World War Two
1940s global conflict
World War Two was the global military conflict fought from 1939 to 1945, primarily between the Allied Powers (including Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States) and the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan).
It remains the deadliest war in human history.
Also written World War II, World War 2, the Second World War, or simply WWII.
1944 Normandy invasion
- StalingradRenamed Soviet industrial city
- Pearl HarborHawaiian military port attacked 1941
- MidwayFair's entertainment corridor
- Battle of Britain1940 aerial campaign over England
Normandy · Iwo Jima · Okinawa · Kursk · Dunkirk · Operation Barbarossa · Guadalcanal · Leningrad
Nazi Germany's armed forces
- LuftwaffeGerman military aviation
- blitzkriegFast, overwhelming military campaign
- panzerGerman armored fighting vehicle
- infantryGround combat troops
artillery · U-boat · Kamikaze · paratrooper · RAF · convoy · amphibious · bombing raid
Limiting distribution during scarcity
- victory gardenCivilian wartime food plot
- war bondsGovernment debt for combat
- ration booksWartime supply allocation documents
- blackoutComplete power loss
air raid shelter · evacuation · women workers · Rosie the Riveter · propaganda · civil defense · scrap drives · curfew
North American federal republic
- United KingdomAtlantic archipelago nation
- Soviet UnionFormer communist superstate
- FranceWestern European republic
- ChinaEast Asian superpower
Canada · Australia · New Zealand · India · Poland · Free French · resistance · liberation
Clandestine atomic weapons program
- HiroshimaFirst nuclear-struck city
- NagasakiSecond city bombed atomically
- atomic bombFission-triggered mass destruction device
- mushroom cloudDistinctive nuclear blast formation
Enola Gay · Fat Man · Little Boy · Oppenheimer · radiation · nuclear · Trinity test · Los Alamos
Hitler's fascist dictatorship
- Imperial JapanExpansionist East Asian empire
- Fascist ItalyMussolini's authoritarian Italian regime
- Third ReichHitler's totalitarian German state
- fascismUltranationalist dictatorial political system
Adolf Hitler · Benito Mussolini · Hirohito · Rome-Berlin Axis · Rising Sun · occupation · aggression · expansionism
Systematic annihilation of a people
- concentration campFacility for mass political detention
- AuschwitzNazi extermination camp
- gas chamberSealed execution room using poison
- Nuremberg LawsNazi anti-Jewish statutes
ghetto · deportation · extermination · Anne Frank · Kristallnacht · yellow star · death march · liberation
U.S. military slang
- soldierArmed forces member
- servicemanArmed forces personnel
- paratrooperMilitary aerial deployer
- marineRelating to the sea
sailor · airman · medic · POW · Purple Heart · Bronze Star · PTSD · homecoming
Postwar tribunal for Nazi leaders
- V-E DayMay 1945 armistice commemoration
- V-J DayImperial capitulation commemoration
- occupationOne's regular paid work
- reconstructionRebuilding after destruction
Marshall Plan · Iron Curtain · Cold War · displaced persons · war crimes tribunal · denazification · Potsdam Conference · Yalta Conference
D-Day
1944 Normandy invasion
- StalingradRenamed Soviet industrial city
- Pearl HarborHawaiian military port attacked 1941
- MidwayFair's entertainment corridor
Battle of Britain · Normandy · Iwo Jima · Okinawa · Kursk · Dunkirk · Operation Barbarossa · Guadalcanal · Leningrad · Berlin
Wehrmacht
Nazi Germany's armed forces
- LuftwaffeGerman military aviation
- blitzkriegFast, overwhelming military campaign
- panzerGerman armored fighting vehicle
infantry · artillery · U-boat · Kamikaze · paratrooper · RAF · convoy · amphibious · bombing raid · air raid
rationing
Limiting distribution during scarcity
- victory gardenCivilian wartime food plot
- war bondsGovernment debt for combat
- ration booksWartime supply allocation documents
blackout · air raid shelter · evacuation · women workers · Rosie the Riveter · propaganda · civil defense · scrap drives · curfew · shortages
United States
North American federal republic
- United KingdomAtlantic archipelago nation
- Soviet UnionFormer communist superstate
- FranceWestern European republic
China · Canada · Australia · New Zealand · India · Poland · Free French · resistance · liberation · Lend-Lease
Manhattan Project
Clandestine atomic weapons program
- HiroshimaFirst nuclear-struck city
- NagasakiSecond city bombed atomically
- atomic bombFission-triggered mass destruction device
mushroom cloud · Enola Gay · Fat Man · Little Boy · Oppenheimer · radiation · nuclear · Trinity test · Los Alamos · uranium
Nazi Germany
Hitler's fascist dictatorship
- Imperial JapanExpansionist East Asian empire
- Fascist ItalyMussolini's authoritarian Italian regime
- Third ReichHitler's totalitarian German state
Adolf Hitler · Benito Mussolini · Hirohito · fascism · Rome-Berlin Axis · Rising Sun · occupation · aggression · expansionism · militarism
genocide
Systematic annihilation of a people
- concentration campFacility for mass political detention
- AuschwitzNazi extermination camp
- gas chamberSealed execution room using poison
Nuremberg Laws · ghetto · deportation · extermination · Anne Frank · Kristallnacht · yellow star · death march · liberation · survivor
GI
U.S. military slang
- soldierArmed forces member
- servicemanArmed forces personnel
- paratrooperMilitary aerial deployer
marine · sailor · airman · medic · POW · Purple Heart · Bronze Star · PTSD · homecoming · memorial
Nuremberg Trials
Postwar tribunal for Nazi leaders
- V-E DayMay 1945 armistice commemoration
- V-J DayImperial capitulation commemoration
- occupationOne's regular paid work
reconstruction · Marshall Plan · Iron Curtain · Cold War · displaced persons · war crimes tribunal · denazification · Potsdam Conference · Yalta Conference · United Nations
- US HistoryAmerican Revolution, US history, Civil War, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln
- TurkmenistanMerv, gas reserves, cotton cultivation, cult of personality
- AustriaVienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austrian flag
- PrussiaPrussian blue, East Prussia, Frederick the Great, Bismarck, Kingdom
- St. LouisGateway Arch, Cardinals, Anheuser-Busch, Arch, Budweiser
World War Twoworld peace
Global absence of conflict
peacetime · peace · global harmony · Pax Americana · international cooperation
World War Twoborder skirmish
Minor fight at boundary
limited engagement · border conflict · regional conflict · proxy war · civil war
world, worlds, wars, worldly, worldwide, worldliness, unworldly, warlike, warring