[188], Some Luxembourgers collaborated with Nazi Germany or were drafted into the German armed forces. In 1940, the British government demilitarised the islands, and they were subsequently occupied by German forces. German forces fought on Sicily, and when Italy switched sides, German forces seized power, fighting a successful withdrawal and diverting Allied forces from Northwest Europe. On 25 January 1942, Thailand declared war on the United States and the United Kingdom. 14th Army (Soviet Union) 14th Guards Army (Soviet Union) Fourteenth Army (United Kingdom) Fourteenth United States Army, a World War II 'phantom' force. 4 (Jun., 1981), pp. The Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt spelled doom for the Axis forces in Libya and the end of the Western Desert Campaign. The navy escorted hundreds of Allied ships through hostile waters, flew thousands of hours on convoy and patrol duty, and rescued over 200 victims of German U-boat attacks from the sea. The campaign resulted in heavy losses for Japan. Photographs and reconnaissance airplanes belonging to the Colombian-German company Scadta, which used to take aerial shots of Colombian and German cities, were also handed to the United States. The state was nominally a monarchy and a de facto Italian-German quasi-protectorate until the Italian capitulation on 8 September 1943, after which it remained a de facto German quasi-protectorate until the German withdrawal near the end of the war. Germany invaded San Marino on 13 September,[241] and on 1720 September 1944 retreating German troops of the 278th Infantry Division fought the Battle of San Marino within the country against units of the 4th Indian Division. [citation needed], Turkey was an important producer of chromite, which is a key ingredient in the manufacture of stainless steel and refractory brick, and Germany had limited access to it. [110] Italy occupied the French fort at Loyada and used it as a base for its invasion of British Somaliland in August. Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, was the primary Axis Power in the European Theatre. Fourteenth Army. Britain had unilaterally recognized the independence of Egypt in 1922, but continued to occupy the country militarily, and to dominate it. and that a sizeable crowd turned out to buy the paper.[292]. [98], Ecuador was one of several South American nations to join the Allies late in the war (joined against Germany on 2 February 1945), allowing the United States use of Baltra Island as a naval base.[99]. By the end of the war Hong Kong's population had fallen from 1,500,000 to a mere 600,000. It contributed food and raw materials to the Allied war effort and did send troops, of whom 150 died. Laval was executed for high treason after the war. The Allies promised all possible aid in the event of a German attack and guaranteed the integrity of Portugal's territorial possessions. France: In 1939 the French Army was widely considered the best in the world. [citation needed]. Shortly after war was declared, the President of Bolivia, Enrique Pearanda, was overthrown in a coup. Toth, Anthony. The Regular Army, Army of the United States, the National Guard and Officer/Enlisted Reserve Corps (ORC and ERC) existed simultaneously. Yet Yemen had no intention of actually involving itself in Italy's wars, and it remained neutral for the duration of the war. World War II by country - Wikipedia Despite his personal admiration, Hernndez Martnez declared war on both Japan (8 December 1941) and Germany (12 December 1941) shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor due to El Salvador's strong economic ties with the United States. The partisans entirely liberated Albania from German occupation on November 29, 1944. The following year, USSR security agencies "Sovietized" Latvia, resulting in the deaths of between 35,000 and 50,000 residents of Latvia. This produced cooperation between the countries, which led three days after the start of Operation Barbarossa to a Soviet pre-emptive air attack on Finland, which started the Continuation War (25 June 1941 4 September 1944), in which Finland was a co-belligerent of Germany. American forces under General MacArthur made their return in October 1944, beginning with amphibious landing on Leyte. [175] Squadrons of Libyan Spahis served as light cavalry. The new regime secretly began negotiations with the Axis powers. While the Canadian Armed Forces were eventually active in nearly every theatre of war, most combat was centred in Italy, Northwestern Europe, and the North Atlantic. In 1936 Belgium had declared its neutrality in the event of war in Europe. Medical troops were also brought on the east-Asian front. Tibet was a de facto independent state that lacked international recognition. Tsedendambyn Batbayar (2003), "The Japanese Threat and Stalin's Policies Towards Outer Mongolia". However, many Polish civilians risked their lives, and the lives of their families, to save the Jews from the Nazis. [citation needed] The legality of the annexation was not recognised by most Western countries and the Baltic states continued to exist as formally independent nations until 1991. Aruba and Curaao remained loyal to the Dutch government-in-exile, but because they housed valuable refineries that processed Venezuelan petroleum, they were placed under British protection. Prince Phetxart opposed this position, and thought that Lao independence could be gained by siding with the Japanese, who made him Prime Minister of Luang Phrabng, though not of Laos as a whole. During the war, civil administration in both territories ceased and the whole area was placed under martial law. The Chetniks also engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing of non-Serbs in the territory of the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia during the war. The Tuvan People's Republic was a partially recognized Soviet puppet state. After the war, controversies arose over assets of the victims and perpetrators of the Holocaust in Swiss banks. Churchill memoirs, Molotov requests for second front. An active Resistance fought against the occupying forces throughout the war. In communities that had very little contact with Europeans before the war, the sudden arrival and rapid departure of men and machines spurred the growth of so-called "cargo cults" in parts of Melanesia,[231][232] such as the cult of John Frum that emerged in the New Hebrides (modern Vanuatu). [310] This was in accordance with Mihailovi's directive of 20 December 1941 which called for the cleansing of Croats and Bosniaks living in areas intended to be part of Greater Serbia. See this article's section on Czechoslovakia in general, and its subsection on the Slovak Republic in particular. Washington and the Allies made German defeat the priority, coordinating with London in most major operations. This paralleled the situation in post-war Germany. After commando raids and bomber attacks, the Germans decided to move heavy water supplies to Germany. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, / n e t o /; French: Organisation du trait de l'Atlantique nord, OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 31 member states - 29 European and two North American. [88] The United States naval station at Guantanamo Bay also served as a base for convoys passing between the mainland United States and the Panama Canal or other points in the Caribbean.[90]. Civilians engaged in volunteer efforts and submitted to government-managed rationing and price controls. On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany launched a massive surprise attack on the Soviet Union. Later British requests to reinforce Iraq were denied by the new leadership. Later, Guatemala moved into the Allied campon 9 December 1941, it declared war on Japan, and three days later, it declared war on Germany and Italy. [citation needed]. In 1945, during the Potsdam Conference, the United Nations granted Italy trusteeship of Italian Somaliland under close supervision, on condition that Somalia achieve independence within ten years. Many Burmese hoped to gain support of the Japanese in expelling the British, so that Burma could become independent. When a German general approached, the Presiding Judge told him: "The Court and its staff are inviolable. These were repressed, often violently, by the colonial authorities. It included Infantry, Mechanical, Transport, and Pack Transport Companies. The Soviet Union fomented revolts among the Azerbaijani and Kurdish peoples in Iran and soon formed the People's Republic of Azerbaijan in December 1945 and the Kurdish People's Republic not long after. [204] President vila was able to use the increased revenue to improve the country's credit, invest in infrastructure, subsidize food, and raise wages.[205]. Slovakia adopted Nazi antisemitic policy and paid Germany for deportation of its Jews. [155], The Empire of Japan was the leader of the Axis powers in the Pacific Theatre. Spain did make plans for defence of the country. From 1931 to 1944, El Salvador was ruled by the military dictator Maximiliano Hernndez Martnez, an admirer of Hitler and Mussolini. 2002, Werner Gruhl, Imperial Japan's World War Two, 19311945 Transaction 2007. It was mostly volunteers from the Greek and Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of Cyprus, but also included other Commonwealth nationalities. Its objective was to establish a permanent presence and assert Britain's claim to the Falkland Islands Dependencies,[15] as well as to deny use of the area to the Kriegsmarine, which was known to use remote islands as rendezvous points. The SovietJapanese Neutrality Pact of 13 April 1941 recognized the neutrality of Mongolia and its place with the Soviet sphere of influence. Between 1940 and 1943, Suriname supplied 65% of American imports of bauxite. Targets included Germans, Italians, and Spaniards, the last of whom were viewed as franquistas sympathetic to fascism. It would later change its name to Lehi, referred to by the British as the "Stern Gang", as a completely separated militia. In the summer of 1941 Germany turned its forces east by invading the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, it was left lightly defended at the outbreak of World War II: the British considered it a backwater and unlikely target of attack. The early Japanese expansion through the western Pacific then introduced a new colonial system to many islands. [20] Because of strong divisions and internal disputes between members of the Argentine military, the country would continue to remain neutral, even after American sanctions. With the advance of the Red Army through Eastern Europe in summer 1944, the German forces withdrew from the Greek mainland in OctoberNovember 1944, although many island garrisons were left behind and surrendered after the unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945. Within months, the liberation of Ethiopia was achieved, and on 5 May 1941, five years to the day that the Emperor fled his capital, Haile Selassie was restored to his throne.