1. Toward the End: The Axis Power Fail (Part 1)
EQ: How did Allied advances in 1944 and 1945 combined with Axis failures lead to the end of the Second World War?

2. In Europe:

3. European Scoreboard: January 1, 1945
Paris and most of France have been liberated
A new French Army is pushing into Germany in conjunction with American, British, and Canadian troops
In the East, the Soviets are on the border with Germany
In the South, the last German troops in Italy and Austria are ready to fall
Field Marshall Rommel is dead
Hitler still refuses to surrender

4. Hitler’s Questionable Sanity:
Hitler was suffering from advanced Syphilis
In its advanced stage, this disease can cause mental illness
When asked by his advisors to surrender, Hitler claimed that God would intervene to save Germany
He also ordered the destruction of Germany and its people instead of surrender
Ordered more troops and resources to death camps and to saving his art horde

5. Battle of the Bulge: December 1944-January 1945
Hitler order one final counter-offensive in the West
He enlisted boys as young as 13 and men as old as 60 to carry out the attack
The Germans caused a bulge in the lines of the Allies near the Ardennes Forest, but the were held
This constituted the last major German effort of the war

6. Liberation of Auschwitz: January, 1945
The most infamous death camp of the war is liberated
Allies come to grips with the horrors of the holocaust
The story of Auschwitz deeply turns people across the world against Germany and Hitler

7. Fire Bombing of Dresden:
We had already demanded an unconditional surrender with Germany at this point
When they refused, we attacked their manufacturing centers
The incendiary bombs used at Dresden were designed to burn the entire city
More than 135,000 people were killed
Hitler still refused to surrender

8. April 12, 1945: An Unexpected Setback
United States President, Franklin Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage
He had led the United States through the Great Depression and World War 2 and was one of our most popular presidents of all time
Harry S. Truman became our new president

9. Soviet Troops Enter Berlin: April 21, 1945
Hitler had been trying to negotiate a peace settlement where he could keep power
The allies firmly rejected this proposal
They wanted unconditional surrender

10. Hitler Commits Suicide: April 30, 1945
Hitler marries his long-time girlfriend Eva Braun in the morning
Later that afternoon, she commits suicide with a cyanide pill
Shortly afterward, Hitler shoots himself in the head and dies

11. V. E. Day: May 8, 1945
On May 7, all German troops are ordered to surrender their arms
Field Marshall Jodl signed the papers ending the war
The next day, the world celebrated V.E. Day
The Allies had won in Europe