Historical materials of World War II

World War II. 1939 September1-1945 August 15, the fascist axis countries of Germany, Italy and Japan (as well as Finland, Hungary, Romania and other countries) are on the one hand, and the anti-fascist alliance and world anti-fascist forces are on the other. From Europe to Asia, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, there are 6/kloc-0 countries and regions, and more than 2 billion people are involved in the war, with a combat area of 22 million square kilometers. According to incomplete statistics, more than 90 million soldiers and civilians were killed or injured in the war, and more than 4 trillion US dollars were wasted. World War II ended with the United States, the Soviet Union, China, Britain and other anti-fascist countries and the people of the world defeating the fascist aggressors and winning world peace and progress. Fascist countries:

Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Finland.

Anti-fascist countries:

China, the former Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, Poland, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Greece, India, France and other 47 countries.

The second global war with the anti-fascist alliance and the anti-fascist forces all over the world as the other side.

ultimate cause

Because Germany did not want to be severely punished and restricted by the Treaty of Versailles after World War I, it secretly stepped up its efforts to restore its national strength. Italy, the victorious country, was miserable because it failed to get the territory promised by Britain and France; Japan, another victorious country, is also full of resentment against the restrictions imposed on it by the Washington Treaty, and has launched a new competition with Britain and the United States in the Asia-Pacific region, preparing to invade and expand China. The major victors such as Britain, France and the United States have serious differences on how to deal with the German issue.

Direct cause

The rapid rise of fascist regime. The basic characteristics of the fascist regime are totalitarian rule at home, foreign aggression and expansion, and world domination. In order to carve up the world again and expand the sphere of influence, the fascist rulers of Germany, Italy and Japan did not hesitate to launch the largest world war in human history.

[Edit this paragraph] The main events of the Second World War

1October 29th, 1929, 10, the American Wall Street stock market crashed. This economic crisis, known as the Great Depression, swept the whole capitalist world. It is against this background that fascism began to rise.

1931September 18, the Japanese launched the September 18th Incident, attacked Shenyang, China, and then completely annexed the northeast of China to prepare for the future full-scale war of aggression against China.

193365438+1On October 30th, Hitler was appointed as German Chancellor by German President Hindenburg.

After the death of Hindenburg 1934 on August 2nd, Hitler succeeded as the president and became the only supreme leader of the Third Reich with real power, and was called "Fuehrer" in German.

1On July 7th, 937, the July 7th Incident broke out and Japan began to invade China in an all-round way.

1On March 5th, 939, Hitler announced that the German army would rearm, implement the conscription system, and openly challenge the Treaty of Versailles and the Versailles-Washington system. Subsequently, Austria and the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia were incorporated into the Third Reich, and the rest of the Czech Republic was quickly occupied by Germany.

1939 May 4th to 16 September 6th, at the Battle of Nomenham, the Japanese Kwantung Army and the Soviet Red Army fought against China on behalf of the puppet Manchukuo and Mongolian people respectively. The battle ended in a fiasco of the Japanese Kwantung Army. After this war, Japan basically died in another war with the Soviet Union, which indirectly led to the outbreak of the Pacific War.

1939 On August 23rd, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Treaty.

1939 September 1, Germany attacked Poland. On September 3rd, Britain and France declared war on Germany. On September 5, the United States issued the Declaration of Neutrality, and the Second World War officially broke out.

1940, Germany launched the "lightning" offensive. (April 9 captured Denmark and Norway, May 10 captured the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and then attacked France. )

1May 940 10, the German army decided to use the "manstein Plan" to complete its aggression against Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Belgian, Luxemburg, Polish, French and other western European countries.

In order to conquer the Soviet Union, Hitler planned the Trilateral Alliance Treaty between Germany, Italy and Japan. 1signed in Berlin on September 7th, 940.

On June 1940, Italy declared war on Britain and France, and the war spread to the Mediterranean and Africa.

1June 22, 940, France surrendered.

1940 On July 16, Hitler gave the order to invade Britain (Sea Lion Project). 1In August, 940, German aviation began intensive raids on British cities.

1941On June 22nd, Germany tore up the treaty and invaded the Soviet Union, and the Soviet-German war broke out.

19411On February 7, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the Pacific War broke out, the United States declared war on Japan, and more than 20 other countries declared war on Japan at the same time, and the Second World War broke out in an all-round way.

1 942 65438+1October1,26 countries including China, the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union signed the United Nations Declaration, and the world anti-fascist United front was finally formed.

1September 8, 943, Italy surrendered unconditionally.

1On May 8, 945, Germany surrendered unconditionally.

1On July 26th, 945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan.

1August 6, 945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb to bomb Hiroshima, Japan.

1on August 9, 945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb to bomb Nagasaki, Japan.

On August 1945, Japan surrendered unconditionally.

1On September 2nd, 945, the representative of the Japanese government signed the unconditional surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri.

At this point, the Second World War ended.

[Edit this paragraph] The origin of the war

The rise of Nazi Germany

The German National Socialist Workers' Party led by Adolf Hitler is one of them. He claimed that the root of Germany's predicament came from the harsh terms imposed on Germany after the war, the cowardly Weimar Republic and the Jews accused of holding the lifeline of the country's economy. His theory has been supported by more and more Germans. By 1933, the Nazi party had jumped from an insignificant small party to the largest party in Congress. 193365438+1On October 30th, President Hindenburg officially appointed Hitler as the Prime Minister of the Republic of China. Soon after, Hitler's government carried out official duties by exercising the special powers entrusted to the president by the Constitution in an emergency, which enabled Hitler to cross the federal parliament for actual dictatorship. At this time, the Weimar Republic came to the end of its political life and was replaced by the German Third Reich. In order to get rid of the bondage of Britain, France and other countries to the German Empire, Hitler announced his withdrawal from the international alliance controlled by Britain and France in June 1933 10 at the beginning of his coming to power, because the plan of expanding troops and preparing for war was restricted. 1934 After Hindenburg's death on August 2, 1934, Hitler succeeded the president according to the Constitution and became the only supreme leader of the Third Reich who really held real power. He was called the "head of state" in German. The situation in Europe before the war

Hitler was not a politician who only shouted empty words. After he came to power, he quickly rebuilt the order in Germany. With his foresight, the working class at the bottom of society could enjoy benefits that were not available in the past, so the German support rate for Hitler was greatly improved. The political situation of the German Empire has stabilized, and the Nazis began to pay attention to diplomacy and took many adventures. 1March 935 16, Hitler announced that the German army would rearm and implement the conscription system, thus breaking through the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. Austria and the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia were merged into the Third Reich, and the rest of Czechoslovakia was quickly occupied by Germany, and part of Slovakia became independent under the protection of Germany. The rest of Czechoslovakia was carved up.

1935- 1939 The situation in Europe, Nazi Germany rose rapidly, the Sudetenland of Austria and Czechoslovakia was merged into the Third Reich in the frenzy of Nazi movement, the rest of the Czech Republic was quickly occupied by Germany (Slovakia remained independent), and the Lithuanian Clay Pether region (Germany called Momer region) was merged into Germany; Part of Slovakia became independent under the protection of Germany; The rest of Czechoslovakia was divided between Hungary and Poland; Fascist Italy occupied Albania when the situation in Europe was unstable; Spain is in a state of civil war, which ended with the victory of pro-fascist rebels.

1On March 6th, 935, Hitler announced that the German army would reorganize its armaments and implement the conscription system, thus breaking through the maximum number of Germans stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles (in fact, when Hitler came to power, the upper limit of100000 was secretly expanded to 300000), and the number of Germans rapidly expanded to 6,543,800+. But these actions were only formal protests by Britain and France (Hitler claimed that he was only seeking Germany's legitimate self-defense ability at that time, which made public opinion in various countries tend to sympathize with Germany at that time, and Britain and France could not make a big fight against it). 1On March 7, 936, Hitler entered the unarmed area of the Rhine River on the pretext that the mutual assistance agreement signed by France and the Soviet Union violated the provisions of the League of Nations (Hitler claimed that its purpose was only to seek equal self-defense) and announced the abolition of the Locarno Convention and the Paris Peace Treaty. According to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany is not allowed to fortify within 50 kilometers of the east bank of the Rhine (which makes Germany's western gateway open to France at any time, which is fatal to Germany). But this action, like last time, was not stopped by Britain and France (although some people in France advocated military action against Germany, they were afraid of all-out war, and Italy invaded Ethiopia at that time, which made Britain, which had bad relations with Italy, oppose France's invasion of Germany). Then Hitler built strong fortifications on the western front on the grounds that France refused to sign a non-aggression convention with it, so Germany's national defense was placed on rocks, which became a prerequisite for Hitler to launch World War II.

In addition, Hitler strongly opposed productism in his political opinions. 1933 in February, the Nazi party accused the German * * * production party by setting fire to the parliament, and banned the * * * production party in Germany. 1936165438+1On October 25th, Germany and Japan signed the International Agreement Against the Production of * * *, forming the "Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis". A year later, Italy joined the agreement, which was an attempt to establish a political and military alliance on the basis of opposing imperialism. Some historians have analyzed that Germany's spearhead mainly points to the Soviet Union, that is, the initial formation of the axis of Germany, Italy and Japan.

[Edit this paragraph] War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, China

As a part of the world anti-fascist war, China and War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression made great national sacrifices and important historical contributions to the victory of the world anti-fascist war.

/kloc-China in the 1920s was divided and controlled by local warlords, and the central government could not control most of the country. In this case, Japan can exert influence on China by signing unequal treaties.

From 65438 to 0926, the National Revolutionary Army with Chiang Kai-shek as its commander-in-chief began the Northern Expedition. The Northern Expeditionary Army successfully defeated the old warlords in Central China and South China, and the National Government is about to reach a settlement agreement with the northern warlords. Zhang, a Feng warlord with a pro-Japanese background in the past, signed many treaties with Japan in advance that could bring more benefits to Japan, and showed signs of cooperation with Chiang Kai-shek. Therefore, young soldiers of the Japanese Kwantung Army launched the "Huanggutun Incident" in 1928, assassinated Zhang, and forced Zhang's son and heir, Zhang Xueliang (commander-in-chief of the Northeast Army) to continue to cooperate with Japan. But Zhang Xueliang prefers to cooperate with Chiang Kai-shek's government. After Zhang Xueliang completely controlled the military and political situation in Northeast China, he announced that "the Northeast changed its flag and changed its flag" and accepted the leadership of Nanjing National Government. After losing control of the local warlords in Northeast China, the Japanese launched the September 18th Incident on September 193 1, and occupied three northeastern provinces of China, where they established the puppet "Manchukuo" and made Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the emperor of Manchukuo. Because the Republic of China does not recognize the legitimacy of Manchukuo, it is called "pseudo-Manchukuo".

1936 12 February 12, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng launched the Xi 'an Incident and detained Chiang Kai-shek in Xi 'an, forcing him to "stop the civil war and unite with * * * to resist Japan", and Chiang Kai-shek was forced to accept it. 1On July 7th, 937, the Japanese army created the Lugouqiao Incident, which led to the full-scale outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War (War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression).

After the July 7th Incident, the anti-Japanese national united front was established, and the Kuomintang cooperated with the producers. Chiang Kai-shek actively deployed and directed China troops to North China and the front lines of Songhu to resist Japanese invaders. He has successively commanded the battles of Songhu, Taiyuan, Xuzhou and Wuhan. By 1938+00, the Japanese army had suffered more than 450,000 casualties, which shattered the Japanese imperialism's strategic plan of a quick victory and the rapid destruction of China. Chiang Kai-shek made some promises on political democratization, such as releasing political prisoners and convening a national political Council, which led to a new atmosphere of unity and resistance to Japan. However, due to Chiang Kai-shek's one-sided anti-Japanese war line, simple military defense strategy and tactics, and his fantasy and waiting for international "mediation" to stop Japanese aggression, he could not resist the Japanese aggressor army, which occupied a great advantage, and large areas of land in North China, Southeast China and Central China fell one after another.

194 1 1 After the outbreak of the Pacific War in February, Chiang Kai-shek actively carried out diplomatic activities, formed an alliance with the United States and Britain, served as the supreme commander of the China theater, and received material and financial assistance from the United States. He sent the Chinese Expeditionary Force to Burma to fight against the Anglo-American Coalition forces and opened the China-India Highway. In order to unite China against Japan, the United States and Britain promised to abolish the privileges in China stipulated in the unequal treaties and signed the New Testament between China and the United States and between China and Britain. 1943165438+10 In October, Chiang Kai-shek attended the Cairo Conference and held talks with US President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill on the joint operational strategy against Japan and the post-war peace conditions. 1June, 945, Song Ziwen and others were sent to the Soviet union for negotiations. In August, the two countries signed the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance and related agreements.

thereafter

[Edit this paragraph] Poland Campaign

1In the early morning of September, 939, the Battle of Poland broke out. Under the cover of darkness and with the support of more than 2,300 planes, the Germans launched a surprise attack on Poland. The outbreak of the Bode War and War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, China, means a world war-the full-scale outbreak of World War II. When aviation and armored forces combined, the world first learned about "blitzkrieg". On September 3rd, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Although Britain and France promised to ensure Poland's security before, the Polish army's struggling resistance did not receive any effective military support from Britain and France. In the end, the Polish army was defeated by well-equipped Germans. On September 6, the Polish government fled Warsaw. /kloc-in September of 0/7, the Warsaw Defence War started, and almost on the same day, the Soviet Red Army entered eastern Poland. On September 27th, the Germans occupied Warsaw. Poland was carved up again. Poland disappeared again after 20 years of restoration. Battle of Poland

At the same time, the French-German border on the western front was silent. Britain and France and other countries violated the promise that "if the German Empire dares to invade Poland, the British and French allied forces will go straight to the Ruhr Valley", but the troops were hiding behind the reinforced concrete fortifications and watching a small country like Don Quixote resist the aggression of a powerful neighbor, but they only condemned it diplomatically. From1September 1939 when the war broke out to1May 1940 1940, a formal conflict broke out between the German Empire and Britain and France. This peacetime is called "sit-in war" by Germans and "fake war" by the West. Hitler's appeasement of the West after his occupation of Poland hit the nail on the head: "Poles should thank their British and French friends for this ending."