Topic outline of World War II

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global military conflict, the joining of what had initially been two separate wars. The first began in Asia in 1937 as the Second Sino-Japanese War; the other began in Europe in 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. [Official military histories in Commonwealth nations refer to the conflict as the Second World War, while the United States' official histories refer to the conflict as World War II. English translations of the official histories of other nations tend to resolve into English as Second World War also, for example "zweite weltkrieg" in German. See C.P. Stacey "Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War", for example. "Official" usage of these terms is giving way to popular usage and the two terms are becoming interchangeable even in formal military history.] This global conflict split the majority of the world's nations into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. It involved the mobilization of over 100 million military personnel, making it the most widespread and largest war in history, propelling the participants into a state of "total war", which erased the distinction between civil and military resources, as nations focused their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities toward winning (and ending) the war. Over 60 million people, the majority of them civilians, were killed, making it the deadliest conflict in human history. [Dunnigan, James. Dirty Little Secrets of World War II: Military Information No One Told You About the Greatest, Most Terrible War in History, William Morrow & Company, 1994. ISBN 0-688-12235-3] The financial cost of the war is estimated at about a trillion 1944 U.S. dollars worldwide, [Mayer, E. (2000) [http://emayzine.com/lectures/WWII.html "World War II"] course lecture notes on "Emayzine.com" (Victorville, California: Victor Valley College)] [Coleman, P. (1999) [http://members.aol.com/forcountry/ww2/wc1.htm "Cost of the War,"] "World War II Resource Guide" (Gardena, California: The American War Library)] making it the most costly war in capital as well as lives.

The Allies were victorious, and from among them emerged two superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union, the tension between them setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 45 years. The United Nations was formed in hopes of preventing further international conflicts. The self determination spawned by the war accelerated decolonization movements in Asia and Africa, while Europe itself began moving toward integration.cite encyclopedia|title=World War II|url=http://www.bartleby.com/65/ww/WW2.html|encyclopedia=The Columbia Encyclopedia|date=2007|edition=6th|accessdate=2008-03-10]

The following outline is provided as an overview of and introduction to World War II:

Essence of World War II

: "Main articles: World War II and Timeline of World War II"

* Adolf Hitler
* Axis vs. Allies
* Conquest
* The Holocaust
* European Theater
* Imperialism
* Pacific Theater
* Tyranny
* War
** Mechanized warfare
** Total war
** World War

Causes of World War II

* Adolf Hitler
* Events preceding World War II in Asia
* Events preceding World War II in Europe
* Lebensraum
* Nazi Party
* Treaty of Versailles

The Holocaust

* Anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany
* Diary of Anne Frank
* Nazi book burnings
* Nazi concentration camps
** Nazi concentration camps in Norway
* Nazi eugenics
* Nazi human experimentation
* Racial policy of Nazi Germany

Participants in World War II

* Allies of World War II "(see also Allies)"
** Major Allied powers
*** Canada
*** United States
*** Soviet Union
*** United Kingdom
** Minor Allied powers
* Axis powers
** Major Axis powers
*** Nazi Germany
**** Glossary of the Third Reich
*** Empire of Japan
*** Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
** Minor Axis powers
*** Bulgaria
*** Croatia
*** Hungary
*** Romania
*** Slovak Republic
*** Kingdom of Yugoslavia (for two days)
*** Thailand
** "(For co-belligerents, puppet states, and collaborator states, see Axis Powers)."

Timeline of World War II

* Invasion of Poland (1939)
* Battle of Britain (September 1940)
* Operation Barbarossa (Invasion of the Soviet Union, commencing on June 22, 1941)
* Attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941)
* Battle of Midway (June 4-7, 1942)

World War II by region

* Free World (World War II)

World War II theatres, fronts, and campaigns

* African campaigns of World War II
* Home front during World War II
* Mediterranean Theatre of World War II
* Pacific Ocean theater of World War II
* Timeline of the Eastern Front of World War II
* U.S. campaigns in WWII
* Western Front (World War II)
* Campaigns of World War II
* East African Campaign (World War II)
* Eastern Front (World War II)
* Italian Campaign (World War II)
* West Africa Campaign (World War II)
* European Theatre of World War II
* South-East Asian Theatre of World War II
* Attacks on Australia during World War II
* Attacks on North America during World War II
* Australian home front during World War II
* List of Military operations on the Eastern Front European Theater during WW2
* United States home front during World War II
* Arctic convoys of World War II

World War II by country

* Albania
* Australia
* Belarus
* Bulgaria
** Bulgarian resistance movement during World War II
* Carpathian Ruthenia
* Egypt
* Estonia
** Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany
* Finland
* France
* Germany
** Nazi Germany
* Gibraltar
* Greece
** Axis occupation of Greece during World War II
* Greenland
* Hungary
* India
* Ireland
* Italy
* Latvia
** Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany
* Leningrad Oblast
* Nepal
* Netherlands
* New Zealand
** Axis naval activity in New Zealand waters
* Philippines
* Romania
* South Africa
* Spain
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Vietnam
* Yugoslavia "(See also Yugoslavia during the Second World War)"
** Bombing of Belgrade in World War II
** Invasion of Yugoslavia
** Yugoslav Front of World War II
* Occupation of Baltic republics by Nazi Germany
* Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany
* Occupation of Denmark
* Occupation of the Channel Islands
* Orders, decorations, and medals of Nazi Germany
* Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany

Other initiatives in World War II

* Nazi plunder

Propaganda during World War II

* American propaganda during World War II
** Walt Disney's World War II propaganda production
** List of Allied propaganda films of World War II
* British propaganda during World War II
* Nazi propaganda
* Soviet propaganda during World War II

People in World War II

* History of gay men in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust
* History of the Jews during World War II
* List of people who assisted Jews during the Holocaust
* American Minority Groups in World War II
* Hispanic Americans in World War II

Leaders in World War II

Military forces of World War II

* List of World War II aces by country
* List of World War II air aces
* British 51st (Highland) Infantry Division (World War II)
* British Army Groups in WWII
* British Brigades in World War II
* British Corps in World War II
* 17th Airborne Division

Technology during World War II

* German military technology during World War II
* Allied technological cooperation during World War II
* Technological escalation during World War II

Equipment of World War II

* Equipment losses in World War II

Vehicles of World War II

* List of World War II military vehicles by country
* List of World War II military vehicles of Germany
* List of World War II ship classes
* List of World War II ships
* List of World War II ships of less than 1000 tons
* List of WW2 Luftwaffe aircraft by manufacturer
* List of aircraft of Italy, World War II
* List of aircraft of Japan, World War II
* List of aircraft of Russia, World War II
* List of aircraft of World War II
* List of aircraft of the Armée de l'Air, World War II
* List of aircraft of the British, World War II
* List of aircraft of the Luftwaffe, World War II
* List of aircraft of the U.S. military, World War II
* List of armoured fighting vehicles of World War II
* List of broadsides of major World War II ships
* List of undersea-carried planes during World War II
* List of weapons on Japanese combat aircraft
* List of prototype WWII combat vehicles
* List of foreign vehicles used by Nazi Germany in World War II
* List of helicopters used in World War II
* List of jet aircraft of World War II
* List of limited service World War II combat vehicles

Weapons of World War II

* Nazi chocolate bar bomb
* Nazi belt buckle pistol

Common military awards

oviet Union

* Hero of the Soviet Union
* Order of Lenin
* Order of Suvorov
* Order of the October Revolution
* Order of the Red Banner
* Order of Victory

United States

* Medal of Honor
* Silver Star
* Bronze Star
* Distinguished Flying Cross
* Air Medal
* World War II Victory Medal
* Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
* European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
* American Campaign Medal

United Kingdom

* Victoria Cross
* Air Force Cross
* Order of the Bath
* Order of the British Empire
* Distinguished Flying Cross
* Africa Star
* Pacific Star

France and Belgium

* Croix de Guerre

Poland

* Cross of the Valorous
* Order of Polonia Restituta
* Virtuti Militari

Nazi Germany

* Iron Cross

The End of World War II

* End of World War II
* End of World War II in Europe
* End of World War II in the Pacific

Aftermath of World War II

* Allied war crimes during World War II
* Axis war criminals
* Nazi crimes against ethnic Poles
* Nazi gold
* Post-World War II baby boom
* Pursuit of Nazi collaborators
* Cold War
* Emergence of superpowers

World War II in pop-culture

* Fiction based on World War II

World War II lists

: "Main articles: List of World War II topics and Lists of World War II topics"

See also

* "History of the Second World War"

References

External links

; Directories
* [http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/History/By_Time_Period/20th_Century/Military_History/World_War_II/ Yahoo—"World War II"]
* [http://www.militaryindexes.com/worldwartwo/ Directory of Online World War II Indexes & Records]
* [http://vlib.iue.it/history/mil/ww2.html WWW-VL: History: WWII] ; General
* [http://www.ww2db.com/ World War II Database]
* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WW.htm The Second World War] —Spartacus Educational
* [http://www6.dw-world.de/en/worldwarII.php Deutsche Welle special section on World War II] created by one of Germany’s public broadcasters on World War II and the world 60 years after.
* [http://www.wwii.ca/ Canada and WWII]
* [http://www.historisches-centrum.de/index.php?id=427 End of World War II in Germany]
* [http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=226140 World War II Encyclopedia by the History Channel]
* [http://www.ww2awards.com World War II Awards and their recipients.] ; Media
* [http://www.archives.gov/research/ww2/ U.S. National Archives Photos]
* [http://digital.library.unt.edu/search.tkl?type=collection&q=WWII World War II Poster Collection] hosted by the University of North Texas Libraries' * [http://digital.library.unt.edu/ Digital Collections]
* [http://www.psywar.org/leaflets.php World War II Propaganda Leaflet Archive]
* [http://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/ World War 2 Pictures In Colour]
* [http://www.warphotos.co.nr/ Thousands of World War II Photographs & Movies]
* [http://english.pobediteli.ru/ Multimedia map] —Presentation that covers the war from the invasion of the Soviet Union to the fall of Berlin
* [http://www.otr.net/?p=news Radio news from 1938 to 1945]
* [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/theartofwar/ The Art of War Online Exhibition at the UK National Archive] ;On-line documents
* [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/maps/wwii/ World War II Military Situation Maps. Library of Congress]
* [http://www.american-divisions.com After Action Reports (AAR’s) and other official documents about the American Divisions during the Second World War]
* [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/history_ww2.html Maps from the Pacific and Italian theaters]
* [http://www.theblackvault.com/content-10.html Officially Declassified U.S. Government Documents about World War II]
* [http://www.foia.cia.gov/CPE/CAESAR/caesar-25.pdf "The Soviet History of World War II"] , 28 October 1959—Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Current Intelligence.
* [http://chrito.users1.50megs.com/ Daily German action reports] ; Stories
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ WW2 People's War] —A project by the BBC to gather the stories of ordinary people from World War II; Documentaries
* "The World at War" (1974) is a 26-part Thames Television series that covers most aspects of World War II from many points of view. It includes interviews with many key figures (Karl Dönitz, Albert Speer, Anthony Eden etc.) ( [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071075/ Imdb link] )
* "The Second World War in Colour" (1999) is a three episode documentary showing unique footage in color ( [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212694/ Imdb link] )
* "Battlefield (documentary series)" is a television documentary series initially issued in 1994–1995 that explores many of the most important battles fought during the Second World War."
* "The War" (2007) is 7-part PBS documentary recounting the experiences of a number of individuals from American communities.