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The world wars

Two world wars, stage by stage

Watch the fronts move. Each stop shades the land each side held at that moment, striped where it was occupied, with arrows for the offensives and a mark for every major battle.

3 map tours · 41 stops
120 battles marked

The First World War

1914–1918

A war that began with an assassination in Sarajevo and a fortnight of ultimatums became four years of industrial slaughter. In the west, the front barely moved between the autumn of 1914 and the spring of 1918; in the east, it swung hundreds of kilometres, until revolution took Russia out of the war. By the end, four empires had fallen and the map of Europe and the Middle East was redrawn.

Fought
28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918
Sides
The Allies (France, Britain, Russia, Italy, the United States and others) against the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria)
Military dead
About 9 million
World War I: The Great War on the Map16 stops · about 16 min · start the tour
  1. 01Two Armed CampsJune–August 1914
  2. 02The Race for Paris: the MarneAugust–September 1914
  3. 03Tannenberg and Galicia: the Eastern FrontAugust–December 1914
  4. 04The TrenchesOctober 1914 – 1915
  5. 05The Great RetreatMay–September 1915
  6. 06Gallipoli and the IsonzoFebruary 1915 – January 1916
  7. 07The Fall of SerbiaOctober 1915 – January 1916
  8. 08Verdun and the SommeFebruary–November 1916
  9. 09The Brusilov Offensive and RomaniaJune 1916 – January 1917
  10. 10A World War: Africa and Asia1914–1918
  11. 111917: Revolution, and America Joins1917
  12. 12Brest-Litovsk: Russia Leaves the WarMarch–May 1918
  13. 13The Spring OffensiveMarch–July 1918
  14. 14The Middle East1915–1918
  15. 15The Hundred Days and the ArmisticeAugust–November 1918
  16. 16A New Map of Europe1919–1920

Battles on the map

The Second World War

1939–1945

The deadliest war in history was fought on every inhabited continent. Germany overran most of Europe between 1939 and 1942 and Japan much of East Asia and the Pacific, until the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain and their allies turned the tide at Stalingrad, El Alamein and Midway and fought their way back. The maps here show who held what at each stage, as the fronts advanced and retreated.

Fought
1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945 (in China, from 1937)
Sides
The Allies (the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, China, France and many others) against the Axis (Germany, Japan, Italy and their allies)
Dead
Tens of millions; most estimates fall between 70 and 85 million, the majority civilians
World War II in Europe and North Africa17 stops · about 18 min · start the tour
  1. 01Hitler's ExpansionMarch 1938 – April 1939
  2. 02The Invasion of PolandSeptember 1939
  3. 03The Winter War, Denmark and NorwayNovember 1939 – June 1940
  4. 04The Fall of FranceMay–June 1940
  5. 05The Battle of BritainJuly 1940 – May 1941
  6. 06The Desert and GreeceSeptember 1940 – March 1941
  7. 07The Balkans and CreteApril–May 1941
  8. 08Operation BarbarossaJune–December 1941
  9. 09The Holocaust1941–1945
  10. 10Case Blue: the Drive to the Volga and the NileJune–October 1942
  11. 11Stalingrad and El Alamein: the Tide TurnsOctober 1942 – May 1943
  12. 12The Battle of the Atlantic1939 – May 1943
  13. 13Kursk, Sicily and ItalyJuly – December 1943
  14. 14D-Day and Operation BagrationJune – August 1944
  15. 15Autumn 1944: Liberation in the West and the BalkansSeptember – December 1944
  16. 16The Bulge and the Vistula–Oder OffensiveDecember 1944 – February 1945
  17. 17The Fall of BerlinMarch – May 1945

Battles on the map

World War II in Asia and the Pacific8 stops · about 9 min · start the tour
  1. 01Japan's War in China1931–1938
  2. 02Pearl Harbor7 December 1941
  3. 03Lightning ConquestDecember 1941 – May 1942
  4. 04Coral Sea and MidwayMay–June 1942
  5. 05Burma and India1942–1945
  6. 06Island Hopping1942–1944
  7. 07Iwo Jima and OkinawaFebruary–June 1945
  8. 08Hiroshima, Nagasaki and SurrenderAugust–September 1945

Battles on the map

Front lines are drawn from standard histories of each campaign and simplified to the main line of the fighting on the date given; small pockets, islands and short-lived advances are left out. Borders underneath come from the historical-basemaps snapshots for 1914 and 1938.