World War II

World War II, or the Second World War, was a worldwide

World war

A world war is a military conflict [i] affecting the majority of the world's major nations. ...

conflict

War

War is a conflict involving the organized use of weapon [i]s and physical force by state [i]s or other l ...

fought between the Allied Powers

Allies of World War II

The Allies [i] of World War II [i] were the countries officially opposed to the Axis Powers [i] during t ...

and the Axis Powers

Axis Powers

The Axis Powers were those nations opposed to the Allies [i] during the Second World War [i] ...

, from 1939 until 1945. It was the largest armed conflict the world has ever seen - involving air, land and sea battles spanning much of the globe and including military forces from most nations.

Discussions

Discussion Features

Ask a question about 'World War II'

Start a new discussion about 'World War II'

Answer questions about 'World War II'

'World War II' discussion forum

Timeline

1692 The battle of La Hougue is the decisive naval battle in the Nine Years War. The durable dominance of the Royal Navy – beginning with the Invincible Armada – is confirmed and lasted up to the Second World War.

1932 Hasty Market gets hijacked '' broke the German Enigma cipher and overcame the ever-growing structural and operating complexities of the evolving Enigma with plugboard, the main German cipher device during World War II. ]]

1937 Japan invades Manchuria. (Some consider this the start of World War II. Most historians disagree).

1937 Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Lugou Bridge - Japanese forces invade China.Often seen as the beginning of World War II in Asia

1937 World War II: In the Reich Chancellery, Adolf Hitler holds a secret meeting and states his plans for acquiring "living space" for the German people.

1939 German troops occupy the remaining part of Bohemia and Moravia; Czechoslovakia ceases to exist; beginning hostilities leading to WWII

1939 World War II: Invasion of Poland - Nazi Germany attacks Poland, beginning the Second World War in Europe.

1939 World War II: Germany annexes Western Poland.

1939 World War II: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the United States Customs Service to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons by belligerents.

1939 World War II: Sonderaktion Krakau, the codename for a German action against scientists from the University of Kraków and other Kraków universities at the beginning of World War II.

More Events >>

Encyclopedia