第一次世界大戰（簡稱一戰，1914年8月–1918年11月）是一場主要發生在歐洲但波及到全世界的世界大戰。當時世界上大多數國家都卷入了這場戰爭，是歐洲歷史上破壞性最強的戰爭之一。戰爭的導火線是著名的薩拉熱窩事件。
  Reading in a single sitting 一口氣讀完這段歷史
  World War I (WWI)， also called the First World War or Great War， was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. It involved all of the world’s great powers， which were assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies (centred on the Triple Entente) and the Central Powers (originally centred on the Triple Alliance). More than 70 million military personnel， including 60 million Europeans， were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history.More than 9 million combatants were killed， largely because of great technological advances in firepower without corresponding advances in mobility. It was the sixth deadliest conflict in Western history.
  The assassination on 28 June 1914 of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria， the heir to the throne of Austria–Hungary， was the proximate trigger of the war. Long–term causes， such as imperialistic foreign policies of the great powers of Europe， such as the German Empire， the Austro–Hungarian Empire， the Ottoman Empire， the Russian Empire， the British Empire， France， and Italy， played a major role. Ferdinand’s assassination by a Yugoslav nationalist resulted in a Habsburg ultimatum against the Kingdom of Serbia. Several alliances formed over the past decades were invoked， so within weeks the major powers were at war; via their colonies， the conflict soon spread around the world.
  On 28 July， the conflict opened with the Austro–Hungarian invasion of Serbia， followed by the German invasion of Belgium， Luxembourg and France; and a Russian attack against Germany. After the German march on Paris was brought to a halt， the Western Front settled into a static battle of attrition with a trench line that changed little until 1917. In the East， the Russian army successfully fought against the Austro–Hungarian forces but was forced back by the German army. Additional fronts opened after the Ottoman Empire joined the war in 1914， Italy and Bulgaria in 1915 and Romania in 1916. The Russian Empire collapsed in 1917， and Russia left the war after the October Revolution later that year. After a 1918 German offensive along the western front， United States forces entered the trenches and the Allies drove back the German armies in a series of successful offensives. Germany agreed to a cease–fire on 11 November 1918， later known as Armistice Day.
  By the war’s end， four major imperial powers–the German， Russian， Austro–Hungarian and Ottoman Empires–had been militarily and politically defeated and had ceased to exist. The former two states lost a great amount of territory， while the latter two were dismantled entirely. The map of central Europe was completely redrawn into several smaller states. The League of Nations was formed in the hope of preventing another such conflict. The European nationalism spawned by the war and the breakup of empires， the repercussions of Germany’s defeat and problems with the Treaty of Versailles are generally agreed to be factors in the beginning of World War II.
  第一次世界大戰從1914年8月開始到1918年11月，歷時4年3個月，戰火席卷歐、亞、非三大洲，參戰國家地區達34個，受戰火波及的人口達15億以上，約佔世界人口總數的75%。雙方動員的兵力達889個師，共計7400萬人，共有840萬人陣亡，另有2100萬人受傷。
  centre：中心點，中心，中央
  triple：三倍的，三方的，三部分的
  mobilise：動員起來，調動，鼓動起
  combatant：戰鬥員，格鬥者
  correspond：相符合，相一致
  proximate：近鄰的，最接近的
  trigger：引起反應的事(或行動)
  cease：停止，終止，結束
  Key Words in History 歷史關鍵詞
  1．Assassination at Sarajevo 薩拉熱窩事件
  For decades the Balkans had been the powder keg of Europe. On Sunday， June 28， 1914， the heir to the Austro–Hungarian throne， Francis Ferdinand， and his morganatic wife， Sofia Chotek， were assassinated at Sarajevo， the capital of Bosnia. The Archduke was on an official visit to preside at army maneuvers when Serbian terrorists seized the opportunity to murder him.
  The assassin， Gavrilo Princip， was a young Bosnian Serb， nineteen years of age. As a small boy he had tended sheep on the hillsides and had learned from the highland peasants the old Serbian folk tales of Serbia’s glorious past. Expelled from the gymnasium at Sarajevo， the capital of Bosnia， for revolutionary activities， he went to Belgrade， the capital of Serbia. For days the young poverty–stricken student slept in the parks and went without food， while he dreamt of leading his people to freedom. On a trip back to Sarajevo in 1913 he joined the“Narodna Odbrana”， the secret patriotic society.
  One of the leaders of the “Narodna Odbrana”， Borijove Jevtic， who was arrested with Princip immediately after the assassination， later gave this firsthand account of the crime.
  A tiny clipping from a newspaper， mailed without comment from a secret band of terrorists in Zagreb， capital of Croatia， to their comrades in Belgrade， was the torch which set the world afire with war in 1914. That bit of paper wrecked old， proud empires. It gave birth to new， free nations.
  2．Naval war 海戰
  At the start of the war， the German Empire had cruisers scattered across the globe， some of which were subsequently used to attack Allied merchant shipping. The British Royal Navy systematically hunted them down， though not without some embarrassment from its inability to protect Allied shipping. For example， the German detached light cruiser SMS Emden; part of the East–Asia squadron stationed at Tsingtao， seized or destroyed 15 merchantmen， as well as sinking a Russian cruiser and a French destroyer. However， the bulk of the German East–Asia squadron–consisting of the armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau， light cruisers Nürnberg and Leipzig and two transport ships–did not have orders to raid shipping and was instead underway to Germany when it encountered elements of the British fleet. The German flotilla， along with Dresden， sank two armoured cruisers at the Battle of Coronel， but was almost destroyed at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914， with only Dresden and a few auxiliaries escaping， but at the Battle of Más a Tierra these too were destroyed or interned.
  Flotte at seaSoon after the outbreak of hostilities， Britain initiated a naval blockade of Germany. The strategy proved effective， cutting off vital military and civilian supplies， although this blockade violated generally accepted international law codified by several international agreements of the past two centuries. Britain mined international waters to prevent any ships from entering entire sections of ocean， causing danger to even neutral ships. Since there was limited response to this tactic， Germany expected a similar response to its unrestricted submarine warfare.
  The 1916 Battle of Jutland developed into the largest naval battle of the war， the only full–scale clash of battleships during the war， and one of the largest in history. It took place on 31 May–1 June 1916， in the North Sea off Jutland. The Kaiserliche Marine’s High Seas Fleet， commanded by Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer， squared off against the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet， led by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. The engagement was a stand off， as the Germans， outmanoeuvred by the larger British fleet， managed to escape and inflicted more damage to the British fleet than they received. Strategically， however， the British asserted their control of the sea， and the bulk of the German surface fleet remained confined to port for the duration of the war.
  German U–boats attempted to cut the supply lines between North America and Britain. The nature of submarine warfare meant that attacks often came without warning， giving the crews of the merchant ships little hope of survival. The United States launched a protest， and Germany modified its rules of engagement. After the notorious sinking of the passenger ship RMS Lusitania in 1915， Germany promised not to target passenger liners， while Britain armed its merchant ships， placing them beyond the protection of the “cruiser rules”which demanded warning and placing crews in“a place of safety”. Finally， in early 1917 Germany adopted a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare， realising the Americans would eventually enter the war. Germany sought to strangle Allied sea lanes before the U.S. could transport a large army overseas， but were only able to maintain five long range U–boats on station， to limited effect.
  The U–boat threat lessened in 1917， when merchant ships began travelling in convoys escorted by destroyers. This tactic made it difficult for U–boats to find targets， which significantly lessened losses; after the introduction of hydrophone and depth charges， accompanying destroyers might attack a submerged submarine with some hope of success. The convoy system slowed the flow of supplies， since ships had to wait as convoys were assembled. The solution to the delays was an extensive program to build new freighters. Troop ships were too fast for the submarines and did not travel the North Atlantic in convoys. The U–boats had sunk more than 5，000 Allied ships， at a cost of 199 submarines.
  World War I also saw the first use of aircraft carriers in combat， with HMS Furious launching Sopwith Camels in a successful raid against the Zeppelin hangars at Tondern in July 1918， as well as blimps for antisubmarine patrol.
  3．Russian Revolution 俄國革命
  Despite the success of the June 1916 Brusilov Offensive in eastern Galicia，dissatisfaction with the Russian government’s conduct of the war grew. The success was undermined by the reluctance of other generals to commit their forces to support the victory. Allied and Russian forces were revived only temporarily with Romania’s entry into the war on 27 August. German forces came to the aid of embattled Austro–Hungarian units in Transylvania and Bucharest fell to the Central Powers on 6 December. Meanwhile， unrest grew in Russia， as the Tsar remained at the front. Empress Alexandra’s increasingly incompetent rule drew protests and resulted in the murder of her favourite， Rasputin， at the end of 1916.
  In March 1917， demonstrations in Petrograd culminated in the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II and the appointment of a weak Provisional Government which shared power with the Petrograd Soviet socialists. This arrangement led to confusion and chaos both at the front and at home. The army became increasingly ineffective.
  The war and the government became increasingly unpopular. Discontent led to a rise in popularity of the Bolshevik party， led by Vladimir Lenin. He promised to pull Russia out of the war and was able to gain power. The triumph of the Bolsheviks in November was followed in December by an armistice and negotiations with Germany. At first the Bolsheviks refused the German terms， but when Germany resumed the war and marched across Ukraine with impunity， the new government acceded to the Treaty of Brest–Litovsk on 3 March 1918. It took Russia out of the war and ceded vast territories， including Finland， the Baltic provinces， parts of Poland and Ukraine to the Central Powers. The manpower required for German occupation of former Russian territory may have contributed to the failure of the Spring Offensive， however， and secured relatively little food or other materiel.
  With the adoption of the Treaty of Brest–Litovsk， the Entente no longer existed. The Allied powers led a small–scale invasion of Russia， partly to stop Germany from exploiting Russian resources and， to a lesser extent， to support the “Whites” (as opposed to “Reds”) in the Russian Civil War. Allied troops landed in Archangel and in Vladivostok.
  Background Knowledge 背景知識補充
  大戰造成了極大的損失和破壞。第一次世界大戰持續時間長達4年零3個月，在這次戰爭中，參加國家多達30多個，約15億人口。按當時的美元計算，參戰國直接經濟損失高達1805億美元，間接經濟損失也達1516億美元。戰爭主要發生在歐洲，有人估計，歐洲的工業生產水平至少倒退了8年。
  戰後各國於巴黎召開和議，稱為“巴黎和平會議”（簡稱巴黎和會）。會議的重大決定由美國總統伍德羅·威爾遜、英國首相勞合·喬治和法國總理克裡孟梭主持。雖然美國總統伍德羅·威爾遜主張寬大對待德國，但法國卻因為復仇心作祟，主張嚴懲德國。因此，諸國與德國簽訂的議和條約––《凡爾賽和約》，因應法國的要求而加入了極其苛刻的條款，向德國強加了巨大的割地賠款及限制軍備條款。但同時，並未向德皇威廉二世、興登堡元帥、魯登道夫將軍等戰犯施以應有的懲處。結果為德國在20年後挑起規模更大的第二次世界大戰埋下了禍根。
  十月革命的爆發
  十月革命（又稱布爾什維克革命、俄國共產革命等），是1917年俄國革命經歷了二月革命後的第二個階段。十月革命發生於1917年11月7日。前蘇聯等社會主義國家及組織普遍認為，十月革命是經列寧和托洛茨基領導下的布爾什維克武裝起義，建立了人類歷史上第三個無產階級政權──蘇維埃政權和由馬克思主義政黨領導的第一個社會主義國家(第一個是巴黎公社無產階級政權，第二個是匈牙利蘇維埃共和國)。革命推翻了以克倫斯基為領導的資產階級俄國臨時政府，為1918–1920年的俄國內戰和1922年蘇聯成立奠定了基礎。
  Reading in a single sitting 一口氣讀完這段歷史
  In Apr.， 1917， Lenin and other revolutionaries returned to Russia after having been permitted by the German government to cross Germany. The Germans hoped that the Bolsheviks would undermine the Russian war effort. Lenin galvanized the small and theretofore cautious Bolshevik party into action. The courses he advocated were simplified into the powerful slogans “end the war”， “all land to the peasants”， and “all power to the soviets”.
  The failure of the all–out military offensive in July increased discontent with the provisional government， and disorders and violence in Petrograd led to popular demands for the soviet to seize power. The Bolsheviks assumed direction of this movement， but the soviet still held back. The government then took strong measures against the Bolshevik press and leaders. Nevertheless， the position of the provisional government was precarious.
  Prince Lvov resigned in July because of his opposition to Chernov’s cautious attempts at land reform. He was replaced by Kerensky， who formed a coalition cabinet with a socialist majority. Army discipline deteriorated after the failure of the July offensive. The provisional government and the Menshevik and Socialist Revolutionary leaders in the soviet lost support from the impatient soldiers and workers， who turned to the Bolsheviks.
  Although the Bolsheviks were a minority in the first all–Russian congress of soviets (June)， they continued to gain influence. Conservative and even some moderate elements， who wished to limit the power of the soviets， rallied around General Kornilov， who attempted (September， N.S./August， O.S.) to seize Petrograd by force. At Kerensky’s request， the Bolsheviks and other socialists came to the defense of the provisional government and the attempt was put down. From mid–September on the Bolsheviks had a majority in the Petrograd soviet， and Lenin urged the soviet to seize power.
  On the night of Nov. 6， the Bolsheviks staged an coup， engineered by Trotsky; aided by the workers' Red Guard and the sailors of Kronstadt， they captured the government buildings and the Winter Palace in Petrograd. A second all–Russian congress of soviets met and approved the coup after the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries walked out of the meeting. A cabinet， known as the Council of People’s Commissars， was set up with Lenin as chairman， Trotsky as foreign commissar， Rykov as interior commissar， and Stalin as commissar of nationalities. The second congress immediately called for cessation of hostilities， gave private and church lands to village soviets， and abolished private property.
  Moscow was soon taken by force， and local groups of Bolshevik workers and soldiers gained control of most of the other cities of Russia. The remaining members of the provisional government were arrested. Old marriage and divorce laws were discarded， the church was attacked， workers’ control was introduced into the factories， the banks were nationalized， and a supreme economic council was formed to run the economy. The long–promised constituent assembly met in Jan.， 1918， but its composition being predominantly non–Bolshevik. it was soon disbanded by Bolshevik troops. The Cheka (political police)， directed by Dzerzhinsky， was set up to liquidate the opposition.
  Negotiations with the Central powers， which had begun late in 1917， resulted in the Russian acceptance (Mar.， 1918) of the humiliating Treaty of Brest–Litovsk. Most of the lands ceded to Germany under the treaty were home to non–Russian nationalities. The ceded lands and Finland， Estonia， Latvia， Lithuania， Ukraine， Georgia， Armenia， and Azerbaijan had proclaimed their independence from Russia after the Bolshevik coup. Following Germany’s defeat by the Allies and the withdrawal of German troops， the Bolsheviks regained some of the lost territory during the Russian civil war.
  第一次世界大戰爆發後，1917年2月，俄國爆發了第二次資產階級民主革命。彼得格勒的工人因為長期的戰爭、饑饉而走上街頭，派去鎮壓的軍隊當場嘩變。在短短的幾天時間內，沙皇尼古拉二世失去了對軍隊和國家的控制。沙皇被迫退位，在彼得格勒成立了一個資產階級的臨時政府。俄國出現了兩個政權並存的局面。
  資產階級臨時政府於7月1日冒險向德意志帝國和奧匈帝國軍隊發動進攻，妄圖用戰爭消滅革命。這次冒險進攻遭到慘敗，10天內俄軍損失了6萬人。前線失利的消息傳到首都，工人士兵群情激昂。彼得格勒的工人、士兵和其他革命群眾在1917年7月16日走上街頭，舉行示威，要求全部政權歸還蘇維埃。臨時政府派出軍隊進行血腥鎮壓，造成600多名工人死傷。這就是著名的七月流血事變。這次屠殺使人民進一步認識到，必須以革命的暴力打倒反革命的暴力。7月26日，成立了以克倫斯基為首的聯合政府，對工人和布爾什維克黨進行了全面的鎮壓，白色恐怖籠罩全國。布爾什維克黨轉入地下，兩個政權並立的局面結束，俄國革命進入了一個新階段。
  undermine：暗中破壞，逐漸削弱
  galvanize：激起某人行動起來
  slogan：標語，口號
  precarious：不穩的，不確定的
  provisional：暫時的，臨時的
  deteriorate：惡化，變壞，退化
  stage：籌劃，計劃，舉行，舉辦
  discard：丟棄，拋棄
  Key Words in History 歷史關鍵詞
  1．February Revolution 二月革命
  At the beginning of February， Petrograd workers began several strikes and demonstrations. On March 7 [O.S. February 22]， workers at Putilov， Petrograd’s largest industrial plant， announced a strike.
  The next day， a series of meetings and rallies were held for International Women’s Day， which gradually turned into economic and political gatherings. Demonstrations were organised to demand bread， and these were supported by the industrial working force who considered them a reason for continuing the strikes. The women workers marched to nearby factories bringing out over 50，000 workers on strike. By March 10 [O.S. February 25]， virtually every industrial enterprise in Petrograd had been shut down， together with many commercial and service enterprises. Students， white–collar workers and teachers joined the workers in the streets and at public meetings.
  To quell the riots， the Tsar looked to the army. At least 180，000 troops were available in the capital， but most were either untrained or injured. Historian Ian Beckett suggests around 12，000 could be regarded as reliable， but even these proved reluctant to move in on the crowd， since it included so many women. It was for this reason that when， on March 11 [O.S. February 26]， the Tsar ordered the army to suppress the rioting by force， troops began to mutiny. Although few actively joined the rioting， many officers were either shot or went into hiding; the ability of the garrison to hold back the protests was all but nullified， symbols of the Tsarist were rapidly torn down around the city， and governmental authority in the capital collapsed–not helped by the fact that Nicholas had prorogued the Duma that morning， leaving it with no legal authority to act. The response of the Duma， urged on by the liberal bloc， was to establish a Temporary Committee to restore law and order; meanwhile， the socialist parties establish the Petrograd Soviet to represent workers and soldiers. The remaining loyal units switched allegiance the next day.
  The Tsar took a train back towards Petrograd， which was stopped on March 14 [O.S. March 1]， having been instructed to divert by a group of disloyal troops. When the Tsar finally reached his destination， the Army Chiefs and his remaining ministers suggested in unison that he abdicate the throne. He did so on March 15 [O.S. March 2]， on behalf of himself， and then， having taken advice， on behalf of his son， the Tsarevich.Nicholas nominated his brother， the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich， to succeed him. But the Grand Duke realised that he would have little support as ruler， so he declined the crown on March 16 [O.S. March 3]， stating that he would take it only if that was the consensus of democratic action.Six days later， Nicholas， no longer Tsar and addressed with contempt by the sentries as“Nicholas Romanov”， was reunited with his family at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo. He was placed under house arrest with his family by the Provisional Government.
  The immediate effect of the February Revolution was a widespread atmosphere of elation and excitement in Petrograd. On 16 March [O.S. 3 March]， a provisional government was announced. The center–left was well represented， and the government was initially chaired by a liberal aristocrat， Prince Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov， a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party. The socialists had formed their rival body， the Petrograd Soviet four days earlier. The Petrograd Soviet and the Provisional Government competed for power over Russia.
  2．Civil war 內戰
  The Russian Civil War， which broke out in 1918 shortly after the revolution， brought death and suffering to millions of people regardless of their political orientation. The war was fought mainly between the Red Army (“Reds”)， consisting of the uprising majority， and the “Whites”–the monarchists， conservatives， liberals and moderate socialists who opposed the drastic restructuring championed by the Bolsheviks. The Whites had backing from nations such as Great Britain， France， USA and Japan.
  Also during the Civil War， Nestor Makhno led a Ukrainian anarchist movement， the Black Army allied to the Bolsheviks thrice， one of the powers ending the alliance each time. However， a Bolshevik force under Mikhail Frunze destroyed the Makhnovist movement， when the Makhnovists refused to merge into the Red Army. In addition， the so–called“Green Army” (peasants defending their property against the opposing forces) played a secondary role in the war， mainly in the Ukraine.
  Background Knowledge 背景知識補充
  十月革命是人類歷史上第一次勝利的社會主義革命，建立了第一個無產階級領導的社會主義國家，開辟了人類探索社會主義道路的新時代，使馬克思列寧主義傳遍世界，極大地震撼了資本主義世界。十月革命向全世界宣告嶄新的社會制度由理想變為現實。它在人類歷史上第一次消滅剝削和壓迫的不平等社會，第一次嘗試建設公平正義共同富裕的美好社會。十月革命沉重地打擊了帝國主義的統治，極大地鼓舞了國際無產階級革命運動和殖民地半殖民地被壓迫民族的解放運動。
  十月革命改變了俄國歷史的發展方向，用社會主義方式改造俄國的道路，對整個人類社會的發展都產生了巨大影響。
  毛澤東在1949年寫了一段這樣的論述：“十月革命一聲炮響，給我們送來了馬克思列寧主義。十月革命幫助了全世界的也幫助了中國的先進分子，用無產階級的宇宙觀作為觀察國家命運的工具，重新考慮自己的問題。走俄國人的路——這就是結論。”
  法西斯勢力的崛起
  法西斯是一種國家民族主義的政治運動，在1922年至1943年間的墨索裡尼政權下統治了意大利。類似的政治運動，包含了納粹主義，在第二次世界大戰期間蔓延整個歐洲。法西斯主義可以視為是極端形式的集體主義，反對個人主義。法西斯本義是“束棒”的音譯，是一根被多根綁在一起的木棍圍繞的斧頭，在古羅馬是權力和威信的標志。
  Reading in a single sitting 一口氣讀完這段歷史
  Fascism was founded by Italian national syndicalists during World War I who combined left–wing and right–wing political views， but it gravitated to the right in the early 1920s.The majority of scholars generally consider fascism to be on the far right， while others claim it is the extreme form of a centrist ideology.
  The events of the Great Depression resulted in an international surge of fascism and the creation of multiple fascist regimes and regimes that adopted fascist policies. The most important new fascist regime was Nazi Germany， under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. With the rise of Hitler and the Nazis to power in 1933， liberal democracy was dissolved in Germany， and the Nazis mobilized the country for war， with expansionist territorial aims against multiple countries. In the 1930s the Nazis implemented racial laws that deliberately discriminated against， disenfranchised， and persecuted Jews， homosexuals and other racial and minority groups. Hungarian fascist Gyula G?mb?s rose to power as Prime Minister of Hungary in 1932 and visited Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany to consolidate good relations with the two regimes. He attempted to entrench his Party of National Unity throughout the country; created an eight–hour work day， a forty–eight hour work week in industry， and sought to entrench a corporatist economy; and pursued irredentist claims on Hungary’s neighbors. The fascist Iron Guard movement in Romania soared in political support after 1933， gaining representation in the Romanian government， and an Iron Guard member assassinated Romanian prime minister Ion Duca. A variety of para–fascist governments that borrowed elements from fascism were formed during the Great Depression， including those of Greece， Lithuania， Poland， and Yugoslavia.
  Fascism also expanded influence outside of Europe， especially in East Asia， the Middle East， and South America. In China， Wang Jingwei’s Kai–tsu p'ai (Reorganization) faction of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party of China) supported Nazism in the late 1930s. In Japan， the Tohokai， a Nazi movement was formed by Seigo Nakano. The Brazilian Integralists led by Plínio Salgado， claimed as many as 200，000 members although following coup attempts it faced a crackdown from the Estado Novo of Getúlio Vargas in 1937. The Al–Muthanna Club of Iraq was a pan–Arab movement that supported Nazism and exercised influence in Iraqi government through cabinet minister Saib Shawkat who formed a youth paramilitary movement. In the 1930s The National Socialist Movement of Chile gained seats in Chile’s parliament and attempted a coup d’état that resulted in the Seguro Obrero massacre of 1938. Peruvian president Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro founded the Revolutionary Union in 1931 as the state party for his dictatorship. Upon the Revolutionary Union being taken over by Raúl Ferrero Rebagliati who sought to mobilise mass support for the group’s nationalism in a manner akin to fascism. He even started a Blackshirts paramilitary arm as a copy of the Italian group， although the Union lost heavily in the 1936 elections and faded into obscurity.
  During the Great Depression， Mussolini promoted active state intervention in the economy. He denounced the contemporary“supercapitalism”that he claimed began in 1914 as a failure due to its alleged decadence， support for unlimited consumerism and intention to create the“standardization of humankind”. However， Mussolini claimed that the industrial developments of earlier“heroic capitalism”were valuable and continued to support private property as long as it was productive.With the onset of the Great Depression， Fascist Italy began large–scale state intervention into the economy， establishing the Institute for Industrial Reconstruction， a giant state–owned firm and holding company that provided state funding to failing private enterprises. The IRI was made a permanent institution in Fascist Italy in 1937， pursued Fascist policies to create national autarky， and had the power to take over private firms to maximize war production. Nazi Germany similarly pursued an economic agenda with the aims of autarky and rearmament and imposed protectionist policies， including forcing the German steel industry to use lower–quality German iron ore rather than superior–quality imported iron.
  古代羅馬共和國時期的最高行政長官有12個衛士相隨。他們各手執一束棍棒束棒，中間插有一把戰斧，象征著羅馬國家的最高權力。棒子用於施行笞刑，斧子用來執行死刑。“束棒”在古羅馬人使用的拉丁語中，讀作“法西斯”，法西斯主義一詞就從此發展而來。
  現代法西斯專政，是壟斷資產階級對內實行的極端專製的恐怖統治。例如，德國的政治警察“蓋世太保”，可不經法律程序，肆意將成千上萬的進步人士投入監獄。德國的法西斯組織“衝鋒隊”和“黨衛軍”，製造了無數反猶太人和迫害政敵的公開暴力事件，搜捕所謂的“國家的敵人”，對人民進行迫害和控制。日本法西斯勢力要求在天皇名義下建立法西斯獨裁政權，他們製造了一系列暗殺、政變等恐怖事件。對外，法西斯政權狂熱地進行擴張和征服，醉心於建立龐大帝國。首創法西斯主義的並不是德國的希特勒，而是意大利的墨索裡尼。
  Fascism：法西斯主義
  gravitate：被吸引到，受吸引而轉向
  The Great Depression：經濟大蕭條
  Nazi Germany：納粹德國
  expansionist：擴張主義者，領土擴張論者
  persecute：煩擾，困擾或騷擾某人
  irredentist：民族統一黨的，民族統一主義的
  paramilitary：與正規軍有聯系的，輔助正規軍的，準軍事性質的
  Key Words in History 歷史關鍵詞
  1．Adolf Hitler 希特勒
  Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889–30 April 1945) was an Austrian–born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945， and head of statefrom 1934 to 1945. Hitler is most well known for his central leadership role in the rise of fascism in Europe， World War II and the Holocaust.
  A decorated veteran of World War I， Hitler joined the precursor of the Nazi Party in 1919， and became leader of NSDAP in 1921. He attempted a coup detat， known as the Beer Hall Putsch at the Bürgerbr?ukeller beer hall in Munich in 1923. The failed coup resulted in Hitler’s imprisonment， during which time he wrote his memoir， Mein Kampf (in English“My Struggle”). After his release in 1924， he gained support by promoting Pan–Germanism， antisemitism and anti–communism with charismatic oratory and propaganda. He was appointed chancellor in 1933， and transformed the Weimar Republic into the Third Reich， a single–party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism.
  Hitler’s avowed aim was to establish a New Order of absolute Nazi German hegemony in continental Europe. His foreign and domestic policies had the goal of seizing Lebensraum (“living space”) for the Aryan people. This included the rearmament of Germany， resulting in the invasion of Poland by the Wehrmacht in 1939， leading to the outbreak of World War II in Europe.
  Under Hitler’s leadership， German forces and their European allies at one point occupied most of Europe and North Africa， reversed in 1944 when the Allied armies freed German–occupied Europe. Hitler’s reign resulted in the systematic murder of as many as 17 million civilians， including an estimated six million Jews targeted in the Holocaust and between 500，000 and 1，500，000 Roma.
  In the final days of the war， during the Battle of Berlin in 1945， Hitler married his long–time mistress， Eva Braun. To avoid capture by Soviet forces， the two committed suicide less than two days later on 30 April 1945 and their corpses were burned.
  2．Mussolini 墨索尼裡
  Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 1883–28 April 1945) was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism.
  Mussolini became the 40th Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Duce by 1925. After 1936， his official title was “His Excellency Benito Mussolini， Head of Government， Duce of Fascism， and Founder of the Empire”. Mussolini also created and held the supreme military rank of First Marshal of the Empire along with King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy， which gave him and the King joint supreme control over the military of Italy. Mussolini remained in power until he was replaced in 1943; for a short period after this until his death， he was the leader of the Italian Social Republic.
  Mussolini was among the founders of Italian Fascism， which included elements of nationalism， corporatism， national syndicalism， expansionism， social progress， and anti–socialism in combination with censorship of subversives and state propaganda. In the years following his creation of the Fascist ideology， Mussolini influenced， or achieved admiration from， a wide variety of political figures.
  Among the domestic achievements of Mussolini from the years 1924–1939 were: his public works programmes such as the taming of the Pontine Marshes， the improvement of job opportunities， and public transport. Mussolini also solved the Roman Question by concluding the Lateran Treaty between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See.
  On 10 June 1940， Mussolini led Italy into World War II on the side of the Axis despite initially siding with France against Germany in the early 1930s. Believing the war would be short–lived， he declared war on France and the United Kingdom in order to gain territories in the peace treaty that would soon follow.
  Three years later， Mussolini was deposed at the Grand Council of Fascism， prompted by the Allied invasion of Italy. Soon after his incarceration began， Mussolini was rescued from prison in the daring Gran Sasso raid by German Special Forces. Following his rescue， Mussolini headed the Italian Social Republic in parts of Italy that were not occupied by Allied forces. In late April 1945， with total defeat looming， Mussolini attempted to escape to Switzerland， only to be quickly captured and summarily executed near Lake Como by Italian partisans. His body was then taken to Milan where it was hung upside down at a petrol station for public viewing and to provide confirmation of his demise.
  Background Knowledge 背景知識補充
  德國納粹主義、意大利法西斯主義、日本軍國主義是世界法西斯主義的三大形態。當時奉行法西斯主義的還有幾個中小國，例如西班牙等。德國、意大利和日本以柏林–羅馬–東京為軸心，建立了法西斯聯盟。他們的目的是瓜分世界，德意霸佔西方，日本霸佔東方。德意志確實也曾佔領歐洲大部分和非洲北部的一部分，只是西面未能跨過英吉利海峽征服英國；東面受阻於蘇聯，在斯大林格勒和莫斯科郊外吃了大敗仗。最後，在反法西斯盟國東（蘇聯）西（美英法）兩條戰線夾攻下，徹底失敗而滅亡。日本也曾橫行一時，蹂躪大半個中國，橫掃太平洋十幾個國家和地區，最後被美中蘇三國聯合打敗。
  反法西斯戰爭在東方和西方兩大戰場的勝利，粉碎了希特勒、墨索裡尼、東條英機等法西斯惡魔瓜分世界、霸佔全球的夢想，拯救數十個國家和地區免於滅亡，使數億人民擺脫了法西斯的摧殘和蹂躪，改變了世界面貌，戰勝了人類的一次空前浩劫，扭轉了歷史進程。所以，它的偉大意義和功勳是永世不可磨滅的。
  諾曼底登陸
  諾曼底登陸是第二次世界大戰中盟軍在歐洲西線戰場發起的一場大規模攻勢，戰役發生在1944年6月6日早6時30分。這場戰役在8月19日渡過塞納–馬恩省河後結束。諾曼底戰役是目前為止世界上最大的一次海上登陸作戰，牽涉近三百萬士兵渡過英吉利海峽前往法國諾曼底。
  Reading in a single sitting 一口氣讀完這段歷史
  The Invasion of Normandy was the invasion and establishment of Allied forces in Normandy， France， during Operation Overlord in World War II. The invasion was the largest amphibious operation in history. This article covers from the initial landings on 6 June 1944， until the time of the Allied breakout in late July.
  Allied land forces that saw combat in Normandy on 6 June came from Canada， the Free French Forces， the United Kingdom， and the United States. In the weeks following the invasion， Polish forces also participated， as well as contingents from Belgium， Czechoslovakia， Greece， and the Netherlands. Most of the above countries also provided air and naval support， as did the Royal Australian Air Force， the Royal New Zealand Air Force， and the Royal Norwegian Navy.
  The Normandy invasion began with overnight parachute and glider landings， massive air attacks， and naval bombardments， early morning amphibious landings on five beaches codenamed Juno， Gold， Omaha， Utah， and Sword and during the evening the remaining elements of the parachute divisions landed. The “D–Day” forces deployed from bases along the south coast of England， the most important of these being Portsmouth.
  Allied preparations
  The objective of the operation was to make a lodgement that was anchored in the city of Caen (and later Cherbourg when its deep–water port was captured). As soon as Normandy could be secured， the Western European campaign and the Western Allies contribution to the downfall of Nazi Germany could begin. About 6，900 vessels were to be involved in the invasion， under the command of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay (who had been directly involved in the North African and Italian landings)， including 4，100 landing craft. A total of 12，000 aircraft under Air Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh–Mallory were to support the landings， including 1，000 transports to fly in the parachute troops; 10，000 tons of bombs would be dropped against the German defences， and 14，000 attack sorties would be flown.
  Some of the more unusual Allied preparations included armoured vehicles specially adapted for the assault. Developed under the leadership of Maj. Gen. Percy Hobart， these vehicles included“swimming”Duplex Drive Sherman tanks， the Churchill Crocodile flame throwing tank， mine–clearing tanks， bridge–laying tanks and road–laying tanks and the Armoured Vehicle， Royal Engineers–equipped with a large–caliber mortar for destroying concrete emplacements. Some prior testing of these vehicles had been undertaken at Kirkham Priory in Yorkshire， England. The majority were to be operated by small teams from the British 79th Armoured Division attached to the various formations.
  Planning of the invasion
  Allied forces rehearsed their roles for D–Day months before the invasion. On 28 April 1944， in south Devon on the English coast， 638 U.S. soldiers and sailors were killed when German torpedo boats surprised one of these landing exercises， Exercise Tiger.
  In the months leading up to the invasion， the allied forces conducted a deception operation， Operation Fortitude aimed at misleading the Germans regarding the date and place of the invasion.
  There were several leaks prior to or on D–Day. One such leak was the crossword that came out in The Herald and Review six days before the beach landings were to take place. Some of the answers consisted of Overlord， Neptune， Gold and other key terms to the invasions; the US government later declared that this was just a coincidence. Through the Cicero affair， the Germans obtained documents containing references to Overlord， but these documents lacked all detail.Double Cross agents， such as Joan Pujol， played an important role in convincing the German High Command that Normandy was at best a diversionary attack. U.S. Major General Henry Miller， chief supply officer of the US 9th Air Force， during a party at Claridge’s Hotel in London complained to guests of the supply problems he was having but that after the invasion， which he told them would be before 15 June supply would be easier. After being told， Eisenhower reduced Miller to Colonel and sent him back to the U.S. where he subsequently retired. [Citation needed] Another such leak was Gen. Charles de Gaulle’s radio message after D–Day. He， unlike all the other leaders， stated that this invasion was the real invasion. This had the potential to ruin the Allied deceptions Fortitude North and Fortitude South. For example， Gen. Eisenhower referred to the landings as the initial invasion.
  諾曼底登陸戰役是20世紀最大的登陸戰役，也是戰爭史上最有影響的登陸戰役之一。盟軍先後調集了36個師，總兵力達288萬人，其中陸軍有153萬人，相當於20世紀末美國的全部軍隊。從1944年6月6日至7月初，美國、英國、加拿大的百萬軍隊，17萬輛車輛，60萬噸各類補給品，成功地渡過了英吉利海峽。到7月24日，戰爭雙方約有24萬人被殲滅，其中盟軍傷亡12.2萬人，德軍傷亡和被俘11.4萬人。至8月底，盟軍一共消滅或重創德軍40個師，德軍的3名元帥和1名集團軍司令先後被撤職或離職，擊斃和俘虜德軍集團軍司令、軍長、師長等高級將領20人，繳獲和摧毀德軍的各種火炮3000多門，摧毀戰車1000多輛。德軍損失飛機3500架，坦克1.3萬輛，各種車輛2萬輛，人員40萬。諾曼底登陸成功，美英軍隊重返歐洲大陸，使第二次世界大戰的戰略態勢發生了根本性變化。
  amphibious：兩棲的，水陸兩用的
  contingent：可能發生的，可能的
  parachute：用降落傘降落，空投
  glider：滑翔機
  lodgement：住處，寄宿處，立足點，存放，存放處
  concrete：實體的，有形的，確定的
  rehears：排練，排演
  leak：使泄露
  Key Words in History 歷史關鍵詞
  1．Dwight Eisenhower 艾森豪威爾
  Dwight David“Ike” Eisenhower (October 14， 1890–March 28， 1969) was a five–star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States， from 1953 until 1961， and the last to be born in the 19th century. During World War II， he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe， with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–1945， from the Western Front. In 1951， he became the first supreme commander of NATO.
  A Republican， Eisenhower entered the 1952 presidential race to counter the non–interventionism of Sen. Robert A. Taft， and to crusade against “Communism， Korea and corruption”. He won by a landslide， defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson and ending two decades of the New Deal Coalition holding the White House. As President， Eisenhower concluded negotiations with China to end the Korean War. His New Look， a policy of nuclear deterrence， gave priority to inexpensive nuclear weapons while reducing the funding for the other military forces to keep pressure on the Soviet Union and reduce federal deficits at the same time. He began NASA to compete against the Soviet Union in the space race. His intervention during the Suez Crisis was later acknowledged by Eisenhower himself as his greatest foreign policy mistake. Near the end of his term， the Eisenhower Administration was embarrassed by the U–2 incident and was planning the Bay of Pigs invasion.
  On the domestic front， he covertly helped remove Joseph McCarthy from power but otherwise left most political actions to his Vice President， Richard Nixon. He was a moderate conservative who continued the New Deal policies， and in fact enlarged the scope of Social Security， and signed the Federal–Aid Highway Act of 1956. Though passive on civil rights at first， he sent federal troops to enforce the Supreme Court’s ruling to desegregate schools. He was the first term–limited president in accordance with the 22nd Amendment.
  Eisenhower’s two terms were mainly peaceful， and generally prosperous except for a sharp economic recession in 1958–1959. Although public approval for his administration was comparatively low by the end of his term， his reputation improved over time and in recent surveys of historians， Eisenhower is often ranked as one of the top ten U.S. Presidents.
  2．Atlantic Wall 大西洋壁壘
  The Germans’ first line of defence was the English Channel， a crossing which had confounded the Spanish Armada and Napoleon Bonaparte’s Navy. Compounding the invasion efforts was the extensive Atlantic Wall， ordered by Hitler in his Directive 51. Believing that any forthcoming landings would be timed for high tide， Rommel had the entire wall fortified with tank top turrets and extensive barbed wire， and laid hundreds of thousands of mines to deter landing craft. The Allies chose to attack close to the sector boundary between the 7th and 15th German armies， on the extreme eastern flank of the former， to maximize the possible confusion of command responsibility during German reaction. The landings sector which was attacked was occupied by four German divisions.
  Rommel’s defensive measures were also frustrated by a dispute over armoured doctrine. In addition to his two army groups， von Rundstedt also commanded the headquarters of Panzer Group West under General Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg. This formation was nominally an administrative HQ for von Rundstedt’s armoured and mobile formations， but it was later to be renamed Fifth Panzer Army and brought into the line in Normandy. Von Geyr and Rommel disagreed over the deployment and use of the vital Panzer divisions.
  Rommel recognised that the Allies would possess air superiority and would be able to harass his movements from the air. He therefore proposed that the armoured formations be deployed close to the invasion beaches. In his words， it was better to have one Panzer division facing the invaders on the first day， than three Panzer divisions three days later when the Allies would already have established a firm beachhead. Von Geyr argued for the standard doctrine that the Panzer formations should be concentrated in a central position around Paris and Rouen， and deployed en masse against the main Allied beachhead when this had been identified.
  The argument was eventually brought before Hitler for arbitration. He characteristically imposed an unworkable compromise solution. Only three Panzer divisions were given to Rommel， too few to cover all the threatened sectors. The remainder， nominally under Von Geyr’s control， was actually designated as being in “OKW Reserve”. Only three of these were deployed close enough to intervene immediately against any invasion of Northern France， the other four were dispersed in southern France and the Netherlands. Hitler reserved to himself the authority to move the divisions in OKW Reserve， or commit them to action. On 6 June， many Panzer division commanders were unable to move because Hitler had not given the necessary authorization， and his staff refused to wake him upon news of the invasion.
  The other mechanized divisions capable of intervening in Normandy were retained under the direct control of the German Armed Forces HQ (OKW) and were initially denied to Rommel.
  3．Rommel 隆美爾
  Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel (15 November 1891–14 October 1944)， popularly known as the Desert Fox， was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops， as well as the enemies he fought.
  He was a highly decorated officer in World War I， and was awarded the Pour le Mérite for his exploits on the Italian front. In World War II， he further distinguished himself as the commander of the 7th Panzer Division during the 1940 invasion of France. However， it was his leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African campaign that established the legend of the Desert Fox. He is considered to have been one of the most skilled commanders of desert warfare in the war. He later commanded the German forces opposing the Allied cross–channel invasion in Normandy.
  As one of the few generals who consistently fought the Western Allies (he was never assigned to the Eastern Front)， Rommel is regarded as having been a humane and professional officer. His Afrikakorps was never accused of war crimes. Soldiers captured during his Africa campaign were reported to have been treated humanely. Furthermore， he ignored orders to kill captured commandos， Jewish soldiers and civilians in all theaters of his command.
  Late in the war， Rommel was linked to the conspiracy to kill Adolf Hitler. Due to his wide renown， Hitler chose to eliminate him quietly; in trade for the protection of his family， Rommel agreed to commit suicide.
  Background Knowledge 背景知識補充
  戰略欺騙，使得德軍統帥部判斷錯誤，不僅保障了登陸作戰的突然性，還保證了戰役順利進行，對整個戰役具有重大影響。盟軍通過海空軍的卓有成效的行動，成功運用了雙重特工、電子干擾以及在英國東南部地區偽裝部隊及船隻的集結等一系列措施，還讓巴頓將軍在英國進行戰前演說，再加上嚴格的保密措施，使德軍統帥部在很長時間裡對盟軍登陸地點、時間都作出了錯誤判斷，以為盟軍將在諾曼底東北方的加萊海灘登陸，甚至在盟軍諾曼底登陸後仍認為是牽製性的佯攻，這就導致了德軍在西線的大部分兵力、兵器被浪費在加萊地區，而在諾曼底則因兵力單薄而無法抵禦盟軍的登陸。同時，盟軍還找到一個和蒙哥馬利長得極像的人詹姆斯在北非冒充蒙哥馬利，使得隆美爾以為蒙哥馬利一直在北非。
  蘇聯衛國戰爭
  1941年6月22日，希特勒撕毀蘇德互不侵犯條約，以事先擬訂好的一份代號叫“巴巴羅沙”的計劃，出動190個師，3700輛坦克，4900架飛機，47000門大炮和190艘戰艦。軍分三路以閃電戰的方式突襲蘇聯。1941年7月3日，斯大林向蘇聯人民發表廣播演說，號召全體蘇聯人民團結起來，全力以赴同希特勒法西斯做殊死的鬥爭，蘇德戰爭全面爆發。著名斯大林格勒保衛戰被譽為二戰經典的轉折之戰。1945年5月2日，蘇聯佔領德國柏林，5月8日，德國舉行了無條件投降儀式，蘇德戰爭就此結束。
  Reading in a single sitting 一口氣讀完這段歷史
  On 22 June 1941， some three million soldiers of Germany and her allies began an attack on the Soviet Union. This war was supposed to be over in a matter of months， but it lasted for four years， and grew into the largest and most costly conflict in all history.
  It was here， in the vast struggle between the two dictatorships， that the German army was defeated and the outcome of World War Two was decided in favour of the Allied powers–the British Empire， the United States and the USSR. The cost to the Soviet Union was an estimated 27 million dead.
  The roots of the war lie in the appointment of Adolf Hitler as German chancellor in 1933. His hatred of Soviet Communism and his crude ideas of economic imperialism， expressed in the pursuit of Lebensraum (“living–space”)， made the Soviet Union a natural area for Hitler’s warlike ambitions.
  After the outbreak of war in 1939 came the added fear of Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe，while Germany was fighting the British Empire and France in the west. All of these factors contributed to the decision taken by Hitler in July 1940， after the German defeat of France， to plan for an all–out assault on the Soviet Union.
  Not until December 1940， however， did Hitler make a final decision to go ahead with what became known as Operation Barbarossa. The original date， set for May 1941， had to be revised to complete the vast preparations for the attack–following other German attacks on Yugoslavia and Greece in April.
  The date of 22 June was late for starting a campaign over such a vast area， but German commanders were confident that the Soviet armed forces were primitive， and that the Soviet people were waiting for liberation. Victory was expected by the early autumn.
  The attack came as a complete surprise to the leader of the Soviet Union， Joseph Stalin. Despite repeated intelligence warnings， which included the precise day and hour of Germany’s incipient assault， Stalin remained convinced that Hitler would not risk an eastern war as long as the British Empire remained undefeated. It has been argued that Stalin in fact planned a pre–emptive attack on Germany for the early summer of 1941， and was then thrown off–balance by the German invasion.
  The evidence makes clear the defensive posture of the Soviet Union in 1941. Stalin did not want to risk war， though he hoped to profit from the German–British struggle if he could. In the event， the shock of attack almost unhinged the Soviet state， and by the autumn German forces had destroyed most of the Red Army and the Russian air force， surrounded and besieged Leningrad–where over one million people died of starvation and cold–and were approaching the outskirts of Moscow.
  The Red Army had sufficient reserves to stop the German army from completing the rout in December 1941， but the following summer German offensives launched far to the south of Moscow， to seize the rich oilfields of the Caucasus and to cut the Volga shipping route， created further chaos.
  Hitler hoped that German forces would capture the oil and sweep on through the Middle East to meet up with Axis forces in Egypt. The Volga was to be blocked at Stalingrad， after which German forces could wheel northwards to outflank Moscow and the Soviet line.
  The southern attack failed at Stalingrad. After weeks of chaotic retreats and easy German victories， the Red Army solidified its defence and against all the odds clung on to the battered city. In November 1942 Operation Uranus was launched by the Soviets， and the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad was encircled.
  Some historians have seen this as the turning point of the war. But not until the Red Army had decisively defeated German forces in the more favourable summer weather of 1943 did the tide really turn.
  The Battle of Kursk in July 1943 was one of the greatest set–piece battles in military history. The Red Army withstood a massive German assault， and then counter–attacked. For two years Soviet forces pushed the German army back into Germany， until in May 1945 Soviet forces accepted the surrender of the relic of Hitler’s army in Berlin.
  20世紀30年代，阿道夫·希特勒（Adolf Hitler）領導的德國法西斯政權迅速崛起，而英法美等西方國家一直采取措施維護自身利益，免遭軍事擴張勢頭正猛的德意志帝國損害，並且想將德國這股他們認為的禍水引向蘇聯。在歐戰戰雲密布的時候，斯大林對英法的妥協極端失望，他宣布停止和英法等國的軍事聯盟談判，轉而和納粹德意志帝國修好，以實現自己的利益。同時，德國因為避免在東西兩線同時作戰，也要尋求先穩住蘇聯。這時，蘇聯和德國開始互相接近。這時的德意志帝國和蘇聯，歐洲這兩個被西方社會認為是最強大的專製國家，雖然曾經是不共戴天的仇敵，卻因政治現實令他們雙方拋棄了西方國家認為是無法逾越的意識形態的鴻溝，簽署了《蘇德互不侵犯條約》（《莫洛托夫–裡賓特洛甫條約》）。該條約中包括了“秘密附屬議定書”（蘇聯一直否認該協定書的存在），劃分兩國在波蘭、波羅的海三國、芬蘭以及東歐其他國家的勢力范圍。這時，當時世界面積第三大的國家（當時面積最大國是大英帝國，面積第二大國是法國）、世界第二的工業國和德國媾和，讓英法獨自面對強悍的法西斯德國，只能吞咽自己綏靖政策種下的苦果。
  imperialism：帝國主義，帝國主義政策
  crude：粗略的，簡略的，大概的
  assault：攻擊，猛襲，突襲，侵犯他人身體
  primitive：原始的，早期的，發展水平低的
  precise：周密的，細密的
  posture：姿勢，姿態，看法，態度
  unhinged：精神錯亂的
  chaos：紊亂，混亂
  Key Words in History 歷史關鍵詞
  1．Joseph Stalin 斯大林
  Joseph Stalin bore the greatest responsibility for some of the disasters at the beginning of the war (for example， the Battle of Kiev)， but can be equally praised for the subsequent success of the Soviet Army， which would have been impossible without the unprecedentedly rapid industrialization of the Soviet Union， which was the first priority of Stalin’s internal policy throughout the 1930s.
  Stalin’s Great Purge of the Red Army in the late 1930s consisted of the legal prosecution of many of the senior command， many of whom were convicted and sentenced to death or imprisonment. The executed included Mikhail Tukhachevsky， a proponent of armoured blitzkrieg. Stalin promoted some obscurantists like Grigory Kulik (who opposed the mechanization of the army and the production of tanks)， but on the other hand purged the older commanders who had had their positions since the Russian Civil War， and had experience， but were deemed “politically unreliable”. This opened up those places to the promotion of many younger officers that Stalin and the NKVD thought were in line with Stalinist politics， many of whom proved to be terribly inexperienced， but some were later very successful. Soviet tank output remained the largest in the world. Distrust of the military led， since the foundation of the Red Army in 1918， to a system of “dual command”， in which every commander was paired with a political commissar， a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Larger units had military councils consisting of the commander， commissar and chief of staff， who ensured that the commanding officer was loyal and implemented Party orders.
  Following the Soviet occupation of eastern Poland， the Baltic states and Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in 1939–1940， Stalin insisted that every fold of the new territories should be occupied; this move westward left troops far from their depots in salients that left them vulnerable to encirclement. There was an assumption that， in the event of a German invasion， the Red Army would take the strategic offensive and fight the war mostly outside the borders of the Soviet Union; thus few plans were made for strategic defensive operations. However， fortifications were built. As tension heightened in spring 1941， Stalin was desperate not to give Hitler any provocation that could be used as an excuse for an attack; this caused him to refuse to allow the military to go onto the alert even as German troops gathered on the borders and German reconnaissance planes overflew installations. This refusal to take the necessary action was instrumental in the destruction of major portions of the Red Air Force， lined up on its airfields， in the first days of the war.
  Stalin’s insistence on repeated counterattacks without adequate preparation led to the loss of almost the whole of the Red Army’s tank corps in 1941–many tanks simply ran out of fuel on their way to the battlefield through faulty planning or ignorance of the location of fuel dumps. While some regard this offensive strategy as an argument for Soviet aggressive strategic plans， the offensive operational planning was not， by itself， evidence of any aggressive foreign policy intent.
  Unlike Hitler， Stalin was able to learn lessons and improve his conduct of the war. He gradually came to realise the dangers of inadequate preparation and built up a competent command and control organization–the Stavka–under Georgy Zhukov， Semyon Timoshenko and others. Incompetent commanders were gradually but ruthlessly weeded out.
  At the crisis of the war， in autumn 1942， Stalin made many concessions to the army: unitary command was restored by removing the Commissars from the chain of command. After the Battle of Stalingrad， shoulderboards were introduced for all ranks; this was a significant symbolic step， since they had been seen as a symbol of the old regime after the Russian Revolution of 1917. Beginning in autumn 1941， units that had proved themselves by superior performance in combat were given the traditional “Guards” title. But these concessions were combined with ruthless discipline: Order No. 227， issued on 28 July 1942， threatened commanders who retreated without orders with punishment by court–martial. Infractions by military and politruks were punished with transferral to penal battalions and penal companies， and the NKVD’s barrier troops would shoot soldiers who fled.
  As it became clear that the Soviet Union would win the war， Stalin ensured that propaganda always mentioned his leadership of the war; the victorious generals were sidelined and never allowed to develop into political rivals. After the war the Red Army was once again purged (but not as brutally as in the 1930s): many successful officers were demoted to unimportant positions (including Zhukov， Malinovsky and Koniev).
  2．Moscow and Rostov 莫斯科保衛戰
  Hitler then decided to resume the advance to Moscow， re–designating the panzer groups as panzer armies for the occasion. Operation Typhoon， which was set in motion on 30 September， saw 2nd Panzer Army rush along the paved road from Orel to the Oka River at Plavskoye， while the 4th Panzer Army (transferred from Army Group North to Centre) and 3rd Panzer armies surrounded the Soviet forces in two huge pockets at Vyazma and Bryansk. Army Group north positioned itself in front of Leningrad and attempted to cut the rail link at Mga to the east. This began the 900–day Siege of Leningrad. North of the Arctic Circle， a German–Finnish force set out for Murmansk but could get no further than the Zapadnaya Litsa River， where they settled down.
  Army Group South pushed down from the Dnieper to the Sea of Azov coast， also advancing through Kharkov， Kursk， and Stalino. The 11th Army moved into the Crimea and took control of the entire peninsula by autumn (except Sevastopol， which held out until 3 July 1942). On 21 November， the Germans took Rostov， the gateway to the Caucasus. However， the German lines were over–extended and the Soviet defenders counterattacked the 1st Panzer Army’s spearhead from the north， forcing them to pull out of the city and behind the Mius River; the first significant German withdrawal of the war.
  The onset of the freeze of winter saw one last German lunge that opened on 15 November， when the Germans attempted to throw a ring around Moscow. On 27 November the 4th Panzer Army got within 30 km (19 miles) of the Kremlin when it reached the last tramstop of the Moscow line at Khimki. Meanwhile， the 2nd Panzer Army， despite its best efforts， failed to take Tula， the last Soviet city that stood in its way of the capital. After a meeting held in Orsha between the head of the Army General Staff， General Franz Halder， and the heads of three Army groups and armies， it was decided to push forward to Moscow since it was better， as argued by head of Army Group Center， Field Marshal Fedor von Bock， for them to try their luck on the battlefield rather than just sit and wait while their opponent gathered more strength.
  However， by 6 December it became clear that the Wehrmacht was too weak to capture Moscow and the attack was put on hold. Marshal Shaposhnikov thus began his counter–attack， employing freshly mobilized reserves，as well as some well–trained Far–Eastern divisions transferred from the east following the guarantee of neutrality from Japan.
  3．Stalingrad 斯大林格勒戰役
  While the German 6th Army and 4th Panzer Army had been fighting their way into Stalingrad， Soviet armies had congregated on either side of the city， specifically into the Don bridgeheads that the Romanians did not reduce， and it was from these that they struck on 19 November 1942. In Operation Uranus， two Soviet fronts punched through the Romanian lines and converged at Kalach on 23 November， trapping 300，000 Axis troops behind them. A simultaneous offensive on the Rzhev sector known as Operation Mars was supposed to advance to Smolensk， but was a failure， with German tactical flair winning the day.
  The Germans rushed to transfer troops to Russia for a desperate attempt to relieve Stalingrad， but the offensive could not get going until 12 December， by which time the 6th Army in Stalingrad was starving and too weak to break out towards it. Operation Winter Storm， with three transferred panzer divisions， got going briskly from Kotelnikovo towards the Aksai River but became bogged down 65 km (40 miles) short of its goal. To divert the rescue attempt the Soviets decided to smash the Italians and come down behind the relief attempt if they could， that operation starting on 16 December. What it did accomplish was to destroy many of the aircraft that had been transporting relief supplies to Stalingrad. The fairly limited scope of the Soviet offensive， although still eventually targeted on Rostov， also allowed Hitler time to see sense and pull Army Group A out of the Caucasus and back over the Don.
  On 31 January 1943， the 90，000 survivors of the 300，000–man 6th Army surrendered. By that time the Hungarian 2nd Army had also been wiped out. The Soviets advanced from the Don 500 km (300 miles) to the west of Stalingrad， marching through Kursk (retaken on 8 February 1943) and Kharkov (retaken 16 February 1943). In order to save the position in the south， the Germans decided to abandon the Rzhev salient in February， freeing enough troops to make a successful riposte in eastern Ukraine. Manstein’s counteroffensive， strengthened by a specially trained SS panzer corps equipped with Tiger tanks， opened on 20 February 1943， and fought its way from Poltava back into Kharkov in the third week of March， upon which the spring thaw intervened. This had left a glaring bulge in the front centered on Kursk.
  Background Knowledge 背景知識補充
  蘇德戰爭的進行對世界反法西斯戰場有著極其深遠的影響，蘇聯可以被認為是對世界反法西斯戰爭貢獻最大的國家。絕大多數蘇聯及俄羅斯學者和很多西方學者在戰後都認為，假若沒有蘇聯政府及蘇聯人民的頑強抵抗，那這場世界性的戰爭的勝負尚很難判斷。蘇聯的抵抗為英美等西方盟國發展軍工業、增強武裝力量、發展海軍贏得了寶貴的時間。