The Great Depression and the WWII World War II lasted from 1939-1945. The war began in Europe on Sept. 1, 1939, when Germany attacked Poland, and ended on Sept. 2, 1945, with the formal surrender of Japan aboard the U.S. battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. The rival powers were the victorious Allies (Great Britain and the Commonwealth, France, the United States, the USSR, and China). The losing side consisted of Germany, Italy, and Japan, as well as smaller …showed first 75 words of 784 total…

…showed last 75 words of 784 total…Munich Conference in 1938, however, they gave in to Hitler's demand in order to preserve the peace. This practice became known as appeasement. At Munich, Hitler said that he wanted no more territory. But then in March 1939, he took over the rest of Czechoslovakia. Britain and France saw that Hitler's ambitions must be stopped. On September 1, 1939, German armies attacked Poland. Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany and World War II officially begun.