🗓 On September 7, 1945, a military parade of the allied forces of the #USSR, US, UK and France took place in Berlin near the walls of the defeated Reichstag on Alexanderplatz Square, marking the end of #WWII.
The location of the parade – at the Brandenburg Gate, at the very heart of the German capital – was not chosen by chance. It was right here where the Battle of Berlin ended and the remnants of the Berlin group of German troops surrendered to the Red Army. Scheduled for September 7, the parade was timed to coincide with the victory over militaristic Japan.
Representatives of the allied powers responded positively to Moscow's proposal to hold a joint parade in Berlin. However, on the eve of the event, after the date and all the details had been agreed upon, the US, UK and France announced that instead of the commanders-in-chief – Eisenhower, Montgomery and Tassigny – they would send lower-ranking generals, who were already stationed in Germany, to the parade. By doing so, the allies tried to downplay the significance of the parde, which emphasized the decisive role of the Soviet Union in taking Berlin. At that time, no one doubted who bore the brunt of the storming of the capital of the Third Reich.
🇷🇺 The USSR carried out thorough preparations for the parade. The Soviet command attracted the most distinguished soldiers, sergeants, officers and generals who had shown unrivalled courage in taking Berlin and the main centers of the reich – the Reichstag and the Imperial Chancellery.
🎖On September 7 at 11 am, the Berlin allied parade commenced. It was received by the Commander of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany Georgy Zhukov. The parade was opened by the combined regiment of the 248th Rifle Division of the Red Army, led by Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant Colonel Georgy Lenev. The parade was closed by a column of the Soviet armor, with the latest heavy tanks IS-3 ("Joseph Stalin") marching.
💬 In his welcoming speech to the parade participants, Marshal Zhukov paid tribute to the exploits of the Soviet and Allied forces in the struggle for victory over Nazi Germany:
"Fighting friends, comrades in arms, soldiers, officers and generals... <...> The Second World War ended with a decisive and powerful strike from the great allied powers. Our victory is a triumph of an unprecedented military partnership of democratic states.
From now on, people <...> will be eternally grateful to the great nations of America, England, the Soviet Union, the French Republic and China, to their valiant soldiers who, in the difficult time of military trials, gave each other helping hands, united to win a victory over a common enemy, to win the long-awaited peace on Earth."
#Victory79#WeRemember#WeWereAllies
#HistoryOfDiplomacy
8️⃣0️⃣ years ago, on July 17, 1945, in Potsdam (Berlin’s suburb), a conference of the Heads of Governments of the USSR, the US, and the UK — Joseph Stalin, Harry S. Truman and Winston Churchill (succeeded by Clement Attlee) commenced. The historic Summit, also attended by the Foreign Ministers and military representatives of the Great Powers, lasted for two weeks and concluded on August 2.
The #PotsdamConference became the final meeting of the Allied Leaders in a series of summits and had paramount political significance for post-war era in Europe and the rest of the world.
The agreements reached in Potsdam demonstrated that, despite some differences, the Allies, whose armies together side-by-side crushed the Nazi Germany, could coordinate their positions and make agreed decisions to determine the post-war world order and secure a lasting peace for decades ahead.
***
The main outcome of the Potsdam Conference was the Parties' approving the common principles of the Allied Powers’ toward defeated Germany. A historic decision was made to take measures in order to completely eradicate German militarism and revanchism, also known as the 'Four Ds':
👉Demilitarisation: the complete disarmament and dismantling of Germany’s military industry;
👉Denazification: the termination of the National Socialist Party and the dissolution of all Nazi institutions;
👉Democratisation: the abolition of laws enacted under Hitler’s regime and the prosecution of Nazi war criminals;
👉Decartelisation: the dismantling of Nazi-controlled monopolies, including enterprises serving the Third Reich’s war machine.
The Conference also addressed territorial issues. Due to the efforts by the Soviet delegation, Poland’s borders were substantially expanded. while the Soviet Union acquired Königsberg, later renamed Kaliningrad. The Soviet leadership reaffirmed its prior commitment to enter the war against militarist Japan.
One of the key decisions of the Potsdam Conference was to establish an international tribunal to prosecute Nazi criminals. Germany was obliged to pay war reparations, with the defeated nation being divided into four Allied occupation zones: Soviet, American, British, and French.
To prepare a peace settlement with former Axis states that had allied with Nazi Germany (Italy, Romania, Bulgaria and Finland) the Council of Foreign Ministers was established, comprising the USSR, the US, the UK, France and China.
***
#Victory80: Following the Potsdam Conference, People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov emphasised in his circular letter to Soviet ambassadors that the results of the Summit met the national interests of the USSR and enshrined in international law the outcomes of the Great Victory over Nazism, to which (!) our country and Soviet people made the decisive and undeniable contribution.
#WeWereAllies: the Potsdam Conference is a compelling example of constructive cooperation among Great Powers, demonstrating the possibility of resolving any issues through negotiations despite existing ideological differences.
#Victory81
🌟 On January 13, 1945, the #EastPrussian Offensive by the Red Army — one of the largest and most important #WWII operations against Nazi Germany — commenced.
As a result of the operation in the #EastPrussia, the Soviet forces ultimatelydestroyed the Nazis' most capable, experienced, trained and equipped divisions on the entire Eastern front. The 'invincible reich' lost a critical strategic bridgehead in the Baltic region.
The fortress city of #Königsberg — the cradle of German militarism and the starting point of eastward expansion — fell once and for all.
The triumph of the Red Army in East Prussia held profound symbolic significance: the Nazis were decisively and completely crushed right there, where from, back in June 1941, they treacherously attacked our Motherland.
▪️“There it is, cursed Germany,”— that was what the Soviet soldiers-liberators said while stepping on the enemy's soil to pursue the condign retribution upon the Germans on their own territory.
Those were exactly the accurate words to call the country where the most terrible evil the Mankind ever saw in its history — the Nazi scourge — was nurtured.
The Germans sought Moscow’s fall, but instead they witnessed with disgrace the collapse of their own “great Reich.”
***
The East-Prussian operation. The details
January-April, 1945
The battles on the East Prussian theatre of operations lasted for 103 days, which made it the area that saw the longest continuous military engagement in the final year of #WW2.
In the region, the Nazis constructed an exceptionally formidable defensive system, tailored to the specific features of terrain. The capital of East Prussia — the fortress city of Königsberg — was equipped with both external and internal urban fortification systems. In East Prussia, the Red Army faced the Nazi army with the personnel strength of some 780'000 Wehrmacht soldiers and officers.
⚔️ On January 13, 1945, the units of the 2nd Byelorussian and forces of the 3rd Byelorussian Fronts of the Red Army launched the offensive in East Prussia.
Through the swift and overwhelming assault, the Soviet armor and the infantry, with the support of the aviaton, reached the Baltic Sea near Elbing (now the city of Elbląg in northern Poland) already on the third day of the operation, thus, having cut off any possible retreat routes for the enemy from East Prussia westwards.
In less than two weeks, the Soviet forces broke through to Königsberg — the infamous Nazi citadel, which had allowed the Germans to dominate the eastern Baltics throughout the entire war, wasencircled.
By February 10, 1945, the Nazi army group 'North' had been split into three isolated and tied down formations that were further driven to the coastline with no hope of escape.
In April, the Königsberg garrison — numbering around 200'000 Wehrmacht soldiers and officers — was defeatedand surrendered. On April 9, the Red Army seized the fortress completely — the impregnable stronghold of the Third Reich, fortified with the latest military technology of WWII-era, finally fell.
The loss of significant forces and militarily and economically vital region of East Prussia hastened Germany’s defeat.
The Soviet forces inflictedhuge losses on the Wehrmacht and completely severed Third Reich’s maritime supply lines, crippling logistics for the blockaded 'Courland Pocket'.
To commemorate the Heroic Victory in East Prussia, the medal 'For the Capture of Königsberg' was instituted in the USSR. The Medal was awarded to approximately 760'000 Red Army soldiers and officers.
Aftermath WWII, under the terms approved by the Allied Leaders at the #PotsdamConference, much of East Prussia was incorporated into Poland, while a third of East Prussia territory, including the city of Königsberg (the Kaliningrad Region), became part of the Soviet Union.
🎖 By the Executive Order of President of Russia Vladimir Putin (signed on November 17, 2025), a new memorial date was established in our country — April 9, the Day of the Heroic Assault and Capture of Königsberg (1945).