This week marks 80 years since Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender to the Allied forces of Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and France, effectively bringing an end to World War II in Europe.

The total conclusion of the Second World War, however, would come a few months later, following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States and Japan’s subsequent surrender on September 2, 1945.

Prior to the German surrender, Adolf Hitler had taken his own life in his Berlin bunker, and the signs pointed toward Germany’s inevitable defeat.

Yet, the formal end required two separate surrender agreements: one in the French city of Reims on May 7 and a final one in Berlin on May 8.

The Complex Path to Surrender

According to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, then Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces and later U.S. President, the process was not straightforward. Alfred Jodl, Chief of the German General Staff, initially refused to sign an unconditional surrender for the entire front, insisting on capitulating only on the Western Front.

Eisenhower had to threaten to break off negotiations before Jodl, under pressure from Hitler’s successor Admiral Karl Dönitz, finally agreed.

As Eisenhower later recounted:
“Dönitz gave his consent to accept my terms, and at 2:41 a.m. on May 7, the act of surrender was signed by Jodl on behalf of the German High Command.”

A Tense and Somber Ceremony

A Reuters correspondent vividly described the scene in Reims, where the signing took place in a makeshift conference room at a local school. On one side of the large table, which days earlier had been covered with strategic maps, sat the German delegation, facing the Allies positioned against the wall near the main door.

The correspondent noted the Germans’ stoic demeanor, despite the gravity of the moment. They wore full military regalia, including their medals, but none smoked throughout the ceremony. At precisely 1:41 a.m. on May 7, the protocol of unconditional surrender was signed, set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. on May 9.

As Jodl signed the document with Eisenhower’s two gold pens, he solemnly declared:
“As of 0:01 on May 9, the German forces will cease fire. With this signature, the German people and the German armed forces surrender to the mercy of the victors.”

A Second, More Definitive Surrender

However, the Reims agreement did not satisfy the Soviets. Hostilities against Soviet forces continued, prompting Marshal Georgy Zhukov to express concern that the surrender appeared to be a partial agreement.

Consequently, another signing took place in Berlin on May 8, this time with Zhukov, British Air Marshal Arthur Tedder (representing Eisenhower), U.S. General Carl Spaatz, and French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny in attendance. The entire ceremony lasted just 27 minutes.

Years later, Spaatz reflected on that moment in the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, saying:
“We shook hands with the Russians, and Zhukov embraced each of us. We were all deeply moved.”
This dual signing marked the definitive end of World War II in Europe, closing a brutal chapter in human history.