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How World War II Began

The Road to War

World War II was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. In a state of total war, directly involving more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries, the major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources.

World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. Tens of millions of people died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), premeditated death from starvation, massacres, and disease. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, including in the strategic bombing of population centers, the development of nuclear weapons, and the only two uses of such in war.

Prelude to World War II

The origins of World War II are generally traced to the rise of fascism in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, coupled with the failure of the League of Nations to prevent aggression by its member states.

The following key events and issues are generally considered to have contributed to the outbreak of World War II:

1. The Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I, left Germany economically and politically weakened, and resentful of the territorial concessions it had been forced to make.
2. The rise of fascism in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, and the increasingly aggressive foreign policies of those regimes.
3. The failure of the League of Nations to prevent aggression by its member states, such as the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 and the German annexation of Austria in 1938.
4. The appeasement policies of the United Kingdom and France, which allowed Germany to rearm and expand its territory without opposition.
5. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, signed between Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, which divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence and allowed Germany to invade Poland without fear of Soviet intervention.

The Outbreak of World War II

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, marking the beginning of World War II. The United Kingdom and France, which had guaranteed Poland's independence, declared war on Germany two days later.

The war quickly spread across Europe, as Germany conquered Poland, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, opening a new front in the war.

The United States entered the war in December 1941, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The war in the Pacific was characterized by fierce fighting between the United States and Japan, as well as the involvement of other Allied powers such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and China.

The End of World War II

World War II ended with the surrender of Japan in August 1945, after the United States dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The war had a profound impact on the world, leading to the deaths of tens of millions of people, the displacement of millions more, and the redrawing of the political map of Europe and Asia.