Major events of 1945

The year that brought an end to the world’s largest war might have also been its most eventful. In the final year of World War II — 1945 — a number of significant events took place. Here are some of the notable events from a notable year.

jan. 16

The end of the Battle of the Bulge The last major German offensive attack on the Western front began in mid-December 1944, and in early January, U.S. Army Gen. George S. Patton began a counteroffensive for the Allies. The Battle of the Bulge was ultimately an unsuccessful attempt to push the Allies back from German territory, and though there were about 75,000 Allied casualties, the battle signaled the beginning of the end of Germany’s chances at winning the war.

jan. 27

Soviets liberate Auschwitz: The Soviet army made its way through Poland in early 1945 and on Jan. 27 reached Auschwitz. The Germans had tried to destroy evidence of the concentration camps, and started evacuating Auschwitz’s 60,000 prisoners Jan. 18, but they couldn’t get rid of everything. The Soviet army freed the survivors while revealing to the world the horrific events that had taken place at the camps.

feb. 4-11

Yalta Conference The three leaders of the main Allied forces — Franklin Roosevelt from the United States, Winston Churchill from Great Britain and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union — met at Yalta in Crimea. The main topic of the Yalta Conference was what would happen to Germany and the eastern European countries after the war ended. It also included negotiations surrounding the Soviet Union’s involvement in the war against Japan, as well as some discussion of the new United Nations.

mar. 16

Iwo Jima is secured Though the iconic moment where U.S. Marines raised the American flag on the island of Iwo Jima happened in February 1945, it wasn’t until mid-March when the U.S. completely took over the island. The location of Iwo Jima, about halfway between the Mariana Islands and Japan, provided the United States with a strategic base for its fighter jets.

mar. -apr.

Advance into Germany Throughout March and into April, Allied forces closed in on Berlin, with the United States-led forces coming from the west and the Soviet Union moving in from the east. Along the way they liberated more than 100 concentration camps. The Soviet Union took over Berlin on May 2.

apr. 1

Americans land at Okinawa Conquering the island of Okinawa was the last major step in the U.S. approach toward Japan. Okinawa, part of the Ryuku Islands, was defended by an army of about 100,000 men, and it took until June 22 before the Americans fully secured the island, with many of the Japanese who weren’t killed committing suicide rather than becoming prisoners.

apr. 12

Franklin Roosevelt dies Just a few months after beginning his fourth consecutive term as president of the United States, Roosevelt died of a brain hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia. Roosevelt was succeeded by his vice president, Harry S. Truman, who became the 33rd president of the United States that day.

apr. 28

Benito Mussolini dies The former Italian dictator, removed from power in 1943, was captured on April 27 in an attempt to escape to Switzerland. He and his mistress were executed the next day, and their bodies were brutalized by the public in a plaza in Milan before they were buried.

[ARMY.MIL/BOTB] American engineers emerge from the woods and move out of defensive positions after fighting in the vicinity of Bastogne, Belgium.

[WIKIMEDIA] Prisoners in the German concentration camp Auschwitz in Poland, during liberation by the Soviet army in January 1945.

[WIKIMEDIA] British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (from left), U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin met at Yalta in February 1945.

[THE U.S. NATIONAL ARCHIVES] Flag raising on Iwo Jima.

[WIKIMEDIA] U.S. Marine reinforcements wade ashore to support the beachhead on Okinawa on April 1, 1945.

[WIKIMEDIA] Soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Inf. Div. (O’Daniel) during the conquest of Nuremberg on April 20, 1945.

[WIKIMEDIA] Roosevelt’s funeral procession in Washington, D.C., was watched by 300,000 spectators on April 14, 1945.

[WIKIMEDIA] A cross marks the place in Mezzegra where Mussolini was shot.