<Li> Raids on the Atlantic Wall </Li> <Li> Battle of Atlantic </Li> <P> The Western Allied invasion of Germany was coordinated by the Western Allies during the final months of hostilities in the European theatre of World War II . In preparation for the Allied invasion of Germany, a series of Offensive Operations were designed to seize and capture the east and west bank of the Rhine River . Operation Veritable and Operation Grenade in February 1945, and Operation Lumberjack and Operation Undertone in March 1945 . Allied invasion of Germany started with the Western Allies crossing the Rhine River on 22 March 1945 before fanning out and overrunning all of western Germany from the Baltic in the north to Austria in the south before the Germans surrendered on 8 May 1945 . This is known as the "Central Europe Campaign" in United States military histories . </P> <P> By early 1945, events favored the Allied forces in Europe . On the Western Front the Allies had been fighting in Germany with campaigns against the Siegfried Line since the Battle of Aachen and the Battle of Hurtgen Forest in late 1944 and by January 1945 had pushed the Germans back to their starting points during the Battle of the Bulge . The failure of this offensive exhausted Germany's strategic reserve, leaving it ill - prepared to resist the final Allied campaigns in Europe . Additional losses in the Rhineland further weakened the German Army, leaving shattered remnants of units to defend the east bank of the Rhine . On 7 March, the Allies seized the last remaining intact bridge across the Rhine at Remagen, and had established a large bridgehead on the river's east bank . During Operation Lumberjack, Operation Plunder and Operation Undertone in March 1945, German casualties during February - March 1945 are estimated at 400,000 men, including 280,000 men captured as prisoners of war . </P>

Which invasion led to the end of german resistance in western europe