2. The Third Reich Collapses
Hitler attempted a last offensive against the Allies at Antwerp, Belgium, known as the Battle of the Bulge.
General Patton responded by hitting fuel depots and Allied troops broke through the German lines within days.
Soviets attacked Germany in the east and Allies attacked in the west.
Knowing he was near defeat, Adolf Hitler committed suicide and Germany surrendered.

4. Japan Is Defeated
Just before Germany surrendered, President Roosevelt died of a stroke and Vice President Harry S. Truman became president.
The difficult battle at Saipan resulted in many Japanese civilian deaths.
Truman ordered that atomic bombs be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The first atomic bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945, in the Trinity test in New Mexico; Oppenheimer remarked later that it brought to mind words from the Bhagavad Gita: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.“
In October 1945 Oppenheimer was granted an interview with President Harry S Truman. The meeting, however, went badly, after Oppenheimer remarked he felt he had "blood on my hands." The remark infuriated Truman and put an end to the meeting.
After Japanese surrender, an International Military Tribunal was created to punish German and Japanese leaders for war crimes.