World War II and Global Conflicts

World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945 and involved most of the world's countries.

The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources.

Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war.

World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, resulting in 70 to 85 million fatalities.

Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, massacres, and disease.

In the wake of the Axis defeat, Germany and Japan were occupied, and war crimes tribunals were conducted against German and Japanese leaders.

World War II began on 1 September 1939 with the German invasion of Poland.

Other dates for the beginning of the war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or the earlier Japanese invasion of Manchuria, on 19 September 1931.

Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935.

The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939.

Others view the Spanish Civil War as the start or prelude to World War II.

The armistice of 14 August 1945 (V-J Day), rather than the formal surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, officially ended the war in Asia. A peace treaty between Japan and the Allies was signed in 1951.

A 1990 treaty regarding Germany's future allowed the reunification of East and West Germany to take place.

After World War I, many new nation-states were created, including France, Belgium, Italy, Romania, and Greece.

The League of Nations was created to prevent future world wars.

In the 1920s and 1930s, there was strife between supporters of the new republic and hardline opponents on both the right and left in Germany, Italy, and France.

The United Kingdom, France, and Italy formed the Stresa Front in 1935 in order to contain Germany, but this failed.

In 1936, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, which Italy joined.

In China, the Kuomintang (KMT) party launched a u

In the early 1920s, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) emerged as a powerful force in China, challenging the power of regional warlords.

In 1931, the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria, claiming it as part of the Japanese sphere of influence.

In 1935, the Italian invasion of Ethiopia sparked the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.

In 1936, the Spanish Civil War began, with Nazi and Fascist support for the Nationalists against the Republican forces.

In 1937, the Japanese invaded China, leading to the Second Sino-Japanese War.

The Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang fought a bloody civil war, with the Nationalists eventually winning in 1939.

The Second Sino-Japanese War had a significant impact on World War II, as it exposed the weaknesses of the League of Nations and demonstrated the power of Japan.