In January 1944, as a result of the successful operation of the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic fronts, the blockade of Leningrad was lifted. In the winter of 1944, Right-bank Ukraine was liberated by the efforts of three Ukrainian fronts, and by the end of spring, the western border of the USSR was completely restored.
Under such conditions, at the beginning of the summer of 1944, a second front was opened in Europe.
The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command developed a grandiose in scale and tactically successful plan for the complete liberation of Soviet territory and the entry of the Red Army troops into Eastern Europe in order to liberate it from fascist enslavement. This was preceded by one of the major offensive operations - Belorussian, which received the code name "Bagration".
As a result of the offensive, the Soviet Army reached the outskirts of Warsaw and stopped on the right bank of the Vistula. At this time, a popular uprising broke out in Warsaw, brutally suppressed by the Nazis.
In September-October 1944, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia were liberated. The partisan formations of these states took an active part in the hostilities of the Soviet troops, which then formed the basis of their national armed forces.
Fierce battles flared up for the liberation of the lands of Hungary, where there was a large grouping of fascist troops, especially in the area of Lake Balaton. For two months, Soviet troops besieged Budapest, the garrison of which capitulated only in February 1945. Only by mid-April 1945 was the territory of Hungary completely liberated.
Under the sign of the victories of the Soviet Army, from February 4 to 11, a conference of the leaders of the USSR, the USA and England was held in Yalta, at which questions of the post-war reorganization of the world were discussed. Among them, the establishment of the borders of Poland, the recognition of the demands of the USSR for reparations, the question of the entry of the USSR into the war against Japan, the consent of the allied powers to the annexation of the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin to the USSR.
April 16 - May 2 - Berlin operation - the last major battle of the Great Patriotic War. It went through several stages:
Capture of the Seelow Heights;
Fighting on the outskirts of Berlin;
The assault on the central, most fortified part of the city.
On the night of May 9, in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, the Act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed.
July 17 - August 2 - Potsdam Conference of Heads of State - members of the anti-Hitler coalition. The main question is the fate of post-war Germany. Control- was created. ny council - a joint body of the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France for the exercise of supreme power in Germany for the period of its occupation. He paid special attention to the issues of the Polish-German border. Germany was subject to complete demilitarization, and the activities of the Social Nazi Party were prohibited. Stalin confirmed the readiness of the USSR to take part in the war against Japan.
The President of the United States, having received positive results from nuclear weapons tests by the beginning of the conference, began to put pressure on the Soviet Union. Accelerated work on the creation of atomic weapons in the USSR.
On August 6 and 9, the US bombed two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were of no strategic importance. The act was of a warning and threatening nature, primarily for our state.
On the night of August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union began military operations against Japan. Three fronts were formed: the Trans-Baikal and two Far Eastern ones. Together with the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Military Flotilla, the elite Japanese Kwantung Army was defeated and North China, North Korea, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were liberated.
On September 2, 1945, the Second World War ended with the signing of the Japanese Surrender Act on the USS Missouri.
Politics and strategy of the USSR and the Anglo-American allies in the liberation of Europe
At the final stage of the war in Europe, the advance of troops largely determined the post-war balance of power. The resistance movement, where the communist parties played a leading role, could also determine the political structure in the states liberated from the fascists. Politics and military strategy during this period were especially closely intertwined. The Soviet leadership strove for the quickest and most decisive end to the war with the complete defeat of fascism. At the same time, the task of strengthening the post-war international position of the USSR was also solved. The Anglo-American leadership sought to strengthen its influence in Europe, preserve the capitalist system as much as possible and limit the influence of the USSR. All this complicated allied relations and left an imprint on strategic decisions.
Taking into account the agreement reached with the allies on the opening of a second front, the growing power of the Red Army and the increased level of Soviet military art, the Supreme Command Headquarters adopted a plan for a decisive strategic offensive in 1944. It provided for the consistent conduct of ten major operations of front groups along the entire front in order to completely expel the enemy from territory of the USSR and the liberation of the peoples of Europe.
The offensive, launched in the winter of 1944 near Leningrad and Novgorod, went on uninterruptedly. The Red Army gave no respite to the enemy. From the end of December 1943 to mid-May 1944, our troops marched west over 1,000 km, defeated 99 enemy divisions and 2 brigades (of which 22 divisions and 1 brigade were destroyed). On the Right-Bank Ukraine - the main direction of the offensive - the Nazi command transferred 43 divisions and 4 brigades, of which 34 divisions and all brigades - from European countries and from Germany itself.
In the spring of 1944, Soviet troops reached the southwestern border of the USSR and transferred the fighting to the territory of Romania. The troops of Generals F. I. Tolbukhin and A. I. Eremenko, together with the forces of the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov military flotilla under the command of Admirals F. S. Oktyabrsky and S. G. Gorshkov, liberated the Crimea.
By this time, the Allies had prepared the landing of their troops in northern France. Operation Overlord is the largest strategic landing in history, it involved a huge expeditionary force of 2 million 876 thousand people. The landing began at dawn on 6 July. During the first two days, 250,000 men were deployed with 300 guns and 1,500 tanks. Paying tribute to the scale and art of the Allied landing operations, it is necessary to evaluate the weaknesses of the German "Atlantic wall", the main forces of the Wehrmacht fought on the Soviet-German front.
Simultaneously with the offensive of the allies in the west, in the summer of 1944, the largest offensive operations of the Red Army were deployed. On June 10, the liberation of Karelia began, which led the Finnish government to the decision to withdraw from the war. This was followed by the main blow in Belarus and Western Ukraine.
The Belarusian operation ("Bagration") is one of the largest in World War II. It was carried out on a front with a width of 1,100 km by forces of 4 fronts, numbering about 2 million people, 36,400 guns and mortars, 5,200 tanks and self-propelled guns, 5,300 aircraft. On 26% of the entire length of the Soviet-German front, 40% of the personnel, 77% of tanks and 53% of the aircraft of the entire active army were concentrated. This made it possible to achieve superiority in forces: in terms of the number of troops - 2:1; guns - 3.8: 1; tanks - 5.8: 1; aircraft - 3.9:1. The offensive began suddenly for the enemy, who was waiting for him in the south. On June 23, after powerful air strikes and active actions of Belarusian partisans, Soviet troops wedged into the enemy's defenses. Tank and mechanized groups rushed into the gaps that had formed. On July 3, Minsk was liberated, to the east of which 105 thousand German soldiers and officers remained in the encirclement. In other pockets near Vitebsk and Bobruisk, another 30,000 and 40,000, respectively, are surrounded. The troops of the fronts were commanded by I. Kh. Bagramyan, G. F. Zakharov, K. K. Rokossovsky, and I. D. Chernyakhovsky.
Soviet troops developed a rapid offensive and reached the border of East Prussia to the Grodno-Bialystok line, and in the south - to Brest. During the offensive in Belarus, the Lvov-Sandomierz operation began to liberate Western Ukraine.
In connection with the entry of our troops into Polish territory, the Soviet government in its statement declared the independence of Poland and concluded an agreement with the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKNO) on relations between the Soviet command and the Polish administration. The PKNO took over the leadership of the struggle of the Polish people against the occupiers and the restoration of the economy in the liberated areas, began to carry out democratic reforms.
At the direction of the London government in exile, the leadership of the Polish underground, without warning the Soviet command, launched an uprising in Warsaw in order to bring to power the Polish government in exile with an anti-Soviet orientation. The Soviet troops, exhausted by that time by long battles, could not provide effective assistance to the rebels, attempts to join the rebels did not give positive results. The Germans brutally crushed the uprising and destroyed Warsaw.
The grandiose offensive of the Red Army intensified the demand of the US and British public to intensify operations in France. But the Allied offensive from the bridgehead in Normandy began only on July 25, 5 days after the failed assassination attempt on Hitler. The German troops tried to launch a counterattack, but to no avail, and began to retreat. On August 15, the allied landing also landed in the south of France, after which the Germans began an organized withdrawal along the entire Western Front. By August 25, the allies captured the territory of France between the Seine and the Loire. Resistance fighters fought against the invaders all over the country. The armed struggle of the French people significantly helped the advance of the Allied forces. The central element of the struggle was the successful Paris armed uprising, led by the communists.
The allied command, seeking to strengthen its influence in the country and prevent the strengthening of the communists, delayed the agreement with the French government after the landing and carried out the occupation regime for 3 months. Only on August 26, after the liberation of Paris, did the Allies sign an agreement with the French authorities, as they preferred, according to Churchill, "De Gaulle's France to Communist France."
The Nazi command withdrew troops to the former Franco-German border and took emergency measures to strengthen the "western defensive rampart." The allied armies advanced after the retreating German units, without encountering significant opposition. On September 2, they crossed the Belgian border, liberated Brussels, and on September 10 captured Luxembourg. By this time, the Germans occupied the Siegfried defensive line and stopped the Allied offensive on it.
The joint offensive of the troops of the anti-Hitler coalition hastened the collapse of the Nazi bloc and intensified the struggle of anti-fascist forces in the countries of Eastern, Central and Southern Europe. In the countries occupied by fascist Germany and the states allied with it, a sharp polarization of forces took place during the war. The big bourgeoisie and reactionary circles united with the fascist regime, while the anti-fascist resistance movement rallied left forces led by the communists. The struggle of the anti-fascist forces for national liberation merged with the revolutionary struggle for democratic and socialist transformations. The victories of the Soviet Union made socialism popular among the broad masses of the people and strengthened the influence of the communist parties. The entry of Soviet troops into the countries of Eastern and Central Europe revolutionized the liberation movement and provided support to the political forces of a socialist orientation.
The policy of the Anglo-American allies in the liberated territories of the European states was aimed at preserving the pre-war regimes, weakening the influence of the communist parties, holding back the revolutionary processes in every possible way and asserting their political influence. These contradictions seriously threatened the unity of the anti-Hitler coalition. The art of politics, its close connection with the effective strategy of each side during the offensive, largely determined the course of socio-political processes in European countries at the final stage of World War II.
In the area of the offensive by the Anglo-American troops, in addition to the uprising in France, which made a significant contribution to the liberation of their homeland, armed uprisings against the invaders also took place in Belgium and Denmark. In Belgium, the rebels liberated Antwerp, while in Denmark, the resistance forces did not receive the support of the Anglo-American troops, and the invaders managed to suppress the uprising. In all the countries of Western Europe liberated by the Anglo-American troops, power remained in the hands of the bourgeoisie, and the resistance detachments were disarmed. However, the role of the communist parties in the course of the liberation struggle remained so great that the governments of almost all the liberated countries included representatives of the communist parties and the united left forces, despite the efforts of the ruling circles of the USA and Great Britain.
The work of the communist parties under the prevailing conditions during the course of the war differed sharply in each country, and the political situation also changed extremely rapidly. Under the new conditions, the activity of the Comintern had already outlived itself, and by a special decision of the Presidium of the ECCI, the Comintern in May 1943 was dissolved. This decision was also important for strengthening the anti-Hitler coalition.
In the countries of Eastern, Southern and Central Europe, the process of defeating the Nazi troops by the armed forces of the Soviet Union merged with liberation anti-fascist people's democratic uprisings and revolutions.
During the Iasi-Chisinau operation to liberate Moldova in Bucharest on August 23, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Romania and in agreement with the Romanian king, an anti-fascist uprising began. A "government of national unity" was created, which announced the cessation of hostilities against the United Nations and the acceptance by Romania of the armistice conditions presented by the USSR, England and the USA in the spring of 1944, but rejected then by the fascist government of Antonescu. Hitler ordered the German troops stationed in the rear areas of Romania to crush the uprising and strike air strikes on Bucharest. The Soviet leadership decides to provide prompt assistance to the rebels. Leaving 34 divisions to defeat the encircled enemy troops, the Soviet command sent 50 divisions deep into Romania. By August 29, the encircled enemy troops were defeated, 208.6 thousand people were taken prisoner. By August 31, Soviet soldiers, together with Romanian formations and work detachments, liberated Ploiesti, and then entered Bucharest, enthusiastically received by the inhabitants.
During the liberation of Romania, Soviet troops reached the borders of Bulgaria, where by the summer of 1944 a communist-led guerrilla war unfolded against the monarcho-fascist government, which involved Bulgaria in a bloc with Germany and provided its territory and resources to fight against the USSR. In 1944, Bulgaria continued to actively help Germany. The new government of Bulgaria, formed on September 2, 1944, declared neutrality, but still left its territory at the disposal of the German fascists.
On September 5, the Soviet government announced that the policy of so-called neutrality was providing direct assistance to Nazi Germany. It led to the fact that the Soviet Union "from now on will be at war with Bulgaria." On September 7, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front crossed the Romanian-Bulgarian border without firing a shot, greeted by the Bulgarian people as liberators.
On this day, at an illegal meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the BKP, a decision was made to start the uprising at 2 am on September 9th. The uprising in Sofia passed without bloodshed and achieved complete victory, the ministers and top military leaders were arrested. The leadership of the Fatherland Front came to power and declared war on Germany. The Bulgarian army, together with the Soviet troops, entered into an armed struggle against the Nazis. The people's government, which came to power, immediately began to carry out political and socio-economic transformations in the country.
The advance of Soviet troops in Bulgaria dramatically changed the whole situation in southern Europe. The Yugoslav partisans, who, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, waged a heroic struggle against the Nazis and their accomplices for 3.5 years, received direct assistance from the Red Army. In accordance with the agreement of the government of the USSR and the leadership of the liberation movement of Yugoslavia, Soviet troops, together with the Yugoslav and Bulgarian units, carried out the Belgrade operation. Having defeated the German army grouping, they liberated Belgrade, which became the seat of the Central Committee of the CPY and the National Committee for the Liberation of Yugoslavia, headed by Josef Broz Tito. The Yugoslav People's Army received a strong rear and military assistance for the further struggle for the complete liberation of the country. In Albania, by the end of November, German troops were expelled by popular resistance forces, and a Provisional Democratic Government was also formed here.
Simultaneously with the offensive in the Balkans, the Red Army advanced into the Eastern Carpathians to help the Slovak partisans and the borders of Hungary. Overcoming the fierce resistance of the enemy, the Soviet soldiers liberated a third of the Hungarian territory by the end of October and launched an offensive against Budapest. The Hungarian anti-fascist front created the Insurgent Liberation Committee, which included several political parties, led by the communist one. The liberated territory became the basis for the creation of people's power and the development of the people's democratic revolution in the country. In December, the Provisional National Assembly formed the Provisional Government, which declared war on Germany and set about reorganizing the political and economic life of the country on a democratic basis.
In October, the troops of the Karelian Front (General K. A. Meretskov), together with the forces of the Northern Fleet (Admiral A. G. Golovko), liberated the Soviet Arctic and part of Northern Norway. Carrying out a liberation mission in Europe, the Red Army fought together with the allied people's armies of foreign countries. The People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia and Yugoslav partisans, the Polish Army (1st and 2nd armies) and Polish partisans, the 1st Czechoslovak Corps and Czechoslovak partisans acted against a common enemy - the Nazi troops, from late August - early September 1944 - Romanian and Bulgarian armies, and at the final stage of the war - parts of the new Hungarian army. In the fire of the war against fascism, the foundations of the military commonwealth of the armed forces of the USSR and the new people's republics were formed. Particularly heavy fighting took place in Hungary during the Budapest operation, which began on October 29 and lasted until February 13, 1945 with the forces of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts, the Danube Flotilla, with the involvement of the 1st Bulgarian Army and 3rd Yugoslav Army. A bloody defensive battle took place in the area of Lake Balaton, where Soviet troops steadfastly withstood a powerful enemy tank attack.
In the autumn of 1944, the German armed forces stabilized the situation on the Western and Italian fronts and organized fierce resistance on the Eastern Front. The Hitlerite leadership decided to move on to active operations on the Western Front in order to achieve a separate peace with the Anglo-American allies "on the principle of force" by undertaking a major counter-offensive in the Ardennes. This was the first prepared major offensive of the Wehrmacht against the Anglo-American troops and Hitler's last bet on getting out of the war on terms acceptable to him. German industrialists took all measures to provide the Wehrmacht with the necessary weapons and materiel. At the cost of brutal exploitation of millions of foreign workers, it was possible to increase military production in the autumn of 1944 to the highest level in the entire war (this also shows the low effectiveness of the strategic bombing of allied aviation for several years).
The sudden offensive of the Nazi troops on December 16, 1944 in the Ardennes inflicted a serious defeat on the American army. The German advance created a critical situation for the Allies in Europe. D. Eisenhower (commander of the allied forces in Europe), assessing the current situation, came to the conclusion that it would be difficult for the allies to cope with the offensive of the German troops on their own and asked Roosevelt to find out the prospect of a new Soviet offensive. On January 6, 1945, Churchill asked Stalin to inform him of the possibility of a major offensive on the Vistula front or elsewhere during January. On January 7, 1945, Stalin announced that, taking into account the position of our allies, extensive offensive operations would be undertaken on the central sector of the front no later than the second half of January. By decision of the Headquarters, the start of the final offensive of the Red Army was postponed from January 20 to January 12.
The final stage of the war. conference.
On January 17, Warsaw was liberated, on January 19 - Lodz and Krakow, which the Nazis mined during the retreat, but Soviet intelligence officers managed to save the city. In order to preserve the Silesian industrial region, the front commander I.S. Konev gives the German troops the opportunity to get out of the encirclement, destroying the retreating formations during the pursuit. By the end of January - beginning of February, the troops of the 1st Belorussian (Marshal Zhukov) and 1st Ukrainian (Marshal Konev) fronts reached the Oder, capturing large bridgeheads on its western bank. Berlin was 60 km away. The troops of the 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts (Marshals Rokossovsky and Vasilevsky), together with the Red Banner Baltic Fleet (Admiral V.F. Tribun), were advancing in East Prussia and Pomerania. In the south, Soviet troops advanced into Czechoslovakia and began the liberation of Budapest.
As a result of the offensive of the Soviet troops in the winter of 1945, the Nazi army suffered a crushing defeat, the imminent end of the war became a fact. The hopes of the Nazis for a protracted war for the "fortress Germany" and for a split in the anti-Hitler coalition collapsed completely.
Coordination of a further offensive against Germany from the west and east and the problems of the post-war world structure urgently demanded the convening of a new conference of the heads of government of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain. At the suggestion of the Soviet Union, Yalta was chosen as the venue. This decision showed the increased authority of the USSR and its decisive role in ending the Second World War. The Crimean (Yalta) Conference of the Heads of Government of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain (I. V. Stalin, F. Roosevelt, W. Churchill) was held from February 4 to 11, 1945. All three powers were united in matters of military strategy in order to end the war as soon as possible . The military headquarters agreed on cooperation and, accordingly, the boundaries of the occupation zones were fundamentally determined.
The central question, the future of Germany, has been resolved. The heads of powers outlined the foundations of a coordinated policy based on the principles of democratization, demilitarization, denazification, and the creation of guarantees that Germany "will never be able to disturb the peace." An agreement was reached on the Polish question, which opened the way for the development of a free and independent Polish state within historically just boundaries. The fate of the second center of aggression is predetermined, the date for the entry of the USSR into the war in the Far East is fixed - 3 months after the end of the war with Germany. In Yalta, the principle of equality of arms prevailed. “The United States cannot expect that everything will be done at its discretion 100%, since this is also impossible for Russia and Great Britain,” President Roosevelt noted.
After the Yalta Conference, a coordinated offensive by the forces of the anti-Hitler coalition began from the east and west. It should be noted that during its fierce resistance to the Nazi army was organized mainly on the Soviet-German front (214 Nazi divisions were concentrated there in the first half of April). A contingent born in 1929 was drafted into the army, cruel measures were taken to force the army to fight "to the last soldier."
On April 13, Roosevelt died suddenly, G. Truman became President of the United States. Being a senator in 1941, he declared that if Germany wins, it is necessary to help the Soviet Union, and if the USSR wins, then help Germany, and "let them kill as many as possible." On April 16, in an address to the troops, Hitler assured that the death of Roosevelt would cause a turn in the war. The struggle for Berlin was a central link in the strategy and politics of the last days of fascism. The Hitlerite leadership believed that "it is better to surrender Berlin to the Anglo-Saxons than to let the Russians into it." Berlin and its approaches have been turned into a powerful defensive area.
On April 16, the Berlin strategic operation began. Soviet troops broke through the enemy's defense in depth and entered the suburbs of Berlin. On April 25, the encirclement of the Berlin group was completed. Heavy battles unfolded with the fascist troops, who fought with fanatical, furious desperation.
Meanwhile, along the entire Western and Italian fronts, the Allies accepted the partial surrender of the Nazi troops (bypassing the signing of the act of unconditional surrender of Germany), quickly moving through German territory. On May 8, at the insistence of the Soviet government, all allies signed an act of unconditional surrender of Germany. It was held in liberated Berlin under the chairmanship of Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov. Only after the signing of the act did the German troops in the east begin to lay down their arms everywhere. However, to overcome the resistance of the Nazis in Czechoslovakia, where a popular uprising in Prague began against them on May 5, it was necessary to fight even before May 9, when the Soviet tank troops completely liberated Prague. The last day of the war was the day of the liberation of the fraternal Czechoslovak people. The Red Army fulfilled to the end its internationalist duty as a liberating army.
May 9 - The Day of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War was approved as a national holiday.
Defeat of Japan and the end of World War II
The war in Europe is over. The victorious countries began to develop documents on the post-war world. The Potsdam Conference of 7 July - 2 August 1945 summed up World War II in Europe. The decisions adopted at it corresponded to the liberating anti-fascist nature of the war and became a turning point in the life of Europe from war to peace. However, the leaders of England (Churchill, and then Atlee) and the United States (Truman) tried this time to take a "hard line" against the USSR. During the conference, the US government made the first attempt to start "atomic diplomacy". Truman informed Stalin about the creation of a powerful new weapon in the United States.
Having received assurances that the USSR would go to war with Japan in accordance with the agreement at the Yalta Conference, the United States and Great Britain, joined by China, published a declaration in Potsdam on Japan's unconditional surrender. The Japanese government rejected it.
The Soviet Union began to deploy and prepare forces for entry into the war with Japan. The Mongols also took part in the war: the People's Republic. Japan at that time had large forces in the vast territories of China, Korea, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. The largest grouping of the Japanese army (the Kwantung Army, numbering over 1 million) was located in Manchuria - on the borders of the USSR. According to the calculations of the US command, the war with Japan without the participation of the Soviet Union could last until 1947 with heavy losses.
The US government hastened to complete preparations for the atomic bombing of Japan, despite the obvious futility of Japanese resistance after the USSR entered the war. On the morning of August 6, the first atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. Of the 306 thousand inhabitants, 140 thousand died immediately, tens of thousands died later, 90% of the buildings burned down, the rest turned into ruins.
On August 8, the USSR declared war on Japan and joined the Potsdam Declaration. On the night of August 9, the Soviet Armed Forces launched an offensive. The Truman government ordered that a second atomic bomb be dropped on Japan as soon as possible. On August 9, an American plane bombed the city of Nagasaki with an atomic bomb, the death toll was about 75 thousand people. Atomic bombings were not of strategic importance, they were intended to intimidate the whole world, primarily the USSR, demonstrating the military power of the United States.
After receiving on the radio on the morning of August 9 the news of the entry of the USSR into the war, Japanese Prime Minister K. Suzuki convened a meeting of the Supreme Council for the leadership of the war and declared to those present: “The entry into the war of the Soviet Union this morning puts us completely in a hopeless situation and makes it impossible to continue further war."
Soviet historians, like many foreign historians, adhere to the conclusion of the Japanese researcher N. Rekishi: “Although the United States is trying to present the atomic bombing of Japanese cities as the result of a desire to hasten the end of the war, in reality it was not civilian casualties, but the entry into the war of the USSR that led to the speedy end of the war” . (Orlov A. Secret battle of the superpowers. - M., 2000.)
Soviet troops were rapidly advancing deep into the territory of Manchuria, overcoming many years of fortifications and the resistance of the Japanese troops. Within a few days, the Kwangtung Army was defeated, and on August 14, the Japanese government decided to surrender, on August 19, soldiers and officers of the Kwangtung Army began to surrender en masse. Soviet troops, together with the forces of the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Red Banner Flotilla, liberated Northeast China and North Korea, captured South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
Parts of the Chinese People's Liberation Army entered Northeast China, and the weapons of the surrendered Kwantung Army were handed over to it. Under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, people's organs of power and military units were created here, and the Manchurian revolutionary base was formed, which played a decisive role in the subsequent development of the revolutionary movement in China.
In North Korea, the Communist Party was restored and people's organs of power, the People's Committees, were formed, which began to carry out socialist and democratic reforms. With the defeat of Japan, uprisings broke out in many occupied countries and people's democratic revolutions took place - in Vietnam, Malaya, Indonesia and Burma.
On September 2, 1945, in Tokyo Bay, on the battleship Missouri, under the chairmanship of the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in the Pacific, General MacArthur, the signing of the Act of Surrender of Japan took place. From the Soviet Union, General K. N. Derevyanko signed the Act, the whole ceremony took place in 20 minutes. Thus ended the Second World War - the most tragic period in the history of the 20th century.
The historical role of the USSR in the defeat of fascism. Sources of Victory
The defeat of fascism was achieved by the combined efforts of the states of the anti-Hitler coalition and the forces
countries. Each country contributed to the victory by playing its part in this global battle. The historical role of the state in the defeat of fascism is the national pride of the people, determines the authority of the country in the post-war world and political weight in resolving international issues. That is why Western historiography is trying to belittle and distort the role of the USSR in World War II.
The course of events considered earlier, the analysis of the policy and strategy of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition show that the USSR played an outstanding historical role in the common anti-fascist struggle.
The historical role of the USSR in World War II lies in the fact that the Soviet Union was the main military-political force that determined the victorious course of the war, its decisive results and, ultimately, the protection of the peoples of the world from enslavement by fascism.
The general assessment of the role of the USSR in the war is revealed in the following specific provisions.
1) The Soviet Union is the only force in the world that, as a result of a heroic struggle, in 1941 stopped the continuous victorious march of Nazi Germany's aggression across Europe.
This was achieved at a time when the power of the Hitlerite military machine was at its greatest and the US military capabilities were only just being developed. The victory near Moscow dispelled the myth of the invincibility of the German army, contributed to the rise of the resistance movement and strengthened the anti-Hitler coalition.
2) The USSR, in fierce battles with the main force of the fascist bloc - Nazi Germany, achieved a radical change during the Second World War in favor of the anti-Hitler coalition in 1943.
After the defeat at Stalingrad, Germany, followed by Japan, switched from an offensive war to a defensive one. In the Battle of Kursk, the ability of the Nazi army to resist the offensive of the Soviet troops was finally broken, and the forcing of the Dnieper opened the way to the liberation of Europe.
3) The Soviet Union in 1944-1945 fulfilled the liberation mission in Europe, eliminating fascist domination over the majority of enslaved peoples, preserving their statehood and historically fair borders.
4) The Soviet Union made the greatest contribution to the conduct of the general armed struggle and defeated the main forces of the army of the Nazi bloc, thus causing the complete and unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan.
This conclusion is based on the following comparative indicators of the armed struggle of the Red Army and the armies of the Anglo-American allies:
- The Red Army was fighting against the bulk of the troops of Nazi Germany. In 1941 - 1942 more than 3/4 of all German troops fought against the USSR; in subsequent years, more than 2/3 of the Wehrmacht formations were on the Soviet-German front. After the opening of the second front, the Eastern Front for Germany remained the main one, in 1944 181.5 German divisions acted against the Red Army, 81.5 German divisions opposed the Anglo-American troops;
- on the Soviet-German front, military operations were carried out with the greatest intensity and spatial scope. Of the 1,418 days of active fighting, 1,320 went on. On the North African front, respectively, from 1,068 - 309; Italian from 663 - 49. The spatial scope was: along the front 4 - 6 thousand km, which is 4 times more than the North African, Italian and Western European fronts combined;
- The Red Army defeated 507 Nazi and 100 divisions of its allies, almost 3.5 times more than the allies on all fronts of World War II. On the Soviet-German front, the German armed forces suffered more than 73% of losses. Here the bulk of the Wehrmacht military equipment was destroyed: more than 75% of aircraft (over 70 thousand), up to 75% of tanks and assault guns (about 50 thousand), 74% of artillery pieces (167 thousand);
- continuous strategic offensive of the Red Army in 1943-1945. quickly reduced the duration of the war, created favorable conditions for the conduct of hostilities by the allies and intensified their military efforts because of the fear of "being late" with the liberation of Europe.
Western historiography and propaganda carefully hush up these historical facts or grossly distort them, attributing the decisive contribution to the victory to the USA and England. In the last decade of the XX century. they are echoed by some domestic historians and publicists of an anti-Soviet and Russophobic orientation.
The historical role that fell to the lot of the USSR in the defeat of fascism was worth heavy losses. The Soviet people brought the most sacrificial share on the altar of victory over fascism. The Soviet Union lost 26.6 million people in the war, tens of millions were wounded and maimed, the birth rate dropped sharply, and enormous damage was done to health; all Soviet people experienced physical and moral suffering; the standard of living of the population fell.
Huge damage has been done to the national economy. The USSR lost 30% of the national wealth. The cost of damage amounted to 675 billion rubles. 1710 cities and towns, more than 70 thousand villages, more than 6 million buildings, 32 thousand enterprises, 65 thousand km of railways were destroyed and burned. The war devastated the treasury, prevented the creation of new values in the national heritage, led to a number of negative consequences in the economy, demography, psychology, morality, which together amounted to the indirect costs of the war.
The direct losses of the Soviet Armed Forces (including the troops of the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs), i.e. died, died of wounds, went missing, did not return from captivity and non-combat losses, amounted to 8,668,400 people during the war years, taking into account the Far Eastern campaign, including including the army and navy 8,509,300 people. A significant part of the losses falls on 1941 - 1942. (3,048,800 people). In the battles for the liberation of the peoples of Europe and the complete defeat of fascism, hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers laid down their lives: during the liberation of Poland - 600 thousand, Czechoslovakia - 140 thousand, Hungary - 140 thousand, Romania - about 69 thousand, Yugoslavia - 8 thousand, Austria - 26 thousand, Norway - more than a thousand, Finland - about 2 thousand, over 100 thousand Soviet soldiers died on German soil.
Anti-Soviet propaganda abroad and some Russian mass media, carrying out the same indoctrination of the population, blasphemously juggle with the figures of losses in the Great Patriotic War. Comparing different types of losses in the USSR and Germany, they draw a conclusion about the “vain rivers of blood” and “mountains of corpses” of Soviet soldiers, blaming the “Soviet system” for them, casting doubt on the very victory of the USSR over fascism. The falsifiers of history do not mention that fascist Germany treacherously attacked the Soviet Union, bringing down mass weapons of destruction on the civilian population. The Nazis used an inhuman blockade of cities (700,000 people died of starvation in Leningrad), bombing and shelling of civilians, carried out mass executions of civilians, drove the civilian population to hard labor and concentration camps, where they were subjected to mass destruction. The Soviet Union strictly complied with the agreements on the maintenance of prisoners of war, showed a humane attitude towards them. The Soviet command avoided conducting combat operations in densely populated areas, and in a number of cases made it possible for the Nazi troops to leave them without hindrance. There were no reprisals against the civilian population in the territories occupied by Soviet troops. This explains the difference in losses among the civilian population of the USSR and Germany.
According to recent studies (Russia and the USSR in the wars of the XX century. Losses of the armed forces: a Statistical study / Edited by G. F. Krivosheev. - M .. 2001.) irretrievable losses of the directly armed forces (submitted by our and foreign researchers) in the Red Army together with allies - Polish, Czechoslovak, Bulgarian, Romanian soldiers - by the end of the war amounted to 10.3 million people, of which Soviet soldiers - 8,668,400, including those who died in captivity (according to official archival data). The losses of the fascist bloc totaled 9.3 million people, of which 7.4 million - fascist Germany, 1.2 million of its satellites in Europe and 0.7 million - Japan in the Manchurian operation. Thus, if we exclude our losses associated with the brutal treatment of prisoners of war by the Nazis, then the discrepancy with the combat losses of Germany is quite insignificant, despite the most difficult conditions for the start of the war.
Speaking of losses, we must remember the main thing - the result of the war. The Soviet people defended their independence, the USSR made a decisive contribution to the victory over fascism, delivering mankind from enslavement by the very reactionary system of imperialism. Fascist Germany was defeated, Hitlerism was eradicated, and there were no military clashes in Europe for almost half a century. The Soviet Union received guaranteed security of its European borders.
The Soviet Union withstood the heaviest invasion and won the greatest victory in the entire thousand-year history of Russia. What are the sources of the strength of the Soviet people in this gigantic battle? The answer to this question is the main content of one of the important lessons of the history of the 20th century. for contemporaries and posterity. Western historiography, as a rule, avoids this issue or refers to the mistakes of the German command, the harsh climatic conditions of Russia, the traditional endurance of the Russian soldier, the "cruelty of the totalitarian Soviet regime", etc. The scientific approach to the analysis of the sources of victory comes from strict adherence to the main principles of historical science - objectivity, historicism, social approach in their organic unity.
First of all, it is necessary to note the following historical facts. Capitalist tsarist Russia during the First World War, having a larger territory than the USSR, began the war in 1914 by attacking the enemy, whose main forces were deployed in the West. She waged war in the presence from the very beginning of Germany's second front against 1/3 to 1/2 of the armed forces of the countries of the Central block and in 1916 was defeated. The Soviet Union withstood the most powerful blow of the aggressor; For 3 years he fought without a second front from 3/4, and after its opening - from 2/3 of the troops of the Nazi bloc, using the resources of all of Europe; defeated the most powerful military machine of imperialism and achieved a decisive victory. Hence follows the conclusion.
The main source of victory is the socialist social system.
It became the basis of the following specific sources of victory in armed struggle.
1) The spiritual power of the Soviet people, which caused mass heroism at the front and in the rear. The just liberation goals of the war made it truly Great, Patriotic, People's.
Soviet patriotism, which absorbed the military traditions and national pride of Russia, also included socialist ideals. The spiritual power of the people was manifested in the high morale of the troops and labor tension in the rear, in steadfastness and selflessness in fulfilling their duty to the Motherland, in the heroic struggle behind enemy lines and in the mass partisan movement.
The act of the greatest self-sacrifice in the name of victory over the enemy and a sense of military camaraderie was the feat of Alexander Matrosov, who closed the embrasure of the enemy pillbox. The first such feat, documented, was accomplished by the political instructor of a tank company, Alexander Pankratov, on August 24, 1941. Now history knows more than 200 heroes who have accomplished such feats. Aerial ramming became a mass phenomenon during the war years, it was carried out by 561 fighter pilots, 19 attack aircraft crews and 18 bombers, only 400 of them were able to land their cars or escape by parachute, the rest died (the Germans did not even ram over Berlin). 33 people rammed twice, Lieutenant A. Khlobystov - three times, Lieutenant B. Kovzan - four times. The 28 Panfilov heroes who blocked the way for German tanks to Moscow, and the feat of five marines led by political instructor N. Filchenkov, who at the cost of their lives stopped a tank column breaking through to Sevastopol, went down in history forever. The whole world was struck by the steadfastness of the defenders of Stalingrad, the symbol of which is the "Pavlov's house". The feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who was not broken by the torture of the Nazis, became a legend. In the fight against a common enemy, 100 nations and nationalities of the country showed heroism. Out of a total of over 11 thousand people, 7,998 Russians, 2,021 Ukrainians, 299 Belarusians, 161 Tatars, 107 Jews, 96 Kazakhs, 90 Georgians, 89 Armenians, 67 Uzbeks, 63 Mordvinians, 45 Chuvashs, 43 Azerbaijanis, 38 Bashkirs, 31 Ossetians, 16 Turkmens, 15 Lithuanians, 15 Tajiks, 12 Kirghiz, 12 Latvians, 10 Komi, 10 Udmurts, 9 Estonians, 8 Karelians, 8 Kalmyks, 6 Adyghes, 6 Kabardians, 4 Abkhazians, 2 Moldovans, 2 Yakuts , 1 Tuvinian, etc.
2) The unity of Soviet society in the fight against the enemy.
The social homogeneity of society, the absence of exploiting classes in it, were the basis of the moral and political unity of all Soviet people during the years of severe trials. With their minds and hearts, they realized that in unity their strength and hope for salvation from a foreign yoke. The friendship of the peoples of the USSR, based on social homogeneity, socialist ideology and the common goals of the struggle, also passed the test. The Nazis failed to create a “fifth column” in the USSR, to split the Soviet Union, but the lot of traitors is the anger and contempt of the people.
3) the Soviet state system.
The people's character of Soviet power determined the people's complete confidence in the state leadership in the difficult trials of the war. The high centralization of state administration, the organization of the work of the system of state bodies and public organizations ensured the rapid mobilization of all the forces of society to solve the most important tasks, the transformation of the country into a single military camp, and the close unity of the front and rear.
4) The socialist economy, its planned and distributive economic mechanism and mobilization abilities.
The socialist national economy has triumphed over the German war economy, which is using the superior potential of all of Europe. The powerful industry and collective-farm system created in the prewar years ensured the material and technical possibilities of a victorious war. The number of weapons and military equipment significantly exceeded the German one, and in terms of its quality it was the best in the world. The Soviet rear provided the army with the manpower necessary for victory and ensured the supply of the front without interruption. The effectiveness of centralized control ensured a gigantic maneuver of productive forces in the difficult conditions of the army's retreat from west to east and the reorganization of production for military needs in the shortest possible time.
5) Activities of the Communist Party.
The party was the core of society, the spiritual basis and organizing force, the real vanguard of the people. The Communists performed the most difficult and dangerous tasks voluntarily, were an example in the performance of military duty and selfless work in the rear. The Party, as the leading political force, ensured effective ideological and educational work, the organization of mobilization and production activities, and successfully completed the most important task of selecting leadership cadres for waging war and organizing production. Of the total number of those who died at the front, 3 million were communists.
6) Soviet military art, the art of conducting military operations on various scales - in combat, operations (operational art), campaigns and waging war as a whole (strategy).
The art of war ultimately realized all the sources of victory in the course of armed struggle. Soviet military science and military art proved their superiority over the military theory and practice of Germany, which were considered the pinnacle of bourgeois military art and were taken as a model by military leaders of the entire capitalist world. This superiority was achieved in the course of a fierce struggle, flexibly and promptly using combat experience, comprehensively considering the requirements of the actual conditions of warfare and the lessons of the failures of the first period.
In strategy, the superiority of Soviet military art was expressed in the fact that none of the ultimate goals of the offensive campaigns of the Nazi armed forces, despite the heavy defeats of the Soviet troops during the defense, was achieved: in 1941 - the defeat near Moscow and the disruption of the "blitzkrieg" plan , in 1942 - the defeat at Stalingrad and the collapse of Hitler's plan to achieve a radical change in the war with the USSR. The goals of the strategic defense of the Wehrmacht were not achieved either. During the transition to a maneuverable strategic defense, the Nazi command failed to thwart the offensive of the Red Army in 1943 and achieve stabilization of the front. Positional-maneuverable defense 1944 - 1945 failed to bleed and stop the steadily developing offensive of the Red Army. In the course of the war, a new, most effective form of strategic operations in World War II was brought to perfection - the operation of a group of fronts under the leadership of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. Soviet troops successfully carried out hundreds of front-line and army operations, which, as a rule, were distinguished by their creative nature and novelty of methods of action, unexpected for the enemy.
Noting the superiority of Soviet military art (which was recognized by all contemporaries, including military leaders of the defeated Reich, such as Field Marshal Paulus), it must be pointed out that military science has several criteria for evaluating military art for various types of combat operations on land, sea and in the air. In the most general form, an indicator of the level of military art is manifested in the defeat of the forces of the opposing enemy, the defense of one's own and the capture of his territory, coercion to capitulation or peace as a result of the war. This also takes into account the ratio of losses on the battlefields, sometimes called the "price of victory." Detractors of Soviet history often distort the main indicator of military art. They "forget" about the victory achieved, the complete surrender of fascist Germany in defeated Berlin, and the falsified figures of the ratio of losses in favor of the Nazi army are presented as the main result of the struggle. They do not note that the number of losses of the Soviet troops includes more than 1.2 million prisoners who died in concentration camps as a result of the brutal treatment of the Nazis, and more than 3 million losses occurred in the first stage of the war, when the struggle was fought in extremely difficult, unequal conditions.
Thus, the Soviet military art in all respects surpassed the German fascist art, which was considered the pinnacle of military art in the West. It should be borne in mind that the Soviet Union bore the brunt of the struggle against the Nazi army, and the small losses of the Anglo-American troops were determined by the policy of dragging out the second front and the "peripheral" strategy in anticipation of decisive results in the struggle on the Soviet-German front.
Assessing the superiority of Soviet military art, it is important to emphasize that armed struggle is not only a battle of troops, but also a clash of mind and will of opposing military leaders. In the battles of the Great Patriotic War, an intellectual victory over the enemy was achieved. The superiority of the intellect of the leadership, and not the "mountains of corpses", determined the brilliant victories of the Soviet troops on the battlefields and the victorious end of the war in defeated Berlin, the complete surrender of the fascist army.
During the war years, a galaxy of talented military leaders, commanders and naval commanders advanced in the Soviet armed forces - commanders of fronts, fleets, armies and flotillas, who showed brilliant examples of military art: A. I. Antonov, I. Kh. Bagramyan, A. M. Vasilevsky, N F. Vatutin, N. N. Voronov, L. A. Govorov, A. G. Golovko, A. I. Eremenko, M. V. Zakharov, I. S. Konev, N. G. Kuznetsov, R. Ya Malinovsky, F. S. Oktyabrsky, K. K Rokossovsky, F. I. Tolbukhin, V. F. Tributs, A. V. Khrulev, I. D. Chernyakhovsky, V. I. Chuikov, B. M. Shaposhnikov and a lot others.
The most outstanding, who received world recognition as a great commander of the 20th century, is Marshal of the Soviet Union, four times Hero of the Soviet Union G.K. The prominent American publicist E. Salisbury in the book “The Great Battles of Marshal Zhukov” (M., 1969) assessed his activities as follows: “the name of this stern, resolute person, the commander of commanders in waging war with mass armies, will shine over all the other military leaders. He turned the tide of the battles against the Nazis, against Hitler, not once, but many times.”
The Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Chairman of the GKO, the head of the Soviet state, who led the war of the Soviet people as a whole, was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Generalissimo I. V. Stalin, who went down in history as one of the outstanding political and statesmen of the Second World War . Roosevelt and Churchill, as heads of the allied states, highly valued Stalin's personal contribution to achieving victory over fascism.
G. K. Zhukov in 1969, five years before his death, deeply thinking over the results of the war, gave the following assessment to Stalin: “Is I. V. Stalin really an outstanding military thinker in the field of building the armed forces and an expert on operational and strategic issues ? As a military figure, I. V. Stalin, I studied thoroughly, since I went through the whole war with him. JV Stalin mastered the organization of front-line operations and operations of groups of fronts and led them with complete knowledge of the matter, well versed in major strategic issues. These abilities of I. V. Stalin were especially manifested starting from Stalingrad. In leading the armed struggle as a whole, JV Stalin was assisted by his natural mind and rich intuition. He knew how to find the main link in a strategic situation and, seizing on it, to counteract the enemy, to carry out one or another offensive operation. Undoubtedly, he was a worthy Supreme Commander.” This assessment of Stalin was well thought out by Zhukov in the quiet of his office at his desk, corrected more than once and rewritten in its final form for posterity.
The historic victory over fascism was won by the Soviet people and Russian socialism, which had barely formed in 20 years. In a fierce struggle against reactionary Western European imperialism, they proved their superiority. Russian civilization has withstood the most difficult test. The socialist system gave it enormous vitality in the centuries-old confrontation with the West. He opened up space for the creative forces of the people, rallied them in a single will, created the economic basis of the armed struggle and put forward people's talents to leadership.
Millions of Soviet people gave their lives in the name of victory and the future of their Motherland.
A fifth of Europeans simply do not know anything about the events of 70 years ago, and only one in eight believes that the Soviet army played a key role in the liberation of Europe from fascism. For decades, Europeans have been corrected in their consciousness regarding the role of the USSR and Russia in the history of the twentieth century. Thus, the goal is achieved to belittle the importance of our country, even at the cost of falsifying the results of the Second World War and the Victory of the Soviet people, and send Russia to the back of history. Nothing personal just business.
Europeans prefer the American army
From March 20 to April 9, 2015 in the UK, France and Germany, ICM Research conducted a survey for Sputnik. Three thousand people (1000 in each country) answered the question: who, in your opinion, played a key role in the liberation of Europe in World War II? Most of the respondents named the American and British armies as the main liberators. In general, the responses looked like this:
Soviet army - 13 percent;
American army - 43 percent;
British Army - 20 percent;
Other armed forces, 2 percent;
I don't know - 22 percent.
At the same time, in France and Germany, 61 and 52 percent, respectively, consider the American army to be the main liberator (only in the UK, 46 percent preferred their own, rather than the American army). Judging by the results of the survey, the most misinformed are the inhabitants of France, where only 8 percent of respondents are aware of the true role of the Soviet army.
One fifth of Europeans have a significant gap in their knowledge of the events of 70 years ago. This forgetfulness is all the more striking against the background of well-known and indisputable historical facts. Investments in oblivion, false historical landmarks can cost Europeans dearly.
Figures and facts: troops, front line, equipment
It was the Soviet Union that stopped the victorious march of Nazi Germany across Europe in 1941. At the same time, the power of the Nazi military machine was the greatest, and the military capabilities of the United States and Great Britain remained modest.
The victory near Moscow dispelled the myth of the invincibility of the German army, contributed to the rise of the resistance movement and strengthened the anti-Hitler coalition. After the defeat at Stalingrad, Germany, followed by Japan, switched from an offensive war to a defensive one. In the Battle of Kursk, Soviet troops finally undermined the morale of the Nazi army, and the crossing of the Dnieper opened the way to the liberation of Europe.
The Soviet army fought against the bulk of the troops of Nazi Germany. In 1941-1942, more than 75 percent of all German troops fought against the USSR; in subsequent years, about 70 percent of Wehrmacht formations were on the Soviet-German front. At the same time, in 1943, it was the USSR that achieved a radical change during World War II in favor of the anti-Hitler coalition.
By the beginning of 1944, Germany had suffered significant losses, and yet remained a strong enemy - it kept 5 million people on the Eastern Front. Almost 75 percent of German tanks and self-propelled artillery installations (5.4 thousand), guns and mortars (54.6 thousand), aircraft (more than 3 thousand) were concentrated here.
And after the opening of the second front for Germany, the Eastern Front remained the main one. In 1944, over 180 German divisions operated against the Soviet army. Anglo-American troops were opposed by 81 German divisions.
On the Soviet-German front, military operations were carried out with the greatest intensity and spatial scope. Out of 1418 days, active battles went on for 1320 days. On the North African front, respectively, out of 1068 days, 309 were active, on the Italian of 663 days - 49.
The spatial scope of the Eastern Front was: along the front 4 - 6 thousand km, which was four times greater than the North African, Italian and Western European fronts combined.
The Red Army defeated 507 Nazi divisions and 100 divisions of its allies - 3.5 times more than the allies on all fronts of World War II. On the Soviet-German front, the German armed forces suffered more than 73 percent of losses. Here the main part of the Wehrmacht military equipment was destroyed: about 75 percent of aircraft (70 thousand), tanks and assault guns (about 50 thousand), artillery pieces (167 thousand).
The continuous strategic offensive of the Soviet army in 1943-1945 shortened the duration of the war, saved millions of British and American lives, and created favorable conditions for our allies in Europe.
In addition to its territory, the USSR liberated 47 percent of the territory of Europe (the Allies liberated 27 percent, 26 percent of European territory was liberated by the joint efforts of the USSR and the Allies).
The Soviet Union abolished fascist domination over most of the enslaved peoples, preserving their statehood and historically fair borders. If we consider the current state of Europe (separate Bosnia, Ukraine, etc.), then the USSR liberated 16 countries, the allies - 9 countries (jointly - 6 countries).
The total population of the countries liberated by the USSR is 123 million, the allies liberated 110 million, and almost 90 million people were liberated through joint efforts.
Thus, it was the Soviet army that ensured the victorious course and outcome of the war, defended the peoples of Europe and the world from Nazi enslavement.
Severity of loss
The Soviet Union made the greatest contribution to the armed struggle, defeated the main forces of the Nazi bloc, and ensured the complete and unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan. And the number of our losses in World War II is several times greater than the losses of other countries (even combined) - 27 million Soviet citizens against 427 thousand people in the United States, 412 thousand people in Great Britain, 5 million people in Germany.
During the liberation of Hungary, our losses amounted to 140,004 people (112,625 people died), and almost the same in Czechoslovakia. In Romania - about 69 thousand people, in Yugoslavia - 8 thousand people, in Austria - 26 thousand people, in Norway - more than 1 thousand people, in Finland - about 2 thousand people. During the fighting in Germany (including East Prussia), the Soviet army lost 101,961 people (92,316 dead).
In addition to the 27 million dead, tens of millions of our citizens were injured and maimed. On June 22, 1941, there were 4,826,907 servicemen in the Red Army and Navy according to the list. During the four years of the war, another 29,574,900 people were mobilized, and in total, together with the personnel, 34 million 476 thousand 752 people were involved in the army, navy and military formations of other departments. For comparison: in Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1939, there were 24.6 million German men aged 15 to 65.
Huge damage has been done to the health of several generations, the standard of living of the population and the birth rate have fallen sharply. During the war years, millions of people experienced physical and moral suffering.
Huge damage has been done to the national economy. Our country has lost a third of the national wealth. 1,710 cities and towns, more than 70 thousand villages, 6 million buildings, 32 thousand enterprises, 65 thousand km of railways were destroyed. The war devastated the treasury, prevented the creation of new values, and led to negative consequences in the economy, psychology, and morality.
Western propagandists deliberately hush up or distort all these facts, attributing the decisive contribution to the victory to the USA and Great Britain, in order to belittle the role of our country in the international arena. Nothing personal just business.
Each country contributed to the victory over German fascism. This historical mission determines the authority of the state in the post-war world, its political weight in resolving international issues. Therefore, no one is allowed to forget or distort the exceptional role of our country in the Second World War and the victory over German fascism.
In the spring of 1944 there was a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War. On March 26, 1944, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal Ivan Konev, during the Uman-Botoshansky operation, reached the Prut River - the state border of the USSR and Romania. In honor of this event, an artillery salute was given in Moscow.
The troops of the Red Army began the liberation of Europe from the "brown plague". More than 1 million Soviet soldiers gave their lives in the struggle to save the enslaved European peoples.
Almost simultaneously with the beginning of the offensive operations of the Red Army in Europe, the allies of the USSR - the USA, England and Great Britain - opened a second front. On June 6, 1944, Anglo-American troops launched Operation Overlord, landing in Normandy.
Romania: request for help
As a result of the Iasi-Kishinev operation, carried out from August 20 to 29, 1944, the German-Romanian group of troops was destroyed and the territory of Moldova was liberated. The crushing victory of the Red Army became the impetus for the overthrow of the pro-fascist regime of Ion Antonescu in Romania. On August 23, an uprising was raised in the country, as a result of which the dictator Antonescu was arrested and a new government was formed. The new authorities announced the withdrawal of Romania from the war on the side of Germany, the acceptance of peaceful conditions, and also asked the USSR for military assistance. On August 31, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian entered Bucharest. On September 12, 1944, in Moscow, the Soviet government signed an armistice agreement with Romania.
Bulgaria: with hope for the Russians
The liberation of Bulgaria passed almost bloodlessly during the Bulgarian operation, carried out on September 5-9, 1944. Formally, Bulgaria did not participate in the war against the USSR because of the sympathy of the country's population for the Russians, who liberated the country from the Ottoman yoke in 1878. Nevertheless, the country was headed by a pro-fascist government, the Bulgarian army served as the occupying troops in Greece and Yugoslavia, and the German troops used the entire transport infrastructure of the country. On September 8, the advanced units of the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and the Black Sea Fleet entered Bulgaria without encountering resistance.
On September 9, a popular uprising took place in the country, the pro-fascist government was overthrown and the government of the Fatherland Front was formed. Subsequently, it declared war on Germany and its ally, Hungary.
On the picture: Residents of Sofia greet the units of the Soviet Army that entered the city, November 20, 1944.
Yugoslavia: together with the partisans
On April 6, 1941, Nazi troops invaded Yugoslavia; on April 17, the country capitulated. On July 8, 1941, the People's Liberation War of Yugoslavia began against the Nazi invaders, which was expressed in a mass partisan movement. It had the same significance as the Great Patriotic War in the history of Russia.
The population of the country sympathized with the Russians and the USSR. The Soviet Union sent instructors to the fraternal people of Yugoslavia to teach military affairs.
On September 28, during the Belgrade operation, the Red Army launched an assault on Belgrade, in which Yugoslav partisans also participated. October 20, 1944 the capital of Yugoslavia was completely liberated from the invaders.
On the picture: The commander of the rifle battalion, Major V. Romanenko, tells the Yugoslav partisans and residents of the village of Starchevo about the military affairs of the young scout corporal Viktor Zhayvoronka, September 15, 1944.
Norway: royal recognition
Northern Norway was liberated as a result of the Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operation, in which the troops of the Karelian Front and the Northern Fleet of the USSR Navy took part in northern Norway from October 7 to 29, 1944.
In Norway, the Germans established a strict occupation regime; they used the country's territory as a military base for operations against the northern allied convoys, thanks to which Lend-Lease deliveries were made to the USSR. The Soviet troops were to liberate the Arctic (the cities of Luostari and Pechenga) and Kirkenes in Northern Norway from the Nazis.
On October 18, 1944, soldiers of the Red Army landed in Norway. On October 25, during fierce fighting, Kirkenes was liberated.
“We followed with admiration and enthusiasm the heroic and victorious struggle of the Soviet Union against our common enemy,” noted Norwegian King Haakon VII in his radio speech on October 26, 1944. “It is the duty of every Norwegian to give maximum support to our Soviet ally.”
On the picture: Northern Fleet. Boats with Soviet paratroopers go to the shores of Northern Norway, October 15, 1944. Reproduction TASS.
The Baltics: a strategic breakthrough
Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia were liberated from the Nazis during the Belarusian (June 23 - August 29, 1944) and Baltic (September 14 - November 24, 1944) offensive operations.
On July 13, 1944, Vilnius was liberated from the Nazi invaders. Tallinn was liberated on September 22, and the entire territory of Estonia by September 26, 1944. Soviet troops entered Riga on October 15, 1944, and by October 22 most of Latvia had been cleared of the invaders.
Having lost the Baltic States, the Wehrmacht lost a profitable strategic area, which served as an important industrial, raw material and food base for the Germans.
On the picture: Soviet infantry during an offensive southeast of the city of Klaipeda, October 26, 1944.
Hungary: supported by volunteers
From October 29, 1944 to February 13, 1945, the Budapest offensive operation was carried out, in which the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts took part. Bloody battles for Budapest lasted a month and a half. The Budapest operation ended with the capture of SS Obergruppenführer Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch, who commanded a 188,000-strong group of German troops. Thus, Hungary ceased to participate in the war.
Hungarian volunteers fought in the ranks of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts - soldiers and officers of the Hungarian army who went over to the side of the Soviet troops.
On the picture: A boy in one of the liberated cities of Hungary with a soldier of the Red Army, March 1, 1945.
Poland: road to Berlin
Large industrial centers were located in Poland, which were of strategic importance for the Germans, so the Wehrmacht tried to create a powerful, in-depth defense in the country. Enemy resistance was broken during the Vistula-Oder strategic offensive operation, carried out by the forces of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts and lasting from January 12 to February 3, 1945.
Soldiers of the Polish Army fought side by side with the soldiers of the Red Army. It was they who, on January 17, 1945, were given the opportunity by the Soviet command to be the first to enter Warsaw completely destroyed and plundered by the Nazis.
Over 600,000 Soviet soldiers and officers gave their lives in 23 days of bloody battles for Poland. As a result of the Vistula-Oder operation, favorable conditions were created for an attack on Berlin, to which the Red Army approached at a distance of 60-70 km.
Austria: restoration of sovereignty
The Vienna offensive operation began on March 16, 1945 and lasted until April 15. The troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts and the Danube military flotilla participated in it.
Given that Vienna was the last frontier on the outskirts of Germany, the city was an impregnable fortress with anti-tank ditches and anti-personnel barriers. The fierce resistance of the German garrison was broken thanks to the courage and bravery of the paratroopers and the assault detachment of the marines of the Danube Flotilla. On the night of April 13-14, 1945, Vienna was completely cleared of the German garrison defending it. On April 27, a provisional government was established, promulgating a declaration of independence, which the country lost in 1938.
On the picture: An armored personnel carrier of the Red Army clears the streets of Vienna from the enemy. Austria, April 12, 1945.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA: INTERNATIONAL OPERATION
The Prague offensive operation, which lasted from May 6 to May 11, 1945, was the last in the course of the Great Patriotic War. Already after the signing of the surrender of fascist Germany in Czechoslovakia, a powerful grouping of troops of the Army Groups "Center" and "Austria", numbering about 900 thousand people, remained. In early May, anti-Nazi demonstrations began in various cities of Czechoslovakia, and on May 5, 1945, the Czech Resistance raised an armed uprising of the population of Prague. A mass exodus of Nazi troops from the city began. On May 7, Marshal of the USSR Ivan Konev gave the order to pursue the enemy. On May 8, the German garrison in Prague capitulated, and on May 9, the Red Army entered Prague. Within a few hours, the city was cleared of the remnants of German troops.
As a result of the Prague operation, about 860 thousand German soldiers and officers surrendered. The soldiers and officers of the USSR, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Poland participated in the liberation of Czechoslovakia from the Nazis.
The beginning of 1944 was marked by major offensive operations by the Soviet troops in the southern and northern sections of the Soviet-German front. Ukraine and Crimea were liberated, and the blockade of Leningrad that lasted 900 days was lifted. In the spring of this year, Soviet troops reached the state border of the USSR for more than 400 km, approached the borders of Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Romania. Continuing the defeat of the enemy, they began to liberate the countries of Eastern Europe. Next to the Soviet soldiers, units of the 1st Czechoslovak brigade under the command of L. Svoboda and the 1st Polish division named after L. Svoboda, formed during the war years on the territory of the USSR, fought for the freedom of their peoples. T. Kosciuszko under the command of 3. Berling.
At this time, the Allies finally opened a second front in Western Europe. On June 6, 1944, American and British troops landed in Normandy, on the northern coast of France.
The bridgehead between the cities of Cherbourg and Caen was occupied by 40 divisions with a total strength of up to 1.5 million people. The Allied forces were commanded by the American General D. Eisenhower. Two and a half months after the landing, the Allies began to advance deep into French territory. They were opposed by about 60 understaffed German divisions. At the same time, resistance detachments launched an open struggle against the German army in the occupied territory. On August 19, an uprising began in Paris against the troops of the German garrison. General de Gaulle, who arrived in France with the Allied troops (by that time he was proclaimed head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic), fearing the "anarchy" of the mass liberation struggle, insisted that the French tank division of Leclerc be sent to Paris. On August 25, 1944, this division entered Paris, which was practically liberated by that time by the rebels.
Having liberated France and Belgium, where in a number of provinces the Resistance forces also undertook armed actions against the invaders, by September 11, 1944, the Allied troops reached the German border.
At that time, the frontal offensive of the Red Army was taking place on the Soviet-German front, as a result of which the countries of Eastern and Central Europe were liberated.
Dates and events
Fighting in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe in 1944-1945. 1944
July 17 - Soviet troops crossed the border with Poland; released Chelm, Lublin; in the liberated territory, the power of the new government, the Polish Committee of National Liberation, began to assert itself.
August 1 - the beginning of the uprising against the invaders in Warsaw; this performance, prepared and directed by the government in exile in London, was defeated by the beginning of October, despite the heroism of its participants; by order of the German command, the population was expelled from Warsaw, and the city itself was destroyed.
August 23 - the overthrow of the Antonescu regime in Romania, a week later, Soviet troops entered Bucharest.
September - Soviet troops entered the territory of Bulgaria. nine
September - anti-fascist uprising in Bulgaria, coming to power of the government of the Fatherland Front.
October 6 - Soviet troops and units of the Czechoslovak Corps entered the territory of Czechoslovakia.
October 20 - The troops of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia and the Red Army liberated Belgrade.
January - the troops of the Red Army and the Polish Army liberated Warsaw. January 29 - Soviet troops crossed the German border in the Poznan region.
February 13 - Red Army troops take Budapest.April - American units entered the territory of Czechoslovakia.
Analyze the timeline of events. Determine which military and political forces behind them participated in the liberation of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe.
Many thousands of Soviet soldiers gave their lives for the liberation of European countries. In Romania, 69 thousand soldiers and officers died, in Poland - about 600 thousand, in Czechoslovakia - more than 140 thousand, and about the same in Hungary. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers died in other, including opposing, armies. They fought on different sides of the front, but they were similar in one thing: no one wanted to die, especially in the last months and days of the war.
In the course of liberation in the countries of Eastern Europe, the question of power acquired paramount importance. The pre-war governments of a number of countries were in exile and now sought to return to leadership. But new governments and local authorities appeared in the liberated territories. They were created on the basis of the organizations of the National (People's) Front, which arose during the war years as an association of anti-fascist forces. The organizers and most active participants in the national fronts were communists and social democrats. The programs of the new governments envisaged not only the elimination of occupational and reactionary, pro-fascist regimes, but also broad democratic transformations in political life and socio-economic relations. eight.
