VE-Day.info

Allied Victory in Europe

By the beginning of 1944 air warfare had become overwhelmingly in Allies favor, for whom an unprecedented destruction of many German cities and on transport and industries throughout German-held Europe. This air offensive prepared the ground for landing (June 6, 1944) Allies in N France (Normandy campaign) and secondary landing (Aug. 15) in S France. After heavy fighting in Normandy, Allied armored divisions rushed to the Rhine, clearing most of Belgium and France of German forces in October 1944. Using the V-1 and V-2 Germans proved as futile effort as their counteroffensive in Belgium under General von Rundstedt (see Battle of the Bulge).

On the Eastern Front Soviet armies swept (1944) through the Baltic States, E Poland, Belorussia, Ukraine and forced the capitulation of Romania (August 23), Finland (September 4) and Bulgaria (10 September). Having evacuated the Balkan Peninsula, the Germans resisted in Hungary until February 1945, but Germany itself was pressed. Russian entered East Prussia and Czechoslovakia (Jan. 1945) and took E Germany to the Oder.

On March 7 the Western allies, which the commanders in the field were Omar N. Bradley and Montgomery crossed the Rhine after broke through the strongly fortified Siegfried Line and overran W Germany. German collapse came after a meeting (25 April), Western and Russian armies at Torgau in Saxony, and after Hitler's death in the ruins of Berlin, which falls on the Russian under marshals Zhukov and Konev. Germany's unconditional surrender was signed at Reims on May 7 and ratified at Berlin on May 8.