World War II

World War II (1939–1945) was the deadliest and most widespread conflict in human history, involving over 30 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. Triggered by Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, it rapidly escalated into a global war between the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, Japan) and the Allied Powers (led by Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States, and China). The war saw unprecedented military campaigns, including the Blitzkrieg, island-hopping, and total aerial warfare. It also witnessed genocide on an industrial scale through the Holocaust, and culminated in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. World War II reshaped the global order, leading to the collapse of European colonial empires, the rise of the United States and Soviet Union as superpowers, the founding of the United Nations, and the beginning of the Cold War. Over 70 million people perished, leaving behind lasting scars and lessons on the cost of tyranny, fascism, and total war. background - | Artist: Zelma / Георгий Зельма | Credit: RIA Novosti archive, image #44732, http://visualrian.ru/ru/site/gallery/#44732 6x6 film / 6х6 негатив | Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0