![]() Weeks after Japan begins building a strategic airfield on Guadalcanal, part of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific Ocean, U.S. Battle of the Guadalcanal Campaign: Augto February 9, 1943 forces, including dive bombers, attack, sinking four of Japan's aircraft carriers and the victory serves as a turning point in the conflict. In one of America's most important World War II naval wins, American intelligence is able to break codes to thwart a Japanese attack on the US. Germany claims victory with remaining Allied troops surrendering, but the evacuation serves to boost British morale, still referred to as the "Dunkirk spirit." But with Adolf Hitler halting Germany's advance there, the Allies are able to perform a daring-and successful-evacuation, called Operation Dynamo. Battle of Dunkirk from May 26 to June 4, 1940Ī German invasion around the French coastal town of Dunkirk separates the French and British armies, marooning Allied forces. Over five years, thousands of ships engage in 100-plus battles in the Atlantic Ocean with approximately 100,000 lives lost. The Axis, with its U-boats, responds with a counter-blockade that is at first successful, but the Allies' use of convoys, aircraft and technology eventually turns the tide. World War II's longest continuous campaign takes place, with the Allies striking a naval blockade against Germany and igniting a struggle for control of Atlantic Ocean sea routes. Putin doesn't seem to care.Battle of the Atlantic: Septemto May 8, 1945 Europe has clearly been better off as foreign occupation has declined. Support for the norm against territorial annexation is one of the main reasons that nearly the entire world opposed Russia's moves in Ukraine. So Russia conquering territory in Europe, one of the most peaceful parts of the world, threaten a norm that's helped cut down on a particularly pernicious form of conflict. Article 2 of the UN charter "the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state." The last war between countries over territory, the Ethiopian-Eritrean conflict, ended over a decade ago. The norm against territorial conquest isn't limited to Europe. International relations scholars call this an international norm an idea that has gradually become something along of the lines of a rule or code of conduct between countries. This map illustrates that this norm has held pretty well - that's why you see almost no dates after 1991, and even those are older conquests that just stuck around. Russia's annexation of Crimea and games in eastern Ukraine threaten the incipient agreement between European countries that it's unthinkable to wage wars of territorial conquest. And since the end of the Cold War, it's also largely done away with foreign occupation and conquest. Since World War II, Europe has been astonishingly good at avoiding war. You may also notice that the map is a couple months out of date: Crimea should be marked as part of Russia, and the date over Ukraine indicating its most recent foreign occupation should be 2014. You may notice that the most recent date on this map is 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed. The really significant takeaway here, though, is about Ukraine. And Russia has been occupation-free since a successor to Genghis Khan's empire, the Golden Horde, was thrown out in 1480. Switzerland's neutrality policy has been highly effective at keeping the country free of foreign occupation. The Brits and Soviets jointly occupied Iran for nearly a year after World War II. ![]() Great Britain has never been occupied since England, Wales, and Scotland merged to form the modern United Kingdom in 1707 - the only contemporary European country for which that's true. Nonetheless, there are all sorts of interesting historical nuggets here. And the map egregiously misspells Yugoslavia. By any reasonable definition, Turkey was occupied after World War I. Syria wasn't occupied by the United Arab Republic, a voluntarily political union with Egypt (the correct date should be 1946, when French troops withdrew). Labeling all of Germany as occupied through 1991, for instance: both East and West Germany were technically independent for most of the Cold War. There are a few strange editorial decisions here. This is just a fantastic map of the last year that every country in Europe, and a handful in the Middle East, was occupied by a foreign power:
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