German Instrument of Surrender
Adolf Hitler committed suicide inside his Führerbunker under the Reich Chancellery on the 30th of April 1945. He drew up a testament naming Admiral Karl Dönitz as his successor to lead Germany as Reichspräsident. This position had been vacant since the Weimar Republic era ended decades earlier. Two days later, Berlin fell to Soviet forces while American and Soviet troops linked up at Torgau on the Elbe river. The speed of Allied advances in March 1945 left surviving German forces isolated in pockets outside pre-Nazi borders. Dönitz attempted to form a government at Flensburg on the Danish border. He was joined there on the 2nd of May 1945 by Wilhelm Keitel leading the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. Their new administration presented itself as unpolitical but failed to repudiate Nazism or ban the Nazi Party. Neither the Soviets nor Americans recognized this Flensburg Government as capable of representing the state.
Representatives from the Soviet Union, United States, and United Kingdom worked through the European Advisory Commission throughout 1944. They sought to prepare an agreed surrender document for potential circumstances where Nazi power collapsed within Germany. By the 3rd of January 1944, the Working Security Committee proposed that the instrument be signed by representatives of the German High Command. This recommendation aimed to prevent the repetition of the stab-in-the-back myth from November 1918. A definitive three-part text was agreed upon on the 28th of July 1944 and adopted by the three Allied Powers. The first part announced Germany's unconditional surrender recognizing complete defeat on land, sea, and air. Articles one through five detailed military surrender including evacuation from territories outside boundaries as they stood on the 31st of December 1937. Articles six through twelve covered political powers, prisoner release, cessation of radio broadcasts, and yielding of Nazi leaders for war crimes trials. Article twelve allowed unlimited scope for Allied representatives to impose arrangements for restitution and reparation of damages.
German military commanders in Italy conducted secret negotiations leading to a partial surrender signed at Caserta on the 29th of April 1945. Field Marshal Albert Kesselring initially denounced the capitulation but acceded after Hitler's death was confirmed. On the 4th of May 1945, German forces under instruction from the Dönitz Government signed an act of surrender at Lüneburg Heath. This agreement came into effect on the 5th of May facing British and Canadian forces. All German forces in Bavaria and Southwest Germany signed an act of surrender to Americans at Haar on the 5th of May 1945. These surrenders succeeded in ceasing hostilities between Western allies and German forces on almost all fronts. However, broadcast orders from the Dönitz government continued opposing any acts of surrender to Soviet forces in Courland or Bohemia. Dönitz pursued a deliberate policy of successive partial capitulations in the west to save eastern formations from Soviet captivity. He hoped to continue evacuating soldiers by sea from the Hela peninsula and surrounding Baltic coastal areas. Eisenhower determined that no further partial surrenders would be agreed in the West before sending representatives to Reims for general terms.
Dönitz's representative Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg informed him on the 6th of May that Eisenhower insisted on immediate simultaneous unconditional surrender. General Alfred Jodl was sent to Reims to attempt persuasion but Eisenhower announced at 9:00 pm on the 6th that lines would close at midnight on the 8th of May. Jodl telegraphed this message to Dönitz who authorized signing subject to negotiating a 48-hour delay. The first Instrument of Surrender was signed in Reims at 02:41 Central European Time on the 7th of May 1945. The ceremony took place in a red brick schoolhouse serving as SHAEF headquarters. It is now known as the Museum of the Second World War. Jodl signed on behalf of the OKW while General Walter Bedell Smith signed for the Supreme Commander. General Ivan Susloparov represented the Soviet High Command though he lacked full empowerment. French Major-General François Sevez signed as official witness. Eisenhower had proceeded in consultation with General Aleksei Antonov of the Soviet High Command. No confirmation of Soviet approval had been received by the time of the surrender ceremony.
Some six hours after the Reims signing, response arrived from the Soviet High Command stating the Act was unacceptable. They maintained it should not be held on liberated territory victimized by German aggression but at the seat of government where aggression sprang. Marshal Georgy Zhukov presided over a more formal signing in Berlin capital of Nazi Germany on the 8th of May. The definitive Act of Military Surrender was dated as being signed before midnight on the 8th of May at the seat of the Soviet Military Administration in Berlin-Karlshorst. Physical signing was delayed until nearly 01:00 am on the 9th of May Central European Time yet back-dated to the 8th of May. Field Marshal Keitel initially balked at amended text proposing an additional grace period of 12 hours. He had to be satisfied with verbal assurance from Zhukov instead. Admiral Friedeburg remained the only representative present at all three signings including Luneburg Heath and Reims. The final versions required three German signatories fully representing all armed services together with the German High Command. This clause ensured forces would disarm disband and be taken into captivity rather than merely cease operations.
The Reims signing ceremony attracted considerable numbers of reporters bound by a 36-hour embargo against reporting the capitulation. American journalist Edward Kennedy of Associated Press news agency broke the embargo on the 7th of May making surrender headline news in western media on the 8th of May. Western Allies agreed to celebrate Victory in Europe Day on the 8th of May while leaders waited for evening proclamations. The Soviet government made no public acknowledgement of the Reims signing which they did not recognize. Soviet Union celebrated Victory Day on the 9th of May 1945 because this document was signed when time was the 9th of May in Soviet Union. Today both the 8th of May and the 9th of May are considered end of World War II in Europe due to time zone difference. A timeline shows signing in Reims occurred at 02:41 Monday the 7th of May CET while Berlin signing happened at 22:43 Tuesday the 8th of May CET. Ceasefire as agreed in Reims took effect at 23:01 Tuesday the 8th of May CET but became 00:01 Wednesday the 9th of May Moscow Time.
Although German military signatories acted under instructions from Admiral Dönitz none of Allied Governments recognized Flensburg Government as validly exercising civil power. On the 23rd of May 1945 former Nazi members including Karl Dönitz were taken into captivity as prisoners of war. Admiral Friedeburg committed suicide following his arrest. Pursuant to Article 4 of Instrument of Surrender, Berlin Declaration on the 5th of June 1945 confirmed Nazi defeat and established Allied occupation of Germany. During 1944 and 1945 formerly neutral countries joined Allies declaring war on Germany. United States State Department notified protecting powers that continued identity of German state would rest solely in four Allied Powers. All German diplomatic staff were immediately recalled taking ownership of all state property. The German state ceased as diplomatic entity on the 8th of May 1945 until establishment of West Germany on the 23rd of May 1949. The Empire of Japan denounced German decision about surrender and unilaterally seized all German properties in Japan. Stalin publicly renounced any policy of German dismemberment in victory proclamation to Soviet people of the 8th of May 1945.
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Common questions
Who signed the German Instrument of Surrender on behalf of Germany at Reims?
General Alfred Jodl signed the first Instrument of Surrender in Reims on the 7th of May 1945. He acted as a representative for the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht under instructions from Admiral Karl Dönitz.
When did the definitive Act of Military Surrender take place in Berlin?
The definitive Act of Military Surrender was back-dated to midnight on the 8th of May 1945 but physically signed near 01:00 am on the 9th of May Central European Time. Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel and Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg signed this document before Marshal Georgy Zhukov in Berlin-Karlshorst.
Why were there two different dates for Victory in Europe Day celebrations?
Western Allies celebrated Victory in Europe Day on the 8th of May because the ceasefire took effect at 23:01 CET on that date. The Soviet Union celebrated Victory Day on the 9th of May 1945 since the signing occurred after midnight Moscow time which was already the 9th of May.
What happened to the Flensburg Government after the surrender agreements?
Former Nazi members including Karl Dönitz were taken into captivity as prisoners of war on the 23rd of May 1945. The Allied Powers never recognized the Flensburg Government as validly exercising civil power or representing the state.
Where did the first Instrument of Surrender ceremony occur?
The first Instrument of Surrender ceremony took place in a red brick schoolhouse serving as SHAEF headquarters in Reims. This building is now known as the Museum of the Second World War.