At 7:50 a.m.. On the morning of August the 9th 1945 上午7:50。 1945年8月9日上午
air-raid sirens began to ring out in the Japanese city of Nagasaki 防空警报器在日本长崎市响起
However a short while later the sirens rang out again 但是不久之后，警报器又响了
Indicating that there was no danger and people began to climb out of their shelters to carry on about their daily business 表示没有危险，人们开始爬出庇护所从事日常业务
Japanese spotters had only cited two us AAF b-29 bombers 日本观察员只列举了两架美国AAF B-29轰炸机
Not enough for an air raid on a major city and presumed, they were merely on a reconnaissance mission. 据推测，这还不足以对一个主要城市进行空袭，他们只是在执行侦察任务。
At 1101 hours a single bomb was dropped into the city's industrial area 在1101时，一枚炸弹落入了该市的工业区
the bomb detonated with the equivalent force of 22,000 sticks of TNT 用等效力22,000枚TNT炸弹引爆
Which resulted in a blast so bright that was seen by observers over a hundred miles away. 爆炸如此之明亮，一百多英里外的观察者都看到了。
the fireball generated temperatures in excess of three thousand nine hundred degrees centigrade and 火球产生的温度超过三千九百摄氏度
Generated winds of up to six hundred miles per hour that added to the destruction 每小时产生高达六百英里的风，加剧了毁灭
exact figures are unclear, but at least 确切数字尚不清楚，但至少
129 thousand people were either killed on the day, or would die in the weeks and even years that followed 12.9万人在当日被杀，或在随后的几周甚至数年内丧生
six days after this attack 这次袭击六天后
Japan surrendered to the Allies 日本向盟军投降
Bringing to a close the most destructive conflict ever recorded 结束有史以来最具破坏性的冲突
that ended with the first two and so far only nuclear attacks in history 以前两次袭击结束，迄今为止是历史上唯一的核袭击
It was the Second World War 那是第二次世界大战
It's impossible to disect the causes of the second world war 剖析第二次世界大战的原因是不可能的
without discussing the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany and its leader, Adolf Hitler 没有讨论纳粹党在德国及其领导人阿道夫·希特勒的崛起
Hitler was himself of Austrian birth, but he fought in the German army during the first world war 希特勒本人是奥地利人，但在第一次世界大战期间曾参加过德军的战斗
When the war ended with Germany's humiliation Hitler felt especially bitter about it 战争因德国人的屈辱而结束时，希特勒对此感到特别痛苦
unlike many in Europe he feared communism spreading beyond the borders of 与欧洲许多人不同，他担心共产主义蔓延到欧洲以外。
post-revolutionary Russia 革命后的俄罗斯
In 1919 a year after the end of the war he joined a new and little-known political group 战争结束后的1919年，他加入了一个鲜为人知的新政治集团
called the German Workers Party and used his great ability as a speaker to stir up crowds and gain support a 召集了德国工人党，并利用其出色的演讲能力激起了群众并获得了支持。
Year later the party was renamed the National Socialist, German Workers Party 一年后，该党改名为德国国民社会党
more commonly known by its English abbreviation Nazi 以英文缩写Nazi更为人所知
In 1921 Hitler rose to become leader of the party and again using his magnetic personality he continued to garner more and more support 1921年，希特勒（Hitler）升任该党的领导人，并再次凭借他具有磁性的个性继续获得越来越多的支持
Until 1923 the Nazis were confident enough to attempt a coup in Munich and seize power 直到1923年，纳粹才有足够的信心在慕尼黑发动政变并夺取政权
Known as the Beer Hall Putsch the effort failed and Hitler was arrested before being put on trial, but this only furthered the Nazi cause 努力被称为比尔·霍尔·普奇（Beer Hall Putsch），但努力失败，希特勒在受审前被捕，但这只会加剧纳粹病因
Hitler used the trial to gain even more supporters and despite him spending a year in prison in which he wrote his autobiography Mein Kampf 希特勒利用审判获得了更多支持者，尽管他在监狱里度过一年，在那一年他写了自传《我的奋斗》。
The Nazis continued to establish themselves in German politics 纳粹继续在德国政治中立足
Mein Kampf not only outlined his own story, but it also set about establishing his vision for the future of the German people and 迈因·坎普夫（Mein Kampf）不仅概述了自己的故事，而且还着手确立他对德国人民和
how he believed subversive groups were holding them back from achieving their destiny through measures such as the Treaty of Versailles 他如何相信颠覆性团体通过《凡尔赛条约》等措施阻止他们实现自己的命运
Which outlined Germany's surrender terms 其中概述了德国的投降条件
He specifically identified Jews and communists as being leaders of this great international 他明确指出犹太人和共产主义者是这一伟大国际组织的领导人
Conspiracy to keep the German people down after the war 战后共谋压制德国人民
Highlighting the harsh conditions imposed on the country by the victorious Allies 强调战胜的盟国对国家施加的严酷条件
Such as the dissolution of Germany's Empire and armed forces 如德国帝国和武装部队的解散
The loss of territory to newly created countries in the East and France in the West and having to pray crippling war reparations 东方的新兴国家和西方的法国丧失了领土，不得不祈祷残酷的战争赔偿
the book effectively became the Nazi Bible 这本书实际上成为了纳粹圣经
by 通过
1933 the Nazi Party had secured enough political support, but Hitler legally became Chancellor of Germany 1933年，纳粹党获得了足够的政治支持，但希特勒合法成为德国总理
He quickly began passing legislation that would transform Germany into Nazi Germany and the swastika would symbolize this 他很快就开始通过立法，将德国变成纳粹德国，而ast字则象征着这一点。
reinvigorated country 振兴的国家
the prosecution of Jews Gypsies and political opponents soon became government policy as 起诉犹太人吉普赛人和政治反对派很快成为政府的政策，因为
Hitler began preparing Nazi Germany to attain what he saw as his destiny cantered around the concept of the Aryan race 希特勒开始为纳粹德国做准备，以实现他所看到的命运，因为他的命运围绕着雅利安人的种族观念
With himself as the undisputed leader the Fuehrer 以自己作为无可争议的领袖
History records that the Second World War began in 1939 历史记录表明，第二次世界大战始于1939年
However some historians now argue that it began in 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in China 然而，一些历史学家现在认为，这始于1931年日本入侵中国满洲
The Japanese deliberately detonated a bomb by Chinese railway line used by Japanese 日本人故意用日本人使用的中国铁路线引爆炸弹
citizens in order to blame it on Chinese dissidents 公民为了将其归咎于中国持不同政见者
This was then used as a pretext to invade the country and Japan would occupy the land there until liberated by the Allies in 1945 然后以此为借口入侵日本，日本将占领那里的土地，直到盟军于1945年解放为止
Japanese occupation of Chinese territory was extraordinarily harsh 日本人对中国领土的占领异常严酷
Rape and murder were widespread and often encouraged by the Japanese leadership 强奸和谋杀十分普遍，并经常受到日本领导人的鼓励
While at Pingfang in northeast China a military research unit was set up with a special mission 在中国东北的平坊期间，成立了一个军事研究小组，专门负责执行任务
designated unit 731 指定单位731
thousands of Chinese civilians were used in nightmarish medical experiments to develop biological and chemical weapons 成千上万的中国平民被用于噩梦般的医学实验中，以开发生物和化学武器
As well as carry out experimental surgeries often without anesthesia for fear of corrupting the data 以及经常进行不需麻醉的实验性手术，以免损坏数据
In 1922 Benito Mussolini and his national fascist party rose to power in Italy 1922年，贝尼托·墨索里尼（Benito Mussolini）和他的民族法西斯党在意大利上台
Very soon he began reshaping the Democratic political landscape of the country, into a dictatorship counted around himself 很快他就开始重塑该国的民主政治格局，变成一个以自己为中心的独裁统治。
Mussolini like Hitler in Germany 墨索里尼（Mussolini）像德国的希特勒（Hitler）
Believed his country had a destiny and wanted to build a new Roman Empire 相信他的国家有命运，并想建立一个新的罗马帝国
beginning with a massive buildup of his armed forces 首先是他的武装部队的大规模建设
he was not afraid to use them and prove this when he sent his forces into Abyssinia modern-day Ethiopia in 他不惧怕使用它们，并在将部队派往阿比西尼亚现代埃塞俄比亚时证明了这一点
1935 to start the construction of his new empire in Africa 1935年开始在非洲建立他的新帝国
If Manchuria can be considered the first battle friend of World War two then Abyssinia was the second 如果说满洲可以被认为是第二次世界大战的第一战友，那么阿比西尼亚就是第二
As the 1930s grew on Hitler's Nazi Party became firmly embedded 随着1930年代的壮大，希特勒的纳粹党已扎根
Not just in German politics but into German society on a whole 不仅在德国政治中，而且在整个德国社会中
The German people had much to thank the Nazi Party for since they had pulled the country after the disparate feat and reinvigorated it 德国人民非常感谢纳粹党，因为他们在经历了不同的壮举并重振国力后将其撤出
Promising that Germany would soon be attaining its destiny of becoming a great power again 保证德国将很快重获大国的命运
Hitler's appeal and influence was not lost on foreign observers 希特勒的吸引力和影响力并未对外国观察员失去
Many of whom admired him and even began to sympathize with the Treaty of Germany after the war 许多人钦佩他，甚至在战争后开始同情德国条约
Proof of this was given when Hitler became Time Magazine's Man of the Year 当希特勒成为《时代》杂志年度人物时，就证明了这一点。
This played perfectly into Hitler's hands as he began making notions of regaining lost territory in the east and west of the country 当希特勒开始提出重新夺回该国东部和西部失地的想法时，这完全发挥了希特勒的手
The first test of how the Allied powers of Britain and France would respond to his new Germany came in 1935 英法同盟国如何应对他的新德国的第一次考验是在1935年
When Hitler introduced military conscription which saw the German armed forces swell many times beyond the number permitted by the Treaty of Versailles 希特勒引入军事征兵后，德国武装部队膨胀了超过《凡尔赛条约》所允许的人数很多倍
But the Allies did nothing 但是盟军什么也没做
Encouraged by this he then ordered his troops into the Rhineland in 1936 受此鼓励，他于1936年下令部队进入莱茵兰
the Rhineland had been demilitarized in 莱茵兰州在
1925 1925年
In order to create a safety zone for France 为了建立法国的安全区
Who along with Belgium had occupied it for a time due to Germany's inability to pay war reparations 由于德国无力支付战争赔偿，谁与比利时一起占领了一段时间
Hitler had given secret orders to his men that should they encounter French military resistance 希特勒已下达命令给他的士兵们，让他们在遇到法国军事抵抗时
They were to retreat because Germany was still in no condition to fight a war 他们之所以撤退，是因为德国仍然没有条件打一场战争
Despite protests by France had the Legion of Nations the precursor to modern-day UN again. They did nothing 尽管法国提出抗议，但国际军团还是现代联合国的先驱。他们什么也没做
In 1937 British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin stood down and was succeeded by Neville Chamberlain 1937年，英国首相斯坦利·鲍德温（Stanley Baldwin）卸任，内维尔·张伯伦（Neville Chamberlain）继任
Meanwhile Germany continued to rearm and now set their sights on reclaiming the German state land 与此同时，德国继续重新武装，现在将目光投向了开垦德国的国土上
Which had been absorbed into Czechoslovakia after the war at 战后被捷克斯洛伐克吸收的
The same time Hitler looked to his own birth country of Austria to become a part of his new Germany 希特勒希望自己的出生国奥地利成为新德国的一部分
Although this was again forbidden by the Versailles Treaty 尽管《凡尔赛条约》再次禁止这样做
Austria and Germany had long had an almost symbiotic relationship and both countries people view the other as cousins 奥地利和德国长期以来有着近乎共生的关系，两国都将对方视为表亲
Austria even had its own Nazi Party and in January 1938 奥地利甚至有自己的纳粹党，1938年1月
they attempted their own purge much like Hitler had tried in 1923 the 他们尝试自己清洗，就像希特勒在1923年尝试
purge failed and many leading Austrian Nazis were imprisoned 清洗失败，许多主要的奥地利纳粹分子被监禁
Hitler's propaganda machine went to work creating a false impression that Austrians were rising up in support of their imprisoned Nazis and 希特勒的宣传机器开始运转，给人一种错误的印象，即奥地利人正在崛起，以支持被囚禁的纳粹分子和
so on March the 12th 所以在3月12日
1938 1938年
German troops entered Austrian territory on the pretense of restoring order 德军以恢复秩序为幌子进入奥地利领土
Within weeks the Austrian government was gone, and the country was absorbed into Germany as the province of Ostmark 数周之内，奥地利政府就离开了，该国被并入德国，成为奥斯特马克省
a vote on joining Germany claims that 99% of the population 加入德国的投票声称该国99％的人口
Supported the move which was known as Anschluss 支持被称为Anschluss的举动
Having secured his home nation under greater Germany 在大德国统治下获得了自己的祖国
Hitler declared himself as the advocate of all ethnic Germans in Europe and 希特勒宣布自己是欧洲和德国所有民族的拥护者
primarily of those in sedate inland 主要是内陆的那些人
making clear his intention to absorb the region into Germany a 明确表示他打算将该地区吸收到德国
Diplomatic crisis was sparked when just like in Austria a sedate inland Nazi Party rose armed and began demanding autonomy from 就像在奥地利，一个沉寂的内地纳粹党武装起来并开始要求伊朗自治时，引发了外交危机。
Czechoslovakia 捷克斯洛伐克
the Czech government tried to negotiate with the sedating Germans while a series of meetings were held between Germany Britain and France to 捷克政府试图与镇静的德国人进行谈判，而德国，英国和法国之间举行了一系列会议，以
reach an agreement on the crisis 就危机达成协议
Culminating in the Munich Agreement, which effectively gave a free hand to Germany's ambitions 缔结《慕尼黑协定》，有效地释放了德国的野心
No Czech, representative was present 没有捷克人在场
First Hitler took the Sudetenland and then in January 1939 第一希特勒占领了苏台德岛，然后在1939年1月
He invaded and captured the rest of Czechoslovakia in his first act of truly open aggression towards a neighbor 他入侵并占领了捷克斯洛伐克的其余地区，这是他对邻国进行真正的公开侵略的第一步。
The conquest of Czechoslovakia raised concerns with the mighty Soviet Union which was in the grip of the paranoid Joseph Stalin 捷克斯洛伐克的征服引起了强大的苏联的关注，后者正处于偏执狂约瑟夫·斯大林的控制之下
Hitler had written in Mein Kampf that having to fight a war on two fronts was one of the reasons the Kaiser's Germany was defeated 希特勒在《我的奋斗》中写道，必须在两条战线上打仗是皇帝的德国被击败的原因之一
And so having already antagonized London and Paris 因此，已经与伦敦和巴黎抗衡了
He was far more careful with Moscow and began a diplomatic effort with the Soviet Union to keep them out of events in the West 他对莫斯科的态度要谨慎得多，并开始与苏联进行外交努力，以使他们远离西方事件。
in 在
August 1939 1939年8月
German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop met with his German counterpart 德国外交大臣约阿希姆·冯·里本特洛普特会见了德国外长
Vyacheslav Molotov in Moscow 莫斯科的维亚切斯拉夫·莫洛托夫（Vyacheslav Molotov）
Where the two of them effectively divided up Eastern Europe into two on 他们两个有效地将东欧分为两个
The promise that neither would interfere with the other in those areas 在这两个领域中任何一方都不会干涉对方的承诺
The Soviet Union had its own interests in Poland and Finland and so was happy to abide by this agreement 苏联在波兰和芬兰都有自己的利益，因此很高兴遵守这项协议
even though Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were ideological enemies 即使纳粹德国和苏联是意识形态上的敌人
Despite this period of cooperation many fouled that it wouldn't last 尽管进行了这段合作，但许多人仍然认为这种合作不会持久
But with Russia at bay Hitler ordered his troops into Poland on September the 1st 但是随着俄罗斯在海湾，希特勒于9月1日命令他的部队进入波兰
1939 1939年
The invasion of Poland was the final straw for Britain and France 波兰的入侵是英国和法国的最后一根稻草
there was no justification for the invasion other than to simply capture territory from a foreign land and 除了简单地从外国土地中夺取领土，并没有其他入侵理由。
so Britain and France delivered an ultimatum to Hitler 所以英国和法国向希特勒发出了最后通atum
Withdraw his troops, or there would be war 撤军，否则会发生战争
The demand was refused and on September the 3rd Neville Chamberlain told the British people they were at war with Germany 要求被拒绝，9月3日，内维尔·张伯伦（Neville Chamberlain）告诉英国人民，他们正在与德国交战
unless we heard from them by 除非我们通过
11 o'clock 11点钟
That they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland a state of war 他们准备立即从波兰撤军
Would exist between us I? 我之间会存在吗？
Have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received and that 现在必须告诉您，尚未收到任何此类承诺，并且
Consequently this country is at war with Germany 因此，这个国家与德国交战
Some of Germany's more cautious generals had warned Hitler that the country was not yet ready for a second massive European confrontation 一些德国更为谨慎的将军警告希特勒，该国尚未为第二次大规模的欧洲对抗做好准备
Germany's rearmament plans predicted war with Britain and France breaking out in 1945 德国的重整计划预示着1945年英法战争爆发
By which time they would have their own aircraft carrier large u-boat fleets and powerful tank forces 到那时，他们将拥有自己的航空母舰，大型U船队和强大的坦克部队
the generals therefore concocted their blitzkrieg style of war 因此，将军们炮制了他们的闪电战风格
Blitzkrieg meant lightning war and called for the widespread use of tanks and aircraft to break through enemy Blitzkrieg的意思是闪电战，并呼吁广泛使用坦克和飞机突破敌人
Formations to capture a key strategic areas and divide enemy forces up to make them easy to destroy 编队占领关键的战略区并划分敌军，使其易于消灭
Above all it was intended to achieve a quick victory rather than a drawn-out war of attrition which Germany could not afford it 最重要的是，它旨在取得快速胜利，而不是德国负担不起的彻底的消耗战
Was first used in Poland and the Polish army proved totally inadequate for this new form of warfare in 最初在波兰使用，波兰军队被证明不足以应对这种新形式的战争
Less than a month the Polish army was annihilated and the German army the viewmarq 不到一个月的时间，波兰军队被歼灭，德国军队被夷为平地。
Began consolidating their positions in western Poland as the Soviet Union invaded the east of the country on 随着苏联入侵波兰东部，巩固了他们在波兰西部的地位。
September the 17th as von Ribbentrop had agreed to and was something that was all but ignored by Britain and France who? 9月17日，正如冯·里本特罗普（von Ribbentrop）所同意的那样，英国和法国几乎忽略了谁？
concentrated on Germany 集中在德国
Poland ceased to exist as a free country on October the 6th 1939 and 波兰在1939年10月6日不再是自由国家，
Nazi Germany now shared a land border with the Communist Soviet Union 纳粹德国现在与苏联共建陆地边界
Britain and Frances declaration of war on Germany sends shockwaves across Europe that were felt politically but appear to do very little ounce 英国和法国对德国宣战，这在欧洲范围内引发了冲击波，这在政治上是可以感觉到的，但似乎没有多大作用。
Belgium Holland and Norway joined a chorus of European voices declaring themselves neutral in the fighting 比利时荷兰和挪威加入了欧洲之声，在战斗中保持中立
But in fact this seemed to be very little fighting at all in 但是实际上，这似乎根本没有什么战斗
Terms of helping defend Poland Britain and France could do very little and instead they prepared for when Hitler would charge West 帮助保卫波兰，英国和法国的条款几乎无济于事，相反，他们为希特勒何时向西方提出指控做好了准备
This was the start of the phoney war a period with both sides seemed to be doing everything 这是电话战争的开始，双方似乎都在做一切
They would normally do in a war except all-out warfare 他们通常会参加一场战争，除了全面战争
the French mobilized their armed forces and sent them to the border while Britain created the British Expeditionary Force or 法国动员了他们的武装部队并将其派往边境，而英国则创建了英国远征军，
BEF to be sent to France to support them BEF将被派往法国以支持他们
Mirroring how the country went to war in 1914 反映该国在1914年发动战争的方式
at sea German u-boats and surface Raiders did sink unprotected merchant ships 在海上，德国的U型艇和水面攻略确实击沉了未受保护的商船
While in the air British aircraft made attacks on German shipping or conducted leaflet drops over the Ruhr region 在空中飞行时，英国飞机对鲁尔地区的德国运输机进行了攻击或将传单掉落
During one such leaflet dropping mission on September the 9th a formation of RAF Whitley bombers 在9月9日进行的一次这样的传单投降任务中，皇家空军惠特利轰炸机编队
Strayed into Belgian airspace and were attacked by Belgian Fighters 被流放到比利时领空并遭到比利时战士的攻击
This forced one of them to land and they lost two aircrafts to British defensive fire 这迫使他们其中之一降落，他们损失了两架飞机，遭到英国防御性大火
However in the South Atlantic a drama was about to unfold that would become a naval legend 然而在南大西洋，一场戏剧即将展开，这将成为海军传奇
The German pocket battleship Graf Spee was attacking British merchant ships capturing their cruise and then sinking them 德国轻型战舰格拉夫·斯皮（Graf Spee）攻击英国商船，捕获其巡航，然后击沉
The crews were then put on the Graf Spee support ship the Altmark for returning to Germany 然后将船员放到格拉夫·斯佩的支援舰上，阿尔特马克号返回德国
three British cruisers met German ship in the battle and 三艘英国巡洋舰在战斗中遇到了德国船，
Managed to inflict enough damage to force the German battleship to put into neutral, Montevideo 设法造成足够的伤害，迫使德国战舰进入中立的蒙得维的亚
modern-day Uruguay for repairs 现代乌拉圭进行维修
while there the British began flooding local media sources 当英国人开始大量涌入当地媒体时
That a huge British Armada was assembling to destroy the pocket battleship when it left port 一支庞大的英国舰队离开港口时正在集结以摧毁这艘小型战列舰
The German captain learned of this and believing the situation was hopeless he scuttled his mighty warship 德国船长得知了这一消息，并认为情况无可救药，因此他将强大的军舰击沉了。
in reality there was no Armada, but the deception meant potentially thousands of sailors lives were saved a 实际上，没有舰队，但这种欺骗手段可能挽救了成千上万名水手的生命。
Few weeks later British special forces raided the Altmark and rescued a number of captured merchant crews 几周后，英国特种部队突袭了Altmark，并营救了许多被俘的商人
Everyone knew the phony war couldn't last forever, and it would only be a matter of time before Hitler struck west of France 每个人都知道，假冒战争不会永远持续下去，希特勒袭击法国西部只是时间问题
In the meantime Britain and France decided to embark on a campaign in Norway then a neutral country 在此期间，英法两国决定在当时是中立国家的挪威展开战役
but one that along with Sweden helped supply Germany with vital iron all the 但是与瑞典一道帮助向德国提供了重要的铁
eyes mined 眼睛被挖
Norwegian harbors from where German ships operated which provoked Hitler to send his forces in on April the 9th to secure them 挪威港口是德国船只的营运地点，这促使希特勒于4月9日派遣部队保卫他们
The battle for Norway would last until June a 10th by which time France and Britain had long retreated 挪威之战将持续到6月10日，那时法国和英国早已撤退
Leaving the country to its feint 假装离开国家
The disaster in Norway forced Chamberlain to stand down as Prime Minister on May the 10th and 挪威的灾难迫使张伯伦在5月10日担任总理，
After Lord Halifax refused the post it was offered to Winston Churchill 哈利法克斯勋爵拒绝该职位后，将其提供给温斯顿·丘吉尔
Who as a First Lord of the Admiralty was still basking in the success of the Graf Spee operatiom 谁作为金钟第一任总督仍沉迷于格拉夫·斯佩（Graf Spee）手术的成功
Churchill was something of a surprise having more friends than enemies in the establishment Bert was a popular figure amongst the people 丘吉尔感到惊讶的是，在该机构中，朋友比敌人多得多。伯特是人民中受欢迎的人物
He would eventually form a new government made up of members of the main political parties 他最终将组建一个由主要政党成员组成的新政府
But in doing so effectively suspended British democracy for the foreseeable future 但是这样做可以在可预见的未来有效地中止英国民主
He told the British people rather bluntly that he had nothing to offer them but blood toil tears and sweat 他直言不讳地告诉英国人，除了流血的眼泪和汗水，他无所事事
Across the channel the French had been preparing for another war against Germany for over a decade 十多年来，法国人一直在准备向德国发动另一场战争
By constructing the Maginot Line a series of turf fortifications along the border with Germany 通过修建马其诺防线，沿德国边界修建一系列草皮防御工事
It was designed and constructed in the belief that the war would be reminiscent of the static nature of World War one 它的设计和建造是相信战争会让人联想到第一次世界大战的静态性质。
But it was fundamentally flawed 但这是有根本缺陷的
It only went as far as north of the Belgian border and despite popular belief at the time 尽管当时人们普遍认为，它只延伸到比利时边界以北
It was not a continuous fortification 这不是一个持续的工事
Having several gaps where it was believed that nature obstacles such as forests and Hills would provide protection 人们认为森林和丘陵等自然障碍将提供保护，存在一些空白
It consumed huge amounts of men and resources 它消耗了大量的人力和资源
Leaving some to worry the French were putting all their eggs into one basket as far as defence was concerned 就国防方面而言，让法国人担心的是他们把所有的鸡蛋都放在一个篮子里
Hitler looked at the situation and immediately saw what had to be done 希特勒看了看情况，立即看到必须做什么
He was simply going to bypass it by going through Belgium, Holland 他只是要绕过比利时，荷兰而绕开它
Like the Kaiser before him in 1914 像1914年面前的皇帝
He paid little interest Belgium's or anyone else's declaration of neutrality if it served his purpose on 如果比利时或任何其他国家的中立立场符合他的目的，那么他几乎没有兴趣
May the 10th 1940 Germany struck west quickly over running Belgium Luxembourg and the Netherlands and 1940年5月10日，德国在奔向比利时，卢森堡，荷兰和
Turning inwards to the heart of France 向内转向法国心脏
All the Maginot Line had achieved was to swell the fighting in the neighboring countries and effectively hand even more of Europe to Hitler 马其诺防线的全部成就是扩大了邻国的战斗，并将更多的欧洲有效地移交给了希特勒
The Germans flooded France making good use of their tanks and air forces despite being outnumbered on paper 尽管在纸面上数量超过德军，但德军还是利用其坦克和空军淹没了法国
Indeed Germans tank forces were in many ways 确实，德国坦克部队在许多方面
technologically inferior to the Allies in 1940 but the Germans had far superior tactics in 在技术上不如1940年的同盟国，但德国人在
the end the British and French found themselves heavily outclassed by the vaunted German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter and 最终，英法两国发现自己被傲慢自大的德国梅塞施米特Bf 109战斗机远远超越
sustained heavy losses but 遭受重大损失，但
It would be another German plane that would gain notoriety during the Battle of France 这将是另一架在法国战役中声名狼藉的德国飞机
The Ju 87 Stuka was a famed dive bomber, but could attacked Tanks and Bridges with extraordinary accuracy and potency Ju 87 Stuka是著名的潜水轰炸机，但可以非凡的准确性和强大的力量攻击坦克和桥梁
striking terror into ground units 恐怖袭击地面部队
Later the aircraft would be fitted with a siren ears wings that would create a terrifying howl when entered a dive 之后，飞机将配备警笛耳翼，进入潜水时会发出可怕的how叫声
Making it as much as a psychological weapon as a bomber 使它像轰炸机一样成为心理武器
To compound problems for the allies the quick German succession and the failure of the Maginot Line 使盟军遇到麻烦的是德国人迅速接任和马其诺防线的失败
To keep Hitler's forces at bay saw French morale in particular suffer terribly 为了阻止希特勒的部队进军，法国的士气尤其惨重
Despite spirited resistance by the French army and the British Expeditionary Force a sense of defeatism quickly overwhelmed them 尽管法国军队和英国远征军强烈抵抗，但失败的情绪很快使他们不堪重负
It soon became apparent that France would fall and 很快，法国就会沦陷，
So in Britain plans began to be drawn up to evacuate the BEF back to the British mainland 因此，在英国开始制定将BEF撤回到英国大陆的计划
So they could defend Britain from what now seemed like an inevitable invasion 这样他们就可以保卫英国免受现在看来不可避免的入侵
dubbed Operation Dynamo a huge armada of fishing boats pleasure crafts and even row boats were assembled on the southeast coast of England 被称为“迪纳摩行动”的巨大舰队是在英格兰东南沿海组装的渔船游乐设备，甚至是划艇。
to make the trip across the channel to Dunkirk with the remnants of the BEF and 与BEF的残余人员一起穿越海峡前往敦刻尔克
elements of the surviving French and Belgian armies were assembling in 幸存的法国和比利时军队的元素正在聚集
This small pocket of French coastline the British and French troops at Dunkirk were surrounded by German troops and waited for either rescue 这片法国海岸线上的小地方，在敦刻尔克的英法部队被德军包围，并等待营救
capture or death 捕获或死亡
Hitler wanted to send his troops to wipe them out once and for all but the head of the German Luftwaffe Hermann Goering 希特勒想派出部队一劳永逸地歼灭他们，但德国空军的头领赫尔曼·戈林
Convinced him that the air force which had so far proved almost unstoppable could smash them on the beaches with fewer losses to German forces 说服他，迄今为止证明几乎无法阻挡的空军可以在海滩上将其击碎，而对德军的损失则更少
Goering hoped that by doing this he would gain favour with Hitler over some of his rivals within a Nazi High Command 戈林希望通过这样做，他将对希特勒在纳粹高级指挥部内的一些竞争对手表示青睐
The evacuation began on May the 27th 疏散于5月27日开始
1940 with the fleet of little boats bearing down on the beaches to take men out awaiting British warships the 1940年，一队小船停在海滩上，将人员带出等待英国军舰
German Luftwaffe launched a fierce aerial bombardment and inflicted painful losses on the British 德国空军发动猛烈的空中轰炸，给英国人造成惨痛的损失
However for the first time in war the superiority of the Luftwaffe was finally challenged 然而，在战争中第一次，德国空军的优势终于受到挑战
Since Dunkirk was in range of Fighters flying from Britain itself 由于敦刻尔克（Dunkirk）属于从英国出发的战斗机范围
The sea and sky thus became a brutal killing field until the evacuation ended nearly a week later on June the 4th 因此，海天成为了残酷的杀戮场，直到撤离在一周后的6月4日结束
By which time a staggering three hundred and thirty-eight thousand men had been rescued 到那时，已经救出了惊人的38.80万名男子
The evacuation was seen as a victory for Britain, but those in the offices of power knew the truth 疏散被视为英国的胜利，但是当权者知道真相
The defeat in France had not only cost the relatively small British Army sixty-eight thousand men 在法国的失败不仅使相对较小的英军损失了六万八千人
But it had lost huge amounts of equipment such as artillery tanks and other assorted vehicles. That would be vital in repelling a German invasion 但是它损失了诸如炮兵坦克和其他各种交通工具之类的大量设备。这对于抵抗德国的入侵至关重要
Churchill warned against the optimistic mood after Dunkirk noting that Wars were not won by evacuations in 敦刻尔克（Dunkirk）指出战争并非因撤离战争赢得胜利后，丘吉尔警告乐观情绪。
The wake of the success of the evacuation a tragedy would occur that has been largely glossed over by history 疏散成功后，将发生悲剧，这一悲剧在很大程度上已被历史掩盖。
When the British ocean liner the RMS Lancastrian attempted to escape the French port of San Nazaire 当英国远洋客轮时，兰开斯特RMS试图逃离法国圣纳泽尔港口
The liner was taking part in operation Arial, which aimed to evacuate British nationals from France 该班机正在参加Arial行动，该行动旨在从法国撤离英国国民
When a 10 Minister for on June the 17th it was bombed by German aircraft 6月17日，当10名部长被德国飞机轰炸时
Exact numbers of how many men women and children were on board is unknown because in the chaos of the evacuation 船上有多少男女儿童的确切数目是未知的，因为在撤离的混乱中
People were crammed into every available space 人们挤满了每个可用的空间
But it's estimated that between 3 and 6 thousand people were killed making it the worst maritime disaster in British history 但是据估计有3到6千人丧生，这是英国历史上最严重的海上灾难
To put this into perspective the most conservative estimates put the death toll as being twice that of the Titanic the 从这个角度来看，最保守的估计是死亡人数是泰坦尼克号死亡人数的两倍
disaster was quickly covered up for fear of damaging national morale On 由于担心破坏国家士气，迅速掩盖了灾难
June the 10th 1940 Mussolini waded in on the side of Nazi Germany declaring war on Britain and France 1940年6月10日，墨索里尼在纳粹德国的一边涉水，向英国和法国宣战
although Italian forces would play only a token part in the fight for France On June 25th 1940 尽管1940年6月25日，意大利军队在为法国而战中只扮演了象征性的角色
After just 46 days of fighting Hitler's troops achieved. What the Kaiser had failed to do in four years by defeating and occupying France 经过仅仅46天的战斗，希特勒的部队得以实现。凯撒大帝失败并占领法国四年来没有做的事情
France was not wholly occupied by Germany, but instead the country was split in two 法国并未完全被德国占领，而是将法国一分为二
With Germany occupying the northern half and the South being ruled by the Vichy French government who were essentially German puppets 德国占领了北半部，而南部则由维希法国政府统治，后者实质上是德国的p
the French surrender also gave Churchill concerns that France's fleet would be absorbed into Germans Navy and 法国的投降也使丘吉尔担心法国的舰队会被德国海军吸收，
Used to try and blockade Britain in one of the most controversial acts during the war on July the 3rd 在7月3日的战争期间，曾试图以最有争议的行动之一封锁英国
He ordered the Royal Navy to demand the French warships atmail Kerber in french algeria to surrender to them 他命令皇家海军要求法国战舰在法国阿尔及利亚的阿特梅尔·克伯（Ammail Kerber）投降
And when they refused the Royal Navy bombarded them with shall fire killing 当他们拒绝皇家海军轰炸时，将他们用火杀死
1297 French soldiers and sinking or damaging 8 ships 1297法国士兵击沉或损坏8艘船
With France dully suppressed Hitler was now concerned with what to do with Britain 随着法国的彻底镇压，希特勒现在开始关注与英国的关系
It wasn't in his favor to destroy them as he believed that would only hand her Empire to the Americans who were becoming increasingly 消灭它们对他不利，因为他相信这只会把她的帝国交给越来越多的美国人
Hostile to him after Poland 在波兰之后对他怀有敌意
Believing Britain was spent after the fall of France he sued for peace 相信英国在法国沦陷后就被废spent了，他要求和平
But Churchill refused even though. He knew Britain's chances of repelling a full German invasion was slim at best 但是丘吉尔拒绝了。他知道英国拒绝德国全面入侵的机会充其量是微不足道的
Hitler therefore ordered his generals to draw up plans for operation sea lion the invasion of Britain 因此，希特勒命令他的将军们为入侵英国的海狮制定行动计划。
At the same time Germany along with Mussolini's Italy met with representatives of Japan to begin negotiations 同时，德国和墨索里尼的意大利会见了日本代表，开始谈判
For an alliance that was meant to counter the United States 为了对抗美国
this ultimately culminated in the tripod pact signed on September the 27th 1940 and 最终导致1940年9月27日签署的三脚架协议
Saw the birth of WOD history now remembers as the Axis forces 看到了WOD历史的诞生，现在回想起Axis部队了
Unlike Germany's previous military endeavours the invasion of Britain had a serious obstacle in the way namely the English Channel 与德国先前的军事努力不同，英国的入侵在英吉利海峡的方式上有严重的障碍
Hitler's military leadership agreed that it would only be possible to cross the channel in the summer 希特勒的军事领导层同意，只有在夏天才能穿越海峡
Since the weather during the autumn and winter months would be too poor to cross safely 由于秋季和冬季的天气太差，无法安全穿越
First however you would have to destroy Britain's air force 首先，你必须摧毁英国的空军
Otherwise his troops would be sitting ducks to British aircraft as they sat in their invasion barges during the crossings 否则，他的部队将在穿越口岸的入侵驳船上坐到英国飞机的鸭子上
As Germany made their invasion preparations Churchill readied the country to do what to be done to defend themselves 当德国做好入侵准备时，丘吉尔（Churchill）准备该国做好自己的防御工作
Declassified documents 解密文件
Show just how far he was prepared to go to repeal Hitler's forces should they land in Britain 展示他准备去多远，如果他们降落在英国的希特勒部队
He ordered that British forces would use chemical and even biological weapons at any German landing zone in Britain 他命令英军在德国的任何德国登陆区使用化学武器甚至生物武器
Frequently saying that is our country and we can do what we want to defend it on 经常说那是我们的国家，我们可以做我们想捍卫的国家
July the 10th 1940 the German Luftwaffe began their offensive to destroy the RAF 1940年7月10日，德国空军开始进攻，以摧毁皇家空军
It was the start of the Battle of Britain and German confidence was still high after their swift defeat of Poland and Western Europe 这是不列颠之战的开始，德国在迅速击败波兰和西欧后仍然充满信心
However unlike much of the fighting in Europe the Luftwaffe now had to be content with a well-organized and highly integrated air defense Network 但是，与欧洲的许多战斗不同，德国空军现在必须满足于组织良好且高度集成的防空网络
Centered around the re s fighting command led by Sir Hugh Dowding 以休·道丁爵士领导的战斗指挥为中心
They were equipped with two of the best fighter aircraft in the world at the time 他们当时配备了两架世界上最好的战斗机
Namely the Hawker hurricane and the more advanced Supermarine Spitfire 即小贩飓风和更先进的“超级喷火”
Fighter commands ranks also swelled with an influx of British Commonwealth French Dutch polish and even American pilots 英联邦法裔荷兰波兰人甚至美国飞行员的涌入也使战斗机司令部的人数激增
volunteering to fight with them 自愿与他们战斗
Many of whom already had combat experience during the battles for their own countries 许多人在为自己的国家而战时已经有战斗经验
Over the coming weeks the RAF would rise to face the overwhelming German aircraft 在接下来的几周里，英国皇家空军将面对大量的德国飞机
But they were suffering for it as the Luftwaffe blasted their airfields in an effort to destroy their support infrastructure 但是，由于德国空军炸毁了飞机场以破坏其支持基础设施，他们为此受了苦
on August 13 to 1940 so many German aircraft attacked Britain 在1940年8月13日至1940年，有许多德国飞机袭击了英国
But Churchill was warned that the invasion was finally under way 但是丘吉尔被警告说入侵终于在进行中
but despite a great deal of damage being done the RAF was still holding out against the Germans who were joined by the 但是尽管造成了很大的伤害，英国皇家空军仍然对那些被
contingents of Italian aircraft 意大利飞机大队
By September Fighter Command was at its weakest point in terms of men and machines 到9月，战斗机司令部在人员和机器方面处于最薄弱的时期
But then British fighter production ramped up to the point where it outstripped Lawson's a newly trained pilots began to join the fight 但是后来英国战斗机的产量增加到了超出劳森的水平，新训练的飞行员开始加入战斗
However the damage to the airfields was proving more problematic 但是事实证明，对飞机场的破坏存在更多问题
Hitler on the other hand was unaware that the RAF was once again growing in strength and 另一方面，希特勒没有意识到英国皇家空军的实力再次增强，
Was taught by Goering that it was barely able to put any aircraft into the air 戈林（Goering）获悉，它几乎无法将任何飞机投入空中
after British bombers hit targets in Berlin in response to an accidental bombing by German aircrafts of London 在英国轰炸机袭击柏林的目标后，德国飞机意外轰炸伦敦
Hitler decided to order his bombers to turn their attention away from the airfields in order to devastate London and other British cities 希特勒决定命令轰炸机将注意力转移到飞机场，以摧毁伦敦和其他英国城市
His belief was that British morale would be so shaken by these terror attacks, that the country would collapse 他的信念是，这些恐怖袭击将使英国士气动摇，以至于该国将崩溃。
Forcing Churchill to surrender thus making an armed invasion 迫使丘吉尔投降，从而进行了武装入侵
unnecessary 不必要
It was a colossal mistake 这是一个巨大的错误
Fighter Command effectively rebuilt and reorganized itself and by the time Hitler realized his mistake the summer was coming to an end 战斗机司令部有效地重建和重组了自己，到希特勒意识到夏天的错误即将结束时
The weather was worsening RAF Fighter Command was still a potent threat 天气恶化，皇家空军战斗机司令部仍然是一个强大的威胁
And the country's defenses had been built up to where it was no longer practical to invade 该国的防御已经建立到不再可行的地方
While the Germans had successfully captured the British Channel Islands Britain herself was spared 当德国人成功占领了英吉利海峡群岛时，英国自己幸免
Just as it had been in the first world war 就像第一次世界大战一样
The outbreak of war in Europe again saw the fighting spill over into the territories 欧洲战争的爆发再次使战斗蔓延到领土
But European imperial powers held control of elsewhere around the world 但是欧洲帝国大国控制着世界其他地方
Britain and France held territory across Africa, which Italy's Mussolini eyed jealously and 英国和法国在整个非洲拥有领土，意大利墨索里尼嫉妒地望着，
When Italy declared war on Britain and France in support of Germany it 当意大利向英国和法国宣战以支持德国时
Gave him the opportunity to invade those territories from Italian possessions 给他机会从意大利的财产中入侵这些领土
Such as Ethiopia Somaliland and most significantly Libya which bordered British Egypt 例如埃塞俄比亚的索马里兰和最重要的利比亚，与英国埃及接壤
Egypt was vital to British interests because of the Suez Canal 苏伊士运河对埃及的利益至关重要
Which linked Britain to its Far East possessions such as Hong Kong and India as well as the oil-rich Middle? 哪一个将英国与其远东的财产（如香港和印度）以及石油资源丰富的中产阶级联系起来？
East which both sides desperately needed access to on 双方迫切需要进入的东方
September 13th 9月13日
1948 a lien forces launched an invasion in Egypt 1948年，留置权部队对埃及发动了入侵
with Britain herself still preparing for an invasion it was left to the small contingent of British and Commonwealth troops stationed there to 在英国自己仍在为入侵做准备的情况下，将其留给了驻扎在这里的英，英联邦小部队
Defend the large border against the numerically superior Italians 捍卫与优秀意大利人的大边界
At first the Italians made good progress eventually capturing the important airfield at Sidi Bharani 起初，意大利人取得了良好的进展，最终占领了西迪·巴拉尼（Sidi Bharani）的重要机场
However when Hitler forced to cancel the invasion of Britain fresh troops and equipment 然而，当希特勒被迫取消对英国的新部队和装备的入侵时
Began to be mobilized for North Africa under the command of Lieutenant General Sir Richard, O'Connor 开始在奥康纳中将理查德爵士的指挥下为北非动员
firstly however 但是首先
They would have to make the Paradis sea voyage down the North Atlantic and into the Mediterranean 他们将不得不使Paradis海上航行，沿着北大西洋进入地中海
Where the Italian fleet was still the dominant air force after Frances surrender 在法国投降后，意大利舰队仍是主要的空军
Heavily outnumbered the British concocted a daring plan to attack the Italian fleet while it was still moored in Port Toronto 英国炮制了一个大胆的计划，以攻击仍在多伦多港停泊的意大利舰队
Using obsolete Fairey swordfish biplane bombers on the night of November the 11th 11月11日晚上使用过时的Fairey箭鱼双翼飞机轰炸机
1940 the force of swordfish bombers took off from HMS Illustrious and caught the Italians completely by surprise 1940年，箭鱼轰炸机的力量从HMS Illustrious起飞，使意大利人完全措手不及
the attack inflicted severe damage on a large number of the Italians capital ships 这次袭击给意大利的许多首舰造成了严重损失
taking them out of the war for several months in order to be repaired and 将它们从战争中撤离了几个月，以便进行修复并
their severely hampering Italy's efforts to disrupt supplies to North Africa 严重阻碍了意大利破坏北非供应的努力
Unfortunately the British still had to contend with air and submarine attacks 不幸的是，英国人仍然不得不与空中和潜艇袭击作斗争
the task of expelling Italian forces from Egypt seemed immense in the late 1914 and 在1914年后期，将意大利军队赶出埃及的任务似乎非常艰巨，
Yet, the newly arrived British forces managed to achieve just that 然而，新到来的英军却做到了这一点
the British retook Sidi Bahrani and by January the 3rd 1941 were already pushing forward into Libya in 英国人撤回了西迪·巴赫拉尼（Sidi Bahrani），到1941年1月3日，他们已经开始向利比亚进军
Two months a British force comprising of just two whole divisions had advanced 500 miles 由仅两个师组成的英军两个月前进了500英里
destroyed 10 Italian divisions and taken 摧毁了10个意大利师并采取了
130,000 prisoners as well as capturing over a thousand tanks and artillery pieces 130,000名囚犯，并俘获了上千辆坦克和大炮
Operating from Italy the German Luftwaffe began supporting the Italian operations from the air 德国空军从意大利开始运营，开始空中支援意大利作战
But things on the ground continue to go badly for the Italians with British forces 但是，当地局势继续对英国人的意大利人不利
capturing the strategic port of Tobruk on January the 22nd 1月22日占领了托布鲁克的战略港口
Confident of Italian defeat Churchill began his plans for helping to defend Greece and the Balkans from a joint German and Italian invasion 对意大利的失败充满信心的丘吉尔开始了他的计划，以帮助保卫希腊和巴尔干地区免受德国和意大利的联合入侵
However Germany decided to send two of its own divisions to help shore up Italian forces in North Africa 然而，德国决定派出自己的两个师来帮助支援意大利在北非的部队
Which would form the nucleus of its Africa core under the command of Aaron Rommel 在亚伦·隆美尔（Aaron Rommel）的指挥下，它将构成非洲核心的核心
Rommel was a gifted leader and tactician who understood tank warfare better than most generals in 1941 隆美尔是一位才华横溢的领袖和战术家，比1941年的大多数将领们更了解坦克战
The plans of North Africa were ideal for tank combat and Rommel"s influence was almost immediately felt 北非的计划是坦克作战的理想选择，而且隆美尔的影响力几乎立刻就可以感受到
He attacked El Agheila on March 24, and then pushed east across Libya back towards Egypt 他于3月24日袭击了El Agheila，然后向东横穿利比亚，返回埃及
However, he failed to retake Tobruk and instead laid siege to British garrison there, which held out for a staggering 240 days 然而，他未能重新占领托布鲁克，而围攻了在那里的英国驻军，该驻守持续了惊人的240天
Providing a severe thorn in the side of the Axis forces and tying up resources 在轴心国一侧造成严重刺伤并占用资源
on 上
April the 14th British and Commonwealth forces had been pushed back to the border and had even captured General Connor and his replacement 4月，第14支英联邦部队被推回边境，甚至占领了康纳将军及其继任者
General Neem 印Ne将军
but Rommels forces were struggling with the logistic problems, which Hitler feared the British could take advantage of 但是隆美尔部队在后勤问题上挣扎，希特勒担心英国人会利用后勤问题
Fuel was such a concern for the Germans that they began efforts to steal it from the British 燃料引起了德国人的极大关注，以至于他们开始努力从英国窃取燃料
Which resulted in British troops referring to their fuel cans as jerrycans 结果导致英国军队将其燃料罐称为油桶
By May Rommel was forced to halt his advance at hellfire pass in egypt while he resupplied his forces under 梅梅·隆梅尔（May Rommel）被迫在埃及向地狱火通行时停止前进，而他在
General Wavell the british did indeed counterattack in June hoping to cut off Rommel's supplies and force him to surrender 英国的韦维尔将军确实在6月进行了反攻，希望切断隆美尔的补给，迫使他投降。
but Rommel outmaneuvered him and the attack failed as 但是隆美尔胜过他，攻击失败
the year went on the British became obsessed with killing Rommel had earned the nickname desert fox and 一年过去了，英国人沉迷于杀戮。隆美尔赢得了绰号沙漠狐狸和
Even send a commando raid to assassinate him which ultimately failed 甚至派出突击队暗杀他，最终失败了
For the next few months the battle lines fluctuated 在接下来的几个月里，战线开始波动
But Rommel's logistical problems continued to hold him back and worsened when Hitler began to focus more on other fronts 但是，当希特勒开始更多地关注其他方面时，隆美尔的后勤问题继续使他退缩并恶化
With Hitler being forced to call off operation Sea Lion in 1940 1940年，希特勒被迫取消海狮行动
The Germans recognized that their window to invade Britain had closed, and it would now be impractical to attempt another invasion 德军意识到他们入侵英国的窗口已经关闭，现在尝试再次入侵是不切实际的
Britain was becoming fortress Britain and so Hitler turned to a medieval method of warfare the siege 英国成为要塞英国，因此希特勒转向了中世纪的攻城战
Hitler knew that Britain relied extremely heavily on war supplies material and even food coming from her empire and North America 希特勒知道英国极其依赖战争来提供来自其帝国和北美的物资甚至食物
Therefore he turned to his navy the creeks marina and tasked them to cut off this vital supply 因此，他转向海军小河码头，责成他们切断这一至关重要的补给
The Royal Navy was still the most powerful surface fleet in the world in 皇家海军仍然是世界上最强大的水面舰队
1940 and while Germany had advanced warships like the Tirpitz and Bismarck 1940年，而德国则拥有提尔皮茨（Tirpitz）和Bi斯麦（Bismarck）等先进战舰
They couldn't hope to meet the Royal Navy in a pitched battle like the Kaiser's fleet had in World War one 他们不希望像第一次世界大战中的皇帝的舰队那样在激烈的战斗中遇到皇家海军
without being overwhelmed by British numbers 不会被英国数字所淹没
Therefore the German Navy used their new boat to besiege Britain the kaisers u-boats had proved how vulnerable 因此，德国海军使用他们的新船围攻英国，凯泽尔U型船已证明多么脆弱
Britain was to such a weapon, but it seems Britain had learned very little from this during the interwar years 英国拥有这样的武器，但是在两次世界大战之间，英国似乎从中学到的很少
Tactics to combat the u-boats had changed very little and new technologies such as ASDIC an early form of sonar 打击U型艇的策略变化很小，而新技术（例如ASDIC）是声纳的早期形式
Had yet to take prevalence in the fleet meaning the main method to detect a u-boat was to spot it on the surface 尚未普及到船队中，这意味着检测U型船的主要方法是将其发现在水面上
Recharging its batteries or when using its periscope 给电池充电或使用潜望镜时
Aircraft was seen as ideal platforms for this, but RAF Coastal Command had aircraft inadequate for the job at the start of the war 飞机被认为是理想的平台，但是皇家空军沿海司令部在战争开始时就没有足够的飞机来完成这项工作
Lacking range and weaponry, but also having to rely solely on the air crews eyes for detection 缺乏射程和武器，但也只能依靠机组人员的眼睛进行检测
meanwhile the Royal Navy began organizing merchant ships into convoys in order to provide them protection and 与此同时，皇家海军开始组织商船到护航舰队中，以便为他们提供保护和
Also began taking on trawlers from Britain's fishing fleets and arming them to hunt u-boats 还开始接受英国渔船队的拖网渔船，并武装他们去捕捞u-boats
Nevertheless the u-boats began to inflict painful losses on Britain while efforts to destroy them at sea met with mixed success 然而，U型船开始给英国造成惨痛的损失，而在海上销毁它们的努力取得了喜忧参半的结果
as did RAF Bomber commands efforts to bomb the u-boats yards in France and Norway 皇家空军轰炸机命令在法国和挪威轰炸u型船厂
Churchill would later admit that the u-boats were the only thing that truly scared him during the war 丘吉尔后来承认战争期间唯一真正使他感到恐惧的东西是小艇
However the u-boats needed help in locating the convoys and so the Luftwaffe used long-range Condor patrol aircraft 但是，U型船在确定车队时需要帮助，因此德国空军使用了远程神鹰巡逻机
to organize the u-boat attacks 组织潜艇袭击
Realizing this Britain began looking of ways of destroying these aircraft 意识到这个英国开始寻找销毁这些飞机的方法
they weren't enough aircraft carriers in the Royal Navy during the early years to protect every convoy and 在早期，皇家海军的航空母舰还不足以保护每个车队和
So they came up with a novel solution 所以他们想出了一个新颖的解决方案
catapult merchantman or cam ships 弹射器商人或凸轮船
These were merchant ships equipped with a catapult to launch a single Hawker hurricane or ferry form a fighter 这些是配备弹射器的商船，用于发射单个霍克飓风或战斗机的渡轮
To attack the Condors when they were sighted it was a one-way mission there being no way to recover the aircraft 在看到神鹰时要攻击它们，这是单向任务，无法恢复飞机
Which had to ditch alongside the convoy with the pilot hoping to be picked up by a passing ship 后者不得不与车队并排，飞行员希望被过往的船只接走
Which made it one of the most dangerous jobs in the war 这使其成为战争中最危险的工作之一
The urgency to combat the new bones saw the rapid development of technology particularly in the field of radar 对抗新骨头的紧迫性看到了技术的飞速发展，特别是在雷达领域
The u-boats had to ride on the surface to charge their batteries that powered them U型艇必须骑在水面才能为电池供电
And this was often carried out under the safety of night 这通常是在夜晚的安全下进行的
However radar had been used to combat night bomber raids and was now being trialed against u-boats on 但是，雷达曾被用来打击夜间轰炸机袭击，现在正在对U型艇进行试验。
December the 22nd 1941 a u-boat was sunk by a Royal Navy plane on the surface under the cover of darkness 1941年12月22日，一艘U型船在黑暗的掩护下被皇家海军飞机击沉在水面
From that point on you boats could be attacked anytime anywhere 从那时起，您的船可能随时随地受到攻击
The situation was made worse for the u-boats by the addition of new 由于增加了新船，U型船的情况变得更糟
longer-ranged aircraft equipment with radar which left fewer and fewer places for them to hide 带有雷达的远程飞机设备，让他们躲藏的地方越来越少
At the same time Mussolini's Italy opened the North African campaign 同时墨索里尼的意大利开启了北非战役
His troops also opened up another front this time against Greece 他的部队这次也对希腊开辟了另一条战线
Mussolini felt he was playing second fiddle to Hitler in Europe and wanted to establish himself as an equal 墨索里尼觉得自己在欧洲扮演希特勒的第二小提琴手，并且想让自己成为平等的人
He viewed Greece as an easy target and began putting pressure on the country's own facet like dictator 他将希腊视为一个容易实现的目标，并开始像独裁者一样对该国自身施加压力
Ioannis Metaxas on August 15th 1940 an Italian submarine sank the Greek warship Elli 约阿尼斯·梅塔克萨斯（Ioannis Metaxas）于1940年8月15日击沉希腊军舰埃利号
Italian troops finally attacked on October the 28th 1914 but like in North Africa they were beaten back despite the odds 意大利军队最终于1914年10月28日发动了进攻，但尽管有很多困难，他们还是像北非一样被击退。
seemingly being in their favor 貌似对他们有利
the Italian attack pushed Greece closer to Britain who had desperate for allies after the fall of Western Europe 意大利的进攻将希腊拉近了西欧沦陷后急于寻求盟友的英国
This in turn made Hitler take an interest in Greece 反过来，这使希特勒对希腊产生了兴趣
And he had his General Staff start drawing up plans for his own troops to once again come to the aid of the Italians 他让他的总参谋部开始为自己的部队制定计划，以再次帮助意大利人
The problem was that Germany had no land border with Greece it being blocked by Yugoslavia and Bulgaria 问题是德国与希腊没有陆地边界，被南斯拉夫和保加利亚封锁
Hitler demanded cooperation from both nations to allow his forces to pass through 希特勒要求两国合作，以允许他的部队通过
Bulgaria greed and so too Did Yugoslavia both of whom joined the Axis forces 保加利亚也贪婪，南斯拉夫也都加入了轴心国军队
But public opinion in the latter was strongly anti German leading to a coup against the government and the rejection of any alliance 但是后者的舆论强烈反对德国，导致政变和反对任何联盟
outraged Hitler ordered that when his troops invaded Greece from Bulgaria on April the 6th 1941 愤怒的希特勒下令，当他的部队于1941年4月6日从保加利亚入侵希腊时
But they were to concurrently invade Yugoslavia 但是他们要同时入侵南斯拉夫
despite stiff resistance 尽管抵抗力强
Yugoslavia was overrun in just over a week and a half 南斯拉夫在短短半个多星期内就被超支了
Two weeks later the Greek surrendered having been overwhelmed by the combined might of the German and Italians 两周后，希腊人投降，德国人和意大利人的共同力量使他们不堪重负
British assistance could do little to repel the invaders and along with the Greek forces. They retreated to the island of Crete 英国的援助对抵抗入侵者以及与希腊军队一道无济于事。他们撤退到克里特岛
consolidating his position on the Greek mainland 巩固他在希腊大陆的地位
Hitler ordered the invasion of Crete to begin on May the 20th and was opened with a massive attack by German paratroopers 希特勒下令于5月20日开始对克里特岛的入侵，并在遭到德国伞兵的大规模攻击后被揭幕
after nearly two weeks of fierce fighting the island fell 经过近两个星期的激烈战斗，该岛沦陷了
But while British and observers in Washington were impressed with the effectiveness of a paratrooper invasion launched against them 但是，尽管英国人和华盛顿的观察员对伞兵向他们发起的入侵的效果印象深刻
Hitler was appalled at the cost of his forces and never again ordered a large-scale airborne invasion 希特勒以牺牲自己的军队为代价感到震惊，再也没有下令大规模空降入侵
Nazi Germany's army seemed unstoppable by mid 1941 and no-one became more convinced of this than Hitler himself 纳粹德国的军队到1941年中期似乎势不可挡，没有人比希特勒本人更相信这一点
Who after defeating the British on mainland Europe in France and Greece and while Rommel continued pushing them back in North Africa 谁在法国和希腊的欧洲大陆击败英国人之后，而隆美尔继续将他们推回北非
Decided that it was time to achieve his ultimate goal 决定是时候实现他的最终目标
the destruction of the Soviet Union 苏联的破坏
Hitler view the Soviet Union as a way of not only eradicating communism 希特勒将苏联视为不仅消灭共产主义的一种方式
But of feeding his thousand-year Reich by providing vast areas of agricultural land and vital resources such as oil and metals 但是，通过提供广阔的农业土地和重要资源（例如石油和金属）来养育他的一千多年的帝国
However, Germany's generals warned the Führer against invading the Soviet Union unless Moscow attacked first 但是，德国将军告诫德国不要入侵苏联，除非莫斯科先发动进攻。
Britain herself remained unconquered and worse still was now sending fleets of oh bombers into Europe to attack German industry 英国自己仍然没有被征服，更糟糕的是，现在正向欧洲派遣轰炸机机队袭击德国工业
Also, the job of defending British and British Commonwealth forces in Africa 此外，在非洲捍卫英美英联邦军队的工作
Required the resources Hitler wanted to commit to fighting the Soviet Union they believed 需要希特勒想要致力于与他们相信的苏联作战的资源
It was better to send those forces to destroy British resistance in Africa and then seize British possessions in the Middle East 最好派遣这些部队摧毁英国在非洲的抵抗力量，然后在中东夺取英国财产
Which would afford them oil which would starve Britain offer supplies, and eventually helped force London to surrender 它将为他们提供石油，这将使英国无法供应石油，并最终帮助迫使伦敦投降
But Hitler was impatient 但是希特勒不耐烦
He argued that the German people would not be as supportive for a war on Russia after a few more years of fighting 他争辩说，经过几年的战斗，德国人民不会支持对俄罗斯的战争
also, he believed the Soviet Army was incompetent after his poor showing against Finland in the winter war of 1939 if 另外，他认为苏联军队在1939年冬季战争中对阵芬兰表现不佳之后，没有能力，如果
He waited then the Soviet leadership might learn from their mistakes and become a more credible threat 他等着苏联领导层可能会从他们的错误中吸取教训，并成为更可信的威胁
Hitler would say we only have to kick in the front door and the whole rotten Russian air defense will come tumbling down 希特勒会说，我们只需要踢前门，整个腐烂的俄罗斯防空系统就会崩溃
He defied his generals and gave the order to attack the Soviet Union 他背叛了将军，下达了进攻苏联的命令
dubbed Operation Barbarossa 被称为“巴巴罗萨行动”
Germany committed a huge force of troops that included Romanian Finnish and Hungarian units who were by now signed up members of the Axis forces 德国派出了一支庞大的部队，其中包括罗马尼亚芬兰和匈牙利部队，这些部队目前已成为轴心国的成员
The attack was launched from occupy polish territory at 0:00 300 hours on Sunday the 22nd of June 攻击于6月22日星期日从占领波兰领土的0:00 300小时发动
1941 and 1941年和
involved a staggering 3.8 million personnel launched across a 2,900 kilometre front 涉及2900公里前线的惊人380万人员
The German forces were arranged in three key army groups north center and south 德军被分到北，南三个主要军团
The Soviet Army had warnings that the Germans were massing for an invasion 苏军曾警告说，德国人正为入侵而集结
But Stalin refused to believe it in the days after the invasion Stalin retreated into his own mind 但是斯大林拒绝相信斯大林在入侵之后的日子。
He being unable to comprehend. Just what was happening which left his government 他无法理解。到底发生了什么事，离开了他的政府
That was terrified to act against him following his brutal purges unsure what to do 在他残酷的清洗不确定该怎么办之后，对他采取行动感到恐惧
The Soviet army sustained incredible losses in the early years of the war while the Soviet Air Force was largely smashed on the ground 战争初期，苏联军队遭受了令人难以置信的损失，而苏联空军在很大程度上被砸碎
The aircraft that did get airborne who often obsolete types or their pilots poorly trained 确实空降的飞机，通常是过时的机型或飞行员训练不足
making them easy targets for skilled and experienced German fighter pilots 使它们成为熟练和经验丰富的德国战斗机飞行员的轻松目标
The Soviets also had to contend with anti-communist forces conducting sabotage and intelligence-gathering operations from the Germans 苏联还不得不与反共势力抗衡，后者进行了德军的破坏和情报搜集行动
the fighting in the east was particularly brutal 东方的战斗特别残酷
Hitler had told his forces that a war against the Soviet Union could not be fought along civilised lines and 希特勒告诉他的部队，不能按照文明的路线对苏联发动战争，
As such he promised no German would ever be held accountable for his conduct against the enemy in 因此，他保证不会对他对德国的敌人的行为负责。
A sense they were given a free hand to rape plunder and murder 从某种意义上说，他们有放手强奸和谋杀的权利
When Soviet units were overwhelmed many of them surrendered as their command structure collapsed and these soldiers were led into captivity 苏联部队不堪重负时，许多人投降，其指挥结构瓦解，这些士兵被俘虏
Where there was an actual plan in place to starve them to death 那里有实际计划使他们饿死
behind the German troops advanced German death squads began murdering so-called undesirables such as Jews 在德国军队的背后，先进的德国死亡小队开始谋杀犹太人等所谓的不良分子
The speed of the German advance took everyone by surprise including the Germans themselves 德国前进的速度使所有人都感到惊讶，包括德国人自己
The vast areas of land Germany's forces took proved a logistical nightmare and on several occasions 德国军队占领的广阔土地被证明是一场后勤噩梦，几次
They lost the initiative as they waited for supplies of food fuel and re armaments to catch up with them 他们在等待粮食燃料和武器装备追赶他们时失去了主动权
the Germans advanced across eastern Poland Belarus Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania Ukraine and into Russia itself 德国人越过波兰东部进入白俄罗斯白俄罗斯爱沙尼亚，拉脱维亚，立陶宛乌克兰并进入俄罗斯
proving almost unstoppable 证明几乎不可阻挡
But everyone knew that the biggest obstacle the Germans would have to face was rapidly approaching the Russian winter 但是每个人都知道，德国人将要面对的最大障碍是迅速接近俄罗斯的冬天
By December 1941 the snow was setting in but German troops were on the verge of taking Moscow itself 到1941年12月，雪开始下沉，但德军濒临占领莫斯科的边缘
However, they failed to take the embattled city and their advanced ground to a halt 然而，他们未能阻止这个四面楚歌的城市及其先进的地面
The soviet union's leadership meanwhile had relocated their major weapons production 同时，苏联领导人已将主要武器生产地点转移
Facilities further east out at the range of German bombers which allowed them to build tanks and aircraft unmolested 位于德国轰炸机射程以东的设施，使他们可以建造坦克和不被破坏的飞机
They were also getting supplies from Britain. Thanks to the efforts of the men on the perilous Arctic convoys 他们也从英国获得物资。多亏了这些人在危险的北极车队中的努力
The German army leadership knew the truth even if Hitler remained convinced of Germany's superiority 即使希特勒仍然坚信德国的优越性，德国军队领导也知道真相
They had lost their window of opportunity to destroy the Soviet Union quickly 他们失去了迅速摧毁苏联的机会之窗
Now the Soviets were engaged committed and far more prepared for the coming war of attrition than Germany was in 现在，苏联人决心投身，比起德国，要为即将到来的消耗战做更多的准备。
Mein Kampf Hitler had outlined that Germany could not fight a prolonged war on two fronts 迈因·坎普夫·希特勒（Mein Kampf Hitler）概述了德国不能在两个战线上打一场长期战争
Yet at the end of 1941 he was effectively committed to three fronts 但在1941年底，他实际上致力于三个方面
Britain in the West British Commonwealth forces in North Africa and now the Soviet Union in the East and 英国在北非的西英联邦部队中，现在在东方的苏联和
while the snow fell on German soldiers in Russia ill-equipped for winter warfare they whirled away in the tropical climate of Hawaii a 当降雪降落在俄罗斯士兵不具备冬季作战能力时，他们在夏威夷的热带气候中旋转着
Fleet of Japanese ships were closing in on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor 日本舰队在珍珠港的美国海军基地关闭