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World War II: Facts & Related Content

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Facts

Also Known As WWII • Second World War
Date September 3, 1939 - September 2, 1945
Participants Axis powersCanadaCzechoslovakiaFree FrenchIndiaJapanLuxembourgSouth AfricaYugoslaviaAllied powers

Did You Know?

  • About 70 million total soldiers fought on behalf of the Allied or Axis countries.
  • Some scholars argue that the "start" of WWII was in 1937 when Japan invaded China instead of when Germany invaded Poland.
  • Switzerland, Spain, Portugal and Sweden all declared themselves neutral during WWII.

Photos and Videos


Topics

Timeline

Samuel Bak: Smoke
Holocaust
1933 - 1945
Invasion of Poland
Invasion of Poland
September 1, 1939 - October 5, 1939
Battle of the Atlantic
September 3, 1939 - May 8, 1945
Dunkirk evacuation
Dunkirk evacuation
May 26, 1940 - June 4, 1940
North Africa campaigns of World War II
North Africa campaigns
June 1940 - May 13, 1943
the Blitz
Battle of Britain
July 1940 - September 1940
Vichy: Battle of France
Vichy France
July 1940 - September 1944
German bombing of London during the Blitz
the Blitz
September 7, 1940 - May 11, 1941
aftermath of the Battle of Crete
Battle of Crete
May 20, 1941 - June 1, 1941
German soldiers during Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
June 22, 1941
German troops at the Battle of Moscow, 1941–1942
Battle of Moscow
September 30, 1941 - January 7, 1942
Pearl Harbor attack
Pearl Harbor attack
December 7, 1941
Wake Island
Battle of Wake Island
December 8, 1941 - December 23, 1941
U.S. troops advancing on Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, in 1943
Pacific War
December 8, 1941 - September 2, 1945
Bataan Death March
Bataan Death March
April 9, 1942
eastern New Guinea, from the 10th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica, c. 1902
Kokoda Track Campaign
July 1942 - January 1943
Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
August 22, 1942 - February 2, 1943
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
April 19, 1943 - May 16, 1943
Normandy Invasion
Normandy Invasion
June 6, 1944 - July 9, 1944
U.S. Marines on Saipan, Mariana Islands, 1944
Battle of Saipan
June 15, 1944 - July 9, 1944
Operation Bagration
June 23, 1944 - August 19, 1944
Cowra, New South Wales, Australia
Cowra breakout
August 5, 1944
Operation Market Garden
September 17, 1944 - September 27, 1944
Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
December 16, 1944 - January 16, 1945
Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
February 4, 1945 - February 11, 1945
Battle of Iwo Jima
Battle of Iwo Jima
February 19, 1945 - March 26, 1945
atomic bombing of Hiroshima
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
August 6, 1945 - August 9, 1945

Key People

Alessandro Pertini
president of Italy
Puller, Chesty
Chesty Puller
United States Marine Corps officer
Edward O'Hare
Edward O’Hare
American aviator and WWII hero
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
prime minister of United Kingdom
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
dictator of Germany
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
president of United States
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
premier of Soviet Union
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
president of United States
Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Italian dictator
Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
president of France
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
president of United States
George S. Patton
George Patton
United States general
Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
president of Yugoslavia
Alan Turing
Alan Turing
British mathematician and logician
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chinese statesman
Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
German minister
George C. Marshall
George Catlett Marshall
United States general
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
United States general
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel
German field marshal
Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
German propagandist

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