Portal:World War II
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
 World War II or the Second World War was a global military conflict, the joining of what had initially been two separate conflicts. 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. This global conflict split the majority of the world's nations into opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. It involved the mobilization of over 100 million military personnel, making it the most widespread war in history, and placed the participants in a state of "total war", erasing the distinction between civil and military resources. This resulted in the complete activation of a nation's economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities for the purposes of the war effort. Over 70 million people, the majority of them civilians, were killed, making it the deadliest conflict in human history. The Allies were victorious, and, as a result, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as the world's leading superpowers. This set the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 45 years. The United Nations was formed in the hope of preventing another such conflict. The self determination spawned by the war accelerated decolonization movements in Asia and Africa, while Europe itself began moving toward integration. .jpg/150px-Centaur_(AWM_043235).jpg)  The North American P-51 Mustang was an American long-range single-seat fighter aircraft that entered service with Allied air forces in the middle years of World War II and became one of the conflict's most successful and recognizable aircraft. The definitive version of the single-seat fighter was powered by a single two-stage supercharged V-12-1650 Rolls-Royce Merlin engine and armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2 machine guns. Mustangs remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. It is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that, in persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain is at war, and that, as a result, Australia is also at war... There was never any doubt as to where Great Britain stood... There can be no doubt that where Great Britain stands, there stands the people of the entire British world."
 Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC (17 November 1887–24 March 1976), often referred to as "Monty", was a British Army officer. He successfully commanded Allied forces at the Battle of El Alamein, a major turning point in World War II, and troops under his command were largely responsible for the expulsion of Axis forces from North Africa. He was later a prominent commander in Italy and North-West Europe, where he was in command of all Allied ground forces during Operation Overlord until after the Battle of Normandy.
From the World War II task force of the Military history WikiProject:
Culture · Geography · Health · History · Mathematics · Nature · Philosophy · Religion · Society · Technology |
.svg/20px-Flag_of_Poland_(bordered).svg.png){kind=small}
.svg/20px-Flag_of_Greece_(1828-1978).svg.png){kind=small}
.svg/20px-Flag_of_Czechoslovakia_(bordered).svg.png){kind=small}
_crowned.svg/20px-Flag_of_Italy_(1861-1946)_crowned.svg.png){kind=small}
.svg/20px-Flag_of_Finland_(bordered).svg.png){kind=small}
