Capitulation of Germany. act of surrender of germany

In 1945, on May 8 in Karshorst (a suburb of Berlin) at 22.43 Central European time, the final Act of unconditional surrender was signed. Nazi Germany and its armed forces. It is no coincidence that this act is called final, 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 Germany's surrender was signed. This document stipulated the possibility of continuing the war against Soviet army.

However, an unconditional condition Soviet Union there remained the demand for the unconditional surrender of Germany as a fundamental condition for the complete cessation of hostilities. Soviet leadership considered the signing of the act in Reims only an intermediate 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, the generals and personally Stalin, the representatives of the allies gathered 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 German Unconditional Surrender Act is called final.

The solemn signing ceremony of the act was organized in the building of the Berlin Military Engineering School and was chaired by Marshal Zhukov. Under the final Act of unconditional surrender of Germany and its armed forces are the signatures of Field Marshal W. Keitel, Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy Admiral von Friedeburg, Colonel General of Aviation G. Stumpf. On the part of the Allies, the Act was signed by G.K. Zhukov and British Marshal A. Tedder.

After the signing of the Act German government was disbanded, and the defeated German troops completely laid down. Between May 9 and 17, Soviet troops captured about 1.5 million people. 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 Germany's unconditional surrender was announced when it was already May 9, 1945 in Moscow. Decree of the Presidium Supreme Council USSR in commemoration of the victorious end of the Great Patriotic War Soviet people against Nazi German invaders May 9 was declared Victory Day.

May 8, 1945. Germany's surrender signed in Berlin

The price of the storming of Berlin and the chronicle of the unconditional surrender of Germany

In the spring of 1945, the defeat of Germany was already quite obvious. In April, Soviet troops approached the outskirts of Berlin. But the Germans continued their desperate resistance, not so much hoping for the promised "miracle weapon" that would change everything at the last moment, but out of a sense of disciplinary duty (perhaps also out of fear of the revenge of the victors, whose behavior in East Prussia was used by German propaganda).

On the outskirts of Berlin and in the city itself, a grouping of German troops numbering about a million people was concentrated, which included 62 divisions (including 48 infantry, 4 tank and 10 motorized), 37 separate infantry regiments and about 100 separate infantry battalions, and also a significant number artillery units and divisions. It was armed with 1,500 tanks, 10,400 guns and mortars, and 3,300 combat aircraft. Three defensive rings were created around the city, more than 400 reinforced concrete long-term firing points were built inside the city with garrisons of up to a thousand people. Berlin was internally prepared for street fighting with the distribution of anti-tank faustpatrons to the intimidated population.

In the art of war, it is customary to subject such powerful fortified areas to a prolonged siege and fire, only at the end moving on to storm the weakened garrison. Capturing Berlin with a frontal strike was possible only at the cost of huge losses. Nevertheless, the Soviet command considered it politically important to take Berlin as soon as possible, regardless of losses. I wanted to give the people a gift for the holiday, and for negotiations with the allies, I wanted to have a better territorial position.

From the Soviet side Berlin operation over 2.5 million military personnel, 6,250 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 7,500 aircraft participated. The losses during the assault turned out to be huge: 352 thousand people, including 78 thousand people killed - and this is at the very end of the war over the already actually defeated Germany ...

Every street of the city was taken at the cost of thousands of lives Soviet soldiers. During the operation, tanks were widely used, which in the city became a convenient clumsy target for anti-tank weapons: in two weeks of fighting, the Red Army lost a third of the tanks and self-propelled guns participating in the Berlin operation, which amounted to 1,997 units. 917 combat aircraft were also lost.

The chronology of the surrender of Germany was as follows.

On April 29, fighting began for the Reichstag (Imperial Parliament), which was defended by about a thousand people. After two days of attacks, the building was occupied by May 1st. At the end, Lieutenant Berest and sergeants Yegorov and Kantaria hoisted the Banner of Victory over the Reichstag. (However, it is reliably known that before them other soldiers set up red flags on the roof of the Reichstag, however, in the official Soviet historiography The banner of Victory is considered only the banner set by Berest, Yegorov and Kantaria, apparently because of their nationalities.)

On April 30, Hitler and his wife Eva Braun committed suicide in the Reich Chancellery. Their bodies were doused with gasoline and burned. According to Hitler's will, commander-in-chief naval forces Germany, Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz, who was in Flensburg in the north of the country, was appointed President of Germany.
(On May 5, the bodies of Hitler and E. Braun were found by SMERSH and identified, in particular, with the help of Hitler's dentist, who identified the Fuhrer's dentures. In February 1946, Hitler's body, along with the bodies of E. Braun and the Goebbels family, including 6 children , was buried at one of the bases of the NKVD in Magdeburg. In 1970, when the territory of this base was to be transferred to the GDR, the remains were dug up, cremated to ashes and then thrown into the Elbe. Only dentures and part of Hitler's skull with an entrance bullet were preserved. hole.They are stored in Russian archives. However, some biographers of the Fuhrer express doubts that the discovered corpse and part of the skull really belonged to Hitler: his death was confirmed only by adjutants loyal to him, who could lie; the rulers of the Third Reich often used doubles; The FSB refuses to conduct a public DNA test on a piece of Hitler's jaw. Writer Abel Basti cites declassified documents and photographs from the archives of the secret services, claiming that Hitler died in 1964 in Argentina, but this is hard to believe.)

May 1 at 3:50 to the command post of the 8th guards army chief was brought general staff ground forces Wehrmacht General of the Infantry Krebs, who declared that he was authorized to negotiate a truce. However, Stalin ordered no negotiations except for unconditional surrender. An ultimatum was delivered to the German command: if consent is not given before 10 o'clock to unconditional surrender, the Soviet troops will inflict crushing blow. Having received no answer, the Soviet troops at 10:40 opened heavy fire on the remnants of the defense in the center of Berlin. Nevertheless, even by 6 p.m., the demands for surrender by the Germans were rejected.

After that, the final assault began on the central part of the city, where the Imperial Chancellery was located. Hitler was no longer alive, but the desperate resistance of the Germans continued - after all, there was no order to lay down their arms. Only on May 2, all the premises were occupied by Soviet soldiers.

On the night of May 2, at 1:50 am, the following message was received on the radio: “We are sending our parliamentarians to the Bismarck-Strasse bridge. We stop hostilities." Later, the Deputy Minister of Propaganda, Dr. Fritsche, turned to the Soviet command for permission to speak on the radio with an appeal to German troops Berlin garrison to end resistance. By 15 o'clock the remnants of the Berlin garrison (more than 134 thousand people) surrendered. But in many other places, including France, the German troops did not lay down their arms.

On May 7 at 2:41 am in Reims, France, the first German surrender protocol was signed. On behalf of the German High Command, the document was signed by Colonel General Jodl (Chief of the Operations Department of the Supreme High Command of the Armed Forces) in the presence of General Walter Bedell Smith (on behalf of the Allied Expeditionary Forces), General Ivan Susloparov (on behalf of the Soviet Command) and General French army François Seveza as a witness.

May 8 in Berlin at 22:43 CET (May 9 at 0:43 Moscow time - hence the difference in the days of celebration) Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Command of the German Armed Forces, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, as well as representatives of the German Navy, who had the appropriate authority from Dönitz, signed the second and main Act of unconditional surrender of Germany.

In East Prussia, on Tuesday, until the last opportunity, the German troops held the mouth of the Vistula and the western part of the Frische Nerung spit ... For exemplary actions, the division commander, General von Saucken, was awarded oak leaves with swords and diamonds to Knight's cross Iron Cross.
The main forces of our army group in Courland, for many months under the command of General of the Infantry Hilpert, offered strong resistance to the superior Soviet tank and infantry formations and courageously withstood six major battles covered themselves with immortal glory. This army group rejected any premature surrender...
And so, starting from midnight, the weapons on all fronts fell silent. By order of the Grand Admiral, the Wehrmacht stopped the fight that had become meaningless. Thus ended almost six years of heroic single combat. It brought us great victories, but also heavy defeats. The German Wehrmacht finally succumbed to the overwhelming superiority of the enemy in forces. The German soldier, true to his oath, giving himself to the end to his people, accomplished something that will not be forgotten for centuries. The rear, until the last moment, supported him with all his might, while bearing the heaviest sacrifices. The unique accomplishments of the front and rear will find their final evaluation in the subsequent just judgment of history.
Even the enemy will not be able to refuse his respect for the glorious deeds and sacrifices of the German soldiers on land, on water and in the air. Therefore, every soldier can honestly and proudly let go of his weapon and, in these most difficult hours of our history, bravely and confidently turn to work for the sake of eternal life our people.
At this hour, the Wehrmacht honors the memory of its dead soldiers. The dead oblige us to unconditional loyalty, obedience and discipline in relation to the bleeding of numerous wounds to the Motherland.

Of course, there were "unique accomplishments" of the Nazi Wehrmacht, which started this war, especially in Russia ... By the time of the surrender, the Germans held a number of strongholds on the Atlantic coast of France, the northern part of Germany, the territory in Central Europe(part of Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia), bridgeheads east of Danzig on the Putziger-Nerung spit (the mouth of the Vistula) and in Courland (Latvia). The German troops in Central Europe, standing in front of the Soviet front, did not obey the order to surrender and began to retreat to the west, trying to go over to the Anglo-Americans. On May 10, the Soviet troops occupied a bridgehead on the Putziger-Nerung Spit, and on May 11 Courland was taken under control. By May 14, the pursuit of German troops retreating west in Central Europe was over. From May 9 to May 14, over 1,230,000 German soldiers and officers and 101 generals were taken prisoner by Soviet troops on all fronts.

By agreement between the governments of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain, an agreement was reached to consider the procedure in Reims preliminary. Nevertheless, in Western historiography, the signing of the surrender of the German armed forces is often associated with the procedure in Reims, and the signing of the act of surrender in Berlin is referred to as its "ratification".

Having accepted the surrender, the Soviet Union did not sign peace with Germany, that is, it remained at war with Germany. The war with Germany was officially ended after Stalin's death, under Khrushchev, on January 21, 1955, by the adoption of a corresponding decision by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The German prisoners who survived the concentration camps were able to return home. Many had to stay there longer. Only on September 17, 1955, the Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces "On Amnesty" was adopted Soviet citizens collaborating with the occupiers during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", but the application of this amnesty was so arbitrary that on June 29, 1956, the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution "On eliminating the consequences gross violations legality in relation to former prisoners of war and members of their families. " Nevertheless, even after that, many "traitors to the Motherland" remained in the camps.

Discussion: 21 comments

The Banner of Victory is considered to be established by Yegorov and Kantaria, because the previous ones did not stay there, because the Germans continued to resist. and this banner remained until the end.
Regarding the losses during the storming of Berlin: everyone knows very well that the Americans teach in all schools and impose on other countries that they won the war (it is logical, given who owns the power in the USA). imagine what would happen if they also took Berlin! because the allies were advancing with great speed, because encountered virtually no resistance. The capital, as the heart of the country, was to be taken.

Remember M.N. : "a bad citizen of the earthly fatherland is not worthy of the heavenly fatherland."

Hitler shouted about the second Stalingrad, and it really could have happened if the Headquarters had not been able to arrange a battle ON THE APPROACHES to Berlin, where the bulk of his defenders were killed. By that time, ours already knew how to fight and were not particularly in a hurry. there was a firm agreement that we would take Berlin. And this article gives a strong desire to steal the victory, downplaying its importance and accusing the Headquarters of the inability to fight ... Quite simply, but as they say, what are they rich with ...

Russian blood won the Victory in 1945, and now this people is dying out under democratic hooting.

Whenever I read articles on this site, I get the feeling that I am joining the news from Washington. Russia is dying out, losing its achievements in technology, science and education, people are simply running wild. And the authors of this site, not sparing their belly, are fighting hard with the dead - with Bolshevism.
Moreover, the angle of the struggle, apparently, was determined by the great Reagan. He argued that a country that does not recognize God is an evil empire. And even announced to the country of the Soviets crusade. Apparently the struggle continues, because, as was correctly pointed out by previous speakers, this article is simply an obvious American order. As if from perestroika Ogonyok.
According to the Russian history of the twentieth century, to the glory of dear Reagan and his Reaganomics - pli!

Whenever I read such responses, one gets the feeling that, unfortunately, many of our "patriots" do not want to know the truth about our history. This, in their opinion, is always - "American order". They clearly demonstrate that dead Bolshevism left a lot of rubbish in the minds of the Russian people. And until we realize the truth, we do not overcome the lie, Russia will continue to die out. Thank God that there is this site that cleans up the garbage, asserts the truth and thus fights for the revival of Russia.

Daria: "According to Russian history of the twentieth century, to the glory of dear Reagan and his Reaganomics - plee!"
Jew: "Remember M.N.:" a bad citizen of the earthly fatherland is not worthy of the heavenly fatherland "...

Touches this unanimity of the red patriots with the Jews. You love Judeo-Bolshevik Russia, serving the Jewish plans, and only her admirers are "good citizens" for you. It's a pity for you and it's sad to see this union of deceivers and deceived ... We love historical Russia pleasing to God and following his Plan for Russia. That's the only way to be worthy of the Fatherland both earthly and heavenly.

By the way, this year, on May 9, Israel celebrated the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Jewish state. And Soviet war veterans (Jews) have long been equated with other Israeli Zionist veterans and received the same benefits and benefits. Those. this war is recognized as having served to create the Heb. State of Israel.

Oh, lads, but they could have taken Berlin much earlier, in 1917, but only because of all the scum that is not unknown to us, our triumph was postponed for 28 years!

Mr. Nazarov stubbornly curses the Russian Victory. He himself, of course, continues, apparently, to work off the money of his CIA masters. In his fairy tales that during the period of work at the NTS, he allegedly "did not know" that this structure was financed by the CIA, normal people they don't believe.
To understand the essence of Nazarov's activities, it is enough to simply analyze WHO BENEFITS his publications and actions (or rather, imitation of them), whose mill they pour water on.
And what about Nazarov’s words about his Russianness, then ... you need to evaluate a person according to deeds, ACCORDING TO DEALS!

Here is the answer, as the answer, without red and zoological nonsense. Briefly, clearly.
"Oh, lads, but they could have taken Berlin much earlier, in 1917, but only because of all the scum that is not unknown to us, our triumph was postponed for 28 years!"

Mikhail Viktorovich, if you are familiar with the research of the historian I. Pykhalov, is it not worth making an adjustment to this too free-sounding phrase? - "Many Soviet servicemen who had the misfortune to get into German captivity and to be repatriated to their homeland in the same concentration camps, I had to sit there longer. "If we talk about this, then with the obligatory proviso that they were traitors to the Motherland, accomplices, and so on.
(Information from the book "The Great Slandered War").

I don’t know about anyone, but I have persistent the cognitive dissonance between the ever-increasing cult of victory almost seventy years ago and today's victims of the Moloch of perestroika and democracy. After the 1990s, this already unhealthy ardor of universal victory should be tempered and our eyes turned to the present day.

In this article, they either forgot, or they didn’t specifically write about the “Unthinkable” plan of the “allies”, according to the scenario of which, in June 1945, the Anglo-American-German troops were to attack the Soviet troops. Because of this, such haste the capture of Berlin. No need to make bloodthirsty tyrants out of Stalin and Zhukov .....

You write that there were about a million Germans (well-fortified for defense), against two and a half Russians, while we lost 352 thousand people, including 78 thousand people killed. Near Moscow, the Germans lost 700 thousand people. person, including 200 thousand killed.

Read "War" by V. Medinsky to separate the wheat from the chaff.
On the field of post-Soviet battle,
Where did the liberals take the front
Soros led them on a mission:
Pervert everything so that the people know!

Destroy the fortresses of heroes,
Give to diminish the number of victories,
Depicting a rogue soldier,
Multiplying Russian troubles with a lie!

But, thank God, we woke up:
He raised the Medina Russian shield:
Myths debunked? Woke up!
The truth of Victory will win!

I do not recommend sites and anyone in general to use materials from Wikipedia, because information is NOT checked there and everyone writes on this site, both specialists and delitants who consider themselves specialists. As a result, many articles in this garbage dump are an explosive mixture of lies and truth. However, in the government of the Russian Federation, for some reason, they look at it through their fingers. Many teachers from the USSR are against this site.

I totally agree with you about Wikipedia. However, you can use its information base with an appropriate correction factor in comparison with other sources, which I do. Much less reliable is the Soviet interpretation of the war, which continues to this day in the Russian Federation.

Why was it removed from history that the Kazakh KOSHKARBAEV also put the banner on the Reichstag with them

The German command orders the German troops to lay down their arms, but about the German troops there is only a mention that this can happen, so that under the command of the German command there were German and German troops, there is already something to think about.

Act of unconditional surrender of the German armed forces was signed on May 7 at 02:41 in Reims by the chief Operational Headquarters High Command German army, Colonel General Alfred Jodl. The document obliged the German military to stop resistance, surrender personnel and transfer the materiel of the armed forces to the enemy, which in fact meant Germany's withdrawal from the war. The Soviet leadership was not satisfied with such a signing, therefore, at the request of the government of the USSR and Comrade Stalin personally, on May 8 ( May 9, USSR time) the German Surrender Act was signed for the second time, but already in Berlin, and the day of the official announcement of its signing ( May 8 in Europe and America, May 9 in the USSR) began to be celebrated as Victory Day.

The act of unconditional surrender of the German armed forces, signed on May 7, 1945

The idea of Germany's unconditional surrender was first announced by President Roosevelt on January 13, 1943 at a conference in Casablanca and has since become the official position of the United Nations.

Representatives of the German command approach the table to sign the surrender in Reims on May 7, 1945

The general surrender of Germany was preceded by a series of partial surrenders of the largest formations remaining in the Third Reich:

On April 29, 1945, the act of surrender of Army Group C (in Italy) was signed in Caserta by its commander, Colonel General G. Fitingof-Scheel.

On May 2, 1945, the Berlin garrison under the command of Helmut Weidling capitulated to the Red Army.

On May 4, Admiral of the Fleet Hans-Georg Friedeburg, newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy, signed the act of surrender of all German armed forces in Holland, Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein and North-West Germany to Field Marshal B. Montgomery's 21st Army Group.

On May 5, Infantry General F. Schultz, who commanded Army Group G, operating in Bavaria and Western Austria, surrendered to the American General D. Devers.

Colonel General Alfred Jodl (center) signs the German surrender at headquarters allied forces at Reims at 02.41 local time on May 7, 1945. Sitting next to Jodl are Grand Admiral Hans Georg von Friedeburg (right) and Jodl's adjutant Major Wilhelm Oxenius.

The leadership of the USSR was dissatisfied with the signing of the surrender of Germany in Reims, which was not agreed with the USSR and relegated the country that made the greatest contribution to the Victory to the background. At Stalin's suggestion, the Allies agreed to regard the Reims procedure as a preliminary capitulation. Although a group of 17 journalists attended the surrender signing ceremony, the US and Britain agreed to delay the public announcement of the surrender so that the Soviet Union could prepare a second surrender ceremony in Berlin, which took place on 8 May.

The signing of the surrender in Reims

The Soviet representative, General Susloparov, signed the act in Reims at his own peril and risk, since by the time scheduled for signing, instructions from the Kremlin had not yet arrived. He decided to put his signature with the proviso (Article 4) that this act should not exclude the possibility of signing another act at the request of one of the allied countries. Shortly after signing the act, Susloparov received a telegram from Stalin with a categorical prohibition to sign the surrender.

After signing the surrender in the front row: Susloparov, Smith, Eisenhower, Air Marshal Royal Air Force Arthur Tedder

For his part, Stalin declared: The Treaty signed at Reims cannot be revoked, but it cannot be recognized either. Surrender must be committed as the most important historical act and accepted not on the territory of the winners, but where they came from fascist aggression, - in Berlin, and not unilaterally, but necessarily by the supreme command of all countries anti-Hitler coalition ».

The Soviet delegation before the signing of the Act of unconditional surrender of all German armed forces. Berlin. 05/08/1945 Standing on the right - Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov, standing in the center with a raised hand - General of the Army V.D. Sokolovsky.

The building of the German military engineering school in the suburbs of Berlin - Karlshorst, in which the signing ceremony of the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany was held.

Air Chief Marshal of Great Britain Sir Tedder A. and Marshal of the Soviet Union GK Zhukov are looking through documents on the terms of Germany's surrender.

Zhukov read out the act of surrender in Karlshorst. Next to Zhukov is Arthur Tedder.

On May 8, at 22:43 CET (at 00:43, May 9, Moscow time), in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, in the building of the former canteen of the military engineering school, the final Act of Germany's unconditional surrender was signed.

Keitel signing the surrender at Karlshorst

The changes in the text of the act were as follows:

In the English text, the expression Soviet High Command (Soviet High Command) has been replaced by more exact translation Soviet term: Supreme High Command of the Red Army (Supreme High Command of the Red Army)

The part of Article 2, which deals with the obligation of the Germans to hand over military equipment intact and safe, has been expanded and detailed.

An indication of the act of May 7 was withdrawn: “Only given text on the English language is authoritative” and inserted Article 6 stating: “This act is drawn up in Russian, English and German. Only Russian and English texts are authentic."

Representatives after the signing of the Act of Unconditional Surrender in Berlin-Karlshorst on May 8, 1945

By agreement between the governments of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain, an agreement was reached to consider the procedure in Reims preliminary. This is how it was interpreted in the USSR, where the significance of the act of May 7 was downplayed in every possible way, and the act itself was hushed up, while in the West it is regarded as the actual signing of the capitulation, and the act in Karlshorst as its ratification.

Dinner in honor of the Victory after the signing of the terms of the unconditional surrender of Germany. From left to right: Chief Air Marshal of Great Britain Sir Tedder A., Marshal of the Soviet Union Zhukov G.K. Commander of Strategic air force US General Spaats K. Berlin.

The surrender of the Germans on the Frisch-Nerung spit, East Prussia. German officers accept from Soviet officer conditions of surrender and the procedure for surrender. 05/09/1945

Having accepted the surrender, the Soviet Union did not sign peace with Germany, that is, formally remained in a state of war. The decree on ending the state of war was adopted by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR only on January 25, 1955.

Peace of Brest-Litovsk 3 March 1918 – peace treaty between Germany and the Soviet government for Russia's withdrawal from World War I. This world did not last long, since already on October 5, 1918 Germany terminated it, and on November 13, 1918 the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was terminated Soviet side. It happened 2 days after the surrender of Germany in the world war.

Possibility of the world

The issue of Russia's exit from the First World War was extremely relevant. The people largely supported the ideas of the revolution, since the revolutionaries promised an early exit from the country's war, which had already lasted for 3 years and was perceived extremely negatively by the population.

One of the first decrees of the Soviet government was the decree on peace. After this decree, on November 7, 1917, he appeals to all the warring countries with an appeal for the speedy conclusion of peace. Only Germany agreed. At the same time, one must understand that the idea of concluding peace with capitalist countries was in opposition to Soviet ideology which was based on the idea of world revolution. Therefore, there was no unity among the Soviet authorities. And the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918 had to be pushed through by Lenin for a very long time. The party had three main groups:

Bukharin. He put forward ideas that the war must continue at all costs. These are the positions of the classical world revolution.
Lenin. He spoke about the need to sign peace on any terms. This was the position of the Russian generals.
Trotsky. He put forward a hypothesis, which today is often formulated as “No war! No peace! It was a position of uncertainty, when Russia disbands the army, but does not withdraw from the war, does not sign a peace treaty. It was an ideal situation for Western countries.

Armistice

On November 20, 1917, negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk on world to come. Germany offered to sign an agreement on following conditions: separation from Russia of the territory of Poland, the Baltic states and part of the islands Baltic Sea. In total, it was assumed that Russia would lose up to 160 thousand square kilometers of territory. Lenin was ready to accept these conditions, since Soviet power there was no army, but generals Russian Empire they unanimously said that the war was lost and peace should be concluded as soon as possible.

The negotiations were led by Trotsky People's Commissar on foreign affairs. Noteworthy is the fact that secret telegrams between Trotsky and Lenin were preserved during the negotiations. On almost any serious military question, Lenin answered that Stalin should be consulted. The reason here is not the genius of Joseph Vissarionovich, but the fact that Stalin acted as an intermediary between tsarist army and Lenin.

Trotsky during the negotiations in every possible way dragged out time. He talked about the fact that a revolution was about to happen in Germany, so you just need to wait. But even if this revolution does not happen, Germany does not have the strength for a new offensive. Therefore, he was playing for time, waiting for the support of the party.
During the negotiations, an armistice was concluded between the countries for the period from December 10, 1917 to January 7, 1918.

Why did Trotsky play for time?

Taking into account the fact that from the first days of the negotiations, Lenin took the position of unambiguously signing a peace treaty, Troitsky’s support for this idea meant the signing of the Brest Peace and the end of the saga of the First World War for Russia. But Leiba did not do this, why? Historians give 2 explanations for this:

He was waiting for the German revolution, which was to begin very soon. If this is true, then Lev Davydovich was an extremely short-sighted person, waiting revolutionary events in a country where the power of the monarchy was strong enough. The revolution eventually happened, but much later than the time when the Bolsheviks expected it.
He represented the position of England, the USA and France. The fact is that with the beginning of the revolution in Russia, Trotsky came to the country precisely from the USA with large amount of money. At the same time, Trotsky was not an entrepreneur, he did not have an inheritance, but he had large sums of money, the origin of which he never specified. Western countries it was extremely beneficial for Russia to delay negotiations with Germany as long as possible, so that the latter would leave her troops for eastern front. This is a little more than 130 divisions, the transfer of which to western front could prolong the war.

The second hypothesis may at first glance smack of conspiracy theory, but it is not without meaning. In general, if we consider the activities of Leiba Davydovich in Soviet Russia, then almost all of his steps are connected with the interests of England and the United States.

Crisis in negotiations

On January 8, 1918, as was due to the armistice, the parties again sat down at the negotiating table. But literally right there, these negotiations were canceled by Trotsky. He referred to the fact that he urgently needed to return to Petrograd for consultations. Arriving in Russia, he raised the question of whether to conclude the Brest peace in the party. Lenin opposed him, who insisted on signing peace as soon as possible, but Lenin lost 9 votes to 7. This was facilitated by the revolutionary movements that began in Germany.

On January 27, 1918, Germany made a move that few expected. She signed peace with Ukraine. It was a deliberate attempt to play off Russia and Ukraine. But the Soviet government continued to stick to its line. On this day, a decree was signed on the demobilization of the army

We are withdrawing from the war, but we are forced to refuse to sign a peace treaty.
Trotsky

Of course, this caused her a shock from the German side, which could not understand how to stop fighting and not sign peace.

On February 11, at 17:00, a telegram from Krylenko was sent to all headquarters of the fronts, stating that the war was over and that they had to return home. The troops began to retreat, exposing the front line. At the same time, the German command brought Trotsky's words to Wilhelm 2, and the Kaiser supported the idea of an offensive.

On February 17, Lenin again makes an attempt to persuade party members to sign a peace treaty with Germany. Again, his position is in the minority, since opponents of the idea of signing peace convinced everyone that if Germany did not go on the offensive in 1.5 months, then it would not go on the offensive any further. But they were very wrong.

Agreement signing

On February 18, 1918, Germany launched a large-scale offensive in all sectors of the front. Russian army was already partially demobilized and the Germans were quietly moving forward. arose real threat complete seizure of Russian territory by Germany and Austria-Hungary. The only thing that the Red Army was able to do was to give a small battle on February 23 and slightly slow down the enemy’s advance. Moreover, the battle was given by officers who changed into soldier's overcoat. But it was one center of resistance, which could not solve anything.

Lenin, under the threat of resignation, pushed through the decision to sign a peace treaty with Germany in the party. As a result, negotiations began, which ended very quickly. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed on March 3, 1918 at 17:50.

March 14 4th All-Russian Congress councils ratified peace of Brest contract. In protest, the Left SRs withdrew from the government.

The terms of the Brest Peace were as follows:

Complete separation from Russia of the territory of Poland and Lithuania.
Partial separation from Russia of the territory of Latvia, Belarus and Transcaucasia.
Russia completely withdrew its troops from the Baltic states and Finland. Let me remind you that Finland had already been lost before.
The independence of Ukraine was recognized, which passed under the protectorate of Germany.
Russia ceded eastern Anatolia, Kars and Ardagan to Turkey.
Russia paid Germany an indemnity of 6 billion marks, which was equal to 3 billion gold rubles.

Under the terms of the Brest Peace, Russia lost an area of 789,000 square kilometers (compare with initial conditions). 56 million people lived in this territory, which accounted for 1/3 of the population of the Russian Empire. Such big losses became possible only because of the position of Trotsky, who at first played for time, and then brazenly provoked the enemy.

The fate of the Brest peace

It is noteworthy that after the signing of the agreement, Lenin never used the word "treaty" or "peace", but replaced them with the word "respite". And it really was so, because the world did not last long. Already on October 5, 1918, Germany terminated the treaty. The Soviet government terminated it on November 13, 1918, 2 days after the end of the First World War. In other words, the government waited for the defeat of Germany, made sure that this defeat was irrevocable and calmly canceled the treaty.

Why was Lenin so afraid to use the word "Brest Peace"? The answer to this question is quite simple. After all, the idea of concluding a peace treaty with the capitalist countries was in opposition to the theory socialist revolution. Therefore, the recognition of the conclusion of peace could be used by Lenin's opponents to eliminate him. And here Vladimir Ilyich showed a rather high degree of flexibility. He made peace with Germany, but in the party he used the word respite. It was precisely because of this word that the decision of the congress on the ratification of the peace treaty was not published. After all, the publication of these documents using Lenin's wording could be met negatively. Germany made peace, but she did not conclude any respite. Peace puts an end to the war, and a respite implies its continuation. Therefore, Lenin acted wisely not to publish the decision of the 4th Congress on the ratification of the Brest-Litovsk agreements.

TASS-DOSIER /Alexey Isaev/. May 8, 1945 in Karlshorst (a suburb of Berlin) was signed the Act of unconditional surrender of the German armed forces.

The document signed in Reims at the level of the chiefs of staff was initially of a preliminary nature. Supreme Commander General Eisenhower did not put his signature on the Allied Joint Expeditionary Force. Moreover, he agreed to go on May 8 for a "more official" ceremony in Berlin. However, political pressure was put on Eisenhower, both from Winston Churchill and from US political circles, and he was forced to cancel his trip to Berlin.

By order from Moscow, the representative of the Supreme High Command Soviet troops Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, was appointed to sign the Act. On the morning of May 8, Andrei Vyshinsky arrived from Moscow as a political adviser. Zhukov chose the headquarters of the 5th shock army. It was located in the building of the former military engineering school in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst. The hall of the officer's canteen was prepared for the ceremony, the furniture was brought from the building of the Reich Chancellery.

In a short time, Soviet engineering units prepared the road from Tempelhof Airport to Karlshorst, the remains of enemy fortifications and barricades were blown up, and the rubble was cleared. On the morning of May 8, journalists, correspondents from all the major newspapers and magazines in the world, photojournalists began to arrive in Berlin to capture historical moment legal registration defeat of the Third Reich.

At 14.00, representatives of the High Command of the Allied Forces arrived at the Tempelhof airfield. They were met by Deputy General of the Army Sokolovsky, the first commandant of Berlin, Colonel General Berzarin (commander of the 5th Shock Army), and a member of the Military Council of the Army, Lieutenant General Bokov.

The Supreme Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces was represented by Eisenhower's Deputy Air Chief Marshal Tedder of Great Britain, the US Armed Forces - by the Commander of the Strategic Air Forces, General Spaats, the French Armed Forces - by the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, General de Lattre de Tassigny. From Flensburg, under the protection of British officers, were delivered to Berlin former boss Headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Wehrmacht, Field Marshal Keitel, Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine Admiral von Friedeburg and Colonel General of Aviation Stumpf, who had the authority to sign the Act of unconditional surrender from the government of K. Doenitz. The last to arrive was the French delegation.

Exactly at midnight Moscow time, as agreed in advance, the ceremony participants entered the hall. Georgy Zhukov opened the meeting with the words: "We, representatives of the Supreme Command of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Supreme Command of the Allied Forces, are authorized by the governments of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition to accept the unconditional surrender of Germany from the German military command."

Then Zhukov invited representatives of the German command into the hall. They were asked to sit at a separate table.

After confirming that the representatives of the German side had authority from the government, Denitz, Zhukov and Tedder asked if they had the Act of Surrender in their hands, if they got acquainted with it and whether they agreed to sign it. Keitel agreed and prepared to sign the documents at his desk. However, Vyshinsky, as an expert on diplomatic protocol, whispered a few words to Zhukov, and the marshal said loudly: "Not there, but here. I suggest that the representatives of the German High Command come here and sign the Act of Unconditional Surrender here." Keitel was forced to go to a special table set next to the table where the allies were sitting.

Keitel put his signature on all copies of the Act (there were nine of them). Following him, Admiral Friedeburg and Colonel-General Stumpf did it.

After that, Zhukov and Tedder signed, followed by General Spaats and General de Lattre de Tassigny as witnesses. At 0 hours 43 minutes on May 9, 1945, the signing of the Act of unconditional surrender of Germany was completed. Zhukov invited the German delegation to leave the hall.

The act consisted of six points: "1. We, the undersigned, acting on behalf of the German High Command, agree to the unconditional surrender of all our armed forces on land, at sea and in the 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 Supreme Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.

2. The German High Command will immediately issue orders to all German commanders of the land, sea and air forces and all forces under German command to cease hostilities at 23.01 hours CET on May 8, 1945, to remain in their places where they are at that time, and disarm completely, handing over all their weapons and military equipment to local Allied commanders or officers assigned by representatives of the Allied High Command, not to destroy or cause any damage to steamships, ships and aircraft, their engines, hulls and equipment, and machines , weapons, apparatuses and all military-technical means of warfare in general.

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

4. This act shall not prevent 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 fail to act in accordance with this act of surrender, the High Command of the Red Army, as well as the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Force, will take such punitive measures, or other actions they deem necessary.

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

The differences from the Instrument of Surrender signed at Reims were minor in form but significant in content. So, instead of the Soviet High Command (Soviet High Command), the name Supreme High Command of the Red Army (Supreme High Command of the Red Army) was used. Security Clause military equipment has been expanded and supplemented. The language issue was discussed as a separate item. The item on the possibility of signing another document remained unchanged.

The most terrible war in the history of mankind ended with the victory of the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition. Now the Russian-German Museum of Capitulation operates in Karlshorst.