When did the Second World War start and end?

The Second World War began on 1 September 1939, when Germany invaded Poland, and Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September. The war in Europe ended with Germany’s unconditional surrender, celebrated as VE Day on 8 May 1945, and the war ended completely when Japan formally surrendered on 2 September 1945.

What caused the Second World War?

Historians point to resentment over the Treaty of Versailles, the economic crisis of the Great Depression, and the rise of aggressive dictatorships in Germany, Italy, and Japan. Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler broke treaty limits, took over Austria and Czechoslovakia, and signed a pact with the Soviet Union before invading Poland. Britain and France had tried to avoid war through appeasement, and the League of Nations was too weak to stop aggression.

Who were the Allies and the Axis?

The main Allies were Britain and its empire (including India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa), France, Poland, the Soviet Union from June 1941, the United States from December 1941, and China, which had been fighting Japan since 1937. The main Axis powers were Germany, Italy (until 1943), and Japan, joined by Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria.

What was the Holocaust?

The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of about six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1941 and 1945, in mass shootings, ghettos, and death camps such as Auschwitz-Birkenau. The Nazis also murdered Roma, disabled people, Soviet prisoners of war, Poles, and other groups. Auschwitz was liberated by Soviet troops on 27 January 1945, now International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Why did the United States enter the war?

The United States had supplied Britain through Lend-Lease from March 1941 but stayed out of the fighting until Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on 7 December 1941. The United States declared war on Japan the next day, and Germany and Italy declared war on the United States on 11 December 1941.

D-Day was the Allied invasion of German-occupied France on the beaches of Normandy on 6 June 1944, the largest seaborne invasion in history. About 156,000 American, British, Canadian, and other Allied troops landed on the first day, opening a second front in Western Europe that led to the liberation of Paris in August 1944.

How many Indian soldiers served in the Second World War?

The Indian Army grew to about 2.5 million men, often described as the largest volunteer army in history. Indian soldiers fought in East and North Africa, the Middle East, Italy, Malaya, and Burma. About 87,000 Indian servicemen died, and Indian soldiers received around 30 Victoria Crosses (31 is the figure often cited).

What were the Battles of Imphal and Kohima?

In March 1944 the Japanese army invaded northeast India from Burma, aiming to capture Imphal in Manipur and Kohima in Nagaland. British and Indian troops held out in fierce fighting until the Japanese retreated in July 1944, after suffering very heavy losses. The victory ended the threat to India and opened the way to the reconquest of Burma in 1945.

How did the war end in Asia?

The United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki on 9 August, killing well over 100,000 people by the end of the year according to estimates, and the Soviet Union declared war on Japan on 8 August. Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender on 15 August, and the formal surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945.

How did the Second World War change the world?

The war killed an estimated 70 to 85 million people, the deadliest conflict in history. It led to the founding of the United Nations in 1945, war crimes trials at Nuremberg and Tokyo, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and the division of Europe in the Cold War. It also weakened the European empires, speeding the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947 and of many countries in Asia and Africa.

World History Timeline

Second World War Timeline: Road to War → Blitzkrieg → Global War → Turning the Tide → Victory → Aftermath

Barely twenty years after the First World War, the world went to war again — and this time the fighting reached almost every continent and ocean. From 1939 to 1945, armies, navies, and air forces clashed from the Arctic to the Pacific, cities were bombed, and millions of civilians were murdered or starved. India sent about 2.5 million soldiers, and the war’s end helped bring independence in 1947 and a new world order built around the United Nations.

This timeline covers the Great Depression, the rise of dictators, Munich, the invasion of Poland, Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, the Blitz, Keren, Operation Barbarossa, Pearl Harbor, the fall of Singapore, Midway, Quit India, El Alamein, Stalingrad, the Holocaust, the Bengal famine, Monte Cassino, Imphal and Kohima, D-Day, VE Day, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan’s surrender, the United Nations, Nuremberg, and Indian independence.

1 Sept 1939 Poland invaded → 3 Sept 1939 India declared at war 7 Dec 1941 Pearl Harbor → 6 June 1944 D-Day 8 May 1945 VE Day → 2 Sept 1945 Japan surrenders

Why the Second World War Matters

The Second World War was the deadliest conflict in human history, killing an estimated 70 to 85 million people — most of them civilians. It included the Holocaust, the first and only use of atomic weapons in war, and battles on a scale never seen before. Its end created the United Nations, divided Europe in the Cold War, and weakened the old empires so much that India and dozens of other nations won their independence within a few decades.

Big picture

The Second World War in one view

The Depression and the rise of dictators led to war in 1939, Germany conquered much of Europe by 1940, the war became global in 1941 when Germany invaded the Soviet Union and Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the tide turned at Midway, El Alamein, and Stalingrad, the Allies closed in from every side in 1944–1945, and the peace brought the United Nations, the Cold War, and independence for India. Related timelines: computers, pharma industry, news.

6 years

From 1 September 1939 to 2 September 1945

70–85 million

Deaths worldwide, soldiers and civilians (estimate)

~2.5 million

Indian Army at its peak, all volunteers

Founding members of the United Nations, including India

Split image with Allied soldiers wading ashore from landing craft past steel beach obstacles under smoke and a grey sky in June 1944 on the left, and the same wide sandy beach today on the right with families walking, beach umbrellas, green bluffs, and a stone memorial under a blue sky — A Normandy beach on D-Day in 1944 and the same shore as a peaceful holiday beach today (artistic illustration).

War and the World Then vs Now

Feature	1939–1945	Today
World body for peace	The League of Nations, which failed to stop aggression	The United Nations, with 193 member states
India	A British colony declared at war by the Viceroy	An independent republic and a major UN peacekeeping contributor
Secret codes	Rotor cipher machines and electromechanical codebreakers	Digital encryption on every phone and computer
Computers	The first electronic computers, built for codebreaking and gunnery tables	Billions of computers, smartphones, and AI systems
Aircraft	Propeller fighters and bombers; the first jets appear in 1944	Stealth jets, drones, and satellites
Nuclear weapons	First built and used in 1945	Limited by the Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968) and arms-control treaties
Medicine	Penicillin was new and scarce	Antibiotics and vaccines widely available
News	Radio bulletins, newspapers, and cinema newsreels	Live streaming and social media
Human rights	No universal declaration of rights	Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and international courts
Europe	Divided by war and occupation	Former enemies cooperate in the European Union

🧭 Road to War1919 – 1939

Road to War

The peace of 1919 left many Germans bitter, and the Great Depression after 1929 brought mass unemployment and despair. Dictators promising national glory took power in Italy and Germany, and military leaders gained control of Japan’s government. Each tested the world with acts of aggression, while Britain and France, hoping to avoid another war, followed a policy of appeasement.

Sepia scene of a long queue of unemployed men in flat caps, fedoras, and worn overcoats waiting along a brick wall on a cold city street in the early 1930s, with a horse-drawn cart and an old car in the misty background — Unemployed men queue for food during the Great Depression of the early 1930s (artistic illustration).

1919–1929: The Treaty of Versailles punishes Germany (1919), Benito Mussolini’s Fascists take power in Italy after the March on Rome (1922), and the Wall Street Crash (October 1929) starts the Great Depression.
1931–1935: Japan seizes Manchuria (1931), Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany (30 January 1933) and builds a Nazi dictatorship, and Italy invades Ethiopia (1935) as the League of Nations fails to act.
1936–1938: Germany marches into the Rhineland (1936), the Spanish Civil War begins (1936), Japan launches full-scale war on China (July 1937), and Germany annexes Austria (March 1938).
September 1938–August 1939: The Munich Agreement hands part of Czechoslovakia to Germany (September 1938), Germany occupies the rest (March 1939), and the Nazi–Soviet Pact (23 August 1939) clears the way to invade Poland.

Technology

Radar: Britain builds a coastal warning chain.
Monoplane fighters: Faster all-metal aircraft.
Radio propaganda: Broadcasts reach every home.

Features

Depression: Mass unemployment.
Dictators: Fascism and Nazism.
Appeasement: Giving in to avoid war.

⚡ Blitzkrieg1939 – 1940

Blitzkrieg & Britain Alone

Germany’s “lightning war” combined tanks, aircraft, and fast-moving infantry. Poland fell in weeks, and in the spring of 1940 Germany overran Denmark, Norway, the Low Countries, and France. Britain and its empire fought on alone, rescuing their army at Dunkirk and winning the Battle of Britain in the air. In India, the Viceroy’s declaration of war without consulting Indian leaders caused a political crisis.

Long lines of soldiers in steel helmets wading out from a sandy beach with grassy dunes towards small fishing boats, sailing craft, and a grey warship offshore, while thick black smoke rises from burning oil tanks on the horizon under a stormy sky — Soldiers wade out to small boats during the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940 (artistic illustration).

1–17 September 1939: Germany invades Poland (1 September), Britain and France declare war (3 September), the Viceroy declares India at war the same day, and the Soviet Union invades eastern Poland (17 September).
October 1939–April 1940: Congress ministries in the provinces resign in protest (October–November 1939), the quiet “Phoney War” settles on the Western Front, and Germany invades Denmark and Norway (April 1940).
May–June 1940: Germany attacks the Netherlands, Belgium, and France (10 May), Winston Churchill becomes British prime minister, about 338,000 troops are evacuated from Dunkirk, Italy joins Germany, and France signs an armistice (22 June).
July 1940–May 1941: The Royal Air Force wins the Battle of Britain (July–October), German bombers strike British cities in the Blitz, and Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact (27 September 1940).

Technology

Tanks and dive-bombers: Fast, combined attacks.
Radar network: Early warning of raids.
Cipher machines: Coded radio orders.

Features

Lightning war: Rapid German conquests.
Dunkirk: An army rescued by sea.
Battle of Britain: Invasion called off.

🌏 Global War1941 – 1942

A Global War

In 1941 the war spread across the world. Germany invaded the Soviet Union in the largest land attack in history, and Japan’s surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor and European colonies in Asia brought the United States into the war. Japan swept through Southeast Asia to the borders of India, and in August 1942 the Quit India Movement demanded an immediate end to British rule.

Wooden flight deck of a 1940s aircraft carrier crowded with dark blue propeller-driven navy aircraft with folded wings, deck crew in coloured jerseys, the ship’s island superstructure on the right, and an escort warship on a deep blue ocean under white tropical clouds — Navy aircraft ready on a carrier deck, as at the Battle of Midway in 1942 (artistic illustration).

February–June 1941: Indian divisions help win the Battle of Keren in East Africa (February–March), the United States begins Lend-Lease aid to Britain (March), and Germany invades the Soviet Union on 22 June.
September–December 1941: The siege of Leningrad begins (September), the Soviet army stops the Germans before Moscow (December), and Japan attacks Pearl Harbor and Malaya (7–8 December), bringing the United States into the war.
February–April 1942: Singapore surrenders (15 February) and tens of thousands of Indian soldiers become prisoners, Japan conquers Burma as refugees trek to India, and the Cripps Mission fails to win Indian support (March–April).
June–August 1942: The US Navy sinks four Japanese carriers at Midway (4–7 June), and the Congress launches the Quit India Movement in Bombay (8 August), after which Gandhi and other leaders are arrested.

Technology

Aircraft carriers: Air power at sea.
Sonar: Hunting submarines.
Codebreaking: Reading enemy signals.

Features

Eastern Front: Germany against the Soviet Union.
Pacific War: Japan against the Allies.
Quit India: “Do or die”.

🔄 Turning the Tide1942 – 1943

Turning the Tide

Between late 1942 and 1943 the Axis advance was stopped on every front. The Allies won in North Africa, the Soviet army destroyed a German army at Stalingrad, and Italy surrendered. Behind the lines, Nazi Germany carried out the Holocaust. In India, the Bengal famine killed millions, and Subhas Chandra Bose led the Indian National Army with Japanese support.

Ruined industrial city in winter beside a wide river, with shattered factory and apartment buildings, snow-covered rubble, plumes of black smoke, and four soldiers in long greatcoats and fur hats carrying rifles as they pick their way through the ruins — Soviet soldiers move through the snowy ruins of Stalingrad on the Volga (artistic illustration).

1941–1945: Mass shootings begin in the occupied Soviet Union in 1941, and after the Wannsee Conference (20 January 1942) coordinates the “Final Solution”, Nazi Germany murders about six million Jews in the Holocaust, along with Roma, disabled people, and others, in ghettos, mass shootings, and death camps.
October 1942–February 1943: British, Commonwealth, and Indian troops win the Second Battle of El Alamein (October–November), Allied forces land in North Africa (8 November), and the German Sixth Army surrenders at Stalingrad (2 February 1943).
May–September 1943: Axis forces in North Africa surrender (May), the Soviets win the huge tank battle of Kursk (July–August), the Allies invade Sicily (July), and Italy surrenders (8 September).
1943: The Bengal famine kills an estimated 2 to 3 million people, Subhas Chandra Bose proclaims the Provisional Government of Free India in Singapore (21 October), and Allied leaders meet at Tehran (November).

Technology

Long-range patrol aircraft: Closing the Atlantic gap.
Centimetric radar: Spotting U-boats.
Penicillin: Mass production begins.

Features

Stalingrad: Turning point in the east.
Holocaust: Genocide of Europe’s Jews.
Bengal famine: Disaster in India.

🏁 Victory1944 – 1945

Road to Victory

In 1944 the Allies closed in from every side. Indian and British troops defeated the Japanese invasion of India at Imphal and Kohima, the Allies landed in Normandy, and the Soviet army drove west towards Berlin. Germany surrendered in May 1945, and after atomic bombs destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet Union entered the Pacific war, Japan surrendered in August.

Reconstructed landing on a beach with soldiers in helmets wading ashore from landing craft with lowered ramps, steel beach obstacles in the surf, warships on the horizon, barrage balloons in a grey sky, and steep cliffs to the right — Allied troops wade ashore on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day (artistic illustration).

January–July 1944: Indian divisions fight at Monte Cassino in Italy (January–May), the Japanese invasion of India is defeated at Imphal and Kohima (March–July), and the Allies land in Normandy on D-Day (6 June).
August 1944–January 1945: Paris is liberated (25 August), Germany’s last great attack fails in the Battle of the Bulge (December–January), and Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz (27 January 1945).
February–May 1945: Allied leaders meet at Yalta (February), Hitler dies by suicide in Berlin (30 April), Indian and British troops retake Rangoon (May), and Germany surrenders unconditionally — VE Day, 8 May.
August–September 1945: The United States drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima (6 August) and Nagasaki (9 August), the Soviet Union declares war on Japan (8 August), and Japan surrenders (15 August), signing on 2 September.

Technology

Jet aircraft: First jet fighters in combat.
V-2 rockets: First long-range ballistic missiles.
Atomic bomb: Nuclear weapons first used.

Features

Second front: D-Day landings.
India defended: Imphal and Kohima.
Surrender: VE Day and VJ Day.

🕊️ Aftermath1945 – Today

Aftermath & Remembrance

The victors set up the United Nations to keep the peace and put Nazi and Japanese leaders on trial for war crimes. Europe was divided between the Western powers and the Soviet Union in the Cold War. Exhausted by war, Britain could no longer hold India, which won independence in 1947, and a wave of decolonisation followed across Asia and Africa.

Delegate in a dark suit signing a large bound document at a table on a stage in an ornate assembly hall, with a row of flags of many nations behind him, rows of seated delegates, and press photographers with flash cameras — A delegate signs a founding charter as nations gather to build a lasting peace in 1945 (artistic illustration).

1945–1946: Fifty nations, including India, sign the United Nations Charter in San Francisco (26 June 1945), the Nuremberg trials begin (November 1945), and the trials of Indian National Army officers at the Red Fort spark protests across India.
1946–1949: The Royal Indian Navy mutiny (February 1946) shakes British rule, India and Pakistan become independent (August 1947), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and new Geneva Conventions (1949) are adopted.
1947–1991: The Marshall Plan rebuilds Western Europe, the Cold War divides the world, Germany is split until 1990, and dozens of colonies in Asia and Africa become independent nations.
Today: War cemeteries at Kohima, Imphal, and Delhi honour the fallen, VE Day and VJ Day are marked each year, and Auschwitz and Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial stand as warnings for the future.

Technology

Electronic computers: From codebreaking to business.
Jet airliners: From wartime jet engines.
Nuclear power: Peaceful uses of atomic energy.

Features

United Nations: A new world body.
Cold War: East against West.
Independence: India and decolonisation.

Allies and Axis

Country	Side	Entered the war	Notes
China	Allies	July 1937	Fought Japan for eight years
Poland	Allies	September 1939	Invaded by Germany and the Soviet Union
Britain and its empire	Allies	September 1939	Including India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa
France	Allies	September 1939	Defeated in 1940; the Free French fought on
Soviet Union	Allies	June 1941	Invaded by Germany; suffered the greatest losses
United States	Allies	December 1941	Huge industrial power; fought in Europe and the Pacific
Germany	Axis	September 1939	Conquered most of Europe by 1942
Italy	Axis	June 1940	Surrendered in 1943 and then joined the Allies
Japan	Axis	1937 (China), December 1941	Conquered much of East and Southeast Asia
Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria	Axis	1940–1941	Changed sides or were occupied in 1944–1945

Major Battles and Campaigns

Battle	Date	Front	Why it matters
Battle of Britain	July–October 1940	Air, Britain	Stopped German plans to invade Britain
Keren	February–March 1941	East Africa	Indian divisions led the defeat of Italy in Eritrea
Moscow	October 1941–January 1942	Eastern	First major defeat of the German army
Pearl Harbor	7 December 1941	Pacific	Brought the United States into the war
Singapore	February 1942	Southeast Asia	Largest British surrender in history
Midway	June 1942	Pacific	Turning point of the war at sea
Second El Alamein	October–November 1942	North Africa	Turned back the Axis advance on Egypt
Stalingrad	August 1942–February 1943	Eastern	Destruction of a whole German army
Kursk	July–August 1943	Eastern	One of the largest tank battles in history
Imphal and Kohima	March–July 1944	India–Burma	Ended the Japanese invasion of India
D-Day and Normandy	June–August 1944	Western	Opened the second front in Europe
Berlin	April–May 1945	Eastern	Final battle in Europe

India in the Second World War

Indian Army soldiers in jungle-green uniforms, some in turbans and some in slouch hats, carrying rifles along a muddy track through bamboo forest beside a line of mules laden with supplies, with misty green mountains and monsoon clouds behind — Indian soldiers and supply mules on a jungle track on the India–Burma front (artistic illustration).

Topic	Details
Soldiers	About 2.5 million, often called the largest volunteer army in history
Deaths	About 87,000 Indian servicemen died
Fronts	East Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, Italy, Malaya, Burma, and the defence of India
Bravery awards	Around 30 Victoria Crosses (31 is often cited), including Sepoy Kamal Ram in Italy (1944)
Navy and air force	The Royal Indian Navy grew rapidly, and the Indian Air Force flew in Burma and was given the “Royal” title in 1945
Politics	Declared at war without consultation (1939), Congress ministries resign, the Cripps Mission (1942), and Quit India (1942)
Indian National Army	Formed from prisoners of war with Japanese support; led by Subhas Chandra Bose from 1943; tried at the Red Fort in 1945
Home front	War industries, shortages, rising prices, and the Bengal famine of 1943
Supply routes	Airlifts over the Himalayan “Hump” and the Ledo Road from Assam supplied China
Memorials	Kohima War Cemetery, Imphal War Cemetery, Delhi War Cemetery, and the INA memorial at Moirang

Science, Codes, and Weapons

Wooden hut with women in 1940s cardigans and skirts operating a long wall of electromechanical machines covered in rotating drums and patch cables, while a man in a tweed jacket studies paper strips at a desk lit by a lamp — Codebreakers operate electromechanical machines to crack enemy ciphers (artistic illustration).

Invention or use	Date	Impact
Radar	From 1939	Warned of air raids and found ships and submarines
Codebreaking at Bletchley Park	From 1939	Allies read many German Enigma messages
Colossus	1944	One of the first programmable electronic computers
Aircraft carriers	1941–1945	Became the most powerful warships
Penicillin	Mass-produced from 1943–1944	Saved many wounded soldiers from infection
Jet aircraft	1944	First jet fighters used in combat
V-2 rocket	1944	First long-range ballistic missile; led to space rockets
Landing craft and floating harbours	1944	Made the D-Day landings possible
Atomic bomb	1945	Built by the Manhattan Project; began the nuclear age
Electronic computers	1945	ENIAC, built for artillery tables, finished just after the war

Life on the Home Front

Families sheltering for the night on the platform of a curved, tiled underground railway tunnel, sleeping under blankets beside suitcases, a boy reading a book, an elderly woman knitting, and an air-raid warden in a steel helmet holding a lantern by the tracks — Families shelter overnight in an underground station during the Blitz (artistic illustration).

Topic	Life at home during the war
Air raids	Bombing of cities such as London, Coventry, Hamburg, Dresden, and Tokyo
Blackouts	Lights hidden at night so bombers could not find targets
Evacuation	Millions of British children sent from cities to the countryside in 1939
Rationing	Food, clothing, and fuel rationed; in Britain some rationing lasted until 1954
Women at work	Women worked in factories, farms, and the auxiliary armed services
Radio and newsreels	News and propaganda broadcast to every home and cinema
Internment	Japanese Americans and many “enemy aliens” were held in camps
Occupation and resistance	Occupied countries faced hunger and terror; resistance groups fought back
India	Rising prices, shortages, war factories, Allied troops and airfields in the east, and famine in Bengal

Second World War Timeline Summary

Date	Milestone
October 1929	Wall Street Crash begins the Great Depression
30 January 1933	Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany
July 1937	Japan launches full-scale war on China
September 1938	Munich Agreement
1 September 1939	Germany invades Poland
3 September 1939	Britain and France declare war; India declared at war
May–June 1940	Fall of France and evacuation from Dunkirk
July–October 1940	Battle of Britain
22 June 1941	Germany invades the Soviet Union
7 December 1941	Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
15 February 1942	Fall of Singapore
June 1942	Battle of Midway
8 August 1942	Quit India Movement launched
November 1942	Second Battle of El Alamein won
2 February 1943	German surrender at Stalingrad
1943	Bengal famine
March–July 1944	Battles of Imphal and Kohima
6 June 1944	D-Day landings in Normandy
27 January 1945	Liberation of Auschwitz
8 May 1945	VE Day: Germany surrenders
26 June 1945	United Nations Charter signed
6 and 9 August 1945	Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
2 September 1945	Japan formally surrenders
15 August 1947	India becomes independent

Timeline understanding World history Map skills Cause and effect

Make a timeline poster: 1 September 1939 Poland, 1940 Dunkirk, 7 December 1941 Pearl Harbor, 1943 Stalingrad, 1944 Imphal–Kohima and D-Day, 8 May 1945 VE Day, and 2 September 1945 Japan’s surrender.
On a world map, shade the Allied and Axis countries and mark Dunkirk, Stalingrad, El Alamein, Pearl Harbor, Singapore, Imphal, Kohima, and Normandy.
Draw a cause-and-effect chain from the Treaty of Versailles and the Great Depression to the invasion of Poland.
Write a diary entry as a child sheltering from air raids during the Blitz in 1940.
Make a fact card on the Battles of Imphal and Kohima and why they mattered for India.
Compare how the Quit India Movement and the Indian National Army each tried to win India’s freedom.
Find out how wartime codebreaking helped lead to modern computers, and present your findings.
Research the Bengal famine of 1943 and explain its causes and effects.
Design a remembrance display about the Holocaust, using survivors’ stories from a trusted museum website.
Debate: “The United Nations has been more successful than the League of Nations.”

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Moments Through Visual Stories

Click any panel to expand and explore the visual mood.

The Second World War in pictures — the evacuation from Dunkirk, a Blitz shelter, a Pacific aircraft carrier, the ruins of Stalingrad, Indian soldiers on the Burma front, wartime codebreakers, D-Day, the founding of the United Nations, and a Normandy beach then versus now.

Dunkirk

May–June 1940

The Blitz

1940–1941

Pacific War

Midway, 1942

Stalingrad

1942–1943

Imphal & Kohima

1944

Codebreakers

The secret war

D-Day

6 June 1944

United Nations

June 1945

Then vs Now

War to peace

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Second World War Timeline: Road to War → Blitzkrieg → Global War → Turning the Tide → Victory → Aftermath

Why the Second World War Matters

The Second World War in one view

War and the World Then vs Now

Road to War

Technology

Features

Blitzkrieg & Britain Alone

Technology

Features

A Global War

Technology

Features

Turning the Tide

Technology

Features

Road to Victory

Technology

Features

Aftermath & Remembrance

Technology

Features

Allies and Axis

Major Battles and Campaigns

India in the Second World War

Science, Codes, and Weapons

Life on the Home Front

Second World War Timeline Summary

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