Outline of World War II

Outline of World War II
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to World War II:
World War II, or the Second World War was a global military conflict that was fought between September 1, 1939, and September 2, 1945. The war pitted two major military alliances against each other: the Allies of the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, China and others against the Axis of Germany, Japan, Italy and others. Over 60 million people, the majority of them civilians, were killed, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.
The Second World War was known for modern warfare and tactics such as air warfare, strategic bombing, blitzkrieg and the first, and only, use of nuclear weapons in warfare. It is also known for the numerous war crimes committed during its duration, mostly by Axis forces but also by Allied forces, that left tens of millions of civilians dead through genocides, massacres and starvation; such as the Holocaust, Three Alls Policy, Genocide of ethnic Poles, Unit 731, Nanjing massacre, Hunger Plan and the Warsaw Uprising.
Causes of World War II
World War I
Treaty of Versailles
Imperialism, expansionism and nationalism
Expansionist nationalism
Lebensraum
Japanese nationalism
Events preceding World War II in Europe
Nazi Party
Adolf Hitler
Events preceding World War II in Asia
Statism in Shōwa Japan
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
Xi'an Incident
Second Sino-Japanese war
Participants in World War II
The Axis powers
Major Axis powers
Germany
Japan
Italy
Other Axis powers
Hungary
Romania
Slovakia
Bulgaria
Croatia
Finland
The Allied powers
The 'Big Five' major allies
Soviet Union
United States
United Kingdom
China
France
Other major allies
Poland
Yugoslavia
Greece
Canada
Netherlands
Belgium
Czechoslovakia
India
Australia
People in World War II
Leaders in World War II
Axis leaders
Adolf Hitler – Führer (leader) of Germany
Hirohito – Emperor of Japan
Benito Mussolini – Prime Minister of Italy
Allied leaders
Joseph Stalin – Leader of the Soviet Union
Franklin D. Roosevelt – President of the United States
Winston Churchill – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Chiang Kai-shek – Leader of China
Military forces of World War II
List of World War II aces by country
List of World War II air aces
British 51st (Highland) Infantry Division (World War II)
British Army Groups in WWII
British Brigades in World War II
British Corps in World War II
17th Airborne Division
18th Airborne Division
Persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust
History of the Jews during World War II
List of individuals and groups assisting Jews during the Holocaust
American Minority Groups in World War II
Hispanic Americans in World War II
Timeline of World War II
The following list includes some of the largest events in World War II:
1939
August 23: Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact
September 1: Germany invades Poland, beginning the war
September 3: War is declared on Germany by the United Kingdom and France, the Battle of the Atlantic and Phoney War begins
September 17: After the Soviet Union defeats Japan in Mongolia, they invade Poland as well
November 30: The Soviet Union invades Finland
1940
April 9: Germany invades Denmark and Norway
May 10: Germany invades France and the low countries
May 26: British troops evacuate Dunkirk
July 10: Germany begins an air campaign against Britain
September 7: Germany begins a major bombing campaign against Britain
1941
June 22: Germany invades the Soviet Union
September 8: The Siege of Leningrad begins
October 2: The Battle of Moscow begins
December 7: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into the war
1942
February 8: Fall of Singapore
May 4: Battle of the Coral Sea
June 4: Battle of Midway
July 1: First Battle of El Alamein
July 17: Battle of Stalingrad
August 19: Dieppe Raid
October 23: Second Battle of El Alamein
November 8: Operation Torch
1943
July 4: Battle of Kursk
July 9: Allied invasion of Sicily
September 3: Allied invasion of Italy and surrender of Italy
1944
January 17: Battle of Monte Cassino
January 22: Landings at Anzio
April 19: Operation Ichi-Go
June 6: D-day
June 22: Destruction of Army Group Center
August 1: Warsaw Uprising
August 15: Invasion of Southern France
September 17: Operation Market Garden
September 19: Battle of Hürtgen Forest
October 23: Battle of Leyte Gulf
December 16: Battle of the Bulge
1945
April 16 - May 2: Battle of Berlin
May 8: Victory in Europe Day
August 6 and 9: Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
August 15: Victory over Japan Day
September 2: Surrender of Japan
World War II by region
Theatres and major campaigns
Europe
Eastern front
Western front
Mediterranean and Middle Eastern theatre
Italian Campaign
Arctic theatre
Arctic convoys
Asia
Second Sino-Japanese War
South-East Asian Theatre
Pacific Ocean theatre
Africa
For all theatres in Africa, see:
North African campaign
West Africa campaign
East African campaign
Other
Home front during World War II
By country
Europe
Albania
Belarus
Bulgaria
Bulgarian resistance movement during World War II
Carpathian Ruthenia
Estonia
Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany
Finland
France
Germany
Nazi Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
Axis occupation of Greece during World War II
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Italian Campaign
Allied invasion of Sicily
Allied invasion of Italy
Latvia
Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany
Leningrad Oblast
Netherlands
Soviet Union
Spain
United Kingdom
Yugoslavia
Invasion of Yugoslavia
Occupation of Baltic republics by Nazi Germany
Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany
Occupation of Denmark
German occupation of the Channel Islands
Orders, decorations, and medals of Nazi Germany
History of Poland (1939–1945)
Invasion of Poland
Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany
Soviet invasion of Poland
Slovak invasion of Poland
Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)
Administrative division of Polish territories during World War II
War crimes in occupied Poland during World War II
Polish culture during World War II
Romania
Asia
Burma
India
Nepal
Philippines
Vietnam
Africa
Egypt
South Africa
Southern Rhodesia
Oceania
Australia
New Zealand
Axis naval activity in New Zealand waters
The Americas
United States
Canada
Greenland
War crimes
The Second World War was characterized by many instances of War crimes:
Genocide
The Holocaust
Nazism
Nazi Party
Nazi eugenics
Political views of Adolf Hitler
Anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany
Diary of Anne Frank
Nazi book burnings
Nazi ghettos
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi extermination camps
Auschwitz
Belzec
Chełmno
Majdanek
Sobibor
Treblinka
History of Jews in Europe
List of major perpetrators of the Holocaust
Nazi human experimentation
Racial policy of Nazi Germany
Other genocides
Nazi genocide of ethnic Poles
Romani genocide
Massacres
Three Alls Policy
Nanjing massacre
Massacres during the Warsaw Uprising
Wola massacre
Ochota massacre
Katyn massacre
Mistreatment of civilians
Comfort women
Unit 731
Rape during the occupation of Germany
Population transfer in the Soviet Union
Technology during World War II
Technology during World War II
German military technology during World War II
Allied technological cooperation during World War II
Technological escalation during World War II
Equipment of World War II
Lists of World War II military equipment
Equipment losses in World War II
Vehicles of World War II
List of World War II military vehicles by country
List of World War II military vehicles of Germany
List of World War II ship classes
List of World War II ships
List of World War II ships of less than 1000 tons
List of WW2 Luftwaffe aircraft by manufacturer
List of aircraft of Italy, World War II
List of aircraft of Japan, World War II
List of aircraft of Russia, World War II
List of aircraft of World War II
List of aircraft of the French Air Force during World War II
List of aircraft of the British, World War II
List of aircraft of the Luftwaffe, World War II
List of aircraft of the U.S. military, World War II
List of armored fighting vehicles of World War II
List of broadsides of major World War II ships
List of undersea-carried planes during World War II
List of weapons on Japanese combat aircraft
List of prototype WWII combat vehicles
List of foreign vehicles used by Nazi Germany in World War II
List of helicopters used in World War II
List of jet aircraft of World War II
List of limited service World War II combat vehicles
Weapons of World War II
Nazi chocolate bar bomb
Nazi belt buckle pistol
Other initiatives in World War II
Nazi plunder
Propaganda during World War II
American propaganda during World War II
Walt Disney's World War II propaganda production
List of Allied propaganda films of World War II
British propaganda during World War II
Nazi propaganda
Soviet propaganda during World War II
Common military awards
Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
Order of Lenin
Order of Suvorov
Order of the October Revolution
Order of the Red Banner
Order of Victory
United States
Medal of Honor
Purple Heart
Silver Star
Bronze Star
Distinguished Flying Cross
Air Medal
World War II Victory Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
American Campaign Medal
United Kingdom
Victoria Cross
Air Force Cross
Order of the Bath
Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Flying Cross
Africa Star
Pacific Star
France and Belgium
Croix de Guerre
Poland
Cross of the Valorous
Order of Polonia Restituta
Virtuti Militari
Nazi Germany
Iron Cross
Aftermath of World War II
The end of World War II
End of World War II in Europe
End of World War II in the Pacific
Immediate events
War reparations
Japanese reparations
Forced labor of Germans in the Soviet Union
Nuremberg trials
The post-war world
Cold War
Emergence of United States and USSR as global superpowers
NATO
Warsaw Pact
Iron Curtain
Proxy wars
Decolonization
Post–World War II baby boom
Pursuit of Nazi collaborators
World War II in popular culture
See also
Lists of World War II topics
Opposition to World War II
Outline of war
Outline of World War I
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
Directories
Yahoo—"World War II"
Directory of Online World War II Indexes & Records
WWW-VL: History: WWII
General
World War II Database
The Second World War—Spartacus Educational
Deutsche Welle special section on World War II created by one of Germany's public broadcasters on World War II and the world 60 years after.
Canada and WWII
End of World War II in Germany
World War II Encyclopedia by the History Channel
World War II Awards and their recipients.
Media
U.S. National Archives Photos
World War II Poster Collection hosted by the University of North Texas Libraries' *Digital Collections
World War II Propaganda Leaflet Archive
World War 2 Pictures In Colour
Multimedia map—Presentation that covers the war from the invasion of the Soviet Union to the fall of Berlin
Radio news from 1938 to 1945
The Art of War Online Exhibition at the UK National Archive
On-line documents
World War II Military Situation Maps. Library of Congress
After Action Reports (AAR's) and other official documents about the American Divisions during the Second World War
Maps from the Pacific and Italian theaters
Officially Declassified U.S. Government Documents about World War II
The Soviet History of World War II, 28 October 1959—Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Current Intelligence.
Daily German action reports
Stories
WW2 People's War—A project by the BBC to gather the stories of ordinary people from World War II
Documentaries
The World at War (1974) is a 26-part Thames Television series that covers most aspects of World War II from many points of view. It includes interviews with many key figures (Karl Dönitz, Albert Speer, Anthony Eden etc.) (Imdb link)
The Second World War in Colour (1999) is a three episode documentary showing unique footage in color (Imdb link)
Battlefield (documentary series) is a television documentary series initially issued in 1994–1995 that explores many of the most important battles fought during the Second World War. The War'' (2007) is 7-part PBS documentary recounting the experiences of a number of individuals from American communities.
World War II
World War II
outline