Second World War

World War II took place between September 1, 1939 and ended May 8, 1945, and on September 2, in the Pacific.

Military operations involved 72 countries, including Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union, fighting Germany, Italy and Japan.

The fighting left an estimated 45 million dead, 35 million injured and three million missing.

It is estimated that the total cost of the Second World War reached 1.385 billion dollars.

Causes of World War II

Among the factors that led to World War II is Germany's discontent with the outcome of World War I (1914-1918).

Germany was declared the only culprit in this conflict, had its Armed Forces reduced and had to pay compensation to the victors.

This caused economic fragility, high inflation and accumulation of social problems. In the 20s, radical movements such as Nazism, led by Adolf Hitler, emerged, conquering part of the population.

Hitler defended nationalism, the idea that the Aryans were a superior race and the others should be subjected or eliminated, especially the Jews, considered guilty of all evils. This generated the so-called Holocaust, which was the industrial-scale murder of this people.

Mentally and physically disabled people, communists, homosexuals, religious people and gypsies were also condemned and murdered.

Phases of the Second World War

The conflict can be divided into three phases:

• The Axis victories (1939-1941);
• The balance of forces (1941-1943);
• The Allied Victory (1943-1945).

World War II began with Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 and ended with Germany's surrender on May 8, 1945. In the Pacific, however, the feud would continue until Japan's capitulation on May 2, 1945. September 1945.

The battlefront was formed by the Axis nations (made up of Germany, Italy and Japan) and the Allied countries (Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States).

Brazil declared war on the Axis on August 22, 1942 and sent soldiers to Italy in 1944. In addition, the United States used an air base in Natal/RN.

1st phase:Axis victories (1939-1941)

The first phase of World War II took place with the invasion of Poland by Germany in 1939.

In an attempt to stop the incursions of German Chancellor Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), the governments of France and Great Britain imposed economic blockades on Germany. However, they did not come to direct conflict.

Effective on the battlefield, in 1940 Germany carried out an operation in which it combined land, air and naval attacks to occupy Denmark.

The German army also took Norway as a way of safeguarding the steel trade with Sweden and making a stand against Great Britain. To this end, the Norwegian port of Narvik was occupied.

In May 1940, Hitler ordered the invasion of Holland and Belgium, and once these countries were occupied, Nazi troops headed for France and managed to dominate it.

France signs an armistice with Germany on June 14, 1940 and is divided into two areas:one administered by the Germans and the other by Marshal Petáin, who collaborated with the Nazis.

Hitler sets his sights on Britain, and on August 8, Germany bombed British cities with the Luftwaffe, the German air force. Although they were outnumbered, the British Air Force (RAF) managed to neutralize the attack and the British government ordered incursions into German soil.

This was Adolf Hitler's only defeat in the first phase of the war and allowed the Allies to rebuild their forces.

The following year, in 1941, Hitler's army arrived in Libya, in North Africa, with the aim of conquering the Suez Canal. In May of the same year, Yugoslavia and Greece were occupied by Axis troops.

2nd phase:balance of forces (1941-1943)

The balance of forces characterizes the second phase of the Second World War. This stage begins in 1941 with the invasion of the Soviet Union by the Germans and ends in 1943 with the capitulation of Italy.

The conquest of the Soviet Union was intended to occupy the regions of Leningrad (today Saint Petersburg), Moscow, Ukraine and the Caucasus.

The entry of the German army took place through Ukraine and later on to Leningrad. When Hitler's forces arrived in Moscow in December 1941, they were held back by the Red Army.

Battles in the Pacific

Parallel to the conflict in Europe, the forces of Japan and the United States had strained relations.

Before the war, in the 1930s, Japan invaded China and in 1941, French Indochina. As a result, in November of that year, the US enacted a trade embargo on Japan, demanding the eviction of China and Indochina.

In the midst of diplomatic negotiations between the US and Japan, the latter bombed the naval base at Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, and continued the offensive against the Americans in South Asia and the Pacific. Faced with the attack, the United States declared war on Japan.

The Japanese invaded British Malaya, the port of Singapore, Burma, Indonesia and the Philippines. Amidst the tension, Japan occupied the port of Hong Kong and islands in the Pacific Ocean that belonged to Great Britain and the United States. In addition, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.

By January 1942, the Japanese offensive resulted in the conquest of 4 million square kilometers and command of a population of 125 million.

The turning point:German defeat in the Soviet Union

The scenario of World War II begins to change at the end of 1942, when the Allies begin to be successful against the Axis attacks. The Battle of Stalingrad marks this phase, altering the course of the conflict.

Japan suffers important defeats in the Pacific, being prevented from conquering Australia and Hawaii.

British and American forces are also successful in Libya and Tunisia. From North Africa, the Allies landed in Sicily and invaded Italy in 1943.

See also :Major Battles of World War II

3rd phase:Allied victory (1943-1945)

After the capitulation of Italy, the Second World War entered the third phase, which ended with the surrender of Japan in September 1945.

In Italy, the government of Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) was removed by King Victor Emmanuel III in July 1943. In the north of the country, the Republic of Saló was proclaimed, a state recognized only by the Axis countries. In September of the same year, Italy signs an armistice with the Allies.

After that point, Italy switches sides and declares war on Germany in October 1943. In April 1945, after the capture of Nazi forces in Italy, Mussolini tries to flee to Switzerland, but is stopped and shot by the resistance.

The siege of Germany comes to fruition with the fall of Italy. In parallel, in 1944, the Soviets liberated Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia.

On June 6 of that year, the D-Day, as the landing of the Allied army in Normandy, (France), took place, which causes the retreat of the Germans and the liberation of France.

Still in Europe, the Soviet Army liberated Poland in January 1945, conquered Germany and defeated the Third Reich. On May 8, the conflict ends in Europe.

In the Pacific, the United States put pressure on Japan and at the end of 1944, conquered the Marshall Islands, Carolinas, Marianas and the Philippines. Burma is conquered in 1945 and the island of Okinawa is occupied.

With no prospect of capitulating, Japan suffers the worst war offensive of the Second World War. On August 6, 1945, the United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and on August 9 it does the same on Nagasaki

Japan's surrender is signed on September 2, 1945, ending the conflict in the Pacific.

See also :Hiroshima Bomb

Brazil in World War II

Initially, Brazil remained neutral in the war, but before the bombing of Brazilian ships, the government of Getúlio Vargas declares war on the Axis.

The FEB (Brazilian Expeditionary Force) was responsible for participation, formed on August 9, 1943 and made up of a contingent of 25,445 soldiers, remaining in combat for seven months.

Three thousand Brazilian soldiers were wounded and 450 died.

See also :Brazil in World War II

Consequences of World War II

The Second World War profoundly marked the contemporary world.

Germany was not declared guilty of the war, as in the previous conflict, but went through a deep process of ideological purification.

European countries were destroyed and their population reduced. Only with American help, through the Marshall Plan, was European reconstruction possible.

The creation of an international forum, the United Nations (UN), was also implemented, which would be a diplomatic instrument between nations to avoid war.

However, the big winner of the contest was the United States, which did not have its territory invaded (except Hawaii). In this way, the country did not accumulate large material losses, compared to European countries.

Europe was also divided into two economic blocs according to the country that liberated and occupied the nations. Eastern European countries such as Poland, Hungary and Romania had come to be influenced by the Soviet Union and built governments with a socialist character.

Countries like France, Belgium and the Netherlands were occupied by the United States and inaugurated the era of the Welfare State.

The confrontation between the two ideologies marked the entire world and was known as the Cold War.

Films about the Second World War

• Goodbye, boys. Louis Malle.1987.
• Ring of Fire , Jean-Jacques Annaud. 2001.
• Dunkirk , Christopher Nolan, 2017.

See also :12 Movies About World War II

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