Where did the Second World War end? Battles of the Second World War. Western Front of Germany

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Progress of World War II

The immediate pretext for the attack on Poland was a fairly open provocation of Germany on their common border (Gliwice), after which on September 1, 1939, 57 German divisions (1.5 million people), about 2,500 tanks, 2,000 aircraft invaded Polish territory . The Second World War began.

England and France declared war on Germany on September 3, without, however, providing real assistance to Poland. From September 3 to 10, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Canada entered the war against Germany; The United States declared neutrality, Japan declared non-intervention in the European War.

The first stage of the war. Thus, World War II began as a war between the bourgeois-democratic and fascist-militarist blocs. The first stage of the war dates from September 1, 1939 - June 21, 1941, at the beginning of which the German army occupied part of Poland until September 17, reaching the line (the cities of Lviv, Vladimir-Volynsky, Brest-Litovsk), designated by one of the mentioned secret protocols Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

Until May 10, 1940, England and France conducted virtually no military operations with the enemy, so this period was called the “Phantom War.” Germany took advantage of the passivity of the Allies, expanding its aggression, occupying Denmark and Norway in April 1940 and going on the offensive from the shores of the North Sea to the Maginot Line on May 10 of the same year. During May, the governments of Luxembourg, Belgium, and Holland capitulated.

And already on June 22, 1940, France was forced to sign an armistice with Germany in Compiegne. As a result of the actual surrender of France, a collaborationist state was created in its south, headed by Marshal A. Petain (1856-1951) and the administrative center in the city of Vichy (the so-called “Vichy regime”). The resisting France was led by General Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970).

On May 10, changes occurred in the leadership of Great Britain; Winston Churchill (1874-1965), whose anti-German, anti-fascist and, of course, anti-Soviet sentiments were well known, was appointed head of the country's War Cabinet. The period of the “strange warrior” is over.

From August 1940 to May 1941, the German command organized systematic air raids on English cities, trying to force its leadership to withdraw from the war. As a result, during this time, about 190 thousand high-explosive and incendiary bombs were dropped on England, and by June 1941, a third of the tonnage of its merchant fleet was sunk at sea. Germany also intensified its pressure on the countries of South-Eastern Europe. The accession of the Bulgarian pro-fascist government to the Berlin Pact (an agreement between Germany, Italy and Japan of September 27, 1940) ensured the success of the aggression against Greece and Yugoslavia in April 1941.

Italy in 1940 developed military operations in Africa, attacking the colonial possessions of England and France (East Africa, Sudan, Somalia, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia). However, in December 1940, the British forced the Italian troops to surrender. Germany rushed to the aid of its ally.

The policy of the USSR at the first stage of the war did not receive a single assessment. A significant part of Russian and foreign researchers are inclined to interpret it as complicit in relation to Germany, which is supported by the agreement between the USSR and Germany within the framework of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, as well as fairly close military-political and trade cooperation between the two countries until the start of Germany’s aggression against the USSR.

In our opinion, in such an assessment, a more strategic approach at the pan-European, global level prevails. At the same time, a point of view that draws attention to the benefits received by the USSR from cooperation with Germany at the first stage of World War II somewhat corrects this unambiguous assessment, allowing us to talk about a certain strengthening of the USSR within the framework of the time it gained to prepare to repel the inevitable aggression, which ultimately ensured the subsequent Great Victory over fascism of the entire anti-fascist camp.

In this chapter we will limit ourselves to only this preliminary assessment of the USSR’s participation in World War II, since its remaining stages are discussed in more detail in Chapter. 16. Here it is advisable to dwell only on some of the most important episodes of the subsequent stages.

Second stage of the war. The second stage of the war (June 22, 1941 - November 1942) was characterized by the entry of the USSR into the war, the retreat of the Red Army and its first victory (the battle for Moscow), as well as the beginning of the intensive formation of the anti-Hitler coalition. Thus, on June 22, 1941, England declared full support for the USSR, and the United States almost simultaneously (June 23) expressed its readiness to provide economic assistance to it. As a result, on July 12, a Soviet-British agreement on joint actions against Germany was signed in Moscow, and on August 16, on trade turnover between the two countries.

In the same month, as a result of a meeting between F. Roosevelt (1882-1945) and W. Churchill, the Atlantic Charter was signed, which the USSR joined in September. However, the United States entered the war on December 7, 1941 after the tragedy at the Pacific naval base at Pearl Harbor.

Developing an offensive from December 1941 to June 1942, Japan occupied Thailand, Singapore, Burma, Indonesia, New Guinea, and the Philippines. On January 1, 1942, in Washington, 27 states that were at war with the countries of the so-called “fascist axis” signed the United Nations Declaration, which completed the difficult process of creating an anti-Hitler coalition.

The third stage of the war. The third stage of the war (mid-November 1942 - end of 1943) was marked by a radical change in its course, which meant the loss of strategic initiative by the countries of the fascist coalition at the fronts, the superiority of the anti-Hitler coalition in the economic, political and moral aspects. On the Eastern Front, the Soviet Army won major victories at Stalingrad and Kursk.

Anglo-American troops successfully advanced in Africa, liberating Egypt, Cyrenaica, and Tunisia from German-Italian forces. In Europe, as a result of successful actions in Sicily, the Allies forced Italy to capitulate. In 1943, the allied relations of the countries of the anti-fascist bloc strengthened: at the Moscow Conference (October 1943), England, the USSR and the USA adopted declarations on Italy, Austria and universal security (also signed by China), on the responsibility of the Nazis for the crimes committed.

At the Tehran Conference (November 28 – December 1, 1943), where F. Roosevelt, I. Stalin and W. Churchill met for the first time, it was decided to open a Second Front in Europe in May 1944 and a Declaration on Joint Action in war against Germany and post-war cooperation. At the end of 1943, at a conference of leaders of England, China and the United States, the Japanese issue was resolved in a similar way.

The fourth stage of the war. At the fourth stage of the war (from the end of 1943 to May 9, 1945), the process of liberation by the Soviet Army of the western regions of the USSR, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, etc. was underway. In Western Europe, with some delay (June 6, 1944). ) the Second Front was opened, the liberation of Western European countries was underway. In 1945, 18 million people, about 260 thousand guns and mortars, up to 40 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery units, and over 38 thousand aircraft simultaneously participated on the battlefields in Europe.

At the Yalta Conference (February 1945), the leaders of England, the USSR and the USA decided the fate of Germany, Poland, Yugoslavia, discussed the creation of the United Nations (established on April 25, 1945), and concluded an agreement on the USSR's entry into the war against Japan.

The result of joint efforts was the complete and unconditional surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945, signed in the Berlin suburb of Karl-Horst.

Fifth stage of the war. The final, fifth stage of World War II took place in the Far East and Southeast Asia (from May 9 to September 2, 1945). By the summer of 1945, allied forces and national resistance forces liberated all the lands captured by Japan, and American troops occupied the strategically important islands of Irojima and Okinawa, carrying out massive bombing attacks on the cities of the island nation. For the first time in world practice, the Americans carried out two barbaric atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945).

After the lightning defeat of the USSR Kwantung Army (August 1945), Japan signed an act of surrender (September 2, 1945).

It would seem that the answer to this question is absolutely clear. Any more or less educated European will name the date - September 1, 1939 - the day of Hitler's Germany's attack on Poland. And those who are more prepared will explain: more precisely, the world war began two days later - on September 3, when Great Britain and France, as well as Australia, New Zealand and India declared war on Germany.

True, they did not immediately participate in hostilities, waging a so-called strange wait-and-see war. For Western Europe, the real war began only in the spring of 1940, when German troops invaded Denmark and Norway on April 9, and from May 10 the Wehrmacht launched an offensive in France, Belgium and Holland.

Let us recall that at this time the largest powers in the world - the USA and the USSR - remained outside the war. For this reason alone, doubts arise about the complete validity of the start date of the planetary massacre established by Western European historiography.

Therefore, I think, by and large, we can assume that it would be more correct to consider the starting point of the Second World War as the date of the involvement of the Soviet Union in hostilities - June 22, 1941. Well, we heard from Americans that the war acquired a truly global character only after the treacherous Japanese attack on the Pacific naval base at Pearl Harbor and Washington’s declaration of war on militaristic Japan, Nazi Germany and fascist Italy in December 1941.

However, the most persistent and, let's say, from their own point of view, convincing defense of the illegality of the countdown of the world war adopted in Europe from September 1, 1939, is by Chinese scientists and political figures. I have encountered this many times at international conferences and symposiums, where Chinese participants invariably defend their country’s official position that the beginning of World War II should be considered the date that militaristic Japan unleashed a full-scale war in China - July 7, 1937. There are also historians in the Celestial Empire who believe that this date should be September 18, 1931 - the beginning of the Japanese invasion of the North-Eastern provinces of China, then called Manchuria.

One way or another, it turns out that this year the PRC will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the start of not only Japanese aggression against China, but also the Second World War.

Among the first in our country to seriously pay attention to this periodization of the Second World War were the authors of the collective monograph “Score of the Second World War,” prepared by the Historical Perspective Foundation. Thunderstorm in the East" (Auth.-compiled by A.A. Koshkin. M., Veche, 2010).

In the preface, the head of the Foundation, Doctor of Historical Sciences N.A. Narochnitskaya notes:

“According to the established ideas in historical science and in the public consciousness, the Second World War began in Europe with the attack on Poland on September 1, 1939, after which Great Britain was the first of the future victorious powers to declare war on the Nazi Reich. However, this event was preceded by large-scale military clashes in other parts of the world, which are unreasonably considered by Eurocentric historiography as peripheral and therefore secondary.

By September 1, 1939, a truly world war was already in full swing in Asia. China, fighting Japanese aggression since the mid-1930s, has already lost twenty million lives. In Asia and Europe, the Axis countries - Germany, Italy and Japan - had been issuing ultimatums, sending in troops and redrawing borders for several years. Hitler, with the connivance of Western democracies, captured Austria and Czechoslovakia, Italy occupied Albania and fought a war in North Africa, where 200 thousand Abyssinians died.

Since the end of World War II is considered the surrender of Japan, the war in Asia is recognized as part of World War II, but the question of its beginning requires a more reasonable definition. The traditional periodization of the Second World War needs to be rethought. In terms of the scale of the redivision of the world and military operations, in terms of the scale of victims of aggression, the Second World War began precisely in Asia long before Germany’s attack on Poland, long before the Western powers entered the world war.”

Chinese scientists were also given the floor in the collective monograph. Historians Luan Jinghe and Xu Zhimin note:

“According to one generally accepted point of view, the Second World War, which lasted six years, began on September 1, 1939, with the German attack on Poland. Meanwhile, there is another view on the starting point of this war, in which more than 60 states and regions participated at different times and which disrupted the lives of over 2 billion people around the world. The total number of mobilized people on both sides was more than 100 million people, the death toll was more than 50 million. The direct costs of the war amounted to US$1.352 trillion, with financial losses reaching US$4 trillion. We present these figures to once again indicate the scale of the enormous disasters that the Second World War brought to humanity in the twentieth century.

There is no doubt that the formation of the Western Front not only meant an expansion in the scope of hostilities, it also played a decisive role in the course of the war.

However, an equally important contribution to the victory in World War II was made on the Eastern Front, where the eight-year war of the Chinese people against the Japanese invaders took place. This resistance became an important part of the world war.

An in-depth study of the history of the Chinese people's war against the Japanese invaders and an understanding of its significance will help create a more complete picture of World War II.

This is precisely what the proposed article is devoted to, which argues that the true date of the start of World War II should be considered not September 1, 1939, but July 7, 1937 - the day when Japan launched a full-scale war against China.

If we accept this point of view and do not strive to artificially separate the Western and Eastern fronts, there is all the more reason to call the anti-fascist war... the Great World War.”

The author of the article in the collective monograph, a prominent Russian sinologist and full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.S., also agrees with the opinion of his Chinese colleagues. Myasnikov, who does a lot to restore historical justice, to properly assess the contribution of the Chinese people to the victory over the so-called “Axis countries” - Germany, Japan and Italy - who were striving for the enslavement of peoples and world domination. An authoritative scientist writes:

“As for the beginning of the Second World War, there are two main versions: European and Chinese... Chinese historiography has long been arguing that it is time to move away from Eurocentrism (which is essentially similar to Negritude) in assessing this event and admit that the beginning of this war is falling on July 7, 1937 and is associated with Japan's open aggression against China. Let me remind you that the territory of China is 9.6 million square meters. km, that is, approximately equal to the territory of Europe. By the time the war began in Europe, most of China, where its largest cities and economic centers were located - Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Guangzhou, was occupied by the Japanese. Almost the entire railway network of the country fell into the hands of the invaders, and its sea coast was blocked. Chongqing became the capital of China during the war.

It should be taken into account that China lost 35 million people in the war of resistance against Japan. The European public is not sufficiently aware of the heinous crimes of the Japanese military.

So, on December 13, 1937, Japanese troops captured the then capital of China, Nanjing, and committed mass extermination of civilians and plunder of the city. The victims of this crime were 300 thousand people. These and other crimes were condemned by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East at the Tokyo Trial (1946 - 1948).

But, finally, objective approaches to this problem began to appear in our historiography... The collective work provides a detailed picture of military and diplomatic moves, which fully confirms the need and validity of revising the outdated Eurocentric point of view.”

For our part, I would like to note that the proposed revision will cause resistance from pro-government historians of Japan, who not only do not recognize the aggressive nature of their country’s actions in China and the number of victims in the war, but also do not consider the eight-year destruction of the Chinese population and the comprehensive plunder of China to be a war. They persistently call the Sino-Japanese War an “incident” that allegedly arose through the fault of China, despite the absurdity of such a name for military and punitive actions, during which tens of millions of people were killed. They do not recognize Japan’s aggression in China as part of the Second World War, claiming that they participated in the world conflict, opposing only the United States and Great Britain.

In conclusion, it should be recognized that our country has always objectively and comprehensively assessed the contribution of the Chinese people to the victory of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition in World War II.

High assessments of the heroism and self-sacrifice of Chinese soldiers in this war are given in modern Russia, both by historians and by the leaders of the Russian Federation. Such assessments are duly contained in the 12-volume work of prominent Russian historians, “The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945,” released by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory. Therefore, there is reason to expect that our scientists and politicians, during the events planned for the upcoming 80th anniversary of the start of the Sino-Japanese War, will treat with understanding and solidarity the position of the Chinese comrades, who consider the events that occurred in July 1937 to be the starting point of what then fell on almost the entire a world of unprecedented planetary tragedy.

On September 1, 1939, Germany began its planned war against Poland.

Already at the beginning of September, Hitler pushed Stalin to introduce Red Army units into the areas of Poland designated by the USSR. Such actions threatened the USSR with war not only with Poland, but also with England and France. The leadership of the USSR did not agree to this, and only on September 17, when the defeat of Poland became completely obvious, the Red Army entered Poland under the pretext of providing “assistance to Ukrainian and Belarusian blood brothers” who were in danger as a result of the “collapse of the Polish state.” At the same time, the USSR and Poland did not declare war on each other. Therefore, despite the actual entry of troops into Polish territory, the USSR did not enter the war with Poland’s allies. Stalin won this diplomatic battle against Hitler.

After the actual defeat of Poland, in September an agreement was reached on the passage of the Soviet-German border along the river. Bug, which violated the provisions of the secret protocol of August 23. As compensation, Germany transferred Lithuania to the Soviet sphere of influence. At this stage, the agreement with Germany allowed the USSR to annex a huge territory of 200 thousand square meters. km with a population of 12 million people (7 million Ukrainians, 3 million Belarusians and 2 million Poles).

Next, the USSR, in accordance with the provisions of the secret protocol, began to strengthen its positions in the Baltic states. In September-October 1939, the Soviet leadership diplomatically imposed “mutual assistance agreements” on Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, under the terms of which they provided the USSR with their military bases.

On October 31, the Soviet government presented territorial claims to Finland, which erected a system of powerful fortifications known as the “Mannerheim Line” along the border running along the Karelian Isthmus, 35 km from Leningrad. The USSR demanded to demilitarize the border zone and move the border 70 km from Leningrad, to liquidate the naval bases on Hanko and the Åland Islands in exchange for very significant territorial concessions in the north. Finland rejected these proposals, but agreed to negotiate.

On November 29, 1939, taking advantage of a minor border incident, the USSR terminated the non-aggression pact with Finland. The next day military operations began. The Soviet press announced the creation of the “People's Government of Finland,” which consisted of several Finnish communists, mostly employees of the Comintern, who had long lived in Moscow. We have to admit that although the USSR really needed to obtain lands vital for the security of Leningrad, which also originally belonged to Russia, its actions clearly qualify as aggression. Moreover, the attempt to illegally proclaim the Democratic Republic of Finland was no different from Hitler’s methods of eliminating the enemy’s sovereignty.

The Finnish army, inferior in numbers by 3.2 times, artillery by 5.6 times, tanks by 35 times, managed to delay the advance of the Red Army for several weeks, but at the end of February 1940, Soviet troops managed to break through the Finnish defenses. The Finnish government asked for peace and, under an agreement on March 12, 1940, ceded the entire Karelian Isthmus with Vyborg to the Soviet Union, and also provided it with its naval base on the Hanko Peninsula for 30 years. The Soviet-Finnish war cost the USSR 50 thousand killed, more than 150 thousand wounded and missing. The consequences of this war were truly tragic for the USSR: the low combat effectiveness of the Soviet troops, which emerged during the war, had a significant impact on Hitler’s overestimation of the military power of the USSR and on his intention to attack the Soviet Union; the aggression hit the international prestige of the USSR, led to its exclusion from the League of Nations, and the threat of war with England and France.

From September 1939 until the spring of 1940, the so-called “strange war” was fought in Western Europe. 110 Anglo-French divisions, standing against 23 German ones, did nothing to alleviate the plight of Poland. The “Strange War”, the defeat of Poland with the actual connivance of its Western allies clearly showed the possible course of events in the event of the signing of the Anglo-Franco-Soviet agreement. The calm was false, since the Germans were simply afraid of a war “on two fronts.” Having defeated Poland, Germany released significant forces in the East and dealt a decisive blow in Western Europe. In April 1940, the Germans occupied Denmark almost without losses and landed airborne troops in Norway.

In May 1940, German troops, having captured Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg, bypassed the Maginot Line from the north and reached the English Channel through northern France. Here, near the port city of Dunkirk, one of the most dramatic battles of the early period of the war took place. The British sought to save the remaining troops on the continent. After bloody battles, the remnants of the English, French and Belgian troops crossed to the English coast.

After this, the German divisions quickly moved towards Paris. On June 14, the German army entered the city, which had been abandoned by most of its inhabitants.

On June 22, 1940, official France capitulated. Under the terms of the agreement, the country was divided into two parts: the Germans ruled in the north and center, occupation laws were in force; the south was ruled from the town of Vichy by the Petain government, which was entirely dependent on Hitler. At the same time, the formation of the “Fighting France” troops began under the command of General de Gaulle, who was in London, who decided to fight for the liberation of their homeland.

Now in Western Europe, Hitler had one serious opponent left - England. Waging war against her was significantly complicated by her island position, the presence of her strongest navy and powerful aviation, as well as numerous sources of raw materials and food in her overseas possessions.

A few days after the Red Army entered the Baltic states, the Soviet government sent an ultimatum to Romania, demanding the immediate return of Bessarabia, formerly part of the Russian Empire and also mentioned in the secret protocol, to the USSR. In addition, it also demanded that Northern Bukovina, which was never part of Tsarist Russia and the question of which was not raised in the protocol of August 23, 1939, be transferred to the USSR. In early July 1940, left by Germany without support, Romania was forced to yield to the demands of the USSR .

Thus, within one year, the territory of the USSR increased by 500 thousand square meters. km, and the population is 23 million people. In recent years, due to the reassessment of many historical events, these steps of the Stalinist leadership to strengthen the geopolitical position of the USSR were subjected to moral condemnation. However, contemporaries assessed them as acceptable for the current situation. Thus, Churchill, who cannot be suspected of sympathizing with the USSR, wrote that the Bolsheviks “it was vitally necessary to push the starting positions of the German armies as far west as possible... If their policy was coldly calculating, then it was also at that moment in high realistic degree."

At the same time, the real dependence of the USSR on Germany grew, since during the war the opportunity for political maneuvers sharply narrowed. The Soviet government was taken by surprise by the unexpectedly rapid German military successes. First, the example of Poland showed the real attitude of England and France towards fulfilling their treaty obligations, and therefore the leadership of the USSR became more confident in the correctness of the reorientation towards Germany. Later, the new balance of power on the world stage became increasingly important. Plans associated with plans for a protracted war were collapsing, and the power of the Nazi military machine, which in a short time defeated the leading armies of Europe, was terrifying. Stalin's fears, having discovered the USSR's unpreparedness to face a powerful enemy, were obviously so great that they forced him to make strategic concessions. After the conclusion of the Treaty of Friendship and Border with Germany on September 28, 1939, the Stalinist leadership not only banned anti-fascist propaganda within the USSR, but also in the international arena declared the inapplicability of the concept of “aggressor” to Germany and the criminal nature of the war “for the destruction of Hitlerism.” under the “false flag of the struggle for democracy.”

The Soviet Union carefully fulfilled all the conditions of the Soviet-German economic agreement signed on February 11, 1940. Until the German attack, the USSR regularly supplied Germany with strategic raw materials and food. Economic assistance and mediation of the USSR were of paramount importance for Germany under the conditions of the economic blockade declared by Great Britain.

However, after the defeat of France, Germany was less and less interested in peace with the USSR. Already in August - September 1940, the first deterioration in Soviet-German relations occurred, caused by Germany providing foreign policy guarantees to Romania after the Soviet annexation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. She sent a very significant military mission to prepare the Romanian army for war against the USSR. Hungary then joined the fascist coalition. In September, Germany sent troops to Finland.

On Hitler's instructions, from the end of July 1940, a plan for a lightning war against the Soviet Union was being developed, and at the end of August the transfer of the first military formations to the east began. The failure of the complete strategic subordination of the USSR by diplomatic means led Hitler to the adoption on December 5, 1940 of the final decision regarding the USSR, confirmed on December 18 by “Directive 21”, which set the start of the implementation of the “Barbarossa” war plan with the USSR on May 15, 1941. The invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece forced Hitler on April 30, 1941 to change this date to June 22, 1941.

3. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War, its national liberation character

Early on Sunday morning, June 22, 1941, Germany, following the planned plan, attacked the USSR. A war began, in which it was not about preserving the social system or even statehood, but about the physical existence of the peoples inhabiting the USSR. Hitler emphasized that “the upcoming campaign is not just an armed struggle, it is a conflict of two worldviews... We must wipe this country off the face of the earth and destroy its people.” According to the Ost plan, after the victory, the dismemberment of the USSR, the forced deportation of 50 million people beyond the Urals, genocide, the destruction of leading cultural centers, and the transformation of the European part of the country into a living space for German colonists were envisaged. The inhuman plans of the Nazis, their cruel methods of warfare strengthened the desire of the Soviet people to save their Motherland and themselves from complete extermination and enslavement. The war acquired a people's liberation character and rightly went down in history as the Great Patriotic War.

The Barbarossa plan provided for a simultaneous attack by three army groups on Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv, the defeat of Soviet troops in the border areas, the destruction of industry in the Urals with the help of aviation and access to the Volga - Arkhangelsk line. The lightning war (“blitzkrieg”) was supposed to take no more than 10 weeks.

The Nazis carefully prepared for war. The German economy was completely transferred to a war footing. By 1941, Germany's industrial potential exceeded the Soviet one in the most important indicators by 2.5 times. To this must be added the potential of the occupied countries. Germany had at its disposal captured weapons from 180 defeated divisions. Nazi Germany sent 80% of its troops against the Soviet Union. They were joined by the armies of Italy, Romania, Hungary, Finland, Slovakia, Croatia, and the “volunteer” formations of Spain and France. In the summer of 1941, a group of 190 divisions numbering 5.5 million people, 47 thousand guns and mortars, 4.5 thousand tanks, 5 thousand aircraft was created near the Soviet borders. Never before in history has such a powerful military fist been created.

In turn, the Soviet Union tried to use the “breathing space” achieved as a result of the Non-Aggression Treaty. Military spending increased from 25.6% of the state budget in 1939 to 43.4% in 1941. The level of military production was sharply increased, strategic reserves were doubled, and the production of new equipment was accelerated. The army, transferred to universal conscription in September 1939, increased from 1.9 million to 5.4 million people.

Nevertheless, German troops won the first battles. By the end of 1941, the depth of the aggressor’s advance ranged from 850 to 1200 km. Leningrad was blocked, the Germans reached the approaches to Moscow. The Red Army suffered losses unprecedented in the history of wars: by December 1, 1941 - 7 million people killed, wounded and captured; about 22 thousand tanks, up to 25 thousand aircraft. The position of the USSR was critical: the military catastrophe of the first five months of the war led to the enemy’s occupation of vital regions, in which in peacetime 40% of the country’s population lived, 68% of cast iron, 58% of steel and aluminum, 40% of railway equipment were produced. 65% - coal, 84% - sugar and 38% - grain. The pre-war army virtually ceased to exist. The country was on the brink of disaster.

The main reason for the military catastrophe of the USSR in 1941 was the gigantic destructive potential of the military machine created by the fascists, which the armies of such powers as England and France could no longer resist. At the same time, today we see that it was possible to use the military-economic potential of the USSR much better to resist the enemy even then. In this sense, responsibility for the military defeats of the USSR in 1941 lies with the country's leadership, and above all with Stalin. The following aspects can be highlighted in this responsibility: the complete inconsistency of the military doctrine with the situation, the global error in assessing the Nazi threat in June 1941, the flawed arms policy, the deep disorganization of the command staff as a result of the purges of 1937-1938.

Stalin's military doctrine was based on three ideas: the USSR would not have to conduct military operations on its territory, it should prepare for an offensive war, any aggression against the USSR would be immediately stopped by a general uprising of the Western proletariat. Therefore, all Soviet military tactics and troop dispositions were based on the objectives of an offensive war.

At the same time, although the Nazis achieved enormous success in 1941, it was not yet a victory. Unexpectedly, the enemy in the USSR encountered a people who had risen to fight a common misfortune. The whole country was quickly rebuilt on a war footing. At the same time, the Communist Party played a key role in mobilizing all forces to repel the enemy. In the most difficult conditions, the CPSU(b) managed to ensure the targeted unity of ideological, political, economic, and military governance of the country. The faith of thousands of ordinary communists in socialist ideals, in their superiority as bearers of the most advanced social ideal, gave a powerful impetus to the general patriotic upsurge.

Measures to combat the enemy were outlined in the resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated June 23, 1941 and the directive “To Party and Soviet organizations in front-line regions” (June 29, 1941). The slogan “Everything for the front, everything for victory!” became the law of life of the country. Management bodies at all levels were reorganized, personnel and material resources were redistributed. On June 23, 1941, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command was formed, and on June 30, the State Defense Committee was formed, in whose hands all power was concentrated. The centralization of management increased even more. Mobilization was promptly carried out, which was complemented by the patriotic upsurge of the people with the massive creation of volunteer militia formations and partisan detachments.

The fascist military machine began to show serious failures on the battlefields soon after the start of the war. Nazi strategists, who predicted with German pedantry the order and timing of operations, were faced with a completely unaccounted for factor - the mass heroism of Soviet soldiers, which destroyed armchair calculations. Poorly armed, often without command, and mercilessly beaten by the entire might of the German army, the Soviet soldier continued to resist in situations in which all previous opponents of the Wehrmacht had surrendered. Soviet soldiers heroically defended Brest, Mogilev, Smolensk, Odessa, Kyiv, Sevastopol, and other large and small cities and villages. A partisan movement developed behind enemy lines, and the German command was forced to use up to 10% of its ground forces during the war to combat it.

The Wehrmacht suffered a strategic defeat near Moscow. The capital of the USSR was never taken, and as a result of the counter-offensive of Soviet troops in December 1941, the enemy was driven back 120 - 400 km with heavy losses. This victory of the Red Army had enormous military and political significance. The myth of the invincibility of Hitler's army was dispelled. The plan for a lightning war was finally thwarted, which gave the country the opportunity to come to its senses after the terrible first military strike.

Under the cover of the Red Army, which was retreating in bloody battles, the most difficult work was unfolding in the country to mobilize the national economy. New people's commissariats were created for the operational management of key industries. Under the leadership of the Evacuation Council, an unprecedented transfer of industrial and other facilities to the East of the country took place. In a short period of time, 10 million people, 1,523 large industrial enterprises, and enormous material and cultural values ​​were transported to the interior regions. Thanks to the measures taken, by December 1941 the decline in military production was stopped and from March 1942 its growth began. State ownership of the means of production and the strictly centralized economic management system based on it allowed the USSR to quickly concentrate all resources on military production. Therefore, while inferior to the aggressors in terms of the size of the industrial base, the USSR was soon far ahead of them in the production of military equipment. Thus, per one metal-cutting machine, the USSR produced 8 times more aircraft, and for every ton of steel produced, 5 times more tanks.

In the most difficult defensive battles of 1941 - 1942. the best military personnel of the Wehrmacht were ground up and the necessary prerequisites were prepared for the final turning point in the war, carried out during the colossal battles of Stalingrad (summer 1942 - winter 1943) and Kursk (July - August 1943). If 1.5 million people took part in the battle near Moscow on both sides, then at Stalingrad - 2 million, and in the largest battle in the history of the planet, the Battle of Kursk, 4 million people. The Soviet-German front became the decisive front of the Second World War. It was 4 times longer than all the others combined; up to 85% of all fascist divisions fought on it. Germany and its satellites lost 607 divisions here and 176 on all other fronts.

Neither geographically nor chronologically the history of the Second World War is comparable to. On a geopolitical scale, the events of the Great Patriotic War unfolded on the Eastern Front, although these events undoubtedly most influenced the outcome of this global military-political crisis. The stages of World War II also coincide with the general stages of the Great Patriotic War.

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Balance of power

How the Second World War took place, briefly about its main participants. 62 states (out of 73 existing at that time) and almost 80% of the population of the entire globe took part in the conflict.

All participants had one relationship or another with two clearly defined coalitions:

• anti-Hitler,
• Axis coalition.

The creation of the Axis began much earlier than the formation of the anti-Hitler coalition. In 1936, the Anti-Comintern Pact was signed between Japan and Berlin. This was the beginning of the formalization of the union.

Important! A number of countries changed their coalition orientation at the very end of the confrontation. For example, Finland, Italy and Romania. A number of puppet countries formed by the fascist regime, for example, Vichy France, the Greek Kingdom, completely disappeared from the geopolitical map of the world.

Territories affected by hostilities

There were 5 main theaters of war:

• Western European - France, Great Britain, Norway; active combat operations were carried out throughout the Atlantic;
• Eastern European - USSR, Poland, Finland, Austria; combat operations took place in such parts of the Atlantic as the Barents Sea, Baltic Sea, Black Sea;
• Mediterranean - Greece, Italy, Albania, Egypt, all of French North Africa; All countries that had access to the Mediterranean Sea, in whose waters active hostilities were also taking place, joined the hostilities;
• African - Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and others;
• Pacific - Japan, China, USSR, USA, all island countries of the Pacific basin.

Major battles of World War II:

• Battle for Moscow,
• Kursk Bulge (turning point),
• Battle for the Caucasus,
• Operation of the Ardennes (Wehrmacht Blitzkrieg).

What triggered the conflict

We can talk a lot about the reasons for a long time. Each country had objective and subjective reasons for becoming a participant in the military conflict. But overall it came down to this:

• revanchism - the Nazis, for example, tried in every possible way to overcome the conditions of the Versailles Peace of 1918 and again take a leading position in Europe;
• imperialism - all major world powers had certain territorial interests: Italy launched a military invasion of Ethiopia, Japan was interested in Manchuria and Northern China, Germany was interested in the Ruru region and Austria. The USSR was worried about the problem of the Finnish and Polish borders;
• ideological contradictions - two opposing camps have formed in the world: communist and democratic-bourgeois; the member countries of the camps dreamed of destroying each other.

Important! The ideological contradictions that existed the day before made it impossible to prevent the conflict at the initial stage.

The Munich Agreement was concluded between the fascists and the democratic countries of the West, which ultimately led to the Anschluss of Austria and the Ruhr. The Western powers actually disrupted the Moscow Conference, at which the Russians planned to discuss the possibility of creating an anti-German coalition. Finally, in defiance of the Munich Treaty, the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact and the secret Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact were signed. In such difficult diplomatic conditions, it was impossible to prevent war.

Stages

The entire Second World War can be divided into five main stages:

• first – 09.1939 – 06.1941;
• second – 07.1941 – 11.1942;
• third - 12.1942 - 06. 1944;
• fourth – 07/1944 – 05/1945;
• fifth – 06 – 09. 1945

The stages of the Second World War are conditional; they include certain significant events. When did World War II start? How did World War II start? Who started World War II? The beginning is considered to be September 1, 1939, when German troops invaded Poland, that is, in fact, the Germans took the initiative.

Important! The question of when the Second World War began is clear; a direct and accurate answer can be given here, but it is more difficult to say about who started the Second World War; it is impossible to answer unequivocally. All powers of the world are to one degree or another guilty of unleashing a global conflict.

The Second World War ended on September 2, 1945, when the act of surrender of Japan was signed. We can say that Japan has not yet completely closed the page of World War II. A peace treaty has not yet been signed between the Russian Federation and Japan. The Japanese side disputes the Russian ownership of the four South Kuril Islands.

First stage

The main events that unfolded at the first stage can be presented in the following chronological order (table):

The beginning of the war

Second phase

It became a turning point in many ways. The main thing here is that the Germans lost the strategic initiative and speed characteristic of 40-41. The main events take place in the Eastern European theater of operations. The main forces of Germany were also concentrated there, which can no longer provide large-scale support in Europe and North Africa to its coalition allies, which, in turn, led to the successes of the Anglo-American-French forces in the African and Mediterranean theaters of combat.

Second stage of the war

Important! It was at the second stage that the Anti-Hitler Coalition was formed, the USSR, USA, China and Great Britain signed the Declaration of the United Nations (01/01/1942).

Third stage

It is marked by a complete loss of strategic initiative from the outside. On the eastern front, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive. On the Western, African and Pacific fronts, the allies of the anti-Hitler coalition also achieved significant results

An important diplomatic event of the third stage was the Tehran Conference of the Allies (11.1943). At which joint military actions against the Third Reich were agreed upon.

Third stage of the war

These are all the main stages of the Second World War. In total, it lasted exactly 6 years.

Fourth stage

It meant a gradual cessation of hostilities on all fronts except the Pacific. The Nazis suffer a crushing defeat.

At the allied conference in Yalta (02.1945), the leaders of the USA, the USSR and Britain discussed the post-war structure of Europe and the world (they also discussed the main thing - the creation of the UN). The agreements reached in Yalta influenced the entire course of post-war history.

Fifth stage

The last stage of the war

Consequences

How the Second World War ended, briefly about the main results

In July 1945 (exact date -17.07) the Potsdam Conference began, at which:

• the fate of Berlin was determined (quadripartite occupation);
• a 4D plan has been developed (demilitarization, democratization, denationalization, demonopolization);
• the issue of reparations in favor of the Union was resolved;
• new borders of Poland were determined (East Prussia was transferred to the USSR).

Consequences of the war

Beginning of World War II

World War II: events in Europe in 1939-1941.

Conclusion

In total, 65 million people died, with only 27 of them at the front. Despite this tragedy, the world after 1946 (W. Churchill’s speech in Fulton) entered a new era; a period of unspoken confrontation between two camps began: socialist and democratic.