Course of Second World War

The Second World War was fought between the Axis powers consisting of Germany, Italy and Japan allied powers consisting of Britain, France and joined later by USSR and USA. This was different in many aspects from all previous of all the state and whole activity of the nation were mobilized for war purposed. Main events of the war are given below.

I. German invasion of Poland: - After the occupation of Czechoslovakia, polish neutrality was n longer necessary. In April 1939 Hitler demanded the return of Danzig and a road and railway across the corridor, linking East Prussia with rest of Germany. Already fortified by a British promise of help, the foreign minister Colonel Back rejected the German demands. When the Polish refused to negotiate, a full scale German invasion began early on 1^st September. Chamberlain sent an ultimatum to Germany. When this expired, on 3^rd September Britain declared war against Germany. Soon afterwards France also declared war. The Poles were defeated swiftly because of German Blitzkrieg r Lightening war. It consisted of rapid thrust by motorized divisions and tanks supported by air power. The Luftwaffe (the German air force) put the Polish railway station out of action and destroyed Polish air force. Britain and France did little to help their ally directly because French mobilization procedure was slow and out of date. When the Russians invaded eastern Poland, resistance collapsed. On 29^th September Poland was divided up between Germany and the USSR.

II. The Phoney war: - The Phoney War refers to what happened in Western Europe between September 1939 and the spring of 1940. To assume that nothing was going on in Europe would be wrong as Poland was in the process of being occupied with all that brought for the Polish people. However, in Western Europe very little of military importance did take place. In fact, so little occurred that many of the children who had been evacuated at the start of the war, had returned to their families. Too many, war had been declared by Neville Chamberlain, but nothing was actually happening. In fact, things were happening but the public in Britain were not aware of them – or very few were. The sinking of the ‘Athenia’ sent a clear message to Britain that Germany was prepared to sink passenger liners and not just ships of military importance. The sinking of the ‘Royal Oak’ also brought the war home to Britain. Such was the shock to the

III. government of the ‘Royal Oak’s’ sinking that many people first learned about it from the broadcasts of Lord Haw-Haw.

IV. German invasion of Denmark and Norway: - Hitler troops occupied Denmark and landed over Norwegian parts in April 1940. Control over Norway was important for the German because Narvik was the main outlet for Swedish iron ore, which was vital for German armament industry. Norway was of great strategic importance to Germany. They could offer necessary base for operation against France and England. The Germans were successful because the Norwegian troops were not even mobilized. It showed the incompetence of Chamberlain’s government.

V. Hitler attacked Holland, Belgium and France:-The attack on Holland, Belgium and France were launched simultaneously on 10^th may. Blitzkrieg methods brought swift victories. The Dutch surrendered after four days. Belgium held out longer, but her surrender at the end of May left the British and French troops in Belgium exposed and German army swept across northern France. The allied troops narrowly escaped destruction from the French port of Dunkirk towards the end of may 1940. It was a serious blow for the Allies. He troops at Dunkirk had lost all their arms and equipments which made impossible for Britain to help France.

The German now swept southward, Paris was captured on 14^th June and France surrendered on 22^nd June. At Hitler’s insistence the armistice was signed. The Germans occupied northern France and Atlantic coast, giving them valuable submarine looses and the French army was demobilized. Unoccupied France was allowed its own government under Marshall Petain, but it had no real independence.

There were many reasons for French defeat:-

i) The French were psychologically not prepared for war and were bitterly divided between right and left.

ii) France had to face the full weight of an undivided German offensive.

iii) The German divisions were supported by combat planes, an area neglected by the French.

iv) The French had as many tanks and armored vehicles as Germany, but instead of being concentrated in completely mechanized armored divisions, they were split up with a certain number to an infantry division. This showed them to the speed of marching soldiers.

v) The French generals made fatal mistakes. No attempt was made to help Poland by attacking Germany in the west in September 1939, which might have had a good chance of success.

vi) There was poor communication between army and air force, so that air defense to drive German bombers off usually failed to arrive.

VI. The Battle of Britain:-One of the epic struggles of the Second World War was the battle of Britain. After having conquered almost the whole of western groups, Germany now planned the invasion of Britain. This plan was given the code name of ‘Sea-Lion’. Hitler waited for two months to attack England after France; his main was to break down the morale of the English by heavy Arial bombardment and large scale sinking of British ships. Hitler turned his Luftwaffe on Britain and subjected her to the most intensive attack. The industrial areas, the ports and London itself were heavily bombed. But under the dynamic leadership of Winston Churchill, Britain was able to pull herself up. The British made history by their stubborn defense. The Royal Air Force (RAF) inflicted heavy losses on the Luftwaffe when it became clear that British air power was far from being destroyed, Hitler called off invasion. The battle of Britain was probably the first major turning point of the war. For the first time the Germans had been checked and so they were not invincible. Britain was able to remain in the struggle, thus facing Hitler with the fatal situation of war on the fronts. ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owned by so many to so few’.

There were many reasons for the British success in the battle of Britain:-

i) Their chain of new radar station gave plenty of warning of approaching German attackers.

ii) The German bombers were poorly armed. They were hampered by limited range.

iii) The switch to bombing London was a mistake because it relived pressure on the oilfields at the critical moments.

VII. German invasion of Greece: - in 1941 Hitler’s first moves were to help out his faltering ally. In February, he sent Rommel to Tripol and together with the Italians; they drove the British out of Libya. Then in April 1941, he attacked Greece. Austrian and Newzealand troops had arrived to help the Greeks. The Germans soon captured Athens forcing the British to withdraw. The Germans campaign in Greece had important effects:-

i) It was depressing for the Allies, who lost about 36000 men.

ii) Many of the troops had been removed from North Africa, thus weakening British forces.

iii) It delayed his attack on Russia.

VIII. German invasion of Russia (Operation Barbarossa):-In June 1941, Hitler attacked Russia. Hitler’s motives seem to have been mixed.

i) He feared that Russia might attack Germany while she was still occupied in the west.

ii) He hoped that Japan would attack Russia in the Far East.

iii) Hitler thought that more powerful Japan became, the less chance there was of the USA entering the war.

Above all there was his hatred of communism and his desire for Lebensraum (living space)