1.World War II, Global
Years : 1939-1945
Average Estimated Casualties : 56 Million
Mote of the War : Politics – Racism
World War I had been called the “war to end all warsâ€, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. What it did do was help to plant the seeds of discontent that grew into World War II. WW II lasted from 1939 to 1945 and true to its name involved the majority of the nations of the world. The world was divided into two camps the Allies and the Axis. The war began in 1939 with Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland. The Allies consisted of: the British Empire, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United States of America, Albania, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czechoslovakia, Ethiopia, France (before it was defeated and again after it was liberated), Greece, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippine Commonwealth, Poland, the Union of South Africa, and Yugoslavia. The Axis powers were: Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria.
This war saw the mobilization of 100 million military personnel. It is also infamous for Germany’s attempt to destroy as many Jews as possible in the Holocaust. WW II was the first and only war where atomic weapons were used. The Nazis in the Holocaust systematically murdered an estimated six million European Jews. In Japan an estimated 200,000 died when the atomic bombs were dropped.
The majority of the deaths were on the first day of the bombing but others died of long-term effects like cancer. In all both military and civilian deaths are believed to be 60 million. The war ended in 1945 with the Allies’ victory. World War II has gone down in history as the bloodiest war of all time.