History glossary
Second World War
the global war from 1939 to 1945 involving the Axis and Allied powers.
- Category
- War
- Region
- Global
- Date range
- 1939-1945
What it means
The Second World War was fought across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Atlantic, and the Pacific. It involved mass mobilization, genocide, aerial bombing, occupation, resistance, atomic weapons, and the defeat of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan.
Related terms
Stories using this term
The Ethiopian Empire
From Tewodros II's reunification drive to Haile Selassie's overthrow, Ethiopia defended independence, expanded imperial power, modernised unevenly and held a unique place in modern African history.
Imperial Japan
From Meiji modernisation to colonial rule, militarism, mobilisation and defeat, Imperial Japan rose as a modern empire before collapsing in 1945.
Apartheid South Africa
From white minority rule to mass resistance, Mandela's release and the first democratic election, apartheid reshaped South Africa and the world.
The Holocaust
From legal discrimination to genocide, the Holocaust traces twelve years of escalating persecution that killed six million Jews and millions of others across Nazi-occupied Europe.
Nazi Germany
From Weimar collapse to WWII, Nazi Germany imposed totalitarian rule, expansion, and genocide.
Operation Barbarossa
From Hitler's ideological war in the east to Soviet survival before Moscow, Barbarossa turned expected blitzkrieg into prolonged attritional catastrophe.
The Cold War
Rivalry between East and West shapes global politics - through proxy wars, propaganda, and nuclear tension.
The Korean War
A Cold War conflict that divided Korea, ending in stalemate and a lasting unresolved border.
