World War II: Difference between revisions
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===China=== | ===China=== | ||
===Southwest Pacific=== | ===Southwest Pacific=== | ||
*[[Guadalcanal campaign]] | |||
*[[Coaral Sea, battle of]] | |||
==Naval Warfare== | ==Naval Warfare== | ||
see [[World War II, Pacific]] | see [[World War II, Pacific]] | ||
*[[Pearl Harbor, battle of]] | |||
*[[Midway, battle of]] | |||
*[[Philippine Sea, battle of]] | |||
*[[Leyte Gulf, battle of]] | |||
*[[Iwo Jima, battle of]] | |||
*[[Okinawa, battle of]] | |||
===Submarines=== | ===Submarines=== | ||
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*see [[World War II, Origins]] | *see [[World War II, Origins]] | ||
*[[World War II, air war]] | |||
*[[World War II, Europe]] | *[[World War II, Europe]] | ||
*[[World War II, Pacific]] | *[[World War II, Pacific]] | ||
Revision as of 13:23, 14 June 2008
World War II 1939-1945
Name
In the Commonwealth nations, official histories of the various militaries universally refer to the conflict as the Second World War. This style also follows literaly translations of other nations' official designation for the conflict, e.g. Zweiter Weltkrieg in German. The official histories of the United States armed forces refer to the conflict as "World War II".
Although its nomenclature suggests a pan-global conflict, much of the world was unaffected directly by the conflict, with significant concentrations of activity in the European, north African, Russian, and Pacific theatres.
Causes and Diplomacy
Land Warfare
Europe
Both Germany and the Soviet Union participated in an armed invasion and occupation of Poland, beginning with an initial German attack on September 1, 1939. The German invasion has often been referred to as "blitzkrieg" (lighting war) but in actual fact the German Army used traditional concepts of warfare wedded to existing technologies in order to achieve spectacular results against the relatively unprepared Poles.
France and Great Britain, having sworn to defend Poland, declared war on Germany but in the end were unable to provide material assistance. The Soviet Union launched its own invasion of Polish territory, and Slovak troops also participated in operations on Polish soil. Poland officially capitulated in August.
- Phony War
- Winter War
- Invasion of Norway
- France and the Low Countries
- Battle of Britain
- Invasion of Greece
- Invasion of Yugoslavia
- Operation Barbarossa
- Continuation War
- Battle of Sicily
- Italian Campaign
- Battle of Normandy
- Northwest Europe Campaign
- Southern France
- Crossing the Rhine
- Battle of Berlin
China
Southwest Pacific
- Pearl Harbor, battle of
- Midway, battle of
- Philippine Sea, battle of
- Leyte Gulf, battle of
- Iwo Jima, battle of
- Okinawa, battle of
Submarines
Air War
Economics
Financing
Production
Manpower
War Crimes
Holocaust
- see Holocaust
- see Holocaust denial
- see Turkey and the Holocaust
Resistance
Results and Aftermath
Japan
Total Japanese military fatalities between 1937 and 1945 were 2.1 million; most came in the last year of the war. Starvation or malnutrition-related illness accounted for roughly 80 percent of Japanese military deaths in the Philippines, and 50 percent of military fatalities in China. The aerial bombing of a total of 65 Japanese cities appears to have taken a minimum of 400,000 and possibly closer to 600,000 civlian lives (over 100,000 in Tokyo alone, over 200,000 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, and 80,000-150,000 civilian deaths in the battle of Okinawa). Civilian death among settlers who died attempting to return to Japan from Manchuria in the winter of 1945 were probably around 100,000.[1]