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{{TopicTOC-World War II}}
'''World War II'''{{efn|Often abbreviated as '''WWII''' or '''WW2'''}} or the '''Second World War''' (1 September, 1939 – 2 September, 1945) was a [[World war|global conflict]] between two coalitions: the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] and the [[Axis powers]]. [[World War II by country|Nearly all of the world's countries]]—including all the [[great power]]s—participated, with many investing all available economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities in pursuit of [[total war]], blurring the distinction between military and civilian resources. [[Tanks in World War II|Tanks]] and [[Air warfare of World War II|aircraft played major roles]], with the latter enabling the [[strategic bombing]] of population centres and delivery of the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|only two nuclear weapons]] ever used in war. World War II was the [[List of wars by death toll|deadliest conflict]] in history, resulting in [[World War II casualties|70 to 85 million fatalities]], more than half of which were civilians. Millions died in [[genocides]], including [[the Holocaust]] of European Jews, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. Following the Allied powers' victory, [[Allied-occupied Germany|Germany]], [[Allied-occupied Austria|Austria]], [[Occupation of Japan|Japan]], and [[Division of Korea#Post–World War II|Korea]] were occupied, and [[War crimes in World War II|war crimes]] tribunals were conducted [[Nuremberg trials|against German]] and [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East|Japanese leaders]].
The [[causes of World War II]] included unresolved tensions in the [[aftermath of World War I]] and the rises of [[fascism in Europe]] and [[Japanese militarism|militarism in Japan]], and it was preceded by events including the [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]], [[Spanish Civil War]], outbreak of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], and German [[Anschluss|annexations of Austria]] and [[Munich Agreement|the Sudetenland]]. World War II is generally considered to have begun on 1 September 1939, when [[Nazi Germany]], under [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Invasion of Poland|invaded Poland]]. The [[United Kingdom declaration of war on Germany (1939)|United Kingdom]] and [[French declaration of war on Germany (1939)|France]] [[Declaration of war|declared war]] on Germany on 3 September. Under their [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]], Germany and the [[Soviet Union]] had partitioned Poland and marked out "[[Sphere of influence|spheres of influence]]" across Eastern Europe; in 1940, the Soviets [[Occupation of the Baltic states|annexed the Baltic states]] and [[Winter War|parts of Finland]] and [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina|Romania]]. After the [[Battle of France|fall of France]] in June 1940, the war continued primarily between Germany and the [[British Empire]], with campaigns in [[North African campaign|North]] and [[East African campaign (World War II)|East Africa]] and the [[Balkans campaign (World War II)|Balkans]], the aerial [[Battle of Britain]] and [[the Blitz]] of the UK, and the naval [[Battle of the Atlantic]]. By mid-1941, through a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany occupied or controlled much of [[continental Europe]] and had [[Tripartite Pact|formed the Axis alliance]] with [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Italy]], [[Empire of Japan|Japan]], and other countries. In June 1941, Germany led the European Axis in [[Operation Barbarossa|an invasion of the Soviet Union]], opening the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]].
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