Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
V-E Day
References
Images
On This Day: May 8 Large crowd fills Times Square in New York City celebrating V-E Day, with people standing and confetti scattered on the street among tall buildings and billboards.
Britannica AI Icon

V-E Day

World War II [1945]
Also known as: Victory in Europe Day
Written by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

Quick Summary

Large crowd fills Times Square in New York City celebrating V-E Day, with people standing and confetti scattered on the street among tall buildings and billboards.
V-E Day celebration in Times Square People celebrating in Times Square, New York City, on V-E Day, May 8, 1945.

V-E Day, or Victory in Europe Day, marks the unconditional surrender of Nazi German forces to the Allies on May 8, 1945, signifying the end of World War II in Europe. This followed a relentless Allied advance from both the west, with the Normandy landings opening a second front, and the east, with the Soviet Red Army pushing German forces back.12

As Allied armies converged on Berlin, Adolf Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945. The German surrender was formalized, bringing an end to the European conflict. The term "V-day" itself signifies a day of victory.2134

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
5 Britannica Sources
  1. 70th Anniversary of V-E Day
  2. 20th-century international relations - The final Allied agreements
  3. World War II: Top Questions
  4. V-day
  5. World War II - The German collapse, spring 1945

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.