In September 1939, Britain entered into what would become the world’s most devastating war to date. Learn all about the events that changed the lives of millions in our World War 2 facts….

World War 2 facts

World War 2 facts

1. World War 2 was a battle between two groups of countries

– the “Allies” and the “Axis“. The major Allied Powers were Britain, France, Russia, China and the United States. The major Axis Powers were Germany, Italy and Japan.


 
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2. Before World War 2 began, Germany was ruled by a man named Adolf Hitler

Together with the Nazi Party, he wanted Germany to rule Europe. To gain more land and power, on 1 September 1939 German troops invaded Poland. After Hitler refused to stop the invasion, Britain and France declared war on Germany – World War II had begun.

3. During the course of the war, German forces advanced through Europe.

By the summer of 1941 they had invaded France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Greece, Yugoslavia* and the USSR*.

 

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Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable Second World War primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

4. Millions of Germans were imprisoned and killed because they didn’t fit the image of the ‘perfect’ German

Hitler wanted to create what he thought was the “best” and strongest race – and to the Nazi Party, this excluded certain groups, such as Jews, Gypsies and those with physical and mental disabilities. In an attempt to eliminate a “racial enemy” outside of Germany, such groups were also persecuted in the countries invaded by German forces.

World War 2 facts

5. The group most heavily targeted by the Nazis were the Jews

Around six million Jewish people were killed during World War 2 in one of history’s most terrible events – the Holocaust. Racist in his views, Hitler blamed Jewish people for Germany losing World War I and claimed they were dangerous to German people and society.

6. Around the same time that Germany fought for power in Europe, Japan wanted to control Asia and the Pacific

In 1937 (before World War 2 had officially begun) under Emperor Hirohito, Japan attacked China, bringing the two nations into years of conflict.

World War 2 facts

7. The US didn’t join the war until 1941, when Japan attacked the United States

– at their Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. On 8 December 1941 (the very next day), the US declared War on Japan and, in turn, its German allies.

8. Some countries remained ‘neutral’ in World War 2

Such countries were Spain, Sweden and Switzerland – who chose not to join either side.

World War 2 facts

9. The Germans surrendered on 8 May 1945

In 1944, an Allied army crossed from Britain to free France from Nazi rule. One year later, Allied armies invaded Germany, forcing the Germans to surrender. After nuclear attacks on Japan’s major cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan also surrendered to Allied forces in August the same year. World War 2 had ended.

10. Around 64 million people died in World War 2

– that’s more than the entire population of the United Kingdom.
World War 2 facts

Find out more about the countries involved in World War 2 with our Germany, Japan and USA facts. Plus, learn about the life of Anne Frank, a young German girl who wrote a world-famous diary… 

With thanks to Dr. Matthew Thomas from the National Army Museum and Ian Kikuchi from the Imperial War Museum, London.
*Yugoslavia was a country established in 1918 in south-east Europe, which included modern-day Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
*USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the Soviet Union) was a former country which included modern-day Russia, Ukraine and Estonia, as well as other socialist states.

What did you think of our World War 2 facts? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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COMMENTS

  • felicity

    this info really helped

  • Blazing_soul

    why, why did it have to exist!? WHY!

  • Senorah

    This will help me with my work that is have to do in the school

  • it was great and easy to understand

  • freya

    thats so sad im glad to live now

  • PAW

    Ty for all who fought in ww2 Ty for risking your life for us

  • Dinaya

    This gave me a lot of information , but its really sad that lots of people died

  • Braxton

    This was very helpful

  • Elijah

    good facts but make more way to short!!!

  • harry

    I still cant get over that world war 2 had big tanks

  • this is so sad i am happy to have these facts

  • Emma

    That was a lot of drama!

  • Dan Dan

    I didn’t know any of this

  • ella

    great information

  • Gerald

    That's not a very good part of the world's history.

  • Patrick Henry Weese Jr

    so cool to know about!!!

  • bob

    i am glad i wasent alive then

  • Tina

    This was very interesting

  • alicep173

    i really enjoyed this to help me understand remberance day as it is 6.11.24

  • Jackle

    I am the biggest World War 2 nerd ever!! !

  • Abbie

    I love these facts they really help with homework

  • Cameron

    This website helped me understand ww2 in a way i never have before. it also helped me with my homework

  • jessy

    well im 14 but um well this is helping me undrstand what my grate grandpa went through

  • William

    It helped a lot thanks

  • Aalyiah

    cool

  • rg

    this is so sad

  • hhhhh

    that is so cooooooool

  • WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Ishe

    I knew seven of them already but the three I learned were interesting

  • sad

  • JayElsie

    Totally awesome

  • JayElsie

    I loved it!!!

  • bob

    good website

  • dina

  • parkzilla123

  • jason

    it was so amazing

  • Jessica

    cool

  • 10hamster

    cool

  • The Croc

    WOW!

  • The Croc

    WOW!

  • Ines

  • Nines

  • martha

    wow

  • lily

    so sad so manny people died

  • urmomsxbox

    This is ok, it did help me with my work, but the layout could be better

  • Dinnnnnn

    Very nice

  • Pawsome

    interesting facts! really nice

  • Math

  • IAlexandra

    Nice, this really helped me with my school work, Thanks!!

  • Alexa

    This is nice, really helped me with school work, Thanks!! :D

  • sam

    you are sooo cool

  • chelsea

    wow so exciting

  • sam

    soooooo cool cool

  • star1112

    so you are good

  • Daniel

    WOW

  • kyle

    cool and interesting

  • Nice

  • Bash

    Amazing!

  • Keryn

    Very Interesting

  • zoe

    it was amazing learning about this.

  • Girrafe

    Awesome!!!!

  • My name is She

  • NICE WEBSITE THX

  • yes

  • Ibragim.zhemukhov

    Cool

  • dodododo

    WOW!

  • Wow

  • Jay

    this was a great website

  • nice

  • Hazel

    Love them really helped my research

  • Katie

    Coolest website ever

  • Good job on the article, maybe include some more information on events though.

  • zyriyab5

  • Izabella

    Let's take action!

  • No

  • HOHOHOHOHO

    like it

  • john

    sad stuff guys

  • mikey

    Sad but cool

  • Jose Miranda

    It was a transcendental event for humanity that we must avoid repeating because today there is greater military power and with several countries that have nuclear bombs. It would be a universal disaster without losers and winners.

  • your mom

    this website is pretty good!

  • RODDY

    Really good facts helped a lot on my project :]

  • max

    good job homework is easy and fun

  • noni

    Hey thanks nat geo! the facts were really interesting and helped alot with my project :) cya soon in another comment section:P

  • bob

    cool

  • Bob

    This is very nice it help me so much.

  • cool

  • Jayden Ta

    Thank you Nat Geo, you helped me with my project!

  • person

    amazing but sad

  • lazer

    nice

  • love it

  • saskia

    I learned so much from this and it really helped me with my task

  • saskia ❤

    cool

  • TomTom

    nice facts

  • Dennis R. Hall

    3/ & in Africa they invaded Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, British Somaliland; & and Britain in the Channel Islands; 6/ & Italy wanted to control large tracts of Africa to include Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti & British Somaliland. 8/ Portugal was neutral and so was Eire: if the former held sympathies for Britain the latter was a non belligérant sympathiser of Nazi Germany to the extent of mourning Hitler’s death, generously welcoming German children after the War Marshall Plan funds asssisting the war weary countries, and responding to an invitation to join NATO with a “....only if you give back our six counties”. Who needs enemies with friends like that ?

  • zakaria

    you guys are nice

  • Good info it is very useful

  • GreenieTurtle

    Loved the facts!

  • Skylar

    This was very helpful, thank you!

  • g.f.s.

    my great-grandmother fought in WW2 aged only 15, and survived ! :)

  • Mugisa Nicholas

    Facts are true

  • very true

  • ggggg

    hi

  • Cool Yutao

    Those facts are very important and I think it is very interesting.

  • Catlover

    Just sad on how many people died

  • Jaclyn

    COOl

  • kittenlife02

    this was really helpful for school work!!!! And Hitler was the worst.