Japan is America's lynch-pin in Northern Pacifice.
Germany and italy are members of NATO,

To those who think they are under U.S. ocuupation, all lI can say is "Have a a Life."

Ricardo, using your criteria, the war still hasn't ended, as Japan, Germany & Italy are still under U.S. military occupation.

Your point is incontestable. Future blog: "When did World War II end?"

–RC

But events do not occur all at once, as people and countries involved in a conflict such as WWII get into it at different stages.

September of 39 saw events that eventually would become known as WWII for most of european, asian and american countries, and that date is fine for general study purposes.

Otherwise you would have to consider the actual date that each country entered the conflict, and while true, it is not practical for study.

But I would like to discuss the ending of the conflict, which most historians place with VE and VJ days.

If WWII formally started with the invasion of Poland by German and Soviet armies, its ending would be , by logic, when the invading armies left that country, and that occurred almost 50 years later, with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Let us not forget that Nazi Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union were allies (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 39) for almost two years until Hitler's Invasion of the USSR. That period saw the maximum expansion of those two allies. Their combined territories went from France to Vladivostok, with almost everything in between included.
When the german boots left Poland and Czechoslovakia and other Eastern European countries, they were replaced by Soviet boots. For those peoples the war did not end in 1945.

The World War II begining in 1931 as part of Japanese Army war planning in north asian mainland oposed to Japanese Navy war plannings for South Asia and West Pacific area included at Australian land.

According with one old Geography expert,George Cressey and other sources in time "the world the not know why the Second World War if cominzed in September 18,1931 with "Mukden Incident" ,when Japanese Kantogun (Kwantung Army) invaded Manchurian soil.

Another eyewitness in Asian Far East are journalist in period how Jim Tew,Chester Holcombe and Joseph Newman (who pubished "Goodbye Japan" a detailed accout of Japanese Empire inner politically and military plannings) among others.

Such plan as more ambitious,for included to entire occupation of Mainland China,the Invasion to Russian Far East and Siberia mainland,Indochina and British India for created a new Asian Land Empire guided by Japanese.

Such sucess occured much before at Italian invasion to Abissinia in 1935 or German Invasion of Poland in Sept 1939.

I am thinked why the Nations Society acted with energy and autority and imposed the diplomatic and economic measures in period prior to Japanese aggresive maneouvers and plannings
if possibly why WWII never occured debt at why the other political Axis nation companions Germany and Italy can t to free movements in your ours plannings and the entire free world watching with keep your moves.

But there are some in the class who agree with Doctor Sinister's comments that the war was global in 1939. After all, we are in New Zealand and our Prime Minister said "Where she goes, we go. Where she stands, we stand". The "she" being Britain.