World War 2.

World war two was a consequence of injustice done at the end of WW1. Germany was humiliated and had to lose all its colonies and 13% of its home territory. Due to this a lot of anger had grown among the masses.

Dissatisfaction and a sense of humiliation that the Germans felt brought the Nazi party into power in 1932. Similarly Italians felt cheated by the allies at the end of First World War and saw the rise of Fascists under Benito Mussolini who wanted to create a new Roman empire. By 1937 Gemany had emerged from the recession and started to throw back restrictions imposed by the allies. It had created an air force and its army had resurged. Between 1939 and 1941 Germany along with Italy had captured most of Europe and pushed the world into another world war. Most of the nations in the world including all of its major powers were involved in the ensuing battles.

The Japanese empire was at battle with china since 1937 and had its site on all of Asia. By 1941 Japanese, German and Italian nations had created a tri-partied alliance creating the axis powers.

It was the largest war in human history involving over 100 million people from 30 countries.Llocked in a total war, countries threw all of their military, economic and scientific weight behind the war effort. It was characterised by widespread civilian bombings, genocides and the first ( and only) use of nuclear weapons. The toll on human life stood at 50 to 85 million lives making it the costliest human conflict ever.

Timeline of events –

1)      1935 saw the invasion of Ethiopia by Italy.

2)      1936(-1939) Spanish civil war.

3)      1937 saw the invasion of China by Japan.

4)      1938, Japanese invasion of Soviet Union and Mongolia.

5)      1938, Under Munich agreement, Sudetenland is ceded to Germany.

6)      1939, Invasion of Czechoslovakia.

a)      Alliance between Germany and Italy in pact of steel.

b)      Agreement between Russia and Germany to divide Eastern Europe in spheres of influence.

c)       Germany invades Poland. Russia invades Poland.

d)      France and Britain declare war with Germany.

e)      Russia invades Finland

7)      In 1940 Germany invaded Denmark and Norway.

a)      Churchill became the prime minister.

b)      Germany invades France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.

c)       Britain takes possession of Danish territories; Greenland, Iceland and Faroese Islands.

d)      Soviet Union annexes Baltic nations.

e)      Battle of Britain. German Luftwaffe is defeated.

f)       Italy attacks British colonies of Egypt and Somaliland.

8)      In 1941 German warship Bismarck was sunk.

a)      Germany attacked Yugoslavia and Greece and both surrender within a month.

b)      Italian forces are defeated by commonwealth nation in Africa but Germany intervenes and lost lands are regained.

c)       Soviet Union is attacked in operation Barbarossa.

d)      Soviets enter into a military alliance with UK.

e)      Japan attacks European and American colonies in South East Asia.

9)      In 1942, Japanese navy suffered a decisive defeat at Midway.

a)      German forces were locked in a bitter war in Stalingrad.

b)      In North Africa, under operation crusader allied armies had recovered all the lost lands from Germans.

10)    In 1943, Germans had been defeated in Stalingrad.

a)      The counter offensive by Germans in Africa pushed allies deep into Egypt where they were stopped at Al- Alamain.

b)      American and British started combined bombing campaigns of Germany.

c)       Operations against Japan were initiated in Pacific Ocean.

d)      Germans attacked Soviet forces along Kursk bulge. German defeat.

e)      Soviet counter offensive against Germans in eastern front.

f)       Ousting and arrest of Mussolini.

g)      Allied occupation of Italy, Rescue of Mussolini by Germans. Civil war in Germany.

h)      German submarine losses in Atlantic.

11)   1944 saw allied landing in France. Capture of Paris.

a)      Allied advance but the advance is slowed down.

b)      Soviets force Germany out of Belarus, Ukraine and Eastern Poland.

c)       Allied forces repel Japanese siege of Assam and push them back.

d)      Soviet army captures Yugoslavia and Greece.

e)      American victory in Philippines Sea, Airbases to attack Japanese homeland.

12)   1945 saw the failure of last desperate attack from Germany in western front.

a)      Soviet and Polish advance in east Prussia and Germany.

b)      Allied advances in Italy.

c)       Allies enter Germany from west.

d)      Mussolini is killed by partisans and Hitler commits suicide. Germany surrenders.

e)      Japanese defeat in Burma.

f)       Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders.

Aftermath :

Germany lost a quarter of its territory east of Oder-Neisse line and in Sudetenland. 12 million Germans were expelled from these areas.

Poland was shifted westward, gaining the Prussian territory while ceding land west of Curzon line to Soviet Union.

Soviet Union expanded to include the Baltic nations, parts of Finland and Poland and Kuril and Sakhalin islands of Japan.

In China, communists won over nationalists and took power.

Japan was occupied by USA. Korea were divided and occupied by Soviet and Western powers. These areas developed as capitalist and communist regions in both countries.

The victors USA, France, Britain, Russia and China became the permanent members of Security Council in newly formed UN.

The World was split into Communist and non-communist regions led by Soviet Union and USA respectively.

Colonies were soon granted independence.

The world had suffered greatly in economic terms. There was recovery in all major nations.