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
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.
The Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia fractured through crisis, nationalism, and war, collapsing violently in the 1990s.
The Soviets
From revolution to superpower, the Soviet Union rose, struggled internally, and collapsed in 1991.
The Vietnam War
From decolonisation to Cold War conflict, the Vietnam War reshaped Southeast Asia and global politics.
The First World War
World War I reshaped empires, borders, and societies, setting the stage for World War II.
