The Great Patriotic War, the stages of which we will consider in this article, is one of the most difficult historical trials that befell the Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians and other peoples who lived on the territory of the USSR. These 1418 days and nights will forever remain in history as the most bloody and cruel time.
The main stages of the Great Patriotic War
The periodization of the events of the Second World War can be done based on the nature of the events that took place at the front. In different periods of the war, the initiative belonged to different armies.
Most historians detail the stages of the Great Patriotic War as follows:
- from June 22 to November 18, 1941 (stage 1 of the Great Patriotic War);
- from November 19, 1941 to the end of 1943 (stage 2 of the Great Patriotic War);
- from January 1944 to May 1945 (3rd stage of the Great Patriotic War).
Great Patriotic War: periods
Each of the periods of the Great Patriotic War has its own characteristics, which relate to the areas of hostilities, the use of new types of weapons and the advantages of one of the armies. I would like to first talk about the stages of the Great Patriotic War briefly.
- The initial stage of hostilities was characterized by the full initiative of the Nazi troops. During this time, Hitler's army completely occupied Belarus, Ukraine and almost reached Moscow. The Soviet army, of course, fought to the best of its ability, but constantly retreated. The great success of the Red Army during this period was the victory near Moscow. But in general, the offensive of the German troops continued. They were able to occupy many territories of the Caucasus, they reached almost the modern borders of Chechnya, but the Nazis failed to take Grozny. Important battles in the middle of 1942 took place on the Crimean front. Finished stage 1
- The second stage of the Great Patriotic War brought the advantage of the Red Army. After the victory at Stalingrad over the army of Paulus, the Soviet troops received good conditions for the liberation offensive. Leningrad, the battle of Kursk and the general offensive on all fronts at that time made it clear that the Nazi army would sooner or later lose the war.
- In the final period of the war, the offensive of the Red Army continued. The fighting took place already mainly on the territory of Ukraine and Belarus. This period was characterized by the progressive advance of the Red Army to the west and the fierce resistance of the enemy. This is the last stage in the Second World War, which ended in victory over the enemy.
Reasons for the existing periodization of the Second World War
The stages of the Great Patriotic War, or rather their beginning and end, are marked by some key events, battles that have gone down in world history. The first period of the war was the longest. The reasons for this are:
- surprise attack of the enemy;
- attacks by a massive front of troops on significantly stretched territories;
- the lack of extensive experience in combat operations in the Soviet army;
- superiority of the German army in technical equipment.
It was only by the end of 1942 that the enemy's advance was completely stopped. The main reasons for the success of the Red Army in the second period of the war can be considered:
- heroism of Soviet soldiers;
- the superiority of the Red Army over the enemy;
- significant progress of the USSR army in technical terms (the appearance of new tanks and anti-aircraft installations, much more).
The third stage of the war was also quite long. The main distinction between the 2nd and 3rd stages of hostilities against the Nazi troops seems to be that in 1944 the epicenter of hostilities spread from Russia to Ukraine and Belarus, that is, there was a progressive movement to the west. The final stage of the Great Patriotic War lasted more than a year, because the spacecraft had to liberate all of Ukraine and Belarus, as well as the countries of Eastern Europe.
Battles of 1941
In 1941, the position of the USSR, as already emphasized, was extremely difficult. Belarus and Lithuania were the first to be attacked by infantry and motorized units of the fascist army. On June 22, the defense of the Brest Fortress began. The Nazis hoped to pass this outpost much faster than they succeeded. Fierce battles went on for several days, and the final surrender of Brest took place only on July 20, 1941. Also these days the Nazis were advancing in the direction of Siauliai and Grodno. That is why on June 23-25 the USSR army launched a counteroffensive in these areas.
The first stages of the Great Patriotic War in 1941 showed that the Red Army would not be able to cope with the enemy without a retreat. So great was the onslaught of the Nazis! How was the retreat in the first months of the war? It took place with battles. Also, the army and the communists, in order to make life as difficult as possible for the enemy, undermined infrastructure facilities that could not be evacuated to safe places. The strong resistance of the army was due to the need to evacuate important production facilities for the country in the rear.
Of the largest battles of 1941, it is worth noting the Kiev defensive operation, which lasted from July 7 to September 26, and the battle for Moscow (September 30, 1941 - April 1942). Also, an important role in the history of the Second World War is assigned to the exploits of Soviet sailors.
1942 in the history of the Second World War
The initial stage of the Great Patriotic War showed Hitler that he would simply not succeed in defeating the Soviet army. His strategic task to take Moscow before the winter of 1941 did not materialize. Until May 1942, the general offensive of the Soviet troops continued, which began in December 1941 near Moscow. But this offensive was stopped by the Nazis at the Kharkov bridgehead, where a large group of troops was surrounded and lost the battle.
After that, the German army went on the offensive, so again the Soviet soldiers had to remember about defensive actions. Hitler understood that it would be difficult to capture Moscow, so he directed the main blow to the city with the symbolic name of Stalingrad.
Also, active offensive actions of the Nazis took place on the Crimean bridgehead. The defense of Sevastopol continued until July 4, 1942. From July to November, the Red Army conducted active defensive operations near Stalingrad and in the Caucasus. The defense of Stalingrad entered the annals of history as an example of the heroism and invincibility of Soviet soldiers. The city itself was completely destroyed, several houses survived, but the Nazis could not take it. The 1st stage of the Great Patriotic War ended with the victory of the spacecraft near Stalingrad and the beginning of the offensive of the Soviet troops. Although the defense was still going on in some sectors of the front, the turning point in the war had already arrived.
The second stage of the Great Patriotic War
This period lasted for almost a year. Of course, in 1943 there were also many difficulties, but in general, no one could stop the offensive of our troops. From time to time, the Nazis went on the offensive in separate directions, but already the Great Patriotic War, the stages, the battles of which we are now considering, went into a state where it was clear that Germany would lose the war sooner or later.
Operation Ring was completed on February 2, 1943. The army of General Paulus was surrounded. On January 18 of the same year, they finally managed to break the blockade of Leningrad. These days the Red Army launched an offensive towards Voronezh and Kaluga. The city of Voronezh was recaptured from the enemy on January 25. The attack continued on. In February 1943, the Voroshilovgrad offensive operation took place. Gradually, the Red Army moves on to the liberation of Ukraine, although not all cities have yet been recaptured from the Nazis. March 1943 was remembered for the liberation of Vyazma and the counteroffensive of Hitler's army in the Donbass. Our troops eventually coped with this attack, but the Nazis managed to somewhat restrain the advance of Soviet troops deep into Ukraine. The fight on this bridgehead lasted more than a month. After that, the main focus of the fighting shifted to the Kuban, because in order to successfully advance further to the West, it was necessary to liberate the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories from enemies. Active fighting in this direction went on for about three months. The offensive was complicated by the proximity of the mountains and the active operations of enemy aircraft.
Second half of 1943
In the history of the Second World War, July 1943 stands apart. During this period, two very important events took place. German intelligence constantly reported information about the impending major offensive of the Soviet troops. But it was not known exactly where the attack would take place. Of course, the Soviet top military officials knew that German intelligence officers were working in many spacecraft structures (like the Soviet ones in Germany), so they used disinformation as much as possible. On July 5, the Battle of Kursk took place. The Nazis hoped that by winning this battle, they would be able to go on the offensive again. Yes, they were able to advance a little, but in general they did not win the battle, therefore, on the 20th of July 1943, the second stage of the Great Patriotic War reached its qualitative apogee. And what was the second significant event? Have not forgotten yet On the field near this village, the largest tank battle in history at that time took place, which also remained with the USSR.
From August 1943 until the winter of 1943/1944. The Red Army mainly liberates Ukrainian cities. It was very difficult to defeat the enemy in the Kharkov region, but on the morning of August 23, 1943, the USSR army managed to enter this city. And then a whole series of liberations of Ukrainian cities followed. In September 1943, the spacecraft entered Donetsk, Poltava, Kremenchug, and Sumy. In October, our troops liberated Dnepropetrovsk, Dneprodzerzhinsk, Melitopol and other surrounding settlements.
Battle for Kiev
Kiev was one of several strategically important cities in the USSR. The population of the city before the war reached 1 million people. During the Second World War, it decreased by five times. But now about the main thing. The Red Army was preparing for the capture of Kiev for a very long time, because this city was also extremely important for the Nazis. To capture Kiev, it was necessary to force the Dnieper. The battle for this river, which was a symbol of Ukraine, began on September 22. The forcing was very difficult, many of our soldiers died. In October, the command planned to try to take Kiev. The most convenient for this was the Bukrinsky bridgehead. But these plans became known to the Germans, so they transferred significant forces here. It became impossible to take Kiev from the Bukrinsky bridgehead. Our reconnaissance was tasked to find another place to attack the enemy. The Lyutezhsky bridgehead turned out to be the most optimal, but it was technically very difficult to transfer troops there. Since Kiev had to be taken before the next anniversary of November 7, the command of the Kiev offensive operation decided to transfer troops from Bukrinsky to the Lyutezhsky bridgehead. Certainly, not everyone believed in the reality of this plan, because it was necessary, unnoticed by the enemy, under the cover of night, to cross the Dnieper twice and travel a long distance by land. Of course, the spacecraft suffered a lot of losses, but it was impossible to take Kiev in a different way. This move by the Soviet military leaders was crowned with success. The Red Army managed to enter Kiev on the morning of November 6, 1943. And the battle for the Dnieper in other sectors of the front continued almost until the end of the year. With the victory of the spacecraft in this battle, the first stages of the Great Patriotic War ended.
War in 1944-1945
The final stage of the Great Patriotic War became possible only thanks to the heroism of our soldiers. In the first half of 1944, almost the entire Right-Bank Ukraine and Crimea were liberated. The final stage of the Great Patriotic War was marked by one of the largest offensives of the Red Army in all the years of hostilities. We are talking about the Proskurovo-Bukovina and Uman-Botoshansk operations, which ended by the end of April 1944. With the completion of these operations, almost the entire territory of Ukraine was liberated, the restoration of the republic began after exhausting hostilities.
The Red Army in the battles abroad of the USSR
The Great Patriotic War, the stages of which we are considering today, was coming to its logical conclusion. Beginning in April 1944, Soviet troops slowly began to push the Nazis out of the territories of states that were their allies at the start of the war (for example, Romania). Also active fighting took place in the Polish lands. In 1944, there were many events on the second front. When the defeat of Germany became inevitable, the allies of the USSR in the anti-Hitler coalition became more actively involved in the war. The battles in Greece, Sicily, near Asia - all of them were aimed at the victory of the anti-Hitler coalition troops in the fight against fascism.
3 stages of the Great Patriotic War ended on May 9, 1945. It is on this day that all the peoples of the former USSR celebrate a great holiday - Victory Day.
Consequences of the Great Patriotic War
The Great Patriotic War, the stages of the hostilities of which were absolutely logical, ended almost 4 years after the start. It was much more violent and bloody than the First World War which ended in 1918.
Its consequences can be divided into 3 groups: economic, political and ethnographic. In the territories that were under occupation, a lot of enterprises were destroyed. Part of the plants and factories were evacuated and not all returned. In terms of politics, the entire system of life in the world actually changed, new ones were formed. Gradually, a new security system was built in Europe and the world. The United Nations has become the new guarantor of security. During the war, a lot of people died, so it was necessary to restore the population.
The main stages of the Great Patriotic War, and there were three of them, showed that it was impossible to conquer such a large country as the USSR. The state gradually emerged from the crisis, rebuilt. In many ways, the rapid recovery is due to the heroic efforts of the people.
From 1939 to 1945, the world was swept by fierce military battles, called the Second World War. Within its framework, a particularly serious confrontation between Germany and the USSR is singled out, which received a separate name. Our article tells briefly about the Great Patriotic War.
Prerequisites of the beginning
At the beginning of the Second World War, the USSR adhered to neutral positions, using the actions of Germany in its own interests: the weakening of England, France and Germany itself. In addition, on August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union agreed to sign a non-aggression pact with the Germans. Germany accepted all the conditions of the Russians, supplementing the agreement with a secret protocol on the redistribution of Eastern Europe.
The leaders of the countries understood that this agreement does not guarantee, but reduces the risk of hostilities between them. Hitler hoped in this way to keep the USSR from concluding an alliance with Great Britain, France and prematurely entering the war. Although he planned in advance to capture the Union after the victory in Europe.
Stalin, on the other hand, was dissatisfied with the removal of the USSR from resolving issues of world politics and the delay by the British in concluding an alliance, and the treaty with Germany made it possible to annex the Baltic states and Bessarabia to Russia almost without hindrance.
04/02/2009 The European Parliament by a majority of votes approved August 23 as the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, equating all acts of aggression of both regimes to war crimes.
In October 1940, Germany, having learned that England was counting on Russia's help in the war, offered the USSR to join the Axis countries. Stalin put forward a condition to Hitler, according to which Finland, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria would have to go to the USSR. Germany was categorically against this and stopped negotiations with the Union.
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In November, Hitler approved the previously developed attack plan for the USSR and found other allies (Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania).
Although the USSR as a whole was preparing for war, but Germany, violating the treaty, attacked suddenly, without an official announcement (it took place after the start). It is the day of the attack on 06/22/1941 that is considered the date of the start of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
Rice. 1. Germany's invasion of the USSR.
War periods
Having developed the Barbarossa plan (attack operation), Germany expected to capture Russia during 1941, but, despite the poor readiness of the Soviet troops and their defeat in the initial period of the Second World War, Hitler received not a speedy victory, but a protracted war. On the side of Germany were Slovakia, Romania, Italy, Hungary.
The entire course of hostilities is conditionally divided into the following stages:
- First (June 1941-November 1942): the beginning of armed clashes along the Soviet border; German breakthroughs that brought defeat to the Soviet troops in three defensive operations; the resumption of the war with Finland, which recaptured its lands. The defeat of German troops in the Moscow direction. Leningrad blockade;
- Second (radical change, November 1942-December 1943): the victory of Soviet troops in the southern direction (Stalingrad offensive operation); the liberation of the North Caucasus, the breakthrough of the Leningrad blockade. The defeat of the Germans in large-scale battles near Kursk and on the banks of the Dnieper;
- Third (January 1944-May 1945): liberation of Right-Bank Ukraine; lifting of the Leningrad blockade; the reconquest of the Crimea, the rest of Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, the Arctic, the northern part of Norway. The Soviet army is pushing the Germans beyond its borders. The attack on Berlin, during which the Soviet troops on 04/25/1945 met on the Elbe with the Americans. On May 2, 1945, Berlin was taken.
Rice. 2. Battle of Kursk.
Results
The main results of the armed confrontation between the USSR and Germany:
- End of the war in favor of the USSR: 05/09/1945 Germany announced its surrender;
- Release of the captured European countries, the overthrow of the Nazi regime;
- The USSR expanded its territories, strengthened the army, political and economic influence, becoming one of the world leaders;
- Negative outcome: huge loss of life, serious destruction.
The Great Patriotic War began on June 22, 1941, on the day of All Saints who shone in the Russian land. The Barbarossa plan - a plan for a lightning war with the USSR - was signed by Hitler on December 18, 1940. Now it has been put into action. German troops - the strongest army in the world - advanced in three groups ("North", "Center", "South"), aimed at the rapid capture of the Baltic states and then Leningrad, Moscow, and in the south - Kiev.
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June 22, 1941 4:00 am - the start of the German offensive. 153 German divisions, 3712 tanks and 4950 combat aircraft entered the fighting (such data are given by Marshal G.K. Zhukov in his book "Memoirs and Reflections"). The enemy forces were several times superior to the forces of the Red Army, both in numbers and in equipment with military equipment.
On June 22, 1941, at 5:30 am, Reich Minister Goebbels, in a special broadcast on the Great 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, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius, addresses the faithful with an appeal. In his "Message to the Shepherds and Flocks of Christ's Orthodox Church," Metropolitan Sergius said: "The fascist robbers attacked our Motherland... The times of Batu, the German knights, Charles of Sweden, Napoleon are repeated... The miserable descendants of the enemies of Orthodox Christianity want to once again try to put the people our knees before the untruth... With God's help, and this time, he will dispel the fascist enemy force into dust... Let us remember the holy leaders of the Russian people, for example, Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, who believed their souls for the people and the Motherland... Let us remember the innumerable thousands of simple Orthodox warriors... Our Orthodox Church has always shared the fate of the people. Together with him, she bore the trials and consoled herself with his successes. She will not leave her people even now. She blesses with a heavenly blessing and the forthcoming nationwide feat. If anyone, then it is we who need to remember the commandment of Christ: “There is no greater love than if a man lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:13)...”
Patriarch Alexander III of Alexandria addressed a message to Christians all over 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 strategic border point located in the direction of the main attack of Army Group Center (to 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 there was not enough transport or fuel to bring them up, besides, part of the warehouses had to be blown up, the rest were captured by the enemy. The enemy stubbornly rushed to Minsk from the north and south. Our troops were surrounded. Deprived of centralized control and supply, they, however, fought until July 8.
July 10 - September 10, 1941 Smolensk battle. On July 10, Army Group Center launched an offensive against the Western Front. The Germans had a twofold superiority in manpower and fourfold in tanks. The enemy's plan was to cut our western front with powerful strike groups, encircle the main group of troops in the Smolensk region 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 fighting 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, the fierce resistance of the Soviet troops near Smolensk weakened the offensive power of Army Group Center. The enemy strike groupings 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 materiel, and the total losses amounted to about 500 thousand people. The main result of the Smolensk battle 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 the strategic defense in the Moscow direction and prepare reserves.
August 8, 1941 - Stalin appointed as Supreme Commander Armed Forces of the USSR.
Defense of Ukraine
The capture of Ukraine importance for the Germans, who sought to deprive the Soviet Union of its largest industrial and agricultural base, to take possession of Donetsk coal, Krivoy Rog ore. From a strategic point of view, the capture of Ukraine provided support from the south to the central grouping of German troops, which faced the main task - the capture of Moscow.But the lightning-fast capture that Hitler planned did not work out here either. Retreating under the blows of the German troops, the Red Army courageously and fiercely resisted, despite the heaviest losses. By the end of August, the troops of the Southwestern and Southern Fronts withdrew beyond the Dnieper. Once surrounded, the Soviet troops suffered huge losses.
Atlantic charter. Allied Powers
On August 14, 1941, US President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill adopted a declaration aboard the British battleship Prince of Wales in Argentia Bay (Newfoundland), which outlined the goals of the war against the fascist states. On September 24, 1941, the Soviet Union joined 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 could not overcome the resistance of the defenders of the city and take Leningrad. Then the German command decided to starve the city out. Having captured Shlisselburg on September 8, the enemy went to Lake Ladoga and blockaded Leningrad from land. German troops encircled the city in a dense ring, cutting it off from the rest of the country. The connection of Leningrad with the "mainland" was carried out only by air and through Lake Ladoga. And with artillery strikes and bombing, the Nazis sought to destroy the city.Since September 8, 1941 (the day of celebration in honor of the Candlemas Vladimir icon Mother of God) until January 27, 1944 (the day of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina) continued Leningrad blockade. The most difficult for Leningraders was the winter of 1941/42. Fuel supplies have run out. The power supply to residential buildings was interrupted. The water supply failed, 78 km of the sewer network was destroyed. Utilities have stopped working. Food supplies were running out, since November 20, the lowest norms of bread for the entire time 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 blockade, Leningrad continued to fight. With the beginning of freeze-up, a motor road was laid on the ice of Lake Ladoga. Since January 24, 1942, it was possible to slightly increase the norms for supplying the population with bread. To supply the Leningrad Front and the city with fuel between the eastern and western shores of the Shlisselburg Bay of Lake Ladoga, an underwater pipeline was laid, which went into operation 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. Repeated attempts were made to break through the blockade ring. But it was only in January 1943 that they succeeded. 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, 10 Orthodox churches operated in the city. Metropolitan of Leningrad Alexy (Simansky), the future Patriarch Alexy I, did not leave the city during the blockade, sharing its hardships with his flock. With the miraculous Kazan icon Holy Mother of God was committed procession around the city. The Reverend Elder Seraphim 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 Monk Seraphim of Sarov.
By the autumn of 1941, the leadership of the USSR turned off anti-religious propaganda. The publication of the magazines "Godless" and "Anti-religious" was discontinued.
Battle for Moscow
From October 13, 1941, fierce battles broke out in all operationally important areas 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 especially important state values from the capital. Muscovites formed 12 divisions of the people's militia.
In Moscow, a prayer service was performed in front of the miraculous Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, and with the icon they flew around Moscow on an airplane.
The second stage of the attack on Moscow, called "Typhoon", the German command began on November 15, 1941. The fights were very hard. 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 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 issued on the night when the Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive.
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Under pressure from Stalin, it was decided to launch a general offensive on the entire front. But far from all areas had the strength and means for 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. Starting on January 7, the offensive continued until early April 1942. Then 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 broken. With the onset of summer, the German army will achieve new victories in Russia, but this will not restore the myth of its invincibility. Therefore, on December 6, 1941, you 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 its climax, from that moment they began to decline ... ".
Declaration of the United Nations
In January 1942, a declaration of 26 countries was signed in Washington (later known as the "Declaration of the United Nations"), in which they agreed to use all forces and means to fight against 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 capture of the Kerch Peninsula by the Nazis, the situation of Sevastopol became very difficult and on July 4, the 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 region of Voronezh and Voroshilovgrad. As a result of the forced withdrawal of our troops, the richest regions of the Don and Donbass fell into the hands of the enemy. During the retreat, the Southern Front suffered irreparable losses, only a little more than a hundred people remained in its four armies. During the retreat from Kharkov, the troops of the Southwestern Front suffered heavy losses and could not successfully hold back the enemy's advance. The southern front, for the same reason, could not stop the Germans in the Caucasian direction. It was necessary to block the path of the 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 the Nazi command, the German troops were to achieve in the summer campaign of 1942 those goals 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 aim of capturing the city of Stalingrad, access to 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 got the opportunity to cut off the south of the country from the center. We could lose the Volga - the most important transport artery, along which goods from the Caucasus went.The defensive actions of the Soviet troops in the Stalingrad direction were carried out for 125 days. During this period, they carried out two consecutive defensive operations. The first of them was carried out on the outskirts of Stalingrad from July 17 to September 12, the second - in Stalingrad and to the south of it from September 13 to November 18, 1942. The heroic defense of the Soviet troops in the Stalingrad direction forced the Nazi 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. The Soviet troops failed to hold back his powerful onslaught. They were forced to retreat to the city. Day and night fighting did not stop on the streets of the city, in houses, factories, on the banks of the Volga. Our units, having suffered heavy losses, nevertheless held the defense, not leaving the city.
Soviet troops near Stalingrad were united in three fronts: Southwestern (lieutenant general, from December 7, 1942 - Colonel General N. F. Vatutin), Donskoy (lieutenant general, from January 15, 1943 - Colonel General K K. Rokossovsky) and Stalingradsky (Colonel-General A. I. Eremenko).
On September 13, 1942, a decision was made on the counteroffensive, the plan of which was developed by the 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 the Stavka at the front. A.M. Vasilevsky coordinated the actions of the Stalingrad Front, and G.K. Zhukov - of the South-Western and Don. The idea of the counteroffensive was to strike from the bridgeheads on the Don in the areas of Serafimovich and Kletskaya and from the area of Sarpinsky Lakes south of Stalingrad to defeat the troops covering the flanks of the enemy strike force, and, developing the offensive in converging directions on the city of Kalach, the Soviet farm, to surround and destroy its main forces operating in the interfluve of the Volga and Don.
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 near Stalingrad consisted of three stages: the encirclement of the enemy (November 19-30), the development of the offensive and the disruption of the enemy’s attempts to release the encircled grouping (December 1942), the liquidation of the group of Nazi troops surrounded in the Stalingrad region (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 of the Nazi army Westphal writes about it, “threw both the German people and its army in horror. Never before in the entire history of Germany has there been such a terrible loss of so many troops.”
And the Battle of Stalingrad began with a prayer service before the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The icon was among the troops, prayers and requiems 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 a chapel St. Sergius Radonezh.
Caucasus
July 1942 - October 9, 1943. Battle for the CaucasusIn the North Caucasus direction in late July-early August 1942, the development of events was clearly not in our favor. The superior forces of the enemy persistently moved forward. On August 10, enemy troops captured Maikop, on August 11 - Krasnodar. And on September 9, the Germans captured almost all the mountain passes. In the stubborn bloody battles of the summer - autumn of 1942, the Soviet troops suffered heavy losses, left most of the territory of the North Caucasus, but still stopped the enemy. In December, preparations began for the North Caucasian 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 the victory in the Caucasus came at a high cost to us.
German troops were driven out to the Taman Peninsula. On the night of September 10, 1943, the Novorossiysk-Taman strategic offensive operation of the Soviet troops began. On September 16, 1943, Novorossiysk was liberated, on September 21 - Anapa, on October 3 - Taman.
On October 9, 1943, Soviet troops reached the coast 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. Two large fronts could be surrounded here at once, as a result of which a large gap would have formed, allowing the enemy to carry out major operations in the south and northeast directions.
The Soviet command was preparing for this offensive. From mid-April, the General Staff began to develop a plan for both a defensive operation near Kursk and a counteroffensive. And by the beginning of July 1943, the Soviet command had completed preparations for the Battle of Kursk.
July 5, 1943 German troops began the offensive. The first attack was repulsed. However, then the Soviet troops had to withdraw. 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 eventually forced to stop the offensive and go on the defensive.
The struggle on the southern face of the Kursk ledge, in the zone of the Voronezh Front, was of an exceptionally tense character.
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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 troops of the Central.
August 5, 1943 (the day of the celebration of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God, as well as the icon of "Joy of All Who Sorrow") was released Eagle. On the same day, the troops of the Steppe Front were liberated Belgorod. 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.
The 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, the general withdrawal of the Nazi troops began on the southern face of the Kursk salient.
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 grouping of German troops.
Liberation of Smolensk (1943)
Smolensk offensive operation August 7 - October 2, 1943. In 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 7 to 20 August. During this stage, the troops of the Western Front carried out the Spas-Demenskaya operation. The troops of the left wing of the Kalinin Front began the Dukhovshchinskaya offensive operation. At the second stage (August 21 - September 6), the troops of the Western Front carried out the Yelnensko-Dorogobuzh operation, and the troops of the left wing of the Kalinin Front continued to conduct the Dukhovshchinskaya 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 Dukhovshchinsky-Demidov operation.September 25, 1943 troops of the Western Front liberated Smolensk- the most important strategic center of defense of the Nazi troops in the western direction.
As a result of the successful implementation of the Smolensk offensive operation, our troops broke into the enemy's heavily fortified multi-lane and deeply echeloned defenses and advanced 200-225 km to the West.
Liberation of Donbass, Bryansk and left-bank Ukraine
August 13, 1943 began Donbass operation Southwestern and Southern fronts. The leadership of Nazi Germany attached exceptionally great importance to keeping the Donbass in their hands. From the very first day, the fighting took on an extremely tense character. The enemy put up stubborn resistance. However, he failed to stop the offensive of the Soviet troops. The Nazi troops in the Donbass faced the threat of encirclement and a new Stalingrad. Retreating from the Left-bank Ukraine, the Nazi command carried out a savage plan, drawn up according to the recipes for total war, for the complete devastation of the territory being abandoned. Along with regular troops, the mass extermination of civilians and their deportation to Germany, the destruction of industrial facilities, cities and other settlements were carried out by SS and police units. However, the rapid advance of the Soviet troops prevented him from fully implementing his plan.On August 26, the troops of the Central Front (commander - General of the Army K.K. Rokossovsky) launched an offensive, starting to carry out Chernigov-Poltava operation.
On September 2, the troops of the right wing of the Voronezh Front (commander - General of the Army N.F. Vatutin) liberated Sumy and launched an offensive against Romny.
Continuing to successfully develop the offensive, the troops of the Central Front advanced more than 200 km to the south-west and on September 15 liberated the city of Nizhyn, an important stronghold of the enemy defense on the outskirts of Kiev. 100 km remained to the Dnieper. The troops of the right wing of the Voronezh Front advancing south by September 10 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 on September 16 liberated the city of Novgorod-Seversky.
September 21 (Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary) Soviet troops liberated Chernihiv.
With the release of Soviet troops at the end of September to the border of the Dnieper, the liberation of the Left-Bank Ukraine was completed.
“... Rather, the Dnieper will flow back than the Russians will overcome it ...”, Hitler said. Indeed, the Broad, deep, high-water river with a high right bank was a serious natural barrier to the advancing Soviet troops. The Soviet high command clearly understood how important the Dnieper was for the retreating enemy, and did everything to force it on the move, seize bridgeheads on the right bank and prevent the enemy from gaining a foothold on this line. They tried to accelerate the advance of troops to the Dnieper, and to develop an offensive not only against the main enemy groupings retreating to permanent crossings, but also in the intervals between them. This made it possible to reach the Dnieper on a broad front and frustrate the plan of the Nazi command to make the "Eastern Wall" impregnable. Significant forces of partisans also actively joined the struggle, which subjected enemy communications to continuous blows and interfered with the regrouping of German troops.On September 21 (the feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos), the advanced units of the left wing of the Central Front reached the Dnieper north of Kiev. Troops from other fronts were also successfully advancing 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 in their entire offensive zone reached the Dnieper.
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At first, forward detachments crossed over on improvised means under continuous enemy fire and tried to cling to the right bank. After that, pontoon crossings for equipment were created. The troops that crossed to the right bank of the Dnieper had a very difficult time. Before they had time to gain a foothold there, fierce battles flared up. The enemy, having brought up large forces, continuously counterattacked, trying to destroy our subunits and units or to 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 the enemy troops, our troops crossed the Dnieper in a front section of 750 kilometers from Loev to Zaporozhye and captured a number of important bridgeheads from which it was supposed to develop the offensive further to the west.
For crossing the Dnieper, for selflessness and heroism in the battles on the bridgeheads, 2438 soldiers of all branches of the armed forces (47 generals, 1123 officers and 1268 soldiers and sergeants) were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
On October 20, 1943, the Voronezh Front was renamed the 1st Ukrainian, the Steppe Front - into the 2nd Ukrainian, Southwestern and Southern Fronts into the 3rd and 4th Ukrainian.
November 6, 1943, on the day of the celebration of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" Kiev was liberated from the Nazi invaders by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian front under the command of General N.F. Vatutin.
After the liberation of Kiev, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front launched an offensive against Zhytomyr, Fastov and Korosten. Over the next 10 days, they advanced 150 km west and liberated many settlements, including the cities of Fastov and Zhitomir. On the right bank of the Dnieper, a strategic bridgehead was formed, 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 Most Holy Theotokos), 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 a second front
From November 28 - December 1, 1943 took place Tehran conference heads of allied powers against fascism of the states - the USSR (JV Stalin), the USA (President F. Roosevelt) and Great Britain (Prime Minister W. Churchill).The main issue was the opening of the second front in Europe by the USA and Great Britain, which they did not open despite their promises. At the conference, a decision was made to open a second front in France during May 1944. The Soviet delegation, at the request of the allies, announced the readiness of the USSR to enter the war against Japan at the end of the war. action in Europe. Questions about the post-war structure and the fate of Germany were also discussed at the conference.
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: Zhytomyr-Berdichevskaya, Kirovogradskaya, Korsun-Shevchenkovskaya, Nikopol-Krivorozhskaya, Rivne-Lutskaya, Proskurovsko-Chernovitskaya, Umansko-Botoshanskaya, Bereznegovato-Snigirevskaya, Polesskaya, Odessa and Tyrgu- Frumosskaya.December 24, 1943 – January 14, 1944 Zhytomyr-Berdichev operation. Having advanced 100-170 km, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in 3 weeks of hostilities almost completely liberated the Kiev and Zhytomyr regions and many areas of the Vinnitsa and Rovno regions, including the cities of Zhitomir (December 31), Novograd-Volynsky (January 3) , Belaya Tserkov (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 grouping, which still held the right bank of the Dnieper in the Kanev area. Prerequisites were created for striking the flank and rear of this grouping.
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 the strong counterattacks of the enemy, they were forced to go on the defensive. As a result of the Kirovograd operation, the position of the Nazi troops in the zone of operations of the 2nd Ukrainian Front deteriorated significantly.
January 24 - February 17, 1944 Korsun-Shevchenko operation. During this operation, the troops of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts surrounded and defeated a large grouping of Nazi troops in the Kanevsky salient.
January 27 - February 11, 1944 Rovno-Lutsk operation- was carried out by the troops of the right wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front. On February 2, the cities of Lutsk and Rivne were liberated, on February 11 - Shepetovka.
January 30 - February 29, 1944 Nikopol-Krivoy Rog operation. It was carried out by the troops of the 3rd and 4th Ukrainian fronts in order to eliminate the enemy's Nikopol bridgehead. By the end of February 7, the 4th Ukrainian Front completely cleared the Nikopol bridgehead from enemy troops and on February 8, together with units of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, liberated the city of Nikopol. After stubborn fighting, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front on February 22 liberated the city of Krivoy Rog - a large industrial center and a 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 delivering 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 pushed the enemy back from the Zaporozhye bend of the Dnieper, the Soviet troops deprived the Nazi command of the last hope of restoring land contact with the 17th Army blockaded in the Crimea. A significant reduction in the front line allowed the Soviet command to release forces to capture the Crimean peninsula.
On February 29, the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, General Nikolai Fedorovich Vatutin, was seriously wounded by Bandera. Unfortunately, it was not possible to save this talented commander. He passed away on April 15th.
By the spring of 1944, the troops of four Ukrainian fronts broke into the enemy's defenses all the way from Pripyat to the lower reaches of the Dnieper. Having advanced 150-250 km to the west for two months, they defeated several large enemy groupings and frustrated his plans to restore defense along the Dnieper. The liberation of the Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye regions was completed, the entire Zhytomyr, almost completely Rivne and Kirovograd regions, a number of districts of Vinnitsa, Nikolaev, Kamenetz-Podolsk and Volyn regions were cleared of the enemy. Such large industrial regions 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, which held Proskurov-Chernivtsi offensive operation(March 4 - April 17, 1944).
On March 5, the 2nd Ukrainian Front began Uman-Botoshansk operation(March 5 - April 17, 1944).
March 6 began Bereznegovato-Snigirevsky operation 3rd Ukrainian Front (March 6-18, 1944). On March 11, Soviet troops liberated Berislav, on March 13, the 28th Army captured Kherson, and on March 15, Bereznegovatoe and Snigirevka were liberated. The troops of the right wing of the front, pursuing the enemy, reached the Southern Bug near Voznesensk.
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 Kamenetz-Podolsk was liberated.
The 2nd Belorussian Front provided significant assistance to the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in defeating the northern wing of the Nazi Army Group South. Polessky offensive operation(March 15 - April 5, 1944).
March 26, 1944 advance detachments of the 27th and 52nd armies (2nd Ukrainian Front) west of the city of Balti reached the Prut River, occupying an 85-km section along the border of the USSR with Romania. It 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 deep into Romanian territory. On the approaches to Iasi and Chisinau, they met stubborn resistance from the enemy. The main result of the Uman-Botoshansky operation was the liberation of a significant part of the territory of Ukraine, 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 in their entire zone. On March 28, after heavy fighting, the city of Nikolaev was taken.
On the evening of April 9, Soviet troops broke into Odessa from the north and captured the city by night assault by 10 am on April 10. Troops of three armies, commanded by Generals V.D. Tsvetaev, V.I. Chuikov and I.T. Shlemin, as well as the horse-mechanized group of General I.A. Pliev, took part in the liberation of Odessa.
April 8 - May 6, 1944 Tyrgu-Frumosskaya offensive operation of the 2nd Ukrainian Front was the final operation of the strategic offensive of the Red Army in the Right-Bank Ukraine. Its purpose was to strike in the direction of Targu Frumos, Vaslui to cover the Chisinau grouping of the enemy from the west. 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 the resistance of the enemy, crossed the Siret River, advanced in the southwestern and southern directions by 30-50 km and reached the foothills of the Carpathians. However, the tasks were not completed. Our troops went over to the defensive at the achieved lines.
Liberation of Crimea (April 8 - May 12, 1944)
On April 8, the offensive of the 4th Ukrainian Front began with the aim of liberating the Crimea. On April 11, our troops captured Dzhankoy, a powerful stronghold in the enemy's defense and an important road junction. The exit of the 4th Ukrainian Front to the Dzhankoy area endangered the retreat routes of the enemy's Kerch grouping 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 on the night of April 11 went on the offensive. On April 13, Soviet troops liberated the cities of Evpatoria, Simferopol and Feodosia. And on April 15-16, they reached the approaches to Sevastopol, where they were stopped by the organized defense of the enemy.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. May 9, 1944 Sevastopol was liberated. The remnants of the German troops fled to Cape Chersonese, hoping to escape by sea. But on May 12 they were completely crushed. At Cape Khersones, 21 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were captured, a large amount of weapons and military equipment was captured.
Western Ukraine
July 27 after stubborn fighting was liberated Lviv.In July-August 1944, Soviet troops liberated from the Nazi invaders western regions of Ukraine, as well as southeastern 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 invaders, completely lifted the blockade from 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 defeating 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 Belarusian operation The Vitebsk-Orsha operation was also carried out.The general offensive was launched on June 23 by the troops of the 1st Baltic Front (commanded by Colonel-General I.Kh. Bagramyan), by the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front (commanded by Colonel-General I.D. Colonel General G.F. Zakharov). The next day, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front under the command of General of the Army K.K. Rokossovsky went on the offensive. Behind enemy lines, partisan detachments began active operations.
The troops of the 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. Zhukov, "the capital of Belarus could not be recognized ... Now everything lay in ruins, and in the place of residential areas there were wastelands covered with piles of broken bricks and debris. The most difficult impression was made by people, residents of Minsk. Most of them were extremely exhausted, exhausted. .."
On June 29 - July 4, 1944, the troops of the 1st Baltic Front successfully carried out the Polotsk operation, destroying the enemy in this area, and on July 4 liberated Polotsk. Troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front on July 5 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 the Bagration operation was achieved, and several days ahead of schedule. In 12 days - from June 23 to July 4 - Soviet troops advanced almost 250 km. The Vitebsk, Mogilev, Polotsk, Minsk and Bobruisk regions were completely liberated.
On July 18, 1944 (the feast of St. Sergius of Radonezh), Soviet troops crossed the border of Poland.
On July 24 (on the feast day of St. Princess Olga of Russia), the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front with their forward units reached the Vistula near Demblin. Here they released 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 troops of the Red Army, 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 hostilities to 1,100 km. The vast territory of the Belarusian Republic was cleared of the invaders - 80% and a fourth of Poland.
Warsaw Uprising (August 1 - October 2, 1944)
On August 1, 1994, an anti-Nazi uprising was raised in Warsaw. In response, the Germans committed atrocious reprisals against the population. The city was destroyed to the ground. Soviet troops made an attempt to help the rebels, crossed the Vistula and captured the embankment in Warsaw. However, soon the Germans began to push 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 the 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 agreed with the command of the Soviet army in order to receive effective assistance from our troops.Liberation of Moldova, Romania, Slovakia
August 20 - 29, 1944. Iasi-Chisinau offensive operation.In April 1944, as a result of a successful offensive in Right-Bank Ukraine, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front reached the line 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 in order to defeat a large grouping of German and Romanian troops covering the Balkan direction.
As a result of the successful implementation of the Yassy-Kishinev operation, Soviet troops completed the liberation of Moldova and the Izmail region of Ukraine.
August 23, 1944 - an armed uprising in Romania. which resulted in the overthrow of the fascist regime of Antonescu. The next day, Romania withdrew from the war on the side of Germany and on August 25 declared war on her. Since that time, the 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 the units of the 1st and 4th Ukrainian fronts in the Eastern Carpathians, our troops liberated almost the entire Transcarpathian Ukraine, on September 20 went to the border of Slovakia, liberated part of Eastern Slovakia. The breakthrough to the Hungarian lowland opened the prospect of the liberation of Czechoslovakia and access to the southern border of Germany.
the Baltic States
September 14 - November 24, 1944 Baltic offensive operation. This is one of the largest operations in the autumn of 1944, 12 armies of the three Baltic fronts and the Leningrad front were deployed on the 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 came to 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 had completely cleared the northern bank of the Neman River from 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 and lost communications that connected it by land with East Prussia. The struggle for the Baltic was long and extremely fierce. The enemy, having a well-developed road network, actively maneuvered with his own forces and means, put up stubborn resistance to the Soviet troops, often turning into counterattacks and delivering counterattacks. On his part, up to 25% of all forces on the Soviet-German front participated in the hostilities. 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 purpose of the operation was to use the joint efforts of the Soviet and Yugoslav troops in the Belgrade direction, the Yugoslav and Bulgarian troops in the Nis and Skopje directions to defeat the army group "Serbia" and liberate the eastern half of the territory of Serbia, including Belgrade. To accomplish these tasks, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian (57th and 17th air armies, the 4th guards mechanized corps and units of front subordination) and the 2nd Ukrainian (46th and parts of the 5th air army) fronts were involved . The offensive of the 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 Tisza River, freeing the entire left bank of the Danube east of the Tisza mouth from the enemy. On October 14 (the feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos), an 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, the army group "Serbia" was defeated and a number of formations of the army group "F" were defeated. As a result of the operation, the enemy front was pushed back 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 direction of Budapest. The headquarters of the Supreme High Command could now use the forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front to defeat the enemy in Hungary. The inhabitants of the villages and cities of Yugoslavia warmly welcomed the Soviet soldiers. They took to the streets with flowers, shook hands, hugged and kissed their liberators. The air was filled with solemn bells and Russian melodies performed by local musicians. The 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 the Soviet troops forced Finland to withdraw from the war. By the autumn of 1944, the troops of the Karelian Front had mostly reached the pre-war border with Finland, with the exception of 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 in which the forces of the German fleet were based. The commander of the Karelian Front, General of the Army K. A. Meretskov, wrote: “Under the feet of the tundra, damp and somehow uncomfortable, from below breathes lifelessness: there, in the depths, permafrost lying in islands begins, and after all, soldiers have to sleep on this land, laying under him only one half of his overcoat ... Sometimes the earth rises with bare masses of granite rocks ... Nevertheless, it was necessary to fight. And not just fight, but attack, beat the enemy, drive him and destroy him. I had to remember the words of the great Suvorov: "Where a deer passed, a Russian soldier would pass there, and where a deer did not pass, a Russian soldier would pass anyway." 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 here, at the base of a wide bay of the Barents Sea, convenient for sailors, a port was built. Through Pechenga there was a lively trade with Norway, Holland, England and other Western countries. In 1920, under a peace treaty of October 14, Soviet Russia voluntarily ceded the Pechenga region to Finland.On October 25, Kirkenes was liberated, and the struggle was so fierce that every house and every street had to be stormed.
854 Soviet prisoners of war and 772 civilians driven 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 The assault and capture of Budapest.The offensive began on 29 October. 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 battles flared up on the outskirts of Budapest. Our troops achieved significant success, but they could not defeat the enemy's Budapest grouping and take possession of the city. Finally managed to surround Budapest. But the city was a fortress prepared by the Nazis for a long defense. Hitler ordered to fight for Budapest to the last soldier. The battles for the liberation of the eastern part of the city (Pest) went on from December 27 to January 18, and its western part (Buda) - from January 20 to February 13.
During the Budapest operation, Soviet troops liberated a significant part of the territory of Hungary. The offensive operations of the 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. In addition 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 West Carpathian operation, our troops had to overcome the defensive lines of the enemy, stretching in depth for 300-350 km. The offensive was carried out by the 4th Ukrainian Front (commander - General of the Army 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 together with the Russians. The actions of the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts to defeat the Nazi troops between the Vistula and the Oder can be divided into two stages. On the first (from January 12 to 17), the enemy's strategic defense front was broken through in a strip of about 500 km, the main forces of Army Group A were defeated, and conditions were created for the rapid development of the operation to a greater depth.January 17, 1945 was liberated Warsaw. 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 on the flanks of the troops of the 2nd Belorussian and 4th Ukrainian fronts, in the course of the rapid pursuit of the enemy, defeated the enemy reserves advanced from the depths, captured Silesian industrial region and went out on a wide front to the Oder, 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 hostilities were transferred to German territory. About 60 divisions of German troops were defeated.
January 13 - April 25, 1945 East Prussian offensive operation. In the course of this long-term strategic operation, the Insterburg, Mlavsko-Elbing, Hejlsberg, Koenigsberg and Zemland front-line offensive operations were carried out.
East Prussia was Germany's main strategic foothold for attacking Russia and Poland. This territory also tightly covered access to the central regions of Germany. Therefore, the fascist command attached great importance to the retention of East Prussia. Relief 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 from the enemy.
Three fronts took part in the operation: the 2nd Belorussian (commander - Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky), the 3rd Belorussian (commander - General of the Army I.D. Chernyakhovsky) and the 1st Baltic (commander - General I.Kh. Bagramyan). They were assisted by the Baltic Fleet under the command of Admiral V.F. Tributs.
The fronts began the offensive successfully (January 13 - the 3rd Belorussian and January 14 - the 2nd Belorussian). By January 18, the German troops, despite desperate resistance, suffered a heavy defeat in the places of the main blows of our armies and began to retreat. Until the end of January, waging the most stubborn battles, our troops captured a significant part of East Prussia. Coming out to the sea, they cut off the East Prussian grouping of the enemy from the rest of the forces. At the same time, on January 28, the 1st Baltic Front captured the large seaport of Memel (Klaipeda).
On February 10, the second stage of hostilities began - the elimination of isolated enemy groups. On February 18, General of the Army I.D. Chernyakhovsky died from a serious wound. The command of the 3rd Belorussian Front was entrusted to Marshal A.M. Vasilevsky. During intense fighting, Soviet troops suffered serious losses. By March 29, it was possible to defeat the Nazis, who occupied the Heilsber region. Further, it was planned to defeat the Koenigsberg grouping. Around the city, the Germans created three powerful defensive positions. The city was declared by Hitler the best German fortress in the history of Germany and "absolutely impregnable bastion of the German spirit."
Assault on Koenigsberg started April 6th. On April 9, the garrison of the fortress capitulated. Moscow celebrated the completion of the assault on Koenigsberg with a salute of the highest category - 24 artillery volleys from 324 guns. The medal "For the capture of Koenigsberg" was established, which was usually done only on the occasion of capturing the capitals of states. All participants in the assault received a medal. On April 17, the grouping of German troops near Koenigsberg was liquidated.
After the capture of Koenigsberg, only the Zemland enemy grouping 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 composition. 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 and went missing, more than 458 thousand soldiers were injured or out of action due to illness.
Yalta Conference of the Allied Powers
This conference was held from February 4 to February 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. The 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. It was decided to occupy and divide Germany into occupation zones and to allocate its own zone to France. For the USSR, the main task was to ensure the security of its borders after the end of the war. So, for example, there was a provisional government of Poland in exile, based in London. However, Stalin insisted on the creation of a new government in Poland, since it was from the territory of Poland that attacks on Russia were conveniently carried out by its enemies.In Yalta, the “Declaration on a Liberated Europe” was also signed, which, in particular, stated: “The establishment of order in Europe and the reorganization of national economic life must be achieved in such a way that will allow the liberated peoples to destroy the last traces of Nazism and fascism and create democratic institutions of their own choice.
At the Yalta Conference, an agreement was concluded on the entry of the USSR into the war against Japan two or three months after the end of the war in Europe and on the condition that Russia return South Sakhalin and the adjacent islands, as well as the naval base in Port Arthur that previously belonged to Russia and on 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 supposed to develop a Charter new Organization United Nations.
Coast of the Baltic Sea
February 10 - April 4, 1945. East Pomeranian Offensive. The enemy command continued to hold the coast of the Baltic Sea in Eastern Pomerania in its hands, 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, whose main forces were fighting in East Prussia, in early February 1945 a gap about 150 km long was formed. This strip of terrain was occupied by the limited forces of the Soviet troops. As a result of hostilities, 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 grouping was liquidated. 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 offensive against Vienna.
Fierce battles for the capital of Austria began the very next day - April 5th. The city was covered from three sides - from the south, east and west. Leading stubborn street battles, Soviet troops advanced towards the city center. Fierce battles flared up for each quarter, and sometimes even for a separate building. By 2 p.m. on April 13, the Soviet troops were completely liberated Vienna.
During the Vienna operation, Soviet troops fought 150-200 km, completed the liberation of Hungary and the eastern part of Austria with its capital. The fighting during the Vienna operation was extremely fierce. The most combat-ready divisions of the Wehrmacht (6th SS Panzer Army) opposed the Soviet troops here, which shortly before that had inflicted a serious defeat on the Americans in the Ardennes. But the Soviet soldiers in a fierce struggle crushed this color of the Nazi Wehrmacht. True, the victory was achieved at the cost of considerable sacrifice.
Berlin offensive operation (April 16 - May 2, 1945)
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The offensive of the Russian troops was planned very carefully. In a relatively narrow sector of the front, 65 rifle divisions, 3155 tanks and self-propelled vehicles, about 42 thousand guns and mortars were concentrated in a short time. The idea of the Soviet command was to break through the enemy defenses along the Oder and Neisse rivers with powerful strikes by the troops of three fronts and, developing the offensive in depth, encircle the main grouping of Nazi troops in the Berlin direction with the simultaneous dissection of it into several parts and the subsequent destruction of each of them. them. In the future, Soviet troops were 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 which to coordinate actions was reached at the Crimean Conference. The main role in the upcoming operation was assigned to the 1st Belorussian Front (commander Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov), the 1st Ukrainian Front (commander - Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev) was supposed to defeat the enemy group south of Berlin. The front delivered two blows: the main one in the general direction of Spremberg and the auxiliary one on Dresden. The beginning of the offensive of the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts was scheduled for April 16. On the 2nd Belorussian Front (commander - Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky) was to launch an offensive on April 20, force the Oder in its lower reaches and strike in a north-western direction in order to cut off the West Pomeranian enemy grouping from Berlin. In addition, the 2nd Belorussian Front was tasked with part of the forces to cover the coast of the Baltic Sea from the mouth of the Vistula to Altdamm.
It was decided to start the main offensive two hours before dawn. One hundred and forty anti-aircraft searchlights were supposed to suddenly illuminate enemy positions and objects of attack. Sudden and powerful artillery preparation and air strikes, followed by an attack by infantry and tanks, stunned the Germans. Hitler's troops were literally sunk in a continuous sea of fire and metal. On the morning of April 16, Russian troops were successfully moving forward in 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 Zelov Heights were pitted with trenches and trenches. All approaches to them were shot through with multi-layered cross-artillery and rifle-machine-gun fire. Separate buildings have been turned into strongholds, barriers made of logs and metal beams have been set up on the roads, and the approaches to them have been mined. On both sides of the highway leading from the city of Zelov to the west, there were 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 battle. However, even with their help it was not possible to quickly seize the border. Seelow heights were taken only by 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 contour of the defense of Berlin.
The offensive of the 1st Ukrainian Front developed more successfully. Having crossed the Neisse River, by the end of the day on April 16, combined-arms and tank formations had broken through the main enemy defense line on 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.
Storming Berlin
April 20 began the assault on Berlin. 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 grouping of the enemy was closed. On the same day, a meeting of Soviet and American troops took place in the Torgau region on the Elbe River. The 2nd Belorussian Front, by active operations in the lower reaches of the Oder, reliably fettered the 3rd German Panzer 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 the successes, they rushed to the center of Berlin, where the main command of the enemy, led by Hitler, was still located. Fierce battles unfolded on the streets of the city. The fighting did not stop day or night.
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April 30 early in the morning began assault on 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 pm on April 30, the Red Banner was hoisted over the Reichstag. However, the fighting in the Reichstag continued throughout the day of 1 May and the night of 2 May. Separate scattered groups of Nazis who settled in basements, capitulated only on the morning of May 2.
On April 30, the German troops in Berlin were divided into four parts of different composition, and their unified command was lost.
At 3 am on May 1, the chief of the general staff of the German ground forces, General of the Infantry 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 announced Hitler's suicide, and also handed over a list of members of the new imperial government and the proposal of 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 did not say anything about surrender. Krebs' message was immediately reported by Marshal G.K. Zhukov to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. The answer was: seek only unconditional surrender. On the evening of May 1, the German command sent an envoy who announced the 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 3 p.m., 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 remained the Army Group Center and part of the Army Group Austria, located on the territory of Czechoslovakia. The idea of the Prague operation was to encircle, dismember and in a short time defeat the main forces of the Nazi troops on the territory of Czechoslovakia by delivering several blows in converging directions to Prague, to prevent their retreat to the west. The main attacks on the flanks of Army Group Center were delivered by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front from the area northwest of Dresden and the 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 built hundreds of barricades, but also seized the central post office, telegraph, railway stations, bridges over the Vltava, a number of military depots, 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, turned over the radio to the allies for help. In this regard, Marshal I. S. Konev ordered the troops of his shock group to launch an offensive on the morning of May 6.
On the afternoon of May 7, the commander of Army Group Center received on the radio an order from Field Marshal V. Keitel about the surrender of German troops on all fronts, but did not bring him to his subordinates. On the contrary, he gave the troops his order, in which he stated that the rumors of surrender were false, they were being spread by Anglo-American and Soviet propaganda. On May 7, American officers arrived in Prague, who announced the surrender of Germany and advised to stop the fighting in Prague. At night it became known that the head of the German garrison in Prague, General R. Toussaint, was ready to enter into negotiations with the leadership of the rebels about surrender. At 4 p.m., an act of surrender was signed by the German garrison. Under its terms, German troops received the right to freely withdraw 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 the fighting squads of the rebels, the Soviet troops cleared the city of the Nazis. The possible retreat of the main forces of Army Group Center to the west and southwest with the capture of Prague by Soviet troops was cut off. The main forces of the Army Group "Center" were in the "bag" 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 the suicide of Hitler, agreed to the surrender of the Wehrmacht, Germany recognized 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 surrender treaty for Germany and its armed forces. It was signed on behalf of the Soviet Union by General ID 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 the American and British troops. However, Stalin insisted that "surrender should be carried out as the most important historical act and adopted not on the territory of the victors, but where the fascist aggression came from - in Berlin, and not in unilaterally, but necessarily the supreme 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 ceremony of signing the act took place in the building of the military engineering school, where a special hall was prepared, decorated state flags USSR, USA, England and France. At the main table were representatives of the allied powers. The hall was attended by 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 British Air Marshal Arthur V. Tedder, the commander of the US strategic air forces, General Spaatz, and the commander-in-chief of the French army, General Delattre de Tassigny. From the German side, Field Marshal Keitel, Admiral of the Fleet von Friedeburg and Colonel General of Aviation 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 to the heads of the Allied delegations a document on his powers, signed by Doenitz. The German delegation was then asked whether it had the Act of Unconditional Surrender in hand and whether it had studied it. After Keitel's affirmative answer, the 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 as witnesses. The procedure for signing the surrender ended at 00:43 on May 9, 1945. The German delegation, by order of Zhukov, left the hall. The act consisted of 6 paragraphs of the following content:
"one. 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 High Command of the Red Army and at the same time to the High Command Allied Expeditionary Force.
2. The German High Command will immediately issue orders to all German commanders of the land, sea and air forces and to 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 disarm completely, 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 steamships, ships and aircraft, their engines, hulls and equipment, but also machines, armaments, apparatuses and all military-technical means of warfare in general.
3. The German High Command will immediately assign appropriate commanders and ensure that all further orders issued by the Supreme High Command of the Red Army and the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces are carried out.
4. This act shall not prevent 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 act of surrender, the High Command of the Red Army, as well as the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Force, will take such punitive measures or other actions. as they deem necessary.
6. This act is drawn up in Russian, English and German. Only Russian and English texts are authentic.
At 0:50 the meeting was adjourned. After that, a reception took place, which was held with great enthusiasm. 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: "Soviet generals danced beyond competition. I also could not resist and, remembering my youth, I danced" Russian ""
The land, 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, the Kurland Army Group, pressed against the Baltic Sea, stopped resisting. About 190 thousand soldiers and officers, including 42 generals, surrendered. On the morning of May 9, German troops surrendered in the area of Danzig and Gdynia. About 75 thousand soldiers and officers, including 12 generals, laid down their arms here. Task Force Narvik capitulated in Norway.
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 (12,000 people) stationed there.
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 make their way to the west, the Soviet troops had to destroy until May 19.
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Potsdam Conference (July 17 - August 2, 1945)
This conference was attended by governmental delegations of the allied states. The Soviet delegation headed by JV Stalin, the British delegation headed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the American delegation headed 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 the countries of Europe and the reorganization of Germany. An agreement was reached on 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 were to be eradicated, all Nazi institutions were to be dissolved, and all members of the Nazi Party were to be removed from public office. War criminals must be arrested and brought to justice. The production of German armaments must be prohibited. With regard to the restoration 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 entity (the United States and England proposed dividing Germany into three states).According to N.A. Narochnitskaya, “The most important, although never spoken aloud, result of Yalta and Potsdam was the actual recognition of the succession of the USSR in relation to the geopolitical area of the Russian Empire, combined with the newfound military power and international influence.”
Tatyana Radynova
With the beginning of September 1939, the short period of peace between the two great wars of the 20th century ended. Two years later, under the rule of fascist Germany, there was a large part of Europe with a huge production and raw material potential.
A powerful blow was brought down on the Soviet Union, for which the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) began. A summary of this period in the history of the USSR cannot express the scale of the suffering endured by the Soviet people and the heroism they showed.
On the eve of military trials
The revival of the power of Germany, dissatisfied with the results of the First World War (1914-1918), against the background of the aggressiveness of the party that came to power there, led by the possessed Adolf Hitler, with its ideology of racial superiority, made the threat of a new war for the USSR more and more real. By the end of the 1930s, these sentiments more and more penetrated the people, and the all-powerful leader of a vast country, Stalin, understood this more and more clearly.
The country was getting ready. People left for construction sites in the eastern part of the country, military factories were built in Siberia and the Urals - backups of industries located near the western borders. Significantly more financial, human and scientific resources were invested in the defense industry than in the civilian one. To increase the results of labor in cities and in agriculture ideological and harsh administrative means were used (repressive laws on discipline in factories and collective farms).
The reform in the army was served by the adoption of the law on universal conscription (1939), and widespread military training was introduced. It was in shooting, parachute circles, in flying clubs at OSOAVIAKhIM that future soldiers-heroes of the Patriotic War of 1941-1945 began to study military science. New military schools were opened, the latest types of weapons were developed, combat formations of a progressive type were formed: armored and airborne. But there was not enough time, the combat readiness of the Soviet troops was in many respects lower than that of the Wehrmacht - the army of Nazi Germany.
Stalin's suspicion of the power ambitions of the highest command staff did great harm. It resulted in monstrous repressions that wiped out up to two-thirds of the officer corps. There is a version of a planned provocation by the German military intelligence, which jeopardized many of the heroes of the civil war who became victims of the purges.
Foreign policy factors
Stalin and the leaders of countries that wanted to limit Hitler's European hegemony (England, France, the USA) were unable to create a united anti-fascist front before the start of the war. The Soviet leader, in an effort to delay the war, tried to contact Hitler. This led to the signing in 1939 of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact (agreement), which also did not contribute to the rapprochement of the anti-Hitler forces.
As it turned out, the country's leadership was mistaken about the value of a peace agreement with Hitler. On June 22, 1941, the Wehrmacht and the Luftwaffe, without declaring war, attacked the western borders of the USSR throughout. This was a complete surprise for the Soviet troops and a strong shock for Stalin.
tragic experience
In 1940, Hitler approved the Barbarossa plan. According to this plan, three summer months were allotted for the defeat of the USSR, the capture of its capital. And at first the plan was carried out with precision. All participants in the war recall the almost hopeless mood of the middle of the summer of 1941. 5.5 million German soldiers against 2.9 million Russians, total superiority in armaments - and in a month Belarus, the Baltic states, Moldova, almost all of Ukraine were captured. Losses of Soviet troops - 1 million killed, 700 thousand prisoners.
The superiority of the Germans in the skill of command and control was noticeable - the combat experience of the army, which had already passed half of Europe, had an effect. Skillful maneuvers surround and destroy entire groups near Smolensk, Kiev, in the Moscow direction, and the blockade of Leningrad begins. Stalin is dissatisfied with the actions of his commanders and resorts to the usual repression - the commander of the Western Front was shot for treason.
people's war
Still, Hitler's plans fell apart. The USSR quickly embarked on a war footing. The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command was created to control the armies and a single governing body for the entire country - the State Defense Committee, headed by the all-powerful leader Stalin.
Hitler believed that Stalin's methods of governing the country, illegal repressions against the intelligentsia, the military, wealthy peasants and entire nationalities would cause the collapse of the state, the emergence of a "fifth column" - as he was used to in Europe. But he miscalculated.
The invaders were hated by men in the trenches, women at the machines, old people and small children. Wars of this magnitude affect the fate of every person, and victory requires a universal effort. Sacrifices for the sake of a common victory were made not only because of ideological motives, but also because of innate patriotism, which had roots in pre-revolutionary history.
Battle of Moscow
The invasion received its first serious rebuff near Smolensk. By heroic efforts, the attack on the capital was delayed there until the beginning of September.
By October, tanks with crosses on their armor come out to Moscow, with the goal of capturing the Soviet capital before the onset of cold weather. The most difficult time for the years of the Great Patriotic War was coming. A state of siege is declared in Moscow (10/19/1941).
The military parade on the anniversary of the October Revolution (11/07/1941) will forever remain in history as a symbol of confidence that Moscow will be able to defend. The troops left Red Square directly to the front, which was located 20 kilometers to the west.
An example of resilience Soviet soldiers was the feat of 28 Red Army soldiers from the division of General Panfilov. For 4 hours they delayed a breakthrough group of 50 tanks at the Dubosekovo junction and died, destroying 18 combat vehicles. These heroes of the Patriotic War (1941-1945) are only a small part of the Immortal Regiment of the Russian army. Such self-sacrifice gave the enemy doubts about victory, strengthening the courage of the defenders.
Recalling the events of the war, Marshal Zhukov, who commanded the Western Front near Moscow, whom Stalin began to promote to the first roles, always noted the decisive importance of the defense of the capital for achieving victory in May 1945. Any delay of the enemy army made it possible to accumulate forces for a counterattack: fresh parts of the Siberian garrisons were transferred to Moscow. Hitler did not plan to wage war in winter conditions, the Germans began to have problems with the supply of troops. By the beginning of December, there was a turning point in the battle for the Russian capital.
Root turn
The offensive of the Red Army (December 5, 1941), unexpected for Hitler, threw the Germans back a hundred and fifty miles to the west. The fascist army suffered its first defeat in its history, and the plan for a victorious war failed.
The offensive continued until April 1942, but it was far from irreversible changes during the war: major defeats followed near Leningrad, Kharkov, in the Crimea, the Nazis reached the Volga near Stalingrad.
When historians of any country mention the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), a summary of its events is not complete without Battle of Stalingrad. It was at the walls of the city, which bore the name of Hitler's sworn enemy, that he received the blow that eventually led him to collapse.
The defense of the city was often carried out hand-to-hand, for every piece of territory. Participants in the war note an unprecedented amount of human and technical means attracted from both sides and burned in the fire of the Battle of Stalingrad. The Germans lost a quarter of the troops - one and a half million bayonets, 2 million - our losses.
The unprecedented resilience of the Soviet soldiers on the defensive and the irrepressible fury on the offensive, together with the increased tactical skill of the command, ensured the encirclement and capture of 22 divisions of the 6th Army of Field Marshal Paulus. The results of the second military winter shocked Germany and the whole world. The history of the war of 1941-1945 changed the course, it became clear that the USSR not only withstood the first blow, but would inevitably strike the enemy with a powerful retaliatory strike.
The final stage of the turning point in the war
The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) contains several examples of the military talent of the Soviet command. A summary of the events of 1943 is a series of impressive Russian victories.
The spring of 1943 began with a Soviet offensive in all directions. The configuration of the front line jeopardized the encirclement of the Soviet Army in the Kursk region. The German offensive operation called "Citadel" had precisely this strategic goal, but the Red Army command provided for reinforced defenses in the places of the alleged breakthrough, while simultaneously preparing reserves for a counteroffensive.
The German offensive in early July managed to break through the Soviet defenses only in sections to a depth of 35 km. The history of the war (1941-1945) knows the date of the start of the largest oncoming battle of self-propelled combat vehicles. On a sultry July day, on the 12th, in the steppe near the village of Prokhorovka, the crews of 1200 tanks began the battle. The Germans have the latest "Tiger" and "Panther", the Russians have the T-34 with a new, more powerful cannon. The defeat inflicted on the Germans knocked out the offensive weapons of the motorized corps from Hitler's hands, and the fascist army went over to the strategic defense.
By the end of August 1943, Belgorod and Orel were recaptured, and Kharkov was also liberated. For the first time in years, the Red Army seized the initiative. Now the German generals had to guess where she would start the fighting.
In the penultimate military year, historians single out 10 decisive operations that led to the liberation of the territory occupied by the enemy. Until 1953, they were called "10 Stalinist blows."
The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945): a summary of the military operations of 1944
- Lifting of the Leningrad blockade (January 1944).
- January-April 1944: Korsun-Shevchenko operation, successful battles in the Right-Bank Ukraine, March 26 - access to the border with Romania.
- Liberation of the Crimea (May 1944).
- The defeat of Finland in Karelia, its exit from the war (June-August 1944).
- The offensive of four fronts in Belarus (Operation Bagration).
- July-August - fighting in Western Ukraine, the Lvov-Sandomierz operation.
- Iasi-Kishinev operation, the defeat of 22 divisions, the withdrawal of Romania and Bulgaria from the war (August 1944).
- Help to the Yugoslav partisans I.B. Tito (September 1944).
- Liberation of the Baltic states (July-October of the same year).
- October - the liberation of the Soviet Arctic and the north-east of Norway.
End of enemy occupation
By the beginning of November, the territory of the USSR within the pre-war borders was liberated. The period of occupation for the peoples of Belarus and Ukraine has ended. The current political situation forces some "figures" to present the German occupation almost as a boon. It is worth asking Belarusians about this, who have lost every fourth person from the actions of “civilized Europeans”.
It is not for nothing that partisans began to operate in the occupied territories from the first days of the foreign invasion. The war of 1941-1945 in this sense became an echo of the year when other European invaders did not know peace on our territory.
Liberation of Europe
The European liberation campaign demanded unthinkable expenditures of human and military resources from the USSR. Hitler, who did not even allow the thought that a Soviet soldier would enter German soil, threw all possible forces into battle, put old men and children under arms.
The course of the final stage of the war can be traced by the name of the awards established by the Soviet government. Soviet soldiers-liberators received such medals of the war of 1941-1945: for (10/20/1944), Warsaw (01/07/1945), Prague (May 9), for the capture of Budapest (February 13), Koenigsberg (April 10), Vienna (13 April). And finally, military personnel were awarded for the storming of Berlin (May 2).
... And May came. The victory was marked by the signing on May 8 of the Act of unconditional surrender of the German troops, and on June 24 a parade was held with the participation of representatives of all fronts, types and branches of troops.
a great victory
Hitler's adventure cost mankind very dearly. The exact number of human losses is still debated. The restoration of the destroyed cities, the establishment of the economy required many years of hard work, hunger and deprivation.
The results of the war are now being assessed differently. The geopolitical changes that took place after 1945 had different consequences. Territorial acquisitions of the Soviet Union, emergence socialist camp, the strengthening of the political weight of the USSR to the status of a superpower soon led to confrontation and increased tension between the allied countries in World War II.
But the main results are not subject to any revision, do not depend on the opinion of politicians who are looking for immediate benefits. In the Great Patriotic War, our country defended freedom and independence, a terrible enemy was defeated - the bearer of a monstrous ideology that threatened to destroy entire nations, the peoples of Europe were delivered from him.
The participants in the battles go down in history, the children of the war are already elderly people, but the memory of that war will live on as long as people are able to appreciate freedom, honesty and courage.
The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) is one of the most important events in the history of the Russian people, which left an indelible mark on the soul of every person. In a seemingly short four years, almost 100 million human lives were lost, more than 1,500 cities and towns were destroyed, more than 30,000 industrial enterprises and at least 60 thousand kilometers of roads. Our state was going through a severe shock, which is hard to comprehend even now, in peacetime. What was the war like 1941-1945? What stages can be identified in the course of hostilities? And what are the consequences of this terrible event? In this article we will try to find answers to all these questions.
The Second World War
The Soviet Union was not the first to be attacked by fascist troops. Everyone knows that the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 began only 1.5 years after the start of the World War. So what events started this terrible war, and what kind of hostilities were organized by fascist Germany?
First of all, it is worth mentioning the fact that on August 23, 1939, a non-aggression pact was signed between Germany and the USSR. Along with it, some secret protocols were signed regarding the interests of the USSR and Germany, including the division of Polish territories. Thus, Germany, which had the goal of attacking Poland, secured itself against retaliatory steps on the part of the Soviet leadership and, in fact, made the USSR an accomplice in the partition of Poland.
So, on September 1, 1939, the fascist invaders attacked Poland. The Polish troops did not put up adequate resistance, and already on September 17, the troops of the Soviet Union entered the lands of Eastern Poland. As a result, the territories of the West of Ukraine and Belarus joined the territory of the Soviet state. On September 28 of the same year, Ribbentrop and V.M. Molotov signed an agreement on friendship and borders.
Germany failed to carry out the planned blitzkrieg, or lightning-fast outcome of the war. Military operations on the Western Front until May 10, 1940 are called " strange war”, as no events occurred during this period of time.
Only in the spring of 1940, Hitler resumed the offensive and captured Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. The operation to capture England "Sea Lion" was unsuccessful, and then the plan "Barbarossa" for the USSR was adopted - the plan for the start of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945).
Soviet preparation for war
Despite the non-aggression pact concluded in 1939, Stalin understood that the USSR would in any case be drawn into a world war. Therefore, the Soviet Union adopted a five-year plan to prepare for it, carried out in the period from 1938 to 1942.
The primary task in preparing for the war of 1941-1945 was the strengthening of the military-industrial complex and the development of heavy industry. Therefore, during this period, numerous thermal and hydroelectric power stations were built (including those on the Volga and Kama), coal mines and mines were developed, and oil production increased. Great importance was also given to the construction railway tracks and transport hubs.
The construction of backup enterprises in the eastern part of the country was carried out. And the costs of the defense industry have increased several times. New models were also released at this time. military equipment and weapons.
Equally important was the preparation of the population for war. The workweek now consisted of seven eight-hour days. The size of the Red Army was significantly increased due to the introduction of compulsory military service from the age of 18. It was mandatory for workers to receive special education; criminal liability was introduced for violations of discipline.
However, the real results did not correspond to the planned management, and only in the spring of 1941, an 11-12-hour working day was introduced for workers. And on June 21, 1941, I.V. Stalin gave the order to put the troops on alert, but the order reached the border guards too late.
USSR entry into the war
At dawn on June 22, 1941, fascist troops attacked the Soviet Union without declaring war, from that moment the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 began.
At noon of the same day, Vyacheslav Molotov spoke on the radio, announcing the beginning of the war to Soviet citizens and the need to resist the enemy. The next day, the Top Bet was created. high command, and on June 30 - State. The Defense Committee, in fact, received all the power. I.V. became the Chairman of the Committee and the Commander-in-Chief. Stalin.
Now let's move on to a brief description of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
Plan "Barbarossa"
Hitler's plan "Barbarossa" was as follows: he assumed the rapid defeat of the Soviet Union with the help of three groups of the German army. The first of them (northern) would make an attack on Leningrad, the second (central) - on Moscow and the third (southern) - on Kiev. Hitler planned to complete the entire offensive in 6 weeks and reach the Volga strip Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan. However, the confident rebuff of the Soviet troops did not allow him to carry out a "blitzkrieg".
Considering the forces of the parties in the war of 1941-1945, we can say that the USSR, although slightly, was inferior to the German army. Germany and its allies had 190 divisions, while the Soviet Union had only 170. 48,000 German artillery were fielded against 47,000 Soviet artillery. The number of enemy armies in both cases was approximately 6 million people. But in terms of the number of tanks and aircraft, the USSR significantly surpassed Germany (in the amount of 17.7 thousand against 9.3 thousand).
At the first stages of the war, the USSR suffered setbacks due to incorrectly chosen tactics of warfare. Initially, the Soviet leadership planned to wage war on foreign territory, not letting fascist troops into the territory of the Soviet Union. However, such plans were not successful. Already in July 1941, six Soviet republics were occupied, the Red Army lost more than 100 of its divisions. However, Germany also suffered considerable losses: in the first weeks of the war, the enemy lost 100,000 men and 40% of its tanks.
The dynamic resistance of the troops of the Soviet Union led to the disruption of Hitler's plan for a blitzkrieg. During the Battle of Smolensk (July 10 - September 10, 1945), the German troops needed to go on the defensive. In September 1941, the heroic defense of the city of Sevastopol began. But the main attention of the enemy was concentrated on the capital of the Soviet Union. Then preparations began for an attack on Moscow and a plan to capture it - Operation Typhoon.
The battle for Moscow is considered one of the most important events of the Russian war of 1941-1945. Only the stubborn resistance and courage of the Soviet soldiers allowed the USSR to survive in this difficult battle.
On September 30, 1941, German troops launched Operation Typhoon and launched an offensive against Moscow. The offensive began successfully for them. The fascist invaders managed to break through the defenses of the USSR, as a result of which, having surrounded the armies near Vyazma and Bryansk, they captured more than 650 thousand Soviet soldiers. The Red Army suffered significant losses. In October-November 1941, battles were fought only 70-100 km from Moscow, which was extremely dangerous for the capital. On October 20, a state of siege was introduced in Moscow.
From the beginning of the battle for the capital, G.K. was appointed commander-in-chief on the Western Front. Zhukov, however, he managed to stop the German offensive only by the beginning of November. On November 7, a parade was held on the capital's Red Square, from which the soldiers immediately went to the front.
In mid-November it started again German advance. When defending the capital, the 316th Infantry Division of General I.V. Panfilov, who at the beginning of the offensive repulsed several tank attacks of the aggressor.
On December 5-6, the troops of the Soviet Union, having received reinforcements from the Eastern Front, launched a counteroffensive, which marked the transition to a new stage in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. During the counteroffensive, the troops of the Soviet Union defeated almost 40 German divisions. Now the fascist troops were "thrown back" from the capital by 100-250 km.
The victory of the USSR significantly influenced the spirit of the soldiers and the entire Russian people. The defeat of Germany made it possible for other countries to begin the formation of an anti-Hitler coalition of states.
The successes of the Soviet troops made a deep impression on the leaders of the state. I.V. Stalin began to count on a speedy end to the war of 1941-1945. He believed that in the spring of 1942, Germany would repeat the attack on Moscow, so he ordered the main forces of the army to be concentrated precisely on the Western Front. However, Hitler thought differently and prepared a large-scale offensive in the south.
But before the start of the offensive, Germany planned to capture the Crimea and some cities of the Ukrainian Republic. Thus, the Soviet troops on the Kerch Peninsula were defeated, and on July 4, 1942, the city of Sevastopol had to be abandoned. Then Kharkov, Donbass and Rostov-on-Don fell; created a direct threat to Stalingrad. Stalin, who realized his miscalculations too late, on July 28 issued the order "Not a step back!", Forming barrage detachments for unstable divisions.
Until November 18, 1942, the inhabitants of Stalingrad heroically defended their city. Only on November 19, the troops of the USSR launched a counteroffensive.
Three operations were organized by the Soviet troops: "Uranus" (11/19/1942 - 02/2/1943), "Saturn" (12/16-30/1942) and "Ring" (11/10/1942 - 02/2/1943). What was each of them?
The plan "Uranus" assumed the encirclement of fascist troops from three fronts: the front of Stalingrad (commander - Eremenko), the Don Front (Rokossovsky) and the South-Western Front (Vatutin). Soviet troops planned to meet on November 23 in the city of Kalach-on-Don and give the Germans an organized battle.
Operation "Small Saturn" was aimed at protecting oil fields located in the Caucasus. Operation "Ring" in February 1943 was the final plan of the Soviet command. The Soviet troops were supposed to close the "ring" around the enemy army and defeat his forces.
As a result, on February 2, 1943, the enemy group surrounded by Soviet troops surrendered. The commander-in-chief of the German army, Friedrich Paulus, was also captured. The victory at Stalingrad led to a radical turning point in the history of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Now the strategic initiative was in the hands of the Red Army.
The next most important stage of the war was the battle on the Kursk Bulge, which lasted from July 5 to 08/23/1943. The German command adopted the Citadel plan, aimed at encircling and defeating the Soviet army on the Kursk Bulge.
In response to the enemy's plan, the Soviet command planned two operations, and it was supposed to start with active defense, and then bring down all the forces of the main and reserve troops on the Germans.
Operation Kutuzov was a plan to attack German troops from the north (the city of Orel). Sokolovsky was appointed commander of the western front, Rokossovsky was appointed commander of the Central, and Popov was appointed commander of the Bryansk. Already on July 5, Rokossovsky delivered the first blow to the enemy army, ahead of his attack by only a few minutes.
On July 12, the troops of the Soviet Union launched a counteroffensive, marking a turning point in the course of the Battle of Kursk. On August 5, Belgorod and Orel were liberated by the Red Army. From August 3 to 23, the Soviet troops carried out an operation to finally defeat the enemy - "Commander Rumyantsev" (commanders - Konev and Vatutin). It was a Soviet offensive in the area of Belgorod and Kharkov. The enemy suffered another defeat, while losing more than 500 thousand soldiers.
The troops of the Red Army managed to liberate Kharkov, Donbass, Bryansk and Smolensk in a short period of time. In November 1943, the siege of Kiev was lifted. The war of 1941-1945 was drawing to a close.
Defense of Leningrad
One of the most terrible and heroic pages of the Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and of our entire history is the selfless defense of Leningrad.
The blockade of Leningrad began in September 1941, when the city was cut off from food sources. The most terrible period was the very cold winter of 1941-1942. The only way to salvation was the Road of Life, which was laid on the ice of Lake Ladoga. On the initial stage blockade (until May 1942), under constant enemy bombing, Soviet troops managed to deliver more than 250 thousand tons of food to Leningrad and evacuate about 1 million people.
For a better understanding of what hardships the inhabitants of Leningrad endured, we recommend watching this video.
Only in January 1943, the blockade of the enemy was partially broken, and the supply of the city with food, medicine, and weapons began. A year later, in January 1944, the blockade of Leningrad was completely lifted.
Plan "Bagration"
From June 23 to August 29, 1944, the USSR troops carried out the main operation on the Belarusian front. It was one of the largest in the entire Great Patriotic War (WWII) 1941-1945.
The goal of Operation Bagration was the final crushing of the enemy army and the liberation of Soviet territories from the fascist invaders. Fascist troops in the areas of individual cities were defeated. Belarus, Lithuania and part of Poland were liberated from the enemy.
The Soviet command planned to proceed with the liberation of the peoples of European states from the German troops.
Conferences
On November 28, 1943, a conference was held in Tehran, which brought together the leaders of the "Big Three" countries - Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill. The conference set the dates for the opening of the Second Front in Normandy and confirmed the commitment of the Soviet Union to enter the war with Japan after the final liberation of Europe and defeat the Japanese army.
The next conference was held on February 4-11, 1944 in Yalta (Crimea). The leaders of the three states discussed the conditions for the occupation and demilitarization of Germany, held talks on convening a founding conference of the United Nations and adopting a Declaration on a Liberated Europe.
The Potsdam Conference took place on July 17, 1945. Truman was the leader of the United States, and K. Attlee spoke on behalf of Great Britain (since July 28). At the conference, new borders in Europe were discussed, a decision was made on the size of reparations from Germany in favor of the USSR. At the same time, already at the Potsdam Conference, the prerequisites for cold war between the US and the Soviet Union.
End of World War II
According to the requirements discussed at conferences with representatives of the Big Three countries, on August 8, 1945, the USSR declared war on Japan. The USSR army dealt a powerful blow to the Kwantung Army.
In less than three weeks, Soviet troops under the leadership of Marshal Vasilevsky managed to defeat the main forces of the Japanese army. On September 2, 1945, the Japanese Surrender Act was signed on the USS Missouri. The Second World War has ended.
Consequences
The consequences of the war of 1941-1945 are extremely diverse. First, the military forces of the aggressors were defeated. The defeat of Germany and its allies meant the collapse of dictatorial regimes in Europe.
The Soviet Union ended the war as one of the two superpowers (along with the United States), and the Soviet army was recognized as the most powerful in the world.
In addition to the positive results, there were incredible losses. The Soviet Union lost approximately 70 million people in the war. The economy of the state was at a very low level. Terrible losses were suffered by the major cities of the USSR, which took upon themselves the strongest blows of the enemy. The USSR was faced with the task of restoring and confirming the status of the world's greatest superpower.
It is difficult to give an unambiguous answer to the question: "What is the war of 1941-1945?" the main task of the Russian people - never forget about the greatest feats of our ancestors and proudly and "with tears in our eyes" celebrate the main holiday for Russia - Victory Day.
