World War II

====Allies close in (1944)====
[[File:Approaching Omaha.jpg|thumb|American troops approaching [[Omaha Beach]] during the [[Operation Overlord|invasion of Normandy]] on [[Normandy landings|D-Day]], 6 June 1944]]

On 6 June 1944 (commonly known as [[Normandy landings|D-Day]]), after three years of Soviet pressure,<ref name=rees406>{{Harvnb|Rees|2008|pp=406–407}}: "Stalin always believed that Britain and America were delaying the second front so that the Soviet Union would bear the brunt of the war."</ref> the Western Allies [[Operation Overlord|invaded northern France]]. After reassigning several Allied divisions from Italy, they also [[Operation Dragoon|attacked southern France]].<ref name="Weinberg 2005 695">{{Harvnb|Weinberg|2005|p=695}}.</ref> These landings were successful and led to the defeat of the [[Falaise pocket|German Army units in France]]. [[Paris]] was [[Liberation of Paris|liberated]] on 25 August by the [[French Resistance|local resistance]] assisted by the [[Free French Forces]], both led by General [[Charles de Gaulle]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Badsey|1990|p=91}}.</ref> and the Western Allies continued to [[Siegfried Line campaign|push back German forces]] in western Europe during the latter part of the year. An attempt to advance into northern Germany spearheaded by [[Operation Market Garden|a major airborne operation]] in the Netherlands failed.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dear|Foot|2001|p=562}}.</ref> After that, the Western Allies slowly pushed into Germany, but [[Operation Queen|failed to cross the Rur river]]. In Italy, the Allied advance slowed due to the [[Gothic Line|last major German defensive line]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Forrest|Evans|Gibbons|2012|p=191}}</ref>

On 22 June, the Soviets launched a strategic offensive in Belarus ("[[Operation Bagration]]") that nearly destroyed the German [[Army Group Centre]].<ref name="Zaloga 1996 7">{{Harvnb|Zaloga|1996|p=7}}: "It was the most calamitous defeat of all the German armed forces in World War II."</ref> Soon after that, [[Lvov–Sandomierz offensive|another Soviet strategic offensive]] forced German troops from Western Ukraine and Eastern Poland. The Soviets formed the [[Polish Committee of National Liberation]] to control territory in Poland and combat the Polish [[Home Army|Armia Krajowa]]; the Soviet Red Army remained in the [[Praga]] district on the other side of the [[Vistula]] and watched passively as the Germans quelled the [[Warsaw Uprising]] initiated by the Armia Krajowa.<ref>{{Harvnb|Berend|1996|p=8}}.</ref> The [[Slovak National Uprising|national uprising]] in [[Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|Slovakia]] was also quelled by the Germans.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mzv.sk/documents/10182/2369491/BROZURA_70_VYROCIE_SNP_indd.pdf/007d0f33-4aa1-4e3a-95ae-5ef5096360d3|title=Slovak National Uprising 1944|publisher=Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic|work=Museum of the Slovak National Uprising|access-date=27 April 2020|archive-date=19 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519024459/https://www.mzv.sk/documents/10182/2369491/BROZURA_70_VYROCIE_SNP_indd.pdf/007d0f33-4aa1-4e3a-95ae-5ef5096360d3|url-status=live}}</ref> The Soviet [[Red Army]]'s [[Second Jassy–Kishinev offensive|strategic offensive in eastern Romania]] cut off and destroyed the [[Army Group South Ukraine|considerable German troops there]] and triggered [[1944 Romanian coup d'état|a successful coup d'état in Romania]] and [[1944 Bulgarian coup d'état|in Bulgaria]], followed by those countries' shift to the Allied side.<ref name="countrystudies.us">{{cite web|url=https://countrystudies.us/romania/23.htm|title=Armistice Negotiations and Soviet Occupation|publisher=US Library of Congress|access-date=14 November 2009|quote=The coup speeded the Red Army's advance, and the Soviet Union later awarded Michael the Order of Victory for his courage in overthrowing Antonescu and putting an end to Romania's war against the Allies. Western historians uniformly point out that the Communists played only a supporting role in the coup; postwar Romanian historians, however, ascribe to the Communists the decisive role in Antonescu's overthrow|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430001849/https://countrystudies.us/romania/23.htm|archive-date=30 April 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Douglas MacArthur lands Leyte1.jpg|thumb|left|[[General (United States)|General]] [[Douglas MacArthur]] returns to the [[Commonwealth of the Philippines|Philippines]] during the [[Battle of Leyte]], 20 October 1944]]

In September 1944, Soviet troops advanced into [[Democratic Federal Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] and forced the rapid withdrawal of German Army Groups [[Army Group E|E]] and [[Army Group F|F]] in [[Axis occupation of Greece|Greece]], [[German occupation of Albania|Albania]] and Yugoslavia to rescue them from being cut off.<ref name="Evans 2008 653">{{Harvnb|Evans|2008|p=653}}.</ref> By this point, the communist-led [[Yugoslav Partisans|Partisans]] under Marshal [[Josip Broz Tito]], who had led an [[World War II in Yugoslavia|increasingly successful guerrilla campaign]] against the occupation since 1941, controlled much of the territory of Yugoslavia and engaged in delaying efforts against German forces further south. In northern [[Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia|Serbia]], the Soviet [[Red Army]], with limited support from Bulgarian forces, assisted the Partisans in a joint [[Belgrade offensive|liberation of the capital city of Belgrade]] on 20 October. A few days later, the Soviets launched a [[Budapest offensive|massive assault]] against [[Operation Panzerfaust|German-occupied]] Hungary that lasted until [[Siege of Budapest|the fall of Budapest]] in February 1945.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wiest|Barbier|2002|pp=65–66}}.</ref> Unlike impressive Soviet victories in the Balkans, [[Continuation War|bitter Finnish resistance]] to the [[Vyborg–Petrozavodsk offensive|Soviet offensive]] in the [[Karelian Isthmus]] denied the Soviets occupation of Finland and led to a [[Moscow Armistice|Soviet-Finnish armistice]] on relatively mild conditions,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wiktor|first=Christian L|title=Multilateral Treaty Calendar – 1648–1995|publisher=Kluwer Law International|year=1998|isbn=978-90-411-0584-4|page=426}}</ref> although Finland was forced to [[Lapland War|fight their former German allies]].{{sfn|Shirer|1990|p=1085}}

By the start of July 1944, Commonwealth forces in Southeast Asia had repelled the Japanese sieges in [[Assam]], pushing the Japanese back to the [[Chindwin River]]<ref name="Marston 2005 120">{{Harvnb|Marston|2005|p=120}}.</ref> while the Chinese captured Myitkyina. In September 1944, Chinese forces [[Battle of Mount Song|captured Mount Song]] and reopened the [[Burma Road]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.china1931.cn/China/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID%3D7648 |script-title=zh:全面抗战，战犯前仆后继见阎王 |trans-title=The war criminals tries to be the first to see their ancestors<!-- in source --> |language=zh |access-date=16 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224203/https://www.china1931.cn/China/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=7648 |archive-date=3 March 2016 }}</ref> In China, the Japanese had more successes, having finally [[Battle of Changsha (1944)|captured Changsha]] in mid-June and the city of [[Battle of Hengyang|Hengyang]] by early August.<ref>{{Harvnb|Jowett|Andrew|2002|p=8}}.</ref> Soon after, they invaded the province of [[Guangxi]], winning major engagements against Chinese forces at [[Battle of Guilin–Liuzhou|Guilin and Liuzhou]] by the end of November<ref>{{Harvnb|Howard|2004|p=140}}.</ref> and successfully linking up their forces in China and Indochina by mid-December.<ref name="Drea 2003 54">{{Harvnb|Drea|2003|p=54}}.</ref>

In the Pacific, U.S. forces continued to push back the Japanese perimeter. In mid-June 1944, they began their [[Mariana and Palau Islands campaign|offensive against the Mariana and Palau islands]] and decisively defeated Japanese forces in the [[Battle of the Philippine Sea]]. These defeats led to the resignation of the Japanese Prime Minister, [[Hideki Tojo]], and provided the United States with air bases to launch intensive heavy bomber attacks on the Japanese home islands. In late October, American forces [[Battle of Leyte|invaded the Filipino island of Leyte]]; soon after, Allied naval forces scored another large victory in the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]], one of the largest naval battles in history.<ref>{{Harvnb|Cook|Bewes|1997|p=305}}.</ref>