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The World War II Portal

Clockwise from top left: Commonwealth troops in the desert; Chinese civilians being buried alive by Japanese soldiers; Soviet forces during a winter offensive; Carrier-borne Japanese planes readying for take off; Soviet troops fighting in Berlin; A German submarine under attack.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global military conflict. It began as the joining of what had initially been two separate conflicts, with the first beginning in Asia in 1937 (the Second Sino-Japanese War) and the other beginning in Europe in 1939 (the German invasion of Poland).

The war split the majority of the world's nations into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It involved the mobilization of over 100 million military personnel, making it the most widespread war in history, and placed the participants in a state of "total war", which erased the distinction between civil and military resources and resulted in the complete activation of a nation's economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities for the purposes of the war effort. Over 70 million people, the majority of them civilians, were killed, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.

The Allies won the war, and as a result, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as the world's leading superpowers. This set the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 45 years. The United Nations was formed in the hope of preventing another such conflict. The self determination spawned by the war accelerated decolonization movements in Asia and Africa, while Europe itself began moving toward integration.

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Featured article

Japanese officers and petty officers of the 3rd Kure Special Naval Landing Force that seized Tulagi in May, 1942.

The invasion of Tulagi, on May 3 and May 4, 1942, was part of Operation Mo, the Empire of Japan's strategy in the South Pacific and South West Pacific Area in 1942. The plan called for Imperial Japanese Navy troops to capture Tulagi and nearby islands in the Solomon Islands Protectorate. The occupation of Tulagi by the Japanese was intended to cover the flank of Japanese forces that were advancing on Port Moresby in New Guinea as well as to provide a base for Japanese forces to threaten and interdict the supply and communication routes between the United States and Australia and New Zealand.Without the means to capably resist the Japanese offensive in the Solomons, the British Resident Commissioner of the Solomon Islands protectorate and the few Australian troops assigned to defend Tulagi evacuated the island just before the Japanese forces arrived on May 3. The next day, however, a U.S. aircraft carrier task force enroute to resist the Japanese forces advancing on Port Moresby (that resulted in the Battle of the Coral Sea) struck the Japanese Tulagi landing force in an air attack, destroying or damaging several of the Japanese ships and aircraft involved in the landing operation.

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Selected equipment

The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1941 to 1958. It is widely regarded to have been the world's best tank when the Soviet Union entered World War II, and although its armor and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it is credited as the war's most effective, efficient and influential design.First produced at the KhPZ factory in Kharkov (Kharkiv, Ukraine), it was the mainstay of Soviet armoured forces throughout World War II, and widely exported afterwards. It was the most-produced tank of the war, and the second most-produced tank of all time, after its successor, the T-54/55 series.A 1996 publication showed that the T-34 was still in service with twenty-seven countries.The T-34 was developed from the BT series of fast tanks, and was intended to replace both the BT-5 and BT-7 tanks and the T-26 infantry tank in service (Zaloga & Grandsen 1984:66, 111).At its introduction, it was the tank with the best balanced attributes of firepower, mobility, and protection in existence, although initially its battlefield effectiveness suffered from the unsatisfactory ergonomic layout of its crew compartment, lack of radios and poor tactical employment.

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Selected battle

USS Chicago low in the water on the morning of January 30, 1943, from torpedo damage inflicted the night before

The Battle of Rennell Island (Japanese: レンネル島沖海戦) took place on January 29 – January 30, 1943, and was the last major naval engagement between the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy during the lengthy Guadalcanal campaign in the Solomon Islands campaign during World War II. The battle took place in the South Pacific between Rennell Island and Guadalcanal in the southern Solomon Islands.In the battle, Japanese naval land-based torpedo bombers, seeking to provide protection for the impending evacuation of Japanese forces from Guadalcanal, made several attacks over two days on United States' warships operating as a task force south of Guadalcanal. In addition to approaching Guadalcanal with the objective of engaging any Japanese ships that might come into range, the U.S. task force was protecting an Allied transport ship convoy that was carrying replacement troops to Guadalcanal.As a result of the Japanese air attacks on the task force, one U.S. heavy cruiser was sunk, a destroyer was heavily damaged, and the rest of the U.S. task force was forced to retreat from the southern Solomons area.

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Selected picture

Credit: Chowells

A Supermarine Spitfire Mark XVI. The Spitfire was an iconic British single-seat fighter used by the RAF and many Allied countries in the Second World War. The Spitfire saw service during the whole of WWII in all theatres of war, and in many different variants. It is often credited with winning the Battle of Britain.

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Selected biography

Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Gwynne Horrocks KCB, KBE, DSO, MC (September 7, 1895 – January 4, 1985) was a British army officer. He is chiefly remembered as the commander of XXX Corps in Operation Market Garden and other operations during the Second World War. He also served in the First World War and the Russian Civil War, was a prisoner of war twice, and competed in the 1924 Paris Olympics. Later he was a television presenter, authored books on military history, and was Black Rod in the House of Lords for 14 years. In 1940 Horrocks commanded a battalion during the Battle of France, the first time he served under Bernard Montgomery, the most prominent British commander of the war. Montgomery later identified Horrocks as one of his most able officers, appointing him to corps commands in both North Africa and Europe. In 1943, Horrocks was seriously wounded and took more than a year to recover before returning to command a corps in Europe. It is likely that this period out of action meant he missed out on promotion; his contemporary corps commanders in North Africa, Leese and Dempsey, went on to command at army level and above.

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Did you know...

... that the British Army changed its plans for operations in Greece during World War II on medical advice from Australian Brigadier Sir Neil Fairley?
...that French Major General René Cogny, who later commanded French forces during the First Indochina War, was captured in June 1940 by the German army, and had to escape by crawling naked through a drainpipe?
...that the Heinkel He 50, designed for the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1931, was used operationally by Germany almost until the end of World War II?

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Selected quote

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."

— Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 8 December 1941

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Topics

World War II

Theatres

Main events

Specific articles

Participants

Prelude
• Causes
• in Europe
• in Asia

Main theatres
• Europe
• Eastern Europe
• China
• Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa
• Asia and the Pacific
• Atlantic

General timeline
• Timeline

1939
• Invasion of Poland
• Winter War

1940
• Invasion of Denmark/Norway
• Battle of France
• Battle of Britain

1941
• Invasion of the Soviet Union
• Battle of Moscow
• Attack on Pearl Harbor

1942
• Battle of Midway
• Battle of Stalingrad
• Second Battle of El Alamein

1943
• Battle of Kursk
• Guadalcanal campaign
• Invasion of Italy

1944
• Battle of Normandy
• Operation Bagration
• Battle of Leyte Gulf
• Operation Market Garden
• Battle of the Bulge

1945
• Battle of Iwo Jima
• Battle of Okinawa
• Battle of Berlin
• End in Europe
• Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Surrender of Japan

• more...

• Blitzkrieg
• Cryptography
• Equipment
• Home Front
• Military engagements
• Production
• Resistance
• Technology

Civilian impact and atrocities
• Nanking Massacre
• Holocaust
• Siege of Leningrad
• Bataan Death March
• Dutch famine of 1944
• Bengal famine of 1943
• Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Unit 731
• Strategic bombings
• Comfort women
• Allied war crimes
• German war crimes
• Japanese war crimes

Aftermath
• Effects
• Casualties
• Expulsion of Germans
• Cold War

The Allies
• Australia
• Belgium
• Brazil
• India
• Canada
• Czechoslovakia
• Egypt
• El Salvador
• France (after June 16, 1940: Free France)
• Greece
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Philippines
• Poland
• Republic of China
• South Africa
• Soviet Union
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Yugoslavia

more...

The Axis
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Japan
• Finland
• Vichy France
• Hungary
• Italy
• Germany
• Romania
• Thailand
• Slovakia

more...

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Things you can do

From the World War II task force of the Military history WikiProject:

Article alerts

Proposed deletion

9 Jan 2010 – Harold Forsythe (talk) has been deleted.
9 Jan 2010 – Louis Witte (talk) has been deleted.
9 Jan 2010 – William Balza (talk) has been deleted.
9 Jan 2010 – Matthew Reichl (talk) has been deleted.
9 Jan 2010 – Roy Zinser (talk) has been deleted.
9 Jan 2010 – Charles Van Buren (talk) has been deleted.
9 Jan 2010 – Leroy Anderson (United States Army) (talk) has been deleted.
9 Jan 2010 – Warren Herbst (talk) has been deleted.

Articles for deletion

17 Jan 2010 – Bernard de Lattre de Tassigny (talk) was kept; see discussion.
9 Jan 2010 – James Geach (talk) has been deleted; see discussion.

Featured article candidates

15 Jan 2010 – Petlyakov Pe-8 (talk) is nominated by Sturmvogel 66.
12 Jan 2010 – Frederick Scherger (talk) is promoted to FA status.
10 Jan 2010 – Charles Eaton (RAAF officer) (talk) is nominated by Ian Rose.
4 Jan 2010 – Walter Peeler (talk) is promoted to FA status.
29 Dec 2009 – Helmut Lent (talk) is nominated by MisterBee1966.

Featured article reviews

16 Jan 2010 – Imperial Japanese Navy (talk) is nominated by MBK004.
14 Jan 2010 – Iowa class battleship (talk) is nominated by TomStar81; see discussion.
14 Jan 2010 – Soviet invasion of Poland (talk) is demoted.
13 Dec 2009 – Franklin D. Roosevelt (talk) is nominated by MasterOfHisOwnDomain.

Featured list candidates

24 Dec 2009 – List of Asian American Medal of Honor recipients (talk) is nominated by Kumioko.

Good article nominations

16 Jan 2010 – Ion Antonescu (talk) is nominated as GA candidate by Nergaal.
15 Jan 2010 – Alexander Pentland (talk) is nominated as GA candidate by Ian Rose.
15 Jan 2010 – Harold M. McClelland (talk) is promoted to GA status; see discussion.
12 Jan 2010 – SS Irish Oak (talk) is not promoted; see discussion.
11 Jan 2010 – Sovetsky Soyuz class battleship (talk) is nominated as GA candidate by Sturmvogel 66.
10 Jan 2010 – Italian battleship Roma (1940) (talk) is nominated as GA candidate by MBK004; see discussion.
10 Jan 2010 – Wiltshire Regiment (talk) is not promoted; see discussion.
10 Jan 2010 – Polikarpov I-5 (talk) is promoted to GA status; see discussion.
9 Jan 2010 – St. Clair Streett (talk) is promoted to GA status; see discussion.
6 Jan 2010 – Red Tail Project (talk) is promoted to GA status; see discussion.

(14 more...)

Good article reassessment

2 Jan 2010 – Winter War (talk) is nominated for an individual reassessment by Hurmata; see discussion.

Requested moves

11 Jan 2010 – Move requested from CV-33 (talk) to L3/33 by AP1787; see discussion.
11 Jan 2010 – Move requested from 1945 (Gingrich novel) (talk) to 1945 (1995 novel) by 76.66.197.17; see discussion.

Today's featured article

22 Jan 2010 – Operation Tractable (talk) was featured on the main page.
5 Jan 2010 – Brazilian battleship Minas Geraes (talk) was featured on the main page.

Did you know

14 Jan 2010 – A fact from PS Duchess of Norfolk (talk) appeared on the main page.
12 Jan 2010 – A fact from Denis Shipwright (talk) appeared on the main page.
10 Jan 2010 – A fact from Sovetsky Soyuz class battleship (talk) appeared on the main page.
8 Jan 2010 – A fact from SS Bergensfjord (talk) appeared on the main page.
7 Jan 2010 – A fact from HMS Arpha (talk) appeared on the main page.
6 Jan 2010 – A fact from HMIS Jamnagar (talk) appeared on the main page.
6 Jan 2010 – A fact from Heinrich Hoffmann (pilot) (talk) appeared on the main page.
6 Jan 2010 – A fact from Red Tail Project (talk) appeared on the main page.
6 Jan 2010 – A fact from SS Elisabethville (talk) appeared on the main page.
6 Jan 2010 – A fact from SS Tobruk (talk) appeared on the main page.

(2 more...)

Copyright problems

16 Jan 2010 – Nanking Massacre controversy and denial (talk) was tagged as a possible copyright infringement.
15 Jan 2010 – Anniston Air Force Base (talk) was tagged as a possible copyright infringement.

Bounty board

5 Jun 2009 – Bounty for bringing Nanking Massacre (talk) to GA status: $20 donation by A little insignificant.
8 Mar 2009 – Bounty for bringing David Irving (talk) to FA status: $20 AUD donation by Daveydweeb.

Other news

11 Jan 2010 – A new edition of the Wikipedia Signpost is out
30 Dec 2009 – WikiProjects and Portals who want to have automatically-updated "Walls of Recognized Content" (see WikiProject Physics' WoRC) can go here and follow instructions. For details, contact JLaTondre.
10 Dec 2009 – The cleanup listings from WolterBot have updated.
7 Dec 2009 – A new edition of the Wikipedia Signpost is out.
30 Nov 2009 – The new book-class is released. See the Signpost article and the setup guide for details. Contact Headbomb for questions and help.
28 Nov 2009 – A new database dump is available.

Archives

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Attention needed: ...to referencing and citation • ...to coverage and accuracy • ...to structure • ...to grammar • ...to supporting materials
Popular pages: Full list
Cleanup needed: Battle of Kiev (1943) • Raid on Drvar • Colditz Castle
Requested articles: A Force • Atlantic Black Gap • Battle of Elaia-Kalamas • Battle_of_Uhtua-Kiestinki • Battles_of_Repola-Rukajärvi • Battle_of_Porlammi • Battle_of_Siiranmäki • Battle_of_Tuulos • Battle_of_Łuck • Battle_of_Równe • Battle_of_Włodzimierz_Wołyński • Battle_of_Lubartów • Battle_of_Kock_(1944) • Battle_of_Miedniki • Battle_of_Rudniki_Forest • Battle_of_Jodła • Battle_of_Ceber • Francis Blanchain •Prosper Desitter • Shinshou Draenger • Christer Lyst Hansen • Holocaust slave labor litigation • Horten Ho III • Horten Ho VI • Garibaldi Brigades • Italian Spring Offensive • Ove Kampman • League for Combat Policy • Julien Meline • Operation Rayon • Operation Bigot • Operation Fischreiher • Operation Hardboiled • Operation Ilona • Operation Mittelmeer • Operation Otto • Operation Richard • Operation Schamil • Operation Scherhorn • Operation Waterfall • Otto Program • Aladar Paasonen • Martin Poppel • Roehm's Avengers • Dorothy Tartiere • Poul Bruun • Raoul Boulanger • Serge Asher-Ravanel • Battle of West Ukraine (1941) • Battle of Xinfeng • Battle of Zunyi • Battle of Sittang River Bridge • Jack G. "Tex" Wheelis
Expansion needed: Battle_of_Bay_of_Viipuri • Battle of Brunei • Battle of Labuan •Battle of North Borneo • Demilitarisation; Martha Desrumeaux • Mochitsura Hashimoto • Operation Cascade • Operation Tan No. 2 • Burma Area Army • Battle of Courland • Battle of Voronezh (1943) • First Battle of Kharkov • Race to Berlin • Marie Fourcade • Victor Strydonck de Burkel • Donald Blakeslee • Operation Northwind • Battle of Skerki Bank • Michael Sinclair (soldier) • Battle of Maastricht • Battle of The Afsluitdijk • Battle of Zeeland • Landing at Saidor
Translation needed: de:Josef Meisinger • nl:Type 5 Na-To

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