2. World War II Snapshot
Deadliest conflict in human history:
• 70 m. killed
• 2/3 civilians
Total war:
• 100 m. military personnel
• TOTAL war
3. Two separate theatres of conflict:
• Asia & Pacific (1931-1945)
• Europe & N. Africa (1935-1945)
4. Nuclear War
• Only war in which nuclear weapons of mass
destruction have been used in combat (so far):
• Hiroshima, Japan, August 6, 1945
• Nagasaki, Japan, August 9, 1945
5. Axis Powers:
1. Nazi Germany (The Third Reich)
led by Chancellor Adolf Hitler, Der Fuhrer
2. Fascist Italy
led by Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, Il Duce
3. Imperial Japan
led by Emperor Hirohito
Prime Minister Hideki Tojo
6. Grand Alliance of United Nations
(the Allies):
1. United Kingdom of Great Britain
led by Prime Minister Winston Churchill
2. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
led by General Secretary of the Central Committee of
the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin
3. United States of America
led by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
and President Harry S Truman
4. Free French Forces
led by General Charles de Gaulle
7. Country Population in 1939 Number of Dead total population
Killed
Soviet Union 175,500,000 23,600,000 13.44%
China 517,568,000 20,000,000 3.86%
Germany 69,623,000 7,503,000 10.77%
Japan 71,380,000 2,680,000 3.75%
France 41,700,000 562,000 1.35%
Italy 44,394,000 459,500 1.04%
Britain 47,760,000 450,400 0.94%
United States 131,028,000 418,500 0.32%
WWII Casualties: