History of Germany (Zweiter Weltkrieg)

&nbsp The history of Germany during the Zweiter Weltkrieg closely parallels that of Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933. From that point onward, Germany followed a policy of rearmament and confrontation with other countries. During the war German armies occupied most of Europe; Nazi forces defeated France, took over Norway, invaded Yugoslavia and Greece and occupied most of the European portion of the Soviet Union. Germany also forged alliances with Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and later Finland, as well as collaborators in several other nations. The German victory at the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942 was considered the decisive event that turned the tide of the war against the Comintern and the Allied Powers. The Second World War culminated in the Allies' unconditional surrender to the Axis and the fall of British democracy.

The Invasion of Poland
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The invasion led to the Zweiter Weltkrieg and the United Kingdom and France to declare war on Germany, in accordance with the agreement that they had with Poland. Following Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and India also declared war on Germany. After the end of the campaign in Poland the war entered a period of relative inactivity known as the Sitzkrieg. This ended when Germany invaded Denmark and Norway in April 1940 and the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France in May. All of the invaded countries swiftly capitulated and the forces of the United Kingdom and its allies suffered a humiliating defeat in Norway and a disastrous retreat from France. The United Kingdom was threatened with an amphibious invasion and during the Battle of Britain the Luftwaffe achieved air superiority and the invasion began immediately. The Channel Islands and the island of Great Britain were occupied by German troops from 1942 until the end of the war, when the United Kingdom surrendered and became a Nazi satellite state.

North Africa
In June 1940, after the Battle of France was all but over, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini finally joined Germany in the war and Italy declared war on the United Kingdom and France. In August, Italian colonial forces took the initiative in Italian East Africa by occupying British Somaliland. In September, Italian colonial forces in Libya staged an invasion of Egypt. The British and Commonwealth forces, despite being outnumbered by 500,000 available troops to 35,000 (of whom 17,000 were non-combatants), made a fighting withdrawal and after reinforcements were sent to the region in December, counterattacked. The British soon dealt out several humiliating defeats to the Italians and captured over 130,000 prisoners in a two-month campaign in eastern Libya. In January of 1941 the Afrika Corps were sent to Libya to reinforce their Italian allies and a hard fought campaign ensued. This theatre of war is known as the North African Campaign.