WW2 - Europe or Asia?

[CommeDesEnfants]

For the purposes of the History Paper 2 regions, would World War II be considered a war in Europe or Asia? For instance, if the question asked about a war from two different regions, could I do something like World War I and World War II given that (ooh) I only discuss the Asian theatre of the Second World War?

[SushiMonstar]

WWII seems to be generally considered as a war in Europe since it did mainly involve the European powers. As for Asia maybe you can for example talk about what occurred in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, etc. (not sure if you've studied any civil wars etc in Asia)

Not totally sure because my history class doesn't only focus on Europe :z

[Caustica]

The Sino-Japanese war that happened in China has loads of stuff to talk about, and will definitely have enough information to constitute a separate topic. In fact, you don't have to mention the words World War II at all - just call it the Sino-Japanese war. It actually started a few years before WWII, in 1931. And the two wars (European & Asian) were very much distinct, except that I think there was some (not sure how much) communication between Hitler and the dude who ran Japan (forgot his name), and the Americans got involved towards the end.

Edited April 19, 2010 by Caustica

[ivanthegiant]

in order for it to be classified as a world war, those participating must have multiple countries from multiple continents. the war in europe was simply a theater in the scheme of things. both asia and europe must be included in the war

[steve_l]

World War II was, well, a world war. Factions from multiple continents participated and there were multiple theaters of war (Europe and the Pacific).

[ILM]

It was happening in both, Asia and Europe. It took place in Britain and france. And also in Russia (which is considered to be in asia). It took place also in japan and China. so it is in both of them. You should note that different countries have different dates for the start of WWII. In japan and china they considered 1931 as the start of the WWII, because of the attack of Munarchia. In Europe it started in 1938 when Hitler took over Poland. In america they usually refer to 1941 because of pearl harbor. But the most used data is 1938. Anyway WWII is more relative, but it happened in both Asia and Europe.

Note: i do not take history, this from my old information, so maybe i will not be that reliable resource.

[Scade]

[quote name='inm' timestamp='1296943290' post='100534']
It was happening in both, Asia and Europe. It took place in Britain and france. And also in Russia (which is considered to be in asia). It took place also in japan and China. so it is in both of them. You should note that different countries have different dates for the start of WWII. In japan and china they considered 1931 as the start of the WWII, because of the attack of Munarchia. In Europe it started in 1938 when Hitler took over Poland. In america they usually refer to 1941 because of pearl harbor. But the most used data is 1938. Anyway WWII is more relative, but it happened in both Asia and Europe.

Note: i do not take history, this from my old information, so maybe i will not be that reliable resource.
[/quote]
The Eastern front (western front from the Russian perspective) definitely lies in Europe, not Asia. Then again, they did also have campaigns in Asia, but their most destructive and significant battles took place in Europe.

I would hardly say that in Japan and China WWII is said to have started in 1931, it was simply their conflict that started then. Hitler obviously invaded Poland in 1939 not 1938.

Then again, it might be worthy to consider when did the war become a world war. And from the European perspective was it just a continuation of a single extended crisis that had raged since the First World War. From the American perspective it is perhaps more convenient to see them as two separate wars, but in Europe the idea of peace never really rooted that well and there were continuous crises ever since the Russian Civil War until the invasion of Poland. These are just some things worthy of debate and consideration for essays, obviously there are many more.