Le discours radiodiffusé du général de Gaulle
annonçant la Victoire aux Français
le 8 mai 1945 à 15 heures

 « La guerre est gagnée ! Voici la victoire !
   C'est la victoire des Nations Unies et c'est la victoire de la France !
   L'ennemi allemand vient de capituler devant les armées alliées de l'Ouest et de l'Est.
   Le commandement français était présent et partie à l'acte de capitulation.
   Dans l'état de désorganisation où se trouvent les pouvoirs publics et le commandement militaire allemand, il est possible que certains groupes ennemis veuillent çà et là prolonger pour leur propre compte une résistance sans issue.
   Mais l'Allemagne est abattue et elle a signé son désastre.
   Tandis que les rayons de la gloire font, une fois de plus, resplendir nos drapeaux, la Patrie porte sa pensée et son amour d'abord vers ceux qui sont morts pour elle, ensuite vers ceux qui ont, pour son service, tant combattu et tant souffert.
   Pas un effort de ses soldats, de ses marins, de ses aviateurs, pas un acte de courage ou d'abnégation de ses fils et de ses filles, pas une souffrance de ses hommes et de ses femmes prisonniers, pas un deuil, pas un sacrifice, pas une larme n'auront donc été perdus !
   Dans la joie et dans la fierté nationales, le peuple français adresse son fraternel salut à ses vaillants alliés qui, comme lui, pour la même cause que lui, ont durement, longuement prodigué leurs peines ; à leurs héroïques armées et aux chefs qui les commandent, à tous ces hommes et à toutes ces femmes qui, dans le monde, ont lutté, pâti, travaillé pour que l'emportent, à la fin des fins, la justice et la liberté.
   Honneur ! Honneur pour toujours à nos armées et à leurs chefs !
   Honneur à notre peuple que des épreuves terribles n'ont pu réduire ni fléchir !
   Honneur aux Nations Unies qui ont mêlé leur sang à notre sang, leurs peines à nos peines, leur espérance à notre espérance et qui, aujourd'hui, triomphent avec nous.
   Ah ! Vive la France ! ».

Le discours radiodiffusé du Président Truman
annonçant la Victoire au peuple américain

Broadcast to the American People
Announcing the Surrender of Germany
May 8, 1945
Delivered from the Radio Room
at the White House at 9 a.m.

    THIS IS a solemn but a glorious hour. I only wish that Franklin D. Roosevelt had lived to witness this day. General Eisenhower informs me that the forces of Germany have surrendered to the United Nations. The flags of freedom fly over all Europe.
   For this victory, we join in offering our thanks to the Providence which has guided and sustained us through the dark days of adversity.
   Our rejoicing is sobered and subdued by a supreme consciousness of the terrible price we have paid to rid the world of Hitler and his evil band. Let us not forget, my fellow Americans, the sorrow and the heartache which today abide in the homes of so many of our neighbors-neighbors whose most priceless possession has been rendered as a sacrifice to redeem our liberty.
   We can repay the debt which we owe to our God, to our dead and to our children only by work--by ceaseless devotion to the responsibilities which lie ahead of us. If I could give you a single watchword for the coming months, that word is-work, work, and more work.
   We must work to finish the war. Our victory is but half-won. The West is free, but the East is still in bondage to the treacherous tyranny of the Japanese. When the last Japanese division has surrendered unconditionally, then only will our fighting job be done.
   We must work to bind up the wounds of a suffering world-to build an abiding peace, a peace rooted in justice and in law. We can build such a peace only by hard, toilsome, painstaking work-by understanding and working with our allies in peace as we have in war.
   The job ahead is no less important, no less urgent, no less difficult than the task which now happily is done.
   I call upon every American to stick to his post until the last battle is won. Until that day, let no man abandon his post or slacken his efforts. And now, I want to read to you my formal proclamation of this occasion : 

«  A Proclamation -
The Allied armies, through sacrifice and devotion and with God's help, have wrung from Germany a final and unconditional surrender. The western world has been freed of the evil forces which for five years and longer have imprisoned the bodies and broken the lives of millions upon millions of free-born men. They have violated their churches, destroyed their homes, corrupted their children, and murdered their loved ones. Our Armies of Liberation have restored freedom to these suffering peoples, whose spirit and will the oppressors could never enslave.
   Much remains to be done. The victory won in the West must now be won in the East. The whole world must be cleansed of the evil from which half the world has been freed. United, the
peace-loving nations have demonstrated in the West that their arms are stronger by far than the
might of the dictators or the tyranny of military cliques that once called us soft and weak. The power of our peoples to defend themselves against all enemies will be proved in the Pacific war as it has been proved in Europe.
   For the triumph of spirit and of arms which we have won, and for its promise to the peoples everywhere who join us in the love of freedom, it is fitting that we, as a nation, give thanks to Almighty God, who has strengthened us and given us the victory.
   Now, therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, do hereby appoint Sunday, May 13, 1945, to be a day of prayer.
   I call upon the people of the United States, whatever their faith, to unite in offering joyful thanks to God for the victory we have won, and to pray that He will support us to the end of our present struggle and guide us into the ways of peace."I also call upon my countrymen to dedicate this day of prayer to the memory of those who have given their lives to make possible our victory."In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed ».

L'annonce de la Victoire par le Premier ministre Churchill
à la radio et devant la Chambre des Communes

The End of the War in Europe
May 8, 1945
 Broadcast, London, and House of Commons

   German armed forces surrendered unconditionally on May 7. Hostilities in Europe ended officially at midnight, May 8. 1945.
   Yesterday morning at 2:41 a.m. at Headquarters, General Jodl, the representative of the German High Command, and Grand Admiral Doenitz, the designated head of the German State, signed the act of unconditional surrender of all German Land, sea, and air forces in Europe to the Allied Expeditionary Force, and simultaneously to the Soviet High Command.
General Bedell Smith, Chief of Staff of the Allied Expeditionary Force, and General Francois Sevez signed the document on behalf of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, and General Susloparov signed on behalf of the Russian High Command.
   To-day this agreement will be ratified and confirmed at Berlin, where Air Chief Marshal Tedder, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, and General de Lattre de Tassigny will sign on behalf of General Eisenhower. Marshal Zhukov will sign on behalf of the Soviet High Command. The German representatives will be Field-Marshal Keitel, Chief of the High Command, and the Commanders-in- Chief of the German Army, Navy, and Air Forces.
   Hostilities will end officially at one minute after midnight to-night ( Tuesday, May 8 ), but in the interests of saving lives the « Cease fire » began yesterday to be sounded all along the front, and our dear Channel Islands are also to be freed to-day.
   The Germans are still in places resisting the Russian troops, but should they continue to do so after midnight they will, of course, deprive themselves of the protection of the laws of war, and will be attacked from all quarters by the Allied troops. It is not surprising that on such long fronts and in the existing disorder of the enemy the orders of the German High Command should not in every case be obeyed immediately. This does not, in our opinion, with the best military advice at our disposal, constitute any reason for withholding from the nation the facts communicated to us by General Eisenhower of the unconditional surrender already signed at Rheims, nor should it prevent us from celebrating to-day and to-morrow ( Wednesday ) as Victory in Europe days.
   To-day, perhaps, we shall think mostly of ourselves. To-morrow we shall pay a particular tribute to our Russian comrades, whose prowess in the field has been one of the grand contributions to the general victory.
The German war is therefore at an end. After years of intense preparation, Germany hurled herself on Poland at the beginning of September, 1939; and, in pursuance of our guarantee to Poland and in agreement with the French Republic, Great Britain, the British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations, declared war upon this foul aggression. After gallant France had been struck down we, from this Island and from our united Empire, maintained the struggle single-handed for a whole year until we were joined by the military might of Soviet Russia, and later by the overwhelming power and resources of the United States of America.
   Finally almost the whole world was combined against the evil-doers, who are now prostrate before us. Our gratitude to our splendid Allies goes forth from all our hearts in this Island and throughout the British Empire.
We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing; but let us not forget for a moment the toil and efforts that lie ahead. Japan, with all her treachery and greed, remains unsubdued. The injury she has inflicted on Great Britain, the United States, and other countries, and her detestable cruelties, call for justice and retribution. We must now devote all our strength and resources to the completion of our task, both at home and abroad.
   Advance, Britannia !
   Long live the cause of freedom !
   God save the King !

   After making his broadcast announcement of Germany's unconditional surrender, Churchill read the same statement to the House of Commons shortly afterwards and added.

   That is the message which I have been instructed to deliver to the British Nation and Commonwealth. I have only two or three sentences to add. They will convey to the House my deep gratitude to this House of Commons, which has proved itself the strongest foundation for waging war that has ever been seen in the whole of our long history. We have all of us made our mistakes, but the strength of the Parliamentary institution has been shown to enable it at the same moment to preserve all the title-deeds of democracy while waging war in the most stern and protracted form. I wish to give my hearty thanks to men of all Parties, to everyone in every part of the House where they sit, for the way in which the liveliness of Parliamentary institutions has been maintained under the fire of the enemy, and for the way in which we have been able to persevere-and we could have persevered much longer if need had been-till all the objectives which we set before us for the procuring of the unlimited and unconditional surrender of the enemy had been achieved. I recollect well at the end of the last war, more than a quarter of a century ago, that the House, when it heard the long list of the surrender terms, the armistice terms, which had been imposed upon the Germans, did not feel inclined for debate or business, but desired to offer thanks to Almighty God, to the Great Power which seems to shape and design the fortunes of nations and the destiny of man; and I therefore beg, Sir, with your permission to move :
   That this House do now attend at the Church of St. Margaret, Westminster, to give humble and reverent thanks to Almighty God for our deliverance from the threat of German domination.
This is the identical Motion which was moved in former times.

This is Your Victory
May 8, 1945
Ministry of Health, London

   During the celebrations that followed the announcement of the end of the war in Europe, Churchill and his principal colleagues appeared on the balcony of the Ministry of Health in Whitehall, and made two brief speeches to the vast crowd. After the words « This is your victory » the crowd roared back, « No-it is yours ». It was an unforgettable moment of love and gratitude.

   God bless you all. This is your victory ! It is the victory of the cause of freedom in every land. In all our long history we have never seen a greater day than this. Everyone, man or woman, has done their best. Everyone has tried. Neither the long years, nor the dangers, nor the fierce attacks of the enemy, have in any way weakened the independent resolve of the British nation. God bless you all.

To V-E Day Crowds
May 8, 1945 London

   My dear friends, this is your hour. This is not victory of a party or of any class. It's a victory of the great British nation as a whole. We were the first, in this ancient island, to draw the sword against tyranny. After a while we were left all alone against the most tremendous military power that has been seen. We were all alone for a whole year.
   There we stood, alone. Did anyone want to give in ?
[ The crowd shouted « No.» ]
    Were we down-hearted ?
    [ « No ! » ]
   The lights went out and the bombs came down. But every man, woman and child in the country had no thought of quitting the struggle. London can take it. So we came back after long months from the jaws of death, out of the mouth of hell, while all the world wondered. When shall the reputation and faith of this generation of English men and women fail ? I say that in the long years to come not only will the people of this island but of the world, wherever the bird of freedom chirps in human hearts, look back to what we've done and they will say « do not despair, do not yield to violence and tyranny, march straightforward and die if need be-unconquered ». Now we have emerged from one deadly struggle-a terrible foe has been cast on the ground and awaits our judgment and our mercy.
   But there is another foe who occupies large portions of the British Empire, a foe stained with cruelty and greed-the Japanese. I rejoice we can all take a night off today and another day tomorrow. Tomorrow our great Russian allies will also be celebrating victory and after that we must begin the task of rebuilding our heath and homes, doing our utmost to make this country a land in which all have a chance, in which all have a duty, and we must turn ourselves to fulfill our duty to our own countrymen, and to our gallant allies of the United States who were so foully and treacherously attacked by Japan. We will go hand and hand with them.    Even if it is a hard struggle we will not be the ones who will fail.