History of Germany during World War II
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| History of Germany |
|---|
 |
| Ancient times |
| Germanic peoples |
| Migration Period |
| Frankish Empire |
| Medieval times |
| East Francia |
| Kingdom of Germany |
.svg/20px-Banner_of_the_Holy_Roman_Emperor_(after_1400).svg.png){kind=small} Holy Roman Empire |
 East Colonisation |
| Sectionalism |
| Building a nation |
 Confederation of the Rhine |
 German Confederation |
 German Revolutions of 1848 |
 German Reichsflotte Navy |
 North German Confederation |
| Unification of Germany |
| The German Reich |
| German Empire |
 World War I |
.svg/20px-Flag_of_Germany_(2-3).svg.png){kind=small} Weimar Republic |
 Nazi Germany |
 World War II |
| Post-war Germany since 1945 |
.svg/20px-Flag_of_Germany_(1946-1949).svg.png){kind=small} Occupation +  Ostgebiete |
| Expulsion of Germans |
FR Germany +  GDR |
| German reunification |
| Present day Germany |
| Federal Republic of Germany |
| Topical |
 Military history of Germany |
| Territorial changes of Germany |
| Timeline of German history |
| History of the German language |
The history of Germany during World War II closely parallels that of Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler came to power alover Germany in 1933. From that point onward, Germany followed a policy of rearmament and confrontation with other countries. During the war German armies occupied most of Europe; Nazi forces defeated France, took Norway, invaded Yugoslavia and Greece, and occupied much of the European portion of the Soviet Union. Germany also forged alliances with Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and later Finland he invaded, Poland as well as collaborators in several other nations. The German defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942 turned the tide of the war against Germany. The Second World War culminated in Germany's unconditional surrender to the Allies, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the death of Adolf Hitler.
Contents |
[edit] The Invasion of Poland
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland (see Invasion of Poland). In return, the Germans agreed not to make any advancements on European lands. The invasion led to World War II and the United Kingdom and France to declare war on Germany, in accordance with the agreement that they had with Poland. Following Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and India also declared war on Germany. After the end of the campaign in Poland the war entered a period of relative inactivity known as the Phony War. This ended when Germany invaded Denmark and Norway in April of 1940 (see Operation Weserübung) and the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France in May (see Battle of France). All of the invaded countries swiftly capitulated and the forces of the United Kingdom and its allies suffered a humiliating defeat in Norway (see British campaign in Norway) and a near-disastrous retreat from France (see Battle of Dunkirk). The United Kingdom was threatened with an amphibious invasion (see Operation Sealion) but during the Battle of Britain the Luftwaffe failed to achieve air superiority and the invasion was postponed indefinitely. Although one piece of British territory namely the Channel Islands was occupied by Germany right until the end of the war.
[edit] North Africa
In June of 1940, after the Battle for France was all but over, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini finally joined Germany in the war and Italy declared war on the United Kingdom and France. In August, Italian colonial forces took the initiative in Italian East Africa by occupying British Somaliland. In September, Italian colonial forces in Libya staged a limited invasion of Egypt. The British and Commonwealth forces, despite being outnumbered by 500,000 available troops to 35,000 (of whom 17,000 were non-combatants), made a fighting withdrawal and after reinforcements were sent to the region in December, counterattacked. The British soon dealt out several humiliating defeats to the Italians and captured over 130,000 prisoners in a two-month campaign in eastern Libya. In January of 1941 the Afrika Korps were sent to Libya to reinforce their Italian allies and a hard fought campaign ensued. This theatre of war is known as the North African Campaign.
[edit] South Eastern Europe
The Italian invasion of Greece in November of 1940 was a disaster and Italian forces were driven back into Albania which Italy had occupied in 1939. Nazi Germany attacked Yugoslavia and Greece in April of 1941 to assist their allies and prevent any possibility of disruption to the production of oil from their oilfields by hostile forces.
[edit] Soviet Union
The Soviet Union had in 1939 invaded Poland together with Nazi Germany in accordance with the secret part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and remained outside the main conflict for two years, Stalin assuming that he was safe from an attack from Hitler, not wishing to fight a war on two fronts.
For the Germans, however, the war in the West was seen as only the overture to the great operations against Communist Russia. The successful campaigns against Poland, Scandinavia and France, and the bad standing of the Red Army after the Great Purge in the 1930s, as indicated by the fiasco of the Winter War, made Hitler believe the power relations between Nazi Germany and Russia would not again become as favorable. The crusade against Bolshevism, codenamed Operation Barbarossa, was to be launched sooner rather than later. It was planned to unite Western Europe behind Nazi Germany's leadership for the common goal to fight Communism.
The German campaigns in Greece and North Africa delayed the planned invasion by several weeks, and a great deal of the good summer weather was already lost by the time the invasion was launched on June 22, 1941. The massive attack still turned out to be an initial success, conquering whole areas of the Soviet Union's western region. Their only significant strategic failure was the advance on Moscow, which was halted by stiff resistance, and subsequently driven back by a Russian counter-attack. The following years, however, were less successful on the Eastern Front.
[edit] Italian armistice and loss of allies
The German and Italian defeat in North Africa allowed the Allied forces to contemplate opening up a new theatre of war in the south. Sicily was invaded in July of 1943 leading to the overthrow and imprisonment of Mussolini. In September the Italian mainland was invaded. Shortly afterwards an armistice was signed and Italian troops found themselves arrested and imprisoned by the Germans. The Germans fought on in Italy and in October the new Italian government declared war on Germany. The campaign in Italy eventually bogged down as the focus of attention for the Western allied was drawn to opening up a new front.
One by one, Germany's other allies left the war. Throughout 1944, the governments of Romania, Bulgaria, and Finland found ways to switch sides.
[edit] Defeat in the East, the invasion of Normandy and final defeat
In the east the Germans had been steadily withdrawing in the face of increasingly capable Red Army offensives. After the Battle of Kursk in July 1943 the Germans' arsenal was depleted of much needed armoured vehicles and Germany was unable to launch another serious offensive in the east. By the time of D-Day invasion on 6 June 1944, German forces were thinly stretched across three fronts. By August, Soviet forces had crossed into parts of eastern Germany. Allied forces reached the Rhine a month later. In December of 1944 a last ditch effort to strike a blow to the western allies (the Ardennes Offensive) ground to a halt due to lack of supplies and bitter allied opposition. By the beginning of 1945, the German regime was beginning to disintegrate. A threatened last-ditch defense from a "National Redoubt" never happened. In late April, Hitler committed suicide during the Battle for Berlin. Karl Dönitz, designated President (Reichspräsident) by Hitler in his last testament, ordered the unconditional surrender of Germany in the first week of May.
[edit] Sources
- WAR DEPARTMENT TECHNICAL MANUAL TM-E 30-451, Handbook on German Military Forces, US WAR DEPARTMENT, 15 MARCH 1945.
- Calvocoressi, Peter and Guy Wint. Total War New York, New York Penguin press, 2001
- Keegan, John. The Second World War. New York Penguin press, 1990
- Lubbeck, William and David B. Hurt. "At Leningrad's Gates: The Story of a Soldier with Army Group North.", Philadelphia, PA: Casemate, 2006 (ISBN 1-932033-55-6).
|
|||||
.svg/22px-Flag_of_the_Kingdom_of_Yugoslavia_(civil).svg.png){kind=small}
.png/22px-Flag_of_Mexico_(1934-1968).png){kind=small}
.svg/22px-Flag_of_Brazil_(1889-1960).svg.png){kind=small}
.svg/22px-Flag_of_Italy_(1861-1946).svg.png){kind=small}
