At 4 o'clock in the morning on June 22, 1941, the troops of Nazi Germany (5.5 million people) crossed the borders of the Soviet Union, German planes (5 thousand) began to bomb Soviet cities, military units and airfields. By this time, World War II had been going on in Europe for almost two years. At the first stage of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1942), the Red Army suffered one defeat after another, retreating further into the interior of the country. About two million Soviet soldiers were captured or died. The reasons for the defeats were the army's unpreparedness for war, serious miscalculations by the top leadership, the crimes of the Stalinist regime, and the surprise of the attack. But even during these difficult months, Soviet soldiers heroically fought the enemy. The defenders of the Brest Fortress held out for a whole month after the front line had moved far to the east. At the end of 1941, the enemy stood several tens of kilometers from Moscow, and Leningrad was completely surrounded. But the German plan to end the war in the fall was thwarted. As a result of the Red Army's counteroffensive near Moscow in December 1941, the Germans were driven back. Leningrad, under siege, bravely held on - despite the fact that the most terrible blockade winter of 1941-42. Hundreds of thousands of peaceful Leningraders died from hunger and cold. In the summer of 1942, German units began attacking Stalingrad. For several months, selected Wehrmacht units stormed the city. Stalingrad was turned into ruins, but the Soviet soldiers who fought for every house survived and went on the offensive. In the winter of 1942-1943, 22 German divisions were surrounded. The war has reached a turning point. In the summer of 1943, the largest tank battle of World War II took place near Kursk, in which the Nazis lost about 350 tanks and 3.5 thousand killed. Under the blows of the Red Army, German units began to retreat to the borders of the Soviet Union. And a partisan war broke out in the German rear. Enemy echelons flew downhill, squads of punitive forces and traitorous policemen were destroyed. The Nazis responded to the actions of the partisans with terror against the civilian population, but the outcome of the war was already a foregone conclusion. By the summer of 1944, the Red Army liberated the territory of the Soviet Union and began to liberate European states captured by the Nazis. At the same time as the Soviet Union, the war against the Germans was waged by the allies of the anti-Hitler coalition - England, the USA and France. In the summer of 1944, the long-awaited second front was opened, which eased the position of the Red Army. In the spring of 1945, Soviet and allied troops entered German territory. The final Berlin operation began, in which Soviet troops were commanded by Marshal G.K. Zhukov. On May 9, 1945, Zhukov, together with the Allied military leaders, accepted the surrender of Germany. The country paid a huge price for its victory: about 27 million people died, millions were left crippled and disabled, and a third of the national treasure was destroyed. Victory in the Great Patriotic War is one of the brightest pages in the history of our country.

The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) - the war of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics against Nazi Germany and its European allies (Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, Croatia)

The history of the Great Patriotic War is divided into three stages:

1) June 22, 1941 - November 19, 1942, i.e. from the German attack on the USSR to the start of the counter-offensive of Soviet troops at Stalingrad - the breakdown of the blitzkrieg, creating conditions for a radical turning point in the war;

2) November 17, 1942 - December 1943 - a radical turning point during the Second World War and the Second World War, the transfer of strategic initiative to the Soviet Army ended with the crossing of the Dnieper and the liberation of Kyiv;

3) 1944 - May 9, 1945, the complete expulsion of the invaders from the territory of the USSR, the liberation of the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe by the Soviet Army, the final defeat and surrender of Nazi Germany.

Germany's treacherous attack on the USSR

Preparations for war - from the late 20s.

BUT by 1941 the USSR was not ready for war.

The Nazis have the military potential of all of Europe;

Repression of command personnel in the USSR

The element of surprise is also associated with Stalin’s trust in Hitler’s promises after August 23, 1939

Germany occupied: France, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Greece, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland.

Pro-German regimes: Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania.

Germany's allies: Italy, Japan. Türkiye.

Plan Barbarossa

The lightning war and the defeat of the USSR army in the summer campaign of 1941.

Directions: “North” - to Leningrad (commanded by General von Leeba), “Center” - to Moscow (von Brauchitsch) and “South” - to Odessa and Kiev, in addition - Group “Norway” was supposed to control the situation in the North Sea . The main direction is “Center” - to Moscow

By the summer of 1941, there were 5.5 million soldiers on the USSR border from the Barents to the Black Sea (Germany + allies + satellites).

USSR: 4 military districts. 2.9 million people

Far East, South – 1.5 million people. (invasion by Turkey and Japan is expected).

The first days of the war

On the eve of the war, Stalin repeatedly received intelligence about an impending attack, but refused to believe it. It was only at midnight on June 21 that a series of orders were given to put troops on combat readiness - and this was not enough to deploy a multi-layered defense.

June 22, 1941. - powerful attacks by the air and mechanized armies of Germany. “On June 22, at exactly 4 o’clock, Kyiv was bombed, they announced to us that the war had begun...”

66 airfields were bombed. 1200 aircraft destroyed ->German air supremacy until the summer of 1943.

June 23, 1941. – Headquarters of the Main Command (Headquarters of the Supreme High Command). The head is Stalin.

June 30, 1941. – State Defense Committee (GKO). Chairman - Stalin. The entirety of state, party, and military power.

Retreats of the Red Army in the first month of the war

In the first month of the war, the Baltic states, Belarus, Moldova, and most of Ukraine were abandoned. Losses - 1,000,000 soldiers, 724 thousand prisoners.

3 main failures of the first months of the war:

1) Smolensk defeat

The Nazis: to take possession of the “gates of Moscow” - Smolensk.

->almost all the armies of the Western Front were defeated.

USSR Command: accused a large group of generals of treason, the head of which was the commander of the Western Front, Colonel General D.G. Pavlov. Trial, execution.

The Barbarossa plan cracked: the capital was not captured in mid-July.

2) South-West Russia and Kyiv

500,000 dead, together with the commander of the Southwestern Front, Lieutenant General M.D. Kipronos.

Kyiv was taken ->strengthening the Nazis' positions ->breaking through the defense in the Moscow direction.

August 1941- the beginning of the siege of Leningrad.

August 16, 1941. – order No. 270. All who are in captivity are traitors and traitors. The families of captured commanders and political workers are repressed, the families of soldiers are deprived of benefits.

3) in the Moscow direction to October-November 1941. 5 armies were surrounded and thereby opened the way for the Nazis to Moscow

BATTLE FOR MOSCOW

The plan to take Moscow from Hitler is “Typhoon”. On September 30, he spoke on the radio (“Not a single Moscow resident, be it a woman, an old man or a child, should leave the city...”)

According to plan:

Army Group Center sweeps away Soviet defenses and captures the capital before winter sets in. In the convoy there was pink granite for the monument to the victorious German soldier on the site of destroyed Moscow (later it was used on Gorky Street - now Tverskaya - for cladding buildings, including the Post Office).

Beginning October I am the approach of the Nazis to Moscow. Stalin urgently summoned Zhukov from Leningrad

October 16- day of general panic in Moscow, valuables are taken away, including the State Tretyakov Gallery (paintings)

November 6- meeting of the Moscow City Council at the Mayakovskaya metro station. Stalin spoke. "Victory will be ours!" It has been decided that there will be a parade on November 7th!

November 7- parade, from Red Square soldiers and militias (25 divisions) - went straight to the front along the street. Gorky and to Voikovskaya, there is a front line

By the end of November 1941. – Germans at a distance of 25-30 km. from Moscow.

The Dubosekovo patrol - 28 Panfilov heroes (commanded by Panfilov), political instructor Klochkov: “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat, Moscow is behind!”

3 fronts:

United Western - direct defense of Moscow (G.M. Zhukov);

Kalininsky (I.S. Konev);

South-Western (S.K. Timoshenko).

5 armies of the Western and Reserve Fronts are in the “cauldron”.

600,000 people – surrounded (every 2nd).

Moscow, Tula, and a significant part of the Kalinin region were liberated.

Losses during the counteroffensive:

USSR – 600,000 people.

Germany: 100,000-150,000 people.

Near Moscow - the first major defeat since 1939.

The blitzkrieg plan failed.

With the victory in the Battle of Moscow, there was a radical turn (but not yet a turning point!) in the course of the war in favor of the USSR.

The enemy - to the strategy of a protracted war.

By the winter of 1941: losses - 5,000,000 people.

2 million were killed, 3 million were captured.

Counteroffensive - until April 1942

Successes are fragile, soon there will be major losses.

Unsuccessful attempt to break the blockade of Leningrad (established in August 1941)

The 2nd Shock Army of the Volkhov Front was defeated, the command and head - A.A. Vlasov - were captured.

Fascists: defeat in the Battle of Moscow -> it is impossible to launch an offensive along the entire Eastern Front -> strikes in the south.

Stalin: waiting for a second attack on Moscow, despite intelligence reports. The main forces are near Moscow.

Order to launch a series of diversionary strikes in the south (Crimea, Kharkov). Against - the head of the General Staff B.M. Shaposhnikov -> a complete failure.

Dispersion of forces -> failure.

May 1942. - in the Kharkov direction, the Germans surrounded 3 armies of the Southwestern Front. 240 thousand prisoners.

May 1942. - defeat of the Kerch operation. »150 thousand prisoners in Crimea. After 250 days of siege, Sevastopol was surrendered.

June 1942- Nazi advance towards Stalingrad

July 28, 1942 – "Order No. 227"- Stalin – “Not a step back, Under no circumstances should the city be surrendered”

Retreat without command orders is a betrayal of the Motherland.

Penal battalions (for commanders and political workers)

Fines (for sergeants and privates).

Barrier detachments behind the backs of the combatants. They have the right to shoot retreating people on the spot.

end of August– occupied Abgonerovo (the last settlement near Stalingrad)

The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) - the war between the USSR, Germany and its allies within the framework of the Second World War on the territory of the USSR and Germany. Germany attacked the USSR on June 22, 1941, with the expectation of a short military campaign, but the war dragged on for several years and ended in the complete defeat of Germany.

Causes of the Great Patriotic War

After the defeat in the First World War, Germany was left in a difficult situation - the political situation was unstable, the economy was in a deep crisis. Around this time, Hitler came to power and, thanks to his reforms in the economy, was able to quickly bring Germany out of the crisis and thereby gain the trust of the authorities and the people.

Having become the head of the country, Hitler began to pursue his policy, which was based on the idea of ​​​​the superiority of the Germans over other races and peoples. Hitler not only wanted to take revenge for losing the First World War, but also to subjugate the whole world to his will. The result of his claims was a German attack on the Czech Republic and Poland, and then (already within the framework of the outbreak of World War II) on other European countries.

Until 1941, there was a non-aggression pact between Germany and the USSR, but Hitler violated it by attacking the USSR. To conquer the Soviet Union, the German command developed a rapid attack that was supposed to bring victory within two months. Having seized the territories and wealth of the USSR, Hitler could have entered into open confrontation with the United States for the right to world political domination.

The attack was swift, but did not bring the desired results - the Russian army offered stronger resistance than the Germans expected, and the war dragged on for many years.

Main periods of the Great Patriotic War

First period (June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942). Within a year of Germany's attack on the USSR, the German army had conquered significant territories, including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine. After this, the troops moved inland to capture Moscow and Leningrad, however, despite the failures of Russian soldiers at the beginning of the war, the Germans failed to take the capital.

Leningrad was besieged, but the Germans were not allowed into the city. The battles for Moscow, Leningrad and Novgorod continued until 1942.

The period of radical change (1942-1943). The middle period of the war got its name due to the fact that it was at this time that Soviet troops were able to take the advantage in the war into their own hands and launch a counteroffensive. The German and Allied armies gradually began to retreat back to the western border, and many foreign legions were defeated and destroyed.

Thanks to the fact that the entire industry of the USSR at that time worked for military needs, the Soviet army managed to significantly increase its weapons and provide worthy resistance. The USSR army turned from a defender into an attacker.

The final period of the war (1943-1945). During this period, the USSR began to recapture the lands occupied by the Germans and move towards Germany. Leningrad was liberated, Soviet troops entered Czechoslovakia, Poland, and then into German territory.

On May 8, Berlin was captured and German troops announced unconditional surrender. Hitler, having learned about the lost war, committed suicide. War is over.

The main battles of the Great Patriotic War

• Defense of the Arctic (June 29, 1941 - November 1, 1944).
• Siege of Leningrad (September 8, 1941 - January 27, 1944).
• Battle of Moscow (September 30, 1941 – April 20, 1942).
• Battle of Rzhev (January 8, 1942 - March 31, 1943).
• Battle of Kursk (July 5 - August 23, 1943).
• Battle of Stalingrad (July 17, 1942 – February 2, 1943).
• Battle for the Caucasus (July 25, 1942 - October 9, 1943).
• Belarusian operation (June 23 - August 29, 1944).
• Battle for Right Bank Ukraine (December 24, 1943 - April 17, 1944).
• Budapest operation (October 29, 1944 - February 13, 1945).
• Baltic operation (September 14 - November 24, 1944).
• Vistula-Oder operation (January 12 - February 3, 1945).
• East Prussian operation (January 13 - April 25, 1945).
• Berlin operation (April 16 - May 8, 1945).

Results and significance of the Great Patriotic War

Although the main goal of the Great Patriotic War was defensive, in the end, Soviet troops went on the offensive and not only liberated their territories, but also destroyed the German army, took Berlin and stopped Hitler’s victorious march across Europe.

Unfortunately, despite the victory, this war turned out to be ruinous for the USSR - the country's economy after the war was in a deep crisis, since industry worked exclusively for the military sector, many people were killed, and those who remained starved.

Nevertheless, for the USSR, victory in this war meant that the Union was now becoming a world superpower, which had the right to dictate its terms in the political arena.

Chronology

• 1941, June 22 - 1945, May 9 Great Patriotic War
• 1941, October - December Battle of Moscow
• 1942, November - 1943, February Battle of Stalingrad
• 1943, July - August Battle of Kursk
• 1944, January Liquidation of the siege of Leningrad
• 1944 Liberation of the territory of the USSR from fascist invaders
• 1945, April - May Battle of Berlin
• 1945, May 9 Victory Day of the Soviet Union over Germany
• 1945, August - September Defeat of Japan

Great Patriotic War (1941 - 1945)

Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941 - 1945. as an integral and decisive part of the Second World War 1939 - 1945. has three periods:

June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942. It is characterized by measures to transform the country into a single military camp, the collapse of Hitler’s “blitzkrieg” strategy and the creation of conditions for a radical change in the war.

Beginning of 1944 - May 9, 1945. Complete expulsion of fascist invaders from Soviet soil; liberation by the Soviet Army of the peoples of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe; the final defeat of Nazi Germany.

By 1941, Nazi Germany and its allies captured virtually all of Europe: Poland was defeated, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg were occupied. The French army resisted for only 40 days. The British expeditionary army suffered a major defeat, whose units were evacuated to the British Isles. Fascist troops entered the territory of the Balkan countries. In Europe, essentially, there was no force that could stop the aggressor. The Soviet Union became such a force. The Soviet people accomplished a great feat, saving world civilization from fascism.

In 1940, the fascist leadership developed a plan “ Barbarossa”, the goal of which was the lightning defeat of the Soviet Armed Forces and the occupation of the European part of the Soviet Union. Further plans included the complete destruction of the USSR. The ultimate goal of the Nazi troops was to reach the Volga-Arkhangelsk line, and the Urals were planned to be paralyzed with the help of aviation. To do this, 153 German divisions and 37 divisions of its allies (Finland, Romania and Hungary) were concentrated in the eastern direction. They had to strike in three directions: central(Minsk - Smolensk - Moscow), northwest(Baltics - Leningrad) and southern(Ukraine with access to the Black Sea coast). A lightning campaign was planned to capture the European part of the USSR before the fall of 1941.

The first period of the Great Patriotic War (1941 - 1942)

Beginning of the war

Implementation of the plan “ Barbarossa” started at dawn June 22, 1941. extensive air bombing of the largest industrial and strategic centers, as well as the offensive of the ground forces of Germany and its allies along the entire European border of the USSR (over 4.5 thousand km).

Fascist planes drop bombs on peaceful Soviet cities. June 22, 1941

In the first few days, German troops advanced tens and hundreds of kilometers. On central direction at the beginning of July 1941, all of Belarus was captured, and German troops reached the approaches to Smolensk. On northwest- the Baltic states are occupied, Leningrad is blocked on September 9. On south Hitler's troops occupied Moldova and Right Bank Ukraine. Thus, by the autumn of 1941, Hitler’s plan to seize the vast territory of the European part of the USSR was carried out.

153 fascist German divisions (3,300 thousand people) and 37 divisions (300 thousand people) of the satellite states of Hitler Germany were thrown against the Soviet state. They were armed with 3,700 tanks, 4,950 aircraft and 48 thousand guns and mortars.

By the beginning of the war against the USSR, 180 Czechoslovak, French, English, Belgian, Dutch and Norwegian divisions received weapons, ammunition and equipment at the disposal of Nazi Germany as a result of the occupation of Western European countries. This not only made it possible to equip the fascist troops with sufficient quantities of military equipment and equipment, but also to ensure superiority in military potential over the Soviet troops.

In our western districts there were 2.9 million people, armed with 1,540 new types of aircraft, 1,475 modern T-34 and KV tanks and 34,695 guns and mortars. The Nazi army had great superiority in strength.

Characterizing the reasons for the failures of the Soviet Armed Forces in the first months of the war, many historians today see them in serious mistakes made by the Soviet leadership in the pre-war years. In 1939, large mechanized corps, so necessary in modern warfare, were disbanded, production of 45 and 76 mm anti-tank guns was discontinued, fortifications on the old Western border were dismantled, and much more.

The weakening of the command staff caused by pre-war repressions also played a negative role. All this led to an almost complete change in the command and political composition of the Red Army. By the beginning of the war, about 75% of commanders and 70% of political workers had been in their positions for less than one year. Even the chief of the general staff of the ground forces of Nazi Germany, General F. Halder, noted in his diary in May 1941: “The Russian officer corps is exceptionally bad. It makes a worse impression than in 1933. It will take Russia 20 years until it reaches its previous heights.” The officer corps of our country had to be recreated already in the conditions of the outbreak of war.

Among the serious mistakes of the Soviet leadership is a miscalculation in determining the time of a possible attack by Nazi Germany on the USSR.

Stalin and his entourage believed that Hitler’s leadership would not dare in the near future to violate the non-aggression treaty concluded with the USSR. All information received through various channels, including military and political intelligence, about the upcoming German attack was considered by Stalin as provocative, aimed at aggravating relations with Germany. This can also explain the government’s assessment conveyed in a TASS statement on June 14, 1941, in which rumors about an impending German attack were declared provocative. This also explained the fact that the directive to bring the troops of the western military districts into combat readiness and occupy combat lines was given too late. Essentially, the directive was received by the troops when the war had already begun. Therefore, the consequences of this were extremely severe.

At the end of June - the first half of July 1941, large defensive border battles unfolded (defense of the Brest Fortress, etc.).

Defenders of the Brest Fortress. Hood. P. Krivonogov. 1951

From July 16 to August 15, the defense of Smolensk continued in the central direction. In the northwestern direction, the German plan to capture Leningrad failed. In the south, the defense of Kyiv was carried out until September 1941, and Odessa until October. The stubborn resistance of the Red Army in the summer and autumn of 1941 thwarted Hitler's plan for a lightning war. At the same time, the capture by the fascist command by the fall of 1941 of the vast territory of the USSR with its most important industrial centers and grain regions was a serious loss for the Soviet government. (Reader T11 No. 3)

Restructuring the country's life on a war footing

Immediately after the German attack, the Soviet government carried out major military-political and economic measures to repel aggression. On June 23, the Headquarters of the Main Command was formed. July 10 it was converted into Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. It included I.V. Stalin (appointed commander-in-chief and soon became people's commissar of defense), V.M. Molotov, S.K. Timoshenko, S.M. Budyonny, K.E. Voroshilov, B.M. Shaposhnikov and G.K. Zhukov. By a directive of June 29, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks set the entire country the task of mobilizing all forces and means to fight the enemy. On June 30, the State Defense Committee was created(GKO), which concentrated all power in the country. The military doctrine was radically revised, the task was put forward to organize strategic defense, wear down and stop the advance of the fascist troops. Large-scale events were carried out to transfer industry to a military footing, mobilize the population into the army and build defensive lines.

Page of the newspaper "Moscow Bolshevik" dated July 3, 1941 with the text of a speech by J.V. Stalin. Fragment

One of the main tasks, which had to be resolved from the first days of the war, was the fastest restructuring of the national economy, the entire economy of the country on military rails. The main line of this restructuring was defined in the Directive of June 29, 1941. Specific measures to restructure the national economy began to be implemented from the very beginning of the war. On the second day of the war, a mobilization plan for the production of ammunition and cartridges was introduced. And on June 30, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR approved the mobilization national economic plan for the third quarter of 1941. However, events at the front developed so unfavorably for us that this plan was not fulfilled. Taking into account the current situation, on July 4, 1941, a decision was made to urgently develop a new plan for the development of military production. The GKO resolution on July 4, 1941 noted: “To instruct the commission of Comrade Voznesensky, with the involvement of the People's Commissar of Arms, Ammunition, Aviation Industry, Non-ferrous Metallurgy and other People's Commissars develop a military-economic plan for ensuring the country's defense, referring to the use of resources and enterprises located on the Volga, Western Siberia and the Urals.” In two weeks, this commission developed a new plan for the fourth quarter of 1941 and for 1942 for the regions of the Volga region, the Urals, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

For the speedy deployment of a production base in the regions of the Volga region, the Urals, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia, it was decided to bring industrial enterprises of the People's Commissariat of Ammunition, the People's Commissariat of Armaments, the People's Commissariat of Aviation Industry and others to these areas.

Members of the Politburo, who were at the same time members of the State Defense Committee, exercised general management of the main branches of the military economy. Issues of production of weapons and ammunition were dealt with by N.A. Voznesensky, aircraft and aircraft engines - G.M. Malenkov, tanks - V.M. Molotov, food, fuel and clothing - A.I. Mikoyan and others. Industrial People's Commissariat was headed by: A.L. Shakhurin - aviation industry, V.L. Vannikov - ammunition, I.F. Tevosyan - ferrous metallurgy, A.I. Efremov - machine tool industry, V.V. Vakhrushev - coal, I.I. Sedin is an oil worker.

The main link in the restructuring of the national economy on a war footing became industrial restructuring. Almost all mechanical engineering was transferred to military production.

In November 1941, the People's Commissariat of General Engineering was transformed into the People's Commissariat of the Mortar Industry. In addition to the People's Commissariat of the aviation industry, shipbuilding, weapons and ammunition created before the war, two People's Commissariat of the tank and mortar industry were formed at the beginning of the war. Thanks to this, all major branches of the military industry received specialized centralized control. The production of rocket launchers began, which existed before the war only in prototypes. Their production is organized at the Moscow Kompressor plant. The first missile combat installation was given the name “Katyusha” by front-line soldiers.

At the same time, the process was actively carried out training of workers through the labor reserve system. In just two years, about 1,100 thousand people were trained to work in industry through this area.

For the same purposes, in February 1942, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On the mobilization of the able-bodied urban population to work in production and construction during wartime” was adopted.

During the restructuring of the national economy, the main center of the military economy of the USSR became eastern industrial base, which was significantly expanded and strengthened with the outbreak of the war. Already in 1942, the share of the eastern regions in all-Union production increased.

As a result, the eastern industrial base bore the brunt of supplying the army with weapons and equipment. In 1942, military production increased in the Urals by more than 6 times compared to 1940, in Western Siberia by 27 times, and in the Volga region by 9 times. In general, during the war, industrial production in these areas increased more than threefold. This was a great military-economic victory achieved by the Soviet people during these years. It laid solid foundations for the final victory over Nazi Germany.

Progress of military operations in 1942

In the summer of 1942, the fascist leadership relied on capturing the oil regions of the Caucasus, the fertile regions of southern Russia and the industrial Donbass. Kerch and Sevastopol were lost.

At the end of June 1942, a general German offensive unfolded in two directions: on Caucasus and to the east - to Volga.

Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union (22.VI. 1941 - 9.V. 1945)

On Caucasian direction at the end of July 1942, a strong Nazi group crossed the Don. As a result, Rostov, Stavropol and Novorossiysk were captured. Stubborn fighting took place in the central part of the Main Caucasus Range, where specially trained enemy alpine riflemen operated in the mountains. Despite the successes achieved in the Caucasus, the fascist command was never able to solve its main task - to break into the Transcaucasus to seize the oil reserves of Baku. By the end of September, the offensive of fascist troops in the Caucasus was stopped.

An equally difficult situation for the Soviet command arose in east direction. It was created to cover it Stalingrad Front under the command of Marshal S.K. Tymoshenko. In connection with the current critical situation, Order No. 227 of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was issued, which stated: “To retreat further means to ruin ourselves and at the same time our Motherland.” At the end July 1942. enemy under command General von Paulus dealt a powerful blow to Stalingrad front. However, despite the significant superiority in forces, within a month the fascist troops managed to advance only 60 - 80 km.

From the first days of September began heroic defense of Stalingrad, which actually continued until the end of 1942. Its significance during the Great Patriotic War is enormous. Thousands of Soviet patriots showed themselves heroically in the battles for the city.

Street fighting in Stalingrad. 1942

As a result, enemy troops suffered colossal losses in the battles for Stalingrad. Every month of the battle, about 250 thousand new Wehrmacht soldiers and officers, the bulk of military equipment, were sent here. By mid-November 1942, the Nazi troops, having lost more than 180 thousand people killed and 500 thousand wounded, were forced to stop the offensive.

During the summer-autumn campaign of 1942, the Nazis managed to occupy a huge part of the European part of the USSR, but the enemy was stopped.

Second period of the Great Patriotic War (1942 - 1943)

The final stage of the war (1944 - 1945)

Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union (22.VI. 1941 - 9.V. 1945)

In the winter of 1944, the offensive of Soviet troops began near Leningrad and Novgorod.

900 day blockade heroic Leningrad, broken through in 1943, was completely removed.

United! Breaking the blockade of Leningrad. January 1943

Summer 1944. The Red Army carried out one of the largest operations of the Great Patriotic War (“ Bagration”). Belarus was completely released. This victory opened the way for advances into Poland, the Baltic states and East Prussia. In mid-August 1944. Soviet troops in the western direction reached border with Germany.

At the end of August, Moldova was liberated.

These largest operations of 1944 were accompanied by the liberation of other territories of the Soviet Union - Transcarpathian Ukraine, the Baltic states, the Karelian Isthmus and the Arctic.

The victories of Russian troops in 1944 helped the peoples of Bulgaria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia in their struggle against fascism. In these countries, pro-German regimes were overthrown, and patriotic forces came to power. The Polish Army, created back in 1943 on the territory of the USSR, took the side of the anti-Hitler coalition.

Main results offensive operations carried out in 1944, consisted in the fact that the liberation of Soviet land was completely completed, the state border of the USSR was completely restored, military operations were transferred beyond the borders of our Motherland.

Front commanders at the final stage of the war

A further offensive of the Red Army against Hitler's troops was launched on the territory of Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. The Soviet command, developing the offensive, carried out a number of operations outside the USSR (Budapest, Belgrade, etc.). They were caused by the need to destroy large enemy groups in these territories in order to prevent the possibility of their transfer to the defense of Germany. At the same time, the introduction of Soviet troops into the countries of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe strengthened the left and communist parties in them and, in general, the influence of the Soviet Union in this region.

T-34-85 in the mountains of Transylvania

IN January 1945. Soviet troops began broad offensive operations in order to complete the defeat of Nazi Germany. The offensive took place on a huge 1,200 km front from the Baltic to the Carpathians. Polish, Czechoslovak, Romanian and Bulgarian troops operated together with the Red Army. The French aviation regiment “Normandie - Neman” also fought as part of the 3rd Belorussian Front.

By the end of the winter of 1945, the Soviet Army had completely liberated Poland and Hungary, a significant part of Czechoslovakia and Austria. In the spring of 1945, the Red Army reached the approaches to Berlin.

Berlin offensive operation (16.IV - 8.V 1945)

Victory Banner over the Reichstag

It was a difficult battle in a burning, dilapidated city. On May 8, representatives of the Wehrmacht signed an act of unconditional surrender.

Signing of the act of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany

On May 9, Soviet troops completed their last operation - they defeated the Nazi army group surrounding the capital of Czechoslovakia, Prague, and entered the city.

The long-awaited Victory Day has arrived, which has become a great holiday. The decisive role in achieving this victory, in achieving the defeat of Nazi Germany and ending the Second World War belongs to the Soviet Union.

Defeated fascist standards

All of Europe fought against us

The very first strategic counter-offensive of Soviet troops in the Great Patriotic War revealed a very unpleasant circumstance for the USSR. Among the enemy troops captured near Moscow were many military units France, Poland, Holland, Finland, Austria, Norway and other countries. The output data of almost all major European companies was found on captured military equipment and shells. In general, as one could assume and as they thought in the Soviet Union, the European proletarians would never take up arms against the state of workers and peasants, that they would sabotage the production of weapons for Hitler.

But exactly the opposite happened. Our soldiers made a very characteristic discovery after the liberation of the Moscow region in the area of ​​the historical Borodino Field - next to the French cemetery of 1812, they discovered fresh graves of Napoleon’s descendants. The Soviet 32nd Red Banner Rifle Division, Colonel V.I., fought here. Polosukhin, whose fighters could not even imagine that they were opposed "French allies".

A more or less complete picture of this battle was revealed only after the Victory. Chief of Staff of the German 4th Army G. Blumentritt published memoirs in which he wrote:

“The four battalions of French volunteers operating as part of the 4th Army turned out to be less resilient. At Borodin, Field Marshal von Kluge addressed them with a speech, recalling how, during the time of Napoleon, the French and Germans fought here side by side against a common enemy - Russia. The next day, the French boldly went into battle, but, unfortunately, they could not withstand either the powerful attack of the enemy or the severe frost and blizzard. They had never had to endure such trials before. The French legion was defeated, suffering heavy losses from enemy fire. A few days later he was taken to the rear and sent to the West..."

Here is an interesting archival document - a list of prisoners of war who surrendered to Soviet troops during the war. Let us remember that a prisoner of war is someone who fights in uniform with a weapon in his hands.

Hitler accepts the Wehrmacht parade, 1940 (megabook.ru)

So, Germans – 2 389 560, Hungarians – 513 767, Romanians – 187 370, Austrians – 156 682, Czechs And Slovaks – 69 977, Poles – 60 280, Italians – 48 957, French people – 23 136, Croats – 21 822, Moldovans – 14 129, Jews – 10 173, Dutch – 4 729, Finns – 2 377, Belgians – 2 010, Luxembourgers – 1652, Danes – 457, Spaniards – 452, gypsies – 383, Norse – 101, Swedes – 72.

And these are only those who survived and were captured. In reality, significantly more Europeans fought against us.

The ancient Roman senator Cato the Elder went down in history for always ending any of his public speeches on any topic with the words: "Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam", which literally means: “Otherwise, I believe that Carthage should be destroyed.” (Carthage is a city-state hostile to Rome.) I am not ready to completely become like Senator Cato, but I will use any occasion to once again mention: in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the USSR, with its initial strength 190 million. man, did not fight with the 80 million Germans of that time. The Soviet Union practically fought from all over Europe, the number of which (with the exception of our allied England and partisan Serbia, which did not surrender to the Germans) was about 400 million. Human.

During the Great Patriotic War, 34,476.7 thousand people wore overcoats in the USSR, i.e. 17,8% population. And Germany mobilized as many as 21% from the population. It would seem that the Germans were more tense in their military efforts than the USSR. But women served in the Red Army in large numbers, both voluntarily and by conscription. There were a lot of purely female units and units (anti-aircraft, aviation, etc.). During a period of desperate situation, the State Defense Committee made a decision (remaining, however, on paper) to create women's rifle formations, in which only those loading heavy artillery guns would be men.

And among the Germans, even at the moment of their agony, women not only did not serve in the army, but there were very few of them in production. Why is that? Because in the USSR there was one man for every three women, and in Germany it was the other way around? No, that's not the point. In order to fight, you need not only soldiers, but also weapons and food. And their production also requires men, who cannot be replaced by women or teenagers. That's why the USSR was forced send women to the front instead of men.

The Germans did not have such a problem: all of Europe provided them with weapons and food. The French not only handed over all their tanks to the Germans, but also produced a huge amount of military equipment for them - from cars to optical rangefinders.

Czechs who have only one company "Skoda" produced more weapons than the entire pre-war Great Britain, built the entire fleet of German armored personnel carriers, a huge number of tanks, aircraft, small arms, artillery and ammunition.

The Poles built airplanes Polish Jews in Auschwitz they produced explosives, synthetic gasoline and rubber to kill Soviet citizens; the Swedes mined ore and supplied the Germans with components for military equipment (for example, bearings), the Norwegians supplied the Nazis with seafood, the Danes with oil... In short, all of Europe tried its best.

And she tried not only on the labor front. Only the elite troops of Nazi Germany - the SS troops - accepted into their ranks 400 thousand. “blond beasts” from other countries, but in total they joined Hitler’s army from all over Europe 1800 thousand. volunteers, forming 59 divisions, 23 brigades and several national regiments and legions.

The most elite of these divisions had not numbers, but proper names indicating national origin: “Valonia”, “Galicia”, “Bohemia and Moravia”, “Viking”, “Denemark”, “Gembez”, “Langemarck”, “Nordland” ", "Netherlands", "Charlemagne", etc.

Europeans served as volunteers not only in national, but also in German divisions. So, let's say, an elite German division "Greater Germany". It would seem that, at least because of the name, it should have been staffed only by Germans. However, the Frenchman who served in it Guy Sayer recalls that on the eve of the Battle of Kursk, there were 9 Germans in his infantry squad of 11 people, and besides him, a Czech also poorly understood the German language. And all this in addition to the official allies of Germany, whose armies burned and plundered the Soviet Union shoulder to shoulder - Italians, Romanian, Hungarians, Finns, Croats, Slovaks, besides Bulgarians, who at that time burned and plundered partisan Serbia. Even officially neutral Spaniards sent their “Blue Division” to Leningrad!

In order to evaluate the national composition of all the European bastards who, in the hope of easy prey, came to us to kill Soviet and Russian people, I will give a table of that part of the foreign volunteers who guessed in time to surrender to us:

Germans – 2 389 560, Hungarians – 513 767, Romanians – 187 370, Austrians – 156 682, Czechs And Slovaks – 69 977, Poles – 60 280, Italians – 48 957, French people – 23 136, Croats – 21 822, Moldovans – 14 129, Jews – 10 173, Dutch – 4 729, Finns – 2 377, Belgians – 2 010, Luxembourgers – 1652, Danes – 457, Spaniards – 452, gypsies – 383, Norse – 101, Swedes – 72.

This table, first published at the end of 1990, should be repeated for the following reasons. After the reign of “democracy” on the territory of the USSR, the table was continuously “improved” in terms of “enlarging the rows”. As a result, in “serious” books by “professional historians” on the topic of war, say, in the statistical collection “Russia and the USSR in the Wars of the 20th Century” or in the reference book “The World of Russian History”, the data in this table are distorted. Some nationalities have disappeared from it.

The Jews disappeared first, which, as you can see from the original table, served Hitler as many as the Finns and the Dutch combined. But I, for example, don’t see why we should throw out the Jewish verses from this Hitler song.

By the way, the Poles today are trying to push Jews away from the position of “the main sufferers of the Second World War,” and there are more of them on the lists of prisoners than there are officially and actually Italians who fought with us.

But the presented table does not reflect the true quantitative and national composition of prisoners. First of all, it does not represent our domestic scum at all, who, either due to acquired idiocy, or because of cowardice and cowardice, served the Germans - from Bandera to Vlasov.

By the way, they were punished offensively easily. It would be good if a Vlasovite fell prisoner into the hands of front-line soldiers. Then, more often than not, he got what he deserved. But the traitors contrived to surrender to the rear units, dressed in civilian clothes, pretended to be Germans when surrendering, etc. In this case, the Soviet court literally almost patted them on the head.

At one time, domestic anti-Soviet activists published collections of their memoirs abroad. One of them describes the judicial “sufferings” of a Vlasovite who defended Berlin: he changed clothes... to the Soviet soldiers who captured him... he introduced himself as a Frenchman and thus got to the military tribunal. And then to read his boasting is insulting: “They gave me five years in distant camps - and that was lucky. In a hurry - they considered them to be small workers and peasants. Soldiers captured with weapons and officers were given a ten.” While being escorted to the camp, he fled to the West.

Five years for killing Soviet people and treason! What kind of punishment is this?! Well, at least 20, so that widows and orphans’ mental wounds will heal and it won’t be so offensive to look at these vile hari...

For the same reason they are not included in the lists of prisoners of war Crimean Tatars, who stormed Sevastopol for Manstein, Kalmyks and so on.

Not listed Estonians, Latvians And Lithuanians, who had their own national divisions as part of Hitler’s troops, but were considered Soviet citizens and therefore served their meager sentences in Gulag camps, and not in GUPVI camps. (GULAG - the main directorate of camps - was responsible for keeping criminals, and GUPVI - the main directorate for prisoners of war and internees - prisoners.) Meanwhile, not all prisoners ended up in GUPVI, since this department counted only those who ended up in its rear camps from front-line transfer points.

Estonian legionnaires of the Wehrmacht fought against the USSR with particular fury (ookaboo.com)

But since 1943, national divisions of Poles, Czechs, and Romanians began to be formed in the USSR to fight the Germans. And the prisoners of these nationalities were not sent to the GUPVI, but immediately to the recruitment points of such formations - they fought together with the Germans, let them fight against them too! By the way, there were such 600 thousand. Even de Gaulle was sent to his army 1500 French.

Before the start of the war with the USSR Hitler appealed to Europeans to crusade against Bolshevism. Here's how they responded to it (data for June - October 1941, which does not take into account huge military contingents Italy, Hungary, Romania and other allies of Hitler). From Spanish volunteers ( 18000 people) the 250th Infantry Division was formed in the Wehrmacht. In July, the personnel took the oath to Hitler and left for the Soviet-German front. During September-October 1941, from French volunteers (approx. 3000 people) the 638th Infantry Regiment was formed. In October, the regiment was sent to Smolensk and then to Moscow. From Belgians in July 1941 the 373rd Valonian battalion was formed (approximately 850 people), transferred to the subordination of the 97th Infantry Division of the 17th Army of the Wehrmacht.

From Croatian Volunteers were formed by the 369th Wehrmacht Infantry Regiment and the Croatian Legion as part of the Italian troops. Approximately 2000 Swedes signed up to volunteer in Finland. Of these, approximately 850 people took part in the fighting near Hanko, as part of a Swedish volunteer battalion.

By the end of June 1941 294 Norwegians already served in the SS regiment "Nordland". After the start of the war with the USSR, the volunteer legion “Norway” was created in Norway ( 1200 Human). After taking the oath to Hitler, he was sent to Leningrad. By the end of June 1941, the SS Viking division had 216 Danes. After the start of the war with the USSR, the Danish Volunteer Corps began to form.

Ours stand apart in aiding fascism Polish comrades. Immediately after the end of the German-Polish war, the Polish nationalist Wladyslaw Gisbert-Studnicki came up with the idea of ​​​​creating a Polish army fighting on the side of Germany. He developed a project for building a Polish 12-15 million pro-German state. Gisbert-Studnicki proposed a plan to send Polish troops to the eastern front. Later the idea of ​​a Polish-German alliance and 35 thousand Polish army supported by the Sword and Plow organization, associated with the Home Army.

In the first months of the war against the USSR, Polish soldiers in the fascist army had the so-called status HiWi (volunteer helpers). Later, Hitler gave special permission for Poles to serve in the Wehrmacht. After this, it was categorically forbidden to use the name in relation to Poles HiWi, because the Nazis treated them as full-fledged soldiers. Every Pole between the ages of 16 and 50 could become a volunteer; they only had to undergo a preliminary medical examination.

Poles were called upon, along with other European nations, to stand “in defense of Western civilization from Soviet barbarism.” Here is a quote from a fascist leaflet in Polish: “The German armed forces are leading the decisive struggle to protect Europe from Bolshevism. Any honest helper in this fight will be greeted as an ally..."

The text of the oath of the Polish soldiers read: “I swear before God with this sacred oath that in the fight for the future of Europe in the ranks of the German Wehrmacht I will be absolutely obedient to the Supreme Commander Adolf Hitler, and as a brave soldier I am ready at any time to devote my strength to fulfill this oath...”

It is amazing that even the strictest guardian of the Aryan gene pool Himmler allowed to form units from Poles SS. The first sign was the Goral Legion of the Waffen-SS. The Gorals are an ethnic group within the Polish nation. In 1942, the Nazis convened the Goral Committee in Zakopane. Was appointed "Goralenführer" Vaclav Krzeptovsky.

He and his inner circle made a series of trips to cities and villages, urging them to fight the worst enemy of civilization - Judeo-Bolshevism. It was decided to create a Goral volunteer legion of the Waffen-SS, adapted for operations in mountainous terrain. Krzeptovsky managed to collect 410 Highlanders But after a medical examination in the SS organs there remained 300 Human.

Another Polish SS Legion was formed in mid-July 1944. They joined it 1500 volunteers of Polish nationality. In October the legion was based in Rzechow, in December near Tomaszow. In January 1945, the legion was divided into two groups (1st Lieutenant Machnik, 2nd Lieutenant Errling) and sent to participate in anti-partisan operations in the Tuchola forests. In February, both groups were destroyed by the Soviet army.

President of the Academy of Military Sciences, Army General Mahmut Gareev gave the following assessment of the participation of a number of European countries in the fight against fascism: During the war, all of Europe fought against us. Three hundred and fifty million people, regardless of whether they fought with weapons in their hands, or stood at the machine, producing weapons for the Wehrmacht, did one thing.

During World War II, 20 thousand members of the French Resistance died. And 200 thousand French fought against us. We also captured 60 thousand Poles. 2 million European volunteers fought for Hitler against the USSR.

In this regard, the invitation of military personnel from a number of countries looks at least strange NATO to take part in the parade on Red Square in honor of the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory, says Colonel Yuri Rubtsov, member of the International Association of Historians of the Second World War, professor at the Military Humanitarian Academy. – This insults the memory of our defenders of the Fatherland, who died at the hands of numerous "European friends of Hitler".

Useful conclusion

During the Second World War against the Soviet Union, which had an initial population of just over 190 million. people, a European coalition of more than 400 million. people, and when we were not Russians, but Soviet citizens, we defeated this coalition.

All of Europe fought against us A

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Documentary exhibition
Edited by Reinhard Rürup

The documentary exhibition was prepared for the 50th anniversary of the attack on the Soviet Union and opened on June 15, 1991 in the “Topography of Terror” hall near Martin-Gropius-Bau, Stresemannstrasse 110, 1000 Berlin 61.

Organizer: Berliner Festspiele GmbH Quartermaster: Dr. Ulrich Eckhardt Commissioned by the Berlin Senate for "Topography of Terror"

Idea and concept: Prof. Dr. Reinhard Rurup, Dr. Peter Jahn

Scientific guidance: Prof. Dr. Reinhard Rurup Scientific collaborators: Dr. Gabriele Camphausen, Frank Dingel, Thomas Friedrich, Klaus Hesse, Dr. Peter Jahn, Andreas Sander

Exhibition design: Margret Schmitt, Ausstellungsburo Gross

Exhibition installation: Museumstechnik GmbH

Photo reproductions: Margret Nissen, Wolfgang Schackla and others.

Organizational work: Dr. Andreas Nachama, Susanne Stahr

Exhibition Secretariat: Margot Frey

Staff: Katja Lucke, Axel Drieschner

For scientific advice we express our gratitude to: Colonel Nikolai Brylov, Podolsk; General Prof. Anatoly Khorkov, Moscow; Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Deist, Freiburg; Dr. Jurgen Forster, Freiburg; General Prof. Yuri Kirshin, Moscow; Doctor of Historical Sciences Arkady Krupennikov, Krasnogorsk; Dr. Norbert Muller, Potsdam; Dr. Rolf-Dieter Muller, Freiburg; Gerhard Schoenberner, Berlin; Colonel Yuri Semin, Moscow; Sergei Sluch, Moscow; Dr. Gerd R. Ueberschar, Freiburg; Dr. Bernd Wegner, Freiburg; Dr. Hans-Heinrich Wilhelm, Berlin

The German original version of the catalog “War against the Soviet Union 1941-1945” was published in 1991 by Argon, Berlin (1st and 2nd editions).