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USSR saved the world by winnig this battle.
{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict = Battle of Berlin
|image = ].
|caption = Red Army officers Raqymzhan Qoshqarbaev and Georgij Bulatov raising the ] over the ] during the Battle of Berlin, April 30, 1945.
|partof = ]
|place = ], ]
|date = ] ] – ] ]
|result = Decisive ] victory
|combatant2 = ] ]
|combatant1 = ] ]<br>
] ]
|commander2 = ] – ] then ]<ref>Heinrici was replaced by General ] on ]. General Kurt von Tippelskirch was named as Heinrici's interim replacement until Student could arrive and assume control. Student was captured by the British and never arrived.</ref><br><br>] – ]<br><br>Berlin Defense Area – ] then ]{{POW}}<ref>Weidling replaced Oberstleutnant ] as commander of Berlin who only held the post for one day having taken command from Reymann.</ref>
|commander1 = ] – ]<br><br>] – ]<br><br>] – ]
|strength2 = 1,000,000 men (including ] and ] militias){{fact|date=March 2007}}<!--,<br>1,500 tanks,{{Fact|date=February 2007}}<br>3,300 aircraft {{Fact|date=February 2007}}-->
|strength1 = 2,500,000 soldiers,<br>6,250 tanks,<br>7,500 aircraft,<br>41,600 artillery pieces<ref>Ziemke ] p. 71</ref><ref>Murray, Williamson and Allan R. Millet. ''A War to be Won: Fighting the Second World War''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000 p. 482 ISBN 0-674-00680-1</ref>
|casualties2 = Estimates: <br> 150,000–173,000 killed<br>200,000 wounded<br>134,000 captured <!-- 152,000 civilian dead - make it in the bottom of the table or something -->{{fact|date=March 2007}}
|casualties1 =Archival research <br> 81,000 dead or missing (including 2,800 Polish)<br>280,000 sick or wounded<br> Total casualties 361,367 men<ref>Murray and Millet. ''A War to be Won'', p. 482</ref> <br>1,997 tanks,<br>2,108 artillery pieces,<br>917 aircraft destroyed{{fact|date=March 2007}}}}
{{Campaignbox Axis-Soviet War}}
{{Campaignbox Battle of Berlin}}
{{about|the Soviet assault on Berlin in 1945|the ] on Berlin|Battle of Berlin (air)}}

The '''Battle of Berlin''' was one of the final battles<ref>The last major battle was the ] on ]–], ], when the Soviet Army with the help of Polish, ]n, and ] forces defeated the parts of ] which continued to resist in Czechoslovakia. The operation involved about 3,000,000 personnel from both sides. The last actual battle in Europe was the ] (]–], ]). See ] for details on these final days of the war.</ref> of the ]. In what was known to the Soviets as the "Berlin Offensive Operation", two massive ] army groups attacked ] from the east and south. The battle lasted from late ] ] until early ]. Before the '''Battle for Berlin''' was over, German dictator ] and many of his followers committed ]. The city's defenders surrendered on ]. However, sporadic fighting continued until the ] on ] (] to the USSR).

==Background==
In the wake of ] in August ], the ] became relatively stable. ] and ] had been forced to surrender and declare war on Germany. The Germans had lost ] and most of the rest of ]. The plains of ] were now open to the Soviet ].

Starting on ], 1945, the Red Army began the ] across the ] River and from Warsaw -- a three-day operation on a broad front which incorporated four army ]s. On the fourth day, the Red Army broke out and started moving west, up to thirty to forty ]s per day. They took the ], ], ], and ], drawing up on a line sixty kilometres east of ], along the ] River.

The newly created ], under the command of '']'' ], attempted a counter-attack but failed by ]. The Red Army then drove on to ]. The ] cleared the right bank of the Oder River, thereby reaching into ].

In the south the ] raged. Three German attempts to relieve the encircled Hungarian capital city failed. Budapest fell to the Soviets on ]. Again the Germans counter-attacked, ] insisting on the impossible task of regaining the ] River. By ], the German's ] had failed. Within twenty-four hours, the Red Army's counter-attack took back everything the Germans had gained in ten days. On ], the Soviets entered ] and, during the ], they captured ] on ].

By this time, it was clear that the final defeat of the ] was only a few weeks away. The ] had, at most, eight percent of the fuel it needed to operate effectively, and both the production and the quality of ] and ]s deteriorated from their heights in 1944.<ref name=MFA>MFA Productions LLC; </ref> However, it was also known that the fighting would be as fierce as at any other time in the war. The Germans fought bitterly, because of national pride, the Allied insistence on ], and to buy time for the German people to flee from the Red Army.

Adolf Hitler decided to remain in the city, against the wishes of his advisers. On ], Hitler heard the news that the American President ] had died. This briefly raised false hopes in the ] that there might yet be a falling out among the Allies, and that Berlin would be saved at the last moment as had happened once before when Berlin was threatened (see ]).

The ] had tentative plans to drop ] to occupy Berlin in case of a sudden German collapse. No offensive was planned to seize the city.<ref>Beevor ] p. 194</ref> ] saw no need to suffer casualties in attacking a city that would be in the Soviet ] after the war.<ref name=MFA/> The major Western Allied contribution to the battle was the strategic ] during 1945. During 1945 ] launched a number of very large daytime raids on Berlin and for 36 nights in succession scores of ] ]s bombed the German capital, ending on the night of 20/21 April 1945 just before the Soviets entered the city.

==Soviet offensive==
===Preparations===
The Soviet offensive into central Germany ] (GDR)] had two objectives. ] did not believe the Western Allies would hand over territory occupied by them in the post-war Soviet zone, so he began the offensive on a broad front and moved rapidly to meet the Western Allies as far west as possible. But the overriding objective was to capture Berlin. The two were complementary because possession of the zone could not be won quickly unless Berlin was taken. Another consideration was that Berlin itself held useful post-war strategic assets, including Adolf Hitler and the ].<ref>Beevor, see ] Preface xxxiv, and pp. 138,325</ref>

On ], Hitler appointed ] ] as the commander of the Berlin Defense Area replacing Lieutenant General Bruno Ritter von Hauenschild.

On ], General ] was appointed Commander-in-Chief of ] replacing '']'' ]. Heinrici was one of the best defensive tacticians in the German army. He immediately started to lay defensive plans. Heinrici correctly assessed that the main Soviet thrust would be made over the ] and along the main east-west ]. He decided not to try to defend the banks of the Oder with anything more than a light ] screen. Instead, Heinrici arranged for ] to fortify the ] which overlooked the Oder River at the point where the Autobahn crossed it. This was some 17 kilometers west of the Oder and 90 kilometers east of Berlin. Heinrici thinned out the line in other areas to increase the manpower available to defend the heights. German pioneers turned the Oder's flood plain, already saturated by the spring thaw, into a ] by releasing the waters in a ] upstream. Behind this the engineers built three belts of defensive emplacements. These emplacements reached back towards the outskirts of Berlin (the lines nearer to Berlin were called the ''Wot an'' position). These lines consisted of ] ditches, anti-tank gun emplacements, and an extensive network of ] and ].<ref name=Ziemke76>Ziemke see ] page 76</ref><ref>Zuljan, Ralph Originally published in "World War II" at Suite101.com on May 1, 1999. Revised edition published in "Articles On War" at on ], 2003.</ref>

On ], ] in ] finally fell to the Red Army. This freed up Marshal ]'s ] to move west to the east bank of the ] river. During the first two weeks of April the Red Army performed their fastest Front redeployment of the war. Marshal ] concentrated his ] which had been deployed along the Oder river from ] in the south to the Baltic, into an area in front of the ]. The 2nd Belorussian Front moved into the positions being vacated by the 1st Belorussian Front north of the Seelow Heights. While this redeployment was in progress, gaps were left in the lines and the remnants of the ], which had been bottled up in a pocket near ], managed to escape across the Oder.
To the south, Marshal ] shifted the main weight of the ] out of ] north-west to the ] River.<ref name=Ziemke71>Ziemke see ] page 71</ref>
The three Soviet Fronts had altogether 2.5 million men (including 78,556 soldiers of the ]), 6,250 tanks, 7,500 aircraft, 41,600 ] pieces and ]s, 3,255 truck-mounted ]s (nicknamed 'Stalin's Pipe Organs'), and 95,383 motor vehicles, many manufactured in the USA.<ref name=Ziemke71/>

===Battle of the Oder-Neisse===
:''Main article: ]''

The sector in which most of the fighting in the overall battle took place was the ], the last major defensive line outside Berlin. The ] was one of the last ]s of World War II. It was fought over four days, from ] until ] ]. Close to one million Soviet soldiers and more than 20,000 tanks and artillery pieces were in action to break through the "Gates to Berlin" which was defended by about 100,000 German soldiers and 1,200 tanks and guns {{fact|date=March 2007}}.

On ], the fourth day the 1st Belorussian Front broke through the final line of the Seelow Heights and nothing but broken German formations lay between them and Berlin,. The 1st Ukrainian Front having captured ] the day before was fanning out into open country. One powerful thrust by the 3rd Guards Army and the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies was heading north east towards Berlin while other armies headed west towards a section of United States Army front line south west of Berlin on the ] in doing so, they were driving a wedge between the German ] in the north and ] in the south.

By the end of ] the German eastern front line north of ] around Seelow and to the south around Frost and had ceased to exist. These breakthroughs allowed the two Soviet fronts to ] the German IX Army in a large pocket east of Frankfurt. Attemps by the IX Army to break out to the west would result in the ].<ref name="Beevor217-233"/><ref name=Ziemke84>Ziemke see ] page 84</ref> The cost to the Soviet forces had been very high between ] and ], with over 2,807 tanks lost,<ref> ] 1945</ref> including at least 727 at the Seelow Heights.

===Encirclement of Berlin===
On ], Hitler's birthday, Soviet artillery of 1st Belorussian Front began to shell the centre of Berlin and did not stop until the city surrendered. After the war the Soviets pointed out that the weight of explosives delivered by their artillery during the battle was greater than the tonnage dropped by the Western Allied bombers on the city. 1st Belorussian Front advanced towards the east and north-east of the City.

1st Ukrainian Front had pushed through the last formations of the northern wing of Army Group Centre and had passed north of ] well over halfway to the American front lines on the river ] at ]. To the north between ] and ], 2nd Belorussian Front attacked the northern flank of ], held by the ].<ref name=Ziemke84/>

On ], the 2nd Guards Army advanced nearly 50 ] north of Berlin and then attacked southwest of ]. Other Soviet units reached the outer defence ring. The Soviet plan was to encircle Berlin first and then envelop the IX Army.<ref name=Ziemke88>Ziemke see ] page 88</ref>

The command of the ] trapped with the IX Army north of ], passed from IV Panzer Army to the IX Army. The corps was still holding onto ]. When the old southern flank of IV Panzer Army had some local successes counter attacking north against 1st Ukrainian Front, Hitler gave orders which showed that his grasp of military reality had gone. He ordered IX Army to hold Cottbus and set up a front facing west. Then they were to attack into the Soviet columns advancing north. This would allow them to form the northern pincer which would meet with the IV Panzer Army coming from the south and envelop the 1st Ukrainian Front before destroying it. They were to anticipate an attack south by the ] and to be ready to be the southern arm of a pincer attack which would envelop 1st Belorussian Front which would be destroyed by SS-General ]'s ] advancing from north of Berlin. Later in the day, when Steiner made it plain that he did not have the divisions to do this, Heinrici made it clear to Hitler's staff that unless the IX Army retreated immediately it was about to be enveloped by the Soviets. He stressed it was already too late for it to move north-west to Berlin and would have to retreat west. Heinrici went on to say that if Hitler did not allow it to move west he would ask to be relieved of his command.<ref name=Ziemke87>Ziemke see ] page 87-88</ref>

On ], at his afternoon situation conference Hitler fell into a tearful rage when he realised that his plans of the day before were not going to be realised. He declared that the war was lost, he blamed the generals and announced that he would stay on in Berlin until the end and then kill himself. In an attempt to coax Hitler out of his rage, General ] speculated that the ], under the command of General ], that was facing the Americans, could move to Berlin because the Americans, already on the ] River, were unlikely to move further east. Hitler immediately grasped the idea and within hours Wenck was ordered to disengage from the Americans and move the XII Army north-east to support Berlin. It was then realised that, if the IX Army moved west, it could link up with the XII Army. In the evening Heinrici was given permission to make the link up.<ref name=Ziemke89>Ziemke see ] page 89</ref>

Away from the map room in the Berlin ] with its imaginary attacks of phantom divisions, the Soviets were getting on with winning the war. 2nd Belorussian Front had established a bridgehead on the east bank of the Oder over 15 km deep and was heavily engaged with the III Panzer Army. The IX Army had lost ] and was being pressed from the east. A Soviet tank spearhead was on the ] river to the east of Berlin and another had at one point penetrated the inner defensive ring of Berlin.<ref name=Ziemke92>Ziemke see ] page 92</ref>

A Soviet war correspondent gave this account, in the zealous style of World War Two Russian journalism, of an important event that day—the capital was now within range of field artillery.

<blockquote>
On the walls of the houses we saw Goebbel's appeals, hurriedly scrawled in white paint: 'Every German will defend his capital. We shall stop the Red hordes at the walls of our Berlin.' Just try and stop them!<br />
Steel pillboxes, barricades, mines, traps, suicide squads with grenades clutched in their hands—all are swept aside before the tidal wave.<br />
Drizzling rain began to fall. Near Bisdorf I saw batteries preparing to open fire.<br />
'What are the targets?' I asked the battery commander.<br />
Centre of Berlin, Spree bridges, and the northern and Stettin railway stations,' he answered.<br />
Then came the tremendous words of command: 'Open fire at the capital of Fascist Germany.'<br />
I noted the time. It was exactly 8:30 a.m. on 22 April. Ninety-six shells fell in the centre of Berlin in the course of a few minutes.<ref></ref></blockquote>

On ], the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front and 1st Ukrainian Front continued to tighten the encirclement, including severing the last link that the German IX Army had with the city. Elements of 1st Ukrainian Front continued to move westward and started to engage the German XII Army moving towards Berlin. On this same day, Hitler appointed General ] as the commander of the Berlin Defense Area replacing Lieutenant General Reymann.

By ] elements of 1st Belorussian Front and 1st Ukrainian Front had completed the encirclement of the city.<ref name=Ziemke92-94>Ziemke see ] page 92-94</ref>

The next day, ], the 2nd Belorussian Front broke through III Panzer Army's line around the bridgehead south of ] and crossed the Rando Swamp. They were now free to move west towards the ] and north towards the Baltic port of ]. The Soviet ] of the ] made contact with the ] of the ] near ], Germany on the ] River.<ref name=Ziemke94>Ziemke see ] page 94</ref>

Throughout the day of ], the encirclement of Berlin was tightened even more. Soviet spearheads entered Zehlendorf and Neukoelln. There was fighting at the Teltow Canal. The Berlin suburbs of Adlershof, Alt-Glienicke, Tegel, Wittenau, Reinickendorf, Mariendorf, and Lankwitz were over-run. German troops withdraw into positions in central Berlin. The new front line was Schoeneberg Town Hall, Halle Gate, and Belle-Alliance Square.<ref name="Dollinger-228">Dollinger ] P. 228</ref>

===Battle in Berlin===
{{main|Battle in Berlin}}

The forces available to Weidling for the city's defence included several severely depleted '']'' and '']'' divisions, in all about 45,000 men. These divisions were supplemented by the ] force, ] in the compulsory ], and the '']''. Many of the 40,000 elderly men of the ''Volkssturm'' had been in the army as young men and some were veterans of ]. The commander of the central district, '']'' ], who had been appointed to this position by Hitler, had over 2,000 men under his command.<ref name="Beevor-287">Beevor ] p. 287 for the 45,000 soldiers and 40,000 ''Volkssturm''</ref><ref name="Beevor-287-2">The Soviets later estimated the number as 180,000, but this was from the number of prisoners that they took, and included many unarmed men in uniform, such as railway officials and members of the Reich Labour Service. (Beevor ] p. 287)</ref>
Weidling organized the defences into eight sectors designated 'A' through to 'H' each one commanded by a colonel or a general, but most had no combat experience.<ref name="Beevor-287"/> To the west of the city was the ]. To the north of the city was the ] To the north-east of the city was the ]. To the south-east of the city and to the east of ] was the ]. The reserve, ], was in Berlin's central district.<ref> This map is copied from Ziemke, Earl F. ''Battle For Berlin: End Of The Third Reich'' p. 93 (see ])</ref>

] multiple rocket launchers fire in Berlin, April 1945. This example is a BM-13N, 132mm rocket launcher mounted on a ] US ] truck.]]
Berlin's fate was sealed, because the decisive stages of the battle were fought outside the city, but the resistance inside continued.<ref name=Ziemke-111>Ziemke ] p. 111</ref> By the ] some of Soviet General ]'s rifle units had crossed the ] and the ] south of ] and by the ] were advancing along with Katukov's leading tanks were advancing towards ] and ]. Some time after midnight a corps of the 5th Shock Army crossed the Spree close to ]. At dawn on the ] the ] still under Weildling's direct command counter attacked, but were severely mauled by the 5th Shock Army, which was able to continue its advance around mid day.<ref>Beevor ] pp. 259,297</ref> Meanwhile the first large Soviet probe into the city was put into operation. Kataukov's 1st Guard Army attacked across the ]. At 06:20 a bombardment by 3,000 guns and heavy mortars began (a staggering 650 pieces of artillery per one kilometer of front). At 07:00 hours the first Soviet battalions were across and they were followed by tanks around 12:00 shortly after the first of the pontoon bridges were completed. By the evening Treptow Park was in Soviet hands and they had reached the S-Bahn ring railway.<ref>Beevor ] p. 297</ref>

While the fighting raged in the south east of the city, between 320 and 330 French volunteers commanded by ''Brigadeführer'' ] and organized as ''Sturmbataillon'' (assault battalion) "Charlemagne" were attached to ]. They moved from the SS training ground near ] to the centre of Berlin through the western suburbs which apart from unmanned barricades across the Havel and Spree were devoid of fortifications or defenders. Of all the reinforcements ordered to Berlin that day only this ''Sturmbataillon'' arrived.<ref>Beevor ] pp. 291-292</ref><ref name=Ziemke-111/>

On ], Krukenberg was appointed as the commander Defence Sector C which included the ''Nordland'' Division, whose previous commander ] was relieved of his command the same day. The arrival of the French SS men bolstered the ''Nordland'' Division whose ''Norge'' and ''Danmark'' regiments had been decimated in the fighting. Just midday as Krukenberg reached his command, the last German ] south of the Teltow Canal was being abandoned.<ref name=Beevor-291>Beevor ] pp. 291-292,302</ref>

]
On the ] ] of the 8th Guards Army and the 1st Guards Tank Army fought their way through the southern suburbs of Neukölln towards ] which was located just inside the S-Bhan defensive ring. Defending Sector D was Panzer Division ''Müncheberg''. This division, down to its last dozen tanks and thirty ]s had been promised replacements for battle losses but only stragglers and ''Volkssturm'' were available to fill the ranks. The Soviets advanced cautiously using ]s to overcome defensive positions. By dusk the Soviet T-34 tanks had reached the airfield, only six kilometres (four miles) south of Führerbunker, where they were checked by stiff German resistance. The ''Müncheberg'' Division managed to hold the line until the afternoon of the next day, but this was the last time that they were able to check the Soviet advance for more than a few hours.<ref name=Beevor-303>Beevor ] p. 303</ref><ref name=Ziemke-114>Ziemke ] pp. 114-115</ref>

With Neukölln heavily penetrated by Soviet combat groups Krukenberg prepared fallback positions for Sector C defenders around ]. He moved his headquarters into the opera house. The two understrength German divisions defending the south east were now facing five Soviet armies. From east to west they were the 5th Shock Army, advancing from Treptow Park, the 8th Guards Army and the 1st Guards Tank Army advancing through Neukölln north were checked at Tempelhof Airport and ] 3rd Guards Tank Army was advancing from ]. As the ''Norland'' division fell back towards Hermammplatz the French SS and one hundred Hitler Youths attached to their group destroyed fourteen soviet tanks with '']s'', and one machine gun position by Halensee bridge managed to hold up any Soviet advances in that area for forty-eight hours. Although these two divisions of Weidling's LVI Panzer Corps could slow the Soviet advance they could not stop it. Krukenberg informed General ] that within 24 hours the ''Nordland'' would have to fall back to the centre sector Z (for ''Zentrum'').<ref name=Beevor-303-304> ] pp. 303,304</ref>

], 1945]]
] (] ]) in ], after the battle. In the foreground two destroyed ] tanks can be seen]]
The Soviet advance to the city centre was along these main axes: from the south east, along the Frankfurter Allee (ending and stopped at the ]); from the south along Sonnen Allee ending north of the Belle Alliance Platz, from the south ending near the Potsdamer Platz and from the north ending near the ]. The Reichstag, the Moltke bridge, Alexanderplatz, and the Havel bridges at Spandau were the places where the fighting was heaviest, with house-to-house and ]. The foreign contingents of the SS fought particularly hard, because they were ideologically motivated and they believed that they would not live if captured.

On ], Hitler summoned Field Marshall ] from Munich to Berlin to take over command of the Lufwaffe from ]. While flying over Berlin, von Greim was seriously wounded by Soviet anti-aircraft fire. ], his mistress and a crack test pilot, landed von Greim on an improvised air strip in the ] near the Brandenburg Gate.<ref name="Dollinger-228"/><ref>Beevor, ] p. 322</ref><ref>Ziemke, ] p. 98</ref> On the same day, German ''General der Artillerie'' ] was appointed commander of the Berlin Defense Area.<ref name="Dollinger-228"/> Hitler had ordered that Weidling be executed by firing squad only four days earlier on ]. This was due to a misunderstanding concerning a retreat ordered issued by Weidling as commander of the LVI Panzer Corps. Weidling had been appointed commander of the LVI Panzer Corps on ]. Weidling replaced ''Oberstleutnant'' Ernst Kaether as commander of Berlin. Only one day earlier, Kaether had replaced ''Generalleutnant'' Helmuth Reymann. Reymann had the position since March.

]
] fighting in the vicinity of the ]]]

On ], to slow the advancing Soviets, Hitler ordered the flooding of the Berlin underground. Hitler's order resulted in the drowning of thousands of German soldiers and civilians who had taken refuge in the tunnels.<ref name="Dollinger-228"/>

At some point on ] or ], General ], Commander-in-Chief of ], was relieved of his command. Heinrici disobeyed Hitler's direct orders to hold Berlin at all costs and to never order a retreat. As a result, Heinrici was replaced by General ]. General ] was named as Heinrici's interim replacement until Student could arrive and assume control. Student was captured by the British and never arrived.

Also on ], General ], ] ], made his last telephone call from the ]. He called General ] at the new Supreme Command Headquarters in Fuerstenberg. Krebs told Keitel that, if relief did not arrive within 48 hours, all would be lost. Keitel promised to exert the utmost pressure on Generals Wenck and Busse. Meanwhile, ] wired to German Admiral ]: "] (''Reichskanzlei'') a heap of rubble."<ref name="Dollinger-228"/> Borman was the head of the Nazi ] (''Parteikanzlei'') and Hitler's private secretary. Later on ], Hitler learned of Himmler's contacts with Count ] in Luebeck. Himmler had asked Bernadotte to convey a peace proposal to US General ]. Enraged at Himmler's duplicity, Hitler ordered von Greim and Reitsch to fly to Dönitz's headquarters at Ploen. Von Greim was ordered to arrest the "traitor" ].<ref name="Dollinger-228"/> During the night of ], General Wenck reported to the German Supreme Army Command in Fuerstenberg that his XII Army had been forced back along the entire front. This was particularly true of XX Corps which had been able to establish temporary contact with the Potsdam garrison. According to Wenck, no attack on Berlin was now possible. This was even more so as support from the IX Army could no longer be expected.<ref name="Dollinger-239">Dollinger ] p. 239</ref>

On ], von Greim and Reitsch flew out from Berlin in an ] trainer. Fearing that Hitler was escaping in the plane, troops of the Soviet 3rd Shock Army which was fighting its way through the Tiergarten, tried to shoot the Arado down. The Soviet troops failed in their efforts and the plane took off successfully.<ref>Beevor, ] p. 342</ref><ref>Ziemke ] p. 118</ref> Same day, in the Führerbunker, General ], Goebbels, Krebs, and Bormann witnessed and signed the ]. Hitler dictated the document to ]. Late in the evening, Krebs contacted General ] (Supreme Army Command) by radio: "Request immediate report. Firstly of the whereabouts of Wenck's spearheads. Secondly of time intended to attack. Thirdly of the location of the IX Army. Fourthly of the precise place in which the IX Army will break through. Fifthly of the whereabouts of General Rudolph Holste's spearhead."<ref name="Dollinger-239"/>

In the early morning of ], Jodl replied to Krebs: "Firstly, Wenck's spearhead bogged down south of Schwielow Lake. Secondly, XII Army therefore unable to continue attack on Berlin. Thirdly, bulk of IX Army surrounded. Fourthly, Holste's Corps on the defensive."<ref name="Dollinger-239"/> As the Soviet forces fought their way into the centre of Berlin, Adolf Hitler married ] and then committed ] with her. Their bodies were cremated close to the bunker. In accordance with ], Admiral ] became the "President of Germany" ('']'' and ] became the new ] ('']'').

At abour 03:00 on ], Krebs talked to Soviet General ]. Krebs returned empty handed after refusing to agree to an unconditional surrender. In the afternoon, Goebbels and his wife killed their children. At about 20:00, under orders from Goebells, an SS guard shot Goebbels and his wife. At 21:00, Borman, the rest of the entourage, and several guards tried to break out from the Reich Chancellery (a few chose suicide as an alternative). For a brief period after Hitler's suicide, Goebbels was Germany's ''Reichskanzler''. After Goebbels' own suicide, ''Reichspräsident'' Admiral Karl Dönitz appointed ] as ''Reichskanzler''. The headquarters of the Dönitz government were located around ], along with Mürwik, near the Danish border. Accordingly, the Dönitz administration was referred to as the ].

] (left) among captured German generals on ], 1945]]

On ], General Weidling, the commander of the Berlin Defence Area, contacted General ] at 8:23 am. Chuikov asked: "You are the commander of the Berlin garrison?" Weidling replied: "Yes, I am the commander of the LVIIth Tank Corps." Chuikov then asked: "Where is Krebs?" Weidling replied: "I saw him yesterday in the Reichs Chancellery." Weidling then added: "I thought he would commit suicide."<ref name="Dollinger-239"/> In the discussions which followed, Weidling agreed to an unconditional surrender of the city of Berlin. He agreed to order the city's defenders to surrender to the Soviets. Per Chuikov's and Soviet General ]'s direction, Weidling put his order to surrender in writing. But, despite this order, heavy fighting continued as a large number of the Germans did not wish to surrender or still believed it was possible to break out.

On ], as a result of the German nation's unconditional surrender, the last German troops in Berlin finally surrendered. This included Mohnke, commander of the Reich Chancellery's defence.

===Battle of Halbe===
''Main article: ]''

To the south of Berlin, during the battle of Berlin and for a number of days afterwards, the German ] fought a desperate action to break out of the pocket which they were in so that they could link up with the German ] and then to cross the river Elbe and surrender to the Americans.

About 25,000 German soldiers and several thousand civilians succeeded in breaking out of the Halbe pocket. The casualties on both sides were very high. There are about 30,000 Germans buried in the cemetery at Halbe. About 20,000 soldiers of the Red Army also died trying to stop the breakout; most are buried at a cemetery next to the Mark-Zossen road. These are the known dead, but the remains of more who died in the battle are found every year so the total of those who died will never be known. Nobody knows how many civilians died but it could have been as high as 10,000.<ref name="beevor_dead">Beevor, ] p. 337</ref>

==Conclusion==
] flown at the Brandenburg Gate after the battle]]
] after its capture]]

The battle ended after a week of heavy fighting because the Germans ran out of men and supplies. The German supply dumps were located outside the outer defence line (the Inner Ring) and were captured quite early in the battle by the Soviets. In the battle for the city the Soviets lost about 2,000 armoured vehicles, in good part due to the effective shoulder-firing ] known as the ], mass numbers of which were supplied to German civilians, though countermeasures such as armor and wire skirts were being deployed. The Germans had only a few tanks.


The Red Army made a major effort to feed the residents of the city.<ref>Beevor ] p.409 </ref> However in many areas of the city, vengeful Soviet troops (usually rear echelon units<ref>Beevor ] Preface xxxv, pp. 326-327</ref>) looted, raped an estimated 100,000 women and murdered civilians for several weeks (see under ] and ]).<ref name=ABrape>Beevor, Antony; ], ], 2002</ref> After the summer of 1945 Soviet soldiers caught raping were usually punished to various degrees.<ref>Norman M. Naimark. ''The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945-1949.'' Cambridge: Belknap, 1995 p. 92 ISBN 0-674-78405-7</ref> The rapes continued however until the winter of 1947-48, when the problem was finally solved by the Russian occupation authorities by confining the Soviet troops to strictly guarded posts and camps.“<ref>Naimark. ''The Russians in Germany'', p. 79</ref>

The Soviets sustained 20,000–25,000 dead in the city and 81,000 for the entire operation, which included the Battles of Seelow Heights and the Halbe. Another 280,000 were reported wounded or sick during the operational period. The Germans sustained as many as 450,000 killed, wounded or missing, civilians included.

Following Hitler's wishes in ], on his death Admiral ] became the new '']'' and ] the new '']''. However Goebbels' suicide on ], left the new head of state to orchestrate negotiations of national surrender on his own. The German high command and most German armed forces surrendered unconditionally to the ] on ] ], which became known as ]. Although a few German units kept fighting a few days longer, ], and with it went the ].

==See also==
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]

==References==
* ]. ''Berlin: The Downfall 1945'', Penguin Books, 2002, ISBN 0-670-88695-5
* Dollinger, Hans. ''The Decline and Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan'', Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 67-27047
* Krivosheev, G. F. ''Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the Twentieth Century'', Greenhill Books, 1997, ISBN 1-85367-280-7
* Naimark, Norman M. ''The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945-1949'', Cambridge: Belknap, 1995, ISBN 0-674-78405-7
* Ziemke, Earl F. ''Battle For Berlin: End Of The Third Reich'', NY:Ballantine Books, London:Macdomald & Co, 1969.

==Further reading==
*Hastings, Max; ''Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945'', Macmillan, 2004, ISBN 0-333-90836-8
*; ''A Woman in Berlin: Six Weeks in the Conquered City'' Translated by Anthes Bell, ISBN 0-8050-7540-2
*Read, Anthony; ''The Fall of Berlin'', London: Pimlico, 1993. ISBN 0-7126-0695-5
*]; ''The Last Battle'', ISBN 0-684-80329-1
*Sanders, Ian J. ;
*Shepardson, Donald E.; "The Fall of Berlin and the Rise of a Myth", ''The Journal of Military History'', Vol.&nbsp;62, No.&nbsp;1. (1998), pp.&nbsp;135–153.
*Remme, Tilman; '''' ] article
* White, Osmar Alternative account of crimes against civilians

==Footnotes==
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{{World War II}}

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Revision as of 21:58, 5 April 2007

USSR saved the world by winnig this battle.