Interesting facts about wars. Interesting facts about the war of 1941-1945.

World history is full of a huge number of wars, which affected almost all continents and most of the existing and existing states. Each of them is studied in detail by historians, scientists, politicians, however, despite scrupulous research, various monographs on a particular conflict, interesting facts about wars remain largely unknown to a wide audience.

One of the most bloody and large-scale in the history of human existence was the Second World War of 1939 - 1945, which affected more than 60 of the then existing states. The main participants were the participants of two coalitions - the Axis Countries (Germany, Italy, Japan) and the Anti-Hitler Coalition (USA, Great Britain, USSR, China).

Interesting facts about the war of 1941 - 1945

At the very beginning of the war, the United States from outside observed the unfolding events, not entering the war, until December 7, 1941, Japan defeated the American fleet, based in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

After that, the US became a full-fledged participant in the anti-Hitler coalition. But almost immediately the Americans faced significant difficulties: they had to conduct training and training pilots, preparing them for combat operations in the Pacific. Doing this in the open ocean was not possible because of the danger from the German submarines. Then the American command decided to conduct the development of take-offs, maneuvers and landings on aircraft carriers on the Great Lakes. Especially for this, 2 steamers were converted. During the exercise, more than 18,000 pilots were trained and about three hundred planes lost due to accidents. That is why at the bottom of the Great Lakes there were so many fragments of this military equipment.

The Hawaiian dollar - what is this currency?

The attack on the US military base caused the emergence of the "Hawaiian dollar". The government of the country urgently seized all dollars from the population, replacing them with bills with a large inscription "HAWAII".

This maneuver was made in the event of a possible seizure by the Japanese of the islands: if this happened, a currency that did not have any value would fall into the hands of the enemy.

"Camel's luck"

Interesting facts about the war of the two coalitions give an idea not only of restraint and the ability to make complex decisions by the Allied command, but also about wit and an unusual approach in the fight against the enemy. So, German tankmen, who fought in North Africa, had an unusual tradition - to move "for luck" a handful of camel manure. Allied troops, noticing this trend, began to make anti-tank mines that disguised themselves as such piles, and destroyed not one enemy tank. Having unraveled the maneuver of the rival, the Germans began to go around untouched manure. But even here the allies displayed a fantasy, creating mines that looked like a bunch of manure already with traces of caterpillars passing over them.

Carrot diet and vitamin A

What other interesting facts about wars show the non-ordinary thinking of the Allied Command? A vivid example, the effect of which has survived in our time, has become a legend about vitamin A, which is allegedly in large quantities found in carrots and directly affects the improvement of vision and skin conditions. In fact, the amount of carrots eaten directly does not affect good eyesight and healthy skin. This myth was invented by the British, who developed a radar, through which night the pilots could see German bombers. To the enemy did not guess about the invention, the military distributed publications in newspapers about the carrot diet of pilots.

Tamerlane's grave and war: is there a connection?

About whether there is a connection between fiction and reality, you can learn by studying some interesting facts about the war. 1941, June 21 - Soviet scientists discovered the grave of the famous Turkic commander Tamerlane, found in Samarkand. According to one of the legends, the autopsy of the grave will lead to war. June 22 of the same year, the Germans attacked the USSR, thereby unleashing a war that became known as the Great Patriotic War. However, such an unusual circumstance among scientists is considered just a coincidence, since according to available data the plan of Germany's attack on the USSR was approved long before 1941.

Interesting facts about the Patriotic War: animals and their role

The theater of military operations of 1941-1945 developed on the territory of the USSR and was called the Great Patriotic War. During the conflict, a huge number of people were killed fighting for the liberation of their homeland from the Nazi invaders. However, not only human resources were involved in hostilities.

Interesting facts about the war of 1941 - 1945 indicate that animals were actively involved in combat operations. Soviet cynologists trained dogs whose purpose was to destroy German tanks. The dogs were practically not fed, accustoming them to the fact that they could get food under the model of the car. Thus, already taught dogs with bundles attached to them with TNT and an explosive device fled to enemy tanks during the battle, undermining them and themselves. There are still disputes about the effectiveness of this method of fighting the enemy.

Sometimes an interesting finding for history lovers becomes interesting facts about the great war. For example, it is known that in addition to dogs, participation in the Great Patriotic War was also assumed by ... camels! To be more precise, the camels were a draft force for guns in the 28th Reserve Army, formed in Astrakhan during the fighting for Stalingrad. In connection with the lack of equipment and horses, the Soviet military were forced to harvest wild camels and tame them. About 350 animals took part in hostilities. Most of them died, but two camels even reached Berlin together with the Soviet army. Surviving animals were sent to zoos.

Interesting facts about the 1945 war, or rather about the significant day of June 24, when the Victory Parade was held in Moscow, tell the man in the street about the notable event of this grandiose procession: one of the parade participants was carrying a dog on a tunic.

It was not a simple dog, but the famous Gilbras, who discovered about 150 shells and 7000 mines during operations on demining territories of European states. But on the eve of the holiday Gilbras was wounded and could not pass on the Parade among the rest of the representatives of the school of military dogs. That is why Stalin gave the order to carry him on Red Mercy in his tunic.

"Coca-Cola" in the USSR?

Interesting facts about the war also illuminate the unknown side of diplomatic relations between the USSR and the United States, in particular, between their prominent political figures. So, during the war in Europe, there was a meeting of USSR Marshal Georgy Zhukov and US Army General Dwight Eisenhower, during which the General treated the Marshal Coca-Cola.

Zhukov estimated the drink and asked Eisenhower to bring him to the headquarters. In order to avoid rumors about the Soviet general's adoration of such a bright symbol of American imperialism, Zhukov asked to discolor Coca-Cola. This request was transferred to a beverage production plant through President Harry Truman. Chemists managed to discolor Coca-Cola, which in the quantity of 50 boxes was delivered to the marshal in ordinary bottles with a red star and a white lid.

How did the "Fant"

However, this is not the only episode associated with Coca-Cola. Interesting facts about wars tell how the "Fanta" actually appeared.

Even in the first years of the Second World War, the German representation of the factory for bottling this drink was left without the ingredients that were supplied from the US. In search of an alternative, the Germans began to produce another product, using for this waste of food production (milk whey and apple cake). Drink got a simple name "Fanta" - abbreviated from "fantasy". Until now, there is an opinion that the director of the plant and the inventor of the drink was the Nazi - Max Keith. But this is not true, he was not a Nazi. After the war, Kate got in touch with the main office of Coca-Cola in the US, and the company's property over the plant in Germany was restored. The leaders did not abandon the "Fantas" that had already won great popularity and continued to produce it on a par with Coca-Cola.

30 years later

Thirty years after the Allied victory in the war, a rather symbolic case occurred: in July 1975, the United States Apollo spacecraft and the Soviet Union had to dock over Moscow, during which the shaking hands of astronauts were supposed to be exchanged. However, the calculation of the venue was made incorrectly, and a handshake took place over the Elbe River, where 30 years before the meeting of American and Soviet soldiers.

All these interesting facts about wars, little known to the general public, show the reverse side of the events that took place and sometimes illuminate the curious or unusual cases that were woven into the story of heavy military everyday life with a bright ribbon.