1. Vocabulary about War and History

2. Reading texts about World Wars I and II

WORLD WAR 1

From www.wikipedia.org

World War I (often abbreviated as WWI or WW1), also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously (đương thời) described as “the war to end all wars”, it led to the mobilisation (sự huy động) of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million combatants (lính chiến) and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides (diệt chủng) and the 1918 influenza pandemic (dịch cúm) caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide.

On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb Yugoslav nationalist, (người theo chủ nghĩa dân tộc,luôn muốn đất nước được nhiều quyền lợi hơn so với các nước khác) assassinated (ám sát) the Austro-Hungarian heir (người thừa kế) Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, leading to the July Crisis. In response, on 23 July Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum (gửi tối hậu thư) to Serbia. Serbia’s reply failed to satisfy the Austrians, and the two moved to a war footing. (rơi vào tình trạng chiến tranh)

A network of interlocking alliances (đồng minh thân thiết) enlarged the crisis from a bilateral issue (vấn đề song phương) in the Balkans to one involving most of Europe. By July 1914, the great powers of Europe were divided into two coalitions: (liên minh) the Triple Entente—consisting of France, Russia and Britain—and the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy (the Triple Alliance was primarily defensive in nature, allowing Italy to stay out of the war in 1914). Russia felt it necessary to back Serbia and, after Austria-Hungary shelled (nã pháo vào) the Serbian capital of Belgrade on the 28th, approved partial mobilisation. Full Russian mobilisation was announced on the evening of 30 July; on the 31st, Austria-Hungary and Germany did the same, while Germany demanded Russia demobilise within twelve hours. When Russia failed to comply, (tuân theo) Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August in support of Austria-Hungary, with Austria-Hungary following suit (làm theo) on 6th; France ordered full mobilisation in support of Russia on 2 August.

German strategy for a war on two fronts against France and Russia was to rapidly concentrate the bulk (phần lớn) of its army in the West to defeat France within four weeks, then shift forces to the East before Russia could fully mobilise; this was later known as the Schlieffen Plan. On 2 August, Germany demanded free passage through Belgium, an essential element in achieving a quick victory over France. When this was refused, German forces invaded Belgium on 3 August and declared war on France the same day; the Belgian government invoked (viện dẫn) the 1839 Treaty (hiệp ước) of London and in compliance with (tuân thủ theo) its obligations under this, Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August. On 12 August, Britain and France also declared war on Austria-Hungary; on the 23rd, Japan sided with the Entente, seizing German possessions in China and the Pacific. In November 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered the war on the side of the Alliance, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai Peninsula. The war was fought in and drew upon each power’s colonial empire as well, spreading the conflict to Africa and across the globe. The Entente and its allies would eventually become known as the Allied Powers, while the grouping of Austria-Hungary, Germany and their allies would become known as the Central Powers.

The German advance into France was halted (dừng lại) at the Battle of the Marne and by the end of 1914, the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, (sự tiêu hao sinh lực) marked by a long series of trench lines (hệ thống hào) that changed little until 1917 (the Eastern Front, by contrast, was marked by much greater exchanges of territory). In 1915, Italy joined the Allied Powers and opened a front in the Alps. Bulgaria joined the Central Powers in 1915 and Greece joined the Allies in 1917, expanding the war in the Balkans. The United States initially remained neutral, though even while neutral it became an important supplier of war material to the Allies. (đồng minh) Eventually, after the sinking of American merchant ships by German submarines, (tàu ngầm) and the revelation (sự phát hiện) that the Germans were trying to incite (xúi giục) Mexico to make war on the United States, the U.S. declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917. Trained American forces would not begin arriving at the front in large numbers until mid-1918, but ultimately the American Expeditionary Force would reach some two million troops. (lính) 

Though Serbia was defeated in 1915, and Romania joined the Allied Powers in 1916 only to be defeated in 1917, none of the great powers were knocked out of the war until 1918. The 1917 February Revolution in Russia replaced the Tsarist autocracy (chế độ chuyên quyền) with the Provisional Government, (chính phủ lâm thời) but continuing discontent (không hài lòng) at the cost of the war led to the October Revolution, the creation of the Soviet Socialist Republic, and the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk by the new government in March 1918, ending Russia’s involvement in the war. This allowed the transfer of large numbers of German troops from the East to the Western Front, resulting in the German March 1918 Offensive. This offensive was initially successful, but failed to score a decisive victory and exhausted the last of the German reserves. (dự phòng) The Allies rallied (tập hợp lại) and drove the Germans back in their Hundred Days Offensive, a continual series of attacks to which the Germans had no reply. Bulgaria was the first Central Power to sign an armistice (thỏa thuận ngừng bắn)—the Armistice of Salonica on 29 September 1918. On 30 October, the Ottoman Empire capitulated, (đầu hàng có điều kiện) signing the Armistice of Mudros. On 4 November, the Austro-Hungarian empire agreed to the Armistice of Villa Giusti. With its allies defeated, revolution at home, and the military no longer willing to fight, Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated (thoái vị) on 9 November and Germany signed an armistice on 11 November 1918, effectively ending the war.

World War I was a significant turning point in the political, cultural, economic, and social climate of the world. It is considered to mark the end of the Second Industrial Revolution and the Pax Britannica. The war and its immediate aftermath (hệ quả) sparked (khơi ngòi) numerous revolutions and uprisings. The Big Four (Britain, France, the United States, and Italy) imposed their terms on the defeated powers in a series of treaties agreed at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, the most well-known being the German peace treaty—the Treaty of Versailles. Ultimately, as a result of the war the Austro-Hungarian, German, Ottoman, and Russian Empires ceased (chấm dứt) to exist, with numerous new states created from their remains. However, despite the conclusive Allied victory (and the creation of the League of Nations during the Peace Conference, intended to prevent future wars), a Second World War would follow just over twenty years later.

WORLD WAR 2

From www.wikipedia.org

World War II (often abbreviated to WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world’s countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: (liên minh) the Allies (đồng minh) and the Axis. (liên minh trục-Mỹ thường dùng chữ trục ma quỷ)  A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring (làm mờ) the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, (người chết) most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, (thảm sát) the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Japan, which aimed to dominate Asia and the Pacific, was at war with China by 1937, though neither side had declared waron the other. World War II is generally said to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the invasion (sự xâm lược) of Poland by Germany and subsequent (sau đó) declarations of war on Germany by France and the United Kingdom. From late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned (phân chia) and annexed territories (lãnh thổ sáp nhập) of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. Following the onset (sự tấn công, sự bắt đầu mạnh mẽ) of campaigns in North Africa and East Africa, and the fall of France in mid 1940, the war continued primarily between the European Axis powers and the British Empire. War in the Balkans, the aerial Battle (cuộc chiến trên không) of Britain, the Blitz, and the long Battle of the Atlantic followed. On 22 June 1941, the European Axis powers launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, opening the largest land theatre of war in history. This Eastern Front trapped (mắc vào, vướng vào bẫy) the Axis, most crucially the German Wehrmacht, into a war of attrition. (tiêu hao sinh lực) In December 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the United States as well as European colonies in the Pacific. Following an immediate U.S. declaration of war against Japan, supported by one from Great Britain, the European Axis powers quickly declared war on the U.S. in solidarity with (đoàn kết với) their Japanese ally. Rapid Japanese conquests (cuộc chinh phục) over much of the Western Pacific ensued, (xảy ra) perceived by many in Asia as liberation (sự giải phóng) from Western dominance and resulting in the support of several armies from defeated territories.

The Axis advance in the Pacific halted (dừng lại) in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway; later, Germany and Italy were defeated in North Africa and then, decisively, at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. Key setbacks (sự thụt luì) in 1943, which included a series of German defeats (thất bại) on the Eastern Front, the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy, and Allied victories in the Pacific, cost the Axis its initiative and forced it into strategic retreat (rút lui) on all fronts. (mặt trận) In 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained its territorial losses and turned toward Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses (đảo ngược) in mainland Asia in Central China, South China and Burma, while the Allies crippled (làm tê liệt, què quặt) the Japanese Navy and captured key Western Pacific islands.

The war in Europe concluded with an invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating (lên cực điểm) in the capture of Berlin by Soviet troops, the suicide of Adolf Hitler and the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945. Following the Potsdam Declaration by the Allies on 26 July 1945 and the refusal of Japan to surrender under its terms, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August respectively. With an invasion of the Japanese archipelago (quần đảo) imminent, (sắp xảy ra) the possibility of additional atomic bombings, the Soviet entry into the war against Japan and its invasion of Manchuria, Japan announced its intention to surrender on 15 August 1945, cementing total victory in Asia for the Allies. Tribunals (các tòa án) were set up by fiat (sắc lệnh) by the Allies and war crimes trials were conducted in the wake of the war both against the Germans and the Japanese.

World War II changed the political alignment (trật tự chính trị) and social structure of the globe. The United Nations (UN) was established to foster (tăng cường) international co-operation and prevent future conflicts; the victorious great powers—China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States—became the permanent members of its Security Council. The Soviet Union and United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the nearly half-century long Cold War. In the wake of European devastation, (sự tàn phá) the influence of its great powers waned, (giảm) triggering the decolonisation of Africa and Asia. Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery and expansion. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities (sự thù địch) and create a common identity.