when did world war 2 began and end?

Answer 1

BEgan Sept 1, 1939 (Germany invades Poland) and ended Sept 2, 1945-(Japan Surrenders), hmmm looks coincidental doesn't it?

Answer 2

Rough answer: it started in 1939 and ended in 1945. If you want exact dates, you need to be more specific about countries, then. Britain declared war on Germany after Germany invaded Poland; Canada came in about a week later. The United States didn't formally enter the war until after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. Other countries joined in at different times.

As for the end of the war, the Allies defeated the Axis forces in Europe several weeks before the war in the Pacific ended. Of course, mopping-up operations took much longer, and supposedly some soldiers stationed in remote areas weren't aware of the end of the war many years later.

Answer 3

By a long-standing convention, the dates are given as 1939-1945.

The commencement of World War Two has different dates in different countries.
To the Americans, World War Two started on December 7th, 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbour.
To Britain, Australia, France, Canada, Poland, World War Two started in Sept. of 1939, when Nazi Germany attacked Poland.
To Czechoslovakia, World War Two started in March of 1939, when Nazi Germany attacked them.
To the Ethiopians, World War Two started in 1936, when Italy attacked.
To the Chinese, it dates back to 1931, when Japan occupied Manchuria.
The Russians date the start start June 1941 (not 1939).

The end of WWII was in 1945.
However, there were some Japanese soldiers on isolated islands in the Pacific who never got the message that the war ended (or they believed it was a trick) and they fought on for years afterward.
Believe it or not, the last Japanese soldier to surrender was Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onada who emerged from the Philippine jungle in 1974 to finally surrender.
His book, "No Surrender - My Thirty-Year War" is fascinating.

Answer 4

Wrong... World War II officially ended on the 8th September 1951 when Japan, USA, Great Britain and 47 other non-communist countries formally signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty.

(p.s. I think that I deserve 'Best Answer' for providing that snippet-LOL)