Wen | Iron-Blooded King
Cherish peace, we must not forget history, forgetting is tantamount to betrayal.
On May 8, France, Britain, Poland, Germany and other European countries held an event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the victory in World War II and to mourn the soldiers and victims who died in the war.
On May 8, local time, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom delivered a televised speech in which the Queen recalled her experience at the end of World War II and praised the "strength and courage" of the British and Allied armies. "Never give up, never despair – that's the message of Victory Day."
On the same day, German President Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel laid a wreath at the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the War and Tyranny of the German Federal Republic in the center of Berlin. The German president made a speech in which he said that there is no end to remembering history and that it is shameful to deny history. Today, he said, Germany needs to emancipate itself ideologically, resist "hatred, incitement, xenophobia and contempt for democracy", and strengthen cooperation with countries around the world.
The Second World War is the most tragic in human history, the most extensive scope, the largest number of casualties, has 61 countries and regions, more than 2 billion people were involved in the war, according to incomplete statistics, the war military and civilian casualties of more than 90 million people, is the largest world war in human history.
This anti-fascist war was a second global war on the one hand, with the three fascist Axis powers and several vassal states of Nazi Germany, the Empire of Japan and the Kingdom of Italy on one side, and the anti-fascist league and anti-fascist forces of the whole world on the other.
The most tragic battle in human history was born in World War II, that is, the Defense of Stalingrad. The Battle of Stalingrad was the worst strategic defeat suffered by Nazi Germany, ending the offensive situation maintained by the German Southern Cluster since 1941 and directly causing a fundamental change in the overall balance of power between the Soviet Union and Germany.
The battle was also the bloodiest battle in recent history, with casualties estimated at about 2,000,000 people on both sides, and the entire battle lasted for 199 days, because the scale of the battle was too large, the number of casualties could not be accurately counted; the number of 21 German divisions was eliminated from the prologue list; and in honor of the heroic deeds of the Battle of Stalingrad, the city was named "Hero City" in 1945.
In the most intense phase of the battle, the two sides invested more than two million troops, two thousand tanks, more than two thousand three hundred aircraft, and twenty-five thousand artillery and mortars. From July to November 1942, the Germans lost 700,000 officers and men, more than 1,000 tanks, more than 2,000 artillery pieces, and more than 1,400 aircraft.
Among the Soviet troops guarding Stalingrad at that time, there was a saying that we occupied the kitchen, but the living room was still in the hands of the enemy. Most of the time, a soldier lives one day as a squad leader and two days as a platoon leader. Very few people survive five days. At the height of the war, a soldier could not survive more than 24 hours on the battlefield, while an officer had 3 days.
Stalingrad won the victory of the Red Army, but the Soviet Union lost more than the German army, and the German army, which lost the initiative, was gradually destroyed in the subsequent battles.
Who won the Second World War? The "five permanents" born after the war have all been promoted in the United Nations, and of course, they are all countries that paid a heavy price in World War II.
The United States is the biggest winner, there's no doubt about it. The country took advantage of the First World War and won a total victory. Through World War II, it became one of the world's strongest military forces and the richest country in the world, successfully pulling Britain off the altar.
Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Second World War is not only to remember history and commemorate the martyrs, but also to have great and far-reaching practical significance for contemporary society and the future. Let us take history as a mirror, face the future, cherish peace, oppose war, and jointly create a better tomorrow. (The pictures in the text are all source networks, if there is infringement, please contact to delete)