1945

Jan 1-17 - Germans withdraw from the Ardennes.

Jan 16, 1945 - U.S. 1st and 3rd Armies link up after a month long separation during the Battle of the Bulge.

Jan 17, 1945 - Soviet troops capture Warsaw.

Jan 26, 1945 - Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz.

Feb 4-11 - Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin meet at Yalta.

Feb 13/14 - Dresden is destroyed by a firestorm after Allied bombing raids.

March 6, 1945 - Last German offensive of the war begins to defend oil fields in Hungary.

March 7, 1945 - Allies take Cologne and establish a bridge across the Rhine at Remagen.

March 30, 1945 - Soviet troops capture Danzig.

In April - Allies discover stolen Nazi art and wealth hidden in salt mines.

April 1, 1945 - U.S. troops encircle Germans in the Ruhr; Allied offensive in North Italy.

April 12, 1945 - Allies liberate Buchenwald and Belsen concentration camps;
President Roosevelt dies. Truman becomes President.

April 16, 1945 - Soviet troops begin their final attack on Berlin; Americans enter Nuremberg.

April 18, 1945 - German forces in the Ruhr surrender.

April 21, 1945 - Soviets reach Berlin.

April 28, 1945 - Mussolini is captured and hanged by Italian partisans; Allies take Venice.

April 29, 1945 - U.S. 7th Army liberates Dachau.

April 30, 1945 - Adolf Hitler commits suicide.

May 2, 1945 - German troops in Italy surrender.

May 7, 1945 - Unconditional surrender of all German forces to Allies.

May 8, 1945 - V-E (Victory in Europe) Day.

May 9, 1945 - Hermann Göring is captured by members of the U.S. 7th Army.

May 23, 1945 - SS Reichsführer Himmler commits suicide; German High Command and Provisional Government imprisoned.

June 5, 1945 - Allies divide up Germany and Berlin and take over the government.

June 26, 1945 - United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco.

July 1, 1945 - U.S., British, and French troops move into Berlin.

July 16, 1945 - First U.S. atomic bomb test; Potsdam Conference begins.

July 26, 1945 - Atlee succeeds Churchill as British Prime Minister.

Aug 6, 1945 - First atomic bomb dropped, on Hiroshima, Japan.

Aug 8, 1945 - Soviets declares war on Japan and invade Manchuria.

Aug 9, 1945 - Second atomic bomb dropped, on Nagasaki, Japan.

Aug 14, 1945 - Japanese agree to unconditional surrender.

Sept 2, 1945 - Japanese sign the surrender agreement; V-J (Victory over Japan) Day.

Oct 24, 1945 - United Nations is officially born.

Nov 20, 1945 - Nuremberg war crimes trials begin.

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