The Fall of Berlin and the Raising of the Iron Curtain

Today (May 1st) 74 years ago the Soviet Union took Berlin after days of brutal fighting and dramatically changed human history into a direction which would affect the world for the next 5 decades.

After Hitler brilliant idea of invading the soviet union backfired he prepared another plan. His Endsieg German for Ultimate Victory would win the Germans the war. Simultaneously push the allies from Europe and halt the Soviet advance and be a testament to the power of the German Reich which would still be victorious; it was beyond delusional. Hitler and his Staff began preparing but they made a fatefull mistake.

Endsieg Began with the reallocation of Panzer units and infantry from the eastern front to the western front to prepare for an Arden offensive which would be known as the battle of the bulge. This was taken because Hitler along with other generals believed that inferior Russians would be incapable of breaking the German lines. They did not even put fortifications on the Vistula river to the east and within weeks of launching the Arden offensive the Russian where marching to Berlin. The fighting was fierce but on may, 1st Berlin was captured and the flag was raised over the destroyed Reichstag and eastern Europe belonged to the soviet union.

The Fall of Berlin to the Soviets deeply disturbed the allies as Winston Churchill had a deep distrust and hatred of Stalin and believed that there would not be free elections and of course this ended up being true. All land occupied by the Soviets in world war two became part of the Warsaw pact and puppet states which would define American foreign policy to Europe for decades to come and created an iron curtain through Europe.