How did world war ii end and what were the terms of settlement?

Complete unconditional surrender of Germany. Answer There were no terms. Germany, Italy and Japan all surrendered unconditionally. Michael Montagne The below, while valid, has nothing to do with the end of World War 2 Actually The treaty discussed below _is_ generally held to be relevant. Traditionally, a duly declared war ends in two stages: firstly, the ceasefire, which has conditions attached; secondly, there is a peace treaty. The peace treaty comes later and is intended to provide a settlement. In the case of Germany at the end of World War 2 the terms for the ceasefire were unconditional surrender. However, the Cold War made a conventional peace treaty settling Germany's new frontiers and so on impossible till after 1989. Joncey Treaty 1990 In September 1990, three weeks before German reunification, a treaty was signed between (1) Poland (for some sections only), Britain, France, the USSR and the USA and (2) the two German states, on the understanding that most of it would only come into effect if later ratified by the parliament of a united Germany. The key elements were: 1. Recognition of the Oder-Neisse Line as definitive. 2. Germany undertook not to seek any change to its borders (other than unification) and that German borders were not to be put on any international agenda. 3. The overall manpower of the German Armed Forces not to exceed a total of 370,000. This is widely regarded as the nearest thing to a peace treaty between the Allies and Germany. (A conventional treaty was impractical in view of the changes in status of many countries since 1945. For example, most British and French colonies had become independent in the meantime). The reason for the very long delay between the end of WW2 and this "peace treaty" was the division of Germany into two states in 1949 and the continuation of this division by the Cold War. Japan, which wasn't divided, got a peace treaty with the U.S. in 1951. It's useful to distinguish between the end of fighting and the later settlement usually in the form of a peace treaty