Victory in Europe Day

Victory in Europe Day - known as V-E Day or VE Day was the public holiday celebrated on 8th May 1945 to mark the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, thus ending the war in Europe. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not until 9th May 1945. The act of military surrender was signed on 7th May in Reims, France, and on 8th May in Berlin, Germany.

Upon the defeat of Germany (Italy having already surrendered on September 8th 1943 ), celebrations erupted throughout the Western world. From Moscow to New York, people cheered. In the United Kingdom, more than one million people celebrated in the streets to mark the end of the European part of the war. In London, crowds massed in Trafalgar Square and up The Mall to Buckingham Palace, where King George VI and Queen Elizabeth(the Queen Mother) , accompanied by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, appeared on the balcony of the Palace before the cheering crowds. Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth II) and her sister Princess Margaret were allowed to wander incognito among the crowds and take part in the celebrations

Winston Churchill waves to crowds in Whitehall
on the day he broadcast to the nation
the war with Germany was over. 

In the United States, the victory happened on President Harry S. Truman's 61st birthday.He dedicated the victory to the memory of his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died of a cerebral haemorrhage less than a month earlier, on 12th April. Flags remained at half-staff for the remainder of the 30-day mourning period. President Truman said of dedicating the victory to Roosevelt's memory and keeping the flags at half-staff that his only wish was "that Franklin D. Roosevelt had lived to witness this day." Later that day, Truman said that the victory made it his most enjoyable birthday.


As the Soviet representative in Reims had no authority to sign the German instrument of surrender, the Soviet leadership proposed to consider Reims surrender as a "preliminary" act. The surrender ceremony was repeated in Berlin on May 8th, where the instrument of surrender was signed by supreme German military commander Wilhelm Keitel, by Georgy Zhukov and Allied representatives. Since the Soviet Union was to the east of Germany, it was May 9th Moscow Time when the German military surrender became effective, which is why Russia and most of the former Soviet republics commemorate Victory Day on 9th May instead of 8th May.

The instrument of surrender signed at Reims on 7th May 1945

Commemorative public holidays (May 8th unless otherwise stated)

United Kingdom - 1995 May Day Bank Holiday was moved from the first Monday in May to 8th May, for that year only, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the ending of the Second World War.

East Germany as Tag der Befreiung (Day of Liberation), a public holiday from 1950 to 1966 and in 1985. Between 1975 and 1990, as Tag des Sieges (Victory Day (May 9)).

France as Victoire 1945

Slovakia as Deň víťazstva nad fašizmom (Victory over Fascism Day)


Czech Republic as Den vítězství (Day of Victory) or Den osvobození (Day of Liberation)

Norway as "Frigjøringsdagen" (Liberation Day) (8th May)

Denmark (5th May) as "Befrielsen" (The Liberation)

Netherlands (5th May) as "Bevrijdingsdag" (Liberation Day)

Ukraine (9th May) Victory Day

Russia (9th May) "День победы" (Victory Day)

British Channel Islands Liberation Days: Jersey and Guernsey (May 9th), Sark (May 10th)






.