The act of unconditional surrender of Germany is the document that ended the Great Patriotic War. This Act stated that the war ended with the complete defeat of Nazi Germany. The fact that the Act was signed in Berlin, taken by Soviet troops, emphasized the decisive role of the USSR in the defeat of fascism.

In 1944-1945 The Great Patriotic War was transferred to the territory of Nazi Germany. Although in 1945 the prospect of defeating fascism became obvious, the question remained unclear which part of Germany would be under the control of the USSR and which part would be under the control of the Western Allies. The Nazis, considering themselves a bulwark of Western civilization against communism, did everything to stop the advance of the Red Army. The German military and officials rightly believed that their fate would be somewhat easier if they ended up in the hands of the Western allies rather than Stalin. The Soviet leadership feared that under the auspices of the United States and Great Britain, German nationalism could revive and again threaten the USSR.

Although Soviet troops They had not yet completed the capture of the large fortress of Koenigsberg on the flank of their offensive, it was decided to attack Berlin.

The Soviet troops were opposed by the Vistula Army Group under the command of Colonel General G. Heinrici and the Center Army Group under the command of Field Marshal F. Scherner - with a total number of about 1 million people, 10,400 guns and mortars, 1,500 tanks and assault guns and 3300 combat aircraft. Another 8 divisions were in the reserve of the main command ground forces. The number of garrisons in Berlin itself exceeded 200 thousand people.

In order to encircle and capture Berlin, the Soviet command concentrated troops of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian, 1st Ukrainian Fronts and other forces - 162 rifle and cavalry divisions, 21 tank and mechanized corps, 4 air armies with a total strength of 2.5 million people, about 42 thousand guns and mortars, over 6250 tanks and self-propelled guns, 7500 combat aircraft.

The path to Berlin was covered by fortifications on the Seelow Heights. In order to avoid large losses, it was necessary to take them suddenly, in one blow. The commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, G. Zhukov, concentrated a strong strike group against the heights, and in order to stun the defenders, the light of powerful aircraft searchlights was directed at them before the attack. On April 16, the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts went on the offensive. On April 19, the Seelow Heights were taken. On April 24, troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts surrounded a 300,000-strong enemy group southeast of Berlin. Despite fierce enemy resistance, Soviet troops under the command of Zhukov and the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front I. Konev surrounded Berlin on April 25 and advanced to the Elbe to meet the allies. On April 25, near the city of Torgau, the 5th Guards Army met with the 1st American Army.

The assault on Berlin began. The Germans fought for every house. Berlin was turned into a system of powerful fortifications. It had already been largely reduced to ruins by Allied bombing, but the ruins also made it difficult for Soviet troops to advance forward. Step by step, Soviet troops captured the most important objects of the city, the most famous of which was the Reichstag. This height dominated the city center, where the Reich Chancellery was located, near which Hitler was hiding in a bunker. When the red flag was hoisted on it, it became clear that Berlin had fallen. On April 30, realizing that Nazism had failed, Hitler committed suicide. Power passed to Goebbels, but on May 1 he chose to follow Hitler. On May 2, the Nazis in Berlin capitulated.

A large German group continued to operate in the Czech Republic. On May 5, an uprising occurred in Prague. But the Germans defeated the rebels. On May 9, units of the Red Army finished off German troops near Prague. With the surrender of German troops near Prague, hostilities in Europe effectively ended.

The German command delayed surrender, hoping that as many troops as possible would be able to leave the remnants of the eastern front and surrender to the Western allies.

On May 2, the new Reich President of Germany, Grand Admiral K. Dönitz, held a meeting at which it was decided to stop resistance to the Anglo-Americans and pursue a policy of private surrenders at the level of army groups, continuing resistance to the Red Army. In Reims, where the headquarters of the commander of the Western Allied forces, D. Eisenhower, was located, representatives of Dennitz tried to achieve a separate surrender in the West, but Eisenhower refused this.

On May 7, 1945, in Reims, Chief of Staff of the Allied Forces in Europe W. Smith, USSR representative Gen. I. Susloparov and the representative of the government of K. Dönitz, General A. Jodl, signed a protocol on the surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany on May 8. In the remaining hours, the German leadership hoped to evacuate as many troops and refugees as possible for surrender in the west.
Susloparov took part in the signing of the surrender in Reims, not yet knowing that Stalin was strongly opposed to it being accepted outside of Berlin, which was taken by Soviet troops. But he insisted on including a clause in the agreement that made it possible to replace the capitulation in Reims with a more general agreement (this clause was then repeated in the final version of the capitulation - already in Berlin).

Stalin rejected Truman and Churchill's proposal to announce the end of the war on May 8. He believed that the Act should be solemnly signed in Berlin: “The treaty signed in Reims cannot be canceled, but it cannot be recognized either. Surrender must be carried out as the most important historical act and accepted not on the territory of the victors, but where the fascist aggression came from - in Berlin, and not unilaterally, but necessarily by the high command of all countries of the anti-Hitler coalition." The Allies agreed to hold a secondary signing ceremony in Berlin. Eisenhower indicated to Jodl that the German commanders-in-chief of the armed forces would be brought in for the final official procedure at a time and place determined by the Soviet and Allied commands. Eisenhower decided not to go to Berlin, so as not to diminish the significance of the surrender in Reims.

On the night of May 8-9, 1945, in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, in the building of the former canteen of the military engineering school (it was not easy to find an entire building in destroyed Berlin), the Act of Unconditional Surrender was signed by representatives of the German command, Field Marshal W. Keitel, Admiral G. Friedeburg and Colonel General of Aviation G. Stumpf. From the USSR, the surrender was accepted by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs A. Vyshinsky and the representative of the Soviet Supreme High Command Marshal Soviet Union G. Zhukov. The command of the expeditionary forces in Europe was represented by Deputy Commander D. Eisenhower, British Air Chief Marshal A. Tedder. The agreement was also signed by the Commander of the US Strategic Armed Forces, General K. Spaats, and the Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, General J.-M. Delattre de Tassigny.

The text of the surrender signed in Karlshorst repeated the surrender in Reims (in order not to cause new disputes between the allies, it was repeated in full), but it was important that the German command in Berlin itself had now surrendered. Representatives of the German High Command agreed to "the unconditional surrender of all our armed forces on land, sea and air, as well as all forces currently under German command, to the Supreme Command of the Red Army and at the same time to the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces" on 23 -01 o'clock Central European Time May 8, 1945 The ceremony ended at 0 o'clock 43 minutes May 9, 1945 Great Patriotic War and Second World War in Europe have ended.

ACT OF MILITARY SURRENDER.

1. We, the undersigned, acting on behalf of the German High Command, agree to the unconditional surrender of all our armed forces on land, sea and air, as well as all forces currently under German command, to the Supreme Command of the Red Army and at the same time Supreme Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.

2. The German High Command will immediately issue orders to all German commanders of land, sea and air forces and all forces under German command to cease hostilities at 2301 hours Central European Time on May 8, 1945, to remain in their places where they are at this time, and completely disarm, handing over all their weapons and military equipment to local Allied commanders or officers assigned to representatives of the Allied High Commands, not to destroy or cause any damage to ships, ships and aircraft, their engines, hulls and equipment, and also machines, weapons, apparatus and all military-technical means of warfare in general.

3. The German High Command will immediately assign the appropriate commanders and ensure that all further orders issued by the Supreme Command of the Red Army and the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces are carried out.

4. This act shall not be an obstacle to its replacement by another general instrument of surrender, concluded by or on behalf of the United Nations, applicable to Germany and the German armed forces as a whole.

5. In the event that the German High Command or any armed forces under its command do not act in accordance with this instrument of surrender, the High Command of the Red Army, as well as the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, will take such punitive measures as or other actions they deem necessary.

6. This act is drawn up in Russian, English and German languages. Only Russian and English texts are authentic.

On behalf of the German High Command:

Keitel, Friedenburg, Stumpf

In the presence:

We were also present at the signing as witnesses.

Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. M., 1999.

Zhukov G.K. Memories and reflections. M., 1990.

Konev I.S. Forty-fifth. M., 1970.

Chuikov V.I. The end of the Third Reich. M., 1973.

Shtemenko S.M. General Staff during the war. M., 1985.

Vorobyov F.D., Parodkin I.V., Shimansky A.N. The last assault. M., 1975.

Why did the German command resist more strongly on the eastern front than on the western?

Who inherited the post of Reich President after Hitler's suicide?

Why was the signing of the final German surrender in Reims unacceptable?

Why does paragraph 4 of the Act of Surrender, signed in Berlin, speak of the possibility of a new agreement? Was it signed?

On May 8, 1945, in the Berlin suburb of Karshorst, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany and its armed forces was signed.

The act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed twice. On behalf of Dönitz, Hitler's successor after his supposed death, Jodl invited the Allies to accept Germany's surrender and organize the signing of the corresponding act on May 10. Eisenhower refused to even discuss the delay and gave Jodl half an hour to decide on the immediate signing of the act, threatening that otherwise the Allies would continue to launch massive attacks on German troops. The German representatives had no choice, and after agreement with Dönitz, Jodl agreed to sign the act.

On the part of the command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe, the act was to be witnessed by General Beddel Smith. Eisenhower offered to witness the act from the Soviet side to Major General I.A. Susloparov, a former representative of the Supreme Command Headquarters at the Allied command. Susloparov, as soon as he learned about the preparation of the act for signing, reported this to Moscow and handed over the text of the prepared document, requesting instructions on the procedure.

By the time the signing of the act of surrender began (preliminarily scheduled for 2 hours 30 minutes), there was no response from Moscow. The situation was such that the act might not have had the signature of the Soviet representative at all, so Susloparov ensured that a note was included in it about the possibility, at the request of one of the allied states, of a new signing of the act if there were objective reasons for this. Only after this did he agree to put his signature on the act, although he understood that he was extremely at risk.

The act of surrender of Germany was signed on May 7 at 2 hours 40 minutes Central European time. The act stipulated that unconditional surrender would take effect from 11 p.m. on May 8. After this, a belated ban on Susloparov from participating in the signing of the act came from Moscow. The Soviet side insisted on signing the act in Berlin with a significant increase in the level of persons who would sign the act and bear witness to it with their signatures. Stalin instructed Marshal Zhukov to organize a new signing of the act.

Fortunately, a note that was included at the request of Susloparov in the signed document allowed this to be done. Sometimes the second signing of an act is called the ratification of what was signed the day before. There are legal grounds for this, since on May 7 G.K. Zhukov received official instructions from Moscow: “The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command authorizes you to ratify the protocol on the unconditional surrender of the German armed forces.”

Stalin got involved in resolving the issue of signing the act again, but at a higher level, turning to Churchill and Truman: “The agreement signed in Reims cannot be canceled, but it cannot be recognized either. Surrender must be carried out as the most important historical act and accepted not on the territory of the victors, but where the fascist aggression came from, in Berlin, and not unilaterally, but necessarily by the high command of all countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.”

As a result, the United States and England agreed to re-sign the act, and the document signed in Reims to be considered the “Preliminary Protocol on the Surrender of Germany.” At the same time, Churchill and Truman refused to postpone the announcement of the signing of the act for a day, as Stalin requested, citing that there were still heavy battles on the Soviet-German front, and it was necessary to wait until the surrender came into force, that is, until 23:00 on May 8 . In England and the USA, the signing of the act and the surrender of Germany to the Western allies was officially announced on May 8; Churchill and Truman did this personally, addressing the people on the radio. In the USSR, the text of their appeals was published in newspapers, but for obvious reasons only on May 10.

It is curious that Churchill, knowing that the end of the war would be declared in the USSR after the signing of a new act, said in his radio address: “Today we will probably think mainly about ourselves. Tomorrow we will give special praise to our Russian comrades, whose valor on the battlefield was one of the great contributions to the overall victory."

Opening the ceremony, Marshal Zhukov addressed the audience, declaring: “We, representatives of the Supreme High Command of the Soviet Armed Forces and the High Command of the Allied Forces... are authorized by the governments of the anti-Hitler coalition to accept the unconditional surrender of Germany from the German military command.” After this, representatives of the German command entered the hall, presenting a document of authority signed by Dönitz.

The signing of the act ended at 22:43 Central European time. In Moscow it was already May 9 (0 hours 43 minutes). On the German side, the act was signed by the Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Command of the German Armed Forces, Field Marshal General Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel, the Chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff, Air Force Colonel General Hans Jürgen Stumpf, and General Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg, who became the Commander-in-Chief of the German Fleet after the appointment of Dönitz as Reich President of Germany. The unconditional surrender was accepted by Marshal Zhukov (from the Soviet side) and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, Marshal Tedder (English: Arthur William Tedder) (Great Britain).

General Carl Spaatz (USA) and General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (France) put their signatures as witnesses. By agreement between the governments of the USSR, USA and Great Britain, an agreement was reached to consider the procedure in Reims preliminary. However, in Western historiography, the signing of the surrender of the German armed forces, as a rule, is associated with the procedure in Reims, and the signing of the instrument of surrender in Berlin is called its “ratification”

Soon, the solemn voice of Yuri Levitan sounded from radios across the country: “On May 8, 1945, in Berlin, representatives of the German High Command signed an act of unconditional surrender of the German armed forces. The Great Patriotic War, which was waged by the Soviet people against Nazi invaders, victoriously completed.

Germany is completely destroyed. Comrades Red Army, Red Navy, sergeants, foremen, army and navy officers, generals, admirals and marshals, I congratulate you on the victorious completion of the Great Patriotic War. Eternal glory to the heroes who died in battles for the freedom and independence of our Motherland!”

By order of I. Stalin, a grandiose salute of a thousand guns was given on this day in Moscow. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, in commemoration of the victorious completion of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders and the historical victories of the Red Army, May 9 was declared Victory Day.

The German command signed the act of surrender late at night on May 7 in Reims. Moreover, the Act was supposed to come into force at 23:01 on May 8. But Soviet General Ivan Susloparov, who signed it, acted at his own peril and risk. Immediately after this, Susloparov received a telegram from Moscow with a categorical ban on signing the Act. But the deed had already been done, and the Soviet government immediately contacted the allies, protesting against the signing of the document not by the top leadership of the German armed forces, but by minor figures. The allies found the USSR's arguments convincing and agreed to a repeat ceremony the next day, but in a more representative composition and with minor changes in the text.

On May 8 at 22:43 Central European time in the suburbs of Berlin, the commanders of the German military branches signed the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany - in the presence of representatives of the command of the anti-Hitler coalition troops. The start date of the Act did not change, so the surrender announced the day before on German radio began virtually immediately after the signing of the document. Due to the time difference (in Moscow at the time of signing it was already 00:43 on May 9), the date of the end of the war in the former USSR, Europe and the USA is considered differently. Here it is May 9, in the West it is May 8.

Immediately after receiving the news of the signing of the Act of Unconditional Surrender, on the same night, the Soviet government issued a decree to celebrate Victory Day on May 9 as the first day of peace after the Great Patriotic War.

Only a year later, a similar holiday appeared in other states. Naturally, with the date of celebration on May 8th. In England, France and the USA it is called Victory Day in Europe. And May 9 Western Europe celebrates Europe Day. But it is dedicated to a completely different event: it was on this day in 1950 that French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, from which the European Union later grew...

The situation that developed in March-April 1945, when the Red Army stood only 60 kilometers from Berlin, greatly worried England. Such successful Soviet offensives jeopardized British plans for a post-war world order, in which London assigned itself a dominant position in Europe. Despite the fact that the vast majority of German troops fought on the Eastern Front, offering not the strongest resistance to the Anglo-Franco-American troops, the Allies did not advance as quickly as they wanted on the shores of Albion. And, although the borders of the occupation of Germany were approved back in Yalta, the British were eager to be the first to enter Berlin, which would diminish the role of the USSR in the victory and, on the contrary, elevate their role.

Recently declassified English archives have revealed the most unsightly page of the activities of the British of those days. In April 1945, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the development of an operation plan that would “impose the will of the United States and the British Empire on the Russians.” The operation was called "Operation Unthinkable". It must be said that the name most accurately characterizes the idea of ​​the British.

British planners, no less, planned for July 1, 1945, an Anglo-American-German military strike against Soviet troops. 47 British and American divisions, supported by 10-12 German divisions carefully preserved and armed by the British, were supposed to strike the positions of the Red Army without declaring war.
“They are rejoicing... They think the war is over. But the real war is just beginning,” Kennan, adviser to the American Embassy in Moscow, wrote in his diary on May 9.

The war was really planned to be serious. With a strike in northern Germany, it was planned to overthrow the Soviet troops, who had relaxed after the Victory, and drive them to Poland by September. After this, Poles, Hungarians, as well as other states that had recently been allies of Germany were supposed to join the fighting. Using the overwhelming advantage in aviation, massive air raids were to turn the most important Soviet centers into ruins, like Dresden: Leningrad, Moscow, Murmansk. The multiple advantage of the British at sea guaranteed the safety of supply lines, and the deterioration of Soviet equipment (as it seemed to the planners) guaranteed a quick victory in the war, which was planned to end on the Arkhangelsk-Stalingrad line.

The date of the attack was not chosen by chance. Even in Yalta, Stalin announced that the USSR would enter the war with Japan on August 8, 1945, and already in June the transfer of our troops from Germany to the Far East was in full swing. But the “Unthinkable” went unforeseen: at the end of June, Marshal Zhukov unexpectedly regrouped the Soviet troops located in Germany, which confused all the cards for the British. The power of Soviet technology that stormed Berlin and the “accidental” salvo from Katyusha rockets at Allied positions on the eve of the end of the war raised doubts about the success of the operation in the hearts of many Allied generals.
Categorically against the attack on the USSR, supported by the new American President Harry Truman, the American military also spoke out, fearing excessive losses in the war with Japan without Soviet support. As a result, the plan for the treacherous attack was sent to a secret storage facility, from where only a few years ago it was transferred to the public access of the British State Archives.

In 1945, on May 8, in Karshorst (a suburb of Berlin) at 22.43 Central European time, the final Act of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany and its armed forces was signed. This act is called final for a reason, since it was not the first.

From the moment the Soviet troops closed the ring around Berlin, the German military leadership faced historical question about the preservation of Germany as such. For obvious reasons, German generals wanted to capitulate to the Anglo-American troops, continuing the war with the USSR.

To sign the surrender to the allies, the German command sent a special group and on the night of May 7 in the city of Reims (France) a preliminary act of surrender of Germany was signed. This document stipulated the possibility of continuing the war against the Soviet army.

However, the unconditional condition of the Soviet Union remained the demand for the unconditional surrender of Germany as a fundamental condition for the complete cessation of hostilities. The Soviet leadership considered the signing of the act in Reims to be only an interim document, and was also convinced that the act of surrender of Germany should be signed in the capital of the aggressor country.

At the insistence of the Soviet leadership, generals and Stalin personally, representatives of the Allies met again in Berlin and on May 8, 1945 signed another act of surrender of Germany together with the main winner - the USSR. That is why the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany is called final.

The ceremony of solemn signing of the act was organized in the building of the Berlin Military Engineering School and was chaired by Marshal Zhukov. The final Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany and its armed forces bears the signatures of Field Marshal W. Keitel, Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy Admiral Von Friedeburg, and Colonel General of Aviation G. Stumpf. On the Allied side, the Act was signed by G.K. Zhukov and British Marshal A. Tedder.

After the signing of the Act, the German government was dissolved, and the defeated German troops were completely folded. Between May 9 and May 17, Soviet troops captured about 1.5 million German soldiers and officers, as well as 101 generals. The Great Patriotic War ended with the complete victory of the Soviet army and its people.

In the USSR, the signing of the final Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany was announced when it was already May 9, 1945 in Moscow. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, in commemoration of the victorious completion of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders, May 9 was declared Victory Day.

Photos from open sources

In 1945, on May 8, in Karshorst (a suburb of Berlin) at 22.43 Central European time, the final Act of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany and its armed forces was signed. This act is called final for a reason, since it was not the first.

From the moment the Soviet troops closed the ring around Berlin, the German military leadership faced the historical question of preserving Germany as such. For obvious reasons, German generals wanted to capitulate to the Anglo-American troops, continuing the war with the USSR.

To sign the surrender to the allies, the German command sent a special group and on the night of May 7 in the city of Reims (France) a preliminary act of surrender of Germany was signed. This document stipulated the possibility of continuing the war against the Soviet army.

However, the unconditional condition of the Soviet Union remained the demand for the unconditional surrender of Germany as a fundamental condition for the complete cessation of hostilities. The Soviet leadership considered the signing of the act in Reims to be only an interim document, and was also convinced that the act of surrender of Germany should be signed in the capital of the aggressor country.

At the insistence of the Soviet leadership, generals and Stalin personally, representatives of the Allies met again in Berlin and on May 8, 1945 signed another act of surrender of Germany together with the main winner - the USSR. That is why the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany is called final.

The ceremony of solemn signing of the act was organized in the building of the Berlin Military Engineering School and was chaired by Marshal Zhukov. The final Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany and its armed forces bears the signatures of Field Marshal W. Keitel, Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy Admiral Von Friedeburg, and Colonel General of Aviation G. Stumpf. On the Allied side, the Act was signed by G.K. Zhukov and British Marshal A. Tedder.

After the signing of the Act, the German government was dissolved, and the defeated German troops completely laid down their arms. Between May 9 and May 17, Soviet troops captured about 1.5 million German soldiers and officers, as well as 101 generals. The Great Patriotic War ended with the complete victory of the Soviet army and its people.

In the USSR, the signing of the final Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany was announced when it was already May 9, 1945 in Moscow. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, in commemoration of the victorious completion of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders, May 9 was declared Victory Day.