Outline of World War II

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to World War II:

World War II, or the Second World War – global military conflict from 1939 to 1945, which was fought between the Allied powers of the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union against the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan, with their respective allies. Over 60 million people, the majority of them civilians, were killed, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.

Essence of World War II

Main articles: World War II and Timeline of World War II

• Adolf Hitler
• Axis vs. Allies
• The Holocaust
• European Theater
• Pacific Theater
• Mechanized warfare
• Modern warfare
• Total war
• World War

Causes of World War II

Main article: Causes of World War II

• Adolf Hitler
• Events preceding World War II in Asia
• Events preceding World War II in Europe
• Imperialism
  • Expansionism
    • Expansionist nationalism
      • Lebensraum
• Nazi Party
• Treaty of Versailles

The Holocaust

Main article: The Holocaust

• Anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany
• Diary of Anne Frank
• Nazi book burnings
• Nazi concentration camps
  • Nazi concentration camps in Norway
• Nazi eugenics
• Nazi human experimentation
• Racial policy of Nazi Germany
• Auschwitz concentration camp

Participants in World War II

Main article: Participants in World War II

• Allies of World War II (see also Allies)
  • Major Allied powers
    • United Kingdom
    • Soviet Union (June 1941 – 1945)
    • France (September 1939 – June 1940) / Free French (June 1940 to end of war)
    • United States (December 1941 – 1945)
    • Greece
    • Poland
    • China
    • Canada
  • Minor Allied powers
    • Australia
    • New Zealand
    • South Africa
    • Brazil
• Axis powers
  • Major Axis powers
    • Nazi Germany
      • Glossary of the Third Reich
    • Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
    • Empire of Japan
  • Minor Axis powers
    • Bulgaria
    • Croatia
    • Hungary
    • Romania
    • Slovak Republic
    • Kingdom of Yugoslavia (for two days)
    • Thailand
  • (For co-belligerents, puppet states, and collaborator states, see Axis Powers).

Timeline of World War II

Main articles: Timeline of World War II and List of military engagements of World War II

Summary timeline

• Invasion of Poland (September 1-October 6, 1939)
• Phoney War
• Winter War (30 November 1939 – 13 March 1940)
• Battle of the Atlantic (September 3, 1939 – May 7, 1945)
• Invasion of Denmark and Norway (April 9–June 10, 1940)
• Invasion of the Low Countries and the fall of France (May 10-June 25, 1940)
• Dunkirk evacuation (May 26-June 4, 1940)
• Battle of Britain (September 1940)
• Operation Barbarossa (Invasion of the Soviet Union, commencing on June 22, 1941)
• Siege of Leningrad (September 8, 1941 – January 27, 1944)
• Battle of Moscow (October 2, 1941 – January 7, 1942)
• Attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941)
• Fall of Singapore (February 8–15, 1942)
• Battle of the Coral Sea (May 4–8, 1942)
• Battle of Midway (June 4–7, 1942)
• First Battle of El Alamein (July 1–27, 1942)
• Battle of Stalingrad (July 17, 1942 – February 2, 1943)
• Dieppe Raid (August 19, 1942)
• Second Battle of El Alamein (October 23-November 5, 1942)
• Operation Torch (November 8–10, 1942)
• Battle of Kursk (July 4-August 23, 1943)
• Allied invasion of Sicily (July 9-August 17, 1943)
• Allied invasion of Italy (September 3–16, 1943)
• Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces (Signed on September 3, declared on September 8, 1943)
• Battle of Monte Cassino (January 17-May 18, 1944)
• Landings at Anzio (January 22-June 5, 1944)
• D-day (June 6, 1944)
• Destruction of Army Group Centre (June 22-August 19, 1944)
• Invasion of Southern France (August 15, 1944)
• Gothic Line (August 25-December 17, 1944)
• Operation Market Garden (September 17–25, 1944)
• Battle of Hürtgen Forest (September 19, 1944 – February 10, 1945)
• Battle of Aachen (October 2–21, 1944)
• Battle of the Scheldt (October 2-November 8, 1944)
• Battle of the Bulge (December 16, 1944 – January 25, 1945)
• Battle of Berlin (April 16-May 2, 1945)
• Victory in Europe Day (May 8, 1945)
• Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6 and 9, 1945)
• Victory over Japan Day (August 15, 1945)

Comprehensive timeline

• Timeline of World War II (1939–1945)
  • Timeline of events preceding World War II
    • Events preceding World War II in Asia
    • Events preceding World War II in Europe
  • Timeline of the invasion of Poland (1939)
  • Timeline of the Second Battle of the Atlantic (1939–1945)
  • Timeline of the Winter War (1939–1940)
  • Timeline of the Norwegian Campaign (1940)
  • Timeline of the North African Campaign (1940–1943)
  • Timeline of World War II (1939)
  • Timeline of World War II (1940)
  • Timeline of World War II (1941)
  • Timeline of World War II (1942)
  • Timeline of World War II (1943)
  • Timeline of World War II (1944)
  • Timeline of World War II (1945)

World War II by region

• Free World (World War II)

World War II theatres, fronts, and campaigns

• African campaigns of World War II
• Home front during World War II
• Mediterranean Theatre of World War II
• Pacific Ocean theater of World War II
• Timeline of the Eastern Front of World War II
• U.S. campaigns in WWII
• Western Front (World War II)
• Campaigns of World War II
• East African Campaign (World War II)
• Eastern Front (World War II)
• Italian Campaign (World War II)
• West Africa Campaign (World War II)
• European Theatre of World War II
• South-East Asian Theatre of World War II
• Attacks on Australia during World War II
• Attacks on North America during World War II
• Australian home front during World War II
• List of Military operations on the Eastern Front European Theater during WW2
• United States home front during World War II
• Arctic convoys of World War II

World War II by country

• Albania
• Australia
• Belarus
• Bulgaria
  • Bulgarian resistance movement during World War II
• Burma
• Carpathian Ruthenia
• Egypt
• Estonia
  • Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany
• Finland
• France
• Germany
  • Nazi Germany
• Gibraltar
• Greece
  • Axis occupation of Greece during World War II
• Greenland
• Hungary
• India
• Ireland
• Italy
• Latvia
  • Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany
• Leningrad Oblast
• Nepal
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
  • Axis naval activity in New Zealand waters
• Philippines
• Romania
• South Africa
• Southern Rhodesia
• Spain
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Vietnam
• Yugoslavia
  • Invasion of Yugoslavia
• Occupation of Baltic republics by Nazi Germany
• Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany
• Occupation of Denmark
• Occupation of the Channel Islands
• Orders, decorations, and medals of Nazi Germany
• Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany

Other initiatives in World War II

• Nazi plunder

Propaganda during World War II

• American propaganda during World War II
  • Walt Disney's World War II propaganda production
  • List of Allied propaganda films of World War II
• British propaganda during World War II
• Nazi propaganda
• Soviet propaganda during World War II

People in World War II

• Persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust
• History of the Jews during World War II
• List of individuals and groups assisting Jews during the Holocaust
• American Minority Groups in World War II
• Hispanic Americans in World War II

Leaders in World War II

• Allied leaders of World War II
• Axis Leaders of World War II
• Commanders of World War II

Military forces of World War II

• List of World War II aces by country
• List of World War II air aces
• British 51st (Highland) Infantry Division (World War II)
• British Army Groups in WWII
• British Brigades in World War II
• British Corps in World War II
• 17th Airborne Division

Technology during World War II

Main article: Technology during World War II

• German military technology during World War II
• Allied technological cooperation during World War II
• Technological escalation during World War II

Equipment of World War II

• Equipment losses in World War II

Vehicles of World War II

• List of World War II military vehicles by country
• List of World War II military vehicles of Germany
• List of World War II ship classes
• List of World War II ships
• List of World War II ships of less than 1000 tons
• List of WW2 Luftwaffe aircraft by manufacturer
• List of aircraft of Italy, World War II
• List of aircraft of Japan, World War II
• List of aircraft of Russia, World War II
• List of aircraft of World War II
• List of aircraft of the French Air Force during World War II
• List of aircraft of the British, World War II
• List of aircraft of the Luftwaffe, World War II
• List of aircraft of the U.S. military, World War II
• List of armoured fighting vehicles of World War II
• List of broadsides of major World War II ships
• List of undersea-carried planes during World War II
• List of weapons on Japanese combat aircraft
• List of prototype WWII combat vehicles
• List of foreign vehicles used by Nazi Germany in World War II
• List of helicopters used in World War II
• List of jet aircraft of World War II
• List of limited service World War II combat vehicles

Weapons of World War II

• Nazi chocolate bar bomb
• Nazi belt buckle pistol

Common military awards

Soviet Union

• Hero of the Soviet Union
• Order of Lenin
• Order of Suvorov
• Order of the October Revolution
• Order of the Red Banner
• Order of Victory

United States

• Medal of Honor
• Silver Star
• Bronze Star
• Distinguished Flying Cross
• Air Medal
• World War II Victory Medal
• Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
• European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
• American Campaign Medal

United Kingdom

• Victoria Cross
• Air Force Cross
• Order of the Bath
• Order of the British Empire
• Distinguished Flying Cross
• Africa Star
• Pacific Star

France and Belgium

• Croix de Guerre

Poland

• Cross of the Valorous
• Order of Polonia Restituta
• Virtuti Militari

Nazi Germany

• Iron Cross

The End of World War II

• End of World War II in Europe
• End of World War II in the Pacific

Aftermath of World War II

Main articles: Aftermath of World War II and Effects of World War II

• Allied war crimes during World War II
• Axis war criminals
• Nazi crimes against ethnic Poles
• Nazi gold
• Post–World War II baby boom
• Pursuit of Nazi collaborators
• Cold War
• Emergence of superpowers

World War II in pop-culture

• Fiction based on World War II

Books about World War II

• History of the Second World War

See also

• Lists of World War II topics
• Outline of war
• Outline of World War I

External links

Directories

• Yahoo—"World War II"
• Directory of Online World War II Indexes & Records
• WWW-VL: History: WWII

General

• World War II Database
• The Second World War—Spartacus Educational
• Deutsche Welle special section on World War II created by one of Germany’s public broadcasters on World War II and the world 60 years after.
• Canada and WWII
• End of World War II in Germany
• World War II Encyclopedia by the History Channel
• World War II Awards and their recipients.

Media

• U.S. National Archives Photos
• World War II Poster Collection hosted by the University of North Texas Libraries' *Digital Collections
• World War II Propaganda Leaflet Archive
• World War 2 Pictures In Colour
• Multimedia map—Presentation that covers the war from the invasion of the Soviet Union to the fall of Berlin
• Radio news from 1938 to 1945
• The Art of War Online Exhibition at the UK National Archive

On-line documents

• World War II Military Situation Maps. Library of Congress
• After Action Reports (AAR’s) and other official documents about the American Divisions during the Second World War
• Maps from the Pacific and Italian theaters
• Officially Declassified U.S. Government Documents about World War II
• The Soviet History of World War II, 28 October 1959—Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Current Intelligence.
• Daily German action reports

Stories

• WW2 People's War—A project by the BBC to gather the stories of ordinary people from World War II

Documentaries

• The World at War (1974) is a 26-part Thames Television series that covers most aspects of World War II from many points of view. It includes interviews with many key figures (Karl Dönitz, Albert Speer, Anthony Eden etc.) (Imdb link)
• The Second World War in Colour (1999) is a three episode documentary showing unique footage in color (Imdb link)
• Battlefield (documentary series) is a television documentary series initially issued in 1994–1995 that explores many of the most important battles fought during the Second World War.
• The War (2007) is 7-part PBS documentary recounting the experiences of a number of individuals from American communities.