Lim Word - All in order. Win the war

In the evening, the same May 24, 1941, “Bismarck” receives a torpedo on board from one of the seven torpedo bombers “Swordfish”, taking off from the deck of an approaching aircraft carrier. The British are extremely sensitive to the death of the cruiser “Hood” and intend to at all costs get rid of the German battleship. The torpedo hits the main armored belt (145—320 mm.) And does not produce any special action. One sailor perishes. The attack from the air is repeated on May 25, and more successfully. One of two or three torpedoes damages the steering, so the ship begins to describe the circulation (to move forward in a spiral). In this state, “Bismarck” has to take a fight with two battleships, a heavy cruiser and several destroyers. German submarines to help him come do not have time. In the photo – the last minutes of the flaming superlinkor

The roll negatively affects the accuracy of the firing of the Bismarck guns. British shells destroy the main range-post and damage the gun turrets. Then the English heavy cruiser hits the super-ship with three torpedoes. The ship is turned upside down with a keel. Of the 2220 people, 114 are being saved (three are taken by a German submarine coming up). Since then, the German command hides the strike forces of the surface fleet, primarily in the winding Norwegian fjords, and does not give them the opportunity to once again face off against the British. German Kriegsmarines are moving to the tactics of unlimited submarine warfare. If before that, before the ship was flooded, the crew of the submarine was obliged to give the appropriate signals, and to wait for the sailors to transfer to the boats, now such tenderness is no longer there. Photo – the surviving sailors of the Bismarck board aboard the British ship

The Prime Minister of Yugoslavia signs a protocol on the accession of his country to the Tripartite Pact, March 25, 1941. On the same day, in Belgrade, an 80,000-strong demonstration against the alliance with Germany is taking place, marking, among other things, the defeat of the German Information Bureau. A new government is being formed, on April 5 the USSR and Yugoslavia are signing a treaty of friendship and non-aggression. These events Hitler views as an excuse for an invasion. And, on April 6, the armed forces of Germany, Italy, Hungary enter Yugoslavia. Stalin does not hasten to render assistance, in accordance with the concluded agreement. On Belgrade, 2,000 tons of bombs fall, and on April 16 the Yugoslav army surrenders. About 344 000 people are taken prisoner (Croatians, Hungarians and Germans – Volksdeutsche are later released). Irreversible losses: Germany 165 people, 40 aircraft, 3 tanks. Italy 3300 people, 13 aircraft, 11 tankettes. Hungary 130 people, 1 airplane. Yugoslavia: 5,000 military, 57 downed, 150 aircraft destroyed on the ground. In the photo, the Yugoslavs are celebrating the signing of an agreement on friendship with the USSR, April 5, 1941.

talian bersaliers (arrows of elite units) on the street of the Serbian city, April 1941.

For some political reasons, the seizure of Yugoslavia prompts Hitler to render more effective assistance to his Italian allies. And, on April 6, 1941, from the territory of Bulgaria, German troops invade Greece. Athens is captured on April 27, after another three days Greece will capitulate. A month later, the Wehrmacht invaded the island of Crete, considered primarily as an airfield for control of the Luftwaffe in the Mediterranean. In the photo – coastal Greek city after shelling with artillery of the Wehrmacht. April 1941

The brave but poorly armed Greek soldiers are preparing to meet the German troops. April 1941, Greece

The large losses of paratroopers do not allow further operations to be carried out to capture Cyprus and the Suez Canal immediately. Losses of Greece: 14,000 killed, allies 900, with 14,000 prisoners, the Wehrmacht 1,450 killed, Italy – about 20,000 people. It is believed that the need to seize Yugoslavia, as well as the stubborn resistance of Greece, delayed the beginning of the invasion of the USSR from May 15, 1941 to June 22, and these five weeks had a decisive effect on the course of the entire war. It seems that Serbia has returned the debt of Russia, since 1914. In the photo – German soldiers deploy a Nazi flag near the Athenian Acropolis. April-May 1941

In the Battle of Crete (May 20—31, 1941) the decisive force is the German paratroopers. On both sides perish about 5 thousand people. More than 5 thousand Greeks and 12 thousand allies (Englishmen, New Zealanders, Australians) are taken prisoner. The operation as a whole is successful, but since then the German command has refused to practice large parachute assault forces. Such a decision by Hitler allows Britain to retain the strategically important island of Malta

Count the forces of the warring parties. The population of the Soviet Union according to the results of the 1939 census is 170 million. It should be borne in mind that the leaders of the 1937 census, who showed the result of “only” 162 million for “undercounting” of the population, were shot. In 1940, territories with a population of 18 million people were annexed to the USSR, though not always loyal to the new system, having a different mentality. We assume that the results of the “shot” population census are the only correct ones, then by 1941 the population of the colossal state was 180 million people. The Third Reich, 1941, ie, Germany, Austria, the Sudetenland and some other territories inhabited by ethnic Germans subject to conscription – 90 million people. Hungary – 9.3 million (there were 800,000 Hungarians killed on the Eastern Front), Romania – 20 million (453,000 people died). These two countries are the unconditional allies of Germany, whose human reserves it could dispose of as its own. The contingent of volunteers in 64 thousand was allocated by 44 million Italy (during the war years the corps was renewed several times, 374 thousand were killed), and 25 million Spain – 18 thousand hours (irretrievable losses of 15 thousand). Slovakia – 36 thousand hours, 3 thousand people died, Croatia 2,200 people, the number of dead is unknown, Finland – about 300,000 people, losses of 70,000 (against 108,000 Soviet losses on this front, including 18,000 people killed in captivity)Wehrmacht also owned resources, the industry of France, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Poland, Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and the Czech Republic. German soldiers on the border with the Soviet Union conduct reconnaissance, June 21, 1941 Left – 20 mm. automatic anti-aircraft gun 2 cm FlaK 30, to the right – an early-release T-4 tank, with short-barreled 75 mm. tool