War has played a key role in the history of the United States, from the nation's founding

right down to the present. War made the U.S. independent, kept it together, increased its

size, and established it as a global superpower. Understanding America's wars is essential for understanding American history.

Welcome to Key Battles of American History,

a podcast in which we discuss American history through the lens of the most important battles of America's wars.

Here is your host, James Early.

Thank you. host, James Early. Hello and welcome back to Key Battles of World War II in Europe, our 10,000-foot survey of

the Second World War in Europe and the areas around it. I'm your host, James Early, as always.

And my co-host, as always, is Sean McIver.

In our last episode, we saw the Third Reich beginning to crumble, particularly in the east.

We saw the Soviet Army advancing hundreds of miles into the Balkans as well as into parts of Germany. We saw Germany lose many of its allies, or at least the nations that it controlled militarily,

everything from Finland to Hungary, to Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Yugoslavia.

And in this episode, we're going to bring the war to a conclusion so we're calling this episode

downfall crossing the odor and rine in the fall of berlin wow sean this is our 23rd episode

can you believe we've already brought the war to a close or we're about to at least yes in some ways

it feels like it's been a long time and otherwise it, other ways it feels

quick.

But, you know, that's the way life is.

So without further ado, let's get started.

But actually, before we get going, I want to take a minute to talk about the Netherlands.

We haven't talked a ton about the Netherlands.

Well, not since Market Garden, no.

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