The Battle of Berlin it was the last confrontation on the European war scene, at the end of the Second World War. In that battle, millions of Soviet soldiers carried out the attack on the city, completely destroying it. With the conquest of Berlin, Hitler committed suicide and Nazi Germany surrendered in early May 1945.
Background
In April 1945, Germany was a nation collapsing from the war effort promoted since 1939. The Soviets were getting closer and closer to Berlin, and as they approached , the rhetoric of revenge against the Germans increased. German resistance against the Soviet offensive was disorganized and desperate.
However, the Germans were not always in this situation. The Second World War began with the German attack on Poland, in September 1939. The conquest of Poland inaugurated a victorious period for Germany in the war, as there was the conquest, in sequence, of numerous countries, such as Denmark, Norway , Netherlands, Belgium and France.
The key moment of the conflict came in June 1941, when the Germans began their invasion of the Soviet Union. Despite initial advances, they were barred at the gates of Moscow and suffered a heavy defeat in Stalingrad . Defeats on Soviet territory weakened the German economy, which could no longer withstand the war effort.
Between 1942 and 1943, the recovery of the Soviets began, having in Kursk a main point. In addition, the German weakening became noticeable with the defeat in North Africa, which led the Allies to land in Italy in 1943. From 1944, the Germans suffered attacks in several positions:
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France :the Allies opened a new front against the Germans from the Normandy landings.
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Italy :The Allies had been putting pressure on the Germans for Italy since 1943, but with very slow progress.
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Poland :the Soviets launched a major offensive on Poland with the aim of expelling the Germans from the country and retaking the capital Warsaw.
In 1945, the downfall of the Germans was evident in the defeats suffered in the Ardennes and Budapest. With that, the Germans prepare for the worst:the Soviet attack on Berlin.
Attack on Berlin
The siege against the city of Berlin was carried out in April 1945, with the mobilization of a contingent exceeding 2.5 million soldiers , supported by thousands of tanks, guns and planes|1| . Much of the war strategy in the attack on Berlin was carried out by Stalin himself, but the commanders Konev also played an important role in it. and Zhukov .
The conquest of Berlin was set as a priority target by Stalin, who wanted to conquer the city before the British and Americans. The Soviet leader's obsession with Berlin can be seen as a personal revenge after all the destruction promoted by the Germans in the Soviet Union, but, in addition, the conquest of this city was important for the Soviets to gain access to the secret information of the scientific studies promoted by the Soviets. Germans in the development of nuclear weapons.
The German population expressed despair in the face of the imminent threat from the Soviets, so thousands of people desperately tried to flee the city by train. Those who remained stocked up on food and water, as far as possible, and took refuge in the basements to protect themselves from Soviet bombing. The German defense had thousands of young people aged between 13 and 18 and seniors over 60.
On the 16th of April, the Soviets began the attack on Germany's defensive positions at Seelow , near Berlin. Commander Zhukov authorized heavy bombardment on the Germans, and thus more than 1,200,000 bombs were dropped by Soviet guns|2| . The attack on the German defenses at Seelow cost the Soviets the death of 30,000 soldiers and was completed only on the 21st of April|3| .
When the city was officially invaded on the 25th, the fight for Berlin was fought street by street and with the Soviets making small advances over the course of a week. A few days before the Soviet invasion was consolidated, numerous German leaders fled the city while there were open routes. It was suggested to Hitler that he too flee to Bavaria, but the German leader refused to leave Berlin.
With the Soviets conquering the German capital, a frenzy of attacks against the local population began, with mass looting and rapes taking place. Antony Beevor claims that the demonstrations of violence by the Soviets in Berlin were less than those demonstrated in other places, however, still, it is estimated that up to 130,000 women may have been raped by Soviet soldiers, many of whom were repeatedly raped|4| .
Adolf Hitler spent his final days in his underground shelter, located about 360 meters from the German parliament. Hitler and his wife, Eva Hitler – also known as Eva Braun – committed suicide when the Soviets conquered parliament on April 30, 1945. Regarding the Nazi leader's suicide, Antony Beevor reported the following:
Finally, Hitler withdrew to his living room with his wife, who had been happy at lunch even though she knew exactly what was going to happen. No one heard the gunshot, but shortly after 3:15 pm Linge, his valet, came in followed by others. Hitler had shot himself in the head and Eva Hitler had taken the hydrocyanic acid. Their bodies were wrapped in gray Wehrmacht blankets and taken to the Reich Chancellery Garden, where they were incinerated with gasoline at Hitler's wish|5| .
With the death of Hitler, power in Germany was assumed by Karl Dönitz , who agreed to accept the terms of unconditional surrender on May 2, 1945 . As a result, Germany was occupied and divided by the Allies into zones of influence. In addition, the Allies organized the trials of those responsible, on the German side, for crimes against humanity during the war.
|1| HASTINGS, Max. Hell:the world at war 1939-1945. Rio de Janeiro:Intrinsic, 2012, p. 643.
|2| BEEVOR, Antony. The Second World War. Rio de Janeiro:Record. 2015, p. 817.
|3| HASTINGS, Max. Hell:the world at war 1939-1945. Rio de Janeiro:Intrinsic, 2012, p. 645.
|4| BEEVOR, Antony. The Second World War. Rio de Janeiro:Record. 2015, p. 817.
|5| Ditto, p. 834-835.
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