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The Second World War was a conflict so vast and destructive that it affected almost everyone on Earth and shaped the world we live in today.
第二次世界大战是一场规模巨大、破坏性巨大的冲突，它几乎影响了地球上的每一个人，并塑造了我们今天生活的世界。
How did this cataclysmic series of events begin?
这一系列灾难性事件是如何开始的？
Though tensions had been simmering in Europe for years, war officially began on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland.
尽管欧洲的紧张局势已经酝酿多年，但1939年9月1日，德国入侵波兰，战争才正式打响。
But it wasn't just a German-Polish war. It was a world war.
但这不仅仅是一场德波战争。那是一场世界大战。
Britain and France responded just two days later by declaring war on Germany on September 3rd.
两天后，英国和法国作出回应，于9月3日向德国宣战。
But was that the end of it? Not by a long shot.
但这就是事情的结束吗？绝对不是。
Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.
1941年6月22日，德国入侵苏联。
Then, on December 7, Germany's ally, Japan, spread the war across the Pacific Ocean by launching an attack on the American Naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
然后，在12月7日，德国的盟友日本发动了对位于夏威夷珍珠港的美国海军基地的攻击，从而将战争蔓延到太平洋彼岸。
The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by Naval and air forces of the empire of Japan.
美利坚合众国突然遭到日本帝国海军和空军的蓄意攻击。
Watching Hollywood movies, you could have been led to think that most of the action in World War II happened between Germany and America, with Britain showing up for a few aerial battles here and there.
看好莱坞电影，你可能会认为二战中的大部分战斗都发生在德国和美国之间，英国偶尔出现了几次空战。
But which countries actually fought in the war?
但到底是哪些国家参加了这场战争呢？
In fact, many nations were touched by the conflict, but the main combatants can be grouped into two opposing factions-- Germany, Japan, and Italy where the Axis powers.
事实上，许多国家都受到了这场冲突的影响，但主要的战斗人员可以分为两个对立的派别--轴心国德国、日本和意大利。
France, Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union were the Allied powers.
法国、英国、美国和苏联是盟国。
China, which had been engaged in a war with Japan concurrently with World War II, is also sometimes counted among the Allied powers.
在第二次世界大战期间与日本交战的中国，有时也被算作盟国之一。
With so many powerful nations involved, World War II demanded uncommon leadership.
有这么多的强国参与，第二次世界大战需要非同寻常的领导力。
Many of the leaders of the time are almost legendary figures today, some seen as heroes and some as history's greatest monsters.
当时的许多领导人今天看来几乎都是传奇人物，有些被视为英雄，有些被视为历史上最伟大的人物。
Who were the leaders of the Axis and the Allies during World War II?
第二次世界大战期间，轴心国和同盟国的领导人是谁？
The Allied powers were led by Winston Churchill, the prime minister of the United Kingdom; Joseph Stalin, premier of the Soviet Union; Charles de Gaulle, leader of the French resistance; and Franklin D.Roosevelt, President of the United States.
盟国由英国首相温斯顿·丘吉尔、苏联总理约瑟夫·斯大林、法国抵抗运动领袖夏尔·戴高乐和以及美国总统富兰克林·罗斯福。
Due to Roosevelt's death, in the final days of the war, the United States was led by President Harry S.Truman.
由于罗斯福的去世，在战争的最后几天，美国由哈里·S·杜鲁门总统领导。
The Axis powers were led by a man whose name is now synonymous with evil -- Adolf Hitler, the chancellor of Nazi Germany, along with Benito Mussolini, prime minister of Italy, and Hideki Tojo, prime minister of Japan, succeeded Kuniaki Koiso.
轴心国是由一个人领导的，他的名字现在已经成为邪恶的代名词--纳粹德国总理阿道夫·希特勒，以及意大利总理贝尼托·墨索里尼和日本首相东条英机接替了小泽一郎。
