Antonio Revilla

LADY ULRIKES PRESENTATION
(SECOND WAR WORLD)

Probably the second war world is the most important event of the 20th
century. Also it has been the biggest belic conflict in history.
The war confronted the allies (mainly soviet union, united estates of
America, great Britain and france) against the Axis forces ( Germany, Japan
and Italy).
The second war world can be divided in to stages:
1) Since September of 1939 until January of 1943 the Axis forces had
the iniciative and dominated the war, especially Germany, whose
army seemed to be undefeatable.
2) In January of 1943 the allies began to reach their first victories,
this lead to the rendition of Germany in may 1945 and the
rendition of Japan 3 months later.

BACKGROUND
Versailles treaty which put an end to the first world war left many countries
disappointing, especially Germany which it was left humiliated. From 1935
there was an acceleration of the international conflicts, which will lead to the
beginning of the second world war:
-

Re-establishment of the compulsory military service.

-

Increase of the persecution of Jews in Germany

-

Invasion of Ethiopia by Italy

-

(Remilitarizacion) in Renania and outbreak of ther Spanish civil
war.

Given the religious persecution that occurred in some of the republican areas. Franco´s supporters regarded the war a struggle between Communists and Anarchists against “The Christian Civilization”. Its political repercussions made this conflict of International relevance. it was soon justified in religious steps.A decided not to get involved. that aloud Germany to keep it´s east frontier save in case of a belic conflict. The republic and supporters regarded the war a struggle between “tyranny and democracy”. The European fascist regimes ( Germany and Italy). The last event towards the war was represented by the no aggression agreement in between Germany and the Soviet Union. the Church and National Movement became a united front. Germany and Italy. For the Soviet Union. Revolution and Fascism. Western democracies such as France United Kingdom and U. Portugal and Ireland supported the insurrected army from the beginning (“ Bando Nacional”).In 1938 Germany increased their expansionists politics by the annexation of Austria and afterwards the region of Sudetes (Chekoslovaquia). The war ended with the victory of the insurrected army led by Francisco Franco. SPANISH CIVIL WAR Another conflict to influence second War World was the Spanish civil war ( 1936-1939 ). or “Fascism against freedom”. a revolutionary one and a reactionary one.000 and a million of people. The republic and government received some support from the Soviet Union which was the only communist country in Europe. This conflict was the battle field where the Axes and the Soviet Union tried out their arms and it was also a conflict between ideologies. Spain was a field for the . The civil war lasted from the 17th of July 1936 to the 1st of April 1939 the number of civil casualties was between 500. The coup d'etat although it came about from political reasons.S. It was part of a wider struggle between Religion and Atheism.

From the defeat of Poland until the invasion of France there was two minor conflicts in other zones within the continent: 1) The invasion of Finland by the Soviet Union. For Great Britain and France the conflict represented a new threat to the international equilibrium that they were difficultly trying to preserve. The German Air forces were very close to win over . living Spain in isolation and with nearly now ambassadors around the world. France was left divided in 2: The North and strip of the territory that allowed the control of the Atlantic coast that was in German hands. Two days later Great Britain and France declared the war to Germany. meanwhile the rest of the territory constituted the new French state with capital in Vichy. the German general officer personnel agreed in the necessity of achieving air supremacy above the English Channel. This equilibrium collapsed in 1939 with the second war world. THE WAR IN EUROPE With the invasion of Poland by the German army on the first of September 1939 the European stage of the war begun. Germany started preparations for the invasion of this country. on the 14 th its troops took Paris and 2 days later the pry minister resigned and was substituted by marshal Petain who asked for the armistice. The loss of France in practically a month was one of the biggest surprises in world war II. On the 5th of June the German offensive was launched in France. 2) The occupation of Norway and Denmark by Germany which became the first direct confrontation between Great Britain and Germany. The attempt to achieve this supremacy is known as “The Battle Of Britain”. whose army was defatted in only 5 days.experimentation of aerial war methods and heavy artillery. The German victory left Great Britain as the only European power capable of facing Germany and Great Britain was reluctant to accept the brutal modifications in the European borders in the previous months. The German attack on Western Europe began on the 10 th of May 1940 with the invasion of Holland. The total defeat of the Polish army came a month later.

the Greek resistance was such that forced Italy to retreat. It lasted for as long as the war did. During most of 1941 and the whole next year a confrontation developed between both sides. Even though Italy was superior. We know as the “ Battle Of The Atlantic” the German attempt to destroy Great Britain by economically suffocating it by sinking ships full of provisions ( mainly food ) needed at the time. and even though it continued until the end of the war. They also had British help in troops that arrived to the Greek coasts. Never again he would be able to do this. From June 1943 the threat of German submarines lost strength. “The Battle Of The Atlantic” was won by the Allies. Germany decided to intervene to help Italy. Hitler took part when Italy asked for help. Nevertheless British resistance made Hitler postpone the invasion. In April 1941 began a simultaneous invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece by the German army. at the end. The invasion of Greece by Italy was a minor episode within the war in Europe. The background of this confrontation was the North Atlantic sea. . From October 1942 it began the progressive and definitive German retreat through the North of Africa. the war was focused on 2 areas: 1) North of Africa 2) Atlantic After a series of battles between Italy and Great Britain in what is now Libyan territory.the British ones. THE WAR IN AFRICA AND IN THE ATLANTIC Once Germany gave up the invasion of Great Britain. This conflict was resolved with Germanys victory.

The German offensive was again expectacular. North. The troops in charge of taking over Stalingrad arrived to the Volga and initiated an attacked to surround the city. not only for the forces involved in the conflict. they couldn’t go through the Caucasus Mountains. there were thousands of Soviet prisoners. the advance had to be divided into three main lines. Finally on the . Moscow and Kiev. The biggest military confrontation on History was about to began. but also for its short and long term consequences. The arrival of winter became for the German troops a bigger obstacle than the Red army itself. The German offensive of the summer of 1942 began on the 28 th of June. This first clash of titans resulted with unsatisfactory results for both sides: Germany didn’t achieve its objectives and the Soviet Union lost thousands of lives and materials. New German plans for an offensive were made according to its military limitations and economical needs. The main effort was made in the South with the objective of capturing the oil reserves from the Caucasus. which approximate objective. were Leningrad. On the 8th of December Hitler ordered to stop the advance on the front but prohibited any retrieval. Center and South. the Soviet enclosing circle of the German troops occurred. leaving two hundred thousand men isolated on land. They stayed there on violent combat for three months. In the North the objective was to recover Leningrad and in the Center to maintain their position. From the 22nd of June 1941 the invasion of the Soviet Union began under the name of Red Beard. In order to cover such a vast territory.OPERATION RED BEARD The invasion of the Soviet Union can be considered the most important decision made in the world. Meanwhile. In the North and Center the advance developed as expected but in the South the German army found more resistance than what they expected. Firstly.

the sum of defeats in Stalingrad. in the North of Africa. Borneo. In a record time Japan conquered Malaysia. In June it took place the Battle of Midway that gave a victory to the USA and meant the balance of naval forces in the Pacific and put Japan in defense. The ally victory: The triumph of the allies took place in four different scenarios: 1) Italy. in the novel base of Pearl Harbor. 2) France. Thanks to this attack Japan achieved the maritime control of the Eastern Pacific. Italy switched sides joining the allies and declaring war to Germany. Given that Japan couldn’t totally win a new war with USA. Java and Barmen. From there on. In April USA took the initiative bombarding Tokyo.31st of January 1942 there was a rendition by the nineteen thousand German survivals. it didn’t affect its aviation. The war in the Pacific: The background for the beginning of the II World War in the Pacific is determined by the tensions and conflicts between Japan and Great Britain. the German offensive to Ardenals. Overall. Japanese leaders decided to neutralize the American Float in the Pacific by a surprise attack that took place on the 7 th of December 1941. its strategy was to create a defensive ring in the Eastern Pacific sea. Philippines. Although the American loss in Pearl Harbor was significant. On the 6th of June of 1944 it took place the disembark of Normandy which allowed the beginning of Europe’s liberation up to the Seine. and Japan and United States. Hong Kong. Stalingrad was the longest and bloodiest battle in the world. and the final collapse of Germany (January to . This campaign occurred between July 1943 and the following June. and the battle in the Atlantic determined the new course in the struggled against Germany. the progression to the German border. The invasion of Sicily in July 1943 forced the retrieval of the German troops of the island and the Italian rendition. Celebes. Singapore.

For the first time Poland. and the 8th of May. The principles justifying the occupations were racial and responded to the concept of “new order”. The Europe of Hitler and the Holocaust: During four years. With the signature of the official rendition of Japan in Tokyo in the 2nd of September 1945. the German army made its last offensive in the east in the Battle of Kursk. From the German defeat in Stalingrad there was a stabilization of the Front. The end of the war in the Pacific was caused by the throwing of Attomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki( 6 th and 8th of August 1945). Romania and Bulgaria. towards the South from New Guinea and towards the Pacific converging both in Philippines. which ended with the victory of the Soviet Union. once the allies armies got to cross the Rhine river which was the last obstacle to get to the heart of Germany. German occupation generated two complementary phenomenons: . In the last months of the war. The American advance took place in two directions. there was an official German rendition to the allies. Hitler committed suicide. The II World War came to an end. The war from Mid 1942 until the end had won only directions: the American advance. On the 13th of April with the Soviet troops within 500m from his refuge. In July 1943. Germany took over a great part of Europe. and the declaration of war to Japan by the Soviet Union on the 8th of August. 4) The Pacific. which consisted in the revision of borders and the establishment of a system of states with Germany as the Dominant Imperial power. 3) The Eastern Front. the Japanese stick to their strategy of defending their conquests. there was a regrouping of the red army and the final offensive on Berlin. The Arial offensives in Germany which began in 1940 by 1944 started to damage Germany’s economy.May 45). The war in Europe was over. Hungary. Although the allies had to fight for three more years after the battle of Midway. and industry. Their targets were petrol station and communication lines.

A) and ( USRR) . 2) Resistance. The main instrument used with this end was the creation of concentration camps where gas cameras were camouflaged as collective showers. twenty millions of soviets from five to seven millions of Germans and six millions of Polish. six millions of Jews and other ethnic minorities. Many other events lived after the war were influenced by it: the beginning of two antegonical super powers to opposing super powers ( U. and had its highest point from 1942 with the adoption of the final solution to physically eliminate Jews. within this. The Holocaust represented and unprecedented crime in human history.S. The anti-Semite policy of Germany was progressive from the arrival of the Nazis in power in 1933. which made difficult German activity in the different European countries occupied by sabotaging and even armed struggled. And the be polarization as seen in the cold war. As a conclusion the 2nd world war that began as a European war became universal and affected . Two of the most importants events of the 20th century will be difficult to explain without the 2nd world war.S. represent by groups of people who integrated in this new situation willingly. Consequences: II World War was the bloodiest conflict in Human history: it caused a total number of deaths between forty and fifty millions. 1) The process of decolonization 2) The grouth of women as a labor force in Great Britain and U.A. The holocaust was the attempt to systematically exterminate Jews from Europe and other minorities.1) The collaborationism. The total number of deaths was six million people.

Profoundly the rest of the world. the economy. Not only did the frontiers shifted but all international relations. the science. . the mentalioties. But above all it was a bloody warning that another world war will be the last one. etc were influenced.