Names of World War II

A Soviet soldier raising the flag during the Battle of Berlin, part of the Eastern Front, which is known as the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and modern-day Russia

The global conflict that took place between September 1939 and September 1945 is generally referred to as World War II or the Second World War, the former being commonly used in the United States. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the conflict was sometimes called the Second Great War – a reference to the Great War of 1914–1918, which was later renamed World War I – and the European War following Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Official United States documents adopted the name World War II, though the term only gained popularity after the US declared war on Japan on 8 December 1941. The name eventually became popular among media outlets and was later officially adopted by the public. The conflict was officially established as World War II in the US when President Harry S. Truman approved the term.

In addition to the generally used names, specific terms for different fronts are used for historical purposes, memorials, and wartime propaganda. These include the Great Patriotic War, used by the Soviet Union for the Eastern Front against Nazi Germany, and the Greater East Asia War, used by Imperial Japan for the Pacific War.

Common names

Second World War

The earliest recorded usage of the term Second World War appeared just two years after the First World War ended. It was used by British soldier and author Charles à Court Repington; although he did not name a specific ongoing conflict, he referred to the Great War as the "First World War" in the belief that other global wars would follow. He wrote in his book The First World War, "I have called this great war the First World War because I believed it to be the first of a series of world wars."

On 3 September 1939, the day Britain declared war on Germany following the invasion of Poland, the newspaper The Times became the first in the world to refer to the conflict as the Second World War, stating: "The Second World War broke out yesterday". Following this, British media and official documents widely adopted the term.

World War II

Ten days after the declaration of war by Britain and France, Time became the first American magazine to call the conflict World War II, publishing the statement: "World War II began last week when Britain and France declared war on Germany."

In June 1941, US official documents named the ongoing European conflict "World War II" when Germany invaded the Soviet Union. On 8 December 1941, when the US declared war on Japan, President Franklin D. Roosevelt publicly referred to the conflict as World War II.[citation needed] From 1942 to 1945, it was widely conceived as a global war against fascism in English-speaking countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States. In September 1945, just days after Japan surrendered, President Harry S. Truman approved the use of "World War II" in government documents.

Eastern Front

Great Patriotic War

Soviet soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad

In the Soviet Union and contemporary Russia, the term Great Patriotic War refers to the four-year war between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany during the Second World War. The roots of the term lie in the 1812 French invasion of Russia, which Russians called the 'Patriotic War'. The term was also used during World War I when the Russian Empire fought the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire.

On 23 June 1941, one day after the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, the newspaper Pravda first used the term in an article titled "The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet People" by Yemelyan Yaroslavsky. The term was chosen to motivate the Soviet people and promote defense against the invader. After the war in Europe ended, the term was mostly used within the Soviet Union and rarely mentioned elsewhere. In the 21st century, Russia and other post-Soviet nations continue to use the term. However, in 2014, Uzbekistan became the first post-Soviet nation to stop recognizing the term, designating World War II as the official name.

German–Soviet War

The term German–Soviet War (or Nazi–Soviet War) is mostly used in modern-day Germany and Ukraine to refer to the war on the Eastern Front. Historians such as John Erickson (in The Road to Stalingrad and The Road to Berlin) and David M. Glantz use the term in most of their works. The BBC and The National WWII Museum also occasionally use this term.

Pacific War

US Marines raising the flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima

Most Allied nations did not commonly distinguish the Pacific War from the Second World War, simply calling it the War Against Japan. In the United States, terms like the War in the Pacific, Asia-Pacific War, Pacific-Asian Theater, and Pacific Theater were widely used.

Japanese official documents published on 12 December 1941 used the name Greater East Asian War after the attack on Pearl Harbor to include the ongoing wars between the Western Allies and China. The term was prohibited during the Allied occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1952. Another term is the China Incident, which the Japanese government used to avoid declaring war before 7 December 1941.

In China, the war is called the War of Resistance Against Japan or the Eight-Year War of Resistance, though these terms refer to the Second Sino-Japanese War, which by definition is different from the Pacific War. Other names like the Far East War and War in the East were also used in Britain and the Commonwealth.

Second Sino-Japanese War

Names of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese抗日戰爭
Simplified Chinese抗日战争
Literal meaningWar of Resistance against Japanese Aggression
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinkàng rì zhàn zhēng
Bopomofoㄎㄤˋ ㄖˋ ㄓㄢˋ ㄓㄥ
Alternative name
Traditional Chinese抗戰
Simplified Chinese抗战
Literal meaningWar of Resistance
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinkàng zhàn
Second alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese八年抗戰
Simplified Chinese八年抗战
Literal meaningEight Years' War of Resistance
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinbā nián kàng zhàn
Third alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese十四年抗戰
Simplified Chinese十四年抗战
Literal meaningFourteen Years' War of Resistance
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinshí sì nián kàng zhàn
Fourth alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese第二次中日戰爭
Simplified Chinese第二次中日战争
Literal meaningSecond Sino-Japanese War
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyindì èr cì zhōng rì zhàn zhēng
Fifth alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese(日本)侵華戰爭
Simplified Chinese(日本)侵华战争
Literal meaning(Japanese) War of Aggression against China
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin(rì běn) qīn huá zhàn zhēng
Japanese name
Kanji
  • 支那事変
  • 日支戦争
  • 日中戦争
Hiragana
  • しなじへん
  • にっしせんそう
  • にっちゅうせんそう
Katakana
  • シナジヘン
  • ニッシセンソウ
  • ニッチュウセンソウ
Transcriptions
Romanization
  • Shina jihen
  • Nisshi sensō
  • Nicchū sensō
Kunrei-shiki
  • Sina zihen
  • Nissi sensou
  • Nittyuu sensou

Chinese

This section is an excerpt from Second Sino-Japanese War § Chinese.[edit]

In both China's Mainland and Taiwan, the war is most commonly known as the "War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression" (simplified Chinese: 抗日战争; traditional Chinese: 抗日戰爭), and the name of it is usually shortened to "Resistance against Japanese Aggression" (抗日) or the "War of Resistance" (抗战; 抗戰). The countries also use the term "Eight Years' War of Resistance" (八年抗战; 八年抗戰), a traditional view which dates the war's beginning to the Marco Polo Bridge incident in 1937.: 90 

Since 2017, the Chinese Communist Party's official view of Chinese historiography has held the 18 September 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria as the start of the" Fourteen Years' War of Resistance" (十四年抗战; 十四年抗戰).: 90–94  The 1931–1937 period is viewed as the "partial" war, which includes the "Northeast War of Resistance" (东北抗战), while 1937–1945 is viewed as a period of "total" war.: 93  This view of a fourteen-year war has political significance because it provides more recognition, internationally as China claims it fought the earliest and longest in a global war, and domestically for the role of northeast China in the War of Resistance.: 92–93  The CCP officially calls the conflict as "Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression" (Chinese: 中国人民抗日战争), while referring to it as part of the "World Anti-Fascist War", an alternate definition of World War II.

Japanese

This section is an excerpt from Second Sino-Japanese War § Japanese.[edit]

In contemporary Japan, the name "Japan–China War" (Japanese: 日中戦争, romanized: Nitchū Sensō) is most commonly used because of its perceived objectivity. Dating the beginning of the war may also vary in Japanese context, with one Japanese historiographical view regarding the war as a "Fifteen-Year War" (Jyugonen Sensô), covering the period beginning with the invasion of Manchuria through the atomic bombings, and including both the war in China and the Pacific war.: 91 : 99 

When the invasion of China proper began in earnest in July 1937 near Beijing, the Empire of Japan used "The North China Incident" (北支事變/華北事變, Hokushi Jihen/Kahoku Jihen), and with the outbreak of the Battle of Shanghai the following month, it was changed to "The China Incident" (支那事變, Shina Jihen). The word "incident" (事變, jihen) was used by Japan, as neither country had made a formal declaration of war at the outbreak of hostility. From the Japanese perspective, localizing these conflicts was beneficial in preventing intervention from other countries, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States, which were its primary source of petroleum and steel respectively. A formal expression of these conflicts would potentially lead to an American embargo in accordance with the Neutrality Acts of the 1930s. In addition, due to China's fractured political status, Japan often claimed that China was no longer a recognizable political entity on which war could be declared.

In Japanese propaganda, the invasion of China became a holy war (聖戦, seisen), the first step of the "eight corners of the world under one roof" slogan (八紘一宇, Hakkō ichiu). In 1940, Japanese prime minister Fumimaro Konoe launched the Taisei Yokusankai. When both sides formally declared war in December 1941, the name was replaced by "Greater East Asia War" (大東亞戰爭, Daitōa Sensō).

Although the Japanese government still uses the term "China Incident" in formal documents, the word Shina is considered derogatory by China and therefore the media in Japan often paraphrase with other expressions like "The Japan–China Incident" (日華事變/日支事變, Nikka Jiken/Nisshi Jiken), which were used by media as early as the 1930s. The name "Second Sino-Japanese War" is not commonly used in Japan as the China it fought a war against in 1894 to 1895 was led by the Qing dynasty, and thus is called the Qing-Japanese War (日清戦争, Nisshin–Sensō), rather than the First Sino-Japanese War.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Also abbreviated as WW2 and WWII.
  2. ↑ China and Japan had been fighting for four years alone. After the events of 7 December 1941, which brought the United States and its allies into the war against Japan, it was widely accepted that the Pacific War began on 7 December 1941.

References

  1. ↑ "Culture Re-View: How did 'World War II' get its name?". www.euronews.com. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  2. ↑ Nix, Elizabeth (6 March 2013). "Were They Always Called 'World War I' and 'World War II'?". HISTORY. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 US National Archives (22 September 2014). "How and When Did World War II Officially Become World War II?". The Text Message. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  4. ↑ "The Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945". 9 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "The Greater East Asian War: How Japan Changed The World | Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  6. ↑ "COLONEL CHARLES À COURT REPINGTON, (1858-1925)".
  7. ↑ "Here's How World War II Began".
  8. ↑ Душенко, Константин (2006). Словарь современных цитат: 5200 цитат и выражений ХХ и ХХI вв., их источники, авторы, датировка (in Russian). Эксмо. ISBN 978-5-699-17691-5.
  9. ↑ Walker, Shaun (7 May 2025). "How VE Day and Putin's war are forcing Ukrainians to relive their painful past". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  10. ↑ Saidazimova, Gulnoza (8 April 2008). "World War II -- 60 Years After: For Some Central Asians, 'Great Patriotic War' Is More Controversial Than Ever". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  11. ↑ "BBC - History - World Wars: The Soviet-German War 1941 - 1945". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  12. ↑ "Operation Barbarossa: The Biggest of All Time". The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. 18 June 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  13. ↑ Jansen, Marius B. (2000). The making of modern Japan. Internet Archive. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-00334-7.
  14. ↑ "What Should the "Pacific War" be Named? A Study of the Debate in Japan" (PDF).
  15. ↑ Wang, Yi; Chew, Matthew M. (2021). "State, market, and the manufacturing of war memory: China's television dramas on the War of Resistance against Japan". Memory Studies. 14 (4): 877–891. doi:10.1177/17506980211024319. ISSN 1750-6980.
  16. ↑ "Taiwan, China engaged in a war of WWII narratives - Taipei Times". Taipei Times. 31 August 2025. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 Mitter, Rana (2020). China's Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-98426-4.
  18. ↑ "MAC: Mainland should Acknowledge Historical Truths of the War of Resistance and Respect the Reality of ROC Existence to Ensure Long-Term Peace and Stability in the Strait and Prosperity and Security for the Region". Mainland Affairs Council. 14 October 2015. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  19. ↑ Affairs, Ministry of Foreign; (Taiwan), Republic of China (1 August 1972). "How free China defeated Japan". Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan). Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  20. ↑ "中国共产党领导东北抗战的历史考察--党史-中国共产党新闻网". cpc.people.com.cn. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  21. ↑ Konstantin Tertitski; Fyodor Tertitskiy (2019). "The Personal File of Jin Richeng (Kim Il-sung): New Information on the Early Years of the First Ruler of North Korea". Acta Koreana. 22 (1): 111–128. doi:10.18399/acta.2019.22.1.006. ISSN 1520-7412.
  22. ↑ "Китайские историки пришли к выводу, что Вторая Мировая антифашистская война началась в 1931 году". kprf.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  23. ↑ "BBC Monitoring – Essential Media Insight". monitoring.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  24. ↑ "China's Anti-Fascist War Narrative: Seventy Years On and the War with Japan is Not Over Yet". The Asan Forum. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  25. ↑ "Explainer: Russia, China, Taiwan and Japan's World War Two legacy dispute". Reuters. 11 September 2026. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
  26. ↑ Xu, Guoqi (2026). The Idea of China: A Contested History. Harvard University Press. doi:10.4159/9780674303997. ISBN 9780674976795. JSTOR jj.33092015.
  27. ↑ Combs, Jerald A. (2002). "Embargoes and Sanctions". Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 20 February 2008 – via FindArticles.
  28. ↑ Rea, George Bronson. The Case for Manchoukuo. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1935. Pp 164.
  29. ↑ Linebarger, Paul M. A. (May 1941). "The Status of the China Incident". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 215. Sage: 36–43. doi:10.1177/000271624121500106. JSTOR 1022596. S2CID 144915586.