In what year did World War II end?

World War II ended in 1945. The conflict is generally dated from Germany’s invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 to Japan’s formal surrender on 2 September 1945. Germany surrendered earlier, on 8 May 1945, bringing the war in Europe to an end, but fighting continued in the Pacific until Japan capitulated later that year.

The final year of the war saw the defeat of Nazi Germany, the liberation of occupied territories, and the collapse of Japan’s military position. The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, while the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded Japanese-held territory in Manchuria. Japan announced its surrender on 15 August, and the surrender documents were signed aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September.

A common mix-up is answering 1945 with 8 May specifically. That date marks Victory in Europe Day, not the end of the entire global conflict. Another sometimes-used date is 15 August, when Japan announced its surrender, but the formal conclusion came in September. Historians may debate the precise starting date, but 1945 is the accepted ending year.