Overview of World War II
What is World War II?
“World War II.” I bet you can guess something about this war just by its name: the whole world seemed to be fighting, and it wasn’t the first time. Maybe you’ve heard of World War II before, or maybe you haven’t. It was a very, very sad war. Your grandparents or your great-grandparents might have experienced it. Now, you’ll get to travel through time and see it for yourself. You’ll watch the blitz fill the skies of the United Kingdom, you’ll fight with the soldiers on D-Day in France, you’ll fly in the Battle of the Coral Sea where the Japanese faced the Americans. You will also experience the battlefield of the Eastern Front, where the largest conflicts of war took place between the Soviet Union and Germany and her allies.
First, you might want to know a little about the war. World War II was almost exactly six years long: it started on 1 September 1939, and it ended on 2 September 1945. Over 60 million people died as a result, making it the worst war in human history. Many countries fought in this war. Germany, Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and other countries were known as the “Axis”. The United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union, Republic of China, India, Australia, Canada, New Zealand (and many other counties of the British Empire) and the United States were known as the “Allies”. Italy (and some other countries) switched sides part way through the war.
Are you ready to enter World War II? Then let’s go!
Written for younger readers
Overview of World War II, in simpler words
This version comes from Wikijunior, a set of books written for children aged 8 to 11. It is shorter and uses plainer language than the article above.
From Wikijunior: World War II
“World War II.” I bet you can guess something about this war just by its name: the whole world seemed to be fighting, and it wasn’t the first time. Maybe you’ve heard of World War II before, or maybe you haven’t. It was a very, very sad war. Your grandparents or your great-grandparents might have experienced it. Now, you’ll get to travel through time and see it for yourself. You’ll watch the blitz fill the skies of the United Kingdom, you’ll fight with the soldiers on D-Day in France, you’ll fly in the Battle of the Coral Sea where the Japanese faced the Americans. You will also experience the battlefield of the Eastern Front, where the largest conflicts of war took place between the Soviet Union and Germany and her allies.
First, you might want to know a little about the war. World War II was almost exactly six years long: it started on 1 September 1939, and it ended on 2 September 1945. Over 60 million people died as a result, making it the worst war in human history. Many countries fought in this war. Germany, Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and other countries were known as the “Axis”. The United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union, Republic of China, India, Australia, Canada, New Zealand (and many other counties of the British Empire) and the United States were known as the “Allies”. Italy (and some other countries) switched sides part way through the war.
Are you ready to enter World War II? Then let’s go!
Where this page comes from
The article above is adapted from “Overview of World War II” on Simple English Wikipedia, by its contributors. We removed reference markers, navigation boxes and tables, expanded measurement templates into readable numbers, and kept the prose otherwise intact. The simpler version is adapted from Wikijunior on Wikibooks.
Both sources are published under CC BY-SA 4.0, so this page is published under the same licence. You may share and adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit the original and keep the same licence.
Worksheets, answer keys and printable layouts elsewhere on K5Print are our own work and are not covered by this licence.