On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory, it suddenly occurred to me: everyone knows when and where the war ended. And where and how did the Second World War, of which our Great Patriotic War became a part?

We managed to visit the very place where it began - on the Westerplatte peninsula not far from the Polish city of Gdansk. When, in the early morning of September 1, 1939, Germany began shelling Polish territory, one of the main attacks fell on the Polish military depots located at Westerplatte.

You can get to Westerplatte from Gdansk by car along the highway, or you can sail there by river by boat. We chose a boat. I will not presume to say: it is really old or just made antique, but it is controlled by a real captain. He is very colorful and, judging by the red, was once a pioneer.

Our path leads to the Gulf of Gdansk. Gdansk is one of the largest seaports in Europe, therefore, along the coast, here and there you can see piers and port cranes every now and then.

Who knows - maybe this is how prehistoric dinosaurs once walked here?

The journey from Gdansk to Westerplatte "by water" takes about an hour. We managed to get a seat at the bow, so the view of Westerplatte is the first to open in front of us.

Here it is, the very place where World War 2 began. It was here that a volley from the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein fell on September 1, 1939 at 4:45, which marked its beginning. Now Westerplatte is a memorial complex, part of which are the ruins of the Polish naval headquarters. It was destroyed in the first minutes of the war as a result of a direct hit.

Nearby are plaques with the names of the defenders of Westerplatte who died. There are many of them - no one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten. Around them, like drops of blood, roses and rose hips are reddening.

The symbol of Westerplatte is the obelisk on the hill. It seems that he is just a stone's throw from the destroyed headquarters. It was not there - you still have to hit the obelisk, and then climb the mountain.

We were very lucky with the weather, so the photos of the Westerplatte monument turned out to be bright. And in bad weather, the gray monument is lost against the background of the gray sky.

And here is what the monument looks like if you climb the mountain and get close to it:

And here is the view from above. Those who are strong in Polish can read the proclamation against the war:

In addition to the famous stele, there is also such a monument in the Westerplatte memorial:

If you read the inscription aloud, you can guess that this is a monument to tankmen. Moreover, the traces of the tracks of the tanks were imprinted on the plates.

Poles are terribly proud of the defenders of Westerplatte, but there are also those who are not too scrupulous about the memory of the fallen: by our arrival, the monument was filled with melted ice cream.

Visitors to the Westerplatte memorial can buy souvenirs from the Second World War:

By the way, Westerplatte is a favorite vacation spot for residents of Gdansk, because there is a beach next to the memorial on the coast of the Gulf of Gdansk. The entrance to it is strictly prohibited, but this does not stop anyone:

If you decide to swim here, remember that you cannot stare at the rest. You can get in trouble (just in case, read more about that and its surroundings). If you came to Westerplatte on your own, you shouldn't stay here until the evening, because public transport stops running early enough. The last bus to Gdansk leaves at about 20:00 local time, and the boat even earlier.

© Text and photos - Noory San.

The Second World War became the bloodiest and most brutal military conflict in the history of mankind and the only one in which nuclear weapons were used. It was attended by 61 states. The dates of the beginning and the end of this war, September 1, 1939 - 1945, September 2, are among the most significant for the entire civilized world.

The reasons for the Second World War were the imbalance of power in the world and the problems provoked by the results of the First World War, in particular, territorial disputes. The victors in the First World War, the USA, England, France concluded the Versailles Peace Treaty on the most unfavorable and humiliating conditions for the losing countries, Turkey and Germany, which provoked an increase in tension in the world. At the same time, the policy of appeasing the aggressor, adopted in the late 1930s by Britain and France, enabled Germany to dramatically increase its military potential, which accelerated the transition of the Nazis to active hostilities.

The members of the anti-Hitler bloc were the USSR, USA, France, England, China (Chiang Kai-shek), Greece, Yugoslavia, Mexico, etc. On the German side, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Albania, Bulgaria, Finland, China (Wang Jingwei), Thailand, Finland, Iraq, etc. participated in World War II. Many states - participants of the Second World War, did not conduct actions on the fronts, but helped by supplying food, medicine and other necessary resources.

Researchers identify the following main stages of the Second World War.

The first stage from September 1, 1939 to June 21, 1941. The period of the European blitzkrieg of Germany and the Allies.

The second stage June 22, 1941 - approximately mid-November 1942 The attack on the USSR and the subsequent failure of the Barbarossa plan.

The third stage is the second half of November 1942 - the end of 1943. A radical turning point in the war and the loss of the strategic initiative by Germany. At the end of 1943, at the Tehran Conference, in which Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill took part, it was decided to open a second front.

The fourth stage lasted from the end of 1943 to May 9, 1945. It was marked by the capture of Berlin and the unconditional surrender of Germany.

Fifth stage May 10, 1945 - September 2, 1945 At this time, battles are being conducted only in Southeast Asia and the Far East. The United States has used nuclear weapons for the first time.

The outbreak of World War II fell on September 1, 1939. On this day, the Wehrmacht suddenly launched an aggression against Poland. Despite the reciprocal declaration of war by France, Great Britain and some other countries, real assistance to Poland was not provided. Already on September 28, Poland was captured. The peace treaty between Germany and the USSR was concluded on the same day. Having thus obtained a reliable rear, Germany begins active preparations for war with France, which surrendered already in 1940, on June 22. Fascist Germany begins large-scale preparations for a war on the eastern front with the USSR. The Barbarossa plan was approved already in 1940, on December 18. The Soviet top leadership received reports of an impending attack, however, fearing to provoke Germany, and believing that the attack would be carried out at a later date, deliberately did not put the border units on alert.

In the chronology of World War II, the period June 22, 1941-1945, May 9, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War, is of paramount importance. On the eve of World War II, the USSR was an actively developing state. Since the threat of a conflict with Germany increased over time, defense and heavy industry and science developed in the first place in the country. Closed design bureaus were created, whose activities were aimed at developing the latest weapons. At all enterprises and collective farms, discipline was tightened as much as possible. In the 30s, more than 80% of the officers of the Red Army were repressed. In order to make up for the losses, a network of military schools and academies has been created. But there was not enough time for full-fledged training of personnel.

The main battles of the Second World War, which were of great importance for the history of the USSR, are:

Battle of Moscow September 30, 1941 - April 20, 1942, which became the first victory of the Red Army;

Battle of Stalingrad July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943, which marked a radical turning point in the war;

Battle of Kursk 5 July - 23 August 1943, during which the largest tank battle of the Second World War took place - near the village of Prokhorovka;

Battle of Berlin - leading to the surrender of Germany.

But events important for the course of World War II took place not only on the fronts of the USSR. Among the operations carried out by the allies, it is worth noting: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which served as the reason for the US entry into World War II; the opening of the second front and the landing in Normandy on June 6, 1944; the use of nuclear weapons on August 6 and 9, 1945 to strike at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The end of World War II was September 2, 1945. Japan signed the act of surrender only after the defeat of the Kwantung Army by the Soviet troops. The battles of the Second World War, according to the most rough estimates, carried away 65 million people on both sides. The Soviet Union suffered the greatest losses in World War II - 27 million citizens of the country were killed. It was he who took the brunt of the blow. This figure is also approximate and, according to some researchers, underestimated. It was the stubborn resistance of the Red Army that became the main cause of the defeat of the Reich.

The results of the Second World War horrified everyone. The military actions brought the very existence of civilization to the brink. During the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials, fascist ideology was condemned, and many war criminals were punished. In order to prevent such a possibility of a new world war in the future, at the Yalta conference in 1945 it was decided to create the United Nations Organization (UN), which still exists today. The results of the nuclear bombardment of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to the signing of pacts on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, a ban on their production and use. It must be said that the consequences of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are being felt today.

The economic consequences of the Second World War were also serious. For Western European countries, it turned into a real economic disaster. The influence of Western European countries has diminished significantly. At the same time, the United States managed to maintain and strengthen its position.

The significance of World War II for the Soviet Union is enormous. The defeat of the fascists determined the future history of the country. As a result of the conclusion of the peace treaties that followed the defeat of Germany, the USSR significantly expanded its borders. At the same time, the totalitarian system was strengthened in the Union. In some European countries, communist regimes were established. The victory in the war did not save the USSR from the massive repressions that followed in the 50s.

Preconditions for war, prospective allies and opponents, periodization

The First World War (1914-1918) ended with the defeat of Germany. The victorious states insisted on the signing by Germany of the Versailles Peace Agreements, according to which the country pledged to pay multimillion-dollar indemnities, refused its own army, military developments, agreed to tear away some territories from it.

The signed agreements were in many ways predatory and unfair, since the Russian Empire did not take part in them, which by this time had changed the political structure from a monarchy to a republic. In view of the ongoing political events and the outbreak of the civil war, the government of the RSFSR agreed to sign a separate peace with Germany, which subsequently served as a reason for the exclusion of Russians from the number of peoples who won the First World War and an impetus for the development of economic, political and military relations with Germany. This relationship began with the 1922 Genoa Conference.

In the spring of 1922, former allies and opponents of the First World War met in the Italian city of Rapallo to negotiate an agreement regarding the mutual renunciation of any claims against each other. Among other things, it was proposed to abandon the collection of indemnities from Germany and its allies.

During mutual meetings and diplomatic negotiations, the USSR representative Georgy Chicherin and the head of the delegation from the Weimar Republic, Walter Rathenau, signed the Rapallo Agreement, restoring diplomatic ties between the signatory countries. The Rapallo Accords were received with little enthusiasm in Europe and America, but did not encounter significant obstacles. After some time, Germany received an unofficial opportunity to return to the build-up of weapons and create its own army. Fearing the communist threat posed by the USSR, the participants in the Versailles agreements successfully turned a blind eye to Germany's desire to take revenge for losing the First World War.

In 1933, the National Socialist Workers' Party, led by Adolf Hitler, came to power in the country. Germany openly declares its unwillingness to abide by the Versailles Accords and on October 14, 1933, it leaves the League of Nations without accepting the offer to participate in the Geneva conferences on disarmament. The expected negative reaction from the Western powers did not follow. Hitler was unofficially given free rein.

On January 26, 1934, Germany and Poland sign the Non-Aggression Pact. On March 7, 1936, German troops occupy the Rhineland. Hitler enlists the support of Mussolini, promising him help in the conflict with Ethiopia and abandoning military claims on the Adriatic. In the same year, the Anti-Comintern Pact was signed between Japan and Germany, obliging the parties to take active measures to eradicate communism in the territories under their control. Italy joins the pact next year.

In March 1938 Germany implemented the Anschluss of Austria. Since that time, the threat of the Second World War has become more than real. With the support of Italy and Japan, Germany no longer saw any reason to formally adhere to the Versailles Protocols. Sluggish protests from Britain and France have not had the expected effect. On April 17, 1939, the Soviet Union invites these countries to conclude a military agreement that would limit Germany's influence over the Baltic countries. The government of the USSR sought to protect itself in case of war, having received the opportunity to transfer troops through the territory of Poland and Romania. Unfortunately, it was not possible to reach agreement on this issue; the Western powers preferred a fragile peace with Germany to cooperation with the USSR. Hitler hastened to send diplomats to conclude an agreement with France and Great Britain, later known as the Munich Agreement, which implied the introduction of Czechoslovakia into the German sphere of influence. The country's territory was divided into spheres of influence, the Sudetenland was ceded to Germany. Hungary and Poland took an active part in the section.

In the current difficult situation, the USSR decides to go for rapprochement with Germany. On August 23, 1939, Ribbentrop, endowed with emergency powers, arrives in Moscow. A secret agreement is concluded between the Soviet Union and Germany - the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. At its core, the document was an attack treaty for a period of 10 years. In addition, he distinguished between the influence of Germany and the USSR in Eastern Europe. Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Bessarabia were included in the sphere of influence of the USSR. Germany received the rights to Lithuania. In the event of a military conflict in Europe, the territories of Poland, which were part of Belarus and Ukraine according to the Riga Peace Treaty of 1920, as well as some primordially Polish lands of the Warsaw and Lublin Voivodeships, were seized by the USSR.

Thus, by the end of the summer of 1939, all major territorial issues between the allies and rivals in the proposed war had been resolved. Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria were controlled by German troops, Italy occupied Albania, and France and Great Britain provided guarantees of protection to Poland, Greece, Romania and Turkey. At the same time, clear-cut military coalitions, similar to those that existed on the eve of the First World War, have not yet been formed. The obvious allies of Germany were the governments of the occupied territories - Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Austria. Military support was ready to provide the regime of Mussolini in Italy and Franco in Spain. On the Asian direction, the Mikado of Japan took a wait-and-see attitude. Having secured himself on the part of the USSR, Hitler put Great Britain and France in a difficult position. The United States has also been slow to enter a conflict that is ready to unleash, hoping to support the side whose economic and political interests will most closely match the country's foreign policy.

On September 1, 1939, the combined forces of Germany and Slovakia invaded Poland. This date can be considered the beginning of World War II, which lasted for 5 years and affected the interests of more than 80% of the world's population. 72 states and over 100 million people took part in the military conflict. Not all of them directly participated in hostilities, some were engaged in the supply of goods and equipment, others expressed their support in monetary terms.

The periodization of World War II is rather complicated. The studies carried out make it possible to distinguish at least 5 significant periods in the Second World War:

September 1, 1939 - June 22, 1944. The attack on Poland is an aggression against the Soviet Union and the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

June 1941 - November 1942. The "Barbarossa" plan for the lightning-fast seizure of the territory of the USSR within 1-2 months and its final destruction in the battle of Stalingrad. Japanese offensive operations in Asia. United States entry into the war. Battle of the Atlantic. Battles in Africa and the Mediterranean Sea. Creation of an anti-Hitler coalition.

November 1942 - June 1944. German losses on the Eastern Front. Actions of the Americans and the British in Italy, Asia and Africa. The fall of the fascist regime in Italy. The transition of hostilities to enemy territory - the bombing of Germany.

June 1944 - May 1945. The opening of the second front. Retreat of German troops to the borders of Germany. Taking Berlin. The surrender of Germany.

May 1945 - September 2, 1945. Fight against Japanese aggression in Asia. The surrender of Japan. Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals. Creation of the UN.

The main events of the Second World War took place in Western and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa and the Pacific Ocean.

The outbreak of World War II (September 1939-June 1941)

On September 1, 1939, Germany annexes the territory of Poland. On September 3, the governments of France and Great Britain, bound by peace treaties with Poland, announce the beginning of hostilities against Germany. Similar actions followed from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the South African Union, Nepal and Newfowland. The surviving written eyewitness accounts suggest that Hitler was not ready for such a turn of events. Germany hoped for a repeat of the events in Munich.

A well-trained German army occupied most of Poland in a matter of hours. Despite the declaration of war, France and Great Britain were in no hurry to start open hostilities. The government of these states adopted a wait-and-see attitude, similar to the one that took place during the annexation of Austria by Italy by Ethiopia and Germany. In historical sources, this time was called "Strange War".

One of the most important events of this time was the defense of the Brest Fortress, which began on September 14, 1939. The defense was led by the Polish general Plisovsky. The defense of the fortress fell on September 17, 1939, the fortress actually ended up in the hands of the Germans, but on September 22, the Red Army units entered it. In compliance with the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Germany transferred the eastern part of Poland to the USSR.

On September 28, an agreement on friendship and border between the USSR and Germany is signed in Moscow. The Germans occupy Warsaw, and the Polish government fled to Romania. The border between the USSR and Germany-occupied Poland is established along the "Curzon Line". The territory of Poland, controlled by the USSR, is included in Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus. The Polish and Jewish populations in the territories controlled by the Third Reich are deported and subjected to repression.

On October 6, 1939, Hitler invites the opposing parties to enter into peace negotiations, wishing thereby to secure the official right of Germany to the annexation she made. Having not received a positive response, Germany refuses to take any further steps to peacefully resolve the conflicts that have arisen.

Taking advantage of the employment of France and Great Britain, as well as Germany's lack of desire to enter into open conflict with the USSR, on November 30, 1939, the Government of the Soviet Union gives the order to invade Finland. During the outbreak of hostilities, the Red Army managed to get islands in the Gulf of Finland and move the border with Finland 150 kilometers from Leningrad. On March 13, 1940, a peace treaty was signed between the USSR and Finland. At the same time, the Soviet Union manages to annex the territories of the Baltic States, Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia.

Considering the rejection of the peace conference as a desire to continue the war, Hitler sends troops to capture Denmark and Norway. On April 9, 1940, the Germans invade the territories of these states. On May 10 of the same year, the Germans occupy Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Attempts by the combined Franco-British troops to resist the capture of these states were unsuccessful.

On June 10, 1940, Italy joins the hostilities on the side of Germany. Italian troops occupy part of French territory, providing active support to German divisions. On June 22, 1940, France made peace with Germany, while most of the country was under the control of the Vichy government controlled by the Germans. The remnants of the resistance forces led by General Charles de Gaulle took refuge in Great Britain.

On July 16, 1940, Hitler issues a decree on the invasion of Great Britain, the bombing of British cities begins. Great Britain finds itself in the conditions of an economic blockade, but its advantageous insular position does not allow the Germans to carry out the planned seizure. Until the end of the war, Great Britain resisted the German army and navy not only in Europe, but also in Africa and Asia. In Africa, British troops clash with Italian interests. Throughout 1940, the Italian army was defeated by the combined forces of the Allies. In early 1941, Hitler sent an expeditionary force to Africa under the leadership of General Romel, whose actions significantly shaken the position of the British.

In the winter and spring of 1941, hostilities covered the Balkans, Greece, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Lebanon. Japan invades the territory of China, Thailand acts on the side of Germany and receives part of the territories of Cambodia, as well as Laos.

At the beginning of the war, hostilities were conducted not only on land, but also at sea. The inability to use land routes for the transport of goods, forcing the UK to seek to dominate the sea.

The foreign policy of the United States is changing significantly. The American government realizes that it is no longer profitable to stay away from the events taking place in Europe. Negotiations begin with the governments of Great Britain, the USSR and other states that have expressed a clear desire to oppose Germany. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union's confidence in the possibility of maintaining neutrality is also weakening.

German attack on the USSR, Eastern theater of operations (1941-1945)

Since the end of 1940, relations between Germany and the USSR have gradually deteriorated. The USSR government rejects Hitler's proposal to join the Triple Alliance, since Germany refuses to consider a number of conditions put forward by the Soviet side. Cool relations, however, do not interfere with the observance of all the conditions of the pact, in which Stalin continues to believe. In the spring of 1941, the Soviet government began to receive reports that Germany was preparing a plan for an attack on the USSR. Such information comes from spies in Japan and Italy, the American government, and is successfully ignored. Stalin does not take any steps towards building up the army and navy, strengthening the borders.

At dawn on June 22, 1941, German aircraft and ground forces cross the state border of the USSR. On the same morning, the German ambassador to the USSR, Schulenberg, read out a memorandum on the declaration of war on the USSR. In a matter of weeks, the enemy managed to overcome the insufficiently organized resistance of the Red Army and advance 500-600 kilometers into the interior of the country. In the last weeks of the summer of 1941, the Barbarossa plan for a lightning-fast takeover of the USSR was close to being successfully implemented. German troops occupied Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Moldavia, Bessarabia and the right bank of Ukraine. The actions of the German troops were based on the well-coordinated work of four army groups:

The Finnish group is commanded by General von Dietl and Field Marshal Mannerheim. The task is to capture Murmansk, Belomorye, Ladoga.

Group "North" - commander Field Marshal von Leeb. The task is the capture of Leningrad.

Group "Center" - Commander-in-Chief von Bock. The task is the capture of Moscow.

Group South is commanded by Field Marshal von Rundstedt. The task is to take control over Ukraine.

Despite the creation of the Evacuation Council on June 24, 1941, more than half of the strategically important resources for the country, enterprises of heavy and light industry, workers and peasants, fell into the power of the enemy.

On June 30, 1941, the State Defense Committee was created, headed by I.V. Stalin. Members of the Committee were also Molotov, Beria, Malenkov and Voroshilov. Since that time, the GKO has been the most important political, economic and military institution in the country. On July 10, 1941, the Headquarters of the Supreme Command was created, including Stalin, Molotov, Timoshenko, Voroshilov, Budyonny, Shaposhnikov and Zhukov. Stalin assumed the role of People's Commissar for Defense and Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

On August 15, the Smolensk battle ended. On the outskirts of the city, the Red Army for the first time dealt a tangible blow to the German troops. Unfortunately, already in September-November 1941, Kiev, Vyborg and Tikhvin fell, Leningrad was encircled, the Germans launched an offensive on the Donbas and Crimea. Hitler's goal was Moscow and the oil-bearing veins of the Caucasus. On September 24, 1941, the offensive began on Moscow, which ended in March 1942 with the establishment of a stable frontline border along the Velikiye Luki-Gzhatsk-Kirov, Oka line.

Moscow managed to defend, but significant territories of the Union were controlled by the enemy. On July 2, 1942, Sevastopol fell, the way to the Caucasus was opened for the enemy. On June 28, the Germans launched an offensive in the Kursk region. German troops took the Voronezh region, Northern Donets, Rostov. Panic broke out in many parts of the Red Army. To maintain discipline, Stalin issued Order No. 227 "Not a Step Back." Deserters and soldiers simply lost in the battle were not only censured by their comrades, but also punished to the fullest extent of wartime. Taking advantage of the retreat of Soviet troops, Hitler organized an offensive in the direction of the Caucasus and the Caspian. The Germans occupied the Kuban, Stavropol, Krasnodar and Novorossiysk. Their advance was stopped only in the Grozny region.

From October 12, 1942 to February 2, 1943, there were battles for Stalingrad. Trying to take possession of the city, the commander of the 6th Army, von Paulus, made a number of strategic mistakes, due to which the troops subordinate to him were surrounded and were forced to surrender. The defeat at Stalingrad was a turning point in the Great Patriotic War. The Red Army moved from defense to a large-scale offensive on all fronts. The victory raised the morale, the Red Army managed to return many strategically important territories, including the Donbass and Kurs, for a short time the blockade of Leningrad was broken.

In July-August 1943, the Battle of the Kursk Bulge took place, which ended in another devastating defeat for the German troops. From that time on, the operational initiative forever passed to the Red Army, the few victories of the Germans could no longer pose a threat to the conquest of the country.

On January 27, 1944, the blockade of Leningrad was lifted, which claimed the lives of millions of civilians and became the starting point for the Soviet offensive along the entire front line.

In the summer of 1944, the Red Army crosses the state borders and forever expels the German invaders from the territory of the Soviet Union. In August of this year, Romania surrendered and the Antonescu regime fell. Fascist regimes actually fell in Bulgaria and Hungary. In September 1944, Soviet troops entered Yugoslavia. By October, almost a third of Eastern Europe was controlled by the Red Army.

On April 25, 1945, the Red Army and the troops of the Second Front opened by the allies met on the Elbe.

On May 9, 1945, Germany signed the act of surrender, which marked the end of the Great Patriotic War. Meanwhile, World War II continued.

Creation of the anti-Hitler coalition, the actions of the allies in Europe, Africa and Asia (June 1941 - May 1945)

Having developed a plan for an attack on the Soviet Union, Hitler counted on the international isolation of this country. Indeed, the communist power was not very popular in the international arena. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact also played a decisive role in this. At the same time, on July 12, 1941, the USSR and Great Britain signed a cooperation agreement. Later, this agreement was supplemented by an agreement on trade and provision of loans. In September of the same year, Stalin for the first time turned to Great Britain with a request to open a second front in Europe. The requests, and subsequently the demands of the Soviet side, remained unanswered until the beginning of 1944.

Before the United States entered the war (December 7, 1941), the British government and the French government in London, headed by Charles de Golem, were in no hurry to reassure the new allies, limiting themselves to the supply of food, money and weapons (Lend-Lease).

On January 1, 1942, the Declaration of 26 states was signed in Washington, and the official formation of the anti-Hitler coalition was actually completed. In addition, the USSR became a party to the Atlantic Charter. Agreements on cooperation and mutual assistance were concluded with many countries that by that time were part of the anti-Hitler bloc. The undisputed leaders are the Soviet Union, Great Britain and the United States. A declaration on the achievement of a lasting and just peace was also signed between the USSR and Poland, but due to the shooting of Polish soldiers near Katyn, no really strong relations were established.

In October 1943, the foreign ministers of Great Britain, the United States and the USSR met in Moscow to discuss the upcoming Tehran conference. The conference itself was held from November 28 to December 1, 1943 in Tehran. It was attended by Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. The Soviet Union managed to achieve a promise to open a second front in May 1944 and various kinds of territorial concessions.

In January 1945, the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition gathered in Yalta to discuss further actions after the defeat of Germany. The Soviet Union pledged not to end the war, using military power to achieve victory over Japan.

The rapid rapprochement with the Soviet Union was of great importance for the Western European countries. Broken France, besieged Great Britain, America, which was more than neutral, could not pose a serious threat to Hitler. The outbreak of war on the Eastern Front distracted the main forces of the Reich from events in Europe, Asia and Africa, gave a tangible respite, which the Western countries did not fail to take advantage of.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, which was the reason for the United States to enter the war and the outbreak of hostilities in the Philippines, Thailand, New Guinea, China and even India. In late 1942, Japan controls all of Southeast Asia and Northwest Oceania.

In the summer of 1941, the first significant Anglo-American convoys appeared in the Atlantic Ocean, carrying equipment, weapons, food. Similar convoys appear in the Pacific and Arctic oceans. Until the end of 1944, a fierce confrontation was waged between German combat submarines and Allied ships. Despite significant losses on land, the right to dominate the sea remains with Great Britain.

Enlisting the support of the Americans, the British made repeated attempts to oust the Nazis from Africa and Italy. It was possible to do this only by 1945 in the course of the Tunisian and Italian companies. Since January 1943, there have been regular bombing raids on German cities.

The most significant event of the Second World War on its Western Front was the landing of allied forces in Normandy on June 6, 1944. The arrival of the Americans, British and Canadians in Normandy marked the opening of the Second Front and marked the beginning of the liberation of Belgium and France.

The final period of World War II (May - September 1945)

The surrender of Germany, signed on May 9, 1945, made it possible to transfer part of the troops that took part in the liberation of Europe from fascism to the Pacific direction. By this time, over 60 states took part in the war against Japan. In the summer of 1945, Japanese troops left Indonesia and liberated Indochina. On July 26, the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition demanded that the Japanese government sign an agreement on a voluntary surrender. There was no positive answer, because the fighting continued.

On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union also declares war on Japan. The transfer of Red Army units to the Far East begins, the Kwantung army located there suffers defeat, and the puppet state of Manchukuo ceases to exist.

On August 6 and 9, American aircraft carriers drop atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, after which there is no longer any doubt about the victory of the Allies in the Pacific direction.

On September 2, 1945, the act of Japan's unconditional surrender is signed. The Second World War ends, negotiations begin between the former allies in the anti-Hitler bloc concerning the future fate of Germany and fascism itself. Tribunals are starting to operate in Nuremberg and Tokyo to determine the degree of guilt and the measure of punishment for war criminals.

World War II claimed the lives of 27 million people. Germany was divided into 4 occupation zones and for a long time lost the right to independently make decisions in the international arena. In addition, the size of the indemnity imposed on Germany and its allies was several times larger than that determined by the results of the First World War.

Opposition to fascism in the countries of Asia and Africa took shape in an anti-colonial movement, thanks to which many colonies acquired the status of independent states. One of the most important outcomes of the war was the creation of the United Nations. Warm relations between the allies, established during the war, have noticeably cooled. Europe was divided into two camps - capitalist and communist.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR (1939-1945)

See also: Great Patriotic War - chronological table, Patriotic War of 1812 - chronology, Great Northern War - chronology, World War I - chronology, Russo-Japanese War - chronology, October Revolution of 1917 - chronology, Civil War in Russia 1918-20 - chronology.

The year is 1939.

August 23. The signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (non-aggression pact between the USSR and Germany).

September 17th. The Polish government moves to Romania. Soviet troops invade Poland.

September 28. The signing of the "Treaty of Friendship and Border" between the USSR and Germany, it formally completes the division of Poland by them. The conclusion of a "pact of mutual assistance" between the USSR and Estonia.

October 5. The conclusion of a "pact of mutual assistance" between the USSR and Latvia. Finland's Soviet proposal to conclude a "pact of mutual assistance", the beginning of negotiations between Finland and the USSR.

the 13th of November. Termination of the Soviet-Finnish negotiations - Finland refuses the "pact of mutual assistance" with the USSR.

November 26. The "Mainil incident" is the reason for the beginning of the Soviet-Finnish war on November 30.

December 1. Creation of the "People's Government of Finland" headed by O. Kuusinen. On December 2, it signed an agreement "On Mutual Assistance and Friendship" with the USSR.

December 7. Battle of Suomussalmi begins. It went on until January 8, 1940 and ended in a heavy defeat for the Soviet troops.

World War II. Inciting war

1940 year.

April May. The execution by the NKVD of more than 20 thousand Polish officers and intellectuals in the Katyn forest, Ostashkovsky, Starobelsky and other camps.

April 9. German invasion of Norway.

September - December. The beginning of Germany's secret preparations for a war with the USSR. Development of the "Barbarossa Plan".

1941 year.

January 15. Negus Haile Selasie entered the Abyssinian territory, which he abandoned in 1936.

March 1. Bulgaria joins the Triple Pact. German troops enter Bulgaria.

March 25. Prince Paul's Yugoslav government joins the Triple Pact.

March 27. A coup d'etat in Yugoslavia. King Peter II entrusted the formation of a new government to General Simovic. Mobilization of the Yugoslav army.

April, 4. Rashid Ali al-Gailani coup d'état in Iraq, in favor of Germany.

April 23rd. The signing of the Soviet-Japanese treaty of neutrality for a period of five years.

14th of April. Fights for Tobruk. Defensive battles of the Germans on the Egyptian border (April 14 - November 17).

April 18th. The surrender of the Yugoslavian army. Section of Yugoslavia. Creation of an independent Croatia.

26 April. Roosevelt announced his intention to establish American air bases in Greenland.

April 27. The capture of Athens and the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. New Dunkirk for England.

12 May. Admiral Darlan at Berchtesgaden. The Pétain government provides the Germans with bases in Syria.

May. Roosevelt declared "a state of extreme national danger." Stalin becomes Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars.

12 June. British aviation begins the systematic bombing of the industrial centers of Germany.

June 25. Finland enters the war on the side of Germany in response to the Soviet bombing of 19 airfields on its territory.

30 June. The capture of Riga by the Germans (see Baltic operation). The capture of Lvov by the Germans (see Lvov-Chernivtsi operation.) Creation of the highest authority in the USSR for the war period - the State Defense Committee (GKO): chairman Stalin, members - Molotov (deputy chairman), Beria, Malenkov, Voroshilov.

3 July. Stalin's order to organize a partisan movement in the rear of the Germans and to destroy everything that could get the enemy. Stalin's first radio speech since the beginning of the war: “Brothers and sisters! .. My friends! .. Despite the heroic resistance of the Red Army, despite the fact that the best enemy divisions and the best units of his aviation have already been defeated and found their own grave on the battlefields , the enemy continues to climb forward "

July 10. The end of the 14-day fighting near Bialystok and Minsk, the encirclement of more than 300 thousand Soviet soldiers in two sacks. The Nazis are completing the encirclement of the 100,000-strong Red Army grouping near Uman. The beginning of the Battle of Smolensk (July 10 - August 5).

October 15th. Evacuation from Moscow of the leadership of the Communist Party, the General Staff and administrative institutions.

29th of October. The Germans drop a large bomb on the Kremlin: 41 people are killed and more than 100 injured.

November 1-15. Temporary cessation of the German offensive on Moscow due to the exhaustion of troops and a strong thaw.

November 6. In his annual speech on the October anniversary at the Mayakovskaya metro station, Stalin announces the failure of the German Blitzkrieg (lightning war) in Russia.

November 15 - December 4. An attempt at a decisive push by the Germans towards Moscow.

November 18th. British offensive in Africa. Battle of Marmarica (area between Cyrenaica and the Nile Delta). Retreat of the Germans in Cyrenaica

November 22. Rostov-on-Don is occupied by the Germans - and a week later it was repulsed by the Red Army. The beginning of the defensive battles of the Germans in the Donetsk basin.

End of December. The surrender of Hong Kong.

1942 year.

Before January 1, 1942 The Red Army and the Navy are losing a total of 4.5 million people, of which 2.3 million are missing and prisoners (most likely, these figures are incomplete). Despite this, Stalin longs for a victorious end to the war already in 1942, which becomes the cause of many strategic mistakes.

1st of January ... In Washington, the United Nations Union was created (26 nations fighting against the fascist bloc) - the embryo of the UN. It also includes the USSR.

Jan. 7 ... The beginning of the Soviet Lyuban offensive operation: an attempt to encircle the German troops located there with a blow from both sides on the Lyuban located north of Novgorod. This operation lasts 16 weeks, ending in the failure and defeat of the 2nd shock army of A. Vlasov.

January 8 ... The Rzhev-Vyazemskaya operation of 1942 (08.01 - 20.04): an unsuccessful attempt to quickly "cut off" the Rzhevsky ledge held by the Germans costs the Red Army (according to official Soviet data) 770 thousand losses against 330 thousand German ones.

January February ... The encirclement of the Germans at the Demyansk bridgehead (south of the Novgorod region, January - February). They defend themselves here until April - May, when they break through the encirclement, holding Demyansk. German losses in this case - 45 thousand, Soviet - 245 thousand.

January 26 ... Landing of the first American Expeditionary Force in Northern Ireland.

The Second World War. Sun of Japan

February 19. The Ryom trial against the "culprits of the defeat of France" - Daladier, Leon Blum, General Gamelin and others (February 19 - April 2).

February 23. Roosevelt's Lend-Lease Act applies to all allied nations (USSR).

28th of February. German-Italian forces again capture Marmarica (28 Feb - 29 June).

11th of March. Another attempt to resolve the Indian issue: Cripps' mission to India.

March 12. General Toyo invites America, England, China and Australia to abandon the hopeless war for them.

April 1st. A special Politburo decree subjects Voroshilov to devastating criticism for refusing to take command of the Volkhov Front.

April. Hitler gains full power. From now on, Hitler's will becomes the law for Germany. British aircraft drop an average of 250 tons of explosives per night over Germany.

May 8-21 ... Battle for the Kerch Peninsula. Kerch was taken by the Germans (May 15). A failed attempt to liberate Crimea in 1942 cost the Red Army up to 150,000 casualties.

August 23. Exit of the 6th German army to the outskirts of Stalingrad. The beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad. The most brutal bombing of the city.

August. Offensive battles of the Red Army at Rzhev.

September 30th. Hitler announces the transition of Germany from an offensive strategy to a defensive one (the development of the conquered territories).

January to October The Red Army loses 5.5 million soldiers killed, wounded and captured.

October 23. Battle of El Alamein. Defeat of Rommel's Expeditionary Force (October 20 - November 3).

October 9th. The elimination of the institution of commissars in the Red Army, the introduction of one-man command of military commanders.

November 8. Allied landings in North Africa, under the command of General Eisenhower.

11th of November. The breakthrough of the German army to the Volga in Stalingrad, the Soviet troops defending the city are divided into two narrow pockets. The Germans begin to occupy all of France. Demobilization of the French army retained after the 1940 armistice.

November 19th. The beginning of the Soviet counteroffensive at Stalingrad - Operation Uranus.

November 25. The beginning of the Second Rzhev-Sychev operation ("Operation Mars", 25.11 - 20.12): an unsuccessful attempt to defeat the 9th German army at Rzhev. It costs the Red Army 100 thousand killed and 235 thousand wounded against 40 thousand total losses of the Germans. If Mars ended successfully, Jupiter would have to follow: the defeat of the main unit of the German Army Group Center in the Vyazma region.

November 27. Self-heating of large units of the French navy in Toulon.

December 16. The beginning of the operation "Little Saturn" by the Red Army (December 16-30) - an attack from the south of the Voronezh region (from Kalach and Rossosh) to Morozovsk (north of the Rostov region). Initially, it was supposed to rush south to Rostov-on-Don and so cut off the entire German group "South", but for this "Big Saturn" was not strong enough, and had to be limited to "Small".

December 23rd. Termination of Operation Winter Storm - Manstein's attempts to rescue the Germans in Stalingrad with a blow from the south. The capture by the Red Army of the airfield in Tatsinskaya - the main external source of supply for the encircled Stalingrad group of Germans.

End of December. Rommel is delayed in Tunisia. Stop the allied offensive in Africa.

1943 year.

1 January. The beginning of the North Caucasian operation of the Red Army.

6 January. Decree "On the introduction of shoulder straps for the personnel of the Red Army."

11 January. Liberation from the Germans of Pyatigorsk, Kislovodsk and Mineralnye Vody.

January 12-30. The Soviet Operation Iskra breaches the blockade of Leningrad by opening (after the liberation of Shlisselburg on January 18) a narrow land corridor to the city. Soviet losses in this operation - approx. 105 thousand killed, wounded and prisoners, German - approx. 35 thous.

January 14-26. Conference in Casablanca (demand for "unconditional surrender of the Axis powers").

21 January. The liberation of Voroshilovsk (Stavropol) from the Germans.

January 29. The beginning of Vatutin's Voroshilovgrad operation ("Operation Jump", January 29 - February 18): the initial goal was to reach the Sea of ​​Azov through Voroshilovgrad and Donetsk and cut off the Germans in Donbass, but only managed to take Izium and Voroshilovgrad (Lugansk).

The 14th of February. Liberation of Rostov-on-Don and Lugansk by the Red Army. Creation by the Red Army of the Malaya Zemlya bridgehead near Myskhako, with the aim of attacking Novorossiysk. The Germans, however, are held in Novorossiysk until September 16, 1943.

February 19. The beginning of Manstein's counteroffensive in the south ("Third Battle of Kharkov"), which disrupts the Soviet operation "Jump".

March 1. Beginning of Operation Buffel (Buffalo, March 1-30): German troops, through a systematic retreat, leave the Rzhev salient in order to transfer part of their forces from there to the Kursk Bulge. Soviet historians then present "Buffel" not as a conscious withdrawal of the Germans, but as a successful offensive "Rzhevo-Vyazemskaya operation of the Red Army in 1943".

20th of March. Battle of Tunisia. Defeat of German troops in Africa (March 20 - May 12).

April 13. The Germans announce the mass grave of Polish officers shot by the Soviet NKVD, found near Smolensk, near Katyn.

April 16. The Spanish Foreign Minister offers his mediation between the belligerents in order to conclude peace.

June 3. Creation of the French Committee for National Liberation (formerly: French National Committee).

June. German submarine danger has been kept to a minimum.

5'th of July. The German offensive on the northern and southern faces of the Kursk salient - the beginning of the Battle of Kursk (July 5-23, 1943).

July 10. Landing of the Anglo-Americans in Sicily (July 10 - August 17). The beginning of their military operations in Italy diverts many enemy forces from the Soviet front and in fact is already tantamount to the opening of a Second Front in Europe.

July, 12. The Battle of Prokhorovka - stopping the most dangerous German breakthrough on the southern face of the Kursk Bulge. Losses in Operation Citadel (July 5-12): Soviet - approx. 180 thousand soldiers, German - approx. 55 thousand. Start of Operation Kutuzov - the Soviet counteroffensive on the Oryol Bulge (the northern face of the Kursk salient).

July 17th. Creation of AMGOT (Allied Military Government for Occupied Territories) in Sicily.

23 September. Mussolini's announcement of the continuation of fascist rule in the north of Italy (Italian Social Republic or the Republic of Salo).

September 25. Parts of the Red Army capture Smolensk and enter the Dnieper line. Losses in the Smolensk operation: Soviet - 450 thousand; German - 70 thousand (according to German data) or 200-250 thousand (according to Soviet).

October 7th. A new big Soviet offensive from Vitebsk to the Taman Peninsula.

October 19-30. Third Moscow Conference of the Three Great Powers. It is attended by the foreign ministers: Molotov, Eden and Cordell Hull. At this conference, the United States and Britain promise to open a second (besides the Italian) front in Europe in the spring of 1944; four great powers (including China) sign the Declaration on Global Security, where for the first time jointly proclaim the formula for the unconditional surrender of the fascist states as an indispensable condition for ending the war; a European Consultative Commission (made up of representatives of the USSR, the USA and England) was created to discuss issues related to the capitulation of the Axis states.

End of october. Dnepropetrovsk and Melitopol were taken by the Red Army. Crimea is cut off.

November 6. Liberation of Kiev from the Germans. Losses in the Kiev operation: Soviet: 118 thousand, German - 17 thousand

November 9. Congress of representatives of the 44th United Nations in Washington (November 9 - December 1).

the 13th of November. Liberation of Zhitomir from the Germans. On November 20, Zhitomir was recaptured by the Germans - and again liberated on December 31.

November December. Manstein's unsuccessful counteroffensive against Kiev.

November 28 - December 1. The Tehran Conference (Roosevelt - Churchill - Stalin) decides to open a second front in the West - and not in the Balkans, but in France; the Western allies agree to reaffirm the 1939 Soviet-Polish border after the war (along the "Curzon line"); they veiledly agree to recognize the entry of the Baltic states into the USSR; on the whole, Roosevelt's proposal to create a new world organization to replace the previous League of Nations was approved; Stalin promises to enter the war against Japan after the defeat of Germany.

December 24. General Eisenhower has been appointed Supreme Commander of the armies of the second front in the West.

1944 year.

January 24 - February 17. The Korsun-Shevchenko operation leads to the encirclement of 10 German divisions in the bend of the Dnieper.

March 29. The Red Army occupied Chernivtsi, and on the eve of this city entered the territory of Romania.

April 10th. Odessa was taken by the Red Army. The first awards with the Order of "Victory": Zhukov and Vasilevsky received it, and on April 29 - and Stalin.

The Second World War. Russian steam rink

May 17. After 4 months of fierce fighting, the Allied forces break through the Gustav Line in Italy. The fall of Cassino.

June 6th ... Allied landing in Normandy (Operation Overlord). Opening of the Second Front to Western Europe.

V June 1944 the number of the active Soviet army reaches 6.6 million; it has 13 thousand aircraft, 8 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, 100 thousand guns and mortars. The ratio of forces on the Soviet-German front in terms of personnel is 1.5: 1 in favor of the Red Army, in terms of guns and mortars, 1.7: 1, and in terms of aircraft, 4.2: 1. For tanks, the forces are approximately equal.

June 23rd ... Beginning of Operation Bagration (June 23 - August 29, 1944) - the liberation of Belarus by the Red Army.

1. First period wars (1 september 1939 - 21 june 1941 G.) Start wars "invasion Germanic troops v country western Europe.

World War II began on September 1, 1939 with an attack on Poland. On September 3, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany, but did not provide practical assistance to Poland. German armies from September 1 to October 5 defeated Polish troops and occupied Poland, whose government fled to Romania. The Soviet government sent its troops into the territory of Western Ukraine in order to protect the Belarusian and Ukrainian population in connection with the collapse of the Polish state and prevent the further spread of Hitler's aggression.

In September 1939 and until the spring of 1940, the so-called "strange war" was fought in Western Europe. The French army and the British expeditionary force that had landed in France, on the one hand, and the German army, on the other, sluggishly fired at each other, did not take active action ... The lull was false, because the Germans were simply afraid of a war "on two fronts."

After defeating Poland, Germany freed up significant forces in the east and dealt a decisive blow in Western Europe. On April 8, 1940, the Germans occupied Denmark almost without losses and landed airborne assault forces in Norway to capture its capital and major cities and ports. The small Norwegian army and British troops who came to the rescue fought desperately. the battle for the northern Norwegian port of Narvik lasted three months, the city passed from hand to hand. But in June 1940. the allies left Norway.

In May, German troops launched an offensive, capturing Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg, and through northern France reached the English Channel. Here, near the port city of Dunkirk, one of the most dramatic battles of the initial period of the war unfolded. The British sought to save the troops remaining on the continent. After bloody battles, 215 thousand British and 123 thousand French and Belgians retreating with them crossed to the English coast.

Now the Germans, deploying their divisions, were rapidly moving towards Paris. On June 14, the German army entered the city, which had left most of its inhabitants. France officially surrendered. Under the terms of the agreement of June 22, 1940, the country was divided into two parts: in the north and in the center the Germans ruled, the occupation laws were in force; the south was ruled from the town (VICHY) by the Petain government, which was entirely dependent on Hitler. At the same time, the formation of the "Fighting France" troops began under the command of General De Gaulle, who was in London, who decided to fight for the liberation of their homeland.

Now in Western Europe, Hitler was left with one serious enemy - England. Waging a war against her was significantly complicated by her insular position, the presence of the strongest navy and powerful aviation, as well as numerous sources of raw materials and food in overseas possessions. Back in 1940, the German command was seriously thinking about conducting an amphibious operation in England, but preparations for a war with the Soviet Union required a concentration of forces in the East. Therefore, Germany relies on waging air and sea war against England. The first major raid on the British capital - London - was carried out by German bombers on 23 August 1940. Subsequently, the bombings became more fierce, and in 1943 the Germans began to bombard British cities with military and industrial objects with flying shells from the occupied coast of continental Europe.

In the summer and autumn of 1940, fascist Italy became noticeably more active. At the height of the German offensive in France, the Mussolini government declared war on England and France. On September 1 of the same year, a document was signed in Berlin on the creation between Germany, Italy and Japan of the Triple Military - Political Alliance between them. A month later, Italian troops with the support of the Germans invaded Greece, and in April 1941 - in Yugoslavia, Bulgaria was forced to join the tripartite alliance. As a result, by the summer of 1941, at the time of the attack on the Soviet Union, most of Western Europe was under the control of Germany and Italy; among large countries Sweden, Switzerland, Iceland, Portugal remained neutral. In 1940, a large-scale war began on the African continent. Hitler's plans included the creation of a colonial empire on the basis of the former possessions of Germany. The South African Union was supposed to be turned into a pro-fascist dependent state, and the island of Madagascar - into a reservoir for Jews expelled from Europe.

Italy hoped to expand its possessions in Africa at the expense of a significant part of Egypt, Anglo - Egyptian Sudan, French and British Somalia. Together with the previously captured Libya and Ethiopia, they were supposed to become part of the "great Roman Empire", the creation of which the Italian fascists dreamed of. In September 1, 1940, January 1941, the Italian offensive, undertaken with the aim of capturing the port of Alexandria in Egypt and the Suez Canal, was thwarted. Going over to the counter offensive, the British army "Nile" inflicted a crushing defeat on the Italians on the territory of Libya. In January - March 1941. the British regular army and colonial troops defeated the Italians from Somalia. The Italians were completely defeated. This forced the Germans at the beginning of 1941. to transfer to North Africa, in Tripoli, the expeditionary corps of Rommel, one of the most capable military commanders of Germany. Rommel, later nicknamed the "Desert Fox" for his skilful actions in Africa, went on the offensive and after 2 weeks reached the Egyptian border. The British lost many strongholds, retaining only the Tobruk fortress, which defended the path inland to the Nile. In January 1942 Rommel went on the offensive and the fortress fell. This was the last success of the Germans. By coordinating reinforcements and cutting off enemy supply routes from the Mediterranean, the British liberated Egyptian territory.

• 2. The second period of the war (June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942) the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR, the expansion of the scale of the war, the collapse of Hitler's blitzkrieg doctrine.
• June 22, 1941 Germany treacherously attacked the USSR. Together with Germany, Hungary, Romania, Finland, Italy came out against the USSR. The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union began, which became the most important part of the Second World War. The entry of the USSR into the war led to the consolidation of all progressive forces in the world in the struggle against fascism and influenced the policies of the leading world powers. The government, Great Britain and the USA on June 22-24, 1941 declared their support for the USSR; in the future, agreements were concluded on joint actions and military-economic cooperation between the USSR, Britain and the United States. In August 1941, the USSR and England brought their troops into Iran to prevent the creation of fascist strongholds in the Middle East. These joint military and political actions initiated the creation of the anti-Hitler coalition. The Soviet - German front became the main front of the Second World War.

70% of the personnel of the army of the fascist bloc acted against the USSR, 86% of tank, 100% of motorized formations, up to 75% of artillery. Despite short-term initial successes, Germany failed to achieve the strategic goals of the war. In heavy battles, Soviet troops exhausted the enemy's forces, halted his offensive in all the most important sectors and prepared the conditions for launching a counteroffensive. The decisive military and political event of the first year of the Great Patriotic War and the first defeat of the Wehrmacht in World War II was the defeat of the German fascist troops in the battle of Moscow 1941-1942, during which the fascist blitzkrieg was finally disrupted, the myth of the Wehrmacht's invincibility was dispelled. In the fall of 1941, the Nazis prepared an offensive on Moscow as the final operation of the entire Russian company. They gave it the name "Typhoon", it was supposed, apparently, that no force could withstand the all-crushing fascist hurricane. By this time, the main forces of the Hitlerite army were concentrated at the front. In total, the Nazis managed to collect about 15 armies, numbering 1 million 800 thousand officer soldiers, over 14 thousand guns and mortars, 1700 such, 1390 aircraft. The fascist troops were commanded by experienced commanders of the German army - Kluge, Goth, Guderian. Our army had the following forces: 1250 thousand people, 990 such, 677 aircraft, 7600 guns and mortars. They were united into three fronts: Western - under the command of General I.P. Konev, Bryansk - under the command of General A.I. Eremenko, reserve - under the command of Marshal S.M. Budyonny. Soviet troops entered the battle near Moscow in a difficult situation. The enemy deeply invaded the country, he captured the Baltic States, Belarus, Moldova, a significant part of the territory of Ukraine, blockaded Leningrad, reached the distant approaches to Moscow.

The Soviet command took all measures to repel the upcoming enemy offensive in the western direction. Much attention was paid to the construction of defensive structures and lines, which began in July. On the tenth of October, an extremely difficult situation developed near Moscow. A significant part of the formations fought surrounded. There was no solid line of defense.

The Soviet command faced extremely difficult and responsible tasks aimed at stopping the enemy on the approaches to Moscow.

In late October - early November, at the cost of incredible efforts, Soviet troops managed to stop the Nazis in all directions. Hitler's troops were forced to go over to the defensive only 80-120 km away. from Moscow. There was a pause. The Soviet command gained time to further strengthen the approaches to the capital. On December 1, the Nazis made a last attempt to break through to Moscow in the center of the Western Front, but the enemy was defeated and thrown back to their original lines. The defensive battle for Moscow was won.

The words "Great Russia, and nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind" - spread throughout the country.

The defeat of the German troops near Moscow is a decisive military-political event of the first year of the Great Patriotic War, the beginning of its radical turn and the first major defeat of the Nazis in the Second World War. Near Moscow, the fascist plan for the rapid defeat of our country was finally thwarted. The defeat of the Wehrmacht on the outskirts of the Soviet capital shook the Nazi war machine to its foundations and undermined the military prestige of Germany in the eyes of world public opinion. The contradictions within the fascist bloc escalated, and the calculations of the Hitlerite clique to enter the war against our country, Japan and Turkey, failed. As a result of the victory of the Red Army near Moscow, the authority of the USSR in the international arena increased. This outstanding military success had a tremendous impact on the merger of anti-fascist forces and the intensification of the liberation movement in the territories unoccupied by the Nazis. The beginning of a radical turn in the course of the war was marked by the Battle of Moscow. It was of tremendous importance not only in the military-political sense and not only for the Red Army and our people, but also for all peoples who fought against Nazi Germany. Strong morale, patriotism, hatred of the enemy helped the Soviet wars to overcome all difficulties and achieve historical success near Moscow. This outstanding feat was highly appreciated by the grateful Motherland, the valor of 36 thousand soldiers and commanders was awarded military orders and medals, and 110 of them were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Over 1 million defenders of the capital were awarded the medal "For the Defense of Moscow".

The attack of Hitler's Germany on the USSR changed the military - political alignment in the world. The United States made its choice, rapidly emerging at the forefront in many sectors of the economy, and especially in military-industrial production.

The Franklin Roosevelt government announced its intention to support the USSR and other countries of the anti-Hitler coalition with all the means at its disposal. On August 14, 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill signed the famous "Atlantic Charter" - a program of goals and concrete actions in the fight against German fascism, as the war spread throughout the world, the struggle for sources of raw materials and food, for control over shipping in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. From the first days of the war, the allies, especially England, managed to control the countries of the Near and Middle East, which supplied them with food, raw materials for the war industry, and replenishment in manpower. Iran, which included British and Soviet troops, Iraq and Saudi Arabia supplied the allies with oil, this "Bread of War". To protect them, the British deployed numerous troops from India, Australia, New Zealand and Africa. In Turkey, Syria and Lebanon, the situation was less stable. Having declared its neutrality, Turkey supplied Germany with strategic raw materials, buying them in the British colonies. Turkey was also the center of German intelligence in the Middle East. Syria and Lebanon, after the surrender of France, increasingly fell into the sphere of fascist influence.

A threatening situation for the Allies has developed since 1941 in the Far East and the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean. Here Japan declared itself louder and louder as the sovereign master. Back in the 1930s, Japan made territorial claims under the slogan "Asia for Asians".

England, France and the United States had strategic and economic interests in this vast area, but were preoccupied with the growing threat from Hitler and initially did not have sufficient forces for a war on two fronts. Among Japanese politicians and the military, there was no opinion where to strike next: not to the north, against the USSR, or to the South and Southwest, to capture Indochina, Malaysia, India. But one object of Japanese aggression has been identified since the early 1930s - China. The fate of the war in China, the most populous country in the world, was decided not only on the battlefields; here the interests of several great powers clashed at once, incl. USA and USSR. By the end of 1941, the Japanese made their choice. They saw the destruction of Pearl Harbor, the main US naval base in the Pacific, as the key to their success in the struggle for control of the Pacific.

4 days after Pearl Harbor, Germany and Italy declared war on America.

On January 1, 1942, Roosevelt, Churchill, USSR Ambassador to America Litvinov, and the Chinese representative signed the United Nations Declaration in Washington based on the Atlantic Charter. Later, another 22 states joined it. This most important historical document finally determined the composition and objectives of the forces of the anti-Hitler coalition. At the same meeting, a joint command of the Western allies was created - the "joint Anglo - American headquarters."

Japan continued to make progress after success. Singapore, Indonesia, and many islands of the southern seas were captured. There was a real danger for India and Australia.

And yet, the Japanese command, blinded by the first successes, clearly overestimated its capabilities, scattering the forces of the aviation fleet and army over a vast expanse of oceans, on numerous islands, in the territories of occupied countries.

Having recovered from the first setbacks, the Allies slowly but steadily switched to active defense and then to the offensive. But a less violent war was fought in the Atlantic. At the beginning of the war, England and France had an overwhelming superiority over Germany at sea. The Germans did not have aircraft carriers, battleships were just being built. After the occupation of Norway and France, Germany received well-equipped submarine bases on the Atlantic coast of Europe. A difficult situation for the Allies was developing in the North Atlantic, where the routes of sea convoys from America and Canada to Europe passed. The journey to the northern Soviet ports along the coast of Norway was difficult. At the beginning of 1942, on the orders of Hitler, who attached more importance to the northern theater of operations, the Germans transferred the German fleet there, led by the new super-powerful battleship Tirpitz (named after the founder of the German fleet). It was clear that the outcome of the Battle of the Atlantic could affect the further course of the war. Reliable protection of the coast of America and Canada and sea caravans was organized. By the spring of 1943, the Allies had achieved a turning point in the battle at sea.

Taking advantage of the absence of a second front, in the summer of 1942 Nazi Germany launched a new strategic offensive on the Soviet - German front. Hitler's plan, designed for a simultaneous offensive in the Caucasus and in the Stalingrad region, was initially doomed to failure. In the summer of 1942, strategic planning gave priority to economic considerations. The seizure of the Caucasian region, rich in raw materials, primarily oil, was supposed to strengthen the international position of the Reich in the war that threatened to drag on. Therefore, the primary goal was the conquest of the Caucasus up to the Caspian Sea and then the Volga region and Stalingrad. In addition, the conquests of the Caucasus were supposed to induce Turkey to enter the war against the USSR.

The main event of the armed struggle on the Soviet - German front in the second half of 1942 - early 1943. was the Battle of Stalingrad, it began on July 17 in conditions unfavorable for the Soviet troops. The enemy outnumbered them in the Stalingrad direction in personnel: 1.7 times, in artillery and tanks - 1.3 times in aircraft - 2 times. Many formations of the Stalingrad Front, created on July 12, were formed recently. Soviet troops had to hastily create defenses on unprepared lines.

The enemy made several attempts to break through the defenses of the Stalingrad Front, encircle his troops on the right bank of the Don, reach the Volga and capture Stalingrad on the move. Soviet troops heroically repelled the onslaught of the enemy, who had an overwhelming superiority in forces in some areas, and delayed his movement.

When the advance to the Caucasus slowed down, Hitler decided to simultaneously attack in both main directions, although the human resources of the Wehrmacht had significantly decreased by this time. With defensive battles and successful counterattacks in the first half of August, Soviet troops thwarted the enemy's plan to seize Stalingrad on the move. The German - fascist troops were forced to get involved in protracted bloody battles, and the German command pulled more and more forces to the city.

Soviet troops operating northwest and southeast of Stalingrad pinned down significant enemy forces, helping the troops that fought directly at the walls of Stalingrad, and then in the city itself. The most difficult trials in the Battle of Stalingrad fell to the lot of the 62nd and 64th armies, which were commanded by generals V.I. Chuikov and M.S. Shumilov. The pilots of the 8th and 16th air armies interacted with the ground forces. The sailors of the Volga military flotilla rendered great help to the defenders of Stalingrad. In fierce four-month battles on the outskirts of the city and in it, the enemy grouping suffered heavy losses. Its offensive capabilities were exhausted, and the troops of the aggressor were stopped. Having exhausted and bled the enemy, the armed forces of our country created the conditions for a counterattack and crushing the enemy at Stalingrad, finally mastering the strategic initiative and implementing a radical change in the course of the war.

The failure of the fascist German offensive on the Soviet-German front in 1942 and the failures of the Japanese armed forces in the Pacific Ocean forced Japan to abandon the planned attack on the USSR and go over to the defense in the Pacific at the end of 1942.

3.Third period wars (19 November 1942 - 31 December 1943) root fracture v the course war. Crash offensive strategy fascist block.

The period began with a counteroffensive by Soviet troops, which ended with the encirclement and defeat of the 330,000th German fascist group during the Battle of Stalingrad, which made a huge contribution to achieving a fundamental turning point in the Great Patriotic War and had a decisive influence on the further course of the entire war.

The victory of the Soviet armed forces at Stalingrad is one of the most important glorious heroic chronicles of the Great Patriotic War. The largest military and political events of the Second World War are the most important of all on the way of the Soviet people, the entire anti-Hitler coalition to the final defeat of the Third Reich.

The defeat of large enemy forces in the Battle of Stalingrad demonstrated the might of our state and its army, the maturity of the Soviet military art in conducting both defense and offensive, the highest level of skill, the courage and resilience of Soviet soldiers. The defeat of the fascist troops at Stalingrad shook the building of the fascist bloc and aggravated the internal political situation of Germany itself and its allies. The friction between the members of the bloc intensified, Japan and Turkey were forced to abandon their intention to join the war against our country at a favorable moment.

At Stalingrad, the Far Eastern rifle divisions fought steadfastly and courageously against the enemy, 4 of them received honorary titles of the Guards. During the battle, the Far East man M. Passar performed his feat. The sniper squad of Sergeant Maxim Passar provided great assistance to the 117th Infantry Regiment in carrying out combat missions. On the personal account of the Nanai hunter there were 234 killed Nazis, in one battle two blocking machine guns of the enemy fired strong barrage at our units M. Passar, approaching a distance of 100 meters, suppressed these two firing points and thereby ensured the advance of the Soviet troops. In the same battle M. Passar died a heroic death.

The people sacredly honor the memory of the defenders of the city on the Volga. Recognition of their special merits is the construction on Mamayev Kurgan - a sacred place of the hero's city - a majestic monument - an ensemble, mass graves with an eternal flame on the square of fallen soldiers, a museum - panorama "Battle of Stalingrad", a house of soldier glory and many other memorials, monuments and historical sites ... The victory of Soviet weapons on the banks of the Volga contributed to the consolidation of the anti-Hitler coalition, which included the Soviet Union as the leading power. It largely predetermined the success of the Anglo-American operation in North Africa and enabled the Allies to deliver a decisive blow to Italy. Hitler tried any valuable to prevent Italy from withdrawing from the war. He tried to restore Mussolini's regime. Meanwhile, an anti-Hitler patriotic war was unfolding in Italy. But before the liberation of Italy from the Nazis was still far away.

In Germany, by 1943, everything was subordinated to the provision of military needs. Even in peacetime, Hitler introduced compulsory labor service for all. Millions of concentration camp prisoners and inhabitants of conquered countries driven to Germany worked for the war. All of the Nazi-conquered Europe worked for the war.

Hitler promised the Germans that her enemies would never set foot on German soil. And yet the war came to Germany. The raids began in 1940-41, and since 1943, when the Allies achieved air superiority, massive bombing raids became regular.

The German leadership considered a new offensive on the Soviet - German front to be the only means of restoring the shaken martial law and international prestige. A powerful offensive in 1943 was supposed to change the situation at the front in favor of Germany, raise the morale of the Wehrmacht and the population, and keep the fascist bloc from collapse.

In addition, the fascist politicians counted on the inactivity of the anti-Hitler coalition - the United States and Britain, which continued to violate their obligations to open a second front in Europe, which allowed Germany to transfer fresh divisions from the west to the Soviet - German front. The Red Army was to again fight the main forces of the fascist bloc, the Kursk region was chosen as the site of the offensive. To carry out the operation, the most combat-ready Nazi formations were involved - 50 elite divisions, including 16 tank and motorized ones, concentrated in the Army groups "Center" and "South" north and south of the Kursk salient. Great hopes were pinned on the new Tiger and Panther tanks, the Ferdinand assault guns, the new Focke-Wolf-190 A fighters and the Hentel-129 attack aircraft, which arrived at the start of the offensive.

The Soviet high command prepared the Red Army for decisive action during the summer - autumn campaign of 1943. A decision was made on deliberate defense in order to thwart the offensive of the enemy, bleed him and thereby create the preconditions for his complete defeat by a subsequent counteroffensive. Such a bold decision is evidence of the high maturity of the strategic thinking of the Soviet command, the correct assessment of the forces and assets, both their own and the enemy, and the military-economic capabilities of the country.

The grandiose Battle of Kursk, which is a complex of defensive and offensive operations by Soviet troops to disrupt a major enemy offensive and defeat his strategic grouping, began at dawn on July 5 (map)

The Nazis did not doubt their success, but the Soviet wars did not flinch. They shot the fascist tanks with artillery fire and destroyed the guns, disabled them with grenades and set them on fire with bottles with a combustible mixture, rifle subunits and cut off enemy infantry with fighters. On July 12, the largest oncoming tank battle of the Second World War took place in the Prokhorovka area. A total of 1.2 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns met in a small area. In a fierce battle, the Soviet wars displayed unparalleled feat and won. Having exhausted and bled the shock German - fascist groups in defensive battles and battles, the Soviet troops created favorable opportunities for the transition to a counteroffensive. The Battle of Kursk lasted 50 days and nights, an outstanding event of the Second World War. In the course of it, the Soviet armed forces inflicted a defeat on fascist Germany from which it could not recover until the end of the war.

As a result of the defeat of the fascist German troops near Kursk, Germany's foreign economic situation deteriorated sharply. Its isolation in the international arena has grown. The fascist bloc, formed on the basis of the predatory aspirations of its members, was on the verge of collapse. The crushing defeat at Kursk forced the fascist command to transfer large ground and air forces from the west to the Soviet - German front. This circumstance made it easier for the Anglo - American troops to conduct an amphibious operation in Italy and predetermined the withdrawal of this ally of Germany from the war. The victory of the Red Army in the Battle of Kursk had a profound impact on the entire further course of the Second World War. After it, it became obvious that the USSR was able to win the war alone without the help of its allies, completely clear its territory from the occupiers and unite the peoples of Europe, languishing in Nazi captivity. Infinite courage, resilience and massive patriotism of the Soviet wars were the most important factors in the victory over a strong enemy in the battles on the Kursk Bulge.

The defeat of the Wehrmacht on the Soviet - German front by the end of 1943 completed a radical turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War, which began with the counteroffensive of Soviet troops at Stalingrad, deepened the crisis of the fascist, the bloc gave scope to the anti-fascist movement in the occupied countries and Germany itself, contributed to the strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition ... At the Tehran Conference of 1943, the final decision was made to open a second front in France in May 1944. War German fascist front

4. Fourth period wars (1 January 1944 - May 9, 1945) The rout fascist block, exile enemy troops per the limits THE USSR, creation second front, liberation from occupation countries Europe, full crash fascist Germany and her unconditional surrender.

In the summer of 1944, an event took place that decided the outcome of the war in the west: Anglo - American troops landed in France. The so-called Second Front began to operate. Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin agreed on this back in November-December 1943 at a meeting in Tehran. They also decided that at the same time Soviet troops would launch a powerful offensive in Belarus. The German command was expecting an invasion, but could not determine the beginning and place of the operation. For two months the Allies carried out diversionary maneuvers and on the night of June 5-6, 1944, unexpectedly for the Germans, in cloudy weather, they threw out three airborne divisions on the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy. At the same time, a fleet with allied troops moved across the English Channel.

In 1944, the Soviet armed forces fought dozens of battles that went down in history as examples of the outstanding military art of Soviet commanders, courage and heroism of the soldiers of the Red Army and Navy. Carrying out a series of successive operations, in the first half of 1944, our troops defeated the fascist army groups "a" and "South", defeated army groups "North" and liberated part of the Leningrad and Kalinin regions, right-bank Ukraine and Crimea. The blockade of Leningrad was finally lifted, and in Ukraine the Red Army reached the state border, in the foothills of the Carpathians and on the territory of Romania.

Conducted in the summer of 1944, the Byelorussian and Lvov-Sandomierz operations of the Soviet troops covered a huge territory. Soviet troops liberated Belarus, the western regions of Ukraine and part of Poland. Our troops reached the Vistula River and together and captured important operational bridgeheads.

The defeat of the enemy in Belarus and the successes of our troops in the southern Crimea of ​​the Soviet - German front created favorable conditions for delivering strikes in the northern and southern directions. Areas of Norway were liberated. In the south, our troops began to liberate the peoples of Europe from fascism. In September - October 1944, the Red Army liberated part of Czechoslovakia, assisted the Slovak National Uprising, Bulgaria and the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia in the liberation of the territories of these states and continued a powerful offensive with the aim of liberating Hungary. The Baltic operation, carried out in September November 1944, ended with the liberation of almost all of the Baltic states. 1944 was the year of the end of the direct people's, patriotic war; the battle for survival is over, the people defended their land, their state independence. Soviet troops, entering the territory of Europe, were guided by a duty and responsibility to the people of their country, the peoples of enslaved Europe, which consisted in the need to completely destroy the Nazi military machine and those conditions that would allow it to revive. The liberation mission of the Soviet Army corresponded to the norms and international agreements worked out by the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition during the entire war.

Soviet troops unleashed crushing blows on the enemy, as a result of which the German invaders were driven out of Soviet territory. They carried out a liberation mission in relation to European countries, played a decisive role in the liberation of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, as well as Albania and other states. They contributed to the liberation of the peoples of Italy, France and other countries from the fascist yoke.

In February 1945, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met in Yalta to discuss the future of the world after the war was drawing to a close. It was decided to create an organization of the united nations, to divide the defeated Germany into zones of occupation. By agreement, two to three months after the end of hostilities in Europe, the USSR was to enter the war with Japan.

In the Pacific theater of operations at this time, the allied forces conducted operations to defeat the Japanese fleet, liberated a number of islands occupied by Japan, approached Japan directly and cut off communications with the countries of the southern seas and eastern Asia. In April - May 1945, the Soviet armed forces defeated in the Berlin and Prague operations the last groupings of German - fascist troops and met with the Allied troops.

In the spring of 1945, relations between Britain and the United States became complicated, on the one hand, and the USSR, on the other. According to Churchill, the British and Americans feared that after the victory over Germany it would be difficult to stop "Russian imperialism on the way to world domination", and therefore decided that at the last stage of the war, the allied army should advance as far east as possible.

On April 12, 1945, US President Franklin Roosevelt suddenly died. His successor was Harry Truman, who took a tougher stance towards the Soviet Union. The death of Roosevelt gave rise to hope in Hitler and his entourage for the collapse of the allied coalition. But the common goal of England, the USA and the USSR - the destruction of Nazism - prevailed over the growing mutual distrust and disagreement.

The war was over. In April, the Soviet and American armies approached the Elbe River. The physical existence of the fascist leaders also ended. On April 28, Italian partisans executed Mussolini, and on April 30, when street fighting was already in the center of Berlin, Hitler committed suicide. On May 8, on the outskirts of Berlin, an act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed. The war in Europe is over. May 9 has become a Victory Day, a great holiday for our people and all mankind.

5. Fifth period war. (9 May) 1945 - 2 september 1945) The rout imperialist Japan. Liberation peoples Asia from Japan. Ending Second World war.

The interests of restoring peace throughout the world also demanded the fastest liquidation of the Far Eastern hotbed of war.

At the Potsdam Conference July 17 - August 2, 1945 The USSR confirmed its agreement to enter the war with Japan.

On July 26, 1945, the United States, Britain and China presented Japan with an ultimatum demanding immediate unconditional surrender. He was rejected. On August 6, at Hiroshima, on August 9, atomic bombs were detonated over Nagasaki. As a result, two cities, completely by the population, were practically swept off the face of the earth. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan and moved its divisions to Manchuria, a province of China captured by the Japanese. During the Manchuzhur operation of 1945, the Soviet troops, having defeated one of the strongest groupings of the Japanese ground forces - the Kwantung Army, eliminated the focus of aggression in the Far East, liberated Northeast China, North Korea, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, thereby accelerating the end of World War II ... On August 14, Japan surrendered. The official act of surrender was signed aboard the American battleship Missouri on September 2, 1945 by representatives of the United States, Britain, the USSR and Japan. The Second World War is over.

The defeat of the fascist-militarist bloc was the natural result of a long and bloody war in which the fate of world civilization was decided, the question of the existence of hundreds of millions of people. In terms of its results, its impact on the life of peoples and their self-consciousness, in terms of its impact on international processes, the victory over fascism became an event of the greatest historical significance. The countries participating in the Second World War have gone through a difficult path in their state development. The main lesson they learned from the post-war reality is to prevent the unleashing of new aggression from any state.

The decisive factor in the victory over Nazi Germany and its satellites was the struggle of the Soviet Union, which united the efforts of all peoples and states in the battle against fascism.

Victory in World War II is the common merit and joint capital of all states and peoples who fought against the forces of war and obscurantism.

The anti-Hitler coalition initially included 26, and by the end of the war - more than 50 states. The second front in Europe was opened by the allies only in 1944, and it must be admitted that the main burden of the war fell on the shoulders of our country.

From June 22, 1941 to May 9, 1945, the Soviet-German front remained the decisive front of the Second World War in terms of the number of troops involved, the duration and intensity of the struggle, its scope and its final results.

Most of the operations carried out by the Red Army during the war years were included in the golden fund of military art, were distinguished by decisiveness, maneuverability and high activity, original plans and their creative implementation.

In the course of the war, a galaxy of generals, naval commanders and military commanders grew up in the Armed Forces, who successfully carried out command and control of troops and naval forces in operations. Among them G.K. Zhukov, A.M. Vasilevsky, A.N. Antonov, L.A. Govorov, I.S. Konev, K.K. Rokossovsky, S.K. Tymoshenko and others.

The Great Patriotic War confirmed the fact that the aggressor can be defeated only by combining the political, economic and military efforts of all states.

In this respect, valuable and instructive is the fact of the creation and activity of the anti-Hitler coalition - an alliance of states and peoples that united their efforts against a common enemy. In modern conditions, a war with the use of nuclear weapons threatens civilization itself, therefore, the people of our planet must today realize themselves as a single human society, overcome differences, prevent the emergence of dictatorial regimes in any of the countries, and jointly fight for peace on Earth.

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