28
Jeb Stuart, a famous American general, commanded the Confederate cavalry in the Civil War in the United States. He was shot during a mounted counterattack by a dismounted Union cavalryman.
29
In 1939, the Soviet Union initiated a war with Finland, which went down in history as the Winter War. The formal objective was to change the border between the countries in such a way that Leningrad, located nearby, could not be subjected to a sudden attack. The real objectives are disputed by historians depending on their political views and biases. The Soviet Union achieved its goals at the cost of catastrophic losses, including the loss of international recognition and expulsion from the League of Nations, the then-equivalent of the UN.
30
During the nuclear tests under Operation “Crossroads,” the United States detonated two nuclear charges, one airborne and one underwater, with the aim of studying the effects of the explosion on surface ships. Captured ships, as well as ships that had become unnecessary for the navy with the end of the war, were used as targets.
31
During 1940, Hitler’s headquarters planned Operation “Sea Lion” – a landing on the British Isles followed by their capture. Given that the British fleet vastly outnumbered the German fleet and could disrupt the landing with significant losses, the Wehrmacht command considered the operation possible only with complete air superiority. As a result of the ensuing air “Battle of Britain,” the Luftwaffe (German air force) failed to achieve such dominance, and the landing was canceled, with the resources intended for the capture of England redirected to the USSR. During the “Battle of Britain,” several English cities, including London, suffered significant damage.
32
The fall of Singapore in December 1941 was a severe blow to British colonial policy, showing the colonies that the metropolis was unable to protect them. Additionally, Britain and its allies lost a crucial military base and logistics center, leading to a long chain of defeats in 1942.
33
For the defense of Singapore, “Force Z” was allocated, consisting of the battleship “Prince of Wales” and the battlecruiser “Repulse,” supported by four destroyers, but without air cover. It was assumed that the ships would operate in conjunction with the American fleet, but three days before their arrival in Singapore, most of the American fleet was sunk or damaged as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Nevertheless, the commander of the force, Admiral Phillips, decided to intercept the convoy with the Japanese landing forces using the two battleships. As a result of a subsequent series of air raids, both battleships were sunk, after which Singapore was captured from land.
34
The Battle of Midway was a major engagement between the American and Japanese fleets, lasting from June 4 to June 7, 1942. As a result of the American victory, the Japanese offensive on the eastern front was halted. Currently, the Battle of Midway is considered a turning point in the Pacific War, despite the fact that for more than half a year afterward, the US suffered defeats in most battles.
35
The landing of Anglo-American forces in Sicily in the summer of 1943, followed by the landing in Italy itself, aimed to remove Germany’s main European ally from the war. Additionally, in the event of the rapid occupation of the Apennine Peninsula, a foothold would emerge for an attack on German territory itself, as well as southern France and the Balkans. Italy’s exit from the Axis was achieved. However, timely deployed German troops halted the Allied advance and managed to block the operation’s development. The units used for this purpose could not be deployed on the Eastern Front, which contributed to the turn.
36
After Hitler’s death, Grand Admiral Dönitz, who became chancellor, ordered the troops to surrender exclusively to the British and Americans. Despite the fact that the Allied commander General and future US President Eisenhower insisted on ending this practice, overall relations between Germany and the Anglo-Saxon countries were much less irreconcilable than between Germany and the USSR. At the end of the war, England and the US saw a Germany freed from Nazism as a counterbalance to Soviet influence in Europe, whereas the Soviet Union sought the complete abolition of German statehood. There were also significant cultural differences between Western European countries and Russia.
37
The USA would have easily defeated the mikado without outside help, but then today we would have a capitalist China under the rule of the Kuomintang.
38
Emperor of Japan.
39
The Chinese National Democratic Party, an opponent of the Communist Party in the civil war. Now one of the main political forces in Taiwan, where Kuomintang political activists were forced to flee after their defeat.
40
The USSR entered the war with Japan on August 6, 1945, two days before the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. Soviet troops quickly defeated the Japanese army in Manchuria and China, opening up the possibility of unlimited resource supply to the Communist Party of China, which was at war with both the Japanese and the Kuomintang – a party advocating for a capitalist path of development. Subsequently, this allowed the communists to fully take control of mainland China’s territory, while the initially dominant Kuomintang was able to retain power only in Taiwan.
41
The Shakhurin Case, or the “aviation case,” was initiated against the leaders of the Soviet aviation industry immediately after the end of the war. The reason was the qualitative lag of Soviet long-range bomber aviation compared to the aviation of the new adversary – the USA. Although during the war, long-range aviation in the USSR was in little demand (unlike the Allies, who massively used it both in Europe and the Pacific), the possession of atomic weapons by America and the expected acquisition by the Soviet Union required appropriate means of delivery. Several high-ranking leaders of the Air Force and aviation industry, including aviation marshals, were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, and Marshal of Aviation Khudyakov was executed.
42
The Kharkov offensive operation of the Soviet troops in May 1942 ended in their complete defeat. During the summer, the Red Army was forced to rapidly retreat from Ukraine to the Volga and the North Caucasus.
43
The victory near Kharkov allowed the Wehrmacht to break the defense of Sevastopol, completing the 250-day siege and fully occupying the territory of Crimea.
44
Lend-Lease – a system of supplying military equipment, gear, ammunition, food, and fuel from the USA to its European allies – the United Kingdom and the USSR. The most direct and fastest supply route was established across the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans along the Norwegian coast. However, despite the escort of transport ships by powerful formations of British ships, until 1943, convoys suffered heavy, sometimes catastrophic losses. The convoy with the index PQ-17 was hit the hardest, almost completely destroyed due to mistakes by the Admiralty and the officers in charge of the passage.
45
The Mediterranean theater of operations is often not given due importance due to the smaller scale of battles and the volume of forces involved compared to others. However, on the scale of the war as a whole, it was of key significance: with the loss of the Mediterranean, the Allies were left with only one sea route to the Eastern Hemisphere – around Africa, which, due to its length, was unsuitable for mass cargo transport. Germany and its European satellites, on the other hand, gained direct connection with Japan, which in turn acquired a springboard for operations in the Indian Ocean. Moreover, the maintenance of the British presence in the Mediterranean necessitated keeping German troops in Italy, France, and the Balkans, diverting them from other tasks, primarily from the fight against the Soviet Union.