This is an overview of the activities and developments within the twelve component Societies of the International Psychoanalytic Association from the outbreak of the Second World War to its end in 1945. The author describes how the war had deeply affected the activities of the societies within Europe, as compared with other parts of the world. He notes how in the United States of America psychoanalysis was in a comparatively buoyant state, to some extent owing to migration of psychoanalysts from Europe, whilst in South America and Australia new societies were formed. In view of the scarcity of material to be found in the Archives of the IPA, the author has made full use of relevant literature whenever it was concerned with contemporary world affairs, and the manner in which the war situation affected individuals and groups in various countries.