History:Outline of World War II

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Short description: Overview of and topical guide to 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.[1]

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

Participants in World War II

The Axis powers

Major Axis powers

Other Axis powers

The Allied powers

The 'Big Five' major allies

Other major allies

  • Poland Poland
  • Kingdom of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia[lower-alpha 8]
  • Greece Greece
  • Canada Canada
  • Netherlands Netherlands
  • Belgium Belgium
  • Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia
  • British Raj India
  • Australia Australia

People in World War II

Leaders in World War II

Axis leaders

Allied leaders

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[lower-alpha 15] invades Poland, beginning the war[lower-alpha 16]
    • 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[lower-alpha 17]

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[lower-alpha 18]

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[lower-alpha 19]
  • South-East Asian Theatre
  • Pacific Ocean theatre

Africa

For all theatres in Africa, see: Template:CL

  • 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
  • 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

Main page: Social: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
  • 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

Technology during World War II

Technology 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

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

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

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The Kingdom of Italy was an axis power until it changed sides to the Allies after an armistice in 1943. After the armistice, the Italian Social Republic was set up as a German puppet state
  2. ↑ As the Slovak Republic, a German client state
  3. ↑ During the Continuation War
  4. ↑ From June 1941
  5. ↑ From December 1941
  6. ↑ China had been fighting an undeclared war against Japan since 1937, with various other conflicts since 1931. On December 9, 1941, they officially joined the war
  7. ↑ In June 1940, France surrendered and a government-in-exile, Free France, was formed that fought with the Allies until the Provisional government was formed in 1944
  8. ↑ Yugoslavia was occupied after an invasion, but there were prominent partisan groups that continued fighting
  9. ↑ The emperor was the titular leader of Japan and had the final say on decisions, but his power was still (somewhat) limited. The Prime Minister (Fumimaro Konoe and later Hideki Tojo for most of the war) held immense political power, and thus the emperor was not a dictator in the way Hitler or Mussolini were[2]
  10. ↑ Victor Emmanuel III was the Italian head of state and did overrule Mussolini on certain occasions (such as refusing to join the Second World War until 1940 and even deposing him in 1943), but Mussolini used more de facto power and influence than the king
  11. ↑ Stalin was neither the head of state nor the head of government, but he held de facto dictatorial power
  12. ↑ Harry S. Truman from April 1945
  13. ↑ Neville Chamberlain until May 10th 1940 and Clement Attlee from July 1945
  14. ↑ China was fragmented at the time due to a halted civil war and legacies of the warlord era; thus, other leaders such as Mao Zedong of the Chinese Communists and various warlords (such as Li Zongren, Yan Xishan and (initially) Chang Hsueh-liang) had significant power. However, Kai-shek was the leader of the nationalists which allied with the communists and controlled most of China during the Second World War
  15. ↑ And Slovakia
  16. ↑ Other dates have been proposed, but September 1, 1939, is generally accepted
  17. ↑ The United States Congress did not officially declare war until the next day
  18. ↑ Signed on September 3, declared on September 8
  19. ↑ Undeclared from 1937 to 1941, this war merged into World War II in 1941

References

  1. ↑ Dunnigan, James; Albert Nofi. Dirty Little Secrets of World War II: Military Information No One Told You About the Greatest, Most Terrible War in History, William Morrow & Company, 1994. ISBN:0-688-12235-3
  2. ↑ Bix, p. 457.

Bibliography

External links

Directories
General
Media
On-line documents
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.



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