World War II Quiz

World War II: A Global Conflict

World War II was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945.
Two opposing military alliances, the Allies and the Axis, fought in the war.
The war resulted in an estimated 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians.
The causes of World War II are debated, but contributing factors included the rise of fascism in Europe and tensions after World War I.
World War II began on 1 September 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland.
Germany and the Soviet Union had partitioned Poland and marked out their "spheres of influence" across other countries.
Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe with Italy, Japan, and other countries in 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 UK, and the Battle of the Atlantic.
Germany led the European Axis powers in an invasion of the Soviet Union, opening the Eastern Front, the largest land theatre of war in history.
Japan aimed to dominate Asia and the Pacific, was at war with the Republic of China by 1937, and attacked American and British territories in 1941.
The war in Europe concluded with the liberation of German-occupied territories and the invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union.
The United States dropped the first atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan surrendered on 2 September 1945.Overview of World War II: Prelude to War (1939-1941)
Japan's military victories in China did not lead to the collapse of Chinese resistance, and the Chinese government relocated to Chongqing to continue the war.
Japan had sporadic border clashes with the Soviet Union and Mongolia, but a defeat at Khalkin Gol in 1939 made their expansion northward difficult to maintain.
Germany and Italy became more aggressive in Europe, annexing Austria and demanding the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia. The Munich Agreement was made against the wishes of Czechoslovakia, and Germany later invaded and annexed the rest of Czechoslovakia.
Hitler accused the UK and Poland of trying to "encircle" Germany, and Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, leading to the UK and France declaring war on Germany.
Germany quickly conquered Poland, and the Soviet Union invaded from the east, dividing Poland between them.
France signed an armistice with Germany, and the UK faced German air attacks during the Battle of Britain. The US provided aid to the Allies but remained largely opposed to direct military intervention.
Italy attacked Greece, leading to German preparations for an invasion of the Balkans. Germany and Italy signed the Tripartite Pact with Japan.
Germany massed forces on the Soviet border, and Hitler aimed for the conquest of Ukraine, the Baltic states, and Byelorussia.
The Soviet Union signed a neutrality pact with Japan in April 1941, while the US provided lend-lease aid to the Allies.
Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, and the Soviets faced a difficult fight against the German invasion.
Japan planned to take advantage of the European War by seizing resource-rich European possessions in Southeast Asia.
The Axis powers expanded their control in Europe and Asia, while the Allies faced challenges in defending against their advances.World War II: Major Offensives and Alliances
In November 1940, negotiations took place for the Soviet Union to join the Tripartite Pact, but the Soviets asked for concessions from Finland, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Japan that Germany considered unacceptable.
On 18 December 1940, Hitler issued the directive to prepare for an invasion of the Soviet Union, and on 22 June 1941, Germany, supported by Italy and Romania, invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa.
The primary targets were the Baltic region, Moscow, and Ukraine, with the ultimate goal of ending the 1941 campaign near the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line.
Hitler's objectives were to eliminate the Soviet Union as a military power, exterminate Communism, generate Lebensraum, and guarantee access to strategic resources.
The Red Army was forced to adopt a strategic defence, and the Axis made significant gains into Soviet territory, inflicting immense losses in both personnel and materiel.
In July, the UK and the Soviet Union formed a military alliance against Germany, and in August, the United Kingdom and the United States issued the Atlantic Charter.
In late August, the British and Soviets invaded neutral Iran to secure the Persian Corridor, Iran's oil fields, and preempt any Axis advances.
The blitzkrieg phase of the war in Europe had ended, and by early December, freshly mobilised reserves allowed the Soviets to achieve numerical parity with Axis troops.
Following the Japanese false flag Mukden Incident in 1931 and the 1937–38 Nanjing Massacre, Japanese-American relations deteriorated, leading to a series of economic sanctions.
Japan invaded and occupied northern Indochina in September 1940, and in July 1941, Japan sent troops to southern Indochina, threatening British and Dutch possessions in the Far East.
On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked British and American holdings with near-simultaneous offensives against Southeast Asia and the Central Pacific, leading to formal declarations of war by the United States, United Kingdom, China, Australia, and several other states.
By the end of April 1942, Japan and its ally Thailand had almost fully conquered Burma, Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, Singapore, and Rabaul, inflicting severe losses on Allied troops and taking a large number of prisoners.
In 1942, Allied officials debated on the appropriate grand strategy to pursue, and at the Casablanca Conference in early 1943, the Allies reiterated the statements issued in the 1942 Declaration and demanded the unconditional surrender of their enemies.World War II: Allied and Axis Strategies and Offensives
In 1942, the German navy was successful in attacking Allied shipping off the American Atlantic coast, while Commonwealth forces launched a counter-offensive in North Africa, reclaiming all the gains made by the Germans and Italians.
A temporary lull in combat in North Africa was used by Germany to prepare for upcoming offensives, while the British invaded Madagascar due to concerns about Japanese bases.
The Allies succeeded in repelling a German attack on El Alamein and managed to deliver much-needed supplies to the besieged Malta, followed by Anglo-American landings in French North Africa.
The Soviet Union gained the initiative on the Eastern Front after the German defeat at Kursk, breaking through the hastily fortified Panther-Wotan line and pushing the Germans back to the Lower Dnieper Offensive.
The Western Allies fought through several lines in Italy until reaching the main German defensive line in mid-November, while the Soviet Red Army launched a major offensive that expelled German forces from the Leningrad region.
The Western Allies invaded northern and southern France, successfully defeating German Army units and liberating Paris with the help of the local resistance and Free French Forces.
The Soviet Red Army attacked in Poland, pushing from the Vistula to the Oder river in Germany, while the Western Allies crossed the Rhine and encircled the German Army Group B.
Hitler committed suicide in his headquarters, and Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 7 and 8, 1945, with German Army Group Centre resisting in Prague until May 11.
In the Pacific theatre, American forces cleared Leyte and recaptured Manila, while a devastating bombing raid on Tokyo was launched by the United States Army Air Forces.
Australian troops overran the oilfields in Borneo, while British, American, and Chinese forces defeated the Japanese in northern Burma and reached Rangoon by May 3.
American naval and amphibious forces took Iwo Jima and Okinawa, while a naval blockade by submarines was strangling Japan's economy.
Allied leaders met in Potsdam, Germany, to confirm earlier agreements about Germany and demand unconditional surrender from Japan, stating that "the alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction."