payment page
The Continued Soviet Advance
By late March 1945, the Red Army had secured all of eastern Europe. It continued its advance into Austria, capturing the capital of Vienna on April 13. By this time, the Allied forces coming from France had crossed the Rhine River and were moving swiftly toward Berlin from the west. The Allies decided to let Soviet forces enter Berlin first, while British and U.S. forces concentrated on other areas to the north and south. On April 12, 1945, U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose health had been failing for some time, died of a cerebral hemorrhage at his vacation home in Georgia. The United States saw an outpouring of grief, as Roosevelt had been president an unprecedented 12 years and, in addition to being an effective commander in chief and diplomatic leader, had almost single-handedly rallied the American people through the hardships of the war. Vice President Harry S Truman succeeded Roosevelt as president.
Just days after Roosevelt’s death, on April 16, 1945, the Soviets began their final offensive against the Third Reich. Over the coming days, more than 3,000 tanks crossed the Neisse River, assaulting Berlin’s outer defenses while Allied aircraft bombed the city from above. On April 20, Hitler spent his birthday in an underground bunker and then began preparations to kill himself when the city fell. Although imminent defeat was obvious, Hitler not only refused to allow his troops to surrender but also insisted that the conscripted civilian army was to defend Berlin to the last man.
The End of Nazi Germany
On April 25, the Allied armies advancing from east and west met for the first time, when a small group of American and Soviet soldiers met at the German village of Strehla. The hugely symbolic meeting was marked by celebrations in both Moscow and New York. On April 28, the former dictator of Italy, Benito Mussolini, under arrest since his ouster nearly two years before, was executed by Italian partisans and hung upside down in the center of Milan. Two days later, on April 30, Adolf Hitler killed himself in the bunker in which he had been living since the beginning of the month. Later that evening, the Red Army hung a Soviet flag from the top of the Reichstag, the German parliament building in Berlin.
Over the following days, there was a great deal of confusion throughout Germany. Some German forces surrendered, while others continued to fight. Among the remaining leaders, some went into hiding or sought escape abroad. Others followed Hitler’s example and committed suicide. Early on the morning of May 7, 1945, General Alfred Jodl signed the official surrender on behalf of all German forces, which went into effect the next day.
The Seeds of the Cold War
As it turned out, the dividing line between the Red Army’s position and the Western Allied armies’ position at the end of the war in Europe would solidify into roughly the same line as the Iron Curtain, the line dividing Western Europe from Eastern Europe in the Cold War. Berlin itself would remain divided into Soviet and Western zones—which became East and West Berlin, respectively—for decades.
Events Timeline
November 20, 1944
Hitler abandons Rastenburg headquarters
December 16
Battle of the Bulge; Germans begin counteroffensive in Ardennes
December 24
Germans surround Americans at Bastogne
January 16, 1945
U.S. forces freed from Bastogne
February 4
Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin meet at Yalta Conference
April 12
Roosevelt dies; Truman becomes U.S. president
April 16
Soviets begin offensive on Berlin
April 25
U.S. and Soviet advances meet for first time
April 28
Partisans execute Mussolini
April 30
Hitler commits suicide
May 7
Germany signs formal surrender
May 8
Western Allies declare V-E Day
May 9
USSR declares Victory Day
Key People
Adolf Hitler
German chancellor; committed suicide on April 30, 1945, with fall of Berlin imminent
Franklin D. Roosevelt
32nd U.S. president; met with Churchill and Stalin at Yalta Conference but died in April 1945
Harry S Truman
33rd U.S. president; took office upon Roosevelt’s death
Winston Churchill
British prime minister; met with Roosevelt and Stalin at February 1945 Yalta Conference
Joseph Stalin
Soviet premier; began to assert USSR’s dominance over Eastern Europe in final days of the war, which led to Cold War tensions
