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World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, resulting in 70 to 85 million fatalities, more than half of which were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust of European Jews, and by massacres, starvation, and disease.
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In 1944, the Allies invaded France. The invasion was called...
- World War II Casualties
World War II deaths by country World War II deaths by...
- European Theatre of World War II
The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main...
- Allies
The victorious Allies of World War I—which included what...
- Winston Churchill
He wrote an autobiographical history of the war, The World...
- List of Timelines of World War II
Timeline of declarations of war during World War II;...
- Countries
Almost every country in the world participated in World War...
- Axis Powers
The Government of National Salvation, also referred to as...
- World War III
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was concerned that,...
- Australia
An Australian World War II propaganda poster produced in...
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- Overview
- The outbreak of war
World War II began in Europe on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. Great Britain and France responded by declaring war on Germany on September 3. The war between the U.S.S.R. and Germany began on June 22, 1941, with Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The war in the Pacific began on December 7/8, 1941, when Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor and other American, Dutch, and British military installations throughout Asia.
Read more below: Axis initiative and Allied reaction: The outbreak of war
Pacific War
Read more about the war in the Pacific.
What countries fought in World War II?
The main combatants were the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) and the Allies (France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China).
By the early part of 1939 the German dictator Adolf Hitler had become determined to invade and occupy Poland. Poland, for its part, had guarantees of French and British military support should it be attacked by Germany. Hitler intended to invade Poland anyway, but first he had to neutralize the possibility that the Soviet Union would resist the invasion of its western neighbour. Secret negotiations led on August 23–24 to the signing of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact in Moscow. In a secret protocol of this pact, the Germans and the Soviets agreed that Poland should be divided between them, with the western third of the country going to Germany and the eastern two-thirds being taken over by the U.S.S.R.
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Pop Quiz: 17 Things to Know About World War II
Having achieved this cynical agreement, the other provisions of which stupefied Europe even without divulgence of the secret protocol, Hitler thought that Germany could attack Poland with no danger of Soviet or British intervention and gave orders for the invasion to start on August 26. News of the signing, on August 25, of a formal treaty of mutual assistance between Great Britain and Poland (to supersede a previous though temporary agreement) caused him to postpone the start of hostilities for a few days. He was still determined, however, to ignore the diplomatic efforts of the western powers to restrain him. Finally, at 12:40 pm on August 31, 1939, Hitler ordered hostilities against Poland to start at 4:45 the next morning. The invasion began as ordered. In response, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3, at 11:00 am and at 5:00 pm, respectively. World War II had begun.
Oct 29, 2009 · World War II, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history, involved more than 50 nations and was fought on land, sea and air in nearly every part of the world. Also known as the...
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In 1944, the Allies invaded France. The invasion was called D-Day, held in June 6th, 1944. They came into Germany itself from the West, while the Soviets came in from the East. Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945, ending the war in Europe.
World War II, or the Second World War was a global military conflict that was fought between September 1, 1939, and September 2, 1945. The war pitted two major military alliances against each other: the Allies of the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, China and others against the Axis of Germany, Japan, Italy and others.
World War II was the biggest and deadliest war in history, involving more than 30 countries. Sparked by the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, the war dragged on for six bloody years until the...
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Almost every country in the world participated in World War II. Most were neutral at the beginning, but only a relative few nations remained neutral to the end. The Second World War pitted two alliances against each other, the Axis powers and the Allied powers.