Declaration of war by the Soviet government on Bulgaria (1944). Bulgarian operation Liberation of Bulgaria 1944

During the hostilities in Romania, Soviet troops also came to the aid of the fraternal Bulgarian people, who were fighting for their liberation.

The ruling monarcho-fascist circles in Bulgaria, against the will of the working people, dragged the country into a criminal fascist bloc. The struggle of the popular masses to withdraw from this bloc became more and more determined. By the end of August 1944, a deep political crisis had matured in the country, caused by a number of internal and external causes. The unceremonious robbery of Bulgaria by the Nazi Reich led to a sharp reduction in the volume of its industrial and agricultural production. Most of the state budget went to the military needs of Germany and the maintenance of the internal punitive apparatus. In 1944, the expenditures of the Bulgarian Ministry of War exceeded the level of 1939 by 7 times and amounted to 43.8 per cent of all the country's budget expenditures (265). During the same years, prices for basic necessities increased by 254 per cent, and on the black market by 3 to 10 times (266) .

The plight of the workers, peasants, and petty employees exacerbated the class contradictions extremely. Bulgarian patriots, at the call of the communists, fought with weapons in their hands against the hated fascism. By the summer of 1944, the flames of the armed partisan struggle, the organizers and leaders of which were communists. Thousands of new fighters have joined the ranks of the People's Liberation Rebel Army (NOPA). It has also become stronger organizationally. At the beginning of September 1944, it included: 1 division, 9 separate brigades, 37 detachments, several battalions and hundreds of combat groups (267). The partisan forces consisted of more than 30 thousand armed fighters. The NOPA had a 200,000-strong army of hiders and assistants - yatak, who were in almost every settlement and were in a legal position.

The victories of the Soviet Army, especially the defeat of the Army Group "Southern Ukraine" in the Iasi-Kishinev operation, inspired the Bulgarian working people in their struggle, instilled in them hope for the early liberation of Bulgaria by the Soviet troops from the monarcho-fascist yoke.

As a result of the defeats of the German fascist troops on the Soviet-German front and the intensification of the struggle of the Bulgarian working people, a serious threat loomed over the monarcho-fascist regime. For the sake of his salvation, the ruling circles of the country undertook a new reshuffling of their leaders. They entrusted the resolution of the political crisis to I. Bagryanov, a large landowner, a former officer who was awarded German orders. With the approval of Berlin on June 1, 1944, he headed the new government. Bagryanov assured Hitler that his government would fulfill all of Bulgaria's obligations to Germany, increase its military contribution, and put an end to the partisan movement (268) .

Obligingly fulfilling its promise, the Bulgarian government threw a significant force of the regular army against the partisans. On July 23, at a meeting of the head of government with the regents, a decision was made on the unlimited involvement of troops in the struggle against the liberation movement (269). The General Staff has planned for August large-scale operations of regular troops against units of the NOPA (270) . With this act, the monarcho-fascist regime sought to ensure a stable position in the rear of the Nazi army and prevent the entry of Soviet troops into Bulgaria.

The Central Committee of the Bulgarian Workers' Party (BRP) and the NOPA command thwarted the government's plans. Partisan detachments and brigades, without getting involved in open battles with units of regular troops, broke through the blockade and entered new areas. In order to facilitate their struggle, the communists organized during this period mass demonstrations of workers in Sofia, Gabrovo, Pernik, Plovdiv and other places. The reaction was forced to retreat.

In an effort to disguise its true, anti-people nature, the Bagryanov government in June 1944 hypocritically declared that it was ready to eliminate everything that could darken Bulgarian-Soviet relations (271). In fact, it continued to actively help Nazi Germany. ports, airports, railways, means of communication and material resources of Bulgaria were increasingly used by the Nazis in the war against the USSR. The remnants of the Nazi troops, defeated in Romania, retreated to Bulgarian territory. Only on August 28 through the Romanian-Bulgarian border in Dobruja 16 thousand Germans retreated under the cover of the Bulgarian "neutrality" (272). German warships and transport ships moved to Bulgarian ports.

On August 26, the Bagryanov government announced that Bulgaria, observing complete neutrality, would disarm the German troops that would enter its territory. However, this turned out to be another deception of the Bulgarian people and new attempt mislead the Soviet government. In fact, on the second day, the Bulgarian General Staff, with the knowledge of the government, officially clarified with the German command the procedure for the unhindered withdrawal of German troops from Bulgaria (273). So did the commander of the Bulgarian Black Sea Fleet, who did not take any action against the German ships in the Bulgarian ports.

Without breaking with Nazi Germany, the ruling circles of Bulgaria also maintained the contacts established at the end of 1943 with Anglo-American diplomats. Now these contacts took the form of official negotiations, which lasted until the beginning of September 1944. The Bulgarian monarcho-fascists placed great hopes on them. Fearing their people and the entry of the Soviet Army into Bulgaria, they agreed to the occupation of the country by Anglo-American troops.

The true essence of the government's policy was reflected in Bagryanov's secret report to Regent Kirill on August 31, 1944. anti-Hitler coalition will ultimately lead to the victory of the Reich. In the event of the defeat of the Nazis, Bagryanov advised to continue the hostile policy towards the USSR and do everything to prevent the entry of Soviet troops on Bulgarian soil. At the same time, he believed that it was necessary to continue to negotiate with representatives of England and the United States and try to bargain more, to preserve the royal throne by all means and in no case to prevent the “Bolshevization” of the country (274) .

The Bulgarian Workers' Party actively and consistently exposed the anti-people essence of the policy of the Bagryanov government. Of great importance in this was the article by Georgy Dimitrov, broadcast on June 5 by the radio station. Hristo Botev. It stated that “against the will of the Bulgarian people, the rulers of Bulgaria are pursuing an anti-people, pro-German policy, that contrary to the interests of the country and to the detriment of its future, they have handed over the country into the hands of the Nazis and thereby are pushing Bulgaria towards a new terrible national catastrophe” (275) .

Further aggravation of the political crisis in Bulgaria led to the resignation of the Bagryanov government and the formation on September 2, 1944 of a new government headed by K. Muraviev, one of the right-wing leaders of the Bulgarian Agricultural People's Union(BZNS). Bourgeois historians are now trying to prove that this government pursued democratic goals. So, in particular, the English historian R. Lee Wolf believes, referring to the fact that Muraviev “released all political prisoners and all Allied prisoners of war, disbanded the political police and declared war on Germany” (276) . However, he is silent that all these decisions, including the formal declaration of war on Germany on September 8, were only declared by Muraviev in order to deceive the people, and none of them, in essence, was carried out. His government did not allow the left political parties get out of the underground, did not allow freedom of speech and the press. Having proclaimed a guarantee of democratic rights, Muraviev at the same time ordered the execution of a peaceful demonstration in Sofia. It was quite obvious that the new bourgeois government of the country was also adhering to the old political course and was also unable to solve the urgent fundamental questions of internal and foreign policy.

The aggravation of the internal political crisis in Bulgaria was facilitated by the exit by the beginning of September 1944 of the main forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front to the Romanian-Bulgarian border in the sector from Giurgiu to Mangalia. The actions of the Soviet troops in the coastal direction were provided by the Black Sea Fleet and the Danube military flotilla. The troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, pursuing the retreating enemy, on September 6 reached the Romanian-Yugoslav border in the Turnu Severin region and isolated from Bulgaria those Nazi formations that were fighting in the Eastern Carpathians and Transylvania.

During the war years, the Soviet Union, whose peoples always had feelings of deep friendship for the fraternal Bulgarian people, did everything to induce the rulers of Bulgaria to stop helping Nazi Germany, terminate the alliance with it, go over to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition and thereby alleviate the fate of the country in the post-war peace settlement. In 1944, the Soviet government continued to expose the criminal conspiracy of the monarcho-fascist circles in Bulgaria with Nazi Germany.

The pro-German course of Bulgaria's foreign policy did not change even with the approach of the Soviet Army to its borders. Nor did the declaration of the Muraviev government, published on September 4, add anything new to its foreign policy line. Having exhausted all peaceful means of influencing the monarcho-fascist clique, the Soviet government took a more radical step. On September 5, the Bulgarian envoy in Moscow, I. Stamenov, was handed a note stating that

“The Soviet government no longer considers it possible to maintain relations with Bulgaria, breaks all relations with Bulgaria and declares that not only Bulgaria is at war with the USSR, since in fact it was previously at war with the USSR, but the Soviet Union will henceforth be be at war with Bulgaria” (277) .

Announcement Soviet Union war against the fascist government of Bulgaria did no harm to the interests of the Bulgarian people. On the contrary, it was the decisive condition for his release. The Bulgarian patriots correctly understood this act of the USSR and were impatiently waiting for the day when the Soviet soldiers would enter their land in order to achieve freedom and independence for their homeland in close cooperation with them. “We are waiting for you, brothers of the Red Army…” said the appeal of the main headquarters of the NOPA to the Soviet troops that had reached the Bulgarian border. - Your closeness and our will to fight against the oppressors of the people are the guarantee that Bulgaria will be free, independent and democratic. Long live the Red Army!” (278)

With the declaration of war on Bulgaria by the Soviet Union, the United States and Britain were forced to stop political negotiations with its representatives. On September 6, the Bulgarian delegation in Cairo was informed that in the future they could only be conducted with the participation of the USSR (279).

The strategic situation on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front allowed the 3rd Ukrainian Front to quickly prepare and carry out an operation to liberate Bulgaria. With the defeat of the army troupe "Southern Ukraine", the enemy's defense in Romania collapsed, and the Nazi troops operating in Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece found themselves isolated from the Carpathian-Transylvanian group defending in the northwestern part of Romania and in Hungary. The Soviet Navy dominated the Black Sea all the way to the coast of Bulgaria. Soviet aviation dominated the air. On the Yugoslav territory active fighting led by the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (NOAYU). Under these conditions, the Bulgarian monarcho-fascists began to realize that they could not count on the military support of Nazi Germany.

When planning and preparing the operation of the Soviet troops in Bulgaria, the position of this country as a satellite of fascist Germany and the internal political situation in it were taken into account. The commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, General F.I. Tolbukhin and a member of the Military Council, General A.S. Zheltov, at the end of July 1944, after discussing and approving the Yassko-Kishinev operation plan at the Headquarters, received extensive information from G. Dimitrov about the situation in Bulgaria. On September 5, on the instructions of the leadership of the 10th (Varna) rebel operational zone (POZ), representatives of the Bulgarian partisans arrived at the front headquarters. They spoke in detail about the situation in the coastal part of Bulgaria (280). The Military Council of the front also received valuable information from Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov, who, on the advice of I.V. Stalin, had a meeting with G. Dimitrov before flying to the front headquarters. The leader of the Bulgarian communists reported additional data and stressed that the Bulgarian people were looking forward to the Soviet Army, in order to overthrow the monarcho-fascist government and establish power with its help. Fatherland Front {281} .

Taking into account the generally favorable situation in Bulgaria, the Soviet command, at the same time, could not but take into account the possibility of resistance by some parts of its tsarist army, which by the beginning of September had 22 divisions and 7 brigades with a total strength of more than 510 thousand people (282) . Part of these forces opposed the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. In the Black Sea ports of Varna, Burgas and in the Danube port of Ruse (Rushchuk) there were German and Bulgarian warships. Nine Bulgarian divisions and two cavalry brigades were stationed in Yugoslavia and Greece. When the withdrawal of these divisions to Bulgaria began, the Nazi troops treacherously attacked them and disarmed some units. Their control was lost. The remaining divisions and brigades were in the areas south of Vidin, Sofia and Plovdiv.

In the capital of Bulgaria and large cities (Varna, Burgas, Stara Zagora, Plovdiv), German SS units, parts of the marines and coastal artillery, various teams, numerous military missions with service and security personnel were stationed. They controlled Bulgarian airfields, seaports and important railway junctions. All kinds of headquarters and bases were also located there, barracks were built, designed to accommodate new contingents of German troops if they were brought into Bulgaria. The total number of Nazi troops in Bulgaria, taking into account the units that withdrew from Romania at the end of August 1944, reached 30 thousand people.

The fascist German command continued to strive to maintain its positions in Bulgaria. It was guided by the instructions of Hitler, who on July 31, 1944, in a conversation with General A. Jodl, said that “without Bulgaria, we are practically completely unable to ensure calm in the Balkans” (283) . At the end of August, the German ambassador to Bulgaria, A. Bekerle, told the regents that the German troops did not intend to leave Bulgaria in the near future (284). The leadership of fascist Germany hatched plans to organize a coup d'état in Bulgaria and the coming to power as head of government of the leader of the Bulgarian fascists A. Tsankov, intended to transfer German troops from Yugoslavia to Bulgaria (285) .

On September 5, the day Bulgaria was declared war, the Headquarters of the Soviet Supreme High Command approved the plan for the Bulgarian operation, developed by the Military Council of the 3rd Ukrainian Front with the participation of the representative of the Headquarters Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov. The idea of ​​the operation was to take Bulgaria out of the war on the side of fascist Germany and to help the Bulgarian people in liberation from the monarcho-fascist yoke. In the course of it, the troops of the front were to reach the line of Giurgiu, Karnobat, Burgas, capture the ports of Varna and Burgas, capture the enemy fleet and liberate the coastal part of Bulgaria. Their advance was planned to a depth of up to 210 km (286) .

The command of the 3rd Ukrainian Front determined the direction of the troops' actions, the specific terms for reaching the planned lines, organized the interaction of the ground forces, aviation and the Black Sea Fleet.

On September 5, the front had about 258 thousand people, 5583 guns and mortars, 508 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1026 combat aircraft (287). For operations in the southern part of Dobruja in the direction of Aytos, Burgas, all his forces were concentrated (28 rifle divisions, 2 mechanized corps and the 17th air army). To support the offensive in this direction, three assault air divisions of the 2nd Ukrainian Front (288) were also involved. The task of the 17th Air Army was to provide effective support to the advancing ground forces.

The Black Sea Fleet was supposed to blockade Varna and Burgas, with the approach of the mobile troops of the front, to land an amphibious assault and, together with them, take possession of these ports (289). The Danube military flotilla, transferred on August 30 to the operational subordination of the commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, was supposed to capture all enemy watercraft on the Danube in the area of ​​​​the port of Ruse, cover the actions of ground forces from possible attacks by his ships and, in cooperation with the 46th Army, capture the port of Ruse (290) .

When planning an operation to seize the coastal part of Bulgaria, the Soviet command believed that the central and western parts of the country, including the Sofia area, could be liberated by insurgent troops and revolutionary workers' detachments.

The absence of a pre-prepared defense, the low density of the opposing Bulgarian troops, and the almost complete confidence of the Soviet command that they would not resist, made it possible not to plan artillery and air preparations for the offensive. It was decided to start the offensive by advancing advanced mobile detachments in columns (one from each rifle corps of the first echelon), following them in an hour to advance the vanguard regiments of the divisions of the first echelon of the corps, and then the main forces of all three combined arms armies.

The front command attached particular importance to the rapid liberation of Varna and Burgas, since this would deprive the enemy of the last bases on the Black Sea and inevitably lead to the death of his fleet. The decisive offensive of the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front was supposed to cause panic and confusion among the ruling circles of Bulgaria and be a signal for the start of a popular armed uprising.

Before entering Bulgaria, active party-political work was launched in the troops of the front, on the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and the Danube military flotilla in accordance with the directive of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army of July 19, 1944. Soldiers and officers got acquainted with the history of Bulgaria, its culture and customs . The commanders and political workers explained to the soldiers the reactionary essence of the policy of the Bulgarian government and emphasized the importance of displaying genuinely friendly, fraternal feelings for the Bulgarian people, deep respect for their national liberation struggle. Particular attention was paid to familiarizing the personnel with the traditions of friendship between the Russian and Bulgarian peoples, historically established over the centuries, and especially during the period Russian-Turkish war 1877 - 1878, as a result of cooperation between the revolutionary democrats of Russia and Bulgaria, the participation of Bulgarian internationalists in the defense of Soviet power during the civil war and foreign military intervention in the USSR.

On September 7, 1944, the commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front addressed an appeal to the Bulgarian people and the Bulgarian army. It said: “The Red Army has no intention of fighting the Bulgarian people and their army, since it considers the Bulgarian people to be a brotherly people. The Red Army has one task - to defeat the Germans and hasten the time for the onset of universal peace” (291). The memo to the soldiers, published by the Military Council of the front, spoke about the centuries-old friendship of the Bulgarian and Russian peoples and the duty of the Soviet soldier entering the Bulgarian land (292).

On September 8, at 11 o'clock in the morning, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front crossed the Romanian-Bulgarian border with forward detachments, and an hour and a half later - with the main forces. Without firing a shot, they rapidly advanced along their routes in a south-westerly direction. Units of the 34th Guards Rifle Division under the command of General I.A. Maksimovich, the 73rd Guards Rifle Division of General S.A. Kozak, the 353rd Rifle Division of Colonel P.I. Kuznetsov and the 244th Rifle Division division of Colonel G. I. Kolyadin. Not even half an hour had passed before the front headquarters began to receive reports of an enthusiastic meeting of the Soviet troops by the Bulgarian people and the army. According to the political department of the 37th Army, on the first day, September 8, 27 mass rallies of the population dedicated to the meeting of the Soviet Army took place in its advance zone. More than 80 thousand people attended them.

The first reports of the commanders of regiments and divisions left no doubt that the Bulgarian army would not resist the Soviet troops. She joined her people. The soldiers of the Bulgarian army welcomed the Soviet soldiers with joy. Considering this, Supreme Commander JV Stalin instructed the Bulgarian troops not to disarm. By this act, the Soviet command expressed its full confidence in the people and the army of Bulgaria. By the end of the first day of the operation, the mobile troops of the front advanced up to 70 km and reached the Ruse-Varna line. At dawn on September 8, the main forces landed in the port of Varna amphibious assault, and at 13 o'clock in the port of Burgas - a detachment of about 400 people. Before that, an airborne assault was thrown into Burgas (293).

On the evening of September 8, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command clarified the task of the troops of the front, ordering the next day to advance in the direction of Burgas and Aytos, take possession of them and reach the line of Ruse, Razgrad, Targovishte, Karnobat. Carrying out this task, mobile formations on September 9 advanced up to 120 km.

On the same day, the troops spread the joyful news of the victory of the armed uprising of the Bulgarian people and the coming to power of the government of the Fatherland Front, which turned to the Soviet government with a request for a truce. In connection with these major events On September 9, at 7 p.m., the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command sent a new directive to the troops of the front. It said: “In view of the fact that the Bulgarian government broke off relations with the Germans, declared war on Germany and asks the Soviet government to begin negotiations on a truce, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, in accordance with the instructions of the State Defense Committee, orders to complete the operation to occupy the planned settlements and from 22:00 on September 9 with. stop hostilities in Bulgaria, firmly entrenched in that strip of Bulgaria, which is occupied by our troops” (294). On September 9, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief signed an order stating: “The operations of our troops in Bulgaria were launched because the Bulgarian government did not want to break off its relations with Germany and gave shelter to the German armed forces on the territory of Bulgaria.

As a result of the successful actions of our troops, the goal of military operations was achieved: Bulgaria severed relations with Germany and declared war on her. Thus Bulgaria ceased to be the bulwark of German imperialism in the Balkans, which it had been for the past thirty years” (295).

Bulgaria's withdrawal from fascist bloc and its declaration of war on Germany caused the anti-Bulgarian actions of the Nazi command. On his orders, the concentration of German troops on the Yugoslav-Bulgarian border began. The northwestern regions of Bulgaria, and especially the region of Sofia, turned out to be not protected from possible strikes by ground forces and aircraft of the Nazis. The possibility of an invasion of Bulgaria under some pretext by Turkish troops from Eastern Thrace was also not ruled out. The Soviet troops stopped 300 km from Sofia and 360-400 km from the Bulgarian-Yugoslav border. In this situation, the government of the Fatherland Front and the leadership of the BRP(k) (296) were seriously concerned about the external danger looming over the country. On the evening of September 9, G. Dimitrov asked the Soviet command to receive a delegation of the government of the Fatherland Front at the headquarters of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. On the same day, the Council of Ministers of Bulgaria approved the composition of the delegation, which was to “consider the terms of the armistice and the restoration of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, to begin cooperation between the Soviet and Bulgarian troops in expelling the enemy from the Balkans” (297) .

On September 10, the front commander, General F. I. Tolbukhin, received a delegation headed by D. Ganev, a member of the Politburo of the BRP(k) Central Committee. She informed the front command about the armed uprising, the political platform of the Fatherland Front government and its desire to conclude a truce with the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition as soon as possible. The delegation stated: “Now we urgently need to coordinate our actions with you, as the tasks of both armies have become identical. It is highly desirable that you send your representative to us to coordinate the actions. Now the Germans are concentrating their troops northwest of Sofia (Nish, Bela Palanka) ... Undoubtedly, they are preparing an attack on Sofia. In this regard, we urgently need your help, and especially aviation” (298) .

The request of the government of the Fatherland Front, the Soviet side immediately satisfied. On September 13, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command instructed to send the Chief of Staff of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, General S. S. Biryuzov, to Sofia to direct the actions of the Soviet troops and organize interaction with the Bulgarian army through the General Staff of Bulgaria. At the same time, the Headquarters ordered to advance one rifle corps to the Sofia area and relocate part of the forces of the 17th Air Army there. They were to prevent the invasion of Bulgaria by Nazi troops from Greece and Yugoslavia, support the actions of the Bulgarian units and cover Sofia from the air.

On September 15, Soviet troops, enthusiastically greeted by the population, entered Sofia. Two air divisions were also relocated here. They conducted reconnaissance and attacked the communications of the Nazis in Yugoslavia, thereby laying the foundation for combat commonwealth Soviet and Bulgarian soldiers during the Second World War. On September 17, the Bulgarian troops, who were to conduct military operations on the front against the Nazis, were operationally subordinated to the command of the 3rd Ukrainian Front by decision of the government of the Fatherland Front.

By mid-September, the main forces of the Soviet troops that entered Bulgaria were in the eastern part of the country (299). Meanwhile, the fascist German command moved from threats against Bulgaria to active actions. On September 12, the Nazis captured the city of Kula, 35 km southwest of Vidin. Therefore, on September 20, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to transfer the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front to the western and southern regions of the country. The troops of the 57th Army, having made a 500-kilometer march, reached the Bulgarian-Yugoslav border by the end of September under cover from the air of Soviet aviation. The 37th Army and the 4th Guards Mechanized Corps by that time were concentrated in the areas of Kazanlak, Nova Zagora, Yambol. This reliably ensured the left wing of the Soviet troops and the security of the southern regions of Bulgaria.

During the liberation campaign of the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front in Bulgaria, party-political work was actively carried out among the soldiers. It was aimed at ensuring combat missions and strengthening the bonds of friendship between Soviet soldiers and the working people of the country. In particular, conversations at the monuments of military glory of Russian soldiers on Bulgarian soil were widely used. They were held in the cities of Svishtov, Pleven, at the monument to the heroes of Shipka and in other places. At the graves of Russian soldiers, the divisions marched solemnly with unfurled banners. The political organs also organized meetings of soldiers with Bulgarian citizens - participants and witnesses of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878.

The actions of the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and the Danube military flotilla, with which the armed popular uprising of September 9 merged, played a decisive role in the liberation of Bulgaria. The Nazis could no longer use the economy of Bulgaria for their own needs and dispose of its armed forces. The liberation of the Bulgarian ports led to the complete dominance of the Soviet fleet in the Black Sea. The strategic position of the fascist German army groups "F" and "E" deteriorated sharply, the communications of which were under the blows of the Soviet troops.

With the liberation of Bulgaria and the withdrawal of Soviet troops to the border with Yugoslavia, more favorable conditions were created for the defeat of the Nazi troops on the territory of Yugoslavia, Greece and Albania. There was a real opportunity to create a united front of military operations of the Soviet Army, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia and the Bulgarian People's Army.

A characteristic feature of the liberation campaign, carried out in favorable political conditions in Bulgaria, was that it was not associated with the conduct of hostilities. Although for some time “our countries were formally at war,” said V. Kolarov, a prominent figure in the Bulgarian Workers’ Party, “but during this time not a single shot was fired from both sides, not a single one was killed or wounded” (300) . Meanwhile, contrary to the obvious facts and irrefutable documents, the bourgeois falsifiers of history are trying to discredit the noble mission of the Soviet troops in Bulgaria. Thus, the American historian E. Zimke in his book “From Stalingrad to Berlin” holds the idea that by its campaign in Bulgaria the Soviet Army violated the sovereignty of this country, that it entered its territory after Bulgaria had broken with Germany (301) . The Bulgarian monarcho-fascists really did not want to allow the Soviet soldiers-liberators to the Bulgarian land, they remained loyal to Nazi Germany to the end, providing it with all the resources of the country for the war against the USSR. But the feelings of the Bulgarian people were different. The reports of units and formations and numerous front-line press materials of those days are replete with vivid examples of an exceptionally cordial welcome of Soviet soldiers by the people and the army of Bulgaria. So, in the report of the head of the political department of the 57th Army, Colonel G.K. Tsinev, it was said that the Bulgarian population met the Soviet soldiers according to the old Russian custom - with bread and salt. The Bulgarians took out and treated the fighters with watermelons, grapes, invited them to the house, to the table and to rest. The inhabitants did their best to help the liberators in their further advancement, offering their own transport (302) .

The Soviet Army adequately fulfilled its international duty to the Bulgarian working people. Its historical merit lies in the fact that it defended the country from a new occupation by imperialist troops. Without the help of the Soviet Army, G. Dimitrov pointed out, without its presence for a certain time on Bulgarian soil, Bulgaria would have fallen into a new slavery; “Bulgaria would be occupied by foreign hostile troops with all the ensuing disastrous consequences for its present and future ... The Bulgarian people considered the Soviet troops, who were to remain with us by virtue of the armistice agreement, not as occupiers, but as dear guests and patrons . When the Soviet troops left our country, the people parted with them with a feeling of deep love and gratitude”

On the night of September 8-9, 1944, a violent change of power took place in Bulgaria. The government of Konstantin Muraviev was overthrown and the government came to power " Fatherland Front"* led by Kimon Georgiev. It is believed that the Fatherland Front managed to seize power in Bulgaria only thanks to the help of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and the Red Army that occupied the country. After this coup, Bulgaria immediately fell into the Soviet sphere of influence and large-scale political, economic and social changes began in Bulgarian society.

Until November 1989, this event was called in Bulgaria the "Socialist Revolution", and after that the "coup d'état".

Previous events

In March 1941, Bulgaria, which was then the Kingdom, entered into an alliance with the Axis countries, that is, it joined Nazi Germany. Immediately after that, the Bulgarian troops began to capture neighboring Macedonia, Greece and Serbia, replacing the German units. American and British diplomats left the country, but diplomatic relations with the USSR did not stop. .

In the spring of 1944, the Soviet Union sent an ultimatum demand to open its consulates in Ruse, which caused a government crisis in Bulgaria. Drawing up a new government was entrusted to Ivan Bagryanov. It is interesting that the communist Doncho Kostov was also a member of this government, but later, on the advice of G. Dimitrov, he distanced himself.

On August 26, under the threat of the advancing Red Army in Romania, the government of Ivan Bagryanov declared the neutrality of Bulgaria in World War II. This ordered the German soldiers to leave the country, and those who refuse to be disarmed. On the same day, the Central Committee of the BRP ** called for a popular struggle and an insurrectionary movement, and the leaders of the Fatherland Front meet with the regents of the infant tsar in order to convince them to form a new government with a dominant composition from the PF.

At this time, the current Bulgarian government is conducting separate peace talks in Egypt with England and the United States, hoping for the presence of their troops in Bulgaria. But these attempts met with resistance from the Soviet Union, which led to the failure of negotiations and on September 2 Bagryanov was removed.

A new government was immediately formed, headed by Konstantin Muraviev. The Fatherland Front was offered 4 seats in the new government, but they refused, intensively preparing for a military coup (as historians now say).

The next day, German troops captured the headquarters of the Bulgarian occupation corps in. And on September 5, the Muraviev government decided to declare war on Germany. However, the promulgation of this decision was delayed for 72 hours at the request of the Minister of War, General Ivan Marinov. As it turned out later, the general entered into an agreement with the Fatherland Front in order to give the USSR time to declare war on Bulgaria. In return for this service, Marinov was appointed commander-in-chief of the army immediately after the September 9 coup.

On September 6-7, riots and riots begin throughout the country, workers' strikes, the destruction of prisons, and demonstrations of miners. In Varna and Burgas, the Fatherland Front established control over the administrations.

On September 7, the Bulgarian government restored the rights of previously banned political organizations, closed fascist and nationalist associations, and disbanded the gendarmerie. All restrictions on the rights of Bulgarian Jews were lifted.

The declaration of war by the Soviet Union on the Kingdom of Bulgaria forced the United States and Great Britain to stop negotiations on a truce.

How it was

On the morning of September 8, the Red Army with units of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and the Black Sea Fleet entered the territory of the Kingdom of Bulgaria by land and sea and occupied the cities of Varna, Ruse, Silistra, Dobrich and Burgas. By order of their government, the Bulgarian troops offered no resistance. Immediately Bulgaria declared war on Germany.

Meanwhile, the Fatherland Front tried to organize a peaceful coup in Sofia, but the proposals of General Ivan Marinov were rejected by the regents of the seven-year-old Tsar Simeon II (who had already died by that time).

After that, the decision was made to carry out a military coup.

The key moment in the military coup was the involvement of the First Sofia Infantry Division, the largest military unit in the capital. Kiril Stanchev dealt with this issue - he got in touch with the chief of staff of the division, Colonel Raicho Slavkov, who was supposed to neutralize the divisional commander, Colonel Ivan Kefsizov.

At 2 am on September 9, several small military units captured the building of the Ministry of War in Sofia. At the same time, other military units seized the main post office and telegraph, railway stations, radio and the Ministry of the Interior.

At 4:00 a.m., all the main administrative and communication centers in the capital were under the control of the Fatherland Front, and at 6:25 a.m., the newly appointed Prime Minister Kimon Georgiev read an Appeal to the Bulgarian people on the radio and announced the composition of the new government cabinet. Before that, royal regents were brought from Chamkoria (now), *** and forced them to sign the appointment of a new government, after which they were arrested. Then loyal officers were appointed and the Bulgarian army was renamed.

On the afternoon of September 9, all partisan formations working with the Fatherland Front were ordered to descend from the mountains and take power in the villages and cities of Bulgaria.

On the evening of September 9, a delegation was sent to the commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, Fyodor Tolbukhin, and by ten o'clock in the evening, Stalin issued an order to end the hostilities of the Soviet troops against Bulgaria.

On September 10, the police closed down and the people's militia was created. Distinguished partisans became members of this organization.

On September 11, a Soviet plane flew to Sofia from Bucharest with a delegation of representatives of the headquarters of the 3rd Ukrainian Front to prepare the Soviet base in Bulgaria.

The Longest" Soviet power Haskovo resisted - on September 12 there was a bloody clash between the city garrison and the partisans.

Patrol of the Fatherland Front after September 9 on Moskovska Street in Sofia. 1944

Result

The intentions of the new government announced on the night of the coup to restore the democratic regime and the Tarnovo constitution were never realized - Bulgaria began to follow a new course under the leadership of the Soviet Union.
Modern Bulgarian historians claim that the military coup and the military terror that followed it claimed the lives of 20,000 to 40,000 people who were killed or simply disappeared without a trace.
After the coup, the Bulgarian army was included in the 3rd Ukrainian Front and took an active part in the liberation of European territories from the Nazis. As a result, 12,587 people were lost killed.

Bulgarian historians and politicians have not yet come to a consensus on what happened on September 9, 1944 in Bulgaria: a coup, an uprising or a revolution.
The authorities often changed the interpretation of this event:

• In 1947, September 9 was celebrated as People's Army Day.
• In 1949, the wording " Deveto-Septemvrian rise".
• In 1952, this day became Freedom Day and a holiday of the People's Army.
• In 1963, September 9 was celebrated as "victory socialist revolution In Bulgaria".
• In 1989 it was called a military coup.

* The Fatherland Front is a political coalition created by the Bulgarian communists in 1942 to maintain partnership relations with the anti-German world coalition. The organization was joined by the Political Circle "Link", BZNS Pladne, some figures of the Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party and individual non-party persons. In 1990 it was renamed to Patriotic Union and continues its activities to this day as a socio-political organization and civil patriotic movement.

** Central Committee of the BRP - the central committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party

*** The royal regents then were Prince Kiril (brother of Tsar Boris) and Nikola Mikhov (lieutenant general). There was also a third regent - politician Bogdan Filov. All of them will be executed in 1945.

Archive photos from www.lostbulgaria.com

The defeat of the Nazi troops near Iasi and Chisinau, the August uprising in Romania and the entry of the 3rd Ukrainian Front to the Romanian-Bulgarian border had a huge impact on the internal and international position of Bulgaria.

In the summer of 1944 the country was going through a deep economic and political crisis. The German monopolists throughout the war mercilessly plundered the Bulgarian people. The national economy was exhausted. A significant part of the population led a half-starved existence. The Bulgarian government was only formally sovereign. In fact, it carried out everything that the Hitlerite ambassador in Sofia dictated. The Gestapo controlled the local police and military establishments.

The patriots of Bulgaria, under the leadership of the Bulgarian Workers' Party (BRP), intensified the struggle for national and social liberation during the war. By August 1944, there were 670 committees of the Fatherland Front operating in the country. They extended their influence to most regions of the country and carried out active political work. The well-organized People's Liberation Insurgent Army by the beginning of September 1944 consisted of 1 division, 9 separate brigades, 37 detachments, several battalions and hundreds of battle groups. These forces included more than 30 thousand armed fighters. The rebels and fighting groups relied on a huge army of assistants and shelterers (the so-called yatak) numbering about 200 thousand people. The armed struggle in the country has assumed a truly massive character. Only in June - July there were 680 armed rebellions, supported by the people. Partisan actions covered an increasing part of the country. Under the influence of the long-term work of the BRP in the army, many soldiers went over to the side of the partisans. At the beginning of September 1944, at the direction of the Central Committee of the BRP, the Main Headquarters of the People's Liberation Insurgent Army and the National Committee of the Fatherland Front, insurgent brigades and detachments began to establish people's power in some regions of the country. So gradually an armed uprising was brewing in Bulgaria.

The anti-people government of Bulgaria brutally persecuted the partisans. From the beginning of 1942 to the September uprising of 1944, more than 64,000 people were subjected to repressions. The rebels suffered considerable losses in battles with the police and troops. But this did not weaken their struggle. Under the leadership of the BRP, the national liberation movement continued to expand and grow stronger. The party had 25,000 members, and its faithful assistant, the Workers' Youth Union, had about 30,000. G. Dimitrov and V. Kolarov, outstanding figures of the international and Bulgarian working-class movement, were at the head of the BRP. In the fire of the struggle, such prominent party figures as T. Zhivkov, S. Todorov and others came to the fore.

Formally, Bulgaria did not participate in the war against the USSR. The ruling circles did not dare to send the army to the Soviet-German front: the sympathies of the people of Bulgaria for the Russian people, the liberator from the Turkish yoke, were too great. But the reactionary Bulgarian government helped Germany in every way it could. The Hitlerite command used the airfields, seaports, and railways of this country for military purposes. The Bulgarian troops carried out occupational service in Greece and Yugoslavia and thereby freed up German divisions for the war against the USSR and its allies. In the spring and summer of 1944, the Soviet government repeatedly addressed the government of Bulgaria with a proposal to break the alliance with Germany and maintain neutrality. In response, the fascist Bulgarian clique undertook various maneuvers. One of them was the replacement of the Bozhilov government by the Bagryanov government, which was equally pro-fascist.

After the events in Romania, on the initiative of the Central Committee of the BRP, the delegation of the National Committee of the Fatherland Front demanded that power be transferred to the Fatherland Front. The government rejected the demand, but, being afraid of the movement of the masses, on August 26 announced the complete neutrality of Bulgaria. However, this was another deception. The Nazis were still the masters of the situation in the country.

The ruling circles of Bulgaria, seeing the hopelessness of Germany's situation, were ready to replace the German occupation with an Anglo-American one, if only to prevent the formation of a government of the Fatherland Front. In order to establish secret communications with the Western powers, in August 1944 they sent their representative to Turkey. The British and Americans willingly entered into negotiations. But it was already too late: Soviet troops were approaching the borders of Bulgaria, and the workers and peasants, led by the Bulgarian Labor Party, were preparing for an armed uprising.

On August 26, the Central Committee of the BRP sent out a letter to party organizations about measures to overthrow the Bagryanov government. To do this, it was proposed to hold political strikes at the enterprises demanding the establishment of the government of the Fatherland Front. The strikes were to develop into a general political strike.

The Bulgarians unanimously responded to the call of the party. A mass movement of the people began, which led to the fall of the Bagryanov government and the formation of the Muraviev government. However, the situation has not changed. Muraviev issued a declaration on issues of domestic and foreign policy, but it turned out to be demagogic. In particular, he undertook to strictly observe neutrality, and the remnants of the German troops withdrawing from Romania continued to freely arrive in Bulgaria. In connection with the situation that had arisen, the Soviet government on September 5 declared that "not only Bulgaria is at war with the USSR, since in fact it was previously at war with the USSR, but the Soviet Union will henceforth be at war with Bulgaria." As subsequent events showed, this Soviet step contributed to the success of the popular uprising.

The political situation in Bulgaria became more and more tense. The Muravievs banned the activities of the democratic parties of the Fatherland Front. Naturally, the Bulgarian people could not come to terms with this. The revolutionary crisis that the country was going through in the summer of 1944 developed into a revolutionary situation. On September 7, when it became clear that the Red Army would enter Bulgaria, the Central Committee of the BRP and the Main Staff of the People's Liberation Army fixed the date for the uprising in Sofia - September 9.

The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command ordered the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and the Black Sea Fleet to begin military operations against Bulgaria on September 8, to reach the line of Ruse, Palatitsa, Karno-bat, Burgas on September 12 and stop the advance here. The question of a further offensive was supposed to be decided by the Headquarters depending on the course of the armed uprising of the Bulgarian people.

The Bulgarian army by that time consisted of 22 divisions and 7 brigades with a total strength of more than 510 thousand people. But the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front were directly opposed only by 4 divisions and 2 brigades. Bulgaria had over 400 aircraft. Over 80 ships of the German and Bulgarian fleets were concentrated in Varna and Burgas.

The 3rd Ukrainian Front and the Black Sea Fleet had significant forces capable of crushing any resistance. The front commander, based on the directive of the Headquarters, set specific tasks for the 46th, 57th, 37th and 17th air armies, as well as the 7th and 4th guards mechanized corps. The Black Sea Fleet was supposed to seize Varna and Burgas with naval and airborne assault forces in cooperation with mechanized corps.

In party political work, the main attention was paid to explaining the causes and goals of the war with Bulgaria. Political workers and agitators told the fighters about the traditions of friendship between the Bulgarian and Russian peoples, acquainted them with the political situation in Bulgaria, with the heroic struggle of the Bulgarian communists.

On September 8, advanced Soviet rifle formations entered Bulgaria. Then, overtaking them, mechanized corps rushed into the interior of the country. They advanced without encountering resistance. On September 9, the advanced units, having covered 110-160 km in two days, reached the given line. The ships of the Black Sea Fleet, which interacted with the ground forces, entered the ports of Varna and Burgas. The Bulgarian ships also did not resist, and the entire German fleet, by order of the Nazi command, was flooded. The German sailors were taken prisoner.

On the evening of September 9, the Headquarters ordered the 3rd Ukrainian Front and the Black Sea Fleet to suspend further advance.

On the territory of Bulgaria, Soviet troops did not conduct any battles and battles. The Bulgarian operation resulted in a triumphal liberation campaign. The people everywhere enthusiastically welcomed the Red Army. In the villages, Soviet soldiers were presented with bread and salt. Residents of the cities threw flowers at them, entered into warm conversations with them. The USSR Ambassador in Sofia received many friendly telegrams from the workers and organizations of the country.

The entry of the Red Army into Bulgaria was a powerful external factor that hastened the popular uprising. As early as September 6, a strike of workers from factories and factories in Sofia began, rallies and demonstrations took place. The next day, the heroic miners of Pernik went on strike; on September 8, the workers of many enterprises of the country followed their example. Workers everywhere freed political prisoners from prisons. In many cities and villages, the power of the Fatherland Front was established. By order of the General Headquarters of the People's Liberation Army, insurgent brigades and detachments descended from the mountains and occupied militarily important points.

The armed uprising in Sofia began on the night of September 9th. Detachments of insurgents arrested the regents (63), ministers and other representatives of the monarcho-fascist clique. The Bulgarian army offered no resistance; moreover, many of its formations and units joined the rebels. On the same day, the government of the Fatherland Front was formed, headed by K. Georgiev. A new balance of class forces has been created in the country. The power of the workers and peasants was established with the leading role of the working class, headed by the Bulgarian Labor Party (Communists) (64).

The new government immediately began to implement the program of the Fatherland Front. It declared war on fascist Germany and its last satellite, Horthy Hungary, dissolved the parliament and the police, undertook a purge of the state apparatus and reorganization of the army, and banned fascist organizations. The country created a people's militia. Bulgarian troops evacuated from Greece and south eastern regions Yugoslavia.

The focus of the BRP(k) was to ensure the full participation of the army in the war against Germany. The active Bulgarian army was transferred to the operational subordination of the commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. On the territory of Yugoslavia, Hungary and Austria, together with the Soviet troops, about 300 thousand Bulgarian soldiers fought for seven to eight months. 32 thousand of them died, were injured, went missing.

So, the entry of Soviet troops into Bulgaria helped its people take power into their own hands, lead the country out of an unjust war, take part in the completion of the defeat of Nazi Germany and begin building a people's democratic state. Favorable conditions arose for the free development of the class struggle, which led to the consolidation of the new system. The presence of Soviet troops in the country fettered the actions of the Bulgarian reaction and its foreign inspirers.

The liberation of the Bulgarian people is a brilliant example of the skillful combination of the actions of the Red Army with the national liberation, anti-fascist struggle, which, under the leadership of the BRP(k), culminated in a popular uprising. “The victory of September 9,” ​​noted the appeal of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party to the Bulgarian people on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the socialist revolution in Bulgaria, “was won with the decisive help of the Soviet Army, the liberator of the peoples from fascist tyranny.”

Hoping to increase the size of their country, the Bulgarian tsarist government became an ally of Germany. 1 March 1941 Prime Minister B. Filov, contrary to the national interests of the country, signed the Vienna Agreement on the accession of Bulgaria to the bloc of fascist powers. German troops entered the territory of Bulgaria, which Germany soon (April 1941) used as a springboard for attacks on Yugoslavia and Greece. After the defeat of these countries by fascist Germany in eastern Serbia, as well as in part Macedonia and Bulgarian administration was introduced on the Aegean coast.

Bulgarian troops carried occupation service in Greece and Yugoslavia and thereby freed the German divisions against the USSR and its allies. In Yugoslav Macedonia (data for the summer of 1944) was the 5th Bulgarian army with headquarters in Skopje. It included the 14th, 15th and 27th Infantry Divisions, as well as the 4th Cavalry Brigade. The 1st (occupation) corps was deployed in South-Eastern Serbia, consisting of five reserve divisions (22, 23, 24, 25 and 27).

The headquarters of the corps was located in the city of Nis, and the divisions were scattered in different areas to fight the partisans. In 1943, the 23rd division was transferred to Northern Montenegro, and the 24th to Eastern Bosnia, where they were until the change of power in Bulgaria. Since February 1944, the 2nd Bulgarian Corps (7th, 26th and 28th Infantry Divisions) has been in the Greek Western Macedonia and the province of Aegen, so that the Greek-Bulgarian relations in the event of the restoration of the Greek national government would not be rosy.

Relations between Bulgaria and the USSR were even more complicated. Russia, with which the Soviet Union was associated throughout the world, was the elder brother for the Bulgarian people, the only great Slavic country that freed the Bulgarian people from the Ottoman yoke. Be that as it may, any Bulgarian government had to reckon with such public opinion. That is why the Bulgarian Tsar Boris III categorically refused to send his troops to the USSR to take part in the battles against the Red Army.

On the other hand, from 1939 to 1944 Germany was the main center of power in Europe, and Bulgaria was forced to either join the German bloc or become occupied and dismembered, like many other countries. Such is the fate of all small, "limitedly sovereign states." Bulgaria chose the first and formally adhering to neutrality in the war with the USSR, became the rear base of the German army. The German command used the airfields, seaports and railways of this country for military purposes. However, it was obvious that The Soviet Union becomes the new world center of power. This state was able not only to repel the attack of the united forces of Western Europe led by Germany, but also smashed the III Reich on all fronts, and also, by right of the strong, was preparing for reorganization of the European continent.

Tsar Boris died on August 28, 1943, that is, the main culprit for drawing Bulgaria into the Nazi bloc no longer existed, and in order to preserve the existing state, it was enough for the ruling circles to make cosmetic changes in the cabinet, declare complete neutrality, and then, with the flight of German troops, quietly join the Anti-Hitler coalition.

However, in the USSR there was a different social system and people who proved their loyalty were to rule the new state. Soviet Union. First of all, these were representatives of the communists - the Bulgarian Workers' Party ( BRP) headed by G. Dimitrov and V. Kolarov. The BRP was the basis of the Fatherland Front (association of the parties of socialists and communists), which fought against the Nazis and the existing regime. At the disposal of the Fatherland Front was People's Liberation Army- 11 brigades and 37 detachments with a total number of 18 thousand people. In addition, there were battle groups numbering more than 12 thousand people. Relying on this force, the BRP hoped to seize power as a result of an armed uprising during the introduction of Soviet troops into the territory of Bulgaria.

And soon the change of power took place. Despite the fact that the newly created bourgeois government Bagryanov August 26 announced the complete neutrality of the country and entered into negotiations with the Anglo-American allies, the Soviet troops were already at the borders of Bulgaria. At the call of the Central Committee of the BRP, strikes began at the factories of the country, which grew into a general political strike. Another government was formed (the old one resigned) Muravieva, who confirmed that Bulgaria would strictly abide by neutrality. But these were only words. The remnants of the German troops withdrawing from Romania continued to freely stay in Bulgaria. In connection with the situation, the Soviet government on September 5 declared that "not only Bulgaria is at war with the USSR, since it was previously at war with the USSR, but the Soviet Union will henceforth be at war with Bulgaria."

The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command ordered the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and the Black Sea Fleet to begin on September 8 military operations against Bulgaria, go out on September 12 to the line Rousse - Palatitsa - Karnobat - Burgas and here stop the advance. The question of a further offensive was supposed to be decided by the Headquarters depending on the development of the domestic political situation in the country.

The Bulgarian army at that time consisted of 23 divisions and 7 brigades, but the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front formally opposed only 4 divisions and 2 brigades. Bulgaria had over 400 aircraft. Over 80 warships of the German and Bulgarian fleets were concentrated in Varna and Burgas.

The 3rd Ukrainian Front and the Black Sea Fleet had significant forces capable of crushing any resistance. However, based on the internal political situation in the country, it was decided to carry out a demonstration and propaganda campaign in order to help the local communists from the BRP to carry out a regime change in Bulgaria without bloodshed. This was done in the following way. The 4th and 7th Guards Mechanized Corps were to enter the territory of Bulgaria among the first.

Two weeks before the introduction of troops, the rear forces brought new uniforms to the units, they were fitted to the figure so that the Red Army soldiers would have a dashing look. Tankers, gunners, and drivers repainted the equipment with green paint, which appeared in abundance in warehouses, and updated tactical signs. Soviet troops were supposed to enter the territory of Bulgaria as liberators, this time from the German yoke, so the tank guns were sheathed and “pulled up” in the stowed position.

On September 8, 1944, the reconnaissance battalion of the 4th Guards. MK was the first to cross the Romanian-Bulgarian border. At the command post of the mechanized corps, they anxiously waited for the first radio messages about the behavior of the military personnel of the Bulgarian army. But the reports exceeded the most optimistic expectations - during the passage of motorized columns of our troops, the Bulgarian border guards, lined up, saluted the soldiers of the Red Army! Something similar happened in other parts of the border. Without any resistance, the next day, the advanced units of the Soviet troops reached the given line.

Passed in two days 110-160 km. The 4th mechanized corps reached the Varna region during the day, and the 7th mechanized corps reached the Shumen region, where it was stopped. Later, by order of the General Staff of the Red Army, the 7th MK was withdrawn from the 3rd Ukrainian Front and reassigned to the 2nd Ukrainian Front. 4 MK, without stopping, set out for Burgas and on September 9, by 16.00, mastered the latter, passing a march of 600 km.

Our fleet, in cooperation with ground forces, entered the ports Varna and Burgas. The Bulgarian ships also offered no resistance. The entire German fleet was flooded by order of the German command. The German sailors were taken prisoner. On the evening of September 9, the Headquarters, in accordance with the instructions of the State Defense Committee, ordered to suspend further advance and gain a foothold on the achieved lines.

On the night of September 9, according to a previously developed plan, an uprising of anti-fascist pro-communist forces of the Fatherland Front began in Sofia. Detachments of insurgents arrested the regents, ministers and other representatives of the monarchist-bourgeois circles. After the death of Tsar Boris in 1943, his young son Simeon was elevated to the throne. Under him, a regency council was established, which included B. Filov, N. Mikhov and Prince Kirill. The Bulgarian army offered no resistance Moreover, many of its formations and units joined the rebels. On the same day, the government of the Fatherland Front was formed, headed by K. Georgiev where the communists played the most important role.

The new government immediately began to implement its program. It declared war on Germany and the last Nazi satellite, Horthy Hungary. The government dissolved the parliament, the police, undertook a purge of the state apparatus and the restructuring of the army, banned pro-Nazi organizations. The People's Militia was created. Bulgarian troops were evacuated from Greece and the southeastern regions of Yugoslavia.

New 450 -thousandth Bulgarian People's Army under the command of Lieutenant General Ivana Marinova(5 separate armies, each of which was equivalent in power to the Soviet rifle corps, and some separate formations, for example, an armored brigade) entered the operational subordination of the Soviet troops.

The defeat of the fascist German army group "Southern Ukraine". Liberation of Romania and Bulgaria

situation in Romania. The plan for the Iasi-Kishinev operation

The offensive of the Soviet troops near Iasi and Chisinau began in the context of the completion of the defeat of enemy forces in the central direction, as well as the intensification of the liberation struggle of the peoples of the Balkan countries.

During this period, Romania experienced a deep internal political crisis. Hitler's Germany, with the support of the monarcho-fascist dictatorship of I. Antonescu, mercilessly plundered Romania. Pumping wealth out of the Romanian economy, by July 1, 1944, she owed her ally 35 billion lei. Romania was the main supplier of oil to Germany. Therefore, the German fascist leadership sought to keep it, like other countries of the Balkan region, in their hands at any cost. All this gave rise to discontent and indignation of the Romanian people.

With regard to Rumania and the Balkan countries as a whole, the American and especially the British imperialists also hatched their own special plans. They sought to seize the Balkans before the Soviet army entered the area and prevent the victory of democratic forces in that area. The British Prime Minister W. Churchill wrote in his memoirs: "After we broke into Sicily and Italy in the summer of 1943, the thought of the Balkans, and especially of Yugoslavia, did not leave me for a minute." According to the figurative expression of the American journalist R. Ingersoll, "The Balkans were the magnet to which, no matter how you shook the compass, the arrow of British strategy invariably pointed." To implement his "Balkan option" Churchill intended to involve not only British and American, but also Turkish troops. These plans of the Anglo-American imperialists concealed a great danger for the peoples of the Balkan countries.

The Balkan peoples, including the Romanian, could not put up with their plight. The hatred of the Romanian workers for the Nazis, who ruined and plundered the country, and for the fascist regime of Antonescu grew every day. The Romanian siguranza (secret police) daily reported to various government bodies about new manifestations of the struggle of the people against the fascist rulers. Thus, from Brasov it was reported that "at the first critical moment for the state, the workers will provide effective support to the communists in overthrowing the existing social order." In Bucharest, Ploiesti and some other cities, on the initiative of the Communist Party, armed militant groups were created.

The struggle of the Romanian people against their oppressors assumed an increasingly purposeful and organized character. In May 1944, the Communist Party achieved the unification of the Communists and Social Democrats into the United Workers' Front, and on June 20 an agreement was reached on the creation of the National Democratic Bloc, which, along with the Communists and Social Democrats, included the bourgeois National Tsaranist and National Liberal parties. The CPR entered into a bloc with the bourgeois parties with the aim of uniting all national forces to overthrow the fascist regime.

In their struggle against the oppressors, the Romanian people drew inspiration from the historic victories of the Soviet Armed Forces and in the assistance provided by the Soviet Union in establishing a peaceful life in the regions of Romania liberated in the spring of 1944, in the deployment of a partisan movement in the rear of the Nazi troops. In the entry of Soviet troops into the northeastern regions of the country, the Romanian working people saw a vivid manifestation of the liberation mission of the Soviet army, a harbinger of the imminent liberation of all of Romania.

By mid-August 1944, at a 580 km long line passing through Krasnoilsk, Pashkani, north of Yass and further along the Dniester to the Black Sea, the troops of the Southern Ukraine Army Group under the command of General G. Frisner were defending. This group included two army groups - Wöhler (8th German and 4th Romanian armies and 17th separate German army corps) and Dumitrescu (6th German and 3rd Romanian armies). The army group troops had 47 divisions and 5 brigades. They were supported by part of the forces of the 4th Air Fleet and the Romanian Aviation Corps. Before that, at the end of July, on the orders of Hitler, 12 divisions, including 6 tank and 1 motorized, from the Army Group "Southern Ukraine" were transferred to the central sector of the Soviet-German front to make up for the losses suffered by the Nazi troops.

The transfer of such a significant number of divisions from the Army Group "Southern Ukraine" led to its weakening and greatly worried I. Antonescu. On August 4, 1944, he met with Hitler to find out the further intentions of the Nazi leadership. At this meeting, Hitler assured the Romanian dictator that the Wehrmacht would defend Romania as well as Germany. But in turn, he demanded assurances from Antonescu that Romania would remain an ally of the Reich, no matter how the circumstances developed, and would take over the maintenance of the German troops operating on Romanian territory.

Using numerous water barriers and hilly terrain, the fascist German command created a strong defense with a developed system of engineering barriers to a depth of 80 km. The Nazi troops were replenished with people, weapons and military equipment. German infantry divisions had 10-12 thousand soldiers and officers each, Romanian - 12-17 thousand each. Strict discipline was imposed in them by various methods of indoctrination and repression. The Nazi command hoped that such a significant grouping of troops and a strong defensive system would allow it to hold not only Romania, but the Balkans as a whole.

On August 18, 1944, General Frisner addressed all senior officers of the German and Romanian troops with a special appeal, in which he warned that in the coming days a large Soviet offensive should be expected on the southern sector of the front. Frisner demanded from commanders army groups to defend their positions to the last opportunity, to ensure close cooperation between German and Romanian troops.

Correctly assessing the current situation, the Headquarters of the Soviet Supreme High Command decided to prepare and conduct a major strategic offensive operation in the Iasi and Chisinau region in order to defeat the troops of the Southern Ukraine Army Group, liberate the Moldavian SSR and withdraw Romania from the war on the side of Nazi Germany.

When planning this operation, the Stavka took into account that the troops of the Army Group "Southern Ukraine" were deployed on an arc curved to the east, the left wing of which rested against the difficult Carpathians, and the right - into the Black Sea, that the top of this ledge was occupied by the troops of the most combat-ready 6th German army, and on the flanks, mainly Romanian troops defended themselves, among which the unwillingness to fight against the Soviet army grew more and more.

On August 2, 1944, the Stavka sent a directive to the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts, developed taking into account all the most important conclusions from the assessment of the situation and the goals that were pursued in the operation. The directive defined the specific tasks of these fronts. They had to break through the enemy’s defenses in two areas far from each other - northwest of Yass and south of Bendery - and, developing the offensive along the directions converging to the Khushi, Vaslui, Felchiu areas, encircle and destroy the main forces of the South Ukraine Army Group, and then quickly move into the depths of Romania.

The 2nd Ukrainian Front, commanded by General R. Ya. Malinovsky, was tasked with breaking through the enemy defenses northwest of Yassy, ​​capturing the cities of Bacau, Vaslui, Khushi, capturing crossings across the Prut in the Khushi, Falchiu sector and, together with the 3rd Defeat the Yassko-Chisinau enemy grouping by the Ukrainian front, preventing it from withdrawing to Byrlad, Fokshani. In the future, the troops of the front were to advance in the direction of Focsani, firmly covering the right flank of the strike force from the direction of the Carpathians.

The 3rd Ukrainian Front under the command of General F.I. Tolbukhin was ordered to break through the enemy defenses south of Bendery, strike in the direction of Opach, Selemet, Khushi and, reliably providing a strike force from the south, in cooperation with the 2nd Ukrainian Front, defeat the Yassko-Kishinev enemy grouping and capture the line of Leovo, Tarutino. In the future, he was to conduct an offensive in the direction of Reni, Izmail, in order to cut off the enemy's escape routes beyond the Prut and Danube rivers.

An important role in the upcoming operation was assigned to the Black Sea Fleet under the command of Admiral F.S. Oktyabrsky. He was to provide fire support to the coastal flank of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, disrupt the coastal sea lanes of the enemy and destroy his ships, inflict massive air strikes on the bases of Constanta and Sulina. The Danube military flotilla, which was part of the fleet, commanded by Rear Admiral S. G. Gorshkov, was supposed to land troops northwest and south of Akkerman (Belgorod-Dnestrovsky), and with the exit of the 3rd Ukrainian Front to the Danube, to assist its troops in forcing rivers and ensure Soviet navigation on it.

The Stavka entrusted the coordination of the actions of the fronts to its representative Marshal of the Soviet Union S. K. Timoshenko. The start of the operation was scheduled for August 20.

During the preparatory period, the troops were replenished with weapons and military equipment. In April-August, the Headquarters handed over to the fronts 875 tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts, 6223 guns and mortars, 13,142 light and heavy machine guns, 116,000 machine guns, 280,000 rifles and carbines. By decision of the State Defense Committee, 6 large and 20 small sea hunters, 10 submarines, 12 torpedo boats were transferred to the Black Sea Fleet from the Northern and Pacific Fleets.

Fulfilling the instructions of the Headquarters, the commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front decided to deliver the main blow from the area northwest of Iasi in the direction of Vaslui, Falchiu. An auxiliary strike was launched along the Siret River to the south to cover the right flank of the strike force. The actions of the ground forces were supported by the 5th Air Army. By the end of the fifth day of the operation, the troops of the front were to reach the Bacau-Khushi line, join with the 3rd Ukrainian Front and complete the encirclement of the Yassko-Chisinau enemy grouping. In the future, his main forces were to develop an offensive in the general direction of Focsani, forming an external encirclement front, and the troops of the left wing were to create an internal encirclement front and, together with the 3rd Ukrainian Front, complete the liquidation of the encircled enemy forces.

The 3rd Ukrainian Front delivered the main blow south of Bendery from the Kitskansky bridgehead also in the direction of Khushi, where its troops were to link up with the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, complete the encirclement of the main forces of the Army Group "Southern Ukraine" and jointly destroy them. The front had to develop the further offensive in accordance with the instructions of the Headquarters. It was planned to strike an auxiliary blow through the Dniester estuary in the direction of Akkerman. The advance of the ground troops of the front was supported by the 17th Air Army.

The fronts, especially the 2nd Ukrainian, inflicted deep blows on the most vulnerable places of the enemy's defense. The main strike force of the 2nd Ukrainian Front advanced around the Jassy and Tyrgu-Frumos fortified regions, which allowed it to isolate the German 6th Army from the 8th Army and bypass the difficult ridges of the Eastern Carpathians from the south. The 3rd Ukrainian Front, with a strike at the junction of German and Romanian troops, dismembered the forces of the Dumitrescu army group and, together with the 2nd Ukrainian Front, destroyed the 6th German army. The left wing of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, with the support of the Black Sea Fleet, carried out the encirclement and defeat of the 3rd Romanian Army.

The fronts massed their forces and means in decisive directions, where from 67 to 72 percent of infantry, 61 percent of guns and mortars, 85 percent of tanks and self-propelled artillery installations, and almost all aviation were concentrated. Thanks to this, in the breakthrough sectors, the fronts had superiority over the enemy: in people - 4-8 times, in artillery - 6-11 times, and in tanks and self-propelled guns - 6 times. This provided them with the opportunity to continuously build up the power of strikes and achieve high rates of attack. The build-up of pressure was ensured; also deep operational formation of fronts, especially the 2nd Ukrainian, in the first echelon of which there were five combined arms armies (38 divisions), in the echelon of success - a tank army, two separate tank and one cavalry corps and in the second echelon and reserve - one combined arms army and two separate rifle corps (13 divisions). On the 3rd Ukrainian Front, the strike of which was planned to be less deep, all four of its combined arms armies (34 divisions) were located in the first echelon. The depth of the formation of troops here was achieved by creating several echelons in the armies, as well as by mobile groups created in the front and in the 37th Army (two mechanized corps), and the reserve (one rifle corps).

The artillery density in the breakthrough areas reached 240-280 guns and mortars per 1 km of the front. The duration of artillery preparation was envisaged on the 2nd Ukrainian Front 1 hour 30 minutes and on the 3rd Ukrainian - 1 hour 45 minutes. Support for the attack of infantry and tanks was planned with a single or double barrage of fire in combination with a consistent concentration of fire. Tank and mechanized troops, after entering the gap, had to move rapidly in the directions indicated by them, preempt the approach of enemy reserves and complete the encirclement of his main forces. Subsequently, they were to advance deep into Romania.

The main task of aviation was to support ground forces when breaking into enemy defenses in the direction of the main strikes, ensuring the introduction of mobile groups into the breakthrough and their operations in operational depth. Aviation preparation of a breakthrough was planned only on the 3rd Ukrainian Front. This is due to the fact that a high density of artillery was achieved on the 2nd Ukrainian Front (up to 280 guns and mortars per 1 km of the front, which had up to 2-4 or more ammunition). Therefore, the suppression of the enemy here before the transition of the infantry and tanks to the attack was assigned to her.

The envisaged high rate of advance - 20-25 km per day for infantry and 30-35 km for mobile formations - made it possible to preempt the Iasi-Chisinau enemy grouping at the exit to the Prut River and capture the Foksha Gate on the eighth or ninth day, created the conditions for a rapid breakthrough Soviet troops in the central regions of Romania, its withdrawal from the war on the side of Nazi Germany. This also opened up the prospect of a quick exit of the Soviet armies to the borders of Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and the Hungarian lowland - to the rear of the enemy's Carpathian grouping.

The fronts managed to organize well the disinformation of the Nazis. Almost until the very beginning of the offensive, the command of the Wehrmacht and the headquarters of the army group "Southern Ukraine" did not have an accurate idea of ​​\u200b\u200bits timing and directions of the main attacks of the Soviet troops. This made it possible to achieve operational surprise.

Much attention was paid engineering support operations. More than 7,200 km of trenches and communication passages were dug on both fronts, more than 50,000 dugouts and shelters were built, more than 6,700 command and observation posts were equipped, and dozens of crossings were built.

The working people of Moldova rendered significant assistance to the Soviet troops. They took part in the restoration of 58 railway bridges and more than 700 km of railway lines, in the repair of hundreds of vehicles, dozens of guns and tanks, in the construction of defensive structures and airfields. Moldavian partisans maintained close contact with the headquarters of the fronts and armies, supplied them with information about the enemy, disrupted his communications and destroyed small garrisons.

By the beginning of the operation, the troops received all the necessary material resources. They had from 1.5 to 6.6 rounds of shells and mines, from 7.4 to 9 refills of aviation and diesel fuel, up to 2.7 refills of gasoline, a sufficient amount of food, fodder and equipment. More than 134 thousand reserve beds were deployed in hospitals to receive the wounded and sick soldiers.

The peculiarity of the operation being prepared was that the troops had not only to break the resistance and defeat a strong enemy grouping, but also to conduct military operations on the territory of the state, whose army, together with the Nazi troops, participated in the war against the USSR. This feature was constantly kept in mind by the Soviet command, political agencies, party and Komsomol organizations.

Party political work was based on the requirements of the directive of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army of July 19, 1944, which summarized the experience of party political work on the 2nd Ukrainian Front, carried out during the entry into Romanian territory in the spring of 1944. and the 3rd Ukrainian fronts and armies, commanders and political agencies, party and Komsomol organizations ensured that all soldiers and officers were aware of the features of the new situation in which they had to act, the nature of the new combat missions and methods for their implementation, highly bore honor and dignity Soviet soldier-liberator. They brought up the personnel in the spirit of high offensive impulse. A significant role in this on the 2nd Ukrainian Front was played by the decision of the Military Council of the front of July 20, 1944 on the shortcomings of party political work among the troops and measures to eliminate them. In particular, it noted that individual commanders and political workers, having achieved great military successes, began to become arrogant, show carelessness and complacency. The military councils of the armies and the heads of political departments were pointed out the need to strengthen unity of command in every possible way, to more actively help commanders in training and educating subordinates, to raise the ideological level and scope of agitation and propaganda work, to study the mood of personnel more deeply, to wage a decisive struggle against violations of discipline and order, to increase vigilance, to ensure that party political work fully corresponds to the new task of conducting combat operations on the territory of other countries. The political administration organized control and verification of the implementation of the decision of the Military Council. At the same time, it demanded from the entire command and political staff, along with the mobilization of the efforts of the troops to solve combat missions, “to take care of the life of their subordinates, their food, medical care, timely washing of linen, repairing and saving uniforms” in a paternal way every day.

The Military Council and the Political Directorate of the 3rd Ukrainian Front held a meeting with members of the military councils of the armies and the heads of the political departments of the armies and corps on the issues of ideological and political training of soldiers in connection with the upcoming offensive operations. In accordance with the directive of the head of the political department of the front, General I. S. Anoshin, dated August 15, 1944, which analyzed the state of party political work in the rifle units located at the forefront, measures were taken to select, place and train party organizers. Measures were taken to explain to the soldiers the goals of the offensive of the Soviet troops on the territory of Romania, the orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, care was taken to meet the material and domestic needs of the personnel.

The military councils and political agencies paid great attention to strengthening party and Komsomol organizations by recruiting into the party and the Komsomol the most distinguished soldiers in battles and by placing communists and Komsomol members in the units. In June-August, 30,685 people were accepted as party members and 37,048 people as candidates for party membership in the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts. By the beginning of the operation, there were already 284,602 communists here. All this made it possible to significantly increase the party and Komsomol stratum in the troops, to create full-blooded party and Komsomol organizations in the subdivisions. On the 3rd Ukrainian Front, for example, in many rifle companies Communists and Komsomol members made up 50 percent of the personnel.

Commanders, political workers, party and Komsomol organizations did a great job of explaining to the soldiers and the local population the essence of the international liberation mission of the Soviet Army. An important role in this was played by the appeal of the Military Council of the 2nd Ukrainian Front to the Romanian people, which was published in Romanian in mass circulation. For the local population, the political administration of the 2nd Ukrainian Front published the newspaper "Grayul Liber" in Romanian, which informed about the situation on the fronts and about the liberation mission of the Soviet army in Romania.

The humane attitude of the Soviet soldiers towards the population increased the sympathy of the Romanian people for them and contributed to the strengthening of the rear of the Soviet army. A significant role in establishing friendly relations between the troops and the local population was played by the Soviet military commandant's offices, whose number reached 55 by mid-July.

Much attention was paid to propaganda combat experience. At the same time, a wide variety of forms and means were used: printing, conversations, lectures, etc. Experienced soldiers took an active part in this work. Thus, the political department of the 7th Guards Army, during the preparation of the Iasi-Kishinev operation, organized a meeting of the guards - participants Battle of Stalingrad with young soldiers of non-guard units. Groups formed from veterans visited many parts of the army, experienced soldiers held conversations with young soldiers and sergeants, and spoke at various training camps. Much work has been done with the new addition.

By the beginning of the Iasi-Kishinev operation, Soviet troops outnumbered the enemy in forces and means, especially in tanks and aircraft. Using the increased capabilities of their Armed Forces, the Soviet command in the breakthrough sectors was able to further increase this superiority, which ensured that the offensive was carried out to great depths and at high rates. These measures were dictated by the need to defeat a large enemy grouping in order to ensure the liberation of the Moldavian SSR and the withdrawal of Romania from the war on the side of Nazi Germany, to provide effective assistance to the Romanian people in their liberation from the fascist yoke. The creation of superiority over the enemy in the areas of breakthrough testified to the high level of military art of the Soviet command cadres, who boldly and effectively solved the issues of massing the forces and means at their disposal in the directions of the main strikes.

Encirclement and defeat of the Yassko-Kishinev grouping of the enemy. The liberation of Soviet Moldavia and the eastern regions of Romania

The offensive of the Soviet troops in the Iasi-Kishinev operation began on August 20, 1944. At the appointed hour, thousands of guns and mortars, hundreds of aircraft brought down a crushing blow on the enemy. On the very first day, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front broke through the defense to the entire tactical depth.

The fascist German command, trying to stop the advance of the Soviet troops, launched three infantry and one tank divisions into counterattacks in the Yass region. But this did not change the situation. In the zone of the 27th army of General S.G. Trofimenko, after overcoming the second line of enemy defense, the 6th tank army was introduced into the gap, commanded by General A.G. Kravchenko. Her appearance for the Nazis was a complete surprise. The tankers were able to quickly reach the enemy's third line of defense, which ran along the Mare ridge. A huge number of infantry, tanks and guns, with powerful air support, rushed south in such a powerful stream that nothing could stop them.

By the end of the day, the 37th, 46th and 57th armies of the 3rd Ukrainian Front under the command of Generals M.M. Sharokhin, I.T. .

The troops of the fronts moved forward to a depth of 10 to 16 km. During August 20, the enemy lost 9 divisions. Romanian troops suffered especially heavy losses. According to the conclusion of General Frisner, commander of the Southern Ukraine Army Group, on the first day the outcome of the battles turned out to be catastrophic for her. In the Dumitrescu army group, both divisions of the 29th Romanian army corps completely disintegrated, and in the Wöhler group, five Romanian divisions were defeated. The results of the first day of the offensive of the Soviet troops caused confusion in Hitler's headquarters.

On the second day of the offensive, the strike force of the 2nd Ukrainian Front waged a stubborn struggle for the third lane on the Mare ridge, and the 7th Guards Army under the command of General M.S. Shumilov and the horse-mechanized group of General S.I. Frumos. On August 21, the fascist German command pulled together units of 12 divisions, including 2 tank divisions, to the area of ​​​​the breakthrough of the shock group of the front. The most stubborn battles unfolded on the outskirts of Iasi, where the enemy troops launched counterattacks three times. But the introduction of the 18th Tank Corps into the breakthrough in the 52nd Army zone greatly facilitated the actions of the Soviet rifle units. By the end of August 21, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front had finally crushed the enemy defenses. Having expanded the breakthrough to 65 km along the front and up to 40 km in depth and having overcome all three defensive lines, they captured the cities of Iasi and Tirgu Frumos and entered the operational space.

The strike force of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, repelling strong counterattacks by enemy infantry and tanks, advanced to a depth of 30 km in two days of fighting, and expanded the breakthrough along the front to 95 km. A significant gap formed between the 6th German and 3rd Romanian armies.

The 5th Air Army of General S.K. Goryunov and the 17th Air Army of General V.L. Sudets successfully coped with their tasks. For two days, the pilots made about 6350 sorties. Aviation of the Black Sea Fleet carried out strikes on German ships and enemy bases in Constanta and Sulina. On August 21, 1944, the combat journal of the Southern Ukraine Army Group noted that German and Romanian troops suffered heavy losses from the strikes of Soviet aviation, which achieved absolute air supremacy in the area of ​​operations of the Dumitrescu army group.

In battles to break through the enemy's defenses, Soviet soldiers showed mass heroism. A vivid illustration of it is the actions of corporals A. I. Gusev and K. I. Gurenko in the area of ​​the Moldavian village of Ermoklia. The 60th regiment of the 20th Guards Rifle Division, performing a combat mission, broke into the eastern outskirts of the village on the afternoon of August 21. The Nazis launched a counterattack. Four "Tigers" moved to the firing position of the machine gunner of the 1st battalion Gusev. Realizing that it was impossible to stop the tanks with machine gun fire, the fighter tied grenades to his chest and rushed under one of them. The tank exploded, and the rest turned back. A similar feat was accomplished by a soldier of the 3rd battalion Gurenko. Having seized the moment, he, with grenades pressed to his chest, rushed under the front of the three tanks advancing on him. Inspired by the high feat of their comrades-in-arms, the soldiers of the regiment, with the support of artillery, repulsed the counterattack of the Nazis, destroying most of their tanks. A. I. Gusev and K. I. Gurenko were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

To speed up the complete defeat of the enemy, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command on the evening of August 21 ordered the fronts to reach the Khushi area as quickly as possible in order to complete the encirclement of the enemy grouping and open the road to the main economic and political centers of Romania. When this plan became clear to the fascist German command, on August 22 it was compelled to begin withdrawing its forces from the Chisinau ledge across the Prut River. "But," Frisner notes, "it was too late." On the morning of August 22, the 4th Guards Army under the command of General I.V. Galanin went on the offensive along the river. Acting jointly with the 52nd Army of General K. A. Koroteev, by the end of the day she advanced 25 km and captured two crossings across the Prut. Bypassing the nodes of enemy resistance, the 18th Panzer Corps advanced towards Khushi. On the outer front, the advancing troops captured Vaslui.

The 3rd Ukrainian Front also achieved major successes. Formations of the 7th Mechanized Corps went to the Gura-Galbena area, and the 4th Guards Mechanized Corps, having occupied Tarutino and Comrat, developed an offensive against Leovo. Thus, the 3rd Romanian army was finally isolated from the 6th German army.

By the end of August 22 shock groups fronts intercepted the main enemy withdrawal routes to the west. The sailors of the Danube military flotilla, together with the landing group of the 46th army, crossed the 11-kilometer Dniester estuary, liberated the city of Akkerman and developed the offensive in a southwestern direction.

The success of the first three days of the offensive had a great influence on the further course of the operation. The enemy lost a significant part of his forces. During this time, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front defeated 11 Romanian and 4 German divisions, shot down 114 aircraft, advanced up to 60 km and expanded the breakthrough to 120 km. The 3rd Ukrainian Front advanced up to 70 km, the width of its breakthrough reached 130 km.

The most important condition for this major success was the close interaction of ground forces and aviation. During August 22 alone, the pilots of the 5th Air Army fought 19 battles, during which they shot down 40 enemy aircraft.

On August 23, the fronts fought in order to close the encirclement and continue advancing on the outer front. On the same day, the 18th Tank Corps went to the Khushi area, the 7th Mechanized Corps to the crossings over the Prut in the Leuseni area, and the 4th Guards Mechanized Corps to Leovo. “As a result of the four days of the operation,” Marshal of the Soviet Union S.K. Timoshenko reported to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin at 23:30 on August 23, “the troops of the 2nd and encirclement of the Chisinau grouping of the enemy ... ”On the 3rd Ukrainian Front, the 46th Army of General I.T. Shlemin, in cooperation with the Danube Military Flotilla, on August 23 completed the encirclement of the 3rd Romanian Army, whose troops ceased resistance the next day. On August 24, the 5th shock army of General N.E. Berzarin liberated the capital of the Moldavian SSR, Chisinau.

The Nazi command, seeing that the main forces of his grouping had been defeated, and having received news of Romania's withdrawal from the war, ordered the encircled troops to withdraw to the Carpathians. However, this task was already impossible for them. On August 24, Soviet troops tightly closed the narrow corridor formed the day before, along which the enemy tried to escape from the boiler. 18 out of 25 German divisions were surrounded. By this time, almost all the Romanian divisions at the front were also defeated.

So, on the fifth day, as envisaged by the plan, the first stage of the strategic operation was completed, at which the encirclement of the main forces of Army Group South Ukraine was achieved. The troops operating on the external front occupied the cities of Roman, Bacau, Byrlad and approached the city of Tekuch. Between the inner and outer fronts of the encirclement, a zone of considerable depth formed. Thus, favorable conditions were created for the elimination of the encircled grouping and the rapid advance of Soviet troops deep into Romanian territory. These tasks were solved by the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts already in the new conditions.

On August 23, an anti-fascist uprising began in Romania under the leadership of the Communist Party. It was necessary to urgently come to his aid, to speed up the pace of the offensive, so that the Nazi command would not have time to transfer additional forces to Romania to crack down on the rebels. Fascist Germany's attempts to keep the Romanian satellite in an aggressive bloc, the difficult domestic political situation in Romania, and the intrigues of the imperialist reactionary forces demanded the most decisive actions from the Soviet command for the speedy liberation of this country. And it, leaving 34 divisions to destroy the encircled group, sent more than 50 divisions deep into Romania. In the development of the offensive on the external front, the main role was assigned to the 2nd Ukrainian Front. The main forces of both air armies were also sent here.

By the end of August 27, the group surrounded to the east of the Prut ceased to exist. Soon, that part of the enemy troops was also destroyed, which managed to cross to the western bank of the Prut with the intention of breaking through to the Carpathian passes. The enemy suffered a crushing defeat. The command of the Army Group South Ukraine on September 5 stated that the encircled corps and divisions of the 6th Army should be considered as completely lost and that this defeat represents the biggest catastrophe that the army group has ever experienced.

During the completion of the liquidation of the encircled enemy forces and subsequently, the pace of the offensive of the Soviet troops on the external front increased more and more. The troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front developed success towards Northern Transylvania and in the Foksha direction, reaching the approaches to Ploiesti and Bucharest. Formations of the 46th Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, in cooperation with the Black Sea Fleet, launched an offensive in the coastal direction.

The fascist German command made attempts to detain the Soviet troops, to gain time in order to restore their front. In the OKB directive of August 26, General Frisner was tasked with creating and maintaining defenses along the line of the Eastern Carpathians, Fokshani, Galati, although the army group had neither the strength nor the means for this. 6 heavily battered divisions of the 8th Army retreated to the Carpathians. On the Hungarian-Romanian border there were 29 Hungarian battalions, which operated mainly in front of the right wing and the center of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. In front of its left wing and the 3rd Ukrainian Front, the remnants of the formations retreating from the front, as well as the rear units of the Southern Ukraine Army Group and individual German garrisons, defended themselves.

The enemy put up stubborn resistance on the outskirts of the Eastern Carpathians. The remnants of the German divisions concentrated here and the Hungarian battalions fought using the mountainous and wooded terrain, which was advantageous for defense. However, the 40th and 7th Guards Armies and the mechanized cavalry group of General Gorshkov, advancing in this direction, despite huge difficulties, managed to push the enemy back and overcome the Eastern Carpathians.

The offensive of the troops of the left wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, which included the 27th, 53rd and 6th tank armies and the 18th tank corps, was successfully developing. These troops, with the active support of aviation, crushed individual pockets of enemy defenses and quickly moved south. The 6th Panzer Army overcame the Focsani fortified line and liberated Focsani on August 26. The next day, she approached the city of Buzau, the mastery of which made it possible to develop a further offensive on Ploiesti and Bucharest. Here the tankers met particularly stubborn resistance. In the battles for this city, more than 1,500 soldiers and officers were destroyed and 1,200 captured. With the loss of Buzau, the position of the enemy worsened even more.

In these battles, the soldiers of the 1st Tank Battalion of the 21st Guards Tank Brigade especially distinguished themselves. For crossing the Siret River and liberating Fokshani, 13 fighters and battalion commanders were awarded high rank Hero of the Soviet Union. Among them were members of the same tank crew: Guards Lieutenant G. V. Burmak, Guards Sergeant F. A. Kulikov and Guards Junior Sergeants M. A. Makarov and G. G. Shevtsov. They seized a serviceable bridge on the Siret River, cleared it of mines and thus created the conditions for crossing the river with the entire tank brigade.

By August 29, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front liberated the cities of Tulcea, Galati, Braila, Constanta, Sulina and others. For the quickest capture of Constanta - the main naval base of Romania - sea and airborne assault forces were used. Advancing in a southerly direction, Soviet troops smashed disparate enemy groups and prevented their transfer to Bucharest. Only in the area of ​​​​the city of Calarasi on September 1 and 2, they captured up to 6 thousand Nazis, including 18 colonels and more than 100 other officers.

Soviet troops, moving inland, established contacts and established cooperation with the Romanian formations, which turned their weapons against the Nazis. So, as part of the 50th Rifle Corps of the 40th Army, the 3rd Romanian Border Regiment fought against the Nazi troops for more than a month. Together with the 7th Guards Army, the 103rd Romanian Mountain Rifle Division fought. At the end of August, in the Vaslui region, the 1st Romanian Volunteer Infantry Division named after Tudor Vladimirescu, formed on Soviet territory, received its baptism of fire.

Thus, in the period from August 20 to 29, Soviet troops successfully carried out the Iasi-Kishinev operation, surrounded and liquidated the largest enemy grouping in an exceptionally short time. In a report on its results, the Pravda newspaper noted that this operation was one of the "largest and most outstanding in terms of its strategic and military-political significance operations in the current war."

By September 3, scattered groups of Nazis were liquidated. During the fighting from August 20 to September 3, Soviet troops destroyed 22 German divisions, including 18 divisions that were surrounded, and also defeated almost all the Romanian divisions that were at the front. 208.6 thousand soldiers and officers, including 25 generals, were taken prisoner, 490 tanks and assault guns, 1.5 thousand guns, 298 aircraft, 15 thousand vehicles were destroyed; Soviet troops captured more than 2 thousand guns, 340 tanks and assault guns, about 18 thousand vehicles, 40 aircraft and many other military equipment and weapons. The enemy suffered so much damage that it took him about a month to restore a continuous front. At the same time, he was forced to transfer additional forces from other Balkan countries to the Romanian sector of the front.

The defeat of the main forces of the Southern Ukraine Army Group, which covered the routes from the northeast to the Balkans, dramatically changed the entire military-political situation on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front. As a result of the operation, the Moldavian SSR and the Izmail region of the Ukrainian SSR were liberated, Romania was withdrawn from the fascist bloc, which declared war on Germany. The defeat of the enemy near Iasi and Chisinau created decisive conditions for the success of the armed uprising of the Romanian people, which overthrew the hated fascist regime of Antonescu. The plans of the American-British imperialists, who sought to occupy Rumania and other Balkan countries, failed.

A deep breakthrough of the enemy defenses on a wide front opened up prospects for the Soviet troops for a swift offensive deep into Romania, into Hungary and Bulgaria, with the aim of delivering subsequent blows to the enemy and assisting the Romanian, Bulgarian, Yugoslav, Hungarian and Czechoslovak peoples in their liberation. It led to a significant improvement in the situation on the Black Sea. The Soviet Black Sea Fleet got the opportunity to be based not only on its own, but also on Romanian ports, which greatly facilitated its conduct of hostilities.

The Iasi-Kishinev operation, which went down in history as the Iasi-Kishinev Cannes, gave the clearest examples of the high level of Soviet military art. This was manifested, firstly, in the correct choice of the directions of the main attacks on the most vulnerable places in the enemy defense, the decisive concentration of forces and means in these directions and in the coverage of the main enemy forces. The massing of forces and means allowed the Soviet troops to deliver a powerful initial strike, quickly break through the enemy defenses, and quickly surround and eliminate one of the largest enemy groupings.

Secondly, during the Iasi-Kishinev operation, the Soviet troops, along with the encirclement and liquidation of the main enemy forces in the area of ​​Iasi and Chisinau, waged a powerful offensive on the outer front, using most of their forces and means for this, which forced the enemy to continuously roll back into the depths of Romania and for a long time prevented him from stabilizing the front. Rapidly moving forward, the Soviet troops quickly pushed the front line away from the encircled grouping by 80-100 km and thus deprived it of the opportunity to escape from the boiler. Enemy units and formations breaking through to the west, not having time to leave the operational encirclement, fell into a new, tactical encirclement and, in the end, were doomed to destruction.

Thirdly, in this operation, the Soviet command effectively used mobile tank and mechanized troops, which played a decisive role in encircling the enemy east of the Prut River and developing an offensive on the outer front. At the same time, unlike many other operations of the Great Patriotic War, the tank army was introduced into the breakthrough not at the end of it, but after breaking into the tactical defense zone of the enemy. The operation also achieved a clear interaction between the ground forces and the Black Sea Fleet and aviation.

Fourthly, already during the Iasi-Chisinau offensive operation, after the victory of the armed uprising of the Romanian people, the Soviet troops began to interact with the troops of Romania, which had gone over to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition.

All this testifies to the fact that the attempts of the bourgeois falsifiers of history to explain the defeat of the Nazi troops near Iasi and Chisinau by the indecisive actions of the Soviet troops and high level Soviet military art, but only political circumstances ("betrayal of the Romanian ally") do not hold water.

The victory of the armed uprising of the Romanian people

The defeat by the Soviet troops of the main forces of the Army Group "Southern Ukraine" deprived the Nazis and the government of Antonescu of their main armed support, created favorable external conditions for the overthrow of the fascist regime in Romania and its withdrawal from the war on the side of Germany. The necessary internal conditions are ripe for this in the country. The internal political situation continued to worsen, the anger and indignation of the masses of the people at Hitler's dominance and the oppression of the fascist regime of Antonescu quickly grew. Anti-Hitler sentiment also intensified in the Romanian army. Aggravated to the extreme and the crisis of the tops. This was expressed in the desire of the palace circles and the leaders of the bourgeois-landlord parties - the National Caranists and the National Liberals - to dissociate themselves from Antonescu's policy. Given these sentiments, the Communist Party established contact with opposition-minded officers and palace circles. In this situation, King Mihai and his inner circle were forced to accept the plan for an armed uprising proposed by the CPR. The purpose of the uprising was to overthrow the fascist regime of Antonescu and to withdraw Romania from the war on the side of the Axis powers. To manage the preparations for the uprising, on April 4, 1944, the Romanian Communist Party created a temporary operational leadership from its assets, consisting of C. Pyrvulescu, E. Bodnarash and I. Rangets.

At a meeting of the military committee for the preparation of the uprising, held on August 19-22, in which the Communists also participated, the day of the armed uprising was determined - August 26. However, the successful offensive of the Soviet troops made it possible to start it earlier - on August 23, when the operational encirclement of the main forces of the Southern Ukraine Army Group was completed. The Communist Party skillfully used this circumstance for a resolute nationwide action. “The moment of the overthrow of the fascist dictatorship of Antonescu and the entry of Romania into a just war against fascist Germany,” said G. Georgiou-Dej, “was chosen by the Central Committee of our party in view of the favorable conditions created by the swift Soviet offensive on the Iasi-Chisinau front.”

When the leadership of the CPR became aware that Antonescu would arrive on August 23 for an audience with the king in order to enlist his support in mobilizing "all the forces of the nation" to continue the war, it was decided to use this moment to arrest the fascist dictator. According to a pre-agreed plan by I. Antonescu, his deputy M. Antonescu and other government ministers were arrested.

The participation of King Mihai and his entourage in the overthrow of the Antonescu government was forced. They agreed to the arrest of the dictator only when they were convinced that the German-Romanian troops were defeated and that the Southern Ukraine Army Group was not able to stop the advance of the Soviet troops. Monarchist circles understood that the Romanian people would support the liberation mission of the Soviet army and be able to sweep away not only the fascist regime, but also the monarchy.

Immediately after the arrest of the fascist government, parts of the Bucharest garrison were ordered to occupy and defend government agencies, central telephone exchange, telegraph; radio station and other important objects, interrupt communications between German institutions and military units and prevent their movement. By midnight, this order was carried out. Under the blows of patriotic forces, the fascist regime collapsed. Not a single unit of the Romanian army, including the security regiment of the fascist dictator, came out in defense of the ruling clique of Antonescu. This testifies to the absolute military-political bankruptcy of the fascist regime in Romania.

At 11:30 p.m. on August 23 in Bucharest, the removal of the Antonescu government and the creation of a "government of national unity", the cessation of hostilities against the United Nations and the acceptance of armistice conditions by Romania were announced. But the arrest of the Antonescu clique did not mean the end, but only the beginning of the uprising. The insurgents had to solve the most difficult tasks in the following days, when the Nazi troops located in the Bucharest region and in a number of other cities made attempts to suppress the uprising. The Communist Party of Romania, which emerged from the underground, led the struggle of the masses. She managed to give the uprising a mass and organized character, to ensure the victory of the armed uprising and the disruption of the plans of the Nazis and internal reaction.

Having received news of the events in Bucharest, Hitler ordered the suppression of the uprising, the arrest of the king and the creation of a government headed by a general friendly to Germany. General Frisner was given emergency powers to operate in Romania. Field Marshal Keitel and General Guderian in a report to Hitler proposed "to take all measures to ensure that Romania disappears from the map of Europe, and the Romanian people cease to exist as a nation."

On the morning of August 24, the Nazis barbarically bombarded Bucharest and went on the offensive in order to drown the uprising in blood. The Nazis threatened to completely destroy the capital. General leadership of the operation to suppress the uprising was entrusted to the head of the German air force mission in Romania, General A. Gerstenberg. Frisner ordered the commanders of the German military units stationed in the rear areas of Romania to support Gerstenberg with all the forces and means at their disposal. On August 26, it became obvious that this general could not cope with the task. The troops sent against the rebels were led by General R. Stachel, the former commandant of Warsaw, who showed particular cruelty in reprisals against Polish patriots.

At the beginning of the uprising, the Nazis had about 14 thousand soldiers and officers in Bucharest and its suburbs. In addition, they hoped to transfer part of the forces from the Ploiesti region, where the anti-aircraft artillery division was located, as well as units and units from other regions of Romania, to the city. The Nazi command pinned great hopes on the paramilitary organizations of the Romanian Germans, in which there were over 40 thousand people. On the side of the rebels in the capital there were approximately 7,000 servicemen and 50 armed patriotic groups of workers. However, the fascist German command was unable to use the superiority in forces and suppress the uprising in Bucharest. Soviet troops continued to finish off the German formations and rapidly advanced towards the city. At the same time, Romanian troops from other parts of the country began to arrive in Bucharest. The balance of power here was rapidly changing in favor of the rebels. By August 28, the number of Romanian troops in the capital reached about 39 thousand people, and in combat patriotic groups - about 2 thousand. This allowed the rebels not only to repel the attacks of the Nazis, but also to proceed to decisive action and defeat the German garrison. The next day, they cleared Bucharest and its environs of fascist forces and held them until the approach of Soviet troops, while capturing about 7 thousand Nazi soldiers and officers. The rebels lost 1400 people. Armed clashes with the Nazis also took place in Ploiesti, Brasov and some other cities and regions of Romania.

At this turning point in history for the Romanian people, the decisive role in the success of the anti-fascist uprising was played by the military and political assistance of the Soviet Union. In a radio statement made immediately after receiving information about the events of August 23, the Soviet government reaffirmed the inviolability of its position regarding Romania, set out on April 2, 1944. The Soviet Union, it was emphasized, had no intention of acquiring any part of the Romanian territory or change the existing social system in Romania, but pursues the goal, together with the Romanians, to restore the independence of their country by liberating it from the Nazi yoke. The statement stated that if the Romanian troops cease hostilities against the Soviet troops and undertake to lead hand in hand with them liberation war against the fascist German invaders, then "the Red Army will not disarm them, will keep them completely armed and by all means will help them to fulfill this honorable task."

The announcement of the Soviet government was a great support to the Rumanian people and was greeted by them with enthusiasm. It indicated the real path for the fastest liberation of the entire country and provided an opportunity for Romania to contribute to the defeat of fascist Germany.

The principled position of the Soviet Union dealt a blow to the plans of the Romanian reaction, which tried to prevent the country's participation in the war against fascist Germany and sought to negotiate with the Nazi command on the "free" withdrawal of the fascist German troops from Romanian territory.

“Under these favorable internal and external conditions,” the Program of the Communist Party of Romania notes, “on August 23, 1944, the Romanian Communist Party, in cooperation with other democratic, patriotic forces, carried out a national anti-fascist and anti-imperialist armed uprising. The military-fascist dictatorship was overthrown and our country with all its potential, with the entire army, was transferred to the side of the Soviet Union, the anti-Hitler coalition. It should be noted that without these favorable domestic and international circumstances it would have been difficult, perhaps even impossible, to organize and successfully launch the great battle that opened a new era in the history of Romania.

After the armed uprising, the Romanian people faced new complex tasks. It was necessary to consolidate her victory, cover the northwestern Romanian border from the invasion of the Nazi and Horthy troops, and, together with the Soviet army, completely drive the Nazis out of the country.

The democratic forces, led by the Communist Party, came out for close cooperation between Romania and the Soviet Union and its active participation in the war against Germany, for the complete eradication of the remnants of fascism and for the democratic development of the country. The appeal of the Central Committee of the CPR published on August 24 stated: “In our liberation struggle, we rely on the active support of the Allied Powers, primarily on the help of the USSR and its heroic Red Army, which is pursuing and crushing the hordes of German invaders on our soil ... The Romanian people! Romanian army! To a decisive struggle for the salvation and liberation of the motherland.

The anti-fascist national armed uprising, which took place in favorable conditions created by the victories of the Soviet army, had a great historical meaning for the Romanian people. It marked the beginning of the People's Democratic Revolution, during which the working masses, under the leadership of the Communist Party, abolished the bourgeois-landlord domination and directed the development of the country along the path leading to socialism. Consolidation of the success of the uprising depended to a large extent on the further struggle of the Soviet army against the Nazi troops, on its quick and decisive actions in Rumania.

The development of the offensive of the Soviet troops. Completion of the liberation of Romania

After the successful completion of the Iasi-Kishinev operation, the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts launched a vigorous offensive in the central part of Romania and on the outskirts of Bulgaria.

On August 29, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command set the task for the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts - to complete the defeat of the Nazis in Romania. The 2nd Ukrainian Front was to develop the offensive in the direction of Turnu Severin with the main forces, occupy the Ploiesti oil-industrial region, clear Bucharest of the remnants of German troops, and by September 7-8 capture the Kampulung, Pitesti, Giurgiu line. In the future, this grouping was supposed to reach the Danube south of Turnu Severin. The troops of the right wing of the front advanced in a northwestern direction with the task of capturing the passes through the Eastern Carpathians and by September 15 reaching the line of Bistrica, Cluj, Sibiu. Then they struck at Satu Mare in order to assist the 4th Ukrainian Front in overcoming the Carpathians and reaching the areas of Uzhgorod and Mukachevo. The troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front were to, developing the offensive in their entire strip, occupy Northern Dobruja, cross the Danube in the Galati, Izmail sector and reach the Romanian-Bulgarian border by September 5-6.

Fulfilling the directive of the Headquarters, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front inflicted new powerful blows on the enemy. Overcoming the stubborn resistance of the Nazi troops, the 5th Guards Tank Corps of the 6th Tank Army on August 29 defeated them on the eastern outskirts of Ploiesti and broke into the city. By the morning of August 30, by the joint efforts of the corps and the 3rd Guards Airborne Division of the 27th Army, Ploiesti was completely cleared of the Nazis. Together with the Soviet troops, the 18th Romanian Infantry Division, which operated from the front, as well as Romanian units and work detachments blocked by the Nazis in the city, participated in the liberation of Ploiesti. During August 30 and 31, Soviet and Romanian troops defeated the enemy in the valley of the Prakhova River and liberated the entire Ploeshty region. As a result, the threat to Bucharest from the north was eliminated, the Nazi army lost Romanian oil, and the Soviet and Romanian troops were able to quickly move into Transylvania. Regarding the loss of Romanian oil by the Germans, the former Nazi General E. Butlar wrote: “... On August 30, the Russians captured the Ploiesti oil region, despite the stubborn resistance of individual scattered units supported from the air. From a military-economic point of view, this was the most difficult and, one might say, decisive blow for Germany.

Successfully advanced on Bucharest and two other corps of the 6th Panzer Army. They were followed by the troops of the 53rd Army under the command of General I.M. Managarov, and to the south of it - the 46th Army of General I.T. Shlemin, which was part of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. Their task was to defeat the Nazi units blocking the approaches to Bucharest as quickly as possible, to provide assistance to the rebels, and to save the population from unnecessary victims. The approach of Soviet troops to the city inspired the rebels to a courageous struggle.

Reactionary figures in the Romanian government and outside it understood that the entry of Soviet troops into Bucharest would deal a blow to their anti-popular plans and would be a great moral support to the democratic forces. Therefore, they tried at all costs to prevent this, insisted on stopping the further advance of the Soviet army deep into Romania, proposing that Bucharest, the Ilfov region and the entire western territory of the country be declared a zone where Soviet troops should not enter. With such a proposal, a representative of the Romanian government addressed the commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, General F.I. Tolbukhin. But the plans of the Romanian reaction were thwarted by the rapid advance of the Soviet troops. The 6th Panzer, 53rd and 46th armies came close to Bucharest and thus ensured the consolidation of the victory of the uprising. By the end of August, the rebels had established complete control in the capital. In total, from August 23 to August 31, over 56 thousand were captured and 5 thousand Nazi soldiers and officers were destroyed.

Separate units of the 46th Army passed through the Romanian capital liberated by the patriots on August 29-30. On August 30 and 31, troops of the 6th Panzer and 53rd Soviet armies, as well as units of the 1st Romanian Army, entered Bucharest.
Infantry Volunteer Division named after Tudor Vladimirescu. The population of the capital gave a warm welcome to the Soviet soldiers-liberators and Romanian volunteers. Everywhere there were exclamations: "Hurrah!", "Long live the Soviet army - the liberator!". The newspaper "Romania Libere" wrote in those days: "Thousands of flags, a sea of ​​flowers. Cars with soldiers... hardly move. Soldiers are showered with flowers, hugged, kissed, thanked. Many climbed onto Soviet tanks.” The entry of Soviet troops into the Romanian capital contributed to the consolidation of democratic forces and predetermined the failure of the reaction plans to maintain and strengthen their power in the country, to carry out repressions against democratic organizations and the masses.

After the victory of the people's uprising in Romania, the 2nd Ukrainian Front conducted a further offensive together with the Romanian army, which turned its weapons against the Nazis. Interaction and cooperation with it had to be established in difficult conditions of direct contact with the enemy. By the beginning of the entry into the war with Germany, Romania had 2 armies, including 9 combat-ready divisions, the remnants of 7 defeated divisions returning from the front, and 21 training divisions. They were poorly armed, had a small amount of artillery and had almost no tanks.

Formations of the 1st Romanian Army, commanded by General N. Machich, covered the border with Hungary and Yugoslavia in the west and northwest. They were at a distance of 200-300 km from the Soviet troops. From the remnants of the 3rd and 4th Romanian armies, the 4th army was formed under the command of General G. Avramescu. She received the task of covering the Romanian-Hungarian border in the north.

The fascist German command sought to restore the strategic front that had collapsed under the blows of the Soviet army, to close the southern flank of Army Group Southern Ukraine with Army Group F, located in Yugoslavia. It concentrated in Transylvania the remnants of the Southern Ukraine Army Group, as well as the Horthy Hungarian units, intending to launch a surprise attack on the Romanian troops and capture the passes in the Carpathians before the Soviet troops entered there.

On the morning of September 5, five German and Hungarian divisions, supported by tanks and aircraft from the Turda region, suddenly launched an offensive against the 4th Romanian Army, which had just entered this sector and had not yet had time to organize defenses. By the end of September 6, the enemy managed to advance 20-30 km. In the next two days, under his onslaught, the Romanian troops retreated another 20-25 km. At the same time, the Nazis launched an offensive against the 1st Romanian Army. On September 6, they crossed the Danube northwest of Turnu Severin and created a threat to capture the city of Timisoara and a large industrial center Reshitsa.

In this difficult situation, by agreement with the government of Romania, the 1st and 4th Romanian armies, the 4th separate army corps and the 1st aviation corps (20 divisions in total) from September 6 came under operational control of the commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. By that time, they had 138,073 people, 8159 machine guns, 6500 machine guns, 1809 mortars, 611 guns and 113 serviceable aircraft.

Fulfilling the instructions of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, the front commander immediately sent the 27th and 6th tank armies to defeat the enemy grouping advancing against the 4th Romanian army. To destroy the enemy forces advancing against the 1st Romanian army, the 53rd army and the 18th tank corps were involved. The actions of these troops were supported by the 5th Air Army, which included the Romanian Aviation Corps.

On September 5, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command ordered the 2nd Ukrainian Front, advancing in a westerly direction, to turn its main forces to the north and northwest and strike at Cluj and Deva, and with the right-flank armies to overcome the Transylvanian Alps and the southern part of the Carpathian ridge. Its general task was to reach the Satu-Mare, Cluj, Deva, Turnu-Severin line and help the 4th Ukrainian Front break through into Transcarpathia. In the future, he had to go to the Tisza River in the Nyiregyhaza, Szeged section.

The troops of the front had to advance in extremely difficult conditions. Tanks with difficulty overcame the Carpathian passes. Enemy aircraft continuously bombed the narrow mountain passes. Every kilometer of roads in the Southern Carpathians was watered with sweat and blood by Soviet soldiers. The situation was aggravated by the provocations of the Romanian reaction, which in September-December 1944 undertook criminal acts of terrorism against Soviet servicemen. But no difficulties could stop the Soviet soldiers rushing to the aid of the Romanian troops. The troops of the 6th Panzer Army, having overcome the mountain range, reached the Sibiu region on September 7th. The Soviet and Romanian soldiers repulsed the enemy's counterattacks by joint efforts and went on the offensive. Particularly stubborn battles flared up in the area of ​​​​the city of Turda.

The Soviet Union gave the Romanian people every possible support in the field of foreign policy as well. This was expressed primarily in the development of humane terms of the Armistice Agreement with Romania, which was signed on September 12 in Moscow. The main provisions of the Agreement provided for the elimination of fascism in Romania and ensured its democratic and independent development, created the conditions for the fastest liberation of the country from the Nazis. The Soviet-Romanian border was restored in accordance with the Agreement between the USSR and Romania of June 28, 1940, and the "Viennese arbitration" on Northern Transylvania was annulled. The Romanian government undertook to send at least 12 infantry divisions with reinforcements to participate in the war against Nazi Germany and Hungary under the general leadership of the Allied (Soviet) command. The armistice agreement was met with satisfaction by the Rumanian people and the democratic forces of the world.

To control the fulfillment of the terms of the armistice, the Allied Control Commission in Romania (JCC) was created, consisting of representatives of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain, chaired by Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky.

Meanwhile, the forces of the front, continuing the offensive, fought fierce battles with the stubbornly defending enemy troops. By September 15, the efforts of the 27th and 6th Guards Tank Armies and the 4th Romanian Army pushed the enemy back to their original positions. Troops went to defensive line passing along the Mures and Aresh rivers. Under their pressure, the German-Hungarian formations in a number of sectors began to leave their positions and retreat into the depths of the defense. The 53rd Army and the 18th Tank Corps, which advanced into the defense zone of the 1st Romanian Army, by the end of September 12, advanced formations advanced to the Petrosheni area and to Turnu Severin. Acting ahead, the 18th Panzer Corps captured the areas of Brad and Deva. The troops of the 53rd Army, having overcome the Transylvanian Alps, reached these areas three days ahead of schedule. They defeated the advanced units of the enemy and seized a bridgehead for the deployment of army and front forces in the Hungarian plain. Having repulsed the enemy's fierce attacks, the Soviet and Romanian troops thwarted his attempts to capture the passes.

The successful actions of the main forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front in the Southern Carpathians endangered the entire group of German-Hungarian troops with a powerful flank attack. However, in mid-September the fascist German command succeeded in concentrating 27 divisions here, including 6 tank and motorized divisions, and for some time restored a continuous line of defense here. In the second half of September, stubborn battles continued in this sector, especially in Northern Transylvania.

Reinforcing its troops in the area of ​​Cluj, Turda with two tank divisions and two Hungarian mountain rifle brigades, the Nazi command organized powerful counterattacks against the 27th, 6th Guards Tank and 4th Romanian armies. The further advance of the Soviet-Romanian troops in this direction was delayed.

The situation on the left wing of the front was different. Here, the troops of the 53rd Army, in cooperation with the 1st Romanian Army, developing an offensive to the northwest, liberated the cities of Arad and Beyush and on September 22 reached the Romanian-Hungarian border. On September 23, units of the 18th Tank Corps under the command of General P.D. Govorunenko and the 243rd Infantry Division of Colonel H.N.

During the offensive, which continued continuously for a month, the arsenal of combat experience of the Soviet troops was significantly replenished. Much valuable and instructive material has also appeared in party political work. On September 20, 1944, the Military Council of the 2nd Ukrainian Front summed up its results for the period of the Iasi-Kishinev operation and the subsequent offensive in Romania. The adopted resolution noted that party political work in the troops had improved significantly: the personal responsibility of commanders and political workers for the task assigned had increased; increased attention to the ideological and theoretical training of officers. Members of military councils, commanders of formations and heads of political agencies began to speak to them more often with reports on military and political topics. More concern was shown for the officers to master the skills of political education of the personnel. "Improvement educational work, - emphasized in the resolution of the Military Council, - ensured a high offensive impulse of the personnel, strengthening military discipline, order and organization in the units.

In September, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front advanced west and northwest from 300 to 500 km, frustrated the plans of the Nazi command to stabilize the front on the line of the Southern Carpathians, liberated the western regions of Romania, cleared part of Northern Transylvania from the enemy and reached the borders of Yugoslavia and Hungary . Their offensive was still carried out in close cooperation with the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, the forces of the Black Sea Fleet and the Danube military flotilla, which at that time undertook a liberation campaign to Bulgaria from Dobruja and the southeastern regions of Romania.

By October 5, 1944, two Romanian armies fought together with the Soviet troops - 23 divisions (including the division named after Tudor Vladimirescu), a separate motorized regiment and one aviation corps. After October 16, 17 divisions remained in the Romanian troops at the front, which were poorly equipped and felt a lack of weapons and military equipment. The rest of the formations were withdrawn to the rear.

In October 1944, Romania was completely liberated from the Nazis. On October 25, units of the 40th Army of General F.F. Zhmachenko and the 4th Romanian Army under the command of General G. Avramescu liquidated the last enemy strongholds in the country - they expelled him from the cities of Satu Mare and Carei.

For about seven months, from the end of March 1944, the Soviet army fought for the liberation of Romania. Of decisive importance in achieving this goal was the Yassy-Kishinev operation, which led to the liquidation of a large group of Nazis and created favorable conditions for the overthrow of the fascist regime and the expulsion of the Nazi troops from the country. During the battles for the liberation of the Romanian people from fascism, the Soviet army inflicted huge losses on the enemy in terms of manpower and military equipment. The Nazis lost Romanian oil and other important sources of raw materials.

Carrying out the liberation mission in Romania, the Soviet soldiers showed high combat skills and mass heroism. Only in August - October 1944, more than 50 thousand soldiers and officers were awarded orders and medals for military merit. Over 150 units and formations received honorary titles. The liberation of Romania was achieved at the cost of great sacrifices. From March to October 1944, more than 286 thousand Soviet soldiers shed their blood on Romanian soil, of which 69 thousand people died. During the fighting, Soviet troops lost 2,083 guns and mortars, 2,249 tanks and self-propelled artillery, and 528 aircraft here. The losses of the Romanian troops in the fight against the Nazis from August 23 to October 30 amounted to more than 58.3 thousand people killed, wounded and missing.

The great merits of the Soviet Army in the liberation of the Romanian people are mentioned in many documents of the Romanian Communist Party. “The Romanian people,” it is emphasized in the greetings of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Romania and the government of Romania on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Victory over fascism, “feel deep gratitude to the Soviet people, their glorious Armed Forces, which, under the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, displaying brilliant heroism, at the cost of They bore the brunt of the war on their shoulders, made a decisive contribution to the defeat of fascist Germany and provided invaluable assistance in the liberation of Romania and other countries and peoples from Hitlerite domination.

The liberation of Romania and the withdrawal of Soviet troops to the borders of Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Hungary predetermined the question of the speedy and complete expulsion of the Nazis from all the Balkan countries. The successes of the Soviet Army provided tremendous military and moral support to the peoples of the Balkans in their struggle against the Nazi invaders.

In the course of the struggle against the Nazis in Romania, the military commonwealth of the Soviet and Romanian troops developed and withstood the first test, and the friendship between the peoples of the USSR and Romania was sealed with blood shed together.

The defeat of the Nazi troops by the Soviet army and the victory of the anti-fascist national armed uprising in Romania allowed the Romanian people, under the leadership of the Communist Party, to follow the path of building a new life.

liberation campaign Soviet troops in Bulgaria

During the hostilities in Romania, Soviet troops also came to the aid of the fraternal Bulgarian people, who were fighting for their liberation.

The ruling monarcho-fascist circles in Bulgaria, against the will of the working people, dragged the country into a criminal fascist bloc. The struggle of the popular masses to withdraw from this bloc became more and more determined. By the end of August 1944, a deep political crisis had matured in the country, caused by a number of internal and external causes. The unceremonious robbery of Bulgaria by the Nazi Reich led to a sharp reduction in the volume of its industrial and agricultural production. Most of the state budget went to the military needs of Germany and the maintenance of the internal punitive apparatus. In 1944, the expenditures of the Bulgarian Ministry of War exceeded the level of 1939 by 7 times and accounted for 43.8 percent of all the country's budget expenditures. During the same years, the prices of basic necessities increased by 254 percent, and on the black market by 3-10 times.

The plight of the workers, peasants, and petty employees exacerbated the class contradictions extremely. Bulgarian patriots, at the call of the communists, fought with weapons in their hands against the hated fascism. By the summer of 1944, the flames of armed partisan struggle were blazing in Bulgaria, the organizers and leaders of which were communists. Thousands of new fighters have joined the ranks of the People's Liberation Rebel Army (NOPA). It has also become stronger organizationally. At the beginning of September 1944, it consisted of: 1 division, 9 separate brigades, 37 detachments, several battalions and hundreds of battle groups. The partisan forces consisted of more than 30 thousand armed fighters. The NOPA had a 200,000-strong army of hiders and assistants - yatak, who were in almost every settlement and were in a legal position.

The victories of the Soviet army, especially the defeat of the Southern Ukraine army group in the Yassy-Kishinev operation, inspired the Bulgarian working people in their struggle, instilled in them hope for the early liberation of Bulgaria by the Soviet troops from the monarcho-fascist yoke.

As a result of the defeats of the German fascist troops on the Soviet-German front and the intensification of the struggle of the Bulgarian working people, a serious threat loomed over the monarcho-fascist regime. For the sake of his salvation, the ruling circles of the country undertook a new reshuffling of their leaders. They entrusted the resolution of the political crisis to I. Bagryanov, a large landowner, a former officer who was awarded German orders. With the approval of Berlin on June 1, 1944, he headed the new government. Bagryanov assured Hitler that his government would fulfill all of Bulgaria's obligations to Germany, increase its military contribution, and put an end to the partisan movement.

Obligingly fulfilling its promise, the Bulgarian government threw a significant force of the regular army against the partisans. On July 23, at a meeting of the head of government with the regents, a decision was made on the unlimited involvement of troops to fight against the liberation movement. The General Staff planned for August major operations of regular troops against units of the NOPA. With this act, the monarcho-fascist regime sought to ensure a stable position in the rear of the Nazi army and prevent the entry of Soviet troops into Bulgaria.

The Central Committee of the Bulgarian Workers' Party (BRP) and the NOPA command thwarted the government's plans. Partisan detachments and brigades, without getting involved in open battles with units of regular troops, broke through the blockade and entered new areas. In order to facilitate their struggle, the communists organized during this period mass demonstrations of workers in Sofia, Gabrovo, Pernik, Plovdiv and other places. The reaction was forced to retreat.

In an effort to disguise its true, anti-people nature, the Bagryanov government in June 1944 hypocritically declared that it was ready to eliminate everything that could darken Bulgarian-Soviet relations. In fact, it continued to actively help Nazi Germany. The ports, airfields, railways, communications and material resources of Bulgaria were increasingly used by the Nazis in the war against the USSR. The remnants of the Nazi troops, defeated in Romania, retreated to Bulgarian territory. Only on August 28, 16 thousand Germans retreated through the Romanian-Bulgarian border in Dobruja under the cover of the Bulgarian "neutrality". Germanic warships and transport ships moved to Bulgarian ports.

On August 26, the Bagryanov government announced that Bulgaria, observing complete neutrality, would disarm the German troops that would enter its territory. However, this turned out to be another deception of the Bulgarian people and a new attempt to mislead the Soviet government. In fact, on the second day, the Bulgarian General Staff, with the knowledge of the government, officially clarified with the German command the procedure for the unhindered withdrawal of German troops from Bulgaria. So did the commander of the Bulgarian Black Sea Fleet, who did not take any action against the German ships in the Bulgarian ports.

Without breaking with Nazi Germany, the ruling circles of Bulgaria also maintained contacts established at the end of 1943 with Anglo-American diplomats. Now these contacts took the form of official negotiations, which lasted until the beginning of September 1944. The Bulgarian monarcho-fascists placed great hopes on them. Fearing their people and the entry of the Soviet Army into Bulgaria, they agreed to the occupation of the country by Anglo-American troops.

The true essence of the government's policy was reflected in Bagryanov's secret report to Regent Kirill on August 31, 1944. The head of government recommended "until the last moment to stake on Germany", believing that contradictions in the anti-Hitler coalition would ultimately lead to the victory of the Reich. In the event of the defeat of the Nazis, Bagryanov advised to continue the hostile policy towards the USSR and do everything to prevent the entry of Soviet troops on Bulgarian soil. At the same time, he believed that it was necessary to continue to negotiate with representatives of England and the United States and try to bargain more, to preserve the royal throne by all means and in no case to prevent the “Bolshevization” of the country.

The Bulgarian Workers' Party actively and consistently exposed the anti-people essence of the policy of the Bagryanov government. Of great importance in this was the article by Georgy Dimitrov, broadcast on June 5 by the radio station. Hristo Botev. It said that "against the will of the Bulgarian people, the rulers of Bulgaria are pursuing an anti-people, pro-German policy, that contrary to the interests of the country and to the detriment of its future, they have handed over the country into the hands of the Nazis and thereby are pushing Bulgaria towards a new terrible national catastrophe."

Further aggravation of the political crisis in Bulgaria led to the resignation of the Bagryanov government and the formation on September 2, 1944 of a new government headed by K. Muraviev, one of the right-wing leaders of the Bulgarian Agricultural People's Union (BZNS). Bourgeois historians are now trying to prove that this government pursued democratic goals. So, in particular, the English historian R. Lee Wolf believes, referring to the fact that Muraviev "released all political prisoners and all allied prisoners of war, disbanded the political police and declared war on Germany." However, he is silent that all these decisions, including the formal declaration of war on Germany on September 8, were only declared by Muraviev in order to deceive the people, and none of them, in essence, was carried out. His government did not allow left-wing political parties to come out of the underground, did not allow freedom of speech and the press. Having proclaimed a guarantee of democratic rights, Muraviev at the same time ordered the execution of a peaceful demonstration in Sofia. It was quite obvious that the new bourgeois government of the country was also adhering to the old political course and was also unable to solve the pressing fundamental questions of domestic and foreign policy.

The aggravation of the internal political crisis in Bulgaria was facilitated by the exit by the beginning of September 1944 of the main forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front to the Romanian-Bulgarian border in the sector from Giurgiu to Mangalia. The actions of the Soviet troops in the coastal direction were provided by the Black Sea Fleet and the Danube military flotilla. The troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, pursuing the retreating enemy, on September 6 reached the Romanian-Yugoslav border in the Turnu Severin region and isolated from Bulgaria those Nazi formations that were fighting in the Eastern Carpathians and Transylvania.

During the war years, the Soviet Union, whose peoples always had feelings of deep friendship for the fraternal Bulgarian people, did everything to encourage the rulers of Bulgaria to stop helping Nazi Germany, terminate the alliance with it, go over to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition and thereby alleviate the country's fate in the post-war peace settlement . In 1944, the Soviet government continued to expose the criminal conspiracy of the monarcho-fascist circles in Bulgaria with Nazi Germany.

The pro-German course of Bulgaria's foreign policy did not change even with the approach of the Soviet army to its borders. Nor did the declaration of the Muraviev government, published on September 4, add anything new to its foreign policy line. Having exhausted all peaceful means of influencing the monarcho-fascist clique, the Soviet government took a more radical step. On September 5, the Bulgarian envoy in Moscow, I. Stamenov, was handed a note stating that “the Soviet government does not consider it possible to continue to maintain relations with Bulgaria, breaks all relations with Bulgaria and declares that not only Bulgaria is in a state of war with the USSR, since in fact, she was previously at war with the USSR, but the Soviet Union will henceforth be at war with Bulgaria.

The declaration of war by the Soviet Union against the fascist government of Bulgaria did no harm to the interests of the Bulgarian people. On the contrary, it was the decisive condition for his release. The Bulgarian patriots correctly understood this act of the USSR and were impatiently waiting for the day when the Soviet soldiers would enter their land in order to achieve freedom and independence for their homeland in close cooperation with them. “We are waiting for you, brothers of the Red Army ... - said the appeal of the main headquarters of the NOPA to the Soviet troops that had reached the Bulgarian border. - Your closeness and our will to fight against the oppressors of the people are the guarantee that Bulgaria will be free, independent and democratic. Long live the Red Army!”

With the declaration of war on Bulgaria by the Soviet Union, the United States and Britain were forced to stop political negotiations with its representatives. On September 6, the Bulgarian delegation in Cairo was informed that in the future they could only be conducted with the participation of the USSR.

The strategic situation on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front allowed the 3rd Ukrainian Front to quickly prepare and carry out an operation to liberate Bulgaria. With the defeat of the Southern Ukraine Army Group, the enemy defenses in Romania collapsed, and the Nazi troops operating in Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece found themselves isolated from the Carpathian-Transylvanian grouping defending in the northwestern part of Romania and Hungary. The Soviet Navy dominated the Black Sea all the way to the coast of Bulgaria. Soviet aviation dominated the air. On Yugoslav territory, active hostilities were conducted by the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (NOAJ). Under these conditions, the Bulgarian monarcho-fascists began to realize that they could not count on the military support of Nazi Germany.

When planning and preparing the operation of the Soviet troops in Bulgaria, the position of this country as a satellite of fascist Germany and the internal political situation in it were taken into account. The commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, General F.I. Tolbukhin and a member of the Military Council, General A.S. Zheltov, at the end of July 1944, after discussing and approving the Yassko-Kishinev operation plan at the Headquarters, received extensive information from G. Dimitrov about the situation in Bulgaria. On September 5, on the instructions of the leadership of the 10th (Varna) rebel operational zone (POZ), representatives of the Bulgarian partisans arrived at the front headquarters. They spoke in detail about the situation in the coastal part of Bulgaria. The Military Council of the front also received valuable information from Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov, who, on the advice of I.V. Stalin, had a meeting with G. Dimitrov before flying to the front headquarters. The leader of the Bulgarian communists reported additional data and stressed that the Bulgarian people were looking forward to the Soviet army, so that with its help they could overthrow the monarcho-fascist government and establish the power of the Fatherland Front.

Taking into account the generally favorable situation in Bulgaria, the Soviet command, at the same time, could not but take into account the possibility of resistance by some parts of its tsarist army, which by the beginning of September had 22 divisions and 7 brigades with a total strength of more than 510 thousand people. Part of these forces opposed the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. In the Black Sea ports of Varna, Burgas and in the Danube port of Ruse (Rushchuk) there were German and Bulgarian warships. Nine Bulgarian divisions and two cavalry brigades were stationed in Yugoslavia and Greece. When the withdrawal of these divisions to Bulgaria began, the Nazi troops treacherously attacked them and disarmed some units. Their control was lost. The remaining divisions and brigades were in the areas south of Vidin, Sofia and Plovdiv.

In the capital of Bulgaria and large cities (Varna, Burgas, Stara Zagora, Plovdiv), German SS units, parts of the marines and coastal artillery, various teams, numerous military missions with service and security personnel were stationed. They controlled Bulgarian airfields, seaports and important railway junctions. All kinds of headquarters and bases were also located there, barracks were built, designed to accommodate new contingents of German troops if they were brought into Bulgaria. The total number of Nazi troops in Bulgaria, taking into account the units that withdrew from Romania at the end of August 1944, reached 30 thousand people.

The fascist German command continued to strive to maintain its positions in Bulgaria. It was guided by the instructions of Hitler, who on July 31, 1944, in a conversation with General A. Jodl, said that "without Bulgaria, we are practically completely unable to ensure calm in the Balkans." At the end of August, the German ambassador to Bulgaria A. Bekerle told the regents that the German troops did not intend to leave Bulgaria in the near future. The leadership of fascist Germany hatched plans for organizing a coup d'état in Bulgaria and coming to power as the head of government of the leader of the Bulgarian fascists A. Tsankov, intended to transfer German troops from Yugoslavia to Bulgaria.

On September 5, the day Bulgaria was declared war, the Headquarters of the Soviet Supreme High Command approved the plan for the Bulgarian operation, developed by the Military Council of the 3rd Ukrainian Front with the participation of the representative of the Headquarters Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov. The idea of ​​the operation was to take Bulgaria out of the war on the side of fascist Germany and to help the Bulgarian people in liberation from the monarcho-fascist yoke. In the course of it, the troops of the front were to reach the line of Giurgiu, Karnobat, Burgas, capture the ports of Varna and Burgas, capture the enemy fleet and liberate the coastal part of Bulgaria. Their advance was planned to a depth of 210 km.

The command of the 3rd Ukrainian Front determined the direction of the troops' actions, the specific terms for reaching the planned lines, organized the interaction of the ground forces, aviation and the Black Sea Fleet.

On September 5, the front had about 258 thousand people, 5583 guns and mortars, 508 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1026 combat aircraft. For operations in the southern part of Dobruja in the direction of Aytos, Burgas, all his forces were concentrated (28 rifle divisions, 2 mechanized corps and the 17th air army). To support the offensive in this direction, three assault air divisions of the 2nd Ukrainian Front were also involved. The task of the 17th Air Army was to provide effective support to the advancing ground forces.

The Black Sea Fleet was supposed to blockade Varna and Burgas, with the approach of the mobile troops of the front, land an amphibious assault and, together with them, take possession of these ports. The Danube military flotilla, transferred on August 30 to the operational subordination of the commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, was supposed to capture all enemy watercraft on the Danube in the area of ​​​​the port of Ruse, cover the actions of ground forces from possible attacks by his ships and, in cooperation with the 46th Army, capture the port of Ruse .

When planning an operation to seize the coastal part of Bulgaria, the Soviet command believed that the central and western parts of the country, including the Sofia area, could be liberated by insurgent troops and revolutionary workers' detachments.

The absence of a pre-prepared defense, the low density of the opposing Bulgarian troops, and the almost complete confidence of the Soviet command that they would not resist, made it possible not to plan artillery and air preparations for the offensive. It was decided to start the offensive by advancing advanced mobile detachments in columns (one from each rifle corps of the first echelon), following them in an hour to advance the vanguard regiments of the divisions of the first echelon of the corps, and then the main forces of all three combined arms armies.

The front command attached particular importance to the rapid liberation of Varna and Burgas, since this would deprive the enemy of the last bases on the Black Sea and inevitably lead to the death of his fleet. The decisive offensive of the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front was supposed to cause panic and confusion among the ruling circles of Bulgaria and be a signal for the start of a popular armed uprising.

Before entering Bulgaria, active party-political work was launched in the troops of the front, on the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and the Danube military flotilla in accordance with the directive of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army of July 19, 1944. Soldiers and officers got acquainted with the history of Bulgaria, its culture and customs . The commanders and political workers explained to the soldiers the reactionary essence of the policy of the Bulgarian government and emphasized the importance of displaying genuinely friendly, fraternal feelings for the Bulgarian people, deep respect for their national liberation struggle. Particular attention was paid to familiarizing the personnel with the traditions of friendship between the Russian and Bulgarian peoples, historically established over the centuries, and especially during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, as a result of cooperation between the revolutionary democrats of Russia and Bulgaria, the participation of Bulgarian internationalists in the defense of Soviet power. during the years of the civil war and foreign military intervention in the USSR.

On September 7, 1944, the commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front addressed an appeal to the Bulgarian people and the Bulgarian army. It said: “The Red Army has no intention of fighting the Bulgarian people and their army, since it considers the Bulgarian people to be a brotherly people. The Red Army has one task - to defeat the Germans and hasten the time for the onset of universal peace. The memo to the soldiers, published by the Military Council of the front, spoke about the centuries-old friendship of the Bulgarian and Russian peoples and the duty of the Soviet soldier entering the Bulgarian land.

On September 8, at 11 o'clock in the morning, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front crossed the Romanian-Bulgarian border with forward detachments, and an hour and a half later - with the main forces. Without firing a shot, they rapidly advanced along their routes in a south-westerly direction. Units of the 34th Guards Rifle Division under the command of General I.A. Maksimovich, the 73rd Guards Rifle Division of General S.A. Kozak, the 353rd Rifle Division of Colonel P.I. Kuznetsov and the 244th Rifle Division division of Colonel G. I. Kolyadin. Not even half an hour had passed before the front headquarters began to receive reports of an enthusiastic meeting of the Soviet troops by the Bulgarian people and the army. According to the political department of the 37th Army, on the first day, September 8, 27 mass rallies of the population dedicated to the meeting of the Soviet Army took place in its advance zone. More than 80 thousand people attended them.

The first reports of the commanders of regiments and divisions left no doubt that the Bulgarian army would not resist the Soviet troops. She joined her people. The soldiers of the Bulgarian army welcomed the Soviet soldiers with joy. Considering this, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief I. V. Stalin instructed the Bulgarian troops not to disarm. By this act, the Soviet command expressed its full confidence in the people and the army of Bulgaria. By the end of the first day of the operation, the mobile troops of the front advanced up to 70 km and reached the Ruse-Varna line. At dawn on September 8, the main forces of the amphibious assault landed in the port of Varna, and at 13 o'clock in the port of Burgas - a detachment of about 400 people. Before that, an airborne assault was thrown into Burgas.

On the evening of September 8, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command clarified the task of the troops of the front, ordering the next day to advance in the direction of Burgas and Aytos, take possession of them and reach the line of Ruse, Razgrad, Targovishte, Karnobat. Carrying out this task, mobile formations on September 9 advanced up to 120 km.

On the same day, the troops spread the joyful news of the victory of the armed uprising of the Bulgarian people and the coming to power of the government of the Fatherland Front, which turned to the Soviet government with a request for a truce. In connection with these important events, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command on September 9 at 19 o'clock sent a new directive to the troops of the front. It said: “In view of the fact that the Bulgarian government broke off relations with the Germans, declared war on Germany and asks the Soviet government to start negotiations on a truce, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, in accordance with the instructions of the State Defense Committee, orders to complete the operation to occupy the settlements planned according to the plan by 9 p.m. on September 9 and from 22:00 on September 9 with. stop hostilities in Bulgaria, firmly entrenched in that strip of Bulgaria, which is occupied by our troops. On September 9, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief signed an order stating: “The operations of our troops in Bulgaria were launched because the Bulgarian government did not want to break off its relations with Germany and gave shelter to the German armed forces on the territory of Bulgaria.

As a result of the successful actions of our troops, the goal of military operations was achieved: Bulgaria severed relations with Germany and declared war on her. Thus, Bulgaria ceased to be the bulwark of German imperialism in the Balkans, which it had been for the past thirty years.

Bulgaria's withdrawal from the fascist bloc and its declaration of war on Germany caused anti-Bulgarian actions of the Nazi command. On his orders, the concentration of German troops on the Yugoslav-Bulgarian border began. The northwestern regions of Bulgaria, and especially the region of Sofia, turned out to be not protected from possible strikes by ground forces and aircraft of the Nazis. The possibility of an invasion of Bulgaria under some pretext by Turkish troops from Eastern Thrace was also not ruled out. The Soviet troops stopped 300 km from Sofia and 360-400 km from the Bulgarian-Yugoslav border. In this situation, the government of the Fatherland Front and the leadership of the BRP (k) were seriously concerned about the external danger looming over the country. On the evening of September 9, G. Dimitrov asked the Soviet command to receive a delegation of the government of the Fatherland Front at the headquarters of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. On the same day, the Council of Ministers of Bulgaria approved the composition of the delegation, which was to "consider the terms of a truce and the restoration of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, to begin cooperation between the Soviet and Bulgarian troops in expelling the enemy from the Balkans."

On September 10, the front commander, General F. I. Tolbukhin, received a delegation headed by D. Ganev, a member of the Politburo of the BRP(k) Central Committee. She informed the front command about the armed uprising, the political platform of the Fatherland Front government and its desire to conclude a truce with the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition as soon as possible. The delegation stated: “Now we urgently need to coordinate our actions with you, since the tasks of both armies have become identical. It is highly desirable that you send your representative to us to coordinate the actions. Now the Germans are concentrating their troops northwest of Sofia (Nish, Bela Palanka) ... Undoubtedly, they are preparing an attack on Sofia. In this regard, we urgently need your help, and especially aviation.”

The request of the government of the Fatherland Front Soviet side satisfied immediately. On September 13, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command instructed to send the Chief of Staff of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, General S. S. Biryuzov, to Sofia to direct the actions of the Soviet troops and organize interaction with the Bulgarian army through the General Staff of Bulgaria. At the same time, the Headquarters ordered to advance one rifle corps to the Sofia area and relocate part of the forces of the 17th Air Army there. They were to prevent the invasion of Bulgaria by Nazi troops from Greece and Yugoslavia, support the actions of the Bulgarian units and cover Sofia from the air.

On September 15, Soviet troops, enthusiastically greeted by the population, entered Sofia. Two air divisions were also relocated here. They conducted reconnaissance and attacked the communications of the Nazis in Yugoslavia, thus laying the foundation for the military commonwealth of Soviet and Bulgarian soldiers during the Second World War. On September 17, the Bulgarian troops, who were to conduct military operations on the front against the Nazis, were operationally subordinated to the command of the 3rd Ukrainian Front by decision of the government of the Fatherland Front.

By mid-September, the main forces of the Soviet troops that entered Bulgaria were in the eastern part of the country. Meanwhile, the fascist German command moved from threats against Bulgaria to active actions. On September 12, the Nazis captured the city of Kula, 35 km southwest of Vidin. Therefore, on September 20, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to transfer the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front to the western and southern regions of the country. The troops of the 57th Army, having made a 500-kilometer march, reached the Bulgarian-Yugoslav border by the end of September under cover from the air of Soviet aviation. The 37th Army and the 4th Guards Mechanized Corps by that time were concentrated in the areas of Kazanlak, Nova Zagora, Yambol. This reliably ensured the left wing of the Soviet troops and the security of the southern regions of Bulgaria.

During the liberation campaign of the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front in Bulgaria, party-political work was actively carried out among the soldiers. It was aimed at ensuring combat missions and strengthening the bonds of friendship between Soviet soldiers and the working people of the country. In particular, conversations at the monuments of military glory of Russian soldiers on Bulgarian soil were widely used. They were held in the cities of Svishtov, Pleven, at the monument to the heroes of Shipka and in other places. At the graves of Russian soldiers, the divisions marched solemnly with unfurled banners. The political agencies also organized meetings between soldiers and Bulgarian citizens - participants and witnesses of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878.

The actions of the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and the Danube military flotilla, with which the armed popular uprising of September 9 merged, played a decisive role in the liberation of Bulgaria. The Nazis could no longer use the economy of Bulgaria for their own needs and dispose of its armed forces. The liberation of the Bulgarian ports led to the complete dominance of the Soviet fleet in the Black Sea. The strategic position of the fascist German army groups "F" and "E" deteriorated sharply, the communications of which were under the blows of the Soviet troops.

With the liberation of Bulgaria and the withdrawal of Soviet troops to the border with Yugoslavia, more favorable conditions were created for the defeat of the Nazi troops on the territory of Yugoslavia, Greece and Albania. There was a real opportunity to create a united front of military operations of the Soviet Army, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia and the Bulgarian People's Army.

A characteristic feature of the liberation campaign, carried out in favorable political conditions in Bulgaria, was that it was not associated with the conduct of hostilities. Although for some time "our countries were formally at war," said V. Kolarov, a prominent figure in the Bulgarian Workers' Party, "but during this time not a single shot was fired from both sides, not a single one was killed or wounded." Meanwhile, contrary to the obvious facts and irrefutable documents, the bourgeois falsifiers of history are trying to discredit the noble mission of the Soviet troops in Bulgaria. Thus, the American historian E. Zimke in his book “From Stalingrad to Berlin” holds the idea that by its campaign in Bulgaria the Soviet army violated the sovereignty of this country, that it entered its territory after Bulgaria had broken with Germany. The Bulgarian monarcho-fascists really did not want to allow the Soviet soldiers-liberators to the Bulgarian land, they remained loyal to Nazi Germany to the end, providing it with all the resources of the country for the war against the USSR. But the feelings of the Bulgarian people were different. The reports of units and formations and numerous front-line press materials of those days are replete with vivid examples of an exceptionally cordial welcome of Soviet soldiers by the people and the army of Bulgaria. So, in the report of the head of the political department of the 57th Army, Colonel G.K. Tsinev, it was said that the Bulgarian population met the Soviet soldiers according to the old Russian custom - with bread and salt. The Bulgarians took out and treated the fighters with watermelons, grapes, invited them to the house, to the table and to rest. Residents did their best to help the liberators in their further advancement, offering their own transport.

The Soviet army adequately fulfilled its internationalist duty to the Bulgarian working people. Its historical merit lies in the fact that it defended the country from a new occupation by imperialist troops. Without the help of the Soviet army, G. Dimitrov pointed out, without its presence for a certain time on Bulgarian soil, Bulgaria would have fallen into a new slavery; “Bulgaria would have been occupied by foreign hostile troops, with all the ensuing disastrous consequences for its present and future ... The Bulgarian people considered the Soviet troops, who were to remain with us by virtue of the armistice agreement, not as occupiers, but as dear guests and patrons . When the Soviet troops left our country, the people parted with them with a feeling of deep love and gratitude.

The victory of the armed uprising of the Bulgarian people

The defeat of the fascist German troops in Rumania and the subsequent successful offensive of the Soviet army created favorable conditions for the deliverance of the Bulgarian people from the German and monarcho-fascist oppressors. The imminent revolutionary crisis was the result of the disintegration of the monarcho-fascist regime in Bulgaria, the great and comprehensive work of the Bulgarian Workers' Party, which, as early as 1941, took a course towards the development of an armed liberation struggle.

The Bulgarian communists were preparing for an armed uprising in three main directions. Firstly, they involved the masses of the villages and cities in the anti-fascist liberation movement by holding crowded demonstrations and rallies, strikes and strikes. The BWP rallied all the anti-fascist and patriotic forces on the Fatherland Front, led by the working class, and created a powerful political bloc against the Nazi invaders and their Bulgarian henchmen. By the beginning of September 1944, 678 committees of the Fatherland Front, which included 3,855 people, were operating in the country under the leadership of the Communists. They were the governing bodies of the people's anti-fascist movement. Secondly, the communists developed and intensified the armed struggle. The party created an armed fighting force of the masses - the People's Liberation rebel army, which in many areas fettered the monarcho-fascist troops, the police, the gendarmerie and individual parts of the Nazis. Thirdly, the Bulgarian communists actively carried on revolutionary work among the soldier masses of the tsarist army. As a result, by the summer of 1944 it had become a shaky support for the government. That is why the Bulgarian reaction was not able to keep power in their hands without external support.

Guided by the instructions of G. Dimitrov, on August 26, 1944, the underground Central Committee of the BRP adopted historical circular No. 4, which set out the program for the preparation and implementation of an armed uprising. This program provided for the deployment of actions everywhere against the Nazis and their Bulgarian minions with all the forces of the party, the Workers' Youth Union (RMS), the Fatherland Front, anti-fascists in the army; intensification of strikes against Nazi troops and objects by all rebel forces; attracting the army to the side of the rebels, coordinating with the rebel forces its actions against the external and internal enemy; rallying the people under the banner of the Fatherland Front, whose committees were to become "real organizers and leaders of the nationwide struggle and organs of people's power."

On the same day, the main headquarters of the NOPA issued an order to the headquarters of the insurgent operational zones to intensify the fight against the enemy, to undertake operations against the Nazi troops together with the military units, to deliver the main blows in the direction of the important centers of the country, and to begin establishing the authority of the Fatherland Front on the ground. The order drew the attention of the commanders of zones and partisan units operating in the border regions with Yugoslavia and Greece to the need to establish close contact with the people's liberation armies of these countries, to develop plans for joint actions with them against a common enemy.

The next day, the Foreign Bureau of the Central Committee of the BRP gave additional instructions on the preparation of the uprising. They envisaged: rallying all democratic forces around the Fatherland Front; the adoption of measures for the immediate disarmament of the German troops, the neutralization of the Gestapo and other enemies of the Bulgarian people; providing support to the National Committee of the Fatherland Front from the people and troops for the creation of the government of the Fatherland Front; the mobilization of all forces in order to prevent the fighting of the Nazis and the Bulgarian monarcho-fascists against the Soviet army; ensuring the free activity of the National Committee of the Fatherland Front, the release of patriots from prisons; the merger of the decisive actions of the people and their armed forces with the actions of the Soviet army when it entered Bulgaria in order to liberate the Bulgarian people from the Nazi invaders and their Bulgarian henchmen.

The decision of the Soviet government to declare war on the monarcho-fascist regime of Bulgaria grassroots the Bulgarian people were received with enthusiasm. It inspired them to a decisive struggle for the immediate establishment of the power of the Fatherland Front in the country. On September 5, the Central Committee of the BRP and the main headquarters of the PLPA developed the final plan for an armed uprising. It provided for the organization of strikes and demonstrations in Sofia, Plovdiv, Pleven and other large cities starting on the morning of September 6, 1944, and the main attack in the capital of Bulgaria on the night of September 9. To manage the forces preparing for the uprising in Sofia, an operational bureau was formed consisting of S. Todorov, V. Bonev, I. Bonev, headed by T. Zhivkov.

On September 6 and 7, the concentration of partisan detachments and local combat groups began in Sofia and other large cities in Bulgaria. Communist groups and groups of the Workers' Youth Union intensified their activities in the army in order to win it over to the side of the uprising. On September 6, the main headquarters of the NOPA accepted and began to distribute an appeal to the troops, urging them, together with the partisans and the Soviet army, to fight for the liberation of Bulgaria from fascism.

The National Committee of the Fatherland Front notified the government that on September 6 open meetings would be held in a number of large cities of the country to explain its program. The government banned them and announced that in case of disobedience, force would be used. However, despite the ban, on September 7 and 8, demonstrations took place in Plovdiv, Pernik, Sofia, Pleven and many other large cities. On the same days, the partisan units carried out combat operations throughout the country and took possession of a number of settlements. The actions of the partisans, as well as demonstrations and strikes in large cities, intensified the revolutionary upsurge among the working people and prepared favorable conditions for the successful conduct of an armed uprising.

In the course of the immediate preparations for the uprising, at joint meetings of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the BWP and the main headquarters of the NOPA, the plan of action and the forces involved in the uprising were specified. The last illegal meeting of the Politburo of the BRP Central Committee took place on September 8. Together with representatives of the main headquarters of the People's Liberation Insurgent Army and the National Committee of the Fatherland Front, final decisions were made and detailed instructions were given regarding the implementation of the uprising. It was decided to start the uprising at 2 am on September 9th. The local party committees and the main headquarters of the SPPA received the necessary orders to organize decisive action against the enemy. The armed uprising began in accordance with the plan approved by the Central Committee of the BRP. Communists and members of the RMS, fighting groups of workers of the capital and surrounding villages, partisans of the Chavdar brigade and the Shop detachment, as well as soldiers of some military units, marched in the forefront to storm the monarcho-fascist regime in Sofia. The active work of the BRP in the preparatory period played a big role in drawing many soldiers of the Bulgarian army to the side of the people, in creating a decisive preponderance of forces over the counter-revolution, in achieving a quick and bloodless victory of the uprising.

The main object that the forces of the rebels aimed at was the building of the Ministry of War, where the ministers and the highest military leadership were located. In the first hour of the uprising, they were all arrested. Then the armed detachments occupied the buildings of the Ministry of the Interior and other ministries, the post office, the telegraph office and the central station. In some places, pro-fascist officers tried to resist, but it was quickly crushed. The police were paralyzed and the rebels easily disarmed them. The rebels also managed to neutralize the 1st Sofia Infantry Division, which was transferred to the capital by the monarcho-fascist government in early September.

With the victory of the uprising in Sofia, the government of the Fatherland Front came to power. Its composition on the eve of the uprising was determined by the Politburo of the Central Committee of the BRP and the National Committee of the Fatherland Front. It included representatives of the Bulgarian Workers' Party, the left wing of the Bulgarian Agricultural People's Union, the political group "Link", the left wing of the Social Democratic Party and two non-partisans. The government was headed by the leader of the political group "Link" K. Georgiev.

The news of the victory of the armed uprising in the capital on the same day spread throughout the country. The working people, partisan units and revolutionary-minded masses of soldiers everywhere neutralized the monarcho-fascists and the Nazis who did not have time to evacuate, overthrew the old authorities and introduced people's democratic orders. On September 9, the power of the Fatherland Front government was established throughout Bulgaria.

The victory of the Bulgarian people was due to a number of favorable factors. The decisive ones were: the extreme aggravation of class contradictions and the presence of a direct revolutionary situation in the country, the victorious offensive of the Soviet army in the Balkans, its entry into Bulgaria and the versatile assistance of the Soviet Union to the forces of the Fatherland Front in the fight against monarchofascism. The liberation campaign of the Soviet troops in Bulgaria increased the political activity and fighting revolutionary spirit of the Bulgarian people, strengthened their faith in victory over fascism. “The combination of the popular uprising on September 9, 1944 with the victorious march of the Soviet army in the Balkans,” G. Dimitrov pointed out, “not only ensured the victory of the uprising, but also gave it great strength and scope.”

An outstanding role in achieving the victory of the uprising was played by the leadership of the Bulgarian Communist Party headed by G. Dimitrov. During the long years of class struggles, the party strengthened the alliance of the working class with the working peasantry and other progressive forces of the country. During the Second World War, the BRP achieved the creation of a united anti-fascist Fatherland Front, under the banner of which all the patriots and democrats of Bulgaria rallied. The main and decisive force of the Fatherland Front was the working class, led by the Communist Party. In the struggle against monarchofascism, the BWP created a revolutionary armed force - the People's Liberation Insurgent Army. The Communists, who fought for the fundamental interests of the working people, enjoyed great confidence and love from the broad masses of the people. The leading role of the BRP was the most important condition for the success of the uprising. It gave it a truly revolutionary character.

As a result of the uprising, the main political goals of the Fatherland Front were achieved: the monarcho-fascist regime was overthrown, the country gained national sovereignty, and power passed into the hands of the people. Basic driving force The uprising was the proletariat in alliance with the poorest peasantry. It was also attended by artisans, patriotic intellectuals and army soldiers.

The victory on September 9 was a turning point in the centuries-old history of Bulgaria. Having broken with fascist Germany, Bulgaria began an active armed struggle against it, which went down in history as Patriotic War Bulgarian people. An important achievement of the new people's power was the signing in Moscow on October 28, 1944 of the Armistice Agreement between the USSR, the USA and England, on the one hand, and Bulgaria, on the other.

In Bulgaria, the Allied Control Commission was created, headed by Marshal of the Soviet Union F. I. Tolbukhin.

Participation in the war against Nazi Germany on the side of the anti-fascist coalition was of great political importance for Bulgaria. The country emerged from the international isolation in which the monarcho-fascists placed it and won the right to fight for a worthy and just peace treaty.

The victory of the armed uprising opened a new era in the history of Bulgaria. It enabled the Bulgarian people, under the leadership of the Communists, with the all-round assistance of the Soviet Union, to firmly and irrevocably embark on the socialist path of development.

Important military and political events in the life of the peoples of Romania and Bulgaria, which took place in August - September 1944, were the result of the defeat by the Soviet troops of one of the strongest German fascist army groups - "Southern Ukraine" and the acute class struggle in these countries.

As a result of the Iasi-Kishinev operation and during the subsequent offensive, Soviet troops broke through the enemy's strategic front in a huge sector of 500 km and advanced up to 750 km in depth. Their combat operations in August - September 1944 in the south were of an exceptionally maneuverable nature. They abounded with examples of successful penetration of enemy defenses, rapid encirclement and liquidation of enemy groupings, and rapid advances in operational depth.

These operations of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts gave many examples of close and continuous interaction of all types of armed forces and combat arms, the widespread use of tank mobile groups, the massive use of rifle troops, artillery and aviation.

During the offensive, Soviet troops captured the Nazi grouping in Northern Transylvania and Transcarpathian Ukraine, created a threat to their communications in Yugoslavia, Greece and Albania, sharply worsening the strategic position of Nazi Germany in the Balkans.

The successful actions of the Soviet troops ensured the withdrawal of Romania and Bulgaria from the war on the side of Nazi Germany. In fascist German strategy, these countries played a major role as a springboard for an attack on the USSR in 1941, and in 1944 they acquired an important role in the defense of the distant approaches to Germany from the southeast.

Coming out of the war on the side of Nazi Germany, Romania and Bulgaria joined the anti-Hitler coalition. Their armed forces took part in the fighting against the Nazi troops. Acting jointly with the Soviet troops, they participated in the liberation of a number of countries in South-Eastern Europe.

The most important political result of the defeat of the Army Group "Southern Ukraine" was the coming to power in Romania and Bulgaria of democratic forces.

Relations of friendship and mutual assistance based on the Leninist principles of proletarian internationalism began to be established between the Soviet Union and the countries that had embarked on the path of democratic development.

The Soviet Motherland appreciated the courage and heroism shown by the Soviet soldiers in the offensive. 230 connections and parts ground forces, Air Force and Navy, who distinguished themselves in capturing large cities, received the honorary names of Chisinau, Iasi, Focsani, Varna and others. More than 280 units and formations were awarded orders.

During the offensive on the southern flank of the Soviet-German front, Soviet troops wrote another glorious page in the annals of the Great Patriotic War and World War II.