The Moonsund Archipelago occupies a strategic position in the Baltic Sea. Because of this, it often became the scene of battles in the 20th century. It includes four large islands, each of which today belongs to Estonia - these are Vormsi, Muhu, Saaremaa and Hiiumaa.

Battle of 1917

During the First World War, the Battle of Moonsund took place, which took place in September - October 1917. Another common name is Operation Albion.

It was an attack by the German squadron and ground forces. The command set the task of capturing the archipelago, which belonged to Russia. The German landing force began landing on 12 October. Before that, the fleet managed to suppress the Russian batteries: the personnel were captured. At the same time, several German ships were damaged by mines off the coast (the battleship Bayern, etc.).

Many did not survive the Moonsund battle. 1917 was one of the last chords in the confrontation on the eastern front. A month later, the Bolsheviks came to power in Petrograd, who later signed

Two days later, the squadrons of rivals clashed face-to-face. The destroyer of the Russian fleet "Grom" was seriously damaged during the battle with Germany "Kaiser". A fire on board led to the failure of the guns and the sinking of the ship. The Battle of Moonsund in the Irben Strait flared up especially fiercely, where cruisers and dreadnoughts clashed.

On October 16, German ships cleared. Several battleships and cruisers of the Reich entered there. In order to protect ships from mines, minesweepers were also in the squadron. Another danger for the German ships was the fire opened by the Russian artillery. They defended themselves from the attack with the help of smoke screens around the minesweepers.

When it became clear that the Russian squadron would not be able to hold the archipelago, the order was given to send the surviving ships to the north. In turn, the Germans captured Moon Island (October 18) and Hiiumaa (October 20). Thus ended the Battle of Moonsund in 1917 during the First World War.

Battle of 1941

During World War II, the Moonsund Archipelago witnessed two military operations. In 1941, Nazi troops came here. The offensive operation was called the headquarters of the Reich "Beowulf". It was another (second) Moonsund battle.

On September 8, troops were landed on the island of Vormsi, which ended up in the hands of the Germans after three days of stubborn fighting. A week later, the main forces were sent to Mukha, whose garrison held out for a week.

Saremaa fell next. Here the battle lasted two weeks. The Soviet command managed to evacuate the remnants of the army to Hiiumaa. However, this piece of land soon came under the control of the Reich.

Outcome

The Soviet army tried with all its might to linger on the archipelago and delay the attack on Leningrad. In a sense, this goal has been achieved. The full annexation did not take place until 22 October, after nearly two months of fighting. The fleet was also active, which detained the enemy in the Gulf of Riga. The defenders of the islands converted local tractors, making them improvised analogues of tanks (machine guns were attached). When the Battle of Moonsund ended, the surviving personnel were finally evacuated to the Hanko Peninsula.

Amphibious landing in 1944

In historiography, the third Moonsund battle is also known. The year 1944 was marked by the fact that the German troops massively retreated from the occupied territories. Parts of the Leningrad Front were sent to the islands, from which the 8th Rifle Corps was specially formed.

The operation began with the fact that on September 27, troops were landed on the shores of the island of Vormsi. Further, other parts of the archipelago followed. The last was the island of Saaremaa: it was the largest and most important in this region. Late in the evening of October 8, a major battle began at Tehumardi. Barrage fire was fired against the Soviet troops. In addition, the position of the army was complicated by the lack of space for effective maneuver.

The defense was broken through only a month later on November 23, when aircraft joined the battle. Previous attempts have ended in failure. The most tragic was the landing at Vintry, when about 500 people died. One way or another, but after the final surrender, the Germans lost 7 thousand dead. About a hundred more ships were sunk or damaged.

Moonsund battle (1917)

A lot has been written about the battles for the Moonsund Archipelago. In fact, Valentin Pikul's novel "Moonzund" is taken as a documentary. But this work is still artistic, so it is difficult to reproach the writer for omitting many essential details of what happened in the Baltic in 1917. And these details are very revealing for that time.

Previously, the battle in the Moonsund Strait, and especially the battleship Slava, which distinguished itself in that battle, was written exclusively in heroic tones. It was believed that at that time the revolutionary Baltic Fleet blocked the way for the German to revolutionary Petrograd, where the Bolsheviks soon overthrew the bourgeois Provisional Government. Moonsund and "Glory" are a kind of harbingers of those events.

"Glory".
Wheezes on a death flight.
The screech of sirens is strangled thin.
You send sailors
on a sinking cruiser
there,
where the forgotten kitten meowed.
And then!
Drunk crowd screaming.
The dashing mustache is twisted in force.
Butts persecuting gray-haired admirals
upside down
from the bridge in Helsingfors.

Such is "Ode to the Revolution" by Vladimir Mayakovsky - a classic of this revolution. The poet, however, did not avoid factual errors, including those about the last minutes of "Glory". And most importantly: his lines are dedicated to the October events, when in Helsingfors (now Helsinki), where the main base and headquarters of the Baltic Fleet were located, no one threw anyone upside down. There, even without storming the Winter Palace, the Tsentrobalt, the sailor's council, had long been in charge. There were simply no "gray-haired admirals" left, they were dealt with back in February-March, when more than 50 admirals and officers were killed in the Baltic Fleet dormant in the ice, where the crowd seized power, including the commander Vice Admiral A.I. Nepenin.

At the end of March, the Bolshevik Pravda had to justify itself: “No one carried out general repressions in the fleet, as well as pogroms of officers, only zealous monarchists and persons who were stained under the previous regime were arrested. Sailors’ committees, on the contrary, bring reassurance ... control only the political part” . I didn't want to take someone else's blood. But it was impossible to brush aside the situation in the Baltic garrisons. Navigation is close. And the old senior naval cadres, if they escaped the imminent lynching, did not save themselves from the subsequent purges. The helm fell to be held by others. The chairman of Tsentrobalt Pavel Dybenko, although he himself is a sailor "in his seventh year of service", warned his comrades at the 1st congress of the Baltic Fleet: "Good, steadfast people have gathered in the committees, but ships will sink if they are not supervised." Dybenko will be arrested in July on the orders of the Provisional Government "as a notorious Bolshevik." And with him - and the third from the beginning of the year commander Rear Admiral D.N. Verderevsky. Him for refusing to send destroyers to Petrograd to help Prime Minister A.F. Kerensky, who crushed workers' demonstrations in the capital with machine guns. They had to sit in the same cell: “They managed to talk heart to heart,” the admiral recalls this in his “Notes of the Last Naval Minister,” which Verderevsky, having left Russia after October, published in parts in French magazines.

Dybenko's words that "good, persistent people gathered in the committees, but the ships will sink" are quoted precisely in these memoirs.

Shootings again

The fourth on the flagship bridge of the Baltic Fleet was 38-year-old Rear Admiral A.V. Razvozov, who had not had time to be the head of a mine division for half a year before. The first cipher for him was from Pskov, from the chief of staff of the Northern Front with instructions for checking the Ust-Dvinsk fortress. The Baltic Fleet was operationally subordinate to the Northern Front. "It's a common thing, if only the fleet would not be blown up again (probably by the government. - Approx. V.U.) or the socialists," the new commander left such lines in his diary that day.

The Ust-Dvinsky garrison with 10 naval guns and under the protection of coastal forts received the task of preventing the landing of troops in the event of a German attack on Riga. The offensive took place at the end of August, but the Northern Front did not need a citadel on the Daugava. Two days later, the infantry, fearing encirclement, leaves Riga and hastily withdraws to the north. The batteries of Ust-Dvinsk did not have time to fire even a few volleys at the former Russian positions, in which the Germans began to settle in, as the fortress itself was under the threat of capture.

I had to blow everything up, turn the garrison into a continuous ashes and evacuate along the Gulf of Riga. The enemy cavalry was already scurrying about 50 versts along the coast. The ships sent by Razvozov to strengthen the defense of Riga were useful only for the protection of ships with refugees.

Further more. The country had not yet recovered from the defeat of the Northern Front, when a rebellion broke out at headquarters. Supreme Commander General of Infantry L.G. Kornilov decided to deal with both the anti-government Soviets and the government of the Socialist-Revolutionary A.F., who had bothered him. Kerensky, for which he sent loyal divisions to the campaign against Petrograd. But they were stopped by the Bolshevik agitators. The failed dictator was taken into custody, and the minister-chairman took over the duties of commander-in-chief, appointing Verderevsky as minister of the sea (there was no such position in the previous provisional governments). The same former commander of the Baltic Fleet, recently accused by the Russian ruler-lawyer of "political licentiousness" and who spent a month in Alekseevsky ravelin.

But even in such an arrest - release - exaltation has its own logic. When the squadrons came under the complete control of the Leninist party members, the minister-chairman realized that it was time to return to power the admiral, who "did not take the slightest bit of political tricks" (words from Kerensky's memoirs) and was able to keep the sailors "not in the subordination of the parties, but in subjugation of military necessity".

The Tsentrobalt, which had quieted down after July, reminded itself in a very peculiar way, deciding to collect from the officers "receipts of their loyalty to the Provisional Government and their readiness to fight General Kornilov." Komflot gives a categorical telegram to Kerensky: "I consider the removal of such papers from officers ... unacceptable. This expresses distrust in the fleet on the eve of a new German campaign." The Commissar of the Provisional Government makes a note: "I completely agree." The Minister-Chairman gives an answer to Razvozov the same evening: "Receipts ... this is distrust, but I trust the officers of the fleet." But this did not help - the ship's committees have already plunged into their usual showdowns.

Tsentrobalt entered reports "from the field" in a special journal:

“When bringing the withdrawal of receipts from the officers on the battleship Petropavlovsk to the request of the court committee, 4 officers refused to give such receipts, for which, by decision of the general meeting, the teams were shot ... On the same soil, one officer was killed on the Abos aviation unit ... ".

Baltic "Albion"

While the Kornilov generals were contemplating a plot to bring the Supreme Commander to supreme power, the Germans pored over an operation called "Albion" to capture the Moonsund archipelago in the Baltic Sea.

Already on September 11 (all dates in the article are given in the old style), the commander of the 8th Army, General of the Infantry O. von Gutier, who had previously taken Riga, signed an order to land on Ezel and Moon (now the Estonian islands of Saaremaa and Muhu). At first it was supposed to occupy only them, which corresponded to the tasks received by Goutier from Berlin: to secure the troops from attacks from the sea by closing the Gulf of Riga from the Russian Baltic Fleet.

The Gulf of Riga and the Gulf of Finland were connected by the shallow Moonsund Strait. During the war, the Russians deepened its fairway, a channel appeared that could pass large ships, including battleships. If necessary, the Helsingfors squadron "possessed the ability" to make a raid through the Moonsund and smash the coastal flank of the 8th Army with its main caliber. In addition, the Tserel naval battery (O. Ezel) finished off Courland and thereby caused concern to the Germans.

There is such a book - "The Capture of the Baltic Islands by Germany in 1917", published in Berlin in 1931. Six years later it was published in Moscow, so it was not difficult to find a book. And the need for it was not for idle curiosity. All Western historians refer to it, since "The Capture ..." is described by A. von Chischwitz, a direct participant in the "Albion", at that time the chief of staff of the 23rd corps, landed on the Moonsund archipelago. In the meantime, it is important for us to know that the command of the 8th Army confused the Russian headquarters with the place of landing of the main landing force. The documents cited by the former Kaiser general are concrete evidence.

Of course, this is not the only reason for our defeat. The general situation also plays into the hands of the enemy. We find confirmation in the "Notes of the last naval minister".

Here is what D.N. Verderevsky:

“They knew about the preparation of the operation to seize the islands in advance. We also received the necessary data from the British Admiralty. I met with Razvozov several times, Cheremisov also came to me (Lieutenant General V.A. Cheremisov - Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the Northern Front. - Approx. V. U .), but they no longer had all the power, although they carried out some actions to protect the islands.The two divisions stationed on Ezel and Dago slowly erected new fortifications, and the fleet did not even have time to set up minefields in threatened areas.The Baltic Committee, where Dybenko was in charge again, forbade the release of any ships without an order from the committee.

There was no way to send boats to Libava, and there was a landing expedition being prepared. Any major actions, even if the committee had allowed, immediately began to be discussed, and the enemy agents, which filled the Estonian and Finnish cities, effortlessly received secret information ... flag captains of the Baltic Fleet to the idea that the main offensive will take place here ... ".

But it turned out differently. On the morning of September 29, an enemy squadron appeared near the Taga-Lakht Bay (in the north-west of Ezel) - two dreadnoughts, a battlecruiser, 10 light cruisers, 47 destroyers and many minesweepers. They "led" 19 ships, which housed a landing corps of 24,600 people, 40 guns and 5,000 horses.

Having suppressed coastal batteries, the Germans began to land. By October 1, they occupied the island. Only the Tserelsky fortified region held out - the Germans sent parliamentarians there demanding surrender to the mercy of the winners. As Chishwitz admitted in his book, the headquarters of the landing corps "laid a different meaning than usual" in sending parliamentarians. Already on September 29, five German destroyers went into a breakthrough through the Soelosund Strait, which runs between Ezel and Dago, in order to then occupy Moonsund and surround our ships in the Gulf of Riga. For two days these attempts were thwarted by Russian patrol destroyers. The sea "Albion", unlike the land one, was malfunctioning. The forces of the Gulf of Riga, led by the battleships Slava and Grazhdanin, held back the offensive impulse of the 23rd Corps with artillery. The landing on the next island, Moon Gutier, had to be postponed.

On October 1, from the west, that is, through the Irben Strait, German battleships intended to enter the Gulf of Riga and finally crack down on the Russian fleet locked there (I would like so much!) But even here, in Irbeny, there was a snag, and, consequently, a delay. Three dreadnoughts, assigned to destroy a long-range battery, only tried to shoot at it, when they immediately fell under Russian shells. And from the rear, there is no way to take Tserel yet, the area there is forested and swampy - do not approach.

Parliamentarians were sent to the fortified area by the commander of the "scooter avant-garde". The surrender negotiations were led by Lieutenant Heinrich Lemke, the future author of the popular book in Germany "In the trenches near the Baltic", where he told his front-line fate. We (more precisely, in the journal "Red Archive") have only a large article about these memories. But here - as needed - the Tserel story was quoted in full: "The Tserel garrison, despite the confusion caused by the Russian retreat throughout the island, refused to surrender. I did not expect any other answer from them. But, in addition to the refusal, I heard that the officers were here stopped receiving information from their headquarters about the situation at sea. This was the main news for my report. "

In the episode given by Lemke, there is a specific continuation. On October 2, three German light cruisers, four destroyers and more than a dozen minesweepers easily crossed the Irbeny near "their own" coast of Courland. They made up a "reconnaissance detachment", which reported: there are no Russian ships nearby. This is a signal to the main forces. The rebellious Tserel at that moment was finishing off 12 enemy airplanes from the air. It remained to clear the Irben fairway, and then smoke calmly until the very Moonsund.

"Kronprinz" vs "citizen"

Since September 25 in Helsingfors on the yacht "Polyarnaya Zvezda", occupied "for its own needs" by Tsentrobalt, the 2nd Congress of the Baltic Fleet was seething. The Bolsheviks dominated, the main theme for the delegates was the transfer of state power to the Soviets. The highest naval officials (the command ship "Krechet" stood next to the "Zvezda") prudently did not appear on the pier, so as not to accidentally become an object for offensive "discussions".

On the fourth day, when almost all the resolutions had been voted on, a note about the German offensive was handed over to the presidium, which was sitting in the saloon of the yacht in the admiral's seats. The meeting was interrupted "in view of the clarification of the threat," and Dybenko "wished to see" Commander Razvozov at the congress.

The general scheme of the battles for the Moonsund Archipelago (compiled by the Naval Historical Commission in 1921).

From the memoirs of A.V. Razvozov, transferred to the Maritime Historical Commission:

“I was informed that there was a rumor among the delegates: Goutier would go after the islands to Petrograd. And the first question heard at the congress was whether the Germans would break through into the Gulf of Finland. the main forces are ready to be deployed at the forward position (minefields between Dago and the Finnish coast. - Approx. V.U.) to stop the enemy, who is still being held back by the ships of the Gulf of Riga, but all my orders must be followed without discussion and resolutions ... Oddly enough, my demand was accepted. But then they read out a telegram from the Commander-in-Chief that the fleet in battle must atone for its betrayal before the revolution. This was the first time I heard about it. It seems that it was delivered from the headquarters "Krechet" to the "Polar Star" without even informing headquarters. There was a noise, they stamped their feet. Questions were asked in a rather rude form ... Will the officers go over to the side of the German imperialists? My answer is the same: you need to follow orders, no interpretation of them: Dybenko helped out, firmly declaring that the issue has been resolved, he agrees, only there is a doubt whether Bakhirev will betray - a dubious figure ... But he did not stain himself in battle.

Vice Admiral M.K. Bakhirev is the head of the naval forces of the Gulf of Riga. For Tsentrobalt, he is really a dubious figure, he supported Kornilov with a statement. Therefore, they agreed with a half-hearted decision: to send congress delegates as commissars to Bakhirev's ships.

The next day - and a new meeting of the chairman of Tsentrobalt and the commander. Now Razvozov was the first to go on the attack, he could not stand it: they continue to "reproach the officers", and the committees, as before, may not comply with the orders of the command. The case "presented itself as egregious." The team of the minelayer "Pripyat" refused to lay mines in Soelosund (Bahirev's order to close the strait and secure the rear of the squadron), referring to ... rain.

Dybenko, as Razvozov recalled, became furious: "Disperse the ruiners of the revolution!" The crew of the Pripyat, as they say now, was reinforced by sailors from other destroyers, and the ship's council was immediately re-elected as soon as the commissar arrived from Helsingfors. "Pripyat", despite the close presence of enemy ships, blocked the exit from Soelosund with a minefield. And on the fairway they flooded the steamer "Latvia". Now Bakhirev could only wait for a frontal impact.

The Germans finally crossed over to Moon and sent troops to another island - Dago (now known as Hiiumaa). The occupation of the latter by Albion was not envisaged, but the headquarters of the 8th Army changed the original plan, deciding to transfer coastal batteries to Dago and fire on Moonsund. For the Russians, a critical situation has developed.

In "Notes of the last naval minister" D.N. Verderevsky describes it this way:

“The Germans cannot be denied full cooperation between the landing corps and the fleet. Our military units, completely upset, existed and retreated on their own. They lost all contact with the headquarters ... Having received information about the plight of the 107th division, Bakhirev sent destroyers to the shore and minesweepers, but our landing force did not find the division, the infantry fled, so they only picked up the weapons they had left.

The confusion led to the fact that the forces of the Gulf of Riga were on the verge of destruction. Razvozov told me that they should be taken to the Gulf of Finland, immediately mined the Moonsund Canal. Kerensky, after listening to my report, agreed, warning of the impossibility of an enemy breakthrough beyond the Dago.

And on October 4, the German squadron of the dreadnoughts "Koenig" and "Kronprinz", five cruisers and about 10 destroyers, launching minesweepers forward, began to force minefields at Moon. Bakhirev, in order to enable numerous transports with infantry removed from the islands to retreat to the north, ordered to meet the enemy with artillery. Two battleships "Glory" and "Grazhdanin" and the cruiser "Bayan", where the vice-admiral held the flag, concentrated for firing on the roadstead of Kuivastu.

On the third salvo, Slava covered the minesweepers, and they immediately withdrew. In response, "Koenig" and "Kronprinz" only snapped - solid shortfalls. Thus began the battle, which is included in almost all books on the history of the fleet. It lasted only two and a half hours and was "timed" to each gun shot. The manuscript, which is considered the primary source, belongs to the pen of Bakhirev. When the vice-admiral was dismissed from service in January 1918, he got a job at the Naval Historical Commission and prepared a report on the defense of the Gulf of Riga in 1915-1917.

The last document cited in the report is a radio given to Bakhirev immediately after the retreat from Moonsund: "I thank you and all the officers for your fortitude, for your readiness to defend the revolution. Dybenko." In other post-revolutionary studies, this telegram was never mentioned. However, in them the admiral himself received a pseudonym - simply "head of the forces of the Gulf of Riga." In 1919, Bakhirev was shot for participating in "a monarchist conspiracy." That's the whole clue to the subsequent "anonymity" of the author.

Pure arithmetic (the Germans have 305-mm guns - 20, we have only eight, of which four are outdated models, short-range; besides, 6 hydroplanes participated in attacks on our squadron), of course, does not always determine the success or failure of the battle. But in the narrow strait, artillery duels decided its outcome, so the numerical superiority meant a lot. So, "Glory" received eight hits. Already barely controlled due to the heel from the water rushing into the holes, the battleship splashed out another volley from the last forces and hit the head dreadnought, where a strong fire broke out. The Germans stopped firing, and Bakhirev's ships, taking advantage of the enemy's confusion, left the range of the Kronprinz and Koenig guns.

The Kaiser fleet did not dare to pursue. Only the "Glory" itself, due to the sharply increased draft, could no longer pass through Moonsund. The only correct solution in such a situation is to blow up the ship at the entrance to the narrow channel. The dead battleship, which has sunk to the bottom, is an insurmountable underwater outpost for the Germans. But then something happens that was hushed up in the historical literature of the Soviet period. By order of the admiral, destroyers are sent to the Glory to save her crew. Neither the ship's committee nor the officers had any power over the people. Panic ruled the ship's last minutes.

Here is how M.K. describes it. Bakhirev:

"The sailors rushed in disarray at the destroyers. The commander tried to at least delay the engine crew in order to put the ship exactly in the channel, but everyone except the officers left their posts, the committee could not or did not try to gather the drivers. Therefore, the battleship ran aground earlier than entered the canal ... Only doctors and officers carried the wounded out of the operating rooms.

There are lines about this in D.N. Verderevsky:

"Yes, panic arose. Therefore, Kerensky asked not to disclose the facts, especially for newspapers, about the consequences in the souls of people after the announcement of the evacuation from Glory, so as not to spoil relations with the Baltic Council."

Four more transports were flooded after the "Slava" for insurance purposes. Now there is no way for the enemy to enter the Gulf of Finland. This is the result of the short Moonsund defense. And with it, the naval war in the Baltic ended. The Germans got the opportunity to freely carry out transportation from Sweden, but this opportunity was obtained by them at a high price. Two dreadnoughts and a cruiser were blown up by mines and stood up for repairs for a long time, three destroyers were drowned by Russian artillery, a large transport was launched to the bottom by a submarine, two hydroplanes were shot down, the number of minesweepers and small ships destroyed was not fully counted. Our losses are a battleship and a destroyer.

Friend or foe

Volleys died down in Moonsund, and Tsentrobalt again swung at all power without a trace. Razvozov’s report to the Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the Northern Front has been preserved: “On October 25, I learned about the decision of Tsentrobalt to send 3 destroyers to Petrograd to support the Soviets. to attach the Aurora cruiser to the fleet ... In view of the foregoing, I no longer consider it possible to be responsible for the defense of the theater entrusted to me and ask for instructions on who to hand over command of the fleet.

Let's pay attention to the date. "Twenty-fifth, first day." So again Mayakovsky:

And because of Nikolaevsky
iron bridge,
Like death
looks unkind
Aurora
steel towers.

"Aurora" - on the Neva, not far from the Winter. Cheremisov did not answer Razvozov, he himself was removed from the front. "Razvozov is not an alien element and has the right to remain until the elective beginning is over," they were transferred to the Council of People's Commissars from Helsingfors. Tsentrobalt, at the suggestion of the freshly minted people's commissar for maritime affairs, who is also a sailor Dybenko, even offered to assign the rank of vice admiral to the commander. At the same time, the people's commissar himself, judging by the documents of the All-Russian Congress of the Navy, was predicted to become captain of the 1st rank. But soon the ranks ceased to exist, these "representations" were simply forgotten. And then the "elective beginning" arrived, about which the Bolsheviks so often repeated, and the naval sailor Razvozov was dismissed from his post.

Verderevsky was among the members of the Provisional Government who were arrested on October 25 in Zimny ​​and escorted to Petropavlovka. The former minister was helped to get out of the fortress by his "replacement" - the first naval people's commissar. The rear admiral left the sailor a receipt about "an agreement not to be at enmity with the new government," and soon moved abroad. He was more fortunate than others.

When in March 1918 it will be necessary to save the fleet for the second time after Moonsund - Helsingfors was under the threat of being captured by the Germans, Razvozov will be called up for service again, but then, as in autumn, they will unceremoniously "write off" in retirement. Alexander Vladimirovich will die in prison in 1920.

Dybenko, in the fourth month of the revolution, at the head of a naval detachment, will be sent to defend Narva, towards which the Kaiser regiments were moving. The sailors did not defend Narva. The commander was tried for this, but in the end was acquitted. And this is how Pavel Efimovich himself justified himself, recalling Narva and the court: "They still did not know how to fight, you need to learn how to fight." But he nevertheless fought enough and deserved major positions, he reached the commander of the district troops. Executed in 1938. A storm swept through the country akin to the one that the rebel sailor raised twenty years ago.

Mareshesti battle of 1917, military operations in July - August 1917 on the Romanian front during the 1st World War 1914-1918, an integral part of the summer offensive of the Russian-Romanian troops in 1917 (see June offensive of 1917), By the beginning of June on the Foksha direction of the Romanian front, the 2nd Romanian (4 infantry and 1/2 cavalry divisions) and the 4th Russian (8 infantry and 2 cavalry divisions) armies were opposed by the army of the gene. Geroka (6 German infantry divisions, 2 Austrian infantry and 1 cavalry divisions) and the 9th Army of General. E. von Falkengheim (3 infantry and 2 cavalry German divisions and 1 Austrian infantry division). July 7 (20) Russian-Roman. troops went on the offensive. July 11 (24) 2nd room. army in cooperation with parts of the 4th Rus. The army broke through the Germans with a sudden blow, fortified. positions in the Marasheshti region. Freed approx. 30 settlements, points, Russian-room. troops captured St. 4 thousand prisoners and 85 guns. However, on July 12 (25) their further offensive was suspended on the orders of Kerensky due to the unfavorable situation on other fronts. July 24 (Aug. 6) German, command in order to capture the entire territory. Romania and exit to the south. the borders of Russia with the forces of 12 infantry. divisions struck back at Focsani, Maresheshti, Ajud. Despite stubborn resistance, Rus.-rum. troops were forced to leave a number of occupied points. By 6(19) Aug. Germano-Austrian troops created a threat of encirclement rum. troops at Maresheshti. Stubborn defense of the area rum. the command gained time, withdrew forces from the blow and took them to a new frontier. By 13(26) Aug. the front stabilized, active hostilities ceased. Germ, the plan to defeat the rum. troops, the capture of the unoccupied part of Romania and the breakthrough to the south of Russia was thwarted. German-Austrian losses. troops vM. with. amounted to approx. 47 thousand killed and wounded. Russian and Romanian troops suffered no less losses in this battle.

Yu. F. Sokolov.

Used materials of the Soviet military encyclopedia in 8 volumes, volume 5

Literature:

Strategic outline of the war 1914-1918. Romanian front. M., 1922, p. 115-126.

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World War I(chronological table)

7th company of the 1st Czechoslovak rifle regiment in the trenches near Zborov the date Place Outcome

Russian victory

Parties

Russian empire

Austria-Hungary

Commanders Side forces Losses

Eastern Front of World War I

Memorial to the Czechoslovak legionnaires who fell near Zborov, Kalinovka village, Ukraine

Monument Heroes of Zborov in Blansko (Czech Republic)

Battle of Zboriv(German Schlacht bei Zborow, Czech, Slovak Вitva u Zborova) - a battle between the Russian and Austro-Hungarian armies on July 1-2 (June 17-18 according to the old style) in 1917 during the June offensive (the so-called Kerensky offensive). what happened near the city of Zborov, in Galicia, on the territory of Austria-Hungary (now in the Ternopil region, Ukraine). On the side of Russia, for the first time, units of the Czechoslovak Legion formed from captured Czechs and Slovaks participated in this battle. The battle ended with an unconditional victory for the Russian troops, the only major victory for Russia during Kerensky offensive. The victory at Zborov also contributed to the rise of Czech national identity.

Story

Due to the fact that, as a result of the revolutionary propaganda intensifying in the Russian army, many military units were unreliable when going on the offensive, a recently formed from Czechs and Slovaks was involved in the Zborovsky direction. Czechoslovak Rifle Brigade), which consisted of three rifle regiments:

• 1st Rifle Regiment St. Wenceslas(later - Jan Hus).
• 2nd Rifle Regiment Jiří from Poděbrady
• 3rd Infantry Regiment Jana Zizka from Troknov

The Czechoslovak brigade, numbering 3,500 bayonets, was poorly armed and insufficiently trained, especially machine guns were lacking. In addition, near Zbarazh, for the first time, she took part in hostilities as a separate military unit. The brigade was commanded by Russian colonel V.P. Troyanov. The brigade was sent to the section of the front near Zborov, the adjacent sections were occupied by the 4th and 6th Russian divisions. They were opposed:

• 32nd Hungarian Infantry Division
  • 86th Infantry Regiment (from Subotica)
  • 6th Infantry Regiment (from Budapest)

• 19th Czech Infantry Division, consisting of:
  • 35th Infantry Regiment (from Pilsen)
  • 75th Infantry Regiment (from Jindrichov Hradec)

The Austro-Hungarian units numbered about 5,500 people and were fairly well equipped and armed.

The general offensive began on 1 July. At dawn on the second day, after intensive artillery preparation, which began at 05:15, small groups of Czechoslovak legionnaires attacked the enemy positions. After overcoming the line of barbed wire obstacles, larger forces entered the battle. By 15:00, parts of the legionnaires advanced deep into the Austro-Hungarian front at a distance of up to 5 kilometers, thus breaking the enemy defenses. More than 3,300 Austrian soldiers were taken prisoner, including 62 officers. 20 guns and a large amount of ammunition and weapons were captured. The losses of the Russian side amounted to 184 killed and mortally wounded, about 700 wounded and 11 missing.

The victory in the Battle of Zboriv did not have a significant impact on the outcome of the July Offensive, which was generally unsuccessful for Russia, but served to raise patriotic feelings among the population of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. After the success at Zborov, the Provisional Government lifted all restrictions on the formation of Czechoslovak units on Russian territory. After this battle, the population of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which belonged to the Habsburg Empire, also for the first time learned about the existence of Czechoslovak military units fighting against Austria-Hungary on the territory of the Entente countries (despite the fact that the Austrian censorship ensured that such information did not penetrate into the press).

Curious facts

• Two future presidents of Czechoslovakia participated in the Battle of Zboriv - Klement Gottwald on the side of Austria-Hungary and Ludwik Svoboda on the side of Russia.

• For military merit in this battle, the 1st Czechoslovak Regiment Jan Hus received an honorary title from the Russian command Polk 18 June and ribbons of St. George on the banner of the regiment.

• The Czech writer Jaroslav Hasek participated in the Battle of Zboriv.

see also

Notes

Literature

• Rudolf Medek, Vojtěch Holeček: "Bitva u Zborova a československý odboj" ( Schlacht von Zborov und der Tschechoslowakische Widerstand), 1922
• Jan Galandauer: "2. Juli 1917 Bitva u Zborova - Česká legenda" ( 2. Juli 1917 Schlacht von Zborov - eine tschechische Legende), 2002, ISBN 80-86515-16-8

MONSUND OPERATION 1917

German operation. fleet to capture the Moonsund Islands during the 1st World War 29 Sept. (12 Oct.) - 6(19) Oct. in order to destroy the Russian sea forces of the Riga Hall. and occupying starting positions for a subsequent strike on the revolution. Petrograd. M. o. was the first stage of the military-political. shares of international imperialism to suppress the revolution in Russia. Taking advantage of the inaction of the English. fleet, german command for the first time in the entire war concentrated in the east. parts of the Baltic m. 2/3 of their fleet. Mor. the special-purpose detachment for Operation Albion (code name M. o.) consisted of more than 300 warships and auxiliary. ships (including: 10 battleships, 1 battlecruiser, 9 cruisers, 68 destroyers and destroyers, 6 submarines, approx. 100 minesweepers), 94 aircraft, 6 airships and 25 thousand. landing corps under general commands. vice adm. Schmidt. Rus. the forces defending the Moonsund Islands consisted of 2 obsolete battleships, 3 cruisers, 33 destroyers, 3 gunboats, 3 submarines, etc., 30 aircraft, approx. 10 thousand infantry and 2 thousand cavalry. Moonsund mine-art. the position consisted of minefields, 9 coastal batteries (37 guns) and 12 anti-aircraft batteries (37 guns). Sea Commander. by the forces of the Riga Hall. vice adm. M. K. Bakhirev and early. Defense of the Moonsund Archipelago Rear Adm. Sveshnikov, who were counter-revolutionaries, did not take effective measures to organize resistance to the Germans. fleet.

The defense was led by the Bolshevik org-tion Balt. fleet. Commissars of Tsentrobalt joint. with ship kits carried out directly. military leadership. 29 Sept. (12 Oct.) germ. the fleet began the operation with a landing in Taga-Lakht Bay (Ezel Island). Using the number superiority, germ. troops 3 (16) Oct. took possession of Ezel, 5(18) Oct. - about. Moon and 6 (19) Oct. - about. Dago. Germ. the fleet repeatedly tried to break through to the strait. Moonzund to destroy the Russians who were there. ships, but the Baltic sailors were heroic. resistance, especially in the battle on the Kassar reach 4 (17) Oct. The crews of the battleship Slava, the destroyer Grom and the gunboat Brave were the most distinguished. Fighting heroically with the Germans was the engine foreman A. G. Vezdenev (one of the leaders of the Bolshevik organization of the destroyer Grom), the mine engineer of the destroyer Grom F. E. Samonchuk, the commander of the 305-mm battery on the Svorbe peninsula, Lieutenant Bartenev, prev. battery kit miner Savkin and many others. dr. Germ. the fleet lost 12 destroyers and destroyers and 3 minesweepers; 3 battleships, 13 destroyers and destroyers were damaged. Russian losses - 1 battleship, 1 destroyer; damaged: 1 battleship, 1 cruiser, 3 destroyers, 2 gunboats. selfless revolutionary actions. sailors thwarted the German plan. command, which refused to continue the operation due to heavy losses and 7 (20) Oct. withdrew its linear forces from the Riga Hall.

Lit .: Lenin V.I., Soch., 4th ed., vol. 26, p. 120; Dybenko P.E., From the bowels of the tsarist fleet to Vel. October, M., 1958; Fleet in the 1st World War, vol. 1, M., 1964; Rukhov A.S., Moonsund battle, L., 1957; Kosinsky A. M., Moonsund operation Baltic. fleet 1917, L., 1928; Chishvints A. von, Capture Balt. islands in Germany in 1917, trans. from German, M., 1937.

B. I. Zverev. Moscow.

Soviet historical encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. Ed. E. M. Zhukova. 1973-1982 .

See what the "MONSUND OPERATION 1917" is in other dictionaries:

Operation Albion, German offensive. fleet to capture the islands of the Moonsund Archipelago (See Moonsund Archipelago) September 29 (October 12) October 6 (19) during the 1st World War 1914 18. The purpose of M. o .: to capture the islands, ... ...

The Moonsund operation is the name of military operations to capture or defend the Moonsund archipelago. World War I Defense of the Gulf of Riga (1915) Battle of Moonsund (1917) World War II Moonsund defensive operation ... ... Wikipedia

29.9 (12.10) 6 (19) 10.1917, during the 1st World War. The German fleet tried to capture the islands of the Moonsund arch. and break into the Finnish Hall. to Petrograd. The resistance of the sailors of the Baltic Fleet, despite their abandonment of the Moonsund arch., ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

MONSUND OPERATION, 29.9 (12.10) 6 (19) 10.1917, during the 1st World War. The German fleet tried to capture the Moon Islands of the Sund archipelago and break through to the Gulf of Finland to Petrograd. The resistance of the sailors of the Baltic Fleet, despite ... ... Russian history

September 29 (October 12) October 6 (19), 1917, during the 1st World War. The German fleet tried to capture the islands of the Moonsund archipelago and break into the Gulf of Finland to Petrograd. The resistance of the sailors of the Baltic Fleet, despite the abandonment of ... encyclopedic Dictionary

This term has other meanings, see Albion (meanings). Operation Albion World War I ... Wikipedia

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Imperialistic, unjust war that began in Europe between the Austro-German. bloc and coalition of England, France, Russia; subsequently, many entered the war. state of the world, military. actions also took place on D. and Bl. East, Africa, Atlantic, ... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia

- (“Glory”), a battleship of the Russian Baltic Fleet. Entered service in 1905. Displacement 13 516 tons, speed 18 knots (32 km/h), armament: 4 305 mm guns, 12 152 mm, 20 75 mm, 20 47 mm, 2 37 mm guns, 2 landing guns, eight… … Great Soviet Encyclopedia