World War II

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World War II
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 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 America Result Allied victory Dissolution of the Third Reich 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)[nb 1]  United States (1941–45)  British Empire China (at war 1937–45)  France[nb 2]  Poland  Canada  Australia  New Zealand  South Africa  Yugoslavia (1941–45)  Greece (1940–45)  Norway (1940–45)  Netherlands (1940–45)  Belgium (1940–45)  Czechoslovakia  Brazil (1942–45) ...and others Client and puppet states Philippines (1941–45) Mongolia (1941–45) ...and others	Axis  Germany  Japan (at war 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 (1943–45)  Croatia (1941–45)  Slovakia ...and others
Commanders and leaders
Allied leaders Joseph Stalin Franklin D. Roosevelt Winston Churchill Chiang Kai-shek ...and others	Axis leaders Adolf Hitler Hirohito 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

World War II series v t e
Precursors
Asian events • European events • Timeline
[show] v t e Campaigns of World War II
1939 • 1940 • 1941 • 1942 • 1943 • 1944 • 1945 Eastern front • Western Front • Pacific War • Battles • Mediterranean, Middle East and African 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 t e History of World War II by country
[show] v t e World War II

World War II, or the Second World War (often abbreviated as WWII or WW2), was a global war that was under way by 1939 and ended in 1945. It involved a 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 serving in military units. In a state of "total war", the major participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by significant events involving the mass death of civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare, it resulted in 50 million to over 70 million fatalities. These deaths make the war the deadliest conflict in human history.^[1]
Although Japan was already at war with China in 1937,^[2] 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 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 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or subdued much of continental Europe; amid Nazi-Soviet agreements, the nominally neutral Soviet Union fully or partially invaded, occupied and annexed territories of its six European neighbours, including Poland. Britain and the Commonwealth remained the only major force 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. In December 1941, Japan, which aimed to dominate Asia, joined the Axis, attacked the United States and European possessions in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the West 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 Stalingrad. In 1943, with a series of German defeats in Eastern Europe, the Allied invasion of Fascist Italy, 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. The war in Europe ended with the capture of Berlin by Soviet and Polish troops and the subsequent German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945. During 1944 and 1945 the United States defeated the Japanese Navy and captured key West Pacific islands, dropping atomic bombs on the country as the invasion of the Japanese Archipelago ("Home Islands") became imminent. The war in Asia ended on 15 August 1945 when Japan agreed to surrender.
The total victory of the Allies over the Axis in 1945 ended the conflict. 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 United States, Soviet Union, China, Britain, and France—became the permanent members of the UN's 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.