Capturing the oil-bearing regions of the Caucasus was a goal that Nazi Germany set itself almost from the very first days of the attack on the USSR. In the summer of 1942, Hitler, the Supreme Commander of the German Armed Forces, decided to carry out the operation to seize Soviet black gold. On July 23, he approved a plan for the capture of the Caucasus, codenamed "Edelweiss". Directive No. 45 reflected the main objectives of this operation: the capture of the entire eastern coast of the Black Sea and the Black Sea ports, the liquidation of the Black Sea Fleet, the capture of Grozny and Maykop oil fields, and then the advance of troops in the Transcaucasus and the capture of Baku oil fields.
The implementation of these ideas would allow the Germans to establish direct contact with the Turkish army, 26 divisions of which were deployed on the border with the USSR, to seize the Caucasian oil regions and to occupy the passes on the Iran-Iraq border by September 1942 in order to move further to Baghdad. The strategic importance of the Caucasus was also determined by foreign trade turnover. The trade routes through the Persian Gulf, Iran and the Caspian Sea were second only to the Northern Sea Route in the supply of weapons, strategic raw materials from the United States and the countries of the British Empire.
In political terms, access to the Middle East gave Hitler hope for new allies, primarily Turkey, and for a favorable outcome of the entire war. The German command did not doubt the successful and speedy completion of the operation. Hitler concentrated 170 thousand people, 1130 tanks, over 4.5 thousand guns and mortars, up to 1 thousand aircraft in the Caucasus, creating a significant superiority over the Soviet troops, which numbered 112 thousand people, 2160 guns and mortars, 120 tanks and 230 aircraft.
- German troops in the Caucasus mountains
- globallookpress.com
- SCHERL
From dawn to dusk
On July 25, 1942, the Germans launched Operation Edelweiss. Army Group A under the command of Field Marshal Wilhelm List attacked the Southern Front of the Soviet troops. Already on the first day of the offensive, the Germans broke through the defenses of the Red Army.
In late July - early August, the initiative in the conduct of hostilities in the North Caucasus belonged entirely to the German army. Possessing a numerical superiority, the German corps quickly advanced towards Stavropol, Maikop and Tuapse. The Nazis managed to easily occupy the Stavropol Territory. They intended to develop an offensive against Grozny. The road to the oil fields was practically open. However, at the last line, the Germans met fierce resistance - in September 1942 they were stopped in the Malgobek area. The Nazis were able to approach the foothills of the Caucasus Range and the Terek River, but suffered huge losses. The turning point in the battle for the Caucasus was the defeat of the Germans at Stalingrad. After that, the Wehrmacht forces were forced to retreat due to the threat of encirclement. According to the historian and military expert Boris Yulin, Nazi Germany was unable to hold its conquered positions in the Caucasus in 1942 due to the successful operation of the Soviet army near Stalingrad, where Hitler had to transfer his troops.
- globallookpress.com
“Hitler did not have enough strength to keep the strategic initiative and positions taken,” Yulin said in an interview with RT. “Ours carried out a successful military operation near Stalingrad, after which the Germans had to urgently clear the Caucasus so that the whole group of the army would not be surrounded.”
By the beginning of 1943, the Soviet army had a numerical advantage over the Germans. During the counteroffensive, Soviet troops completely liberated North Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, the Rostov Region, and the Stavropol Territory. However, the Nazis managed to avoid encirclement and, under the cover of a strong rearguard, retreat to previously prepared positions.
"Caucasus - there and back"
Baku and the North Caucasus were the main source of oil for the entire economy of the USSR. The loss of these important areas could significantly affect the course of World War II. The share of the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia accounted for 86.5% of the all-Union oil production, 65% of natural gas, 57% of manganese ore.
“The Germans needed Caucasian oil not so much to have more of it, but first of all, to deprive the Soviet Union of fuel,” Yulin noted. “However, they did not know that we had already discovered deposits in the Urals. It was a mistake of the German command."
- General view of the oil field in Baku
- RIA News
Germany was not very lucky with oil. The Germans, after the annexation of Austria in 1938, produced about 500 thousand tons per year. The depletion of world reserves prompted German oilmen to develop a method for making synthetic fuel from coal by hydrogenation. By the end of the war, German aircraft were actually flying on coal. In addition, Germany was supplied with oil from Hungary, Romania, but this was not enough. The Germans began to experience significant difficulties with fuel. Hitler noted from the time he came to power that dependence on foreign supplies would be a serious problem in the event of war. But he failed to solve the fuel problem by taking the Caucasus. "Caucasus - back and forth," the Germans said after the retreat.
A specialist in World War II, who wished to remain anonymous, in an interview with RT emphasized that the retreat of the German army from the Caucasus did not greatly affect its combat capability, but the defeat of the Germans in the Caucasus largely influenced the fuel crisis of 1945: “The Germans retreated according to their previously planned plans. Everything was pretty organized. But the allied aviation managed to destroy the factories for the production of synthetic gasoline in Germany. As a result, by the beginning of 1945, the Germans had a fuel crisis.
In near-historical articles, interviews and memoirs relating to the Battle of Moscow, a myth has long and firmly taken root, which can be summarized as follows: “On October 16, the Germans broke through to Khimki. Panic broke out in Moscow.
Despite the obvious inconsistency in terms of the date and the breakthrough as the cause of the panic (one and a half months remained before the real Germans in Khimki), this legend roams widely on the Internet, developing in attempts to explain it (they specify, for example, that motorcyclists broke through from Tver).
Moreover, the myth about the Germans in Khimki in mid-October turned out to be so tenacious that it got into the notorious school textbook of Danilov and Kosulina, which is currently recommended by the ministry as the main and mandatory one ( “By mid-October, the enemy came close to the capital. The Kremlin towers were perfectly visible through German binoculars.) and even in a jubilee article for the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Moscow - a fragment from a book being prepared for publication, edited by G.F. Krivosheev "The Great Patriotic War on the Russian land":
“Suffering heavy losses, the enemy went to the near approaches to Moscow and was stopped at the turn:
Khimki (19 km from Moscow, 17 October)
…»
(“Military History Journal”, 12’2006).
In general, the rumor of October 41st, 60 years later, penetrated into the official history textbook and the official press organ of the RF Ministry of Defense, and this, with the subject studied up and down, is a very impressive fact.
And in this regard, I am interested in the question - who and when first introduced this myth into circulation?
Is there any real reason for it, for example, the rumors that Muscovites used to explain the evacuation of government offices that began in mid-October?
Or did this explanation arise after the war, when the events of the autumn of 1941 moved away and mixed up in people's memory?
“And what would I do with the archive then, on October 13, when I myself left Moscow for Tashkent, when Moscow was overwhelmed by panic, like a squall, when the Germans had already come very close, when the defense line ran a hundred, seventy kilometers, and in some places and closer, when they said that a German paratrooper had been dropped in Khimki!”
M. Belkin "Crossing Fates"
http://www.ipmce.su/~tsvet/WIN/belkina/belkB09.html
ADF:
I repeat that in the post it is primarily about the absurdity of the date October 16-17. The fact that the Germans then, on the November-December border, appeared in Khimki, though only in the form of reconnaissance units, is beyond doubt. And who, and how far they have reached - this is a separate topic, in which there are enough ambiguities. You can look at it, for example, here it is.
The famous German plan "Barbarossa" can be briefly described something like this: it is Hitler's almost unrealistic strategic plan to capture Russia as the main enemy on the way to world domination.
It is worth remembering that by the time of the attack on the Soviet Union, fascist Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, had almost unhindered captured half of the European states. Only Britain and the United States offered resistance to the aggressor.
The essence and goals of Operation Barbarossa
The Soviet-German non-aggression pact, signed shortly before the start of World War II, was for Hitler nothing more than a head start. Why? Because the Soviet Union, without assuming a possible betrayal, fulfilled the aforementioned agreement.
And the German leader thus bought time to carefully develop a strategy to capture his main enemy.
Why did Hitler recognize Russia as the biggest obstacle in the implementation of the blitzkrieg? Because the resilience of the USSR did not allow England and the United States to lose heart and, perhaps, to surrender, like many European countries.
In addition, the fall of the Soviet Union would serve as a powerful impetus to strengthen Japan's position on the world stage. And Japan and the United States had extremely tense relations. Also, the non-aggression pact allowed Germany not to launch an offensive in the adverse conditions of winter cold.
The preliminary strategy of the Barbarossa plan, point by point, looked something like this:
- The powerful and well-prepared army of the Reich invades Western Ukraine, defeating the main forces of the disoriented enemy with lightning speed. After several decisive battles, the German forces finish off the scattered detachments of the surviving Soviet soldiers.
- From the territory of the occupied Balkans, march victoriously to Moscow and Leningrad. Capture both archival cities to achieve the intended result of the city. The task of capturing Moscow as the political and tactical center of the country was especially highlighted. Interesting: the Germans were sure that Moscow would flock to defend every single remnant of the USSR army - and it would be easier than ever to utterly smash them.
Why was the German plan of attack on the USSR called the "Barbarossa" plan?
The strategic plan for the lightning-fast capture and subjugation of the Soviet Union got its name in honor of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who ruled the Holy Roman Empire in the 12th century.
The aforementioned leader went down in history thanks to his numerous and successful conquests.
In the name of the plan "Barbarossa", there was undoubtedly a symbolism inherent in almost all actions and decisions of the leadership of the Third Reich. The name of the plan was approved on January 31, 1941.
Hitler's goals in World War II
Like any totalitarian dictator, Hitler did not pursue any special tasks (at least, those that could be explained by applying the elementary logic of a sound mind).
The Third Reich unleashed the Second World War with the sole purpose of seizing the world, establishing dominance, subordinating all countries and peoples to its perverted ideologies, imposing its picture of the world on the entire population of the planet.
How long did Hitler want to take over the USSR
In general, the Nazi strategists allotted only five months for the capture of the vast territory of the Soviet Union - a single summer.
Today, such arrogance may seem unfounded, if you do not remember that at the time of the development of the plan, the German army in just a few months, without much effort and loss, captured almost all of Europe.
What does blitzkrieg mean and what are its tactics
Blitzkrieg, or the tactics of lightning-fast capture of the enemy, is the brainchild of German military strategists at the beginning of the 20th century. The word Blitzkrieg comes from two German words: Blitz (lightning) and Krieg (war).
The blitzkrieg strategy was based on the possibility of capturing vast territories in record time (months or even weeks) before the opposing army came to its senses and mobilized the main forces.
The tactic of a lightning attack was based on the closest interaction between the infantry, aviation and tank formations of the German army. Tank crews, supported by infantry, must break through behind enemy lines and surround the main fortified positions important for establishing permanent control over the territory.
The enemy army, being cut off from all communication systems and all kinds of supplies, quickly begins to experience difficulties in solving the simplest issues (water, food, ammunition, clothing, etc.). Thus weakened, the forces of the attacked country are soon surrendered or destroyed.
When did Nazi Germany attack the USSR?
According to the results of the development of the Barbarossa plan, the Reich attack on the USSR was scheduled for May 15, 1941. The date of the invasion was shifted due to the Nazis carrying out the Greek and Yugoslav operations in the Balkans.
In fact, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union without declaring war on June 22, 1941 at 4:00 am. This sad date is considered the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.
Where did the Germans go during the war - map
Blitzkrieg tactics helped the German troops in the first days and weeks of the Second World War to cover vast distances across the territory of the USSR without any special problems. In 1942, a rather impressive part of the country was captured by the Nazis.
German forces reached almost Moscow. In the Caucasus, they advanced to the Volga, but after the battle of Stalingrad they were driven back to Kursk. At this stage, the retreat of the German army began. The invaders passed through the northern lands to Arkhangelsk.
Reasons for the failure of the Barbarossa plan
If we consider the situation globally, the plan fell through due to the inaccuracy of German intelligence data. Wilhelm Canaris, who led it, may well have been a British double agent, as some historians today argue.
If we take these unconfirmed data on faith, it becomes clear why he “fed” Hitler the misinformation that the USSR had practically no secondary lines of defense, but there were huge supply problems, and, moreover, almost all troops were stationed on the border.
Conclusion
Many historians, poets, writers, as well as eyewitnesses of the events described, admit that a huge, almost decisive role in the victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany was played by the fighting spirit of the Soviet people, the freedom-loving Slavic and other peoples who did not want to drag out a miserable existence under the yoke of world tyranny.
Event maps: Attack of fascist Germany on the USSR Defeat of fascist Germany A radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War Victory over militaristic Japan Video archive materials: A. HitlerRibbentrop-Molotov PactJune 22, 1941Beginning of the Great Patriotic WarTank battle near the village of ProkhorovkaStalingradBerlin operationTehran ConferenceYalta ConferenceSigning of the German Surrender ActVictory Parade.
In January 1933, the Nazis led by Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany (see video archive). A hotbed of military tension arose in the center of Europe. The attack of fascist Germany on Poland on September 1, 1939 marked the beginning of the Second World War.
On June 22, 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union without declaring war (see video archive). By this time, Germany and its allies captured virtually all of Europe. This allowed her to use the military-industrial potential of the occupied countries to strike at the Soviet Union. The superiority in the technical equipment of the German army (i.e. in tanks, aircraft, communications) and the accumulated experience of modern warfare led to the
the offensive of the German troops on the Soviet front in the summer of 1941.
The Soviet Union was not prepared to repel aggression. The rearmament of the Red Army was not completed. By the beginning of the war, the creation of new defensive lines had not been completed. The Stalinist repressions in the army caused enormous damage to the combat capability of the army. In 1937-1938. during the repressions, 579 out of 733 people of the highest command of the Armed Forces (from the brigade commander to the marshal) died. This resulted in serious mistakes in the development of military doctrine. The biggest miscalculation of I.V. Stalin (see video archive) was ignoring the information of Soviet intelligence officers about the exact date of the start of the war. The Red Army was not put on alert. MASS REPRESSIONS IN THE RED ARMY (for the period 1936-1938) THE HIGH COMMAND OF THE RED ARMY IS REPRESSED out of 5 marshals 3 out of 2 army commissars of the 1st rank 2 out of 4 commanders of the 1st rank 2 out of 12 commanders of the 2nd rank 12 out of 2 fleet flagships of the 1st rank 2 of 15 army commissars of the 2nd rank 15 of 67 corps commissars 60 of 28 corps commissars 25 of 199 division commanders 136 of 397 brigade commanders 221 of 36 brigade commissars 34
As a result, a significant part of Soviet aircraft and tanks was destroyed in the first days of the war. Large formations of the Red Army were surrounded, destroyed or captured. In general, the Red Army lost 5 million people (killed, wounded and captured) during the first months of the war. The enemy occupied Ukraine, Crimea, the Baltic States, Belarus. On September 8, 1941, the blockade of Leningrad began, which lasted almost 900 days (see map). However, the stubborn resistance of the Red Army in the summer and autumn of 1941 frustrated Hitler's plan for a blitzkrieg (plan "Barbarossa").
With the beginning of the war, the efforts of the ruling party and government were directed to mobilize all forces to repulse the enemy. It was held under the slogan “Everything for the front! Everything for the victory! The restructuring of the economy on a war footing began. Its integral part was the evacuation of industrial enterprises and people from the frontline zone. By the end of 1941, 1523 enterprises were relocated to the East of the country. Many civilian plants and factories switched to the production of military products.
In the first days of the war, the formation of a people's militia began. Underground resistance groups and partisan detachments were created behind enemy lines. By the end of 1941, more than 2,000 partisan detachments were operating in the occupied territory.
In the autumn of 1941, Hitler launched two attacks on Moscow (Operation Typhoon), during which the German units managed to get closer to the capital by 25-30 km. In this critical situation
the army was greatly assisted by the people's militia. In early December, the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops began, which lasted until April 1942. As a result, the enemy was driven back from the capital by 100-250 km. The victory near Moscow finally crossed out the German "blitzkrieg" plan.
The names of Soviet military leaders became known to the whole world: Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, Ivan Stepanovich Konev, Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky.
The city of Stalingrad on the Volga became a symbol of the resilience and heroism of Soviet soldiers. The defense of Stalingrad began in September 1942. In two months of fierce fighting, the defenders of Stalingrad repelled 700 enemy attacks. By the middle of 1942, German troops were forced to stop the offensive due to heavy losses. On November 19, 1942, the offensive of the Soviet troops began (Operation Uranus). It developed at lightning speed and successfully. Within 5 days, 22 enemy divisions were surrounded. All attempts to break through the encirclement from the outside were repulsed (see map). The encircled group was cut into pieces and destroyed. Over 90 thousand German soldiers and officers surrendered.
The victory at Stalingrad marked the beginning of a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War. The strategic initiative passed to the Soviet command. In the winter of 1943, a broad offensive of the Red Army began on all fronts. In January 1943, the blockade of Leningrad was broken. In February 1943, the North Caucasus was liberated.
In the summer of 1943, the largest battle of the Second World War took place - the Battle of Kursk. It started with a massive offensive
h
German troops near Kursk (July 5, 1943). After a grandiose tank battle near the village of Prokhorovka on July 12, the enemy was stopped (see video archive). The counteroffensive of the Red Army began. It ended with the complete defeat of the German troops. In August, the cities of Orel and Belgorod were liberated. The Battle of Kursk meant the completion of a radical change in the Great Patriotic War (see.
map). In the autumn of 1943, most of Ukraine and the city of Kyiv were liberated.
1944 was the year of the complete liberation of the territory of the USSR from the invaders. Belarus was liberated (Operation Bagration), Moldova, Karelia, the Baltic States, all of Ukraine and the Arctic. In the summer and autumn of 1944, the Soviet Army crossed the border of the USSR and entered the territory of Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Norway. As Soviet troops approached, armed uprisings broke out in a number of countries. During armed uprisings in Romania and Bulgaria, pro-fascist regimes were overthrown. At the beginning of 1945, the Soviet Army liberated Poland, Hungary, and Austria (see map).
In April 1945, the Berlin operation began under the command of Marshal Zhukov. The fascist leadership was completely
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demoralized. Hitler committed suicide. On the morning of May 1, Berlin was taken (see video archive). On May 8, 1945, representatives of the German command signed the Act of Unconditional Capital
lations (see video archive). On May 9, the remnants of German troops were defeated in the region of Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia. Therefore, May 9 became the Victory Day of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War (see video archive).
The Great Patriotic War was an integral part of the Second World War (1939-1945). The allies of the USSR in the anti-Hitler coalition were Great Britain and the USA. Allied troops made a significant contribution to the liberation of Western and Central Europe. However, the Soviet Union bore the brunt of the struggle against fascism. The Soviet-German front remained the main one throughout the Second World War. The landing of Anglo-American troops in Northern France and the opening of a second front took place only on June 6, 1944. After the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union entered the war with Japan, fulfilling its allied obligations. The war in the Far East lasted from August 9 to September 2 and ended with the complete defeat of the Japanese Kwantung Army. Japan's signing of the Instrument of Surrender meant the end of World War II (see map).
The Soviet people paid a huge price for their victory. During the war years, about 27 million people died. 1710 cities lay in ruins (see video archive), more than 70 thousand villages and villages were burned. Thousands of plants and factories were destroyed in the occupied territory, museums and libraries were looted. However, mass heroism at the front and the selfless labor of Soviet people in
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the rear was allowed to defeat Nazi Germany in this difficult and bloody war.
Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union.
Battle of Kursk
The defeat of the Nazi troops near Stalingrad
The front line to the beginning of the Soviet counter-offensive
Russian troops (11/19/1942)
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The direction of the strikes of the Soviet troops in November 1942. The encirclement of the Nazi troops
Front line on 11/30/1942.
The direction of the blow of the Nazi troops, trying to break through to the encircled grouping
The counteroffensive of the Nazi troops and their withdrawal
Front line by December 31, 1942
The final liquidation of the encircled non-German fascist troops (January 10 - February 2, 1943)
The front line by 07/05/1943 The offensive of the Nazi troops Defensive battles and counterattacks of the Soviet troops The line at which the Nazi troops were stopped The counteroffensive of the Soviet
The position of the troops on August 9, 1945 "" I Fortified areas of the Japanese troops The direction of the strikes of the Soviet troops
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The strikes of the Soviet-Mongolian troops The action of the Pacific Fleet
Airborne assaults
The action of the People's Liberation
Chinese army
Counterattacks by Japanese troops and their withdrawal Atomic bombing of Japanese cities by American aircraft Signing of the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Japan
He recalled: Stalin was sure that the Germans would break into Moscow, but he planned to defend every house - before the approach of fresh divisions from Siberia.
On October 12, 1941, the NKVD organized 20 groups of Chekist militants: to protect the Kremlin, the Belorussky railway station, Okhotny Ryad and sabotage in areas of the capital that could be captured. 59 secret warehouses with weapons and ammunition were set up throughout the city, the Metropol and National hotels, the Bolshoi Theater, the Central Telegraph Office and ... St. Basil's Cathedral were mined - it occurred to someone that if Moscow was captured, Hitler would come there. Meanwhile, the British historian Nicholas Reeds in 1954, he suggested that if the soldiers of the Third Reich had entered Moscow, the "Stalingrad scenario" would have happened. That is, the Wehrmacht exhausts itself in many days of battles from house to house, then troops arrive from the Far East, and then the Germans capitulate, and the war ... ends in 1943!
Anti-aircraft gunners guarding the city. The Great Patriotic War. Photo: RIA Novosti / Naum Granovsky
Fact #2 - Officials started the panic
... On October 16, 1941, the State Defense Committee adopted a resolution "On the evacuation of the capital of the USSR." Most understood it this way - from day to day Moscow will be handed over to the Germans. Panic began in the city: the metro was closed, trams stopped running. The very first to rush out of the city were party officials, who just yesterday called for a "war to victory." Archival documents testify: “On the very first day, 779 senior officials of institutions and organizations fled from the capital, taking with them money and valuables worth 2.5 million rubles. 100 cars and trucks were stolen - these leaders used them to take their families." Seeing how the authorities fled from Moscow, the people, picking up bundles and suitcases, also rushed away. Three days in a row the highway was packed with people. But
Muscovites are building anti-tank fortifications. Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander Ustinov
Fact #3 - The Kremlin was not considered
... It is believed that the Wehrmacht was stuck 32 km from what was then Moscow: the Germans managed to capture the village of Krasnaya Polyana, near Lobnya. After that, information appeared that the German generals, having climbed the bell tower, examined the Kremlin through binoculars. This myth is quite stable, but the Kremlin can only be seen from Krasnaya Polyana in summer, and then in absolutely clear weather. In snowfall this is not possible.
On December 2, 1941, an American journalist William Shearer made a statement: according to his information, today the reconnaissance battalion of the 258th division of the Wehrmacht invaded the village of Khimki, and from there the Germans surveyed the Kremlin towers with binoculars. It is not clear how they managed to do this: the Kremlin is even more invisible from Khimki. Plus, the 258th division of the Wehrmacht that day miraculously escaped encirclement in a completely different place - in the Yushkovo-Burtsevo area. Historians still have not come to a consensus when exactly the Germans appeared in Khimki (now there is a defense monument - three anti-tank hedgehogs) - October 16, November 30, or still December 2. Moreover: in the archives of the Wehrmacht ... there is no evidence of an attack on Khimki at all.
Fact #4 - There were no frosts
…Commander of the 2nd Panzer Army of the Reich, General Heinz Guderian after the defeat near Moscow, he blamed his failures on ... Russian frosts. Say, by November the Germans would already be drinking beer in the Kremlin, but they were stopped by terrible cold. The tanks got stuck in the snow, the guns jammed - the grease froze. Is it so? On November 4, 1941, the temperature in the Moscow region was minus 7 degrees (before that, it rained in October, and the roads became muddy), and on November 8 it was completely zero (!). On November 11-13, the air froze (-15 degrees), but soon warmed up to -3 - and this can hardly be called "terrible cold." Severe frosts (under minus 40°C) struck only at the very beginning of the Red Army's counter-offensive - December 5, 1941 - and could not radically change the situation at the front. The cold played its role only when the Soviet troops drove the Wehrmacht armies back (this is where Guderian's tanks really did not start), but stopped the enemy near Moscow in normal winter weather.
Two Red Army soldiers stand next to an overturned German tank, shot down in the battle near Moscow. Photo: RIA Novosti / Minkevich
Fact #5 - Battle of Borodino
... On January 21, 1942, the Russians and the French met on the Borodino field for the second time in 130 years. On the side of the Wehrmacht, the Legion of French Volunteers against Bolshevism fought - 2452 soldiers. They were instructed to defend Borodino from the advancing Soviet troops. Before the attack, he turned to the legionnaires Marshal von Kluge: "Remember Napoleon!" In a few days, the legion was defeated - half of the soldiers died, hundreds were captured, the rest were taken to the rear with frostbite. As in the case of Bonaparte, the French were not lucky on the Borodino field.
... On December 16, 1941, Hitler, amazed by the flight of his army from Moscow, issued an order similar to Stalin's, "Not a step back!" He demanded to "hold the front to the last soldier", threatening to shoot the division commanders. The chief of staff of the 4th Army, Gunther Blumentritt, in his book Fatal Decisions, pointed out: "Hitler instinctively realized that a retreat in the snow would lead to the collapse of the entire front and our troops would suffer the fate of Napoleon's army." So it eventually happened: three and a half years later, when Soviet soldiers entered Berlin ...
Museum "Borodino" was destroyed and burned by the Germans during the retreat. The picture was taken in January 1942. Photo: RIA Novosti / N. Popov
