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The German Instrument of Surrender, 1945 refers to the legal instrument of World War II in which the High Command of the German Armed Forces surrendered simultaneously to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force and to the Soviet High command.
First Act
The first Instrument of Surrender was signed at Rheims, France, at 02:41 hours on 7 May 1945.
The unconditional surrender was signed by Generaloberst Alfred Jodl, on behalf of the High Command (German acronym OKW) and as the representative for the new Reich President, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz.
This Instrument of Surrender covered surrender of all military forces on land, at sea, and in the air who were at that point of time under the control of the-then German High Command. Pursuant to this Instrument of Surrender, the German High Command issued orders to all forces under its command to cease active operations at exactly 23:01 hours Central European Time of 8th May 1945. Thus, this Instrument of Surrender legalized unconditional surrender of all armed forces under German control, officially ending combat in Europe.
Second Act
The Soviet Union's only representative in Reims was General Ivan Susloparov, the Military Liaison Mission Commander. General Susloparov's scope of authority was not entirely clear, and he had no means of immediate contact with Kremlin, but nevertheless decided to risk signing for the Soviet side. However, he noted that it could be replaced with a new version in the future. Stalin was indeed displeased by these events. He believed that the German surrender should have been accepted only by the envoy of the USSR Supreme command, and insisted the Reims protocol be considered preliminary, with the main ceremony to be held in Berlin, where Marshal Zhukov was at the timeMemoirs of Georgy Zhukov.
The second Act of Military Surrender was signed, shortly before midnight, on May 8Earl F. Ziemke References CHAPTER XV:The Victory Sealed Page 258 last paragraph in one the outskirts of Berlin. The representatives of the USSR, Great Britain, France and the United States arrived shortly before midnight. After Zhukov opened the ceremony, the German command representatives headed by Wilhelm Keitel were invited into the room, where they signed the final German Act of Unconditional Surrender entering into force at 23:01 Central European Time.
Representatives:
- Soviet Union: Field Marshal Georgy Zhukov on behalf of the Supreme High Command of the Red Army
- Great Britain: Deputy Supreme Commander of Allied Expeditionary Force Arthur William Tedder
- France: General Commanding in Chief First French Army Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
- United States: General, Commanding United States Strategic Air Force Carl Spaatz
- Nazi Germany:
- Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg as Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine
- Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen Stumpff as the representative of the Luftwaffe
- Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel as the Chief of Staff of High Command (OKW)
While France was allowed to sign the second act on the side of the allies, Soviet Union did not allow for participation of its Polish ally.
Postscript
Karl Dönitz continued to act as head of state, but his Flensburg government (so-called because it was based at Flensburg and controlled only a small area around the town) was not recognised by the Allied powers and was dissolved when its members were captured and arrested by British forces on May 23, 1945 at Flensburg. The Allies had a problem, because they realised that although the German armed forces had surrendered unconditionally, SHAEF had failed to use the document created by the "European Advisory Commission" (EAC) and so the civilian German government had not. This was considered a very important issue, because just as the civilian, but not military, surrender in 1918 had been used by Hitler to create the "stab in the back" argument, the Allies did not want to give a future hostile German regime a legal argument to resurrect an old quarrel. Eventually they decided not to recognise Dönitz's Government and to sign a four-power document instead, creating the Allied Control Council which included the following:
- The Governments of the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom, and the Provisional Government of the French Republic, hereby assume supreme authority with respect to Germany, including all the powers possessed by the German Government, the High Command and any state, municipal, or local government or authority. The assumption, for the purposes stated above, of the said authority and powers does not affect the annexation of Germany. Department of State, Treaties and Other International Acts Series, No. 1520.Earl F. Ziemke References CHAPTER XV:The Victory Sealed Page 263 first paragraph
On 5 July 1945 the four-powers signed the document in Berlin and the de facto became the de jureEarl F. Ziemke References CHAPTER XV:The Victory Sealed Page 263. In July/August 1945 the Allied leaders planned the new postwar German government, resettled war territory boundaries, ordered German demilitarization, denazification and settlements of war reparations at the Potsdam Conference.
See also
References
- Earl F. Ziemke "The U.S. Army in the occupation of Germany 1944-1946" Cenrer of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D. C., 1990, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 75-619027
- The Memoirs of Georgy Zhukov. Chapter 22: Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany
Further reading
- History Documents: Surrender of Germany (photos, refs)
Footnotes
"German Instrument of Surrender, 1945"