Encirclement of Berlin in the Battle of Berlin

The Battle for Berlin marked the end of World War Two in Europe. It was of vital importance in the European sector. It was fought between April and May of 1945, and the Russian victory saw the end of Hitler's Third Reich and the occupation of the city by the Red Army before it was divided into four as a result of the wartime meetings between the Allies. The Battle of Berlin was part of a Hitler´s plan called Operation Overlord that was the code name given to the Allied invasion of France programmed for June 1944.

Did Russia use any strategy to defeat Germany? Before the main battle in Berlin commenced, the Soviets managed to encircle the city as a result of their success in the battles of the Seelow Heights and Halbe. During 20 April 1945, the 1st Belorussian Front led by Marshal Georgy Zhukov started shooting Berlin's city centre, while Marshal Ivan Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front had pushed from the south through the last formations of Army Group Centre. The German defenses were mainly led by Helmuth Weidling and consisted of several badly equipped and disorganized Wehrmacht so they were easy prey for the Russians.

On 22 April, at an afternoon situation conference, Hitler fell into a tearful rage when he realized that his plans of the day before were not going to be realized. He declared that the war was lost; he blamed the generals and announced that he would stay on in Berlin until the end and then kill himself. On 23 April, the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front and 1st Ukrainian Front continued to tighten the encirclement, and severed the last link between the German IX Army and the city. Elements of the 1st Ukrainian Front continued to move westward and started to engage the German XII Army moving towards Berlin. On April 24, elements of Zhukov and Konev's fronts met west of Berlin completing the encirclement of the city.

In the meantime, resistant columns of the second Belorussian Front had been circling around the city to the north, while counterparts in the first Ukrainian Front were moving up along the west side of the city to meet them. Zhukov and Konev’s tanks finally associated up on April 25, finishing the encirclement of the city.

The Battle of Berlin was known to the Soviets as the “Berlin Offensive Operation.” Two Soviet groups attacked Berlin from the east and south and a third took over German forces from the north. According to General Weidling: “Catastrophe was inevitable, if the Fuhrer did not reverse his decision to defend Berlin to the last man, sacrificing all who were left alive in the city for the sake of a crazy ideal. The struggle was devoid of all sense of purpose.”

Made by Paula Arciniega and Valeria Pretell