Show Notes
The war made life in the Soviet Union very difficult. Even by Soviet standards, the government took an unprecedented degree of control over the allocation of labor and of food. Despite food shortages, there was no mass opposition as there had been in 1917.
More from The History of the Twentieth Century
On December 16, 1944, the German Army began a last-ditch offensive on the Western Front, triggering what became known as "The Battle of the Bulge."
On the Western Front, the Allies were probing the German defensive line. On the Eastern Front, the Red Army advanced past the 1939 border and into Germany itself.
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.