Early Axis advancements and agreements
In Europe, the axis powers were becoming more aggressive, in March 1938, Germany annexed Austria, again provoking little response from other European powers. Encouraged, Hitler began pressing German claims on the Sudetenland, an area of Czechoslovakia with a predominantly ethnic German population; and soon France and Britain conceded this territory to Germany in the Munich Agreement, which was made against the wishes of the Czechoslovak government, in exchange for a promise of no further territorial demands. Soon after that, however, Germany and Italy forced Czechoslovakia to cede additional territory to Hungary and Poland. In March 1939, Germany invaded the remainder of Czechoslovakia and subsequently split it into the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the pro-German client state, the Slovak Republic. Alarmed, and with Hitler making further demands on Danzig, France and Britain guaranteed their support for Polish independence; when Italy conquered Albania in April 1939, the same guarantee was extended to Romania and Greece. Shortly after the Franco-British pledge to Poland, Germany and Italy created their own alliance with the Pact of Steel. In August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, a non-aggression treaty with a secret protocol.
Start of the war
The conquest of Poland was not the first military aggression by the Germans but it was the one that finally lead to British and French involvement and the start of the second world war. The Wehrmacht crossed the border at several points with five separate armies, comprising around 1.5 million men. Some parts of the invasion force encountered little resistance. One regiment experienced virtually no fighting; it moved so quickly that by September 8th it was on the fringes of the Polish capital, Warsaw. Other regiments encountered strong resistance from Polish troops and civilians. But despite inflicting significant losses on the Germans – around 20,000 troops in total – local forces were no match for the invading Nazis. Despite promises they could withstand a German invasion for up to six months, the Polish army was soon in retreat. By late September Nazi forces controlled almost all of the western half of Poland.
German expansion across Europe
At the Third Reich's apex near the end of 1941 it controlled most of mainland Europe excluding the Iberian peninsula, Sweden and Switzerland. The Germans seemed unstoppable as they marched to the outskirts of the soviet capital of Moscow.
The Battle of Stalingrad
U.S.S.R soldier waving the Red Banner over the central plaza of Stalingrad in 1943.
The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles in history, and a catastrophic defeat for Germany. The bitter siege that had been sustained in and around that Russian city from August of 1942 to February of 1943. The defeat of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad not only dealt a crippling blow to Hitler's campaign in the East but also marked the strategic turning point of the Second World War, and has come to be recognized as one of the greatest military debacles of all time. In mid-November of 1942, a surprise pincer attack by two Russian armies cut off the Gerrnans, which was then locked in a bloody struggle for the city of Stalingrad. Trapped in a Kessel, the soldiers were ordered by Hitler to hold its ground rather than retreat. "In a matter of two months, from late November of 1942 until the end of January of 1943, a quarter of a million German soldiers, a thousand German panzers, eighteen hundred pieces of artillery, an entire air force of transport planes, and untold quantities of military supplies were obliterated by the combined forces of the Soviet Army and the Russian winter." (Trueman) A decisive soviet victory caused Axis forces to start declining in its eastern front.
Invasion of Normandy
Map displaying the five landing areas as well as "Pointe du hoc" part of the Omaha sector
The Battle of Normandy was fought in June 6th, 1944 between Nazi Germany in Western Europe and the invading Allied forces as part of the larger conflict of World War II. Over sixty years later, the Normandy invasion still remains the largest seaborne invasion in history. It is most commonly known by the name D-Day, 156,215 Allied troops landed at Normandy to retake France from the occupying German forces Commanded by U.S. Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Normandy assault phase, code-named "Neptune" (the entire operation was "Overlord"), was launched when weather reports predicted satisfactory conditions on the 6th of June. Hundreds of amphibious ships and craft, supported by combatant warships, crossed the English Channel. The Normandy invasion began with overnight parachute and glider landings, massive air attacks, naval bombardments, and an early morning amphibious phase. Following a brief bombardment by ships' guns, Soldiers of six divisions stormed ashore in five main landing areas, named "Omaha", "Utah", "Sword", "Juno",and "Gold". After hard fighting Allied forces were able to, by day's end, have a foothold on French soil.
Holocaust
In 1933, the Jewish population of Europe stood at over nine million. Most European Jews lived in countries that Nazi Germany would occupy or influence during World War II. By 1945, the Germans and their collaborators killed nearly two out of every three European Jews as part of the "Final Solution," the Nazi policy to murder the Jews of Europe. At least 200,000 mentally or physically disabled patients, mainly Germans, living in institutional settings, were murdered in the so-called Euthanasia Program. As Nazi spread across Europe, the Germans and their collaborators persecuted and murdered millions of other people. Between two and three million Soviet prisoners of war were murdered or died of starvation, disease, neglect, or maltreatment. The Germans targeted the non-Jewish Polish intelligentsia for killing, and deported millions of Polish and Soviet civilians for forced labor in Germany or in occupied Poland, where these individuals worked and often died under deplorable conditions. From the earliest years of the Nazi regime, German authorities persecuted homosexuals and others whose behavior did not match prescribed social norms. German police officials targeted thousands of political opponents (including Communists, Socialists, and trade unionists) and religious dissidents Many of these individuals died as a result of incarceration and maltreatment.
Surrender
May 8, 1945 was the Day the German forces surrendered to the Allies after the death of their leader Adolf Hitler "The German Command agrees to the surrender of all armed forces...to lay down their arms and to surrender unconditionally.All hostilities on land, on sea, or in the air by German forces in the above areas to cease at 0800 hrs. British Double Summer Time on Saturday 5 May 1945.The German command to carry out at once, and without argument or comment, all further orders that will be issued by the Allied Powers on any subject.Disobedience of orders, or failure to comply with them, will be regarded as a breach of these surrender terms and will be dealt with by the Allied Powers in accordance with the laws and usages of war.This instrument of surrender is independent of, without pre-judice to, and will be superseded by any general instrument of surrender imposed by or on behalf of the Allied Powers and applicable to Germany and the German armed forces as a whole.This instrument of surrender is written in English and in German. The English version is the authentic text.The decision of the Allied Powers will be final if any doubt or dispute arise as to the meaning or interpretation of the surrender terms."(Truman 1)