The bombing Attack occurred in the first days of the German-led Axis invasion Attack of Yugoslavia during World War II .

The British War Cabinet feared Change_sentiment that France would hand Giving the ships to the German Navy ( `` Kriegsmarine '' ) , giving Giving the Axis assistance Assistance in the Battle Military_operation of the Atlantic or Battle Military_operation of the Mediterranean .

Admiral François Darlan , commander of the French Navy , promised Commitment the British that the fleet would remain under French control Control but Winston Churchill and the War Cabinet judged Deciding that the fleet was too powerful to risk Risk an Axis take-over Conquering .

Military operations Military_operation in World War II in Yugoslavia began Process_start on 6 April 1941 , when the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was swiftly conquered Conquering by Axis forces Military_operation and partitioned Forming_relationships between Germany , Italy , Hungary , Bulgaria and client regimes .

Subsequently , a guerrilla liberation war Military_operation was fought Hostile_encounter against the Axis occupying forces Military_operation and their locally established Building puppet regimes , including the fascist Independent State of Croatia and the Government of National Salvation in the German-occupied territory of Serbia , by the Communist-led republican Yugoslav Partisans .

The Axis mounted Connect a series of offensives intended to destroy Destroying the Partisans , coming Motion close to doing so in the Battle of Neretva and Battle of Sutjeska in the spring and summer of 1943 .

The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict Hostile_encounter between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union ( USSR ) , Poland and other Allies , which encompassed Surrounding Central Europe , Eastern Europe , Northeast Europe ( Baltics ) , and Southeast Europe ( Balkans ) from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945 .

The Eastern Front was decisive in determining Deciding the outcome in the European theatre of operations in World War II , eventually serving Supply as the main reason for the defeat Conquering of Nazi Germany and the Axis nations .

Crimes against the Polish nation committed Commitment by Nazi Germany and Axis collaborationist forces during the invasion Attack of Poland , along with auxiliary battalions during the subsequent occupation Control of Poland in World War II , consisted of the murder Killing of millions of ethnic Poles and the systematic extermination of Jewish Poles .

Operation Barbarossa ( ) was the code name for the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union , which started Process_start on Sunday , 22 June 1941 , during World War II .

The operation stemmed Creating from Nazi Germany 's ideological aim of conquering Conquering the western Soviet Union so that it could be repopulated by Germans ( ) , and to also use Using some Slavs as a slave labour force for the Axis war effort and to annihilate Killing the rest according to Generalplan Ost , and to acquire Getting the oil reserves of the Caucasus and the agricultural resources of Soviet territories .

The Eastern Front became Becoming the site of some of the largest battles , most horrific atrocities , and highest World War II casualties ( for Soviet and Axis forces alike ) .

Despite these Axis successes , the German offensive stalled Cause_change_of_position_on_a_scale in the Battle of Moscow at the end of 1941 , and the subsequent Soviet winter counteroffensive pushed Self_motion German troops back .

The operation Military_operation was designed Creating to cut Removing the air supply Supply lines between Italy and the Axis armies in Tunis , Tunisia , in April 1943 .

The danger for the Axis Powers was now apparent .

The Allied forces Military_operation advancing Self_motion eastward and the British 8th Army advancing Self_motion westward after the victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein , would trap and destroy Destroying the remaining Axis forces Military_operation in North Africa .

In response to the crisis , and the poor state of Axis forces Military_operation , reinforcements for the German `` Afrika Korps '' , Italian Army and `` Luftwaffe '' were dispatched Sending by sea and air .

These reinforcements duly staved off an immediate defeat in Tunisia , the last region still in Axis hands .

The poor state Statement of the roads and rail lines in Algeria meant that Allied forces Military_operation faced Confronting_problem difficult logistic challenges Competition which enabled Preventing_or_letting the Axis to prolong a defence Defending .

Nevertheless , the growing number and experience of Allied forces Military_operation squeezed Motion the Axis toward the northern tip of Tunisia .

However , Axis supplies Supply were still reaching Arriving the besieged Besieging `` Afrika Korps '' by air .

By early April , large quantities of Axis manpower was also being evacuated Removing by air .

The operation Military_operation did great harm to Axis logistical support Supporting .

From the 2nd Rifle Brigade defeated Conquering numerous Axis armoured Wearing counter-attacks and withstood constant artillery-bombardments and machine-gun fire , while knocking out armoured vehicles , with intermittent support from the tanks and artillery of the 1st Armoured Division .

The defence of Outpost Snipe managed to spoil Destroying the biggest Axis counter-attack against the positions captured Conquering by the Eighth Army , during Operation Lightfoot but the Battalion had 72 casualties .

During the Second World War , Operation Retribution was the air and naval blockade designed Creating to prevent Preventing_or_letting the seaborne evacuation of Axis forces from Tunisia to Sicily .

Axis forces were isolated in northern Tunisia and faced Confronting_problem a final Allied assault .

The Axis ' predicament had been recognised Know earlier and a large scale effort to evacuate Emptying Axis personnel was expected .

The Axis ' predicament had been recognised Know earlier and a large scale effort to evacuate Emptying Axis personnel was expected .

In the event , the Italian Fleet did not leave Departing port and there was no organised Arranging attempt to evacuate Emptying Axis forces by sea .

Axis forces in north Africa , squeezed Motion_directional into a small area with minimal supplies Supply and facing Confronting_problem well-supplied opponents , surrendered Surrendering on 13 May .

For the next four months the 1st Para Brigade was used Using in a ground role , serving Assistance under several formations and advancing Cause_to_make_progress with Allied ground forces Causation ; it suffered Bodily_harm heavy casualties Death on several occasions but also took Conquering large numbers of Axis prisoners .

The goal of this offensive Attack was to split Destroying Wehrmacht 's Army Group South and to clear Removing the German-Romanian-Hungarian forces from most of the Ukrainian and Moldovian territories , which were occupied Control by Axis forces .

Operation Halyard ( or Halyard Mission ) , known Know in Serbian as Operation Air Bridge ( ) , was an Allied airlift operation Military_operation behind Axis lines during World War II .

The Vigorous convoy was driven Motion back by the Italian fleet and attacks Attack by Axis aircraft .

News of the two operations had been unwittingly revealed Reveal_secret beforehand to the Axis by the US Military Attaché in Egypt , Colonel Bonner Fellers , who had been submitting Submitting_documents detailed military reports on British activities to Washington .

Conceived Creating by the commander-in-chief of the British Middle East Command , General Archibald Wavell , Brevity was intended to be a rapid blow against weak Axis front-line forces in the Sollum–Capuzzo–Bardia area of the border between Egypt and Libya .

British attention then shifted Change to Greece , which was under the threat of Axis invasion .

The Pacific War saw Self_motion the Allies pitted Hostile_encounter against Japan , the latter aided Assistance by Thailand and to a lesser extent by the Axis allied Germany and Italy .

The offensive Attack was intended to stop Preventing_or_letting Allied use Using of the Belgian port of Antwerp and to split Change the Allied lines , allowing Preventing_or_letting the Germans to encircle Besieging and destroy Destroying four Allied armies and force Causation the Western Allies to negotiate Communication a peace treaty in the Axis powers ' favor .

Following the World War II German-led Axis invasion Attack of Yugoslavia in April 1941 , the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was partitioned Change_of_leadership .

The offensive began Process_start in great secrecy on 6 March 1945 with an attack Killing near Lake Balaton , the area included Cause_to_be_included some of the last oil reserves still available to the Axis .

The invasion Attack of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War or Operation 25 , was a German-led attack Attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began Process_start on 6 April 1941 during World War II .

Yugoslavia was then occupied Hold and partitioned by the Axis powers .

Some areas of Yugoslavia were annexed Attack by neighboring Axis countries , some areas remained Presence occupied , and in other areas Axis puppet states such as the Independent State of Croatia ( , or NDH ) were created Creating during the invasion Attack on 10 April .

Some areas of Yugoslavia were annexed Attack by neighboring Axis countries , some areas remained Presence occupied , and in other areas Axis puppet states such as the Independent State of Croatia ( , or NDH ) were created Creating during the invasion Attack on 10 April .

During the Second World War , British and German civilian aircraft operated Being_in_operation from the same facilities at Portela , and Allied and Axis spies watched Perception_active the incoming and outgoing traffic .

Aircraft flying Motion the Lisbon–Whitchurch route were left Departing unmolested at the beginning Process_start of the war , and both Allied and Axis powers respected Supporting the neutrality of Portugal .

The Axis order Request of battle Hostile_encounter against the Bulgarians and Yugoslavs in this operation Military_operation comprised Cause_to_be_included some 17,000 men including the Kampfgruppe `` Langer '' with three infantry companies , one artillery battery and one platoon of tanks , Kampfgruppe `` Bredow '' with six infantry battalions , three artillery battalions and 10 tanks ) , Kampfgruppe `` Skanderbeg '' with about 7,000 men of Waffen-SS August Schmidhuber 's 21st Mountain Division `` Skanderbeg '' and about 4,000 German navy personnel making their way to the north from Greece .

The midget submarine attacks Attack and subsequent bombardments Attack are among the best-known examples of Axis naval activity Hostile_encounter in Australian waters during World War II , and are the only occasion in history when either city has come Arriving under attack Attack .