The second World War started on September first 1939 with the invasion of Germany into Poland. The war ended with the total defeat and unconditional surrender of Germany. The war claimed more then 60 million lives. The 40 years or so after the war were dominated by a Cold War between the USA and the USSR. The two world powers tried to convince the rest of the world that their political system was the best to follow, in order to get as many as possible countries within their sphere of political and economical influence. The cold war was eventually, peacefully, won by the USA which boasted with the more liberal political philosophy.
