January
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14-27
Roer Triangle is cleared by the 2nd British Army during Operation Blackcock.
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16
United States First and Third Armies link up following Battle of the Bulge.
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Soviet troops liberate Budapest.
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17
Warsaw liberated by Red Army troops.
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27
The Battle of the Bulge officially ends.
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Auschwitz concentration camp is liberated by Soviet troops.
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30
Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff off the coast of East Prussia.
February
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2
Ecuador declares war on Germany.
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4
Yalta Conference of Allied leaders begins; Belgium now cleared of all German forces.
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U.S. forces enter Manila, Japanese forces in the city massacre 100,000 Filipinos civilians.
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8
Paraguay declares war on Germany.
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12
Peru declares war on Germany.
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13
The Battle of Budapest ends with Soviet victory.
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13-14
Dresden firebombed by Allied air forces. Large parts of city destroyed.
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14
Uruguay declares war on Germany.
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19
U.S. Marines invade Iwo Jima.
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19
U.S. Marines invade Iwo Jima.
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23
U.S. forces raise the American flag at Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima.
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25
Turkey declares war on Germany.
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28
The Sixth United States Army captures Manila, capital of the Philippines.
March
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6
Germans launch Lake Balaton Offensive against Soviet forces in Hungary.
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9
Amid rumors of a possible American invasion, Japanese overthrow the Vichy French Decoux Government which had been operating independently as the colonial government and proclaim an "independent" Empire of Viet Nam.
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20
Mandalay liberated by Indian 19th Infantry Division.
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22-23
US and British forces cross the Rhine.
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28
Argentina declares war on Germany.
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29
The Red Army enters Austria.
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30
Russian forces liberate Danzig.
April
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1
U.S. troops invade Okinawa.
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2
Soviets launch Vienna Offensive against German forces in and around the Austrian capital city.
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4
Ohrdruf death camp is liberated by the Allies.
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9
Battle of Königsberg ends in Soviet victory.
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10
Buchenwald concentration camp liberated.
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12
President Roosevelt dies suddenly. Harry Truman becomes President of the United States.
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15
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated; Arnhem is liberated.
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16
The Battle of the Seelow Heights and the Battle of the Oder-Neisse began as the Soviets continued to advance towards the city of Berlin.
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19
The Battle of the Seelow Heights and the Battle of the Oder-Neisse ended in Soviet victory. The Soviet advance towards the city of Berlin continued.
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21
Soviet forces under Georgiy Zhukov (1st Belorussian Front), Konstantin Rokossovskiy (2nd Belorussian Front), and Ivan Konev (1st Ukrainian Front) launch assaults on the German forces in and around the city of Berlin as the opening stages of the Battle of Berlin.
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Hitler orders SS-General Felix Steiner to attack the 1st Belorussian Front and destroy it. The ragtag units of "Army Detachment Steiner" were something more than a corps but far less than the army required to face an entire Soviet front.
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22
Hitler informed late in the day that, with the approval of Gotthard Heinrici, Steiner's attack was never launched. Instead, Steiner's forces were authorized to retreat. In response to the news concerning Steiner, Hitler launched a furious tirade against the perceived treachery and incompetence of his military commanders in front of Wilhelm Keitel, Hans Krebs, Alfred Jodl, Wilhelm Burgdorf, and Martin Bormann. Hitler's tirade culminated in an oath to stay in Berlin, head up the defense of the city, and shoot himself at the end.
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24
Forces of the 1st Belorussian Front and the 1st Ukrainian Front linked up in the initial encirclement of Berlin.
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25
Elbe Day: First contact between Soviet and American troops at the river Elbe, near Torgau in Germany.
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27
The encirclement of German forces in Berlin was completed by the 1st Belorussian Front and the 1st Ukrainian Front.
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28
Head of State for the Italian Social Republic, Benito Mussolini, was captured in northern Italy while trying to escape. Mussolini and other members of his puppet government were then executed by Italian partisans and their bodies put on display in Milan.
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29
Dachau concentration camp is liberated by the U.S. 7th Army. All forces in Italy officialy surrender and a ceasefire is declared.
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30
German dictator Adolf Hitler dictated his last will and testament shortly before committing suicide in his bunker in Berlin. In accordance with Hitler's last will and testament, Joseph Goebbels was appointed Reich Chancellor and Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz was appointed Reich President.
May
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1
Reich Chancellor Joseph Goebbels sent German General Hans Krebs to negotiate the surrender of the city of Berlin with Soviet General Vasily Chuikov. Chuikov, as commander of the Soviet 8th Guards Army, commanded the Soviet forces in central Berlin. Krebs was not authorized by Goebbels to agree to an unconditional surrender. His negotiations with Chuikov ended with no agreement.
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Reich Chancellor Joseph Goebbels committed suicide in Berlin along with his wife and children. General Hans Krebs committed suicide later.
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2
The Battle of Berlin ended when German General Helmuth Weidling, commander of the Berlin Defense Area, unconditionally surrendered the city of Berlin to Soviet General Vasily Chuikov.
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Trieste is captured by New Zealand troops and Yugoslavian partisans.
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3
Rangoon liberated.
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4
Neuengamme concentration camp is liberated.
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Bratislava, the capital of the Slovak Republic, was over-run by advancing Soviet forces. The remaining members of Prime Minister Jozef Tiso's pro-German government fled to Austria.
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5
Czech resistance fighters and Soviets start Prague uprising.
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Mauthausen concentration camp is liberated.
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German troops in the Netherlands officially surrender.
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Denmark liberated by Allied troops.
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7
Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies in Rheims, France. In accordance with orders from Reich President Karl Dönitz, General Alfred Jodl signed for Germany.
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8
Ceasefire takes effect at one minute past midnight; V-E Day in Britain.
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The remaining members of the Prime Minister Jozef Tiso's pro-German Slovak Republic capitulated to the American General Walton Walker's XX Corps in Kremsmünster, Austria.
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Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies in Berlin, Germany. In accordance with orders from Reich President Karl Dönitz, General Wilhelm Keitel signed for Germany.
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Prague uprising ended with negotiated surrender with Czech resistance which allowed the Germans in Prague to leave the city.
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11
Prague Offensive ended in Soviet victory.
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16
British troops complete liberation of Channel Islands.
June
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20
Schiermonnikoog, a Dutch Island, is the last part of Europe Allied troops reach.
July
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6
Norway declares war on Japan.
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16
U.S. conducts the Trinity test, the first test of a nuclear weapon.
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16
Potsdam Conference begins; Allies determine future of Germany.
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24
Truman informs Joseph Stalin that the United States has nuclear weapons (Stalin is already aware, via espionage).
August
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6
The first nuclear weapon ever used in war, "Little Boy", is dropped on Hiroshima by the Enola Gay.
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8
Soviet Union declares war on Japan; the invasion of Manchuria begins about an hour later.
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9
A second atomic bomb, "Fat Man", is dropped on Nagasaki by Bockscar.
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15
Emperor Hirohito issues a radio broadcast announcing Japan's unconditional surrender.
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V-J Day declared in the United Kingdom.
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16
Emperor Hirohito issues an Imperial Rescript ordering Japanese forces to cease fire.
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30
Royal Navy force under Rear-Admiral Cecil Harcourt liberates Hong Kong.
September
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2
Japan signs the articles of surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
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2
Japanese troops in the Philippines and Singapore agree to surrender to American and British forces, respectively.
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5
Singapore officially liberated by British and Indian troops.
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16
Japanese garrison in Hong Kong officially signs the instrument of surrender.
December
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31
The Home Guard is disbanded.
