November 29, 2017

With the net tightening around Germany, on 4 February 1945 the Allied Leaders, Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt, met in Yalta, on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea, to clarify their plans for the final offensive, the occupation policy for Germany and the establishment of the United Nations and its Security Council.

A month later, in March 1945, the Germans were in retreat. The Allies were on the west bank of the Rhine, the traditional border of Germany that no foreign army had crossed in 140 years (since Napoleon in 1805). On 22-24 March, the Allies crossed the Rhine and entered enemy territory. On 30 April, Adolf Hitler committed suicide during the Battle of Berlin.

Read more about Winston Churchill’s VE Day speech.