The second battle. Major battles of World War II

World War II, Great Patriotic War. It was the most brutal and bloody war in human history.

During this massacre, more than 60 million citizens of different countries of the world died. Historian scientists have calculated that every war month, an average of 27 thousand tons of bombs and shells fell on the heads of military and civilians on both sides of the front!

Let's remember today, on Victory Day, the 10 most formidable battles of World War II.

Source: realitypod.com/

It was the largest air battle in history. The Germans' goal was to gain air superiority over the British Royal Air Force in order to invade the British Isles without opposition. The battle was fought exclusively by combat aircraft of the opposing sides. Germany lost 3,000 of its pilots, England - 1,800 pilots. Over 20,000 British civilians were killed. Germany's defeat in this battle is considered one of the decisive moments in World War II - it did not allow the elimination of the USSR's Western allies, which subsequently led to the opening of a second front.

Source: realitypod.com/

The longest long battle of World War II. During naval battles, German submarines attempted to sink Soviet and British supply ships and warships. The allies responded in kind. Everyone understood the special significance of this battle - on the one hand, Western weapons and equipment were supplied to the Soviet Union by sea, on the other hand, Britain was supplied with everything necessary mainly by sea - the British needed up to a million tons of all kinds of materials and food in order to survive and continue the fight . The cost of the victory of the members of the anti-Hitler coalition in the Atlantic was huge and terrible - about 50,000 of its sailors died, and the same number of German sailors lost their lives.

Source: realitypod.com/

This battle began after German troops, at the end of World War II, made a desperate (and, as history shows, last) attempt to turn the tide of hostilities in their favor, organizing an offensive operation against Anglo-American troops in the mountainous and wooded areas of Belgium under the code called Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein (Watch on the Rhine). Despite all the experience of British and American strategists, the massive German attack took the Allies by surprise. However, the offensive ultimately failed. Germany lost more than 100 thousand of its soldiers and officers killed in this operation, and the Anglo-American allies lost about 20 thousand military personnel killed.

Source: realitypod.com/

Marshal Zhukov wrote in his memoirs: “When people ask me what I remember most from the last war, I always answer: the battle for Moscow.” Hitler considered the capture of Moscow, the capital of the USSR and the largest Soviet city, as one of the main military and political goals of Operation Barbarossa. In German and Western military history it is known as "Operation Typhoon". This battle is divided into two periods: defensive (September 30 - December 4, 1941) and offensive, which consists of 2 stages: counteroffensive (December 5-6, 1941 - January 7-8, 1942) and the general offensive of Soviet troops (January 7-10 - April 20, 1942). The losses of the USSR were 926.2 thousand people, the losses of Germany were 581 thousand people.

ALLIED LANDING IN NORMANDY, OPENING OF THE SECOND FRONT (FROM JUNE 6, 1944 TO JULY 24, 1944)

Source: realitypod.com/

This battle, which became part of Operation Overlord, marked the beginning of the deployment of a strategic group of Anglo-American allied forces in Normandy (France). British, American, Canadian and French units took part in the invasion. The landing of the main forces from Allied warships was preceded by a massive bombardment of German coastal fortifications and the landing of paratroopers and gliders on the positions of selected Wehrmacht units. Allied Marines landed on five beaches. Considered one of the largest amphibious operations in history. Both sides lost more than 200 thousand of their troops.

Source: realitypod.com/

The last strategic offensive operation of the armed forces of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War turned out to be one of the bloodiest. It became possible as a result of a strategic breakthrough of the German front by units of the Red Army carrying out the Vistula-Oder offensive operation. It ended with complete victory over Nazi Germany and the surrender of the Wehrmacht. During the battles for Berlin, the losses of our army amounted to more than 80 thousand soldiers and officers, the Nazis lost 450 thousand of their troops.

The Second World War was the most terrible and bloody war in human history. The world was in a state of “total war.” The anti-fascist coalition won, but some of these battles did not always end in victory. The article examines ten battles that changed the course of the war.

Battle of France

After the Germans conquered Poland in September 1939, Hitler turned his attention to the west. Invading the Soviet Union was his main goal, but he knew that first of all he needed to conquer Western Europe to avoid a war on two fronts. First it was necessary to capture the Netherlands (Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium) and France. Hypothetically, Germany could conquer Britain, redeploy its troops in the East, and then begin hostilities against the Russians. The German army outnumbered the armies of the anti-fascist coalition. However, this did not matter as the German plan was very effective. After the Germans invaded the Netherlands, the French army and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) moved north, facing German forces. This allowed the German army to break through the coalition defenses in the Ardennes and advance towards the English Channel, but it was a trap. The Germans captured Paris, France fell, and the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated at Dunkirk. The country was divided into German occupation zones, in which the Vichy regime was introduced. Now Germany could concentrate and strike at Britain

Operation Overlord

By the summer of 1944, the Red Army was already on the doorstep of Germany. There is no doubt that the Russians could have defeated Nazi Germany single-handedly, but Stalin pressured the West to create a second front there to try to distract the Germans and quickly end the war. Since 1942, the American Air Force and the British Royal Air Force have carried out massive bombing campaigns. The coalition led the Mediterranean operation and invaded Italy in 1943. However, it was necessary to recapture France in order to destroy the main strength of the German army in Northern Europe. Operation Overlord began with the Normandy landings in June 1944. By August there were about 3 million anti-fascist coalition troops in France. Paris was liberated on August 25th and the German army was driven back and retreated to the Seine River on September 30th. Germany was forced to strengthen its Western Front by taking reinforcements from the Eastern Front. The anti-fascist coalition won a strategic victory. By September, the coalition's western forces were approaching the German border. Nazi Germany surrendered less than a year later. The important thing was that Western Europe could not govern Russia, which was already going through difficult times.

Battle of Guadalcanal

The Battle of Guadalcanal, or Operation Watchtower, took place from August 7, 1942 to February 9, 1943 in the Pacific Theater. The war was fought between the Allied and Japanese forces. The fighting took place on the island of Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands). On August 7, 1942, the first Allied troops landed on the islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi and Florida in order to prevent the Japanese from using them as their bases, which were a threat to the United States, Australia and New Zealand. The Allies intended to use Guadalcanal and Tulagi as a staging area. The initial landing took the Japanese by surprise. The Allies immediately managed to capture the islands of Tulagi and Florida, as well as the airfield on Guadalcanal (later called Henderson Field). Not expecting such an onslaught from the Allies, the Japanese made several attempts to retake Henderson Field. These attempts led to major battles, leaving the Japanese without support. In December 1942, the Japanese began to evacuate their troops. The Battle of Guadalcanal was very important to know because it marked the loss of Japan's strategic initiative and the Allies went from defensive to offensive.

Battle of Leyte Gulf

This is the largest naval battle in history. The battle took place in the seas on a Philippine island from October 23 to 26, 1944. The battle was fought between the American and Japanese fleets. The Japanese tried to push back the Allied forces located on the island of Leyte. For the first time in the war, kamikaze tactics were used. As a result, the Allied fleet won a significant victory and was able to sink one of the largest battleships in the world - Musashi and damaging another battleship - Yamato. After this battle, the Japanese Combined Fleet did not undertake major operations.

Battle for Moscow

Hitler intended to capture Moscow. This capital was considered an extremely important point militarily and politically. The original plan was to capture Moscow within four months. Hitler and his coalition decide to capture the capital before the onset of winter. Weather conditions hampered the Germans, but in December they were practically 19 miles from Moscow. Then there were heavy torrential rains. And the temperature dropped sharply and reached -40. The German troops had no winter clothing and the tanks were not designed to operate in such low temperatures. On December 5, 1941, the Russians counterattacked, driving the German forces back. For the first time, the Germans retreated and Operation Barbarossa failed.

Battle of Kursk

The Battle of Kursk took place after the Battle of Stalingrad. The Germans wanted to break through the northern and southern flanks to encircle the Soviet troops. However, the Soviet Union knew about Hitler's intentions, and began to prepare for defense. The Germans delayed the advance as they waited for the Tiger and Panther tanks, thereby giving the Red Army more time to dig and gather forces for a counterattack. The defense around Kursk was 10 times deeper than the Maginot Line. German troops went on the offensive on July 5. This was the first time that a blitzkrieg plan was defeated without even breaking through the defenses. After a failed attack, the Red Army launched a counteroffensive. The war in Europe would continue for another two years, but the Battle of Kursk was over and the Americans and British could invade Italy. At the Kursk Bulge, the Germans lost 720 tanks, 680 aircraft and killed 170,000 people. This battle was the largest tank battle in history. After three years of war, the Allies finally gained a strategic advantage.

Battle of Midway

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan began preparing for its next operation against the United States in the Pacific. The Japanese goal was to destroy US aircraft carriers and capture the strategically important Midway Atoll, located equidistant from Asia and North America. The Americans managed to decipher the encrypted messages of the Japanese, and now the United States could prepare for an attack. On June 3, 1942, the Battle of Midway began. Warplanes took off from Midway Atoll and began bombing and torpedoing the battles in the air. The United States won the battle, and it became a turning point in the Pacific War.

Operation Barbarossa

The Nazi invasion of the USSR began on June 22, 1941. The operation involved 8.9 million soldiers, more than 18,000 tanks, 45,000 aircraft, and 50,000 artillery pieces. When the Germans went on the offensive, the Red Army was caught by surprise. The non-aggression pact was signed before the German and Soviet invasion of Poland. Both countries invaded and occupied Poland, but Hitler always saw Russia as a source of agriculture, slave labor, oil and other raw materials. Three army groups were formed; each of which had its own task. The group in the north was supposed to capture Leningrad. The central group was to take Moscow, and the group in the south was to capture Ukraine and move east to the Caucasus. The Germans advanced quickly. The main battles took place in Smolensk, Uman, and Kyiv. The tank divisions could have surrounded and captured three million Soviet soldiers by the time they reached Moscow. By December, they had surrounded Leningrad from the north, reached the outskirts of Moscow in the center, and occupied Ukraine in the south.

Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad is the decisive battle of World War II, in which Soviet troops won their largest victory. This battle marked the beginning of a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War as a whole. The Battle of Stalingrad is usually divided into two periods: defensive (from July 17 - November 18, 1942) and offensive (from November 19, 1942 - February 2, 1943). The Battle of Stalingrad surpassed all battles in world history: in duration, in the number of people and military equipment. The battle took place over a vast territory. The results of this battle also surpassed all previous ones. At Stalingrad, Soviet troops defeated the armies of the Germans, Romanians and Italians. In this battle, the Germans lost 800,000 soldiers and officers, as well as a large amount of military equipment and equipment.

Battle of Britain

If Great Britain were withdrawn from the war, then Hitler could concentrate all of Germany's military potential on the Soviet Union. America and the Soviet Union would have had to fight Hitler's coalition, and Operation Overlord might not have taken place at all. For these reasons, the Battle of Britain is without doubt the most important battle of the Second World War. The British Expeditionary Force was successfully evacuated at Dunkirk. However, most of their equipment remained in France. Germany gained air supremacy over Great Britain, and could launch Operation Sea Lion (invasion of the British Isles). The Royal Navy would be ineffective without air cover. The Luftwaffe's initial strategy was to destroy the RAF. This was a perfectly good idea, but then the strategy changed. And this gave the Royal Air Force a chance to win. Radar was important to America. Without it, the RAF would have to keep its aircraft in the air. They lacked the resources to do this. Radar would allow troops to wait and coordinate a German attack. By October 1940, the Luftwaffe was short of military equipment and crew. Hitler did not gain an advantage in the air and Operation Sea Lion failed. This battle allowed Great Britain to regain its strength. After victory was on the side of the Allies, Winston Churchill said: “Never have human conflicts been so acute as now.

Since its introduction, the tank has been and remains the main threat on the battlefield. Tanks became a tool of blitzkrieg and a weapon of victory in World War II, a decisive trump card in the Iran-Iraq war; Even equipped with the most modern means of destroying enemy personnel, the American army cannot do without the support of tanks. the site has selected the seven largest tank battles from the moment these armored vehicles first appeared on the battlefield until today.

Battle of Cambrai

This was the first successful episode of the massive use of tanks: more than 476 tanks, united in 4 tank brigades, took part in the Battle of Cambrai. Great hopes were placed on armored vehicles: with their help, the British intended to break through the heavily fortified Siegfried Line. The tanks, mostly the latest at that time Mk IV with side armor reinforced to 12 mm, were equipped with the latest know-how of that time - fascines (75 bundles of brushwood, fastened with chains), thanks to which the tank could overcome wide trenches and ditches.
On the very first day of fighting, a resounding success was achieved: the British managed to wedge 13 km into the enemy’s defenses, capture 8,000 German soldiers and 160 officers, as well as a hundred guns. However, it was not possible to develop the success, and the subsequent counter-offensive of the German troops virtually nullified the efforts of the Allies.

The irretrievable losses in Allied tanks amounted to 179 vehicles, and even more tanks failed due to technical reasons.

Battle of Annu

Some historians consider the Battle of Annu to be the first tank battle of World War II. It began on May 13, 1940, when Hoepner's 16th Panzer Corps (623 tanks, of which 125 were the newest 73 Pz-III and 52 Pz-IV, capable of fighting French armored vehicles on equal terms), advancing in the first echelon of the 6th German army, started battles with the advanced French tank units of the corps of General R. Priou (415 tanks - 239 Hotchkiss and 176 SOMUA).

During the two-day battle, the 3rd French Light Mechanized Division lost 105 tanks, while German losses amounted to 164 vehicles. At the same time, German aviation had complete air supremacy.

Raseiniai tank battle

According to data from open sources, about 749 Soviet tanks and 245 German vehicles took part in the Battle of Raseiniai. The Germans had air superiority, good communications and organization on their side. The Soviet command threw its units into battle in parts, without artillery and air cover. The result turned out to be predictable - an operational and tactical victory for the Germans, despite the courage and heroism of the Soviet soldiers.

One of the episodes of this battle became legendary - the Soviet KV tank was able to hold off the advance of an entire tank group for 48 hours. The Germans could not control a single tank for a long time; they tried to shoot it with an anti-aircraft gun, which was soon destroyed, and to blow up the tank, but all in vain. As a result, they had to use a tactical trick: the KV was surrounded by 50 German tanks and began to fire from three directions in order to divert his attention. At this time, an 88-mm anti-aircraft gun was secretly installed in the rear of the KV. She hit the tank 12 times, and three shells pierced the armor, destroying it.

Battle of Brody

The largest tank battle in the early stages of World War II, in which 800 German tanks were opposed by 2,500 Soviet vehicles (figures vary greatly from source to source). Soviet troops advanced in the most difficult conditions: tankers entered the battle after a long march (300-400 km), and in scattered units, without waiting for the arrival of combined arms support formations. The equipment broke down on the march, and there was no normal communication, and the Luftwaffe dominated the skies, the supply of fuel and ammunition was disgusting.

Therefore, in the battle for Dubno - Lutsk - Brody, Soviet troops were defeated, losing more than 800 tanks. The Germans were missing about 200 tanks.

Battle of the Valley of Tears

The Battle of the Valley of Tears, which took place during the Yom Kippur War, clearly showed that victory is achieved not by numbers, but by skill. In this battle, numerical and qualitative superiority was on the side of the Syrians, who prepared more than 1,260 tanks for the assault on the Golan Heights, including the newest at that time T-55 and T-62.

All that Israel had was a couple of hundred tanks and excellent training, as well as courage and high stamina in battle, the latter the Arabs never had. Illiterate soldiers could leave the tank even after a shell hit it without penetrating the armor, and it was very difficult for the Arabs to cope even with simple Soviet sights.

The most epic was the battle in the Valley of Tears, when, according to open sources, more than 500 Syrian tanks attacked 90 Israeli vehicles. In this battle, the Israelis were desperately short of ammunition, to the point that the reconnaissance unit's jeeps moved from tank to tank with 105-mm ammunition recovered from the downed Centurions. As a result, 500 Syrian tanks and a large number of other equipment were destroyed; Israeli losses amounted to about 70-80 vehicles.

Battle of the Kharhi Valley

One of the largest battles of the Iran-Iraq War took place in the Kharkhi Valley, near the city of Susengerd in January 1981. Then the 16th Tank Division of Iran, armed with the latest British Chieftain tanks and American M60s, faced an Iraqi tank division - 300 Soviet T-62s - in a head-on battle.

The battle lasted about two days, from January 6 to 8, during which time the battlefield turned into a real quagmire, and the opponents became so close that it became risky to use aviation. The result of the battle was the victory of Iraq, whose troops destroyed or captured 214 Iranian tanks.

Also during the battle, the myth about the invulnerability of the Chieftain tanks, which had powerful frontal armor, was buried. It turned out that the 115-mm armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile of the T-62 cannon penetrates the powerful armor of the Chieftain's turret. Since then, Iranian tank crews have been afraid to launch a frontal attack on Soviet tanks.

Battle of Prokhorovka

The most famous tank battle in history, in which about 800 Soviet tanks faced 400 German tanks in a head-on battle. Most Soviet tanks were T-34s, armed with a 76mm cannon, which did not penetrate the newest German Tigers and Panthers head-on. Soviet tank crews had to use suicidal tactics: approach German vehicles at maximum speed and hit them on the side.
In this battle, the Red Army's losses amounted to about 500 tanks, or 60%, and German losses - 300 vehicles, or 75% of the original number. The most powerful strike force was drained of blood. The Inspector General of the Wehrmacht tank forces, General G. Guderian, stated the defeat: “The armored forces, replenished with such great difficulty, were out of action for a long time due to large losses in people and equipment... and there were no more calm forces on the Eastern Front days."

From the very beginning of World War II, the United States provided England with the maximum possible assistance. Hitler had every reason to declare war on the United States, but he held back for fear of the country entering the war. It is quite possible that the American government would not have been able to find sufficient reasons to enter the war in Europe if the war in the Pacific had not broken out. Conflict in the Pacific had been brewing since the outbreak of the war in Europe. Japan, taking advantage of the weakening of France, penetrated into Indochina. At the same time, she continued the war in China and developed plans to conquer Malaysia, hoping to establish control over the rubber plantations of that country.

The United States treated all these Japanese actions with restraint, not wanting to provoke a Japanese attack on Southeast Asia and Indonesia. The Japanese capture of Indochina in July 1941 changed US policy. The United States froze Japanese assets and cut off Japan from oil sources; the British and Dutch did the same. Japan could not continue the war without Indonesian oil and Malaysian rubber and tin.

While Japanese representatives were negotiating in Washington, events took an unexpected turn. On December 7, 1941, a squadron of Japanese aircraft made a surprise raid on the US naval base in Pearl Harbor (Hawaii Islands), where the US Pacific Fleet was concentrated. The results of the attack were horrifying: 4 of 8 battleships were sunk, 18 warships were disabled, 188 aircraft were destroyed and 128 were damaged, and 3 thousand military personnel were killed. December 8 USA. declared war on Japan. In response, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States, and on the same day the United States declared war on Germany and Italy. The United States became directly involved in the war.

America was not prepared for war. Although universal conscription was introduced in the United States in 1940, the army was small, untrained, and poorly equipped. American industry had not yet been transferred to a war footing, and the Japanese, taking advantage of the weakness of the American fleet, achieved rapid success.

At the first stage of the war, the main goal of the Japanese was to cut off Southeast Asia from England, so the main blow was dealt to Singapore, which was the most powerful British naval base, which controlled all sea routes from Europe to the Pacific Ocean. On the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese aircraft raided Singapore and landed troops in Kota Bharu, 200 km from Singapore. Japanese troops reached Singapore within two months.
Singapore capitulated on February 15, 1942, offering virtually no resistance. The English garrison, which had powerful fortifications and was well armed, threw out the white flag without a fight. 100 thousand British soldiers surrendered, the Japanese received 740 guns, 2,500 machine guns and 200 tanks.

The fall of Singapore led to the collapse of the entire defensive system in the Pacific. By May 1942, Japan occupied Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Burma, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Guam, and the Solomon Islands, i.e., a territory inhabited by 400 million people. A real threat arose to India and Australia. However, the German offensive on the Soviet-German front in the summer of 1942 changed the strategic direction of the Japanese offensive. In anticipation of the fall of Stalingrad in November 1942, the best Japanese divisions were transferred to Manchuria. Half of all the artillery of the Japanese army and 2/3 of the tanks were concentrated here. This was a mistake by the Japanese leadership. The situation in the Pacific Ocean began to gradually change. The United States took advantage of the respite and concentrated its armed forces and re-equipped its air force and navy. Japan switched to defensive actions in the Pacific. The United States seized the initiative and maintained it until the end of the war.

Battle of Stalingrad

In the summer of 1942, the main events of World War II unfolded in Europe. The German army resumed its offensive in the Soviet Union on all fronts, but achieved success only on the Southern Front, where it reached the Caucasus Range, captured the oil-bearing regions of the North Caucasus and reached Stalingrad. Major General Sabir Rakhimov took an active part in the battles in the Caucasus.

The Battle of Stalingrad lasted six months, from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943, and marked the beginning of a fundamental change in the course of World War II. As a result of this battle, five armies of Nazi Germany were completely surrounded, and the encircled group of German troops was destroyed. The total losses of the Wehrmacht during the Battle of Stalingrad amounted to about 1.5 million people. 91 thousand soldiers, 26 thousand officers, 24 generals led by the commander of the 6th Army, Field Marshal Paulus, were captured. It was a disaster that signaled the beginning of the end of Hitler's Germany. Three days of mourning were declared in Germany.

After the Battle of Stalingrad, the strategic initiative in the war passed to the Red Army. The front rolled non-stop to the west. In the fall of 1944, German troops were expelled from the territory of the Soviet Union. Soviet troops began offensive operations in the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe occupied by the Nazis.

Liberation of the territory of the USSR

From July 5 to August 23, 1943, the Battle of Kursk took place. The goal was to disrupt the advance of German troops in the Kursk ledge area. After a tank battle near the village of Prokhorovka

On July 12, in which 1,200 tanks took part on both sides, the enemy’s retreat began. In the Battle of Kursk, Wehrmacht losses amounted to about 500 thousand people, 1.5 thousand tanks, over 3.7 thousand aircraft, and more than 3 thousand guns were destroyed.

From August to December 1943, the battle for the Dnieper continued. The Soviet troops were opposed by Army Group Center and the main forces of Army Group South. These two groups formed the Eastern Wall defensive line, the main part of which ran along the banks of the Dnieper. During the Battle of the Dnieper, Soviet troops captured a strategic bridgehead on the Dnieper and liberated over 38 thousand settlements, including 160 cities.

From July 10, 1941 to August 9, 1944, the defense of Leningrad lasted. Army Group North (29 divisions) had the task of defeating Soviet troops in the Baltic states and, interacting with part of the forces of Army Group Center, capturing Leningrad and Kronstadt. On September 8, 1941, German troops cut off Leningrad from land. The blockade of the city began. Only on January 18, 1943 did Soviet troops break through the blockade, and in January 1944 they completely eliminated it. On August 10, 1944, the battle for Leningrad ended.

From June 23 to August 29, 1944, the Belarusian operation to liberate Belarus continued. During this operation, the main forces of Army Group Center were surrounded and destroyed, the liberation of Belarus, parts of Lithuania and Latvia was completed

Offensive in Western Europe

On July 20, 1944, during a meeting held by Hitler at the main headquarters, an explosion occurred, as a result of which four officers were killed. Hitler himself was not injured. The assassination attempt was organized by Wehrmacht officers, and the bomb was planted by Colonel Stauffenberg. A series of executions followed, during which more than 5 thousand people involved in the conspiracy were shot.

Time was working for the allies of the Soviet Union. By 1942, the United States transferred industrial production to wartime mode. During the entire war, the United States supplied 300 thousand aircraft, 86 thousand tanks and 2.1 million guns and machine guns to England and the USSR. Deliveries were carried out in accordance with Lend-Lease. The United States supplied England and the USSR with $50 billion worth of products during the war. US supplies and the increase in their own production of military equipment allowed the Allies to achieve superiority in military equipment over Nazi Germany already in 1942. In 1943, US industry was operating at full capacity. New technology and tactics made it possible to destroy almost the entire German submarine fleet in the Atlantic Ocean. American technology moved to Europe in a huge stream.

In November 1942, the Anglo-American landing began on the coasts of Algeria and Morocco. About 450 warships and transport vessels ensured the transfer of people and equipment across the ocean from the USA and England to the ports of Casablanca, Algiers and Oran. French troops, under the command of the Vichy government, offered no resistance. Anglo-American troops under the command of General D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) began an attack on Tunisia.

A little earlier, near the small town of El Atmein. located 90 km from Alexandria, a battle took place in which British troops under the command of Field Marshal B. Montgomery (1887-1976) inflicted a decisive defeat on the Afrika Korps under the command of Field Marshal E. Rommel (1891 - 1944). After Stalingrad, it was one of the most crushing defeats for Germany and Italy in World War II. The Battle of El Alamein began on October 23 and ended on November 4, 1942. Of the 249 tanks, Rommel only had 36 left; he lost 400 guns and several thousand vehicles. 20 thousand German soldiers surrendered to the British. After this battle, the Germans retreated non-stop for 2.5 thousand km. In May 1943, British troops and the Anglo-American Expeditionary Force met in Tunisia and inflicted a new defeat on the Italo-German forces. North Africa was cleared of Nazi troops, and the Mediterranean Sea came completely under Allied control.

Without giving the enemy the opportunity to recover from heavy defeats, Anglo-American troops in July-August 1943 carried out a landing in Sicily. The Italians did not offer serious resistance. In Italy there was a crisis of the fascist dictatorship. Mussolini was overthrown. The new government led by Marshal Badoglio signed an armistice on September 3, 1943, according to which the Italian troops stopped resistance and capitulated.

Saving Mussolini's regime, German troops moved to the center of Italy, captured Rome, disarmed Italian units and established a brutal occupation regime in Italy. Having fled to the protection of the Allied forces, the Badoglio government declared war on Germany on October 13, 1943.

On June 6, 1944, American-British troops began landing in northern France, in Normandy. This was a practical step in the long-promised opening of a second front by the Allies. By July 24, the number of Allied troops amounted to over 1.5 million people. The Allied forces outnumbered the enemy in personnel and tanks by 3 times, in aircraft by more than 60 times, they completely dominated the sea and air. On August 15, 1944, American and French troops landed in the south of France. On August 25, units of the French Resistance, by agreement with the American command, entered Paris, and the national banner soared over the capital of France.

The opening of the second front was an important event during the Second World War. Now Germany had to fight a war on two fronts in Europe, which limited the possibilities for strategic maneuver. American and British aviation completely dominated the air of Western Europe. All roads and communications were controlled by Allied aviation.

The scale of strategic bombing of Germany expanded, and large Anglo-American aviation forces began to be involved. During the day, American aircraft carried out raids on industrial facilities, railways, bridges, submarine bases, and factories for the production of synthetic gasoline and rubber. At night, British aircraft bombed mainly cities, trying to suppress the morale of the civilian population. As a result of the bombing, most of the defense enterprises located on German territory were destroyed, the air defense system was suppressed, and German aviation did not take active action. Civilians suffered the most from air raids. By the spring of 1945, almost a quarter of Berlin was destroyed by bombing. The transport system and the work of the rear of the fascist troops were practically destroyed and disorganized.

At the beginning of 1943, a turning point came in the war in the Pacific. Japan's economic situation deteriorated sharply. The food supply to the population first decreased and then stopped completely. Strikes began in the country. Anti-war sentiments were openly expressed. Thus, the military defeat was combined with a deep internal crisis. The political crisis in the country was expressed in a change of government. In July 1944, the Tojo cabinet, which started the war in the Pacific, was dismissed in April
1945 there was a new change in the Japanese government.

• Summary
  December 7, 1941 - Japanese bombing of the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. US declaration of war on Japan
  December 11, 1941 - Italy and Germany declare war on the United States
  February 15, 1942 - Japanese capture of the British naval base on the island of Singapore. Collapse of the defense system in the Pacific Ocean
  1942 - Japanese occupation of Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea. Burma, Philippines, Hong Kong and other territories
  July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943 - Battle of Stalingrad - a turning point in the Second World War
  October 23 - November 4, 1942 - defeat of the Italo-German troops at El Apamein (Egypt), transfer of strategic initiative to the British army
  May 1943 - liberation of North Africa from Italian-German troops
  July 5 - August 23, 1943 - Battle of Kursk
  August-December 1943 - Battle of the Dnieper
  September 3, 1943 - the capitulation of Italy marked the beginning of the collapse of the Nazi bloc
  June 6, 1944 - opening of the second front
  July 20, 1944 - unsuccessful attempt on Hitler's life
  August 10, 1944 - end of the Battle of Leningrad

• Hello Gentlemen! Please support the project! It takes money ($) and mountains of enthusiasm to maintain the site every month. 🙁 If our site helped you and you want to support the project 🙂, then you can do this by transferring funds in any of the following ways. By transferring electronic money:

1. R819906736816 (wmr) rubles.
2. Z177913641953 (wmz) dollars.
3. E810620923590 (wme) euro.
4. Payeer wallet: P34018761
5. Qiwi wallet (qiwi): +998935323888
6. DonationAlerts: http://www.donationalerts.ru/r/veknoviy

• The assistance received will be used and directed towards the continued development of the resource, Payment for hosting and Domain.

The main battles of the Second World War in 1941-1944. Updated: January 27, 2017 By: admin

Read about how World War II began 70 years ago in the material “Union of Wrong Forces.” The magazine's ranking includes the 10 bloodiest battles.

1. Battle of Stalingrad

Meaning: The Battle of Stalingrad was the bloodiest battle in world history. Near this city on the Volga, seven Soviet armies (plus the 8th Air Army and the Volga Flotilla) were deployed against the German Army Group B and their allies. After the battle, Stalin said: “Stalingrad was the decline of the Nazi army.” After this massacre, the Germans could never recover.

Irreversible losses: USSR - 1 million 130 thousand people; Germany and allies - 1.5 million people.

2. Battle for Moscow

Meaning: the commander of the German 2nd Panzer Army, Guderian, assessed the consequences of the defeat near Moscow: “All sacrifices and efforts were in vain, we suffered a serious defeat, which, due to the stubbornness of the high command, led to fatal consequences in the coming weeks. A crisis arose in the German offensive , the strength and morale of the German army are broken."

Irreversible losses: USSR - 926.2 thousand people; Germany - 581.9 thousand people.

3. Battle for Kyiv

Significance: the defeat near Kiev was a heavy blow for the Red Army; it opened the way for the Wehrmacht to Eastern Ukraine, the Azov region and the Donbass. The surrender of Kyiv led to the virtual collapse of the Southwestern Front; Soviet soldiers began to abandon their weapons en masse and surrender.

Irreversible losses: USSR - 627.8 thousand people. (according to German data, the number of prisoners was 665 thousand people); Germany - unknown.

4. Battle of the Dnieper

Significance: up to 4 million people took part in the battle for the liberation of Kyiv on both sides, and the battle front stretched over 1,400 km. Front-line writer Viktor Astafiev recalled: “Twenty-five thousand soldiers enter the water, and three thousand, maximum five, emerge on the other side. And after five or six days, all the dead emerge. Can you imagine?”

Irreversible losses: USSR - 417 thousand people; Germany - 400 thousand killed (according to other sources, about 1 million people).

5. Battle of Kursk

Meaning: The largest battle in the history of World War II. The troops of the Central and Voronezh Fronts defeated the two largest Wehrmacht army groups: Army Group Center and Army Group South.

Irreversible losses: USSR - 254 thousand people; Germany - 500 thousand people. (according to German data, 103.6 thousand people).

6. Operation "Bagration"

Significance: one of the largest military operations in the entire history of mankind, during which the forces of the 1st Baltic, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts defeated the German Army Group Center and liberated Belarus. To demonstrate the significance of the success, after the battle, more than 50 thousand German prisoners captured near Minsk were paraded through the streets of Moscow.

Irreversible losses: USSR - 178.5 thousand people; Germany - 255.4 thousand people.

7. Vistula-Oder operation

Significance: strategic offensive of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts, during which the territory of Poland west of the Vistula was liberated. This battle went down in the history of mankind as the most rapid offensive - for 20 days, Soviet troops advanced a distance of 20 to 30 km per day.

Irreversible losses: USSR - 43.2 thousand people; Germany - 480 thousand people.

8. Battle of Berlin

Meaning: the last battle of Soviet troops in Europe. For the sake of storming the capital of the Third Reich, the forces of the 1st Ukrainian, 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts were united; divisions of the Polish Army and sailors of the Baltic Fleet took part in the battles.

Irreversible losses: USSR with its allies - 81 thousand people; Germany - about 400 thousand people.

9. Battle of Monte Casino

Meaning: The bloodiest battle involving the Western Allies, during which the Americans and British broke through the German defensive line "Gustav Line" and took Rome.

Irreversible losses: USA and allies - more than 100 thousand people; Germany - about 20 thousand people.

10. Battle of Iwo Jima

Significance: the first military operation of US forces against Japan on land, which became the bloodiest battle in the Pacific theater of operations. It was after the assault on this small island 1250 km from Tokyo that the US command decided to conduct a demonstration atomic bombing before landing on the Japanese Islands.

Irreversible losses: Japan - 22.3 thousand people; USA - 6.8 thousand people.

Material prepared by Victor Bekker, Vladimir Tikhomirov