The Battle of Stalingrad from the summer of 1942 to February of 1943 marked the turning point of World War II. After successful attempts to capture parts of Eastern Europe, Germany launched an offensive on the Russian city of Stalingrad. The Russians defended their city and stopped the German incursion into the Soviet Union. During the long and bloody battle, the Axis forces suffered approximately 800,000 casualties, including soldiers lost, wounded, or killed. The Germans alone had 400,000 casualties and lost 900 aircraft, 500 tanks, and 6,000 pieces of artillery, affecting their ability to wage war in the future.
World War II ended in Europe on V-E Day, or Victory in Europe Day, which was May 8, 1945, when the Nazis officially surrendered unconditionally. Adolph Hitler had killed himself on April 30, 1945, as Berlin was falling to the Allies. The U.S. had gotten involved in the war after the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, in which 2,403 American military personnel were killed. On December 8, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt gave a speech before Congress in which he called the attack "a date which will live in infamy" and declared war on Japan, marking the entry of the U.S. into World War II.
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