What is World War II?

  • (noun): A war between the Allies (Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Iran, Iraq, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, USSR, Yugoslavia) and the Axis (Albania, Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Rumania, Slovakia, Thailand) from 1939 to 1945.
    Synonyms: World War 2, Second World War

World War II

Campaigns of World War II
Europe
Poland
Phoney War
Denmark & Norway
France & Benelux
Britain
Balkans
Yugoslav Front
Eastern Front
Finland
Western Front (1944–45)
Asia & The Pacific
China
Pacific Ocean
South-East Asia
South West Pacific
Japan
Manchuria (1945)
Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa
Adriatic
North Africa
East Africa
Mediterranean Sea
Gibraltar
Malta
Dakar
Balkans
Gabon
Iraq
Syria-Lebanon
Madagascar
Bahrain
Palestine
Iran
Italy
Dodecanese
Southern France
Other Campaigns
Atlantic
Arctic
Strategic Bombing
America
Contemporaneous Wars
Chinese Civil
Winter War
Soviet–Japanese Border
French–Thai
Ili Rebellion
World War II
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World War II, or the Second World War (often abbreviated as WWII or WW2), was a global war that was underway 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 World War II by far the deadliest conflict in all of human history.

Read more about World War Ii.

Some articles on World War II:

Kansas City, Missouri - History - Post–World War II Development
... After World War II, many relatively affluent residents left for suburbs like Johnson County, Kansas and eastern Jackson County, Missouri ... The post–World War II idea of suburbs and the "American Dream" also contributed to the sprawl of the area ...
24 Squadron SAAF - World War II
... At the end of the war the squadron used its Marauders as transport aircraft, before moving to Egypt in October 1945 and disbanding on 6 November 1945 ... SAAF Buccaneers saw active service during the Border War in South-West Africa, notably at Cassinga in 1978 ...
World War II - Impact - Advances in Technology and Warfare
... Although at the start of the war aeronautical warfare had relatively little success, actions at Taranto, Pearl Harbor, the South China Sea and the Coral ... to be an effective weapon during the First World War were anticipated by all sides to be important in the second ... Land warfare changed from the static front lines of World War I to increased mobility and combined arms ...
4th Alpini Parachutist Regiment - History - World War II
... The reformed 4th Alpini Regiment participated in the liberation of Italy as part of the Partisan Piemonte Mountain Corps. ...
Institute Of National Remembrance - Activities - Research
... resistance and repression 1944-1989 War, Occupation and the Polish Underground deepening of knowledge about the structures and activities of the Polish Underground State examination of the human fates in the ... Germans by Poles after the German invasion of Poland German camps in occupied Poland during World War II, the system of extermination, concentration, labor and POW camps operated by the German ... of Poles in Volhynia, an ethnic cleansing conducted by Ukrainians in Volhynia during World War II Nazi crimes against ethnic Poles, war crimes and crimes against humanity ...

Famous quotes containing the words war ii, world and/or war:

    Today we know that World War II began not in 1939 or 1941 but in the 1920’s and 1930’s when those who should have known better persuaded themselves that they were not their brother’s keeper.
    Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)

    If God had an agent, the world wouldn’t be built yet. It’d only be about Thursday.
    Jerry Reynolds, Sacramento Kings’ player personnel director. Quoted in Newsweek (New York, November 25, 1991)

    Viewed as a drama, the war is somewhat disappointing.
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