The Fronts

“World War” was not just and name for what happened in 1939-1945 “World War” was not just and name for what happened in 1939-1945. It literally was a world war. In fact, if you were to stick a pin in a spinning globe, chances are you’d end up stick in some place that was some way connected to the war.

Battles in Europe World War II affected every country in Europe. Most of the nations were directly involved in the war (Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Luxembourg, Czechoslovakia, etc). Other places tried to stay out and remained neutral (Switzerland-which was successful, Belgium-which was not)

Battles in the Soviet Union Given the state of the Soviet military in 1940, and Hitler’s arrogance in thinking that the German army was unbeatable, it’s no wonder that he thought Germany could do what no army has yet to been able to do: Beat the Russians in their own backyard. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Hitler figured 5 months was all it would take for the German army to bring the Soviets to their knees. He was wrong, and the Germans ended up in Russia through two Russian winters.

Battles in North Africa North Africa was another major battleground. The Allies needed to protect access to the Suez Canal, without which they would be unable to supply their troops. Capturing North Africa would enable the Allies to launch an attack across the Mediterranean into Italy.

Battles in the Pacific and Southeast Asia The battles in the Pacific and Southeast Asia were brutal. The terrain was a nightmare: thick jungles, rocky cliffs, deep ravines, and networks of caves posed obvious disadvantages for those who had the unpleasant job of attacking a position. Not only was the terrain difficult to fight on, but the rains, when they came, were unrelenting. Add this to the presence of a determined foe who would rather die than surrender, and you have a miserable and deadly situation. Taking the Pacific islands often meant yard-by-yard advances in hand-to- hand combat. The battles in Southeast Asia were little better.

Battle in the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic was centered on protecting the essential movement of men and supplies to Britain and the Soviet Union from German U-boats (submarines). Initially, the terror of the seas, the U-boats used what was called the wolf- pack tactic. If a German submarine spotted a convoy, it radioed its location and tracked the ships while waiting for other U-boats to assemble. Usually under the cover of darkness, the U-boats attacked the most vulnerable ships-in the same way that a pack of wolves pursues its prey and kills the weakest. It wasn’t until 1943, when the Allies were able produce more ships than the U-boats could sink and sink more U-boats than the Germans could build, did the U-boats stop being a threat in the Atlantic.

World War II changed the world. It created and destroyed nations, and it shifted the balance of world power and influence from Europe to the Soviet Union and the United States. It ushered in the atomic age and opened a new war-the Cold War-in which a former partner became a mortal enemy. Although WWII ended the global threat of Nazism, it didn’t end the hatred or eliminate genocide as a tool for war. WWII also brought colonisation to an end, and it created new states with all kinds of problems that are prevalent every date in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. WWII was one of those rare instances in history where the treat was obvious. The enemy was well-defined and allowed a clear distinction between good and evil. Nations bound together to face a common threat; these nations would have found common cause otherwise. Many thought that in the end, there would be a new world, a more peaceful world, but the result is that we live every day with the aftershocks of WWII.