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The Second World War (abbreviated "WWII" or "WW2") was a major worldwide war that was first set off by the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and then officially began when Nazi Germany attacked Poland on September 1st of 1939 and ended after Japan surrendered on August 15th of 1945. It is considered a result of the outcome of World War I.

The belligerents formed two major factions, the Allied Powers (or "Allies") and the Axis Powers (or "Axis").

World War II is considered the deadliest military conflict in human history. Over 60 million people died as a result of the fighting and/or resulting resource shortages, as well as deliberate mass killings throughout the war, and hundreds of millions were displaced or left destitute in the aftermath. WW2 can also be considered the deathblow to the old European empires which had dominated history up to that point; the war left them financially, militarily, and culturally even more exhausted than they had been after WW1 and saw the rise of two new super-powers with a rather anti-colonial bent to them: the USSR and the USA, thus kickstarting the Cold War.

Technologically, WW2 saw the first usage of the many trends that still dominate warfare to this day: the first modern missiles and rockets were used during WW2, aircraft carriers replaced battleships as the dominant surface warfare vessels, unmanned radio controlled vehicles saw limited use during the war, and StG 44, the world's first assault rifle, entered service during the later half of the war. The most important and influential technology used, however, is the first (and only) usage of a nuclear weapon in the history of warfare: when the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by the atomic bombs dropped by the USA.

This tag can be applied if the image is related to World War 2, such as featuring technology (tanks, aircraft, warships or weapons) of the era, uniforms & troops, or battle scenes.

h4. Participants

h6. The Allies

* Czechoslovakia (annexed prior the war begun, later fought as partisans and foreign brigade)
* Yugoslavia
* Philippines (until 1942 and after 1945)
* India
* Canada
* Australia
* New Zealand
* South Africa
* Rhodesia
* Mongolia
* Brazil
* Mexico

h6. The Axis

* Nazi Germany

** Waffen-SS

** Wehrmacht

** Luftwaffe

** Kriegsmarine

** Afrika Korps

* Fascist Italy

** Regia Aeronautica

** Regia Marina

* Empire of Japan

** Imperial Japanese Navy

** Imperial Japanese Army

* Hungary

* Romania (until 1944)

* Bulgaria

* Finland

* Slovakia

* Croatia

* Philippines (from 1942 - 1945)

* Thailand

h4. People

h6. United States

* Franklin D. Roosevelt

* Harry S. Truman

* Julius Robert Oppenheimer

* General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower

* General Douglas MacArthur

* General George S Patton

* Lieutenant General Jimmy Doolittle

h6. United Kingdom

* Winston Churchill

* Marshall Bernard Montgomery

h6. Soviet Union

* Joseph Stalin

h6. Nazi Germany

* Adolf Hitler

* Heinrich Luitpold Himmler

* Josef Mengele

* Michael Wittmann

* Kurt Knispel

* Hermann Wilhelm Goering

* Erwin Rommel

h6. Empire of Japan

* Emperor Hirohito

* Toujou Hideki

* Kuribayashi Tadamichi

* Nishi Takeichi

* Horikoshi Jirou

* Sakai Saburou

h6. Fascist Italy

* Benito Mussolini

h4. Battles / Events

h6. Pacific Theatre

h6. North Africa Front

* Battle of Beda Fomm

* First Battle of El Alamein

* Second Battle of El Alamein

h6. European Theatre/Western Front

h6. Eastern Front

* Siege of Odessa

* Siege of Sevastopol

* Battle of the Kerch Peninsula

* Winter Offensive

* Battle of Stalingrad

* Battle of Kursk

* Battle of the Dnieper

* Prague Offensive

* Battle of Berlin

** Raising A Flag Over The Reichstag

h4. See also

* Fat Man (bomb)

* Invasion Stripes

* Little Boy (bomb)

* PTSD

* World War I

* Second Sino-Japanese War

* Spanish Civil War

* Tag group:History

h4. World War II in Popular Culture

h4. External Links

* Wikipedia: World War II