World War 2 is best known for the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States and the Holocaust, the genocide of as many as six million European Jews. World War II was fought between two military alliances they where the Allies, which comprised Soviet Union, United States of America, United Kingdom and other nations, and the Axis, made up of Germany, Japan, Italy. The war began on 1st September, 1939, when the German forces invaded Poland and subsequently France and other European nations attacked Germany. It went on for a period of six years before culminating with a victory for the Allies on 2nd September, 1945. After the first World War, various nations were divided into two groups into the Allied Powers, comprising France, British Empire, Russian Empire, United States of America, which won the war, and the Central Powers, which included the German Empire, Austria-Hungary. The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty which followed the culmination of World War 1, held Germany responsible for the war and put certain military restrictions on them. They were also asked to pay a huge sum of money as a fine. World War I, Germany saw the rise of Adolf Hitler and his concept of Nazism both of which became quite popular in 1930's. Nazism was a form of socialism, totally different from Marxism, which was typically characterized by racism and expansionism. While Germany witnessed the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism, Italy witnessed the rise of Benito Mussolini and Fascism, which was characterized by violence, racism and totalitarianism. Both the concepts were quite similar to each other, Hitler and Mussolini as the leaders of war against the Allied Powers.