World War II Timeline

[Hagar]

If you asked most people I think they would agree with the 1939-45 timeline. However, as a matter of curiosity I typed the subject line of this topic in Google & this is what it came up with. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/ww2Timeline/1917-45.html

World War II Timeline 1917-45

[dcunning30]

Makes sense to me.  Many people, me included, believe the Treaty of Versaille set the stage for the rise of Hitler and hostilities breaking out in Europe.

[Hagar]

Many people, me included, believe the Treaty of Versaille set the stage for the rise of Hitler and hostilities breaking out in Europe.

I'm quite certain of that.

[dcunning30]

And the Boxer Rebellion was a watershed event of how the Japanese viewed western nations and themselves.

[WebbPA]

Sometimes we just have to accept "generally accepted" principles.

The generally accepted principle for the start of WW2 is September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland.

The generally accepted principle for the end of WW2 is August 15, 1945, when Japan surrendered to the United States.

Historical events do not neatly fit our conceptions of "start date" and "end date".  Wars do not start overnight but are the results (in hindsight) of numerous factors.

[Brett_Henderson]

As long as we're doing "what if", "how come", "yeah but"...

What is a world war ?

Right now there is (from a U.S. perspective) a multi-front war with multi-alliances on all sides. Several countries; multiple fronts... is it a world war ?

[WebbPA]

That's a great question and, I think, worthy of a new topic.

WWI was called "The World War" before WW2.

WW2 is called World War Two (duh, what follows WWI).

WW3 was previously envisioned as a nuclear confrontation between the US/NATO and the Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact because their extensive alliances would have engulfed the entire world.

My preliminary speculation is that a "World War" must involve every continent (except Antarctica if you are going to be picky) and every major government.  It would help if the major governments' very existence depends upon the outcome of the war.

By this definition you could exclude every belligerent action since 1945.

[Hagar]

The generally accepted principle for the start of WW2 is September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland.

I'm sure the Poles would disagree but I've always thought of it as the 3rd September, 1939, when Britain & France officially declared war on Germany.

As for the description World War, this involved not only most of continental Europe but also the whole British Empire, French colonies & colonies of the Axis powers, covering a large part of the world. This map gives some idea of the scale.

Map with the Participants in World War II:



Dark Green: Allies before the attack on Pearl Harbor
Light Green: Allied countries that entered the war after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Orange: Axis Powers
Grey: Neutral countries