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On 30 April, the Reichstag was captured, signalling the military defeat of Nazi Germany.

In Italy, German forces surrendered on 29 April, while the Italian Social Republic capitulated two days later. On 30 April, Hitler committed suicide in his headquarters, and was succeeded by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz (as President of the Reich) and Joseph Goebbels (as Chancellor of the Reich); Goebbels also committed suicide on the following day and was replaced by Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, in what would later be known as the Flensburg Government. On 30 April, the Reichstag was captured, signalling the military defeat of Nazi Germany. On 12 April, President Roosevelt died and was succeeded by his vice president, Harry S. Truman. Benito Mussolini was killed by Italian partisans on 28 April. Major changes in leadership occurred on both sides during this period.

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The American counter-proposal of 26 November required that Japan evacuate all of China without conditions and conclude non-aggression pacts with all Pacific powers. Japan planned to seize European colonies in Asia to create a large defensive perimeter stretching into the Central Pacific. Japanese military did not consider the former an option, and many officers considered the oil embargo an unspoken declaration of war. To prevent American intervention while securing the perimeter, it was further planned to neutralise the United States Pacific Fleet and the American military presence in the Philippines from the outset. The Japanese would then be free to exploit the resources of Southeast Asia while exhausting the over-stretched Allies by fighting a defensive war.

Keegan, John (1989) The Second World War. Mingst & Karns 2007, p. Dunn 1998, p. 157. According to May 1955, p. Adolf Hitler’s Declaration of War against the United States in Wikisource. Klooz, Marle; Wiley, Evelyn (1944), Events leading up to World War II – Chronological History, 78th Congress, 2d Session – House Document N. 541, Director: Humphrey, Richard A., Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, p. Bosworth & Maiolo 2015, pp. New York: Viking. pp.