LONDON (AP) 鈥 Cities from London to Moscow will be awash with parades, flyovers and memorials this week as the world marks the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day 鈥 the day Nazi Germany surrendered to Allied forces.
The surrender didn鈥檛 end World War II because the war against Japan continued in the Far East. However, it was a moment of celebration for the servicemen and women who battled Adolf Hitler鈥檚 armies, as well as civilians across Europe who had been bombed, invaded and subjugated since the invasion of Poland in 1938.
When the surrender was announced, people poured into the streets of London, New York and Paris to celebrate in what the BBC described as a 鈥渕ood of thanksgiving.鈥
Here’s a look at the events leading up to V-E Day and its significance.
When is V-E Day?
While most Western countries celebrate the anniversary on May 8, that鈥檚 not an easy question to answer.
Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe, actually accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany at 2:41 a.m. local time on May 7, in a ceremony at Reims, France. Although the news had leaked out by that evening, the official announcement was delayed until the following day. The U.S., Britain and France were trying to work out differences with the Soviet Union, which felt the surrender didn鈥檛 recognize the sacrifices its troops had made in securing victory.
A second surrender document was signed around midnight on May 8 in Berlin, satisfying Soviet concerns. Russia celebrates what it calls Victory Day on May 9.
The path to victory
By the time France fell to the Nazi 鈥淏litzkrieg鈥 on June 25, 1940, Hitler鈥檚 forces controlled most of Europe and were threatening to invade Britain.
But the war in Europe began to turn in early 1942, when the Soviet Red Army defeated German forces attempting to take Moscow. Hitler suffered another crushing defeat in February 1943, when German forces surrendered in the Battle of Stalingrad.
Invading the Soviet Union was 鈥減robably not Hitler鈥檚 best idea,鈥 said Rob Citino, a retired senior historian at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans.
鈥淭hey were counterpunched in front of Moscow, and in a war that the Germans had taken very few casualties up to now they suddenly had added a million and they never recovered from it.鈥
Then in 1944 the Western Allies and the Soviet Union launched twin offensives that forced Nazi Germany to fight for survival on two fronts. The Allies began their march across Europe with the D-Day landings in northern France on June 6, 1944. Two weeks later, the Soviets began their push toward Berlin.
As 1944 turned to 1945, 鈥渧ictory is all but certain,鈥 Citino said. 鈥淏ut something else is certain: There’s still a lot of soldiers, a lot of military personnel, on both sides who are going to die.鈥欌
The Red Army alone lost about 3 million soldiers in 1945, or about 70,000 a day, he estimated.
The fall of Berlin
Soviet forces began their assault on Berlin on April 16, 1945, while the Allies were still fighting their way across western Germany.
With the city in ruins and the Red Army advancing street by street, Hitler retreated to his bunker under the Reich Chancellery, where he committed suicide on April 30. The last defenders finally surrendered on May 2.
Rolling surrenders
V-E-Day came after a series of surrenders.
The first came on April 29 at the Palace of Caserta, outside Naples, Italy where British Field Marshal Harold Alexander accepted the surrender of German and Italian forces in Italy and western Austria. Five days later, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery accepted the surrender of German forces in northwestern Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands at Luneberg Heath, south of Hamburg.
Finally, there was the unconditional surrender of all Nazi forces in Europe that was signed first at Reims and again in Berlin.
A bittersweet moment
V-E Day was a time of reflection as well as celebration.
While many people lit bonfires and threw back the blackout curtains, others thought about what they had lost. The world also had to reckon with the Holocaust after the advancing armies uncovered the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps where millions of Jews were slaughtered.
鈥淚t was just a big letting off (of) steam and a massive relief for so many people,鈥欌 said Dan Ellin, a historian at the University of Lincoln in the U.K. 鈥淏ut then, of course, for others, there wasn鈥檛 an awful lot to celebrate. For thousands of people, the victory was tinged with a sadness because for them, their loved ones were not going to come home.鈥
And V-E Day wasn鈥檛 actually the end of the war. The Japanese were still fighting ferociously to defend their home against any invasion, and many Allied soldiers expected that they would be deployed to the Far East as soon as the war in Europe ended.
鈥淓verybody knows there鈥檚 a big show left and the big show is going to be gigantic and it鈥檚 going to be bloody 鈥 ,鈥欌 Citino said. 鈥淎nd I bet you every single Allied soldier in Europe, after toasting victory in Europe, they sat down and said, 鈥業鈥檓 going to Japan. This isn鈥檛 over yet.鈥欌
Most were spared another fight when Japan surrendered on Aug. 2, after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The veterans have their own thoughts on V-E Day
Dorothea Barron, now 100, who served as a signaler in the Wrens, the Women鈥檚 Royal Naval Service, remembers the sense of camaraderie as everyone banded together to defeat a common enemy.
鈥淲ell, naturally, it鈥檚 something worth celebrating, because we had finally stopped the Germans from trying to get into England,鈥 she said. 鈥淏ecause we were absolutely determined they weren’t going to set foot in our country, absolutely, and we would have resisted, man, woman and child.’’
Mervyn Kersh, also 100, said V-E Day should be a reminder to today鈥檚 leaders that they must stand up to bullies and despots, wherever they may be.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 have peace without strength,’’ he said. 鈥滻t鈥檚 no good just remembering. You鈥檝e got to do something.”
