The most bloody and terrible massacre not only of the 20th century, but of the entire history of mankind can be safely called the Second World War. It covered, to varying degrees, 62 states out of 73 that existed in those years.
The confrontation between the powers lasted 6 years, it covered a third of the entire territory of the planet, not only land, but also the sea. Only 11 states maintained complete neutrality throughout the war, but they somehow provided support and sympathy to the countries participating in the armed conflict. The states that fought on the fronts were part of two huge coalitions, these are the "Axis Countries" (axis: Rome-Berlin-Tokyo), and the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, which eventually included 59 states.
Axis countries
The Axis Powers coalition consisted of states: Germany, Italy, Japan. It was they who unleashed the most terrible war. Germany was the initiator of the battles, its policy and tactics allowed the fascist troops to occupy Austria and the Czech Republic practically without fighting. With the German attack on Poland on September 1, 1939, the Second World War was counted.
Italy sided with Germany for one reason: its leader, Duce Mussolini, sympathized with the Nazi regime, but the country did not take an active part in the theater of operations, so it did not pose a threat. Japan took part in hostilities, but it was a Japanese-Chinese war for the resources of China. When two atomic bombs fell on Japan on August 6 and 9, 1945, she quickly surrendered, realizing the pointlessness of further resistance. The Second World War is over.
Anti-Hitler coalition
The contribution of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition to the victory is uneven, some states waged active hostilities at the fronts, others helped with food and supplied military products. Some countries took part purely nominally, in fact - in no way. The maximum contribution to the defeat of the Nazis was made by the USSR, along with the USA and Great Britain.
The USSR was drawn into the war at the time of the German attack on its territory, on June 22, 1941. And from this date, until May 9, 1945, a special period within the framework of the Second World War begins - the Great Patriotic War. The most terrible battles of this period took place on the territory of the USSR. The most terrible of them was the blockade of Leningrad. However, the country withstood and in 1943 began an offensive on all fronts.
When the Nazis were thrown out of the USSR in 1944, the United States opened a second front in Europe. But this was done not so much to help the USSR, since the outcome of the war was already a foregone conclusion, but to prevent the spread of communist ideas on the territory of Western Europe.
Losses in World War II
The USSR suffered the maximum losses, the entire European part of the country was destroyed, cities and villages were destroyed, factories were either bombed or evacuated to the Urals or Siberia. Over 27,000,000 Soviet citizens died, many of them were killed in concentration camps. The total destruction was estimated at $ 128 billion.
Germany lost 6,500,000 people, most of whom did not return from the eastern front. The destruction in the country was estimated at $ 48 billion.
