Good weather, sufficient supplies, and secrecy were the keys to the success of the Allies' cross-channel invasion of France.
After the invasion of France, general Eisenhower ordered a drive into the heart of Germany.
At the Yalta Conference, Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan, but he refused to promise free election in Eastern Europe after the war.
After the American and Soviet troops met at the Elbe River, Hitler accepted the Allied demand for the unconditional surrender of Germany.
Despite their losses in the war, France and Britain were as firmly in control of their colonies in 1945 as they had been before 1939.