Battle of Berlin in the context of "2nd Belorussian Front"

The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a theatre of World War II fought between the European Axis powers and Allies, including the Soviet Union (USSR) and Poland. It encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Southeast Europe (Balkans), and lasted from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945. Of the estimated 70–85 million deaths attributed to the war, around 30 million occurred on the Eastern Front, including 9 million children. The Eastern Front was decisive in determining the outcome in the European theatre of operations in World War II and is the main cause of the defeat of Nazi Germany and the Axis nations. Historian Geoffrey Roberts noted that "more than 80 percent of all combat during the Second World War took place on the Eastern Front".

The Axis forces, led by Germany, invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941. Despite warnings and the deployment of Axis armies on his borders, Stalin refused to believe that Hitler would invade and forbade any defensive preparations. Thus the Soviets were caught completely unprepared. They were unable to halt deep Axis advances into Russia, which came close to seizing Moscow. However, the Axis failed to capture the city, and Hitler shifted his focus to the oil fields of the Caucasus the following year. German forces advanced into the Caucasus under Fall Blau ("Case Blue"), launched on 28 June 1942. The Soviets decisively defeated the Axis at the Battle of Stalingrad—the bloodiest battle in the war and arguably in all of history—making it one of the key turning points of the front. A second great Axis defeat, at the Battle of Kursk, crippled German offensive capabilities permanently and cleared the way for Soviet offensives. Several Axis allies defected to the Allies, such as Italy, Romania and Bulgaria. The Eastern Front concluded with the capture of Berlin, followed by the signing of the German Instrument of Surrender on 8 May, ending the Eastern Front and the war in Europe.

The end of World War II in Europe occurred in May 1945. Following the suicide of Adolf Hitler on 30 April, leadership of Nazi Germany passed to Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz and the Flensburg Government. Soviet troops captured Berlin on 2 May, and a number of German military forces surrendered over the next few days. On 8 May, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signed the German Instrument of Surrender, an unconditional surrender to the Allies, in Karlshorst, Berlin. This is celebrated as Victory in Europe Day, while in Russia, 9 May is celebrated as Victory Day.

Some fighting continued after the German surrender. Some battles continued on the Eastern Front such as the Courland Pocket in western Latvia surrendering on 10 May, and the Prague offensive in Czechoslovakia ending on 11 May. On 25 May 1945, the Battle of Odžak ended in a Yugoslav Partisan victory. Following the conclusion in the European theatre, with the war continuing in the Pacific theatre.

Adolf Hitler, chancellor and dictator of Germany during the Nazi era from 1933 to 1945, committed suicide by gunshot to the head on 30 April 1945 in the Führerbunker in Berlin after it became clear that Germany would be defeated during the Battle of Berlin, which led to the end of World War II in Europe. His longtime companion and wife of one day, Eva Braun, committed suicide with him, by cyanide poisoning. In accordance with Hitler's prior written and verbal instructions, that afternoon their remains were carried up the stairs and through the bunker's emergency exit to the Reich Chancellery garden, where they were doused in petrol and burned. The news of Hitler's death was announced on German radio the next day, 1 May.

Eyewitnesses who saw Hitler's body immediately after his suicide testified that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot, presumably to the temple. Otto Günsche, Hitler's personal adjutant, who handled both bodies, testified that while Braun's smelled strongly of burnt almonds – an indication of cyanide poisoning – there was no such odour about Hitler's body, which smelled of gunpowder. Dental remains found in the Chancellery garden were matched with Hitler's dental records in May 1945 and are the only portion of Hitler's body confirmed to have been found.

The Reichstag (/ˈraɪʃstæɡ, ˈraɪxstɑːɡ/; German: [ˈraɪçsˌtaːk] ) is a historic legislative government building on Platz der Republik in Berlin that is the seat of the German Bundestag. It is also the meeting place of the Federal Convention, which elects the President of Germany.

The Neo-Renaissance building was constructed between 1884 and 1894 in the Tiergarten district on the left bank of the River Spree to plans by the architect Paul Wallot. It housed the Reichstag (legislature) of the German Empire and subsequent Weimar Republic. The Reich's Federal Council also originally met there. The building was initially used by the Reichstag for Nazi Germany, but severe damage in the Reichstag fire of 1933 prevented further use and the Reichstag moved to the nearby Kroll Opera House. The 1933 fire became a pivotal event in the entrenchment of the Nazi regime. The building took further damage during World War II, and its symbolism made it an important target for the Red Army during the Battle of Berlin.

The Flensburg Government (German: Flensburger Regierung), also known as the Flensburg Cabinet (Flensburger Kabinett), the Dönitz Government (Regierung Dönitz), or the Schwerin von Krosigk Cabinet (Kabinett Schwerin von Krosigk), was the rump government of Nazi Germany during a period of three weeks around the end of World War II in Europe. The government was formed following the suicide of Adolf Hitler on 30 April 1945 during the Battle of Berlin. It was headed by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as Reichspräsident and Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk as the Leading Minister. The administration was referred to as the "Flensburg Government" because Dönitz's command relocated to Flensburg in northern Germany near the Danish border on 3 May 1945. The sports school at the Mürwik Naval School was used as the government headquarters. The cabinet was not legitimised according to the Weimar Constitution, which was still formally in force.

At the time of its formation, forces loyal to the Nazi regime still held control of most of Austria and the Sudetenland, which was annexed by Germany in 1938. They also still controlled most of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia which was partially annexed in 1939 when the remainder of Czechoslovakia was occupied, although after Hitler's death those Czech lands still occupied were effectively controlled by the SS with little meaningful oversight from Flensburg. Furthermore, the German military continued to occupy other non-German-speaking territories in disparate and isolated locations across Europe, such as Denmark, Norway, parts of the Netherlands, the Atlantic pockets in France and the British Channel Islands. However, in addition to losing most of its wartime conquests by this point, German forces had already been driven out of the vast majority of Germany's post-Anschluss territory, in addition to Luxembourg as well as the Polish and French territories Germany had either annexed or placed under direct German administration in the early stages of the war.