A member of the White Helmets, looks at a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held town of Douma, on the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus, on October 5, 2016. (Credit: SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP/Getty Images)

Women settlers standing guard while living on the American frontier. (Credit: Interim Archives/Getty Images)

Brynn Holland

Brynn Holland Archives - History.com

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History.com

<a href="https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/world-war-ii-history">World War II</a> was the biggest and deadliest war in history, involving more than 30 countries. Sparked by the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, the war dragged on for six bloody years until the Allies defeated the Axis powers of Nazi Germany, Japan and Italy in 1945. Explore the battles, leaders and atrocities from the war and its impact on geopolitics and humankind.

World War II

The Middle Ages, the medieval period of European history between the fall of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Renaissance, are sometimes referred to as the "Dark Ages."

Middle Ages

Though the 19th century saw the rise of populism, the labor movement and Jacksonian democracy, it also ushered in the Gilded Age, when men like Cornelius Vanderbilt and J. P. Morgan wielded control over politics and business.

19th Century

The Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union lasted for decades and resulted in anti-communist suspicions and international incidents that led the two superpowers to the brink of nuclear disaster.

Brynn Holland

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