United States drops a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki

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...

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...

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...

The United States, Britain, and China issued the Potsdam Declaration demanding Japan’s surrender and setting out terms for postwar occupation and disarmament. The Soviet Union joined the declaration...

A U.S. aircraft dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing tens of thousands immediately and many more through burns and radiation. Survivors, hibakusha, lived with long-term illness and stigma. The...

Japan announced its surrender, ending its formal colonial rule in Korea. Koreans organized committees and prepared for self-government, but U.S. and Soviet forces soon occupied separate zones and...

Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaimed Indonesian independence after Japan’s surrender. Youth organizers had pressed for an immediate declaration, and Indonesians began building republican...

At a mass gathering in Hanoi, Hồ Chí Minh declared the Democratic Republic of Vietnam independent, invoking anticolonial struggle and universal rights. The declaration followed the August Revolution...

Japanese representatives signed the Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri, formally ending the war. The signing established Allied occupation authority over Japan and ordered Japanese forces...

The UN Charter came into force, establishing an international body grounded in sovereign equality while hundreds of millions remained under colonial rule. The organization’s early structure gave major...