Churchill also worried about political ramifications—in particular, how Russia would perceive its role in the war effort if it captured Berlin, and what that could mean for their future dealings. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage less than two weeks later. And Eisenhower, who had been keeping his options open, even after the telegram to Stalin, ultimately decided that beating Russia to the finish line was simply too costly. General Omar Bradley had warned that it might cost the U. Berlin was looking to him like more a prestige get than a strategic one.
Years later, speaking to the British journalist Alistair Clarke in the late s, Eisenhower justified his decision—one many historians considered the most controversial of his career. The U. It would have been a terrible mess. Allowing the Russians first passage into Berlin, however, had other costs. Truman, a man in whom FDR rarely confided, takes the oath as president. Understandably, he relies on the counsel of his military advisers.
Although Churchill leans heavily upon his British chiefs of staff, they cannot persuade their American counterparts that Berlin should be captured. Then Eisenhower reverses himself and orders a drive on Berlin. He does so because rumors of the National Redoubt have been debunked by Allied intelligence reports, rendering a thrust into Bavaria pointless. American forces therefore need a new objective. The change of plan has risks. It may antagonize the Soviets politically, and it carries the chance that the Allied and Soviet forces will mistakenly clash, con verting political distrust into military dis aster.
But Ike assures Stalin that he wants to assist in what will be a bloody struggle for the heart of Nazi Germany. Resistance is heavy but not extreme. Continuing the pattern of recent months, German troops prefer to surrender to the western Allies rather than the Soviets.
Indeed, some within the Nazi government entertain the fantasy that the Allies are rushing to aid them in their struggle to save western civilization from the Bolshevik hordes.
Then a stream of Cs land at the airport, disgorge supplies and reinforcements, execute degree turns, and depart. A detour of more than km became necessary because the Soviets declared the bridge unsafe, although it had been previously tested and determined to be passable by U.
In order to set up military government organizations, the Western powers requisitioned real estate as, for example, the former Luftwaffe district headquarters Luftgaukommando III in Berlin-Zehlendorf which became the U.
Practical information. And Eisenhower was determined to avoid clashes at all costs. While eight Soviet armies fought their way into Berlin, the British in north-west Germany, far from the centre of events, pushed on to Bremen. They occupied it on 27 April after a five-day battle. But then news arrived that the Red Army was making a dash for Denmark ahead of him.
In May Soviet foreign minister Molotov brutally informed Edward Stettinius, the American secretary of state, that they had been charged with the murder of members of the Red Army, a preposterous accusation. Further indications of communist repression in Poland convinced Churchill that something had to be done.
The offensive should take place by 1 July , before Allied troops were demobilised or transferred to the Far East. Although the discussions were conducted in great secrecy, one of the Whitehall moles reporting to Beria, the Soviet police chief, heard of them. He sent details to Moscow of the instruction to Montgomery to gather up captured German arms in case they were needed to re-arm Wehrmacht troops.
The Soviets, not surprisingly, felt that their worst suspicions had been confirmed. Operation Unthinkable, as even Churchill called it, was a mad enterprise. And the Americans would surely have rejected the plan. Churchill, the greatest war leader Britain has ever produced, was forced to face the fact that his impoverished country had lost almost all its power and influence in a dramatically changed world.
Britain had helped liberate the western half of Europe at the cost of abandoning the eastern half to a Soviet dictatorship that would last for another 44 years. Sign in. Back to Main menu Virtual events Masterclasses.
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