3rd Squad
United States Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy
Advanced Leader Course
Prior to the battle, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin believed Berlin was one of the key terrain features of World War II. Stalin feared that the British would beat the Soviets to the city with UK Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s 21st Army Group that was advancing from Holland into Northern Germany. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower believed that Hitler was fleeing south towards Austria, which led to the decision to plan for an offensive attack by the U.S. 9th Army in the Ruhr and then the advancement eastwards towards the Erfurt-Leipzig-Dresden line. Simultaneously, the 21st Army Group was charged to guard the north while the 6th Army Group would protect the south, with the idea that they could cut off the Soviet’s near Dresden and split Germany in half. All of these developments with each respected party is was led to the Battle of Berlin.
The Battle for Berlin all but marked the end of World War II in Europe. The battle was a long and very devastating one. It was thought to be a pretty short battle, but an overlook at the events will leading up to the actual battle will show that the whole situation is a lot more complex. It really started on 22 June 1944 when a Soviet army …show more content…
The Red Army gave significant efforts to rebuild the city and shelter people who lost their homes. The allies came to an agreement that was signed causing the city to divide into four sectors. Each sector had an occupying power: the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. Conflict of interest prevailed between the victorious factions causing Berlin to be a central point of the upcoming Cold War. Even after seven decades, scars from the war still exist in the city of