World War II RPG

On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany launched an invasion of Poland, which is considered the beginning of World War II.

The formal reason for the war was the provocations organised by the SS special forces on the Polish-German border.

However, in modern historiography, there is an opinion that the beginning of the war should be considered July 7, 1937, when Japanese troops in the vicinity of Beijing provoked a clash with Chinese units.

The Second World War lasted from September 1, 1939 to September 2, 1945.

The Second World War is the largest war in the history of mankind between Nazi Germany, fascist Italy and militaristic Japan and the countries of the anti-fascist coalition. It lasted from September 1, 1939 to September 2, 1945.

61 states, more than 80% of the world's population were involved in the war, military operations were carried out on the territory of 40 states, as well as on sea and ocean theatres of military operations.

The main reason for the outbreak of the war was the course of Germany and its allies for the violent redisition of the world.

The number of victims in the war was, according to various estimates, from 55 million to 70 million people, of which, also according to various researchers, from 27 million to 41 million lost the USSR. The majority of the victims of the world conflict were civilians

With the arrival of A. Hitler to power in 1933. Germany has become a militaristic force dangerous for the whole world. This was evidenced by the scale and growth rate of its military economy and armed forces (AF). If in 1934 840 aircraft were produced in Germany, in 1936 - 4733. The volume of military production from 1934 to 1940 increased 22 times. In 1935, there were 29 divisions in Germany, and by the fall of 1939 there were already 102 of them. The German leadership placed special emphasis on the training of strike offensive forces - armoured and motorised troops, bomber aircraft. The Nazi program to conquer world domination included plans to restore and expand the German colonial empire, defeat Great Britain, France and posed a threat to the United States, the most important goal of the Nazis was to destroy the USSR. The ruling circles of Western countries, hoping to avoid the war, sought to direct German aggression to the East. They contributed to the revival of the military-industrial base of German militarism (US financial assistance to Germany under the Dawes plan, the British-German maritime agreement of 1935, etc.) and, in fact, encouraged Nazi aggressors. The desire to re-split the world was also characteristic of the fascist regime of Italy and militaristic Japan.

Having created a solid military and economic base and continued to develop it, Germany, Japan, and also, despite certain economic difficulties, Italy (in 1929-1938 the gross industrial output increased by 0.6%) began to realise their aggressive plans. In the early 1930s, Japan occupied the territory of Northeast China, creating a springboard for an attack on the USSR, Mongolia, etc. Italian fascists invaded Ethiopia in 1935. In the spring of 1935 In violation of the military articles of the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919, Germany introduced universal military service. As a result of the plebiscite, the Saarland region was annexed to it. In March 1936 Germany unilaterally dissolved the Treaty of Locarno and introduced its troops into the Rhine demilitarised zone, in March 1938 - into Austria (Anschluss), eliminating the independent European state (of the great powers, only the USSR protested). In September 1938 Great Britain and France betrayed their ally, Czechoslovakia, agreeing to Germany's seizure of the Sudeteland (Munich Agreement 1938). Having a mutual assistance treaty with Czechoslovakia and France, the USSR repeatedly offered Czechoslovakia military assistance, but the government of E. Benesha refused her. In the autumn of 1938 Germany occupied part of Czechoslovakia, and in the spring of 1939 - the whole of the Czech Republic (Slovakia was declared an "independent state"), seized the Klaipeda region from Lithuania. Italy annexed Albania in April 1939. Having caused the so-called Danzig crisis at the end of 1938 and protecting himself from the east after his imprisonment in August 1939. Non-aggression treaty with the USSR, Germany prepared for the capture of Poland, which received guarantees of military support from Great Britain and France on August 25, 1939.

In 1940, representatives of Germany, Italy and Japan signed the "Tripartite Pact". In general, it was about military mutual assistance and the division of spheres of influence after the establishment of a new "world order".

Countries of the anti-Hitler coalition that opposed Germany and the countries of the Nazi bloc (Axis countries) during World War II. 12

Some of these countries are: Albania, Great Britain, Australia, India, Canada, New Zealand, South African Union, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, Greece, Dominican Republic, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Poland, El Salvador, USSR, USA, Philippines, Czechoslovakia, Ethiopia, Yugoslavia. 2

In the second half of 1942, Brazil and Mexico entered the war against the Axis powers and their allies, in 1943 - Bolivia, Iraq, Iran, Colombia, Chile, in 1944 - Liberia

1933–1939 (pre-war period)

1933 - Hitler comes to power, the NSDAP becomes the only party. Persecution of Jews, communists, gypsies begins.

1935 - Nuremberg racial laws: Jews are deprived of citizenship, marriages with Aryans are prohibited.

1938 - "Crystal Night" (November 9-10): mass pogrom of Jewish houses, shops, synagogues.

1939, September 1 - German invasion of Poland. The beginning of the war. The first mass shootings, ghettoes.

1940:

1. Capture of France, Belgium, Norway. 2)Occupation regimes: collaborationism, Nazism, denunciations. 3)The Resistance movement is emerging in France.

4)The beginning of mass deportations of Jews to death camps.

1941: 1)June 22 - Operation Barbarossa: German attack on the USSR. 2) Creation of ghettoes throughout Eastern Europe - Minsk, Warsaw, Lviv, etc. 3)The beginning of the mass extermination of Jews in the USSR - shootings, SS Einsatz groups (Babi Yar: more than 33 thousand Jews were shot in 2 days). 4)The blockade of Leningrad begins in September (872 days, millions of deaths, cannibalism, complete cutting off from supplies).

1942:

1. "The Final Solution to the Jewish Question" - Wannsee Conference: a plan to exterminate all the Jews of Europe. 2) Death camps were built and launched: Auschwitz, Treblinka, Belzec, Sobibor.
2. Medical experiments on prisoners, especially in Auschwitz.
3. Mass deportation of Jews from France, Holland, Greece, etc.
4. Underground in the ghetto - Warsaw resistance.

1943: 1)Uprising in the Warsaw ghetto (April-May): doomed, but heroic. 2) Continuation of the blockade of Leningrad. 3) Tightening of repressions in the occupied territories. 4) Guerrilla warfare in Belarus, Yugoslavia, Poland.

1944:

1. June 6 - D-Day, landing in Normandy, the beginning of the liberation of Europe.
2. Liberation of the first camps (by the Soviet army).
3. Mass executions in retreating camps - death marches.
4. Shooting prisoners so as not to leave witnesses.

1945: 1)January: Liberation of Auschwitz. 2) Spring: Americans and Soviet troops enter Germany, see camps. 3)April: Hitler's suicide. 4) May: surrender of Germany (May 8 - in Europe, May 9 - in the USSR). 5) August: Hiroshima and Nagasaki, surrender of Japan.

The main targets of the Nazis: Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, people with disabilities, homosexuals, political opponents (communists). Arian racial theory: only "pure" Germans are full-fledged. The rest are "undermens" (subhumans). Since 1933 - systematic exile and isolation. Since 1941 - mass shootings and deportations to death camps.

The Holocaust in Germany was the systematic persecution and extermination of Jews by German Nazis in Germany between 1933 and 1945.

At the first stage (1933-1939), Jews were discriminated against, robbed and encouraged to emigrate from Germany. On November 9-10, 1938, a mass anti-Jewish pogrom called "Crystal Night" was organised throughout Germany. 30,000 Jews were arrested, only those who were ready to emigrate immediately were released.

After the outbreak of World War II, Jews were deported to camps and ghettoes in the East, where they were massively exterminated. In January 1942, the program of the "final solution" of the Jewish question was approved at the Vansee Conference of the Nazi leadership.

By the end of the war, no more than 10,000 Jews remained alive in Germany.

The social policy of eugenics in Nazi Germany consisted of different ideas about genetics. The racial ideology of Nazism prioritised the biological improvement of the German people by selecting "Nordic" or "Aryan" features. This policy was used to justify forced sterilisation and mass murder of those who were considered "undesirable".

Blockade of Leningrad.The beginning of the blockade occurred after German troops occupied Schlisselburg, cutting off Leningrad from the whole country by land. The only artery connecting the city with the "big land" at that time was the "Road of Life" - a route laid along the coast and ice of Lake Ladoga. Food was delivered along it and Leningrad residents were evacuated.

On January 18, 1943, the blockade ring was broken, Shlisselburg and the southern coast of Lake Ladoga were liberated. The blockade was completely lifted on January 27, 1944 during the Leningrad-Novgorod strategic offensive operation

•872 days of complete isolation of the city. •Germans from the south, Finns from the north. All supplies have been cut off. •The only way is the "Road of Life" on the ice of Lake Ladoga (in winter). •From 2 to 4 thousand people died every day from hunger, cold, disease. •Card system: in 1941, an adult received 250 grams of bread (half of them were cellulose and sawdust). •Cannibalism, mass deaths in apartments. •The blockaders ate glue, leather belts, starch from wallpaper. •People wrote diaries (real records can be used as inspiration). It began on September 8, 1941, ended on January 27, 1944 - 872 days of hell. • There were more than 2.5 million people in the city, including 400 thousand children. • The supply has been cut off. The Germans and Finns locked the ring. • The winter of 1941-1942 is the most terrible: mass starvation, -30°C, no light, heat, water, bread. • Card system: 250 grams of bread for labourers, 125 grams for the rest. • We ate everything: wallpaper, glue, leather items, dead. Cases of cannibalism have been officially recorded. • The "Road of Life" is the only way to supply the ice of Ladoga. • More than 1 million people died.

Types of camps: • Concentration camps - for forced labour (for example, Dachau). • Death camps - extermination of people (Auszwitz, Treblinka, Belzec). • Transit camps are an intermediate stage before deportation.

Figures: • About 6 million Jews, 500 thousand Gypsies, thousands of communists, Poles, homosexuals, priests, disabled people were killed. • Up to 6 thousand people per day were gassed in Auschwitz. • Medical experiments were conducted on children, especially twins (Dr. Mengele).

Life: • Mud, lice, diseases. Bread with sawdust, rotten vegetable soup. • People were undressed, cut, number tattooed. • Any conversation, attempt to smile is a reason for beating or death. • Prisoners often cleaned up the bodies of others or worked in the crematorium.

NAZI GERMANY: Pros:

• High discipline, strong army, technique, propaganda.
• Fast offensive operations (blitzkrieg). Cons:

• Revaluation of own forces (especially in the USSR), lack of resources, overloading of fronts.

USSR: Pros: +Number of people, industry in the Urals, morale. +Cruel, but effective mobilisation (prohibit to retreat, penalty battalions). Cons: -Huge losses, poverty, repression, weak start of war.

USA: Pros: +Money, industry, aviation, supplies to allies. Cons:

• Late entry into the war (since 1941), fear of loss.

Britain: Pros: +Navy, intelligence, morals. Cons:

• Frequent bombing, isolation at the beginning of the war.

France: Pros:

• Resistance, underground. Cons: -Quickly surrendered in 1940, collaborationism (Vichy mode).

Where was it active? • USSR (especially Belarus and Ukraine), Yugoslavia, France, Italy. • They conducted subversive activities, exploded trains, ambushed, rescued refugees.

Conditions: • Forest, cold, hunger. The Germans declared a reward for the guerilla's head or shot the whole village. • Traitors, agents, denunciations. • Brutal vengeful raids: burning villages, shooting hostages.

Operation "BARBAROSSA" (June 22, 1941 — December 1941)

Purpose: Rapid destruction of the USSR - blitzkrieg in 3 directions: North (Leningrad), Centre (Moscow), South (Kiev).

Facts: The Germans launched an offensive without declaring war. More than 4 million soldiers, 600 thousand vehicles, 3.5 thousand tanks participated in the operation. The USSR lost more than 3 million soldiers in the first months. The plan failed: Moscow was not taken, winter, logistics and fierce resistance disrupted the blitzkrieg.

operation "BLITZ" / BATTLE FOR ENGLAND (Summer-Autumn 1940)

Massive bombing of Britain by the Luftwaffe. The goal: to suppress the spirit of the British, to prepare an invasion. London and major cities were bombed every day. England survived: strong air Defence, radar, courage of residents and RAF pilots.

operation "BAGRATION” (June-August 1944)

A huge Soviet offensive in Belarus.

Goal: to destroy the Army Group "Centre", to liberate Belarus.

More than 2.5 million Soviet soldiers participated in the operation. The Germans lost more than 500 thousand people, the front collapsed. The opening of the second front in Europe helped to synchronise with the allies.

Field honey nurse, guerillas, front-line soldier, spy, concentration camp prisoner, pilot, war correspondent, communicator, commanders, poets, blockade prisoner, tanker, teacher, driver

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60+ million dead.

Destroyed cities, millions of refugees, orphans, wounded.

The beginning of the UN (1945) is an attempt to avoid new wars.

The beginning of the Cold War between the USSR and the USA.

Decolonisation of Asia and Africa.

The world memory of the Holocaust and war crimes is the adoption of the Geneva Conventions, the concept of "crimes against humanity".

Political division of Germany

After the surrender in 1945, Germany was divided into four occupation zones: • USSR (East Germany) • USA (West Germany) • United Kingdom (West Germany) • France (West Germany)

This division became the basis for the future division into East and West Germany in 1949. East Germany became the German Democratic Republic (GDR), a socialist state under the control of the USSR. West Germany has become the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), focussed on capitalist values and closely linked to the United States and Western allies. Berlin, located in East Germany, was also divided into four sectors. In 1961, the Berlin Wall was built, a symbol of the Cold War and the division of Germany and the world into two parts.

2. Economic implications • Destruction of infrastructure: Germany has suffered enormous destruction. Cities, factories, roads, bridges - everything was destroyed as a result of aerial bombing, artillery shelling and hostilities. • Debts and reparations: Germany was obliged to pay significant reparations to its allies. These payments were in favour of the Soviet Union, as well as to the countries affected by the Nazi occupation. • Economic recession: In the first years after the war, Germany experienced an economic crisis, a shortage of goods and products, hunger and high inflation. However, in 1948, an economic miracle was carried out in West Germany - the introduction of a new currency (German mark) and economic reform, which stimulated rapid growth and recovery.

3. Denazification: • Prohibition of the Nazi Party: In 1945, it was decided to dissolve the Nazi party, its organisations and institutions. • Denazification process: All former high-ranking Nazis and military were arrested and tried. The most famous were the Nuremberg trials, which tried the top leaders of the Nazi regime. • Moral restoration: Germany is faced with the issue of moral responsibility for crimes committed during Nazism.

Changes in international politics

• Germany was excluded from international organisations and lost all its colonies, which were transferred to other powers. • The beginning of the Cold War put Germany at the centre of the confrontation between the two superpowers. West Germany became an important ally of the United States in the context of containing the influence of the Soviet Union, while East Germany became part of the Soviet bloc.

5. Migration and resettlement • Refugees and deportation: During and after the war, millions of people were forcibly displaced. Poles, Czechs, Jews and other ethnic groups were deported to camps or occupied territories. • Territorial losses: Germany lost East Prussia, part of Silesia, as well as the territories ceded to Poland and the Soviet Union. Many Germans were forced to leave these regions and move to West Germany.

6. Social consequences • Humanitarian disaster: Germany suffered terrible human losses, especially among the civilian population, which suffered from hunger, bombing and violence. Scars of war were visible in every German house, because millions of people lost loved ones. • Collective trauma: Many Germans faced a deep sense of guilt for the actions of the Nazi regime. This concerned not only party members, but also ordinary people who were involved in the economy of Nazism. At the same time, on the other hand, many considered themselves victims of the Hitler regime.

1. Surrender and political changes: • Italy surrendered in 1943, signing a truce with the allies. As a result, the country was divided into two fronts: in the north, the fascists continued to resist under the control of Germany, and the south was liberated by the Allies.

• Mussolini was arrested, but after his release by Germany, he continued to lead the Italian welfare state until 1945, when he was arrested and executed again.

• After the end of the war, Italy was proclaimed a republic in 1946, and the monarchy was abolished.

2. Economic consequences: • Italy has suffered considerable destruction, especially in major cities such as Rome, Naples and Milan. • The country's economy was in ruins, and industry and agriculture require a long recovery.

3. Social consequences:

• Millions of Italians suffered from the consequences of war, bombing, loss of loved ones, poverty and political repression. • The country survived the fascist dictatorship and had to rebuild a democratic society.

4. Long-term consequences:

• Italy was strongly influenced by its allies in the post-war period and became part of NATO and the European Economic Community. • Democracy was developing in the country, but instability existed for many years.

1. Surrender and occupation: • Japan surrendered in September 1945 after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. • The country was occupied by American troops under the leadership of General MacArthur, which led to radical changes in politics and society.

2. Political implications: • Japan adopted a new peaceful constitution in 1947, abandoning war as a means of politics, and its armed forces were limited. • Emperor Hirohito remained on the throne, but his divine status was abolished. He became a symbol of the nation, not its political leader.

3. Economic consequences: • Japan was destroyed, its cities were badly hit by the bombing, especially Tokyo and other major cities. • However, thanks to U.S. reforms and assistance, Japan began economic recovery in the 1950s, quickly becoming one of the world's largest economies.

4. Social consequences: • The Japanese survived a deep traumatise from the war, including the destruction of their cities, losses and the horrors of bombing. • In the post-year years, the reform of education and the legal system began, which helped to form a modern democratic Japan.

5. Long-term consequences: • Japan became an economic superpower, but its military power was limited. The country actively participated in international politics, but always remained under the influence of the United States, especially in the military-political sphere. • Japan also became one of the founders of the UN and actively developed its relations with the West.