Victory in Europe Day
Victory in Europe Day (
VE Day) was
May 8,
1945, the date when the Allies during the
Second World War formally celebrated the defeat of
Nazi Germany and the end of
Adolf Hitler's
Reich. On that date, massive celebrations took place, notably in
London, where over a million people celebrated in a carnival atmosphere the end of the European war, though rationing of food and clothing was to continue for a number of years. In London crowds massed in particular in Trafalgar Square and up the Mall to
Buckingham Palace, where King
George VI and Queen
Elizabeth, accompanied by the
Prime Minister,
Winston Churchill, appeared on the balcony of the Palace to cheering crowds. (Princess
Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth II) and her sister, Princess
Margaret were allowed to wander anonymously among the crowds and take part in the celebrations in London).
The Allies had agreed to mark May 9, 1945 as VE day, but western journalists broke the news of Germany's surrender prematurely, precipitating the earlier celebration. The Soviet Union, with greater press control, kept to the agreed date, and Russia and other countries still commemorate the end of the Second World War, known as the Great Patriotic War in the erstwhile Soviet Union and Russia, on May 9.
The Allied victory over Japan was known as VJ Day.