8 February – World War II: A combined British and Canadian front, consisting of 50,000 soldiers with 500 tanks and 1,034 guns, entersReichswald, southeast ofNijmegen.[1]
World War II:Royal Air Force andUnited States Army Air Forces beginbombing of Dresden, Germany. Over the next three days, more than 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices are dropped on the city. The resulting firestorm destroys fifteen square miles (39 square kilometres) of the city center. Between 22,000 and 25,000 people are killed in a controversial attack.
14 February – World War II: The British/Canadian front reaches theRhine.
7 March – World War II: American troops seize the bridge over theRhine River atRemagen, Germany and begin to cross.
19 March – World War II:Adolf Hitler orders that all industries, military installations, machine shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germanybe destroyed.
Mass suicide in Demmin after Soviet troops capture the town and commit atrocities (murders, mass rapes, etc.) on the civilians in retaliation for the killing of some Soviet soldiers there. More than 700 German civilians hang, poison, cut, or drown themselves and loved ones in a panic.
World War II:Admiral Karl Dönitz orders allU-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.
7 May – World War II: GeneralAlfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms atReims,France, ending Germany's participation in the war. The document takes effect the next day.
8 May – World War II:V-E Day (Victory in Europe, asNazi Germany surrenders) commemorates the end of World War II inEurope, with the final surrender being to the Soviets inBerlin, attended by representatives of the Western Powers.
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