WW22

"WWII" redirects here. For other uses, see WWII (disambiguation). For Winston Churchill's history, see The Second World War (book series).

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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, Wilhelm Keitel signing the German Instrument of Surrender, Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad

Date
1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945 (6 years, 1 day)

Location
Europe, Pacific, Atlantic, South-East Asia, China, Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa, briefly North and South America

Result
Allied victory
Collapse of the Third Reich
Fall of Japanese and Italian Empires
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) United Kingdom China (1937–45) France[a] Poland Canada Australia Yugoslavia (1941–45) Greece (1940–45) Belgium (1940–45) Netherlands (1940–45) New Zealand Norway (1940–45) South Africa Brazil (1942–45) Mexico (1942–45) Czechoslovakia
Mongolia Mongolia (1945)

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Client and puppet states Philippines (1941–45)

Axis

Germany Japan (1937–45) Italy (1940–43) Hungary (1940–45) Romania (1941–44) Bulgaria (1941–44)

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Co-belligerents Finland (1941–44) Thailand (1942–45) Iraq (1941)

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Client and puppet states Manchukuo
Italian Social Republic Italy (1943–45) Croatia (1941–45) Philippines (1944–45) Slovakia

Commanders and leaders

Allied leaders
Soviet Union Joseph Stalin
United States Franklin D. Roosevelt
United Kingdom Winston Churchill
Republic of China (1912–1949) Chiang Kai-shek

Axis leaders
Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler
Empire of Japan Hirohito
Kingdom of Italy Benito Mussolini

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

[show] v· t· e Campaigns of World War II

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World War II

Alphabetical indices

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Navigation

­Campaigns· ­Countries· ­Equipment· ­Lists· ­Outline· ­Timeline· ­Portal· ­Category

­v· ­t· ­e

World War II (WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million people, from over 30 different countries, serving in military units. In a state of "total war", the major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare, it resulted in an estimated 50 million to 85 million fatalities. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history.[1]

The Empire of Japan aimed to dominate East Asia and was already at war with the Republic of China in 1937,[2] but the world war is generally said to have begun on 1 September 1939 with the invasion of Poland by Germany and subsequent 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 formed the Axis alliance with Italy, conquering or subduing much of continental Europe. Following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories between themselves of their European neighbours, including Poland and the Baltic states. The United Kingdom and the other members of the British Commonwealth were the only major Allied forces continuing the fight against the Axis, with battles taking place in North Africa as well as the long-running Battle of the Atlantic. In June 1941, the European Axis launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, giving a start to the largest land theatre of war in history, which tied down the major part of the Axis' military forces for the rest of the war. In December 1941, Japan joined the Axis, attacked the United States and European territories in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific.

The Axis advance was stopped in 1942. Japan lost a critical battle at Midway, near Hawaii, and never regained its earlier momentum. Germany was defeated in North Africa and, decisively, at Stalingrad in Russia. In 1943, with a series of German defeats in Eastern Europe, the Allied invasion of Italy which brought about that nation's surrender, and American victories in the Pacific, the Axis lost the initiative and undertook strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the United States defeated the Japanese Navy and captured key Western Pacific islands.

The war in Europe ended with an invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union culminating in the capture of Berlin by Soviet and Polish troops and the subsequent German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945. Following the Potsdam Declaration by the Allies on 26 July 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 August and 9 August respectively. With an invasion of the Japanese archipelago imminent, and the Soviet Union having declared war on Japan by invading Manchuria, Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945, ending the war in Asia and cementing the total victory of the Allies over the Axis.

World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world. The United Nations (UN) was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The great powers that were the victors of the war—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, and France—b"WWII" redirects here. For other uses, see WWII (disambiguation). For Winston Churchill's history, see The Second World War (book series).

Page semi-protected

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, Wilhelm Keitel signing the German Instrument of Surrender, Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad

Date
1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945 (6 years, 1 day)

Location
Europe, Pacific, Atlantic, South-East Asia, China, Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa, briefly North and South America

Result
Allied victory
Collapse of the Third Reich
Fall of Japanese and Italian Empires
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) United Kingdom China (1937–45) France[a] Poland Canada Australia Yugoslavia (1941–45) Greece (1940–45) Belgium (1940–45) Netherlands (1940–45) New Zealand Norway (1940–45) South Africa Brazil (1942–45) Mexico (1942–45) Czechoslovakia
Mongolia Mongolia (1945)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Client and puppet states Philippines (1941–45)

Axis

Germany Japan (1937–45) Italy (1940–43) Hungary (1940–45) Romania (1941–44) Bulgaria (1941–44)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Co-belligerents Finland (1941–44) Thailand (1942–45) Iraq (1941)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Client and puppet states Manchukuo
Italian Social Republic Italy (1943–45) Croatia (1941–45) Philippines (1944–45) Slovakia

Commanders and leaders

Allied leaders
Soviet Union Joseph Stalin
United States Franklin D. Roosevelt
United Kingdom Winston Churchill
Republic of China (1912–1949) Chiang Kai-shek

Axis leaders
Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler
Empire of Japan Hirohito
Kingdom of Italy Benito Mussolini

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

[show] v· t· e Campaigns of World War II

···
·····························

World War II

Alphabetical indices

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

Navigation

­Campaigns· ­Countries· ­Equipment· ­Lists· ­Outline· ­Timeline· ­Portal· ­Category

­v· ­t· ­e

World War II (WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million people, from over 30 different countries, serving in military units. In a state of "total war", the major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare, it resulted in an estimated 50 million to 85 million fatalities. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history.[1]

The Empire of Japan aimed to dominate East Asia and was already at war with the Republic of China in 1937,[2] but the world war is generally said to have begun on 1 September 1939 with the invasion of Poland by Germany and subsequent 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 formed the Axis alliance with Italy, conquering or subduing much of continental Europe. Following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories between themselves of their European neighbours, including Poland and the Baltic states. The United Kingdom and the other members of the British Commonwealth were the only major Allied forces continuing the fight against the Axis, with battles taking place in North Africa as well as the long-running Battle of the Atlantic. In June 1941, the European Axis launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, giving a start to the largest land theatre of war in history, which tied down the major part of the Axis' military forces for the rest of the war. In December 1941, Japan joined the Axis, attacked the United States and European territories in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific.

The Axis advance was stopped in 1942. Japan lost a critical battle at Midway, near Hawaii, and never regained its earlier momentum. Germany was defeated in North Africa and, decisively, at Stalingrad in Russia. In 1943, with a series of German defeats in Eastern Europe, the Allied invasion of Italy which brought about that nation's surrender, and American victories in the Pacific, the Axis lost the initiative and undertook strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the United States defeated the Japanese Navy and captured key Western Pacific islands.

The war in Europe ended with an invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union culminating in the capture of Berlin by Soviet and Polish troops and the subsequent German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945. Following the Potsdam Declaration by the Allies on 26 July 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 August and 9 August respectively. With an invasion of the Japanese archipelago imminent, and the Soviet Union having declared war on Japan by invading Manchuria, Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945, ending the war in Asia and cementing the total victory of the Allies over the Axis.

World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world. The United Nations (UN) was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The great powers that were the victors of the war—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, and France—became the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.[3] The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers started to decline, while the decolonisation of Asia and Africa began. Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to stabilise postwar relations and fight more effectively in the Cold War. ecame the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.[3] The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers started to decline, while the decolonisation of Asia and Africa began. Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to stabilise postwar relations and fight more effectively in the Cold War.