JANUARY

14–27 Operation Blackcock — Roer Triangle is cleared by the Second British Army.

16 U.S. First and Third Armies link up following Battle of the Bulge.

17 Warsaw liberated by Red Army troops.

27 The Battle of the Bulge officially ends. Auschwitz concentration camp is liberated by Soviet troops.

FEBRUARY

2 Ecuador declares war on Germany.

4 Yalta Conference of Allied leaders begins. Belgium now cleared of all German forces.

8 Paraguay declares war on Germany.

12 Peru declares war on Germany.

13–14 Dresden firebombed by Allied air forces; large parts of city destroyed.

14 Uruguay declares war on Germany.

14 Bombing of Prague — a mistake during the bombing of Dresden.

19 U.S. Marines invade Iwo Jima.

23 U.S. forces raise the American flag at Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima.

25 Turkey declares war on Germany.

28 U.S. Army captures Manila, capital of the Philippines.

MARCH

9 United States firebombs Japan.

20 Mandalay liberated by Indian Nineteenth Infantry Division.

22–23 U.S. and British forces cross the Rhine.

28 Argentina declares war on Germany.

29 The Red Army enters Austria.

30 Russian forces liberate Danzig.

APRIL

1 U.S. troops invade Okinawa.

4 Ohrdruf death camp is liberated by the Allies.

4 Georgian uprising of Texel starts.

10 Buchenwald concentration camp liberated.

12 President Roosevelt dies suddenly. Harry Truman becomes president of the United States.

13 Vienna liberated by Russian troops.

15 Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated. Arnhem is liberated.

21 Russian forces begin assault on Berlin.

25 Elbe Day — first contact between Soviet and American troops at the Elbe River, near Tor-gau in Germany.

28 Mussolini captured and executed by Italian partisans.

29 Dachau concentration camp is liberated by the U.S. Seventh Army.

30 Hitler commits suicide in his bunker in Berlin.

MAY

2 Trieste is captured by New Zealand troops and Yugoslavian partisans.

2 Berlin falls to Soviet troops.

3 Rangoon liberated.

5 Prague uprising begins.

5 Mauthausen concentration camp is liberated.

5 German troops in the Netherlands officially surrender.

5 Denmark liberated by Allied troops.

7 Germany surrenders unconditionally to the Allies.

8 Cease-fire takes effect at one minute past midnight. V-E Day in Britain.

8 German troops in Prague surrender.

9 Red Army enters Prague.

9 German garrison in Channel Islands agrees to surrender.

11 German Army Group Center in Czechoslovakia surrenders.

16 British troops complete liberation of Channel Islands.

20 Georgian uprising of Texel ends, ending hostilities in Europe.

JUNE

20 Schiermonnikoog, a Dutch Island, is the last part of Europe Allied troops reach.

JULY

6 Norway declares war on Japan.

16 U.S. conducts the Trinity test, the first test of a nuclear weapon.

17 Potsdam Conference begins; Allies determine future of Germany.

24 Truman informs Stalin that the United States has nuclear weapons (Stalin is already aware, via espionage).

AUGUST

6 The first nuclear weapon ever used in war, “Little Boy,” is dropped on Hiroshima by the Enola Gay.

8 Soviet Union declares war on Japan; the invasion of Manchuria begins about an hour later.

9 A second atomic bomb, “Fat Man,” is dropped by Bockscar on Nagasaki. Soviet troops enter China and Korea.

15 Emperor Hirohito issues a radio broadcast announcing Japan's unconditional surrender; V-J Day declared in the United Kingdom.

16 Emperor Hirohito issues an Imperial Rescript ordering Japanese forces to cease fire.

30 Royal Navy forces under Rear-Admiral Cecil Harcourt liberate Hong Kong.

SEPTEMBER

2 Japan signs the articles of surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.