October 14 p.m. In Prague, at a meeting of the prime ministers of the Visegrad Four countries (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary), the creation of the Platform for European Memory and Conscience was announced. The corresponding document was signed by the heads of 19 organizations from 13 EU countries, including Germany. The platform intends to coordinate the work of governmental and non-governmental organizations in order to “actively study the history of totalitarian regimes.”
Many experts express the opinion that the Platform will prepare an analogue of the Nuremberg trials in relation to the USSR and Russia as its legal successor.
Regnum editor-in-chief Modest Kolerov believes that the goal of the new “condemnation of totalitarianism” will be to present claims to Russia for the payment of reparations for the “crimes of Stalinism” in Eastern European countries. Researcher at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Oleg Nemensky notes that “the West has a huge need to condemn the actions of the USSR in the Second World War. Without condemning Russia, the West cannot be confident in its positive self-esteem.”
Dancing in liberated Vienna.
And the head of the research programs of the Historical Memory Foundation, Vladimir Simindey, believes that “within the framework of this so-called. The “Platform of European Memory and Conscience” is attempting... supposedly to scientifically substantiate why the Nazi regime and Soviet socialism are fully comparable,” and on the basis of this to put pressure on Russia. He calls for “preempting some things at the diplomatic level, as well as engaging in active information support for your position.”
Taking into account recent trends, especially in connection with the decision adopted on August 23 this year. EU Justice Ministers in Warsaw Declaration on the occasion of the European Day of Remembrance of Totalitarian Regimes, which speaks of the responsibility of Soviet communism along with fascism “for the majority of shameful acts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes”, the forecasts made by experts look very likely.
In this regard, it is necessary to recall what political changes actually accompanied the end of the Second World War for most countries of Eastern Europe. For example, in all these countries, with the exception of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, the first free multi-party elections since the 20-30s. Fascist dictatorships were established there and ended only after Soviet troops entered their territory. We can rightfully consider the events of 1944-1945. in these countries not by the “establishment of totalitarianism,” but by the liberation of the peoples of these countries from political, social, and in some cases, national oppression.
Let's look at the situation in these states separately.
Baltics
In 1926, the Lithuanian nationalist party, supported by the military, carried out a coup d'etat. Party leader and president Antanas Smetona was proclaimed “leader of the nation” in 1928, and practically unlimited power was concentrated in his hands. In 1936, all parties except the nationalist party were banned in Lithuania. In 1934, Latvian Prime Minister Karlis Ulmanis carried out a coup, dissolved parliament, banned all parties and received the title of “leader of the people” and unlimited power. That same year, a triumvirate of President and Prime Minister Päts, Commander-in-Chief Laidoner and Interior Minister Eerenpalu seized power in Estonia, dissolved parliament and banned all parties except the Fatherland Union. All these coups were marked by repression against the political opposition and the destruction of the rights and freedoms of citizens. Trade unions were banned and strike participants were brutally persecuted. In 1940, after the entry of Soviet troops, elections to the Seimas were held in the Baltic republics, which approved joining the USSR.
In 1926, Józef Pilsudski carried out a coup d'etat, became president for life and proclaimed the establishment of a “rehabilitation regime” (recovery). One of the symbols of the “sanation” was the concentration camp in Bereza-Kartuzskaya (now the Brest region of Belarus) for the political opposition. The concentration camp was built in 1935 with the help of Nazi "experts" as a replica of the Oranienburg concentration camp near Berlin. Under the new constitution of 1935, the president was responsible only “before God and history.” The legal opposition remained, but the results of the elections to the Sejm were shamelessly falsified. Therefore, more than half of voters ignored them. The “Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth” was characterized by the suppression of ethnic and religious minorities (Ukrainians, Belarusians, Lithuanians, Jews), which numbered up to 40% of the country’s population; forced linguistic assimilation. Before World War II, the ruling circles of Poland more than once discussed with the leaders of Nazi Germany, democratic England and France the issue of deporting all Polish Jews to Madagascar. Poland participated in the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia following the Munich Agreement of 1938. From October 1920 to September 1939, it occupied the Vilna region from Lithuania.
Czechoslovakia
Soviet tanks in Prague.
It was one of the few European countries that managed to maintain a competitive multi-party system until 1939. At the same time, the liquidation of Czechoslovakia and its transition into the orbit of influence of Nazi Germany was formalized in a completely legitimate way by the democratic institutions of this state. The agreement on the occupation of the Czech Republic by the Wehrmacht and the transformation of the Czech Republic into a protectorate of the Third Reich, Bohemia and Moravia, was signed by the legitimate president of the Czechoslovak Republic, Emil Haha, who, as a reward for this, was appointed by the Nazis as president of the protectorate. The parliament of autonomous Slovakia proclaimed the country's independence, conditioned by a close alliance with Hitler's Germany (in fact, vassal dependence on it). The Slovak Motorized Corps took part in Hitler's aggression against the USSR.
Meeting of liberators.
After the suppression of the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, Miklós Horthy became ruler with the title of regent. Hungary had a limited legal opposition and parliamentary structures, but left-wing parties were driven underground. The regime fought against political opponents by all means, including the death penalty. Before World War II, Hungary became closer to Nazi Germany, thanks to which in 1938-1940. captured Transcarpathian Ukraine and the border regions of Slovakia from Czechoslovakia, and Transylvania and Banat from Romania. However, in the spring of 1944, Horthy's attempt to enter into peace negotiations with the Western powers led to the direct occupation of the country by German troops. Horthy nominally remained in power, the government was headed by Hitler's protege. The Holocaust began in Hungary, killing 600 thousand Jews in less than a year. In October 1944, with the support of the SS, the fascist Arrow Cross organization led by Szalashi carried out a pro-Nazi coup. Hungarian troops in 1941-1945. took an active part in the war against the USSR, and their numbers were steadily increasing: one corps in the summer of 1941, one army in the summer of 1942, three armies in the fall of 1944. Among the troops that occupied the USSR, the Hungarians, according to eyewitnesses, were distinguished by the greatest cruelty, which horrified even the Nazis.
Brutal repressions by the royal government of Romania in the 20-30s. both left and right opposition forces were subjected to. In 1940, all actual power was transferred to General Antonescu. There is only one legal party left in the country; trade unions were banned, and instead “corporations” were created on the model of fascist Italy. Romanian troops were the largest among Germany's allies on the Eastern Front of World War II. In August 1944, when Soviet troops entered Romania, King Mihai organized the overthrow of the dictator (similar to how the king of Italy overthrew Mussolini a year earlier) and declared war on Germany. The Red Army was greeted with jubilation by the Romanian people.
Bulgaria
Sofia - the first day of freedom.
In 1923, a military coup took place, during which the democratic government led by the leader of the People's Agricultural Union, Stamboliysky, was overthrown (he was killed in the process). In 1934, another coup took place, as a result of which all parties were dissolved. In 1935, an absolute monarchy was established in Bulgaria, headed by Tsar Boris. The Tsar became an ally of Germany and in 1941 achieved significant territorial gains at the expense of the victims of Hitler's aggression - Yugoslavia and Greece. Bulgaria did not officially take part in military operations against the USSR and the occupation of Soviet territory, but the Bulgarian Navy and Air Force repeatedly sank Soviet submarines that found themselves near Bulgarian waters. All these years, the people's struggle against the monarcho-fascist regime did not stop in Bulgaria, often taking the form of guerrilla warfare. In September 1944, with the entry of Soviet troops into Bulgaria, the regime, hated by the Bulgarian people, collapsed overnight and without resistance.
Yugoslavia
The presence of parliamentary structures did not prevent the executive branch from pursuing policies that were contrary to the interests of the people. When the government entered into a military alliance with Hitler in March 1941, it caused violent indignation, in the wake of which a new government came to power, and the regent was forced to flee the country. The Nazis created a puppet state in Croatia, which was marked by genocide against Serbs, Gypsies, and Jews, the victims of which were hundreds of thousands of people. Croatia was a loyal ally of Nazi Germany throughout the war. She left the war only on the day of the Wehrmacht’s surrender - on May 8, Tito’s anti-fascist troops took Zagreb.
The backward feudal monarchy, a de facto protectorate of Italy, was directly occupied by Italian troops in 1939. The unfolding nationwide resistance movement adopted communist ideology from the very beginning.
The USSR sought to prevent the countries of “people's democracy” from directly copying their model. In Yugoslavia, the one-party model was established without the participation of the USSR, since Tito already in 1945 began rapprochement with the West, which ended in 1948. In Hungary and Romania, the one-party system was not established immediately, but only after several elections, the last of which were won by a landslide victory united parties of communists and former left socialists. In Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and the GDR, parties other than communist (workers') parties operated throughout the years of the socialist system.
It is impossible to deny that the Soviet Union put pressure on the “countries of people's democracy”, helping to establish political forces friendly to the Soviet Union in power there. These were the communists and some parties close to them. But in this case, the policy of the USSR was no different in essence from the policy of the USA and England in the countries of Western and Southern Europe after the war.
So, in 1945-1946. under direct pressure from the Anglo-Saxon powers, the communists were expelled from the governments of France, Italy, and Belgium. In November 1944, British troops landed in Greece, where they began to suppress the democratic wing of the anti-fascist resistance. On December 3, 1944, British interventionists shot an opposition demonstration in Athens. The war with Hitler was still going on... The actions of the British military caused a storm of indignation in Western countries, in particular in American public circles of that time.
England's active military intervention in Greece lasted until 1949 and ended with the establishment of a dictatorial regime in power. The loyalty of most other Western European countries to the alliance with the Anglo-Saxon democracies was ensured by the constant presence of American troops on their territory. An objective view is not able to discern any fundamental difference between the measures by which each of the great powers - winners in World War II tried to ensure their geopolitical interests in European countries.
As rightly noted in the 1970s. English historian Alan Taylor, “the establishment of communist rule in the states bordering Russia was a consequence of the Cold War, not its cause.”
At the same time, we should not forget for a minute the main fact - without the Soviet Union, Nazism would not have been crushed. In the event of such a development of events, Europe (not only its eastern part) would face a very sad fate. However, neither those who are today ready to make claims against Russia as the heir of “Soviet totalitarianism”, nor those who stand behind them, prefer not to remember this.
Liberation of the territory of the USSR and Eastern Europe from fascism (1944-1945)
| Parameter name | Meaning |
| Article topic: | Liberation of the territory of the USSR and Eastern Europe from fascism (1944-1945) |
| Rubric (thematic category) | Policy |
In January 1944 ᴦ. As a result of the successful operation of the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic fronts, the blockade of Leningrad was lifted. In the winter of 1944. Through the efforts of three Ukrainian fronts, Right Bank Ukraine was liberated, and by the end of spring the western border of the USSR was completely restored.
In such conditions at the beginning of the summer of 1944. a second front was opened in Europe.
The headquarters of the Supreme High Command developed a plan, grandiose in scale and successful in tactical ideas, for the complete liberation of Soviet territory and the entry of Red Army troops into Eastern Europe with the aim of liberating it from fascist enslavement. This was preceded by one of the major offensive operations - the Belarusian one, which received the code name "Bagration".
As a result of the offensive, the Soviet Army reached the outskirts of Warsaw and stopped on the right bank of the Vistula. At this time, a popular uprising broke out in Warsaw, brutally suppressed by the Nazis.
In September-October 1944 ᴦ. Bulgaria and Yugoslavia were liberated. The partisan formations of these states took an active part in the hostilities of the Soviet troops, which later formed the basis of their national armed forces.
Fierce battles broke out for the liberation of the lands of Hungary, where a large group of fascist troops was located, especially in the area of Lake Balaton. For two months, Soviet troops besieged Budapest, whose garrison capitulated only in February 1945. Only towards the middle of April 1945. Hungarian territory was completely liberated.
Under the sign of the victories of the Soviet Army, from February 4 to 11, a conference of the leaders of the USSR, the USA and England was held in Yalta, at which issues of the post-war reorganization of the world were discussed. Among them are the establishment of the borders of Poland, recognition of the USSR's demands for reparations, the question of the USSR's entry into the war against Japan, and the consent of the Allied powers to annex the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin to the USSR.
April 16 - May 2 - The Berlin operation is the last major battle of the Great Patriotic War. It took place in several stages:
Capture of the Seelow Heights;
Fighting on the outskirts of Berlin;
Assault on the central, most fortified part of the city.
On the night of May 9, in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany was signed.
July 17 - August 2 - Potsdam Conference of Heads of State - members of the anti-Hitler coalition. The main question is the fate of post-war Germany. Control was created. nal council is a joint body of the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France to exercise supreme power in Germany during the period of its occupation. He paid special attention to issues of the Polish-German border. Germany was subject to complete demilitarization, and the activities of the Social Nazi Party were prohibited. Stalin confirmed the USSR's readiness to take part in the war against Japan.
The US President, who had received positive results from nuclear weapons tests at the beginning of the conference, began putting pressure on the Soviet Union. Work on the creation of atomic weapons in the USSR also accelerated.
On August 6 and 9, the United States nuclear-bombed two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which had no strategic significance. The act was of a warning and threatening nature, primarily for our state.
On the night of August 9, 1945. The Soviet Union began military operations against Japan. Three fronts were formed: Transbaikal and two Far Eastern. Together with the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Military Flotilla, the selected Japanese Kwantung Army was defeated and North China, North Korea, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were liberated.
September 2, 1945 ᴦ. The Second World War ended with the signing of the Japanese Surrender Act on the American cruiser Missouri.
Liberation of the territory of the USSR and Eastern Europe from fascism (1944-1945) - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Liberation of the territory of the USSR and Eastern Europe from fascism (1944-1945)" 2017, 2018.
Policy and strategy of the USSR and Anglo-American allies in the liberation of Europe
At the final stage of the war in Europe, the advance of troops largely determined the post-war balance of power. The Resistance Movement, where the leading role was played by communist parties, could also determine the political structure in the states liberated from the fascists. Politics and military strategy during this period were particularly closely intertwined. The Soviet leadership sought to quickly and decisively end the war with the complete defeat of fascism. At the same time, the task of strengthening the post-war international position of the USSR was also solved. The Anglo-American leadership sought to strengthen its influence in Europe, preserve the capitalist system as much as possible and limit the influence of the USSR. All this complicated allied relations and left an imprint on strategic decisions.
Taking into account the agreement reached with the allies on the opening of a second front, the growing power of the Red Army and the increased level of Soviet military art, the Supreme High Command Headquarters adopted a plan for a decisive strategic offensive in 1944. It provided for the sequential conduct of ten major front group operations along the entire front with the goal of completely expelling the enemy from territory of the USSR and the liberation of the peoples of Europe.
The offensive, launched in the winter of 1944 near Leningrad and Novgorod, continued continuously. The Red Army gave no respite to the enemy. From the end of December 1943 to mid-May 1944, our troops marched to the west over 1,000 km, defeated 99 enemy divisions and 2 brigades (of which 22 divisions and 1 brigade were destroyed). To Right Bank Ukraine - the main direction of the offensive - the Nazi command transferred 43 divisions and 4 brigades, of which 34 divisions and all brigades were from European countries and from Germany itself.
In the spring of 1944, Soviet troops reached the southwestern border of the USSR and transferred the fighting to the territory of Romania. The troops of generals F.I. Tolbukhin and A.I. Eremenko, together with the forces of the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov Military Flotilla under the command of admirals F.S. Oktyabrsky and S.G. Gorshkov, liberated Crimea.
By this time, the Allies had prepared the landing of their troops in northern France. Operation Overlord is the largest strategic landing in history; a huge expeditionary force of 2 million 876 thousand people took part in it. The landing began at dawn on July 6th. In the first two days, 250 thousand people with 300 guns and 1,500 tanks were transferred. While paying tribute to the scale and skill of the Allied landing operations, it is necessary to evaluate the weaknesses of the German “Atlantic Wall”; the main forces of the Wehrmacht fought on the Soviet-German front.
Simultaneously with the Allied offensive in the west, in the summer of 1944, the largest offensive operations of the Red Army were launched. On June 10, the liberation of Karelia began, which led the Finnish government to the decision to withdraw from the war. Then came the main blow in Belarus and Western Ukraine.
The Belarusian operation (“Bagration”) is one of the largest in World War II. It was carried out on a front 1,100 km wide by forces of 4 fronts, numbering about 2 million people, 36,400 guns and mortars, 5,200 tanks and self-propelled guns, 5,300 aircraft. 40% of the personnel, 77% of the tanks and 53% of the aircraft of the entire active army were concentrated on 26% of the entire length of the Soviet-German front. This made it possible to achieve superiority in forces: in number of troops - 2:1; guns - 3.8:1; tanks - 5.8:1; airplanes - 3.9:1. The offensive began suddenly for the enemy, who was waiting for him in the south. On June 23, after powerful air strikes and active actions of Belarusian partisans, Soviet troops penetrated the enemy’s defenses. Tank and mechanized groups rushed into the gaps formed. On July 3, Minsk was liberated, to the east of which 105 thousand German soldiers and officers remained encircled. In other “cauldrons” near Vitebsk and Bobruisk, another 30 thousand and 40 thousand, respectively, are surrounded. The front troops were commanded by I. Kh. Bagramyan, G. F. Zakharov, K. K. Rokossovsky, I. D. Chernyakhovsky.
Soviet troops developed a rapid offensive and reached the border of East Prussia to the Grodno-Bialystok line, and in the south to Brest. During the offensive in Belarus, the Lvov-Sandomierz operation began to liberate Western Ukraine.
In connection with the entry of our troops into Polish territory, the Soviet government, in its statement, declared the independence of Poland and entered into an agreement with the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKNO) on relations between the Soviet command and the Polish administration. The PCNO took upon itself the leadership of the struggle of the Polish people against the occupiers and the restoration of the economy in the liberated areas, and began carrying out democratic reforms.
At the direction of the London emigrant government, the leadership of the Polish underground, without warning the Soviet command, began an uprising in Warsaw with the aim of bringing to power an emigrant Polish government with an anti-Soviet orientation. Soviet troops, exhausted by that time from long-term battles, were unable to provide effective assistance to the rebels; attempts to connect with the rebels did not yield positive results. The Germans brutally suppressed the uprising and destroyed Warsaw.
The grandiose offensive of the Red Army strengthened the public demand in the United States and England to intensify actions in France. But the Allied offensive from the Normandy bridgehead began only on July 25, 5 days after the failed assassination attempt on Hitler. German troops tried to launch a counterattack, but were unsuccessful, and began to retreat. On August 15, the Allied landing also landed in the south of France, after which the Germans began an organized retreat along the entire Western Front. By August 25, the Allies captured the territory of France between the Seine and Loire. Throughout the country, Resistance fighters entered into battle with the occupiers. The armed struggle of the French people significantly helped the offensive of the Allied forces. The central element of the struggle was the successful Parisian armed uprising, led by the Communists.
The allied command, trying to strengthen its influence in the country and prevent the strengthening of the communists, delayed the agreement with the French government after the landing and implemented the occupation regime for 3 months. Only on August 26, after the liberation of Paris, the allies signed an agreement with the French authorities, since they preferred, in Churchill’s words, “de-Gaulle’s France to communist France.”
Hitler's command withdrew troops to the former Franco-German border and took emergency measures to strengthen the “western defensive rampart.” The Allied armies advanced after the retreating German units without encountering significant opposition. On September 2 they crossed the Belgian border, liberated Brussels, and on September 10 captured Luxembourg. By this time, the Germans had occupied the Siegfried defensive line and stopped the Allied advance there.
The joint offensive of the anti-Hitler coalition troops accelerated the collapse of the Hitler bloc and intensified the struggle of anti-fascist forces in the countries of Eastern, Central and Southern Europe. In the countries occupied by Nazi Germany and the states allied with it, a sharp polarization of forces occurred during the war. The big bourgeoisie and reactionary circles united with the fascist regime, and leftist forces led by communists rallied in the anti-fascist Resistance movement. The struggle of anti-fascist forces for national liberation merged with the revolutionary struggle for democratic and socialist changes. The victories of the Soviet Union made socialism popular among the broad masses and strengthened the influence of communist parties. The entry of Soviet troops into the countries of Eastern and Central Europe revolutionized the liberation movement and provided support to socialist-oriented political forces.
The policy of the Anglo-American allies in the liberated territories of European states was aimed at preserving pre-war regimes, weakening the influence of communist parties, fully restraining revolutionary processes and asserting their political influence. These contradictions seriously threatened the unity of the anti-Hitler coalition. The art of politics, its close connection with the effective strategy of each side during the offensive, largely determined the course of socio-political processes in European countries at the final stage of the Second World War.
In the area of the offensive of the Anglo-American troops, in addition to the uprising in France, which made a significant contribution to the liberation of their homeland, armed uprisings against the occupiers also occurred in Belgium and Denmark. In Belgium, the rebels liberated Antwerp, but in Denmark the Resistance forces did not receive the support of the Anglo-American troops, and the occupiers managed to suppress the uprising. In all the countries of Western Europe liberated by Anglo-American troops, power remained in the hands of the bourgeoisie, and the Resistance units were disarmed. However, the role of communist parties during the liberation struggle remained so great that the governments of almost all liberated countries included representatives of communist parties and united left forces, despite the efforts of the ruling circles of the USA and Great Britain.
The work of communist parties under the prevailing conditions during the war differed sharply in each country, and the political situation changed extremely quickly. In the new conditions, the activities of the Comintern had already outlived their usefulness, and by a special decision of the Presidium of the ECCI, the Comintern was dissolved in May 1943. This decision was also important for strengthening the anti-Hitler coalition.
In the countries of Eastern, Southern and Central Europe, the process of defeating Hitler's troops by the armed forces of the Soviet Union merged with liberating anti-fascist people's democratic uprisings and revolutions.
During the Iasi-Chisinau operation to liberate Moldova, an anti-fascist uprising began in Bucharest on August 23, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Romania and in agreement with the Romanian king. A “government of national unity” was created, which announced the cessation of hostilities against the United Nations and Romania’s acceptance of the truce conditions presented by the USSR, England and the USA in the spring of 1944, but rejected then by the fascist government of Antonescu. Hitler ordered German troops stationed in the rear areas of Romania to suppress the uprising and launch an air strike on Bucharest. The Soviet leadership decides to provide prompt assistance to the rebels. Leaving 34 divisions to defeat the encircled enemy troops, the Soviet command sent 50 divisions deep into Romania. By August 29, the encircled enemy troops were defeated, and 208.6 thousand people were taken prisoner. By August 31, Soviet soldiers, together with Romanian formations and work detachments, liberated Ploesti, and then entered Bucharest, enthusiastically greeted by the residents.
During the liberation of Romania, Soviet troops reached the borders of Bulgaria, where by the summer of 1944 a communist-led guerrilla war had begun against the monarcho-fascist government, which had drawn Bulgaria into a bloc with Germany and provided its territory and resources for the fight against the USSR. In 1944, Bulgaria continued to actively help Germany. The new government of Bulgaria, formed on September 2, 1944, declared neutrality, but still left its territory at the disposal of the German fascists.
On September 5, the Soviet government announced that the policy of so-called neutrality provided direct assistance to Nazi Germany. It led to the fact that the Soviet Union “will henceforth be in a state of war with Bulgaria.” On September 7, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front crossed the Romanian-Bulgarian border without firing a single shot, greeted by the Bulgarian people as liberators.
On this day, at an illegal meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the BKP, a decision was made to start the uprising at 2 a.m. on September 9. The uprising in Sofia was bloodless and achieved complete victory; ministers and senior military leaders were arrested. The leadership of the Fatherland Front came to power and declared war on Germany. The Bulgarian army, together with Soviet troops, entered into an armed struggle against the Nazis. The people's government that came to power immediately began to carry out political and socio-economic reforms in the country.
The advance of Soviet troops in Bulgaria dramatically changed the entire situation in southern Europe. The Yugoslav partisans, who, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia for 3.5 years, waged a heroic struggle against the Nazis and their accomplices, received direct assistance from the Red Army. In accordance with the agreement between the government of the USSR and the leadership of the liberation movement of Yugoslavia, Soviet troops, together with Yugoslav and Bulgarian units, carried out the Belgrade operation. Having defeated the German army group, they liberated Belgrade, which became the seat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and the National Committee for the Liberation of Yugoslavia, headed by Joseph Broz Tito. The Yugoslav People's Army received a strong rear and military assistance for further struggle for the complete liberation of the country. In Albania, by the end of November, German troops were expelled by popular resistance forces, and there, too, a Provisional Democratic Government was formed.
Simultaneously with the offensive in the Balkans, the Red Army advanced into the Eastern Carpathians to help the Slovak partisans and the borders of Hungary. Overcoming fierce enemy resistance, Soviet soldiers liberated a third of Hungarian territory by the end of October and launched an offensive against Budapest. The Anti-Fascist Front of Hungary created the Insurgent Liberation Committee, which included several political parties led by the communist one. The liberated territory became the basis for the creation of people's power and the development of the people's democratic revolution in the country. In December, the Provisional National Assembly formed the Provisional Government, which declared war on Germany and began to reorganize the political and economic life of the country on a democratic basis.
In October, troops of the Karelian Front (General K. A. Meretskov) together with the forces of the Northern Fleet (Admiral A. G. Golovko) liberated the Soviet Arctic and part of Northern Norway. Carrying out a liberation mission in Europe, the Red Army fought together with the allied people's armies of foreign countries. The People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia and Yugoslav partisans, the Polish Army (1st and 2nd armies) and Polish partisans, the 1st Czechoslovak Corps and Czechoslovak partisans acted against the common enemy - Hitler's troops - from late August - early September 1944 . - Romanian and Bulgarian armies, and at the final stage of the war - parts of the new Hungarian army. In the fire of the war against fascism, the foundations of the military commonwealth of the armed forces of the USSR and the new people's republics were formed. Particularly heavy fighting took place in Hungary during the Budapest operation, which began on October 29 and lasted until February 13, 1945 by the forces of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts, the Danube Flotilla with the involvement of the 1st Bulgarian Army and the 3rd Yugoslav Army. A bloody defensive battle took place in the area of Lake Balaton, where Soviet troops steadfastly withstood a powerful enemy tank attack.
In the autumn of 1944, the German armed forces stabilized the situation on the Western and Italian fronts and organized fierce resistance on the Eastern Front. Hitler's leadership decided to take active action on the Western Front in order to achieve a separate peace with the Anglo-American allies “on the principle of force”, launching a major counter-offensive in the Ardennes. This was the Wehrmacht's first prepared major offensive against the Anglo-American troops and Hitler's last bid to exit the war on terms acceptable to him. German industrialists took all measures to provide the Wehrmacht with the necessary weapons and material resources. At the cost of brutal exploitation of millions of foreign workers, it was possible to increase military production in the fall of 1944 to the highest level of the entire war (this simultaneously shows the low effectiveness of strategic bombing by Allied aviation for several years).
The sudden offensive of Hitler's troops on December 16, 1944 in the Ardennes inflicted a serious defeat on the American army. The German advance created a critical situation for the Allies in Europe. D. Eisenhower (commander of the Allied forces in Europe), assessing the current situation, came to the conclusion that it would be difficult for the Allies to independently cope with the offensive of German troops and asked Roosevelt to find out the prospects for a new Soviet offensive. Churchill on January 6, 1945 asked Stalin to inform him of the possibility of a major offensive on the Vistula front or elsewhere during January. Stalin announced on January 7, 1945 that, taking into account the position of our allies, broad offensive actions would be taken on the central sector of the front no later than the second half of January. By decision of the Headquarters, the start of the final offensive of the Red Army was postponed from January 20 to January 12.
The final stage of the war. conference.
On January 17, Warsaw was liberated, on January 19 - Lodz and Krakow, which the Nazis mined during the retreat, but Soviet intelligence officers managed to save the city. In order to preserve the Silesian industrial region, the front commander I. S. Konev gives the German troops the opportunity to escape from the encirclement, smashing the retreating formations during the pursuit. By the end of January - beginning of February, troops of the 1st Belorussian (Marshal Zhukov) and 1st Ukrainian (Marshal Konev) fronts reached the Oder, capturing large bridgeheads on its western bank. There were 60 km left to Berlin. Troops of the 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts (Marshals Rokossovsky and Vasilevsky) together with the Red Banner Baltic Fleet (Admiral V.F. Tribune) led an offensive in East Prussia and Pomerania. In the south, Soviet troops advanced into Czechoslovakia and began the liberation of Budapest.
As a result of the offensive of the Soviet troops in the winter of 1945, Hitler’s army suffered a crushing defeat, and the imminent end of the war became a fact. The Nazis’ hopes for a protracted war for “Fortress Germany” and for a split in the anti-Hitler coalition collapsed completely.
Coordination of a further attack on Germany from the west and east and the problems of the post-war world order urgently required the convening of a new conference of the heads of government of the USSR, USA and Great Britain. At the suggestion of the Soviet Union, Yalta was chosen as the venue. This decision showed the increased authority of the USSR and its decisive role in ending the Second World War. The Crimean (Yalta) Conference of the Heads of Government of the USSR, USA and Great Britain (J.V. Stalin, F. Roosevelt, W. Churchill) was held from February 4 to 11, 1945. All three powers were united in matters of military strategy with the goal of ending the war as quickly as possible . The military headquarters agreed on cooperation and, accordingly, the boundaries of the occupation zones were fundamentally determined.
The central question has been resolved - about the future of Germany. The heads of state outlined the foundations of a coordinated policy on the principles of democratization, demilitarization, denazification, and the creation of guarantees that Germany “will never be able to disrupt the peace.” An agreement was reached on the Polish question, which opened the way for the development of a free and independent Polish state within historically just borders. The fate of the second source of aggression is predetermined, the date for the USSR's entry into the war in the Far East is fixed - 3 months after the end of the war with Germany. In Yalta, the principle of equality of arms prevailed. “The United States cannot expect that everything will be done at its discretion 100%, since this is also impossible for Russia and Great Britain,” noted President Roosevelt.
After the Yalta Conference, a coordinated offensive of the anti-Hitler coalition forces began from the east and west. It should be noted that during its course, fierce resistance to the Nazi army was organized mainly on the Soviet-German front (in the first half of April, 214 Nazi divisions were concentrated there). A contingent born in 1929 was drafted into the army, and brutal measures were taken to force the army to fight “to the last soldier.”
On April 13, Roosevelt died suddenly, and G. Truman became President of the United States. As a senator in 1941, he said that if Germany wins, we must help the Soviet Union, and if the USSR begins to win, then we must help Germany, and “let them kill as many as possible.” On April 16, in an address to the troops, Hitler assured that Roosevelt's death would cause a turn in the war. The struggle for Berlin formed a central link in the strategy and politics of the last days of fascism. Hitler's leadership believed that “it was better to surrender Berlin to the Anglo-Saxons than to let the Russians into it.” Berlin and its approaches have been turned into a powerful defensive area.
On April 16, the Berlin Strategic Operation began. Soviet troops broke through the enemy's deeply layered defenses and entered the suburbs of Berlin. On April 25, the encirclement of the Berlin group was completed. Heavy battles ensued with fascist troops fighting with fanatical, furious despair.
Meanwhile, along the entire Western and Italian fronts, the Allies accepted the partial surrender of Nazi troops (bypassing the signing of the act of unconditional surrender of Germany), quickly advancing through German territory. At the insistence of the Soviet government, on May 8, the act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed by all allies. It was held in liberated Berlin under the chairmanship of Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov. Only after the signing of the act did German troops in the east begin to lay down their arms everywhere. However, in order to overcome the resistance of the Nazis in Czechoslovakia, where a popular uprising began against them in Prague on May 5, battles had to be fought even before May 9, when Soviet tank troops completely liberated Prague. The last day of the war became the day of liberation of the fraternal Czechoslovak people. The Red Army fully fulfilled its international duty as a liberating army.
May 9 - Victory Day of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War was approved as a national holiday.
The defeat of Japan and the end of World War II
The war in Europe is over. The victorious countries began to develop documents about the post-war world. The Potsdam Conference of July 7 - August 2, 1945 summed up the outcome of the Second World War in Europe. The decisions taken there corresponded to the liberating anti-fascist nature of the war and became a turning point in the life of Europe from war to peace. However, the leaders of England (Churchill and then Atlee) and the USA (Truman) tried this time to take a “hard position” against the USSR. During the conference, the US government made its first attempt at "nuclear diplomacy". Truman informed Stalin about the creation of a new powerful weapon in the United States.
Having received assurances that the USSR would enter the war with Japan in accordance with the agreement at the Yalta Conference, the United States and Great Britain, joined by China, published a declaration in Potsdam on the unconditional surrender of Japan. The Japanese government rejected it.
The Soviet Union began deploying and preparing forces to enter the war with Japan. The Mongols also took part in the war: the People's Republic. Japan at that time had large forces in vast territories of China, Korea, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. The largest group of the Japanese army (the Kwantung Army numbering over 1 million) was located in Manchuria - on the borders of the USSR. According to the calculations of the US command, the war with Japan without the participation of the Soviet Union could last until 1947 with heavy losses.
The US government hastened to complete preparations for the atomic bombing of Japan despite the obvious futility of Japanese resistance after the USSR entered the war. On the morning of August 6, the first atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. Of the 306 thousand inhabitants, 140 thousand died immediately, tens of thousands died later, 90% of the buildings burned down, the rest turned into ruins.
On August 8, the USSR declared war on Japan and joined the Potsdam Declaration. On the night of August 9, the Soviet Armed Forces launched an offensive. The Truman government ordered the second atomic bomb to be dropped on Japan as quickly as possible. On August 9, an American plane atomic bombed the city of Nagasaki, the number of victims was about 75 thousand people. The atomic bombings had no strategic significance; they were intended to intimidate the whole world, primarily the USSR, demonstrating the military power of the United States.
After receiving news on the radio on the morning of August 9 about the USSR’s entry into the Japanese war, Prime Minister K. Suzuki convened a meeting of the Supreme Council for the Management of the War and told those present: “The entry of the Soviet Union into the war this morning puts us in a completely hopeless situation and makes it impossible to continue further.” war."
Soviet historians, like many foreign ones, adhere to the conclusion of the Japanese researcher N. Rekishi: “Although the United States is trying to present the atomic bombing of Japanese cities as a result of the desire to speed up the end of the war, in reality it was not the casualties among civilians, but the entry of the USSR into the war that determined the speedy end of the war.” . (Orlov A. The secret battle of the superpowers. - M., 2000.)
Soviet troops rapidly advanced deep into the territory of Manchuria, overcoming many years of fortifications and resistance of Japanese troops. Within a few days, the Kwantung Army was defeated, and on August 14, the Japanese government decided to surrender; on August 19, soldiers and officers of the Kwantung Army began to surrender en masse. Soviet troops, together with the forces of the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Red Banner Flotilla, liberated Northeast China and North Korea, captured South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
Units of the Chinese People's Liberation Army entered Northeast China and were given weapons from the capitulated Kwantung Army. Under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, people's authorities and military units were created here, and the Manchurian revolutionary base was formed, which played a decisive role in the subsequent development of the revolutionary movement in China.
In North Korea, the Communist Party was restored and people's authorities were formed - the People's Committees, which began to carry out socialist and democratic reforms. With the defeat of Japan, uprisings broke out in many occupied countries and people's democratic revolutions took place - in Vietnam, Malaya, Indonesia and Burma.
On September 2, 1945, in Tokyo Bay on the battleship Missouri, under the chairmanship of the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in the Pacific, General MacArthur, the signing of the Act of Surrender of Japan took place. From the Soviet Union, General K.N. Derevianko signed the Act, the whole ceremony took place in 20 minutes. Thus ended the Second World War - the most tragic period in the history of the 20th century.
The historical role of the USSR in the defeat of fascism. Sources of Victory
The defeat of fascism was achieved through the combined efforts of the states of the anti-Hitler coalition and forces
countries. Each country contributed to the victory by playing its role in this global battle. The historical role of the state in the defeat of fascism constitutes the national pride of the people, determines the country's authority in the post-war world and political weight in resolving international issues. That is why Western historiography is trying to belittle and distort the role of the USSR in World War II.
The course of events discussed earlier, the analysis of the policies and strategies of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition show that the USSR played an outstanding historical role in the general anti-fascist struggle.
The historical role of the USSR in World War II lies in the fact that the Soviet Union was the main military-political force that determined the victorious course of the war, its decisive results and, ultimately, the protection of the peoples of the world from enslavement by fascism.
The general assessment of the role of the USSR in the war is revealed in the following specific provisions.
1) The Soviet Union is the only force in the world that, as a result of a heroic struggle, stopped in 1941 the continuous victorious march of Nazi Germany’s aggression across Europe.
This was achieved at a time when the power of Hitler's military machine was greatest, and the military capabilities of the United States were just being developed. The victory near Moscow dispelled the myth of the invincibility of the German army, contributed to the rise of the Resistance movement and strengthened the anti-Hitler coalition.
2) The USSR, in fierce battles with the main force of the fascist bloc - Hitler's Germany, achieved a radical turning point during the Second World War in favor of the anti-Hitler coalition in 1943.
After the defeat at Stalingrad, Germany, and after it Japan, switched from an offensive war to a defensive one. In the Battle of Kursk, the ability of Hitler's army to resist the advance of Soviet troops was finally broken, and the crossing of the Dnieper opened the way to the liberation of Europe.
3) Soviet Union in 1944-1945. carried out a liberation mission in Europe, eliminating fascist rule over the majority of enslaved peoples, preserving their statehood and historically just borders.
4) The Soviet Union made the greatest contribution to the conduct of the general armed struggle and defeated the main forces of the army of the Hitler bloc, thereby stipulating the complete and unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan.
This conclusion is based on the following comparative indicators of the armed struggle of the Red Army and the armies of the Anglo-American allies:
— The Red Army fought against the bulk of the troops of Nazi Germany. In 1941 - 1942 More than 3/4 of all German troops fought against the USSR; in subsequent years, more than 2/3 of the Wehrmacht formations were on the Soviet-German front. After the opening of the second front, the Eastern Front remained the main one for Germany; in 1944, 181.5 German divisions operated against the Red Army, 81.5 German divisions opposed the Anglo-American troops;
- on the Soviet-German front, military operations were carried out with the greatest intensity and spatial scope. Out of 1,418 days, 1,320 were active battles. On the North African front, respectively, out of 1,068 - 309; Italian out of 663 - 49. The spatial scope was: along the front 4 - 6 thousand km, which is 4 times more than the North African, Italian and Western European fronts combined;
— The Red Army defeated 507 Nazi and 100 allied divisions, almost 3.5 times more than the allies on all fronts of World War II. On the Soviet-German front, the German armed forces suffered more than 73% losses. The bulk of the Wehrmacht's military equipment was destroyed here: more than 75% of aircraft (over 70 thousand), up to 75% of tanks and assault guns (about 50 thousand), 74% of artillery pieces (167 thousand);
- continuous strategic offensive of the Red Army in 1943 - 1945. rapidly shortened the duration of the war, created favorable conditions for the conduct of hostilities by the Allies and intensified their military efforts for fear of being “late” in the liberation of Europe.
Western historiography and propaganda carefully suppress these historical facts or grossly distort them, attributing the decisive contribution to the victory to the United States and England. In the last decade of the 20th century. they are echoed by some domestic historians and publicists of an anti-Soviet and Russophobic orientation.
The historical role that befell the USSR in the defeat of fascism was worth heavy losses. The Soviet people brought their most sacrificial share to the altar of victory over fascism. The Soviet Union lost 26.6 million people in the war, tens of millions were wounded and maimed, the birth rate fell sharply, and enormous damage was caused to health; all Soviet people experienced physical and moral suffering; The standard of living of the population fell.
Enormous damage has been caused to the national economy. The USSR lost 30% of its national wealth. The cost of damage amounted to 675 billion rubles. 1,710 cities and towns, more than 70 thousand villages, more than 6 million buildings, 32 thousand enterprises, 65 thousand km of railways were destroyed and burned. The war devastated the treasury, prevented the creation of new values in the national heritage, and led to a number of negative consequences in the economy, demography, psychology, and morality, which together amounted to the indirect costs of the war.
Direct losses of the Soviet Armed Forces (including troops of the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs), i.e. killed, died of wounds, went missing, did not return from captivity and non-combat losses, amounted to 8,668,400 people during the war years, taking into account the Far Eastern campaign, including including the army and navy 8,509,300 people. A significant part of the losses occurred in 1941 - 1942. (3,048,800 people). In the battles for the liberation of the peoples of Europe and the complete defeat of fascism, hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers laid down their lives: during the liberation of Poland - 600 thousand, Czechoslovakia - 140 thousand, Hungary - 140 thousand, Romania - about 69 thousand, Yugoslavia - 8 thousand, Austria - 26 thousand, Norway - more than a thousand, Finland - about 2 thousand, over 100 thousand Soviet soldiers died on German soil.
Anti-Soviet propaganda abroad and some Russian media, which carry out the same ideological indoctrination of the population, blasphemously juggle with the figures of losses in the Great Patriotic War. Comparing different types of losses in the USSR and Germany, they draw a conclusion about “vain rivers of blood” and “mountains of corpses” of Soviet soldiers, blaming them on the “Soviet system,” questioning the very victory of the USSR over fascism. Falsifiers of history do not mention that Nazi Germany treacherously attacked the Soviet Union, unleashing mass destruction on the civilian population. The Nazis used an inhumane blockade of cities (700,000 people died from starvation in Leningrad), bombing and shelling of civilians, carried out mass executions of civilians, drove the civilian population to hard labor and to concentration camps, where they were subjected to mass destruction. The Soviet Union strictly complied with the agreements on the maintenance of prisoners of war and showed a humane attitude towards them. The Soviet command avoided conducting combat operations in densely populated areas, and in some cases allowed Nazi troops to leave them unhindered. There were no reprisals against the civilian population in the territories occupied by Soviet troops. This explains the difference in losses among the civilian population of the USSR and Germany.
According to recent studies (Russia and the USSR in the wars of the 20th century. Losses of the armed forces: Statistical research / Edited by G. F. Krivosheev. - M.. 2001.) irretrievable losses of the armed forces directly (as reported by our and foreign researchers) in the Red Army together with the allies - Polish, Czechoslovak, Bulgarian, Romanian soldiers - by the end of the war there were 10.3 million people, of which Soviet soldiers - 8,668,400, including those who died in captivity (according to official archival data). The losses of the fascist bloc totaled 9.3 million people, of which 7.4 million were to fascist Germany, 1.2 million to its satellites in Europe and 0.7 million to Japan in the Manchurian operation. Thus, if we exclude our losses associated with the brutal treatment of prisoners of war by the Nazis, then the discrepancy with Germany’s combat losses is quite insignificant, despite the most difficult conditions at the beginning of the war.
Speaking about losses, we must remember the main thing - the result of the war. The Soviet people defended their independence, the USSR made a decisive contribution to the victory over fascism, saving humanity from enslavement by the very reactionary system of imperialism. Nazi Germany was defeated, Hitlerism was eradicated, and there were no military clashes in Europe for almost half a century. The Soviet Union received guaranteed security for its European borders.
The Soviet Union withstood the most difficult invasion and won the greatest victory in the entire thousand-year history of Russia. What are the sources of strength of the Soviet people in this gigantic battle? The answer to this question constitutes the main content of one of the important lessons of the history of the 20th century. for contemporaries and descendants. Western historiography, as a rule, avoids this issue, or refers to the mistakes of the German command, the harsh climatic conditions of Russia, the traditional endurance of the Russian soldier, the “cruelty of the totalitarian Soviet regime,” etc. The scientific approach to analyzing the sources of victory is based on strict adherence to the basic principles of historical science - objectivity, historicism, social approach in their organic unity.
First of all, it is necessary to note the following historical facts. Capitalist tsarist Russia in the First World War, having a larger territory than the USSR, began the war in 1914 with an offensive against the enemy, whose main forces were deployed in the West. It fought the war with Germany having a second front from the very beginning against 1/3 to 1/2 of the armed forces of the countries of the Central Bloc, and in 1916 it was defeated. The Soviet Union withstood a powerful blow from the aggressor; For 3 years he fought without a second front with 3/4, and after its opening - with 2/3 of the troops of the Hitlerite bloc, using the resources of all of Europe; defeated the most powerful military machine of imperialism and achieved a decisive victory. This is the conclusion.
The main source of victory is the socialist social system.
It became the basis for the following specific sources of victory in armed struggle.
1) The spiritual power of the Soviet people, which caused mass heroism at the front and in the rear. The just liberation goals of the war made it truly Great, Patriotic, People's.
Soviet patriotism, which absorbed Russia's military traditions and national pride, also included socialist ideals. The spiritual power of the people was manifested in the high morale of the troops and labor tension in the rear, in perseverance and dedication in fulfilling their duty to the Motherland, in the heroic struggle behind enemy lines and in the mass partisan movement.
An act of the greatest self-sacrifice in the name of victory over the enemy and a sense of military camaraderie was the feat of Alexander Matrosov, who closed the embrasure of the enemy pillbox. The first such feat, documented, was performed by the political commissar of a tank company, Alexander Pankratov, on August 24, 1941. Now history knows more than 200 heroes who have accomplished such feats. Aerial ramming became a widespread phenomenon during the war years; it was carried out by 561 fighter pilots, 19 attack aircraft crews and 18 bombers, only 400 of them were able to land their vehicles or escape by parachute, the rest died (the Germans did not even ram over Berlin). 33 people rammed twice, Lieutenant A. Khlobystov three times, Lieutenant B. Kovzan four times. The 28 Panfilov heroes who blocked the path of German tanks to Moscow, and the feat of five marines led by political instructor N. Filchenkov, who at the cost of their lives stopped a tank column breaking through to Sevastopol, went down in history forever. The whole world was amazed by the resilience of the defenders of Stalingrad, the symbol of which is “Pavlov’s House”. The feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who was not broken by the torture of the Nazis, became a legend. 100 nations and nationalities of the country showed heroism in the fight against a common enemy. Of the total number of over 11 thousand people, the heroes of the Soviet Union were 7,998 Russians, 2,021 Ukrainians, 299 Belarusians, 161 Tatars, 107 Jews, 96 Kazakhs, 90 Georgians, 89 Armenians, 67 Uzbeks, 63 Mordvins, 45 Chuvash, 43 Azerbaijanis, 38 Bashkirs, 31 Ossetians, 16 Turkmen, 15 Lithuanians, 15 Tajiks, 12 Kyrgyz, 12 Latvians, 10 Komi, 10 Udmurts, 9 Estonians, 8 Karelians, 8 Kalmyks, 6 Adygeans, 6 Kabardians, 4 Abkhazians, 2 Moldavians, 2 Yakuts , 1 Tuvan, etc.
2) The unity of Soviet society in the fight against the enemy.
The social homogeneity of society and the absence of exploiting classes in it were the basis for the moral and political unity of all Soviet people during the years of difficult trials. With their minds and hearts, they realized that in unity they had strength and hope for salvation from the foreign yoke. The friendship of the peoples of the USSR, based on social homogeneity, socialist ideology and common goals of struggle, also stood the test. The Nazis failed to create a “fifth column” in the USSR, to split the Soviet Union, and the lot of the traitors was the anger and contempt of the people.
3) Soviet state system.
The popular character of Soviet power determined the people's complete trust in state leadership in the difficult trials of war. The high centralization of public administration, the organized work of the system of state bodies and public organizations ensured the rapid mobilization of all the forces of society to solve the most important problems, turning the country into a single military camp, close unity of the front and rear.
4) Socialist economy, its planning and distribution economic mechanism and mobilization abilities.
The socialist national economy triumphed over the German war economy, which exploited the superior potential of all of Europe. The powerful industry and collective farm system created in the pre-war years provided the material and technical capabilities for a victorious war. The quantity of weapons and military equipment significantly exceeded that of Germany, and in terms of quality it was the best in the world. The Soviet rear provided the army with the human resources necessary for victory and ensured that the front was supplied without interruption. The effectiveness of centralized control ensured a gigantic maneuver of productive forces in the difficult conditions of the army's retreat from west to east and the restructuring of production for military needs in the shortest possible time.
5) Activities of the Communist Party.
The party was the core of society, the spiritual basis and organizing force, the real vanguard of the people. The communists carried out the most difficult and dangerous tasks voluntarily, and were an example in the performance of military duty and selfless work in the rear. The party, as a leading political force, ensured effective ideological and educational work, organized mobilization and production activities, and successfully completed the most important task of selecting leaders for waging war and organizing production. Of the total number of deaths at the front, 3 million were communists.
6) Soviet military art, the art of conducting military operations on various scales - in battle, operations (operational art), campaigns and warfare in general (strategy).
The art of war ultimately realized all the sources of victory in the course of armed struggle. Soviet military science and military art proved superior to the military theory and practice of Germany, which were considered the pinnacle of bourgeois military affairs and were taken as a model by military leaders throughout the capitalist world. This superiority was achieved during a fierce struggle, using combat experience flexibly and quickly, comprehensively taking into account the requirements of the actual conditions of warfare and the lessons of the failures of the first period.
In the strategy, the superiority of Soviet military art was expressed in the fact that none of the final goals of the offensive campaigns of Hitler’s armed forces, despite the heavy defeats of the Soviet troops during the defense, were achieved: in 1941 - defeat near Moscow and the failure of the “blitzkrieg” plan , in 1942 - defeat at Stalingrad and the collapse of Hitler’s plan to achieve a radical turning point in the war with the USSR. The goals of the Wehrmacht's strategic defense were not achieved either. During the transition to maneuverable strategic defense, the Nazi command failed to disrupt the offensive of the Red Army in 1943 and achieve stabilization of the front. Positional maneuver defense 1944 - 1945 could not bleed and stop the steadily developing advance of the Red Army. During the war, a new, most effective form of strategic action in World War II was brought to perfection - the operation of a group of fronts under the leadership of the Supreme Command Headquarters. Soviet troops successfully carried out hundreds of front-line and army operations, which, as a rule, were distinguished by their creative nature and novelty of methods of action that were unexpected for the enemy.
Noting the superiority of Soviet military art (which was recognized by all contemporaries, including military leaders of the defeated Reich, for example Field Marshal Paulus), it is necessary to point out that military science has several criteria for assessing military art for various types of combat operations on land, sea and in the air. In its most general form, an indicator of the level of military art is manifested in the defeat of the opposing enemy’s forces, the defense of one’s own and the seizure of its territory, and forcing surrender or peace as a result of war. This also takes into account the ratio of losses on the battlefields, sometimes called the “price of victory.” Detractors of Soviet history often distort the main indicator of military art. They “forget” about the victory achieved, the complete surrender of Nazi Germany in defeated Berlin, and falsified figures for the ratio of losses in favor of the Nazi army are presented as the main result of the struggle. They do not note that the number of losses of the Soviet troops includes more than 1.2 million prisoners who died in concentration camps as a result of the brutal treatment of the Nazis, and more than 3 million losses occurred in the first stage of the war, when the struggle was waged in extremely difficult, unequal conditions.
Thus, in all respects, Soviet military art surpassed the fascist German art, which was considered the pinnacle of military science in the West. It should be taken into account that the Soviet Union bore the brunt of the fight against Hitler’s army, and the small losses of the Anglo-American troops were determined by the policy of delaying the second front and the “peripheral” strategy in anticipation of decisive results in the struggle on the Soviet-German front.
In assessing the superiority of Soviet military art, it is important to emphasize that armed struggle is not only a battle of troops, but also a clash of minds and wills of opposing military leaders. In the battles of the Great Patriotic War, an intellectual victory over the enemy was achieved. The superiority of the intellect of the leadership, and not the “mountain of corpses,” determined the brilliant victories of the Soviet troops on the battlefields and the victorious end of the war in defeated Berlin, the complete surrender of the fascist army.
During the war years, a galaxy of talented military leaders, commanders and naval commanders emerged in the Soviet armed forces - commanders of fronts, fleets, armies and flotillas, who showed brilliant examples of military art: A. I. Antonov, I. Kh. Bagramyan, A. M. Vasilevsky, N. F. Vatutin, N. N. Voronov, L. A. Govorov, A. G. Golovko, A. I. Eremenko, M. V. Zakharov, I. S. Konev, N. G. Kuznetsov, R. Ya Malinovsky, F. S. Oktyabrsky, K. K. Rokossovsky, F. I. Tolbukhin, V. F. Tributs, A. V. Khrulev, I. D. Chernyakhovsky, V. I. Chuikov, B. M. Shaposhnikov and a lot others.
The most outstanding, who received worldwide recognition as a great commander of the 20th century, is Marshal of the Soviet Union, four times Hero of the Soviet Union G. K. Zhukov, who since the summer of 1942 has carried out the functions of leading military operations as Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The prominent American publicist E. Salisbury, in his book “The Great Battles of Marshal Zhukov” (M., 1969), assessed his activities as follows: “the name of this stern, decisive man, the commander of commanders in waging war by mass armies, will shine above all other military leaders. He turned the tide of battle against the Nazis, against Hitler, not once, but many times.”
The Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Chairman of the State Defense Committee, leader of the Soviet state, who led the war of the Soviet people as a whole, was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Generalissimo I.V. Stalin, who went down in history as one of the outstanding political and statesmen of the period of World War II . Roosevelt and Churchill, as heads of the Allied states, highly valued Stalin's personal contribution to achieving victory over fascism.
G.K. Zhukov in 1969, five years before his death, deeply pondering the results of the war, gave the following assessment of Stalin: “Is I.V. Stalin really an outstanding military thinker in the field of building the armed forces and an expert on operational-strategic issues ? I studied J.V. Stalin thoroughly as a military leader, since I went through the entire war with him. JV Stalin mastered the issues of organizing front-line operations and operations of groups of fronts and directed them with complete knowledge of the matter, having a good understanding of large strategic issues. These abilities of J.V. Stalin were especially evident starting from Stalingrad. In leading the armed struggle as a whole, J.V. Stalin was helped by his natural intelligence and rich intuition. He knew how to find the main link in a strategic situation and, seizing on it, counter the enemy, carry out one or another offensive operation. Undoubtedly, he was a worthy Supreme Commander." This assessment of Stalin was well thought out by Zhukov in the quiet of his office at his desk, corrected more than once and rewritten in its final form for posterity.
The Soviet people and Russian socialism, barely formed in 20 years, won a historic victory over fascism. In the brutal struggle against reactionary Western European imperialism, they proved their superiority. Russian civilization has passed the most difficult test. The socialist system gave it enormous vitality in the centuries-long confrontation with the West. He opened up space for the creative forces of the people, united them in a single will, created the economic basis of the armed struggle and promoted people's talents to leadership.
Millions of Soviet people gave their lives in the name of victory and the future of their Motherland.
1. The offensive of the Soviet army on Europe in 1944 - 1945. went along three main directions:
— southern (Romania and Bulgaria);
— southwestern (Hungary and Czechoslovakia);
- Western (Poland).
2. The easiest direction for the Soviet army was the southern direction: at the end of August - beginning of September 1944, without offering almost any resistance, two allies of Germany - Romania and Bulgaria - fell. On September 9, 1944, just a few days after the start of the operation, the Soviet army solemnly entered Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, where it was greeted with flowers. The liberation of Bulgaria and Southern Romania occurred almost bloodlessly.
3. On the contrary, Hungary offered fierce resistance to the USSR - both German units located in this country and the national Hungarian army. The peak of the war in Hungary was the bloody assault on Budapest in November 1944. The population of Hungary greeted the USSR army with extreme hostility and wariness.
4. The heaviest battles took place for Poland, which was considered by the Germans as the last bastion before Germany. Fierce fighting in Poland lasted six months - from September 1944 to February 1945. For the liberation of Poland from the Nazi invaders, the Soviet Union paid the most expensive price - 600 thousand dead Soviet soldiers. The casualties during the liberation of Poland could have been smaller if the USSR had joined forces with the Polish national liberation movement. Shortly before Soviet troops entered Poland in 1944, a national uprising against the Germans broke out in Poland. The goal of the uprising was liberation from the Germans and the creation of an independent Polish state before the arrival of Soviet troops. However, the Stalinist leadership did not want Poland to be liberated by the Poles themselves, and were also afraid that as a result of the uprising, a strong bourgeois Polish state would be created, not owing anything to the USSR. Therefore, after the start of the uprising, the Soviet army stopped and gave the Germans the opportunity to brutally suppress the uprising, completely destroying Warsaw and other cities. Only after this did the USSR resume its offensive against the German army.
5. Almost simultaneously with the offensive of the Soviet army on Europe, a second front opened:
— June 6, 1944, Anglo-American troops landed in Northern France (Operation Overlord);
- in June - August 1944, France was liberated from the Germans, the collaborationist pro-German Vichy government was overthrown, and France, led by General Charles de Gaulle, returned to the anti-Hitler coalition;
- the German army was defeated in the Ardennes at the end of 1944, the Anglo-American-French offensive began in West Germany;
— at the same time, Allied aircraft carried out intensive bombings of German cities, during which Germany was turned into ruins (there were cases of simultaneous raids by more than 1000 Allied bombers on one city);
- a year earlier, in 1943, the Allies landed in Italy, during which the regime of B. Mussolini was overthrown and Germany lost its main ally.
The successful offensive of the Soviet army in the east, the opening of a second front in the west, the collapse of the Hitler camp, and the “carpet” bombing of Germany destabilized the situation in Germany itself.
On July 20, 1944, a coup attempt took place in Germany, which was undertaken by progressive-minded generals who wanted to save Germany from complete collapse. During the coup, some Nazi leaders were arrested and an attempt was made to blow up Hitler during the meeting. It was only by chance that A. Hitler was not killed (a few seconds before the explosion he walked away from the briefcase with explosives to the military map). The coup was crushed.
By early 1945, the fighting had moved directly to Germany. Germany found itself surrounded by fronts. The Soviet army entered Prussian territory and already in February 1945 was in close proximity to Berlin. The Western Allies invaded the Ruhr and Bavaria region.
6. In February 1945, the second meeting of the “Big Three” took place in Yalta - the Crimean (Yalta) Conference. At this meeting.
- the plan of military operations against Germany was finally approved;
- a decision was made to divide Germany into four occupation zones, and the city of Berlin, which was located in the Soviet zone, also into four sectors;
- it was decided 3 months after the end of the war with Germany to start a general war against Japan.
7. Despite the seemingly hopeless situation, the German army, like the entire people, including teenagers, offered fierce resistance to the advancing troops.
This circumstance was explained by the fact that:
- Hitler’s leadership, until the last day, hoped to turn the war in a completely different direction - by renouncing world domination, uniting with Western countries and starting a general war against the USSR,
- a number of Hitler’s leaders (Goering, Himmler, etc.) sought contacts with Anglo-American intelligence services and conducted secret negotiations on Germany’s transition to the side of the United States and Great Britain and the creation of a single Western European anti-communist bloc;
— along with this, a fundamentally new high-tech weapon was created in underground factories in Germany and the Czech Republic - the V-1 (an unmanned radio-controlled bomb aircraft, which was supposed to be directed and “crashed” into the most important targets - ships, factories, exploding them (“kamikaze” without pilot), V-2 (medium-range ballistic missile) and V-3 (large intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching New York);
- this weapon was not only developed, but was already actively used - at the end of the war, Germany began launching flying radio-controlled bombs (V-1) and ballistic missiles (V-2) across Great Britain; London was powerless against this type of weapon;
— in Bavaria, the development of the German atomic bomb was in its final stages.
Considering the danger of a separate unification of Germany with the allies of the USSR, the Soviet leadership decided to urgently and independently storm Berlin, no matter what sacrifices it would cost. The Western allies proposed not to rush into the assault on Berlin and refused to participate in the assault because they believed that Germany would surrender voluntarily, but later. As a result, the Soviet army, which already approached Berlin in February, constantly postponed the assault.
On April 16, 1945, the last major battle of the Great Patriotic War began - the Battle of Berlin (Berlin operation):
— The Soviet army launched two powerful offensives - north and south of Berlin;
- in addition, the army of General Wenck, who was called upon to lead the defense of Berlin, was cut off from Berlin; without Wenck's army, Berlin was left almost defenseless - the city was defended by the remnants of the army, the police, the Hitler Youth and the Volksturm (“armed people”);
- On April 25, south of Berlin, in the city of Torgau on the Elbe, a meeting took place between the advanced units of the Soviet army and the Allied armies’
- according to Marshal Zhukov’s plan, Berlin should not have been spared - the city was supposed to be destroyed to the ground with all types of weapons, regardless of the victims of the civilian population;
- in accordance with this plan, on April 25, 1945, shelling of Berlin began from all sides with more than 40 thousand guns and rocket mortars - there was not a single intact building left in Berlin, the defenders of Berlin were in shock;
— after the shelling, more than 6 thousand Soviet tanks entered the city, crushing everything in their path;
- contrary to the hopes of the Nazi leaders, Berlin did not become the German Stalingrad and was taken by the Soviet army in just 5 days;
- On April 30, the Reichstag was stormed, and a red banner - the flag of the USSR - was hoisted over the Reichstag by sergeants M. Egorov and M. Kantaria;
- on the same day A. Hitler committed suicide;
- On May 2, 1945, German troops and Berlin residents stopped all resistance and took to the streets - the Hitler regime fell, and the war actually ended.
On May 8, 1945, in Karlhorst, a suburb of Berlin, Germany signed an act of complete and unconditional surrender. May 9, 1945 was declared Victory Day in the USSR and began to be celebrated annually (in most countries, Victory Day is celebrated on May 8).
On June 24, 1945, the Victory Parade took place in Moscow, during which the military banners of defeated Nazi Germany were burned near the Kremlin wall.
A fifth of Europeans simply know nothing about the events of 70 years ago, and only one in eight believes that the Soviet army played a key role in liberating Europe from fascism. For decades, Europeans have been adjusting their consciousness regarding the role of the USSR and Russia in the history of the twentieth century. In this way, the goal is achieved to belittle the importance of our country, even at the cost of falsifying the results of the Second World War and the Victory of the Soviet people, and send Russia to the margins of history. Nothing personal just business.
Europeans prefer the American army
From March 20 to April 9, 2015, a survey was conducted by ICM Research for the Sputnik agency in the UK, France and Germany. Three thousand people (1000 in each country) answered the question: who, in your opinion, played a key role in the liberation of Europe in World War II? Most respondents named the American and British armies as the main liberators. The answers generally looked like this:
Soviet army - 13 percent;
US Army - 43 percent;
British Army - 20 percent;
Other armed forces - 2 percent;
I don’t know - 22 percent.
At the same time, in France and Germany, 61 and 52 percent, respectively, consider the American army to be the main liberator (only in Great Britain, 46 percent preferred their own rather than the American army). Judging by the survey results, residents of France are the most misinformed, where only 8 percent of respondents know about the true role of the Soviet army.
A fifth of Europeans have a significant gap in their knowledge of the events of 70 years ago. This unconsciousness is all the more striking against the backdrop of well-known and indisputable historical facts. Investments in oblivion and false historical landmarks can cost Europeans dearly.
Figures and facts: troops, front line, equipment
It was the Soviet Union that stopped the victorious march of Nazi Germany across Europe in 1941. At the same time, the power of Hitler's military machine was greatest, and the military capabilities of the United States and Great Britain remained modest.
The victory near Moscow dispelled the myth of the invincibility of the German army, contributed to the rise of the Resistance movement and strengthened the anti-Hitler coalition. After the defeat at Stalingrad, Germany, and after it Japan, switched from an offensive war to a defensive one. In the Battle of Kursk, Soviet troops completely undermined the morale of Hitler's army, and the crossing of the Dnieper opened the way to the liberation of Europe.
The Soviet army fought against the bulk of the troops of Nazi Germany. In 1941-1942, more than 75 percent of all German troops fought against the USSR; in subsequent years, about 70 percent of Wehrmacht formations were on the Soviet-German front. Moreover, in 1943, it was the USSR that achieved a radical turning point during the Second World War in favor of the anti-Hitler coalition.
By the beginning of 1944, Germany had suffered significant losses, and yet remained a strong enemy - holding 5 million people on the Eastern Front. Almost 75 percent of German tanks and self-propelled artillery units (5.4 thousand), guns and mortars (54.6 thousand), and aircraft (more than 3 thousand) were concentrated here.
And after the opening of the second front, the main thing for Germany remained the Eastern Front. In 1944, over 180 German divisions operated against the Soviet army. The Anglo-American troops were opposed by 81 German divisions.
On the Soviet-German front, military operations were carried out with the greatest intensity and spatial scope. Of the 1418 days, active fighting took place on 1320 days. On the North African front, respectively, out of 1068 days, 309 were active; on the Italian front, out of 663 days, 49 were active.
The spatial scope of the Eastern Front was 4-6 thousand km along the front, which was four times greater than the North African, Italian and Western European fronts combined.
The Red Army defeated 507 Nazi divisions and 100 divisions of its allies - 3.5 times more than the allies on all fronts of World War II. On the Soviet-German front, the German armed forces suffered more than 73 percent losses. The bulk of the Wehrmacht's military equipment was destroyed here: about 75 percent of aircraft (70 thousand), tanks and assault guns (about 50 thousand), and artillery pieces (167 thousand).
The continuous strategic offensive of the Soviet army in 1943 - 1945 shortened the duration of the war, saved millions of British and American lives, and created favorable conditions for our allies in Europe.
In addition to its territory, the USSR liberated 47 percent of European territory (the allies liberated 27 percent; through the joint efforts of the USSR and allies, 26 percent of European territory was liberated).
The Soviet Union eliminated fascist domination over the majority of enslaved peoples, preserving their statehood and historically just borders. If we count according to the current state of Europe (individual Bosnia, Ukraine, etc.), then the USSR liberated 16 countries, the allies - 9 countries (with joint efforts - 6 countries).
The total population of the countries liberated by the USSR is 123 million, the allies liberated 110 million, and through joint efforts almost 90 million people were liberated.
Thus, it was the Soviet army that ensured the victorious course and outcome of the war, and protected the peoples of Europe and the world from Nazi enslavement.
The severity of the losses
The Soviet Union made the greatest contribution to the armed struggle, defeated the main forces of the Hitler bloc, and ensured the complete and unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan. And the number of our losses in World War II is several times greater than the losses of other countries (even combined) - 27 million Soviet citizens versus 427 thousand people in the USA, 412 thousand people in Great Britain, 5 million people in Germany.
During the liberation of Hungary, our losses amounted to 140,004 people (112,625 people died), and almost the same number in Czechoslovakia. In Romania - about 69 thousand people, in Yugoslavia - 8 thousand people, in Austria - 26 thousand people, in Norway - more than 1 thousand people, in Finland - about 2 thousand people. During the fighting in Germany (including East Prussia), the Soviet army lost 101,961 people (92,316 dead).
In addition to the 27 million dead, tens of millions of our citizens were wounded and maimed. On June 22, 1941, there were 4,826,907 military personnel in the Red Army and Navy. Over the four years of the war, another 29,574,900 people were mobilized, and in total, together with personnel, 34 million 476 thousand 752 people were recruited into the army, navy and military formations of other departments. For comparison: in 1939, there were 24.6 million German men aged 15 to 65 years living in Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia.
Enormous damage was caused to the health of several generations, the living standards of the population and the birth rate fell sharply. During the war years, millions of people experienced physical and moral suffering.
Enormous damage has been caused to the national economy. Our country has lost a third of its national wealth. 1,710 cities and towns, more than 70 thousand villages, 6 million buildings, 32 thousand enterprises, 65 thousand km of railways were destroyed. The war emptied the treasury, prevented the creation of new values, and led to negative consequences in the economy, psychology, and morality.
Western propagandists deliberately suppress or distort all these facts, attributing a decisive contribution to the victory to the United States and Great Britain, in order to belittle the role of our country in the international arena. Nothing personal just business.
Each country contributed to the victory over German fascism. This historical mission determines the authority of the state in the post-war world and its political weight in resolving international issues. Therefore, no one is allowed to forget or distort the exceptional role of our country in the Second World War and the victory over German fascism.