The Great Patriotic War was the largest event of the 20th century, which determined the fate of many peoples. Questions about its background, causes, nature, periodization, results have been and remain the subject of discussion in scientific, political circles and in public opinion. In Russia, they have become particularly acute in connection with the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the war, and it is obvious that they will continue for a long time to come.
A number of researchers believe that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, concluded by the USSR and Germany on August 23, 1939, opened the way to World War II. According to some, this pact was Stalin's "fatal miscalculation", caused by fear of the possibility of creating an anti-Soviet coalition of Germany and the Western powers; according to others, it was a well-thought-out move by the Soviet leadership, which sought to provoke a military conflict between the Reich and Great Britain and France and, taking advantage of their mutual weakening, to establish their control over South-Eastern and Central Europe. It is also believed that thanks to the pact, Germany was able to attack Poland in September 1939 without fear of an attack by the Red Army (RKKA) from the east, and then, having a relatively safe eastern rear, defeat France in May-June 1940; in addition, it acquired large quantities of strategic raw materials from the USSR. On the other hand, it is believed that the USSR, with the tacit consent or diplomatic support of Berlin, was able to realize its plans for Poland, the Baltic republics, Romania and Finland, since on September 17, 1939, after the Wehrmacht (German armed forces) defeated the main forces of the Polish army, Soviet troops occupied Western Ukraine and Belarus. As a result of the war with Finland (November 1939 - March 1940), the USSR received a strategically important area on the Karelian Isthmus and a number of territories north of Lake Ladoga; annexed Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in June 1940; in July he obtained from Romania the transfer of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to him. There is another interpretation: the USSR was forced to conclude an agreement with Germany in August 1939 after the failure of attempts to enter into an anti-Hitler alliance with England and France: this agreement allowed the USSR to avoid being drawn into the Second world war at its first stage, to strengthen its defensive potential and push the borders to the west, creating more favorable conditions for repelling German aggression.
The Wehrmacht's victories in the West in 1939-1940 dramatically changed the military-political situation in Europe. In the eyes of the Nazi elite, the alliance with the USSR had largely lost its value. In the autumn of 1940, Germany established military cooperation with Finland and Romania, which aroused Stalin's concern. A number of scholars argue that at that moment the Soviet leadership made an attempt to negotiate with Hitler on a new division of spheres of influence in Europe and Asia. At the Soviet-German negotiations held in November 1940, German diplomacy offered the USSR to join the Tripartite Pact of the fascist powers of Germany, Italy and Japan (historians still argue how serious this proposal was), but Moscow demanded for this Berlin's consent to the occupation of Finland by Soviet troops , Bulgaria and part of Turkey, and the new Molotov-Ribbentrop pact did not take place.
After the unsuccessful outcome of the negotiations, Hitler made the final decision to attack the USSR and in December 1940 approved the Barbarossa plan ( see below). From the point of view of the Nazi leadership, the war with the USSR was inevitable for military-strategic and political-ideological reasons. The communist regime was seen by him as alien and unpredictable, and at the same time capable of delivering a heavy blow at any moment convenient for him. With Great Britain continuing to resist, "bogging down" in the war in the east meant for Germany the beginning of an exhausting struggle on two fronts with powers possessing huge human, natural and industrial resources, and the inevitable final defeat. A possible Red Army invasion of Romania would deprive the Wehrmacht of its main source of strategic fuel and open its way to Germany and Central Europe across the Hungarian plain. Only the rapid defeat of the USSR as a result of a surprise attack gave the Germans the opportunity to ensure dominance on the European continent. In addition, it gave them access to the rich industrial and agricultural regions of Eastern Europe - Ukraine, the Donbass, the Caucasus - and the almost vast "living space" they so desired.
Germany managed to create a broad anti-Soviet coalition and involve a number of countries of South-Eastern, Central and Northern Europe into it. Hungary joined on November 20, 1940, Romania on November 23, Bulgaria on March 1, 1941, and Finland in early June.
At the same time, according to some historians, Stalin himself, at the end of 1939, decided on a preemptive attack on Germany in the summer of 1941. 1941 the Soviet government obtained from Turkey a promise to remain neutral in the event of an attack by a third country on the USSR; On April 5, 1941, a treaty of friendship and non-aggression was signed with Yugoslavia, but a few days later Yugoslavia was occupied by the Wehrmacht; On April 13, the USSR signed a non-aggression pact with Japan. On May 15, the General Staff of the Red Army presented to Stalin Strategic Deployment Plan Considerations about delivering a preventive strike against Germany; according to Deputy Chief of Staff G.K. Zhukov, he refused to approve this document. However, already on June 15, Soviet troops began strategic deployment and advance to the western border. According to one version, this was done in order to strike at Romania and German-occupied Poland, according to another, to frighten Hitler and force him to abandon plans to attack the USSR.
Side plans.
Plan "Barbarossa" was based on the idea of "blitzkrieg" (blitzkrieg). It was supposed to inflict deep tank strikes on Soviet troops to encircle them and completely defeat them west of the Dvina and Dnieper, and reach the Volga-Arkhangelsk line before the winter of 1941. German intelligence did not reveal the presence of any large formations of the Red Army east of the Dvina-Dnieper line, and therefore the Nazis did not expect to meet any serious resistance there. The directions of the main attacks of the Germans were Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev. In the event of a German attack, the Soviet command planned to launch a series of powerful counterattacks and transfer military operations to enemy territory.
Side forces.
By the beginning of the war, the Red Army was superior to the Wehrmacht in all types of military equipment: in guns and mortars by 40%, in tanks by almost 4.5 times, in aircraft by more than 2 times, but inferior to it in terms of strength (3,289,850 against 4 306 800). German troops on eastern front divided into three main groups - Army Group North (W. von Leeb), Army Group Center (F. von Bock) and Army Group South (G. von Rundstedt); Army Group "Norway" and Finnish formations were stationed on the Karelian border and in the Arctic, and Romanian troops were stationed on the Moldavian border. As for the Red Army, its first echelon, stationed between the western border and the Dnieper, was organized into four fronts - North-Western (F.I. Kuznetsov), Western (D.G. Pavlov), South-Western (M.P. .Kirponos) and South (I.V. Tyulenev). Behind the Dnieper was the second strategic echelon, created in the autumn of 1940; its units were mainly recruited from former prisoners.
First period of the war
The first stage of the German offensive
(June 22 - July 10, 1941). On June 22, Germany began a war against the USSR; Italy and Romania joined on the same day, Slovakia on June 23, and Hungary on June 27.
The German invasion took the Soviet forces by surprise; on the first day, a significant part of the ammunition, fuel and military equipment; the Germans managed to ensure complete air supremacy (approximately 1200 aircraft were disabled, most of them did not even have time to take off). In the Leningrad direction, enemy tanks penetrated deeply into Lithuanian territory. Command attempt Northwestern Front(NWF) to launch a counterattack with the forces of two mechanized corps (about 1400 thousand tanks) ended in failure, and on June 25 it was decided to withdraw troops to the line of the Western Dvina. However, already on June 26, the German 4th Panzer Group crossed the Western Dvina near Daugavpils and began to develop an offensive in the Pskov direction. On June 27, units of the Red Army left Liepaja. The 18th German Army occupied Riga and entered southern Estonia. Pskov fell on July 9th.
An even more difficult situation developed on the Western Front (ZF). The counterattacks of the 6th and 14th tank corps of the Red Army failed; during the fighting on June 23–25, the main forces of the Western Front were defeated. The 3rd German tank group (Goth), developing an offensive in the Vilnius direction, bypassed the 3rd and 10th armies from the north, and the 2nd tank group (H.V. Guderian), leaving the Brest Fortress in the rear (it held until July 20), broke through to Baranovichi and bypassed them from the south. Despite the stubborn resistance offered to the Germans on the approach to Minsk by the 100th division, on June 28 they took the capital of Belarus and closed the encirclement ring, which included eleven divisions. By decision of the military tribunal, Pavlov and his chief of staff, V.E. Klimovskikh, were shot; the troops of the Polar Front were headed by People's Commissar of Defense S.K. Timoshenko. In early July, the mechanized formations of Guderian and Goth overcame the line of Soviet defense on the Berezina and rushed to Vitebsk, but unexpectedly ran into the troops of the Second Strategic Echelon (five armies). During the tank battle between Orsha and Vitebsk on July 6-8, the Germans defeated the Soviet troops and took Vitebsk on July 10. The surviving units withdrew beyond the Dnieper and stopped on the line Polotsk - Lipetsk - Orsha - Zhlobin.
The military operations of the Wehrmacht in the south, where the most powerful grouping of the Red Army was located, were not so successful. In an effort to stop the offensive of the 1st German tank group Kleist, the command of the South-Western Front (SWF) launched a counterattack with the forces of six mechanized corps (more than 1700 tanks). During the largest tank battle of the Great Patriotic War on June 26-29 in the region of Lutsk, Rovno and Brody, Soviet troops were unable to defeat the enemy and suffered huge losses (60% of all tanks of the South-Western Front), but they prevented the Germans from making a strategic breakthrough and cutting off the Lviv group (6 -I and 26th armies) from the rest of the forces. By July 1, the troops of the South-Western Front retreated to the fortified line Korosten - Novograd Volynsky - Proskurov. In early July, the Germans broke through the right wing of the SWF near Novograd Volynsky and captured Berdichev and Zhitomir, but thanks to the counterattacks of the Soviet troops, their further advance was stopped.
On July 2, after Romania entered the war, the German-Romanian troops crossed the Prut at the junction of the South-Western Front and the Southern Front (SW; formed on June 25) and rushed to Mogilev Podolsky. By July 10, they reached the Dniester.
On June 26, Finland entered the war. On June 29, the German-Finnish troops launched an offensive in the Arctic to Murmansk, Kandalaksha and Loukhi, but could not advance deep into Soviet territory.
By the second decade of July 1941, the Germans had defeated the main forces of the NWF and WF (six armies) and captured northern Moldavia, western Ukraine, most of Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, and southern Estonia. Nevertheless, the Wehrmacht command failed to solve the main task - to destroy all the forces of the Red Army to the west of the Dvina-Dnieper line.
The main reason for the defeats of the Red Army, despite its quantitative and often qualitative (T-34 and KV tanks) technical superiority, was the poor training of privates and officers, the low level of operation of military equipment and the lack of experience among the troops in conducting major military operations in modern warfare. . The repressions against the high command in 1937-1940 also played a significant role. .
The organization of the leadership of the war.
On June 23, an emergency body of the highest military administration, the Headquarters of the High Command, chaired by People's Commissar of Defense S.K. Timoshenko, was created to direct military operations. In late June - early August, there was a maximum centralization of military and political power in the hands of Stalin. On June 30, he headed the State Defense Committee, the extraordinary supreme body of the country's leadership, on July 10 - the Headquarters of the High Command, reorganized into the Headquarters of the High Command; July 19, took the post of People's Commissar of Defense, August 8 - Supreme Commander.
On June 22, the mobilization of those liable for military service born in 1905-1918 was carried out in the USSR. From the first days of the war, a mass enrollment of volunteers in the Red Army unfolded. On July 18, the Soviet leadership decided to organize a partisan movement in the occupied and front-line areas, which became widespread in the second half of 1942. Despite the difficulties associated with the German offensive, in the summer-autumn of 1941 they managed to evacuate approx. 10 million people and more than 1350 large enterprises. The militarization of the economy began to be carried out with harsh and energetic measures; all the material resources of the country were mobilized for military needs.
The emergence of the anti-Hitler coalition.
Already in the evening of June 22, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made a statement on the radio supporting the USSR in its struggle against Hitlerism. On June 23, the US State Department welcomed the efforts of the Soviet people to repel the German invasion, and on June 24, US President Franklin Roosevelt promised to provide the USSR with all possible assistance. On July 12, a Soviet-British agreement was concluded in Moscow on joint actions against Germany; On August 16, Great Britain provided the Soviet government with a loan of 10 million pounds. Art. In the autumn of 1941, the United States began supplying raw materials and military materials to Russia. An anti-German alliance of three great powers emerged. .
Second stage of the German offensive
(July 10 - September 30, 1941). On July 10, Finnish troops launched an offensive on the Petrozavodsk and Olonets directions, on August 31 - on the Karelian Isthmus. On August 23, the Northern Front was divided into Karelian (KarF) and Leningrad (LenF). On September 1, the 23rd Soviet Army on the Karelian Isthmus withdrew to the line of the old state border, occupied before the Finnish war of 1939-1940. On September 23, the German-Finnish units were stopped in the Murmansk direction. In September - early October, the Finns captured Western Karelia; On September 5, they took Olonets, and on October 2, Petrozavodsk. By October 10, the front had stabilized along the line Kestenga - Ukhta - Rugozero - Medvezhyegorsk - Lake Onega. - river Svir. The enemy was unable to cut the communication lines of European Russia with the northern ports.
On July 10, the Army Group "North" (23 divisions) launched an offensive in the Leningrad and Tallinn directions. At the end of July, the Germans reached the border of the rivers Narva, Luga and Mshaga, where they were detained by desperately resisting detachments of sailors, cadets and the people's militia. An attempt by the Reserve Army (K.M. Kochanov) to launch a counterattack in the rear of the advancing German troops on August 12 near the lake. Ilmen failed (Kochanov and his chief of staff were shot "for wrecking"). Novgorod fell on August 15, Gatchina fell on August 21. On August 23, battles began for Oranienbaum; the Germans were stopped southeast of Koporye. On August 28–30, the Baltic Fleet was evacuated from Tallinn to Kronstadt. At the end of August, the Germans launched a new onslaught on Leningrad. On August 30, they reached the Neva, cutting off the railway communication with the city, and on September 8, they took Shlisselburg and closed the blockade ring around Leningrad. Only the tough measures of the new LenF commander G.K. Zhukov made it possible to stop the enemy by September 26th.
In mid-July, Army Group Center launched a general offensive against Moscow. Guderian crossed the Dnieper at Mogilev, and Goth struck from Vitebsk. On July 16, Smolensk fell, and three Soviet armies were surrounded. The counterattack of the Soviet troops on July 21 failed, but the fierce nature of the fighting forced the Germans on July 30 to stop their offensive in the Moscow direction and concentrate all their forces on eliminating the Smolensk “cauldron”. By August 5, the encircled troops capitulated; 350 thousand people were captured. On the right flank of the ZF, the 9th German Army captured Nevel (July 16) and Velikie Luki (July 20).
On August 8, the Germans resumed their offensive against Moscow. They advanced 100-120 km, but on August 16, the Reserve Front launched a counterattack on Yelnya. At the cost of huge losses, Soviet troops forced the enemy to leave the city on September 6. The battle for Yelnya was the first successful operation of the Red Army in the Great Patriotic War.
In Moldova, the command of the Law Firm tried to stop the Romanian offensive with a powerful counterattack by two mechanized corps (770 tanks), but it was repulsed. On July 16, the 4th Romanian Army took Chisinau, and in early August pushed the Separate Primorsky Army to Odessa; the defense of Odessa for almost two and a half months fettered the forces of the Romanians. Soviet troops left the city only in the first half of October.
At the end of July, Rundstedt's troops launched an offensive in the Bila Tserkva direction. On August 2, they cut off the 6th and 12th Soviet armies from the Dnieper and surrounded them near Uman; 103 thousand people were captured, including both commanders. The Germans broke through in Zaporozhye and moved north through Kremenchug, entering the rear of the Kiev grouping of the South-Western Front.
On August 4, Hitler decided to turn the 2nd Army and the 2nd Panzer Group to the south in order to completely encircle the forces of the SWF. An attempt by the Bryansk Front (BrF) on 25 August to thwart their advance failed. In early September, Guderian crossed the Desna and on September 7 captured Konotop ("Konotop breakthrough"). The 1st and 2nd Panzer Groups joined at Lokhvitsa and the Kyiv Cauldron slammed shut. Five Soviet armies were surrounded; the number of prisoners was 665 thousand. The front commander Kirponos committed suicide. Left-bank Ukraine was in the hands of the Germans; the way to the Donbass was open; Soviet troops in the Crimea were cut off from the main forces. Only in mid-September, the South-West Front and the South Front managed to restore the line of defense along the line of the Psel River - Poltava - Dnepropetrovsk - Zaporozhye - Melitopol.
The defeats at the fronts prompted the Headquarters to issue Order No. 270 on August 16, which qualified all soldiers and officers who had surrendered as traitors and deserters; their families were deprived of state support and were subject to exile.
The third stage of the German offensive
(September 30 - December 5, 1941). On September 30, Army Group Center launched an operation to capture Moscow (Typhoon). Soviet intelligence was unable to determine the direction of the main attack. German tank formations easily broke through the defense line of the Bryansk and Reserve Fronts. On October 3, Guderian's tanks broke into Orel and took to the road to Moscow. On October 6-8, all three armies of the BRF were surrounded south of Bryansk, and the main forces of the Reserve (19th, 20th, 24th and 32nd armies) - west of Vyazma; the Germans captured 664,000 prisoners and more than 1,200 tanks. The Soviet command did not have reserves to close a huge gap of 500 km. But the advance of the 2nd tank group of the Wehrmacht to Tula was thwarted by the stubborn resistance of the brigade of M.E. Katukov near Mtsensk (October 6-13); The 4th tank group occupied Yukhnov and rushed to Maloyaroslavets, but was detained at Medyn by Podolsk cadets (October 6-10); the autumn thaw also slowed down the pace of the German offensive.
On October 10, the Germans attacked the right wing of the Reserve Front (renamed the Western Front); On October 12, the 9th Army captured Staritsa, and on October 14 - Rzhev; on the same day, the 3rd Panzer Group occupied Kalinin almost unhindered; Soviet troops retreated to the Martynovo-Selizharovo line. On October 19, a state of siege was declared in Moscow. On October 23, the 4th Panzer Group captured Volokolamsk. Having overcome the resistance of the Podolsk cadets, the 4th Army broke through to Borovsk. On October 24, Guderian resumed his attack on Tula. On October 29, he tried to take the city, but was repulsed with heavy losses for himself. In early November, the new commander of the ZF Zhukov, with an incredible effort of all forces and constant counterattacks, managed, despite huge losses in manpower and equipment, to stop the Germans in other directions.
On November 16, the Germans began the second stage of their attack on Moscow, planning to encircle it from the northwest and southwest. On the Dmitrovsky direction, they reached the Moscow-Volga canal and crossed to its eastern bank near Yakhroma, captured Klin on Khimki, crossed the Istra reservoir, occupied Solnechnogorsk and Krasnaya Polyana, and took Istra on Krasnogorsk. In the southwest, Guderian approached Kashira. However, as a result of the fierce resistance of the armies of the Polar Front, the Germans were stopped in all directions in late November - early December. The attempt to take Moscow failed.
On September 27, the Germans broke through the line of defense of the YuF. On October 7-10, they surrounded and destroyed the 9th and 18th armies northwest of Berdyansk and rushed to Artemovsk and Rostov-on-Don. Kharkov fell on October 24. By November 4, Soviet troops retreated to the Balakleya-Artemovsk-Pugachev-Khopry line; most of the Donbass was in the hands of the Germans. On November 21, the 1st Panzer Army captured Rostov-on-Don, but was unable to break through to the Caucasus. During the successful counter-offensive of the troops of the Law Firm, Rostov was liberated on November 29, and the Germans were driven back to the Mius River.
In the second half of October, the 11th German Army broke into the Crimea and by mid-November captured almost the entire peninsula. Soviet troops managed to keep only Sevastopol.
On October 16, Army Group Sever launched an operation in the Tikhvin direction, intending to capture the southeastern coast of Lake Ladoga and, uniting with the Finns, cut the only link between Leningrad and the mainland through Ladoga. On October 24 Malaya Vishera fell. The Germans broke through the defenses of the 4th Army on the Volkhov River and on November 8 took Tikhvin. But the counterattacks of the Soviet troops near Novgorod on November 10, near Tikhvin on November 19 and near Volkhov on December 3 stopped the further advance of the Wehrmacht. On November 20, Malaya Vishera was liberated, on December 9, Tikhvin, and the Germans were pushed back beyond the Volkhov River.
Counteroffensive of the Red Army near Moscow
(December 5, 1941 - January 7, 1942). On December 5–6, the Kalinin (KalF), Western and Southwestern fronts switched to offensive operations in the northwestern and southwestern directions. The successful advance of the Soviet troops forced Hitler on December 8 to issue a directive on the transition to defense along the entire front line. In the northwestern direction, the ZF troops liberated Yakhroma on December 8, Klin and Istra on December 11, Solnechnogorsk on December 12, Volokolamsk on December 20, and the KalF troops recaptured Kalinin on December 16 and reached Rzhev by the end of December. In the southwestern direction of the SWF, on December 8, Efremov was returned, and on December 9, Yelets, surrounding the 2nd German army; units of the Polar Front pushed the enemy back from Tula, occupied Kaluga on December 30 and reached the Sukhinichi area. On December 18, the ZF troops launched an offensive in the central direction; On December 26, they liberated Naro-Fominsk, on December 28 - Borovsk, on January 2, 1942 - Maloyaroslavets. As a result, by the beginning of 1942, the Germans were pushed back 100–250 km to the west. There was a threat of coverage of the army group "Center" from the north and south. The strategic initiative passed to the Red Army.
Rzhev-Vyazemskaya offensive operation
(January 8 - April 20, 1942). The success of the operation near Moscow prompted the Headquarters to decide on the transition to a general offensive along the entire front from Lake Ladoga to the Crimea. It was planned to inflict the main blow on Army Group Center by the forces of the North-Western, Western and Kalinin Fronts.
On January 8, Kalf troops broke through to the west of Rzhev and rushed to Sychevka; units of the ZF overcame the enemy defenses at Ruza and Medyn, drove the Germans back to Gzhatsk and went to Vyazma. However, the enemy managed to hold Sychevka and prevent the joining of the troops of both fronts near Vyazma. Having pulled up the reserves, the commander of the 9th Army, V. Model, launched a counteroffensive on January 22, which led to the complete or partial encirclement of the 29th, 33rd, 39th Soviet armies and two cavalry corps. In early March, the Headquarters tried to organize a new offensive against Rzhev and Vyazma. Soviet troops recaptured Yukhnov, but, having suffered huge losses, were forced to go on the defensive in mid-April. The Germans held the Rzhev-Vyazemsky bridgehead, which posed a potential danger to Moscow.
The offensive of the NWF troops, which began on January 7-9, turned out to be more successful. On January 16, they liberated Andreapol, on January 21, Toropets, on January 22, they blocked the Hill and created a threat to the Army Group "Center" from the north. By the end of February, they were deeply wedged between the Staraya Russian and Demyansk enemy groupings and took the latter in pincers. True, in mid-April, Demyansk was released by the Germans.
Although the attempt to defeat the Army Group "Center" near Rzhev and Vyazma failed, offensive operations Soviet troops in December 1941 - April 1942 led to a significant change in the military-strategic situation on the Soviet-German front: the Germans were driven back from Moscow, Moscow was liberated, part of Kalinin. Oryol and Smolensk regions. There was also a psychological turning point among the soldiers and the civilian population: faith in victory was strengthened, the myth of the invincibility of the Wehrmacht was destroyed. The collapse of the lightning war plan gave rise to doubts about the successful outcome of the war, both among the German military-political leadership and among ordinary Germans.
Luban operation
(January 13 - June 25). Simultaneously with the Rzhev-Vyazemskaya operation, the Lyuban operation was carried out, which had the goal of breaking the blockade of Leningrad. On January 13, the forces of the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts launched an offensive in several directions, planning to link up at Lyuban and encircle the enemy's Chudov grouping. But only the 2nd shock army managed to break through the German defenses: on January 14, it crossed the Volkhov, and at the end of January, having captured Myasny Bor, it overcame the defensive line of Chudovo-Novgorod. However, she could not get through to Lyuban; due to the strong resistance of the German troops, she had to change the direction of the offensive from the northwest to the west. By the beginning of March, she captured a large wooded area between the Chudovo-Novgorod and Leningrad-Novgorod railways. On March 19, the Germans launched a counterattack, cutting off the 2nd shock army from the rest of the VolkhF forces. In late March - early June, Soviet troops repeatedly tried (with varying success) to release it and resume the offensive. On May 21, the Stavka decided to withdraw it, but on June 6 the Germans completely closed the encirclement. On June 20, soldiers and officers were ordered to leave the encirclement on their own, but only a few managed to do this (according to various estimates, from 6 to 16 thousand people); commander A.A. Vlasov surrendered.
Military operations in May-November 1942.
The Wehrmacht command decided to strike the main blow during the summer campaign of 1942 in the southern direction in order to capture the Caucasus with its oil-bearing regions and the fertile valleys of the Don and Kuban, but before that, eliminate the Soviet grouping in the Crimea. Having started the operation on May 8 and defeated the Crimean Front (almost 200 thousand people were taken prisoner), the Germans occupied Kerch on May 16, and Sevastopol in early July.
On May 12, the troops of the South-Western Front and the Southern Front launched an offensive against Kharkov. For several days it developed successfully, but on May 17 the Germans carried out two counterattacks; On May 19, they defeated the 9th Army, throwing it back behind the Seversky Donets, went to the rear of the advancing Soviet troops, and on May 23 took them into pincers; the number of prisoners reached 240 thousand, only 22 thousand people escaped from the encirclement.
On June 28–30, the German offensive began against the left wing of the BrF (from Kursk) and the right wing of the SWF (from Volochansk). After breaking through the defense line, a gap 150-400 km deep was formed at the junction of the two fronts. The counterattack of the Soviet troops from the Yelets region could not turn the tide. On July 8, the Germans captured Voronezh and reached the Middle Don. On July 17, the Wehrmacht launched an offensive operation in the southeast direction. By July 22, the 1st and 4th tank armies had reached the Southern Don. On July 24, Rostov-on-Don was taken. In the conditions of a military catastrophe in the south, on July 28, Stalin issued order No. 227 “Not a step back”, which provided for severe punishments for retreating without instructions from above, detachments to deal with unauthorized leaving positions, penal units for operations on the most dangerous sectors of the front. On the basis of this order, during the war years, approx. 1 million military personnel, of which 160 thousand were shot, and 400 thousand were sent to penal companies.
Although the Soviet command managed to withdraw most of the troops to the left bank of the Don, they were unable to gain a foothold on the Don line. Already on July 25, the Germans crossed the Don and rushed south. Salsk fell on July 31. On August 5, the 1st Panzer Army captured Voroshilovsk (Stavropol), crossed the Kuban, entered Armavir on August 6, and Maykop on August 9; on the same day Pyatigorsk was taken. On August 11-12, the 17th Army captured Krasnodar and moved towards Novorossiysk. In mid-August, the Germans established control over almost all the passes in the central part of the Main Caucasian Range; On August 25 they occupied Mozdok. In early September, under the threat of encirclement, Soviet troops left the Taman Peninsula. On September 11, the 17th Army occupied Novorossiysk, but was unable to break through to Tuapse. In the direction of Grozny, the Germans occupied Nalchik on October 29 and in early November came close to Ordzhonikidze. But they failed to take Ordzhonikidze and Grozny, and in mid-November their further advance was stopped.
On August 16, German troops launched an offensive against Stalingrad, trying to take the city with simultaneous attacks from the northwest and southwest. Having crossed the Don near Kalach, the 6th Army on August 23 reached the Volga north of Stalingrad; On September 12, the 4th Panzer Army, transferred from the Caucasian direction, also broke through to the city. On September 13, fighting began in Stalingrad itself. In the second half of October - the first half of November, the Germans captured a significant part of the city, but could not break the resistance of the defenders.
By mid-November, the Germans established control over the Right Bank of the Don and most of the North Caucasus, but did not achieve their strategic goals - to break into the Volga region and Transcaucasia. This was prevented by the counterattacks of the Red Army in other directions, which, although not crowned with success, nevertheless did not allow the Wehrmacht command to transfer reserves to the south. So, in July-September, units of the NWF made three attempts to defeat the enemy's Demyansk grouping. In late July - early August, the forces of the Kalinin and Western Fronts undertook the Rzhev-Sychevsk (July 30) and Pogorelo-Gorodishchensk (August 4) operations in order to eliminate the Rzhev-Vyazemsky ledge - the first major summer offensive of Soviet troops in the Great Patriotic War and one of the most bloody (losses amounted to 193.5 thousand people): during the Battle of Rzhev on July 30 - August 7 ("Rzhev meat grinder") and subsequent attacks on Rzhev in the second half of August - the first half of September, Kalf troops failed to take the city, and the initially successful advance of the ZF on Sychevka bogged down after a grandiose tank battle between Zubtsov and Karmanovo (about 1,500 tanks on both sides). From early August to early October, the Red Army carried out a series of attacks near Voronezh: units of the Voronezh Front (VorF) captured several bridgeheads on the right bank of the Don, but the approaching German reserves prevented them from capturing the city. At the end of August, the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts made a new attempt to break the blockade of Leningrad; the offensive of the VolkhF ended in failure, but the troops of the LenF were able to break through the blockade ring near Shlisselburg, and only with the help of the 11th Army transferred from the Crimea did the Germans liquidate it by the beginning of October.
Victory at Stalingrad
(November 19, 1942 - February 2, 1943). Having concentrated significant forces in the southern direction by mid-November, the Soviet command began to carry out Operation Saturn to encircle and defeat the German (6th and 4th tank armies) and Romanian (3rd and 4th armies) troops near Stalingrad . On November 19, units of the South-Western Front broke through the defenses of the 3rd Romanian Army and on November 21 took five Romanian divisions from Raspopinskaya. On November 20, the troops of the Stalingrad Front punched a hole in the defense of the 4th Romanian Army south of the city. On November 23, units of the two fronts joined at the Soviet and surrounded the Stalingrad grouping of the enemy (6th Army of F. Paulus; 330 thousand people). To save her, the Wehrmacht command at the end of November created the Don Army Group (E. Manstein); On December 12, she launched an offensive from the Kotelnikovsky area, but on December 23 she was stopped on the Myshkova River. On December 16, the troops of the Voronezh and South-Western Fronts launched Operation Little Saturn on the Middle Don, defeated the 8th Italian Army, and by December 30 reached the Nikolskoye-Ilyinka line; the Germans had to abandon plans to deblockade the 6th Army. Their attempt to organize its supply by air was thwarted by the active actions of Soviet aviation. On January 10, the Don Front launched Operation Ring to destroy the German troops surrounded in Stalingrad. On January 26, the 6th Army was cut into two parts. On January 31, the southern grouping led by F. Paulus capitulated, on February 2 - the northern one; 91 thousand people were captured.
The Battle of Stalingrad, despite the heavy losses of the Soviet troops (about 1.1 million; the losses of the Germans and their allies amounted to 800 thousand), was the beginning of a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War. The Red Army for the first time carried out a successful offensive operation on several fronts to encircle and defeat an enemy grouping. The Wehrmacht suffered a major defeat and lost the strategic initiative. Japan and Turkey abandoned their intention to enter the war on the side of Germany.
By this time, a turning point had also occurred in the sphere of the Soviet military economy. Already in the winter of 1941/1942 it was possible to stop the decline in engineering. From March 1942, the rise of ferrous metallurgy began, from the second half of 1942 - energy and fuel industry. By the beginning of 1943, the clear economic superiority of the USSR over Germany was indicated.
Offensive actions of the Red Army in the central direction in November 1942 - January 1943.
Simultaneously with Operation Saturn, the forces of the Kalinin and Western Fronts carried out Operation Mars (Rzhev-Sychevskaya) in order to eliminate the Rzhev-Vyazma bridgehead. On November 25, Kalf troops broke through the defenses of the Wehrmacht near Bely and Nelidov, on December 3 - in the Nelyubino-Litvinovo sector, but as a result of a German counterattack they were surrounded at Bely. The formations of the ZF made their way through the Rzhev-Sychevka railway and raided the enemy rear, but significant losses and a lack of tanks, guns and ammunition forced them to stop. On December 20, the operation had to be stopped. The losses of the Red Army amounted, according to various sources, from 200 to 500 thousand people, but this operation did not allow the Germans to transfer part of their forces from the central direction to Stalingrad.
More successful was the Kalf offensive in the Velikoluksky direction (November 24, 1942 - January 20, 1943). On January 17, his troops occupied Velikiye Luki. The Toropetsky ledge, hanging over the left flank of Army Group Center, was expanded.
Liberation of the North Caucasus
(January 1 - February 12, 1943). The victory at Stalingrad developed into a general offensive of the Red Army along the entire front. On January 1–3, an operation began to liberate the North Caucasus and the Don bend. The troops of the Southern Front struck in the Rostov and Tikhoretsk directions, and the troops of the Transcaucasian Front - in the Krasnodar and Armavir directions. January 3, Mozdok was liberated, January 10-11 - Kislovodsk, Mineral water, Essentuki and Pyatigorsk, January 21 - Stavropol. On January 22, the troops of the Southern and Transcaucasian fronts joined at Salsk. On January 24, the Germans surrendered Armavir, on January 30 - Tikhoretsk. On February 4, the Black Sea Fleet landed troops in the Myskhako area south of Novorossiysk. On February 12, Krasnodar was taken. However, the lack of forces prevented the Soviet troops from encircling the enemy's North Caucasian grouping (Army Group A), which managed to retreat to the Donbass. The Red Army was also unable to break through the "Blue Line" (the German defensive line in the lower reaches of the Kuban) and dislodge the 17th Army from Novorossiysk and from the Taman Peninsula.
Breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad
(January 12–30, 1943). On January 12, 1943, the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts delivered a joint attack from the east and west on the Shlisselburg-Sinyavino ledge to break through the blockade of Leningrad (Operation Iskra); On January 18, a corridor was broken along the shore of Lake Ladoga, 8–11 km wide; land connection of the city on the Neva with the mainland was restored. However, a further offensive to the south towards Mga in the last ten days of January ended in failure.
Military operations in the south and in the center in January-March 1943.
Given the weakness of the German defense on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front, the Headquarters decided to conduct a large-scale operation to liberate the Donbass, Kharkov, Kursk and Oryol regions. On January 13–14, VorF troops broke through the German defenses south of Voronezh, and units of the South-Western Front south of Kantemirovka and, uniting west of Ostrogozhsk, took thirteen divisions of Army Group B into pincers (Ostrogozhsk-Rossosh operation); the enemy lost more than 140 thousand people, of which 86 thousand were captured. On January 24, VorF units rushed north through the 250-km gap that had formed, and on January 26, the left wing of the BRF began a counter offensive to the south. On January 25, Voronezh was liberated. On January 28, Soviet troops surrounded and destroyed southeast of Kastornoye the main forces of the 2nd german army and the 3rd Hungarian Corps (Voronezh-Kastornenskaya operation).
At the end of January, the South-West Front and the South Front launched an offensive against the Donbass. The troops of the South-Western Front defeated the 1st German Panzer Army and liberated the Northern Donbass; parts of the Southern Front broke through to the bend of the Don, on February 11 they captured Bataysk and Azov, and on February 14 Rostov-on-Don and reached the Mius River. On February 2, VorF launched an offensive in the Kharkov direction; On February 16, Kharkov was occupied. The success of operations in the south prompted the Headquarters to decide on a simultaneous offensive in the central sector of the front; On February 8, VorF troops took Kursk, on February 12, units of the BRF broke through the German defenses and moved to Orel. However, the Wehrmacht command was able to quickly transfer two tank divisions SS and, taking advantage of the stretched communications of the advancing Soviet armies, launch a powerful counterattack on the troops of the South-Western Front on February 19, pushing them back beyond the Seversky Donets by the end of February, and on March 4 attack the left wing of the Worf; On March 16, the Germans recaptured Kharkov, on March 18 - Belgorod. Only a great effort of forces managed to stop the German offensive; the front stabilized along the line Belgorod - Seversky Donets - Ivanovka - Mius. Thus, due to the miscalculation of the Soviet command, all previous successes of the Red Army in the south were nullified; the enemy acquired a foothold for an attack on Kursk from the south. The offensive on the Novgorod-Seversky and Oryol directions did not bring significant results. By March 10, VorF troops reached the Seim and Northern Dvina rivers, but the Germans' "dagger" flank attacks forced them to retreat to Sevsk; BrF formations failed to break through to Orel. On March 21, both fronts went on the defensive along the line Mtsensk - Novosil - Sevsk - Rylsk.
The actions of the NWF against the enemy's Demyansk grouping turned out to be more successful. Although the offensive of the Soviet troops that began on February 15 did not lead to its defeat, it forced the Wehrmacht command to withdraw the 16th Army from the Demyansk salient. By the beginning of March, units of the NWF reached the line of the Lovat River. But their advance to the west in the area of Staraya Russa (March 4) was stopped by the Germans on the Redya River.
Fearing the encirclement of the main forces of Army Group Center on the Rzhev-Vyazma bridgehead, the German command began on March 1 their systematic withdrawal to the Spas-Demensk-Dorogobuzh-Dukhovshchina line. On March 2, units of the Kalinin and Western fronts began pursuing the enemy. Rzhev was liberated on March 3, Gzhatsk on March 6, and Vyazma on March 12. By March 31, the bridgehead, which had existed for fourteen months, was finally liquidated; the front line moved away from Moscow by 130-160 km. At the same time, the alignment of the German defense line allowed the Wehrmacht to transfer fifteen divisions to defend Orel and disrupt the BRF offensive.
The campaign of January-March 1943, despite a number of setbacks, led to the liberation of a huge territory of 480,000 square meters. km. (Northern Caucasus, the lower reaches of the Don, Voroshilovgrad, Voronezh, Kursk regions, part of the Belgorod, Smolensk and Kalinin regions). The blockade of Leningrad was broken, the Demyansky and Rzhev-Vyazemsky ledges, which went deep into the Soviet defense, were liquidated. Control was restored over the two most important water arteries of European Russia - the Volga and the Don. The Wehrmacht suffered huge losses (about 1.2 million people). The depletion of human resources forced the Nazi leadership to carry out a total mobilization of seniors (over 46 years old) and younger ages(16–17 years old).
Since the winter of 1942/1943, the partisan movement in the German rear has become an important military factor. The partisans caused serious damage to the German army, destroying manpower, blowing up warehouses and trains, disrupting the communications system. The largest operations were the raids of the detachment of M.I. 1943).
Defensive battle on the Kursk Bulge
(July 5–23, 1943). In April-June 1943, relative calm reigned on the Soviet-German front. Active battles took place only in the south: in May, the troops of the North Caucasian Front unsuccessfully tried to overcome the Blue Line, while Soviet aviation won the air battle in the Kuban (more than 1,100 German aircraft were destroyed).
Large-scale hostilities resumed in July. The Wehrmacht command developed Operation Citadel to encircle a strong group of the Red Army on the Kursk ledge through counter tank strikes from the north and south; if successful, it was planned to carry out Operation Panther to defeat the South-Western Front. However, Soviet intelligence unraveled the plans of the Germans, and in April-June a powerful defensive system of eight lines was created on the Kursk ledge.
On July 5, the German 9th Army launched an attack on Kursk from the north, and the 4th Panzer Army from the south. On the northern flank, German attempts to break through in the direction of Olkhovatka, and then Ponyri, were unsuccessful, and on July 10 they went on the defensive. On the southern wing, Wehrmacht tank columns reached Prokhorovka on July 12, but were stopped by a counterattack by the 5th Guards Tank Army; by July 23, the troops of the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts pushed them back to their original lines. Operation Citadel failed.
On July 12, units of the Western and Bryansk fronts broke through the German defenses at Zhilkovo and Novosil and rushed to Orel; On July 15, on the northern wing of the Kursk ledge, the Central Front also launched a counteroffensive. Bolkhov was liberated on July 29, Orel on August 5. By August 18, Soviet troops cleared the Orlovsky ledge from the enemy, but their further advance was stopped on the Hagen defensive line east of Bryansk.
On July 17, the offensive of the South-West Front on the Seversky Donets River and the South Front on the Mius River began. Attempts to break through the German defenses in the second half of July were unsuccessful, but they prevented the Wehrmacht from transferring reinforcements to Kursk. On August 13, Soviet troops resumed offensive operations in the south. By September 22, units of the South-Western Front had driven back the Germans across the Dnieper and reached the approaches to Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye; formations of the Southern Front crossed the Mius, occupied Taganrog on August 30, Stalino (modern Donetsk) on September 8, Mariupol on September 10 and reached the Molochnaya River. The result of the operation was the liberation of Donbass.
On August 3, the troops of the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts broke through the defenses of Army Group South in several places and captured Belgorod on August 5. On August 11–20, they repelled a German counterattack in the area of Bogodukhovka and Akhtyrka. On August 23, Kharkov was taken.
On August 7-13, the forces of the Western and Kalinin fronts launched a series of attacks on the left wing of Army Group Center. The attack developed from with great difficulty due to fierce enemy resistance. Only in late August - early September, it was possible to liberate Yelnya and Dorogobuzh, and the entire German defense zone was broken through only by September 16th. On September 25, through flank attacks from the south and north, the troops of the Polar Front captured Smolensk and by the beginning of October entered the territory of Belarus. Parts of Kalf took Nevel on October 6.
On August 26, the Central, Voronezh and Steppe Fronts launched the Chernigov-Poltava operation. The troops of the Central Front broke through the enemy defenses south of Sevsk and occupied the city on August 27; On August 30, they captured Glukhov, September 6 - Konotop, September 13 - Nizhyn and reached the Dnieper at the Loev - Kyiv section. Parts of the Worf, taking advantage of the German retreat from the Akhtyrsky salient, liberated Sumy on September 2, Romny on September 16 and reached the Dnieper in the Kyiv-Cherkassy sector. The formations of the Steppe Front, striking at the beginning of September from the Kharkov region, took Krasnograd on September 19, Poltava on September 23, Kremenchug on September 29 and approached the Dnieper in the Cherkassy-Verkhnedneprovsk section. As a result, the Germans lost almost all of Left-Bank Ukraine. At the end of September, Soviet troops crossed the Dnieper in several places and captured 23 bridgeheads on its right bank.
On September 1, the troops of the BrF overcame the Wehrmacht's defense line "Hagen" near Bryansk. Having reached the Desna, they occupied Bryansk on September 17, and by September 25, relying on the active help of the partisans, they liberated the entire Bryansk industrial region. By October 3, the Red Army reached the line of the Sozh River in Eastern Belarus.
On September 9, the North Caucasian Front, in cooperation with the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov military flotilla, launched an offensive on the Taman Peninsula. Having broken through the Blue Line, Soviet troops took Novorossiysk on September 16, and by October 9 they completely cleared the peninsula from the Germans. On November 1-3, three landings were landed on the eastern coast of the Crimea near Kerch. By November 12, they occupied the northeastern ledge of the Kerch Peninsula, but failed to capture Kerch.
On September 26, units of the YuF launched an offensive in the Melitopol direction. Only after three weeks of fierce fighting did they manage to cross the river. Dairy and make a breach in the "Eastern shaft" (German defensive line from the Sea of Azov to the Dnieper); On October 23, Melitopol was liberated. Having defeated eight divisions of the Wehrmacht, the troops of the Southern Front (since October 20, the 4th Ukrainian), on October 31, reached Sivash and Perekop, blocking the German group in the Crimea, and by November 5 reached the lower reaches of the Dnieper. On the Dnieper Left Bank, the enemy was able to hold only the Nikopol bridgehead.
On October 10, the South-Western Front launched an operation to eliminate the Zaporozhye bridgehead and on October 14 captured Zaporozhye. On October 15, the troops of the right wing of the Southwestern Front (since October 20, the 3rd Ukrainian) launched an offensive in the Krivoy Rog direction; On October 25 they liberated Dnepropetrovsk and Dneprodzerzhinsk.
On October 11, the Voronezh (since October 20, the 1st Ukrainian) Front began the Kiev operation. After two unsuccessful attempts (October 11-15 and October 21-23) to take the capital of Ukraine by attack from the south (from the Bukrinsky bridgehead), it was decided to deliver the main blow from the north (from the Lyutezhsky bridgehead). On November 1, in order to distract the attention of the enemy, the 27th and 40th armies moved to Kyiv from the Bukrinsky bridgehead, and on November 3rd, the shock group of the 1st UV suddenly attacked him from the Lyutezhsky bridgehead and broke through the German defenses. On November 6, Kyiv was liberated. Developing a rapid offensive in a western direction, Soviet troops captured Fastov on November 7, Zhitomir on November 12, Korosten on November 17, and Ovruch on November 18.
On November 10, the Belorussian (formerly Central) Front struck in the Gomel-Bobruisk direction. November 17 was taken Rechitsa, November 26 - Gomel. The Red Army reached the nearest approaches to Mozyr and Zhlobin. The attack of the right wing of the SG on Mogilev and Orsha was not crowned with success.
On November 13, the Germans, having pulled up their reserves, launched a counteroffensive against the 1st UV in the Zhytomyr direction in order to recapture Kyiv and restore the defense along the Dnieper. November 19, they again captured Zhytomyr, November 27 - Korosten. However, they failed to break through to the capital of Ukraine, on December 22 they were stopped on the Fastiv-Korosten-Ovruch line. The Red Army held the vast strategic Kyiv bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnieper.
On December 6, the 2nd UV launched an offensive near Kremenchug. On December 12–14, Cherkassy and Chigirin were liberated. At the same time, units of the 3rd UV crossed the Dnieper near Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye and created a bridgehead on its right bank. However, in the future, the fierce resistance of the Germans prevented the troops of both fronts from breaking through into the region of Krivoy Rog and Nikopol, rich in iron and manganese ore.
During the period of hostilities from June 1 to December 31, the Wehrmacht suffered huge losses (1 million 413 thousand people), which it was no longer able to fully compensate for. A significant part of the territory of the USSR occupied in 1941–1942 was liberated. The plans of the German command to gain a foothold on the Dnieper lines failed. Conditions were created for the expulsion of the Germans from the Right-Bank Ukraine.
After a series of failures throughout 1943, the German command abandoned attempts to seize the strategic initiative and switched to a tough defense. The main task of the Wehrmacht in the north was to prevent the breakthrough of the Red Army into the Baltic states and East Prussia, in the center to the border with Poland, and in the south to the Dniester and the Carpathians. The Soviet military leadership set the goal of the winter-spring campaign of 1944 to defeat the German troops on the extreme flanks - in the Right-Bank Ukraine and near Leningrad.
Liberation of Right-Bank Ukraine and Crimea
(December 24, 1943 - May 12, 1944). On December 24, 1943, troops of the 1st UV launched an offensive in the western and southwestern directions (Zhytomyr-Berdichev operation). On December 28, they liberated Kazatin, January 29 - Korosten, December 31 - Zhytomyr, January 4, 1944 - Belaya Tserkov, January 5 - Berdichev, January 11 - Sarny and created the threat of a deep breakthrough in the Uman region. Only at the cost of great effort and significant losses did the Germans manage to stop the Soviet troops on the Sarny-Polonnaya-Kazatin-Zhashkov line. On January 5-6, units of the 2nd UV struck in the Kirovograd direction and on January 8 captured Kirovograd, but on January 10 they were forced to stop the offensive. The Germans did not allow the connection of the troops of both fronts and were able to keep the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky ledge, which posed a threat to Kiev from the south.
On January 24, the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian fronts launched a joint operation to defeat the enemy's Korsun-Shevchensk grouping. On January 28, the 6th and 5th Guards Tank Armies joined at Zvenigorodka and closed the encirclement. Kanev was taken on January 30, and Korsun-Shevchenkovsky on February 14. On February 17, the liquidation of the "cauldron" was completed; more than 18 thousand Wehrmacht soldiers were taken prisoner.
On January 27, units of the 1st UV attacked from the Sarn region in the Lutsk-Rivne direction. Having crossed Pripyat, they occupied Lutsk and Rovno on February 2, Shepetovka on February 11, and by mid-February they reached the line Rafalovka - Lutsk - Dubno - Yampol - Shepetovka.
On January 30, the offensive of the troops of the 3rd and 4th Ukrainian fronts to the Nikopol bridgehead. Having overcome the fierce resistance of the enemy, on February 8 they captured Nikopol, on February 22 - Krivoy Rog, and by February 29 they reached the Ingulets River.
As a result of the winter campaign of 1943/1944, the Germans were finally driven back from the Dnieper. In an effort to make a strategic breakthrough to the borders of Romania and prevent the Wehrmacht from gaining a foothold on the Southern Bug, Dniester and Prut rivers, the Headquarters developed a plan to encircle and defeat Army Group South in Right-Bank Ukraine through a coordinated strike of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts .
At the beginning of March 1944, the forces of three fronts launched a large-scale offensive operation in a 1,100 km long strip from Lutsk to the mouth of the Dnieper. On March 4, the troops of the 1st UV made a hole in the German defenses and rushed south to Chernivtsi. Thanks to the transfer of fresh reserves (1st Hungarian Army, etc.), the Germans managed to stop the offensive of the Red Army in this sector, but in the last ten days of March it began to develop rapidly: Vinnitsa and Zhmerinka were liberated on March 20, Proskurov on March 25, March 26 - Kamenetz-Podolsky, March 28 - Kolomyia, March 29 - Chernivtsi, April 14 - Tarnopol. Parts of the 1st UV covered the Army Group "South" from the west and went to the foothills of the Carpathians; by April 17 they reached the line Kovel-Vladimir - Volynsky - Brody - Buchach - Kolomyia - Vizhnitsa. However, the command of the front (Zhukov) did not take the necessary measures to strengthen the encirclement of the enemy's Kamyanets-Podilsky grouping, which allowed twenty German divisions to break through to the west to Kalush.
The 2nd UV, which launched an offensive on March 5, was rapidly moving in the Dubossary direction; On March 10, its units occupied Uman, crossed the Southern Bug and the Dniester, on March 26 they took Mogilev-Podolsky and reached the Prut, on March 27 they crossed state border The USSR, west of Balti, crossed the Siret River on April 10-15, broke through to Suceava (north-eastern Romania) and came close to Iasi and Chisinau. But due to the fierce resistance of the Germans on the fortified line of Iasi - Dubossary, they were forced to stop the offensive by April 17th.
The offensive operation of the 3rd UV in the Odessa direction began on March 6. Its success was facilitated by the transfer of a number of German formations to Western Ukraine to the line of action of the 1st UV. Having defeated the 6th German army near Snigirevka, the Soviet troops occupied Kherson on March 13, and by March 18 they reached the Southern Bug, but they could not force it on the move. Resuming the offensive on March 26, they overcame the German defenses on the Southern Bug, liberated Nikolaev on March 28, took Odessa by storm on April 10, and on April 14 reached the lower reaches of the Dniester and captured several bridgeheads on its right bank.
The result of the joint operation of the three Ukrainian fronts in March - the first half of April 1944 was the liberation of the Right-Bank Ukraine and Northern Moldova. Although the German troops in the south (Army Groups South and A) managed to avoid encirclement, they suffered significant losses (10 divisions were completely destroyed, 59 divisions lost more than 50% of their strength). The Red Army approached the borders of Germany's allies - Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria.
The final chord of the spring operation in the south was the expulsion of the Germans from the Crimea. On April 8, formations of the 4th UV broke through the German defenses at Sivash, rushed south and entered Simferopol on April 13. On April 11, the Separate Primorsky Army captured Kerch and began to develop an offensive to the west. The 17th German Army retreated to Sevastopol, which on April 15 was besieged by Soviet troops. On May 7–9, the troops of the 4th UV, with the support of the Black Sea Fleet, stormed the city, and by May 12 they defeated the remnants of the 17th Army that had fled to Cape Chersonese.
Leningrad-Novgorod operation of the Red Army
(January 14 - March 1, 1944). In an effort to finally eliminate the threat to Leningrad and begin the liberation of the northwestern regions of the USSR. The Stavka developed a plan for the defeat of Army Group North by the forces of the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic fronts. On January 14, the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts launched an offensive south of Leningrad and near Novgorod. Having inflicted a defeat on the German 18th Army and pushed it back to Luga, they liberated Krasnoe Selo and Ropsha on January 19, Novgorod on January 20, Mgu on January 21, Lyuban on January 28, and Chudovo on January 29. In early February, units of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts reached the approaches to Narva, Gdov and Luga; On February 4 they took Gdov, on February 12 Luga. The threat of encirclement forced the 18th Army to hastily retreat to the southwest. On February 17, the 2nd PribF carried out a series of attacks against the 16th German army on the Lovat River; On February 18, his troops occupied Staraya Russa, on February 21, Kholm, on February 24, Dno, and on February 29, Novorzhev. In early March, the Red Army reached the defensive line "Panther" (Narva - Lake Peipsi - Pskov - Ostrov); most of the Leningrad and Kalinin regions were liberated,
Military operations in the central direction in December 1943 - April 1944.
As the tasks of the winter offensive of the 1st Baltic, Western and Belorussian fronts, the Stavka set the troops to reach the Polotsk-Lepel-Mogilev-Ptich line and liberate Eastern Belarus.
In December 1943 - February 1944, the 1st PribF made three attempts to capture Vitebsk. During the first operation (December 13–31, 1943), his troops liberated Gorodok on December 24 and created a threat to the Vitebsk group from the north. During the second operation (February 3-18, 1944), at the cost of heavy losses, they penetrated the German defenses south of Vitebsk and cut the Vitebsk-Mogilev highway. The third operation (February 3–17) of the 1st PribF, together with the Polar Front, also did not lead to the capture of the city, but exhausted the enemy’s forces to the limit.
The offensive actions of the Polar Front in the Orsha direction on February 22-25 and March 5-9, 1944 were not successful either.
On the Mozyr direction, the Belorussian Front (BelF) on January 8 dealt a strong blow to the flanks of the 2nd German Army, but thanks to a hasty retreat, it managed to avoid encirclement. On January 14, Mozyr and Kalinkovichi were liberated. Since mid-January BelF has concentrated its activities in the Berezina valley. On February 19, his troops launched a large-scale offensive against Bobruisk from the southeast, and on February 21, from the east. On February 24 they occupied Rogachev. But the lack of forces prevented them from encircling and destroying the Bobruisk enemy grouping, and on February 26 the offensive was stopped.
Formed on February 17 at the junction of the 1st Ukrainian and Belorussian (since February 24, the 1st Belorussian) fronts, the 2nd Belorussian Front began the Polessky operation on March 15 with the aim of capturing Kovel and breaking through to Brest. Soviet troops surrounded Kovel, but on March 23 the Germans launched a counterattack and on April 4 released the Kovel group.
Thus, in the central direction during the winter-spring campaign of 1944, the Red Army was unable to achieve its goals; On April 15, she went on the defensive.
After the loss of most of the occupied territory of the USSR, the main task of the Wehrmacht was to prevent the Red Army from entering Europe and not to lose its allies. That is why the Soviet military-political leadership, having failed in their attempts to reach a peace agreement with Finland in February-April 1944, decided to start summer campaign 1944 strike in the north.
On June 10, 1944, LenF troops, with the support of the Baltic Fleet, launched an offensive on the Karelian Isthmus and, breaking through three lines of Finnish defense, took Vyborg on June 20. On June 21, the offensive of the Karelian Front began between the Ladoga and Onega lakes; having crossed the Svir river, its units liberated Olonets on June 25, and Petrozavodsk on June 28. On June 21, formations of the Karelian Front also struck near Povenets north of Lake Onega and on June 23 captured Medvezhyegorsk. Control was restored over the White Sea-Baltic Canal and the strategically important Kirov railway linking Murmansk with European Russia. By early August, Soviet troops had liberated all of the occupied territory east of Ladoga; in the Kuolisma area, they reached the Finnish border. Having suffered a defeat, Finland on August 25 entered into negotiations with the USSR. On September 4, she broke off relations with Berlin and ceased hostilities, on September 15 she declared war on Germany, and on September 19 she concluded a truce with the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. By September 24, the part of Western Karelia held by the Finns was returned to the USSR. The entire northern front line (with the exception of the Petsamo region in the Arctic, which remained in the hands of the Germans) was liquidated; the length of the Soviet-German front was reduced by a third. This allowed the Red Army to free up significant forces for operations in other directions.
Successes in Karelia prompted the Headquarters to conduct a large-scale operation to defeat the enemy in the central direction with the forces of three Belorussian and 1st Baltic fronts (Operation Bagration), which became the main event of the summer-autumn campaign of 1944.
The general offensive of the Soviet troops began on June 23–24. The coordinated strike of the 1st PribF and the right wing of the 3rd BF ended on June 26–27 with the liberation of Vitebsk and the encirclement of five German divisions. The left wing of the 3rd BF, moving along railway Moscow - Minsk, June 27 took possession of Orsha. Formations of the 2nd BF crossed the Dnieper on June 27 and occupied Mogilev on June 28. On June 26, units of the 1st BF took Zhlobin, on June 27–29 they surrounded and destroyed the Bobruisk grouping of the enemy, and on June 29 Bobruisk was liberated. As a result of the rapid offensive of the three Belorussian fronts, an attempt by the German command to organize a line of defense along the Berezina was thwarted; On July 3, the troops of the 1st and 3rd BF broke into Minsk and took the 4th German army in pincers south of Borisov (liquidated by July 11).
The German front began to crumble. Formations of the 1st PribF occupied Polotsk on July 4 and, moving downstream of the Western Dvina, entered the territory of Latvia and Lithuania: on July 27 they captured Daugavpils and Shauliai, on July 30 - Tukums, on August 1 - Yelgava and reached the coast of the Gulf of Riga, cutting off the stationed in the Baltic States, Army Group North from the rest of the Wehrmacht forces. Parts of the right wing of the 3rd BF, having taken Lepel on June 28, broke through into the valley of the river in early July. Vilia (Nyaris), liberated Vileyka on July 2, Vilnius on July 13, Kaunas on August 1, and, advancing with heavy fighting along the Neman, reached the border of East Prussia on August 17.
The troops of the left wing of the 3rd BF, having made a swift throw from Minsk, took Lida on July 3, on July 16, together with the 2nd BF - Grodno and at the end of July approached the northeastern ledge of the Polish border. The 2nd BF, advancing to the southwest, captured Bialystok on July 27 and drove the Germans across the Narew River. Parts of the right wing of the 1st BF, having liberated Baranovichi on July 8, and Pinsk on July 14, at the end of July they reached the Western Bug and reached the central section of the Soviet-Polish border; On July 28 Brest was taken.
As a result of Operation Bagration, Belarus, most of Lithuania and part of Latvia were liberated. The possibility of an offensive in East Prussia and Poland opened up.
Liberation of Western Ukraine and offensive in Eastern Poland
(July 13 - August 29, 1944). Trying to stop the advance of Soviet troops in Belarus, the Wehrmacht command was forced to transfer formations there from other sectors of the Soviet-German front. This facilitated the operations of the Red Army in other directions. On July 13–14, the offensive of the 1st UV began in Western Ukraine. Having quickly broken through the German defenses south of Vladimir-Volynsky and north of Tarnopol, on July 17, its units surrounded a large enemy grouping (eight divisions) west of Brody (liquidated by July 22); On July 20, they captured Vladimir-Volynsky, Rava-Russkaya and Przemysl, on July 27 - Lvov and Stanislav (Ivano-Frankivsk), on August 6 - Drohobych. Already on July 17, they crossed the state border of the USSR and entered South-Eastern Poland, and on July 29 they approached the Vistula, crossed it and captured a bridgehead on the left bank near Sandomierz; August 18 Sandomierz was taken.
On July 18, the left wing of the 1st BF launched an offensive near Kovel. On July 20, having crossed the Western Bug, Soviet troops moved across Poland in two directions - western (Lublin) and northwestern (Warsaw). On July 23 they occupied Lublin, on July 26 they reached the Vistula north of Deblin, crossed the river in the Mangushev area (July 27) and south of Pulaw (July 29) and created two bridgeheads on its left bank. At the end of July, they approached Prague (the right-bank suburb of Warsaw), which they managed to take only on September 14th. In early August, the resistance of the Germans intensified sharply, and the advance of the Red Army was stopped. Because of this, the Soviet command was unable to provide the necessary assistance to the uprising that broke out on August 1 in the Polish capital under the leadership of the Home Army, and by the beginning of October it was brutally suppressed by the Wehrmacht. The Germans were able to stay at the line of Lomza - Pultusk - Warsaw - Mangushev - west of Sandomierz - Dukla Pass.
By the end of July 1944, the Red Army had finally liberated Ukraine and occupied most of Eastern Poland. For the first time since the war fighting were transferred to foreign territory. The nature of the Great Patriotic War has changed: from now on, its goal was the liberation of the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe occupied by the Germans and the complete defeat of Germany and its allies.
Liberation of the Northern Baltic
(July 10 - November 24, 1944). In July, the Soviet command launched an operation to defeat Army Group North and liberate Estonia and Latvia. On July 10, the 2nd PribF launched an offensive in the Rezhitsky direction. On July 15, its units captured Opochka, July 27 - Rezekne, August 8 - Krustpils, but could not break through to Riga. The troops of the 3rd PribF, breaking through the German defenses on the river on July 17th. Velikaya and liberated Ostrov (July 21) and Pskov (July 23), entered northern Latvia and southern Estonia; the stubborn resistance of the Wehrmacht significantly slowed down the pace of the offensive, and only on August 25 did the Soviet troops manage to occupy Tartu. Parts of the LF captured Narva on July 26, but their further advance was soon stopped. As a result of the counteroffensive on August 21, the Germans liquidated the Tukums corridor and restored a continuous line of defense on the Baltic coast.
Offensive operations in the northern Baltic resumed in mid-September. On September 14, all three Baltic fronts launched a coordinated strike in the direction of Riga and by the end of September reached the approaches to the Latvian capital. At the same time, the troops of the 3rd PribF liberated northern Latvia. Parts of the LF, having launched an offensive on September 17, broke through to Tallinn with a swift throw and on September 22, with the support of the Baltic Fleet, captured the Estonian capital. On September 23, they took Pärnu, on September 24, Haapsalu, and by September 27, they completed the liberation of mainland Estonia.
The decisive act of the liberation of the Baltic States was the Memel-Rizhskaya operation, carried out in the first half of October 1944. On October 5, the 1st PribF and 3-1 BF delivered a surprise blow to the German grouping in western Lithuania. They could not immediately capture Memel, but on October 10 they reached the Baltic coast near Palanga and again cut off Army Group North from East Prussia. Parts of the 2nd and 3rd Baltic fronts broke through to Riga and took it on October 13. The remnants of Army Group North were pushed back to northwestern Latvia and blockaded there; Memel was also blocked.
At the end of September, the LF troops and the Baltic sailors began to liberate the Moonsund Islands. On September 27, Soviet troops landed on the island of Hiiumaa, and on October 5, on the island of Saaremaa. In early October, the islands of Hiiumaa, Mukha and Vormsi were cleared of the Germans, by November 24 - Saaremaa.
With the liberation of the Baltic States, the Soviet-German front line was further reduced. Army Group North, pressed to the sea by Soviet troops, practically ceased to play a military-strategic role. The situation in the Baltic has changed significantly: favorable conditions have been created for intensifying the actions of the Baltic Fleet; Soviet troops threatened the northern coast of Germany and its communications with Sweden.
Liberation of southern Moldavia. Transfer of Romania and Bulgaria to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition
(August 20 - end of September 1944). At the end of August 1944, the Red Army carried out the Iasi-Kishinev operation, which was aimed at expelling the Germans from the southwestern regions of the USSR that were still occupied and withdrawing Romania from the war, which provided Germany's basic needs for oil products. On August 20, the 2nd UV northeast of Yass, and the 3rd UV south of Tiraspol broke through the enemy defenses and began to develop the offensive, respectively, in the southern and western directions. On August 21, the troops of the 2nd UV occupied Iasi. On August 23, the troops of the 3rd UV surrounded and forced the surrender of the 3rd Romanian army near Belgorod-Dnestrovsky, on August 24 they liberated Chisinau and, together with units of the 2nd UV, took the German 6th Army, the core of the group, in pincers west of the Moldavian capital armies "Southern Ukraine". On August 25, formations of the 3rd UV entered Leovo, reached the mouth of the Danube and captured Izmail. By August 29, the Chisinau Cauldron (eighteen divisions) was liquidated. The liberation of Moldova is over.
Defeats at the fronts led to the fall of the I. Antonescu regime in Romania on August 23, 1944. The new government of C. Sanatescu declared war on Germany and turned to Stalin with a request for a truce. On August 27, the troops of the 3rd UV broke through near Galati, on August 29, with the support of the Black Sea Fleet, they captured the port of Constanta and in early September reached the Bulgarian-Romanian border. On August 30, units of the 2nd UV occupied the oil-bearing region of Ploiesti, on August 31 they entered Bucharest, and on September 5 they reached the Yugoslav-Romanian border near Turnu Severin. On September 12, an armistice was signed between Romania and the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.
The rapid advance of the 2nd UV to the northwest thwarted the German plans to capture the passes through the Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians). On September 19, the Red Army captured Timisoara, on September 22 - Arad and on September 23 crossed the southeastern border of Hungary in the Battonya region. By the end of September, the entire territory of pre-war Romania was cleared of the Germans.
On September 5, the USSR declared war on Bulgaria. On September 8, the troops of the 3rd UV crossed the Romanian-Bulgarian border and already on September 8–9 occupied the Black Sea ports of Varna and Burgas and the Danube port of Ruse; by September 10, the entire north-east of Bulgaria was under their control. On the night of September 9, a coup d'état took place in Sofia, overthrowing the Coburg monarchy. The new government of K. Georgiev declared war on Germany. On September 15, the Soviet units entered Sofia, and at the end of September they were already on the Bulgarian-Yugoslav border. On October 28, Bulgaria signed a truce with the USSR. UK and USA.
Offensive in the Eastern Carpathians
(September 8 - October 28, 1944) . At the end of August, an uprising broke out in Slovakia against the pro-German regime of J. Tiso. The Soviet command decided to carry out the Carpathian-Dukla operation to break through to Eastern Slovakia and join with the rebels. On September 8, units of the 1st UV attacked from the Krosno region (southeastern Poland) to the south in the direction of the Dukla Pass, captured it after a month of fierce fighting and entered the territory of Czechoslovakia (October 6). In mid-October, the troops of the 4th UV, which launched an offensive in the Eastern Carpathians on September 20, broke through the Yablonitsky and Middle Veretsky passes and rushed west towards Slovakia: on October 24 they took Khust, on October 26 - Mukachevo, on October 27 - Uzhgorod and completely liberated Transcarpathian Ukraine. However, the Red Army failed to break through to the Presov-Košice region and link up with the Slovak partisans; On October 28, offensive operations were stopped. By the beginning of November, the Germans crushed the Slovak uprising. The exit of the Red Army to the border of Yugoslavia created a threat of encirclement of Army Group E stationed in Greece; Hitler ordered her withdrawal to Yugoslav territory. The strengthening of the German grouping in the west of the Balkan Peninsula complicated the situation of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (NOAYU), which by mid-September had already liberated southern and western Serbia. In this situation, the Soviet command decided to conduct an offensive operation in eastern Yugoslavia together with the Bulgarian army and local partisans. On September 28, troops of the 3rd UV from the Kladovo area struck in the northwestern (Belgrade) and southwestern (Krushevat) directions; at the beginning of October they united in the valley of the Morava River with detachments of NOAU; By October 8, the troops of the 2nd UV had cleared the area east of the Tisza from the enemy. On the same day, the Bulgarian army launched an offensive in southeastern Serbia and Macedonia; with the support of the partisans, she occupied Nis on October 14, cutting off the retreat routes of the Wehrmacht units from Greece to Belgrade. On October 20, having overcome the desperate resistance of the German garrison, formations of the 3rd UV, together with the NOAU, took the Yugoslav capital; after that, Soviet troops were transferred to Hungary. The liberation of the remaining parts of Yugoslavia (Croatia, Slovenia, etc.) was entrusted to the NOAU by agreement between the Soviet and Yugoslav military commands.
Operations in the Arctic and East Prussia
(October-November 1944). On October 7, the KarF and the Northern Fleet attacked the 19th German mountain rifle corps in the north of the Kola Peninsula and forced it to retreat. The 14th Soviet Army, pushing the retreating enemy, entered northern Finland, took Petsamo (Pechenga) on October 15, Nickel on October 22, broke through to northern Norway and captured Kirkenes on October 25. On November 9, the liberation of the Arctic was completed.
At the same time, Soviet troops failed in East Prussia, where in mid-October the German Army Group Center repelled the advance of the 3rd BF.
Offensive in Eastern and Central Hungary
(October 6, 1944 - February 13, 1945) . In early October 1944, the Red Army launched an operation to defeat Army Group South in the area between the Mures and Danube rivers and to withdraw Horthy Hungary, Germany's last ally in Europe, from the war. On October 6, units of the 2nd UV and Romanian troops launched an offensive in Transylvania. Having crossed the Mures River, the right wing of the front, together with the Romanians, drove the enemy out of Cluj, the capital of Transylvania, on October 11, and the left wing captured Szeged on the same day. Coming out on the Hungarian plain, Soviet troops rushed to Debrecen, one of the largest cities in Hungary, and captured it on October 20. By October 25, the Germans were expelled from Transylvania. At the end of October, the entire left bank of the Tisza from Szeged to Szolnok was under the control of the Red Army. Having crossed the Tisza on a wide front, the 2nd UV on October 29 launched an offensive in Central Hungary; strikes were carried out in the Kaposvar, Budapest and Miskolc directions. On November 4, Soviet troops reached the nearest approaches to the Hungarian capital, but could not take it on the move. On December 3, they captured Miskolc, on December 4 they reached Lake. Balaton. At the beginning of December, a new attempt was made to take Budapest by envelopment from the north and from the west, but this was also unsuccessful; only in the last days of December did the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts succeed in blockading the city. Having repelled several Wehrmacht attempts to unblock Budapest in January 1945, in early February they defeated the enemy grouping in Budapest (about 120 thousand prisoners) and occupied the Hungarian capital on February 13.
On December 28, the Provisional National Government of Hungary, established in Debrecen, declared war on Germany.
At the beginning of 1945, the Red Army launched a series of operations in the central (Berlin) direction with the aim of the final liberation of Poland and the complete defeat of Germany. The first of these was the Vistula-Oder, during which the Soviet troops were to defeat Army Group A and reach the Oder.
On January 12, 1945, troops of the 1st UV struck from the Sandomierz bridgehead in the Radom-Breslav direction. On January 14, they broke through to Pinchuv and crossed the Nida River on a wide front. On January 15, Soviet tank columns took Kielce, and on January 16 they crossed the Pilica River. On January 17, the right wing of the 1st UV liberated Czestochowa, on January 19 it reached the German-Polish border, on January 20 it entered Silesia; On January 19, units of the left wing captured Krakow, on January 22 they reached the Oder River, and on January 28 they occupied Katowice and other centers of the Upper Silesian industrial region. The formations of the right wing on January 26 captured a bridgehead on the left bank of the Oder near Breslau (Wroclaw).
On January 14, the offensive of the 1st BF began from the Mangushevsky and Pulawsky bridgeheads in the Kutno-Lodz direction. Having broken through the enemy defenses, the troops of the right wing turned north towards Warsaw, while the troops of the left wing moved west and captured Radom on January 16; his advanced tank formations liberated Lodz on January 19, crossed the Warta River on January 23, broke into Kalisz and crossed the Oder north of Steinau. Formations of the right wing, together with the 1st Polish Army, captured Warsaw on January 17 in an enveloping maneuver; Soviet tank columns rushed along the corridor between the Vistula and the Warta, on January 23 they took Bygdosch and reached the Oder near Kustrin (Kostszyn), 40 km from Berlin. Other parts of the right wing reached Poznan, bypassed it, running into the stubborn defense of the Germans (the Poznan group was destroyed only by February 23), and on January 29 they entered the territory of Brandenburg and Pomerania; On February 3, the troops of the 1st BF captured the Oder crossings at Kustrin and Frankfurt an der Oder. However, due to lack of forces, the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts failed to continue the offensive and break through deep into Germany. In early February, the Germans, with the help of reinforcements from the west and internal reserves, were able to stop the advance of the Red Army; the front stabilized along the Oder.
At the same time, the forces of the 2nd and 3rd Belorussian and 1st Baltic fronts carried out the East Prussian operation in order to destroy the Army Group Center and capture East Prussia. On January 13, the troops of the 3rd BF struck from the Suwalki area in the Koenigsber direction and on January 20 captured Insterburg. On January 14, the troops of the 2nd BF, advancing from the Nareva valley, broke through the German defense line that covered East Prussia from the south, occupied Mlawa on January 19, Allenstein station on January 20, blocking the main East Prussian railway artery, and on January 26 reached the Danzig Bay at Elbing, cutting off the German troops in East Prussia from the rest of the forces. On January 28, formations of the 1st PribF liberated Klaipeda. By the end of January, the East Prussian grouping was divided into three parts (in the Braungsberg area, on the Zemland Peninsula and near Koenigsberg). However, their liquidation dragged on for two months. Only on March 29, the troops of the 3rd BF were able to destroy the largest "cauldron" southwest of Koenigsberg, and on April 9 to capture the capital of East Prussia.
As a result of the Vistula-Oder and East Prussian operations, the Red Army liberated most of Poland, occupied East Prussia, entered German territory, reached the Oder and created bridgeheads on its western bank in the immediate vicinity of Berlin. The Wehrmacht lost almost half a million killed.
Liberation of southern Poland and eastern Slovakia
(January 12 - February 18, 1945). In parallel with the operations in the main (Berlin) direction, the 4th UV and the right wing of the 2nd UV carried out an operation to defeat the German-Hungarian group in the Western Carpathians. Having broken through the enemy defenses and destroyed seventeen enemy divisions, the Soviet troops liberated the territory of Poland south of Krakow and the Czechoslovak lands east of Banska Bystrica and by mid-February reached the approaches to the Moravian-Ostrava industrial region.
Before the decisive blow to Berlin, the Headquarters decided to liquidate enemy groupings on the northern and southern flanks of the central direction - in Eastern Pomerania and Silesia.
On February 10, the troops of the 2nd BF launched an offensive in Eastern Pomerania, but due to a lack of reserves, their advance in the Lower Vistula valley was slow. The situation changed when, on February 20, units of the right wing of the 1st BF, which completed the destruction of the Schneidemul "cauldron" on February 17, struck in the Kolberg direction; in early March they reached the Baltic Sea between Keslin (Koszalin) and Kolberg (Kołobrzeg). Formations of the 2nd BF captured Gdynia on March 28, and Danzig (Gdansk) on March 30. By April 4, the Red Army occupied all of Eastern Pomerania and established control over the coast from the Vistula to the Oder. The success of the operation eliminated the threat to the Soviet troops from the north and freed up significant forces (ten armies) to participate in the Battle of Berlin.
On February 8, units of the 1st UV from the Breslav bridgehead launched an offensive in Lower Silesia. Having bypassed the blockaded Glogau and Breslau, they rushed west, on February 13 they reached Sommerfeld, 80 km from the German capital, and on February 16 they reached the Neisse River at its confluence with the Oder. Although they failed to break through to Berlin, they cut off the Upper Silesian group from Germany and drove the Germans out of Lower Silesia; True, the Glogau "cauldron" was liquidated only on April 1, and Breslav - on May 6.
On March 15, troops of the 1st UV attacked the Wehrmacht in Upper Silesia. On March 18–20, they defeated the main enemy forces in the Oppeln (Opole) area and by March 31 reached the foothills of the Sudetenland on the German-Czechoslovak border. Dresden and Prague were under threat.
As a result of the East Pomeranian, Lower Silesian and Upper Silesian operations, Germany lost its most important industrial and agricultural regions.
German counteroffensive in western Hungary
(March 6–15, 1945). In the early spring of 1945, the German troops made their last attempt to delay the defeat: in an effort to disrupt the upcoming offensive of the Red Army on the southern flank, on March 6 they attacked the positions of the 3rd UV to the north of the lake. Balaton. They managed to penetrate 12–30 km into the Soviet defenses south of the lake. Velence and west of the Sharviz Canal, however, units of the 3rd UV, with the support of the 1st Bulgarian and 3rd Yugoslav armies, managed to stop the enemy by mid-March, whose losses amounted to more than 40 thousand people.
Offensive in western Hungary and eastern Austria
(March 16 - April 15, 1945). On March 16, 1945, the 3rd UV and the left wing of the 2nd UV launched an operation to capture the areas of Hungary and the Vienna industrial region that remained in German hands. At the end of March, they defeated Army Group South and part of Army Group E, as a result of which the entire southern flank of the German defense collapsed. By April 4, Soviet troops occupied western Hungary, crossed the Austro-Hungarian border, and approached Vienna on April 6. After a week of fierce street fighting, they captured the Austrian capital. By April 16, the Germans had been expelled from Burgenland and eastern Styria and Lower Austria.
Fall of Berlin. Surrender of Germany
(April 16 - May 8). In mid-April 1945, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian and 1st and 2nd Belorussian fronts began the final operation to defeat Nazi Germany. A plan was developed to destroy the Army Groups "Center" and "Vistula", the capture of Berlin and access to the Elbe to connect with the allies.
On April 16, units of the 1st BF attacked the central section of the German line of fortifications on the Oder, but ran into stubborn resistance, especially at the Seelow Heights. Only on April 17, at the cost of huge losses, did they manage to take the heights. On April 19, they punched a 30-km gap in the enemy's defenses, rushed to Berlin and reached its suburbs on April 21. The offensive of the 1st UV turned out to be less bloody, which had already crossed the Neisse on April 16, by April 19 broke through the German defenses on a wide front, defeated the 4th Panzer Army and moved to Berlin from the south. On April 24, troops of the 1st UV and 1st BF surrounded the Frankfurt-Guben grouping (9th and remnants of the 4th tank armies) north of Cottbus, and on April 25 completed the encirclement of the Berlin group. On the same day, units of the 1st UV went to the Elbe and met with units of the 1st American Army in the Torgau area: the Eastern and Western fronts connected.
The 2nd BF operated on the northern flank, trying to prevent Army Group Vistula from coming to the aid of Berlin. On April 20, his troops crossed the Oder south of Stettin (Szczecin) and on April 26 captured Stettin itself.
On April 26, the 1st UV and 1st BF began to liquidate two encircled Wehrmacht groups. Having repulsed the attempt of the 12th German army to break through to Berlin from the west, by April 28 they captured the outskirts of the city and started fighting for the central quarters. On April 30, Hitler committed suicide. On May 1, the Reichstag was taken. On May 2, Berlin capitulated. The day before, the defeat of the Frankfurt-Guben grouping was completed. By May 7, Soviet troops reached the Wismar-Ludwigslust-Elba-R. Saale line agreed with the Allies. On May 8, in Karlhost, representatives of the German command signed an act of unconditional surrender. On the same day, units of the 1st UV occupied Dresden. On May 9, German troops surrendered in Northwestern Lithuania (Army Group Courland).
Liberation of Czechoslovakia
(March 10 - May 11, 1945). The last country liberated by the Red Army was Czechoslovakia. On March 10, the 4th UV, and on March 25, the 2nd UV, with the support of the 1st and 4th Romanian armies, launched an offensive in Western Slovakia. On April 4, units of the 2nd UV took Bratislava; by mid-April, they had completed the liberation of the southwestern regions of Slovakia, and the troops of the 4th UV reached the Zilina-Trencin line near the Moravian border. In the second half of April, the Red Army launched military operations in Moravia. On April 26, formations of the 2nd UV took Brno; On April 30, units of the 4th UV occupied Ostrava and in early May captured the Moravian-Ostrava industrial region. By May 5, the liberation of Moravia was completed.
In early May, an uprising broke out against the German occupiers in the Czech Republic; May 4, it swept Prague. On May 5, the command of Army Group Center moved large forces against the Czech capital, but on May 6–7, the Red Army had already begun an operation to liberate the Czech Republic: the 1st UV attacked from the north (from Saxony), the 4th UV from the east ( from Olomouc), 2nd UV - from the southeast (from Brno). On May 9, the troops of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts drove the Germans out of Prague, on May 10-11 they surrounded and destroyed their main forces east of the city and ended the war at the Chemnitz-Karlovy-Vary-Pilsen-Ceske Budejovice line.
Military operations in the Far East. Defeat of the Kwantung Army
(August 9 - September 2, 1945). Back in February 1945, at the Yalta Conference, the USSR undertook to enter the war with Japan two or three months after the victory over Germany on the condition of returning to it what was lost by Russia as a result of Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905 During the Potsdam Conference, the Allies issued a declaration (July 26, 1945) in which they demanded the unconditional surrender of Japan and announced their intention to occupy it until the election of a democratic government and punish Japanese war criminals.
On August 8, the USSR declared war on Japan; On August 10, Mongolia (MPR) joined it. On August 9, the 1st and 2nd Far Eastern and Trans-Baikal Fronts, with the support of the Pacific Fleet, began military operations against the Kwantung Army stationed in Manchuria. Parts of the left wing of the ZBF crossed the Argun, captured the Manchurian-Chzhalaynor fortified area and, bypassing the Hailar fortified area, began to develop an offensive in the Qiqihar direction; by the end of August 14, they had crossed the Great Khingan Range near Boketu. Parts of the right wing, striking from Eastern Mongolia, captured the Khalun-Arshan fortified area, crossed the Great Khingan and rushed to Xinjing (Chanchun). By the end of August 14, they reached the Baichen-Taonan-Dabanshan line, and the Mongol troops advancing to the west approached Dolun. The troops of the right wing of the 2nd Far Eastern Fleet, having struck from the Blagoveshchensk region, broke through the Japanese defenses on the Amur, overcame the Lesser Khingan and moved towards Mergen and Beian; formations of the left wing, having crossed the Amur to the north of Tongjian, in the course of fierce battles, captured the Fujin (Fugdinsky) fortified area and began to advance west up the Sungari. The troops of the 1st Far Eastern Fleet attacked from Primorye, together with the landing detachments of the Pacific Fleet, captured the North Korean ports of Ungi (Yuki), Najin (Rasin), Chongjin (Seishin) and by the end of August 14 reached the line Mishan - Mudanjiang - Tumen. As a result, the Kwantung Army was divided into several parts. In southern Sakhalin, the 16th Army of the 2nd Far Eastern Fleet achieved significant success: having launched an offensive on August 11, it captured the Koton fortified area on August 13 and rushed south.
On August 14, Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. However, hostilities in Manchuria continued. The troops of the left wing of the ZBF took Qiqihar on August 19, and the troops of the right 2nd Far Eastern Fleet, having captured Beian on August 20, went to Qiqihar from the northeast. On August 19, units of the right wing of the ZBF occupied Xinjing and Shenyang (Mukden), units of the 1st Far Eastern Fleet occupied Jilin, and Soviet-Mongolian formations occupied Chengde (Rehe). On August 20, the troops of the left wing of the 2nd Far Eastern Fleet captured Harbin. On August 18, Soviet troops began landing on the Kuril Islands. In this situation of complete defeat, the command of the Kwantung Army on August 19 decided to stop further resistance. On August 22, ZBF troops entered Lushun (Port Arthur) and Dalian (Far); troops of the 1st Far Eastern Fleet on the same day occupied the North Korean port of Wonsan (Genzan), and on August 24 - Pyongyang. On August 25, the entire South Sakhalin was cleared of the Japanese, on August 23-28 - the Kuril Islands. On September 2, Japan signed the act of unconditional surrender.
Results of the Great Patriotic War.
The victory went to the USSR at a high price. The assessment of human losses is still the subject of fierce debate. Thus, irretrievable Soviet losses on the fronts, according to various estimates, vary from 8.5 to 26.5 million people. The total material damage and military costs amount to 485 billion dollars. 1,710 cities and urban-type settlements and more than 70,000 villages were destroyed.
But the USSR defended its independence and contributed to the complete or partial liberation of a number of European and Asian countries - Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Yugoslavia, China and Korea. He made a huge contribution to the overall victory of the anti-fascist coalition over Germany, Italy and Japan: on the Soviet-German front, 607 Wehrmacht divisions were defeated and captured, almost 3/4 of all German military equipment was destroyed. USSR played important role in the post-war peace settlement; its territory expanded to include East Prussia, Transcarpathian Ukraine, the Petsamo region, southern Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands. It became one of the leading world powers and the center of a whole system of communist states on the Euro-Asian continent.
Ivan Krivushin
APPENDIX 1. NON-AGGREGATION PACT BETWEEN GERMANY AND THE USSR
The Government of the USSR and the Government of Germany,
Guided by the desire to strengthen the cause of peace between the USSR and Germany and proceeding from the main provisions of the neutrality treaty concluded between the USSR and Germany in April 1926, they came to the following agreement:
Both Contracting Parties undertake to refrain from any violence, from any aggressive action and any attack against each other, either separately or jointly with other powers.
In the event that one of the Contracting Parties becomes the object of hostilities by a third power, the other Contracting Party will not support that power in any form.
Article III
The Governments of both Contracting Parties shall remain in future contact with each other for consultation, in order to inform each other of matters affecting their common interests.
None of the Contracting Parties will participate in any grouping of powers which is directly or indirectly directed against the other side.
In the event of disputes or conflicts between the Contracting Parties on issues of one kind or another, both parties will resolve these disputes or conflicts exclusively by peaceful means through a friendly exchange of opinions or, if necessary, by creating commissions to resolve the conflict.
The present treaty is concluded for a period of ten years, so long as one of the Contracting Parties does not denounce it one year before the expiration of the term, the term of the treaty will be considered automatically extended for another five years.
Article VII
This treaty is subject to ratification as soon as possible. The exchange of instruments of ratification is to take place in Berlin. The agreement comes into force immediately after its signing.
At the signing of the non-aggression pact between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the undersigned plenipotentiaries of both parties discussed in a strictly confidential manner the question of delimiting the spheres of mutual interests in Eastern Europe. This discussion led to the following result:
l. In the event of a territorial and political rearrangement of the regions that are part of the Baltic states (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), the northern border of Lithuania is at the same time the border of the spheres of interests of Germany and the USSR. At the same time, the interests of Lithuania in relation to the Vilna region are recognized by both parties.
2. In the event of a territorial and political rearrangement of the regions that are part of the Polish State, the border between the spheres of interests of Germany and the USSR will approximately run along the line of the rivers Nareva, Vistula and San.
The question of whether the preservation of an independent Polish State is desirable in mutual interests, and what the boundaries of this state will be, can only be finally clarified in the course of further political development.
In any case, both Governments will resolve this issue by way of friendly mutual agreement.
3. Regarding the south-east of Europe with Soviet side the interest of the USSR in Bessarabia is emphasized. The German side declares its complete political disinterest in these areas.
4. This protocol will be kept strictly secret by both parties.
APPENDIX 2. AGREEMENT OF FRIENDSHIP AND BORDER BETWEEN THE USSR AND GERMANY
Moscow
After the collapse of the former Polish state, the government of the USSR and the German government consider it exclusively their task to restore peace and order in this territory and to ensure the peaceful existence of the peoples living there, corresponding to their national characteristics. To this end, they have come to an agreement as follows:
The government of the USSR and the German government establish as the boundary between mutual state interests on the territory of the former Polish state a line, which is marked on the map attached to this and will be described in more detail in an additional protocol.
Both Parties recognize the boundary of mutual state interests established in Article I as final and eliminate any interference of third powers in this decision.
Article III
The necessary state reorganization in the territory to the west of the line indicated in the article is carried out by the German government, in the territory to the east of this line - by the Government of the USSR.
The Government of the USSR and the German Government regard the above reorganization as a reliable foundation for the further development of friendly relations between their peoples.
This treaty is subject to ratification. The exchange of instruments of ratification should take place as soon as possible in Berlin.
The agreement comes into force from the moment of its signing. Compiled in two originals, in German and Russian.
By authorization of the Government of the USSR V. Molotov For the Government of Germany J. Ribbentrop
Secret Additional Protocol
Moscow
The undersigned Plenipotentiaries state the agreement of the German Government and the Government of the USSR on the following:
The secret additional protocol signed on August 23, 1939 is amended in paragraph 1 in such a way that the territory of the State of Lithuania is included in the sphere of interests of the USSR, since, on the other hand, the Lublin Voivodeship and parts of the Warsaw Voivodeship are included in the sphere of interests of Germany (see the map to the signed today Treaty of Friendship and Border between the USSR and Germany). As soon as the Government of the USSR takes special measures on Lithuanian territory to protect its interests, the present German-Lithuanian frontier, for the purpose of drawing a natural and simple frontier, is corrected so that the Lithuanian territory, which lies to the south-west of the line indicated on the map, retreats to Germany.
By authorization of the Government of the USSR V. Molotov
For the German government I. Ribbentrop
Secret Additional Protocol
Moscow
The undersigned plenipotentiaries at the conclusion of the Soviet-German Treaty on the border and friendship stated their agreement to the following:
Both sides will not allow any Polish agitation on their territories that affects the territory of another country. They will eradicate the germs of such agitation in their territories and will inform each other about the appropriate measures for this.
For the Government of Germany I. Ribbentrop
By authorization of the Government of the USSR V. Molotov
APPENDIX 3. TELEGRAM FROM THE GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER J. VON RIBBENTROP TO THE AMBASSADOR IN THE USSR F. SCHULENBURG
Urgently!
State secret!
On the radio!
Send in person!
1. Upon receipt of this telegram, all encrypted materials must be destroyed. The radio must be disabled.
2. I ask you to immediately inform Mr. Molotov that you have an urgent message for him and that you would therefore like to visit him immediately. Then please make the following statement to Herr Molotov:
“The Soviet plenipotentiary in Berlin receives at this hour from the Reich Foreign Minister a memorandum listing the facts in detail, summarized below:
I. In 1939, the imperial government, having cast aside the serious obstacles resulting from the contradictions between National Socialism and Bolshevism, tried to find with Soviet Russia understanding. According to the agreements of August 23 and September 28, 1939, the Reich government carried out a general reorientation of its policy towards the USSR and since then has taken a friendly position towards the Soviet Union. This policy of goodwill brought enormous benefits to the Soviet Union in the field of foreign policy.
The imperial government therefore felt justified in assuming that since then both nations, respecting government systems each other, without interfering in the internal affairs of the other side, will have good, lasting good neighborly relations. Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that the imperial government was completely wrong in its assumptions.
II. Soon after the conclusion of the German-Russian treaties, the Comintern resumed its subversive activities against Germany with the participation of official Soviet representatives who supported it. Open sabotage, terror and espionage of a political and economic nature connected with the preparation of war were carried out on a large scale. In all countries bordering Germany and in territories occupied by German troops, anti-German sentiment was encouraged, and German attempts to establish a stable order in Europe aroused resistance. The Soviet Chief of Staff offered Yugoslavia weapons against Germany, which is proven by documents found in Belgrade. The declarations made by the USSR in connection with the conclusion of treaties with Germany regarding the intention to cooperate with Germany, thus, turn out to be a deliberate misrepresentation and deceit, and the very conclusion of the treaties is a tactical maneuver to obtain agreements beneficial only to Russia. The guiding principle remained the penetration into non-Bolshevik countries in order to demoralize them, and at the right time to crush them.
III. In the diplomatic and military spheres, as it became clear, the USSR, contrary to the declarations made at the conclusion of the treaties that it did not want to Bolshevize and annex the countries included in its spheres of interest, had the goal of expanding its military power in a western direction wherever it was. seemed possible, and carried out further Bolshevization of Europe. The actions of the USSR against the Baltic states, Finland and Romania, where Soviet claims extended even to Bukovina, demonstrated this quite clearly. The occupation and Bolshevization by the Soviet Union of the spheres of interest granted to it is a direct violation of the Moscow agreements, although the imperial government for some time turned a blind eye to this.
IV. When Germany, with the help of the Vienna Arbitration of August 30, 1940, settled the crisis in South-Eastern Europe resulting from the actions of the USSR against Romania, the Soviet Union protested and engaged in intensive military preparations in all areas. New German attempts to reach an understanding, reflected in the exchange of letters between the Reich Foreign Minister and Herr Stalin and in the invitation of Herr Molotov to Berlin, only led to new demands from the Soviet Union, such as Soviet guarantees to Bulgaria, the establishment of bases in the Straits for Soviet land and naval forces, the complete absorption of Finland. This could not be tolerated by Germany. Subsequently, the anti-German orientation of the policy of the USSR became more and more obvious. The warning given to Germany in connection with its occupation of Bulgaria, and the declaration made by Bulgaria after the entry of German troops, which was clearly hostile in nature, were in this connection just as significant as the promises made by the Soviet Union to Turkey in March 1941 to protect the Turkish rear in the event of Turkey's entry into the war in the Balkans.
V. With the conclusion of the Soviet-Yugoslav friendship treaty of April 5 of this year, which strengthened the rear of the Belgrade conspirators, the USSR joined the common Anglo-Yugoslav-Greek front directed against Germany. At the same time, he was trying to get closer to Romania in order to induce that country to break with Germany. Only quick German victories led to the collapse of the Anglo-Russian plans to attack the German troops in Romania and Bulgaria.
VI. This policy was accompanied by an ever-increasing concentration of all available Russian troops on the entire front - from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, against which the German side took retaliatory measures only a little later. Since the beginning of this year, the threat directly to the territory of the Reich has been increasing. The reports received in the past few days leave no doubt about the aggressive nature of these Russian concentrations and complete the picture of an extremely tense military situation. In addition to this, there are reports from England that negotiations are underway with Ambassador Cripps for even closer political and military cooperation between Britain and the Soviet Union.
Summarizing the above, the imperial government declares that the Soviet government, contrary to its obligations:
1) not only continued, but intensified their attempts to undermine Germany and Europe;
2) led an increasingly anti-German policy;
3) concentrated all its troops on the German border in full combat readiness. Thus, the Soviet government has violated the treaties with Germany and intends to attack Germany from the rear, while she is fighting for her existence. The Führer therefore ordered the German armed forces to confront this threat with all the means at their disposal."
End of declaration.
Please do not participate in any discussion of this message. Responsibility for the safety of the employees of the German embassy lies with the Government of Soviet Russia.
Ribbentrop
APPENDIX 4. RADIO SPEECH by I.V. STALIN
Comrades! Citizens!
Brothers and sisters!
Soldiers of our army and navy!
I turn to you, my friends!
The treacherous military attack of Hitlerite Germany on our Motherland, launched on June 22, continues. Despite the heroic resistance of the Red Army, despite the fact that the best divisions of the enemy and the best parts of his aviation have already been defeated and found their grave on the battlefields, the enemy continues to push forward, throwing new forces to the front. Hitler's troops managed to capture Lithuania, a significant part of Latvia, the western part of Belarus, and part of Western Ukraine. Fascist aviation is expanding the areas of operation of its bombers, bombarding Murmansk, Orsha, Mogilev, Smolensk, Kyiv, Odessa, Sevastopol. Our country is in serious danger.
How could it happen that our glorious Red Army surrendered a number of our cities and regions to the fascist troops? Are the German fascist troops really invincible troops, as the boastful fascist propagandists tirelessly trumpet about it?
Of course not! History shows that there are no invincible armies and never have been. Napoleon's army was considered invincible, but it was defeated alternately by Russian, English, German troops. Wilhelm's German army during the first imperialist war was also considered an invincible army, but it was defeated several times by Russian and Anglo-French troops and was finally defeated by Anglo-French troops. The same must be said about Hitler's present German fascist army. This army has not yet encountered serious resistance on the European continent. Only on our territory did it meet with serious resistance. And if, as a result of this resistance, the best divisions of the fascist German army were defeated by our Red Army, then this means that the Nazi fascist army can be defeated and will be defeated just as the armies of Napoleon and Wilhelm were defeated.
As for the fact that part of our territory nevertheless turned out to be captured by the fascist German troops, this is mainly due to the fact that the war of fascist Germany against the USSR began under favorable conditions for the German troops and unfavorable for the Soviet troops. The fact is that the troops of Germany, as a country waging war, were already completely mobilized, and the 170 divisions thrown by Germany against the USSR and moved to the borders of the USSR were in a state of complete readiness, waiting only for a signal to march, while the Soviet troops needed it was still necessary to mobilize and move closer to the borders. Of no small importance here was the fact that fascist Germany unexpectedly and treacherously violated the non-aggression pact concluded in 1939 between it and the USSR, regardless of the fact that it would be recognized by the whole world as the attacking side. It is clear that our peace-loving country, not wanting to take the initiative to violate the pact, could not take the path of treachery.
It may be asked: how could it happen that the Soviet government agreed to conclude a non-aggression pact with such treacherous people and monsters as Hitler and Ribbentrop? Was there a mistake on the part of the Soviet government here? Of course not! A non-aggression pact is a peace pact between two states. It was this pact that Germany proposed to us in 1939. Could the Soviet government refuse such a proposal? I think that not a single peace-loving state can refuse a peace agreement with a neighboring power, if at the head of this power there are even such monsters and cannibals as Hitler and Ribbentrop, and this, of course, on one indispensable condition - if the peace agreement does not affect neither directly nor indirectly the territorial integrity, independence and honor of a peace-loving state. As you know, the non-aggression pact between Germany and the USSR is just such a pact.
What have we gained by signing a non-aggression pact with Germany? We ensured peace for our country for a year and a half and the possibility of preparing our forces for a rebuff if fascist Germany dared to attack our country in defiance of the pact. This is a definite gain for us and a loss for fascist Germany.
What did fascist Germany gain and lose by treacherously breaking the pact and attacking the USSR? She achieved by this some advantageous position for her troops in a short time, but she lost politically, exposing herself in the eyes of the whole world as a bloody aggressor. There can be no doubt that this short-lived military gain for Germany is only an episode, while the enormous political gain for the USSR is a serious and lasting factor on the basis of which the decisive military successes of the Red Army in the war against fascist Germany should unfold.
That is why all our valiant army, all our valiant Navy, all our falcon pilots, all the peoples of our country, all the best people Europe, America and Asia, finally, all the best people in Germany - stigmatize the perfidious actions of the German fascists and sympathize with the Soviet government, approve of the behavior of the Soviet government and see that our cause is just, that the enemy will be defeated, that we must win.
By virtue of the war imposed on us, our country entered into a mortal battle with its worst and insidious enemy - German fascism. Our troops are fighting heroically against the enemy, armed to the teeth with tanks and aircraft. The Red Army and the Red Navy, overcoming numerous difficulties, are selflessly fighting for every inch of Soviet land. The main forces of the Red Army, armed with thousands of tanks and aircraft, enter the battle. The courage of the soldiers of the Red Army is unparalleled. Our resistance to the enemy is growing stronger and stronger. Together with the Red Army, the entire Soviet people will rise to defend the Motherland.
What is required in order to eliminate the danger looming over our Motherland, and what measures must be taken in order to defeat the enemy?
First of all, it is necessary that our people, the Soviet people, understand the full depth of the danger that threatens our country, and renounce complacency, carelessness, the mood for peaceful construction, which was quite understandable in pre-war times, but pernicious at the present time, when the war has radically changed position. The enemy is cruel and relentless. He sets as his goal the seizure of our lands, watered with our sweat, the seizure of our bread and our oil, extracted by our labor. He sets as his goal the restoration of the power of the landlords, the restoration of tsarism, the destruction national culture and the national statehood of Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Uzbeks, Tatars, Moldavians, Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis and other free peoples of the Soviet Union, their Germanization, their transformation into slaves of German princes and barons. Thus, the issue is about the life and death of the Soviet state, about the life and death of the peoples of the USSR, about whether the peoples of the Soviet Union should be free or fall into enslavement. It is necessary that the Soviet people understand this and stop being carefree, that they mobilize themselves and reorganize all their work on a new, military basis, which knows no mercy for the enemy.
It is necessary, furthermore, that there be no place in our ranks for whiners and cowards, alarmists and deserters, that our people do not know fear in the struggle and selflessly go to our patriotic war of liberation against the fascist enslavers. The great Lenin, who created our state, said that the main qualities of the Soviet people should be courage, courage, ignorance of fear in the struggle, readiness to fight together with the people against the enemies of our Motherland. It is essential that this magnificent quality of a Bolshevik become the property of millions and millions of the Red Army, our Red Navy and all the peoples of the Soviet Union.
We must immediately reorganize all our work on a military footing, subordinating everything to the interests of the front and to the tasks of organizing the defeat of the enemy. The peoples of the Soviet Union now see that German fascism is indomitable in its furious malice and hatred of our Motherland, which has ensured free labor and well-being for all working people. The peoples of the Soviet Union must rise up to defend their rights, their land against the enemy.
The Red Army, the Red Navy and all citizens of the Soviet Union must defend every inch of Soviet land, fight to the last drop of blood for our cities and villages, show the courage, initiative and ingenuity inherent in our people.
We must organize all-round assistance to the Red Army, ensure an intensified replenishment of its ranks, ensure its supply with everything necessary, organize the rapid advance of transports with troops and military cargo, and provide extensive assistance to the wounded.
We must strengthen the rear of the Red Army, subordinating all our work to the interests of this cause, ensure the intensified work of all enterprises, produce more rifles, machine guns, guns, cartridges, shells, aircraft, organize the protection of factories, power plants, telephone and telegraph communications, establish local air defense .
We must organize a ruthless struggle against all sorts of rear disorganizers, deserters, alarmists, spreaders of rumors, destroy spies, saboteurs, enemy paratroopers, rendering prompt assistance to our destruction battalions in all this. It must be borne in mind that the enemy is cunning, cunning, experienced in deception and spreading false rumors. It is necessary to take into account all this and not succumb to provocations. It is necessary to immediately bring to court the Military Tribunal all those who, with their alarmism and cowardice, interfere with the cause of defense, regardless of their faces.
In the event of a forced withdrawal of units of the Red Army, it is necessary to steal the entire rolling stock, not to leave the enemy a single locomotive, not a single wagon, not to leave the enemy a kilogram of bread or a liter of fuel. Collective farmers must steal all livestock, hand over grain for safety government bodies to transport it to the rear areas. All valuable property, including non-ferrous metals, grain and fuel, which cannot be exported, must, of course, be destroyed.
In areas occupied by the enemy, it is necessary to create partisan detachments, mounted and on foot, to create sabotage groups to fight against parts of the enemy army, to kindle guerrilla warfare everywhere and everywhere, to blow up bridges, roads, damage telephone and telegraph communications, set fire to forests, warehouses, convoys. In the occupied areas, create unbearable conditions for the enemy and all his accomplices, pursue and destroy them at every turn, disrupt all their activities.
The war with fascist Germany cannot be considered an ordinary war. It is not only a war between two armies. It is at the same time a great war of the entire Soviet people against the German fascist troops. The purpose of this national patriotic war against the fascist oppressors is not only the elimination of the danger hanging over our country, but also help to all the peoples of Europe, groaning under the yoke of German fascism. In this war of liberation, we will not be alone. In this great war, we will have true allies in the peoples of Europe and America, including German people, enslaved by Hitler's bosses. Our war for the freedom of our Fatherland will merge with the struggle of the peoples of Europe and America for their independence, for democratic freedoms. It will be a united front of peoples standing for freedom against enslavement and the threat of enslavement from Hitler's fascist armies. In this regard, the historic speech of British Prime Minister Mr. Churchill on helping the Soviet Union and the declaration of the US Government on readiness to help our country, which can only arouse a feeling of gratitude in the hearts of the peoples of the Soviet Union, are quite understandable and indicative.
Comrades! Our strength is incalculable. An arrogant enemy will soon be convinced of this. Together with the Red Army, many thousands of workers, collective farmers, and intellectuals are rising to war against the attacking enemy. Millions of our people will rise up. The working people of Moscow and Leningrad have already begun to create a multi-thousand people's militia to support the Red Army. In every city that is in danger of being invaded by the enemy, we must create such a people's militia, raise all the working people to fight in order to defend our freedom, our honor, our homeland with our breasts - in our patriotic war against German fascism.<...>
Forward to our victory!
APPENDIX 5
"APPROVE"
Deputy People's Commissar of Defense
General of the Army G. ZHUKOV
I. General provisions
1. Penal companies are intended to enable ordinary soldiers and junior commanders of all branches of the armed forces who are guilty of violating discipline due to cowardice or instability, to atone for their guilt before the Motherland with a brave fight against the enemy in a difficult area of combat operations.
2. The organization, strength and combat strength, as well as salaries for the maintenance of the permanent composition of the penal companies are determined by a special staff.
3. Penal companies are under the jurisdiction of the Military Councils of the armies. Within each army, from five to ten penal companies are created, depending on the situation.
4. Penal company attached rifle regiment(division, brigade), on the site of which it was placed by order of the Military Council of the Army.
II. On the permanent composition of penal companies
5. The commander and military commissar of the company, commanders and political leaders of platoons and the rest of the permanent commanding staff of penal companies are appointed to the position by order in the army from among the strong-willed and most distinguished in battle commanders and political workers.
6. The commander and military commissar of a penal company use the disciplinary power of the commander and military commissar of the regiment in relation to the penal, the deputy commander and military commissar of the company - the power of the commander and military commissar of the battalion, and the commanders and political leaders of platoons - the power of commanders and political leaders of companies.
7. For the entire permanent composition of the penal companies, the length of service in ranks, in comparison with the command, political and commanding staff of the combat units of the army in the field, is reduced by half.
8. Each month of service in the permanent composition of the penal company is counted when assigning a pension for six months.
III. About the penalty boxes
9. Ordinary soldiers and junior commanders are sent to penal companies by order for a regiment (separate unit) for a period of one to three months. Ordinary fighters and junior commanders convicted with a suspended sentence may also be sent to penal companies for the same periods by the verdict of the Military Tribunals (field army and rear) (Note 2 to Article 28 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR).
Persons sent to a penal company are immediately reported on command and to the Military Council of the army with a copy of the order or sentence attached.
10. Junior commanders sent to a penal company, by the same order for the regiment (Article 9), are subject to demotion to the rank and file.
11. Before being sent to the penal company, the penal stands in front of the formation of his company (batteries, squadron, etc.), the order for the regiment is read out and the essence of the crime committed is explained.
12. A special Red Army book is issued to the penitentiaries.
13. For non-execution of an order, self-mutilation, escape from the battlefield or an attempt to go over to the enemy, the command and political staff of the penal company is obliged to apply all measures of influence up to and including execution on the spot.
14. Penalty officers can be appointed by order of the penal company to the positions of junior officers with the assignment of the ranks of corporal, junior sergeant and sergeant.
The penitentiaries appointed to the positions of junior officers are paid maintenance for their positions, the rest - in the amount of 8 rubles. 50 kop. per month. Field money is not paid to the penalized.
15. For military distinction, a penal can be released ahead of schedule on the proposal of the command of the penal company, approved by the Military Council of the army.
For particularly outstanding military distinction, the penal, in addition, is presented to the government award.
Before leaving the penal company, the person released ahead of schedule stands in front of the formation of the company, the order for early release is read out and the essence of the accomplished feat is explained.
16. Upon serving the appointed term, the penalized officers are presented by the command of the company to the Military Council of the Army for release and, upon approval of the submission, are released from the penal company.
17. All released from the penal company are restored in rank and in all rights.
18. Penitentiaries who were wounded in battle are considered to have served their sentence, are restored in rank and in all rights, and upon recovery are sent for further service, and a pension is assigned to the disabled.
19. Families of dead fines are granted a pension on a general basis.
Literature:
History of the Great Patriotic War. 1941-1945, tt. 1-6. M., 1961-1965
History of World War II 1939-1945,
tt. 1-12. M., 1973-1982
Semiryaga M.I. Secrets of Stalin's diplomacy. M., 1992
Gareev M.A. On the study of the history of the Great Patriotic War. – New and recent history. 1992, № 1
Shuranov N.P. Politics on the Eve of the Great Patriotic War. Kemerovo, 1992
The seal of secrecy has been removed. Losses of the Armed Forces of the USSR in wars, hostilities and military conflicts. M., 1993
Meltyukhov M.I. controversy around 1941: the experience of critical reflection on one discussion. - In the book: National history. 1994, № 3
Mertsalov A.N., Mertsalova L.A. .
Stalinism and war: from the unread pages of history (1930s-1990s). M., 1994
Was Stalin preparing an offensive war against Hitler? M., 1995
How the war started: (Actual problems prehistory and history of World War II and the Great Patriotic War). Novgorod, 1995
Gareev M.A. Ambiguous pages of the war: (essays on problematic issues in the history of the Great Patriotic War). M., 1995
Another war. 1939-1945. M., 1996
Frolov M.I. The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945: Historical and Comparative Analysis Russian and German literature: Abstract. diss. doc. ist. Sciences. St. Petersburg, 1996
Molodyakov V.E. The beginning of World War II: geopolitical aspects. - National history. 1997, No. 5
The Second World War. Discussions. Main trends. Research results. M., 1997
Military Encyclopedia. M., 1997
Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. M., 1998
Nikiforov Yu.A. Debatable problems of the prehistory of the Great Patriotic War in the latest Russian historiography: Abstract. … cand. ist sciences. M., 2000
Beshanov V.V. Ten Stalinist blows. Minsk, 2003
Pavlov V.V. Stalingrad: myths and reality. St. Petersburg, 2003
Shigin G.A. The battle for Leningrad: major operations, "white spots", losses. M., 2004
Clark A. Plan Barbarossa. The collapse of the Third Reich. 1941-1945. M., 2004
Molodyakov V.E. Failed axis: Berlin-Moscow-Tokyo. M., 2004
Allen W.E.D. Russian campaigns of the German Wehrmacht 1941-1943. View from London. Russian campaigns of the German Wehrmacht 1943-1945. M., 2005
Beevor E. Fall of Berlin, 1945. M., 2005
- Causes and preconditions of the war
- Nazism in Germany
- The beginning of the war
- Stages of war
- in the rear
- Soldiers of the invisible front
Addendum to the article:
|
- The Great Patriotic War, in short, is the last major military conflict in which the USSR participated. The war was waged against Germany, which treacherously attacked the territory of the Soviet Union and violated the peace treaty.
- Speaking briefly about the Great Patriotic War, it is worth noting that at the same time it is one of the main stages of World War II.
Causes and preconditions of the war
- The fact is that the countries that lost the war found themselves in an extremely humiliated state, and did not agree with the conditions Treaty of Versailles. Germany, the instigator of the war, found itself in a particularly difficult situation, which was obliged to pay an indemnity that was beyond its strength, and did not have the right to have its own armed forces. In addition, she was excluded from participation in international affairs.
Nazism in Germany
- Not surprisingly, the population grew increasingly sympathetic to the National Socialist Party and its leader, Adolf Hitler. He refused to accept the results of the First World War and called on Germany for revenge and world domination. The humiliated country accepted these calls. With the advent of Hitler to power in 1933, Germany began to increase its military-industrial turnover at a gigantic pace.
The beginning of the war
- In 1939, Germany occupies Czechoslovakia and begins to make claims against Poland. The USSR proposes to create an alliance between England and France, but they do not dare to take this step. Churchill later admitted that this proposal should have been accepted.
- September 1, 1939, after the attack of Nazi Germany on Poland, the Second World War begins. The allies of the Polish state, England and France, also enter the war.
- By 1941, all of Europe, with the exception of Great Britain, is in the hands of Germany. After that, Hitler, in violation of all treaties, starts a war with the Soviet Union.
Stages of war
- The Great Patriotic War, in short, lasted 4 long years. As you know, the Soviet Union was practically not ready for war, because Stalin refused to believe the reports of counterintelligence about the exact date of the attack by the Nazi troops. He was offered a plan for a pre-emptive strike against Germany, but he rejected it. Germany itself was fully prepared to strike at the USSR (Blitzkrieg plan, Barbarossa plan), and preparations for war had been in full swing since 1940. In relation to the USSR, many plans were created.
- Near Leningrad, the enemy got stuck, unable to capture the city. started Leningrad blockade.
- By December 1941, German troops captured the territory of the Baltic republics, Belarus, part of Ukraine and advanced deep into the USSR by about 1200 km.
- The biggest and most significant battle of the Great Patriotic War, in short, this period, was battle for Moscow.
- For Hitler, this was the main event of his operation to seize the USSR. The battle for Moscow is divided into two stages - defense and offensive. Until December 1941, Soviet troops held the enemy on the outskirts of the capital. On December 5, a counteroffensive began, which developed into a general offensive of all troops. The German troops lost the battle for Moscow. It showed that the German army was not invincible.
- Stage 2 is associated with a radical change in the war in favor of the USSR. During this period from 1942 to 1943, two hardest battles took place, won by the Soviet troops at a very high price - Stalingrad and Kursk.
- On the night of May 8-9, 1945, Germany signed the act of surrender.
- The history of the Great Patriotic War, briefly outlined, can describe the severity of this time extremely sparingly. In numbers, it looks like this: the total loss of life among the military and civilian population of the USSR amounted to almost 27 million people.
Major battles and combat operations
- Defense of the Brest Fortress
According to the plan developed by Hitler, to capture the first Soviet strategic object of the Brest 
the fortress was given only a few hours. The defenders of the fortress held out, despite the numerical superiority of the fascist invaders, for several days. Only after a week of incessant attacks and bombardments did the Nazis manage to capture part of the fortification. But even after the German units entered the territory of the fortress, they had to fight for almost a month with separate groups of soldiers of the Soviet army in order to gain a foothold in it.
- Smolensk battle
Twice as many people and 4 times as many tanks. The Nazis had such superiority when they launched an offensive on the Western Front, hoping to divide it in a short time and gain unhindered access to the country's capital.
But here, too, they miscalculated. Smolensk battle, which was supposed to open the way to Moscow for enemy invaders, lasted two months.
Having suffered huge losses, the Soviet defenders, however, knocked down the arrogance of the enemy and significantly exhausted him.
- Fights for Ukraine
The capture of the largest industrial and agricultural Ukrainian region was one of the 
priority tasks of the Nazi army.
But even here the plans of the Fuhrer were violated. Fierce battles claimed hundreds of lives of the defenders of Ukraine.
But when they died, they took with them a lot of fascists.
As a result, the allied forces were forced to retreat, pushed back by superior enemy forces.
But the forces of the invaders were significantly undermined.
- Leningrad blockade
On the outskirts of Leningrad, the fascist army also met a completely unexpected obstacle. For about a month, despite all their efforts, they could not capture the city. Realizing the futility of their attempts, they decided to change tactics.
A long siege began, accompanied by almost incessant artillery strikes.
But to march in a victorious march on Leningrad streets The Nazis did not have to.
Steadfastly enduring all the hardships, the besieged continued to fight, and did not surrender the city.
The powerful ring of the blockade was broken only after almost a year and a half, and finally lifted a year later.
- Battle for the capital
After a long, exhausting and bloody 4 months (instead of the planned few days), the German 
the invaders were on the outskirts of Moscow. Fierce battles began to pave the way to this coveted goal.
At the end of October, the capital goes into a state of siege. A number of institutions were evacuated, many valuables were taken out. The defenders prepared to defend the heart of the Motherland to the last breath, to the last drop of blood.
Having begun the second stage of the offensive in November, the Nazis realized after a few weeks that they did not have enough strength to carry out their plan, and began to retreat. The myth of the invincibility of the Nazi army was finally debunked.
- Crimean direction. Sevastopol
At the end of October of the first year of the war, battles for Sevastopol began. Unable to enter the city immediately, the invaders decided to besiege it. The siege lasted 9 months.
In May 1942, several units of the Wehrmacht army concentrated on the approaches to the Crimean peninsula. Using aviation, they broke through the defenses of the Soviet troops, capturing Kerch, and then the entire peninsula.
After that, the defense of Sevastopol became even more complicated, and the Soviet troops were forced to retreat.
- Stalingrad
Deciding to take revenge for the failure at the approaches to the capital, the German invaders decided to isolate the south of the country, and 
cut it off from the central region and capture the largest waterway - the Volga.
In order to prevent these plans from being realized, Soviet troops begin preparations for defense in the Stalingrad direction.
Two major operations, lasting a total of 125 days, led to the fact that the invaders' troops were encircled by Soviet troops.
As a result, almost a hundred thousand Germans were captured.
There were a few fewer killed.
It was the most crushing defeat of the army of the Third Reich.
- Caucasian direction
More than a year there were battles in the North Caucasus direction.
Retreating at first, and leaving more and more cities to the enemy, the Soviet troops at the beginning of 1943 launched a counteroffensive.
It's time for the fascists to retreat.
Despite losses and difficulties, units of the allied army pressed the enemy until 10 months later they completed the liberation of the region.
- Fight for Kursk
Hitler's next plan of conquest, concerning the capture of Kursk, also ended in failure.
As part of 
defensive-offensive operations on the outskirts of the city, one of the largest tank battles in the history of this war took place (the battle of Prokhorovka).
Here the Germans used their new tanks "Tiger" and "Panther", but due to the numerical superiority of both people and equipment, the Soviet troops managed to win.
As a result, starting in July 1943 with a large-scale offensive by the invaders, the operation ended 10 months later with an equally large retreat.
This defeat hastened the collapse of the Nazi coalition.
- Operation to liberate Smolensk
After a radical change, the army of the Soviet Union moved from defensive actions to an active offensive.
One of the first offensive operations was the Smolensk campaign.
Carefully thought out, it consisted of three stages, the consistent and systematic implementation of which led to the liberation of the city and the advance of the Red Army several hundred kilometers to the west.
- Left bank of Ukraine
The Nazis attached great importance to the Donbass, and after the Soviet troops went on the offensive, they all 
they tried to keep this city for themselves.
But, when the risk of a new encirclement and a repetition of the events near Stalingrad arose, the German troops began to retreat.
At the same time, they tried to devastate the territories they left as much as possible. Destroying industrial enterprises and all infrastructure, they exterminated the population or drove it to Germany.
Only the too rapid advance of the Soviet army prevented them from completely destroying the region.
Donbass, Bransk, Sumy - cities one after another were freed from the fascist yoke.
Having completely liberated the left-bank Ukraine, the formations of the USSR army reached the Dnieper.
- Crossing the Dnieper
Hitler was sure to the last that the Soviet troops would not be able to cross the Dnieper.
However, here, too, he miscalculated.
Not giving the German units a solid foothold on the opposite bank, the allied army began forcing the water barrier.
On September 21, under heavy Nazi fire, the forward detachments, having crossed the river, entered into fierce battles, thereby allowing the rest of the troops and equipment to freely pass the river barrier.
The crossing continued for several days, and following its results, more than 2 thousand of its participants were awarded high rank Hero of the Soviet Union.
- Crimean liberation
From the beginning of April 1944, a number of Soviet military formations began the systematic implementation of the plan for 
liberation of Sevastopol and the entire Crimean peninsula.
Reclaiming one settlement after another, they moved towards the goal.
As a result of the assault, Sevastopol was liberated (May 9, 1944).
The Nazis tried to hide from the victors at Cape Khersones, but were finally defeated.
More than 20 thousand people, as well as hundreds of pieces of military equipment and weapons, ended up in the hands of Soviet soldiers.
- Liberation of Europe
After the lifting of the Leningrad blockade and everywhere the liberation Russian territories from the Nazi invaders, the Soviet army continued its march through the territory of neighboring and then other foreign countries occupied by the Nazis.
Among the largest liberation and offensive operations of the military units of the Soviet Union, Minsk and Polotsk (carried out simultaneously), Vilnius, Narva, Yassko-Chisinau, East Carpathian, Baltic and others are noted.
The East Prussian operation was of particular importance, since the territory of this country served not only as a springboard for an attack on the USSR, but also reliably blocked access to the center of Germany.
One of the main points that the Nazis held on to was Koenigsberg. He was considered the best German fortress and impregnable bastion.
But as a result of a three-day assault, both this stronghold and Hitler's hope threw out the white flag.
- Final (Berlin) operation
The apogee of the entire offensive campaign of the Soviet army was the battle for Berlin, on which, in fact, depended 
final outcome of the war.
Fights were fought for every house, for every street, the shots did not stop day or night, until the complete surrender of the Nazis.
in the rear
The victory of the Soviet army in the Great Patriotic War would have been impossible without a reliable rear. "Everything for the front!" This idea was lived by millions of Soviet people in regions that were not directly affected by hostilities.
One of the priority tasks from the first days of the war was the restructuring of the entire National economy and industry in a new direction.
Many enterprises hurriedly evacuated from hot battlefields to calmer regions of the country: Central Asia, Kazakhstan, the Urals and Western Siberia.
At the new location, the enterprises were assembled in a short time and began to issue products for the front. Sometimes 
machine tools and machines began to work long before factory walls and roofs were erected around them. In parallel, the training of new specialists in the operation of equipment from among the local population was going on.
Wives, sisters, children replaced their husbands, fathers and brothers, leaving for the front, at the machines.
12-13-year-old teenagers who did not reach the working part of the equipment made footrests for themselves and worked on an equal basis with adults. After intense shifts, many of them stayed in the workshop and went to bed here, so that in a few hours they would start the next work shift again.
Most of the engineering enterprises during the war produced different kinds weapons.
By the middle of the second year of the war, it was possible to fully adapt the economy to the realities of wartime. By this time, more than 1,000 evacuated enterprises have resumed their work in a new place. In addition, another 850 new facilities were created (factories, power plants, mines, etc.)
According to the results of the second half of the year, 1.1 times more weapons were produced in the country than in the first half of the same year. The production of mortars increased 1.3 times, the production of mines and shells almost doubled, and the production of aircraft increased 1.6 times. Significant progress was also made in the assembly of tanks.
An equally important area of rear work was the preparation of reserves for the front. Therefore, from the first days of 
military training included not only professional educational institutions, but also volunteer organizations that trained shooters, machine gunners and other specialists. At the same time, medical and sanitary personnel were trained.
The agricultural complex also faced a difficult task. Despite the reduction in the number of collective farms and the deterioration of their material and technical base, it was necessary to supply the population and the front with food, and industry with raw materials. At the cost of incredible efforts, sown agricultural areas were increased in areas remote from the front line. And here, women who replaced men who had gone to war mastered new professions of combine operators, tractor drivers, drivers, etc. And together with their children, without sleep and rest, they worked in the fields and farms in order to give the front and industry everything they needed.
Soldiers of the invisible front
The partisans made a great contribution to the common victory in the Great Patriotic War. These invisible fighters did not give the Nazis any sleep or rest, constantly carrying out sabotage activities in their rear.
At times, the population of entire villages adjoined the partisan detachments. Hiding in hard-to-reach forests and swamps, they constantly dealt tangible blows to the invaders.
The armament of the partisans consisted, most often, of light rifles, grenades, carbines. However, large groups sometimes even had mortars and artillery pieces. In general, the equipment depended on the region where the detachment was stationed, and on its purpose.
Men, women, old people and children - in total on the territory of the Union, captured by the Nazi occupiers 
more than 6,000 units were active. And the total number of partisans was 1 million people. Many of them, following the results of the war, were awarded various orders and medals, and 248 received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Partisan detachments during the Second World War were not scattered, spontaneously created groups of discontented population. On the contrary, they were part of one large, well-organized and well-functioning structure. She had her own command, she existed quite legally and obeyed the leadership of the country.
All activities of the movement were controlled by special bodies, and were regulated by a number of legislative acts.
The main goals of the guerrilla war included causing the greatest damage to the military infrastructure of the Nazis, disrupting the frequency of food supplies, etc. - everything that could destabilize the work of the Nazi well-established system.
In addition to sabotage activities, the partisans also participated in reconnaissance operations. They made every effort and invented hundreds of ways to get papers and documents with plans for the Wehrmacht leadership to deploy military operations.
At the same time, partisan formations carried out their subversive activities not only in the occupied territory of the Union, but also in Germany. All obtained documents were forwarded to the headquarters so that the Soviet command was aware of when and where to expect an attack, and the troops could be redeployed and prepared in a timely manner.
At the beginning of the war, the average size of a partisan detachment could be 10-15 people. Later this number 
increased to 100 or more. Sometimes several detachments were combined into brigades. Therefore, if necessary, the partisans could also accept an open battle. Although very few such cases are known.
In addition, the participants in the partisan movement were active in propaganda and agitation among the population, especially those living under occupation. The country's leadership was well aware that in order to win the war, it is necessary that the population unconditionally believe and trust the state. Members of partisan detachments even tried to organize uprisings of the population against the hated fascist invaders.
In fairness, it should be noted that not all partisan formations supported the Soviet regime. There were also those who fought for the independence of their region from both the Nazis and the USSR.
On June 22, 1941, at 4 o'clock in the morning, fascist Germany treacherously invaded the USSR without declaring war. This attack ended the chain of aggressive actions of Hitlerite Germany, which, thanks to the connivance and instigation of the Western powers, grossly violated the elementary norms of international law, resorted to predatory seizures and monstrous atrocities in the occupied countries.
In accordance with the Barbarossa plan, the fascist offensive began on a broad front by several groups in various directions. The army was stationed in the north "Norway" advancing on Murmansk and Kandalaksha; an army group was advancing from East Prussia to the Baltic states and Leningrad "North"; most powerful army group "Centre" had the goal of defeating units of the Red Army in Belorussia, capturing Vitebsk-Smolensk and taking Moscow on the move; army group "South" was concentrated from Lublin to the mouth of the Danube and led the attack on Kyiv - Donbass. The plans of the Nazis boiled down to delivering a surprise strike in these areas, destroying border and military units, breaking through to the rear, capturing Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv and the most important industrial centers of the southern regions of the country.
The command of the German army expected to end the war in 6-8 weeks.
190 enemy divisions, about 5.5 million soldiers, up to 50 thousand guns and mortars, 4300 tanks, almost 5 thousand aircraft and about 200 warships were thrown into the offensive against the Soviet Union.
The war began in exceptionally favorable conditions for Germany. Before the attack on the USSR, Germany captured almost all of Western Europe, whose economy worked for the Nazis. Therefore, Germany had a powerful material and technical base.
Germany's military products were supplied by 6,500 largest enterprises in Western Europe. AT military industry more than 3 million foreign workers were involved. In Western European countries, the Nazis looted a lot of weapons, military equipment, trucks, wagons and steam locomotives. The military and economic resources of Germany and its allies greatly exceeded those of the USSR. Germany fully mobilized its army, as well as the armies of its allies. Most of the German army was concentrated near the borders of the Soviet Union. In addition, imperialist Japan threatened an attack from the East, which diverted a significant part of the Soviet Armed Forces to defend the country's eastern borders. In the theses of the Central Committee of the CPSU "50 years of the Great October Socialist Revolution" an analysis of the reasons for the temporary failures of the Red Army in the initial period of the war is given. They are connected with the fact that the Nazis used temporary advantages:
- the militarization of the economy and the whole life of Germany;
- lengthy preparations for a war of conquest and more than two years of experience in conducting military operations in the West;
- superiority in armament and the number of troops concentrated in advance in the border zones.
They had at their disposal the economic and military resources of almost all of Western Europe. The miscalculations made in determining the possible timing of an attack by Nazi Germany on our country and the related omissions in preparing to repulse the first blows played their role. There were reliable data on the concentration of German troops near the borders of the USSR and the preparation of Germany for an attack on our country. However, the troops of the western military districts were not brought to a state of full combat readiness.
All these reasons put the Soviet country in a difficult position. However, the enormous difficulties of the initial period of the war did not break the fighting spirit of the Red Army, did not shake the stamina of the Soviet people. From the first days of the attack, it became clear that the blitzkrieg plan had collapsed. Accustomed to easy wins over Western countries whose governments betrayed their people to be torn to pieces by the occupiers, the Nazis met stubborn resistance from the Soviet Armed Forces, border guards and the entire Soviet people. The war lasted 1418 days. Groups of border guards bravely fought on the border. The garrison of the Brest Fortress covered itself with unfading glory. The defense of the fortress was led by Captain I. N. Zubachev, regimental commissar E. M. Fomin, Major P. M. Gavrilov and others. (In total, about 200 rams were made during the war years). On June 26, the crew of Captain N.F. Gastello (A.A. Burdenyuk, G.N. Skorobogaty, A.A. Kalinin) crashed into a column of enemy troops on a burning plane. Hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers from the first days of the war showed examples of courage and heroism.
Lasted two months Smolensk battle. Born here near Smolensk soviet guard
. The battle in the Smolensk region delayed the enemy advance until mid-September 1941.
During the Battle of Smolensk, the Red Army thwarted the plans of the enemy. The delay of the enemy offensive in the central direction was the first strategic success of the Soviet troops.
The Communist Party became the leading and guiding force for the defense of the country and the preparation for the destruction of the Nazi troops. From the first days of the war, the Party took urgent measures to organize a rebuff to the aggressor, carried out a huge amount of work to restructure all work on a war footing, to turn the country into a single military camp.
“For a real war,” wrote V. I. Lenin, “a strong organized rear is necessary. The best army, the most devoted to the cause of the revolution, people will be immediately exterminated by the enemy if they are not sufficiently armed, supplied with food, and trained ”(V. I. Lenin, Poln. sobr. soch., vol. 35, p. 408).
These Leninist instructions formed the basis for organizing the struggle against the enemy. On June 22, 1941, on behalf of the Soviet government, V. M. Molotov, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR, spoke on the radio about the "robber" attack of Nazi Germany and a call to fight the enemy. On the same day, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was adopted on the introduction of martial law on the European territory of the USSR, as well as the Decree on the mobilization of a number of ages in 14 military districts. On June 23, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution on the tasks of party and Soviet organizations in war conditions. On June 24, the Evacuation Council was formed, and on June 27, by a decree of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR “On the procedure for the export and placement of human contingents and valuable property”, the procedure for the evacuation of productive forces and the population to the eastern regions was determined. In the directive of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated June 29, 1941, the most important tasks for mobilizing all forces and means to defeat the enemy were set out to party and Soviet organizations in the front-line regions.
“... In the war with fascist Germany imposed on us,” this document said, “the question of life and death of the Soviet state is being decided, of whether the peoples of the Soviet Union should be free or fall into enslavement.” The Central Committee and the Soviet government called for realizing the full depth of the danger, reorganizing all work on a war footing, organizing all-round assistance to the front, increasing the production of weapons, ammunition, tanks, aircraft in every possible way, in the event of a forced withdrawal of the Red Army, to remove all valuable property, and to destroy what cannot be taken out , in the areas occupied by the enemy to organize partisan detachments. On July 3, the main provisions of the directive were outlined in a radio speech by IV Stalin. The directive determined the nature of the war, the degree of threat and danger, set the tasks of turning the country into a single military camp, strengthening the Armed Forces in every possible way, restructuring the work of the rear on a military basis, and mobilizing all forces to repulse the enemy. On June 30, 1941, an emergency body was created to quickly mobilize all the forces and means of the country to repel and defeat the enemy - State Defense Committee (GKO) headed by I. V. Stalin. All power in the country, state, military and economic leadership was concentrated in the hands of the State Defense Committee. It united the activities of all state and military institutions, party, trade union and Komsomol organizations.
Under war conditions, the restructuring of the entire economy on a war footing was of paramount importance. approved at the end of June "Mobilization national economic plan for the III quarter of 1941", and on August 16 "The military economic plan for the IV quarter of 1941 and for 1942 for the regions of the Volga region, the Urals, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia". In just five months of 1941, more than 1360 large military enterprises were relocated and about 10 million people were evacuated. Even according to bourgeois experts industry evacuation in the second half of 1941 and early 1942 and its deployment in the East should be considered among the most amazing feats of the peoples of the Soviet Union during the war. The evacuated Kramatorsk plant was launched 12 days after arriving at the site, Zaporozhye - after 20. By the end of 1941, the Urals produced 62% of iron and 50% of steel. In scope and significance, this was equal to the largest battles of wartime. The restructuring of the national economy on a war footing was completed by the middle of 1942.
The Party did a great deal of organizational work in the army. In accordance with the decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, on July 16, 1941, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree "On the reorganization of political propaganda bodies and the introduction of the institution of military commissars". From July 16 in the Army, and from July 20 in the Navy, the institution of military commissars was introduced. During the second half of 1941, up to 1.5 million communists and more than 2 million Komsomol members were mobilized into the army (the party sent up to 40% of the entire membership to the active army). Prominent party leaders L. I. Brezhnev, A. A. Zhdanov, A. S. Shcherbakov, M. A. Suslov and others were sent to party work in the army.
On August 8, 1941, I. V. Stalin was appointed Supreme Commander of all the Armed Forces of the USSR. In order to concentrate all the functions of managing military operations, the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was formed. Hundreds of thousands of communists and Komsomol members went to the front. About 300 thousand of the best representatives of the working class and intelligentsia of Moscow and Leningrad joined the ranks of the people's militia.
Meanwhile, the enemy stubbornly rushed to Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Odessa, Sevastopol and other major industrial centers of the country. An important place in the plans of fascist Germany was occupied by the calculation of the international isolation of the USSR. However, from the very first days of the war, an anti-Hitler coalition began to take shape. Already on June 22, 1941, the British government announced its support for the USSR in the fight against fascism, and on July 12 signed an agreement on joint actions against Nazi Germany. On August 2, 1941, US President F. Roosevelt announced economic support for the Soviet Union. September 29, 1941 gathered in Moscow tri-power conference(USSR, USA and England), which developed a plan for Anglo-American assistance in the fight against the enemy. Hitler's calculation for the international isolation of the USSR failed. On January 1, 1942, a declaration of 26 states was signed in Washington anti-Hitler coalition about the use of all the resources of these countries for the struggle against the German bloc. However, the allies were in no hurry to provide effective assistance aimed at defeating fascism, trying to weaken the belligerents.
By October, the Nazi invaders, despite the heroic resistance of our troops, managed to approach Moscow from three sides, simultaneously launching an offensive on the Don, in the Crimea, near Leningrad. Heroically defended Odessa and Sevastopol. September 30, 1941 German command begins the first, and in November - the second general offensive against Moscow. The Nazis managed to occupy Klin, Yakhroma, Naro-Fominsk, Istra and other cities of the Moscow region. Soviet troops fought a heroic defense of the capital, showing examples of courage and heroism. The 316th rifle division of General Panfilov fought to the death in fierce battles. A partisan movement unfolded behind enemy lines. About 10 thousand partisans fought near Moscow alone. On December 5-6, 1941, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive near Moscow. At the same time, offensive operations were launched in the Western, Kalinin and Southwestern fronts. The powerful offensive of the Soviet troops in the winter of 1941/42 drove the fascists back in a number of places at a distance of up to 400 km from the capital and was their first major defeat in World War II.
Main result Moscow battle consisted in the fact that the strategic initiative was wrested from the hands of the enemy and the blitzkrieg plan failed. The defeat of the Germans near Moscow was a decisive turn in the military operations of the Red Army and had a great influence on the entire subsequent course of the war.
By the spring of 1942, the production of military products was established in the eastern regions of the country. By the middle of the year, most of the evacuated enterprises were deployed in new places. The transfer of the country's economy to a military footing was largely completed. In the rear - in Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Siberia, the Urals - there were more than 10 thousand industrial construction projects.
Instead of men who went to the front, women and youth came to the machines. Despite very difficult living conditions, Soviet people worked selflessly to ensure victory at the front. They worked one and a half to two shifts to restore industry and supply the front with everything necessary. All-Union socialist competition developed widely, the winners of which were awarded Red Banner GKO. Workers Agriculture organized in 1942 overplanned crops in the defense fund. The collective farm peasantry supplied the front and rear with food and industrial raw materials.
The situation in the temporarily occupied regions of the country was exceptionally difficult. The Nazis plundered cities and villages, mocked the civilian population. At the enterprises, German officials were appointed to oversee the work. The best lands were selected for farming for German soldiers. in all occupied settlements German garrisons were kept at the expense of the population. However, economic and social politics fascists, which they tried to carry out in the occupied territories, immediately failed. The Soviet people, brought up on the ideas of the Communist Party, believed in the victory of the Soviet country, did not succumb to Hitler's provocations and demagogy.
Winter offensive of the Red Army in 1941/42 dealt a powerful blow to fascist Germany, to its military machine, but the Nazi army was still strong. Soviet troops fought stubborn defensive battles.
In this situation, the nationwide struggle of the Soviet people behind enemy lines played an important role, especially partisan movement.
Thousands of Soviet people went to partisan detachments. A partisan war developed widely in the Ukraine, in Belorussia and in the Smolensk region, in the Crimea and in a number of other places. In cities and villages temporarily occupied by the enemy, underground party and Komsomol organizations operated. In accordance with the resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of July 18, 1941 No. "On the organization of the struggle in the rear of the German troops" 3,500 partisan detachments and groups, 32 underground regional committees, 805 city and district party committees, 5,429 primary party organizations, 10 regional, 210 inter-district city and 45 thousand primary Komsomol organizations were created. To coordinate the actions of partisan detachments and underground groups with units of the Red Army by decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on May 30, 1942 at Headquarters Supreme High Command was created the central headquarters of the partisan movement. Leadership Staffs partisan movement were formed in Belarus, Ukraine and other republics and regions occupied by the enemy.
After the defeat near Moscow and the winter offensive of our troops, the Nazi command was preparing a new major offensive with the aim of capturing all the southern regions of the country (Crimea, the North Caucasus, the Don) up to the Volga, capturing Stalingrad and tearing Transcaucasia from the center of the country. This posed an exceptionally serious threat to our country.
By the summer of 1942, the international situation had changed, characterized by the strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition. In May - June 1942, agreements were signed between the USSR, Britain and the USA on an alliance in the war against Germany and on post-war cooperation. In particular, an agreement was reached on the opening in 1942 in Europe second front against Germany, which would have greatly accelerated the defeat of fascism. But the allies in every possible way delayed its opening. Taking advantage of this, the fascist command transferred divisions from the Western Front to the Eastern. By the spring of 1942, the Nazi army had 237 divisions, massive aviation, tanks, artillery and other types of equipment for a new offensive.
intensified Leningrad blockade, almost daily subjected to artillery fire. In May, the Kerch Strait was captured. On July 3, the High Command ordered the heroic defenders of Sevastopol to leave the city after a 250-day defense, since it was not possible to keep the Crimea. As a result of the defeat of the Soviet troops in the area of Kharkov and the Don, the enemy reached the Volga. The Stalingrad Front, created in July, took upon itself the powerful blows of the enemy. Retreating with heavy fighting, our troops inflicted huge damage on the enemy. In parallel, the fascist offensive was going on in the North Caucasus, where Stavropol, Krasnodar, Maykop were occupied. In the Mozdok area, the Nazi offensive was suspended.
The main battles unfolded on the Volga. The enemy sought to capture Stalingrad at any cost. The heroic defense of the city was one of the brightest pages of the Patriotic War. The working class, women, old people, teenagers - the entire population rose to the defense of Stalingrad. Despite the mortal danger, the workers of the tractor factory daily sent tanks to the front lines. In September, fighting broke out in the city for every street, for every house.
The Great Patriotic War began on June 22, 1941 - the day when the Nazi invaders and their allies invaded the territory of the USSR. It lasted four years and became the final stage of the Second World War. In total, about 34,000,000 Soviet soldiers took part in it, more than half of which died.
Causes of the Great Patriotic War
The main reason for the start of the Great Patriotic War was the desire of Adolf Hitler to lead Germany to world domination by capturing other countries and establishing a racially pure state. Therefore, on September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, then Czechoslovakia, initiating World War II and conquering more and more territories. The successes and victories of Nazi Germany forced Hitler to violate the non-aggression pact concluded on August 23, 1939 between Germany and the USSR. He developed a special operation called "Barbarossa", which meant the capture of the Soviet Union in a short time. Thus began the Great Patriotic War. It went through three stages.
Stages of the Great Patriotic War
Stage 1: June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942
The Germans captured Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Estonia, Belarus and Moldova. The troops moved inland to capture Leningrad, Rostov-on-Don and Novgorod, but the main goal of the Nazis was Moscow. At this time, the USSR suffered heavy losses, thousands of people were taken prisoner. On September 8, 1941, the military blockade of Leningrad began, which lasted 872 days. As a result, the Soviet troops were able to stop the German offensive. The Barbarossa plan failed.
Stage 2: 1942-1943
During this period, the USSR continued to build up its military power, industry and defense grew. Thanks to the incredible efforts of the Soviet troops, the front line was pushed back - to the west. The central event of this period was the greatest Battle of Stalingrad in history (July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943). The goal of the Germans was to capture Stalingrad, the big bend of the Don and the Volgodonsk isthmus. During the battle, more than 50 armies, corps and divisions of enemies were destroyed, about 2 thousand tanks, 3 thousand aircraft and 70 thousand vehicles were destroyed, German aviation was significantly weakened. The victory of the USSR in this battle had a significant impact on the course of further military events.
Stage 3: 1943-1945
From defense, the Red Army gradually goes over to the offensive, moving towards Berlin. Several campaigns aimed at destroying the enemy were implemented. A guerrilla war breaks out, during which 6200 partisan detachments are formed, trying to fight the enemy on their own. The partisans used all means at hand, down to clubs and boiling water, set up ambushes and traps. At this time, there are battles for the Right-Bank Ukraine, Berlin. The Belarusian, Baltic, and Budapest operations were developed and put into action. As a result, on May 8, 1945, Germany officially recognized defeat.
Thus, the victory of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War was actually the end of the Second World War. The defeat of the German army put an end to Hitler's desire to gain dominance over the world, universal slavery. However, the victory in the war came at a heavy price. Millions of people died in the struggle for the Motherland, cities, villages and villages were destroyed. All the last funds went to the front, so people lived in poverty and hunger. Every year on May 9th we celebrate Great Victory over fascism, we are proud of our soldiers for giving life to future generations, providing a brighter future. At the same time, the victory was able to consolidate the influence of the USSR on the world stage and turn it into a superpower.
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The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) is the most terrible and bloody war in the entire history of the USSR. This war was between two powers, the mighty power of the USSR and Germany. In a fierce battle, for five years, the USSR nevertheless won worthy of its opponent. Germany, when attacking the union, hoped to quickly capture the whole country, but they did not expect how powerful and selenium the Slavic people were. What did this war lead to? To begin with, we will analyze a number of reasons, because of what it all started?
After the First World War, Germany was greatly weakened, a severe crisis overcame the country. But at this time, Hitler came to power and introduced a large number of reforms and changes, thanks to which the country began to prosper, and people showed their trust in him. When he became the ruler, he pursued such a policy in which he informed the people that the nation of Germans was the most excellent in the world. Hitler was ignited by the idea of revenging for the First World War, for that terrible lose, he had the idea to subjugate the whole world. He began with the Czech Republic and Poland, which later grew into the Second World War
We all remember very well from history books that until 1941 a non-aggression treaty was signed between the two countries of Germany and the USSR. But Hitler still attacked. The Germans developed a plan called "Barbarossa". It clearly stated that Germany should capture the USSR in 2 months. He believed that if he had at his disposal all the strength and power of the country, then he would be able to go to war with the United States with fearlessness.
The war began so quickly, the USSR was not ready, but Hitler did not get what he wanted and expected. Our army put up a lot of resistance, the Germans did not expect to see such a strong opponent in front of them. And the war dragged on for a long 5 years.
Now we will analyze the main periods during the entire war.
The initial stage of the war is June 22, 1941 to November 18, 1942. During this time, the Germans captured most of the country, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus also got here. Further, the Germans already had Moscow and Leningrad in front of their eyes. And they almost succeeded, but the Russian soldiers turned out to be stronger than them and did not allow this city to be captured.
Unfortunately, they captured Leningrad, but what is most surprising, the people living there did not let the invaders into the city itself. There were battles for these cities until the end of 1942.
The end of 1943, the beginning of 1943, was very difficult for the German troops and at the same time happy for the Russians. The Soviet army launched a counteroffensive, the Russians began to slowly but surely retake their territory, and the invaders and their allies slowly retreated to the west. Some of the allies were destroyed on the spot.
Everyone remembers very well how the entire industry of the Soviet Union switched to the production of military supplies, thanks to which they were able to repulse the enemies. The retreating army turned into attackers.
The final. 1943 to 1945 The Soviet soldiers gathered all their strength and began to recapture their territory at a fast pace. All forces were directed towards the invaders, namely to Berlin. At this time, Leningrad was liberated, and other previously captured countries were recaptured. The Russians resolutely marched on Germany.
The last stage (1943-1945). At this time, the USSR began to take away its lands bit by bit and move towards the invaders. Russian soldiers retook Leningrad and other cities, then they proceeded to the very heart of Germany - Berlin.
On May 8, 1945, the USSR entered Berlin, the Germans announced their surrender. Their ruler could not stand it and independently left for the next world.
And now the worst part of the war. How many people died so that we would now live in the world and enjoy every day.
In fact, history is silent about these terrible figures. The USSR concealed for a long time, then the number of people. The government hid data from the people. And people then understood how many died, how many were taken prisoner, and how many missing people to this day. But after a while, the data nevertheless surfaced. According to official sources, up to 10 million soldiers died in this war, and about 3 million more were in German captivity. These are terrible numbers. And how many children, old people, women died. The Germans mercilessly shot everyone.
It was a terrible war, unfortunately it brought a lot of tears to families, there was devastation in the country for a long time, but slowly the USSR got on its feet, post-war actions subsided, but did not subside in the hearts of people. In the hearts of mothers who did not wait for their sons from the front. Wives who were left widows with children. But what a strong Slavic people, even after such a war, he rose from his knees. Then the whole world knew how strong the state was and how strong in spirit people lived there.
Thanks to the veterans who protected us when they were very young. Unfortunately, on this moment there are only a few of them left, but we will never forget their feat.
Report on the Great Patriotic War
June 22, 1941 at 4 o'clock in the morning, Germany attacked the USSR without declaring war. Such an unexpected event briefly put the Soviet troops out of action. The Soviet army adequately met the enemy, although the enemy was very strong and had an advantage over the Red Army. Germany had a lot of weapons, tanks, planes, when the Soviet army was just moving from cavalry protection to armory.
The USSR was not ready for such a large-scale war, many of the commanders at that moment were inexperienced and young. Of the five marshals, three were shot and recognized as enemies of the people. Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was in power during the Great Patriotic War and did everything possible for the victory of the Soviet troops.
The war was cruel and bloody, the whole country stood up to defend the Motherland. Everyone could join the ranks of the Soviet army, the youth created partisan detachments and tried to help in every possible way. For protection native land All men and women fought.
900 days lasted the struggle for Leningrad residents, who were in the blockade. Many soldiers were killed and taken prisoner. The Nazis created concentration camps, where they mocked and starved people. The fascist troops expected that the war would end within 2-3 months, but the patriotism of the Russian people turned out to be stronger, and the war dragged on for a long 4 years.
In August 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad began, lasting six months. The Soviet army won and captured more than 330,000 Nazis. The Nazis could not come to terms with their defeat and launched an attack on Kursk. 1200 vehicles took part in the Battle of Kursk - it was a massive battle of tanks.
In 1944, the troops of the Red Army were able to liberate Ukraine, the Baltic states, and Moldova. Also, Soviet troops received support from Siberia, the Urals and the Caucasus and were able to drive enemy troops away from their native lands. Many times the Nazis wanted to lure the troops of the Soviet army into a trap by cunning, but they did not succeed. Thanks to the competent Soviet command, the plans of the Nazis were destroyed and then they set in motion heavy artillery. The Nazis launched heavy tanks such as the "Tiger" and "Panther" into battle, but despite this, the Red Army gave a worthy rebuff.
At the very beginning of 1945, the Soviet army broke into Germany and forced the Nazis to admit defeat. From May 8 to May 9, 1945, the Act of surrender of the forces of Nazi Germany was signed. Officially, May 9 is considered Victory Day, and is celebrated to this day.
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The Great Patriotic War, which lasted almost four years, affected every home, every family, claimed millions of lives. This applied to everyone, because Hitler did not just go to conquer the country, he went to destroy everything and everyone, sparing no one and nothing. The first information about the attack began to arrive at 3:15 at night from Sevastopol, and at four o'clock in the morning the entire western land of the Soviet state was attacked. And at the same time, the cities of Kyiv, Minsk, Brest, Mogilev and others were subjected to air bombardment.
For a long time it was believed that the top leadership of the Union, headed by Stalin, did not believe in the attack of Nazi Germany in the summer of 1941. However, recent studies of archival documents have led a number of historians to believe that the order to bring the western districts to combat readiness was issued by the Directive of the General Staff of the Red Army on June 18, 1941.
This Directive appears in the protocols of the interrogation of the former commander western front Pavlov, although the Directive itself has not yet been found. According to historians, if it had been carried out a few days before the outbreak of hostilities, then by the winter of 1941 the Germans would have reached Smolensk.
In the first months of the border battles, the Red Army lost about 3 million people killed and taken prisoner. Against the backdrop of a general retreat stand out Brest Fortress, heroically defending for a month, Przemysl is a city where the Soviet not only withstood the blow of the German troops, but also managed to launch a counterattack and push the Germans back two kilometers deep into Poland.
The troops of the southern front (the former Odessa military district) repelled enemy attacks and went deep into Romanian territory for several kilometers. The Soviet navy and naval aviation, brought to full combat readiness a few hours before the attack, did not lose a single ship or aircraft on that tragic day. And naval aviation in the fall of 1941 bombed Berlin.
One of the most significant events of the beginning of the war was the capture by German troops of the suburbs of Leningrad on September 8, 1941 and the capture of the city in a tight ring. The blockade, which lasted 872 days and was lifted by the Soviet troops only in January 1943, caused enormous damage to the city and its inhabitants. The unique architectural monuments, palaces and temples, which were considered the pride of the Russian people, were burned. 1.5 million people, including young children, died from starvation, cold and constant bombing.
Selfless and heroic resistance, which was put up by a simple Russian soldier at the very beginning of the war, thwarted the Germans' attempt to conduct a lightning war on the territory of the USSR - a blitzkrieg and, in a short six months, put great country on knees.