Liberation of the territory of the USSR and European countries. Liberation of the territory of the USSR. collapse of the fascist bloc

25.09.2019

The main stages of the Great Patriotic War..

The first stage of the war. Strategic Defense Phase (June 22, 1941 – November 18, 1942).

The third stage of the war. Liberation of the territory of the USSR and European countries. Victory over Nazism in Europe (January 1944 - May 1945).

On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. Together with Hitler's Wehrmacht, troops from Hungary, Italy, Romania and Finland, allies of Germany, took part in the hostilities against the USSR. In total, 190 divisions and 5.5 million people were thrown against the USSR. The Great Patriotic War lasted 1418 days.

The plan for an attack on the USSR was called the “Barbarossa Plan” (named after the medieval German emperor, known for his campaigns of conquest). This was a plan for blitzkrieg (lightning war). By the winter of 1941, German troops were supposed to reach the Arkhangelsk-Volga-Astrakhan line.

War from the outside Soviet Union was fair and liberating in nature. From the first hours of the invasion, the enemy encountered fierce resistance in a number of cases (defense of the Brest Fortress).

To organize resistance to the Nazi invaders, the Soviet leadership took a number of measures. Martial law was declared throughout the country. The mobilization of the male population began. The Headquarters of the Main Command was created. Since August, I.V. became the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Stalin. On June 29, the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks sent a directive to party and Soviet organizations in the front-line regions. It spoke of the need to mobilize all forces and means to defeat the enemy, to protect every inch of land, to evacuate enterprises and people, and set the task of developing the fight in the rear fascist troops. The main provisions of this directive were outlined by Stalin in a radio speech on July 3, 1941. On June 30, the State Defense Committee (GKO) was formed, headed by Stalin. He concentrated in his hands all the power in the country. IN short term under the leadership of the Evacuation Council, over 1,500 large military factories were relocated to the east. The transfer of peaceful enterprises to the production of military products began. The slogan “Everything for the front, everything for victory!”, put forward in the first days, remained the main one throughout the war.

With the outbreak of war, the governments of England and the United States issued statements of support for the fight Soviet people. On July 12, an agreement was signed in Moscow on joint actions of the USSR and Great Britain in the war against Germany. In the fall, an agreement was reached on the supply of weapons and strategic materials to the USSR by the United States and England. The formation of the anti-Hitler coalition began.

Summer - autumn 1941 - a period of serious failures of the Red Army. Military units that entered the war near the borders were defeated. 3.9 million soldiers and officers from the 5 million army died or were captured. The Nazis captured the Baltic states, Belarus, Ukraine, and invaded Russia.

Causes of lesions on initial stage the wars were as follows: 1) the military-economic potential of Germany and its allies was higher than that of the Soviet Union; 2) as a result of Stalin’s repressions, the professional level of the Soviet command staff sharply decreased. This led to poor training of the troops, while the enemy troops had almost two years of battle experience; 3) major miscalculations of the Soviet leadership in military policy (diminution of the role of mechanized formations, withdrawal from production of a number of weapons before the production of their new types was established, destruction of fortifications on the old border without creating a new line of defense, etc.); 4) criminal miscalculations in assessment international situation. Blind faith that Hitler will not break the non-aggression pact. This led to a sudden enemy attack for the Soviet military and political leadership.

As a result of the heroic defense of Leningrad, defensive battles near Kiev and Smolensk, the advance of German troops was suspended, which gave the Soviet command the opportunity to gain time and bring up reserves.

From September 30, 1941 until the end of April 1942, there was a grandiose battle near Moscow. The German plan for the attack on Moscow was code-named "Typhoon". With significant superiority in military equipment, the Nazis managed to break through the defenses of the Soviet troops and by the beginning of December reach the Canal. Moscow, cross the river. Nara, approach the city of Kashira from the south. However, the enemy was unable to advance further. On December 5-6, the troops of the Kalinin (I.S. Konev) and Western (G.K. Zhukov) fronts launched a counteroffensive. German troops were driven back 100-250 km from Moscow. The immediate threat to the capital was eliminated. Hitler's plan for a lightning war against the USSR was thwarted. Near Moscow they suffered their first strategic defeat in the Second World War. Germany's allies - Türkiye and Japan - refrained from opening hostilities. The rise of the liberation struggle against fascism in the countries occupied by Germany began.

In the summer of 1942, as a result of mistakes by the highest Soviet political and military leadership (overestimating their own forces, underestimating the enemy, the desire to conduct offensive operations on a broad front, waiting for the enemy to attack in the Central direction), the Red Army suffered a number of major defeats in the North-West, near Kharkov, in the Crimea .

Hitler's command launched a large-scale operation on the southern sector of the Soviet-German front. At the same time, the goals were pursued: to deprive the Red Army of Caucasian oil, to interrupt the connection between the USSR and its allies through Iran, the central regions with Central Asia, involve Turkey in the war, destroy the Black Sea Fleet.

In the summer of 1942, the German group "South" broke through the Soviet front and rushed to Stalingrad. Since the end of August, fighting has been going on in the city. At the same time, German troops were advancing in the Caucasus direction. In the Stalingrad area, on November 19, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive and on November 23 encircled 22 fascist divisions, numbering more than 300 thousand people. On February 2, 1943, this group was liquidated.

Battle of Stalingrad marked the beginning of a radical change in the course of the war, that is, the interception of the strategic initiative. Simultaneously with the fighting in the Stalingrad area, Soviet troops launched an offensive along the entire southern sector of the front. The enemy was forced to withdraw his units from North Caucasus. By the summer of 1943, the front had stabilized.

On July 5, 1943, the enemy, taking advantage of the advantageous front configuration in the Kursk region, attempted a counteroffensive with the aim of encircling Soviet units. The Battle of Kursk began, lasting until August 23. During fierce fighting, the German strike force was stopped, and Soviet troops went on the offensive, liberating Orel and Belgorod. Kharkiv. The Battle of Kursk was a triumph of Soviet military art. German losses amounted to more than half a million people.

In the second half of July 1943, the general strategic offensive of the Red Army began along a front of 2 thousand km. As a result of this offensive, he was released. Donbass, Left Bank Ukraine. In September the battle for the Dnieper began. Soviet troops were able to capture bridgeheads on its right bank. On November 6, 1943, Kyiv was liberated.

During the summer-autumn offensive, half of the enemy divisions were defeated and significant territories of the USSR were liberated. In the occupied countries came new stage liberation war against fascism. The collapse of the fascist bloc began. In 1943, Italy was withdrawn from the war. The largest military-strategic operations of the Soviet troops in the winter - spring of 1944 include: the final lifting of the 900-day blockade of Leningrad in January 1944. troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts; liberation of Right Bank Ukraine (the most significant events on this section of the front were the Korsun-Shevchenko operation); liberation of Crimea in May by troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front.

In the summer of 1944, even larger battles unfolded. U As a result of the offensive of Karelian and Leningrad fronts Finland came out of the war. U As a result of Operation Bagration, carried out by the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Belorussian and 1st Baltic fronts, one of the strongest enemy groupings, “Center,” was defeated, Belarus was liberated, and the liberation of the Baltic states began (ended in the fall of 1944) and Poland (completed at the beginning of 1945).

· Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front, as a result of the Lvov-Sandrmir operation, defeated the enemy group of troops “Northern Ukraine”, recaptured Lvov and captured a bridgehead on the left bank of the Vistula.

· The 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts, having carried out the Iasi-Kishinev operation, liquidated the German group and liberated Chisinau.

In 1944, the entire territory of the USSR was liberated from Nazi occupation. The Soviet Army transferred the fighting to the territories of the allies of Nazi Germany and the countries it captured.

U In August 1944, the new Romanian government declared war on Germany. By the beginning of September, Romania was liberated by the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.

· In September, units of the 3rd Ukrainian Front liberated Bulgaria. On September 9, as a result of the uprising in Sofia, the Fatherland Front government came to power.

· Troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front assisted the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia in the liberation of Belgrade (October 20) and the entire country from the invaders.

U As a result of heavy fighting at the end of 1944 - beginning of 1945, Hungary was liberated by the Soviet Army. U In the fall of 1944, Slovakia was liberated by Slovak partisans and Soviet units.

In February 1945, a conference of leaders of the countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition (USSR, England, USA) was held in Yalta. At the conference, agreements were reached on the future structure of Germany, borders in post-war Europe, the USSR's entry into the war with Japan, and the creation of the United Nations (UN).

In January 1945, troops of the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian fronts carried out the Vistula-Oder operation, as a result of which Poland was cleared of the Nazis. Soviet troops reached the approaches to Berlin, and the counteroffensive of German troops in the Ardennes against the Allies was thwarted.

At this time, troops of the 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts carried out the East Prussian operation. After fierce fighting, Koenigsberg (now Kaliningrad) was captured.

From April 16 to May 2, troops of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts (T.K. Zhukov, K.K. Rokossovsky, I.S. Konev) carried out the Berlin operation. The troops had to overcome powerful enemy fortifications both on the outskirts and in the city itself. On April 18, the Seelow Heights were taken, and from April 22, fighting took place on the outskirts of the city. On April 24, Berlin was completely surrounded. On April 25, a meeting between Soviet and American troops took place on the Elbe. On May 2, the Berlin garrison laid down its arms. On May 8, Germany capitulated.

On May 5, an uprising began in Prague. Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front came from Berlin to help the rebels. On May 9, Soviet troops entered the city.

From July 17 to August 2, 1945, a conference of leaders of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition (USSR, USA, England) was held in Potsdam, near Berlin. It confirmed and clarified the decisions of the Yalta Conference on the post-war structure of Europe, borders, and the attitude of the Allies towards defeated Germany. The Soviet Union confirmed its decision to enter the war against Japan.

No. 58/2 BATTLE OF MOSCOW

April 20, 1942 - the Battle of Moscow ended (started on September 30, 1941) during the Great Patriotic War.

The Battle of Moscow 1941-1942 is a set of defensive and offensive operations of Soviet troops in the Great Patriotic War, carried out from September 30, 1941 to April 20, 1942 in the western strategic direction with the aim of defending Moscow and the Central Industrial Region, defeating the strike groups of German troops that threatened them . It included the strategic Moscow defensive operation (September 30 - December 5, 1941), the Moscow offensive operation (December 5, 1941 - January 7, 1942), the Rzhev-Vyazma operation (January 8 - April 20, 1942) and the frontal Toropetsko-Kholm operation (January 9 - February 6, 1942). The troops of Kalinin, Western, Reserve, Bryansk, the left wing of the North-Western and the right wing of the South-Western took part in the Battle of Moscow. Western fronts, the country's air defense troops, the Air Force. They were opposed German group armies "Center".

© RIA Novosti

The collapse of Operation Typhoon. The Battle of Moscow in archival footage

By the beginning of the Battle of Moscow, the situation for the Soviet troops was extremely difficult. The enemy deeply invaded the country, capturing the Baltic states, Belarus, Moldova, a significant part of Ukraine, blockaded Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), and reached the distant approaches to Moscow. After the failure of the plan to capture Moscow on the move in the first weeks of the war, the Nazi command prepared a major offensive operation codenamed Typhoon. The operation plan provided for dismembering the defenses of the Soviet troops with three powerful strikes of tank groups from the areas of Dukhovshchina, Roslavl and Shostka in the eastern and north-eastern directions, encircling and destroying Soviet troops in the areas west of Vyazma and east of Bryansk. Then, with strong mobile groups, it was planned to cover Moscow from the north and south and, in cooperation with the troops advancing from the front, take possession of it.

The German Army Group Center, intended for the offensive, had 1.8 million people, over 14 thousand guns and mortars, 1.7 thousand tanks and 1390 aircraft. Soviet troops numbered 1.25 million people, 7.6 thousand guns and mortars, 990 tanks, 677 aircraft (including reserve air groups).

The Nazi troops began the offensive according to the Typhoon plan on September 30, 1941 in the Bryansk and October 2 in the Vyazma directions. Despite the stubborn resistance of the Soviet troops, the enemy broke through their defenses. On October 6, he entered the area west of Vyazma and encircled there the four armies of the Western and Reserve (October 10 united with the Western) fronts. By their actions in encirclement, these armies pinned down 28 enemy divisions; 14 of them could not continue the offensive until mid-October.

A difficult situation also developed in the Bryansk Front. On October 3, the enemy captured Oryol, and on October 6, Bryansk. On October 7, the front troops were surrounded. Breaking out of encirclement, the armies of the Bryansk Front were forced to retreat. By the end of October, Nazi troops reached the approaches to Tula.

In the Kalinin direction, the enemy launched an offensive on October 10 and captured the city of Kalinin (now Tver) on October 17. In the second half of October, the troops of the Kalinin Front (created on October 17) stopped the advance of the enemy's 9th Army, taking an enveloping position in relation to the left wing of Army Group Center.

By the beginning of November, the front passed along the line of Selizharovo, Kalinin, the Volga Reservoir, along the rivers Ozerna, Nara, Oka and further Tula, Novosil. In mid-November, fighting began on the near approaches to Moscow. They were especially persistent in the Volokolamsk-Istra direction. On November 23, Soviet troops left Klin. The enemy captured Solnechnogorsk, Yakhroma, and Krasnaya Polyana. At the end of November - beginning of December, German troops reached the Moscow-Volga canal, crossed the Nara River north and south of Naro-Fominsk, approached Kashira from the south, and captured Tula from the east. But they didn't go any further. On November 27, in the area of Kashira and on November 29, north of the capital, Soviet troops launched counterattacks on the southern and northern enemy groups, and on December 3-5 - counterattacks in the areas of Yakhroma, Krasnaya Polyana and Kryukov.

By staunch and active defense, the Red Army forced the fascist strike groups to disperse over a huge front, which led to the loss of offensive and maneuver capabilities. Conditions were created for the Soviet troops to launch a counteroffensive. Reserve armies began to move into the zones of the upcoming actions of the Red Army. The idea of the counter-offensive of the Soviet troops was to simultaneously defeat the most dangerous enemy strike forces that threatened Moscow from the north and south. The troops of the Western, Kalinin and right wing of the Southwestern (December 18, 1941 transformed into the Bryansk Front) fronts were involved in the Moscow offensive operation.

The counteroffensive began on December 5 with a strike from the left wing of the Kalinin Front. Conducting intense battles, by January 7, Soviet troops reached the Volga River northwest and east of Rzhev. They advanced 60-120 kilometers in the southern and southwestern directions, taking up an enveloping position in relation to the German troops located in front of the Western Front.

The armies of the right wing of the Western Front, which launched a counteroffensive on December 6, liberated Istra, Klin, Volokolamsk and threw the enemy 90-110 kilometers westward, eliminating the threat of bypassing Moscow from the north. The armies of the left wing of the Western Front launched powerful blows from several directions against the enemy’s 2nd Tank Army, which was deeply wedged into the defenses. The fascist German command, fearing the encirclement of its troops east of Tula, began to withdraw them to the west. By the end of December 16, the immediate threat to Moscow was eliminated from the south.

During the offensive, the right-flank armies of the Southwestern Front liberated up to 400 settlements and liquidated the Yelets ledge on December 17.

Continuing the offensive, by the beginning of January 1942, Soviet troops pushed the enemy back 100-250 kilometers, inflicted heavy damage on 38 divisions, and liberated over 11 thousand settlements.

At the beginning of January 1942, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to launch a general offensive by Soviet troops near Leningrad, as well as in the western and southwestern directions. The troops of the western direction were tasked with encircling and defeating the main forces of Army Group Center.

The offensive, which unfolded over a vast area, was carried out in separate directions, and the fronts began operations at different times and in different conditions. On westward The troops of the Western and Kalinin fronts carried out the Rzhev-Vyazemskaya operation, and the left wing of the North-Western (from January 22 Kalinin) front - the Toropetsko-Kholmskaya operation, as a result of which the Germans were thrown back another 80-250 kilometers from the capital. Soviet troops penetrated deeply into their defenses at the junction of Army Groups North and Center, disrupting operational cooperation between them. However, it was not possible to encircle and destroy the main forces of Army Group Center.

Despite the incompleteness, the general offensive in the western direction achieved significant success. The enemy was thrown back 150-400 kilometers to the west, the Moscow and Tula regions, and many areas of the Kalinin and Smolensk regions were liberated.

The enemy lost more than 500 thousand people, 1.3 thousand tanks, 2.5 thousand guns and other equipment killed, wounded and missing.

Germany suffered its first major defeat in World War II.

In the Battle of Moscow, Soviet troops also suffered significant losses. Irreversible losses amounted to 936,644 people, sanitary losses - 898,689 people.

The outcome of the Battle of Moscow had enormous political and strategic consequences. A psychological turning point occurred among soldiers and civilians: faith in victory strengthened, the myth of the invincibility of the German army was destroyed. The collapse of the plan for a lightning war (Barbarossa) raised doubts about the successful outcome of the war among both the German military-political leadership and ordinary Germans.

The Battle of Moscow was of great international importance: it helped strengthen the anti-Hitler coalition and forced the governments of Japan and Turkey to refrain from entering the war on the side of Germany.

For the exemplary performance of combat missions during the Battle of Moscow and the valor and courage displayed at the same time, about 40 units and formations received the title of Guards, 36 thousand Soviet soldiers were awarded orders and medals, of which 110 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1944, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR established the medal "For the Defense of Moscow", which was awarded to more than one million defenders of the city.

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As part of the third period of the Great Patriotic War and from January 1944 to May 9, 1945, Nazi Germany was defeated. On June 6, 1944, the Second Front was opened. Now Germany was forced to maintain 70-80 divisions on the Western Front.

The main one remained the Soviet-German front. In January 1944, the blockade of Leningrad was finally lifted. Then Ukraine, Belarus, the Karelian Isthmus were liberated, and the liberation of the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe began - Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Austria.

At the Crimean (Yalta) conference in February 1945, I.V. Stalin, F. Roosevelt and W. Churchill coordinated their actions at the final stage of the war. After stubborn battles, on May 8, 1945, the act of unconditional surrender of Germany on behalf of the USSR was signed by Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov. May 9 became Victory Day. On June 24, the Victory Parade took place on Red Square in Moscow.

The last period of the Second World War was the defeat of Japan with the participation of Soviet army. Back in April 1945, the Soviet government denounced the neutrality pact that had been in force since April 1944. The Japanese army was still an impressive force - about 5 million people, including about 2 million in Northeast China (Manchuria) .

The Americans feared that even after using atomic bombs(August 6 on Hiroshima and August 9 on Nagasaki) assault Japanese islands may cost great sacrifices for American army. On August 9, 1945, the USSR began the war against Japan. Within a few days, the resistance of the Kwantung Army was broken; on September 2, 1945, Japan surrendered to the Second World War ended.

Victory in the war was won by the perseverance, dedication, courage and heroism of soldiers and home front workers. None of the warring countries suffered such material and human losses as the USSR. According to updated data, more than 27 million Soviet people died in this war, or 40% of all those killed in the Second World War. Our country has lost 30% of its national wealth. The bulk of people died as a result of the total bombing of our territory and cruel treatment of residents of occupied areas, partisans, and prisoners of war by the invaders. Mortality also increased as a result of the sharp deterioration in living conditions in the Soviet rear, especially for the 10 million evacuees. Most of the 5.7 million Soviet soldiers died in German captivity. Fascism was the main source of all these multimillion-dollar victims.

The losses of the victorious people are immeasurable. The dedication, self-sacrifice, courage and heroism of the generation of winners teach us to do everything to ensure that war never touches our country again.

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Liberation of the territory of the USSR

Since September 1943, the Red Army's offensive was carried out on a wide front (2 thousand km), 9 fronts took part in it.

On September 17, 1943, troops of the Bryansk Front liberated Bryansk and Bezhitsa, and on September 25, units of the Western and Kalinin Fronts expelled the invaders from Smolensk.

During September 1943, units of the North Caucasus Front liberated the northern Caucasus.

In October - November 1943, in the western direction, the forces of the 1st and 2nd Baltic, Belorussian and Western fronts launched an offensive, cutting through enemy forces in Belarus.

By mid-autumn 1944, the USSR border had been restored along almost its entire length.

Battle of Berlin

From mid-1944, operations of Soviet troops began in Eastern Europe. Their goal was the complete defeat of the Nazis and the surrender of Nazi Germany. At the same time, I.V. Stalin hoped in the future to extend Soviet influence to the countries liberated by the Red Army.

In the summer of 1944, the territory of eastern Poland was liberated from German troops. The Soviet fronts were approaching Warsaw. There the German command concentrated extremely significant forces. The attack of the 1st Belorussian Front (K.K. Rokossovsky) south of Warsaw was repulsed. On August 1, an anti-fascist uprising broke out in Warsaw. On September 14, Rokossovsky’s troops took the suburbs of Warsaw, but secured achieved success failed. On October 2, 1944, the leaders of the Warsaw Uprising announced surrender. The Nazis brutally dealt with the Warsaw residents and turned the city into ruins.

The Iasi-Kishinev operation, carried out by the forces of the 2nd (I.S. Konev) and 3rd (R.Ya. Malinovsky) Ukrainian fronts on August 22–29, 1944, made it possible to destroy 22 German divisions, complete the liberation of Moldova and enter Romania . On August 23, 1944, Antonescu's fascist government was overthrown in a popular uprising. King Michael became the head of the state. The Romanian army turned its weapons against the Germans. On August 31, 1944, Bucharest was liberated from the Nazis by the joint actions of Soviet and Romanian troops. On September 12, 1944, the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition signed an armistice with Romania.

The Bulgarian government has repeatedly stated that it is not in a state of war with the USSR. On September 5, 1944, the Soviet leadership announced the beginning of military operations against Bulgaria. However, upon entering the country, the Red Army did not encounter resistance. On September 9, 1944, during a popular uprising, the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia, was liberated from pro-German forces. On September 15, the Red Army entered Sofia. The Bulgarian army joined the war against Germany and Hungary.

In September 1944, a joint offensive was launched by units of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (NOLA) and the Bulgarian army in Yugoslavia. On October 20, the capital of the country, Belgrade, was liberated from the fascist invaders by the forces of the NOLA.

In October 1944, troops of the Ukrainian fronts launched an offensive against Hungary, Germany's last remaining ally. On October 20, 1944, the forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front reached Tissa. In December 1944, the National Government of Hungary was formed in Debrecen. On December 27, 1944, it declared war on Germany.

As a result of the offensive actions of 1944, all German allies were withdrawn from the war. The entire territory of the USSR was finally liberated from the invaders. Hitler's command lost most of its strategic resources.

The Red Army was faced with the task of completing the liberation of Poland and Czechoslovakia and finishing off the enemy on its own territory.

The forces of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian (G.K. Zhukov) fronts succeeded in liberating Poland from fascist troops during the Vistula-Oder operation, which took place from January 12 to February 3, 1945.

On February 3, 1945, Soviet troops reached the Oder, providing favorable conditions for delivering a decisive blow to Berlin. At the end of March - the first half of April 1945, Hungary and the eastern part of Austria were liberated.

From April 16 to May 8, 1945, the final Berlin operation, which was led by marshals G.K. Zhukov, K.K. Rokossovsky and I.S. Konev. On the night of May 8-9, 1945, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany was signed. On May 9, 1945, Soviet troops liberated Prague. With the cessation of hostilities in Europe, the Great Patriotic War ended.

Liberation of the USSR

1944 was the year of complete liberation of the territory of the USSR. During the winter and spring offensive operations of the Red Army, the blockade of Leningrad was completely lifted, the Korsun-Shevchenko enemy group was surrounded and captured, Crimea and most of Ukraine were liberated.
On March 26, troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal I.S. Koneva were the first to reach the state border of the USSR with Romania. On the third anniversary of the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet country, a grandiose Belarusian offensive operation began, which ended with the liberation of a significant part of Soviet land from German occupation. In the fall of 1944, the state border of the USSR was restored along its entire length. Under the blows of the Red Army, the fascist bloc collapsed.

fascist army soviet blockade

The Soviet government officially stated that the entry of the Red Army into the territory of other countries was caused by the need to completely defeat the armed forces of Germany and did not pursue the goal of changing the political structure of these states or violating territorial integrity. Soviet troops had to fight on the territory of many European countries captured by the Germans, from Norway to Austria. Most (600 thousand) Soviet soldiers and officers died and were buried in the territory modern Poland, more than 140 thousand - in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, 26 thousand - in Austria.

The entry of the Red Army on a broad front into Central and South-Eastern Europe immediately raised the question of further relations between the countries of this region and the USSR. On the eve of and during the battles for this vast and vital region, the USSR began to openly support pro-Soviet politicians in these countries - mainly from among the communists. At the same time, the Soviet leadership sought recognition from the United States and England of their special interests in this part of Europe. Given the fact of the presence of Soviet troops there, Churchill in 1944 agreed to the inclusion of all Balkan countries, except Greece, in the sphere of influence of the USSR. In 1944, Stalin achieved the creation of a pro-Soviet government in Poland, parallel to the exile government in London. Of all these countries, only in Yugoslavia did Soviet troops receive strong support from Josip Broz Tito's partisan army. Together with the partisans, on October 20, 1944, the Red Army liberated Belgrade from the enemy.

Together with Soviet troops, the Czechoslovak corps, the Bulgarian army, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia, the 1st and 2nd armies of the Polish Army, and several Romanian units and formations took part in the liberation of their countries. In the summer of 1944, a wide conspiracy - from communists to monarchists - arose for this purpose in Romania. At this time, the Red Army was already fighting on Romanian territory. On August 23, a palace coup took place in Bucharest. The next day, the new government declared war on Germany.

On August 31, Soviet troops entered Bucharest. The Romanian armies joined the Soviet fronts. King Michael later even received the Order of Victory from Moscow (although before that his army fought against the USSR). At the same time, Finland managed to withdraw from the war on fairly honorable terms and signed an armistice on September 19, 1944.

Throughout the war, Bulgaria was an ally of Germany and fought against England and the United States, but it did not declare war on the Soviet Union. September 5, 1944 The Soviet government declared war on Bulgaria, giving the order to launch an offensive, but one of the infantry divisions of the Bulgarian army, forming along the road, met our units with unfurled red banners and solemn music. After some time, the same events occurred in other directions. Spontaneous fraternization between Soviet soldiers and the Bulgarian people began. On the night of September 9, a bloodless coup took place in Bulgaria. A new government came to power in Sofia, under strong communist influence. Bulgaria declared war on Germany.

At the end of August 1944, a popular anti-fascist uprising broke out in Slovakia and units of the 1st Ukrainian Front, which included the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps under the command of General L. Svoboda, were sent to help it. Stubborn fighting began in the Carpathian Mountains region. On October 6, Soviet and Czechoslovak troops entered Czechoslovakia in the area of the Duklinsky Pass. This day is now celebrated as Czechoslovak People's Army Day. Bloody battles lasted until the end of October. Soviet troops failed to completely overcome the Carpathians and connect with the rebels. But gradually the liberation of Eastern Slovakia continued. It involved both the rebels, who went to the mountains and became partisans, and the civilian population. The Soviet command helped them with people, weapons and ammunition.

By October 1944, Germany had only one ally left in Europe - Hungary. On October 15, the country's supreme ruler, Miklos Horthy, also tried to withdraw it from the war, but to no avail. He was arrested by the Germans. After this, Hungary had to fight to the end. Stubborn battles took place for Budapest. Soviet troops managed to take it only on the third attempt, on February 13, 1945. And the last battles in Hungary ended only in April. In February, the Budapest group of Germans was defeated. In the area of Lake Balaton (Hungary), the enemy made a last attempt to go on the offensive, but was defeated. In April, Soviet troops liberated the capital of Austria, Vienna, and in East Prussia captured the city of Königsberg.

The regime of German occupation in Poland was very harsh: during the war, out of 35 million inhabitants, 6 million people died. Nevertheless, from the beginning of the war, a resistance movement called the Home Army (Fatherland Army) operated here. It supported the Polish government in exile. On July 20, 1944, Soviet troops entered Polish territory. A provisional government of the country led by communists, the Committee for National Liberation, was immediately created. The Army of Ludov ("People's Army") was subordinate to him. Together with Soviet troops and units of the Ludovo Army, the Committee moved towards Warsaw. The Home Army strongly opposed this committee's rise to power. Therefore, she tried to liberate Warsaw from the Germans on her own. On August 1, an uprising broke out in the city, in which most of the residents of the Polish capital participated. The Soviet leadership reacted sharply to the uprising negatively. I. Stalin wrote to W. Churchill on August 16: “The Warsaw action represents a reckless, terrible adventure that costs the population great casualties. Given the situation that has arisen, the Soviet command came to the conclusion that it must dissociate itself from the Warsaw adventure, since it cannot bear either direct or indirect responsibility for the Warsaw action." Without supporting the rebels, the Soviet leadership refused to drop them weapons and food from airplanes.

On September 13, Soviet troops reached Warsaw and stopped on the other side of the Vistula. From here they could watch how the Germans mercilessly dealt with the rebels. Now they began to receive assistance by dropping everything they needed from Soviet planes. But the uprising was already dying out. During its suppression, about 18 thousand rebels and 200 thousand civilians of Warsaw were killed. On October 2, the leaders of the Warsaw Uprising decided to surrender. As punishment, the Germans almost completely destroyed Warsaw. Residential buildings were burned or blown up. The surviving residents left the city.

By the beginning of 1945, the Soviet active forces had twice as many soldiers as the opposing enemy, three times as many tanks and self-propelled guns, four times as many guns and mortars, and almost eight times as many combat aircraft. Our aviation reigned supreme in the air. Almost half a million soldiers and officers of its allies fought side by side with the Red Army. All this allowed the Soviet command to simultaneously launch an offensive along the entire front and strike the enemy where it was convenient for us, and when it was beneficial for us.

The winter offensive involved troops from seven fronts - three Belarusian and four Ukrainian. Troops of the 1st and 2nd Baltic Fronts continued to block the enemy grouping in Courland from land. The Baltic Fleet helped ground forces advance along the coast, and the Northern Fleet provided transportation across the Barents Sea. The offensive was scheduled to begin in the second half of January.

But the Soviet command was forced to amend its plan, and here's why. In mid-December 1944, the Nazis suddenly attacked American and British troops in the Ardennes, on the border of Belgium and France, and drove the allied forces 100 km west, towards the sea. The British felt this defeat especially painfully - the situation reminded them of the tragic days of June 1940, when their troops were pinned to the sea in the Dunkirk area. On January 6, Churchill turned to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces, J.V. Stalin, with a request to speed up the Red Army's transition to the offensive in order to ease the situation of the Anglo-American troops. This request was granted, and the Red Army, despite the incompleteness of preparations, launched a general offensive on January 12, 1945 from the shores of the Baltic to the southern spurs of the Carpathians. This was the largest and most powerful offensive of the entire war.

The main blow was delivered by the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts, advancing from the Vistula, south of Warsaw, and moving west to the borders of Germany. These fronts were commanded by Marshals of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov and I.S. Konev. These fronts included 2 million 200 thousand soldiers and officers, more than 32 thousand guns and mortars, about 6,500 tanks and self-propelled artillery units, about 5 thousand combat aircraft. They quickly broke the German resistance and completely destroyed 35 enemy divisions. 25 enemy divisions lost from 50 to 70% of their strength.

The continuous offensive to the west continued for 23 days. Soviet soldiers fought 500 - 600 km. On February 3 they were already on the banks of the Oder. Before them lay the land of Germany, from where the scourge of war came to us. On January 17, Soviet troops entered the Polish capital. The city, turned into ruins, looked completely dead. During the Vistula-Oder operation (February 1945), the territory of Poland was completely cleared of fascist occupiers; the Vistula-Oder operation saved the Allied troops in the Ardennes from defeat, where the Americans lost 40 thousand people.

The Soviet command proposed to arrange negotiations with the underground leadership of the Home Army. However, at the very first meeting, its head, General L. Okulitsky, was arrested. In June 1945, an open trial of the leaders of the Home Army took place in Moscow. As in previous open trials in Moscow, the defendants admitted their guilt and repented of their “anti-Soviet activities.” 12 of them were sentenced to imprisonment.

In mid-January, an equally powerful offensive by troops of the 3rd and 2nd Belorussian Fronts under the command of Army General I.D. launched in East Prussia. Chernyakhovsky and Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky. The Nazis turned East Prussia - a nest of Prussian landowners and the military - into a continuous fortified region with strong reinforced concrete defensive structures. The enemy organized the defense of their cities in advance. He covered the approaches to them with fortifications (by adapting old forts, he built pillboxes, bunkers, trenches, etc.), and inside the cities most of the buildings, including factories, were adapted for defense. Many buildings had an all-round view, others flanked the approaches to them. As a result, many strong strongholds and resistance centers were created, reinforced with barricades, trenches, and traps. If we add to what has been said that the walls of some buildings were not penetrated even by 76-mm shells from ZIS-3 divisional guns, it becomes clear that the Germans were able to provide long-term and stubborn resistance to our advancing troops.

The enemy’s tactics in urban combat boiled down to firmly holding positions (fortified buildings, blocks, streets, alleys), using high-density fire to impede the movement of the attackers towards the target of attack, and if it was lost, using a counterattack from neighboring houses, restore the position, create fire pockets in area of the captured object and thereby inflict defeat on the advancing enemy and disrupt the attack. The garrison of the building (quarter) was quite large, since not only regular Wehrmacht troops, but also militia units (Volkssturm) participated in the defense of the city.

Our soldiers suffered heavy losses. On February 18, the hero of the Great Patriotic War fell on the battlefield, struck by a fragment of an enemy shell, outstanding commander, Commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, Army General I. D. Chernyakhovsky. Step by step, tightening the ring around the encircled German group, our units cleared the entire East Prussia of the enemy in three months of fighting. The assault on Konigsberg began on April 7. This assault was accompanied by unprecedented artillery and air support, for the organization of which the head of the Air Force, Air Marshal Novikov, received a Hero of the Soviet Union. The use of 5,000 guns, including heavy artillery of 203 and 305 (!) mm caliber, as well as 160 mm caliber mortars, and 2,500 aircraft “...destroyed the fortifications of the fortress and demoralized the soldiers and officers. Going out into the street to contact unit headquarters, we did not know where to go, completely losing our bearings, the appearance of such a destroyed and burning city changed” (an eyewitness account from the German side). On April 9, the main fascist fortress, the city of Koenigsberg (now Kaliningrad), capitulated. Almost 100 thousand German soldiers and officers surrendered, tens of thousands were killed.

Meanwhile, in the south of the Soviet-German front, in the area of Budapest liberated by Soviet troops on February 13, 1945, the Nazis unsuccessfully tried to seize the initiative and repeatedly launched counterattacks. On March 6, they even launched a large counteroffensive between Lakes Velence and Lake Balaton, southwest of Budapest. Hitler ordered large tank forces to be transferred here from the Western European front, from the Ardennes. But the Soviet soldiers of the 3rd and 2nd Ukrainian fronts, having repelled fierce attacks from the enemy, resumed the offensive on March 16, liberated Hungary from the Nazis, entered the territory of Austria and on April 13 captured the capital, Vienna.

In February and March, our troops also successfully thwarted the enemy’s attempt to launch a counteroffensive in Eastern Pomerania and drove the Nazis out of this ancient Polish region. From mid-April 1945, troops of the 4th and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts launched the final battles for the liberation of Czechoslovakia. On April 30, the large industrial center of Czechoslovakia, Moravska Ostrava, was liberated. The capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, was liberated on April 4, but the capital of Czechoslovakia, Prague, was still far away. Meanwhile, on May 5, an armed uprising of city residents began in Nazi-occupied Prague.

The Nazis were preparing to drown the uprising in blood. The rebels radioed to allied forces with a call for help. The Soviet command responded to this call. Two tank armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front completed an unprecedented three-hundred-kilometer march from the outskirts of Berlin to Prague over the course of three days. On May 9, they entered the capital of the fraternal people and helped save it from destruction. All troops of the 1st, 4th and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts joined the offensive, which unfolded from Dresden to the Danube. The fascist invaders were completely expelled from Czechoslovakia.

On April 16, the Berlin operation began, ending two weeks later with the hoisting of the red banner over the defeated Reichstag. After the capture of Berlin, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front made a rapid march to the aid of the rebel Prague and on the morning of May 9 entered the streets of the Czechoslovak capital. On the night of May 8-9, 1945, in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, representatives of the German command signed an act of unconditional surrender of all German armed forces. The war in Europe is over.

Liberation of the territory of the USSR and European countries. Liberation of the territory of the USSR. collapse of the fascist bloc

More on topic 5. LIBERATION OF THE USSR TERRITORY. THE DEFEAT OF FASCIST GERMANY. END OF WORLD WAR II (January 1944 – September 2, 1945):

Liberation of the territory of the USSR

Liberation of the USSR