World War II - Summary on a Map

Aug 9, 2023

World War II - Summary on a Map

Let’s retrace on a map a summary of the main stages of WWII, from the end of WWI until the beginning of the Cold War.
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Patreon:   / geohistory
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English translation \u0026 voiceover: Rahul Venkit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD1X…
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Original French version:    • La Seconde Guerre mondiale - Résumé s…
Russian version:    • Вторая мировая война - на карте
Arabic version:    • الحرب العالمية الثانية - النسخة الممتدة
Spanish version:    • La Segunda Guerra Mundial - Historia …
Portuguese version (Brazil):    • Segunda Guerra Mundial - Resumo em mapas
Japanese version:    • 第二次世界大戦
German version:    • Der Zweite Weltkrieg - Zusammenfassun…
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Musics: Cutting It Close - DJ Freedem (YouTube Library)
Hollow Bells - Cxdy (YouTube Library)
Luck Witch - Audio Hertz (YouTube Library)
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Software: Adobe After Effects
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Chapters
00:00 The end of World War I
02:04 Economic situation
03:27 Rise of fascism and Nazism
04:50 Colonial expansion
07:17 World War II
08:53 Battle of France
10:21 Battle of Britain
11:21 Italy
12:14 Operation Barbarossa
13:55 Pacific War
15:08 Total war
16:19 Turning point
17:15 Eastern Front
18:22 Italy
19:02 Collapse of the third Reich
21:30 Japan
22:28 Consequences

#geohistory #history #wwii #worldwar2 #ussr #usa

Content

0.429 -> We begin at the end of World War I.

3.51 -> After the defeat of the Central Powers, harsh conditions are imposed on the vanquished.

9 -> Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire are dismantled.

12.62 -> As per the Treaty of Versailles, Germany loses its colonies and many territories.

18.188 -> This particularly benefits Poland, which is recreated and obtains access to the sea,

23.807 -> cutting Germany in two.

25.47 -> The German army must be limited to 100,000 men without heavy weaponry or an air force.

32.009 -> Finally, Germany and its allies are held solely responsible for the war and must pay all reparations.

39.16 -> The German people see the treaty as humiliation.

42.228 -> The only consolation for the country is, as there was no fighting on its territory,

46.655 -> that its infrastructure and industry are intact.

50.38 -> Meanwhile, the victors too do not unanimously agree on the treaties.

54.729 -> In Italy, public anger mounts because the country does not obtain all territories promised by Allies,

61.44 -> in addition to suffering a high death toll of some 600,000 soldiers.

66.299 -> In the United States, the Senate goes against the wishes of President Woodrow Wilson

71.69 -> and does not ratify the Treaty of Versailles resulting in the US not joining

77.003 -> the new League of Nations.

79.2 -> This international organization is tasked with preserving peace and developing cooperation between nations.

85.53 -> However Russia, which became the USSR after the Bolshevik revolution and a civil war,

91.49 -> is excluded from the League of Nations.

94.148 -> Weakened and frustrated by the loss of European territories,

97.7 -> Russia finds itself isolated as the West fears an expansion of communism.

103.53 -> The United Kingdom focuses on its immense empire

106.768 -> which covers almost a quarter of the land surface of the planet.

110.77 -> France, the northern regions of which are particularly hard hit by war,

115.199 -> finds itself without strong allies in the effort of upholding the Treaty of Versailles,

120.96 -> which is rejected by the German people.

127.078 -> In Germany, high debt and speculation on the Mark causes hyperinflation.

131.799 -> The country slows down payments for war reparations.

135.269 -> In reaction, France and Belgium,

137.269 -> which count on these payments for their own reconstruction,

139.895 -> send troops to occupy the Ruhr, a rich industrial region.

144.489 -> Hyperinflation reaches its peak.

146.799 -> $1, which in 1914 was worth around 4 marks, in November 1923 trades for 4,200,000,000,000 marks.

156.23 -> Some banknotes become less valuable than the paper on which they’re printed.

160.549 -> The United States and the United Kingdom propose a plan

163.73 -> to adjust German debt and grant credit to the country so that it can revive its economy.

169.79 -> The United States then lends to Germany, which resumes payment of war indemnity to victors,

175.449 -> which themselves are indebted to the United States

178.031 -> by buying arms and equipment on credit during the war.

182.249 -> The United States thus becomes the backbone of the world economy.

186.175 -> After a year of reforms, Germany returns back to growth.

190.219 -> Tensions ease and the country is even admitted to the League of Nations.

194.909 -> The global economy booms, with the United States leading the way.

199 -> The abundance of raw materials and the development of assembly-line work in factories

203.59 -> accelerates production and lowers prices.

210 -> In Italy, Mussolini's fascist party obtains full dictatorial power

214.711 -> by banning all other political parties.

217.999 -> In New York, the Wall Street crash takes place and causes the most severe economic crisis

223.139 -> of the 20th century.

225.339 -> Its repercussions are global.

227.836 -> Germany is badly hit with 30% of its population rendered unemployed and poverty exploding.

234.68 -> The government in power is held responsible for the situation, fuelling the rise of extremism.

240.709 -> In the legislative elections of 1932, the far-right NSDAP, also known as the Nazi party, wins.

248.284 -> Its president Adolf Hitler is placed as head of government.

252.339 -> In a short time, he eliminates all opposition and seizes absolute power.

257.12 -> The Weimar Republic is replaced by the 3rd Reich.

260.889 -> Hitler's ambition is to unite the German peoples

263.658 -> -- who he considers “superior” -- into a great nation.

267.419 -> He wants to annul the Treaty of Versailles, and annihilate Jews and Marxists.

272.669 -> The country leaves the League of Nations, stops war reparation payments,

276.648 -> and reinstates compulsory military service.

280.12 -> In reaction, France and the United Kingdom muster weak protest.

284.469 -> Hitler sees this as an opportunity to massively revive Germany’s military industry.

293.107 -> In 1935, Italy launches a policy of colonial expansion.

298.36 -> Its armies enter Abyssinia, an independent country and member of the League of Nations.

303.89 -> Despite occupying its capital, Italian forces face continued resistance

308.87 -> and the exiled emperor of Abyssinia would never sign an armistice.

313.601 -> In Spain, a civil war pits Republicans against the nationalists of General Francisco Franco,

319.789 -> who has the military support of Italy and Germany.

323.12 -> The two countries take the opportunity to seek a rapprochement and become allies

327.611 -> by forming the Rome-Berlin Axis.

330.353 -> Germany also signs an alliance with the Empire of Japan which invaded Manchuria in 1931.

337.21 -> Japan now takes advantage of a civil war in China, pitting nationalists against communists,

342.379 -> by declaring war on the country.

344.784 -> Japan seizes new territories and massacres the population.

348.935 -> In Austria, the local Nazi party after exerting much pressure

353.317 -> succeeds in officially annexing the country to Germany.

356.711 -> Hitler now wants to seize Sudetenland, a Czechoslovak territory where 3.5 million Germans live.

363.887 -> France and the United Kingdom, trying to avoid a new war,

367.44 -> betray their Czechoslovak ally by authorising the invasion of the territory.

372.229 -> 6 months later, however, Germany violates the agreement and invades the entire country.

378.157 -> Slovakia becomes a German satellite state.

381.419 -> Hungary, which lost two-thirds of its territory after WWI, allies with Germany.

386.9 -> Hitler now eyes the Polish corridor.

389.37 -> An ultimatum is issued to Poland, which rejects it.

393.082 -> France and the United Kingdom then announce they would support Poland

396.541 -> in case of a German invasion.

398.927 -> Meanwhile, Italy invades Albania, while in Asia, a border incident between Manchukuo

404.659 -> - dominated by Japan -

406.199 -> and Mongolia - a Soviet ally - is followed by a battle between Japanese and Soviet armies.

412.711 -> Despite its alliance with Japan, Germany does not intervene

416.446 -> as the country is preparing to invade Poland.

419.484 -> Germany even signs a nonaggression pact with the USSR.

423.02 -> A secret protocol delimits the spheres of influence of the two powers

427.389 -> in Poland and in Eastern Europe.

430.134 -> After its defeat, Japan abandons its westward expansion

433.995 -> and instead focuses attention to the south.

441.792 -> On September 1, Germany attacks Poland without a formal declaration of war.

447.319 -> In reaction, France and the United Kingdom declare war on Germany.

451.34 -> Polish armies are quickly overwhelmed by Germany’s new combat strategy known as the Blitzkrieg.

457.599 -> It involves concentrating maximum force on certain points

461.191 -> to quickly break through a front line,

463.399 -> surrounding enemy pockets, and neutralizing them.

466.896 -> Despite German forces being concentrated in the East, Allies do not take advantage

472.259 -> and remain stationed at the borders, instead preparing for attrition warfare

476.487 -> as it did during WWI.

479.419 -> The Soviet Union, in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, invades eastern Poland.

485.129 -> The two powers prevail and occupy the country.

488.509 -> The USSR then focuses on Finland.

491.18 -> When the latter refuses to renegotiate the border,

493.909 -> which Russia considers a threat to Leningrad due to its proximity,

497.68 -> the Red Army begins an invasion.

500.699 -> But it faces greater resistance than expected, and despite its clear numerical superiority,

506.169 -> the USSR struggles to win.

508.99 -> Finally, peace is signed and the border is pushed back.

512.3 -> But the Winter War proves to be a fiasco for the USSR,

516.13 -> which does not go unnoticed by Hitler who sees it as a weakness of the Red Army.

521.579 -> In the West, the Allies threaten an important iron supply route which passes through Norway

526.94 -> and supplies 50% of German industry.

529.82 -> In reaction, Germany invades Denmark and Norway.

537.258 -> Maintaining its momentum, the Reich launches an invasion of Benelux.

541.88 -> The French and British, who fear a new Schlieffen plan -- similar to World War I --

546.284 -> send quickly a large part of their forces to the north

549.904 -> to form a common front with Belgian and Dutch armies.

553.81 -> But Germany, as it did in Poland, launches a blitzkrieg.

557.587 -> After massively bombarding a weak point,

560.21 -> its Panzer tanks pierce the front line and head for the Sea, which they reach within a week.

565.71 -> 1.5 million Allied soldiers are surrounded.

569.31 -> In a few days, more than 330,000 British and French troops

573.7 -> are evacuated via the port of Dunkirk, which is taken over on June 4.

578.86 -> German armies then charge Paris.

581.1 -> Italy takes advantage to declare war on France, opening a new front in the south.

586.43 -> The new head of the French government, Marshal Philippe Pétain is forced to ask for an armistice.

591.589 -> But General Charles De Gaulle, exiled in London, calls on the French to continue the fight.

596.92 -> After signing the armistice, Pétain's government moves to Vichy,

600.744 -> with the South East and French colonies remaining under his control.

605.127 -> Germany occupies the north and the Atlantic coast.

608.71 -> The British begin to capture and destroy French ships.

612.649 -> In the East, the USSR, still in alignment with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact,

617.399 -> seizes Baltic countries and Bessarabia without any battles.

625.137 -> Hitler now wants to invade Britain.

627.44 -> But the island is too well defended by the Royal Navy, so aerial attacks are launched.

632.839 -> The British RAF and the German Luftwaffe regularly clash, causing heavy losses on both sides.

639.4 -> But the British fleet regenerates faster than Germany’s, forcing it to review its strategy.

645.23 -> British air force installations then become the target of bombardment.

649.41 -> On the night of August 24, a German plane misses its intended target

653.741 -> and bombards a district of London.

656.24 -> In retaliation, Britain bombs Berlin the following day.

660.44 -> Hitler is furious.

661.94 -> The battle takes a new turn.

663.97 -> Both camps begin targeting cities.

666 -> Despite London being regularly bombed, the Germans do not succeed in dominating the war.

671.92 -> Hitler then plans to abandon this front to shift focus to the USSR.

676.47 -> On September 27, Japan joins Germany and Italy in signing the Tripartite Pact.

686.111 -> Despite their alliance, Germany and Italy are not fighting the same war.

690.715 -> Mussolini concentrates his forces in the conquest of new colonies:

695.18 -> from Libya to Egypt, Italian East Africa to British Somaliland, and from Albania to Greece.

701.009 -> But it is a failure for his troops who retreat against the British and Greek armies,

706.44 -> while the Royal Navy dominates over the Italian fleet.

710.204 -> Germany is forced to intervene to prevent the Mediterranean Basin

713.818 -> from falling entirely into British hands.

716.55 -> Another aim is protecting Romanian oil which is vital for Germany.

721.019 -> A German army is sent to Libya, while another heads for the Balkans.

724.99 -> After Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, it is now Bulgaria's turn to join the Axis.

731.024 -> Yugoslavia and Greece are then invaded within a few weeks.

738.44 -> On June 22, Germany and its allies launch a surprise military invasion

742.853 -> -- the largest in history --

744.579 -> against the USSR, which passes de facto into the Allied camp.

748.841 -> Finland takes the opportunity to join the offensive and try to recover its lost territories.

754.6 -> On paper, nothing can stop the Wehrmacht, which is by far the best army in the world.

760.12 -> Blitzkriegs are launched on a large scale,

762.779 -> allowing the capture of some 3 million soldiers who would be tortured and starved in camps.

768.319 -> While behind the front lines, German mobile militias are tasked with massacring Jews and Bolsheviks.

774.589 -> To support the USSR, Allies open a supply route via the Caucasus.

779.029 -> But the route seems threatened by the Shah of Iran who shows sympathies towards Germany.

784.11 -> The USSR and the United Kingdom then decide to invade the country.

788.47 -> In the USSR, the German advance is slowed down

791.199 -> due to the sheer vastness of the battlefield and the bad state of roads.

796.019 -> In addition, the Germans underestimated the Red Army, which despite heavy losses,

801.459 -> regenerates quickly with the arrival of new troops from the East,

805.2 -> where a non-aggression treaty was signed with Japan.

808.029 -> A new front is created at the gates of Moscow,

811.187 -> after which German troops suffer a knock-out punch falling from the sky.

815.87 -> In a few days, temperatures drop below -30 degrees Celsius.

820.307 -> Badly equipped, German forces suffer

822.661 -> while the Soviets counterattack and push back the front line which is then stabilized.

828.218 -> What Hitler feared is happening: some 80% of his army would find itself stuck in attrition warfare.

839.279 -> On the Asian front, to counter Japan's expansionist policy,

842.611 -> the United States imposes an embargo on oil and steel,

846.63 -> essential resources for the country's industry and army.

849.99 -> However, in the south-east of the continent, in the European colonies,

853.775 -> there are large reserves of oil, iron and rubber.

857.51 -> With European powers preoccupied with war on the old continent,

860.802 -> Japan thinks it can quickly seize these lands.

864.01 -> The only threat in the region is the United States and mainly its powerful Pacific fleet

868.879 -> stationed at Pearl Harbor.

870.8 -> Japan decides to strike hard and by surprise in order to delay

874.38 -> as much as possible any military intervention by the United States.

878.91 -> On December 7, without a declaration of war, the Japanese air force

883.084 -> bombs the military port of Pearl Harbor.

886.089 -> The offensive is successful, although damage is limited.

889.88 -> The United States, which already supplies the United Kingdom, the USSR and China

894.668 -> with arms, joins the Allies.

897.16 -> But they would need a few months to repair their fleet, accelerate their arms race

901.293 -> and enter the Pacific.

903.499 -> Japan takes advantage of this delay to successfully begin its conquest of Southeast Asia.

912.639 -> Civilians are largely targeted throughout the war.

915.761 -> Japan massacres populations in conquered countries.

919.069 -> In Europe, Nazi concentration camps,

921.43 -> initially intended to lock up political opponents, became killing factories.

926.29 -> Jews, gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals and people with disabilities are exterminated there.

934.01 -> In occupied territories as well as in Germany, pockets of resistance organize.

939.166 -> In Western Europe, resistance is mainly non-violent, manifesting via strikes,

943.81 -> refusal to collaborate, propaganda, sabotage and intelligence.

949.04 -> In the East, mainly in Poland, Yugoslavia, Greece and in the occupied Soviet territories,

954.88 -> militias launch guerrilla warfare against the invaders.

958.339 -> In the Atlantic Ocean, German submarines -- called U-boats -- attempt to blockade Britain

963.459 -> by sinking commercial ships that supply the island.

966.819 -> The United States, for its part, secretly embarks on research to develop atomic weapons.

971.829 -> In addition, the country now gets ready to engage in the Pacific.

975.55 -> In 2 months, two decisive battles put an end to Japanese expansion.

984.749 -> On the Eastern Front, Hitler launches a new offensive, this time focused only towards the south,

990.735 -> targeting the important oil reserves of the Caucasus and cutting off the Allied supply route.

996.31 -> Axis troops quickly reach the gates of Stalingrad,

999.075 -> but the industrial city is fiercely defended by the Soviets.

1002.6 -> In the South Pacific, Allied forces, with the United States in the lead

1006.696 -> launch a counter attack,

1008.226 -> the objective being to move from island to island all the way to Japan.

1012.813 -> In addition, the United States uses submarines to sink ships

1016.416 -> that transport resources to Japan.

1019.045 -> In Egypt, British troops win a decisive battle

1021.702 -> that definitively pushes Italo-German forces out of the country.

1026.04 -> While in the West, an Allied landing allows the rapid capture of French colonies.

1031.37 -> In retaliation, the Germans and Italians invade Vichy France.

1039.66 -> In the USSR, as the 6th German Army managed to seize with great difficulty 90% of Stalingrad,

1045.92 -> a Soviet counterattack takes place outside the city.

1049.21 -> They drive out Romanian troops, who form the rear flanks,

1052.598 -> and surround the 300,000 German soldiers in the city.

1056.81 -> After two months of resistance, they are forced to surrender.

1060.22 -> In Africa, the last Axis troops are defeated.

1063.38 -> The Allies control the continent and now set their sights on southern Europe.

1067.69 -> A first landing takes place in Sicily.

1070.6 -> On the Eastern Front, Hitler tries to maintain the upper hand by launching a new offensive on Kursk,

1075.98 -> which leads to the biggest tank battle in history.

1079.19 -> Under pressure, Stalin urges his allies to open a new front in the West.

1083.84 -> The United Kingdom and the United States first want to weaken and demoralize Germany

1088.45 -> by intensifying bombing of industrial centers and cities.

1092.5 -> Hamburg, the country's second city, is largely razed to the ground.

1096.83 -> In Kursk, despite heavy losses, the Soviets prevail and gain the upper hand over the Germans.

1106.78 -> In Italy, after the fall of Mussolini, a British landing threatens the country.

1111.5 -> The new government signs an armistice with the Allies.

1114.17 -> But the Germans anticipate this scenario and quickly take control of Italian territories.

1119.64 -> With an Allied victory now seeming possible, Stalin for the USSR, Churchill for the United Kingdom

1125.59 -> and Roosevelt for the United States meet in Tehran to prepare for the end of the war.

1130.76 -> The three leaders agree to coordinate better, to soon open a second front in Europe

1135.1 -> via two landings in France,

1136.91 -> and to provide military support to the Communist resistance led by Josip Broz Tito in Yugoslavia.

1146.211 -> In the east, the siege of Leningrad ends after 872 days,

1150.876 -> claiming the lives of at least 1 million civilians.

1154.27 -> In the West, after the bombing of German factories which produce coal-based synthetic fuel,

1159.24 -> Allies are ready to open a new front.

1162.42 -> The biggest military landing in history

1164.66 -> allows troops largely from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada

1168.791 -> to gain a foothold in Normandy,

1171.84 -> while the USSR for its part launches a huge offensive

1175.075 -> which in two months pushes the Germans back by 600km.

1179.737 -> In France, while a second landing takes place in the South, General de Gaulle enters a liberated Paris.

1186.35 -> On multiple fronts, Allied advances liberate countries one by one.

1191.07 -> Only the Yugoslav resistance drives out the German troops of its own accord.

1195.53 -> Again, Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt come together to prepare for the postwar period.

1201.72 -> Roosevelt obtains the future creation of the United Nations

1205.205 -> which would replace the League of Nations.

1207.431 -> Countries that declare war on Germany before March 1 would be allowed to be part of it,

1212.279 -> which causes a wave of war declarations with little consequence.

1217.097 -> It is also decided to recreate Poland.

1219.6 -> But Stalin refuses to cede conquered territories.

1222.7 -> Polish territory would therefore be moved to the West to the detriment of Germany,

1227.09 -> which itself would be divided and occupied by the victors.

1231.14 -> The USSR swears to also declare war on Japan after Germany surrenders.

1236.42 -> The last 4 months of the Reich prove to be the deadliest.

1240.36 -> In concentration camps, on battlefields and among populations,

1244.218 -> on average, 30,000 people die every day.

1247.95 -> Berlin is finally surrounded by the Soviets.

1251.082 -> Hitler who had taken refuge in his bunker commits suicide 2 days before the fall of the city.

1257.18 -> The capitulation of the 3rd Reich is signed in Reims on May 7,

1261.757 -> and ratified in Berlin the following day.

1264.66 -> In Potsdam, the victors decide the fate of the vanquished.

1268.37 -> Italy loses its colonies.

1270.234 -> Germany, as expected, is divided and occupied, while the east of the country becomes Polish.

1276.24 -> The new frontiers of the continent would result in large-scale ethnic cleansing.

1281.14 -> Polish and German minorities would be driven to their new country.

1285.09 -> Finally, an ultimatum is issued to Japan, demanding its unconditional surrender.

1294.629 -> Japan ignores the ultimatum.

1296.85 -> The country is heavily bombed by the United States for several months.

1301.17 -> More than 60 large industrial cities had already been devastated.

1305.26 -> The United States then drops 2 atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,

1311.15 -> while the USSR begins invading Manchukuo, southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

1316.85 -> Finally on September 2, Japan surrenders.

1320.53 -> The country would be occupied by the United States until 1952.

1324.872 -> In the West, the USSR and the United States agree on a provisional division of Korea.

1330.55 -> Finally, in Indochina, the French regain control of their former colony

1335.37 -> but face opposition by some Vietnamese groups claiming independence.

1340.134 -> Colonial empires worldwide are weakened as independence movements gain momentum,

1345.36 -> provoked by heavy involvement in war and high death tolls.

1352.852 -> World War II is the deadliest war in history, with an estimated 75 million deaths,

1358.311 -> of which 66% are civilians.

1361.39 -> The Soviet Union and China are by far the most affected,

1365.08 -> while in China civil war resumes between Communists and Nationalists.

1369.97 -> In Europe, almost 3 million tonnes of bombs were used, devastating the continent.

1375.42 -> Many cities are destroyed, mainly in Germany.

1378.6 -> The continent finds itself divided with the East under Soviet influence

1382.655 -> and the West under US influence.

1385.6 -> For the first time, Germany and France would come together to revive the economy

1389.605 -> and preserve peace by creating the European Coal and Steel Community,

1393.926 -> the predecessor of the European Union.

1396.583 -> At the international level, the United Nations is created and tasked with preserving peace.

1402.131 -> Other international organizations such as NATO, the IMF and the World Bank are also created.

1408.85 -> From an energy point of view, the great powers begin a nuclear race

1412.586 -> and scramble to control global oil resources.

1416.72 -> Rivalry accelerates between the USSR and the United States.

1420.12 -> The two superpowers would embark upon a Cold War.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CQatuQdQv4