The Second World War went from 1939 to 1945, when Berlin fell and the Japanese surrendered, and no amount of fiddling about will convince us otherwise.
Are you sure about that? Because a declaration of war isnt just some unilateral thing that a man on a horse does to lead other men on horses into battle anymore. Its a legal document, signed by pretty much a million different people. Bells have to be rung, hoops leaped through. It takes time and effort to convince people, because new legal powers will be assigned to civilians, new budgets will be agreed, and the purpose of whole industries will be co-opted towards war with a capital WAR. Arguments are had, heads are banged together, evidence is manufactured, etc etc. Its a big deal and so is the legal punchline to all of that hilarious set-up, when a peace is brokered and a treaty signed. In the case of World War II, peace treaties were only signed with Bulgaria, Italy, Hungary, Finland and Romania in 1950, and Japan followed suit in 1951. Germany was split into two and half was given to the USSR: no formal, legally binding cessation of hostilities was agreed with Germany until October 19th, 1951. That means the post-war war lasted as long as the actual war did and many of the things that occurred during that post-war war were as terrible as the war itself had been, but lets not open that horrendous can of worms now.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.