Potsdam Conference begins

Soviet forces launched their final major offensive against Nazi Germany’s capital. The operation caused heavy military and civilian casualties and brought Soviet occupation power into the center of...

The meeting of Soviet and American forces symbolized the collapse of Nazi Germany’s remaining front. The event represented military cooperation while foreshadowing disputes over occupation, borders,...

The surrender ended organized German resistance in Berlin after weeks of combat. Civilians faced destruction, displacement, sexual violence, and shortages, while Soviet authorities began imposing...

The final German instrument of surrender was signed in Berlin late on May 8, which was already May 9 in Moscow. Victory was celebrated across the USSR, commemorating enormous losses while the state...

The USSR joined the founding states of the new international organization. Its participation reflected wartime alliance diplomacy and expanded global status, while its domestic system remained...

The Soviet government announced that it would enter the war against Japan on August 9, citing the Allied declaration and wartime commitments. The move reshaped the final campaign in Northeast Asia and...

Soviet and Mongolian troops launched a major offensive into Japanese-occupied Manchuria. The campaign ended Japanese control in the region and created new geopolitical realities for Chinese, Korean,...

Japan signed the instrument of surrender aboard the USS Missouri. The war’s end did not resolve the political futures of Korea, China, and other Asian territories affected by Japanese empire and the...

The first national parliamentary election since 1937 took place under one-party rule and with official candidates unopposed. The vote projected postwar legitimacy while offering no competitive route...

A gathering organized under Soviet security pressure repudiated the Union of Brest and declared the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church absorbed by the Russian Orthodox Church. Clergy who refused faced...