The Editors of TIME - TIME-LIFE World War II: 1945: The Final Victories

WORLD WAR II

1945

THE FINAL VICTORIES

CONTENTS

As the New Year began, a united Allied front made steady advances and pushed the Nazis back into their own heartland. The Battle of the Bulge, Hitlers last stand in the west, was a major victory for the Allies, who continued to bomb German cities into submission.

Hitlers army, battered by the Western Allies, now faced the USSR along Germanys eastern borders. The Russians, whose country had been invaded by the Nazis in 1941, were out for revenge.

While battles raged across Europe and the Pacific, Western Allied leaders met to develop strategies to end fighting and to plan for a postwar world. They also tried to negotiate peace settlements, each arguing for their own best interests.

As the Allies drove deep into Nazi-held territory, soldiers discovered evidence of never-before-seen mass murder, torture, and human degradation. The Holocaust was exposed, and camp survivors began the struggle to reclaim their lives.

Hitler committed suicide, the Allies captured Berlin, and Germany agreed to an unconditional surrender. At last the Allies could celebrate the end of the war in Europe and start bringing those troops home.

The Japanese were determined to fight to the last man, even if it meant suicide kamikaze missions to destroy American ships. With an eye on taking back the Philippines, the Allies began the brutal battle for Manila. Iwo Jima and Okinawa would be next.

The Allies were ready to invade Japans main islands, and the Americans had a new weaponthe atomic bomb. In August, they used it to decimate Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing the Japanese to surrender.

With the signing of the surrender documents aboard the USS Missouri , World War II was finally over. It was time for the soldiers to come home and start new lives.

The battles left Europe and Japan in ruins. War-torn countries were in dire need of rebuilding. As reconstruction began, two new superpowers emergedthe United States and its Cold War enemy, the Soviet Union.

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Special thanks: Allyson Angle, Katherine Barnet, Brad Beatson, Jeremy Biloon, Ian Chin, Rose Cirrincione, Pat Datta, Assu Etsubneh, Alison Foster, Erika Hawxhurst, Kristina Jutzi, David Kahn, Jean Kennedy, Hillary Leary, Amanda Lipnick, Amy Mangus, Robert Martells, Melissa Presti, Danielle Prielipp, Kate Roncinske, Babette Ross, Dave Rozzelle, Ricardo Santiago, Divyam Shrivastava, Larry Wicker

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Introduction

A lmost every major country in the world, 20 in all, became embroiled in World War II (19391945), the deadliest conflict in history. By the wars end, much of Europe and Asia lay in ruins and more than 60 million people had lost their lives.

Today, 1945 endures as the most transformative period of the twentieth century. During this time, national borders were reshaped; new countries emerged, while old ones crumbled and disappeared from the postwar map. The year gave rise to a new multinational organization, the United Nations, and the United States became the worlds first superpower. It also led to a nuclear arms race and a new conflict that would dominate the globe for nearly 50 yearsthe Cold War.

As 1945 dawned, Adolf Hitlers Third Reich was on the brink of defeat. Allied troops had already landed in Normandy, France, and were poised to crush Hitlers last offensive in the westthe Battle of the Bulgeand gut what remained of Nazi forces in western Europe.

British, American, Canadian, and French forces then crossed the Rhine River and pushed deep into Hitlers Reich. As those troops moved east, the Soviets marched west toward Berlin. With each footfall, the full extent of the Nazi atrocities became apparent. Allied armies liberated hundreds of concentration camps, where only a fraction of those imprisoned had survived. By May 9, Hitler was dead and Germany was defeated and buried in rubble.

But even after the fighting in Europe ended, Japan, seeking to dominate Asia and the Pacific, stubbornly held on. The countrys collapse finally came in August, at a terrible cost, when two U.S. atomic bombs obliterated the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those earthshaking blasts marked the decisive end of World War II.

This book, World War II1945: The Final Victories , examines this critical year. It explores the key battles and strategies that finally brought the war to an end, as well as world leaders motivations and political actions. Each chapter reveals compelling new turning points. There is brave resistance to occupiers by ordinary civilians in Poland and Italy. There is the Soviet Union trying to outmaneuver Western democracies in a land grab in eastern Europe. There are U.S. Marines in the Pacific, facing the tenacity of the Japanese in the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Throughout, youll also find fascinating firsthand accounts and stunning photographs.

World War II1945: The Final Victories is a story of remarkable courage, sacrifice, dreams fulfilled and failed, and the triumph of righteousness. It illustrates how todays world emerged from the events of this pivotal yearand how 1945 changed the lives of generations to come.

Path to the End

As 1945 dawned, six long years of war was ending. The Allies squeezed Germany from two sides, while the fighting in the Pacific became even more savage.