The first major defeat of the Wehrmacht was the defeat of the fascist German troops in the Battle of Moscow (1941-1942), during which the fascist “blitzkrieg” was finally thwarted and the myth of the invincibility of the Wehrmacht was dispelled.
On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a war against the United States with the attack on Pearl Harbor. On December 8, the USA, Great Britain and a number of other countries declared war on Japan. On December 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. The entry of the United States and Japan into the war affected the balance of forces and increased the scale of the armed struggle.
IN North Africa in November 1941 and in January-June 1942, combat operations were carried out with varying success, then until the autumn of 1942 there was a lull. In the Atlantic, German submarines continued to cause great damage to the Allied fleets (by the fall of 1942, the tonnage of sunk ships, mainly in the Atlantic, amounted to over 14 million tons). In the Pacific Ocean, at the beginning of 1942, Japan occupied Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Burma, inflicted a major defeat on the British fleet in the Gulf of Thailand, the Anglo-American-Dutch fleet in the Javanese operation, and established supremacy at sea. The American Navy and Air Force, significantly strengthened by the summer of 1942, defeated the Japanese fleet in naval battles in the Coral Sea (May 7-8) and off Midway Island (June).
Third period of the war (November 19, 1942 - December 31, 1943) began with a counteroffensive by Soviet troops, which ended with the defeat of the 330,000-strong German group during the Battle of Stalingrad (July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943), which marked the beginning of a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War and had a great influence on the further course of the entire Second World War. The mass expulsion of the enemy from the territory of the USSR began. The Battle of Kursk (1943) and the advance to the Dnieper completed a radical turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War. The Battle of the Dnieper (1943) upset the enemy’s plans for waging a protracted war.
At the end of October 1942, when the Wehrmacht was fighting fierce battles on the Soviet-German front, Anglo-American troops intensified military operations in North Africa, conducting the El Alamein operation (1942) and the North African landing operation (1942). In the spring of 1943 they carried out the Tunisian operation. In July-August 1943, Anglo-American troops, taking advantage of the favorable situation (the main forces of the German troops took part in the Battle of Kursk), landed on the island of Sicily and took possession of it.
On July 25, 1943, the fascist regime in Italy collapsed, and on September 3, it concluded a truce with the allies. Italy's withdrawal from the war marked the beginning of the collapse of the fascist bloc. On October 13, Italy declared war on Germany. Nazi troops occupied its territory. In September, the Allies landed in Italy, but were unable to break the defenses of the German troops and suspended active operations in December. In the Pacific and Asia, Japan sought to retain the territories captured in 1941-1942, without weakening the groups on the borders of the USSR. The Allies, having launched an offensive in the Pacific Ocean in the fall of 1942, captured the island of Guadalcanal (February 1943), landed on New Guinea, and liberated the Aleutian Islands.
Fourth period of the war (January 1, 1944 - May 9, 1945) began with a new offensive of the Red Army. As a result of the crushing blows of the Soviet troops, the Nazi invaders were expelled from the Soviet Union. During the subsequent offensive, the USSR Armed Forces carried out a liberation mission against European countries and, with the support of their peoples, played a decisive role in the liberation of Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria and other states. Anglo-American troops landed on June 6, 1944 in Normandy, opening a second front, and began an offensive in Germany. In February, the Crimean (Yalta) Conference (1945) of the leaders of the USSR, USA, and Great Britain took place, which examined issues of the post-war world order and the participation of the USSR in the war with Japan.
In the winter of 1944-1945, on the Western Front, Nazi troops defeated the Allied forces during the Ardennes Operation. To ease the position of the Allies in the Ardennes, at their request, the Red Army began its winter offensive ahead of schedule. Having restored the situation by the end of January, allied forces During the Meuse-Rhine operation (1945), they crossed the Rhine River, and in April they carried out the Ruhr operation (1945), which ended in the encirclement and capture of a large enemy group. During the Northern Italian Operation (1945), the Allied forces, slowly moving north, with the help of Italian partisans, completely captured Italy in early May 1945. In the Pacific theater of operations, the Allies carried out operations to defeat the Japanese fleet, liberated a number of islands occupied by Japan, approached Japan directly and cut off its communications with the countries of Southeast Asia.
In April-May 1945, the Soviet Armed Forces defeated the last groupings of Nazi troops in the Berlin Operation (1945) and the Prague Operation (1945) and met with the Allied forces. The war in Europe is over. On May 8, 1945, Germany unconditionally surrendered. May 9, 1945 became Victory Day over Nazi Germany.
At the Berlin (Potsdam) Conference (1945), the USSR confirmed its agreement to enter the war with Japan. IN political purposes The United States carried out atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945. On August 8, the USSR declared war on Japan and began military operations on August 9. During the Soviet-Japanese War (1945), Soviet troops, having defeated the Japanese Kwantung Army, eliminated the source of aggression in the Far East, liberated Northeast China, North Korea, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, thereby accelerating the end of World War II. On September 2, Japan surrendered. Second world war ended.
The Second World War was the largest military conflict in human history. It lasted 6 years, 110 million people were in the ranks of the Armed Forces. More than 55 million people died in World War II. The Soviet Union suffered the greatest casualties, losing 27 million people. Damage from direct destruction and destruction of material assets on the territory of the USSR amounted to almost 41% of all countries participating in the war.
The material was prepared based on information from open sources
The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) is one of major events in the history of the Russian people, leaving an indelible mark on the soul of every person. In a seemingly short four years, almost 100 million human lives were lost, more than one and a half thousand cities and towns were destroyed, more than 30 thousand industrial enterprises and at least 60 thousand kilometers of roads were disabled. Our state was experiencing a severe shock, which is difficult to comprehend even now, in peacetime. What was the war of 1941-1945 like? What stages can be distinguished during combat operations? And what are the consequences of this terrible event? In this article we will try to find answers to all these questions.
World War II
The Soviet Union was not the first to be attacked by fascist troops. Everyone knows that the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 began only 1.5 years after the start of the world war. So what events started this terrible war, and what military actions were organized by Nazi Germany?
First of all, it is worth mentioning the fact that on August 23, 1939, a non-aggression pact was signed between Germany and the USSR. Along with it, some secret protocols were signed regarding the interests of the USSR and Germany, including the division of Polish territories. Thus, Germany, which had the goal of attacking Poland, protected itself from retaliatory steps by the Soviet leadership and actually made the USSR an accomplice in the division of Poland.
So, on September 1, 39 of the 20th century, fascist invaders attacked Poland. Polish troops did not offer adequate resistance, and already on September 17, the troops of the Soviet Union entered the lands of Eastern Poland. As a result of this, the territories of Western Ukraine and Belarus were annexed to the territory of the Soviet state. On September 28 of the same year, Ribbentrop and V.M. Molotov concluded a treaty of friendship and borders.
Germany failed to achieve the planned blitzkrieg, or lightning-fast outcome of the war. Military operations on the Western Front until May 10, 1940 are called the “strange war”, since no events occurred during this period of time.
Only in the spring of 1940 did Hitler resume his offensive and capture Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. The operation to capture England “Sea Lion” was unsuccessful, and then the “Barbarossa” plan for the USSR was adopted - a plan for the start of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945).
Preparing the USSR for war
Despite the non-aggression pact concluded in 1939, Stalin understood that the USSR would in any case be drawn into a world war. Therefore, the Soviet Union adopted a five-year plan to prepare for it, implemented in the period from 1938 to 1942.
The primary task in preparation for the war of 1941-1945 was the strengthening of the military-industrial complex and the development of heavy industry. Therefore, during this period, numerous thermal and hydroelectric power stations were built (including on the Volga and Kama), coal mines and mines were developed, and oil production increased. Also, great importance was given to the construction of railways and transport hubs.
The construction of backup enterprises was carried out in the eastern part of the country. And costs for the defense industry have increased several times. At this time, new models of military equipment and weapons were also released.
An equally important task was preparing the population for war. Working week now consisted of seven eight-hour days. The size of the Red Army was significantly increased through the introduction of compulsory military service from the age of 18. It was mandatory for workers to receive special education; Criminal liability was introduced for violations of discipline.
However, the actual results did not correspond to those planned by the management, and only in the spring of 1941 an 11-12-hour working day was introduced for workers. And on June 21, 1941 I.V. Stalin gave the order to put the troops on combat readiness, but the order reached the border guards too late.
USSR entry into the war
At dawn on June 22, 1941, fascist troops attacked the Soviet Union without declaring war, and from that moment the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 began.
At noon of the same day, Vyacheslav Molotov spoke on the radio, announcing to Soviet citizens the beginning of the war and the need to resist the enemy. The next day the Top Headquarters was created. High Command, and on June 30 - State. The Defense Committee, which actually received all the power. I.V. became the Chairman of the Committee and Commander-in-Chief. Stalin.
Now let's move on to a brief description of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
Plan Barbarossa
Hitler's Barbarossa plan was as follows: it envisioned the rapid defeat of the Soviet Union with the help of three groups of the German army. The first of them (northern) would attack Leningrad, the second (central) would attack Moscow, and the third (southern) would attack Kyiv. Hitler planned to complete the entire offensive in 6 weeks and reach the Volga strip of Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan. However, the confident rebuff of the Soviet troops did not allow him to carry out a “lightning war.”
Considering the forces of the parties in the war of 1941-1945, we can say that the USSR, although slightly, was inferior to the German army. Germany and its allies had 190 divisions, while the Soviet Union had only 170. 48 thousand German artillery were fielded against 47 thousand Soviet artillery. The size of the opposing armies in both cases was approximately 6 million people. But in terms of the number of tanks and aircraft, the USSR significantly exceeded Germany (in total 17.7 thousand versus 9.3 thousand).
In the early stages of the war, the USSR suffered setbacks due to incorrectly chosen war tactics. Initially, the Soviet leadership planned to wage war on foreign territory, not allowing fascist troops into the territory of the Soviet Union. However, such plans were not successful. Already in July 1941, six Soviet republics, The Red Army lost more than 100 of its divisions. However, Germany also suffered considerable losses: in the first weeks of the war, the enemy lost 100 thousand people and 40% of tanks.
The dynamic resistance of the troops of the Soviet Union led to the breakdown of Hitler's plan for a lightning war. During the Battle of Smolensk (10.07 - 10.09 1945), German troops needed to go on the defensive. In September 1941, the heroic defense of the city of Sevastopol began. But the enemy's main attention was concentrated on the capital of the Soviet Union. Then preparations began for an attack on Moscow and a plan to capture it - Operation Typhoon.
Battle for Moscow
The Battle of Moscow is considered one of the most important events of the Russian war of 1941-1945. Only stubborn resistance and courage of Soviet soldiers allowed the USSR to survive this difficult battle.
On September 30, 1941, German troops launched Operation Typhoon and launched an attack on Moscow. The offensive started successfully for them. The fascist invaders managed to break through the defenses of the USSR, as a result of which, encircling the armies near Vyazma and Bryansk, they captured more than 650 thousand Soviet soldiers. The Red Army suffered significant losses. In October-November 1941, battles took place only 70-100 km from Moscow, which was extremely dangerous for the capital. On October 20, a state of siege was introduced in Moscow.
From the beginning of the battle for the capital, G.K. was appointed commander-in-chief on the Western Front. Zhukov, however, he managed to stop the German advance only by the beginning of November. On November 7, a parade was held on the capital's Red Square, from which the soldiers immediately went to the front.
In mid-November the German offensive began again. During the defense of the capital, the 316th Infantry Division of General I.V. Panfilov, who at the beginning of the offensive repelled several tank attacks from the aggressor.
On December 5-6, the troops of the Soviet Union, having received reinforcements from the Eastern Front, launched a counteroffensive, which marked the transition to a new stage of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. During the counteroffensive, the troops of the Soviet Union defeated almost 40 German divisions. Now the fascist troops were “thrown back” 100-250 km from the capital.
The victory of the USSR significantly influenced the spirit of the soldiers and the entire Russian people. The defeat of Germany made it possible for other countries to begin forming an anti-Hitler coalition of states.
Battle of Stalingrad
The successes of the Soviet troops made a deep impression on the state leaders. I.V. Stalin began to count on a speedy end to the war of 1941-1945. He believed that in the spring of 1942 Germany would repeat an attempt to attack Moscow, so he ordered the main forces of the army to be concentrated on the Western Front. However, Hitler thought differently and was preparing a large-scale attack on south direction.
But before the start of the offensive, Germany planned to capture Crimea and some cities of the Ukrainian Republic. Thus, Soviet troops were defeated on the Kerch Peninsula, and on July 4, 1942 the city of Sevastopol had to be abandoned. Then Kharkov, Donbass and Rostov-on-Don fell; a direct threat to Stalingrad was created. Stalin, who realized his miscalculations too late, issued the order “Not a step back!” on July 28, which formed barrage detachments for unstable divisions.
Until November 18, 1942, the residents of Stalingrad heroically defended their city. Only on November 19 did the USSR troops launch a counteroffensive.
Soviet troops organized three operations: “Uranus” (11/19/1942 - 02/2/1943), “Saturn” (12/16/30/1942) and “Ring” (11/10/1942 - 02/2/1943). What was each of them?
The Uranus plan envisaged the encirclement of fascist troops from three fronts: the Stalingrad front (commander - Eremenko), the Don Front (Rokossovsky) and the Southwestern Front (Vatutin). Soviet troops planned to meet on November 23 in the city of Kalach-on-Don and give the Germans an organized battle.
Operation Little Saturn was aimed at protecting oil fields located in the Caucasus. Operation Ring in February 1943 was the final plan of the Soviet command. Soviet troops were supposed to close a “ring” around the enemy army and defeat his forces.
As a result, on February 2, 1943, the enemy group surrounded by USSR troops surrendered. The commander-in-chief of the German army, Friedrich Paulus, was also captured. The victory at Stalingrad led to a radical change in the history of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Now the strategic initiative was in the hands of the Red Army.
Battle of Kursk
The next most important stage of the war was the Battle of Kursk, which lasted from July 5 to August 23, 1943. The German command adopted the “Citadel” plan, aimed at encircling and defeating the Soviet army on the Kursk Bulge.
In response to the enemy’s plan, the Soviet command planned two operations, and it was supposed to begin with active defense, and then bring down all the forces of the main and reserve troops on the Germans.
Operation Kutuzov was a plan to attack German troops from the north (the city of Orel). Sokolovsky was appointed commander of the Western Front, Rokossovsky of the Central Front, and Popov of the Bryansk Front. Already on July 5, Rokossovsky struck the first blow against the enemy army, beating his attack by only a few minutes.
On July 12, the troops of the Soviet Union launched a counteroffensive, marking a turning point in the Battle of Kursk. On August 5, Belgorod and Orel were liberated by the Red Army. From August 3 to 23, Soviet troops carried out an operation to completely defeat the enemy - “Commander Rumyantsev” (commanders - Konev and Vatutin). It represented a Soviet offensive in the Belgorod and Kharkov area. The enemy suffered another defeat, losing more than 500 thousand soldiers.
The Red Army troops managed to liberate Kharkov, Donbass, Bryansk and Smolensk in a short period of time. In November 1943, the siege of Kyiv was lifted. The war of 1941-1945 was nearing its end.
Defense of Leningrad
One of the most terrible and heroic pages of the Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and our entire history is the selfless defense of Leningrad.
The siege of Leningrad began in September 1941, when the city was cut off from food sources. Its most terrible period was the very cold winter of 1941-1942. The only way to salvation was the Road of Life, which was laid on the ice of Lake Ladoga. At the initial stage of the blockade (until May 1942), under constant enemy bombing, Soviet troops managed to deliver more than 250 thousand tons of food to Leningrad and evacuate about 1 million people.
For better understanding To see what hardships the residents of Leningrad suffered, we recommend watching this video.
Only in January 1943 the enemy blockade was partially broken, and the supply of food, medicine, and weapons to the city began. A year later, in January 1944, the blockade of Leningrad was completely lifted.
Plan "Bagration"
From June 23 to August 29, 1944, USSR troops carried out the main operation on the Belarusian front. It was one of the largest in the entire Great Patriotic War (WWII) of 1941-1945.
The goal of Operation Bagration was the final destruction of the enemy army and the liberation of Soviet territories from fascist invaders. Fascist troops in the areas of individual cities were defeated. Belarus, Lithuania and part of Poland were liberated from the enemy.
The Soviet command planned to begin liberating the peoples of European states from German troops.
Conferences
On November 28, 1943, a conference was held in Tehran, which brought together the leaders of the Big Three countries - Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill. The conference set dates for the opening of the Second Front in Normandy and confirmed the Soviet Union's commitment to enter the war with Japan after the final liberation of Europe and defeat the Japanese army.
The next conference was held on February 4-11, 1944 in Yalta (Crimea). The leaders of the three states discussed the conditions of occupation and demilitarization of Germany, negotiated the convening of the founding UN conference and the adoption of the Declaration of a Liberated Europe.
The Potsdam Conference took place on July 17, 1945. The leader of the USA was Truman, and K. Attlee spoke on behalf of Great Britain (from July 28). At the conference, new borders in Europe were discussed, and a decision was made on the size of reparations from Germany in favor of the USSR. At the same time, already at the Potsdam Conference, the preconditions for the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union were outlined.
End of World War II
According to the requirements discussed at conferences with representatives of the Big Three countries, on August 8, 1945, the USSR declared war on Japan. The USSR Army dealt a powerful blow to the Kwantung Army.
In less than three weeks, Soviet troops under the leadership of Marshal Vasilevsky managed to defeat the main forces of the Japanese army. On September 2, 1945, the Instrument of Surrender of Japan was signed on the American ship Missouri. The Second World War has ended.
Consequences
The consequences of the war of 1941-1945 are extremely diverse. Firstly, the military forces of the aggressors were defeated. The defeat of Germany and its allies meant the collapse of dictatorial regimes in Europe.
The Soviet Union ended the war as one of the two superpowers (along with the United States), and the Soviet army was recognized as the most powerful in the entire world.
In addition to the positive results, there were also incredible losses. The Soviet Union lost approximately 70 million people in the war. The state's economy was at a very low level. Major cities of the USSR suffered terrible losses, taking the strongest blows from the enemy. The USSR was faced with the task of restoring and confirming its status as the world's greatest superpower.
It is difficult to give a definite answer to the question: “What was the war of 1941-1945?” The main task of the Russian people is to never forget about the greatest exploits of our ancestors and to celebrate with pride and “with tears in our eyes” the main holiday for Russia - Victory Day.
From 1939 to 1945, the world was engulfed in brutal military battles called World War II. Within its framework, a particularly serious confrontation between Germany and the USSR is highlighted, which has received a separate name. Our article briefly talks about the Great Patriotic War.
Prerequisites for the beginning
At the beginning of World War II, the USSR maintained a neutral position, using Germany's actions to its advantage: the weakening of England, France and Germany itself. In addition, on August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union agreed to sign a Non-Aggression Pact with the Germans. Germany accepted all the conditions of the Russians, supplementing the agreement with a secret protocol on the redistribution of Eastern Europe.
The leadership of the countries understood that this agreement does not guarantee, but reduces the risk of hostilities between them. Hitler hoped in this way to keep the USSR from concluding an alliance with Great Britain and France and prematurely entering the war. Although he himself planned in advance to seize the Union after the victory in Europe.
Stalin was dissatisfied with the removal of the USSR from resolving issues of world politics and the British delaying the conclusion of an alliance, and the agreement with Germany made it possible to almost unhinderedly annex the Baltic states and Bessarabia to Russia.
04/02/2009 The European Parliament by a majority vote approved August 23 as the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, equating all acts of aggression by both regimes with war crimes.
In October 1940, Germany, having learned that England was counting on Russia's help in the war, invited the USSR to join the Axis countries. Stalin put forward to Hitler a condition according to which Finland, Romania, Greece, and Bulgaria would have to withdraw to the USSR. Germany was categorically against this and stopped negotiations with the Union.
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In November, Hitler approved the previously developed plan for attacking the USSR and found other allies (Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania).
Although the USSR as a whole was preparing for war, Germany, violating the treaty, attacked suddenly, without an official announcement (it took place after the fact). It is the day of the attack, June 22, 1941, that is considered the date of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.
Rice. 1. German invasion of the USSR.
Periods of war
Having developed the Barbarossa plan (attack operation), Germany hoped to capture Russia during 1941, but, despite the weak readiness of the Soviet troops and their defeat in the initial period of the Second World War, Hitler received not a quick victory, but a protracted war. Slovakia, Romania, Italy, and Hungary took the side of Germany.
The entire course of military operations is conventionally divided into the following stages:
- First (June 1941-November 1942): the beginning of armed clashes along the Soviet border; German breakthroughs that brought defeat to Soviet troops in three defensive operations; resumption of war with Finland, which recaptured its lands. Defeat of German troops in the Moscow direction. Siege of Leningrad;
- Second (radical change, November 1942-December 1943): victory of Soviet troops in the southern direction (Stalingrad offensive operation); liberation of the North Caucasus, breaking the Leningrad blockade. Defeat of the Germans in large-scale battles near Kursk and on the banks of the Dnieper;
- Third (January 1944-May 1945): liberation of Right Bank Ukraine; lifting the Leningrad blockade; reconquest of Crimea, the rest of Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, the Arctic, and the northern part of Norway. The Soviet army is pushing the Germans beyond its borders. The attack on Berlin, during which Soviet troops met with American troops on the Elbe on April 25, 1945. Berlin was captured on May 2, 1945.
Rice. 2. Battle of Kursk.
Results
The main results of the armed confrontation between the USSR and Germany:
- The end of the war in favor of the USSR: 05/09/1945 Germany announced surrender;
- Release of those captured European countries, overthrow of the Nazi regime;
- The USSR expanded its territories, strengthened its army, political and economic influence, becoming one of the world leaders;
- Negative result: huge loss of life, serious destruction.
By June 1941, the Second World War, having drawn about 30 states into its orbit, came close to the borders of the Soviet Union. There was no force in the West that could stop the army of Nazi Germany, which by that time had already occupied 12 European states. The next military-political goal - the main one in its significance - was the defeat of the Soviet Union for Germany.
Deciding to start a war with the USSR and relying on “lightning speed,” the German leadership intended to complete it by the winter of 1941. In accordance with the Barbarossa plan, a gigantic armada of selected, well-trained and armed troops was deployed at the borders of the USSR. The German General Staff did main bet to the crushing power of a sudden first strike, the rapidity of the rush of concentrated forces of aviation, tanks and infantry to the vital political and economic centers of the country.
Having completed the concentration of troops, Germany attacked our country early in the morning of June 22, without declaring war, unleashing a barrage of fire and metal. The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union against the Nazi invaders began.
For 1418 long days and nights, the peoples of the USSR walked towards victory. This path was incredibly difficult. Our Motherland has fully experienced both the bitterness of defeat and the joy of victory. The initial period was especially difficult.
Invasion of German troops on Soviet territory
While a new day was breaking in the east - June 22, 1941, the shortest night of the year was still ongoing on the western border of the Soviet Union. And no one could even imagine that this day would be the beginning of the bloodiest war that would last four long years. The headquarters of the German army groups concentrated on the border with the USSR received the pre-arranged signal “Dortmund”, which meant to begin the invasion.
Soviet intelligence discovered the preparations the day before, which the headquarters of the border military districts immediately reported to the General Staff of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA). Thus, the chief of staff of the Baltic Special Military District, General P.S. Klenov reported at 22:00 on June 21 that the Germans had completed the construction of bridges across the Neman, and the civilian population was ordered to evacuate at least 20 km from the border, “there is talk that the troops have received orders to take their starting position for the offensive.” Chief of Staff of the Western Special Military District, Major General V.E. Klimovskikh reported that the German wire fences that had stood along the border during the day had been removed by evening, and the noise of engines could be heard in the forest located not far from the border.
In the evening, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR V.M. Molotov invited the German Ambassador Schulenburg and told him that Germany, without any reason, was worsening relations with the USSR every day. Despite repeated protests from the Soviet side, German planes continue to invade its airspace. There are persistent rumors about an impending war between our countries. The Soviet government has every reason to believe this, because the German leadership did not react in any way to the TASS report of June 14. Schulenburg promised to immediately report the claims he had heard to his government. However, on his part, this was just an ordinary diplomatic excuse, because the German ambassador was well aware that the Wehrmacht troops were on full alert and were just waiting for a signal to move east.
With the onset of dusk on June 21, the Chief of the General Staff, Army General G.K. Zhukov received a call from the Chief of Staff of the Kyiv Special Military District, General M.A. Purkaev reported on a German defector who said that at dawn the next day the German army would start a war against the USSR. G.K. Zhukov immediately reported this to I.V. Stalin and People's Commissar of Defense Marshal S.K. Tymoshenko. Stalin summoned Timoshenko and Zhukov to the Kremlin and, after an exchange of views, ordered a report on the draft directive prepared by the General Staff on bringing the troops of the western border districts to combat readiness. Only late in the evening, after receiving an encrypted message from one of the residents of Soviet intelligence, who reported that the coming night there would be a decision, this decision is war, adding another point to the draft directive read to him that the troops should in no case succumb to possible provocations, Stalin allowed it to be sent to the districts.
The main meaning of this document was that it warned the Leningrad, Baltic, Western, Kiev and Odessa military districts about a possible attack by the aggressor on June 22-23 and demanded “to be in full combat readiness to meet a sudden attack by the Germans or their allies.” On the night of June 22, the districts were ordered to secretly occupy fortified areas on the border, by dawn to disperse all aviation to field airfields and camouflage it, to keep troops dispersed, to bring air defense to combat readiness without additionally raising assigned personnel, and to prepare cities and objects for darkening . Directive No. 1 categorically prohibited holding any other events without special permission.
The transmission of this document ended only at half past one in the morning, and the entire long journey from the General Staff to the districts, and then to the armies, corps and divisions as a whole took more than four hours of precious time.
Order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 1 of June 22, 1941 TsAMO.F. 208.Op. 2513.D.71.L.69.
At dawn on June 22, at 3:15 a.m. (Moscow time), thousands of guns and mortars of the German army opened fire on border outposts and the location of Soviet troops. German planes rushed to bomb important targets along the entire border strip - from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea. Many cities were subjected to air raids. To achieve surprise, the bombers flew over the Soviet border in all sectors simultaneously. The first strikes hit precisely the locations where Soviet aircraft were based. the latest types, control points, ports, warehouses, railway junctions. Massive enemy air strikes disrupted the organized exit of the first echelon of border districts to the state border. Aviation, concentrated at permanent airfields, suffered irreparable losses: on the first day of the war, 1,200 Soviet aircraft were destroyed, most of them not even having time to take off. However, contrary to this, in the first 24 hours the Soviet Air Force flew about 6 thousand sorties and destroyed over 200 German aircraft in air battles.
The first reports of the invasion of German troops into Soviet territory came from border guards. In Moscow, at the General Staff, information about the flight of enemy aircraft across the western border of the USSR was received at 3:07 am. At about 4 o'clock in the morning, Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army G.K. Zhukov called I.V. Stalin and reported what had happened. At the same time, already in open text, the General Staff informed the headquarters of military districts, armies and formations about the German attack.
Upon learning of the attack, I.V. Stalin convened senior military, party and government officials for a meeting. At 5:45 a.m. S.K. arrived in his office. Timoshenko, G.K. Zhukov, V.M. Molotov, L.P. Beria and L.Z. Mehlis. By 7:15 a.m., Directive No. 2 was developed, which, on behalf of the People's Commissar of Defense, demanded:
"1. The troops are to attack enemy forces with all their might and means and destroy them in areas where they have violated the Soviet border. Do not cross the border until further notice.
2. Using reconnaissance and combat aircraft to establish the concentration areas of enemy aircraft and the grouping of their ground forces. Using powerful strikes from bomber and attack aircraft, destroy aircraft at enemy airfields and bomb the main groupings of his ground forces. Air strikes should be carried out to a depth of 100-150 km on German territory. Bomb Koenigsberg and Memel. Do not carry out raids on the territory of Finland and Romania until special instructions are given.”
The prohibition to cross the border, in addition to limiting the depth of air strikes, indicates that Stalin still did not believe that a “big war” had begun. Only by noon, members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks - Molotov, Malenkov, Voroshilov, Beria - prepared the text of a statement by the Soviet government, which Molotov made on the radio at 12:15 p.m.
Radio speech by the Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars
and People's Commissioner for Foreign Affairs
Molotova V.M. dated June 22, 1941 TsAMO. F. 135, Op. 12798. D. 1. L.1.
At the meeting in the Kremlin, the most important decisions were made, which laid the foundation for turning the entire country into a single military camp. They were formalized as decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR: on the mobilization of those liable for military service in all military districts, with the exception of Central Asian and Transbaikal, as well as the Far East, where the Far Eastern Front existed since 1938; on the introduction of martial law in most of the European territory of the USSR - from the Arkhangelsk region to the Krasnodar region.
Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on martial law
and on approval of the Regulations on Military Tribunals
dated June 22, 1941 TsAMO. F. 135, Op. 12798. D. 1. L.2.
Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on mobilization by military districts.
Reports of the Main Command of the Red Army for June 22-23, 1941.
TsAMO. F. 135, Op. 12798. D. 1. L.3.
On the morning of the same day, First Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (SNK) of the USSR N.A. Voznesensky, having gathered the people's commissars responsible for the main industries, gave orders provided for by the mobilization plans. Then no one even thought that the outbreak of war would very soon ruin everything planned, that it would be necessary to urgently evacuate industrial enterprises to the east and create there, essentially anew, a military industry.
The majority of the population learned about the beginning of the war from Molotov’s speech on the radio. This unexpected news deeply shocked people and caused concern for the fate of the Motherland. The normal course of life was suddenly disrupted, not only were plans for the future upset, but there was a real danger to the lives of family and friends. At the direction of Soviet and party bodies, rallies and meetings were held at enterprises, institutions, and collective farms. The speakers condemned the German attack on the USSR and expressed their readiness to defend the Fatherland. Many immediately applied for voluntary enlistment in the army and asked to be immediately sent to the front.
The German attack on the USSR was not only a new stage in the life of the Soviet people, to one degree or another it affected the peoples of other countries, especially those who were soon to become its main allies or opponents.
The government and people of Great Britain immediately breathed a sigh of relief: the war in the east would, at least for some time, delay the German invasion of the British Isles. So, Germany has another, and quite serious, enemy; this would inevitably weaken it, and therefore, the British reasoned, the USSR should immediately be considered as its ally in the fight against the aggressor. This is precisely what Prime Minister Churchill expressed when he spoke on the radio on the evening of June 22 regarding another German attack. “Any person or state that fights against Nazism,” he said, “will receive our help... This is our policy, this is our statement. It follows that we will provide Russia and the Russian people with all the help we can... Hitler wants to destroy the Russian state because, if successful, he hopes to recall the main forces of his army and air force from the east and throw them at our island.”
The US leadership made an official statement on June 23. On behalf of the government, it was read out by Acting Secretary of State S. Welles. The statement emphasized that any rallying of forces against Hitlerism, regardless of their origin, would hasten the fall of the German leaders, and Hitler’s army now represented the main danger to the American continent. The next day, President Roosevelt said at a press conference that the United States was pleased to welcome another opponent of Nazism and intended to provide assistance to the Soviet Union.
About the beginning new war the population of Germany learned from the Fuhrer’s address to the people, which on June 22 at 5:30 a.m. was read on the radio by Propaganda Minister J. Goebbels. Following him, Foreign Minister Ribbentrop spoke with a special memorandum, which listed the accusations against the Soviet Union. It goes without saying that Germany, as in its previous aggressive actions, placed all the blame for starting the war on the USSR. In his address to the people, Hitler did not forget to mention the “conspiracy of Jews and democrats, Bolsheviks and reactionaries” against the Reich, the concentration on the borders of 160 Soviet divisions, which allegedly threatened not only Germany, but also Finland and Romania for many weeks. All this, they say, forced the Fuhrer to undertake an “act of self-defense” in order to secure the country, “save European civilization and culture."
The extreme complexity of the rapidly changing situation, the high mobility and maneuverability of military operations, the stunning power of the first strikes of the Wehrmacht showed that the Soviet military-political leadership did not have effective system troop control. As previously planned, the leadership of the troops was carried out by the People's Commissar of Defense, Marshal Timoshenko. However, without Stalin he could not solve practically any issue.
On June 23, 1941, the Headquarters of the Main Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR was created, consisting of: People's Commissar of Defense Marshal Timoshenko (chairman), Chief of the General Staff Zhukov, Stalin, Molotov, Marshal Voroshilov, Marshal Budyonny and People's Commissar Navy Admiral Kuznetsov.
At Headquarters, an institute of permanent advisers to Headquarters was organized consisting of Marshal Kulik, Marshal Shaposhnikov, Meretskov, Chief of the Air Force Zhigarev, Vatutin, Chief of Air Defense Voronov, Mikoyan, Kaganovich, Beria, Voznesensky, Zhdanov, Malenkov, Mehlis.
This composition allowed the Headquarters to quickly solve all tasks related to the leadership of the armed struggle. However, there were two commanders-in-chief: Timoshenko - the legal one, who, without Stalin’s sanction, did not have the right to give orders to the army in the field, and Stalin - the actual one. This not only complicated command and control of troops, but also led to belated decisions in the rapidly changing situation at the front.
Events on the Western Front
From the first day of the war, the most alarming situation arose in Belarus, where the Wehrmacht delivered the main blow with its most powerful formation - the troops of Army Group Center under the command of Field Marshal Bock. But the Western Front that opposed it (commander General D.G. Pavlov, member of the Military Council, corps commissar A.F. Fominykh, chief of staff, General V.E. Klimovskikh) had considerable forces (Table 1).
Table 1
The balance of forces in the Western Front at the beginning of the war
|
Strengths and means |
Western Front * |
Army Group "Center" (without 3 tgr)** |
Ratio |
|
Personnel, thousand people |
|||
|
Tanks, units |
|||
|
Combat aircraft, units |
*Only working equipment is taken into account.
** Until June 25, the 3rd Tank Group (tgr) operated in the North-Western Front.
In general, the Western Front was slightly inferior to the enemy in guns and combat aircraft, but significantly superior to it in tanks. Unfortunately, the first echelon of the covering armies was planned to have only 13 rifle divisions, while the enemy concentrated 28 divisions in the first echelon, including 4 tank divisions.
Events in the Western Front unfolded in the most tragically. Even during the artillery preparation, the Germans captured bridges across the Western Bug, including in the Brest area. The assault groups were the first to cross the border with the task of literally capturing the border outposts within half an hour. However, the enemy miscalculated: there was not a single border post that would not offer him stubborn resistance. The border guards fought to the death. The Germans had to bring the main forces of the divisions into battle.
Fierce fighting broke out in the skies over the border areas. The front pilots fought a fierce battle, trying to wrest the initiative from the enemy and prevent him from seizing air superiority. However, this task turned out to be impossible. Indeed, on the very first day of the war, the Western Front lost 738 combat vehicles, which amounted to almost 40% of the aircraft fleet. In addition, the enemy pilots had a clear advantage in both skill and quality of equipment.
The belated exit to meet the advancing enemy forced the Soviet troops to enter the battle on the move, in parts. They failed to reach the prepared lines in the directions of the aggressor’s attacks, which means they did not succeed in creating a continuous defense front. Having encountered resistance, the enemy quickly bypassed the Soviet units, attacked them from the flanks and rear, and tried to advance their tank divisions as far in depth as possible. The situation was aggravated by sabotage groups dropped by parachute, as well as machine gunners on motorcycles who rushed to the rear, knocking out communication lines, capturing bridges, airfields, and other military installations. Small groups of motorcyclists fired indiscriminately from machine guns to create the appearance of encirclement among the defenders. With ignorance of the general situation and loss of control, their actions disrupted the stability of the defense of the Soviet troops, causing panic.
Many rifle divisions of the first echelon of armies were dismembered from the very first hours, some found themselves surrounded. Communication with them was interrupted. By 7 o'clock in the morning, the headquarters of the Western Front had no wire communication even with the armies.
When the front headquarters received the directive of People's Commissar No. 2, the rifle divisions were already drawn into battle. Although the mechanized corps began to advance to the border, but due to their great distance from the enemy’s breakthrough areas, communication breakdowns, and German air supremacy, they “attacked the enemy with all their might” and destroyed his strike forces, as required by the order of the People’s Commissar, Soviet troops, Naturally, they couldn't.
A serious threat arose on the northern front of the Bialystok ledge, where the 3rd Army of General V.I. operated. Kuznetsova. Continuously bombarding the army headquarters located in Grodno, the enemy disabled all communications centers by mid-day. It was not possible to contact either the front headquarters or the neighbors for the whole day. Meanwhile, the infantry divisions of the 9th German Army had already managed to push back Kuznetsov’s right-flank formations to the southeast.
On the southern face of the ledge, where the 4th Army led by General A.A. took the battle. Korobkov, the enemy had three to four times superiority. Management was broken here too. Not having time to occupy the planned defense lines, the army's rifle formations began to retreat under the attacks of Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group.
Their withdrawal put the formations of the 10th Army, located in the center of the Bialystok bulge, in a difficult position. From the very beginning of the invasion, the front headquarters had no contact with her. Pavlov had no choice but to send his deputy General I.V. by plane to Bialystok, to the headquarters of the 10th Army. Boldin with the task of establishing the position of the troops and organizing a counterattack in the Grodno direction, which was provided for in the wartime plan. During the entire first day of the war, the command of the Western Front did not receive a single report from the armies.
And Moscow did not receive objective information about the situation at the fronts throughout the entire day, although it sent its representatives there in the afternoon. To clarify the situation and help General Pavlov, Stalin sent the largest group to the Western Front. It included Deputy People's Commissar of Defense Marshals B.M. Shaposhnikov and G.I. Kulik, as well as Deputy Chief of the General Staff General V.D. Sokolovsky and the head of the operational department, General G.K. Malandin. However, it was not possible to identify the actual situation both on this front and on others, and to understand the situation. This is evidenced by the operational report of the General Staff for 22 hours. “German regular troops,” it stated, “during June 22, fought with the USSR border units, having little success in certain directions. In the afternoon, with the approach of the advanced units of the field troops of the Red Army, attacks by German troops along the predominant length of our border were repulsed with losses to the enemy.”
Based on reports from the fronts, the People's Commissar of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff concluded that most of the fighting was taking place near the border, and the largest enemy groups were the Suwalki and Lublin groups, and the further course of the battles would depend on their actions. The powerful German group that was striking from the Brest area was clearly underestimated by the Soviet High Command because of the disorienting reports of the Western Front headquarters; however, it was also not oriented in the general air situation.
Believing that there were quite enough forces for a retaliatory strike, and guided by the pre-war plan in case of war with Germany, the People's Commissar of Defense signed Directive No. 3 at 21:15. The troops of the Western Front were ordered to cooperate with the North-Western Front, restraining the enemy in the Warsaw direction, with powerful counterattacks to the flank and rear, destroy his Suwalki group and, by the end of June 24, capture the Suwalki area. The next day, together with the troops of other fronts, it was necessary to go on the offensive and defeat the strike force of Army Group Center. Such a plan not only did not correspond to the true situation, but also prevented the troops of the Western Front from creating a defense. Pavlov and his headquarters, having received Directive No. 3 late at night, began preparations for its implementation, although it was simply unthinkable to do this in the hours remaining before dawn, and even in the absence of communication with the armies.
On the morning of June 23, the commander decided to launch a counterattack in the direction of Grodno, Suwalki with the forces of the 6th and 11th mechanized corps, as well as the 36th cavalry division, uniting them into a group under the command of his deputy, General Boldin. Units of the 3rd Army were also to participate in the planned counterattack. Note that this decision was absolutely unrealistic: the formations of the 3rd Army operating in the direction of the counterattack continued to retreat, the 11th mechanized corps fought intense battles on a wide front, the 6th mechanized corps was too far from the counterattack area - 60-70 km, and further from Grodno there was the 36th Cavalry Division.
General Boldin had at his disposal only part of the forces of the 6th Mechanized Corps of General M.G. Khatskilevich and then only by noon on June 23. Considered rightfully the most equipped in the Red Army, this corps had 1022 tanks, including 352 KB and T-34. However, during the advance, being under constant attacks from enemy aircraft, he suffered significant losses.
Fierce fighting broke out near Grodno. After the capture of Grodno by the enemy, the 11th mechanized corps of General D.K. was introduced into the battle. Mostovenko. Before the war, it consisted of only 243 tanks. In addition, in the first two days of fighting, the corps suffered significant losses. However, on June 24, formations of Boldin’s group, with the support of front-line aviation and the 3rd Long-Range Bomber Corps of Colonel N.S. The Skripkos managed to achieve some success.
Field Marshal Bock sent the main forces of the 2nd Air Fleet against the Soviet troops launching a counterattack. German planes continuously hovered over the battlefield, depriving units of the 3rd Army and the Boldin group of the possibility of any maneuver. Heavy fighting near Grodno continued the next day, but the strength of the tankers quickly dried up. The enemy brought up anti-tank and anti-aircraft artillery, as well as an infantry division. Nevertheless, Boldin’s group managed to pin down significant enemy forces to the Grodno region for two days and inflict significant damage on them. The counterattack eased, although not for long, the position of the 3rd Army. But they failed to wrest the initiative from the enemy, and the mechanized corps suffered huge losses.
Hoth's Panzer Group deeply enveloped Kuznetsov's 3rd Army from the north, and formations of General Strauss's 9th Army attacked it from the front. Already on June 23, the 3rd Army had to retreat beyond the Neman to avoid encirclement.
The 4th Army of General A.A. found itself in extremely difficult conditions. Korobkova. Guderian's tank group and the main forces of the 4th Army, advancing from Brest in the northeast direction, cut the troops of this army into two unequal parts. Fulfilling the front directive, Korobkov was also preparing a counterattack. However, he managed to assemble only parts of the tank divisions of the 14th mechanized corps of General S.I. Oborin, and the remnants of the 6th and 42nd rifle divisions. And they were opposed by almost two tank and two infantry divisions of the enemy. The forces turned out to be too unequal. The 14th Mechanized Corps suffered heavy losses. The rifle divisions were also bled dry. The oncoming battle ended in favor of the enemy.
The gap with the troops of the North-Western Front on the right wing, where the Hoth tank group rushed, and the difficult situation on the left wing, where the 4th Army was retreating, created a threat of deep coverage of the entire Bialystok group from both the north and the south.
General Pavlov decided to strengthen the 4th Army with the 47th Rifle Corps. At the same time, the 17th Mechanized Corps (63 tanks in total, divisions with 20-25 guns and 4 anti-aircraft guns each) was transferred from the front reserve to the river. Sharu to create a defense there. However, they failed to create a strong defense along the river. Enemy tank divisions crossed it and on June 25 approached Baranovichi.
The position of the troops on the Western Front became increasingly critical. Of particular concern was the northern wing, where an unprotected gap of 130 km had formed. The Hoth tank group, rushing into this gap, was removed from the command of the commander of the 9th Army by Field Marshal Bock. Having received freedom of action, Hoth sent one of his corps to Vilnius, and the other two to Minsk and bypassing the city from the north, in order to connect with the 2nd Panzer Group. The main forces of the 9th Army were turned to the south, and the 4th - to the north, in the direction of the confluence of the Shchara and Neman rivers, to dissect the surrounded group. The threat of complete disaster loomed over the troops of the Western Front.
General Pavlov saw a way out of the situation by delaying the advance of the 3rd Panzer Group of Hoth with reserve formations united by the command of the 13th Army; three divisions, the 21st Rifle Corps, the 50th Rifle Division and the retreating troops were transferred to the army ; and at the same time, with the forces of Boldin’s group, continue to launch a counterattack on Gotha’s flank.
Before the 13th Army of General P.M. Filatov to concentrate his forces, and most importantly, to put in order the troops retreating from the border, including the 5th Tank Division of the North-Western Front, as enemy tanks burst into the army headquarters. The Germans captured most of the vehicles, including those with encryption documents. The army command returned to its troops only on June 26.
The position of the troops on the Western Front continued to deteriorate. Marshal B.M. Shaposhnikov, who was at the front headquarters in Mogilev, turned to Headquarters with a request to immediately withdraw the troops. Moscow allowed the withdrawal. However, it is already too late.
For the withdrawal of the 3rd and 10th armies, deeply bypassed by the tank groups of Hoth and Guderian from the north and south, a corridor no more than 60 km wide remained. Advancing off-road (all roads were occupied by German troops), under continuous attacks from enemy aircraft, with an almost complete absence of vehicles, and in dire need of ammunition and fuel, the formations could not tear themselves away from the advancing enemy.
On June 25, Headquarters formed a group of reserve armies of the High Command, led by Marshal S.M. Budyonny as part of the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd armies. Their formations, which began advancing on May 13, arrived from the North Caucasus, Oryol, Kharkov, Volga, Ural and Moscow military districts and concentrated in the rear of the Western Front. Marshal Budyonny received the task of starting to prepare a defensive line along the line Nevel, Mogilev and further along the Desna and Dnieper rivers to Kremenchug; at the same time “to be ready, on the special instructions of the High Command, to launch a counteroffensive.” However, on June 27, the Headquarters abandoned the idea of a counteroffensive and ordered Budyonny to urgently occupy and firmly defend the line along the Western Dvina and Dnieper rivers, from Kraslava to Loev, preventing the enemy from breaking through to Moscow. At the same time, the troops of the 16th Army, and from July 1, the 19th Army, which had arrived in Ukraine before the war, were rapidly transferred to the Smolensk region. All this meant that the Soviet command finally abandoned offensive plans and decided to switch to strategic defense, shifting the main efforts to the western direction.
On June 26, Hoth's tank divisions approached the Minsk fortified area. The next day, Guderian's advanced units reached the approaches to the capital of Belarus. Units of the 13th Army defended here. Fierce fighting began. At the same time, the city was bombed by German aircraft; fires started, water supply, sewerage, power lines, telephone communications failed, but most importantly, thousands of civilians died. However, the defenders of Minsk continued to resist.
The defense of Minsk is one of the brightest pages in the history of the Great Patriotic War. The forces were too unequal. The Soviet troops were in dire need of ammunition, and to transport them there was not enough transport or fuel; moreover, some of the warehouses had to be blown up, the rest were captured by the enemy. The enemy stubbornly rushed towards Minsk from the north and south. At 16:00 on June 28, units of the 20th Panzer Division of the Gotha Group, having broken the resistance of the 2nd Rifle Corps of General A.N. Ermakov, burst into Minsk from the north, and the next day the 18th Panzer Division from Guderian’s group rushed towards from the south. By evening, the German divisions united and closed the encirclement. Only the main forces of the 13th Army managed to retreat to the east. A day earlier, the infantry divisions of the 9th and 4th German armies linked up east of Bialystok, cutting off the retreat routes of the 3rd and 10th Soviet armies. The surrounded group of troops of the Western Front was cut into several parts.
Almost three dozen divisions fell into the cauldron. Deprived of centralized control and supplies, they, however, fought until July 8. On the internal front of the encirclement, Bock had to hold first 21 and then 25 divisions, which amounted to almost half of all the troops of Army Group Center. On the external front, only eight of its divisions continued to advance towards the Berezina, and even the 53rd Army Corps acted against the 75th Soviet Rifle Division.
Exhausted by continuous battles, difficult treks through forests and swamps, without food and rest, those surrounded were losing their last strength. The reports of Army Group Center reported that as of July 2, in the area of Bialystok and Volkovysk alone, 116 thousand people were captured, 1,505 guns, 1,964 tanks and armored vehicles, and 327 aircraft were destroyed or captured as trophies. The prisoners of war were kept in appalling conditions. They were located in rooms unequipped for living, often directly in the open air. Every day, hundreds of people died from exhaustion and epidemics. Those who were weakened were mercilessly destroyed.
Until September, the soldiers of the Western Front emerged from encirclement. At the end of the month towards the river. The remnants of the 13th Mechanized Corps, led by their commander, General P.N., left Sozh. Akhlyustin. 1,667 people, of which 103 were wounded, were brought out by the deputy front commander, General Boldin. Many who were unable to escape the encirclement began to fight the enemy in the ranks of partisans and underground fighters.
From the first days of the occupation, in areas where the enemy appeared, resistance from the masses began to arise. However, it unfolded slowly, especially in the western regions of the country, including Western Belarus, whose population was merged into the USSR only a year before the start of the war. At first, mainly sabotage and reconnaissance groups sent from behind the front line, many military personnel who were surrounded, and partly local residents began to operate here.
On June 29, on the 8th day of the war, a directive was adopted by the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks to party and Soviet organizations in the front-line regions, which, along with other measures to transform the country into a single military camp to provide nationwide resistance to the enemy, contained instructions on the deployment of the underground and the partisan movement, organizational forms, goals and objectives of the struggle were determined.
Of great importance for the organization of partisan warfare behind enemy lines was the appeal of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army dated July 15, 1941, “To military personnel fighting behind enemy lines,” issued in the form of a leaflet and scattered from airplanes over the occupied territory. In it, the activities of Soviet soldiers behind the front line were assessed as a continuation of their combat mission. The military personnel were encouraged to switch to guerrilla warfare methods. This leaflet-appeal helped many encircled people find their place in the common struggle against the invaders.
The fighting was already far from the border, and the garrison of the Brest Fortress was still fighting. After the withdrawal of the main forces, part of the units of the 42nd and 6th Infantry Divisions, the 33rd Engineer Regiment and the border outpost remained here. The advancing units of the 45th and 31st Infantry Divisions were supported by siege artillery fire. Having barely recovered from the first stunning blow, the garrison took up the defense of the citadel with the intention of fighting to the end. The heroic defense of Brest began. Guderian recalled after the war: “The garrison of the important Brest fortress defended itself especially fiercely, holding out for several days, blocking the railway and highways leading through the Western Bug to Mukhavets.” True, for some reason the general forgot that the garrison held out not for several days, but for about a month - until July 20.
By the end of June 1941, the enemy had advanced to a depth of 400 km. The troops of the Western Front suffered heavy losses in men, equipment and weapons. The front air forces lost 1,483 aircraft. The formations that remained outside the encirclement fought in a zone over 400 km wide. The front was in dire need of replenishment, but it could not even get what it was supposed to be fully equipped according to the pre-war plan in case of mobilization. It was disrupted as a result of the rapid advance of the enemy, an extremely limited number of vehicles, disruption of railway transport and general organizational confusion.
By the end of June, the Soviet military-political leadership realized that to repel aggression it was necessary to mobilize all the country's forces. For this purpose, on June 30, an emergency body was created - the State Defense Committee (GKO), headed by Stalin. All power in the state was concentrated in the hands of the State Defense Committee. His decisions and orders, which had the force of wartime laws, were subject to unquestioning implementation by all citizens, party, Soviet, Komsomol and military bodies. Each GKO member was responsible for a specific area (ammunition, aircraft, tanks, food, transport, etc.).
The country continued to mobilize military personnel from 1905 to 1918. birth into the army and navy. In the first eight days of the war, 5.3 million people were drafted into the armed forces. 234 thousand cars and 31.5 thousand tractors were sent from the national economy to the front.
Headquarters continued to take emergency measures to restore the strategic front in Belarus. Army General D.G. Pavlov was removed from command of the Western Front and tried by a military tribunal. Marshal S.K. was appointed the new commander. Tymoshenko. On July 1, the Headquarters transferred the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd armies to the Western Front. Essentially, a new defense front was being formed. The 16th Army was concentrated in the rear of the front, in the Smolensk region. The transformed Western Front now consisted of 48 divisions and 4 mechanized corps, but by July 1, the defense on the line of the Western Dvina and the Dnieper was occupied by only 10 divisions.
The resistance of Soviet troops encircled near Minsk forced the command of Army Group Center to disperse its formations to a depth of 400 km, with the field armies falling far behind the tank groups. In order to more clearly coordinate the efforts of the 2nd and 3rd tank groups to capture the Smolensk region and with the further attack on Moscow, Field Marshal Bock on July 3 united both groups into the 4th Panzer Army, led by the command of the 4th Field Army Kluge. The infantry formations of the former 4th Army were united by the control of the 2nd Army (it was in the reserve of the High Command of the Wehrmacht Ground Forces - OKH), under the command of General Weichs, to eliminate the Soviet units surrounded west of Minsk.
Meanwhile, fierce battles took place between the Berezina, Western Dvina and Dnieper rivers. By July 10, enemy troops crossed the Western Dvina and reached Vitebsk and the Dnieper south and north of Mogilev.
One of the first strategic defensive operations of the Red Army, which later received the name Belarusian, ended. In 18 days, the troops of the Western Front suffered a crushing defeat. Of the 44 divisions that were originally part of the front, 24 were completely lost, the remaining 20 lost from 30 to 90% of their strength. Total losses - 417,790 people, including irrecoverable - 341,073 people, 4,799 tanks, 9,427 guns and mortars and 1,777 combat aircraft. Leaving almost all of Belarus, the troops retreated to a depth of 600 km.
Defense of the Northwestern Front and the Baltic Fleet
With the outbreak of the war, the Baltic states also became the scene of dramatic events. The Northwestern Front defending here under the command of General F.I. Kuznetsov was significantly weaker than the fronts operating in Belarus and Ukraine, since it had only three armies and two mechanized corps. Meanwhile, the aggressor concentrated large forces in this direction (Table 2). In the first strike against the North-Western Front, not only Army Group North under the command of Field Marshal W. Leeb took part, but also the 3rd Panzer Group from the neighboring Army Group Center, i.e. Kuznetsov’s troops were opposed by two German tank groups out of four.
Table 2
The balance of forces in the Northwestern Front at the beginning of the war
|
Strengths and means |
Northwestern |
Army group |
Ratio |
|
"North" and 3 Tgr |
|||
|
Personnel, thousand people |
|||
|
Guns and mortars (without 50 mm), units. |
|||
|
Tanks,** units |
|||
|
Combat aircraft**, units |
* Without Baltic Fleet forces
**Only serviceable ones are taken into account
Already on the first day of the war, the defenses of the Northwestern Front were split. Tank wedges made significant holes in it.
Due to the systematic disruption of communications, the front and army commanders were unable to organize command and control of the troops. The troops suffered heavy losses, but could not stop the advance of the tank groups. In the zone of the 11th Army, the 3rd Tank Group rushed to the bridges across the Neman. And although specially designated demolition teams were on duty here, enemy tanks also slipped across the bridges along with the retreating army units. “For the 3rd Panzer Group,” wrote its commander, General Hoth, “it was a great surprise that all three bridges across the Neman, the capture of which was part of the group’s task, were captured intact.”
Having crossed the Neman, Hoth's tanks rushed towards Vilnius, but encountered desperate resistance. By the end of the day, the formations of the 11th Army were dismembered into pieces. A large gap opened up between the North-Western and Western fronts, and there was nothing to close it.
During the first day, German formations penetrated to a depth of 60 km. While the enemy's deep penetration required vigorous response measures, both the front command and the army command showed obvious passivity.
Order of the Military Council of the Baltic Special Military District No. 05 of June 22, 1941
TsAMO. F. 221. Op. 1362. D. 5, volume 1. L. 2.
On the evening of June 22, General Kuznetsov received directive from People's Commissar No. 3, in which the front was ordered: “While firmly holding the Baltic Sea coast, launch a powerful counterattack from the Kaunas area to the flank and rear of the enemy’s Suwalki group, destroy it in cooperation with the Western Front and capture the area by the end of June 24 Suwalki."
However, even before receiving the directive, at 10 o’clock in the morning, General Kuznetsov gave the order to the armies and mechanized corps to launch a counterattack against the enemy’s Tilsit group. Therefore, the troops carried out his order, and the commander decided not to change tasks, essentially failing to fulfill the requirements of Directive No. 3.
Six divisions were to attack Gepner's tank group and restore the situation along the border. Against 123 thousand soldiers and officers, 1800 guns and mortars, more than 600 enemy tanks, Kuznetsov planned to field about 56 thousand people, 980 guns and mortars, 950 tanks (mostly light ones).
However, a simultaneous strike did not work: after a long march, the formations entered the battle on the move, most often in scattered groups. With an acute shortage of ammunition, artillery did not provide reliable support to the tanks. The task remained unfinished. The divisions, having lost a significant part of their tanks, withdrew from the battle on the night of June 24.
At dawn on June 24, the fighting flared up with renewed vigor. On both sides, more than 1 thousand tanks, about 2,700 guns and mortars, and more than 175 thousand soldiers and officers took part in them. Parts of the right flank of Reinhardt's 41st Motorized Corps were forced to go on the defensive.
An attempt to resume the counterattack the next day came down to hasty, poorly coordinated actions, moreover, on a wide front, with poor management organization. Instead of launching concentrated attacks, corps commanders were ordered to act in “small columns in order to disperse enemy aircraft.” The tank formations suffered huge losses: only 35 tanks remained in both divisions of the 12th Mechanized Corps.
If, as a result of the counterattack, it was possible to delay for some time the advance of Reinhardt’s 41st motorized corps in the Siauliai direction, then Manstein’s 56th corps, bypassing the counterattacking formations from the south, was able to make a swift rush to Daugavpils.
The position of the 11th Army was tragic: it found itself squeezed between the 3rd and 4th tank groups. The main forces of the 8th Army were more fortunate: they remained aloof from the enemy's armored fist and retreated north in a relatively orderly manner. Cooperation between the armies was weak. The supply of ammunition and fuel has almost completely stopped. The situation required decisive measures to eliminate the enemy breakthrough. However, having no reserves and having lost control, the front command could not prevent the retreat and restore the situation.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht ground forces, Field Marshal Brauchitsch, ordered the 3rd Panzer Group Hoth to turn southeast, towards Minsk, as provided for by the Barbarossa plan, so from June 25 it acted against the Western Front. Taking advantage of the gap between the 8th and 11th Armies, the 56th Motorized Corps of the 4th Tank Group rushed to the Western Dvina, cutting off the rear communications of the 11th Army.
The Military Council of the Northwestern Front considered it expedient to withdraw formations of the 8th and 11th armies to the line along the Venta, Shushva, and Viliya rivers. However, on the night of June 25, he made a new decision: to launch a counterattack with the 16th Rifle Corps of General M.M. Ivanov to return Kaunas, although the logic of events required the withdrawal of units beyond the river. Vilia. Initially, General Ivanov's corps had partial success, but he was unable to complete the task, and the divisions retreated to their original position.
In general, the front troops did not complete the main task - to detain the aggressor in the border zone. Attempts to eliminate deep penetrations of German tanks in the most important directions also failed. The troops of the Northwestern Front were unable to hold on to intermediate lines and rolled back further and further to the northeast.
Military operations in the northwestern direction unfolded not only on land, but also at sea, where the Baltic Fleet was subjected to attacks from enemy aircraft from the very first days of the war. By order of the fleet commander, Vice Admiral V.F. Tributa, on the night of June 23, the installation of minefields began at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland, and the next day the same barriers began to be created in the Irben Strait. Increased mining of fairways and approaches to bases, as well as the dominance of enemy aviation and the threat to bases from land, fettered the forces of the Baltic Fleet. Dominance at sea passed to the enemy for a long time.
During the general withdrawal of the troops of the North-Western Front, the enemy met stubborn resistance at the walls of Liepaja. The German command planned to capture this city no later than the second day of the war. Against a small garrison consisting of units of the 67th Infantry Division of General N.A. Dedayev and the naval base of Captain 1st Rank M.S. Klevensky, the 291st Infantry Division operated with the support of tanks, artillery and marines. Only on June 24 did the Germans blockade the city from land and sea. The residents of Liepaja, led by the defense headquarters, fought alongside the troops. Only by order of the command of the North-Western Front on the night of June 27 and 28, the defenders left Liepaja and began to make their way to the east.
On June 25, the North-Western Front received the task of withdrawing troops and organizing defense along the Western Dvina, where the 21st Mechanized Corps of General D.D. was moving forward from the Headquarters reserve. Lelyushenko. During the withdrawal, the troops found themselves in a difficult situation: after an unsuccessful counterattack, the command of the 3rd Mechanized Corps, led by General A.V. Kurkin and the 2nd Tank Division, left without fuel, found themselves surrounded. According to the enemy, over 200 tanks, more than 150 guns, as well as several hundred trucks and cars were captured and destroyed here. From the 3rd Mechanized Corps, only one 84th Motorized Division remained, and the 12th Mechanized Corps, out of 750 tanks, lost 600.
The 11th Army found itself in a difficult position. Moving beyond the river Viliy was hampered by enemy aircraft, which were destroying the crossings. There was a threat of encirclement, and the transfer of troops to the other side progressed very slowly. Having not received help, General Morozov decided to retreat to the northeast, but only on June 27 it became clear that the enemy, who had captured Daugavpils the day before, had cut off this route as well. Only the eastern direction remained free, through forests and swamps to Polotsk, where, on June 30, the remnants of the army entered the strip of the neighboring Western Front.
Field Marshal Leeb's troops quickly advanced deep into the Baltic territory. Organized resistance was provided to them by the army of General P.P. Sobennikova. The defense line of the 11th Army remained uncovered, which Manstein immediately took advantage of, sending the shortest route to the Western Dvina its 56th motorized corps.
In order to stabilize the situation, the troops of the Northwestern Front needed to gain a foothold on the line of the Western Dvina. Unfortunately, the 21st Mechanized Corps, which was supposed to defend here, had not yet reached the river. The formations of the 27th Army also failed to take up defensive positions in a timely manner. And the main goal of Army Group North at that moment was precisely the breakthrough to the Western Dvina with the direction of the main attack on Daugavpils and to the north.
On the morning of June 26, the German 8th Panzer Division approached Daugavpils and captured the bridge over the Western Dvina. The division rushed into the city, creating a very important bridgehead for the development of the offensive on Leningrad.
Southeast of Riga, on the night of June 29, the advance detachment of General Reinhardt's 41st Motorized Corps crossed the Western Dvina at Jekabpils on the move. And the next day, the advanced units of the 1st and 26th Army Corps of the 18th German Army broke into Riga and captured bridges across the river. However, a decisive counterattack by the 10th Rifle Corps of General I.I. Fadeev, the enemy was knocked out, which ensured the systematic withdrawal of the 8th Army through the city. On July 1, the Germans recaptured Riga.
Back on June 29, the Headquarters ordered the commander of the Northwestern Front, simultaneously with the organization of defense along the Western Dvina, to prepare and occupy the line along the river. Great, while relying on the fortified areas that existed there in Pskov and Ostrov. The 41st Rifle and 1st Mechanized Corps, as well as the 234th Rifle Division, moved there from the reserves of Headquarters and the Northern Front.
Instead of generals F.I. Kuznetsova and P.M. Klenov, on July 4, generals P.P. were appointed. Sobennikov and N.F. Vatutin.
On the morning of July 2, the enemy struck at the junction of the 8th and 27th armies and broke through in the direction of Ostrov and Pskov. The threat of an enemy breakthrough to Leningrad forced the command of the Northern Front to create the Luga Task Force to cover the southwestern approaches to the city on the Neva.
By the end of July 3, the enemy captured Gulbene in the rear of the 8th Army, depriving it of the opportunity to retreat to the river. Great. The army, which General F.S. had just taken command of. Ivanov, was forced to retreat north to Estonia. A gap opened between the 8th and 27th armies, where formations of the enemy’s 4th Tank Group rushed. The next morning, the 1st Panzer Division reached the southern outskirts of the Island and crossed the river on the move. Great. Attempts to throw it away were unsuccessful. On July 6, the Germans completely captured Ostrov and rushed north to Pskov. Three days later, the Germans broke into the city. There was a real threat of a German breakthrough to Leningrad.
In general, the first defensive operation of the North-Western Front ended in failure. During three weeks of fighting, his troops retreated to a depth of 450 km, leaving almost the entire Baltic region. The front lost over 90 thousand people, more than 1 thousand tanks, 4 thousand guns and mortars and more than 1 thousand aircraft. His command failed to create a defense capable of repelling the attack of the aggressor. The troops were unable to gain a foothold even on such barriers as advantageous for defense as pp. Neman, Western Dvina, Velikaya.
The situation at sea was also difficult. With the loss of bases in Liepaja and Riga, the ships moved to Tallinn, where they were subjected to constant severe bombing by German aircraft. And at the beginning of July, the fleet had to come to grips with organizing the defense of Leningrad from the sea.
Border battles in the area of the Southwestern and Southern fronts. Actions of the Black Sea Fleet
Southwestern Front, commanded by General M.P. Kirponos was the most powerful group of Soviet troops concentrated near the borders of the USSR. The German Army Group South, under the command of Field Marshal K. Rundstedt, was tasked with destroying Soviet troops in Right Bank Ukraine, preventing them from retreating beyond the Dnieper.
The Southwestern Front had enough strength to give the aggressor a worthy rebuff (Table 3). However, the very first day of the war showed that these opportunities could not be realized. From the first minute, formations, headquarters, and airfields were subjected to powerful air strikes, and the air force was never able to provide adequate counteraction.
General M.P. Kirponos decided to launch two strikes on the flanks of the main enemy group - from the north and south, each with the help of three mechanized corps, which had a total of 3.7 thousand tanks. General Zhukov, who arrived at front headquarters on the evening of June 22, approved his decision. Organizing a frontal counterattack took three days, and before that only part of the forces of the 15th and 22nd mechanized corps managed to advance and attack the enemy, and the only forward detachment of the 10th tank division operated in the 15th mechanized corps. An oncoming battle broke out east of Vladimir-Volynsky. The enemy was detained, but soon he rushed forward again, forcing the counterattackers to retreat beyond the river. Styr, in the Lutsk region.
The 4th and 8th mechanized corps could play a decisive role in defeating the enemy. They had over 1.7 thousand tanks. The 4th Mechanized Corps was considered especially strong: it had 414 vehicles at its disposal only with new KB and T-34 tanks. However, the mechanized corps was fragmented into parts. His divisions operated in different directions. By the morning of June 26, the 8th Mechanized Corps of General D.I. Ryabysheva went to Brody. Of the 858 tanks, barely half remained; the other half fell behind on the almost 500-kilometer route due to various breakdowns.
At the same time, mechanized corps were being concentrated to launch a counterattack from the north. The 41st Tank Division, the strongest in the 22nd Mechanized Corps, was partly assigned to rifle divisions and did not take part in the frontal counterattack. The 9th and 19th mechanized corps, which advanced from the east, had to cover 200-250 km. Both of them numbered only 564 tanks, and even those were of old types.
And at this time, rifle formations fought stubborn battles, trying to detain the enemy. On June 24, in the 5th Army zone, the enemy managed to encircle two rifle divisions. A 70-kilometer gap was formed in the defense, using which German tank divisions rushed to Lutsk and Berestechko. The surrounded Soviet troops defended stubbornly. For six days the units fought their way to their own. Only about 200 people remained from the division's two rifle regiments that were surrounded. Exhausted from continuous fighting, they retained their battle flags.
The soldiers of the 6th Army also defended themselves staunchly in the Rava-Russian direction. Field Marshal Rundstedt assumed that after the capture of Rava-Russkaya, the 14th Motorized Corps would be introduced into the battle. According to his calculations, this should have happened by the morning of June 23. But all of Rundstedt’s plans were thwarted by the 41st Division. Despite the fierce fire of German artillery and massive bomber strikes, the division's regiments, together with the battalions of the Rava-Russian fortified area and the 91st border detachment, held back the advance of the 4th Army Corps of the 17th Army for five days. The division left its positions only on the orders of the army commander. On the night of June 27, she retreated to the line east of Rava-Russkaya.
The 12th Army of General P.G. defended on the left wing of the Southwestern Front. Monday. After the transfer of the 17th Rifle and 16th Mechanized Corps to the newly created Southern Front, the only rifle corps left was the 13th. It covered a 300-kilometer section of the border with Hungary. For now there was silence here.
Intense battles took place not only on the ground, but also in the air. True, the front’s fighter aircraft were unable to reliably cover the airfields. In the first three days of the war alone, the enemy destroyed 234 aircraft on the ground. Bomber aircraft were also used ineffectively. With 587 bombers, front-line aviation made only 463 sorties during this time. The reason is unstable communications, lack of proper interaction between combined arms and aviation headquarters, and remoteness of airfields.
On the evening of June 25, the 6th Army of Field Marshal W. Reichenau crossed the river on the 70-kilometer stretch from Lutsk to Berestechko. Styr, and the 11th Panzer Division, having broken away from the main forces by almost 40 km, captured Dubno.
On June 26, the 8th mechanized corps entered the battle from the south, and the 9th and 19th from the northeast. General Ryabyshev's corps advanced 10-12 km from Broda to Berestechko. However, his success could not be supported by other connections. The main reason for the uncoordinated actions of the mechanized corps was the lack of unified leadership of this powerful tank group on the part of the front command.
The actions of the 9th and 19th mechanized corps turned out to be more successful, despite the smaller forces. They were included in the 5th Army. There was also an operational group headed by the first deputy front commander, General F.S. Ivanov, who coordinated the actions of the formations.
On the afternoon of June 26, the corps finally attacked the enemy. Overcoming enemy resistance, the corps, commanded by General N.V. Feklenko, together with the rifle division, reached Dubno by the end of the day. Operating to the right was the 9th Mechanized Corps of General K.K. Rokossovsky turned around along the Rovno-Lutsk road and entered into battle with the enemy’s 14th Tank Division. He stopped her, but could not advance a single step.
An oncoming tank battle unfolded near Berestechko, Lutsk and Dubno - the largest since the beginning of World War II in terms of the number of forces participating in it. About 2 thousand tanks collided on both sides in an area up to 70 km wide. Hundreds of planes were fighting fiercely in the sky.
The counterattack of the Southwestern Front delayed the advance of Kleist’s group for some time. In general, Kirponos himself believed that the border battle was lost. The deep penetration of German tanks in the Dubno area created the danger of a strike to the rear of the armies that continued to fight in the Lvov salient. The front's Military Council decided to withdraw the troops to a new defensive line, which it reported to Headquarters, and, without waiting for Moscow's consent, gave the armies the appropriate orders. However, the Headquarters did not approve of Kirponos’ decision and demanded that counterattacks be resumed. The commander had to cancel his own orders that had just been given, which the troops had already begun to carry out.
The 8th and 15th mechanized corps barely had time to leave the battle, and then a new order came: stop the retreat and strike in a northeast direction, to the rear of the divisions of the enemy’s 1st tank group. There was not enough time to organize the strike.
Despite all these difficulties, the battle flared up with renewed vigor. The troops in stubborn battles in the Dubno area, near Lutsk and Rivne until June 30 pinned down the 6th Army and the enemy tank group. German troops were forced to maneuver in search of weak points. The 11th Tank Division, covering itself with part of its forces from the attack of the 19th Mechanized Corps, turned to the southeast and captured Ostrog. But it was still stopped by a group of troops created on the initiative of the commander of the 16th Army, General M.F. Lukina. These were mainly army units that did not have time to embark on trains to be sent to Smolensk, as well as the 213th motorized division of Colonel V.M. Osminsky from the 19th Mechanized Corps, whose infantry, lacking transport, lagged behind the tanks.
The soldiers of the 8th Mechanized Corps tried with all their might to break out of the encirclement, first through Dubno, and then in a northern direction. The lack of communication did not allow us to coordinate our own actions with neighboring connections. The mechanized corps suffered heavy losses: many soldiers died, including the commander of the 12th Tank Division, General T.A. Mishanin.
The command of the Southwestern Front, fearing encirclement of the armies defending in the Lviv ledge, decided on the night of June 27 to begin a systematic retreat. By the end of June 30, Soviet troops, leaving Lvov, occupied a new line of defense, 30-40 km east of the city. On the same day, the vanguard battalions of the mobile corps of Hungary went on the offensive, which declared war on the USSR on June 27.
On June 30, Kirponos received the task: by July 9, using fortified areas on the state border of 1939, “to organize a stubborn defense with field troops, highlighting primarily artillery anti-tank weapons.”
Korostensky, Novograd-Volynsky and Letichevsky fortified areas, built back in the 1930s 50-100 km east of the old state border, were put on combat readiness with the beginning of the war and, reinforced with rifle units, could become a serious obstacle to the enemy. True, in the system of fortified areas there were gaps reaching 30-40 km.
In eight days, the front troops had to withdraw 200 km into the interior of the territory. Particular difficulties befell the 26th and 12th armies, which faced the longest journey, and with the constant threat of an enemy attack in the rear, from the north, by formations of the 17th Army and the 1st Tank Group.
To prevent the advance of the Kleist group and gain time to withdraw its troops, the 5th Army launched a counterattack on its flank from the north with the forces of two corps, which in previous battles had exhausted their forces to the limit: in the divisions of the 27th Rifle Corps there were about 1.5 thousand people, and the 22nd mechanized corps had only 153 tanks. There was not enough ammunition. The counterattack was prepared hastily, the attack was carried out on a hundred-kilometer front and at different times. However, the fact that the attack fell on the rear of the tank group gave a significant advantage. Mackensen's corps was delayed for two days, which made it easier for Kirponos' troops to exit the battle.
The troops retreated with heavy losses. A significant part of the equipment had to be destroyed, since even a minor malfunction could not be eliminated due to the lack of repair tools. In the 22nd Mechanized Corps alone, 58 faulty tanks were blown up.
On July 6 and 7, enemy tank divisions reached the Novograd-Volyn fortified area, the defense of which was to be strengthened by the retreating formations of the 6th Army. Instead, some units of the 5th Army were able to get here. Here, Colonel Blank’s group, which had escaped from the encirclement, went on the defensive, created from the remnants of two divisions - a total of 2.5 thousand people. For two days the units of the fortified area and this group held back the enemy onslaught. On July 7, Kleist's tank divisions captured Berdichev, and a day later - Novograd-Volynsk. Following the tank group on July 10, the infantry divisions of the 6th Army of Reichenau bypassed the fortified area from the north and south. It was not possible to stop the enemy at the old state border either.
The breakthrough in the Berdichev direction caused particular concern, as it created a threat to the rear of the main forces of the Southwestern Front. Through joint efforts, formations of the 6th Army, 16th and 15th Mechanized Corps held back the enemy's onslaught until July 15.
To the north, the enemy's 13th Tank Division captured Zhitomir on July 9. Although the 5th Army tried to delay the rapid rush of enemy tanks, the approaching infantry divisions repelled all its attacks. In two days, German tank formations advanced 110 km and on July 11 approached the Kyiv fortified area. Only here, on the defensive line created by the garrison troops and the population of the capital of Ukraine, was the enemy finally stopped.
Played a big role in repelling the enemy’s attack militia. Already on July 8, 19 detachments with a total number of about 30 thousand people were formed in Kyiv, and in the Kyiv region as a whole, over 90 thousand people joined the ranks of the militia. An 85,000-strong volunteer corps was created in Kharkov, a corps of five divisions total number 50 thousand militias are in Dnepropetrovsk.
Not as dramatic as in Ukraine, the war began in Moldova, where the border with Romania along the Prut and Danube was covered by the 9th Army. Opposed to it were the 11th German, 3rd and 4th Romanian armies, which had the task of pinning down the Soviet troops and, under favorable conditions, going on the offensive. In the meantime, Romanian formations sought to seize bridgeheads on the eastern bank of the Prut. Fierce fighting broke out here in the first two days. Not without difficulty, the bridgeheads, except for one in the Skulyan area, were liquidated by Soviet troops.
Military actions also flared up in the Black Sea. At 3 hours 15 minutes on June 22, enemy aircraft carried out raids on Sevastopol and Izmail, and artillery shelled settlements and ships on the Danube. Already on the night of June 23, fleet aviation took retaliatory measures by raiding the military installations of Constanta and Sulina. And on June 26, a strike on this port of Constanta was carried out by a specially created strike group of the Black Sea Fleet, consisting of the leaders “Kharkov” and “Moscow”. They were supported by the cruiser Voroshilov and the destroyers Soobrazitelny and Smyshleny. The ships fired 350 130-mm caliber shells. However, the 280-mm German battery returned fire from the leader “Moskva”, which, while retreating, hit a mine and sank. At this time, enemy aircraft damaged the leader of the Kharkov.
On June 25, the Southern Front was created from the troops operating on the border with Romania. In addition to the 9th, it included the 18th Army, formed from troops transferred from the Southwestern Front. The directorate of the new front was created on the basis of the headquarters of the Moscow Military District, headed by its commander, General I.V. Tyulenev and Chief of Staff General G.D. Shishenin. The commander and his staff in the new place faced enormous difficulties, primarily due to the fact that they were completely unfamiliar with the theater of military operations. In his first directive, Tyulenev set the front troops the task: “Defend the state border with Romania. If the enemy crosses and flies into our territory, destroy him with active actions of ground troops and aviation and be ready for decisive offensive actions.”
Considering the success of the offensive in Ukraine and the fact that Soviet troops in Moldova held their positions, Field Marshal Rundstedt decided to encircle and destroy the main forces of the Southern and Southern Western fronts.
The offensive of German-Romanian troops against the Southern Front began on July 2. In the morning, shock groups attacked formations of the 9th Army in two narrow sectors. The main blow from the Iasi area was delivered by four infantry divisions at the junction of the rifle divisions. Another blow by two infantry divisions and a cavalry brigade hit one rifle regiment. Having achieved decisive superiority, the enemy broke through the poorly prepared defenses on the river on the first day. The rod is to a depth of 8-10 km.
Without waiting for a decision from Headquarters, Tyulenev ordered the troops to begin withdrawing. However, the High Command not only canceled it, on July 7 Tyulenev received an order to push the enemy back beyond the Prut with a counterattack. Only the 18th Army, which was adjacent to the Southwestern Front, was allowed to withdraw.
The undertaken counterattack managed to delay the advance of the 11th German and 4th Romanian armies operating in the Chisinau direction.
The situation on the Southern Front was temporarily stabilized. The enemy's delay allowed the 18th Army to withdraw and occupy the Mogilev-Podolsk fortified area, and the 9th Army managed to gain a foothold west of the Dniester. On July 6, its left-flank formations remaining in the lower reaches of the Prut and Danube were united into the Primorsky Group of Forces under the command of General N.E. Chibisova. Together with the Danube military flotilla, they repelled all attempts by Romanian troops to cross the border of the USSR.
The defensive operation in Western Ukraine (later it became known as the Lvov-Chernivtsi strategic defensive operation) ended in the defeat of the Soviet troops. The depth of their retreat ranged from 60-80 to 300-350 km. Northern Bukovina and Western Ukraine were abandoned, the enemy reached Kyiv. Although the defense in Ukraine and Moldova, unlike the Baltic states and Belarus, still retained some stability, the fronts of the South-Western strategic direction were unable to use their numerical superiority to repel the attacks of the aggressor and were ultimately defeated. By July 6, the casualties of the Southwestern Front and the 18th Army of the Southern Front amounted to 241,594 people, including irrevocable losses - 172,323 people. They lost 4,381 tanks, 1,218 combat aircraft, 5,806 guns and mortars. The balance of forces changed in favor of the enemy. Possessing the initiative and retaining offensive capabilities, Army Group South was preparing a strike from the area west of Kyiv to the south to the rear of the Southwestern and Southern fronts.
The tragic outcome of the initial period of the war and the transition to strategic defense
The initial period of the Great Patriotic War, which lasted from June 22 to mid-July, was associated with serious failures of the Soviet Armed Forces. The enemy achieved major operational and strategic results. His troops advanced 300-600 km deep into Soviet territory. Under enemy pressure, the Red Army was forced to retreat almost everywhere. Latvia, Lithuania, almost all of Belarus, a significant part of Estonia, Ukraine and Moldova found themselves under occupation. About 23 million Soviet people fell into fascist captivity. The country lost many industrial enterprises and acreage with ripening harvests. A threat was created to Leningrad, Smolensk, and Kyiv. Only in the Arctic, Karelia and Moldova the enemy’s advance was insignificant.
In the first three weeks of the war, of the 170 Soviet divisions that took the first blow of the German war machine, 28 were completely destroyed, and 70 lost more than half of their personnel and military equipment. Only three fronts - Northwestern, Western and Southwestern - irretrievably lost about 600 thousand people, or almost a third of their strength. The Red Army lost about 4 thousand combat aircraft, over 11.7 thousand tanks, about 18.8 thousand guns and mortars. Even at sea, despite the limited nature of the fighting, the Soviet fleet lost a leader, 3 destroyers, 11 submarines, 5 minesweepers, 5 torpedo boats and a number of other combat ships and transports. More than half of the reserves of the border military districts remained in the occupied territory. The losses suffered had a heavy impact on the combat effectiveness of the troops, who were in dire need of everything: ammunition, fuel, weapons, and transport. It took Soviet industry more than a year to replenish them. At the beginning of July, the German General Staff concluded that the campaign in Russia had already been won, although not yet completed. It seemed to Hitler that the Red Army was no longer able to create a continuous defense front even in the most important directions. At a meeting on July 8, he only clarified further tasks for the troops.
Despite the losses, the Red Army troops, fighting from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea, had 212 divisions and 3 rifle brigades by mid-July. And although only 90 of them were full-fledged formations, and the rest had only half, or even less, of the regular strength, it was clearly premature to consider the Red Army defeated. The Northern, Southwestern and Southern fronts retained their ability to resist, and the troops of the Western and Northwestern fronts quickly restored their combat effectiveness.
At the start of the campaign, the Wehrmacht also suffered losses unmatched in the previous years of World War II. According to Halder, as of July 13, over 92 thousand people were killed, wounded or missing in the ground forces alone, and the damage in tanks averaged 50%. Approximately the same data is given in post-war studies by West German historians, who believe that from the beginning of the war until July 10, 1941, the Wehrmacht lost 77,313 people on the eastern front. The Luftwaffe lost 950 aircraft. In the Baltic Sea, the German fleet lost 4 minelayers, 2 torpedo boats and 1 hunter. However, the losses of personnel did not exceed the number of field reserve battalions available in each division, due to which they were replenished, so the combat effectiveness of the formations was basically preserved. Since mid-July, the offensive capabilities of the aggressor remained large: 183 combat-ready divisions and 21 brigades.
One of the reasons for the tragic outcome of the initial period of the war was the gross miscalculation of the political and military leadership of the Soviet Union regarding the timing of the aggression. As a result, the troops of the first operational echelon found themselves in an extremely difficult situation. The enemy crushed the Soviet troops in parts: first, the formations of the first echelon of the covering armies located along the border and not brought into combat readiness, then with counter blows - their second echelons, and then, developing the offensive, he forestalled the Soviet troops in occupying advantageous lines in the depths, on the move mastering them. As a result, the Soviet troops found themselves dismembered and surrounded.
The attempts of the Soviet command to carry out retaliatory strikes with the transfer of military operations to the territory of the aggressor, which they made on the second day of the war, no longer corresponded to the capabilities of the troops and, in fact, were one of the reasons for the unsuccessful outcome of the border battles. The decision to switch to strategic defense, made only on the eighth day of the war, also turned out to be belated. Moreover, this transition took place too hesitantly and at different times. He demanded that the main efforts be transferred from the southwestern direction to the western, where the enemy delivered his main blow. As a result, a significant part of the Soviet troops did not so much fight as move from one direction to another. This gave the enemy the opportunity to destroy the formations piece by piece as they approached the concentration area.
The war revealed significant shortcomings in troop management. The main reason is the poor professional training of the command personnel of the Red Army. Among the reasons that led to shortcomings in troop command and control was an excessive reliance on wired communications. After the very first strikes by enemy aircraft and the actions of his sabotage groups, permanent wire communication lines were put out of action, and extremely limited quantity radio stations and the lack of necessary skills in their use did not allow establishing stable communication. The commanders were afraid of radio direction finding by the enemy, and therefore avoided using the radio, preferring wired and other means. And the strategic leadership bodies did not have pre-prepared control points. Headquarters, the General Staff, the commanders of the armed forces and branches of the armed forces had to lead the troops from peacetime offices that were absolutely unsuited for this.
The forced withdrawal of Soviet troops extremely complicated and significantly disrupted mobilization in the western border districts. The headquarters and rear of divisions, armies, and fronts were forced to conduct combat operations as part of peacetime.
The initial period of the Great Patriotic War ended with the defeat of the Soviet Armed Forces. The military-political leadership of Germany did not hide its jubilation over the expected imminent victory. Back on July 4, Hitler, intoxicated by his first successes at the front, declared: “I always try to put myself in the position of the enemy. In fact, he has already lost the war. It's good that we defeated the Russian tank and air force at the very beginning. The Russians will no longer be able to restore them.” And here is what the Chief of the General Staff of the Wehrmacht Ground Forces, General F. Halder, wrote in his diary: “... it would not be an exaggeration to say that the campaign against Russia was won within 14 days.”
However, they cruelly miscalculated. Already on July 30, during the battles for Smolensk, for the first time in two years of World War II, fascist German troops were forced to go on the defensive. And the same German general F. Halder was forced to admit: “It became completely obvious that the method of warfare and the fighting spirit of the enemy, as well as the geographical conditions of this country, were completely different from those that the Germans encountered in previous “lightning strikes.” wars" that led to successes that amazed the whole world." During the bloody Battle of Smolensk, heroic Soviet soldiers thwarted the plans of the German command for a “lightning war” in Russia, and the most powerful army group “Center” was forced to go on the defensive, postponing the non-stop offensive on Moscow for more than two months.
But our country had to make up for the losses suffered, rebuild industry and agriculture on a war footing. This required time and enormous effort from all the peoples of the Soviet Union. Stop the enemy at all costs, not allow yourself to be enslaved - for this, the Soviet people lived, fought, and died. The result of this massive feat of the Soviet people was the Victory won over the hated enemy in May 1945.
The material was prepared by the Research Institute ( military history) Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
Photo from the archive of the Voeninform Agency of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Documents reflecting the activities of the leadership of the Red Army on the eve and in the first days of the Great Patriotic War were provided by the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
June 21, 1941, 13:00. German troops receive the code signal "Dortmund", confirming that the invasion will begin the next day.
Commander of the 2nd Tank Group of Army Group Center Heinz Guderian writes in his diary: “Careful observation of the Russians convinced me that they did not suspect anything about our intentions. In the courtyard of the Brest fortress, which was visible from our observation points, they were changing the guards to the sounds of an orchestra. The coastal fortifications along the Western Bug were not occupied by Russian troops."21:00. Soldiers of the 90th border detachment of the Sokal commandant's office detained a German serviceman who crossed the border Bug River by swimming. The defector was sent to the detachment headquarters in the city of Vladimir-Volynsky.
23:00. German minelayers stationed in Finnish ports began to mine the exit from the Gulf of Finland. At the same time, Finnish submarines began laying mines off the coast of Estonia.
June 22, 1941, 0:30. The defector was taken to Vladimir-Volynsky. During interrogation, the soldier identified himself Alfred Liskov, soldiers of the 221st Regiment of the 15th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht. He said that at dawn on June 22, the German army would go on the offensive along the entire length of the Soviet-German border. The information was transferred to higher command.
At the same time, the transmission of Directive No. 1 of the People's Commissariat of Defense for parts of the western military districts began from Moscow. “During June 22-23, 1941, a surprise attack by the Germans is possible on the fronts of LVO, PribOVO, ZAPOVO, KOVO, OdVO. An attack may begin with provocative actions,” the directive said. “The task of our troops is not to succumb to any provocative actions that could cause major complications.”
The units were ordered to be put on combat readiness, to secretly occupy firing points of fortified areas on the state border, and to disperse aircraft to field airfields.
It is not possible to convey the directive to military units before the start of hostilities, as a result of which the measures specified in it are not carried out.
Mobilization. Columns of fighters are moving to the front. Photo: RIA Novosti
“I realized that it was the Germans who opened fire on our territory”
1:00. The commandants of the sections of the 90th border detachment report to the head of the detachment, Major Bychkovsky: “nothing suspicious was noticed on the adjacent side, everything is calm.”
3:05 . A group of 14 German Ju-88 bombers drops 28 magnetic mines near the Kronstadt roadstead.
3:07. The commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Oktyabrsky, reports to the Chief of the General Staff, General Zhukov: “The fleet’s air surveillance, warning and communications system reports the approach from the sea large quantity unknown aircraft; The fleet is in full combat readiness."
3:10. The NKGB for the Lviv region transmits by telephone message to the NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR the information obtained during the interrogation of the defector Alfred Liskov.
From the memoirs of the chief of the 90th border detachment, Major Bychkovsky: “Without finishing the interrogation of the soldier, I heard strong artillery fire in the direction of Ustilug (the first commandant’s office). I realized that it was the Germans who opened fire on our territory, which was immediately confirmed by the interrogated soldier. I immediately began to call the commandant by phone, but the connection was broken...”3:30. Chief of Staff of the Western District General Klimovsky reports on enemy air raids on the cities of Belarus: Brest, Grodno, Lida, Kobrin, Slonim, Baranovichi and others.
3:33. The chief of staff of the Kyiv district, General Purkaev, reports on an air raid on the cities of Ukraine, including Kyiv.
3:40. Commander of the Baltic Military District General Kuznetsov reports on enemy air raids on Riga, Siauliai, Vilnius, Kaunas and other cities.
“The enemy raid has been repulsed. An attempt to strike our ships was foiled."
3:42. Chief of the General Staff Zhukov is calling Stalin and reports the start of hostilities by Germany. Stalin orders Tymoshenko and Zhukov arrive at the Kremlin, where an emergency meeting of the Politburo is convened.
3:45. The 1st border outpost of the 86th August border detachment was attacked by an enemy reconnaissance and sabotage group. Outpost personnel under command Alexandra Sivacheva, having entered into battle, destroys the attackers.
4:00. The commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Oktyabrsky, reports to Zhukov: “The enemy raid has been repulsed. An attempt to strike our ships was foiled. But there is destruction in Sevastopol.”4:05. The outposts of the 86th August Border Detachment, including the 1st Border Outpost of Senior Lieutenant Sivachev, come under heavy artillery fire, after which the German offensive begins. Border guards, deprived of communication with the command, engage in battle with superior enemy forces.
4:10. The Western and Baltic special military districts report the beginning of hostilities by German troops on the ground.
4:15. The Nazis open massive artillery fire on the Brest Fortress. As a result, warehouses were destroyed, communications were disrupted, and there were a large number of dead and wounded.
4:25. The 45th Wehrmacht Infantry Division begins an attack on the Brest Fortress.
Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Residents of the capital on June 22, 1941, during the radio announcement of a government message about the treacherous attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union. Photo: RIA Novosti
“Protecting not individual countries, but ensuring the security of Europe”
4:30. A meeting of Politburo members begins in the Kremlin. Stalin expresses doubt that what happened is the beginning of a war and does not exclude the possibility of a German provocation. People's Commissar of Defense Timoshenko and Zhukov insist: this is war.
4:55. In the Brest Fortress, the Nazis manage to capture almost half of the territory. Further progress was stopped by a sudden counterattack by the Red Army.
5:00. German Ambassador to the USSR Count von Schulenburg presented to the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR Molotov“Note from the German Foreign Office to the Soviet Government,” which states: “The German Government cannot remain indifferent to the serious threat on the eastern border, therefore the Fuehrer has ordered the German Armed Forces to ward off this threat by all means.” An hour after the actual start of hostilities, Germany de jure declares war on the Soviet Union.
5:30. On German radio, the Reich Minister of Propaganda Goebbels reads out the appeal Adolf Hitler to the German people in connection with the start of the war against the Soviet Union: “Now the hour has come when it is necessary to speak out against this conspiracy of the Jewish-Anglo-Saxon warmongers and also the Jewish rulers of the Bolshevik center in Moscow... At the moment, a military action of the greatest extent and volume is taking place, what the world has ever seen... The task of this front is no longer to protect individual countries, but to ensure the security of Europe and thereby save everyone.”7:00. Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs Ribbentrop begins a press conference at which he announces the beginning of hostilities against the USSR: “The German army has invaded the territory of Bolshevik Russia!”
“The city is burning, why aren’t you broadcasting anything on the radio?”
7:15. Stalin approves a directive to repel the attack of Nazi Germany: “The troops with all their might and means attack enemy forces and destroy them in areas where they violated the Soviet border.” Transfer of “directive No. 2” due to saboteurs’ disruption of communication lines in the western districts. Moscow does not have a clear picture of what is happening in the combat zone.
9:30. It was decided that at noon, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov would address the Soviet people in connection with the outbreak of war.
10:00. From the speaker's memories Yuri Levitan: “They’re calling from Minsk: “Enemy planes are over the city,” they’re calling from Kaunas: “The city is burning, why aren’t you transmitting anything on the radio?” “Enemy planes are over Kiev.” A woman’s crying, excitement: “Is it really war?..” However, no official messages are transmitted until 12:00 Moscow time on June 22.
10:30. From a report from the headquarters of the 45th German division about the fighting on the territory of the Brest Fortress: “The Russians are resisting fiercely, especially behind our attacking companies. In the citadel, the enemy organized a defense with infantry units supported by 35-40 tanks and armored vehicles. Enemy sniper fire resulted in heavy casualties among officers and non-commissioned officers."11:00. The Baltic, Western and Kiev special military districts were transformed into the North-Western, Western and South-Western fronts.
“The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours"
12:00. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov reads out an appeal to the citizens of the Soviet Union: “Today at 4 o’clock in the morning, without making any claims against the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country, attacked our borders in many places and bombed us with their planes attacked our cities - Zhitomir, Kyiv, Sevastopol, Kaunas and some others, and more than two hundred people were killed and wounded. Raids by enemy planes and artillery shelling were also carried out from Romanian and Finnish territory... Now that the attack on the Soviet Union has already taken place, the Soviet government has given an order to our troops to repel the bandit attack and expel German troops from the territory of our homeland... The government calls on you, citizens and citizens of the Soviet Union, to rally our ranks even more closely around our glorious Bolshevik Party, around our Soviet government, around our great leader, Comrade Stalin.
Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours."
12:30. Advanced German units break into the Belarusian city of Grodno.
13:00.
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issues a decree “On the mobilization of those liable for military service...”
“Based on Article 49, paragraph “o” of the USSR Constitution, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR announces mobilization on the territory of the military districts - Leningrad, Baltic special, Western special, Kyiv special, Odessa, Kharkov, Oryol, Moscow, Arkhangelsk, Ural, Siberian, Volga, North -Caucasian and Transcaucasian.
13:30. Chief of the General Staff General Zhukov flies to Kyiv as a representative of the newly created Headquarters of the Main Command on the Southwestern Front.
Photo: RIA Novosti
14:00. The Brest Fortress is completely surrounded by German troops. Soviet units blocked in the citadel continue to offer fierce resistance.
14:05. Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano states: “In view of the current situation, due to the fact that Germany declared war on the USSR, Italy, as an ally of Germany and as a member of the Tripartite Pact, also declares war on the Soviet Union from the moment German troops enter Soviet territory.”
14:10. The 1st border outpost of Alexander Sivachev has been fighting for more than 10 hours. The border guards, who had only small arms and grenades, destroyed up to 60 Nazis and burned three tanks. The wounded commander of the outpost continued to command the battle.
15:00. From the notes of the commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal von Bock: “The question of whether the Russians are carrying out a systematic withdrawal remains open. There is now plenty of evidence both for and against this.
What is surprising is that nowhere is any significant work of their artillery visible. Heavy artillery fire is conducted only in the northwest of Grodno, where the VIII Army Corps is advancing. Apparently, our air force has an overwhelming superiority over Russian aviation."Of the 485 border posts attacked, not a single one withdrew without orders.
16:00. After a 12-hour battle, the Nazis took the positions of the 1st border outpost. This became possible only after all the border guards who defended it died. The head of the outpost, Alexander Sivachev, was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.
The feat of the outpost of Senior Lieutenant Sivachev was one of hundreds committed by border guards in the first hours and days of the war. On June 22, 1941, the state border of the USSR from the Barents to the Black Sea was guarded by 666 border outposts, 485 of which were attacked on the very first day of the war. Not one of the 485 outposts attacked on June 22 withdrew without orders.
Hitler's command allotted 20 minutes to break the resistance of the border guards. 257 Soviet border posts held their defense from several hours to one day. More than one day - 20, more than two days - 16, more than three days - 20, more than four and five days - 43, from seven to nine days - 4, more than eleven days - 51, more than twelve days - 55, more than 15 days - 51 outpost. Forty-five outposts fought for up to two months.
Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The workers of Leningrad listen to a message about the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union. Photo: RIA Novosti
Of the 19,600 border guards who met the Nazis on June 22 in the direction of the main attack of Army Group Center, more than 16,000 died in the first days of the war.
17:00. Hitler's units manage to occupy the southwestern part of the Brest Fortress, the northeast remained under the control of Soviet troops. Stubborn battles for the fortress will continue for weeks.
“The Church of Christ blesses all Orthodox Christians for the defense of the sacred borders of our Motherland”
18:00. The Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Sergius of Moscow and Kolomna, addresses the believers with a message: “Fascist robbers attacked our homeland. Trampling all kinds of agreements and promises, they suddenly fell upon us, and now the blood of peaceful citizens is already irrigating our native land... Our Orthodox Church has always shared the fate of the people. She endured trials with him and was consoled by his successes. She will not abandon her people even now... The Church of Christ blesses all Orthodox Christians for the defense of the sacred borders of our Motherland.”
19:00. From the notes of the Chief of the General Staff of the Wehrmacht Ground Forces, Colonel General Franz Halder: “All armies, except the 11th Army of Army Group South in Romania, went on the offensive according to plan. The offensive of our troops, apparently, came as a complete tactical surprise to the enemy along the entire front. Border bridges across the Bug and other rivers were everywhere captured by our troops without a fight and in complete safety. The complete surprise of our offensive for the enemy is evidenced by the fact that the units were taken by surprise in a barracks arrangement, the planes were parked at airfields, covered with tarpaulins, and the advanced units, suddenly attacked by our troops, asked the command about what to do... The Air Force command reported, that today 850 enemy aircraft have been destroyed, including entire squadrons of bombers, which, having taken off without fighter cover, were attacked by our fighters and destroyed.”20:00. Directive No. 3 of the People's Commissariat of Defense was approved, ordering Soviet troops to launch a counteroffensive with the task of defeating Hitler's troops on the territory of the USSR with further advance into enemy territory. The directive ordered the capture of the Polish city of Lublin by the end of June 24.
Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. June 22, 1941 Nurses provide assistance to the first wounded after a Nazi air raid near Chisinau. Photo: RIA Novosti
“We must provide Russia and the Russian people with all the help we can.”
21:00. Summary of the Red Army High Command for June 22: “At dawn on June 22, 1941, regular troops of the German army attacked our border units on the front from the Baltic to the Black Sea and were held back by them during the first half of the day. In the afternoon, German troops met with the advanced units of the field troops of the Red Army. After fierce fighting, the enemy was repulsed with heavy losses. Only in the Grodno and Kristinopol directions did the enemy manage to achieve minor tactical successes and occupy the towns of Kalwaria, Stoyanuv and Tsekhanovets (the first two are 15 km and the last 10 km from the border).
Enemy aircraft attacked a number of our airfields and populated areas, but everywhere they met decisive resistance from our fighters and anti-aircraft artillery, which inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. We shot down 65 enemy aircraft.”
23:00. Message from the Prime Minister of Great Britain Winston Churchill to the British people in connection with the German attack on the USSR: “At 4 o'clock this morning Hitler attacked Russia. All his usual formalities of treachery were observed with scrupulous precision... suddenly, without a declaration of war, even without an ultimatum, German bombs fell from the sky on Russian cities, German troops violated Russian borders, and an hour later the German ambassador, who just the day before had generously lavished his assurances on the Russians in friendship and almost an alliance, paid a visit to the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs and declared that Russia and Germany were at war...
No one has been more staunchly opposed to communism over the past 25 years than I have been. I will not take back a single word that was said about him. But all this pales in comparison to the spectacle unfolding now.The past, with its crimes, follies and tragedies, recedes. I see Russian soldiers as they stand on the border of their native land and guard the fields that their fathers have plowed since time immemorial. I see them guarding their homes; their mothers and wives pray—oh, yes, because at such a time everyone prays for the safety of their loved ones, for the return of their breadwinner, patron, their protectors...
We must provide Russia and the Russian people with all the help we can. We must call on all our friends and allies in all parts of the world to pursue a similar course and pursue it as steadfastly and steadily as we will, to the very end.”
June 22 came to an end. There were still 1,417 days ahead of the worst war in human history.