Nazi Germany's conquest of large parts of continental Europe from Sept. 1939 to end 1941; Later reversals and eventual surrender in May 1945; Pray that such wars never happen again
Prior to World War II (1939 to 1945), I think it is European powers of Britain and France that were the dominant military powers of not only Europe but also of many other parts of the world through their colonial empires (including India) and spheres of influence (including China). I believe that USA military power then was considered to be lesser than that of Britain and France.
World War II on the European continent shows how ugly the conflict became between European countries with almost all countries in Europe choosing or being forced to choose one group against another. Further, the grouping also varied through the war. Europe descended into chaos with its governing principle being military might is right with horrific claims of racial superiority and/or ideological superiority being used to indulge in wholesale slaughter and extermination of people of certain religions, ideology and/or ethnicity, particularly in Eastern Europe.
Human civilization showed some of its worst animal and beastly qualities in continental Europe during World War II, and that was on a scale that I think is unprecedented in world history.
After World War II, the world has enjoyed a period of great peace, barring some regional conflicts. The weapons of mass destruction had become so powerful with atomic and nuclear weapons coming into play that the new great military powers of USA and the Soviet Union were forced to abandon war as a way to settle disputes between them.
Since 2017 with President Trump coming to power in USA, this post World War II order is being challenged in a big way. From around the turn of the millennium (2000), and especially after the 2007-08 USA and then global financial crisis, new economic, industrial and military powers from Asia have become a force to reckon with in world power equations.
It is a period of uncertainty and flux in world power equations. Trade war along with economic sanctions have become much bigger matters than earlier.
In this scenario, I think it is appropriate to know the ugly reality of how European countries fought each other on the European continent in World War II. This is what human civilization can easily descend to, unless efforts are made by major military powers to co-operate and keep the peace in the world (barring small regional conflicts which seems to be very difficult to prevent and which do not threaten world peace and stability).
So I have shared a humourous but perhaps very insightful video with a timeline of European theater of World War II. I have also provided a text timeline of European country conquests and liberation in World War II.
The video seems to be made by a Dutch person. There are some English language issues with some of the text messages in the video.
* finnish should be read as finish, stupit as stupid, pathethic as pathetic, traiting as trading, trait as trade, threw as through, immidiently as immediately, declair as declare, Vishy (France) as Vichy France, mayby as maybe ...
World War II - History of Europe, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AamH3N8TO1s, around 20 mins, published by Holland Mapping on 25th April 2019
============
I have based this text timeline on information from http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/ww2time.htm and Wikipedia.
Events immediately before World War II
1) March 1938: Germany annexes Austria, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria_under_National_Socialism
2) October 1938: Germany occupies Sudetenland portion of Czechoslovakia
3) March 1939: Germany occupies rest of Czechoslovakia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_occupation_of_Czechoslovakia
4) August 1939: Germany and Soviet Union sign non-aggression pact. Hitler hated Bolshevism (communism of the form that took over Soviet Union) and had eventual plans of using Western Soviet Union territory for German settlements. But he did not want to fight on two fronts. So co-operated with Soviet Union in the initial years of the war, till he broke the pact and attacked Soviet Union on 22nd June 1941.
World War II conquest/liberation events
4) 1st Sept. 1939: Germany invades Poland; 17th Sept. - Soviet Union (Soviets) invade Poland; 27th Sept. 1939 - Poland surrenders to Germany.
5) 30th Nov. 1939: Soviets attack Finland; 12th March 1940 - Finland signs peace treaty with Soviets
6) 9th April 1940: Germany invades Denmark; In 6 hours (same day, 9th April 1940) Denmark surrenders to Germany and comes under German occupation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_invasion_of_Denmark_(1940)
7) 9th April 1940 (same day as above mentioned invasion of Denmark): Germany invades Norway; 10th June 1940 - Norway surrenders and comes under German occupation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Weser%C3%BCbung#Concise_timeline
8) 10th May 1940: Germany invades Holland (Netherlands); 14th May 1940 - Holland surrenders and comes under German occupation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Netherlands
9) 10th May 1940 (same day as above mentioned invasion of Holland): Germany invades Belgium; 28th May 1940 - Belgium surrenders and comes under German occupation
10) 10th May 1940 (same day as above mentioned invasions of Holland & Belgium): Germany invades Luxembourg and occupies most of the country on same day, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_occupation_of_Luxembourg_during_World_War_II#Invasion
11) 10th May 1940 (same day as above mentioned invasions of Holland, Belgium & Luxembourg): Germany invades France. French & British forces were allied with Belgian forces. Between 26th May and 7th June 1940, Allied soldiers after having been defeated by the Germans, evacuated from Dunkirk, France, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation. 25th June 1940 - France surrenders to Germany and comes under German and Italian occupation/control, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_France.
12) 10th June 1940: Italy declares war on Britain and France. 18th June 1940 - Hitler & Mussolini meet in Munich. [Note that Italy joins Germany as an Axis partner well after Germany has demonstrated its power to invade and occupy some European countries, and has defeated British, French & Belgian forces in Northern France forcing them to evacuate from Dunkirk. So Germany's astonishing military invasion and conquest victories in continental Europe have resulted in Germany being viewed as a mighty and dominant continental European military power by 10th June 1940. So Italy under Mussolini wants to join up with the victorious Germans.]
13) 10th July 1940: Germany attacks Britain through its air force. The objective of the attack is to force the British to come to a peace agreement with Germany. The British endure bombings but do not get defeated and continue to fight against the German air force attacks on Britain. The failure of Germany to destroy Britain's air defenses, forces cancellation of German plans to invade Britain by sea. Britain officially views the period of the Battle of Britain as from 10th July 1940 till 31st October 1940, which overlaps The Blitz (large-scale night attacks of German air force on Britain) from 7th Sept. 1940 to 11th May 1941. Germany fails to either conquer Britain or even force Britain to come to a peace agreement with it. Note that Britain being an island is not considered to be part of continental Europe. Perhaps the lack of a land route to Britain contributed to Germany not being able to conquer Britain in 1940 like it conquered every European country it attacked/invaded between 1st Sept. 1939 and May 1941.
14) 23rd July 1940: Soviets occupy the Baltic (small) countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
15) 25/26th August 1940: First British air raid on Berlin
16) 8th October 1940: German troops enter Romania. Romania was then under rule of General (later Marshal) Ion Antonescu and leaned towards the Axis powers. So I think this cannot be called an invasion but perhaps a show of force by Germany. On 23rd November 1940, Romania joined the Axis powers.
17) 28th October 1940: Italy invades Greece. The Greek army successfully defends Greece and counter attacks the Italian army pushing it back. On 2nd March 1941 British troops began arriving in Greece. On 6th April 1941 Germans invade Greece, defeat Greek and British forces, resulting in surrender of Greece to Germany on 20th April 1941. Greece was later occupied by Bulgarian (Bulgaria had joined the Axis powers on 1st March 1941), German and Italian troops. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Italian_War.
18) 20th November 1940: Hungary joins the Axis powers.
19) 22nd June 1941: Germany attacks Soviet Union with Operation Barbarossa. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barbarossa, "The operation stemmed from Nazi Germany's ideological aims to conquer the western Soviet Union so that it could be repopulated by Germans (Lebensraum), to use Slavs as a slave labour force for the Axis war effort and to annihilate the rest according to Generalplan Ost, and to acquire the oil reserves of the Caucasus and the agricultural resources of Soviet territories. [Ref. 22: Rich, Norman (1973), pp. 204–221. Hitler's War Aims: Ideology, the Nazi State, and the Course of Expansion. W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0233964768.]"
22nd June 1941 (or perhaps a few days later) Germans occupy Lithuania, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_occupation_of_Lithuania_during_World_War_II.
28th June 1941 - Germans capture Minsk.
10th July 1941 - Germans occupy Latvia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_occupation_of_Latvia_during_World_War_II.
In July 1941 - Germans reach Estonia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_occupation_of_Estonia_during_World_War_II.
20th Aug 1941 - German siege of Leningrad begins.
19th Sept. 1941 - Germans capture Kiev.
2nd Oct. 1941 - Germans launch advance to capture Moscow.
16th Oct. 1941 - Germans capture Odessa.
24th Oct. 1941 - Germans capture Kharkov.
20th Nov. 1941 - Germans capture Rostov.
27th Nov. 1941 - Soviets take Rostov (free from German occupation).
5th Dec. 1941 - German advance on Moscow is abandoned.
6th Dec. 1941 - Soviets launch major counter-offensive around Moscow.
20) 26th Jan 1942 - First USA (American) troops arrive in Great Britain. [Japan attacked USA at Pearl Harbor on 7th Dec. 1941. In the next few days USA declares war on Japan and Hitler declares war on USA. So USA gets fully involved in the war on the side of the Allies.]
21) German attacks on Soviet Union in 1942 to early 1943:
5th June 1942 - Germans besiege Sevastopol. 3rd July 1942 - Germans capture Sevastopol.
9th July 1942 - Germans begin drive towards Stalingrad. 13th Sept. 1942 - Battle of Stalingrad begins. 19th Nov. 1942 - Soviet counter-offensive at Stalingrad begins. 2nd Feb. 1943 - Germans surrender to Soviets at Stalingrad.
22) 27th Jan 1943 - First bombing raid by Americans on Germany.
23) July to Oct. 1943 conflict in Italy: 9th/10th July 1943 - Allies land in Sicily. [Prior to this the Allies fought against the Axis powers in North Africa and defeated them. The Allies could now enter Southern Europe countries like Italy from North Africa under their control.]. 25/26th July 1943 - Mussolini is arrested and new Italian government formed that supports the Allies. 11th/12th Sept. 1943 - Germans occupy Rome and release Mussolini. 23rd Sept. 1943 - Mussolini re-establishes fascist government. 1st Oct. 1943 - Allies enter Naples (Italy).
24) 24th July 1943 - British bomb Hamburg (in Germany).
25) Soviet Union counter-offensive against Germans in late 1943 to May 1944:
6th Nov. 1943 - Soviets recapture Kiev.
6th Jan. 1944 - Soviets advance in Poland.
27th Jan. 1944 - Leningrad siege is relieved by Soviets after 900 days.
9th May 1944 - Soviets recapture Sevastopol.
12th May 1944 - Germans surrender in Crimea to Soviets.
26) 18th Nov. 1943 - Large British air raid on Berlin.
27) Jan. 1944 to June 1944 conflict in Italy: 22nd Jan 1944 - Allies land in Anzio, Italy. 16th Feb. 1944 - Germans counter-attack Allies at Anzio beachhead. 25th May 1944 - Germans retreat from Anzio. 5th June 1944 - Allies enter Rome.
28) 6th Jun. 1944 - Allied forces D-Day landings in Northern coast of France. 27th Jun. 1944 - US troops liberate Cherbourg, France. 25th Aug. 1944 - Allies liberate Paris, France. 1st to 4th Sept. 1944 - Allies liberate Antwerp and Brussels (Belgium) and some other cities.
29) 14th Oct. 1944 - Allies liberate Athens. 4th Dec. 1944 - Civil war in Greece; Athens kept under martial law.
30) Soviet Union counter-offensive against Axis powers in June 1944 to Dec 1944: 9th Jun 1944 - Soviet offensive against Finland front begins. 3rd July 1944 - Soviets capture Minsk. 19/20th Aug. 1944 - Soviets attack Romania. 31st Aug. 1944 - Soviets take Bucharest (capital of Romania). 4th Sept. 1944 - Soviets and Finland agree to cease-fire. 26th Sept. 1944 - Soviet troops occupy Estonia. 10th to 29th October - Soviets take Riga (capital of Latvia). 26th Dec. 1944 - Soviets besiege Budapest (capital of Hungary). Budapest surrenders to Soviets on 13th Feb. 1945.
29) 16th Dec. 1944 to 25th Jan. 1945 - Battle of the Bulge, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge. Major German counteroffensive campaign against allied forces in Ardennes forest region of Wallonia in eastern Belgium, northeast France and Luxembourg. After initial setback, the allied forces eventually defeat the German forces
30) 17th Jan. 1945: Soviets capture Warsaw (Poland). 26th Jan. 1945 - Soviets liberate Auschwitz (Poland). 30th Mar. 1945 - Soviets capture Danzig (Gdansk) in Poland.
31) 7th Mar. 1945: Allies take Colonge (Germany).
32) 16th Apr. 1945: Soviets begin final attack on Berlin. 21st Apr. 1945 - Soviets reach Berlin.
33) 18th Apr. 1945: German forces in the Ruhr (Germany) surrender to US troops who had encircled them on 1st Apr. 1945, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhr_Pocket
34) 29th Apr. 1945: US forces liberate Dachau (Germany).
35) 30th Apr. 1945: Hitler commits suicide.
36) 2nd May 1945: German forces in Italy surrender.
37) 7th May 1945: All German forces surrender to Allies
========================
According to http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/statistics.htm,
USSR lost 20.6 million people (military and civilian deaths) (10.4% of pre-war population) in World War II.
Germany lost 6.85 million (9.5%)
Poland lost 6.12 million (17.2%)
Yugoslavia lost 1.7 million (10.9%)
France lost 0.81 million (1.9%)
Great Britain lost 0.38 million (0.8%) [India then under British rule lost 24,000 people (0.01%)]
USA lost 0.5 million (0.4%)
[China (not involved in European theatre at all as far as I know) lost 10 million (2.0%) and Japan lost 2 million (2.7%).]
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties, "World War II was the deadliest military conflict in history. An estimated total of 70–85 million people perished, which was about 3% of the 1940 world population (est. 2.3 billion)."[Ref: "U.S. Census BureauWorld Population Historical Estimates of World Population". Retrieved March 4, 2016.]
-----
I think all believers in God who cherish peace must pray (I earnestly pray) that such horrific continental and world wars never happen again.
[I thank historyplace.com and Wikipedia have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above information/extract(s) from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
World War II on the European continent shows how ugly the conflict became between European countries with almost all countries in Europe choosing or being forced to choose one group against another. Further, the grouping also varied through the war. Europe descended into chaos with its governing principle being military might is right with horrific claims of racial superiority and/or ideological superiority being used to indulge in wholesale slaughter and extermination of people of certain religions, ideology and/or ethnicity, particularly in Eastern Europe.
Human civilization showed some of its worst animal and beastly qualities in continental Europe during World War II, and that was on a scale that I think is unprecedented in world history.
After World War II, the world has enjoyed a period of great peace, barring some regional conflicts. The weapons of mass destruction had become so powerful with atomic and nuclear weapons coming into play that the new great military powers of USA and the Soviet Union were forced to abandon war as a way to settle disputes between them.
Since 2017 with President Trump coming to power in USA, this post World War II order is being challenged in a big way. From around the turn of the millennium (2000), and especially after the 2007-08 USA and then global financial crisis, new economic, industrial and military powers from Asia have become a force to reckon with in world power equations.
It is a period of uncertainty and flux in world power equations. Trade war along with economic sanctions have become much bigger matters than earlier.
In this scenario, I think it is appropriate to know the ugly reality of how European countries fought each other on the European continent in World War II. This is what human civilization can easily descend to, unless efforts are made by major military powers to co-operate and keep the peace in the world (barring small regional conflicts which seems to be very difficult to prevent and which do not threaten world peace and stability).
So I have shared a humourous but perhaps very insightful video with a timeline of European theater of World War II. I have also provided a text timeline of European country conquests and liberation in World War II.
The video seems to be made by a Dutch person. There are some English language issues with some of the text messages in the video.
* finnish should be read as finish, stupit as stupid, pathethic as pathetic, traiting as trading, trait as trade, threw as through, immidiently as immediately, declair as declare, Vishy (France) as Vichy France, mayby as maybe ...
World War II - History of Europe, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AamH3N8TO1s, around 20 mins, published by Holland Mapping on 25th April 2019
============
I have based this text timeline on information from http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/ww2time.htm and Wikipedia.
Events immediately before World War II
1) March 1938: Germany annexes Austria, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria_under_National_Socialism
2) October 1938: Germany occupies Sudetenland portion of Czechoslovakia
3) March 1939: Germany occupies rest of Czechoslovakia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_occupation_of_Czechoslovakia
4) August 1939: Germany and Soviet Union sign non-aggression pact. Hitler hated Bolshevism (communism of the form that took over Soviet Union) and had eventual plans of using Western Soviet Union territory for German settlements. But he did not want to fight on two fronts. So co-operated with Soviet Union in the initial years of the war, till he broke the pact and attacked Soviet Union on 22nd June 1941.
World War II conquest/liberation events
4) 1st Sept. 1939: Germany invades Poland; 17th Sept. - Soviet Union (Soviets) invade Poland; 27th Sept. 1939 - Poland surrenders to Germany.
5) 30th Nov. 1939: Soviets attack Finland; 12th March 1940 - Finland signs peace treaty with Soviets
6) 9th April 1940: Germany invades Denmark; In 6 hours (same day, 9th April 1940) Denmark surrenders to Germany and comes under German occupation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_invasion_of_Denmark_(1940)
7) 9th April 1940 (same day as above mentioned invasion of Denmark): Germany invades Norway; 10th June 1940 - Norway surrenders and comes under German occupation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Weser%C3%BCbung#Concise_timeline
8) 10th May 1940: Germany invades Holland (Netherlands); 14th May 1940 - Holland surrenders and comes under German occupation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Netherlands
9) 10th May 1940 (same day as above mentioned invasion of Holland): Germany invades Belgium; 28th May 1940 - Belgium surrenders and comes under German occupation
10) 10th May 1940 (same day as above mentioned invasions of Holland & Belgium): Germany invades Luxembourg and occupies most of the country on same day, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_occupation_of_Luxembourg_during_World_War_II#Invasion
11) 10th May 1940 (same day as above mentioned invasions of Holland, Belgium & Luxembourg): Germany invades France. French & British forces were allied with Belgian forces. Between 26th May and 7th June 1940, Allied soldiers after having been defeated by the Germans, evacuated from Dunkirk, France, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation. 25th June 1940 - France surrenders to Germany and comes under German and Italian occupation/control, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_France.
12) 10th June 1940: Italy declares war on Britain and France. 18th June 1940 - Hitler & Mussolini meet in Munich. [Note that Italy joins Germany as an Axis partner well after Germany has demonstrated its power to invade and occupy some European countries, and has defeated British, French & Belgian forces in Northern France forcing them to evacuate from Dunkirk. So Germany's astonishing military invasion and conquest victories in continental Europe have resulted in Germany being viewed as a mighty and dominant continental European military power by 10th June 1940. So Italy under Mussolini wants to join up with the victorious Germans.]
13) 10th July 1940: Germany attacks Britain through its air force. The objective of the attack is to force the British to come to a peace agreement with Germany. The British endure bombings but do not get defeated and continue to fight against the German air force attacks on Britain. The failure of Germany to destroy Britain's air defenses, forces cancellation of German plans to invade Britain by sea. Britain officially views the period of the Battle of Britain as from 10th July 1940 till 31st October 1940, which overlaps The Blitz (large-scale night attacks of German air force on Britain) from 7th Sept. 1940 to 11th May 1941. Germany fails to either conquer Britain or even force Britain to come to a peace agreement with it. Note that Britain being an island is not considered to be part of continental Europe. Perhaps the lack of a land route to Britain contributed to Germany not being able to conquer Britain in 1940 like it conquered every European country it attacked/invaded between 1st Sept. 1939 and May 1941.
14) 23rd July 1940: Soviets occupy the Baltic (small) countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
15) 25/26th August 1940: First British air raid on Berlin
16) 8th October 1940: German troops enter Romania. Romania was then under rule of General (later Marshal) Ion Antonescu and leaned towards the Axis powers. So I think this cannot be called an invasion but perhaps a show of force by Germany. On 23rd November 1940, Romania joined the Axis powers.
17) 28th October 1940: Italy invades Greece. The Greek army successfully defends Greece and counter attacks the Italian army pushing it back. On 2nd March 1941 British troops began arriving in Greece. On 6th April 1941 Germans invade Greece, defeat Greek and British forces, resulting in surrender of Greece to Germany on 20th April 1941. Greece was later occupied by Bulgarian (Bulgaria had joined the Axis powers on 1st March 1941), German and Italian troops. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Italian_War.
18) 20th November 1940: Hungary joins the Axis powers.
19) 22nd June 1941: Germany attacks Soviet Union with Operation Barbarossa. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barbarossa, "The operation stemmed from Nazi Germany's ideological aims to conquer the western Soviet Union so that it could be repopulated by Germans (Lebensraum), to use Slavs as a slave labour force for the Axis war effort and to annihilate the rest according to Generalplan Ost, and to acquire the oil reserves of the Caucasus and the agricultural resources of Soviet territories. [Ref. 22: Rich, Norman (1973), pp. 204–221. Hitler's War Aims: Ideology, the Nazi State, and the Course of Expansion. W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0233964768.]"
22nd June 1941 (or perhaps a few days later) Germans occupy Lithuania, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_occupation_of_Lithuania_during_World_War_II.
28th June 1941 - Germans capture Minsk.
10th July 1941 - Germans occupy Latvia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_occupation_of_Latvia_during_World_War_II.
In July 1941 - Germans reach Estonia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_occupation_of_Estonia_during_World_War_II.
20th Aug 1941 - German siege of Leningrad begins.
19th Sept. 1941 - Germans capture Kiev.
2nd Oct. 1941 - Germans launch advance to capture Moscow.
16th Oct. 1941 - Germans capture Odessa.
24th Oct. 1941 - Germans capture Kharkov.
20th Nov. 1941 - Germans capture Rostov.
27th Nov. 1941 - Soviets take Rostov (free from German occupation).
5th Dec. 1941 - German advance on Moscow is abandoned.
6th Dec. 1941 - Soviets launch major counter-offensive around Moscow.
20) 26th Jan 1942 - First USA (American) troops arrive in Great Britain. [Japan attacked USA at Pearl Harbor on 7th Dec. 1941. In the next few days USA declares war on Japan and Hitler declares war on USA. So USA gets fully involved in the war on the side of the Allies.]
21) German attacks on Soviet Union in 1942 to early 1943:
5th June 1942 - Germans besiege Sevastopol. 3rd July 1942 - Germans capture Sevastopol.
9th July 1942 - Germans begin drive towards Stalingrad. 13th Sept. 1942 - Battle of Stalingrad begins. 19th Nov. 1942 - Soviet counter-offensive at Stalingrad begins. 2nd Feb. 1943 - Germans surrender to Soviets at Stalingrad.
22) 27th Jan 1943 - First bombing raid by Americans on Germany.
23) July to Oct. 1943 conflict in Italy: 9th/10th July 1943 - Allies land in Sicily. [Prior to this the Allies fought against the Axis powers in North Africa and defeated them. The Allies could now enter Southern Europe countries like Italy from North Africa under their control.]. 25/26th July 1943 - Mussolini is arrested and new Italian government formed that supports the Allies. 11th/12th Sept. 1943 - Germans occupy Rome and release Mussolini. 23rd Sept. 1943 - Mussolini re-establishes fascist government. 1st Oct. 1943 - Allies enter Naples (Italy).
24) 24th July 1943 - British bomb Hamburg (in Germany).
25) Soviet Union counter-offensive against Germans in late 1943 to May 1944:
6th Nov. 1943 - Soviets recapture Kiev.
6th Jan. 1944 - Soviets advance in Poland.
27th Jan. 1944 - Leningrad siege is relieved by Soviets after 900 days.
9th May 1944 - Soviets recapture Sevastopol.
12th May 1944 - Germans surrender in Crimea to Soviets.
26) 18th Nov. 1943 - Large British air raid on Berlin.
27) Jan. 1944 to June 1944 conflict in Italy: 22nd Jan 1944 - Allies land in Anzio, Italy. 16th Feb. 1944 - Germans counter-attack Allies at Anzio beachhead. 25th May 1944 - Germans retreat from Anzio. 5th June 1944 - Allies enter Rome.
28) 6th Jun. 1944 - Allied forces D-Day landings in Northern coast of France. 27th Jun. 1944 - US troops liberate Cherbourg, France. 25th Aug. 1944 - Allies liberate Paris, France. 1st to 4th Sept. 1944 - Allies liberate Antwerp and Brussels (Belgium) and some other cities.
29) 14th Oct. 1944 - Allies liberate Athens. 4th Dec. 1944 - Civil war in Greece; Athens kept under martial law.
30) Soviet Union counter-offensive against Axis powers in June 1944 to Dec 1944: 9th Jun 1944 - Soviet offensive against Finland front begins. 3rd July 1944 - Soviets capture Minsk. 19/20th Aug. 1944 - Soviets attack Romania. 31st Aug. 1944 - Soviets take Bucharest (capital of Romania). 4th Sept. 1944 - Soviets and Finland agree to cease-fire. 26th Sept. 1944 - Soviet troops occupy Estonia. 10th to 29th October - Soviets take Riga (capital of Latvia). 26th Dec. 1944 - Soviets besiege Budapest (capital of Hungary). Budapest surrenders to Soviets on 13th Feb. 1945.
29) 16th Dec. 1944 to 25th Jan. 1945 - Battle of the Bulge, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge. Major German counteroffensive campaign against allied forces in Ardennes forest region of Wallonia in eastern Belgium, northeast France and Luxembourg. After initial setback, the allied forces eventually defeat the German forces
30) 17th Jan. 1945: Soviets capture Warsaw (Poland). 26th Jan. 1945 - Soviets liberate Auschwitz (Poland). 30th Mar. 1945 - Soviets capture Danzig (Gdansk) in Poland.
31) 7th Mar. 1945: Allies take Colonge (Germany).
32) 16th Apr. 1945: Soviets begin final attack on Berlin. 21st Apr. 1945 - Soviets reach Berlin.
33) 18th Apr. 1945: German forces in the Ruhr (Germany) surrender to US troops who had encircled them on 1st Apr. 1945, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhr_Pocket
34) 29th Apr. 1945: US forces liberate Dachau (Germany).
35) 30th Apr. 1945: Hitler commits suicide.
36) 2nd May 1945: German forces in Italy surrender.
37) 7th May 1945: All German forces surrender to Allies
========================
According to http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/statistics.htm,
USSR lost 20.6 million people (military and civilian deaths) (10.4% of pre-war population) in World War II.
Germany lost 6.85 million (9.5%)
Poland lost 6.12 million (17.2%)
Yugoslavia lost 1.7 million (10.9%)
France lost 0.81 million (1.9%)
Great Britain lost 0.38 million (0.8%) [India then under British rule lost 24,000 people (0.01%)]
USA lost 0.5 million (0.4%)
[China (not involved in European theatre at all as far as I know) lost 10 million (2.0%) and Japan lost 2 million (2.7%).]
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties, "World War II was the deadliest military conflict in history. An estimated total of 70–85 million people perished, which was about 3% of the 1940 world population (est. 2.3 billion)."[Ref: "U.S. Census BureauWorld Population Historical Estimates of World Population". Retrieved March 4, 2016.]
-----
I think all believers in God who cherish peace must pray (I earnestly pray) that such horrific continental and world wars never happen again.
[I thank historyplace.com and Wikipedia have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above information/extract(s) from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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