Chuyên mục: World War II

Watch The British-Soviet Invasion of Iran (1941)

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The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran (Operation Countenance) occurred in August 1941, during World War II.

The invasion was carried out jointly by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, aiming primarily to secure Iranian territory against Axis influence and protect critical supply routes.

Here’s a comprehensive overview:

Lead-Up and Reasons

Strategic Importance:

  • Iran had a strategically critical position, particularly as a transportation corridor between the Allies and the Soviet Union.
  • Iranian infrastructure, notably the Trans-Iranian Railway, offered a route for delivering vital supplies from the Allies (mostly Britain and the U.S.) to the USSR following Germany’s invasion (Operation Barbarossa) in June 1941.

Iranian Position and Axis Influence:

  • Although officially neutral, the Iranian ruler Reza Shah Pahlavi sympathized with Germany, partially due to historical rivalry with Britain and Russia.
  • Germany had established substantial diplomatic and commercial influence in Iran, with many German nationals working in strategic industries, raising fears of espionage and sabotage among the Allies.

Diplomatic Tensions:

  • Britain and the Soviet Union demanded Iran expel German nationals perceived as threats; Iran hesitated or refused, increasing Allied suspicions and tension.

Invasion: Operation Countenance

Date and Execution:

Began on August 25, 1941, when British forces advanced from the south and west, while Soviet forces attacked from the north.

Rapid military operations overwhelmed Iran’s defenses, which were relatively weak and poorly equipped compared to the invading powers.

Key Events:

  • British forces captured key oil fields in Khuzestan (Abadan), securing critical petroleum resources.
  • Soviet troops quickly took control of northern provinces, including major cities such as Tabriz and Mashhad.
  • Air and naval superiority allowed quick suppression of Iranian resistance.

Iranian Response: The Iranian army, despite fighting briefly in several locations, was rapidly overwhelmed, with significant casualties but limited overall resistance.

Tehran quickly realized the futility of resistance and began negotiations.

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Lessons of Second World War Must Continue to Guide United Nations Work, General Assembly Told During Meeting Marking Seventieth Anniversary

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UN.org SIXTY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 5 MAY 2015

Several Speakers Call for Security Council Reform to Address Present Challenges

The lessons of World War II — on whose ashes the United Nations was founded — must continue to guide the Organization’s work, even as it adapted to meet the evolving challenges of the modern world, delegates commemorating the seventieth anniversary of the end of the war told the General Assembly today.

“We must never forget the international community’s responsibility to stand up to tyrants, despots and all those that attempt to suppress the enduring nature of the human spirit,” said Sam Kutesa (Uganda), Assembly President.  Having survived the catastrophe of the Second World War, humankind sought to embrace new means to prevent the recurrence of such tragic events.

To that end, he said, the Organization was established to ensure unity and harmony among nations.  As envisaged in the United Nations Charter, it was founded to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”.  Over the last seven decades, the war had not only shaped the Organization’s mission, but its lessons continued to guide its work around the world.

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Where The Wind Blew

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springfilms.

WHERE THE WIND BLEW tells the story of how the Cold War super powers, in their race to develop more and more deadly bombs, spent forty years developing weapons capable of wiping out entire nations, while sacrificing their own vulnerable populations in the name of national security.

Using archive and testimony from both those affected and those participating in these escalating events, Where the Wind Blew shows not only how ordinary people were allowed to suffer in ignorance, but also how, with personal fortitude and courage they defied their governments. They helped change the course of history by joining forces, first nationally, then across the world to finally triumph against the testing of nuclear weapons. Kazakhstan became, in 1989, the first nation to close its test site, leading the way to an international test ban treaty. Tiếp tục đọc “Where The Wind Blew” →

Bản đồ “nỗi khiếp sợ và điên cuồng của vũ khí hạt nhân” – 2053 vụ nổ bom nguyên tử trong lịch sử từ năm 1945 – 1998

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Nghệ sĩ người Nhật Isao Hashimoto đã làm nên một bản đồ thời gian thật đẹp, một sự thật đáng sợ không thể phủ nhận của 2053 vụ nổ hạt nhân năm xảy ra từ năm 1945 và đến 1998, bắt đầu với thử nghiệm “Trinity” của dự án Manhattan gần Los Alamos và kết thúc với thử nghiệmhạt nhân của Pakistan vào tháng 5 năm 1998. Bản đồ này thiếy 2 vụ thử nghiệm hạt nhân của Bắc Triều Tiên trong thập niên vừa qua (do tính hợp pháp của hai vụ này chưa rõ ràng 100%).

Trong bản đồ, mỗi quốc gia đều có một đốm sáng và một chấm nhấp nháy trên bản đồ bất cứ khi nào có một vụ nổ vũ khí hạt nhân, với một thanh chạy trên cùng và dưới cùng của màn hình. Hashimoto, bắt đầu dự án vào năm 2003, nói rằng ông đã tạo ra nó với mục tiêu cho thấy “nỗi khiếp sợ và điên cuồng của vũ khí hạt nhân”. Bản đồ bắt đầu rất chậm – nếu bạn muốn xem hành động thực sự, hãy bỏ qua trước năm 1962 hoặc lâu hơn nữa – nhưng sự tích lũy trở nên quá tải.

A Time-Lapse Map of Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945 – by Isao Hashimoto

Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto has created a beautiful, undeniably scary time-lapse map of the 2053 nuclear explosions which have taken place between 1945 and 1998, beginning with the Manhattan Project’s “Trinity” test near Los Alamos and concluding with Pakistan’s nuclear tests in May of 1998. This leaves out North Korea’s two alleged nuclear tests in this past decade (the legitimacy of both of which is not 100% clear).

Each nation gets a blip and a flashing dot on the map whenever they detonate a nuclear weapon, with a running tally kept on the top and bottom bars of the screen. Hashimoto, who began the project in 2003, says that he created it with the goal of showing”the fear and folly of nuclear weapons.” It starts really slow — if you want to see real action, skip ahead to 1962 or so — but the buildup becomes overwhelming.

 

World War II started in 1937 in Asia, not 1939 in Europe, says Oxford historian

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Professor Rana Mitter tells Conversation With why the war began with Japan’s conflict with China, not when Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the date most history books use.

Historian and political scientist, Rana Mitter.

OXFORD – Many history texts use 1939 as the date marking the start of the Second World War. More America-centric accounts use 1941, the year Japan attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

However, using recently-released documentation, Oxford University professor of history Rana Mitter argues that the real start of the global conflict was 1937 – when Japan attacked China in what has been called the Marco Polo Bridge incident, outside of Beijing.

Prof Mitter’s book, The Forgotten Ally, points out that the terrible eight-year-long conflict took a massive toll on China, with more than 14 million Chinese dead.

By comparison, military and civilian casualties for the US and United Kingdom combined totaled around 900,000. Tiếp tục đọc “World War II started in 1937 in Asia, not 1939 in Europe, says Oxford historian” →