A look at the first weeks of a war that would disrupt the lives of so many, starting with the first shots fired by the Japanese in July 1937, China.

Between September 1940 and November 1941, things intensify as Nazi Germany exert their dominance over Europe.

From December 1941 to May 1942, Singapore falls, the Wannsee Conference is held in Berlin and a single event in the Pacific transforms the war into a total global conflict.

By Spring 1942, German armies had taken control, the battles of Midway and Stalingrad begin and American's achieve a ground-breaking milestone in the development of atomic weapons.

1943 begins with the Casablanca Conference. Events unfold in the week of the Soviet victory in Stalingrad, and one of the best-selling songs in history is released.

Halfway through its fourth full year, the fortunes of war were running increasingly in favor of the Allies. The bombing of Hamburg and the Allied Tehran Conference take place.

It's spring 1944 and on the Eastern Front, the momentum is firmly with allies as the war moves into its final, violent act.

By January 1945, it seemed the end of the war was in sight - but challenges still loomed on the Eastern Front, in the Pacific and in Western Europe.