Fall of Nazi Germany

Raising a Flag over the Reichstag: A Soviet soldier hoists the Soviet flag over a fallen Berlin.

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The fall of Nazi Germany is most often believed to have begun with the Nazi defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad, and ended upon the signing of the German Instrument of Surrender on 8 May 1945. The Nazis' (and mainly Adolf Hitler's) refusal to surrender ended with many more German casualties, in both men and in material, than if they had surrendered previously.

Beginning of the fall

Death and destruction during the Battle of Stalingrad, where the fall is often pointed to as starting

Germany and Europe as a whole were almost totally dependent on foreign oil imports. In an attempt to resolve the shortage, in June 1942 Germany launched Fall Blau ("Case Blue"), an offensive against the Caucasian oilfields. The Red Army launched a counter-offensive on 19 November and encircled the Axis forces, who were trapped in Stalingrad on 23 November. Göring assured Hitler that the 6th Army could be supplied by air, but this turned out to be infeasible. Hitler's refusal to allow a retreat led to the deaths of 200,000 German and Romanian soldiers; of the 91,000 men who surrendered in the city on 31 January 1943, only 6,000 survivors returned to Germany after the war.

Capitulation and surrender

The German Instrument of Surrender was signed by Wilhelm Keitel on 8 May 1945, officially marking the end of Nazi Germany. The surrender, which was unconditional in nature, also marked the end of the Battle of Berlin and of World War II in Europe, leaving only Imperial Japan left in World War II.

References

Works cited

• Evans, Richard J. (2008). The Third Reich at War. New York: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-311671-4. Search this book on
• Glantz, David M. (1995). When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-0899-7. Search this book on
• Mazower, Mark (2008). Hitler's Empire: How the Nazis Ruled Europe. New York; Toronto: Penguin. ISBN 978-1-59420-188-2. Search this book on
• Melvin, Mungo (2010). Manstein: Hitler's Greatest General. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-297-84561-4. Search this book on

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