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The event took place in 1941. The Great Patriotic War: the main stages, events, reasons for the victory of the Soviet people. Liberation of Donbass, Bryansk and left-bank Ukraine
Chronology
- 1941, June 22 - 1945, May 9 Great Patriotic War
- 1941, October - December Battle of Moscow
- 1942 November - 1943 February Battle of Stalingrad
- 1943, July - August Battle of Kursk
- 1944, January Liquidation of the blockade of Leningrad
- 1944 Liberation of the territory of the USSR from the fascist invaders
- 1945 April - May Battle of Berlin
- 1945, May 9, Day of the Victory of the Soviet Union over Germany
- 1945 August - September Defeat of Japan
Great Patriotic War (1941 - 1945)
The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941-1945 as an integral and decisive part of the Second World War 1939-1945. has three periods:
June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942... It is characterized by measures to transform the country into a single military camp, the collapse of Hitler's strategy of "lightning war" and the creation of conditions for a radical turning point in the war.
Early 1944 - May 9, 1945... Complete expulsion of the fascist invaders from Soviet soil; the liberation of the peoples of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe by the Soviet Army; the final defeat of Nazi Germany.
By 1941, fascist Germany and its allies conquered virtually all of Europe: Poland was defeated, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg were occupied. The French army resisted for only 40 days. The British Expeditionary Army suffered a major defeat, the units of which were evacuated to the British Isles. Fascist troops entered the territory of the Balkan countries. In Europe, in essence, there was no force that could stop the aggressor. The Soviet Union became such a force. The great feat was accomplished by the Soviet people who saved world civilization from fascism.
In 1940, the fascist leadership developed a plan “ Barbarossa”, The goal of which was the lightning defeat of the Soviet Armed Forces and the occupation of the European part of the Soviet Union. Further plans provided for the complete destruction of the USSR. The ultimate goal of the Nazi troops was to reach the Volga-Arkhangelsk line, and it was planned to paralyze the Urals with the help of aviation. To this end, 153 German divisions and 37 divisions of its allies (Finland, Romania and Hungary) were concentrated in the eastern direction. They had to strike in three directions: central (Minsk - Smolensk - Moscow), northwest (Baltic - Leningrad) and southern (Ukraine with access to the Black Sea coast). A lightning-fast campaign was planned in order to capture the European part of the USSR until the fall of 1941.
The first period of the Great Patriotic War (1941 - 1942)
The beginning of the war
Implementation of the plan " Barbarossa”Started at dawn June 22, 1941... extensive bombing from the air of the largest industrial and strategic centers, as well as the offensive of the ground forces of Germany and its allies along the entire European border of the USSR (over 4.5 thousand km).
Fascist planes are dropping bombs on peaceful Soviet cities. June 22, 1941
In the first few days, German troops advanced tens and hundreds of kilometers. On central direction at the beginning of July 1941 the whole of Belarus was captured, and German troops reached the approaches to Smolensk. On northwest - the Baltic states are occupied, Leningrad is blocked on September 9. On south Hitler's troops occupied Moldova and the Right-Bank Ukraine. Thus, by the fall of 1941, Hitler's plan to seize the vast territory of the European part of the USSR was carried out.
153 German fascist divisions (3,300 thousand people) and 37 divisions (300 thousand people) of the satellite states of Hitlerite Germany were thrown against the Soviet state. They were armed with 3,700 tanks, 4,950 aircraft and 48,000 guns and mortars.
By the beginning of the war against the USSR, as a result of the occupation of Western European countries, weapons, ammunition and equipment of 180 Czechoslovak, French, British, Belgian, Dutch and Norwegian divisions were at the disposal of Nazi Germany. This not only made it possible to equip the fascist troops in sufficient quantities with military equipment and equipment, but also to ensure an advantage in military potential over the Soviet troops.
There were 2.9 million people in our western districts, armed with 1,540 new types of aircraft, 1,475 modern T-34 and KV tanks, and 34,695 guns and mortars. The German fascist army had great superiority in strength.
Characterizing the reasons for the failures of the Soviet Armed Forces in the first months of the war, many historians today see them in the serious mistakes made by the Soviet leadership in the pre-war years. In 1939, large mechanized corps, so necessary in modern warfare, were disbanded, the production of 45 and 76 mm anti-tank guns was discontinued, fortifications on the old Western border were dismantled, and much more.
The weakening of the command staff caused by the pre-war repressions also played a negative role. All this led to an almost complete change in the command and political composition of the Red Army. By the beginning of the war, about 75% of commanders and 70% of political workers had been in their posts for less than one year. Even the Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces of Nazi Germany, General F. Halder, noted in his diary in May 1941: “The Russian officer corps is extremely bad. It makes a worse impression than in 1933. It will take Russia 20 years until it reaches its former height. ” It was necessary to recreate the officer corps of our country already in the conditions of the outbreak of the war.
Among the serious mistakes of the Soviet leadership should be attributed the miscalculation in determining the time of a possible attack by Nazi Germany on the USSR.
Stalin and his entourage believed that the Hitlerite leadership would not dare to violate the non-aggression pact concluded with the USSR in the near future. All information received through various channels, including military and political intelligence, about the upcoming German attack, was viewed by Stalin as provocative, aimed at aggravating relations with Germany. This can also explain the government's assessment, conveyed in a TASS statement on June 14, 1941, in which rumors of an impending German attack were declared provocative. This also explained the fact that the directive on bringing the troops of the western military districts to combat readiness and their occupation of combat lines was given too late. In essence, the directive was received by the troops when the war had already begun. Therefore, the consequences of this were extremely grave.
At the end of June - the first half of July 1941, large defensive border battles unfolded (defense of the Brest Fortress, etc.).
Defenders of the Brest Fortress. Hood. P.Krivonogov. 1951 g.
From July 16 to August 15, the defense of Smolensk continued in the central direction. In the northwestern direction, the German plan to capture Leningrad failed. In the south, until September 1941, the defense of Kiev was carried out, until October - Odessa. The stubborn resistance of the Red Army in the summer and autumn of 1941 thwarted Hitler's plan for a lightning war. At the same time, the seizure of the vast territory of the USSR with its most important industrial centers and grain regions by the fall of 1941 by the fascist command was a serious loss for the Soviet government. (Reader T11 №3)
Restructuring the life of the country on a military track
Immediately after the German attack, the Soviet government carried out major military-political and economic measures to repel the aggression. On June 23, the Headquarters of the High Command was formed. July 10 she was converted to Headquarters of the Supreme Command... It included I.V. Stalin (appointed commander-in-chief and soon became the people's commissar of defense), V.M. Molotov, S.K. Timoshenko, S.M. Budyonny, K.E. Voroshilov, B.M. Shaposhnikov and G.K. Zhukov. By a directive of June 29, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) set before the whole country the task of mobilizing all forces and means to fight the enemy. The State Defense Committee was established on June 30 (GKO), which concentrated all power in the country. The military doctrine was radically revised, the task was put forward to organize a strategic defense, wear down and stop the offensive of the fascist troops. Large-scale measures were taken to transfer industry to a war footing, mobilize the population into the army and build defensive lines.
Page of the Moscow Bolshevik newspaper dated July 3, 1941 with the text of the speech of JV Stalin. Fragment
One of the main tasks, which had to be solved from the first days of the war, was the fastest restructuring of the national economy, the entire economy of the country military rails... The main line of this restructuring was defined in the Directive from June 29, 1941... Specific measures for restructuring the national economy began from the very beginning of the war. On the second day of the war, a mobilization plan for the production of ammunition and cartridges was introduced. On June 30, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR approved a mobilization national economic plan for the third quarter of 1941. However, events at the front developed so unfavorably for us that this plan was unfulfilled. Taking into account the current situation, on July 4, 1941, it was decided to urgently develop a new plan for the development of military production. In the decree of the State Defense Committee on July 4, 1941, it was noted: “To instruct the commission of Comrade Voznesensky, with the involvement of the people's commissar of armaments, ammunition, the aviation industry, nonferrous metallurgy and other people's commissars develop a military-economic plan for ensuring the country's defensemeaning the use of resources and enterprises located on the Volga, Western Siberia and the Urals ”. In two weeks this commission developed a new plan for the fourth quarter of 1941 and for 1942 for the regions of the Volga region, the Urals, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
For the earliest possible deployment of the production base in the regions of the Volga region, the Urals, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia, it was decided to bring industrial enterprises of the People's Commissariat of Defense, the People's Commissariat of Defense, the People's Commissariat for Aviation Industry and others to these areas.
Members of the Politburo, who were at the same time members of the GKO, exercised overall leadership in the main branches of the war economy. The production of weapons and ammunition was dealt with by N.A. Voznesensky, aircraft and aircraft engines - G.M. Malenkov, tanks - V.M. Molotov, food, fuel and clothing - A.I. Mikoyan and others. Industrial People's Commissariats were headed by: A.L. Shakhurin - aviation industry, V.L. Vannikov - ammunition, I.F. Tevosyan - ferrous metallurgy, A.I. Efremov - machine tool industry, V.V. Vakhrushev - coal, I.I. Sedin is oil.
The main link in the restructuring of the national economy on a war footing became industrial restructuring... Almost all mechanical engineering was transferred to military production.
In November 1941, the People's Commissariat for General Machine Building was transformed into the People's Commissariat for the Mortar Industry. In addition to the People's Commissariats of the aviation industry, shipbuilding, weapons and ammunition, created before the war, at the beginning of the war, two People's Commissars were formed - the tank and mortar industries. Thanks to this, all the main branches of the military industry received specialized centralized control. The production of rocket launchers was started, which existed only in prototypes before the war. Their production is organized at the Moscow plant "Compressor". The first missile combat installation was given the name "Katyusha" by front-line soldiers.
At the same time, the process was actively carried out training of workers through the labor reserve system. In just two years, through this area, about 1,100 thousand people were prepared for work in industry.
For the same purposes, in February 1942, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was adopted "On the mobilization of the able-bodied urban population during wartime to work in production and construction."
During the restructuring of the national economy, the main center of the military economy of the USSR became eastern industrial base, which was significantly expanded and fortified with the start of the war. Already in 1942 the share of the eastern regions in the all-Union production increased.
As a result, the main burden of supplying the army with weapons and equipment fell on the eastern industrial base. In 1942, the production of military products increased in the Urals in comparison with 1940 more than 6 times, in Western Siberia - 27 times, and in the Volga region - 9 times. On the whole, during the war, industrial production in these regions more than tripled. It was a great military and economic victory achieved by the Soviet people during those years. She laid solid foundations for the final victory over Nazi Germany.
The course of hostilities in 1942
The fascist leadership in the summer of 1942 staked on the seizure of the oil regions of the Caucasus, the fertile regions of southern Russia and the industrial Donbass. Kerch and Sevastopol were lost.
At the end of June 1942, a general German offensive was launched in two directions: Caucasus and to the east - to Volga.
The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union (22.VI 1941 - 9.V 1945)
On caucasian direction at the end of July 1942, a strong Hitlerite group crossed the Don. As a result, Rostov, Stavropol and Novorossiysk were captured. Stubborn battles were fought in the central part of the Main Caucasian Range, where specially trained enemy Alpine riflemen operated in the mountains. Despite the successes achieved in the Caucasian direction, the fascist command did not manage to solve its main task - to break through to the Transcaucasus to seize the oil reserves of Baku. By the end of September, the offensive of the fascist troops in the Caucasus was stopped.
An equally difficult situation for the Soviet command developed in eastward... To cover it was created Stalingrad front under the command of Marshal S.K. Tymoshenko. In connection with the current critical situation, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's order No. 227 was issued, which said: "To retreat further means to ruin oneself and at the same time our Motherland." At the end july 1942... enemy under command general von Paulus dealt a powerful blow to Stalingrad front... However, despite a significant superiority in forces, within a month the fascist troops managed to advance only 60 - 80 km.
From the first days of September began heroic defense of Stalingradwhich actually lasted until the end of 1942... Its significance during the Great Patriotic War is enormous. Thousands of Soviet patriots heroically showed themselves in battles for the city.
Street fighting in Stalingrad. 1942 g.
As a result, in the battles for Stalingrad, enemy troops suffered colossal losses. Every month of the battle, about 250 thousand new Wehrmacht soldiers and officers were sent here, the bulk of military equipment. By mid-November 1942, the Nazi troops, having lost more than 180 thousand people killed, 500 thousand wounded, were forced to stop the offensive.
During the summer-autumn campaign of 1942, the Nazis managed to occupy a huge part of the European part of the USSR, but the enemy was stopped.
The second period of the Great Patriotic War (1942 - 1943)
The final stage of the war (1944 - 1945)
The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union (22.VI 1941 - 9.V 1945)
In the winter of 1944, the Soviet offensive began near Leningrad and Novgorod.
900-day blockade heroic Leningrad, broken in 1943, was removed completely.
Connected! Break of the blockade of Leningrad. January 1943
Summer 1944... The Red Army carried out one of the largest operations of the Great Patriotic War (“ Bagration”). Belarus was completely released. This victory paved the way for advancements to Poland, the Baltic States and East Prussia. In mid-August 1944... Soviet troops in the western direction reached border with Germany.
At the end of August, Moldova was liberated.
These largest operations in 1944 were accompanied by the liberation of other territories of the Soviet Union - Transcarpathian Ukraine, the Baltic States, the Karelian Isthmus and the Arctic.
The victories of the Russian troops in 1944 helped the peoples of Bulgaria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia in their struggle against fascism. In these countries, pro-German regimes were overthrown, patriotic forces came to power. The Polish Army, created back in 1943 on the territory of the USSR, sided with the anti-Hitler coalition.
Main results offensive operations carried out in 1944, consisted in the fact that the liberation of the Soviet land was completely completed, the state border of the USSR was fully restored, military operations were transferred outside the borders of our Motherland.
Front commanders at the final stage of the war
A further offensive of the Red Army was launched against Hitler's troops on the territory of Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. The Soviet command, developing the offensive, carried out a number of operations outside the USSR (Budapest, Belgrade, etc.). They were caused by the need to destroy large enemy groups in these territories in order to prevent the possibility of their transfer to the defense of Germany. At the same time, the introduction of Soviet troops into the countries of Eastern and Southeastern Europe strengthened the left and communist parties in them and, in general, the influence of the Soviet Union in this region.
T-34-85 in the mountains of Transylvania
IN january 1945... Soviet troops began broad offensive operations in order to complete the defeat of Nazi Germany. The offensive took place on a huge 1,200 km front from the Baltic to the Carpathians. Polish, Czechoslovak, Romanian and Bulgarian troops acted together with the Red Army. The French air regiment Normandie-Niemen also fought as part of the 3rd Belorussian Front.
By the end of the winter of 1945, the Soviet Army had completely liberated Poland and Hungary, a significant part of Czechoslovakia and Austria. In the spring of 1945, the Red Army reached the approaches to Berlin.
Berlin offensive operation (16.IV - 8.V 1945)
It was a difficult battle in a burning, dilapidated city. On May 8, representatives of the Wehrmacht signed an act of unconditional surrender.
Signing of the act of unconditional surrender of fascist Germany
On May 9, Soviet troops completed their last operation - defeated the grouping of the German fascist army that surrounded the capital of Czechoslovakia - Prague, and entered the city.
The long-awaited Victory Day has come, which has become a great holiday. The decisive role in achieving this victory, in the implementation of the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of World War II belongs to the Soviet Union.
Defeated fascist standardsHitler approved the plan of war against the USSR, code-named "Barbarossa" on December 18, 1940. He strove to establish the hegemony of Germany in Europe, which would have been impossible without the defeat of the USSR. Germany was also attracted by the natural resources of the USSR, which were important as a strategic raw material. The defeat of the Soviet Union, in the opinion of the Hitlerite military command, would create conditions for the invasion of the British Isles and the capture of British colonies in the Near and Middle East and in India. The strategic plan of the Hitlerite command ("blitzkrieg" - lightning war) was as follows: to destroy the Soviet troops concentrated in the western regions of the country, to rapidly advance deep into the Soviet Union, to occupy its most important political and economic centers. Moscow had to be destroyed after its capture. The ultimate goal of the military operation against the USSR is the withdrawal and reinforcement of German troops on the Arkhangelsk-As-Trakhan line.
June 22, 1941 Germany attacked the Soviet Union.Hitler violated the 1939 German-Soviet non-aggression pact.
German troops advanced in three army groups. The task of Army Group North is to destroy Soviet troops in the Baltic States, to occupy ports on the Baltic Sea, Pskov and Leningrad. Army Group "South" was supposed to defeat the forces of the Red Army in Ukraine, capture Kiev, Kharkov, Donbass and Crimea. The most powerful was Army Group Center, advancing in the] central direction to Moscow.
On June 23, the Headquarters of the Main Command was created in Moscow to direct the hostilities. On July 10, it was reorganized into the Headquarters of the High Command. Stalin was its chairman.
Initial stage (June 22, 1941— 19 November 1942).
1941 g.
On June 22, the Germans crossed the border of the Soviet Union in many directions.
By July 10, the Nazis, advancing in three strategic directions (Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev), captured the Baltic States, a significant part of Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine.
July 10-September 10 - Battle of Smolensk, losing the city, encirclement of the Red Army formations, the advance of the Nazis to Moscow.
July 11 - September 19 - the defense of Kiev, the loss of the city, the encirclement of the four armies of the Southwestern Front.
December 5, 1941 - January 8, 1942 - the counter-offensive of the Red Army near Moscow, the Germans were driven back 120-250 km. The strategy of lightning war failed.
1942 g.
January 9 - April - the offensive of the Red Army, the Moscow and Tula regions, areas of the Kalinin, Smolensk, Ryazan, Oryol regions were liberated.
May - July - the offensive of German troops in the Crimea, the fall of Sevastopol (July 4).
July 17 - November 18 - the defensive stage of the Battle of Stalingrad, plans of the German command to seize the city with lightning speed were thwarted.
July 25 - December 31 - defensive battle in the North Caucasus.
A radical change (November 19, 1942 - December 1943).
November 19, 1942 - February 2, 1943 - the offensive of the Red Army at Stalingrad, the encirclement and capture of the 6th Army of Field Marshal Paulus and the 2nd Tank Army with a total number of 300 thousand people, the beginning of a radical change in during the Great Patriotic War.
1943 g.
July 5 - August 23 - Battle of the Kursk Bulge (July 12 - tank battle near Prokhorovka), the final transfer of the strategic initiative to the Red Army.
August 25 - December 23 - battle for the Dnieper, liberation of the Left-Bank Ukraine, Donbass, Kiev (November 6).
1944 g.
January - May - offensive operations near Leningrad and Novgorod (the blockade of Leningrad was lifted), near Odessa (the city was liberated) and in the Crimea.
June - December - Operation Bagration and a number of other offensive operations to liberate Belarus, the Lvov-Sandomierz operation in Western Ukraine, operations to liberate Romania and Bulgaria, the Baltic states, Hungary and Yugoslavia.
1945 g.
January 12 - February 7 - Vistula-Oder operation, most of Poland is liberated.
January 13 - April 25 - East Prussian operation, Konigsberg, the main fortified bridgehead of East Prussia, is taken.
April 16 - May 8 - Berlin operation, the capture of Berlin (May 2), the surrender of Germany (May 8).
The Great Patriotic War was an integral part of the Second World War, in which Nazi Germany and its allies were opposed by a powerful anti-Hitler coalition. The main participants in the coalition were the USSR, USA and Great Britain. The Soviet Union made a decisive contribution to the defeat of fascism. The Eastern Front has always remained the main one during the Second World War.
The victory over Germany and Japan strengthened the authority of the USSR throughout the world. The Soviet Army ended the war with the most powerful army in the world, and the Soviet Union became one of the two superpowers.
The main source of the USSR's victory in the war was the uncommon courage and heroism of the Soviet people at the front and in the rear. On the Soviet-German front alone, 607 enemy divisions were defeated. Germany lost in the war against the USSR more than 10 million people (80% of its military losses), 167 thousand artillery pieces, 48 \u200b\u200bthousand tanks, 77 thousand aircraft (75% of all its military equipment). The victory came at a huge cost. The war claimed the lives of almost 27 million people (including 10 million soldiers and officers). In the enemy rear, 4 million partisans, underground fighters, and civilians were killed. Over 6 million people ended up in Nazi captivity. Nevertheless, in the people's minds the long-awaited Victory Day became the brightest and most joyful holiday, which meant the end of the bloodiest and most destructive of wars.
The Great Patriotic War is the most important period in modern history, demonstrating the feat and resilience of the Russian people.
After the fascist army attacked the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, the country was in a deplorable state. The military forces of the USSR were much inferior to the power of the Nazi army, and Stalin himself for several days could not believe that the war had begun.
The first battles were lost in disgrace, which convinced the Germans to the effectiveness of the Barbarossa plan. However, the events of the winter of 1941 and the subsequent battles showed that it would not be so easy to capture the Soviet Union. Historians often call the early stage of the war the most tragic and bloody.
Important dates and events | Description of ongoing military events |
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The early stage of hostilities (summer 1941-winter 1942). | The German attack was sudden and unpredictable, especially in the light of the peace treaties between the USSR and Germany. The Baltic countries, Ukraine and Belarus were the first to be attacked. Since the Germans were operating on several fronts, it was difficult to conduct a logical defense, the army was not mobilized. Due to the unexpectedness of the attack, the Soviet troops for a long time could not carry out a competent defense and invariably retreated. |
Almost immediately after the Nazi attack on the USSR, the defense of Hanko began. Despite the stubborn struggle of Soviet soldiers and units of the Finnish army, the base was taken, and all local residents were evacuated. |
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One of the first battles in the history of the Great Patriotic War. On the morning of June 22, the Brest Fortress was attacked, and the local military units heroically defended it for nine days. Despite the heroism of local residents and the military, the fortress was taken. |
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The Baltic military operation became one of the bloodiest in the entire history of the Great Patriotic War. Despite the efforts of the soldiers, the Soviet army was driven out of the Baltic by German forces. |
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After fierce battles, Minsk was taken. |
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Defense of the Arctic, which ended with the victory of the USSR. The Soviet troops, at the cost of incredible losses, managed to push the Germans back. |
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Due to the unpreparedness of the Soviet troops for war, Kiev was eventually taken by the Germans, and at the cost of huge losses on both sides. The city was destroyed almost to the ground, and the South-Western Front of the USSR suffered a crushing defeat. |
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It was from July 10 that the Stoic defense of Leningrad began, which continued with a 3-year blockade. Soviet troops were defeated, and the Germans managed to quickly capture the main strategic positions. Since the city was attacked from the air, Leningrad suffered the first losses in terms of its architectural appearance. At the end of the war, some parts of the city will be destroyed to the ground. |
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The most important event in the early period of the Great Patriotic War. Despite the final defeat of the Soviet troops and many thousands of losses, the USSR managed to thwart the blitzkrieg plan. A quick capture of Smolensk did not work, despite the thoughtful German tactics. It was this battle that showed the Germans that it would not be as easy to capture the USSR as the countries of Europe. |
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Soviet troops were defeated, the Kherson and Nikolaev regions of the Ukrainian SSR were captured. |
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The heroic defense of Odessa ended in the defeat of the USSR. Local residents were evacuated as planned, but the Soviet units still suffered huge losses. Odessa was captured and destroyed. |
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The Germans won another victory, and the Soviet troops were thrown far back. However, the long defense of Tallinn once again thwarted the blitzkrieg, and the war became protracted. |
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The war became protracted, and the German plan to quickly capture the Soviet Union turned out to be irrelevant. Gradually, the USSR begins to gain important strategic victories, for example, in the Yelninsky operation. And even though the preponderance of forces is still on the side of the Germans, the Soviet Union manages to offer worthy resistance. |
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The Soviet troops suffered a crushing defeat, the losses at Roslavl and Vyazma were appalling, and the superiority of forces continued to be on the side of the Germans. |
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After fierce defensive battles, the Germans still managed to encircle Leningrad, organizing the longest and most tragic blockade of the city in the entire history of Russia. During the blockade of Leningrad, thousands of local residents died, and more often people died not from live shells, but from elementary hunger. The city itself was constantly bombarded, many architectural monuments were destroyed. Only thanks to the functioning of the "road of life" and rare transmissions from outside the blockade, Leningrad managed to withstand. This period is very important for the analysis of the history of the Great Patriotic War, because the long-term blockade demonstrated the strength of the Russian people. |
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The defense of Moscow consisted of several stages, and until December 5, 1941, Soviet troops only defended themselves, but it was on this day that they launched an offensive. The defensive actions near the capital of the USSR are often called the turning point of the Great Patriotic War. Despite the fact that Germany was militarily and strategically stronger, the USSR managed to win an unconditional victory. The Barbarossa plan collapsed, and the Germans had to urgently come up with new ideas for an offensive against the Soviet Union. |
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The Red Army suffered a crushing defeat, and the Germans managed to advance even further inland. |
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The Germans were able to win a fairly quick and confident victory. |
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Despite the fact that the forces of the USSR and Germany were equal, the Soviet Union managed to achieve a strategic victory. Soviet troops once again showed their endurance, but the positions of the USSR were still weak and shaky. |
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Soviet troops managed to push the Germans back a little further, but the operation itself had a dual meaning. Because of the defense of Tikhvin, it was not possible to organize the blockade of Leningrad. The constant resistance of the Soviet troops led to the fact that German communications were greatly stretched. In the future, this will affect the deterioration of Germany's military maneuverability. |
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The failure of the Soviet troops in the Crimea led to an early defense of Sevastopol and further defeats on the southern and western fronts. Ukraine was literally ablaze due to German attacks, but the stoic defense of some areas continued. |
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Sevastopol has always been considered an important strategic point, because it was here that sea traffic was provided, and important military units were located here. After the failure of the Crimean defensive operation, Soviet troops had to move to Sevastopol. The defense of the city became one of the bloodiest periods in the entire history of the war. Despite the stubbornness of the Soviet soldiers, Sevastopol was still captured and plundered. Thousands of local residents did not manage to evacuate, and the Germans, angry at such a long defense of the city, began to commit robbery, killing both children and adults. The defeat at Sevastopol is still considered one of the most tragic pages in the history of the Great Patriotic War. |
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This battle is considered one of the most important strategic victories of the Soviet Union. Despite the fact that the German troops were better equipped, and in numbers they outnumbered the Russian units, the USSR managed to win a landslide victory. This victory was important from a moral point of view, because it strengthened the morale and convinced the Soviet soldiers that the Germans could be defeated. |
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During this operation, Soviet troops managed to prevent an attack on Moscow from the north and, in principle, to curtail German offensive operations on the capital. In addition, this victory created the conditions for a Soviet counteroffensive. |
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The most important strategic victory of the USSR helped to push the fascists back and free Yelets and Efremov. |
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German units retreated 130 kilometers, and Soviet troops finally eliminated the possibility of an attack on the capital. |
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The Soviet troops were defeated, but they were still able to help the Leningrad invaders a little, diverting the attention of the German units. The losses were enormous, but at the same time the Soviet troops were unable to recapture even a small part of the occupied territories. |
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Exhausting battles, lasting more than a year, brought victory to the USSR. The Red Army managed to defeat large parts of the German army, which were stationed precisely near Rzhev. |
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Soviet troops managed to temporarily delay the advance of the Germans on the North-Western Front. However, the German army managed to win a strategic victory, breaking through the encirclement of the Red Army. |
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Despite all efforts, Soviet troops failed to break through the German defenses on the Bryansk and Western fronts. At the cost of huge losses, only progress was achieved 5-20 kilometers ahead. |
The alignment of forces was clearly in favor of fascist Germany, because the USSR was inferior to its rival both in the number of soldiers and in the number of military equipment. However, the true heroism of the Soviet people helped to contain the enemy for months, preventing the Germans from advancing a kilometer forward.
The mercilessly cold winter also had its effect. The Germans froze to death in thousands in the Russian forests, and by the winter of 1942 the Nazi command was finally convinced that the Barbarossa plan had not justified itself. Ahead, both sides awaited bloody battles that finally changed the international balance of military forces.
(1
estimates, average: 5,00
out of 5)
- Alla
The greatest problem and question of this period can be considered why the leadership of the USSR, knowing about the impending danger, allowed such a defeat at the first stage of hostilities. From two points of view, I cannot lean towards either one: 1) The leadership of the USSR was too self-confident, knew about the attack, but overestimated its strength. 2) They simply did not know about a possible attack.
- Amirlan
Of all the stages of the war, it is the first stage that is the most disastrous - they gave up Ukraine, Belarus, Leningrad fell into a blockade, they almost lost Moscow + whole divisions that were surrounded by Rzhev and Vyazma. By far the most difficult and disastrous stage of the war.
- Grunge66
The first stage is universally considered a failure on the Soviet side. But if you look at the great losses of the Germans, it becomes clear that the Blitzkrieg is not such a Blitzkrieg. Abwehr's failed game and total partisanship showed from the first days of the war that the German side, sooner or later, would give up its positions. Of course, the Nazis had victorious moments, but if you think about who the "attacker" is, then the "Soviets" had a head start. The first stage was the least disastrous for the Germans, in relation to the rest of the "stages".
- Victor Sh
The author of the above article is nothing more than an eccentric with the letter "M" after the written phrase: "The first battles were lost in disgrace, which convinced the Germans to the effectiveness of the Barbarossa plan ... If the author of the article came to this conclusion, then he simply did not read the German memoirs generals. And it's not about ideology. Yes, the battles of the summer of 1941 were lost. But they lost with a lot of blood not only for the Red Army, but also for the Wehrmacht.
Behind the mediocrity of Soviet generals, there was a massive feat of ordinary Red Army men and junior commanders. Just after the first days and weeks of fighting, the Germans came to the conclusion that the Barbarossa was different from walking around Europe. Where the Western European countries were shamefully surrendered.
My grandfather had fought since July 1941, in August of the same year he was seriously wounded, and then from the spring of 1942 to the spring of 1945 he fought in one of the tank brigades. It was a shame that individual soldiers and commanders went over to the side of the Nazis under one pretext or another. Everything else is considered a shame - this is really a shame for those descendants who did not even find it difficult to study the historical documents in more detail. - Ivan
Gentlemen, how can you argue with a person who believes that the USSR was at war with the Nazis ...
- Valery Petrakov
The mediocrity of the political leadership, the command of the Red Army (there were persistent rumors among the people about the betrayal of some of them), the concentration of strategic reserves, warehouses, directly on the border - a kind of "gift" to the aggressor, "offensive" strategy and dozens of other factors led to our great tragedy - the disaster of 1941. It was paid for with many millions of lives of our heroic people. For decades, they lied to us that we had fewer troops, tanks, artillery, aircraft - everything is exactly, at times, on the contrary. The Germans in 1941, even in their dreams, did not have our equipment, which we had: KV-1, T-34 tanks, amphibious tanks. Even the BA-10 armored car had 45 mm. a cannon, and the German HEAVY tank T - 4 is only a 50 mm gun with a short barrel (the Germans themselves called it "butt" and "stump"). Throughout the war, the Nazis were unable to create an attack aircraft like the IL - 2, the B - 13 Katyusha Rocket Launcher and much more that was in the Red Army at the start of the war. Why was the beginning of the Great Patriotic War so mediocre? There are many reasons. Since 1917, began (and did not end until 41), the extermination of tsarist officers - professional defenders of the Fatherland. Instead of them, they were "promoted" to the commanders of people (ideological), militarily not educated. In the Red Army there was an institution of "commissars", there was no one-man management. Commanded: a battalion, a regiment, a division - two - the commander and the commissar. And Napoleon also said: "One bad commander-in-chief is better than two good ones." Poor training of commanders, poor communications, dominance of party ideology instead of a clear defensive strategy. The offensive doctrine proclaimed: "The Red Army will be the most offensive army in the world" and "We will fight with little blood on foreign territory." For all this mediocre leadership (the Bolsheviks) many millions of our best people were put into the furnace of the war. The great tragedy of 1941 - the gene pool of our people was undermined!
- Oleg
Incomprehensible selection of events in the first half of the war. For example, the battle for Moscow is highlighted separately, which of course is correct, but at the same time Kalininskaya, Vyazemskaya, Oryol-Bryanskaya, Rzheskaya, Tulskaya - these are all operations that are part of the same battle for Moscow. The period from January 7 - May 25, 1942, it is not written that this is the Demyansk operation. The reader has to guess. The author's defense of Leningrad generally began on June 10, that is, before the start of the war.
1941 year
22nd of June.
The attack of fascist Germany on the USSR. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War.
The Western Special Military District was reorganized into the Western Front with headquarters in Minsk (commander D.G. Pavlov).
Defensive battles of the Western Front began on the territory of Belarus (continued until July 9, 1941).
June 22-end of July.
Heroic defense of the garrison of the Brest Fortress.
June 24.
Creation of one of the first in Belarus Pinsk partisan detachment under the command of V.3.Korzh.
June 25.
The government of Belarus moves from Minsk to Mogilev.
June 25-28.
Defense of Minsk by the troops of the 13th Army of the Western Front.
June 26.
The feat of the crew of Captain N.F. Gastello, who sent his downed plane to the accumulation of enemy equipment on the Molodechno-Ra road
doshkovichi.
The beginning of the evacuation of enterprises, material and cultural values \u200b\u200bfrom the areas of the front-line zone to the Soviet rear.
The beginning of the construction of defensive structures along the Berezina rivers and
Dnieper.
June 27-July 15.
Defense of Polotsk.
June 28.
German troops captured the capital of Belarus, Minsk. 30 June.
Directive of the Central Committee of the CP (b) B "On the transition to underground work of party organizations in areas occupied by the enemy."
End of June.
A patriotic underground began to form in Minsk (it operated throughout the entire occupation of the city, united about 90 underground groups and organizations, more than 6 thousand underground members, had about 250 safe houses).
July 1.
Directive of the Central Committee of the CP (b) B "On the deployment of partisan warfare in the rear
enemy ".
July 3-26.
Defense of Mogilev by units of the Red Army and people's militias.
July 5-11.
Defense of Vitebsk by Red Army units and people's militias.
July 6.
The government of Belarus sent 29 partisan detachments and groups (460 people) to the areas occupied by the enemy.
July 6-10.
A counterattack by the troops of the 20th Soviet Army against the 3rd tank group of German troops in the area of \u200b\u200bthe cities of Lepel - Senno. July 8.
In 8 battles near Mogilev, General Dmitry Karbyshev was wounded and captured (later brutally tortured in the Mauthausen death camp); In the battles of Lepel, the son of J.V. Stalin, Yakov Dzhugashvili, was captured by the Nazis (died in a death camp).
July 9.
In the Surazh region, a partisan detachment was among the first created under the leadership of M.P. Shmyrev (it began hostilities on July 25, 1941).
Early July.
Creation in the Oktyabrsky district of the partisan detachment "Red October" under the leadership of TP Bumazhkov and FI Pavlovsky.
July 13-August 17.
Rogachev-Zhlobin operation of the 21st Army - a counterattack on the Nazi troops in the Bobruisk direction.
the 14 th of July.
The first salvo of Katyusha missile (rocket-propelled) launchers at the concentration of enemy troops at the Orsha station.
21 July.
The Minsk underground CP (b) B regional committee was formed (operated until July 3, 1944, the secretaries of the regional committee: V.I.Kozlov, I.D. Varvashenya, I.A.Velsky, A.F. Bragin, R.N. Machulsky ).
July 22.
The cavalry group of General O. I. Gorodovikov struck a counterattack, forced the river. Bird, freed Glusk, Starye Dorogi, Osipovichi; the Nazis were able to eliminate the breakthrough on July 27, pulling up three divisions.
July August.
More than 500 thousand people were mobilized from Belarus to the Red Army; more than 1.5 million people were evacuated to the Soviet rear; about 120 largest plants and factories were evacuated, about 675 thousand heads of cattle, more than 5 thousand tractors, etc.
On the territory of Belarus occupied by the Nazi invaders, 22 underground district committee of the CP (b) B began to operate.
July-10 September.
Smolensk defensive battle, during which German troops ended the occupation of Belarus.
August 6.
The titles of Hero of the Soviet Union were awarded to Belarusian partisans T.P. Bumazhkov and F.I. Pavlovsky, the first partisans of the Great Patriotic War; 43 Belarusian partisans were awarded with military orders and medals.
August 12-19.
Defense of the city of Gomel by units of the Red Army and people's militias.
August 13-17.
Rogachev-Zhlobin offensive operation of the Soviet troops. September 1.
The General Commissariat created by the occupiers was headed by Gauleiter Wilhelm Kube (on September 22, 1943, destroyed by the Minsk underground workers).
October 8th.
Beginning of publishing in the Soviet rear of the newspaper "Soviet Belarus". October.
Creation of the Klichev partisan zone (existed until the end of the occupation).
November.
Creation of a headquarters for the leadership of the partisan movement in the Minsk region.
Creation of the Minsk underground city committee of the CP (b) B (1st composition, operated until October 1942).
Winter 1941/42
The defeat of the Nazi troops near Moscow. A 40-kilometer gap formed in the front line, the so-called Vitebsk (Su-razh) "gates", which until September 28, 1942 were held by army units and partisans and used them to send organizational and sabotage groups, weapons, literature and dr.
Creation of concentration camps on the territory of Belarus, including a death camp near the village of Trostenets, Minsk region, for the mass extermination of prisoners of war and civilians.
1942 year
January.
Creation of the Obolsk underground patriotic organization (Sirotinsky district, operated until August 1943).
A pro-fascist Belarusian Independent Party was created in the occupied territory (the 1st Congress was held in October 1943, existed until July 1944).
20th of March.
The partisans of the 128th, 277th, 620th and 752nd detachments liberated the regional center of Klichev from the Nazi invaders and included it in the Klichev partisan zone.
Operational groups of the Central Committee of the CP (b) B began their activity: Western (until June 2, 1942) and North-Western (until September 15, 1942).
March.
A group of partisan detachments of the Minsk, Polesie and Pinsk regions carried out a raid on the territory of the Luban, Starobinsky, Gantsevichy, Krasnoslobodsky, Leninsky and Zhitkovichi regions against the German and police garrisons in these regions.
April 8.
Creation in the occupied Vitebsk region of the 1st Belarusian partisan brigade under the command of M.P. Shmyrev.
May 30.
At the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement (TsSHPD) was created; P.K. Ponomarenko, 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Belarus, was appointed chief of staff.
May.
The German-fascist invaders began mass extermination of civilians in Belarus near the Bronnaya Gora station of the Berezovsky region (more than 150 thousand people were killed here before November 1942).
June 28.
On 8 Moscow, Yanka Kupala was tragically killed.
9th of September.
Creation of the Belarusian headquarters of the partisan movement (BShPD; chief of staff P.Z. Kalinin).
September.
Creation of the Rossony-Osveiskaya and Ushachsko-Lepelskaya partisan zone.
November 19 - February 2.
Battle of Stalingrad.
December.
Creation of the Borisov-Begoml partisan zone.
Bodies of Soviet power have been restored in the Leninsky District of the Pinsk Region and the Begoml District of the Minsk Region, liberated by the partisans from the German invaders.
1942 g.
In the occupied territory of Belarus, 4 regional committees, 42 regional committees and 3 inter-regional committees of the CP (b) B operated underground; 4 regional committees, 62 regional committees, 5 inter-regional committees, 5 city committees of the LKSMB.
1943 year
January March.
The 1st partisan brigade named after K.S. Zaslonov made a 300-kilometer raid across the territory of Sennensky, Bogushevsky, Vitebsk, Beshenkovichi, Chashniki, Lepel and Kholopenichsky districts.
February 2.
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR established the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" 1st and 2nd degrees.
March 22.
The German fascist invaders burned the village of Kha-tyn (Logoisk district of the Minsk region) together with the population.
April 21 - June 6.
Belarusian partisans carried out Operation Granite to disable the transport lines of the occupiers. During the operation, 1806 trains were derailed, 66 railway bridges were blown up, 167 km of railway tracks were destroyed, and 164 garrisons were crushed.
April 29-May 28.
Fighting partisans of the Ushachsko-Lepel and Borisov-Begoml zones against the punitive expedition of the Nazis.
July 5 - August 23.
The Battle of Kursk is one of the decisive operations of the Soviet Army in the Great Patriotic War.
July 24.
Creation of the Brest Regional Anti-Fascist Committee, under the leadership of which more than 400 anti-fascist organizations and groups, about 300 youth anti-fascist organizations operated.
July 30.
As a result of the sabotage of the underground at the Osipovichi railway station, 4 enemy military echelons, including those with tanks, were burned
"Tiger".
August 3 - September.
1st stage of the "rail war" of the partisans of Belarus on the enemy's railway communications.
August 7-October 2.
Smolensk offensive operation, during which the first eastern regions of Belarus were liberated.
August 16.
The brigade of the "Russian People's Army" formed by the Germans from prisoners of war to fight the partisans (received the name of the 1st anti-fascist partisan brigade, commander V.V. Gil-Rodionov) went over to the side of the partisans in full force.
September 14.
Organization of the Dnieper military flotilla. September 19th.
The beginning of the second stage of the "rail war" on the territory of Belarus under the name "Concert" (lasted until November 1943).
September 22nd.
Minsk underground workers destroyed the General of the Commissioner of Belarus, Gauleiter V. Kube (he was replaced by the head of the SS and police of Belarus, SS Gruppenfuehrer von Gottberg).
23 September.
Troops of the 13th Army of the Central Front liberated the first regional center of Belarus - the urban village of Komarin.
Until October 2.
The troops of the Central Front liberated the Klimovichsky, Krasnopolsky, Krichevsky, Khotimsky, Cherikovsky regions of Belarus.
October 12-13.
The first battle of the 1st Polish division named after T.Kostyushka of the Western Front against the German fascists near the village of Lenino, Goretsky district, Mogilev region.
October 19-20.
As a result of the Lepel operation, the city of Lepel was liberated. November 10-30.
Gomel-Rechitsa operation, as a result of which the cities of Rechitsa, Gomel, Vasilevichi were liberated.
November 26.
Liberation of the first regional center of Belarus - the city of Gomel by the troops of the Belorussian Front.
1943, November - 1944, June.
Publication of the underground newspaper "Minsk Bolshevik" - the organ of the Minsk underground city committee of the CP (b) B.
December 24.
The Soviet Army liberated the town of Gorodok, Vitebsk region. December.
As a result of the interaction of Red Army units and partisans on the territory of the Oktyabrsky district, the Rudobelsk "gate" was created.
The government of Belarus has moved from Moscow to Novobelitsa (a suburb of Gomel).
1944 year
1st of January.
18 partisans and leaders of the partisan movement of Belarus were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, 531 people were awarded orders and medals.
January 8 - February 8.
Kalinkovichi-Mozyr operation of the Soviet troops. January 14.
Liberation of the cities of Kalinkovichi and Mozyr. February 17.
Formation of the 1st Belorussian Front (commander K.K. Rokossovsky).
February 21-26.
Rogachev-Zhlobin operation of the Soviet troops.
24 February.
Liberation of Rogachev.
February.
As a result of the autumn-winter offensive of the Red Army, 36 regions of Belarus were liberated by the end of February 1944.
March.
Creation of the Ozarich death camp by the fascist German invaders; about 15 thousand camp inmates died from hunger, cold and
diseases.
April 3-11.
Defensive battles of the Sovetskaya Belorussia partisan brigades named after FE Dzerzhinsky and the 345th detachment against the punitive expedition of the Nazis near the village of Zditovo, Berezovsky district, where the headquarters of the Brest partisan formation was located (the memorial complex Zditovskaya defense was built on the site of the battles)
April 24.
Creation of the 2nd Belorussian Front (commander I.E. Petrov, from June 1944 G.F. Zakharov) and the 3rd Belorussian Front (commander I.D. Chernyakhovsky).
April May.
Battle of Polotsk-Lepel - battles of 16 partisan brigades of the Ushach-Lepel partisan zone against the punitive expedition of the Nazis.
May 22 - June 28.
Fighting partisans of the Borisov-Begoml partisan zone against a large punitive expedition of the Nazis.
June 6.
Allied troops landed in Normandy (northern France) - a second front is opened in Western Europe.
June 19-June 29.
The third stage of the "rail war" of the Belarusian partisans on the enemy's communications.
June 23 - August 28.
The Belarusian operation ("Bagration"), during which the troops of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Belorussian fronts and the 1st Baltic front, together with Belarusian partisans, liberated the entire territory of Belarus from German fascists.
June 23-27.
Vitebsk-Orsha operation of the Soviet troops; the Vitebsk group of German troops (the Vitebsk "cauldron") was surrounded and destroyed.
June 23-28.
Mogilev operation of the Soviet troops. June 23-29.
Bobruisk operation of the Soviet troops; the Bobruisk group of German troops (the Bobruisk "cauldron") was surrounded and destroyed.
June 26.
Liberation of Vitebsk by the troops of the 1st Baltic and 3rd Belorussian fronts.
June 26.
The troops of the 1st Belorussian Front liberated the town of Zhlobin.
27th of June.
The troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front liberated the city of Orsha.
June 28.
The liberation of the cities of Mogilev, Shklov and Bykhov by the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front.
June 29.
The troops of the 1st Belorussian Front liberated the city of Bobruisk.
June 29 - July 4.
Minsk operation of the Soviet troops.
June 29 - July 4.
Polotsk operation of the Soviet troops.
30 June.
The troops of the 1st Belorussian Front liberated the city of Slutsk.
July 1.
The troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front liberated the town of Borisov.
July 2.
Liberation of the city of Vileika.
3 July.
Liberation of the capital of the BSSR, Minsk, by the troops of the 1st and 3rd Belorussian fronts. A large group of German troops (the Minsk "cauldron") was surrounded and defeated near Minsk until 11 July.
4th of July.
The troops of the 1st Baltic Front liberated the city of Polotsk. The troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front liberated the city of Zaslavl.
5'th of July.
Troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front liberated the town of Molodechno. July 5-16.
Baranovichi-Slonim operation of the Soviet troops. July 5-27.
The Bialystok operation of the Soviet troops, as a result of which the north-western regions of Belarus were liberated, the Svisloch and Neman rivers were forced; Soviet troops reached the approaches to the border with East Prussia.
July 8.
Liberation by the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front of the regional center of Baranovichi.
July 9.
The troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front liberated the city of Lida.
July 10.
The troops of the 1st Belorussian Front liberated the cities of Luninets and Slo-nim.
July 13.
Liberation of Vilno by the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front.
the 14 th of July.
The troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front liberated the town of Volkovysk.
Liberation by the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front of the regional center of Pinsk.
July 16.
A meeting of the population of Minsk, partisans and representatives of the Red Army, dedicated to the liberation of the capital of Belarus from the German fascist invaders; a parade of 30 thousand Belarusian partisans took place.
Liberation of the regional center Grodno by the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Belorussian fronts.
57,600 German soldiers, officers and generals captured during the battles in Belarus were escorted through Moscow.
July 18.
Moving of the BSSR government from Gomel to Minsk. July 18 - August 2.
The Lublin-Brest operation of the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front.
July 20.
The troops of the 1st Belorussian Front liberated the town of Kobrin.
21 July.
The troops of the 1st Belorussian Front crossed the Western Bug River and entered the territory of Poland.
July 27.
Liberation by the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Belorussian fronts of the regional center of the BSSR, Bialystok.
July 28th.
Liberation of the regional center of Brest by the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front. Completion of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders.
August 9.
A car assembly plant was organized in Minsk (later, the Minsk Automobile Plant - MAZ) was established on its basis.
9th of September.
An agreement was signed between the government of the BSSR and the Polish Committee for National Liberation on population exchange. As a result of the exchange in 1944-1947. 27.4 thousand people left Belarus for Poland, 36 thousand people left Poland for Belarus.
October 17-18.
Troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front entered the territory of East Prussia.
November 7.
Opening of the Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War in Minsk (founded on September 30, 1943).
November.
The restored enterprises began to produce products: the Gomselmash plant in Gomel, the Kommunarka confectionery plant in Minsk, and the Industrialization Banner plant in Vitebsk.
December.
During the liberation of Belarus, more than 800 thousand of its inhabitants were mobilized into the Red Army.
1945 year
February.
3400 industrial enterprises have been restored and started operating in Belarus, 1400 km of roads, 2900 bridges have been repaired, 120 thousand houses have been restored.
April 16-May 8.
Berlin operation of the troops of the 1st, 2nd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts.
April 25 - June 25.
Conference of the United Nations (in San Francisco), in which the delegations of the USSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the BSSR took part.
April 27.
The Belarusian SSR was admitted to the founding members of the United Nations (UN).
1st of May.
Soviet troops raised the banner of Victory over the Reichstag.
May 2.
Soviet troops captured the capital of Germany - Berlin.
May 8.
The Act of Unconditional Surrender of the German Armed Forces was signed - the Great Patriotic War ended.
May 9.
Victory Day over Nazi Germany. June 26.
Signing of the Byelorussian SSR of the UN Charter (ratified by the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR on August 30, 1945).
8 August.
The USSR declared war on imperialist Japan - the beginning of military operations of the Soviet Army in the Far East.
August 16.
An agreement between the USSR and Poland on changing the Soviet-Polish border: 17 districts of the Bialystok region together with the city of Bialystok and 3 districts of the Brest region were transferred to Poland.
September 1.
In Belarus, 22 restored higher educational institutions began to operate, in which 5 thousand students studied, more than 600 teachers worked.
September 2.
The signing of Japan's Unconditional Surrender Act; the end of the 2nd World War.
September 20th.
Opening of the Yanka Kupala Literary Museum in Minsk. November.
Resumption of work of the Gomel machine-tool plant. December 22.
The opening of the Belarusian Theater Institute in Minsk (since 1953, the Theater and Art Institute, since November 15, 1991, the Belarusian Academy of Arts). December.
5908 enterprises have been commissioned in Belarus; restored 65% of power generating facilities.
The Great Patriotic War began on June 22, 1941, on the day of All Saints Who Shone in the Land of Russia. The Barbarossa plan - a plan for a blitzkrieg war with the USSR - was signed by Hitler on December 18, 1940. Now it has been activated. German troops - the strongest army in the world - attacked in three groups ("North", "Center", "South"), aimed at the rapid capture of the Baltic States and then Leningrad, Moscow, and in the south - Kiev.
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June 22, 1941 4 am - the beginning of the offensive of German troops. 153 German divisions, 3712 tanks and 4950 combat aircraft entered the hostilities (Marshal G.K. Zhukov gives such data in his book "Memories and Reflections"). The enemy's forces were several times superior to the forces of the Red Army, both in numbers and in equipment with military equipment.
On June 22, 1941, at 5:30 a.m., Reichsminister Goebbels, in a special broadcast on Greater German Radio, read out Adolf Hitler's appeal to the German people in connection with the outbreak of the war against the Soviet Union.
On June 22, 1941, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Sergius, addresses an appeal to the faithful. In his "Epistle to the Pastors and Flock of Christ's Orthodox Church," Metropolitan Sergius said: “Fascist robbers attacked our Motherland ... The times of Batu, the German knights, Karl of Sweden, Napoleon are repeated ... our knees before untruth ... With God's help, this time too, he will scatter the fascist enemy force to dust ... Let's remember the holy leaders of the Russian people, for example, Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, who laid down their souls for the people and the Motherland ... Let us recall the innumerable thousands of simple Orthodox soldiers ... Our Orthodox Church has always shared the fate of the people. Together with him, she bore trials and was comforted by his successes. She will not leave her people even now. She blesses with heavenly blessing the forthcoming nationwide feat. If anyone, then it is we who need to remember the commandment of Christ: "There is no more love than if someone lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13) ... "
Patriarch Alexander III of Alexandria addressed Christians all over the world with a message about prayer and material assistance to Russia.
Brest Fortress, Minsk, Smolensk
June 22 - July 20, 1941. Defense of the Brest Fortress. The first Soviet strategic border point located in the direction of the main attack of Army Group Center (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 - enemy occupied Minsk... The forces were too unequal. The Soviet troops were in dire need of ammunition, and to bring them up 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 to Minsk from the north and south. Our troops were surrounded. Deprived of centralized control and supply, they, however, fought until July 8.
July 10 - September 10, 1941 Smolensk battle. On July 10, Army Group Center launched an offensive against the Western Front. The Germans had a twofold superiority in manpower and fourfold in tanks. The enemy's plan was to cut our western front with powerful strike groups, encircle the main group of forces in the Smolensk region and open the way to Moscow. The battle of Smolensk began on July 10 and dragged on for two months - a period that the German command did not expect at all. Despite all efforts, the troops of the Western Front failed to complete the task of defeating the enemy in the Smolensk region. During the battles near Smolensk, the Western Front suffered serious losses. By the beginning of August, no more than 1–2 thousand men remained in his divisions. However, the fierce resistance of the Soviet troops near Smolensk weakened the offensive power of Army Group Center. The enemy strike forces were exhausted and suffered significant losses. According to the Germans themselves, by the end of August, only motorized and tank divisions had lost half of their personnel and materiel, and the total losses amounted to about 500 thousand people. The main result of the Smolensk battle was the disruption of the Wehrmacht's plans for a non-stop advance towards Moscow. For the first time since the beginning of World War II, German troops were forced to go over to the defensive in their main direction, as a result of which the Red Army command gained time to improve the strategic defense in the Moscow direction and prepare reserves.
August 8, 1941 - Stalin appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief Of the Armed Forces of the USSR.
Defense of Ukraine
The seizure of Ukraine was of great importance for the Germans, who sought to deprive the Soviet Union of its largest industrial and agricultural base, to seize Donetsk coal and Kryvyi Rih ore. From a strategic point of view, the capture of Ukraine provided support from the south for the central group of German troops, which had the main task of capturing Moscow.But the lightning-fast takeover that Hitler planned did not work out here either. Retreating under the blows of German troops, the Red Army courageously and fiercely resisted, despite the heaviest losses. By the end of August, the troops of the Southwestern and Southern Fronts withdrew across the Dnieper. Once surrounded, Soviet troops suffered huge losses.
Atlantic Charter. Allied powers
On August 14, 1941, aboard the British 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 with the fascist states. On September 24, 1941, the Soviet Union joined the Atlantic Charter.Leningrad blockade
On August 21, 1941, defensive battles began on the near approaches to Leningrad. In September, fierce fighting continued in the immediate vicinity of the city. But the German troops could not overcome the resistance of the defenders of the city and take Leningrad. Then the German command decided to starve out the city. Having captured Shlisselburg on September 8, the enemy went to Lake Ladoga and blocked Leningrad from land. German troops encircled 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 with artillery strikes and bombing, the Nazis sought to destroy the city.From September 8, 1941 (the day of celebration in honor of the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God) until January 27, 1944 (the day of St. Nina, Equal to the Apostles) continued leningrad blockade. The most difficult winter for the Leningraders was 1941/42. The reserves of fuel have run out. Electricity supply to residential buildings was cut off. The water supply system was out of order, 78 km of the sewerage network were destroyed. Utilities stopped working. Food supplies were running out, from November 20, the lowest bread rates for the entire blockade were introduced - 250 grams for workers and 125 grams for employees and dependents. But even in the most difficult conditions of the blockade, Leningrad continued to fight. With the beginning of freeze-up, a motor road was built on the ice of Lake Ladoga. On January 24, 1942, it was possible to slightly increase the norms of 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 went into operation on June 18, 1942 and turned out to be practically invulnerable to the enemy. And in the fall of 1942, a power cable was also laid along the bottom of the lake, through which electricity began to flow into the city. Attempts were made to break through the blockade ring several times. 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 Most Holy Theotokos, a procession was made around the city. The Monk Elder Seraphim Vyritsky took upon himself a special deed of prayer - he prayed at night on a stone in the garden for the salvation of Russia, imitating the deed of his heavenly patron Saint Seraphim of Sarov.
By the fall of 1941, the leadership of the USSR curtailed anti-religious propaganda. The publication of the magazines "Atheist" and "Antireligious" was discontinued.
Battle for Moscow
From October 13, 1941, fierce battles broke out in all operational areas leading to Moscow.On October 20, 1941, a state of siege was introduced in Moscow and the surrounding areas. A decision was made to evacuate the diplomatic corps and a number of central institutions to Kuibyshev. It was also decided to remove especially important state values \u200b\u200bfrom the capital. 12 divisions of the people's militia were formed from Muscovites.
In Moscow, a prayer service was performed before the miraculous Kazan icon of the Mother of God, and with the icon they flew around Moscow on an airplane.
The second stage of the offensive on Moscow, called "Typhoon", the German command began on November 15, 1941. The fighting was very hard. The enemy, regardless of losses, tried to break through to Moscow at any cost. But already in early 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 issued on the night that the Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive.
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Under Stalin's pressure, it was decided to launch a general offensive along the entire front. But far from all directions there were forces and means for this. Therefore, only the advance of the troops of the North-Western Front was successful, they advanced 70-100 kilometers and somewhat improved the operational-strategic situation in the western direction. Beginning on January 7, the offensive continued until early April 1942. Then it was decided to go on the defensive.
The chief of the general staff of the ground forces of the Wehrmacht, General F. Halder, wrote in his diary: "The myth of the invincibility of the German army has been broken. With the onset of summer, the German army will achieve new victories in Russia, but this will no longer restore the myth of its invincibility. Therefore, on December 6, 1941, it is possible considered a turning point, and one of the most fateful moments in the brief history of the Third Reich. The strength and power of Hitler reached their apogee, from that moment they began to decline ... ".
United Nations Declaration
In January 1942, a declaration of 26 countries was signed in Washington (later known as the "United Nations Declaration"), in which they agreed to use all forces and means to fight against aggressive states and not to conclude a separate peace or truce with them. An agreement was reached with Great Britain and the United States to open a second front in Europe in 1942.Crimean front. Sevastopol. Voronezh
On May 8, 1942, the enemy, concentrating his strike group against the Crimean Front and putting into action numerous aviation, 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 for nine months, but after the Nazis captured the Kerch Peninsula, the position of 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... - military operations of the troops of the Bryansk, Voronezh, Southwestern and Southern fronts against the German Army Group "South" in the Voronezh and Voroshilovgrad area. As a result of the forced withdrawal of our troops, the richest regions of the Don and Donbass fell into the hands of the enemy. During the retreat, the Southern Front suffered irreparable losses; only a little more than a hundred people remained in its four armies. The troops of the Southwestern Front suffered heavy losses during the retreat from Kharkov and could not successfully hold back 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 the German troops to the Volga. For this purpose, the Stalingrad Front was created.
Battle of Stalingrad (July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943)
According to the plan of the Hitlerite command, the German troops in the summer campaign of 1942 were to achieve the goals that were thwarted by their defeat in Moscow. The main blow was supposed to be inflicted on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front with the aim of capturing the city of Stalingrad, entering 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 was able to cut off the south of the country from the center. We could have lost the Volga - the most important transport artery along which cargoes from the Caucasus went.The defensive actions of the Soviet troops in the Stalingrad direction were carried out for 125 days. During this period, they carried out two successive 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 south of it from September 13 to November 18, 1942. The heroic defense of Soviet troops in the Stalingrad direction forced the Hitlerite high command to transfer more and more forces here. On September 13, the Germans launched an offensive along the entire front, trying to capture Stalingrad by storm. The Soviet troops failed to contain his powerful onslaught. They were forced to retreat to the city. Days and nights did not stop fighting on the streets of the city, in houses, in factories, on the banks of the Volga. Our units, having suffered heavy losses, nevertheless held the defense, not leaving the city.
Soviet troops at Stalingrad were united into three fronts: South-Western (Lieutenant General, from December 7, 1942 - Colonel General N.F. Vatutin), Donskoy (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 the Headquarters. The leading role in this development was played by Generals G.K. Zhukov (since January 18, 1943 - Marshal) and A.M. Vasilevsky, and they were appointed representatives of the Headquarters at the front. A.M. Vasilevsky coordinated the actions of the Stalingrad front, and G.K. Zhukov - South-West and Donskoy. The idea of \u200b\u200bthe counteroffensive was to defeat the troops covering the flanks of the enemy strike group by strikes from bridgeheads on the Don in the Serafimovich and Kletskaya areas and from the Sarpinskie Lakes region south of Stalingrad, and, developing an offensive in converging directions to the city of Kalach, to encircle the Sovetsky farm and his 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: the encirclement of the enemy (November 19-30), the development of the offensive and disruption of the enemy's attempts to unblock the encircled grouping (December 1942), the elimination of the grouping of German fascist troops surrounded in the Stalingrad region (10 January-February 2, 1943).
From January 10 to February 2, 1943, the troops of the Don Front captured 91 thousand people, including over 2.5 thousand officers and 24 generals led by the commander of the 6th Army, Field Marshal Paulus.
"The defeat at Stalingrad," writes Lieutenant General Westphal of the Hitlerite army, "horrified both the German people and their army. Never before in the entire history of Germany has there been such a terrible death of such a number of troops."
And the Battle of Stalingrad began with a prayer service before the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The icon was among the troops, prayers and requiems for the dead soldiers were constantly served in front of it. Among the ruins of Stalingrad, the only surviving building was a temple in the name of the Kazan icon of the Most Holy Theotokos with the chapel of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
Caucasus
July 1942 - October 9, 1943. Battle for the CaucasusIn the North Caucasian direction at the end of July-beginning of August 1942, the development of events clearly did not affect our favor. The superior forces of the enemy were persistently moving forward. On August 10, enemy troops captured Maykop, on August 11, Krasnodar. And on September 9, the Germans captured almost all the mountain passes. In the stubborn bloody battles of the summer and autumn of 1942, Soviet troops suffered heavy losses, left most of the territory of the North Caucasus, but still stopped the enemy. In December, preparations began for the North Caucasian offensive operation. In January, German troops began to withdraw from the Caucasus, and Soviet troops launched a powerful offensive. But the enemy put up fierce resistance and the victory in the Caucasus came at a high price.
German troops were driven to the Taman Peninsula. On the night of September 10, 1943, the Novorossiysk-Taman strategic offensive operation of the Soviet troops began. On September 16, 1943, Novorossiysk was liberated, on September 21 - Anapa, on October 3 - Taman.
On October 9, 1943, Soviet troops reached the coast of the Kerch Strait and completed the liberation of the North Caucasus.
Kursk Bulge
July 5, 1943 - May 1944 Battle of the Kursk Bulge.In 1943, the Hitlerite 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 salient, bent 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 have formed, which would have allowed the enemy to carry out large operations in the southern and northeastern directions.
The Soviet command was preparing for this offensive. In mid-April, the General Staff began developing a plan for both a defensive operation at Kursk and a counteroffensive. And by the beginning of July 1943, the Soviet command completed preparations for the Battle of the Kursk Bulge.
July 5, 1943 German troops launched an offensive. The first attack was repulsed. However, then the Soviet troops had to withdraw. The fighting was very intense and the Germans failed to achieve significant success. The enemy did not solve any of the assigned tasks and in the end was forced to stop the offensive and go on the defensive.
The struggle on the southern face of the Kursk salient, in the zone of the Voronezh front, was also extremely tense.
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On July 12, in the Oryol direction, the troops of the Bryansk and Western fronts went on the offensive, 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 Joy of All Who Sorrow icon) was eagle freed... On the same day, the troops of the Steppe Front were liberated Belgorod... The Oryol offensive operation lasted 38 days and ended on August 18 with the defeat of a powerful group of Nazi troops aimed at Kursk from the north.
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 the Nazi troops began on the southern face of the Kursk salient.
23 August 1943 liberation of Kharkov ended the strongest battle of the Great Patriotic War - the Battle of the Kursk Bulge (it lasted 50 days). It ended with the defeat of the main grouping of German troops.
Liberation of Smolensk (1943)
Smolensk offensive operation August 7 - October 2, 1943. In the course of hostilities and the nature of the tasks performed, the Smolensk strategic offensive operation is divided into three stages. The first stage covers the period of hostilities from 7 to 20 August. During this stage, the troops of the Western Front conducted the Spas-Demensky operation. The troops of the left wing of the Kalinin Front began the Dukhovshchinsky offensive operation. At the second stage (August 21 - September 6), the troops of the Western Front carried out the Yelnensko-Dorogobuzh operation, and the troops of the left wing of the Kalinin Front continued to conduct the Dukhovshchinsky 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 center of defense of the German fascist troops in the western direction.
As a result of the successful implementation of the Smolensk offensive operation, our troops broke into the heavily fortified multi-lane and deeply echeloned enemy defenses and advanced 200-225 km westward.
Liberation of Donbass, Bryansk and left-bank Ukraine
August 13, 1943 began Donbass operation Southwestern and Southern fronts. The leadership of Nazi Germany attached great importance to keeping the Donbass in their hands. From the very first day, the fighting became extremely tense. The enemy put up stubborn resistance. However, he failed to stop the advance of the Soviet troops. German fascist troops in the Donbass faced the threat of encirclement and a new Stalingrad. Retreating from the Left-Bank Ukraine, the Hitlerite command carried out a savage plan, drawn up according to the recipes of total war, for the complete devastation of the territory left. Along with the regular troops, SS and police units carried out the mass destruction of civilians and their hijacking to Germany, the destruction of industrial facilities, cities and other settlements. However, the rapid advance of the Soviet troops prevented him from fully realizing his plan.On August 26, the troops of the Central Front (commander - General of the Army K.K.Rokossovsky) began an offensive, starting to conduct Chernihiv-Poltava operation.
On September 2, the troops of the right wing of the Voronezh Front (commanded by General of the Army N.F. Vatutin) liberated Sumy and launched an offensive against Romny.
Continuing to successfully develop the offensive, the troops of the Central Front advanced more than 200 km in the southwestern direction and on September 15 liberated the city of Nizhyn, an important stronghold of the enemy defense on the approaches to Kiev. There were 100 km to the Dnieper. By September 10, the troops of the right wing of the Voronezh Front advancing southward had broken the stubborn enemy resistance in the area of \u200b\u200bthe 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 Chernihiv.
With the exit of Soviet troops at the end of September to the Dnieper border, the liberation of the Left-Bank Ukraine was completed.
"... More likely the Dnieper will flow back than the Russians will overcome it ..." - said Hitler. Indeed, the Wide, deep, abounding river with a high right bank represented a serious natural obstacle for the advancing Soviet troops. The Soviet high command clearly understood the enormous importance of the Dnieper for the retreating enemy, and did everything to force it on the move, capture the bridgehead on the right bank and prevent the enemy from gaining a foothold on this line. They tried to accelerate the advance of the troops to the Dnieper, and to develop an offensive not only against the main enemy groupings retreating to permanent crossings, but also in the intervals between them. This made it possible to reach the Dnieper on a wide front and thwart the plan of the German fascist command to make the "Eastern Wall" impregnable. Significant partisan forces also actively joined the struggle, exposing enemy communications to continuous strikes and interfering with the regrouping of German troops.On September 21 (Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary), the forward units of the left wing of the Central Front reached the Dnieper north of Kiev. The troops of other fronts were also successfully advancing on these days. The troops of the right wing of the Southwestern Front reached the Dnieper on September 22, south of Dnipropetrovsk. From 25 to 30 September, the troops of the Steppe Front reached the Dnieper in their entire offensive zone.
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At first, on improvised means under continuous enemy fire, forward detachments were ferried and tried to catch on to the right bank. After that, pontoon ferries for technology were created. The troops that crossed to the right bank of the Dnieper had a very difficult time. They had no time to gain a foothold there, as fierce battles flared up. The enemy, bringing up large forces, continuously counterattacked, trying to destroy our subunits and units or throw them into the river. But our troops, suffering heavy losses, displaying exceptional courage and heroism, held the captured positions.
By the end of September, having knocked down the defenses of the enemy troops, our troops crossed the Dnieper on the front section of 750 kilometers from Loyev to Zaporozhye and captured a number of important bridgeheads from which it was supposed to develop the offensive further 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, 1123 officers and 1268 soldiers and sergeants) were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
On October 20, 1943, the Voronezh Front was renamed into the 1st Ukrainian, the Steppe Front - into the 2nd Ukrainian, 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" Kiev was liberated from the Nazi invaders by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of General N.F. Vatutin.
After the liberation of Kiev, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front launched an offensive against Zhitomir, Fastov and Korosten. Over the next 10 days, they advanced 150 km westward and liberated many settlements, including the cities of Fastiv and Zhitomir. On the right bank of the Dnieper, a strategic bridgehead was formed, the length of which along the front exceeded 500 km.
Intense fighting continued in southern Ukraine. On October 14 (the feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos) the city of Zaporozhye was liberated and the German bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper was liquidated. Dnepropetrovsk was liberated on October 25.
Tehran Conference of Allied Powers. The opening of the second front
From November 28 - December 1, 1943 was held Tehran conference heads of 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 by the United States and Great Britain in Europe, which they did not open despite their promises. At the conference, the decision was made to open a second front in France during May 1944. The Soviet delegation, at the request of the allies, declared the USSR's readiness to enter the war against Japan at the end of the war. action in Europe. The conference also discussed issues 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-Berdichevskaya, Kirovograd, Korsun-Shevchenkovskaya, Nikopol-Krivorozhskaya, Rovno-Lutskaya, Proskurovsko-Chernivtsi, Umansko-Botoshanskaya, Bereznegovato-Snigirevskaya, Polesskaya Frumoskaya.December 24, 1943 - January 14, 1944 Zhytomyr-Berdichev operation. Having advanced 100-170 km, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in 3 weeks of hostilities almost completely liberated the Kiev and Zhytomyr regions and many areas of the Vinnitsa and Rivne regions, including the city of Zhytomyr (December 31), Novograd-Volynsky (January 3) , Belaya Tserkov (January 4), Berdichev (January 5). On January 10-11, the forward units reached the approaches to Vinnitsa, Zhmerinka, Uman and Zhashkov; defeated 6 enemy divisions and deeply swept the left flank of the German grouping, which was still holding the right bank of the Dnieper in the Kanev area. The prerequisites were created for striking the flank and rear of this group.
January 5-16, 1944 Kirovograd operation. After intense battles on January 8, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front captured Kirovograd and continued their offensive. However, on January 16, repulsing strong enemy counterattacks, they were forced to go on the defensive. As a result of the Kirovograd operation, the position of the German fascist troops in the zone of operations of the 2nd Ukrainian Front deteriorated significantly.
January 24 - February 17, 1944 Korsun-Shevchenko operation. In the course of this operation, the troops of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts surrounded and defeated a large group of German fascist troops in the Kanev salient.
January 27 - February 11, 1944 Rivne-Lutsk operation - was carried out by the troops of the right wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front. On February 2, the cities of Lutsk and Rivne were special, on February 11 - Shepetovka.
January 30 - February 29, 1944 Nikopol-Kryvyi Rih operation. It was carried out by the 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 battles, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front on February 22 liberated the city of Krivoy Rog, a large industrial center and a junction of roads. By February 29, the 3rd Ukrainian Front, with its right wing and center, advanced to the Ingulets River, capturing a number of bridgeheads on its western bank. As a result, favorable conditions were created for delivering subsequent attacks on the enemy in the direction of Nikolaev and Odessa. As a result of the Nikopol-Kryvyi Rih operation, 12 enemy divisions were defeated, including 3 tank and 1 motorized. Having liquidated the Nikopol bridgehead and thrown back the enemy from the Zaporozhye bend of the Dnieper, the Soviet troops deprived the Nazi command of the last hope of restoring communication 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, the Banderaites were seriously wounded by the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, General Nikolai Fedorovich Vatutin. Unfortunately, it was not possible to save this talented commander. He passed away on April 15th.
By the spring of 1944, the troops of the four Ukrainian fronts had broken into the enemy's defenses all the way from Pripyat to the lower reaches of the Dnieper. Having advanced 150-250 km in the western direction for two months, they defeated several large enemy groups and thwarted his plans to restore the defense along the Dnieper. The liberation of the Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye regions was completed, the entire Zhitomir region, almost completely Rivne and Kirovograd regions, a number of districts of Vinnitsa, Nikolaev, Kamenets-Podolsk and Volyn regions were cleared of the enemy. Such large industrial areas as Nikopol and Kryvyi Rih were returned. The length of the front in Ukraine by the spring of 1944 reached 1200 km. In March, a new offensive was launched in the Right-Bank Ukraine.
On March 4, the 1st Ukrainian Front launched an offensive Proskurov-Chernivtsi offensive operation(March 4 - April 17, 1944).
On March 5, the 2nd Ukrainian Front began Uman-Botoshan operation (March 5 - April 17, 1944).
March 6 started 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, Bereznegovatoe and Snigirevka were liberated. The troops of the right wing of the front, pursuing the enemy, reached the Southern Bug near Voznesensk.
On March 29, our troops captured the regional center, the city of Chernivtsi. The enemy lost the last link between his troops, operating north and south of the Carpathians. The strategic front of the German fascist troops was cut into two parts. On March 26, the city of Kamyanets-Podolsk was liberated.
Significant assistance to the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in defeating the northern wing of the Hitlerite Army Group South was provided by the 2nd Belorussian Front, which carried out Polissya offensive operation (March 15 - April 5, 1944).
March 26, 1944 vanguard detachments of the 27th and 52nd armies (2nd Ukrainian Front) west of the city of Balti reached the Prut River, occupying an 85-km section along the border of the USSR with Romania. It would the first exit of Soviet troops to the border of the USSR.
On the night of March 28, the troops of the right wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front crossed the Prut and advanced 20-40 km deep into Romanian territory. On the approaches to Iasi and Chisinau, they met stubborn resistance from the enemy. The main result of the Uman-Botoshan operation was the liberation of a significant part of the territory of Ukraine, Moldavia 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 over to the offensive in their entire zone. On March 28, after heavy fighting, the city of Nikolaev was taken.
On the evening of April 9, Soviet troops from the north broke into Odessa and by night assault by 10 am on April 10 captured the city. Troops of three armies, commanded by Generals V. D. Tsvetaev, V. I. Chuikov and I. T. Shlemin, as well as the mechanized cavalry group of General I. A. Pliev took part in the liberation of Odessa.
April 8 - May 6, 1944 Tirgu-Frumos offensive operation of the 2nd Ukrainian Front was the final operation of the strategic offensive of the Red Army in the Right-Bank Ukraine. Its purpose was to strike in the direction of Targu-Frumos, Vaslui from the west of the enemy's Chisinau grouping. 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, breaking the enemy's resistance, crossed the Siret River, advanced 30-50 km in the south-western and southern directions and reached the foothills of the Carpathians. However, it was not possible to fulfill the assigned tasks. Our troops went over to the defensive on the lines they had reached.
Liberation of Crimea (April 8 - May 12, 1944)
On April 8, the offensive of the 4th Ukrainian Front began with the aim of liberating Crimea. On April 11, our troops captured Dzhankoy - a powerful stronghold in the enemy's defense and an important road junction. The exit of the 4th Ukrainian Front to the Dzhankoy area threatened the withdrawal routes of the Kerch enemy grouping and thereby created favorable conditions for the offensive of the Separate Primorsky Army. Fearing encirclement, the enemy decided to withdraw troops from the Kerch Peninsula. Finding preparations to withdraw, the Separate Primorskaya Army launched an 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 the organized defense of the enemy.On April 18, the Separate Primorskaya Army was renamed the Primorskaya Army and incorporated into 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 crushed. At Cape Chersonesos, 21 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were captured, a large number of weapons and military equipment were captured.
Western Ukraine
July 27, after stubborn fighting, was liberated Lviv.In July-August 1944, Soviet troops were liberated from the Nazi invaders western regions of Ukraine, and southeastern Poland, captured a major bridgehead on the western bank of the Vistula River, from which they subsequently launched an offensive 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, the Soviet troops liberated the territory of almost the entire Leningrad and part of the Kalinin regions from the invaders, completely lifted the blockade from Leningrad, entered Estonia. The basing area of \u200b\u200bthe Red Banner Baltic Fleet in the Gulf of Finland has significantly expanded. Favorable conditions were created for the defeat of the enemy in the Baltic states and in the regions north of Leningrad.June 10 - August 9, 1944 Vyborg-Petrozavodsk offensive operation Soviet troops on the Karelian Isthmus.
Liberation of Belarus and Lithuania
June 23 - August 29, 1944 Belarusian strategic offensive operation Soviet troops in Belarus and Lithuania "Bagration". As part of the Belarusian operation, the Vitebsk-Orsha operation was also carried out.The general offensive was opened on June 23 by the troops of the 1st Baltic Front (commanded by Colonel General I.Kh.Bagramyan), by the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front (commanded by Colonel General I.D. Chernyakhovsky) and by 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 General of the Army K.K. Rokossovsky went on the offensive. Partisan detachments began active operations behind enemy lines.
The troops of the four fronts with persistent and coordinated strikes broke through the defenses to a depth of 25-30 km, crossed a number of rivers on the move and inflicted significant damage on the enemy.
In the Bobruisk area, about six divisions of the 35th Army and 41st Tank Corps of the 9th German Army were surrounded.
July 3, 1944 Soviet troops liberated Minsk... As Marshal G.K. Zhukov, “the capital of Belarus was unrecognizable ... Now everything lay in ruins, and in place of residential quarters there were wastelands covered with piles of broken bricks and debris. The most difficult impression was made by people, residents of Minsk. Most of them were extremely exhausted, exhausted. .. "
June 29 - July 4, 1944, the troops of the 1st Baltic Front successfully carried out the Polotsk operation, destroying the enemy in the area, and on July 4 liberated Polotsk... The troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front captured the town of Molodechno on July 5.
As a result of the defeat of large enemy forces near Vitebsk, Mogilev, Bobruisk and Minsk, the immediate goal of Operation Bagration was achieved, and 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 day of St. Sergius of Radonezh), Soviet troops crossed the Polish border.
On July 24 (on the feastday of the holy noble princess of Russia Olga), the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, with their advanced units, reached the Vistula in the Demblin 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 day of St. Seraphim of Sarov), our troops reached the borders of East Prussia.
Having launched an offensive on June 23 on a front of 700 km, Red Army troops had advanced 550-600 km to the west by the end of August, expanding the front of hostilities to 1100 km. The vast territory of the Belarusian Republic - 80% and a fourth of Poland - was cleared of the invaders.
Warsaw Uprising (August 1 - October 2, 1944)
On August 1, 1994, an anti-Nazi uprising took place in Warsaw. In response, the Germans carried out a brutal massacre of the population. The city was destroyed to the ground. Soviet troops made an attempt to help the rebels, crossed the Vistula and captured the embankment in Warsaw. However, soon the Germans began to crowd out our units, the Soviet troops suffered heavy losses. It was decided to withdraw the troops. The uprising lasted 63 days and was suppressed. Warsaw was the front line of the German defense, and the rebels had only light weapons. Without the help of the 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 assistance from our troops.Liberation of Moldova, Romania, Slovakia
August 20 - 29, 1944. Yassy-Kishinev offensive operation.In April 1944, as a result of a successful offensive on the Right-Bank Ukraine, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front reached the line of the cities of Yassy, \u200b\u200bOrhei and went on the defensive. 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 conducting the Jassy-Kishinev strategic offensive operation in order to defeat a large group of German and Romanian troops covering the Balkan direction.
As a result of the successful implementation of the Jassy-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 regime of Antonescu was overthrown. The next day Romania withdrew from the war on the side of Germany and on August 25 declared war on it. Since that time, the Romanian troops took part in the war on the side of the Red Army.
September 8 - October 28, 1944 East Carpathian offensive operation. As a result of the offensive of units of the 1st and 4th Ukrainian fronts in the Eastern Carpathians, our troops liberated almost the entire Transcarpathian Ukraine, on September 20 went to the border of Slovakia, liberated part of Eastern Slovakia. The breakthrough to the Hungarian lowland opened up the prospect of liberating Czechoslovakia and reaching the southern border of Germany.
Baltics
September 14 - November 24, 1944 Baltic offensive operation. This is one of the largest operations in the autumn of 1944, 12 armies of the three Baltic fronts and the Leningrad front were deployed on the 500-km front. The Baltic Fleet was also involved.September 22, 1944 - liberated Tallinn... In the following days (until September 26), the troops of the Leningrad Front reached the coast along the entire length from Tallinn to Pärnu, thereby completing the clearance 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 border with East Prussia... Continuing the offensive, they completely cleared the northern bank of the Neman River from the enemy by the end of October.
As a result of the Soviet offensive in the Baltic strategic direction, Army Group North was expelled from almost the entire Baltic region and lost communications linking it overland with East Prussia. The struggle for the Baltics was long and extremely fierce. The enemy, having a well-developed road network, actively maneuvered his own forces and means, put up stubborn resistance to the Soviet troops, often going over to counterattacks and delivering counterstrikes. On his part, up to 25% of all forces on the Soviet-German front participated in hostilities. During the Baltic operation, 112 soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Yugoslavia
September 28 - October 20, 1944 Belgrade offensive operation... The purpose of the operation was to, through the joint efforts of Soviet and Yugoslav troops in the Belgrade direction, Yugoslav and Bulgarian troops in the Nish and Skopiev directions, defeat the Serbia army group and liberate the eastern half of Serbia, including Belgrade. To accomplish these tasks, the 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 Tisza River, freeing the entire left bank of the Danube from the enemy to the east of the Tisza estuary. On October 14 (on the feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos), an order was given to begin the assault on Belgrade.The 20th of October Belgrade was liberated... The battles for the liberation of the capital of Yugoslavia lasted a week and were extremely stubborn.
With the liberation of the capital of Yugoslavia, the Belgrade offensive operation ended. In the course of it, the army group "Serbia" was defeated and a number of formations of the army group "F" were defeated. As a result of the operation, the enemy front was pushed back 200 km to the west, the eastern half of Serbia was liberated and the transport artery of the enemy Thessaloniki - Belgrade was cut. At the same time, favorable conditions were created for the Soviet troops advancing in the Budapest direction. The Supreme Command headquarters could now use the forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front to defeat the enemy in Hungary. Residents of villages and cities of Yugoslavia very warmly greeted Soviet soldiers. They took to the streets with flowers, shook hands, hugged and kissed their liberators. The air was filled with solemn bell ringing and Russian melodies performed by local musicians. The medal "For the Liberation of Belgrade" was instituted.
Karelian front, 1944
7 - 29 October 1944 Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operation. The successful conduct of the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk strategic offensive operation by the Soviet troops forced Finland to withdraw from the war. By the fall of 1944, the troops of the Karelian Front basically 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 has ice-free seaports, in which the forces of the German fleet were based. The commander of the troops of the Karelian Front, Army General K.A. only one half of the greatcoat ... Sometimes the earth heaves with bare masses of granite rocks ... Nevertheless, it was necessary to fight. And not just fight, but attack, beat the enemy, drive him and destroy him. I had to recall the words of the great Suvorov: "Where a deer passed, a Russian soldier will pass, and where a deer does not pass, a Russian soldier will pass there anyway." On October 15, the city of Petsamo (Pechenga) was liberated. Back in 1533, a Russian monastery was founded at the mouth of the Pechenga River. Soon a port was built here, at the base of a wide and convenient bay of the Barents Sea. Lively trade with Norway, Holland, England and other Western countries went through Pechenga. In 1920, under the peace treaty of October 14, Soviet Russia voluntarily ceded the Pechenga region to Finland.On October 25, Kirkenes was liberated, and the struggle was so fierce that every house and every street had to be stormed.
854 Soviet prisoners of war and 772 civilians, driven away by the Nazis from the Leningrad Region, were freed from the concentration camps.
The last cities our troops reached were Neiden and Nautsi.
Hungary
October 29, 1944 - February 13, 1945. The assault and capture of Budapest.The offensive began on 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 outskirts of Budapest. Our troops achieved significant successes, but could not defeat the enemy's Budapest grouping and possess the city. Finally they managed to encircle Budapest. But the city was a fortress prepared by the Nazis for a 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) were fought 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 the territory of Hungary. The offensive actions of the Soviet troops in the autumn and winter of 1944-1945 in the southwestern direction led to a radical change in the entire political situation in the Balkans. To Romania and Bulgaria previously withdrawn from the war, another state was added - Hungary.
Slovakia and Southern Poland
January 12 - February 18, 1945. West Carpathian offensive operation. In the West Carpathian operation, our troops had to overcome the enemy's defensive lines, stretching in depth for 300-350 km. The offensive was carried out by the 4th Ukrainian Front (commanded by General of the Army I.E. Petrov) and part of the forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. As a result of the winter offensive of the Red Army in the Western Carpathians, our troops liberated vast areas of Slovakia and southern Poland with a population of about 1.5 million people.Warsaw-Berlin direction
January 12 - February 3, 1945. Vistula-Oder offensive operation. The offensive in the Warsaw-Berlin direction was carried out by the forces of the 1st Belorussian Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov and the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S.Konev. Soldiers of the Polish Army fought together with the Russians. The actions of the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts to defeat the Nazi troops between the Vistula and the Oder can be divided into two stages. At the first stage (from 12 to 17 January), the strategic front of the enemy's defense was broken through in a strip of about 500 km, the main forces of Army Group A were routed, and conditions were created for the rapid development of the operation to great depths.January 17, 1945 was warsaw liberated... The fascists literally wiped out the city from 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, in the course of a swift pursuit of the enemy, defeated the enemy reserves that had been advanced from the depths, captured Silesian industrial region and went on a wide front to the Oder, capturing a number of bridgeheads on its western bank.
As a result of the Vistula-Oder operation, a significant part of Poland was liberated, and the hostilities were transferred to German territory. About 60 divisions of German troops were defeated.
January 13 - April 25, 1945 East Prussian offensive operation. In the course of this long-term strategic operation, the Insterburg, Mlavsko-Elbing, Hejlsberg, Konigsberg and Zemland front-line offensive operations were carried out.
East Prussia was Germany's main strategic foothold for attacks on Russia and Poland. This territory also tightly covered the access to the central regions of Germany. Therefore, the fascist command attached great importance to the retention of East Prussia. The features of the relief - lakes, rivers, swamps and canals, a developed network of highways and railways, strong stone buildings - contributed significantly to the defense.
The general goal of the East Prussian strategic offensive operation was to cut off the enemy troops in East Prussia from the rest of the fascist forces, press them to the sea, dismember and destroy in parts, completely clearing the territory of East Prussia and Northern Poland from the enemy.
Three fronts took part in the operation: 2nd Belorussian (commanded by Marshal K.K.Rokossovsky), 3rd Belorussian (commanded by Army General I.D. Chernyakhovsky) and 1st Baltic (commanded by General I.Kh. Baghramyan). 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 14 January - 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, conducting stubborn battles, our troops captured a significant part of East Prussia. Having reached the sea, they cut off the enemy's East Prussian grouping from the rest of the forces. At the same time, the 1st Baltic Front took possession of the large seaport Memel (Klaipeda) on January 28.
On February 10, the second stage of hostilities began - the elimination of isolated enemy groups. On February 18, General of the Army I.D. Chernyakhovsky died from a serious wound. The command of the 3rd Belorussian Front was entrusted to Marshal A.M. Vasilevsky. In the course of intense battles, Soviet troops suffered serious losses. By March 29, it was possible to defeat the Nazis occupying the Hejlsbersky region. Further, it was planned to defeat the Konigsberg grouping. Around the city, the Germans created three powerful defensive positions. The city was declared by Hitler the best German fortress in the entire history of Germany and "an absolutely impregnable bastion of the German spirit."
Storming of Konigsberg started on April 6. On April 9, the fortress garrison capitulated. Moscow celebrated the end of the assault on Konigsberg with a salute of the highest category - 24 artillery salvoes from 324 guns. The medal "For the capture of Konigsberg" was instituted, which was usually done only on the occasion of the capture of the capitals of states. All participants in the assault received a medal. On April 17, the grouping of German troops near Konigsberg was eliminated.
After the capture of Konigsberg in East Prussia, only the Zemland group of the enemy remained, which was defeated by the end of April.
In East Prussia, the Red Army destroyed 25 German divisions, the other 12 divisions lost 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 and went missing, more than 458 thousand soldiers were injured or out of action due to illness.
Yalta Conference of Allied Powers
This conference was held from 4 to 11 February 1945. The heads of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition - the USSR, the USA and Great Britain - I. Stalin, F. Roosevelt and W. Churchill took part in it. The victory over fascism was no longer in doubt, it was a matter of time. The conference discussed the post-war world order, the division of spheres of influence. A decision was made to occupy and divide Germany into occupation zones and to allocate its own zone to France. For the USSR, the main task was to ensure the security of its borders after the end of the war. For example, there was a provisional government of Poland in exile, based in London. However, Stalin insisted on the creation of a new government in Poland, since it was from the territory of Poland that attacks on Russia were conveniently carried out by its enemies.In Yalta, the "Declaration on Liberated Europe" was also signed, which, in particular, said: "The establishment of order in Europe and the reconstruction of national and economic life must be achieved in such a way that will allow the liberated peoples to destroy the last traces of Nazism and fascism and create democratic institutions of their own choice. "
At the Yalta Conference, an agreement was concluded on the entry of the USSR into the war against Japan two to three months after the end of the war in Europe and with the condition of the return of South Sakhalin and the adjacent islands to Russia, as well as the former Russian naval base in Port Arthur and with the condition transfer of the Kuril Islands to the USSR.
The most important result of the conference was the decision to convene a conference on April 25, 1945 in San Francisco, at which it was supposed to develop the Charter of the new United Nations.
Baltic Sea coast
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, whose main forces were fighting in East Prussia, in early February 1945 a gap of about 150 km long was formed. This strip of terrain was occupied by limited forces of Soviet troops. As a result of hostilities, by March 13, troops of the 1st Belorussian and 2nd Belorussian fronts reached the coast of the Baltic Sea. By April 4, the enemy's East Pomeranian grouping was eliminated. The enemy, having suffered huge losses, not only lost a foothold, convenient for operations against our troops preparing for an offensive on Berlin, but also a significant part of the Baltic Sea coast. The Baltic Fleet, relocating 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 when they were advancing 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 (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union F.I.Tolbukhin) defeated the enemy in the central part of Hungary and advanced westward.April 4, 1945 Soviet troops completed the liberation of Hungary and launched an offensive on Vienna.
Fierce battles for the Austrian capital 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. For each quarter, and sometimes for a separate building, fierce battles flared up. By 14 o'clock on April 13, Soviet troops were completely liberated Vienna.
During the Vienna operation, Soviet troops fought 150-200 km, completed the liberation of Hungary and the eastern part of Austria with its capital. The fighting during the Vienna operation was extremely fierce. The Soviet troops here were opposed by the most combat-ready divisions of the Wehrmacht (6th SS Panzer Army), which shortly before that had inflicted a serious defeat on the Americans in the Ardennes. But Soviet soldiers in a fierce struggle crushed this color of the Hitlerite 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. In a relatively narrow sector of the front, 65 rifle divisions, 3155 tanks and self-propelled convoys, 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 strikes from the troops of three fronts and, developing the offensive in depth, to surround the main grouping of Nazi troops in the Berlin direction, simultaneously cutting it into several parts and the subsequent destruction of each them. In the future, Soviet troops were to go to the Elbe. The completion of the defeat of the Nazi troops was supposed to be carried out jointly with the Western allies, an agreement in principle with which was reached on the coordination of actions 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 to defeat the enemy grouping south of Berlin. The front struck two blows: the main one in the general direction to Spremberg and the auxiliary one to Dresden. The start of the offensive by the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts was scheduled for April 16. The 2nd Belorussian Front (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union K. K. Rokossovsky) was supposed to launch an offensive on April 20, force the Oder in its lower reaches and strike in the northwestern direction in order to cut off the enemy's West Pomeranian grouping from Berlin. In addition, the 2nd Belorussian Front was assigned the task of covering the coast of the Baltic Sea from the mouth of the Vistula to Altdam with part of its forces.
It was decided to start the main offensive two hours before dawn. One hundred and forty anti-aircraft searchlights were supposed to suddenly illuminate enemy positions and targets of attack. 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 sunk in a continuous sea of \u200b\u200bfire and metal. On the morning of April 16, Russian troops successfully advanced in all sectors of the front. However, the enemy, having come to his senses, began to oppose from the Seelow Heights - this natural line stood as a solid wall in front of our troops. The steep slopes of the Zelow Heights were dug up by trenches and trenches. All approaches to them were shot through with multi-layered cross artillery and rifle-machine gun fire. Separate buildings have been turned into strongpoints; the roads have been fences made of logs and metal beams, and the approaches to them have been mined. On both sides of the highway leading from the town 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. Assessing the situation, Marshal Zhukov decided to send tank armies into battle. However, even with their help, it was not possible to quickly master the border. The Seelow heights were taken only by the morning of April 18, after fierce battles. However, even on April 18, the enemy was still trying to stop the advance of our troops, throwing all their available reserves towards them. Only on April 19, suffering heavy losses, the Germans could not stand it and began to retreat to the outer bypass of the Berlin defense.
The offensive of the 1st Ukrainian Front developed more successfully. Having crossed the Neisse River, the combined arms and tank formations by the end of the day on April 16 broke through the enemy's main line of defense on the front 26 km and to a depth of 13 km. For three days of the offensive, the armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front advanced up to 30 km in the direction of the main attack.
Storming Berlin
On April 20, the storming of 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 around the Berlin enemy grouping was closed. On the same day, a meeting of Soviet and American troops took place in the Torgau region on the Elbe River. The 2nd Belorussian Front with active operations in the lower reaches of the Oder reliably pinned down the 3rd German Tank Army, depriving it of the opportunity to deliver a counterstrike from the north against the Soviet armies that surrounded Berlin. Our troops suffered heavy losses, but, inspired by their successes, rushed to the center of Berlin, where the main command of the enemy, headed by Hitler, was still located. Fierce battles unfolded on the streets of the city. The fighting did not stop day or night.
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April 30 early in the morning began storming of the Reichstag... The approaches to the Reichstag were covered with 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 15:00 on April 30, the Red Banner was hoisted over the Reichstag. However, fighting in the Reichstag lasted all day on May 1 and the night of May 2. Separate scattered groups of Hitlerites, who had settled in the basements, surrendered only on the morning of May 2.
On April 30, German troops in Berlin were dismembered into four parts of different composition, and their uniform control was lost.
At 3 am on May 1, Chief of the General Staff of the German Ground Forces, General of the Infantry G. Krebs, by agreement with the Soviet command, crossed the front line in Berlin and was received by the commander of the 8th Guards Army, General V.I. Chuikov. Krebs announced Hitler's suicide, and also handed over the list of members of the new imperial government and the proposal of Goebbels and Bormann for a temporary cessation of hostilities in the capital in order to prepare the conditions for peace negotiations between Germany and the USSR. However, this document did not say anything about the surrender. Krebs' message was immediately reported by Marshal G.K. Zhukov to the Supreme Command Headquarters. The answer was: to seek only unconditional surrender. On the evening of May 1, the German command sent an envoy who announced the refusal to surrender. In response to this, the final assault on the central part of the city, where the Imperial Chancellery was located, began. On May 2, by 15 o'clock, the enemy in Berlin completely ceased resistance.
Prague
May 6-11, 1945. Prague offensive operation... After the defeat of the enemy on the Berlin axis, the only force capable of offering serious resistance to the Red Army was Army Group Center and part of Army Group Austria, which were located on the territory of Czechoslovakia. The idea of \u200b\u200bthe Prague operation was to encircle, dismember and in a short time defeat the main forces of the German fascist troops on the territory of Czechoslovakia by delivering several strikes in converging directions to Prague, to prevent their retreat to the west. The main attacks on the flanks of Army Group Center were delivered by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front from the area northwest of Dresden and the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front from the area south of Brno.On May 5, a spontaneous uprising began in Prague. Tens of thousands of city residents took to the streets. They not only erected hundreds of barricades, but also seized the central post office, telegraph office, train stations, bridges across the Vltava, a number of military depots, disarmed several small units stationed in Prague, and established control over a significant part of the city. On May 6, German troops, using tanks, artillery and aircraft against the insurgents, entered Prague and captured a significant part of the city. The rebels, having suffered heavy losses, turned to the Allies by radio 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 V. Keitel to surrender German troops on all fronts, but did not inform his subordinates. On the contrary, he gave the troops his order, in which he stated that the rumors of surrender were false, they were spread by Anglo-American and Soviet propaganda. On May 7, American officers arrived in Prague, who announced 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 about surrender. At 16 o'clock the act of surrender of the German garrison was signed. According to its terms, German troops received the right to free withdrawal 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 combat squads of the rebels, the Soviet troops cleared the city of the Nazis. The routes of a possible withdrawal of the main forces of Army Group Center to the west and south-west with the capture of Prague by the Soviet troops were cut off. The main forces of Army Group Center were in a “sack” east of Prague. On May 10-11, they capitulated and were captured by Soviet troops.
Capitulation of Germany
On May 6, on the day of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious, Gross Admiral Doenitz, who was the head of the German state after Hitler's suicide, agreed to the surrender of the Wehrmacht, Germany declared 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 11:00 pm 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 inform the world about Germany's surrender to American and British troops. However, Stalin insisted that “the surrender should be committed as a most important historical act and adopted not on the territory of the victors, but where the fascist aggression came from, in Berlin, and not unilaterally, but necessarily by the supreme command of all countries of the anti-Hitler coalition ".
On the night of May 8-9, 1945, in Karlshorst (an eastern suburb of Berlin), the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany was signed. The ceremony of signing 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 the representatives of the allied powers. The hall was attended by Soviet generals, whose troops were taking Berlin, as well as Soviet and foreign journalists. Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov was appointed the representative of the Supreme High Command of the Soviet troops. The Allied High Command was represented by the British Air Marshal Arthur W. Tedder, the Commander of the US Strategic Air Force, General Spaats, and the Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, General Delatre de Tassigny. From the German side, Field Marshal Keitel, Admiral of the Fleet von Friedeburg and Colonel General of Aviation Stumpf were authorized to sign the act of unconditional surrender.
The ceremony of signing the surrender at 24 o'clock was opened by Marshal G.K. Zhukov. At his suggestion, Keitel presented to the heads of the allied delegations a document of his powers, signed by Doenitz. Then the German delegation was asked whether it had in its hands the Act of Unconditional Surrender and whether it had studied it. After Keitel answered in the affirmative, 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 as witnesses - representatives of the United States and France. 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:
"one. We, the undersigned, acting on behalf of the German High Command, agree to the unconditional surrender of all our armed forces on land, at sea and in the air, as well as all forces currently under German command, to the High Command of the Red Army and at the same time to the Supreme Command. Allied Expeditionary Forces.
2. The German High Command will immediately issue orders to all German commanders of the land, sea and air forces and all forces under German command to cease hostilities at 23-01 hours CET on May 8, 1945, to remain in their places where they are at this time, and completely disarm, transferring all their weapons and military equipment to local Allied commanders or officers assigned by representatives of the Allied High Command, not destroy or cause any damage to steamships, 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 the execution of all further orders issued by the Supreme High Command of the Red Army and the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.
4. This act will not constitute 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 in general.
5. In the event that the German High Command or any armed forces under its command do not act in accordance with this act of surrender, the High Command of the Red Army as well as the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces will take such punitive measures or other actions as they deem necessary.
6. This act has been drawn up in Russian, English and German. Only Russian and English texts are authentic.
At 0 hours 50 minutes the meeting was closed. After that, a reception took place, which went with great enthusiasm. Much has been 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: "Out of competition, Soviet generals danced. I also could not resist and, remembering my youth, danced" Russian ""
The land, sea and air forces of the Wehrmacht on the Soviet-German front began to lay down their arms. By the end of the day on May 8, Army Group Courland, which was pressed against the Baltic Sea, stopped its resistance. About 190 thousand soldiers and officers surrendered prisoners, including 42 generals. On the morning of May 9, German troops surrendered in the area of \u200b\u200bDanzig and Gdynia. About 75 thousand soldiers and officers, including 12 generals, laid down their arms here. Task Force Narvik capitulated in Norway.
The Soviet landing force, which landed on the Danish island of Bornholm on May 9, captured it in 2 days and captured the German garrison there (12 thousand people).
Small groups of Germans on the territory of Czechoslovakia and Austria, who did not want to surrender together with the bulk of the troops of Army Group Center and tried to get to the west, Soviet troops had to destroy until May 19.
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Potsdam Conference (July 17 - August 2, 1945)
This conference was attended by government delegations of the allied states. The Soviet delegation headed by J.V. Stalin, the British one headed by Prime Minister W. Churchill and the American one headed by President G. Truman. The first formal meeting was attended by heads of government, all foreign ministers, their first deputies, military and civil advisers and experts. The main issue of the conference was the question of the post-war structure of the countries of Europe and the reconstruction of Germany. An agreement was reached on the political and economic principles of coordinating the Allied policy towards Germany during the period of allied control over it. The text of the agreement stated that German militarism and Nazism should be eradicated, all Nazi institutions should be disbanded, and all members of the Nazi party should be removed from public office. War criminals must be arrested and brought to justice. The production of German weapons should be prohibited. With regard to the recovery of the German economy, it was decided that the main attention should be paid to the development of peaceful industry and agriculture. Also, at Stalin's insistence, it was decided that Germany should remain a single whole (the United States and England proposed to divide Germany into three states).According to N.A. Narochnitskaya, "The most important, although never aloud, outcome of Yalta and Potsdam was the actual recognition of the continuity of the USSR in relation to the geopolitical area of \u200b\u200bthe Russian Empire, combined with newfound military power and international influence."
Tatiana Radynova
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