The 2nd World War began. Educational facts about World War II

September 2 is celebrated in the Russian Federation as “The Day of the End of World War II (1945).” This memorial date was established in accordance with the Federal Law “On Amendments to Article 1(1) Federal Law“On the days of military glory and memorable dates of Russia”, signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on July 23, 2010. Military Glory Day was established in memory of compatriots who showed dedication, heroism, devotion to their homeland and allied duty to the countries that were members of the anti-Hitler coalition in implementing the decision of the Crimean (Yalta) conference of 1945 on Japan. September 2 is a kind of second Victory Day for Russia, victory in the East.

This holiday cannot be called new - on September 3, 1945, the day after the surrender of the Japanese Empire, Victory Day over Japan was established by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. However for a long time in the official calendar significant dates this holiday was practically ignored.

The international legal basis for establishing the Day of Military Glory is the Act of Surrender of the Empire of Japan, which was signed on September 2, 1945 at 9:02 am Tokyo time on board the American battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. On the Japanese side, the document was signed by Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and the chief General Staff Yoshijiro Umezu. Representatives of the Allied Powers were Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers Douglas MacArthur, American Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander of the British Pacific Fleet Bruce Fraser, Soviet General Kuzma Nikolaevich Derevyanko, Kuomintang General Su Yong-chang, French General J. Leclerc, Australian General T. Blamey, Dutch Admiral K. Halfrich, New Zealand Air Vice-Marshal L. Isit and Canadian Colonel N. Moore-Cosgrave. This document put an end to the Second World War, which, according to Western and Soviet historiography, began on September 1, 1939 with the attack of the Third Reich on Poland (Chinese researchers believe that the Second World War began with the attack of the Japanese army on China on July 7, 1937).

Do not use prisoners of war for forced labor;

Provide units located in remote areas with additional time to cease hostilities.

On the night of August 15, the “young tigers” (a group of fanatical commanders from the department of the War Ministry and the capital’s military institutions, led by Major K. Hatanaka) decided to disrupt the adoption of the declaration and continue the war. They planned to eliminate the "peace supporters", remove the text with a recording of Hirohito's speech about accepting the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and ending the war by the Empire of Japan before it was broadcast, and then persuade the armed forces to continue the fight. Commander 1st guards division, who guarded the imperial palace, refused to take part in the rebellion and was killed. Giving orders on his behalf, the “young tigers” entered the palace and attacked the residences of the head of government Suzuki, Lord Privy Seal K. Kido, Chairman of the Privy Council K. Hiranuma and the Tokyo radio station. However, they could not find the tapes with the recording and find the leaders of the “peace party”. The troops of the capital garrison did not support their actions, and even many members of the “young tigers” organization, not wanting to go against the emperor’s decision and not believing in the success of the cause, did not join the putschists. As a result, the rebellion failed within the first hours. The instigators of the conspiracy were not tried; they were allowed to commit ritual suicide by cutting open the abdomen.

On August 15, an address from the Japanese Emperor was broadcast on the radio. Considering high level self-discipline among Japanese government and military leaders, a wave of suicides occurred in the empire. On August 11, the former Prime Minister and Minister of the Army, a staunch supporter of the alliance with Germany and Italy, Hideki Tojo, tried to commit suicide with a revolver shot (he was executed on December 23, 1948 as a war criminal). On the morning of August 15, “the most magnificent example of the samurai ideal” and the Minister of the Army, Koretika Anami, committed hara-kiri; in his suicide note, he asked the emperor for forgiveness for his mistakes. The 1st Deputy Chief of the Naval General Staff (previously the commander of the 1st air fleet), “father of kamikaze” Takijiro Onishi, Field Marshal of the Imperial Japanese Army Hajime Sugiyama, as well as other ministers, generals and officers.

The cabinet of Kantaro Suzuki resigned. Many military and political leaders began to favor the idea of ​​a unilateral occupation of Japan by US troops in order to preserve the country from the threat of the communist threat and preserve the imperial system. August 15th were discontinued fighting between the Japanese armed forces and the Anglo-American forces. However, Japanese troops continued to offer fierce resistance to the Soviet army. Parts of the Kwantung Army were not given the order to cease fire, and therefore the Soviet troops were also not given instructions to stop the offensive. Only on August 19, a meeting between the commander-in-chief of Soviet troops in the Far East, Marshal Alexander Vasilevsky, and the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, Hiposaburo Hata, took place, where an agreement was reached on the procedure for the surrender of Japanese troops. Japanese units began to surrender their weapons, a process that dragged on until the end of the month. The Yuzhno-Sakhalin and Kuril landing operations continued until August 25 and September 1, respectively.

On August 14, 1945, the Americans developed a draft of “General Order No. 1 (for the Army and Navy)” on accepting the surrender of Japanese troops. This project was approved by American President Harry Truman and on August 15 it was reported to the allied countries. The draft specified the zones in which each of the Allied powers had to accept the surrender of Japanese units. On August 16, Moscow announced that it generally agreed with the project, but proposed an amendment - to include all the Kuril Islands and the northern half of Hokkaido in the Soviet zone. Washington did not raise any objections regarding the Kuril Islands. But regarding Hokkaido, the American President noted that the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the Pacific, General Douglas MacArthur, was surrendering to the Japanese armed forces on all the islands of the Japanese archipelago. It was specified that MacArthur would use token armed forces, including Soviet units.

The American government from the very beginning did not intend to let the USSR into Japan and rejected allied control in post-war Japan, which was provided for by the Potsdam Declaration. On August 18, the United States put forward a demand to allocate one of the Kuril Islands for the American Air Force base. Moscow rejected this brazen advance, declaring that the Kuril Islands, according to the Crimean Agreement, are the possession of the USSR. The Soviet government announced that it was ready to allocate an airfield for landing American commercial aircraft, subject to the allocation of a similar airfield for Soviet aircraft in the Aleutian Islands.

On August 19, a Japanese delegation led by Deputy Chief of the General Staff, General T. Kawabe, arrived in Manila (Philippines). The Americans notified the Japanese that their forces must liberate the Atsugi airfield on August 24, the Tokyo Bay and Sagami Bay areas by August 25, and Kanon Base and the southern part of Kyushu Island by mid-day on August 30. Representatives of the Imperial armed forces Japan was asked to delay the landing of occupation forces by 10 days in order to strengthen precautions and avoid unnecessary incidents. The request of the Japanese side was granted, but for a shorter period. The landing of the advanced occupation forces was scheduled for August 26, and the main forces for August 28.

On August 20, the Japanese in Manila were presented with an Act of Surrender. The document provided for the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces, regardless of their location. Japanese troops were required to immediately cease hostilities, release prisoners of war and interned civilians, ensure their maintenance, protection and delivery to designated places. On September 2, the Japanese delegation signed the Instrument of Surrender. The ceremony itself was structured to show main role United States in victory over Japan. The procedure for the surrender of Japanese troops in various areas of the Asia-Pacific region dragged on for several months.

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, I heard from the 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 in December 1941 against militaristic Japan, Nazi Germany and fascist Italy.

However, the most persistent and, let's say, from their 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 such a periodization of the history of the Second World War were the authors of the collective monograph prepared by the Historical Perspective Foundation, “Score of the Second World War. 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 ideas established 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 of the starting point of this war, in which different time More than 60 states and regions participated and it disrupted the lives of over 2 billion people around the world. Total More than 100 million people were mobilized on both sides, and 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 scale 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 has become important integral part world war.

An in-depth study of the history of the Chinese people's war against the Japanese invaders and 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 his Largest cities and economic centers - 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; it was blocked sea ​​coast. 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 also given in modern Russia, both by historians and leaders of the Russian Federation. Such assessments are duly contained in the document issued by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for the 70th anniversary Great Victory A 12-volume work of prominent Russian historians, “The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.” 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.

The first major defeat of the Wehrmacht was the defeat of the fascist German troops in the Battle of Moscow (1941-1942), during which the fascist “blitzkrieg” was finally thwarted and the myth of the invincibility of the Wehrmacht was dispelled.

On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a war against the United States with the attack on Pearl Harbor. On December 8, the USA, Great Britain and a number of other countries declared war on Japan. On December 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. The entry of the United States and Japan into the war affected the balance of forces and increased the scale of the armed struggle.

In North Africa in November 1941 and in January-June 1942, military operations were carried out with varying success, then until the autumn of 1942 there was a lull. In the Atlantic, German submarines continued to attack big damage Allied fleets (by the fall of 1942, the tonnage of sunken ships, mainly in the Atlantic, amounted to over 14 million tons). In the Pacific Ocean, at the beginning of 1942, Japan occupied Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Burma, and inflicted a major defeat on the British fleet in Gulf of Thailand, the Anglo-American-Dutch fleet in the Javanese operation and established supremacy at sea. The American Navy and Air Force, significantly strengthened by the summer of 1942, defeated the Japanese fleet in naval battles in the Coral Sea (May 7-8) and off Midway Island (June).

Third period of the war (November 19, 1942 - December 31, 1943) began with a counteroffensive by Soviet troops, which ended with the defeat of the 330,000-strong German group during the Battle of Stalingrad (July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943), which marked the beginning of a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War and had a great influence on the further course of the entire Second World War. The mass expulsion of the enemy from the territory of the USSR began. The Battle of Kursk (1943) and the advance to the Dnieper completed a radical turning point during the Great Patriotic War. The Battle of the Dnieper (1943) upset the enemy’s plans for waging a protracted war.

At the end of October 1942, when the Wehrmacht was fighting fierce battles on the Soviet-German front, Anglo-American troops intensified military operations in North Africa, conducting the El Alamein operation (1942) and the North African landing operation (1942). In the spring of 1943 they carried out the Tunisian operation. In July-August 1943, Anglo-American troops, taking advantage of the favorable situation (the main forces of the German troops took part in the Battle of Kursk), landed on the island of Sicily and took possession of it.

On July 25, 1943, the fascist regime in Italy collapsed, and on September 3, it concluded a truce with the Allies. Italy's withdrawal from the war marked the beginning of the collapse of the fascist bloc. On October 13, Italy declared war on Germany. Nazi troops occupied its territory. In September, the Allies landed in Italy, but were unable to break the defenses of the German troops and suspended active operations in December. In the Pacific and Asia, Japan sought to retain the territories captured in 1941-1942, without weakening the groups on the borders of the USSR. The Allies, having launched an offensive in the Pacific Ocean in the fall of 1942, captured the island of Guadalcanal (February 1943), landed on New Guinea, and liberated the Aleutian Islands.

Fourth period of the war (January 1, 1944 - May 9, 1945) began with a new offensive of the Red Army. As a result of the crushing blows of the Soviet troops, the Nazi invaders were expelled from the Soviet Union. During the subsequent offensive, the USSR Armed Forces carried out a liberation mission against European countries and, with the support of their peoples, played a decisive role in the liberation of Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria and other states. Anglo-American troops landed on June 6, 1944 in Normandy, opening a second front, and began an offensive in Germany. In February, the Crimean (Yalta) Conference (1945) of the leaders of the USSR, USA, and Great Britain took place, which considered issues post-war structure peace and the participation of the USSR in the war with Japan.

In the winter of 1944-1945, on the Western Front, Nazi troops defeated the Allied forces during the Ardennes Operation. To ease the position of the Allies in the Ardennes, at their request, the Red Army began its winter offensive ahead of schedule. Having restored the situation by the end of January, the Allied forces crossed the Rhine River during the Meuse-Rhine Operation (1945), and in April carried out the Ruhr Operation (1945), which ended in the encirclement and capture of a large enemy group. During the Northern Italian Operation (1945), the Allied forces, slowly moving north, with the help of Italian partisans, completely captured Italy in early May 1945. In the Pacific theater of operations, the Allies carried out operations to defeat the Japanese fleet, liberated a number of islands occupied by Japan, approached Japan directly and cut off its communications with the countries of Southeast Asia.

In April-May 1945, the Soviet Armed Forces defeated the last groupings of Nazi troops in the Berlin Operation (1945) and the Prague Operation (1945) and met with the Allied forces. The war in Europe is over. On May 8, 1945, Germany unconditionally surrendered. May 9, 1945 became Victory Day over Nazi Germany.

At the Berlin (Potsdam) Conference (1945), the USSR confirmed its agreement to enter the war with Japan. For political purposes, the United States carried out atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945. On August 8, the USSR declared war on Japan and began military operations on August 9. During the Soviet-Japanese War (1945) Soviet troops, having defeated the Japanese Kwantung Army, eliminated the source of aggression in the Far East, liberated Northeast China, North Korea, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, thereby accelerating the end of World War II. On September 2, Japan surrendered. The Second World War is over.

The Second World War was the largest military conflict in human history. It lasted 6 years, 110 million people were in the ranks of the Armed Forces. More than 55 million people died in World War II. The Soviet Union suffered the greatest casualties, losing 27 million people. Damage from direct destruction and destruction of material assets on the territory of the USSR amounted to almost 41% of all countries participating in the war.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory, I suddenly thought: everyone knows when and where the war ended. Where and how did the Second World War begin, of which our Great Patriotic War became a part?

We managed to visit the very place where it began - on the Westerplatte peninsula not far from Polish city Gdańsk. When Germany began shelling Polish territory in the early morning of September 1, 1939, one of the main attacks fell on Polish military warehouses located on Westerplatte.

You can get to Westerplatte from Gdansk by car along the highway, or you can sail there by river by boat. We chose the boat. I won’t undertake to say whether it is really ancient or simply made to look antique, but it is controlled by a real captain. He is very colorful and, judging by the red, he was once a pioneer.

Our path lies to the Gulf of Gdansk. Gdansk is one of the largest seaports in Europe, so along the coast you can see berths here and there and port cranes rise every now and then.

Who knows - maybe this is how prehistoric dinosaurs once walked here?

The journey from Gdansk to Westerplatte by boat takes about an hour. We managed to get a seat at the bow, so we have the first view of Westerplatte.

Here it is, the very place where World War 2 began. It was here that a salvo from the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein landed on September 1, 1939 at 4:45, marking its beginning. Now Westerplatte is a memorial complex, part of which are the ruins of the Polish naval headquarters. It was destroyed in the first minutes of the war as a result of a direct hit.

Nearby are nameplates. dead defenders Westerplatte. There are many of them - no one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten. Around them, like drops of blood, roses and wild roses bloom red.

The symbol of Westerplatte is the obelisk on the hill. It seems that it is just a stone's throw from the destroyed headquarters. It wasn’t there - you still have to walk to the obelisk, and then also climb the mountain.

We were very lucky with the weather, so the photos of the Westerplatte monument turned out bright. And in bad weather, the gray monument is lost against the background of the gray sky.

And here’s what the monument looks like if you climb the mountain and get very close to it:

And here's the view from above. Anyone who speaks Polish well can read the proclamation against the war:

In addition to the famous stele, there is also this monument in the Westerplatte memorial:

If you read the inscription out loud, you can guess that this is a monument to tank crews. Moreover, traces of tank tracks were imprinted on the slabs.

The Poles are terribly proud of the defenders of Westerplatte, but there are also those who are not too scrupulous in matters of memory of the fallen: when we arrived, the monument was covered in melted ice cream.

Visitors to the Westerplatte memorial can buy souvenirs from World War II:

By the way, Westerplatte is a favorite vacation spot for residents of Gdansk, because there is a beach next to the memorial on the coast of the Gdansk Bay. Entry to it is strictly prohibited, but that doesn’t stop anyone:

If you decide to swim here, remember that you are not allowed to stare at vacationers. You can get into trouble (just in case, read more about that and its surroundings). If you came to Westerplatte on your own, you shouldn’t stay here until the evening, because public transport stops walking quite early. The last bus to Gdansk leaves at about 20:00 local time, and the boat leaves even earlier.

© Text and photo – Noory San.

The Second World War is considered the largest in human history. It began and ended on September 2, 1945. During this time, sixty-two countries took part in it, representing eighty percent of the planet's population. Three continents and four oceans experienced the fighting, and they used atomic weapons. It was the most terrible war. It started quickly and took many people from this world. We will talk about this and much more today.

Prerequisites for the war

Many historians consider the main prerequisite for the outbreak of World War II to be the outcome of the first armed conflict in the world. The peace treaty that ended the First World War put the countries that were defeated in it in a powerless position. Germany lost a lot of its lands, it had to stop developing its weapons system and military industry, and abandon its armed forces. In addition, it had to pay compensation to the affected countries. All this depressed the German government, and a thirst arose to take revenge. Dissatisfaction in the country with the low standard of living made it possible for A. Hitler to come to power.

Policy of reconciliation

What happened on September 1, 1939, we already know. But shortly before this, the USSR, which appeared during the First World War, worried many European politicians, since they in every possible way prevented the spread of socialism in the world. Therefore, the second reason for the start of the war was opposition to the popularization of communism. This gave impetus to the development of fascism in many countries. England and France, which had initially restricted Germany, subsequently lifted all restrictions and ignored the many violations by the German state of the Treaty of Versailles. There was no reaction to the fact that Germany annexed Austria, increasing its military power. The Munich Treaty also approved the annexation of part of Czechoslovakia to Germany. All this was done in order to direct the country's aggression towards the USSR. Europe's politicians began to worry when Germany expanded its annexation without asking anyone. But it was too late, because the plan for a new military conflict was drawn up and began to be implemented.

Role of Italy

Together with Germany aggressive foreign policy Italy also began to lead. In 1935, she invaded Ethiopia, to which the world community reacted negatively. However, fascist Italy a year later annexed all Ethiopian territories and proclaimed itself an empire. The deterioration of relations with Western countries contributed to its rapprochement with Germany. Mussolini allows Hitler to take over Austria. In 1936, the Third Reich and Japan entered into an agreement to jointly fight communism. A year later, Italy joined them.

Collapse of the Versailles-Washington system

The outbreaks of World War II formed gradually, so the outbreak of hostilities could have been prevented. Let's consider the main stages of the collapse of the Versailles-Washington system:

1. In 1931, Japan occupied Northeast China.
2. In 1935, Hitler began to deploy the Wehrmacht in Germany, violating the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
3. In 1937, Japan conquered all of China.
4. 1938 - Germany captured Austria and part of Czechoslovakia.
5. 1939 - Hitler captured all of Czechoslovakia. In August, Germany and the USSR signed a non-aggression treaty and division of spheres of influence in the world.
6. September 1, 1939 - German attack on Poland.

Armed intervention in Poland

Germany has set itself the task of expanding space to the East. At the same time, Poland must be captured as soon as possible. In August, the USSR and Germany signed a non-aggression pact against each other. In the same month, Germans dressed in Polish uniforms attacked a radio station in Gleiwitz. German and Slovak troops advance on Poland. England, France and other countries that were allied with Poland declare war on the Nazis. At half past five in the morning, German dive bombers made their first flight to the control points of Tczew. The first Polish plane was shot down. At four hours and forty-five minutes in the morning, a German battleship opened fire on the Polish fortifications located on Westerplatte. Mussolini put forward a proposal for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, but Hitler refused, citing the incident in Gleiwitz.

In the USSR, military mobilization was introduced. In a short period of time, the army reached five million people.

Fascist strategy

Poland and Germany have long had claims against each other regarding territories. The main clashes began near the city of Danzig, which the Nazis had long claimed. But Poland did not meet the Germans halfway. This did not upset the latter, since they had long ago had the Weiss plan ready to capture Poland. 1 September 1939 Poland should have become part of Germany. A plan was developed to quickly seize its territory and destroy all infrastructure. To achieve the goal, Hitler planned to use aviation, infantry and tank troops. The Weiss plan was designed down to the smallest detail. Hitler hoped that England and France would not begin military operations, but considered the possibility of opening a second front, sending troops to the borders with the Netherlands, France and Belgium.

Preparedness for military conflict

Attack on Poland September 1, 1939 year was obvious, as was the outcome of the fascist operation. German army was much greater than Polish, as was the technical equipment. In addition, the Nazis organized a rapid mobilization, about which Poland knew nothing. The Polish government concentrated all its forces along the entire border, which contributed to the weakening of the troops before the powerful attack of the Nazis. The Nazi offensive went according to plan. The Polish troops turned out to be weak in front of the enemy, especially in front of his tank formations. In addition, the President of Poland left the capital. The government followed four days later. The Anglo-French troops did not take any action to help the Poles. Only two days later they, along with New Zealand and Australia, declared war on Hitler. A few days later they were joined by Nepal, Canada, the Union of South Africa and Newfoundland. September 3 at sea Submarine The Nazis attacked the English liner without warning. During the war, Hitler hoped to the last that Poland's allies would not enter into an armed conflict, everything would happen the same as with Munich. Adolf Hitler was shocked when Britain gave him an ultimatum, demanding the withdrawal of troops from Polish territory.

Germany

Nazi Germany made several diplomatic steps in order to expand the circle of states that were involved in the division of Polish territory. Ribbentrop proposed that Hungary annex part of Polish Ukraine, but Budapest avoided these questions. Germany offered Lithuania to conquer the Vilnius region, but the latter declared neutrality for the year. From the first days of the war, the leader of the OUN was in Berlin, to whom the German side promised the formation of the so-called independent Ukraine in southeastern Poland. A little later, he was informed about the possibility of forming a Western Ukrainian state on the border with Soviet Russia.

In the summer of 1939, when the OUN was preparing for military action in Poland, a unit of Galicians called the VVN was formed in Slovakia. It was part of a German-Slovak unit that attacked from the territory of Slovakia. Hitler wanted to create states on the border with the USSR that would be subordinate to the Third Reich: Ukraine, the so-called Polish pseudo-state and Lithuania. Ribbentrop pointed out that it was necessary to destroy the Poles and Jews with the help of the VVN. At the end of September, Ukrainian nationalists launched uprisings, during which military personnel and civilians were killed. At this time, actions were taken in Germany against the USSR. Ribbentrop invites Hitler to discuss the issue of the entry of Russian troops into the lands of Poland to occupy that part that is included in the circle of interests of the USSR, according to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Moscow refused such a proposal, indicating that the time had not yet come. Molotov indicated that the intervention of the Soviet Union could be a reaction to the advance of the Nazis, to protect Ukrainians and Belarusians from the Nazis.

The Union was officially notified that the outbreak had begun in Europe. war, September 1, 1939. The border troops were ordered to strengthen the security of the Soviet-Polish border, military mobilization was introduced, the number of vehicles, horses, tractors, etc. in the army was increased. Ribbentrop calls on the Union to completely defeat Poland within two or three weeks. Molotov argued that the USSR did not want to take part in the war, ensuring its security. Stalin said that in the world there is a war going on between two camps (rich and poor) for the redivision of the world. But the Union will watch from the sidelines as they weaken each other well. He claimed that the communists were against the war. But in the meantime, the SIC directive stated that the Union could not defend fascist Poland. A little later, the Soviet press indicated that the German-Polish war was becoming threatening, so reserves were being called up. Was created a large number of army groups. On September 17, the Red Army advanced to Poland. Polish troops offered no resistance. The division of Poland between the Union and Germany ended on September 28. Western Belarus and Western Ukraine went to the USSR, which later merged with the Ukrainian SSR and BSSR.

The mood for war with Germany, which had existed in the Union since 1935, lost its meaning, but mobilization continued. About two hundred thousand conscripts continued to serve, according to the new conscription law that was created September 1, 1939 (event what happened on this day is familiar to us).

Poland's reaction

Having learned about the crossing of the Polish border by the Soviet army, the Polish command sent an ambassador with the question of how the Soviet army crossed their border. He was presented with a fait accompli, although the Polish government believed that the Red Army was brought in to limit the Nazi occupation zone. It was ordered to retreat to Romania and Hungary and not to conduct military operations.

Germany's reaction

Speech for the German Armed Forces Soviet army to Poland came as a surprise. An emergency meeting was called to discuss options further actions fascists. At the same time, armed clashes with the Red Army were considered inappropriate.

France and England

When September 1, 1939 World War II began with the invasion of Poland, England and France remained on the sidelines. After the USSR invaded Poland, these two states did not focus on Soviet intervention in the Polish-German war. They tried to find out what position the Union took in this conflict. There were rumors in these countries that the Red Army in Poland opposed German troops. In mid-September, the British government decided that England would defend Poland only from Germany, so the USSR did not send a protest, thereby recognizing the Soviet action in Poland.

Withdrawal of German troops

On September 20, Hitler gave the order to withdraw troops to the west. He demanded an immediate end to the fighting. But this order did not take into account the fact that there were a large number of wounded, prisoners and equipment on Polish territory. It was planned to leave the wounded in place, providing them with medical personnel. All trophies that could not be evacuated were left to the Russian soldiers. The Germans left military equipment in place for further removal. Damaged tanks made using new technologies were ordered to be destroyed so that it would not be possible to identify them.

Negotiations between Germany and the USSR were scheduled for September 27-28. Stalin made a proposal to transfer Lithuania to the Union in exchange for part of the Warsaw and Lublin voivodeships. Stalin was afraid of the division of the Polish population, so he left the entire ethnic territory of the country to Germany, as well as part of the Augustow forests. Hitler approved this version of the division of Poland. On September 29, a Treaty of Friendship and Border between Soviet Union and Germany. Thus, the basis of peace in Europe for a long time was created. The elimination of the impending war between Germany, England and France ensured the interests of many nations.

Anglo-French reaction

England was satisfied with this course of events. She informed the Union that she wanted Poland to be smaller, so the question of returning the territories captured by the USSR to it could not arise. France and England informed the Polish President not to declare war on the Soviet Union. Churchill said that Russian troops needed to enter Poland in order to ensure security against the threat from the Nazis.

Results of the operation

Poland ceased to exist as a state. As a result of its division, the USSR received territories with an area of ​​​​about two hundred thousand square kilometers, which is half the area of ​​the country, and a population of thirteen million people. The territory of the Vilnius region was transferred to Lithuania. Germany received the entire ethnic territory of Poland. Some lands went to Slovakia. The lands that did not join Germany became part of the General Government, which was ruled by the Nazis. Krakow became its capital. The Third Reich lost about twenty thousand people, thirty thousand people were wounded. The Polish army lost sixty-six thousand people, two hundred thousand were wounded, and seven hundred thousand were captured. The Slovak army lost eighteen people, forty-six people were wounded.

Year 1939... September 1 - beginning of World War II. Poland was the first to take the blow, as a result of which it was divided between the Soviet Union and Germany. In the territories that became part of the USSR, Soviet power was established and industry was nationalized. Repressions and deportations of representatives of the bourgeoisie, rich peasants, intelligentsia, and so on were carried out. In the territories that became part of Germany, a so-called racial policy was carried out; the population was divided according to rights, depending on their nationality. At the same time, Gypsies and Jews were destroyed. In the General Government there was more aggression against the Polish and Jewish population. No one suspected then that this was just the beginning of the war, that it would take six long years and end with the defeat of Nazi Germany. Most of the world's population took part in military conflict.