A. In the west, Allied Forces had fought their way through southern Italy as far a Rome.
B. In June 1944, Germany's military position in World War II appeared hopeless.
C. In Britain, the task of amassing the men and materials for the liberation of northern Europe had been completed.
D. The Red Army was poised to drive the Nazis back through Poland.
E. The situation on the eastern front was catastrophic.
(2004)
Looking at the structure of the statement and logically, it appears that statement B is the opening statement of the paragraph. When we go through the remaining statements, the author mentions the directions like "northern", "west", "southern" and "eastern". We can conclude that ED is the link. Statement E says the "situation was catastrophic". Statement D gives the explanation for it.
Hence, option B is the correct answer.