Battle of Stalingrad began on July 17, 1942 and ended on February 2, 1943. According to the nature of the hostilities, it is divided into 2 periods: defensive, which lasted until November 19, 1942, and offensive, culminating in the defeat of the largest strategic enemy grouping in the interfluve of the Don and Volga.

The purpose of the offensive of the fascist troops in the summer of 1942 was to break through to the Volga and the oil-bearing regions of the Caucasus; capture Stalingrad - an important strategic and largest industrial point; cut communications linking the center of the country with the Caucasus; take possession of the fertile regions of the Don, Kuban and lower Volga.

On September 13, the enemy launched an assault on Stalingrad, intending to throw its defenders into the Volga with a powerful blow. Fierce battles broke out, especially in the area of ​​the station and for Mamaev Kurgan. There was a fight for every street, every block, every big building. The intensity of the fighting is evidenced by the fact that the station changed hands 13 times within two days.

In mid-November, the Germans occupied most of the city, but their offensive capabilities finally dried up. On November 19, 1942, an avalanche of fire and metal fell upon the enemy. Thus began the grandiose strategic offensive operation of the Red Army to encircle and destroy the enemy group near Stalingrad. On February 2, 1943, the encircled fascist troops were completely defeated.

The victory at Stalingrad marked a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War and had a decisive influence on the further course of the entire Second World War.

Battle of Kursk

The Battle of Kursk occupies a special place in the Great Patriotic War. It lasted 50 days and nights, from July 5 to August 23, 1943. In its bitterness and stubbornness of the struggle, it has no equal.

The general plan of the German command was to encircle and destroy the troops of the Central and Voronezh fronts defending in the Kursk region. If successful, it was supposed to expand the front of the offensive and return the strategic initiative.

To implement his plans, the enemy concentrated powerful strike groups, which numbered over 900 thousand people, about 10 thousand guns and mortars, up to 2700 tanks and assault guns, about 2050 aircraft. Big hopes were assigned to latest tanks"Tiger" and "Panther", Ferdinand assault guns, Focke-Wulf-190-A fighter aircraft and Heinkel-129 attack aircraft.

The Soviet command decided to first bleed the enemy strike groups in defensive battles, and then go on the counteroffensive.

The battle that began immediately took on a grandiose scope and was of an extremely tense character. Our troops did not flinch. They met the avalanche of enemy tanks and infantry with unprecedented stamina and courage. The offensive of the enemy strike groups was suspended. Only at the cost of huge losses did he manage to penetrate our defenses in some areas. On the Central Front - 10 - 12 km., On the Voronezh - up to 35 km.

Hitler's operation "Citadel" was finally buried by the largest oncoming tank battle near Prokhorovka in the entire Second World War. It happened on July 12th. 1200 tanks and self-propelled guns simultaneously participated in it from both sides. This battle was won by the Soviet soldiers. The Nazis, having lost up to 400 tanks during the day of the battle, were forced to abandon the offensive.

On July 12, the second stage of the Battle of Kursk began - the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops. On August 5, Soviet troops liberated the cities of Orel and Belgorod. On the evening of August 5, in honor of this major success, a victorious salute was given in Moscow for the first time in two years of the war. Since that time, artillery salutes have constantly announced the glorious victories of Soviet weapons.

On August 23, Kharkov was liberated. So the battle on the Kursk fiery arch ended victoriously. During it, 30 selected enemy divisions were defeated. The fascist German troops lost about 500,000 men, 1,500 tanks, 3,000 guns and 3,700 aircraft.

For courage and heroism, over 100 thousand soldiers - participants in the Battle of the Fiery Arc were awarded orders and medals. The Battle of Kursk ended with a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War.

By the summer of 1942, the fascist German command, unable to conduct offensive operations on the entire Soviet-German front, concentrated its efforts in the south with the aim of reaching the oil regions of the Caucasus and the fertile regions of the Don, Kuban, and Lower Volga. The fascist leadership also hoped that the victorious conclusion of the campaign would draw Turkey and Japan into the war against the USSR.

The Soviet leadership planned to consolidate and build on the success that the victory near Moscow had given. In the spring of 1942, Stalin decided to get ahead of Hitler, to achieve even then a radical change in the war. And to do this, strike in several places at once: near Leningrad, in Ukraine and in the Crimea.

The strategic decisions taken by Stalin were not based on sufficient knowledge of the situation at the front, the state of our troops and the actions of the enemy. There were neither favorable strategic conditions nor material prerequisites for conducting the 1942 campaign within the framework of several front-line offensive operations. The objections expressed by B. M. Shaposhnikov and G. K. Zhukov had no effect on Stalin.

The offensive of our troops in the Leningrad direction, in the Demyansk region, which began in early May 1942, did not reach its goal, and was stopped. True, the enemy suffered heavy damage. The offensive of the Crimean Front was not successful, the troops of which went on the defensive on May 8 and were then defeated by the Germans on the Kerch Peninsula. On May 19, the enemy captured Kerch. On July 4, after a 250-day defense, the enemy captured Sevastopol. Crimea was completely occupied.

On May 12, the offensive of the troops of the South-Western and Southern Fronts in the Kharkov region began, the Soviet troops were supposed to defeat the Kharkov grouping of the enemy, liberate the city and create conditions for a further offensive on Dnepropetrovsk. Until May 15, they managed to break through the enemy defenses and advance 18–50 km. However, later Soviet command made a number of mistakes, in particular, did not bring tank formations into battle, and could not build on the success of the offensive. On May 17, the Germans, having superiority in forces, struck at the rear of the troops of the South Western Front, who continued to advance on Kharkov, which extremely complicated the situation. Only in the afternoon of May 19, the commander-in-chief of the troops of the South-Western direction ordered to stop the offensive and go on the defensive on the southern flank. This delay led to the fact that on May 23 the troops of the army group "Kleist" united in the Balakliya area with the troops of the 6th German army. Almost the entire large group, located in the area of ​​​​the Barvenkovsky ledge, was surrounded. An attempt to release these troops by the forces of the 38th Army did not bring success. Breaking into small detachments, the Soviet troops tried to break out of the encirclement. Only about 22 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers were able to do this. According to German data, the losses of the Red Army in those days amounted to 240 thousand people, 2 thousand guns and 1250 tanks. Such a heavy defeat ended the successfully launched operation of the Soviet troops in the Kharkov region.

German troops got the opportunity to develop the offensive in the Caucasus and Stalingrad directions. A critical situation developed on the southern sector of the Soviet front. On the night of July 7, the troops of our two fronts began to retreat. The richest regions of the Don, Donbass fell into the hands of the enemy. On July 24, Rostov fell - the gates of the Caucasus. The road to Stalingrad was opened.

Our troops showed mass heroism. The rear increased assistance to the front. But the Battle of Stalingrad unfolded in incredibly difficult conditions. In the big bend of the Don, many divisions were surrounded, many thousands of soldiers were captured. Not everyone in the country understood how great the danger was. The strategic initiative again passed into the hands of the enemy. The situation of the summer of 1941 was repeated.

To save the day July 28th was accepted order number 227, popularly known as "No step back". In it, with the utmost clarity and truthfulness, all the drama of the situation was shown. At the same time, Stalin, in fact, accused all the fighters and commanders of "lack of discipline", although their vast majority showed courage and devotion to the Motherland. The order demanded: “Not a step back without an order from the high command á…ñ. Those who retreat from a combat position without an order from above are traitors to the Motherland. However, the prohibition of any withdrawal, including those justified by the interests of mobile warfare, led to new reckless losses.

According to the order, penal battalions were formed at the front for the first time (their total number never exceeded 1%), where they were to send medium and senior commanders and political workers, “guilty of violating discipline due to cowardice or instability, and put them in difficult sectors of the army in order to give they have the opportunity to atone for their crimes against the Motherland with blood ... ". The above document has another more cruel side: it proposed to organize barrage detachments behind the front line, which were supposed to open fire on units retreating without orders, based on the experience of the German army, where such measures had already taken effect. A heavy soldier's share fell on the fighters of the barrage detachments.

Considering the critical situation in which our army found itself in the spring and summer of 1942, I would like to dwell on one more "blank spot" in the history of the war. We are talking about the tragedy of the 2nd Shock Army of the Volkhov Front, which was surrounded near Novgorod. On July 12, the commander of the army, Lieutenant General A. A. Vlasov, surrendered and then led the infamous "Russian Liberation Army" (ROA), which was in the service of the Wehrmacht. The army abandoned by Vlasov with heavy losses nevertheless left the encirclement, but no less a tragedy for both the survivors and those who died in the "valley of death" near Novgorod was the shameful sign they received of "Vlasovites", "traitors".

It must be said that at this time, in the midst of the war, Stalin, feeling his weakness in organizing operations, and also under the influence of major setbacks in the south of the country, in 1942 offered G.K. Zhukov the post of Deputy Supreme Commander.

At a time when Soviet troops were fighting stubborn defensive battles near the walls of Leningrad, Moscow, off the banks of the Volga, in the foothills of the Caucasus, in the rear of our Motherland, they were preparing, multiplying forces for a strategic counteroffensive. As a result of the selfless labor of the Soviet people, by the middle of 1942, the restructuring of the entire national economy on a war footing was completed. By the middle of 1942, the USSR had a well-coordinated military economy, which ensured the production of military products on an increasing scale.

Using all the resources, the industry continuously expanded the production of products for the needs of the army. Its share increased from 26% (1940) to 66% (1942). In the spring of 1942, a broad rearmament of the army began. Frontal aviation air armies were being formed, which included fighter, assault, and bomber corps. During May-June, 6 such armies were formed. In July 1942, the first tank army was created, soon there were 5 of them.

The high efficiency of the military economy was ensured by the heroic labor of the Soviet people (for more details, see Topic 10). A significant contribution to creating the prerequisites for a radical change in the course of the war was made by many thousands of patriots fighting the invaders in the territory occupied by the enemy. The most striking form popular struggle partisan movement appeared behind enemy lines. In 1942 in partisan detachments about 220 thousand patriots fought. In Belarus at that time there were already 60 thousand partisans, united in 512 detachments. Here, since the end of 1941, partisan territories and zones began to be created.

One of the most important results of the nationwide struggle against the invaders in their rear was the diversion of significant enemy forces to the fight against partisans, underground organizations, and also to guard the most important objects of the German army. So, on October 1, 1943, according to the German General Staff of the Ground Forces, about 30 divisions of the Nazis and their allies were involved in the fight against partisans, the protection of important objects and the so-called pacification.

Thus, by the end of the first period of the war, thanks to the enormous efforts of the Soviet people, certain conditions were created for conducting major offensive operations. One of these operations was Stalingrad battle. It is divided into two main periods: defensive (July 17 - November 18, 1942) and offensive (November 19, 1942 - February 2, 1943.) . The troops of the Stalingrad, South-Western, South-Eastern, Don, left wing of the Voronezh fronts and the Volga military flotilla participated in it. For the offensive in the Stalingrad direction, the fascist German command first sent the 6th field, and from July 31 - the 4th tank army. The battle began on July 17, 1942 in unfavorable conditions for the Soviet troops. The enemy forces in the Stalingrad direction outnumbered the Red Army in personnel 1.7 times, in artillery and tanks - 1.3 times, in aircraft - more than 2 times.

The enemy tried to envelop the flanks of the Soviet troops in the big bend of the Don with enveloping blows to encircle them and break through to Stalingrad. As a result of the stubborn defense of the Soviet soldiers and the counterattacks of the formations of the tank armies, the enemy's plan was thwarted.

During the July and August battles on the distant approaches to Stalingrad, the time necessary to organize a reliable defense of the city was won. On July 14, martial law was declared in the Stalingrad region, and on August 25, a state of siege was declared in Stalingrad. In the second half of August, the Nazis managed to cross the Don, and on August 23 they broke through to the Volga north of Stalingrad and cut off the troops defending the city from the rest of the front forces.

By September 12, the enemy came close to the city. The period of the most fierce fighting began. They fought for every street, every house. The history of the Battle of Stalingrad included the names of Sergeant Ya. F. Pavlov, who, with 24 daredevils, defended the house for 58 days without giving it back to the Nazis; signalman V.P. Titaev, who, being mortally wounded, squeezed the broken ends of the wire with his teeth and restored communication; and many others.

During the period of defensive battles between the Volga and the Don, our troops exhausted and bled the Nazi forces. The enemy lost here up to 700 thousand people killed and wounded. By mid-November, the Nazis were forced to stop the offensive on the Volga.

Even during heavy defensive battles, Stavka Supreme High Command and General base began the development of an offensive operation, code-named "Uranus". Its goal was to encircle and destroy the enemy near Stalingrad.

By the beginning of the counteroffensive in the Stalingrad direction, the troops of the South-Western (Lieutenant General N.F. Vatutin), Don (Lieutenant General K.K. Rokossovsky) and Stalingrad fronts (Colonel General A.I. Eremenko) were deployed.

On November 19, the counteroffensive began with strikes by the troops of the Southwestern and Don Fronts northwest of Stalingrad. The next day, the armies of the Stalingrad Front dealt powerful blows. south of the city. They were supported by the 8th, 16th, 17th and units of the 2nd air armies. On November 23, they joined in the area of ​​​​the Soviet farm and the city of Kalach. The German troops of the 6th field and part of the 4th tank army were surrounded - 22 divisions and more than 160 separate units with a total of 330 thousand soldiers and officers. The liquidation of the encircled group was entrusted to the troops of the Don Front. To release the encircled forces, the German command created the Don Army Group, which consisted of about 30 divisions. But all her attempts to break into Stalingrad were in vain.

On December 16, 1942, an offensive was launched by the troops of the South-Western and left wing of the Voronezh fronts on the Middle Don. By the end of the month, they defeated the main enemy forces and advanced 150–200 km. This created favorable conditions for the liquidation of the Nazi troops encircled near Stalingrad. To avoid unnecessary bloodshed, the Soviet command offered the German side to capitulate. However, this proposal was rejected. Hitler categorically forbade surrender and demanded to fight to the last soldier. Thus, he doomed thousands of his soldiers to certain death.

After the enemy rejected the offer of surrender on January 10, 1943, the troops of the Don Front began to carry out the operation "Ring". She ended February 2, 1943 complete destruction of the enemy. During this period, over 91 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were taken prisoner, including over 2500 officers and 24 generals led by Field Marshal Paulus, about 140 thousand were killed during the offensive.

During the Battle of Stalingrad, which lasted 200 days and nights, the fascist bloc lost ¼ of the forces operating at that time on the Soviet-German front. The total losses of the enemy in killed and wounded, captured and missing amounted to about 1.5 million soldiers and officers, losses from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943 - over 800 thousand people, as well as up to 2 thousand tanks and assault guns, more than 10 thousand guns and mortars, about 3 thousand combat and transport aircraft. Hitler and his clique were compelled to acknowledge before the whole world the extent and significance of the damage inflicted. Three days of national mourning has been declared in Germany.

During the Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviet armed forces also suffered heavy losses. They amounted to 1129619 soldiers and officers, of which 478741 people were killed and died from wounds.

The victory in the Battle of Stalingrad was the result of the steadfastness, courage and mass heroism of the Soviet soldiers. Tens of thousands of soldiers and officers were awarded orders and medals, the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad" - more than 7900 thousand participants in the battle, 112 people were awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, Volgograd (former Stalingrad) was awarded the honorary title of Hero City.

Many of our countrymen fought courageously in the Battle of Stalingrad. So, the 62nd Army was commanded by the Belarusian General A.I. Lopatin, the deputy commander of the troops of the Stalingrad and Don fronts was General K.A. Kovalenko. The 17th Air Army was headed by General S. A. Krasovsky, the 5th Tank Army - by General A. I. Lizyukov (died on July 25, 1942). Rifle divisions in the Battle of Stalingrad were commanded by G. P. Isakov, A. I. Pastrevich. In the battles for Stalingrad, our countrymen received the title of Heroes of the Soviet Union - pilots N. I. Abramchuk, F. F. Arkhipenko, P. Ya. Golovachev, G. V. Ksendzov, I. G. Tomashevsky and others.

The victory of the Soviet Army at Stalingrad was of world-historical significance. What did it consist of? The Battle of the Volga made a huge contribution to achieving a radical turning point in the war and had a decisive influence on the further course of the entire Second World War. As a result of this victory, our Armed Forces wrested the strategic initiative from the enemy and held it until the end of the war. Conditions were created for the deployment of the general offensive of the Soviet Army and the mass expulsion of the Nazi invaders from the occupied territory of the Motherland. The victory at Stalingrad further raised the prestige of the Soviet Union and its armed forces, and was a decisive factor in the further strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition. Enslaved by fascist Germany, the peoples of Europe, who believed in a speedy liberation, intensified their struggle against the fascist German occupiers. The defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad was a serious moral and political shock for Nazi Germany, undermined the confidence in her of her satellites. Japan was forced to temporarily abandon plans for military action against the USSR. Among the ruling circles of Turkey, despite the pressure from Germany, the desire to maintain neutrality intensified.

The counter-offensive on the Volga was the prelude to the great offensive of the Red Army in the winter of 1942-1943. On the entire front from Leningrad to the Caucasus, a mass expulsion of the invaders from the Soviet territory they had captured began. On January 18, 1943, the Red Army broke through the blockade of Leningrad. The city received a direct rail link with the country. As a result of the winter offensive, an area of ​​480 thousand km 2 was liberated and an advance of 600-700 km was carried out. From the fascists were cleared North Caucasus, Voronezh, Stalingrad regions, Stavropol, Krasnodar regions.

Battle of Kursk In order to rectify the shaky situation on the eastern front, to achieve revenge for Stalingrad, the Nazi command decided in the summer of 1943 to launch a decisive offensive, this time in the Kursk region, where a kind of “arc” was formed - a large ledge facing the west. Preparing for an offensive in the Kursk region, Hitler carried out a total mobilization, replenishing his depleted regiments and even forming several new infantry and tank units. To carry out the operation, which Hitler's headquarters called "Citadel", in the region of Orel and Belgorod, huge forces were concentrated: 50 divisions (including 16 motorized tank divisions), numbering more than 900 thousand people. An important place in the enemy's plan was given to the use of new heavy tanks "Tiger" and medium "Panther", assault guns "Ferdinand", aircraft "Focke-Wulf 190-A" and "Heinkel-129".

The German command planned to encircle and destroy the Soviet troops with two counter attacks from the Orel and Kharkov regions to Kursk, and then defeat the forces of the Southwestern Front. After that, an attack was being prepared on the rear of the central group of Red Army troops, which would allow the German armies to launch an offensive against Moscow.

By the beginning of the battle, a powerful, deeply echeloned field defense was created on the Kursk salient, consisting of eight lines with a total depth of up to 300 km. All the trenches and communication passages dug here had a length of about 16 thousand km. Together with the soldiers, residents of the front-line regions took part in the defensive work. In June 1943, 300 thousand local residents worked on the construction of defensive lines in the zone of the Central and Voronezh fronts.

The Soviet command managed to unravel the enemy's plan in a timely manner. It decided to use a defensive operation to weaken the enemy strike groupings, and then go on the offensive along the entire southern sector of the front. The defense of the Kursk ledge was held by the troops of the Central and Voronezh fronts (commanders - army generals K.K. Rokossovsky, N.F. Vatutin). They numbered over 1 million 337 thousand people, about 20 thousand guns and mortars, more than 3300 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2500 aircraft. In the rear of the Central and Voronezh fronts, the Steppe Front was in reserve (commander - Colonel General I. S. Konev). The Western and Bryansk fronts were prepared for the counteroffensive (commanders - Colonel General, from August 27, 1943 Army General V. D. Sokolovsky and Colonel General, from August 26, 1943 Army General M. M. Popov). To coordinate the actions of the fronts, the Stavka sent its representatives to the area of ​​the Kursk Bulge: Marshals G.K. Zhukov and A.M. Vasilevsky.

Soviet intelligence established that the enemy offensive was scheduled for 3 o'clock on July 5 . All units were put on alert, the counter-artillery preparation of the Soviet artillery was ahead of the German. A fierce battle began. The main tank forces of both sides were involved, at least 4,000 Soviet and 3,000 German tanks. Only on the first day of the battle in the Voronezh Front, about 700 tanks took part in the fighting. Aviation from the very first days of the fighting inflicted powerful massive strikes on the enemy.

On July 12, the largest tank battle took place in the Prokhorovka area, in which 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns participated on both sides. About 400 German tanks were destroyed that day. More than half of the tanks were lost by the Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army.

On July 12, the troops of the Western and Bryansk, and on July 15 - the Central Fronts launched a counteroffensive. For 25 days with battles they covered a distance of up to 100 km, having captured the cities of Orel and Belgorod by August 5. 5th of August 1943 Moscow for the first time during the war saluted valiant Soviet troops - Orel liberators and Belgorod twenty artillery salvos.

August 23 1943 troops of the Steppe Front with the assistance of the Voronezh and Southwestern Fronts liberated Kharkov. The successful counteroffensive of the Soviet troops in the Belgorod-Kharkov direction ended the Battle of Kursk.

In terms of its military-political results and scale, the Battle of Kursk was one of the largest battles of the Second World War. Both sides involved huge forces during the fighting: more than 4 million people, over 69 thousand guns and mortars, more than 13 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, about 12 thousand combat aircraft. Soviet troops defeated 30 of the best enemy divisions, including 7 tank divisions. The Wehrmacht lost about 500 thousand soldiers, 1.5 thousand tanks and assault guns, more than 3.7 thousand aircraft, 3 thousand guns and mortars.

More than 100 thousand Soviet soldiers were awarded orders and medals, over 180 people. awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Among them are Belarusians: Senior Lieutenant A.K. Gorovets, who shot down 9 enemy aircraft in one air battle; pilots I. M. Erashev, S. A. Karnach, K. A. Shaban, N. I. Olkhovsky, N. K. Shutt; tankers S. I. Chubukov, V. M. Gintovt; infantrymen F. F. Brui, P. I. Shpetny, M. L. Spivak and others.

The victory of the Soviet troops in the Battle of Kursk was of great political and military importance. In this battle, the offensive strategy of the Wehrmacht finally collapsed. The victory near Kursk and the exit of Soviet troops to the Dnieper ended in a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War and World War II.

During the summer-autumn offensives of 1943, the Red Army fought to the west from 500 km in the central part of the front to 1300 km in the south. During this period, the liberation of the western regions of Russia, the Left-Bank Ukraine, Donbass was completed, and battles were launched for the liberation of the Right-Bank Ukraine and the eastern regions of Belarus. November 6 troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front freed the capital of Ukraine Kyiv. The Soviet troops, having firmly mastered the strategic initiative, began to intensively prepare for the complete expulsion of the enemy from the territory of the Soviet Union and the subsequent liberation of the European peoples from the fascist yoke.

A huge contribution to the offensive operations of the Red Army of this period was made by partisan formations. As you know, in June 1943 the Central Headquarters partisan movement developed Operation Rail War. 167 partisan brigades, detachments and groups totaling 95,615 people were involved in the first stage, timed to coincide with the military operations of the Soviet troops on the Kursk Bulge. They blew up over 121 thousand rails and derailed 833 enemy echelons, destroyed 184 railway bridges. As a result, according to the testimonies of the fascist command, enemy transportation was reduced by 35-40%. The “rail war” was continued by Operation Concert.

The powerful and continuous blows of the Red Army caused the collapse of the fascist bloc, from which Italy was the first to leave. On July 25, 1943, Mussolini, the head of the fascist Italian government, was arrested. Allies Nazi Germany, especially Romania and Hungary, whose troops were defeated by the Red Army, also began to look for ways out of the war.

The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the most important events of the Second World War. The battle included an attempt by the Wehrmacht to capture the left bank of the Volga near Stalingrad (modern Volgograd) and the city itself, a confrontation in the city, and a Red Army counteroffensive (Operation Uranus), which resulted in the Wehrmacht VI Army and other German allied forces in and around the city were surrounded and partly destroyed, partly captured. According to rough estimates, the total losses of both sides in this battle exceed two million people. The Axis powers lost large numbers of men and weapons and subsequently failed to fully recover from the defeat. I. V. Stalin wrote:

“Stalingrad was the decline of the German fascist army. After the Battle of Stalingrad, as you know, the Germans could not recover.”

After taking Rostov, Hitler transferred the 4th Panzer Army from Group A, advancing into the Caucasus, to Group B, aiming east towards the Volga and Stalingrad.

Army Group South was chosen to rush across Russia's southern steppes into the Caucasus to seize vital oil fields. The summer offensive was codenamed "Fall Blau" (German for blue). It involved the VI and XVII armies of the Wehrmacht and the 1st Panzer with the 4th Panzer armies. In 1941, Army Group South captured Ukraine and was located in the area of ​​the planned offensive.

After the Kharkiv catastrophe of the Red Army in May 1942, Hitler intervened in strategic planning by ordering Army Group South to split in two. Army Group "A" was to continue the offensive in the North Caucasus. Army Group B, comprising the 6th Army of Friedrich Paulus and the 4th Panzer Army of Gotha, was to move east towards the Volga and Stalingrad.

Operation Blau began with the offensive of Army Group South against the troops of the Bryansk Front to the north and the troops of the South-West to the south of Voronezh. It is worth noting that, despite the two-month break in the active hostilities of the troops of the Bryansk Front, the result was no less disastrous than for the troops of the South-Western Front, battered by the May battles. On the very first day of the operation, both Soviet fronts were broken through for tens of kilometers and the Germans rushed to the Don. Soviet troops could only oppose the Germans with weak resistance in the vast desert steppes, and then they began to flock to the east in complete disorder. Ended in complete failure and attempts to re-form the defense, when the German units entered the Soviet defensive positions from the flank. Several divisions of the Red Army in mid-July fell into a pocket in the south of the Voronezh region near the village of Millerovo.

Meanwhile, the 2nd Hungarian and 4th Panzer armies launched an attack on Voronezh, capturing the city on 5 July.

The Sixth Army's initial offensive was so successful that Hitler intervened again, ordering the Fourth Panzer Army to join Army Group South ("A"). As a result, a huge "traffic jam" was formed, when the 4th and 6th armies needed several roads in the zone of operations. Both armies were firmly stuck, and the delay turned out to be quite long and slowed down the German advance by one week. With the slow advance, Hitler changed his mind and reassigned the target of the 4th Panzer Army back to the Stalingrad direction.

By the end of July, the Germans pushed back the Soviet troops beyond the Don. The defense line stretched for hundreds of kilometers from north to south along the Don. In order to organize a defense along the river, the Germans had to use, in addition to their 2nd Army, the armies of their Italian, Hungarian and Romanian allies. The 6th Army was only a few dozen kilometers from Stalingrad, and the 4th Panzer, south of it, turned north to help take the city. Further south, Army Group "South" ("A") continued to deepen further into the Caucasus, but its advance slowed down. Army Group South ("A") was too far south to provide support to Army Group South ("B") in the north.

Now the German intentions became completely clear to the Soviet command, so already in July it developed plans for the defense of Stalingrad. Soviet troops continued to move east until the Germans were ordered to attack Stalingrad. The Volga River was the eastern border of Stalingrad, and additional Soviet troops were deployed on the other side of the river. This connection of units was reorganized into the 62nd Army under the command of Vasily Chuikov, whose task was to defend Stalingrad at any cost.

In November, after three months of carnage and a slow, costly advance, the Germans finally reached the banks of the river, capturing 90% of the ruined city and splitting the surviving Soviet troops in two, causing them to fall into two narrow pockets. In addition to all this, a crust of ice formed on the Volga, preventing the approach of boats and supplies for the Soviet troops in a difficult situation. In spite of everything, the struggle, especially on Mamaev Kurgan and in the factories in the northern part of the city, continued as furiously as ever. The battles for the Krasny Oktyabr plant, the tractor plant and the Barrikady artillery plant became known to the whole world. Till soviet soldiers continued to defend their positions, firing at the Germans, the workers of factories and factories repaired damaged Soviet tanks and weapons in the immediate vicinity of the battlefield, and sometimes on the battlefield itself.

• On November 19, 1942, the offensive of the Red Army began as part of Operation Uranus. On November 23, in the Kalach area, the encirclement around the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht closed. It was not possible to complete the Uranus plan, since it was not possible to divide the 6th Army into two parts from the very beginning (by a strike by the 24th Army in the interfluve of the Volga and Don). Attempts to eliminate the encircled immediately in these conditions also failed, despite the significant superiority in forces - the superior tactical quality of the Germans affected. However, the 6th Army was isolated and supplies of fuel, ammunition and food were progressively reduced, despite attempts to supply it by air, undertaken by the 4th Luftflot under the command of Wolfram von Richthofen. Operation Uranus ended with the defeat of the 6th Army and the surrender of tens of thousands of German troops, led by Field Marshal Paulus and his staff.
• On January 10, the offensive of the Soviet troops began, the main blow was delivered in the zone of the 65th Army of General Batov. However, the German resistance was so serious that the offensive had to be temporarily stopped. From January 17 to 22, the offensive was suspended for regrouping, new strikes on January 22-26 led to the dismemberment of the 6th Army into two groups (Soviet troops united in the Mamaev Kurgan area). By January 31, the southern grouping was liquidated (the command and headquarters of the 6th Army, led by Paulus, were captured), by February 2, the northern grouping of the surrounded ones capitulated. Shooting in the city went on until February 3 - the "Khivi" resisted even after the German surrender, since they were not threatened with captivity. About 90 thousand were taken prisoner on this, last step operations. The liquidation of the 6th Army, according to the "Ring" plan, was supposed to be completed in a week, but in reality it lasted 23 days. (The 24th Army had to be reorganized after Operation Ring).

• On August 23, 42, the Germans reached the Volga. Serious danger over Stalingrad.
• On August 25, 1942, the State Defense Committee declared Stalingrad under a state of siege.
• August 26, 1942, G.K. Zhukov was appointed first deputy commander in chief. This position did not exist before. Stalin probably realized his incompetence.
• On July 28, 1942, order No. 227 was issued “not a step back. To exterminate alarmists and cowards on the spot ”- the creation of penal battalions (among the penalized 3-4% survived). The headquarters of the Supreme Commander of the Red Army developed a plan for the Stalingrad offensive operation. Our troops had to go on the offensive on a front of 400 km., Surround and destroy the enemy with the forces of three fronts: southwestern (N.F. Vatutin), Donskoy (K.K. Rokossovsky), Stalingrad (A.I. Eremenko). Operation Uranus.
• November 19-20, 1942, 3 Soviet fronts went on the offensive.
• On November 23, 1942, near the city of Kalach, the troops of the southwestern and Stalingrad fronts united, closing the encirclement. The 6th German army was surrounded, under the command of General Pauls (22 German divisions, more than 300 thousand people).
• On December 12, 1942, the Germans made an attempt to break through the encirclement from the Manstein area.

This grouping was opposed by the second guards army, General Malinovsky.

In heavy battles, our troops stopped and then drove the enemy back. By January 1943, the Germans were thrown back from the Stalingrad "cauldron" by 170-250 km.

The death of those surrounded was inevitable. The Soviet command offered to surrender, but this offer was rejected.

On January 25, 1943, the troops of the Don Front broke into Stalingrad and began the destruction of the encircled German group. On January 31, 1943, the northern German grouping, and on February 2, the southern one, ceased their resistance.

The Battle of Stalingrad marked the beginning of a radical turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War, and the entire Second World War. The Battle of Stalingrad lasted 200 days and nights. And ended with a major defeat for the Germans. Only 91 thousand prisoners.

Among them are 2.5 thousand officers, 24 generals headed by F.S. Pauls.

Battle of Kursk.

After the defeat at Stalingrad, in the spring of 1943, the German command developed a plan for Operation Citadel, which was supposed to be carried out major battle in the summer of 1943 near the city of Kursk. Where, as a result of the offensive of the Red Army in the winter of 1942-1943, a large ledge was formed, which went down in history under the name of the Kursk Bulge. (Kursk was liberated on February 8, 1943). The Germans planned to inflict two simultaneous attacks on Kursk from the Orlovsky (northern) and Belgorod (southern) bridgeheads, quickly encircle and destroy the Soviet troops located on the Kursk ledge. For this purpose, the Germans concentrated 50 of the most combat-ready divisions. With a total number of more than 900 thousand people, Tiger and Panther tanks.

In April 1943, Zhukov prepared a report on the possible actions of the enemy in the summer of 1943: he predicted the plans of the Germans and calculated the strength of the enemy. Hitler signed the plan for Operation Citadel only a week later.

The task of the Soviet troops was to wear down and bleed the enemy in defensive battles on previously prepared lines, and then go on a powerful counteroffensive and complete the defeat of the Germans.

G.K. Zhukov proposed not to attack first, but to organize a defense in depth. In the direction of a probable enemy offensive, six powerful defensive lines were built to a depth of up to 200 kilometers. The troops, together with the population of Kursk, Oryol and other regions, dug trenches, trenches, communication passages with a total length of more than 5000 km. The Soviet command became aware that the German troops would go on the offensive on July 5, 1943.

• On July 12, 1943, in the Orel region, the troops of the Western, Bryansk and Central Fronts went on the offensive.
• On July 12, 1943, the troops of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts went on the offensive in the Belgorod region. As a result of this offensive, Orel and Belgorod were liberated on August 5, 1943.
• August 23, 1943 Kharkov was liberated.
• On August 5, 1943, the first salutes thundered in Moscow in honor of the liberation of Orel and Belgorod.

The Battle of Kursk, which lasted from July 50 to August 23, 1943, ended in a major defeat of the Germans; ended a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War and the entire Second World War.

Stage 1 - July 17 - November 19, 1942- defensive battles, state of siege 125 days, street fighting. The enemy forces outnumbered them by 1.7 times in personnel, 1.3 times in artillery and tanks, and 2 times in aircraft. The capture of the region of Stalingrad by the enemy represented a serious danger, since it was here that the main artery of the country passed, along which Baku oil, necessary for the front, the national economy, was transported.

The fall of the city of Stalingrad and a breakthrough to the Volga would have led to the loss of a major communications hub connecting the central regions of the European part of the Soviet Union with the Caucasus, as well as to the disruption of communications on highways going to Central Asia and the Urals. Of particular importance was R. The Volga, along which Caucasian oil was transported. The city of Stalingrad was also of great strategic importance for the Soviet troops. Holding the Stalingrad area, the Soviet troops hung from the north over the Caucasian grouping of the enemy and had a real opportunity at the right time to strike at its flank and rear, and subsequently completely defeat his troops at the southern end of the Soviet-German front.

Based on a deep analysis of the situation, the Soviet Supreme High Command correctly determined the significance of the city of Stalingrad, foreseeing that it was here that the decisive struggle would unfold at this stage of the war. Considering also that in the most difficult situation, the Stalingrad direction has become extremely advantageous in operational terms, since from there it is possible to deliver a very dangerous blow to the flank and rear of the enemy grouping advancing through the river. Don to the Caucasus. Thus, the idea of ​​the Headquarters for the organization of strategic defense was to bleed and stop the enemy in stubborn defensive battles, preventing him from reaching the river. Volga, to win the time necessary to prepare strategic reserves and advance them to the area of ​​​​the city of Stalingrad in order to subsequently go on a decisive offensive.

July 17, 1942 the vanguards of the divisions of the 6th German Army met at the turn of the Chir and Tsimla rivers with the advanced detachments of the 62nd and 64th armies of the Stalingrad Front. Squad fights put Start great battle of Stalingrad. The heroic struggle of the Soviet soldiers continued for six days. With their perseverance and steadfastness, they did not allow the enemy to break through to Stalingrad on the move. When in a large bend of the river. Don, in single combat with the 6th German Army, units of the Stalingrad Front entered, the enemy realized that in this direction he would meet strong resistance from the Soviet troops. On July 23, the Nazi command issued Directive No. 45. It specified the tasks for the troops advancing towards the Volga and the Caucasus.

Army Group "B" (2nd, 6th German and 2nd Hungarian armies), which included 30 divisions, was ordered to defeat the grouping of Soviet troops in the region of Stalingrad, capture the city and disrupt transportation along the Volga; subsequently strike along the river to the southeast and reach the city of Astrakhan. Army Group "A" (1st, 4th tank, 17th, 11th field armies), which had 41 divisions, was supposed to surround and destroy the forces of Soviet troops in the area south and southeast of the city of Rostov-on -Don, and cut the Tikhoretsk-Stalingrad railway with advanced units. After the destruction of the grouping of Soviet troops south of the river. Don, it was planned to develop the offensive in three directions for the complete mastery of the Caucasus.

The Soviet army suffered huge losses, but stood to the death, because everyone knew that there was nowhere to retreat further. If the enemy captures the city of Stalingrad, then the Soviet army simply could not win further in this battle, and if it had chances, then they were simply scanty, that it would be almost impossible. At this time, the slogan "Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat!" and so the fighters of the Stalingrad Front fought. They fought not for life, but to the death. This was confirmed by the huge number of feats that were performed these days in the city of Stalingrad and on its outskirts. Here are some of them.

Immortal heroism showed in the sky of Stalingrad Soviet pilot Major V.V. Zemlyansky. On August 7, 1942, he brought down his burning plane on enemy tanks in the 74 km siding area.

In October 1942, in the area of ​​the Barrikady plant, Matvey Putilov, a signalman of the 308th Infantry Division, under enemy fire, carried out a task to restore communications. When he was looking for a broken wire, he was wounded in the shoulder by a fragment of a mine. Overcoming the pain, Putilov crawled to the place where the wire was broken, he was wounded a second time; an enemy mine crushed his hand. Losing consciousness and unable to use his hand, the sergeant squeezed the ends of the wire with his teeth, and a current passed through his body. Having restored communication, Putilov died with the ends of telephone wires clenched in his teeth.

And there were dozens, hundreds of such feats. The soldiers rushed to the embrasures of enemy tanks, the pilots went to air and ground rams, and they all knew that they would die or could die, but this did not prevent them from performing more and more feats. Speaking about everything, one cannot fail to mention the Stalingrad crossings, which played an important role in the Battle of Stalingrad. With the beginning of the bombing of Stalingrad, all ferry crossings connecting the city center with the left bank of the river. The Volga were forced to stop working, as the enemy attacked ships, moorings and wharfs.

Made through the river. Volga flights of single river vessels, more than 10 VVF minesweepers and means of pontoon-bridge battalions, saving the inhabitants of the city. Maneuvering among the explosions of bombs, dodging cannon-machine-gun bursts of fascist aircraft and fighting off their attacks with the fire of their anti-aircraft weapons, they made their way to the right bank of the river. Volga, delivering military reinforcements, ammunition, equipment, and there they took the inhabitants and wounded soldiers and transported them to the left bank.

The fire-and-rescue ship "Gassitel" these days was in the thick of it. He rushed along the raid from one burning or damaged boat to another, saving them from fire and towing them to a safe place. He became famous in those days throughout the river. Volga is a small old paddle steamer "Swallow". In the early days of the furious bombing, the Lastochka transported residents from the city on fire to the left bank of the river. Volga. Working at the Stalingrad crossings, the Lastochka transported 18 thousand people and towed 20 thousand tons of various cargo.

On September 12, at a meeting at the headquarters of the Wehrmacht near Vinnitsa, Hitler resolutely demanded that Stalingrad be captured at any cost and as soon as possible. To storm the city, the troops of Army Group "B" were significantly reinforced by the transfer of formations from the Caucasian direction of the Western Front. As a result, only during the first half of September, nine divisions and one brigade were sent to the region of Stalingrad.

Fact: from the memoirs of Zhukov: “September 13, 14, 15 were difficult, too difficult days for the Stalingraders. The enemy, regardless of anything, step by step made his way through the ruins of the city closer to the Volga. It seemed like people couldn't take it. But as soon as the enemy rushed forward, as our glorious fighters shot him point-blank, the ruins of Stalingrad became a fortress. However, the forces of the defenders of the city became less and less every hour. The turning point in these difficult days, and as it sometimes seemed the last hours, was created by the 13th Guards Army of A.I. Rodimtsev. After crossing to Stalingrad, she immediately counterattacked the enemy. Her blow was completely unexpected for the enemy. On September 16, Rodimtsev's division, along with other units of the 62nd Army, recaptured Mamaev Kurgan. The defenders of Stalingrad were greatly helped by their strikes against the enemy by A.E. Golovanov and S. I. Rudenko, counterattacks of the troops of the Stalingrad Front from the north.

The names of the soldiers of the garrisons of the House of Sergeant Ya.F. Pavlov and the House of Lieutenant N.E. Zabolotny, whose exploits have become a symbol of great courage and mass heroism of soldiers Soviet army. On the night of December 27, 1942, the reconnaissance group of the 7th company of the 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 13th Guards Rifle Division, consisting of Sergeant Ya.F. Pavlova knocked out the enemies from a four-story building on Penzenskaya Street and held him for almost three days.

The defense of the legendary house, which went down in the history of the Great Patriotic War as an immortal monument, lasted 58 days. military glory. And this is not the only case of heroism in the history of the city of Stalingrad. The defenders of this proud fought not only with amazing courage and self-sacrifice, but also with increasing skill.

In preparation for the general assault, the German command mobilized all possible forces. Almost all the reinforcements that arrived on the Soviet-German front were sent to the city of Stalingrad. Main blow the enemy intended to inflict on the Tractor Plant and the Barrikady and Krasny Oktyabr factories. Their actions were supported by up to 1 thousand aircraft.

On October 10, the Nazis launched violent attacks against the units defending the Tractor Plant. The attacks followed one after another, the German command planned to capture the Tractor Plant and, having dismembered the 62nd Army, destroy it. Having suffered heavy losses, on October 15 the enemy captured the Tractor Plant and broke through to the river on a narrow 2.5-kilometer section. Volga. The position of the troops of the 62nd Army deteriorated significantly. Colonel Gorokhov's group was cut off from the main forces of the army. And yet, the Nazi generals and their divisions did not comply with the Fuhrer's order. Soviet soldiers thwarted the plan to capture the city.

At the final stage of the defensive battle, a struggle unfolded for the Krasny Oktyabr and Barrikada factories, as well as in the area of ​​​​the Rynok village. The Soviet units lacked manpower, firepower, people were tired of continuous battles. The maneuver by the forces and means of the defending troops was limited. The Nazis captured the dominant heights and shot through the area not only with artillery, but also with rifle and machine-gun fire to the entire depth of the defense. Thousands of aircraft stormed the positions of Soviet soldiers from the air. But the defenders of Stalingrad steadfastly held the line.

The whole world followed with great attention the course of the battle on the river. Volga. The word "Stalingrad" did not leave the pages of the press, it spread over all continents on the air. Everywhere people felt and understood that the outcome of the war was being decided in Stalingrad.

The defense of the city lasted more than two months and ended in the collapse of enemy plans. Hitler did not achieve his goal. The heroic city was held. The offensive capabilities of the fascist German army dried up in bloody battles on the outskirts of Stalingrad and in the city itself. The losses of the Nazi troops over the entire defensive period were very impressive: about 700,000 soldiers and officers were wounded and killed, more than 1,000 tanks and assault guns, over 2,000 guns and mortars, over 1,400 combat and transport aircraft.

The heroic defense of the Soviet troops near the city of Stalingrad demonstrated to the whole world the high morale and combat qualities of the Soviet troops, their invincible stamina and mass heroism. The whole country came to the aid of the defenders of Stalingrad. New units and formations of all types of troops were formed. More military equipment of new models began to arrive. The combat skill of Soviet soldiers grew, having received severe hardening in the crucible of wars. As a result of increased power Soviet state the army exhausted and bled the fascist hordes. This created the conditions for the transition of the Soviet troops to the counteroffensive, the beginning of which marks a new period in the Great Patriotic War.

Thus ended the first half of the heroic epic of Stalingrad, unparalleled in history.

Stage 2 - November 19 - 30, 1942 - the operation of the Soviet troops "Uranus"- On November 19, the troops of the Southwestern and Don fronts, after a powerful artillery preparation, in which 3,500 guns and mortars took part, went on the offensive. "Right at 7 o'clock. 30 min. November 19 - Colonel-General I.M. Chistyakov - the silence of a frosty November morning was torn apart by a volley of guards mortars. And along with the Katyushas, ​​all our guns and mortars hit. The God of War spoke at the top of his voice. An hour and twenty minutes of cannonade thundered. Hundreds of tons of metal fell on the head of the enemy.

Fact:“On November 19, at 7:30 a.m.,” Zhukov describes, “the troops of the Southwestern Front broke through the defenses of the 3rd Romanian Army with a powerful blow simultaneously in two sectors: the 5th Panzer Army under the command of Lieutenant General Romanenko from the bridgehead southwest of Serafimovich and 21st Army under the command of Major General Chistyakov - from the bridgehead at Kletskaya. The Romanian troops could not withstand the blow and began to retreat or surrender. The enemy, with a strong counterattack by the German units, tried to stop the advance of our troops, but was crushed by the 1st and 2nd tank corps brought into action. The tactical breakthrough in the sector of the Southwestern Front was completed.

On November 20, the army of the Stalingrad Front, commanded by General A.I. Eremenko.

On November 23, in the Kalach region, the troops of the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts met. From the north, units of the 26th tank corps of General A.G. Rodin and the 4th tank corps of General A.G. Kravchenko, and from the south - parts of the 4th mechanized corps of General V.T. Volsky. The encirclement of the enemy is complete. In the encirclement were 22 divisions and 160 separate units of the sixth and fourth tank armies with a total strength of over 300 thousand people.

By the end of November 25, the external and internal fronts of the encirclement were created. The first was formed by the troops of all three fronts that took part in Operation Uranus, the second was created by part of the forces of the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts, which reached the line of the Krivaya and Chir rivers and further along the line of Suravikino, Abganerovo, Umantsevo.

By November 30, when Operation Uranus was basically completed, Soviet troops formed a 300-kilometer gap in the enemy's strategic front. His large grouping was squeezed into a dense ring of encirclement. The length of the encirclement front was 170 kilometers. The ratio of forces of the parties here was 1:1.5 in favor of ours. Hitler's command could not come to terms with the fact that such a large group was surrounded. Hitler and his inner circle did not even allow the thought of withdrawing the 6th Army from the encirclement.

In order to restore the situation and unblock the encirclement of the troops, the fascist command began to urgently transfer reserves from other sectors of the Soviet-German front and from Western Europe. From the troops operating near Stalingrad and the approaching reserves, it formed the Don Army Group, at the head of which was placed the experienced fascist Field Marshal E. Manstein. This grouping was supposed to strike at the city of Stalingrad, break through the outer front of the encirclement of Soviet troops and connect with the 6th Army. This plan was codenamed "Winter Storm". These actions were to begin on a special signal - "Thunderbolt".

The Soviet Supreme High Command unraveled the enemy and set the task for the troops of the Don and Stalingrad fronts to destroy the encircled group. The plan for the final defeat of the encircled enemy, developed by the Stavka representative together with the Military Council of the Don Front, was approved on January 4, 1943. It provided for a dissecting blow from west to east, simultaneously cutting off individual enemy units, and then destroying each of them separately.

On January 8, 1943, the Soviet command offered to surrender to the encircled enemy. The terms of surrender testified to the humane nature of the ultimatum and were fully in line with international relations. After being taken prisoner, all soldiers and officers were guaranteed personal security, immediate provision with normal food, and the wounded and sick with medical care. The ultimatum expired at 10 a.m. on January 9th. By order of Hitler, the ultimatum was rejected.

On the morning of January 10, 1943, exactly one day after the expiration of the ultimatum, the Soviet troops began to liquidate the encircled group. After a powerful artillery and aviation preparation, the infantry and tanks went on the offensive. The last operation near the city of Stalingrad began, bearing the code name "Ring". Despite the stubborn resistance of the enemy, his defenses were broken through in all directions of the offensive of the Soviet troops. The ring of encirclement was shrinking every day. Doomed to death, the Nazi soldiers experienced hunger, even horses were eaten. Stocks of ammunition, fuel catastrophically melted. The hospitals were overflowing with the wounded and sick, and there was not enough medicine.

January 10 - February 2, 1943- Operation "Ring" to eliminate the enemy group - 113 thousand people were taken prisoner, including 2.5 thousand officers, 23 generals, led by Field Marshal F. Pauls. Exhausted, hungry, frostbitten German prisoners, despite the efforts of Soviet military doctors, were dying. No more than 6 thousand “Stalingraders” returned to Germany after the war. Later F. Pauls will write that "the doctors and the command of the Red Army did everything that was humanly possible to save the lives of the prisoners."

Fact: after the surrender in Stalingrad, Field Marshal Pauls was in Soviet captivity for 10 years. At the Nuremberg trials, he acted as a witness for the Soviet prosecution, in 1953 he was handed over to the authorities of the GDR; worked as an inspector of public education. Died 1957

Results: the aggravation of the internal political situation in fascist Germany; activation of the resistance movement in the occupied countries; Japan refrained from entering the war against the USSR; Turkey remained neutral; Soviet troops, going on the offensive along the entire front, put out of action 43% of the Nazi troops on Eastern Front, provided the beginning of a radical change in the war.

After fierce battles in the winter of 1942-1943. there was a lull on the Soviet-German front: the belligerents learned lessons from past battles; outlined plans for further action; accumulated reserves, regrouped; replenished with people and equipment.

The military-political situation of the USSR by the summer of 1943: authority in the international arena has grown, relations with other states have expanded; grew up military art and technical equipment of the army due to the development of military production.

Since March 1943, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (VGK) has been working on a strategic offensive plan, the task of which was to defeat the main forces of Army Group South and Center, to crush the enemy defenses on the front from Smolensk to the Black Sea. It was assumed that the Soviet troops would be the first to go on the offensive. However, in mid-April, based on information that the Wehrmacht command was planning to launch an offensive near the city of Kursk, it was decided to bleed the German troops with a powerful defense, and then go on the counteroffensive. Owning a strategic initiative, Soviet side deliberately started fighting not offensive, but defensive. The development of events showed that this plan was correct.

Since the spring of 1943, Nazi Germany has launched intense preparations for the offensive. The Nazis organized the mass production of new medium and heavy tanks, increased the production of guns, mortars and combat aircraft compared to 1942. Due to the total mobilization, they almost completely made up for the losses incurred in personnel.

The fascist German command decided to carry out in the summer of 1943 a major offensive operation and retake the strategic initiative. The idea of ​​the operation was to encircle and destroy the Soviet troops in the Kursk ledge with powerful counter strikes from the Orel and Belgorod regions to Kursk. In the future, the enemy intended to defeat the Soviet troops in the Donbass. To carry out the operation near Kursk, called the Citadel, the enemy concentrated huge forces and appointed the most experienced military commanders: 50 divisions, including 16 tank divisions, Army Group Center (commanded by Field Marshal G. Kluge) and Army Group " South "(Commander General - Field Marshal E. Manstein). In total, the enemy strike groupings included over 900 thousand people, about 10 thousand guns and mortars, up to 2700 tanks and assault guns and more than 2000 aircraft.

Battle of Kursk - July 5-August 23, 1943

It took place in two stages:

1. The offensive of the Nazi troops against the northern and southern faces of the Kursk ledge, which began on July 5, 1943, was opposed by the Soviet command with a strong active defense. The enemy, attacking Kursk from the north, was stopped four days later. He managed to wedge into the defense of the Soviet troops for 10-12 km. The group advancing on Kursk from the south advanced 35 km, but did not reach its goal.

2. On July 12, the Soviet troops, having exhausted the enemy, launched a counteroffensive. On this day in the area railway station Prokhorovka was the largest tank battle of World War II (up to 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns on both sides). Developing the offensive, the Soviet ground troops, supported from the air by strikes by the forces of the 2nd and 17th air armies, as well as by long-range aviation, by August 23 they pushed the enemy back 140-150 km to the west, liberated the cities of Orel, Belgorod and Kharkov.

findings: the counter-offensive of the Red Army near Kursk ended for us with an outstanding victory. Irreparable losses were inflicted on the enemy, all his attempts to hold strategic bridgeheads in the Orel and Kharkov regions were thwarted.

1. The success of the counteroffensive was ensured, above all, by the skillful choice of the moment for our troops to go on the offensive. It began in conditions when the main German strike groups suffered huge losses and a crisis was determined in their offensive. Success was also ensured by the skillful organization of strategic relations between groups of fronts advancing in the western and southwestern, as well as in other directions. This made it impossible for the fascist German command to carry out a regrouping of troops in areas that were dangerous to it.

2. A huge impact on the success of the counteroffensive was made by the large strategic reserves of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, which were previously created in the Kursk direction, used to develop the offensive of the fronts.

3. For the first time, Soviet troops solved the problem of breaking through the preparatory, in-depth defense of the enemy in advance and the subsequent development of operational success. This was achieved thanks to the creation of powerful groupings in the fronts and armies, the massing of forces and means in the breakthrough areas and the presence of tank formations in the fronts, and large tank (mechanized) formations in the armies.

4. Before the start of the counteroffensive, reconnaissance in force was carried out more widely than in previous operations, not only by reinforced companies, but also by forward battalions.

5. In the course of the counteroffensive, the fronts and armies gained experience in repulsing counterattacks by large enemy tank groupings. It was carried out at close cooperation all branches of the military and aviation. In order to stop the enemy and crush his advancing troops, the fronts and armies part of the forces went over to a tough defense while delivering a powerful blow to the flank and rear of the enemy's counterstrike grouping. As a result of an increase in the number of military equipment and means of strengthening the tactical density of our troops in the counteroffensive near the city of Kursk, they increased by 2-3 times in comparison with the counteroffensive near the city of Stalingrad.

6. New in tactics offensive battle there was a transition of units and formations from single-echelon to deep-echelon battle formations. This turned out to be possible due to the narrowing of their sectors and offensive zones.

7. In the counteroffensive near Kursk, the methods of using military branches and aviation were improved. On a larger scale, tank and mechanized troops were used. The density of NPP tanks, compared with the counteroffensive near Stalingrad, increased and amounted to 15-20 tanks and self-propelled guns per 1 km of the front. However, when breaking through a strong defense in depth of the enemy, such densities turned out to be insufficient. Tank and mechanized corps have become the main means of developing the success of combined arms armies, and tank armies of uniform composition have become the echelon of developing the success of the front. Their use to complete the breakthrough of a pre-prepared positional defense was a necessary measure, often leading to significant losses of tanks, to the weakening of tank formations and formations, but in the specific conditions of the situation this justified itself. For the first time, self-propelled artillery regiments were widely used near Kursk. Experience has shown that they were an effective means of supporting the offensive of tanks and infantry.

8. There were also peculiarities in the use of artillery: the density of guns and mortars increased significantly in the direction of the main attack; the gap between the end of artillery preparation and the beginning of attack support was eliminated; army artillery groups began to be divided into subgroups according to the number of first-echelon corps; in rifle regiment along with the infantry support group, a direct fire group was created.

9. The main tasks of the engineering troops were to blockade, restore and build roads and bridges, clear minefields, cover flanks, secure captured lines and ensure the formation of water barriers.

10. The Air Force finally won air supremacy and inflicted irreparable losses on enemy aircraft. They were used over the battlefield in close cooperation with ground troops.

Results: the battle near Kursk was the main event of the summer-autumn company of the second period of the Great Patriotic War.

1. Of the 70 enemy divisions that participated in this battle, the Red Army defeated 30 divisions, including 7 tank divisions, and destroyed over 3,500 aircraft. Conditions were created for our troops to go over to the general offensive along most of the Soviet-German front. The crushing defeat of the Nazi troops on the Kursk Bulge completed a radical turning point in the course of the war.

2. As a result of the battle near the city of Kursk, the Soviet troops broke the backbone of the fascist German army, thwarted its attempts to take revenge for the defeat at Stalingrad and forced it to finally switch to strategic defense. The Soviet Armed Forces firmly seized the strategic initiative. A radical turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War in favor of the USSR was completed.

3. The Battle of Kursk forced the German fascist command to remove large formations of troops and aviation from the Mediterranean theater of operations, which allowed the American-British troops to carry out an operation in Italy and ultimately predetermined the withdrawal of this country from the war. The defeat at Kursk undermined the morale of the Nazi army and aggravated the crisis within the Hitlerite aggressive bloc.

4. In the countries conquered by the fascist troops, the national liberation movement began to develop even more.

For courage and heroism shown in the Battle of Kursk, more than 100 thousand soldiers, officers and generals of the Red Army were awarded orders and medals, 180 especially distinguished soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.