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European theatre of World War II

huge area of heavy fighting across Europe
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The European theatre of World War II, was a major theatre of operations during World War II

European theatre of World War II
Part of World War II

From left to right, top to bottom
Date1 September 1939 – 8 May 1945[nb 18]
(5 years, 8 months and 1 week)
Location
Europe
Result
Belligerents
Allies:
Former Axis powers
 Denmark (1940)		 Axis:
Axis puppet states
 Kingdom of Yugoslavia (for two days)
Commanders and leaders
Strength
18,950,000+ troops (total that served)[6][7][8] Nazi Germany 18,000,000+ troops (total that served)[9][10][8]
Fascist Italy 2,560,000 troops (total that served)[11]
Casualties and losses
9,007,590–10,338,576+ killed, 5,778,680+ captured[nb 19][nb 20][16] 5,406,110–5,798,110+ killed,[nb 21][17][18] 8,709,840 captured[18][nb 22]
19,650,000–25,650,000 civilians killed[nb 23][29]

List of Events

change

Notes and references

change
  1. ↑ From 1941.
  2. ↑ From 1941.
  3. ↑ To 1940.
  4. ↑ From 1940 to 1944.
  5. ↑ From 1944.
  6. ↑ From 1944.
  7. ↑ From 1943.
  8. ↑ From 1942.
  9. ↑ The Debrecen government [ru] operated in the Soviet-occupied territory of Hungary, while the Nazi-backed government in Budapest continued the war on the side of Germany.[1][2][3]
  10. ↑ The official designation of these countries under the 1947 Paris Peace Treaties.[4]
  11. ↑ Until Armistice of Cassibile 8 September 1943.
  12. ↑ Until King Michael's Coup 23 August 1944.
    second Axis power in Europe from 8 September 1943[5]
  13. ↑ German occupation from 19 March 1944.
  14. ↑ Until 8 September 1944
  15. ↑ 25 June 1941-Moscow Armistice 19 September 1944.
  16. ↑ From 23 September 1943.
  17. ↑ Vichy officially pursued a policy of armed neutrality and conducted military actions against armed incursions from both Axis and Allied belligerents. The cease fire and pledging of allegiance to the Allies of the Vichy troops in French North Africa during Operation Torch convinced the Axis that Vichy could no longer be trusted to continue this policy, so they invaded and occupied the French rump state in November 1942. Collaborationist units, such as the Milice, continued to fight alongside German troops against French Resistance fighters until the liberation of France in 1944.
  18. ↑ Although Germany surrendered to the Allies on 8 May, the fighting continued insignificantly until 25 May.
  19. ↑ Ellis:
    • Danish: no figures;
    • Norwegian: 2,000 killed or missing with no information provided on those wounded or captured;
    • Dutch: 2,890 killed or missing, 6,900 wounded, with no information provided on those captured;
    • Belgian: 7,500 killed or missing, 15,850 wounded, and 200,000 captured;
    • French: 120,000 killed or missing, 250,000 wounded, and 1,450,000 taken prisoner;
    • British: 11,010 killed or missing, 14,070 wounded (only those who were evacuated have been counted), and 41,340 taken prisoner.[12][13]
  20. ↑ Ellis's numbers:
    • American: 109,820 killed or missing, 356,660 wounded, and 56,630 captured;
    • British: 30,280 killed or missing, 96,670 wounded, 14,700 captured;
    • Canadian: 10,740 killed or missing, 30,910 wounded, 2,250 captured;
    • French: 12,590 killed or missing, 49,510 wounded, 4,730 captured;
    • Pole: 1,160 killed or missing, 3,840 wounded, 370 captured.[14] Thus according to Ellis' information, the Western Allies incurred 783,860 casualties.
    US Army/Air Forces breakdown:
    • According to a post-war US Army study using war records, the army and army air forces of the United States suffered 586,628 casualties in western Europe, including 116,991 killed in action and 381,350 wounded, of whom 16,264 later died of their wounds.[15][page needed]
    Total US casualties come to 133,255 killed, 365,086 wounded, 73,759 captured, and 14,528 missing, two thousand of whom were later declared dead.
  21. ↑ 43,110 Germans killed or missing, 111,640 wounded, no information is provided on any who were captured. Italian losses amounted to 1,250 killed or missing, 4,780 wounded, and no information is provided on any who were captured.[12]
  22. ↑ Total German casualties between September 1939 to 31 December 1944, on the Western Front for both the army, Waffen SS, and foreign volunteers amounts to 128,030 killed, 399,860 wounded. 7,614,790 were held in POW camps by early June of 1945 (including 3,404,950 who were disarmed following the surrender of Germany).[14] See also: Disarmed Enemy Forces
  23. ↑ All totals listed only include direct deaths due to military activity and crimes against humanity, including the Holocaust.[19]
    Germany: 910,000. 410,000 in Allied strategic bombing, 300,000 in the Holocaust not including Austrian civilian deaths or deaths from the Nazi T4 program.[20] Counting the Aktion T4 program adds 200,000+ deaths to the total.[21]
    France: 390,000. Includes 77,000 French Jews in the Holocaust.[22]
    Netherlands: 187,300. Includes 100,000 Dutch Jews in the Holocaust.[23]
    Belgium: 76,000. Includes 27,000 Belgian Jews in the Holocaust.[24]
    United Kingdom: 67,200. Mostly died in German bombing.[25]
    Norway: 8,200.[26] Includes 800 Norwegian Jews in the Holocaust.
    Denmark: 6,000.[27]
    Luxembourg: 5,000. Includes 2,000 Luxembourgish Jews.[28]
  24. ↑ As part of the surrender of all German forces in the Netherlands, Denmark, and North West Germany to the British.[40]
  25. ↑ Germany first signed a surrender in France on May 7, but the Soviets rejected the surrender because a Soviet representative didn’t sign the surrender, so another surrender was signed in Berlin (occupied by the Soviets) on May 8.
  1. ↑ Gosztony, Peter. Stalins Fremde Heere, Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1991. ISBN 3-7637-5889-5
  2. ↑ Иностранные войска, созданные Советским Союзом для борьбы с нацизмом (in Russian). Центрполиграф. 2024. ISBN 9785046032826.
  3. ↑ https://theorangefiles.hu/the-provisional-national-government-1945/
  4. ↑ Claus Kreß, Robert Lawless, Oxford University Press, Nov 30, 2020, Necessity and Proportionality in International Peace and Security Law, p. 450
  5. ↑ David Stahel, Cambridge University Press, 2018, Joining Hitler's Crusade, p. 78
  6. ↑ Frieser, Karl-Heinz (2013)The Blitzkrieg Legend. Naval Institute Press
  7. ↑ MacDonald 2005, p. 478.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Glantz & House 2015, pp. 301–303.
  9. ↑ Overmans, Rüdiger (2004). Deutsche militärische Verluste im Zweiten Weltkrieg (in German). München: Oldenbourg. Page 215.
  10. ↑ Total German soldiers who surrendered in the West, including 3,404,950 who surrendered after the end of the war, is given as 7,614,790. To this must be added the 263,000–655,000 who died, giving a rough total of 8 million German soldiers having served on the Western Front in 1944–1945.Ellis 1993, p. 256
  11. ↑ Regio Esercito: The Italian Royal Army in Mussolini's Wars, 1935–1943, Patrick Cloutier, p. 211.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Ellis 1993, p. 255.
  13. ↑ MacDonald 2005, p. 478: "Allied casualties from D-day to V–E totaled 766,294. American losses were 586,628, including 135,576 dead. The British, Canadians, French, and other allies in the west lost slightly over 60,000 dead".
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Ellis 1993, p. 256.
  15. ↑ U.S. Army Casualties in World War II 1951.
  16. ↑ Vadim Erlikman, Poteri narodonaseleniia v XX veke: spravochnik. Moscow 2004. ISBN 5-93165-107-1; Mark Axworthy, Third Axis Fourth Ally. Arms and Armour 1995, p. 216. ISBN 1-85409-267-7
  17. ↑ George C Marshall, Biennial reports of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army to the Secretary of War : 1 July 1939 – 30 June 1945 Washington, DC : Center of Military History, 1996. Page 202 Archived 1 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1
  19. ↑ Niewyk, Donald L. The Columbia Guide to the Holocaust, Columbia University Press, 2000; ISBN 0-231-11200-9, p. 421.
  20. ↑ Statistisches Jahrbuch für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1960 Bonn 1961 p. 78
  21. ↑ Bundesarchiv Euthanasie" im Nationalsozialismus, bundesarchiv.de; accessed 5 March 2016.(German)
  22. ↑ Frumkin 1951, pp. 58–59.
  23. ↑ "Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) Netherlands" (PDF). Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  24. ↑ Frumkin 1951, p. 44–45.
  25. ↑ Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2013–2014, page 44.
  26. ↑ Frumkin 1951, p. 144.
  27. ↑ "Hvor mange dræbte danskere?". Danish Ministry of Education. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  28. ↑ Frumkin 1951, p. 59.
  29. ↑ Krivosheev 1997.
  30. ↑ "BBC - WW2 People's War - Timeline". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
  31. ↑ "Battle of Stalingrad | History, Summary, Location, Deaths, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2024-06-18. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
  32. ↑ "Battle of Stalingrad | History, Summary, Location, Deaths, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2024-06-18. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
  33. ↑ "1943: the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Kyiv | Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute". kpi.ua. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
  34. ↑ "The liberation of Rome, a big achievement of WW2 that was overshadowed by D-Day". www.forces.net. 2024-06-04. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
  35. ↑ "Axis Alliance in World War II". encyclopedia.ushmm.org. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
  36. ↑ World War Two (2024-04-13), Week 294 - Soviets Take Vienna and Königsberg - WW2 - April 13, 1945, retrieved 2024-12-09
  37. ↑ World War Two (2024-05-04), Week 297 - Allied Victory in Berlin, Italy, and Burma! - WW2 - May 4, 1945, retrieved 2024-12-10
  38. ↑ Beevor 2002, pp. 380, 381.
  39. ↑ On the evening of 1 May, Goebbels arranged for an SS dentist, Helmut Kunz, to inject his six children with morphine so that when they were unconscious, an ampule of a cyanide compound could be then crushed in each of their mouths. [38]
  40. ↑ World War Two (2024-05-04), Week 297 - Allied Victory in Berlin, Italy, and Burma! - WW2 - May 4, 1945, retrieved 2024-11-20
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