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War report on the convergence of U.S. and Soviet forces on the Elbe

War report on the convergence of U.S. and Soviet forces on the Elbe

On April 25, 1945, American and Soviet troops met up for the first time at Leckwitz on the Elbe River, less than 100 miles south of Berlin. The Allied troops, made up of patrols from the U.S. 273rd Infantry Regiment and advance Soviet troops, joyously shook hands in celebration of the success of their respective offensives against Nazi Germany. With Germany just a few weeks away from collapse, the Americans were driving into the southern part of Germany, hoping to prevent a last stand by the German army in a fortified region of the Alps. The Soviets, meanwhile, were besieging the German capital of Berlin while pushing toward the Elbe River, the boundary of the postwar occupation zone agreed to at the Allied conference at Yalta in February.On the day that the U.S. and Red Army troops met on the Elbe, the two main Soviet armies, totaling some two million soldiers, converged around Berlin, completely encircling the city. On April 30, with Soviet troops in Berlin a few blocks from his bunker under the German Chancellery, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler committed suicide. The next day, more Nazi leaders followed him, and on May 2 resistance against the Soviets ended in Berlin. Meanwhile, the Americans liberated Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia, and on May 7 Germany signed its unconditional surrender, ending six years of death and devastation in Europe. The next day, millions of people across Europe and the world celebrated V-E Day.

US History | January 3, 2006Watch more videos from US History

Tags:. .celebration. .celebrated. .forces. .millions. .hands

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