World War II

Some 20 years after the end of World War I, lingering disputes erupted in an even larger and bloodier conflict—World War II. The war began in Europe in 1939, but by its end in 1945 it had involved nearly every part of the world. The opposing sides were the Axis powers—consisting mainly of Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies—primarily France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China. Estimates of the number of casualties vary widely, but by any measure the war's human cost was enormous—35 million to 60 million deaths, with millions more wounded or left homeless.

The political consequences of World War II, like those of World War I, altered the course of 20th-century world history. The war resulted in the Soviet Union's dominance of the countries of eastern Europe and eventually enabled a Communist movement to take power in China. It also marked a decisive shift of power away from the countries of western Europe and toward the United States and the Soviet Union. The tense rivalry between those two countries and their allies, known as the Cold War, would influence events throughout the world for the next 50 years.

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