1945 marked the end of
World War II and the fall of
Nazi Germany and the
Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which
nuclear weapons
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
have been used in combat.
Events
Below, the events of
World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-32279-007, KZ Auschwitz, Eingang](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-32279-007%2C_KZ_Auschwitz%2C_Eingang.jpg)
*
January 1 – WWII:
**
Germany begins
Operation Bodenplatte, an attempt by the ''
Luftwaffe'' to cripple
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
air forces in the
Low Countries.
**
Chenogne massacre: German prisoners are allegedly killed by American forces near the village of Chenogne, Belgium.
*
January 6
Events Pre-1600
*1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eve ...
– WWII: A German offensive recaptures
Esztergom,
Hungary from the Russians.
*
January 12 – WWII: The
Soviet Union begins the
Vistula–Oder Offensive in Eastern Europe, against the
German Army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
.
*
January 13
Events Pre-1600
* 27 BC – Octavian transfers the state to the free disposal of the Roman Senate and the people. He receives Spain, Gaul, and Syria as his province for ten years.
* 532 – The Nika riots break out, during the racing ...
– WWII: The Soviet Union begins the
East Prussian Offensive, to eliminate German forces in
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
.
*
January 16
Events Pre-1600
* 27 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire.
* 378 – General Siyaj K'ak' conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Spear ...
– WWII:
Adolf Hitler takes residence in the ''
Führerbunker
The ''Führerbunker'' () was an air raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters ( ...
'' in Berlin.
*
January 17
** WWII: The
Soviet Union occupies
Warsaw, Poland.
**
The Holocaust: Swedish diplomat
Raoul Wallenberg, who has saved thousands of Jews, is taken into custody by a Soviet patrol during the
Siege of Budapest and is never again seen publicly.
*
January 18 –
The Holocaust: The
SS begins the evacuation of
Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
. Nearly 60,000 prisoners, mostly Jews, are forced to march to other locations in Germany; as many as 15,000 die. The 7,000 too sick to move are left without supplies being distributed.
*
January 19 –
The Holocaust: Soviet forces liberate the
Łódź Ghetto; only 877 Jews of the initial population of 164,000 remain at this time.
*
January 20
Events Pre-1600
* 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
* 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
* 1156 &ndas ...
**
Franklin D. Roosevelt is
sworn in
Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to giv ...
for a fourth term as President of the United States, the only President ever to exceed two terms.
** Germany begins the
Evacuation of East Prussia
The evacuation of East Prussia was the movement of German civilian population and military personnel from East Prussia between 20 January and March 1945, that was initially organized and carried out by state authorities but quickly turned into ...
.
*
January 21–
22 (night) – At the
Grünhagen railroad station, located in
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
at this date, two trains, heading for
Elbing, collide. At dawn the station is reached by
Soviet Army infantry and tanks which destroy the station, killing between 140 and 150 people.
*
January 23 – WWII:
** Hungary agrees to an
armistice with the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
.
** German Grand Admiral
Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz (sometimes spelled Doenitz; ; 16 September 1891 24 December 1980) was a German admiral who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as head of state in May 1945, holding the position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Government follo ...
orders the start of
Operation Hannibal, the mass evacuation by sea of German troops and civilians from the
Courland Pocket,
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
and the
Polish Corridor, evacuating an estimated 800,000-900,000 German civilians and 350,000 soldiers from advancing Soviet forces.
** Evacuation of Germans from
Grünhagen.
*
January 24 – WWII:
AP war correspondent Joseph Morton, nine
OSS
OSS or Oss may refer to:
Places
* Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands
* Osh Airport, IATA code OSS
People with the name
* Oss (surname), a surname
Arts and entertainment
* ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about ...
men, and four
SOE SOE may refer to:
Organizations
* State-owned enterprise
* Special Operations Executive, a British World War II clandestine sabotage and resistance organisation
** Special Operations Executive in the Netherlands, or Englandspiel
* Society of Opera ...
agents are executed by the Germans at
Mauthausen concentration camp under Hitler's
Commando Order
The Commando Order () was issued by the OKW, the high command of the German armed forces, on 18 October 1942. This order stated that all Allies of World War II, Allied commandos captured in Europe and Africa should be summary execution, summarily ...
of 1942, which stipulates the immediate execution of all captured Allied
commandos or
saboteurs
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
without trial, even those in proper uniforms. Morton is the only
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
correspondent to be executed by the
Axis during the war.
*
January 26 – WWII: 19-year-old U.S. Army Staff Sergeant
Audie Murphy sees action at
Holtzwihr, France, for which is awarded the
Medal of Honor.
*
January 27
Events Pre-1600
* 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent.
* 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to becom ...
–
The Holocaust: The Soviet
Red Army liberates the
Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
and Birkenau concentration camps.
*
January 30
Events Pre-1600
*1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.
*1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.
1601–1900
*1607 – An estimated ...
– WWII:
** , with over 10,000 mainly civilian Germans from Gotenhafen (
Gdynia) is sunk in
Gdańsk Bay by three
torpedoes from
Soviet submarine ''S-13'' in the
Baltic Sea; up to 9,400, 5,000 of whom are children, are thought to have died – the greatest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history.
**
Raid at Cabanatuan
The Raid at Cabanatuan ( fil, Pagsalakay sa Cabanatuan), also known as the Great Raid ( fil, Ang Dakilang Pagsalakay, link=no), was a rescue of Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians from a Japanese camp near Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Phi ...
: 121 American soldiers and 800 Filipino guerrillas free 813 American
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
from the Japanese-held camp in the city of
Cabanatuan, in the
Philippines.
**
Adolf Hitler makes his last public speech, on broadcast radio, expressing the belief that Germany will triumph.
*
January 31 – WWII: The
Battle of Hill 170 in the Burma Campaign ends with the British
3rd Commando Brigade
3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), previously called the 3rd Special Service Brigade, is a commando formation of the British Armed Forces. It is composed of the Royal Marine Commandos, alongside commando qualified sailors, soldiers and airmen from ...
defeating the
Imperial Japanese Army 54th Division, causing the
Japanese Twenty-Eighth Army to withdraw from the
Arakan Peninsula.
February
*
February
February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the ''leap day''. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (th ...
– Raymond L. Libby of
American Cyanamid
American Cyanamid Company was a leading American conglomerate which became one of the nation's top 100 manufacturing companies during the 1970s and 1980s, according to the Fortune 500 listings at the time. It started in fertilizer, but added ...
's research laboratories, at
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...
, announces a method of orally administering the antibiotic
penicillin
Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum using ...
.
*
February 3
Events Pre-1600
* 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
*1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
*1488 – ...
– WWII:
**
Battle of Manila: United States forces enter the outskirts of
Manila to capture it from the
Japanese Imperial Army, starting the battle. On February 4, U.S. Army forces liberate
Santo Tomas Internment Camp in the city.
** The
Soviet Union agrees to enter the
Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
against Japan, once hostilities against Germany are concluded.
*
February 4
Events Pre–1600
* 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrellin ...
–
11 – WWII:
President Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
and
Soviet leader
Joseph Stalin hold the
Yalta Conference.
*
February 7 – WWII: General
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...
returns to
Manila.
*
February 8 – The Alaska Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945, championed by charismatic native leader
Elizabeth Peratrovich, is passed by the territorial Senate, after the legislature defeated a previous bill in 1943.
*
February 9
**
Walter Ulbricht becomes leader of the German
Communists in Moscow.
** WWII: "
Black Friday": A force of Allied
Bristol Beaufighter
The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort ...
aircraft suffers heavy casualties in an unsuccessful attack on
German destroyer ''Z33'' and escorting vessels sheltering in
Førde Fjord
Førde Fjord ( no, Førdefjorden) is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. It is the longest of all the fjords in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. Førdefjorden passes through the municipalities of Sunnfjord, Askvoll, and Kinn. The fjord ...
, Norway.
*
February 10 – WWII: German
troopship is sunk by the
Soviet submarine ''S-13''; 3,608 drown.
*
February 10–
20 – WWII:
Operation Kita: The
Imperial Japanese Navy returns "Completion Force", containing both its
''Ise''-class battleships, safely from
Singapore to
Kure in Japan despite
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
attacks.
*
February 13
Events Pre-1600
* 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the ''Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome.
*1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th.
*1462 – The ...
– WWII:
** The
Budapest Offensive and the
Siege of Budapest end with
Nazi troops surrendering
Budapest (Hungary) to
Soviet-Romanian forces.
**
Bombing of Dresden (Germany) by the British
Royal Air Force and
United States Army Air Forces; 25,000-35,000 are estimated to have died.
*
February 16 – WWII:
** The
Bombing of Wesel begins, destroying 97% of the town over three days.
** American and Filipino ground forces land on
Corregidor
Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically b ...
Island in the
Philippines.
** Combined American and Filipino forces recapture the
Bataan Peninsula.
**
Venezuela declares war on Germany.
*
February 19
Events Pre-1600
* 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
* 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of pagan ...
–
20 – 980 (Actual figure is disputed) Japanese soldiers die as a result of being attacked by long saltwater
crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...
s in
Ramree, Burma.
*
February 19
Events Pre-1600
* 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
* 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of pagan ...
– WWII:
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJ ...
– About 30,000
United States Marines land on
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high.
...
.
*
February 21 – The last
V-2 rocket is launched from
Peenemünde.
*
February 22 – WWII:
**
Italian Front: The
Battle of Monte Castello ends, after nearly three months of fighting,
Brazilian troops expel German forces from a pivot point in the
(Tuscan) North Apennines, where their artillery was impeding the advance of
Eighth British Army toward
Bologna.
**
Uruguay declares war on Germany and Japan.
*
February 23
Events Pre-1600
* 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
* 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...
– WWII:
**
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJ ...
: A group of
United States Marines reach the top of
Mount Suribachi
is a -high mountain on the southwest end of Iwo Jima in the northwest Pacific Ocean under the administration of Ogasawara Subprefecture, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan.
The mountain's name derives from its shape, resembling a ''suribachi'' or grindin ...
on the island, and are photographed raising the
American flag. The photo, ''
Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima'' (taken by
Joe Rosenthal
Joseph John Rosenthal (October 9, 1911 – August 20, 2006) was an American photographer who received the Pulitzer Prize for his iconic World War II photograph '' Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima'', taken during the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima.
H ...
), later wins a
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
.
** The
11th Airborne Division
The 11th Airborne Division ("Arctic Angels") is a United States Army airborne formation, first activated on 25 February 1943, during World War II. Consisting of one parachute and two glider infantry regiments, with supporting troops, the div ...
, with
Filipino guerrillas, free the captives of the
Los Baños internment camp.
** The capital of the
Philippines, Manila, is liberated by combined American and Filipino ground troops. American and Filipino troops enter
Intramuros.
** The German garrison in
Poznań capitulates to
Red Army and Polish troops.
**
Bombing of Pforzheim: The heaviest of a series of bombing raids on
Pforzheim, Germany by Allied aircraft is carried out by the British
Royal Air Force. As many as 17,600 people, or 31.4% of the town's population, are killed in the raid and about 83% of the town's buildings destroyed, two-thirds of its complete area and between 80 and 100% of the inner city.
**
Turkey joins the war on the side of the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
.
*
February 24
Events Pre-1600
* 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.
* 1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence.
* 13 ...
– Egyptian Premier
Ahmad Mahir Pasha
Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet.
Etymology
The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...
is assassinated in Parliament after declaring war on Germany and Japan.
*
February 27
Events Pre-1600
* 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity.
* 425 – The University of Constantinople ...
– The
Bombing of Mainz results in 1,209 confirmed dead; 80% of the city is destroyed.
*
February 28
Events Pre-1600
*202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
* 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
*1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on ...
– In
Bucharest, a violent demonstration takes place, during which the ''Bolşevic'' group opens fire on the army and protesters. In response,
Andrei Y. Vishinsky
Andrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinsky (russian: Андре́й Януа́рьевич Выши́нский; pl, Andrzej Wyszyński) ( – 22 November 1954) was a Soviet Union, Soviet politician, jurist and diplomat.
He is known as a Procurator Gene ...
,
USSR vice commissioner of foreign affairs and president of the Allied Control Commission for
Romania, travels to Bucharest to compel
Nicolae Rădescu to resign as premier.
March
*
March 1 – President
Franklin D. Roosevelt gives what will be his last address to a
joint session of the United States Congress, reporting on the
Yalta Conference.
*
March 2
** Former U.S. Vice-president
Henry A. Wallace
Henry Agard Wallace (October 7, 1888 – November 18, 1965) was an American politician, journalist, farmer, and businessman who served as the 33rd vice president of the United States, the 11th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and the 10th U.S. S ...
starts his term of office as
United States Secretary of Commerce, serving under President
Franklin D. Roosevelt.
** The rocket-propelled
Bachem Ba 349 ''Natter'' is first test launched at
Stetten am kalten Markt
Stetten am kalten Markt (Stetten a.k.M.) is a municipality in the Sigmaringen district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Towns
The towns of Nusplingen, Frohnstetten, Storzingen and Glashütte are part of Stetten am kalten Markt.
History
The area ...
. The launch fails and the pilot,
Lothar Sieber
Lothar Sieber (7 April 1922 – 1 March 1945) was a German test pilot who was killed in the first vertical take-off manned rocket flight, in a Bachem Ba 349 "Natter".
Before he became a test pilot for Bachem, he piloted an Arado Ar 232 in hig ...
, dies.
*
March 3 – WWII:
** Finland declares war on the
Axis powers.
** United States and Filipino troops take
Manila,
Philippines.
**
Pawłokoma massacre: A Polish
Home Army unit massacres between 150 and 500 Ukrainian civilians in the Polish village of
Pawłokoma.
**
Bombing of the Bezuidenhout
The bombing of the Bezuidenhout ( nl, bombardement op het Bezuidenhout) took place on 3 March 1945, when the Royal Air Force mistakenly bombed the Bezuidenhout neighbourhood in the Dutch city of The Hague. At the time, the neighbourhood was more ...
: The British
Royal Air Force accidentally bombs the
Bezuidenhout
Bezuidenhout (; en, "South of the Wood") is the neighborhood ( nl, wijk) southeast of the Haagse Bos neighborhood of The Hague in the Netherlands. Bezuidenhout includes the Beatrixkwartier financial area near the Central Station and streets su ...
neighbourhood in
The Hague, Netherlands, killing 511 people.
*
March 4 – In the United Kingdom,
Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II), joins the
Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) as a truck driver/mechanic in London.
*
March 5
Events Pre-1600
* 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
* 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern ...
– WWII: Brazilian troops take Castelnuovo (
Vergato), in the last operations of the Allied
Spring 1945 offensive in Italy
The spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the final Allied attack during the Italian Campaign in the final stages of the Second World War. The attack into the Lombard Plain by the 15th Allied Army Group started on 6 ...
.
*
March 6
** A Communist-led government is formed in
Romania under
Petru Groza, following
Soviet intervention.
** Resistance fighters accidentally ambush and attempt to execute SS general
Hanns Albin Rauter, the arch-persecutor of the Dutch.
*
March 7
Events Pre-1600
* 161 – Marcus Aurelius and L. Commodus (who changes his name to Lucius Verus) become joint emperors of Rome on the death of Antoninus Pius.
* 1138 – Konrad III von Hohenstaufen was elected king of Germany at Cob ...
– WWII: At the end of
Operation Lumberjack, American troops seize the
Ludendorff Bridge over the
Rhine at
Remagen, Germany and begin to cross; in the next 10 days, 25,000 troops with equipment are able to cross.
*
March 8
**
Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...
forms a
Provisional Government of the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, in the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
** Nazi authorities kill 117 Dutch men, in reprisal for the attempted murder of
Hanns Albin Rauter.
**
Operation Sunrise:
Waffen-SS General
Karl Wolff
Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff (13 May 1900 – 17 July 1984) was a German SS functionary who served as Chief of Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS (Heinrich Himmler) and an SS liaison to Adolf Hitler during World War II. He ended the war as the Supre ...
meets with
Allen Welsh Dulles
Allen Welsh Dulles (, ; April 7, 1893 – January 29, 1969) was the first civilian Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), and its longest-serving director to date. As head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the early Cold War, he ...
of the United States
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...
at
Lucerne
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...
, Switzerland, to negotiate the surrender of the
Axis forces in Italy to the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
.
*
March 9–
10 – WWII:
Bombing of Tokyo:
USAAF B-29
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fly ...
bombers attack Tokyo, Japan, with
incendiary bombs
Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, th ...
, killing 100,000 citizens in the firebombing. It is the single most destructive conventional air attack of the war.
*
March 11
** The
Empire of Japan establishes the
Empire of Vietnam
The Empire of Vietnam (; Literary Chinese and Contemporary Japanese: ; Modern Japanese: ja, ベトナム帝国, Betonamu Teikoku, label=none) was a short-lived puppet state of Imperial Japan governing the former French protectorates of Annam ...
, a
puppet state which will last only until August 23, with
Bảo Đại as its ruler.
** The
Sammarinese general election gives
San Marino the world's first democratically elected
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
government, which will hold power until
1957
1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...
.
*
March 12
Events Pre-1600
* 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
* 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...
– WWII:
Swinemünde is destroyed by the USAAF, killing an estimated 8,000 to 23,000 civilians, mostly refugees saved by
Operation Hannibal.
*
March 15–
31 – WWII: The Soviet
Red Army carries out the
Upper Silesian Offensive.
*
March 15 – The
17th Academy Awards
The 17th Academy Awards were held on March 15, 1945 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, honoring the films of 1944. This was the first time the complete awards ceremony was broadcast nationally, on the Blue Network ( ABC Radio). Bob Hope hosted the 7 ...
ceremony is held, broadcast via radio in the United States for the first time.
Best Picture goes to ''
Going My Way''.
*
March 16 – WWII:
** The
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJ ...
unofficially ends.
** The
Bombing of Würzburg, as part of the Allied strategic bombing campaign against Nazi Germany, destroys 89% of the city and causes 4,000 deaths.
*
March 17 – WWII:
Kobe
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
, Japan
is fire-bombed by 331
B-29
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fly ...
bombers, killing over 8,000 people.
*
March 18 – WWII: 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin.
*
March 19 – WWII:
**
Adolf Hitler orders that all industries, military installations, machine shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany be destroyed.
** Off the coast of Japan, bombers hit the
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
USS ''Franklin'', killing about 800 of her crewmen and crippling the ship.
*
March 21
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...
– WWII:
** British troops liberate
Mandalay
Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census).
Mandalay was fo ...
,
Burma.
**
Bulgarian and
Soviet troops successfully defend the north bank of the
Drava River, as the
Battle of the Transdanubian Hills
The Battle of the Transdanubian Hills (also known in Bulgaria as the Drava Operation ( bg, Дравска операция, ''Dravska operatsiya'')) was a defensive operation of the Bulgarian First Army during Bulgaria's participation in ...
concludes.
*
March 22
** The
Arab League
The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...
is formed, with the adoption of a charter in
Cairo, Egypt.
** The
Cathedral and the historic city-centre of
Hildesheim in Germany are destroyed in an
air raid
Air raid may refer to:
Attacks
* Airstrike
* Strategic bombing
Other uses
* ''Air Raid'' (album), by the improvisational collective Air
* Air Raid ''(Transformers)'', the name of three characters in the Transformers universes
* ''Air Raid'' ...
.
*
March 24
** WWII:
Operation Varsity – Two airborne divisions capture bridges across the
Rhine River to aid the Allied advance.
** The cartoon character
Sylvester the cat
Sylvester Pussycat, Sr. is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic tuxedo cat in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. Most of his appearances have him often chasing Tweety, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper. He appea ...
debuts in ''
Life with Feathers
''Life with Feathers'' is a 1945 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' animated short film directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on March 24, 1945, and is the first cartoon to feature Sylvester the Cat.
The title is a play on the long ...
''.
*
March 26 – WWII: The
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJ ...
officially ends, with the destruction of the remaining areas of Japanese resistance, although there are
Japanese holdouts here until 1949.
*
March 27 – WWII:
** The
United States Army Air Forces begins
Operation Starvation, laying
naval mines in many of Japan's seaways.
**
Argentina declares war on
Germany and
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
*
March 29
** WWII: The
Red Army almost destroys the
German 4th Army, in the
Heiligenbeil Pocket in
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
.
** The "Clash of Titans":
George Mikan and
Bob Kurland duel at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
in New York, as
Oklahoma State University defeats
DePaul 52–44 in
basketball.
*
March 30 – WWII:
** The
Red Army pushes most of the Axis forces out of Hungary into Austria.
** American official
Alger Hiss
Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official accused in 1948 of having spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Statutes of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjury in con ...
is congratulated in Moscow for his part in bringing the positions of the Western powers and the Soviet Union closer to each other, at the
Yalta Conference.
April
*
April 1 – WWII:
Battle of Okinawa
The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...
: The
Tenth United States Army lands on
Okinawa.
*
April 4
Events Pre-1600
* 503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines.
* 190 – Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground.
* 611 – ...
– WWII:
** American troops liberate their first Nazi concentration camp,
Ohrdruf extermination camp in Germany.
** The
Red Army enters
Bratislava
Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...
and pushes to the outskirts of
Vienna, taking it on April 13, after several days of intense fighting.
*
April 6 – WWII:
**
Sarajevo is liberated from
Nazi Germany and the
Independent State of Croatia (a
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
puppet state), by
Yugoslav Partisans.
** The
Battle of Slater's Knoll
The Battle of Slater's Knoll (28 March – 6 April 1945) was a battle fought between Australian and Japanese forces on Bougainville Island during the Second World War. Part of the Bougainville campaign, the battle occurred as a force of ab ...
on
Bougainville Island
Bougainville Island (Tok Pisin: ''Bogenvil'') is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, which is part of Papua New Guinea. It was previously the main landmass in the German Empire-associated North Solomons. Its land area is ...
concludes, with a decisive victory for the
Australian Army's
7th Brigade.
** Allied forces reach
Merkers Salt Mines in
Thuringia, where gold reserves of the Nazi German
Reichsbank are stored.
*
April 7 – WWII:
** The only flight of the German ramming unit known as
Sonderkommando Elbe
''Sonderkommando'' "''Elbe''" was the name of a World War II Luftwaffe task force assigned to bring down heavy bombers by ramming them in mid-air.
Its sole mission took place on 7 April 1945, when a force of 180 Bf 109s managed to ram 15 Allie ...
takes place, resulting in the loss of some 24
B-17s and
B-24s of the United States
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...
.
** and nine other warships take part in
Operation Ten-Go, a suicide attack on Allied forces engaged in the Battle of Okinawa. ''Yamato'' is sunk by U.S. Navy aircraft in the
East China Sea
The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...
north of
Okinawa with the loss of 2,055 of 2,332 crew, together with five other Japanese warships.
**
Kantarō Suzuki becomes
Prime Minister of Japan.
*
April 8
Events Pre-1600
* 217 – Roman emperor Caracalla is assassinated and is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.
* 876 – The Battle of Dayr al-'Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids.
*1139 – Ro ...
– The
SS begins to evacuate the
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...
; inmates in the
Buchenwald Resistance
The Buchenwald Resistance was a resistance group of prisoners at Buchenwald concentration camp. It involved Communists, Social Democrats, and people affiliated with other political parties, unaffiliated people, and both Jews and Christians. Be ...
call for American aid, and overpower and kill the remaining guards.
*
April 9
** WWII: The
Battle of Königsberg, in
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
, ends with Soviet forces capturing the city.
**
Abwehr
The ''Abwehr'' (German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', but the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context; ) was the German military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ''Wehrmacht'' from 1920 to 1944. A ...
conspirators
Wilhelm Canaris,
Hans Oster and
Hans von Dohnányi are hanged at Flossenberg concentration camp, along with pastor
Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
**
Johann Georg Elser
Johann Georg Elser (; 4 January 1903 – 9 April 1945) was a German worker who planned and carried out an elaborate assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler and other high-ranking Nazi leaders on 8 November 1939 at the Bürgerbräukeller in ...
, would-be assassin of
Adolf Hitler, is executed at
Dachau concentration camp
,
, commandant = List of commandants
, known for =
, location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany
, built by = Germany
, operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS)
, original use = Political prison
, construction ...
.
*
April 10 – WWII:
Visoko
Visoko ( sr-cyrl, Високо, ) is a city located in the Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality had a population of 39,938 inhabitants with 11,205 livi ...
is liberated by the 7th, 9th and 17th Krajina Brigades from the Tenth Division of
Yugoslav Partisan forces.
*
April 11 –
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...
is liberated by the
United States Army.
*
April 12
**Vice President
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
is
sworn in
Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to giv ...
as the 33rd President of the United States, and that evening in the
White House, following the sudden death of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt earlier in the day.
** WWII: The
U.S. Ninth Army
The Ninth Army is a field army of the United States Army, garrisoned at Caserma Ederle, Vicenza, Italy. It is the United States Army Service Component Command of United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM or AFRICOM).
Activated just eight weeks be ...
under General
William H. Simpson
General William Hood Simpson (May 18, 1888 – August 15, 1980) was a senior United States Army officer who served with distinction in both World War I and World War II. He is best known for being the Commanding General of the Ninth United Stat ...
crosses the
Elbe River astride
Magdeburg, and reaches
Tangermünde — only 50 miles from
Berlin.
*
April 14 – WWII:
** The
First Canadian Army
The First Canadian Army (french: 1reArmée canadienne) was a field army and a formation of the Canadian Army in World War II in which most Canadian elements serving in North-West Europe were assigned. It served on the Western Front from July 1944 ...
assumes military control of the Netherlands, where German forces are trapped in the Atlantic Wall fortifications along the coastline.
**
Razing of Friesoythe
The razing of Friesoythe was the destruction of the town of Friesoythe in Lower Saxony on 14 April 1945, during the Western Allies' invasion of Germany towards the end of World War II. The 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division attacked the G ...
: The
4th Canadian (Armoured) Division
The 4th Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army. The division was first created as a formation of the Canadian Corps during the World War I, First World War. During the World War II, Second World War the division was reactivated ...
deliberately destroys the German town of
Friesoythe, on the orders of Major General
Christopher Vokes
Major General Christopher Vokes (13 April 1904 – 27 March 1985) was a senior Canadian Army officer who fought in World War II. He commanded the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade during the Allied invasion of Sicily. Promoted to major-general, he l ...
.
*
April 15 – WWII:
** The
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated by British and Canadian forces.
** The Canadian First Army reaches the coast in the northern
Netherlands, and captures
Arnhem.
*
April 16 – WWII:
** The
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II.
After the Vistula– ...
begins, opening with the
Battle of the Oder–Neisse
The Battle of the Oder–Neisse is the German name for the initial (operational) phase of one of the last two strategic offensives conducted by the Red Army in the Campaign in Central Europe (1 January – 9 May 1945) during World War II. Its i ...
and the
Battle of the Seelow Heights.
** Canadian forces take
Harlingen and occupy
Leeuwarden and
Groningen
Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
in the Netherlands.
** is sunk by
Soviet submarine ''L-3'' in the
Baltic Sea while evacuating German troops and civilians as part of
Operation Hannibal; 7,000–8,000 drown.
**
Death marches
A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war or other captives or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinguished in this way from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Conven ...
from
Flossenbürg concentration camp begin.
*
April 17
Events Pre-1600
*1080 – Harald III of Denmark dies and is succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized.
*1349 – The rule of the Bavand dynasty in Mazandaran is brought to an end by the murder of Hasan ...
– WWII:
**
Brazilian forces liberate the town of
Montese
Montese ( Frignanese: ) is a town in the province of Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
During World War II, the town was liberated by Brazilian forces on 17 April 1945, after three days of battle against German forces.
There are neighborhoods in th ...
, Italy, from German forces.
**
Inundation of the Wieringermeer
On 17 April 1945, the retreating German occupying forces inundated the polder of Wieringermeer, the Netherlands.
Preparations
In 1945 German forces occupying the Netherlands planned to destroy the Zuiderzee Works to cover their retreat. Militar ...
in the Netherlands by occupying German forces.
*
April 18 – American
war correspondent Ernie Pyle is killed by Japanese
machine gun fire on the island of
Ie Shima
, previously romanized in English as Ie Shima, is an island in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, lying a few kilometers off the Motobu Peninsula on Okinawa Island. The island measures in circumference and covers . As of December 2012 the island had ...
off
Okinawa.
*
April 19 –
Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''
Carousel
A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...
'', a musical play based on
Ferenc Molnár's ''
Liliom'', opens on
Broadway, and becomes their second long-running stage classic.
*
April 20 – WWII: On his 56th birthday,
Adolf Hitler leaves his ''
Führerbunker
The ''Führerbunker'' () was an air raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters ( ...
'', to decorate a group of
Hitler Youth soldiers in Berlin. It will be his last trip to the surface from his underground bunker.
*
April 22 – WWII:
**
Heinrich Himmler, through
Folke Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg, puts forth an offer of German surrender to the Western Allies, but not the Soviet Union.
**
Adolf Hitler finally concedes defeat in the ''Führerbunker'' after learning that
SS-Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner cannot mobilize enough men to launch a counterattack on the
Soviet forces which have completely surrounded Berlin.
*
April 23
Events Pre-1600
* 215 BC – A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene.
* 599 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul attacks rival city-state Palenque in southe ...
– WWII:
**
Hermann Göring sends the
Göring Telegram to Hitler, seeking confirmation that he should take over leadership of Germany, in accordance with the decree of June 29, 1941. Hitler regards this as treason.
** The main
Flossenbürg concentration camp is liberated by the United States Army.
*
April 24 – Retreating
German troops destroy all the bridges over the
Adige in
Verona, including the historic
Ponte di Castelvecchio and
Ponte Pietra
The Ponte Pietra ( Italian for "Stone Bridge"), is a Roman arch bridge crossing the Adige River in Verona, Italy. The bridge was completed in 100 BC, and the Via Postumia from Genoa to Aquileia passed over it. It is the oldest bridge in ...
.
*
April 25
** Founding negotiations for the
United Nations begin in
San Francisco.
** WWII –
Elbe Day: United States and
Soviet troops link up at the
Elbe River, cutting Germany in two.
*
April 25–
26 – WWII: The last major
strategic bombing raid by
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...
, the destruction of the oil refinery at
Tønsberg in southern Norway, is carried out by 107
Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...
s.
*
April 26 – WWII:
**
Battle of Bautzen: The last "successful" German panzer-offensive in
Bautzen ends with the city recaptured.
** The
British 3rd Infantry Division
The 3rd (United Kingdom) Division is a regular army division of the British Army. It was created in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the Peninsular War, and was known as the ...
, under
General Whistler, captures Bremen.
** Nazi surrenders mean the British and Canadians now control the German border with Switzerland, from
Basle to
Lake Constance
Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...
.
*
April 27
Events Pre-1600
* 247 – Philip the Arab marks the millennium of Rome with a celebration of the ''ludi saeculares''.
* 395 – Emperor Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of ...
** The last German formations withdraw from Finland to Norway. The
Lapland War and thus,
World War II in Finland, comes to an end and the ''
Raising the Flag on the Three-Country Cairn'' photograph is taken.
** U.S. Ordnance troops find the coffins of
Frederick William I of Prussia
Frederick William I (german: Friedrich Wilhelm I.; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the "Soldier King" (german: Soldatenkönig), was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuch ...
,
Frederick the Great,
Paul von Hindenburg, and his wife, in a salt mine in Germany.
*
April 28
** The bodies of
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
, his mistress,
Clara Petacci, and other followers are hung by their heels at a gas station in the public square of
Milan, Piazzale Loreto, following their execution by Italian partisans after an attempt to flee the country.
** The Canadian First Army captures
Emden
Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528.
History
The exact founding date of E ...
and
Wilhelmshaven.
*
April 29
** At the royal palace in
Caserta, Lieutenant-Colonel Viktor von Schweinitz (representing General
Heinrich von Vietinghoff) and SS-''Obersturmbannführer'' Eugen Wenner (representing
Waffen-SS General
Karl Wolff
Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff (13 May 1900 – 17 July 1984) was a German SS functionary who served as Chief of Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS (Heinrich Himmler) and an SS liaison to Adolf Hitler during World War II. He ended the war as the Supre ...
) sign an unconditional instrument of surrender for all
Axis powers forces in Italy, taking effect on
May 2. Italian General
Rodolfo Graziani
Rodolfo Graziani, 1st Marquis of Neghelli (; 11 August 1882 – 11 January 1955), was a prominent Italian military officer in the Kingdom of Italy's ''Regio Esercito'' ("Royal Army"), primarily noted for his campaigns in Africa before and during ...
orders the ''
Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano'' forces under his command to lay down their arms.
**
Dachau concentration camp
,
, commandant = List of commandants
, known for =
, location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany
, built by = Germany
, operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS)
, original use = Political prison
, construction ...
is surrendered to U.S. forces, who kill SS guards at the camp and the nearby hamlet of Webling.
**
Brazilian forces liberate the commune of
Fornovo di Taro
Fornovo di Taro ( egl, label=Parmigiano, Fornóv) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Parma, in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about west of Bologna and about southwest of Parma. The town lies on the east bank of the Ta ...
, Italy, from German forces.
**
Operation Manna
Operation Manna was the codeword for a World War II, Second World War operation by the British and Greek forces in Greece in mid-October 1944, following the gradual withdrawal of the Axis Occupation of Greece, German occupying forces from the c ...
: British
Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...
bombers drop food into the Netherlands to prevent the starvation of the civilian population.
** Soviet soldiers hoist the
Red flag Red flag may refer to:
* Red flag (idiom), a metaphor for something signalling a problem
** Red flag warning, a term used by meteorologists
** Red flag (battle ensign), maritime flag signaling an intention to give battle with no quarter (fight to ...
over the ''
Reich Chancellery'' in Berlin.
**
Adolf Hitler marries his longtime mistress
Eva Braun, in a closed civil ceremony in the Berlin ''
Führerbunker
The ''Führerbunker'' () was an air raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters ( ...
'', and signs
his last will and testament.
*
April 30 –
Death of Adolf Hitler: Adolf Hitler and his wife of one day, Eva Braun, commit suicide as the
Red Army approaches the ''Führerbunker'' in Berlin. ''Großadmiral''
Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz (sometimes spelled Doenitz; ; 16 September 1891 24 December 1980) was a German admiral who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as head of state in May 1945, holding the position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Government follo ...
succeeds Hitler as
President of Germany (''Reichspräsident'') and
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...
succeeds as
Chancellor of Germany
The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...
(''Reichskanzler''), in accordance with Hitler's political testament of the previous day.
May
![Ww2 158](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Ww2_158.jpg)
*
May 1 – WWII:
**
Reichssender Hamburg's
Flensburg
Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...
radio station announces that Hitler has died in battle, "fighting up to his last breath against
Bolshevism."
**
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...
and his wife
Magda commit suicide, after killing their
six children. Karl Dönitz appoints
Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk
Johann Ludwig "Lutz" Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (Born Johann Ludwig von Krosigk; 22 August 18874 March 1977) was a German senior government official who served as the minister of Finance of Germany from 1932 to 1945 and ''de facto'' chancellor ...
as the new
Chancellor of Germany
The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...
, in the
Flensburg Government.
** Troops of the
Yugoslav 4th Army, together with the
Slovene 9th Corpus NOV, enter
Trieste.
**
Mass suicide in Demmin
On 1 May 1945, hundreds of people mass suicide, killed themselves in the town of Demmin, in the Province of Pomerania (1815–1945), Province of Pomerania (now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Germany. The suicides occurred during a mass panic that w ...
: An estimated 700–2,500 suicides take place, after 80% of the town has been destroyed by the Soviets during the past three days.
*
May 2 – WWII:
** The
Soviet Union announces the
fall of Berlin.
**
Lübeck is liberated by the
British Army.
** The surrender of
Axis troops in Italy comes into effect.
** A
Holocaust death march from
Dachau
,
, commandant = List of commandants
, known for =
, location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany
, built by = Germany
, operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS)
, original use = Political prison
, construction ...
to the Austrian border is halted under two kilometers west of
Waakirchen
Waakirchen is a municipality in the district of Miesbach in Bavaria in Germany. At the end of World War II, Japanese American soldiers (Nisei
is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify th ...
by the segregated, all-
Nisei 522nd Field Artillery Battalion of the U.S. Army in southern Bavaria, saving several hundred prisoners.
** Troops of the
New Zealand Army
, image = New Zealand Army Logo.png
, image_size = 175px
, caption =
, start_date =
, country =
, branch = ...
2nd Division enter
Trieste a day after the
Yugoslavs; the
German Army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
in
Trieste surrenders to the
New Zealand Army
, image = New Zealand Army Logo.png
, image_size = 175px
, caption =
, start_date =
, country =
, branch = ...
.
** Following the death or resignation of the
Hitler Cabinet
The Hitler cabinet was the government of Nazi Germany between 30 January 1933 and 30 April 1945 upon the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of the German Reich by president Paul von Hindenburg. It was originally contrived by the national ...
in Germany, the
Schwerin von Krosigk cabinet first meets.
**
Neuengamme concentration camp near
Hamburg is evacuated at about this date.
** Expatriate American poet
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...
is arrested by the
Italian resistance movement
The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...
but soon released by them as of no interest; on
May 5 he turns himself in to the
United States Army and is imprisoned as a traitor.
*
May 3 – WWII:
** The
prison ships ''
Cap Arcona
SS ''Cap Arcona'', named after Cape Arkona on the island of Rügen, was a large German ocean liner, later a ship of the German Navy, and finally a prison ship. A flagship of the Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft ("Hambur ...
'' (5,000 dead), ''
Thielbek
A number of steamships have carried the name ''Thielbek'', including:
*
*
Ship names
{{Short pages monitor