- Pacific War — World War II in the Pacific and East Asia
- World War II in China, including the Second Sino-Japanese War
- World War II in Europe
- World War II in Africa
Most Western chronicles consider World War II to have started with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. Chinese chronicles consider it to have started with Japan's invasion of the Chinese heartland on 7 July 1937, or even its invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. The war is generally considered to have ended with either the unconditional surrender of Japan on 15 August 1945, or with Japan's formal signing of the Instrument of Surrender on 2 September 1945.
As in World War I, Commonwealth nations such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa — made important contributions to the British war effort. Britain also used troops from its vast colonial empire such as India, Malaya, Hong Kong and Sarawak. Among the colonial units that distinguished themselves during the war were India's Sikh Regiment, Malaya's Malay Regiment and the Sarawak Rangers.
The end of World War II resulted in the formation of the United Nations, whose structure still reflects that to this day; the five permanent members of the Security Council, the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France were the principal Allies during World War II. World War II also marked the beginning of the end of the Age of Colonialism, as most of the European colonial powers were greatly weakened by the war, and saw the rise of the United States and the Soviet Union to become the world's superpowers, thus ushering in the Cold War.
Destinations
[edit]The sites relating to World War II are mainly listed in the respective articles for each theatre. Here, we only list the main World War II museum for each of the principal allies of World War II.
- 1 The National WWII Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America, ☏ +1 504 528 1944. Main museum commemorating the American war effort in both theatres of World War II.
- 2 Imperial War Museum, London, England, United Kingdom (In the London borough of Lambeth.), ☏ +44 20 7416-5000. Main British military museum, with exhibits commemorating the Holocaust and the British war effort in both theatres.
- 3 Museum of the Great Patriotic War (Центральный музей Великой Отечественной войны), Moscow, Russia, ☏ +7 499 449 8181. Main museum commemorating the Soviet war effort on the Eastern Front. Also contains a memorial to the millions of Soviet citizens who were killed in the war.
- 4 Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (中国人民抗日战争纪念馆), Beijing, China, ☏ +86 10 6377 7088. China's main World War II museum, with exhibits commemorating the Chinese resistance in the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937-1945.
