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Second World War
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The Second World War... known as the World War II, was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as the largest and deadliest war in human history. The war was fought between the Axis Powers and the Allies. The Axis initially consisted of an alliance between Germany and Italy, which later expanded to include Japan and Eastern European countries such as Romania and Bulgaria. For almost two years, from August 1939 to June 1941, the Soviet Union (USSR) was an active partner with Germany in dividing up Eastern Europe before a confrontation between the two nations saw them become enemies and the USSR was itself attacked by Germany.
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The Second World War was an agent for profound global change, ushering in, as it did, the nuclear age. Within thirty years of 1945 almost all the countries still within the British Empire had claimed their independence. Almost all then voluntarily joined the British Commonwealth, a free association of sovereign independent states highly valued by its members. As for the war’s effect on those who served during its six years’ duration - that, too, was profound. Most are immensely proud of what they did, though many still carry outward or inward scars. Their stories, like those of the First World War servicemen and women, deserve to be told, and they themselves have earned the thanks and respect of the following generations for whose freedoms they fought so bravely.
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VADUZ, Switzerland -- After nearly four years of work, the Independent Commission of Historians Liechtenstein - Second World War has presented its Final Report on its research concerning Liechtenstein's role in the Second World War. The Final Report is supplemented by individual studies on special topics. On 22 May 2001, the Government appointed an Independent Commission of Historians, pursuant to various initiatives and questions raised in public, and mandated it to investigate questions concerning the role of Liechtenstein in the Second World War in depth. The Independent Commission of Historians, under the presidency of Peter Geiger, consisted of historians from Liechtenstein, Israel, Austria, and Switzerland. Financial resources in the amount of 3.5 million Swiss francs were available for the research work.
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BBC site containing information and resources on the Second World War featuring articles and debates written by military historians which follow the major battles and events in historical order. There are ... special sections on D-Day, the home front, the holocaust, and the secret war. The site also features a multimedia zone that contains animated maps and movies; and a gallery that features audio clips of people who experienced D-Day, Dunkirk and the Kindertransport first hand, images of Allied aerial photos, pictures of British Special Operations Executive (SOE) equipment, images and information on Nazi propaganda posters and cartoons, and audio clips of speeches from Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler.
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During the Second World War, only Latin America and a number of neutral European countries were spared by the fighting. For the first time in history, aviation made it possible to bombard enemy territory over hundreds of square kilometres; for the first time too, the number of victims was higher among civilians than among soldiers. From the very beginning, Hitler's regime waged a racial war aimed at subjugating the Slavic peoples and wiping out all Jews and gypsies.
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The Second World War was distinguished by a savagery and lack of humanity that people living before the conflict would have thought impossible among civilized states. There are too many instances of this sort of thing to cover, so three alone might suffice as representative. When Japanese troops took the city of Nanking, the temporary capital of China, the city was turned over to the troops by their officers to be sacked, an old custom whereby victorious troops were simply turned loose to do whatever they wanted with the citizens of a city who resisted too stoutly. The imperial troops killed some 300,000 Chinese during the sack, often using the most barbaric torture.
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Second World War