After
the successful Allied invasions of western France, Germany gathered
reserve forces and launched a massive counter-offensive in the Ardennes,
which collapsed by January. At the same time, Soviet forces were
closing in from the east, invading Poland and East Prussia. By March,
Western Allied forces were crossing the Rhine River, capturing hundreds
of thousands of troops from Germany's Army Group B, and the Red Army had
entered Austria, both fronts quickly approaching Berlin. Strategic
bombing campaigns by Allied aircraft were pounding German territory,
sometimes destroying entire cities in a night. In the first several
months of 1945, Germany put up a fierce defense, but was rapidly losing
territory, running out of supplies, and running low on options. In
April, Allied forces pushed through the German defensive line in Italy,
and East met West on the River Elbe on April 25, 1945, when Soviet and
American troops met near Torgau, Germany. Then came the end of the Third
Reich, as the Soviets took Berlin, Adolf Hitler committed suicide on
April 30, and Germany surrendered unconditionally on all fronts by May 8
(May 7 on the Western Front). Hitler's planned "Thousand Year Reich"
lasted only 12 incredibly destructive years. (This entry is Part 17 of a weekly 20-part retrospective of World War II) [45 photos]
"Raising a flag over the Reichstag" the famous photograph by Yevgeny
Khaldei, taken on May 2, 1945. The photo shows Soviet soldiers raising
the flag of the Soviet Union on top of the German Reichstag building
following the Battle of Berlin. The moment was actually a re-enactment
of an earlier flag-raising, and the photo was embroiled in controversy
over the identities of the soldiers, the photographer, and some
significant photo editing. More about this image from Wikipedia. (Yevgeny Khaldei/LOC)
