World War Two: 1945

It was a watershed year – 1945. An end to World War Two in Europe and the Pacific brought both victor and vanquished face-to-face with the immense task of counting the cost, burying the dead, and rebuilding. Battles were fought, land, sea, and air, until Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan were defeated, but in the wake of Allied victory the world was at the doorstep of the Atomic Age, the Cold War, and an uncertain future. President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in April; weeks later Prime Minister Winston Churchill was turned out of office. Marshal Josef Stalin remained to conclude talks at Potsdam with President Harry Truman and Prime Minister Clement Attlee. By August, with the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there was peace. However, the drama of global war set the stage for an unprecedented ideological rivalry that dominated the last half of the 20th century. In this final installment of this acclaimed series, come and explore the momentous events of 1945, a year of destiny-shaping decision like no other.