World War II

With Italy active in the war on the Axis side, the war opened up in other theaters, such as Mediterranean Europe and North and East Africa. Fascist Italy had already been belligerent in Africa and had invaded the Ethiopian Empire by 1936, forming the Italian East African colonies. Italian forces made initial gains in North Africa, moving unceasingly towards British-held Egypt, the strategically vital Suez Canal, and oilfields in the Middle East.

Additionally, Nazi Germany and Italy commenced their invasion of Malta in June 1940 and besieged the island—a British holding. The Maltese Siege lasted over 2 years and ended in an Axis defeat in late 1942. Meanwhile, Italy’s campaigns in invading British Somaliland and its successful invasion of British Egypt also precipitated Allied setbacks in Northern Africa. However, British counter-offensives began in earnest by the end of 1940 to regain lost territories in both East Africa and Egypt. The campaigns were profitable, and the UK successfully pushed back the Italians well within Libya. However, this would prompt the Germans to enter the theater with reinforcements, now known as the Afrika Korps.

As the conflict grew pitched in North Africa, the war repeatedly witnessed sweeping Axis victories, and the Germans laid siege to the Western Egyptian borders within a month of their arrival. These reversals placed Britain and other Commonwealth forces on the back foot. Italy also attempted an invasion of Greece from the latter part of 1940 until early 1941, which led to considerable casualties among the Italian ranks, causing the Fascist forces to call off their expedition. However, Germany would respond with its own invasion of the Mediterranean nation, eventually collapsing the Hellenic army. Greece then came under a joint occupation by Germany and Italy. The Germans also carried out invasions of other Balkan states like Yugoslavia, following the overthrow of a pro-German government. The broader Balkan and Mediterranean campaigns brought in considerable gains for the Axis powers in the region. Meanwhile, pitched naval battles continued in the Mediterranean, with significant confrontations between the Royal, German, and Royal Italian Navies.

In the Middle East, the British forces supported by the Free French armies would invade Vichy France’s holdings in Syria and Lebanon, while putting down a rebellion in Iraq that sought to support German forces from within Vichy France’s territories. These headways provided a semblance of success for the British, Commonwealth, and Free French forces involved in the Middle Eastern theater.

Following the fall of France in 1940, Europe entered a lull in hostilities. However, beneath the surface, tensions simmered. Germany, emboldened by its rapid victories, prepared to attack the Soviet Union. Hitler's desire to eradicate communism and secure resources served as motivators for the Russian campaign. Moreover, Nazi leadership suspected the United Kingdom wouldn’t accept peace terms because it remained confident of the Soviets and Americans joining the war effort on the Allied front. Though Nazi Germany hinted at the potential for the USSR to sign the Tripartite Pact in 1940, the latter's demands were unacceptable. Nazi Germany amassed troops on the Russian border to eventually invade. It’d become abundantly evident that the USSR would face a German invasion in the times to come. The Soviet Union, wary of German aggression, sought to maintain neutrality with Japan to avoid a double-fronted war and established the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941.

Meanwhile, in Asia, Japanese expansionism clashed with American interests. The United States, opposed to Japanese aggression in China, imposed economic sanctions on Japan, further straining relations. The United Kingdom and the Netherlands, which had colonial holdings in Asia, also feared Japanese aggression following the latter’s actions in China and supported a flurry of sanctions. The United States placed a trade embargo on all resources being shipped to Japan with immediate effect following the Japanese Army’s incursion into Dutch Indochina. The Japanese invasion, again, was to secure more resources for its aggressive expansion. With rich oil reserves in the area, Dutch Indochina was a strategically significant region for the Empire. Although, it is important to consider that Japanese-US relations had been under strain since the early 1930s. By 1941, the economic restrictions on Japan, coupled with American demands for a complete cessation of hostilities in China, had placed both nations on the brink of war.

On June 22, 1941, Germany launched a surprise invasion of the Soviet Union, codenamed Operation Barbarossa. The Germans aimed to achieve a quick victory after capturing key cities and destroying Soviet forces in the field. Utilizing similar tactics as deployed in Western Europe, German forces initially made significant progress, pushing deep into Soviet territory and inflicting heavy casualties. Italy, Romania, Finland, and Hungary, too, assisted the Germans in their invasion of the Soviets. Rapid maneuvering witnessed key cities like Kyiv fall to Nazi encirclement. With the Nazis within Moscow's vicinity, their key objectives were to capture territories reaching up to the Caspian Seas, attain more territory for resources, and ethnically cleanse the Balkan regions for German resettlement.

The war progressed rapidly, and by July, the United Kingdom and the USSR signed a pact to jointly resist the Axis forces. However, the German offensive slowed by August, and the Blitzkrieg phase of the German advance was mostly over. The campaign witnessed major gains; however, the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Sevastopol continued. The Germans renewed their Soviet push in October 1941 and almost made it beyond the suburbs of Moscow, but overextension of supply lines and battle fatigue caused the German military to call off further offensives. Moscow would remain unconquered, while the Siege of Stalingrad and Sevastopol continued unabated.

However, the Soviets, despite facing significant initial losses refused to surrender. They adopted a defensive strategy, inflicting heavy casualties on the German army by capitalizing on winter conditions and denying natural resources and replenishments to the enemy. By December 1941, the German offensive stalled completely, and the Soviets managed to muster reserves to begin a counter-offensive. Moreover, the USSR also had sufficient manpower to stall any Japanese adventurism in the event of breaches of the Neutrality Pact.

While Europe witnessed the land war intensify, the Pacific remained relatively calm until December 7, 1941. In a surprise attack, Japan launched a devastating aerial assault on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Simultaneously, Japan attacked British and American possessions throughout Southeast Asia, aiming to cripple Allied naval power and secure resource-rich territories. Japanese forces attacked territories such as Guam, Thailand, Malaya, Hong Kong, and the US Protectorate of the Philippines simultaneously to instill shock and retain the element of surprise.

The assault on Pearl Harbor prompted the United States’ formal declaration of war against Japan on December 8th, 1941, effectively placing the rising global power in the Allied camp. The United Kingdom and other Allied nations, such as the Netherlands, soon followed suit. The war suddenly went from pitched battles fought on three continents to a truly global conflict, pulling in all major world powers either in alliance or opposition. In a show of solidarity with Japan, Germany declared war on the United States on December 11, 1941. Hitler's belief in a quick victory over the Soviet Union and a desire to thwart potential American intervention in Europe led to this decision, expanding the scope of the war. The USSR, the UK, the United States, China, and over 22 other nations with both functioning and exiled governments signed the Declaration by the United Nations to not acknowledge or broker independent peace treaties with the Axis powers by January 1942, cementing the Allied bloc for the remainder of the war.