World War II included an invasion.
World War II . On 22 June 1941 , the European Axis powers launched an invasion of the Soviet Union , opening the largest land theatre of war in history , which trapped the major part of the Axis ' military forces into a war of attrition . The war in Europe concluded with an invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union , culminating in the capture of Berlin by Soviet troops and the subsequent German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945 . With an invasion of the Japanese archipelago imminent , the possibility of additional atomic bombings , and the Soviet Union 's declaration of war on Japan and invasion of Manchuria , Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945 .