kian+stevens

The war is generally accepted to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the [|invasion] of [|Poland] by [|Germany] and [|Slovakia], and subsequent [|declarations of war] on Germany by [|France] and most of the countries of the [|British Empire] and [|Commonwealth]. Germany set out to establish a large empire in Europe. From late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and [|treaties], Germany conquered or subdued much of continental Europe; amid [|Nazi-Soviet agreements] , the nominally neutral Soviet Union fully or partially occupied and annexed territories of its six European neighbours. Britain and the Commonwealth remained the only major force continuing the fight against the Axis in [|North Africa] and in extensive [|naval warfare]. In June 1941, the European Axis launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, giving a start to the [|largest land theatre of war in history], which, from this moment on, was tying down the major part of the Axis military power. In December 1941, [|Japan], which had been [|at war] with [|China] since 1937, [|[3]] and aimed to dominate [|Asia] , [|attacked the United States] and [|European possessions] in the [|Pacific Ocean] , quickly conquering much of the region.