world on the global lawsuits condemned war criminals and fascist ideology.

A new political map planet, which, nevertheless, again divided the world into two camps, which in the long term still became a cause for tension.

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

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

The United Nations Organization (UN) was created, which gave hope that the countries would be able to agree in the future and thus the very possibility of the emergence of such conflicts as the Second World War would be excluded.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1941

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dates and events

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

On the fronts of the world war

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

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

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

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

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

"New order"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Break in the war

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

Battles for Stalingrad lasted over 3 months. The city was defended by the 62nd and 64th armies under the command of V.I. Chuikov and M.S. Shumilov. Hitler, who did not doubt victory, declared: "Stalingrad is already in our hands." But the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops that began on November 19, 1942 (front commanders - N.F. Vatutin, K.K. Rokossovsky, A.I. Eremenko) ended with the encirclement of the German armies (numbering over 300 thousand people), their subsequent defeat and capture , including Commander Field Marshal F. Paulus.

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

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

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

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

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

Resistance movement

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Figures and facts

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

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

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

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

Liberation of Europe

The beginning of 1944 was marked by major offensive operations by the Soviet troops in the southern and northern sections of the Soviet-German front. Ukraine and Crimea were liberated, and the blockade of Leningrad that lasted 900 days was lifted. In the spring of this year, Soviet troops reached state border The USSR, for more than 400 km, approached the borders of Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Romania. Continuing the defeat of the enemy, they began to liberate the countries of Eastern Europe. Near Soviet soldiers units of the 1st Czechoslovak Brigade under the command of L. Svoboda and the 1st Polish Division named after Svoboda, formed during the war on the territory of the USSR, fought for the freedom of their peoples. T. Kosciuszko under the command of 3. Berling.

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

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

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

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

Dates and events

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

1944

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

1945

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

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

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

Defeat of Germany

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

End of the war

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

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

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

Historians testimonial:

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

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

Hiroshima. 1945

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

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

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

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

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

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