WW2

World War II was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although
some of its associated conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast

majority of the countries of the world, including all the great powers,
which formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It
was the largest war in history, and directly involved more than 100
million people in over 30 countries. The most important participants
have devoted their entire economic, industrial and scientific capability
to war effort, in a state of "total warfare“, erasing the distinction
between civilian and military resources. Marked by the massive deaths
of civilians, including the Holocaust (in which about 11 million people
were killed) and the strategic bombings of industrial and demographic
centers (where about one million people died and within which they
were distinguished atomic bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki), it led to
between 50 and 85 million deaths, more than any other conflict in the
history of mankind.
. Causes of World War II
•the expansive policy of Germany and Italy, based on the two doctrines: Nazism
and Fascism.
•the revisionism of some states such as Germany, the USSR, Hungary. All of these
considered the Versailles System as dictated by the fact that the states that were
defeated in World War I did not have the right to challenge the provisions of the
Paris-Versailles Treaties System.
•the collective security system promoted by the League of Nations was a fragile
element in Europe because the Member States could not understand and could
not solve some land annexes such as the annexation by Italy of Ethiopia and
Abisina
•the establishment in 1936 of the Tripartite Pact (Axis), which aimed at
reconfiguring the global map and fighting communism.
•the division of Eastern Europe into two spheres of influence by signing the non-
aggression treaty between Germany and the USSR, called the Ribbentrop-
Molotov Pact (August 23, 1939), according to which Poland was divided, and a
secret annex mentioned that the USSR could annex Bessarabia and Northern
Bucovina without the interference of Germany.
World War II involved mainly two major military
alliances:
Powers of the Axis:
was a group of countries headed by Nazi Germany, the
Fascist Italy and the Japanese Empire. These three great
powers are considered the main aggressive forces in
the conflict.
Allies:
led by the United Kingdom and France (last to
surrender), increased their ranks with the Soviet Union
(after June 1941) and the United States of America
(after 1941). Among the Allies, on the Asia and Pacific
front, was the Republic of China, which has been in war
with Japan since 1937.
Progress of the war
-September 1, 1939: Nazi troops invade Poland.
-September 3, 1939: France and England declare war on Germany.
-April 9, 1940: Germany occupies North and West Europe, including France.
-June 22, 1941: Germany invades the Soviet Union, under the Barbarossa Operation,
with a strong resistance to Leningrad.
-December 7, 1941: Japan destroys the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, and US
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt decides to join the United States at war.
-January 20, 1942: The Wanssee conference near Berlin is taking place, where it is
decided that the "final solution" is the extermination of the Jews.
-February 2, 1943: The Soviet troops defeated Stalingrad, taking 100,000 German
prisoners.
-June 6, 1944: The Allies landed in Normandy, followed by intense battles
culminating in the liberation of Paris on August 25.
-28 and 30 April 1945: Mussolini is executed and Hitler suicides
-9 May,1945:The Soviet Union celebrates victory
Advantages of the war
Munitions: ships, vehicles, airplanes, missiles,artillery,
infantry weapons and atomic weapons
Military logistics:vehicles for the transport of soldiers
and equipment
Communications, espionage and counter-
intelligence:communications,equipment,
navigation, remote detection and espionage
Medicine:the development of surgical techniques, the
discovery of some drugs.
Disadvantages of the war
-Europe ruined:millions of refugees from all over Europe had
no home, the economy was in deep crisis, and much of the
industrial infrastructure of the continent was destroyed.
The Soviet Union was severely affected, with about a third
of its economy being destroyed.
-The balance of human losses:50-85 million dead and tens of
millions of people mutilated
-Experiments on humans, death by starvation, people
turned into soap, gas chambers and bearings and people
killed for "fun"

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World War II was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although

some of its associated conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast

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