Scribd
Upload
2 views

Science4

World War II (1939-1945) was a global conflict between the Allies and Axis powers, resulting in 70 to 85 million deaths, including significant civilian casualties from genocides and war-related causes. The war began with Germany's invasion of Poland and saw major events such as Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, leading to the U.S. entering the conflict. The aftermath transformed global political and social structures, established the United Nations, and set the stage for the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States.

Uploaded by

magzmagz96
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
2 views

Science4

World War II (1939-1945) was a global conflict between the Allies and Axis powers, resulting in 70 to 85 million deaths, including significant civilian casualties from genocides and war-related causes. The war began with Germany's invasion of Poland and saw major events such as Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, leading to the U.S. entering the conflict. The aftermath transformed global political and social structures, established the United Nations, and set the stage for the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States.

Uploaded by

magzmagz96
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

World War II[b] or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945)

was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly
all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in
pursuit of total war. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic
bombing of cities and delivery of the first and only nuclear weapons ever used in
war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, resulting in 70 to 85 million
deaths, more than half of which were civilians. Millions died in genocides,
including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied
victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and
Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

The causes of World War II included unresolved tensions in the aftermath of World
War I and the rises of fascism in Europe and militarism in Japan. Key events
preceding the war included Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the Spanish Civil
War, the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, and
Germany's annexations of Austria and the Sudetenland. World War II is generally
considered to have begun on 1 September 1939, when Nazi Germany, under Adolf
Hitler, invaded Poland, leading the United Kingdom and France to declare war on
Germany. Poland was divided between Germany and the Soviet Union under
the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. In 1940, the Soviets annexed the Baltic
states and parts of Finland and Romania. After the fall of France in June 1940, the
war continued mainly between Germany and the British Empire, with fighting in
the Balkans, Mediterranean, and Middle East, the aerial Battle of Britain and the
Blitz, and naval Battle of the Atlantic. Through campaigns and treaties, Germany
gained control of much of continental Europe and formed the Axis
alliance with Italy, Japan, and other countries. In June 1941, Germany led an
invasion of the Soviet Union, opening the Eastern Front and initially making large
territorial gains.

In December 1941, Japan attacked American and British territories in Asia and the
Pacific, including at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, leading the United States to enter the
war against Japan and Germany. Japan conquered much of coastal China and
Southeast Asia, but its advances in the Pacific were halted in June 1942 at the Battle
of Midway. In late 1942, Axis forces were defeated in North Africa and at
Stalingrad in the Soviet Union, and in 1943 their continued defeats on the Eastern
Front, an Allied invasion of Italy, and Allied offensives in the Pacific forced them into
retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded France at Normandy as the
Soviet Union recaptured its pre-war territory and the U.S. crippled Japan's navy
and captured key Pacific islands. The war in Europe concluded with the liberation
of German-occupied territories; invasions of Germany by the Western Allies and the
Soviet Union, which culminated in the fall of Berlin to Soviet troops; and Germany's
unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945. On 6 and 9 August, the U.S. dropped atomic
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. Faced with an imminent Allied
invasion, the prospect of further atomic bombings, and a Soviet declaration of
war and invasion of Manchuria, Japan announced its unconditional surrender on 15
August, and signed a surrender document on 2 September 1945.

World War II transformed the political, economic, and social structures of the world,
and established the foundation of international relations for the rest of the 20th
century and into the 21st century. The United Nations was created to foster
international cooperation and prevent future conflicts, with the victorious great
powers—China, France, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the U.S.—becoming the
permanent members of its security council. The Soviet Union and U.S. emerged as
rival global superpowers, setting the stage for the half-century Cold War. In the wake
of Europe's devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering
the decolonisation of Africa and Asia. Many countries whose industries had been
damaged moved towards economic recovery and expansion.

You might also like