WWII-Germany Overview

Churchill Crossing the Rhine

bigpigeon.us webpage WWII - Germany > WWII-Germany Overview, updated by RAC 16 Mar 2022.

The European portion of World War II was fought from 1939 to 1945 between the Axis nations, headed by Germany and the Allied nations, the Allied Big Three being Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States. The Soviet Union entered the war in June 1941 and the United States in December 1941. American ground operations in the war with Germany occurred in two areas, the Mediterranean Theater and the European Theater.

World War II - Germany - the major players

Axis powers in Europe:

Germany - led by a talented fanatic, Adolph Hitler, who dominated the Axis alliance.
Italy, Germany's major European ally, switched sides in 1943 after Italy's long-term dictator, Benito Mussolini, was forced from power.
Supported most Axis goals and often supplied troops: Rumania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Croatia. Finland supported Germany against the Soviet Union but was not part of the Axis. All these countries abandoned their alliances with Germany before World War II ended.

Allied powers in Europe:

Great Britain and the British Commonwealth and Empire.
The Soviet Union (from June 1941), was also referred to as the U.S.S.R. and Russia, and was led by Josef Stalin, who in some ways was even more brutal than Hitler. Germany and the Soviet Union formed an ad hoc alliance in August 1939, before World War II began with the invasion of Poland. The Soviet Union then joined World War II against Germany when invaded by Germany in June 1941. The Soviet Union suffered the most casualties, both military and civilian.
The United States, whose active participation in the War with Germany began with a declaration of war by Germany in December 1941 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Various groups in exile, especially Free French and Polish.

World War II - Germany - the fronts

In Winston Churchill's mind, front number one was the Atlantic Ocean, where the Battle of the Atlantic raged from 1939 to 1945, pitting German submarines against the Allied shipping essential to the survival of the British Isles. The Battle of the Atlantic climaxed with a shift in favor of the Allies in early Spring 1943.

WWII - Germany - the Major Ground Fronts:

Germany & Russia --> Poland, Sep '39.
Germany --> Norway & Denmark, Apr '40.
Germany --> France & neighbors, May & Jun '40.
Germany & Italy --> Yugoslavia & Greece Spr '41.
Germany & her allies --> Russia '41 & '42.
in NE Africa: Italy & Germany <--> England, '40-'42.
in east Europe: Russia --> Germany & her allies, '43-'45.
in NW Africa: England & US --> Germany & Italy, '42-'43.
in Italy: Western Allies --> Germany, '43-'45.
in west Europe: Western Allies --> Germany, '44-'45.

World War II in Europe

The strategic air war, which can be considered a front in the War with Germany, was fought over German-occupied territory by British and American bombers against German fighter aircraft and ground anti-aircraft fire. Tens of thousands of airmen and many hundreds of thousands of civilians died.

Sources for the WWII - Germany Overview webpage:

The World War II in Europe map is courtesy of emapshop.com. (link not responding May 2022)
MOVED The webpage header photo, Churchill Crossing the Rhine, is courtesy of the National Archives. It shows British Prime Minister Winston Churchill leaving a landing craft having just crossed the Rhine River south of Wesel on 25 May 1945. The previous day Allied forces had performed a massive river crossing in the area. The heart of Germany now lay open to the Allied armies. Many would still die but the last line of German resistance had been breached. (Actually the first Rhine crossing occurred earlier on March 7 but further upstream where a breakout after crossing was more difficult.)