World War II: A Comprehensive History 1940-1945
Italy Enters the War and the Axis Advances (1940-1941)
In 1940, Mussolini’s Italy entered the war alongside Germany. In Africa, Italy launched an offensive from bases in Libya to conquer Egypt, aiming to reach the Suez Canal and gain access to oil from 1940 to 1941. Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania signed agreements to enter the war alongside Germany. In 1941, Axis troops occupied Yugoslavia and Greece.
The War Acquires Global Dimension (1941-1942)
On June 22, 1941, the Wehrmacht invaded the Soviet Union. The invasion was intended to seize Russian grain and oil from the Caucasus. The German plan was to destroy Soviet power with a lightning attack. The United States decreed an embargo on Japanese trade. On December 7, 1941, without a declaration of war, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing the U.S. into the conflict.
The Turning of the War (1943-1944)
In 1942, the Allies took the initiative, and the war took a decisive turn. Hitler experienced his first and most significant defeat in Russia at Stalingrad, where hunger and cold forced the Germans to capitulate in 1943. In Africa, in February, the offensive of Rommel’s Afrika Korps was stopped by the British under General Montgomery. In the summer of 1943, the Allies landed in Sicily and began the conquest of Italy. Italy signed an armistice. At the Tehran Conference, Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt discussed aspects of both the war and the postwar period.
The Defeat of the Axis and the End of the War (1944-1945)
In April 1945, the Nazi regime collapsed. Berlin, the capital of the Reich, was besieged and bombarded. The new U.S. President was Truman.
The Nazi New Order in Europe
Economic Exploitation of Conquered Countries
The conquered countries had to pay for military occupation, and looting also proceeded in different ways. About 8 million civilians and prisoners were deported to Germany and employed in armament factories or agricultural sectors.
Collaboration and Resistance
Two collaborationist regimes stood out: the Norwegian regime under Vidkun Quisling and the Vichy regime in France, with Marshal Petain at the helm. Yugoslavia was where the resistance had the greatest development and amplitude. Italy played an important role in the resistance in the area of the Republic of Salò. In France and other Western European countries, resistance movements were encouraged by the British, and their actions intensified after 1941.
Germanization and Genocide
The most horrible aspect of the appalling Nazi racial policy was the extermination of the Jews. In 1941, Hitler ordered the outline of a plan to eliminate Jews in Europe, some 11 million, whose first step was mass deportation to ghettos and concentration camps. Six million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Roma, homosexuals, disabled individuals, and others were exterminated.
Consequences of the War
The Peace Conference and Territorial Changes
At the Yalta Conference, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin met. Germany was divided into various areas of occupation. Germany had to pay reparations to its victims. Poland would be administered by a government of national unity. It was agreed to hold elections in the liberated countries, and the annexation of the Baltic states and eastern Poland to the USSR was confirmed.