{"id":352,"date":"2025-04-25T13:00:54","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T13:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/natgeokids.com?p=352"},"modified":"2025-12-17T17:39:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T17:39:31","slug":"world-war-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/history\/general-history\/world-war-two\/","title":{"rendered":"10 facts about World War 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>In September 1939, Britain entered into what would become the world&#8217;s most devastating war to date. Learn all about the events&nbsp;that changed the lives of millions&nbsp;in our World War 2 facts&#8230;.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<center><\/center>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">World War 2 facts<\/h2>\n\n\n<h2><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2978\" src=\"http:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts-3.jpg\" alt=\"World War 2 facts\" width=\"635\" height=\"404\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts-3.jpg 635w, https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts-3-300x191.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 635px) 100vw, 635px\" \/><\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>1.<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>World War 2\u00a0<\/strong>was a battle between two groups of countries <\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"s1\">&#8211; the &#8216;<strong>Allies<\/strong>&#8216; and the &#8216;<strong>Axis<\/strong>&#8216;. The major Allied Powers were Britain, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/geography\/countries\/facts-about-france\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">France<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/history\/general-history\/facts-about-christmas\/\">Russia<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/geography\/countries\/30-cool-facts-about-china\/\">China<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/geography\/countries\/usa-facts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">United States<\/a>. The major Axis Powers were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/geography\/countries\/country-fact-file-germany\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Germany<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/geography\/countries\/facts-about-italy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Italy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/geography\/countries\/facts-about-japan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Japan<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n<p><!-- \/wp:post-content --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:separator --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:separator --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:separator --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>2.<\/strong>\u00a0Before World War 2 began, Germany was ruled by a man named <strong>Adolf Hitler<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Together with the\u00a0<strong>Nazi Party<\/strong>, he wanted Germany to rule Europe. To gain more land and power, on <strong>1 September 1939<\/strong> German troops invaded <strong>Poland<\/strong>. After Hitler refused to stop the invasion, Britain and France declared war on Germany &#8211; World War II had begun.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>3.<\/strong> During the course of the war, German forces advanced through Europe<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">By the summer of <strong>1941<\/strong> they had invaded <strong>France<\/strong>, <strong>Belgium<\/strong>, <strong>Holland<\/strong>, <strong>Luxembourg<\/strong>, <strong>Denmark<\/strong>, <strong>Norway<\/strong>, <strong>Greece<\/strong>, <strong>Yugoslavia<\/strong>* and the <strong>USSR<\/strong>*.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Did you know that we have a downloadable <a href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/primary-resource\/second-world-war-primary-resource\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Second World War primary resource<\/a>? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>4.<\/strong>\u00a0Millions of Germans were imprisoned and killed because they didn&#8217;t fit the image of the &#8216;perfect&#8217; German<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Hitler wanted to create what he thought was the &#8216;best&#8217; and strongest race &#8211; and to the Nazi Party, this excluded certain groups, such as <strong>Jews<\/strong>, <strong>Roma <\/strong>and <strong>Sinti peoples<\/strong>, members of the <strong>LGBTQIA+ community<\/strong>\u00a0and those with <strong>physical<\/strong> and <strong>mental disabilities<\/strong>. In an attempt to eliminate a &#8216;racial enemy&#8217; outside of Germany, such groups were also persecuted in the countries invaded by German forces.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts-5.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2980\" src=\"http:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts-5.jpg\" alt=\"World War 2 facts\" width=\"635\" height=\"404\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts-5.jpg 635w, https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts-5-300x191.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 635px) 100vw, 635px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>5.<\/strong>\u00a0The group most heavily targeted by the Nazis were the Jews<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Around <strong>six million<\/strong> Jewish people were killed during World War 2 in one of history\u2019s most terrible events &#8211; the <strong>Holocaust.<\/strong> Racist in his views, Hitler blamed Jewish people for Germany losing <a href=\"\/uk\/discover\/history\/general-history\/first-world-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>World War I<\/strong><\/a> and claimed they were dangerous to German people and society.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>6.<\/strong>\u00a0Around the same time that Germany fought for power in Europe, Japan wanted to control Asia and the Pacific<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In <strong>1937<\/strong> (before World War 2 had officially begun) under <strong>Emperor Hirohito<\/strong>, Japan attacked China, bringing the two nations into years of conflict.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2976\" src=\"http:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts-1.jpg\" alt=\"World War 2 facts\" width=\"635\" height=\"404\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts-1.jpg 635w, https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts-1-300x191.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 635px) 100vw, 635px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>7.<\/strong>\u00a0The US didn&#8217;t join the war until 1941, when Japan attacked the United States <\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8211; at their Naval Base at <strong>Pearl Harbor<\/strong> in <strong>Hawaii<\/strong>. On <strong>8 December 1941<\/strong> (the very next day), the US declared War on Japan and, in turn, its German allies.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>8.<\/strong>\u00a0Some countries remained &#8216;neutral&#8217; in World War 2<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Such countries were <strong>Spain<\/strong>, <strong>Sweden<\/strong> and <strong>Switzerland<\/strong> &#8211; who\u00a0<\/span>chose not to join either side.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2981\" src=\"http:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts.jpg\" alt=\"World War 2 facts\" width=\"635\" height=\"404\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts.jpg 635w, https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts-300x191.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 635px) 100vw, 635px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>9.<\/strong>\u00a0The Germans surrendered on\u00a0<\/span>8 May 1945<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\">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\u00a0<strong>nuclear<\/strong> attacks on Japan&#8217;s major cities <strong>Hiroshima<\/strong> and <strong>Nagasaki<\/strong>, Japan also surrendered to Allied forces in August the same year. World War 2 had ended.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>10.<\/strong>\u00a0Around <strong>64 million people<\/strong> died in World War 2<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8211; that&#8217;s more than the <em>entire<\/em> population of the United Kingdom.<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts-4.jpg\"><br \/><\/a><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2979\" src=\"http:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts-4.jpg\" alt=\"World War 2 facts\" width=\"635\" height=\"404\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts-4.jpg 635w, https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2014\/12\/World-War-2-facts-4-300x191.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 635px) 100vw, 635px\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Find out more about the countries involved in World War 2 with our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/geography\/countries\/country-fact-file-germany\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Germany<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/geography\/countries\/facts-about-japan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Japan<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/geography\/countries\/usa-facts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USA facts<\/a>. Plus, learn about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/history\/general-history\/anne-frank-facts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">life of Anne Frank<\/a>, a young German girl who wrote a world-famous diary&#8230;\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h6><strong>With thanks to Dr. Matthew Thomas from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nam.ac.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">National Army Museum<\/a> and\u00a0Ian Kikuchi from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.iwm.org.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Imperial War Museum<\/a>, London.<\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;\"><br \/><\/span><\/h6>\n<h6>*Yugoslavia was a country established in 1918 in south-east Europe, which included modern-day Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.<\/h6>\n<h6>*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.<\/h6>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">What did you think of our World War 2 facts? Let us know by leaving a comment below.<\/h3>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In September 1939, Britain entered into what would become the world&#8217;s most devastating war to date. Learn all about the events&nbsp;that changed the lives of millions&nbsp;in our World War 2 facts&#8230;. World War 2 facts 1.\u00a0World War 2\u00a0was a battle between two groups of countries &#8211; the &#8216;Allies&#8216; and the &#8216;Axis&#8216;. The major Allied Powers &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/history\/general-history\/world-war-two\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">10 facts about World War 2<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[164,201,251],"christmas-category":[],"class_list":["post-352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-history","tag-british-history","tag-history","tag-world-war-two","countries-australia","countries-ireland","countries-new-zealand","countries-south-africa","countries-united-kingdom"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>World War 2 facts for kids | National Geographic Kids<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn astonishing World War 2 facts with Nat Geo Kids. 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How did it change the course of history?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"World War II facts for kids\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn about the conflict that rocked the world...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/history\/general-history\/world-war-two\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"National Geographic Kids\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ngkids\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-25T13:00:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-17T17:39:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2017\/07\/WWII-FB.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin NG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@NGKidsUK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NGKidsUK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin NG\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/history\\\/general-history\\\/world-war-two\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/history\\\/general-history\\\/world-war-two\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Admin NG\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/859da4f1862df69752f1e3a4aefab153\"},\"headline\":\"10 facts about World War 2\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-25T13:00:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-17T17:39:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/history\\\/general-history\\\/world-war-two\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":623,\"commentCount\":301,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/history\\\/general-history\\\/world-war-two\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/12\\\/World-War-2-facts-featured.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"british history\",\"history\",\"world war two\"],\"articleSection\":[\"General History\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/history\\\/general-history\\\/world-war-two\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/history\\\/general-history\\\/world-war-two\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/history\\\/general-history\\\/world-war-two\\\/\",\"name\":\"World War 2 facts for kids | National Geographic Kids\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/history\\\/general-history\\\/world-war-two\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/history\\\/general-history\\\/world-war-two\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/12\\\/World-War-2-facts-featured.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-25T13:00:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-17T17:39:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/859da4f1862df69752f1e3a4aefab153\"},\"description\":\"Learn astonishing World War 2 facts with Nat Geo Kids. 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