European theatre of World War II

The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat[nb 23] during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the Western Allies conquering most of Western Europe, the Soviet Union conquering most of Eastern Europe including the German capital Berlin, and Germany's unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945[nb 24] although fighting continued elsewhere in Europe until 25 May. On 5 June 1945, the Berlin Declaration proclaiming the unconditional surrender of Germany to the four victorious powers was signed. The Allied powers fought the Axis powers on two major fronts (Eastern Front and Western Front), but there were other fronts varying in scale from the Italian campaign (the 3rd largest campaign in Europe), to the Polish Campaign, as well as in a strategic bombing offensive and in the adjoining Mediterranean and Middle East theatre.

European theatre of World War II
Part of World War II
Clockwise from top left: German Stuka dive bombers on the Eastern Front, 1943 • German MG-34 team take position in a ditch during Operation Barbarossa, 1941 • The German city of Dresden after allied firebombing, 1945 • Red Army soldier raising a flag over the Reichstag after the Battle of Berlin, 1945 • Canadian M4 Sherman tank advancing on a road to Caen during the Normandy campaign, 1944
Date 1 September 1939 – 8 May 1945[nb 1] (5 years, 8 months and 1 week) Location Europe and adjoining regions Result Allied victory Collapse of Nazi Germany Capitulation of remaining German forces still fighting in Europe on 11 May after the unconditional surrender Berlin Declaration signed on 5 June 1945 Collapse of Fascist Italy and the Italian Social Republic End of World War II in Europe Beginning of the Cold War
Belligerents
Allies:  Soviet Union[nb 2]  United States[nb 3]  United Kingdom  French Third Republic[nb 4]  Free France[nb 5]  Provisional Government of the French Republic[nb 6]  Canada  Australia  New Zealand  South Africa  India  Poland  DF Yugoslavia[nb 7]  Yugoslavia  Communist Albania  Greece  Belgium  Netherlands  Norway  Brazil[nb 8] Czechoslovakia  Luxembourg Former Axis powers  Italy (from 1943)  Romania (from 1944)  Bulgaria (from 1944)  Finland (from 1944)  Denmark (1940)	Axis: Tripartite Pact[nb 9]  Germany  Italy[nb 10] "Ally of Hitlerite Germany"[nb 11]  Romania[nb 12]  Hungary[nb 13]  Bulgaria[nb 14]  Finland[nb 15] Axis puppet states  Italian Social Republic[nb 16]  Slovakia  Croatia  Vichy France[nb 17]
Commanders and leaders
Joseph Stalin Franklin D. Roosevelt # Harry S. Truman George VI Neville Chamberlain Winston Churchill Albert Lebrun Charles de Gaulle Władysław Raczkiewicz Josip Broz Tito Peter II of Yugoslavia Dušan Simović Enver Hoxha George II of Greece Emmanouil Tsouderos W.L. Mackenzie King Edvard Beneš Leopold III of Belgium Hubert Pierlot wilhelmina of the Netherlands Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy Haakon VII Johan Nygaardsvold Getúlio Vargas Charlotte of Luxembourg Pierre Dupong Victor Emmanuel III Pietro Badoglio Michael I of Romania Constantin Sanatescu Simeon II of Bulgaria Kimon Georgiev C.G.E. Mannerheim Christian X Thorvald Stauning	Adolf Hitler † Benito Mussolini  Ion Antonescu  Miklós Horthy Boris III # Jozef Tiso  Ante Pavelić Risto Ryti Philippe Pétain
Strength
18,950,000+ troops (total)[5][6][7]	18,000,000+ troops (total)[8][9][7] 2,560,000 troops (total)[10]
Casualties and losses
9,007,590–10,338,576+ killed, 5,778,680+ captured[nb 18][nb 19][15]	5,406,110–5,798,110+ killed,[nb 20][16][17] 8,709,840 captured[17][nb 21]
19,650,000–25,650,000 civilians killed[nb 22][28]