Allies close in
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On June 6, 1944 (known as D-Day), the Western Allies invaded northern France and, after reassigning several Allied divisions from Italy, southern France;[1] by August 25, Paris was liberated.[2] During the latter part of the year, the Western Allies continued to push back German forces in western Europe, and in Italy ran into the last major defensive line.
On June 22, the Soviets launched a strategic offensive in Belarus (known as "Operation Bagration") that resulted in the almost complete destruction of the German Army Group Centre.[3] Soon after that, another Soviet strategic offensive forced the German troops from Ukraine and Eastern Poland. Successful advance of Soviet troops prompted resistance forces in Poland and Slovakia to initiate several uprisings, though the largest of these, in Warsaw and Slovakia were put down by German forces.[4] Third Red Army's strategic offensive in eastern Romania cut off and destroyed the considerable German troops there and triggered successful coup d'état in Romania and Bulgaria, followed by the countries' shift to the Allies side. In September 1944, Soviet Red Army advanced into Yugoslavia and forced the rapid withdrawal of the German Army Groups E and F in Greece, Albania and [[Yugoslav Front (World War II)|Yugoslavia to rescue them from being cut off. Together with Yugoslav partisans and Bulgarian army they liberated the capital city of Belgrade in 20 October. In October 1944, the Soviets launched a massive assault against Germany occupied Hungary that lasted until the fall of Budapest in February 1945.[5]
In contrast with impressive victories in Balkans, the bitter Finnish resistance to the Soviet offensive in the Karelian Isthmus denied the Soviet occupation of Finland and led to signing the armistice on relatively mild conditions.[6][7]
By the start of July, Commonwealth forces in Southeast Asia had repelled the Japanese sieges in Assam, pushing the Japanese back to the Chindwin River[8] while the Chinese captured Myitkyina. In China, the Japanese were having greater successes, having finally captured Changsha in mid-June and the city of Hengyang by early August.[9] Soon after, they further invaded the province of Guangxi, winning major engagements against Chinese forces at Guilin and Liuzhou by the end of November[10] and successfully linking up their forces in China and Indochina by the middle of December.[11]
In the Pacific, American forces continued to press back the Japanese perimeter. In the middle of June, 1944, they began their offensive against the Mariana and Palau islands, scoring a decisive victory against Japanese forces in the Philippine Sea within a few days. In late October, American forces invaded the Filipino island of Leyte; soon after, Allied naval forces scored another large victory against the Japanese in the Leyte Gulf.[12]
On December 16, 1944 German forces launched the counter-attack in the Ardennes against the Western Allies. During six weeks of bitter fighting British and American troops repulsed this last major offensive of German armed forces.
- ^ Weinberg, Gerhard L. A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II, pg. 695
- ^ Badsey, Stephen. Normandy 1944: Allied Landings and Breakout, pg. 91
- ^ The operation "was the most calamitous defeat of all the German armed forces in World War II". Zaloga, Bagration 1944: The destruction of Army Group Centre, 7.
- ^ Berend, Tibor Iván. Central and Eastern Europe, 1944-1993: Detour from the Periphery to the Periphery, pg. 8
- ^ Wiest, Andrew A.; Barbier, M. K. Strategy and Tactics Infantry Warfare pgs. 65, 66
- ^ Wiktor, Christian L. Multilateral Treaty Calendar - 1648-1995, pg. 426
- ^ Steven H. Newton (1995). Retreat from Leningrad : Army Group North, 1944/1945. Atglen, Philadelphia: Schiffer Books.
- ^ Marston, Daniel. The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima, pg. 120
- ^ Jowett, Philip S. The Japanese Army, 1931-45, pg. 8
- ^ Howard, Joshua H. Workers at War: Labor in China's Arsenals, 1937-1953, pg. 140
- ^ Drea, Edward J. In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army, pg. 54
- ^ Cook, Chris; Bewes, Diccon. What Happened Where: A Guide to Places and Events in Twentieth-Century History, pg. 305