Second world war archive coverage: 1945
Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union – archive, 1941
23 June 1941: The attack on Hitler’s former ally begins without formal warning along a front of 1,500 miles
Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland – archive, 1941
13 May 1941: The solo flight in a Messerschmitt 110 is one of the strangest things in Nazi history
From the archive: a Japanese soldier fights on, May 1974
Forty years after the end of the second world war, Hiroo Onoda is the last of the ‘stragglers’. By Chris Hall
From the archive, 1945: Japan signs the terms of surrender
3 September 1945: With the signing on the USS Missouri, the second world war is now officially over. Full occupation of Japan is about to begin
The Potsdam conference opens - archive, 1945
16 July 1945: Leaders of the victorious Allied nations meet to determine the boundaries of Europe after the second world war
Yalta conference shapes the postwar world - archive, February 1945
Seventy-five years ago, Winston Churchill, Franklin D Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin met at Yalta in Crimea to plan the final defeat of Nazi Germany and postwar reorganisation of Europe. See how the Guardian reported events
The uprooted millions of Europe - archive, November 1943
A study of forced population migrations during the second world war saw the first appearance of the term ‘displaced person’
The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact – archive, August 1939
Eighty years ago, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed not to attack each other or support aggressive third powers. The pact divided central and eastern Europe into spheres on influence and a week later, Germany invaded Poland. Read how the Guardian reacted to the new alliance
The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact: elaborate reception for the Germans in Moscow - archive, 1939
24 August 1939: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact
Beetles stem elms' lofty wartime canopy
Country Diary: Riseley, Bedfordshire Nissen huts stored ammunition here, hidden by tall elms whose offspring are just bushes, cursed with perpetual youth
'Rain of ruin': the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima
How the Manchester Guardian reported the dropping of the first nuclear weapon to be used in warfare, 6 August 1945
Dresden bombed in the second world war: then and now – in pictures
On 13-14 February, Dresden commemorates the 70th anniversary of the 1945 Allied firebombing, which left the vast majority of the city devastated. Getty Images’ Sean Gallup digitally merged pictures of the city after the devastation with present-day photographs, creating time-folding composite images
Hitler’s deputy escapes to Britain – archive, 1941
13 May 1941: Rudolf Hess flies to Scotland and makes a parachute landing near Glasgow
Surviving Nazi leaders in the dock
November 20 1945: On this day the Nuremberg trial of Nazi war criminals began. This is how the Manchester Guardian reported the news.
Hell let loose
A doctor describes the gas chambers.
Editorial: war's end
September 2 1945: On this day the Japanese signed a peace treaty with the allied forces, signalling the official end of the war in the Pacific. This is how the Manchester Guardian reported the news.
World peace at last: Japan surrenders
World peace at last: Japan surrenders
Atomic bomb used on Japan
About 35 results for Second world war archive coverage: 1945 
