British headquarters in the Second World War. England's participation in the Second World War. A look at the reasons

48. Britain in World War II

Britain's participation in the Second World War included the following stages:

- “strange war” (19391940) - in response to the German attack on Poland, Great Britain, together with France, declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939, but did not conduct active hostilities;

Battle of Britain (19401941) active military operations against Germany:

At sea (German submarines actually cut off communications between the British Isles and numerous colonies, sinking about half of the British merchant fleet in a year; the heroic struggle of British submariners, pilots, reconnaissance officers, and convoy participants saved Great Britain from economic collapse);

In the air (Germany carried out fierce bombing of British cities, the city of Coventry was completely bombed; Great Britain urgently had to establish effective air defense);

Fighting in North Africa (19411942) - Anglo-American troops and French resistance troops defeated German-Italian troops in Libya and Egypt, which created a springboard for landing in Italy;

Bombing of Germany (19431945) having broken through the echeloned German air defense system (the “Concubert line”), British and US aircraft began massive destructive bombing of German industrial cities; as a result of these bombings in 1943, almost the entire German industry was destroyed this did not give the Germans the opportunity to technically restore the army defeated at Stalingrad and Kursk Bulge; contributed to their constant retreat after the summer of 1943;

Landing in Italy 1943 - in the summer of 1943, Anglo-American troops landed in Sicily and southern Italy, which contributed to a successful conspiracy within the fascist party against B. Mussolini Mussolini, by decision of the large fascist council, was removed from the post of prime minister and arrested; power was returned to the king, Italy actually left the Hitler bloc;

Opening of the “second front”4 in 1944 Anglo-American troops landed from British territory in Northern France (Normandy) on June 6, 1944 and began large-scale ground combat operations directly on the continent;

Fighting in Western Europe(1944-1945) - Anglo-American troops and the French Resistance army in 1944-1945. liberated France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Italy and transferred military operations directly to German territory; after taking Soviet troops Berlin, May 2, 1945, May 8, 1945, Germany signed an act of complete and unconditional surrender.

The following also played a major role in the victory over Germany:

British intelligence deciphered top-secret German military codes, after which, starting in 1943, the Allies knew in advance all the operational plans of the German command, which led to constant defeats for Germany after 1943;

Activity of diplomats that contributed to effective activities anti-Hitler coalition and its preservation in spite of German plans to conclude a unilateral peace with Great Britain and the USA.

High Command

In 1939 the British Army consisted of the Regular (Regular Army) and Territorial Armies (Territorial Army), in addition, the strength of the armed forces could be increased by reservists. As of April 1939, there were 224,000 people in the Regular Army, 325,000 in the Territorial Army (plus another 96,000 in the territorial air defense units). Thus, a total of 645,000 people were “under arms.” A call for recruits was issued in June, and the first civilians were drafted into the army the following month. These recruits, not yet trained, were intended to fill all three branches of the military, were called militia, and by the beginning of the war their number was about 34,000. The strength of the Territorial Army increased by 36,000, and the Army Reserve (Army Reserve) and Auxiliary Reserve (Supplementary Reserve) increased to 150,000 people. Immediately after the outbreak of war in September, the National Conscription Act was issued, according to which the strength of all ground forces (Regular and Territorial Armies, as well as militia) was to be 897,000, and all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 41 years old were declared subject to conscription.

Note: All data from post-war sources; the data given in pre-war sources or wartime publications is usually much higher. Data for the Metropolitan Guard are given for comparison, since from August 1940 Guard units were included in county regiments. It should be borne in mind that by 1943 average age The soldiers of the Metropolitan Guard were under 30 years old, which contradicts the idea of it as an “army of fathers”, consisting of old people and unfit for military service. In fact, the Metropolitan Guard provided pre-conscription training for young people 17–18 years old.

War Cabinet (War Cabinet) formed by Prime Minister Chamberlain on September 1, 1939, became the highest governing body of the country and all three branches of the military. Three ministries of the armed forces were directly subordinate to the Prime Minister: the Admiralty, the War Ministry and the Ministry of Aviation, as well as the Minister for Defense Coordination. Winston Churchill, appointed Prime Minister on May 10, 1940, immediately formed an internal War Cabinet, appointed himself Minister of Defense and began to directly lead the commanders of the armed forces, bypassing the other War Cabinet ministers. However, the Admiralty, the War Ministry and the Air Ministry were still headed by their respective ministers. Responsibility for the British Army was given to the War Office (War Office) which, in turn, was divided into Army departments, districts and commands (Army Departments, Districts, Commands). London and Northern Ireland were allocated into districts, and the commands (Scottish, Northern, Western, Eastern, Southern, South-Eastern and Air Defense) were placed under the control of the Commander-in-Chief of Home Forces. The commands had a fractional structure, divided into regions. The Northern Irish District was under the control of the Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in Northern Ireland. By the beginning of the war or a little later, the following Commands were formed in the colonies: Middle Eastern, Maltese, West African, East African, Persia and Iraq, Supreme Headquarters of India, Western (Indian), Northern (Indian), Central (Indian), Ceylon and Malaya.

During the liberation of Europe in 1944, command was exercised by the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Forces (SHAEF), subordinate to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was in charge of all armed forces of all national contingents. The ground forces were commanded by General Bernard Montgomery, who led the 21st Army Group. The group included the British 2nd Army and the American 1st Army. At the army group level, there were such specific units as officer uniform stores, mobile laundries and bath units, etc.: they were subordinate to the lower echelons controlled by the army group. As mentioned, as the American 3rd Army's activities developed in France, the American 1st Army was transferred to the 12th American Army Group, and its place in the 21st Army Group was taken by the 1st Canadian Army.

During the Second World War, seven British armies were formed, numbered 1st, 2nd, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th and 14th. Of these, only the 2nd Army operated in Northwestern Europe. The 2nd Army was formed in the United Kingdom in June 1943 in preparation for the liberation of Europe. Its emblem was a blue cross on a white shield, with two golden crusader swords superimposed on the cross, hilts up. Operating under the command of Lieutenant General Sir Miles Dempsey, the 2nd Army in Normandy included the I, VIII, XII and XXX Corps.

Normandy, 1944. British tank column, possibly from the 17th Armored Division, including Cromwell and Sherman Firefly tanks. The 17-pounder guns mounted on the Firefly were the only Allied weapons that allowed them to fight on equal terms with the German Panthers and Tigers. As they arrived, these tanks were distributed one to each squadron of four vehicles. The increase in production by the end of the war led to the fact that most squadrons already had two Fireflies.

In 1944, the typical British army force consisted of four corps, each with two infantry and one armored divisions, as well as units attached to the corps. This theoretical composition often changed depending on the tasks assigned to the army. For example, during the operations in Normandy in July - August 1944, the VIII Corps was "heavily armored", including the 11th and Guards Armor tank divisions, the 6th Guards Tank Brigade and only one infantry division - the 15th (Scottish).

For everyone higher levels(army and corps) attached units could include independent infantry or armored tank brigades; units of field, medium, heavy, anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery; The Royal Engineers, the Royal Signalmen, the Royal Army Artillery Corps, the Royal Army Auxiliary Corps, the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, and the Royal Army Medical Corps all provided support to lower formations and units when required.

Infantry Division

Numbered infantry divisions (later sometimes they were designated by names based on the name of a particular locality, although this practice did not have much significance) were the main combat formation at the disposal of the corps commander. In 1939, the nominal strength of the division was 13,863 military personnel of all ranks; by 1944 it had increased to 18,348. A typical division united three numbered infantry brigades of three battalions.

The division headquarters was assigned divisional units, which operated in the same way as at the corps level. These included various units, such as Military Police companies, the Royal Engineers Postal Service, etc. Also directly subordinate to the division command was either a medium machine gun battalion or a support battalion, equipped with both machine guns and heavy mortars (usually these battalions were distributed among infantry brigades). For example, in the 15th (Scottish) Division, the 1st Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment from October 1943 to March 1944 included support units and was therefore called a machine gun battalion.

The reconnaissance units of the division successively changed several names. At the beginning of the war they were called divisional cavalry regiments, but from January 1944 they received the designation of reconnaissance regiments of the Royal Armored Corps, which had divisional numbering. Thus, the 15th (Scottish) Division had the 15th Reconnaissance Regiment of the Royal Armored Corps. It will be recalled that in the British Army the term "regiment" had at least three different meanings. In cavalry (and the armored forces that arose from it) and artillery, a “regiment” was understood as a military unit numerically equal to an infantry battalion - that is, under the command of a lieutenant colonel there were from 700 to 800 military personnel in three or four units designated by numbers or letters (“squadrons”) "or "batteries"), divided into numbered cavalry platoons (troops).

Somewhere on the Western Front in 1939 or 1940, a crew of a 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun awaits a Luftwaffe raid. New uniforms and equipment were being supplied to Royal Artillery units on a second basis, but the service uniform shown here will soon be replaced here too. The excellent Bofors automatic guns, loaded with clips of four shells weighing 0.9 kg, could provide a rate of fire of up to 120 rounds per minute and a fire distance of up to 10,000 meters. They were in large numbers in service with light anti-aircraft regiments of infantry and armored divisions - nine squadrons of six guns.

Divisional artillery typically included three Royal Artillery field regiments (eighteen 25-pounder guns), an anti-tank regiment (forty-eight 6- or 17-pounder guns) and a light anti-aircraft regiment (fifty-four 40 mm guns). For example, in 1944 the 15th (Scottish) Division had the 131st, 181st and 190th Field, 97th Anti-Tank and 119th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiments of the Royal Artillery.

Although initially the infantry brigades were numbered sequentially, the realities of the war required the transfer of brigades from one division to another. As a result, in 1944 the same 15th (Scottish) Division included the 44th, 46th and 227th Infantry Brigades. The brigade structure was based on three infantry battalions, to which the divisional headquarters attached a medium machine gun company, an anti-tank battery, a field regiment of the Royal Artillery, a field company of the Royal Engineers, a transport company of the Royal Military Auxiliary Corps, a field hospital of the Royal Medical Corps and a field workshop of the Royal Mechanical Engineers and electricians. When conducting major offensive operations infantry divisions were assigned separate tank brigades of three regiments; one tank squadron of each regiment was assigned to infantry battalions.

Infantry battalion

British infantry regiment (eg His Majesty's Own Scottish Borderers - The King's Own Scottish Borderers) had mainly “tribal” rather than tactical significance. The history of the regiment could be long, usually reaching 250 years. The regiment was an administrative unit that ensured the replenishment of personnel and property of numbered battalions. The soldiers of each regiment were distinguished by specific elements of their uniform. Individual numbered battalions of a regiment were combined (as a rule, separately) with battalions of other regiments into tactical brigades. So, in 1944, the 44th Infantry Brigade of the 15th (Scottish) Division consisted of the 8th Battalion of the Royal Scots (8th Ch Royal Scots), 6th Battalion His Majesty's Own Scottish Borderers and 6th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers (6th Ch Royal Scots Fusiliers). The battalion could be distinguished by its own pennant or identification mark (see also the “Infantry” section in the chapter “Branches and Services”).

During Homeland exercises, the 52nd (Lowland) Division's 25-pounder guns and limbers rotate positions, towed by Morris Quad artillery tractors. The white number 43 in a red and blue square designates the second (middle seniority) field artillery regiment of the division: in the 52nd Division until June 1942 it was the 79th Field Artillery Regiment, Royal Artillery (then the 80th). The excellent 25-pounder 87.6mm guns, with a range of up to 10,000 meters, were the workhorse of British field artillery and were used on all fronts. It took less than two minutes to bring the gun into firing position, and the rate of fire reached five rounds per minute. In 1944–1945 The Royal Artillery was completely superior to the Germans, playing a prominent role in the defeat of the Wehrmacht in the West.

The battalion was the minimum tactical unit and consisted of a headquarters, a headquarters company, a support company and four rifle companies. The headquarters company included a headquarters, a communications platoon and an administrative platoon. The support company consisted of a headquarters, a platoon of three-inch mortars, a platoon of universal tractors, an anti-tank and a pioneer platoon. Each rifle company had a headquarters and three rifle platoons, which were numbered through the battalion. At the platoon level, the headquarters (with a two-inch mortar and anti-tank weapons) commanded three rifle squads. Each squad of seven people was assigned a machine gun group: three people with a Bren machine gun.

Armored Division

In 1940, most armies continued to work out the optimal composition of new armored units, many focusing on “heavy tank” divisions with a clearly insufficient number of infantry and artillery units. The British 1st Armored Division was conceived as having two armored brigades (three armored regiments each) and one motorized infantry battalion, as well as a supporting force consisting of an infantry battalion and field, anti-tank and anti-aircraft artillery regiments. This division contributed one of its tank regiments, all its infantry and field artillery, and a combined anti-tank and anti-aircraft regiment to support the very heterogeneous tank units of the British Expeditionary Force (which had predominantly light tanks).

During the course of the war, many structural changes took place before it was possible to find the most effective ratio of the various types of troops in the division. The 1944 armored division had only one armored brigade of three regiments (the regiment had 78 tanks, divided between headquarters and three combat squadrons), and one mechanized ("motor") infantry battalion, usually from a rifle regiment (usually equipped with American half-track armored personnel carriers). In addition, the division had a three-battalion infantry brigade, whose personnel moved on trucks; an armored reconnaissance regiment, which was often armed with cruiser tanks rather than armored vehicles; a separate medium machine gun company and a divisional artillery of two Royal Field Artillery or Royal Horse Artillery regiments, and one anti-tank and one air defense artillery regiment. Divisional units also included the usual units of engineers, signalmen, doctors, support personnel and tradesmen.

The 5-pounder guns were mounted on tank chassis: these self-propelled guns were called Sexton (Sexton SPgun) and were allocated to one of the two field artillery regiments of each armored division. In addition, the British also used similar American M7 Priest SP self-propelled guns armed with 105 mm howitzers. This camouflaged Priest gun was photographed at Lyon-sur-Mer, a short distance from the British landing site on 6 June 1944. The gun's crew awaits orders to fire in support of elements of the 3rd Division. These American guns were supplied with a full set of equipment - an American tank helmet is visible on the fender. The artilleryman is dressed in a standard collarless shirt and field uniform trousers with white suspenders (IWM 3502).

In an armored regiment, each squadron had a headquarters and administrative unit, as well as five units of three tanks (in some units, four units of four tanks). Taking into account the tanks assigned to the headquarters (in the division - 10, in the brigade - 18), total number The division's tank count reached 343.

1. The beginning of the Second World War and England. "Strange War". "Battle of England".

2. The role of Great Britain in the victory over the Nazi coalition during the war.

1. Great Britain can be considered one of the initiators of the Second World War. Firstly, this is due to the fact that already in the mid-30s. The struggle for dominance in the world is again being revived between Great Britain and France, on the one hand, and Germany, Italy and Japan, on the other. Secondly, Great Britain at the same time passively watches as Germany violates the terms of the Versailles Peace. The ruling circles of Great Britain, as well as some other Western countries, hoped that German aggression would be directed against the USSR. This is evidenced by the participation of Great Britain, together with France, Germany and Italy, in the Munich Conference of 1938, at which a treaty was signed aimed at the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia by Germany. And only after Germany violated this treaty in the spring of 1939, the ruling circles of Great Britain were forced to negotiate with the USSR regarding the creation of an anti-Hitler alliance. But the position of both the leadership of the USSR and Great Britain did not allow this task to be completed.

On September 1, 1939, the Second World War German attack on Poland. Great Britain was an ally of Poland and the latter, naturally, expected help from it. But the British government was still trying to resolve the problem with Germany diplomatically. And only on September 3, Great Britain declared war on Germany. Following her, her dominions Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Union of South Africa did the same.

Despite the fact that Great Britain and France could curb the aggressor at that moment, they did not go further than declaring war. Until the spring of 1940, there were practically no military operations on this front, so these events were called the “Phantom War” in historiography. At this time, mobilization was just taking place, expeditionary troops were being transferred to France.

In April 1940, Germany launched an offensive in Western Europe, and in May German troops entered French territory. The offensive was rapid and British troops, after the defeat at Dunkirk, were forced to evacuate to the British Isles.

From this moment the so-called “Battle of England” begins. In Germany, the landing operation on the British Isles (“Seelewe”) was developed, but it was never carried out. The reason for this can be considered that Great Britain was in more favorable conditions than France: its geographical position, the presence of a strong navy, high resistance ability. In addition, the new government of W. Churchill took decisive measures to organize the country's defense: the volume of military production increased, volunteer civil defense units were created, which were later transformed into a people's militia.

The “Battle of England” took on the character of massive bombing strikes. At first they were sent to naval bases and airfields, and from September 1940 - to the cities: London, Coventry, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, etc. The goal of Germany was the destruction or significant weakening of the British navy and aviation, disorganization of the military industry, suppression of the population's desire for resistance. But this goal was not fulfilled. The German air force suffered heavy losses. It failed to destroy British industry and undermine the morale of the population. On November 3, 1940, the intensity of the raids began to weaken. The last massive air strikes on London were carried out at the end of April - beginning of May 1941. At the same time, the reorientation of military production and the distribution of material resources for the war against the USSR began in Germany, i.e. to develop its armed forces in a “land” rather than a “sea” version, which meant abandoning the invasion of the British Isles.

At the same time, Great Britain carried out military operations in Africa and other areas. The campaign in Africa (against Italy) took place with varying degrees of success, but nevertheless, by the spring of 1941, the British managed not only to drive the Italians out of their colonies, but also to oust the Italians from Ethiopia. Only in North Africa, where Germany provided assistance to Italy, did British troops retreat and the northwestern part of Egypt was occupied by the enemy.

2. The situation during the Second World War changed radically after Germany attacked the USSR on June 22, 1941. Since that time, the main events of the war took place on the Soviet-German front. Invasion German armies Great Britain was no longer threatened by the British Isles. Air raids also fell sharply.

Great Britain switched to the path of cooperation with the Soviet Union. Already on June 22, 1941, British Prime Minister William Churchill made a statement about his readiness to provide “Russia and the Russian people with all the help that we are capable of.” In other words, the British government agreed to an alliance with the USSR, which was formalized in Moscow on July 12, 1941. This was the beginning of the creation of the anti-Hitler coalition.

Almost immediately Soviet Union began to insist on opening a second front in Western Europe, but this problem was solved only in 1944. Until that time, the main theater of action for British troops was North Africa. Until the autumn of 1942, events took place here with varying degrees of success. After the American-British troops landed in Morocco and Algeria on November 8, 1942, the situation changed in favor of the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition, which led to the enemy’s surrender in Africa on May 13, 1943. In July 1943, the American-British troops landed on the island of Sicily and launched an offensive in Italy, which led to Italy's withdrawal from the war on the side of Germany. And on June 6, 1944, a second front was finally opened in Europe with the landing of Allied troops in Normandy (France).

British troops also took part in the war against Japan. After Japan's attack on the American base of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, it captured many territories in a short time, including British possessions: Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, Burma. By approaching the borders of India, Japan created a threat to this “jewel of the British crown.” Therefore, the British command concentrated a large group of troops in the northeastern part of India. It was inactive for more than two years, and only in the summer of 1944, when Japan’s position was shaken due to the successes of the anti-Hitler coalition, did British troops invade Burma and clear it of Japanese troops by the spring of 1945.

In Europe, the Allied offensive from the west and east in 1944-1945. led to defeat fascist Germany, and on September 2, 1945, the Second World War ended with the surrender of Japan.

Thus, Great Britain took an active part in the creation of the anti-Hitler coalition, in military operations and emerged from the war as one of the winners, and Prime Minister W. Churchill, who led the country during the war, was recognized as a national hero.

Until the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War There is less and less time left, only about 2 and a half months. But the war for history did not begin yesterday or today, it is ongoing. More and more attempts are being made to denigrate the heroism of the Red Army in this global conflict in order to take this Victory away from us.

The measures taken by the Putin government to restore historical objectivity are (and in fact have already suffered) a complete failure. Under these conditions, we have only one chance: to respond with a similar blow of “historical retribution” through the glorification of the defeats of our “allies” and the exceptional role of the USSR for its contribution to the defeat of Western aggression. The first step towards this was made in the material devoted to Operation Overlord, which was reinterpreted not as the liberation of France from Nazism, but as a planned act of Anglo-American aggression. Indeed, as the further course of history will show, it was Britain and the United States that became the main aggressors of the Second World War, joined by Hitler in 1941. In fact, they always have been. After all, what unites the history of both Great Britain and the “history” of the United States is that both sides have been waging constant wars since their formation. Great Britain set the tone, and the Americans picked it up in 1776. Both sides acted separately at first, but during the Second World War they were already a single whole. It is generally accepted that the war in Europe ended on May 9, 1945, but few people know that for Great Britain, which never left the war until that day, it ended much earlier than that date. Our veterans have probably forgotten that Britain never considered the USSR as an ally; for them, Russia was an auxiliary tool with which they could pull chestnuts out of the fire. Great Britain itself (and somewhere - thanks to the diplomatic efforts of the Soviet side led by Stalin and Molotov) dragged itself into a war on 3 fronts at once, which turned out to be beyond its power, and as a result was forced to shamefully capitulate long before the end of the war in Europe .

To some extent, this material is my personal response to Mr. Cameron, when, shortly before the referendum on the status of Scotland, he reminded the Scots that they (the English and the Scots) defeated Nazism together, although they themselves never realized that It was England (and not Scotland or other regions of the UK) that became the instigators of world fires, including the Nazi one.

Numerous possessions administered by the British Empire were located throughout the world, in particular the strongest British influence was in India, the “pearl of the Empire” and in South Africa. Britain emerged victorious from World War I, but the Britons' joy was short-lived. In 1919 it broke out local conflict between London and Dublin, which resulted in a two-year armed confrontation, as a result of which Dublin emerged victorious. The entire territory of the Irish island except Ulster was declared free from the English. This is how the independent Republic of Ireland appeared on the map. Ulster is still preparing a plan to secede from Great Britain. The declaration of independence of the Irish Republic was the first blow to the integrity of the Empire.

Great Britain was one of the countries that created the international political system after the First World War. At the same time, as the strongest European “great power,” Great Britain has traditionally sought to maintain parity of power on the continent, alternately supporting certain countries. A new full-scale war on the European continent was extremely undesirable for Great Britain from both economic and political points of view.

But one way or another, everything was heading towards the worst scenario for the British. And in many ways, Britain itself created the ground for this, together with the United States, directly supporting the Nazis. As a result, on January 30, 1933, after the Nazis came to power in Germany, Hitler set a course for remilitarizing the country and preparing for a new war. Even the German communist Ernst Thälmann warned: “If Hitler means war.” Thälmann looked into the water and was not mistaken in his forecast. 1933 passed relatively quietly for Europe, but from 1934 it slowly began to smell of something fried.

Austria, which Hitler disliked so much, fearing that the country could turn into an entirely Slavic state, became the first political theater in Europe after the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship in Germany. The bloody drama unfolded on July 25, 1934, when as a result of a pro-Nazi putsch, Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss was killed - a man who, on the one hand, was a puppet of the Duce, concentrated all power in his hands and began to play his own game. Of course, Hitler in every possible way dissociated himself from his involvement in the putsch, although his trace was still there. The Fuhrer limited himself to only an act of regret about what had happened, but the worst was yet to come.

October 3, 1935: Mussolini, after 13 years of peaceful stay in power in Italy, decides to take revenge in the Italo-Ethiopian war of 1897-98. At 5 o'clock in the morning, without a declaration of war, Italian troops invade Ethiopia, and the bombing of the city of Adua begins. The ground forces of Marshal Emilio De Bono begin their offensive from Eritrea and Somalia.

The Italian invasion army was divided into three task forces, advancing in three directions[:
Northern Front(10 divisions) - was supposed to deliver the main blow in the direction of Dessie and further - to Addis Ababa;
Central Front(1 division) - had the main task of ensuring the internal flanks and protection of communications of the Northern and Southern fronts, was supposed to advance from Asseb through the Danakil desert to Ausu and further, in the direction of Dessie;
Southern Front(4 divisions, commander - General Rodolfo Graziani) - had the task of advancing from the territory of Italian Somalia, distracting and engaging in battle as many Ethiopian troops as possible, supporting the offensive of units of the Northern Front with a strike in the direction of Corrahe - Harar, and then joining the Northern Front in area of Addis Ababa.

This was Mussolini's first serious military campaign. In January, for some time, the Ethiopians seized the initiative, but the Italians, who had superiority in manpower and technology, still took their toll. The Duce even had to replace Marshal De Bono with Pietro Badoglio. Failures infuriated the dictator. On May 5, 1936, motorized units of the Italian army entered Addis Ababa, and on May 9, the Italian monarch Victor Emmanuel III was proclaimed Emperor. The emergence of a competitor in Africa threatened British colonial possessions. Emperor Haile Selassie flees the country to British Djibouti.

This was another blow to Britain's reputation and the integrity of the Empire. On March 7, 1936, Hitler returned the Rhineland demilitarized zone to Germany without a fight. He later admitted:

"The 48 hours following the march into the Rhineland were the most exhausting of my life. If the French had entered the Rhineland, we would have had to retreat with our tails between our legs. The military resources at our disposal were inadequate to offer even moderate resistance." But nevertheless, the armed French units did not engage in battle with the Wehrmacht units.

July 1936: The Spanish Civil War begins with the Francoist rebellion. On July 17, a support base for the Franco regime is formed in Burgos. The civil armed conflict in Spain lasts 3 years. At the very beginning of 1938, Hitler, during a meeting with Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg, put forward an ultimatum for the voluntary surrender of Austria. On March 11, Schuschnigg resigns. The Nazi Seiss-Inquart becomes the President of Austria, with whose consent Wehrmacht units cross the country's border on March 12, the Anschluss is officially recognized on the 13th, and on March 15 Hitler solemnly announces the completion of his great mission at Heldenplatz. And all this, like the one that followed in the same year Munich Agreement- with the tacit consent of the British.

On April 1, 1939, the Spanish Civil War ended, and on the 4th, General Franco already hosted the victory parade. The emergence of a third fascist state in Europe sharply undermined Britain's position in Europe and in the world. Anti-British riots and the growth of anti-British sentiment began in the British colonies. In South Africa, the fascist Ossevabrandwag movement formed, which opposed entry into the war on the side of the British. Ossevabrandvag included the paramilitary formation "Stormjaers" (African Stormjaers - "hunter-stormtroopers"), reminiscent of the Nazi SA units, which were responsible for sabotage against the government of Jan Smuts. Each Stormyarse recruit swore an oath: “If I retreat, kill me. If I die, avenge me. If I advance, follow me." During the war, many members of the Ossevabrandwag were arrested for participating in sabotage against the South African government and supporting the Nazis. Among them was the future Prime Minister of South Africa, John Vorster, who was imprisoned in a camp in Koffiefontein along with 800 other South African fascists, as well as captured Italians and Germans. Stormjars and the Ossevabrandvag became the first symbols of Resistance to British occupational oppression.

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was absolutely not part of the plans of the Anglo-Saxons, which is why they began to worry about their safety. The conclusion of this pact effectively lowered the barrier to British invasion of Europe. The secret protocols of the treaty envisaged the division of Eastern Europe between the USSR and Germany, including Poland, to which Great Britain had previously guaranteed security. This meant the collapse of all British foreign policy in Europe and put the empire in an extremely difficult situation.

The United States played a decisive role in England declaring war on Germany, putting pressure on England that if England refused to fulfill its obligations towards Poland, the United States would abandon its obligations to support England. The conflict between Great Britain and Germany meant exposing the spheres of British interests in Asia to Japanese aggression, which was hardly possible to cope with without the help of the United States (there were Anglo-American obligations for joint defense against Japan). Joseph P. Kennedy, US ambassador to England from 1938 to 1940, later recalled: “Neither the French nor the British would have ever made Poland the cause of the war if not for the constant incitement from Washington.” Faced with the fact of the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, being under pressure from the United States, which threatened to deprive it of its support if England refused to fulfill its obligations towards Poland, England decided to declare war on Germany.

However, England did not take concrete actions for a long time. From September 1939 to May 1940, all of Europe was practically in the hands of Hitler. The defeat of British troops at Dunkirk forced the British to evacuate home, and on June 22, 1940, the surrender of France was signed in the Petanov carriage. And England had a hand in this, every now and then attacking French ships.

“Our goal has been and will be to bring England to its knees.”

This is exactly what Hitler said after France was defeated. On June 10, 1940, Mussolini declared war on England. Hitler supported his ally. A long North African campaign began, lasting for 3 years, which began to exhaust the British forces. The war in North Africa became the finest hour of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who showed himself brilliantly as a military leader. For his resourcefulness, fearlessness and stratagem he was nicknamed the "Desert Fox" (Wüstenfuchs).

Unser Rommel - Das Lied der Afrika Korps:

The British had a system of bases guarding the shipping route to India and the oil-bearing regions of the Middle East. And the Italians, thanks to the fact that this sea route passed here, could cut it at any moment, and not in one, but in several places. The fighting in North Africa began in September 1940. British armed units in Africa were too dispersed, which the Italians decided to take advantage of. The Egyptian operation became the first chord of the North African theater of military operations.

On the night of September 12-13, Italian aircraft dropped a large number of special bombs on the section of the road between Sidi Barrani and Mersa Matruh, which acted like mines, which blew up soldiers of the 11th Hussars early in the morning. That same morning, Italian artillery shelled the Musaid area and the airfield and empty barracks of Es-Salloum. After artillery preparation, the troops of the 10th Army went on the offensive and crossed the Egyptian border. By English descriptions, this Italian offensive was more like a parade of troops than a military operation. Units of the 1st Libyan Division soon occupied Es Salloum. The 1st Blackshirt Division "March 23" recaptured Fort Capuzo, which had been occupied by British troops earlier during border skirmishes.

The small British force holding back the Italians, who were advancing towards the Halfaya Pass, was forced to retreat east under pressure from tanks and artillery. By evening, two large columns of Italian troops united at the Halfaya Pass: the 2nd Libyan, 63rd Infantry Divisions and the Maletti Group, advancing from the Musaid area, and the 62nd Infantry Division from the Sidi Omar area. Further advance of the Italians through the pass towards the coastal road began the next morning.

On the afternoon of 14 September, British troops in the coastal area retreated to previously prepared positions east of Buk-Buk, where they were reinforced the next day. The Italian units reached the British positions by mid-afternoon on September 15, where they were bombarded by horse artillery. Due to a lack of ammunition, the British were forced to retreat and by the end of the day the Italians occupied Buk-Buk. On the morning of September 16, the British guards took up positions at Alam Hamid; in the afternoon, due to tank shelling, they were forced to retreat to Alam el-Dab. The column of advancing Italian tanks and trucks turned north towards the plateau. Under threat of encirclement, the British abandoned Sidi Barrani and took up positions at Maaten Mohammed. In the evening, the advance elements of the 1st Blackshirt Division entered Sidi Barrani. At this point, having covered a total of about 50 miles, the advance of the Italian troops stopped. In many ways, the slowness of the Italian generals became an obstacle to the development of success, which the British naturally took advantage of.

Italy's serious failures in its war against Greece could not but affect its position in Africa. The situation in the Mediterranean also changed for Italy. The German military leader Friedrich Ruge remarked:

“...It took only a few months to expose the military weakness and political instability of Italy to the whole world. The negative consequences of this for the conduct of the war by the Axis powers were not long in coming.”

Italy's failures allowed the British command to take more effective measures to ensure the security of the Suez Canal. Wavell decided on an attack, which in his order he called “a raid by large forces with a limited purpose.” British units were given the task of pushing the Italo-fascist troops outside Egypt and, if successful, pursuing them to Es-Sallum. Wavell's headquarters did not plan any further advance.

Shortly before the first British offensive in North Africa, the Luftwaffe carried out a famous raid on Coventry, practically razing the city to the ground. Coventry was an important economic hub in England. The bombing of Coventry dealt an irreparable blow to the British economy and British military power. On land, England tended to be inferior and therefore relied more heavily on its navy. The struggle in North Africa proceeded with varying degrees of success.

Bomben auf Engeland:

In China, the Japanese captured the southeastern part of the country in 1939-1941. China, due to the difficult internal political situation in the country, could not provide a serious response. After the surrender of France, the administration of French Indochina recognized the Vichy government. Thailand, taking advantage of the weakening of France, made territorial claims to part of French Indochina. In October 1940, Thai troops invaded French Indochina. Thailand managed to inflict a number of defeats on the Vichy army. On May 9, 1941, under pressure from Japan, the Vichy regime was forced to sign a peace treaty, according to which Laos and part of Cambodia were ceded to Thailand. After the Vichy regime lost a number of colonies in Africa, there was also a threat of the seizure of Indochina by the British and De-Gaullevites. To prevent this, in June 1941, the fascist government agreed to send Japanese troops into the colony.

The British Empire was collapsing right before our eyes. Churchill's government was completely at a loss. It became obvious that the world was tired of enduring British violence. Europe is completely in the hands of Hitler, the struggle in North Africa has not yielded results for a long time, and in the Pacific Ocean the Japanese machine is gaining momentum. The Soviet government is not sleeping either. The Stalinist elite, shortly before Hitler's invasion, concludes a neutrality pact with Japan, which causes distrust among all other warring parties, especially the British and the Americans, who are in no hurry to enter into the conflict. The USSR thwarts the Cantokuen plan and hammers another nail into the coffin of the British Empire, effectively pitting England against Hitler. The bombing of British cities continued until 1944, until the final turning point came in favor of the USSR, and not the entire anti-Hitler coalition.

The victory of the USSR in the battle of Moscow on December 6, 1941 also ruins the Japanese plans to start a war against the Soviet Union, which both Hitler and the British and Americans so desired. The Empire of Japan declares war on the United States and bombs Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, dragging America into yet another military adventure. This is how events developed until mid-1942 on Far East in the Pacific Ocean:

In addition to the United States, the next day Britain, the Netherlands (government in exile), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Cuba, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela also declare war on Japan. On December 11, Germany and Italy, and on December 13 - Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria - declare war on the United States.

On December 8, the Japanese blockade the British military base in Hong Kong and begin an invasion of Thailand, British Malaya and the American Philippines. The British squadron, which came out to intercept, is subjected to air strikes, and 2 battleships - the striking force of the British in this area of the Pacific Ocean - go to the bottom.

Thailand, after a short resistance, agrees to conclude a military alliance with Japan and declares war on the United States and Great Britain. Japanese aircraft begin bombing Burma from Thailand.

On December 10, the Japanese captured the American base on the island of Guam, on December 23 on Wake Island, and on December 25 Hong Kong fell. On December 8, the Japanese break through British defenses in Malaya and, rapidly advancing, push British troops back to Singapore. Singapore, which the British had previously considered an "impregnable fortress", fell on February 15, 1942, after a 6-day siege. About 100 thousand British and Australian soldiers are captured.

The British, who capitulated near Singapore, are marching with a white flag indicating the surrender of their fortress.

Japanese military march "Gunkan":

Liberation of Malaya and Singapore from the British:

The Japanese army is fighting on the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

In the Philippines, at the end of December 1941, the Japanese captured the islands of Mindanao and Luzon. The remnants of American troops manage to gain a foothold on the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island.

On January 11, 1942, Japanese troops invade the Dutch East Indies and soon capture the islands of Borneo and Celebs. On January 28, the Japanese fleet defeats the Anglo-Dutch squadron in the Java Sea. The Allies are trying to create a powerful defense on the island of Java, but by March 2 they capitulate.

On January 23, 1942, the Japanese captured the Bismarck Archipelago, including the island of New Britain, and then captured the northwestern part of the Solomon Islands, the Gilbert Islands in February, and invaded New Guinea in early March.

On March 8, advancing in Burma, the Japanese captured Rangoon, at the end of April - Mandalay, and by May captured almost all of Burma, defeating British and Chinese troops and cutting off southern China from India. However, the onset of the rainy season and lack of strength prevent the Japanese from building on their success and invading India.

On May 6, the last group of American and Filipino troops in the Philippines surrenders. By the end of May 1942, Japan, at the cost of minor losses, managed to establish control over Southeast Asia and Northwestern Oceania. American, British, Australian and Dutch forces suffer a crushing defeat, losing all their main forces in the region. Australia and New Zealand, under attack from the Japanese, began to realize that Britain was unable to defend its entire empire.

Thanks to such stunning successes, the Japanese have a springboard for capturing Australia, New Zealand and the remaining islands in the Pacific Ocean. The victories of the Japanese caused a chain reaction in India, where anti-British sentiment also began to rapidly grow. In August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi began a campaign of civil disobedience, demanding the immediate withdrawal of all British. Along with other Congress leaders, Gandhi was immediately imprisoned and the country erupted in riots, first among students and then in villages, especially in the United Provinces, Bihar and West Bengal. The presence of numerous wartime troops in India made it possible to suppress the unrest within 6 weeks, but some of its participants formed an underground provisional government on the border with Nepal. In other parts of India, riots broke out sporadically in the summer of 1943.

Due to the arrest of almost all the Congress leaders, significant influence passed to Subhas Bose, who left the Congress in 1939 due to differences. Bose began working with the Axis powers to liberate India from the British by force. With the support of the Japanese, he formed the so-called Indian National Army, recruited mainly from Indian prisoners of war captured at the fall of Singapore. The Japanese established a number of puppet governments in the occupied countries, in particular making Bose the leader of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind (Free India). Indian national army capitulated during the liberation of Singapore from the Japanese, and Bose himself soon died in a plane crash. At the end of 1945, trials of INA soldiers took place, which, however, caused mass unrest in India.

In North Africa, from 26 to 27 May 1942, Rommel went on the offensive, attacked British positions on the Gazala Line west of Tobruk, and broke through the British defenses. From May 26 to June 11, Fighting France troops successfully defended the Bir Hakeim fort south of Tobruk from superior enemy forces. On June 11, French units, like the entire British 8th Army, received orders to retreat to Egypt. On June 20, German-Italian troops captured Tobruk. By June 22, 1942, England was deprived of absolutely all of its colonial possessions and from that moment on it became not only an ally, but also a direct accomplice of the United States, which, after the aggression at Midway, began to implement its aggressive plans. The Soviet Union receives a unique historical opportunity to become a superpower as opposed to the United States, which it successfully takes advantage of.

Great Britain undertakes further major operations only with the help of the United States, because it is unable to resist the Nazi evil itself. In reality, Britain is no longer at war, but is fighting back in the hope of regaining lost positions, but even then it became clear that the British lion had finally suffered a global collapse. The war cost the lives of 1.5 million British people, which eloquently demonstrates that Britain, like Hitler, received the deserved punishment not only for its colonialism, but also for war crimes throughout its history.