World war 2
CAUSE:
The immediate cause for the world war 2 as most of the
historians believe is the treaty of Versailles which crippled Germany entire
and aroused a burning desire for vengeance into some of its patriotic citizens,
other reason was the economic depression throughout Europe
German Aggression
The war in Europe
began in September 1939, when Germany, under Chancellor Adolf Hitler,
invaded Poland. Britain and France responded by declaring war on
Germany but took little action over the following months. In 1940, Germany
launched its next initiative by attacking Denmark and Norway,
followed shortly thereafter by attacks on Belgium, the
Netherlands, and France. All of these nations were conquered
rapidly.
The Battle of Britain
Later in the summer of
1940, Germany launched a further attack on Britain, this time
exclusively from the air. The Battle of Britain was Germany’s
first military failure, as the German air force was far weaker compared to that
of Britain’s , was never able to overcome Britain’s Royal Air Force.
Greece and North
Africa
As Hitler plotted his
next steps, Italy, an ally of Germany, expanded the war even
further by invading Greece and North Africa. The
Greek campaign was a failure, and Germany was forced to come to Italy’s
assistance in early 1941.
The USSR
Later in 1941, Germany
began its most ambitious action yet, by invading the Soviet Union.
Although the Germans initially made swift progress and advanced deep into the
Russian heartland, the invasion of the USSR would prove to be the downfall of
Germany’s war effort. The country was just too big, and although Russia’s
initial resistance was weak, the nation’s strength and determination, combined
with its brutal winters, would eventually be more than the German army could
overcome. In 1943, after the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk,
Germany was forced into a full-scale retreat. During the course of 1944, the
Germans were slowly but steadily forced completely out of Soviet territory,
after which the Russians pursued them across eastern Europe and into Germany
itself in 1945.
June 22, 1941 Germany begins invasion of USSR
July 1 Germany has Riga, Dvinsk, Minsk, and
Lvov under control
July 3 Stalin orders scorched-earth policy
September Hitler shifts priority of
attack to southern Russia
September 8 Germans begin siege of Leningrad
September 19 Kiev falls to German forces
October Thousands of russian civilians dig
trenches around Moscow
November 27 German advance on Moscow is halted
December 8 Hitler orders all forces in USSR to
shift from offensive to defensive operations
July 27, 1942 German troops cross Don River
August 23 German troops reach Volga River;
Luftwaffe bombs Stalingra
November 19–20 USSR launches two offensives against
Germans
December 12 Germany launches Operation Winter Storm
February 2, 1943 German Sixth Army surrenders
The Normandy Invasion
In June 1944, British
and American forces launched the D-Day invasion, landing in
German-occupied France via the coast of Normandy. Soon
the German army was forced into retreat from that side as well. Thus, by early
1945, Allied forces were closing in on Germany from both east and west. The
Soviets were the first to reach the German capital of Berlin, and
Germany surrendered in May 1945, shortly after the suicide of Adolf Hitler.
Pearl Harbor
The war in the Pacific
began on December 7, 1941, when warplanes from Japanlaunched a
surprise attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. By
this time, Japan had already been at war with China for
several years and had seized the Chinese territory of Manchuria.
After the Pearl Harbor attack, Japan began a massive campaign of expansion
throughout the Southeast Asia–Pacific region.
The U.S. Entrance and
Battle of Midway
Although the Pearl
Harbor attack provoked a declaration of war by the United States on
Japan the very next day, it would be several months before U.S. forces would
get seriously involved militarily. In late spring of 1942, the United States
and Japan engaged in a series of naval battles, climaxing in the Battle
of Midway on June 3–6, 1942, in which Japan suffered a catastrophic
defeat.
The Solomon Islands and
Guadalcanal
For the next year, the
United States engaged Japan in a protracted struggle for theSolomon Islands,
which lay near vital Allied shipping routes. Between August 1942 and February 1943, Allied forces carried out an invasion on the
island ofGuadalcanal—the beginning of a long series of Allied offensives
that would eventually force the Japanese out of the Solomons and then pursue
them from various other Pacific island chains that the Japanese had earlier
seized. In the meantime, British and Indian forces were combating Japanese
troops in Burma.
The Approach to Japan
Fighting continued
throughout the Pacific in 1944 and early 1945, including major battles at Leyte, Iwo
Jima, and Okinawa. By the late spring of 1945, most of Japan’s
conquests had been liberated, and Allied forces were closing in on the Japanese
home islands. As they neared Japan proper, the Allies began heavy bombing
campaigns against major Japanese cities, including Tokyo. This
process continued through the summer of 1945 until finally, in early August,
the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Stunned by the unexpected devastation, Japan surrendered a few days later.
Casualities of the war
|
Country
|
Soldiers
|
|
Wounded
|
Civilians killed
|
|
Australia
|
1,000,000
|
|
180,864
|
10,000
|
|
Austria
|
800,000
|
|
350,117
|
125,000
|
|
Belgium
|
625,000
|
|
55,513
|
76,000
|
|
Brazil
|
40,334
|
|
4,222
|
-
|
|
Bulgaria
|
339,760
|
|
21,878
|
10,000
|
|
Canada
|
1,086,343
|
|
53,145
|
-
|
|
China
|
17,250,521
|
|
1,762,006
|
7,750,000
|
|
Czechoslovakia
|
---
|
|
8,017
|
294,000
|
|
Denmark
|
---
|
|
---
|
2,000
|
|
Finland
|
500,000
|
|
50,000
|
2,000
|
|
France
|
---
|
|
400,000
|
350,000
|
|
Germany
|
20,000,000
|
|
7,250,000
|
1,600,000
|
|
Greece
|
---
|
|
47,290
|
325,000
|
|
Hungary
|
---
|
|
89,313
|
290,000
|
|
India
|
2,393,891
|
|
64,354
|
25,000
|
|
Italy
|
3,100,000
|
|
66,716
|
153,000
|
|
Japan
|
9,700,000
|
|
140,000
|
672,000
|
|
Netherlands
|
280,000
|
|
2,860
|
200,000
|
|
New Zealand
|
194,000
|
|
17,000
|
-
|
|
Norway
|
75,000
|
|
---
|
7,000
|
|
Poland
|
---
|
|
530,000
|
5,680,000
|
|
Romania
|
650,000
|
|
---
|
200,000
|
|
South Africa
|
410,056
|
|
---
|
-
|
|
U.S.S.R.
|
---
|
|
14,012,000
|
-
|
|
United Kingdom
|
5,896,000
|
|
369,267
|
92,700
|
|
United States
|
16,112,566
|
|
670,846
|
6,000
|
|
Yugoslavia
|
3,741,000
|
|
425,000
|
1,200,000
|
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