The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to World War II: World War II, or the Second World War was a global military conflict that was fought between September 1, 1939, and September 2, 1945.
The war pitted two major military alliances against each other: the Allies of the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, China and others against the Axis of Germany, Japan, Italy and others.
Over 60 million people, the majority of them civilians, were killed, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.
It is also known for the numerous war crimes committed during its duration, mostly by Axis forces but also by Allied forces, that left tens of millions of civilians dead through genocides, massacres and starvation; such as the Holocaust, Three Alls Policy, Genocide of ethnic Poles, Unit 731, Nanjing massacre, Hunger Plan and the Warsaw Uprising.
The following list includes some of the largest events in World War II: For all theatres in Africa, see: African theatres The Second World War was characterized by many instances of War crimes: Technology during World War II