WWII 80: Highlights from the Truman Library
Eighty years ago, World War II ended under President Truman’s decisive leadership. “WWII 80” uses historic artifacts, eyewitness accounts, and consequential documents from the vaults of the Truman Library and National Archives to highlight key moments in the war’s final months–from the Battle of the Bulge and liberation of Dachau to the unconditional surrender of Japan.
THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE
THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 1945
How did the Allied forces win the bloodiest American battle of the deadliest war in human history?
On December 16, 1944, at the beginning of a historically frigid winter, the Germans launched what would be their final major offensive of World War II. The Battle of the Bulge was the bloodiest battle for American forces on the Western Front during WWII – 20,000 Americans were killed in this battle; tens of thousands more were wounded, missing, or captured.
THE YALTA CONFERENCE
FEBRUARY 04-11, 1945
80 years ago, three men mapped the end of World War II. Did they also pave the way for a Cold War?
From February 4-11, 1945, the Crimean resort town of Yalta hosted some of the most powerful men in the world. In what was only their second (and last) meeting together, American President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin planned their final victory over the Axis powers and reached an agreement for governing Europe.
