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The Second World was is the deadliest conflict of modern times. It started due to the Global Recession of the 1930s, the failures of the Paris Conference and the expansionist ambitions of Germany, Italy and Japan (together called the Axis Powers). The war began with the invasion of Poland, the Blitzkrieg of Western Europe, the signing of the Tripartite Pact, and expanded into widespread battles in Europe and Asia. The defeat of the Axis Powers, marked by the fall of Hitler's regime and the use of nuclear bombs on Japan, resulted in unprecedented destruction and shaped the post-war landscape, leading to the formation of the United Nations and the beginning of the Cold War.
World War II officially began on September 1, 1939, with the German invasion of Poland, and ended on September 2, 1945, with Japan's formal surrender.
Allied Powers: Primarily the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and China, along with other nations like France, Canada, and Australia.
Axis Powers: Primarily Germany, Italy, and Japan
Holocaust was the genocide of Jews carried out by Nazi Germany under the leadership of Hitler. Approximately six million Jews were murdered in concentration camps, ghettos, and mass shootings.
The immediate post-World War I years were full of problems for almost all countries of Europe. These included reorganization of the economy, resettlement of the survivors of war, and growing unemployment. The working classes in many countries tried to organize socialist revolutions on the Soviet pattern, but they were ruthlessly suppressed. In their place, strong, anti-democratic movements arose in Hungary, Poland, Italy, Portugal, Germany and Spain, which can generally be termed as ‘Fascist’. Hence, in many ways, the World War I was the catalyst for the Second World War.
The roots of the Second World War can be traced back to the aftermath of World War I where the burdensome Treaty of Versailles was signed leaving the German state unstable and impoverished. The treaty failed in disarmament efforts. There was tremendous economic hardship and political tension in Europe. The rise of fascism in Italy, the militarization of Japan, and Germany's revenge for its post-World War I conditions further heightened global instability. World War II began in Europe but soon spread across the entire world as United States and Japan joined.
After obtaining neutrality of Soviet Union, Germany attacked Poland on 1 September 1939. Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939. The war came to an end in September 1945 with USA dropping two nuclear bombs on Japan. The course of the war is traced below-
More than 50 countries had been involved in the Second World war. Such scale of involvement, destruction and loss of lives was never seen before, where 60 to 80 million people died including 6 million Jews who were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
The need for maintaining peace quickly dawned upon the world leading to not only setting up of the United Nations but also rapid decolonisation as imperialism declined. The legacy of the war would include the spread of communism from the Soviet Union into Eastern Europe as well as its eventual triumph in China, and the global shift in power from Europe to two rival superpowers–the United States and the Soviet Union–that would soon face off against each other in the Cold War.
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