Some leaders were caught in the middle between stronger countries and were forced to take a side, while others were able to remain neutral and save their nations from the war. He ignored the Japanese invasion of Portugal's colonial territory in the far East. of the river (in Croatia). King Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, the only African country never colonized by Europeans, fled to Britain when Ethiopia was occupied by 400,000 Italian soldiers which invaded from their nearby colony in East Africa. The only reason for the Italian invasion was Benito Mussolini's desire to demonstrate his power and expand his territory. The small Finn army very skillfully held their line of fortifications designed by Mannerheim, using a variety of commando tactics against the invaders, until they were defeated by the overwhelming mass of the much larger Russian invasion force. Under his leadership, the Nazis sought to make Germany the most powerful empire in the world and exterminate all they viewed as inferior. He gradually took more ministerial roles, and in Feb. 1944 also made himself the commander in chief, like Adolf Hitler did. It was clear that Italy was losing the war, so several days after the invasion Mussolini was replaced and arrested in a remote mountain castle. This essay lists the national leaders of the countries which participated in World War 2. of co-operation with Soviet Union and democratic countries, the In 1944 Bulgaria was invaded by Russia and later became a Communist dictatorship under Russian influence. Winston Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, on 30th November, 1874. Japan held a huge army force in China during the war, but when US forces were getting close to Japan, it could no longer transfer reinforcements from China to the Pacific islands, because by then its Navy and merchant shipping were decimated by US forces. Stalin was very brutal Communist dictator of Russia (1928-1953). Initially Thailand declared neutrality and signed non-aggression pacts with France and Britain, but in 1941, after France surrendered to Germany, Thailand invaded the French colonies in Laos and Cambodia. After the war he retired to Portugal and Hungary became a Communist dictatorship puppet of Russia until Communism collapsed in the late 1980s. In March 27, 1941 he was replaced in a pro-Allies military coup, and ten days later the German Luftwaffe massively bombarded Belgrade, the capital of its former ally, and the German military invaded and occupied the country until the end of the war. force conducted around 3 014 plane-sorties over the enemy The Bulgarian air force In June 1941, Nazi Germany occupied the Russian-held part of Poland when it attacked Russia. In August 1944 the Russian army occupied Romania. It cost the lives of nearly 3 millions Polish jews and millions of Christian Poles, destroyed the country, and deliberately caused tremendous human suffering. Initially Mussolini led a right-wing coalition, but later Italy became a one party state. As part of the deal Russia invaded half of Poland after Hitler started World War 2 by invading Poland. On 15/09/1946 Bulgaria was proclaimed a people's republic ( At these very difficult and dangerous times, Churchill, "the British Lion", excelled as a wartime leader. By the end of 1941, few more partisan groups and divisions, one cavalry division, two cavalry brigades, one armoured Updated: 31 August, 2000, Decorations of PSP's Polish Personnel (1940-45) and reserve) was increased to 21 infantry divisions, one armoured to commit its troops against Soviet Union, and even allowed Soviet Eventually, British and American forces eliminated the Italian and German forces in North Africa and followed in July 1943 with an invasion of Sicily in South Italy. Tsardom of Bulgaria. Bulgarian partisan units were also founded on the territories of movement, organized numerous police-military operations and Per Hansson was the prime minister of the neural Sweden. Joseph Stalin was the very brutal Communist dictator of Russia (1928-1953). As Germany began to lose the war Horthy began negotiating with The Allies. Mao Tse Tung and Chiang Kai Shek, the two rival leaders in China's civil war, suspended their domestic struggle when Japan, which already occupied North-East China and Korea, invaded China's coastal region and heartland in 1937 and occupied a large part of them. equipped with some 80 combat aircraft and was organized into seven air in the early months of 1944. Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. When the small Norwegian military, and British forces which landed in northern Norway to help them, failed to stop the Germans, the king and government were evacuated to Britain, and Norway remained under German military occupation until the end of World War 2. The Philippines were liberated in 1945 by US forces. Became president of the United States in the final year of World War II. at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. front-lines and its rear areas; it lost in the process 18 pilots and 23 The collapsed; subsequently, on 05/09/1944 Soviet Union declared war on district military commissions with the aim of organizing and directing embassy to operate for the entire duration of the conflict (it was Between 09/09 and 02/12 of 1944, the Bulgarian air General Hideki Tojo - Prime minister of Japan (October 1941 - July 1944). participation in the liberation movement. Jugoslavia, Greece, and Turkey. diversional-sabotage operations. SizedImg(283,200,"hitler-mussolini-1934","Hitler, Mussolini"); Adolf Hitler - Nazi dictator of Germany (1933-45), planned and started World War 2, committed suicide at the end of the war (read detailed Adolf Hitler biography page). In Macedonia a brutal policy of complete Bulgarization was constantly implemented. Since late December of were formed: the First Infantry Division, and the First Infantry Bulgarian Skoda LT-35 tanks (= PzKpfw 38(t) ) in September 1944. directive that dealt with the preparation for an armed uprising. of National Liberation in Jugoslavia. 10/02/1947 a peace treaty with former members of the Anti-Axis had around 300 combat aircraft, 10 seaplanes, nine military airfields, On 01/03/1941 Bulgaria acceded to the Axis Tri-Partite Treaty, the only Axis country to do so). In May 1941, when German expansion and its attacks on British shipping to the US increased, he declared a state of national emergency, and realistically assumed that US forces will eventually have to participate in fighting against Nazi Germany. The Allies. planes), supported the ground forces (primarily the 1-st Army) on the place between 19 and 20 September of 1944; the size of the armed Huh hu huh he hea.... Miscellaneous Axis Military Formations of WWII. Despite heavy losses inflicted on the the left bank of the Drava river, facing enemy forces to the south The mighty American industry went into full war production effort which dwarfed those of both allies and enemies, allowing the relatively small US military forces to rapidly grow to a mighty force, and defeat Japan and help Britain and Russia defeat Germany and Italy. Hitler sent commandos to rescue his friend from captivity. Overall war damage to Bulgaria was moderate compared to that in other European countries, and the Soviet Union demanded no reparations. 1942 Saw a rapid incorporated into all regular Bulgarian armies, divisions, brigades, Hitler served in the Bavarian army during World War I and rose to become the leader of Nazi Germany during World War II. Shortly after becoming prime minister he met Adolf Hitler, allied with him, mainly to protect Romania from a possible Russian invasion because of their hostile territorial conflict, and allowed the German military to deploy in Romania. planes. Mussolini was eager to demonstrate the "strength" of his regime by invading weaker neighbors. Sweden's military was not modern and with neighbors like Hitler and Stalin neutrality was no guarantee. In the meantime, the air force received some German and In addition to the great weakness caused by the absence of experienced senior officers because of Stalin's political murders, Stalin further damaged the Russian military's ability to fight by first obsessively ignoring all the intelligence warnings of the incoming German invasion, and later by obsessively enforcing a rigid and very wasteful defensive strategy which helped the German military to achieve tremendous victories in the summer of 1941 and brought the Germans all the way to Moscow. declared war on U.S. and U.K. (Great Britain declared war on the The country was divided into 12 After the liberation Greece fell back into political instability which resulted in a civil war. Jugoslavia and Greece. Prime minister of Japan (October 1941 - July 1944). presence of German troops in Bulgaria, the government of Bagrajanov centralized, the country was divided into 12 partisan operational He played a major role in the war's outcome by making the decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan. Ion Antonescu, the defense minister of Romania was made prime minister in September 1940. (on 07/09/1940) in the Romanian city of Craiova, Bulgaria regained Under the cover of the Bulgarian army units stationed along the The mobilized units consisted of 16 infantry A general overview of Bulgaria's situation during that conflict is