General Patton was prohibited to liberate the capital Praha

The last day of WWII in 1945 were full of complicated events. The history of liberating of Czech territory is split between two armies - the Red Army coming from East and North and the American army of general Patton.

George Patton was probably the most feared American general but at the end of World War II he had to respect the decisions of politicians. He survived the greatest conflict of the war by only a few months. He died in December 1945  from injuries sustained in a car accident.

American General George Patton was one of the most famous military leaders of World War II. Soldiers under his leadership fought in Africa or Italy, drove the Germans through France and halted the Ardennes Offensive. However, the man whose troops liberated the western part of Czechoslovakia also had dark sides and not every colleague could get along with him. 

The general sprang into action in July 1944 and set an unprecedented pace. His basic strategy was to attack and his tanks only stopped when they ran out of fuel. "My troops don't dig trenches," claimed Patton, whose troops captured more ground and neutralized more enemy forces. He became most famous in December 1944, when the Germans surprised the Allies with a sudden offensive in the Ardennes.
His 3rd Army fought its way to western Bohemia, where it liberated Pilsen on May 6, 1945. After that, however, the Americans were stopped on the line Karlovy Vary - Pilsen - České Budějovice - Linec. Patton, who at other times could ignore orders, respected his old friend and protector Eisenhower.

 
Map of Czech Republic showing the line were gen.Patton stopped in the first days of May 1945

The main task of Patton´s army was not the liberation of Bohemia, but the protection of the left flank of American soldiers advancing into Austria. Even the later outbreak of uprisings in Prague and in other places of the protectorate Bohemia and Moravia did not change anything, the order was respected by the somewhat wayward Patton.

On April 25, Patton was ordered to secure the borders of pre-war Czechoslovakia up to the border with Austria. American troops began to penetrate deeper into Czechoslovak territory.
Winston Churchill wrote a letter to American President Truman on April 30 and demanded the liberation of Prague by the Western allies. However, Truman replied that the Soviets were already preparing an attack on the Vltava river.
This time Churchill gave in, but on the night of May 3-4 he again asked Eisenhower for the liberation of Prague. The next day 5th May 1945, the Prague Uprising broke out in Prague.

 Americans setting free Plzeň

The demarcation line, which set the advance of the allied armies from west to east and from east to west, was originally drawn along the route of the borders of Bavaria and Czechoslovakia and was only subsequently moved somewhat further east. It enabled the further advance of the Americans, who arrived at this line earlier than the Red Army, which had to overcome the fierce resistance of the Germans on a much larger territory. 

Plzeň (Pilsen) was set free by American soldiers on 6th May 1945. However the Prague Uprising broke out on May 5, 1945 in the capital city of Prague. The Czech National Council (ČNR) issued a statement on the end of the Protectorate and on the assumption of government and executive power.

When the Nazis began to move reinforcements, including tanks, to Prague, the radio asked the allied troops for help. The report was also repeated in French, English, Russian, and thus the news about the armed uprising in Prague also reached Europe. The Prague Uprising continued till 9th May when after four o'clock in the morning, Lelyušenko's first tanks of Red Army arrived in the center of Prague.

For Czechoslovakia the WWII ended on 9th May 1945.

              Thanks for reading

                                                    Margaret

Source: seznam.cz