Soviet-German war 1941 1945. Dates and events of the Great Patriotic War
June 21, 1941, 13:00. The German forces receive the code signal "Dortmund", confirming that the invasion will begin the next day.
Commander of the 2nd Panzer Group of Army Group "Center" Heinz Guderian writes in his diary: “Careful observation of the Russians convinced me that they were unaware of our intentions. In the courtyard of the fortress of Brest, which could be seen from our observation posts, to the sounds of an orchestra, they conducted a set of guards. The coastal fortifications along the Western Bug were not occupied by Russian troops. "
21:00. Fighters of the 90th border detachment of the Sokal commandant's office detained a German soldier who crossed border river Bug by swimming. The defector was sent to the headquarters of the detachment in the city of Vladimir-Volynsky.
23:00. German minelayers stationed in Finnish ports began to mine the exit from the Gulf of Finland. At the same time, Finnish submarines began laying mines off the coast of Estonia.
June 22, 1941, 0:30. The defector was taken to Vladimir-Volynsky. During the interrogation, the soldier introduced himself Alfred Liskov, servicemen of the 221st regiment of the 15th infantry division of the Wehrmacht. He said that at dawn on June 22, the German army would go over to the offensive along the entire length of the Soviet-German border. The information has been transferred to the higher command.
At the same time, the transmission of directive No. 1 of the People's Commissariat of Defense for parts of the western military districts began from Moscow. “During June 22 - 23, 1941, a surprise attack by the Germans on the fronts of the LPO, PribOVO, ZAPOVO, KOVO, OdVO is possible. An attack can start with provocative actions, ”the directive said. - "The task of our troops is not to succumb to any provocative actions that could cause major complications."
The units were ordered to be put on alert, secretly occupy firing points of fortified areas on the state border, and aviation to be dispersed over field airfields.
It is not possible to bring the directive to the military units before the start of hostilities, as a result of which the measures specified in it are not carried out.
Mobilization. Columns of fighters are moving to the front. Photo: RIA Novosti
"I realized that it was the Germans who opened fire on our territory."
1:00. Commandants of the sections of the 90th border detachment report to the chief of the detachment, Major Bychkovsky: "nothing suspicious was noticed on the adjacent side, everything is calm."
3:05 ... A group of 14 German Ju-88 bombers drops 28 magnetic mines near the Kronstadt raid.
3:07. The commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Oktyabrsky, reports to the Chief of the General Staff, General Zhukov: “The VNOS [air surveillance, warning and communication] system of the fleet reports on the approach from the sea side of a large number of unknown aircraft; the fleet is in full combat readiness. "
3:10. The UNKGB for the Lviv region by telephone sends to the NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR information obtained during the interrogation of the defector Alfred Liskov.
From the memoirs of the chief of the 90th border detachment major Bychkovsky: “Without finishing the questioning of the soldier, I heard heavy artillery fire in the direction of Ustilug (the first commandant's office). I realized that it was the Germans who opened fire on our territory, which was confirmed immediately by the interrogated soldier. He immediately began to call the commandant, but the connection was broken ... "3:30. Chief of Staff of the Western District General Klimovsky reports on the enemy air raid on the cities of Belarus: Brest, Grodno, Lida, Kobrin, Slonim, Baranovichi and others.
3:33. The chief of staff of the Kiev district, General Purkaev, reports on the air raid on the cities of Ukraine, including Kiev.
3:40. Commander of the Baltic Military District, General Kuznetsov reports on enemy air raids on Riga, Šiauliai, Vilnius, Kaunas and other cities.
“The enemy raid has been repulsed. An attempt to strike at our ships was thwarted "
3:42. Chief of General Staff Zhukov calls Stalin and informs about the beginning of hostilities by Germany. Stalin orders Tymoshenko and Zhukov to arrive at the Kremlin, where an emergency meeting of the Politburo is called.
3:45. The 1st frontier post of the 86th August border detachment was attacked by an enemy reconnaissance and sabotage group. The personnel of the outpost under the command Alexandra Sivacheva, joining the battle, destroys the attackers.
4:00. The commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Oktyabrsky, reports to Zhukov: “The enemy raid has been repulsed. An attempt to strike at our ships was thwarted. But there is destruction in Sevastopol. "
4:05. The outposts of the 86th August border detachment, including the 1st border post of senior lieutenant Sivachev, are subjected to powerful artillery fire, after which the German offensive begins. Border guards, deprived of communication with the command, engage in battle with superior enemy forces.
4:10. The Western and Baltic special military districts report on the beginning of hostilities by German troops on land sectors.
4:15. The Nazis open massive artillery fire on the Brest Fortress. As a result, warehouses were destroyed, communication was disrupted, there is big number killed and wounded.
4:25. The 45th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht begins an attack on the Brest Fortress.
The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Residents of the capital on June 22, 1941, during a government radio announcement of the treacherous attack fascist Germany to the Soviet Union. Photo: RIA Novosti
"Protecting not individual countries, but ensuring the security of Europe"
4:30. A meeting of members of the Politburo begins in the Kremlin. Stalin expresses doubt that what happened is the beginning of the war and does not exclude the version of a German provocation. People's Commissar of Defense Tymoshenko and Zhukov insist: this is war.
4:55. In the Brest Fortress, the Nazis manage to capture almost half of the territory. Further advance was stopped by a sudden counterattack of the Red Army.
5:00. German Ambassador to the USSR Count von Schulenburg presents to the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR Molotov"A note from the German Foreign Ministry to the Soviet Government," which says: "The German government cannot be indifferent to the serious threat on the eastern border, so the Fuehrer ordered the German armed forces to ward off this threat by all means." An hour after the actual start of hostilities, Germany de jure declares war on the Soviet Union.
5:30. Reich propaganda minister on German radio Goebbels reads out the appeal Adolf Hitler to the German people in connection with the outbreak of the war against Soviet Union: “Now the hour has come when it is necessary to oppose this conspiracy of the Jewish-Anglo-Saxon warmongers and also the Jewish rulers of the Bolshevik center in Moscow ... At the moment, the greatest military action in its length and volume that the world has ever seen ... The task of this front is no longer defense individual countries, and ensuring the security of Europe and thereby the salvation of all. "7:00. Reich Minister for Foreign Ribbentrop begins a press conference at which he announces the beginning of hostilities against the USSR: "The German army has invaded the territory of Bolshevik Russia!"
"The city is on fire, why aren't you broadcasting anything on the radio?"
7:15. Stalin approves the directive on repelling the attack of Hitlerite Germany: "For the troops with all their forces and means to attack the enemy forces and destroy them in the areas where they violated the Soviet border." Transmission of "directive No. 2" due to the violation of communication lines by saboteurs in the western districts. In Moscow, there is no clear picture of what is happening in the war zone.
9:30. It was decided that at noon the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov would address the Soviet people in connection with the outbreak of the war.
10:00. From the memories of the announcer Yuri Levitan: “They call from Minsk:“ Enemy planes over the city ”, call from Kaunas:“ The city is on fire, why aren't you broadcasting anything on the radio? ”,“ Enemy planes over Kiev ”. Female crying, excitement: "Is it really a war? .." Nevertheless, no official messages were sent until 12:00 Moscow time on June 22.
10:30. From the report of the headquarters of the 45th German division about the battles on the territory of the Brest Fortress: “The Russians are fiercely resisting, especially behind our attacking companies. In the citadel, the enemy organized a defense with infantry units supported by 35-40 tanks and armored vehicles. The fire of enemy snipers led to large losses among officers and non-commissioned officers. "
11:00. The Baltic, Western and Kiev special military districts were reorganized into the Northwestern, Western and Southwestern fronts.
“The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours"
12:00. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov read out an appeal to the citizens of the Soviet Union: “Today at 4 o'clock in the morning, without making any claims to the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country, attacked our borders in many places and bombed our our cities - Zhitomir, Kiev, Sevastopol, Kaunas and some others, with more than two hundred people killed and wounded. Enemy aircraft raids and artillery shelling were also carried out from Romanian and Finnish territory ... Now that the attack on the Soviet Union has already taken place, the Soviet government has given an order to our troops to repulse the robbery attack and expel German troops from the territory of our homeland ... The government calls on you, citizens and citizens of the Soviet Union, to rally their ranks even more closely around our glorious Bolshevik Party, around our Soviet government, around our great leader, Comrade Stalin.
Our cause is right. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours" .
12:30. Advanced German units break into the Belarusian city of Grodno.
13:00.
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issues a decree "On the mobilization of those liable for military service ..."
"On the basis of article 49, clause" o "of the Constitution of the USSR, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR announces the mobilization in the territory of military districts - Leningrad, Baltic special, Western special, Kiev special, Odessa, Kharkov, Oryol, Moscow, Arkhangelsk, Ural, Siberian, Volga, North -Caucasian and Transcaucasian.
13:30. The Chief of the General Staff, General Zhukov, flies to Kiev as a representative of the newly created Headquarters of the High Command on the Southwestern Front.
Photo: RIA Novosti
14:00. The Brest Fortress is completely surrounded by German troops. The Soviet units, blocked in the citadel, continue to offer fierce resistance.
14:05. Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano declares: "In view of the current situation, due to the fact that Germany declared war on the USSR, Italy, as an ally of Germany and as a member of the Triple Pact, also declares war on the Soviet Union from the moment German troops entered Soviet territory."
14:10. 1st frontier post of Alexander Sivachev has been fighting for more than 10 hours. Having only small arms and grenades, the border guards destroyed up to 60 Nazis and burned three tanks. The wounded head of the outpost continued to command the battle.
15:00. From the notes of the commander of Army Group "Center" Field Marshal Boca von: “The question of whether the Russians are carrying out a systematic withdrawal is still open. At present, there is ample evidence both for and against this.
It is surprising that nowhere is any significant work of their artillery noticeable. Heavy artillery fire is being conducted only in the north-west of Grodno, where the VIII Army Corps is advancing. Apparently, our military air force have an overwhelming superiority over Russian aviation. "
Of the 485 attacked frontier posts, not one left without an order
16:00. After a 12-hour battle, the Nazis took up the positions of the 1st frontier post. This became possible only after all the border guards who defended it were killed. The head of the outpost Alexander Sivachev was posthumously awarded the order World War I degree.
The feat of the outpost of senior lieutenant Sivachev became one of hundreds committed by border guards in the first hours and days of the war. On June 22, 1941, the USSR state border from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea was guarded by 666 border outposts, 485 of which were attacked on the very first day of the war. None of the 485 outposts attacked on June 22 withdrew without an order.
The Hitlerite command set aside 20 minutes to break the resistance of the border guards. 257 Soviet frontier posts held the defense from several hours to one day. Over one day - 20, more than two days - 16, over three days - 20, more than four and five days - 43, from seven to nine days - 4, over eleven days - 51, over twelve days - 55, over 15 days - 51 outposts. Up to two months 45 outposts fought.
The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The working people of Leningrad listen to the news about the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union. Photo: RIA Novosti
Of the 19,600 border guards who met the Nazis on June 22 in the direction of the main attack of Army Group Center, more than 16,000 were killed in the first days of the war.
17:00. Hitler's units manage to occupy southwestern part Brest Fortress, the northeast remained under the control of the Soviet troops. Stubborn battles for the fortress will continue for weeks.
"The Church of Christ blesses all Orthodox to protect the sacred borders of our Motherland"
18:00. The Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Sergius of Moscow and Kolomna, addresses the believers with a message: “Fascist robbers attacked our homeland. Trampling on any agreements and promises, they suddenly fell upon us, and now the blood of peaceful citizens is already irrigating their native land ... Our Orthodox Church has always shared the fate of the people. Together with him, she bore trials, and was consoled by his successes. She will not leave her people even now ... The Church of Christ blesses all Orthodox for protection sacred boundaries of our Motherland ".
19:00. From the notes of the Chief of the General Staff ground forces Wehrmacht colonel-general Franz Halder: “All armies, except for the 11th Army of Army Group South in Romania, went on the offensive according to plan. The offensive of our troops, apparently, was a complete tactical surprise for the enemy on the entire front. The border bridges across the Bug and other rivers have been captured everywhere by our troops without a fight and in complete safety. The complete surprise of our offensive for the enemy is evidenced by the fact that the units were taken by surprise in the barracks position, the planes stood at the airfields, covered with tarpaulins, and the forward units, suddenly attacked by our troops, asked the command about what to do ... The Air Force command reported, that today, 850 enemy aircraft have been destroyed, including whole squadrons of bombers, which, having taken off without fighter cover, were attacked by our fighters and destroyed. "
20:00. Directive No. 3 of the People's Commissariat of Defense was approved, prescribing Soviet troops to launch a counteroffensive with the task of routing Hitler's troops on the territory of the USSR with further advancement into enemy territory. The directive ordered to capture the Polish city of Lublin by the end of June 24.
Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 June 22, 1941 Nurses provide assistance to the first wounded after the Nazi air raid near Chisinau. Photo: RIA Novosti
"We must provide Russia and the Russian people with all the assistance we can."
21:00. Summary of the Red Army High Command for June 22: “At dawn on June 22, 1941, the regular troops of the German army attacked our border units on the front from the Baltic to the Black Sea and were held back by them during the first half of the day. In the afternoon, German troops met with the advanced units of the field forces of the Red Army. After fierce fighting, the enemy was repulsed with heavy losses. Only in the Grodno and Kristinopol directions did the enemy manage to achieve insignificant tactical successes and occupy the townships of Kalwaria, Stoyanov and Tsekhanovets (the first two are 15 km away and the last 10 km from the border).
Enemy aircraft attacked a number of our airfields and settlements, but everywhere they met a decisive rebuff from our fighters and anti-aircraft artillery, which inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. We shot down 65 enemy aircraft. "
23:00. Message from the Prime Minister of Great Britain Winston Churchill to the British people in connection with the German attack on the USSR: “At 4 o'clock this morning, Hitler attacked Russia. All his usual formalities of treachery were observed with scrupulous accuracy ... suddenly, without a declaration of war, even without an ultimatum, German bombs fell from the sky on Russian cities, German troops violated Russian borders, and an hour later the German ambassador, who literally the day before, generously lavished his assurances to the Russians in friendship and almost alliance, paid a visit to the Russian foreign minister and declared that Russia and Germany were at war ...
No one has been a more staunch opponent of communism for the past 25 years than me. I will not take back a single word said about him. But it all pales before the spectacle unfolding now.The past, with its crimes, follies and tragedies, is receding. I see Russian soldiers, how they stand on the border of their native land and guard the fields that their fathers plowed from time immemorial. I see them guarding their homes; their mothers and wives pray - oh, yes, because at such a time everyone is praying for the preservation of their loved ones, for the return of their breadwinner, patron, their defenders ...
We must give Russia and the Russian people all the help we can. We must call on all our friends and allies in all parts of the world to adhere to a similar course and pursue it as steadfastly and unswervingly as we will, to the very end. ”
June 22 has come to an end. There were still 1,417 days of the worst war in the history of mankind ahead.
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 "blitzkrieg" strategy 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 land; 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 formations 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. A great feat was accomplished by the Soviet people, who saved world civilization from fascism.
In 1940, the fascist leadership developed a plan “ Barbarossa”, The purpose 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. For this, 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 air bombing 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 a great superiority in strength.
Describing 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 were disbanded, so necessary in modern war, 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 the 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, major 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 seize 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. 10 july 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 dated 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 newspaper "Moscow Bolshevik" 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 on military rails... The main line of this restructuring was defined in the Directive from June 29, 1941... Specific measures for the restructuring of the national economy began to be carried out 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 (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 created 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, non-ferrous metallurgy and other people's commissars develop a military-economic plan for ensuring the country's defense, bearing in mind the use of resources and enterprises located on the Volga, in Western Siberia and in the Urals ”. In two weeks, this commission developed a new plan for the IV 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 the 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 State Defense Committee, carried out general management of 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 - the aviation industry, V.L. Vannikov - ammunition, I.F. Tevosyan - ferrous metallurgy, A.I. Efremov - machine tool industry, V.V. Vakhrushev - coal, I.I. Sedin - oil.
The main link in the restructuring of the national economy on a war footing became industrial restructuring... On military production practically all mechanical engineering was translated.
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 Commissars of the aviation industry, shipbuilding, weapons and ammunition, created before the war, at the beginning of the war, two People's Commissars were formed - a tank and a mortar industry. 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 for 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 in the Urals increased more than 6 times in comparison with 1940, 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
In the summer of 1942, the fascist leadership relied 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 ridge, where specially trained enemy Alpine riflemen operated in the mountains. In spite of successes achieved in the Caucasian direction, the fascist command did not manage to solve its main task - to break through to Transcaucasia 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 order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief 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 the 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 Stalingrad which actually lasted until the end of 1942... Its significance during the Great Patriotic War is enormous. Thousands of Soviet patriots heroically showed themselves in the 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, the bulk of military equipment, were sent here. 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 conducted one of the largest operations of the Great Patriotic War (“ Bagration”). Belarus was completely released. This victory paved the way for advancement 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.
Victory Russian troops in 1944 they helped the peoples of Bulgaria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia in their struggle against fascism. In these countries, pro-German regimes were overthrown, and patriotic forces came to power. The Polish Army, created back in 1943 on the territory of the USSR, took the side 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 on the final stage wars
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
V January 1945... Soviet troops began extensive 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. Together with the Red Army, Polish, Czechoslovak, Romanian and Bulgarian troops acted. 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(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 Nazi Germany
On May 9, Soviet troops completed their last operation - they 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 the Second World War belongs to the Soviet Union.
Defeated fascist standardsOn June 22, 1941, at 4 o'clock in the morning, fascist Germany treacherously invaded the USSR without declaring war. This attack ended the chain of aggressive actions of Nazi Germany, which, thanks to the connivance and instigation of the Western powers, grossly violated elementary norms international law, resorted to predatory seizures and monstrous atrocities in the occupied countries.
In accordance with the Barbarossa plan, the fascist offensive began on a wide front with several groups in different directions. An army was stationed in the north "Norway" advancing on Murmansk and Kandalaksha; an army group was advancing from East Prussia to the Baltic States and Leningrad "North"; the most powerful grouping of armies "Centre" had the goal of defeating the units of the Red Army in Belarus, seizing Vitebsk - Smolensk and taking Moscow on the move; army group "South" was concentrated from Lublin to the mouth of the Danube and led an offensive on Kiev - Donbass. The Nazis' plans boiled down to delivering a surprise strike in these areas, destroying border and military units, breaking through to the deep rear, capturing Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev and the most important industrial centers of the southern regions of the country.
The command of the German army expected to end the war in 6-8 weeks.
190 enemy divisions, about 5.5 million soldiers, up to 50 thousand guns and mortars, 4,300 tanks, almost 5 thousand aircraft and about 200 warships were thrown into the offensive against the Soviet Union.
The war began in extremely favorable conditions for Germany. Before the attack on the USSR, Germany captured almost all of Western Europe, whose economy worked for the Nazis. Therefore, Germany had a powerful material and technical base.
Military products of Germany were supplied by 6500 largest enterprises countries Western Europe... More than 3 million foreign workers were involved in the war industry. In Western European countries, the Nazis plundered a lot of weapons, military equipment, trucks, carriages and steam locomotives. The military and economic resources of Germany and its allies significantly exceeded the resources of the USSR. Germany fully mobilized its army as well as the armies of its allies. Most of the German army was concentrated on the borders of the Soviet Union. In addition, imperialist Japan threatened to attack from the East, which diverted a significant part of the Soviet Armed Forces to defend the country's eastern borders. In the theses of the Central Committee of the CPSU "50 years of the Great October Socialist Revolution" the analysis of the reasons for temporary failures of the Red Army in the initial period of the war is given. They are connected with the fact that the Nazis used temporary advantages:
- the militarization of the economy and all life in Germany;
- long preparations for an aggressive war and more than two years of experience in the conduct of military operations in the West;
- superiority in armament and the number of troops, previously concentrated in the border zones.
They had at their disposal the economic and military resources of almost all of Western Europe. The mistakes made in determining the possible timing of the attack by Hitlerite Germany on our country and the related omissions in preparing to repel the first strikes played a role. There was reliable data on the concentration of German troops at the borders of the USSR and Germany's preparation for an attack on our country. However, the troops of the western military districts were not brought to a state of full combat readiness.
All these reasons put the Soviet country in a difficult position. However, the enormous difficulties of the initial period of the war did not break the fighting spirit of the Red Army, did not shake the stamina Soviet people... From the first days of the attack, it became clear that the plan for a lightning war had collapsed. Accustomed to easy victories over Western countries, whose governments betrayed their people to be torn apart by the invaders, the Nazis met stubborn resistance from the Soviet Armed Forces, border guards and the entire Soviet people. The war lasted 1418 days. Groups of border guards fought bravely at the border. The garrison of the Brest Fortress covered itself with unfading glory. The defense of the fortress was led by Captain I. N. Zubachev, Regimental Commissar E. M. Fomin, Major P. M. Gavrilov, and others. On June 22, 1941, at 4:25 am, fighter pilot I. I. Ivanov made the first ram. (In total, about 200 rams were made during the war years). On June 26, the crew of Captain N.F. Gastello (A. A. Burdenyuk, G. N. Skorobogaty, A. A. Kalinin) crashed into a column of enemy troops on a burning plane. Hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers from the first days of the war showed examples of courage and heroism.
Two months lasted Smolensk battle... Here near Smolensk was born Soviet guard... The battle in the Smolensk region delayed the enemy offensive until mid-September 1941.
During the Battle of Smolensk, the Red Army thwarted the enemy's plans. The delay in the enemy offensive in the central direction was the first strategic success of the Soviet troops.
The Communist Party became the leading and guiding force of the country's defense and preparation for the destruction of Hitler's troops. From the first days of the war, the party took emergency measures to organize a rebuff to the aggressor, carried out a huge amount of work to reorganize all work on a war footing, to turn the country into a single military camp.
“To wage a war in earnest,” wrote V. I. Lenin, “requires a strong organized rear. The best army, the people most devoted to the cause of the revolution will be immediately exterminated by the enemy if they are not sufficiently armed, supplied with food, trained ”(Lenin V. I. Poln. Sobr. Soch., Vol. 35, p. 408).
These Leninist instructions formed the basis for organizing the struggle against the enemy. On June 22, 1941, on the instructions of the Soviet government, V.M. Molotov, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR, spoke on the radio with a message about the "robber" attack of Nazi Germany and an appeal to fight the enemy. On the same day, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was adopted on the introduction of martial law on the European territory of the USSR, as well as the Decree on the mobilization of a number of ages in 14 military districts. On June 23, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the USSR Council of People's Commissars adopted a resolution on the tasks of party and Soviet organizations in war conditions. On June 24, the Evacuation Council was formed, and on June 27, by a decree of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR "On the procedure for the export and deployment of human contingents and valuable property", the procedure for the evacuation of productive forces and population to the eastern regions was determined. In the directive of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of June 29, 1941, the most important tasks for mobilizing all forces and means to defeat the enemy were set out to the party and Soviet organizations of the front-line regions.
"... In the war imposed on us with Nazi Germany," the document said, "the question of the life and death of the Soviet state is being resolved, about whether the peoples of the Soviet Union should be free or fall into enslavement." The Central Committee and the Soviet government called for realizing the full depth of the danger, reorganizing all work in a warlike manner, organizing all-round assistance to the front, increasing the production of weapons, ammunition, tanks, aircraft in every possible way, with the forced withdrawal of the Red Army to take out all valuable property, and what cannot be taken out - to destroy , organize partisan detachments in the areas occupied by the enemy. On July 3, the main provisions of the directive were set forth in JV Stalin's speech on the radio. The directive determined the nature of the war, the degree of threat and danger, set the tasks of transforming the country into a single combat camp, strengthening the Armed Forces in every possible way, restructuring the work of the rear on a war footing, mobilizing all forces to repel the enemy. On June 30, 1941, for the rapid mobilization of all the forces and means of the country to repel and defeat the enemy, an emergency body was created - State Defense Committee (GKO) headed by I. V. Stalin. All power in the country, state, military and economic leadership was concentrated in the hands of the GKO. It united the activities of all state and military institutions, party, trade union and Komsomol organizations.
In the conditions of war, the restructuring of the entire economy on a war footing was of paramount importance. At the end of June was approved "Mobilization national economic plan for the III quarter of 1941", and on August 16 "The military-economic plan for the IV quarter of 1941 and for 1942 for the regions of the Volga region, the Urals, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia". In just five months of 1941, more than 1,360 large military enterprises were relocated and about 10 million people were evacuated. Even according to the admission of bourgeois specialists industrial evacuation in the second half of 1941 and early 1942 and its deployment in the East should be considered one of the most striking feats of the peoples of the Soviet Union during the war. The evacuated Kramatorsk plant was put into operation 12 days after arriving at the site, the Zaporozhye plant - 20 days later. By the end of 1941, the Urals produced 62% of pig iron and 50% of steel. In scope and importance, it was equal to the largest battles of wartime. The military restructuring of the national economy was completed by mid-1942.
The party carried out a great deal of organizational work in the army. In accordance with the decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on July 16, 1941 issued a decree "On the reorganization of political propaganda bodies and the introduction of the institution of military commissars"... From July 16 in the Army, and from July 20 in the Navy, the institution of military commissars was introduced. In the second half of 1941, up to 1.5 million communists and more than 2 million Komsomol members were mobilized into the army (the party sent up to 40% of the total membership to the active army). Prominent party leaders L. I. Brezhnev, A. A. Zhdanov, A. S. Shcherbakov, M. A. Suslov and others were sent to party work in the army.
On August 8, 1941, JV Stalin was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the USSR. In order to concentrate all the functions of managing military operations, the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was formed. Hundreds of thousands of communists and Komsomol members went to the front. About 300 thousand best representatives the working class and intelligentsia of Moscow and Leningrad joined the ranks of the people's militia.
Meanwhile, the enemy stubbornly rushed to Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Odessa, Sevastopol and other important industrial centers of the country. An important place in the plans of fascist Germany was occupied by the expectation of the international isolation of the USSR. However, from the very first days of the war, an anti-Hitler coalition began to take shape. Already on June 22, 1941, the British government announced its support of the USSR in the fight against fascism, and on July 12 signed an agreement on joint actions against Nazi Germany. On August 2, 1941, US President F. Roosevelt announced the economic support of the Soviet Union. On September 29, 1941, gathered in Moscow conference of representatives of the three powers(USSR, USA and England), which developed a plan of Anglo-American assistance in the fight against the enemy. Hitler's hopes for the international isolation of the USSR failed. On January 1, 1942, a declaration of 26 states was signed in Washington. anti-Hitler coalition on the use of all the resources of these countries to fight against the German bloc. However, the allies were in no hurry to implement effective assistance aimed at defeating fascism, trying to weaken the belligerent parties.
By October, the Nazi invaders, despite the heroic resistance of our troops, managed to approach Moscow from three sides, simultaneously launching an offensive on the Don, in the Crimea, near Leningrad. Odessa and Sevastopol defended heroically. On September 30, 1941, the German command began the first, and in November - the second general offensive against Moscow. The Nazis managed to occupy Klin, Yakhrom, Naro-Fominsk, Istra and other cities of the Moscow region. Soviet troops waged a heroic defense of the capital, showing examples of courage and heroism. In fierce battles, the 316th rifle division of General Panfilov stood to the death. A partisan movement developed behind enemy lines. About 10 thousand partisans fought near Moscow alone. On December 5-6, 1941, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive near Moscow. At the same time, offensive operations were launched on the Western, Kalinin and Southwestern Fronts. The powerful offensive of the Soviet troops in the winter of 1941/42 threw the fascists back in a number of places at a distance of up to 400 km from the capital and was their first major defeat in the Second World War.
The main result Moscow battle consisted in the fact that the strategic initiative was torn from the hands of the enemy and the plan for a lightning war failed. The defeat of the Germans near Moscow was a decisive turn in the hostilities of the Red Army and had a great influence on the entire further course of the war.
By the spring of 1942 in eastern regions the country established the production of military products. By the middle of the year, most of the evacuated businesses were deployed to new locations. The transfer of the country's economy to a war footing has been largely completed. In the deep rear - in Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Siberia, the Urals - there were over 10 thousand industrial construction sites.
Instead of the men who had gone to the front, women and youth came to the machines. Despite the very difficult living conditions, Soviet people selflessly worked to ensure victory at the front. We worked one and a half to two shifts to restore industry and supply the front with everything necessary. All-Union socialist competition was widespread, the winners of which were awarded a challenge GKO Red Banner... In 1942, agricultural workers organized over-planned crops for the defense fund. The collective farm peasantry supplied the front and rear with foodstuffs and industrial raw materials.
The situation in the temporarily occupied regions of the country was extremely difficult. The Nazis robbed cities and villages, mocked the civilian population. In the factories, German officials were appointed to supervise the work. The best lands were selected for farms for German soldiers... In all occupied settlements, German garrisons were kept at the expense of the population. However, the economic and social policies of the fascists, which they tried to pursue in the occupied territories, immediately failed. The Soviet people, brought up on the ideas of the Communist Party, believed in the victory of the Soviet country, did not succumb to Hitler's provocations and demagoguery.
Winter offensive of the Red Army in 1941/42 dealt a powerful blow to Nazi Germany, to its war machine, but the Hitlerite army was still strong. Soviet troops fought stubborn defensive battles.
In this situation, the nationwide struggle of the Soviet people behind enemy lines played an important role, especially partisan movement.
Thousands of Soviet people went to partisan detachments. Unfolded wide guerrilla war in the Ukraine, in Belarus and in the Smolensk region, in the Crimea and in a number of other places. In cities and villages temporarily occupied by the enemy, underground party and Komsomol organizations operated. In accordance with the decree of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks dated July 18, 1941 "On the organization of the struggle in the rear of the German troops" 3500 partisan detachments and groups, 32 underground regional committees, 805 city and district party committees, 5429 primary party organizations, 10 regional, 210 inter-district city and 45 thousand primary Komsomol organizations were created. To coordinate the actions of partisan detachments and underground groups with units of the Red Army, by decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on May 30, 1942, at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, central headquarters of the partisan movement... Headquarters for leadership partisan movement were formed in Belarus, Ukraine and in other republics and regions occupied by the enemy.
After the defeat near Moscow and the winter offensive of our troops, the Hitlerite command was preparing a new major offensive with the aim of capturing all the southern regions of the country (Crimea, North Caucasus, Don) up to the Volga, taking Stalingrad and severing Transcaucasia from the center of the country. This posed an extremely serious threat to our country.
By the summer of 1942, the international situation had changed, characterized by the strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition. In May - June 1942, treaties were concluded between the USSR, Britain and the United States on an alliance in the war against Germany and on post-war cooperation. In particular, an agreement was reached to open in 1942 in Europe second front against Germany, which would have greatly accelerated the defeat of fascism. But the allies in every possible way delayed its opening. Taking advantage of this, the fascist command transferred divisions from the Western Front to the Eastern. By the spring of 1942, the Hitlerite army had 237 divisions, massed aviation, tanks, artillery and other types of equipment for a new offensive.
Has intensified Leningrad blockade, almost daily exposed to artillery fire. In May, the Kerch Strait was captured. On July 3, the High Command ordered the heroic defenders of Sevastopol to leave the city after a 250-day defense, since it was not possible to hold Crimea. As a result of the defeat of Soviet troops in the region of Kharkov and Don, the enemy reached the Volga. The Stalingrad Front, created in July, took on the powerful blows of the enemy. Retreating with heavy battles, our troops inflicted enormous damage on the enemy. In parallel, there was a fascist offensive in the North Caucasus, where Stavropol, Krasnodar, and Maikop were occupied. In the area of Mozdok, the offensive of the fascists was suspended.
The main battles took place on the Volga. The enemy strove to seize Stalingrad at any cost. The heroic defense of the city was one of the brightest pages of the Patriotic War. The working class, women, old people, teenagers - the entire population rose to defend Stalingrad. Despite the mortal danger, the workers of the tractor plant sent tanks to the front lines every day. In September, battles unfolded in the city for every street, for every house.
Documentary exposition
Edited by Reingard Ryurup
The documentary exposition was prepared for the 50th anniversary of the attack on the Soviet Union and was opened on June 15, 1991 in the Topography of Terror hall near Martin-Gropius-Bau, Stresemannstrasse 110, 1000 Berlin 61.
Organizer: Berliner Festspiele GmbH Intendant: Dr. Ulrich Eckhardt Commissioned by the Berlin Senate for Topography of Terror
Idea and concept: Prof. Dr. Reinhard Rurup, Dr. Peter jahn
Scientific guidance: Prof. Dr. Reinhard Rurup Researchers: Dr. Gabriele Camphausen, Frank Dingel, Thomas Friedrich, Klaus Hesse, Dr. Peter Jahn, Andreas Sander
Exhibition design: Margret Schmitt, Ausstellungsburo Gross
Exhibition installation: Museumstechnik GmbH
Photo reproductions: Margret Nissen, Wolfgang Schackla, etc.
Organizational work: Dr. Andreas Nachama, Susanne Stahr
Exhibition Secretariat: Margot Frey
Employees: Katja Lucke, Axel Drieschner
For scientific advice, we express our gratitude to: Colonel Nikolai Brylov, Podolsk; General prof. Anatoly Khorkov, Moscow; Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Deist, Freiburg; Dr. Jurgen Forster, Freiburg; General prof. Yuri Kirshin, Moscow; to the doctor historical sciences Arkady Krupennikov, Krasnogorsk; Dr. Norbert Muller, Potsdam; Dr. Rolf-Dieter Muller, Freiburg; Gerhard Schoenberner, Berlin; Colonel Yuri Semin, Moscow; Sergey Sluch, Moscow; Dr. Gerd R. Ueberschar, Freiburg; Dr. Bernd Wegner, Freiburg; Dr. Hans-Heinrich Wilhelm, Berlin
The German original version of the catalog "War against the Soviet Union 1941-1945" was published in 1991 by the publishing house Argon, Berlin (1st and 2nd editions).
The Great Patriotic War began on June 22, 1941, 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 peace - 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 the German troops. V fighting 153 German divisions, 3712 tanks and 4950 combat aircraft entered (such data are given by Marshal G.K. Zhukov 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, the 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, he will scatter the fascist enemy force to dust ... Let us 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 consoled by his successes. She will not leave her people even now. She blesses with heavenly blessings 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) ... "
With a message to Christians all over the world about prayer and material assistance Russia was addressed by the Patriarch of Alexandria Alexander III.
Brest Fortress, Minsk, Smolensk
June 22 - July 20, 1941. Defense of the Brest Fortress. The first Soviet strategic border point located in the direction of the main attack of Army Group Center (to Minsk and Moscow) was Brest and the Brest Fortress, which the German command planned to capture in the first hours of the war.
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July 9, 1941 - 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, part of the warehouses had to be blown up, the rest were captured by the enemy. The enemy stubbornly rushed to Minsk from the north and south. Our troops were surrounded. Deprived of centralized control and supply, they, however, fought until July 8.
July 10 - September 10, 1941 Smolensk battle. On July 10, Army Group Center launched an offensive against the Western Front. The Germans had a twofold superiority in manpower and fourfold in tanks. The enemy's plan was to cut our western front with powerful strike groups, encircle the main group of 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 were unable 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, fierce Soviet resistance 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 strategic defense in the Moscow direction and prepare reserves.
August 8, 1941 - Stalin appointed as 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 take possession of 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 was faced with the main task of capturing Moscow.But the lightning-fast takeover, which 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, the 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 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 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 Leningrad front and the city with fuel between the eastern and western shores of the Shlisselburg Bay of Lake Ladoga, an underwater pipeline was laid, which went into operation on June 18, 1942 and turned out to be practically invulnerable to the enemy. And in the fall of 1942, a power cable was also laid along the bottom of the lake, through which electricity began to flow to 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 Holy Mother of God a religious 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 "Anti-religious" 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 from 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 Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive.
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Under Stalin's pressure, it was decided to go over to a general offensive along the entire front. But not in 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. After that, it was decided to go on the defensive.
The chief of the General Staff of the Wehrmacht ground forces, General F. Halder, wrote in his diary: "The myth of the invincibility of the German army has been broken. With the onset of summer, the German army will achieve new victories in Russia, but this will 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 (later known as the "United Nations Declaration") was signed in Washington, 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 region of Voronezh and Voroshilovgrad. As a result of the forced withdrawal of our troops, richest areas Don and Donbass. 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 the 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 the 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 seize Stalingrad by storm. The Soviet troops failed to contain his powerful onslaught. They were forced to retreat to the city. Day and night battles did not stop 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: Southwest (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 Stavka. 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 the 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 interfluve of the Volga and Don.
The offensive was scheduled for November 19, 1942 for the Southwestern and Don fronts, and for November 20 for the Stalingrad front. The strategic offensive operation to defeat the enemy near Stalingrad consisted of three stages: encircling the enemy (November 19-30), developing the offensive and disrupting the enemy's attempts to unblock the encircled grouping (December 1942), eliminating the grouping of German fascist troops encircled 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 the lieutenant general of the Hitlerite army Westphal, "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 the 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 of the CaucasusIn the North Caucasus 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 to us at a high price.
German troops were driven out to the Taman Peninsula. On the night of September 10, 1943, the Novorossiysk-Taman strategic offensive operation of 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 to develop a plan for both a defensive operation near Kursk and a counteroffensive. And by the beginning of July 1943, the Soviet command completed preparations for the Battle of 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 the 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.
The events on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front had a significant impact on the further course of events in the Belgorod-Kursk direction. On July 17, the troops of the Southern and Southwestern Fronts went on the offensive. On the night of July 19, a general withdrawal of the German fascist 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 conducted the Yelnensko-Dorogobuzh operation, and the troops of the left wing of the Kalinin Front continued to conduct the Dukhovshchinsky offensive. 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 gave the retention of Donbass in their hands exclusively great importance... From the very first day, the fighting took on an extremely tense character. The enemy put up stubborn resistance. However, he failed to stop the advance of the Soviet troops. Fascist German troops in 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 that was being 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) launched 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 outskirts of Kiev. There were 100 km to the Dnieper. The troops of the right wing of the Voronezh Front advancing to the south by September 10 had broken the stubborn resistance of the enemy in the area of the city of Romny.
The troops of the right wing of the Central Front crossed the Desna River and liberated the city of Novgorod-Seversky on September 16.
September 21 (feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary) Soviet troops liberated 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 what great importance the Dnieper had for the retreating enemy, and did everything to force it on the march, capture the bridgehead on the right bank and prevent the enemy from gaining a foothold on this line. They strove to accelerate the advance of troops to the Dnieper, and to develop an offensive not only against the main enemy groupings retreating to permanent crossings, but also in the intervals between them. This made it possible to reach the Dnieper on a 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 September 25 to September 30, 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 who crossed to the right bank of the Dnieper had a very difficult time. Before they had time to gain a foothold there, fierce battles flared up. The enemy, pulling 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 to the west.
For crossing the Dnieper, for dedication and heroism in battles on 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 on Zhitomir, Fastov and Korosten. Over the next 10 days, they advanced 150 km westward and liberated many settlements, including the cities of Fastov and Zhitomir. On the right bank of the Dnieper, a strategic bridgehead was formed, the length of which along the front exceeded 500 km.
Intense fighting continued in the south of 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 the Allied Powers. The opening of the second front
From November 28 - December 1, 1943 was held Tehran conference the heads of the allied powers against fascism of states - the USSR (J.V. Stalin), the USA (President F. Roosevelt) and Great Britain (Prime Minister W. Churchill).The main issue was the opening of a second front by the United States and Great Britain in Europe, which they did not open despite their promises. At the conference, it was decided that 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 of 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 the 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 grouping.
January 5-16, 1944 Kirovograd operation. After intense battles on January 8, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front captured Kirovograd and continued the 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 - Shepetivka.
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 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 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 (March 6-18, 1944). On March 11, Soviet troops liberated Berislav, on March 13, the 28th Army captured Kherson, and on March 15, Bereznegovatoe and Snigirevka were liberated. The troops of the right wing of the front, pursuing the enemy, reached the Southern Bug in the Voznesensk region.
On March 29, our troops captured the regional center, the city of Chernivtsi. The enemy lost the last link between his troops operating north and south of the Carpathians. The strategic front of the 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 the defeat of 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, Moldova and the entry of Soviet troops into Romania.
March 26 - April 14, 1944 Odessa offensive operation troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. On March 26, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front went 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 o'clock in the morning on April 10 they 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.
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 junction of roads. The exit of the 4th Ukrainian Front to the Dzhankoy area threatened the withdrawal routes of the Kerch group of the enemy and thereby created favorable conditions for the offensive of the Separate Primorsky Army. Fearing encirclement, the enemy decided to withdraw the troops from the Kerch Peninsula. Finding preparations for a withdrawal, the Separate Primorskaya Army launched an offensive on the night of April 11. On April 13, Soviet troops liberated the cities of Evpatoria, Simferopol and Feodosia. And on April 15-16, they reached the approaches to Sevastopol, where they were stopped by the organized defense of the enemy.On April 18, the Separate Primorskaya Army was renamed the Primorskaya Army and included in the 4th Ukrainian Front.
Our troops were preparing for the assault. On May 9, 1944, Sevastopol was liberated. The remnants of the German troops fled to Cape Chersonesos, hoping to escape by sea. But on May 12 they were completely crushed. At Cape Chersonesos, 21 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were captured, a large number of weapons and military equipment were captured.
Western Ukraine
On July 27, after stubborn battles, liberated Lviv.In July-August 1944, Soviet troops were liberated from the Nazi invaders western regions of Ukraine, and southeastern part 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, Soviet troops liberated the territory of almost the entire Leningrad and part of the Kalinin regions from the occupiers, completely lifted the blockade from Leningrad, and entered Estonia. The basing area of the 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". Within the framework 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 heaps 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 city 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 border of Poland.
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 region. Here they freed the prisoners of the Majdanek death camp, in which the Nazis exterminated about one and a half million people.
On August 1, 1944 (on the feast of the Monk 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 committed 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 seized the embankment in Warsaw. However, the Germans soon 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 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, Orhei 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 Black Sea Fleet and the Danube military flotilla were tasked with carrying out 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 the liberation of Czechoslovakia and access to the southern border of Germany.
Baltics
September 14 - November 24, 1944 Baltic offensive operation. This is one of the largest operations in the fall 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 protracted 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 use the joint efforts of Soviet and Yugoslav troops in the Belgrade direction, Yugoslav and Bulgarian troops in the Nish and Skopiev directions to 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 units 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 to the east of the Tisza estuary from the enemy. 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 the villages and cities of Yugoslavia greeted Soviet soldiers very warmly. They took to the streets with flowers, shook hands, hugged and kissed their liberators. The air was filled with 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, General of the Army K.A. Meretskov, wrote: “Underfoot, the tundra, damp and somehow uncomfortable, blows lifelessness from below: there, in the depths, the permafrost lying in islands begins, and the soldiers have to sleep on this ground, only one half of the greatcoat ... Sometimes the earth heaves up in bare masses of granite rocks ... Nevertheless, it was necessary to fight. And not just to fight, but to 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 for seafarers bay of the Barents Sea. Lively trade with Norway, Holland, England and other Western countries went through Pechenga. In 1920, according to the peace treaty of October 14 Soviet Russia voluntarily ceded the Pechenga region of 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 rescued 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 they could not defeat the enemy's Budapest grouping and possess the city. Finally they succeeded in encircling Budapest. But the city was a fortress prepared by the Nazis for a long defense. Hitler ordered to fight for Budapest to the last soldier. The battles for the liberation of the eastern part of the city (Pest) 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 300-350 km in depth. 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 Byelorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts to defeat the German fascist 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 Nazis 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 reached 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 - greatly contributed 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, fighting 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 captured a large seaport Memel (Klaipeda).
On February 10, the second stage of hostilities began - the elimination of isolated enemy groupings. 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 who occupied the Hejlsbersky region. Further, it was planned to defeat the Konigsberg grouping. The Germans created three powerful defensive positions around the city. 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 garrison of the fortress capitulated. Moscow marked the end of the assault on Konigsberg with a salute of the highest category - 24 artillery salvos from 324 guns. A 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, only the Zemland enemy grouping remained in East Prussia, which was defeated by the end of April.
In East Prussia, the Red Army destroyed 25 German divisions, the other 12 divisions lost 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 on the occupation and division of Germany into occupation zones and on the allocation of its own zone to France. For the USSR, the main task was to ensure the security of its borders after the end of the war. So, for example, there was a provisional government of Poland in exile, based in London. However, Stalin insisted on the creation of a new government in Poland, since it was from the territory of Poland that attacks on Russia were conveniently carried out by its enemies.In Yalta, the Declaration on Liberated Europe was also signed, which, in particular, said: 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 work out 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, at the beginning of February 1945 a gap of about 150 km in length was formed. This strip of terrain was occupied by limited Soviet forces. As a result of hostilities, by March 13, the troops of the 1st Byelorussian and 2nd Byelorussian 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, the Soviet troops were completely liberated Vienna.
During the Vienna operation, Soviet troops fought 150-200 km, completed the liberation of Hungary and the eastern part of Austria with its capital. The hostilities during the Vienna operation were 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 section of the front, 65 rifle divisions, 3155 tanks and self-propelled vessels, about 42 thousand guns and mortars. The plan of the Soviet command was to break through the enemy's defenses along the Oder and Neisse rivers with powerful blows from the troops of three fronts and, developing the offensive in depth, to surround the main grouping of Nazi forces in the Berlin direction, simultaneously cutting it into several parts and the subsequent destruction of each of the 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 a 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 fire 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 the battle. However, even with their help, it was not possible to quickly seize 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, by the end of the day on April 16, the combined arms and tank formations broke through the main enemy defense zone on the front 26 km and to a depth of 13 km. In 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 area on the Elbe River. The 2nd Belorussian Front with active operations in the lower reaches of the Oder reliably pinned down the 3rd German Panzer Army, depriving it of the opportunity to deliver a counterattack from the north to 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 continued 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 the unified management of them has been 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, 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 the 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 carried out 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, railway 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 insurgents, 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 he did not inform his subordinates. On the contrary, he gave the troops his order, in which he stated that 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. Under 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 the fighting 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 southwest with the capture of Prague by the Soviet troops were cut off. The main forces of Army Group Center were in the "sack" east of Prague. On May 10-11, they surrendered 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 23:00 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. On behalf of the Soviet Union, it was signed by General I. D. Susloparov, on behalf of the Western Allies - by General W. Smith, and on behalf of Germany - by General Jodl. Only a witness was present from France. After the signing of this act, our Western allies hastened to notify the world of Germany's surrender to American and British troops. However, Stalin insisted that "the surrender should be committed as an 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 deed signing ceremony took place in the building military engineering school, where a special hall was prepared, decorated with the state flags of the USSR, USA, England and France. At the main table were representatives of the allied powers. 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 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. On the German side, Field Marshal Keitel, Fleet Admiral von Friedeburg and Aviation Colonel General Stumpf were authorized to sign the act of unconditional surrender.
The ceremony of signing the surrender at 24 o'clock was opened by Marshal G.K. Zhukov. At his suggestion, Keitel presented 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:
"1. We, the undersigned, acting on behalf of the German High Command, agree to 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 Supreme High Command of the Red Army and at the same time the Supreme Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.
2. The German High Command will immediately issue orders to all German commanders of land, sea and air forces and all forces under German command to cease hostilities at 23-01 hours 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 property 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 lyrics 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 gala 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 ground, sea and air forces of the Wehrmacht on the Soviet-German front began to lay down their arms. By the end of the day on May 8, Army Group Courland, which was pressed against the Baltic Sea, stopped its resistance. About 190 thousand soldiers and officers surrendered, including 42 generals. On the morning of May 9, German troops surrendered in the area of Danzig and Gdynia. About 75 thousand soldiers and officers, including 12 generals, laid down their arms here. Task Force Narvik surrendered 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, which did not want to surrender together with the bulk of the troops of the Army Group Center and tried to make their way 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 the heads of government, all foreign ministers, their first deputies, military and civilian advisers and experts. The main issue of the conference was the question of the post-war organization 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 the Russian Empire, combined with newfound military power and international influence."
Tatiana Radynova
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