Line of Contact marked the farthest advance of Canadian , American , British and Soviet Armies into German controlled territory at the End of World War II in Europe . ( In general " Line of Contact " refers to the demarcation between any two armies , or more , and this contact can be between belligerent or between allied armies . ) This contact began with the first meeting between Soviet and American forces at Torgau , near the Elbe river on Elbe Day , April 25 , 1945 . The line continued to form as American , British and Soviet forces took control of , or defeated , Nazi forces , up until the time of the May 8 unconditional surrender of Germany and beyond . This line of contact did not conform to the agreed-upon occupation zones , as stipulated in the Yalta Conference . Rather , it was simply the place where the two armies met each other . The Canadian , American and British forces had actually gone far beyond the Yalta agreement boundaries , in some cases up to two hundred miles past , going deep into the states of Mecklenburg , Saxony-Anhalt , Saxony , as well as Brandenburg . The capital of Mecklenburg , the city of Schwerin , was captured on May 2 , 1945 . The city of Leipzig , in Saxony , was probably the largest of the cities captured by the Americans that were inside the areas to be later passed to the Soviets . The land of Thuringia was completely occupied by American forces . The completed line of contact between Canadian/US/British forces and Soviet forces began at Wismar on the Baltic coast and proceeded south , passing along Schwerin ; Magdeburg ; an area east of Leipzig ; and on to the Czech town of Pilsen ; and towards Linz in Austria
Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
Line of contact