World War II

World War II: A Global Conflict

World War II was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945, involving the majority of the world's countries and resulting in an estimated 70 to 85 million fatalities.
The war was fought between two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis, with aircraft playing a major role in enabling strategic bombing and the delivery of nuclear weapons.
The causes of the war included the rise of fascism in Europe, tensions in the aftermath of World War I, and conflicts such as the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Spanish Civil War.
The war began on September 1, 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, leading to declarations of war from the United Kingdom and France.
Germany and the Soviet Union had partitioned Poland and marked out their "spheres of influence" across other countries in Europe.
From late 1939 to early 1941, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe in a military alliance with Italy, Japan and other countries called the Axis.
The war continued primarily between the European Axis powers and the British Empire, with war in the Balkans, the aerial Battle of Britain, the Blitz of the United Kingdom, and the Battle of the Atlantic.
In 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, opening the Eastern Front, the largest land theatre of war in history.
Japan aimed to dominate Asia and the Pacific and was at war with the Republic of China by 1937. In December 1941, Japan attacked American and British territories, leading to a declaration of war against Japan by the United States and United Kingdom.
Key setbacks in 1943 cost the Axis powers their initiative and forced them into strategic retreat on all fronts.
The war ended with the liberation of German-occupied territories and the invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the Fall of Berlin to Soviet troops, Hitler's suicide, and the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945.
World War II changed the political alignment and social structure of the globe and set the foundation for the international order of the world's nations for the rest of the 20th century and into the present day.Overview of World War II: Prelude to War and Course of the War
Japan, seeking resources and markets, began a military campaign in China in 1937, which escalated into the Second Sino-Japanese War and led to Japanese-Soviet border clashes.
Germany and Italy were becoming more aggressive in Europe, annexing Austria and demanding the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia, which led to the Munich Agreement. Germany then demanded more territory from Czechoslovakia and Poland.
The United Kingdom and France guaranteed support for Polish independence, and Germany signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, which had a secret protocol dividing Poland and the Baltic States.
Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, and the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany. France fell to Germany in June 1940, and the United Kingdom fought back in the Battle of Britain.
The United States provided aid to the Allies through Lend-Lease programs, and the Tripartite Pact united Japan, Italy, and Germany as the Axis powers.
Italy attacked Greece and British-held Egypt, leading to counter-offensives by the British Empire and the deployment of German forces to North Africa.
Germany invaded Yugoslavia and Greece, leading to their surrender, and occupied Crete. Partisan warfare broke out in Yugoslavia.
Commonwealth forces quashed an uprising in Iraq, and invaded and occupied Syria and Lebanon with the help of Free French forces.
Hitler aimed to conquer Ukraine, the Baltic states, and Byelorussia. Japan signed a neutrality pact with the Soviet Union, while Germany and the Soviet Union made preparations for war.
Germany launched a surprise attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, Operation Barbarossa, with the aim of seizing resource-rich territories.
The Axis initially made significant advances, but the Soviet Union's scorched earth policy and winter conditions halted the German advance and turned the tide of the war.
The United States entered the war after Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and the Allies gradually gained the upper hand in Europe and the Pacific. The war ended with the unconditional surrender of Germany in May 1945 and Japan in August 1945.World War II: The War Expands
In November 1940, Germany invited the Soviet Union to join the Tripartite Pact to create a Euro-Asian bloc against the British Empire, but negotiations failed due to Germany's unacceptable demands.
Hitler issued a directive to prepare for an invasion of the Soviet Union on December 18, 1940, and Germany, supported by Italy and Romania, invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, in Operation Barbarossa.
The primary targets of Operation Barbarossa were the Baltic region, Moscow, and Ukraine, with the ultimate goal of ending the 1941 campaign near the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line.
Japan's false flag Mukden Incident in 1931 and the 1937–38 Nanjing Massacre led to deteriorating Japanese-American relations, and the United States implemented economic sanctions against Japan in 1939.
Japan invaded and occupied northern Indochina in September 1940 to block supply routes and to better position Japanese forces in the event of a war with the Western powers.
In July 1941, Japan sent troops to southern Indochina, threatening British and Dutch possessions in the Far East, and the United States, the United Kingdom, and other Western governments reacted with a freeze on Japanese assets and a total oil embargo.
On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked British and American holdings with near-simultaneous offensives against Southeast Asia and the Central Pacific, including an attack on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines.
The Allied Big Four—the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States—and 22 smaller or exiled governments issued the Declaration by United Nations on January 1, 1942, affirming the Atlantic Charter.
In 1942, Allied officials debated on the appropriate grand strategy to pursue, and the Americans favoured a large-scale attack on Germany through France.
By the end of April 1942, Japan and its ally Thailand had almost fully conquered Burma, Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, Singapore, and Rabaul, but Japan's capacity for aggressive action was greatly diminished after the Battle of Midway.
Germany defeated Soviet offensives in the Kerch Peninsula and at Kharkov in May 1942 and launched their main summer offensive against southern Russia in June 1942 to seize the oil fields of the Caucasus and occupy the Kuban steppe.
By mid-November 1942, the Germans had nearly taken Stalingrad in bitter street fighting, and the Soviets began their second winter counter-offensive, starting with an encirclement of German forces at Stalingrad.
By early February 1943, the German Army had taken tremendous losses, and the Soviets had achieved mixed results with their insertion of irregular forces behind Japanese front-lines in Burma.World War II: The Allies' Push to Victory
The Germans launched an attack on Kharkov, creating a salient in their front line around the Soviet city of Kursk.
The German navy ravaged Allied shipping off the American Atlantic coast.
Commonwealth forces launched a counter-offensive, Operation Crusader, in North Africa, and reclaimed all the gains the Germans and Italians had made.
The Germans launched an offensive in North Africa, pushing the British back to positions at the Gazala line by early February.
The Allies succeeded in repelling a second attack against El Alamein and managed to deliver desperately needed supplies to the besieged Malta.
The Allies commenced an attack in Egypt, dislodging the Axis forces and beginning a drive west across Libya.
The Western Allies' inability to launch an invasion of continental Europe without much better preparation, equipment, and operational security was demonstrated in the disastrous Dieppe Raid.
The Allies launched a strategic bombing campaign against Germany to disrupt the war economy, reduce morale, and "de-house" the civilian population.
The Western Allies invaded northern France, successfully defeating the German Army units and liberating Paris.
The Soviet Union attacked in Poland, pushing from the Vistula to the Oder river in Germany, and overran East Prussia.
American and Soviet forces met at the Elbe river, leaving several unoccupied pockets in southern Germany and around Berlin.
Total and unconditional surrender in Europe was signed on 7 and 8 May, to be effective by the end of 8 May.