Timeline of WWII - WWII Foundation (2024)

World War II, also called the Second World War, was a global conflict during the years 1939–1945.

The principal combatants were the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies—France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China.

The war was in many respects a continuation, after an uneasy 20-year hiatus, of the disputes left unsettled by World War I and the conditions imposed on Germany in the Treaty of Versailles, ending “The Great War.”

The 50,000,000–70,000,000 deaths incurred in World War II make it the bloodiest conflict, as well as the largest war, in history.

Below are some key dates in World War II.

Some of these events actually took place before the first “official” shot of WWII was fired on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland touching off the war in Europe.

There had already been fighting in the Pacific between Japan and neighboring countries. Japan’s December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor took the war to another level as the United States was thrust into this global conflict.

Even today, everyone has a personal connection to World War II in their family in some manner. It’s up to you to discover what that is.