World War II (by k2k)

WORLD WAR TWO

In Europe, the war began with Hitler's attack on Poland, September 1st, 1939. England and France had defense treaties with Poland, and declared war on Germany two days later. The US and the Soviet Union were drawn into the war in 1941. The war in Europe and North Africa ended with Germany's surrender in May, 1945.

"The Big Three": Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meeting at the Tehran Conference in 1943

Historians do not agree on the exact date when World War II began. Most consider the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, to be the beginning of the war. Others say it started when the Japanese invaded Manchuria on September 18, 1931. Others even regard World War I, which culminated in the Peace with the Central Powers in 1921 and World War II as parts of the same conflict, with only a breathing spell in between.

More than 50 countries took part in the war, and the whole world felt its effects. Men fought in almost every part of the world, on every continent except Antarctica. Chief battlegrounds included Asia, Europe, North Africa, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea.