Figure 1.--Britain was not prepared for World War II. One danger they had prepared for, however, as a result of world war I air attacks, was German bombing raids. Even before the British Government declared war on NAZI Germany, authorities began evacuating children from London and the other large cities. At the time, the British victory in the Battle of Britain seemed a small achievement in comparison to the vast NAZI victories on the continent. Britain's survival had, however, far reaching consequences for the outcome of the War.

Our approach to World War II is both a chronological and topical survey. Approached this way the individual country experiences often are obscured. Thus we have created a series of national pages designed to focus on the experience of each country in the War. Some counties were central to the War. Others played more marginal roles, but the national experience of the War was still profound in those countries. Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union were the key players in launching the War and making it a struggle of unbeliebale cruelty and leathality. Poland was the first country to stand up to the NAZIs and paid a terrible proce. Britain and France were reluctantly dragged into the War. While France fell in the first year of the War, dogged British resistance made victory possible. America in the end rescued Europe not only from Fascism, but after the War from Communism as well. Almost all of the independent countries of the world were involved in the War and even those who were not beligerants (Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey) were affected by it or played not inconsequential roles.

Albania

Mussolini ordered the invasion of Albania as part of his efforts to build an Italian Empire in the Mediterrean (April 7, 1939). Although not given great attention at the time, because of the greater focus on the Germans and Czechoslovakia. The Italians deposed King Zog. There was no real Albanian resistance to the Italians. Albania did not participate in the war as an independent country because it was annexed to Italy (1940). Mussolini then used Albania to launch an invasion of Greece (1940). This was an action of some importance because it would then deaw the Gdrmans into the Balkans. The Greeks resisted and pushed the Italians back into Albania. The Italians were ultimately rescued by the NAZI invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece (1941). Under Italian occupation a ressistance movement dominated by the Communists. The Italians did not persue the Holocaust against Albania's small Jewish population. After the Italian surrendr and German occupation (1943) the Jews were argetted, but many were sheltered by Albanians. The Germans reeling from Red Army offensives withdrew from the Balkans (1944). Guerilla leader Enver Hoxa seized power and established a Communist dictatorship, one of the most reclusive of the post-War Communist countries.

Algeria

Algeria was the center of French power in North Africa. At the time of World War II, Algeria was a part of France and not a French colony. The French Government had promoted French colonization and there was a substantial French population in Algeria. Political power was in the hands of the French. The French saw the local Islamic people as backwards and inferior and were very suspicious of them. The local Algerian population were French subjects, but not French citizens with political rights. French policy was acculturation. Most Algerians resisted acculturation. Those that did not dound that racism limited opportunities even with a French education. The French colonial regime was unpopular, but there was not serious independence movement before the War. Algerian nationalists for years worked within the system to achieve civil rights. This was resisted by the French settlers saw this as a threat. The nationalists formed a militant anti-French party in 1939 called the Friends of the Manifesto and Liberty. The fall of France (1940) changed the strategic ballance in North Africa. French bases in North Africa and the Mediterrean coast kept the Mediterranean firmly in Allied hands. With the Vichy regime under the thumb of the NAZIs and the entry of Italy into the Wart, the British were now isolated. surprised many nationalist leaders who now begin to see independence from a weakened France a realistic possibility. The French Vichy Government maintained their hold on Algeria under the terms of the Franco German Armistice. Vichy authorities introduced anti-Semetic laws. Italy entered the War (June 1940) and a few months later launched an invasion of Egypt. Fighting was at first in the Western Desert, but a propaganda campaign was also launched. The Axis was primarily attempting to undermine the British position in Egypt and Iraq, but the Algerians were also listening to radio broadcasts. Allied and Axis propaganda appealed to the local populations throughout North Africa. Both sides offered civil rights and freedom. With the entry of the United States in the War the strategic ballance began to shift. Under pressure from Stalin to open a seconf front, the Allies launched Operation Torch with landings in Morocco and Algeria (November 1942). The objective was to race east and cut off Rommel's Afrika Korps retreating west from El Alemain. The Germans, however, were able to seize Tunisia and rush in reinforcements, delaying the allied victory. The Germans could not, however, match the manpower and material superority of the allies. The Axis forces were caught in the pincers of a two-prong Allied advance from Algeria and Libya. The French Government after the War attempted to revive the political process. This proved futile. The Algerian nationalists were increasingly demanding indeperndence while the French settlers continued to oppose even basic civil rights for Muslims. The result was armed revolution and a vicious civil war.

Argentina

Argentina is almost unique among Latin American countries in that the population is largely of European extraction. The countries indigenous population was largely exterminated. Thus the countries national view was always largely European. The most important immigrant groups were Italian, Spanish, and German. As a result there was considerable support for both Fascism and the Axis in Argentina. Groups like the Alianza Juventud Nacionalista openly supported the Axis. FBI agents played major role in uncovering NAZI agents in other Latin American countries, but the Argentune Government refused to act against NAZI agents. These agents found considerable support from the German community which tended to maintain itself separate from large Argentine society. There were entire towns that were essentially German with German-speaking schools. Many of the communities adopted NAZI models. Argentines as a whole supported the Allies, but the Argentine Army was strongly influenced by the Germans. Col. Jun Peron idealized Mussolini. Argentina thus while theoretically neutrl was pro-Axis for much of the War. After Italy withdrew from the War (1943), the Allies pressured Argentina to declare war on Germany (1944). This was only a token step. Argentina remained pro-German throught the War, even after details of NAZI attrocities emerged. A German U-boat appear at Mar del Plata instead of surrendering to the Allies (May 1945). After the War, Argentina became a haven for NAZI war criminals, including the infamous Dr. Mengele. Eva Peron is known to have accepted substantial payments in exchange for offering a refuge for NAZI war criminals and looted property. American diplomat Hiram Bingham, who had managed to save some Jewish refugees in Vichy, turned up evidence of Argentines sheltering NAZI war criminals. When the State Department refused to persue his leads, he resigned in protest (1946). German scientists set up jet aircraft production in Argentina.

Australia

Australia joined Britain in fighting NAZI Germany after the German invasion of Poland (1939). As in World War I, the draft became a potent political issue. War with Italy followed after Mussolini declared war and invaded an already defeated France (June 1940). Australia's small army was deployed to Egypt and played a major role in the defense of the Suze Canal against Rommel's Afrika Korps. Other Australia units were deployed to the British bastion at Singapore. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Singapore quickly fell. Perhaps the greatest dusaster to British arms in the War. The British and Australians taken in Singapore were bryrally treated by the Japanese. The fall of Singapore meant that Australia itself was largely defenseless, Its army was either in North Africa or captured along with the Singapore garrison. After seizing the Dutch East Indies and much of New Guinea. The Japanese bombing Darwin and other cities in northern Australia. The Japanese next targeted Port Moresby to complete their conquest of New Guinea in preparation for an eventual invasion of Australia. The country was vulnerable because the Australian Army was largely in North Africa fighting the Afrika Korps. The Australians had also been weakened by the surrender in Singapore. At the time the only meaningful force between Australia abd the Japanese were two American carriers Yorktown and Lexington. These carrers alerted by American code breakers and intercepted the Japanese in the Coral Sea (April 1942). Although Lexington was sunk and Yorktown badly damaged, the Japanese invasion force turned back. This gave the Australians time to train a new army and for American troops and supplies to arrive in Australia to build a creditable force. The Australians then turned back a Japanese effort to seize Port Moresby in an overland attack and played an important role in the reconquest of New Guinea.

Austria

The Austro-Hungarian Empire desintegrated in the closing months of World War I (1918). The Austrians declared a republic in the much reduced territory of German-speaking Austria. The ecoonomy suffered. Many Austrians after the War wanted to join Germany, but the Allies prohibited this with the Versailles Treaty (1919). After Hitler's seizure of power in Germany, but the Austrian NAZI Party grew in membership, but was restricted by the Government, especially after the assaination of Chancellor Dolfuss (1934). The Austrians NAZIs led by by Arthur Seyss-Inquart, (the future NAZI occupation head in the Netherlands) agitated for union with Germany. Hitler finally accomplished union with the Anschluss (1938) whch was accompanied with a brutal outburst of violence against Austrian Jews. The Anschluss was an action thar was popular with the great majority, but not all Austrians. Despite the Versailles Treaty prohibition, the British and French did nothing, but submit diplomatic protests. With the Anchluss, Austria ceased to exist and Austria participated in World War II as a part of Germany. A particularly brutal Gauleiter was causing problems in Vienna, so Hitler appointed Baldur von Schirach (former Hitler Youth leader) as Gauleiter and Governor of Vienna. He provided a little cultural gloss to the NAZI regime. After successfully transporting Vienna Jews to the death camps, von Schiracht wisely left Vienna as the Red Army approached. Unlike many top NAZIs, he had no intention of fighting to the end or in killing himself and family. He tried to hide as mystery writer after the War. Finally fearing Austrian anti-NAZIs and French occupation troops, he quietly entered the American occupation zone and surrendered. Many Austrians now claim that Austria was an occupied country. In fact, Austrians were vigorous supporters of all aspects of the NAZI war effort, including the Holocaust. Soviet and American armies reached Austria at the end of the War (April 1945). American forces arrived from both the south (Italy) and the west. Austria was divided into four occupation zones by victorious Allied powers (Soviet Union, America, Britain, and France).

Belgium

Neutral Belgium fought with the Allies in World War I after being invaded by the Germans. King Albert I ably led the Belgian Army and their resistance delayed the Germans, making the Miracle on the Marne possible. After the War, Belgium returned to a neutral status like the Netherlands to the north. The NAZIs again invaded Belgium (May 1940). King Albert's son Leopold took over command of the Belgian Army, but the Germans advanced with unrelenting speed. Quickly surrounding the Belgian Atmy, King Leopold III surrendered, imperiling the British-French Dunkirt eacuation. Belgian officials escaped to London and set up a govertment-in-exile. That Government maintained control over Belgian colonial possessions (primarily the Belgian Congo). The German occupation was severe in World War I, but this time the Germans lived up to the Workd war I images. The NAZIs persued the Holocaust in Belgium, but with somewhat less success than in the Netherlands. The German occupation policies were largely race based, thus the occupatio while brutal and expoitive, did not aprroach the horrors of the east, except for the Jews. There was some collaboraion with the NAZIs, but the Allies were received with jubilation when Belgium was liberated (September 1944). The NAZIs launched their last offensive of the War in the Ardennes (December 1944). The resulting Battle of the Bulge was largely fought in Belgium.

Britain

Britain played a key role in World war II. Unlike World war I, it was unable to prevent the German defeat of France. This irrrivocably changed the world ballance of power. Britain did manage to resist NAZI aggression, the first county to do so. Although many felt Britain could not hold out after the fall of France, the RAF managed to do just this. Under estimated at the time was the importance of the Royal Navy and the strength of the British scientific estanlishment. Hitler when he launched World war II was determined not to make the mistake of World War I and fight a two-front war. Frustrated by the British and seeing himself as the greatest military commander in history, Hitler decided to fight the two-front war he had always imposed. Incredibly within the space of just a few months, with Britain undefeated, he invaded the Soviet Union and declared war on the United States. Britain became an unsinkable air craft carrier off NAI dominated Europe, Huge quanyities of American war material and military personnel flowed into Briitain. From Briitain a strategic bombing campaign against Germany was launched (1942) and then the cross-Channel invasion which cracked open Hitler's Fortress Europe June 1944).

Brazil

Latin American countries were not involved in World War II until the Japanese attack on Peal Harbor (December 7, 1941). Within weeks of Pearl Harbor, each of the Latin American countries, except the southern cone countries (Argentina and Chile), either broke relations with the Axis countries ir declared war. Of these by far the most important was Brazil. This country is half of South America. It also has an emense Atlantic coast. Brazil allowed the United States to set up air bases along the northeastern coast. Recife was especially important. These basees and instalations played an important role in the campaign against the U-boats in the South Atlantic. They also helped set up air connections with Allied forces in Africa. The loss of Malay and the Dutch West Indies to the Japanese (1942) created shortages of rubber, a critical war material. Brazil became a key source of rubber for the Allies.

Bulgaria

The NAZIs duting the 1930s gave considerable diplomatic effort to drawing the Balkan coyntries unto the German orbit. The King resisted as best he could, but by 1941, NAZI military power and Bulgarian Fascist elements left King Boris III few options. Hitler as part of a Balkans settlement transferred Southern Dobrud˛a from Romania to Bulgaria (1940). Romania had fought with the Allies in World War I while Bulgaria had joined the Central Powers. The NAZIs applied considerable force and Bulgaria finally joined the Axis and agreed to the entry of German forces (March 1, 1941). The NAZIs offered Bulgaria the return of Macedonia. Bulgaria participated in the attack on Greece and Yugosalvia (April 1941). The Bulgarians in large part because of King Boris III who was very popular. The King refused to turn Bulgarian Jews over to the NAZIs as part of the Holocaust. The King employed a range of delaying tactics. The Bulgarians did, however, turn over Jews in the occupied areas of Greece and Yugoslavia. Bulgaria also refused to partcipate in the NAZI invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941). King Boris who was very popular died mysteriously in 1943, possibly by heart attack or by assassination. The King's 6-year old son, Simeon II, succeeded under a regency. The Red Army driving the NAZIs back on the Eastern Front reached Romania (1944). The Soviets next declared war on Bulgaria abd crossed the Danube (September 8, 1944). Bulgarian army units and partisan bans joined with the Red army and quickly took Sofia. There was only limited NAZI resistance. Unlike Romania with the key Ploesti oil fields, Bulgaria wa of only marginal strategic value to the Reich. The Soviets on the next day seized the rest of Bulgaria (September 9). This day is now known as Liberation Day.

Burma

Burma was the scene of some of the least publicised fighting in World War II, in part because neither side really wanted to fight there. Burma beginning in 1824 was gradually annexed into British India. It had in the years leading up to World war II achieved quasi-Dominion status. Burma began to play a role in the War when the Burma Road was used by the Americans to transport supplies to Chang Kai-Sheks Nationalist Chinese. The United States covertly set up the Flying Tigers in China and Burma. After Pear Harbor the Japanese launched offensives west and south from Indo-China. Thailand agreed to allow the Japanese to transit unimpeeded. They quickly seized the Burma Road, making the Burma Road useless. This also cut the British forced in Burma off from any hope of resupply. The Japanese proceeded to drive the British out of Burma, cutting the Burma Road. It was the longest military retreat in Brirish history. Burma was of only minor interest to the Japanese, but gthey did want to cut the Burma Road, having done this the Japanese became increasingly interested in India, concluding that a popular insurection would occur as they approached the Indian border. The fighting in Burma was primarily a British theater, but the United States supported the British and Chinese in what was called the China Burma India Theater (CBI). Although Burma was a generally unreported theater of the War, it was the scene of some of the most vicious fighting of the war. It was also the scene of terrible attriocities. The Japanese worked ythousands of British and Empire POWs and local laborers to death building a raiolroad to supply their troops. The Allies regrouped in India and drove back into Burma. A northern prong of the advance was to build a road from Ledo to link up with the old Burma Road and open a supply route to China. The British also drovde toward Mandalay. There was no significant nationalist resistance to British rule before the Japanese invasion. The quick defeat of the British gave nationalists the idea that independe was a viable goal. Burmese nationalist forces orgamized by Aung San sided with the victorious Japanese who used them for propaganda purposes. Aung San's Burmese National Army switched sides as the Japanese military situation deteriorated. The Burme assisted the British 14th Army in the lattercstages of the campaign. final stages of the campaign. The British finally retook to Rangoon. They hoped to restablish their colonial regime. Aung San's supporters set up what was in effect a Burmese government. Aung San negotiated in Britain for independence (1947). After returning to Burma he was assassinated in Rangoon with many of his cabinent members. Burme politics has remained tumultous even to this day.

Canada

Canada loyally followed Britain into World War II. The controversy over conscription became a major political issue which impeded the Canadian war effort. French Canadians in particular were unenthusiastic about fighting in what they saw as a British war. Canadian ports and the Canadian Navy played an important role in the Battle of the Atlantic. The Royal Canadian Navy almost did not exist before the War and was rapidly expanded to a major naval force. The Canadians also hosted a major effort to train the air crews for the Strategic Bombing Campaign. Canadian industrial and agricultural production and raw materials were important to the British war effort. Some British children were sent to Canada for saftey early in the War, but this was discontinued when children were lost to U-boat attacks and the threat of NAZI invasion receeded. Canadian units were badly mauled at the poorly conceived Dieppe landings (August 1942). The Canadians played a major role in the D-Day, landing at Juno Beach. They went on to form an important part of Montgomery's First Army in the liberation of France and the Low Countries (Belgium and the Netherlands) and the final push into NAZI Germany.

Chile

Chile did not at first join with most of the other Latin American nations in after Pear Larbor (December 1941) in breaking relations or declaring war on the Axis. Chile had a small, but inflential German minority. A NAZI spy ring in the important port of Valpariso near Santiago was able to supply the German Navy and its U-boats with valuable information on Allied shipping. The NAZI spy ring was finally exposed (1943). This and the increasing Allied military successes caused Chile to break relations with the Axis nations.

China

Japan in the late 19th century as it began to develop a modern military, followed the precedent set by Western nations and forced China to sign economical and political treaties. The First Sino-Japnese War (1895) resulted in Japan's seizure of Taiwan. Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) strengthened Japan's influence in Manchuria. The Japanese Kwantung Army occupied Manchuria, a Chinese province, using as a pretext a faked incident on the main railroad (1931). Japan then decalared "Manchukuo" an independent state, setting up Pu Yi, the last Manchu Emperor of China as puppet Emperor (1932). Anti-Japanese disturbances broke out in Shanghai. The Japanese bombed the unprotected city to quell the disturbances. This was the first of many Japanese terror bombings of civilian populations. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations as a resulted of the criticism of her military operations in Manchuria and China (1933). Japan invaded China proper in July 1937, launching the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese Kwantung Army turned a small incident into a full scale war. The well equipped Japanese forces rapidly occupied almost the entire coast of China and then moved up rivers and railroad lines into the interior. The Japanese in the process committed war atrocities on an unpresidented level against the Chinese civilian population. The most savage of these explosions of barbarity was the Rape of Nanking, after the fall of the capital Nanking. Here European diplomats and missionaries witnessed the brutality of the Japanese. Despite the Japnese onslaught, the Chinese government never surrendered. America even before entering the war against Japan funelled supplies to the Chinese through Burma. A covert operation set up the Flying Tigers to provide the Chinese a creditable air capability. The Chinese achieved no real military victories, but the Japanese were never able to defeat them. They moved further inland, setting up a new capital Kumintang. The War continued on a lower scale, but envolving the continued deployment of the bulk of the Japanese Army.

Cyprus

Cyprus has a rich and storied history during the ancient and medieval history. Britain as the Ottoman Empire was unraverling assumed control of the administration (1878). The island was made a colony (1925). Cypriots had varying attitudes toward the British. The Greek population strongly supported the Allies after Italy invaded Greece and the NAZIs quickly invaded and occupied the country (April 1941). The Germans then invaded the Soviet Union (June 1941). This affected the political situation on Cyprus, because the Communists who had been oposing British rule were now more willing toncooperatecwith Britishb authorities. The Allies did not draft Cypriots, but 6,000 volunteers fought with the British in Greece during the unsucessful effort to stop the NAZI invasion (1941). Cyprus' location well to the east of NAZI-occupied Greece and Crete meant that the Luftwaffe had a linmited capability to nstrike the ialand. As the War progressed, more than 30,000 Cypriots served with the British. The German invasion of Crete proved so costly, that they did not attempt a similar operation to seize Cyprus, although there were occassioinal air raids. The Italian Navy was more of a threat, but British Royal Navy delivered powerful blows to the Italian Navy in a series of ferocious sea battles (1940-41). Cyprus' principal role during the War was to serve as a supply and training base and as a naval station as well as to provide sites for air bases. The defeat of the Afrika Corps at El Alemaine (October 1942) meant that Cyprus would gradually become a secure rear area. The British also used Cyprus as a location to intern Jewish refugees trying tonreach Palestine.

Czechoslovakia

Hitler remiliatized the Rhineland (1935) and conducted the Anschluss bringing Austria into the Reich (April 1938). Hitler's next target was the Sudetenland. The Czechs were prepared to fight. The British and French were not. British Primeminister Nevil Chamberlin delivered the Sudetenland to Hitler at the Munich Conferece (October 1938). The Sudetenland was incorporated into the Reich. Slovakia suceeded and a pro-NAZI regime seized power. Hitler ordered the Wehrmacht to seize the rest of the country (March 1939). Here Hitler step over another milestone, for the first time he seized control of non-Germans. NAZI policies varied depending on the area of Czecheslovakia (the Sudetenland, Bohemia and Moravia, and Slovakia). We note that some Czechs were forcibly removed from the Sudentenland, but we have few details at this time. NAZI policies in Bohemia and Moravia were much more begin that later implemented in Pland, but vecame more secere as the occupation progressed, especially after the appointment of Teynhard Heydrich as Governor. The Czechs as the first occupied country, were the first to be drafted for forced labor in Germany. The Czech arms industry played an importan role in the German war effirt. Hitler convinced that the Czeches were being treated to lightly, appointed Reinhard Heydrich to replace the first NAZI governor. His assasination by British-trained patriots resulted in horendous reprisals by the SS.

Denmark

Denmark which had been neutral in World War I attempted to maintain the same status when the NAZIs launched World War II with its invasion of Poland. Denmark along with the other Nordic countries, officially declared their neutrality. Germany nonetheless invaded Denmark (April 9,1940). Operation Weserübung targetted both Denmark and Norway. Denmark had virtually no army. After token resistance at the border, the Danes surrendered before noon. Within hours, Denmark was in NAZI hands. King Christian X decided to remain with his countrymen. The King advised the Danish people not to resist the Germans. The NAZIs allowed the Danish Government to continue to function under close supervision. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941), a few Danes volunteered to fight with the Germans. The Resisance movement slowly grew in strength and begin to oppose the Germans through strikes and sabatoge (Spring 1943). Finally the exasperated NAZIs seized control of the Government (August 29, 1943). The Danish Resistance managed to save almost all the country's Jews from the NAZI Holocaust. Denmark along with Norway were the last NAZI-occupied countries to be liberated. Forces commanded by General Montgomery reached Denmark just as the NAZI's surrendered (May 1945).

Egypt

Britain seized control of Egypt making it a kind of defacto colony (1882). The British interest was of course the Suez Canal which significantly shortened the sea route to India. The British granted Egypt independence (1922), but continued to station troops there and supported the royal Government, thus retaining political control. Egyptian forces played no role in the War, but the Suez Canal did. The British had it and the Axis, especially Mussolini wanted it. Mussolini ordered the massive Italian Army in Libya to invade Egypt (September 1940). A small British force defeated the Italians and drove them back into Libya (December 1940). The British drove into Libya and seemed poised to take Bengazzi. Hitler dispatched Rommel and a small German force which came to be known as the Afrika Korps. What followed was a see-saw battle in the Western Desert in which Rommel effectively taught the British the principles of modern mechanized warfare. Superior British forces, the interdiction of the Afrika Korps' supplies, and copious American supplies eventually led to the victory of the 8th Army at El Alemain (October 1942). The Axis persued a propaganda campaign to win over the Egyptian nationalists. The most imprtant faction was the openly Fascist Young Egypt movement. They decided not to openly attack the British and to await the Germans who never came. Colonel Gamal Abdul Nasser an early adherent of Young Egypt seized power after the War, overthrowing the royal government (1952).

Estonia

Estonia was part of the Tsarist Empire, but achieved independence after World War I through a war with the Bolshevicks (1918–1920). Estonia became one of the three small independent Baltic reoublic along with Latvia and Lithuania. Hitler and Stalin divided Eastern Europe with the NAZI-Soviet Non-Agression Pact (Aufust 1939). After the start of World War II, the Soviet Union occupied Estonia and annexed it (1940). Large numbers of Estonians who opposed to Communism and Soviet intervention were arrested, executed, and deported. About 60,000 Estoniansd were involved. The Soviets were especially harsh in the NARVA region where Russian "colonists" to a substabntial degree ethnic Estonians. Estonia was occupied by the NAZIs in the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa (1941). The NAZIs quickly hunted down and killed Estonia's small Jewish population. The resurgent Red Army drove the NAZIs out (1944). Estonians fought a guerilla war for independence after the War, but faced overwealming forces.

Ethiopia

Ethiopia featured prominently in the years leading up to World War II. Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was entent on reserecting the Roman Empire. The first step was to brutally put down a nationalist insuregency in Libya (1920s). Mussolini's next step was to invade Ethiopia which at the time was an independent state (1935). Using modern weapons, the Italian Army quickly overwealmed Emperor Haile Selassie's lightly armed forces. Italian attrocities in Libya had not been widely reported. The invasion of Ethiopia was. The Allies (Britain and France) supported scantions in the League of Nation. Mussolini was outraged and the ineffective League scantions was a factor in his closer relations with Hitler and NAZI Germany. Italy entered the War once the German invasion in the West over France was secured (June 1940). This meant that the Italian colonies in Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Libya) were combat zones because they bordered on British colonies or countries like Egypt which were British protectorates. Britian had such limited forces in the area that what was available was concentrated in Egypt where a hugh Italian army launched a major offensive from Libya (September 1940). They drove a few miles into Egypt and then set up defensive positions. On paper it looked like the Italians also had a large force in Ethiopia. The Italian forces were, however, weak and their Ethiopian auxileries of questionable loyalty. It was the British, despite their numerical inferiority, who attacked the Italians. The stunning British victory over the Italians in the Western Desert (December 1940) gave the British the opportunity to deal with the Italian forces south of Egypt. The British put together a small force of South African and African colonial troops. They were supported by Ethiopian insurgent guerrillas. Colonel Orde Wingate, who was later to play an important role in Burma, coordinated the operations of the Ethiopian guerrillas forces. Behind the British forces, Emperor Haile Salassie returned to Ethiopia, arriving in Gojam (January 20, 1941) and began organizing the resistance groups.

Finland

Finland was involved in World War II almost from the beginning. The Finnish war experience was one of the most unusual of the War. The Finns fought with and against both the Sovietrs and NAZIs at differebt stages of the War. Finland was actually involved in three different wars: the Winter War (1939-40), the Continuation War (1941-44), and the Lappland WSar (1944-45). After seizing eastern Poland as part of a deal with the NAZIs, Russia next turned on Finland in the Winter War. The Allies almost sent forces to aid the Finns. The Red Army energed victorious from the Winter War (1939-40), but at considerable cost. The poor showing of the Red Army was noted by Hitler. After the NAZI's launched Operation Barbarossa (June 1941), Finland joined the Germans to regain the territory lost in the Winter war. The Finns refer to this as the Coninuation War. The Finns refused, however, to go beyond the lost territory, nuch to Hitler's despleasure. This was a major reason that the NAZIs failed to capture Lenningrad. The Finns also refused to turn their Jews over to the NAZIs, despite repeated German demands. Finally as the War went against the NAZIs, the Finns fought the Germans in the Lappland War.

France

France like Britain declared war on Germany after Hitler invaded Poland (September 1939). After several months of quiet on the Western front, the Germans launced the long awaited Western offensive (May 1940). Within weeks the Germans etered Paris andc te French were forced to sign a humiliating armistace (June 1940). Much of the country was occupied and the French Army was intered in German POW camps. The new government in the unoccipied zone was formed at Vichy. Nominally neutral, Vichy assisted the NAZIs in their war effort. Vichy also actively assisted the NAZIs isolated and roundup Jews. Marshall Petain who led the Vichy Government concluded that after the fall of France that Germany was the dominant power in Europe. He sought to carve out a place for France in the new NAZI-dominated Europe. Petain believed that France could form a bridge between NAZI Germany and America and the rest of the world. The Grerman victory had humiliated France, but France had fought. Vichy represented a loss of honor. After the Allied Torch landings (November 1942), the Germany occupied the unoccuopied zone. The Resistance became increasingly organized, especially when the NAZIs began concscripting French workers for war work in Germany. The Allied returned to France with the D-Day landings (June 1944). This made possible the liberatiom of France. The Allies after breaking out from Normandy swept through France (July 1944). Free French forces were the first Allied units to enter Paris (August 1944). The French quickly reoranized the French military and by the time of the Rhine crossing (March 1945), moe than 1 million French soldiers had joined the Americans and British.

Sources

Olson, Lynne and Stanley Cloud. A Question of Honor: The Kosciuszko Squadron: Forgotten Heroes of World War II (Knopf, 2003).

Created: April 25, 2004
Last updated: 4:04 AM 6/6/2007