Portal:World War II

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The World War II Portal

Clockwise from top left: Commonwealth troops in the desert; Chinese civilians being buried alive by Japanese soldiers; Soviet forces during a winter offensive; Carrier-borne Japanese planes readying for take off; Soviet troops fighting in Berlin; A German submarine under attack.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global military conflict. It began as the joining of what had initially been two separate conflicts, with the first beginning in Asia in 1937 (the Second Sino-Japanese War) and the other beginning in Europe in 1939 (the German and Soviet invasion of Poland).

The war split the majority of the world's nations into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It involved the mobilization of over 100 million military personnel, making it the most widespread war in history, and placed the participants in a state of "total war", which erased the distinction between civil and military resources and resulted in the complete activation of a nation's economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities for the purposes of the war effort. Over 70 million people, the majority of them civilians, were killed, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.

The Allies won the war, and as a result, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as the world's leading superpowers. This set the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 45 years. The United Nations was formed in the hope of preventing another such conflict. The self-determination spawned by the war accelerated decolonization movements in Asia and Africa, while Europe itself began moving toward integration.

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$A map outlining the Japanese and U.S. (but not other Allied) ground forces scheduled to take part in the battle for Japan. Two landings were planned:\n(1) Olympic — the invasion of the southern island, Kyūshū,\n(2) Coronet — the invasion of the main island, Honshū.$

Operation Downfall was the overall Allied plan for the invasion of Japan near the end of World War II. The operation was cancelled when Japan surrendered following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Soviet Union's declaration of war against Japan.Operation Downfall consisted of two parts—Operation Olympic and Operation Coronet. Set to begin in October 1945, Operation Olympic was intended to capture the southern third of the southernmost main Japanese island of Kyūshū, with the recently captured island of Okinawa to be used as a staging area. Later, in the spring of 1946, Operation Coronet was the planned invasion of the Kantō plain near Tokyo on the Japanese island of Honshū. Airbases on Kyūshū captured in Operation Olympic would allow land-based air support for Operation Coronet. Japan's geography made this invasion plan obvious to the Japanese as well; they were able to accurately deduce the Allied invasion plans and adjust their defensive plans accordingly. The Japanese planned an all-out defense of Kyūshū, with little left in reserve for any subsequent defense operations.

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The T-26 was a light tank used by the Soviet Union from the 1930s until World War II. It was based on the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and widely considered one of the most successful designs of the 1930s.The T-26 made-up the majority of the Red Army's armour force until late 1941, and saw a long history in the armed forces of various different nations around the world. For almost a decade the T-26 proved to be one of the best tanks in production, with a total of around 12,000 units produced.Success and failure in the Spanish Civil War, where it served as the most widely used tank, ultimately played a major role in influencing the Soviet doctrine of tank warfare in the late 1930s. The T-26 participated in German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 as one of the most numerous tanks inservice,contributing to the defense of the Soviet Union.Although the T-26's reputation was marred by its abysmal performance during World War II, it was nevertheless the most important tank of the Spanish Civil War and played major roles during the Winter War and the Battle of Khalkhin Gol in 1939. Between its introduction and its retirement, the T-26 saw a great deal of modernization efforts between 1932 and 1941.

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The heavily damaged Japanese cruiser Aoba disembarks dead and wounded crewmembers near Buin, Bougainville and the Shortland Islands a few hours after the battle on October 12, 1942.

The Battle of Cape Esperance, also known as the Second Battle of Savo Island and, in Japanese sources, as the Sea Battle of Savo Island (サボ島沖海戦), took place October 11 – 12, 1942, and was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and United States Navy. The battle was the third of five major naval engagements during the Guadalcanal campaign and took place at the entrance to the strait between Savo Island and Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.On the night of October 11, Japanese naval forces in the Solomon Islands area, under the command of Gunichi Mikawa, sent a major supply and reinforcement convoy to their forces on Guadalcanal. The convoy consisted of two seaplane tenders and six destroyers and was commanded by Rear Admiral Takatsugu Jojima. At the same time but in a separate operation, three heavy cruisers and two destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral Aritomo Gotō were to bombard the Allied airfield on Guadalcanal (called Henderson Field by the Allies) with the object of destroying Allied aircraft and the airfield's facilities.

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The following are images from various World War II-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Adolf Hitler in Bad Godesberg, Germany, 1938 (from Causes of World War II)
Image 2Defendants in the dock at the International Military Tribunal, November 1945
Image 3The Japanese march into Zhengyangmen, Beijing, after they captured the city in July 1937 (from Causes of World War II)
Image 4Prime Minister Churchill and General de Gaulle at Marrakesh, January 1944 (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 5At least 3,000 Jews were killed during the 1941 Lviv pogroms, mainly by local Ukrainians. (from The Holocaust)
Image 6Einsatzgruppen murder Jewish civilians outside Ivanhorod, Ukraine, 1942. Over 6 million Jews were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators in the Holocaust. (from World War II casualties)
Image 7Francisco Franco and Heinrich Himmler in Madrid, Spain, 1940 (from Causes of World War II)
Image 8Woman with Ostarbeiter badge at work at IG-Farbenwerke in Auschwitz (from The Holocaust)
Image 9Grave of German soldiers fallen during invasion of Poland in Końskie. Visible inscription "For Fuhrer und Vaterland" (from Causes of World War II)
Image 101935 poster of the puppet state of Manchukuo promoting harmony among peoples. The caption reads: "With the help of Japan, China, and Manchukuo, the world can be in peace." (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 11Chiang Kai-shek, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill meeting at the Cairo Conference in 1943 (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 12Shooting from behind became popular because killers did not have to look at their victims' faces and the dead were likely to fall into the grave. (from The Holocaust)
Image 13The Polish Corridor and the Free City of Danzig (from Causes of World War II)
Image 14View of the old synagogue in Aachen after its destruction during Kristallnacht (from The Holocaust)
Image 15All territories taken from Czechoslovakia by its neighbours in October 1938 ("Munich Dictate") and March 1939 (from Causes of World War II)
Image 16Holocaust deaths as an approximate percentage of the 1939 Jewish population:
  90
  80
  70
  60
  50
  40
  30
  20
  Low
Image 17Gloster Gladiators of British RAF refuel in Iraq, 1941 (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 18Nazi leaders (from left) Karl Wolff and Heinrich Himmler meet with Spanish dictator Francisco Franco and his Foreign Minister Serrano Súñer in Madrid, October 1940. (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 19View of the Pegnitz River (c. 1900) with the Grand Synagogue of Nuremberg, destroyed in 1938 during the November pogroms (from The Holocaust)
Image 20Jews of Mogilev, Belarus, forced to clean a street, July 1941 (from The Holocaust)
Image 21Auschwitz SS guards enjoying themselves on vacation in Solahütte (from The Holocaust)
Image 22Adolf Hitler meeting Japanese ambassador to Germany Hiroshi Ōshima, 1942 (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 23Map of territorial changes in Europe after World War I (as of 1922) (from Causes of World War II)
Image 24Hitler in action (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 25Jews are deported from Würzburg, Germany to the Lublin District of the General Governorate, 25 April 1942. (from The Holocaust)
Image 26Roosevelt and Churchill drafted the Atlantic Charter in August 1941. (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 27Clement Attlee, Harry Truman and Joseph Stalin at the Potsdam Conference, c.28 July – 1 August 1945 (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 28Unpaved street in the Frysztak Ghetto, Krakow District (from The Holocaust)
Image 29Original Nazi propaganda caption: "Too bad even for a bullet... The Jews shown here were shot at once." 28 June 1941 in Rozhanka, Belarus (from The Holocaust)
Image 30Territorial expansion of Germany from 1933 to 1941 (from The Holocaust)
Image 31Marshal Pétain, left, head of Vichy France, shaking hands with Hitler on October 24, 1940. (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 32Italy and its colonial possessions in 1940 (from Causes of World War II)
Image 33During the Battle of Westerplatte, the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein attacks Westerplatte at the start of the war, September 1, 1939 (from Causes of World War II)
Image 34Chiang Kai-shek of China with Roosevelt and Churchill at the Cairo Conference in 1943. (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 35A body lying in the street of the Warsaw Ghetto in the General Governorate (from The Holocaust)
Image 36Roosevelt, İnönü of Turkey and Churchill at the Second Cairo Conference which was held between December 4–6, 1943. (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 37"The Big Four" made all the major decisions at the Paris Peace Conference (from left to right, David Lloyd George of Britain, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy, Georges Clemenceau of France, Woodrow Wilson of the U.S.) (from Causes of World War II)
Image 38Japanese occupation of China in 1937 (from Causes of World War II)
Image 39Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 which directly led to the Anglo-French declaration of war on Germany on 3 September. The Soviet Union joined Germany's invasion of Poland on 17 September. (from Causes of World War II)
Image 40The prime ministers of five members of the Commonwealth of Nations at the 1944 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference. (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 41Japanese troops entering Saigon (from Causes of World War II)
Image 42A mass grave at Bergen-Belsen after the camp's liberation, April 1945 (from The Holocaust)
Image 43A bunker where Jews attempted to hide during the Warsaw Ghetto uprising (from The Holocaust)
Image 44UN vs Axis War Production, near equality of strength in 1942 (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 45Soviet soldiers killed during the Toropets–Kholm Offensive, January 1942. Officially, roughly 8.6 million Soviet soldiers died in the course of the war, including millions of POWs. (from World War II casualties)
Image 46British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and Hitler at a meeting in Germany on 24 September 1938, and Hitler demanded the immediate annexation of Czechoslovak border areas. (from Causes of World War II)
Image 47Germany after Versailles----
  Administered by the League of Nations
  Annexed or transferred to neighbouring countries by the treaty or later by plebiscites and League of Nation actions
  Weimar Germany
(from Causes of World War II)
Image 48The destroyer USS Shaw explodes during the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941 (from Causes of World War II)
Image 49Polish military officers executed by the Soviet NKVD in the Katyn massacre, exhumation photo taken by the Polish Red Cross delegation in 1943 (from World War II casualties)
Image 50Italian Social Republic (RSI) as of 1943 in yellow and green. The green areas were German military operational zones under direct German administration. (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 51Jews from Carpathian Ruthenia, annexed by Hungary in 1938, on the selection ramp at Auschwitz II in May or June 1944. Men are lined up to the right, women and children to the left. About 25 percent were selected for work and the rest gassed. (from The Holocaust)
Image 52The Warsaw Ghetto uprising became significant as a symbol of Jewish resistance against the Nazis. (from The Holocaust)
Image 53Public execution of Masha Bruskina, a Belarusian Jew who helped Soviet prisoners escape (from The Holocaust)
Image 54Deportation to Chełmno (from The Holocaust)
Image 55Atomic cloud over Hiroshima, 1945 (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 56Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov (left) meets with German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop at the signing of the German–Soviet non-aggression pact on 23 August 1939 (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 57Attack on Pearl Harbor, December 1941 (from Causes of World War II)
Image 58Danzigers rallying for Hitler, shortly after the free city's annexation into Germany (from The Holocaust)
Image 59Soviet POWs held by the Nazis in Mauthausen concentration camp. It is estimated that at least 3.3 million Soviet POWs died in German custody. (from World War II casualties)
Image 60Shōwa Steel Works was a mainstay of the Economy of Manchukuo (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 61Greek counteroffensive against Italian-controlled Albania, late 1940. (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 62Hitler and Finnish commander-in-chief Field MarshalMannerheim (right) (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 631919 Austrian postcard showing a Jew stabbing a German Army soldier in the back (from The Holocaust)
Image 64The major long-term goal of Roosevelt's foreign policy during the war was creating a United Nations to resolve all world problems (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 65Bodies of U.S. Marines on the beach of Tarawa. The Marines secured the island after 76 hours of intense fighting. Over 1,000 American and ~4600 Japanese troops died in the fighting. (from World War II casualties)
Image 66Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, 2016
Image 67Cumulative murders of Jews from the General Governorate at Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka from January 1942 to February 1943 (from The Holocaust)
Image 68Cheering crowds greet the Nazis in Innsbruck (from Causes of World War II)
Image 69Animation of the European Theatre (from Diplomatic history of World War II)
Image 70The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere in 1942. (from Diplomatic history of World War II)

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Credit: Ingeldew, T3c, U.S. Army

The smouldering body of a boy killed by a V-2 rocket attack on the main intersection in Antwerp, Belgium, November 27, 1944, on the main Allied supply line to the Netherlands. The V-2, one of the German Vergeltungswaffen, was the first ballistic missile and first man-made object to achieve sub-orbital spaceflight. Over 3,000 V-2s were launched as military rockets by the Wehrmacht against Allied targets in World War II.

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Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky , September 30, 1895 – December 5, 1977) was a Soviet military commander, promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1943. He was the Soviet Chief of the General Staff and Deputy Minister of Defense during World War II, as well as Minister of Defense from 1949 to 1953. As the Chief of the General Staff, Vasilevsky was responsible for the planning and coordination of almost all decisive Soviet offensives, from the Stalingrad counteroffensive to the assault on East Prussia and Königsberg.Vasilevsky started his military career during the First World War, earning the rank of captain by 1917. At the beginning of the October Revolution and the Civil War he was conscripted into the Red Army, taking part in the Polish–Soviet War. After the war, he quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a regimental commander by 1930. In this position, he showed great skill in the organization and training of his troops. Vasilevsky's talent did not go unnoticed, and in 1931 he was appointed a member of the Directorate of Military Training. In 1937, following Stalin's Great Purge, he was promoted to General Staff officer.

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...that the Polish Second Army was the second major formation of the Peoples' Army of Poland fighting alongside the Soviet Union in the Second World War?

...that Harold G. Schrier led the patrol of U.S. Marines who raised the first American flag on Mount Suribachi?

...that Ernest "Boots" Thomas, one of the U.S. Marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima (pictured), was able to enlist in spite of being color blind by memorizing the results of another man's test?

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"Fellow Australians

It is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that, in persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain is at war, and that, as a result, Australia is also at war...

There was never any doubt as to where Great Britain stood... There can be no doubt that where Great Britain stands, there stands the people of the entire British world."

— Prime Minister Robert Menzies, 3 September 1939

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Topics

World War II

Theatres

Main events

Specific articles

Participants

Prelude
• Causes
• in Europe
• in Asia

Main theatres
• Europe
• Eastern Europe
• China
• Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa
• Asia and the Pacific
• Atlantic

General timeline
• Timeline

1939
• Invasion of Poland
• Winter War

1940
• Invasion of Denmark/Norway
• Battle of France
• Battle of Britain

1941
• Invasion of the Soviet Union
• Battle of Moscow
• Attack on Pearl Harbor

1942
• Battle of Midway
• Battle of Stalingrad
• Second Battle of El Alamein

1943
• Battle of Kursk
• Guadalcanal campaign
• Invasion of Italy

1944
• Battle of Normandy
• Operation Bagration
• Battle of Leyte Gulf
• Operation Market Garden
• Battle of the Bulge

1945
• Battle of Iwo Jima
• Battle of Okinawa
• Battle of Berlin
• End in Europe
• Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Surrender of Japan

• more...

• Blitzkrieg
• Cryptography
• Equipment
• Home Front
• Military engagements
• Production
• Resistance
• Technology

Civilian impact and atrocities
• Nanking Massacre
• The Holocaust
• Siege of Leningrad
• Bataan Death March
• Dutch famine of 1944
• Bengal famine of 1943
• Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Unit 731
• Strategic bombings
• Comfort women
• Allied war crimes
• German war crimes
• Japanese war crimes

Aftermath
• Effects
• Casualties
• Expulsion of Germans
• Denazification
• Cold War
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Decline of the British Empire

The Allies
• Australia
• Belgium
• Brazil
• British India
• Canada
• Czechoslovakia
• Egypt
• El Salvador
• France (after June 16, 1940: Free France)
• Greece
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Philippines
• Poland
• Republic of China
• South Africa
• Soviet Union
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Yugoslavia

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The Axis
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
• Slovakia
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Finland
• Vichy France
• Hungary
• Romania
• Thailand

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From the World War II task force of the Military history WikiProject:

Attention needed: ...to referencing and citation • ...to coverage and accuracy • ...to structure • ...to grammar • ...to supporting materials
Popular pages: Full list
Cleanup needed: Battle of Kiev (1943) • Battle of Ko Chang • Colditz Castle • Spiritual national defence • Tuskegee Airmen
Requested articles: Battle of Uhtua-Kiestinki • Battles of Repola-Rukajärvi • Battle of Siiranmäki • Battle of Łuck • Battle of Równe • Battle of Włodzimierz Wołyński • Battle of Lubartów • Battle of Miedniki • Battle of Jodła • Francis Blanchain • Shinshou Draenger • Christer Lyst Hansen • Ove Kampman • League for Combat Policy • Julien Meline • Operation Mittelmeer • Operation Richard • Otto Program • Martin Poppel • Roehm's Avengers • Poul Bruun • Raoul Boulanger • Battle of West Ukraine (1941) • Battle of Zunyi • Liberation of Denmark (currently redirect) • Operation Vado (currently redirect) • Finnish 19th Division (Continuation War) • Finnish 11th Division (Continuation War) • Finnish Cavalry Brigade • 1st Jaeger Brigade • 2nd Jaeger Brigade • 168th Rifle Division (Soviet Union) • 71st Rifle Division (Soviet Union) • Group Oinonen • Operation Vesuvius (currently redirect) • Capture of Kassala (currently redirect) • Battle of Pankow • Brandenburg–Rathenow Offensive • Japanese internment of European civilians during World War II • Miranda de Ebro concentration camp • German occupation of the Netherlands (current redirect) • Soviet home front during World War II • Labour Charter (Vichy France) • Berles-Monchel and Aubigny-en-Artois massacres (1940) • Febvin-Palfart massacre (1940) • German massacres of French colonial prisoners of war • 1941 Nord-Pas de Calais miners' strike • Spitfire funds • Good War (historiography) • Nederlandsche Oost Compagnie • West African Pioneers • 2nd Marching Battalion of Ubangui-Shari • Bataillon du Pacifique • Persecution of freemasons in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe • Mohammed El Maadi • Luxembourgers in the Wehrmacht • Chantiers de la Jeunesse (Vichy France) • Netherlands East Indies Government in exile • Burma Government in exile (1942-1945) • Free Republic of Nias
Expansion needed: Princess Irene Brigade • Battle of Bay of Viipuri • Demilitarisation • Free Dutch Forces • Martha Desrumeaux • Mochitsura Hashimoto • Operation Cascade • Operation Tan No. 2 • Burma Area Army • Battle of Courland • Battle of Munda Point • Battle of Voronezh (1943) • Drive on Munda Point • First Battle of Kharkov • Race to Berlin • Marie Fourcade • Donald Blakeslee • Operation Nordwind • Battle of Skerki Bank • Michael Sinclair (soldier) • Battle of Maastricht • Battle of Zeeland • Landings on Rendova • New Georgia counterattack • Operation Waterfall • Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive • American-British-Dutch-Australian Command • Battle of Viru Harbor • Battle of Wickham Anchorage • Western New Guinea campaign (and the individual battles of the campaign) • Operation Blockbuster • Operation Cooney • The Holocaust in France • Knowledge of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe • Francoist Spain and the Holocaust • Japan campaign • Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign • Légion Français des Combattants • more
Images needed: Twelfth Army (United Kingdom) • 4th Airborne Division (United Kingdom) • 5th Airborne Division (United Kingdom) • XVI Corps (United Kingdom) • Battle of Dakar • Battle of the Lys (1940) • Battle of Zeeland • Battle of the Grebbeberg • Franco-Thai War • Battle of Ko Chang • Switzerland during the World Wars • Berthe Fraser • Western Allied invasion of Germany • LXXXIII Army Corps (Wehrmacht)
Merging needed: Add an article here!
Citations needed: Battle of Borneo (1941–42) • Battle of Imphal • Garderegiment Fuseliers Prinses Irene • Japanese invasion of French Indochina • Japanese invasion of Thailand • Luxembourg in World War II • New Georgia Campaign • Operation Cartwheel • Operation Chastise • Royal Netherlands Motorized Infantry Brigade • Solomon Islands campaign • Battle of Radom • Seishin Operation • Moravia–Ostrava Offensive • Panzerjäger
Translation needed: 5th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment [ru] • Novorossiysk-Taman Operation [ru] • 1943 Novorossiysk Operation [ru] • 1943 Air Battles over Kuban [ru] • Battle of Rostov (1943) [ru] • Battle of Olshansky [ru] • Nalchik-Ordzhonikidzevskaya Operation [ru] • Bukrinsky Landing [ru] • Cape Tarhan Landing [ru] • 1942 Sudak Landing [ru] • Mozdok-Malgobek Operation [ru] • Alexander Sergeyevich Ksenofontov [ru] • Henri de Vernejoul [fr] • André Bergeret [fr] • Battle of Nice [fr] • Liberation de Saint-Malo [fr] • Battle of Seuil Valley [fr] • René-Jean-Paul Cassagne [fr] • Cameroun's rallying to the Free French [fr] • Battle of Bouno-Misaki [ja]

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