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WORLD WAR 2 BEGINS
World War II (WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. In a state of "total war", the major participants threw their en -
WORLD WAR 2 IN ENGLAND
On 3rd September1939 England declared war on warmongering Germany because they invaded Poland, having already annexed the Rhineland, Austria and Czechoslovakia. Actually for the commencement of the war we must go as far back as 1931 and to the other side of the world, when Japan embarked on their first move in their expansionist bid to seize land in South East Asia to secure more territory for their bulging population together with supplies of oil and rubber. Their first stepping stone was the -
WORLD WAR 2 IN ITALY
The participation of Italy in the Second World War was characterized by a complex framework of ideology, politics and diplomacy, in which its military history took place often heavily influenced by external factors. The imperial ambitions of the Fascist regime, which aspired to restore a "Roman Empire" in the Mediterranean (their Mare Nostrum), collapsed due to defeats in Greece and East and North Africa. In 1943 Benito Mussolini was ousted and arrested by order of King Victor Emmanuel III, prov -
WORLD WAR 2 IN BRITISH
The contribution of the British Empire and Commonwealth in terms of manpower and materiel was critical to the Allied war effort. However, it also proved difficult to co-ordinate the defence of far-flung colonies and Commonwealth countries from simultaneous attacks by the Axis Powers. In part this was exacerbated by disagreements over priorities and objectives, as well as the deployment and control of joint forces. The governments of Britain and Australia, in particular, turned to the United Stat -
FAR EAST EXPIDITIONARY FORCES
The Forces Expéditionnaires Françaises d'Extrême-Orient (FEFEO) was a French expeditionary corps created on 4 October 1943 to fight in the Asian theatre of World War II and liberate French Indochina which was still occupied by the Japanese since 1940. Recruiting posters of the FEFEO depicted a US-built M4 Sherman tank of general Leclerc's Free French 2nd Armoured Division, famous for its role in the 1944 liberation of Paris and Strasbourg, with the caption "Yesterday Strasbourg, tomorrow Saigon: -
WORLD WAR 2 IN GREAT BRITAIN
Before the war the British government began preparing for air raids. By 1939 they had an air raid precautions system ready with barrage balloons and air raid sirens. Before the war began people bought Anderson shelters (although poor people could get them free). An Anderson shelter was made of sections of corrugated iron. You erected it in a hole at least 3 feet deep in your garden and used the earth from the hole to cover it. From the end of 1940 some people got Morrison shelters (again poor pe -
WORLD WAR IN FRANCE
The military history of France during World War II covers two periods. From 1939 until 1940, which witnessed a losing war against Germany by the French Third Republic. The period from 1940 until 1945, which saw competition between Vichy France and the Free French Forces under General Charles de Gaulle for control of the overseas empire. In 1944 the Allies (United States, Britain and others) invaded and took control of France, expelling the Germans (except for a few ports the Germans kept). -
WORLD WAR 2 IN UNITED KINGDOM
On 3 September, Britain and France declared war on Germany as obliged by the Anglo-Polish military alliance, the declaration was made 24 hours after the UK had issued an ultimatum to Germany to withdraw all German forces from Poland. After the fall of Poland, the Royal Navy was strengthened by the arrival of two Polish submarines Orzeł (Eagle) and Wilk (Wolf) and the formation of Polish Navy in the United Kingdom then supplemented with leased British ships. -
WORLD WAR 2 IN CANADA
The military history of Canada during World War II[1] officially began on 1 September 1939, with the German invasion of Poland. Britain and France declared war on the Third Reich two days later, on 3 September 1939. One week later, on 10 September 1939, Canada likewise declared war on Germany, the country's first independent declaration of war[2] and the beginning of Canada's participation in the largest combined national effort in its history. -
WORLD WAR IN EUROPE
On June 6, 1944 (D-Day), as part of a massive military operation, over 150,000 Allied soldiers landed in France, which was liberated by the end of August. On September 11, 1944, the first US troops crossed into Germany, one month after Soviet troops crossed the eastern border. In mid-December the Germans launched an unsuccessful counterattack in Belgium and northern France, known as the Battle of the Bulge. Allied air forces attacked Nazi industrial plants, such as the one at the Auschwitz camp -
WORLD WAR ENDS
World War 2 ended with the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers. On 8 May 1945, the Allies accepted Germany's surrender, about a week after Adolf Hitler had committed suicide. VE Day – Victory in Europe celebrates the end of the Second World War on 8 May 1945.
