[[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]] and its [[List of Axis Powers|European allies]] by the [[Soviet Union]] in 1945. <ref>[https://youtu.be/xhr3mVQ1jYo Victory Day In Russia - Why 9 May Is So Important For Russians?]</ref> In [[Russia]], Victory Day remains the largest national holiday celebrated since German forces surrendered on May 9, shortly after midnight (12:43 midnight [[Moscow]] time or 10:43 PM Berlin time). Field Marshal [[Wilhelm Keitel]] signed the surrender document to the Russian forces in the German capital of [[Berlin]].
At the [[Teheran Conference]], the Angelo-American Powers agreed with the Soviet Union not to accept a separate peace. Upon the death of [[Hitler]] and [[Goebbels]], Grand Admiral [[Karl Dönitz]] was appointed Chancellor (the short-lived Flensburg government). Dönitz immediately attempted to negotiate a separate peace with the Angelo-American forces. Dönitz authorized General [[Alfred Jodl]] to sign an unconditional surrender with the Angelo-American forces before midnite on May 8 in [[Reims]], France. 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.