20515 | 9 May 2025 | 08:21
The world commemorates today 80 years since the end of World War II.
World War II lasted from September 1, 1939, to September 2, 1945, and was the largest and most destructive military conflict in the history of mankind. Almost all countries in the world, including all major powers, at some point joined the war, aligning themselves with one of the two opposing military alliances - the Allies and the Axis powers.
The war escalated to a state of total war, involving over 100 million people from 62 countries, out of a total of 74 countries at the time. The main participants invested their entire economic, industrial, and scientific potential in the war effort, blurring the lines between civilian and military resources.
The Second World War is the deadliest and bloodiest conflict in human history, resulting in between 70 and 85 million casualties (according to various estimates), most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China.
The war was accompanied by massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombings, deliberately induced famines and epidemics, as well as the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare in history.
1 September 1939 is considered to be the starting date of the Second World War, the date of Germany's attack on Poland, followed by Germany's declaration of war by France and the United Kingdom.
From the end of 1939 to the beginning of 1941, Germany conquered or gained control over most of continental Europe. With the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, Germany and the Soviet Union divide and annex territories from their neighboring countries Poland, Finland, Romania, and the Baltics. After the campaigns in North Africa and East Africa and the fall of France in the middle of 1940, the war in Europe is primarily fought between the Tripartite Pact (Axis) and Great Britain. This is followed by the Balkan campaign, the Battle of Britain in the air, and the prolonged naval battle for the Atlantic.
On June 22, 1941, the Axis forces attack the Soviet Union, opening the largest land military theater in history. The formation of the Eastern Front blocks the Tripartite Pact, especially the German Wehrmacht, in a heavy and exhausting war. In December 1941, Japan surprisingly attacks the United States and western territories in the Pacific region, leading to the entry of the United States into the war. The subsequent rapid Japanese advance in the western Pacific is perceived by many Asians as liberation from western hegemony.
The progress of the Tripartite Pact in the Pacific theater is halted in 1942, when Japan loses the pivotal Battle of Midway. Shortly after, Germany and Italy suffer defeats in North Africa, followed by a decisive defeat at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union.
Key failures in 1943 including a series of defeats on the Eastern front, Allied landings in Sicily and Italy, and victories in the Pacific Theater took the initiative away from the Axis powers and caused strategic retreats on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies entered France while the Soviet Union regained lost territories and advanced against Germany and its allies.
In 1944 and 1945, the Japanese suffered heavy losses in continental Asia - in Central and Southern China and in Burma, while the Allies inflicted serious losses and took strategic islands in the Pacific.
The war in Europe ends with an offensive by the Allies in Germany, reaching its climax with the capture of Berlin by Soviet forces, the suicide of Adolf Hitler, and Germany's unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945.
Following the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, and faced with the threat of a Japanese invasion of their islands, new atomic bombings and war with the Soviet Union, Japan announces its intention to surrender on August 15, 1945, bringing about a complete Allied victory in Asia.
World War II brings about significant changes in political relations and societal structures around the world. The United Nations organization has been created, whose goal is to promote international cooperation and prevent future conflicts, and the major victorious powers - Great Britain, China, the Soviet Union, the United States, and France - become permanent members of its Security Council. The Soviet Union and the United States become rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War that would last for half a century.
After the destruction in Europe, the influence of its major powers weakens, leading to decolonization in Africa and Asia. However, most countries quickly overcome the economic collapse caused by the war and experience economic recovery and growth. Political integration, especially in Europe, begins as an effort to prevent future military actions, end pre-war rivalries, and establish a sense of common identity.
The start of the war in Europe is usually considered to be September 1, 1939 - the beginning of Germany's attack on Poland, followed two days later by the declaration of war on Germany by Britain and France. The dates of the beginning of the war in the Pacific Theater include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on July 7, 1937 and even Japan's intervention in Manchuria on September 19, 1931.
There is no overall agreement on the exact date of the end of World War II. According to some authors, it ended with the armistice on August 14, 1945 (Victory Day over Japan in many countries), while others believe it ended with Japan's surrender on September 2, 1945. The Peace Treaty between Japan and most of the Allies was signed in 1951.
The Treaty for the settlement of the status and future of Germany, which allowed for the unification of West and East Germany and settled most post-war issues, was only signed in 1990. An official peace treaty between the Soviet Union and Japan was never signed.
After the end of the war in Europe, the Allies established occupation administrations in Austria and Germany. The first became a neutral country, not tied to any political alliances, while the second was divided into Western and Eastern occupation zones, controlled respectively by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. A program for the denazification of Germany leads to the persecution of Nazi war criminals, including in the Nuremberg trials, and the removal of former Nazis from power.
As a result of the war, Germany loses a quarter of its territory from 1937.
To the east, Silesia and large parts of Neumark and Pomerania are annexed to Poland, and East Prussia is divided between Poland and the Soviet Union. 9 million ethnic Germans from these areas, as well as 3 million from the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, are forced to leave to Germany, and in the 1950s, one-fifth of the population of West Germany is made up of refugees from the eastern regions.
In addition to German territories, the Soviet Union annexes the Polish regions to the east of the Curzon Line, from which 2 million Poles are expelled, as well as northeastern Romania, parts of eastern Finland, and the three Baltic states. Italy loses relatively small areas to France, Yugoslavia, and Greece, as well as its holdings in Africa.
In an attempt to maintain world peace, the Allies establish the United Nations (UN), officially formed on October 24, 1945, and in 1948 adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a global standard for all member states. The major powers, victorious in the war - Britain, China, the Soviet Union, the United States, and France - become permanent members of the UN Security Council. Despite this, the relations between the Allies themselves began to deteriorate even before the end of the war.
The post-war division of the world was formalized into two military alliances - led by the United States, NATO and led by the Soviet Union, the Warsaw Pact. The prolonged period of political tension and military rivalry between them, the Cold War, was accompanied by an unprecedented arms race and numerous proxy wars.
The global economy
The global economy was heavily affected by the war, although the consequences for individual countries varied. The USA emerges from the war in a better economic state than the other developed countries, with their gross domestic product per capita significantly higher than that of other major nations, securing a key position in the global economy by 1950. Despite the enormous human and material losses, the USSR and China manage to reach their pre-war production levels relatively quickly, by the beginning of the 1950s. Japan experiences an unprecedented economic growth, becoming one of the leading economies in the world within a few decades.
Initially, the Allies follow a policy of deindustrialization of Germany, but due to its economic ties with other countries, this results in stagnation throughout Western Europe and delays the post-war economic recovery for years. левичи West Germany stabilizes with the monetary reform in mid-1948, after which the recovery in the region accelerates with the liberalization of economic policy, directly and indirectly encouraged by the Marshall Plan. The rapid economic recovery during this period is referred to as the "economic miracle" in Germany and the "Thirty Glorious Years" in Italy and France. At the same time, despite receiving significant aid from the Marshall Plan, war-devastated Britain experiences relative economic decline for decades.
The balance of power between Germany and its allies and the USSR on June 22, 1941.
The Germans (together with their allies - Finland, Hungary and Romania) have 5.5 million troops on the border of the Soviet Union. 47,200 soldiers, 4,300 tanks and approximately 5,000 combat aircraft.
By the beginning of the war, the Soviet Union had deployed only 2.9 million soldiers and 32,900 tanks and combat vehicles in its western military regions. This means that Germany had almost a 2-to-1 advantage in troops, and a 1.5-to-1 advantage in artillery.
However, the Red Army had 14,200 tanks and 9,200 combat aircraft, significantly more than the attacking Germany and its allies! So why did the Soviet forces suffer defeat after defeat and retreat at the beginning of the war? First, all German tanks (since the beginning of 1937) had already been equipped with anti-tank armor, communication with artillery and aviation, and had an engine lifespan of 400 operating hours.
Meanwhile, Russian tanks at the start of the war had no radio communication even with their own vehicles, and their engine lifespan was only 60-70 operating hours. Therefore, they were simply left abandoned without repairs or fuel (tilt cannot handle it). During the middle and end of the war, Soviet tanks were improved, but in the beginning of the war, almost half of them were in need of repairs.
The Red Army only started replacing its planes with new ones in 1941 (the old ones were already outdated from the Spanish Civil War), and pilots were not able to master them. The construction of concrete runways in border areas had just begun. Therefore, almost all planes were concentrated at one quarter of the airports, where they were destroyed by the Germans in the first hours of the war.
In 1942, the Soviet industry produced 2000 tanks and 2500 planes per month. Hitler was not able to produce more than 1200 per month.
Countries supporting Germany and the Soviet Union during the war
On the side of Germany, the following countries fought: Finland, Romania, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, France, Spain, Croatia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Denmark. Japan was also an ally. Sweden and Switzerland provided silent assistance.
The USSR fought alone for almost 3 years. The only countries that supported Moscow from June 22, 1941 are Mongolia and the Republic of Tuva, but in 1944 Tuva voluntarily became part of the USSR and joined the war as part of it.
After Germany's attack, the Soviet Union became part of the anti-Hitler coalition along with Great Britain, the United States and China. The main assistance from the allies was through the lend-lease scheme and it was only in 1944 that they opened the second front against Hitler. Almost 80% of Germany's divisions were crushed on the Eastern front by the Red Army.
The extent of US aid through the lend-lease program for the USSR.
The essence of lend-lease: The US supplies defense equipment, ammunition, machinery, and other goods, which were also crucial for the US. The deliveries are conditionally free of charge. In other words, anything used or destroyed during the war is not paid for. However, anything left after the war and still usable had to be paid for or returned to the US. Moscow only stopped paying its lend-lease debt to the Americans in the 21st century - under Putin.
The most notable deliveries were automobiles - 64% of the Soviet car fleet. During the war, the USSR received 138,000 planes - 13% of the aircraft fleet. 2588 ships and vessels - 22.4%. Aviation gasoline - 40%, explosive substances - 36.6%, aluminum - 55%, metalworking machines - 24% of the production in the USSR. Of particular note are the food supplies - 5 million tons, as the USSR was facing a food crisis in 1943 and the already scarce food distribution quotas were reduced by almost a third.
Overall, the percentage of lend-lease (according to Russian estimates) is estimated at 4% of the production in the USSR. It can be concluded that the aid from the allies through lend-lease was not decisive, but still very valuable and significant. Underestimating it (or overestimating it) is not worth it.
The economic damage inflicted on the USSR during the war
The economic damage inflicted on the USSR during the war years amounted to about 30% of the national wealth of the country. Or 679 billion internet-material-tons. Rubles (at prices from 1941). The reparations received from Germany and its allies make it possible to compensate for only 40% of the industrial potential lost by the USSR in the war.
Victims of the war
Only the Soviet Union loses over 27 million people in the war, including 8.7 million military personnel and 19 million civilians, while a quarter of the country's entire population is either wounded or killed.
The military losses of Germany amount to 5.3 million people, primarily on the Eastern front and during the final resistance inside Germany.
The irreparable losses of the USSR in the personnel of the army amount to 11,444,100 people. Of these, 8,668,400 die (6,818,300 die in battles and hospitals, and around 2 million return from captivity).
Irreparable losses of the troops of the Third Reich on the Soviet-German front - 7,181,100 people. The losses of the allied troops of Germany - 1,468,145 people.
In other words, the number of Soviet soldiers who died is higher and the ratio to Germany's losses is 1.3 to 1.
Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of European countries
In total, around 9 million Soviet soldiers participated in the liberation of European countries.
The statistics of casualties are as follows: in Poland - 600,212 people; in Czechoslovakia - 139,918 people; in Hungary - 140,004 people; in Germany - 101,961 people; in Romania - 68,993 people; in Austria - 26,006 people; in Yugoslavia - 7,995 people; in Norway - 3,436 people; in Bulgaria - 977 people.
Losses of other countries
The losses of other major participants in the war are as follows: USA - 405,399 people; Great Britain - 286,200 people; France - 253,000; Italy - 374,000 people; Poland - 425,000 people; Romania - 550,500 people.
Chemical weapons and civilian casualties
During the war in China, as well as during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, the Japanese used various types of chemical and biological weapons. Both the Japanese and the Germans conducted experiments with such weapons on civilians, and sometimes even on prisoners of war. Towards the end of the war, the United States became the first country in history to use atomic weapons.
The majority of casualties in the war were civilians, who were killed both in the actual military operations, including strategic bombings, and in the attempts of the warring parties to maintain control over occupied territories with hostile populations. In Asia, according to some estimates, the number of civilian casualties caused by the Allies exceeded 10 million, including 7.5 million Chinese. The most notorious war crime committed by the Japanese is the Nanking Massacre, in which between 50 and 300 thousand Chinese civilians were killed. During the Campaign of the Three "Alls", 2.7 million people lost their lives.
According to various estimates, between 11 and 17 million civilians died as a result of the racist policies of the German national socialists. Among them were approximately 6 million Jews, millions of Slavs (including over 1.9 million Poles), as well as Roma, disabled individuals, homosexuals, Freemasons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other groups deemed "unworthy of life". Over 200 thousand Serbs, along with Roma and Jews, were killed by the puppet Independent State of Croatia, while more than 100 thousand Poles were killed by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, mostly during the Volhynian Massacres. Soviet prisoners of war in Germany were placed in extremely harsh conditions, with 3.6 million out of a total of 5.7 million losing their lives.
Camps and forced labor
During the war, Germany used forced labor extensively - both with prisoners in concentration camps and with approximately 12 million "Ostarbeiter" (forced laborers) abducted from occupied territories in Eastern Europe and used as slaves in German industry.
Between 1935 and 1941, at least five million Chinese civilians from North China and Manchuguo were sent to forced labor in Japanese mines and factories, and after 1942, the number rose to 10 million. On the island of Java, between 4 and 10 million people were subject to forced labor, with 270,000 being sent to other parts of Southeast Asia, most of whom never returned.
The existing Soviet Gulag network before the war in 1942-1943 was transformed from a wartime shortage and famine into a system of death camps, where many citizens of Poland and the Baltic states, abducted after the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, as well as numerous prisoners of war from the Tripartite Pact, perished. At the end of the war, most Soviet prisoners of war, liberated from German camps, as well as many repatriated civilians, were incarcerated in special filtration camps, after which over 270,000 were sent to the Gulag, and another 700,000 were used for forced labor.
In Japanese prisoner of war camps, where forced labor was often carried out, there was also a high mortality rate. According to data from post-war tribunals, 27% of Western prisoners of war in Japanese camps die, seven times higher than their mortality rate in German and Italian camps. However, at the surrender of Japan, over 80,000 Western prisoners of war were released, while only 56 Chinese were freed.
Occupation
In Europe, the occupation of territories by the Tripartite Pact took two forms. In Western, Northern and Central Europe, Germany enforced an economic policy, which by the end of the war had extracted 69.5 billion Reichsmarks, not including directly confiscated industrial goods, military equipment, raw materials, works of art, and others. As a result, Germany's budget revenues from occupied territories were over 40% of those collected in Germany itself, and by the end of the war they reached almost 40% of the total budget revenues.
In Asia, the Japanese describe their aggression as creating a Great East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere, through which they liberate the countries in the region from European colonialism. Although in some countries the Japanese are truly greeted as liberators, their extreme brutality usually quickly turns public opinion against them. Nevertheless, Japan achieves its main strategic goal in Southeast Asia, securing access to oil reserves - right from the initial conquest, the Japanese seize 550,000 tons of oil, and by 1943 they reach 76% of the pre-war production in the Dutch East Indies, with an annual output of 6.8 million tons.
Economy
Prior to the start of the war, the Allies in Europe have a significant demographic and economic advantage over the countries in the Tripartite Pact. In 1938, Great Britain and its dominions, France, and Poland have a 30% larger population and a larger GDP than Germany and Italy, and when taking into account their colonies, the Allies have a five-fold advantage in population and a double advantage in GDP. At the same time, in Asia, China has a population six times larger than Japan, but only a 89% larger gross domestic product, and when taking into account Japanese territories - a population three times larger and a 38% larger gross domestic product.
Although the initial economic and demographic advantage of the Allies has been somewhat diminished after the initial successes of Germany and Japan, it is quickly restored and becomes a decisive factor from 1941 onwards, when the United States and the Soviet Union join the Allies, and the war becomes a war of attrition. During the entire war, the United States produced about two-thirds of the military equipment of the Allies, including ships, planes, artillery, tanks, trucks, and ammunition.
At the beginning of the war, Germany and Japan were not prepared for prolonged military action. In addition to their pre-war industrial advantage, the Allies had better access to natural resources and were able to quickly reorganize their economy for the needs of the war, including effectively mobilizing women into the workforce. Germany and Japan were unable to compensate for their lag and resorted to using 12 million forced laborers from Eastern Europe and 18 million from the Far East. The industrial capacity of the Three-Power Pact has been seriously affected by the strategic bombings by the Allies in the second half of the war.
(Based on materials from Wikipedia and foreign press)
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