The Battle of Berlin - Research Paper Example

?The Battle of Berlin Before going into the discussion regarding overall importance of the Battle of Berlin on World War II (WWII) and the contributing factors of the battle, let us get a better understanding of what Battle of Berlin actually was. The battle of Berlin was the final battle between the Soviet Union and Germany, which put an end to the World War II in Europe. The battle, fought between 16th April 1945 to 2nd May 1945, was of great importance for Germany and the Soviet Union. The battle ended in the victory of the Soviet Union bringing an end to the Hitler’s third Reich. During the war, the Red army not only destroyed the main infrastructure of Berlin but also outnumbered the German forcers everywhere. There was a huge difference between the strength of German and Russian forces in all aspects, which also played its role in the defeat of the German army. The Russian forces were superior to the German army in terms of equipment and troops, which helped them defeat German forces and race towards the city of Berlin. The major countries, which sent their forces to carry out attack on Berlin, were Russia, Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. “The Red Army played the dominant role in the defeat of the Reich, demoting the Anglo-American war effort to secondary or tertiary importance” (Davies 2006). Over 2.5 million men including 78000 Polish army men attacked Berlin defeating the German army all over. Russian forces, known as red army in the World War II, fired over two million artillery shells in different parts of Berlin, which not only destroyed the buildings and homes but also killed a large number of German civilians. Germans were though equipped with portable anti-tank weaponry in order to destroy the Russian tanks but they failed to make a good use of those weapons. Russian army used to destroy whole buildings in occurrence of a single fire from those buildings. The huge difference between the manpower and equipment showed its effects on the battle between the two forces. German army although fought bravely but it could not meet the strength of the Red army. Russians rolled down relentlessly from the east and the northeast of Berlin. After sustaining as many as 325,000 causalities, Berlin surrendered on 2nd May 1945, which marked an end not only to the battle but also to the World War II. Importance of Battle for Berlin in World War II and Contributing Factors The battle of Berlin was of extreme importance not only for the Soviet Union but also for the European sector. Russia was a real power at that time and that was one of the reasons of war because Russia wanted to show its power in the World War II. The battle of Berlin was also of great political importance because it was not only important for the unity of alliance but also it provided help to Russia on the Oder East of Germany. The main causes of the battle of Berlin were the unresolved issues of the World War I. Those issues created tensions between the countries, which led towards the World War II and eventually towards the battle of Berlin. In addition, the military aggression shown by Nazi Germany and Japan on Poland and China strengthened the way towards Second World War. The Soviet Union wanted to disarm Germany because it was posing threat to various other countries. For this reason, Soviet Union allied with the United States, Britain, and France in order to launch a combined attack on Germany. Germany was becoming a great threat to the unity of alliance, so in order to keep it away from further invasions; Soviet Union decided to attack the city of Berlin in order to take full control of Germany. The battle of Berlin gained significant importance at the end of the World War II. The battle not only resulted in ending the World War II but also played its role in securing most of the European countries from Nazi Germany. Germany and Russia were the two major forces of the world war and both of them were aiming to get success at the end of the war. It is natural that in the war, one group wins and the other one faces a defeat. In the World War II, which lasted over seven years, Germany and the Soviet Union were edging towards success. The morale of both of the forces was very high and they did not seem to stop anywhere. Both of the countries were gaining successes in the war by defeating other countries. Soviet Union’s red army won important battles in Moscow and Stalingrad and aimed towards Berlin in order to get the final victory. After the victory at the battle of Kursk and the capture of the city of Vienna, the morale of Russian forces got very high and they started to plan for the final battle. The battle of Britain and the battle of Stalingrad also played their roles as the contributing factors towards the battle of Berlin. The battle of Berlin proved to be the deciding battle for the World War II, which ended in the success of the Soviet Union. Battle of Berlin was of great importance not only for the Soviet Union but also for the Britain. It is because Germany had the intention to attack Britain and Moscow after defeating France. After smashing the borders of Belgium and Holland, Hitler ordered his forces to move towards northern reaches of France. The French forces were not able to show remarkable resistance against the German forces army and surrendered on 22nd June 1945. Britain was the next target for the German forces and Hitler had already ordered his forces to start planning towards invasion of the United Kingdom. “Immediately after the defeat of France, Adolf Hitler ordered his generals to organize the invasion of Britain” (Simkin). Germany wanted to take control of other countries in order to become the only super power of Europe. Hitler did not want any other country to rise up to the level of Germany. Adolf Hitler did not seem to stop anywhere as he was defeating the major European countries one after another. Germany was the main threat in the World War II and the Soviet Union intended to defeat Germany in order to settle down the disputes. That was the reason why Soviet Union and its allies attacked Berlin in the World War II. The result of the battle of Berlin was in the favor of Russia and its allies as they got hold of eastern and western parts of Germany. After the war, the alliance that consisted of the United States of America, France, United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union divided Germany into four parts and all allied powers were given the charge of each of the four parts. “With the conclusion of World War II in Europe, Germany was divided into four occupation zones” (Hickman). The division was such that the Soviet Union held the eastern part whereas the United States, Britain, and France held the southern, northwest, and southwest areas respectively. Berlin, the capital of Germany, was also divided into four sub regions and the control of each region was given to each of the four allies. “Although Berlin lay deep within the Soviet zone, it too was divided into four sections” (Byrnes). Stalin wanted to create socialist party in the Soviet’s zone with the intention to bring whole Germany under the influence of Soviet Union. The allies wanted to disarm Germany and tried to stop it from becoming a threat in future. That is the reason why Germany was not allowed by the Soviet Union to re-build after the war. “In the immediate period following the war, there was great debate regarding to what extent Germany should be allowed to rebuild” (Hickman). It is the psychology of any army to raid and take full control of the opponent’s place and that was the reason why red army carried out heavy bombing on the Berlin. In the south of Friedrichstadt, fire occurred due to the heavy shelling and bombing by the Russian tanks. The main purpose was to destroy the infrastructure of Berlin because when infrastructure breaks up, it becomes very easy for the attacking force to take control of the area. Battle of Berlin brought an end to the World War II because Germany, which was the main power of the war, got defeated by the Soviet Union and its allies. Stalin’s behavior after the war was not very welcoming. He had no interest in rebuilding the destroyed areas of Germany. Not only Stalin’s behavior was not remarkable but also the behavior of his forces towards the civilians of Berlin was a very disgraced one. Russians brutally killed and raped a large number of German women after occupying Berlin. Stalin even order ordered his forces to cut off the food shipments from eastern parts of the Germany to the western parts. The western allies did not welcome this step of the Soviets and ended the shipment of industrial equipment to the Soviets. Soviet’s main purpose was to take complete control of Germany in order to form a real communist government. Stalin did not want the western countries to play their role in the revival of Germany. He was also against the formation of a democratic form of government in Germany. These were the reasons why Soviet Union and the Western allies became separated in the issue, which led towards further separation in the form of construction of the wall of Berlin between Eastern and western parts of Germany. The soviets had two major reasons for starting the battle of Berlin. First major reason was that Stalin had no trust on the western allies and he thought that the western countries would handover the occupied territory. That was the reason why Stalin wanted to carry out a major attack on East Germany. Russia wanted to take control of the soviet zone as strongly as possible but that could not have been possible without gaining the control of Berlin. Berlin was the heart of Germany and it was necessary to occupy Berlin while attempting to gain control of whole Germany. So Stalin ordered his forces to target Berlin in order to gain complete control of the country. Another reason of the battle was Adolf Hitler’s interest in the nuclear programme. Hitler wanted to start German nuclear programme in order to protect Germany from the outside forces. Stalin wanted to stop Germany from becoming another atomic power because in that case, Germany would have become a real threat not only for the neighboring countries but also for the whole world. Hitler wanted Germany to be the strongest country of the whole Europe. His intentions were not to start a peaceful nuclear proramme rather he had the intentions to occupy European countries by threatening them with the presence of nuclear weapons. So in order to stop Germany from progressing on the nuclear programme, it became necessary for the Soviet Union to crush the aims of Hitler forcefully. German forces showed some resistance initially but they could not do much to save Berlin because of the huge difference between the military equipment of both sides. There was a great importance of the battle of Berlin for the super powers of that time. Both Soviet Union and Germany wanted to end the world war with a huge success but the fortune favored the Soviets. Although Soviet Union gained control of most parts of Germany, they failed to show good governance in Germany. A large number of rape and murder cases took place all over Germany. Some studies reveal that almost 100000 rape cases took place only in the city of Berlin. These kind of incidents injected negative feelings for the soviet soldiers in the minds of the civilians. Soviet government was not interested in giving the control of Germany back to the German people. Russia wanted to be in control of whole Germany in order to form a communist government, whereas the western allies, which included the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and France, wanted to from a democratic government in Germany. It was due to the increased tensions between the Soviet Union and the Western countries that Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, blocked all road and rail access to the city of Berlin in 1948. “This sudden and unexpected move led to a major U.S. operation known as the Berlin Airlift, in which supplies were flown into the city for almost a year” (Byrnes). The post war actions of the Soviet Union forced western countries to stand up against Soviet aggression in Europe. The American, French, and British zones merged in 1947 in order to launch a combined movement against Russian aggression towards Germany. The goal of the western allies was to revive Germany and to make it a democratic country but the Soviet Union resisted their efforts to do so because the Soviets wanted Germany to follow its own example and become a communist nation. Summing it up, the battle of Berlin brought an end to the World War II. The battle of Berlin was of great importance not only for the Soviet Union but also for the Germany because both of the countries wanted to be victorious at the end of the World War II. Germany was becoming a great threat to the European countries, so in order to keep Germany away from invading other countries, Soviet Union decided to attack and disarm Germany. The attack became successful which not only ended in the victory of the Soviet Union but also marked an end to the World War II. References Byrnes, Rebecca. “The Berlin Blockage.” Suite101.com, accessed Jan. 21, 2011. http://www.suite101.com/content/the-berlin-blockade-a59841 Davies, Norman. “How we didn't win the war . . . but the Russians did.” The Sunday Times, Nov. 05, 2006, accessed Jan. 21, 2011, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article625175.ece Hickman, Kennedy. “Cold War: Berlin Airlift.” About.com, accessed Jan. 21, 2011. http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/aerialcampaigns/p/berlinairlift.htm Simkin, John. “Battle of Britain.” Spartacus Educational, accessed Jan. 21, 2011. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWbritainB.htmm Read More