From 1939 to 1942, Hitler’s German war machine strung together a nearly undefeated campaign throughout Europe. In the time period between 1942 and 1945, the world witnessed some of the bloodiest and deadliest war campaigns in history.
On September 8th, 1943 Italian General Pietro Badoglio formally surrendered to American General Dwight Eisenhower. With the surrender, the Allied forces began Operation Avalanche which began the Allied invasion of Italy.
ITALIAN ARMY SURRENDERS! Unconditional Capitulation of fascist forces announced; Armistice Signed September 3rd.
D-Day
Battle of The Bulge
On June 6th, 1944 the Allied Invasion of Normandy France began. Under the name, "Operation Overlord", 156,000 troops, along with over 50,000 vehicles, stormed the largest amphibious invasion in history.
Following D-Day, the German army attempted to halt the allies by splitting their forces in two. The Battle of the Bulge was the name given to the massive German counteroffensive in the bitter cold December of 1944. Despite almost 90,000 American casualties, the Allies were able to achieve victory and greatly diminish the chances of a German War victory.
Atomic Bomb Dropped On Hiroshima
Hitler Commits Suicide
On April 30th, 1945 Adolf Hitler committed suicide. Hidden in his bunker in Berlin, Hitler was allegedly informed that the Russian army was about one to two days away from overtaking the city of Berlin and he chose to end his own life rather than flee. With this action, the infamous Nazi Party lost their leader and the World moved on from one of the most notorious figures to have ever walked this planet.
On August 6th, 1945, the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The blast immediately killed 80,000 people and thousands more would die due to the devastating effects of the nuclear fallout. The United States would use another atomic bomb on Nagasaki which would be the final major action of World War II.
V-J Day
August 14th, 1945 JAPAN SURRENDERS WORLD WAR II IS OVER
On August 14th, 1945 the Japanese Emperor Hirohiro formally surrenders unconditionally to the United States government. After six years and over 60 million deaths (3% of global population) World War II officially ended.