Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz and find surviving...

Tehran Conference sets Allied strategy while excluding colonized peoples

28 November 1943

Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met in Tehran to coordinate the defeat of Nazi Germany and discuss the postwar order. Their negotiations focused on great-power strategy and borders. Colonized...

Allied forces land in Normandy

6 June 1944

The Normandy landings opened a major western front against Nazi Germany. Allied forces included soldiers from occupied and colonized societies, while French resistance networks supported the campaign....

Allied governments design the Bretton Woods financial order

22 July 1944

Delegates from 44 Allied nations agreed to establish the International Monetary Fund and World Bank at Bretton Woods. The institutions aimed to shape postwar exchange and reconstruction, but voting...

Allied forces liberate Paris, with colonial soldiers central to the campaign

25 August 1944

The French 2nd Armored Division entered Paris as German forces withdrew. The liberation narrative often centers metropolitan French resistance and overlooks African soldiers and other colonial...

Allied forces land at Leyte as Filipinos resist occupation

20 October 1944

U.S. and Filipino forces landed at Leyte, beginning a campaign to retake the Philippines from Japan. Filipino guerrillas had gathered intelligence, rescued Allied personnel, and resisted occupation...

👉 Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz and find surviving prisoners Current

27 January 1945

Soviet forces entered Auschwitz-Birkenau and Monowitz, finding thousands of prisoners left behind after the SS forced many others on death marches. Survivors faced illness, grief, and uncertain...

Yalta Conference shapes occupation and postwar borders

4 February 1945

Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin agreed on plans for Germany’s occupation, a new United Nations, and postwar arrangements in Europe. The conference also left millions in territories whose political...

Burma National Army joins a nationwide uprising against Japan

27 March 1945

Aung San’s Burma National Army turned against Japan, the power it had once joined to fight British rule. The uprising was coordinated with the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League and other resistance...

Nazi Germany surrenders in Europe

8 May 1945

Germany’s unconditional surrender took effect, ending the war in Europe. The victory was made possible by a global coalition that included millions of soldiers, workers, and resistance fighters from...

French colonial forces massacre Algerians demanding freedom at Sétif and Guelma

8 May 1945

On the day France celebrated victory over Nazism, Algerian demonstrators in Sétif and nearby towns called for political rights and independence. Police shootings were followed by attacks on European...

United Nations Charter is signed

26 June 1945

Delegates from 50 states signed the UN Charter, creating an institution that declared sovereign equality and self-determination as principles. Yet most colonized peoples were not represented as...

Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz and find surviving prisoners

People in this event

Auschwitz survivors

Soviet soldiers

Jewish prisoners

Organizations in this Event

Red Army

SS

Auschwitz camp system

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