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

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

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

July 7, 1937
Japan invades China and 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 Czech lands and create the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

March 31, 1939
France and Great Britain guarantee 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 1, 1939
Germany invades Poland, starting World War II in Europe.

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

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

November 30, 1939 - March 12, 1940
The Soviet Union attacks Finland, starting 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 June 9.

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

June 10, 1940
Italy enters the war. June 21 Italy invades southern France.

June 28, 1940
The USSR forces 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, stages 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 in 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 the throne in favor of his son Mihai, and the dictatorial regime of General Ion Antonescu comes to power.

September 13, 1940
The Italians attack British-controlled Egypt from their own-controlled 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 northern Africa to support the hesitant Italians.

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

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

June 22 - November 1941
Nazi Germany and its allies (with the exception of Bulgaria) attack the Soviet Union. Finland, seeking to regain territory lost during the Winter War, joins the Axis just before the invasion. The Germans quickly captured the Baltic states and by September, with the support of the joining 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 captured 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 disarray.

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 bringing hostilities into Germany itself for the first time. Over the next three years, Anglo-American aircraft almost completely destroy large German cities.

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

June 28 - September 1942
Germany and its allies are launching 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 forces of the fascist bloc into a disorderly retreat through Libya to the eastern border of Tunisia.

November 8, 1942
American and British troops land at several locations on the coasts of Algeria and Morocco in French North Africa. A failed 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 November 11th.

November 23, 1942 - February 2, 1943
The Soviet army counterattacks, breaks through the lines of 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 had forbidden to retreat or try to break out of encirclement, capitulate on January 30 and February 2, 1943.

May 13, 1943
The troops of the fascist bloc 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 launch 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 removes Benito Mussolini and assigns Marshal Pietro Badoglio to form a new government.

September 8, 1943
Badoglio's government unconditionally capitulates to the Allies. Germany immediately seizes control of Rome and northern Italy, establishing a puppet regime led by Mussolini, who was released from prison by a German sabotage unit on September 12.

September 9, 1943
Allied troops land on the coast of Salerno near Naples.

January 22, 1944
Allied troops successfully land near Anzio, just south of Rome.

March 19, 1944
Anticipating Hungary's intention to leave 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 in eastern Germany for the first time; this continues 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 launch a massive offensive in Belarus (Belarus), destroying the German Army of Group Center, and by August 1 head west to the Vistula and Warsaw (central Poland).

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

August 1 - October 5, 1944
The Polish anti-communist Home Army rebels against the German regime, trying to liberate Warsaw before the Soviet troops arrive. 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 quickly move northeast towards the Rhine.

August 20-25, 1944
Allied troops reach Paris. On August 25, the French Free Army, with the support of the Allied forces, enters Paris. By September the Allies reach the German border; by December, virtually all of France, most of Belgium and parts of the southern Netherlands were liberated.

August 23, 1944
The appearance of the Soviet army on the Prut River prompts the Romanian opposition to overthrow the Antonescu regime. The new government concludes a truce and immediately goes over to the Allied side. 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 units of the Slovak Resistance, under the leadership of the Slovak National Council, which includes both communists and anti-communists, rebel against the German authorities and the local fascist regime. On October 27, the Germans captured the town of Banska Bystrica, where the rebels' headquarters were located, and suppressed organized resistance.

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

October 15, 1944
The Hungarian fascist Arrow Cross party stages a pro-German coup d'état to prevent the Hungarian government from negotiating surrender 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 recapture Belgium and divide the Allied forces stationed along the German border. By January 1, 1945, the Germans were forced to retreat.

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

April 16, 1945
Soviet troops launch a decisive offensive, encircling Berlin.

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

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

August 8, 1945
The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria.

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

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

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

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

Previous Events

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Beginning of World War II

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

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

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

The most important events of World War II

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results and consequences of World War II

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Part 2

Chronicle of major events during the Second World War(1939-1945)

Chronicle of the war
1941 year

§ May-June 1941 d. There are numerous reports of an imminent German attack.

§ June 22, 1941 g. - At four o’clock in the morning the fascist Germany treacherously attacked the USSR. "Operation has begun" Barbarossa".

Started The Great Patriotic War (WWII) - 1941-1945 - the war of the USSR against Nazi Germany and its allies.

As you know, August 231939 in the Kremlin Germany and USSR concluded Non-aggression pact.
The Soviet Union had the opportunity to strengthen its defense capability for almost two years. However, by the beginning of the war, the western border districts did not have time to complete preparations on the new borders and fully bring the troops into combat readiness. Miscalculations in assessing the possible time of the attack also played a role...
Muscovites listen to the message about the beginning of the war

22nd of June A decree was issued on the mobilization of those liable for military service born in 1905-1918.
Prime Minister of Great Britain W. Churchill makes a statement promising to assist the USSR in the fight against German aggression.

§ June 24 President of the United States F.D. Roosevelt makes a statement about providing assistance to the USSR and a loan to the USSR in the amount of 40 million dollars.

§ June 1941 g. - they enter the war against the USSR Romania, Italy, Finland, Hungary.

§ July 10 - September 10, 1941 - Battle of Smolensk. Operations of the Soviet troops of the Western, Central and Bryansk fronts, which stopped the advance of the German Army Group Center.

By the end first ten days of July German troops capture Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, parts of Ukraine, Moldova and Estonia. The forces of the Soviet Western Front were defeated in the Battle of Bialystok-Minsk.

§ July 10, 1941 - Beginning defense of Leningrad.

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

§ August 5 - October 16 - Heroic defense of Odessa.
On September 4, the Chief of the General Staff of the German Armed Forces, General Jodl, receives from Marshal Mannerheim refusal advance further towards Leningrad.
8 September, with the capture of Shlisselburg, German troops take Leningrad in the ring.

Beginning of the siege of Leningrad(lasted until January 1944).

September 1941 near Smolensk

§ September 30th - The beginning of the battle for Moscow. Since October 2, the German offensive has been developing (Operation " Typhoon"), which then slows down.

§ October 7, 1941 - Encirclement of four Soviet armies Western and Reserve Fronts near Vyazma and two armies of the Bryansk Front south of Bryansk.

§ November 15, 1941 - The second German offensive on Moscow begins.

§ November 22, 1941 - Opening of the ice routes across Lake Ladoga to Leningrad ("road of life").

§ November 29, 1941 - As a result of the Rostov operation, the city was liberated Rostov-on-Don

§ December 5-6, 1941 The defeat of Nazi troops near Moscow.

December 7, 1941 d Without declaring war, the Japanese attacked the naval base USA in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. A day later, the United States declared war on Japan. Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.

§ December 1941 - The number of Soviet prisoners of war reaches 2 million people.

1942

January 1, 1942 representatives of the year in Washington USSR, USA, UK and China signed United Nations Declaration, marking the beginning of the Anti-Hitler Coalition. Later, 22 more countries joined it.

§ May 30, 1942 - Creation of the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command.

§ June 11, 1942 - Signing in Washington of an agreement between the USSR and the USA on mutual assistance during the war and on cooperation after the war.

§ July 17-November 18, 1942 - Defensive period Battle of Stalingrad.

§ August, 26th - Appointment of G.K. Zhukova Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

§ November 1942 - General von Paulus's 6th Army takes over mostly Stalingrad, however, she never managed to cross the Volga. In Stalingrad there was a battle for every house

§ November 19, 1942 - February 2, 1943 - Counteroffensive Soviet troops of the Southwestern, Stalingrad and Don fronts.

§ November 23, 1942 In the area of ​​the city of Kalach, units of the Southwestern Front (commander General N.F. Vatutin) met with units of Stalingrad (commander General A.I. Eremenko). Completion surrounded by a 330,000-strong German group near Stalingrad.
§ December 1942 - Failure of the counter-offensive of the German units of Field Marshal Manstein to liberate the encircled Paulus group at Stalingrad.

Paulus testifies


In captivity, the field marshal began to criticize the Nazi regime. He subsequently acted as a prosecution witness at the Nuremberg trials.

December 2nd- To Chicago started to act world's first nuclear reactor. One of its creators was a physicist who emigrated from Italy. Enrico Fermi.
..............
Photo collage: Clockwise starting from the top left corner
- Soviet Il-2 attack aircraft in the sky over Berlin, the German Tiger tank in the Battle of Kursk, German Ju 87 bombers (winter 1943-1944), the shooting of Soviet Jews by Einsatzgruppen soldiers, Wilhelm Keitel signing the act of surrender of Germany, Soviet troops in the battle for Stalingrad .

.....................

1943

January 14 A conference opened in Casablanca with the participation of Roosevelt and Churchill. They decided on joint actions and planned major operations in North Africa.

§ January 1943 - Retreat of the German armies in the Caucasus.

§ January 1943 - Troops of the Don Front under the command of General Rokosovsky They launched Operation Ring with the goal of completely defeating the encircled 6th German Army of Paulus.

§ January 12-18, 1943 G. - Partial breakthrough of the siege of Leningrad after the capture of Shlisselburg by Soviet troops.

§ January 31-February 2, 1943 G. - Surrender of Field Marshal Paulus near Stalingrad. 91 thousand soldiers, 24 generals and 2,500 officers were captured.

§ February 1943 - Soviet troops take Kursk, Rostov and Kharkov.

April 19 - Beginning Warsaw Ghetto uprising. More than 56 thousand Jews were killed during the suppression of the uprising.

§ May 6, 1943 - Beginning of formation 1st Polish Division them. Kosciuszko on the territory of the USSR.

§ July 12, 1943 - The largest tank battle World War II in the village area Prokhorovka.

§ July 12-August 23, 1943 - Soviet counteroffensive Bryansk, Western, Central, Voronezh and Steppe fronts in the Battle of Kursk. After the Battle of Kursk there was final change of situation on the Soviet-German front.

§ August 3 -November 1, 1943 - “Rail War”: a powerful blow by Soviet partisans against the enemy’s railway communications.

§ 5 August 1943 - The first fireworks in Moscow in honor of the victories of the Red Army - liberation Orel and Belgorod.

§ October 19 - Moscow conference Foreign Ministers of the USSR, Great Britain, USA

§ November 28-December 1, 1943 - Tehran Conference of Heads of Government of the USSR, Great Britain and the USA (Stalin-Churchill-Roosevelt).

A number of issues of war and peace have been resolved:
The exact date has been set for the Allies to open the Second Front in France
After much debate the problem of the “Overlord” (Second Front) was at a dead end. Then Stalin rose from his chair and, turning to Voroshilov and Molotov, said: “We have too much to do at home to waste time here. Nothing worthwhile, as I see it, is working out.” The critical moment has arrived. Churchill understood this and, fearing that the conference might be disrupted, made a compromise.
About borders.
Was taken W. Churchill's proposal that Poland's claims to the lands of Western Belarus and Western Ukraine will be satisfied at the expense of Germany, and as a border in the east there should be Curzon line.
De facto was assigned to the Soviet Union the right to as indemnity add part after victory East Prussia.

1944

§ January 14 - March 1, 1944 - Defeat of Nazi troops near Leningrad and Novgorod.

§ January 24-February 17 - Korsun-Shevchenko operation of Soviet troops: encirclement and defeat of the divisions of Army Group South.

§ January 27, 1944 G. - The final liquidation of the siege of Leningrad.
Salute from the cruiser Kirov in honor of the lifting of the blockade


Baltic sailors with the girl Lyusya, whose parents died during the siege

§ February - March 1944 Spring offensive of Soviet troops. The Red Army liberated right bank Ukraine, crossed the Dnieper and Prut.

§ March 26, 1944 G. - The exit of Soviet troops to the state border of the USSR along the river Rod.

June 6, 1944- Allied landings in Normandy. Opening of the Second Front.

§ June 23-August 29 - Soviet offensive in Belarus (Operation Bagration).
Katyusha

Start Warsaw Uprising, led by General of the Polish Army Tadeusz Bor-Krajewski. The rebels' hopes for support from the USSR and Great Britain were not justified.

§ September 8 - Entry of Soviet troops to Bulgaria.
Rally in Bulgaria

§ September-October 1944 Liberation Transcarpathian Ukraine

§ September 28-October 20, 1944 - Liberation of Belgrade units of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia under the leadership of Tito and Soviet units.

§ October 9-18 1944- Meeting of Stalin and Churchill in Moscow. Distribution of zones of influence in the Danube countries of Europe and the Balkans. The zone of interests of the Soviet Union was to include: 90% of Romania, 75% of Bulgaria, 50% of Yugoslavia and Hungary, 10% of Greece.

§ October 29, 1944 - February 13, 1945 - Soviet offensive in Hungary. Budapest operation to eliminate the enemy group.

§ November 14, 1944 - “Prague Manifesto”: General A. Vlasov, who was captured in 1942, calls for a fight against “Stalin’s tyranny” and forms units of the Russian Liberation Army.
1945

§ January 12-February 3, 1945 - Vistula-Oder operation(in Prussia, Poland and Silesia).

January 27, 1945
Red Army liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp(Auschwitz).
By the time of liberation, there were about 7 thousand prisoners there. Auschwitz became a symbol of the atrocities of fascism. The number of prisoners in this camp exceeded 1 300 000 Human. 900 thousand were shot or sent to gas chambers. Another 200 thousand died due to disease, hunger, and inhumane treatment.
Liberation Soviet soldiers surviving prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Above the gate you can see the famous sign “ Arbeit macht fry- “Work liberates.”

§ January 30-April 9, 1945 - Defeat of the German group in Koenigsberg troops 3rd Belorussian Front.

§ 4-11 February 1945 G. - Yalta (Crimean) conference,Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill participate. Discussed questions: occupation of Germany, moving the borders of Poland, organizing elections in Eastern Europe, UN conference, entry of the USSR into the war with Japan.
The decisions made at the Yalta Conference determined the course of post-war history for a long time.

§ February 10 - April 4, 1945 - East Pomeranian operation of the 2nd and 1st Belorussian fronts.

February 13-14 - Allied aviation bombed attacks on Dresden. The death toll, according to various sources, ranges from 60 to 245 thousand.

12th of April US President Franklin Roosevelt dies. His successor was Harry Truman.

§ April 16 - May 8, 1945 G. - Berlin operation 1st, 2nd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts.

The liberated child prisoners of Buchenwald emerge from the main gate of the camp, accompanied by American soldiers. 04/17/1945 Buchenwald.

§ 25th of April 1945 - Meeting of Soviet and American troops in Torgau (on the Elbe River). Encirclement of Berlin by Soviet troops.


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§ May 2, 1945 G. - Completion of the defeat of the encircled Berlin group fascist German troops by the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts.

§ May 2, 1945 - Surrender of Berlin

§ May 8-9, 1945 - Signing of the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst. All units of the Wehrmacht were ordered to cease hostilities in 23.01 Central European time.

Having won a military victory over Germany, The Soviet Union made a decisive contribution to the defeat of Nazism in Europe.
Victory salute

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June 5- The victorious powers assumed full power in Germany. The country was divided into four zones. Berlin - into four sectors.

§ June 6, 1945 G. - Quadrilateral Berlin Declaration on the administration of Germany (signed by the USA, Great Britain, France and the USSR).
Meeting of the winners

§ June 24, 1945 - Victory Parade on Red Square in Moscow.

§ June 29, 1945 - Treaty between the USSR and Czechoslovakia on reunification Transcarpathian Ukraine with the Ukrainian SSR.

§ July 17-August 2, 1945 - Berlin (Potsdam) Conference, in which they participate Stalin, Truman and Churchill (then Attlee).

Among the issues discussed: reparations, structure and new borders of Germany.
The goals of the occupation of Germany by the Allies were proclaimed to be its demilitarization, democratization and decentralization.

By decision Potsdam Conference Germany's eastern borders were moved to the west to the line Oder-Neisse, which reduced its territory by 25% compared to 1937. The territories east of the new border consisted of East Prussia, Silesia, West Prussia, and part of Pomerania.

Most of the territories separated from Germany became part of Poland. Part USSR together with Koenigsberg(was renamed Kaliningrad) included one third East Prussia, where the Koenigsberg (from March 1946 - Kaliningrad) region was created RSFSR.

In the east of pre-war Poland, Poles were a national minority among Ukrainians and Belarusians. Until 1939, the eastern border of Poland was practically under Kiev and Minsk, and the Poles also owned the Vilna region, which now became part of Lithuania. USSR received western border with Poland By "Curzon lines", installed back in 1920.

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The world's first was produced in the New Mexico desert in the United States. nuclear test.

On August 9, the United States dropped atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Over 36 thousand people died.

§ August 9-September 2, 1945 - Manchurian operation to defeat the Kwantung (Japanese) army.

§ 11-25 August - Yuzhno-Sakhalinskaya offensive operation of the 2nd Far Eastern Front and the Pacific Fleet.

§ August 18 - September 1 - Kurilskaya landing operation of the 2nd Far Eastern Front and the Pacific Fleet.
Port Arthur

In Tokyo Bay aboard the American battleship Missouri "Japanese representatives signed the Act of Unconditional Surrender.
USSR actually returned to its composition territories, annexed by Japan from the Russian Empire at the end of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 following the results of the Portsmouth Peace ( southern Sakhalin and, temporarily, Kwantung with Port Arthur and Dalniy), as well as the main group of the Kuril Islands previously ceded to Japan in 1875.

The end of World War II!!!


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Nuremberg trial- international litigation over the former leaders of Hitler's Germany. Took place from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946 in Nuremberg.

Charges: Germany unleashing war, genocide, mass extermination of people in “death factories”, murder and cruel treatment of civilians in occupied territories, inhumane treatment of prisoners of war.
The process was called process about the main war criminals, and the court was given the status military tribunal.

The International Military Tribunal sentenced:

To death by hanging: Hermann Goering, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, ... Martin Bormann (in absentia) and Alfred Jodl.
Goering

To life imprisonment: Rudolf Hess, Walter Funk and Erich Raeder.

The death sentences were carried out on the night of October 16, 1946. Their ashes were scattered from the plane into the wind. Goering poisoned himself in prison shortly before his execution. It is believed that he received a capsule of poison from his wife during a kiss during their last date.
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Results of the war

The Second World War had a huge impact on the destinies of humanity. 72 states took part in it. Military operations took place on the territory of 40 states. 110 million people were mobilized. Human losses reached 60-65 million people, of which killed 27 million on the fronts people, many of them are citizens of the USSR. Suffered heavy losses China, Germany, Japan and Poland.

It should be noted that The German armed forces suffered 70-90% of losses during the entire Second World War on the Soviet front. On the Eastern Front, in the fight against the USSR, during the war, German troops lost 507 divisions, and 100 divisions of Germany's allies were completely defeated.

The war showed the inability of Western European countries to maintain colonial empires. Some countries have achieved independence: Ethiopia, Iceland, Syria, Lebanon, Vietnam, Indonesia.
A political map of the World has undergone significant territorial changes.

In Eastern European countries, occupied by Soviet troops were socialist regimes established. Was created United Nations.

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

But Europe was divided into two camps: west capitalist and Oriental socialist. Relations between the two blocs deteriorated and cold war...
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Happy Victory Day!!!
And peace to all of us!!
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Photos of World War II and the Great Patriotic War (1939-1945) by topic
http://waralbum.ru/catalog/
Cycle "Chronicles of World War II"" 20 parts
http://fototelegraf.ru/?tag=ww2-chronics
The Second World War in 108 photos:
http://www.rosphoto.com/best-of-the-best/vtoraya_mirovaya_voyna-2589

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 1, 1939.
Germany invades Poland, starting World War II in Europe.

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

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

November 30, 1939 - March 12, 1940.
The Soviet Union attacks Finland, starting 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 June 9.

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

June 28, 1940.
The USSR forces 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, stages 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 in 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 the throne in favor of his son Mihai, and the dictatorial regime of General Ion Antonescu comes to power.

September 13, 1940.
The Italians attack British-controlled Egypt from their own-controlled 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 northern Africa to support the hesitant Italians.

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

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

June 22 - November 1941.
Nazi Germany and its allies (with the exception of Bulgaria) attack the Soviet Union. Finland, seeking to regain territory lost during the Winter War, joins the Axis just before the invasion. The Germans quickly captured the Baltic states and by September, with the support of the joining 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 captured 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 disarray.

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 bringing hostilities into Germany itself for the first time. Over the next three years, Anglo-American aircraft almost completely destroy large German cities.

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

June 28 - September 1942
Germany and its allies are launching 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 forces of the fascist bloc into a disorderly retreat through Libya to the eastern border of Tunisia.

November 8, 1942.
American and British troops land at several locations on the coasts of Algeria and Morocco in French North Africa. A failed 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 November 11th.

November 23, 1942 - February 2, 1943.
The Soviet army counterattacks, breaks through the lines of 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 had forbidden to retreat or try to break out of encirclement, capitulate on January 30 and February 2, 1943.

May 13, 1943.
The troops of the fascist bloc 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 launch 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 removes Benito Mussolini and assigns Marshal Pietro Badoglio to form a new government.

September 8, 1943.
Badoglio's government unconditionally capitulates to the Allies. Germany immediately seizes control of Rome and northern Italy, establishing a puppet regime led by Mussolini, who was released from prison by a German sabotage unit on September 12.

March 19, 1944.
Anticipating Hungary's intention to leave 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 in eastern Germany for the first time; this continues 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 launch a massive offensive in Belarus (Belarus), destroying the German Army of Group Center, and by August 1 head west to the Vistula and Warsaw (central Poland).

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

August 1 - October 5, 1944.
The Polish anti-communist Home Army rebels against the German regime, trying to liberate Warsaw before the Soviet troops arrive. 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 quickly move northeast towards the Rhine.

August 20-25, 1944.
Allied troops reach Paris. On August 25, the French Free Army, with the support of the Allied forces, enters Paris. By September the Allies reach the German border; by December, virtually all of France, most of Belgium and parts of the southern Netherlands were liberated.

August 23, 1944.
The appearance of the Soviet army on the Prut River prompts the Romanian opposition to overthrow the Antonescu regime. The new government concludes a truce and immediately goes over to the Allied side. 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 units of the Slovak Resistance, under the leadership of the Slovak National Council, which includes both communists and anti-communists, rebel against the German authorities and the local fascist regime. On October 27, the Germans captured the town of Banska Bystrica, where the rebels' headquarters were located, and suppressed organized resistance.

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

October 15, 1944.
The Hungarian fascist Arrow Cross party stages a pro-German coup d'état to prevent the Hungarian government from negotiating surrender 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 recapture Belgium and divide the Allied forces stationed along the German border. By January 1, 1945, the Germans were forced to retreat.

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

April 1945.
Partisan troops led by Yugoslav communist leader Josip Broz Tito capture Zagreb and overthrow the Ustasha regime. The leaders of the Ustasha 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, having agreed to the terms of unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945, officially capitulates, thereby putting an end to World War II.

Briefly about the main stages of the Second World War

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

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

Table for ninth, tenth, eleventh grades

The stages of the Second World War briefly point by point - the main points
The beginning of the European conflict - The first initial stage of 1939 - 1941

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

Opening of the Eastern Front - Second stage 1941 - 1942

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

Turning point during World War II - Third stage 1942-1943

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

Liberation of Europe - Fourth stage 1944 -1945

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

End of the war - Fifth final stage 1945

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

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 into Western Europe.

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

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

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

On April 9, 1940, formations of the Nazi 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 Nazi Germany began to implement the Gelb plan, which provided for a lightning strike on France through Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. The fascist German 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, placed 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, tank formations of fascist German 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 British and parts of the French troops, blocked in the Dunkirk region, managed to evacuate to Great Britain, having lost all their heavy military equipment. At the beginning of June, fascist German troops broke through the front hastily created by the French on the Somme and Aisne rivers.

On June 10, the French government left Paris. Having not exhausted 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 Armistice of 1940. According to its terms, the territory of the country was divided into two parts: a Nazi occupation regime was established in the northern and central regions, 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 (t .n. produced by Vichy).

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

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

By the end of the First Period of the War, almost all countries of Western and Central Europe found themselves occupied by Nazi Germany and Italy or became dependent on them. Their economy and resources were used to prepare for war against the USSR.

The attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR, the expansion of the scale of the war, the collapse of Hitler's Blitzkrieg doctrine.

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

The entry of the USSR into the war determined its qualitatively new stage, led to the consolidation of all the progressive forces of the world in the fight against fascism, and 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 power of the fascist bloc. On June 22, 1941, Churchill and Roosevelt, on behalf of the British and US governments, issued a statement of support for the Soviet Union in the fight against fascist aggression. On July 12, 1941, an agreement was concluded between the USSR and Great Britain on joint actions in the war against Germany. On August 2, an agreement was reached with the United States on military-economic cooperation and providing material support to the USSR.

On August 14, Roosevelt and Churchill promulgated the Atlantic Charter, to which the USSR joined on September 24, expressing a special opinion on a number of issues directly related to the military actions 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. To prevent the danger of creating fascist bases in the Middle East, British and Soviet troops entered Iran in August–September 1941. These joint military-political actions marked the beginning of the creation of the Anti-Hitler coalition, which played an important role in the war.

During the strategic defense in the summer and autumn of 1941, Soviet troops offered staunch resistance to the enemy, exhausted and bled the forces of the Nazi Wehrmacht. The fascist German troops were unable to capture Leningrad, as envisaged by the invasion plan, and were shackled for a long time by the heroic defense of Odessa and Sevastopol, and stopped near Moscow. As a result of the counter-offensive of Soviet troops near Moscow and the general offensive in the winter of 1941/42, the fascist plan for a “lightning war” finally collapsed. This victory had world-historical significance: it dispelled the myth of the invincibility of the fascist Wehrmacht, confronted fascist Germany with the need 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 and expanded the scale and scope of the armed struggle. On December 8, the USA, 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 entry of the United States into the war strengthened the anti-Hitler coalition. On January 1, 1942, the Declaration of 26 States was signed in Washington; Later, new states joined 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 entered into an agreement on the principles of mutual assistance in waging 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 began (1942 - 1943), 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 launching a counteroffensive.

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

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

A radical turning point in the course of the war. The collapse of the offensive strategy of the fascist bloc. The 3rd period of the war was characterized by an increase in the scope and intensity of military operations. The decisive events in this period of the war continued to take place on the Soviet-German front. On November 19, 1942, a counteroffensive of Soviet troops began near Stalingrad, which ended with the encirclement and defeat of a 330-thousand group of troops of the pr-ka. The victory of Soviet troops at Stalingrad shocked Nazi Germany and undermined its military and political prestige in the eyes of its allies. This victory became a powerful stimulus for the further development of the liberation struggle of the peoples in the occupied countries, giving it greater organization and purpose. In the summer of 1943, the military-political leadership of Nazi Germany made a last attempt to regain the strategic initiative and defeat the Soviet troops

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

The USSR's allies 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 strength of the armed forces of the United States and Great Britain exceeded 13 million people. However, the strategy of the USA and Great Britain was still determined by their policies, 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 assault forces on the Apennine Peninsula, without encountering serious resistance from Italian troops. The offensive of the Anglo-American troops in Italy took place in the context of an 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. The new government was headed by Marshal Badoglio, who signed an armistice with the United States and Great Britain on September 3. On October 13, the government of P. Badoglio declared war on Germany. The collapse of the fascist bloc began. Anglo-American forces landed in Italy launched an offensive against the Nazi troops, but, despite their numerical superiority, they were unable to break their defenses and suspended active operations in December 1943.

During the 3rd period of the war, significant changes occurred in the balance of forces of the warring parties in the Pacific Ocean and in Asia. Japan, having exhausted the possibilities of 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 began to surpass the Japanese fleet, and intensified its operations on the approaches to Australia, in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean and on Japan's sea lanes. The Allied offensive in the Pacific Ocean began in the fall 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, drove the Japanese out of the Aleutian Islands, and a number of significant losses to the Japanese navy and merchant fleet. The peoples of Asia rose more and more decisively 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, liberation from the occupation of European countries, the complete collapse of fascist Germany, and its unconditional surrender. The most important military-political events of this period were determined by the further growth of the military-economic power of the anti-fascist coalition, the increasing force of the blows 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 Asia. However, despite the well-known intensification of allied actions in Europe and Asia, the decisive role in the final destruction of the fascist bloc belonged to the Soviet people and their Armed Forces.

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

By the summer of 1944, the international and military situation was such that a further delay in the opening of the 2nd Front would have led to the liberation of all of Europe by the USSR. This prospect worried the ruling circles of the United States and Great Britain and forced them to rush to invade Western Europe across the English Channel. After two years of preparation, the Normandy landing operation of 1944 began on June 6, 1944. By 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 numbered up to 500 thousand fighters by June 1944, was especially intensified in France. On August 19, 1944, an uprising began in Paris; By the time the allied troops arrived, the capital was already in the hands of French patriots.

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

The last center of resistance to Nazi Germany was Berlin. At the beginning of April, Hitler’s command pulled 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, grandiose in scope and intensity, began with troops of 3 Soviet fronts, as a result of which the Berlin enemy group. On April 25, Soviet troops reached the city of Torgau on the Elbe, where they united with units of the 1st American Army. On May 6-11, troops from 3 Soviet fronts carried out the Paris Operation of 1945, defeating the last group 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 Central and South-Eastern Europe. Carrying out the liberation mission, Soviet troops met with the gratitude and active support of the European peoples, all democratic and anti-fascist forces of the countries occupied by the fascists.

After the fall of Berlin, capitulation in the West became widespread. On the eastern front, Nazi troops continued their fierce resistance where they could. The goal of the Dönitz government, created after Hitler’s suicide (April 30), was to, without stopping the fight against the Soviet Army, conclude an agreement with the United States and Great Britain on partial surrender. Back on May 3, on behalf of Dönitz, Admiral Friedeburg established contact with the British commander Field Marshal Montgomery and obtained consent to surrender the Nazi troops to the British “individually.” On May 4, the act of surrender of German troops in the Netherlands, North-West Germany, Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark was signed. 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 take effect on May 9 at 00:01. The Soviet government expressed categorical protest against this unilateral act, so the Allies agreed to consider it a preliminary protocol of surrender. At midnight on May 8, in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, occupied by Soviet troops, representatives of the German High Command, led by Field Marshal W. Keitel, signed an act of unconditional surrender of the 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. Liberation of the peoples of Asia from Japanese occupation. End of World War 2. Of the entire coalition of aggressive states that started the war, only Japan continued to fight in May 1945.

From July 17 to August 2, the Potsdam Conference of 1945 heads of government of the USSR (J. V. Stalin), the USA (H. Truman) and Great Britain (W. Churchill, from July 28 - K. Attlee) took place, at which, along with a discussion of European problems, a large attention was paid to the situation in the Far East. In a declaration dated 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 quickly ending World War II and eliminating the source 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 accelerated the unconditional surrender of Japan. On the eve of the USSR's entry into the war with Japan, on August 6 and 9, the United States used new weapons for the first time, dropping two atomic bombs. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are beyond any military necessity. About 468 thousand residents were killed, wounded, irradiated, or went 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. World War 2 ended.

Ours won

Figase briefly... To begin with, Stalin and Hitler entered into an alliance and both tore Poland apart. France and England were allies of Poland and declared war on Germany. But Hitler beat them both up, drove the British across the strait, captured Holland, Belgium, Denmark and half of France. I wanted to cross to England, but I realized that I didn’t have enough strength. He went to the Balkans, captured Yugoslavia and Greece. Then he realized that he and Stalin were cramped on the same planet, and Stalin himself was about to attack him, he decided to take an adventure, attack and defeat the Red Army, in order to protect himself for a long time from an attack from the East, and only then deal with England. But he miscalculated, a complete defeat did not happen, and he initially did not have the resources for a long war. At this time, Japan captured everything around itself and also decided to remove its competitor in the Pacific Ocean in the person of the United States - and struck a blow at the American fleet. But in the end they also miscalculated, the Americans recovered quite quickly and began to push the Japanese around all the islands. Hitler suffered a terrible defeat at Stalingrad, then his plan to attack Moscow in the summer of 1943 failed, and after that his resources became very bad; all he could manage was fierce resistance on all fronts. In 1944, after the defeat of Army Group Center in Belarus and the Allied landings in Normandy, things became very bad, and in the spring of 1945 it all ended. Japan was finished off in August after the nuclear bombing of their cities... Well, this is quite simple and brief.

1939, September 1 The attack of Germany and Slovakia on Poland - the beginning of the Second World War. 1939, September 3 Declaration of war on Germany by France and Great Britain (along with the latter, its dominions - Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa). 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 organized resistance to 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. 1939, November 30 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 Invasion of German troops into Denmark and Norway - the beginning of the Norwegian campaign. Main events: the Germans captured the main strategic points of Denmark and Norway (by April 10, 1940); landing of allied Anglo-French troops in Central Norway (13-14.4.1940); defeat of the allies and evacuation of their troops from Central Norway (by May 2, 1940); Allied offensive on Narvik (12.5.1940); evacuation of the allies from Nar-vik (by 8/6/1940). 1940, May 10 Beginning of the offensive of German troops on the Western Front. Main events: defeat of the Dutch army and its surrender (by June 14, 1940); encirclement of the British-Franco-Belgian group 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); signing of an armistice between France and Germany, under the terms of which most of France was subject to occupation (June 22, 1940).

1940, May 10 Formation of a government in Great Britain led by Winston Churchill, a strong supporter of war until victory. 1940, June 16 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 hand over Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, which it captured in 1918 (the Soviet demand was satisfied on June 28, 1940). 1940, July 10 The French parliament transfers power to Marshal Philippe Petain - the end of the Third Republic and the establishment of the “Vichy regime” 1940, July 20 Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania become part of the USSR. 1940, August 1 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. 1940, December 9 The beginning of the offensive of British troops in North Africa, which led to a heavy defeat for the Italian army. 1941, January 19 The beginning of the offensive of the British army in East Africa, which ended on May 18, 1941 with the surrender of 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 March 31, 1941 and defeated the British. 1941, April 6 The offensive of the German army with the assistance of Italy and Hungary against Yugoslavia (its army capitulated on April 18, 1940) and Gresha (its army capitulated on April 21, 1940). 1941, April 10 Proclamation of the “Independent State of Croatia,” which included the Bosnian lands. 1941, May 20 German parachute landing on Crete, which ended in the defeat of British and Greek troops. 1941, June 22 Attack of Germany and its allies (Finland, Romania, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia) on the Soviet Union. ..Further from the source..