Between June and June , Britain stood alone against Hitler. But then, after the German invasion of Russia and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, she gained two powerful allies. Churchill conferred with both Roosevelt and Stalin to hammer out strategy and to discuss postwar arrangements.
The three men congregated for the first time at Tehran in November There, and again at their last meeting at Yalta, Churchill was conscious of the fact that Britain, exhausted by her war effort, was now very much the junior partner of the two emerging superpowers. At Yalta, the postwar division of Germany was agreed upon as was the decision to bring war criminals to trial. The future constitution of the United Nations was discussed, and Stalin undertook to enter the war against Japan after Germany had been defeated.
But the future of eastern Europe remained a stumbling block. With the Red Army in occupation, the Soviet dictator was disinclined to listen to the views of his two allies. At Yalta, an Allied plan to bomb the hitherto untouched city of Dresden was discussed.
The reason for attacking the city was due principally to its strategic importance as a communications centre in the rear of the German retreat that followed the Soviet winter offensive of January It was also believed that Dresden might be used as an alternative to Berlin as the Reich capital. Strategic bombing attacks had previously failed to break Germany, although they had proved valuable in reducing its capacity to wage war. The bombing created a firestorm that destroyed 1, acres of Dresden.
Even today it is still uncertain as to how many died and estimates have ranged from 25, to , Most authorities now put the death toll at around 35, The scale of destruction, the enormous death toll, and its timing at such a late stage in the war, have all ensured that the bombing of Dresden still remains highly controversial.
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was liberated by the British Army on 15 April Even today it is not known for certain when the order to set about systematic extermination of European Jewry was given. But by December , the first extermination camp at Chelmno in German-occupied Poland was in operation, while mass shootings of Soviet Jews had begun in June.
On 20 January , a meeting of Nazi bureaucrats took place at Wannsee, near Berlin, to discuss the technicalities of the Final Solution. It is estimated that nearly six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators, over 1. On the afternoon of 8 May , the British prime minister Winston Churchill made the radio announcement that the world had long been waiting for.
But while VE Day marked the end of the Second World War in Europe, fighting in the far east would continue for another three-and-a-half months. As a consequence, there was always a slightly solemn undercurrent to the celebrations of VE Day. Interpreters and translators were the unspoken heroes of the Nuremberg Trials. Their work at Nuremberg was a groundbreaking development in simultaneous interpretation. The courtroom of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg hosted nearly visitors each day, including members of the international press.
Following victory, the Allies turned to the legal system to hold Axis leaders accountable. In an unprecedented series of trials, a new meaning of justice emerged in response to war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both the Germans and the Japanese throughout the war. The Hollywood Canteen, which had been in operation since October , closed its doors after one last hoorah on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, In all, more than 3, volunteers, many famous stars among them, had welcomed and entertained nearly four million servicemen and women.
The first international war crimes tribunal in history revealed the true extent of German atrocities and held some of the most prominent Nazis accountable for their crimes. Featured Content. Featured Articles. Article Type. Featured Video Content. Frequently Asked Questions. Where is the schedule of upcoming commemorations, ceremonies, and programs? How do I participate in a webinar? Denmark surrendered that day. Norway held out until early June before German forces could occupy the entire country.
The Low Countries were under German occupation by the end of May. On June 22, , France signed an armistice with Germany. The armistice provided for the German occupation of the northern half of France and permitted the establishment of a collaborationist regime in the south with its seat in Vichy. From July 10 to October 31, , the Germans waged, and ultimately lost, an air war over England, known as the Battle of Britain.
In accordance with sphere of influence arrangements with Nazi Germany in , the Soviet Union invaded Finland at the end of November After a bitterly fought winter war, the Soviets forced the Finns to cede territory along the northern shores of Lake Lagoda north of Leningrad St. Petersburg and on the Arctic coastline in March The Soviet Union occupied and annexed eastern Poland in Italy entered the war on June 10, , and invaded southern France on June Dissatisfied with Italy's share in the spoils at the armistice negotiations, Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini attacked Greece in October from Albania which the Italians had seized in April Both adventures resulted in military disaster that required German intervention.
By mid-June, the Axis powers had subdued Greece. Out of the collapse of Yugoslavia arose the so-called Independent State of Croatia under the leadership of the fascist and terrorist Ustasa organization.
The new state, which encompassed Bosnia and Herzegovina, formally joined the Axis on June Germany occupied eastern Slovenia, the Serbian Banat and most of Serbia proper.
Italy seized Istria and western Slovenia, attached Kosovo province to Albania, and occupied the Croat-Dalmatian coastline and Montenegro.
After permitting Bulgaria to occupy Greek Thrace, Germany and Italy divided Greece into occupation zones, with the Italians in the west and the Germans in the east.
Finland, seeking redress for its defeat in the winter war of —, joined the Axis and the German invasion. By the end of October , German troops had advanced deep into the Soviet Union, overrunning the Baltic states and laying siege to Leningrad in the north; capturing Smolensk and marching on Moscow in the center; and capturing Kiev Kyiv and approaching Rostov on the mouth of the Don River in the south. Stiffening Red Army resistance in August and again in November prevented the Germans from capturing the key cities of Leningrad and Moscow.
On December 6, , Soviet troops launched a significant counteroffensive that drove the Germans permanently from the outskirts of Moscow. One day later, on December 7, , Japan, still engaged in warfare on the Chinese mainland, launched a surprise air attack on Pearl Harbor , Hawaii.
The United States immediately declared war on Japan. Great Britain followed suit. In the late spring and early summer of , the British were able to halt the Japanese advance in Burma; and the US soundly defeated the Japanese navy at Midway in the Pacific. The economy was very bad, unemployment was at an all-time high, and massive inflation caused money to lose its value. More than fifty nations in the world were fighting, with more than million soldiers deployed. Countries like America and Britain were part of the Allied powers.
0コメント