Timeline of World War II (1945–1991)

This is a timeline of the events that stretched over the period of late World War II, its conclusion and legal aftermath, from January 1945 to 1991.

January 1945

:1: The Germans begin a surprise offensive (Operation Nordwind) in northern Alsace.
: Unternehmen Bodenplatte (Operation Baseplate) is launched by the Luftwaffe against western Allied air bases in Belgium and Holland by elements of ten different Jagdgeschwadern (fighter wings), as its last major air offensive of the war in the West.
: American troops kill dozens of German POWs at Chenogne

:2: 46 American B-29 bombers based near Calcutta, India attacked a railroad bridge near Bangkok, Thailand and other targets in the area.
: The Japanese increasingly use kamikaze tactics against the US naval forces nearby.

:3: The Allies take the offensive east of the Bulge but they fail to close the pincers (which might have surrounded large numbers of Germans) with Patton's tanks.

:4: US navy air attacks on Formosa (Taiwan)

:5: The German offensive Nordwind crosses the border into Alsace.
: Japanese retreat across the Irrawaddy River in Burma with General Slim's troops in pursuit.

:6: American B-29s bomb Tokyo again.

:7: Germans, as part of the plan to retake Strasbourg, break out of the " Colmar Pocket", a bridgehead on the Rhine, and head east.

:8: The battle of Strasbourg is underway, with Americans in defence of their recent acquisition.

:9: Americans land on Luzon. There are more kamikaze attacks on the American navy.

:11: The first convoy moves on the Ledo Road (or "Stilwell" road) in northern Burma, linking India and China.

:12: The East Prussian Offensive, a major Red Army offensive in East Prussia, begins on January 13th.

:13: 1st Byelorussian Front launched its winter offensive towards Pillkallen, East Prussia, meeting heavy resistance from the German 3rd Panzer Army.

:14: British forces clear the Roer Triangle during Operation Blackcock; it is an area noted for its industrial dams.

:15: Hitler is now firmly ensconced in the Führerbunker in Berlin with his companion Eva Braun.
: The British commander in Athens, General Ronald Scobie, accepts a request for a ceasefire from the Greek People's Liberation Army. This marks the end of the Dekemvriana, resulting in clear defeat for the Greek Left.

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

:17: Warsaw is entered by Red Army troops. A government favourable to the Communists is installed.
: It is announced officially that the Battle of the Bulge is at an end.

:19: Hitler orders that any retreats of divisions or larger units must be approved by him.

:20: The Red Army advances into East Prussia. Germans renew the retreat.
: Franklin D. Roosevelt is sworn in for a fourth term as U.S. President; Harry Truman is sworn in as Vice President.

:23: German jurist and anti-Nazi activist Helmuth James von Moltke was hanged for treason in Berlin.

:24: The Battle of Poznań began for the German-occupied stronghold city of Poznań in Poland.

:25: The American navy bombards Iwo Jima in preparation for an invasion.
: The Allies officially win the Battle of the Bulge.

:27: Auschwitz concentration camp is entered by Soviet troops.

:28: The Red Army completes the occupation of Lithuania.

:30: The Malta Conference (1945) began with Winston Churchill meeting with the Combined Chiefs of Staff on the Island of Malta in the Mediterranean to plan the end of WWII in both Theaters, and to discuss the ramifications of the Soviets now controlling most of Eastern Europe. President Franklin D. Roosevelt would join the Conference for one day on 2 February 1945; both would fly to Yalta on 3 February for the Yalta Conference with Stalin.

:31: The Red Army crosses the Oder River into Germany and are now less than 50 miles from Berlin.
: A second invasion on Luzon by Americans lands on the west coast.
: The whole Burma Road is now opened as the Ledo Road linkage with India is complete.

February 1945

:1: Ecuador declares war on Germany and Japan.

:2: Naval docks at Singapore are destroyed by B-29 attacks.

:3: The Battle of Manila (1945) begins: Forces of the U.S. and Philippines enter Manila. The Manila massacre takes place during the fighting.
: Heavy bombing of Berlin. Judge Roland Freisler is killed while trying to save court documents.

:4: The Yalta Conference of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin begins; the main subject of their discussions is postwar spheres of influence.
: Belgium is now cleared of all German forces.

:8: Paraguay declares war on Germany and Japan.

:9: The Colmar Pocket, the last German foothold west of the Rhine, is eliminated by the French 1st Army.

:12: Peru declares war on Germany and Japan.

:13: The Battle of Budapest ends with Soviet victory, after a long defense by the Germans.

:13/14: The bombing of Dresden takes place; it is firebombed by Allied air forces and large parts of the historic city are destroyed.

:14: The 1945 Bombing of Prague: American planes bomb the wrong city.

:15: Venezuela and Uruguay declares war on Germany and Japan.

:16: American paratroopers and Philippine Commonwealth troops land on Corregidor Island, in Manila Bay. Once the scene of the last American resistance in early 1942, it is now the scene of Japanese resistance.
: American naval vessels bombard Tokyo and Yokohama.

:19: U.S. Marines invade Iwo Jima.

:21. The Brazilian forces and U.S. Army wins the Battle of Monte Castello

:22: Operation Clarion, a massive bombing of German rail and other transport infrastructure by approximately 9,000 U.S. and British aircraft takes place, carrying over into 23 February.

:23: U.S. Marines raise the American flag on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima.
: Turkey declares war on Germany and Japan.
: In the Philippines, U.S. Army forces staged the Raid on Los Baños freeing 2147 Allied military and civilian prisoners from the Japanese.

:24: Egypt declares war on the Axis. Moments after making this Declaration before Parliament, Prime Minister Ahmad Maher Pasha is assassinated.

:25: Taking off on the 24th, a US B-29 incendiary raid on Tokyo, Japan takes place.

:26: Syria declares war on Germany and Japan.
: After ten days of fighting, American and Filipino troops recapture Corregidor.

:27: Lebanon declares war on Germany and Japan

:28: A Philippine government is established.
: U.S. and Filipino forces invade Palawan, an island of the Philippines.

March 1945

:1: Saudi Arabia declares war on Germany and Japan.

:3: Manila is fully liberated.
: Battle of Meiktila, Burma comes to an end with General Slim's troops overwhelming the Japanese; the road to Rangoon is now cleared.
: The Allies attempted to destroy V-2s and launching equipment near The Hague by a large-scale bombardment, but due to navigational errors the Bezuidenhout quarter was destroyed, killing 511 Dutch civilians.

:4: Finland declares war on Germany, backdated to September 15, 1944.

:6: Germans launch an offensive against Soviet forces in Hungary.

:7: The Battle of Remagen: When German troops fail to dynamite the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine, the U.S. First Army captures the bridge and begins crossing the river. The Army also takes Cologne, Germany.
: Germans begin to evacuate Danzig.

:8: Private Karl Hulten, an Army Airborne Regiment deserter, was hanged in an English prison for a flurry of crimes ending in what came to be called the Cleft chin murder.

:9: The US firebombs Tokyo (the attack was code-named ''Operation Meetinghouse''), with heavy civilian casualties.
: Amid rumours of a possible American invasion, Japanese overthrow the Vichy French Jean Decoux Government which had been operating independently as the colonial government of Vietnam: they proclaim an "independent" Empire of Vietnam, with Emperor Bảo Đại as nominal ruler. Premier Trần Trọng Kim forms the first Vietnamese government.

:10: Japanese Fu-Go balloon bombs damage the Manhattan Project's Hanford Site in Washington State slightly, but cause no lasting effects.

:11: Nagoya, Japan is firebombed by hundreds of B-29s.

:15: V-2 rockets continue to hit England and Belgium.

:16: The German offensive in Hungary ends with another Soviet victory.
: Iwo Jima is finally secured after a month's fighting, in the war's only Marine battle where the number of American casualties is larger than the Japanese's. Sporadic fighting will continue as isolated Japanese fighters emerge from caves and tunnels.

:18: Red Army approaches Danzig (postwar Gdańsk).

:19: U.S. Carrier Task Force 58 conducts heavy bombing of important naval bases in Japan, Kobe and Kure. Fifty miles off Japan, the carrier USS Franklin (CV-13) is hit by two bombs, killing hundreds and disabling the ship for the remainder of the war.
: Deutsch Schutzen massacre occurs, in which 60 Jews are killed.

:20: German General Gotthard Heinrici replaces Heinrich Himmler as commander of Army Group Vistula, the army group directly opposing the Soviet advance towards Berlin.
: Mandalay liberated by Indian 19th Infantry Division.
: Tokyo is firebombed again.
: Patton's troops capture Mainz, Germany.

:21: Operation Carthage, a British air raid on a Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, in support of the Danish resistance movement takes place.

:22-23: US and British forces cross the Rhine at Oppenheim.

:23: By this time it is clear that Germany is under attack from all sides.

:24: Operation Varsity, an Anglo-American-Canadian airborne assault under Montgomery deployed over the Rhine at Wesel.

:27: The Western Allies slow their advance and allow the Red Army to take Berlin.
: Argentina declares war on Germany, the last Western hemisphere country to do so; its policies for sheltering escaping Nazis are also coming under scrutiny. Argentina had not declared war before due to British wishes that Argentine shipping be neutral (and therefore Argentine foodstuffs would reach Britain unharmed), this, however, went against the plan of the USA, who applied much political pressure on Argentina.

:29: The Red Army enters Austria. Other Allies take Frankfurt; the Germans are in a general retreat all over the centre of the country.

:30: Red Army forces capture Danzig.

:31: General Eisenhower broadcasts a demand for the Germans to surrender.

April 1945

:1: U.S. troops start Operation ''Iceberg'', which is the Battle of Okinawa. It would have been a leaping off base for a mainland invasion.
: Americans retake Legaspi, Albay