The Second World War

World War II, also called the Second World War, was a global conflict that involved virtually every part of the world - including all the great world powers - between 1939 and 1945. WWII is seen to have officially begun on the 1st September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, and the United Kingdom and France declared war. The principal belligerents were the Axis powers, which included Nazi Germany, Italy, and Japan, and the Allies - the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China. A state of total war emerged that involved over 100 million people from more than 30 countries across the globe. The Second World War is marked by massacres and genocides, including the Holocaust, use of nuclear weapons, and bombings. The war was the deadliest conflict in living history, with 70 to 85 million deaths. Many of these fatalities were civilians.     The war in Europe ended on 8th May 1945 after the Allies accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany's armed forces. This day is known as VE Day, with celebrations erupting throughout Allied nations to mark a new peacetime. However, war still went on in the east, and WWII officially ended on 2nd September 1945 when Japan surrendered and the documents were signed on the deck on the USS Missouri.