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[[File:Depiction of Soviet flag over the Reichstag.jpg|right|415px|thumb|V-E Day depiction of the Soviet flag raised over the [[Reichstag]]. The original black and white photograph had been touched with color added by Soviet artists.]]

[[File:Depiction of Soviet flag over the Reichstag.jpg|right|415px|thumb|V-E Day depiction of the Soviet flag raised over the [[Reichstag]]. The original black and white photograph had been touched with color added by Soviet artists.]]

'''Victory Day''' commemorates the victory over [[Nazi Germany]] by the [[Soviet Union]] and its [[Allies of World War II]] in 1945. In [[Russia]], Victory Day remains the largest national holiday celebrated on May 9, when German forces surrendered to Russian forces in the German capital of [[Berlin]].  On May 9, shortly after midnight [[Moscow]] time Field Marshal [[Wilhelm Keitel]] signed the surrender document to the Russian forces in Berlin.

'''Victory Day''' commemorates the victory over [[Nazi Germany]] and its [[European]] allies by the [[Soviet Union]] in 1945. In [[Russia]], Victory Day remains the largest national holiday celebrated since German forces surrendered on May 9, shortly after midnight ([[Moscow]] time}. Field Marshal [[Wilhelm Keitel]] signed the surrender document to the Russian forces in the German capital of [[Berlin]].

Upon the death of [[Hitler]] and [[Goebbels]], Grand Admiral [[Karl Dönitz]] was appointed Chancellor (the short-lived Flensburg government). Dönitz immediately opened up negotiations with the [[Western alliance|Western Powers]] to offer [[Germany]]'s unconditional surrender. Dönitz authorized General [[Alfred Jodl]] to sign an unconditional surrender before midnite on May 8 to American and British forces in [[Reims]], France.  The Western Powers had previously agreed with their [[Soviet]] allies not to accept a separate peace.  During the [[Cold War]], '''V-E Day''' or '''Victory in Europe''' day was marked as May 8 in [[the West]].  Gen. [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] however, Commander of Allied Forces in France, recognized the May 9 Berlin surrender as the authentic surrender date and document.

Upon the death of [[Hitler]] and [[Goebbels]], Grand Admiral [[Karl Dönitz]] was appointed Chancellor (the short-lived Flensburg government). Dönitz immediately opened up negotiations with the [[Western alliance|Western Powers]] to offer [[Germany]]'s unconditional surrender. Dönitz authorized General [[Alfred Jodl]] to sign an unconditional surrender before midnite on May 8 to American and British forces in [[Reims]], France.  The Western Powers had previously agreed with their [[Soviet]] allies not to accept a separate peace.   

May 9 has been a national holiday in the [[Russian Federation]] since its formation in 1991. May 9 became a non-working holiday in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1963 and only two years later in the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic in 1965.

During the [[Cold War]], '''V-E Day''' or '''Victory in Europe''' day was marked as May 8 in [[the West]].  Gen. [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] however, Commander of Allied Forces in France, recognized the May 9 Berlin surrender as the authentic surrender date and document.

 

May 9 became a non-working holiday in the Ukraine Soviet Socialist Republic in 1963 and only two years later in the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic in 1965. May 9 was recognized as an national holiday by the [[Russian Federation]] in 1991 when it ascended as the predecessor regime to the Soviet Union.

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