In the late spring of 1944, relative calm reigned on the Soviet-German front. The Germans, having suffered major defeats during the winter-spring battles, strengthened the defense, and the Red Army rested and gathered strength for the next blow.
Looking at the map of the fighting of that time, you can see on it two large projections of the front line. The first is on the territory of Ukraine, south of the Pripyat River. The second, far to the east, is in Belarus, with a border along the cities of Vitebsk, Orsha, Mogilev, Zhlobin. This ledge was called the “Belarusian balcony”, and after a discussion that took place at the end of April 1944 at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, it was decided to fall upon it with all the might of the Red Army troops. The operation to liberate Belarus received the code name "Bagration".
The German command did not foresee such a turn. The terrain in Belarus was wooded and swampy, with a large number of lakes and rivers and a rather poorly developed road network. The use of large tank and mechanized formations here, from the point of view of the Nazi generals, was difficult. Therefore, the Wehrmacht was preparing to repel the Soviet offensive on the territory of Ukraine, concentrating much more impressive forces there than in Belarus. So, under the command of the army group "Northern Ukraine" were seven tank divisions and four battalions of tanks "Tiger". And in the subordination of the Army Group "Center" - only one tank, two panzer-grenadier divisions and one battalion of "Tigers". In total, Ernst Busch, who commanded the Central Army Group, had 1.2 million people, 900 tanks and self-propelled guns, 9,500 guns and mortars, and 1,350 aircraft of the 6th Air Fleet.
The Germans created a fairly powerful and layered defense in Belarus. Since 1943, the construction of fortified positions has been underway, often based on natural obstacles: rivers, lakes, swamps, hills. Some cities at the most important communication nodes were declared fortresses. These included, in particular, Orsha, Vitebsk, Mogilev and others. The defensive lines were equipped with bunkers, dugouts, interchangeable artillery and machine-gun positions.
According to the operational plan of the Soviet high command, the troops of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts, as well as the 1st Baltic Front, were to defeat the enemy forces in Belarus. Total population Soviet troops in the operation amounted to approximately 2.4 million people, more than 5,000 tanks, about 36,000 guns and mortars. Air support was provided by the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 16th air armies (more than 5,000 aircraft). Thus, the Red Army achieved a significant, and in many respects, overwhelming superiority over enemy troops.
In order to keep the preparations for the offensive secret, the command of the Red Army prepared and carried out a huge amount of work to ensure the secrecy of the movement of forces and to mislead the enemy. Parts moved to their original positions at night, observing radio silence. During daylight hours, the troops stopped, settling in the forests and carefully disguised themselves. At the same time, a false concentration of troops was carried out in the Chisinau direction, reconnaissance was carried out in combat in the areas of responsibility of the fronts that did not take part in the Bagration operation, whole echelons with models of military equipment were taken from Belarus to the rear. In general, the measures achieved their goal, although the preparations for the offensive of the Red Army were not completely hidden. Thus, prisoners captured in the zone of action of the 3rd Belorussian Front said that the command of the German troops noted the strengthening of the Soviet units and expected active actions from the Red Army. But the time of the beginning of the operation, the number of Soviet troops and the exact direction of the strike remained unsolved.
Before the start of the operation, they activated Belarusian partisans who committed a large number of sabotage on the communications of the Nazis. More than 40,000 rails were blown up between 20 and 23 July alone. In general, the actions of the partisans created a number of difficulties for the Germans, but they still did not cause critical damage to the railway network, which was directly stated even by such an authority in reconnaissance and sabotage as I. G. Starinov.
Operation Bagration began on June 23, 1944 and was carried out in two stages. The first stage included the Vitebsk-Orsha, Mogilev, Bobruisk, Polotsk and Minsk operations.
The Vitebsk-Orsha operation was carried out by the troops of the 1st Baltic and 3rd Belorussian fronts. The 1st Baltic Front of Army General I. Bagramyan, with the forces of the 6th Guards and 43rd Armies, hit at the junction of Army Groups "North" and "Center" in the general direction of Beshenkovichi. The 4th shock army was to advance on Polotsk.
The 3rd Belorussian Front, Colonel General I. Chernyakhovsky, attacked Bogushevsk and Senno with the forces of the 39th and 5th armies, and at Borisov with units of the 11th Guards and 31st armies. To develop the operational success of the front, the horse-mechanized group of N. Oslikovsky (3rd Guards Mechanized and 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps) and the 5th Guards Tank Army of P. Rotmistrov were intended.
After artillery preparation on June 23, the troops of the fronts went on the offensive. During the first day, the forces of the 1st Baltic Front managed to advance 16 kilometers into the depth of the enemy defense, with the exception of the Polotsk direction, where the 4th shock army met fierce resistance and had little success. The width of the breakthrough of the Soviet troops in the direction of the main attack was about 50 kilometers.
The 3rd Belorussian Front achieved significant success in the Bogushevsky direction, breaking through the German defense line more than 50 kilometers wide and capturing three serviceable bridges across the Luchesa River. For the Vitebsk grouping of the Nazis, there was a threat of the formation of a "cauldron". The commander of the German troops requested permission to withdraw, but the Wehrmacht command considered Vitebsk a fortress, and the retreat was not allowed.
During June 24-26 Soviet troops surrounded the enemy troops near Vitebsk and completely destroyed the German division, which covered the city. Four more divisions tried to break through to the west, however, with the exception of a small number of disorganized units, they did not succeed. On June 27, the encircled Germans capitulated. About 10 thousand Nazi soldiers and officers were taken prisoner.
Orsha was also liberated on June 27. The forces of the Red Army entered the Orsha-Minsk highway. On June 28, Lepel was released. In total, at the first stage, parts of the two fronts advanced to a distance of 80 to 150 km.
The Mogilev operation began on June 23. It was conducted by the 2nd Belorussian Front, Colonel-General Zakharov. During the first two days, Soviet troops advanced about 30 kilometers. Then the Germans began to retreat to the western bank of the Dnieper. Their pursuit was carried out by the 33rd and 50th armies. On June 27, Soviet forces crossed the Dnieper, and on June 28, Mogilev was liberated. The German 12th Infantry Division, which was defending in the city, was destroyed. A large number of prisoners and trophies were captured. The German units retreated to Minsk under the blows of the attack aircraft of the front. Soviet troops were moving towards the Berezina River.
The Bobruisk operation was carried out by the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, commanded by General of the Army K. Rokossovsky. As conceived by the front commander, the blow was delivered in converging directions from Rogachev and Parichi general direction to Bobruisk in order to surround and destroy the German grouping in this city. After the capture of Bobruisk, it was planned to develop an offensive against Pukhovichi and Slutsk. From the air, the advancing troops were supported by about 2,000 aircraft.
The offensive was carried out in an impenetrable wooded and swampy area, crossed by numerous rivers. The troops had to go through training in order to learn how to walk on bogshoes, overcome water obstacles on improvised means, and also build gati. On June 24, after a powerful artillery preparation, the Soviet troops went on the attack and by the middle of the day broke through the enemy defenses to a depth of 5-6 kilometers. The timely introduction of mechanized units into battle made it possible to separate sections reach a breakthrough depth of up to 20 km.
On June 27, the Bobruisk group of Germans was completely surrounded. There were about 40 thousand enemy soldiers and officers in the ring. Leaving part of the forces to destroy the enemy, the front began to develop an offensive against Osipovichi and Slutsk. The encircled units attempted to break through to the north. In the area of the village of Titovka, a fierce battle took place, during which the Nazis, under the cover of artillery, regardless of losses, tried to break through the Soviet front. To hold back the onslaught, it was decided to use bombers. More than 500 aircraft continuously bombed the concentration of German troops for an hour and a half. Leaving the equipment, the Germans tried to break through to Bobruisk, but were unsuccessful. On June 28, the remnants of the German forces surrendered.
By this time, it was clear that Army Group Center was on the verge of defeat. German troops suffered huge losses in killed and captured, a large amount of equipment was destroyed and captured by Soviet forces. The depth of advance of the Soviet troops ranged from 80 to 150 kilometers. Conditions were created for the encirclement of the main forces of Army Group Center. On June 28, Commander Ernst Busch was removed from his post, and Field Marshal Walter Model took his place.
Troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front reached the Berezina River. In accordance with the directive of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, they were ordered to cross the river and, bypassing the strongholds of the Nazis, develop a swift offensive against the capital of the BSSR.
June 29 forward detachments The Red Army captured bridgeheads on the western bank of the Berezina and in some areas deepened into the enemy defenses for 5-10 kilometers. On June 30, the main forces of the front crossed the river. On the night of July 1, the 11th Guards Army broke into the city of Borisov from the south and southwest, freeing it by 15:00. On the same day, Begoml and Pleschenitsy were liberated.
On July 2, Soviet troops cut off most of the retreat routes for the Minsk grouping of the enemy. The cities of Vileyka, Zhodino, Logoisk, Smolevichi, Krasnoe were taken. Thus, the Germans were cut off from all major communications.
On the night of July 3, 1944, the commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, General of the Army I. Chernyakhovsky, ordered the commander of the 5th Guards Tank Army P. Rotmistrov, in cooperation with the 31st Army and the 2nd Guards Tatsinsky Tank Corps, to attack Minsk from the north and northwest direction and by the end of the day on July 3rd completely take over the city.
On July 3, at 9 o'clock in the morning, Soviet troops broke into Minsk. The battles for the city were fought by the 71st and 36th rifle corps of the 31st Army, the 5th Guards Tank Army and the tankers of the Tatsinsky Guards Corps. From the southern and southeastern outskirts, the offensive against the Belarusian capital was supported by units of the 1st Don Tank Corps of the 1st Belorussian Front. By 13:00 the city was liberated.
As mentioned above, Polotsk became a big obstacle for the Soviet troops. The Germans turned it into a powerful defense center and concentrated six infantry divisions near the city. The 1st Baltic Front, with the forces of the 6th Guards and 4th Shock Armies, in converging directions from the south and northeast, was to surround and destroy the German troops.
The Polotsk operation began on June 29. By the evening of July 1, the Soviet units managed to cover the flanks of the German group and reach the outskirts of Polotsk. Violent street fighting ensued, lasting until 4 July. On this day the city was liberated. The forces of the left wing of the front, pursuing the retreating German units, went west for another 110 kilometers, reaching the border of Lithuania.
The first stage of Operation Bagration brought Army Group Center to the brink of disaster. The total advance of the Red Army in 12 days amounted to 225-280 kilometers. A gap about 400 kilometers wide was formed in the German defense, and it was already very difficult to fully cover it. Nevertheless, the Germans tried to stabilize the situation by relying on individual counterattacks in key areas. At the same time, Model was building a new line of defense, including at the expense of units transferred from other sectors of the Soviet-German front. But even those 46 divisions that were sent to the "catastrophe zone" did not significantly affect the state of affairs.
On July 5, the Vilnius operation of the 3rd Belorussian Front began. On July 7, units of the 5th Guards Tank Army and the 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps were on the outskirts of the city and began to cover it. On July 8, the Germans brought reinforcements to Vilnius. About 150 tanks and self-propelled guns were concentrated to break through the encirclement. A significant contribution to the failure of all these attempts was made by the aviation of the 1st Air Army, which actively bombed the main centers of resistance of the Germans. On July 13, Vilnius was taken, and the encircled group was destroyed.
The 2nd Belorussian Front developed an offensive against Bialystok. As a reinforcement, the 3rd Army of General Gorbatov was transferred to the front. During the five days of the offensive, the Soviet troops, without experiencing strong resistance, advanced 150 kilometers, liberating the city of Novogrudok on July 8. Near Grodno, the Germans had already gathered their forces, the formations of the Red Army had to repel a number of counterattacks, but on July 16 this Belarusian city was also cleared of enemy troops. By July 27, the Red Army liberated Bialystok and reached the pre-war border of the USSR.
The 1st Belorussian Front was to defeat the enemy near Brest and Lublin with strikes bypassing the Brest fortified area and reach the Vistula River. On July 6, the Red Army took Kovel and broke through the German defensive line near Siedlce. Having traveled more than 70 kilometers until July 20, Soviet troops crossed the Western Bug and entered Poland. On July 25, a cauldron formed near Brest, but the Soviet soldiers failed to completely destroy the enemy: part of the Nazi forces were able to break through. By the beginning of August, Lublin was taken by the Red Army and bridgeheads on the western bank of the Vistula were captured.
Operation Bagration was a grandiose victory for the Soviet troops. During the two months of the offensive, Belarus, part of the Baltic states and Poland were liberated. During the operation, German troops lost about 400 thousand people killed, wounded and captured. 22 German generals were captured alive, 10 more were killed. Army Group Center was defeated.
Operations on final stage war, when the strategic initiative completely passed into the hands of the Soviet command. As a result, the territory of the USSR was liberated, a number of European countries and defeated Nazi Germany.
The end of the blockade of Leningrad.
At the very beginning of 1944, the Soviet troops seized the initiative and did not let it out of their hands. The winter campaign of 1944 was marked by major victories for the Red Army. Of the 10 blows (named "Stalinist" in Soviet historiography), the first was inflicted on the enemy near Leningrad and Novgorod in January. As a result of the Leningrad-Novgorod operation, Soviet troops, having broken the enemy’s defenses at a front of up to 60 km, threw him back 220-280 km from Leningrad, and south of Lake. Ilmen - 180 km, completely removed the 900-day blockade of the hero city. The troops of the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic fronts (commanders L. Govorov, K. Meretskov, M. Popov), in cooperation with the Baltic Front, cleared the western part of the Leningrad region from the enemy, liberated the Kalinin region, entered the land of Estonia, laying the foundation for liberation from the invaders the Baltic republics. The defeat of Army Group North (26 divisions were defeated, 3 divisions were completely destroyed) undermined the position of Nazi Germany in Finland and the Scandinavian Peninsula.
Liberation of Right-Bank Ukraine.
The second blow represented a series of major offensive operations, held in February-March in the area of Korsun-Shevchenkovsky and on the Southern Bug, brilliantly carried out by waxes of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts. During this operation, the entire Right-Bank Ukraine was liberated. According to the results, it far exceeded its initial goals, chaining to itself up to half of all enemy tank and more than two-thirds of the enemy air forces operating in Right-Bank Ukraine. The troops of the two Ukrainian fronts not only destroyed a large enemy grouping "South" under the command of Field Marshal E. Manstein (55 thousand killed, over 18 thousand prisoners), but also defeated another 15 divisions, incl. 8 tank, operating against the outer front of the encirclement. Soviet troops reached the state border of the USSR with Romania and took up positions advantageous for the subsequent deep penetration in the southeastern regions of Europe, - in the Balkans against Romania and against Hungary. On the night of March 28, troops crossed the border river Prut.
Liberation of Odessa, Sevastopol and Crimea.
As a result of the third strike in April-May, Odessa, Sevastopol and the entire Crimea were liberated. An attempt by Nazi troops to evacuate Odessa by sea was thwarted by Soviet aircraft, torpedo boats and submarines. On the evening of April 9, units of the 5th shock army broke into the northern outskirts of Odessa, and the next day the city was completely liberated. A further offensive was already developing in the Crimean direction. Particularly fierce battles were fought in the Sapun-gora, Karavan sector. On May 9, Soviet troops broke into Sevastopol and liberated it from the invaders. The remnants of the defeated Nazi 17th Army withdrew to Cape Khersones, where 21 thousand soldiers and officers, a large amount of equipment and weapons were taken prisoner. In connection with the liquidation of the Crimean enemy grouping, the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front (commander F.I. Tolbukhin) were released, which made it possible to strengthen the strategic reserves of the Headquarters, improved conditions for the advance of Soviet troops into the Balkans and the liberation of the peoples of South-Eastern Europe.
Liberation of Karelia.
The fourth blow (June 1944) was inflicted by the forces of the Leningrad (commander L.A. Govorov) and Karelian fronts (commander K.A. Meretskov) on enemy bridgeheads on the Karelian Isthmus and in the area of Ladoga and Onega lakes, which led to the liberation of most part of Karelia and predetermined Finland's withdrawal from the war on the side of Germany. On September 19, Finnish President K. Mannerheim signed an armistice agreement with the USSR. March 3, 1945 Finland entered the war with Germany on the side of the Allies. The Paris Peace Treaty, signed in 1947, officially ended the war. This created an extremely unfavorable situation for the German troops in the Arctic.
Liberation of Belarus.
Fifth strike - the Belarusian offensive operation ("Bagration"), carried out from June 23 to August 29 against Army Group Center, is one of the largest in this war. The armies of four fronts participated in it: the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Belorussian (commanders K. Rokossovsky, G. Zakharov, I. Chernyakhovsky), the 1st Baltic (commander I. Bagramyan), the forces of the Dnieper military flotilla, the 1st Army Polish troops. The width of the front of hostilities reached 1100 km, the depth of advance of troops was 550-600 km, the average daily rate of advance was 14-20 km. In connection with the successes of the Ukrainian fronts in the winter of 1943/44, the German high command expected that in the summer of 1944 the Soviet troops would strike the main blow in the southwestern sector between Pripyat and the Black Sea, but would not be able to attack simultaneously along the entire front. Even when the command of the armies "Center" became aware of the concentration of significant forces of Soviet troops in Belarus, the German general staff still believed that the Russians would strike first of all at the army group "Northern Ukraine". Bound by defense in other sectors of the Soviet-German front, the Germans no longer counted on the transfer of divisions to help from non-attacked sectors of the front. Soviet troops and partisans brilliantly coped with all tasks. 168 divisions, 12 corps and 20 brigades participated in Operation Bagration. The number of troops at the beginning of the operation was 2.3 million people. As a result, one of the most powerful enemy groups, the Center, was destroyed.
The final liberation of the territory of the USSR. The beginning of the fighting in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe.
In the second half of 1944, five more offensive operations were carried out - five most powerful blows against the enemy. During the sixth strike (July-August), the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front (commander I. Konev) defeated the Northern Ukraine Army Group (commanded by Colonel General J. Harpe) in the area of Brody - Rava - Russkaya - Lvov and formed beyond the Vistula , west of Sandomierz, a large bridgehead. The enemy pulled 16 divisions (including 3 tank divisions), 6 brigades of assault guns, separate battalions of heavy tanks (T-VIB "King Tiger") into this area and launched a series of strong counterattacks in order to eliminate the bridgehead. Fierce battles unfolded near Sandomierz. As a result of the fighting, the army group "Northern Ukraine" was defeated (out of 56 divisions, 32 were defeated and 8 were destroyed). The Red Army liberated the western regions of Ukraine, the southeastern regions of Poland, captured a bridgehead on the western bank of the Vistula, creating favorable conditions for the subsequent offensive and expulsion of the Germans from Czechoslovakia and Romania and for the decisive campaign against Berlin. Soviet and Polish partisans provided significant assistance to the troops of the front.
As a result of the seventh strike (August), the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts (commanders R.Ya. Malinovsky and F.I. Tolbukhin) defeated the German-Romanian troops in the Chisinau-Iasi region, liquidated 22 enemy divisions and entered the central regions of Romania . They captured 208.6 thousand prisoners, over 2 thousand guns, 340 tanks and assault guns, about 18 thousand vehicles. Moldova was liberated, Romania and Bulgaria capitulated. By the end of October, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, together with the Romanian units that opposed Germany, completely liberated Romania. On September 8, the Red Army entered the territory of Bulgaria. The loss of the Ploestinsky oil region was, from an economic point of view, a heavy defeat for Germany. The next blow in this direction was the Belgrade operation, during which the Soviet, Bulgarian troops, together with units of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (led by I.B. Tito), cut the main communication between Thessaloniki and Belgrade, along which the Nazi command withdrew its troops from the south of the Balkan Peninsula.
Liberation of the Baltics.
The eighth blow was delivered to the enemy in September-October in the Baltic States by the forces of the Leningrad Front (commander K.A. Meretskov) together with the Baltic Fleet (commander Admiral V.F. Tributs). Having liberated Estonia and most of Latvia, our troops inflicted a major defeat on the German Army Group North: 26 divisions were defeated, 3 of them were completely destroyed, the rest were completely blocked along the coast in Courland, in the Memel (Klaipeda) region. The path for an offensive into East Prussia was open. The resistance of the German troops on this sector of the front was especially fierce. Due to the regrouping of forces and counterattacks, they managed to close the gap near the Angerapp River and even return Goldap. No longer relying on the morale of the German soldiers, the High Command of the German Armed Forces in December 1944 intensifies measures "to combat defectors." From now on, those who went over to the enemy were sentenced to death penalty, and their families were responsible for the criminal "property, freedom, go life."
Battle for Budapest.
In October - December, offensive operations of the 2nd Ukrainian Front (commander R.Ya. Malinovsky) were launched, associated with the delivery of the ninth blow, between the Tisza and the Danube. As a result, Germany actually lost its last ally - Hungary. The battles for Budapest went on until February 13, 1945. It was not possible to take the capital of Hungary on the move, so a special Budapest group of troops was created from the formations of the 2nd Ukrainian Front and Hungarian volunteers. The fighting ended with the liquidation of 188,000 enemy groups and the liberation of Budapest. The casualties of the Red Army in this operation (October - February 1945) amounted to about half of the participating troops. The troops lost 1,766 tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts, 4,127 guns and mortars, and 293 combat aircraft.
Petsamo-Kirkenes operation of the Soviet troops.
The troops of the Karelian Front (commander K. Meretskov) and the Northern Fleet (commander Vice Admiral A.G. Golovko) struck the tenth blow against the troops of the 20th German Army in the Petsamo (Pechenegy) area. From the 2nd half of September 1941 to June 1944, the troops of the Karelian Front were on the defensive at the turn of the river. Zap. Faces (60 km west of Murmansk), along the system of rivers and lakes (90 km west of Kanadalaksha). In three years, the Nazis created a powerful three-lane defense, saturated with long-term structures, up to 150 km deep. The 19th Mountain Rifle Corps (53,000 men, over 750 guns and mortars) of the 20th Nazi Mountain Army (headed by Colonel General L. Rendulich) was defending in this area. He was supported by aviation (160 aircraft) and significant naval forces based in the ports of Northern Norway. During the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation, Soviet troops liberated the Petsamo region and the northern regions of Norway. The enemy lost about 30 thousand people killed. The Northern Fleet sank 156 enemy ships. Aviation destroyed 125 enemy aircraft. Our successes limited the actions of the German fleet, the supply of nickel ore was interrupted. War has come to German soil. On April 13, the center of East Prussia, Koningsberg, was taken.
As a result of military operations in 1944, the state border of the USSR, treacherously violated by Germany in June 1941, was restored along its entire length from the Barents to the Black Sea. The losses of the Red Army during this period of the war amounted to about 1.6 million people. The Nazis were expelled from Romania and Bulgaria, from most parts of Poland and Hungary. The Red Army entered the territory of Czechoslovakia, liberated the territory of Yugoslavia.
In 1944, the Soviet Army launched an offensive in all sectors of the front - from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea. In January, the offensive of parts of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts began, supported by the Baltic Fleet, the result of which was a complete liberation of Leningrad from enemy blockade, which lasted 900 days, and the expulsion of the Nazis from Novgorod. By the end of February, in cooperation with the troops of the Baltic Front, Leningrad, Novgorod and part of the Kalinin region were completely liberated.
At the end of January, the offensive of the troops of the Ukrainian fronts in the Right-Bank Ukraine began. Fierce battles flared up in February in the area of the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky grouping, in March - near Chernivtsi. At the same time, enemy groups were defeated in the Nikolaev-Odessa region. Since April, offensive operations have been launched in the Crimea. On April 9, Simferopol was taken, and on May 9, Sevastopol.
In April, having crossed the river. Prut, our armies have transferred military operations to the territory of Romania. The state border of the USSR was restored for several hundred kilometers.
The successful offensive of the Soviet troops in the winter - spring of 1944 accelerated opening a second front in Europe. On June 6, 1944, Anglo-American troops landed in Normandy (France). However, the main front of the Second World War continued to be the Soviet-German, where the main forces of Nazi Germany were concentrated.
In June - August 1944, the troops of the Leningrad, Karelian fronts and the Baltic Fleet, having defeated the Finnish units on the Karelian Isthmus, liberated Vyborg, Petrozavodsk and on August 9 reached the state border with Finland, whose government on September 4 ceased hostilities against the USSR, and after the defeat of the Nazis in the Baltic States (mainly in Estonia) on October 1 declared war on Germany. At the same time, the armies of the Belorussian and Baltic fronts, having defeated the enemy troops in Belarus and Lithuania, liberated Minsk, Vilnius and reached the border of Poland and Germany.
In July - September, parts of the Ukrainian fronts freed all Western Ukraine . On August 31, the Germans were driven out of Bucharest (Romania). In early September, Soviet troops entered the territory of Bulgaria.
In the fall of 1944, fierce battles began for liberation of the Baltics- On September 22, Tallinn was liberated, on October 13 - Riga. At the end of October, the Soviet Army entered Norway. In parallel with the offensive in the Baltic states and in the North, in September-October, our armies liberated part of the territory of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Yugoslavia. The Czechoslovak Corps, formed on the territory of the USSR, took part in the battles for the liberation of Czechoslovakia. The troops of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia, together with the armies of Marshal F. I. Tolbukhin, liberated Belgrade on October 20.
The result of the offensive of the Soviet Army in 1944 was complete liberation of the territory of the USSR from fascist invaders and bringing the war into enemy territory.
The victory in the fight against Nazi Germany was obvious. It was achieved not only in battles, but as a result of the heroic labor of the Soviet people in the rear. Despite the enormous destruction caused to the national economy of the country, its industrial potential was constantly growing. In 1944, Soviet industry surpassed military production not only in Germany, but in England and the USA, producing about 30,000 tanks and self-propelled guns, more than 40,000 aircraft, and over 120,000 guns. The Soviet Army was provided with an abundance of light and heavy machine guns, machine guns and rifles. The Soviet economy, thanks to the selfless labor of the workers and peasants, defeated the entire European industry taken together, which was almost completely placed at the service of Nazi Germany. On the liberated lands, the restoration of the national economy immediately began.
It should be noted the work of Soviet scientists, engineers and technicians, who created first-class models of weapons and provided the front with them, which to a large extent determined the victory over the enemy.
Their names are well known - V. G. Grabin, P. M. Goryunov, V. A. Degtyarev, S. V. Ilyushin, S. A. Lavochkin, V. F. Tokarev, G. S. Shpagin, A. S. Yakovlev and others.
The works of remarkable Soviet writers, poets, composers (A. Korneichuk, L. Leonov, K. Simonov, A. Tvardovsky, M. Sholokhov, D. Shostakovich, etc.) ). The unity of the rear and the front was the key to victory.
In 1945, the Soviet Army had an absolute numerical superiority in manpower and equipment. The military potential of Germany was significantly weakened, since it actually found itself without allies and raw material bases. Considering that the Anglo-American troops did not show much activity with the development of offensive operations, the Germans still kept the main forces - 204 divisions - on the Soviet-German front. Moreover, at the end of December 1944, in the Ardennes region, the Germans, with less than 70 divisions, broke through the Anglo-American front and began to push the allied forces, over which there was a threat of encirclement and destruction. January 6, 1945 Prime Minister In England, W. Churchill turned to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief I. V. Stalin with a request to speed up the conduct of offensive operations. Faithful to their allied duty, on January 12, 1945, the Soviet troops (instead of 20) launched an offensive, the front of which stretched from the shores of the Baltic to the Carpathian Mountains and was equal to 1200 km. A powerful offensive was carried out between the Vistula and the Oder - against Warsaw and Vienna. By the end of January was crossed the Oder, released Breslau. January 17 released Warsaw, then Poznan, April 9 - Koenigsberg(now Kaliningrad), April 4 - Bratislava, 13 - Vein. The result of the winter offensive of 1915 was the liberation of Poland, Hungary, East Prussia, Pomerania, Danni, parts of Austria and Silesia. Brandenburg was taken. Soviet troops reached the line Oder - Neisse - Spree. Preparations began for the storming of Berlin.
As early as the beginning of 1945 (February 4-13), a conference of leaders of the USSR, the USA, and Great Britain met in Yalta ( Yalta Conference), which addressed the issue of post-war order of the world. An agreement was reached on the cessation of hostilities only after unconditional surrender fascist command. The heads of government came to an agreement on the need to eliminate the military potential of Germany, the complete destruction of Nazism, military contingents and the center of militarism - the German General Staff. At the same time, it was decided to convict the war criminals and oblige Germany to pay reparations in the amount of 20 billion dollars for the damage caused during the war to the countries with which she fought. Has been previously confirmed decision on the establishment of an international body for the maintenance of peace and security - United Nations. The government of the USSR gave a promise to the allies to enter the war against Japanese imperialism three months after the surrender of Germany.
In the second half of April - early May, the Soviet Army delivered the last blows to Germany. On April 16, the operation to encircle Berlin began, ending by April 25. After a powerful bombardment and artillery shelling, stubborn street battles began. On April 30, between 2 and 3 pm, a red flag was hoisted over the Reichstag.
On May 9, the last enemy grouping was liquidated and Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, was liberated. Hitler's army ceased to exist. May 8 in the Berlin suburb of Karlhorst was signed act of unconditional surrender of Germany.
The Great Patriotic War ended with the final defeat of Nazi Germany and its allies. The Soviet Army not only bore the brunt of the war on its shoulders, liberated Europe from fascism, but also saved the Anglo-American troops from defeat, giving them the opportunity to fight against the small German garrisons.
Victory Parade on Red Square - June 24, 1945
On July 17, 1945, a conference of the heads of government of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain met in Potsdam ( Potsdam conference), discussing the outcome of the war. The leaders of the three powers agreed to permanently eliminate German militarism, the Nazi Party (NSDAP) and prevent its revival. Issues related to the payment of reparations by Germany were resolved.
After the defeat of Nazi Germany, Japan continued to conduct military operations against the United States, Britain and other countries. The military actions of Japan also threatened the security of the USSR. The Soviet Union, fulfilling its allied obligations, on August 8, 1945, after rejecting the offer of surrender, declared war on Japan. Japan occupied a significant territory of China, Korea, Manchuria, Indochina. On the border with the USSR, the Japanese government kept a million-strong Kwantung Army, threatening a constant attack, which diverted significant forces of the Soviet Army. Thus, Japan objectively helped the Nazis in an aggressive war. On August 9, our units went on the offensive on three fronts, began Soviet-Japanese War. The entry of the USSR into the war, which had been unsuccessfully waged for several years by the Anglo-American troops, dramatically changed the situation.
Within two weeks, the main force of Japan, the Kwantung Army and its supporting units, was completely defeated. In an effort to raise its "prestige", the United States, without any military necessity, dropped two atomic bombs on peaceful Japanese cities - Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Continuing the offensive, the Soviet Army liberated South Sakhalin, Kurile Islands, Manchuria, a number of cities and ports North Korea. Seeing that the continuation of the war is meaningless, September 2, 1945 Japan surrendered. Japan's defeat the second World War . The long-awaited peace has come.
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The beginning of the new year marked the offensive, during which Novgorod was liberated on January 20, and the Leningrad blockade was lifted on January 27, 1944 (the number of victims of the blockade was more than a million inhabitants). The unfolding spring offensive on the Southwestern Front led to the liberation of the Right-Bank Ukraine and the Crimea by the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian (I. S. Konev), 3rd Ukrainian (R. Ya. Malinovsky) and 4th Ukrainian (F. I. Tolbukhin ) fronts. On March 26, 1944, the Soviet Army reached the state border of the USSR with Romania along the Prut River. On May 9, Sevastopol was liberated, and on May 12, Crimea.
A further summer offensive led to the liberation of Belarus - "June 23 - August 29. Troops of the 1st Belorussian (K.K. Rokossovsky), 2nd Belorussian (G.F. Zakharov), 3rd Belorussian (I.D. Chernyakhovsky), the 1st Baltic (I. Kh. Bagramyan) fronts cut the German army group "Center" into several parts, systematically destroying the encircled enemy troops near Vitebsk and Bobruisk. Later, the 105,000th surrounded group was liquidated German troops near Minsk (liberated on July 3), During the operation, 17 divisions and 3 enemy brigades were completely destroyed, and 50 divisions lost more than half of the composition (a total of about 500 thousand people).Continuing the offensive, the Soviet troops reached Warsaw, but, suffering heavy losses and having exhausted their forces in many months of battles, they were stopped.
Timed to coincide with the offensive, the uprising of the Craiova Army in Warsaw (August 1 - October 3, 1944) ended in the defeat and death of more than 200 thousand Varsovians, primarily due to the inconsistency in the date of the uprising and the real situation at the front. It should be noted that the air supply of the rebels was carried out by the USSR in amounts exceeding the allied ones, but it only delayed the defeat of the Warsaw people. A military action in support of the rebels in August was impossible, and in September it turned out to be ineffective due to the advance of Soviet troops in the Balkans and because of the mistrust of the USSR government to the Polish government in exile, which led the uprising. Attempts by the 1st Belorussian Front (K.K. Rokossovsky) to break through to the city in September 1944 ended in the almost complete destruction of the Soviet-Polish (Ludov's Army) landing force and the refusal of a frontal attack on Warsaw.
On August 20, as a result of the Iasi-Kishinev operation, the defense of German troops in Moldova was broken through. On August 23, the new Romanian government declared war on Nazi Germany, and by mid-September, Romania had already been liberated from Wehrmacht units. On September 15, Soviet troops entered Sofia. On September 28, 1944, units of the Soviet Army, together with the Yugoslav troops, began to liberate Yugoslavia. By October 1944, most of Eastern Europe came under the control of Soviet troops. Under these conditions, the German leadership agreed to the creation of a collaborationist ". On November 14, 1944, an organizational meeting was held) and the formation of the ROA began. Division No. 1 (600th Wehrmacht Division) and Division No. 2 ( 610th division of the Wehrmacht); division number 3 was in the process of formation. The total number of troops of the ROA reached 50 thousand people, including 5 thousand - the air force. March 26 - April 13, 1945, the troops of the ROA participated in the battles against the Soviet Having failed, the divisions undertook a “campaign to Prague”, where an uprising broke out among the citizens of Prague, who refused the help of the approaching “repentant Vlasovites.” Between Vienna and Prague, units of the ROA were disarmed in May 1945, and the leadership of the ROA was arrested and In 1946, after the trial, 12 leaders of the ROA were hanged, headed by Vlasov.
The offensive of the Soviet fronts at the beginning of 1945 put an end to the main groupings of the German troops. The most significant successes of the Soviet troops were achieved during the Vistula-Oder operation (January 12 - February 3). During it, the echeloned non-German defense was broken in the shortest possible time and the Polish territories were completely liberated. 25 were defeated, and 35 enemy divisions were completely destroyed, about 150 thousand German soldiers were captured. The success of the Soviet troops was all the more important because the German command was forced to stop the offensive in the Ardennes on the Western Front against our allies. The development of strategic success in this sector of the Soviet-German front was continued in the course of the Lower Silesian and Upper Silesian operations. In early February 1945, Silesia and the southern direction of Budapest were occupied. In March, the Oder was forced, and the Berlin operation began to unfold. In parallel with it, the destruction of the German troops in East Prussia (under the general leadership of A.M. Vasilevsky) was going on, where on April 9, 1945 the garrison of Koenigsberg capitulated.
The troops of three fronts participated in the Berlin operation: the 2nd Belorussian (Rokossovsky), the 1st Belorussian (Zhukov) and the 1st Ukrainian (Konev). At the first stage, on April 16-19, a breakthrough of the German Oder-Neissen line of defense followed. From April 19 to April 25, the Soviet units divided and surrounded the enemy troops. On April 25, at the height of the battle for Berlin, Soviet troops met on the Elbe with American units. On April 25, 1945, the assault on Berlin and the destruction of the encircled Wehrmacht groups began. April 30 . It was hoisted up by sergeants M. A. Egorov and M. V. Kantaria. On May 2, the Berlin garrison capitulated.
The last battle with fascism was the Prague operation on May 6-11, 1945. Even before the liberation (May 9) of Prague, on May 8, the Unconditional Act was signed in Berlin. These events ended the Great Patriotic War, which began on June 22, 1941.
On June 24, 1945, the Victory Parade took place in Moscow. Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky commanded the parade, G.K. Zhukov took over the parade. During the solemn march, the Banner of Victory was carried in front on a special car, followed by the consolidated regiments of the fronts, led by the commanders of the fronts. Following the regiments of the fronts and the Navy, a consolidated column of Soviet soldiers entered Red Square, throwing 200 banners of Nazi troops to the foot of Lenin's Mausoleum to the beat of drums. The Victory Parade put an end to the military-political confrontation between the USSR and Germany during the Great Patriotic War.
Contribution Soviet military leaders in the defeat of Nazi Germany was marked by high government awards. Since 1944, the most significant victories were marked by the award of the Order "Victory". The first award was given for operations during which Red Army formations reached the border of the USSR. On May 31, 1944, Orders No. 1 and No. 2 were presented in the Kremlin to Marshals G.K. Zhukov and A.M. Vasilevsky. On July 29, Marshal I. V. Stalin was awarded the Order of Victory No. 3. On March 30, 1945, marshals I. S. Konev, K. K. Rokossovsky and secondarily Zhukov were awarded orders for the victorious Vistula-Oder operation. On April 19, 1945, Vasilevsky was awarded the second Order of Victory for successful operations in the Baltic states. A week later, this award was presented to the heroes of the liberation campaign in the Balkans, Marshals R. Ya. Malinovsky and F. I. Tolbukhin. In May-June 1945, Marshal L. A. Govorov, General of the Army A. I. Antonov (Chief of the General Staff at the final stage of the war) and Marshal S. K. Timoshenko were awarded the Order. On July 26, 1945, the second Order of Victory was presented to Stalin. In September 1945, after the defeat of militaristic Japan, Marshal K. A. Meretskov was awarded the award.
Orders of "Victory" were also awarded to our allies. Among the recipients: Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe, American General of the Army D. Eisenhower, Commander of the Allied Army Group, British Field Marshal B. Montgomery, King of Romania Mihai I, Marshal of Poland M. Rola-Zhymerski, Commander of the People's Liberation Army Yugoslav Marshal Josip Broz Tito.