when did the second world war end?

Question

this may supprise you, watchers of QI hosted by stephen fry should know! think who the war was declared against, that's a big clue! come back for the anwer instead of dismissing the question, you will learn something! :)

Answer 1

I heard this last night on TV .... 1989?? Officially ending when the two 'Germany's', East and West, were unified ???

Not sure if this is true, but a charming anecdote

Just seen the rest of your questions ... yes QI

Answer 2

End of WW2 in the Netherlands happened in Wageningen, which is thus world famous for its military history. On May 6, 1945, the German general Blaskowitz surrendered to the Canadian general Charles Foulkes, which ended the WW2 in the Netherlands. The Generals negotiated the terms of surrender in the Hotel de Wereld, which since 2004 has again been serving as a hotel. On May 5, which in the Netherlands is Liberation Day, the city hosts a large festival to celebrate the liberation. At this festival, veteran soldiers parade through the city and are honoured for their service. This year I have seen the whole parade - amazing. The veterans came from Scotland, all over Holland, and other places, Dutch have a big collection of old weapons, more than 800 000 people came to town, it is really a special event.

Answer 3

While no historian, I'm supposing you are making a distinction between the Atlantic and Pacific theatres, with the contention that the various states of western and eastern Europe, along with the North Africa and the US is enough to be termed a "world war." If that's the case, especially if the term was used before Japan came in, the answer is May 8th, 1945.

I should read up on history if the unification of Germany is what determined the end of the war. That goes in the face of the connatation of war as I know it, or very nearly appears to. I'll concede if I'm wrong, but post Berlin Wall seems specious as an answer.

Answer 4

It all depends on what you consider to be the 'end' of World War II.

Arguably Germany was one of the first aggressors in the War. And the final surrender of all German forces occurred on May 7, 1945 in Reims, France. Why countries have chosen to celebrate 'V-E' day on May 8 and May 9 I'll never know. Of course, that wasn't really the end of even the German fighting - some offensives continued up until May 12. But arguably, since Germany officially surrendered, these might be considered to be dissidents instead of actual German soldiers at that point.

And, of course, there was still fighting with Japan. Japan did not surrender until August 14, 1945, and they signed documents to that effect on September 2. The Japanese troops in China surrendered a little later on September 9.

But after this date there were no officially sanctioned military activities that could be associated with the 'Axis powers' and therefore WW2. Any remaining territories or units would not be recognized, and are (at best) rebels... but more likely just overlooked and forgotten.

On the other hand, if you consider all the ongoing effects of WW2 to still be part of the 'war', then the war is STILL ongoing... Korea was partitioned into North and South Korea in WW2, and last I checked, it's still partitioned like that!

QI's answer is that the war 'officially' ended in 1990, because that's when Germany re-united.

Answer 5

The war ended on might 8th, 1945 in Europe. in spite of the undeniable fact that, it had no longer completely ended interior the international. Following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered, marking the top of the 2d international war on September 2, 1945.

Answer 6

Jonesgi is right. There was a treaty in 1989 with Germany following the end of East Germany and Soviet domination.Of course the fighting ended in May 1945 in Germany and August 1945 in Japan.

Answer 7

I think after the storming of automic bomb at two Japanise cities Hiroshma and Nagasaki on August 6, 1945 and August 9, 1945 respectively.

Answer 8

1945

Answer 9

I don't know what answer you're looking for, but the UK remained at an official state of war with Germany until 1950 or 1951. I saw an article in a newspaper from that year saying they had finally ended it.

Answer 10

1945 in Japan