Editing World War II

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{{Quote|Now may God bless you all, and may He defend the right. For it is evil things that we will be fighting against—brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution—and against them I am certain that the right will prevail.| Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, broadcast from the Cabinet Rooms at 10 Downing Street, 3 September 1939.}}
'''World War II''' or the '''Second World War''' is one of the most dangerous wars of all time, lasting from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the [[Axis Powers]]. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million people serving in military units from over 30 different countries. In a state of "total war", the major participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by [[genocide]] and mass deaths of civilians, including [[the Holocaust]] and the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare, it resulted in 50 million to over 75 million fatalities. These deaths make World War II likely the deadliest conflict in human history.

The [[Imperial Japan|Empire of Japan]] aimed to dominate all of East Asia and was already at war with the Republic of China in 1937, but the world war is generally said to have begun on 1 September 1939 with the invasion of Poland by [[Adolf Hitler]] and the [[Nazi Party]] and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and Britain. From late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany formed the Axis alliance with Italy (lead by [[Benito Mussolini]]), conquering or subduing much of continental Europe. Following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories between themselves of their European neighbors, including Poland and the Baltic states. The United Kingdom and the other members of the British Commonwealth were the only major Allied forces continuing the fight against the Axis, with battles taking place in North Africa as well as the long-running Battle of the Atlantic. In June 1941, the European Axis launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, giving a start to the largest land theatre of war in history, which tied down the major part of the Axis' military forces for the rest of the war. In December 1941, Japan joined the Axis, [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked the United States]] and European territories in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific.

The Axis advance was stopped in 1942, after Japan lost a series of naval battles and European Axis troops were defeated in North Africa and, decisively, at Stalingrad. In 1943, with a series of German defeats in Eastern Europe, the Allied invasion of Italy, Benito Mussolini was forced out of power. He was able to briefly regain control by forming the [[Italian Social Republic]] with the help of the Nazis, but ultimately, the Allies were able to overcome and defeat the Italian and German forces in Italy, and the Italian Social Republic all but collapsed a mere 19 months after it was formed. With the Allies' victories in the Pacific, the Axis lost the initiative and undertook strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the United States defeated the Japanese Navy and captured key Western Pacific islands.

The war in Europe ended with an invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union culminating in the capture of Berlin by Soviet and Polish troops. Adolf Hitler would commit suicide in his bunker on April 30, and a month later, Germany would sign the instruments of unconditional surrender. Following the Potsdam Declaration by the Allies on 26 July 1945, the United States [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] on 6 August and 9 August respectively. With an invasion of the Japanese archipelago imminent, and the Soviet Union had declared war on Japan by invading Manchuria, Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945, ending the war in Asia and cementing the total victory of the Allies over the Axis.

World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world. The United Nations (UN) was established to foster international cooperation and prevent future conflicts. The great powers that were the victors of the war—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, and France—became the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers started to decline, while the decolonization of Asia and Africa began. Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to stabilize postwar relations and fight more effectively in the [[Cold War]].

== Links ==
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II World War II - Wikipedia]

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