The Capitulation of Germany. The Collapse of Grand Admiral Dönitz's Regime. 1945

By the spring of 1945, it had become evident that the death of the Third Reich was inevitable. Masses of refugees poured from the east to the west of Germany. Allied bombings turned cities into ruins and ashes, with civilian casualties reaching 600,000. The situation within the country was catastrophic. Lines of communication had almost completely ceased to function, cargo transportation had dropped to a minimum, and three-quarters of industrial capacity had been destroyed. Disappointment and despair reigned everywhere.

Since the beginning of the Soviet offensive, no one in Germany could imagine how to win or even dream of victory in this war… Based on documentary materials, the renowned military historian Marlize Steinert analyzes the process of the rapid decline of the Third Reich, the actions, hopes, and thoughts of the political and military leaders serving the regime, in which the ugly idealism and excessive imperial ambitions were so strangely combined.