Allied victory
132-467: Axis : [REDACTED] Germany [REDACTED] Hungary [REDACTED] Slovakia The Prague offensive ( Russian : Пражская стратегическая наступательная операция , romanized : Prazhskaya strategicheskaya nastupatel'naya operatsiya , lit. 'Prague strategic offensive') was the last major military operation of World War II in Europe. The offensive
264-675: A 10-year Non-Aggression Pact in 1934, revealing his plans to only to his closest associates. Relations between Germany and Poland altered from the early to the late 1930s, as Germany sought rapprochement with Poland to avoid the risk of Poland entering the Soviet sphere of influence, and appealed to anti-Soviet sentiment in Poland. Hitler even tried to convince Poland to join the Anti-Comintern Pact. The Soviet Union in turn at this time competed with Germany for influence in Poland. At
396-611: A faction of ultra-nationalists within the government supporting the pact while the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Japanese Foreign Ministry were staunchly opposed to the pact. There was great concern in the Japanese government that such a pact with Germany could disrupt Japan's relations with Britain, endangering years of a beneficial Anglo-Japanese accord , that had allowed Japan to ascend in
528-709: A goodwill gesture to Germany, Italy secretly delivered weapons for the Reichswehr , which had faced major disarmament under the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles . Since the 1920s Italy had identified the year 1935 as a crucial date for preparing for a war against France, as 1935 was the year when Germany's obligations under the Treaty of Versailles were scheduled to expire. Meetings took place in Berlin in 1924 between Italian General Luigi Capello and prominent figures in
660-419: A large arc to the area of Breslau , the 1st Ukrainian Front counted 71 rifle divisions and three cavalry divisions, as well as nine tank and mechanized corps. The bulk of 1st Ukrainian Front's forces were massed north of Dresden for a direct advance on Prague and included the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies. The primary opponent of this thrust would be the 4th Panzer Army. To the east, five combined-arms armies and
792-663: A local Nazi government that sought incorporation into Germany) in 1939. Poland rejected Germany's demands and Germany in response prepared a general mobilization on the morning of 30 August 1939. Germany justified its invasion of the Low Countries of Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands in May 1940 by claiming that it suspected that Britain and France were preparing to use the Low Countries to launch an invasion of
924-618: A major power and create a Greater Germany that would include Alsace-Lorraine , Austria, Sudetenland , and other German-populated territories in Europe. The Nazis also aimed to occupy and colonize non-German territories in Poland, the Baltic states , and the Soviet Union, as part of the Nazi policy of seeking Lebensraum ("living space") in Central and Eastern Europe . Germany renounced
1056-487: A more accommodating stance towards Italy in the Mediterranean. In the summer of 1936, Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano informed Japanese Ambassador to Italy, Sugimura Yotaro, "I have heard that a Japanese–German agreement concerning the Soviet Union has been reached, and I think it would be natural for a similar agreement to be made between Italy and Japan." Initially Japan's attitude towards Italy's proposal
1188-620: A numeral as the Belorussian Front between October 1943 and February 1944, was a major formation of the Red Army during World War II , being equivalent to a Western army group . Alongside the 1st Ukrainian Front , it was the largest and most powerful among all Soviet fronts, as their main effort was to capture Berlin , the capital of Nazi Germany . Initially, the Belorussian Front was created on 20 October 1943 as
1320-703: A part of the Vistula-Oder Offensive . On 13 January, 1BF began an offensive toward Pillkallen (Schlossberg between 1938 and 1945) in East Prussia , against which they met stiff resistance from the 3rd Panzer Army . The 1st Belorussian Front opened its attack on the German Ninth Army from the Magnuszew and Puławy bridgeheads at 08:30 on 14 January, again commencing with a heavy bombardment. The 33rd and 69th Armies broke out of
1452-548: A population of 47.5 million and France (excluding its colonies) 42 million. The wartime gross domestic product (GDP) of the Axis was $ 911 billion at its highest in 1941 in international dollars by 1990 prices. The GDP of the Allied powers was $ 1,798 billion. The United States stood at $ 1,094 billion, more than the Axis combined. The burden of the war upon participating countries has been measured through
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#17327729396661584-448: A result of Italy's economic difficulties its soldiers were poorly paid, often being poorly equipped and poorly supplied, and animosity arose between soldiers and class-conscious officers; these contributed to low morale amongst Italian soldiers. By early 1940, Italy was still a non-belligerent, and Mussolini communicated to Hitler that Italy was not prepared to intervene soon. By March 1940, Mussolini decided that Italy would intervene, but
1716-476: A result of Italy's support for Japan against international condemnation, Japan took a more positive attitude towards Italy and offered proposals for a non-aggression or neutrality pact with Italy. The Tripartite Pact was signed by Germany, Italy, and Japan on 27 September 1940, in Berlin. The pact was subsequently joined by Hungary (20 November 1940), Romania (23 November 1940), Slovakia (24 November 1940), and Bulgaria (1 March 1941). The Axis powers' primary goal
1848-495: A small city, and multiple hill ranges which cut across the projected line of advance. Unlike 2nd Ukrainian Front, the 4th lacked direct and major road connections from Olomouc to Prague, a factor almost guaranteed to slow its rate of advance. Soviet allied forces with 4th Ukrainian Front included the Czechoslovak Army Corps of four infantry and one tank brigades. From the region north of Dresden and Görlitz over
1980-491: A strength of seven divisions. To the north, the U.S. VIII Corps was subordinated to the U.S. Ninth Army . Continuing the main attack of the 1st Ukrainian Front, 3rd Guards Army captured Meissen , home of the famous German porcelain . The 13th Army and the 4th Guards Tank Army pushed 45 kilometers further to the south and reached the northern slope of the Ore Mountains. The 3rd Guards Tank Army and 5th Guards Army began
2112-474: A war with Germany should Hitler dare to attack Austria. Relations between Germany and Italy recovered due to Hitler's support of Italy's invasion of Ethiopia in 1935, while other countries condemned the invasion and advocated sanctions against Italy. Interest in Germany and Japan in forming an alliance began when Japanese diplomat Hiroshi Ōshima visited Joachim von Ribbentrop in Berlin in 1935. Although at
2244-535: A wary alliance of convenience and started moving west. The KONR 2nd Division had already contacted the Americans and started the march west. During the night of 8/9 May, armored units of the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies pushed south some 80 kilometers, entering Prague at daybreak. The armored vanguards were shortly followed by elements of the 13th Army and 3rd Guards Army. With the help of the Czech population, Prague
2376-620: Is normally understood as including Japan. The term "axis" was first applied to the Italo-German relationship by the Italian prime minister Benito Mussolini in September 1923, when he wrote in the preface to Roberto Suster's La Germania Repubblicana that "there is no doubt that in this moment the axis of European history passes through Berlin" ( non v'ha dubbio che in questo momento l'asse della storia europea passa per Berlino ). At
2508-491: The 13th , 3rd Guards , and 5th Guards combined-arms armies. This group of five armies was Konev's main attack and pushed south from the area around Riesa . Facing Konev's thrust were troops of the German 4th Panzer Army. The attack opened with a reconnaissance-in-force in the morning, followed by a brief but powerful artillery barrage. 13th, 3rd Guards, and both tank armies (as well as two other tank corps) attacked southward in
2640-432: The 1st Panzer Army was deployed, including a salient that jutted eastward around Olomouc. 1st Panzer Army was outsized with six Panzer or motorized divisions in addition to 19 others organized into five corps; five divisions were directly under control of the army headquarters. In southern Moravia, Army Group Ostmark's 8th Army was deployed on a front leading to the southwest into Austria where its right flank met up with
2772-428: The 7th Army (formerly part of Army Group G ) had been pushed east by operations of the U.S. Sixth Army Group and had become a subordinate command of Army Group Centre. 7th Army was deployed roughly along a north–south axis in western Czechoslovakia. Besides one Panzer division and one Volksgrenadier division, 7th Army had only four other "divisions", two of which were named battle groups ( Schulze and Benicke ) while
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#17327729396662904-493: The Battle of Bautzen , damaging the Soviet 52nd and Polish 2nd Armies. To 4th Panzer Army's right (eastern) flank was 17th Army . The 17th counted 11 divisions, including one Panzer and one motorized division. These were organized into three corps and deployed in an arc that began about 40 kilometers SW of Breslau and which led to the southeast in the vicinity of Ostrava . From here the front ran southeast to Olomouc , where
3036-758: The Eastern Front , Vlasov's forces were recognized by Germany as an ally, particularly by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler . After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the outbreak of war between Japan and the United States, Germany supported Japan by declaring war on the US. During the war Germany denounced the Atlantic Charter and the Lend-Lease Act that the US adopted to support
3168-537: The Old Town Square , one of the centers of uprising, but later were pushed back. The buildings of Town Hall , despite being severely damaged, remained in the hands of insurgents for the duration of the uprising. The overwhelming pressure on the uprising and the civilian population continued. On 7 May, Jodl signed the surrender of all German forces at SHAEF . The surrender was to become effective at 0001 hours on 9 May. In western Czechoslovakia, upon receipt of
3300-466: The Ore Mountains to advance on Prague from the area north of Dresden and Bautzen. The other significant military terrain obstacle was urban areas, the two largest of which to surmount were Dresden and Prague itself. With Soviet and U.S. forces pressing in from all sides, Army Group Centre's deployment resembled a horseshoe straddling the historical regions of Bohemia and Moravia . To the west,
3432-637: The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the country of Slovakia . On 23 August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , which contained a secret protocol dividing eastern Europe into spheres of influence. Germany's invasion of its part of Poland under the Pact eight days later triggered the beginning of World War II. By the end of 1941, Germany occupied a large part of Europe and its military forces were fighting
3564-676: The Rogachev-Zhlobin Offensive commenced, which continued until 26 February. The next operation was the Bobruysk Offensive , part of Operation Bagration , and on 26 June the attacks of 1BF encircled Bobruisk, trapping 40,000 troops of the German 41st Panzer Corps (part of 9th Army). From 18 July-2 August the Front was part of the Lublin-Brest Offensive . From 2 August to 30 September, the Front
3696-745: The Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis , was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies . Its principal members were Nazi Germany , Fascist Italy and the Empire of Japan . The Axis were united in their far-right positions and general opposition to the Allies, but otherwise lacked comparable coordination and ideological cohesion. The Axis grew out of successive diplomatic efforts by Germany, Italy, and Japan to secure their own specific expansionist interests in
3828-526: The Soviet Union in 1941, the Nazi regime's stance towards an independent, territorially-reduced Russia was affected by pressure beginning in 1942 from the German Army on Hitler to endorse a " Russian Liberation Army " led by Andrey Vlasov . Initially the proposal to support an anti-communist Russian army was met with outright rejection by Hitler, however by 1944 as Germany faced mounting losses on
3960-893: The West who have invariably hindered the progress and often threatened the very existence of the Italian people ". Italy condemned the Western powers for enacting sanctions on Italy in 1935 for its actions in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War that Italy claimed was a response to an act of Ethiopian aggression against tribesmen in Italian Eritrea in the Walwal incident of 1934. Italy, like Germany, also justified its actions by claiming that Italy needed to territorially expand to provide spazio vitale ("vital space") for
4092-888: The partisans , supported by the Allies, contended the Social Republic's forces and its German allies. Some areas in Northern Italy were liberated from the Germans as late as May, 1945. Mussolini was killed by Communist partisans on 28 April 1945 while trying to escape to Switzerland. The Dodecanese Islands were an Italian dependency known as the Italian Islands of the Aegean from 1912 to 1943. 1st Belorussian Front The 1st Belorussian Front ( Russian : Пéрвый Белорусский фронт , Pervyy Belorusskiy front , also romanized " Byelorussian "), known without
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4224-501: The 1st Ukrainian Front long enough for the other field armies of the army group to fall back to the west. The orders from Stalin on 1 May to the three fronts called for the offensive to commence on 7 May. On 4 May, Marshal Konev provided detailed orders to his army commanders for three thrusts by the 1st Ukrainian Front. A main thrust would occur on the right (western) wing with three combined-arms armies, two tank armies (3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies) and five artillery divisions, following
4356-569: The 2nd Ukrainian Front met with troops of the U.S. Third Army ( George Patton ) in the regions of České Budějovice and Písek . Later, 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts met with Americans in the regions of Karlovy Vary and Klatovy . With these unit movements, the Prague Offensive concluded three days after Victory in Europe Day . German soldiers, ethnic German civilians, and ethnic Czech collaborators fleeing Prague were surprised by
4488-461: The 3rd Army). VIII Corps numbered one armored and three infantry divisions while V Corps was made up of one armored division and two infantry divisions. An additional infantry division under control of 3rd Army Headquarters was also in V Corps' sector, and a second armored division would be subordinated to V Corps before VE Day . XII Corps commanded two armored divisions and two infantry divisions. Exerting some pressure on German 7th Army, these corps of
4620-421: The 6th SS Panzer Army in the area north and west of Vienna . 8th Army could call on a Panzer division and a motorized division, as well as six other divisions. Facing part of the German 1st Panzer and 8th Armies in the region of Brno , the Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front numbered 37 rifle divisions, six cavalry divisions, and four tank or mechanized corps. The 2nd Ukrainian Front was expected to advance northwest over
4752-501: The Allied powers prior to entry into the alliance, as imperialism directed at dominating and exploiting countries outside of the continental Americas . Hitler denounced American President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's invoking of the term "freedom" to describe US actions in the war, and accused the American meaning of "freedom" to be the freedom for democracy to exploit the world and the freedom for plutocrats within such democracy to exploit
4884-406: The Allies, there were no three-way summit meetings, and cooperation and coordination were minimal; on occasion, the interests of the major Axis powers were even at variance with each other. The Axis ultimately came to an end with its defeat in 1945. Particularly within Europe, the use of the term "the Axis" sometimes refers solely to the alliance between Italy and Germany, though outside Europe it
5016-446: The American lines to see Schörner. Meyer-Detring told Schörner that the formal capitulation of Germany meant that any withdrawal as a large formation by troops of Army Group Centre was out of the question, and that the German troops should attempt to make their way west and surrender to U.S. forces. Schörner was skeptical that such was possible. On his return Meyer-Detring reported that Schörner had ordered his operational command to observe
5148-565: The Directorate and avoiding an immediate armed conflict. The Four Power Directorate proposal stipulated that Germany would no longer be required to have limited arms and would be granted the right to re-armament under foreign supervision in stages. Hitler completely rejected the idea of controlled rearmament under foreign supervision. Mussolini did not trust Hitler's intentions regarding Anschluss nor Hitler's promise of no territorial claims on South Tyrol. Mussolini informed Hitler that he
5280-917: The Fascist regime's support prior to intervention against Yugoslavia. The intention of the Fascist regime was to create a " New Roman Empire " in which Italy would dominate the Mediterranean . In 1935–1936 Italy invaded and annexed Ethiopia and the Fascist government proclaimed the creation of the " Italian Empire ". Protests by the League of Nations , especially the British, who had interests in that area, led to no serious action, although The League did try to enforce economic sanctions upon Italy, but to no avail. The incident highlighted French and British weakness, exemplified by their reluctance to alienate Italy and lose her as their ally. The limited actions taken by
5412-554: The German forces to avoid being captured by Russia and facilitate separate negotiation with Western Allies. The German remnant forces continued to resist the USSR 4th and 1st Ukrainian Fronts while only accepting an armistice on the Western Front. The Nazi regime considered Czechoslovakia and neighboring areas as their last bastion in the event that Berlin fell. Therefore, in 1945 they concentrated many powerful military units in
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5544-492: The German military, such as von Seeckt and Erich Ludendorff , over military collaboration between Germany and Italy. The discussions concluded that Germans still wanted a war of revenge against France but were short on weapons and hoped that Italy could assist Germany. However at this time Mussolini stressed one important condition that Italy must pursue in an alliance with Germany: that Italy "must ... tow them, not be towed by them". Italian foreign minister Dino Grandi in
5676-530: The German occupation forces. Fighting in desperate circumstances, the Czechs gained control of a radio station and, besides calling on Czechs to join the uprising, also broadcast on 5 May an appeal in Russian and English for air support to hold off German armored units. These developments prompted Stalin to hasten the start of the Soviet offensive and it was ordered to commence one day earlier, on 6 May. Adding to
5808-489: The German troops there finally surrendered. The terrain over which the Soviets had to advance was varied, but in the main mountainous and forested. The routes of march of the 1st and 4th Ukrainian Fronts were perpendicular to the orientation of the ridges while the 2nd Ukrainian Front was able to move along a less arduous route in regions of lower elevation that led to Prague. In particular, the 1st Ukrainian Front had to cross
5940-598: The Italian nation. In October 1938 in the aftermath of the Munich Agreement, Italy demanded concessions from France to yield to Italy in Africa. Relations between Italy and France deteriorated with France's refusal to accept Italy's demands. France responded to Italy's demands with threatening naval manoeuvres as a warning to Italy. As tensions between Italy and France grew, Hitler made a major speech on 30 January 1939 in which he promised German military support in
6072-536: The Nazi Party came to power in Germany. Hitler had advocated an alliance between Germany and Italy since the 1920s. Shortly after being appointed Chancellor of Germany , Hitler sent a personal message to Mussolini, declaring "admiration and homage" and declaring his anticipation of the prospects of German–Italian friendship and even alliance. Hitler was aware that Italy held concerns over potential German land claims on South Tyrol, and assured Mussolini that Germany
6204-534: The Nazi Party publicly promoted the expansion of Germany into territories held by the Soviet Union. Germany justified its war against Poland on the issues of German minority within Poland and Polish opposition to the incorporation of the ethnically German-majority Free City of Danzig into Germany. While Hitler and the Nazi party before taking power openly talked about destroying Poland and were hostile to Poles, after gaining power until February 1939 Hitler tried to conceal his true intentions towards Poland, and signed
6336-595: The Pact in 1937, followed by Hungary and Spain in 1939. The "Rome–Berlin Axis" became a military alliance in 1939 under the so-called " Pact of Steel ", with the Tripartite Pact of 1940 formally integrating the military aims of Germany, Italy, Japan, and later followed by other nations. The three pacts formed the foundation of the Axis alliance. At its zenith in 1942, the Axis presided over large parts of Europe, North Africa, and East Asia, either through occupation, annexation, or puppet states . In contrast to
6468-571: The Polish 2nd Army made up the left (eastern) wing of the front, the advance of which would pressure mainly the German 17th Army. Facing the main 1st Ukrainian Front advance were the Ore Mountains , as well as the urban areas of Dresden and Bautzen. The main axes of late-war Soviet offensives were marked on the one hand by tank armies and by the presence of Reserve of the Supreme High Command ( Stavka Reserve) artillery divisions on
6600-525: The Prague offensive. All of the German troops of Army Group Centre ( Heeresgruppe Mitte ) and many of Army Group Ostmark (formerly known as Army Group South) were killed or captured, or fell into the hands of the Allies after the capitulation. By the beginning of May 1945, Germany had been decisively defeated by the coalition of the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. Germany's capital, Berlin,
6732-507: The Puławy bridgehead to a depth of 30 km, while the 5th Shock and 8th Guards Armies broke out of the Magnuszew bridgehead. The 2nd and 1st Guards Tank Armies were committed after them to exploit the breach. On 25 January, the Front cut off the fortress city of Poznań which held 66,000 Germans, and continued its 80 km a day advance, leaving the 8th Guards Army to lay siege to
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#17327729396666864-725: The Reichskommissariats established in the east ( Reichskommissariat Ostland in the Baltics, Reichskommissariat Ukraine in Ukraine) were established as colonies for settlement by Germans. In Norway, under Reichskommissariat Norwegen , the Quisling regime , headed by Vidkun Quisling , was installed by the Germans as a client regime during the occupation , while king Haakon VII and the legal government were in exile . Quisling encouraged Norwegians to serve as volunteers in
6996-530: The Ruhr", and said that "If England and France push through Belgium and Holland into the Ruhr, we shall be in the greatest danger", and thus claimed that Belgium and the Netherlands had to be occupied by Germany to protect Germany from a British-French offensive against the Ruhr, irrespective of their claims to neutrality. Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 involved issues of lebensraum , anti-communism , and Soviet foreign policy. After Germany invaded
7128-514: The Soviet Union, nearly capturing Moscow. However, crushing defeats at the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk devastated the German armed forces. This, combined with Western Allied landings in France and Italy , led to a three-front war that depleted Germany's armed forces and resulted in Germany's defeat in 1945. The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was created from the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia. Shortly after Germany annexed
7260-433: The Soviets in the two days following the liberation of Prague, while elements of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts pushed west to the Chemnitz-Karlovy Vary-Plzen demarcation line with U.S. forces. Fearing their treatment at the hands of the locals or Soviet Army troops, remnant formations of Army Group Centre continued their resistance until 10/11 May, and in the cases of some small units, later into May 1945. The left flank of
7392-412: The Soviets redeployed their forces during the first two weeks of April. Marshal Georgy Zhukov concentrated 1BF, which had been deployed along the Oder river from Frankfurt in the south to the Baltic, into an area in front of the Seelow Heights . The 2nd Belorussian Front moved into the positions being vacated by the 1BF north of the Seelow Heights. While this redeployment was in progress gaps were left in
7524-436: The Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia, the Slovak Republic declared its independence from the rump Second Czechoslovak Republic . The new Slovak State allied itself with Germany. The remainder of the country was occupied by German military forces and organized into the Protectorate. Czech civil institutions were preserved but the Protectorate was considered within the sovereign territory of Germany. The General Government
7656-426: The U.S. Army did not advance on Prague although their presence in western Bohemia stimulated Czech resistance to the German occupation, indirectly influencing the Prague uprising . By agreement with the Soviets, the U.S. forces did not advance in strength eastward of an irregular demarcation line that at points touched Leipzig, Karlovy Vary, and Plzen. Realizing that the Soviets would attack Army Group Centre following
7788-435: The USSR alone would destroy local German forces as soon as possible. At that point, events external to formal military planning erupted. By 5 May, the lead units of the U.S. V Corps had reached Plzen, with word of the American advance reaching the residents of Prague and playing a part in the decision of the city's Czech citizens to rise up against the German occupation. The uprising in Prague came into immediate conflict with
7920-441: The United Kingdom. Romania 's oil gave the country a disproportionate importance in the global conflict. In 1940 and 1941, Romania supplied 94% and 75% of Germany's oil imports respectively. Italy – which lacked both natural and synthetic output – was even more reliant on Romanian oil than Germany. The loss of Romania's oil – following the country's defection from the Axis in August 1944 – resulted in Hitler's first admission that
8052-488: The Venice meeting, on 25 July 1934, Austrian Nazis assassinated Dollfuss. Mussolini was outraged as he held Hitler directly responsible for the assassination that violated Hitler's promise made only weeks ago to respect Austrian independence. Mussolini rapidly deployed several army divisions and air squadrons to the Brenner Pass , and warned that a German move against Austria would result in war between Germany and Italy. Hitler responded by both denying Nazi responsibility for
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#17327729396668184-416: The Versailles treaty and remilitarized the Rhineland in March 1936. Germany had already resumed conscription and announced the existence of a German air force, the Luftwaffe , and naval force, the Kriegsmarine in 1935. Germany annexed Austria in 1938 , the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia, and the Memel territory from Lithuania in 1939. Germany then invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in 1939, creating
8316-403: The Waffen-SS , collaborated in the deportation of Jews, and was responsible for the executions of members of the Norwegian resistance movement . About 45,000 Norwegian collaborators joined the pro-Nazi party Nasjonal Samling (National Union), and some police units helped arrest many Jews. However, Norway was one of the first countries where resistance during World War II was widespread before
8448-400: The Western powers pushed Mussolini's Italy towards alliance with Hitler's Germany anyway. In 1937 Italy left the League of Nations and joined the Anti-Comintern Pact , which had been signed by Germany and Japan the preceding year. In March/April 1939 Italian troops invaded and annexed Albania . Germany and Italy signed the Pact of Steel on May 22. Italy was ill-prepared for war, in spite of
8580-417: The advancing Soviets and were completely routed. The Czech partisans resumed hostilities against the fleeing German troops regardless of their intentions or nationality, in what the veterans of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) who had laid their weapons down in May 1945 recalled as the Czech Hell . The last shots were fired close to the Slivice settlement, 4 kilometers southeast of
8712-417: The afternoon, with the 13th Army and the 4th Guards Tank Army pushing forward some 23 kilometers. By evening, 5th Guards Army had joined the attack with the objective of capturing Dresden. Ending a separate 1st Ukrainian Front operation, 40,000 German troops in Breslau surrendered to the Soviet 6th Army after a two-month-long siege . On 6 May, 4th Ukrainian Front attacked to the west, intent upon capturing
8844-416: The armored brigade of the Czechoslovak Army Corps . The arrival of the other fronts meant the bulk of Army Group Centre was cut off and forced into a pocket to the east, northeast, and south of Prague. With Soviet units in Prague and pushing further west and south into Bohemia, the Soviet military objectives of the offensive had been met. The bulk of German troops in Army Group Centre were taken prisoner by
8976-428: The arrival of Kálmán Darányi , his successor, ended Hungary's involvement in pursuing a trilateral axis. Contentious negotiations between the Italian foreign minister, Galeazzo Ciano , and the German ambassador, Ulrich von Hassell , resulted in a Nine-Point Protocol , signed by Ciano and his German counterpart, Konstantin von Neurath , in 1936. When Mussolini publicly announced the signing on 1 November, he proclaimed
9108-465: The assassination and issuing orders to dissolve all ties between the German Nazi Party and its Austrian branch, which Germany claimed was responsible for the political crisis. Italy effectively abandoned diplomatic relations with Germany while turning to France in order to challenge Germany's intransigence by signing a Franco–Italian accord to protect Austrian independence. French and Italian military staff discussed possible military cooperation involving
9240-425: The battle to capture Dresden. The 2nd Polish Army thrust to the southwest in support of the operations against Dresden. Farther to the east, the second attack of the front developed as the 28th and 52nd Armies attacked to the south. Following a 30-minute artillery barrage, the 7th Guards Army and the 6th Guards Tank Army led an attack to the northwest, opening the offensive of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. Adding to
9372-497: The case of an unprovoked war against Italy. Italy entered World War II on 10 June 1940. Italy justified its intervention against Greece in October 1940 on the allegation that the Kingdom of Greece was being used by Britain against Italy, Mussolini informed this to Hitler, saying: "Greece is one of the main points of English maritime strategy in the Mediterranean". Italy justified its intervention against Yugoslavia in April 1941 by appealing to both Italian irredentist claims and
9504-473: The city , which they finally took on 23 February. Along with the 1st Ukrainian Front , 1BF then stormed Berlin in the climactic Battle of Berlin . Marshal Georgy Zhukov was appointed commander of the 1BF, in November 1944, for its last two great offensives of World War II. After the capture of Poland and East Prussia (its capture was finished on 25 April with capture of Pillau ) from January–March 1945,
9636-416: The city of Olomouc. Defending against the Soviet attack in front of Olomouc was the 1st Panzer Army. In the west, the U.S. V and XII Corps attacked into western Czechoslovakia against the defenses of the German 7th Army. Elements of the 16th Armored Division captured Plzen while a combat command of the 4th Armored Division captured Strakonice . In all, the two corps advanced into Czechoslovakia with
9768-494: The city while the KONR 2nd Division took up positions south of the city. Ostensibly allied with the Germans, the allegiance of the KONR forces would prove to vary depending on the situation they faced. On the Allied side, both Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin saw Prague as a particularly important prize, the capture of which could significantly influence the political makeup of postwar Czechoslovakia. On 1 May 1945, before Berlin
9900-612: The confusion in Prague but providing useful assistance to the Czechs, the 1st Division of the Russian Liberation Army (ROA) under General Bunyachenko moved into Prague and engaged in combat with their erstwhile German allies. By 7 May, the 1st Division had occupied the airport and the radio station. The Czech National Council however denounced the ROA. The Soviet government labelled all ROA soldiers as traitors, and their members were sentenced to detention in prison camps. On
10032-698: The creation of a Rome–Berlin axis. Italy under Duce Benito Mussolini had pursued a strategic alliance of Italy with Germany against France since the early 1920s. Prior to becoming head of government in Italy as leader of the Italian Fascist movement, Mussolini had advocated alliance with defeated Germany after the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920) settled World War I . He believed that Italy could expand its influence in Europe by allying with Germany against France. In early 1923, as
10164-436: The date was not yet chosen. His senior military leadership unanimously opposed the action because Italy was unprepared. No raw materials had been stockpiled and the reserves it did have would soon be exhausted, Italy's industrial base was only one-tenth of Germany's, and even with supplies the Italian military was not organized to provide the equipment needed to fight a modern war of a long duration. An ambitious rearmament program
10296-701: The demand. In response, Hitler promised that he would accept Austria's independence for the time being, saying that due to the internal tensions in Germany (referring to sections of the Nazi Sturmabteilung that Hitler would soon kill in the Night of the Long Knives ) that Germany could not afford to provoke Italy. Galeazzo Ciano told the press that the two leaders had made a "gentleman's agreement" to avoid interfering in Austria. Several weeks after
10428-404: The difficulties of the defending German 8th Army, the Soviet 9th Guards Army and 46th Army reinforced the attack on its left (southern) wing. By the end of the day, the front had pushed 12 kilometers into the German lines along an advance 25 kilometers in breadth. Between the 2nd and 1st Ukrainian Fronts, the 4th Ukrainian Front continued its advance on Olomouc. In Prague, German troops reached
10560-616: The early 1920s . In 1923 the French occupied the Ruhr region when Germany defaulted on its reparations payments. Although Germany began to improve economically in the mid-1920s, the Great Depression created more economic hardship and a rise in political forces that advocated radical solutions to Germany's woes. The Nazis, under Hitler, promoted the nationalist stab-in-the-back legend stating that Germany had been betrayed by Jews and Communists. The party promised to rebuild Germany as
10692-425: The early 1930s stressed the importance of "decisive weight", involving Italy's relations between France and Germany, in which he recognized that Italy was not yet a major power, but perceived that Italy did have strong enough influence to alter the political situation in Europe by placing the weight of its support onto one side or another, and sought to balance relations between the three. In 1933, Adolf Hitler and
10824-471: The fact of Albanian , Croatian , and Macedonian separatists not wishing to be part of Yugoslavia . Croatian separatism soared after the assassination of Croatian political leaders in the National Assembly of Yugoslavia in 1928 including the death of Stjepan Radić , and Italy endorsed Croatian separatist Ante Pavelić and his fascist Ustaše movement that was based and trained in Italy with
10956-611: The fact that it had continuously been involved in conflict since 1935, first with Ethiopia in 1935–1936 and then in the Spanish Civil War on the side of Francisco Franco 's Nationalists . Mussolini refused to heed warnings from his minister of exchange and currency, Felice Guarneri , who said that Italy's actions in Ethiopia and Spain meant that Italy was on the verge of bankruptcy. By 1939 military expenditures by Britain and France far exceeded what Italy could afford. As
11088-474: The impasse with Italy over Austria by sending Hermann Göring to negotiate with Mussolini in 1933 to convince Mussolini to press Austria to appoint Austrian Nazis to the government. Göring claimed that Nazi domination of Austria was inevitable and that Italy should accept this, as well as repeating to Mussolini of Hitler's promise to "regard the question of the South Tyrol frontier as finally liquidated by
11220-449: The industrial Ruhr region of Germany. When war between Germany versus Britain and France appeared likely in May 1939, Hitler declared that the Netherlands and Belgium would need to be occupied, saying: "Dutch and Belgian air bases must be occupied ... Declarations of neutrality must be ignored". In a conference with Germany's military leaders on 23 November 1939, Hitler declared to the military leaders that "We have an Achilles heel ,
11352-804: The international community in the first place. The response to the pact was met with similar division in Germany; while the proposed pact was popular amongst the upper echelons of the Nazi Party, it was opposed by many in the Foreign Ministry, the Army, and the business community who held financial interests in the Republic of China to which Japan was hostile. On learning of German–Japanese negotiations, Italy also began to take an interest in forming an alliance with Japan. Italy had hoped that due to Japan's long-term close relations with Britain, that an Italo-Japanese alliance could pressure Britain into adopting
11484-417: The less mountainous country to Prague and would lead its advance with the 6th Guards Tank Army . Soviet allied forces with 2nd Ukrainian Front were the 1st and 4th Romanian Armies, totaling 12 infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions. Confronting primarily the 1st Panzer Army, the 4th Ukrainian Front commanded 34 rifle divisions and one tank corps. 4th Ukrainian Front faced the obstacles of Olomouc,
11616-741: The lines and the remnants of the German II Army which had been bottled up in a pocket near Danzig managed to escape across the Oder. In the early hours of 16 April the Berlin Offensive Operation started with the objectives of capturing Berlin and linking up with Western Allied forces on the Elbe . The operation started with an assault on the Seelow Heights by 1BF and by Marshal Konev 's 1st Ukrainian Front (1UF) to
11748-470: The masses. At the end of World War I, German citizens felt that their country had been humiliated as a result of the Treaty of Versailles , which included a war guilt clause and forced Germany to pay enormous reparations payments and forfeit territories formerly controlled by the German Empire and all its colonies. The pressure of the reparations on the German economy led to hyperinflation during
11880-583: The mid-1930s. The first step was the protocol signed by Germany and Italy in October 1936, after which Italian leader Benito Mussolini declared that all other European countries would thereafter rotate on the Rome–Berlin axis, thus creating the term "Axis". The following November saw the ratification of the Anti-Comintern Pact , an anti-communist treaty between Germany and Japan; Italy joined
12012-412: The morning of May 9, the first Soviet tanks arrived in Prague, the first tanks of the 1st Czechoslovak Tank Brigade arrived in the city on May 10. By May 11, the troops were clearing the area of hidden remaining German troops. The Soviet offensive commenced on 6 May and concluded on 11 May. Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front opened the Prague Offensive with an attack by the 3rd and 4th Guard Tank Armies and
12144-719: The new designation of the existing Central Front . It was placed under the command of General Konstantin K. Rokossovsky , who had been commanding the Central Front. It launched the Gomel-Rechitsa Offensive in 1943 and then the Kalinkovichi-Mozyr Offensive in 1944. It was then renamed the 1st Belorussian Front ( 1BF ) on 17 February 1944 following the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive . A few days later, on 21 February,
12276-401: The news of the surrender, U.S. forces ceased offensive operations and assumed a defensive posture. U.S. V Corps took Karlovy Vary on the day of the surrender. OKW had last heard from Schörner on 2 May when he reported his intention to fight his way west and surrender his army group to the Americans. On 8 May Colonel Wilhelm Meyer-Detring, a German liaison officer from OKW , was escorted through
12408-436: The next day in civilian clothes. Nine days later, he was detained in Austria by German troops who handed him over to the Americans. By the evening of 8 May, Dresden fell to 3rd Guards Tank Army and the 5th Guards Army. On the same day, the 4th Ukrainian Front pushed the Germans out of Olomouc. The Soviets broadcast a demand that the remaining German forces in the field were to lay down their arms by 23:00 hours that day. No reply
12540-430: The other. In May 1945, the 1st Ukrainian Front counted six artillery divisions and one rocket launcher division (as well as one Polish artillery division), the 4th Ukrainian Front had two artillery divisions, and the 2nd Ukrainian Front commanded four artillery divisions and one rocket launcher division. Facing the German 7th Army to the west were the U.S. VIII Corps (of the 9th Army), V Corps , and XII Corps (both of
12672-709: The peace treaties". In response to Göring's visit with Mussolini, Dollfuss immediately went to Italy to counter any German diplomatic headway. Dollfuss claimed that his government was actively challenging Marxists in Austria and claimed that once the Marxists were defeated in Austria, that support for Austria's Nazis would decline. In June 1934, Hitler and Mussolini met for the first time, in Venice . The meeting did not proceed amicably. Hitler demanded that Mussolini compromise on Austria by pressuring Dollfuss to appoint Austrian Nazis to his cabinet, to which Mussolini flatly refused
12804-476: The percentage of gross national product (GNP) devoted to military expenditures. Nearly one-quarter of Germany's GNP was committed to the war effort in 1939, and this rose to three-quarters of GNP in 1944, prior to the collapse of the economy. In 1939, Japan committed 22 percent of its GNP to its war effort in China; this rose to three-quarters of GNP in 1944. Italy did not mobilize its economy; its GNP committed to
12936-512: The radio in Prague that he would drown any uprising in a "sea of blood". Frank was also a general of the Waffen-SS . The situation in Prague was unstable. Frank knew that several Soviet Army fronts were advancing towards Prague. More immediately, he was faced with a city population ready to be liberated. At the same time, two divisions of the Russian Liberation Army (KONR) arrived in the vicinity of Prague. The KONR 1st Division encamped north of
13068-430: The region, including elements of 6th SS Panzer Army , 1st and 4th Panzer Armies, and 7th , 8th and 17th Combined Armies. Jodl had ordered the local Nazi regime to prepare numerous fortified buildings which could serve as offices for the new Nazi government and German High Command. From 30 April to 1 May 1945, SS Senior Group Leader ( Obergruppenführer ) and General of Police Karl Hermann Frank announced over
13200-416: The remaining two were replacement army formations mobilized for combat and filled out with military school staffs and trainees. To the northeast of Prague and just north of Dresden and Bautzen, the 4th Panzer Army defended along a front running slightly southeast. 4th Panzer Army had five Panzer or mechanized divisions, as well as 13 other divisions or battle groups. Furthermore, 4th Panzer Army had just won
13332-541: The same time Germany was preparing for a war with Poland and was secretly preparing the German minority in Poland for a war. A diplomatic crisis erupted following Hitler demanding that the Free City of Danzig be annexed to Germany, as it was led by a Nazi government seeking annexation to Germany. Germany used legal precedents to justify its intervention against Poland and annexation of the Free City of Danzig (led by
13464-456: The south. Initially the 1BF had great difficulty smashing through the German lines of defence, but after three days they had broken through and were approaching the outskirts of Berlin. By 22 April 1BF had penetrated the northern and eastern suburbs of Berlin. They finished the encirclement of Berlin on 25 April when units of the 1BF and 1UF met at Kietzen west of Berlin. After heavy street by street and house to house fighting , General Weidling ,
13596-501: The surrender but could not guarantee he would be obeyed everywhere. Pushing forward another 40 kilometers, the main thrust of the 1st Ukrainian Front broke through German resistance in the Ore Mountains and approached to within 70-80 kilometers of Prague. The advance of the 4th Guards Tank Army came upon the headquarters of Army Group Centre, capturing or killing the headquarters personnel, but not Schörner, who, deserting his command, made his way to Podbořany , from where he flew to Bavaria
13728-400: The surrender of Berlin, on 5 May Field Marshal Schörner devised a plan ( Blumen-Operation ) in which the units of Army Group Centre would attempt a fighting withdrawal to the west where they would be in a position to surrender to U.S. forces versus those of the Soviet Union. Schörner envisioned withdrawal phase lines (given the names of flowers) and intended for the 4th Panzer Army to hold off
13860-489: The tens of thousands, surrendered to U.S. forces in western Czechoslovakia and Austria, although numbers of these were later turned over to the Soviet Union. Czechoslovakia was free of the German occupation regime for the first time since late 1938. The country's prewar borders, however, would not be completely restored as the Soviets engineered the cession of Carpathian Ruthenia to the USSR in July 1945. Western Czechoslovakia
13992-583: The time Japan was unwilling to make an alliance against the United Kingdom and France, Oshima informed von Ribbentrop of Japan's interest in forming a German–Japanese alliance against the Soviet Union. Von Ribbentrop expanded on Oshima's proposal by advocating that the alliance be based in a political context of a pact to oppose the Comintern . The proposed pact was met with mixed reviews in Japan, with
14124-693: The time, he was seeking an alliance with the Weimar Republic against Yugoslavia and France in the dispute over the Free State of Fiume . The term was used by Hungary 's prime minister Gyula Gömbös when advocating an alliance of Hungary with Germany and Italy in the early 1930s. Gömbös' efforts did affect the Italo-Hungarian Rome Protocols , but his sudden death in 1936 while negotiating with Germany in Munich and
14256-409: The town of Příbram . The Prague Offensive destroyed Army Group Centre and parts of Army Group Ostmark. These army groups were the last large intact military formations of Germany, and following the offensive, all surviving German soldiers became prisoners of war or fugitives. The number of German prisoners taken by the Soviet Union reached almost 900,000 and other Axis soldiers, numbering at least in
14388-450: The turning point of the war in 1943. After the war, Quisling and other collaborators were executed . Quisling's name has become an international eponym for traitor . Duce Benito Mussolini described Italy's declaration of war against the Western Allies of Britain and France in June 1940 as the following: "We are going to war against the plutocratic and reactionary democracies of
14520-424: The valleys of the Elbe and Vltava Rivers. A secondary thrust by the 28th and 52nd Armies was to advance on an axis from Zittau to Prague, and a final thrust by the Polish 2nd Army was to cut off the southeastern approaches to Dresden. Dresden itself was to be taken by the 5th Guards Army as part of the main thrust. Suggesting to General Antonov that a U.S. advance to Prague was now feasible, General Eisenhower
14652-460: The wake of the overall German surrender, came to an agreement with the Germans in which the German troops were to leave Prague under conditions of ceasefire. Some SS units, however, continued their attacks against the Czech insurgents in Prague. The 1st KONR Division, its relations with the ČNR broken down and realizing no quarter could be expected from Soviet forces, joined the SS and other German troops in
14784-421: The war effort remained at prewar levels. Italy and Japan lacked industrial capacity; their economies were small, dependent on international trade , external sources of fuel and other industrial resources. As a result, Italian and Japanese mobilization remained low, even by 1943. Among the three major Axis powers, Japan had the lowest per capita income, while Germany and Italy had an income level comparable to
14916-698: The war was lost. Hitler in 1941 described the outbreak of World War II as the fault of the intervention of Western powers against Germany during its war with Poland, describing it as the result of "the European and American warmongers". Hitler had designs for Germany to become the dominant and leading state in the world, such as his intention for Germany's capital of Berlin to become the Welthauptstadt ("World Capital"), renamed Germania . The German government also justified its actions by claiming that Germany inevitably needed to territorially expand because it
15048-578: Was 258.9 million, while the Allied population (excluding the Soviet Union and the United States, which later joined the Allies) was 689.7 million. Thus the Allied powers outnumbered the Axis powers by 2.7 to 1. The leading Axis states had the following domestic populations: Germany 75.5 million (including 6.8 million from recently annexed Austria), Japan 71.9 million (excluding its colonies), and Italy 43.4 million (excluding its colonies). The United Kingdom (excluding its colonies) had
15180-480: Was disappointed with the Italian military's performance, he maintained overall favorable relations with Italy because of his personal friendship with Mussolini. On 25 July 1943, following the Allied invasion of Sicily , King Victor Emmanuel III dismissed Mussolini, placed him under arrest, and began secret negotiations with the Western Allies. An armistice was signed on 8 September 1943, and four days later Mussolini
15312-521: Was engaged cleaning out Germans to the east of the Vistula (during which the Battle of Radzymin took place from 1–10 August). Its 8th Guards , 28th , 47th , 65th , 69th , and 70th Armies were involved at Radzymin. Later during that same period, on 14 September, with the support of Polish forces, 1BF captured Praga , a suburb of Warsaw. The next attack was the Warsaw-Poznań Operation ,
15444-406: Was facing an overpopulation crisis that Hitler described: "We are overpopulated and cannot feed ourselves from our own resources". Thus expansion was justified as an inevitable necessity to provide lebensraum ("living space") for the German nation and end the country's overpopulation within existing confined territory, and provide resources necessary to its people's well-being. Since the 1920s,
15576-659: Was forced to accept German dominance in the two occupied countries. Furthermore, by 1941, German forces in North Africa under Erwin Rommel effectively took charge of the military effort ousting Allied forces from the Italian colony of Libya , and German forces were stationed in Sicily in that year. Germany's insolence towards Italy as an ally was demonstrated that year when Italy was pressured to send 350,000 "guest workers" to Germany who were used as forced labour. While Hitler
15708-458: Was fought on the Eastern Front from 6 May to 11 May 1945. Fought concurrently with the Prague uprising , the offensive significantly helped the liberation of Czechoslovakia in 1945 . The offensive was one of the last engagements of World War II in Europe and continued after Nazi Germany 's unconditional capitulation on 8/9 May. The city of Prague was ultimately liberated by the USSR during
15840-485: Was freed of German troops around 10:00 hours. The Red Army casualties were only ten men killed, in what was described as their "easiest victory" of the war. In any event, German troops in and around Prague were anxious to flee to the west, although Soviet columns, Czech partisans , and an angry Czech populace made the journey to U.S. lines anything but certain. In the late hours of the day (after midnight), units from 4th and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts also reached Prague, including
15972-539: Was generally dismissive, viewing a German–Japanese alliance against the Soviet Union as imperative while regarding an Italo-Japanese alliance as secondary, as Japan anticipated that an Italo-Japanese alliance would antagonize Britain that had condemned Italy's invasion of Ethiopia. This attitude by Japan towards Italy altered in 1937 after the League of Nations condemned Japan for aggression in China and faced international isolation, while Italy remained favourable to Japan. As
16104-626: Was impossible because of Italy's limited reserves in gold and foreign currencies and lack of raw materials. Mussolini ignored the negative advice. By 1941, Italy's attempts to run an autonomous campaign from Germany's, collapsed as a result of military setbacks in Greece, North Africa , and Eastern Africa ; and the country became dependent and effectively subordinate to Germany. After the German-led invasion and occupation of Yugoslavia and Greece, that had both been targets of Italy's war aims, Italy
16236-445: Was informed that such was not desired by the Soviets. During the meeting with Marshal Ivan Konev on 5 May, General Omar Bradley also proposed the same offer. However, Marshal Konev – while he appreciated the good will of the American commander – refused the offer because Bradley's proposal violated the negotiated borderline between Soviet and Anglo-American forces; therefore, Konev had no authority to accept it. Konev also promised that
16368-665: Was not interested in South Tyrol. Hitler in Mein Kampf had declared that South Tyrol was a non-issue considering the advantages that would be gained from a German–Italian alliance. After Hitler's rise to power, the Four Power Directorate proposal by Italy had been looked at with interest by Britain, but Hitler was not committed to it, resulting in Mussolini urging Hitler to consider the diplomatic advantages Germany would gain by breaking out of isolation by entering
16500-419: Was on the verge of capitulation in the face of a massive Soviet attack and the great bulk of Germany had been conquered. However, in southeastern Germany, parts of Austria and Czechoslovakia, there were still large bodies of active German troops of Army Group Centre and the remnants of Army Group Ostmark . On 2 May 1945, Generaloberst Alfred Jodl , Chief of Staff of Oberkommando der Wehrmacht , ordered
16632-501: Was received. Without a functioning army group headquarters and leaderless, the component armies of Army Group Centre had been left to their own devices. Schörner's plans for an orderly withdrawal notwithstanding, the bulk of Army Group Centre's troops were destined to be captured by the Soviet Army. The Czech National Council (ČNR), lacking significant supplies to support the uprising, fearing large-scale destruction of Prague, and in
16764-679: Was rescued by the Germans in Operation Oak and placed in charge of a puppet state called the Italian Social Republic ( Repubblica Sociale Italiana /RSI, or Repubblica di Salò ) in northern Italy . In order to liberate the country from the Germans and Fascists, Italy became a co-belligerent of the Allies; as result, the country descended in Civil War , with the Italian Co-Belligerent Army and
16896-487: Was satisfied with the presence of the anti-Marxist government of Engelbert Dollfuss in the First Austrian Republic , and warned Hitler that he was adamantly opposed to Anschluss. Hitler responded in contempt to Mussolini that he intended "to throw Dollfuss into the sea". With this disagreement over Austria, relations between Hitler and Mussolini steadily became more distant. Hitler attempted to break
17028-487: Was split by a military frontier of superpowers, on one side of which was the Soviet Army and on the other side of which was the U.S. Army. Although both armies would depart Czechoslovakia by the end of 1945, Stalin had achieved his goal of ensuring a strong Soviet military presence in Prague at the time of the surrender of German forces in Czechoslovakia. Axis powers The Axis powers , originally called
17160-466: Was subdued, Stalin issued orders directing the 1st Belorussian Front to relieve the 1st Ukrainian Front in the Berlin area so that the latter could regroup to the south along the Mulde River and drive on Prague. The 2nd Ukrainian Front also received orders on 2 May to drive on Prague from the southeast. Stalin was determined to have the Soviet Army present in force in western Czechoslovakia when
17292-456: Was territorial expansion at the expense of their neighbors. In ideological terms, the Axis described their goals as breaking the hegemony of the plutocratic Western powers and defending civilization from communism . The Axis championed a number of variants on fascism , militarism , conservatism and autarky . Creation of territorially contiguous autarkic empires was a common goal of all three major Axis powers. The Axis population in 1938
17424-441: Was the name given to the territories of occupied Poland that were not directly annexed into German provinces , but like Bohemia and Moravia was considered within the sovereign territory of Germany by the Nazi authorities. Reichskommissariats were established in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Norway, designated as places the "Germanic" populations of which were to be incorporated into the planned Greater Germanic Reich. By contrast
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