Daniel Orr's Blog, page 52

August 25, 1991 – Croatian War of Independence: The start of the 87-day Battle of Vukovar

On August 25, 1991, some 36,000 troops of the Yugoslav Army,aided by Serb paramilitaries, launched an attack against the light-armed 1,800Croatian National Guard fighters in Vukovar in eastern Croatia. Supported by air, armor,and artillery units, the Yugoslav-Serb forces broke through on November 18,1991 after an 87-day siege and battle. Vukovar was subjected to intense shelland rocket bombardment and was completely destroyed. For the Yugoslav Army, thebattle was won at great cost, incurring 1,100 killed and 2,500 wounded,including the loss of 110 tanks and armoured vehicles and 3 planes. Croatiancasualties were 900 killed and 800 wounded. Some 1,100 civilians also perished.

In the aftermath, several hundred Croatian soldiers andcivilians were executed, and 20,000 residents comprising the non-Serbpopulation were expelled from the town. Vukovar was thereafter annexed into theself-declared Republic of Serbian Krajina.

(Taken from Croatian War of Independence – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 2)

Background of theCroatian War of Independence By the late1980s, Yugoslavia was facedwith a major political crisis, as separatist aspirations among its ethnicpopulations threatened to undermine the country’s integrity (see “Yugoslavia”,separate article).  Nationalismparticularly was strong in Croatiaand Slovenia,the two westernmost and wealthiest Yugoslav republics.  In January 1990, delegates from Slovenia and Croatia walked out from an assemblyof the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the country’s communist party, overdisagreements with their Serbian counterparts regarding proposed reforms to theparty and the central government.  Thenin the first multi-party elections in Croatiaheld in April and May 1990, Franjo Tudjman became president after running acampaign that promised greater autonomy for Croatiaand a reduced political union with Yugoslavia.

Ethnic Croatians, who comprised 78% of Croatia’s population, overwhelmingly supportedTudjman, because they were concerned that Yugoslavia’snational government gradually had fallen under the control of Serbia, Yugoslavia’s largest and mostpowerful republic, and led by hard-line President Slobodan Milosevic.  In May 1990, a new Croatian Parliament wasformed and subsequently prepared a new constitution.  The constitution was subsequently passed inDecember 1990.  Then in a referendum heldin May 1991 with Croatian Serbs refusing to participate, Croatians votedoverwhelmingly in support of independence. On June 25, 1991, Croatia,together with Slovenia,declared independence.

Croatian Serbs (ethnic Serbs who are native to Croatia) numbered nearly 600,000, or 12% of Croatia’stotal population, and formed the second largest ethnic group in therepublic.  As Croatiaincreasingly drifted toward political separation from Yugoslavia, the Croatian Serbsbecame alarmed at the thought that the new Croatian government would carry outpersecutions, even a genocidal pogrom against Serbs, just as the pro-Naziultra-nationalist Croatian Ustashe government had done to the Serbs, Jews, andGypsies during World War II.  As aresult, Croatian Serbs began to militarize, with the formation of militias aswell as the arrival of armed groups from Serbia.

Croatian Serbs formed a population majority in south-west Croatia(northern Dalmatian and Lika).  There, inFebruary 1990, they formed the Serb Democratic Party, which aimed for thepolitical and territorial integration of Serb-dominated lands in Croatia with Serbiaand Yugoslavia.  They declared that if Croatia wanted to secede from Yugoslavia, they, in turn, should be allowed toseparate from Croatia.  Serbs also interpreted the change in theirstatus in the new Croatian constitution as diminishing their civil rights.  In turn, the Croatian government opposed theCroatian Serb secession and was determined to keep the republic’s territorialintegrity.

In July 1990, a Croatian Serb Assembly was formed thatcalled for Serbian sovereignty and autonomy. In December, Croatian Serbs established the SAO Krajina (SAO is theacronym for Serbian Autonomous Oblast) as a separate government from Croatia in the regions of northern Dalmatia and Lika. Croatian Serbs formed a majority population in two other regions in Croatia, which they also transformed intoseparate political administrations called SAO Western Slavonia, and SAO EasternSlavonia (officially SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Syrmia).  (Map 17 showslocations in Croatiawhere ethnic Serbs formed a majority population.) In a referendum held inAugust 1990 in SAO Krajina, Croatian Serbs voted overwhelmingly (99.7%) forSerbian “sovereignty and autonomy”.  Thenafter a second referendum held in March 1991 where Croatian Serbs votedunanimously (99.8%) to merge SAO Krajina with Serbia, the Krajina governmentdeclared that “… SAO Krajina is a constitutive part of the unified stateterritory of the Republic of Serbia”.

August 24, 1941 – World War II: Hitler halts the T4 euthanasia program of the mentally and physically ill

On August 24, 1941, Adolf Hitler ordered the discontinuationof the T4 euthanasia program of the mentally and physically ill in response toprotests in Germanyled by the Bishop of Munster, Clemens von Galen. Pope Pius XII had earlierdenounced the program, stating in December 1940 it violated Divine law and thatthe “killing of an innocent person because of mental or physical defects is notallowed”. Despite the official stoppage in August 1941, the euthanasia programsecretly continued until Germany’sdefeat in 1945. It was launched in September 1939.

T4 (later given the name “Aktion T4” after the war) was NaziGermany’s program of mass killing of the severely mentally and physically illpeople in psychiatric hospitals in Germany and occupied territories, Austria,Poland, and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (present-day CzechRepublic). The reasons for its implementation were eugenics, reduce suffering,racial purification, and cost savings for the government.

In the latter stages, patients were killed en masse withcyanide poison in gas chambers.

(Taken from Wars of the 20th Century – World War II in Europe)

Genocide and slavelabor Because of the failure of Operation Barbarossa and succeedingcampaigns, Germanywas unable to implement the planned mass-scale transfer of targeted populationsto the Russian interior.  Elimination ofthe undesired populations began almost immediately following the outbreak ofwar, with the conquest of Poland.  The killing of hundreds of thousands ofcivilians occurred in hundreds of incidents of massacres and mass shootings intowns and villages, reprisals against attacks on German troops, scorched earthoperations, civilians trapped in the cross-fire, concentration camps, etc.

By far, the most famous extermination program was theHolocaust, where six million Jews, or 60% of the nine million pre-war EuropeanJewish population, were killed in the period 1941-1945.  German anti-Jewish policies began in theNuremberg Laws of 1935, and violent repression of Jews increased at theoutbreak of war.  Jews were rounded upand confined to guarded ghettos, and then sent by freight trains toconcentration and labor camps.  Bymid-1942, under the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question” decree, Jews weretransported to extermination camps, where they were killed in gaschambers.  Some 90% of Holocaust victimswere Jews.  Other similar exterminationsand repressions were carried out against ethnic Russians, Ukrainians, Poles,and other Slavs and Romani (gypsies), as well as communists and other politicalenemies, homosexuals, Freemasons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses.  In Germany itself, a clandestineprogram implemented by German public health authorities under Hitler’s orders,killed tens of thousands of mentally and physically disabled patients,purportedly under euthanasia (“mercy killing”) procedures, which actuallyinvolved sending patients to gas chambers, applying lethal doses of medication,and through starvation.

Some 12-15 million slave laborers, mostly civilians fromcaptured territories in Eastern Europe, were rounded up to work in Germany,particularly in munitions factories and agriculture, to ease German laborshortage caused by the millions of German men fighting in the various frontsand also because Nazi policy discouraged German women from working in industry.  Some 5.7 million Soviet POWs also were usedas slave labor.  As well, two millionFrench Army prisoners were sent to labor camps in Germany,mainly to prevent the formation of organized resistance in France and for them to serve as hostages to ensurecontinued compliance by the Vichygovernment.  Some 600,000 Frenchcivilians also were conscripted or volunteered to work in German plants.  Living and working conditions for the slavelaborers were extremely dire, particularly for those from Eastern Europe.  Some 60% (3.6million of the 5.7 million) of Soviet POWs died in captivity from variouscauses: summary executions, physical abuse, diseases, starvation diets, extremework, etc.

August 23, 1942 – World War II: German and Soviet forces begin the five-month Battle of Stalingrad

On August 10, 1942, German 6thArmy had moved to the west bank of the Don, although strong Soviet resistancepersisted in the north.  On August 22,German forces established bridgeheads across the Don, which was crossed thenext day, with panzers and mobile spearheads advancing across the remaining 36miles of flat plains to Stalingrad.  On August 23, German 14th PanzerDivision reached the Volga River north of Stalingradand fought off Soviet counter-attacks, while the Luftwaffe began a bombingblitz of the city that would continue through to the height of the battle, whenmost of the buildings would be destroyed and the city turned to rubble.

(Taken from Invasion of the Soviet Union – Wars of the 20th Century – World War II in Europe: Vol. 6)

Battle of Stalingrad Meanwhile to the north, German ArmyGroup B, tasked with capturing Stalingrad and securing the Volga, began itsadvance to the Don River on July 23,1942.  The German advance was stalled byfierce resistance, as the delays of the previous weeks had allowed the Sovietsto fortify their defenses.  By then, theGerman intent was clear to Stalin and the Soviet High Command, which thenreorganized Red Army forces in the Stalingradsector and rushed reinforcements to the defense of the Don.  Not only was German Army Group B delayed bythe Soviets that had began to launch counter-attacks in the Axis’ northernflank (which were held by Italian and Hungarian armies), but also byover-extended supply lines and poor road conditions.

On August 10, 1942, German 6thArmy had moved to the west bank of the Don, although strong Soviet resistancepersisted in the north.  On August 22,German forces established bridgeheads across the Don, which was crossed thenext day, with panzers and mobile spearheads advancing across the remaining 36miles of flat plains to Stalingrad.  On August 23, German 14th PanzerDivision reached the Volga River north of Stalingradand fought off Soviet counter-attacks, while the Luftwaffe began a bombingblitz of the city that would continue through to the height of the battle, whenmost of the buildings would be destroyed and the city turned to rubble.

On August 29, 1942, twoSoviet armies (the 62nd and 64th) barely escaped beingencircled by the German 4th Panzer Army and armored units of German6th Army, both escaping to Stalingrad and ensuring that the battlefor the city would be long, bloody, and difficult.

On September 12, 1942, Germanforces entered Stalingrad, starting what wouldbe a four-month long battle.  Frommid-September to early November, the Germans, confident of victory, launchedthree major attacks to overwhelm all resistance, which gradually pushed backthe Soviets east toward the banks of the Volga.

By contrast, the Sovietssuffered from low morale, but were compelled to fight, since they had no optionto retreat beyond the Volga because ofStalin’s “Not one step back!” order. Stalin also (initially) refused to allow civilians to be evacuated,stating that “soldiers fight better for an alive city than for a deadone”.  He would later allow civilianevacuation after being advised by his top generals.

Soviet artillery from acrossthe Volga and cross-river attempts to bring inRed Army reinforcements were suppressed by the Luftwaffe, which controlled thesky over the battlefield.  Even then,Soviet troops and supplies continued to reach Stalingrad,enough to keep up resistance.  The ruinsof the city turned into a great defensive asset, as Soviet troops cleverly usedthe rubble and battered buildings as concealed strong points, traps, andkilling zones.  To negate the Germans’air superiority, Red Army units were ordered to keep the fighting lines closeto the Germans, to deter the Luftwaffe from attacking and inadvertently causingfriendly fire casualties to its own forces.

The battle for Stalingrad turned into one of history’s fiercest,harshest, and bloodiest struggles for survival, the intense close-quartercombat being fought building-to-building and floor-to-floor, and in cellars andbasements, and even in the sewers. Surprise encounters in such close distances sometimes turned intohand-to-hand combat using knives and bayonets.

By mid-November 1942, theGermans controlled 90% of the city, and had pushed back the Soviets to a smallpocket with four shallow bridgeheads some 200 yards from the Volga.  By then, most of German 6th Armywas locked in combat in the city, while its outer flanks had become dangerouslyvulnerable, as they were protected only by the weak armies of its Axispartners, the Romanians, Italians, and Hungarians.  Two weeks earlier, Hitler, believingStalingrad’s capture was assured, redeployed a large part of the Luftwaffe tothe fighting in North Africa.

Unbeknown to the Germans, inthe previous months, the Soviet High Command had been sending large numbers ofRed Army formations to the north and southeast of Stalingrad.  While only intending to use these units insporadic counter-attacks in support of Stalingrad, by November 1942, Stalin andhis top generals had reorganized these forces for a major counter-offensivecodenamed Operation Uranus involving an enormous force of 1.1 million troops,1,000 tanks, 14,000 artillery pieces, and 1,300 planes, aimed at cutting offand encircling German 6th Army and units of 7th PanzerArmy in Stalingrad.  German intelligencehad detected the Soviet buildup, but Hitler ignored the warning of his generalstaff, as by now he was firmly set on taking Stalingradat all costs.

On November 19, 1942, theSoviet High Command launched Operation Uranus, a double envelopment maneuver,with the Soviet Southwestern Front attacking the Axis northern flank held bythe Romanian 3rd Army.  Thenext day, the Soviet Stalingrad Front thrust from the south of the Axis flank,with the brunt of the attack falling on Romanian 4th Army. The twoRomanian Armies, lacking sufficient anti-tank weapons and supported only with100 obsolete tanks, were overwhelmed by sheer numbers, and on November 22, thetwo arms of the Soviet pincers linked up at Kalach.  German 6th Army, elements of 4thPanzer Army, and remnants of the Romanian armies, comprising some250,000-300,000 troops, were trapped in a giant pocket in Stalingrad.

The German High Command askedHitler to allow the trapped forces to make a break out, which was refused.  Also on many occasions, General FriedrichPaulus, commander of German 6th Army, made similar appeals toHitler, but was turned down.  Instead, onNovember 24, 1942, Hitler advised General Paulus to hold his position at Stalingrad until reinforcements could be sent or a newGerman offensive could break the encirclement. In the meantime, the trapped forces would be supplied from the air.  Hitler had been assured by Luftwaffe chiefHermann Goering that the 700 tons/day required at Stalingradcould be delivered with German transport planes.  However, the Luftwaffe was unable to deliverthe needed amount, despite the addition of more transports for the operation,and the trapped forces in Stalingrad soonexperienced dwindling supplies of food, medical supplies, and ammunition.  With the onset of winter and the temperaturedropping to –30°C (–22°F), an increasing number of Axis troops, yet withoutadequate winter clothing, suffered from frostbite.  At this time also, the Soviet air force hadbegan to achieve technological and combat parity with the Luftwaffe,challenging it for control of the skies and shooting down increasing numbers ofGerman planes.

Meanwhile, the Red Armystrengthened the cordon around Stalingrad, and launched a series of attacksthat slowly pushed the trapped forces to an ever-shrinking perimeter in an areajust west of Stalingrad.

In early December 1942,General Erich von Manstein, commander of the newly formed German Army GroupDon, which was tasked with securing the gap between German Army Groups A and B,was ready to launch a relief operation to Stalingrad.  Began on December 12 under Operation WinterStorm, German Army Group Don succeeded in punching a hold in the Soviet ringand advanced rapidly, pushing aside surprised Red Army units, and came towithin 30 miles of Stalingrad on December 19. Through an officer that was sent to Stalingrad,General Manstein asked General Paulus to make a break out towards Army GroupDon; he also sent communication to Hitler to allow the trapped forces to breakout.  Hitler and General Paulus bothrefused.  General Paulus cited the lackof trucks and fuel and the poor state of his troops to attempt a break out, andthat his continued hold on Stalingrad would tie down large numbers of Sovietforces which would allow German Army Group A to retreat from the Caucasus.

August 22, 1978 – Nicaraguan Revolution: Sandinista rebels seize the national palace

On August 22, 1978, Sandinista fighters seized Nicaragua’sNational Legislature and took hostage hundreds of lawmakers and high-rankinggovernment officials.  Once again, President Anastacioo Somoza was forcedto negotiate and then yield to the rebels’ demands that included paying a bigransom for the hostages’ release and freeing more political prisoners.

(Taken from Nicaraguan Revolution and Counter-Revolution – Wars of the 20th Century: Vol. 1)

Nicaraguan Revolution In 1961, the revolutionary movement calledthe Sandinista National Liberation Front was formed in Nicaragua withtwo main objectives: to end the U.S.-backed Somoza regime, and establish asocialist government in the country.  The movement and its members, whowere called Sandinistas, took their name and ideals from Augusto Sandino, a Nicaraguan rebel fighter of the 1930s, whofought a guerilla war against the American forces that had invaded and occupiedNicaragua. Sandino also wanted to end the Nicaraguan wealthy elite’s stranglehold onsociety.  He advocated for social justice and economic equality for allNicaraguans.

By the late 1970s, Nicaragua had been ruled for overforty years by the Somoza family in a dynastic-type succession that had begunin the 1930s.  In 1936, Anastacio Somoza seizedpower in Nicaraguaand gained total control of all aspects of the government.  Officially, hewas the country’s president, but ruled as a dictator.  Over time,President Somoza accumulated great wealth and owned the biggest landholdings inthe country.  His many personal and family businesses extended into theshipping and airlines industries, agricultural plantations and cattle ranches,sugar mills, and wine manufacturing.  President Somoza took bribes fromforeign corporations that he had granted mining concessions in the country, andalso benefited from local illicit operations such as unregistered gambling,organized prostitution, and illegal wine production.

President Somoza suppressed all forms of opposition withthe use of the National Guard, Nicaragua’spolice force, which had turned the country into a militarized state. President Somoza was staunchly anti-communist and received strong military andfinancial support from the United States,which was willing to take Nicaragua’srepressive government as an ally in the ongoing Cold War.

In 1956, President Somoza was assassinated and wassucceeded by his son, Luis, who also ruled as a dictator until his own death byheart failure in 1967.  In turn, Luis was succeeded by his youngerbrother, Anastacio Somoza, who had the same first name as their father. As Nicaragua’snew head of state, President Somoza outright established a harsh regime muchlike his father had in the 1930s.  Consequently, the Sandinistasintensified their militant activities in the rural areas, mainly in northern Nicaragua. Small bands of Sandinistas carried out guerilla operations, such as raidingisolated army outposts and destroying government facilities.

By the early 1970s, the Sandinistas comprised only a smallmilitia in contrast to Nicaragua’sU.S.-backed National Guard.  The Sandinistas struck great fear onPresident Somoza, however, because of the rebels’ symbolic association toSandino.  President Somoza wanted to destroy the Sandinistas with apassion that bordered on paranoia.  He ordered his forces to the countrysideto hunt down and kill Sandinistas.  These military operations greatlyaffected the rural population, however, who began to fear as well as hate thegovernment.

The end of the Somoza regime began in 1972 when a powerfulearthquake hit Managua, Nicaragua’scapital.  The destruction resulting from the earthquake caused 5,000 humandeaths and 20,000 wounded, and left half a million people homeless (nearly halfof Managua’s population).  Managua was devastated almost completely,cutting off all government services.  In the midst of the destruction,however, President Somoza diverted the international relief money to hispersonal bank account, greatly reducing the government’s meagerresources.  Consequently, thousands of people were deprived of food, clothing,and shelter.

Business owners in Managua also were affected by theearthquake and railed at the government’s corruption and ineptitude to dealwith the tragedy.  Consequently, many businesses closed, causing manyworkers to lose their jobs and worsen the country’s dire unemploymentsituation.  Nicaragua’s political opposition, which formed a broadspectrum from the far left to the moderate right, became much more vocal in itscriticism of the government.  For the opposition, the Sandinistas’ overthrowof President Somoza did not seem as repugnant as before.

In December 1974, Sandinista rebels took hostage a numberof high-ranking government officials, including some of President Somoza’srelatives.  After negotiations were held between the government and therebels, President Somoza agreed to pay a large ransom for the hostages’release.  Furthermore, President Somoza was forced to free a number ofjailed Sandinistas.  The success of the hostage taking greatly raised thepeople’s perception of the Sandinistas and also shattered the purportedinvincibility of President Somoza.

President Somoza retaliated by imposing a state of siegeacross the country.  He ordered the National Guard to conduct a campaignof terror in the countryside.  Consequently, the military committed manyatrocities against rural civilians.  As Nicaragua’s human rights situationdeteriorated, U.S. president Jimmy Carter exerteddiplomatic pressure on the Somoza regime.  With President Somozacontinuing his repressive policies, however, the U.S. government suspendedmilitary assistance to Nicaragua in February 1978.

Later in the year, Sandinista fighters seized Nicaragua’sNational Legislature and took hostage hundreds of lawmakers and high-rankinggovernment officials.  Once again, President Somoza was forced tonegotiate and then yield to the rebels’ demands that included paying a bigransom for the hostages’ release and freeing more political prisoners.

Nicaragua’s opposition parties united and tried tonegotiate with the national government.  By the end of 1978, however,President Somoza’s intransigence had led many in the political opposition tolose hope for a peaceful solution to the country’s political crisis.

In early 1979, the Sandinistas succeeded in reunitingrival factions after experiencing a power struggle that nearly broke theorganization.  The Sandinistas formed an alliance with and subsequentlyled a coalition of opposition parties that included communists, socialists,Liberals, Conservatives, and centrists.

The Sandinistas received weapons from Cuba, Venezuela, andPanama.  Then in March 1977, from their bases in northern Nicaragua and inCosta Rica, the Sandinistas launched more potent attacks against National Guardunits (Map 24).  By early June 1979, the Sandinistas had captured thewhole northern section of the country.  On June 16, the strategic city of Leonfell to the rebels.  On June 20, the United States broke off diplomaticrelations with the Somoza regime following the brazen killing of an Americannews reporter by a Nicaraguan soldier.  The assault on the Americanjournalist was caught on live TV, generating outrage and condemnation from theAmerican people.

August 21, 1942 – World War II: German troops plant the German flag atop Mount Elbrus, the highest peak of the Caucasus mountain range

German commandos reached Grozny one day earlier,but were unable to prevent the retreating Red Army from destroying the oilinstallations, which German engineers later estimated would take one year toreturn to service.  Mount Elbrus, the 18,000-foot highest peak of the Caucasus,also was reached, this “stunt” as Hitler called it so infuriating him that hethreatened to court martial the commander of the German 1st MountainDivision who had authorized the climb.

(Taken from Invasion of the Soviet Union – Wars of the 20th Century – World War II in Europe: Vol. 6)

Caucasus OnJuly 25, 1942, German Army Group A crossed the lower Don and then spread out andadvanced south in a 120-mile front from the Sea of Azov to Zymlianskaya,meeting only light resistance from rear guards of the Soviet SouthernFront.  By this time, the Red Army hadbecome wary from again being caught up in the Wehrmacht’s encirclement strategythat had annihilated many Soviet armies in the previous year.

In late July 1942, theGermans cut the rail line linking the Caucasus to central Russia, which soalarmed Stalin that he issued Order 227, which contained the famous “Not onestep back!” command to Soviet forces to hold all current frontlines, and whichlater contributed to the outcome in the battle for Stalingrad.

However, in southern Russia,German Army Group A made rapid progress, taking Salsk on July 31, Stavropol onAugust 5, and Maikop on August 9, by then reaching the northern foothills ofthe Caucasus Mountains, some 300 miles from its starting point in just twoweeks.  German commandos reached Grozny one day earlier,but were unable to prevent the retreating Red Army from destroying the oilinstallations, which German engineers later estimated would take one year toreturn to service.  Mount Elbrus, the 18,000-foot highest peak of the Caucasus,also was reached, this “stunt” as Hitler called it so infuriating him that hethreatened to court martial the commander of the German 1st MountainDivision who had authorized the climb.

By early September 1942, theGerman 11th and 17th Armies and Romanian 3rdArmy, advancing along the Black Sea coast, had captured the Taman Peninsulaand the Soviet naval bases there, including Novorossiyk, but attempts toadvance further south to Tuapse met increasingly strong resistance.  In the east, German 1st PanzerArmy took Elista on August 13 and Mozdok on August 25.  But operations aimed at Astrakhanin the east and Groznyand its oil fields in the south failed to make major progress.  Nalchik wastaken on October 28 and Alagir on November 5, marking the farthest Germanadvances in the Caucasus.

All through its drive to the Caucasus, German Army Group A had experienced severelogistical difficulties from the rail and road supply systems, and sometimeswere forced to abandon its equipment and resource-heavy tanks to continue theadvance.  The Luftwaffe often took on theresponsibility of delivering much needed petroleum and supplies to the mostadvanced units.  But German planessupporting the Caucasus campaign soon were redeployed in the increasinglyfierce battle for Stalingrad.  The Soviet Air Force brought in 800 bombers,and with the Luftwaffe withdrawing from the Caucasus,this allowed the Soviet planes to gain control of the sky.  Furthermore, by November 1942, snow had beganto fall and temperatures dropped, signaling the approach of winter, whichpractically ended the prospect of the Axis crossing the remaining 700-miledistance of the Caucasus to oil-rich Baku at the other end against Sovietforces that were dug in along the mountain passes.

By November 1942, Hitlerconceded that the campaign to capture Baku couldnot be achieved before winter set in, and as he and the German High Commandwere by now fully engrossed in the Stalingradbattle, on November 22, he ordered German Army Group A to dig in and hold itslines.  Earlier in October 1942, Hitlerordered the destruction of the Grozny and Baku oil facilities, thatif he could not acquire them, then they should likewise be denied to theSoviets.  The Grozny oil fields were destroyed by Germanair raids.  However, Baku was notattacked, because of strong Soviet air defenses in its oil installations andbecause of the great distance involved, i.e. German bombers could only reachBaku using the most direct (and predictable) route, and thus were vulnerable toSoviet anti-aircraft fire.

August 20, 1944 – World War II: Soviet forces launch an offensive into Romania

The Balkans and Eastern and Central Europe With its advance into western Ukraine in April 1944, theRed Army, specifically the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts,including the 1st and 4th Ukrainian Fronts, was poised toadvance into Eastern Europe and the Balkans to knock out Germany’s Axis alliesfrom the war.  In May 1944, a Red Armyoffensive into Romania was stopped by a German-Romanian combined force, but asubsequent operation in August broke through, and the Soviets captured TarguFrumus and Iasi (Jassy) on August 21 and Chisinau on August 24.  The Axis defeat was thorough: German 6thArmy, which had been reconstituted after its destruction in Stalingrad, wasagain encircled and destroyed, German 8th Army, severely mauled,withdrew to Hungary, and the Romanian Army, severely lacking modern weapons,suffered heavy casualties.  On August 23,Michael I, King of Romania, deposed the pro-Nazi government of Prime MinisterIon Antonescu and announced his acceptance of the armistice offered by Britain,the United States, and the Soviet Union. Romania then switchedsides to the Allies and declared war on Germany.  The Romanian government thereafter joined thewar against Germany, andallowed Soviet forces to pass through its territory to continue into Bulgariain the south.

(Taken from Soviet Counter-Attack and Defeat of Germany – Wars of the 20th Century – World War II in Europe: Vol. 6)

The rapid collapse of Axisforces in Romania led topolitical turmoil in Bulgaria.  On August 26, 1944, the Bulgarian governmentdeclared its neutrality in the war. Bulgarians were ethnic Slavs like the Russians, and Bulgaria did not send troops to attack theSoviet Union and in fact continued to maintain diplomatic ties with Moscow during thewar.  However, its government waspro-German and the country was an Axis partner. On September 2, a new Bulgarian government was formed comprising thepolitical opposition, which did not stop the Soviet Union from declaring war onBulgariathree days later.  On September 8, Sovietforces entered Bulgaria,meeting no resistance as the Bulgarian government stood down its army.  The next day, Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, was captured,and the Soviets lent their support behind the new Bulgarian governmentcomprising communist-led resistance fighters of the Fatherland Front.  Bulgariathen declared war on Germany,sending its forces in support of the Red Army’s continued advance to the west.

The Red Army now set itssights on Serbia,the main administrative region of pre-World War II Yugoslavia.  Yugoslavia itself had beendismembered by the occupying Axis powers. For Germany, the lossof Serbia would cut off itsforces’ main escape route from Greece.  As a result, the German High Commandallocated more troops to Serbiaand also ordered the evacuation of German forces from other Balkan regions.

Occupied Europe’s mosteffective resistance struggle was located in Yugoslavia.  By 1944, the communist Yugoslav Partisanmovement, led by Josip Broz Tito, controlled the mountain regions of Bosnia, Montenegro,and western Serbia.  In late September 1944, the Soviet 2ndand 3rd Ukrainian Fronts, thrusting from Bulgariaand Romania, together withthe Bulgarian Army attacking from western Bulgaria,launched their offensive into Serbia.  The attack was aided by Yugoslav partisansthat launched coordinated offensives against the Axis as well as conductingsabotage actions on German communications and logistical lines – the combinedforces captured Serbia, mostimportantly the capital Belgrade,which fell on October 20, 1944.  Germanforces in the Balkans escaped via the more difficult routes through Bosnia and Croatia in October 1944.  For the remainder of the war, Yugoslavpartisans liberated the rest of Yugoslavia;the culmination of their long offensive was their defeat of the pro-NaziUstase-led fascist government in Croatiain April-May 1945, and then their advance to neighboring Slovenia.

The succession of Red Armyvictories in Eastern Europe brought great alarm to the pro-Nazi government in Hungary, which was Germany’s last European Axispartner.  Then when in late September1944, the Soviets crossed the borders from Romaniaand Serbia into Hungary, Miklos Horthy, the Hungarian regent andhead of state, announced in mid-October that his government had signed anarmistice with the Soviet Union.  Hitler promptly forced Horthy, under threat,to revoke the armistice, and German troops quickly occupied the country.

The Soviet campaign in Hungary, which lasted six months, provedextremely brutal and difficult both for the Red Army and German-Hungarianforces, with fierce fighting taking place in western Hungary as the numerical weight ofthe Soviets forced back the Axis.  InOctober 1944, a major tank battle was fought at Debrecen, where the panzers of German ArmyGroup Fretter-Pico (named after General Maximilian Fretter-Pico) beat backthree Soviet tank corps of 2nd Ukrainian Front.  But in late October, a powerful Sovietoffensive thrust all the way to the outskirts of Budapest, the Hungarian capital, by November7, 1944.

Two Soviet pincer arms thenadvanced west in a flanking maneuver, encircling the city on December 23, 1944,and starting a 50-day siege.  Fierceurban warfare then broke out at Pest, the flat eastern section of the city, andthen later across the Danube River at Buda, thewestern hilly section, where German-Hungarian forces soon retreated.  In January 1945, three attempts by Germanarmored units to relieve the trapped garrison failed, and on February 13, 1945,Budapest fellto the Red Army.  The Soviets thencontinued their advance across Hungary.  In early March 1945, Hitler launchedOperation Spring Awakening, aimed at protecting the Lake Balaton oil fields insouthwestern Hungary, whichwas one of Germany’slast remaining sources of crude oil. Through intelligence gathering, the Soviets became aware of the plan,and foiled the offensive, and then counter-attacked, forcing the remainingGerman forces in Hungaryto withdraw across the Austrian border.

The Germans then hastened toconstruct defense lines in Austria,which officially was an integral part of Germany since the Anschluss of1938.  In early April 1945, Soviet 3rdUkrainian Front crossed the border from Hungaryinto Austria, meeting onlylight opposition in its advance toward Vienna.  Only undermanned German forces defended theAustrian capital, which fell on April 13, 1945. Although some fierce fighting occurred, Viennawas spared the widespread destruction suffered by Budapest through the efforts of the anti-NaziAustrian resistance movement, which assisted the Red Army’s entry into thecity.  A provisional government for Austriawas set up comprising a coalition of conservatives, democrats, socialists, andcommunists, which gained the approval of Stalin, who earlier had planned toinstall a pro-Soviet government regime from exiled Austrian communists.  The Red Army continued advancing across otherparts of Austria,with the Germans still holding large sections of regions in the west and south.By early May 1945, French, British, and American troops had crossed into Austria from the west, which together with theSoviets, would lead to the four-power Allied occupation (as in post-war Germany) of Austria after the war.

August 19, 1945 – First Indochina War: Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh seize control of Hanoi

On August 19, 1945, Ho Chi Minh, leader of the Viet Minh(League for the Independence of Vietnam) took control of Hanoiin northern Vietnam.There, he announced the formation of a provisional government under ademocratic republic encompassing the whole of Vietnam. On September 2, 1945, hedeclared Vietnam’sindependence.

This was culmination of the so-called August Revolution, anindependence struggle that began on August 14, 1945 against the return ofFrench colonial rule in Vietnam.Within two weeks, the Viet Minh had taken control of most cities throughout thenorthern, central, and southern regions of Vietnam.

(Taken from First Indochina War – Wars of the 20th Century – Twenty Wars in Asia: Vol. 5)

Background In May1941, after a thirty-year absence from Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh returned andorganized in northern Vietnam the “League for the Independence of Vietnam”,more commonly known as Viet Minh (Vietnamese: Việt Nam Độc Lập Đồng Minh Hội),an ICP-led merger of Vietnamese nationalist movements, aimed at ending bothFrench and Japanese rule.  Ho became theleader of the Vietnamese independence struggle, a position he would holdpermanently until his death in 1969.

During World War II, the Viet Minh and Allied Powers formeda tactical alliance in their shared effort to defeat a common enemy.  In particular, Ho’s fledging small band offighters liaisoned with the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS), furnishingthe Americans with intelligence information on the Japanese, while the U.S.military provided the Vietnamese fighters with training, some weapons, andother military support.

By early 1945, World War II invariably had turned in favorof the Allies, with Germanyverging on defeat and Japanbecoming increasingly threatened by the Allied island-hopping Pacificcampaign.  In March 1945, the Japanesemilitary overthrew the French administration in Indochina, because of fears ofan Allied invasion of the region following the U.S.recapture of the Philippines(October 1944–April 1945), and also because the Japanese began to distrustFrench loyalty following the end of Vichy France (November 1942) and the subsequent Alliedliberation of France(early 1945).  In place of the Frenchadministration, on March 11, 1945, Japanese authorities installed a Vietnamesegovernment led by former emperor Bao Dai, and then proclaimed the “independence”of Vietnam,an act that was largely dismissed as spurious by the Vietnamese people.

On August 14, 1945, Japan announced its acceptance ofthe terms of the Potsdam Declaration, marking the end of the Asia-Pacifictheatre of World War II (the European theater of World War II had endedearlier, on May 8, 1945).  The suddenJapanese capitulation left a power vacuum that was quickly filled by the VietMinh, which in the preceding months, had secretly organized so-called “People’sRevolutionary Committees” throughout much of the colony.  These “People’s Revolutionary Committees” nowseized power and organized local administrations in many towns and cities, moreparticularly in the northern and central regions, including the capital Hanoi.  This seizure of power, historically calledthe August Revolution, led to the abdication of ex-emperor Bao Dao and thecollapse of his Japanese-sponsored government.

The August Revolution succeeded largely because the VietMinh had gained much popular support following a severe famine that hitnorthern Vietnam in the summer of 1944 to 1945 (which caused some 400,000 to 2million deaths).  During the famine, theViet Minh raided several Japanese and private grain warehouses.  On September 2, 1945 (the same day Japansurrendered to the Allies), Ho proclaimed the country’s independence as theDemocratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), taking the position of President of aprovisional government.

At this point, Ho sought U.S.diplomatic support for Vietnam’sindependence, and incorporated part of the 1776 U.S. Declaration ofIndependence in his own proclamation of Vietnamese independence.  Ho also wrote several letters to U.S.President Harry Truman (which were unanswered), and met with U.S. StateDepartment and OSS officials in Hanoi.  However, during the war-time PotsdamConference (July 17 – August 2, 1945), the Allied Powers (including the SovietUnion) decided to allow France to restore colonial rule in Indochina, but thatin the meantime that France was yet preparing to return, Vietnam was to bepartitioned into two zones north and south of the 16th parallel, with ChineseNationalist forces tasked to occupy the northern zone, and British forces (withsome French units) tasked to enter the southern zone.

By mid-September 1945, Chinese and British forces hadoccupied their respective zones.  Theythen completed their assigned tasks of accepting the surrender of, as well asdisarming and repatriating the Japanese forces within their zones.  In Saigon,British forces disbanded the Vietnamese revolutionary government that had takenover the administration of the city. This Vietnamese government in Saigon, called the “Provisional ExecutiveCommittee”, was a coalition of many organizations, including the religiousgroups Cao Dai and Hoa Hao, the organized crime syndicate Binh Xuyen, thecommunists, and nationalist organizations. In Cochinchina and parts of Annam,unlike in Tonkin, the Viet Minh had onlyestablished partial authority because of the presence of these many rivalideological movements.  But believingthat nationalism was more important than ideology to achieve Vietnam’sindependence, the Viet Minh was willing to work with other groups to form aunited front to oppose the return of French rule.

As a result of the British military actions in the southernzone, on September 17, 1945, the DRV in Hanoilaunched a general strike in Saigon.  British authorities responded to the strikesby declaring martial law.  The Britishalso released and armed some 1,400 French former prisoners of war; the latterthen launched attacks on the Viet Minh, and seized key governmentinfrastructures in the south.  OnSeptember 24, 1945, elements of the Binh Xuyen crime syndicate attacked andkilled some 150 French nationals, which provoked retaliatory actions by theFrench that led to increased fighting. British and French forces soon dispersed the Viet Minh from Saigon.  The latterresponded by sabotaging ports, power plants, communication systems, and othergovernment facilities.

By the third week of September 1945, much of southern Vietnamwas controlled by the French, and the British ceded administration of theregion to them.  In late October 1945,another British-led operation broke the remaining Viet Minh resistance in thesouth, and the Vietnamese revolutionaries retreated to the countryside wherethey engaged in guerilla warfare.  Alsoin October, some 35,000 French troops arrived in Saigon.  In March 1946, British forces departed from Indochina, ending their involvement in the region.

Meanwhile in the northern zone, some 200,000 Chineseoccupation forces, led by the warlord General Lu Han, allowed Ho Chi Minh andthe Viet Minh to continue exercising power in the north, on the condition thatHo include non-communists in the Viet Minh government.  To downplay his communist ties, in November1945, Ho dissolved the ICP and called for Vietnamese nationalist unity.  In late 1945, a provisional coalitiongovernment was formed in the northern zone, comprising the Viet Minh and othernationalist organizations.  In January1946, elections to the National Assembly were held in northern and central Vietnam,where the coalition parties agreed to a pre-set division of electoral seats.

August 18, 1965 – Vietnam War: U.S. Marines pre-empt a Viet Cong attack on Chu Lai Air Base

On August 18, 1965, the U.S. Marines launched thepre-emptive Operation Starlite aimed at foiling a Viet Cong attack on Chu LaiAir Base. With information provided by South Vietnamese military intelligence,the operation destroyed an insurgent camp on the Van Tuong peninsula in nearlyone week of heavy fighting (August 18-24, 1965). The U.S. force consisted of 5,500personnel, while the Viet Cong totalled 1,500. Casualties were: U.S.45 killed, 200 wounded; Viet Cong – 600 killed, 42 captured.

(Taken from Vietnam War – Wars of the 20th Century – Twenty Wars in Asia: Vol. 5)

Fighting alongVietnam’s Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) In the northern part of South Vietnam(which the South Vietnamese government designated as I Corps Tactical Zone),U.S. Marines, who were based at Da Nang, Phu Bai, and Chu Lai, supplemented bySouth Vietnamese forces, were tasked with defending the areas south of  the DMZ. The U.S. Marines launched several search and destroy missions in thesurrounding village areas (which were under the nominal control of the VietCong/NLF).  These operations yieldedlittle results, as the Viet Cong refused to fight in the open, but retreated tothe jungles, only to return after the Americans had departed.  Unable to locate the enemy, the U.S. Marineschanged their strategy, and instead implemented a “hearts and minds” campaignof providing social, medical, economic, and political programs, aimed atwinning the support of the local population. Ultimately, the “hearts and minds” program proved only partiallysuccessful, as Viet Cong influence in these agriculturally rich lowland coastalareas remained strong.  General Westmorelandalso viewed these conciliatory efforts by the U.S. Marines as contrary to theAmerican war strategy of seeking and destroying the Viet Cong.

By mid-1966, North Vietnamese infiltrations across the DMZhad increased considerably.  North Vietnam had timed these infiltrations totake advantage of the ongoing massive civilian unrest occurring in South Vietnam.  In response, the U.S. military launched offensivesto counteract these infiltrations.  InAugust 1966, under Operation Starlite, U.S. Marines pre-empted a NorthVietnamese planned assault on the U.S. Marine base at Chu Lai.  The North Vietnamese were forced to retreatto their side of the DMZ, where they regrouped and again crossed the DMZ into South Vietnam,which was met with U.S. Marines in Operation Prairie, which again forced theenemy to fall back across the DMZ.

Because of the increased North Vietnamese pressure, bymid-1966, the U.S. Marines had established a series of combat bases across andadjacent to the DMZ; these bases included Khe Sanh, Dong Ha, Con Thien, and GioLinh, all of which were supported by the artillery bases of Camp Carroll andRockpile (Figure 6).

In June 1966, North Vietnamese forces again attacked acrossthe DMZ, but were repulsed by U.S. Marines, supported by South Vietnamese unitsand American air, artillery, and naval forces. U.S.forces then launched Operation Hastings, leading to three weeks of largebattles near Dong Ha and ending with the North Vietnamese withdrawing backacross the DMZ.  The year 1966 also saw theUnited States greatly escalating the war, with U.S. deployment being increasedover two-fold from the year before, from 184,000 in 1965 to 385,000 troops in1966.  In 1967, U.S. deployment would top 485,000and then peak in 1968 with 536,000 soldiers.

Throughout 1967, combat activity in the DMZ consisted ofartillery duels, North Vietnamese infiltrations, and firefights along theborder.  As the North Vietnamese actuallyused their side of the DMZ as a base to stage their infiltration attacks, inMay 1967, the U.S. Marines militarized the southern side of the DMZ, whichsparked increased fighting inside the DMZ. Also starting in September 1967 and continuing for many months, NorthVietnamese artillery batteries pounded U.S Marine positions near the DMZ, whichinflicted heavy casualties on American troops. In response, U.S.aircraft launched bombing attacks on North Vietnamese positions across the DMZ.

In early 1967, North Vietnambegan preparing for a massive offensive into South Vietnam.  This operation, which later came to be knownas the Tet Offensive, would have far-reaching consequences on the outcome ofthe war.  The North Vietnamese plan tolaunch the Tet Offensive came about when political hardliners in Hanoi succeeded insidelining the moderates in government. As a result of the hardliners dictatinggovernment policies, in July 1967, hundreds of moderates, including governmentofficials and military officers, were purged from the Hanoi government and the Vietnamese CommunistParty.

By fall of 1967, North Vietnamese military planners had setthe date to launch the Tet Offensive on January 31, 1968.  In the invasion plan, the Viet Cong was tocarry out the offensive, with North Vietnam only providing weapons and othermaterial support.  The Tet Offensive,which was known in North Vietnamas “General Offensive, General Uprising”, called for the Viet Cong to launchsimultaneous attacks on many targets across South Vietnam, which would beaccompanied with calls to the civilian population to launch a generaluprising.  North Vietnam believed that acivilian uprising in the south would succeed because of President Thieu’sunpopularity, as evidenced by the constant civil unrest and widespreadcriticism of government policies.  Inthis scenario, once President Thieu was overthrown, an NLF-led communistgovernment would succeed in power, and pressure the United States to end its involvement in South Vietnam.  Faced with the threat of internationalcondemnation, the United Stateswould be forced to acquiesce, and withdraw its forces from Vietnam.

August 17, 1945 – Indonesian War of Independence: Indonesian nationalists declare independence, starting war against their Dutch colonizers

On August 15, 1945, World War II came to an abrupt end with Japanannouncing its acceptance of the Allied terms of surrender.  A power vacuum thus was suddenly created inthe Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia),leading the nationalists Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta to declare the colony’sindependence on August 17, 1945 as the Republic of Indonesia.  The PPKI became the interim government,called the Central Indonesian National Committee (KNIP; Indonesian: KomiteNasional Indonesia Pusat) with Sukarno and Hatta named as the country’s firstPresident and Vice-President, respectively, and a national charter which hadbeen drafted earlier was ratified as the country’s constitution.

In the weeks that followed, eight provincial governmentsacross the archipelago were formed, including in Java and Sumatrawhere support for the Republic was strongest. These actions by the Indonesian Republic to consolidatepower were greatly assisted by the aggressive actions of the PETA and Heihoarmed militias, which reorganized after having been disbanded by the JapaneseArmy.  Subsequently, these ex-Japanesemilitias and the Dutch-era indigenous military units of the “Royal NetherlandsEast Indies Army” would form the core of the Indonesian Armed Forces.  A campaign was launched to spread the news ofthe new Indonesian Republic to the otherislands: public speeches were made in major cities, and print and broadcastmedia spread the word to more distant areas. Sukarno himself addressed crowds involving hundreds of thousands of peoplein Jakarta.  However, apart from Java and Sumatra, theRepublic established only limited revolutionary atmosphere in other areas,particularly in the “Great East” regions, including Maluku, Lesser SundaIslands, and West New Guinea.  Also shortly after the independence war hadbegun, Sukarno was concerned about his war-time collaboration with theJapanese.  In November 1945, hereorganized his government into a parliamentary system, naming anon-collaborator, Sutan Sjahrir, as Prime Minister to run the government, whilehe remained as president in the background, ostensibly with limited authority.

(Taken from Indonesian War of Independence – Wars of the 20th Century – Twenty Wars in Asia: Vol. 5)

Indonesian War ofIndependence Sukarno’s proclamation of Indonesia’s independence de factoproduced a state of war with the Allied powers, which were determined to gaincontrol of the territory and reinstate the pre-war Dutch government.  However, one month would pass before theAllied forces would arrive.  Meanwhile,the Japanese East Indies command, awaiting the arrival of the Allies torepatriate Japanese forces back to Japan, was ordered by the Alliedhigh command to stand down and carry out policing duties to maintain law andorder in the islands.  The Japanesestance toward the Indonesian Republic varied:disinterested Japanese commanders withdrew their units to avoid confrontationwith Indonesian forces, while those sympathetic to or supportive of therevolution provided weapons to Indonesians, or allowed areas to be occupied byIndonesians.  However, other Japanesecommanders complied with the Allied orders and fought the Indonesianrevolutionaries, thus becoming involved in the independence war.

In the chaotic period immediately after Indonesia’s independenceand continuing for several months, widespread violence and anarchy prevailed(this period is known as “Bersiap”, an Indonesian word meaning “be prepared”),with armed bands called “Pemuda” (Indonesian meaning “youth”) carrying outmurders, robberies, abductions, and other criminal acts against groupsassociated with the Dutch regime, i.e. local nobilities, civilian leaders,Christians such as Menadonese and Ambones, ethnic Chinese, Europeans, andIndo-Europeans.  Other armed bands werecomposed of local communists or Islamists, who carried out attacks for the samereasons.  Christian and nobility-alignedmilitias also were organized, which led to clashes between pro-Dutch andpro-Indonesian armed groups.  Theseso-called “social revolutions” by anti-Dutch militias, which occurred mainly inJava and Sumatra, were motivated by variousreasons, including political, economic, religious, social, and ethniccauses.  Subsequently when the Indonesiangovernment began to exert greater control, the number of violent incidentsfell, and Bersiap soon came to an end. The number of fatalities during the Bersiap period runs into the tens ofthousands, including some 3,600 identified and 20,000 missing Indo-Europeans.

The first major clashes of the war occurred in late August1945, when Indonesian revolutionary forces clashed with Japanese Army units,when the latter tried to regain previously vacated areas.  The Japanese would be involved in the earlystages of Indonesia’sindependence war, but were repatriated to Japan by the end of 1946.

In mid-September 1945, the first Allied forces consisting ofAustralian units arrived in the eastern regions of Indonesia (where revolutionaryactivity was minimal), peacefully taking over authority from the commander ofthe Japanese naval forces there.  Alliedcontrol also was established in Sulawesi, withthe provincial revolutionary government offering no resistance.  These areas were then returned to Dutchcolonial control.

In late September 1945, British forces also arrived in theislands, the following month taking control of key areas in Sumatra, including Medan, Padang, and Palembang, and inJava.  The British also occupied Jakarta (then still known, until 1949, as Batavia),with Sukarno and his government moving the Republic’s capital to Yogyakarta in Central Java.  InOctober 1945, Japanese forces also regained control of Bandungand Semarangfor the Allies, which they turned over to the British. In Semarang, the intense fighting claimed thelives of some 500 Japanese and 2,000 Indonesian soldiers.

August 16, 1946 – Partition of India: Over 4,000 people are killed in mass riots in Calcutta

On August 16, 1946, mass riots and widespread violence anddestruction broke out in Calcutta (now known asKolkata) in Bengal Province, British India.When they ended three days later, over 4,000 people had been killed and 100,000others left homeless, and was the worst ever experienced in British India.

The violence arose when the Muslim League, a political partyadvocating the formation of a separate Muslim-majority sovereign state inBritish India, called for a general strike following the breakdown ofindependence talks with their rival, the Indian National Congress, within the1946 Cabinet Mission to India.The talks were intended to work out the partition of the Indian subcontinent.

In the aftermath, a wave of religious violence broke out inother regions: Noakhali, Bihar, United Provinces (modern Uttar Pradesh),Punjab, and the North Western Frontier Province.

(Taken from Partition of India – Wars of the 20th Century – Vol. 3)

Background At theend of World War II, Britain was reeling in heavy debtand was facing economic ruin.  TheBritish government was hard pressed to continue financing the many Britishoverseas colonial administrations in its vast territories around theworld.  Britain therefore adopted a foreignpolicy of decolonization, that is, the British would end colonial rule andgrant independence to the colonies.  Britain’sdecision to decolonize also was influenced by the rise of nationalism amongcolonized peoples, a phenomenon that occurred in British, as well as otherEuropean colonies around the world.

In the Indian subcontinent (Map 12), which was Britain’sprized possession since the 1800s, a strong nationalist sentiment had existedfor many decades and had led to the emergence of many political organizationsthat demanded varying levels of autonomy and self-rule.  Other Indian nationalist movements alsocalled for the British to leave immediately. Nationalist aspirations were concentrated in areas with direct Britishrule, as there also existed across the Indian subcontinent hundreds of semi-autonomousregions which the British called “Princely States”, whose rulers held localauthority with treaties or alliances made with the British government.  The Princely States, however, hadrelinquished their foreign policy initiatives to the British in exchange forBritish military protection against foreign attacks.  Thus, the British de facto ruled over thePrincely States.

For so long, the Indian nationalist movement perceived theBritish presence as impinging on the Indians’ right to sovereignty.  Ultimately, however, India’s religious demographics –the divide between the majority Hindu Indians and the minority Muslim Indiansectors of the population – would be the major obstacle to independence.  Hindus constituted 253 million people, or 72%of the population, while Muslims, at 92 million, made up 26% of thepopulation.  Sikhs, who were concentratedin Punjab Province, totaled about 2 million, or 6%of the population.

In the first few decades of the twentieth century, Hindusand Muslims were united in their common opposition to British rule.  By the mid-1930s, the British had allowednative participation in politics and government, hinting at India’s likelihood of gainingindependence.  Muslim Indians now becameconcerned, since an independent Indiameant that Hindus, because of their sheer number, would have a perennial heldon power.  To the Muslims, this wouldmean a permanent Hindu-dominated India where Muslim interestspossibly would not be met.

Muslims, therefore, proposed to carve out a separate Muslimstate, which would be called “Pakistan”and would consist of regions that contained a majority Muslim population.  However, such a proposal, which emerged inthe 1930s, was considered too radical even for most Muslims, since the idea ofa divided Indiawas inconceivable.  Most politicians fromthe two sides were intent on trying to work out a power-sharing arrangement atall levels of government, much like the local autonomous governments, which bynow had come into existence and were run jointly by Muslims and Hindus.

By 1940, however, Muslim Indians were advocating the“Two-Nation Principle”, that is, since Hindus and Muslims belonged to differentreligions, they also differed in nationality, even if they shared a commonethnicity, culture, and language.  Eventhen, most Muslim leaders only used the Two-Nation Principle as a means to gaingreater political concessions in their support for an undivided India.  Hindus were intractably opposed topartitioning India.

In May 1946, the British central government in London sent to Indiaa delegation called the “Cabinet Mission” with the task of finalizing theprocess of granting India’sindependence and to transfer all governmental functions from the colonialadministration to a new Indian government consisting of Hindus andMuslims.  Britainenvisioned an undivided India,and the Cabinet Mission therefore was instructed to work out a power-sharinggovernment for Muslims and Hindus.

In June 1946, the Cabinet Mission presented a plan for anIndian federated state made up of separate, autonomous Hindu-majority andMuslim-majority provinces under a decentralized national government.  Muslim political leaders accepted the plan,reasoning that the decentralized scheme met their demands for self-rule.  However, Hindu leaders rejected the plan,arguing that it essentially partitioned India into many smaller states.

Hindu leaders then proposed to amend the plan into one thatincluded a strong centralized government. Muslim leaders were infuriated and walked out of the proceedings, andsubsequently withdrew their support for the Cabinet Mission.  They then called on Muslims to hold civilactions.  Across India, Muslims carried out massprotests and demonstrations, which generally ended without incident.  However, in Calcutta on August 16, 1946, an initially peacefulassembly turned violent when armed bands of Muslims and Hindus went on arampage, and for three days, carried out widespread violence anddestruction.  When British troops finallyarrived and restored order, over 5,000 persons had been killed, 10,000 wounded,and tens of thousands left homeless.  Themajority of the victims were Muslims.