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Second World War

1939 — 1945

A global war won by coalitions able to connect fronts, production and transport

Military history

The strategic problem

The Second World War did not begin in 1939 with two already complete coalitions. Alliances expanded, priorities changed and every theatre demanded resources needed elsewhere. The Axis initially secured rapid decisions through concentration and surprise. The Allies eventually linked production, maritime transport, intelligence, air power and simultaneous offensives—without every local victory by itself marking a global turning point.

Axis expansion

Poland, France, the Balkans and the Japanese offensives demonstrated the power of concentrated operations. But Britain remained at war, the Battle of the Atlantic continued and the invasion of the USSR abruptly lengthened the front. The British carrier raid on Taranto took place as early as the night of 11–12 November 1940, not during the war's final phase.

The initiative becomes contested

The Axis could still win locally, as at Gazala, but could not protect all its lines or readily replace losses. Midway cancelled a Japanese offensive; El Alamein and Stalingrad halted advances; Guadalcanal opened a war of attrition in which command of the sea remained uncertain for a long time.

Allied convergence

The Allies combined production, intelligence, bombing, amphibious landings and ground offensives. Kursk, Imphal–Kohima, Bagration, the 1944 landings and the final campaigns formed a cumulative pressure across several theatres. In Western Europe, command of the sea and air made the landings possible; most German forces nevertheless remained committed against the Soviet Union.

Explore

15 published battles, in chronological order

Battle · 17 July 1942 — 2 February 1943StalingradUrban combat, stretched fronts and a flank offensive turn a conquest into an encirclement.Battle · 5 July — 23 August 1943KurskDefences in depth, intelligence and armoured reserves absorb and then turn back the German offensive.Battle · 26 May — 21 June 1942GazalaRommel outflanks the Gazala Line, but his advance becomes a logistical pocket before causing the fall of Tobruk.Battle · 8 March – 18 July 1944Imphal–KohimaJapanese forces besiege Imphal and Kohima, but the British Army supplies its positions by air and regains the initiative.Battle · 11 — 12 November 1940TarantoBritish Swordfish attack the Italian fleet at anchor and reduce its freedom of action in the Mediterranean.Battle · 4 — 7 June 1942MidwayIntelligence positions the ambush; dispersed attacks disorganise the defence before the dive-bombers arrive.Battle · 19 — 25 February 1943KasserineAxis forces break through American positions in the passes before Allied reinforcements stabilize the front.Battle · 12 — 15 May 1940Sedan BreakthroughHow did concentrated air power and the Meuse crossing produce a breakthrough faster than the French command could contain it?Battle · 23 October — 11 November 1942Second Battle of El AlameinHow did Montgomery turn logistical superiority into a breakthrough despite the depth of the Axis minefields?Battle · 7 August 1942 — 9 February 1943Guadalcanal CampaignHow did possession of an airfield impose a combined battle of supply, naval attrition and ground combat?Battle · 25 July — 21 August 1944From Cobra to the Falaise PocketHow did an American breakthrough become a partial encirclement despite delays in Allied coordination?Battle · 22 June — 19 August 1944Operation BagrationHow did the Soviet fronts conceal their axes, break through in several sectors, then prevent Army Group Centre from withdrawing?Battle · 23 — 26 October 1944Battle of Leyte GulfThe Shō-Gō plan disperses its forces along three axes, draws the Third Fleet north and surprises Taffy 3 off Samar, but delays, losses and decisions prevent any coordinated attack on the Leyte transports.Battle · 16 December 1944 — 25 January 1945Battle of the BulgeWhy did German surprise create a deep salient without securing the roads, fuel and tempo needed to reach the Meuse?Battle · 16 April — 2 May 1945Battle of BerlinHow did Soviet superiority have to cross the Oder defences and then reorganise for encircled urban combat?

Military history

Sources

Official chronologyMary H. Williams, Chronology, 1941–1945, U.S. Army Center of Military History

“Foreword”; “Preface”; 7 Dec. 1941–2 Sept. 1945

Sequence and simultaneity of campaigns after December 1941, the global character of operations, and the dates on which hostilities ended.

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Official historyMaurice Matloff (dir.), American Military History, chapitres 20 à 23

chs. 20–23

Initial Axis expansion, American mobilisation, coalition priorities, Allied commands, and the transition from defensive phases to offensives in Europe and the Pacific.

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British official historyL. F. Ellis et al., Victory in the West, volume I: The Battle of Normandy

“Foreword”: xvii–xix; ch. 1: 1–26

Allied command of the sea and air, transoceanic logistics, Allied cooperation, combined arms, and the concurrent weight of the Soviet front.

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Institutional sourceRoyal Navy, Battle of Taranto — rappel historique

¶¶ “On the night of 11/12 November 1940”; “The raid was hailed a success”

Date and nature of the Taranto raid, placed within the 1939–1941 phase.

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Naval strategic analysisGeoffrey Till, Midway: The Decisive Battle?

“Part of a Sequence”: ¶¶ “Midway was not decisive”–“After these battles, the tide turned”

Rejection of an instantaneous turning point after Midway and a cumulative reading of Coral Sea–Midway–Guadalcanal.

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Edited by BattlesInMotion.com