The Berlin Offensive is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest battle in history. It lasted from April 16 to May 2, 1945. During the operation the Red Army occupied Berlin, which led to the unconditional surrender of Germany. Here are some images of just how the final push looked to those who fought in it.

On both sides, the battle involved about 3.5 million men, 52,000 guns and mortars, 7,750 tanks and 11,000 airplanes.

The troops of the 1st Belorussian, 2nd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts were to take Berlin. The goal of the operation was not only the capture of the German capital, but also the complete surrender of the combat-ready units of the Third Reich.

The quick capture of Berlin was strategically important, because part of the German top brass began negotiations with the USSR’s allies to conclude a separate peace deal behind the back and in spite of the Soviet Union.

In the photo: the gun crew of the 76-millimeter ZiS-3 divisional cannon of Guards sergeant-officer N. P. Nefedov firing on the outskirts of Berlin.

According to agreements with the Allies, the border of the Soviet zone of occupation was to be 150 kilometers west of Berlin. In spite of this, Churchill proposed to outflank the Red Army and capture Berlin mostly using American muscle.

The operation lasted 17 days – from April 16 to May 2, 1945 – during which the Soviet troops advanced westward for a distance of 100 to 220 kilometers gained.

In the photo: a column of Soviet IS-2 heavy tanks on a Berlin street.

The Red Army had a threefold advantage on the ground in terms of tanks and more than twofold in aircraft in the sky.

The headquarters of the 1st Belorussian Front received an accurate model of Berlin to create a plan for its assault thanks to aerial photographs.

The German command anticipated the Soviet offensive and carefully prepared to repel it. Berlin was turned into a powerful defensive fortress.

On April fourteenth, Soviet advance parties conducted reconnaissance to calculate enemy firing points. Sappers built 25 bridges and 40 ferry crossings over the Oder River.

In the photo: Soviet machine gunners M. Tretyakov and P. Karmakov fire a Maxim machine gun during the street battles for Berlin.

On April twenty-fifth, the ring around Berlin closed shut. The capital of Germany was stormed by six armies of the 1st Belorussian and three armies of the 1st Ukrainian Fronts, with up to 460,000 men, 1,500 tanks and self-propelled vehicles, 12,700 guns and mortars.

By the evening of April 28, units of the 3rd Shock Army reached the Reichstag. And although the first banner on the roof of the Reichstag was hoisted on the same day, its garrison capitulated only on the night of May 2.

In the photo: rifle divisions of the 3rd Shock Army advancing through the streets of Berlin to the Reichstag.

During the first hour of the morning on May 2, radio stations of the 1st Belorussian Front received a message in Russian: “We ask you to cease fire. We are sending parliamentarians to the Potsdam Bridge”. At 6 a.m. on May 2, the commander of the Berlin defense, General Weydling, with three generals, gave up and signed the surrender order.

The Berlin operation led not only to the fall of the capital of the Third Reich, but also to the demoralization and surrender of part of the Nazi top brass that remained alive.

Hundreds of thousands of people were liberated from German captivity, among them at least 200,000 citizens of foreign countries.

The Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet established the medal “For the capture of Berlin”, which was awarded to more than one million soldiers. Over 600 participants of the operation were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In the photo: Lieutenant Kuzma Dudeyev, commander of the 1st battery of the 1115th howitzer artillery regiment of the 172nd howitzer artillery brigade of the 14th artillery division of the 6th artillery breakthrough corps of the RGK, and senior sergeant Ivan Andreev, commander of the 2nd mortar company of the 1373rd rifle regiment of the 416th rifle division, hoisting the Red Banner on the quadriga of the Brandenburg Gate in the defeated Berlin.