MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

FEDERAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

SEI HPE "BLAGOVESCHENSKY STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY"

Faculty of History and Philology

Department of World History

COURSE WORK

on the topic

Analysis of the era of the Napoleonic wars

Blagoveshchensk

Introduction

1. Personality of Napoleon Bonaparte

2. Napoleonic Wars

2.1 War of the Second Coalition (1798-1802)

2.2 War of the Third Coalition (1805)

2.3 War of the Fourth Coalition (1806-1807)

2.3 War of the Sixth Coalition (1813-1814)

2.4 Capture of Paris and end of campaign (March 1814)

3. Results and significance of the Napoleonic wars

Conclusion

List of used sources and literature

Appendix

INTRODUCTION

The relevance of the topic is due to the rapid development of public international law in connection with the cardinal changes in the international situation periodically occurring in recent decades. The modern world, like Europe during the Napoleonic wars, is shaken by a series of grandiose events: international conflicts, civil wars, natural, man-made and humanitarian disasters.

The Napoleonic Wars made the whole world shudder. And at the same time they contributed to the unification of many countries against Napoleonic rule.

A significant amount of work has been written on this topic.

The study of the era of Napoleon Bonaparte in Soviet historiography proceeded in two directions. One of the directions was the study of personality and political biography (E.V. Tarle, A.Z. Manfred). The work of E.V. Tarle "Napoleon", published in 1936. and then withstood more than 10 reprints. E. V. Tarle worked on it for almost 20 years. The main task of the author was “to give the most clear picture of the life and work of the French emperor, his characterization as a person, as a historical figure, with his properties, natural data and aspirations. Monograph E.V. Tarle influenced the formation of views on the history of Europe by many modernist historians, and was simply popular among non-specialists.

A.Z. worked in the same direction. Manfred. In 1971 published his monograph "Napoleon Bonaparte". In the preface to it, he writes that the work of E.V. Tarle had a huge influence on him. However, he considers it necessary to revisit this topic due to the fact that the source base has expanded. A.Z. Manfred for the first time in the history of the study of the life of Bonaparte drew on his literary heritage to study political views. He pays great attention to Napoleon's desire for self-education, his talent as a commander and a person who, in a difficult situation, can lead the masses behind him.

From the first direction gradually by the end of the 70s. the second one also stands out, where the study of the role in the formation of Bonapartism and the political regime of France during the period of the consulate and the empire (D. M. Tugan-Baranovsky) was carried out.

At present, the problem of the significance of the Napoleonic wars has been fully explored. But this does not prevent researchers from finding other approaches to the study of that era. Today's historians are more interested in Napoleon's diplomacy (V. G. Sirotkin), the military history of Napoleon's campaigns (Internet sites and forums dedicated to Bonaparte's army), his psychological state at different periods of his life. The range of methods used in conducting research has significantly expanded due to contacts between Russian and foreign researchers, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, the opportunity to work in European archives appeared.

The theme of the course covers the time of the Napoleonic wars, namely 1799 -1814. The upper limit is determined by the fact that in 1799. Napoleon came to power in France. In 1814, Napoleon abdicated, ending the era of the Napoleonic Wars.

The geographical scope of this work covers the whole of Europe.

The purpose of this work is to analyze the era of the Napoleonic wars

To study the personality of Napoleon as a commander

Describe the wars of the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth coalitions

Reveal the significance of the Napoleonic Wars for France, and for Europe in general.

We can judge Napoleon's foreign policy by the normative documents of that time, as well as by the problematic works of historians. Thus, it is supposed to be possible to combine sources into groups. The first group includes Napoleon's personal works, namely, the essays "17 remarks" on a work called "Discourses on the Art of War" (Napoleon. Selected Works) reflects Napoleon's personal position on the successes and failures of his foreign policy.

To the second group we will include the international treaties of the Napoleonic era. According to the agreement on the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine, Napoleon was proclaimed king of Italy ("protector"). The “Protectorate” consisted in the unquestioning fulfillment of the will of the autocratic ruler. As for the Peace of Amiens, it turned out to be only a brief truce. In general, this treaty did not infringe on the interests of France. The Treaty of Pressburg finally buried the Franco-Russian agreements, strengthened Napoleon's power over Austria and served as Napoleon's first step on the path to world domination. The creation of the Confederation of the Rhine made sixteen German states completely dependent on France, thus expanding Napoleon's sphere of influence over the German principalities.

With the signing of the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807. Napoleon became the complete ruler of Germany, in addition, a continental blockade was created, which caused considerable damage to the economy of England. Those. in general, the treaty was pro-Napoleonic in nature. According to the Schönbrunn Peace Treaty of 1809. Austria actually became a state dependent on France. In addition, Prussia pledged to close its ports to England, which is a continuation of Napoleon's policy of continental blockade. All this undoubtedly strengthens the position of France.

The peace of Paris on May 30, 1814, brilliantly crowned the efforts of England. Napoleon fell, France was humiliated; all seas, all harbors and shores opened again. When writing a term paper, these works were used in full.

1. The rapid rise of Napoleon is due to the "concentration" in one person of genius, ambition, a correct understanding of the situation around him.

2. As a result of continuous wars and conquests, a huge Napoleonic empire was formed, supplemented by a system of states directly or indirectly subject to France.

3. Despite a number of private victories won at the beginning of 1814 by the French army over the troops of the allies who entered the territory of France, it was eventually defeated.

1. PERSONALITY OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

Napoleon French statesman and commander, first consul of the French Republic (1799 - 1804), emperor of the French (1804 - 14 and March - June 1815). He was born on August 15, 1769 in the family of a poor Corsican nobleman lawyer Carlo Buonaparte. Napoleon's character from early childhood turned out to be impatient and restless. “Nothing impressed me,” he later recalled, “I was prone to quarrels and fights, I was not afraid of anyone. I beat one, scratched the other, and everyone was afraid of me. Most of all I had to endure my brother Joseph. I beat him and bit him. And they scolded him for it, because it happened even before he came to his senses from fear, I would already complain to my mother. My cunning did me good, because otherwise Mother Letizia would punish me for my pugnacity, she would never would not tolerate my attacks!" . Napoleon grew up as a gloomy and irritable child. His mother loved him, but she gave him and her other children a rather harsh upbringing. They lived economically, but the family did not feel the need. The father was a man, apparently, kind and weak-willed. The true head of the family was Letizia, a firm, strict, hardworking woman, in whose hands was the upbringing of children. Napoleon inherited his love for work and strict order in business from his mother. The situation of this island, secluded from the whole world, with its rather wild population in the mountains and forest thickets, with endless inter-clan clashes, with tribal blood feuds, with carefully concealed, but stubborn hostility to the French aliens, was strongly reflected in the young impressions of little Napoleon. At the age of ten, he was placed at the Autun College in France, and then in the same 1779 he was transferred to a state scholarship at the Brienne military school. In 1784 he successfully graduated from college and transferred to the Paris Military School (1784 - 85). In February 1785, his father, Carlo Bonaparte, died of the very disease from which Napoleon himself later died: stomach cancer. The family was left almost penniless. There was little hope for Napoleon's older brother, Joseph: he was both incapable and lazy, the 16-year-old junker took care of his mother, brothers and sisters. After a year's stay at the Paris Military School, on October 30, 1785, he entered the army with the rank of second lieutenant and went to the regiment stationed in the south, in the city of Valence. Life was hard for the young officer. (Appendix 1) He sent most of the salary to his mother, leaving himself only for the meager food, not allowing himself the slightest entertainment. In the same house where he rented a room, there was a second-hand book dealer, and Napoleon began to spend all his free time reading books that the second-hand book dealer gave him. He shunned society, and his clothes were so plain that he did not want and could not lead any secular life. He read voraciously, with unheard-of greed, filling his notebooks with notes and notes. Most of all he was interested in books on military history, mathematics, geography, travel descriptions. He also read philosophers.

Napoleon leads the battle

The Napoleonic Wars (1796-1815) - an era in the history of Europe, when France, which embarked on the capitalist path of development, tried to impose the principles of freedom, equality, fraternity, with which its people made their Great Revolution, on the surrounding states.

The soul of this grandiose enterprise, its driving force was the French commander, politician, who eventually became Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. That is why they call the numerous European wars of the early nineteenth century Napoleonic

“Bonaparte is short, not very slender: his torso is too long. Dark brown hair, blue-gray eyes; complexion, at first, with youthful thinness, yellow, and then, with age, white, dull, without any blush. His features are beautiful, reminiscent of antique medals. The mouth, slightly flat, becomes pleasant when he smiles; the chin is a little short. The lower jaw is heavy and square. Legs and arms are graceful, he is proud of them. The eyes, usually dim, give the face, when it is calm, a melancholy, thoughtful expression; when he is angry, his glance becomes suddenly severe and menacing. A smile suits him very well, makes him suddenly quite kind and young; then it’s hard to resist him, so he’s getting prettier and transformed ”(from the memoirs of Madame Remusat, a court lady at the court of Josephine)

Biography of Napoleon. Briefly

• 1769, August 15 - born in Corsica
• 1779, May-1785, October - training at the military schools of Brienne and Paris.
• 1789-1795 - in one capacity or another, participation in the events of the Great French Revolution
• 1795, June 13 - appointment as a general of the Western Army
• 1795, October 5 - by order of the Convention, the royalist putsch was dispersed.
• 1795, October 26 - appointment as a general of the Internal Army.
• 1796, March 9 - marriage to Josephine de Beauharnais.
• 1796-1797 - Italian company
• 1798-1799 - Egyptian company
• 1799, November 9-10 - coup d'état. Napoleon becomes consul along with Sieyes and Roger Ducos
• 1802, August 2 - Napoleon is presented with a lifetime consulate
• May 16, 1804 - Proclaimed Emperor of the French
• 1807, January 1 - Proclamation of the continental blockade of Great Britain
• 1809, December 15 - divorce from Josephine
• 1810, April 2 - marriage to Marie Louise
• 1812, June 24 - the beginning of the war with Russia
• 1814, March 30-31 - the army of the anti-French coalition entered Paris
• 1814, April 4–6 - Napoleon's abdication
• May 4, 1814 - Napoleon on the island of Elba.
• February 26, 1815 - Napoleon left Elba
• 1815, March 1 - Napoleon's landing in France
• March 20, 1815 - Napoleon's army triumphantly entered Paris.
• June 18, 1815 - Napoleon is defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.
• 1815, June 22 - second abdication
• 1815, October 16 - Napoleon is imprisoned on the island of St. Helena
• 1821, May 5 - death of Napoleon

Napoleon is considered by unanimous experts to be the greatest military genius in world history.(Academician Tarle)

Napoleonic Wars

Napoleon waged wars not so much with individual states as with alliances of states. There were seven of these alliances or coalitions
First coalition (1791-1797): Austria and Prussia. The war of this coalition with France is not included in the list of Napoleonic wars

Second coalition (1798-1802): Russia, England, Austria, Turkey, the Kingdom of Naples, several German principalities, Sweden. The main battles took place in the regions of Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Holland.
—

• 1799, April 27 - at the Adda River, the victory of the Russian-Austrian troops under the command of Suvorov over the French army under the command of J. V. Moreau
• 1799, June 17 - at the Trebbia River in Italy, the victory of the Russian-Austrian troops of Suvorov over the French army of MacDonald
• 1799, August 15 - at Novi (Italy), the victory of the Russian-Austrian troops of Suvorov over the French army of Joubert
• 1799, September 25-26 - at Zurich, the defeat of the coalition troops from the French under the command of Massena
• 1800, June 14 - at Marengo, the French army of Napoleon defeated the Austrians
• 1800, December 3 - at Hohenlinden, the French army of Moreau defeated the Austrians

• 1801, February 9 - Peace of Luneville between France and Austria
• 1801, October 8 - peace treaty in Paris between France and Russia
• 1802, March 25 - Peace of Amiens between France, Spain and the Batavian Republic on the one hand and England on the other

—
France took control of the left bank of the Rhine. The Cisalpine (Northern Italy), Batavian (Holland) and Helvetic (Switzerland) republics are recognized as independent

Third coalition (1805-1806): England, Russia, Austria, Sweden. The main fighting took place on land in Austria, Bavaria and at sea.
—

• 1805, October 19 - Napoleon's victory over the Austrians at Ulm
• 1805, October 21 - Defeat of the Franco-Spanish fleet from the British at Trafalgar
• 1805, December 2 - Napoleon's victory over Austerlitz over the Russian-Austrian army ("Battle of the Three Emperors")

• 1805, December 26 - Peace of Pressburg (Presburg - present-day Bratislava) between France and Austria

—
Austria ceded to Napoleon the Venetian region, Istria (a peninsula in the Adriatic Sea) and Dalmatia (today it mainly belongs to Croatia) and recognized all French seizures in Italy, and also lost its possessions west of Carinthia (today a federal state within Austria)

Fourth coalition (1806-1807): Russia, Prussia, England. The main events took place in Poland and East Prussia
—

• 1806, October 14 - Napoleon's victory at Jena over the Prussian army
• 1806, October 12, Napoleon occupied Berlin
• 1806, December - entry into the war of the Russian army
• 1806, December 24-26 - battles at Charnovo, Golymin, Pultusk, ending in a draw
• 1807, February 7-8 (NS) - Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Preussisch-Eylau
• 1807, June 14 - Napoleon's victory in the battle of Friedland

• 1807, June 25 - Peace of Tilsit between Russia and France

—
Russia recognized all the conquests of France and promised to join the continental blockade of England

The Pyrenean Wars of Napoleon: Napoleon's attempt to conquer the countries of the Iberian Peninsula.
From October 17, 1807 to April 14, 1814, then fading, then resuming with new bitterness, the military operations of the Napoleonic marshals with the Spanish-Portuguese-English forces continued. France never managed to completely subjugate Spain and Portugal, on the one hand, because the theater of war was on the periphery of Europe, on the other, because of opposition to the occupation of the peoples of these countries

Fifth Coalition (April 9-October 14, 1809): Austria, England. France acted in alliance with Poland, Bavaria, Russia. the main events took place in Central Europe
—

• 1809, April 19-22 - victorious for the French Teugen-Hausen, Abensberg, Landshut, Ekmuhl battles in Bavaria.
• The Austrian army suffered one setback after another, things did not work out for the allies in Italy, Dalmatia, Tyrol, Northern Germany, Poland and Holland

• 1809, July 12 - an armistice was concluded between Austria and France
• 1809, October 14 - Treaty of Schönbrunn between France and Austria

—
Austria lost access to the Adriatic Sea. France - Istria with Trieste. Western Galicia passed to the Duchy of Warsaw, Tyrol and the Salzburg region received Bavaria, Russia received the Tarnopol district (as compensation for its participation in the war on the side of France)

Sixth Coalition (1813-1814): Russia, Prussia, England, Austria and Sweden, and after the defeat of Napoleon in the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig in October 1813, the German states of Württemberg and Bavaria joined the coalition. Spain, Portugal and England fought independently with Napoleon in the Iberian Peninsula

The main events of the war of the sixth coalition with Napoleon took place in Central Europe
—

• 1813 - Battle of Lützen. The allies retreated, but in the rear the battle was presented as victorious.
• 1813, October 16-19 - Napoleon's defeat from the allied forces in the battle of Leipzig (Battle of the Nations)
• 1813, October 30-31 - the battle of Hanau, in which the Austro-Bavarian corps unsuccessfully tried to block the retreat of the French army, defeated in the Battle of the Nations
• 1814, January 29 - Napoleon's victorious battle near Brienne with Russian-Prussian-Austrian forces
• 1814, February 10-14 - Napoleon's victorious battles at Champaubert, Montmiral, Chateau-Thierry, Voshan, in which the Russians and Austrians lost 16,000 people
• 1814, March 9 - a successful battle for the coalition army near the city of Laon (northern France), in which Napoleon was still able to save the army
• 1814, March 20-21 - the battle of Napoleon and the Main Allied Army on the River Ob (center of France), in which the coalition army threw back Napoleon's small army and went to Paris, which they entered on March 31

• 1814, May 30 - Treaty of Paris, which put an end to Napoleon's war with the countries of the sixth coalition

—
France returned to the borders that existed on January 1, 1792, and most of the colonial possessions that she had lost during the Napoleonic Wars were returned to her. The monarchy was restored in the country

Seventh Coalition (1815): Russia, Sweden, England, Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal. The main events of Napoleon's war with the countries of the seventh coalition took place in France and Belgium.
—

• 1815, on March 1, Napoleon, who had fled from the island, landed in France
• 1815, March 20, Napoleon occupied Paris without resistance

  How did the headlines of French newspapers change as Napoleon approached the capital of France:
  "The Corsican monster has landed in the bay of Juan", "The ogre goes to the Route", "The usurper entered Grenoble", "Bonaparte occupied Lyon", "Napoleon is approaching Fontainebleau", "His Imperial Majesty enters his faithful Paris"

• On March 13, 1815, England, Austria, Prussia and Russia outlawed Napoleon, and on March 25 formed the Seventh Coalition against him.
• 1815, mid-June - Napoleon's army entered Belgium
• 1815, June 16, the French defeated the British at Quatre Bras and the Prussians at Ligny
• 1815, June 18 - defeat of Napoleon

Outcome of the Napoleonic Wars

“The defeat of feudal-absolutist Europe by Napoleon had a positive, progressive historical significance ... Napoleon dealt such irreparable blows to feudalism from which he could never recover, and this is the progressive significance of the historical epic of the Napoleonic wars”(Academician E. V. Tarle)

© Drabkin A., 2015

© LLC Yauza Publishing House, 2015

© LLC Publishing House E, 2015

Part I. I fought on Pe-2

Malyutina Elena Mironovna

I was born in Petrograd, on the eve of the October Revolution. My mother is a housewife, my father is an employee. We lived very well! We felt like we were in paradise! Everyone lived the same way, no one had separate apartments. We had a seven-room apartment on Nevsky, not far from the Moscow railway station. Five-story building without an elevator. 35 people lived in it. Our family of six children and parents had one 45-meter room. Huge kitchen. On it, especially on holidays, a wood-burning stove was heated for 3-4 days from morning until evening without a break - they baked pies. My parents died in the blockade, and three sisters and two brothers went to the front, and they all returned.

There were eighteen students in the class: ten girls and eight boys. We loved the country so much! How we wanted to be in the army! How we wanted to defend our holy Motherland! Then the cry was thrown: "Young people - to the planes!" To be honest, I wanted to fly and, moreover, I could not imagine another profession for myself. First she graduated from a glider school - she flew gliders launched from a rubber shock absorber. They flew up to 5 meters from the ground, but it seemed that they were flying. In 1936 she graduated from the ten-year school and at the same time the Leningrad flying club. She entered the Bataysk flight school. Recruitment to a separate women's squadron was only 72 people. We studied for three years. They lived in a huge barracks, divided by columns into two halves, and studied in the educational building. What was taught? The first year is only theoretical classes. They got acquainted with the material part, the theory of flight, work with a radio station on the key, there were general educational subjects, for example, the history of the CPSU (b). In the second year, in the summer, we began flying, of course, to the alma mater of all pre-war pilots - the U-2. Only in the third year we were released on our own. Then we went through the aerobatics program. My instructor at the school was Lyuba Gubina, who later fought as a flight commander of the 125th GvBAP. When I came to the regiment, she was no longer there - she died near Yelnya. When approaching the target, her engine was damaged. The escort left with the bulk of the aircraft, and its link fell behind. Fighters attacked them. The crew of Anya Yazovskaya died - the plane crashed into the ground from a dive. Apparently the pilot was killed. The crew of Ira Osadze jumped out. The shooter on landing broke his spine, died in the hospital. And Ira and navigator Valya Volkova returned to the regiment after the hospital. Lyuba Gubina gave the command to leave the plane. The gunner-radio operator jumped out, and the navigator Katya Batukhtina caught the parachute strap on the machine gun turret. She saw that Katya was hanging, “gave her leg”, and Katya was torn off by the stream, and she herself no longer had height ...

After graduating from college on the U-2, I was sent to the Ural air group, to Kazan, to the special forces detachment. The airfield was located three kilometers from Kazan - an open field, a two-story house in which the flight crew lived.

They carried mail, women in labor from the villages to Kazan, they were engaged in chemical treatment - in general, a special application. "Mimino" watched? Well, we also drove goats. The airfields were unpaved, small areas, all the equipment of which was a cone hanging at the edge, showing the direction of the wind.

My salary, a third-class pilot, was small - 400 rubles. But I had to support my parents in Leningrad. True, we were fed and clothed.

She worked for two years and in 1940 she was sent to Magnitogorsk as an instructor pilot of the 102nd training squadron of the Civil Air Fleet. There were 18 men in the detachment and I was alone. The pilots were placed two kilometers from the airfield with workers who had their own houses, slightly "compacting" them, as they said then. The cadets were men 19-20 years old from the army, fit for health for flight work. There were seven people in my first group. In the summer we went to the camps, not far from Magnitogorsk - the city could be reached on foot. Conditions were difficult. The airfield is a bare field. I remember the cadets asked the flight commander: “Comrade commander, why doesn’t our instructor eat, drink, don’t go anywhere at all ?!” “You ask her why that is.”

And now it is difficult for a woman to establish herself in the team, but at that time it was mostly men who flew. When I first arrived, the commander of the detachment, a handsome man, a good pilot, said: "Women will not work for me." He flew with me and wrote on his pilot's certificate: “The piloting technique is unsatisfactory. You can't be an instructor. Can you imagine?! And next to none of the relatives, who could cry in the vest! How worried I was! Soon a civilian pilot Utkin arrived to check the piloting technique. He flew with me: “Don't worry, Lena, you will fly and you will work like a pretty girl. And what he does not want is his own business. They left me. Then the commander and I were on very good terms. I understand why he didn't want to work with women at first. I had to put up a separate tent. With me, they could not swear. The presence of a woman imposes many restrictions. And, in truth, aviation for women is rarely a life profession. Mostly for singles, but married ones, and even when the child appears, leave. I was 29 years old, I was still in good health when I was demobilized due to pregnancy. And so, if not for the child, she could still fly and fly. Of course my dream came true! All these 13 years that I was in aviation, I was a very happy woman ...

June 22, 1941 - day off, Sunday. We were in the city, went to the camp. A woman comes towards us and says that the war has begun. We did not believe her, but the camp confirmed this information to us. Moreover, they said that the flying club was moving to martial law, there would be no leave from the camp, we would train cadets according to an accelerated program. By August 1942, my cadets of the second group flew out on their own, and I was awarded the Aeroflot Excellence badge.

At the end of 1942, I received a call for retraining at the ZAP in Yoshkar-Ola. During the winter they were engaged in theory, studied the material part. They learned to walk in formation, to shoot at a cone. We took the oath, and we were awarded the rank of "junior lieutenant". The next title was given to us only in 1944! Here is how it was. I was sent from the regiment to a meeting of front-line soldiers. It was attended by Bagramyan, commander of the First Baltic Front. After my speech, the commander approached me: “I didn’t even know that I had a women’s unit in the front.” He asks what we want. I say: “We have one and a half to two thousand flight hours, and we all go as junior lieutenants, and men from schools with 50 hours are lieutenants.” Soon after returning to the regiment, an order came, and we were immediately given "senior lieutenants".

Since spring, they began to fly first on the R-5, then on the SB. They gave us a dozen carrying flights on a Pe-2 twin, and we took off on our own. We went to the zone, to the training ground. They bombed from a dive, but the regiment bombed only from a horizontal flight. In total, we flew 30 hours. Retraining was easy, because I already had one and a half thousand hours of flying time. One and a half thousand is one and a half thousand! Though on the U-2 in a box. And in our nine there were pilots who flew along the tracks. Such an example. The men were retrained with us. And what is their plaque after school? Fifty hours! In winter, the strip was cleared of snow with bulldozers. Around the strip - shafts. Here you definitely need to go: a little to the side - and kaput. Men had such cases, but we did not have any flight accidents due to the fault of the flight crew. So the best man is a woman! Men are slackers. The first pilot rushed to the sun, but did not fly in a circle. Do you know the end?

We lived in dugouts, slept on two-story bunks. The dining room is a huge hangar with tables half a kilometer long. First, second, third - all from the same plate. The food was you know what ... We were given warm men's underwear: flannelette pants, shirts. It cost 400 rubles. And a kilogram of honey cost 400 rubles. They exchanged this warm underwear ... We went in cotton pants in winter. How much snow did we throw? I said that the roads were cleared with bulldozers, and in order to get to the plane, you have to manually clean it. The ramparts around it were like caponiers, the height of an airplane. In short, in March 1944, we, nine female crews, flew to the front in the 587th BAP.

I don't remember my first sortie very well, because there was tremendous tension. We were told: “Don't think about anything, the navigator will be throwing bombs at the leader. Your task is to stay in line." Therefore, I thought only about how to stay behind the leader and not get into a wake stream. I must say that women, like sheep, huddled tightly against each other and walked well in formation. Therefore, the fighters liked to cover us.

What to say about the "pawn"? Complex aircraft. The glider was excellent, but the motors were rather weak for it. Nevertheless, good crews on new aircraft took up to 1200 kilograms of bombs. The squadron commander Fedutenko was the first to take it, and after her we pulled ourselves up. She pulled away hard. On takeoff, there was not enough strength to raise the tail. Therefore, the navigator put pressure on her shoulders, helping to squeeze the helm. The cabin was adapted for a man of average build. Therefore, for example, the technicians put a pillow on the seat for me. As for piloting, we had no problems - all the pilots were with great experience, and what you tell me about the “progressive goat” and falling when flying on a box, I hear for the first time. I have never sat down with a goat. We had one weaker pilot, so she twice rolled out of the airfield. But, thank God, the crew did not suffer, the car suffered. But what is a car? Iron! She was restored.

I remember that Katya Fedotova, the flight commander, an excellent pilot, had an engine failure on takeoff. They turned around and landed on their belly with bombs. Everyone in the parking lot froze - waiting for the explosion. A cloud of dust - and silence. Then Katya said that her gunner-radio operator, the mischievous Toska Khokhlova, climbed onto the fuselage, took out a powder box: “Katya, how you sprayed it!” Then this story went around like a joke.

In the summer of 1944 I was badly wounded. Our flight was to bomb a major railway junction. The weather was very bad: low clouds, rain. Suddenly at two o'clock in the afternoon - a rocket. We flew. The first nine bombed, and when our nine entered, the target was covered by a cloud. I had to go in again. But a bomber on a combat course is defenseless - you can not change direction, speed, or altitude, otherwise the bombs will not hit the target. If we do not bring confirmation, then the flight was not counted. This is an emergency. Thank God we didn't have that. When we went to the second run, I felt sick. I say to the navigator Lena Yushenkova: "It looks like I was wounded." "Hold on, we're dropping bombs now." The bombs were dropped. I feel like my head is spinning. I see the group leaving. Lena gave me a sniff of ammonia - it became easier. Below is a large forest area - there is nowhere to sit. It is necessary to reach the airfield fighters. We went to the fighter airfield. Already I am descending, released the shields, landing gear. And the plane is taxiing into the runway! To the second round! And on the “pawn” it’s already very difficult, because when the shields and landing gear are released, then there is a large load on the steering wheel. Come in, sit down. I only remember that I got up from the seat and passed out. I woke up in the field hospital in the evening. I see a large yard covered with straw. In the operating room - shell casings instead of lamps. Table. The operation was successful. The small intestine was damaged in eleven places and the large intestine in four. A healthy room where wounded patients lay. I was fenced off by a nook with a sheet. Mat! In short, I got into the men's company again. Then I was transferred to a stationary hospital - the former Sikorsky barracks in Poland. I started walking there. She got treated already in Moscow. From there I was sent to a sanatorium for flight personnel in Vostryakovo for two weeks, followed by a re-examination. I stayed there for four days, there was no re-examination. Arrived at the Central Airfield. The guys flew to Vilna. And from there I got to the regiment by hitchhiking.

The girls later told me that a pilot from the fraternal 124th regiment landed on the same fighter airfield on a wrecked plane. He took my serviceable one and flew to the regiment with my crew. When the plane came in for landing, everyone was so happy. Because the regiment returned from the departure, they saw how the plane lagged behind, but its fate was not known. And then they see that he is landing. Everyone screamed, began to throw down their hats, and a man and my carriage got out ...

– Is the cabin comfortable?

– Normal. My husband is tall. He flew as a navigator in a neighboring regiment. So he had to kneel behind the back of the pilot, and when they approached the front line, he stood up near the machine gun. The folding seat is uncomfortable, in winter it is cramped in fur overalls. Tether straps? No, they didn't. The machine guns mounted forward were never used. But the navigator and gunner-radio operator often used up their ammunition.

– Was the crew permanent?

“We parted ways with the shooter. Then I had Styopa Tsymbal, a healthy crest. He kept asking me to put a leaflet in my breast pocket with a prayer: “Commander, take it. May it protect you." Pilots are superstitious people. The regiment did not have an aircraft numbered "13". We tried to fly only on our plane. It happens that the plane is out of order, they tried not to transfer to another one. It was difficult to fly after being injured. The first sorties seemed to me that all the anti-aircraft guns were shooting only at me. Then I got used to it again. The end of the war found me in East Prussia. We flew to Danzig, Pilau, Memel. It was already like a walk. Because there were almost as many escort fighters as bombers. The danger was only from anti-aircraft fire. In total, I made 79 sorties. By the end of the war, she became a senior pilot. Such a small increase in service is due to the fact that the regiment lost only twenty-eight people during the war. What explains this? Don't know. I can't say we're being taken care of. We flew as much as the men from neighboring regiments of the division. I remember there was a raid on Riga. Our regiment was the last. And the first - the 124th. They had 72 people killed in this sortie. Almost the entire regiment! We had 12 people wounded. But everyone returned, except for the crew of Karaseva, who was taken prisoner. Yes ... they were very afraid of captivity ... and they were afraid to remain crippled, blind, lame. If a bullet, then to death.

– Were the losses mainly from anti-aircraft guns or from fighters?

- Mostly from anti-aircraft guns. Almost always there was a fighter cover. The first time is weaker, but from the end of the 44th it is very powerful.

– The women's team is a specific environment...

- Where there are three, there is a market, and where there are more - a fair. We are all humans. Especially the female team that sleeps together, eats together, works together. Of course, the emotional burden is great. Our commissar had a good character. We had the crew of Krivonogova. And also the crew of the glorious daughter of the Georgian people. She flew rather weakly, but there was ambition! Nadia was not vindictive, she did not remember the insults that were inflicted on her, and then, sleep saved her. Like a free minute - she sleeps under the plane, and then gets up, like nothing happened. He says: “What I don’t remember, that didn’t happen.” Of course, there was everything ... but such serious contradictions that we hated each other did not arise. Still, we worked, if there was a lot of free time, it would probably be different. Even when there were no flights - there was no weather or the airfield was limp, they tried not to sit idle. The navigator was taught by the districts to the smallest detail, the pilots were also engaged. Then, amateur performance was very good. But there was no dancing!

They lived in squadrons, but the shooters lived separately, although the entire flight crew ate in the same canteen. They fed very well, but still they ate all the condensed milk from NZ - they wanted sweets. And when the inspection commission came, the crews got capitally. After sorties they gave 100 grams. I did not drink - I gave it to male shooters. Only five women smoked in the regiment: Timofeeva, Fedutenko, Galya Markova ... They were personally given cigarettes.

At the end of the war, we were well dressed. Trousers, tunics were sewn for each individually. They flew in tarpaulin boots, and the chrome boots were "on the way out." We even wore khaki dresses. Underwear was sewn for themselves, from footcloths.

We practically did not use cosmetics. And they brushed their teeth. We were given both brushes and powder. We went to the bath every week. Only men were checked for lice, but we were not. Indeed, there was such a case. The only one. Tamara Maslova was our pilot, we slept with her on the second floor on the bunk. She says: “Listen, my head is itching.” They began to scratch - lice. "She rewarded me." The next day, she flew on a spark with an instructor, on landing they left the runway and took a nose-over. She was crushed, but everyone is alive. She spent two days in the hospital. I came to her there, I ask: “How are you doing about this business?” - "None!" They say it happens before disaster.

If we talk about the characteristics of the female body, then on critical days only those who did not tolerate it were removed from flights. Here is my navigator, for example, it was very hard to endure - she lay in prone. These days I was replaced ...

– Has your aircraft been attacked by fighters?

- Yes, he did. Once I even saw the face of a German pilot, the fighter came so close. He entered from the right side. Styopa Tsymbal fired at him, but missed him, but he slipped through, slowed down and flew for some time next to us at twenty meters. Neither we nor he could shoot. Turning my head, I saw the head of a pilot in a helmet and a face ... How did I feel in this situation? Calmly. He is not dangerous in this position. I must say that even in such situations, the crew maintained a working environment. No one cussed - we did not know these words. Everyone is busy with their own business and did not allow unnecessary conversations. Only commands and informing the crew members: "Enemy fighters on the left", "We are approaching the target, in 10 minutes we will get on the combat course." So there was never a nervous situation in the crew, although, perhaps, everyone was worried inside. The most pleasant feeling is when the bombs are dropped and the navigator says: "We crossed the front line." It's good to be alive! And the light aircraft rejoices just like the crew. And so every time.

– What is the maximum number of flights you have to make?

- Two. The duration of the flight is two and a half hours, two forty. While we take off, while the group gathers ...

– Was there oxygen equipment?

- Yes. But we did not fly above four thousand. Mostly two and a half, rarely three. Therefore, we did not use oxygen equipment.

– What is the minimum cloud height at which it was possible to fly?

- Eight hundred. In that flight, when the cloud covered the target and we had to make a second approach, there was just such cloud cover - it is very dangerous. Usually one thousand, one thousand two hundred.

– In addition to this injury, did you bring holes in the plane?

- Yes. Almost every time. For example, I twice landed on an emergency landing at foreign airfields. Once, near Siauliai, a gas pipeline was broken, and the second time the control, stabilizer rods were damaged. You sit down, the technicians will replace, and go home.

– Did you have to deal with SMERSH?

- Personally, I didn’t have to, but the gunner-radio operator Tosya suffered from her - the woman was unpleasant ... They were filthy people.

– How do you feel about political workers?

- At first, Nina Yakovlevna Eliseeva was our regimental commissar. We called her "mother". She loved us very much. A very good, sincere person. And she could cry. She had a husband, Vanechka, commander of a fighter regiment. Then he somehow came to us, and she had to demobilize. They gave us Maria Borisovna Abramova. What can I say? Commissioner as commissioner. Like almost all commissars: they talked a lot, did little. She came from the Civil Air Fleet, a career political worker. Then she was an instructor in the Central Committee of the party for many years. After the war, she did a lot for fellow soldiers, helped with apartments and pensions.

– Was Irina Osadze in your squadron?

- Yes. She flew great, but there was a terrible swearing. True, her mat was not offensive. She was not married - she lived in aviation. She was a good girl, not harmful, not vicious. She interacted more with men. Women's conversations never interested her.

– Were there cases of transition from crew to crew, because they did not agree on the characters?

– There was no such thing. For the only time, the awarded gunner-radio operator Tatar Abibulaev, who flew with Krivonogova, was expelled from the regiment. This happened after the deportation of the Crimean Tatars. He fell at the feet of the commander, cried, asked to be left, but they took him somewhere. True, he returned to us at the end of the war.

– What were your war awards?

- At the front, I was awarded the Order of the Red Star, the Red Banner of War, the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree.

– What was your attitude towards the Germans personally?

- The same as with all Soviet people: "How many times you see, so many kill." There was no personal hatred. They just knew it was the enemy.

– Were there any trophies?

- There was nothing. Where?! When we were in East Prussia, we were allowed to go to the city. The streets are covered with down like snow. How stupid we were! The houses are empty, everything is open. I remember we went into the apartment. We have never seen anything like it in our lives: such furniture, such crockery, such chandeliers. But there was no desire to take something ... But where would we take it ?! Nobody took anything.