The postwar story of victory over the Axis powers in 1945 was markedly different than the one written after the First World War ended in 1918. Justice for WW II criminals was swift and decisive, but it was humanitarian relief, reconstruction and reconciliation in Japan and on a devastated continent of Europe, not retribution, that forged a lasting legacy through an emerging Cold War and beyond.

In this special edition

Introduction

The end is nigh

By the end of January 1945, the war that had been raging for more than five years has taken a decisive turn, both in Europe and the Pacific. The Battle of the Bulge, Hitler’s last offensive in the West, had ended in Allied victory. Soon, Canadian and other paratroopers would jump into Germany. In the Pacific, the U.S. Marines’ three-year island-hopping campaign reaches a milestone at Iwo Jima, where they record the first victory by an enemy on Japanese soil in 4,000 years.

Part One

The final chapter

Coming off a successful first campaign in Normandy, the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion trucks into the Ardennes to help shore up besieged American forces around the Belgian town of Bastogne. Snow, bitter cold and poor clothing pose formidable challenges, but they advance, taking town after town, fighting their way into the Netherlands. On March 24, 1945, the Canadians are among 541 plane-loads of paras to jump into Wesel, Germany. Soon, the war in Europe is over.

Part Two

War in the Pacific

American, Canadian and British scientists—120,000 people in all working at 37 different sites across 19 states and Canada—bring the US$2-billion race to produce the first atomic weapon home. With one eye on Soviet intentions in the Far East, war planners gauge the human costs of invading Japan’s home islands. U.S. deaths alone are projected at 500,000. They opt for the bomb. The horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki usher in the atomic age—and perhaps temper the coming Cold War.

Part Three

Old scores: Aftermath in Europe

While Canadian veterans return home to peace and prosperity, much of Europe remains a powder keg. Practically an entire continent is in ruin. Governments are in disarray. Law and order has dissolved. Millions of Europeans are impoverished, hungry and desperate. Many are out for retribution and seek to settle scores old and new. Violence, even civil wars, ensue. Through it all, Allied countries pour billions of dollars into relief and reconstruction.

Part Four

Accountability and reconciliation

In Japan, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, heading the postwar occupation, spares Emperor Hirohito the indignity of prosecution. The decision colours Japanese war crimes trials. And while a democratic Japan emerges a technological and industrial giant, it never fully acknowledges its responsibility for the war of aggression and the crimes it committed through the 1930s on to 1945.

Conclusion

Loose ends

Three weeks after the Japanese sign the official surrender, Igor Gouzenko, a cipher clerk at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa, defects with a briefcase stuffed with U.S.S.R. code books and decryption materials exposing Soviet espionage in the West. One act ends a devastating world war with fascism. Another will be credited with starting a four-and-a-half-decade Cold War.