Major Battles of World War II

THE World War II recorded 582 battles between the years 1939 and 1945. Some of these fights lasted for days, while others were fought for years.

The most significant battles are ranked by the number of casualties and material losses.

Summary

The war took place on nine combat fronts. Are they:

• African Front and Eastern Front: 56 battles
• Mediterranean Front: 40 Battles
• Western Front: 109 battles
• Atlantic Front: 25 Battles
• Eastern Front: 167 battles
• Indian Ocean: 10 battles
• Pacific Ocean: 104 battles
• China: 16 battles
• Southeast Asia: 55

The battles considered the most important were:

Invasion of Poland

• Who: Germany and Russia against Poland
• When: September 1st to October 6th, 1939
• Where: Poland
• Victorious: Germany
• Main consequence: Beginning of World War II

Battle of Stalingrand

• Who: Germany, Romania, Hungary and Fascist Italy against Russia
• When: July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1945
• Where: The Battle of Stalingrad, in Russia. Today Volvograd.
• victorious: Russia
• Number of Soldiers: 1.1 million Russian soldiers and 1 million German, Romanian, Hungarian and Italian soldiers
• Dead Soldiers: 2.1 million dead in Russia
• Civilians killed: 40,000 civilians killed

Siege of Leningrad

• Who: Germany, Italy and Finland against Russia
• When: September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944
• Where: Leningrad – present-day San Petersburgo
• victorious: Russia
• Amount Killed: 1 million soles killed in combat; 2.4 million soldiers wounded or sick; 645,000 civilians killed during the siege; 400,000 civilians killed in evacuation

Battle of Kursk:

• Who: Germany vs Russia
• When: July 5, 1943 to July 23, 1943
• Where: Kursk, Soviet Union
• victory: Russia
• Number of Soldiers: 1.9 million Russian soldiers against 912.4 thousand German soldiers
• Soldiers Killed: 177.8 Soviet soldiers killed and 300,000 wounded. Among the Germans were 56,000 dead and 150 wounded

Midway Battle

• When: July 4th to 7th, 1942
• Where: Midway Islands in the Pacific Ocean
• Winner: United States
• Equipment: three US aircraft carriers and one destroyer and four and two Japanese cruisers
• Dead Soldiers: 307 Americans and 2,500 Japanese dead

Operation Barborosa - Invasion of the USSR

• Who: Soviet Union vs Germany, Romania, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia
• When: June 22, 1941 to December 5, 1941
• Where: Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, West Russia and Estonia
• Victory: the Axis conquers a significant part of the Soviet territory
• Number of Soldiers: 5 million Russians against 3.8 million Axis soldiers
• Dead Soldiers: on the part of the Axis there were 250,000 dead, 500 injured and 25,000 missing. From the Soviet Union, 802.1 thousand were killed, 3 million wounded and 3.3 million captured

Normandy invasion

• Who: United States, Great Britain, Canada, France, Poland, Australia, Belgium, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Czechoslovakia, Greece against Germany
• This battle was also known as the Day D for marking an important Allied reaction
• When: June 6th to August 22nd, 1944
• Where: Normandy, France
• Winner: Allies
• Number of Soldiers: 1 million Allied soldiers against 380,000 German soldiers
• Dead Soldiers: 37,000 dead and 172,000 allied missing against 270,000 German dead

Second Battle of El Alamein

• Who: Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, British India, France vs Germany and Italy
• When: October 23rd to November 3rd, 1942
• Where: El Alamein, Egypt
• Winner: Allies
• Dead Soldiers: 13,500 dead among the Allies and 19,000 from the Axis

battle of moscow

• Who: Germany and Russia
• When: October 2, 1941 to January 7, 1942
• Where: Moscow
• victorious: Russia
• Number of Soldiers: 1 million Germans and 1.2 million Russians
• Dead Soldiers: 750,000 Germans and 500,000 Russians

Battle of the Atlantic

• Who: United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Norway, Poland, Free France, Belgium, Brazil, Netherlands and France
• When: September 3, 1939 to May 8, 1945
• Where: Atlantic Ocean, Sea of ​​Note, Irish Sea, Labrador Sea, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Outer Banks, Arctic Ocean, South Atlantic against Germany, Kingdom of Italy and France of Vichy
• Victorious: Allies
• Dead Soldiers: 36,200 sailors and 36 merchant sailors killed by the Allies. Thirty thousand sailors killed by Germany

Okinawa Battle

• Who: United States vs. Japan
• When: April 1, 1945 to June 22, 1946
• Where: Okinawa, Japan
• Victorious: United States
• Dead Soldiers: 12.5 thousand Americans. One hundred and ten thousand Japanese
• Civilians killed: 150,000 civilians killed

Iwo Jima Battle

• Who: Japan vs the United States
• When: February 19th to March 26th, 1945
• Where: Iwo Jima, Japan
• Victorious: United States
• Soldiers: 7,000 soldiers killed, 19,000 wounded by the United States. From Japan, 21,800 soldiers killed
• Prisoners of War: 200 Japanese

Guadalcanal Campaign

• Who: United States and Australia against Japan
• When: February 7, 1942 to February 8, 1943
• Where: Island of Guadalcanal de Mar de Salomão
• Victorious: Allies
• Number of Soldiers:
• Dead Soldiers: Thirty-six thousand and two hundred Japanese soldiers died in this battle. On the side of the allies there were 7,100 deaths
• Prisoners and war: a thousand

France campaign

• Who: Germany and Italy v UK Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands
• When: May 10th to June 22nd, 1940
• Where: France
• Victorious: The Axis formed by Italy and Germany
• Dead Soldiers: 360,000 from the Allied armies. The Germans lost 156.6 thousand men
• Prisoners of War: 1.9 million

Battle of Monte Casino

• Who: Germany vs. US, Free French Forces, UK, New Zealand, Canada and Poland
• When: January 17th to May 19th, 1944
• Where: Casino, Italy
• Victorious: Allied Forces
• Dead Soldiers: 54,000 Allied soldiers killed in combat. Twenty thousand German soldiers died

Market Garden Operation

• Who: UK, US, Poland, Netherlands vs Germany and Dutch SS
• When: September 17th to 25th, 1944
• Where: Germany and Netherlands
• Result: Allies failed in operational planning
• Dead Soldiers: 17,200 casualties among allies and 3,300 between Germany and Holland

Battle of the Coral Sea

• Who: United States and Australia against Japan
• When: May 4th to 8th, 1942
• Where: Coral Sea
• Result: There were no winners
• Number of Soldiers: 656 killed among the Allies and 966 Japanese lost their lives in this battle

Battle of Crete

• Who: UK, Greece, New Zealand and Australia vs Germany
• When: May 20th to June 1st, 1941
• Where: Crete
• Result: Victory for the Germans
• Dead Soldiers: 4,000 among Allies and 2,700 among Germans
• Wounded: 2,700 Allied soldiers and 2,600 Germany
• Prisoners of War: 17 thousand

Reasons for World War II

• Germany's discontent with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
• Indebtedness, unemployment and inflation in Germany
• Rise of Nazism
• Exacerbated nationalism and anti-Semitism
• 1929 crisis

Read too: Causes of World War II.

Consequences

• 45 million people dead
• 20 million from the Soviet Union alone
• 6 million Jews executed in the event known as Holocaust
• Germany Division and construction of the Berlin Wall
• Losses of 1.3 trillion dollars
• Strengthening the US imperialism
• Start of Cold War

Better understand the effects of war by reading: Aftermath of World War II.

Want to know more about theSecond World War? read further:

• Nazi Concentration Camps
• Auschwitz camp
• Nuremberg Court
• World War II movies
• adolf hitler