The Second World War occurred from 1939 to 1945 and is the only conflict in which nuclear

weapons have been used; both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in the Japanese Empire,
were devastated by atomic bombs dropped by the United States. Nazi Germany, led by Adolf
Hitler, was responsible for genocides, most notably the Holocaust, the killing of about
6,000,000 Jews and the killing of 11,000,000 others who were persecuted by the Nazis,
including Romani people and homosexuals.[9] The United States, the Soviet Union,
and Canada deported and interned minority groups within their own borders and, largely because
of the conflict, many ethnic Germans were later expelled from Eastern Europe. Japan was
responsible for attacking neutral nations without a declaration of war, such as the attack on Pearl
Harbor. It is also known for its brutal treatment and killing of Allied prisoners of war and the
inhabitants of Asia. It also used Asians as forced laborers and was responsible for the Nanjing
Massacre in which 250,000 civilians were brutally murdered by Japanese
troops. Noncombatants suffered at least as badly as or worse than combatants, and the
distinction between combatants and noncombatants was often blurred by the belligerents of total
war in both conflicts.[10]
The outcome of the war had a profound effect on the course of world history. The old European
empires collapsed or they were dismantled as a direct result of the crushing costs of the war and
in some cases, their fall was caused by the defeat of imperial powers. The United States became
firmly established as the dominant global superpower, along with its close competitor and
ideological foe, the Soviet Union. The two superpowers exerted political influence over most of
the world's nation-states for decades after the end of the Second World War. The modern
international security, economic, and diplomatic system was created in the aftermath of the
war.[10]
Institutions such as the United Nations were established to collectivize international affairs, with
the explicit goal of preventing another outbreak of general war. The wars had also greatly
changed the course of daily life. Technologies developed during wartime had a profound effect
on peacetime life as well, such as by advances in jet aircraft, penicillin, nuclear energy,
and electronic computers.[10]