Battles of the operation and battles of the Great Patriotic War. The Great Patriotic War: stages, battles
The Great Patriotic War began on June 22, 1941, on the day of All Saints who shone in the Russian land. Plan Barbarossa, a plan for a lightning war with the USSR, was signed by Hitler on December 18, 1940. Now it was put into action. German troops - the strongest army in the world - attacked in three groups (North, Center, South), aimed at quickly capturing the Baltic states and then Leningrad, Moscow, and in the south, Kyiv.
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June 22, 1941 4 a.m. - the beginning of the German offensive. 153 German divisions, 3,712 tanks and 4,950 combat aircraft entered the fighting (Marshal G.K. Zhukov provides such data in his book “Memories and Reflections”). The enemy forces were several times greater than the Red Army, both in numbers and in equipment.
On June 22, 1941, at 5:30 a.m., Reich Minister Goebbels, in a special broadcast of Greater German Radio, read out Adolf Hitler’s appeal to the German people in connection with the outbreak of war against the Soviet Union.
On June 22, 1941, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius, addressed an appeal to the believers. In his “Message to the Shepherds and Flock of Christ’s Orthodox Church,” Metropolitan Sergius said: “Fascist robbers attacked our Motherland... The times of Batu, the German knights, Charles of Sweden, Napoleon are being repeated... The pitiful descendants of the enemies of Orthodox Christianity want to once again try to set the people ours is on our knees before untruth... With God's help this time too, he will scatter the fascist enemy force into dust... Let us remember the holy leaders of the Russian people, for example, Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, who laid down their souls for the people and the Motherland... Let us remember the countless thousands of simple Orthodox soldiers... Our Orthodox Church has always shared the fate of the people. She endured trials with him and was consoled by his successes. She will not leave her people even now. She blesses with heavenly blessing the upcoming national feat. If anyone, then it is we who need to remember the commandment of Christ: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13)....”
Patriarch Alexander III of Alexandria addressed a message to Christians around the world about prayerful and material assistance to Russia.
Brest Fortress, Minsk, Smolensk
June 22 - July 20, 1941. Defense of the Brest Fortress. The first Soviet border strategic point located in the direction of the main attack of Army Group Center (towards Minsk and Moscow) was Brest and the Brest Fortress, which the German command planned to capture in the first hours of the war.
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July 9, 1941 - the enemy occupied Minsk. The forces were too unequal. The Soviet troops were in dire need of ammunition, and to transport them there was not enough transport or fuel; moreover, some of the warehouses had to be blown up, the rest were captured by the enemy. The enemy stubbornly rushed towards Minsk from the north and south. Our troops were surrounded. Deprived of centralized control and supplies, they, however, fought until July 8.
July 10 - September 10, 1941 Battle of Smolensk. On July 10, Army Group Center launched an offensive against the Western Front. The Germans had a twofold superiority in manpower and a fourfold superiority in tanks. The enemy's plan was to dissect our western front with powerful strike groups, surround the main group of troops in the Smolensk area and open the way to Moscow. The Battle of Smolensk began on July 10 and dragged on for two months - a period that the German command did not count on at all. Despite all efforts, the troops of the Western Front were unable to complete the task of defeating the enemy in the Smolensk region. During the battles near Smolensk, the Western Front suffered serious losses. By the beginning of August, no more than 1–2 thousand people remained in his divisions. However, fierce resistance from Soviet troops near Smolensk weakened the offensive power of Army Group Center. The enemy strike forces were exhausted and suffered significant losses. According to the Germans themselves, by the end of August, only the motorized and tank divisions had lost half of their personnel and equipment, and the total losses were about 500 thousand people. The main result of the Battle of Smolensk was the disruption of the Wehrmacht's plans for a non-stop advance towards Moscow. For the first time since the beginning of World War II, German troops were forced to go on the defensive in their main direction, as a result of which the Red Army command gained time to improve strategic defense in the Moscow direction and prepare reserves.
August 8, 1941 - Stalin appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief Armed Forces of the USSR.
Defense of Ukraine
The seizure of Ukraine was important for the Germans, who sought to deprive the Soviet Union of its largest industrial and agricultural base and take possession of Donetsk coal and Krivoy Rog ore. From a strategic point of view, the capture of Ukraine provided support from the south for the central group of German troops, which had the main task of capturing Moscow.But the lightning capture that Hitler planned did not work out here either. Retreating under the blows of German troops, the Red Army bravely and fiercely resisted, despite heavy losses. By the end of August, the troops of the Southwestern and Southern Fronts retreated beyond the Dnieper. Once surrounded, Soviet troops suffered huge losses.
Atlantic Charter. Allied powers
On August 14, 1941, on board the English battleship Prince of Wales in Argentia Bay (Newfoundland), US President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill adopted a declaration outlining the goals of the war against the fascist states. On September 24, 1941, the Soviet Union acceded to the Atlantic Charter.Leningrad blockade
On August 21, 1941, defensive battles began on the near approaches to Leningrad. In September, fierce fighting continued in the immediate vicinity of the city. But the German troops were unable to overcome the resistance of the city’s defenders and take Leningrad. Then the German command decided to starve the city out. Having captured Shlisselburg on September 8, the enemy reached Lake Ladoga and blocked Leningrad from land. German troops surrounded the city in a tight ring, cutting it off from the rest of the country. Communication between Leningrad and the “mainland” was carried out only by air and through Lake Ladoga. And the Nazis tried to destroy the city with artillery strikes and bombings.From September 8, 1941 (the day of celebration in honor of the Presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God) until January 27, 1944 (the day of St. Nina Equal to the Apostles) Leningrad blockade. The winter of 1941/42 was the most difficult for Leningraders. Fuel reserves have run out. Electricity supply to residential buildings was cut off. The water supply system failed and 78 km of the sewer network was destroyed. Utilities stopped working. Food supplies were running out, and on November 20, the lowest bread standards for the entire period of the blockade were introduced - 250 grams for workers and 125 grams for employees and dependents. But even in the most difficult conditions of the siege, Leningrad continued to fight. With the beginning of the freeze-up, a highway was built across the ice of Lake Ladoga. Since January 24, 1942, it was possible to slightly increase the standards for supplying the population with bread. To supply the Leningrad Front and the city with fuel, an underwater pipeline was laid between the eastern and western shores of the Shlisselburg Bay of Lake Ladoga, which became operational on June 18, 1942 and turned out to be practically invulnerable to the enemy. And in the fall of 1942, a power cable was also laid along the bottom of the lake, through which electricity began to flow into the city. Attempts were made repeatedly to break through the blockade ring. But this was only possible in January 1943. As a result of the offensive, our troops occupied Shlisselburg and a number of other settlements. On January 18, 1943, the blockade was broken. A corridor 8-11 km wide was formed between Lake Ladoga and the front line. The blockade of Leningrad was completely lifted on January 27, 1944, on the day of St. Nina Equal to the Apostles.
During the blockade, there were 10 Orthodox churches in the city. Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) of Leningrad, the future Patriarch Alexy I, did not leave the city during the blockade, sharing its hardships with his flock. A procession of the cross around the city was held with the miraculous Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. The Venerable Elder Seraphim of Vyritsky took upon himself a special feat of prayer - he prayed at night on a stone in the garden for the salvation of Russia, imitating the feat of his heavenly patron, the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov.
By the fall of 1941, the leadership of the USSR curtailed anti-religious propaganda. The publication of the magazines "Atheist" and "Anti-religious" was stopped..
Battle for Moscow
From October 13, 1941, fierce fighting broke out in all operationally important directions leading to Moscow.On October 20, 1941, a state of siege was introduced in Moscow and its surrounding areas. A decision was made to evacuate the diplomatic corps and a number of central institutions to Kuibyshev. It was also decided to remove particularly important state values from the capital. 12 divisions of people's militia were formed from Muscovites.
In Moscow, a prayer service was held before the miraculous Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and the icon was flown around Moscow by plane.
The second stage of the attack on Moscow, called "Typhoon", was launched by the German command on November 15, 1941. The fighting was very difficult. The enemy, regardless of losses, sought to break through to Moscow at any cost. But already in the first days of December it was felt that the enemy was running out of steam. Due to the resistance of the Soviet troops, the Germans had to stretch their troops along the front to such an extent that in the final battles on the near approaches to Moscow they lost their penetrating ability. Even before the start of our counterattack near Moscow, the German command decided to retreat. This order was given that night when Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive.
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Under pressure from Stalin, it was decided to launch a general offensive along the entire front. But not all directions had the strength and means to do this. Therefore, only the advance of the troops of the North-Western Front was successful; they advanced 70-100 kilometers and somewhat improved the operational-strategic situation in the western direction. Beginning on January 7, the offensive continued until early April 1942. After which it was decided to go on the defensive.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Wehrmacht Ground Forces, General F. Halder, wrote in his diary: “The myth of the invincibility of the German army has been shattered. With the onset of summer, the German army will achieve new victories in Russia, but this will no longer restore the myth of its invincibility. Therefore, December 6, 1941 can considered a turning point, and one of the most fatal moments in the short history of the Third Reich. The strength and power of Hitler reached their apogee, from that moment on they began to decline..."
United Nations Declaration
In January 1942, a declaration was signed in Washington by 26 countries (later known as the Declaration of the United Nations), in which they agreed to use all forces and means to fight aggressive states and not conclude a separate peace or truce with them. An agreement was reached with Great Britain and the United States on the opening of a second front in Europe in 1942.Crimean front. Sevastopol. Voronezh
On May 8, 1942, the enemy, having concentrated his strike force against the Crimean Front and brought into action numerous aircraft, broke through our defenses. Soviet troops, finding themselves in a difficult situation, were forced to leave Kerch. By May 25, the Nazis captured the entire Kerch Peninsula.October 30, 1941 - July 4, 1942 Defense of Sevastopol. The siege of the city lasted nine months, but after the Nazis captured the Kerch Peninsula, the situation in Sevastopol became very difficult and on July 4, Soviet troops were forced to leave Sevastopol. Crimea was completely lost.
June 28, 1942 - July 24, 1942 Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad operation. - combat operations of the troops of the Bryansk, Voronezh, South-Western and Southern Fronts against the German Army Group "South" in the Voronezh and Voroshilovgrad region. As a result of the forced withdrawal of our troops, the richest regions of the Don and Donbass fell into enemy hands. During the retreat, the Southern Front suffered irreparable losses; only a little more than a hundred people remained in its four armies. The troops of the Southwestern Front suffered heavy losses during the retreat from Kharkov and could not successfully restrain the enemy’s advance. For the same reason, the Southern Front could not stop the Germans in the Caucasian direction. It was necessary to block the path of German troops to the Volga. For this purpose, the Stalingrad Front was created.
Battle of Stalingrad (July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943)
According to the plan of Hitler's command, German troops were supposed to achieve those goals in the summer campaign of 1942 that were thwarted by their defeat in Moscow. The main blow was supposed to be delivered on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front with the goal of capturing the city of Stalingrad, reaching the oil-bearing regions of the Caucasus and the fertile regions of the Don, Kuban and Lower Volga. With the fall of Stalingrad, the enemy had the opportunity to cut off the south of the country from the center. We could have lost the Volga, the most important transport artery along which cargo came from the Caucasus.The defensive actions of the Soviet troops in the Stalingrad direction lasted for 125 days. During this period, they carried out two consecutive defensive operations. The first of them was carried out on the approaches to Stalingrad in the period from July 17 to September 12, the second - in Stalingrad and to the south from September 13 to November 18, 1942. The heroic defense of Soviet troops in the Stalingrad direction forced Hitler's high command to transfer more and more forces here. On September 13, the Germans went on the offensive along the entire front, trying to capture Stalingrad by storm. Soviet troops failed to contain his powerful onslaught. They were forced to retreat to the city. Days and nights the fighting continued on the streets of the city, in houses, factories, and on the banks of the Volga. Our units, having suffered heavy losses, still held the defense without leaving the city.
Soviet troops near Stalingrad were united into three fronts: Southwestern (Lieutenant General, from December 7, 1942 - Colonel General N.F. Vatutin), Don (Lieutenant General, from January 15, 1943 - Colonel General K . K. Rokossovsky) and Stalingrad (Colonel General A. I. Eremenko).
On September 13, 1942, a decision was made to launch a counteroffensive, the plan of which was developed by Headquarters. The leading role in this development was played by generals G.K. Zhukov (from January 18, 1943 - marshal) and A.M. Vasilevsky, they were appointed representatives of Headquarters at the front. A.M. Vasilevsky coordinated the actions of the Stalingrad Front, and G.K. Zhukov - the South-Western and Don Front. The idea of the counteroffensive was to defeat the troops covering the flanks of the enemy strike force with strikes from the bridgeheads on the Don in the Serafimovich and Kletskaya areas and from the Sarpinskie Lakes area south of Stalingrad, and, developing an offensive in converging directions towards the city of Kalach, the Sovetsky farm, encircle and destroy its main forces operating in the area between the Volga and Don rivers.
The offensive was scheduled for November 19, 1942 for the Southwestern and Don Fronts, and for November 20 for the Stalingrad Front. The strategic offensive operation to defeat the enemy at Stalingrad consisted of three stages: encircling the enemy (November 19-30), developing the offensive and disrupting the enemy’s attempts to release the encircled group (December 1942), eliminating the group of Nazi troops encircled in the Stalingrad area (10 January-February 2, 1943).
From January 10 to February 2, 1943, the troops of the Don Front captured 91 thousand people, including over 2.5 thousand officers and 24 generals led by the commander of the 6th Army, Field Marshal Paulus.
“The defeat at Stalingrad,” as Lieutenant General Westphal of the Nazi army writes about it, “horrified both the German people and their army. Never before in the entire history of Germany has there been such a terrible death of so many troops.”
And the Battle of Stalingrad began with a prayer service in front of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The icon was among the troops; prayers and memorial services for the fallen soldiers were constantly served in front of it. Among the ruins of Stalingrad, the only surviving building was the temple in the name of the Kazan Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the chapel of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
Caucasus
July 1942 - October 9, 1943. Battle for the CaucasusIn the North Caucasus direction at the end of July and beginning of August 1942, the development of events was clearly not in our favor. The superior enemy forces persistently moved forward. On August 10, enemy troops captured Maykop, and on August 11, Krasnodar. And on September 9, the Germans captured almost all the mountain passes. In stubborn bloody battles in the summer and autumn of 1942, Soviet troops suffered heavy losses, abandoned most of the territory of the North Caucasus, but still stopped the enemy. In December, preparations began for the North Caucasus offensive operation. In January, German troops began to withdraw from the Caucasus, and Soviet troops launched a powerful offensive. But the enemy put up fierce resistance and victory in the Caucasus came at a high price.
German troops were driven out to the Taman Peninsula. On the night of September 10, 1943, the Novorossiysk-Taman strategic offensive operation of Soviet troops began. Novorossiysk was liberated on September 16, 1943, Anapa on September 21, and Taman on October 3.
On October 9, 1943, Soviet troops reached the coast of the Kerch Strait and completed the liberation of the North Caucasus.
Kursk Bulge
July 5, 1943 – May 1944 Battle of Kursk.In 1943, the Nazi command decided to conduct its general offensive in the Kursk region. The fact is that the operational position of the Soviet troops on the Kursk ledge, concave towards the enemy, promised great prospects for the Germans. Here two large fronts could be surrounded at once, as a result of which a large gap would form, allowing the enemy to carry out major operations in the southern and northeastern directions.
The Soviet command was preparing for this offensive. From mid-April, the General Staff began developing a plan for both a defensive operation near Kursk and a counteroffensive. And by the beginning of July 1943, the Soviet command completed preparations for the Battle of Kursk.
July 5, 1943 German troops launched an offensive. The first attack was repulsed. However, then the Soviet troops had to retreat. The fighting was very intense and the Germans failed to achieve significant success. The enemy did not solve any of the assigned tasks and was ultimately forced to stop the offensive and go on the defensive.
The struggle was also extremely intense on the southern front of the Kursk salient - in the Voronezh Front.
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On July 12, the troops of the Bryansk and Western fronts went on the offensive in the Oryol direction, and on July 15 - the Central.
August 5, 1943 (the day of celebration of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God, as well as the icon of the “Joy of All Who Sorrow”) was released Eagle. On the same day, the troops of the Steppe Front were Belgorod liberated. The Oryol offensive operation lasted 38 days and ended on August 18 with the defeat of a powerful group of Nazi troops aimed at Kursk from the north.
Events on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front had a significant impact on the further course of events in the Belgorod-Kursk direction. On July 17, the troops of the Southern and Southwestern Fronts went on the offensive. On the night of July 19, a general withdrawal of fascist German troops began on the southern front of the Kursk ledge.
August 23, 1943 liberation of Kharkov The strongest battle of the Great Patriotic War ended - the Battle of Kursk (it lasted 50 days). It ended with the defeat of the main group of German troops.
Liberation of Smolensk (1943)
Smolensk offensive operation August 7 – October 2, 1943. According to the course of hostilities and the nature of the tasks performed, the Smolensk strategic offensive operation is divided into three stages. The first stage covers the period of hostilities from August 7 to 20. During this stage, the troops of the Western Front carried out the Spas-Demen operation. The troops of the left wing of the Kalinin Front began the Dukhovshchina offensive operation. At the second stage (August 21 - September 6), the troops of the Western Front carried out the Elny-Dorogobuzh operation, and the troops of the left wing of the Kalinin Front continued to conduct the Dukhovshchina offensive operation. At the third stage (September 7 - October 2), the troops of the Western Front, in cooperation with the troops of the left wing of the Kalinin Front, carried out the Smolensk-Roslavl operation, and the main forces of the Kalinin Front carried out the Dukhovshchinsko-Demidov operation.September 25, 1943 troops of the Western Front liberated Smolensk- the most important strategic defense center of the Nazi troops in the western direction.
As a result of the successful implementation of the Smolensk offensive operation, our troops broke through the enemy’s heavily fortified multi-line and deeply echeloned defenses and advanced 200 - 225 km to the West.
Liberation of Donbass, Bryansk and left-bank Ukraine
On August 13, 1943 it began Donbass operation Southwestern and Southern fronts. The leadership of Nazi Germany attached extremely great importance to keeping Donbass in their hands. From the very first day the fighting became extremely intense. The enemy put up stubborn resistance. However, he failed to stop the advance of the Soviet troops. Nazi troops in the Donbass faced the threat of encirclement and a new Stalingrad. Retreating from Left Bank Ukraine, the Nazi command carried out a savage plan drawn up according to recipes for total war for the complete devastation of the abandoned territory. Along with regular troops, the mass extermination of civilians and their deportation to Germany, the destruction of industrial facilities, cities and other populated areas were carried out by SS and police units. However, the rapid advance of Soviet troops prevented him from fully implementing his plan.On August 26, the troops of the Central Front began an offensive (commander - Army General K.K. Rokossovsky), starting to carry out Chernigov-Poltava operation.
On September 2, the troops of the right wing of the Voronezh Front (commanded by Army General N.F. Vatutin) liberated Sumy and launched an attack on Romny.
Continuing to successfully develop the offensive, the troops of the Central Front advanced in a southwestern direction by more than 200 km and on September 15 liberated the city of Nezhin, an important stronghold of enemy defense on the approaches to Kyiv. There were 100 km left to the Dnieper. By September 10, the troops of the right wing of the Voronezh Front, advancing to the south, broke the stubborn resistance of the enemy in the area of the city of Romny.
The troops of the right wing of the Central Front crossed the Desna River and liberated the city of Novgorod-Seversky on September 16.
September 21 (feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary) Soviet troops liberated Chernigov.
With the arrival of Soviet troops at the end of September at the Dnieper line, the liberation of Left Bank Ukraine was completed.
“...It’s more likely that the Dnieper will flow back than the Russians will overcome it...” said Hitler. Indeed, the wide, deep, high-water river with a high right bank represented a serious natural barrier to the advancing Soviet troops. The Soviet high command clearly understood the enormous importance of the Dnieper for the retreating enemy, and did everything to cross it on the move, seize bridgeheads on the right bank and prevent the enemy from gaining a foothold on this line. They tried to speed up the advance of troops to the Dnieper, and to develop the offensive not only against the main enemy groups retreating to permanent crossings, but also in the intervals between them. This made it possible to reach the Dnieper on a wide front and thwart the plan of the fascist German command to make the “Eastern Wall” impregnable. Significant forces of partisans also actively joined the fight, subjecting the enemy’s communications to continuous attacks and preventing the regrouping of German troops.On September 21 (the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary), the advanced units of the left wing of the Central Front reached the Dnieper north of Kyiv. Troops from other fronts also advanced successfully during these days. The troops of the right wing of the Southwestern Front reached the Dnieper on September 22, south of Dnepropetrovsk. From September 25 to 30, the troops of the Steppe Front reached the Dnieper in their entire offensive zone.
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At first, the forward detachments crossed using improvised means under continuous enemy fire and tried to gain a foothold on the right bank. After this, pontoon crossings for equipment were created. The troops who crossed to the right bank of the Dnieper had a very difficult time. Before they had time to gain a foothold there, fierce battles broke out. The enemy, having brought up large forces, continuously counterattacked, trying to destroy our units and units or throw them into the river. But our troops, suffering heavy losses, showing exceptional courage and heroism, held the captured positions.
By the end of September, having knocked down the defenses of enemy troops, our troops crossed the Dnieper on a 750-kilometer front section from Loev to Zaporozhye and captured a number of important bridgeheads from which it was planned to develop an offensive further to the west.
For crossing the Dnieper, for dedication and heroism in battles on the bridgeheads, 2,438 soldiers of all branches of the army (47 generals, 1,123 officers and 1,268 soldiers and sergeants) were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
On October 20, 1943, the Voronezh Front was renamed into the 1st Ukrainian, the Steppe Front into the 2nd Ukrainian, the Southwestern and Southern Fronts into the 3rd and 4th Ukrainian.
On November 6, 1943, on the day of the celebration of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” Kyiv was liberated from the fascist invaders by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of General N.F. Vatutin.
After the liberation of Kyiv, troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front launched an attack on Zhitomir, Fastov and Korosten. Over the next 10 days, they advanced 150 km west and liberated many settlements, including the cities of Fastov and Zhitomir. A strategic bridgehead was formed on the right bank of the Dnieper, the length of which along the front exceeded 500 km.
Intense fighting continued in southern Ukraine. On October 14 (the feast of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary), the city of Zaporozhye was liberated and the German bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper was liquidated. On October 25, Dnepropetrovsk was liberated.
Tehran Conference of the Allied Powers. Opening of a second front
From November 28 - December 1, 1943 it took place Tehran Conference heads of the allied powers against fascism of states - the USSR (J.V. Stalin), the USA (President F. Roosevelt) and Great Britain (Prime Minister W. Churchill).The main issue was the opening of a second front in Europe by the United States and Great Britain, which they did not open, contrary to their promises. At the conference it was decided to open a second front in France during May 1944. The Soviet delegation, at the request of the allies, announced the USSR’s readiness to enter the war against Japan at the end of the war. action in Europe. The conference also discussed questions about the post-war system and the fate of Germany.
December 24, 1943 – May 6, 1944 Dnieper-Carpathian strategic offensive operation. Within the framework of this strategic operation, 11 offensive operations of fronts and groups of fronts were carried out: Zhitomir-Berdichev, Kirovograd, Korsun-Shevchenkovsk, Nikopol-Krivoy Rog, Rivne-Lutsk, Proskurov-Chernovtsy, Uman-Botoshan, Bereznegovato-Snigirev, Polessk, Odessa and Tyrgu- Frumosskaya.December 24, 1943 – January 14, 1944 Zhitomir-Berdichev operation. Having advanced 100-170 km, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in 3 weeks of fighting almost completely liberated the Kyiv and Zhitomir regions and many areas of the Vinnitsa and Rivne regions, including the cities of Zhitomir (December 31), Novograd-Volynsky (January 3) , Bila Tserkva (January 4), Berdichev (January 5). On January 10-11, advanced units reached the approaches to Vinnitsa, Zhmerinka, Uman and Zhashkov; defeated 6 enemy divisions and deeply captured the left flank of the German group, which still held the right bank of the Dnieper in the Kanev area. The preconditions were created for striking the flank and rear of this group.
January 5-16, 1944 Kirovograd operation. After intense fighting on January 8, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front captured Kirovograd and continued the offensive. However, on January 16, repelling strong counterattacks from the enemy, they were forced to go on the defensive. As a result of the Kirovograd operation, the position of the fascist German troops in the zone of action of the 2nd Ukrainian Front significantly worsened.
January 24 – February 17, 1944 Korsun-Shevchenko operation. During this operation, troops of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts encircled and defeated a large group of fascist German troops in the Kanevsky ledge.
January 27 – February 11, 1944 Rivne-Lutsk operation- was carried out by troops of the right wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front. On February 2, the cities of Lutsk and Rivne were isolated, and on February 11, Shepetivka.
January 30 – February 29, 1944 Nikopol-Krivoy Rog operation. It was carried out by troops of the 3rd and 4th Ukrainian Fronts with the aim of eliminating the enemy’s Nikopol bridgehead. By the end of February 7, the 4th Ukrainian Front had completely cleared the Nikopol bridgehead of enemy troops and on February 8, together with units of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, liberated the city of Nikopol. After stubborn fighting, troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front liberated the city of Krivoy Rog on February 22, a large industrial center and road junction. By February 29, the 3rd Ukrainian Front with its right wing and center advanced to the Ingulets River, capturing a number of bridgeheads on its western bank. As a result, favorable conditions were created for launching subsequent attacks on the enemy in the direction of Nikolaev and Odessa. As a result of the Nikopol-Krivoy Rog operation, 12 enemy divisions were defeated, including 3 tank and 1 motorized. Having eliminated the Nikopol bridgehead and thrown the enemy back from the Zaporozhye bend of the Dnieper, Soviet troops deprived the fascist German command of their last hope of restoring communications by land with the 17th Army blocked in the Crimea. A significant reduction in the front line allowed the Soviet command to free up forces to capture the Crimean Peninsula.
On February 29, Bandera’s troops seriously wounded the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, General Nikolai Fedorovich Vatutin. Unfortunately, it was not possible to save this talented commander. He died on April 15.
By the spring of 1944, troops from four Ukrainian fronts had broken through enemy defenses all the way from Pripyat to the lower reaches of the Dnieper. Having advanced 150-250 km westward over the course of two months, they defeated several large enemy groups and thwarted his plans to restore defenses along the Dnieper. The liberation of the Kyiv, Dnepropetrovsk, and Zaporozhye regions was completed, the entire Zhitomir, almost completely the Rivne and Kirovograd regions, and a number of districts of the Vinnitsa, Nikolaev, Kamenets-Podolsk and Volyn regions were cleared of the enemy. Such large industrial areas as Nikopol and Krivoy Rog have been returned. The length of the front in Ukraine by the spring of 1944 reached 1200 km. In March, a new offensive was launched in Right Bank Ukraine.
On March 4, the 1st Ukrainian Front went on the offensive and carried out Proskurov-Chernivtsi offensive operation(4 March – 17 April 1944).
On March 5, the 2nd Ukrainian Front began Uman-Botosha operation(March 5 – April 17, 1944).
March 6th began Bereznegovato-Snigirevskaya operation 3rd Ukrainian Front (6-18 March 1944). On March 11, Soviet troops liberated Berislav, on March 13, the 28th Army captured Kherson, and on March 15, Bereznegovatoye and Snigirevka were liberated. The troops of the right wing of the front, pursuing the enemy, reached the Southern Bug in the Voznesensk region.
On March 29, our troops captured the regional center, the city of Chernivtsi. The enemy lost the last link between his troops operating north and south of the Carpathians. The strategic front of the Nazi troops was cut into two parts. On March 26, the city of Kamenets-Podolsky was liberated.
The 2nd Belorussian Front provided significant assistance to the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in the defeat of the northern wing of Hitler’s Army Group South. Polesie offensive operation(March 15 – April 5, 1944).
March 26, 1944 forward detachments of the 27th and 52nd armies (2nd Ukrainian Front) west of the city of Balti reached the Prut River, occupying an 85-km-long section along the USSR border with Romania. This would the first exit of Soviet troops to the border of the USSR.
On the night of March 28, the troops of the right wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front crossed the Prut and advanced 20-40 km into Romanian territory. On the approaches to Iasi and Chisinau they met stubborn enemy resistance. The main result of the Uman-Botosha operation was the liberation of a significant part of the territory of Ukraine and Moldova and the entry of Soviet troops into Romania.
March 26 - April 14, 1944 Odessa offensive operation troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. On March 26, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front went on the offensive throughout their entire zone. On March 28, after heavy fighting, the city of Nikolaev was taken.
On the evening of April 9, Soviet troops from the north burst into Odessa and captured the city by night assault by 10 a.m. on April 10. The liberation of Odessa was attended by troops of three armies, commanded by Generals V.D. Tsvetaev, V.I. Chuikov and I.T. Shlemin, as well as the cavalry mechanized group of General I.A. Pliev.
April 8 – May 6, 1944 Tirgu-Frumos offensive operation of the 2nd Ukrainian Front was the final operation of the Red Army’s strategic offensive in Right Bank Ukraine. Its goal was to strike the Chisinau enemy group from the west with a blow in the direction of Tirgu-Frumos, Vaslui. The offensive of the troops of the right wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front began quite successfully. In the period from April 8 to 11, they, having broken enemy resistance, crossed the Siret River, advanced 30-50 km in the southwestern and southern directions and reached the foothills of the Carpathians. However, it was not possible to complete the assigned tasks. Our troops went on the defensive at the achieved lines.
Liberation of Crimea (8 April - 12 May 1944)
On April 8, the offensive of the 4th Ukrainian Front began with the goal of liberating Crimea. On April 11, our troops captured Dzhankoy, a powerful stronghold in the enemy’s defense and an important road junction. The entry of the 4th Ukrainian Front into the Dzhankoy area threatened the retreat routes of the enemy’s Kerch group and thereby created favorable conditions for the offensive of the Separate Primorsky Army. Fearing encirclement, the enemy decided to withdraw troops from the Kerch Peninsula. Having discovered preparations for withdrawal, the Separate Primorsky Army went on the offensive on the night of April 11. On April 13, Soviet troops liberated the cities of Yevpatoria, Simferopol and Feodosia. And on April 15-16 they reached the approaches to Sevastopol, where they were stopped by organized enemy defenses.On April 18, the Separate Primorsky Army was renamed the Primorsky Army and included in the 4th Ukrainian Front.
Our troops were preparing for the assault. On May 9, 1944, Sevastopol was liberated. The remnants of the German troops fled to Cape Chersonesos, hoping to escape by sea. But on May 12 they were completely dispersed. At Cape Chersonese, 21 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were captured, and a large amount of weapons and military equipment was captured.
Western Ukraine
On July 27, after stubborn fighting, Lviv liberated.In July-August 1944, Soviet troops liberated western regions of Ukraine, and south-eastern part of Poland, captured a large bridgehead on the western bank of the Vistula River, from which an offensive was subsequently launched into the central regions of Poland and further to the borders of Germany.
The final lifting of the blockade of Leningrad. Karelia
January 14 – March 1, 1944. Leningrad-Novgorod offensive operation. As a result of the offensive, Soviet troops liberated the territory of almost the entire Leningrad and part of the Kalinin regions from the occupiers, completely lifted the blockade of Leningrad, and entered Estonia. The basing area of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet in the Gulf of Finland has expanded significantly. Favorable conditions were created for the defeat of the enemy in the Baltic states and in areas north of Leningrad.June 10 - August 9, 1944 Vyborg-Petrozavodsk offensive operation Soviet troops on the Karelian Isthmus.
Liberation of Belarus and Lithuania
June 23 - August 29, 1944 Belarusian strategic offensive operation Soviet troops in Belarus and Lithuania "Bagration". As part of the Belarusian operation, the Vitebsk-Orsha operation was also carried out.The general offensive was opened on June 23 by the troops of the 1st Baltic Front (commander Colonel General I.Kh. Bagramyan), the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front (commander Colonel General I.D. Chernyakhovsky) and the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front (commander Colonel General G.F. Zakharov). The next day, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front under the command of Army General K.K. Rokossovsky went on the offensive. Guerrilla detachments began active operations behind enemy lines.
The troops of four fronts, with persistent and coordinated strikes, broke through the defenses to a depth of 25-30 km, crossed a number of rivers on the move and inflicted significant damage on the enemy.
In the Bobruisk area, about six divisions of the 35th Army and 41st Tank Corps of the 9th German Army were surrounded.
July 3, 1944 Soviet troops liberated Minsk. As Marshal G.K. writes Zhukov, “the capital of Belarus was unrecognizable... Now everything lay in ruins, and in place of residential areas there were vacant lots, covered with piles of broken bricks and debris. The most difficult impression was made by the people, the residents of Minsk. Most of them were extremely exhausted and exhausted. .."
June 29 - July 4, 1944, troops of the 1st Baltic Front successfully carried out the Polotsk operation, destroying the enemy in this area, and on July 4 Polotsk was liberated. On July 5, troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front captured the city of Molodechno.
As a result of the defeat of large enemy forces near Vitebsk, Mogilev, Bobruisk and Minsk, the immediate goal of Operation Bagration was achieved, several days earlier than planned. In 12 days - from June 23 to July 4 - Soviet troops advanced almost 250 km. Vitebsk, Mogilev, Polotsk, Minsk and Bobruisk regions were completely liberated.
On July 18, 1944 (on the feast of St. Sergius of Radonezh), Soviet troops crossed the border of Poland.
On July 24 (the feast day of the Holy Blessed Princess Olga of Russia), the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front with their advanced units reached the Vistula in the Dęblin area. Here they freed the prisoners of the Majdanek death camp, in which the Nazis exterminated about one and a half million people.
On August 1, 1944 (on the feast of St. Seraphim of Sarov), our troops reached the borders of East Prussia.
The Red Army troops, having launched an offensive on June 23 on a front of 700 km, by the end of August advanced 550-600 km to the west, expanding the front of military operations to 1100 km. The vast territory of the Belarusian Republic was cleared of invaders - 80% and a quarter of Poland.
Warsaw Uprising (1 August – 2 October 1944)
On August 1, 1994, an anti-Nazi uprising took place in Warsaw. In response, the Germans carried out brutal massacres against the population. The city was destroyed to the ground. Soviet troops attempted to help the rebels, crossed the Vistula and captured the embankment in Warsaw. However, soon the Germans began to press our units, the Soviet troops suffered heavy losses. It was decided to withdraw the troops. The uprising lasted 63 days and was crushed. Warsaw was the front line of German defense, and the rebels had only light weapons. Without the help of Russian troops, the rebels had practically no chance of victory. And the uprising, unfortunately, was not coordinated with the command of the Soviet army in order to receive effective help from our troops.Liberation of Moldova, Romania, Slovakia
August 20 - 29, 1944. Iasi-Kishinev offensive operation.In April 1944, as a result of a successful offensive in Right Bank Ukraine, troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front reached the border of the cities of Iasi and Orhei and went on the defensive. The troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front reached the Dniester River and captured several bridgeheads on its western bank. These fronts, as well as the Black Sea Fleet and the Danube Military Flotilla, were tasked with carrying out the Iasi-Kishinev strategic offensive operation with the aim of defeating a large group of German and Romanian troops covering the Balkan direction.
As a result of the successful implementation of the Iasi-Kishinev operation, Soviet troops completed the liberation of Moldova and the Izmail region of Ukraine.
August 23, 1944 - armed uprising in Romania. as a result of which the fascist Antonescu regime was overthrown. The next day, Romania came out of the war on the side of Germany and declared war on Germany on August 25. From that time on, Romanian troops took part in the war on the side of the Red Army.
September 8 – October 28, 1944 East Carpathian offensive operation. As a result of the offensive of units of the 1st and 4th Ukrainian Fronts in the Eastern Carpathians, our troops liberated almost all of Transcarpathian Ukraine, September 20 reached the border of Slovakia, liberated part of Eastern Slovakia. The breakthrough into the Hungarian lowland opened up the prospect of liberating Czechoslovakia and access to the southern border of Germany.
Baltics
September 14 - November 24, 1944 Baltic offensive operation. This is one of the largest operations of the autumn of 1944; 12 armies of three Baltic fronts and the Leningrad Front were deployed on a 500-km front. The Baltic Fleet was also involved.September 22, 1944 - liberated Tallinn. In the following days (until September 26), the troops of the Leningrad Front reached the coast all the way from Tallinn to Pärnu, thereby completing the clearing of the enemy from the entire territory of Estonia, with the exception of the islands of Dago and Ezel.
On October 11 our troops reached borders with East Prussia. Continuing the offensive, by the end of October they completely cleared the northern bank of the Neman River of the enemy.
As a result of the offensive of Soviet troops in the Baltic strategic direction, Army Group North was expelled from almost the entire Baltic region and lost communications connecting it by land with East Prussia. The struggle for the Baltic states was long and extremely fierce. The enemy, having a well-developed road network, actively maneuvered with its forces and means, put up stubborn resistance to the Soviet troops, often launching counterattacks and delivering counterattacks. On his part, up to 25% of all forces on the Soviet-German front took part in the fighting. During the Baltic operation, 112 soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Yugoslavia
September 28 – October 20, 1944 Belgrade offensive operation. The goal of the operation was to use the joint efforts of Soviet and Yugoslav troops in the Belgrade direction, Yugoslav and Bulgarian troops in the Niš and Skopje directions to defeat the Serbia army group and liberate the eastern half of the territory of Serbia, including Belgrade. To carry out these tasks, troops of the 3rd Ukrainian (57th and 17th Air Armies, 4th Guards Mechanized Corps and units of front-line subordination) and 2nd Ukrainian (46th and parts of the 5th Air Army) fronts were involved . The offensive of Soviet troops in Yugoslavia forced the German command to make a decision on October 7, 1944 to withdraw its main forces from Greece, Albania and Macedonia. By the same time, the troops of the left wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front reached the Tisa River, freeing the entire left bank of the Danube east of the mouth of the Tisa from the enemy. On October 14 (on the Feast of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary), the order was given to begin the assault on Belgrade.The 20th of October Belgrade was liberated. The battles for the liberation of the capital of Yugoslavia lasted a week and were extremely stubborn.
With the liberation of the capital of Yugoslavia, the Belgrade offensive operation ended. During it, Army Group Serbia was defeated and a number of formations of Army Group F were defeated. As a result of the operation, the enemy front was pushed 200 km to the west, the eastern half of Serbia was liberated and the enemy’s transport artery Thessaloniki - Belgrade was cut. At the same time, favorable conditions were created for the Soviet troops advancing in the Budapest direction. The Supreme High Command headquarters could now use the forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front to defeat the enemy in Hungary. Residents of villages and cities in Yugoslavia greeted Soviet soldiers very warmly. They took to the streets with flowers, shook hands, hugged and kissed their liberators. The air was filled with the solemn ringing of bells and Russian melodies performed by local musicians. A medal “For the Liberation of Belgrade” was established.
Karelian Front, 1944
October 7 - 29, 1944 Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operation. The successful conduct of the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk strategic offensive operation by Soviet troops forced Finland to withdraw from the war. By the fall of 1944, the troops of the Karelian Front had mostly reached the pre-war border with Finland, with the exception of the Far North, where the Nazis continued to occupy part of the Soviet and Finnish territories. Germany sought to retain this region of the Arctic, which was an important source of strategic raw materials (copper, nickel, molybdenum) and had ice-free seaports where the forces of the German fleet were based. The commander of the troops of the Karelian Front, General of the Army K. A. Meretskov, wrote: “Under your feet, the tundra is damp and somehow uncomfortable, lifelessness emanates from below: there, in the depths, permafrost begins, lying in islands, and yet the soldiers have to sleep on this earth, laying under oneself only one coat of an overcoat... Sometimes the earth rises up with naked masses of granite rocks... Nevertheless, it was necessary to fight. And not just fight, but attack, beat the enemy, drive him away and destroy him. I had to remember the words of the great Suvorov: “Where a deer passes, a Russian soldier will pass, and where a deer does not pass, a Russian soldier will still pass.” On October 15, the city of Petsamo (Pechenga) was liberated. Back in 1533, a Russian monastery was founded at the mouth of the Pechenga River. Soon, a port was built here, at the base of a wide and convenient bay of the Barents Sea for sailors. Vigorous trade with Norway, Holland, England and other Western countries took place through Pechenga. In 1920, according to the peace treaty of October 14, Soviet Russia voluntarily ceded the Pechenga region to Finland.On October 25, Kirkenes was liberated, and the fighting was so fierce that every house and every street had to be stormed.
854 Soviet prisoners of war and 772 civilians abducted by the Nazis from the Leningrad region were rescued from concentration camps.
The last cities our troops reached were Neiden and Nautsi.
Hungary
October 29, 1944 - February 13, 1945. Assault and capture of Budapest.The offensive began on October 29. The German command took all measures to prevent the capture of Budapest by Soviet troops and the withdrawal of its last ally from the war. Fierce fighting broke out on the approaches to Budapest. Our troops achieved significant success, but they could not defeat the enemy group in Budapest and take possession of the city. Finally managed to surround Budapest. But the city was a fortress prepared by the Nazis for long-term defense. Hitler ordered to fight for Budapest to the last soldier. The battles for the liberation of the eastern part of the city (Pest) took place from December 27 to January 18, and the western part (Buda) - from January 20 to February 13.
During the Budapest operation, Soviet troops liberated a significant part of Hungarian territory. The offensive actions of Soviet troops in the autumn and winter of 1944–1945 in the southwestern direction led to a radical change in the entire political situation in the Balkans. To Romania and Bulgaria, which were previously withdrawn from the war, another state was added - Hungary.
Slovakia and Southern Poland
January 12 - February 18, 1945. West Carpathian offensive operation. In the Western Carpathian operation, our troops had to overcome the enemy’s defensive lines, stretching 300–350 km in depth. The offensive was carried out by the 4th Ukrainian Front (commander - Army General I.E. Petrov) and part of the forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. As a result of the winter offensive of the Red Army in the Western Carpathians, our troops liberated vast areas of Slovakia and Southern Poland with a population of about 1.5 million people.Warsaw-Berlin direction
January 12 - February 3, 1945. Vistula-Oder offensive operation. The offensive in the Warsaw-Berlin direction was carried out by the forces of the 1st Belorussian Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov and the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev. Soldiers of the Polish Army fought alongside the Russians. The actions of the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts to defeat the Nazi troops between the Vistula and Oder can be divided into two stages. In the first (from January 12 to 17), the enemy’s strategic defense front in a zone of about 500 km was broken through, the main forces of Army Group A were defeated and conditions were created for the rapid development of the operation to great depth.January 17, 1945 was Warsaw liberated. The Nazis literally wiped the city off the face of the earth, and subjected the local residents to merciless destruction.
At the second stage (from January 18 to February 3), the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts, with the assistance of the troops of the 2nd Belorussian and 4th Ukrainian Fronts on the flanks, during the rapid pursuit of the enemy, defeated the enemy reserves advancing from the depths and captured Silesian industrial region and reached the Oder on a broad front, capturing a number of bridgeheads on its western bank.
As a result of the Vistula-Oder operation, a significant part of Poland was liberated, and the fighting was transferred to German territory. About 60 divisions of German troops were defeated.
January 13 - April 25, 1945 East Prussian offensive operation. During this long-term strategic operation, the Insterburg, Mlawa-Elbing, Heilsberg, Koenigsberg and Zemland front-line offensive operations were carried out.
East Prussia was Germany's main strategic springboard for attacks on Russia and Poland. This territory also tightly covered access to the central regions of Germany. Therefore, the fascist command attached great importance to holding East Prussia. The terrain features - lakes, rivers, swamps and canals, a developed network of highways and railways, strong stone buildings - greatly contributed to the defense.
The overall goal of the East Prussian strategic offensive operation was to cut off the enemy troops located in East Prussia from the rest of the fascist forces, press them to the sea, dismember and destroy them in parts, completely clearing the territory of East Prussia and Northern Poland of the enemy.
Three fronts took part in the operation: 2nd Belorussian (commander - Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky), 3rd Belorussian (commander - Army General I.D. Chernyakhovsky) and 1st Baltic (commander - General I.Kh. Bagramyan). They were assisted by the Baltic Fleet under the command of Admiral V.F. Tributsa.
The fronts began their offensive successfully (January 13 - 3rd Belorussian and January 14 - 2nd Belorussian). By January 18, German troops, despite desperate resistance, suffered a heavy defeat in the places of the main attacks of our armies and began to retreat. Until the end of January, waging stubborn battles, our troops captured a significant part of East Prussia. Having reached the sea, they cut off the East Prussian enemy group from the rest of the forces. At the same time, the 1st Baltic Front captured the large seaport of Memel (Klaipeda) on January 28.
On February 10, the second stage of hostilities began - the elimination of isolated enemy groups. On February 18, Army General I.D. Chernyakhovsky died from a serious wound. The command of the 3rd Belorussian Front was entrusted to Marshal A.M. Vasilevsky. During intense battles, Soviet troops suffered serious losses. By March 29, it was possible to defeat the Nazis occupying the Heilsbury region. Next it was planned to defeat the Koenigsberg group. The Germans created three powerful defensive positions around the city. The city was declared by Hitler to be the best German fortress in the entire history of Germany and "an absolutely impregnable bastion of the German spirit."
Assault on Konigsberg started on April 6th. On April 9, the fortress garrison capitulated. Moscow celebrated the completion of the assault on Koenigsberg with a salute of the highest category - 24 artillery salvoes from 324 guns. A medal was established “For the Capture of Koenigsberg”, which was usually done only on the occasion of the capture of state capitals. All participants in the assault received a medal. On April 17, a group of German troops near Koenigsberg was liquidated.
After the capture of Koenigsberg, only the Zemland enemy group remained in East Prussia, which was defeated by the end of April.
In East Prussia, the Red Army destroyed 25 German divisions, the other 12 divisions lost from 50 to 70% of their strength. Soviet troops captured more than 220 thousand soldiers and officers.
But the Soviet troops also suffered huge losses: 126.5 thousand soldiers and officers died or went missing, more than 458 thousand soldiers were injured or were out of action due to illness.
Yalta Conference of the Allied Powers
This conference took place from February 4 to 11, 1945. The heads of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition - the USSR, the USA and Great Britain - I. Stalin, F. Roosevelt and W. Churchill took part in it. Victory over fascism was no longer in doubt; it was a matter of time. The conference discussed the post-war structure of the world, the division of spheres of influence. A decision was made to occupy and divide Germany into occupation zones and to allocate France its own zone. For the USSR, the main task was to ensure the security of its borders after the end of the war. For example, there was a provisional government of Poland in exile, based in London. However, Stalin insisted on creating a new government in Poland, since it was from the territory of Poland that attacks on Russia were conveniently carried out by its enemies.The “Declaration on a Liberated Europe” was also signed in Yalta, which, in particular, said: “The establishment of order in Europe and the reorganization of national economic life must be achieved in a way that will allow the liberated peoples to destroy the last traces of Nazism and fascism and create democratic institutions of their own choosing."
At the Yalta Conference, an agreement was concluded on the entry of the USSR into the war against Japan two to three months after the end of the war in Europe and with the condition that Russia would return South Sakhalin and adjacent islands, as well as the previously Russian naval base in Port Arthur and with the condition transfer of the Kuril Islands to the USSR.
The most important outcome of the conference was the decision to convene a conference on April 25, 1945 in San Francisco, at which it was planned to develop the Charter of the new United Nations.
Coast of the Baltic Sea
February 10 – April 4, 1945. East Pomeranian offensive operation. The enemy command continued to hold in its hands the coast of the Baltic Sea in Eastern Pomerania, as a result of which between the armies of the 1st Belorussian Front, which reached the Oder River, and the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front, the main forces of which were fighting in East Prussia, in early February 1945 year, a gap of about 150 km was formed. This strip of terrain was occupied by limited forces of Soviet troops. As a result of the fighting, by March 13, the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 2nd Belorussian fronts reached the coast of the Baltic Sea. By April 4, the East Pomeranian enemy group was eliminated. The enemy, having suffered huge losses, not only lost a bridgehead convenient for operations against our troops preparing for an attack on Berlin, but also a significant part of the Baltic Sea coast. The Baltic Fleet, having relocated its light forces to the ports of Eastern Pomerania, took advantageous positions on the Baltic Sea and could provide the coastal flank of the Soviet troops during their offensive in the Berlin direction.Vein
March 16 - April 15, 1945. Vienna offensive operation In January-March 1945, as a result of the Budapest and Balaton operations carried out by the Red Army, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front (commander - Marshal of the Soviet Union F.I. Tolbukhin) defeated the enemy in the central part of Hungary and moved west.April 4, 1945 Soviet troops completed the liberation of Hungary and launched an attack on Vienna.
Fierce fighting for the capital of Austria began the very next day - April 5. The city was covered from three sides - from the south, east and west. Fighting stubborn street battles, Soviet troops advanced towards the city center. Fierce battles broke out for each block, and sometimes even for a separate building. By 14:00 on April 13, Soviet troops were completely liberated Vienna.
During the Vienna operation, Soviet troops fought 150-200 km and completed the liberation of Hungary and the eastern part of Austria with its capital. The fighting during the Vienna operation was extremely fierce. The Soviet troops here were opposed by the most combat-ready divisions of the Wehrmacht (6th SS Panzer Army), which shortly before inflicted a serious defeat on the Americans in the Ardennes. But Soviet soldiers, in a fierce struggle, crushed this flower of Hitler's Wehrmacht. True, the victory was achieved at the cost of considerable sacrifices.
Berlin offensive operation (April 16 - May 2, 1945)
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The offensive of the Russian troops was planned very carefully. On a relatively narrow section of the front, 65 rifle divisions, 3,155 tanks and self-propelled guns, and about 42 thousand guns and mortars were concentrated in a short time. The plan of the Soviet command was to break through the enemy’s defenses along the Oder and Neisse rivers with powerful blows from troops on three fronts and, developing an offensive in depth, encircle the main group of fascist German troops in the Berlin direction, simultaneously cutting it into several parts and subsequently destroying each of them. them. In the future, Soviet troops were supposed to reach the Elbe. The completion of the defeat of the Nazi troops was supposed to be carried out jointly with the Western allies, an agreement in principle with whom on coordinating actions was reached at the Crimean Conference. The main role in the upcoming operation was assigned to the 1st Belorussian Front (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov), the 1st Ukrainian Front (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev) was supposed to defeat the enemy group south of Berlin. The front launched two attacks: the main one in the general direction of Spremberg and the auxiliary one towards Dresden. The start of the offensive by the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts was scheduled for April 16. On the 2nd, the Belorussian Front (commander - Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky) was supposed to launch an offensive on April 20, cross the Oder in its lower reaches and strike in a northwestern direction in order to cut off the West Pomeranian enemy group from Berlin. In addition, the 2nd Belorussian Front was entrusted with the task of covering the coast of the Baltic Sea from the mouth of the Vistula to Altdamm with part of its forces.
It was decided to begin the main offensive two hours before dawn. One hundred and forty anti-aircraft searchlights were supposed to suddenly illuminate enemy positions and attack targets. A sudden and powerful artillery barrage and air strikes, followed by an attack by infantry and tanks, stunned the Germans. Hitler's troops were literally drowned in a continuous sea of fire and metal. On the morning of April 16, Russian troops successfully advanced on all sectors of the front. However, the enemy, having come to his senses, began to resist from the Seelow Heights - this natural line stood as a solid wall in front of our troops. The steep slopes of the Zelovsky Heights were dug with trenches and trenches. All approaches to them were shot through multi-layered cross artillery and rifle-machine-gun fire. Individual buildings have been turned into strongholds, barriers made of logs and metal beams have been erected on the roads, and the approaches to them have been mined. On both sides of the highway running from the city of Zelov to the west, there was anti-aircraft artillery, which was used for anti-tank defense. The approaches to the heights were blocked by an anti-tank ditch up to 3 m deep and 3.5 m wide. Having assessed the situation, Marshal Zhukov decided to bring tank armies into the battle. However, even with their help it was not possible to quickly master the border. The Seelow Heights were taken only on the morning of April 18, after fierce battles. However, on April 18, the enemy was still trying to stop the advance of our troops, throwing all his available reserves towards them. Only on April 19, suffering heavy losses, the Germans could not stand it and began to retreat to the outer perimeter of Berlin’s defenses.
The offensive of the 1st Ukrainian Front developed more successfully. Having crossed the Neisse River, combined arms and tank formations by the end of the day on April 16 broke through the main enemy defense line at a front of 26 km and to a depth of 13 km. During the three days of the offensive, the armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front advanced up to 30 km in the direction of the main attack.
Storm of Berlin
On April 20, the assault on Berlin began. Long-range artillery of our troops opened fire on the city. On April 21, our units broke into the outskirts of Berlin and started fighting in the city itself. The fascist German command made desperate efforts to prevent the encirclement of their capital. It was decided to remove all troops from the Western Front and throw them into the battle for Berlin. However, on April 25, the encirclement ring around the Berlin enemy group was closed. On the same day, a meeting of Soviet and American troops took place in the Torgau area on the Elbe River. The 2nd Belorussian Front, through active operations in the lower reaches of the Oder, reliably pinned down the 3rd German Tank Army, depriving it of the opportunity to launch a counterattack from the north against the Soviet armies surrounding Berlin. Our troops suffered heavy losses, but, inspired by successes, rushed to the center of Berlin, where the main enemy command led by Hitler was still located. Fierce battles broke out on the streets of the city. The fighting did not stop day or night.
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April 30th started early in the morning storming of the Reichstag. The approaches to the Reichstag were covered by strong buildings, the defense was held by selected SS units with a total number of about six thousand people, equipped with tanks, assault guns and artillery. At about 3 p.m. on April 30, the Red Banner was hoisted over the Reichstag. However, fighting in the Reichstag continued throughout the day of May 1 and into the night of May 2. Separate scattered groups of Nazis, holed up in the basements, capitulated only on the morning of May 2.
On April 30, German troops in Berlin were divided into four parts of different composition, and their unified control was lost.
At 3 a.m. on May 1, the Chief of the General Staff of the German Ground Forces, Infantry General G. Krebs, by agreement with the Soviet command, crossed the front line in Berlin and was received by the commander of the 8th Guards Army, General V.I. Chuikov. Krebs reported Hitler's suicide, and also conveyed a list of members of the new imperial government and a proposal from Goebbels and Bormann for a temporary cessation of hostilities in the capital in order to prepare the conditions for peace negotiations between Germany and the USSR. However, this document said nothing about surrender. Krebs' message was immediately reported by Marshal G.K. Zhukov to the Supreme Command Headquarters. The answer was: to achieve only unconditional surrender. On the evening of May 1, the German command sent a truce to report their refusal to capitulate. In response to this, the final assault began on the central part of the city, where the Imperial Chancellery was located. On May 2, by 15:00, the enemy in Berlin had completely ceased resistance.
Prague
May 6 - 11, 1945. Prague offensive operation. After the defeat of the enemy in the Berlin direction, the only force capable of providing serious resistance to the Red Army was Army Group Center and part of Army Group Austria, located on the territory of Czechoslovakia. The idea of the Prague operation was to encircle, dismember and quickly defeat the main forces of fascist German troops on the territory of Czechoslovakia by delivering several strikes in converging directions towards Prague, and to prevent their withdrawal to the west. The main attacks on the flanks of Army Group Center were carried out by troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front from the area northwest of Dresden and troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front from the area south of Brno.On May 5, a spontaneous uprising began in Prague. Tens of thousands of city residents took to the streets. They not only erected hundreds of barricades, but also captured the central post office, telegraph, train stations, bridges over the Vltava, a number of military warehouses, disarmed several small units stationed in Prague, and established control over a significant part of the city. On May 6, German troops, using tanks, artillery and aircraft against the rebels, entered Prague and captured a significant part of the city. The rebels, having suffered heavy losses, radioed to the Allies for help. In this regard, Marshal I. S. Konev gave the order to the troops of his strike group to begin an offensive on the morning of May 6.
On the afternoon of May 7, the commander of Army Group Center received by radio an order from Field Marshal W. Keitel about the surrender of German troops on all fronts, but did not convey it to his subordinates. On the contrary, he gave his order to the troops, in which he stated that rumors of surrender were false, they were being spread by Anglo-American and Soviet propaganda. On May 7, American officers arrived in Prague, reported the surrender of Germany and advised an end to the fighting in Prague. At night it became known that the head of the garrison of German troops in Prague, General R. Toussaint, was ready to enter into negotiations with the leadership of the rebels on surrender. At 16:00 the act of surrender of the German garrison was signed. Under its terms, German troops received the right of free retreat to the west, leaving heavy weapons at the exit from the city.
On May 9, our troops entered Prague and, with the active support of the population and rebel fighting squads, Soviet troops cleared the city of the Nazis. The routes for the possible withdrawal of the main forces of Army Group Center to the west and southwest with the capture of Prague by Soviet troops were cut off. The main forces of Army Group Center found themselves in a “pocket” east of Prague. On May 10-11 they capitulated and were captured by Soviet troops.
Surrender of Germany
On May 6, on the day of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious, Grand Admiral Doenitz, who was the head of the German state after Hitler’s suicide, agreed to the surrender of the Wehrmacht, Germany admitted itself defeated.On the night of May 7, in Reims, where Eisenhower’s headquarters was located, a preliminary protocol on the surrender of Germany was signed, according to which, from 11 p.m. on May 8, hostilities ceased on all fronts. The protocol specifically stipulated that it was not a comprehensive agreement on the surrender of Germany and its armed forces. It was signed on behalf of the Soviet Union by General I. D. Susloparov, on behalf of the Western allies by General W. Smith and on behalf of Germany by General Jodl. Only a witness was present from France. After the signing of this act, our Western allies hastened to notify the world of Germany’s surrender to American and British troops. However, Stalin insisted that “surrender must be carried out as the most important historical act and accepted not on the territory of the victors, but where the fascist aggression came from - in Berlin, and not unilaterally, but necessarily by the high command of all countries of the anti-Hitler coalition ".
On the night of May 8-9, 1945, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany was signed in Karlshorst (an eastern suburb of Berlin). The signing ceremony of the act took place in the building of the military engineering school, where a special hall was prepared, decorated with the state flags of the USSR, USA, England and France. At the main table were representatives of the Allied powers. Present in the hall were Soviet generals whose troops took Berlin, as well as Soviet and foreign journalists. Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov was appointed representative of the Supreme High Command of the Soviet troops. The High Command of the Allied Forces was represented by the English Air Marshal Arthur W. Tedder, the commander of the US Strategic Air Forces, General Spaats, and the Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, General Delattre de Tassigny. On the German side, Field Marshal Keitel, Fleet Admiral von Friedeburg and Air Force Colonel General Stumpf were authorized to sign the act of unconditional surrender.
The ceremony of signing the surrender at 24 o'clock was opened by Marshal G.K. Zhukov. At his suggestion, Keitel presented the heads of the Allied delegations with a document on his powers, signed by Doenitz. The German delegation was then asked whether it had the Act of Unconditional Surrender in its hands and whether it had studied it. After Keitel’s affirmative answer, representatives of the German armed forces, at the sign of Marshal Zhukov, signed an act drawn up in 9 copies. Then Tedder and Zhukov put their signatures, and representatives of the United States and France served as witnesses. The procedure for signing the surrender ended at 0 hours 43 minutes on May 9, 1945. The German delegation, by order of Zhukov, left the hall. The act consisted of 6 points as follows:
"1. We, the undersigned, acting on behalf of the German High Command, agree to the unconditional surrender of all our armed forces on land, sea and air, as well as all forces currently under German command, to the Supreme Command of the Red Army and at the same time to the Supreme Command Allied Expeditionary Forces.
2. The German High Command will immediately issue orders to all German commanders of land, sea and air forces and all forces under German command to cease hostilities at 23-01 hours Central European time on May 8, 1945, to remain in their places where they are at this time, and completely disarm, handing over all their weapons and military equipment to local Allied commanders or officers assigned by representatives of the Allied High Command, not to destroy or cause any damage to ships, ships and aircraft, their engines, hulls and equipment, and also machines, weapons, apparatus and all military-technical means of warfare in general.
3. The German High Command will immediately assign the appropriate commanders and ensure that all further orders issued by the Supreme Command of the Red Army and the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces are carried out.
4. This act shall not be an obstacle to its replacement by another general instrument of surrender, concluded by or on behalf of the United Nations, applicable to Germany and the German armed forces as a whole.
5. In the event that the German High Command or any armed forces under its command do not act in accordance with this instrument of surrender, the High Command of the Red Army as well as the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces will take such punitive measures or other actions which they deem necessary.
6. This act is drawn up in Russian, English and German. Only Russian and English texts are authentic.
At 0:50 a.m. the meeting was adjourned. After this, a reception took place, which was a great success. Much was said about the desire to strengthen friendly relations between the countries of the anti-fascist coalition. The festive dinner ended with songs and dances. As Marshal Zhukov recalls: “The Soviet generals danced without competition. I, too, could not resist and, remembering my youth, danced the “Russian” one.”
The ground, sea and air forces of the Wehrmacht on the Soviet-German front began to lay down their arms. By the end of the day on May 8, Army Group Kurland, pressed to the Baltic Sea, ceased resistance. About 190 thousand soldiers and officers, including 42 generals, surrendered. On the morning of May 9, German troops in the area of Danzig and Gdynia capitulated. About 75 thousand soldiers and officers, including 12 generals, laid down their arms here. In Norway, Task Force Narvik capitulated.
The Soviet landing force, which landed on the Danish island of Bornholm on May 9, captured it 2 days later and captured the German garrison located there (12 thousand people).
Small groups of Germans on the territory of Czechoslovakia and Austria, who did not want to surrender along with the bulk of the troops of Army Group Center and tried to get to the west, had to be destroyed by Soviet troops until May 19.
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Potsdam Conference (July 17 - August 2, 1945)
Government delegations from allied states took part in this conference. The Soviet delegation headed by J.V. Stalin, the British - headed by Prime Minister W. Churchill and the American - led by President G. Truman. The first official meeting was attended by heads of government, all foreign ministers, their first deputies, military and civilian advisers and experts. The main issue of the conference was the question of the post-war structure of European countries and the reconstruction of Germany. Agreement was reached on the political and economic principles for coordinating Allied policy towards Germany during the period of Allied control over it. The text of the agreement stated that German militarism and Nazism must be eradicated, all Nazi institutions must be dissolved, and all members of the Nazi Party must be removed from public positions. War criminals must be arrested and brought to justice. The production of German weapons should be prohibited. With regard to the reconstruction of the German economy, it was decided that the main attention should be given to the development of peaceful industry and agriculture. Also, at the insistence of Stalin, it was decided that Germany should remain a single whole (the USA and England proposed dividing Germany into three states).According to N.A. Narochnitskaya, “The most important, although never spoken out loud, result of Yalta and Potsdam was the actual recognition of the continuity of the USSR in relation to the geopolitical area of the Russian Empire, combined with newfound military power and international influence.”
Tatiana Radynova
On June 14, 1941, a TASS statement was published about the groundlessness of rumors about Germany’s aggressive intentions towards the USSR. But on June 22, at 3:15 a.m., the first volleys of artillery cannonade were heard on the Soviet western border. German bombers invaded airspace and attacked military airfields, and then began bombing cities (Minsk, Kyiv). At 12 o'clock there was a radio address by the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars V.M. Molotov to the Soviet people, in which the beginning of the Patriotic War against the invaders was announced. Mobilization began immediately.
On June 23, the Headquarters of the High Command was created to lead the military operations, headed by the People's Commissar of Defense, Marshal S.K. Timoshenko, but the actual leadership of the Headquarters, which never met in full force, was in the hands of Stalin. The highest emergency governing body of the country was the State Defense Committee (GKO), formed on June 30, 1941, which existed until September 5, 1945, headed by Stalin. The State Defense Committee was subordinate to Headquarters, the General Staff and the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement, created on May 30, 1942. During the war years, the State Defense Committee adopted more than 10 thousand documents regulating the economic and political life of the country.
The surprise of the attack was aggravated by a strategic miscalculation in determining the main attack of the Wehrmacht troops in the southwestern direction, and not in the central direction, as was in reality. As a result, 11 divisions of the Western Front were surrounded between Bialystok and Minsk. But from July 10, during the Battle of Smolensk, Soviet troops held back Army Group Center, forcing it to go on the defensive from July 30.
Army Group South was opposed by troops of the South-Eastern and Southern Fronts, but in this direction German tank units under the command of General Guderian broke through the front north of Kyiv. Due to Stalin’s ban on surrendering the city (it still had to be abandoned on September 19), about 500 thousand people were surrounded.
Army Group North launched a forced offensive on Leningrad in August 1941, and on September 8, after the capture of Shlisselburg, the city was blocked. There was no mass evacuation from the city; in addition, a large number of refugees from the western territories were concentrated in it, who became the first victims of the famine. G.K. Zhukov, who replaced K.E. on September 12 Voroshilov as commander of the Leningrad Front, stabilized the front, but at the beginning of October he was recalled to Moscow.
Thus, thanks to the heroic resistance of the Red Army, despite all the miscalculations and mistakes, by September 1941 the German plan for a lightning war was thwarted. In the first five weeks of the war alone, the Wehrmacht lost about 200 thousand people, over 1.5 thousand tanks and 1 thousand aircraft, which was twice as much as in two years of war in Europe. But Germany's economic plans were based on the Blitzkrieg, so new conditions made it necessary to reorganize work and the entire German industry.
The Battle of Moscow (September 30, 1941 - April 20, 1942) finally demonstrated the collapse of the lightning war and the transition to a strategic confrontation between the two states. At the first stage of the battle, the Germans were opposed by troops of the Western (commander - I.S. Konev), Reserve (S.M. Budyonny) and Bryansk (A.I. Eremenko) fronts. On October 12, the Germans took Kaluga, and on October 14, Kalinin (Tver). On October 16, Moscow became a front-line city and was declared under martial law. The government left for Kuibyshev (Samara), the most important institutions and enterprises were evacuated from the capital. Arriving from near Leningrad G.K. Zhukov reorganized the fronts. The reserves of the Headquarters and parts of the people's militia played a significant role in stopping the German offensive. In mid-November, the German offensive resumed, but during it the enemy lost over 155 thousand people and about 800 tanks killed and wounded. On December 5, a successful counter-offensive of Soviet troops began, and on December 16, Kalinin was liberated. At the same time, offensives were launched in the Tikhvin and Kerch directions, and these cities were liberated.
The victory near Moscow had world-historical significance: for the first time, Wehrmacht units were not only stopped, but also forced to retreat. But from the results of the 1941 campaign, Stalin concluded that the German command would take active actions in the Moscow direction in the future. By the spring of 1942, German troops concentrated in the southeastern direction: Germany needed to capture the Donetsk coal basin and the Grozny and Baku oil fields. In this regard, in April-October 1942, Soviet troops suffered a number of heavy defeats (near Leningrad during the Lyuban operation, in the Rzhev-Vyazemsky operation, during the offensive in the Crimea and near Kharkov). On July 24, Rostov-on-Don was captured by the Germans. In August, they made a rapid push in the Caucasian direction through the Kuban and reached the Greater Caucasus Range, a banner with a swastika was hoisted on the top of Elbrus. But on the line Tuapse - Ordzhonikidze (Vladikavkaz) - Grozny, the invaders were stopped; they failed to take these points. By this time, a partisan movement had developed in the occupied territories, which attracted up to 10% of the Wehrmacht troops. In addition, on July 28, 1942, the People's Commissar of Defense Order No. 227 “Not a step back!” was issued, aimed at strengthening military discipline through punitive measures.
In mid-July 1942, one of the largest battles of the Second World War began - Stalingrad (July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943). This battle revealed the military parity of the parties, and as the fighting progressed, as a result of the restructuring of the Soviet economy, the superiority of the USSR. The battle began in the bend of the Don, and in September the streets and houses of Stalingrad (Volgograd) became the theater of military operations. On October 15, the Germans reached the Volga from the south in the area of the tractor plant, but in November the 6th Army under the command of General Paulus already had to go on the defensive. On November 19, 1942, a counteroffensive by troops of the Southwestern and Don Fronts north of Stalingrad began. Soviet troops surrounded the 330,000-strong enemy group, and in January 1943, the troops of the Don Front began implementing Operation Ring: the liquidation of the blocked group. On February 2, the remnants of Paulus’s army, who received the rank of field marshal from Hitler during the encirclement, surrendered. In total, the troops of Germany and its allies lost 800 thousand people during the Battle of Stalingrad.
Success at Stalingrad grew into an offensive along the entire front. In January 1943, a corridor 8 km wide was formed south of Lake Ladoga, connecting Leningrad with the mainland. The North Caucasus was liberated, and Rzhev was liberated in the central section of the front.
The results of the Battle of Stalingrad and the winter offensive were consolidated during the Battle of Kursk (July 5 - August 23, 1943), victory in which marked the final transfer of strategic initiative into the hands of the Soviet Army. As a result of military operations on August 5, 1943, the cities of Orel and Belgorod were liberated, on which occasion a fireworks display took place in Moscow for the first time in the history of the war. On August 23, Kharkov was liberated. After this, Soviet troops went on the offensive along the entire front. On November 6, Kyiv was liberated.
The most important event of the beginning of 1944 was the final lifting of the siege of Leningrad on January 27 (during the period of the siege, more than a million civilians died from hunger, bombing and artillery shelling). The spring offensive on the Southwestern Front at the end of March 1944 led to the entry of Soviet troops to the border with Romania. Crimea was liberated in May. During Operation Bagration (June 23 - August 29, 1944), Belarus was cleared of invaders (25% of the population died in this republic), and the Soviet Army entered the territory of Poland (that part of it that was occupied by Germany in September 1939 G.).
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Currently, there is a patriotic upsurge in Russia.
After the collapse of the USSR and unsuccessful reforms, most Russians were in a state of depression of varying degrees. We were suppressed by the destruction of historical Russia, which in Soviet times was called the USSR. This led to the dismemberment of a single people. Because Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians are one people. The current political situation on the world stage is in no way inferior in tension to the events preceding the Second World War. And at such moments, tragic events that at the same time united the people and proved the strength of the Soviet people are of particular importance.
After all, the events of the Great Patriotic War left a mark on the souls of all people that has not been erased for many years. Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 plays a vital role in the history of our state. In its cruelty, it was an unprecedented test of all the material and spiritual forces of the Soviet Union and became the most severe test of the fighting qualities of the Red Army and Navy.
Great battles of the Great Patriotic War
Let's look at the main battles of the Second World War.
The Battle of Moscow, thanks to which the Red Army wrested the strategic initiative from the enemy for that period and created the conditions for launching a general offensive. It consisted of two stages, and the operation was carried out by troops of the Western, Reserve, Bryansk and Kalinin fronts. The first stage - Moscow strategic defensive operation: September 30 - December 5, 1941. During the hostilities, the following additional units were introduced into the Soviet troops: the command of the Kalinin Front, the command of the 1st Shock, 5th, 10th and 16th Armies , 34 divisions and 40 brigades. The duration of the operation is 67 days. During the operation, Vyazemsk, Orel-Bryansk, Mozhaisk-Maloyaroslavets, Kalinin, Klin-Solnechnogorsk, Naro-Fominsk and Tula frontal defensive operations were carried out.
The second stage - the Moscow strategic offensive operation: December 5, 1941 - January 7, 1942. The operation was carried out by troops of the Western, Kalinin and right wing of the Southwestern fronts. From December 24, 1941, the Bryansk Front took part in the operation. In World War II, the first major defeat of the Nazi army was inflicted on the fields of the Moscow region, and the myth of its invincibility was dispelled.
The Battle of Stalingrad, which included two periods. The Stalingrad strategic defensive operation is the first period, which began on July 17 and lasted until November 18, 1942. The operation was carried out by troops of the Stalingrad (Don), South-Eastern (Stalingrad) fronts with the assistance of the Volga military flotilla and the Stalingrad corps air defense region.
Not only was the offensive power of the enemy crushed and the main attack group of the German army on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front was bled dry, but also the conditions were prepared for the transition of Soviet troops to a decisive counter-offensive in fierce defensive battles and battles that unfolded in the great bend of the Don, and then in Stalingrad contours and in the city itself.
The Stalingrad strategic offensive operation is the second period, which took place from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943. The operation was carried out by troops of the Southwestern, Don, Stalingrad fronts, as well as the left wing of the Voronezh Front with the assistance of the Volga military flotilla.
In achieving a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War, the victory at Stalingrad was a decisive contribution and had a decisive influence on the further course of the entire Second World War. The Red Army seized the strategic initiative and held it until the end of the war.
From July 25 to December 31, 1942, the North Caucasus strategic defensive operation was carried out in order to defend the Caucasus and defeat the Nazi troops that had invaded its borders. From January 1 to February 4, 1943 - North Caucasus strategic offensive operation, from February 9 to March 16 - Krasnodar, from September 10 to October 9, 1943 - Novorossiysk-Taman offensive operations.
The North Caucasus strategic defensive operation was carried out by troops of the Southern (until July 28, 1942), North Caucasian and Transcaucasian fronts with the assistance of the forces of the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov military flotilla. During the fighting, the Soviet troops additionally included commands of the Northern and Black Sea groups of forces, the 44th and 46th armies, 31 divisions and 27 brigades. The duration of the operation is 160 days.
During the offensive period of the Battle of the Caucasus, Soviet troops inflicted a major defeat on the German Army Group A and reached the approaches to Rostov and the Kuban River line. Although the plans of the Soviet command were not fully realized, and the main forces of the enemy managed to avoid complete defeat and retreat to the Donbass, the plans of the German command to seize the Caucasus and its oil fields failed. The Red Army liberated the Stavropol Territory, the Checheno-Ingush, North Ossetian and Kabardino-Balkarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics, the Krasnodar Territory, part of the Rostov Region and the Taman Peninsula from the occupiers.
The Battle of Kursk consisted of two stages - defensive and offensive. The first stage is the Kursk strategic defensive operation: July 5-23, 1943. The operation was carried out by troops of the Central, Voronezh and Steppe fronts.
In terms of its scope and intensity, the Kursk defensive operation is one of the largest battles of the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War. During the defensive battles, the troops of the Central and Voronezh fronts bled and then stopped the advance of the strike forces of the fascist German army and created favorable conditions for launching a counteroffensive in the Oryol and Belgorod-Kharkov directions. Hitler's plan to defeat Soviet troops in the Kursk salient turned out to be unrealistic.
In the fall of 1943, the battle for the Dnieper unfolded, in which troops from five fronts took part. At the first stage of the Battle of the Dnieper (Chernigov-Poltava strategic offensive operation from August 26 to September 30), Soviet troops launched a struggle for the liberation of Ukraine and Donbass. On September 15, the German command was forced to order the general withdrawal of Army Group South to the Eastern Wall, hoping to hold the richest regions of Right Bank Ukraine, Crimea, and the ports of the Black Sea. During August - September 1943, the Red Army defeated German troops in Left Bank Ukraine and the Donbass. Soviet troops reached the Dnieper in its middle reaches along an almost 750-kilometer front and, having crossed the river, captured 23 bridgeheads. The plans of the German command to stabilize the front on the Dnieper were thwarted.
In the battle for the Dnieper and during the crossing of numerous other rivers, Soviet troops showed massive heroism, courage and bravery. The most distinguished 2,438 soldiers, sergeants, officers and generals were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The Battle of Leningrad was the longest during the Great Patriotic War, and lasted from July 10, 1941 to August 9, 1944. Soviet troops during the 900-day defense of Leningrad pinned down large forces of the German and the entire Finnish army, contributed to the victories of the Red Army in other sections of the Soviet-German front. The defense of Leningrad became a symbol of the courage and heroism of the Soviet people and their Armed Forces. Leningraders showed examples of perseverance, endurance and patriotism. The residents of the city paid a heavy price, whose losses during the blockade amounted to about 1 million people. During the war, Hitler repeatedly demanded to raze the city to the ground, exterminate its entire population, starve it out, and crush the resistance of the defenders with massive air and artillery strikes.
Belarusian strategic offensive operation of 1944. The operation was code-named “Bagration” and was carried out from June 23 to August 29, 1944 by troops of the 1st Baltic, 3rd, 2nd and 1st Belorussian fronts with the participation of the forces of the Dnieper military flotilla . The 1st Army of the Polish Army operated as part of the 1st Belorussian Front. During the operation, the commands of the 2nd Guards and 51st Armies, the 19th Tank Corps and 24 divisions were additionally introduced. The defeat of the enemy in the grandiose battles on the Volga, the North Caucasus, near Kursk and in the Battle of the Dnieper in 1943 was decisive not only for the further course and outcome of the Great Patriotic War, but also for the entire Second World War, and deepened the crisis of the fascist bloc. The enemy suffered such a defeat from which he could not recover until the end of the war.
During the operation, Soviet troops defeated the Berlin group of enemy troops and stormed the capital of Germany, Berlin. Developing a further offensive, they reached the Elbe River, where they linked up with American and British troops. With the fall of Berlin and the loss of vital areas, Germany lost the ability to organize resistance and soon capitulated.
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The main battles of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945
The Great Patriotic War can be called, without exaggeration, the most monstrous event in the history of our world.
German attack on the USSR on June 22, 1941
Early one summer morning, the German army unexpectedly attacked our homeland. It happened suddenly. The Soviet Union was completely unprepared for such a turn of events. Although our country was expecting a war, it did not think that everything would happen so quickly. Germany, with a swift impulse, attacked the borders of the western part of the Land of Soviets. A great and cruel war has begun.
Defense of the Brest Fortress. June 22 - July 20 (August 15 - 16), 1941.
One of the major battles is the defense of the city of Brest. The German troops delivered their first blow here. As a result of the unexpected raid of the Nazis, the soldiers defending the fortress walls remained cut off from the main body of the Soviet troops. With extraordinary heroism, they held back the enemy, preventing the fortress from being captured. A great many people who defended the Brest fortress gave their lives for it.
They died, but did not give up!
Battle of Smolensk. July 10 - September 10, 1941.
This battle played an important role in the history of the war. The defense system and offensive of our troops did not bring the expected results. The fighting was fierce and bloody and lasted about two months. The battle of Smolensk had terrible consequences for the Land of Soviets.
Major battles of the Great Patriotic War
Enormous human losses have undermined the military strength of our army. Thanks to the heroic actions of Soviet soldiers, we managed to prevent the Germans from capturing Moscow for a short period of time.
Leningrad blockade. September 8, 1941 – January 27, 1944
The siege of Leningrad is one of the most tragic and terrible events of the Great War. The city on the Neva was besieged by the enemy army and tightly encircled. Leningrad was not ready for a long siege. The small supplies of food and fuel quickly ran out. A terrible famine began in the city. The first winter of the siege was also bitter and cold. Thousands of people died from hunger and cold. It was unbearable. But Leningrad survived and did not surrender the city to the Germans. The great courage and heroism of the townspeople and defenders is invaluable. On January 27, 1944, the blockade was lifted and the city was liberated. People spent more than two and a half years in the besieged city.
Defense of Sevastopol. October 30, 1941 - July 4, 1942
The Germans tightly surrounded the city. Fighting took place throughout the territory. The Soviet army fought back as best it could. German troops, in turn, actively used air raids and artillery. The city turned into ruins. The enemies were unable to advance and were repulsed. But only for a while. Soon our troops were left without ammunition and decided to evacuate. Hiding in bomb shelters and casemates, the soldiers fought until their last breath. The forces were not equal. A few days later, all the remaining people defending the city were killed or captured. The Germans captured Crimea and Sevastopol.
Battle of Stalingrad. July 17, 1942 – February 2, 1943
This battle lasted almost six months. It was the most intense and grandiose in scale. More than two million people on both sides took part in the battles of Stalingrad. There was a fierce and terrible battle, the Soviet army fought with fearlessness and courage, every Stalingrader stood up to defend his city. Millions of people laid down their lives on the battlefield. Huge losses of human lives and equipment, both from the USSR and from Germany. Victory was on our side. The Battle of Stalingrad marked the beginning of the Red Army's counteroffensive.
Battle of Kursk. July 5 – August 23, 1943
A huge battle of mechanized brigades. A key battle during the military operations of this period of the war. The Kursk Bulge ended with the victory of the Soviet troops, and the liberation of the territories captured by the Germans began.
Berlin offensive operation. April 16 – May 8, 1945
The most recent military operation during which Berlin was captured. Germany had to surrender. With heavy losses and irreparable damage, the Soviet Union won the war. May 9 is traditionally recognized as Victory Day.
Briefly
On June 22, 1941, German soldiers enter the USSR. Along with this, a number of events took place to seize territories. After stubborn resistance, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Moldova were occupied. Then the troops headed towards Moscow to capture it. The period from September 1941 to April 1942 went down in history as the “Battle of Moscow.”
In 1942-1943, a very important turning point occurred, which changed the course of the entire war, as well as history. On November 19, 1942, USSR troops launched a counteroffensive. The country managed to build up enormous military resources in a short time. Thanks to this, the Soviet army was able to become a very powerful enemy on the battlefield. The USSR stopped defending and went on the attack.
The Soviet army advanced in all directions of the occupied territories. Several enemy armies were destroyed. The pursuit of the Germans began. It was possible to move the front line towards Germany.
During this period, such important events took place as: the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of the Caucasus, the Battle of Kursk, Leningrad was recaptured.
The Soviet army managed to recapture one captured territory after another. In the end, they reached Berlin itself, where the battle that decides the outcome of the war takes place.
The USSR emerges from the battle and from the war as an unconditional winner. Germany and its allies announced complete surrender.
This war was not easy; it was very difficult for the USSR. At the end of the war, the country faced a deep crisis. Many plants and factories were destroyed, a huge number of people died. The state found itself in a very difficult situation. Many years passed before he managed to recover.
The act of surrender of Nazi Germany was signed in a suburb of Berlin on May 8, 1945. All over the world, the end of World War II is celebrated on May 9th.
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Siberian State Transport University
Department of History.
ABSTRACT.
Topic: The main battles of the Great Patriotic War.
Completed: Malakhov A.V.
Checked: Efimkin M.M.
Novosibirsk - 1999
Introduction.
The Great Patriotic War lasted for 1418 long days and nights. And in the period from June 22, 1941. Until May 9, 1945, so many events occurred that a detailed consideration of them would require a very large amount of time and paper. In my essay, I tried to most rationally and correctly (from my point of view) consider the main battles of the Second World War.
Of course, Germany’s treacherous attack on the USSR on Sunday morning, June 22, 1941, was a carefully planned operation codenamed “Barbarossa,” that is, in honor of the well-known legendary German hero Friedrich Barbarossa. It was from June 22nd that the Soviet people heroically fought the Nazi invaders for four long years. After all, it was the Soviet people who won this terrible war. And he showed all his bravery, courage, perseverance, tenacity and hatred of the invaders to the fullest, winning the war and freeing all of Europe from the invaders.
Speaking about the main battles of the Second World War, we can say that they had a great resonance throughout the world and radically influenced the outcome of the Second World War.
1. Introduction
2. Battle of Smolensk
3. On the approaches to Leningrad
4. Defense of Kyiv
5. Defense of Odessa
6. Battle for Moscow
7. Defense of Sevastopol
8. Failure of Soviet troops near Kharkov
9. Battle of Stalingrad
10. Lifting the blockade of Leningrad (January 1943)
11. On the Kursk Bulge
12. Crossing of the Dnieper and liberation of Kyiv
13. Final lifting of the siege of Leningrad
14. Korsun-Shevchenko operation
15. Liberation of Odessa and Sevastopol
16. Belarusian operation
17. Iasi-Kishinev operation
18. East Carpathian operation
19. Budapest operation
20. Vistula-Oder operation
21. East Prussian operation
22. Encirclement and capture of Berlin
23. Conclusion
Battle of Smolensk.
As a result of fierce multi-day battles, the Red Army, at the cost of enormous efforts, managed to slow down the pace of advance of the Nazi troops and temporarily stabilize the situation in a number of areas. By July 10, the front of the armed struggle passed: in the northwestern direction - along the line of Pärnu, Tartu, east of Pskov, Ostrov and along the Velikaya River.
Main stages and battles of the Great Patriotic War
In the center of the Soviet-German front - along the Dnieper. The most dangerous direction was still Smolensk, where the main group of enemy troops operated, intended to capture Moscow. This direction was covered by the troops of the Western Front, whose command was assumed by the People's Commissar of Defense, Marshal S.K., on July 2. Tymoshenko. Essentially it was a new front formed from the General Headquarters reserve.
Army Group Center and part of the forces of the 16th Army from Army Group North operated against the Western Front. In the first enemy echelon, 29 divisions were advancing, including 9 tank and 7 motorized divisions. The second echelon troops, after the battles west of Minsk, advanced to the middle reaches of the Western Dvina and to the Dnieper.
By the beginning of the Battle of Smolensk, the balance of forces and means of the parties at the Western Dvina-Dnieper line was still in favor of the fascist troops. The enemy outnumbered the Soviet troops: in men - almost 2 times, in guns and mortars - 2.4 times, in aircraft - 4 times, and only in tanks (taking into account all types) he was somewhat inferior to the Soviet troops (1: 1, 3)
When preparing a further offensive in this direction, the fascist German command believed that the Western Front would confront the army group with a center of no more than 11 combat-ready divisions. This was a serious miscalculation of the enemy: the Western Front had great forces. Behind his troops, the Soviet command deployed several reserve armies. They played a big role in the outcome of the Battle of Smolensk, blocking the path of the fascist hordes rushing towards Moscow.
On July 10, the enemy's 2nd and 3rd tank groups went on the offensive. They launched attacks from Vitebsk towards Dukhovshchina and from the area south of Orsha towards Yelnya. The left-flank formations of the 3rd Tank Group advanced from the area north of Polotsk towards Velikiye Luki, and the right-flank formations of the 2nd Tank Group - from the area south of Mogilev in the direction of Krichev, Roslavl. The Nazis sought to cut the troops of the Western Front into pieces, surround the 19th, 20th and 16th armies covering Smolensk and capture the city.
The battle became extremely intense. Nazi formations, concentrated in narrow areas, made deep breakthroughs in the areas of Polotsk, Vitebsk, north and south of Mogilev.
While the Nazis were launching an offensive east of the Dnieper, the 21st Army of the Western Front launched a strong counterattack on July 13. In the main direction, formations of the 63rd Rifle Corps of General L.G. operated. Petrovsky. Together with other army formations, they crossed the Dnieper, liberated Rogachev and Zhlobin and fought their way north-west towards Bobruisk.
Front-line aviation, replenished with GHQ reserve aircraft, as well as long-range aviation, provided great assistance to the ground forces.
Soviet artillery played a significant role in successfully repelling enemy attacks. At the beginning of the Battle of Smolensk, the Red Army received a wonderful weapon - rocket launchers. Their appearance on the battlefields was a complete surprise for the Nazis. For the first time such a blow to the fascist invaders was delivered on July 14 in the battles near Orsha by the battery of captain I.A. Flerov. Marshal A.I. Eremenko recalled: “...in the afternoon the unusual roar of rocket mines shook the air. The mines darted upward like red-tailed comets. Frequent and powerful explosions struck the ears and eyes with a strong roar and a blinding shine. The effect of simultaneous bursting of 320 minutes within 10 seconds exceeded all expectations. The enemy soldiers began to run away in panic.”
The creation of this new formidable weapon was a great help to Soviet soldiers, who affectionately called the rocket launchers “Katyushas”.
The advance of Soviet troops in the Bobruisk direction seriously alarmed the command of Army Group Center. To repel their attack, he had to transfer several divisions and regiments to the 21st Army from other sectors of the front and from his reserve. During these battles, considerable damage was inflicted on 8 fascist infantry divisions.
In the center of the front, stubborn battles continued with the main enemy group rushing towards Smolensk. 20th Army of General P.A. Kurochkina continuously counterattacked the enemy troops that enveloped her flanks from Vitebsk and Orsha, but was unable to contain the growing onslaught of the 9th German Army. The enemy's tank divisions bypassed it and approached Smolensk. On July 16, the enemy broke into the southern part of the city and, as a result of almost two weeks of fighting, captured it. The threat of a Nazi breakthrough to Moscow increased.
At the end of July, the enemy repulsed the attacks of Soviet troops on Bobruisk and forced them to retreat beyond the Dnieper. But the active actions of the troops of the Western Front inflicted serious damage on Army Group Center and forced its strike forces to disperse their forces.
Having encountered stubborn resistance from Soviet troops in the Smolensk-Moscow direction, the Nazi command was confused. It realized that as a result of miscalculations in assessing the balance of forces in the central sector of the front, operations carried out according to the Barbarossa general plan were disrupted and did not bring the desired success.
Hitler's command, after much hesitation, was forced on July 30 to order Army Group Center to stop the attack on Moscow and go on the defensive. Now the main efforts of the fascist German troops were transferred from the central section of the front to the flanks. The 2nd Panzer Group and the 2nd Army were turned from the east to the south.
In early September, troops of the Western, Reserve and Bryansk Fronts, at the direction of Headquarters, launched a strike with the aim of defeating Army Group Center and disrupting the offensive launched by the German command on the flank and rear of the Western Front. Particularly stubborn battles took place in the areas of Yartsev and Yelnya.
The offensive of these armies was not widely developed because the Soviet troops, tired and weakened by the previous long battles, had exhausted their offensive capabilities and needed rest and replenishment. On September 10, the transfer of troops of the Western, Reserve and Bryansk fronts to the defense ended the Smolensk battle, enormous in scope and intensity, which lasted two months. Its most important result was the disruption of the strategic plans of the Nazi command for a non-stop advance towards Moscow. For the first time, the plan for a “lightning war” against the USSR showed its first major crack.
On the approaches to Leningrad.
Simultaneously with the fierce battles in the central sector of the Soviet-German front, an equally stubborn struggle unfolded in the North-Western direction. The leaders of Nazi Germany believed that the capture of Leningrad, Krondshtat and the Murmansk railway would entail the loss of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union, as well as the death of the Baltic Fleet. The Nazis hoped to capture the most convenient sea and land communications for supplying Army Groups “North” and “Center” and an advantageous starting area for striking in the rear of the Red Army troops covering Moscow.
The fighting on the distant approaches to Leningrad began in early July. The enemy planned to deliver the main blow across the Luga River to Krasnogvardeysk. At the same time, Finnish troops were advancing on the Karelian Isthmus and in the direction of Petrozavodsk. On the Svir River they were supposed to link up with German troops advancing on Petrozavodsk through Staraya Russa, bypassing Lake Ilmen.
Summer-autumn 1941 was the time of military failures of the Red Army. The troops that entered the war from the very beginning were defeated. About 4 million soldiers and officers died or were captured. Fascist troops occupied the Baltic states, Belarus, Ukraine, and captured the western regions of Russia. The reasons for the temporary failures of the Red Army in the initial period of the war were: 1) major miscalculations of the Soviet leadership in military policy; 2) an incorrect assessment of the international situation on the eve of the war, which allowed Germany to prepare a surprise attack on the USSR; 3) the low military-economic potential of the USSR compared to Germany; 4) poor combat training of the Red Army troops, a decrease in the professional level of command personnel as a consequence of political repressions of the pre-war period.
Until the fall of 1941, the military actions of the Red Army were defensive in nature. The first major battle of this time was the battle for Smolensk (July 10-September 10, 1941), during which the strike groups of Nazi troops were exhausted and weakened by counterattacks from units of the Western Front. Significant enemy forces were pinned down by the heroic defense of Kyiv (July 11-September 19, 1941), Odessa (August 5-October 16, 1941), and Sevastopol (October 30, 1941-July 4, 1942). The command of the German troops attached particular importance to the capture of Leningrad, counting on a huge political effect, but the command of the Soviet troops managed in mid-July 1941 to stop the advance of enemy troops on the distant approaches to the city. July 10, 1941 The heroic defense of Leningrad began, which lasted 900 days. Thus, by the fall of 1941, during defensive battles, the Red Army managed to hold back the enemy’s advance, which made it possible to regroup forces and bring up reserves.
From September 30, 1941 to April 1942, the Battle of Moscow took place. The fascist offensive plan, called “Typhoon,” envisioned breaking through Soviet defenses and capturing the capital. To implement it, the enemy concentrated enormous forces: 1,800 thousand soldiers and officers, 1,700 tanks, 1,390 aircraft, 14 thousand guns. The Soviet troops defending Moscow included 1,250 thousand soldiers, 990 tanks, 677 aircraft, 7,600 guns. The offensive of the German troops took place in two stages: from September 30 to October 30 and from November 18 to December 5, 1941. During the offensive battles, the Nazis managed to break through the defenses of the Soviet troops, capture the city of Kalinin, and reach the Canal. Moscow, approach Tula and Kashira from the south. But they failed to advance further. On December 5-6, 1941, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive, which came as a complete surprise to Hitler’s command. During the Soviet counteroffensive, Kalinin, Kaluga, and Mozhaisk were liberated. The Nazis were thrown back 100-250 km from Moscow. The immediate threat to the capital has passed. Hitler's Blitzkrieg plan was thwarted. The myth of the invincibility of the Nazi troops was dispelled.
In the spring and summer of 1942, the offensive of the Nazi troops continued. They captured Crimea, Donbass, Rostov, and part of the North Caucasus. The German command attached particular importance to the capture of Stalingrad and access to the Volga. From the end of August 1942, fighting took place in the city itself, the defenders of which stubbornly resisted. By November 1942, it became obvious that plans to defeat the USSR had not been implemented. On November 19, 1942, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive and on November 23 surrounded 22 fascist divisions of Field Marshal Paulus near Stalingrad. On February 2, 1943, this group of enemy troops was liquidated. The Battle of Stalingrad (July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943) marked the beginning of a turning point in the war: the Nazi troops were exhausted and were forced to go on the defensive.
The final turning point during the Great Patriotic War occurred at the Battle of Kursk (July 5-August 23, 1943). The German command, using the advantageous position of the front line in the Kursk region, tried to organize an offensive with the aim of encircling Soviet troops. However, the German advance was stopped; Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive, during which Oryol, Belgorod, and Kharkov were liberated. In honor of the victory at the Kursk Bulge, the first ceremonial artillery salute was fired in Moscow.
In the second half of 1943, a general strategic offensive of the Red Army began along the entire front. During this offensive, Ukraine and Donbass were liberated. In September 1943, Soviet troops crossed the Dnieper and liberated Kyiv on November 6, 1943.
At the beginning of 1944, the Soviet Army continued its offensive. From January 14 to January 27, 1944, Gatchina, Pushkin, Petrodvorets, Krasnoye Selo, and Novgorod were liberated by the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts. On January 27, 1944, the heroic defense of Leningrad ended.
Simultaneously with the offensive near Leningrad, Soviet troops surrounded 10 enemy divisions in the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky area and, in stubborn battles from January 24 to February 17, 1944, destroyed this group of troops.
The most important battles of the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945: Battle of Stalingrad
The final stage of the liberation of Right-Bank Ukraine took place in the spring of 1944. Using tank attacks, Soviet troops did not allow the enemy to gain a foothold; they immediately crossed the Southern Bug, Dniester, and Prut rivers and on March 26, 1944 reached the state border of the USSR. In April-May 1944, Crimea was liberated from Nazi troops.
In the summer of 1944, as a result of large-scale military operations of the Soviet Army, Belarus (June-July 1944), Transcarpathian Ukraine (July 1944) and Moldova (August 1944) were liberated. In the fall of 1944, German troops were defeated in the Baltic states and the Arctic.
In 1944, the entire territory of the USSR was liberated from the Nazi occupiers. The Soviet Army transferred the fighting to the territory of Germany and its allies.
Taking advantage of some of the lull that came on the Central Front after the Battle of Smolensk, Hitler’s General Staff developed a plan for a decisive attack on Moscow, which was codenamed “Typhoon”. It was assumed that the fascist army would break through the Soviet defenses with a swift blow and capture the capital. To solve this problem, the enemy concentrated enormous forces: 1,800 thousand soldiers and officers, 1,700 tanks, 1,390 aircraft, 14,000 guns and mortars. From the very beginning of the war, the State Defense Committee and the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command attached special importance to the defense of Moscow. They mobilized construction organizations and engineering troops, called on the population to strengthen the defensive lines of the Moscow region in the summer heat and autumn bad weather; they erected pillboxes and dugouts, dug trenches and anti-tank ditches. The Vyazemskaya and Mozhaisk defense lines were created. By the beginning of the battle for Moscow, the approaches to it were covered by three fronts: Western - under the command of General I.S. Konev, Reserve - under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union S.M. Budyonny and Bryansky - under the command of General A.I. Eremenko. These fronts consisted of about 1,250 thousand people, 7,600 guns and mortars, 990 tanks, 677 aircraft. The situation was further aggravated by the fact that Soviet troops in this direction had practically no operational reserves at that time. Superiority in forces remained on the enemy's side. The offensive of the fascist army began on September 30. With powerful tank attacks, she managed to break through the defenses and encircle part of the Soviet troops in the Bryansk region. On October 2, a strike followed west of Vyazma. The situation has become extremely dangerous. It seemed that the path to Moscow was open. But the Soviet troops, fighting encircled near Vyazma and Bryansk, pinned down large enemy forces with their resistance and delayed their advance. The general leadership of the encircled troops was carried out by Lieutenant General M.F. Lukin, who set an example of impeccable performance of military duty, high command skill, loyalty to the Motherland and people. The enemy suffered heavy losses in men and military equipment, and his advance was slowing down. The enemy faced fierce resistance in all directions. On the legendary field of Russian military glory, Borodino, units under the command of Colonel V.I. fought bravely. Polosukhina. The troops of the 33rd Army (commander - Lieutenant General M.G. Efremov) held the defense of Naro-Fominsk for 66 days. In the Maloyaroslavl direction, Colonel A.’s units steadfastly repelled the enemy’s onslaught. F. Naumova and cadets of Podolsk military schools. I think that we should especially note the feat of the young Podolsk cadets, who at the cost of their lives stopped enemy tanks in an area where the front practically did not exist. In the second half of October, the enemy, having overcome the resistance of the units encircled at Vyazma, again went on the offensive. Having made a breakthrough, fascist German troops captured Kalinin, Maloyaroslavets, Mozhaisk, Volokolamsk. During these critical days, the main slogan became the call: “Everyone to defend our native Moscow!” G.K. was appointed commander of the Western Front defending Moscow. Zhukov. On October 20, a state of siege was introduced in the capital and its suburbs. The whole country rose to defend Moscow. Trains with reinforcements, weapons, and ammunition came from the Urals and from Siberia, from the Far East and from Central Asia. 50 thousand militia fighters - the working people of the capital - came to the aid of the front. At the beginning of November, the enemy advance was stopped. Moscow was also reliably protected from air attack. Although the Nazi command allocated the best air units for raids on Moscow, the air defense of the capital acted skillfully and in an organized manner. Only single planes managed to break through to the city. The offensive of fascist troops on Moscow resumed on November 15-18. Klin, Solnechnogorsk, Kryukov, Yakhroma, and Istra were captured. The fighting in the 16th Army zone near Volokolamsk (commanded by Lieutenant General K.K. Rokossovsky) was particularly stubborn. At the Dubosekovo crossing, a group of tank destroyers from the 316th division of General I.V. stood to their death. Panfilov, led by political instructor V.G. Klochkov. The words spoken by Klochkov: “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind” - spread throughout the whole country. The battle lasted four hours, the enemy lost 18 tanks and dozens of soldiers here, but was unable to break through the defenses. 23 Panfilov heroes (out of 28), together with Vasily Klochkov, died the death of the brave, but did not allow the Nazis to reach Moscow.Business card
Great battles of the Great Patriotic War
Great battles of WWII
Battle of Moscow 1941 - 1942 The battle has two main stages: defensive (September 30 - December 5, 1941) and offensive (December 5, 1941 - April 20, 1942). At the first stage, the goal of the Soviet troops was the defense of Moscow, at the second - the defeat of enemy forces advancing on Moscow.
By the beginning of the German offensive on Moscow, Army Group Center (Field Marshal F. Bock) had 74.5 divisions (approximately 38% infantry and 64% tank and mechanized divisions operating on the Soviet-German front), 1,800,000 people, 1,700 tanks, over 14,000 guns and mortars, 1,390 aircraft. Soviet troops in the Western direction, consisting of three fronts, had 1,250 thousand people, 990 tanks, 7,600 guns and mortars and 677 aircraft.
At the first stage, Soviet troops of the Western Front (Colonel General I.S. Konev, and from October 10 - Army General G.K. Zhukov), (Bryansk (until October 10 - Colonel General A.I. Eremenko) and Kalinin ( from October 17 - 8. S. Konev) fronts stopped the advance of the troops of Army Group Center (implementation of the frequent Operation Typhoon) at the line: south of the Volga Reservoir, Dmitrov, Yakhroma, Krasnaya Polyana (27 km from Moscow), eastern Istra, west of Kubinka, Naro-Fominsk, west of Serpukhov, eastern Aleksina, Tula. During the defensive battles, the enemy was significantly drained of blood. On December 5-6, Soviet troops launched a counter-offensive, and on January 7-10, 1942 they launched a general offensive along the entire front. In January-April 1942, troops of the Western, Kalininsky, Bryansk (from December 18 - Colonel General Ya. T. Cherevichenko) and North-Western Lieutenant General P. A. Kurochkin) fronts defeated the enemy and threw him back 100 -250 km. 11 tank, 4 motorized and 23 infantry divisions were defeated. Protiik losses only for the period January 1 - March 30, 1942 amounted to 333 thousand people.
The Battle of Moscow was of great importance: the myth of the invincibility of the German army was dispelled, the plan for a lightning war was thwarted, and the international position of the USSR was strengthened.
Battle of Stalingrad 1942 - 1943 Defensive and (July 17 - November 18, 1942) and offensive (November 19, 1942 - February 2, 1943) operations carried out by Soviet troops in order to defend Stalingrad and defeat a large enemy strategic group operating in the Stalingrad direction.
In defensive battles in the Stalingrad area and in the city itself, troops of the Stalinrad Front (Marshal S.K. Timoshenko, from July 23 - Lieutenant General V.N. Gordov, from August 5 - Colonel General A.I. Eremenko) and the Don Front (since September 28 - Lieutenant General K.K. Rokossovsky) managed to stop the offensive of the 6th Army of Colonel General F. Paulus and the 4th Tank Army. By July 17, the 6th Army included 13 divisions (about 270 thousand people, 3 thousand guns and mortars, about 500 tanks). They were supported by aviation of the 4th Air Fleet (up to 1200 aircraft). The troops of the Stalingrad Front numbered 160 thousand people, 2.2 thousand guns, about 400 tanks and 454 aircraft. At the cost of great efforts, the command of the Soviet troops managed not only to stop the advance of German troops in Stalingrad, but also to gather significant forces for the start of the counteroffensive (1,103 thousand people, 15,500 guns and mortars, 1,463 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1,350 combat aircraft). By this time, a significant group of German troops and forces of countries allied to Germany (in particular, the 8th Italian, 3rd and 4th Romanian armies) was sent to help the troops of Field Marshal F. Paulus. The total number of enemy troops at the beginning of the Soviet counteroffensive was 1,011,500 people, 10,290 guns and mortars, 675 tanks and assault guns, 1,216 combat aircraft.
On November 19 - 20, the troops of the Southwestern Front (Lieutenant General N.F. Vatutin), Stalingrad and Don Fronts went on the offensive and surrounded 22 divisions (330 thousand people) in the Stalingrad area. Having repelled an enemy attempt to liberate the encircled group in December, Soviet troops liquidated it. January 31 - February 2, 1943, the remnants of the enemy’s 6th Army, led by Field Marshal F. Paulus, surrendered (91 thousand people).
The victory at Stalingrad marked the beginning of a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War.
Battle of Kursk 1943 Defensive (July 5 - 23) and offensive (July 12 - August 23) operations carried out by Soviet troops in the Kursk region to disrupt a major offensive by German troops and defeat the enemy’s strategic grouping. After the defeat of its troops at Stalingrad, the German command intended to conduct a major offensive operation in the Kursk region (Operation Citadel). Significant enemy forces were involved in its implementation - 50 divisions (including 16 tank and mechanized) and a number of individual units of Army Group Center (Field Marshal G. Kluge) and Army Group South (Field Marshal E. Manstein). This accounted for about 70% of tank, up to 30% of motorized and more than 20% of infantry divisions operating on the Soviet-German front, as well as over 65% of all combat aircraft. About 20 enemy divisions operated on the flanks of the strike groups. The ground forces were supported by aviation from the 4th and 6th Air Fleets. In total, the enemy strike forces numbered over 900 thousand people, about 10 thousand guns and mortars, up to 2,700 tanks and self-propelled guns (most of them were new designs - “tigers”, “panthers” and “Ferdinands”) and about 2050 aircraft (including the latest designs - Focke-Wulf-lQOA and Heinkel-129).
The Soviet command entrusted the task of repelling the enemy offensive to the troops of the Central (from the Orel) and Voronezh (from the Belgorod) fronts. After solving the defense problems, it was planned to defeat the enemy’s Oryol grouping (Kutuzov plan) by troops of the right wing of the Central Front (Army General K.K. Rokossovsky), Bryansk (Colonel General M.M. Popov) and the left wing of the Western Front (Colonel General V. D. Sokolovsky). The offensive operation in the Belgorod-Kharkov direction (the “Commander Rumyantsev” plan) was to be carried out by the forces of the Voronezh (Army General N.F. Vatutin) and Steppe (Colonel General I.S. Konev) fronts in cooperation with the troops of the Southwestern Front (General army R. Ya. Malinovsky). The general coordination of the actions of all these forces was entrusted to the representatives of the Marshal Headquarters G.K. Zhukov and A.M. Vasilevsky.
By the beginning of July, the Central and Voronezh Fronts had 1,336 thousand people, over 19 thousand guns and mortars, 3,444 tanks and self-propelled guns (including 900 light tanks) and 2,172 aircraft. In the rear of the Kursk salient, the Steppe Military District was deployed (from July 9 - the front), which was the strategic reserve of Headquarters.
The enemy offensive was to begin at 3 a.m. on July 5. However, just before it began, Soviet troops carried out artillery counter-preparation and inflicted heavy damage on the enemy in places where they were concentrated. The German offensive began only 2.5 hours later, and its course was different from what was planned. Thanks to the measures taken, it was possible to restrain the enemy’s advance (in seven days he managed to advance only 10–12 km in the direction of the Central Front). The most powerful enemy group was operating in the direction of the Voronezh Front. Here the Germans advanced up to 35 km deep into the defense of the Soviet troops. On July 12, a turning point occurred in the battle. On this day, in the Prokhorovka area, the largest oncoming tank battle in history took place, in which 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns took part on both sides. The enemy lost here on this day alone up to 400 tanks and self-propelled guns and 10 thousand people killed. On July 12, a new stage began in the Battle of Kursk, during which the counteroffensive of Soviet troops developed as part of the Oov and Velgorod-Kharkov operations, which ended with the liberation of Orel and Belgorod on August 5, and Kharkov on August 23.
As a result of the Battle of Kursk, 30 enemy divisions (including 7 tank divisions) were completely defeated. The enemy lost over 500 thousand people, 1.5 thousand tanks, over 3.7 thousand aircraft, 3 thousand guns. The main result of the battle was the transition of German troops in all theaters of military operations to strategic defense. The strategic initiative finally passed into the hands of the Soviet command. In the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War, the radical change begun by the Battle of Stalingrad was completed.
Belarusian operation (June 23 - August 29, 1944). Code name: Operation Bagration. One of the largest strategic offensive operations undertaken by the Soviet high command with the aim of defeating the Nazi Army Group Center and liberating Belarus. The total number of enemy troops was 63 divisions and 3 brigades with a strength of 1.2 million people, 9.5 thousand guns, 900 tanks and 1350 aircraft. The enemy group was commanded by Field Marshal General E. Bush, and from June 28 by Field Marshal General V. Model. It was opposed by Soviet troops of four fronts (1st Baltic, 3rd Belorussian, 2nd Belorussian and 1st Belorussian) under the command, respectively, of Army General I. Kh. Bagramyan, Army General I. D. Chernyakhovsky, Army General G. F. Zakharov and Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky. The four fronts united 20 combined arms and 2 tank armies (a total of 166 divisions, 112 tank and mechanized corps, 7 fortified areas and 21 brigades). The total number of Soviet troops reached 2.4 million people, armed with about 86 thousand guns, 5.2 thousand tanks, 5.3 thousand combat aircraft,
Based on the nature of the combat operations and the achievement of the assigned objectives, the operation is divided into two stages. At the first (June 23 - July 4), the Vitebsk-Orsha, Mogilev, Bobruisk and Polotsk operations were carried out and the encirclement of the enemy’s Minsk group was completed. The second stage (July 5 - August 29) involved the destruction of the encircled enemy and the entry of Soviet troops to new frontiers during the Siauliai, Vilnius, Kaunas, Bialystok and Lublin-Brest operations. During the Belarusian operation, the enemy completely lost 17 divisions and 3 brigades, and 50 divisions lost more than 50% of their strength. The total enemy losses amounted to about 500 thousand killed, wounded and prisoners. During the operation, Lithuania and Latvia were partially liberated. On July 20, the Red Army entered the territory of Poland and on August 17 approached the borders of East Prussia. By August 29, she entered the outskirts of Warsaw. In general, on a front length of 1100 km, our troops advanced 550 - 100 km, completely cutting off the enemy’s northern grouping in the Baltic states. For participation in the operation, over 400 thousand soldiers and officers of the Red Army were awarded military orders and medals.
Berlin operation 1945 The final strategic offensive operation carried out by Soviet troops from April 16 to May 8, 1945. The objectives of the operation were the defeat of the group of German troops defending in the Berlin direction, the capture of Berlin and access to the Elbe to connect with the Allied forces. In the Berlin direction, troops of the Vistula group occupied the defense "and the Center group under the command of Colonel General G. Heinritz and Field Marshal F. Scherner. The total number of enemy troops was 1 million people, 10,400 guns, 1,500 tanks, 3,300 aircraft. In the rear of these army groups there were reserve units consisting of 8 divisions, as well as the Berlin garrison of 200 thousand people.
To carry out the operation, troops of three fronts were involved: 2nd Belorussian (Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky), 1st Belorussian (Marshal G.K. Zhukov), 1st Ukrainian (Marshal I.S. Konev). In total, the attacking troops included up to 2.5 million soldiers and officers, 41,600 guns and mortars, 6,250 tanks and self-propelled guns, 7,500 aircraft, as well as part of the forces of the Baltic Fleet and the Dnieper Military Flotilla.
Based on the nature of the tasks performed and the results, the Berlin operation is divided into 3 stages. 1st stage - breakthrough of the Oder-Neissen line of enemy defense (April 16 - 19); 2nd stage - encirclement and dismemberment of enemy troops (April 19 - 25); Stage 3 - destruction of the surrounded groups and capture of Berlin (April 26 - May 8). The main goals of the operation were achieved in 16 - 17 days.
For the success of the operation, 1,082 thousand soldiers were awarded the medal “For the Capture of Berlin.” More than 600 participants in the operation became Heroes of the Soviet Union, and 13 people were awarded the second Gold Star medal. Significant dates of the Great Patriotic War
December 5 - The day of the start of the counter-offensive of Soviet troops against the invaders in the Battle of Moscow
The day of the start of the counteroffensive of Soviet troops against Nazi troops in the battle of Moscow.
In terms of the number of troops, military equipment and weapons, the scope and intensity of hostilities, the Battle of Moscow in 1941 -1942. was one of the largest in the history of the Second World War. It took place over an area of up to 1 thousand km along the front and up to 350 - 400 km in depth, which was equal in area to England, Ireland, Iceland, Belgium and Holland combined. For over 200 days there were furious, bitter and bloody battles, in which over 7 million soldiers and officers, about 53 thousand guns and mortars, about 6.5 thousand tanks and assault guns, and more than 3 thousand combat aircraft fought on both sides. The Battle of Moscow was a decisive military event in the first year of the Great Patriotic War.
Even in Directive No. 21, the Wehrmacht was tasked with reaching Moscow as quickly as possible. After the first successes, Hitler demanded from the command and troops “to occupy Moscow on August 15, and end the war with Russia on October 1.” However, Soviet troops stopped the enemy with active and decisive actions.
By December 5, the German offensive was in crisis. Having suffered heavy losses and exhausted their material resources, the enemy began to go on the defensive. At the same time, by the beginning of December, the Supreme Command Headquarters near Moscow had concentrated significant strategic reserves.
On December 5-6, the troops of the Kalinin, Western and Southwestern Fronts launched a decisive counteroffensive. Despite the stubborn resistance of the enemy, severe frosts and deep snow cover, it developed successfully. By January 7, 1942, Soviet troops advanced westward by 100 - 250 km.
For valor and courage shown in fierce and bloody battles, 40 formations and units were awarded guards ranks, 36 thousand soldiers and officers were awarded orders and medals. The Battle of Moscow was the beginning of a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War.
Federal Law of March 13, 1995 N 32-FZ “On the Days of Military Glory (Victory Days) of Russia”
The victory of Soviet troops over the Nazi troops at Stalingrad is one of the most glorious pages in the annals of the Great Patriotic War. For 200 days and nights - from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943 - the Battle of Stalingrad continued with continuously increasing tension on both sides. During the first four months there were stubborn defensive battles, first in the big bend of the Don, and then on the approaches to Stalingrad and in the city itself. During this period, Soviet troops exhausted the Nazi group that was rushing to the Volga and forced it to go on the defensive. In the next two and a half months, the Red Army, launching a counteroffensive, defeated enemy troops north-west and south of Stalingrad, encircled and liquidated a 300,000-strong group of Nazi troops.
The Battle of Stalingrad is the decisive battle of World War II, in which Soviet troops won their largest victory. This battle marked the beginning of a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War as a whole. The victorious offensive of the Nazi troops ended and their expulsion from the territory of the Soviet Union began.
The Battle of Stalingrad surpassed all battles in world history at that time in terms of the duration and ferocity of the fighting, the number of people and military equipment involved. It unfolded over a vast territory of 100 thousand square kilometers. At certain stages, over 2 million people, up to 2 thousand tanks, more than 2 thousand aircraft, and up to 26 thousand guns took part in it on both sides. The results of this battle also surpassed all previous ones. At Stalingrad, Soviet troops defeated five armies: two German, two Romanian and one Italian. The Nazi troops lost more than 800 thousand soldiers and officers killed, wounded, and captured, as well as a large amount of military equipment, weapons and equipment.
The Battle of Stalingrad is usually divided into two inextricably linked periods: defensive (from July 17 to November 18, 1942) and offensive (from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943).
At the same time, due to the fact that the Battle of Stalingrad is a whole complex of defensive and offensive operations, its periods, in turn, must be considered in stages, each of which is either one completed or even several interrelated operations.
For the courage and heroism shown in the Battle of Stalingrad, 32 formations and units were given the honorary names “Stalingrad”, 5 - “Don”. 55 formations and units were awarded orders. 183 units, formations and formations were converted into guards. More than one hundred and twenty soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, about 760 thousand participants in the battle were awarded the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad.” On the 20th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, the hero city of Volgograd was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
August 23 - Day of the defeat of Nazi troops by Soviet troops in the Battle of Kursk
Fierce battles on the ground and in the air on the Kursk Bulge lasted 50 days (5.07 - 23.08 1943). Through Oboyan and Prokhorovka, the Nazis rushed to Kursk. On July 12, 1943, the largest oncoming tank battle in history took place near Prokhorovka, in which more than 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns took part on both sides. The Wehrmacht lost about 500 thousand people, 1.5 thousand tanks, over 3.7 thousand aircraft, 3 thousand guns.
His offensive strategy was a complete failure. The Soviet tank crews won, destroying up to 400 enemy tanks. During the Battle of Kursk, Soviet troops liberated the Russian cities of Orel and Belgorod. On this day, for the first time during the war, Moscow saluted the heroic soldiers, announcing to the world the victory at the Kursk Bulge. The last attempt of the enemy command to regain the strategic initiative and take revenge for Stalingrad failed. The Nazi army was faced with disaster. The mass expulsion of the Nazi invaders from the USSR began.
Our people sacredly honor the memory of heroic warriors. Along the line of the Kursk Bulge from Orel to Belgorod, monuments and obelisks of military glory were erected at the sites of battles of 1943. At the 624th kilometer of the Moscow-Simferopol highway, not far from Prokhorovka (Belgorod region), in honor of the heroic tankmen who participated in the defeat of fascist troops on the Kursk Bulge, the famous Soviet T-34 tank was installed on a pedestal in 1954. In 1973, a memorial complex was opened.
From the first days of the war, one of the strategic directions, according to the plans of the Nazi command, was Leningrad. Leningrad was among the most important targets targeted for capture.
The Battle of Leningrad, the longest during the entire Great Patriotic War, lasted from July 10, 1941 to August 9, 1944. During the 900-day defense of Leningrad, Soviet troops pinned down large forces of the German army and the entire Finnish one. This undoubtedly contributed to the victories of the Red Army in other sectors of the Soviet-German front. Leningraders showed examples of perseverance, endurance and patriotism.
During the blockade, about 1 million inhabitants died, including more than 600 thousand from hunger. During the war, Hitler repeatedly demanded that the city be razed to the ground and its population completely destroyed. However, neither shelling and bombing, nor hunger and cold broke its defenders.
Already in July - September 1941, 10 divisions of the people's militia were formed in the city. Despite the most difficult conditions, the industry of Leningrad did not stop its work. Assistance to the blockade survivors was carried out on the ice of Lake Ladoga. This transport route was called the “Road of Life”. On January 12-30, 1943, an operation was carried out to break the blockade of Leningrad (“Iskra”).
It was a turning point in the battle for Leningrad. The entire southern coast of Lake Ladoga was cleared of the enemy, and the initiative to conduct military operations in this direction passed to the Red Army. During the Leningrad-Novgorod strategic offensive operation from January 14 to March 1, 1944, Army Group North was severely defeated.
On January 27, 1944, Leningraders celebrated the lifting of the blockade. In the evening, a salute of 324 guns took place, about which our famous poetess A. A. Akhmatova wrote the following unforgettable lines: “And in the starless January night, marveling at its unprecedented fate, Returned from the mortal abyss, Leningrad salutes itself.” As a result of powerful attacks, almost the entire Leningrad region and part of the Kalinin region were liberated, and Soviet troops entered Estonia. Favorable conditions have developed for the defeat of the enemy in the Baltic states.
Victory Day of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
One of the days of military glory of Russia.
Victory Day is a non-working day and is celebrated annually with a military parade and artillery salute.
The military parade is held in the capital of the Russian Federation, Moscow, using symbols from the times of the Great Patriotic War.
Artillery salutes are held in hero cities, as well as in cities where the headquarters of military districts and fleets are located. The procedure for holding festive processions, meetings, rallies and demonstrations dedicated to Victory Day is determined in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
This Day was established by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of April 2, 1996 N 489 in connection with the signing of the Treaty between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, ensuring the further integration of fraternal peoples.
Prisoners of fascist death camps still have difficult dreams. 55 years have passed until the day of liberation, from the time when we lived with the only thought - to endure everything and not give up. They persevered and did not give up. Having failed to achieve their goal, the executioners sent everyone who resisted and fought against fascism during the period of Hitler’s terror to be exterminated in death camps.
18 million prisoners from 23 countries of the world with the stamp “not subject to return” entered the gates of concentration camps and only seven million waited for freedom. Auschwitz alone, a veritable death factory, claimed the lives of four million. How many were there?! Mauthausen, Dachau, Sachsenheisen...
The international women's concentration camp Ravensbrück, hell, lived up to its name: in Russian its name translates as “crow bridge”. There, behind a brick wall four and a half meters high with a wire energized by six thousand volts, the “medical luminaries” of the Third Reich did their dirty work: they inoculated with cancer, gas gangrene, chopped off legs, and took all the blood from children. No one could escape from here to tell what was happening behind these walls. Many women were sterilized, saying: “You will be a slave, but never a mother!”
The heroism and courage of Soviet soldiers shown during the battles of the Great Patriotic War deserve eternal memory. The wisdom of military leaders, which became one of the most important components of the overall victory, continues to amaze us today.
Over the long years of the war, so many battles took place that even some historians disagree on the meaning of certain battles. And yet, the largest battles, which have a significant impact on the further course of military operations, are known to almost every person. It is these battles that will be discussed in our article.
| Name of the battle | Military leaders who took part in the battle | Outcome of the battle |
|---|---|---|
Aviation Major A.P. Ionov, Aviation Major General T.F. Kutsevalov, F.I. Kuznetsov, V.F. Tributs. | Despite the stubborn struggle of the Soviet soldiers, the operation ended on July 9 after the Germans broke through the defenses in the area of the Velikaya River. This military operation smoothly turned into the fight for the Leningrad region. |
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G.K. Zhukov, I.S. Konev, M.F. Lukin, P.A. Kurochkin, K.K. Rokossovsky | This battle is considered one of the bloodiest in the history of the Second World War. At the cost of millions of losses, the Soviet army managed to delay the advance of Hitler's army on Moscow. |
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Popov M.M., Frolov V.A., Voroshilov K.E., Zhukov G.K., Meretskov K.A. | After the siege of Leningrad began, local residents and military leaders had to fight fierce battles for several years. As a result, the blockade was lifted and the city was liberated. However, Leningrad itself suffered horrific destruction, and the death toll of local residents exceeded several hundred thousand. |
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I.V. Stalin, G.K. Zhukov, A.M. Vasilevsky, S.M. Budyonny, A.A. Vlasov. | Despite huge losses, Soviet troops managed to win. The Germans were thrown back 150-200 kilometers, and Soviet troops managed to liberate the Tula, Ryazan and Moscow regions. |
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I.S. Konev, G.K. Zhukov. | The Germans were pushed back another 200 kilometers. Soviet troops completed the liberation of the Tula and Moscow regions and liberated some areas of the Smolensk region |
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A.M. Vasilevsky, N.F. Vatutin, A.I. Eremenko, S.K. Timoshenko, V.I. Chuikov | It is the victory at Stalingrad that many historians call one of the most important turning points during the Second World War. The Red Army managed to win a strong-willed victory, throwing the Germans far back and proving that the fascist army also had its vulnerabilities. |
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CM. Budyonny, I.E. Petrov, I.I. Maslennikov, F.S. October | Soviet troops were able to win a landslide victory, liberating Checheno-Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Stavropol Territory and Rostov Region. |
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Georgy Zhukov, Ivan Konev, Konstantin Rokossovsky | The Kursk Bulge became one of the bloodiest battles, but ensured the end of the turning point during the Second World War. Soviet troops managed to push the Germans back even further, almost to the country’s border. |
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V.D. Sokolovsky, I.Kh. Baghramyan | On the one hand, the operation was unsuccessful, because Soviet troops failed to reach Minsk and capture Vitebsk. However, the fascist forces were severely wounded, and as a result of the battle, tank reserves were practically running out. |
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Konstantin Rokossovsky, Alexey Antonov, Ivan Bagramyan, Georgy Zhukov | Operation Bagration turned out to be incredibly successful, because the territories of Belarus, part of the Baltic states and areas of Eastern Poland were recaptured. |
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Georgy Zhukov, Ivan Konev | Soviet troops managed to defeat 35 enemy divisions and directly reach Berlin for the final battle. |
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I.V. Stalin, G.K. Zhukov, K.K. Rokossovsky, I.S. Konev | After prolonged resistance, Soviet troops managed to take the capital of Germany. With the capture of Berlin, the Great Patriotic War officially ended. |
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