World War II
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World War II was the second major global conflict of the 20th century that involved various nation-states of Earth from the years 1939 - 1945. The main combatants included the Allies (a number of nations, including the United States of America, the British Empire and Commonwealth, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, China, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Poland and France) and the Axis Powers (the Nazi-controlled state of Germany, Italy and the Empire of Japan).
German chancellor Adolf Hitler, the primary aggressor in the Eastern War was quoted as saying, in 1938, "We need breathing room" in defense of his attacks on neighboring countries.
Initially assuming an official position of neutrality, the United States fully entered the conflict after a Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor.
According to Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the role of Dixon Hill, the Second World War, although disastrous, did end with the United States taking its place as a dominant world power, culturally influencing the second half of the 20th century. Additionally, the war was a catalyst of technological advancements. The developments in rocketry and fission resonate on into the 24th century.
Following the Hirogen capture of the USS Voyager, one of the ship's holodecks was programmed with a simulation of this timeframe, occurring during the 1944 Allied invasion of Nazi-controlled territory in France.
At the conclusion of the war, American General Douglas MacArthur spoke the following words:
- "Today the guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. We have known the bitterness of defeat and the exultation of triumph, and from both we have learned there can be no turning back. We must go forward to preserve in peace what we've won in war."
Those words would be repeated four hundred and thirty years later by Admiral William Ross at the end of the Dominion War.
The Second World War was immediately followed by the Cold War.
Alternate timelines
Temporal Cold War
In one alternate timeline, the Na'kuhl apparently helped the Germans win the war (although whoever assassinated Vladimir Lenin in 1916 probably helped more, by removing the threat of the Communists to the Nazis). The Nazis subsequently sent troops and conquered Britain, the northeastern United States, a part of Russia extending past Moscow, and possibly parts of eastern Canada. The Nazis took over New York City after the US military ordered a hasty retreat to the Midwest, causing refugees to flood over the Brooklyn Bridge.
However, this was described as Germany "stretching too far, too quickly". Resistance fighters constantly attacked German supply lines and the frontlines were too thin. An American counterattack could – and was later trying to – break through the frontlines, when Captain Archer and the Enterprise-NX showed up in New York City. The Germans also faced problems in their stronghold in Africa, while Russian forces attempted to retake Moscow.
Following the destruction of the Xindi superweapon by the crew of Enterprise in 2154, Commander Tucker, and Ensign Mayweather found themselves over what was apparently WWII-era San Francisco, being attacked by P-51 Mustangs, while Captain Archer was seen lying unconscious in a field hospital – under the observation of a member of a previously-unknown alien in a Nazi general's uniform. The Enterprise destroyed Vosk's time machine near the Brooklyn Bridge, thus closing this timeline and apparently preventing a major temporal war. This was one of the major campaigns of the Temporal Cold War.
