By: HISTORY.com Editors

1945

U.S. and Russian armies meet at Torgau, signaling imminent German defeat

Published: November 05, 2009

Last Updated: May 27, 2025

On April 25, 1945, eight Russian armies completely encircle Berlin, linking up with the U.S. First Army patrol, first on the western bank of the Elbe, then later at Torgau. Germany is, for all intents and purposes, Allied territory.

The Allies sounded the death knell of their common enemy by celebrating. In Moscow, news of the link-up between the two armies resulted in a 324-gun salute; in New York, crowds burst into song and dance in the middle of Times Square.

Among the Soviet commanders who participated in this historic meeting of the two armies was the renowned Russian Marshal Georgi K. Zhukov, who warned a skeptical Stalin as early as June 1941 that Germany posed a serious threat to the Soviet Union. Zhukov would become invaluable in battling German forces within Russia (Stalingrad and Moscow) and without. It was also Zhukov who would demand and receive unconditional surrender of Berlin from German General Krebs less than a week after encircling the German capital. At the end of the war, Zhukov was awarded a military medal of honor from Great Britain.

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Citation Information

Article title
U.S. and Russian armies meet at Torgau, signaling imminent German defeat
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
August 07, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
May 27, 2025
Original Published Date
November 05, 2009

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