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• 1938 Yellow River flood
• 1939–1940 Winter Offensive
• 28 January Incident
• 2nd Panzer Group
• 88 mm gun
• A-A line
• A. J. P. Taylor
• Abyssinia Crisis
• Actions in Inner Mongolia (1933–1936)
• Adolf Hitler
• Aeronautics
• Aftermath of World War I
• Aftermath of World War II
• Air raids on Japan
• Air superiority
• Air warfare of World War II
• Airlift
• Albania under Nazi Germany
• Albanian Resistance of World War II
• Albert Speer
• Aleutian Islands Campaign
• Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine
• Allied invasion of Italy
• Allied invasion of Sicily
• Allied leaders of World War II
• Allied Occupation Zones in Germany
• Allied submarines in the Pacific War
• Allied war crimes during World War II
• Allied-administered Austria
• Allied-occupied Germany
• Allies of World War II
• American Theater (1939–1945)
• Amphibious assault
• Anglo-German Naval Agreement
• Anglo-Iraqi War
• Anglo-Soviet Agreement
• Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
• Anglo–Iraqi War
• Annexation
• Anschluss
• Anthony Eden
• Anti-aircraft warfare
• Anti-Comintern Pact
• Anti-submarine warfare
• Anti-submarine weapon
• Anti-tank gun
• Anti-tank mine
• Anti-tank warfare
• Antwerp
• Apocalypse The Second World War
• Appeasement
• Appeasement of Hitler
• Arab-Israeli conflict
• Arc de Triomphe
• Ardennes
• Argentina in World War II
• Armia Krajowa
• Armistice
• Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces
• Armistice with France (Second Compiègne)
• Army Group A
• Army Group B
• Army Group Centre
• Army Group E
• Army Group F
• Army Group North
• Army Group South
• Army Group South Ukraine
• Article X of the Covenant of the League of Nations
• Ashkenazi Jews
• Asia
• Assault rifle
• Atlantic Charter
• Atlas of the World Battle Fronts
• Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Attack on Mers-el-Kébir
• Attack on Pearl Harbor
• Attacks on North America during World War II
• Australia
• Austria
• Austria-Hungary
• Austrian resistance
• Axis desert offensive (1941)
• Axis leaders of World War II
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• Axis Powers
• Axis powers
• B-17 Flying Fortress
• Balkans Campaign (World War II)
• Ballantine Books
• Baltic countries
• Baltic region
• Baltic Sea
• Baltic states
• Battle casualties of World War II
• Battle of Alam el Halfa
• Battle of Belgium
• Battle of Berlin
• Battle of Borneo (1941–42)
• Battle of Britain
• Battle of Budapest
• Battle of Buna-Gona
• Battle of Cape Matapan
• Battle of Changde
• Battle of Changsha (1939)
• Battle of Changsha (1941)
• Battle of Changsha (1942)
• Battle of Changsha (1944)
• Battle of Corregidor
• Battle of Crete
• Battle of France
• Battle of Gazala
• Battle of Greece
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• Battle of Imphal
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• Battle of Kiev (1941)
• Battle of Kohima

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War (often abbreviated as WWII or WW2), was a global war that was under way by 1939 and ended in 1945. It involved a vast majority of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million people serving in military units. In a state of "total war", the major participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by significant events involving the mass death of civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare, it resulted in 50 million to over 70 million fatalities. These deaths make the war the deadliest conflict in human history.