WWII – 1942
January 1st of 1942 was not only a major day in the Second World War, but it also proved to have a lasting effect on the future of the entire world. At the Arcadia Conference, twenty-six allied countries signed the Declaration by the United Nations, which is the basis for the modern United Nations. The Germans were quick to hear of this, and did not hesitate to act. Just two weeks after the Declaration was signed, the Germans set up a U-boat offensive along the east coast of the United States.
Even with their involvement in the US, Germany did not let their attention wane from their plans to exterminate the Jews within German territories and surrounding territories. Just one week after they began their U-boat offensive in the US, they met at the Wannsee Conference to discuss the “final solution” in regards to the fate of the Jews. Only five months later, the Germans began the mass murder of Jews by gassing at Auschwitz.
In the midst of the chaos, the Americans were very preoccupied with different events taking place in their own borders. In April (approximately four and a half months after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor), the government began to send Japanese-Americans to relocation centers. These relocation centers were not meant to act as labor camps or concentration camps (although it is rumored that some did), but rather just as a precaution in the event that the Japanese had spies or the like working inside US borders.
German-Soviet hostilities reached their peak in early June, when the Germans besieged Sevastopol, a significant naval base for the Soviet Union. Just one month later, partly due to the presence of the Germans, Soviet resistance in Crimea ended, and the Germans were quick to move in their attempts to infiltrate the Soviet Union and particularly Stalingrad. While managing their foreign affairs, the Germans continued to cause destruction and devastation in the lives of thousands of Jews. In late July, the Nazis began transporting Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to concentration camps. Not only did prisoners die during their period at the concentration camps, but many died on their marches to the camps due to malnutrition and disease.
In mid-August, the Americans made their first major strike in the World War. They launched their first air-attack in Europe. However, attacks in Europe didn’t stop there. Just one week later, there was a massive German air raid on Stalingrad, and the Battle of Stalingrad began three weeks later. It appeared the Germans were showing no mercy and would do whatever it took to achieve their goals. This shone through when Hitler ordered the execution of any and all captured British commanders.
Much like 1941, war continued to rage in the neighboring African continent. In early November, the United States launched Operation Torch. Operation Torch was an allied American-British invasion of French North Africa in efforts to completely clear Axis powers from the African continent. This would improve Allies naval control in the Mediterranean, which would allow for an easier invasion in to Southern Europe.
The remainder of 1942 was bloody, with the Battle of Stalingrad continuing to rage on. How the Germans handled that battle along with the impending American-British invasion of Southern Europe could very well have determined the outcome of WWII.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/ww2time.htm
