<Table> <Tr> <Th colspan="2"> World War II </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td colspan="2"> ( left to right , starting from top row ) <Ul> <Li> US transports unload onto the Normandy coast during Operation Overlord </Li> <Li> Reichstag building in the aftermath of the Battle of Berlin </Li> <Li> Supermarine Spitfire formation in 1940 </Li> <Li> German troops raise the Swastika over the Acropolis of Athens </Li> <Li> Japanese battleship Yamato being attacked by US aircraft during Operation Ten - Go </Li> <Li> Soviet soldiers in a forward position during Operation Bagration </Li> <Li> Wilhelm Keitel signing the German Instrument of Surrender </Li> <Li> Troops of the United States Army fire on Japanese positions during the Bougainville Campaign in March 1944 </Li> <Li> Waffen - SS soldier during the Battle of the Bulge </Li> <Li> Soviet troops during the Battle of Stalingrad </Li> <Li> Sinking of the British merchant ship `` Beacon Grange '' by German submarine U-552 </Li> <Li> Panzer IVs advance on the Eastern Front in 1943 </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td colspan="2"> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Date </Th> <Td> 1 September 1939 -- 2 September 1945 ( 1939 - 09 - 01 -- 1945 - 09 - 02 ) ( 6 years and 1 day ) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Location </Th> <Td> Europe , Pacific , Atlantic , South - East Asia , China , Middle East , Mediterranean , North Africa , Horn of Africa , Australia , briefly North and South America </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Result </Th> <Td> <P> Allied victory </P> <Ul> <Li> Collapse of Nazi Germany </Li> <Li> Fall of Japanese and Italian Empires </Li> <Li> Dissolution of the League of Nations </Li> <Li> Creation of the United Nations </Li> <Li> Emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as rival superpowers </Li> <Li> Beginning of the Cold War ( more ... ) </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th colspan="2"> Participants </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Allied Powers </Td> <Td> Axis Powers </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th colspan="2"> Commanders and leaders </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Main Allied leaders <Ul> <Li> Joseph Stalin </Li> <Li> Franklin D. Roosevelt </Li> <Li> Winston Churchill </Li> <Li> Chiang Kai - shek </Li> </Ul> </Td> <Td> Main Axis leaders <Ul> <Li> Adolf Hitler </Li> <Li> Hirohito </Li> <Li> Benito Mussolini </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th colspan="2"> Casualties and losses </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> Military dead : Over 16,000,000 </Li> <Li> Civilian dead : Over 45,000,000 </Li> <Li> Total dead : Over 61,000,000 ( 1937 -- 45 ) </Li> </Ul> ... further details </Td> <Td> <Ul> <Li> Military dead : Over 8,000,000 </Li> <Li> Civilian dead : Over 4,000,000 </Li> <Li> Total dead : Over 12,000,000 ( 1937 -- 45 ) </Li> </Ul> ... further details </Td> </Tr> </Table>
when did the second world war begin and finish
1 September 1939 -- 2 September 1945