Victory in Europe Day or Victory Day for World War II?

End Date for World War Two?

The White House issued a proclamation on World War Two the other day. This is actually a normal thing in May.  After all, Victory in Europe Day is May 8, commemorating the surrender of Nazi Germany to the allies.  

However, the statement issued by President Trump gets the history wrong. Not surprising for an admitted non-reader who seems to know little about actual history.  In his statement proclaiming May 8 of this year as “Victory Day for World War II,” President Trump completely leaves out any reference to America’s Pacific War against Japan.  This is beyond odd. Very fierce combat remained in Asia and in the Pacific before Japan was brought to heel.  Now, had he proclaimed a special “Victory in Europe Day,” that would be historically accurate. After all, VE Day has been a thing since, literally, victory in Europe on May 8, 1945. 

Declaring that World War Two ended on May 8, leaves out the contributions and sacrifices of millions of U.S. military personnel who were still fighting and dying in Asia and the Pacific against Japan for three more months. I am pretty sure that if my grandfather, a Navy veteran of the Pacific Theater in World War Two was still alive, he would have a thing or two to say about this!

In the first sentence of this proclamation, it recognizes that May 8 was “the end of World War II in Europe,” but later goes on to proclaim the day as “Victory Day for World War II.”  This statement issued by the White House is not even internally consistent with itself.  

For the record, the “end dates” for World War Two that affect the U.S., are as follows:

May 8, 1945: Victory in Europe Day–this is when Germany surrendered.

August 15, 1945: The Emperor of Japan announced Japan’s surrender. This is VJ Day in the UK.

September 2, 1945: Victory Over Japan Day as celebrated in the U.S. This is the day that Japan formally signed the surrender documents on board the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Harbor.

February 10, 1947: The Paris Peace Treaties signed by the Allied Powers and the Axis allies of Italy, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria ended the official state of war involving those nations.

September 8, 1951: Treaty of San Francisco signed by the Allied Powers (minus the Soviet Union) and Japan formally ended the war when the treaty took effect on April 28, 1952. The Allied occupation of Japan ended on that date in 1952.

May 5, 1955: The Allied occupation of West Germany ended with the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany).  Berlin remained under official Allied occupation until 1990.

September 12,  1990: The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (also known as the Two Plus Four Agreement) formally ended the Allied occupation of Germany (in reality, of Berlin and East Germany) and allowed the reunification of Germany.

By the way, in his Truth Social post on May 1, 2025, President Trump also said he is renaming November 11 to “Victory Day for World War One.”  His post basically ignores the fact that that day is already Veterans Day. Not sure what to make of that.

The fact he is bringing these important dates in American history to public notice is great! The more history, the better!  But unilaterally (and without Congressional voting on changing anything), renaming already established historical events not appropriate.