January: American and British air forces drop 40,000 tons of bombs on the Reich, concentrating on German aircraft factories

5 January-17 February: Soviet offensive continues in southern USSR; over 100,000 German troops lost in the Korsun pocket

22 January-3 February: Allied forces land at Anzio, Italy, outflanking the Gustav Line. Slow exploitation allows the Germans time to recover, counterattack, and seal off the beachhhead

March: American and British air forces drop 60,000 tons of bombs on German factories; aircraft losses average a manageable 10% of those sent up on a mission

2-10 April: Soviet forces enter Romania; Odessa liberated

8 April-13 May: Soviet forces attack isolated German troops in the Crimea, taking Sevastopol after a hasty Axis evacuation

May: Allied air forces bomb German communication centers in France and Germany in preparation for the invasion of France

18-25 May: Allied forces in Italy finally succeed in breaking through the German Gustav Line and link up with Anzio beachhead

4 June: Americans liberate Rome

6 June: D-Day: American and British armies land in Normandy, France, breaching the German Atlantic Wall defenses at great cost. One key to victory: the two-yearlong deception campaign called Operation Bodyguard. More and better German forces were at Calais than at Normandy and remained there for weeks expecting the "real" invasion!

23 June: Soviets strike at Germany's Army Group Center

27 June: Cherbourg captured, firmly anchoring the previously tenuous Allied beachhead in Normandy

July: American and British air forces drop 100,000 tons of bombs on Germany, with oil production centers being primary targets

3 July: the Soviets capture Minsk. Within three weeks some 200,000 Germans are killed or captured, in addition to 2,000 tanks, 10,000 guns, and 57,000 motor vehicles taken or destroyed

8 July: a British offensive to take Caen, France falls

17 July: Rommel, commander of Germany's armies in the Allied invasion area in France, is seriously wounded and never holds another command. Executed following the failed 20 July plot on Hitler's life

18 July: Montgomery launches the "Goodwood" offensive, but again falls to achieve a breakthrough at Caen in Normandy.

20 July: Adolf Hitler is almost killed in an attempted coup by members of the German officer corps

25 July-10 August: American forces launch operation "Cobra," breaking through the German defensive lines in Normandy. The newly activated Third Army under George S. Patton exploits the breakthrough, dashing across France and forcing a general enemy withdrawal

26 July: Soviets relieve the city of Leningrad, ending a 900-day siege

1-18 August: almost the entire German armored force in France is surrounded near Falaise by Allied forces; little of the equipment escapes the pocket intact

1 August-2 October: the Polish uprising in Warsaw is viciously put down by the Germans as the Soviets apparently wait outside at the gates for the SS to complete its dirty work

23-26 August: Resistance forces in Paris partially liberate the French capital and prevent it from being dynamited by retreating German forces. French General de Gaulle, leader of the Free French forces, is the first to enter Paris at the head of his troops

25-30 August: British 8th Army in Italy successfully breaches the German Gothic Line

30-3 1 August: the Soviets capture the Rumanian capital of Bucharest and key oil fields. Rumania declares war on Germany, joining the Allied side

3-4 September: British liberate the Belgian capital of Brussels and key port of Antwerp. Antwerp is ready to receive Allied men and materiel by 28 November, greatly shortening the supply lines that had extended all the way back to Normandy since D-Day

4 September: Finland makes peace with the Soviet Union and leaves the war

17-26 September: Montgomery launches a daring offensive into the Netherlands called "Market Garden." This attempt to cross the Rhine and flank the entire German army in the west falls when overland forces do not link up and support airdropped units in time

27 September: Patton's 3rd Army launches an attack around Metz near the German border.

15 October: with the capture of Riga, the Soviets cut off Germany's Army Group North, the force that had besieged Leningrad

4 October: British forces land in Greece

20 October: Soviet forces liberate the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade

25 October: Soviet forces enter German- controlled Norway from the extreme north

28 October: Bulgaria joins the Soviets and declares war on the Germans

12 November: the German battleship Tirpitz, sister to the Bismarck, is sunk by British aircraft while anchored in Norway

30 November: Soviet forces invade Hungary, the last surviving German ally and also the last major source of oil for Germany

16-27 December: "Battle of the Bulge": the Germans launch their last major offensive on the Western Front in the Ardennes region, surprising the Americans. Resolute defense by US troops in the key crossroads town of Bastogne delays the Germans, giving Patton's 3rd Army time to hit the German spearhead hard from the south and relieve Bastogne. The Germans retreat with little to show for their efforts

31 December: Soviet forces surround Budapest, the capital of Hungary

The Second World War in Europe Crossing the Big Red Line by Joe Miranda

1939: The Struggle Begins
1940: Germany is Supreme
1941: Axis High Point
1942: Germany Bled White
1943: Beginning of the End
1944: The Final Struggle
1945: Allied Total Victory