User:Zephyr311c/sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| casualties1 =
- Military dead:
- Over 16,000,000
- Civilian dead:
- Over 45,000,000
- Total dead:
- Over 61,000,000
- (1937–1945)
- ...further details
World War | |||||||
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(clockwise from top left)
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Participants | |||||||
NATO & PRDI | Warsaw Pact | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Main NATO & PRDI leaders | Main Warsaw leaders |
| casualties2 =
- Military dead:
- Over 8,000,000
- Civilian dead:
- Over 4,000,000
- Total dead:
- Over 12,000,000
- (1937–1945)
- ...further details
World War II (WWII or WW2) was a global war involving fighting in most of the world and most countries. The war started in 1939 with Nazi Germany invading Poland, so most countries fought from 1939 to 1945. However, Japan invaded China in 1937, so some started fighting in 1937. Most of the world's countries, including all of the great powers, fought as part of two military alliances: the Allies and the Axis Powers. It was the largest and deadliest conflict in all of history. It involved more countries, cost more money, involved more people, and killed more people than any other war in history.[1] Between 50 to 85 million people died,[2][3] most of whom were civilians. The war included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, starvation, disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons against civilians in history.
The two sides were the Allies (at first China, France and the United Kingdom, joined by the Soviet Union, United States and others) and the Axis (Germany, Italy and Japan). The war in Asia began when Japan invaded China on July 7, 1937.[4] The war began in Europe when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. France and the United Kingdom reacted by declaring war on Germany. By 1941, much of Europe was under German control, including France. Only the British remained fighting against the Axis in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic. Germany gave up plans to invade Britain after losing an airplane battle. In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, starting the largest area of war in history. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor and invaded British and French colonies in Asia, and the two wars became one.