We begin at the end of World War I. After the defeat of the Central Powers, harsh
conditions are imposed on the vanquished. Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire are
dismantled. As per the Treaty of Versailles, Germany loses
its colonies and many territories. This particularly benefits Poland, which is
recreated and obtains access to the sea, cutting Germany in two. The German army must be limited to 100,000
men without heavy weaponry or an air force. Finally, Germany and its allies are held solely
responsible for the war and must pay all reparations. The German people see the treaty as humiliation. The only consolation for the country is, as
there was no fighting on its territory, that its infrastructure and industry are intact. Meanwhile, the victors too do not unanimously
agree on the treaties. In Italy, public anger mounts because the
country does not obtain all territories promised by Allies, in addition to suffering a high death toll
of some 600,000 soldiers. In the United States, the Senate goes against
the wishes of President Woodrow Wilson and does not ratify the Treaty of Versailles
resulting in the US not joining the new League of Nations. This international organization is tasked
with preserving peace and developing cooperation between nations. However Russia, which became the USSR after
the Bolshevik revolution and a civil war, is excluded from the League of Nations. Weakened and frustrated by the loss of European
territories, Russia finds itself isolated as the West fears
an expansion of communism. The United Kingdom focuses on its immense empire which covers almost a quarter of the land surface of the planet. France, the northern regions of which are
particularly hard hit by war, finds itself without strong allies in the
effort of upholding the Treaty of Versailles, which is rejected by the German people. In Germany, high debt and speculation on the
Mark causes hyperinflation. The country slows down payments for war reparations. In reaction, France and Belgium, which count on these payments for their own
reconstruction, send troops to occupy the Ruhr, a rich industrial region. Hyperinflation reaches its peak. $1, which in 1914 was worth around 4 marks,
in November 1923 trades for 4,200,000,000,000 marks. Some banknotes become less valuable than the
paper on which they’re printed. The United States and the United Kingdom propose
a plan to adjust German debt and grant credit to
the country so that it can revive its economy. The United States then lends to Germany, which
resumes payment of war indemnity to victors, which themselves are indebted to the United
States by buying arms and equipment on credit during the war. The United States thus becomes the backbone
of the world economy. After a year of reforms, Germany returns back
to growth. Tensions ease and the country is even admitted
to the League of Nations. The global economy booms, with the United
States leading the way. The abundance of raw materials and the development
of assembly-line work in factories accelerates production and lowers prices. In Italy, Mussolini's fascist party obtains
full dictatorial power by banning all other political parties. In New York, the Wall Street crash takes place
and causes the most severe economic crisis of the 20th century. Its repercussions are global. Germany is badly hit with 30% of its population
rendered unemployed and poverty exploding. The government in power is held responsible
for the situation, fuelling the rise of extremism. In the legislative elections of 1932, the
far-right NSDAP, also known as the Nazi party, wins. Its president Adolf Hitler is placed as head
of government. In a short time, he eliminates all opposition
and seizes absolute power. The Weimar Republic is replaced by the 3rd
Reich. Hitler's ambition is to unite the German peoples -- who he considers “superior” -- into
a great nation. He wants to annul the Treaty of Versailles,
and annihilate Jews and Marxists. The country leaves the League of Nations,
stops war reparation payments, and reinstates compulsory military service. In reaction, France and the United Kingdom
muster weak protest. Hitler sees this as an opportunity to massively
revive Germany’s military industry. In 1935, Italy launches a policy of colonial
expansion. Its armies enter Abyssinia, an independent
country and member of the League of Nations. Despite occupying its capital, Italian forces
face continued resistance and the exiled emperor of Abyssinia would
never sign an armistice. In Spain, a civil war pits Republicans against
the nationalists of General Francisco Franco, who has the military support of Italy and
Germany. The two countries take the opportunity to
seek a rapprochement and become allies by forming the Rome-Berlin Axis. Germany also signs an alliance with the Empire
of Japan which invaded Manchuria in 1931. Japan now takes advantage of a civil war in
China, pitting nationalists against communists, by declaring war on the country. Japan seizes new territories and massacres
the population. In Austria, the local Nazi party after exerting
much pressure succeeds in officially annexing the country to Germany. Hitler now wants to seize Sudetenland, a Czechoslovak
territory where 3.5 million Germans live. France and the United Kingdom, trying to avoid
a new war, betray their Czechoslovak ally by authorising
the invasion of the territory. 6 months later, however, Germany violates
the agreement and invades the entire country. Slovakia becomes a German satellite state. Hungary, which lost two-thirds of its territory
after WWI, allies with Germany. Hitler now eyes the Polish corridor. An ultimatum is issued to Poland, which rejects it. France and the United Kingdom then announce
they would support Poland in case of a German invasion. Meanwhile, Italy invades Albania, while in
Asia, a border incident between Manchukuo - dominated by Japan - and Mongolia - a Soviet ally - is followed
by a battle between Japanese and Soviet armies. Despite its alliance with Japan, Germany does
not intervene as the country is preparing to invade Poland. Germany even signs a nonaggression pact with
the USSR. A secret protocol delimits the spheres of
influence of the two powers in Poland and in Eastern Europe. After its defeat, Japan abandons its westward
expansion and instead focuses attention to the south. On September 1, Germany attacks Poland without
a formal declaration of war. In reaction, France and the United Kingdom
declare war on Germany. Polish armies are quickly overwhelmed by Germany’s
new combat strategy known as the Blitzkrieg. It involves concentrating maximum force on
certain points to quickly break through a front line, surrounding enemy pockets, and neutralizing them. Despite German forces being concentrated in
the East, Allies do not take advantage and remain stationed at the borders, instead
preparing for attrition warfare as it did during WWI. The Soviet Union, in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop
Pact, invades eastern Poland. The two powers prevail and occupy the country. The USSR then focuses on Finland. When the latter refuses to renegotiate the
border, which Russia considers a threat to Leningrad
due to its proximity, the Red Army begins an invasion. But it faces greater resistance than expected,
and despite its clear numerical superiority, the USSR struggles to win. Finally, peace is signed and the border is
pushed back. But the Winter War proves to be a fiasco for
the USSR, which does not go unnoticed by Hitler who
sees it as a weakness of the Red Army. In the West, the Allies threaten an important
iron supply route which passes through Norway and supplies 50% of German industry. In reaction, Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Maintaining its momentum, the Reich launches
an invasion of Benelux. The French and British, who fear a new Schlieffen
plan -- similar to World War I -- send quickly a large part of their forces
to the north to form a common front with Belgian and Dutch armies. But Germany, as it did in Poland, launches
a blitzkrieg. After massively bombarding a weak point, its Panzer tanks pierce the front line and
head for the Sea, which they reach within a week. 1.5 million Allied soldiers are surrounded. In a few days, more than 330,000 British and
French troops are evacuated via the port of Dunkirk, which is taken over on June 4. German armies then charge Paris. Italy takes advantage to declare war on France,
opening a new front in the south. The new head of the French government, Marshal
Philippe Pétain is forced to ask for an armistice. But General Charles De Gaulle, exiled in London,
calls on the French to continue the fight. After signing the armistice, Pétain's government
moves to Vichy, with the South East and French colonies remaining
under his control. Germany occupies the north and the Atlantic
coast. The British begin to capture and destroy French
ships. In the East, the USSR, still in alignment
with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, seizes Baltic countries and Bessarabia without
any battles. Hitler now wants to invade Britain. But the island is too well defended by the
Royal Navy, so aerial attacks are launched. The British RAF and the German Luftwaffe regularly
clash, causing heavy losses on both sides. But the British fleet regenerates faster than
Germany’s, forcing it to review its strategy. British air force installations then become
the target of bombardment. On the night of August 24, a German plane
misses its intended target and bombards a district of London. In retaliation, Britain bombs Berlin the following
day. Hitler is furious. The battle takes a new turn. Both camps begin targeting cities. Despite London being regularly bombed, the
Germans do not succeed in dominating the war. Hitler then plans to abandon this front to
shift focus to the USSR. On September 27, Japan joins Germany and Italy
in signing the Tripartite Pact. Despite their alliance, Germany and Italy
are not fighting the same war. Mussolini concentrates his forces in the conquest
of new colonies: from Libya to Egypt, Italian East Africa to
British Somaliland, and from Albania to Greece. But it is a failure for his troops who retreat
against the British and Greek armies, while the Royal Navy dominates over the Italian
fleet. Germany is forced to intervene to prevent
the Mediterranean Basin from falling entirely into British hands. Another aim is protecting Romanian oil which
is vital for Germany. A German army is sent to Libya, while another
heads for the Balkans. After Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, it is
now Bulgaria's turn to join the Axis. Yugoslavia and Greece are then invaded within
a few weeks. On June 22, Germany and its allies launch
a surprise military invasion -- the largest in history -- against the USSR, which passes de facto into
the Allied camp. Finland takes the opportunity to join the
offensive and try to recover its lost territories. On paper, nothing can stop the Wehrmacht,
which is by far the best army in the world. Blitzkriegs are launched on a large scale, allowing the capture of some 3 million soldiers
who would be tortured and starved in camps. While behind the front lines, German mobile
militias are tasked with massacring Jews and Bolsheviks. To support the USSR, Allies open a supply
route via the Caucasus. But the route seems threatened by the Shah
of Iran who shows sympathies towards Germany. The USSR and the United Kingdom then decide
to invade the country. In the USSR, the German advance is slowed
down due to the sheer vastness of the battlefield
and the bad state of roads. In addition, the Germans underestimated the
Red Army, which despite heavy losses, regenerates quickly with the arrival of new
troops from the East, where a non-aggression treaty was signed with
Japan. A new front is created at the gates of Moscow, after which German troops suffer a knock-out punch falling from the sky. In a few days, temperatures drop below -30
degrees Celsius. Badly equipped, German forces suffer while the Soviets counterattack
and push back the front line which is then stabilized. What Hitler feared is happening: some 80%
of his army would find itself stuck in attrition warfare. On the Asian front, to counter Japan's expansionist
policy, the United States imposes an embargo on oil and steel, essential resources for the country's industry
and army. However, in the south-east of the continent,
in the European colonies, there are large reserves of oil, iron and rubber. With European powers preoccupied with war
on the old continent, Japan thinks it can quickly seize these lands. The only threat in the region is the United
States and mainly its powerful Pacific fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor. Japan decides to strike hard and by surprise
in order to delay as much as possible any military intervention
by the United States. On December 7, without a declaration of war,
the Japanese air force bombs the military port of Pearl Harbor. The offensive is successful, although damage
is limited. The United States, which already supplies
the United Kingdom, the USSR and China with arms, joins the Allies. But they would need a few months to repair
their fleet, accelerate their arms race and enter the Pacific. Japan takes advantage of this delay to successfully
begin its conquest of Southeast Asia. Civilians are largely targeted throughout
the war. Japan massacres populations in conquered countries. In Europe, Nazi concentration camps, initially intended to lock up political opponents,
became killing factories. Jews, gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals
and people with disabilities are exterminated there. In occupied territories as well as in Germany,
pockets of resistance organize. In Western Europe, resistance is mainly non-violent,
manifesting via strikes, refusal to collaborate, propaganda, sabotage
and intelligence. In the East, mainly in Poland, Yugoslavia,
Greece and in the occupied Soviet territories, militias launch guerrilla warfare against
the invaders. In the Atlantic Ocean, German submarines -- called
U-boats -- attempt to blockade Britain by sinking commercial ships that supply the
island. The United States, for its part, secretly
embarks on research to develop atomic weapons. In addition, the country now gets ready to
engage in the Pacific. In 2 months, two decisive battles put an end
to Japanese expansion. On the Eastern Front, Hitler launches a new
offensive, this time focused only towards the south, targeting the important oil reserves of the
Caucasus and cutting off the Allied supply route. Axis troops quickly reach the gates of Stalingrad, but the industrial city is fiercely defended by the Soviets. In the South Pacific, Allied forces, with
the United States in the lead launch a counter attack, the objective being to move from island to
island all the way to Japan. In addition, the United States uses submarines
to sink ships that transport resources to Japan. In Egypt, British troops win a decisive battle that definitively pushes Italo-German forces out of the country. While in the West, an Allied landing allows
the rapid capture of French colonies. In retaliation, the Germans and Italians invade
Vichy France. In the USSR, as the 6th German Army managed
to seize with great difficulty 90% of Stalingrad, a Soviet counterattack takes place outside
the city. They drive out Romanian troops, who form the
rear flanks, and surround the 300,000 German soldiers in the city. After two months of resistance, they are forced
to surrender. In Africa, the last Axis troops are defeated. The Allies control the continent and now set
their sights on southern Europe. A first landing takes place in Sicily. On the Eastern Front, Hitler tries to maintain
the upper hand by launching a new offensive on Kursk, which leads to the biggest tank battle in
history. Under pressure, Stalin urges his allies to
open a new front in the West. The United Kingdom and the United States first
want to weaken and demoralize Germany by intensifying bombing of industrial centers
and cities. Hamburg, the country's second city, is largely
razed to the ground. In Kursk, despite heavy losses, the Soviets
prevail and gain the upper hand over the Germans. In Italy, after the fall of Mussolini, a British
landing threatens the country. The new government signs an armistice with
the Allies. But the Germans anticipate this scenario and
quickly take control of Italian territories. With an Allied victory now seeming possible,
Stalin for the USSR, Churchill for the United Kingdom and Roosevelt for the United States meet in
Tehran to prepare for the end of the war. The three leaders agree to coordinate better,
to soon open a second front in Europe via two landings in France, and to provide military support to the Communist
resistance led by Josip Broz Tito in Yugoslavia. In the east, the siege of Leningrad ends after
872 days, claiming the lives of at least 1 million civilians. In the West, after the bombing of German factories
which produce coal-based synthetic fuel, Allies are ready to open a new front. The biggest military landing in history allows troops largely from the United States,
the United Kingdom and Canada to gain a foothold in Normandy, while the USSR for its part launches a huge
offensive which in two months pushes the Germans back by 600km. In France, while a second landing takes place
in the South, General de Gaulle enters a liberated Paris. On multiple fronts, Allied advances liberate
countries one by one. Only the Yugoslav resistance drives out the
German troops of its own accord. Again, Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt come
together to prepare for the postwar period. Roosevelt obtains the future creation of the
United Nations which would replace the League of Nations. Countries that declare war on Germany before
March 1 would be allowed to be part of it, which causes a wave of war declarations with
little consequence. It is also decided to recreate Poland. But Stalin refuses to cede conquered territories. Polish territory would therefore be moved
to the West to the detriment of Germany, which itself would be divided and occupied
by the victors. The USSR swears to also declare war on Japan
after Germany surrenders. The last 4 months of the Reich prove to be
the deadliest. In concentration camps, on battlefields and
among populations, on average, 30,000 people die every day. Berlin is finally surrounded by the Soviets. Hitler who had taken refuge in his bunker
commits suicide 2 days before the fall of the city. The capitulation of the 3rd Reich is signed
in Reims on May 7, and ratified in Berlin the following day. In Potsdam, the victors decide the fate of
the vanquished. Italy loses its colonies. Germany, as expected, is divided and occupied,
while the east of the country becomes Polish. The new frontiers of the continent would result
in large-scale ethnic cleansing. Polish and German minorities would be driven
to their new country. Finally, an ultimatum is issued to Japan, demanding
its unconditional surrender. Japan ignores the ultimatum. The country is heavily bombed by the United
States for several months. More than 60 large industrial cities had already
been devastated. The United States then drops 2 atomic bombs
on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, while the USSR begins invading Manchukuo,
southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Finally on September 2, Japan surrenders. The country would be occupied by the United
States until 1952. In the West, the USSR and the United States
agree on a provisional division of Korea. Finally, in Indochina, the French regain control
of their former colony but face opposition by some Vietnamese groups
claiming independence. Colonial empires worldwide are weakened as
independence movements gain momentum, provoked by heavy involvement in war and high
death tolls. World War II is the deadliest war in history,
with an estimated 75 million deaths, of which 66% are civilians. The Soviet Union and China are by far the
most affected, while in China civil war resumes between Communists
and Nationalists. In Europe, almost 3 million tonnes of bombs
were used, devastating the continent. Many cities are destroyed, mainly in Germany. The continent finds itself divided with the
East under Soviet influence and the West under US influence. For the first time, Germany and France would
come together to revive the economy and preserve peace by creating the European Coal and Steel Community, the predecessor of the European Union. At the international level, the United Nations
is created and tasked with preserving peace. Other international organizations such as
NATO, the IMF and the World Bank are also created. From an energy point of view, the great powers
begin a nuclear race and scramble to control global oil resources. Rivalry accelerates between the USSR and the
United States. The two superpowers would embark upon a Cold
War.
