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A Short History of the Second World War

Wacopedia 2004 Domain TL

World War II (abbreviated WWII or WW2), or the Second World War, was a worldwide military conflict which lasted from 1939 to 1946 World War II was the amalgamation of two conflicts, one starting in Asia as the Second Sino-Japanese War and the other beginning in Europe with the Invasion of Poland.

This global conflict split a majority of the world's nations into two opposing camps: the Allies and the Axis. Spanning much of the globe, World War II resulted in the deaths of over 60 million people, of which about half were Soviet, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.

World War II was the most widespread war in history, and countries involved mobilized more than 100 million military personnel. Total war erased the distinction between civil and military resources and saw the complete mobilization of a nation's economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities for the purposes of the war effort; nearly two-thirds of those killed in the war were civilians.

The conflict ended in a draw of sorts. As a result, the United States became the leader of the “Free World” and saw the creation of The Eurasian Axis Domain included Great Russia, The Imperial Empire, The Royal Realm of India and or course the 3rd Reich, aka “The Domain” setting the stage for the Cold War. Which has seen many smaller conflicts, which some claim means we are still fighting WWII.

Summary

In Europe, Germany, and to a lesser extent Italy, had engaged in increasingly hostile activities, which the United Kingdom and France initially attempted to diffuse through diplomacy. When Germany invaded Poland in late 1939 though, France and the United Kingdom declared war. During the winter of 1939/1940 there was little indication of hostilities since neither side was willing to engage the other directly. This ended when Germany, utilizing its new blitzkrieg method of warfare, captured Norway in the spring of 1940 and then in the summer conquered France.

The United Kingdom was then targeted; the Germans attempted to cut the island off from vitally needed supplies and obtain air superiority in order to allow invasion. Invasion was never attained, but the Germans continued to attack the British mainland throughout the war. Unable to engage German forces on the continent, the United Kingdom concentrated on combating German and Italian forces in the Mediterranean Basin. It had limited success though; it failed to prevent the Axis conquest of the Balkans and fought indecisively in the Western Desert Campaign. It had greater success in the Mediterranean Sea though, dealing severe damage to the Italian Navy.

In mid-1941, the war expanded dramatically when Germany invaded the Soviet Union, bringing the Soviet Union into alliance with the United Kingdom. The German attack started strong, overrunning great tracts of Soviet territory, but began to stall by the winter. In December 1941, the war again expanded when Japan, already into its fifth year of war with China, launched near simultaneous attacks against the United States and British assets in Southeast Asia; four days later, Germany declared war on the United States. This brought the United States and Japan into the greater conflict and turned previously separate Asian and European wars into a single global one.

Though Axis forces continued to make gains, the tide looked to be turning in 1942. Japan suffered its first major defeat against American forces in the Battle of Midway; German forces in Africa were being pushed back by Anglo-American forces. However, Germany’s renewed summer offensive in the Soviet Union began to see results as Moscow fell and Soviet government spun into chaos as Stalin’s purged even more of his Armies Commanders in a bid to place blame for the Red Army’s defeats.

In 1943, Germany first suffered devastating losses against the Allies in Africa at Tobruk and Tunis. Their forces were completely expelled from Africa, and Allied forces had chased them up into Italy. However, The War took a massive turn to the favour of the 3rd Reich when the Red Army, suffering from within as well as from defeat against the Germans staged a coupe against Stalin. A ceasefire was asked for and granted by Hitler, while a Right Wing Government wrestled control of Russia from the Communist Party. The Japanese continued to lose ground as the American forces seized island after island in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1944, the outcome of the war was becoming questionable for the Allies. Germany became allied again with the now Fascist government of Greater Russia. This left the 3rd Reich with the Balkan States and in control of territory with a border starting from St Petersburg running roughly straight down to Odessa now known as the ReichsFrontier. In the west, the Western Allies invaded mainland Europe, liberating France and the Low Countries and reached Germany's western borders. While Japan launched a successful major offensive in China leading to it’s surrender, in the Pacific, their navy suffered continued heavy losses as American forces captured airfields within bombing range of Tokyo. The Indian Revolution started in earnest just to top of the year

1945 saw the expulsion of the British out of India as the Royal Realm of India took form and the first overtures in the formation of the Eurasian Axis Domain. In Europe, a final Allied push towards the Rhine River failed, and the German now recovered from a two front war pushed the Allies back into the ocean. In Asia, American forces fought hard but were driven off the Japanese islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa while British forces in Southeast Asia were expelled by Japanese forces. Combined with the massive loses of troops, the fall of China and cataclysmic failure of the Manhattan Project the US adopted her Policy of Containment in the East. The Domain, in particular the 3rd Reich started its reach into the Middle East as Turkey joined the Domain.

Early 1946 saw many technical innovations becoming commonplace on the battlefield and the home front. The Free World concept was gathering acceptance. Allied populations were sensing defeat as the Middle East including Egypt was forced under the Domains’ yoke. The end was a blow that the Allies failed to see coming, which was Operation Daring Eagle, the invasion of the British Isles. The British and her Allies put up massive effort to defend the last bastion of freedom in Europe but by December it was over. With the thorn in it’s side gone the Domain, offered to end hostilities. All the major warring parties left signed the Treaty of Dublin on The 27th of December 1946. Leaving us with the World and the Off-world Colonies of today.



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