On 30 April 1945, Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Nazi Germany, died by suicide in his bunker beneath the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, as Soviet troops closed in on the devastated city. His death marked the symbolic collapse of the Third Reich and set in motion the final days of the Second World War in Europe.
With Berlin under siege and German defeat inevitable, Hitler appointed Admiral Karl Dönitz as his successor before taking his own life alongside his long-time partner Eva Braun, whom he had married the day before. Just over a week later, on 8 May 1945, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces — a date now commemorated as Victory in Europe (VE) Day.
The death of Hitler did not bring immediate peace, but it signalled the end of one of history’s deadliest regimes. In the war’s aftermath, Europe faced immense destruction, millions of displaced people, and the grim task of uncovering the horrors of the Holocaust. The Nuremberg Trials, beginning later that year, sought justice for crimes against humanity and laid the foundations for modern international law.
Globally, the consequences of the Second World War were vast. The world order was reshaped with the rise of the United States and the Soviet Union as superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War. Germany was divided, Europe was rebuilt under the Marshall Plan, and former colonies around the world began their push for independence, transforming the global political landscape.
Featured photo source: Getty images
Also read: ON THIS DAY: Italian dictator Benito Mussolini is executed (1945)
