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Apr 18, 2024 · Through 1944, the Allies were dropping on average 3,000 tons a day of bombs on Germany. In the bombing of Dresden in 1945, four RAF and USAAF raids, made to support the Eastern Front then just 100 miles (160 km) away, killed 30,000 civilians and flattened the city. Burnt-out Hamburg Buildings, Operation Gomorrah.
The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during World War II (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers. Its principal members by the end of 1941 were the " Big Four " – United Kingdom , United States , Soviet Union , and China .
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- Overview
- The outbreak of war
World War II began in Europe on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. Great Britain and France responded by declaring war on Germany on September 3. The war between the U.S.S.R. and Germany began on June 22, 1941, with Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The war in the Pacific began on December 7/8, 1941, when Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor and other American, Dutch, and British military installations throughout Asia.
Read more below: Axis initiative and Allied reaction: The outbreak of war
Pacific War
Read more about the war in the Pacific.
What countries fought in World War II?
The main combatants were the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) and the Allies (France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China).
By the early part of 1939 the German dictator Adolf Hitler had become determined to invade and occupy Poland. Poland, for its part, had guarantees of French and British military support should it be attacked by Germany. Hitler intended to invade Poland anyway, but first he had to neutralize the possibility that the Soviet Union would resist the invasion of its western neighbour. Secret negotiations led on August 23–24 to the signing of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact in Moscow. In a secret protocol of this pact, the Germans and the Soviets agreed that Poland should be divided between them, with the western third of the country going to Germany and the eastern two-thirds being taken over by the U.S.S.R.
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Pop Quiz: 17 Things to Know About World War II
Having achieved this cynical agreement, the other provisions of which stupefied Europe even without divulgence of the secret protocol, Hitler thought that Germany could attack Poland with no danger of Soviet or British intervention and gave orders for the invasion to start on August 26. News of the signing, on August 25, of a formal treaty of mutual assistance between Great Britain and Poland (to supersede a previous though temporary agreement) caused him to postpone the start of hostilities for a few days. He was still determined, however, to ignore the diplomatic efforts of the western powers to restrain him. Finally, at 12:40 pm on August 31, 1939, Hitler ordered hostilities against Poland to start at 4:45 the next morning. The invasion began as ordered. In response, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3, at 11:00 am and at 5:00 pm, respectively. World War II had begun.
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two major alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. The vast majority of the world's countries, including all the great powers, fought as part of these military alliances.
- Allied victory
6 days ago · Allied powers, coalition of countries that opposed the Axis powers (led by Germany, Italy, and Japan) during World War II. The principal members of the Allies were the United Kingdom , the Soviet Union , the United States , and China (the “Big Four”), as well as France while it was unoccupied.
Sep 22, 2023 · The Allied Powers were a group of countries that played a crucial role in World War II. They came together to defeat the Axis Powers, which included Germany, Italy, and Japan. The main members of the Allied Powers were the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and France.
Mar 2, 2021 · In a later raid on 14 December 1944, large parts of the west city including the Muehlburg gate were destroyed in just 21 minutes. In total, during the Second World War 364,514 operational sorties were flown by Bomber Command, 1,030,500 tons of bombs were dropped, and 8,325 aircraft lost in action.
