Everything about V-e Day totally explained
Victory in Europe Day (
V-E Day or
VE Day) was
May 7 and
May 8,
1945, the dates when the
World War II Allies formally accepted the
unconditional surrender of the armed forces of
Nazi Germany and the end of
Adolf Hitler's
Third Reich. On
April 30,
Hitler committed suicide during the
Battle for Berlin, and so the surrender of Germany was authorized by his replacement, President of Germany
Karl Dönitz. The administration headed up by Dönitz was known as the
Flensburg government. The
act of military surrender was signed on
May 7 in
Reims, France, and
May 8 in
Berlin, Germany.
History
Surrender in Reims
At 02:41 on
May 7 1945, at the
SHAEF headquarters in Reims, France, the Chief-of-Staff of the
German Armed Forces High Command, Colonel General
Alfred Jodl, signed the
German Instrument of Surrender. All active operations were to cease at 23:01
Central European Time on
May 8 1945. However as the British were operating on
British Double Summer Time this was 00:01
May 9 in
London.
Western journalists broke the news of
surrender prematurely, precipitating the earlier celebration. Fighting continued on the
Eastern Front until the Germans surrendered specifically to the
Soviets at
Karlshorst. The Soviet Union kept to the agreed celebration date, and
Russia and other countries still commemorate the end of
World War II, a significant part of which is known as the
Great Patriotic War in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union, as
Victory Day on
May 9.
By
May 8, most of Germany had already been taken by Allied forces. Hence V-E day wasn't such a drastic change for most German civilians. In the years after, V-E day was predominantly perceived as the day of defeat. But over the decades, this perception changed, culminating in the speech by
West German President
Richard von Weizsäcker on the 40th anniversary of V-E day in 1985, in which he called
May 8 "the day of liberation" from the Nazi government.
Surrender in Berlin
Shortly before midnight on
May 8, a second unconditional surrender was signed in the outskirts of Berlin, Germany. The signing ceremony took place in a villa in an eastern suburb of Berlin called Karlshorst. Representatives of the USSR, Great Britain, France, and the
United States arrived shortly before midnight. After
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov opened the ceremony, the German command representatives headed by
Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel were invited into the room, where they signed the final
German Instrument of Surrender entering into force at 23:01 Central European Time.
Celebrations
On that date, massive celebrations took place, notably in London, where more than a million people celebrated in a carnival atmosphere the end of the
European war, though
rationing of food and clothing was to continue for several years, and in fact continued longer during peacetime than the war in Europe had lasted. In London, crowds massed in particular in
Trafalgar Square and up
The Mall to
Buckingham Palace, where King
George VI and Queen
Elizabeth, accompanied by
Prime Minister Winston Churchill, appeared on the balcony of the Palace cheering crowds. Princess
Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth II) and her sister Princess
Margaret were allowed to wander anonymously among the crowds and take part in the celebrations.
In the
United States,
President Harry Truman, who celebrated his 61st birthday that day, dedicated the victory to the memory of his predecessor,
Franklin D. Roosevelt, because he'd been so committed to ending the war. Roosevelt had died less than a month earlier, on
April 12. Flags remained at half-staff for the remainder of the 30-day mourning period, which ended on
May 12, to pay tribute to Roosevelt's commitment toward ending the war. Massive celebrations also took place in
Chicago,
Los Angeles, Miami, and especially in
New York City's
Times Square.
Red Army and Eastern Europe
Red Army veterans and all people in Russia customarily celebrate V-E Day on
May 9 instead of
Western European
May 8. Several countries in
Eastern Europe, former members of the Soviet bloc, still heed that practice.
May 8 as Public Holiday
Further Information
Get more info on 'V-e Day'.
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