World war 2 facts

World war 2 facts for kids

Western technological advances had turned upon itself, bringing about the most destructive war in human history. Seven days after the suicide of Adolf Hitler , Germany unconditionally surrendered on May 7, The Japanese would go on to fight for nearly four more months until their surrender on September 2 , which was brought on by the U.

Despite winning the war, Britain largely lost much of its empire, which was outlined in the basis of the Atlantic Charter. The war precipitated the revival of the U. The fundamentally disparate, one-time allies became engaged in what was to be called the Cold War , which dominated world politics for the latter half of the 20th century. The most destructive war in all of history, its exact cost in human lives is unknown, but casualties in World War II may have totaled over 60 million service personnel and civilians killed.

When was world war 2

Nations suffering the highest losses, military and civilian, in descending order, are:. Some say it was simply a continuation of the First World War that had theoretically ended in Others point to , when Japan seized Manchuria from China. No one historic event can be said to have been the origin of World War II. The United States U. Navy first developed plans in preparation for a naval war with Japan in War Plan Orange, as it was called, would be updated continually as technology advanced and greatly aided the U.

The years between the first and second world wars were a time of instability. The Great Depression that began on Black Tuesday , plunged the worldwide recession.