<Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> World War II </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> (clockwise from top left) <Ul> <Li> Chinese forces in the Battle of Wanjialing </Li> <Li> Australian 25 - pounder guns during the First Battle of El Alamein </Li> <Li> German Stuka dive bombers on the Eastern Front in December 1943 </Li> <Li> American naval force in the Lingayen Gulf </Li> <Li> Wilhelm Keitel signing the German Instrument of Surrender </Li> <Li> Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Date </Th> <Td> 1 September 1939--2 September 1945 (1939 - 09 - 01--1945 - 09 - 02) (6 years and 1 day) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Location </Th> <Td> Europe, Pacific, Atlantic, South - East Asia, China, Middle East, Mediterranean, North Africa and Horn of Africa, briefly North and South America </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Result </Th> <Td> <P> Allied victory </P> <Ul> <Li> Collapse of Nazi Germany </Li> <Li> Fall of Japanese and Italian Empires </Li> <Li> Dissolution of the League of Nations </Li> <Li> Creation of the United Nations </Li> <Li> Emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as superpowers </Li> <Li> Beginning of the Cold War (more ...) </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Participants </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Allied Powers </Td> <Td> Axis Powers </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Commanders and leaders </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Main Allied leaders <Ul> <Li> Joseph Stalin </Li> <Li> Franklin D. Roosevelt </Li> <Li> Winston Churchill </Li> <Li> Chiang Kai - shek </Li> </Ul> </Td> <Td> Main Axis leaders <Ul> <Li> Adolf Hitler </Li> <Li> Hirohito </Li> <Li> Benito Mussolini </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Casualties and losses </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> Military dead: Over 16,000,000 </Li> <Li> Civilian dead: Over 45,000,000 </Li> <Li> Total dead: Over 61,000,000 (1937--45) </Li> </Ul>... further details </Td> <Td> <Ul> <Li> Military dead: Over 8,000,000 </Li> <Li> Civilian dead: Over 4,000,000 </Li> <Li> Total dead: Over 12,000,000 (1937--45) </Li> </Ul>... further details </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> World War II </Th> </Tr>

When were the two world wars fought and why