Liberation of European countries. Educational-methodical material on history (grade 11) on the topic: the Great Patriotic War

2.1. Defeat the enemy on the territory of European countries

Military operations are transferred to the territory of Germany's allies and the countries occupied by it. The Soviet government officially announced that the entry of the Red Army into the territory of other countries was caused by the need to completely defeat the armed forces of Germany and did not pursue the goal of changing the political structure of these states or violating the territorial integrity. The political course of the USSR was based on the program of organizing and restoring the state, economic and cultural life of European peoples, which was put forward back in November 1943, which provided for the liberated peoples with full rights and freedom in choosing their state structure. The heads of some world powers did not agree with this statement. W. Churchill and many Western historians talked about the establishment of "Soviet despotism" in the liberated territory.

Under the blows of the Red Army, the fascist bloc was falling apart. Finland withdrew from the war. In Romania, the Antonescu regime was overthrown and the new government declared war on Germany. During the summer and autumn of 1944, Romania (2nd Ukrainian Front), Bulgaria (2nd Ukrainian Front), Yugoslavia (3rd Ukrainian Front), Hungary and Slovakia were liberated. In October 1944, Soviet troops entered Germany. Together with the Soviet troops, the Czechoslovak corps, the Bulgarian army, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia, the 1st and 2nd armies of the Polish Army, several Romanian units and formations took part in the liberation of their countries.

Chronologically, it happened like this. On August 20, the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts went over to the offensive on the southern flank and after three days of fighting surrounded the main forces of the German-Romanian troops. On August 23, a military coup took place in Bucharest. The German protege Marshal I. Antonescu and a number of his ministers were arrested. Attempts by German troops to seize Bucharest met with resistance from the insurgent population of the city. August 31 Soviet troops entered the capital of Romania.

The troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, after the final battles in Romania, reached the Danube River to the Bulgarian border and crossed it on September 8. The next day, the pro-German government was overthrown in Sofia.

The victory of Soviet troops in the Balkans, Romania and Bulgaria joining the anti-Hitler coalition created favorable conditions for the liberation of Yugoslavia, Greece and Albania. On October 20, Belgrade was taken by joint efforts of the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and detachments of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia.

Under the blows of Soviet troops in the East and Allied troops in the West, the position of the German army at the end of August deteriorated sharply. The German command was unable to fight on two fronts, and on August 28, 1944, it began to withdraw troops in the west to the borders of Germany.

On the Soviet-German front, after the Red Army reached the borders of East Prussia, the Vistula River and the Carpathians, the liberation of Romania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, active hostilities unfolded in Hungary. Under the blows of the Red Army, the German-Hungarian troops were forced to retreat to the Danube. On October 15, 1944, the Hungarian government asked the Allies for an armistice. In response, the German command sent its troops into Budapest.

At the end of 1944, changes took place in the top military leadership. Stalin “expressed the opinion” that the need for representatives of the Headquarters had already disappeared and that the coordination of the actions of the fronts could be carried out directly from Moscow. Marshal Zhukov was ordered to lead the 1st Belorussian Front, which will attack Berlin. On the one hand, Zhukov was given the high honor to personally take the enemy's capital and put a victory point in the war, and on the other hand, an undeserved insult was inflicted on Marshal Rokossovsky, who was moved to a secondary direction - the 2nd Belorussian Front. In February 1945, another deputy commissar of defense, Marshal Vasilevsky, was relieved of his duties as chief of the General Staff and appointed commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front. At a time when the fate of the country depended on the courage and talent of Zhukov and Rokossovsky, Stalin made them his closest assistants, bestowed high awards and titles, but when all the difficulties were left behind, the supreme removed them from himself in order to single-handedly lead the army to a great victory. At this time, Bulganin, who was poorly versed in military affairs, was appointed deputy people's commissar of defense, as well as a member of the Headquarters and the State Defense Committee. By making this purely civilian man his right hand in the military department, Stalin demonstrated to everyone that he no longer needed the help of professional military personnel. On February 17, 1945, the State Defense Committee approved the Headquarters as follows: Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin, Chief of the General Staff General of the Army A.I. Antonov, Deputy People's Commissar of Defense, General of the Army N.A. Bulganin, marshals G.K. Zhukov and A.M. Vasilevsky.

After a short pause, the Soviet troops resumed their offensive. Forcing the Danube north and south of Budapest, they connected west of the city... The enemy's Budapest grouping, numbering 200 thousand soldiers and officers, was surrounded. On February 18, 1945, the capital of Hungary was liberated. The Red Army reached the borders of Austria.

In the first half of January 1945, Soviet troops launched a decisive offensive in Poland. The enemy's main line of defense along the Vistula River was broken through on the very first day. The troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, commanded by Marshal G.K. Zhukov, on the third day of the fighting they captured the capital of Poland - Warsaw. Rapidly advancing to the west, the troops of the front entered Germany on January 29, 1945, and on February 3, forcing the Oder River, captured the Küstrinsky bridgehead in the immediate vicinity of Berlin.

The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal I.S. Konev, advancing from the Sandomierz bridgehead, liberated Krakow on January 19, on January 23 they reached the Oder River and crossed it in a number of places.

The 2nd Belorussian Front (commanded by Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky), advancing north of Warsaw, reached the Baltic coast in early February and cut off the grouping of German troops in East Prussia.

The 3rd Belorussian Front (commander I.D.

During the January offensive, the Red Army completely liberated Poland and began military operations directly on German territory.

2.2. Fall of Berlin

In the first half of April 1945, the Soviet command began preparations for the final strategic operation - the capture of Berlin. In accordance with the plan, the Soviet troops were to inflict several powerful blows on a wide front, encircle and simultaneously dismember the enemy's Berlin grouping into parts and destroy each of them separately. At the same time, Stalin attached decisive importance to the very fact of the capture of Berlin by Soviet troops without the help of the Allied troops. Some Western historians argue that Soviet troops could have taken Berlin in February, continuing the offensive after reaching the Oder, but dragged out the war in order to forestall the Allies in seizing a number of objects in Central and Southeastern Europe. The reason for this was the plans of the Soviet command for a non-stop offensive after the January battles with the aim of capturing Berlin on February 15-16. However, the offensive in the Berlin direction was suspended due to large losses, difficulties in material support and the threat of an enemy counterstrike from Eastern Pomerania. And only after creating all the conditions for a decisive strike on Berlin on April 16, the operation was launched.

In the directions of the main attacks, an impressive superiority over the enemy was created. The grouping of Soviet troops numbered 2.5 million people, about 42 thousand guns and mortars, over 6,250 tanks and self-propelled guns, 7,500 combat aircraft.

The attack on Berlin began from the Küstrinsky bridgehead on the Oder River on April 16, 1945 at 3 o'clock local time by the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front. It was preceded by powerful artillery and air preparation, after which infantry and tanks rushed into the attack. The most difficult battles took place on the Seelow Heights - the main strategic bridgehead on the approaches to Berlin, but by the end of April 17 they had been taken. On April 20, Soviet troops reached the eastern outskirts of Berlin. Tank corps bypassed Berlin from the north. On April 16, the 1st Ukrainian Front also went over to the offensive. Having broken through several lines of defense, the front's tank forces rushed to Berlin, bypassing it from the south. On April 21, fighting broke out on the southern outskirts of Berlin. And on April 24, the ring around Berlin closed. The assault on the capital of the Third Reich began.

Allied troops, crossing the Rhine, also advanced deep into Germany to meet the advancing Soviet troops. Their first meeting took place on April 25 on the Elbe River near the city of Torgau.

Meanwhile, the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts, overcoming fierce enemy resistance, were approaching the city center. On April 29, Soviet troops broke through to the Reichstag, and after a stubborn battle on the evening of April 30, the soldiers of the 150th rifle division over the dome of the Reichstag Red Banner of Victory. The Berlin garrison capitulated.

Until May 5, the surrender of several German armies and army groups was accepted. And on May 7, at Eisenhower's headquarters in the city of Reims, a preliminary protocol was signed on the surrender of the German armed forces on all fronts. The USSR insisted on the preliminary nature of this act. The act of unconditional surrender took place at midnight on May 8 in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorte. The historic act was signed by Field Marshal Keitel in the presence of Zhukov and representatives of the command of the United States, Great Britain and France. On the same day, Soviet troops liberated the rebellious Prague. From that day on, the organized surrender of German troops began. The war in Europe is over.

In the course of the great liberation mission in Europe, Soviet troops liberated, in whole or in part, the territory of 13 countries with a population of over 147 million people. The Soviet people paid a huge price for this. Irrecoverable losses at the final stage of the Great Patriotic War amounted to more than 1 million people.

Fresh review

Our trip to France was called "The Atlantic Coast of France", but on the first day we never saw the sea. But on the second day, our bus went straight to the shores of the English Channel, or rather, to a rocky island towering over the bay and called Mont Saint Michel (Mount St. Michael). True, this rock was originally called Mon-Tumb (burial mountain). The emergence of an abbey dedicated to the Archangel Michael is described in a 10th century manuscript. According to this text, in 708 the Archangel Michael appeared in a dream to Bishop Aubert from the city of Avranches and ordered to build a church in his honor on a rock. Aubert, however, did not give this due attention and the saint had to appear three times to the unbelieving Aubert. The patience of the archangel is also not unlimited, in the end he jabbed his finger into the skull of the stubborn one. It is said that Aubert's skull with a hole from the touch of Michael is still kept in the Avranches Museum. Thus, having comprehended the message, he nevertheless built a chapel on the rock, and even collected some relics to establish the cult of St. Michael in this place.

Random entries

The resort area of ​​the city. Surrounded by gardens and parks, sanatoriums and rest homes are located

I will finish the winter reviews with this note. These photos were taken by a German tourist in December 2013. There is a little Kaskelen gorge and a little Ushkonyr. In winter, however, everything is almost the same. In this review, everything is a little prettier than in the previous one about our city, but there are also enough photos that the locals do not take.

There are a lot of photos, many of them are very similar. Commenting on natural beauties is boring enough, so basically everything will be without a description.

To begin with, the Maralsay rest house is located not far from Almaty, specifically beyond Talgar in the Talgar gorge, or, more precisely, in the Maralsay gully. Maral is a deer and a beam in the translation, respectively, Deer.

To begin with, a little road - the one that is already in the mountains. To the mountains - it is not at all interesting and not particularly beautiful - you just drive along the Talgar tract through endless villages, gas stations, roadside shops and banquet halls. And then you turn into the Talgar gorge and immediately it becomes beautiful.

It was mid-February. We ordered a transfer from home to the recreation center and back - we were told that we would not go there on a regular sedan. The road, in general, showed that they were right - not to say that there was ice, but the road is snowy and the slopes are not small - an all-wheel drive pickup, no-no, skidded and sometimes the driver turned on the locks.

In the previous article about Rouen, I started right away with the main attraction - the Rouen Cathedral, since the cathedral is the holy of holies in European cities. It has been built for centuries and for centuries, and they try to decorate it more elaborately. But Rouen is famous not only for its cathedral. The city was badly damaged during the Second World War, especially from British bombing in April 1944 and American - in May-June of the same year. In the course of these air raids, the cathedral and the historic quarter adjacent to it were significantly damaged. Fortunately, most of the city's most iconic historical landmarks were reconstructed or rebuilt within 15 post-war years, thanks to which Rouen is in the top five French cities for the antiquity of its historical heritage.

From Champagne we were to move to Normandy. From Reims to the main city of Normandy - Rouen - just over 200 km. After an almost sleepless night, I dozed off to the guide's story about the opening of the second front during the Second World War. Not that it was not interesting, I just heard and saw something on TV on Discovery Channel and History, sometimes I opened my eyes when the guide pointed in one direction or the other. But all around were green meadows, the sun was shining and nothing reminded of the war. It only "stuck" in her head when she began to talk about the feat of an American soldier, who, having shown remarkable ingenuity, was able to get to the German firing point, burying himself with the body of a killed comrade. And thoughts of themselves flowed in a different direction. Still, there are events in the assessment of which we will never meet Western requirements. Intellectually, I understand that in war all means are good, but we were brought up on other examples. Ours recklessly cover the embrasure with their bodies so that their comrades remain alive.

Forest fairy tale was a fairly old resort and rather poor in terms of ski entertainment. But this year everything has changed. We have built three new chair lifts and a couple more tows and a bunch of tracks. Let them be quite simple, and those that are more complicated are rather short, but there are a lot of them and they are diverse, which gives the new resort the right to compete with and, as with the best and largest ski resorts in Kazakhstan.

To begin with, the Forest Fairy Tale is now at least three resorts: Oy-Karagay, Aport and the Forest Fairy Tale itself. While you are skating, it is not entirely clear how they intertwine and where, but, I think, if this issue is carefully investigated, then you can figure it out. But in principle, this is not important.

In January 1944, as a result of the successful operation of the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic fronts, the blockade of Leningrad was lifted. In the winter of 1944, through the efforts of three Ukrainian fronts, Right-Bank Ukraine was liberated, and by the end of spring the western border of the USSR was fully restored.

Under these conditions, at the beginning of the summer of 1944, a second front was opened in Europe.

The headquarters of the Supreme Command has developed a grandiose in scale and tactically successful plan complete liberation Soviet territory and the entry of the Red Army into Eastern Europe with the aim of liberating it from Nazi enslavement. This was preceded by one of the major offensive operations - Belorusskaya, which received the code name "Bagration".

As a result of the offensive, the Soviet Army reached the outskirts of Warsaw and stopped on the right bank of the Vistula. At this time, a popular uprising broke out in Warsaw, brutally suppressed by the Nazis.

In September-October 1944 Bulgaria and Yugoslavia were liberated. In the fighting of the Soviet troops Active participation hosted the partisan formations of these states, which then formed the basis of their national armed forces.

Fierce battles broke out for the liberation of the lands of Hungary, where a large group of fascist troops was located, especially in the area of ​​Lake Balaton. For two months, Soviet troops besieged Budapest, whose garrison capitulated only in February 1945. Only by mid-April 1945, the territory of Hungary was completely liberated.

Under the sign of victories Soviet army From 4 to 11 February, a conference of the leaders of the USSR, the USA and England was held in Yalta, at which issues of the post-war reconstruction of the world were discussed. Among them, the establishment of the borders of Poland, the recognition of the USSR's demands for reparations, the question of the USSR entering the war against Japan, the consent of the allied powers to annex the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin to the USSR.

April 16 - May 2 - Berlin operation- last thing major battle Great Patriotic War. It took place in several stages:

Taking the Seelow Heights;

Fights on the outskirts of Berlin;

Assault on the central, most fortified part of the city.

On the night of May 9, in the Berlin suburb of Karls-Horst, the Act of unconditional surrender Germany.

July 17 - August 2 - Potsdam Conference of Heads of State - members of the anti-Hitler coalition. The main question is the fate of post-war Germany. Control was created. ny council is a joint body of the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France for the exercise of supreme power in Germany during the period of its occupation. He paid special attention to the issues of the Polish-German border. Germany was subject to complete demilitarization, the activities of the Social-Nazi Party were prohibited. Stalin confirmed the USSR's readiness to take part in the war against Japan.

The President of the United States, who received positive test results by the beginning of the conference nuclear weapons, began to put pressure on the Soviet Union. Work on the creation of atomic weapons in the USSR also accelerated.

On August 6 and 9, the United States bombarded two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which had no strategic significance. The act was of a warning and threatening nature, primarily for our state.

On the night of August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union began military operations against Japan. Three fronts were formed: the Trans-Baikal and two Far Eastern ones. Together with the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Military Flotilla, the elite Japanese Kwantung Army was defeated and North China, North Korea, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were liberated.

On September 2, 1945, the Second World War ended with the signing of the Japan Surrender Act on the American military cruiser Missouri.

Liberation of the countries of Southeast and Central Europe

Perevezentsev S.V., Volkov V.A.

During 1944-1945. on final stage During the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army liberated the peoples of Southeast and Central Europe from the totalitarian regimes of their own rulers and the German occupation forces. The Red Army assisted in the liberation of Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria and Norway (Finnmark province).

The liberation of Romania occurred mainly as a result of the Iasi-Kishinev strategic offensive operation. It was carried out from 20 to 29 August 1944 by the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts with the assistance of the forces of the Black Sea Fleet and the Danube Flotilla. The operation was attended by 91 divisions in the amount of 1 million 315 thousand people. As a result of the Jassy-Kishinev operation, the Red Army defeated the main forces of Army Group South Ukraine, destroyed 22 German and almost all Romanian divisions on the Soviet-German front. Moldavia was liberated and royal Romania was withdrawn from the fascist German bloc.

The losses of the Red Army and Navy in the Yassy-Kishinev operation amounted to 13,200 killed, 54,000 wounded and sick. Losses of military equipment were: 75 tanks and self-propelled artillery installations, 108 guns and mortars, 111 aircraft, 6,200 small arms. In total, during the liberation of Romania, the Red Army lost about 70,000 people killed.

The troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, numbering about 260 thousand people, took part in the liberation of Bulgaria. The Bulgarian army did not fight against the troops of the Red Army. On September 5, 1944, the Soviet Union broke off diplomatic relations with Bulgaria and declared a state of war between the USSR and Bulgaria. The Red Army entered the territory of Bulgaria. On September 6, Bulgaria turned to The Soviet Union with a request for a truce. On September 7, Bulgaria decided to break off its relations with Germany, and on September 8, 1944, declared war on Germany. In Sofia, as a result of the September uprising of the people, the government came to power Patriotic Front... In this regard, the Red Army ceased hostilities in Bulgaria on September 9th.

In Yugoslavia, from September 28 to October 20, 1944, the Red Army carried out the Belgrade strategic offensive operation. It was attended by the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian and 2nd Ukrainian fronts, together with units of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia and the troops of the Fatherland Front of Bulgaria. The Danube Naval Flotilla also took part in the operation. The total number of Red Army troops in the Belgrade operation is 300,000 people. As a result of the Belgrade operation, the Red Army, in close cooperation with the partisan army of Marshal Tito, defeated the Serbia army group. The Germans lost 19 divisions, more than 100,000 enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed and taken prisoner. Belgrade was liberated on October 20, 1944. The front of German troops on the Balkan Peninsula was pushed back more than 200 km, the main communication between Thessaloniki and Belgrade was cut, which forced the German command to hastily withdraw troops from the south of the Balkan Peninsula along mountainous and inaccessible roads controlled by the Yugoslav partisans.

The liberation of Poland took place as a result of the second stage of the Belarusian operation, the Lvov-Sandomierz, Vistula-Oder and East Pomeranian strategic offensive operations. From the second half of 1944 to April 1945 the territory of Poland was completely cleared of German troops. The Red Army defeated most of the forces of Army Group Center, Army Group Northern Ukraine and Army Group Vistula.

More than 3.5 million people took part in the operations to liberate Poland. In the battles that lasted for more than 9 months, about 170 enemy divisions were defeated. During the liberation of Poland, the Red Army and the Polish Army lost 265,000 people killed in offensive operations, and 850,000 wounded and sick. Losses of military equipment and weapons amounted to: 5,163 tanks and self-propelled artillery installations, 4,711 guns and mortars, 2,116 aircraft, 286 thousand units of small arms. Having liberated Poland, the Red Army and the Polish Army reached the Oder and the coast of the Baltic Sea, creating conditions for a broad offensive against Berlin.

The liberation of Czechoslovakia followed as a result of the East Carpathian, West Carpathian and Prague strategic offensive operations. The East Carpathian operation was carried out from September 8 to October 28, 1944. The troops of the 4th and 1st Ukrainian fronts in the amount of 33 divisions, numbering 363,000 people, took part in the operation. The purpose of the operation was to help the Slovak National Uprising and the liberation of part of the territory of Czechoslovakia. The operation was attended by the 1st Czechoslovak army corps of 15 thousand people. The Red Army defeated the enemy army group "Heinrici", and, having overcome the Carpathians, entered the territory of Czechoslovakia. Having pulled back a significant part of the enemy's troops, the Red Army provided assistance to the Slovak uprising.

The West Carpathian operation was carried out from January 12 to February 18, 1945 by the troops of the 4th and 2nd Ukrainian fronts, consisting of 60 divisions, numbering 482,000 people. The operation was attended by the 1st and 4th Romanian armies and the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps. As a result of the West Carpathian operation, most of Slovakia and the southern regions of Poland were liberated.

The final operation of the Red Army in Europe was the Prague Strategic Offensive Operation, which was carried out from May 6 to 11, 1945 by the troops of the 1st, 4th and 2nd Ukrainian fronts, numbering 151 divisions in the amount of 1 million 770 thousand people. The 2nd Army of the Polish Army took part in the operation. 1st and 4th Romanian armies, 1st Czechoslovak army corps with a total strength of 260,000 people. In the course of the rapid offensive of the 1st, 4th and 2nd Ukrainian fronts, Czechoslovakia and its capital Prague were liberated, the 860,000-strong enemy force group was liquidated, which continued to resist after the signing of the Act of Germany's surrender. On May 11, units of the Red Army met with the advanced units of the American army.

During the liberation of Czechoslovakia, 122 enemy divisions were defeated, and 858,000 people were taken prisoner. The troops of the Red Army and their allies on the Soviet-German front lost about 140,000 people killed.

The liberation of Hungary was achieved mainly during the Budapest and Vienna strategic offensive operations. The Budapest operation was carried out from October 29, 1944 to February 13, 1945 by the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts and the Danube military flotilla. The 1st and 4th Romanian armies operated as part of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. In the Budapest operation from the side of the Red Army, 52 divisions, numbering 720 thousand people, took part. As a result of the Budapest operation, Soviet troops liberated the central regions of Hungary and its capital, Budapest. The 190,000-strong enemy group was surrounded and destroyed, more than 138,000 people were taken prisoner.

The losses of the Red Army amounted to 80,000 killed and 240,000 wounded and sick. Losses of military equipment and weapons: 1,766 tanks and self-propelled artillery installations, 4,127 guns and mortars, 293 aircraft, 135 thousand small arms,

Hungary was withdrawn from the war on the side of Germany. With the end of the Budapest operation, significant forces were freed up and favorable conditions were created for the development of the offensive in Czechoslovakia and Austria,

The liberation of Austria took place during the Vienna Strategic Offensive Operation, which was carried out from March 16 to April 15, 1945 by the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, part of the forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front and the Danube Flotilla. In the operation to liberate the eastern regions of Austria, 61 divisions of the Red Army, numbering 645,000 people, and the 100,000th 1st Bulgarian Army took part.

During the rapid offensive, Soviet troops defeated the main forces of the German Army Group South and completely liberated Hungary, the southern regions of Czechoslovakia and eastern part Austria with its capital Vienna. In Austria, 32 German divisions were defeated, 130,000 people were taken prisoner.

The losses of the Red Army and the 1st Bulgarian Army during the liberation of Austria amounted to 41,000 killed, 137,000 wounded and sick. Losses of military equipment and weapons: 603 tanks and self-propelled artillery installations, 764 guns and mortars, 614 aircraft, 29,000 small arms.

The successful offensive in the Vienna direction and the withdrawal of the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front to the eastern regions of Austria accelerated the liberation of Yugoslavia.

The liberation of the northern regions of Norway was achieved as a result of the Petsamo-Kirkenes strategic offensive operation, which took place from 7 to 29 October 1944. The operation was carried out by the troops of the Karelian Front and the forces of the Northern Fleet, totaling 133,500 people.

As a result of active hostilities, the troops of the 14th Army, in cooperation with the 7th Air Army and the Northern Fleet, in the harsh conditions of the Arctic, defeated the enemy and liberated the occupied part of the Murmansk region, the Petsamo (Pechengi) region and the northern regions of Norway, including the city of Kirkenes ... Thus, assistance was provided to the Norwegian people and the Norwegian resistance movement in defeating the remnants of the troops of the German Wehrmacht. As a result of the Petsamo-Kirkenes strategic offensive operation, German troops lost the 19 Mountain Rifle Corps, numbering 23,000, in the Petsamo region and northern Norway. The losses of the Red Army and the Navy amounted to 6,084 people killed and 15,149 people wounded.

The seizure of parts of the Red Army and the Northern Fleet of Petsamo and Kirkenes sharply limited the actions of the German fleet in the northern sea lanes and deprived Germany of supplies of strategically important nickel ore.

Bibliography

For the preparation of this work were used materials from the site portal-slovo.ru/

The beginning of 1944 was marked by large offensive operations Soviet troops in the southern and northern sectors of the Soviet-German front. Ukraine and Crimea were liberated, the blockade of Leningrad, which lasted for 900 days, was lifted. In the spring of this year, Soviet troops reached state border USSR over 400 km, approached the borders of Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania. Continuing the defeat of the enemy, they began to liberate the countries of Eastern Europe... Near Soviet soldiers For the freedom of their peoples, the units of the 1st Czechoslovak Brigade under the command of L. Svoboda and the 1st Polish Division. T. Kostiushko under the command of 3. Berling.

At this time, the Allies finally opened a second front in Western Europe... On June 6, 1944, American and British forces landed in Normandy, on the northern coast of France.

The bridgehead between the cities of Cherbourg and Caen was occupied by 40 divisions with a total strength of up to 1.5 million people. Commanded allied forces American General D. Eisenhower. Two and a half months after the landing, the Allies began to advance deep into French territory. They were opposed by about 60 understaffed German divisions. At the same time, in the occupied territory, an open struggle against German army deployed Resistance detachments. On August 19, an uprising against the troops of the German garrison began in Paris. General de Gaulle, who arrived in France with the Allied troops (by that time he was proclaimed the head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic), fearing the "anarchy" of the mass liberation struggle, insisted that Leclerc's French armored division be sent to Paris. On August 25, 1944, this division entered Paris, practically liberated by that time by the rebels.

Having liberated France and Belgium, where in a number of provinces the Resistance forces also undertook armed actions against the occupiers, the Allied troops reached the German border by September 11, 1944.

At that time, on the Soviet-German front, a frontal offensive of the Red Army was taking place, as a result of which the countries of Eastern and Central Europe were liberated.

Dates and Events

Fighting in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe in 1944-1945. 1944 g.

July 17 - Soviet troops crossed the border with Poland; Chelm, Lublin freed; on the liberated territory, the power of the new government, the Polish Committee for National Liberation, began to be established.

August 1 - the beginning of the uprising against the occupiers in Warsaw; this speech, prepared and directed by the émigré government based in London, was defeated by the beginning of October, despite the heroism of its participants; by order of the German command, the population was expelled from Warsaw, and the city itself was destroyed.

August 23 - the overthrow of the Antonescu regime in Romania, a week later Soviet troops entered Bucharest.

September - Soviet troops entered the territory of Bulgaria. nine

September - an anti-fascist uprising in Bulgaria, the coming to power of the government of the Fatherland Front.

October 6 - Soviet troops and units of the Czechoslovak corps entered the territory of Czechoslovakia.

October 20 - The troops of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia and the Red Army liberated Belgrade.

January - the troops of the Red Army and the Polish Army liberated Warsaw. January 29 - Soviet troops crossed the German border in the Poznan region.

April - American units entered the territory of Czechoslovakia.

Analyze the timeline of events. Determine which military and political forces behind them participated in the liberation of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe.

Many thousands of Soviet soldiers gave their lives for the liberation of European countries. In Romania, 69 thousand soldiers and officers were killed, in Poland - about 600 thousand, in Czechoslovakia - more than 140 thousand, and about the same in Hungary. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers died in other, including opposing, armies. They fought on opposite sides of the front, but they were similar in one thing: no one wanted to die, especially in the last months and days of the war.

In the course of the liberation in the countries of Eastern Europe, the question of power became of paramount importance. The pre-war governments of a number of countries were in exile and now sought to return to leadership. But in the liberated territories, new governments and local authorities appeared. They were created on the basis of the organizations of the National (Popular) Front, which arose during the war years as an association of anti-fascist forces. The organizers and most active participants in the national fronts were communists and social democrats. The programs of the new governments envisaged not only the elimination of the occupation and reactionary, pro-fascist regimes, but also broad democratic transformations in political life, socio-economic relations. eight.