Fall of Berlin, The

In the final years of World War II, the fate of Nazi Germany seemed sealed. By early 1945, the once-feared Reich was in rapid decline. The German military was stretched thin, fighting on multiple fronts, and its once-unstoppable war machine had been crippled by continuous defeats. The Allies from the west and the Soviets from the east were closing in, their forces overwhelming the remnants of the German military. In the East, the Red Army’s relentless advance had already pushed the Germans back hundreds of miles from the Soviet Union’s borders. The success of the Soviet offensives, especially following the victory at Stalingrad, left the Nazis reeling. Soviet General Zhukov’s forces had already crossed the Vistula River in Poland and were now bearing down on the Oder River, just a stone’s throw from Berlin. The Red Army’s advance was swift, and Hitler, from his bunker beneath the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, could no longer deny the grim reality that the capital was in imminent danger. Despite this, Adolf Hitler refused to surrender or even entertain the thought of defeat. His obsession with holding Berlin—his “fortress”—was absolute. As Soviet forces neared the capital, he remained convinced that a miracle might still turn the tide. To his inner circle, this delusion became apparent. His judgment was clouded, and the once-great military genius was now a desperate and isolated dictator. He ordered that Berlin be fortified, even though it was clear that the city’s defenses were insufficient against the overwhelming Soviet force.