Berlin: The Downfall, 1945 - Anthony Beevor

INTRODUCTION

I have previously read Stalingrad by the author Antony Beevor, and found it disturbing and yet compelling reading and this was how I ended up reading Berlin. Stalingrad covers the World War Two siege of the Soviet city of Stalingrad from both sides in great detail, and Berlin is in a similar vein. The excellent documentary series The World At War only hints at what is detailed in this book in the episode "Nemesis", ...
...about what happened will find what they want here.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

World War Two started in 1939 with the invasion of Poland and Czechoslovakia by Germany under the Nazi rule of Adolf Hitler, drawing Europe into conflict. However, the ideological enemies the Soviet Union and Germany had a secret pact of non-aggression which divided Poland once the Nazis invaded, and Soviet leader Stalin was confident that they would ... more

INTRODUCTION

I have previously read Stalingrad by the author Antony Beevor, and found it disturbing and yet compelling reading and this was how I ended up reading Berlin. Stalingrad covers the World War Two siege of the Soviet city of Stalingrad from both sides in great detail, and Berlin is in a similar vein. The excellent documentary series The World At War only hints at what is detailed in this book in the episode "Nemesis", so anyone who watched that and wants to know more about what happened will find what they want here.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

World War Two started in 1939 with the invasion of Poland and Czechoslovakia by Germany under the Nazi rule of Adolf Hitler, drawing Europe into conflict. However, the ideological enemies the Soviet Union and Germany had a secret pact of non-aggression which divided Poland once the Nazis invaded, and Soviet leader Stalin was confident that they would keep out of matters. He didn't predict Operation Barbarossa in 1941 when the Nazis opened war on 2 fronts by invading the Soviet Union, and this led to some of the most brutal behaviour by any conquerors in human history. However, over the course of the next couple of years, the Soviets regrouped and gradually regained their lost territory, and by spring 1945 were well ensconced in the Third Reich and on their way to their ultimate objective - the capture of the Nazi capital.

Berlin covers the events of spring 1945, when the Soviet Red Army advanced into the heart of the Third Reich, Berlin. These events would prove to be Hitler's undoing and would ultimately lead to the division of Germany by the allies into Western and Eastern spheres of influence. Germany would continue to be divided in ideology and barbed wire until the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, and to this day former East Germans are in some way struggling to adapt and catch up with their more prosperous Western compatriots. It is very scary that far right ideology is very appealing to some of these "Ossis" (as East Germans are sometimes known in Germany - "Wessis" being the equivalent term for West Germans) after all it ultimately did to them only a couple of generations ago.

VIEWPOINTS GIVEN

The book contains many first hand accounts from both sides regarding the battle for Berlin, and goes into great detail about how the Soviets planned and executed the attack, and correspondingly how the German defenders regrouped and fared in their ever decreasing territory. It uses eye witness accounts, as well as letters home from soldiers at the front, and historical literature, and even personal diaries of some of the ordinary soldiers, civilians, commanding officers and politicians, to paint a vivid picture of the realities of the situation for all concerned.

THE RACE FOR BERLIN

Neither side covers itself in glory in many ways; I read how Stalin actively encouraged his two commanders, Konev and Zhukov, to race to Berlin to see who could reach there first. This would cost many lives as each general jealously raced the other to their ultimate objective - the storming of the Nazi headquarters, the Reich Chancellery, under which Hitler hid in his bunker. Just as many lives were wasted by their enemy, ordered to fight to the end by their fuhrer.

It is incredible to read just how cheap life was in many ways to the top brass on both sides. Hitler was determined that all of Germany would die with him, an insane fantasy tying up the fate of all Germany with his own. As far as he was concerned, all the good soldiers had died and nothing of note remained. Zhukov and Konev seemed far more preoccupied with getting to Berlin as fast as they could over how many lives of their own men could be spared.

TOTAL WAR

The Nazis became increasingly desperate towards the end, and I also read how many German lives were wasted in defending a hopelessly lost cause. Men either too old or unfit for the army formed the "Volksturm" home guard. Boys of 13 or 14 from Hitler Youth would be forced into action with "panzerfaust" anti tank weapons, and exalted to sacrifice themselves for the glory of the fuhrer and the Reich. Both groups would be forced into battle on pain of death, and there are accounts of the many hangings of people who refused to do so. Their reactions ranged from the fanatical to the terrified. Nazi top brass would order hopeless counter attacks that would be suicide missions for the old men and boys pushed into battle, "Total War" being the term used for this mobilisation of every male possible. Add to this SS troops from places such as France, Sweden, Norway, Latvia, and even an SS unit of Bosnian Muslims who were, incredibly, great favourites of Himmler; by this time racial theory had somewhat given way to grim pragmatism. Some volunteers were from occupied territories fighting to the death now that their countries had been liberated from fascism and there was nowhere to turn. These fanatical anti Bolsheviks believed in fighting the Soviets until the end.

THE INDOCTRINATION OF TOTALITARIAN REGIMES

As you read the book it's very noticeable that the Germans fear of the Soviets is a product of propaganda as much as the very real fear of reprisals for the regime's crimes in the East. Taught to consider them as "sub-human", the German army and populace ultimately preferred to surrender to the Western Allies for fear of harm. In turn, the Soviets anti fascist propaganda and the exaltations of the Soviet authorities to seek revenge for their homelands destruction gave Red Army soldiers the pretext to behave how they liked. When both sides realised that the enemy was human after all, it caused bewilderment all round.

THE ATROCITIES FROM ALL SIDES

What I am most struck by is the sheer horror. On both sides, heroism and self sacrifice to save others is contrasted with deplorable behaviour even in the context of two sworn enemies fighting it out. Accounts of Nazi SS soldiers executing anyone they perceived as deserters, even firing at civilian houses displaying white flags or surrender is chilling. It is also disturbing to hear of Red Army soldiers indulging in apparently wanton destruction, killing and raping of the civilian population, and attacking any buildings or people they constituted as a threat; understandable perhaps, when German soldiers sometimes waved white flags only to open fire with machine guns. But even their own liberated citizens could be maltreated, with cases of rape reported from Soviet women liberated from the slave labour work they had been transported to Germany for.

THE FURHER BUNKER

To hear accounts of what it was like to be in the Fuhrer bunker under the Reich Chancellery at the end is fascinating. Beevor delves into this almost parallel universe, where Hitler and his acolytes dreamt of ultimate victory, repelling the Russians at the gates of Berlin. Only at the very end does Hitler realise the hopelessness of the situation, and it's interesting to read about the unwavering devotion of some and the self preservation instinct of others present, as well as the various politicking and some very personal anecdotes into Hitler's behaviour and state of mind.

THE DECEPTION OF THE WEST

More subplots appear in the story. The deception of the Western Generals is also of note. Stalin was paranoid that the Americans and British would reach Berlin before him, and deliberately deceived them of his intent to take Berlin, insisting that he was in fact bypassing it. After all that the Soviet people had suffered at the hands of the Third Reich (and the personal embarrassment this caused him, more likely) he was determined that this was a prize that would be his alone.

It is amazing to read how trusting of Stalin US President Roosevelt was, and the lengths he went to accommodate and appease him, with UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill more wise to the wiles of Stalin, sharing a mutual antipathy with the Soviet leader. Examples of the Western allies giving full details of planned operations and troops movements, with virtually no reciprocation of this from the Soviets make you ponder how they made effective allies at all with such machinations at the very highest level.

Add to this intrigue The Manhattan Project - the Americans' experiments with trying to produce a nuclear weapon. The Germans were also conducting experiments at the time, and capturing the facilities in Berlin that contained uranium and heavy water, in the area which would be in the Western sphere of influence of the city, and thus had to be secretly dismantled and removed before the Western allies arrived.

A GLIMPSE OF HUMANITY

Not all is hopeless though, and accounts of German Army Generals ignoring orders and saving their men, as well as the kindles shown to the population by some Red army soldiers, giving up some of their rations to starving women and children, show that spontaneous displays of basic humanity can appear in the most unlikely of circumstances.

THE AFTERMATH

In the broken city, black marketing prevailed over a defeated, starving populace, and the squalid conditions are described. It it also important to note how, with victory secured, Stalin presided over yet more persecutions of the Germans suspected as spies and informers, and even his own Red Army troops guilty of "anti Soviet statements". Many people on both sides would continue to pay a high price for the war. Beevor again does not shy away from this reality, with more detailed accounts of this sad ending to the story. For example, 135,056 Red Army soldiers were convicted for "counter revolutionary crimes". These were soldiers who had fought and were prepared to die for their Motherland; but Stalin's paranoia knew no bounds and anyone who had been captured by the Germans were viewed with suspicion. Over 1.5 million of Red Army prisoners of war were sent to gulags (forced labour camps). Even the Soviet civilians captured by the Nazis were "potential enemies of the state" to be watched closely.

PHOTOS

Photographs included in the booklet convey some of the destruction and suffering. Pictures of the shattered city during the Red Army advance are shown, as well as images of the German defence. They are very stark images indeed in places.

CONCLUSION

It cannot be overstated that without the sacrifice of the Red Army the victory may not have been possible, and although many shortcomings in their invasion are demonstrated here, there is no denying the debt of gratitude we all owe them in their brave, selfless actions in those momentous months of late spring 1945. This book really makes you understand what was at stake and how the various events played out from protagonists of every kind, from every viewpoint.

Beevors' style makes compelling reading; eye witness accounts of all kind, as well as interspersing his own opinion. It is a hard book to read, and for sure you need to give it you full attention. The minutiae of the army terminology, and names of towns and rivers fought over etc might leave you a little lost at times, but the overall narrative is utterly compelling and it's fascinating to see in great detail the various political and military minds at work; the Soviet paranoia with both the enemy and it's own people, and acquiescence to the will of Stalin; the German fanaticism of the doomed Nazis and SS troops, and the realism and growing rebelliousness of the regular German army, the Wehrmacht, against the senseless self sacrifice demanded in the death throes of the Nazi regime.

The horrors of war are explicitly described, from the soldier fighting in the rubble of Berlin with no water, body blackened with soot and rubble from the ruined city, to the Russian soldier writing home from the front predicting imminent victory, only to be killed the next day.

It just goes to show that, even in a just cause, there is right and wrong seen on both sides, and that war is seldom a black and white issue; there are victims everywhere. This book will have you empathising with and yet condemning all in varying degrees.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Antony Beevor is a former Britsh Army officer, serving for 5 years with the 11th Hussars. He is a visiting professor at the school of history, classics and archaeology at Birkbeck, University of London, and was educated at Winchester College and Sandhurst. He studied under the famous historian of World War II, John Keegan. "Berlin" and "Stalingrad" are his best known books, Berlin has been criticized in Russia for it's content relating to atrocities committed by the Red Army, the Russian ambassador to the UK amongst it's critics.

BOOK INFORMATION

Author: Antony Beevor
Paperback: 528 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (4 Oct 2007)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0141032391
ISBN-13: 978-0141032399
Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 3.4 cm 

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