By the end of 1941, the separate battles being fought in Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific had truly come together into the Second World War.
The choices made by several Axis countries, namely the battles they chose to initiate, were the main reasons for the key alliances and declarations of war that occurred. The first of these was the Axis loss of the Soviet Union as an ally when Hitler chose to invade in 1941. The Soviets subsequently turned to the side of the Allies - initially for protection and aid - though they went on to become a vital asset, due to the size and tactical knowledge of the Red Army.
Additionally, because of their actions against China, Japan was met by significant economic sanctions from the United States and other countries that favored trading with China. Retaliating, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941, effectively declaring war on the United States. Four days after that, Germany followed suit; this combined the previously separate Asian and European wars into a single global one.
While Axis forces continued to achieve some victories, the overall outcome of the war clearly shifted over the course of 1942. On January 1, the "United Nations" was officially established in its first incarnation: 26 Allied nations came together and penned a Joint Declaration to rally against the Axis. On a darker note, the activities of the Holocaust began in earnest: in the summer of 1942, reports came to Allied countries that Jews were being gassed, and prior to that, Jews in Germany had been forced to list where they lived. The month of June would also go down in history, as the month when the secret meetings for the Manhattan Project began.
In the timeline for World War II, the Axis lost several important battles in 1942; these crucial defeats were a large factor in their ultimate loss three years later. The Battle of Midway a Pacific battle lasting only three days saw American troops destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers. Subsequently, German forces were overwhelmed on two sides, and also suffered heavy losses in terms of both land and casualties. In Africa, they were forced out by Anglo-American troops; in the Soviet Union, their summer offensive failed horribly, as the German army saw 1942 come to an end while trapped on all sides by Allied forces.
As 1943 began, it saw more casualties on the side of the Axis: for them, there was now a growing trend of small advances, but much larger overall setbacks. The Battle of Stalingrad in the Soviet Union came to a close in February 1943 with complete German surrender, and they again suffered heavy defeat in July at the Battle of Kursk. Adding to this, after the Allies drove the Germans out of Africa they continued to successfully push northward, resulting in the Armistice with Italy on September 8, 1943. The Japanese too were running out of luck as American units continued to defeat them, seizing island after island that had previously been under Japanese control.
Do you like this article? Visit Timeline For World War 2 for more!
Source: www.isnare.com
