Victory in Europe Day

For other uses, see V Day (disambiguation).

Winston Churchill waves to crowds in Whitehall on the day he broadcast to the nation that the war with Germany had been won.

Crowds gathered in celebration at Piccadilly Circus (Piccadilly Square) during VE Day, 1945.

The instrument of surrender signed at Reims on 7 May 1945.

Final positions of the Allied and Soviet armies, May 1945.

Victory in Europe Day — known as V-E Day or VE Day — commemorates 8 May 1945 (in Commonwealth countries; 7 May 1945), the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not until 9 May 1945. On 30 April Hitler committed suicide during the Battle of Berlin, and so the surrender of Germany was authorized by his replacement, President of Germany Karl Dönitz. The administration headed by Dönitz was known as the Flensburg government. The act of military surrender was signed on 7 May in Reims, France, and ratified on 8 May in Berlin, Germany.

Celebrations

Upon the defeat of the Nazi Germany army, celebrations erupted throughout the western world. From Moscow to New York, people cheered. In the United Kingdom, more than one million people celebrated in the streets to mark the end of the European part of the war. In London, crowds massed in Trafalgar Square and up The Mall to Buckingham Palace, where King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, appeared on the balcony of the Palace before the cheering crowds. Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth II) and her sister Princess Margaret were allowed to wander anonymously among the crowds and take part in the celebrations.

In the United States, President Harry Truman, who turned 61 that day, dedicated the victory to the memory of his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died of a cerebral hemorrhage less than a month earlier, on 12 April. Flags remained at half-mast for the remainder of the 30-day mourning period. Truman said of dedicating the victory to Roosevelt's memory and keeping the flags at half-staff that his only wish was "that Franklin D. Roosevelt had lived to witness this day." Massive celebrations also took place in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and especially in New York City's Times Square. Victory celebrations in Canada were marred by the Halifax Riot.

Soviet Victory Day

Main article: Victory Day (9 May)

As the Soviet Union was to the east of Germany it was May 9 Moscow Time when German military surrender became effective, which is why Eastern European countries like Russia and former Soviet republics commemorate Victory Day on 9 May instead of 8 May.

8 May as public holiday

• United Kingdom - 1995 May Day Bank Holiday was moved from 1 May to 8 May, only in that year, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the ending of the Second World War.
• East Germany as Tag der Befreiung (Day of Liberation), a public holiday from 1950 to 1966 and in 1985. Between 1975 and 1990, as Tag des Sieges (Victory Day (May 9)).
• The German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, since 2002, a commemorative day as Tag der Befreiung vom Nationalsozialismus und der Beendigung des 2. Weltkrieges (Day of Liberation from National Socialism, and the End of the 2nd World War).
• France as Victoire 1945
• Slovakia as Deň víťazstva nad fašizmom (Victory over Fascism Day)
• Czech Republic as Den vítězství (Day of Victory) or Den osvobození (Day of Liberation)
• Norway as "Frigjøringsdagen" (Liberation Day)
• Denmark (5 May) as "Befrielsen" (The Liberation)
• The Netherlands (5 May) as "Bevrijdingsdag" (Liberation Day)
• Ukraine (9 May) Victory Day
• British Channel Islands Liberation Days: Jersey and Guernsey (May 9), Sark (May 10)

See also

• Victory over Japan Day
• Time of remembrance and reconciliation

External links

• Economist article
• WWII: VE Day, May 8, 1945 - slideshow by Life magazine