World War II

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"WWII" redirects here. For other uses, see WWII (disambiguation).
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World War II
Infobox collage for WWII.PNG
Clockwise from top left: Chinese forces in the Battle of Wanjialing, Australian
25-pounder guns during the First Battle of El Alamein, German Stuka dive bombers
on the Eastern Front winter 1943 1944, US naval force in the Lingayen Gulf, Wilhe
lm Keitel signing the German Surrender, Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingra
d
Date 1 September 1939 2 September 1945
Location Europe, Pacific, Atlantic, South-East Asia, China, Middle East,
Mediterranean and Africa, briefly North America
Result Allied victory
* Creation of the United Nations
* Emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as superpowers
* Beginning of the Cold War. (more...)
Belligerents
Allies
Soviet Union (1941 45)
United States (1941 45)
British Empirea
China (at war 1937 45)
Franceb
Polandc
Canada
Australia
New Zealand
South Africa
Norway (1940 45)
Netherlands (1940 45)
Belgium (1940 45)
Greece (1940 45)
and others
Axis
Germany
Japan (at war with China 1937 45)
Italy (1940 43)
Hungary (1941 45)
Romania (1941 44)
Bulgaria (1941 44)
Co-belligerents
Finland (1941 44)
Iraq (1941)
Thailand (1942 45)
Puppet states
Manchukuo
Croatia (1941 45)
Slovakia
and others
Commanders and leaders
Allied leaders
Soviet Union Joseph Stalin
United States Franklin D. Roosevelt
United Kingdom Winston Churchill
and others
Axis leaders
Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler
Empire of Japan Hirohito
Kingdom of Italy (1861 1946) Benito Mussolini
and others
Casualties and losses
Military dead:
Over 16,000,000
Civilian dead:
Over 45,000,000
Total dead:
Over 61,000,000 (1937 45)
...further details Military dead:
Over 8,000,000
Civilian dead:
Over 4,000,000
Total dead:
Over 12,000,000 (1937 45)
...further details
a Includes United Kingdom and its dependencies: British India, British West Afri
ca, British Malaya, Newfoundland, and others.
b After the Third Republic surrendered in 1940, the de facto government was the
Vichy Regime, who conducted pro-Axis policy while remaining formally neutral. Th
e Free French Forces, based out of London, were recognized by the Allies as the
official government in September 1944.
c The Second Polish Republic succumbed to German and Soviet invasions in 1939; t
he Polish government-in-exile operated from London and its armed forces fought a
longside the Western Allies. The Soviet Union set up their own Polish Armed Forc
es, as well as the State National Council in Moscow, subsequently creating the P
olish Committee of National Liberation, which assumed power in Poland in decembe
r 1944 as the Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland.
World War II seriesv · d · e
Precursors
Asian events · European events · Timeline
[show]v · d · e
Campaigns of World War II
Europe
Poland Phoney War Denmark & Norway
France & Benelux Britain Balkans Yugoslav Front Eastern Front Finland - Western F
ront (1944 45)
Asia & The Pacific
China Pacific Ocean South-East Asia
South West Pacific Japan Manchuria (1945)
Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa
Other Campaigns
Atlantic Strategic Bombing - North America
Contemporaneous Wars
Chinese Civil Winter War Soviet Japanese Border French Thai Ili Rebellion
1939 · 1940 · 1941 · 1942 · 1943 · 1944 · 1945
Eastern front · Western Front · Pacific War · Battles · Mediterranean, Middle East and A
frican Campaigns · Commanders
Technology · Military operations · Manhattan Project
Air warfare of World War II · Home front · Collaboration · Resistance
Aftermath
Casualties · Further effects · War crimes · Japanese war crimes · Consequences of Nazism
Depictions
World War II articles
Alphabetical index: 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Campaigns | Countries | Equipment
Lists | Outline | Timeline | Portal | Category
[show]v · d · e
History of World War II by country and region
Albania · Australia · Austria (Anschluss) · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Brazil · Bulga
· Burma · Cambodia · Canada · Ceylon (Sri Lanka) · Channel Islands · China · Czechoslovaki
enmark · Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) · Egypt · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Gi
ltar · Greece · Greenland · Hong Kong · Hungary · Iceland · India · Iran · Iraq · Ireland ·
pan · Laos · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malaya, North Borneo and Sarawak (Malaysia)
· Manchukuo · Mexico · Mongolia · Nepal · Netherlands · New Zealand · Newfoundland · Norw
ilippines · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Singapore · Slovakia · South Africa · Soviet Unio
pain · Sweden · Switzerland · Thailand · Turkey · Ukraine · United Kingdom · United States
tnam · Yugoslavia
[show]v · d · eWorld War II
Western Europe · Eastern Europe · Africa · Mediterranean · Asia and the Pacific · Atlantic
Casualties · Military engagements · Topics · Conferences · Commanders
Participants
Allies (Leaders)
Ethiopia · China · Czechoslovakia · Poland · United Kingdom · India · France · Australia ·
ealand · South Africa · Canada · Norway · Belgium · Netherlands · Greece · Yugoslavia · Sov
nion · United States · Philippines · Mexico · Brazil
Axis and
Axis-aligned
(Leaders)
Bulgaria · Reorganized National Government of China · Croatia · Finland · Germany · Hungar
y · Iraq · Italy · Italian Social Republic · Japan · Manchukuo · Romania · Slovakia · Thail
ichy France
Resistance
Austria · Baltic States · Belgium · Czech lands · Denmark · Estonia · Ethiopia · France · G
y · Greece · Hong Kong · India · Italy · Jewish · Korea · Latvia · Luxembourg · Netherlands
· Philippines · Poland (Anti-communist) · Romania · Thailand · Soviet Union · Slovakia · W
ern Ukraine · Vietnam · Yugoslavia
Timeline
Prelude
Africa · Asia · Europe
1939
Invasion of Poland · Phoney War · Winter War · Battle of the Atlantic · Battle of Changs
ha (1939) · Winter Offensive in China
1940
Denmark and Norway · Battle of the Netherlands · Battle of Belgium · Battle of France ·
Battle of Britain · Libya and Egypt · British Somaliland · Baltic states · Bessarabia an
d Northern Bukovina · Invasion of French Indochina · Invasion of Greece · Operation C
ompass
1941
East Africa Campaign · Invasion of Yugoslavia · Yugoslav Front · Battle of Greece · Batt
le of Crete · Invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa) · Continuation War
· June Uprising · Middle East Campaign · Battle of Kiev · Siege of Leningrad · Battle o
f Moscow · Siege of Sevastopol · Attack on Pearl Harbor · Battle of Hong Kong · Battle o
f the Philippines · Battle of Changsha (1941) · Battle of Malaya · Battle of Borneo
1942
Japanese Conquest of Burma · Battle of Changsha (1942) · Battle of the Coral Sea · Bat
tle of Gazala · Battle of Midway · Case Blue · Battle of Stalingrad · Dieppe Raid · Second
Battle of El Alamein · Operation Torch · Guadalcanal Campaign
1943
End in Africa · Battle of Kursk · Battle of Smolensk · Solomon Islands · Invasion of Sic
ily · Lower Dnieper Offensive · Invasion of Italy · Gilbert and Marshall Islands · Battl
e of Changde
1944
Cassino and Anzio · Narva · Korsun Shevchenkovsky Offensive · Operation Tempest · Operati
on Ichi-Go · Invasion of Normandy · Mariana and Palau Islands · Operation Bagration · Lv
ov Sandomierz Offensive · Tannenberg Line · Warsaw Uprising · Jassy Kishinev Offensive · Be
grade Offensive · Liberation of Paris · Gothic Line · Operation Market Garden · Tallinn
Offensive · Operation Crossbow · Operation Pointblank · Lapland War · Budapest Offensive
· Battle of Leyte Gulf · Battle of the Bulge · Burma Campaign
1945
Vistula Oder Offensive · Battle of Iwo Jima · Battle of Okinawa · Final offensive in Ita
ly · Battle of Berlin · Prague Offensive · Siege of Budapest · Battle of West Hunan · Surr
ender of Germany · Soviet invasion of Manchuria · Philippine liberation · Borneo Camp
aign · Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki · Surrender of Japan
Aspects
General
Air warfare of World War II · Attacks on North America · Blitzkrieg · Comparative mili
tary ranks · Cryptography · Home front · Military awards · Military equipment · Military p
roduction · Nazi plunder · Technology · Total war · Strategic bombing · Bengal famine of 1
943
Aftermath
Effects · Expulsion of Germans · Operation Paperclip · Operation Keelhaul · Occupation o
f Germany · Morgenthau Plan · Territorial changes · Soviet occupations (Romania, Polan
d, Hungary, Baltic States) · Occupation of Japan · First Indochina War · Indonesian Na
tional Revolution · Cold War · Decolonization · Popular culture
War crimes
German and Wehrmacht war crimes · The Holocaust · Italian war crimes · Japanese war cr
imes · Allied war crimes · Soviet war crimes · United States war crimes
War rape
Rape during the occupation of Japan · Comfort women · Rape of Nanking · Rape during
the occupation of Germany
Prisoners
Nazi crimes against Soviet POWs · Italian prisoners of war in the Soviet Union · Ja
panese prisoners of war in the Soviet Union · Japanese prisoners of war in World W
ar II · German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union
Category · Portal
definition · textbooks · quotes · source texts · media · news stories
World War II, or the Second World War[1] (often abbreviated as WWII or WW2), was
a global military conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, which involved most of th
e world's nations, including all of the great powers: eventually forming two opp
osing military alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread wa
r in history, with more than 100 million military personnel mobilised. In a stat
e of "total war," the major participants placed their entire economic, industria
l, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the dis
tinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by significant events i
nvolving the mass death of civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use o
f nuclear weapons in warfare, it was the deadliest conflict in human history,[2]
resulting in 50 million to over 70 million fatalities.
The war is generally accepted to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the invasi
on of Poland by Germany and Slovakia, and subsequent declarations of war on Germ
any by France and most of the countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth.
Germany set out to establish a large empire in Europe. From late 1939 to early 1
941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or subdued much of
continental Europe; amid Nazi-Soviet agreements, the nominally neutral Soviet U
nion fully or partially occupied and annexed territories of its six European nei
ghbours. Britain and the Commonwealth remained the only major force continuing t
he fight against the Axis in North Africa and in extensive naval warfare. In Jun
e 1941, the European Axis launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, giving a sta
rt to the largest land theatre of war in history, which, from this moment on, wa
s tying down the major part of the Axis military power. In December 1941, Japan,
which had been at war with China since 1937,[3] and aimed to dominate Asia, att
acked the United States and European possessions in the Pacific Ocean, quickly c
onquering much of the region.
The Axis advance was stopped in 1942 after the defeat of Japan in a series of na
val battles and after defeats of European Axis troops in North Africa and, decis
ively, at Stalingrad. In 1943, with a series of German defeats in Eastern Europe
, the Allied invasion of Fascist Italy, and American victories in the Pacific, t
he Axis lost the initiative and undertook strategic retreat on all fronts. In 19
44, the Western Allies invaded France, while the Soviet Union regained all terri
torial losses and invaded Germany and its allies.
The war in Europe ended with the capture of Berlin by Soviet and Polish troops a
nd the subsequent German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945. The Japanese Nav
y was defeated by the United States, and invasion of the Japanese Archipelago ("
Home Islands") became imminent. The war in Asia ended on 15 August 1945 with the
surrender of Japan.
The war ended with the total victory of the Allies over Germany and Japan in 194
5. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the worl
d. The United Nations (UN) was established to foster international cooperation a
nd prevent future conflicts. The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as r
ival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which would last for the n
ext 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers started to decli
ne, while the decolonization of Asia and Africa began. Most countries whose indu
stries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration e
merged as an effort to stabilise postwar relations.
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