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

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

World War II began on September 1, 1939 with an attack fascist Germany to 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 armed forces Nazi Germany, taking advantage of the strategic pause, was 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 the creation of fascist support bases in the Middle East, the British and Soviet troops in August - September 1941 they entered Iran. 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 finally collapsed. lightning war" 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. Destruction Nazi troops in the Battle of Kursk in 1943 forced Nazi 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 a grandiose in scope and intensity began Berlin operation 1945 troops of 3 Soviet fronts, as a result of which the Berlin enemy group was surrounded and defeated. 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 (G. 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 for years 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.



Beginning of World War II

In the early 30s of the XX century. The political situation in Germany was unstable. In the country that lost the First World War, a democratic form of government was established for some time - the Weimar Republic, but the global economic crisis that began in 1929 accelerated its fall. The previously insignificant National Socialist movement led by Adolf Hitler grew during the crisis to become the largest political party, and in January 1933 Hitler became Reich Chancellor. His rise to power was facilitated by a wave of nationalism based on popular dissatisfaction with the results of the First World War.

After 1934, a brutal dictatorship was established in Germany, where democratic traditions had not yet developed. The popularity of Hitler's regime was maintained thanks to the industrial boom, which was caused, on the one hand, by the end of the global crisis, and on the other, by the creation of a powerful production of modern types of weapons. Since 1935, the regular army, the Wehrmacht, has been restored in Germany.

Hitler's far-reaching plans included achieving dominance throughout Europe, and in the future - the establishment of a new world order led by Germany and its allies - Italy and Japan and the transformation of Germany into the center of a world colonial empire. The first steps on this path were the German-Italian intervention in Spain in 1936-1939, the annexation of Austria in 1938 and the seizure of Czechoslovakia in early 1939, which occurred with the tacit consent of the world powers, which distributed zones of influence in Europe according to the Munich Agreement 1938

On September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland, which became the reason for the entry into the war of the allied countries - Great Britain and France, which formed the anti-Hitler coalition. Thus began the Second World War.

Despite the courageous resistance of the Polish troops, including the 20-day defense of Warsaw, the German army, having a significant superiority in numbers and weapons, occupied Poland within a month. The Soviet Union, having a neutrality agreement with Germany, for its part sent troops into the territory of Western Belarus, Western Ukraine and the Baltic states. Assuming the inevitability of a future war, the Soviet government, led by Stalin, began to modernize the military industry and re-equip the Red Army.

The need to modernize troops became especially obvious after the Soviet-Japanese military campaign in the Far East in May - September 1939. This campaign, as well as the successfully completed Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. led to a change in the combat tactics of the Red Army, to an increase in the role of armored forces and aviation; they tested new types of weapons and military equipment in battle. Finally, the successes of the Red Army delayed the entry of the Soviet Union into World War II and prevented fighting on the Far Eastern border of the USSR.

In 1940, Germany began active hostilities in Western Europe, capturing Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Yugoslavia and Greece. From August 1940, the German Air Force (Luft-waffe) began massive raids on Great Britain, causing significant damage to British cities, but thanks to the resistance of the British Air Force, a German landing in Britain was prevented. In the spring of 1941, Germany sent an expeditionary force to North Africa to help Italian troops with the goal of holding Libya and capturing Egypt.

In the summer of 1940, Hitler determined the direction of the next main attack of the Wehrmacht - it was to be the Soviet Union. According to the “Barbarossa” plan developed in July - December 1940, the rapid defeat of Soviet Russia should be achieved by a split into parts of the front of the Russian army, the main forces of which were concentrated in the western part of Russia, deep breakthroughs by powerful mobile military groups, followed by the encirclement of Russian units and their destruction. The immediate task was to reach the line Pskov - Smolensk - Kyiv with further advance to Leningrad, Moscow and Donbass and their capture. Before the onset of winter, German troops had to reach the Arkhangelsk-Volga-Astrakhan line, occupying almost the entire European part of the Soviet Union.

By June 1941, 3 army groups (181 divisions) with the support of 3 air fleets were deployed near the borders of the USSR from the Barents to the Black Sea with the task of attacking Leningrad, Moscow and Kyiv. The troops included 5.5 million people, 3,712 tanks, 47,260 guns and 4,950 aircraft. On the morning of June 22, after artillery preparation and massive bombing strikes, German troops crossed the border of the USSR and began advancing into the interior of the country. The Great Patriotic War began...

The Barbarossa plan was based on the theory of waging a “lightning war” (Blitzkrieg), created by the German military back in the First World War, with the goal of achieving victory in the shortest possible time - days or months. The fighting in Europe until the summer of 1941 and the beginning of the campaign on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union seemed to confirm the correctness of Hitler’s calculations, but it soon became clear that hopes for a lightning war were not justified. Unsuccessful attempts to capture Moscow in the late autumn - early winter of 1941 and the defeat of German troops near Moscow led to the failure of the Barbarossa plan, to a long and bloody positional war, for which the armed forces and military industry of Germany were not initially designed. Thanks to the unprecedented efforts and heroism of the personnel of the Armed Forces of the USSR, as well as the skill of the highest military command, the Soviet Union, with the support of the countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition, acted on Western Front, primarily Great Britain and the USA, inflicted a crushing defeat on Germany.

By the end of April 1945, the entire territory of Germany was occupied - and the Hitler regime, which did not stop the war until the very last moment, came to an end. On May 8, 1945, the act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed.

The Second World War lasted five and a half years, devastated large areas of Europe and claimed about 50 million lives.

The Second World War was prepared and unleashed by the states of the aggressive bloc led by Hitler's Germany. Its origins were rooted in the Versailles system of international relations, based on the dictates of the countries that won the First World War and put Germany in a humiliating position.

This created the conditions for the development of the idea of ​​revenge.

German imperialism, on a new material and technical basis, created a powerful military-economic base, and it was assisted by Western countries. Terrorist dictatorships dominated in Germany and its allies Italy and Japan, and racism and chauvinism were instilled.

The conquest program of Hitler's Reich was aimed at destroying the Versailles order, seizing vast territories and establishing dominance in Europe. This included the liquidation of Poland, the defeat of France, the ousting of England from the continent, the mastery of the resources of Europe, and then a “march to the East,” the destruction of the Soviet Union and the establishment of a “new living space” on its territory. After that, she planned to subjugate Africa, the Middle East and prepare for war with the United States. The ultimate goal was to establish world domination of the “Third Reich”. On the part of Hitler's Germany and its allies, the war was imperialist, aggressive, and unjust.

England and France were not interested in war. They entered the war based on the desire to weaken competitors and maintain their own positions in the world. They bet on the collision of Germany and Japan with the Soviet Union and their mutual exhaustion. The actions of the Western powers on the eve and at the beginning of the war led to the defeat of France, the occupation of almost all of Europe, and the creation of a threat to the independence of Great Britain.

The expansion of aggression threatened the independence of many states. For the peoples of the countries that became victims of the invaders, the struggle against the occupiers from the very beginning acquired a liberating, anti-fascist character.

There are five periods in the history of the Second World War: Period I (September 1, 1939 - June 21, 1941) - the beginning of the war and the invasion of Nazi troops into the countries of Western Europe. II period (June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942) - attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR, expansion of the scale of the war, collapse Hitler's plan lightning war. III period (November 19, 1942 - December 1943) - a radical turning point in the course of the war, the collapse of the offensive strategy of the fascist bloc. IV period (January 1944 - May 9, 1945) - the defeat of the fascist bloc, the expulsion of enemy troops from the USSR, the opening of a second front, liberation from the occupation of European countries, the complete collapse of Nazi Germany and its unconditional surrender. The end of the Great Patriotic War. V period (May 9 - September 2, 1945) - the defeat of imperialist Japan, the liberation of the peoples of Asia from the Japanese occupiers, the end of the Second World War.

Confident that England and France would not provide real help to Poland, Germany attacked it on September 1, 1939. Poland became the first state in Europe whose people rose up to defend their national existence. Having an overwhelming superiority of forces over the Polish army and concentrating a mass of tanks and aircraft on the main sectors of the front, the Nazi command was able to achieve important operational results from the beginning of the war.

The incomplete deployment of forces, the lack of assistance from the allies, and the weakness of the centralized leadership put the Polish army before a disaster. The courageous resistance of Polish troops near Mlawa, on the Bzura, the defense of Modlin, Westerplatt and the heroic 20-day defense of Warsaw (September 8 - 28) wrote bright pages in the history of the Second World War, but could not prevent the defeat of Poland. On September 28, Warsaw capitulated. The Polish government and military command moved into Romanian territory. During the tragic days for Poland, the troops of the allies - England and France - were inactive. On September 3, England and France declared war on Germany, but did not take any active action. The United States declared its neutrality, hoping that military orders from the warring states would bring huge profits to industrialists and bankers.

The Soviet government, using the opportunities provided by the “secret additional protocol,” sent its troops into Western Ukraine and Western

Belarus. The Soviet government did not declare war on Poland. It motivated its decision by the fact that the Polish state had ceased to exist, its territory had turned into a field for all sorts of surprises and provocations, and in this situation it was necessary to take the population of Western Belarus and Western Ukraine under protection. According to the friendship and border treaty signed by the USSR and Germany on September 28, 1939, the border was established along the Narew, San and Western Bug rivers. Polish lands remained under German occupation, Ukraine and Belarus went to the USSR.

Germany's superiority in forces and the lack of assistance from the West led to the fact that at the end of September and beginning of October 1939 the last pockets of resistance of the Polish troops were suppressed, but the Polish government did not sign the act of surrender.

In the plans of England and France, a significant place was occupied by the war between Finland and the USSR, which began at the end of November 1939. The Western powers sought to turn a local armed conflict into the beginning of a united military campaign against the USSR. The unexpected rapprochement between the USSR and Germany left Finland alone with a powerful enemy. The “Winter War,” which lasted until March 12, 1940, demonstrated the low combat effectiveness of the Soviet Army and the especially low level of training of command personnel, weakened by Stalin’s repressions. Only due to large casualties and a clear superiority in forces was the resistance of the Finnish army broken. Under the terms of the peace treaty, the entire Karelian Isthmus, the northwestern coast of Lake Ladoga, and a number of islands in the Gulf of Finland were included in the territory of the USSR. The war significantly worsened the USSR's relations with Western countries - Great Britain and France, which planned to intervene in the conflict on the side of Finland.

While the Polish campaign and the Soviet-Finnish war were taking place, amazing calm reigned on the Western Front. French journalists called this period the “strange war.” The obvious reluctance of government and military circles Western countries the aggravation of the conflict with Germany was explained by a number of reasons. The command of the English and French armies continued to focus on the strategy of positional warfare and hoped for the effectiveness of the defensive Maginot Line covering the eastern borders of France.

The memory of the colossal losses during the First World War also forced extreme caution. Finally, many politicians in these countries counted on the localization of the outbreak of war in Eastern Europe, on Germany’s readiness to be satisfied with the first victories. The illusory nature of this position was shown in the very near future.

The attack of Hitler's troops on Denmark and Norway in April-May 1940 led to the occupation of these countries. This strengthened German positions in the Atlantic and Northern Europe, brought the bases closer German fleet to Great Britain. Denmark capitulated almost without a fight, and the Norwegian armed forces offered stubborn resistance to the aggressor. On May 10, the German invasion of Holland, Belgium, and then through their territory into France began. German troops, bypassing the fortified Maginot Line and breaking through the Ardennes, broke through the Allied front on the Meuse River and reached the English Channel coast. English and French troops were pinned to the sea at Dunkirk. But unexpectedly the German offensive was suspended, which made it possible to evacuate British troops to the British Isles. The Nazis launched a further attack on Paris. On June 10, 1940, Italy declared war on the Anglo-French coalition, seeking to establish dominance in the Mediterranean basin. The French government betrayed the interests of the country. Paris, declared an open city, was given to the Nazis without a fight. The new government was formed by a supporter of surrender - Marshal Petain, associated with the fascists. On June 22, 1940, an armistice agreement was signed in the Compiegne Forest, which meant the surrender of France. France was divided into occupied (northern and central parts) and unoccupied, where the regime of the puppet government of Petain was established. The Resistance movement began to develop in France. The patriotic organization Free France, led by General Charles de Gaulle, began to operate in exile.

Hitler hoped that the defeat of France would force England to leave the war; peace was offered to her. But Germany's successes only strengthened the British desire to continue the fight. On May 10, 1940, a coalition government was formed headed by Germany's enemy W. Churchill. The new government cabinet has taken emergency measures to strengthen the defense system. England was supposed to turn into a “hornet’s nest” - a continuous expanse of fortified areas,

anti-tank and anti-landing lines, deployment of air defense units. The German command was indeed preparing at that time a landing operation on the British Isles (“Seelowe” - “Sea Lion”). But in view of the obvious superiority of the English fleet, the task of crushing the military power of Great Britain was entrusted to the air force - the Luftwaffe under the command of G. Goering. From August to October 1940, the “Battle of Britain” broke out - one of the largest air battles during the Second World War. The battles went on with varying degrees of success, but by mid-autumn it became obvious that the plans of the German command were impracticable. Shifting attacks to civilian targets and massive intimidation bombings of English cities also did not have any effect.

In an effort to strengthen cooperation with its main allies, Germany signed in September 1940 a tripartite pact on a political and military-economic alliance with Italy and Japan, directed against the USSR, Great Britain, and the USA.

As the activity of military operations in western Europe decreased, the attention of the German leadership again focused on the eastern direction. The second half of 1940 and the beginning of 1941 became a decisive time for determining the balance of power on the continent. Germany could firmly count on the occupied territories of France, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, the Czech Republic, as well as the dependent regimes of Quisling in Norway, Tiso in Slovakia, the Vichys in France and the “exemplary protectorate” of Denmark. The fascist regimes in Spain and Portugal chose to remain neutral, but for now this was of little concern to Hitler, who fully counted on the loyalty of the dictators Franco and Salazar. Italy independently captured Albania and began aggression in Greece. However, with the help of English formations, the Greek army repelled the attack and even entered the territory of Albania. In this situation, much depended on the position of government circles in the countries of South-Eastern Europe.

Back in the second half of the 1930s, military-authoritarian nationalist regimes either came to power or further strengthened their positions in Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia. Nazi Germany viewed this region as its sphere of direct influence. However, with

At the outbreak of the war, the states of South-Eastern Europe were in no hurry to assume any obligations towards the warring parties. Forcing events, the German leadership decided in August 1940 to prepare open aggression against the least loyal Romania. However, in November a coup d'etat took place in Bucharest and the pro-German Antonescu regime came to power. At the same time, fearing the growing influence of Romania, Hungary also announced its readiness to join the German bloc. Bulgaria became another satellite of the Reich in the spring of 1941.

Events unfolded differently in Yugoslavia. In March 1941, the Yugoslav government signed an alliance pact with Germany. However, the patriotic command of the Yugoslav army carried out a coup d'etat and terminated the agreement. Germany's response was the start of military operations in the Balkans in April. The huge superiority in forces allowed the Wehrmacht to defeat the Yugoslav army within a week and a half, and then suppress pockets of resistance in Greece. The territory of the Balkan Peninsula was divided between the countries of the German bloc. However, the struggle of the Yugoslav people continued, and the Resistance movement, one of the most powerful in Europe, expanded in the country.

With the end of the Balkan campaign, only three truly neutral, independent states remained in Europe - Sweden, Switzerland and Ireland. The Soviet Union was chosen as the next target of aggression. Formally, the Soviet-German treaty of 1939 was still in force, but its true potential had already been exhausted. The division of Eastern Europe into spheres of influence allowed the USSR to freely include Western Belarus and Western Ukraine, the Baltic republics - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, which were occupied by Romania back in 1918, and in June 1940. at the request of the USSR they were returned to him; using military measures to achieve territorial concessions to Finland. Germany, using an agreement with the USSR, carried out the first and most important campaigns in Europe, avoiding the dispersion of forces on two fronts. Now nothing separated the two huge powers and the choice could only be made between further military-political rapprochement or an open clash. The decisive moment was the Soviet-German negotiations in November 1940 in Berlin. At them, the Soviet Union was invited to join the Steel Pact.

The USSR's refusal to renounce an obviously unequal union predetermined the inevitability of war. On December 1, 8, the secret plan “Barbarossa” was approved, which provided for a lightning war against the USSR.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR (1939-1945)

Read also: Great Patriotic War - chronological table, Patriotic War of 1812 - chronology, Northern War - chronology, First World War - chronology, Russian-Japanese War - chronology, October Revolution of 1917 - chronology, Civil War in Russia 1918-20 - chronology.

1939

August 23. Signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (non-aggression pact between the USSR and Germany).

September 17. The Polish government moves to Romania. Soviet troops invade Poland.

September 28. The signing of the “Treaty of Friendship and Border” between the USSR and Germany formally completes their division of Poland. Conclusion of a “mutual assistance pact” between the USSR and Estonia.

October 5. Conclusion of a “mutual assistance pact” between the USSR and Latvia. The Soviet proposal to Finland to conclude a “mutual assistance pact”, the beginning of negotiations between Finland and the USSR.

the 13th of November. Termination of Soviet-Finnish negotiations - Finland abandons the “mutual assistance pact” with the USSR.

November 26. The “Maynila Incident” is the reason for the start of the Soviet-Finnish War on November 30.

December 1. Creation of the “People's Government of Finland” headed by O. Kuusinen. On December 2, it signed an agreement on mutual assistance and friendship with the USSR.

December 7th. The beginning of the Battle of Suomussalmi. It lasted until January 8, 1940 and ended in a heavy defeat for the Soviet troops.

Second World War. Warmongering

1940

April May. Execution by the NKVD of more than 20 thousand Polish officers and intellectuals in the Katyn Forest, Ostashkovsky, Starobelsky and other camps.

September – December. The beginning of Germany's secret preparations for war with the USSR. Development of the "Barbarossa Plan".

1941

January 15. Negus Haile Selasie entered Abyssinian territory, which he abandoned in 1936.

March 1. Bulgaria joins the Tripartite Pact. German troops enter Bulgaria.

March 25. The Yugoslav government of Prince Regent Paul adheres to the Tripartite Pact.

March 27. Government coup in Yugoslavia. King Peter II entrusts the formation of a new government to General Simovic. Mobilization of the Yugoslav army.

April, 4. Coup d'etat by Rashid Ali al-Gailani in Iraq in favor of Germany.

April 13. Signing of the Soviet-Japanese neutrality treaty for a period of five years.

14th of April. Battles for Tobruk. German defensive battles on the Egyptian border (April 14 – November 17).

April 18th. Surrender of the Yugoslav army. Division of Yugoslavia. Creation of independent Croatia.

26 April. Roosevelt announced his intention to establish American air bases in Greenland.

the 6th of May. Stalin replaces Molotov as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars.

12 May. Admiral Darlan in Berchtesgaden. The Pétain government provides the Germans with bases in Syria.

May. Roosevelt declared a "state of extreme national danger."

12 June. British aircraft begin systematic bombing of the industrial centers of Germany.

June 25. Finland enters the war on the side of Germany in response to the Soviet bombing of 19 airfields on its territory.

30 June. Capture of Riga by the Germans (see Baltic operation). Capture of Lvov by the Germans (see Lvov-Chernivtsi operation.) Creation of the highest authority in the USSR for the war period - the State Defense Committee (GKO): chairman Stalin, members - Molotov (deputy chairman), Beria, Malenkov, Voroshilov.

3 July. Stalin's order to organize the partisan movement behind German lines and to destroy everything that the enemy could get. Stalin’s first radio speech since the beginning of the war: “Brothers and sisters!.. My friends!.. Despite the heroic resistance of the Red Army, despite the fact that the enemy’s best divisions and the best units of his aviation have already been defeated and have found their grave on the battlefield , the enemy continues to advance"

July 10. The end of the 14-day battles near Bialystok and Minsk, the encirclement here in two bags was more than 300 thousand Soviet soldiers. The Nazis complete the encirclement of the 100,000-strong Red Army group near Uman. The beginning of the battle of Smolensk (July 10 - August 5).

October 15. Evacuation of the leadership of the Communist Party, the General Staff and administrative institutions from Moscow.

29th of October. The Germans drop a large bomb on the Kremlin: 41 people are killed and more than 100 are wounded.

November 1-15. Temporary cessation of the German offensive on Moscow due to exhaustion of troops and severe mud.

November 6. In his annual speech on the occasion of the October anniversary at the Mayakovskaya metro station, Stalin announced the failure of the German “Blitzkrieg” (lightning war) in Russia.

November 15 – December 4. An attempt by the Germans to make a decisive breakthrough towards Moscow.

November 18th. British offensive in Africa. Battle of Marmarica (the area between Cyrenaica and the Nile Delta). German retreat in Cyrenaica

November 22. Rostov-on-Don is occupied by the Germans - and a week later it is recaptured by units of the Red Army. The beginning of German defensive battles in the Donetsk basin.

End of December. Surrender of Hong Kong.

1942

Before January 1, 1942 The Red Army and Navy lose a total of 4.5 million people, of which 2.3 million are missing and captured (most likely, these figures are incomplete). Despite this, Stalin longs to end the war victoriously already in 1942, which becomes the cause of many strategic mistakes.

1st of January . The United Nations Union (26 nations fighting against the fascist bloc) was created in Washington - the beginning of the UN. It also includes the USSR.

Jan. 7 . The beginning of the Soviet Lyuban offensive operation: attempts to encircle the German troops located here with a strike from two sides on Lyuban, located north of Novgorod. This operation lasts 16 weeks, ending in failure and defeat of the 2nd Shock Army of A. Vlasov.

January 8 . Rzhev-Vyazemskaya operation of 1942 (8.01 – 20.04): an unsuccessful attempt to quickly “cut off” the Rzhev ledge held by the Germans costs the Red Army (according to official Soviet data) 770 thousand losses against 330 thousand German ones.

January February . Encirclement of the Germans on the Demyansk bridgehead (south Novgorod region, January February). They defend here until April - May, when they break through the encirclement, holding Demyansk. German losses were 45 thousand, Soviet losses were 245 thousand.

January 26 . Landing of the first American Expeditionary Force in Northern Ireland.

The Second World War. Sun of Japan

February 19. Riom trial against “the culprits of the defeat of France” - Daladier, Leon Blum, General Gamelin and others (February 19 - April 2).

February 23. Roosevelt's Lend-Lease Act applied to all Allied nations (USSR).

28th of February. German-Italian troops recapture Marmarika (February 28 – June 29).

11th of March. Another attempt to solve the Indian question: Cripps mission to India.

March 12. General Toyo invites America, England, China and Australia to abandon a war that is hopeless for them.

April 1st. A special resolution of the Politburo subjected Voroshilov to devastating criticism, who refused to accept command of the Volkhov Front.

April. Hitler gains full power. From now on, Hitler's will becomes law for Germany. British aircraft drop an average of 250 tons of explosives per night over Germany.

May 8-21 . Battle for the Kerch Peninsula. Kerch was taken by the Germans (May 15). The failed attempt to liberate Crimea in 1942 cost the Red Army up to 150 thousand losses.

August 23. Exit 6 German army to the outskirts of Stalingrad. Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad. The most severe bombing of the city.

August. Offensive battles of the Red Army near Rzhev.

September 30th. Hitler announces Germany's transition from an offensive strategy to a defensive one (development of conquered territories).

From January to October The Red Army loses 5.5 million soldiers killed, wounded and captured.

October 23. Battle of El Alamein. Defeat of Rommel's expeditionary force (October 20 – November 3).

October 9. Elimination of the institution of commissars in the Red Army, introduction of unity of command among military commanders.

November 8. Allied landings in North Africa, under the command of General Eisenhower.

11th of November. The German army breaks through to the Volga in Stalingrad, the Soviet troops defending the city are divided into two narrow pockets. The Germans begin to occupy all of France. Demobilization of the French army retained after the 1940 armistice.

November 19. The beginning of the Soviet counteroffensive at Stalingrad - Operation Uranus.

November 25. The beginning of the Second Rzhev-Sychev Operation (“Operation Mars”, 11/25 – 12/20): an unsuccessful attempt to defeat the 9th German Army at Rzhev. It costs the Red Army 100 thousand killed and 235 thousand wounded against 40 thousand total German losses. If “Mars” had ended successfully, it would have been followed by “Jupiter”: the defeat of the main part of the German Army Group Center in the Vyazma area.

November 27. Self-sinking of large units of the French navy in Toulon.

December 16. The beginning of the Red Army operation “Little Saturn” (December 16-30) - a strike from the south Voronezh region(from Kalach and Rossoshi), to Morozovsk (north of the Rostov region). Initially, it was planned to rush south all the way to Rostov-on-Don and thus cut off the entire German group “South”, but “Big Saturn” did not have enough strength for this, and had to limit itself to “Small”.

December 23. Termination of Operation Winter Storm - Manstein's attempt to rescue the Germans in Stalingrad with a blow from the south. The Red Army captured the airfield in Tatsinskaya, the main external source of supply for the encircled Stalingrad German group.

End of December. Rommel lingers in Tunisia. Stopping the Allied offensive in Africa.

1943

1 January. The beginning of the North Caucasus operation of the Red Army.

6 January. Decree “On the introduction of shoulder straps for Red Army personnel.”

11 January. Liberation of Pyatigorsk, Kislovodsk and Mineralnye Vody from the Germans.

January 12-30. The Soviet Operation Iskra breaches the siege of Leningrad, opening (after the liberation of Shlisselburg on January 18) a narrow land corridor to the city. Soviet losses in this operation - approx. 105 thousand killed, wounded and prisoners, German - approx. 35 thousand

January 14-26. Conference in Casablanca (demanding “unconditional surrender of the Axis powers”).

21 January. Liberation of Voroshilovsk (Stavropol) from the Germans.

January 29. The beginning of Vatutin’s Voroshilovgrad operation (“Operation Leap”, January 29 – February 18): the initial goal was to reach the Sea of ​​Azov through Voroshilovgrad and Donetsk and cut off the Germans in the Donbass, but they only succeeded in taking Izyum and Voroshilovgrad (Lugansk).

The 14th of February. Liberation of Rostov-on-Don and Lugansk by the Red Army. Creation of the Malaya Zemlya bridgehead by the Red Army at Myskhako, with the aim of attacks on Novorossiysk. The Germans, however, were held in Novorossiysk until September 16, 1943.

February 19. The beginning of Manstein's counteroffensive in the south (the "Third Battle of Kharkov"), which disrupts the Soviet Operation Leap.

March 1. The beginning of Operation Buffel (Buffalo, March 1-30): German troops, through a systematic retreat, leave the Rzhev salient in order to transfer part of their forces from there to the Kursk Bulge. Soviet historians then present "Buffel" not as a deliberate retreat of the Germans, but as a successful offensive "Rzhevo-Vyazemsk operation of the Red Army of 1943".

20th of March. Battle for Tunisia. Defeat of German troops in Africa (March 20 – May 12).

April 13. The Germans announce the discovery of a mass grave of those executed near Smolensk, near Katyn. Soviet NKVD Polish officers.

April 16. The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs offers his mediation between the warring parties with a view to concluding peace.

June 3. Creation of the French Committee of National Liberation (formerly: French National Committee).

June. The German underwater danger has been reduced to a minimum.

5'th of July. The German offensive on the northern and southern fronts of the Kursk ledge - the beginning Battle of Kursk(5-23 July 1943).

July 10. Anglo-American landing in Sicily (July 10 – August 17). Their start of military operations in Italy distracts a lot of enemy forces from the Soviet front and is actually tantamount to the opening of a Second Front in Europe.

July, 12. The Battle of Prokhorovka was a stop to the most dangerous German breakthrough on the southern front of the Kursk Bulge. Losses in Operation Citadel (July 5-12): Soviet - approx. 180 thousand soldiers, German - approx. 55 thousand. Beginning of Operation Kutuzov - the Soviet counter-offensive on the Oryol Bulge (the northern face of the Kursk salient).

July 17th. Creation of AMGOT (Allied Military Government for Occupied Territories) in Sicily.

23 September. Mussolini's announcement of the continuation of fascist rule in northern Italy (Italian Social Republic or Republic of Salò).

September 25. Units of the Red Army capture Smolensk and reach the Dnieper line. Losses in the Smolensk operation: Soviet - 450 thousand; German - 70 thousand (according to German data) or 200-250 thousand (according to Soviet data).

October 7th. New big Soviet offensive from Vitebsk to the Taman Peninsula.

October 19-30. Third Moscow Conference of the Three Great Powers. The foreign ministers participating in it are Molotov, Eden and Cordell Hull. At this conference, the USA and England promise to open a second (besides the Italian) front in Europe in the spring of 1944; four great powers (including China) sign the “Declaration on Global Security”, where for the first time together proclaim the formula for the unconditional surrender of fascist states as an indispensable condition for ending the war; A European Advisory Commission is created (consisting of representatives of the USSR, USA and England) to discuss issues related to the surrender of the Axis states.

End of october. Dnepropetrovsk and Melitopol were taken by the Red Army. Crimea is cut off.

November 6. Liberation of Kyiv from the Germans. Losses in the Kyiv operation: Soviet: 118 thousand, German - 17 thousand.

November 9. Congress of representatives of the 44 United Nations in Washington (November 9 – December 1).

the 13th of November. Liberation of Zhitomir from the Germans. On November 20, Zhitomir was recaptured by the Germans and liberated again on December 31.

November December. Manstein's unsuccessful counterattack on Kyiv.

November 28 – December 1. The Tehran Conference (Roosevelt – Churchill – Stalin) decides to open a second front in the West - and not in the Balkans, but in France; the Western allies agree to confirm after the war the Soviet-Polish border of 1939 (along the “Curzon line”); they veiledly agree to recognize the entry of the Baltic states into the USSR; Roosevelt's proposal to create a new world organization to replace the previous League of Nations is generally approved; Stalin promises to enter the war against Japan after the defeat of Germany.

December 24. General Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Commander of the armies of the second front in the West.

1944

January 24 - February 17. The Korsun-Shevchenko operation leads to the encirclement of 10 German divisions in the Dnieper bend.

March 29. The Red Army occupies Chernivtsi, and the day before, near this city, it enters the territory of Romania.

April 10th. Odessa is taken by the Red Army. The first awards of the Order of Victory: Zhukov and Vasilevsky received it, and on April 29 - Stalin.

The Second World War. Russian steam roller

May 17. After 4 months of fierce fighting, Allied forces break through the Gustav Line in Italy. Fall of Cassino.

June 6 . Allied landing in Normandy (Operation Overlord). Opening of the Second Front in Western Europe.

IN June 1944 the number of active Soviet army reaches 6.6 million; it has 13 thousand aircraft, 8 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, 100 thousand guns and mortars. The ratio of forces on the Soviet-German front in terms of personnel is 1.5:1 in favor of the Red Army, in terms of guns and mortars 1.7:1, in terms of aircraft 4.2:1. The forces in tanks are approximately equal.

June 23 . The beginning of Operation Bagration (June 23 - August 29, 1944) - the liberation of Belarus by the Red Army.

Commanders

Strengths of the parties

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

Naval warfare in World War II

Participants

The number of countries involved varied throughout the war. Some of them were actively involved in military operations, others helped their allies with food supplies, and many participated in the war only in name.

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

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

Prerequisites for the war

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

The German battleship Schleswig-Holstein fires at Polish positions

1939 campaign

Capture of Poland

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

The beginning of the struggle at sea

Actions on communications in the Atlantic Ocean

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

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

Actions in the North Sea

With the beginning of the war, large-scale laying of minefields in the North Sea began, which constrained active operations in it until the end of the war. Both sides mined the approaches to their coasts with wide protective belts of dozens of minefields. German destroyers also laid minefields off the coast of England.

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

Capture of Norway and Denmark

1940 campaign

Occupation of Denmark and Norway

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

Actions in the Mediterranean. 1940-1941

Actions in the Mediterranean

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

The first major naval battle between the Italian Navy and the British Navy there was a battle at Punta Stilo (in English sources also known as the Battle of Calabria. The collision took place on July 9, 1940 at the southeastern tip of the Apennine Peninsula. As a result of the battle, neither side suffered losses. But Italy had 1 battleship, 1 heavy cruiser and 1 destroyer damaged, while the British had 1 light cruiser and 2 destroyers.

French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir

Surrender of France

On June 22, France capitulated. Despite the terms of surrender, the Vichy government did not intend to give up the fleet to Germany. Distrusting the French, the British government launched Operation Catapult to capture French ships located in different bases. In Porsmouth and Plymouth, 2 battleships, 2 destroyers, 5 submarines were captured; ships in Alexandria and Martinique were disarmed. In Mers el-Kebir and Dakar, where the French resisted, the British sank the battleship Bretagne and damaged three more battleships. From the captured ships, the Free French fleet was organized; in the meantime, the Vichy government broke off relations with Great Britain.

Actions in the Atlantic in 1940-1941.

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

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

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

1941 campaign

Actions in the Mediterranean in 1941

Actions in the Mediterranean

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

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

Landing in France

Landing in France

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

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

German submarine sinks transport

Actions in the Atlantic Ocean

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

In 1944, the Allies were able to ensure almost complete security of communications. To protect communications, they at that time had 118 escort aircraft carriers, 1,400 destroyers, frigates and sloops, and about 3,000 other patrol ships. Coastal PLO aviation consisted of 1,700 aircraft and 520 flying boats. The total losses in allied and neutral tonnage in the Atlantic as a result of submarine operations in the second half of 1944 amounted to only 58 ships with a total tonnage of 270 thousand gross tons. The Germans lost 98 boats at sea alone during this period.

Submarines

Signing of the Japanese surrender

Actions in the Pacific

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

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

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

September 2, 1945 aboard the battleship USS Missouri The act of surrender of Japan was signed, ending World War II.

Results of the war

The Second World War had a huge impact on the destinies of mankind. 72 states (80% of the world's population) took part in it; military operations were carried out on the territory of 40 states. The total human losses reached 60-65 million people, of which 27 million people were killed at the fronts.

The war ended with the victory of the anti-Hitler coalition. As a result of the war, the role of Western Europe in global politics weakened. The USSR and the USA became the main powers in the world. Great Britain and France, despite the victory, were significantly weakened. The war showed the inability of them and other Western European countries to maintain huge colonial empires. Europe was divided into two camps: Western capitalist and Eastern socialist. Relations between the two blocs deteriorated sharply. A couple of years after the end of the war, the Cold War began.

History of world wars. - M: Tsentrpoligraf, 2011. - 384 p. -