A ROOT TURN DURING THE WAR
The defeat of German troops at Stalingrad. In the summer of 1942, a catastrophic situation developed in the North Caucasus. After the fall of Rostov-on-Don, the road to the south was open for the Germans, since there were no fortifications on this section of the front. As a result, despite the fierce resistance of the Soviet troops, in just a few days the enemy troops reached the Caucasus ridge. Their goal was the oil of Maikop, Grozny and Baku, as well as the capture of Transcaucasia. Hitler stated that without Caucasian oil he would not be able to continue the war. However, having mobilized all its forces and capabilities, the Red Army managed to stop the enemy.
By the fall of 1942, the balance of power on the Soviet-German front gradually began to change. By this time, the enemy had suffered huge losses in the Stalingrad and North Caucasus directions and was forced to go on the defensive. In this situation, the Soviet command sought to achieve a final turning point in its favor. The Stalingrad Front was chosen as the direction of the main attack. The plan for defeating the enemy at Stalingrad (it was developed by Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief G.K. Zhukov and the Chief of the General Staff A.M. Vasilevsky) received the code name "Uranus". This plan involved the forces of the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts striking the Germans in converging directions with the goal of encircling them and completely defeating them between the Volga and Don rivers. To carry out this plan, double superiority over the enemy was ensured.
On November 19, 1942, Soviet artillery delivered a powerful blow to the enemy, after which a tank attack began. On the fifth day of fierce fighting, troops from two fronts united near the city of Kalach. The German 6th and 4th tank armies were surrounded. The total number of surrounded enemy soldiers and officers was 330 thousand people. The Germans' attempts to get out of the encirclement were unsuccessful. On February 2, 1943, the encircled enemy group capitulated. Its commander himself, Field Marshal F. Paulus, was also captured. In total, the Germans lost 800 thousand people, 2 thousand tanks and assault guns, 3 thousand aircraft.
The victory of the Red Army in the Battle of Stalingrad marked the beginning of a radical change in the course of not only the Great Patriotic War, but also the entire Second World War. The strategic initiative finally passed into the hands of the Soviet command.
The beginning of liberation. The victory at Stalingrad marked the beginning of the mass expulsion of the enemy from Soviet soil. Fearing a new encirclement, the Germans hastily withdrew their troops from the North Caucasus.
January 18, 1943 troops of Leningrad and Volkhov fronts managed to partially break the blockade of Leningrad. Along the resulting “corridor”, only 8-11 km wide, food aid, medicine, and weapons began to flow into the besieged city.
In February 1943, the liberation of eastern Donbass began. At the same time, as a result of a powerful offensive by the troops of the Voronezh Front on the upper Don, three enemy armies were defeated and the Kursk Bulge was formed, wedged deeply into German positions. It was here that both sides planned to begin the summer campaign.
In total, during the winter offensive, the Red Army managed to defeat more than a hundred enemy divisions.
Battle of Kursk. A series of military defeats greatly bled the German army. Hitler ordered the start of “total” (general) mobilization, during which another 2 million soldiers and officers were called up to the front. German units from European countries were also transferred to the eastern front. In total, up to 50 enemy divisions were concentrated near Kursk. Tank armies were armed with new types of equipment - Tiger and Panther tanks, Ferdinand assault guns. The German operation plan (“Citadel”) provided for “cutting off” the Kursk Bulge with attacks from German troops from the north and south, encircling and destroying Soviet troops.
At the suggestion of G.K. Zhukov, the command of the Red Army decided to switch to active defense in order to, after exhausting the main forces of the enemy, bring down the entire force of the main and reserve troops on him. To carry out this operation, the Headquarters ensured significant superiority over the enemy in manpower and equipment.
The Germans were going to use the surprise factor. It was planned to begin the offensive on July 5 at 3 a.m. with heavy artillery preparation. However, Soviet intelligence accurately determined the day and hour of the start of the offensive, after which the commander of the Central Front, K.K. Rokossovsky, decided on a preemptive strike. A few minutes before the start of the German offensive, almost 19 thousand guns struck the concentration areas German troops. As a result, the enemy suffered heavy losses and was able to launch an offensive only a few hours later, while he had to bring all his reserves into action. The Germans were only able to advance 30-35 km.
On July 12, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive. On the same day, near the village of Prokhorovka, the largest tank battle in world history took place, in which 1,200 tanks took part. It ended in victory for the Soviet tankers. On this day, a turning point occurred in the entire Battle of Kursk. The Germans were forced to go on the defensive. Rushing on the offensive, the Red Army liberated Belgorod and Oryol on August 5. In Moscow on this day the first victorious salute in the history of the Great Patriotic War was fired.
In the Battle of Kursk, the Germans lost 500 thousand soldiers and officers, 1.5 thousand tanks, 3.7 thousand aircraft. The blow of the advancing Soviet troops was so strong that in a short time they managed to liberate Kharkov, Donbass, the Taman Peninsula, Bryansk, and Smolensk from the enemy.
The battle for the Dnieper began in mid-September. On the steep right bank of the river, the Germans erected a powerful fortification system (“Eastern Wall”), which, in their opinion, made it impregnable. Hitler said with pathos that the Dnieper would sooner flow backwards than the Russians would overcome it. However, the “Eastern Wall” could not stop the Soviet soldier - on November 6, Kyiv was liberated, and the Dnieper was crossed in most directions. For the heroism shown in overcoming this obstacle, 2438 soldiers who were the first to set foot on the right bank of the Dnieper were awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union. At the same time, a significant group of German troops found themselves “locked” in Crimea.
The fundamental change during the war was consolidated.
Results of the second period of the war. The success of the Red Army in defeating the common enemy was complemented by the landing of allied Anglo-American troops in Italy at the end of July 1943. However, the Soviet leadership was waiting for the allies' main promise to be fulfilled - the landing of their troops in France, which would significantly speed up the victory over Germany.
In November-December 1943, a meeting of the leaders of the USSR, USA and England (the “Big Three”) took place in Tehran. Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill agreed on the opening of a second front in Europe in May-June 1944, on the creation of the United Nations after the war, on the basic principles of the post-war world order, on the fate of Germany after its final defeat, etc. The Soviet Union committed itself to moving against Japan after the end of hostilities in Europe.
From the beginning of the Red Army's counteroffensive at Stalingrad until the end of 1943, Germany lost more than 2.2 million people, 3.5 thousand tanks, and about 7 thousand aircraft. In the summer and autumn of 1943 alone, the Germans lost more than half of all their troops on the eastern front. The overthrow of Mussolini in Italy brought one of Hitler's most reliable allies out of the war.
The German army was on the verge of military disaster.
By the end of 1943, Soviet troops liberated almost half of all territories occupied by the enemy. A serious and long struggle still lay ahead. But its outcome was already largely predetermined.
What you need to know about this topic:
Socio-economic and political development of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Nicholas II.
Domestic policy tsarism. Nicholas II. Increased repression. "Police Socialism"
Russo-Japanese War. Reasons, progress, results.
Revolution 1905 - 1907 Character, driving forces and features of the Russian revolution of 1905-1907. stages of the revolution. The reasons for the defeat and the significance of the revolution.
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Stolypin agrarian reform.
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Political crisis in Russia on the eve of the war. Labor movement in the summer of 1914. Crisis at the top.
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Periodization of the Great Patriotic War. The initial stage of the war. Turning the country into a military camp. Military defeats 1941-1942 and their reasons. Major military events. Surrender of Nazi Germany. Participation of the USSR in the war with Japan.
Soviet rear during the war.
Deportation of peoples.
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Domestic policy: an attempt to accelerate the socio-economic development of the country. Attempt at reform political system Soviet society. Congresses of People's Deputies. Election of the President of the USSR. Multi-party system. Exacerbation of the political crisis.
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Russian Federation in 1992-2000
Domestic policy: “Shock therapy” in the economy: price liberalization, stages of privatization of commercial and industrial enterprises. Fall in production. Increased social tension. Growth and slowdown in financial inflation. Intensification of the struggle between the executive and legislative branches. Dissolution Supreme Council and the Congress of People's Deputies. October events of 1993. Abolition of local bodies of Soviet power. Elections to the Federal Assembly. Constitution of the Russian Federation 1993 Formation of a presidential republic. Exacerbation and overcoming national conflicts in the North Caucasus.
Parliamentary elections of 1995. Presidential elections of 1996. Power and opposition. An attempt to return to the course of liberal reforms (spring 1997) and its failure. Financial crisis of August 1998: causes, economic and political consequences. "Second Chechen War". Parliamentary elections of 1999 and early presidential elections of 2000. Foreign policy: Russia in the CIS. Participation of Russian troops in “hot spots” of the neighboring countries: Moldova, Georgia, Tajikistan. Relations between Russia and foreign countries. Withdrawal of Russian troops from Europe and neighboring countries. Russian-American agreements. Russia and NATO. Russia and the Council of Europe. Yugoslav crises (1999-2000) and Russia’s position.
- Danilov A.A., Kosulina L.G. History of the state and peoples of Russia. XX century.
The beginning of a radical fracture. Battle of Stalingrad. In the middle of the summer of 1942, the enemy reached the Volga, and the Battle of Stalingrad began (July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943). From mid-September 1942, fighting took place inside the city. The defense was led by generals V.I. Chuikov, A.I. Rodimtsev, M.S. Shumilov. The German command attached particular importance to the capture of Stalingrad. Its capture would make it possible to cut the Volga transport artery, through which bread and oil were delivered to the center of the country. According to the Soviet plan “Uranus” (encircling the enemy in the Stalingrad area), on November 19, 1942, the Red Army went on the offensive, a few days later encircling the German group under the command of Field Marshal F. von Paulus.
From November 1942 to November - December 1943, the strategic initiative firmly passed into the hands of the Soviet command, the Red Army moved from defense to strategic offensive, so this period of the war was called a radical turning point.
The Nazi army of 330,000 was surrounded at Stalingrad. According to the “Ring” plan, on January 10, 1943, Soviet troops began the defeat of the fascist group, dividing it into two parts - southern and northern. First, the southern part capitulated, and then on February 2, 1943, the northern part.
The significance of the Battle of Stalingrad is that it:
1) marked the beginning of a radical change in the Great Patriotic War;
2) the liberation struggle intensified in the anti-fascist countries of Europe;
3) Germany’s foreign policy relations with its allies worsened.
In December 1942, the Red Army began its offensive in the Caucasus. On January 18, 1943, Soviet troops partially broke through the blockade of Leningrad. The radical change that began at Stalingrad was completed during the Battle of Kursk and the battles for the river. Dnieper. The Battle of Kursk (Orel - Belgorod) was planned by the German command already in the winter of 1943. According to the “Citadel” plan, the Nazis planned to encircle and destroy the troops of the Voronezh and Central Fronts concentrated on the Kursk ledge.
The Soviet command became aware of the impending operation, and it also concentrated forces for an offensive in this area. The Battle of Kursk began on July 5, 1943 and lasted almost two months. Its course can be divided into two periods: the first – defensive battles, the second – the period of counter-offensive. On July 12, 1943, a grandiose tank battle took place near Prokhorovka. On August 5, Oryol and Belgorod were liberated. In honor of this event, the first fireworks display during the war was given. On August 23, the battle ended with the liberation of Kharkov. By this time, almost the entire North Caucasus, Rostov, Voronezh, Oryol, and Kursk regions had been liberated.
In October 1943, fierce battles took place on the river. Dnieper, as a result of which the “Eastern Wall”, a powerful line of enemy defense, was crushed. November 3–13, 1943, during the Kyiv offensive operation on November 6, the capital of Ukraine was liberated. During defensive battles, by the end of December 1943, the enemy was repulsed from the city. The fundamental turning point in the course of the war has ended.
Meaning of radical fracture:
1) Nazi Germany switched to strategic defense on all fronts;
2) more than half of the Soviet territory was liberated from the invaders and the restoration of the destroyed areas began;
3) the front of the national liberation struggle in Europe expanded and intensified.
The final stage of the war. In January 1944, Soviet troops at active participation partisans defeated a large German group near Leningrad and Novgorod, finally lifting the 900-day blockade of Leningrad.
After the defeat of the Nazis on the Dnieper, the Red Army began fighting for the liberation of Right Bank Ukraine and part of Moldova. During the Korsun-Shevchenko operation in February–March 1944, the enemy was defeated in the area of Zhitomir and Berdichev and lost ten divisions. In March–May, the Black Sea coast and Crimea were cleared of invaders, and the cities of Nikolaev, Odessa, and Sevastopol were liberated.
In June – August 1944, during the Belarusian operation (code name “Bagration”), Army Group “Center” was defeated and Belarus, Latvia, part of Lithuania, and the eastern part of Poland were liberated.
As a result of the Lvov-Sandomierz operation (July - August 1944), Lvov, Western Ukraine, and the southeastern regions of Poland were liberated, and the Vistula was crossed.
During the Iasi-Kishinev operation (August 20–29, 1944), the territory of Moldova and the eastern part of Romania were completely liberated. In October - November the Baltic states and the Arctic were liberated. During the operations of 1944, Soviet troops entered the territory of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Austria and, finally, Germany.
On June 6, 1944, the Allied landing in Normandy (northern France) opened a second front (commanded by American General Eisenhower). To support the allies, the Red Army launched an offensive in the North against Finnish-German troops on June 10. Finland opposed Germany. On August 24, Romania declared war on Hitler. In September, Bulgaria went over to the side of the Anti-Hitler coalition. In joint action with the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia, the Red Army helped liberate Belgrade in October 1944.
In April 1945, Soviet troops, having carried out the East Prussian operation, entered Koenigsberg and then took Gdansk.
From April 16 to May 2, 1945, the final Berlin operation. The 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts (commanders Marshals G.K. Zhukov and I.S. Konev) and the 1st Ukrainian Front (commander Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky) took part in it. The battle began with fierce fighting at the Seelow Heights. April 25, 1945 on the river. Elbe was the junction of the armies of the Allies in the Anti-Hitler Coalition. On May 2, the Berlin garrison surrendered. In the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst on May 8, 1945, representatives of the German command signed an act of unconditional surrender. On May 9–11, Soviet troops ended the war by defeating a group of Nazi troops in Prague.
Incomplete definition ↓
2. A radical change during the Great Patriotic War
The fundamental turning point in the course of the war is the interception of strategic initiative, the transition from defense to strategic offensive, and a change in the balance of forces.
Most researchers believe that the main events of the second stage of the war (“radical turning point”) were : defeat of German troops at Stalingrad (November 19, 1942 - February 2, 1943); Battle of Kursk (July 5-August 23, 1943); Battle of the Dnieper (September-November 1943); liberation of the Caucasus (January-February 1943).
The main attack of the Germans was aimed at the Don - in the area between Voronezh and Rostov. If the ambitious plan were implemented - if German troops were successful along the entire front line, wedged deep into Russian territory - they would have a real opportunity to surround Moscow on both sides and take it in a pincer movement. Nevertheless, the Soviet troops defending the northern sector of the Voronezh front fought to the death, so further the German offensive could develop only in the southern and southeastern direction - in the Caucasus and the Lower Volga region.
This turn of events, in turn, posed other problems: in order to protect their western flank while advancing into the Caucasus, the Germans needed to completely capture the Crimea. After they completed this task, German troops invaded the territory of the North Caucasus and captured important oil fields there in the Maykop region. After this, they directed the main attack on another Russian fortress, a city on the Volga - Stalingrad.
By the beginning of spring summer campaign In 1942, the German army maintained an advantage in the number of personnel, guns and aircraft. The Germans continued their offensive in July and August, attacking simultaneously from the southwest and northwest. Von Paulus's 6th Army reached the Volga from the northwest and could bombard Stalingrad.
The enemy's offensive was stopped by November 1942. The following factors contributed to this:
1) the Soviet command learned serious lessons from defeats and failures initial period war, confidence in military personnel increased, which was manifested in the liquidation of the institution of military commissars in August 1942;
2) by mid-1942 it was possible to transfer the national economic complex to a military footing. As a result, since the end of 1942, the USSR produced more tanks, aircraft, guns and other military equipment than Germany. This became the material basis for victory;
3) during the first period of the war, at the cost of enormous sacrifices, a new officer corps was formed, capable senior and middle-level commanders were identified, and the troops learned to fight. The mood of soldiers and civilians changed. The war became truly Patriotic.
The main event of the war at the end of 1942 and the beginning of 1943 was the Battle of Stalingrad. 1st stage (July 17-November 18, 1942) – defensive stage. Until September 12, there were battles for the Stalingrad region, and from September 12 - for the city itself. The city was defended by the 62nd and 64th armies. On July 28, 1942, order No. 227 “Not a step back!” was issued. (not a single unit of the Red Army could retreat without orders from higher command).
The defense of Stalingrad is one of the most incredible in military history battles in terms of the stamina of soldiers in the face of immeasurably superior enemy forces and bloodshed.
On September 13, fierce street fighting began in Stalingrad , the defense of which was entrusted to the 62nd and 64th armies (generals V.I. Chuikov and M.S. Shumilov). The troops of these armies, having a large shortage of people and military equipment, defended a front stretching 65 km.
There were no long operational operations in the battles on the territory of Stalingrad.pauses. The fighting went on continuously. They intensified, subsided, but did not stop at all. The enemy attacked again and again, launching over 700 attacks. By the beginning of October, Chuikov's army was defending on a front 25 km long and only 200 m to 2.5 km deep.
The city's defense was built according to the principle of a fortified area. Each strong point and node of resistance was adapted to a perimeter defense. To resist the enemy, not only the above-ground parts of the buildings were used, but also the basements, sewer pipes and wells. When defending large buildings, fire weapons were located on all floors and stairwells. Cracks were opened around the buildings, in which garrisons of strong points took refuge during bombing and artillery shelling. To carry out the maneuver, underground passages were often created. Units and subunits, while defending themselves, at the same time used every opportunity to launch counterattacks.
The defense of the Soviet troops was distinguished by its tenacity and perseverance, massive heroism of soldiers, high activity. Indicative for fighting in the city is defense of Pavlov's house. For about two months, a group of brave men from the 13th Guards Rifle Division, led by Sergeant Ya.F. Pavlov defended the house on the Ninth January Square, called the House of Soldier's Glory. The feat of Pacific sailor M.A. will forever go down in history. Panics. When enemy tanks approached the positions of his regiment near the village of Krasny Oktyabr, Panikakha used bottles with flammable liquid. An enemy bullet pierced one of the bottles, and the ignited liquid doused the brave man. Panikakha, engulfed in flames, jumped out of the trench, rushed to the lead fascist tank and set it on fire with a second bottle. The hero died, but the Nazis, having lost the lead vehicle, were amazed by what they saw, retreated.
Among the defenders of Stalingrad, the sniper movement became widespread, numbering over 400 masters of accurate fire. In the battles of Stalingrad, the military glory of snipers Hero of the Soviet Union V. Zaitsev, V. Medvedev, V. Feofanov, N. Kulikov and many others was born. Only on Zaitsev’s “personal account” There were 242 enemy killed.
The heroic defense of the city forced the Nazi command to transfer more and more forces from the Caucasian direction to the Stalingrad area. A large enemy group found itself drawn into protracted, exhausting battles and was deprived of the opportunity to maneuver. The German command was forced to give the order to go on the defensive. Only in the city did it still try to conduct offensive operations.
In the fierce battles between the Volga and Don, the Nazis lost about 700 thousand soldiers and officers, more than 1 thousand tanks and assault guns, over 2 thousand guns and mortars, more than 1,400 aircraft. The total losses of the Red Army in the Stalingrad defensive operation amounted to 643,842 people, 1,426 tanks, 12,137 guns and mortars, and 2,063 aircraft.
2nd stage (November 19, 1942 - February 2, 1943) – encirclement of the enemy group and its surrender. By the fall of 1942, the overall balance of forces had changed in favor of the Soviet Armed Forces. The strengthening of the military-economic base of the USSR and the growth of the technical equipment of our Armed Forces ensured further improvement organizational structure units and formations, their quantitative increase in all branches of the military. The accumulated forces made it possible to prepare and conduct a number of large offensive operations along the entire front. The offensive actions began with the counteroffensive of Soviet troops near Stalingrad.
According to the Uranus plan, developed by G.K. Zhukov and provided for the use of the forces of the Southwestern (commander I.F. Vatutin), Stalingrad (commander A.I. Eremenko) and Don (commander K.K. Rokossovsky) fronts to encircle the Germans between the Volga and Don.
The goals set by the enemy in the summer offensive of 1942 were not achieved, and its offensive capabilities were exhausted. In the Stalingrad direction, in an 860-kilometer strip, battle-weary troops of the 8th Italian, 3rd Romanian, 6th and 4th German tank armies, and 4th Romanian operated.
On November 19, Soviet troops launched an offensive and already on November 23 united at the Sovetsky farm and the city of Kalach on the Don, encircling the 6th, part of the 4th German tank armies and part of the allied forces. There were 330 thousand people in the cauldron. Unfortunately, it was not possible to immediately defeat the enemy’s huge grouping as planned. The operation took three months instead of one month.
The fascist German command immediately after encircling its group began to take measures to restore the situation at Stalingrad. The “Führer” gave the order to preserve the captured positions in Stalingrad, and to release the encircled 6A by attacking from the outside. This decision was aimed at ensuring the withdrawal of the North Caucasian group of Germans, which was under threat of encirclement, to Rostov.
In December 1942, an attempt by Army Group Don of Field Marshal E. Manstein to break through the outer ring of encirclement was repulsed.
From December 30 to February 2, 1943, the final operation “Ring” took place, during which Paulus’s army was dissected and capitulated on February 2. During the operation, troops of the Don Front took over 91 thousand prisoners, including more than 2,500 officers and 21 generals . In these battles, the encircled enemy lost about 140 thousand soldiers and officers.
The Battle of Stalingrad was the beginning of a radical change and collapse of the Wehrmacht's offensive strategy. The victory at Stalingrad was the beginning of a major offensive by Soviet troops, as a result of which Rostov, Voronezh, Kursk, Belgorod, Kharkov, and part of Donbass were returned. The troops of the Western Front approached Smolensk, and with the liberation of Shlisselburg the blockade of Leningrad was broken.
In the winter campaign of 1942/43, the Soviet Armed Forces achieved outstanding victories. They defeated up to 100 enemy divisions and pushed them back 600-700 km from the Volga and Terek. Soviet army liberated from the fascist invaders the entire territory that they captured in the summer of 1942, and began the mass expulsion of the invaders from the borders of our Motherland. The enemy lost in the winter campaign of 1942/43. 1 million 600 thousand people (1 million irrevocably), 24 thousand guns, over 3.5 thousand tanks, 4.5 thousand aircraft. For the first time, its losses exceeded the losses of Soviet troops - 840 thousand people (279 thousand irrevocably).
Battle of Kursk(July 5-August 23, 1943). In the spring of 1943, a strategic pause was established on the Eastern Front. German Armed Forces Command still hoped to find a strategic continuation of the war that would ensure the achievement of a favorable situation for it at the front and the transition to at least negotiations on an armistice on terms favorable to it.During production plan to conduct the summer campaign of 1943, the German command came to the conclusion on the advisability of carrying out a major offensive in the Kursk region ( Operation Citadel).
The German command carried out thorough preparations for the offensive, as a result of which The strength of the enemy group in the Kursk direction was : personnel – about 900 thousand people, 2,700 tanks, 10,000 guns and mortars, about 2,000 aircraft.
The Red Army command took into account the lessons of the summer of 1942 and, having received information about the offensive plan near Kursk (Operation Citadel), decided to organize a strategic defense in order to wear down the enemy in defensive battles and then go on the offensive.
In April–June, in the Kursk direction, Soviet troops created a strong, deeply echeloned, well-saturated defense. In front of the front line of defense and in its depths there were engineering obstacles and minefields. During the creation of the defense, more than 10 thousand km of trenches were dug and more than 700 km of wire fences were installed. More than 600 thousand mines were installed on the Voronezh front alone. The total depth of defense of the Soviet troops reached 250 – 300 km.
The total number of troops on the three fronts was : personnel more than 1 million 800 thousand people, tanks and self-propelled guns – 4000, guns and mortars – 27 thousand
Thus, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command promptly revealed the preparations for the summer offensive of the Nazis, unraveled their plans and created a group of troops in the Kursk direction that was significantly superior to the enemy troops.
The defensive stage of the Battle of Kursk took place from July 5 to July 18. On the very first day, the enemy threw a large number of tanks at the positions of our troops with aviation support. Soviet soldiers steadfastly repelled enemy attacks, showing massive heroism and courage. Artillerymen destroyed enemy tanks with direct fire, infantrymen pelted them with anti-tank grenades, and sappers quickly laid anti-tank mines. The main efforts of attack and bomber aircraft were aimed at combating enemy tanks.
The days of fighting are filled with examples of mass heroism and self-sacrifice. Immortal feat committed by soldiers of the 214th Rifle Regiment of the 73rd Guards Rifle Division. They courageously repelled the attack of 120 enemy tanks, destroying 39 tanks and up to a thousand Nazis in 12 hours of battle. The 3rd battalion of the regiment especially distinguished itself. Of the 450 soldiers and officers of the battalion, 150 people remained in the ranks, but the tanks did not get through. Captain Grib's four guns (124th artillery regiment), while repelling an enemy attack, destroyed 6 "tigers", 4 medium tanks and 7 trucks with infantry. Enemy infantry surrounded the battalion commander's observation post. In hand-to-hand combat A.A. The mushroom destroyed two officers, six soldiers and escaped from the encirclement.
Defense Breakout Plan Central Front and the development of the attack on Kursk from the north was disrupted by July 9. The enemy has penetrated our defense by 10 – 12 km. on a section of 35 km along the front, it was stopped, and then driven to its original positions.
The fight in the strip took place under more difficult conditions Voronezh Front . By the end of July 9, the enemy had penetrated our defenses to a depth of 35 km, butFurther advance of the enemy in this direction was stopped. The Nazis' desire to break through to Kursk through Oboyan was thwarted.
Then Manstein decided to change the direction of concentration of the main efforts of the strike group. The breakthrough of the army defense line was planned to be carried out by striking in the direction of Prokhorovka. The basis of the strike force was the 2nd SS Panzer Corps (more than 300 tanks and assault guns). At the same time, the Kempf group (more than 100 tanks and assault guns) was supposed to strike from the south.
Having guessed the enemy's plan, the Soviet command decided to launch counterattacks on Prokhorovskyand Oboyan directions and disrupt his offensive. The most fierce counter battle broke out on July 12 near Prokhorovka, in which about 600 Soviet and 300 German tanks and self-propelled guns took part. Due to poor training and weak air support, the losses of the 5th Guards Tank Army amounted to more than 50% of the tanks and self-propelled guns that participated in the battles. The 2nd SS Panzer Corps lost more than 70 tanks and self-propelled guns damaged and destroyed. At Oboyan, our troops were also not active enough and were not successful. At the same time, the counterattack, although it did not achieve decisive goals, forced the enemy to go on the defensive in all directions. By August 18, the original situation was restored.
Soviet counteroffensive. The Soviet counteroffensive, which opened new stage The Battle of Kursk began in the Oryol direction on July 12 with the transition of troops of the Western and Bryansk fronts to the offensive. Three days later, the troops of the Central Front also launched a counteroffensive in this direction. The counteroffensive of the troops of the Voronezh, Steppe and Southwestern fronts began on August 3.
On August 5, Oryol and Belgorod were liberated, and on August 23, Kharkov. At the Battle of Kursk, the German offensive strategy finally collapsed.
The Battle of Kursk, which lasted 50 days and nights, was over. It was one of the greatest battles of World War II. The total losses of the Nazi troops amounted to over 500 thousand people, 1.5 thousand tanks, 3 thousand guns and over 3.7 thousand aircraft. Hitler's army was unable to recover from such a defeat until the very end of the war. After the Battle of Kursk, the fascist command was forced to finally abandon the offensive strategy and go on the defensive along the entire Soviet-German front.
From August to November 1943, Soviet troops carried out more than 20 offensive operations on the front from Leningrad to the Black Sea. The general counteroffensive after the Battle of Kursk led to the liberation of Left Bank Ukraine. Donbass, southeastern regions of Belarus.
A radical turning point was completed in October-November 1943 during the Battle of the Dnieper - the entry of Soviet troops to the Dnieper line, its crossing north of Kyiv and the liberation of the capital of Ukraine. This was the collapse of the defensive strategy of the Wehrmacht, which relied on the creation of an “eastern rampart” along the Dnieper. The war has entered its final stage.
On January 30, 1943, the German 6th Army under the command of Field Marshal Paulus capitulated in Stalingrad. Four days later, on February 2, the battle, which later became known as Stalingrad, was over. After the victory in Stalingrad, the course of the Great Patriotic War changed. A rather long period, lasting almost a whole year, from January 1943 to January 1944, and ending with the lifting of the siege of Leningrad, became a radical turning point. Stalingrad was his “first sign,” a conditional turning point. Today "RG" tells why victory in Stalingrad became possible.
10 reasons for the radical change in the Great Patriotic War
1. By the summer of 1942, it became clear to the Soviet command that the Allies were in no hurry to open a second front. The countries of the anti-Hitler coalition took a wait-and-see attitude. In addition, supplies under lend-lease were not carried out in full. The Soviet Union had to rely only on itself. But this also meant that it was possible to “not be scattered” and concentrate all forces to prepare a decisive blow on the eastern front.
2. The creation of a reserve of troops and equipment required the transfer of the economy to a military footing. The evacuation of industry from front-line areas was unprecedented in history. The Evacuation Council was created back in June 1941. But it was in the summer and autumn of 1942 that the second stage of evacuation ended, which became a separate page in the history of the Great Patriotic War. For example, to transport the Zaporizhstal plant from Zaporozhye to Magnitogorsk, it took eight thousand wagons. Leningrad plant named after. Kirov and the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant were merged into a single plant to produce tanks. Hundreds of businesses and 11 million people were relocated to the east. A full-fledged military industry was created beyond the Urals. In general, the economic power of the Soviet Union exceeded the potential of Germany. Despite the sharp decrease in civilian production, the gross product of the USSR in 1942 compared to 1940 increased from 39 billion rubles to 48 billion. In 1942, the USSR tank industry produced almost 25 thousand tanks. Hitler simply did not believe these figures.
3. All this made it possible to carry out the reorganization and re-equipment of troops in the summer and autumn of 1942, and to create a reserve of military equipment and human resources. However, in order to complete this process and gather all forces, Soviet troops were forced to remain in a temporary strategic defense. From the spring to the summer of 1942, neither the German nor the Soviet army conducted active operations or began important military operations.
4. Strategic mistakes and successes. Both Soviet and German military leaders made mistakes. The main miscalculation of the Soviet command was the concentration of most of the troops in the Moscow direction. Stalin did not expect a German offensive in the southwestern direction. At the same time, Hitler's mistake was to divide the group of troops "South" into groups "A" and "B". The idea was to reach the Volga, block the artery through which oil and food were delivered to the central regions of the country, and at the same time capture the oil-bearing areas in the Caucasus. The Battle of Stalingrad is strategically inextricably linked with the battle for the Caucasus. But in the end, one group of German troops was unable to conquer the Caucasus, and the other was unable to conquer Stalingrad.
5. The plan for the offensive operation near Stalingrad was discussed at the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief already in September. “At this time,” wrote Marshal Vasilevsky, “the formation and preparation of strategic reserves, largely consisting of tank and mechanized units and formations, mostly armed with medium and heavy tanks; reserves of other military equipment and ammunition were created." By the fall of 1942, the Soviet command developed a plan for Operation Uranus - a counteroffensive near Stalingrad. By November, huge forces of troops and equipment were pulled towards the city, the superiority of the Red Army units in the direction of the main attacks was twofold - three times. By the beginning of the counter-offensive, 160 thousand soldiers, 10 thousand horses, 430 tanks, six thousand guns and 14 thousand other combat vehicles were transported. In total, more than a million soldiers, 1.5 thousand tanks, 11.5 thousand took part in the offensive operation mortars, 1400 Katyusha rockets and other equipment.
6. All transfers of cargo and equipment were carried out in secrecy, only at night. As a result, the massive deployment of Soviet troops went unnoticed by the enemy. German intelligence did not know about the impending operation. The Wehrmacht command did not expect a counteroffensive, and these reassuring forecasts were confirmed by incorrect intelligence data.
7. Unlike the Soviet troops, who pulled reserves to Stalingrad, the German army by November experienced very big problems with supplies. It was planned that the main supply channel would be air. However, in order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the 300,000-strong army, 350 tons of cargo had to be delivered to Stalingrad every day. This was impossible for many reasons: German airfields were bombed Soviet aviation. The weather was unfavorable. The resistance of the local population played a role. In addition, the transport group included aircraft that were unsuitable for these purposes - Junkers training aircraft.
8. The main blow of the Soviet troops was directed against the third and fourth Romanian armies and the eighth Italian. These armies were worse armed than the German units. There were not enough guns and equipment. The units were commanded by Luftwaffe officers who had little understanding of ground combat tactics. In addition, each had to defend a huge length (about 200 kilometers) and poorly fortified section of the front. But most importantly, the morale was broken: the Romanian and Italian soldiers did not understand why they were fighting and why they were dying in a foreign steppe. Their retreat was more like a flight.
9. Fierce winter. Just as during the Patriotic War of 1812, frosts completed the defeat of Napoleon’s army, so in the Battle of Stalingrad they helped defeat the Germans.
10. The courage of the defenders and residents of the city. Despite the fact that the Germans captured the city center, Stalingrad was never completely conquered. The fighting took place on the streets of the city. All this time, life continued in the ruins - the civilian population remained in the city. Nowadays, disputes sometimes arise among the “children of Stalingrad” and the “siege survivors of Leningrad” as to which of them had a harder time during the war. Some say that the Battle of Stalingrad was shorter. Others say that the city was razed to the ground. There was no evacuation or supply of civilians in Stalingrad. Both the Battle of Stalingrad and the siege of Leningrad are two pages of the Great Patriotic War, in which ordinary residents of both cities played a huge, heroic and tragic role.
58. A radical change in the Second World War (November 1942 - December 1943) Fundamentals. The turning point events were:
Difficult situation for Germany. The offensive and the Soviet command developed and east direction.
Offensives: To cover it, the Stalingrad Front was created under the command of Marshal Timoshenko. In connection with the current critical situation and the breakdown of order in the troops, an order was issued by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief - Stalin issues decree No. 227 “NOT A STEP BACK”. On the enemy side, the attack was led by the 6th Army under the command of Paulus. In August the Germans broke through to the Volga, and from September Stalingrad was declared under martial law and defended. . Massive assaults on Stalingrad began. Zhukov and Vasilevsky developed the offensive operation Uranus - according to which it was supposed to destroy the encircled fascist troops. The operation began in November, 3 fronts took part:
Southwestern - headed by Vatutin
Donskoy - headed by Rokossovsky
Stalingrad - Eremenko. The plan was implemented.
The Nazi troops collided in a ring, as a result, Paulus’s army was surrounded. Thousands of Soviet patriots showed themselves heroically in the battles for the city. As a result, enemy troops suffered colossal losses in the battles for Stalingrad. Every month of the battle, about 250 thousand new Wehrmacht soldiers and officers, the bulk of military equipment, were sent. By mid-November 1942, fascist troops were forced to stop the offensive.
In November 1942, the offensive of the Southwestern and Don Fronts of the Soviet Union began. Army. A day later, the Stalingrad Front advanced. There was a connection between the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts. As a result, the German tank divisions were surrounded. Attempts to escape the encirclement failed and at the beginning of February 1943, von Paulus’s group surrendered. . There was resistance to German troops until February 1943.
The victory in the Battle of Stalingrad led to a radical change in the soul: not only in the Second World War, but also in World War II as a whole. A wide offensive of the Red Army began on all fronts: in January 1943, the blockade of Leningrad was broken (food, medicine and weapons began to flow into the besieged city along a liberated corridor no more than 11 km wide); in February, the North Caucasus was liberated. As a result of the autumn-winter campaign of 1942/43, the military power of Nazi Germany was significantly undermined.=
Our victory was facilitated by:
miscalculations of the German command
well-thought-out policy of German troops
strengthening the anti-fascist coalition
worsening contradictions in the bloc of fascist states
Creation of an anti-Hitler coalition.
June 22, 1942 Churchill - Prime Minister of England. He made a statement of support for the USSR in its fight against Germany, and a Soviet-British agreement on joint actions against a common enemy was signed. US President Roosevelt also made a statement of support for the Soviet State. In August 1941, the Atlantic Charter was signed, which set out the principles of the struggle against the fascist coalition and determined the volume of supplies of weapons and military materials to the Soviet Union in exchange for raw materials.
In 1942, 26 states joined the anti-city coalition. The main form of cooperation between the allies was deliveries under Lend-Lease (supplies of transport and food) Battle of Kursk:
The Battle of Kursk is a radical turning point in the war – July-August 1943.
After Battle of Stalingrad For several months there was a lull on the Soviet-German front. Both sides brought up reserves. After Stalingrad, the successes of the Soviet troops increased. The success of the Soviet troops in advancing along the Don, Belgorod and Kursk were liberated, Kharkov was recaptured.
In the central direction, after successful actions in the spring of 1943, the so-called Kursk ledge was formed on the front line, wedged deeply into German positions. The German leadership decided to launch an offensive on the Kursk Bulge. The German command hoped to encircle and destroy the troops of the Central and Voronezh fronts with attacks from the north, from the Orel region, and from the south, from the Belgorod region and, if successful, launch an attack on Moscow. The operation was called "Citadel".
By the time of the Battle of Kursk we had superiority in strength and weapons.
The Battle of Kursk was commanded by outstanding commanders: Marshals Zhukov and Vasilevsky, Generals Vatutin and Rokossovsky.
The Germans were going to again use the surprise factor of the attack and launch an offensive on July 5 at 3 am. But Soviet intelligence accurately determined the day and hour of the upcoming offensive, and it was decided to launch a warning strike with artillery a few minutes before the expected start. As a result, the Germans suffered significant losses and were able to launch an offensive only a few hours later, bringing in all their reserves.
The Battle of Kursk lasted July-August 1943.
Hitler placed particular hopes on new types of tanks. In July, Army Group "Center" (Kluge) and "South" (Manstein) attacked the troops of the Central (Rokossovsky) and Voronezh (Vatutin) fronts. But our troops not only stopped the enemy, but also launched a counteroffensive.
On July 12, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive. On the same day, the largest oncoming tank battle in world history took place near the village of Prokhorovka, in which more than 1,200 tanks took part. On this day the final turning point came. The counter-offensive of the Red Army began.
The German command had high hopes for the surprise of the attack, but Soviet intelligence was able to quite accurately establish the start date of the operation.
Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive and captured Belgorod, then Orel.
During the battle on the Kursk Bulge, the German army suffered a defeat, from which it was unable to recover. If the battle of Stalingrad foreshadowed the decline of the German army, then the battle of the Kursk Bulge confronted it with disaster.
The Soviet command and government had confidence in victory. The Soviet command knew the enemy's plan, deployment, and direction of troops. Unlike previous years, Stalin treated the information confidentially.
The numerical superiority of the troops and their quality were of great importance in the victory. This superiority was achieved and won by air superiority. Our pilots had combat experience. The victory of Soviet troops near Kursk marked the beginning of a powerful offensive of the Red Army.
In August, Kharkov was liberated; in September 1943, Soviet troops crossed the Dnieper and liberated Donbass, the Taman Peninsula, Novorossiysk, Bryansk, and Smolensk. The liberation of Belarus began. In the fall of 1943, fighting broke out in Right Bank Ukraine. Troops of the Voronezh Front under the command of Vatutin liberated Kyiv in November.
