The final collapse of Berlin was a desperate, multi-front Soviet strategic offensive operation.
In the spring of 1945, the Red Army launched a massive assault to seize Berlin, driven by Stalin’s desire to secure the city before the Western Allies. What followed was a brutal, house-to-house struggle against a ragtag German defense, culminating in the death of Hitler and the total Soviet victory.
By early 1945, the Red Army had reached a line 60 km east of Berlin. Joseph Stalin, fearing the Western Allies might claim territory in the Soviet zone, prioritized the rapid capture of the German capital. The Soviet offensive, which began on 16 April, involved three army fronts totaling 2.5 million men, 6,250 tanks, and over 41,000 artillery pieces. The primary obstacle was the Seelow Heights, where German General Gotthard Heinrici had established a formidable defensive network of trenches and anti-tank ditches. After four days of intense combat, Soviet forces broke through, leaving the path to Berlin open.
Inside the city, the defense was a desperate mix of depleted Heer and Waffen-SS divisions, police, Hitler Youth, and elderly Volkssturm members. On 20 April, Hitler’s 56th birthday, Soviet artillery began shelling the city center. As the Red Army tightened its encirclement, Hitler remained in his bunker, at one point ordering impossible counter-attacks that his generals knew could not succeed. By 23 April, General Helmuth Weidling assumed command of the city’s defense, organizing the remaining forces into eight sectors, though many of his commanders lacked combat experience.
The final stages of the battle saw brutal urban warfare, particularly around the Reichstag and the government district. While the Reichstag had been a ruin since 1933, the Soviets viewed its capture as a vital symbolic victory. On 30 April, as Soviet troops fought room-to-room, Hitler committed suicide. The city’s garrison surrendered on 2 May, though fighting persisted elsewhere until the official end of the war in Europe on 8 May. The battle effectively ended the Third Reich, with the Soviet Union securing the city and the strategic assets Stalin had sought to control.
Source: Battle of Berlin
