Books about the Great Patriotic War. Great Patriotic War Offensive in Eastern and Central Hungary

The Great Patriotic War was the largest event of the 20th century, which determined the fate of many peoples. Questions about its background, causes, nature, periodization, results have been and remain the subject of discussion in scientific, political circles and in public opinion. In Russia, they have become particularly acute in connection with the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the war, and it is obvious that they will continue for a long time to come.

A number of researchers believe that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, concluded by the USSR and Germany on August 23, 1939, opened the way to World War II. According to some, this pact was Stalin's "fatal miscalculation", caused by fear of the possibility of creating an anti-Soviet coalition of Germany and the Western powers; according to others, it was a well-thought-out move by the Soviet leadership, which sought to provoke a military conflict between the Reich and Great Britain and France and, taking advantage of their mutual weakening, to establish their control over South-Eastern and Central Europe. It is also believed that thanks to the pact, Germany was able to attack Poland in September 1939 without fear of an attack by the Red Army (RKKA) from the east, and then, having a relatively safe eastern rear, defeat France in May-June 1940; in addition, it acquired large quantities of strategic raw materials from the USSR. On the other hand, it is believed that the USSR, with the tacit consent or diplomatic support of Berlin, was able to realize its plans for Poland, the Baltic republics, Romania and Finland, since on September 17, 1939, after the Wehrmacht (German armed forces) defeated the main forces of the Polish army, Soviet troops occupied Western Ukraine and Belarus. As a result of the war with Finland (November 1939 - March 1940), the USSR received a strategically important area on the Karelian Isthmus and a number of territories north of Lake Ladoga; annexed Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in June 1940; in July he obtained from Romania the transfer of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to him. There is another interpretation: the USSR was forced to conclude an agreement with Germany in August 1939 after the failure of attempts to enter into an anti-Hitler alliance with England and France: this agreement allowed the USSR to avoid being drawn into World War II at its first stage, strengthen its defensive potential and push back borders to west, creating more favorable conditions for repelling German aggression.

The Wehrmacht's victories in the West in 1939-1940 dramatically changed the military-political situation in Europe. In the eyes of the Nazi elite, the alliance with the USSR had largely lost its value. In the autumn of 1940, Germany established military cooperation with Finland and Romania, which aroused Stalin's concern. A number of scholars argue that at that moment the Soviet leadership made an attempt to negotiate with Hitler on a new division of spheres of influence in Europe and Asia. At the Soviet-German negotiations held in November 1940, German diplomacy offered the USSR to join the Tripartite Pact of the fascist powers of Germany, Italy and Japan (historians still argue how serious this proposal was), but Moscow demanded for this the consent of Berlin to the occupation of Finland by Soviet troops , Bulgaria and part of Turkey, and the new Molotov-Ribbentrop pact did not take place.

After the unsuccessful outcome of the negotiations, Hitler made the final decision to attack the USSR and in December 1940 approved the Barbarossa plan ( see below). From the point of view of the Nazi leadership, the war with the USSR was inevitable for military-strategic and political-ideological reasons. The communist regime was seen by him as alien and unpredictable, and at the same time capable of delivering a heavy blow at any moment convenient for him. With Great Britain continuing to resist, "bogging down" in the war in the east meant for Germany the beginning of an exhausting struggle on two fronts with powers possessing huge human, natural and industrial resources, and the inevitable final defeat. A possible Red Army invasion of Romania would deprive the Wehrmacht of its main source of strategic fuel and open its way to Germany and Central Europe across the Hungarian plain. Only the rapid defeat of the USSR as a result of a surprise attack gave the Germans the opportunity to ensure dominance on the European continent. In addition, it gave them access to the rich industrial and agricultural regions of Eastern Europe - Ukraine, the Donbass, the Caucasus - and the almost vast "living space" they so desired.

Germany managed to create a broad anti-Soviet coalition and involve a number of countries of South-Eastern, Central and Northern Europe into it. Hungary joined on November 20, 1940, Romania on November 23, Bulgaria on March 1, 1941, and Finland in early June.

At the same time, according to some historians, Stalin himself, at the end of 1939, decided on a preemptive attack on Germany in the summer of 1941. 1941 the Soviet government obtained from Turkey a promise to remain neutral in the event of an attack by a third country on the USSR; On April 5, 1941, a treaty of friendship and non-aggression was signed with Yugoslavia, but a few days later Yugoslavia was occupied by the Wehrmacht; On April 13, the USSR signed a non-aggression pact with Japan. On May 15, the General Staff of the Red Army presented to Stalin Strategic Deployment Plan Considerations about delivering a preventive strike against Germany; according to Deputy Chief of Staff G.K. Zhukov, he refused to approve this document. However, already on June 15, Soviet troops began strategic deployment and advance to the western border. According to one version, this was done in order to strike at Romania and German-occupied Poland, according to another, to frighten Hitler and force him to abandon plans to attack the USSR.

Side plans.

Plan "Barbarossa" was based on the idea of ​​"blitzkrieg" (blitzkrieg). It was supposed to inflict deep tank strikes on the Soviet troops to encircle them and completely defeat them west of the Dvina and Dnieper and reach the Volga-Arkhangelsk line before the winter of 1941. German intelligence did not reveal the presence of any large formations of the Red Army east of the Dvina-Dnieper line, and therefore the Nazis did not expect to meet any serious resistance there. The directions of the main attacks of the Germans were Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev. In the event of a German attack, the Soviet command planned to launch a series of powerful counterattacks and transfer military operations to enemy territory.

Side forces.

By the beginning of the war, the Red Army was superior to the Wehrmacht in all types of military equipment: in guns and mortars by 40%, in tanks by almost 4.5 times, in aircraft by more than 2 times, but inferior to it in terms of strength (3,289,850 against 4 306 800). German troops on the eastern front were divided into three main groups - Army Group North (W. von Leeb), Army Group Center (F. von Bock) and Army Group South (G. von Rundstedt); Army Group "Norway" and Finnish formations were stationed on the Karelian border and in the Arctic, and Romanian troops were stationed on the Moldavian border. As for the Red Army, its first echelon, stationed between the western border and the Dnieper, was organized into four fronts - North-Western (F.I. Kuznetsov), Western (D.G. Pavlov), South-Western (M.P. .Kirponos) and South (I.V. Tyulenev). Behind the Dnieper was the second strategic echelon, created in the autumn of 1940; its units were mainly recruited from former prisoners.

First period of the war

The first stage of the German offensive

(June 22 - July 10, 1941). On June 22, Germany began a war against the USSR; Italy and Romania joined on the same day, Slovakia on June 23, and Hungary on June 27.

The German invasion took the Soviet forces by surprise; on the very first day, a significant part of ammunition, fuel and military equipment was destroyed; the Germans managed to ensure complete air supremacy (approximately 1200 aircraft were disabled, most of them did not even have time to take off). In the Leningrad direction, enemy tanks penetrated deeply into Lithuanian territory. An attempt by the command of the North-Western Front (NWF) to launch a counterattack with the forces of two mechanized corps (about 1,400 thousand tanks) ended in failure, and on June 25 a decision was made to withdraw troops to the line of the Western Dvina. However, already on June 26, the German 4th Panzer Group crossed the Western Dvina near Daugavpils and began to develop an offensive in the Pskov direction. On June 27, units of the Red Army left Liepaja. The 18th German Army occupied Riga and entered southern Estonia. Pskov fell on July 9th.

An even more difficult situation developed on the Western Front (ZF). The counterattacks of the 6th and 14th tank corps of the Red Army failed; during the fighting on June 23–25, the main forces of the Western Front were defeated. The 3rd German tank group (Goth), developing an offensive in the Vilnius direction, bypassed the 3rd and 10th armies from the north, and the 2nd tank group (H.V. Guderian), leaving the Brest Fortress in the rear (it held until July 20), broke through to Baranovichi and bypassed them from the south. Despite the stubborn resistance offered to the Germans on the approach to Minsk by the 100th division, on June 28 they took the capital of Belarus and closed the encirclement ring, which included eleven divisions. By decision of the military tribunal, Pavlov and his chief of staff, V.E. Klimovskikh, were shot; the troops of the Polar Front were headed by People's Commissar of Defense S.K. Timoshenko. In early July, the mechanized formations of Guderian and Goth overcame the line of Soviet defense on the Berezina and rushed to Vitebsk, but unexpectedly ran into the troops of the Second Strategic Echelon (five armies). During the tank battle between Orsha and Vitebsk on July 6-8, the Germans defeated the Soviet troops and took Vitebsk on July 10. The surviving units withdrew beyond the Dnieper and stopped on the line Polotsk - Lipetsk - Orsha - Zhlobin.

The military operations of the Wehrmacht in the south, where the most powerful grouping of the Red Army was located, were not so successful. In an effort to stop the offensive of the 1st German Panzer Group Kleist, the command of the South-Western Front (SWF) launched a counterattack with the forces of six mechanized corps (more than 1700 tanks). During the largest tank battle of the Great Patriotic War on June 26-29 in the region of Lutsk, Rovno and Brody, Soviet troops were unable to defeat the enemy and suffered huge losses (60% of all tanks of the South-Western Front), but they prevented the Germans from making a strategic breakthrough and cutting off the Lviv group (6 -I and 26th armies) from the rest of the forces. By July 1, the troops of the South-Western Front retreated to the fortified line Korosten - Novograd Volynsky - Proskurov. In early July, the Germans broke through the right wing of the SWF near Novograd Volynsky and captured Berdichev and Zhitomir, but thanks to the counterattacks of the Soviet troops, their further advance was stopped.

On July 2, after Romania entered the war, the German-Romanian troops crossed the Prut at the junction of the South-Western Front and the Southern Front (SW; formed on June 25) and rushed to Mogilev Podolsky. By July 10, they reached the Dniester.

On June 26, Finland entered the war. On June 29, the German-Finnish troops launched an offensive in the Arctic to Murmansk, Kandalaksha and Loukhi, but could not advance deep into Soviet territory.

By the second decade of July 1941, the Germans had defeated the main forces of the NWF and WF (six armies) and captured northern Moldavia, western Ukraine, most of Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, and southern Estonia. Nevertheless, the Wehrmacht command failed to solve the main task - to destroy all the forces of the Red Army to the west of the Dvina-Dnieper line.

The main reason for the defeats of the Red Army, despite its quantitative and often qualitative (T-34 and KV tanks) technical superiority, was the poor training of privates and officers, the low level of operation of military equipment and the lack of experience among the troops in conducting major military operations in modern warfare. . The repressions against the high command in 1937-1940 also played a significant role. .

The organization of the leadership of the war.

On June 23, an emergency body of the highest military administration, the Headquarters of the High Command, chaired by People's Commissar of Defense S.K. Timoshenko, was created to direct military operations. In late June - early August, there was a maximum centralization of military and political power in the hands of Stalin. On June 30, he headed the State Defense Committee, the extraordinary supreme body of the country's leadership, on July 10 - the Headquarters of the High Command, reorganized into the Headquarters of the High Command; July 19, took the post of People's Commissar of Defense, August 8 - Supreme Commander.

On June 22, the mobilization of those liable for military service born in 1905-1918 was carried out in the USSR. From the first days of the war, a mass enrollment of volunteers in the Red Army unfolded. On July 18, the Soviet leadership decided to organize a partisan movement in the occupied and front-line areas, which became widespread in the second half of 1942. Despite the difficulties associated with the German offensive, in the summer and autumn of 1941, approx. 10 million people and more than 1350 large enterprises. The militarization of the economy began to be carried out with harsh and energetic measures; all the material resources of the country were mobilized for military needs.

The emergence of the anti-Hitler coalition.

Already in the evening of June 22, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made a statement on the radio supporting the USSR in its struggle against Hitlerism. On June 23, the US State Department welcomed the efforts of the Soviet people to repel the German invasion, and on June 24, US President Franklin Roosevelt promised to provide the USSR with all possible assistance. On July 12, a Soviet-British agreement was concluded in Moscow on joint actions against Germany; On August 16, Great Britain provided the Soviet government with a loan of 10 million pounds. Art. In the autumn of 1941, the United States began supplying raw materials and military materials to Russia. An anti-German alliance of three great powers emerged. .

Second stage of the German offensive

(July 10 - September 30, 1941). On July 10, Finnish troops launched an offensive on the Petrozavodsk and Olonets directions, on August 31 - on the Karelian Isthmus. On August 23, the Northern Front was divided into Karelian (KarF) and Leningrad (LenF). On September 1, the 23rd Soviet Army on the Karelian Isthmus withdrew to the line of the old state border, occupied before the Finnish war of 1939-1940. On September 23, the German-Finnish units were stopped in the Murmansk direction. In September - early October, the Finns captured Western Karelia; On September 5, they took Olonets, and on October 2, Petrozavodsk. By October 10, the front had stabilized along the line Kestenga - Ukhta - Rugozero - Medvezhyegorsk - Lake Onega. - river Svir. The enemy was unable to cut the communication lines of European Russia with the northern ports.

On July 10, the Army Group "North" (23 divisions) launched an offensive in the Leningrad and Tallinn directions. At the end of July, the Germans reached the border of the rivers Narva, Luga and Mshaga, where they were detained by desperately resisting detachments of sailors, cadets and the people's militia. An attempt by the Reserve Army (K.M. Kochanov) to launch a counterattack in the rear of the advancing German troops on August 12 near the lake. Ilmen failed (Kochanov and his chief of staff were shot "for wrecking"). Novgorod fell on August 15, Gatchina fell on August 21. On August 23, battles began for Oranienbaum; the Germans were stopped southeast of Koporye. On August 28–30, the Baltic Fleet was evacuated from Tallinn to Kronstadt. At the end of August, the Germans launched a new onslaught on Leningrad. On August 30, they reached the Neva, cutting off the railway communication with the city, and on September 8, they took Shlisselburg and closed the blockade ring around Leningrad. Only the tough measures of the new LenF commander G.K. Zhukov made it possible to stop the enemy by September 26th.

In mid-July, Army Group Center launched a general offensive against Moscow. Guderian crossed the Dnieper at Mogilev, and Goth struck from Vitebsk. On July 16, Smolensk fell, and three Soviet armies were surrounded. The counterattack of the Soviet troops on July 21 failed, but the fierce nature of the fighting forced the Germans on July 30 to stop their offensive in the Moscow direction and concentrate all their forces on eliminating the Smolensk “cauldron”. By August 5, the encircled troops capitulated; 350 thousand people were captured. On the right flank of the ZF, the 9th German Army captured Nevel (July 16) and Velikie Luki (July 20).

On August 8, the Germans resumed their offensive against Moscow. They advanced 100-120 km, but on August 16, the Reserve Front launched a counterattack on Yelnya. At the cost of huge losses, Soviet troops forced the enemy to leave the city on September 6. The battle for Yelnya was the first successful operation of the Red Army in the Great Patriotic War.

In Moldova, the command of the Law Firm tried to stop the Romanian offensive with a powerful counterattack by two mechanized corps (770 tanks), but it was repulsed. On July 16, the 4th Romanian Army took Chisinau, and in early August pushed the Separate Primorsky Army to Odessa; the defense of Odessa for almost two and a half months fettered the forces of the Romanians. Soviet troops left the city only in the first half of October.

At the end of July, Rundstedt's troops launched an offensive in the Bila Tserkva direction. On August 2, they cut off the 6th and 12th Soviet armies from the Dnieper and surrounded them near Uman; 103 thousand people were captured, including both commanders. The Germans broke through in Zaporozhye and moved north through Kremenchug, entering the rear of the Kiev grouping of the South-Western Front.

On August 4, Hitler decided to turn the 2nd Army and the 2nd Panzer Group to the south in order to completely encircle the forces of the SWF. An attempt by the Bryansk Front (BrF) on 25 August to thwart their advance failed. In early September, Guderian crossed the Desna and on September 7 captured Konotop ("Konotop breakthrough"). The 1st and 2nd Panzer Groups joined at Lokhvitsa and the Kiev Cauldron slammed shut. Five Soviet armies were surrounded; the number of prisoners was 665 thousand. The front commander Kirponos committed suicide. Left-bank Ukraine was in the hands of the Germans; the way to the Donbass was open; Soviet troops in the Crimea were cut off from the main forces. Only in mid-September, the South-West Front and the South Front managed to restore the line of defense along the line of the Psel River - Poltava - Dnepropetrovsk - Zaporozhye - Melitopol.

The defeats at the fronts prompted the Headquarters to issue Order No. 270 on August 16, which qualified all soldiers and officers who had surrendered as traitors and deserters; their families were deprived of state support and were subject to exile.

The third stage of the German offensive

(September 30 - December 5, 1941). On September 30, Army Group Center launched an operation to capture Moscow (Typhoon). Soviet intelligence was unable to determine the direction of the main attack. German tank formations easily broke through the defense line of the Bryansk and Reserve fronts. On October 3, Guderian's tanks broke into Orel and took to the road to Moscow. On October 6-8, all three armies of the BRF were surrounded south of Bryansk, and the main forces of the Reserve (19th, 20th, 24th and 32nd armies) - west of Vyazma; the Germans captured 664,000 prisoners and more than 1,200 tanks. The Soviet command did not have reserves to close a huge gap of 500 km. But the advance of the 2nd tank group of the Wehrmacht to Tula was thwarted by the stubborn resistance of the brigade of M.E. Katukov near Mtsensk (October 6-13); The 4th tank group occupied Yukhnov and rushed to Maloyaroslavets, but was detained at Medyn by Podolsk cadets (October 6-10); the autumn thaw also slowed down the pace of the German offensive.

On October 10, the Germans attacked the right wing of the Reserve Front (renamed the Western Front); On October 12, the 9th Army captured Staritsa, and on October 14 - Rzhev; on the same day, the 3rd Panzer Group occupied Kalinin almost unhindered; Soviet troops retreated to the Martynovo-Selizharovo line. On October 19, a state of siege was declared in Moscow. On October 23, the 4th Panzer Group captured Volokolamsk. Having overcome the resistance of the Podolsk cadets, the 4th Army broke through to Borovsk. On October 24, Guderian resumed his attack on Tula. On October 29, he tried to take the city, but was repulsed with heavy losses for himself. In early November, the new commander of the ZF Zhukov, with an incredible effort of all forces and constant counterattacks, managed, despite huge losses in manpower and equipment, to stop the Germans in other directions.

On November 16, the Germans began the second stage of their attack on Moscow, planning to encircle it from the northwest and southwest. On the Dmitrovsky direction, they reached the Moscow-Volga canal and crossed to its eastern bank near Yakhroma, captured Klin on Khimki, crossed the Istra reservoir, occupied Solnechnogorsk and Krasnaya Polyana, and took Istra on Krasnogorsk. In the southwest, Guderian approached Kashira. However, as a result of the fierce resistance of the armies of the Polar Front, the Germans were stopped in all directions in late November - early December. The attempt to take Moscow failed.

On September 27, the Germans broke through the line of defense of the YuF. On October 7-10, they surrounded and destroyed the 9th and 18th armies northwest of Berdyansk and rushed to Artemovsk and Rostov-on-Don. Kharkov fell on October 24. By November 4, Soviet troops retreated to the Balakleya-Artemovsk-Pugachev-Khopry line; most of the Donbass was in the hands of the Germans. On November 21, the 1st Panzer Army captured Rostov-on-Don, but was unable to break through to the Caucasus. During the successful counter-offensive of the troops of the Law Firm, Rostov was liberated on November 29, and the Germans were driven back to the Mius River.

In the second half of October, the 11th German Army broke into the Crimea and by mid-November captured almost the entire peninsula. Soviet troops managed to keep only Sevastopol.

On October 16, Army Group Sever launched an operation in the Tikhvin direction, intending to capture the southeastern coast of Lake Ladoga and, joining with the Finns, cut the only link between Leningrad and the mainland through Ladoga. On October 24 Malaya Vishera fell. The Germans broke through the defenses of the 4th Army on the Volkhov River and on November 8 took Tikhvin. But the counterattacks of the Soviet troops near Novgorod on November 10, near Tikhvin on November 19 and near Volkhov on December 3 stopped the further advance of the Wehrmacht. On November 20, Malaya Vishera was liberated, on December 9, Tikhvin, and the Germans were pushed back beyond the Volkhov River.

Counteroffensive of the Red Army near Moscow

(December 5, 1941 - January 7, 1942). On December 5–6, the Kalinin (KalF), Western and Southwestern fronts switched to offensive operations in the northwestern and southwestern directions. The successful advance of the Soviet troops forced Hitler on December 8 to issue a directive on the transition to defense along the entire front line. In the northwestern direction, the ZF troops liberated Yakhroma on December 8, Klin and Istra on December 11, Solnechnogorsk on December 12, Volokolamsk on December 20, and the KalF troops recaptured Kalinin on December 16 and reached Rzhev by the end of December. In the southwestern direction of the SWF, on December 8, Efremov was returned, and on December 9, Yelets, surrounding the 2nd German army; units of the Polar Front pushed the enemy back from Tula, occupied Kaluga on December 30 and reached the Sukhinichi area. On December 18, the ZF troops launched an offensive in the central direction; On December 26, they liberated Naro-Fominsk, on December 28 - Borovsk, on January 2, 1942 - Maloyaroslavets. As a result, by the beginning of 1942, the Germans were pushed back 100–250 km to the west. There was a threat of coverage of the army group "Center" from the north and south. The strategic initiative passed to the Red Army.

Rzhev-Vyazemskaya offensive operation

(January 8 - April 20, 1942). The success of the operation near Moscow prompted the Headquarters to decide on the transition to a general offensive along the entire front from Lake Ladoga to the Crimea. It was planned to inflict the main blow on Army Group Center by the forces of the North-Western, Western and Kalinin Fronts.

On January 8, Kalf troops broke through to the west of Rzhev and rushed to Sychevka; units of the ZF overcame the enemy defenses at Ruza and Medyn, drove the Germans back to Gzhatsk and went to Vyazma. However, the enemy managed to hold Sychevka and prevent the joining of the troops of both fronts near Vyazma. Having pulled up the reserves, the commander of the 9th Army, V. Model, launched a counteroffensive on January 22, which led to the complete or partial encirclement of the 29th, 33rd, 39th Soviet armies and two cavalry corps. In early March, the Headquarters tried to organize a new offensive against Rzhev and Vyazma. Soviet troops recaptured Yukhnov, but, having suffered huge losses, were forced to go on the defensive in mid-April. The Germans held the Rzhev-Vyazemsky bridgehead, which posed a potential danger to Moscow.

The offensive of the NWF troops, which began on January 7-9, turned out to be more successful. On January 16, they liberated Andreapol, on January 21, Toropets, on January 22, they blocked the Hill and created a threat to the Army Group "Center" from the north. By the end of February, they were deeply wedged between the Staraya Russian and Demyansk enemy groupings and took the latter in pincers. True, in mid-April, Demyansk was released by the Germans.

Although the attempt to defeat the Army Group "Center" near Rzhev and Vyazma failed, the offensive operations of the Soviet troops in December 1941 - April 1942 led to a significant change in the military-strategic situation on the Soviet-German front: the Germans were driven back from Moscow, Moscow was liberated, part of Kalinin. Oryol and Smolensk regions. There was also a psychological turning point among the soldiers and the civilian population: faith in victory was strengthened, the myth of the invincibility of the Wehrmacht was destroyed. The collapse of the lightning war plan gave rise to doubts about the successful outcome of the war, both among the German military-political leadership and among ordinary Germans.

Luban operation

(January 13 - June 25). Simultaneously with the Rzhev-Vyazemskaya operation, the Lyuban operation was carried out, which had the goal of breaking the blockade of Leningrad. On January 13, the forces of the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts launched an offensive in several directions, planning to link up at Lyuban and encircle the enemy's Chudov grouping. But only the 2nd Shock Army managed to break through the German defenses: on January 14, it crossed the Volkhov, and at the end of January, having captured Myasny Bor, it overcame the defensive line of Chudovo-Novgorod. However, she could not get through to Lyuban; due to the strong resistance of the German troops, she had to change the direction of the offensive from the northwest to the west. By the beginning of March, she captured a large wooded area between the Chudovo-Novgorod and Leningrad-Novgorod railways. On March 19, the Germans launched a counterattack, cutting off the 2nd shock army from the rest of the VolkhF forces. In late March - early June, Soviet troops repeatedly tried (with varying success) to release it and resume the offensive. On May 21, the Stavka decided to withdraw it, but on June 6 the Germans completely closed the encirclement. On June 20, soldiers and officers were ordered to leave the encirclement on their own, but only a few managed to do this (according to various estimates, from 6 to 16 thousand people); commander A.A. Vlasov surrendered.

Military operations in May-November 1942.

The Wehrmacht command decided to strike the main blow during the summer campaign of 1942 in the southern direction in order to capture the Caucasus with its oil-bearing regions and the fertile valleys of the Don and Kuban, but before that, eliminate the Soviet grouping in the Crimea. Having started the operation on May 8 and defeated the Crimean Front (almost 200 thousand people were taken prisoner), the Germans occupied Kerch on May 16, and Sevastopol in early July.

On May 12, the troops of the South-Western Front and the Southern Front launched an offensive against Kharkov. For several days it developed successfully, but on May 17 the Germans carried out two counterattacks; On May 19, they defeated the 9th Army, throwing it back behind the Seversky Donets, went to the rear of the advancing Soviet troops, and on May 23 took them into pincers; the number of prisoners reached 240 thousand, only 22 thousand people escaped from the encirclement.

On June 28–30, the German offensive began against the left wing of the BrF (from Kursk) and the right wing of the SWF (from Volochansk). After breaking through the defense line, a gap 150-400 km deep was formed at the junction of the two fronts. The counterattack of the Soviet troops from the Yelets region could not turn the tide. On July 8, the Germans captured Voronezh and reached the Middle Don. On July 17, the Wehrmacht launched an offensive operation in the southeast direction. By July 22, the 1st and 4th tank armies had reached the Southern Don. On July 24, Rostov-on-Don was taken. In the conditions of a military catastrophe in the south, on July 28, Stalin issued order No. 227 “Not a step back”, which provided for severe punishments for retreat without instructions from above, detachments to deal with unauthorized leaving positions, penal units for operations on the most dangerous sectors of the front. On the basis of this order, during the war years, approx. 1 million military personnel, of which 160 thousand were shot, and 400 thousand were sent to penal companies.

Although the Soviet command managed to withdraw most of the troops to the left bank of the Don, they were unable to gain a foothold on the Don line. Already on July 25, the Germans crossed the Don and rushed south. Salsk fell on July 31. On August 5, the 1st Panzer Army captured Voroshilovsk (Stavropol), crossed the Kuban, entered Armavir on August 6, and Maykop on August 9; on the same day Pyatigorsk was taken. On August 11-12, the 17th Army captured Krasnodar and moved towards Novorossiysk. In mid-August, the Germans established control over almost all the passes in the central part of the Main Caucasian Range; On August 25 they occupied Mozdok. In early September, under the threat of encirclement, Soviet troops left the Taman Peninsula. On September 11, the 17th Army occupied Novorossiysk, but was unable to break through to Tuapse. In the direction of Grozny, the Germans occupied Nalchik on October 29 and in early November came close to Ordzhonikidze. But they failed to take Ordzhonikidze and Grozny, and in mid-November their further advance was stopped.

On August 16, German troops launched an offensive against Stalingrad, trying to take the city with simultaneous attacks from the northwest and southwest. Having crossed the Don near Kalach, the 6th Army on August 23 reached the Volga north of Stalingrad; On September 12, the 4th Panzer Army, transferred from the Caucasian direction, also broke through to the city. On September 13, fighting began in Stalingrad itself. In the second half of October - the first half of November, the Germans captured a significant part of the city, but could not break the resistance of the defenders.

By mid-November, the Germans established control over the Right Bank of the Don and most of the North Caucasus, but did not achieve their strategic goals - to break into the Volga region and Transcaucasia. This was prevented by the counterattacks of the Red Army in other directions, which, although not crowned with success, nevertheless did not allow the Wehrmacht command to transfer reserves to the south. So, in July-September, units of the NWF made three attempts to defeat the enemy's Demyansk grouping. In late July - early August, the forces of the Kalinin and Western Fronts undertook the Rzhev-Sychevsk (July 30) and Pogorelo-Gorodishchensk (August 4) operations in order to eliminate the Rzhev-Vyazemsky ledge - the first major summer offensive of Soviet troops in the Great Patriotic War and one of the most bloody (losses amounted to 193.5 thousand people): during the Battle of Rzhev on July 30 - August 7 ("Rzhev meat grinder") and subsequent attacks on Rzhev in the second half of August - the first half of September, Kalf troops failed to take the city, and the initially successful advance of the ZF on Sychevka bogged down after a grandiose tank battle between Zubtsov and Karmanovo (about 1,500 tanks on both sides). From early August to early October, the Red Army carried out a series of attacks near Voronezh: units of the Voronezh Front (VorF) captured several bridgeheads on the right bank of the Don, but the approaching German reserves prevented them from capturing the city. At the end of August, the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts made a new attempt to break the blockade of Leningrad; the offensive of the VolkhF ended in failure, but the troops of the LenF were able to break through the blockade ring near Shlisselburg, and only with the help of the 11th Army transferred from the Crimea did the Germans liquidate it by the beginning of October.

Victory at Stalingrad

(November 19, 1942 - February 2, 1943). Having concentrated significant forces in the southern direction by mid-November, the Soviet command began to carry out Operation Saturn to encircle and defeat the German (6th and 4th tank armies) and Romanian (3rd and 4th armies) troops near Stalingrad . On November 19, units of the South-Western Front broke through the defenses of the 3rd Romanian Army and on November 21 took five Romanian divisions from Raspopinskaya. On November 20, the troops of the Stalingrad Front punched a hole in the defense of the 4th Romanian Army south of the city. On November 23, units of the two fronts joined at the Soviet and surrounded the Stalingrad grouping of the enemy (6th Army of F. Paulus; 330 thousand people). To save her, the Wehrmacht command at the end of November created the Don Army Group (E. Manstein); On December 12, she launched an offensive from the Kotelnikovsky area, but on December 23 she was stopped on the Myshkova River. On December 16, the troops of the Voronezh and South-Western Fronts launched Operation Little Saturn on the Middle Don, defeated the 8th Italian Army, and by December 30 reached the Nikolskoye-Ilyinka line; the Germans had to abandon plans to deblockade the 6th Army. Their attempt to organize its supply by air was thwarted by the active actions of Soviet aviation. On January 10, the Don Front launched Operation Ring to destroy the German troops surrounded in Stalingrad. On January 26, the 6th Army was cut into two parts. On January 31, the southern grouping led by F. Paulus capitulated, on February 2 - the northern one; 91 thousand people were captured.

The Battle of Stalingrad, despite the heavy losses of the Soviet troops (about 1.1 million; the losses of the Germans and their allies amounted to 800 thousand), was the beginning of a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War. The Red Army for the first time carried out a successful offensive operation on several fronts to encircle and defeat an enemy grouping. The Wehrmacht suffered a major defeat and lost the strategic initiative. Japan and Turkey abandoned their intention to enter the war on the side of Germany.

By this time, a turning point had also occurred in the sphere of the Soviet military economy. Already in the winter of 1941/1942 it was possible to stop the decline in engineering. From March 1942, the rise of ferrous metallurgy began, from the second half of 1942 - energy and fuel industry. By the beginning of 1943, the clear economic superiority of the USSR over Germany was indicated.

Offensive actions of the Red Army in the central direction in November 1942 - January 1943.

Simultaneously with Operation Saturn, the forces of the Kalinin and Western Fronts carried out Operation Mars (Rzhev-Sychevskaya) in order to eliminate the Rzhev-Vyazma bridgehead. On November 25, Kalf troops broke through the defenses of the Wehrmacht near Bely and Nelidov, on December 3 - in the Nelyubino-Litvinovo sector, but as a result of a German counterattack they were surrounded at Bely. The formations of the ZF made their way through the Rzhev-Sychevka railway and raided the enemy rear, but significant losses and a lack of tanks, guns and ammunition forced them to stop. On December 20, the operation had to be stopped. The losses of the Red Army amounted, according to various sources, from 200 to 500 thousand people, but this operation did not allow the Germans to transfer part of their forces from the central direction to Stalingrad.

More successful was the Kalf offensive in the Velikoluksky direction (November 24, 1942 - January 20, 1943). On January 17, his troops occupied Velikiye Luki. The Toropetsky ledge, hanging over the left flank of Army Group Center, was expanded.

Liberation of the North Caucasus

(January 1 - February 12, 1943). The victory at Stalingrad developed into a general offensive of the Red Army along the entire front. On January 1–3, an operation began to liberate the North Caucasus and the Don bend. The troops of the Southern Front struck in the Rostov and Tikhoretsk directions, and the troops of the Transcaucasian Front - in the Krasnodar and Armavir directions. On January 3, Mozdok was liberated; on January 10–11, Kislovodsk, Mineralnye Vody, Essentuki and Pyatigorsk; on January 21, Stavropol. On January 22, the troops of the Southern and Transcaucasian fronts joined at Salsk. On January 24, the Germans surrendered Armavir, on January 30 - Tikhoretsk. On February 4, the Black Sea Fleet landed troops in the Myskhako area south of Novorossiysk. On February 12, Krasnodar was taken. However, the lack of forces prevented the Soviet troops from encircling the enemy's North Caucasian grouping (Army Group A), which managed to retreat to the Donbass. The Red Army was also unable to break through the "Blue Line" (the German defensive line in the lower reaches of the Kuban) and dislodge the 17th Army from Novorossiysk and from the Taman Peninsula.

Breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad

(January 12–30, 1943). On January 12, 1943, the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts delivered a joint attack from the east and west on the Shlisselburg-Sinyavino ledge to break through the blockade of Leningrad (Operation Iskra); On January 18, a corridor was broken along the shore of Lake Ladoga, 8–11 km wide; land connection of the city on the Neva with the mainland was restored. However, a further offensive to the south towards Mga in the last ten days of January ended in failure.

Military operations in the south and in the center in January-March 1943.

Given the weakness of the German defense on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front, the Headquarters decided to conduct a large-scale operation to liberate the Donbass, Kharkov, Kursk and Oryol regions. On January 13–14, VorF troops broke through the German defenses south of Voronezh, and units of the South-Western Front south of Kantemirovka and, uniting west of Ostrogozhsk, took thirteen divisions of Army Group B into pincers (Ostrogozhsk-Rossosh operation); the enemy lost more than 140 thousand people, of which 86 thousand were captured. On January 24, VorF units rushed north through the 250-km gap that had formed, and on January 26, the left wing of the BRF began a counter offensive to the south. On January 25, Voronezh was liberated. On January 28, Soviet troops surrounded and destroyed southeast of Kastornoye the main forces of the 2nd German army and the 3rd Hungarian corps (Voronezh-Kastornoe operation).

At the end of January, the South-West Front and the South Front launched an offensive against the Donbass. The troops of the South-Western Front defeated the 1st German Panzer Army and liberated the Northern Donbass; parts of the Southern Front broke through to the bend of the Don, on February 11 they captured Bataysk and Azov, and on February 14 Rostov-on-Don and reached the Mius River. On February 2, VorF launched an offensive in the Kharkov direction; On February 16, Kharkov was occupied. The success of operations in the south prompted the Headquarters to decide on a simultaneous offensive in the central sector of the front; On February 8, VorF troops took Kursk, on February 12, units of the BRF broke through the German defenses and moved to Orel. However, the Wehrmacht command was able to quickly transfer two SS Panzer divisions to the south and, taking advantage of the extended communications of the advancing Soviet armies, launched a powerful counterattack on the troops of the South-Western Front on February 19, pushing them back beyond the Seversky Donets by the end of February, and attacking the left wing of the Worf on March 4; On March 16, the Germans recaptured Kharkov, on March 18 - Belgorod. Only a great effort of forces managed to stop the German offensive; the front stabilized along the line Belgorod - Seversky Donets - Ivanovka - Mius. Thus, due to the miscalculation of the Soviet command, all previous successes of the Red Army in the south were nullified; the enemy acquired a foothold for an attack on Kursk from the south. The offensive on the Novgorod-Seversky and Oryol directions did not bring significant results. By March 10, VorF troops reached the Seim and Northern Dvina rivers, but the Germans' "dagger" flank attacks forced them to retreat to Sevsk; BrF formations failed to break through to Orel. On March 21, both fronts went on the defensive along the line Mtsensk - Novosil - Sevsk - Rylsk.

The actions of the NWF against the enemy's Demyansk grouping turned out to be more successful. Although the offensive of the Soviet troops that began on February 15 did not lead to its defeat, it forced the Wehrmacht command to withdraw the 16th Army from the Demyansk salient. By the beginning of March, units of the NWF reached the line of the Lovat River. But their advance to the west in the area of ​​Staraya Russa (March 4) was stopped by the Germans on the Redya River.

Fearing the encirclement of the main forces of Army Group Center on the Rzhev-Vyazma bridgehead, the German command began on March 1 their systematic withdrawal to the Spas-Demensk-Dorogobuzh-Dukhovshchina line. On March 2, units of the Kalinin and Western fronts began pursuing the enemy. Rzhev was liberated on March 3, Gzhatsk on March 6, and Vyazma on March 12. By March 31, the bridgehead, which had existed for fourteen months, was finally liquidated; the front line moved away from Moscow by 130-160 km. At the same time, the alignment of the German defense line allowed the Wehrmacht to transfer fifteen divisions to defend Orel and disrupt the BRF offensive.

The campaign of January-March 1943, despite a number of setbacks, led to the liberation of a huge territory of 480,000 square meters. km. (Northern Caucasus, the lower reaches of the Don, Voroshilovgrad, Voronezh, Kursk regions, part of the Belgorod, Smolensk and Kalinin regions). The blockade of Leningrad was broken, the Demyansky and Rzhev-Vyazemsky ledges, which went deep into the Soviet defense, were liquidated. Control was restored over the two most important water arteries of European Russia - the Volga and the Don. The Wehrmacht suffered huge losses (about 1.2 million people). The depletion of human resources forced the Nazi leadership to conduct a total mobilization of older (over 46 years old) and younger ages (16-17 years old).

Since the winter of 1942/1943, the partisan movement in the German rear has become an important military factor. The partisans caused serious damage to the German army, destroying manpower, blowing up warehouses and trains, disrupting the communications system. The largest operations were the raids of the detachment of M.I. 1943).

Defensive battle on the Kursk Bulge

(July 5–23, 1943). In April-June 1943, relative calm reigned on the Soviet-German front. Active fighting took place only in the south: in May, the troops of the North Caucasian Front unsuccessfully tried to overcome the Blue Line, while Soviet aviation won the air battle in the Kuban (more than 1,100 German aircraft were destroyed).

Large-scale hostilities resumed in July. The Wehrmacht command developed Operation Citadel to encircle a strong group of the Red Army on the Kursk ledge through counter tank strikes from the north and south; if successful, it was planned to carry out Operation Panther to defeat the South-Western Front. However, Soviet intelligence unraveled the plans of the Germans, and in April-June a powerful defensive system of eight lines was created on the Kursk ledge.

On July 5, the German 9th Army launched an attack on Kursk from the north, and the 4th Panzer Army from the south. On the northern flank, German attempts to break through in the direction of Olkhovatka, and then Ponyri, were unsuccessful, and on July 10 they went on the defensive. On the southern wing, Wehrmacht tank columns reached Prokhorovka on July 12, but were stopped by a counterattack by the 5th Guards Tank Army; by July 23, the troops of the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts pushed them back to their original lines. Operation Citadel failed.

On July 12, units of the Western and Bryansk fronts broke through the German defenses at Zhilkovo and Novosil and rushed to Orel; On July 15, on the northern wing of the Kursk ledge, the Central Front also launched a counteroffensive. Bolkhov was liberated on July 29, Orel on August 5. By August 18, Soviet troops cleared the Orlovsky ledge from the enemy, but their further advance was stopped on the Hagen defensive line east of Bryansk.

On July 17, the offensive of the South-West Front on the Seversky Donets River and the South Front on the Mius River began. Attempts to break through the German defenses in the second half of July were unsuccessful, but they prevented the Wehrmacht from transferring reinforcements to Kursk. On August 13, Soviet troops resumed offensive operations in the south. By September 22, units of the South-Western Front had driven back the Germans across the Dnieper and reached the approaches to Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye; formations of the Southern Front crossed the Mius, occupied Taganrog on August 30, Stalino (modern Donetsk) on September 8, Mariupol on September 10 and reached the Molochnaya River. The result of the operation was the liberation of Donbass.

On August 3, the troops of the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts broke through the defenses of Army Group South in several places and captured Belgorod on August 5. On August 11–20, they repelled a German counterattack in the area of ​​Bogodukhovka and Akhtyrka. On August 23, Kharkov was taken.

On August 7-13, the forces of the Western and Kalinin fronts launched a series of attacks on the left wing of Army Group Center. The offensive developed with great difficulty due to the fierce resistance of the enemy. Only in late August - early September, it was possible to liberate Yelnya and Dorogobuzh, and the entire German defense zone was broken through only by September 16th. On September 25, through flank attacks from the south and north, the troops of the Polar Front captured Smolensk and by the beginning of October entered the territory of Belarus. Parts of Kalf took Nevel on October 6.

On August 26, the Central, Voronezh and Steppe Fronts launched the Chernigov-Poltava operation. The troops of the Central Front broke through the enemy defenses south of Sevsk and occupied the city on August 27; On August 30, they captured Glukhov, September 6 - Konotop, September 13 - Nizhyn and reached the Dnieper at the Loev - Kiev section. Parts of the Worf, taking advantage of the German retreat from the Akhtyrsky salient, liberated Sumy on September 2, Romny on September 16 and reached the Dnieper in the Kiev-Cherkassy section. The formations of the Steppe Front, having struck at the beginning of September from the Kharkov region, took Krasnograd on September 19, Poltava on September 23, Kremenchug on September 29 and approached the Dnieper in the Cherkasy-Verkhnedneprovsk sector. As a result, the Germans lost almost all of Left-Bank Ukraine. At the end of September, Soviet troops crossed the Dnieper in several places and captured 23 bridgeheads on its right bank.

On September 1, the troops of the BrF overcame the Wehrmacht's defense line "Hagen" near Bryansk. Having reached the Desna, they occupied Bryansk on September 17, and by September 25, relying on the active help of the partisans, they liberated the entire Bryansk industrial region. By October 3, the Red Army reached the line of the Sozh River in Eastern Belarus.

On September 9, the North Caucasian Front, in cooperation with the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov military flotilla, launched an offensive on the Taman Peninsula. Having broken through the Blue Line, Soviet troops took Novorossiysk on September 16, and by October 9 they completely cleared the peninsula from the Germans. On November 1-3, three landings were landed on the eastern coast of the Crimea near Kerch. By November 12, they occupied the northeastern ledge of the Kerch Peninsula, but failed to capture Kerch.

On September 26, units of the YuF launched an offensive in the Melitopol direction. Only after three weeks of fierce fighting did they manage to cross the river. Dairy and make a breach in the "Eastern shaft" (German defensive line from the Sea of ​​Azov to the Dnieper); On October 23, Melitopol was liberated. Having defeated eight divisions of the Wehrmacht, the troops of the Southern Front (since October 20, the 4th Ukrainian), on October 31, reached Sivash and Perekop, blocking the German group in the Crimea, and by November 5 reached the lower reaches of the Dnieper. On the Dnieper Left Bank, the enemy was able to hold only the Nikopol bridgehead.

On October 10, the South-Western Front launched an operation to eliminate the Zaporozhye bridgehead and on October 14 captured Zaporozhye. On October 15, the troops of the right wing of the Southwestern Front (since October 20, the 3rd Ukrainian) launched an offensive in the Krivoy Rog direction; On October 25 they liberated Dnepropetrovsk and Dneprodzerzhinsk.

On October 11, the Voronezh (since October 20, the 1st Ukrainian) Front began the Kiev operation. After two unsuccessful attempts (October 11-15 and October 21-23) to take the capital of Ukraine by attack from the south (from the Bukrinsky bridgehead), it was decided to deliver the main blow from the north (from the Lyutezhsky bridgehead). On November 1, in order to distract the attention of the enemy, the 27th and 40th armies moved to Kiev from the Bukrinsky bridgehead, and on November 3rd, the shock group of the 1st UV suddenly attacked him from the Lyutezhsky bridgehead and broke through the German defenses. On November 6, Kiev was liberated. Developing a rapid offensive in a western direction, Soviet troops captured Fastov on November 7, Zhitomir on November 12, Korosten on November 17, and Ovruch on November 18.

On November 10, the Belorussian (formerly Central) Front struck in the Gomel-Bobruisk direction. November 17 was taken Rechitsa, November 26 - Gomel. The Red Army reached the nearest approaches to Mozyr and Zhlobin. The attack of the right wing of the SG on Mogilev and Orsha was not crowned with success.

On November 13, the Germans, having pulled up their reserves, launched a counteroffensive against the 1st UV in the Zhytomyr direction in order to recapture Kiev and restore the defense along the Dnieper. November 19, they again captured Zhytomyr, November 27 - Korosten. However, they failed to break through to the capital of Ukraine, on December 22 they were stopped on the Fastiv-Korosten-Ovruch line. The Red Army held the vast strategic Kiev bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnieper.

On December 6, the 2nd UV launched an offensive near Kremenchug. On December 12–14, Cherkassy and Chigirin were liberated. At the same time, units of the 3rd UV crossed the Dnieper near Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye and created a bridgehead on its right bank. However, in the future, the fierce resistance of the Germans prevented the troops of both fronts from breaking through into the region of Krivoy Rog and Nikopol, rich in iron and manganese ore.

During the period of hostilities from June 1 to December 31, the Wehrmacht suffered huge losses (1 million 413 thousand people), which it was no longer able to fully compensate for. A significant part of the territory of the USSR occupied in 1941–1942 was liberated. The plans of the German command to gain a foothold on the Dnieper lines failed. Conditions were created for the expulsion of the Germans from the Right-Bank Ukraine.

After a series of failures throughout 1943, the German command abandoned attempts to seize the strategic initiative and switched to a tough defense. The main task of the Wehrmacht in the north was to prevent the breakthrough of the Red Army into the Baltic states and East Prussia, in the center to the border with Poland, and in the south to the Dniester and the Carpathians. The Soviet military leadership set the goal of the winter-spring campaign of 1944 to defeat the German troops on the extreme flanks - in the Right-Bank Ukraine and near Leningrad.

Liberation of Right-Bank Ukraine and Crimea

(December 24, 1943 - May 12, 1944). On December 24, 1943, troops of the 1st UV launched an offensive in the western and southwestern directions (Zhytomyr-Berdichev operation). On December 28, they liberated Kazatin, January 29 - Korosten, December 31 - Zhitomir, January 4, 1944 - Belaya Tserkov, January 5 - Berdichev, January 11 - Sarny and created the threat of a deep breakthrough in the Uman region. Only at the cost of great effort and significant losses did the Germans manage to stop the Soviet troops on the Sarny-Polonnaya-Kazatin-Zhashkov line. On January 5-6, units of the 2nd UV struck in the Kirovograd direction and on January 8 captured Kirovograd, but on January 10 they were forced to stop the offensive. The Germans did not allow the connection of the troops of both fronts and were able to keep the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky ledge, which posed a threat to Kiev from the south.

On January 24, the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian fronts launched a joint operation to defeat the enemy's Korsun-Shevchensk grouping. On January 28, the 6th and 5th Guards Tank Armies joined at Zvenigorodka and closed the encirclement. Kanev was taken on January 30, and Korsun-Shevchenkovsky on February 14. On February 17, the liquidation of the "cauldron" was completed; more than 18 thousand Wehrmacht soldiers were taken prisoner.

On January 27, units of the 1st UV attacked from the Sarn region in the Lutsk-Rivne direction. Having crossed Pripyat, they occupied Lutsk and Rovno on February 2, Shepetovka on February 11, and by mid-February they reached the line Rafalovka - Lutsk - Dubno - Yampol - Shepetovka.

On January 30, the offensive of the troops of the 3rd and 4th Ukrainian fronts began on the Nikopol bridgehead. Having overcome the fierce resistance of the enemy, on February 8 they captured Nikopol, on February 22 - Krivoy Rog, and by February 29 they reached the Ingulets River.

As a result of the winter campaign of 1943/1944, the Germans were finally driven back from the Dnieper. In an effort to make a strategic breakthrough to the borders of Romania and prevent the Wehrmacht from gaining a foothold on the Southern Bug, Dniester and Prut rivers, the Headquarters developed a plan to encircle and defeat Army Group South in Right-Bank Ukraine through a coordinated strike of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts .

At the beginning of March 1944, the forces of three fronts launched a large-scale offensive operation in a 1,100 km long strip from Lutsk to the mouth of the Dnieper. On March 4, the troops of the 1st UV made a hole in the German defenses and rushed south to Chernivtsi. Thanks to the transfer of fresh reserves (1st Hungarian Army, etc.), the Germans managed to stop the offensive of the Red Army in this sector, but in the last ten days of March it began to develop rapidly: Vinnitsa and Zhmerinka were liberated on March 20, Proskurov on March 25, March 26 - Kamenetz-Podolsky, March 28 - Kolomyia, March 29 - Chernivtsi, April 14 - Tarnopol. Parts of the 1st UV covered the Army Group "South" from the west and went to the foothills of the Carpathians; by April 17 they reached the line Kovel-Vladimir - Volynsky - Brody - Buchach - Kolomyia - Vizhnitsa. However, the front command (Zhukov) did not take the necessary measures to strengthen the encirclement of the enemy's Kamyanets-Podilsky grouping, which allowed twenty German divisions to break through to the west to Kalush.

The 2nd UV, which launched an offensive on March 5, was rapidly moving in the Dubossary direction; On March 10, its units occupied Uman, crossed the Southern Bug and the Dniester, on March 26 they took Mogilev-Podolsky and reached the Prut, on March 27 they crossed the USSR state border west of Balti, on April 10-15 they crossed the Siret River, broke through to Suceava (north-eastern Romania) and came close to Iasi and Chisinau. But due to the fierce resistance of the Germans on the fortified line of Iasi - Dubossary, they were forced to stop the offensive by April 17th.

The offensive operation of the 3rd UV in the Odessa direction began on March 6. Its success was facilitated by the transfer of a number of German formations to Western Ukraine to the line of action of the 1st UV. Having defeated the 6th German army near Snigirevka, the Soviet troops occupied Kherson on March 13, and by March 18 they reached the Southern Bug, but they could not force it on the move. Resuming the offensive on March 26, they overcame the German defenses on the Southern Bug, liberated Nikolaev on March 28, took Odessa by storm on April 10, and on April 14 reached the lower reaches of the Dniester and captured several bridgeheads on its right bank.

The result of the joint operation of the three Ukrainian fronts in March - the first half of April 1944 was the liberation of the Right-Bank Ukraine and Northern Moldova. Although the German troops in the south (Army Groups South and A) managed to avoid encirclement, they suffered significant losses (10 divisions were completely destroyed, 59 divisions lost more than 50% of their strength). The Red Army approached the borders of Germany's allies - Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria.

The final chord of the spring operation in the south was the expulsion of the Germans from the Crimea. On April 8, formations of the 4th UV broke through the German defenses at Sivash, rushed south and entered Simferopol on April 13. On April 11, the Separate Primorsky Army captured Kerch and began to develop an offensive to the west. The 17th German Army retreated to Sevastopol, which on April 15 was besieged by Soviet troops. On May 7–9, the troops of the 4th UV, with the support of the Black Sea Fleet, stormed the city, and by May 12 they defeated the remnants of the 17th Army that had fled to Cape Chersonese.

Leningrad-Novgorod operation of the Red Army

(January 14 - March 1, 1944). In an effort to finally eliminate the threat to Leningrad and begin the liberation of the northwestern regions of the USSR. The Stavka developed a plan for the defeat of Army Group North by the forces of the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic fronts. On January 14, the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts launched an offensive south of Leningrad and near Novgorod. Having inflicted a defeat on the German 18th Army and pushed it back to Luga, they liberated Krasnoe Selo and Ropsha on January 19, Novgorod on January 20, Mgu on January 21, Lyuban on January 28, and Chudovo on January 29. In early February, units of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts reached the approaches to Narva, Gdov and Luga; On February 4 they took Gdov, on February 12 Luga. The threat of encirclement forced the 18th Army to hastily retreat to the southwest. On February 17, the 2nd PribF carried out a series of attacks against the 16th German army on the Lovat River; On February 18, his troops occupied Staraya Russa, on February 21, Kholm, on February 24, Dno, and on February 29, Novorzhev. In early March, the Red Army reached the defensive line "Panther" (Narva - Lake Peipsi - Pskov - Ostrov); most of the Leningrad and Kalinin regions were liberated,

Military operations in the central direction in December 1943 - April 1944.

As the tasks of the winter offensive of the 1st Baltic, Western and Belorussian fronts, the Headquarters set the troops to reach the Polotsk-Lepel-Mogilev-Ptich line and liberate Eastern Belarus.

In December 1943 - February 1944, the 1st PribF made three attempts to capture Vitebsk. During the first operation (December 13–31, 1943), his troops liberated Gorodok on December 24 and created a threat to the Vitebsk group from the north. During the second operation (February 3-18, 1944), at the cost of heavy losses, they penetrated the German defenses south of Vitebsk and cut the Vitebsk-Mogilev highway. The third operation (February 3–17) of the 1st PribF, together with the Polar Front, also did not lead to the capture of the city, but exhausted the enemy’s forces to the limit.

The offensive actions of the Polar Front in the Orsha direction on February 22-25 and March 5-9, 1944 were not successful either.

On the Mozyr direction, the Belorussian Front (BelF) on January 8 dealt a strong blow to the flanks of the 2nd German Army, but thanks to a hasty retreat, it managed to avoid encirclement. On January 14, Mozyr and Kalinkovichi were liberated. Since mid-January BelF has concentrated its activities in the Berezina valley. On February 19, his troops launched a large-scale offensive against Bobruisk from the southeast, and on February 21, from the east. On February 24 they occupied Rogachev. But the lack of forces prevented them from encircling and destroying the Bobruisk enemy grouping, and on February 26 the offensive was stopped.

Formed on February 17 at the junction of the 1st Ukrainian and Belorussian (since February 24, the 1st Belorussian) fronts, the 2nd Belorussian Front began the Polessky operation on March 15 with the aim of capturing Kovel and breaking through to Brest. Soviet troops surrounded Kovel, but on March 23 the Germans launched a counterattack and on April 4 released the Kovel group.

Thus, in the central direction during the winter-spring campaign of 1944, the Red Army was unable to achieve its goals; On April 15, she went on the defensive.

After the loss of most of the occupied territory of the USSR, the main task of the Wehrmacht was to prevent the Red Army from entering Europe and not to lose its allies. That is why the Soviet military-political leadership, having failed in their attempts to reach a peace agreement with Finland in February-April 1944, decided to start the summer campaign of 1944 with a strike in the north.

On June 10, 1944, LenF troops, with the support of the Baltic Fleet, launched an offensive on the Karelian Isthmus and, breaking through three lines of Finnish defense, took Vyborg on June 20. On June 21, the offensive of the Karelian Front began between the Ladoga and Onega lakes; having crossed the Svir river, its units liberated Olonets on June 25, and Petrozavodsk on June 28. On June 21, formations of the Karelian Front also struck near Povenets north of Lake Onega and on June 23 captured Medvezhyegorsk. Control was restored over the White Sea-Baltic Canal and the strategically important Kirov railway linking Murmansk with European Russia. By early August, Soviet troops had liberated all of the occupied territory east of Ladoga; in the Kuolisma area, they reached the Finnish border. Having suffered a defeat, Finland on August 25 entered into negotiations with the USSR. On September 4, she broke off relations with Berlin and ceased hostilities, on September 15 she declared war on Germany, and on September 19 she concluded a truce with the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. By September 24, the part of Western Karelia held by the Finns was returned to the USSR. The entire northern front line (with the exception of the Petsamo region in the Arctic, which remained in the hands of the Germans) was liquidated; the length of the Soviet-German front was reduced by a third. This allowed the Red Army to free up significant forces for operations in other directions.

Successes in Karelia prompted the Headquarters to conduct a large-scale operation to defeat the enemy in the central direction with the forces of three Belorussian and 1st Baltic fronts (Operation Bagration), which became the main event of the summer-autumn campaign of 1944.

The general offensive of the Soviet troops began on June 23–24. The coordinated strike of the 1st PribF and the right wing of the 3rd BF ended on June 26–27 with the liberation of Vitebsk and the encirclement of five German divisions. The left wing of the 3rd BF, advancing along the Moscow-Minsk railway, captured Orsha on June 27. Formations of the 2nd BF crossed the Dnieper on June 27 and occupied Mogilev on June 28. On June 26, units of the 1st BF took Zhlobin, on June 27–29 they surrounded and destroyed the Bobruisk grouping of the enemy, and on June 29 Bobruisk was liberated. As a result of the rapid offensive of the three Belorussian fronts, an attempt by the German command to organize a line of defense along the Berezina was thwarted; On July 3, the troops of the 1st and 3rd BF broke into Minsk and took the 4th German army in pincers south of Borisov (liquidated by July 11).

The German front began to crumble. On July 4, units of the 1st PribF occupied Polotsk and, moving downstream of the Western Dvina, entered the territory of Latvia and Lithuania: on July 27 they captured Daugavpils and Shauliai, on July 30 - Tukums, on August 1 - Yelgava and reached the coast of the Gulf of Riga, cutting off the stationed in the Baltic States, Army Group North from the rest of the Wehrmacht forces. Parts of the right wing of the 3rd BF, having taken Lepel on June 28, broke through into the valley of the river in early July. Vilia (Nyaris), liberated Vileyka on July 2, Vilnius on July 13, Kaunas on August 1, and, advancing with heavy fighting along the Neman, reached the border of East Prussia on August 17.

The troops of the left wing of the 3rd BF, having made a swift throw from Minsk, took Lida on July 3, on July 16, together with the 2nd BF - Grodno and at the end of July approached the northeastern ledge of the Polish border. The 2nd BF, advancing to the southwest, captured Bialystok on July 27 and drove the Germans across the Narew River. Parts of the right wing of the 1st BF, having liberated Baranovichi on July 8, and Pinsk on July 14, at the end of July they reached the Western Bug and reached the central section of the Soviet-Polish border; On July 28 Brest was taken.

As a result of Operation Bagration, Belarus, most of Lithuania and part of Latvia were liberated. The possibility of an offensive in East Prussia and Poland opened up.

Liberation of Western Ukraine and offensive in Eastern Poland

(July 13 - August 29, 1944). Trying to stop the advance of Soviet troops in Belarus, the Wehrmacht command was forced to transfer formations there from other sectors of the Soviet-German front. This facilitated the operations of the Red Army in other areas. On July 13–14, the offensive of the 1st UV began in Western Ukraine. Having quickly broken through the German defenses south of Vladimir-Volynsky and north of Tarnopol, on July 17, its units surrounded a large enemy grouping (eight divisions) west of Brody (liquidated by July 22); On July 20, they captured Vladimir-Volynsky, Rava-Russkaya and Przemysl, on July 27 - Lvov and Stanislav (Ivano-Frankivsk), on August 6 - Drohobych. Already on July 17, they crossed the state border of the USSR and entered South-Eastern Poland, and on July 29 they approached the Vistula, crossed it and captured a bridgehead on the left bank near Sandomierz; August 18 Sandomierz was taken.

On July 18, the left wing of the 1st BF launched an offensive near Kovel. On July 20, having crossed the Western Bug, Soviet troops moved across Poland in two directions - western (Lublin) and northwestern (Warsaw). On July 23 they occupied Lublin, on July 26 they reached the Vistula north of Deblin, crossed the river in the Mangushev area (July 27) and south of Pulaw (July 29) and created two bridgeheads on its left bank. At the end of July, they approached Prague (the right-bank suburb of Warsaw), which they managed to take only on September 14th. In early August, the resistance of the Germans intensified sharply, and the advance of the Red Army was stopped. Because of this, the Soviet command was unable to provide the necessary assistance to the uprising that broke out on August 1 in the Polish capital under the leadership of the Home Army, and by the beginning of October it was brutally suppressed by the Wehrmacht. The Germans were able to stay at the line of Lomza - Pultusk - Warsaw - Mangushev - west of Sandomierz - Dukla Pass.

By the end of July 1944, the Red Army had finally liberated Ukraine and occupied most of Eastern Poland. For the first time during the war, hostilities were transferred to foreign territory. The nature of the Great Patriotic War has changed: from now on, its goal was the liberation of the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe occupied by the Germans and the complete defeat of Germany and its allies.

Liberation of the Northern Baltic

(July 10 - November 24, 1944). In July, the Soviet command launched an operation to defeat Army Group North and liberate Estonia and Latvia. On July 10, the 2nd PribF launched an offensive in the Rezhitsky direction. On July 15, its units captured Opochka, July 27 - Rezekne, August 8 - Krustpils, but could not break through to Riga. The troops of the 3rd PribF, breaking through the German defenses on the river on July 17th. Velikaya and liberated Ostrov (July 21) and Pskov (July 23), entered northern Latvia and southern Estonia; the stubborn resistance of the Wehrmacht significantly slowed down the pace of the offensive, and only on August 25 did the Soviet troops manage to occupy Tartu. Parts of the LF captured Narva on July 26, but their further advance was soon stopped. As a result of the counteroffensive on August 21, the Germans liquidated the Tukums corridor and restored a continuous line of defense on the Baltic coast.

Offensive operations in the northern Baltic resumed in mid-September. On September 14, all three Baltic fronts launched a coordinated strike in the direction of Riga and by the end of September reached the approaches to the Latvian capital. At the same time, the troops of the 3rd PribF liberated northern Latvia. Parts of the LF, having launched an offensive on September 17, broke through to Tallinn with a swift throw and on September 22, with the support of the Baltic Fleet, captured the Estonian capital. On September 23, they took Pärnu, on September 24, Haapsalu, and by September 27, they completed the liberation of mainland Estonia.

The decisive act of the liberation of the Baltic States was the Memel-Rizhskaya operation, carried out in the first half of October 1944. On October 5, the 1st PribF and 3-1 BF delivered a surprise blow to the German grouping in western Lithuania. They could not immediately capture Memel, but on October 10 they reached the Baltic coast near Palanga and again cut off Army Group North from East Prussia. Parts of the 2nd and 3rd Baltic fronts broke through to Riga and took it on October 13. The remnants of Army Group North were pushed back to northwestern Latvia and blockaded there; Memel was also blocked.

At the end of September, the LF troops and the Baltic sailors began to liberate the Moonsund Islands. On September 27, Soviet troops landed on the island of Hiiumaa, and on October 5, on the island of Saaremaa. In early October, the islands of Hiiumaa, Mukha and Vormsi were cleared of the Germans, by November 24 - Saaremaa.

With the liberation of the Baltic States, the Soviet-German front line was further reduced. Army Group North, pressed to the sea by Soviet troops, practically ceased to play a military-strategic role. The situation in the Baltic has changed significantly: favorable conditions have been created for intensifying the actions of the Baltic Fleet; Soviet troops threatened the northern coast of Germany and its communications with Sweden.

Liberation of southern Moldavia. Transfer of Romania and Bulgaria to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition

(August 20 - end of September 1944). At the end of August 1944, the Red Army carried out the Iasi-Kishinev operation, which had the goal of expelling the Germans from the still occupied southwestern regions of the USSR and withdrawing Romania from the war, which provided Germany's basic needs for oil products. On August 20, the 2nd UV northeast of Yass, and the 3rd UV south of Tiraspol broke through the enemy defenses and began to develop the offensive, respectively, in the southern and western directions. On August 21, the troops of the 2nd UV occupied Iasi. On August 23, the troops of the 3rd UV surrounded and forced the surrender of the 3rd Romanian army near Belgorod-Dnestrovsky, on August 24 they liberated Chisinau and, together with units of the 2nd UV, took the German 6th Army, the core of the group, in pincers west of the Moldavian capital armies "Southern Ukraine". On August 25, formations of the 3rd UV entered Leovo, reached the mouth of the Danube and captured Izmail. By August 29, the Chisinau Cauldron (eighteen divisions) was liquidated. The liberation of Moldova is over.

Defeats at the fronts led to the fall of the I. Antonescu regime in Romania on August 23, 1944. The new government of C. Sanatescu declared war on Germany and turned to Stalin with a request for a truce. On August 27, the troops of the 3rd UV broke through near Galati, on August 29, with the support of the Black Sea Fleet, they captured the port of Constanta and in early September reached the Bulgarian-Romanian border. On August 30, units of the 2nd UV occupied the oil-bearing region of Ploiesti, on August 31 they entered Bucharest, and on September 5 they reached the Yugoslav-Romanian border near Turnu Severin. On September 12, an armistice was signed between Romania and the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.

The rapid advance of the 2nd UV to the northwest thwarted the German plans to capture the passes through the Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians). On September 19, the Red Army captured Timisoara, on September 22 - Arad and on September 23 crossed the southeastern border of Hungary in the Battonya region. By the end of September, the entire territory of pre-war Romania was cleared of the Germans.

On September 5, the USSR declared war on Bulgaria. On September 8, the troops of the 3rd UV crossed the Romanian-Bulgarian border and already on September 8–9 occupied the Black Sea ports of Varna and Burgas and the Danube port of Ruse; by September 10, the entire north-east of Bulgaria was under their control. On the night of September 9, a coup d'état took place in Sofia, overthrowing the Coburg monarchy. The new government of K. Georgiev declared war on Germany. On September 15, the Soviet units entered Sofia, and at the end of September they were already on the Bulgarian-Yugoslav border. On October 28, Bulgaria signed a truce with the USSR. UK and USA.

Offensive in the Eastern Carpathians

(September 8 - October 28, 1944) . At the end of August, an uprising broke out in Slovakia against the pro-German regime of J. Tiso. The Soviet command decided to carry out the Carpathian-Dukla operation to break through to Eastern Slovakia and join with the rebels. On September 8, units of the 1st UV attacked from the Krosno region (southeastern Poland) to the south in the direction of the Dukla Pass, captured it after a month of fierce fighting and entered the territory of Czechoslovakia (October 6). In mid-October, the troops of the 4th UV, which launched an offensive in the Eastern Carpathians on September 20, broke through the Yablonitsky and Middle Veretsky passes and rushed west towards Slovakia: on October 24 they took Khust, on October 26 - Mukachevo, on October 27 - Uzhgorod and completely liberated Transcarpathian Ukraine. However, the Red Army failed to break through to the Presov-Košice region and link up with the Slovak partisans; On October 28, offensive operations were stopped. By the beginning of November, the Germans crushed the Slovak uprising. The exit of the Red Army to the border of Yugoslavia created a threat of encirclement of Army Group E stationed in Greece; Hitler ordered her withdrawal to Yugoslav territory. The strengthening of the German grouping in the west of the Balkan Peninsula complicated the situation of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (NOAYU), which by mid-September had already liberated southern and western Serbia. In this situation, the Soviet command decided to conduct an offensive operation in eastern Yugoslavia together with the Bulgarian army and local partisans. On September 28, troops of the 3rd UV from the Kladovo area struck in the northwestern (Belgrade) and southwestern (Krushevat) directions; at the beginning of October they united in the valley of the Morava River with detachments of NOAU; By October 8, the troops of the 2nd UV had cleared the area east of the Tisza from the enemy. On the same day, the Bulgarian army launched an offensive in southeastern Serbia and Macedonia; with the support of the partisans, she occupied Nis on October 14, cutting off the retreat routes of the Wehrmacht units from Greece to Belgrade. On October 20, having overcome the desperate resistance of the German garrison, formations of the 3rd UV, together with the NOAU, took the Yugoslav capital; after that, Soviet troops were transferred to Hungary. The liberation of the remaining parts of Yugoslavia (Croatia, Slovenia, etc.) was entrusted to the NOAU by agreement between the Soviet and Yugoslav military commands.

Operations in the Arctic and East Prussia

(October-November 1944). On October 7, the KarF and the Northern Fleet attacked the 19th German mountain rifle corps in the north of the Kola Peninsula and forced it to retreat. The 14th Soviet Army, pushing the retreating enemy, entered northern Finland, took Petsamo (Pechenga) on October 15, Nickel on October 22, broke through to northern Norway and captured Kirkenes on October 25. On November 9, the liberation of the Arctic was completed.

At the same time, Soviet troops failed in East Prussia, where in mid-October the German Army Group Center repelled the advance of the 3rd BF.

Offensive in Eastern and Central Hungary

(October 6, 1944 - February 13, 1945) . In early October 1944, the Red Army launched an operation to defeat Army Group South in the area between the Mures and Danube rivers and to withdraw Horthy Hungary, Germany's last ally in Europe, from the war. On October 6, units of the 2nd UV and Romanian troops launched an offensive in Transylvania. Having crossed the Mures River, the right wing of the front, together with the Romanians, drove the enemy out of Cluj, the capital of Transylvania, on October 11, and the left wing captured Szeged on the same day. Coming out on the Hungarian plain, Soviet troops rushed to Debrecen, one of the largest cities in Hungary, and captured it on October 20. By October 25, the Germans were expelled from Transylvania. At the end of October, the entire left bank of the Tisza from Szeged to Szolnok was under the control of the Red Army. Having crossed the Tisza on a wide front, the 2nd UV on October 29 launched an offensive in Central Hungary; strikes were carried out in the Kaposvar, Budapest and Miskolc directions. On November 4, Soviet troops reached the nearest approaches to the Hungarian capital, but could not take it on the move. On December 3, they captured Miskolc, on December 4 they reached Lake. Balaton. At the beginning of December, a new attempt was made to take Budapest by envelopment from the north and from the west, but this was also unsuccessful; only in the last days of December did the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts succeed in blockading the city. In January 1945, having repulsed several attempts by the Wehrmacht to release Budapest, they defeated the enemy grouping in Budapest (about 120,000 prisoners) in early February and occupied the Hungarian capital on February 13.

On December 28, the Provisional National Government of Hungary, established in Debrecen, declared war on Germany.

At the beginning of 1945, the Red Army launched a series of operations in the central (Berlin) direction with the aim of the final liberation of Poland and the complete defeat of Germany. The first of these was the Vistula-Oder, during which the Soviet troops were to defeat Army Group A and reach the Oder.

On January 12, 1945, troops of the 1st UV struck from the Sandomierz bridgehead in the Radom-Breslav direction. On January 14, they broke through to Pinchuv and crossed the Nida River on a wide front. On January 15, Soviet tank columns took Kielce, and on January 16 they crossed the Pilica River. On January 17, the right wing of the 1st UV liberated Czestochowa, on January 19 it reached the German-Polish border, on January 20 it entered Silesia; On January 19, units of the left wing captured Krakow, on January 22 they reached the Oder River, and on January 28 they occupied Katowice and other centers of the Upper Silesian industrial region. The formations of the right wing on January 26 captured a bridgehead on the left bank of the Oder near Breslau (Wroclaw).

On January 14, the offensive of the 1st BF began from the Mangushevsky and Pulawsky bridgeheads in the Kutno-Lodz direction. Having broken through the enemy defenses, the troops of the right wing turned north towards Warsaw, while the troops of the left wing moved west and captured Radom on January 16; his advanced tank formations liberated Lodz on January 19, crossed the Warta River on January 23, broke into Kalisz and crossed the Oder north of Steinau. Formations of the right wing, together with the 1st Polish Army, captured Warsaw on January 17 in an enveloping maneuver; Soviet tank columns rushed along the corridor between the Vistula and the Warta, on January 23 they took Bygdosch and reached the Oder near Kustrin (Kostszyn), 40 km from Berlin. Other parts of the right wing reached Poznan, bypassed it, running into the stubborn defense of the Germans (the Poznan group was destroyed only by February 23), and on January 29 they entered the territory of Brandenburg and Pomerania; On February 3, the troops of the 1st BF captured the Oder crossings at Kustrin and Frankfurt an der Oder. However, due to lack of forces, the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts failed to continue the offensive and break through deep into Germany. In early February, the Germans, with the help of reinforcements from the west and internal reserves, were able to stop the advance of the Red Army; the front stabilized along the Oder.

At the same time, the forces of the 2nd and 3rd Belorussian and 1st Baltic fronts carried out the East Prussian operation in order to destroy the Army Group Center and capture East Prussia. On January 13, the troops of the 3rd BF struck from the Suwalki area in the Koenigsber direction and on January 20 captured Insterburg. On January 14, the troops of the 2nd BF, advancing from the Nareva valley, broke through the German defense line that covered East Prussia from the south, occupied Mlawa on January 19, Allenstein station on January 20, blocking the main East Prussian railway artery, and on January 26 reached the Danzig Bay at Elbing, cutting off the German troops in East Prussia from the rest of the forces. On January 28, formations of the 1st PribF liberated Klaipeda. By the end of January, the East Prussian grouping was divided into three parts (in the Braungsberg area, on the Zemland Peninsula and near Koenigsberg). However, their liquidation dragged on for two months. Only on March 29, the troops of the 3rd BF were able to destroy the largest "cauldron" southwest of Koenigsberg, and on April 9 to capture the capital of East Prussia.

As a result of the Vistula-Oder and East Prussian operations, the Red Army liberated most of Poland, occupied East Prussia, entered German territory, reached the Oder and created bridgeheads on its western bank in the immediate vicinity of Berlin. The Wehrmacht lost almost half a million killed.

Liberation of southern Poland and eastern Slovakia

(January 12 - February 18, 1945). In parallel with the operations in the main (Berlin) direction, the 4th UV and the right wing of the 2nd UV carried out an operation to defeat the German-Hungarian group in the Western Carpathians. Having broken through the enemy defenses and destroyed seventeen enemy divisions, the Soviet troops liberated the territory of Poland south of Krakow and the Czechoslovak lands east of Banska Bystrica and by mid-February reached the approaches to the Moravian-Ostrava industrial region.

Before the decisive blow to Berlin, the Headquarters decided to liquidate enemy groupings on the northern and southern flanks of the central direction - in Eastern Pomerania and Silesia.

On February 10, the troops of the 2nd BF launched an offensive in Eastern Pomerania, but due to a lack of reserves, their advance in the Lower Vistula valley was slow. The situation changed when, on February 20, units of the right wing of the 1st BF, which completed the destruction of the Schneidemul "cauldron" on February 17, struck in the Kolberg direction; in early March they reached the Baltic Sea between Keslin (Koszalin) and Kolberg (Kołobrzeg). Formations of the 2nd BF captured Gdynia on March 28, and Danzig (Gdansk) on March 30. By April 4, the Red Army occupied all of Eastern Pomerania and established control over the coast from the Vistula to the Oder. The success of the operation eliminated the threat to the Soviet troops from the north and freed up significant forces (ten armies) to participate in the Battle of Berlin.

On February 8, units of the 1st UV from the Breslav bridgehead launched an offensive in Lower Silesia. Having bypassed the blockaded Glogau and Breslau, they rushed west, on February 13 they reached Sommerfeld, 80 km from the German capital, and on February 16 they reached the Neisse River at its confluence with the Oder. Although they failed to break through to Berlin, they cut off the Upper Silesian group from Germany and drove the Germans out of Lower Silesia; True, the Glogau "cauldron" was liquidated only on April 1, and Breslav - on May 6.

On March 15, troops of the 1st UV attacked the Wehrmacht in Upper Silesia. On March 18–20, they defeated the main enemy forces in the Oppeln (Opole) area and by March 31 reached the foothills of the Sudetenland on the German-Czechoslovak border. Dresden and Prague were under threat.

As a result of the East Pomeranian, Lower Silesian and Upper Silesian operations, Germany lost its most important industrial and agricultural regions.

German counteroffensive in western Hungary

(March 6–15, 1945). In the early spring of 1945, the German troops made their last attempt to delay the defeat: in an effort to thwart the impending offensive of the Red Army on the southern flank, on March 6 they attacked the positions of the 3rd UV to the north of the lake. Balaton. They managed to penetrate 12–30 km into the Soviet defenses south of the lake. Velence and west of the Sharviz Canal, however, units of the 3rd UV, with the support of the 1st Bulgarian and 3rd Yugoslav armies, managed to stop the enemy by mid-March, whose losses amounted to more than 40 thousand people.

Offensive in western Hungary and eastern Austria

(March 16 - April 15, 1945). On March 16, 1945, the 3rd UV and the left wing of the 2nd UV launched an operation to capture the areas of Hungary and the Vienna industrial region that remained in German hands. At the end of March, they defeated Army Group South and part of Army Group E, as a result of which the entire southern flank of the German defense collapsed. By April 4, Soviet troops occupied western Hungary, crossed the Austro-Hungarian border, and approached Vienna on April 6. After a week of fierce street fighting, they captured the Austrian capital. By April 16, the Germans had been expelled from Burgenland and eastern Styria and Lower Austria.

Fall of Berlin. Surrender of Germany

(April 16 - May 8). In mid-April 1945, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian and 1st and 2nd Belorussian fronts began the final operation to defeat Nazi Germany. A plan was developed to destroy the Army Groups "Center" and "Vistula", the capture of Berlin and access to the Elbe to connect with the allies.

On April 16, units of the 1st BF attacked the central section of the German line of fortifications on the Oder, but ran into stubborn resistance, especially at the Seelow Heights. Only on April 17, at the cost of huge losses, did they manage to take the heights. On April 19, they punched a 30-km gap in the enemy's defenses, rushed to Berlin and reached its suburbs on April 21. The offensive of the 1st UV turned out to be less bloody, which already on April 16 crossed the Neisse, by April 19 broke through the German defenses on a wide front, defeated the 4th Panzer Army and moved to Berlin from the south. On April 24, troops of the 1st UV and 1st BF surrounded the Frankfurt-Guben grouping (9th and remnants of the 4th tank armies) north of Cottbus, and on April 25 completed the encirclement of the Berlin group. On the same day, units of the 1st UV went to the Elbe and in the Torgau region met with units of the 1st American Army: the Eastern and Western fronts connected.

The 2nd BF operated on the northern flank, trying to prevent Army Group Vistula from coming to the aid of Berlin. On April 20, his troops crossed the Oder south of Stettin (Szczecin) and on April 26 captured Stettin itself.

On April 26, the 1st UV and 1st BF began to liquidate two encircled Wehrmacht groups. Having repulsed the attempt of the 12th German army to break through to Berlin from the west, by April 28 they captured the outskirts of the city and started fighting for the central quarters. On April 30, Hitler committed suicide. On May 1, the Reichstag was taken. On May 2, Berlin capitulated. The day before, the defeat of the Frankfurt-Guben grouping was completed. By May 7, Soviet troops reached the Wismar-Ludwigslust-Elba-R. Saale line agreed with the Allies. On May 8, in Karlhost, representatives of the German command signed an act of unconditional surrender. On the same day, units of the 1st UV occupied Dresden. On May 9, German troops surrendered in Northwestern Lithuania (Army Group Courland).

Liberation of Czechoslovakia

(March 10 - May 11, 1945). The last country liberated by the Red Army was Czechoslovakia. On March 10, the 4th UV, and on March 25, the 2nd UV, with the support of the 1st and 4th Romanian armies, launched an offensive in Western Slovakia. On April 4, units of the 2nd UV took Bratislava; by mid-April, they completed the liberation of the southwestern regions of Slovakia, and the troops of the 4th UV reached the Zilina-Trencin line near the Moravian border. In the second half of April, the Red Army launched military operations in Moravia. On April 26, formations of the 2nd UV took Brno; On April 30, units of the 4th UV occupied Ostrava and in early May captured the Moravian-Ostrava industrial region. By May 5, the liberation of Moravia was completed.

In early May, an uprising broke out against the German occupiers in the Czech Republic; May 4, it swept Prague. On May 5, the command of Army Group Center moved large forces against the Czech capital, but on May 6–7, the Red Army had already begun an operation to liberate the Czech Republic: the 1st UV attacked from the north (from Saxony), the 4th UV from the east ( from Olomouc), 2nd UV - from the southeast (from Brno). On May 9, the troops of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts drove the Germans out of Prague, on May 10-11 they surrounded and destroyed their main forces east of the city and ended the war at the Chemnitz-Karlovy-Vary-Pilsen-Ceske Budejovice line.

Military operations in the Far East. Defeat of the Kwantung Army

(August 9 - September 2, 1945). Back in February 1945, at the Yalta Conference, the USSR undertook to enter the war with Japan two or three months after the victory over Germany on the condition of returning to it what was lost by Russia as a result of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. During the Potsdam Conference, the Allies issued a declaration (July 26, 1945), in which they demanded the unconditional surrender of Japan and announced their intention to occupy it until the election of a democratic government and punish Japanese war criminals.

On August 8, the USSR declared war on Japan; On August 10, Mongolia (MPR) joined it. On August 9, the 1st and 2nd Far Eastern and Trans-Baikal Fronts, with the support of the Pacific Fleet, began military operations against the Kwantung Army stationed in Manchuria. Parts of the left wing of the ZBF crossed the Argun, captured the Manchurian-Chzhalaynor fortified area and, bypassing the Hailar fortified area, began to develop an offensive in the Qiqihar direction; by the end of August 14, they had crossed the Great Khingan Range near Boketu. Parts of the right wing, striking from Eastern Mongolia, captured the Khalun-Arshan fortified area, crossed the Great Khingan and rushed to Xinjing (Chanchun). By the end of August 14, they reached the Baichen-Taonan-Dabanshan line, and the Mongol troops advancing to the west approached Dolun. The troops of the right wing of the 2nd Far Eastern Fleet, having struck from the Blagoveshchensk region, broke through the Japanese defenses on the Amur, overcame the Lesser Khingan and moved towards Mergen and Beian; formations of the left wing, having crossed the Amur to the north of Tongjian, in the course of fierce battles, captured the Fujin (Fugdinsky) fortified area and began to advance west up the Sungari. The troops of the 1st Far Eastern Fleet attacked from Primorye, together with the landing detachments of the Pacific Fleet, captured the North Korean ports of Ungi (Yuki), Najin (Rasin), Chongjin (Seisin) and by the end of August 14 reached the line Mishan - Mudanjiang - Tumen. As a result, the Kwantung Army was divided into several parts. In southern Sakhalin, the 16th Army of the 2nd Far Eastern Fleet achieved significant success: having launched an offensive on August 11, it captured the Koton fortified area on August 13 and rushed south.

On August 14, Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. However, hostilities in Manchuria continued. The troops of the left wing of the ZBF took Qiqihar on August 19, and the troops of the right 2nd Far Eastern Fleet, having captured Beian on August 20, went to Qiqihar from the northeast. On August 19, units of the right wing of the ZBF occupied Xinjing and Shenyang (Mukden), units of the 1st Far Eastern Fleet occupied Jilin, and Soviet-Mongolian formations occupied Chengde (Rehe). On August 20, the troops of the left wing of the 2nd Far Eastern Fleet captured Harbin. On August 18, Soviet troops began landing on the Kuril Islands. In this situation of complete defeat, the command of the Kwantung Army on August 19 decided to stop further resistance. On August 22, ZBF troops entered Lushun (Port Arthur) and Dalian (Far); troops of the 1st Far Eastern Fleet on the same day occupied the North Korean port of Wonsan (Genzan), and on August 24 - Pyongyang. On August 25, the entire South Sakhalin was cleared of the Japanese, on August 23-28 - the Kuril Islands. On September 2, Japan signed the act of unconditional surrender.

Results of the Great Patriotic War.

The victory went to the USSR at a high price. The assessment of human losses is still the subject of fierce debate. Thus, irretrievable Soviet losses on the fronts, according to various estimates, vary from 8.5 to 26.5 million people. The total material damage and military costs amount to 485 billion dollars. 1,710 cities and urban-type settlements and more than 70,000 villages were destroyed.

But the USSR defended its independence and contributed to the complete or partial liberation of a number of European and Asian countries - Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Yugoslavia, China and Korea. He made a huge contribution to the overall victory of the anti-fascist coalition over Germany, Italy and Japan: on the Soviet-German front, 607 Wehrmacht divisions were defeated and captured, almost 3/4 of all German military equipment was destroyed. The USSR played an important role in the post-war peace settlement; its territory expanded to include East Prussia, Transcarpathian Ukraine, the Petsamo region, southern Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands. It became one of the leading world powers and the center of a whole system of communist states on the Euro-Asian continent.

Ivan Krivushin

APPENDIX 1. NON-AGGREGATION PACT BETWEEN GERMANY AND THE USSR

The Government of the USSR and the Government of Germany,

Guided by the desire to strengthen the cause of peace between the USSR and Germany and proceeding from the main provisions of the neutrality treaty concluded between the USSR and Germany in April 1926, they came to the following agreement:

Both Contracting Parties undertake to refrain from any violence, from any aggressive action and any attack against each other, either separately or jointly with other powers.

In the event that one of the Contracting Parties becomes the object of hostilities by a third power, the other Contracting Party will not support that power in any form.

Article III

The Governments of both Contracting Parties shall remain in future contact with each other for consultation, in order to inform each other of matters affecting their common interests.

None of the Contracting Parties will participate in any grouping of powers which is directly or indirectly directed against the other side.

In the event of disputes or conflicts between the Contracting Parties on issues of one kind or another, both parties will resolve these disputes or conflicts exclusively by peaceful means through a friendly exchange of opinions or, if necessary, by creating commissions to resolve the conflict.

The present treaty is concluded for a period of ten years, so long as one of the Contracting Parties does not denounce it one year before the expiration of the term, the term of the treaty will be considered automatically extended for another five years.

Article VII

This treaty is subject to ratification as soon as possible. The exchange of instruments of ratification is to take place in Berlin. The agreement comes into force immediately after its signing.

At the signing of the non-aggression pact between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the undersigned plenipotentiaries of both parties discussed in strict confidentiality the question of delimiting the spheres of mutual interests in Eastern Europe. This discussion led to the following result:

l. In the event of a territorial and political rearrangement of the regions that are part of the Baltic states (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), the northern border of Lithuania is at the same time the border of the spheres of interests of Germany and the USSR. At the same time, the interests of Lithuania in relation to the Vilna region are recognized by both parties.

2. In the event of a territorial and political rearrangement of the regions that are part of the Polish State, the border between the spheres of interests of Germany and the USSR will approximately run along the line of the rivers Nareva, Vistula and San.

The question of whether the preservation of an independent Polish State is desirable in mutual interests, and what the boundaries of this state will be, can only be finally clarified in the course of further political development.

In any case, both Governments will resolve this issue by way of friendly mutual agreement.

3. Regarding the south-east of Europe, the Soviet side emphasizes the interest of the USSR in Bessarabia. The German side declares its complete political disinterest in these areas.

4. This protocol will be kept strictly secret by both parties.

APPENDIX 2. AGREEMENT OF FRIENDSHIP AND BORDER BETWEEN THE USSR AND GERMANY

Moscow city

After the collapse of the former Polish state, the government of the USSR and the German government consider it solely as their task to restore peace and order in this territory and to ensure a peaceful existence for the peoples living there, corresponding to their national characteristics. To this end, they have come to an agreement as follows:

The government of the USSR and the German government establish as the boundary between mutual state interests in the territory of the former Polish state a line, which is marked on the map attached to this and will be described in more detail in an additional protocol.

Both Parties recognize the boundary of mutual state interests established in Article I as final and eliminate any interference of third powers in this decision.

Article III

The necessary state reorganization in the territory to the west of the line indicated in the article is carried out by the German government, in the territory to the east of this line - by the Government of the USSR.

The Government of the USSR and the German Government regard the above reorganization as a reliable foundation for the further development of friendly relations between their peoples.

This treaty is subject to ratification. The exchange of instruments of ratification should take place as soon as possible in Berlin.

The agreement comes into force from the moment of its signing. Compiled in two originals, in German and Russian.

By authorization of the Government of the USSR V. Molotov For the Government of Germany J. Ribbentrop

Secret Additional Protocol

Moscow city

The undersigned Plenipotentiaries state the agreement of the German Government and the Government of the USSR on the following:

The secret additional protocol signed on August 23, 1939 is amended in paragraph 1 in such a way that the territory of the State of Lithuania is included in the sphere of interests of the USSR, since, on the other hand, the Lublin Voivodeship and parts of the Warsaw Voivodeship are included in the sphere of interests of Germany (see the map to the one signed today Treaty of Friendship and Border between the USSR and Germany). As soon as the Government of the USSR takes special measures on Lithuanian territory to protect its interests, the present German-Lithuanian frontier, for the purpose of drawing a natural and simple frontier, is corrected in such a way that the Lithuanian territory, which lies to the southwest of the line indicated on the map, retreats to Germany.

By authorization of the Government of the USSR V. Molotov

For the German government I. Ribbentrop

Secret Additional Protocol

Moscow city

The undersigned plenipotentiaries at the conclusion of the Soviet-German Treaty on the border and friendship stated their agreement to the following:

Both sides will not allow any Polish agitation on their territories that affects the territory of another country. They will eradicate the germs of such agitation in their territories and will inform each other about the appropriate measures for this.

For the Government of Germany I. Ribbentrop

By authorization of the Government of the USSR V. Molotov

APPENDIX 3. TELEGRAM FROM THE GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER J. VON RIBBENTROP TO THE AMBASSADOR IN THE USSR F. SCHULENBURG

Urgently!

State secret!

On the radio!

Send in person!

1. Upon receipt of this telegram, all encrypted materials must be destroyed. The radio must be disabled.

2. I ask you to immediately inform Mr. Molotov that you have an urgent message for him and that you would therefore like to visit him immediately. Then please make the following statement to Herr Molotov:

“The Soviet plenipotentiary in Berlin receives at this hour from the Reich Foreign Minister a memorandum listing the facts in detail, summarized below:

I. In 1939, the imperial government, putting aside the serious obstacles resulting from the contradictions between National Socialism and Bolshevism, tried to find mutual understanding with Soviet Russia. According to the agreements of August 23 and September 28, 1939, the Reich government carried out a general reorientation of its policy towards the USSR and since then has taken a friendly position towards the Soviet Union. This policy of goodwill brought enormous benefits to the Soviet Union in the field of foreign policy.

The imperial government therefore felt justified in assuming that from then on both nations, while respecting each other's state systems and not interfering in the internal affairs of the other side, would enjoy good, enduring good-neighbourly relations. Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that the imperial government was completely wrong in its assumptions.

II. Soon after the conclusion of the German-Russian treaties, the Comintern resumed its subversive activities against Germany with the participation of official Soviet representatives who supported it. Open sabotage, terror and espionage of a political and economic nature connected with the preparation of war were carried out on a large scale. In all countries bordering Germany and in territories occupied by German troops, anti-German sentiment was encouraged, and German attempts to establish a stable order in Europe aroused resistance. The Soviet Chief of Staff offered Yugoslavia weapons against Germany, which is proven by documents found in Belgrade. The declarations made by the USSR in connection with the conclusion of treaties with Germany regarding the intention to cooperate with Germany, thus, turn out to be a deliberate misrepresentation and deceit, and the very conclusion of the treaties is a tactical maneuver to obtain agreements beneficial only to Russia. The guiding principle remained the penetration into non-Bolshevik countries in order to demoralize them, and at the right time to crush them.

III. In the diplomatic and military spheres, as it became clear, the USSR, contrary to the declarations made at the conclusion of the treaties that it did not want to Bolshevize and annex the countries included in its spheres of interest, had the goal of expanding its military power in a western direction wherever it was. seemed possible, and carried out further Bolshevization of Europe. The actions of the USSR against the Baltic states, Finland and Romania, where Soviet claims extended even to Bukovina, demonstrated this quite clearly. The occupation and Bolshevization by the Soviet Union of the spheres of interest granted to it is a direct violation of the Moscow agreements, although the imperial government for some time turned a blind eye to this.

IV. When Germany, with the help of the Vienna Arbitration of August 30, 1940, settled the crisis in South-Eastern Europe resulting from the actions of the USSR against Romania, the Soviet Union protested and engaged in intensive military preparations in all areas. New German attempts to reach an understanding, reflected in the exchange of letters between the Reich Foreign Minister and Herr Stalin and in the invitation of Herr Molotov to Berlin, only led to new demands from the Soviet Union, such as Soviet guarantees to Bulgaria, the establishment of bases in the Straits for Soviet land and naval forces, the complete absorption of Finland. This could not be tolerated by Germany. Subsequently, the anti-German orientation of the policy of the USSR became more and more obvious. The warning given to Germany in connection with its occupation of Bulgaria, and the declaration made by Bulgaria after the entry of German troops, which was clearly hostile in nature, were in this connection just as significant as the promises made by the Soviet Union to Turkey in March 1941 to protect the Turkish rear in the event of Turkey's entry into the war in the Balkans.

V. With the conclusion of the Soviet-Yugoslav friendship treaty of April 5 of this year, which strengthened the rear of the Belgrade conspirators, the USSR joined the common Anglo-Yugoslav-Greek front directed against Germany. At the same time, he was trying to get closer to Romania in order to induce that country to break with Germany. Only quick German victories led to the collapse of the Anglo-Russian plans to attack the German troops in Romania and Bulgaria.

VI. This policy was accompanied by an ever-increasing concentration of all available Russian troops on the entire front - from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, against which the German side took retaliatory measures only a little later. Since the beginning of this year, the threat directly to the territory of the Reich has been increasing. The reports received in the past few days leave no doubt about the aggressive nature of these Russian concentrations and complete the picture of an extremely tense military situation. In addition to this, there are reports from England that talks are underway with Ambassador Cripps for even closer political and military cooperation between Britain and the Soviet Union.

Summarizing the above, the imperial government declares that the Soviet government, contrary to its obligations:

1) not only continued, but intensified their attempts to undermine Germany and Europe;

2) led an increasingly anti-German policy;

3) concentrated all its troops on the German border in full combat readiness. Thus, the Soviet government has violated the treaties with Germany and intends to attack Germany from the rear, while she is fighting for her existence. The Führer therefore ordered the German armed forces to confront this threat with all the means at their disposal."

End of declaration.

Please do not participate in any discussion of this message. Responsibility for the safety of the employees of the German embassy lies with the Government of Soviet Russia.

Ribbentrop

APPENDIX 4. RADIO SPEECH by I.V. STALIN

Comrades! Citizens!

Brothers and sisters!

Soldiers of our army and navy!

I turn to you, my friends!

The treacherous military attack of Hitlerite Germany on our Motherland, launched on June 22, continues. Despite the heroic resistance of the Red Army, despite the fact that the best divisions of the enemy and the best parts of his aviation have already been defeated and found their grave on the battlefields, the enemy continues to push forward, throwing new forces to the front. Hitler's troops managed to capture Lithuania, a significant part of Latvia, the western part of Belarus, and part of Western Ukraine. Fascist aviation is expanding the areas of operation of its bombers, bombarding Murmansk, Orsha, Mogilev, Smolensk, Kiev, Odessa, Sevastopol. Our country is in serious danger.

How could it happen that our glorious Red Army surrendered a number of our cities and regions to the fascist troops? Are the German fascist troops really invincible troops, as the boastful fascist propagandists tirelessly trumpet about it?

Of course not! History shows that there are no invincible armies and never have been. Napoleon's army was considered invincible, but it was defeated alternately by Russian, English, German troops. Wilhelm's German army during the first imperialist war was also considered an invincible army, but it was defeated several times by Russian and Anglo-French troops and was finally defeated by Anglo-French troops. The same must be said about Hitler's present German fascist army. This army has not yet encountered serious resistance on the European continent. Only on our territory did it meet with serious resistance. And if, as a result of this resistance, the best divisions of the fascist German army were defeated by our Red Army, then this means that the Nazi fascist army can be defeated and will be defeated just as the armies of Napoleon and Wilhelm were defeated.

As for the fact that part of our territory nevertheless turned out to be captured by the fascist German troops, this is mainly due to the fact that the war of fascist Germany against the USSR began under favorable conditions for the German troops and unfavorable for the Soviet troops. The fact is that the troops of Germany, as a country waging war, were already completely mobilized, and the 170 divisions thrown by Germany against the USSR and moved to the borders of the USSR were in a state of complete readiness, waiting only for a signal to march, while the Soviet troops needed it was still necessary to mobilize and move closer to the borders. Of no small importance here was the fact that fascist Germany unexpectedly and treacherously violated the non-aggression pact concluded in 1939 between it and the USSR, regardless of the fact that it would be recognized by the whole world as the attacking side. It is clear that our peace-loving country, not wanting to take the initiative to violate the pact, could not take the path of treachery.

It may be asked: how could it happen that the Soviet government agreed to conclude a non-aggression pact with such treacherous people and monsters as Hitler and Ribbentrop? Was there a mistake on the part of the Soviet government here? Of course not! A non-aggression pact is a peace pact between two states. It was this pact that Germany proposed to us in 1939. Could the Soviet government refuse such a proposal? I think that not a single peace-loving state can refuse a peace agreement with a neighboring power, if at the head of this power there are even such monsters and cannibals as Hitler and Ribbentrop, and this, of course, on one indispensable condition - if the peace agreement does not affect neither directly nor indirectly the territorial integrity, independence and honor of a peace-loving state. As you know, the non-aggression pact between Germany and the USSR is just such a pact.

What have we gained by signing a non-aggression pact with Germany? We ensured peace for our country for a year and a half and the possibility of preparing our forces for a rebuff if fascist Germany dared to attack our country in defiance of the pact. This is a definite gain for us and a loss for fascist Germany.

What did fascist Germany gain and lose by treacherously breaking the pact and attacking the USSR? She achieved by this some advantageous position for her troops in a short time, but she lost politically, exposing herself in the eyes of the whole world as a bloody aggressor. There can be no doubt that this short-lived military gain for Germany is only an episode, while the enormous political gain for the USSR is a serious and lasting factor on the basis of which the decisive military successes of the Red Army in the war against fascist Germany should unfold.

That is why all our valiant army, all our valiant navy, all our falcon pilots, all the peoples of our country, all the best people of Europe, America and Asia, and finally, all the best people of Germany - stigmatize the perfidious actions of the German fascists and sympathize with to the Soviet government, they approve of the behavior of the Soviet government and see that our cause is just, that the enemy will be defeated, that we must win.

By virtue of the war imposed on us, our country entered into a mortal battle with its worst and insidious enemy - German fascism. Our troops are fighting heroically against the enemy, armed to the teeth with tanks and aircraft. The Red Army and the Red Navy, overcoming numerous difficulties, are selflessly fighting for every inch of Soviet land. The main forces of the Red Army, armed with thousands of tanks and aircraft, enter the battle. The courage of the soldiers of the Red Army is unparalleled. Our resistance to the enemy is growing stronger and stronger. Together with the Red Army, the entire Soviet people will rise to defend the Motherland.

What is required in order to eliminate the danger looming over our Motherland, and what measures must be taken in order to defeat the enemy?

First of all, it is necessary that our people, the Soviet people, understand the full depth of the danger that threatens our country, and renounce complacency, carelessness, the mood for peaceful construction, which was quite understandable in pre-war times, but pernicious at the present time, when the war has radically changed position. The enemy is cruel and relentless. He sets as his goal the seizure of our lands, watered with our sweat, the seizure of our bread and our oil, extracted by our labor. It sets as its goal the restoration of the power of the landowners, the restoration of tsarism, the destruction of the national culture and national statehood of Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Uzbeks, Tatars, Moldavians, Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis and other free peoples of the Soviet Union, their Germanization, their transformation into slaves of German princes and barons. Thus, the issue is about the life and death of the Soviet state, about the life and death of the peoples of the USSR, about whether the peoples of the Soviet Union should be free or fall into enslavement. It is necessary that the Soviet people understand this and stop being carefree, that they mobilize themselves and reorganize all their work on a new, military basis, which knows no mercy for the enemy.

It is necessary, furthermore, that there be no place in our ranks for whiners and cowards, alarmists and deserters, that our people do not know fear in the struggle and selflessly go to our patriotic war of liberation against the fascist enslavers. The great Lenin, who created our state, said that the main qualities of the Soviet people should be courage, courage, ignorance of fear in the struggle, readiness to fight together with the people against the enemies of our Motherland. It is necessary that this magnificent quality of a Bolshevik should become the property of millions and millions of the Red Army, our Red Navy and all the peoples of the Soviet Union.

We must immediately reorganize all our work on a military footing, subordinating everything to the interests of the front and to the tasks of organizing the defeat of the enemy. The peoples of the Soviet Union now see that German fascism is indomitable in its furious malice and hatred of our Motherland, which has ensured free labor and well-being for all working people. The peoples of the Soviet Union must rise up to defend their rights, their land against the enemy.

The Red Army, the Red Navy and all citizens of the Soviet Union must defend every inch of Soviet land, fight to the last drop of blood for our cities and villages, show the courage, initiative and ingenuity inherent in our people.

We must organize all-round assistance to the Red Army, ensure an intensified replenishment of its ranks, ensure its supply with everything necessary, organize the rapid advance of transports with troops and military cargo, and provide extensive assistance to the wounded.

We must strengthen the rear of the Red Army, subordinating all our work to the interests of this cause, ensure the intensified work of all enterprises, produce more rifles, machine guns, guns, cartridges, shells, aircraft, organize the protection of factories, power plants, telephone and telegraph communications, establish local air defense .

We must organize a ruthless struggle against all sorts of rear disorganizers, deserters, alarmists, spreaders of rumors, destroy spies, saboteurs, enemy paratroopers, rendering prompt assistance to our destruction battalions in all this. It must be borne in mind that the enemy is cunning, cunning, experienced in deception and spreading false rumors. It is necessary to take into account all this and not succumb to provocations. It is necessary to immediately bring to court the Military Tribunal all those who, with their alarmism and cowardice, interfere with the cause of defense, regardless of their faces.

In the event of a forced withdrawal of units of the Red Army, it is necessary to steal the entire rolling stock, not to leave the enemy a single locomotive, not a single wagon, not to leave the enemy a kilogram of bread or a liter of fuel. The collective farmers must steal all the livestock, hand over the grain for safekeeping to state bodies for its removal to the rear areas. All valuable property, including non-ferrous metals, grain and fuel, which cannot be exported, must, of course, be destroyed.

In areas occupied by the enemy, it is necessary to create partisan detachments, mounted and on foot, to create sabotage groups to fight against parts of the enemy army, to kindle guerrilla warfare everywhere and everywhere, to blow up bridges, roads, damage telephone and telegraph communications, set fire to forests, warehouses, convoys. In the occupied areas, create unbearable conditions for the enemy and all his accomplices, pursue and destroy them at every turn, disrupt all their activities.

The war with fascist Germany cannot be considered an ordinary war. It is not only a war between two armies. It is at the same time a great war of the entire Soviet people against the German fascist troops. The goal of this nationwide patriotic war against the fascist oppressors is not only to eliminate the danger hanging over our country, but also to help all the peoples of Europe, groaning under the yoke of German fascism. In this war of liberation, we will not be alone. In this great war we will have true allies in the peoples of Europe and America, including the German people, enslaved by the Nazi bosses. Our war for the freedom of our Fatherland will merge with the struggle of the peoples of Europe and America for their independence, for democratic freedoms. It will be a united front of peoples standing for freedom against enslavement and the threat of enslavement from Hitler's fascist armies. In this regard, the historic speech of British Prime Minister Mr. Churchill on helping the Soviet Union and the declaration of the US Government on readiness to help our country, which can only arouse a feeling of gratitude in the hearts of the peoples of the Soviet Union, are quite understandable and indicative.

Comrades! Our strength is incalculable. An arrogant enemy will soon be convinced of this. Together with the Red Army, many thousands of workers, collective farmers, and intellectuals are rising to war against the attacking enemy. Millions of our people will rise up. The working people of Moscow and Leningrad have already begun to create a multi-thousand people's militia to support the Red Army. In every city that is in danger of being invaded by the enemy, we must create such a people's militia, raise all the working people to fight in order to defend our freedom, our honor, our homeland with our breasts - in our patriotic war against German fascism.<...>

Forward to our victory!

APPENDIX 5

"APPROVE"

Deputy People's Commissar of Defense

General of the Army G. ZHUKOV

I. General provisions

1. Penal companies are intended to enable ordinary soldiers and junior commanders of all branches of the armed forces who are guilty of violating discipline due to cowardice or instability, to atone for their guilt before the Motherland with a brave fight against the enemy in a difficult area of ​​​​combat operations.

2. The organization, strength and combat strength, as well as salaries for the maintenance of the permanent composition of the penal companies are determined by a special staff.

3. Penal companies are under the jurisdiction of the Military Councils of the armies. Within each army, from five to ten penal companies are created, depending on the situation.

4. A penal company is attached to a rifle regiment (division, brigade), on the sector of which it was placed by order of the Military Council of the Army.

II. On the permanent composition of penal companies

5. The commander and military commissar of the company, commanders and political leaders of platoons and the rest of the permanent commanding staff of penal companies are appointed to the position by order in the army from among the strong-willed and most distinguished in battle commanders and political workers.

6. The commander and military commissar of a penal company use the disciplinary power of the commander and military commissar of the regiment in relation to the penal, the deputy commander and military commissar of the company - the power of the commander and military commissar of the battalion, and the commanders and political leaders of platoons - the power of commanders and political leaders of companies.

7. For the entire permanent composition of the penal companies, the length of service in ranks, in comparison with the command, political and commanding staff of the combat units of the army in the field, is reduced by half.

8. Each month of service in the permanent composition of the penal company is counted when assigning a pension for six months.

III. About the penalty boxes

9. Ordinary soldiers and junior commanders are sent to penal companies by order for a regiment (separate unit) for a period of one to three months. Ordinary fighters and junior commanders convicted with a suspended sentence may also be sent to penal companies for the same periods by the verdict of the Military Tribunals (field army and rear) (Note 2 to Article 28 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR).

Persons sent to a penal company are immediately reported on command and to the Military Council of the army with a copy of the order or sentence attached.

10. Junior commanders sent to a penal company, by the same order for the regiment (Article 9), are subject to demotion to the rank and file.

11. Before being sent to the penal company, the penal stands in front of the formation of his company (batteries, squadron, etc.), the order for the regiment is read out and the essence of the crime committed is explained.

12. A special Red Army book is issued to the penitentiaries.

13. For non-execution of an order, self-mutilation, escape from the battlefield or an attempt to go over to the enemy, the command and political staff of the penal company is obliged to apply all measures of influence up to and including execution on the spot.

14. Penalty officers can be appointed by order of the penal company to the positions of junior officers with the assignment of the ranks of corporal, junior sergeant and sergeant.

The penitentiaries appointed to the positions of junior officers are paid maintenance for their positions, the rest - in the amount of 8 rubles. 50 kop. per month. Field money is not paid to the penalized.

15. For military distinction, a penal can be released ahead of schedule on the proposal of the command of the penal company, approved by the Military Council of the army.

For particularly outstanding military distinction, the penal, in addition, is presented to the government award.

Before leaving the penal company, the person released ahead of schedule stands in front of the formation of the company, the order for early release is read out and the essence of the accomplished feat is explained.

16. Upon serving the appointed term, the penalized officers are presented by the command of the company to the Military Council of the Army for release and, upon approval of the submission, are released from the penal company.

17. All released from the penal company are restored in rank and in all rights.

18. Penitentiaries who were wounded in battle are considered to have served their sentence, are restored in rank and in all rights, and upon recovery are sent for further service, and a pension is assigned to the disabled.

19. Families of dead fines are granted a pension on a general basis.

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The seal of secrecy has been removed. Losses of the Armed Forces of the USSR in wars, hostilities and military conflicts. M., 1993
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The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. In 12 volumes. Year of publication: 2011-2015. Genre or subject: Military history. Publisher: Voenizdat. ISBN: 975-5-203-02-113-7. Russian language. Format: PDF

Dedicated to the memory of the defenders of the Fatherland.

"Military Publishing House" (Moscow) published a twelve-volume fundamental encyclopedia "The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945". This work will allow you to deeply and comprehensively comprehend the events of that period and conveys the truth about the Great Patriotic War.

Each volume helps to comprehend the decisive battles and events, calls for an active fight against the falsification of the history of the fight against fascism and the victory over it, with attempts to justify Nazism, its crimes and inhumanity.

VOLUME ONE. MAIN EVENTS OF THE WAR.

From the Main Editorial Commission.
Historical and educational foundations for the study of the Great Patriotic War.
Origin of war.
Breakdown of the Blitzkrieg.
The turn of the war to the west.
Germany in the grip of two fronts.
Behind the front line.
The feat of the people.
The end of the Great Patriotic War. War with Japan.
Perfection of the art of war.
USSR and the Anti-Hitler Coalition.
History of the Great Patriotic War and the present.

Volume one. Major events of the war

VOLUME TWO. ORIGIN AND BEGINNING OF THE WAR.

At the origins of the war.
The beginning of the Second World War and the policy of the USSR.
USSR on the eve of the German attack.
The entry of the Soviet people into the struggle against the aggressor.
Results of the first months of the war.
Volume two. Origin and start of the war

VOLUME THREE. BATTLE AND BATTLE THAT CHANGED THE WAR.

The military-political situation by the autumn of 1941
"All for the defense of Moscow."
First big win.
The enemy was stopped near Stalingrad.
Fight for the Caucasus.
Prerequisites for changing the course of the war.
The defeat of the enemy at Stalingrad.
Breaking the blockade of Leningrad.
On the eve of the Battle of Kursk.
Fire arc.
Battle for the Dnieper.
Military Art of the Soviet Armed Forces.
The growth of power and international prestige of the USSR.

Volume three. Battles and battles that changed the course of the war

VOLUME FOUR. LIBERATION OF THE TERRITORY OF THE USSR. 1944

The situation and plans of the parties by the beginning of 1944
In the North and Northwest.
Battles in Eastern Belarus.
Liberation of Right-Bank Ukraine and Crimea.
The situation and plans of the parties by the summer of 1944
Offensive in Karelia and the Arctic.
Operation Bagration.
Liberation of the western regions of Ukraine and Moldova.
The expulsion of the enemy from the Baltic.
A front without a front line.
Military-political results of 1944
Development of the Soviet Armed Forces and military art.
Socio-economic development: a turn to peaceful rails.

Volume four. Liberation of the territory of the USSR. 1944

VOLUME FIVE. WINNER FINAL. FINAL OPERATIONS OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR IN EUROPE. WAR WITH JAPAN.

situation in Europe. The transfer of military operations of the Armed Forces of the USSR to foreign territory.
On the southern wing of the Soviet-German front.
Fighting in East Prussia and Pomerania. Withdrawal from the war of Finland and Norway.
Liberation of Poland and Silesia.
The final operations of the Soviet troops in Europe.
The situation in the Asia-Pacific theater of war in 1945
The defeat of the Japanese armed forces in China, Korea, Sakhalin and the Kuriles.
The results of the military and political activities of the Armed Forces of the USSR in the foreign territories of Europe and Asia.
The end of the war and the problems of peace.

Volume five. Winning final. The final operations of the Great Patriotic War in Europe. War with Japan

VOLUME SIX. SECRET WAR. INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERINTELLIGENCE DURING THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR.

Domestic and foreign historiography of the activities of Soviet intelligence and counterintelligence during the Great Patriotic War.
The activities of intelligence services on the eve of the war.
Counterintelligence agencies in the prewar years.
Foreign intelligence during the war.
Military intelligence during the war.
Special services of Nazi Germany on the Soviet-German front.
The activities of military counterintelligence in the first period of the war.
The activities of military counterintelligence in the years of a radical change.
The activities of military counterintelligence in the final period of the war.
State security agencies in the fight against the enemy in the occupied Soviet territory.
The activities of the territorial bodies of the NKVD - the NKGB to ensure the security of the rear of the country.
Struggle of state security organs and troops of the NKVD with the armed underground on the territory of the USSR
The fight against the subversive activities of the Japanese special services.

Volume six. Secret war. Intelligence and counterintelligence during the Great Patriotic War

VOLUME SEVEN. ECONOMY AND WAR WEAPONS.

Economy and defense industry of the USSR on the eve of the war.
Mobilization of the USSR economy and the transition to a wartime economy.
Evacuation as an integral part of the restructuring of the economy in wartime.
Creation of economic prerequisites for a radical change in the war.
Economy of the final period of the war.
The main components of the successful solution of the problems of the country's economy during the war years.
Armament and military equipment on the eve of the war.
The development of weapons of the warring parties in the course of hostilities.
The struggle for superiority in weapons and technical equipment of the armed forces.

Volume seven. Economy and weapons of war

VOLUME EIGHT. FOREIGN POLICY AND DIPLOMACY OF THE SOVIET UNION DURING THE WAR.

The main trends in modern Russian historiography of the foreign policy of the USSR during the war.
Soviet foreign policy on the eve of the war: achievements, mistakes, consequences.
Restructuring the foreign policy and diplomacy of the USSR on a military footing.
Strengthening the anti-Hitler coalition: achievements and problems.
The Soviet Union at the Moscow and Tehran conferences.
Strengthening the international positions of the USSR.
USSR and the liberation of European countries.
Yalta Conference of the leaders of the USSR, USA and Great Britain.
USSR and the end of the war in Europe.
USSR and the creation of the UN.
Berlin (Potsdam) conference and its results.
The policy of the Soviet Union towards militaristic Japan at the final stage of the Second World War.
Diplomacy and diplomatic service of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War.

Volume eight. Foreign policy and diplomacy of the Soviet Union during the war

VOLUME NINE. ALLIES OF THE USSR IN THE ANTI-HITLER COALITION.

Historiography of the anti-Hitler coalition.
Armed struggle in the European theater of operations.
End of the war in Europe.
Military operations in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
Wrestling in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.
Anti-fascist resistance in Europe.
Society and economy of allied and neutral countries during the war.
Military-economic cooperation of the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition.
Political and strategic interaction of allies.

Volume nine. Allies of the USSR in the anti-Hitler coalition

VOLUME TENTH. "STATE. SOCIETY AND WAR.

State and society during the Great Patriotic War: the main areas of research.
Power and society on the eve of the Great Patriotic War.
Restructuring of state administration and activities of public organizations with the beginning of the war.
Labor in the rear and the contribution of the civilian population to the victory.
Daily life in wartime.
State national policy in the conditions of war.
Science and education during the war.
Culture during the war.
The image of the enemy and the image of the ally in the perception of the Soviet people.
Socio-economic consequences of the war.

Volume ten. "State. Society. War."

VOLUME ELEVEN. POLICY AND STRATEGY OF VICTORY: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF THE COUNTRY AND ARMED FORCES OF THE USSR DURING THE WAR.

The main directions of the policy and strategy of victory.
The first decisions of the State-political leadership to transfer the country to martial law.
State Defense Committee in the system of emergency bodies of strategic leadership of the country and the Armed Forces.
Headquarters of the Supreme High Command: structure, functions and methods of strategic leadership of the Armed Forces of the USSR.
The General Staff in the leadership of the armed struggle.
People's Commissariats of Defense and the Navy in the system of bodies of strategic leadership of the Armed Forces.
Bodies of state security and law enforcement in the system of strategic leadership of the country and the Armed Forces.
Leadership of the struggle of the people behind enemy lines.
Mobilization of society for the conduct of war.
Features of the military policy and strategy of the USSR in the war against Japan.
Generalization of combat experience and bringing it to the troops of the Red Army and the Navy.

Volume eleven. Politics and strategy of victory: strategic leadership of the country and the Armed Forces of the USSR during the war

VOLUME TWELVE. RESULTS AND LESSONS OF THE WAR.

Results of the Great Patriotic War.
Spiritual and moral foundations of victory.
Source of the spiritual strength of society.
The economic foundation of victory.
Military and military-theoretical lessons.
Experience in providing armed struggle.
The role of statesmen and military figures in achieving victory.
Origin and evolution of the Cold War.
The conflict of economic interests as a source of wars of the twentieth century.
For the truth of history.
War as a national and global threat.
Chronograph of the Great Patriotic War.

Volume twelve. Results and lessons of the war

This piece is taken from the website mil.ru ,ministry of defense.rf) of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and is protected by copyright.
It is distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.
Short: You can distribute this work without restrictions, modify and use it for any (including commercial) purposes, subject to the obligatory reference to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

The encyclopedic dictionary brought to your attention “The Great Patriotic War. 1941-1945" contains more than 10,000 articles and illustrations dedicated to the great feat of the Soviet people and the Armed Forces of the USSR in the war against Nazi Germany and its satellites.

Unfortunately, among the huge amount of reference literature published in our country in recent years, there is no encyclopedic work on the Great Patriotic War. The last time such a book - the encyclopedia "The Great Patriotic War" - was published 30 years ago, in 1985. Andrey Golubev and Dmitry Lobanov were able to fill this unfortunate gap on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Victory, having prepared for the first time in the history of modern Russia the most complete encyclopedic dictionary “The Great Patriotic War. 1941-1945".

This major work contains information about all the most notable events of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. and the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945, famous Soviet commanders and heroes, armaments and military branches, major military operations and fronts that participated in them.

Dictionary articles cover the main military operations of the Soviet Armed Forces, their organization and weapons, the military economy, the foreign policy of the USSR during the war years, and the contribution to the victory over the enemy of Soviet science and culture. The work of the rear and its unity with the front are widely covered. Biographical information about the leaders of the party and the state, the largest Soviet military leaders, the heroes of the front and rear, outstanding figures of science and culture are placed.

The book was created taking into account the latest historical research and is designed both for a trained reader, who can become a useful reference tool in his work, and for students and those who are interested in the history of our Fatherland. It will be in demand in school, university and public libraries and is indispensable as a guide to the patriotic education of youth.

On our website you can download the book "The Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. Encyclopedic Dictionary" Golubev Andrey for free and without registration in fb2, rtf, epub, pdf, txt format, read the book online or buy the book in the online store.

Socio-economic and political situation in the USSR on the eve of the war

By the beginning of the 3rd five-year plan was in the main. completed the technical reconstruction in the industry. In terms of total industrial production, the country has taken 1st place in Europe and 2nd in the world. During the 3 years of the 3rd Five-Year Plan, gross industrial output increased 1.5 times, 3,000 new large industrial enterprises were put into operation. From the beginning of 1939 to the middle of 1941, the share of defense spending in the country's budget increased from 26 to 43%. In east. regions of the country, understudy enterprises were built. The production of new types of military equipment was mastered, including T-34 and KV tanks, BM-13 rocket launchers, Il-2 attack aircraft, Pe-2 high-speed dive bomber, Yak-1, MiG-3, LaGG- 3. All this made it possible to significantly increase the technical equipment of the Red Army. The annual growth of military production in 1938–40 was three times the growth of all industrial production. But at such a pace, it was possible to provide the army with new weapons only in 1942–43.

The fulfillment of the five-year plans was largely achieved by the militarization of labor. Workers and employees were forbidden to move from one enterprise to another without the permission of the directorate. Since 1940, young people have been mobilized annually to vocational schools. Forced labor was still widely used in the Gulag system of the NKVD.

The size of the Red Army grew rapidly. On September 1, 1939, the law "On universal military duty" was adopted in the USSR. By June 22, 1941, 5774 thousand people served in the Armed Forces of the USSR. Commanders who distinguished themselves in battles in Spain, Mongolia and Finland were nominated to lead the army. The number of commanders of the Red Army for 1937-40 increased by 2.8 times. However, by 1941 only 7.1% of the command staff had a higher military education. Most of the commanders did not have the proper military experience.

In the 30s. the leadership of the country by the most stringent measures, primarily through repression, completed the formation of a system of total control over all spheres of economic, political and social life. In 1939, 2552 people were sentenced to death for counter-revolutionary and state crimes, in 1940 - 1649 people; in 1941, including the military half-year, 8,001 people were sentenced to capital punishment.

The ideological preparation of the population for the war was carried out through the purposeful formation of national consciousness and patriotism. The goals of national-patriotic education were the wide celebration of the centenary of the memory of A. S. Pushkin; the release of the film "Peter the Great", in which he grew up. the emperor appeared as the greatest state. doer; opening of the Borodino Historical Museum (1937), exhibition in the Hermitage “The Great Past of Russian. people in monuments of art and weapons” (Sept. 1938). Nov. 1938 released the film "Alexander Nevsky" - a patriotic film "about the greatness, power and valor of the Russian. people, his love for the motherland, about the glory of the Russian. weapons." An event in the cultural and political life of Moscow was the open in February. 1939 at the Tretyakov Gallery exhibition, which for the first time in years owls. the best canvases of Russian were presented to the authorities. artists of the 18th–20th centuries Glinka's opera "Ivan Susanin", which premiered in April, had a great resonance. 1939.

In 1939–40 there were signs of a change in state policy towards the church, the authorities corrected their previous anti-religious course. On 11/11/1939, by decision of the Politburo, the instructions concerning the persecution of ministers of Rus. Orthodox Church and believers.

The beginning of the war

The implementation of Hitler's plan "Barbarossa" began at 03:30 on June 22, 1941. Romania, Finland, Italy and Hungary took the side of Germany against the USSR. The grouping of German troops totaled 5.5 million people. They were opposed by owls. troops of the military districts numbering 2.9 million people. The suddenness of the attack caused violations in command and control. Owls. armies were forced to withdraw. On June 24 they left Vilnius, on June 28 - Minsk. On June 30, the Germans captured Lvov, on July 1 - Riga.

The restructuring of the country on a military footing began to acquire organization from 30.6.1941, when the decision was made by the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars to create the State Defense Committee (GKO). He supervised the activities of all state. departments and institutions on which the course and outcome of the war depended. The principle of maximum centralization of leadership was put at the basis of the restructuring of party-state structures. During the war years, there were no party congresses, meetings of the Orgburo and the Secretariat of the Central Committee. On June 23, 1941, the Headquarters of the High Command was created.

The program of action to turn the country into a single combat camp was formulated in the "Directive of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks to the Party and Soviet Organizations of the Front-line Regions on the Mobilization of All Forces and Means to Defeat the Fascist Invaders" dated 29.6.1941. This directive formed the basis of Stalin's speech on the radio on July 3, 1941. Stalin acknowledged heavy losses, spoke of the danger looming over the country, expressed hope for the help of Great Britain and the United States, which became allies in the struggle, and defined the outbreak of war as Patriotic, nationwide. On July 18, 1941, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a resolution on the organization of the struggle in the rear of the German troops by the forces of party bodies and the bodies of the NKVD. On May 30, 1942, the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement was formed at the SVGK (headed by P.K. Ponomarenko).

The general mobilization of those liable for military service born in 1905–18 made it possible by July 1941 to replenish the army by 5.3 million people. In August, those liable for military service born in 1890–1904 and conscripts born in 1923 were mobilized. The appeal of subsequent ages (until 1927 of birth) was carried out in the usual manner. During the war years, 34.5 million people were mobilized into the army and to work in industry, taking into account those already serving at the beginning of the war. Mobilization made it possible to form 648 divisions, 410 of them in 1941.

The stage of defensive battles and the retreat of the Red Army lasted from June to December 1941. In an attempt to turn the tide on the fronts, the authorities resorted to extraordinary measures. On July 16, 1941, the institution of military commissars was introduced in corps, divisions, and regiments, as well as the institution of political instructors in companies, batteries, and squadrons. In July 1941, the commander of the Western Front, D. G. Pavlov, and a group of generals of the Western and North-Western Fronts, who were made responsible for the defeat of the Red Army in border battles, were put on trial, accused of cowardice, the collapse of command and control, and sentenced to capital punishment. Until Apr. 1942 30 generals were shot on charges of similar crimes. In Aug. 1941 an order was issued on the responsibility of military personnel for surrendering and leaving weapons to the enemy. In 1941, the Autonomous Republic of the Volga Germans was liquidated, and the population was evicted to the east of the country. However, the methods of intimidation did not give the expected result.

During the Battle of Smolensk, the German plan for a lightning war was thwarted, but the German offensive continued. On September 8, 1941, after the capture of the Mga station, Leningrad fell into the blockade ring. In early September, the tank group of Colonel-General H. Guderian turned south from the Smolensk region and on September 16. connected east of Kiev with the tank group of E. von Kleist, advancing from the south. Surrounded Kiev fell on September 19. St. 530 thousand owls. soldiers died and were captured. Kharkov fell on October 25, 1941. In November, the Germans captured the southwest. part of the Donbass, went to Rostov-on-Don. Oct 16 owls. troops left Odessa after 73 days of defense. From 30 Oct. there was a battle for Sevastopol, which lasted 250 days.

On September 30, 1941, German troops launched Operation Typhoon. The battle for Moscow began. By 7 Oct. the enemy managed to surround 4 owls in the Vyazma region. army. Oct 10 the troops of the Western and Reserve fronts were united into the Western Front under the command of G.K. Zhukov and fought on the Mozhaisk line of defense. By the end of October, the enemy was stopped at the turn east of Volokolamsk and along the Nara and Oka rivers to Aleksin.

German tank forces advancing from the Roslavl and Shostka regions reached the Tarusa-Tula line by the end of October. Attempts to capture Tula, made on October 29, 1941, were repulsed. Nov 18 the Germans launched an offensive with the aim of bypassing Tula from the east, by November 25 they reached the approaches to Kashira. Oct 14 The Germans captured the cities of Rzhev and Kalinin. On the Klinsko-Solnechnogorsk and Volokolamsk-Istra directions, the enemy by November 15. managed to reach Dmitrov, occupy Yakhroma, Lobnya, Krasnaya Polyana, Kryukovo. In early December, the German offensive stopped.

The most difficult days for Moscow began on October 15, 1941, when the State Defense Committee adopted a resolution on the evacuation of the capital. Two hundred trains and 80 thousand trucks were taken out by the embassy and state. property. St. 500 thousand Muscovites created defensive lines around the city. Meanwhile, rumors about the approach of German troops and the decision of the government to leave Moscow in a number of cases gave rise to the flight of administrative workers of various levels, the burning of archival documents, and robberies of shops. The riots were stopped. On October 19, 1941, a state of siege was introduced in the capital by a decree of the State Defense Committee.

As a result of the summer-autumn campaign of 1941, the irretrievable losses of the personnel of the Red Army amounted to 3.1 million people. (of which 2.3 million were missing - they died in encirclement or were taken prisoner). Together with sanitary (wounded, shell-shocked, sick) losses increased to 4.5 million people. The failures of the first stage of the war and the need to mobilize all forces to continue the struggle determined the appeal of the leadership of the USSR to national-patriotic ideas and slogans. A manifestation of such an ideological policy was Stalin's parting words to the troops at the parade on November 7, 1941. Stalin urged to remember the names of those who created and defended Russia, its heroes - Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov. On 12/10/1941, an order was given to remove the slogan "Proletarians of all countries, unite!" from military newspapers, so that he could not "incorrectly orient some strata of military personnel."

Counteroffensive near Moscow

The troops of the Western, Kalinin and Southwestern fronts were involved in the counterattack near Moscow. The owls the side was 1100 thousand soldiers and officers against 1708 thousand enemy soldiers and officers. Owls. the command put forward reserves from the Far East to Moscow. By Dec. 1941 owls. intelligence had reliable information that Japan did not intend to start military operations against the USSR.

On December 5, 1941, at 3 am, the Red Army launched a counteroffensive on the front from Kalinin (now Tver) to Yelets. At the same time, active hostilities were carried out southeast of Leningrad and in the Crimea, which deprived the Germans of the opportunity to transfer reinforcements. For a month of fighting, Moscow, Tula and part of the Kalinin region were liberated. However, by March 1942 the power of the owls. the offensive dried up: the troops suffered heavy losses. It was not possible to develop success in the counteroffensive along the entire front.

The offensive operation in the Barvenkovo ​​area (south of Kharkov), carried out on January 18–31, 1942, did not achieve its goals. The attempt to break the blockade of Leningrad ended in failure. The 2nd Shock Army of the Volkhov Front was surrounded. The army commander, Lieutenant General A. A. Vlasov, surrendered and, while in the Vinnitsa camp for captured officers, agreed to cooperate with the enemies of his people and lead the "anti-Stalinist movement" (he was later executed in the USSR).

The main event of the first year of the war was the defeat of Germany in the Battle of Moscow. Before Germany loomed the prospect of a protracted war. Japan refrained from speaking out against the USSR. The rise of anti-fascist resistance in Western Europe began. The Soviet Union was turning into a decisive factor in the 2nd World War, which contributed to the strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition.

Battle of Stalingrad

In the spring and summer of 1942, the German command prepared the main. strike in the south, seeking to seize the Caucasus and the Lower Volga region. Owls. troops in the south were not enough to contain the offensive, which resulted in major defeats. The strategic initiative was again in the hands of the enemy. 4/7/1942 Sevastopol fell. On June 28, the German army group "Weichs" launched an offensive in the Voronezh direction. On July 6, the enemy managed to capture b. part of Voronezh.

In the battles to the south. On the wing of the Soviet-German front, German troops occupied the Donbass, entered the large bend of the Don, posing a threat to Stalingrad. Rostov-on-Don fell on July 24. Failures had a negative impact on the combat capability of the owls. troops, panic and desertion reappeared.

On July 28, the people's commissar of defense issued order No. 227 (“Not a step back!”), Which was intended to stop manifestations of cowardice and desertion with the most stringent measures, categorically forbade retreat without a special order from the command.

In order to raise the spirit of the people in a difficult moment, the authorities again turned to the historical sources of patriotism. On July 29, military orders were established in honor of the heroes of the past: Suvorov, Kutuzov, Alexander Nevsky.

In Aug. 1942 the enemy came to the banks of the Volga in the region of Stalingrad, to the foothills of the west. parts of the Caucasus Range, to the passes of its central part and to the area of ​​Mozdok. At these lines the enemy was stopped. Aug 25 The battle for Stalingrad began. 13 Sept. the assault on the city began, which was defended by the troops of the South-Eastern and Stalingrad fronts under the command of Colonel General A. I. Eremenko. Stalingrad has become a symbol of mass heroism and the resilience of owls. people. By mid-November, the offensive capabilities of the Germans dried up, and they went on the defensive. The resilience of owls troops allowed to buy time to prepare a counteroffensive.

To the 2nd floor. 1942 owls. the leadership managed to achieve a general superiority of forces over the enemy troops. The industry, transferred to a military footing, rapidly increased the production of weapons. The size of the army was approaching 6.6 million people. against 6.2 million in the Wehrmacht and the armies of Germany's allies. The idea of ​​a counter-offensive near Stalingrad was born on 12 September. and consisted in delivering powerful blows to the flanks of the enemy grouping. With luck, the strategic situation in the south of the country changed in favor of the USSR. Operation "Uranus" was prepared in secret from the enemy. It was carried out by the troops of 3 fronts with the assistance of the Volga military flotilla. The leadership of the preparation of the counteroffensive on the South-Western and Don fronts was entrusted to Zhukov, on Stalingrad - to A.M. Vasilevsky.

11/19/1942 owls. troops went on the offensive. Nov 23 parts of the Stalingrad and South-Western fronts joined at the city of Kalach-on-Don. 22 enemy divisions (over 330 thousand people) were surrounded. The destruction and capture of the encircled troops continued until 2/2/1943. The commander of the 6th German Army, Field Marshal F. Paulus, was captured. During the Battle of Stalingrad, the enemy lost 25% of his forces operating on the Eastern Front. The losses of the Red Army amounted to 470 thousand soldiers and officers.

The successful implementation of the operation was marked by the assignment of the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union to Zhukov (January 18) and Vasilevsky (February 16). On March 6, the marshal rank was awarded to Stalin. These were the first assignments of the highest military rank since the beginning of the war. In 1944, 6 more military leaders became its owners: I. S. Konev, L. A. Govorov, K. K. Rokossovsky, R. Ya. Malinovsky, F. I. Tolbukhin, K. A. Meretskov.

A turning point in the course of the war

The victory at Stalingrad was reinforced by the general offensive of the owls. troops. The enemy was forced to withdraw his units from the North Caucasus. On January 18, 1943, the blockade of Leningrad was broken. Between Lake Ladoga and a corridor up to 11 km wide was pierced by the front line, along which roads and railways were laid. The city that lost 642 thousand people during the blockade. from hunger and disease and 21 thousand from shelling, breathed more freely. For the 1st floor. 1943 The cities of Rzhev, Vyazma, Rostov-on-Don, Shakhty, Kursk and others were liberated.

By the summer of 1943 the front had stabilized. The parties were preparing for the summer campaign. The German command was developing Operation Citadel, during which they hoped to defeat the troops of the Central and Voronezh Fronts defending the Kursk salient. Owls. the command uncovered the enemy's plan in a timely manner and developed a response plan.

5/7/1943 German troops went on the offensive. On the sowing on the flank of the Kursk ledge, the enemy managed to wedge into the defense of the owls. troops in separate areas for 10-35 km. To the south flank, the battle climaxed on the 7th day of the German offensive. July 12 at the village. Prokhorovka in the oncoming battle met St. thousands of Soviet and German tanks. The losses of the Germans were such that they could no longer count on a breakthrough. On July 15, 1943, Operation Citadel was terminated, the Germans withdrew to their original positions. The commander of the Army Group "South", Field Marshal E. von Manstein and his headquarters believed that for active operations among the owls. there is no power left.

However, earlier, on July 12, Sov. troops went on the offensive against the Oryol grouping of the enemy, resulting in the liberation of Orel (Aug. 5). The advance continued. Aug 3 Belgorod-Kharkov operation began. Aug 5 liberated Belgorod, 23 Aug. - Kharkov. Aug 5 for the first time during the war, Moscow saluted in honor of the liberated cities. This salute also sounded in memory of 70 thousand people who died in battles on the Kursk Bulge, and 183 thousand in the implementation of subsequent offensive operations. Having freed Oryol, Belgorod, Kharkov, owls. troops launched a general offensive on a front of 2 thousand km. Root fracture during Vel. Fatherland The war ended with the battle for the Dnieper. 11/6/1943 Kiev was liberated. From Dec. 1941 to Dec. 1943 53% of the territory occupied by the enemy was liberated, where about 46 million people lived before the war. By 1944, half of the enemy divisions had been defeated, and the fascist bloc began to disintegrate. Italy left the war.

Final operations of the war

In Jan. 1944 The blockade of Leningrad was completely lifted by the efforts of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts. At the end of January and February, at the end of the Korsun-Shevchenko offensive operation, the Right-Bank Ukraine was liberated. In March, owls troops went to the state. border of the USSR with Romania and on the night of March 28 crossed the border river. Rod. In April and May, Odessa, Sevastopol and the entire Crimea were liberated. In June, a blow was struck on the Karelian Isthmus. In August, owls troops liberated Karelia. On September 19, Finland signed an armistice agreement with the USSR.

On June 23, one of the largest offensive operations in the war, Bagration, began, which resulted in the liberation of Belarus, Lithuania and part of Latvia. Aug 17 troops went to the west. border of Belarus. In July, the battle for the liberation of Western Ukraine began. It was led by troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front. With the completion of the Lvov-Sandomierz operation in August, Ukraine was completely liberated.

In August, the Iasi-Chisinau grouping of German and Romanian troops was defeated, resulting in the liberation of Moldova and the capitulation of Romania. By the end of October, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, together with the Romanian units that opposed Germany, completely liberated Romania. 8 Sept. The Red Army entered the territory of Bulgaria, which led to a popular armed uprising against the fascist dictatorship. 9 Sept. The fascist government was overthrown, power passed into the hands of the government of the Fatherland Front.

In September and October, Estonia and part of Latvia were liberated. Oct. 1944 the forces of the Karelian Front and the Northern Fleet liberated the Arctic, owls. troops entered Norwegian territory. In September-October, an attack by troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front between the Tisza and the Danube followed. Increasing the blow, owls. troops by Feb. 1945 occupied the territory of Hungary, united with the troops of the allied Yugoslavia, liberated Transcarpathia.

In the summer and autumn of 1944, Petrozavodsk (June 28), Minsk (July 3), Vilnius (July 13), Chisinau (Aug. 24), Tallinn (Sept. 22), Riga (October 13), thousands of other cities and villages. The troops of Germany and its allies were completely expelled from the territory of the USSR in November. 1944 (with the exception of the districts of Liepaja and Ventspils in Latvia, liberated in May 1945). On the battlefields in 1944, 1.6 million owls fell. soldier. To con. 1944 - early. 1945 The Red Army liberated Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia (together with units of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia), Hungary, Poland, part of Austria and Czechoslovakia. 19.1.1945 owls. parts entered the territory of Germany. 13 Apr. the center of East Prussia Königsberg was taken. In 1945, owls. troops successfully carried out the largest offensive operations during the war years: East Prussian, East Pomeranian, Vienna, Prague.

Anti-Hitler coalition

After the German attack on the Soviet Union, the governments of Great Britain and the United States declared their support for the USSR in its struggle against aggression. On July 12, 1941, a Soviet-British agreement on joint actions was signed in Moscow. Both countries pledged to support each other in the war against Germany, not to negotiate with her, not to conclude an armistice or peace treaty, except by mutual consent. Similar agreements were concluded with the governments of Czechoslovakia (July 18) and Poland (July 30), created in exile.

In Aug. 1941 Britain and the United States signed a declaration of war aims, the Atlantic Charter. It said that territorial changes as a result of the war would be possible only with the consent of the states participating in the war against fascism, that they would respect the right of peoples to choose their own forms of government, and create equal opportunities for economic cooperation between countries. Owls. the government in September agreed with the main. charter principles. However, the question of opening a 2nd front against Hitler in the West, raised by Stalin in a message to W. Churchill dated 18/7/1941, did not meet with understanding. The British Prime Minister believed that his country "could not have been ready for this before the summer of 1943."

More concrete results were achieved at the conference of the USSR, USA and Great Britain on issues of military supplies, held in Moscow on September 29–10, 1941. The Allies pledged monthly from Oct. 1941 to June 1942 to supply the USSR with 400 aircraft, 500 tanks, military materials. The Soviet Union was granted an interest-free loan in the amount of $ 1 billion. Lend-lease deliveries for a number of types of assistance - aircraft, trucks, gunpowder, canned food - significantly contributed to the Soviets. military success.

On January 1, 1942, the United States and 25 states of the anti-fascist coalition signed a declaration under which they pledged to use their military and economic resources against the fascist bloc. Until 1945, St. 20 countries. Together they became known as the United Nations.

Owl success. troops in 1942-43 created favorable conditions for the opening of the 2nd front in Europe. In May 1943, shortly after the beginning of the Washington Conference with the participation of F. D. Roosevelt and Churchill (it depended on its results whether the 2nd front would be opened), the Comintern was dissolved in the USSR, which was positively received in Western countries, especially in the USA . At a conference of foreign ministers in Moscow on Oct. 1943 a protocol was signed confirming the intentions of app. Allies to begin an operation in Northern France in the spring of 1944. At a conference in Tehran (November 28–December 1, 1943), the first meeting of the heads of government of the Big Three took place, which resolved the cardinal issues of the conduct of the war and the post-war order of the world. The final document of the conference stated that the crossing of the English Channel would be undertaken in May 1944. The Allies agreed to the transfer of part of East Prussia to the USSR and the restoration of independent Poland within the borders of 1918. In turn, the USSR agreed to enter the war with Japan no later than 3 months after the victory over Germany. The agreements largely contributed to the speedy victorious end of World War II.

On June 6, 1944, the Allies landed troops in France. The Normandy landing operation (July 6–24, 1944) was the largest landing operation of the 2nd World War. Approx. 1 million people By the end of October, the Allied troops reached the west. border of Germany.

At the final stage of the war, the allies in the anti-fascist coalition worked out a number of fundamental decisions that determined the features of the post-war world order. At the Yalta (Crimean) conference of the heads of government of the "Big Three" (February 4–11, 1945), plans for the final defeat of Germany, the conditions for its surrender, the procedure for occupation, and the mechanism of allied control were agreed upon. The occupation, to which France was allowed, was undertaken in order to demilitarize, denazify and democratize Germany. The demands of the USSR for reparations in the amount of 10 billion dollars were recognized as legitimate. The "Declaration on a Liberated Europe", adopted at the conference, provided for the destruction of traces of Nazism in the liberated countries of Europe and the creation of democratic institutions at the choice of the peoples. Stalin confirmed at the conference a promise to enter the war with Japan and received the consent of the allies to return the south to the Soviet Union. parts of Sakhalin, the transfer of the Kuril Islands, etc. In Yalta, decisions were also made to convene a conference of the United Nations on April 25, 1945 in San Francisco to prepare a charter for an international security organization.

The most important factor in the radical change in the course of the war on the Soviet-German front was the end of the middle. 1942 rearrangement of the rear in a military way. The failures of the first stage of the war seriously complicated the position of the owls. economy. In the summer of 1941, the evacuation of industrial enterprises to the east began. regions of the country. For this work, the Council for Evacuation Affairs under the State Defense Committee was created. To the beginning In 1942, more than 1,500 industrial enterprises were transported (including 1,360 defense ones), the number of evacuated workers reached a third of the staff. The deterioration of the food supply forced the introduction of food cards in Moscow and Leningrad from 18/7/1941. At the end of 1941 the card system was introduced throughout the country as a whole. The loss of military factories sharply reduced the supply of shells, mines, and bombs to the army. The drop in ammunition production continued until the end of the year. Hundreds of thousands of skilled workers were mobilized into the army, replaced by women, teenagers and the elderly. On December 26, 1941, workers and employees of military enterprises were also declared mobilized for the period of the war: unauthorized leaving from enterprises was punished as desertion. From Dec. 1941 the decline in industrial production was stopped. The production of almost all industries was switched to the production of military products. In the Urals and in the east. regions produced 3 / 4 of all military equipment, weapons, ammunition. In the autumn of 1942, military production fully restored the lost capacity. In 1943, the output of military products increased by 20% compared with 1942, in the subsequent period - 3 times. Having less industrial potential than the Third Reich and the countries working for it, the USSR from the end. 1942 began to produce significantly more tanks, aircraft, and other types of weapons than they did. Owl quality. military equipment - fighters A. S. Yakovlev, S. A. Lavochkin; attack aircraft S. V. Ilyushin; bombers A. N. Tupolev, V. M. Petlyakov; tanks A. A. Morozov, Zh. Ya. Kotin; artillery systems of V. G. Grabin, F. F. Petrov, I. I. Ivanov - was higher than similar samples of the German army. The sectors and enterprises of the war economy were led by talented organizers of production: B. L. Vannikov, V. A. Malyshev, P. I. Parshin, I. T. Peresypkin, I. F. Tevosyan, D. F. Ustinov, A. V. Khrulev, A. I. Shakhurin and others.

During the war years, the USSR began to create nuclear weapons. The work was started by the GKO orders of 28/9/1942 and 11/2/1943. In accordance with these decisions, Laboratory No. 2 of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR was established in Moscow on April 12, 1943, which received in February. 1944 Law Academic Institute. The scientific management of the atomic project was headed by 39-year-old Professor IV Kurchatov.

In the ideological field, during the war, a line was pursued to strengthen patriotism. It was taken into account that citizens of all nationalities at the front fought for a common Motherland, while the role of Russians objectively increased. people (Russians made up on the eve of the war 51.8% of the population of the USSR, among the mobilized they were 65.4%). In 1942, work began on replacing the former anthem - "The Internationale" - with a patriotic anthem. From the beginning 1944 broadcasts of owls. radio began with the performance of the anthem of the USSR (music by A.V. Aleksandrov, text by S.V. Mikhalkov, G. El-Registan), which simultaneously emphasized the increased state. the status of national regions, and the dominant position in the state Rus. people. Appeal to the traditions of growing up. statehood explains the return of the Red Army to uniforms with shoulder straps, officer ranks, the establishment of Suvorov schools on the model of the old cadet corps.

The authorities highly appreciated the patriotic activity of the church in collecting money and things for the needs of the front. New steps were being taken to recognize the important role of the church. On September 4, 1943, Stalin met with Metropolitans Sergius, Alexiy and Nikolai, at which they discussed ways to normalize state-church relations in the USSR. 8 Sept. a Council of Bishops was convened to elect a patriarch, whose throne had been empty since 1925. 12 Sept. The Council elected Metropolitan Sergius Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. The culmination of the recognition of owls. the power of the role and authority of the church was the holding of the Local Council of Rus. Orthodox Church, convened in connection with the death of the patriarch. The Council adopted the “Regulations on the management of Rus. Orthodox Church”, which the Moscow Patriarchate followed until 1988, and elected Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. The settlement of state-church relations also spread to other religious associations that launched patriotic activities. Public organizations contributed to the cause of victory - trade unions (organizers of the competition and other patriotic initiatives), the Komsomol, the Society for the Promotion of Defense, Aviation and Chemical Construction, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Society, and anti-fascist committees.

Owl education. people's feelings of hatred and revenge by means of political educational work, encouraged at the first stages of the war and expressed in the calls "Death to the German occupiers!", "Kill the German!" blind fury against the German people.

On January 27, 1944, by decision of the Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the rights of the Union republics in the field of defense and foreign relations were expanded, which was associated with the forthcoming UN organization. At the same time, the opposite trend was gaining momentum. On January 31, 1944, a resolution was adopted on the deportation of Chechens and Ingush to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (in 1943, Karachays and Kalmyks were deported). In 1944 Balkars and Crimean Tatars were deported from their native places. The authorities justified the deportations by the fact that during the occupation of the territory of the USSR by the Nazi troops, representatives of these peoples collaborated with the occupiers and waged an armed struggle against the Red Army. Meskhetian Turks were evicted from the regions bordering Turkey. The victims of repression on an ethnic basis were St. 3 million people The deportation of Chechens, Ingush and Crimean Tatars ended with the abolition of the autonomy of these peoples.

situation in the occupied territory. In the territories occupied by the Nazis, economic exploitation and robbery were accompanied by mass repressions and the extermination of the population. The total number of victims of the occupation regime exceeded 14 million people. - 1/5 of the population living here. Jews and Gypsies were subjected to total extermination, various national groups were set against each other. The order to liberate the Volga Germans, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Romanians and Finns (318.8 thousand people) was calculated on the disunity of the peoples of the USSR, which was in force until 11/13/1941.

The occupiers tried to win over a part of the population dissatisfied with the Bolshevik regime. Collaborators were sent to police units, to military formations. In the occupied territory, there were 60.4 thousand policemen from the local population, 130 newspapers were published with the participation of local journalists. In Sept. 1943 against the troops of the Transcaucasian Front acted formations created by the Germans from the owls. prisoners of war.

Main the mass of people in the territory occupied by the enemy did not lose hope for liberation. The resilience of owls citizens caught in the occupation, has become one of the factors of victory. They sabotaged the activities of the occupying authorities, went to underground organizations and partisan detachments. The core of the detachments were pre-trained party and owls. workers, employees of the NKVD, military personnel who were unable to get out of the encirclement, reconnaissance and sabotage groups deployed from behind the front line. The total number of partisans during the war years amounted to 2.8 million people. The partisans diverted up to 10% of the enemy's armed forces.

Victory

The final battle in Vel. Fatherland the war began on April 16. battle for Berlin. For the Berlin operation, the troops of the 2nd Belorussian (commander - Marshal Rokossovsky), 1st Belorussian (Marshal Zhukov) and 1st Ukrainian (Marshal Konev) fronts, part of the forces of the Baltic Fleet (commander - Admiral V. F. Tributs) were involved . 21 Apr. tanks of the 3rd Guards Tank Army P.S. Rybalko went to the north-east. outskirts of Berlin. 25 Apr. troops of the 1st Belorussian Front cut off the paths leading to Berlin from the west, and united with the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front, which surrounded the city from the south. On the same day, Soviet and American troops met in the area of ​​Torgau on the Elbe.

On the ninth day of the assault on Berlin, 30 Apr. at 21:50, Sergeant M.A. Egorov and Junior Sergeant M.V. Kantaria hoisted the Banner of Victory on the Reichstag building. At 06:30 on May 2, the head of the Berlin defense, General H. Weidling, ordered the surrender of the troops of the Berlin garrison. In the middle of the day, the resistance of the Nazis in the city ceased. At the same time, by the joint actions of the troops of the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian fronts, the encircled groupings of German troops southeast of Berlin were liquidated. On the night of May 9, in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, the Act of Surrender of the German Armed Forces was signed. Vel. Fatherland the war is over. May 9 is declared Victory Day in the USSR.

Potsdam Conference

United Nations Education. On July 17–August 2, 1945, a sharp confrontation over the problems of post-war settlement unfolded at the Potsdam (Berlin) conference of the heads of government of the victorious powers. Owls. The delegation was headed by Stalin, the American delegation was led by US President G. Truman, the British delegation was led first by Churchill, and from July 28 by his successor as Prime Minister, C. Attlee. At the conference, mutually acceptable decisions were reached on the dissolution of the armed forces of Germany, the liquidation of its military industry, the destruction of monopolies, the prohibition of the National Socialist Party, Nazi and military propaganda, and the punishment of war criminals. The conference confirmed the transfer of Königsberg and the surrounding area to the USSR, established new zap. borders of Poland along the Oder and Neisse rivers.

To govern Germany during the period of occupation, the Control Council was established - a joint body of the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France. It from each side included the commander of the armed forces in the zone of occupation.

In April-June 1945, the founding conference of the United Nations (UN) took place in San Francisco. It was developed and on 10/24/1945 the UN Charter came into force. It has become a tool for maintaining and strengthening peace between peoples and states.

Participation of the USSR in the war with Japan

On August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union entered the war with Japan. Against the millionth Kwantung Army, St. 1.5 million people under the command of Marshal Vasilevsky. Together with the owls troops of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army came out against the Japanese armed forces. By 20 Aug. owls. troops advanced into the depths of Manchuria from the west for 400-800 km, from the east and north - for 200-300 km, reached the Manchurian plain and divided the enemy troops into isolated groups. From 19 Aug. The Japanese began to capitulate. The successful conduct of the offensive operation made it possible to liberate Manchuria and the sowing in a short time. part of Korea - an area of ​​​​more than 1.3 million km 2 with a population of St. 40 million people, as well as South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. September 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Hall. Japan's unconditional surrender was signed. World War II ended with the victory of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.

Results

The losses of the USSR in the war were huge. The war became a tragedy for the peoples of the country. The material damage inflicted on the Soviet Union amounted to almost 30% of its national wealth; for comparison: Great Britain - 0.9%, USA - 0.4%. The population of the USSR to the beginning. 1946 decreased to 170.5 million people. The total human losses as a result of the war amounted to at least 26.6 million people. Losses of the Armed Forces of the USSR - 11.4 million people. According to tentative data, the Nazis exterminated 7.4 million civilians in the occupied territory, another 4.1 million people. died from starvation and disease. 5.3 million owls people were forcibly taken to work in Germany. Of these, 2.2 million died in fascist captivity, 451 thousand became emigrants for various reasons. During the war, all the peoples of the USSR suffered irreparable losses. Among the dead military personnel, Russians accounted for 5.7 million people. (66.4% of all deaths), Ukrainians - 1.4 million (15.9%), Belarusians - 253 thousand (2.9%), Tatars - 188 thousand (2.2%), Jews - 142 thousand (1.6%), Kazakhs - 125 thousand (1.5%), Uzbeks - 118 thousand (1.4%).

The Soviet Union emerged from the war by expanding its borders. The USSR included the territories of the Baltic States, Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, part of Prussia. Klaipeda was reunited with the Lithuanian SSR. Under an armistice agreement with Finland, the USSR received the Petsamo region and began to border on Norway. Under the border treaties with Czechoslovakia and Poland, Subcarpathian Rus and the region of Vladimir-Volynsky were annexed to the USSR. In the east, the borders of the USSR include South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Oct. In 1944, Tuva voluntarily became part of the RSFSR as an autonomous region, which in 1961 was transformed into an autonomous republic.