When did WWII OFFICIALLY end?

Factual Questions
1

Yes, yes, I know Germany surrendered in early May 1945, followed by Japan at the end of the summer. And we signed a peace treaty with Japan shortly thereafter.

And that was the last declared war the U.S. was involved in. Granted events like the Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, and the Current Unpleasantness in Iraq are termed “___ War”, they are not ‘wars’ by the technical constitutional definition. So that leads me to this question.

There were scads of countries, from Norway to Chile to New Zealand, at war with one or all of the Axis powers. And the US, the UK, France, and the USSR divided Germany and Austria into zones of occupation for the next four years, followed by Austria being set up as a neutral state, the three western zones in Germany turning into the Bundesrepublik and the Soviet zone (less what was given to Poland or annexed) becoming the D.D.R. I don’t remember anything about treaties ending the war against Germany, though obviously they must have been put into place. And in particular I don’t remember any treaty recognizing the D.D.R.

So exactly when was World War II officially brought to a close by a treaty between the last member of the Allies to be at war with (presumably) Germany? And what was the effective end for the U.S.? (Same date for the U.K. and the U.S.S.R.? Or something different?)

This is purely out of curiosity, no ulterior motives. The old World Book Encyclopedia had a huge list of who declared war on whom on what date – but nothing showing the official end of hostilities, beyond the armistices ending the fighting. I suppose it’s pinned down somewhere – there may even be a Google-findable page detailing it all – but I’m looking to the collective wisdom of Dopedom to nail the information down.

2

Somebody will have the exact date I’m sure, but I believe it was some time in 1946.

3

The actual peace treaty between Japan and most of the Allies, the Treaty of San Francisco, was not signed until 1951, and did not take effect until 1952. The Soviet Union and several other countries either did not sign or signed but didn’t ratify the treaty. The USSR and Japan signed a declaration ending the state of war in 1956, but no actual peace treaty has yet been signed between the USSR/Russia and Japan. It’s not clear from the Wiki article what the status of the other countries that did not ratify the Treaty of San Francisco are, including Poland, Czechoslovakia, Indonesia, Colombia, and Luxembourg.

4

The Soviet Union never signed a peace treaty with Japan, and since it no longer exists one could claim the war is over there, or one can say Russia inherited that.

On the German front,

You probably would get a much better answer asking this question at the Axis Forums, which despite its name covers so much more than just the Axis powers. They do all sorts of history and are really good at “what ifs”

You can look at the Treaty of San Francisco for the Japanese part of the war and you can look at the Treaty with on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany for information about Germany

The Paris Peace Treaties dealt with minor Axis nations.

Also remember a lot of countries declared war on Germany in the final days solely because that made it easier for them to join the United Nations. Indeed by the time the war was about rapped up the “Allies” had become referred to as “the United Nation.”

5

The final instrument of ratification of the Treaty on the Final Settlement with respect to Germany (that of the Soviet Union) was deposited in Bonn on March 15, 1991, bringing the treaty into force and ending the war between Germany and the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.

Most of the other allies, who didn’t have occupation issues, had long since ended their participation in the war by unilateral resolution or proclamation. (For example, Canada issued a royal proclamation in 1951.) There is nothing unusual about this; the United States Congress did the same to terminate our state of war with Germany in 1921, since we never ratified the Versailles Treaty.

So far as I know, the dispute between the Soviet Union/Russia and Japan is the only unfinished business from World War II.

6

Resolution is mainly blocked by the Kuril Islands dispute over four small islands north of Japan occupied by the USSR at the end of WWII.

7

At least for the purposes of computing veterans’ benefits, the United States Government views World War II as having ended on December 31, 1946:

8

I remember my family’s world atlas that I grew up with (published sometime in the early 70s) had notations in their central and eastern European maps that the post WWII borders of Poland, Germany, etc. were not “officially official” (probably worded a little better) yet. I think the 1991 Bonn Treaty was what “finally finalized” the post-war map of Europe among other things.

9

If the signing of ** The Treaty of San Francisco** was televised, then I may have seen it. I remember my mother calling me in from outside and telling me that I must watch a signing of a Peace Treaty because I would always remember it. I was young enough to think that she was saying “Peach Treety.” We did get our television in 1950 or 1951.

Could I have seen that on my old 17" Motorola in Tennessee?

10

That is why I wrote 1946, as that is what it states on my discharge form. That seems to be the date that officially recognizes “wartime” service.

I never realized what a vastly complex thing this really is. Weird.

11

After reunification, Germany and Poland negotiated a separate German-Polish Border Treaty finalizing the Oder-Neisse border. It was signed in 1990 and entered into force in 1992.

12

How was was this done? Can Canada issue a royal proclamation on its own, or was it more of a proclamation issued by the government of Canada, or did George (I’m thinking Elizabeth had not yet ascended to the throne yet) issue a proclamation in Canada’s name? I’m not trying to be snarky here, I’m curious what constitutes a royal proclamation in a Commonwealth country and who can issue one.

13

Since the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, each of the Commonwealth realms is fully independent of Britain. Canada went to war in 1939 a week later than the U.K. did, since the U.K,'s declaration of war did not bind Canada. The Canadian government of Prime Minister Mackenzie King issued a proclamation of war (which under our system is an executive act, not a legislative one), which was then debated in the Canadian House of Commons and approved. That proclamation would go out in the name of King George VI, King of Canada, but would be signed by the Governor General on behalf of the King.

Similarly, the proclamation ending the war would have been issued by the federal government, in the name of the King, but signed by the Governor General.

In both cases, the GovGen would act on the advice of the Canadian Prime Minister and the Canadian Cabinet. The proclamations would not need the personal approval of His Majesty.

14

The British fought a major battle in Nov 1945 in what is now Indonesia. I would say that this is as good as ending as any, the official acts were given after the peace treaty, and were rubber stamp.

15

However, that wasn’t so much the last battle of World War II as it was one of the first battles of the wars of de-colonization.

16

Colombia?

17

A list of the countries in attendance, per the linked Wiki article:

Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, The Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, the Soviet Union, Sri Lanka, South Africa,Syria, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam.

18

Of the above, only Australia, France, Canada, Indonesia, THe Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan*, The Phillipines, Soviet Union, Sri Lanka**, the UK and the US were involved in any fighting at all. Why were the others invited?

*As part of British India, which begs the question, where is India or Bharat?

** As Ceylon, a crown colony at the time.

19

I believe there’s a recent or perhaps still ongoing case that asserts the US never legally gave up its postwar occupation of Taiwan. Kind of doubt it will fly, though.

20

(cough) South Africa was also involved in the fighting.

To answer your question, though, as I understand it near the end of the war lots of countries declared war on Germany and/or Japan because they wanted to join the United Nations - originally to join the UN a country had to have declared war before 1 March 1945. And having declared war, they obviously had to sign the peace treaty.