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World War II also had a profound impact on the economy and society of many countries. In the United States, for example, the war spurred economic growth and led to the creation of many new jobs, as factories produced weapons and other war materials. Women played a vital role in the war effort, taking on jobs traditionally held by men.
- Leading Up to World War II
- Outbreak of World War II
- World War II in The West
- Hitler vs. Stalin: Operation Barbarossa
- World War II in The Pacific
- Toward Allied Victory in World War II
- World War II Ends
- African American Servicemen Fight Two Wars
- World War II Casualties and Legacy
The devastation of the Great War (as World War I was known at the time) had greatly destabilized Europe, and in many respects World War II grew out of issues left unresolved by that earlier conflict. In particular, political and economic instability in Germany, and lingering resentment over the harsh terms imposed by the Versailles Treaty, fueled t...
In late August 1939, Hitler and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin signed the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, which incited a frenzy of worry in London and Paris. Hitler had long planned an invasion of Poland, a nation to which Great Britain and France had guaranteed military support if it were attacked by Germany. The pact with Stalin meant that Hitler...
On April 9, 1940, Germany simultaneously invaded Norway and occupied Denmark, and the war began in earnest. On May 10, German forces swept through Belgium and the Netherlands in what became known as “blitzkrieg,” or lightning war. Three days later, Hitler’s troops crossed the Meuse River and struck French forces at Sedan, located at the northern en...
By early 1941, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria had joined the Axis, and German troops overran Yugoslavia and Greece that April. Hitler’s conquest of the Balkans was a precursor for his real objective: an invasion of the Soviet Union, whose vast territory would give the German master race the “Lebensraum” it needed. The other half of Hitler’s strategy...
With Britain facing Germany in Europe, the United States was the only nation capable of combating Japanese aggression, which by late 1941 included an expansion of its ongoing war with China and the seizure of European colonial holdings in the Far East. On December 7, 1941, 360 Japanese aircraft attacked the major U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in ...
In North Africa, British and American forces had defeated the Italians and Germans by 1943. An Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy followed, and Mussolini’s government fell in July 1943, though Allied fighting against the Germans in Italy would continue until 1945. On the Eastern Front, a Soviet counteroffensive launched in November 1942 ended the ...
At the Potsdam Conference of July-August 1945, U.S. President Harry S. Truman(who had taken office after Roosevelt’s death in April), Churchill and Stalin discussed the ongoing war with Japan as well as the peace settlement with Germany. Post-war Germany would be divided into four occupation zones, to be controlled by the Soviet Union, Britain, the...
World War II exposed a glaring paradox within the United States Armed Forces. Although more than 1 million African Americans served in the war to defeat Nazism and fascism, they did so in segregated units. The same discriminatory Jim Crowpolicies that were rampant in American society were reinforced by the U.S. military. Black servicemen rarely saw...
World War II proved to be the deadliest international conflict in history, taking the lives of 60 to 80 million people, including 6 million Jews who died at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust. Civilians made up an estimated 50-55 million deaths from the war, while military comprised 21 to 25 million of those lost during the war. Millions m...
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World War II was a conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during 1939–45. The main combatants were the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) and the Allies (France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China). It was the bloodiest conflict, as well as the largest war, in human history.
- World War II began in Europe on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. Great Britain and France responded by declaring war on Germany on S...
- The main combatants were the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) and the Allies (France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, an...
- The Allied powers were led by Winston Churchill (United Kingdom); Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union); Charles de Gaulle (France); and Franklin D. Rooseve...
- The war in the Pacific turned against Japan during the Battle of Midway (June 3–6, 1942), an American victory that destroyed the Japanese first-lin...
- The Allied landings at Normandy on June 6, 1944, opened a second front in Europe, and Germany’s abortive offensive at the Ardennes in the winter of...
- Estimates of the total number of people killed during World War II have ranged from 35,000,000 to 60,000,000—a significant span, because statistics...
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 the world's countries—including all the great powers—participated, with many investing all available economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities in pursuit of total war, blurring the distinction between military and ...
Jul 15, 2013 · Published Online July 15, 2013. Last Edited November 30, 2023. The Second World War was a defining event in Canadian history, transforming a quiet country on the fringes of global affairs into a critical player in the 20th century's most important struggle.
The legacy of the Second World War shaped the world we live in today. It caused human suffering and physical destruction on an unprecedented scale. An estimated 60 million people lost their lives. Many towns and cities in parts of Europe and East Asia were all but wiped out, and millions of people were displaced, made homeless and hugely affected by all they had been through. As well as these ...
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The U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, and Japan’s formal surrender on September 2 ended the war. An estimated 40,000,000 to 50,000,000 people died during World War II, including about 6,000,000 Jewish men, women, and children who died in the Holocaust.
