The Allied invasion of Germany started Process_start with the Western Allies crossing the Rhine River on 22 March 1945 before fanning out and overrunning all of western Germany from the Baltic in the north to the Alpine passes in the south , where they linked up with troops of the U.S. Fifth Army in Italy .

To the west , American and Australian forces Hostile_encounter under General Douglas MacArthur had moved up Motion through the Southwest Pacific , isolating Removing or overrunning Destroying many Japanese strong points as part of Operation Cartwheel .

Today , the Battle Hostile_encounter of Manzikert is widely seen Perception_active as the moment when the Byzantines lost Earnings_and_losses the war against the Turks ; however the Byzantine military was of questionable quality before 1071 with regular Turkish incursions overrunning Destroying the failing theme system .