Question: what day did world war 2 officially end
Answer: ft during Operation Ten - Go Soviet soldiers in a forward position during Operation Bagration Wilhelm Keitel signing the German Instrument of Surrender Troops of the United States Army fire on Japanese positions during the Bougainville Campaign in March 1944 Waffen - SS soldier during the Battle of the Bulge Soviet troops during the Battle of Stalingrad Sinking of the British merchant ship `` Beacon Grange '' by German submarine U-552 Panzer IVs advance on the Eastern Front in 1943 Date 1 September 1939 -- 2 September 1945 ( 1939 - 09 - 01 -- 1945 - 09 - 02 ) ( 6 years and 1 day ) Location Europe , Pacific , Atlantic , South - East Asia , China , Middle East , Mediterranean , North Africa , Horn of Africa , Australia , briefly North and South America Result Allied victory Collapse of Nazi Germany Fall of Japanese and Italian Empires Dissolution of the League of Nations Creation of the United Nations Emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as rival superpowers Beginning of the Cold War ( more .