World War II was the bloodiest conflict in human history. The world was in a state of "total war". Motivated by the threat of global tyranny, the Allies eventually prevailed, but this victory was marked by battles won and lost. This post examines ten battles that decisively changed the course of the war. Battles are classified according to what was at stake, and the effect they had on the war as a whole.
11- Battle of Khalkhin Goal:
The Battle of Khalkhin Gol was the decisive compromise of the Soviet-Japanese Border War. Japan occupied Manchuria in 1931 (some consider this the beginning of World War II). Military interest turned to the Soviet territories bordering this area. The first confrontation between Japanese and Soviet forces was in 1938. There were frequent engagements along the border of Manchuria, but the Japanese were decisively defeated at Khalkhin Gol in May 1939. The compromise was relatively small compared to the later battles from the war. Only 95,000 soldiers were involved, but the implications of the battle were enormous. The Japanese saw resources in the Soviet Union as unattainable. Instead, they seized resource-rich territories in Southeast Asia.
The Japanese Empire and the Soviet Union signed in April 1941 the Non-Aggression Pact between Japan and the Soviet Union. Both countries remained in peace until Stalin declared war on Japan in 1945 (after the fall of the atomic bombs). With Japan's eyes toward the east, Stalin was free to transfer his Siberian divisions to the west, where they played a crucial role in the defeat of the Germans at the Battle of Moscow.
10- Battle of France:
After the German conquest of Poland in September 1939, Hitler turned his attention to the west. Its ultimate goal was to invade the Soviet Union, but knew that the defeat of the nations of Western Europe was a necessity to avoid a two-front war. The first step was to invade the Netherlands (Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium) and France. Hypothetically, Germany could then conquer Britain, re-deploy to the east, and wage a front war against the Russians.
The German army was actually outnumbered by the Allies. However, the numbers game did not matter because the German plan was very effective. Once the Germans invaded the Netherlands, the French army and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) moved north to face the Germans in front. This allowed the German army group to cross the Allied defenses in the Ardennes and advance to the Channel, effectively trapping them with their backs against the sea. A new offensive was launched against Paris, France fell, and the BEF was evacuated in Dunkerque. The country was divided into German occupation zones and Vichy France. Germany was then free to concentrate on defeating Britain in the war.
9- Operation Overlord:
In the summer of 1944, the Red Army was at the gate of Germany. There is no doubt that the Russians could have defeated Nazi Germany, but Stalin had been pushing the West to open a second front in an attempt to deflect German resources and bring a more rapid end to the war. The American Air Forces and the Royal British Air Force (RAF) had been carrying out a strategic bombing campaign since 1942. The Allies controlled the Mediterranean and invaded Italy in 1943. However, it was strategically necessary to launch a large-scale invasion in France to destroy the Main force of the German army in the north of Europe.
Operation Overlord began with the landings of Normandy in June 1944. In August, there were more than 3 million Allied troops in France. Paris was released on 25 August, and the German army had been completely rejected, and retired across the Seine River before 30 August. Germany was forced to strengthen the Western Front with resources from the Eastern and Italian Fronts. The result was a decisive allied strategic victory. By September, Western Allied forces were approaching the German border. Nazi Germany would give up less than a year later. More importantly, Western Europe should not be controlled by communist Russia, which had immense political implications in the postwar period.
8- Battle of Guadalcanal:
Until August 1942, the Allies had been on the defensive at the Pacific Theater. The offensive capacity of the Japanese had been reduced after the naval battles of Coral Sea and Midway. However, Japan was still on the offensive and planned invasions of Fiji, New Caledonia and Samoa. In August 1942, the Japanese Imperial Navy was in the process of building a series of bases in the Solomon Islands that would provide a waiting area for these planned invasions and offer protection to their main base in Rabaul. The Allies saw this as a major threat to Australia. The Japanese were in the process of building an airfield at Guadalcanal that could increase Japanese air coverage for their naval forces advancing in the South Pacific. The Allies planned to invade the Solomon Islands in an effort to deny the use of the islands by the Japanese. This would also be the starting point for an island hopping campaign aimed at retaking the Philippines and eventually invading the Japanese mainland.
On August 7, 11,000 Marines of the First Marine Division under the command of Major General Alexander Vandergrift landed at Guadalcanal. The only resistance the Marines faced was the jungle itself. On August 8, they managed to secure the Japanese airfield, which the Marines named "Henderson Field". The US Navy planned to withdraw from the area on Aug. 9 after Japanese aircraft attacked the fleet during initial landings. During the night of August 8, the Japanese Navy surprised allied warships and sank an Australian and three US cruisers. The Navy could not afford to lose another carrier, so they left the Marines without unloading the necessary equipment and supplies. The Marines formed a perimeter around Henderson Field and the small contingent of American aircraft, known as the "Cactus Air Force," which were there. The Japanese disembarked thousands of soldiers throughout the month and continually attacked the Marines in an attempt to regain the airfield. Finally, in February 1943 the Japanese withdrew their forces from the island. The victory at Guadalcanal was an important military and psychological victory for the allies. After the campaign, the Allied personnel looked at the Japanese military with less fear than before.
7- Battle of Leyte Gulf:
In June 1944, the Americans had violated Japan's internal defensive ring and had bases that could be used by the B-29 Superfortresses to bomb the Japanese islands. The next step was to cut Japanese supply lines by invading the Philippines or Formosa (Taiwan). The Allies did not have the labor necessary to take Formosa, and General Douglas Macarthur had defended an invasion of the Philippines from 1942, when he famously pronounced "I will return". The Japanese response was to attack the American landing force that was trying to take the Philippine island of Leyte. The Japanese North Force would try to lure American forces away from Leyte. The South Force and the mighty Center Force would then attack the landing zone.
The Northern Force successfully deflected the 3rd US fleet under the command of Admiral William Halsey. The Japanese Southern Force was intercepted and destroyed by the 7th Fleet Support Force; A substantial fleet of six battleships, four heavy cruisers and four light cruisers. Halsey's decision to take all available force from the 3rd fleet northward left the north landing zone guarded by the slow 7th Fleet escort carriers and small destroyers. The Japanese central force of four battleships, six heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and eleven destroyers captured the American ships by surprise. The American destroyers, "small children," were ordered to attack. The suicide attacks of the destroyers against the Central Force convinced to the Japanese that in fact they were being attacked by the third fleet of Halsey. The Japanese retired after losing four aircraft carriers, three battleships, eight cruisers and twelve destroyers. The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle in history and basically resulted in the destruction of the Japanese Imperial Navy. During the rest of the war, the Japanese could only rely on ground forces and Kamikaze attacks. The supply of oil and other important war supplies from Southeast Asia had been reduced.
6- Battle of Moscow:
Hitler's goal in invading the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa) was always Moscow. This capital was considered extremely important militarily and politically. The original plan of the Axis was to capture Moscow within four months after the start of the invasion of the USSR. The Axis wanted to take the capital before the beginning of winter. Autumn rains and hardened resistance delayed the Germans, but by December they were less than 19 miles from Moscow. The exhausted Red Army was saved by a terrible Russian winter, and fresh troops from Siberia, trained for the winter war. Temperatures dropped as low as 50 below zero. German troops did not have winter clothes, and the Panzers were not designed to operate at such low temperatures. On December 5, 1941 the Russians counterattacked and pushed the German army back.
For the first time, the Germans withdrew on a large scale. Operation Barbarossa had failed. Hitler now faced a war of attrition, something he was destined to lose. The Germans suffered about 400,000 casualties. More importantly, Hitler personally took over the military and put the more experienced German officers against him. Hitler's distrust of his senior officers reduced the German advantage of superior military leadership. The Soviets launched offensive the following spring, but this little more that prepared the stage for the battle of Stalingrado, a battle that would win.
5- Battle of Kursk:
The battle of Kursk occurred after the Battle of Stalingrad, and was the final offensive the Germans could launch in the east. The Germans imagined breaking the north and south flanks to surround the Soviet forces. However, the Soviets knew the intentions of Hitler and constructed a series of defensive ones. The Germans delayed the attack to await the new Tiger and Panther tanks, giving the Red Army even more time to dig and gather forces for a counterattack. To give some perspective, the defensive nets around Kursk were 10 times deeper than the Maginot line. The main German attack began on 5 July. Due to the depth of the Russian defenses, the German blitzkrieg was stopped. This was the first time a blitzkrieg offensive had been defeated before it could break through enemy defenses and into its strategic depths. After the failed attack, the Red Army counterattacked. The Germans would be on the defensive for the rest of the war in the east.
The war in Europe would last two more years, but when the Battle of Kursk ended, the Americans and the British were about to invade Italy, the Red Army was on the offensive and the Allies were producing more war materials than the Germans. In Kursk alone, the Germans lost 720 tanks, 680 aircraft and suffered 170,000 casualties. The battle was the largest tanks battle in history, and the Germans paid dearly for it. By the end of 1943, they were being pushed across a broad front in the East, and faced the possibility of a second front in the west. After three years of war, the Allies finally had the strategic advantage.
Note this image
The T-34 was very used by the Germans before the lack of own tanks
4- Battle of Midway:
After Pearl Harbor and the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Japanese hoped to eliminate the United States as a strategic powerhouse in the Pacific Theater. They chose to occupy the Midway Atoll to expand their defensive perimeter, and to lure American aircraft carriers into a fight. Fortunately for the Americans, they had broken the Japanese code and knew roughly where, when and in what strength the Japanese would appear. The Japanese, on the other hand, had no real knowledge of the strength or location of Americans. They thought they would be against two US companies, as the USS Yorktown suffered serious damage in the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Yorktown was repaired in only 72 hours, and was able to join the Enterprise and Hornet carriers for battle. They confronted four Japanese carriers, but they had an airfield at Midway, so the field was basically uniform. It was only a matter of which side first discovered the other.
Midwayers B-17 found the Japanese, under Admiral Nagumo, on June 3, but they did not reach any targets. On June 4, the initial attack on Midway was launched. Most of the US aircraft operating from Midway were destroyed, but Nagumo chose to attack Midway again. They had detected a single US carrier and decided to arm the planes with anti-aircraft guns, which would take 45 minutes. This would not matter because the American planes that would deliver the crushing blow were already on the way. A low-flying American shortstop squadron was completely destroyed by the Japanese air patrol, but this opened the door for the SBD Dauntless bombers. Four Japanese carriers sank and most of the veteran pilots on board were killed. When the Japanese replaced their three carriers, the United States had ordered two dozen. Midway paved the way for the Guadalcanal landings and gave the Allies the strategic initiative to be on the offensive for the rest of the war in the Pacific.
3- Operation Barbarossa:
The Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union began on 22 June 1941 and ended with the Battle of Moscow. The operation involved 8.9 million combatants, more than 18,000 tanks, 45,000 aircraft, and some 50,000 pieces of artillery on both sides combined. When Germany invaded, the Red Army was caught completely off guard. A non-aggression pact was signed prior to the German and Soviet invasion of Poland. Both countries invaded and occupied Poland, but Hitler had always seen Russia as a source of agriculture, slave labor, oil, and other raw materials. Even before the Nazis finished their conquest of the Balkans, they began massacring more than 4.5 million armies near the Soviet border. Three army groups were formed; Each assigned to capture specific regions and cities. The Army Group of the North would attack through the Baltic States and would take Leningrad. The Army Group Center was in charge of taking Moscow, and the Southern Army Group was going to attack the Ukrainian agricultural heart and move eastward toward the oil-rich Caucasus. The Red Army, though numerically superior to the Germans, was scattered, unprepared, and suffering from poor leadership.
The Germans advanced rapidly across the front. Key battles took place in Smolensk, Uman and Kiev. The Panzer armies were able to encircle and capture 3 million Soviet soldiers when they arrived in Moscow. By December, they had surrounded Leningrad in the north, reached the outskirts of Moscow in the center, and occupied the entire Ukraine in the south. They had 500,000 square miles of Soviet territory with more than 75 million people. The Soviets held in Moscow, but not before 800,000 soldiers were killed, 3,000,000 wounded, and more than 3,000,000 captured. 20,000 Soviet tanks and 21,000 aircraft were destroyed. German casualties included 250,000 dead, 500,000 injured, 2,000 aircraft destroyed and 2,700 tanks lost. The Soviet Union would lose 14% of its population in the war: almost 24 million people.
2- Battle of Stalingrad:
The Battle of Stalingrad was the Midway of the Eastern Front. The battle was a disaster for Germany, and victory in the East virtually impossible. After the Red Army had prevailed in Moscow, the Eastern Front had stabilized on the line from Leningrad to Rostov near the Black Sea. Hitler was confident that he could defeat the Red Army when time was no longer a problem. The capture of Stalingrad was important because it was a vital transport route between the Caspian Sea and northern Russia, and was the gateway to the Caucasus oil-rich region. His capture would also be an ideological victory due to the fact that Stalingrad bore the name of Joseph Stalin. The battle began with the Luftwaffe reducing the city to the rubble and making the Volga River, of vital importance to bring supplies to the city, was unusable. By the end of August, the Germans had reached Stalingrad.
The Soviets tried to keep their front line as close as possible to the Germans. This tactic of "hugs" in an urban environment denies the German doctrine that was based on a close cooperation between the infantry, the tanks, the engineers, the artillery and the airplanes. The German infantry units were forced to fight on their own, or risked taking the casualties of their own support fire. The Soviets were able to maintain the city until winter. At certain points in the battle, the Germans occupied 90% of the city, but the Red Army counterattacked in November and could surround 300,000 armies. The Germans suffered 841,000 casualties and only launched one more offensive in Kursk, which would end up being another disastrous defeat.
1- Battle of Great Britain:
If the United Kingdom had been wiped out in the war, Hitler could have centered all German military power on the Soviet Union. The Americans and the Soviets would have to fight only against the Axis, and the British Isles could not have been used as a starting point for Operation Overlord. For these reasons, The Battle of Britain is undoubtedly the most important battle of the Second World War. The British Expeditionary Force was, for the most part, successfully evacuated at Dunkerque after the Battle of France. However, most of his team remained in France. At the beginning of the Battle of Britain the only fully equipped division in England was Canadian. If Germany had achieved air supremacy over Britain's sky, it could have launched Operation Sea Lion (the invasion of the British Isles). The Royal Navy would have been ineffective in stopping the invasion without air cover.
The initial strategy of the Luftwaffe was to destroy the bases of the Royal Air Force. This worked pretty well until the strategy switched to bombing cities and towns. This gave the RAF the chance to replace its lost plane. The radar was essential. Without it, the RAF would have to keep airplanes at bay at all times. They lacked the resources to do this. The radar allowed the combatants to wait in the ground and coordinate the attacks against the formations of German bombers. In October 1940, the Luftwaffe was running out of crew and airplanes. German air supremacy was not achieved, and Hitler postponed the Sea Lion indefinitely. The end of the battle allowed Britain to rebuild its army and establish itself as an allied bastion. Winston Churchill summed up the battle with the words: "Never in the field of human conflict was so due to so many to so few."
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