 The Second World War waged for almost 11 months after D-Day. There were many vital engagements which led to eventual victory for the Allies, but here are some events that led to victory in Europe or V-E-Day. The Allies did not consider the liberation of Paris to be a primary objective. They would rather keep their attention on the German forces retreating towards the Rhine. On August 21st, Eisenhower met with French General Charles de Gaulle and told him of his plans to bypass Paris. De Gaulle told Eisenhower that if his advance against Paris was not ordered, he would send the French Second Armored Division into the city himself. Eisenhower then agreed to proceed with the liberation of Paris. Hitler had ordered Paris defended to the last man and demanded that the city not fall into Allied hands except as a field of ruins. General Dietrich von Kultus began laying explosives under Paris' bridges and many of its landmarks as ordered. On August 23rd, free French forces attacked the German garrison, armed with the knowledge that General Patton's army was right behind them. On August 25th, the Allies and French Resistance Force liberated Paris. The order to commence the destruction of Paris was never given because Kultus did not want to go down in history as the man who destroyed Europe's most celebrated city. The Battle of the Bulge was the largest battle fought on the western front in Europe during World War II. It was a German offensive intended to drive a wedge between the American and British armies in France and the Low Countries so Germany could recapture the port of Anferp to deny the Allies' use of the port facilities. It was a massive gamble on the part of Hitler, one he lost badly. The Red Army had been advancing deeper into Poland since mid-January. Having liberated Warsaw and Krakow, Soviet troops headed for Auschwitz. Ten days before the Soviets arrived, the Germans started the death march where 58,000 prisoners were evacuated to another concentration camp 35 miles away. On arrival at Auschwitz, the Soviets found just 7,500 emaciated men and women and only 600 out of the 1.1 million corpses. The Yalta Conference was the second wartime meeting of the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. During the conference, the three leaders agreed to demand Germany's unconditional surrender and began plans for a post-World War Europe. Stalin also agreed to permit free elections in Eastern Europe and to enter the war in the Pacific against Japan. Although he did help fight the Japanese, he broke his promise of free elections in Eastern Europe and instead installed governments dominated by the Soviet Union. This was the start of the Cold War. Hundreds of bombers descended on Dresden in two waves. By the morning, some 800 British bombers had dropped more than 1,400 tons of high explosive bombs and more than 1,100 tons of incendiaries on Dresden, destroying the city. By bombing Dresden, the Allies disrupted important lines of communication that would have hindered the Soviet offensive. Crossing the Rhine was the last major obstacle in the way of a full-on race to Berlin. The Allies expected a fierce defensive on the Rhine. Hitler ordered the destruction of all bridges that spanned the Rhine to stop the Allies from crossing. The Allies came up to the Rhine. They found that the Germans had destroyed all bridges except for one. Or the Allies crossed the river. They sprung a surprise attack by dropping thousands of airborne troops behind enemy lines to devastate the German artillery. First bridgeheads were established. It took just nine hours to cross the Rhine. The Allies coming from the West and the Soviet Union coming from the East were on a race to see who would make it to Berlin first. Eisenhower ordered the Allies to stop just outside of Berlin so that the Soviets could capture Berlin for themselves. The Red Army would sustain more than 300,000 casualties in the battle for Berlin. Eisenhower did not want to suffer such a toll for territory that would be given to the Soviet Union anyway under the agreement previously made at the Yalta Conference. By May 2, the Soviets had the city under full control and the war was over. The 8th of May is when German troops finally laid down their arms. Celebrations erupted throughout the world. From Moscow to Los Angeles, people celebrated. In the United Kingdom, more than one million people celebrated in the streets to mark the end of World War II in Europe. Still to this day, VE Day is a celebrated holiday throughout the world.