World War II

**World War II**, or the **Second World War**, was a global conflict (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) which involved fighting between the Allies and the Axis. Most of the world's countries, including all of the great powers, fought as part of two military alliances: the Allied Powers include the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the Axis Powers include Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and the Empire of Japan.

The war was one of the biggest and deadliest wars in human history, where about 60 million people died. During the war, many atrocities were done by countries, including The Holocaust, genocide of over 6 million Jews and many others by the Nazis. During the war, strategic bombings became common, including the atomic bombings over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only use of nuclear weapons on any war until today.  

The war in Europe began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. France and the United Kingdom reacted by declaring war on Germany. By 1941, most of Europe was under German control, including France, Norway, Austria, Hungary, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. Only the British remained fighting against the Axis in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic. Germany gave up plans to invade Britain after losing the air Battle of Britain. In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, starting the largest land invasion in history. On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor and invaded British and French colonies in Asia, and two fronts developed: the Western Theater and the Pacific Theater. 

The Japanese victories were stopped in 1942, and the Soviets won the huge Battle of Stalingrad in early 1943. Then, the Allies started to win in multiple areas. The Axis were forced back from the Soviet Union, weakening in the Scorched Earth tactic. German leaders had not expected the invasion to last until the hard Russian winter. The Axis also lost North Africa. Starting in 1943, they were forced to defend Italy. Allied forces had a hard time pushing into Italy from Sicily due to its strong defenses. 

After the war, the United Nations was built to develop support between countries and to prevent future wars. After World War I, the League of Nations had been built too, but it was not effective. The Cold War by the major winners soon started, but they did not fight each other in an actual war. The decolonization of Asia and Africa (where many places controlled by European countries were given their ) happened as well since Europe had been weakened by the war. Economic  and political integration (the process of uniting countries) were among other results of the war.

## Allies and Axis 
The countries that joined the war were on two sides: the Axis and the Allies.

The Axis Powers at the start of the war were Germany, Italy, and Japan. There were many meetings to create an alliance between those countries. and the League of Nations failed to do anything to stop it. The Tanggu Truce, a ceasefire, was signed in 1933. In 1936, the Kuomintang and the communists agreed to stop fighting against each other and to fight Japan instead.

### War ends in Europe
6 June 1944 was D-Day, the day that the Allies began the invasion of Normandy, France. The codename of the invasion was *Operation Overlord*. The successful invasion led to the defeat of the German forces in France. Paris was freed in August 1944, and the Allies continued eastward while the German front collapsed. Operation Market Garden was the combined aerial invasion of the Netherlands and was launched on 17 September 1944. The purpose was to seize a series of bridges that included a bridge in Arnhem, which spanned the Rhine River. The airborne invasion was called Market. The ground invasion, named Garden, reached the Rhine but could not take the bridge.

On 22 June, the Soviet offensive on the Eastern Front codenamed *Operation Bagration*, destroyed almost all of the German Army Group Centre. and most high-ranking Nazis were captured and brought to a special court. Germany lost a quarter of its land in 1937, mostly to Poland and the Soviet Union. The Soviets also took some parts of Poland and Finland as well as the three Baltic countries. The United Nations was formed on 24 October 1945 to keep peace between countries in the world. However, the relationship between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union had worsened during the war and, soon after it, each power quickly built up their power over the controlled area. In Western Europe and West Germany, it was the United States, while in East Germany and Eastern Europe, it was the Soviet Union, which turned many countries into communist states. The Cold War led to the formation of the American-led NATO and the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact.

In Asia, Japan was put under American occupation. In 1948, Korea was divided into North Korea and South Korea, each claiming to be the legal representative of the Koreans, which led to the Korean War in 1950. The civil war in China continued from 1946 and resulted in the KMT retreating to Taiwan in 1949 after the communists had won the mainland. In the Middle East, the Arabs disagreed with the United Nations plan to create Israel, which marked the beginning of conflicts between the Arabs and Israel.

After the war, decolonization took place in many European colonies. Bad economies and people wanting to rule themselves were the main reasons. In most cases, that happened peacefully, except in some countries, such as Indochina and Algeria. In many regions, European withdrawal caused divisions among the people who had different ethnic groups or religions.

Economic recovery was different in many parts of the world, but in general, it was quite positive. The United States became richer than any other country; by 1950, it had taken over the world's economy. It also decided on the Marshall Plan (1948–1951) to help European countries. The German, Italian, and French economies recovered. However, the British economy was badly harmed and continued to worsen for more than ten years. The Soviet economy grew very fast after the war was over. That also happened with the Japanese economy, which became one of the largest economies in the 1980s. China returned to the same production level as before the war by 1952.

## Effects 
### Death and war crimes 
The exact number of deaths in the war is not known, because many were unrecorded. Many studies state that more than 60 million people died in the war, mostly civilians. The Soviet Union lost around 27&nbsp;million people, almost half of the recorded number of deaths, which means that 25% of the Soviets were killed or wounded in the war. About 85% of the total deaths were on the Allies, and the other 15% were on the Axis. Mostly, people died because they were sick, hungry to death, bombed, or were targets of genocide.

The Nazis selected many groups of people to be killed in what is known as known as *The Holocaust*. They killed Jews, Roma, Poles, Russians, homosexuals, disabled people, and other groups. Around 11 million to 17&nbsp;million civilians died. Around 7.5&nbsp;million people were killed in China by the Japanese. The most well-known Japanese crime is the Nanking massacre, in which hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians were raped and murdered. There were reports that the Germans and Japanese tested biological weapons against civilians and against prisoners-of-war.

Although many Axis war crimes were brought to the first international court, no Allied war crimes were.

### Concentration camps and slave work 
Other than the Holocaust, about 12 million people (mostly Eastern Europeans) were forced to work for the German economy. German concentration camps and Soviet gulags caused many deaths. Both sides treated their prisoners of war very badly. That was the case even for Soviet soldiers who survived and returned home.

Japanese prisoner-of-war camps, many of which were used as labor camps, also caused many deaths. The death rate of Western prisoners was 27.1%, seven times that of prisoners under Germans and Italians. More than 10 million Chinese civilians were made slaves and had to work in mines and war factories. Between 4 and 10 million people were forced to work in Java.

Between 1942 and 1945, US President Franklin Roosevelt signed an order that made Japanese Americans go to internment camps since he feared that they would help Japan invade the US. Some Germans and Italians were included as well.

The Allies agreed that the Soviet Union could use prisoners of war and civilians for forced labor. Hungarians were forced to work for the Soviet Union until 1955.

### Home fronts and production 
Before the war in Europe, the Allies had a larger population and economy than the Axis. If colonies were included, the GDP of the Allies would be twice that of the Axis. In Asia, however, China had a GDP only 38% higher than Japan if colonies were counted.

The Allied economy and population compared with the Axis lessened with the early Axis victories. However, that was no longer the case after the United States and the Soviet Union joined the Allies in 1941. The Allies had a higher production level than the Axis because of more natural resources. Also, Germany and Japan did not plan for a long war and even had no ability to do so. Both tried to improve their economies by using slave laborers.

### Women 
When men went off to fight for the war, they had to leave their jobs. Women were not usually allowed to fight, so they took over many of the mens' jobs. At factories, women were employed to make bombs, guns, aircraft, and other equipment.  In Britain, thousands of women were sent to work on farms as part of the Land Army. Others formed the Women's Royal Naval Service to help with building and repairing ships.  Even Princess Elizabeth, who later became Queen Elizabeth II, worked as a mechanic to aid the war effort. By 1945, some weapons were being made almost entirely by women.

In the beginning, women were rarely used in the labor forces in Germany and Japan. However, Allied bombings and the German change to a war economy made women take a greater part.

In Britain, women also worked in gathering intelligence at Bletchley Park and other places. The mass evacuation of children also had a major impact on the lives of mothers during the war years.

### Occupation 
Germany had two different ideas of how it would occupy countries. In Western, Northern, and Central Europe, Germany set economic policies that would make it rich. During the war, the policies brought as much as 40% of total German income. In the east, the war against the Soviet Union meant Germany could not use the land to gain resources. The Nazis used their racial policy and murdered a lot of people they thought were non-human. The Resistance, the group of people secretly fighting Germany, could not harm Germany much until 1943.

Japan claimed to free colonized Asian countries from European colonial powers in Asia. Although it was welcomed at first in many territories, its cruel actions soon turned people against it. During the occupation, Japan used 4 million barrels of oil that had been left behind by the Allies. By 1943, Japan produced up to 50 million barrels of oil in the Dutch East Indies, was 76% of its 1940 rate.

### Developments in technology 
The war brought new methods for future wars.  The air forces improved greatly in fields such as air transport, strategic bombing to use bombs to destroy industry and morale, radar, and weapons for destroying aircraft. Jet aircraft were developed and were used worldwide in air forces.

At sea, the war focused on using aircraft carriers and submarines. Aircraft carriers soon replaced battleships, mainly for being cheaper. Submarines, a deadly weapon since World War I, also played an important part in the war. The British improved weapons for destroying submarines, such as sonar, while the Germans improved submarine tactics.

The style of war on the land had changed from World War I to be more mobile. Tanks, which had been used to support infantry, changed to being primary weapons. The tank was improved in speed and firepower during the war. At the start of the war, most commanders thought that using better tanks was the best way to fight enemy tanks. However, early tanks could harm armour only a little. The German idea to avoid letting tanks fight each other meant tanks facing tanks rarely happened. That was a successful tactic in Poland and France. Ways to destroy tanks also improved. Vehicles became more used in the war, infantry remained the main part of the army.

Submachine guns became widely used, especially in cities and jungles.  The assault rifle, a German development combining s of the rifle and submachine gun, became the main weapon for most armies after the war.

Other developments included better encryption for secret messages, such as the German Enigma.  Another feature of military intelligence was the use of deception, especially by the Allies. Others include the first programmable computers, modern missiles and rockets, and the atomic bombs.

## Losses 
### Military losses 
Most authorities now agree that of the 30 million Soviets who fought, there were 13.6&nbsp;million military deaths.

Total of which 7,800,000 were battlefield deaths
Including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, etc.

### Civilian losses 
Deaths of civilians during this war, many of which resulted from famine and internal purges, such as in China and the Soviet Union, were colossal but less well recorded than those by the fighting forces. Although the figures here are the best available from authoritative sources of the scale of civilian losses, the exact numbers will never be known.

**Axis Powers**

 (far left), Thawan Thamrongnawasawat (left), and Direk Jayanama (right) with Hideki Tojo (center) in Tokyo 1942]]

Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Thailand, Croatia

**Allied Powers**

United States, British Empire, France, Soviet Union, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Yugoslavia

There is no exact number of deaths because many were unrecorded. Many studies said that more than 60 million people died in the war, mostly civilians. The Soviet Union lost around 27 million people, almost half of the recorded number of deaths, which means that 25% of the Soviets were killed or wounded in the war. About 85% of the total deaths were on the Allies, and the other 15% were on the Axis. Mostly, people died because they were sick, hungry to death, bombed, or the wrong ethnicity.

The Nazis selected many groups of people to be killed in what is known as known as *The Holocaust*. They killed Jews, Roma, Poles, Russians, homosexuals, and other groups. Around 11 million to 17 million civilians died. Around 7.5 million people were killed in China by the Japanese. The most well-known Japanese crime is the Nanking massacre, in which hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians were raped and murdered. There were reports that the Germans and Japanese tested biological weapons against civilians and against prisoners-of-war.

Although many Axis war crimes were brought to the first international court, no Allied war crimes were.

## Related pages 
* World War I
* Fascism
* Nazism
* Militarism
* Communism
* Japanese American internment

## Notes 
## References
## Other websites 
* World War II Letter Database  - Letters from World War Two
* WW2 Database - More Info on WW2
* World War II - Encyc 
* Radio News From 1938 to 1945
* Fun facts about WW2 for children
* World War II -Citizendium