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A world war is "a war which is engaged in by all or most of the principal nations of the world". Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). The First World War destroyed empires, created numerous new nation-states, encouraged independence movements in Europe's colonies, forced the United States to become a world power and led directly to Soviet communism and the rise of Hitler. Similarly, many things changed once World War II was over. Much of Europe and Eastern Asia had been destroyed by the fighting and bombings that had taken place over many years. Also, many country's borders needed to be set and governments re-established where Germany or Japan had taken over. These events changed the course of human history and shaped our modern world today.