World War II, or the Second World War, was a global military conflict, the joining of what had initially been two separate conflicts.
The first began in Asia in 1937 as the Second Sino-Japanese War; the other began in Europe in 1939 with the German invasion of Poland.
This global conflict split the majority of the world's nations into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis Powers.
Spanning much of the globe, World War II resulted in the death of over 60 million people, making it the deadliest conflict in human
history.
World War II involved the mobilization of over 100 million military personnel, making it the most widespread war in history. The war
placed the participants in a state of "total war", erasing the distinction between civil and military resources. This resulted in the
complete activation of a nation's economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities for the purposes of the war effort; a majority of
those killed in the war were civilians. From 9 to 11 million of these civilian casualties. The financial cost of the war is estimated
at about a trillion 1944 U.S. dollars worldwide, making it the most costly war in capital as well as lives.
The American fighting uniform saw its greatest evolution during WWII. New materials, design and construction were introduced
during this period. The photo above shows one of the innovations, the development of camouflage. A group of marines are taking
a break in a South Pacific island. This is a study of several of these uniforms.
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