User:Exacri/Omnipedia/Second World War



Second World War
The Second World War, also known as World War II (WWII or WW2), was a global conflict that took place between 1939 and 1945. The war involved the majority of the world's nations eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis.

It was the largest and deadliest war in history, involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries.

The chief participants threw their full economic, industrial and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, removing the distinction between civilian and military resources.

While the Empire of Japan declared war against the Republic of China in 1937, the war is considered to have begun with Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939 and the subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and the United Kingdom.

The United States did not join the conflict until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941.

The war brought the deaths of many civilians, including the Holocaust (which killed approximately 11 million people) and the strategic bombing of industrial and civilian centers (during which approximately one million people were killed, including the first use of two nuclear weapons in combat), an estimated 60 million lives were lost as a result of World War II.

It was the most destructive and deadly conflict in human history.