On 16 December 1944 , Germany made a last attempt on the Western Front by using most of its remaining reserves to launch a massive counter-offensive in the Ardennes and along the French – German border to split the Western Allies , encircle large portions of Western Allied troops and capture their primary supply port at Antwerp to prompt a political settlement . By January , the offensive had been repulsed with no strategic objectives fulfilled . In Italy , the Western Allies remained stalemated at the German defensive line . In mid-January 1945 , the Soviets and Poles attacked in Poland , pushing from the Vistula to the Oder river in Germany , and overran East Prussia . On 4 February , Soviet , British and US leaders met for the Yalta Conference . They agreed on the occupation of post-war Germany , and on when the Soviet Union would join the war against Japan
Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
World War II