Outline of World War II

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

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

Other Axis powers

Hungary
Romania
Template:Country data Slovak Republic (1939–1945) Slovakia^{[lower-alpha 2]}
Bulgaria
Croatia
Finland^{[lower-alpha 3]}

The Allied powers

The 'Big Five' major allies

Soviet Union^{[lower-alpha 4]}
United States^{[lower-alpha 5]}
United Kingdom
China^{[lower-alpha 6]}
France^{[lower-alpha 7]}

Other major allies

Poland
Yugoslavia^{[lower-alpha 8]}
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^{[lower-alpha 9]} of Japan
Template:Country data Fascist Italy (1922–1943) Benito Mussolini – Prime Minister^{[lower-alpha 10]} of Italy

Allied leaders

Joseph Stalin – Leader^{[lower-alpha 11]} of the Soviet Union
Franklin D. Roosevelt^{[lower-alpha 12]} – President of the United States
Winston Churchill^{[lower-alpha 13]} – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Chiang Kai-shek – Leader^{[lower-alpha 14]} 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^{[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
- 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

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
- 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

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 (United Kingdom)
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

Notes

↑ 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
↑ As the Slovak Republic, a German client state
↑ During the Continuation War
↑ From June 1941
↑ From December 1941
↑ 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
↑ 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
↑ Yugoslavia was occupied after an invasion, but there were prominent partisan groups that continued fighting
↑ 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]
↑ 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
↑ Stalin was neither the head of state nor the head of government, but he held de facto dictatorial power
↑ Harry S. Truman from April 1945
↑ Neville Chamberlain until May 10th 1940 and Clement Attlee from July 1945
↑ 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
↑ And Slovakia
↑ Other dates have been proposed, but September 1, 1939, is generally accepted
↑ The United States Congress did not officially declare war until the next day
↑ Signed on September 3, declared on September 8
↑ Undeclared from 1937 to 1941, this war merged into World War II in 1941

References

↑ 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
↑ Bix, p. 457.

Bibliography

Bix, Herbert P. (September 4, 2001). Hirohito and the making of modern Japan. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-093130-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=zjmVltzm1kYC. Retrieved April 6, 2022.

External links

Directories

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.

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Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline of World War II. Read more

[2] 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

[3] As the Slovak Republic, a German client state

[4] During the Continuation War

[5] From June 1941

[6] From December 1941

[7] 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

[8] 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

[9] Yugoslavia was occupied after an invasion, but there were prominent partisan groups that continued fighting

[11] 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]

[12] 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

[13] Stalin was neither the head of state nor the head of government, but he held de facto dictatorial power

[14] Harry S. Truman from April 1945

[15] Neville Chamberlain until May 10th 1940 and Clement Attlee from July 1945

[16] 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

[17] And Slovakia

[18] Other dates have been proposed, but September 1, 1939, is generally accepted

[19] The United States Congress did not officially declare war until the next day

[20] Signed on September 3, declared on September 8

[21] Undeclared from 1937 to 1941, this war merged into World War II in 1941

[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

[FOOTNOTEBix457-10] Bix, p. 457.

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Outline of World War II

Topic: History

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

People in World War II

Leaders in World War II

Axis leaders

Allied leaders

Military forces of World War II

Timeline of World War II

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

World War II by region

Theatres and major campaigns

Europe

Asia

Africa

Other

By country

Europe

Asia

Africa

Oceania

The Americas

War crimes

Genocide

The Holocaust

Other genocides

Massacres

Mistreatment of civilians

Technology during World War II

Equipment of World War II

Vehicles of World War II

Weapons of World War II

Other initiatives in World War II

Propaganda during World War II

Common military awards

Soviet Union

United States

United Kingdom

France and Belgium

Poland

Nazi Germany

Aftermath of World War II

The end of World War II

Immediate events

The post-war world

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links