- a set of defensive and offensive operations of the Soviet troops in the Great Patriotic War, carried out from September 30, 1941 to April 20, 1942 in the western strategic direction with the aim of defending Moscow and the Central Industrial Region, defeating the shock groups of German troops that threatened them. It included the strategic Moscow defensive operation (September 30 - December 5, 1941), the Moscow offensive operation (December 5, 1941 - January 7, 1942), the Rzhev-Vyazemsky operation (January 8 - April 20, 1942) and the front-line Toropetsko-Kholmsky operation (January 9 - February 6, 1942). The troops of the Kalinin, Western, Reserve, Bryansk, left wing of the North-Western and right wing of the South-Western fronts, troops air defense countries, Air Force. They were opposed german group armies "Center".
By the beginning of the Moscow battle, the situation for the Soviet troops was extremely difficult. The enemy deeply invaded the country, capturing the Baltic states, Belarus, Moldova, a significant part of Ukraine, blockaded Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), reached distant approaches to Moscow. After the failure of the plan to capture Moscow on the move in the first weeks of the war Hitler's command prepared a major offensive operation codenamed "Typhoon". The plan of the operation provided for dismembering the defense of the Soviet troops with three powerful strikes by tank groups from the areas of Dukhovshchina, Roslavl and Shostka in the eastern and northeastern directions, encircling and destroying Soviet troops in areas west of Vyazma and east of Bryansk. Then it was planned to capture Moscow from the north and south with strong mobile groups and, in cooperation with the troops advancing from the front, seize it.
The German Army Group Center, intended for the offensive, had 1.8 million people, over 14 thousand guns and mortars, 1.7 thousand tanks and 1390 aircraft. Soviet troops numbered 1.25 million people, 7.6 thousand guns and mortars, 990 tanks, 677 aircraft (including reserve air groups).
The offensive according to the plan "Typhoon" German- fascist troops began on September 30, 1941 in the Bryansk and October 2 in the Vyazma directions. Despite the stubborn resistance of the Soviet troops, the enemy broke through their defenses. On October 6, he went to the area west of Vyazma and surrounded four armies of the Western and Reserve (on October 10, merged with the Western) fronts there. With their actions in the environment, these armies pinned down 28 enemy divisions; 14 of them could not continue the offensive until mid-October.
A difficult situation also developed in the Bryansk Front. On October 3, the enemy captured Orel, and on October 6, Bryansk. On October 7, the troops of the front were surrounded. Breaking out of encirclement, the armies of the Bryansk Front were forced to withdraw. By the end of October, the Nazi troops reached the approaches to Tula.
On the Kalinin direction, the enemy launched an offensive on October 10 and captured the city of Kalinin (now Tver) on October 17. The troops of the Kalinin Front (created on October 17) stopped the advance of the enemy's 9th Army in the second half of October, taking up an enveloping position in relation to the left wing of Army Group Center.
By the beginning of November, the front passed along the line of Selizharovo, Kalinin, the Volga reservoir, along the rivers Ozerna, Nara, Oka and further Tula, Novosil. In mid-November, fighting began on the near approaches to Moscow. They were especially stubborn in the Volokolamsk-Istra direction. On November 23, Soviet troops left Klin. The enemy captured Solnechnogorsk, Yakhroma, Krasnaya Polyana. In late November - early December, German troops reached the Moscow-Volga canal, crossed the Nara River north and south of Naro-Fominsk, approached Kashira from the south, and captured Tula from the east. But they didn't go any further. November 27 in the Kashira region and November 29 north of the capital Soviet troops launched counterattacks on the southern and northern enemy groupings, on December 3-5 - counterattacks in the areas of Yakhroma, Krasnaya Polyana and Kryukov.
By persistent and active defense, the Red Army forced the fascist strike groups to disperse on a huge front, which led to the loss of offensive and maneuvering capabilities. Conditions were created for the transition of Soviet troops to the counteroffensive. The reserve armies began to advance into the zones of the forthcoming actions of the Red Army. The idea of the counter-offensive of the Soviet troops was to simultaneously defeat the most dangerous enemy strike groups that threatened Moscow from the north and south. The troops of the Western, Kalinin and right wing of the Southwestern (December 18, 1941 transformed into the Bryansk Front) fronts were involved in the Moscow offensive operation.
The counteroffensive began on December 5 with a blow from the left wing of the Kalinin Front. Waging intense battles, by January 7, Soviet troops reached the line of the Volga River to the northwest and east of Rzhev. They advanced 60-120 kilometers to the south and south-west, taking an enveloping position in relation to German troops located in front of the Western Front.
The armies of the right wing of the Western Front, which launched a counteroffensive on December 6, liberated Istra, Klin, Volokolamsk and pushed the enemy back 90-110 kilometers to the west, eliminating the threat of bypassing Moscow from the north. The armies of the left wing of the Western Front delivered powerful blows from several directions against the enemy's 2nd Panzer Army, which had penetrated deeply into the defenses. The fascist German command, fearing the encirclement of its troops east of Tula, began to withdraw them to the west. By the end of December 16, the immediate threat to Moscow was also eliminated from the south.
Right flank armies Southwestern Front during the offensive released up to 400 settlements and on December 17 they eliminated the Yelets ledge.
Continuing the offensive, by the beginning of January 1942, the Soviet troops pushed the enemy back 100-250 kilometers, inflicted heavy losses on his 38 divisions, and over 11 thousand settlements were liberated.
At the beginning of January 1942, Stavka Supreme High Command adopted a decision on the transition of Soviet troops to a general offensive near Leningrad, as well as in the western and southwestern directions. The troops of the western direction were tasked with encircling and defeating the main forces of Army Group Center.
The attack unfolded on vast space, was conducted in separate directions, and the fronts began operations in different times and in different conditions. On the westbound the troops of the Western and Kalinin fronts carried out the Rzhev-Vyazemskaya, and the left wing of the North-Western (from January 22 Kalinin) front - the Toropetsko-Kholmskaya operation, as a result of which the Germans were driven back from the capital by another 80-250 kilometers. Soviet troops penetrated deep into their defenses at the junction of Army Groups North and Center, disrupting operational interaction between them. However, it was not possible to encircle and destroy the main forces of Army Group Center.
Despite the incompleteness, the general offensive in the western direction achieved significant success. The enemy was pushed back 150-400 kilometers to the west, Moscow and Tula region, many areas of the Kalinin and Smolensk regions.
The enemy lost more than 500 thousand people killed, wounded and missing, 1.3 thousand tanks, 2.5 thousand guns and other equipment.
Germany suffered its first major defeat in World War II.
In the Battle of Moscow, Soviet troops also suffered significant losses. Dead Losses amounted to 936,644 people, sanitary - 898,689 people.
The outcome of the Battle of Moscow had enormous political and strategic consequences. happened psychological fracture among soldiers and civilian population: faith in victory strengthened, the myth of invincibility collapsed german army. The collapse of the plan lightning war("Barbarossa") gave rise to doubts about the successful outcome of the war, both among the German military-political leadership and among ordinary Germans.
The Moscow battle had a great international importance: it helped to strengthen anti-Hitler coalition, forced the governments of Japan and Turkey to refrain from entering the war on the side of Germany.
For the exemplary performance of combat missions during the Battle of Moscow and the valor and courage shown at the same time, about 40 units and formations received the title of Guards, 36 thousand Soviet soldiers were awarded orders and medals, of which 110 people were awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union. In 1944, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR established the medal "For the Defense of Moscow", which was awarded to more than one million defenders of the city.
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The battle for Pavlov's house is one of the brightest pages not only in the history of the defense of Stalingrad, but also in the entire Great Patriotic War. A handful of fighters repulsed the fierce attacks of the German army, preventing the Nazis from reaching the Volga. So far, there are questions in this episode that researchers cannot yet give exact answers to.
Who led the defense?
At the end of September 1942, a group of fighters of the 13th guards division led by Sergeant Yakov Pavlov, captured a four-story house on January 9th Square. A few days later, reinforcements arrived there - a machine-gun platoon under the command of Senior Lieutenant Ivan Afanasyev. The defenders of the house repelled the onslaught of the enemy for 58 days and nights and left only with the beginning of the counteroffensive of the Red Army.
There is an opinion that almost all these days the defense of the house was not led by Pavlov, but by Afanasiev. The first led the defense for the first few days until Afanasiev's unit arrived at the house as reinforcements. After that, the officer, as a senior in rank, took command.
This is confirmed by military reports, letters and memoirs of participants in the events. For example, Kamalzhan Tursunov - until recently, the last surviving defender of the house. In one of the interviews, he stated that it was not Pavlov who led the defense at all. Afanasiev, by virtue of his modesty, deliberately pushed himself into the background after the war.
With a fight or not?
It is also not completely clear whether Pavlov's group drove the Germans out of the house with a fight or whether the scouts entered an empty building. In his memoirs, Yakov Pavlov recalled that his soldiers were combing the entrances and noticed the enemy in one of the apartments. As a result of the short-lived battle, the enemy detachment was destroyed.
However, in post-war memories Battalion commander Aleksey Zhukov, who was following the operation to capture the house, denied Pavlov's words. According to him, the scouts went into an empty building. The same version is held by the chapter public organization"Children of military Stalingrad" Zinaida Selezneva.
There is an opinion that Ivan Afanasyev also mentioned the empty building in the original version of his memoirs. However, at the request of the censors, who forbade destroying the already established legend, the senior lieutenant was forced to confirm Pavlov's words that the Germans were in the building.
How many defenders?
Also, there is still no exact answer to the question of how many people defended the fortress house. AT different sources the number from 24 to 31 is mentioned. Volgograd journalist, poet and publicist Yuri Besedin in his book "A Shard in the Heart" said that the garrison in total consisted of 29 people.
Other figures were given by Ivan Afanasyev. In his memoirs, he claimed that in just over two months 24 Red Army soldiers took part in the battle for the house.
However, the lieutenant himself in his memoirs mentions some two cowards who wanted to desert, but were caught and shot by the defenders of the house. Afanasiev did not include the faint-hearted fighters among the defenders of the house on January 9 Square.
In addition, among the defenders, Afanasiev did not mention those who were not permanently in the house, but were periodically there during the battle. There were two of them: sniper Anatoly Chekhov and medical instructor Maria Ulyanova, who, if necessary, also took up arms.
"Lost" nationalities?
The defense of the house was held by people of many nationalities - Russians, Ukrainians, Georgians, Kazakhs and others. In Soviet historiography, the number nine nationalities was fixed. However, it is now being questioned.
Modern researchers claim that Pavlov's house was defended by representatives of 11 nations. Among others, Kalmyk Garya Khokholov and Abkhaz Alexei Sugba were in the house. It is believed that Soviet censorship cut the names of these fighters from the list of defenders of the house. Khokholov fell out of favor as a representative of the deported Kalmyk people. And Sukba, according to some reports, after Stalingrad was captured and went over to the side of the Vlasovites.
Why did Pavlov become a hero?
Yakov Pavlov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for the defense of the house named after him. Why Pavlov, and not Yakov Afanasiev, who, according to many, was the real head of the defense?
In his book Shard of the Heart, the Volgograd journalist and publicist Yuri Besedin noted that Pavlov was chosen for the role of the hero because the image of a soldier was more preferable to propaganda than an officer. The political conjuncture also allegedly intervened: the sergeant was in the party, while the senior lieutenant was non-partisan.
to prepare and conduct
Quizzes on the history of the Great Patriotic War.
The experience of holding contests "Review of the system and songs", from school to all-Russian, shows a significant increase in the participants of the project. More than 20 teams of 15-25 people per team participate in the Competition. Total time of the Competition is increased in connection with this up to 5 hours. In this regard, in order to fulfill the goals and objectives of the Competition, as well as to organize competitive time and space, a Quiz on the history of the Great Patriotic War was organized.
The quiz is held after the squad has completed the main program of the Competition. The squad is represented by a team of 5 people.
The questions of the quiz were developed at the State Budgetary Institution NMC SVR DSMP. 2-4 weeks before the Contest, questions are sent to educational establishments, whose teams take part in the Contest, in order to prepare the teams for the participation in the Quiz.
It is possible to include other questions related to the heroic history of Russia in the Quiz, which should contribute to knowledge and correct understanding history of his people and state.
Questions and answers
for the quiz
on the history of the Great Patriotic War
1. When the Second began World War?
World War II began on September 1, 1939 with the German attack on Poland.
2. How countries policy Western Europe contributed to the outbreak of World War II?
Great Britain and France pursued a policy of appeasing the aggressor in the 1930s. These countries sought to avoid war with Nazi Germany, constantly making concessions to her in her territorial and military claims. In addition, Britain and France sought to direct Hitler's aggressive aspirations to the East, to the USSR. The culmination of the appeasement policy was the September 1938 Munich Agreement between England, France, Italy and Germany, according to which part of Czechoslovakia - the Sudetenland, inhabited mainly by Germans - was transferred to Germany without the consent of Czechoslovakia itself. So whole European state, an ally of France, was sacrificed to a policy of appeasement, but this policy failed in 1939 when Hitler attacked Poland and England and France were forced to declare war on Germany.
3. What is the plan "Barbarossa", strategic goals this plan?
Plan Barbarossa is a plan of attack Nazi Germany on the USSR, approved by Hitler on December 18, 1940. The plan outlined the destruction of the USSR in a fleeting campaign (blitzkrieg). It was planned to destroy the main forces of the Red Army west of the Dnieper-Western Dvina line. In the future, it was planned to capture Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv, Donbass and reach the Volga (Astrakhan) - Arkhangelsk line. The terms for the defeat of the Red Army were envisaged - 14 weeks.
4. When did the Great Patriotic War?
The Great Patriotic War began in the early morning of June 22, 1941.
5. Who led the USSR during the Great Patriotic War?
Head of the USSR, Chairman of the Council people's commissars USSR, Chairman of the USSR State Defense Committee, Supreme Commander The armed forces of the SSS during the war was Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin.
6. Who commanded Navy USSR during the war?
During the war, the Soviet Navy was led by Admiral Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov. He was People's Commissar Navy of the USSR, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy of the USSR.
7. Who led the defense and counteroffensive of the Soviet troops near Moscow in 1941?
The defense and counteroffensive of the Soviet troops near Moscow in 1941 was led by Army General Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, commander of the Western Front (since December 10, 1941).
8. When did the counter-offensive of the Red Army near Moscow begin?
9. When and where was the ceremonial meeting of the Moscow City Council dedicated to the 24th anniversary of the Great October socialist revolution at which he spoke?
22. How many days did the blockade of Leningrad last and when was it lifted?
The blockade of Leningrad lasted from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944, when it was finally lifted. On January 18, 1943, the blockade was broken, although the threat to the city was not eliminated. Thus, the blockade lasted about 900 days.
23. What was Operation Bagration?
Operation "Bagration" - strategic operation Red Army for the liberation of Belarus. June 23 - August 29, 1944. As a result of the successful completion of the operation, Soviet troops liberated Belarus, part of Lithuania and Latvia. We entered the territory of Poland (up to the Vistula River), approached the borders East Prussia. The total depth of the offensive was 550-600 km.
24. What is the role partisan movement in Belarus?
In Belarus, the partisan movement was the most massive and intense. Belarusian Polesye was a partisan region in years: this territory was free from German invaders. From September 1942 to June 1944, the Belarusian headquarters of the partisan movement, headed by s. Belarusian partisans blew up bridges, railway trains with German weapons(there was a so-called " rail war”), killed punishers and traitors, German officers and government officials.
25. What are the goals of the Soviet command for the capture of Berlin?
Berlin operation- the final strategic operation of World War II in Europe. The goal is the capture of Berlin and the final defeat Nazi Germany. The Berlin operation began on April 16, 1945, the Berlin garrison capitulated on May 2, 1945.
26. When was the Act of unconditional surrender Germany and who signed it from the side of the Soviet command?
On the night of May 8-9, 1945 in Berlin. With Soviet side it was signed by Marshal of the Soviet Zhukov.
27. When and where was the Victory Parade held?
The Victory Parade took place on June 24, 1945 on Red Square.
28. Name the marshals of Victory?
Ivan Stepanovich Konev, Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky. Kirill Afanasyevich Meretskov, Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky, Fedor Ivanovich Tolbukhin, Leonid Alexandrovich Govorov, Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky, Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko.
29. What's it like highest rank and who received it in the Great Patriotic War?
Higher military rank in the Armed Forces of the USSR - Generalissimo of the Soviet Union. He received it in June 1945.
30. Who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union three times?
Ace pilots: (May, August 1943, 1944), (February, August 1944, 1945). Marshal of the Soviet Union Yenny (1958, 1963, 1968).
31. Who had the title of Hero of the Soviet Union four times?
(1939, 1944, 1945, 1956). for the sake of historical truth it should be said that he was also awarded four stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union (1966, 1976, 1978, 1981) when he was the leader of the USSR (), but these awards were, of course, caused not by military merit (although Brezhnev fought on the fronts of the war) .
32. When did the USSR enter the war with Japan?
August 8, 1945. On August 9, 1945, the Red Army began fighting against Japan on Far East.
33. What are the results of the war in the Far East and who commanded our troops?
Soviet troops liberated South Sakhalin from the Japanese, Kurile Islands, defeated the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria ( northern China) and North Korea. The commander-in-chief of our troops in the Far East was the Marshal of the Soviet Union; troops Transbaikal Front commanded by a marshal, 1st front - marshal, 2nd front - general.
34. When was the Japanese Unconditional Surrender Act signed?
Japan's surrender was signed on September 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
35. When is the victory over Japan celebrated?
36. When and where did the Victory Parade over Japan take place?
The Victory Parade over Japan took place on September 16, 1945 in the city of Harbin (China). The parade was hosted by the commander of the first separate Red Banner Far Eastern Army General A. Beloborodov.
37. What is Lend-Lease in the history of World War II?
Lend-Lease - a system for lending to the United States of America (lend) military equipment, weapons, ammunition, equipment, strategic raw materials, food. Various goods to countries - allies in the anti-Hitler coalition. The USSR began to receive Lend-Lease supplies from November 1941. Materials were supplied in the amount of 9 billion 800 million dollars (in then prices), and in terms of volume indicators of tanks, 9.6 thousand artillery pieces, 400 thousand cars. Lend-lease deliveries to the USSR ceased after the victory over Japan.
On July 10, 1941, the High Command was created Northwest Direction, which was headed by Marshal of the Soviet Union K.E. Voroshilov. After the Red Army suffered greater losses in the war with Finland than the losses of the Wehrmacht during the occupation of half of Europe, on May 8, 1940, Stalin removed Voroshilov from the post of people's commissar of defense. We can say that he kicked him out, because the "red marshal" almost ruined the work of the defense department.
Nevertheless, it was he who was sent to the Leningrad section - as it turned out, there was no one else to send. In addition, in July and August 1941, the Stavka's attention was absorbed by events in central direction, and in September - a disaster near Kyiv.
On July 21, Voroshilov, with his power, stopped the echelons going to Leningrad and ordered the main forces of the 1st Panzer Division to be unloaded. Together with two motorized rifle regiments NKVD, they were supposed to counterattack and defeat the Finns. The decision was monstrous in its stupidity - on the scales of the war, Leningrad and Petrozavodsk had completely different weights, and besides, tanks were useless in the Karelian lake forests. Personally leading an unsuccessful attack Marines near Koporye, Voroshilov was slightly wounded. Stalin, having learned about what had happened, honored his colleague with several strong epithets.
On September 11, Stalin removed Voroshilov and put in his place the commander Leningrad Front Zhukov. On September 13, Zhukov flew to Leningrad. Having taken command, he began by sending order No. 0046 to the troops, in which he announced to "command, political and ordinary personnel" that anyone who "left the line indicated to him for defense without a written order is subject to immediate execution." Unfortunately, this was almost the only thing he could counter the power of the advancing enemy.
Zhukov did not know pity and inexorably raised and raised troops exhausted by continuous battles in a counterattack against the enemy many times superior to them. Only at the cost of huge sacrifices did he manage, in the end, to slow down the German offensive.
September 15, the Germans came close to Leningrad. Heavy KB tanks were sent directly from the assembly line of the Kirov plant to the front lines. But on September 16, Hitler removed all shock units from the Leningrad direction and threw them near Moscow. After that, Field Marshal Leeb weakened the onslaught and, instead of an assault, proceeded to the siege.
Despite the fact that the troops of the Leningrad Front held the line, the likelihood of a German breakthrough could not be discounted. And so it was decided to mine the city. Still the same Marshal Voroshilov, now Commander-in-Chief
Northwest direction, put forward strategic initiative- mine and blow up large Leningrad plants and factories, power plants and highways, bridges, as well as Baltic Fleet so that they do not get to the advancing enemy troops. In principle, a similar proposal had already been put forward a couple of decades before - in the years civil war a similar plan was discussed in case Yudenich captured Petrograd. Voroshilov's idea was supported by A. Zhdanov and A. Kuznetsov.
325 thousand kilograms of explosives (tol and dynamite) were placed in the foundation of enterprises and buildings of various
appointments, which, on command, were supposed to fly into the air. A city turned into ruins along with houses and
monuments would cease to exist.
On the same days, the Military Council of the Lenfront adopted a resolution on the implementation of the "Plan of measures for organizing and implementing special measures to disable the most important industrial and other enterprises of Leningrad in the event of a forced withdrawal of our troops." This operation was supposed to simultaneously destroy over several thousand urban facilities, all rolling stock, all stationary power units and installations, cables and railway depots, telegraph and telephone exchanges, water utility installations, and much more.
For 900 days of blockade, the party leadership should bear responsibility, and first of all, the most mediocre official - the first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Comrade A.A. Zhdanov, who heroic deed had nothing to do with city dwellers. The first secretary of the blockade "overslept": he drank a lot, ate a lot, did physical education in order to lose weight excess weight, I didn’t go to the front line and didn’t do housework. In fact, the city was on Aleksey Kosygin, authorized by the State Defense Committee, who arrived in Leningrad in the fall of 1941, and never emphasized his role in the defense.
Leningrad. He established traffic on the Road of Life, eliminated congestion, settled disagreements between civil and military authorities. The delivery of coal, oil, the mobilization of communists to protect food warehouses, the evacuation of specialists, the evacuation of children, the removal of factory equipment - it was he who did all this.
AT besieged Leningrad about Kosygin, unlike Zhdanov, they spoke very well. They told almost Yuletide, but quite true story about how he picked up a dying boy in the street - a finger slightly moved from the one lying among the stiff corpses. Kosygin took him out, fed him, sent him to mainland- and forgot about it forever. Even in his old age he remembered the numbers of food deliveries, the number of tons of fuel delivered to the power plant to the last comma, and threw the people he helped out of his head. There was nothing special, from his point of view, in this.
After a monstrously hard winter, the spring of 1942 came. The nutrition of the population and troops has improved. As a result of the work of the Road of Life, Leningraders began to receive meat, fats, cereals, but still in limited quantities.
I have gone through the samsara of many births. Birth again and again is sad. Buddha
Defensive stage of the Moscow battle.
Nazi Germany. The operation to capture Moscow received a code name "Typhoon". The concept of the operation included: powerful strikes by large groups concentrated in areas Dukhovshchina, Roslavl and Shostka encircle the main forces of the Red Army troops covering the capital, and destroy them in the regions Bryansk and Vyazma and then swiftly bypass Moscow from North and South for the purpose of capturing it.
the USSR
The idea of the Soviet Supreme High Command in this operation was to inflict the greatest possible losses on the fascist German troops by stubborn defense and gain time for the formation and concentration of new reserves for the purpose of a subsequent counteroffensive.
Dates (beginning and end of the operation)
Moscow strategic defensive operation came 1 stage battles near Moscow and took place with September 30 to December 5, 1941.
The balance of power before the operation
the USSR
The Moscow direction was covered troops of three fronts - Western, Reserve and Bryansk. I.V. Stalin so overestimated the strength and capabilities of these troops that already during the German offensive he ordered the withdrawal of two divisions from Vyazma to the Stavka reserve. The real ones the strength of three fronts were limited. The fronts consisted of 1250 thousand. man, before 1000 tanks, 7600 guns and mortars. Thus, the enemy outnumbered the ground Soviet troops by 1.3-1.4 times
air force three Soviet Fronts consisted of 568 aircraft (210 bombers, 265 fighters, 36 attack aircraft, 37 reconnaissance aircraft). In addition, already in the first days of the battle, 368 bombers were put into battle. long-range aviation and 423 fighters and 9 scouts fighter aviation Air defense of Moscow. Thus, the forces of the Red Army Air Force in the Moscow direction were practically not inferior to the enemy and consisted of 1368 aircraft.
Nazi Germany
On September 6, 1941, Adolf Hitler signed OKW Directive No. 35, which set decisive tasks for the destruction of Soviet troops east of Smolensk. Involved in the operation: Army Group troops "Centre"(commander - Field Marshal General F. von Bock) - 74,5 divisions ( 1800 thousand people 1700 tanks and assault guns, 14 thousand. guns, 1400 aircraft), including directly for participation in the operation - 53 divisions, of which 14 tank and 8 motorized.
Personnel (commanders of fronts, armies and other units)
At the command post of the 16th army. Battle for Moscow
In the Moscow direction, a strip of about 800 km was defended by the troops of the Western, Bryansk, and Reserve Fronts.
- Western Front(Colonel General I. S. Konev, member of the Military Council N. A. Bulganin, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General V. D. Sokolovsky), consisting of:
22nd Army (Major General V. A. Yushkevich)
29th Army (Lieutenant General I. I. Maslennikov)
30th Army (Major General V. A. Khomenko)
19th Army (Lieutenant General M.F. Lukin)
16th Army (Lieutenant General K. K. Rokossovsky)
20th Army (Lieutenant General F. A. Ershakov)
- Reserve Front (commander Marshal of the Soviet Union S. M. Budyonny, member of the Military Council N. S. Kruglov A. F. Anisov) consisting of:
in the second echelon of the Western Front)
31st Army (Major General V.N. Dalmatov)
49th Army (Lieutenant General I. G. Zakharkin)
32nd Army (Major General S. V. Vishnevsky)
33rd Army (brigade commander D.N. Onuprienko) (in the first echelon)
24th Army (Major General K. I. Rakutin)
43rd Army (Major General P.P. Sobennikov)
- Bryansk Front (commanded by Colonel General A. I. Eremenko, member of the Military Council, divisional commissar P. I. Mazepov Chief of Staff Major General G. F. Zakharov) consisting of:
50th Army (Major General M.P. Petrov)
3rd Army (Major General Ya. G. Kreizer)
13th Army (Major General A. M. Gorodnyansky)
Task Force (Major General A.N. Ermakov)
- To clarify the front-line situation and assist the headquarters of the Western and Reserve fronts in creating a new grouping of forces to repel the enemy, representatives of the State Defense and Headquarters Committee arrived in the areas of events in early October 1941 V. M. Molotov, K. E. Voroshilov and A. M. Vasilevsky.
- October 10 State Committee Defense united the control of the troops of the Western and Reserve fronts in one hand. Their troops were included in the Western Front, headed by K. Zhukov, who had previously commanded the Leningrad Front.
- To cover the capital from the north-west, on October 17, on the basis of the troops of the right wing of the Western Front (22nd, 29th, 30th and 31st armies), the Kalinin Front was created (commanded by Colonel General I. S. Konev, Member of the Military Council Corps Commissar D. S. Leonov, Chief of Staff Major General I. I. Ivanov).
- The air forces of the three Soviet fronts in the Battle of Moscow consisted of 568 aircraft (210 bombers, 265 fighters, 36 attack aircraft, 37 reconnaissance aircraft). Air Force commander - Alexander Alexandrovich Novikov.
Operation progress
First operation "Typhoon" the southern shock group of the enemy began. September 30th she hit the troops Bryansk Front from the area Shostka, Glukhov in the direction of Orel and around Bryansk from the southeast. On October 2, the remaining two groups from the districts went on the offensive. Dukhovshchina and Roslavl.
Their attacks were directed in converging directions to Vyazma in order to cover the main forces of the Western and Reserve fronts. In the first days, the enemy offensive developed successfully. He managed to reach the rear of the 3rd and 13th armies of the Bryansk Front, and to the west of Vyazma he surrounded the 19th and 20th armies of the Western and the 24th and 32nd armies of the Reserve fronts. significant forces of the three fronts, the incompleteness of the construction of lines and the absence of troops on Mozhaysk line of defense- all this created a threat of the enemy's exit to Moscow. On the night of October 5 The State Defense Committee decided to defend Moscow. The main line of resistance was determined Mozhayskaya line defense, where all forces and means were urgently sent. October 10 State Defense Committee united the command and control of the troops of the Western and Reserve fronts in one hand. Their troops were included in the Western Front, headed by G. K. Zhukov, who had previously commanded the Leningrad Front. It was decided to build another line of defense on the immediate approaches to the capital - Moscow zone.Active hostilities of the Soviet troops in the environment had a serious impact on the development of events. They pinned down 28 Nazi divisions in the Vyazma region, which got stuck here and could not continue the attack on Moscow. tank divisions Guderian rushing from Eagle to Tula, bumped into the area Mtsensk on the resistance of the 1st special rifle corps general D. D. Lelyushenko. The delay of the enemy at Mtsensk facilitated the organization of the defense of Tula. To October 10 a fierce struggle unfolded at the front from the upper reaches of the Volga to
Operation results
During fierce battles on the far and near approaches to Moscow, Soviet troops stopped the advance of the main German group- Army Group Center and inflicted severe defeat. Commander of the German 2nd tank army G. Guderian wrote down his summary in this way: “The attack on Moscow failed. All the sacrifices and efforts of our valiant troops were in vain. We suffered a serious defeat, which, due to the stubbornness of the high command, led to fatal consequences in the coming weeks. AT German offensive a crisis has come, forces and morale the German army was broken. Conditions were prepared for launching a counteroffensive and defeating the enemy near Moscow.
Heroes of the battle
There are a lot of heroes of the battle for Moscow. The victory in the battle surrounded the heroes with a halo of unfading glory. For the exemplary performance of combat missions and the courage and heroism shown in the battle of Moscow, over 180 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, later - Hero Russian Federation. Let's remember them by name.
- The battle for Moscow is one of the biggest battles of the war in terms of the number of troops involved and the losses incurred. On the fields of the Moscow region, soldiers and officers fought 3.4 million more than in Battle of Stalingrad, 3 million more than Kursk Bulge and 3.5 million more than in the Berlin operation.
- Shortly before the battle, the political instructor Panfilov division Vasily Klochkov told his soldiers: "Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind us!" It should be noted that according to conventional version all the participants in the battle that followed these words died, so where this phrase became known from is completely unclear.
- The Soviet 32nd Rifle Division of the Red Banner, Colonel V. I. Polosukhin, reinforced by tank brigades, defended on the Borodino field. For four days she fought off enemy attacks, after which she was forced to retreat. G. Blumentritt, Chief of Staff of the 4th German Army, recalled: “Four battalions of French volunteers operating as part of the 4th Army turned out to be less steadfast. At Borodin, Field Marshal von Kluge addressed them with a speech, recalling how, in the time of Napoleon, the French and Germans fought here side by side against a common enemy. The next day, the French boldly went into battle, but, unfortunately, they could not withstand either the powerful attack of the enemy, or the severe frost and snowstorm. They had never had to endure such trials before. French legion was defeated, having suffered heavy losses from enemy fire and from frost. A few days later he was withdrawn to the rear and sent to the West ... ” / History of the Second World War, 1939-1945, T. 4 .- M .: Military Publishing House. 1975/
Value (estimates) of the operation
Monument to the heroes of the Moscow battle at Peremilovskaya height, near Yakhroma
- The historical significance of the victory near Moscow lies in the fact that it changed international situation: contributed to the strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition, instilled confidence populace enslaved countries in the victory over fascism, weakened the coalition of aggressive countries, undermined the economic, military and moral forces of German fascism. rout Nazi German troops near Moscow was the beginning of the death of the Nazi Wehrmacht, the beginning of the collapse of Nazi Germany.
- G.K. Zhukov recalled: “When they ask me what I remember most from the last war, I always answer: the battle for Moscow ... It was the most crucial moment of the war. I took command of the front in the days when the front was, in fact, in the suburbs of Moscow. We drove from the Kremlin to the front headquarters in Perkhushkovo in an hour. Now it’s even hard to imagine how close it is. The fighting took place in places where young Muscovites now go skiing in winter and picking mushrooms in autumn."
- American General D. MacArthur noted: “The scope and brilliance of its (the Red Army) recent crushing offensive, which forced the Germans to retreat from Moscow, were greatest achievement throughout history."
- The commander of the German 2nd Panzer Army, G. Guderian, wrote down his resume as follows: “The attack on Moscow failed. All the sacrifices and efforts of our valiant troops were in vain, We suffered a serious defeat, which, due to the stubbornness of the high command, led to fatal consequences in the coming weeks . In the German offensive, a crisis ensued, the strength and morale of the German army were broken."
- The operational-tactical assessment of the Moscow battle lies in the fact that the Red Army won this first general battle of the war not by superior forces and means, and by no means by superior tactics. The soldiers and officers of the Red Army surpassed the enemy in fortitude: steadfastness and endurance, selflessness and the will to win - qualities that originate in the depths of the national Russian character.
