World War Two

In Europe, 1st of Sept, 1939-45

In the Pacific 1941-45

TERMS
Molotov-Ribbentrop pact
a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, with a secret protocol
establishing Soviet and German spheres of influence across Northern Europe.
Axis powers
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.
Allies
an international military coalition formed during World War II to oppose the Axis powers. Its
principal members by the end of 1941 were the the United Kingdom, United States and Soviet Union
total war
military acts against civilian people and communities that utilized the entire strength of the military
and the use of absolutely all resources available to the state.
attempt to quit the war
Refers to efforts by countries (notably Hungary and Italy) to exit the Axis alliance and negotiate with
the Allies.
Jewish laws
Anti-Semitic laws enacted in various countries, restricting the rights of Jewish people, notably in Nazi
Germany and its occupied territories.
labour service
A forced labor system for civilians, often Jewish, in Axis-aligned countries like Hungary.
ghetto
Enclosed districts where Jewish populations were forcibly relocated under harsh conditions before
deportation.
deportation
The forced removal of people, especially Jews, to concentration or death camps by Nazi authorities.
concentration camp
Facilities where prisoners, especially Jews, were confined under brutal conditions.
death camp
Extermination camps specifically designed for mass murder, such as Auschwitz.
genocide
Systematic killing of a large group, particularly an ethnic group; in WWII, this refers to the
Holocaust.
Holocaust
The systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews and millions of others by
the Nazis.
partisan
Irregular fighters in occupied countries resisting Axis forces, especially in Eastern Europe.
Red Army
The Soviet Union's army, which played a crucial role in the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Yalta conference
A 1945 meeting between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin to plan post-war Europe.
war crime
Violations of the laws of war, including atrocities committed against civilians or Prisoners Of War.
malenkij robot
A Russian term for "little work," referring to forced labor imposed on civilians in occupied Eastern
Europe.

PEOPLE
Franklin D. Roosevelt
US President who led the country through most of WWII until his death in 1945.
Winston Churchill
British Prime Minister known for his leadership and speeches that inspired Allied resistance.
Charles de Gaulle
Leader of Free France, the government-in-exile resisting Nazi occupation.
Bárdossy László
Hungarian Prime Minister (1941-1942) who led Hungary into WWII on the Axis side.
Kállay Miklós
Hungarian Prime Minister (1942-1944), attempted to negotiate peace with the Allies.
Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Endre
Hungarian politician and anti-fascist, executed for resisting Nazi occupation.
Edmund Veesenmayer
Nazi official responsible for implementing German policies in occupied Hungary.
Szálasi Ferenc
Leader of the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party, installed as leader by Germany in 1944.
Raoul Wallenberg
Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews by issuing protective passports.
Salkaházi Sára
Catholic nun who sheltered Jews in Hungary and was executed by the Arrow Cross.
Apor Vilmos
Hungarian bishop who protected persecuted people and opposed the Nazis.
Sztehlo Gábor
Lutheran pastor who saved Jewish children and adults in Hungary.
Richter Gedeon
Jewish Hungarian industrialist and founder of a major pharmaceutical company, killed in the
Holocaust.

CHRONOLOGY
1938 the first Jewish law - Restrictive law against Jews in Hungary, limiting rights and economic
participation.
1939 the second Jewish law - Stricter Hungarian law further curtailing Jewish rights and status.
1939–45 the Second World War - Global conflict involving Axis and Allied powers, marked by
extensive combat and civilian impact.
1 Sept 1939 the invasion of Poland - The German attack that marked the official start of WWII.
1940 the Second Vienna Award - German-Italian decision giving Northern Transylvania to Hungary
from Romania.
April 1941 the attack on Yugoslavia - German invasion of Yugoslavia, involving Hungary as an
ally.
22 June 1941 the invasion of the Soviet Union - Germany’s Operation Barbarossa, opening the
Eastern Front.
27 June 1941 Hungary declared war on the USSR - Hungary joins Germany against the Soviet
Union.
7 Dec 1941 the bombing of Pearl Harbor - Japanese attack on the US, leading to US entry into
WWII.
1941 the third Jewish law - Hungarian legislation aimed at excluding Jews from public life.
Jan 1943 the defeat at the Don - Major Hungarian loss in the Soviet Union, impacting public
support for the war.
Feb 1943 the end of the battle at Stalingrad - Major Soviet victory, marking a turning point against
Nazi Germany.
19 March 1944 the German occupation of Hungary - German forces occupy Hungary to prevent it
from leaving the Axis.
6 June 1944 the landing at Normandy - Allied D-Day invasion in France, beginning the liberation
of Western Europe.
15 Oct 1944 the Hungarian attempt to quit the war - Hungary tries to surrender, but German forces
intervene.
April 1945 the end of war in Hungary - Liberation of Hungary from Nazi occupation.
9 May 1945 the end of war in Europe - V-E Day, marking Germany's surrender.
6 Aug 1945 the dropping of the A-bomb on Hiroshima - First atomic bomb dropped by the US on
Japan, hastening the end of WWII.

TOPOGRAPHY
Stalingrad: Site of a pivotal battle where the Soviet Union defeated Germany.
Normandy: Site of D-Day landings, marking the beginning of the Allied liberation of Western
Europe.
Pearl Harbor: US naval base in Hawaii attacked by Japan, leading to the US entering WWII.
Hiroshima: Japanese city destroyed by the first atomic bomb in August 1945.
Northern Transylvania: Region granted to Hungary by the Axis under the Second Vienna Award.
Don-Bend: Area of the Eastern Front where Hungarian forces suffered significant losses.
Kamenyec Podolsk: Site of one of the first mass executions of Jews by the Nazis.
Árpád-Line: Hungarian defensive line in the Carpathians.
Auschwitz: Largest Nazi death camp, where over a million people, primarily Jews, were murdered.
Újvidék: Site of massacres against Serbian and Jewish civilians by Hungarian forces.
Dresden: German city heavily bombed by the Allies, leading to significant civilian casualties.
Szolyva: Hungarian town where the Soviet army conducted forced labor campaigns after the war.

Causes leading to the Second World War

★ The policy of appeasement caused the war by letting Hitler rearm and gain territories and
letting fascists go ahead with their policies as long as they are justifiable
 ○ The policy of appeasement ended after the invasion of Bohemia (after that, Britain
and France gave guaranteed to Poland that they’d protect her)
★ Nazism: because of the theory of Lebensraum (gaining living space for the German
population - territory that were never German-populated, like in Russia and in Poland)
○ Nazis also wanted to fight communists
★ The erection of a series of weak states in Eastern Europe: brought about the war as it was
easier for Germany to occupy them. They also couldn't act as buffer states
★ The LoN can be held responsible because they failed at maintaining collective security and
preventing war
★ The origins of the war lie in the Treaty of Versailles since it was too harsh on the losing
countries

Some basic info

★ In Europe: 1st Sept, 1939-1945; Axis (Germany)↔Allies (France and Great Britain)
★ 1st Sept, 1939: Germany invaded Poland
○ Britain and France sent an ultimatum to Germany demanding that Germany leave
Poland
★ in the Pacific: 1941-1945 (Japan already attacked China in 1937)
★ “Phoney War” Sept. 1939-Apr. 1940

The Precedents
★ In 1943, Germany withdrew from the Leauge of Nations
★ occupation of Manchuria by the Japanese (1931)
★ abbyssinian war (1935-1937)
★ Rearmament of Rhineland (1936)
★ Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
○ Nazi Germany could show off her strength (they bombed a lot)
○ Guernica bombed ← symbol of brutality and air-warfare
○ started a feeling in people that Europe couldn't stay out of it for long
○ lot of volunteers
★ Berlin-Rome Axis (1936)
○ Hitler and Mussolini allied
★ Anti-Comintern Pact (1936)
○ (between Germany and Japan, later Italy also joined)
○ to fight communists
★ Anschluss (1938)
★ Münich Conference – Sudeten-crisis (1938)
○ Germany wanted to annex it (on the basis that many Germans lived there)
■ Münich Conference: Germany was given the Sudetenland by France and
Britain
★ Occupation of Bohemia (1939)
The War in Europe
- In August 1939, the USSR and Germany concluded a ten-year non-aggression pact promising
not to attack each other. It had a secret clause, known as the Molotiv-Ribbentrop Pact, which
included a secret agreement where the German and Soviet foreign ministers divided Eastern
Europe
- The war started with the German invasion of Poland.
- Germany started a Blitzkrieg - lightning war- against Poland on 1st September,
1939
- The fast-moving weapons of modern wars, like armoured tanks and aeroplanes, were
the key to a lightning war
- Two weeks after the German attack, the Soviet Union attacked the Eastern part of
Poland and the country ceased to exist
- During the Soviet occupation of Poland, the Russians were as ruthless as the Germans
- In the Katyn Massacre more than 200,000 Polish soldiers were taken prisoner-of-war
(POW) and in the forest of Katyn more than 4,000 Polish army officers, POWs, were
executed by the Soviet secret police
- In 1940, Germany:
- briefly occupied Denmark
- installed a pro-Nazi government in Norway
- invaded the neutral Benelux states
- invaded France
- Northern France was occupied by Germany while South-East was controlled
by a collaborating French government called the Vichy regime
- planned an invasion of Great Britain
- Battle of Britain
- Luftwaffe bombers sent to annihilate Britain’s defences
- fought to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force
- targeted important English cities like London
- ended with a clear British victory → first major German defeat
- In 1940, Italy:
- attacked Greece and launched its African campaign ← had to be assisted by
Germany
- In 1941:
- Germany and Hungary invaded Yugoslavia
- the Barbarossa Plan was launched - the German attack on the Soviet Union
- non-aggression treaty between the USSR and Japan
- Japan attacked the US military base at Pearl Harbour → declaration of war from
the US → the war thus spread to all continents and became a world war
- The end of the war
- After D-Day (the successful invasion of the Allies) on 6th June, 1944, Allied forces
took control of the Western front and very slowly freed Western Europe while the
Soviet Army approached front the East
- On 8th May, 1945, Germany surrendered
- On 6th and 9th August 1945, the USA dropped its atomic bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki
- Japan surrendered on 2nd September 1945, and the war ended
Turning points
Battle of Britain
- Hitler wanted to destroy the royal airforce
- July-Sept 1940
- Blitz: bombing of London for 53 days, the RAF survived, no invasion of Britain happened
- the USA started to get involved - Lend-lease act
- a system that would allow the United States to lend or lease war supplies to any
nation deemed "vital to the defense of the United States.
- provided food, supplies, weapons to Britain
- Britain bombed back Berlin
- First failure of Hitler in the war
German invasion of the USSR - Operation Barbarossa
- 22 June 1941
- it failed because of the Russian winter
- New front for Germany
- Alliance of Britain and the USSR
- because of Lebensraum + because Fascists didn't like Communists
Pearl Harbour
- 7 December 1941
- Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, the US navy
- US declared war on Japan
- Japan and Germany declared war on the US
- severely crippled the US
- naval and air strength in the Pacific
Battle of Midway
- June 1942
- Big US victory
- Japan suffered a huge loss
- leap-frogging/island-hopping tactic of the US
Battle of El Alamein (South Africa)
- in Northern Africa
- Oct-Nov 1942
- Britain stopped Germany and Italy in Northern Africa
- full retreat of Germany
Battle of Stalingrad
- Nov 1942-Jan 1943
- German surrender; huge defeat
- Germany lost a big part of the army
- Germany lost this undefeatable feeling
Battle of Kursk
- biggest tank battle of WW2
- Summer of 1943
- Russia won
- military turning point, after this Germans couldn't attack the East; last attack on the USSR
Landing on Sicily and Italy
- Summer of 1943
- Allies occupied South Italy
 - rehearsal of their landing in France ← successful test on landing
- new front opened on the South
- they could bomb the South now
D-day - landing in Normandy, France
- 6 June 1944
- the Allies successfully landed in Normandy
- France liberated
- New front
- to keep Stalin as an ally
- Britain under attack by Germany: German wonderweapons → V1 and V2 (unmanned
weapons, no defense against it, but they couldn't produce much)
- German counter-attack in the Ardennes, the Allies didn't expect it, it held up the Allies’
invasion
- Why didn't the war end in 1944?
- Britain couldn't occupy a bridge at the Rhine
- to speed up their invasion of Germany
- the attack failed and many were captured
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- 6 and 9 Aug 1945
- US destroyed 2 cities
- First atomic bombing
- Japanese surrender (not only cause of the A-bombs, but because Russia occupied Manchuria
and Korea)

Features of the war

- Development and impact of military technology
- The cooperation of armoured vehicles, air force and mechanised units prevented a
stationary war
- air raids, prolonged sieges of strategic cities, partisan activity, the use of the
atomic bomb, the Holocaust
- Unprecedented civilian casualties in addition to military casualties

War At Land, Sea And In The Air

War in the Air
★ air raids: eg.: Blitz, GB bombing of German cities
★ Luftwaffe: German air force
★ strategic bombing (targeting the enemy’s factories and cities) and tactical bombing
★ large scale air raids on cities → the death of thousands of German civilians
★ bombings forced Germany to use valuable resources ← positive for GB
★ original reason to bombings: to destroy factories
○ GB failed to achieve paralyzing German industrial production
War at Land
★ fought with tanks mostly
★ tanks used for breaking through enemy lines
★ separate divisions
★ tanks now fought separate battles

War at Sea
★ radar
★ defense: destroyers
★ aim of submarines: to cut British supply lines (mainly through the Atlantic, to the US)
★ pretty successful until 1943
★ they used radars and solars to detect submarines
★ it’s called the Battle of the Atlantic
★ merchant ships in convoys and were protected by destroyers

Pacific war (1941-1945)

★ mainly between Japan and the US
★ from 1941 (Pearl Harbour) to 1943
★ Japan wanted to expand (mainland Asia)
★ Japan was looking for a market for their goods
★ Due to the Great Depression, the US closed their market to the Japanese
★ The US wanted China’s door open (free trade; “open door policy”) while Japan wanted it
closed
★ Nationalists vs CCP (Chinese Communist Party)
○ weakened China, invasion was easier
○ in 1936, they united against Japan (suspended their civil war)
★ big industrial cities were found on the Chinese shoure line ← occupied by Japan
★ US stopped trading with Japan - trade embargo - wouldn't trade oil with them
★ Japan occupied Indo-China
○ French colony - France couldn't do anything as she was under German attack
★ the attack on Pearl Harbour weren't as bad/harmful as expected
○ carriers (larde ships with an airport on it; repülőgép anyahajó) weren't destroyed
★ US reaction: declare war on Japan
○ Germany and Italy declared was on the US
★ After Pearl Harbour Japan conquered a lot of places (eg Singapore)
○ destroyed the prestige of GB ( ← later led to the decolonization of many Asian
countries)
★ kamikaze (suicide) pilots - war in the air
○ last, desperate attempt, wasn’t effective
★ war at sea
○ carrier ships
○ naval battle fought by aircraft, the two fleet didn't even see each other
Total war
Homefronts
★ social effects of the war on women
○ in some cases women had participated in the army (eg ferry pilot)
○ women could also join anti-aircraft gun units
○ the red army took in women as soldiers
○ they also joined the workforce
■ very few women were promoted to prestigious jobs
○ house hold jobs, lack of consumer goods → rationing was introduced
■ it was difficult for them to take care of their family
★ effects of air-raids everywhere (even in the homefronts)
○ switch off lights → black outs
○ articial shelter
★ they tried to save food and energy
★ anti-segregation movement started in the US

Economy
switch to war economy
★ arms production increased
★ production of consumer goods decreased
★ deman higher than supply → inflation
★ printing of money to finance the war → inflation
★ nationalization of mines
★ great increase in government intervention

The US could produce everything without government intervention

- great industrial capacity
- didn't have to switch to war economy

Propaganda became more important

- each country produced propaganda for their own people

Hungary in the 2nd World War

★ trading partners: Italy, Germany
★ surrounded by the Little Entente
★ political connection with Germany (besides economy)
★ At the outbreak the Teleki government refrained from participating in the campaign of Nazy
Germany invading Poland. It also refused to the let the passage of German troops through the
country and the use of Hungarian railway lines by them
★ Teleki declared Hungary a non-belligerent country and Hungary even gave refuge to Polish
refugees
★ Teleki’s slogans: “peaceful revision” and “armed neutrality”
30 August, 1940 - Russia demanded territory from Romania
★ 2nd Vienna Award - Hungary also wanted to claim territories
★ Hungary’s biggest desire was to get back Transylvania
★ Germany gave North Transylvania to Hungary

Tripartite Treaty 1940

three power treaty by Italy, Germany, Japan (and with Hungary and Romania later on)

Treaty of Eternal friendship - at end of 1940

★ Between Yugoslavia and Hungary
★ Hitler offered territory of Yugoslavia (because Yugoslavia got a new leader who was pro-
British) so Hungary would join the Tripartite Treaty

1941 April - Invasion of Yugoslavia

- consequence: Hu completely on the side of Germany, no more ties with the Allies, Hungary
became more isolated internationally than ever
- the move resulted in yet another revisionist success: the return of southern territories
- soon the most infamous of Hungarian atrocities during the war took place there; the
retaliation for guerilla activity in the area, the Hungarian army committed the massacre of
more than 3,000 civilians in January 1942

1941 June 22nd

- Germany attacked the USSR

The Bombing of Kassa - 6th June, 1941

★ Hungary declared war
★ it was evitable → no proof that the USSR carried out the bombing
★ policy of rapproachement

USSR tried to make peace with Hungary

★ flags taken in 1848 were given back (symbolic gesture of their friendliness)
★ common enemy: Romania

27 June, 1941 - Hungary Enters the War

★ 1st mobile corps (hadtest)
★ Germany couldn't finish the war in a few weeks → huge losses to Hungary as well
★ mobile corps (who attacked) replaced by occupation forces (who maintained)
★ Why didn't the Germans do so well?
 ○ winter
○ Germany stopped at Leningrad and Moscow

Kállay Government - 1942-1944

The defeat of the 2nd Hungarian army
political effect: they sped up the effort to quit the war
- German troops were also defeated → they had little hope for German victory

Armistice Agreement, 1943

★ it was feasible → landing on Sicily and Italy
○ they would occupy Italy and go to the Balkans
★ about
○ Hungary would gradually stop giving any kind of aid to Germany, including military
and economic aid
○ they would stop fighting/attacking the USSR
★ ultimately, Hungary would turn against the Germans and join the Allies
★ when they arrived at the Southern borders of Hungary
○ they had to resist German occupation
★ Hungary hoped that she’d not end up on the losing side
○ as a reward: we could keep the territories that we gained back → revisionist
territories
★ this negotiation was kept a secret → Germany still found out
○ it led to the German occupation fo Hungary on the 19th of March, 1944

Effects
Political:
- PM fled to Turkey → went into hiding, otherwise he’d be arrested → new PM (Sztójay
Döme) (the government consisted of pro-Germans)
- censorship was introduces + propaganda → opposition parties banned
- Hungary became a single-party system ← dictatorship
Economic
- transport even more raw materials to Germany → Germans did not pay at all
- Hungary also had to pay for the occupation cost
- Allies started to bomb Hungary → air raids started as Hungary was under German
occupation
In August, 1944 (after D-Day)
- they quickly changed sides; joined the Allies
- Horthy believed that Hungary also should do it (do what??)
- Horthy dismissed the PM
 - He had to have talks with the Russians → he sent a secret delegation to the
USSR and made a secret agreement

Armistice Agreement, 1944

It called for Hungary to declare war on Germany + they had to give back revisionist gains

Resignment of Horthy
- They captured his son
- Szálasi Ferenc appointed on the 16th of October, 1944
- he became the “National leader”
- Arrow-Cross rule started in Hungary
- full service of German needs - Szálasi tried to set up a new Hungarian army

Arrow Cross Rule - 16th Oct, 1944

- Szálasi became the “National Leader”
- end: at the total soviet occupation: April, 1945
- A disaster for Hungary as
- Holocaust continued
- brutal dictatorship, reign of terror: soldiers were allowed to shoot everyone (eg
Bajcsy-Zsilinszki Endre tried to overthrow Szálasi → all the leaders who partook
in it were killed)
- opposition leaders executed, deserters shot
- Szálasi continued to give economic support to Germany
- eg people tried to pretend packing up the factories that they had to send to
Germany
- heavy fights in Hungary
- eg at Debrecen, Balaton, or the Siege of Budapest
- after soviet occupation/”liberation”: Szálasi tried to fled the country with the holy crown and
the Hungarian gold reserve but american’s captured him and he was put on trial and later
executed

Malenkij Robot - “Little Work”

- people were taken to work
- it could be to just to a neighbouring city/village
- it could mean going to the USSR to labour camps

The Holocaust
- After the outbreak of the war, in Germany Jews were forced to wear the yellow star, then
moved to ghettos - designated, closed and forbidden to non-Jews, narrow neighbourhoods-
and finally to concentration camps
- The original idea was to evacuate Jews from Europe, but this became impossible
 - Madagascar plan: deport all the Jews from Europe to Madagascar
- first concentration camps were for political opponents in Germany
- 1942: Wansee Conference: they decided to annihilate all jews
- Nazi authorities decided on the so-called “final solution” - a part of the concentration
camps was converted into extermination/death camps where the victims were killed
in gas chambers and the bodies were burned in crematoriums
- all extermination camps were in Poland
- other concentration camps continued to function as forced labour camps
- The evacuation of the ghettos was the responsibility of local police forces. From there,
victims were deported by railway, separated from those unable to work (children, the elderly,
the sick) - the latter was killed, while the former were partly transported to other camps and
were worked to death
- the camps were run by the SS
- Name of the Gypsy Holocaust: Porrajmos

The Holocaust in Hungary

- After the outbreak of the war the Third Jewish Law was passed in 1941, which prohibited the
marriage of Jews and non-Jews
- the PM introduced anti-Jewish measures: he refused to recognize the citizenship of the Jews
and started the deportation of Jews in in 1941 to German-occupied Ukrainian territory, where
they were murdered by the Nazis in Kamenyec-Podolsk
- the PM introduced Jewish labour service: unarmed Jews were forced to do hard physical slave
labour as servants of the army at the front

After the German invasion

- After the German invasion on 19th March 1944, Jewish ghettos were established and the
wearing of the yellow star was made compulsory.
- The deportations from the overcrowded ghettos began, and within a few weeks, the Jews from
the countryside were transported to Auschwitz
- deportations happened with the cooperation of the gendarmerie and officials

After the Arrow Cross Party took power

- After it took power, they couldn't continue deportations, thousands of Jews were shot into the
Danube or were murdered in mines and factories
- Meanwhile, rescue operations were on the increase: the church, civilians and diplomats
obtained asylum, hid people and tried to save them, eg.:
- Raoul Wallenberg: Swedish diplomat, who disappeared without a trace at the end of
the war
- Salkaházi Sára: Catholic nun who sheltered Jews in Hungary and was executed by the
Arrow Cross.
- Apor Vilmos: Catholic bishop who protected persecuted people and opposed the
Nazis.
- Sztehlo Gábor: Lutheran pastor who saved Jewish children and adults in Hungary.
- Many people who helped hiding Jews were executed by the Arrow Cross Party