Defeat
Allied forces established a bridgehead on the Rhine in March 1945, the Battle of Berlin began on 16 April. A planned last defense from the Alpenfestung ("Alpine Fortress") never happened. Hitler's demolitions on Reich Territory order was largely ignored. He shot himself and ordered his assistant to burn his body, he also appointed Karl Dönitz as his successor. Berlin surrendered on the night of May 2–3, the German Instrument of Surrender was signed on May 7. The members of the provisional government were arrested on May 23 and subsequently found guilty of war crimes at Nuremberg.
Read more about this topic: Military History Of Germany During World War II
Famous quotes containing the word defeat:
“The rule for every man is, not to depend on the education which other men have prepared for him,—not even to consent to it; but to strive to see things as they are, and to be himself as he is. Defeat lies in self-surrender.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“We attack not only to hurt someone, to defeat him, but perhaps also simply to become conscious of our own strength.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Victory has a hundred fathers but defeat is an orphan.”
—Galeazzo Ciano (1903–1944)