Portal:World War II

The World War II Portal 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. More about World War II... Featured article The Invasion of Poland, 1939, which precipitated World War II, was carried out by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union and a small German-allied Slovak contingent.The invasion of Poland marked the start of World War II in Europe, as Poland's western allies, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, declared war on Germany on September 3, soon followed by France, South Africa and Canada, among others. The invasion began on September 1, 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and ended October 6, 1939, with Germany and the Soviet Union occupying the entirety of Poland. Although the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany soon after Germany attacked Poland, very little direct military aid was provided (see Phoney War and Western betrayal). Following a German-staged "Polish attack" on August 31, 1939, on September 1, German forces invaded Poland from the north, south, and west. Spread thin defending their long borders, the Polish armies were soon forced to withdraw eastward. Selected equipment The Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21) was the lead ship of the Royal Navy's Majestic class of light aircraft carriers. Operating from 1955 until 1982, she was the third and final conventional aircraft carrier to serve in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Melbourne also served as the RAN flagship, and was the only British Commonwealth naval vessel to sink two friendly warships in peacetime. Her keel was laid down in April 1943, and she was launched as HMS Majestic (R77) in February 1945. At the end of World War II, work on the ship was suspended until she was purchased by the Royal Australian Navy in 1947. At the time of purchase, it was decided to incorporate new aircraft carrier technologies into the design, making Melbourne the third ship to be constructed with an angled flight deck. Delays in construction and integrating the enhancements meant that the carrier was not commissioned until 1955.Melbourne never fired a shot in anger during her career, having only peripheral, non-combat roles in the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation and the Vietnam War. However, she was involved in two major collisions with allied vessels. collising with and sinking HMAS Voyager on 10 February 1964, and USS Frank E. Evans on 3 June 1969. Selected battle The Battle of Edson's Ridge, also known as the Battle of the Bloody Ridge, Battle of Raiders Ridge, and Battle of the Ridge, was a land battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Imperial Japanese Army and Allied (mainly United States Marine Corps) ground forces. It took place September 12–September 14, 1942 on Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands, and was the second of three separate major Japanese ground offensives in the Guadalcanal campaign.In the battle, U.S. Marines, under the overall command of U.S. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, repulsed an attack by the Japanese 35th Infantry Brigade, under the command of Japanese Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi. The Marines were defending the Lunga perimeter that guarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, which was captured from the Japanese by the Allies in landings on Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942. Kawaguchi's unit was sent to Guadalcanal in response to the Allied landings with the mission of recapturing the airfield and driving the Allied forces from the island. Selected picture Benito Mussolini of Fascist Italy (left) and Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany, two of the Axis leaders of World War II, before one of the Honor Temples of Königsplatz, Munich, sending off their armies to North Africa and into Egypt against the British. Selected biography Witold Pilecki was a soldier of the Second Polish Republic, the founder of the Secret Polish Army (Tajna Armia Polska) Polish resistance group and a member of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa). During World War II, he became the only known person to volunteer to be imprisoned at Auschwitz concentration camp. While there, he organized the resistance movement in the camp, and as early as 1940, informed the Western Allies of Nazi Germany's Auschwitz atrocities. He escaped from the camp in 1943 and took part in the Warsaw Uprising. Pilecki was executed in 1948 by the communists. Until 1989, information on his exploits and fate was suppressed by the Polish communist regime.Witold Pilecki was born May 13, 1901, in Olonets on the shores of Lake Ladoga in Karelia, Russia, where his family had been forcibly resettled by Tsarist Russian authorities after the suppression of Poland's January Uprising of 1863–1864. Did you know...? ...that approximately 10,000 young Germans known as the Ritchie Boys served in the United States Army in World War II helping conduct psychological warfare against Nazi Germany? ...that Harold G. Schrier led the patrol of U.S. Marines who raised the first American flag on Mount Suribachi? ...that the Land Coastal Defence which defended the Polish coast during the German invasion of Poland was subordinate to the Polish Navy, not the Army? Categories ▼ World War II ► World War II by continent ► World War II by country ► Lists of World War II topics ► World War II-related lists ► Aftermath of World War II ► Aviation in World War II ► Battles and operations of World War II ► World War II casualties ► Chronology of World War II ► Collaboration during World War II ► Cultural history of World War II ► Military deception during World War II ► Economic history of World War II ► Friendly fire incidents of World War II ► Historiography of World War II ► Intelligence of World War II ► World War II legislation ► Military logistics of World War II ► World War II and the media ► Military animals of World War II ► Military discipline and World War II ► Military equipment of World War II ► Military medicine in World War II ► Military units and formations of World War II ► Naval history of World War II ► World War II non-governmental organizations ► People of World War II ► Politics of World War II ► Pope Pius XII and World War II ► World War II propaganda ► World War II resistance movements ► Science and technology during World War II ► World War II sites ► Sociology of World War II ► Unfree labor during World War II ► World War II crimes ► Works about World War II ► World War II naval ships ► World War II stubs Selected quote "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 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 more... The Axis • Bulgaria • Croatia • Japan • Finland • Vichy France • Hungary • Italy • Germany • Romania • Thailand • Slovakia more... Things you can do 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 • Holocaust slave labor litigation (draft) • Ove Kampman • League for Combat Policy • Julien Meline • Operation Bigot • Operation Mittelmeer • Operation Richard • Otto Program • Martin Poppel • Roehm's Avengers • Dorothy Tartiere • Poul Bruun • Raoul Boulanger • Serge Asher-Ravanel • Battle of West Ukraine (1941) • Battle of Zunyi • Free Dutch Forces (draft, please assist) • Liberation of Denmark (currently redirect) • Operation Vado (currently redirect) • Finnish 19th Division (Continuation War) • Finnish 11th Division (Continuation War) • Finnish VII Corps (Continuation War) • Finnish VI Corps (Continuation War) • Finnish IV Corps (Continuation War) • Finnish Cavalry Brigade • 1st Jaeger Brigade • 2nd Jaeger Brigade • Finnish 1st Division (Continuation War) • 168th Rifle Division (Soviet Union) • 71st Rifle Division (Soviet Union) • Group Oinonen • A.S. Ksenofontov • Siege of Tobruk (June 1942) • 5th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (ru) • Novorossiysk-Taman operation (ru) • 1943 Novorossiysk operation (ru) • 1943 Aerial Battles over Kuban (ru) • Battle of Rostov (1943) (ru) • Olshansky amphibious landing (ru) • Nalchik-Ordzhonikidzevskaya operation (ru) • Bukrinsky landing (ru) • Cape Tarhan Landing (ru) • 1942 Sudak Landing (ru) ] • Turning point of World War II Expansion needed Princess Irene Brigade • Battle of Bay of Viipuri • Demilitarisation; 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 • Victor Strydonck de Burkel • 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 • Raid on Choiseul • 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 • 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 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 • Translation needed  pt:Tobrouk (militar) Associated Wikimedia Portals Activities Culture Geography Health History Mathematics Nature People Philosophy Religion Society Technology Random portal