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 nat ions including all of the great powers eventually forming two opposing military alli ances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million people serving in military units from over 30 different co untries. In a state of "total war", the major participants placed their entire e conomic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effor t, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by ma ss deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weap ons in warfare, it resulted in 50 million to over 75 million fatalities. These d eaths make World War II by far 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 declar ations of war on Germany by France and Britain. 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 Ribbent rop Pact, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories betwe en themselves of their European neighbours, including Poland. The United Kingdom and the other members of the British Commonwealth were the only major Allied fo rces continuing the fight against the Axis, with battles taking place in North A frica as well as the long-running Battle of the Atlantic. In June 1941, the Euro pean Axis launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, giving a start to the larges t land theatre of war in history, which tied down the major part of the Axis' mi litary 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 qu ickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance was stopped in 1942, after Japan lost a series of naval battles and European Axis troops were defeated in North Africa and, decisively, at Stal ingrad. In 1943, with a series of German defeats in Eastern Europe, the Allied i nvasion of Italy, and American victories in the Pacific, the Axis lost the initi ative and undertook strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses a nd invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the United States defeat ed the Japanese Navy and captured key Western Pacific islands. 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. Following the Po tsdam Declaration by the Allies on 26 July 1945, the United States dropped atomi c bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima on 6 August, and Nagasaki on 9 Augus t. With an invasion of the Japanese archipelago imminent, and the Soviet Union h aving declared war on Japan by invading Manchuria, Japan surrendered on 15 Augus t 1945, ending the war in Asia and cementing the total victory of the Allies ove r the Axis. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world. The United Nations (UN) was established to foster international cooperation and prevent future conflicts. The great powers that were the victors of the war the Un ited States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, and France became the pe rmanent 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 W ar, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European gre at powers started to decline, while the decolonisation of Asia and Africa began. Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recover y. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to stabilis e postwar relations and fight more effectively in the Cold War. Contents

1 Chronology 2 Background 3 Pre-war events 3.1 Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935) 3.2 Spanish Civil War (1936 39) 3.3 Japanese invasion of China (1937) 3.4 Japanese invasion of the Soviet Union and Mongolia (1938) 3.5 European occupations and agreements 4 Course of the war 4.1 War breaks out in Europe (1939 40) 4.2 Axis advances (1940 41) 4.3 War becomes global (1941 42) 4.4 Axis advance stalls (1942 43) 4.5 Allies gain momentum (1943 44) 4.6 Allies close in (1944) 4.7 Axis collapse, Allied victory (1944 45) 5 Aftermath 6 Impact 6.1 Casualties and war crimes 6.2 Concentration camps and slave work 6.3 Home fronts and production 6.4 Occupation 6.5 Advances in technology and warfare 7 See also 8 Notes 9 Citations 10 References 11 External links Chronology See also: Timeline of World War II The start of the war is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with th e German invasion of Poland; Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. Other dates for the beginning of war include the start of the Second Sin o-Japanese War on 7 July 1937.[4][5] Others follow British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and the two wars merged in 1941. This article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935.[6] British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of the Seco nd World War as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939.[7] The exact date of the war's end is also not universally agreed upon. It has been suggested that the war ended at the armistice of 14 August 1945 (V-J Day), rath er than the formal surrender of Japan (2 September 1945); in some European histo ries, it ended on V-E Day (8 May 1945). However, the Treaty of Peace with Japan was not signed until 1951,[8] and that with Germany not until 1990.[9] Background Main article: Causes of World War II World War I radically altered the political map, with the defeat of the Central Powers, including Austria-Hungary, Germany and the Ottoman Empire; and the 1917 Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia. Meanwhile, existing victorious Allies such as France, Belgium, Italy, Greece and Romania gained territories, while new sta tes were created out of the collapse of Austria-Hungary and the Russian and Otto man Empires.

Despite the pacific movement in the aftermath of the war,[10][11] the losses sti ll caused irredentist and revanchist nationalism to become important in a number of European states. Irredentism and revanchism were strong in Germany because o f the significant territorial, colonial, and financial losses incurred by the Tr eaty of Versailles. Under the treaty, Germany lost around 13 percent of its home territory and all of its overseas colonies, while German annexation of other st ates was prohibited, reparations were imposed, and limits were placed on the siz e and capability of the country's armed forces.[12] Meanwhile, the Russian Civil War had led to the creation of the Soviet Union.[13] The German Empire was dissolved in the German Revolution of 1918 1919, and a democ ratic government, later known as the Weimar Republic, was created. The interwar period saw strife between supporters of the new republic and hardline opponents on both the right and left. Although Italy as an Entente ally made some territor ial gains, Italian nationalists were angered that the promises made by Britain a nd France to secure Italian entrance into the war were not fulfilled with the pe ace settlement. From 1922 to 1925, the Fascist movement led by Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy with a nationalist, totalitarian, and class collaborationi st agenda that abolished representative democracy, repressed socialist, left win g and liberal forces, and pursued an aggressive foreign policy aimed at forceful ly forging Italy as a world power a "New Roman Empire".[14] In Germany, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler sought to establish a in Germany. With the onset of the Great Depression, domestic support is rose and, in 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. In th of the Reichstag fire, Hitler created a totalitarian single-party y the Nazis.[15] Nazi state for the Naz the afterma state led b

The Kuomintang (KMT) party in China launched a unification campaign against regi onal warlords and nominally unified China in the mid-1920s, but was soon embroil ed in a civil war against its former Chinese communist allies.[16] In 1931, an i ncreasingly militaristic Japanese Empire, which had long sought influence in Chi na[17] as the first step of what its government saw as the country's right to ru le Asia, used the Mukden Incident as a pretext to launch an invasion of Manchuri a and establish the puppet state of Manchukuo.[18] Too weak to resist Japan, China appealed to the League of Nations for help. Japa n withdrew from the League of Nations after being condemned for its incursion in to Manchuria. The two nations then fought several battles, in Shanghai, Rehe and Hebei, until the Tanggu Truce was signed in 1933. Thereafter, Chinese volunteer forces continued the resistance to Japanese aggression in Manchuria, and Chahar and Suiyuan.[19] Benito Mussolini (left) and Adolf Hitler (right) Adolf Hitler, after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government i n 1923, became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933. He abolished democracy, espous ing a radical, racially motivated revision of the world order, and soon began a massive rearmament campaign.[20] Meanwhile, France, to secure its alliance, allo wed Italy a free hand in Ethiopia, which Italy desired as a colonial possession. The situation was aggravated in early 1935 when the Territory of the Saar Basin was legally reunited with Germany and Hitler repudiated the Treaty of Versaille s, accelerated his rearmament programme and introduced conscription.[21] Hoping to contain Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy formed the Stres a Front. The Soviet Union, concerned due to Germany's goals of capturing vast ar eas of eastern Europe, wrote a treaty of mutual assistance with France. Before t aking effect though, the Franco-Soviet pact was required to go through the burea ucracy of the League of Nations, which rendered it essentially toothless.[22][23 ] However, in June 1935, the United Kingdom made an independent naval agreement with Germany, easing prior restrictions. The United States, concerned with event

s in Europe and Asia, passed the Neutrality Act in August.[24] In October, Italy invaded Ethiopia, and Germany was the only major European nation to support the invasion. Italy subsequently dropped its objections to Germany's goal of absorb ing Austria.[25] Hitler defied the Versailles and Locarno treaties by remilitarizing the Rhinelan d in March 1936. He received little response from other European powers.[26] Whe n the Spanish Civil War broke out in July, Hitler and Mussolini supported the fa scist and authoritarian Nationalist forces in their civil war against the Soviet -supported Spanish Republic. Both sides used the conflict to test new weapons an d methods of warfare,[27] with the Nationalists winning the war in early 1939. I n October 1936, Germany and Italy formed the Rome-Berlin Axis. A month later, Ge rmany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, which Italy would join in the fo llowing year. In China, after the Xi'an Incident the Kuomintang and communist fo rces agreed on a ceasefire in order to present a united front to oppose Japan.[2 8] Pre-war events Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935) Main article: Second Italo-Abyssinian War The Second Italo Abyssinian War was a brief colonial war that began in October 193 5 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the King dom of Italy (Regno d'Italia) and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia). The war resulted in the military occupation of Ethiopia an d its annexation into the newly created colony of Italian East Africa (Africa Or ientale Italiana, or AOI); in addition, it exposed the weakness of the League of Nations as a force to preserve peace. Both Italy and Ethiopia were member natio ns, but the League did nothing when the former clearly violated the League's own Article X.[29] Spanish Civil War (1936 39) The ruins of Guernica after the bombing. Main article: Spanish Civil War Hitler and Mussolini lent much military and financial support to the Nationalist insurrection led by general Francisco Franco in Spain. The Soviet Union support ed the existing government, the Spanish Republic, which showed leftist tendencie s. Furthemore, over 30,000 foreign volunteers, known as the International Brigad es fought against Franco. Both Germany and the USSR used this proxy war as an op portunity to test improved weapons and tactics. The deliberate Bombing of Guerni ca by the German Condor Legion in April 1937 contributed to widespread concerns that the next major war would include extensive terror bombing attacks on civili ans.[30][31] While there were some minor pockets of resistance, the Nationalist front declared victory on 1 April 1939.[32] It should be noted that five months later, Germany attacked Poland, initiating World War II. Japanese invasion of China (1937) Main article: Second Sino-Japanese War A Chinese machine gun nest in the Battle of Shanghai, 1937. In July 1937, Japan captured the former Chinese imperial capital of Beijing afte r instigating the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, which culminated in the Japanese c ampaign to invade all of China.[33] The Soviets quickly signed a non-aggression pact with China to lend materiel support, effectively en