Berlin garrison surrenders to Soviet forces

The Soviet offensive against German forces in Belarus liberated occupied territory and destroyed much of Germany’s Army Group Centre. Belarusian civilians endured occupation, mass murder, village...

The Red Army launched an offensive that drove German forces west and brought Soviet troops into central Europe. It advanced the defeat of Nazi Germany while extending Soviet military and political...

Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill met to negotiate postwar arrangements, the occupation of Germany, and the United Nations. Decisions about Poland and Eastern Europe exposed tensions between...

Soviet forces launched their final major offensive against Nazi Germany’s capital. The operation caused heavy military and civilian casualties and brought Soviet occupation power into the center of...

The meeting of Soviet and American forces symbolized the collapse of Nazi Germany’s remaining front. The event represented military cooperation while foreshadowing disputes over occupation, borders,...

The final German instrument of surrender was signed in Berlin late on May 8, which was already May 9 in Moscow. Victory was celebrated across the USSR, commemorating enormous losses while the state...

The USSR joined the founding states of the new international organization. Its participation reflected wartime alliance diplomacy and expanded global status, while its domestic system remained...

The Allied leaders discussed postwar Germany, borders, reparations, and the war against Japan. The conference exposed deepening disagreements over the political order in Europe and the exercise of...

The Soviet government announced that it would enter the war against Japan on August 9, citing the Allied declaration and wartime commitments. The move reshaped the final campaign in Northeast Asia and...

Soviet and Mongolian troops launched a major offensive into Japanese-occupied Manchuria. The campaign ended Japanese control in the region and created new geopolitical realities for Chinese, Korean,...