The confrontation of the Russian people with the aggression of Germany and other countries that sought to establish a “new world order.” This war became a clash between two opposing civilizations, in which the Western world set as its goal the complete destruction of Russia - the USSR as a state and nation, the seizure of a significant part of its territories and the formation of puppet regimes subject to Germany in the remaining parts. Germany was pushed to war against Russia by the Judeo-Masonic regimes of the USA and England, which saw in Hitler an instrument for carrying out their plans for world domination and the destruction of Russia.
On June 22, 1941, German armed forces consisting of 103 divisions, including 10 tank divisions, invaded Russian territory. Their total number numbered five and a half million people, of which more than 900 thousand were military personnel of Germany's Western allies - Italians, Spaniards, French, Dutch, Finns, Romanians, Hungarians, etc. 4,300 tanks and assault guns were assigned to this treacherous Western international , 4980 combat aircraft, 47200 guns and mortars.
The Russian armed forces of the five western border military districts and three fleets opposing the aggressor were twice as inferior to the enemy in manpower, and in the first echelon of our armies there were only 56 rifle and cavalry divisions, which found it difficult to compete with the German tank corps. The aggressor also had a great advantage in artillery, tanks and aircraft of the latest designs.
By nationality, more than 90% of the Soviet army opposing Germany were Russians (Great Russians, Little Russians and Belarusians), which is why, without exaggeration, it can be called the Russian army, which in no way detracts from the feasible contribution of other peoples of Russia in confronting the common enemy.
Treacherously, without declaring war, concentrating overwhelming superiority on the direction of attacks, the aggressor broke through the defenses of Russian troops, seized strategic initiative and air supremacy. The enemy occupied a significant part of the country and advanced inland to 300 - 600 km.
On June 23, the Headquarters of the High Command was created (from August 6 - the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command). All power was concentrated in the State Defense Committee (GKO), created on June 30. From August 8 I.V. Stalin became the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. He gathered around him outstanding Russian commanders G.K. Zhukov, S.K. Timoshenko, B.M. Shaposhnikov, A.M. Vasilevsky, K.K. Rokossovsky, N.F. Vatutin, A.I. Eremenko, K. A. Meretskov, I. S. Konev, I. D. Chernyakhovsky and many others. In his public speeches, Stalin relies on the sense of patriotism of the Russian people and calls on them to follow the example of their heroic ancestors. The main military events of the summer-autumn campaign of 1941 were the Battle of Smolensk, the defense of Leningrad and the beginning of its blockade, the military disaster of Soviet troops in Ukraine, the defense of Odessa, the beginning of the defense of Sevastopol, the loss of Donbass, the defensive period of the Battle of Moscow. The Russian army retreated 850-1200 km, but the enemy was stopped in the main directions near Leningrad, Moscow and Rostov and went on the defensive.
The winter campaign of 1941-42 began with a counter-offensive of Russian troops in the western strategic direction. During it, a counteroffensive near Moscow, the Lyuban, Rzhevsko-Vyazemskaya, Barvenkovsko-Lozovskaya and Kerch-Feodosia landing operations were carried out. Russian troops removed the threat to Moscow and the North Caucasus, eased the situation in Leningrad, and completely or partially liberated the territory of 10 regions, as well as over 60 cities. The blitzkrieg strategy collapsed. About 50 enemy divisions were defeated. The patriotism of the Russian people, which was widely manifested from the first days of the war, played a major role in the defeat of the enemy. Thousands of national heroes like A. Matrosov and Z. Kosmodemyanskaya, hundreds of thousands of partisans behind enemy lines in the first months greatly shook the morale of the aggressor.
In the summer-autumn campaign of 1942, the main military events unfolded in the southwestern direction: the defeat of the Crimean Front, the military disaster of Soviet troops in the Kharkov operation, the Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad, Donbass, Stalingrad defensive operations, the battle in the North Caucasus. In the northwestern direction, the Russian army carried out the Demyansk and Rzhev-Sychevsk offensive operations. The enemy advanced 500 - 650 km, reached the Volga, and captured part of the passes of the Main Caucasus Range. The territory was occupied, where before the war 42% of the population lived, a third of the gross output was produced, and more than 45% of the sown areas were located. The economy was put on a war footing. A large number of enterprises were relocated to the eastern regions of the country (2,593 in the second half of 1941 alone, including 1,523 large ones), and 2.3 million heads of livestock were exported. In the first half of 1942, 10 thousand aircraft, 11 thousand tanks, approx. 54 thousand guns. In the 2nd half of the year their output increased by more than 1.5 times.
In the winter campaign of 1942-43, the main military events were the Stalingrad and North Caucasus offensive operations and the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad. The Russian army advanced 600 - 700 km westward, liberating a territory of over 480 thousand square meters. km, defeated 100 divisions (40% of the enemy forces on the Soviet-German front). In the summer-autumn campaign of 1943, the decisive event was the Battle of Kursk. The partisans played an important role (Operation Rail War). During the battle for the Dnieper, 38 thousand settlements were liberated, including 160 cities; With the capture of strategic bridgeheads on the Dnieper, conditions were created for an offensive in Belarus. In the Battle of the Dnieper, the partisans carried out Operation Concert to destroy enemy communications. In other directions, the Smolensk and Bryansk offensive operations were carried out. The Russian army fought up to 500 - 1300 km and defeated 218 divisions.
During the winter campaign of 1943-44, the Russian army carried out an offensive in Ukraine (10 simultaneous and sequential front-line operations, united by a common plan). Completed the defeat of Army Group South, crossed the border with Romania and transferred the fighting to its territory. Almost simultaneously, the Leningrad-Novgorod offensive operation unfolded; Leningrad was finally released. As a result of the Crimean operation, Crimea was liberated. Russian troops advanced westward 250 - 450 km, liberating approx. 300 thousand sq. km of territory, reached the state border with Czechoslovakia.
In June 1944, when the USA and England realized that Russia could win the war without their participation, they opened a 2nd front in France. This worsened the military-political situation in Germany. During the summer-autumn campaign of 1944, Russian troops carried out the Belarusian, Lvov-Sandomierz, East Carpathian, Iasi-Kishinev, Baltic, Debrecen, East Carpathian, Belgrade, partially Budapest and Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operations. The liberation of Belarus, Little Russia and the Baltic states (except for some regions of Latvia), partially of Czechoslovakia was completed, Romania and Hungary were forced to capitulate and entered the war against Germany, the Soviet Arctic and the northern regions of Norway were liberated from the occupiers.
The 1945 campaign in Europe included the East Prussian, Vistula-Oder, completion of Budapest, East Pomeranian, Lower Silesian, Upper Silesian, Western Carpathian, Vienna and Berlin operations, which ended with the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. After the Berlin operation, Russian troops, together with the 2nd army of the Polish Army, the 1st and 4th Romanian armies and the 1st Czechoslovak corps, carried out the Prague operation.
Victory in the war greatly raised the spirit of the Russian people and contributed to the growth of their national self-awareness and self-confidence. As a result of the victory, Russia regained most of what was taken from it as a result of the revolution (except for Finland and Poland). The historical Russian lands in Galicia, Bukovina, Bessarabia, etc. returned to its composition. Most of the Russian people (including Little Russians and Belarusians) again became a single entity in one state, which created the preconditions for their unification in a single Church. The fulfillment of this historical task was the main positive outcome of the war. The victory of Russian weapons created favorable conditions for Slavic unity. At some stage, the Slavic countries united with Russia in something like a fraternal federation. For a period of time, the peoples of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia realized how important it was for the Slavic world to stick together in the fight against Western encroachment on Slavic lands.
On Russia's initiative, Poland received Silesia and a significant part of East Prussia, from which the city of Königsberg with its surrounding territory came into the possession of the Russian state, and Czechoslovakia regained the Sudetenland previously captured by Germany.
The great mission to save humanity from the “new world order” was given to Russia at a huge price: the Russian people and the brotherly peoples of our Fatherland paid for this with the lives of 47 million people (including direct and indirect losses), of which approximately 37 million people were Russians themselves (including Little Russians and Belarusians).
Most of the deaths were not of the military directly involved in the hostilities, but of civilians, the civilian population of our country. The irretrievable losses of the Russian army (killed, died from wounds, missing in action, died in captivity) amount to 8 million 668 thousand 400 people. The remaining 35 million are the lives of civilians. During the war years, about 25 million people were evacuated to the East. Approximately 80 million people, or about 40% of the population of our country, ended up in the territory occupied by Germany. All these people became “objects” of the implementation of the misanthropic Ost program, were subjected to brutal repressions, and died from famine organized by the Germans. About 6 million people were driven into German slavery, many of them died from unbearable living conditions.
As a result of the war, the genetic fund of the most active and viable part of the population was significantly undermined, because in it, first of all, the strongest and most energetic members of society, capable of producing the most valuable offspring, died. In addition, due to the falling birth rate, the country is missing tens of millions of future citizens.
The huge price of victory fell most heavily on the shoulders of the Russian people (including Little Russians and Belarusians), because the main hostilities were carried out on their ethnic territories and it was towards them that the enemy was especially cruel and merciless.
In addition to the enormous human losses, our country suffered colossal material damage. Not a single country in its entire history and in the Second World War had such losses and barbaric destruction from aggressors as befell Great Russia. Russia's total material losses in world prices amounted to more than a trillion dollars (US national income for several years).
The Great Patriotic War began on June 22, 1941, on the day of All Saints who shone in the Russian land. Plan Barbarossa, a plan for a lightning war with the USSR, was signed by Hitler on December 18, 1940. Now it was put into action. German troops - the strongest army in the world - attacked in three groups (North, Center, South), aimed at quickly capturing the Baltic states and then Leningrad, Moscow, and in the south, Kyiv.
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June 22, 1941 4 a.m. - the beginning of the German offensive. 153 German divisions, 3,712 tanks and 4,950 combat aircraft entered the fighting (Marshal G.K. Zhukov provides such data in his book “Memories and Reflections”). The enemy forces were several times greater than the Red Army, both in numbers and in equipment.
On June 22, 1941, at 5:30 a.m., Reich Minister Goebbels, in a special broadcast of Greater German Radio, read out Adolf Hitler’s appeal to the German people in connection with the outbreak of war against the Soviet Union.
On June 22, 1941, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius, addressed an appeal to the believers. In his “Message to the Shepherds and Flock of Christ’s Orthodox Church,” Metropolitan Sergius said: “Fascist robbers attacked our Motherland... The times of Batu, the German knights, Charles of Sweden, Napoleon are being repeated... The pitiful descendants of the enemies Orthodox Christianity they want to once again try to bring our people to their knees before untruth... With God's help this time too, he will scatter the fascist enemy force into dust... Let us remember the holy leaders of the Russian people, for example, Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, who laid down their souls for people and Motherland... Let us remember the countless thousands of simple Orthodox soldiers... Our Orthodox Church has always shared the fate of the people. She endured trials with him and was consoled by his successes. She will not leave her people even now. She blesses with heavenly blessing the upcoming national feat. If anyone, then it is we who need to remember the commandment of Christ: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13)....”
Patriarch Alexander III of Alexandria addressed a message to Christians around the world about prayerful and material assistance to Russia.
Brest Fortress, Minsk, Smolensk
June 22 - July 20, 1941. Defense of the Brest Fortress. The first Soviet border strategic point located in the direction of the main attack of Army Group Center (towards Minsk and Moscow) was Brest and the Brest Fortress, which the German command planned to capture in the first hours of the war.
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July 9, 1941 - the enemy occupied Minsk. The forces were too unequal. The Soviet troops were in dire need of ammunition, and to transport them there was not enough transport or fuel; moreover, some of the warehouses had to be blown up, the rest were captured by the enemy. The enemy stubbornly rushed towards Minsk from the north and south. Our troops were surrounded. Deprived of centralized control and supplies, they, however, fought until July 8.
July 10 - September 10, 1941 Battle of Smolensk. On July 10, Army Group Center launched an offensive against the Western Front. The Germans had a twofold superiority in manpower and a fourfold superiority in tanks. The enemy's plan was to dissect our western front with powerful strike groups, surround the main group of troops in the Smolensk area and open the way to Moscow. The Battle of Smolensk began on July 10 and dragged on for two months - a period that the German command did not count on at all. Despite all efforts, the troops of the Western Front were unable to complete the task of defeating the enemy in the Smolensk area. During the battles near Smolensk, the Western Front suffered serious losses. By the beginning of August, no more than 1–2 thousand people remained in his divisions. However, fierce resistance from Soviet troops near Smolensk weakened the offensive power of Army Group Center. The enemy strike forces were exhausted and suffered significant losses. According to the Germans themselves, by the end of August, only the motorized and tank divisions had lost half of their personnel and equipment, and the total losses were about 500 thousand people. The main result of the Battle of Smolensk was the disruption of the Wehrmacht's plans for a non-stop advance towards Moscow. For the first time since the beginning of World War II, German troops were forced to go on the defensive in their main direction, as a result of which the Red Army command gained time to improve strategic defense in the Moscow direction and prepare reserves.
August 8, 1941 - Stalin appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief Armed Forces of the USSR.
Defense of Ukraine
The seizure of Ukraine had important for the Germans, who sought to deprive the Soviet Union of its largest industrial and agricultural base, to take possession of Donetsk coal and Krivoy Rog ore. From a strategic point of view, the capture of Ukraine provided support from the south for the central group of German troops, which faced the main task- capture of Moscow.But the lightning capture that Hitler planned did not work out here either. Retreating under the blows of German troops, the Red Army bravely and fiercely resisted, despite heavy losses. By the end of August, the troops of the Southwestern and Southern Fronts retreated beyond the Dnieper. Once surrounded, Soviet troops suffered huge losses.
Atlantic Charter. Allied powers
On August 14, 1941, on board the English battleship Prince of Wales in Argentia Bay (Newfoundland), US President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill adopted a declaration outlining the goals of the war against the fascist states. On September 24, 1941, the Soviet Union acceded to the Atlantic Charter.Leningrad blockade
On August 21, 1941, defensive battles began on the near approaches to Leningrad. In September, fierce fighting continued in the immediate vicinity of the city. But overcome the resistance of the city’s defenders and take Leningrad German troops they couldn't. Then the German command decided to starve the city out. Having captured Shlisselburg on September 8, the enemy reached Lake Ladoga and blocked Leningrad from land. German troops surrounded the city in a tight ring, cutting it off from the rest of the country. Communication between Leningrad and the “mainland” was carried out only by air and through Lake Ladoga. And the Nazis tried to destroy the city with artillery strikes and bombings.From September 8, 1941 (the day of celebration in honor of the Presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God) until January 27, 1944 (the day of St. Nina Equal to the Apostles) Leningrad blockade. The winter of 1941/42 was the most difficult for Leningraders. Fuel reserves have run out. Electricity supply to residential buildings was cut off. The water supply system failed, 78 km were destroyed sewer network. Utilities stopped working. Food supplies were running out, and on November 20, the lowest bread standards for the entire period of the blockade were introduced - 250 grams for workers and 125 grams for employees and dependents. But even in the most difficult conditions of the siege, Leningrad continued to fight. With the beginning of the freeze-up, a highway was built across the ice of Lake Ladoga. Since January 24, 1942, it was possible to slightly increase the standards for supplying the population with bread. To supply the Leningrad Front and the city with fuel, an underwater pipeline was laid between the eastern and western shores of the Shlisselburg Bay of Lake Ladoga, which became operational on June 18, 1942 and turned out to be practically invulnerable to the enemy. And in the fall of 1942, a power cable was also laid along the bottom of the lake, through which electricity began to flow into the city. Attempts were made repeatedly to break through the blockade ring. But this was only possible in January 1943. As a result of the offensive, our troops occupied Shlisselburg and a number of other settlements. On January 18, 1943, the blockade was broken. A corridor 8-11 km wide was formed between Lake Ladoga and the front line. The blockade of Leningrad was completely lifted on January 27, 1944, on the day of St. Nina Equal to the Apostles.
During the blockade, there were 10 Orthodox churches in the city. Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) of Leningrad, the future Patriarch Alexy I, did not leave the city during the blockade, sharing its hardships with his flock. With the miraculous Kazan Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary was performed procession around the city. The Venerable 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 his own feat heavenly patron Venerable Seraphim of Sarov.
By the fall of 1941, the leadership of the USSR curtailed anti-religious propaganda. The publication of the magazines "Atheist" and "Anti-religious" was stopped..
Battle for Moscow
From October 13, 1941, fierce fighting broke out in all operationally important directions leading to Moscow.On October 20, 1941, a state of siege was introduced in Moscow and its surrounding areas. A decision was made to evacuate the diplomatic corps and a number of central institutions to Kuibyshev. It was also decided to remove particularly important state values from the capital. 12 divisions of people's militia were formed from Muscovites.
In Moscow, a prayer service was held before the miraculous Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and the icon was flown around Moscow by plane.
The second stage of the attack on Moscow, called "Typhoon", was launched by the German command on November 15, 1941. The fighting was very difficult. The enemy, regardless of losses, sought to break through to Moscow at any cost. But already in the first days of December it was felt that the enemy was running out of steam. Due to the resistance of the Soviet troops, the Germans had to stretch their troops along the front to such an extent that in the final battles on the near approaches to Moscow they lost their penetrating ability. Even before the start of our counterattack near Moscow, the German command decided to retreat. This order was given that night when Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive.
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Under pressure from Stalin, it was decided to launch a general offensive along the entire front. But not all directions had the strength and means to do this. Therefore, only the advance of the troops of the North-Western Front was successful; they advanced 70-100 kilometers and somewhat improved the operational-strategic situation in the western direction. Beginning on January 7, the offensive continued until early April 1942. After which it was decided to go on the defensive.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Wehrmacht Ground Forces, General F. Halder, wrote in his diary: “The myth of the invincibility of the German army has been shattered. With the onset of summer, the German army will achieve new victories in Russia, but this will no longer restore the myth of its invincibility. Therefore, December 6, 1941 can considered a turning point, and one of the most fatal moments in the short history of the Third Reich. The strength and power of Hitler reached their apogee, from that moment on they began to decline..."
United Nations Declaration
In January 1942, a declaration was signed in Washington by 26 countries (later known as the Declaration of the United Nations), in which they agreed to use all forces and means to fight aggressive states and not conclude a separate peace or truce with them. An agreement was reached with Great Britain and the United States on the opening of a second front in Europe in 1942.Crimean front. Sevastopol. Voronezh
On May 8, 1942, the enemy, having concentrated his strike force against the Crimean Front and brought into action numerous aircraft, broke through our defenses. Soviet troops, finding themselves in a difficult situation, were forced to leave Kerch. By May 25, the Nazis captured the entire Kerch Peninsula.October 30, 1941 - July 4, 1942 Defense of Sevastopol. The siege of the city lasted nine months, but after the Nazis captured the Kerch Peninsula, the situation in Sevastopol became very difficult and on July 4, Soviet troops were forced to leave Sevastopol. Crimea was completely lost.
June 28, 1942 - July 24, 1942 Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad operation. - combat operations of the troops of the Bryansk, Voronezh, South-Western and Southern Fronts against the German Army Group "South" in the Voronezh and Voroshilovgrad region. As a result of the forced withdrawal of our troops, the richest regions of the Don and Donbass fell into enemy hands. During the retreat, the Southern Front suffered irreparable losses; only a little more than a hundred people remained in its four armies. The troops of the Southwestern Front suffered heavy losses during the retreat from Kharkov and could not successfully restrain the enemy’s advance. For the same reason, the Southern Front could not stop the Germans in the Caucasian direction. It was necessary to block the path of German troops to the Volga. For this purpose, the Stalingrad Front was created.
Battle of Stalingrad (July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943)
According to the plan of Hitler's command, German troops were supposed to achieve those goals in the summer campaign of 1942 that were thwarted by their defeat in Moscow. The main blow was supposed to be delivered on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front with the goal of capturing the city of Stalingrad, reaching the oil-bearing regions of the Caucasus and the fertile regions of the Don, Kuban and Lower Volga. With the fall of Stalingrad, the enemy had the opportunity to cut off the south of the country from the center. We could have lost the Volga, the most important transport artery along which cargo came from the Caucasus.The defensive actions of the Soviet troops in the Stalingrad direction lasted for 125 days. During this period, they carried out two consecutive defensive operations. The first of them was carried out on the approaches to Stalingrad in the period from July 17 to September 12, the second - in Stalingrad and to the south from September 13 to November 18, 1942. The heroic defense of Soviet troops in the Stalingrad direction forced Hitler's high command to transfer more and more forces here. On September 13, the Germans went on the offensive along the entire front, trying to capture Stalingrad by storm. Soviet troops failed to contain his powerful onslaught. They were forced to retreat to the city. Days and nights the fighting continued on the streets of the city, in houses, factories, and on the banks of the Volga. Our units, having suffered heavy losses, still held the defense without leaving the city.
Soviet troops near Stalingrad were united into three fronts: Southwestern (Lieutenant General, from December 7, 1942 - Colonel General N.F. Vatutin), Don (Lieutenant General, from January 15, 1943 - Colonel General K . K. Rokossovsky) and Stalingrad (Colonel General A. I. Eremenko).
On September 13, 1942, a decision was made to launch a counteroffensive, the plan of which was developed by Headquarters. The leading role in this development was played by generals G.K. Zhukov (from January 18, 1943 - marshal) and A.M. Vasilevsky, they were appointed representatives of Headquarters at the front. A.M. Vasilevsky coordinated the actions of the Stalingrad Front, and G.K. Zhukov - the South-Western and Don Front. The idea of the counter-offensive was to defeat the troops covering the flanks of the enemy strike force with strikes from the bridgeheads on the Don in the Serafimovich and Kletskaya areas and from the Sarpinskie Lakes area south of Stalingrad, and, developing an offensive in converging directions towards the city of Kalach, the Sovetsky farm, encircle and destroy its main forces operating in the area between the Volga and Don rivers.
The offensive was scheduled for November 19, 1942 for the Southwestern and Don Fronts, and for November 20 for the Stalingrad Front. The strategic offensive operation to defeat the enemy at Stalingrad consisted of three stages: encircling the enemy (November 19-30), developing the offensive and disrupting the enemy’s attempts to release the encircled group (December 1942), eliminating the group of Nazi troops encircled in the Stalingrad area (10 January-February 2, 1943).
From January 10 to February 2, 1943, the troops of the Don Front captured 91 thousand people, including over 2.5 thousand officers and 24 generals led by the commander of the 6th Army, Field Marshal Paulus.
“The defeat at Stalingrad,” as Lieutenant General Westphal of the Nazi army writes about it, “horrified both the German people and their army. Never before in the entire history of Germany has there been such a terrible death of so many troops.”
And the Battle of Stalingrad began with a prayer service in front of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The icon was among the troops; prayers and memorial services for the fallen soldiers were constantly served in front of it. Among the ruins of Stalingrad, the only surviving building was the temple in the name of the Kazan Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the chapel of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
Caucasus
July 1942 - October 9, 1943. Battle for the CaucasusIn the North Caucasus direction at the end of July and beginning of August 1942, the development of events was clearly not in our favor. The superior enemy forces persistently moved forward. On August 10, enemy troops captured Maykop, and on August 11, Krasnodar. And on September 9, the Germans captured almost all the mountain passes. In the persistent bloody battles of the summer - autumn of 1942, Soviet troops suffered heavy losses and abandoned most of the territory North Caucasus, but still stopped the enemy. In December, preparations began for the North Caucasus offensive operation. In January, German troops began to withdraw from the Caucasus, and Soviet troops launched a powerful offensive. But the enemy put up fierce resistance and victory in the Caucasus came at a high price.
German troops were driven out to the Taman Peninsula. On the night of September 10, 1943, the Novorossiysk-Taman strategic offensive operation of Soviet troops began. Novorossiysk was liberated on September 16, 1943, Anapa on September 21, and Taman on October 3.
On October 9, 1943, Soviet troops reached the coast Kerch Strait and completed the liberation of the North Caucasus.
Kursk Bulge
July 5, 1943 – May 1944 Battle of Kursk.In 1943, the Nazi command decided to conduct its general offensive in the Kursk region. The fact is that the operational position of the Soviet troops on the Kursk ledge, concave towards the enemy, promised great prospects for the Germans. Here two large fronts could be surrounded at once, as a result of which a large gap would form, allowing the enemy to carry out major operations in the southern and northeastern directions.
The Soviet command was preparing for this offensive. From mid-April, the General Staff began developing a plan for both a defensive operation near Kursk and a counteroffensive. And by the beginning of July 1943, the Soviet command completed preparations for the Battle of Kursk.
July 5, 1943 German troops launched an offensive. The first attack was repulsed. However, then the Soviet troops had to retreat. The fighting was very intense and the Germans failed to achieve significant success. The enemy did not solve any of the assigned tasks and was ultimately forced to stop the offensive and go on the defensive.
The struggle was also extremely intense on the southern front of the Kursk salient - in the Voronezh Front.
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On July 12, the troops of the Bryansk and Western fronts went on the offensive in the Oryol direction, and on July 15 - the Central.
August 5, 1943 (the day of celebration of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God, as well as the icon of the “Joy of All Who Sorrow”) was released Eagle. On the same day, the troops of the Steppe Front were Belgorod liberated. The Oryol offensive operation lasted 38 days and ended on August 18 with the defeat of a powerful group of Nazi troops aimed at Kursk from the north.
Events on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front had a significant impact on the further course of events in the Belgorod-Kursk direction. On July 17, the troops of the Southern and Southwestern Fronts went on the offensive. On the night of July 19, a general withdrawal of fascist German troops began on the southern front of the Kursk ledge.
August 23, 1943 liberation of Kharkov The strongest battle of the Great Patriotic War ended - the Battle of Kursk (it lasted 50 days). It ended with the defeat of the main group of German troops.
Liberation of Smolensk (1943)
Smolensk offensive operation August 7 – October 2, 1943. According to the course of hostilities and the nature of the tasks performed, the Smolensk strategic offensive operation is divided into three stages. The first stage covers the period of hostilities from August 7 to 20. During this stage, the troops of the Western Front carried out the Spas-Demen operation. The troops of the left wing of the Kalinin Front began the Dukhovshchina offensive operation. At the second stage (August 21 - September 6), the troops of the Western Front carried out the Elny-Dorogobuzh operation, and the troops of the left wing of the Kalinin Front continued to conduct the Dukhovshchina offensive operation. At the third stage (September 7 - October 2), the troops of the Western Front, in cooperation with the troops of the left wing of the Kalinin Front, carried out the Smolensk-Roslavl operation, and the main forces of the Kalinin Front carried out the Dukhovshchinsko-Demidov operation.September 25, 1943 troops of the Western Front liberated Smolensk- the most important strategic defense center of the Nazi troops in the western direction.
As a result of the successful implementation of the Smolensk offensive operation, our troops broke through the enemy’s heavily fortified multi-line and deeply echeloned defenses and advanced 200 - 225 km to the West.
Liberation of Donbass, Bryansk and left-bank Ukraine
On August 13, 1943 it began Donbass operation Southwestern and Southern fronts. The leadership of Nazi Germany considered keeping the Donbass in their hands exclusively great importance. From the very first day the fighting became extremely intense. The enemy put up stubborn resistance. However, he failed to stop the advance of the Soviet troops. Nazi troops in the Donbass faced the threat of encirclement and a new Stalingrad. Retreating from Left Bank Ukraine, the Nazi command carried out a savage plan drawn up according to recipes for total war for the complete devastation of the abandoned territory. Along with regular troops, the mass extermination of civilians and their deportation to Germany, the destruction of industrial facilities, cities and other populated areas were carried out by SS and police units. However, the rapid advance of Soviet troops prevented him from fully implementing his plan.On August 26, the troops of the Central Front began an offensive (commander - Army General K.K. Rokossovsky), starting to carry out Chernigov-Poltava operation.
On September 2, the troops of the right wing of the Voronezh Front (commanded by Army General N.F. Vatutin) liberated Sumy and launched an attack on Romny.
Continuing to successfully develop the offensive, the troops of the Central Front advanced in a southwestern direction by more than 200 km and on September 15 liberated the city of Nezhin, an important stronghold of enemy defense on the approaches to Kyiv. There were 100 km left to the Dnieper. By September 10, the troops of the right wing of the Voronezh Front, advancing to the south, broke the stubborn resistance of the enemy in the area of the city of Romny.
The troops of the right wing of the Central Front crossed the Desna River and liberated the city of Novgorod-Seversky on September 16.
September 21 (feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary) Soviet troops liberated Chernigov.
With the arrival of Soviet troops at the end of September at the Dnieper line, the liberation of Left Bank Ukraine was completed.
“...It’s more likely that the Dnieper will flow back than the Russians will overcome it...” said Hitler. Indeed, the wide, deep, high-water river with a high right bank represented a serious natural barrier to the advancing Soviet troops. The Soviet high command clearly understood the enormous importance of the Dnieper for the retreating enemy, and did everything to cross it on the move, seize bridgeheads on the right bank and prevent the enemy from gaining a foothold on this line. They tried to speed up the advance of troops to the Dnieper, and to develop the offensive not only against the main enemy groups retreating to permanent crossings, but also in the intervals between them. This made it possible to reach the Dnieper on a wide front and thwart the plan of the fascist German command to make the “Eastern Wall” impregnable. Significant forces of partisans also actively joined the fight, subjecting the enemy’s communications to continuous attacks and preventing the regrouping of German troops.On September 21 (the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary), the advanced units of the left wing of the Central Front reached the Dnieper north of Kyiv. Troops from other fronts also advanced successfully during these days. The troops of the right wing of the Southwestern Front reached the Dnieper on September 22, south of Dnepropetrovsk. From September 25 to 30, the troops of the Steppe Front reached the Dnieper in their entire offensive zone.
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At first, the forward detachments crossed using improvised means under continuous enemy fire and tried to gain a foothold on the right bank. After this, pontoon crossings for equipment were created. The troops who crossed to the right bank of the Dnieper had a very difficult time. Before they had time to gain a foothold there, fierce battles broke out. The enemy, having brought up large forces, continuously counterattacked, trying to destroy our units and units or throw them into the river. But our troops, suffering heavy losses, showing exceptional courage and heroism, held the captured positions.
By the end of September, having knocked down the defenses of enemy troops, our troops crossed the Dnieper on a 750-kilometer front section from Loev to Zaporozhye and captured a number of important bridgeheads from which it was planned to develop an offensive further to the west.
For crossing the Dnieper, for dedication and heroism in battles on the bridgeheads, 2,438 soldiers of all branches of the army (47 generals, 1,123 officers and 1,268 soldiers and sergeants) were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
On October 20, 1943, the Voronezh Front was renamed into the 1st Ukrainian, the Steppe Front into the 2nd Ukrainian, the Southwestern and Southern Fronts into the 3rd and 4th Ukrainian.
On November 6, 1943, on the day of the celebration of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” Kyiv was liberated from the fascist invaders by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of General N.F. Vatutin.
After the liberation of Kyiv, troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front launched an attack on Zhitomir, Fastov and Korosten. Over the next 10 days, they advanced 150 km west and liberated many settlements, including the cities of Fastov and Zhitomir. A strategic bridgehead was formed on the right bank of the Dnieper, the length of which along the front exceeded 500 km.
Intense fighting continued in southern Ukraine. On October 14 (the feast of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary), the city of Zaporozhye was liberated and the German bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper was liquidated. On October 25, Dnepropetrovsk was liberated.
Tehran Conference of the Allied Powers. Opening of a second front
From November 28 - December 1, 1943 it took place Tehran Conference heads of the allied powers against fascism of states - the USSR (J.V. Stalin), the USA (President F. Roosevelt) and Great Britain (Prime Minister W. Churchill).The main issue was the opening of a second front in Europe by the United States and Great Britain, which they did not open, contrary to their promises. At the conference it was decided to open a second front in France during May 1944. The Soviet delegation, at the request of the allies, announced the USSR’s readiness to enter the war against Japan at the end of the war. action in Europe. The conference also discussed questions about the post-war system and the fate of Germany.
December 24, 1943 – May 6, 1944 Dnieper-Carpathian strategic offensive operation. Within the framework of this strategic operation, 11 offensive operations of fronts and groups of fronts were carried out: Zhitomir-Berdichev, Kirovograd, Korsun-Shevchenkovsk, Nikopol-Krivoy Rog, Rivne-Lutsk, Proskurov-Chernovtsy, Uman-Botoshan, Bereznegovato-Snigirev, Polessk, Odessa and Tyrgu- Frumosskaya.December 24, 1943 – January 14, 1944 Zhitomir-Berdichev operation. Having advanced 100-170 km, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in 3 weeks of fighting almost completely liberated the Kyiv and Zhitomir regions and many areas of the Vinnitsa and Rivne regions, including the cities of Zhitomir (December 31), Novograd-Volynsky (January 3) , Bila Tserkva (January 4), Berdichev (January 5). On January 10-11, advanced units reached the approaches to Vinnitsa, Zhmerinka, Uman and Zhashkov; defeated 6 enemy divisions and deeply captured the left flank of the German group, which still held the right bank of the Dnieper in the Kanev area. The preconditions were created for striking the flank and rear of this group.
January 5-16, 1944 Kirovograd operation. After intense fighting on January 8, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front captured Kirovograd and continued the offensive. However, on January 16, repelling strong counterattacks from the enemy, they were forced to go on the defensive. As a result of the Kirovograd operation, the position of the fascist German troops in the zone of action of the 2nd Ukrainian Front significantly worsened.
January 24 – February 17, 1944 Korsun-Shevchenko operation. During this operation, troops of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts encircled and defeated a large group of fascist German troops in the Kanevsky ledge.
January 27 – February 11, 1944 Rivne-Lutsk operation- was carried out by troops of the right wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front. On February 2, the cities of Lutsk and Rivne were isolated, and on February 11, Shepetivka.
January 30 – February 29, 1944 Nikopol-Krivoy Rog operation. It was carried out by troops of the 3rd and 4th Ukrainian Fronts with the aim of eliminating the enemy’s Nikopol bridgehead. By the end of February 7, the 4th Ukrainian Front had completely cleared the Nikopol bridgehead of enemy troops and on February 8, together with units of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, liberated the city of Nikopol. After stubborn fighting, troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front liberated the city of Krivoy Rog on February 22, a large industrial center and road junction. By February 29, the 3rd Ukrainian Front with its right wing and center advanced to the Ingulets River, capturing a number of bridgeheads on its western bank. As a result, favorable conditions were created for launching subsequent attacks on the enemy in the direction of Nikolaev and Odessa. As a result of the Nikopol-Krivoy Rog operation, 12 enemy divisions were defeated, including 3 tank and 1 motorized. Having eliminated the Nikopol bridgehead and thrown the enemy back from the Zaporozhye bend of the Dnieper, Soviet troops deprived the fascist German command of their last hope of restoring communications by land with the 17th Army blocked in the Crimea. A significant reduction in the front line allowed the Soviet command to free up forces to capture the Crimean Peninsula.
On February 29, Bandera’s troops seriously wounded the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, General Nikolai Fedorovich Vatutin. Unfortunately, it was not possible to save this talented commander. He died on April 15.
By the spring of 1944, troops from four Ukrainian fronts had broken through enemy defenses all the way from Pripyat to the lower reaches of the Dnieper. Having advanced 150-250 km westward over the course of two months, they defeated several large enemy groups and thwarted his plans to restore defenses along the Dnieper. The liberation of the Kyiv, Dnepropetrovsk, and Zaporozhye regions was completed, the entire Zhitomir, almost completely the Rivne and Kirovograd regions, and a number of districts of the Vinnitsa, Nikolaev, Kamenets-Podolsk and Volyn regions were cleared of the enemy. Such large industrial areas as Nikopol and Krivoy Rog have been returned. The length of the front in Ukraine by the spring of 1944 reached 1200 km. In March, a new offensive was launched in Right Bank Ukraine.
On March 4, the 1st Ukrainian Front went on the offensive and carried out Proskurov-Chernivtsi offensive operation(4 March – 17 April 1944).
On March 5, the 2nd Ukrainian Front began Uman-Botosha operation(March 5 – April 17, 1944).
March 6th began Bereznegovato-Snigirevskaya operation 3rd Ukrainian Front (6-18 March 1944). On March 11, Soviet troops liberated Berislav, on March 13, the 28th Army captured Kherson, and on March 15, Bereznegovatoye and Snigirevka were liberated. The troops of the right wing of the front, pursuing the enemy, reached the Southern Bug in the Voznesensk region.
On March 29, our troops captured the regional center, the city of Chernivtsi. The enemy lost the last link between his troops operating north and south of the Carpathians. The strategic front of the Nazi troops was cut into two parts. On March 26, the city of Kamenets-Podolsky was liberated.
The 2nd Belorussian Front provided significant assistance to the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in the defeat of the northern wing of Hitler’s Army Group South. Polesie offensive operation(March 15 – April 5, 1944).
March 26, 1944 forward detachments of the 27th and 52nd armies (2nd Ukrainian Front) west of the city of Balti reached the Prut River, occupying an 85-km section along the USSR border with Romania. This would the first exit of Soviet troops to the border of the USSR.
On the night of March 28, the troops of the right wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front crossed the Prut and advanced 20-40 km into Romanian territory. On the approaches to Iasi and Chisinau they met stubborn enemy resistance. The main result of the Uman-Botosha operation was the liberation of a significant part of the territory of Ukraine and Moldova and the entry of Soviet troops into Romania.
March 26 - April 14, 1944 Odessa offensive operation troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. On March 26, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front went on the offensive throughout their entire zone. On March 28, after heavy fighting, the city of Nikolaev was taken.
On the evening of April 9, Soviet troops from the north burst into Odessa and captured the city by night assault by 10 a.m. on April 10. The liberation of Odessa was attended by troops of three armies, commanded by Generals V.D. Tsvetaev, V.I. Chuikov and I.T. Shlemin, as well as the cavalry mechanized group of General I.A. Pliev.
April 8 – May 6, 1944 Tirgu-Frumos offensive operation of the 2nd Ukrainian Front was the final operation of the Red Army’s strategic offensive in Right Bank Ukraine. Its goal was to strike the Chisinau enemy group from the west with a blow in the direction of Tirgu-Frumos, Vaslui. The offensive of the troops of the right wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front began quite successfully. In the period from April 8 to 11, they, having broken enemy resistance, crossed the Siret River, advanced 30-50 km in the southwestern and southern directions and reached the foothills of the Carpathians. However, it was not possible to complete the assigned tasks. Our troops went on the defensive at the achieved lines.
Liberation of Crimea (8 April - 12 May 1944)
On April 8, the offensive of the 4th Ukrainian Front began with the goal of liberating Crimea. On April 11, our troops captured Dzhankoy, a powerful stronghold in the enemy’s defense and an important road junction. The entry of the 4th Ukrainian Front into the Dzhankoy area threatened the retreat routes of the enemy’s Kerch group and thereby created favorable conditions for the offensive of the Separate Primorsky Army. Fearing encirclement, the enemy decided to withdraw troops from the Kerch Peninsula. Having discovered preparations for withdrawal, the Separate Primorsky Army went on the offensive on the night of April 11. On April 13, Soviet troops liberated the cities of Yevpatoria, Simferopol and Feodosia. And on April 15-16 they reached the approaches to Sevastopol, where they were stopped by organized enemy defenses.On April 18, the Separate Primorsky Army was renamed the Primorsky Army and included in the 4th Ukrainian Front.
Our troops were preparing for the assault. On May 9, 1944, Sevastopol was liberated. The remnants of the German troops fled to Cape Chersonesos, hoping to escape by sea. But on May 12 they were completely dispersed. At Cape Chersonese, 21 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were captured, and a large amount of weapons and military equipment was captured.
Western Ukraine
On July 27, after stubborn fighting, Lviv liberated.In July-August 1944, Soviet troops liberated western regions of Ukraine, and south-eastern part of Poland, captured a large bridgehead on the western bank of the Vistula River, from which an offensive was subsequently launched into the central regions of Poland and further to the borders of Germany.
The final lifting of the blockade of Leningrad. Karelia
January 14 – March 1, 1944. Leningrad-Novgorod offensive operation. As a result of the offensive, Soviet troops liberated the territory of almost the entire Leningrad and part of the Kalinin regions from the occupiers, completely lifted the blockade of Leningrad, and entered Estonia. The basing area of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet has expanded significantly in Gulf of Finland. Favorable conditions were created for the defeat of the enemy in the Baltic states and in areas north of Leningrad.June 10 - August 9, 1944 Vyborg-Petrozavodsk offensive operation Soviet troops on the Karelian Isthmus.
Liberation of Belarus and Lithuania
June 23 - August 29, 1944 Belarusian strategic offensive operation Soviet troops in Belarus and Lithuania "Bagration". Within Belarusian operation The Vitebsk-Orsha operation was also carried out.The general offensive was opened on June 23 by the troops of the 1st Baltic Front (commander Colonel General I.Kh. Bagramyan), the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front (commander Colonel General I.D. Chernyakhovsky) and the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front (commander Colonel General G.F. Zakharov). The next day, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front under the command of Army General K.K. Rokossovsky went on the offensive. Guerrilla detachments began active operations behind enemy lines.
The troops of four fronts, with persistent and coordinated strikes, broke through the defenses to a depth of 25-30 km, crossed a number of rivers on the move and inflicted significant damage on the enemy.
In the Bobruisk area, about six divisions of the 35th Army and 41st Tank Corps of the 9th German Army were surrounded.
July 3, 1944 Soviet troops liberated Minsk. As Marshal G.K. writes Zhukov, “the capital of Belarus was unrecognizable... Now everything lay in ruins, and in place of residential areas there were vacant lots, covered with piles of broken bricks and debris. The most difficult impression was made by the people, the residents of Minsk. Most of them were extremely exhausted and exhausted. .."
June 29 - July 4, 1944, troops of the 1st Baltic Front successfully carried out the Polotsk operation, destroying the enemy in this area, and on July 4 Polotsk was liberated. On July 5, troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front captured the city of Molodechno.
As a result of the defeat of large enemy forces near Vitebsk, Mogilev, Bobruisk and Minsk, the immediate goal of Operation Bagration was achieved, several days earlier than planned. In 12 days - from June 23 to July 4 - Soviet troops advanced almost 250 km. Vitebsk, Mogilev, Polotsk, Minsk and Bobruisk regions were completely liberated.
On July 18, 1944 (on the feast of St. Sergius of Radonezh), Soviet troops crossed the border of Poland.
On July 24 (the feast day of the Holy Blessed Princess Olga of Russia), the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front with their advanced units reached the Vistula in the Dęblin area. Here they freed the prisoners of the Majdanek death camp, in which the Nazis exterminated about one and a half million people.
On August 1, 1944 (on the feast of St. Seraphim of Sarov), our troops reached the borders of East Prussia.
The Red Army troops, having launched an offensive on June 23 on a front of 700 km, by the end of August advanced 550-600 km to the west, expanding the front of military operations to 1100 km. The vast territory of the Belarusian Republic was cleared of invaders - 80% and a quarter of Poland.
Warsaw Uprising (1 August – 2 October 1944)
On August 1, 1994, an anti-Nazi uprising took place in Warsaw. In response, the Germans carried out brutal massacres against the population. The city was destroyed to the ground. Soviet troops attempted to help the rebels, crossed the Vistula and captured the embankment in Warsaw. However, soon the Germans began to press our units, the Soviet troops suffered heavy losses. It was decided to withdraw the troops. The uprising lasted 63 days and was crushed. Warsaw was the front line of German defense, and the rebels had only light weapons. Without the help of Russian troops, the rebels had practically no chance of victory. And the uprising, unfortunately, was not coordinated with the command of the Soviet army in order to receive effective help from our troops.Liberation of Moldova, Romania, Slovakia
August 20 - 29, 1944. Iasi-Kishinev offensive operation.In April 1944, as a result of a successful offensive in Right Bank Ukraine, troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front reached the border of the cities of Iasi and Orhei and went on the defensive. The troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front reached the Dniester River and captured several bridgeheads on its western bank. These fronts, as well as the Black Sea Fleet and the Danube Military Flotilla, were tasked with carrying out the Iasi-Kishinev strategic offensive operation with the aim of defeating a large group of German and Romanian troops covering the Balkan direction.
As a result of the successful implementation of the Iasi-Kishinev operation, Soviet troops completed the liberation of Moldova and the Izmail region of Ukraine.
August 23, 1944 - armed uprising in Romania. as a result of which the fascist Antonescu regime was overthrown. The next day, Romania came out of the war on the side of Germany and declared war on Germany on August 25. From that time on, Romanian troops took part in the war on the side of the Red Army.
September 8 – October 28, 1944 East Carpathian offensive operation. As a result of the offensive of units of the 1st and 4th Ukrainian Fronts in the Eastern Carpathians, our troops liberated almost all of Transcarpathian Ukraine, September 20 reached the border of Slovakia, liberated part of Eastern Slovakia. The breakthrough into the Hungarian lowland opened up the prospect of liberating Czechoslovakia and access to the southern border of Germany.
Baltics
September 14 - November 24, 1944 Baltic offensive operation. This is one of the largest operations of the autumn of 1944; 12 armies of three Baltic fronts and the Leningrad Front were deployed on a 500-km front. The Baltic Fleet was also involved.September 22, 1944 - liberated Tallinn. In the following days (until September 26), the troops of the Leningrad Front reached the coast all the way from Tallinn to Pärnu, thereby completing the clearing of the enemy from the entire territory of Estonia, with the exception of the islands of Dago and Ezel.
On October 11 our troops reached borders with East Prussia. Continuing the offensive, by the end of October they completely cleared the northern bank of the Neman River of the enemy.
As a result of the offensive of Soviet troops in the Baltic strategic direction, Army Group North was expelled from almost the entire Baltic region and lost communications connecting it by land with East Prussia. The struggle for the Baltic states was long and extremely fierce. The enemy, having a well-developed road network, actively maneuvered with its forces and means, put up stubborn resistance to the Soviet troops, often launching counterattacks and delivering counterattacks. On his part, up to 25% of all forces on the Soviet-German front took part in the fighting. During the Baltic operation, 112 soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Yugoslavia
September 28 – October 20, 1944 Belgrade offensive operation. The goal of the operation was to use the joint efforts of Soviet and Yugoslav troops in the Belgrade direction, Yugoslav and Bulgarian troops in the Niš and Skopje directions to defeat the Serbia army group and liberate the eastern half of the territory of Serbia, including Belgrade. To carry out these tasks, troops of the 3rd Ukrainian (57th and 17th Air Armies, 4th Guards Mechanized Corps and units of front-line subordination) and 2nd Ukrainian (46th and parts of the 5th Air Army) fronts were involved . The offensive of Soviet troops in Yugoslavia forced the German command to make a decision on October 7, 1944 to withdraw its main forces from Greece, Albania and Macedonia. By the same time, the troops of the left wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front reached the Tisa River, freeing the entire left bank of the Danube east of the mouth of the Tisa from the enemy. On October 14 (on the Feast of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary), the order was given to begin the assault on Belgrade.The 20th of October Belgrade was liberated. The battles for the liberation of the capital of Yugoslavia lasted a week and were extremely stubborn.
With the liberation of the capital of Yugoslavia, the Belgrade offensive operation ended. During it, Army Group Serbia was defeated and a number of formations of Army Group F were defeated. As a result of the operation, the enemy front was pushed 200 km to the west, the eastern half of Serbia was liberated and the enemy’s transport artery Thessaloniki - Belgrade was cut. At the same time, favorable conditions were created for the Soviet troops advancing in the Budapest direction. The Supreme High Command headquarters could now use the forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front to defeat the enemy in Hungary. Residents of villages and cities in Yugoslavia greeted Soviet soldiers very warmly. They took to the streets with flowers, shook hands, hugged and kissed their liberators. The air was filled with the solemn ringing of bells and Russian melodies performed by local musicians. A medal “For the Liberation of Belgrade” was established.
Karelian Front, 1944
October 7 - 29, 1944 Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operation. The successful conduct of the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk strategic offensive operation by Soviet troops forced Finland to withdraw from the war. By the fall of 1944, the troops of the Karelian Front had mostly reached the pre-war border with Finland, with the exception of the Far North, where the Nazis continued to occupy part of the Soviet and Finnish territories. Germany sought to retain this region of the Arctic, which was an important source of strategic raw materials (copper, nickel, molybdenum) and had ice-free seaports where the forces of the German fleet were based. The commander of the Karelian Front, Army General K. A. Meretskov, wrote: “Under your feet, the tundra is damp and somehow uncomfortable, lifelessness emanates from below: there, in the depths, permafrost begins, lying in islands, and yet the soldiers have to sleep on this earth, laying under oneself only one coat of an overcoat... Sometimes the earth rises up with bare masses of granite rocks... Nevertheless, it was necessary to fight. And not just fight, but attack, beat the enemy, drive him away and destroy him. I had to remember the words of the great Suvorov: “Where a deer passes, a Russian soldier will pass, and where a deer does not pass, a Russian soldier will still pass.” On October 15, the city of Petsamo (Pechenga) was liberated. Back in 1533, a Russian monastery was founded at the mouth of the Pechenga River. Soon, a port was built here, at the base of a wide and convenient bay of the Barents Sea for sailors. Vigorous trade with Norway, Holland, England and other Western countries took place through Pechenga. In 1920, according to the peace treaty of October 14, Soviet Russia voluntarily ceded the Pechenga region to Finland.On October 25, Kirkenes was liberated, and the fighting was so fierce that every house and every street had to be stormed.
854 Soviet prisoners of war and 772 civilians abducted by the Nazis from the Leningrad region were rescued from concentration camps.
The last cities our troops reached were Neiden and Nautsi.
Hungary
October 29, 1944 - February 13, 1945. Assault and capture of Budapest.The offensive began on October 29. The German command took all measures to prevent the capture of Budapest by Soviet troops and the withdrawal of its last ally from the war. Fierce fighting broke out on the approaches to Budapest. Our troops achieved significant success, but they could not defeat the enemy group in Budapest and take possession of the city. Finally managed to surround Budapest. But the city was a fortress prepared by the Nazis for long-term defense. Hitler ordered to fight for Budapest to the last soldier. The battles for the liberation of the eastern part of the city (Pest) took place from December 27 to January 18, and the western part (Buda) - from January 20 to February 13.
During the Budapest operation, Soviet troops liberated a significant part of Hungarian territory. The offensive actions of Soviet troops in the autumn and winter of 1944–1945 in the southwestern direction led to a radical change in the entire political situation in the Balkans. To Romania and Bulgaria, which were previously withdrawn from the war, another state was added - Hungary.
Slovakia and Southern Poland
January 12 - February 18, 1945. West Carpathian offensive operation. In the Western Carpathian operation, our troops had to overcome the enemy’s defensive lines, stretching 300–350 km in depth. The offensive was carried out by the 4th Ukrainian Front (commander - Army General I.E. Petrov) and part of the forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. As a result of the winter offensive of the Red Army in the Western Carpathians, our troops liberated vast areas of Slovakia and Southern Poland with a population of about 1.5 million people.Warsaw-Berlin direction
January 12 - February 3, 1945. Vistula-Oder offensive operation. The offensive in the Warsaw-Berlin direction was carried out by the forces of the 1st Belorussian Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov and the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev. Soldiers of the Polish Army fought alongside the Russians. The actions of the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts to defeat the Nazi troops between the Vistula and Oder can be divided into two stages. In the first (from January 12 to 17), the enemy’s strategic defense front in a zone of about 500 km was broken through, the main forces of Army Group A were defeated and conditions were created for the rapid development of the operation to great depth.January 17, 1945 was Warsaw liberated. The Nazis literally wiped the city off the face of the earth, and subjected the local residents to merciless destruction.
At the second stage (from January 18 to February 3), the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts, with the assistance of the troops of the 2nd Belorussian and 4th Ukrainian Fronts on the flanks, during the rapid pursuit of the enemy, defeated the enemy reserves advancing from the depths and captured Silesian industrial region and reached the Oder on a broad front, capturing a number of bridgeheads on its western bank.
As a result of the Vistula-Oder operation, a significant part of Poland was liberated, and the fighting was transferred to German territory. About 60 divisions of German troops were defeated.
January 13 - April 25, 1945 East Prussian offensive operation. During this long-term strategic operation, the Insterburg, Mlawa-Elbing, Heilsberg, Koenigsberg and Zemland front-line offensive operations were carried out.
East Prussia was Germany's main strategic springboard for attacks on Russia and Poland. This territory also tightly covered access to the central regions of Germany. Therefore, the fascist command attached great importance to holding East Prussia. Relief features - lakes, rivers, swamps and canals, a developed network of highways and railways, strong stone buildings - contributed significantly to the defense.
The overall goal of the East Prussian strategic offensive operation was to cut off the enemy troops located in East Prussia from the rest of the fascist forces, press them to the sea, dismember and destroy them in parts, completely clearing the territory of East Prussia and Northern Poland of the enemy.
Three fronts took part in the operation: 2nd Belorussian (commander - Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky), 3rd Belorussian (commander - Army General I.D. Chernyakhovsky) and 1st Baltic (commander - General I.Kh. Bagramyan). They were assisted by the Baltic Fleet under the command of Admiral V.F. Tributsa.
The fronts began their offensive successfully (January 13 - 3rd Belorussian and January 14 - 2nd Belorussian). By January 18, German troops, despite desperate resistance, suffered a heavy defeat in the places of the main attacks of our armies and began to retreat. Until the end of January, waging stubborn battles, our troops captured a significant part of East Prussia. Having reached the sea, they cut off the East Prussian enemy group from the rest of the forces. At the same time, the 1st Baltic Front captured the large seaport of Memel (Klaipeda) on January 28.
On February 10, the second stage of hostilities began - the elimination of isolated enemy groups. On February 18, Army General I.D. Chernyakhovsky died from a serious wound. The command of the 3rd Belorussian Front was entrusted to Marshal A.M. Vasilevsky. During intense battles, Soviet troops suffered serious losses. By March 29, it was possible to defeat the Nazis occupying the Heilsbury region. Next it was planned to defeat the Koenigsberg group. The Germans created three powerful defensive positions around the city. The city was declared by Hitler to be the best German fortress in the entire history of Germany and "an absolutely impregnable bastion of the German spirit."
Assault on Konigsberg started on April 6th. On April 9, the fortress garrison capitulated. Moscow celebrated the completion of the assault on Koenigsberg with a salute of the highest category - 24 artillery salvoes from 324 guns. A medal was established “For the Capture of Koenigsberg”, which was usually done only on the occasion of the capture of state capitals. All participants in the assault received a medal. On April 17, a group of German troops near Koenigsberg was liquidated.
After the capture of Koenigsberg, only the Zemland enemy group remained in East Prussia, which was defeated by the end of April.
In East Prussia, the Red Army destroyed 25 German divisions, the other 12 divisions lost from 50 to 70% of their strength. Soviet troops captured more than 220 thousand soldiers and officers.
But the Soviet troops also suffered huge losses: 126.5 thousand soldiers and officers died or went missing, more than 458 thousand soldiers were injured or were out of action due to illness.
Yalta Conference of the Allied Powers
This conference took place from February 4 to 11, 1945. The heads of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition - the USSR, the USA and Great Britain - I. Stalin, F. Roosevelt and W. Churchill took part in it. Victory over fascism was no longer in doubt; it was a matter of time. The conference discussed the post-war structure of the world, the division of spheres of influence. A decision was made to occupy and divide Germany into occupation zones and to allocate France its own zone. For the USSR, the main task was to ensure the security of its borders after the end of the war. For example, there was a provisional government of Poland in exile, based in London. However, Stalin insisted on creating a new government in Poland, since it was from the territory of Poland that attacks on Russia were conveniently carried out by its enemies.The “Declaration on a Liberated Europe” was also signed in Yalta, which, in particular, said: “The establishment of order in Europe and the reorganization of national economic life must be achieved in a way that will allow the liberated peoples to destroy the last traces of Nazism and fascism and create democratic institutions of their own choosing."
At the Yalta Conference, an agreement was concluded on the entry of the USSR into the war against Japan two to three months after the end of the war in Europe and with the condition that Russia would return South Sakhalin and adjacent islands, as well as the previously Russian naval base in Port Arthur and with the condition transfer of the Kuril Islands to the USSR.
The most important outcome of the conference was the decision to convene a conference on April 25, 1945 in San Francisco, at which it was planned to develop the Charter of the new United Nations.
Coast of the Baltic Sea
February 10 – April 4, 1945. East Pomeranian offensive operation. The enemy command continued to hold in its hands the coast of the Baltic Sea in Eastern Pomerania, as a result of which between the armies of the 1st Belorussian Front, which reached the Oder River, and the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front, the main forces of which were fighting in East Prussia, in early February 1945 year, a gap of about 150 km was formed. This strip of terrain was occupied by limited forces of Soviet troops. As a result of the fighting, by March 13, the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 2nd Belorussian fronts reached the coast of the Baltic Sea. By April 4, the East Pomeranian enemy group was eliminated. The enemy, having suffered huge losses, not only lost a bridgehead convenient for operations against our troops preparing for an attack on Berlin, but also a significant part of the Baltic Sea coast. The Baltic Fleet, having relocated its light forces to the ports of Eastern Pomerania, took advantageous positions on the Baltic Sea and could provide the coastal flank of the Soviet troops during their offensive in the Berlin direction.Vein
March 16 - April 15, 1945. Vienna offensive operation In January-March 1945, as a result of the Budapest and Balaton operations carried out by the Red Army, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front (commander - Marshal of the Soviet Union F.I. Tolbukhin) defeated the enemy in the central part of Hungary and moved west.April 4, 1945 Soviet troops completed the liberation of Hungary and launched an attack on Vienna.
Fierce fighting for the capital of Austria began the very next day - April 5. The city was covered from three sides - from the south, east and west. Fighting stubborn street battles, Soviet troops advanced towards the city center. Fierce battles broke out for each block, and sometimes even for a separate building. By 2 p.m. on April 13, Soviet troops were completely liberated Vienna.
During the Vienna operation, Soviet troops fought 150-200 km and completed the liberation of Hungary and the eastern part of Austria with its capital. The fighting during the Vienna operation was extremely fierce. The Soviet troops here were opposed by the most combat-ready divisions of the Wehrmacht (6th SS Panzer Army), which shortly before inflicted a serious defeat on the Americans in the Ardennes. But Soviet soldiers, in a fierce struggle, crushed this flower of Hitler's Wehrmacht. True, the victory was achieved at the cost of considerable sacrifices.
Berlin offensive operation (April 16 - May 2, 1945)
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The offensive of the Russian troops was planned very carefully. On a relatively narrow section of the front, 65 rifle divisions, 3,155 tanks and self-propelled guns, and about 42 thousand guns and mortars were concentrated in a short time. The plan of the Soviet command was to break through the enemy’s defenses along the Oder and Neisse rivers with powerful blows from troops on three fronts and, developing an offensive in depth, encircle the main group of fascist German troops in the Berlin direction, simultaneously cutting it into several parts and subsequently destroying each of them. them. In the future, Soviet troops were supposed to reach the Elbe. The completion of the defeat of the Nazi troops was supposed to be carried out jointly with the Western allies, an agreement in principle with whom on coordinating actions was reached at the Crimean Conference. The main role in the upcoming operation was assigned to the 1st Belorussian Front (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov), the 1st Ukrainian Front (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev) was supposed to defeat the enemy group south of Berlin. The front launched two attacks: the main one in the general direction of Spremberg and the auxiliary one towards Dresden. The start of the offensive by the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts was scheduled for April 16. On the 2nd, the Belorussian Front (commander - Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky) was supposed to launch an offensive on April 20, cross the Oder in its lower reaches and strike in a northwestern direction in order to cut off the West Pomeranian enemy group from Berlin. In addition, the 2nd Belorussian Front was entrusted with the task of covering the coast of the Baltic Sea from the mouth of the Vistula to Altdamm with part of its forces.
It was decided to begin the main offensive two hours before dawn. One hundred and forty anti-aircraft searchlights were supposed to suddenly illuminate enemy positions and attack targets. A sudden and powerful artillery barrage and air strikes, followed by an attack by infantry and tanks, stunned the Germans. Hitler's troops were literally drowned in a continuous sea of fire and metal. On the morning of April 16, Russian troops successfully advanced on all sectors of the front. However, the enemy, having come to his senses, began to resist from the Seelow Heights - this natural line stood as a solid wall in front of our troops. The steep slopes of the Zelovsky Heights were dug with trenches and trenches. All approaches to them were shot through multi-layered cross artillery and rifle-machine-gun fire. Individual buildings have been turned into strongholds, barriers made of logs and metal beams have been erected on the roads, and the approaches to them have been mined. On both sides of the highway running from the city of Zelov to the west, there was anti-aircraft artillery, which was used for anti-tank defense. The approaches to the heights were blocked by an anti-tank ditch up to 3 m deep and 3.5 m wide. Having assessed the situation, Marshal Zhukov decided to bring tank armies into the battle. However, even with their help it was not possible to quickly master the border. The Seelow Heights were taken only on the morning of April 18, after fierce battles. However, on April 18, the enemy was still trying to stop the advance of our troops, throwing all his available reserves towards them. Only on April 19, suffering heavy losses, the Germans could not stand it and began to retreat to the outer perimeter of Berlin’s defenses.
The offensive of the 1st Ukrainian Front developed more successfully. Having crossed the Neisse River, combined arms and tank formations by the end of the day on April 16 broke through the main enemy defense line at a front of 26 km and to a depth of 13 km. During the three days of the offensive, the armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front advanced up to 30 km in the direction of the main attack.
Storm of Berlin
On April 20, the assault on Berlin began. Long-range artillery of our troops opened fire on the city. On April 21, our units broke into the outskirts of Berlin and started fighting in the city itself. The fascist German command made desperate efforts to prevent the encirclement of their capital. It was decided to remove all troops from the Western Front and throw them into the battle for Berlin. However, on April 25, the encirclement ring around the Berlin enemy group was closed. On the same day, a meeting of Soviet and American troops took place in the Torgau area on the Elbe River. The 2nd Belorussian Front, through active operations in the lower reaches of the Oder, reliably pinned down the 3rd German Tank Army, depriving it of the opportunity to launch a counterattack from the north against the Soviet armies surrounding Berlin. Our troops suffered heavy losses, but, inspired by successes, rushed to the center of Berlin, where the main enemy command led by Hitler was still located. Fierce battles broke out on the streets of the city. The fighting did not stop day or night.
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April 30th started early in the morning storming of the Reichstag. The approaches to the Reichstag were covered by strong buildings, the defense was held by selected SS units with a total number of about six thousand people, equipped with tanks, assault guns and artillery. At about 3 p.m. on April 30, the Red Banner was hoisted over the Reichstag. However, fighting in the Reichstag continued throughout the day of May 1 and into the night of May 2. Separate scattered groups of Nazis, holed up in the basements, capitulated only on the morning of May 2.
On April 30, German troops in Berlin were divided into four parts of different composition, and their unified control was lost.
At 3 a.m. on May 1, the Chief of the General Staff of the German Ground Forces, Infantry General G. Krebs, by agreement with the Soviet command, crossed the front line in Berlin and was received by the commander of the 8th Guards Army, General V.I. Chuikov. Krebs reported Hitler's suicide, and also conveyed a list of members of the new imperial government and a proposal from Goebbels and Bormann for a temporary cessation of hostilities in the capital in order to prepare the conditions for peace negotiations between Germany and the USSR. However, this document said nothing about surrender. Krebs' message was immediately reported by Marshal G.K. Zhukov to the Supreme Command Headquarters. The answer was: to achieve only unconditional surrender. On the evening of May 1, the German command sent a truce to report their refusal to capitulate. In response to this, the final assault began on the central part of the city, where the Imperial Chancellery was located. On May 2, by 15:00, the enemy in Berlin had completely ceased resistance.
Prague
May 6 - 11, 1945. Prague offensive operation. After the defeat of the enemy in the Berlin direction, the only force capable of providing serious resistance to the Red Army was Army Group Center and part of Army Group Austria, located on the territory of Czechoslovakia. The idea of the Prague operation was to encircle, dismember and quickly defeat the main forces of fascist German troops on the territory of Czechoslovakia by delivering several strikes in converging directions towards Prague, and to prevent their withdrawal to the west. The main attacks on the flanks of Army Group Center were carried out by troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front from the area northwest of Dresden and troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front from the area south of Brno.On May 5, a spontaneous uprising began in Prague. Tens of thousands of city residents took to the streets. They not only erected hundreds of barricades, but also captured the central post office, telegraph, train stations, bridges over the Vltava, a number of military warehouses, disarmed several small units stationed in Prague, and established control over a significant part of the city. On May 6, German troops, using tanks, artillery and aircraft against the rebels, entered Prague and captured a significant part of the city. The rebels, having suffered heavy losses, radioed to the Allies for help. In this regard, Marshal I. S. Konev gave the order to the troops of his strike group to begin an offensive on the morning of May 6.
On the afternoon of May 7, the commander of Army Group Center received by radio an order from Field Marshal W. Keitel about the surrender of German troops on all fronts, but did not convey it to his subordinates. On the contrary, he gave his order to the troops, in which he stated that rumors of surrender were false, they were being spread by Anglo-American and Soviet propaganda. On May 7, American officers arrived in Prague, reported the surrender of Germany and advised an end to the fighting in Prague. At night it became known that the head of the garrison of German troops in Prague, General R. Toussaint, was ready to enter into negotiations with the leadership of the rebels on surrender. At 16:00 the act of surrender of the German garrison was signed. Under its terms, German troops received the right of free retreat to the west, leaving heavy weapons at the exit from the city.
On May 9, our troops entered Prague and, with the active support of the population and rebel fighting squads, Soviet troops cleared the city of the Nazis. The routes for the possible withdrawal of the main forces of Army Group Center to the west and southwest with the capture of Prague by Soviet troops were cut off. The main forces of Army Group Center found themselves in a “pocket” east of Prague. On May 10-11 they capitulated and were captured by Soviet troops.
Surrender of Germany
On May 6, on the day of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious, Grand Admiral Doenitz, who was the head of the German state after Hitler’s suicide, agreed to the surrender of the Wehrmacht, Germany admitted itself defeated.On the night of May 7, in Reims, where Eisenhower’s headquarters was located, a preliminary protocol on the surrender of Germany was signed, according to which, from 11 p.m. on May 8, hostilities ceased on all fronts. The protocol specifically stipulated that it was not a comprehensive agreement on the surrender of Germany and its armed forces. It was signed on behalf of the Soviet Union by General I. D. Susloparov, on behalf of the Western allies by General W. Smith and on behalf of Germany by General Jodl. Only a witness was present from France. After the signing of this act, our Western allies hastened to notify the world of Germany’s surrender to American and British troops. However, Stalin insisted that “surrender must be carried out as the most important historical act and accepted not on the territory of the victors, but where the fascist aggression came from - in Berlin, and not unilaterally, but necessarily by the high command of all countries of the anti-Hitler coalition ".
On the night of May 8-9, 1945, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany was signed in Karlshorst (an eastern suburb of Berlin). The signing ceremony of the act took place in the building of the military engineering school, where a special hall was prepared, decorated with the state flags of the USSR, USA, England and France. At the main table were representatives of the Allied powers. Present in the hall were Soviet generals whose troops took Berlin, as well as Soviet and foreign journalists. Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov was appointed representative of the Supreme High Command of the Soviet troops. The High Command of the Allied Forces was represented by the English Air Marshal Arthur W. Tedder, the commander of the US Strategic Air Forces, General Spaats, and the Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, General Delattre de Tassigny. On the German side, Field Marshal Keitel, Fleet Admiral von Friedeburg and Air Force Colonel General Stumpf were authorized to sign the act of unconditional surrender.
The ceremony of signing the surrender at 24 o'clock was opened by Marshal G.K. Zhukov. At his suggestion, Keitel presented the heads of the Allied delegations with a document on his powers, signed by Doenitz. The German delegation was then asked whether it had the Act of Unconditional Surrender in its hands and whether it had studied it. After Keitel’s affirmative answer, representatives of the German armed forces, at the sign of Marshal Zhukov, signed an act drawn up in 9 copies. Then Tedder and Zhukov put their signatures, and representatives of the United States and France served as witnesses. The procedure for signing the surrender ended at 0 hours 43 minutes on May 9, 1945. The German delegation, by order of Zhukov, left the hall. The act consisted of 6 points as follows:
"1. We, the undersigned, acting on behalf of the German High Command, agree to the unconditional surrender of all our armed forces on land, sea and air, as well as all forces currently under German command, to the Supreme Command of the Red Army and at the same time to the Supreme Command Allied Expeditionary Forces.
2. The German High Command will immediately issue orders to all German commanders of land, sea and air forces and all forces under German command to cease hostilities at 23-01 hours Central European time on May 8, 1945, to remain in their places where they are at this time, and completely disarm, handing over all their weapons and military equipment to local Allied commanders or officers assigned by representatives of the Allied High Command, not to destroy or cause any damage to ships, ships and aircraft, their engines, hulls and equipment, and also machines, weapons, apparatus and all military-technical means of warfare in general.
3. The German High Command will immediately assign the appropriate commanders and ensure that all further orders issued by the Supreme Command of the Red Army and the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces are carried out.
4. This act shall not be an obstacle to its replacement by another general instrument of surrender, concluded by or on behalf of the United Nations, applicable to Germany and the German armed forces as a whole.
5. In the event that the German High Command or any armed forces under its command do not act in accordance with this instrument of surrender, the High Command of the Red Army as well as the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces will take such punitive measures or other actions which they deem necessary.
6. This act is drawn up in Russian, English and German. Only Russian and English texts are authentic.
At 0:50 a.m. the meeting was adjourned. After this, a reception took place, which was a great success. Much was said about the desire to strengthen friendly relations between the countries of the anti-fascist coalition. The festive dinner ended with songs and dances. As Marshal Zhukov recalls: “The Soviet generals danced without competition. I, too, could not resist and, remembering my youth, danced the “Russian” one.”
The ground, sea and air forces of the Wehrmacht on the Soviet-German front began to lay down their arms. By the end of the day on May 8, Army Group Kurland, pressed to the Baltic Sea, ceased resistance. About 190 thousand soldiers and officers, including 42 generals, surrendered. On the morning of May 9, German troops in the area of Danzig and Gdynia capitulated. About 75 thousand soldiers and officers, including 12 generals, laid down their arms here. In Norway, Task Force Narvik capitulated.
The Soviet landing force, which landed on the Danish island of Bornholm on May 9, captured it 2 days later and captured the German garrison located there (12 thousand people).
Small groups of Germans on the territory of Czechoslovakia and Austria, who did not want to surrender along with the bulk of the troops of Army Group Center and tried to get to the west, had to be destroyed by Soviet troops until May 19.
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Potsdam Conference (July 17 - August 2, 1945)
Government delegations from allied states took part in this conference. The Soviet delegation headed by J.V. Stalin, the British - headed by Prime Minister W. Churchill and the American - led by President G. Truman. The first official meeting was attended by heads of government, all foreign ministers, their first deputies, military and civilian advisers and experts. The main issue of the conference was the question of the post-war structure of European countries and the reconstruction of Germany. Agreement was reached on the political and economic principles for coordinating Allied policy towards Germany during the period of Allied control over it. The text of the agreement stated that German militarism and Nazism must be eradicated, all Nazi institutions must be dissolved, and all members of the Nazi Party must be removed from public positions. War criminals must be arrested and brought to justice. The production of German weapons should be prohibited. With regard to the reconstruction of the German economy, it was decided that the main attention should be given to the development of peaceful industry and agriculture. Also, at the insistence of Stalin, it was decided that Germany should remain a single whole (the USA and England proposed dividing Germany into three states).According to N.A. Narochnitskaya, “The most important, although never spoken out loud, result of Yalta and Potsdam was the actual recognition of the continuity of the USSR in relation to the geopolitical area Russian Empire combined with newfound military power and international influence."
Tatiana Radynova
All of Europe fought against us
The very first strategic counter-offensive of Soviet troops in the Great Patriotic War revealed a very unpleasant circumstance for the USSR. Among the enemy troops captured near Moscow were many military units France, Poland, Holland, Finland, Austria, Norway and other countries. The output data of almost all major European companies was found on captured military equipment and shells. In general, as one could assume and as they thought in the Soviet Union, the European proletarians would never take up arms against the state of workers and peasants, that they would sabotage the production of weapons for Hitler.
But exactly the opposite happened. Our soldiers made a very characteristic discovery after the liberation of the Moscow region in the area of the historical Borodino Field - next to the French cemetery of 1812, they discovered fresh graves of Napoleon’s descendants. The Soviet 32nd Red Banner Rifle Division, Colonel V.I., fought here. Polosukhin, whose fighters could not even imagine that they were opposed "French allies".
A more or less complete picture of this battle was revealed only after the Victory. Chief of Staff of the German 4th Army G. Blumentritt published memoirs in which he wrote:
“The four battalions of French volunteers operating as part of the 4th Army turned out to be less resilient. At Borodin, Field Marshal von Kluge addressed them with a speech, recalling how, during the time of Napoleon, the French and Germans fought here side by side against a common enemy - Russia. The next day, the French boldly went into battle, but, unfortunately, they could not withstand either the enemy’s powerful attack or severe frost and snowstorms. They had never had to endure such trials before. The French legion was defeated, suffering heavy losses from enemy fire. A few days later he was taken to the rear and sent to the West..."
Here is an interesting archival document - a list of prisoners of war who surrendered to Soviet troops during the war. Let us remember that a prisoner of war is someone who fights in uniform with a weapon in his hands.
Hitler accepts the Wehrmacht parade, 1940 (megabook.ru)
So, Germans – 2 389 560, Hungarians – 513 767, Romanians – 187 370, Austrians – 156 682, Czechs And Slovaks – 69 977, Poles – 60 280, Italians – 48 957, French people – 23 136, Croats – 21 822, Moldovans – 14 129, Jews – 10 173, Dutch – 4 729, Finns – 2 377, Belgians – 2 010, Luxembourgers – 1652, Danes – 457, Spaniards – 452, gypsies – 383, Norse – 101, Swedes – 72.
And these are only those who survived and were captured. In reality, significantly more Europeans fought against us.
The ancient Roman senator Cato the Elder went down in history for the fact that any of his public speaking On any topic, he always ended with the words: "Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam", which literally means: “Otherwise, I believe that Carthage should be destroyed.” (Carthage is a city-state hostile to Rome.) I am not ready to completely become like Senator Cato, but I will use any occasion to once again mention: in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the USSR, with its initial strength 190 million. man, did not fight with the 80 million Germans of that time. The Soviet Union practically fought from all over Europe, the number of which (with the exception of our allied England and partisan Serbia, which did not surrender to the Germans) was about 400 million. Human.
During the Great Patriotic War, 34,476.7 thousand people wore overcoats in the USSR, i.e. 17,8% population. And Germany mobilized into its armed forces as much 21% from the population. It would seem that the Germans were more tense in their military efforts than the USSR. But in the Red Army large quantities Women served, both voluntarily and by conscription. There were a lot of purely female units and units (anti-aircraft, aviation, etc.). In times of desperation State Committee defense made a decision (remaining, however, on paper) to create women's rifle formations, in which only those loading heavy artillery guns would be men.
And among the Germans, even at the moment of their agony, women not only did not serve in the army, but there were very few of them in production. Why is that? Because in the USSR there was one man for every three women, and in Germany it was the other way around? No, that's not the point. In order to fight, you need not only soldiers, but also weapons and food. And their production also requires men, who cannot be replaced by women or teenagers. That's why the USSR was forced send women to the front instead of men.
The Germans did not have such a problem: all of Europe provided them with weapons and food. The French not only handed over all their tanks to the Germans, but also produced a huge amount of military equipment for them - from cars to optical rangefinders.
Czechs who have only one company "Skoda" produced more weapons than the entire pre-war Great Britain, built the entire fleet of German armored personnel carriers, a huge number of tanks, aircraft, small arms, artillery and ammunition.
The Poles built airplanes Polish Jews in Auschwitz they produced explosives, synthetic gasoline and rubber to kill Soviet citizens; the Swedes mined ore and supplied the Germans with components for military equipment (for example, bearings), the Norwegians supplied the Nazis with seafood, the Danes with oil... In short, all of Europe tried its best.
And she tried not only on the labor front. Only the elite troops of Nazi Germany - the SS troops - accepted into their ranks 400 thousand. “blond beasts” from other countries, but in total they joined Hitler’s army from all over Europe 1800 thousand. volunteers, forming 59 divisions, 23 brigades and several national regiments and legions.
The most elite of these divisions had not numbers, but proper names indicating national origin: “Valonia”, “Galicia”, “Bohemia and Moravia”, “Viking”, “Denemark”, “Gembez”, “Langemarck”, “Nordland” ", "Netherlands", "Charlemagne", etc.
Europeans served as volunteers not only in national, but also in German divisions. So, let's say, an elite German division "Greater Germany". It would seem that, at least because of the name, it should have been staffed only by Germans. However, the Frenchman who served in it Guy Sayer recalls that on the eve of the Battle of Kursk, there were 9 Germans in his infantry squad of 11 people, and besides him, a Czech also poorly understood the German language. And all this in addition to the official allies of Germany, whose armies burned and plundered the Soviet Union shoulder to shoulder - Italians, Romanian, Hungarians, Finns, Croats, Slovaks, besides Bulgarians, who at that time burned and plundered partisan Serbia. Even officially neutral Spaniards sent their “Blue Division” to Leningrad!
In order to evaluate the national composition of all the European bastards who, in the hope of easy prey, came to us to kill Soviet and Russian people, I will give a table of that part of the foreign volunteers who guessed in time to surrender to us:
Germans – 2 389 560, Hungarians – 513 767, Romanians – 187 370, Austrians – 156 682, Czechs And Slovaks – 69 977, Poles – 60 280, Italians – 48 957, French people – 23 136, Croats – 21 822, Moldovans – 14 129, Jews – 10 173, Dutch – 4 729, Finns – 2 377, Belgians – 2 010, Luxembourgers – 1652, Danes – 457, Spaniards – 452, gypsies – 383, Norse – 101, Swedes – 72.
This table, first published at the end of 1990, should be repeated for the following reasons. After the reign of “democracy” on the territory of the USSR, the table was continuously “improved” in terms of “enlarging the rows”. As a result, in “serious” books by “professional historians” on the topic of war, say, in the statistical collection “Russia and the USSR in the Wars of the 20th Century” or in the reference book “The World of Russian History”, the data in this table are distorted. Some nationalities have disappeared from it.
The Jews disappeared first, which, as you can see from the original table, served Hitler as many as the Finns and the Dutch combined. But I, for example, don’t see why we should throw out the Jewish verses from this Hitler song.
By the way, the Poles today are trying to push Jews away from the position of “the main sufferers of the Second World War,” and there are more of them on the lists of prisoners than there are officially and actually Italians who fought with us.
But the presented table does not reflect the true quantitative and national composition of prisoners. First of all, it does not represent our domestic scum at all, who, either due to acquired idiocy, or because of cowardice and cowardice, served the Germans - from Bandera to Vlasov.
By the way, they were punished offensively easily. It would be good if a Vlasovite fell prisoner into the hands of front-line soldiers. Then, more often than not, he got what he deserved. But the traitors contrived to surrender to the rear units, dressed in civilian clothes, pretended to be Germans when surrendering, etc. In this case, the Soviet court literally almost patted them on the head.
At one time, domestic anti-Soviet activists published collections of their memoirs abroad. One of them describes the judicial “sufferings” of a Vlasovite who defended Berlin: he changed clothes... to the Soviet soldiers who captured him... he introduced himself as a Frenchman and thus got to the military tribunal. And then to read his boasting is insulting: “They gave me five years in distant camps - and that was lucky. In a hurry - they considered them to be small workers and peasants. Soldiers captured with weapons and officers were given a ten.” While being escorted to the camp, he fled to the West.
Five years for killing Soviet people and treason! What kind of punishment is this?! Well, at least 20, so that the mental wounds of widows and orphans will heal and it won’t be so offensive to look at these vile hari...
For the same reason they are not included in the lists of prisoners of war Crimean Tatars who stormed Sevastopol for Manstein, Kalmyks and so on.
Not listed Estonians, Latvians And Lithuanians, who had their own national divisions as part of Hitler’s troops, but were considered Soviet citizens and therefore served their meager sentences in Gulag camps, and not in GUPVI camps. (GULAG - the main directorate of camps - was responsible for keeping criminals, and GUPVI - the main directorate for prisoners of war and internees - prisoners.) Meanwhile, not all prisoners ended up in GUPVI, since this department counted only those who ended up in its rear camps from front-line transfer points.
Estonian legionnaires of the Wehrmacht fought against the USSR with particular fury (ookaboo.com)
But since 1943, national divisions of Poles, Czechs, and Romanians began to be formed in the USSR to fight the Germans. And the prisoners of these nationalities were not sent to the GUPVI, but immediately to the recruitment points of such formations - they fought together with the Germans, let them fight against them! By the way, there were such 600 thousand. Even de Gaulle was sent to his army 1500 French.
Before the start of the war with the USSR Hitler appealed to Europeans to crusade against Bolshevism. Here's how they responded to it (data for June - October 1941, which does not take into account huge military contingents Italy, Hungary, Romania and other allies of Hitler). From Spanish volunteers ( 18000 people) the 250th Infantry Division was formed in the Wehrmacht. In July, the personnel took the oath to Hitler and left for the Soviet-German front. During September-October 1941, from French volunteers (approx. 3000 people) the 638th Infantry Regiment was formed. In October, the regiment was sent to Smolensk and then to Moscow. From Belgians in July 1941 the 373rd Valonian battalion was formed (approximately 850 people), transferred to the subordination of the 97th Infantry Division of the 17th Army of the Wehrmacht.
From Croatian Volunteers were formed by the 369th Wehrmacht Infantry Regiment and the Croatian Legion as part of the Italian troops. Approximately 2000 Swedes signed up to volunteer in Finland. Of these, approximately 850 people took part in the fighting near Hanko, as part of a Swedish volunteer battalion.
By the end of June 1941 294 Norwegians already served in the SS regiment "Nordland". After the start of the war with the USSR, the volunteer legion “Norway” was created in Norway ( 1200 Human). After taking the oath to Hitler, he was sent to Leningrad. By the end of June 1941, the SS Viking division had 216 Danes. After the start of the war with the USSR, the Danish Volunteer Corps began to form.
Ours stand apart in aiding fascism Polish comrades. Immediately after the end of the German-Polish war, the Polish nationalist Wladyslaw Gisbert-Studnicki came up with the idea of creating a Polish army fighting on the side of Germany. He developed a project for building a Polish 12-15 million pro-German state. Gisbert-Studnicki proposed a plan to send Polish troops to Eastern front. Later the idea of a Polish-German alliance and 35 thousand Polish army supported by the Sword and Plow organization, associated with the Home Army.
In the first months of the war against the USSR, Polish soldiers in the fascist army had the so-called status HiWi (volunteer helpers). Later, Hitler gave special permission for Poles to serve in the Wehrmacht. After this, it was categorically forbidden to use the name in relation to Poles HiWi because the Nazis treated them as full-fledged soldiers. Every Pole between the ages of 16 and 50 could become a volunteer; they only had to undergo a preliminary medical examination.
Poles were called upon, along with other European nations, to stand “in defense of Western civilization from Soviet barbarism.” Here is a quote from a fascist leaflet on Polish language: “The German armed forces are leading the decisive fight to defend Europe from Bolshevism. Any honest helper in this fight will be greeted as an ally..."
The text of the oath of the Polish soldiers read: “I swear before God with this sacred oath that in the fight for the future of Europe in the ranks of the German Wehrmacht I will be absolutely obedient to the Supreme Commander Adolf Hitler, and as a brave soldier I am ready at any time to devote my strength to fulfill this oath...”
It is amazing that even the strictest guardian of the Aryan gene pool Himmler allowed to form units from Poles SS. The first sign was the Goral Legion of the Waffen-SS. The Gorals are an ethnic group within the Polish nation. In 1942, the Nazis convened the Goral Committee in Zakopane. Was appointed "Goralenführer" Vaclav Krzeptovsky.
He and his inner circle made a series of trips to cities and villages, urging them to fight the worst enemy of civilization - Judeo-Bolshevism. It was decided to create a Goral volunteer legion of the Waffen-SS, adapted for operations in mountainous terrain. Krzeptovsky managed to collect 410 Highlanders But after a medical examination in the SS organs there remained 300 Human.
Another Polish SS Legion was formed in mid-July 1944. They joined it 1500 volunteers of Polish nationality. In October the legion was based in Rzechow, in December near Tomaszow. In January 1945, the legion was divided into two groups (1st Lieutenant Machnik, 2nd Lieutenant Errling) and sent to participate in anti-partisan operations in the Tuchola forests. In February, both groups were destroyed by the Soviet army.
President of the Academy of Military Sciences, Army General Mahmut Gareev gave such an assessment of the participation of a number European countries in the fight against fascism: During the war, all of Europe fought against us. Three hundred and fifty million people, regardless of whether they fought with weapons in their hands, or stood at the machine, producing weapons for the Wehrmacht, did one thing.
During World War II, 20 thousand members of the French Resistance died. And 200 thousand French fought against us. We also captured 60 thousand Poles. 2 million European volunteers fought for Hitler against the USSR.
In this regard, the invitation of military personnel from a number of countries looks at least strange NATO take part in the parade on Red Square in honor of the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory, says a member International Association historians of the Second World War, professor of the Military Humanitarian Academy, Colonel Yuri Rubtsov. – This insults the memory of our defenders of the Fatherland, who died at the hands of numerous "European friends of Hitler".
Useful conclusion
During the Second World War against the Soviet Union, which had an initial population of just over 190 million. people, a European coalition of more than 400 million. people, and when we were not Russians, but Soviet citizens, we defeated this coalition.
All of Europe fought against us A
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The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) is a war between the USSR and Germany within the Second World War, which ended with the victory of the Soviet Union over the Nazis and the capture of Berlin. The Great Patriotic War became one of the final stages of the Second World War.
Causes of the Great Patriotic War
After defeat in the First World War, Germany was left in an extremely difficult economic and political situation, however, after Hitler came to power and carried out reforms, the country was able to increase its military power and stabilize the economy. Hitler did not accept the results of the First World War and wanted to take revenge, thereby leading Germany to world domination. As a result of his military campaigns, in 1939 Germany invaded Poland and then Czechoslovakia. A new war has begun.
Hitler's army rapidly conquered new territories, but until a certain point, there was a non-aggression peace treaty between Germany and the USSR, signed by Hitler and Stalin. However, two years after the start of World War II, Hitler violated the non-aggression agreement - his command developed the Barbarossa plan, which envisaged a rapid German attack on the USSR and the seizure of territories within two months. In case of victory, Hitler would have the opportunity to start a war with the United States, and he would also have access to new territories and trade routes.
Contrary to expectations, the unexpected attack on Russia did not produce results - the Russian army turned out to be much better equipped than Hitler expected and offered significant resistance. The campaign, designed to last several months, turned into a protracted war, which later became known as the Great Patriotic War.
Main periods of the Great Patriotic War
- The initial period of the war (June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942). On June 22, Germany invaded the territory of the USSR and by the end of the year was able to conquer Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus - troops moved inland to capture Moscow. Russian troops suffered huge losses, the inhabitants of the country in the occupied territories ended up in German captivity and were driven into slavery in Germany. However, despite the fact that the Soviet army was losing, it still managed to stop the Germans on the approach to Leningrad (the city was besieged), Moscow and Novgorod. Plan Barbarossa did not produce the desired results, and battles for these cities continued until 1942.
- The period of radical change (1942-1943) On November 19, 1942, the counter-offensive of Soviet troops began, which produced significant results - one German and four allied armies were destroyed. The Soviet army continued its offensive in all directions, they managed to defeat several armies, begin pursuing the Germans and push the front line back towards the west. Thanks to the build-up of military resources (the military industry worked in a special regime), the Soviet army was significantly superior to the German one and could now not only resist, but also dictate its terms in the war. The USSR army turned from a defensive one into an attacking one.
- The third period of the war (1943-1945). Despite the fact that Germany managed to significantly increase the power of its army, it was still inferior to the Soviet one, and the USSR continued to play a leading offensive role in the war effort. The Soviet army continued to advance towards Berlin, recapturing the captured territories. Leningrad was retaken, and by 1944, Soviet troops were moving towards Poland and then Germany. On May 8, Berlin was captured and German troops declared unconditional surrender.
Major battles of the Great Patriotic War
- Defense of the Arctic (June 29, 1941 - November 1, 1944);
- Battle of Moscow (September 30, 1941 - April 20, 1942);
- Siege of Leningrad (September 8, 1941 - January 27, 1944);
- Battle of Rzhev (January 8, 1942 - March 31, 1943);
- Battle of Stalingrad (July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943);
- Battle for the Caucasus (July 25, 1942 - October 9, 1943);
- Battle of Kursk (July 5 - August 23, 1943);
- Battle for Right Bank Ukraine (December 24, 1943 - April 17, 1944);
- Belarusian operation (June 23 - August 29, 1944);
- Baltic operation (September 14 - November 24, 1944);
- Budapest operation (October 29, 1944 - February 13, 1945);
- Vistula-Oder operation (January 12 - February 3, 1945);
- East Prussian operation (January 13 - April 25, 1945);
- Battle of Berlin (April 16 - May 8, 1945).
Results and significance of the Great Patriotic War
The main significance of the Great Patriotic War was that it finally broke the German army, not giving Hitler the opportunity to continue his struggle for world domination. The war became a turning point during the Second World War and, in fact, its completion.
However, the victory was difficult for the USSR. The country's economy was in a special regime throughout the war, factories worked mainly for the military industry, so after the war they had to face a severe crisis. Many factories were destroyed, most of the male population died, people were starving and could not work. The country was in a difficult state, and it took many years for it to recover.
But, despite the fact that the USSR was in a deep crisis, the country turned into a superpower, its political influence on the world stage increased sharply, the Union became one of the largest and most influential states, on a par with the USA and Great Britain.
143,000,000 Soviet citizens killed, 1,800,000 killed in captivity or immigrated - the Great Patriotic War broke into every home on June 22, 1941. Over the course of 4 terrible years, fathers, sons, brothers, sisters, mothers and wives remained “bones” at the fronts. The Second World War is called a “terrible lesson of the past,” “a political miscalculation,” and a “bloody massacre.” Why did the terrible war begin, what was its course, what were the results?
Background of the Second World War. Where do “legs grow” from?
The prerequisites are hidden in the Versailles-Washington system established after the First World War. Germany and its ambitions were humiliated and brought to its knees. In the 1920s, the National Socialist German Workers' Party, promoting far-right views, entered the political arena. Party supporters proclaimed the ideas of “revenge for defeat in the First World War” and the establishment of world domination of the German nation. European politicians looked at a "rising Germany" and thought they could govern it. France and Great Britain “pushed” the country towards the borders of the Union, pursuing their own benefits. But they could not think that on September 1, 1939, German troops would invade Poland (the Second World War would begin).
ATTENTION! The Second World War lasted more than 6 years (September 1, 1939 - September 2, 1945). WWII - June 22, 1941 - May 9, 1945.
Why did the Great Patriotic War begin? 3 reasons
Historians talk about dozens of factors that influenced the outbreak of the war. Let's face it, the war began with the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1939. “Behind Europe’s back,” Germany and the Soviet Union agree that they will be “on the same side.” After the outbreak of World War II, the USSR invaded Poland on September 17, 1939. On September 22, 1939, a parade of the Wehrmacht and the Red Army solemnly took place in Brest.
Joseph Stalin did not believe that Hitler would “stab him in the back” and attack the USSR. Moreover: when Minsk fell on June 28, 1941, the leader was in a panic (and even thought that he would be arrested for a crime against the people). The first days of the Second World War, the Red Army retreated, and the Germans easily took one city after another.
Let’s not forget that there were massive repressions in the USSR: during the last “purge” in June 1941, experienced military leaders were killed (shot, expelled).
The causes of the Second World War lie in:
- Hitler's desire for “domination of the whole world” (“Germany from sea to sea”). Resources were needed for conquest, and the territory of the USSR with its natural resources seemed like a “tidbit.”
- The desire of the Soviet authorities to “crush” Eastern Europe.
- Contradictions between the socialist system and capitalism.
What plans did Germany have?
German tacticians and strategists had several plans on the territory of the Soviet Union.
- War plan "Barbarossa". In the summer of 1940, a “blitzkrieg” plan was developed: in 10 weeks (i.e., 2.5 months), German troops were supposed to paralyze the industry of the Urals, crush the European part of the country and reach the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line. On June 17, 1941, Hitler signed the very order that launched the offensive.
- "Ost." Jews and Gypsies were completely destroyed; Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians turned into “slaves” who served the German invaders. Up to 140,000,000 people were to be destroyed. Mass genocide, violence, murder, concentration camps, torture, medical “experiments” - all this awaited those who live today in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine.
- "Oldenburg" and "Goering's Green Folder". Cultural and historical values were to be exported to Germany. Soviet museums were simply robbed, and gold, precious stones, art and antiques were sent to the West by the trainload.
By the summer of 1941, there were 5,500,000 soldiers trained to kill at the borders of the USSR, versus 2,900,000 Soviet (this is the number of military personnel concentrated in the border districts). It’s not worth talking about weapons: one rifle for three, a limited number of bullets, “rusty iron” - all this “came up” more than once in the memories of veterans.
The Soviet Union was not ready for war:
- Stalin ignored the memos about “pulling up” the German armies to the lines. It seemed to the leader that Germany would not invade and fight on 2 fronts.
- Lack of talented military leaders. The “Little Blood War” technique turned out to be a failure. The idea that the Red Army would move to the West, and the workers of the whole world would join its ranks, also turned out to be unfounded.
- Problems with army supplies. According to some information, the Wehrmacht had 16 times more rifles (not to mention tanks and aircraft). The warehouses were located close to the borders, so they were quickly captured by the enemy.
Despite all the miscalculations and problems, soviet soldiers with sweat and blood they snatched victory. In the rear, women, children, old people, and disabled people produced weapons day and night; partisans risked their lives trying to collect as much information as possible about enemy groups. The Soviet people stood up to defend their Motherland.
How did events develop?
Historians talk about 3 main stages. Each of them is divided into dozens of small stages, and behind every success of the Red Army there are shadows of dead soldiers.
Strategic defense. June 22, 1941 – November 18, 1942
At this time, the Barbarossa plan collapsed. In the first stages, enemy troops took Ukraine, the Baltic states and Belarus without any problems. Moscow was ahead - an important geopolitical and economic goal. The capture of Moscow would automatically mean the fragmentation of the Red Army and the loss of control.
September 30, 1941 – January 7, 1942, i.e. For almost 4 months there were heavy battles with varying success, but Soviet troops were able to push back the enemy.
The Battle of Moscow was Hitler's first failure. It became clear that the Blitzkrieg had failed; the Western world saw that the “invincible Adolf” could lose; The morale and fighting spirit of the people rose.
But ahead were Stalingrad and the Caucasus. The victory near Moscow provided a “respite.” The partisan struggle gradually unfolds, and an anti-Hitler coalition is formed. The USSR is transferring the economy to a military footing, so the supply of the army is improving (KV-1 and T-34 tanks, Katyusha rocket launcher, IL-2 attack aircraft).
Radical fracture. November 19, 1942 – end of 1943
Until the fall of 1942, victories were either on the side of the USSR or on the side of Germany. At this stage, the strategic initiative passes into the hands of the Soviet Union: 26 strategic operations (23 of them offensive), assistance from allies and Lend-Lease, “first news” of the collapse of the Hitler coalition, strengthening the authority of the USSR.
All results were given with sweat and blood. At this stage, there are a number of major battles that “turned” the course of the war.
- The Battle of Stalingrad and the defeat of German troops;
- battle for the Dnieper;
- Kursk Bulge.
The stage ends at the end of 1943 with the liberation of Kyiv and the “crossing of the Dnieper.”
Europe liberated from Nazism. January 1944 – May 9, 1945
Let us remember that World War II ended on September 2, 1945. But Europe freed itself from the shackles of Nazism in the spring.
In the fall of 1944, the Soviet command carried out a number of operations to liberate the country from enemy armies: Korsun-Shevchenkovskaya, Lvov-Sandomierz, Yassko-Kishinevskaya. Siege Leningrad, which found itself “cut off” from food and security, was liberated. Thanks to the East Prussian, Vistula-Oder, and West Carpathian operations, it was possible to create all the conditions to “go to Berlin.”
On May 1, 1945, Adolf Hitler takes poison and leaves the people “to their fate.” The provisional government, which “by chance” was headed by K. Doenitz, in its “death convulsions”, tries to negotiate a separate peace with Great Britain and France, but fails. There are tribunals, high-profile scandals, trials and verdicts ahead. On May 8, 1945, the Act of Unconditional Surrender was signed in Karlshorst (a suburb of Berlin). Germany is defeated.
May 9, 1945 becomes Victory Day, a symbol of endless courage, unity and the ability to repel the enemy.
The Great Patriotic War is a terrible lesson in history, for which the Soviet Union paid too high a price. The exact number of deaths is impossible to calculate (figures in different sources differ). But the Soviet people were faced with another task - to raise the destroyed economy from its knees.
