THE FALL OF BERLIN 🏁 In April 1945 the Red Army closed in on the capital of the The

In April 1945, the greatest invasion force in history stood at the gates of a single city: two and a half million soldiers, more than six thousand tanks, forty-one thousand guns. In their way stood a ruined capital defended by old men and children, barricaded street by street. This is the story of the Battle of Berlin — not the bunker, but the battle. The thunder of twenty thousand guns on the Order. The searchlights of Seelow Heights. The ring that closed around the city on the 25th of April. House-to-house fighting through the ruins. The flak towers that refused to fall. And the red banner raised over the Reichstag. Sixteen days. One city. The last, bloodiest chapter of the war in Europe. CHAPTERS 0:00 Introduction — The Gates of a Single City 0:39 Chapter 1: The Gates — Seelow Heights 2:53 Chapter 2: The Ring Closes 4:33 Chapter 3: Street by Street 7:08 Chapter 4: The Reichstag 8:04 Chapter 5: The Surrender IMAGE CREDITS (all via Wikimedia Commons — public domain unless noted) Soviet tank column advancing through a Berlin street, May 1945 — Public domain Berlin bomb damage, RAF aerial photograph, Friedrichshain–Lichtenberg, 1945–47 — Public domain (Crown Copyright expired) Soviet sappers building a pontoon bridge across the Oder — CC BY 4.0 Soviet artillerymen firing in a Berlin suburb, 1945 — Public domain Soviet soldiers running to the attack on a Berlin street, 1945 — Public domain German MG position, Berlin 1945 (Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1995-081-13A) — CC BY-SA 3.0 DE Soviet infantry advancing in Brandenburg, April 1945 — Public domain T-34-85 tanks of the 7th Guards Tank Corps in a Berlin suburb, 1945 — Public domain Battle of Berlin encirclement map (Battle of Berlin 1945-b) — CC BY-SA 4.0 "East Meets West": Lt. William Robertson and Lt. Alexander Silvashko at Torgau, 25 April 1945 (NARA) — Public domain Column of German prisoners of war on a Berlin street after the battle — Public domain Refugees with carts returning to Berlin, May 1945 — Public domain Volkssturm with anti-tank weapon before Berlin (Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1985-092-29) — CC BY-SA 3.0 DE German boy among the ruins of Berlin, 1945 — Public domain Street fighting in Berlin, 1945 (Temin) — CC BY 4.0 Soviet 203mm B-4 howitzer firing on a Berlin street, 1945 — CC BY 4.0 Gun platform on the Humboldthain flak tower, Berlin 1943 — Public domain General Vasily Chuikov at his observation post during the Seelow Heights battle — CC BY 4.0 The Reichstag building destroyed during the Soviet assault — Public domain Soviet assault group with banner moving toward the Reichstag — CC BY 4.0 Soviet soldiers raising the banner over the Reichstag — Public domain General Helmuth Weidling, last commander of Berlin's defence, surrendered 2 May 1945 — CC BY 4.0 Soviet soldier bandaging a wounded Berliner, May 1945 — Public domain Red banner raised on the Quadriga of the Brandenburg Gate — Public domain ARCHIVAL VIDEO CLIPS (all via Wikimedia Commons, public domain, visually verified) Colour aerial flight over destroyed Berlin, 1945 — from "Flug über das zerstörte Berlin 1945 (in Farbe), Teil 1" Soviet troops crossing the Oder by boat; artillery firing; tanks advancing; street fighting, April 1945 — from the Soviet documentary "Berlin" (1945) President Truman announces the German surrender, 8 May 1945 — from "The War Ends in Europe" (U.S. Office of War Information) Music: original synthesized bed.