World War 2
1939-1945
From its origins through to ultimate Allied victory, from the home front to the front line, explore History’s guide to the greatest conflict of all time, featuring expert video guides, archive footage and defining photographic images
West
Treaty of Versailles
Nazi Germany
Appeasement
Poland
Fall of France
Battle of Britain
Barbarossa
Collaboration & Resistance
Occupied Europe responded in a variety of ways to Axis occupation
Genocide
Millions were exterminated by the German industrial killing machine
British home front
Evacuations, rationing and gas masks as Britain stood alone against Germany
Prisoners of war
Across the globe captured fighting men were detained with varying fortunes
US entry & Alliance
America's reponse to Pearl Harbor crucially shifted the balance of power
Code breaking
The world's first computers gave the Allies a vital advantage
Battle of the Atlantic
North Africa
Italian and German forces met their first defeats in the African desert
Stalingrad
The beginning of the end of German expansion into the Soviet Union
Italy
A long and arduous Allied advance up the peninsula to the Alps
Eastern Front
D-Day
The invasion of Western europe began on the beaches of Normandy
The Bombing Offensive
Civilians were targetted by both sides in raids day and night
Disintegration
Nuremberg
Surviving Nazi leaders were held to account for crimes against humanity
East
Imperial Japan
Sino-Japanese War
Pearl Harbor
Singapore & Hong Kong
Occupation & POWs
Battle of Midway
Guadalcanal
Burma
Pacific & Philippines
China
Atomic BombVideos & Galleries
Photographs from every part of the conflict, taken all over the world. View GalleryAll WWII Galleries
Eye witness accounts, expert commentary and contemporary news footage View GalleryAll WWII Galleries
