The global war

The Second World War of 1939–45 involved almost every part of the world. What was the impact of the conflict in countries such as Japan, Canada, New Zealand, India, America and China?

The destroyer USS Shaw explodes in a massive fireball at Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. The attack led almost immediately to Germany declaring war on America, and so brought Stalin an unexpected ally of colossal potential power, says Laurence Rees. (Bettmann/Getty Images)

Second World War

Pearl Harbor and Hitler’s devastating conclusions: why December 1941 was the most important month of the Second World War

The battleship USS California (centre) following the attack at Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. (Bettmann/Getty Images)

Second World War

12 things you (probably) didn’t know about Pearl Harbor

Atomic bomb damage in the city of Hiroshima, 1945. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 “razed and burnt around 70 per cent of all buildings”, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

Was the US justified in dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War? You debate

20th Century

The Marshall Plan and the Cold War

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Second World War

The Last Kamikazes

El Alamein battle in the Libyan desert, c1942. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Second World War

El Alamein: the line in the sand

The incredible tale of the WW2 Poles who fought back

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Second World War

Postwar occupations and Raleigh bicycles

A mushroom cloud over Nagasaki after the dropping of the second atomic bomb, 9 August 1945. The dropping of the bomb prompted Japan to agree to surrender unconditionally, as it now seemed likely that the Americans could mount an inexorable process of bombing. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Us Air Force/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Second World War

WW2 10 of the most important Second World War dates

The USS Arizona burning in Pearl Harbor following the Japanese attack. To the left of her are USS Tennessee and the sunken USS West Virginia. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

The Library The shock of Pearl Harbor

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Second World War

The attack on Pearl Harbor and physics through the ages

Men of the SAS returning from a three-month trip behind enemy lines during the war in North Africa. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

Interview with Ben Macintyre: “They changed the way war is run”

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The global war

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WW2 | 10 of the most important Second World War dates

The Library | The shock of Pearl Harbor

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Want to read more?

WW2 10 of the most important Second World War dates

The Library The shock of Pearl Harbor