In January 1944, Soviet troops launched a new offensive, during which the blockade of Leningrad was finally lifted on January 27 (Leningrad (commander - L.A. Govorov) and Volkhov (commander - K.A. Meretskov) fronts). In February-March, the armies of the 1st Ukrainian (commander - N.F. Vatutin) and the 2nd Ukrainian (commander - I.S. Konev) fronts defeated the enemy's Korsun-Shevchenko grouping. Continuing the offensive, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in early February liberated the regional centers of Ukraine Lutsk and Rivne, and the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front (commander - R. Ya . Malinovsky) of the front on February 22 captured Krivoy Rog.

On March 15, the spring offensive began in the South-Western direction in the sector from Lutsk to the mouth of the Dnieper. Ternopil, Vinnitsa, Chernivtsi were liberated.

On March 26, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, having crossed the Dniester, crossed the state border along the Prut River and entered the territory of Romania.

At the same time, the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front (commander - F.I. Tolbukhin) began the liberation of the Crimea. The main blow was dealt from the Sivash bridgehead. On April 15, Soviet troops reached the outer contour of the fortifications of Sevastopol. After two days of artillery preparation, the assault on Sevastopol began on May 7, and on May 9 the city was liberated. The fighting in the Crimea ended on May 12 with the encirclement of a significant enemy grouping at Cape Khersones.

As a result of a four-month military campaign, 329 thousand square kilometers of Soviet territory were liberated, more than 170 enemy divisions numbering up to 1 million people were defeated.

After the end of hostilities in the Crimea, the Soviet command begins to regroup troops, replenish personnel, weapons, ammunition and fuel, preparing for the summer military campaign.

The summer offensive of the Soviet troops began on June 10 on the Karelian Isthmus. As a result of the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk operation, the troops of the Leningrad (commander - L.A. Govorov) and Karelian (commander - K.A. Meretskov) fronts broke through the Mannerheim Line, and on June 20 Vyborg was liberated. Finland ceased hostilities on the side of Germany, and in September 1944 signed an armistice agreement with the USSR.

On June 23, 1944, an offensive began in Belarus (Operation Bagration). As a result of the offensive of the 1st (commander - K.K. Rokossovsky), 2nd (commander - G.F. Zakharov), 3rd (commander - I.D. Chernyakhovsky) Belarusian and 1st Baltic (commander - I.Kh. Bagramyan) of the fronts, the "Center" grouping was defeated. During this military operation, German groups were surrounded near Vitebsk, Bobruisk, Orsha and Mogilev. Developing the offensive, the tank corps of the 1st and 3rd Belorussian fronts liberated Minsk on July 3. On July 13, Vilnius was liberated. Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front on July 20 crossed the river. Western Bug and set foot on the territory of Poland. The troops of the 1st Baltic Front, having liberated Siauliai on July 27, reached the Gulf of Riga on July 31.

On July 13, the 1st Ukrainian Front went on the offensive and defeated the Northern Ukraine grouping (Lvov-Sandomierz operation), on July 27 Lvov was liberated, in early August, Soviet troops reached the river. Vistula, forcing it in a number of sections.

On August 20-29, an offensive was launched in Moldova. The 2nd (commander - R.Ya. Malinovsky) and 3rd (commander - F.I. Tolbukhin) Ukrainian fronts liberated Chisinau (Iasi-Kishinev operation). On August 31, Soviet troops entered the capital of Romania - Bucharest.

In September-November, the troops of the three Baltic and Leningrad fronts liberated almost the entire territory of the Baltic states from the Nazis, defeating 26 and destroying 3 German divisions, as well as blocking 38 enemy divisions in Courland.

From October 7 to 29, the troops of the Karelian Front (commander - K.A. Meretskov) in cooperation with the forces of the Northern Fleet liberated the Arctic and the northern regions of Norway from the invaders (Petsamo-Kirkhenes operation).

By mid-autumn 1944, the border of the USSR was restored.

During the summer and autumn of 1944, on the Soviet-German front, the enemy lost 1.6 million people, 29 divisions and 22 brigades were defeated.

All-Russian October strike.

On October 6, a strike began in Moscow on the Kazan railway. On October 15, the strike became All-Russian. The strikers' demands: an 8-hour day, democratic freedoms, a Constituent Assembly, and so on.

In the course of the October strike movement, Soviets were actively created. In total, 55 Soviets were created in 1905. One of the first to form was the St. Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Deputies. At its first meeting - on October 13 in the building of the Technological Institute - only 40 people were present. G.S. was elected Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Council. Khrustalev - Nosar, deputies - L.D. Trotsky and A.L. Parvus.

At this time, two groups were fighting in the government camp. One of them was represented by the Governor-General of St. Petersburg D.F. Trepov, whose main idea was to fight the strikers through the use of military force. The infamous order of D.F. Trepov "Do not spare cartridges and do not give blank volleys" fully characterized his actions and beliefs. A prominent representative of another trend was S.Yu. Witte. He was a supporter of the alliance between the big bourgeoisie and tsarism. Despite the growth of the revolutionary movement and the apparent inability of the government to deal with the situation through force alone, Nicholas II hesitated. For several weeks, a commission of senior dignitaries met in Peterhof to develop a legal provision on new parliamentary institutions, but the participants in the meetings could not reach an agreement. Nicholas II held a series of meetings with confidants - Sokolsky, Budberg, Taneyev, Orlov, Heiden, Palen, Richter and Pobedonostsev, and, however, still hesitated. On October 8, he received a letter from Syu. Witte asking for an audience. Witte wrote a letter to the tsar saying that it was necessary to initiate reforms, since concessions from above are better than revolution. Yet the king hesitated. The uncle of the tsar, "Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, was summoned to Peterhof. On October 10, Witte was again received by the emperor, and in the presence of Alexandra Feodorovna he repeated his report again. But even after the repeated report, the sovereign did not give Witte any answer. Only on October 15, when Witte again arrived in Peterhof, this time with Nikolai Nikolaevich, who declared that he would shoot himself in front of the emperor if he did not sign the Manifesto, Nicholas II finally gave in. On October 17, he signed the Manifesto, which proclaimed political freedoms and the promise of elections in State Duma.

The main provisions of the Manifesto of October 17, 1905 were as follows: “1) to grant the population the unshakable foundations of civil freedom on the basis of real inviolability of the person, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and associations; 2) without suspending the planned elections to the State Duma, immediately draw to the participation in the Duma ... all classes of the population who are now completely deprived of voting rights ...; 3) to establish as an unshakable rule that no law could take force without the approval of the State Duma and that the elected from the people should be provided with the opportunity to really participate in the supervision of the regularity of the actions of the authorities appointed by us "(Yu.Yu. Ierusalimsky. Revolution 1905-1907 in Russia, Textbook, Yaroslavl, 1995, p. 21).

On October 19, a decree was published on measures to strengthen unity in the activities of the highest authorities. The Council of Ministers was transformed into a permanent, highest government institution with a special chairman in addition to the emperor. SJ was appointed Chairman of the Council. Witte. The Council was entrusted with the unification of the activities of all departments on issues of legislation and higher state administration. All bills before entering the State Duma were to be discussed in the Council of Ministers. The council also oversaw the activities of all ministries. The only exceptions were questions of foreign policy and defense and the department of the imperial court and destinies.

The manifesto provided an opportunity to create legal parties, which the liberals immediately took advantage of.

Party formation.

On October 12-18, the founding congress to Constitutional Democratic Party (the Cadets). The leaders of the Cadets, especially P.N. Milyukov, declared their party to be non-class, trying to find compromise solutions to the most pressing issues in their program documents. The program of the Cadets provided for the need to fight for the equality of all before the law, the abolition of estates, freedom of conscience, political freedoms, personal immunity, freedom of movement and travel abroad, the free development of local languages ​​along with Russian, the Constituent Assembly, the development of a system of local self-government, the preservation of state unity, the abolition of the death penalty, the alienation of part of the landed estates, the entire state land fund and its provision to small and landless peasants, freedom of workers' unions, the right to strike, an 8-hour working day, labor protection for women and children, workers' insurance, freedom of teaching, reduction of wages for education, universal free compulsory primary education, governmental structure determined by the Basic Law.

Union of October 17 (Octobrists) was a much more socially and politically oriented party - it included representatives of the big bourgeoisie and bourgeois landowners. Leader - A.I. Guchkov. The party fought to stop the revolution and pinned its main hopes on the Duma.

Is issued and black-hundred motion. One of the first organizations of the Black Hundreds - the "Union of the Russian People" - arose in October 1905, had more than 900 branches. At the head were A.I. Dubrovin and V.M. Purishkevich "Soyuz" opposed the revolutionary intellectuals and foreigners, especially against the Jews.

The Black Hundreds begin a mass beating and murder of revolutionaries and advanced workers, disperse rallies and meetings, provoke nationalist pogroms. In less than a month, they killed about 4 thousand and mutilated more than 10 thousand people.

On October 22, the Moscow Citywide Party Conference decided to stop the strike in an organized manner. This was preceded by the murder by the Black Hundreds on October 18 N.E. Bauman. Although the strike movement continues in other cities, the strike has subsided.

Revolts in the army and navy.

Under the influence of the All-Russian October strike, actions began in the army and navy.

On October 26-27, 1905, an uprising of soldiers and sailors broke out in Kronstadt (9 naval crews of 12-13 thousand sailors and 1.5 thousand soldiers rebelled). The uprising was quickly suppressed.

November 11-16 - the uprising of the sailors in Sevastopol (demands - the release of all political prisoners, the abolition of the death penalty, complete freedom outside the service, the inviolability of sailors' deputies, polite treatment of officers with lower ranks, etc.). On November 14, the cruiser Ochakov rebelled. On November 15, a fire broke out on the Ochakovo, Lieutenant Schmidt was captured.

December armed uprising in Moscow.

On December 7, 1905, the Moscow Council called for a general political strike, which soon developed into an uprising.

For the general leadership of the uprising, an Executive Commission was allocated, which included V.L. Shantser, M.I. Vasiliev-Yuzhin and M.N. Lyadov. But Shantser and Vasiliev-Yuzhin were arrested on December 8, and the uprising was deprived of a centralized leadership from the very beginning.

On December 11, the workers of the Prokhorovskaya-Trekhgornaya manufactory, the Shmit factory and several other enterprises organized a military combat headquarters for leading the uprising. It was headed by Z.Ya. Litvin-Sedoy.

The rebels rather quickly - on December 12 - were forced out of the center of Moscow to the outskirts. On December 13, the fighting actually concentrated on Presnya, in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bPresnensky and Gorbaty bridges. On December 15, the Semyonovsky regiment arrived in Moscow along the Nikolaevskaya railway. He captured the Yaroslavl and Kazan stations. On December 17, the assault on Presnya began.

On December 18, the Moscow Soviet decided to end the uprising. On December 19, the last rebels were captured in the area of ​​​​the Prokhorovskaya manufactory by the Semenovsky regiment.

During the suppression of the uprising, according to incomplete data, 1059 people were killed, including 137 women and 86 children.

The change in the correlation of political forces compelled the Bolsheviks to once again turn to the question of the party's tactics in the revolution.

On April 10-25, 1906, the IV Congress of the RSDLP was held, which received the name "Unifying". The issues of the congress were the revision of the agrarian program and unification with the Mensheviks; The RSDLP merges with the Social Democrats of Poland and Lithuania.

Witte's presidency. New electoral law.

The defeat of the Moscow uprising gives hope for the suppression of the revolution by punitive measures. And the government is taking such measures quite actively. At the same time, it is obvious that repression alone cannot stop a broad social movement.

After his appointment on October 19, 1905, Syu. Witte to the post of chairman of the reformed Council of Ministers, Chief Prosecutor K.N. Pobedonostsev (A.D. Obolensky was appointed in his place), Minister of Internal Affairs A.G. Bulygin, Minister of Public Education V.G. Glazov.

On October 21, 1905, an amnesty decree was signed for political crimes. Under this decree, persons serving sentences for crimes of a decade ago were exempted from further punishment, under some articles the sentence was reduced by half, those sentenced to indefinite hard labor or the death penalty were sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. Persons who took part in strikes were amnestied. At the same time, on the initiative of the SJ. Witte was sent punitive expeditions - A.N. Meller-Zakomelsky and P.K. Rennenkampf to Siberia, G.A. Mina - to Moscow. The Krasnoyarsk armed uprising, uprisings in Irkutsk, Harbin were crushed, Chita was occupied. Only in ten known trials of the military court during the expedition of General P.K. Rennenkampf received 77 death sentences, 15 penal servitude and 18 prison sentences.

At the same time, the development of laws begins to consolidate the "freedoms" given by the Manifesto. In particular, on November 24, 1905, a decree was signed on the new "Temporary Rules for Time-based Publications", which abolished preliminary censorship of periodicals, and on April 26, 1906, a decree on "Temporary Rules for Non-Time Printing", eliminating censorship of non-periodicals. But there is also an obvious duality in this matter. On the basis of the decree of March 28, 1906 "On the amendment and addition of the Provisional Rules on the Periodical Press" in 1906, 370 periodicals were closed.

On December 11, 1905, an electoral law was adopted, according to which a workers' curia was added to the landowning, urban and peasant curia. Three-stage elections were established for workers. The right to vote was given to workers (men) from enterprises with 50 to 1000 employees. They elected one commissioner. Large enterprises elected one commissioner for every thousand workers. The representatives of the whole province gathered at the provincial assembly of delegates from the workers, at which electors were elected. In the city curia, the voters included small artisans, tenants, and retired officials. The number of places for the peasant curia was increased. The curial system equated 1 vote of the landowners to 3 votes of the urban bourgeoisie, 15 votes of peasants and 45 votes of workers.

On February 20, 1906, the "Institution of the State Duma" was published. It determined the 5-year term of office of the Duma, but the tsar could dissolve the Duma ahead of schedule and call new elections, he also determined the duration of the sessions of the Duma. A group of deputies of at least 50 people was given the right to make inquiries to the ministers. On the same day, a decree "On the reorganization of the State Council" was issued. This decree reformed the State. Council to the upper legislative chamber, provided him with a legislative initiative, excluding questions of changing the Fundamental Laws. The State Council had the right to approve or reject laws passed by the State Duma. The number of members of the State Council was significantly increased (up to 190 people). Some of them were appointed by the emperor, some were elected on the basis of a high property qualification by provincial zemstvo assemblies, noble societies, exchange committees, merchant councils and Orthodox clergy; The State Council also included representatives of universities. Ministers attended meetings of the State Council ex officio, but they had the right to vote only as members of the State Council. Members of the State Council, appointed by the emperor, were dismissed only at their exclusive request. D.M. became the Chairman of the State Council instead of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich. Solsky.

The next day after the resignation of S.Yu. Witte (April 22, 1906), on April 23, 1906, the “Basic State Laws of the Russian Empire” were published, in the development of which he took an active part. After the resignation of S.Yu. Witte, I.L. is appointed in his place. Goremykin, and P.A. Stolypin.

These reshuffles marked the transition to a harder line of suppression of the revolutionary movement.

In 1944, attempts were no longer made on a large-scale offensive along the entire front, but operations were successively carried out in various sectors. Such a transfer of strikes from one direction to another forced the German command to transfer forces from one sector of the front to another, completely depriving it of the initiative. The fighting qualities of the personnel of the spacecraft have grown, the soldiers have accumulated experience, skillfully acted in the offensive, were burning with the desire to expel the invaders from their native land as soon as possible. At the beginning of 1944, simultaneously with the de-siege of Leningrad, an operation was developed to liberate the Right-Bank Ukraine. In mid-March, our troops approached the foothills of the Carpathians. On March 25, formations of the 2-head of the Ukrainian Front reached the State Border of the USSR. In June 1944, Operation Bagration2 was successfully carried out in Belarus. On July 3, Minsk was liberated. Successful operations on the Karelian Isthmus led to the withdrawal from the war of Germany's ally - Finland. In May 1945, the Baltic states were liberated. By mid-autumn 1944, the USSR border was restored almost along its entire length.

Anti-Hitler coalition

The formation of the anti-Hitler coalition began immediately after the start of the Second World War. At an international conference in London in September 1941, which was attended by representatives of many states, the "Atlantic Charter" was approved, which contained the goals of the struggle against fascist aggression.

The formation of the coalition took place in January 1942 after the victory near Moscow. In Washington, 26 states signed the Declaration of the United Nations, in which they pledged to use their resources and not conclude a separate peace. Many states were forced to take this step to cooperate with the USSR in the interests of self-preservation.

November - December 1, 1943 A conference was held in Tehran with the participation of the heads of government of England (Churchel), the USA (Roosevelt) and the USSR (Stalin). The main issue is the opening of a second front. Agreement - to open the front in the North. France in May 1944.

In February 1945, the Crimean Conference took place in Yalta. The USSR took upon itself the obligation after the surrender of Germany to start a war with Japan.

July -2 August 1945 a conference was held in Potsdam. USA (Truman, Roosevelt died), England (Attley, Churchill re-elected). Issues - problems of the post-war structure of Germany and reparations from it. A Council of Foreign Ministers was created, which prepared a peace treaty with Germany and its allies. An international military tribunal was established.

Stalin confirmed that he would start a war with Japan 3 months after the Victory.

Liberation of the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe

July 1944, the Red Army entered the territory of Poland. On August 1, the Polish government in exile and its supporters raised an uprising in Warsaw. On October 2, the uprising was brutally suppressed by the Nazis. Our troops, standing on the eastern bank of the Vistula, did not interfere in the internal affairs of Poland.

In August we entered the territory of Romania. An uprising of patriots broke out in Bucharest, who liberated the capital before the arrival of the KA and the Romanian Volunteer Division. Vladimirescu.

Bulgaria was at war only with the USA and England, the USSR did not declare war. On September 5, the USSR declared war on Bulgaria. However, armed clashes on the territory of the country were avoided. Together with the Soviet troops, the Bulgarian army under the leadership of Dimitrov drove the enemy out of Bulgaria.

On the territory of Yugoslavia, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (about 400 thousand people) under the command of I. Broz Tito waged an active struggle against the enemy. At the end of September, at the request of the Yugoslavs, the spacecraft participated only in the assault on Belgrade. NOAU independently cleared its territory of the enemy.

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The fierce resistance of the Hungarian troops with the help of the Wehrmacht was met by the army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front on the territory of Hungary. The government of the dictator Horthy has firmly tied itself to the Hitler regime. Individual units were surrounded, our troops were tired, broke away from their bases, and suffered heavy losses. In the second half of November, the 3rd Ukrainian Front was transferred to help, which, having crossed the Danube, connected with the 2nd in the Budapest area. The struggle for the capital of Hungary continued until mid-February 1945. Only by the beginning of April 1945 did the fighting in Hungary end.

In September-November 1944, the KA provided effective assistance to the anti-fascist uprising in the Carpathians. The Transcarpathian regions of Ukraine and part of the regions of Slovakia were liberated. However, units of the spacecraft could not completely overcome the Carpathian borders. .The anti-fascist uprising in most of Slovakia was crushed. On May 5, 1945, an uprising began in Prague, to suppress which the Nazis abandoned regular troops. The rebels turned to the KA for help. Two tank armies were sent to Prague. On May 9, Soviet troops entered Prague.

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In early April, our troops entered the territory of Austria. The command of our troops appealed to the Austrian people that our army has nothing against the civilian population and does not want bloodshed. On April 17, Vienna was taken by storm. The inhabitants of the city met our soldiers as liberators.

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During the Vistula-Oder operation (January 12 - February 3, 1945), which began 8 days earlier, because. the allies were threatened with defeat in the Ardennes, on January 17 Warsaw was liberated. In February, the spacecraft units crossed the Oder. The fighting in the captured bridgeheads was unusually fierce. At the same time, a military operation began in East Prussia. Pal seemed impregnable city of Koenigsberg.

COMBAT ACTIONS 1944 - 1945. THE DESTRUCTION OF FASCIST GERMANY AND JAPAN

Lecture 57

In January 1944, Soviet troops launched a new offensive, during which On January 27, the blockade of Leningrad was finally lifted.(Leningrad (commander - L.A. Govorov) and Volkhov (commander - K.A. Meretskov) fronts). In February-March, the armies of the 1st Ukrainian (commander - N.F. Vatutin) and the 2nd Ukrainian (commander - I.S. Konev) fronts defeated the enemy's Korsun-Shevchenko grouping. Continuing the offensive, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front liberated the regional centers of Ukraine in early February. Lutsk and Rivne, and the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian (commander - R.Ya. Malinovsky) Front on February 22 captured Krivoy Rog.

On March 15, the spring offensive began in the South-Western direction in the sector from Lutsk to the mouth of the Dnieper. Ternopil, Vinnitsa, Chernivtsi were liberated.

March 26 troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, having crossed the Dniester, reached the state border along the Prut River and entered the territory of Romania.

At the same time, the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front (commander - F.P. Tolbukhin) began the liberation of the Crimea. The main blow was dealt from the Sivash bridgehead. On April 15, Soviet troops reached the outer contour of the fortifications of Sevastopol. After two days of artillery preparation, the assault on Sevastopol began on May 7, and on May 9 the city was liberated. The fighting in the Crimea ended on May 12 with the encirclement of a significant enemy grouping at Cape Khersones.

As a result of a four-month military campaign, 329 thousand sq. km Soviet territory, destroyed over 170 enemy divisions of up to 1 million people.

After the end of hostilities in the Crimea, the Soviet command begins to regroup troops, replenish personnel, weapons, supplies and fuel, preparing for the summer military campaign.

The summer offensive of the Soviet troops began on June 10 on the Karelian Isthmus. As a result of the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk operation, the troops of the Leningrad (commander - L.A. Govorov) and Karelian (commander - K.A. Meretskov) fronts broke through "Mannerheim line"On June 20, Vyborg was liberated . Finland stopped hostilities on the side of Germany, and in September 1944 signed an armistice agreement with the USSR.

On June 23, 1944, an offensive began in Belarus (Operation Bagration). As a result of the offensive of the 1st (commander - K.K. Rokossovsky), 2nd (commander - G.F. Zakharov), 3rd (commander - I.D. Chernyakhovsky) Belarusian and 1st Baltic (commander - I.Kh Bagramyan) of the fronts, the "Center" grouping was defeated. During this military operation, German groups were surrounded near Vitebsk, Bobruisk, Orsha and Mogilev. Developing the offensive, the tank corps of the 1st and 3rd Belorussian fronts liberated Minsk. On July 13, Vilnius was liberated. Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front on July 20 crossed the river. Western Bug and entered the territory of Poland. The troops of the 1st Baltic Front, having liberated Siauliai on July 27, reached the Gulf of Riga on July 31.

July 13 the 1st Ukrainian Front went on the offensive and defeated the Northern Ukraine grouping (Lvov-Sandomierz operation), Lvov was liberated on July 27, in early August, Soviet troops reached the river. Vistula, forcing it in a number of sections.

The 2nd (commander - R.Ya. Malinovsky) and 3rd (commander F.I. Tolbukhin) Ukrainian fronts liberated Chisinau (Iasi - Chisinau operation). On August 31, Soviet troops entered the capital of Romania - Bucharest.

In September-November, the troops of the three Baltic and Leningrad fronts liberated almost the entire territory of the Baltic states from the Nazis, defeated 26 and destroyed 3 German divisions, and also blocked 38 enemy divisions in Courland.

From October 7 to 29, the troops of the Karelian Front (commander - K.A. Meretskov) in cooperation with the forces of the Northern Fleet liberated the Arctic and the northern regions of Norway from the invaders (Petsamo-Kirkhenes operation).

One of the largest operations in 1944 and the war as a whole can rightly be called the Belarusian operation (code name "Bagration"). About 2.4 million soldiers and officers took part in it.

The offensive launched on June 23 was carried out on a front more than 1000 km long and up to 600 km deep. Soviet troops inflicted several powerful blows on the enemy, broke through his defenses in a 500 km sector, and advanced 150 km in the first 6 days.

Near Vitebsk and Bobruisk, 11 fascist divisions were surrounded and defeated, and to the east of Minsk - a 100,000-strong enemy group.

At the end of July, the whole of Belarus was liberated from the Nazi troops. The liberation of Lithuania and Latvia began.

On August 17, Soviet troops reached the border with Germany. Even earlier, they began the liberation of Poland. The offensive operation "Bagration" ended with a brilliant success.

The fascist army group "Center" was defeated, the front line was thrown back to the west by 600 km. In July, there was also a broken enemy defense in Karelia, the liberated cities of Vyborg and Petrozavodsk, and the liquidated danger of Leningrad being entrained from the north.

In September, Finland withdrew from the war. During the Belarusian operation, an offensive began in the western regions of Ukraine. During the crescent of the offensive, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal I.S. Konev defeated the hostile army group "Northern Ukraine" and advanced more than 200 km, liberated Lvov, all the western regions of Ukraine, southeastern regions of Poland and captured a large bridgehead beyond the Vistula near the city of Sandomierz.

As a result of the Iasi-Kishinev offensive operation from August 20 to 27, Moldavia was liberated. Romania withdrew from the fascist bloc and declared war on Germany.

In the north, the troops of the Karelian Front, interacting with ships and units of the Northern Fleet, defeated the 20th mountain army of the Nazis, liberated the port of Petsamo (Pechenga), all areas of the Soviet North captured by the enemy and entered Norway.

The decisive victories of the Soviet Army in 1944 were of great military and political significance. The territory of the USSR was completely liberated from the hostile occupation, the state border was renewed from the Barents to the Black Sea.

All the strategic groupings of the enemy's TROOPS were defeated. In the summer and autumn of 1944, 96 enemy divisions and 24 brigades were destroyed or captured, 219 divisions and 22 brigades lost from 50 to 75 percent of their strength. In these battles, the Nazis lost 1.6 million soldiers and officers, a huge amount of military equipment.

Nazi Germany lost almost all of its allies and remained in complete isolation ...