American troops in World War II. How to steal Victory

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  • , Pauwels Jacques R.. In a book that has become a world bestseller and published for the first time in Russian, Canadian historian Jacques R. Pauwels analyzes the true role and goals of the United States in World War II and openly answers... Buy for 538 RUR
  • USA in World War II: Myths and Reality, J.R. Pauwels. In the book, which became a world bestseller and was published for the first time in Russian, Canadian historian Jacques R. Pauwels analyzes the true role and goals of the United States in World War II and openly answers...

Since the beginning of World War II, the United States was in no hurry to enter the war. Congress was against active action, but the Japanese operation in Hawaii in 1941 forced the Americans to begin a military campaign. In our article we will analyze the main actions of the United States in World War II.

Entering the war

The entry of the United States into World War II was inevitable. The Americans avoided participation, but by the spring of 1940, opinions began to change. The United States began to strengthen the army, especially the navy, increased the supply of weapons and allocated a significant amount (7 billion) to Great Britain.

By mid-1941, President Franklin Roosevelt was inclined to initiate military action without announcing it, so as not to wait for a decision from Congress.

War was officially declared on December 8, 1941 after the Japanese attack on the American base in Pearl Harbor (December 7), leading to the following consequences:

  • 2403 people were killed, 1178 were injured;
  • 15 warships were sunk and damaged, and about 200 aircraft were destroyed.

Rice. 1. Pearl Harbor military base.

Main battles

After the Battle of Pearl Harbor, the American army participated in such military operations and battles:

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  • Philippine operation (12.1941-04.1942):
    American-Filipino troops lost a series of battles, the Japanese captured the Philippines;
  • Battle of the Coral Sea (May 1942):
    major naval battle with the Japanese fleet. Neither side achieved actual victory, but the Japanese plans to capture Australia were disrupted;
  • Battle of Midway (June 1942):
    battle with the Japanese fleet; American victory turned the tide of hostilities in Pacific Ocean;
  • Battle of Guadalcanal (08.1942-02.1943):
    the Americans captured a Japanese airfield and, together with the Australians, recaptured Guadalcanal;
  • Battle of the Solomon Islands, Bougainville, New Britain, Gilbert and Marshall Islands, New Guinea (06.1943-09.1944):
    the Americans recaptured the islands, the main part of New Guinea;
  • Mariana-Palau operation (06-11.1944):
    Americans captured the Mariana and Caroline Islands;
  • Naval battle off Leyte Island (October 1944):
    the American fleet defeated the Japanese; liberation of the Philippines began (12.1944-05.1945);
  • Battle for the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa (02-06.1945):
    the Americans drove out the Japanese;
  • Bombing of Hiroshima, Nagasaki (6, 08/09/1945):
    Americans dropped atomic bombs on Japanese cities;
  • North African campaign (11.1942-05.1943):
    the Anglo-American army fought with the Italian-German; were the first to liberate North Africa;
  • Italian campaign (07.1943-08.1944):
    Anglo-American troops defeated the Italian ones, recaptured Rome, and reached Florence;
  • Southern French operation (08-09.1944):
    Anglo-American-French troops liberated Southern France from the German army;
  • Central European operation (03-05.1945):
    Allied forces capture Germany, the German army surrenders.

Together with the allied forces, the Americans successfully carried out the Normandy operation in France (06.06-25.08.1944), which is considered the largest landing (about 3 million troops). The actions of the Allies led to the emergence of a Western European (second) front of the war, the liberation of Paris, and an approach to the western borders of Germany.

Rice. 2. American landing in Normandy.

Results of participation

During World War II, America suffered losses:

  • About 418 thousand dead, 672 thousand wounded, 74 thousand missing;
  • Financial expenses amounted to $137 billion. Despite this, overall there has been an increase industrial production, the power of the fleet increased, the United States finally secured Hawaii for itself, and strengthened its role in world politics.

A significant American contribution to victory was the program for supplying weapons to the allies (Lend-Lease).

After the end of the main hostilities, about 8 million American soldiers remained on the fronts, so the US government approved a program for the return of troops. Operation Magic Carpet began in June 1945 and ended in September 1946.

72 years ago the United States entered World War II. According to the general belief of the Americans, this fact predetermined its final outcome.

Many Americans (I would hardly be wrong if I say the majority) firmly believe that their country made a decisive contribution to the victory over Germany and Japan in World War II and that the USSR would have been crushed by Hitler without American arms supplies. On the Internet you can often come across sincere statements from US residents, such as “we saved the Russians from Hitler” in different variations. Sometimes statements that “without the Americans we would not have won the war” can now be heard from compatriots.

The author does not intend to deny the significant role of the United States in the victory over the countries of the aggressive bloc, especially over Japan, the significant assistance of the United States to the Soviet Union with military materials in 1941-1945. The point is to accurately indicate the magnitude of this role.

Without a doubt, Americans have a right to be proud of what their country accomplished during World War II. The United States (in alliance with the countries of the British Commonwealth) inflicted major defeats on the naval and air forces of Japan and caused serious damage to the military and industrial machine of Nazi Germany. The role of the United States in supplying the USSR with weapons, vehicles, valuable industrial raw materials, medicines and food during the war is also important (its value is discussed below). As a result of World War II, the United States became a superpower, dominating much of the globe. The United States achieved these outstanding results at the cost of relatively small losses - only 322,200 US citizens died, almost exclusively military personnel, since military operations almost did not affect the territory of the United States itself. At the same time, the United States avoided a decline in the living standards of its population. On the contrary, their economy experienced intensive growth throughout the war years.

There is no reason to attribute merits beyond those listed above to the United States in World War II. Let us now understand this role on specific examples.

1. "Arsenal of Democracy"

In March 1941, the US Congress passed a law providing countries “whose defense is important to US interests” with preferential targeted loans for the purchase of weapons and other military materials from the United States. The debt for weapons and materials that would have been spent during the war was declared written off. This system is commonly known as lend lease. England became the first recipient of American aid. It remained the main recipient of Lend-Lease supplies throughout the years of World War II ($31.4 billion; USSR - $11.3 billion).

The Lend-Lease Law was extended to the USSR only on November 7, 1941, but actual deliveries began earlier - after on September 30, 1941, during the visit to Moscow of the special representative of the US President W. A. ​​Harriman and the Minister of War Industry of England, W. Beaverbrook. The first supply protocol was signed.

The total volume of Lend-Lease deliveries to the USSR is usually estimated at 4% of the total GDP of the USSR for this period. However, this is not an indicator, since Lend-Lease assistance was not intended to replace military production of the USSR. A more objective, although differentiated, indicator is the share of American supplies for certain types of military production. Here it is also necessary to take into account that the main arms assistance went to the USSR in 1941-1942, then the main emphasis in supplies was placed on military materials and food, which were in short supply in the USSR.

The United States provided significant assistance to our country in such types of products as, for example, canned meat (480% of what was produced over the years in the USSR), non-ferrous metals (from 76% to 223% for various metals), animal fats (107%), wool (102%), car tires (92%), explosives (53%). Supplies were significant trucks(375 thousand), jeeps (51.5 thousand), barbed wire (45 thousand tons), telephone cable (670 thousand miles), telephone sets (189 thousand pieces). Deliveries of main types of weapons amounted to 12% of the production of tanks by Soviet factories, 20% of the production of bombers, 16% of the production of fighters, 22% of the production of combat ships. Of particular note is the supply of radars (445 pieces).

There is an unofficial assessment of the role of Lend-Lease supplies for the course of the Great Patriotic War by such an authority as Marshal G.K. Zhukov (reported by KGB chief V.E. Semichastny to N.S. Khrushchev, it served as one of the reasons for Zhukov’s removal from the post of Minister of Defense in 1957): “Now they say that the allies never helped us... But it cannot be denied that the Americans sent us so much material, without which we could not form our reserves and could not continue the war... We received 350 thousand cars, and what cars!.. We didn’t have explosives or gunpowder. There was nothing to equip the cartridges with. The Americans really helped us out with gunpowder and explosives. And how much sheet steel they sent us. Would we be able to quickly establish tank production if it weren’t for American aid steel. And now they present the matter in such a way that we had all this in abundance.” It is necessary, however, to keep in mind that many statements in this quote could have been deliberately distorted in order to present the speaker in an unfavorable light.

The fact remains that during the most difficult period of the war for our country - the summer and autumn of 1941 - there were no Lend-Lease supplies to the USSR yet. The Nazi armies were stopped on the approaches to Leningrad and Moscow solely by our weapons. It would be correct to believe that American economic assistance to the Soviet armed forces (which was deployed on a large scale only since 1943!) accelerated the final defeat of the Nazi troops on the Eastern Front. But it would be a mistake to conclude that without such help this victory would not have come at all.

2. “The Normandy landings were the decisive battle of the war.”

The invasion of Northern France by American and British troops, which began on June 6, 1944, is considered in the West to be a turning point in the Second World War. However, this assessment ignores the fact of numerous defeats that the Wehrmacht had already suffered on the Eastern Front, starting in December 1941. Since November 1942, with the exception of short-term episodes of the counter-offensive near Kharkov and initial stage The battle of Kursk, German troops in the East were on strategic defense. By the summer of 1944, the Soviet armies had already liberated most of the territory of the USSR initially captured by the Nazis and in a number of places reached the state border of the USSR. The final outcome of the war was no longer in doubt, and this outcome was determined precisely on the Eastern Front.

Taking into account the overall strategic picture of the Second World War, the traditional point of view of Russian historiography seems more justified, according to which the very landing of Anglo-American troops in Normandy was undertaken in the summer of 1944 in order to prevent the final defeat of the Wehrmacht by Soviet troops alone.

The scope and intensity of battles in the Western European Theater of Operations (TVD) in 1944-1945. never came close to what took place on the Eastern Front, not only in 1941-1943, but also in these last two years of the war. The Soviet-German front remained the main front in Europe until May 9, 1945.

By January 1945, at the moment of maximum tension of German forces on the Western Front, caused by an attempt to advance in the Ardennes, Wehrmacht units in the West numbered only 73 divisions, while in the East at the same time there were 179 German divisions. Overall 80% personnel Germany's active army, 68% of its artillery, 64% of its tanks and 48% of Luftwaffe aviation during this period were used against Soviet troops. Thus, in Last year During the war, the main forces of the German ground army fought not in the West, but in the East.

On the Eastern Front, the Wehrmacht suffered decisive losses in World War II. 70% of all German aircraft destroyed during the war, 75% of lost tanks and 74% of German artillery losses occurred in the war with the USSR. It is always more difficult to estimate the number of human losses. However, the list of Wehrmacht formations shows that in total during the Second World War, 130 German ground divisions were completely defeated on the battlefield and deleted from this list. Of these, 104, that is, 80%, were defeated by Soviet troops.

3. “The United States single-handedly defeated Germany in the West and Japan”

The myth about the decisive role of the United States in World War II is aimed at belittling the role of not only the USSR, but also other participants in the anti-fascist coalition - the countries of the British Commonwealth and China. Meanwhile, when we talk about those theaters of war where American troops operated, it is necessary to keep in mind that they always fought as part of coalition forces, not always having a majority in them.

The United States actually entered the war east of the Atlantic only by landing troops in North Africa November 8, 1942. Moreover, this was a blow not even to Germany, but to Italy and Vichy France. In 1940-1942. British Commonwealth forces themselves repelled a number of Axis offensives in North Africa. The British victory at El Alamein in October-November 1942, which resulted in the final turning point in the war in the Mediterranean theater of operations, was won before the arrival of American troops.

The role of American supplies in arming and equipping British troops was significantly higher than their role for Soviet troops. However, the subjects of the British Empire paid for these supplies with their blood. In World War II, 364 thousand residents of the United Kingdom (1/6 - civilians) and 109 thousand residents of the British dominions and colonies died, that is, a total of more than Americans.

Until the summer of 1944, the number of ground forces of the British Empire fighting enemies in the Western and Asia-Pacific theaters (both together and in each separately) invariably exceeded the number of American troops stationed there. Only after the landing in Normandy did this ratio slowly begin to change.

In the “Battle of the Atlantic,” the decisive role was played by the British Navy, which destroyed 525 German submarines (while the American Navy destroyed 174). In the Asia-Pacific region, the Americans fought together with the Australians and British colonial troops in India. In addition, one cannot discount the constant (albeit in itself passive) factor of China, which constantly diverted more than half of the Japanese ground army and significant Japanese aviation forces. These forces together, and not the Americans alone, ensured the Allies' victory over Japan's sea and air power. And, as has been written many times, it was the USSR’s entry into the war against Japan, and not the atomic bombing, that became the “last blow of the sword” that forced Japan to capitulate.

Thus, even in those theaters of World War II where the decisive role belonged to the Western allies, the role of the United States as part of the coalition forces cannot be regarded as absolutely dominant.

When the US entered the Second World War?

Any 20th-century history textbook says that the United States entered World War II on December 7, 1941, after a Japanese carrier force launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, an American military base in the Hawaiian Islands. One can agree with this point of view, but only if we consider the beginning of the Second World War as the date when armed conflicts in different parts Worlds with different participants finally merged into a single world war, and the most important countries of both opposing coalitions took part in it. In this case, the period from December 7, Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, to December 11, 1941, the date the United States declared war on the part of Germany and Italy, can be considered the beginning of World War II. But for some reason, the beginning of the war is considered to be September 1, 1939, the date of the start of the German-Polish war. December 7, 1941 for America was just the date of the explicit start of hostilities, and in a hidden form the United States had long been acting against the Axis countries. The Japanese strike was in fact only a harsh response to American provocations. Let's try to figure out how the United States turned from a neutral country into a belligerent state and when it began an undeclared war against Hitler and his allies.

After the outbreak of war in Europe, the United States declared itself a neutral country and acted under the Neutrality Act, passed on May 1, 1937. According to this law, the export of weapons and military materials to countries at war was prohibited. American ships were not to be used to transport weapons and war materials for warring countries. States participating in the war could purchase civilian goods from the United States, provided they were paid in advance and exported on their own ships. US President Roosevelt pushed through changes to the law and from November 1939, warring countries could buy weapons from the US and export them on their ships. The English fleet dominated the sea and the naval blockade completely destroyed Germany's ocean shipping. Formally, the amended neutrality law gave equal opportunities to both sides of the conflict, but not all participants in the war could actually buy weapons and military materials in the United States. It benefited only Great Britain and its allies.

Great Britain was very dependent on imports of raw materials, food and many other goods. For her, the great danger was the naval blockade carried out by German submarines. The British fleet in 1940 lacked anti-submarine ships to guard convoys. Many such ships were built at English shipyards, but their entry into service was a matter of the future, and escort ships were needed immediately. A few days after taking office as Prime Minister, Churchill asked US President Roosevelt to provide Britain with 50 old American destroyers. According to the Hague Convention of 1907, a neutral country does not have the right to transfer its warships to a belligerent state. But the United States violated the convention and provided Great Britain with destroyers in September 1940 in exchange for the lease of military bases on the territory of the British Empire.

On March 11, 1941, the United States Congress passed the United States Defense Act, better known as the Lend-Lease Act. According to this law, by decision of the president, any country whose defense was recognized as important for the United States could be supplied with everything necessary for combat operations, including weapons and military equipment. Get stocked for free! There was no need to pay for American supplies. Only if, at the end of the war, the property supplied under Lend-Lease survived, it had to either be returned or paid for. The first country to which the law was extended was Great Britain. In fact, the industrial power of the United States was put at the service of the war against the Axis countries. The American Atlantic Fleet began to openly assist the British Navy, conducting reconnaissance in the Atlantic and informing the British about the location of German ships and submarines. Even despite these provocative actions, Hitler did not want to declare war on America. Then the US moved on. In July 1941, American troops occupied Iceland, replacing the British garrison there. The American Navy began to guard British convoys from the US coast to Iceland. On August 11, 1941, British Prime Minister Churchill and US President Roosevelt signed the Atlantic Charter. At this point, the British were at war with Germany, so the signing of a charter by Britain with provisions aimed at the legitimate democratically elected leadership of Germany was not surprising. But the United States was considered a neutral country! The words about the “final destruction of Nazi tyranny” in a document signed by the president of a neutral state were an open challenge and provocation against Germany. And the words that “states that threaten or may threaten aggression beyond their borders ... must be disarmed” and about “restoring the sovereign rights and self-government of those peoples who were deprived of this by force” were a direct threat to Germany, Italy and Japan .

After the signing of the Atlantic Charter, from September 1941, the US Navy took responsibility for guarding convoys throughout the western part Atlantic Ocean. Incidents were not long in coming. On September 4, 1941, an English plane discovered the German submarine U-652 and aimed the American destroyer Greer at it. The Americans spotted the submarine, began to pursue it and transmit its coordinates to nearby British ships and aircraft. The Greer did not attack the Germans, but the British aircraft it directed dropped depth charges on the submarine, and the American destroyer continued to pursue it. The commander of the German submarine believed that he was attacked by a destroyer (he did not know that the destroyer belonged to the US Navy) and fired two torpedoes at it in response, but missed. And on September 11, Roosevelt, in a radio speech, called the attack on a German submarine an act of deliberate aggression. This was a shameless lie. The actions of the American destroyer were deliberate aggression, and the German submarine was only defending itself! Americans habitually passed off black as white. As a result of this dirty propaganda campaign, the US Navy received orders to destroy any ships waging war against merchant shipping. A strange order for the Navy of a neutral country! In fact, the US military went to war against Germany.

Collisions with German submarines and combat losses were not long in coming. Convoy SC-48 heading to the UK from Canada was attacked by a “wolf pack”. Several anti-submarine ships were sent from Iceland to help him. Among them were American destroyers. On October 16, 1941 (let me remind you that there were still almost two months left before the official entry of the United States into the war!) American destroyers approached the English convoy and took their places guarding the transports. At night, German submarines launched another attack on the convoy. During one of the attacks at about 2 a.m. on October 17, the American destroyer Kearney maneuvered in close proximity to the convoy ships and dropped depth charges. At that moment, he was hit by a torpedo from a German submarine. The newest American destroyer received severe damage, but was able to reach Iceland. Its crew lost 11 people killed and 24 wounded. Fulfilling the order of President Roosevelt, the destroyer Kearney found herself in a place where under no circumstances could a ship of a neutral country be located - in the combat guard of a convoy of belligerent Great Britain. Moreover, he took part in submarine attacks in Germany, with which the United States was not at war at that moment!

The destroyer Kearny was not the last American loss before the official entry into the war. At the end of October 1941, American destroyers in the Atlantic escorted convoy HX-156, carrying weapons from Great Britain at war with Germany. On the morning of October 31, a submarine torpedoed the American destroyer Reuben James, which was guarding the convoy. It stayed on the water for only 5 minutes after being hit by a torpedo, after which it sank. Only 45 crew members were rescued, but 115 American sailors died. Just like the Kearny, the Reuben James, if the United States had truly been neutral, could not have been in the place where it was hit by a torpedo. Roosevelt used the deaths of American sailors for even larger-scale provocations against Germany. He pushed through Congress amendments to the Neutrality Act, the first of which allowed the arming of American merchant ships, which was in direct violation of international law, and the second amendment allowed American ships to sail in waters that were declared a war zone by Germany.

Sometimes the hostile actions of the American fleet against Germany seemed anecdotal. After Britain declared war, some German merchant ships took refuge in neutral ports. Some of them subsequently tried to break the blockade of Germany and deliver the necessary goods to it. One of the blockade runners was the Odenwald, which came from Japan and was supposed to be delivered to Germany various loads, including 3,800 tons of natural rubber much needed by the Third Reich's war industry. On November 6, 1941, in the South Atlantic, he was captured by a group of American warships. Since the United States was not yet officially at war with Germany, even the American military had doubts about the legality of the seizure of the German ship. Then a completely anecdotal justification came into play - “Odenwald” was detained on the basis of the law early XIX century, as a suspect... in the slave trade!

Roosevelt really wanted to drag the United States into the war, but according to the American Constitution he did not have the right to do so. Only Congress could declare war, and in it the positions of opponents of American participation in European disputes were strong. Despite the violations international law, hostile actions, provocations, and even the direct participation of American warships in military operations against Germany, Hitler did not give Roosevelt a gift and did not declare war on the United States, although there were plenty of reasons for this. But the American president had a backup option in this case. Independent, but much more vulnerable than Germany, Hitler's partner. Roosevelt provoked Japan into war.

Since 1937, Japan has led hard war in China. The United States did not limit itself to diplomatic protests. They pursued anti-Japanese policies, supporting China's ability to resist the Japanese army. So on February 8, 1939, the United States signed an agreement with the Chinese government providing the latter with $25 million for the purchase of weapons and military equipment. I would especially like to note that the signing of this agreement occurred even before the official start of the Second World War! Even then, Roosevelt identified one of the future opponents in the world war. It is not surprising that Japan, a competitor of the United States in the Pacific Ocean and in East Asia. Militarily, the Land of the Rising Sun was not as dangerous an adversary as another US competitor, Great Britain, which was assigned the role of an ally pulling chestnuts out of the fire. The Japanese were inferior to the Americans in the fleet in a ratio of 5:3 and many times in economic power. They simply had no chance of winning a long war against the United States.

Roosevelt did not limit himself to selling weapons to China. In January 1941, he sent his assistant L. Carrie there to study the political, economic and military situation. As a result, on May 6, 1941, the Lend-Lease law was extended to China. This was a serious blow to Japan, whose army had been bleeding on the fronts of the Sino-Japanese War since 1937. And in September 1941, retired American soldier K. Chennault organized a group of mercenaries, which included about 100 American pilots, as well as ground personnel. You may ask, what does President Roosevelt have to do with mercenaries who went to fight in China for money? The most direct! The US President allowed American military personnel to volunteer to fight in China. In their units, they were on leave, while remaining servicemen of the American army! The group, which became known as the Flying Tigers, was armed with P-40 fighter jets supplied to China under Lend-Lease. Thus, with the unpublicized consent of their government, American pilots managed to fight the Japanese even before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Weapons supplies to China and hundreds of American pilots were just annoying little things. Roosevelt managed to find Japan's weak spot and strike at it. After France was defeated in Europe, Japan decided to take advantage of this to isolate China, with whom it was at war. In July 1940, the supply of military supplies to China through Haiphong was stopped, and on September 23, in accordance with an agreement between Japan and the legitimate government of France, Japanese troops began landing in French Indochina. On July 23, 1941, an agreement was signed between the French and Japanese regarding the use of military bases in Southern Indochina. The next day, Japanese troops entered Southern Indochina, and on July 25, the United States, followed by Great Britain and Holland, imposed an embargo on oil supplies to Japan and froze Japanese assets in their countries. This was not just an unfriendly step on the part of the United States, whose interests were not threatened by Japanese troops in Southern Indochina. This was a death sentence for the Japanese economy, which received oil from the United States and the Dutch colonies. Japanese diplomacy made superhuman efforts to peacefully resolve the conflict, and in response received a note from Hall on November 26, 1941, which gave Japan a choice between surrender and war!

Roosevelt achieved his goal. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Congress declared war on Japan. Following this, following their allied duty, Hitler and Mussolini declared war on the United States. The formal declaration of war was only a belated recognition of the real situation. In fact, the US military has been involved in combat against Germany and Japan since September 1941. Actions incompatible with the status of a neutral state have been carried out against Germany since September 1940, and against Japan since February 1939, even before the generally recognized beginning of the Second World War!

You can read more about how Roosevelt provoked Japan

USA in World War II participated in the war since December 1941 (in the Pacific Ocean). Since November 1942 in the Mediterranean theater of operations. In June 1944 it was opened Western Front in Europe. American troops operated in France (mainly in Normandy), Italy, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

US losses in World War II were 418,000 people. The bloodiest battle for the American army was the Ardennes operation. After it in terms of the number of losses come the Normandy operation, the Battle of Monte Cassino, the Battle of Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa.

Military production

During the Second World War, the beginning of the military-economic situation was laid in the United States. Before the start of the war, the United States had not yet fully recovered from the crisis of 1937-1938. From the fall of 1939 to the fall of 1943, industrial production in the United States increased almost 2.5 times. This growth was caused by the war and orders for military equipment, food, etc.

The development of US military production occurred due to the fact that the American continent was far from military operations. But despite this, the development of US military production was significantly inferior to the development of military production of the USSR. There, production developed during hostilities and occurred during the war and yet, it was developed more than production in the United States.

Pacific Theater

On the morning of December 7, 1941, 441 Japanese aircraft, taking off from six aircraft carriers (Akagi, Hiryu, Kaga, Shokaku, Soryu and Zuikaku), attacked the American military base at Pearl Harbor. 4 battleships, 2 cruisers and 1 minelayer were sunk. Among the battleships was the battleship Arizona. The Americans lost 2,403 people.

Six hours after the attack, American warships and submarines was ordered to begin fighting in the ocean against Japan. President Franklin Roosevelt gave a speech to Congress and declared war on Japan. On December 11, Germany and Italy, and on December 13, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria declare war on the United States. On December 10, 1941, the Japanese launched an invasion of the Philippines and captured it by April 1942, with most American and Philippine troops captured.

Beginning in early 1942, Japanese aircraft attacked the port of Darwin on the northern coast of Australia. Major naval battles involving aircraft carriers took place in the Coral Sea on May 8 and at Midway on June 4, where the Americans scored their first victories over the Japanese. The Battle of Midway became turning point in the war in the Pacific.

On the island New Guinea The Japanese advanced towards Port Moresby, but American-Australian troops under the command of General Douglas MacArthur stopped them. August 7, 1942 American Marines landed on the island of Guadalcanal and captured a Japanese airfield. In October-November 1942, the Japanese launched several counterattacks, but without success. On February 9, 1943, the Americans completely captured Guadalcanal; in July-August 1943, they captured the southern and central part archipelago of the Solomon Islands, in November-December, partly the islands of Bougainville and New Britain. On November 20-23, American Marines captured the Gilbert Islands (Tarawa Atoll), and in January and February 1944 landed on the Marshall Islands (Roy, Kwajelein and Majuro Islands).

During the spring of 1944, the Americans carried out a series of amphibious operations on the northern coast of New Guinea, which accelerated the advance of Allied troops from the southern part of the island. During the summer and autumn the Allies liberated most New Guinea, and Japanese units were surrounded in the central and southwestern parts of the island and surrendered only at the end of the war. Japanese units in the Caroline Islands were also blocked and cut off from the outside world.

On June 15, 1944, the Americans landed on the heavily fortified island of Saipan (Mariana Islands). The Japanese put up fierce resistance, but by July 9 they were defeated. The American capture of the island of Saipan led to the fall of the government of General Tojo in Japan. During the summer of 1944, the Mariana Islands were completely captured and bombing of Japan itself began from their airfields, since the distance was already sufficient for the operation of American B-29 Superfortress bombers.

In October 1944, the largest naval battle in history took place in Leyte Gulf. The Japanese fleet suffered catastrophic losses, after which the American Navy gained absolute supremacy at sea. Japanese aircraft also suffered catastrophic losses from the superior US Air Force. On October 20, the Americans under the command of General Douglas MacArthur began landing on the island of Leyte (southern Philippines) and cleared it of Japanese troops by December 31. On January 9, 1945, the Americans landed on the main island of the Philippine archipelago - Luzon. During January and February they defeated most of the Japanese forces in Luzon, and liberated Manila on March 3. By May, most of the Philippines had been liberated, with only remnants of Japanese troops in the mountains and jungle continuing to resist until August.

On February 19, 1945, US Marines landed on the island of Iwo Jima, where the Japanese put up very strong resistance. The island was captured by March 26, 1945. On April 1, American troops landed on the island of Okinawa with the support of the US Navy and the British Navy, and captured it by June 22, 1945. On both Iwo Jima and Okinawa, the Japanese offered the most fierce resistance of the entire war, since these islands were already directly Japanese territory. Allied ships were often attacked by Japanese kamikazes. The battles on both islands ended with the almost complete destruction of Japanese troops.

In July 1945, the Allies presented Japan with an ultimatum, but it refused to capitulate. On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 Superfortress bomber dropped atomic bomb (atomic bombings Hiroshima and Nagasaki) to Hiroshima, and on August 9 to Nagasaki, which led to enormous destruction - and on August 15, Emperor Hirohito announced the unconditional surrender of Japan. The Japanese surrender was signed on September 2, 1945, on board the USS Missouri.

Mediterranean theater of operations

On November 8, 1942, American troops under the command of General Dwight Eisenhower - three corps (western, central and eastern) with the support of one British division landed on the Atlantic coast of Morocco and on the Mediterranean coast - in Algeria, in the territories controlled by the puppet government of Vichy, and by November 11 captured Casablanca, Oran and Algiers, and the Vichy French surrendered and went over to the Allied side. Meanwhile, the British 8th Army, under the command of General Bernard Montgomery, defeated the Germans in Egypt at El Alamein (the US Air Force also participated in this battle and the British Army was armed with a significant amount of American armored vehicles, which played a decisive role in the Allied victory in this battle ), advanced to the west, pursuing the remnants of the German-Italian troops. Because of these events, the Germans began to capture Tunisia, where on November 17, 1942, fighting began between them and the troops of the United States, Great Britain and Free France. In a matter of weeks, the Germans formed the 5th Panzer Army in Tunisia to cover the rear of their retreating Army Africa. In December 1942 and January 1943. Due to heavy rains that washed out all the roads in Tunisia, the Allies were unsuccessful. On 14 February the Germans launched a counter-offensive at the Kasserine Pass in western Tunisia, but by 18 February the Allies stopped them and the Germans retreated. On March 6, the Germans tried to counterattack the 8th British Army advancing from Libya to the Mareth Line, but were defeated. The American 2nd Corps and the British 8th Army, attacking the Germans from the west and east, united in southern Tunisia on April 7, 1943, on the road between the cities of El Guettar and Gabes, forming a united front. All Allied ground forces were united into the 15th Army Group, led by British General Harold Alexander. The US 2nd Corps began to operate independently as a separate army, directly reporting to General Alexander. The 2nd Corps was transferred to Northern Tunisia, opposite the cities of Tunis and Bizerte. On April 23-24, the final Allied offensive in North Africa began. The Germans put up strong resistance. The Italians, on the contrary, often surrendered to the Allies. On May 7, Bizerte and Tunis were liberated, and German-Italian troops, including most of Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps, were pinned to the sea at Cape Bon, where they capitulated on May 13, 1943.

On July 10, 1943, the American 7th Army and the British 8th Army successfully landed on the southern coast of Sicily, liberated the city of Palermo on July 22, and by August 17 entered Messina and completely liberated Sicily. The Italians have long understood that the war into which the Duce dragged them did not meet the interests of Italy. King Victor Emmanuel III decides to arrest Mussolini and on July 25, 1943, Mussolini was arrested. The new Italian government, led by Marshal Badoglio, began to conduct secret negotiations with the American command with a view to concluding a truce through the mediation of neutral Portugal. Badoglio held secret negotiations with General Eisenhower, first in Lisbon and then in Sicily. The Italian troops mostly surrendered, the Germans suffered losses, and some troops were evacuated to the continent.

On September 3, 1943, the British 8th Army crossed the Strait of Messina and landed on the tip of the Apennine Peninsula, and an additional contingent of British troops landed in the port of Taranto. On September 8, Badoglio officially announced the unconditional surrender of Italy, and the Italian fleet surrendered to the Allies on the island of Malta. After which the Wehrmacht began the occupation of northern Italy. On September 9, 1943, the American 5th Army landed in the Salerno area south of Naples (300 km north of the Strait of Messina), the Germans constantly attacked them, but by mid-September the 5th Army gained a foothold in the bridgehead and linked up with the advancing 8th Army from the south of the peninsula. On October 1, Naples was liberated. In October-November, the 5th Army encountered strong German resistance along the Volturno River and crossed it by November 15th. By the end of December, the Allied offensive was stopped due to the weather and the mountainous terrain of Italy - the offensive could only be carried out to the west or east of the Apennine mountains, along the coast.

On January 4, 1944, the American 5th Army resumed its offensive and by January 17 reached the area of ​​Mount Cassino and the German Winter Line fortifications. On January 22, 1944, an Anglo-American amphibious assault was landed in the Anzio area to help the Allies break through the Winter Line. The landing was successful, but soon the bridgehead at Anzio was blocked by the Germans, who attacked it twice on February 17 and 29, 1944 - the Allies repelled these attacks and positional battles continued there until the end of May. At the end of January and beginning of February, the Americans tried to seize positions in the Monte Cassino area, but without success. Both sides suffered heavy losses and the American 2nd Corps was withdrawn to the southern flank of the Italian Front, replaced by New Zealand, Indian and British units at Monte Cassino. The Allies continued to attack Monte Cassino unsuccessfully in February and March. By May the weather had improved and on May 11 the Allies launched Operation Diadem. The main offensive took place on the western flank towards Rome, and later began on the Adriatic coast of Italy. On May 18, they took Monte Cassino and broke through the Winter Line, and the Germans began to retreat. On May 23, the Allies broke out of the Anzio bridgehead and on May 25 they linked up with the US II Corps, advancing from the southeast along the Tyrrhenian Sea coast. On June 4, 1944, the Allies liberated Rome, and by early August they reached the Arno River, near the cities of Pisa and Florence.

During the summer of 1944, some American troops were withdrawn from the Italian front and loaded onto landing ships in Naples. On August 15, 1944, they successfully landed in Southern France and, having liberated most of its territory, began to advance along the Rhone River valley along with the Free French troops, and in September they united with the 3rd Army of General Patton, advancing from Normandy and Brittany, and from that moment these hostilities became part of the Western European theater of operations. Meanwhile, in Italy the offensive stopped at the Gothic Line. In the autumn and winter of 1944, positional battles took place there. Only by April 1945 did the 5th and 8th armies launch an offensive and manage to break through the enemy defenses near the Po River. On April 28, the partisans executed Mussolini, and on May 2, all German troops in Italy surrendered to the Allies. On May 4, the 5th Army linked up with the 7th Army, which was advancing from southern Germany.

Western European Theater of Operations

According to the decision of the Tehran Conference, where Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met, the second front of the war was opened on June 6, 1944. Allied forces of the USA, Great Britain and Canada landed in Normandy. The operation was called Overlode, also called D-Day. The operation ended on August 31 with the liberation of the entire northwestern part of France. Allied forces liberated Paris on August 25, which had already been almost liberated by French partisans. On August 15, American-French troops landed in the south of France, where they liberated the cities of Toulon and Marseille.

In September, Allied forces advancing from Normandy linked up with troops advancing from Southern France. Also in September, the Allies advance into Belgium, where they cross the German border on September 13 and capture the city of Aachen on October 21. The Allies had to temporarily stop the advance due to lack of resources and worsening weather. During November and the first half of December, American troops liberate the northeastern part of France, reaching the Siegfried Line and the French-German border. By mid-December, the Allies' supplies had improved and they began planning a new offensive.

On December 16, German forces launched an offensive and advanced 90 km in the Ardennes into Belgium. On December 22, General Patton's 3rd Army launched a counteroffensive on the southern flank and attacked the advancing Germans from the south. By December 25, the German offensive floundered near the Belgian city of Selle, not reaching just 6 km of the Meuse River, and the Allies launched a large-scale counteroffensive and launched an invasion of West Germany on January 29, 1945. During February, the Allies captured almost all of German territory west of the Rhine. On March 7, the Americans captured the railway bridge across the Rhine in the city of Remagen; at the end of March, the 6th, 12th and 21st Allied Army Groups crossed the Rhine, and in April they surrounded and defeated the Ruhr group of German troops. On April 25, the American 1st Army met Soviet forces on the Elbe River. The 3rd Army penetrated further than any American forces - to the city of Pilsen in Czechoslovakia, where it met with Soviet troops in May. French units on the French-Italian border launched an offensive and linked up with the western flank of the American 5th Army in the Western Alps. The 7th American Army, advancing to the south and southeast, captured most of southern Germany, the western part of Austria, crossed the Brenner Pass in the Alps and entered the territory of Northern Italy, where on May 4 it met with units of the 5th Army advancing from valley of the Po River.

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