German Instrument of Surrender

The instrument of surrender signed at Reims 7 May 1945.

The German Instrument of Surrender ended World War II in Europe. It was signed by representatives of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) and the Allied Expeditionary Force together with the Soviet High Command, French representative signing as witness on 7 May, and signed again by representatives of the three armed services of the OKW and the Allied Expeditionary Force together with the Supreme High Command of the Red Army, French and US representatives signing as witnesses (see: Allies of World War II) on 8 May 1945. The date is known in the West as Victory in Europe Day, whereas in post-Soviet states the Victory Day is celebrated on 9 May, since it was signed after midnight Moscow time. In Germany, it is known as the Day of Capitulation (Tag der Kapitulation). There were three language versions of the surrender document. The English and Russian versions were the only authoritative ones.

Background

Preparations of the text of the instrument of surrender began by US, Soviet and British representatives at the European Advisory Commission (EAC) throughout 1944. By 3 January 1944, the Working Security Committee in the EAC proposed

that the capitulation of Germany should be recorded in a single document of unconditional surrender.

The committee further suggested that the instrument of surrender be signed by representatives of the German High Command. The considerations behind this recommendation were to prevent the repetition of the stab-in-the-back legend, created in Germany following defeat in the First World War, since the act of surrender in November 1918 was signed by representatives of the German government and the militarist circles later claimed that the High Command was not responsible for that defeat.

Not everyone agreed with the Working Security Committee's predictions regarding the war's end. Ambassador William Strang, British representative at the EAC, claimed as follows:

It is impossible at present to foresee in what circumstances hostilities with Germany may in the end be suspended. We cannot tell, therefore, what mode of procedure would be most suitable; whether, for example, it will be found best to have a full and detailed armistice; or a shorter armistice conferring general powers; or possibly no armistice at all, but a series of local capitulations by enemy commanders.

The surrender terms for Germany were first discussed at the first EAC meeting on 14 January 1944.

On 14 March 1945, the EAC held a meeting with the representatives of Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Yugoslavia and Greece on the issue of the instrument of surrender. The Czechoslovakian government proposed the document shall include a paragraph against acquisition of territories by force and would mention the responsibility of the German state to the war. The governments of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg, concerned with their positions as small Allied nations, recommended that the instrument of surrender shall include a specific acknowledgement of the part to be played by the small countries in the control of Germany. The Norwegian government requested the document to include specific reference to the demand of surrender of the German troops in Norway. The Yugoslav government declared its intention to refrain from any specific recommendations until an agreement on unity government was reached between Josip Broz Tito and Prime Minister Ivan Šubašić. The Greek government requested to include in the document a demand to all German forces that may remain on Greek territory at the moment of surrender to surrender their military equipment to the Greek Royal government.

Surrender ceremony

Surrender in Reims

General Alfred Jodl signing the capitulation papers in Reims.

When reports came that Hitler had decided to die rather than be captured, the chiefs of the OKW – Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel and Generaloberst Alfred Jodl – decided to wait for further orders from Reichsmarshall Hermann Göring who, with Hitler's demise, was the highest-ranking officer in Nazi Germany. However, the military junta were later informed that Göring had been removed from office following his bid to usurp power, and that Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz had been appointed in his place. Karl Dönitz had agreed to surrender to the allies earlier in 1945. The first Instrument of Surrender was signed at Reims, at 02:41 Central European Time (CET) on 7 May 1945. The signing took place in a red brick schoolhouse that served as the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). It was to take effect at 23:01 CET on 8 May.

US diplomat Robert Murphy claims that EAC approved surrender documents were not signed on 7 May because an exhausted General Smith had thought that EAC had never approved a surrender agreement. He had filed away in his personal top-secret cabinet the folder containing the EAC text. The surrender documents of 7 May had been prepared on miscellaneous reference material. Although the documents had been certified by General Susloparov as the Soviet liaison officer, Moscow quickly protested that the surrender terms were not the EAC agreement which had been endorsed by the Soviets.

The unconditional surrender of the German armed forces was signed by Generaloberst Alfred Jodl, on behalf of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (English: "Supreme Command of the Armed Forces") and as the representative for the new Reich President, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz. Walter Bedell Smith signed on behalf of the Western Allies, and Ivan Susloparov on behalf of the Soviets. French Major-General François Sevez signed as the official witness.

Surrender in Berlin

Marshal Georgy Zhukov reading the German capitulation in Berlin. Seated on his right is Air Chief Marshal Arthur Tedder.

Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signing the ratified surrender terms for the German military in Berlin.

Since the Reims ceremony was arranged by the Western Allies without agreement with the Soviet Command, shortly after the surrender had been signed the latter announced that the Soviet representative in Reims, General Susloparov, had no authority to sign this document. In addition, it had been found that the document signed in Reims was different from the draft prepared earlier, which had been approved by the Big Three. A part of the Wehrmacht refused to lay down their arms and continued to fight in Czechoslovakia; a German radio broadcast stated that the Germans had made peace with the Western Allies, but not with the Soviets. The Soviets argued that the surrender should be arranged as a unique, singular, historical event. They also believed that it should not be held on liberated territory, that had been victimized by German aggression, but at the seat of Government from where that German aggression sprang: Berlin. The Soviet side insisted that the act of surrender signed in Reims should be considered "a preliminary protocol of surrender", so the Allies agreed that another surrender ceremony should take place in Berlin. A second Act of Military Surrender was signed shortly before midnight on 8 May at the seat of the Soviet Military Administration in Berlin-Karlshorst, now the location of the German-Russian Museum Berlin-Karlshorst.

Representatives:

• Soviet Union: Marshal Georgy Zhukov on behalf of the Supreme High Command of the Red Army
• United Kingdom: Air Chief Marshal Arthur William Tedder, as Deputy Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force,
• United States: General Carl Spaatz, Commanding United States Strategic Air Forces, as witness
• France: General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, Commanding First French Army, as witness
• Germany:
  • Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel as the Chief of the General Staff of the German Armed Forces (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) and as representative of the army (Wehrmacht Heer)
  • General-Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg as Commander-in-Chief of the navy (Kriegsmarine)
  • Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen Stumpff as the representative of the air force (Luftwaffe)

See also

• End of World War II in Europe
• Debellatio
• German surrender at Lüneburg Heath
• Nuremberg Trials
• Morgenthau Plan
• Paris Peace Treaties, 1947, formally established peace between the World War II Allies and the nations of Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Romania, and Finland
• Japanese Instrument of Surrender
• Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany

References

• Chaney, Otto Preston. Zhukov. University of Oklahoma Press, 1996, ISBN 0-8061-2807-0, ISBN 978-0-8061-2807-8.
• Pinkus, Oscar . The war aims and strategies of Adolf Hitler, McFarland, 2005, ISBN 0-7864-2054-5, ISBN 978-0-7864-2054-4
• Ziemke, Earl F. "The U.S. Army in the occupation of Germany 1944–1946" Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D. C., 1990, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 75-619027

Further reading

• Kiley, Charles. Details of the Surrender Negotiations: This Is How Germany Gave Up, Stars and Stripes. (a contemporary, 1945, US military newspaper account)
• Samson, Oliver. The German Capitulation Tangle, Deutsche Welle 8 May 2005
• authour?. The Memoirs of Georgy Zhukov, Chapter 22: Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany, publisher ? (Russian)