Below are the stunning figures in casualties on the both sides as a result of Germany’s invasion of Poland. The German armies, with their Blitzkrieg Strategy (meaning given above) had been extraordinarily successful in the first three years of their advance. After the fall of Poland Adolph Hitler halted in the hope that the Western powers would negotiate a peace treaty. When allied forces showed no such signs of a peace agreement, Hitler continued his advance and launched his attack in the west, overrunning Denmark and Norway in the first go and then turned against France, which was already knocked out of the war before the end of June 1939.
But the new Churchill government in London refused to concede defeat, and Hitler launched a major air offensive, intended to prepare the way for invasion. The victory of the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain forced him on September 17, 1940, to call of the projected invasion. Instead, Hitler decided to attack Soviet Russia. The directive for ‘Operation Barbarossa’ was issued in December 1940, the invasion of Russia launched on June 22, 1941. It nearly succeeded. But before the tide turned, German armies were outside Moscow and Leningrad and had overrun southern Russia to the Black Sea and the Caucasus.
Meanwhile the two other events that came on the way and interfered were: 1. The lack of success of Italy, which had entered the war in 1940, which forced Hitler, in 1941, to divert troops to conquer Yugoslavia and Greece and to reinforce the African front. 2. The United States, entering the war in 1941, supplied Britain and Russia with much needed arms and equipment, and also helped to defeat the German submarine campaign in the Atlantic. The major achievements and successes made by the Allied included: 1. The British victory at El Alamein in October 1942. 2. The surrender of the Italian and German armies in Africa in May 1943.
The Term Paper on Operation Barbarossa Hitler Russia German
Operation Barbarossa; Why did it fail At the height of his power, Adolf Hitler had the world by the throat. His reign of terror was known in every country around the globe. His strengths as a leader were based mainly in politics; charisma mixed with intelligence. People would follow his lead, run blindly into battle, commit atrocities the likes of which the world had never seen, and not think ...
3. The Anglo-American invasion of Sicily and then the invasion of Italy, and 4. The fall of Mussolini in July 1943. But it was the great Russian victory at Stalingrad in January 1943, which proved a turning point as it was the most decisive one. The last major offensive of German troops in the east at Kursk failed in July 1943. Ever since then, they fought a obstinate defensive war, but after the Anglo-American landings in northern France in June 1944, and the opening of the Second Front, the ring was closed, and the bases ware lost for the secret weapons, which Hitler hoped would force the British to surrender.
The Ardennes offensive in December 1944 was a final attempt to break out in the west; but by now the Allies held the initiative. The Prussia that opened in January 1945, and by April Berlin was under assault. On April 30 Hitler committed suicide, and on May 7 his successor, Admiral Doentiz, surrendered unconditionally. Conclusion The costs of war were horrifying. The loss which accounts for personnel, property and money has been estimated to run in: a. 15 million military and 35 million civilians had perished, b. 20 million of these were Soviet citizens. c.
Some 6 million Jews were exterminated in concentration camps or otherwise. d. Anglo-American saturation bombing reduced many German cities to rubble, and 25 million Russians were left homeless. e. Europe was in ruins, and already the differences between the victorious powers, which were to darken the post-war years, were visible. (Barraclough, p132)
Works Cited
Barraclough, G. The Times Books (2nd rev. ed. ), ISBN: 07230 0280 0 pub. 1982, 1986. The War in the West 1939-1945. Retrieved on December 9, 2007; from: The Times Concise Atlas of World History; Times Books Limited. BBC News Europe’s Changing Borders.
The Essay on Early Cold War
The term Cold War was first introduced by Bernard Baruch, an American businessman and political adviser to every President from Woodrow Wilson to John F. Kennedy (“Bernard Baruch”). It was a time of mutual distrust between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies which begun after World War II. From Democracy in America’s author, Alexis de Tocqueville, “There are now two ...
Retrieved on December 9, 2007; from: http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/shared/spl/hi/europe/02/euro_borders/html/5. stm Blitzkrieg in Poland. Retrieved on December 9, 2007; from: http://www. schoolshistory. org. uk/EuropeatWar/blitzkrieg_poland. htm Janusz, B. Poland. Retrieved on December 9, 2007; from: http://www. worldbookonline. com/wb/Article? id=ar436700&st=poland The Columbia Encyclopedia (2000ed. 6, p30839).
Poland. Retrieved on December 9, 2007; from: http://infotrac. galegroup. com/k12/infomark/707/244/20667806w18/purl=rc1_K12J_0_A69219808&dyn=15! xrn_2_0_A69219808&bkm_15_3? sw_aep=nysl_me_moncol
