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Second World War. Uniqueness of WWII. 100 million military personnel mobilized Total war Deadliest conflict in history 50-70 million fatalities Holocaust 12 million Germans become refugees. 1939. March – Bohemia/Moravia Protectorate April – Italy invades Albania
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Uniqueness of WWII • 100 million military personnel mobilized • Total war • Deadliest conflict in history • 50-70 million fatalities • Holocaust • 12 million Germans become refugees
1939 • March – Bohemia/Moravia Protectorate • April – Italy invades Albania Britain introduces conscription • May – Pact of Steel with Italy Anglo-German Naval agreement and Polish non-aggression pact denounced • August – Soviet-German nonaggression Pact and secret protocols (Ribbentrop-Molotov) divides Eastern Europe Hitler speaks to generals Poland to be occupied, depopulated and Germanized, Western leaders “poor worms”. 1 September invasion of Poland starts 3 September British-French ultimatum
1940 • March – Soviets invade Finland • April – Germany invades Denmark and Norway • May – Churchill PM, Low Countries invaded • June – 2/3 of France occupied • June – Soviet occupies Baltic states • July – Italy invades parts of France (Nice and Savoy) Germany offers peace to Britain • Summer/Fall – Battle of Britain, Operation Sea Lion aborted • Sept. – Tripartite Pact (Axis Pact) Japan, Germany, Italy • Dec. – Plan Barbarossa
1941 • March – Lend/Lease US assistance to UK/SU (800 bn. in todays USD) • April – Balkans and North Africa • June – German attack on the Soviet Union (two fronts) • Dec. – Pearl Harbor and Japanese invasion of European colonies of South-East Asia
Beginning of the end 1942-43 • Oct. – Al Alamein • Nov- Allies land in Algeria • Dec. – Stalingrad defeat • Spring of 43 – Italian landings • June 43 – De Gaulle
Towards the end Jan. 1944 – Germany forced out of Leningrad June 1944 – Normandy landings • Aug. 1944 – Paris liberated • Feb. – Budapest liberated by Soviets • April 1945 – US and SU troops meet at Elbe • 7 May 1945 – surrender and occupation • War in Asia ends with atomic bombs on Japan July/August 1945
Peace making – New Order • Aug 1941 – Atlantic Charter (Churchill and Roosevelt) (blue print of post-war order) • Jan. 1942 - Declaration of “United Nations” (Allies) • June 1943 – Casablanca (3 leaders commit to unconditional surrender) • Dec. 1943 – Tehran (4 policemen, call for 2nd front, demilitarize Germany, occupation zones, Poland’s borders) • Feb. 1945 Yalta (SC voting, Joint declaration on liberated Europe, Lublin, Balance of Power) • April 1945 – Churchill fails to persuade Roosevelt to liberate Berlin, Prague and Vienna ahead of Soviets • 25 April – UN conference starts in San Fransico • July-August 1945 – Potsdam division of Europe