The History of the Twentieth Century

When the Americans landed on the Philippine island of Leyte, the Japanese Navy executed a plan intended to cut off and isolate Allied ground forces on the island.

On October 20, 1944, Douglas MacArthur made good on his famous promise.

Bernard Montgomery proposed a risky operation that just might have allowed the Allies to break through the German defensive line. Meanwhile, Adolf Hitler was planning a risky operation of his own.

The Western Allied advance in August 1944 was breathtaking, but it stopped short at the German border as the German Army rebuilt its defenses and Allied supply lines became strained to the limit.

By 1944, a German defeat seemed inevitable. In August, Romania defected from the Axis and joined the Allies. Within weeks, Bulgaria followed suit, while Finland agreed to an armistice with the USSR. This left Hungary as Germany's sole remaining ally in Europe, and Hungary only stayed loyal because of German military intervention.