Download The End of World War Two The final battles of the European theatre

The End of World War Two
The final battles of the European theatre of World War II, as well as the German surrender
to the Allies, took place in late April and early May 1945.
On April 25, 1945, the last
Germans were expelled from
Finland and were forced to
retreat into Norway. On April
27, 1945, as Allied forces
closed in on Milan, Italian
dictator Benito Mussolini was
captured by Italian partisans
while attempting to flee from
Italy to Switzerland with a
German anti-aircraft battalion.
Mussolini was killed the
following day by firing squad.
Mussolini's body was taken to
Milan and hung upside down
for public display in one of the
main squares of the city.
By April 30, 1945, deep in his
underground bunker, with the
Battle of Berlin raging above him, the German dictator Adolf Hitler realized that all was
lost. Not wishing to suffer Mussolini's fate, he committed suicide along with Eva Braun, his
mistress and new bride, whom he had married less than 40 hours before. Before his death,
Hitler had appointed as his successors Admiral Karl Dönitz as the new President of
Germany, and Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels as the new Chancellor of Germany.
However, Goebbels committed suicide on May 1, 1945, leaving Dönitz as sole leader of
Germany.
SS General Karl Wolff, after prolonged unauthorized secret negotiations with the western
Allies (Operation Sunrise), which the Soviets viewed as an attempt to reach a separate
peace, ordered all German armed forces in Italy to cease hostilities, and surrendered
unconditionally to the Allies on May 2. Meanwhile, the Battle of Berlin was ending and
German forces in Berlin surrendered unconditionally to the Soviet army. On the same day
the officers commanding the two armies of Army Group Vistula north of Berlin, General
Kurt von Tippelskirch, commander of the German 21st Army and General Hasso von
Manteuffel, commander of Third Panzer Army, surrendered to the western Allies. German
forces in northwest Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands also surrendered.
As required by the Allies in order to cease hostilities, the Nazi military leadership
surrendered unconditionally. The alternative, as
Eisenhower threatened, was close western lines to
German soldiers, thus forcing them to surrender to
the Soviets, something the Nazis wanted to avoid
since they could expect brutal treatment from the
Soviets as retribution for the terrible Nazi
treatment of the Soviets early in the war.
News of the German unconditional surrender
broke in the West on May 8, 1945, and
celebrations erupted throughout Europe. In the
U.S., Americans awoke to the news and declared
May 8 V-E Day (Victory-Europe Day).
The End of the War in the Pacific
The end of World War II in Asia came on August 14-15, 1945, when the Japanese
surrendered to the United Nations. The surrender came just over three months after the
surrender of the Axis forces in Europe.
The Occupation of Japan
At the end of World War II, Japan was occupied by the Allied Powers, led by the United
States with contributions also from Australia, India, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
This foreign presence marked the first time in its history that the island nation had been
occupied by a foreign power. The San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8,
1951, marked the end of the Allied occupation, and after it came into force on April 28,
1952, Japan was once again an independent country.
International Military Tribunal for the Far East
During the occupation, leading Japanese war criminals were tried at the International
Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal). The tribunal was convened
on April 29, 1946, to try the leaders of the Empire of Japan for three types of crimes: "Class
A" crimes were reserved for those who participated in a joint conspiracy to start and wage
war, and were brought against those in the highest decision-making bodies; "Class B"
crimes were reserved for those who committed "conventional" atrocities or crimes against
humanity; and "Class C" crimes were reserved for those in "the planning, ordering,
authorization, or failure to prevent such transgressions at higher levels in the command
structure. "
The Japanese Emperor Hirohito, and all members of the imperial family, such as Prince
Asaka, were not prosecuted for involvement in any of the three categories of crimes. As
many as 50 suspects were charged but released without ever being brought to trial in 1947
and 1948.The lone dissenting judge to exonerate all indictees was Indian jurist Radhabinod
Pal. The tribunal was adjourned on November 12, 1948.
The end of World War II brought a period of unprecedented U.S. economic growth and
political influence, but also Cold War rivalry with its new former ally (and new nemesis)
the Soviet Union, as well as the threat of nuclear war.
Source: Boundless. “The End of the War.” Boundless U.S. History. Boundless, 20 May. 2015.
Retrieved 20 May. 2015