Prague rising

Prague rising, part of a general rising against the Germans in Bohemia and Moravia which resulted in the last large-scale fighting in Europe. It began with strikes in nearby towns, and on 5 May 1945 Prague's population rose against the German garrison as Red Army troops of Marshal Konev's First Ukrainian Front (army group), and Lt-General Patton's Third US Army, approached from the east and west respectively. The Czech government-in-exile in London appealed for help from the western Allies but Eisenhower, who had agreed with the Soviets not to advance beyond a certain point, refused to allow Patton to help. Karl Frank, the real power behind Frick, the Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, also appealed for reinforcements and Dönitz sent two divisions to help the garrison, which was without tanks or artillery. But on 8 May these reinforcements were stopped by the 1st Division of General Vlasov's army which deserted from the German side to help the Czechs. They also cleared the remaining Germans from the capital before withdrawing, the following day Konev's troops entered Prague, and the Germans finally surrendered on 11 May (see German–Soviet war, 11).