World War II: Difference between revisions
→On to Berlin
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====On to Berlin==== | ====On to Berlin==== | ||
In January of 1945, the USSR began the Vistula-Oder offensive. Soviet forces broke out of bridgeheads around Warsaw, the Polish capital, encircling and capturing the city. By sheer force of numbers as well as a crude adaptation of Germany's blitzkrieg tactics, the Soviet forces outpaced their supply columns and overwhelmed Army Group Vistula, the main German military force in the Eastern Theater of Operations. | In January of 1945, the USSR began the Vistula-Oder offensive. Soviet forces broke out of bridgeheads around Warsaw, the Polish capital, encircling and capturing the city. The Red Army's pre-assault artillery barrage smashed Germany's frontline positions because Hitler refused to allow his troops to withdraw back of the line in order to avoid the Red Army's artillery. By sheer force of numbers as well as a crude adaptation of Germany's blitzkrieg tactics, the Soviet forces outpaced their supply columns and overwhelmed Army Group Vistula, the main German military force in the Eastern Theater of Operations. Army Group Vistula's ragged remnants limped back to the last natural barrier between six million Soviet soldiers and Berlin, the Oder River. Weeks later, the Red Army opened their final assault on Berlin. Hitler did not repeat his earlier mistake, and the depth of the German positions halted the Russian offensive for nearly a week. Thousands of soldiers died on the banks of the Oder as the Red Army furiously attempted to smash down all German resistance. With force of numbers the Red Army managed to crush the German line and then drove quickly for Berlin. After three weeks of heavy street-to-street fighting, culminating in Hitler's suicide, Red Army troops captured Berlin. Organized German resistance fell apart, with Russian and American troops meeting in tears on the Elbe River in central Germany by the 25th of April. Many of the top-ranking Nazis killed themselves rather than face retribution. The European war ended on May 7th, 1945, with the unconditional surrender of the German provisional government at Flensburg by Großadmiral Karl Donitz. | ||
== The Holocaust and other Nazi Crimes == | == The Holocaust and other Nazi Crimes == | ||