ALLIED VICTORY IN EUROPE 227
“This is your victory! It is the victory of
freedom in every land.”
WINSTON CHURCHILL, SPEECH, MAY 8, 1945
MAR APR M AY JUN
Mar 7, 1945 Americans
cross the Rhine bridge
at Remagen
Apr 14, 1945 Soviet
forces take the Austrian
capital Vienna
Apr 16, 1945
Soviet forces launch
the final offensive to
capture Berlin
Apr 29, 1945
Germans surrender
on the Italian front
Apr 28, 1945
Mussolini and his
mistress are killed
by Italian partisans
May 2, 1945 Soviet
forces complete the
capture of Berlin
Mar 23, 1945 Allied troops
cross the Rhine in force
Apr 15, 1945
Western Allies liberate
Bergen-Belsen and
Buchenwald camps
Apr 12, 1945 President
Roosevelt dies; Truman
succeeds him
Apr 25, 1945 Western
and Soviet troops meet
at Torgau on the Elbe
May 8, 1945 Victory
in Europe (VE) Day: final
German surrender signed
Apr 30, 1945
Hitler and Eva Braun
die by suicide at the
Berlin bunker
camps shocked the advancing Allied forces. A series of
German surrenders began in Italy, where Mussolini met a
grim end at the hands of Italian partisans on April 28. Two
days later, Hitler died by suicide at his Berlin bunker,
denouncing the German army and people as unworthy of his
leadership. On May 8, the war in Europe was declared over.
Allied-occupied Germany
The victors of World War II reigned over a continent in
ruins. Political conflicts between Communists and their
enemies were already surfacing before the war ended: for
example in Greece, where British intervention prevented
Communist-led partisans from taking power. But in
Germany itself, where prolonged Nazi resistance had been
expected and feared, there was instead only the struggle
to survive or, in the case of prominent Nazis, to escape
retribution. The Allies carried out their plan for the four-
way division of Germany, including Berlin, into military
occupation zones, France having won the right to be
included in the share-out. Occupation by the Soviet Union
was, to say the least, an ambiguous “liberation” for many
of the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe. However,
despite the suffering that followed, Europe could at least
now hope to move toward a brighter future.
▽ Raising the flag
As a symbol of Soviet victory, soldiers
raise a flag over the Reichstag building
amid the ruins of Berlin on May 2, 1945.
◁ Mustang fighter
The North American Mustang P-51 was a
key aircraft in the war’s final stages, acting as
a long-range fighter escort for bombers and
as a ground-attack aircraft armed with
rockets and bombs.
US_226-227_N_Allied_Victory_in_Europe.indd 227 04/03/19 11:55 AM