- In Europe, the axis is gradually weakening in the face of offensives from the West (on the French front), the East (on the Soviet front) and the South (after the fall of the Italian regime of Mussolini) .
- The Führer, sensing defeat coming for several months, ended up committing suicide on April 30, 1945, leaving it to his successor to take care of the Reich. But the outcome of the war is already established, German cities are bombed. From then on, Admiral Donitz, his successor, had no choice but to negotiate with the Allies.
May 8, 1945
Characters
Adolf Hitler
Karl Dönitz
Joseph Stalin
Dwight Eisenhower
Procedure
It was therefore on the initiative of Admiral Donitz that the Germans sought to put an end to the war. The surrender of the German army was signed on May 7, 1945 in Reims. Nevertheless, Stalin insisted that the capitulation should also be signed in Berlin, a city controlled by the USSR and capital of Germany. It was therefore on the night of May 8 to 9 that the capitulation was signed by German Marshal Keitel and Admiral Von Freiburg.
On May 8, 1945, massacres also took place in French Algeria, in the cities of Sétif and Guelma, anti-nationalist repressions by the French security forces following riots.
Consequences
- The war in Europe ends with the victory of the Allies and the destruction of the Reich.
- It should be noted that the German capitulation does not imply the end of the war since Japan does not capitulate until September 2, 1945.
- As for Algeria, these events will forge a collective memory and will be, for some, the catalyst for the war that will take place ten years later.