Victory in Europe Day

> “The German Government and the German people are unanimous in their will to pursue a policy of peace, of conciliation and understanding, as a basis of all decisions and of every action. The German Government and the German people therefore reject force as an unserviceable means for the removal of existing differences within the community of European States. The German Government and the German people renew their profession that they will gladly concur in every actual disarmament of the world together with the assurance of their willingness to destroy the last German machine-gun and to discharge the last man from the army in so far as the other peoples decide to do the same.”
>
> Führer der Nation, Chancellor of Germany, **Adolf Hitler**, 1933

## Triumph Day

It is not truth that matters, but victory.

### Official Name

Day of Triumph of the Crusade Against Bolshevism

### Other Names

Victory Day, Victory Against the Soviet Union Day, Day of Triumph Against Bolshevism

## Observance Details

### Observed By

**European states**
**National holiday:** (January 31)
 European Confederation
 Greater Germanic Reich
 Federation of France
 Kingdom of Italy
**Observances:** (January 31)
 Republic of Finland
 Republic of Turkey
Others: see list below

### Related To

End of the Second World War, Peace in Europe

The **Victory in Europe Day**, officially known as the **Day of Triumph of the Crusade Against Bolshevism** (German: *Tag des Triumphs des Kreuzzugs gegen den Bolschewismus*), is the day celebrating the formal declaration of victory by the Tripartite Pact of World War II on Wednesday, 31 January, 1945. The day marks the Wehrmacht's accomplishment of fulfilling the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan Line, and is seen as the official end of the war. Despite being considered the official end of the war, no actual peace treaties were signed between the Axis belligerents and the Soviet Union. The celebration is partially due to the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the lack of recognition for any of its successor states by the Germans. Several other countries observe public holidays on the day each year, which is also called Victory Over Bolshevism Day, Victory Against the Soviet Union Day, or Liberation Day. In Germany, it is often nicknamed "Triumph Day", or "Day of Triumph".

The declaration was specified as 23:00 Central European Time, or 00:00 Eastern German Time in the eastern Reichskommissariats, which was already February 1, an entirely different month. Some Germans in the Eastern Territories celebrate it on the latter date.

The European Confederation has officially recognized 31 January as a national holiday, marking it as a time of renewed peace, and the end of hostilities of the Second World War. Although conflicts continued elsewhere such as in Yugoslavia and Eastern Europe, the day has come to be associated with Adolf Hitler's speech "Eternal Peace in Europe", a call for world peace which was internationally celebrated.

## German & European symbols associated with Triumph Day

### **Banner of Victory**

The **Victory Banner** (German: *Siegesbanner*), also known as the **Königsberg Banner**, refers to the German military banner raised by the German soldiers on the Kremlin building in Moscow on 31 January 1945. Its original version was made during the First Battle of Moscow by soldiers who created it upon capturing Moscow, which depicted it with an Honour Cross that marked the end of the war as 1941. However, the original version was lost when German soldiers withdrew from the city on Hitler's orders. Later, Hitler's personal assistant Heinz Guderian was informed of the banner, and ordered the surviving men of the First Battle of Moscow to recreate it immediately preceding the Second Battle of Moscow. Although the German Army captured Arkhangelsk earlier on the 27th of January, the 1st Infantry Division of the 18th Army of Army Group North only returned to German-occupied Moscow on the 30th.

The Germanic inscription on the banner reads: "*1. Infanteriedivision, Königsberg, Großkreuz Schlageter, XXVI. Armeekorps, 18. Armee, Heeresgruppe Nord.*", which is translated to "*1st Infantry Division, Königsberg, Grand Cross of Schlageter, XXVI Army Corps, 18th Army, Army Group North*". On the banner, a symbol of a German military award is seen, The Honour Cross of the World War 1939/1945. The 1st Infantry Division was also the first division to reach the City of Arkhangelsk, thereby ending the German Campaign in the East.

### **The Honour Cross of the World War**

The **Honour Cross of the World War 1939/1945** (German: *Das Ehrenkreuz des Weltkrieges 1939/1945*), was proposed earlier in 1944, following the success of capturing Astrakhan. Although the war would not end until January, crosses were being handed out as early as December of 1944, as the German government foresaw the inevitable defeat of the opposition forces in the former Soviet Union, and the imminent cessation of hostilities.