<Table> <Tr> <Th colspan="2"> World War II </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td colspan="2"> ( clockwise from top left ) <Ul> <Li> Chinese forces in the Battle of Wanjialing </Li> <Li> Australian 25 - pounder guns during the First Battle of El Alamein </Li> <Li> German Stuka dive bombers on the Eastern Front in December 1943 </Li> <Li> American naval force in the Lingayen Gulf </Li> <Li> Wilhelm Keitel signing the German Instrument of Surrender </Li> <Li> Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad </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 ) ( 7003219300000000000 ♠ 6 years and 1 day ) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Location </Th> <Td> Europe , Pacific , Atlantic , South - East Asia , China , Middle East , Mediterranean , North Africa and Horn of Africa , 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 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 world war 2 officially start and end
1 September 1939 2 September 1945