Eisenhower And Berlin, 1945: The Decision To Halt At The Elbe

Features of Eisenhower and Berlin, 1945: The Decision to Halt at the Elbe

In the final months of World War II, with the Allied forces streaming into Germany on two fronts, a major decision had to be where to draw a stop line to prevent an accidental clash between the Russian and the Anglo-American armies. Behind this decision lay another. Whose forces would be the first to reach Berlin? General Dwight Eisenhower, supreme commander of the British and American armies, chose to halt at the Elbe River and leave Berlin to the Red Army. Stephen E. Ambrose describes both the political and the military aspects of the situation, sketches the key players, explains the alternatives, and considers the results. In so doing he focuses a sharp light on a decision that had major consequences for the postwar world.