The most important military-political events of this period were determined by the ever-increasing power of the military-economic potential anti-Hitler coalition, the decisive victorious actions of the Soviet Armed Forces and the intensification of the struggle of the Anglo-American allied forces in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, which ended complete defeat Nazism

By the beginning of 1944, Germany's position had deteriorated sharply, and its material and human reserves were depleted. However, the enemy was still strong. The armed forces of Germany and its allies Soviet-German front amounted to about 5 million people (236 divisions and 18 brigades), 5.4 thousand tanks and assault guns, up to 55 thousand guns and mortars, more than 3 thousand aircraft. The Wehrmacht command switched to tough positional defense. In the active army of the USSR by 1944 there were over 6.3 million people, there were over 5 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, over 95 thousand guns and mortars, 10 thousand aircraft. The production of military equipment in the USSR reached its peak in 1944. Soviet military factories produced 7-8 times more tanks, 6 times more guns, almost 8 times more mortars, and 4 times more aircraft than before the war.

The Supreme High Command set the Red Army the task of clearing Soviet soil of the enemy, beginning to liberate European countries from the occupiers, and ending the war with the complete defeat of the aggressor on its territory. The main content of the winter-spring campaign of 1944 was the implementation of successive strategic operations Soviet troops, during which the main forces of the fascist German army groups were defeated and access to state border. In the spring of 1944, Crimea was cleared of the enemy. As a result of a four-month campaign, the Soviet armed forces liberated 329 thousand square meters. km of Soviet territory, defeated over 170 enemy divisions numbering up to 1 million people.

In these favorable conditions Western allies after two years of preparation, a second front was opened in Europe in northern France. With the support of the armed forces of the French Resistance to the Anglo- American troops On July 25, 1944, an attack was launched on Paris, where an armed uprising against the occupiers began on August 19. By the time the troops of the Western Allies arrived, the capital of France was already in the hands of patriots. At the same time (from August 15 to 19, 1944), Anglo-American troops consisting of 7 divisions landed in the area of ​​​​Cannes in the south of France, where, without encountering serious resistance, they quickly advanced into the interior of the country. However, the Wehrmacht command in the fall of 1944 managed to avoid encirclement of its troops and withdraw part of its forces to the western border of Germany. Moreover, on December 16, 1944, having launched a counteroffensive in the Ardennes, German troops inflicted a serious defeat on the 1st American army, placing the entire Anglo-American grouping of forces in Western Europe in a difficult situation.

Continuing to develop strategic initiative, Soviet troops in the summer of 1944 launched a powerful offensive in Karelia, Belarus, on Western Ukraine and in Moldova. As a result of the advance of Soviet troops in the north, on September 19, Finland, having signed an armistice with the USSR, withdrew from the war, and on March 4, 1945 declared war on Germany.

The victories of Soviet troops in the southern direction in the fall of 1944 helped the Bulgarian, Hungarian, Yugoslav and Czechoslovak peoples in their liberation from fascism. On September 9, 1944, the government came to power in Bulgaria Fatherland Front, which declared war on Germany. In September-October, Soviet troops liberated part of Czechoslovakia and supported the Slovak National Uprising. Subsequently, the Soviet Army, together with the troops of Romania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, continued the offensive with the aim of liberating Hungary and Yugoslavia.

"Liberation campaign"The Red Army in the countries of Eastern Europe, which unfolded in 1944, could not but cause an aggravation of geopolitical contradictions between the USSR and its Western allies. And if the American administration was sympathetic to the USSR’s aspirations to “establish a positive sphere of influence over its Western neighbors,” then British Prime Minister W. Churchill was extremely concerned about the strengthening Soviet influence in this region.

The British Prime Minister undertook a trip to Moscow (October 9-18, 1944), where he held negotiations with Stalin. During his visit, Churchill proposed concluding an Anglo-Soviet agreement on the mutual division of spheres of influence in the countries of South-Eastern Europe, which found support from Stalin. However, despite the compromise reached, it was never possible to sign this document, since the American Ambassador to Moscow A. Harriman opposed the conclusion of such an agreement. At the same time, the “gentleman’s” secret deal between Stalin and Churchill on the division of spheres of influence in the Balkans played a role important role, as evidenced further move events in this region.

During the winter campaign of 1945, further coordination of military actions of the armed forces of the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition was developed.

In early April, Western Allied forces successfully encircled and then captured about 19 enemy divisions in the Ruhr region. After this operation, Nazi resistance on the Western Front was practically broken.

On May 2, 1945, the troops of the German Army Group C in Italy capitulated, and a day later (May 4) an act of surrender of the German armed forces in Holland, North-West Germany and Denmark was signed.

In January - early April 1945, as a result of a powerful strategic offensive on the entire Soviet-German front with forces on ten fronts, the Soviet army inflicted a decisive defeat on the main enemy forces. During the East Prussian, Vistula-Oder, West Carpathian and completion Budapest operations Soviet troops created the conditions for further attacks in Pomerania and Silesia, and then for an attack on Berlin. Almost all of Poland and Czechoslovakia, as well as the entire territory of Hungary, were liberated.

Trying something new German government, which on May 1, 1945, after the suicide of A. Hitler, was headed by Grand Admiral K. Doenitz, to achieve a separate peace with the USA and Great Britain (the signing of the preliminary protocol of surrender took place in Reims on May 7, 1945) failed. Decisive victories The Red Army in Europe had a decisive influence on the success of the Crimean (Yalta) conference of the leaders of the USSR, the United States and Great Britain (from February 4 to 11, 1945), at which the problems of completing the defeat of Germany and its post-war settlement were agreed upon. The USSR confirmed its commitment to enter the war with Japan 2-3 months after the end of the war in Europe.

During Berlin operation(April 16 - May 8, 1945) the troops captured about 480 thousand people, a huge amount of captured military equipment and weapons. On May 8, 1945, in the Berlin suburb of Karl Horst, the Act of unconditional surrender armed forces of Nazi Germany. The victorious outcome of the Berlin operation created favorable conditions to defeat the last major enemy group on the territory of Czechoslovakia and provide assistance to the rebel population of Prague. The day of the liberation of the city - May 9 - became Victory Day Soviet people over fascism.

28. United Nations, UN- an international organization created to maintain and strengthen international peace and security, development of cooperation between states.

“The UN remains a universal forum, endowed with unique legitimacy, a supporting structure international system collective security, the main element of modern multilateral diplomacy."

The foundations of its activities and structure were developed during the Second World War by the leading participants in the anti-Hitler coalition. The name "United Nations" was first used in the Declaration of the United Nations, signed on January 1, 1942.

The UN Charter was approved at the San Francisco Conference, held from April to June 1945, and signed on June 26, 1945 by representatives of 50 states. On October 15, 1945, Poland also signed the Charter, thus becoming one of the original members of the Organization. The date of entry into force of the Charter (October 24) is celebrated as United Nations Day.

· Prague offensive operation- the last strategic operation of the Red Army in the Great Patriotic War, during which Prague was liberated from German troops. At the first stage of the battle, units of the Russian Liberation Army took the side of the rebels of Prague.

Progress of hostilities

Army Group Center, numbering up to a million people under the command of Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner, following Hitler’s orders, intended to defend in the Prague area and in the city itself, turning it into a “second Berlin.”

On May 5, a popular uprising against the German occupation began in Prague. At the request of the rebel Czechs, assistance in the fight against the Nazis was provided by the 1st ROA Division under the command of Major General Bunyachenko, which went over to the side of the rebels. The actions of the ROA are recognized by Czech historians as successful and inspiring a popular uprising. But on the night of May 8 most of The Vlasovites left Prague without receiving any guarantees from the leaders of the uprising regarding their allied status. The departure of the ROA troops complicated the position of the rebels.

The command of the Soviet army remained in the dark about the US Army's plans to liberate Prague from the Germans, so during the week after the surrender of Berlin they waited for instructions. Only after receiving convincing confirmation of the American reluctance to advance east of Pilsen, the Soviet army sent the main strike forces towards Prague.

May 9, 1945 3rd and 4th Guards tank armies The 1st Ukrainian Front entered Prague. The first to enter the city was the head patrol of the 63rd Guards Chelyabinsk Tank Brigade of three tanks under the command of the guard platoon commander, junior lieutenant L.E. Burakov (tank No. 1-23 - guard tank commander, junior lieutenant P.D. Kotov, tank No. 1-24 - commander of the guard tank, Lieutenant Goncharenko I.G., tank No. 1-25 - commander of the guard platoon, junior lieutenant Burakov L.E.). In the battle for Manesov Bridge, tank T-34 No. 1-24 was shot down, Guard Lieutenant Ivan Goncharenko died. A street in Prague was named after him.

The general retreat of Wehrmacht and SS units from Prague began on May 9 and quickly developed into a panicked flight towards western border Czechoslovakia. Units of the Red Army and special units The NKGB, operating together with Czech partisans, was tasked with preventing units of Army Group Center, in particular SS units and ROA formations, from leaving encirclement. During May 10-13, there was a persecution of those retreating and the systematic destruction of those who refused to surrender. On May 12, Soviet soldiers arrested General Vlasov, and on the 15th, the commander of the 1st ROA division, Bunyachenko, and some division headquarters officers. With the active support of Czech partisans, the chief of staff of the KONR Armed Forces, General Trukhin, was captured.

On the night of May 11-12, near the demarcation line near the village of Slivice in the vicinity of the city of Příbram, during a day-long battle, the remnants of the mixed SS divisions retreating from Prague, led by the head of the SS Office in Bohemia and Moravia, SS-Obergruppenführer Count Karl-Friedrich von Pückler-Burghaus, were destroyed . The German group of more than seven thousand included the remnants of the SS divisions Wallenstein and Das Reich. A certain number of civilian refugees of German origin and personnel of Nazi administrative institutions in Prague joined the group. Having reached the demarcation line, on May 9, von Pückler entered into negotiations with the command of the 3rd US Army, but was refused the opportunity to surrender to the Americans. After this, the SS men set up an improvised fortified camp on a hill near the village of Slivice.

On May 11, von Pückler's camp was attacked by a sabotage group of the NKGB of the USSR under the command of Captain Evgeniy Olesinsky. Later, regular units of the Red Army joined the attack with fire support from mechanized formations of the 3rd US Army. After a fire raid, which included Katyusha multiple rocket launchers, a frontal assault on the SS fortifications began, ending in the destruction of the camp and the surrender of the garrison. Of the seven thousand SS men, about a thousand were killed. Pückler-Burghaus himself, responsible for the genocide of Soviet citizens on the territory of the RSFSR in 1941-1942, shot himself.

Marshal Konev was awarded the title “Honorary Citizen of Prague”.

· Berlin strategic offensive operation- one of the last strategic operations of Soviet troops on European theater military operations, during which the Red Army occupied Berlin, which led to the unconditional surrender of Germany. The operation lasted 23 days - from April 16 to May 8, 1945, during which Soviet troops advanced westward to a distance of 100 to 220 km. The width of the combat front is 300 km. As part of the operation, the following were carried out: Stettin-Rostok, Seelow-Berlin, Cottbus-Potsdam, Stremberg-Torgau and Brandenburg-Ratenow front offensive operations.

· Potsdam Conference took place in Potsdam at the Cecilienhof Palace from July 17 to August 2, 1945 with the participation of the leadership of the three largest powers of the anti-Hitler coalition in World War II in order to determine further steps for the post-war structure of Europe. The meeting in Potsdam was the last for the leaders of the Big Three, Stalin, Truman and Churchill (who was replaced in recent days by K. Attlee).

29. Defeat of Japan. End of World War II(May 9, 1945 - September 2, 1945).

In accordance with its allied duty, on April 5, 1945, the USSR denounced the Soviet-Japanese neutrality treaty of 1941 and on August 8 declared war on Japan. The next day, a group of Soviet troops, numbering 1.8 million people, deployed fighting. For strategic leadership of the armed struggle, on July 30, the Main Command of Soviet Forces in the Far East was created, headed by Marshal A.M. Vasilevsky. The Soviet troops were opposed by the Japanese Kwantung Army, which had 817 thousand soldiers and officers (without puppet troops).

In 23 days stubborn battles on a front stretching over 5 thousand km, Soviet troops and naval forces, successfully advancing during the Manchurian, South Sakhalin and Kuril landing operations, liberated Northeast China, North Korea, southern part O. Sakhalin and Kuril Islands. Along with Soviet troops, soldiers of the Mongolian Empire also took part in the war with Japan. people's army. The Red Army contributed decisive contribution into destruction Japanese troops in the Far East. Soviet troops captured about 600 thousand enemy soldiers and officers, and many weapons and equipment were captured.

On September 2, 1945, in Tokyo Bay on board the American battleship Missouri, Japanese representatives signed the Act of Unconditional Surrender.

The victory of the USSR and the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition over Nazi Germany and militaristic Japan in World War II was of world-historical significance and had a huge impact on everything post-war development humanity. The Patriotic War was its most important component.

The Soviet Armed Forces defended the freedom and independence of the Motherland, participated in the liberation of the peoples of eleven European countries from fascist oppression, and expelled the Japanese occupiers from Northeast China and Korea. During the four-year armed struggle (1418 days and nights) on the Soviet-German front, the main forces were defeated and captured fascist bloc: 607 divisions of the Wehrmacht and its allies. In battles with the Soviet Armed Forces, Nazi Germany lost over 10 million people (80% of all military losses), over 75% of all military equipment.

However, the cost of the victory of the Soviet people over fascism was enormous. More than 29 million people passed through the war in the ranks of the Soviet Armed Forces, in total in 1941-1945. 39 fronts operated against Germany and its allies, 70 combined arms, 5 shock, 11 guards and 1 separate fronts were formed Maritime Army. The war claimed (according to rough estimates) over 27 million lives of our fellow citizens, including over 11 million soldiers at the front.

During the years of the Patriotic War, more than 1 million people died, died from wounds, or went missing. command staff. About 4 million partisans and underground fighters died behind enemy lines and in the occupied territories. About 6 million Soviet citizens found themselves in fascist captivity. The USSR lost 30% of its national wealth. The occupiers destroyed 1710 Soviet cities and settlements, over 70 thousand villages and hamlets, 32 thousand industrial enterprises, 98 thousand collective farms and 2 thousand state farms, 6 thousand hospitals, 82 thousand schools, 334 universities, 427 museums, 43 thousand libraries. Direct material damage alone (in 1941 prices) amounted to 679 billion rubles, and total costs amounted to 1890 billion rubles.

30. Results of the war:

Main articles: Consequences of World War II, Casualties in World War II

The Second World War had a huge impact on the destinies of mankind. 72 states participated in it (80% of the population Globe). Military operations took place on the territory of 40 states. IN armed forces 110 million people were mobilized. The total human losses reached 60-65 million people, of which 27 million people were killed at the fronts, many of them citizens of the USSR. China, Germany, Japan and Poland also suffered heavy human losses.

Military expenditures and military losses amounted to $4 trillion. Material costs reached 60-70% of the national income of the warring states. The industry of the USSR, USA, Great Britain and Germany alone produced 652.7 thousand aircraft (combat and transport), 286.7 thousand tanks, self-propelled guns and armored vehicles, over 1 million artillery pieces, over 4.8 million machine guns (without Germany) , 53 million rifles, carbines and machine guns and a huge amount of other weapons and equipment. The war was accompanied by colossal destruction, the destruction of tens of thousands of cities and villages, and innumerable disasters for tens of millions of people.

As a result of the war, the role of Western Europe in global politics weakened. The USSR and the USA became the main powers in the world. Great Britain and France, despite the victory, were significantly weakened. The war showed the inability of them and others Western European countries contain huge colonial empires. The anti-colonial movement intensified in African and Asian countries. As a result of the war, some countries were able to achieve independence: Ethiopia, Iceland, Syria, Lebanon, Vietnam, Indonesia. Socialist regimes were established in the countries of Eastern Europe occupied by Soviet troops. One of the main results of World War II was the creation of the United Nations on the basis of the Anti-Fascist coalition that emerged during the war to prevent world wars in the future.

In some countries, the conditions that developed during the war partisan movements tried to continue their activities after the end of the war. In Greece, the conflict between communists and the pre-war government escalated into civil war. Anti-communist armed groups operated for some time after the end of the war in Western Ukraine, the Baltic states, and Poland. Continued in China Civil War, which lasted there since 1927.

Fascist and Nazi ideologies were considered criminal in Nuremberg trials and are prohibited. Support has grown in many Western countries communist parties thanks to their active participation in the anti-fascist struggle during the war. Europe was divided into two camps: Western capitalist and Eastern socialist. Relations between the two blocs deteriorated sharply. A couple of years after the end of the war, the Cold War began.

As a result of the war, the USSR actually returned to its composition the territories annexed by Japan from Russian Empire at the end Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 following the results of the Portsmouth Peace (southern Sakhalin and, temporarily, Kwantung with Port Arthur and Dalny), as well as the main group of the Kuril Islands previously ceded to Japan in 1875 and the southern part of the Kuril Islands assigned to Japan by the Shimoda Treaty of 1855.

· TRIALS OF WAR CRIMINALS (Abridged VERSION)

US Army personnel sort through piles of German documents collected by war crimes investigators as evidence for the International Military Tribunal.

After World War II international tribunals and state courts conducted trials of war criminals. Trial of managers Nazi Germany was held in Nuremberg (Germany) by the International Military Tribunal, which included judges representing each of the four allied powers(United States of America, Great Britain, Soviet Union and France). From 18 October 1945 to 1 October 1946, the International Military Tribunal tried 22 "chief" war criminals accused of crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as conspiracy to commit all these crimes. Twelve convicted criminals were sentenced to death, three defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment, and four others were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years. The International Military Tribunal acquitted the three defendants. American military tribunals held 12 more trials of other Nazi leaders at Nuremberg. Leading killer doctors, members of operational killing squads, representatives of the justice authorities and the German Foreign Ministry, members of the German military high command, as well as leading German industrialists appeared before the court.

Most war crimes trials after 1945 were of low-level officials and officials. First post-war years The four Allied powers also held trials in their occupation zones in Germany and Austria. Most of the initial information about the system concentration camps were based on physical evidence and testimony presented at these trials. How in Federal Republic Germany ( West Germany), and in German Democratic Republic(East Germany) trials of Hitler's criminals took place for several decades after their establishment as sovereign states. In many countries occupied by Germany during World War II or collaborating with it in persecution civilian population, especially Jews, were also subject to post-war state trials. In particular, in Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, Hungary, Romania and France, thousands of defendants were put on trial - both Germans and local collaborators. In 1961, the world's attention was drawn to a conference held in Israel. trial over Adolf Eichmann (the main architect of the process of deportation of European Jews). However, many participants in Nazi crimes were never prosecuted or punished and simply returned to their normal lives. The search for German war criminals and their henchmen from other Axis countries continues to this day.

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1. After the defeat of the main part of the German army in the Battle of Kursk, the expulsion began Nazi invaders from the territory of the USSR.

Germany, practically deprived of an army, could no longer attack and went on the defensive.

By order of Hitler, in the fall of 1943, the construction of the “Eastern Wall” began - a system of powerful echeloned defensive fortifications along the Baltic Sea - Belarus - Dnieper line. According to Hitler, " Eastern rampart“was supposed to fence off Germany from the advancing Soviet troops and give time to gather forces.

The most powerful defensive structures were erected in Ukraine along the Kyiv-Dnepropetrovsk-Melitopol line. On the one hand, it was a system of pillboxes, other powerful reinforced concrete structures, minefields, artillery along the entire right bank of the Dnieper, on the other hand, there was a powerful natural barrier - the Dnieper. Due to these circumstances German command considered the Dnieper border of the “Eastern Wall” impassable. Hitler gave the order to hold the Eastern Wall at all costs and withstand the winter. During this time, by the summer of 1944, it was planned to restore the German army and launch a new offensive to the east.

In order to prevent Germany from recovering from defeat, the Soviet command decides to storm the Eastern Wall.

- lasted 4 months - from August to December 1943;

- was carried out in very difficult conditions for the Soviet army - from the “low” (flat) left bank it was necessary to cross the Dnieper on rafts and storm the “high” (mountainous) right bank, stuffed with German defensive structures;

— The Soviet army suffered colossal casualties, since German troops, having fortified themselves on the heights of the right bank of the Dnieper, intensively fired at the Soviet army on the low left bank, sank rafts with soldiers and equipment sailing across the Dnieper, and destroyed pontoon bridges;

- the crossing of the Dnieper took place in very bad weather October - November, ice water, rain and snow;

- every bridgehead on the western bank of the Dnieper, every kilometer conquered was paid for by hundreds and thousands of dead. Despite this. The Soviet army crossed the Dnieper in stubborn battles. In October 1943, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye and Melitopol were liberated, and on November 6, 1943, Kyiv.

By December 1943, the Eastern Wall was broken through, opening the way to Right Bank Ukraine, Moldova and further to Europe.

3. November 28 - December 1, 1943 in Tehran, the capital of Iran, the first meeting of the “Big Three” during the war took place - I. Stalin, W. Churchill, F. Roosevelt - the leaders of the main allied states (USSR, Great Britain and the USA ). During this meeting:

- the basic principles of the post-war settlement were developed;

- a fundamental decision was made to open a second front in May - June 1944 - the landing of Anglo-American troops in Normandy (France) and their attack on Germany from the west.

4. In the spring - summer of 1944, the final stage of the liberation of the USSR took place - the Soviet army launched three powerful offensives:

- in the north, during which the remnants of Army Group North were defeated, the blockade of Leningrad was lifted and most of the Baltic states were liberated;

- in Belarus (Operation Bagration), during which the backbone of Army Group Center was destroyed and Belarus was liberated;

- in the south (Iasi-Kishinev operation), during which Army Group “South” was surrounded and defeated, Moldova, most of Right Bank Ukraine, and Northern Romania were liberated.

As a result of these operations, by the fall of 1944, the remnants of the three main German armies who invaded the USSR in 1941; Most of the territory of the USSR was liberated. The final stage of the war began - the liberation of Europe.

Annex 1

Liberation of the territory of the USSR and European countries.

Victory over Nazism in Europe (January 1944 - May 1945).

By the beginning of 1944, Germany's position had deteriorated sharply, and its material and human reserves were depleted. The German command switched to a tough defense.

As a result of the winter-spring military campaign of 1944, the main forces of the Nazi army groups were defeated and access to state border. In the spring of 1944, Crimea was cleared of the enemy.

In the summer of 1944, Soviet troops launched a powerful offensive in Karelia, Belarus, Western Ukraine and Moldova. As a result of the advance of Soviet troops in the north, on September 19, Finland, having signed an armistice with the USSR, withdrew from the war, and on March 4, 1945 declared war on Germany.
In the fall of 1944, the Soviet army helped the Bulgarian, Hungarian, and Yugoslav peoples in their liberation. In May, German troops surrendered in Italy, Holland, North-West Germany and Denmark.
In January - early April 1945, almost all of Poland and Czechoslovakia, and the entire territory of Hungary were liberated.
During the Berlin operation (April 16 - May 8, 1945), troops entered Berlin, Hitler committed suicide and the garrison laid down their arms. On May 8, 1945, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany was signed in Berlin. The day of the liberation of the city - May 9 - became the Day of Victory of the Soviet people over fascism.

Battle of Moscow

He was appointed commander of the Western Front.

The Germans were on the outskirts of Moscow, 200-300 km remained to the capital

28 infantrymen from rifle division general at the Dubosekovo crossing entered into battle against 50 fascist tanks and did not let them through to Moscow. “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind us!” – These words of political instructor Vasily Klochkov spread throughout the entire front and became winged. The heroes died, but did not retreat.

Bloody, exhausting battles continued throughout the second half of November.

The counteroffensive of Soviet troops near Moscow developed into a general offensive of the Red Army along the entire Soviet-German front. This was the beginning of a radical turn of events during the Great Patriotic War.

As a result, the Nazi command was forced to switch to strategic defense along the entire Soviet-German front.

Battle of Kursk

Lasted from July 5 to August 23, 1943.

The general plan of the German command was to encircle and destroy the troops of the Central and Voronezh fronts defending in the Kursk area. If successful, it was planned to expand the offensive front and regain the strategic initiative.

The Soviet command decided to first conduct defensive actions and then launch a counteroffensive. The advance of enemy strike forces was suspended. Hitler's Operation Citadel was finally buried by the largest oncoming tank battle of the entire Second World War near Prokhorovka on July 12, 1943. 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns simultaneously participated in it on both sides. Victory was for the Soviet soldiers.

On July 12, the second stage of the Battle of Kursk began - the counteroffensive of Soviet troops. On August 5, Soviet troops liberated the cities of Orel and Belgorod. On August 23, Kharkov was liberated.

Thus the Battle of the Kursk Arc of Fire ended victoriously. During it, 30 selected enemy divisions were defeated. Nazi troops lost about 500 thousand people, 1,500 tanks, 3 thousand guns and 3,700 aircraft. For courage and heroism over 100 thousand. Soviet soldiers- participants in the Battle of the Arc of Fire were awarded orders and medals.

The Battle of Kursk ended a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War.

Battle of Stalingrad

Battle of Stalingrad It is customary to divide it into two periods. This defensive operations and offensive operations.
Stalingrad was large knot communications connecting central areas countries with the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Defensive battles on the approaches to Stalingrad lasted 57 days and nights. On July 28, the People's Commissar of Defense issued order No. 000, better known as “Not a step back!”
August 19th became black date of the Battle of Stalingrad- The Germans broke through to the Volga. On August 23, Stalingrad was subjected to severe bombing German aviation. Several hundred planes attacked industrial and residential areas, turning them into ruins.

The Soviet command developed the Uranus plan to defeat the Nazis at Stalingrad. It consisted of cutting off with powerful flank attacks strike force the enemy from the main forces and, having surrounded, destroyed. On November 19 and 20, Soviet troops rained down tons of fiery metal on German positions. After breaking through the enemy defenses, the troops began to develop an offensive.
On January 10, 1943, Soviet troops began Operation Ring. The Battle of Stalingrad has entered its final phase. Pressed against the Volga and cut into two parts, the enemy group was forced to surrender.

Victory in Battle of Stalingrad marked a radical change during the Second World War. After Stalingrad came the period of exile German occupiers from the territory of the USSR.

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

By the beginning of 1944, Germany's position had deteriorated sharply, and its material and human reserves were depleted. However, the enemy was still strong. In the active army of the USSR by 1944 there were over 6.3 million people, there were over 5 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, over 95 thousand guns and mortars, 10 thousand aircraft.

The Supreme High Command set the Red Army the task of clearing Soviet soil of the enemy, beginning to liberate European countries from the occupiers, and ending the war with the complete defeat of the aggressor on its territory. The main content of the winter-spring campaign of 1944 was the implementation of successive strategic operations of the Soviet troops, during which the main forces of the fascist German army groups were defeated and access to the state border was opened. In the spring of 1944, Crimea was cleared of the enemy. As a result of a four-month campaign, the Soviet armed forces liberated 329 thousand square meters. km of Soviet territory, defeated over 170 enemy divisions numbering up to 1 million people.

In these favorable conditions, the Western Allies, after two years of preparation, opened a second front in Europe in northern France. With the support of armed formations of the French Resistance, Anglo-American troops launched an attack on Paris on July 25, 1944, where an armed uprising against the occupiers began on August 19.

Continuing to develop the strategic initiative, Soviet troops in the summer of 1944 launched a powerful offensive in Karelia, Belarus, Western Ukraine and Moldova. As a result of the advance of Soviet troops in the north, on September 19, Finland, having signed an armistice with the USSR, withdrew from the war, and on March 4, 1945 declared war on Germany.

The victories of Soviet troops in the southern direction in the fall of 1944 helped the Bulgarian, Hungarian, Yugoslav and Czechoslovak peoples in their liberation from fascism. On September 9, 1944, the government of the Fatherland Front came to power in Bulgaria and declared war on Germany. In September-October, Soviet troops liberated part of Czechoslovakia and supported the Slovak National Uprising. Subsequently, the Soviet Army, together with the troops of Romania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, continued the offensive with the aim of liberating Hungary and Yugoslavia.

The “liberation campaign” of the Red Army in the countries of Eastern Europe, which unfolded in 1944, could not but aggravate geopolitical contradictions between the USSR and its Western allies.

The British Prime Minister undertook a trip to Moscow (October 9-18, 1944), where he held negotiations with Stalin. During his visit, Churchill proposed concluding an Anglo-Soviet agreement on the mutual division of spheres of influence in the countries of South-Eastern Europe, which found support from Stalin. It was never possible to sign this document, since the American Ambassador in Moscow A. Harriman opposed the conclusion of such an agreement.

17. Operation “Bagration” and the liberation of Belarus.

Belarusian strategic offensive operation "Bagration"

"The greatness of a victory is measured by the degree of its difficulty."

M. Montaigne

Belarusian offensive operation (1944), “Operation Bagration” - a large-scale offensive operation of the Great Patriotic War, carried out from June 23 to August 29, 1944. It was named in honor of the Russian commander of the Patriotic War of 1812 P.I. Bagration. One of the largest military operations in the history of mankind.

In the summer of 1944, our troops were preparing for the final expulsion of the Nazi invaders from Russian soil. The Germans, with the despair of the doomed, clung to every kilometer of territory still remaining in their hands. By mid-June, the Soviet-German front ran along the line Narva - Pskov - Vitebsk - Krichev - Mozyr - Pinsk - Brody - Kolomyia - Iasi - Dubossary - Dniester Estuary. On southern section front, military operations were already taking place beyond the state border, on the territory of Romania. On May 20, 1944, the General Staff completed the development of the plan for the Belarusian offensive operation. It was included in the operational documents of the Headquarters under the code name “Bagration”. Successful completion The concept of Operation Bagration made it possible to solve a number of other, no less strategically important tasks.

1. Completely clear the Moscow direction from enemy troops, since the front edge of the ledge was 80 kilometers from Smolensk;

2. Complete the liberation of the entire territory of Belarus;

3. Go to the Baltic Sea coast and borders East Prussia, which made it possible to cut the enemy’s front at the junctions of Army Groups “Center” and “North” and isolate these German groups from each other;

4. Create favorable operational and tactical prerequisites for subsequent offensive actions in the Baltic states, Western Ukraine, in the East Prussian and Warsaw directions.

On June 22, 1944, on the third anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War, reconnaissance in force was carried out in sectors of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts. The final preparations for the general offensive were being made.

The main blow in the summer of 1944 was delivered by the Soviet Army in Belarus. Even after the winter campaign of 1944, during which Soviet troops occupied advantageous positions, preparations began for an offensive operation under the code name “Bagration” - one of the largest in terms of military-political results and the scope of operations of the Great Patriotic War.

The Soviet troops were tasked with defeating Hitler's Army Group Center and liberating Belarus. The essence of the plan was to simultaneously break through the enemy’s defenses in six sectors, encircle and destroy the enemy’s flank groups in the area of ​​Vitebsk and Bobruisk.

One of the largest strategic operations of the Second World War was carried out by troops of the 1st Baltic, 3rd, 2nd and 1st Belorussian fronts with the participation of the Dnieper military flotilla. The 1st Army of the Polish Army operated as part of the 1st Belorussian Front. Based on the nature of the combat operations and the content of the tasks performed, the Belarusian strategic operation is divided into two stages. At the first stage (June 23–July 4, 1944), the following front-line offensive operations were carried out: Vitebsk-Orsha, Mogilev, Bobruisk, Polotsk and Minsk. At the second stage (July 5–August 29, 1944), the following frontal offensive operations were carried out: Vilnius, Siauliai, Bialystok, Lublin-Brest, Kaunas and Osovets.

The operation began on the morning of June 23, 1944. Near Vitebsk, Soviet troops successfully broke through the enemy’s defenses and already encircled them on June 25 west of the city his five divisions. Their liquidation was completed by the morning of June 27. The position on the left flank of Army Group Center's defense was destroyed. Having successfully crossed the Berezina, it cleared Borisov of the enemy. The troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front advancing in the Mogilev direction broke through the strong and deeply echeloned enemy defenses prepared along the Pronya, Basya, and Dnieper rivers, and on June 28 liberated Mogilev.

On the morning of June 3, a powerful artillery barrage, accompanied by targeted air strikes, opened the Belarusian operation of the Red Army. The first to attack were the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Belorussian and 1st Baltic fronts.

On June 26, tankers of General Bakharov made a breakthrough to Bobruisk. Initially, the troops of the Rogachev strike group encountered fierce enemy resistance.

Vitebsk was taken on June 26. The next day, the troops of the 11th Guards and 34th armies finally broke the enemy's resistance and liberated Orsha. On June 28, Soviet tanks were already in Lepel and Borisov. Vasilevsky set the task for General Rotmistrov’s tankers to liberate Minsk by the end of July 2. But the honor of being the first to enter the capital of Belarus fell to the guardsmen of the 2nd Tatsin Tank Corps of General A.S. Burdeyny. They entered Minsk at dawn on July 3. Around noon, tankmen from the 1st Guards Tank Corps of the 1st Belorussian Front made their way to the capital from the southeast. The main forces of the 4th German Army - the 12th, 26th, 35th Army, 39th and 41st - were surrounded east of the city. tank corps. They included more than 100 thousand soldiers and officers.

Undoubtedly, the command of Army Group Center made a number of grave mistakes. First of all, in terms of maneuvering on our own. During the first two days of the Soviet offensive, Field Marshal Bush had the opportunity to withdraw troops to the Berezina line and thereby avoid the threat of encirclement and destruction. Here he could create new line defense Instead, the German commander allowed an unjustified delay in issuing the order to withdraw.

On July 12, the surrounded troops capitulated. IN Soviet captivity 40 thousand soldiers and officers, 11 generals - commanders of corps and divisions - were captured. It was a disaster.

With the destruction of the 4th Army, a huge gap opened in the German front line. On July 4, the Supreme Command Headquarters sent a new directive to the fronts, containing the requirement to continue the offensive without stopping. The 1st Baltic Front was supposed to advance in the general direction of Siauliai, reaching Daugavpils with its right wing and Kaunas with its left. Before the 3rd Belorussian Front, the Headquarters set the task of capturing Vilnius and part of the forces - Lida. The 2nd Belorussian Front received orders to take Novogrudok, Grodno and Bialystok. The 1st Belorussian Front developed an offensive in the direction of Baranovichi, Brest and further to Lublin.

At the first stage of the Belarusian operation, troops solved the problem of breaking through the strategic front German defense, encirclement and destruction of flanking groups. After successfully solving the problems of the initial stage of the Belarusian operation, the issues of organizing continuous pursuit of the enemy and maximizing the expansion of breakthrough areas came to the fore. On July 7, fighting took place on the Vilnius-Baranovichi-Pinsk line. The deep breakthrough of Soviet troops in Belarus created a threat to Army Group North and Army Group Northern Ukraine. Favorable preconditions for an offensive in the Baltic states and Ukraine were evident. The 2nd and 3rd Baltic and 1st Ukrainian fronts began to destroy the German groups opposing them.

The troops of the right wing of the 1st Belorussian Front achieved great operational successes. By June 27, they surrounded over six enemy divisions in the Bobruisk area and, with the active assistance of aviation, the Dnieper military flotilla and partisans, by June 29 they completely defeated them. By July 3, 1944, Soviet troops liberated the capital of Belarus, Minsk. To the east they surrounded 105 thousand German soldiers and officers. The German divisions that found themselves encircled tried to break through to the west and southwest, but were captured or destroyed during the battles that lasted from July 5 to July 11. The enemy lost over 70 thousand people killed and about 35 thousand captured.

With the entry of the Soviet Army to the Polotsk-Lake Naroch-Molodechno-Nesvizh line in strategic front German troops created a huge gap 400 kilometers long. The Soviet troops had the opportunity to begin pursuing the defeated enemy troops. On July 5, the second stage of the liberation of Belarus began; The fronts, closely interacting with each other, successfully carried out five offensive operations at this stage: Siauliai, Vilnius, Kaunas, Bialystok and Brest-Lublin.

The Soviet Army one by one defeated the remnants of the retreating formations of Army Group Center and inflicted major damage on the troops transferred here from Germany, Norway, Italy and other areas. Soviet troops completed the liberation of Belarus. They liberated part of Lithuania and Latvia, crossed the state border, entered the territory of Poland and approached the borders of East Prussia. The Narew and Vistula rivers were crossed. The front advanced westward by 260-400 kilometers. It was a victory of strategic importance.

The success achieved during the Belarusian operation was promptly developed by active actions in other directions of the Soviet-German front. By August 22, Soviet troops reached the line west of Jelgava, Dobele, Siauliai, Suwalki, reached the outskirts of Warsaw and went on the defensive. During the June-August 1944 operation in Belarus, the Baltic states and Poland, 21 enemy divisions were completely defeated and destroyed. 61 divisions lost more than half of their strength. The German army lost about half a million soldiers and officers killed, wounded and captured. On July 17, 1944, 57,600 German soldiers and officers captured in Belarus were escorted through the central streets of Moscow.

Duration – 68 days. The width of the combat front is 1100 km. The depth of advance of Soviet troops is 550-600 km. Average daily rate of advance: at the first stage - 20-25 km, at the second - 13-14 km.

Results of the operation.

The troops of the advancing fronts defeated one of the most powerful enemy groupings - Army Group Center, its 17 divisions and 3 brigades were destroyed, and 50 divisions lost more than half of their strength. Released Byelorussian SSR, part of the Lithuanian SSR and the Latvian SSR. The Red Army entered the territory of Poland and advanced to the borders of East Prussia. During the offensive, the large water barriers of the Berezina, Neman, and Vistula were crossed, and important bridgeheads on their western banks were captured. Conditions were provided for striking deep into East Prussia and into the central regions of Poland. To stabilize the front line, the German command was forced to transfer 46 divisions and 4 brigades to Belarus from other sectors of the Soviet-German front and the west. This made it much easier for the Anglo-American troops to conduct combat operations in France.

In the summer of 1944, on the eve and during Operation Bagration, which aimed to liberate Belarus from the Nazi occupiers, the partisans provided truly invaluable assistance to the advancing Soviet army. They captured river crossings, cut off the enemy's escape routes, blew up rails, caused train wrecks, made surprise raids on enemy garrisons, and destroyed enemy communications.

Soon the Soviet troops began their defeat during Iasi-Kishinev operation a large group of Nazi troops in Romania and Moldova. This military operation of the Soviet troops began in the early morning of August 20, 1944. Within two days, the enemy's defenses were broken through to a depth of 30 kilometers. Soviet troops entered the operational space. The large administrative center of Romania, the city of Iasi, was taken. The operation involved searching for the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts(commanding army generals R.Ya. Malinovsky to F.I. Tolbukhin), sailors Black Sea Fleet and the Danube River Flotilla. The fighting took place over an area of ​​more than 600 kilometers along the front and up to 350 kilometers in depth. More than 2 million 100 thousand people, 24 thousand guns and mortars, 2 and a half thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery units, and about 3 thousand aircraft took part in the battles on both sides.

Victory over Nazism in Europe. The most important military-political events of this period were determined by the ever-increasing power of the military-economic potential of the anti-Hitler coalition, the victories of the Soviet Armed Forces, and the intensification of the struggle of the Anglo-American allied forces in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. By the beginning of 1944, Germany's position had deteriorated sharply, and its material and human reserves were depleted. However, the enemy was still strong. Armed forces Hitler's Germany and its allies on the Soviet-German front amounted to about 5 million people (236 divisions and 18 brigades), 5.4 thousand tanks and assault guns, up to 55 thousand guns and mortars, more than 3 thousand aircraft. The Wehrmacht High Command switched to tough positional defense. In the active army of the USSR by 1944 there were over 6.3 million people, more than 5 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery installations(self-propelled guns), over 95 thousand guns and mortars, 10 thousand aircraft. The Supreme Command headquarters set the Red Army the task of clearing Soviet soil of the enemy, beginning to liberate European countries from the occupiers and ending the war with the complete defeat of the aggressor on its territory. The main content of the winter-spring campaign of 1944 was the implementation of successive strategic operations on Right Bank Ukraine in a strip with a length of 1400 km. During the battles, Soviet troops consisting of four Ukrainian fronts defeated the main forces of the German armies “South” and Group “A” and reached the state border, the foothills of the Carpathians and the territory of Romania. At the same time, the troops of Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic fronts defeated Army Group North, liberating the Leningrad and part of the Kalinin regions. In the spring of 1944, Crimea was cleared of the enemy. As a result of a four-month campaign, the Soviet Armed Forces liberated 329 thousand square meters. km of USSR territory, defeated over 170 enemy divisions numbering up to 1 million people.

In these favorable conditions, the Western Allies, after two years of preparation, opened a “second front” in Europe in northern France: 6 June

1944 combined Anglo-American forces under the command of American General D. Eisenhower (over 2.8 million people, up to 11 thousand combat aircraft, over 12 thousand combat and 41 thousand transport ships) crossed the English Channel and Pas de Calais and started the landing Normandy operation (“Overlord”). In August the Allies entered Paris.

In the summer of 1944, Soviet troops launched a powerful offensive in Karelia (June 10 - August 9), Belarus (June 23 - August 29), Western Ukraine (July 13 - August 29) and Moldova (August 20-29). On September 19, Finland signed an armistice with the USSR and left the war, and on March 4

• 1945 declared war on Germany. During the Belarusian operation (code name “Bagration”), Army Group “Center” was defeated, the Belarusian salient was eliminated, troops of five Soviet fronts liberated Belarus, Latvia, part of Lithuania, eastern part Poland and reached East Prussia. The Lvov-Sandomierz and Iasi-Kishinev operations ended in liberation western regions Ukraine and south- eastern regions Poland. During the Iasi-Kishinev operation, 22 German divisions and Romanian troops were destroyed. Romania came out of the war on the side of Germany and, after the anti-fascist uprising of the Romanian people on August 24, declared war on it.
• September 9, 1944 as a result popular uprising The government of the Fatherland Front came to power in Bulgaria and also declared war

Germany. In September-October, Soviet troops liberated part of Czechoslovakia and supported the Slovak National Uprising. Subsequently, the Red Army, together with units and formations of Romania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, continued the offensive in Hungary and Yugoslavia.

In September-November, the troops of the three Baltic and Leningrad fronts cleared almost the entire Baltic territory of fascists, defeating 26 and destroying three enemy divisions, and blocked about 38 enemy divisions in Courland. From 7 to 29 October troops Karelian Front in interaction with forces Northern Fleet liberated the Arctic from the occupiers and northern regions Norway (Petsamo-Kirkenes operation). The front came very close to the borders of Nazi Germany, and in East Prussia crossed them. The enemy found itself in complete military-political isolation, and with the opening of the “second front” in Europe, Germany, squeezed in a vice, could no longer transfer its forces from West to East and was forced to carry out a new total mobilization.

The “liberation campaign” of the Red Army in the countries of Eastern Europe could not but aggravate geopolitical contradictions between the USSR and its allies. If the American administration of Roosevelt was sympathetic to the desire of the USSR to “establish a positive sphere of influence over its Western neighbors”, as well as to form “friendly governments” in Eastern European countries, then British Prime Minister Churchill was extremely concerned about the strengthening of Soviet influence in Europe. To overcome the political differences that arose on the problems of post-war settlement, in the fall of 1944 it was even planned to hold a new conference of the Big Three. However, it was not possible to reach agreement on this issue. First, bilateral English- American negotiations in Quebec (September 11 - 19, 1944), where Churchill tried to enlist US support in solving the problems of the post-war world order, as well as make adjustments to military strategy allies at the final stage of the war, in order to in the future push the interests of the USA and the USSR to the benefit of Great Britain. Then the British Prime Minister undertook a trip to Moscow (October 9-18, 1944), where he held negotiations with Stalin. During the visit, Churchill proposed concluding an Anglo-Soviet agreement on the mutual division of spheres of influence in the countries of South-Eastern Europe (the so-called percentage agreement), which found support among the Soviet leadership. However, despite the compromise reached, it was never possible to sign this document, since the American Ambassador in Moscow A. Harriman opposed the conclusion of such an agreement. At the same time, the “gentleman’s” secret agreement between Stalin and Churchill on the division of spheres of influence in the Balkans played an important role, as evidenced by the further course of events in this region.

By the beginning of 1945, on the Soviet-German front, the enemy had 185 divisions and 21 brigades (including Hungarian troops) in the amount of 3.7 million people. During the winter campaign of 1945, the coordination of military actions of the armed forces of the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition developed. Thus, after the counter-offensive of German troops in the Ardennes, the Anglo-American troops found themselves in a difficult situation. Then upon request

Churchill soviet armies in mid-January but agreements with Anglo-American The command went on the offensive from the Baltic to the Carpathians earlier than planned, thus providing effective assistance to the Western allies.

The intensification of the armed struggle in the East allowed the Anglo-American command to occupy vast territory between the Meuse and Rhine rivers during January - March and, having accumulated forces, cross the Rhine on March 24. Allied ground forces in Western Europe by this time there were 81 divisions, united in two main groupings of troops (three army groups). They were opposed by 58 divisions and three brigades of the Wehrmacht. On the Soviet-German front there were 175 German divisions and 15 brigades.

In early April, the troops of the Western Allies successfully surrounded and then captured the enemy group in the Ruhr region. After this operation, the Nazi resistance Western Front was practically broken. Taking advantage of favorable conditions, Anglo-American-French troops developed an offensive in the center of Germany and reached the Elbe line by mid-April. Near the city of Torgau April 25, 1945 took place historical meeting of Soviet and American troops. Subsequently, the Western allies advanced in the north - to Lübeck and Wismar, blocking Denmark, and in the south they occupied southern lands Germany, entered Upper Austria, took the Czechoslovak cities of Karlovy Vary and Pilsen. On May 2, 1945, the troops of the German Army Group C in Italy capitulated, and a day later the act of surrender of the German armed forces in Holland, North-West Germany and Denmark was signed in Reims.

In January - early April 1945, as a result of a powerful strategic offensive on the entire Soviet-German front using 10 fronts, the Soviet army inflicted a decisive defeat on the main enemy forces. During the East Prussian, Vistula-Oder, Western Carpathian and the Budapest operations, Soviet troops created the conditions for further attacks in Pomerania and Silesia, and then for an attack on Berlin. Almost all of Poland and Czechoslovakia, the territory of Hungary, were liberated. Attempts by the new German government, which was headed by Grand Admiral K. Doenitz on May 1, 1945 after Hitler’s suicide, to achieve a separate peace with the USA and Great Britain (the signing of the preliminary protocol of surrender took place in Reims on May 7, 1945) failed. Important had Crimean (Yalta) conference leaders of the USSR, the United States and Great Britain (from February 4 to February 11, 1945). At it, the problems of completing the defeat of Germany and the post-war settlement were agreed upon. The USSR confirmed its commitment to enter the war with Japan 2-3 months after the end of the war in Europe.

During Berlin operation(April 16 - May 8, 1945) troops of the 1st (G.K. Zhukov) and 2nd (K.K. Rokossovsky) Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian (I.S. Konev) fronts with the support of two armies The Polish troops, having defeated 93 enemy divisions, captured about 480 thousand people, a huge amount of captured military equipment and weapons.

On May 8, 1945, in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of the Armed Forces of Nazi Germany was signed. The victorious outcome of the Berlin operation created favorable conditions for the defeat of the last large enemy group on the territory of Czechoslovakia and providing assistance to the rebellious population of Prague. City Liberation Day - May 9, 1945 - became the Day of Victory of the Soviet people over fascism. Held in the suburbs of Berlin Potsdam third conference heads of government of the USSR, USA and Great Britain (July 17 - August 2, 1945) received important decisions on the post-war world order in Europe, the German problem and other issues.