![]() ![]() The Japanese had been at war in China even longer than Germany had in Europe. Japan has expanded its even larger so-called Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere from the Indian Ocean to Alaska and from the Mongolian border to Wake Island. The war had been afoot since the mid-1930s and the Nazis were among the most battle-hardened soldiers in the world. The new Third Reich extended from the English Channel to the Volga River and from the Arctic Circle to the North African desert. Until late 1942, the three Axis powers believed that they could quickly win their war against the new global alliance of Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States-despite being vastly outmatched in both population and industrial capacity. Because of the global expansion of the dormant European border wars, the conflict became the deadliest event in human history, with about 27,000 soldiers and civilians lost each day of the six-year conflict, leading to a total of 60 million deaths. The surprise German invasion of the Soviet Union (June 22, 1941), the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and Singapore (December 7-8, 1941), and the declaration of war by Germany and Italy on the United States (December 11, 1941) precipitated a level of violence and destruction never before seen in world history. Hitler and his allies, who reigned over an area larger than the present European Union, believed that the European wars were over, for all purposes-and decisively won.īut suddenly in 1941, Hitler’s calm march to victory ended and the global inferno of what we now call World War II began. At the same time, Russia was colluding with Germany, and America remained isolationist. By the autumn of 1940, Britain was the sole European power standing against Hitler-and it was being mercilessly bombed by the Luftwaffe. In 19, Hitler’s army had won a series of border wars, giving the Fuhrer control over ten conquered European countries. That’s what happened in 1942 when a series of decisive events changed the trajectory of World War II.īefore that turning point, Germany seemed destined for victory. Sometimes, just a few months can change the course of civilization. ![]()
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