World War II Didn’t End in 1945
A new history of the war lengthens the conflict’s timeline and argues that its “ragged ends” complicate the neat morality tale we still tell today.
Illustration: Carlo Giambarresi for Bloomberg
Eighty years ago, the Soviet Union, the US, Great Britain, and the rest of the Allies encircled Berlin, forcing Nazi Germany to surrender. A few months later, Tokyo fell too. As news spread, conga lines broke out in Piccadilly Circus and revelers crowded Times Square. On Sept. 2, 1945, after six years of bloodshed, the war was finally over.
Or was it?