Wes Frank
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Masters in American History from Northwestern UniversityOct 10
Why was World War II over when the Reichstag was liberated?
It wasn’t.

World War II ended in Europe when the remains of the German government
surrendered on May 7, 1945. The officers below had the authority to
order all of the German forces on the continent and at sea to surrender
to whichever allied forces were within reach. A second ceremony was held
on May 8 in Berlin, which was already in Soviet hands.

Japan did not call for terms until August 15, 1945. This resulted in an
immediate ceasefire between Japan and the Western Allies, which helped
protect both Allied POWs from execution and Asian civilians from random
atrocities. Note that this was the primary reason the Allies agreed to
protect Emperor Hirohito from prosecution for war crimes. Only he had
the effective authority to order the Japanese armies on the mainland to
cease their military activities in a conflict which was still claiming
eight thousand lives a day.

Soviet forces continued to attack the Japanese in China, Korea, and
Northern Japan for several weeks to gain territory they could claim
after the war. These little-known battles resulted in hundreds of
thousands of deaths in spite of the end of fighting elsewhere. The
formal surrender ceremony was held on September 2, 1945, after which the
Western Allies landed occupation forces in Japan.

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