When the Great Patriotic War began. The beginning of the great patriotic war

Despite crushing defeats and the collapse of the fascist bloc, Hitlerite Germany continued to remain a strong enemy. Its army in the Berlin direction consisted of more than a million soldiers and officers, over 10 thousand guns and mortars, about 3.5 thousand aircraft and 1.5 thousand tanks and assault guns. The Berlin garrison was reinforced with special units and the police. On the eastern approaches to the German capital, there were powerful fortified zones, a large number of firing lines and minefields. Having carried out another total mobilization, the Nazis attracted to the hostilities the entire population capable of holding weapons, including 13-14-year-olds. Retreat was punishable by firing squad. The troops and civilians were intimidated by the consequences of the defeat: the Nazis insisted that the Russians were killing all Germans.

The German leadership did not abandon its attempts to secretly negotiate with representatives of American and British reactionary circles about the possibility of concluding a separate peace, hoping thereby to cause strife among the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition.

The question of who would be the first to enter the German capital at the final stage of the war turned into an acute political problem. Soviet troops were located 60 km from Berlin, and the advance units of the Anglo-American troops by April 1945 were 100 km from it. However, a significant difference in the possibilities of further advancement of the Allied troops consisted in the fact that the Red Army was forced to overcome the fierce resistance of the enemy, and the Anglo-American troops faced only weak resistance.

For a decisive offensive in the Berlin direction, the Stavka allocated troops of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts and the 1st Ukrainian Front, led by outstanding Soviet military leaders G.K. Zhukov, K.K. Rokossovsky, I.S. Konev. The 1st and 2nd armies of the Polish Army also took part in the Berlin operation. Despite the significant superiority in forces, the Soviet troops faced a difficult and difficult task.

The offensive began at 5 o'clock in the morning on April 16, 1945. Artillery and bombers unleashed crushing blows on the enemy. When the Soviet infantry and tanks moved into the attack, 140 searchlights flashed at the same time, blinding the enemy.

The enemy fiercely defended himself, defending every line, every settlement, many of which were fortified and adapted for a circular defense. The battles for the Seelow Heights were especially fierce and bloody.

On April 21, shock units of the Red Army broke into the outskirts of Berlin and started fighting in the city itself. On April 25, the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts, advancing from the north and south, united west of Berlin.

Having surrounded Berlin, the Soviet troops continued to move westward, and on the same day on the Elbe River, near the city of Torgau, their significant meeting with the American army took place.

The German command undertook several counterattacks to break through the encirclement of Berlin, but they were repulsed.

The end of April and the first days of May 1945 - the time of the decisive assault on the German capital. With the approach of Soviet troops to the central part of the city, the resistance of the Nazis increased sharply. Every street, every house, every floor had to be taken with a fight. The metro and an extensive network of underground communications allowed the Nazis to maneuver and appear even in the rear of the advancing units.

On April 29, Soviet soldiers approached the Reichstag. The assault lasted two days. On May 2, the Berlin garrison surrendered.

The first Soviet commandant of Berlin was the commander of the 5th Shock Army, Hero of the Soviet Union, General N.E. Berzarin. Measures to improve life in the city and food supply of the population, especially children and the sick, made an indelible impression on the Germans. This help was a vivid evidence of the high consciousness and socialist humanism of Soviet soldiers.

On May 8, 1945, in the suburb of Berlin, Karlshorst, the German field marshal, the former chief of staff of the High Command of the Wehrmacht von Keitel, the commander-in-chief of the naval forces, Admiral of the Fleet H. Friedeburg and Colonel-General of Aviation G. Stumpf signed the act of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. On the Soviet side, it was signed by Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov History of the Fatherland / ed. AND I. Froyanov. M. Center, 2004 - p. 143.

In commemoration of the victorious end of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the fascist invaders and the historic victories of the Red Army, crowned with the complete defeat of Nazi Germany, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a decree declaring May 9 the day of the nationwide celebration - Victory Day.

The liberation mission of the Red Army in Europe ended on May 11, 1945 in Prague, after Hitler's Germany signed an act of unconditional surrender. The Prague offensive operation was impetuous. This was due to the fact that an anti-fascist armed uprising began on May 5 in the capital of Czechoslovakia. The city was covered with barricades. The fascists threw in regular troops against the rebels. The situation of the rebels became more and more complicated. Calls for help were heard from Prague on the radio. Two tank armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front rushed towards the capital of Czechoslovakia. At dawn on May 9, Soviet troops entered Prague.

On the same day, May 9, the Danish island of Bornholm was liberated by a landing party of the Marine Corps.

The resistance of the Nazi troops in Czechoslovakia was broken on May 11. The last centers of resistance (the remnants of Army Group "E") were eliminated on May 15 in Yugoslavia.

On June 24, 1945, the Victory Parade took place in Moscow on Red Square. The combined regiments of the fronts and fleets marched in a solemn march. To the foot of the Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin, the banners of the defeated German fascist army were thrown as a symbol of the victory of the Soviet socialist state.

In an atmosphere of victory over Nazi Germany, a new meeting of the heads of government of the USSR, USA and Great Britain took place. The conference was held in Potsdam, near Berlin, from July 17 to August 2, 1945. Its decisions were a further development of the agreements reached at the Crimean Conference.

The central place in the work of the conference was occupied by the issues of demilitarization, denazification and democratization of Germany.

The Potsdam conference also defined a new Polish-German border, confirmed the transfer of Konigsberg (since 1946 - Kaliningrad) and the adjacent area to the Soviet Union. At the suggestion of the Soviet delegation, the entire German naval and merchant fleet was equally divided between the USSR, the USA and England, and most of the submarine fleet, at the suggestion of England, was flooded.

The heads of the three powers reaffirmed the intention, already discussed in Yalta, to bring the main war criminals to justice at the International Military Tribunal.

During the conference, wishing to put pressure on the Soviet delegation, G. Truman, who after the death of F. Roosevelt became president, said I.V. Stalin on the successful test of the atomic bomb in the United States. But this message did not have much effect. As G.K. later recalled. Zhukov, Stalin, having told the members of the Soviet delegation about this, said: "It will be necessary to talk with Kurchatov about accelerating our work," meaning the creation of Soviet atomic weapons.

The Potsdam conference was of great international importance. As a result of the firm and consistent position of the Soviet Union, decisions were made that were consistent with the liberating nature of the war and aimed at strengthening the peace and security of peoples.

The conference vividly confirmed the possibility of joint efforts by states with different socio-economic systems in resolving the most complex international problems. For the first time in history, real opportunities opened up for such a turn that would ensure peaceful development on the European continent. But subsequent events showed that the Western powers did not think to fulfill their allied obligations. Soon after the end of the war, they sharply changed their foreign policy course, and took a path that contradicted the interests of the peoples. History of USSR foreign policy: 1917 - 1945 / edited by A. A. Gromyko and B.N. Ponomarev. M. Politizdat, 1986 - p. 504.

1941-1945 became a terrible test for the USSR, which the citizens of the country withstood with honor, emerging victorious from the armed confrontation with Germany. In our article, we will briefly talk about the beginning of the Great Patriotic War and its final stage.

The beginning of the war

Since 1939, the Soviet Union, acting in its own territorial interests, tried to adhere to neutrality. But when the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45 began, it automatically became part of World War II, which lasted for the second year.

Assuming a possible clash with Britain and France (capitalist countries opposed communism), Stalin had been preparing the country for war since the 1930s. In 1940, the USSR began to consider Germany as the main enemy, although a Non-Aggression Pact was concluded between the countries (1939).

However, thanks to competent misinformation, the invasion of German troops into Soviet territory on June 22, 1941, without official warning, came as a surprise.

Rice. 1. Joseph Stalin.

The first, on the orders of Rear Admiral Ivan Eliseev, at three o'clock in the morning, rebuffed the Nazis by the Black Sea Fleet, firing at German planes that had invaded Soviet airspace. Border battles followed later.

Officially, the beginning of the war was announced to the Soviet ambassador in Germany only at four in the morning. On the same day, the decision of the Germans was repeated by Italians and Romanians.

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A number of miscalculations (in military organizational development, the timing of the attack, the time of the deployment of troops) led to the losses of the Soviet army in the first years of resistance. Germany captured the Baltics, Belarus, most of Ukraine, southern Russia. Leningrad was taken into the blockade ring (from 09/08/1941). Moscow was defended. In addition, hostilities began again on the border with Finland, as a result of which the Finnish troops recaptured the lands captured by the Union during the Soviet-Finnish war (1939-1940).

Rice. 2. Siege of Leningrad.

Despite the serious defeats of the USSR, the German plan "Barbarossa" to occupy Soviet lands in one year failed: Germany was bogged down in the war.

Closing period

Successfully carried out operations at the second stage of the war (November 1942-December 1943) allowed the Soviet troops to continue the counteroffensive.

For four months (December 1943-April 1944), the Right-Bank Ukraine was conquered. The army reached the southern borders of the Union and began the liberation of Romania.

In January 1944, the blockade of Leningrad was lifted, in April-May, Crimea was conquered, in June-August, Belarus was liberated, in September-November, the Baltic states.

In 1945, the liberation operations of Soviet troops outside the country began (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Austria).

04/16/1945 the Soviet army began the Berlin operation, during which the capital of Germany surrendered (May 02). The assault flag erected on the roof of the Reichstag (parliament building) on ​​May 1 became the Banner of Victory and was moved to the dome.

05/09/1945 Germany surrendered.

Rice. 3. Banner of Victory.

When the Great Patriotic War ended (May 1945), World War II was still going on (until September 02). Having won the liberation war, the Soviet army, according to the preliminary agreements of the Yalta Conference (February 1945), transferred its forces to the war with Japan (August 1945). Having defeated the most powerful Japanese ground forces (the Kwantung Army), the USSR contributed to the rapid surrender of Japan.

Much has been written about the war in the Soviet Union. The memoirs of commanders, notes of officers and soldiers, prose, poetry, historical research were published in mass editions. There are also memories of home front workers (both ordinary workers and managers, plant directors, people's commissars, aircraft designers). All this makes up an impressive library, which, it would seem, can be used to reconstruct historical facts with full reliability. In addition, films were shot - feature and documentary, short and serial. In schools, technical schools and institutes, students examined in detail with teachers all stages of the great battle that claimed tens of millions of lives. And with all this, it turned out that our people know surprisingly little about what happened during the Great Patriotic War.

Two calendar dates - black and red

In the minds of the masses, two main dates are firmly entrenched - June 22, 1941 and May 9, 1945. Unfortunately, not everyone knows what exactly happened these days. On an early summer morning, “Kiev was bombed, they announced to us ...”, and the general summary, which is that the Germans attacked suddenly, did not declare war. It's all about the first date. The information is not entirely true. There was a declaration of war, the German ambassador Schulenburg handed a note to Molotov. True, it did not matter, at that moment the Junkers and Henkels were already gaining height above the border, and there was no time left to prepare to repel the attack. But that's what the war is, so as not to warn about an attack in advance. Why did not prepare for defense is a special conversation.

About the year in which the Great Patriotic War ended and on what day, at first glance, more is known. But not everything is clear here either.

Start

On June 22, something happened that the USSR had been preparing for a long time. An unprecedented modernization of industrial potential, called industrialization, took place. Peasant life was radically rebuilt, the basis for private initiative in the countryside was eliminated. This led to a sharp decline in the well-being of the entire people. Large-scale efforts, as long as they did not lead to an increase in living standards, could be directed only towards one thing - defense. The propaganda persistently inspired the idea of ​​the inevitability of war and, at the same time, of the peacefulness of the world's first state of workers and peasants. The scenario of the upcoming fateful events was described in a feature film with the eloquent title "If there is war tomorrow." The insidious enemy attacked, and he was immediately overtaken by the retribution of a terrible force. He was completely defeated, and real freedom came to his land, like in the USSR. Why did it turn out a little differently in June 1941?

Almost all the military power of the Red Army as of mid-June 1941 was concentrated on the western borders of the USSR. There were also stocks of weapons, fuel, ammunition, medicines, food and everything necessary for waging a war on foreign territory with little blood. Airfields were also extended to the border strips as much as possible. The equipment was not completed, the delivery of military cargo and echelons with equipment continued. All this was highlighted in works of art and in many memoirs.

It can be concluded that the Patriotic War was not planned by Stalin to defend his country.

What Hitler was counting on

The German Fuhrer hoped mainly, apparently, for the discontent of the population with the Soviet regime. The agents reported on the monstrous consequences of more than twenty years of communist rule, the repressions that beheaded the Red Army, millions of starving peasants on collective farms, the intimidated working class and suppressed intelligentsia. The Fuhrer had practically no doubts that with only one approach to the borders of the USSR of the Wehrmacht, the population would come out joyfully to meet the "liberators". By the way, similar situations took place in some western regions, but in general, hopes did not come true.

How Germany prepared for war

If it were not for the hope that the "colossus with feet of clay" would soon be destroyed, Adolf Hitler would hardly have dared to attack. Germany's position in the early summer of 1941 was not brilliant. Against the background of successful actions in Europe, not very pleasant processes took place. Half of France remained "under-occupied", one hundred percent control over Yugoslavia was never established, things were going badly in North Africa, and naval operations were also proceeding with varying success. America did not enter the war, but in fact already participated in it, helping Britain with its practically inexhaustible material resources.

Germany's allies - Romania, Italy and Japan - were more troublesome than helpful. against the USSR in such conditions could be considered an insane step. There was practically no preparation, the soldiers of the Wehrmacht did not even have warm clothes and shoes (they never appeared), frost-resistant fuel and lubricants. Soviet intelligence knew about this and reported to the Kremlin.

Nevertheless, the war began for the USSR in a completely unexpected way and in an extremely unfavorable situation for us. The Germans quickly advanced deeper into the territory, the situation became more and more threatening. It became clear that it would be impossible to win without participation in the defense of the entire people. And the war became Patriotic.

Patriotic War

Almost immediately after Hitler's attack, the war was declared Patriotic. This happened for the second time in Russian history. The threat arose not just to some kind of social order, but to the very existence of the country and the Eurasian civilization. And what about the first time, under the tsar-liberator?

The Patriotic War with France was in 1812 until the Napoleonic hordes were expelled from the Russian land. They drove Bonaparte as far as Paris, reached it, and, having taken in 1814, the emperor-usurper was not found there. We spent a little "on a visit", and then returned home to the gallant songs. But after the crossing of the Berezina, all this was already just a campaign. Only the first year, while the battles were going along near Borodino and Maloyaroslavets, and partisans attacked the invaders from the forests, the war was considered Patriotic.

Version one: 1944

If we draw historical analogies, then to the question of what year the Great Patriotic War ended, one should answer: in 1944, in the fall. It was then that the last armed German, Romanian, Spaniard, Italian, Hungarian and any other soldier who fought on the side of Nazi Germany left the territory of the USSR. The prisoners and the dead don't count. The war itself continued, but it had already ceased to be patriotic; it entered the phase of finishing off the enemy in his lair, while simultaneously liberating the peoples enslaved by him. The threat to the existence of the USSR was over; the only question was the timing of the final defeat of the enemy and the conditions of the subsequent peace.

Version two - May 8, 1945

True, this version also has opponents, and their arguments deserve respect. The end of the Second World War, in their opinion, chronologically coincides with the moment of the signing of the surrender in Karlshorst - the outskirts of Berlin. From our side, Marshal G.K. Zhukov and other military leaders took part in the ceremony, from the German side - Keitel with officers and generals of the German General Staff. Hitler had been dead for eight days. The date of the historical event is May 8, 1945. The day before, there was another signing of the surrender, but the high Soviet command was not present at it, therefore J.V. Stalin did not recognize it, and did not give an order to end hostilities. The victorious end of the Great Patriotic War on May 9 became a national holiday, all radio stations of the Soviet Union announced about it. The people rejoiced, people laughed and cried. And someone else had to fight ...

Fights on May 9, after the Victory

The signing of Germany's surrender did not mean the end of the war. Soviet soldiers died on May 9. In Prague, the German garrison, consisting of selected SS men, refused to lay down their arms. The situation was acute, the townspeople tried to resist the Nazi fanatics, who understood that their days were numbered, and they had nothing to lose. A swift rush of Soviet troops saved the Czech capital from a bloody massacre. The outcome of the battles was a foregone conclusion, but not without losses. It was all over on May 9th. It was a shame to die on the last day of the war, but such is the soldier's lot ...

There was also a little-known war in the Far East. The Soviet Army quickly and decisively defeated the Kwantung grouping of the Japanese armed forces, reaching Korea. There were also losses, however, incomparably smaller than during the war with Germany.

Patriotic war front and rear

The ninth of May is the day of the end because, although it was conducted since the fall of 1944, not on our territory, in fact, the efforts of the entire country were aimed at overcoming the resistance of the enemy. The entire economic potential of the USSR worked according to the principle "everything for the front, everything for victory." The battles were fought west of the Soviet borders, but their own battle was fought in the rear. Tanks, aircraft, cannons, ships, which were to crush the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe and Kriggsmarine - everything was built in the rear.

The workers, including many women and adolescents, did not spare their efforts to supply their own Red Army with everything they needed, they fought their war, having cried a lot over funerals and had not eaten enough. Victory in the Great Patriotic War was the result of the efforts of not only soldiers, officers, generals, admirals and sailors, but also the rest of the Soviet people. In this sense, the war was patriotic from the first to the last day.

Version three - 1955

The signing of Germany's surrender took place in a difficult and nervous atmosphere. The defeated enemy tried to preserve the appearance of some kind of dignity, Keitel even saluted the victors. The Allies added tension, they tried to observe their own geopolitical interests, which, in general, is quite natural. Mutual alertness interfered with the triumph of the expected great holiday. It is not surprising that in this situation they forgot about a very important document, namely the peace treaty. Wars end, but what comes next? That's right, peace. But not some abstract, but one that the winners will agree on. The defeated can only accept the conditions offered by him. The end of the Great Patriotic War in May 1945 was de facto, but no legal registration took place, it was simply forgotten.

Legal Hitch

They realized it almost ten years later. On January 25, 1955, by the Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet signed by the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR K. Voroshilov and Secretary of the Presidium N. Pegov, the state of war with Germany was terminated. Of course, this legislative act was symbolic, and even the most defeated state at that time was not in its former form - it was divided into two parts, the FRG and the GDR, but the teachers for the students-historians had a question to fill in: “In what year did the Great Patriotic War in the legal sense? " And the correct answer, which not everyone knew, was this: in 1955!

Legal subtleties are no longer of great importance today, they are important only for those who consider themselves an expert and want to show off their erudition in front of others. Today, when not every high school graduate knows in what year the Great Patriotic War ended, it is not so difficult. A couple of decades ago, it was known to everyone. The events of history are becoming more and more distant from us, and fewer and fewer eyewitnesses can tell about them. The date of the end of the Great Patriotic War is spelled out in textbooks, but it is also on the pedestals of the monuments.

There is a famous expression of one of the great commanders that until at least one dead soldier is buried, the war cannot be considered over. Unfortunately, our country has lost so many sons and daughters that to this day search teams find their remains in the places of former battles. They are seen off on their last journey with military honors, relatives learn about the fate of their fathers and grandfathers, fireworks are thundering ... Will we ever be able to assert that all the soldiers who gave their lives for their Motherland have found a worthy rest? This is unlikely, but one should strive for it.

On Sunday, June 22, 1941, at dawn, the troops of Nazi Germany, without declaring war, suddenly attacked the entire western border of the Soviet Union and inflicted bombing air strikes on Soviet cities and military formations.

The Great Patriotic War began. She was expected, but still she came suddenly. And the point here is not a miscalculation or Stalin's distrust of intelligence data. During the pre-war months, different dates for the start of the war were called, for example, May 20, and this was reliable information, but due to the uprising in Yugoslavia, Hitler postponed the date of the attack on the USSR to a later date. There is another factor that is rarely mentioned. This is a successful disinformation campaign by German intelligence. So, the Germans spread rumors through all possible channels that the attack on the USSR would take place precisely on June 22, but with the direction of the main attack in an area where this was obviously impossible. Thus, the date looked like misinformation, so it was on this day that an attack was least expected.
And in foreign textbooks, June 22, 1941 is presented as one of the current episodes of World War II, while in the textbooks of the Baltic states this date is considered positive, giving "hope for liberation."

Russia

§4. The invasion of the USSR. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War
At dawn on June 22, 1941, Nazi troops invaded the USSR. The Great Patriotic War began.
Germany and its allies (Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia) did not have an overwhelming advantage in manpower and equipment and, according to the Barbarossa plan, relied heavily on the surprise attack factor, blitzkrieg tactics ("lightning war"). The defeat of the USSR was envisaged within two or three months by the forces of three army groups (Army Group North, advancing on Leningrad, Army Group Center, advancing on Moscow, and Army Group South, advancing on Kiev).
In the first days of the war, the German army inflicted serious damage on the Soviet defense system: military headquarters were destroyed, the activities of communications services were paralyzed, and strategically important objects were captured. The German army was advancing at a rapid pace deep into the USSR, and by July 10, Army Group Center (commander von Bock), having captured Byelorussia, approached Smolensk; Army Group South (commander von Rundstedt) seized the Right-Bank Ukraine; Army Group North (commander von Leeb) occupied part of the Baltic. The losses of the Red Army (including those who were surrounded) amounted to more than two million people. The current situation was catastrophic for the USSR. But the Soviet mobilization resources were very large, and by the beginning of July 5 million people had been drafted into the Red Army, which made it possible to close the gaps that had formed at the front.

V.L. Kheifets, L.S. Kheifets, K.M. Severinov. General history. Grade 9. Ed. Academician V.S. Myasnikov. Moscow, publishing house "Ventana-Graf", 2013

Chapter XVII. The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the German fascist invaders
The treacherous attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR
Fulfilling the grandiose tasks of the third Stalinist five-year plan and steadily and firmly pursuing a policy of peace, the Soviet government, at the same time, did not for a moment forget about the possibility of a new "attack by the imperialists on our country. Comrade Stalin tirelessly called on the peoples of the Soviet Union to be in mobilization readiness. In February 1938, In his response to a letter from Komsomol member Ivanov, Comrade Stalin wrote: "Indeed, it would be ridiculous and stupid to close our eyes to the fact of capitalist encirclement and think that our external enemies, for example, the Nazis, will not try to launch a military attack on the USSR on occasion."
Comrade Stalin demanded that the defense capability of our country be strengthened. “It is necessary,” he wrote, “to strengthen and strengthen our Red Army, Red Fleet, Red Aviation, Osoaviakhim in every possible way. It is necessary to keep our entire people in a state of mobilization readiness in the face of the danger of a military attack, so that no "accident" and no tricks of our external enemies could catch us by surprise ... "
Comrade Stalin's warning alerted the Soviet people, made them more vigilant to monitor the intrigues of their enemies and to strengthen the Soviet army in every possible way.
The Soviet people understood that the German fascists, led by Hitler, were striving to unleash a new bloody war, with the help of which they hoped to win world domination. Hitler declared the Germans to be the "superior race" and all other peoples to be inferior, inferior races. The Nazis treated the Slavic peoples with particular hatred and, first of all, the great Russian people, which more than once in its history fought against the German aggressors.
The Nazis based their plan on the plan of military attack and lightning defeat of Russia developed by General Hoffmann during the First World War. This plan provided for the concentration of huge armies on the western borders of our homeland, the capture of the vital centers of the country for several weeks and a rapid advance deep into Russia, up to the Urals. Subsequently, this plan was supplemented and approved by the Hitlerite command and was called the "Barbarossa" plan.
The monstrous war machine of the Hitlerite imperialists began its movement in the Baltics, Belarus and Ukraine, threatening the vital centers of the Soviet country.

Textbook "History of the USSR", 10th grade, K.V. Bazilevich, S.V. Bakhrushin, A.M. Pankratova, A.V. Foht, M., Uchpedgiz, 1952

Austria, Germany

Chapter "From the Russian campaign to complete defeat"
After careful preparation, which lasted many months, on June 22, 1941, Germany launched a "war of total annihilation" against the Soviet Union. Its goal was to conquer a new living space for the Germanic Aryan race. The essence of the German plan was a lightning attack called "Barbarossa". It was believed that under the rapid onslaught of a well-trained German military machine, Soviet troops would not be able to offer decent resistance. Within a few months, the Hitlerite command seriously expected to reach Moscow. It was assumed that the capture of the capital of the USSR would finally demoralize the enemy and the war would end in victory. However, after a series of impressive successes on the battlefields, within a few weeks the Nazis were thrown back hundreds of kilometers from the Soviet capital.

Textbook "History" for grade 7, a team of authors, publishing house Duden, 2013.

Holt McDougal. The World History.
For high school students, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Pub. Co., 2012

Hitler began planning an attack on his ally, the USSR, in the early summer of 1940. The Balkan countries of Southeast Europe played a key role in the Hitlerite invasion plan. Hitler wanted to create a bridgehead in Southeast Europe for an attack on the USSR. He also wanted to make sure that the British did not interfere.
In order to prepare for the invasion, Hitler proceeded to expand his influence in the Balkans. By early 1941, threatening to use force, he convinced Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to join the Axis. Yugoslavia and Greece, ruled by pro-British governments, resisted. In early April 1941, Hitler invaded both countries. Yugoslavia fell 11 days later. Greece surrendered after 17 days.
Hitler attacks the Soviet Union. Having established tight control over the Balkans, Hitler could carry out Operation Barbarossa, his plan to invade the USSR. In the early morning of June 22, 1941, the roar of German tanks and the hum of aircraft marked the beginning of the invasion. The Soviet Union was not ready for this attack. Although he had the largest army in the world, the troops were neither well equipped nor well trained.
The invasion continued week after week until the Germans plunged 500 miles into the interior of the Soviet Union (804.67 kilometers - Ed.). Retreating, Soviet troops burned and destroyed everything in the enemy's path. The Russians used this scorched earth strategy against Napoleon.

Section 7. World War II
The attack on the Soviet Union (the so-called Barbarossa plan) was carried out on June 22, 1941. The German army, which numbered about three million soldiers, launched an offensive in three directions: in the north - to Leningrad, in the central part of the USSR - to Moscow and in the south - to the Crimea. The onslaught of the invaders was swift. Soon the Germans laid siege to Leningrad and Sevastopol, and came close to Moscow. The Red Army suffered heavy losses, but the main goal of the Nazis - the capture of the capital of the Soviet Union - was never realized. Vast expanses and the early Russian winter, with fierce resistance from Soviet troops and ordinary residents of the country, thwarted the German plan for a lightning war. In early December 1941, units of the Red Army under the command of General Zhukov launched a counteroffensive and drove the enemy troops 200 kilometers from Moscow.

History textbook for 8th grade elementary school (Klett Publishing House, 2011). Predrag Vayagich and Nenad Stoshich.

Never before had our people treated a German invasion otherwise than with decisiveness to defend their land, but when Molotov announced the German attack in a trembling voice, the Estonians felt everything but sympathy. On the contrary, many have hope. The Estonian population enthusiastically welcomed the German soldiers as liberators.
The average Estonian disliked Russian soldiers. These people were poor, poorly dressed, extremely suspicious, at the same time often very pretentious. The Germans were more familiar to the Estonians. They were cheerful and addicted to music, from the places where they gathered, laughter and playing musical instruments could be heard.

Lauri Vakhtre. Textbook "Turning points in Estonian history".

Bulgaria

Chapter 2. Globalization of the conflict (1941-1942)
Attack on the USSR (June 1941). On June 22, 1941, Hitler launched a major offensive against the USSR. Starting the conquest of new territories in the east, the Fuhrer proposed in practice the theory of "living space", proclaimed in the book "My struggle" ("Mein Kampf"). On the other hand, the termination of the German-Soviet pact again enabled the Nazi regime to present itself as a fighter against communism in Europe: the aggression against the USSR was presented by German propaganda as a crusade against Bolshevism with the aim of exterminating the “Jewish Marxists”.
However, this new blitzkrieg escalated into a long and grueling war. Shocked by a surprise attack, bled from the Stalinist repressions and ill-prepared, the Soviet army was quickly driven back. Within a few weeks, the German armies occupied one million square kilometers and reached the environs of Leningrad and Moscow. But fierce Soviet resistance and the rapid arrival of the Russian winter stopped the German offensive: the Wehrmacht could not defeat the enemy on the move in one campaign. In the spring of 1942, a new offensive was required.

Long before the attack on the USSR, the German military-political leadership was developing plans for an attack on the USSR and the development of the territory and the use of its natural, material and human resources. The future war was planned by the German command as a war of annihilation. On December 18, 1940, Hitler signed Directive # 21, known as the Barbarossa Plan. In accordance with this plan, Army Group North was to attack Leningrad, Army Group Center - through Belarus to Moscow, Army Group South - to Kiev.

The plan of "lightning war" against the USSR
The German command expected to approach Moscow by August 15, 1941 to complete the war against the USSR and create a defensive line against "Asian Russia", to reach the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line by the winter of 1941.
On June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began with an attack by Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union. Mobilization was announced in the USSR. Voluntary entry into the Red Army became widespread. The people's militia became widespread. In the frontline zone, fighter battalions and self-defense groups were created to protect important national economic facilities. The evacuation of people and material values ​​began from the territories threatened by the occupation.
The military operations were led by the Headquarters of the Supreme Command, created on June 23, 1941. Headquarters was headed by I. Stalin. Italy
June 22, 1941
Giardina, G. Sabbatucci, V. Vidotto, Manuale di Storia. L "eta`contemporanea. History textbook for the 5th grade of high school. Bari, Laterza. Textbook for the 11th grade of high school" Our new history ", publishing house" Dar Aun ", 2008
With the German attack on the Soviet Union in the early summer of 1941, a new phase of the war began. The broadest front opened in eastern Europe. Great Britain was no longer forced to fight alone. Ideological confrontation became simpler and radicalized with the end of the anomalous agreement between Nazism and the Soviet regime. The international communist movement, which after August 1939 took an ambiguous position of condemning "opposing imperialisms", revised it in favor of an alliance with democracy and the fight against fascism.
The fact that the USSR was the main goal of Hitler's expansionist intentions was no mystery to anyone, including the Soviet people. However, Stalin believed that Hitler would never attack Russia without ending the war with Great Britain. So when the German offensive (codenamed "Barbarossa") began on 22 June 1941 on a 1,600-kilometer front from the Baltic to the Black Sea, the Russians were unprepared, and this lack of readiness, exacerbated by the 1937 purge depriving Red army of its best commanders, made it easier at first the task of the aggressor.
The offensive, in which the Italian expeditionary corps also took part, which was sent in great haste by Mussolini, who dreamed of participating in a crusade against the Bolsheviks, continued throughout the summer: in the north through the Baltic States, in the south through Ukraine in order to reach the oil regions in the Caucasus ...

With the final withdrawal blockade of Leningrad(not to be confused with breakthrough blockade in January 1943) on January 28, 1944 and the beginning Leningrad-Novgorod operation, which lasted until March 1, 1944, entered the final period Great Patriotic War... In the winter of the same year, the troops of the Baltic and Leningrad fronts liberated the Leningrad region and destroyed the Hitlerite army group "North"... Simultaneously with this 1st and 2nd Ukrainian fronts under the command of Vatutin and Konev defeated the fascist Army Group South during Korsun-Shevchenko operation(January-February 1944), after which the liberation of the Right-Bank Ukraine began.

By April 17, 1944 ended Dnieper-Carpathian operation- one of the largest operations of the Great Patriotic War. For the first quarter of 1944, the troops of the commanders Zhukova, Vatutin, Malinovsky, Konev, Vasilevsky and Tolbukhin reached the borders of the Soviet Union, completely freeing the Ukrainian SSR from the German fascist invaders.

From April 8 to May 12, 1944 during Crimean operation Crimea was completely liberated.

June 22, 1944 began Operation Bagration(The Belarusian operation, named in honor of Mikhail Kutuzov's comrade-in-arms, Pyotr Bagration). For two months, the Soviet army under the command of Marshal Zhukov, Rokossovsky and other commanders completely recaptured the territory of the Byelorussian SSR, partly the Baltic states and some regions of Eastern Poland. During this period, the German Army Group Center.

June 6, 1944 happened opening of the second front in France ( Normandy operation), where the allied troops of the British and Americans opposed the Nazis. The landing was also attended by Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders. The participants ( partisans) French Resistance... Allied entry into war distracted attention Adolf Hitler, who now had to fight on two fronts. Thus, the offensive of the Soviet army accelerated.

By the end of 1944, in the course of several strategic operations, the territory of the Soviet Union was completely liberated from the invaders:

• Baltic operation(September 14 - November 29, liberation of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia);
• Iasi-Chisinau operation(August 20-29, liberation of Moldova and the eastern part of Romania);
• East Carpathian operation(September-October, liberation of Transcarpathia and eastern Czechoslovakia);
• Petsamo-Kirkenes operation(liberation of Karelia and exit to the north of Norway - October 1944).

In late 1944 - early 1945, in many countries of Eastern Europe, with the approach of Soviet troops, the national liberation movement against Hitler's Nazis intensified. So it was in Hungary, and in Poland ("Home Army"), and in Slovakia. It was during this time that the liberation of the Soviet Union quickly turned into liberation of Europe.

January 12, 1945 marked the beginning Vistula-Oder operation(between the Vistula and Oder rivers), which became one of the most rapid military operations of the 20th century. In less than a month, by February 3, Soviet soldiers, together with the rebellious Poles, almost completely liberated Poland and occupied East Prussia. During the operation, the Germans lost up to 800 thousand Wehrmacht soldiers, as well as many equipment and weapons.

During East Pomeranian operation(February-March 1945) the remnants of the northern territories of Poland were liberated and Eastern Pomerania (northeastern Germany) was occupied.

From 4 to 11 February 1945 in the liberated Crimea took place Yalta conference in the Livadia Palace. This meeting became a continuation Tehran Conference leaders anti-Hitler coalition - Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin... The heads of state gathered to resolve the issue of the post-war world order (everyone already understood that the defeat of Germany was a matter of time). In addition to the issue of new borders of European countries, the issue of some East Asian territories after the defeat of Japan was also considered (it was then that it was decided that the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin were again passed to Russia). Negotiations on the creation of a new international organization to replace League of Nations... So the prerequisites were created establishment of the UN.

In February-May 1945, three final operations of the Great Patriotic War took place:

1. Budapest operation(it began at the end of October 1944 and ended on February 13, 1945 with the complete liberation of Hungary and its capital, Budapest, as well as with an exit to the Vienna direction).
2. Vienna operation(from March 16 to April 15, 1945 - the liberation of Austria and its capital Vienna from the Nazis).
3. Berlin operation(April 16 - May 8 - the capture of East Germany, battle for berlin and its subsequent capture, the complete liquidation of the German government and the victory of the anti-Hitler coalition).

On the eve of Victory Day, the British and Americans, fearing a conflict with the Soviet Union when the Allied troops met, developed Operation Unthinkable, which provided for two options for the development of events at once - both an attack on the Russians and a defense. However, the strength and swiftness shown by the Soviet troops during the Berlin operation and directly Storming Berlin, forced the Western allies to abandon this idea. Nevertheless, the very fact of the development of Operation Unthinkable has already become a prerequisite Cold war... Meanwhile, on April 25 meeting on the Elbe Russians and Americans in an extremely friendly and joyful atmosphere.

On the night of May 8-9 ( 9th May- Moscow time, Central European time was still May 8) Supreme Commander-in-Chief Wehrmacht Wilhelm Keitel signed the Unconditional Act surrender of Germany, and the Great Patriotic War came to an end (but not The Second World War), and May 9 became a national holiday - Happy Victory Day.

A funny fact - during the signing of the act of surrender, the commander of the Wehrmacht Wilhelm Keitel, when he handed Zhukov the document of surrender of Germany, saw the representatives of France. The field marshal could not resist and asked: "And what, these also defeated us?"