Expert: the liberation of Eastern Ghouta is a "very big victory". The liberation of Eastern Europe by the Soviet army from the Nazis and its consequences
The whole world followed with excitement the events on the Soviet-German front, the main front of the Second World War. It was in the Red Army that the peoples of Europe, enslaved by fascism, saw the force that was capable of crushing the Nazi war machine and freeing them from the German invaders.
The Soviet people have always regarded assistance to the peoples oppressed by fascism as their most important internationalist duty. During the three years of the war, the Red Army performed this duty with honor on the battlefields. On the Soviet-German front, 607 enemy divisions were defeated - almost three and a half times more than on all other fronts of the Second World War. The victories of the Red Army created real conditions for the liberation of the countries of Europe occupied by the Nazis and assistance to their peoples.
The Soviet Union contributed to the creation and arming of national military formations from citizens of the occupied countries. With the support of the communist parties and the patriotic forces of these countries, the Czechoslovak division under the command of L. Svoboda was created on the territory of the USSR and took part in the hostilities, distinguished itself in the battles for the liberation of Kyiv and later transformed into the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps, 1st and 2nd 1st Army of the Polish Army, two Romanian divisions, Yugoslav infantry and tank brigades and two aviation regiments, French aviation regiment "Normandie - Neman". The total number of foreign formations created with the help of the USSR exceeded 550 thousand people.
The historic victories on the Soviet-German front had a huge impact on the growth of the resistance movement in Europe. All-round assistance and support to this movement throughout the war was yet another manifestation of the internationalist duty of the Soviet people. From 40 to 50 thousand Soviet patriots took part in the resistance movement in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, France, Italy and other countries, most of whom were soldiers and officers who had escaped from fascist captivity. F. Poletaev and V. Porik became national heroes of Italy and France, M. Hussein-Zade of Yugoslavia, A. Kazaryan of Greece.
At the final stage of the war, active assistance to the resistance movement was provided by Soviet partisan detachments, who moved to Poland, Czechoslovakia and some other countries. The liberation mission of the Red Army raised the international prestige of the Soviet Union even higher and contributed to the rallying around it of all anti-fascist and democratic forces. New and recent history/ edited by E.I. Popova. M.: Infra-M, 2001 - S. 166.
The victory of the Soviet troops in the Iasi-Kishinev operation had a decisive influence on the change in the political situation in Romania. On August 23, 1944, the Romanian people, under the leadership of the Communist Party, raised an armed uprising and overthrew the fascist dictatorship. The next day, the new government of the country decided to break off relations with Nazi Germany and declare war on it. Romanian troops took part in the fighting together with the Soviet troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. On August 31, they entered Bucharest, liberated by Romanian patriots. Soviet troops reached the Romanian-Bulgarian border.
The Soviet Union was forced to declare war on Bulgaria, whose government continued to provide assistance to Nazi Germany. September 8 Soviet troops entered the territory of Bulgaria. The Soviet command established contact with the People's Liberation Insurgent Army of Bulgaria and local organizations of the Bulgarian Workers' Party. The entry of Soviet troops hastened the uprising of the Bulgarian people, which began in Sofia on the night of September 9th. The government created by the Fatherland Front broke off relations with Nazi Germany and declared war on it. On September 16, Soviet troops, enthusiastically greeted by the inhabitants of Sofia, entered into. the capital of Bulgaria.
In September, the Red Army reached the eastern borders of Yugoslavia. During the Soviet-Yugoslav negotiations in Moscow, an agreement was concluded on the entry of Soviet troops into the territory of Yugoslavia. On October 20, troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and units of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia liberated Belgrade.
The successes of the Soviet troops in the central and southern sections of the Soviet-German front had a huge impact on the rise of the national liberation movement in Czechoslovakia. On August 29, 1944, the Slovak National Uprising began, which was a major armed uprising against fascism. The Nazis, having gathered significant forces, launched an offensive against the insurgent people. In these difficult days, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia turned to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks with a request to provide military assistance to the Slovak patriots.
The Soviet command sent to Slovakia the 2nd Czechoslovak parachute landing brigade and the Czechoslovak Fighter Aviation Regiment, increased the airlift of weapons, ammunition, and medicines. In order to provide quick and effective assistance to the rebels, it was decided to strike directly through the Carpathians, and not bypassing them, as originally planned. The offensive began on 8 September. Especially bloody battles unfolded for the Dukla Pass. Stubbornly defending, the Nazis transferred military units here from the area of the Slovak uprising, which greatly facilitated the position of the rebels. October 6 Dukla pass was taken.
By the end of September, the only ally of fascist Germany in Europe remained the Horthy-Salashist Hungary. She covered the path to Austria and to the south of Germany. Hungary was of great economic importance to the Nazis, supplying them with oil and food. The fascist German command decided to keep Hungary at all costs and concentrated large forces here. A cruel terror was established in the country.
Having entered the Hungarian territory, the Soviet troops met fierce resistance from the enemy. In October, during the Debrecen operation, part of Hungary was liberated, but the forces to capture its capital were not enough. As a result of bloody battles, the encirclement of the Budapest group was completed only by the end of December. To avoid unnecessary casualties, the Soviet command sent an ultimatum to the garrison of Budapest to surrender. The Nazis rejected him and shot the Soviet parliamentarians.
The Provisional National Government of Hungary formed in Debrecen broke off the alliance with Nazi Germany and declared war on it. Germany has lost its last ally. The fascist bloc finally collapsed. February 13, 1945 Budapest was liberated from the Nazis.
In the battles for Budapest, along with the Soviet soldiers, the Hungarian Buda Volunteer Regiment also took part. In early April, the entire territory of Hungary was liberated. Second World War/ ed. S.P. Platonov. M. Military Publishing, 1988 - S. 698
In mid-March, an attack on Vienna began. The Soviet command addressed the inhabitants of the city with an appeal in which it was emphasized that the Red Army was fighting the fascist invaders, and not the Austrian people. They called on the inhabitants of the capital of Austria to fight against the Nazis and prevent the export and destruction of material and cultural property. When in April the Soviet troops stormed the city, the Viennese greeted the soldiers-liberators cordially.
Decisive battles for the liberation of Poland unfolded during the Vistula-Oder operation (January 12 - February 3, 1945). The Soviet command planned to start it on January 20. But the offensive of the fascist German army on the Western Front brought the Anglo-American troops in the Ardennes to the brink of disaster. Launched at the request of the allies ahead of schedule, the offensive of the Soviet troops saved them from complete defeat
Among the first on January 12, a company of submachine gunners under the command of senior lieutenant K.S. crossed the Vistula in the Warsaw region. Sumchenko. The soldiers boldly rushed to storm the fortification, threw grenades or shot from the gun fascist pillboxes, firing positions, converged with the enemy hand-to-hand. On that day, the troops of the shock group of the 1st Ukrainian Front went on the offensive, and on January 14, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front.
With a powerful blow, the enemy's defense was broken through and he began to retreat. On January 17, Soviet troops, together with units of the Polish Army, liberated Warsaw. By the end of March, they reached the coast of the Baltic Sea, to the Oder and Neisse rivers, Soviet troops stood 60-70 km from Berlin.
In the name of this, more than a million Soviet soldiers and officers gave their lives. 600 thousand Soviet soldiers rest on Polish soil, more than 140 thousand - in Hungary and the same number in Czechoslovakia, 102 thousand - in Germany, 69 thousand - in Romania, 26 thousand were buried in Austria and 8 thousand - in Yugoslavia.
The increased power of the Soviet country, its ability to independently complete the defeat of the enemy, raised the prestige of the USSR as never before. In the context of the approaching victory in Yalta on February 4-11, 1945, the Crimean Conference took place. I.V. Stalin, F. Roosevelt, W. Churchill, foreign ministers, representatives of the general staffs, advisers. At the conference, the military plans of the powers for the final defeat of fascist Germany were agreed upon, their attitude towards Germany after its surrender was determined, and the basic principles of their post-war policy were outlined in order to create a lasting and reliable peace.
Reports on the situation on the fronts of the Second World War were heard at the conference and plans for upcoming military operations were discussed. Churchill and Roosevelt expressed their deep admiration for the powerful and skillful offensive operations of the Red Army. It was agreed that two or three months after the surrender of Germany, the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan.
The leaders of the three powers approved the agreements "On the zones of occupation of Germany and on the management of Greater Berlin" and "On the control mechanism in Germany." According to these documents, the territory of Germany was to be divided into occupation zones. The supreme power in Germany was to be exercised by the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces of the USSR, the USA and England, each in his own zone of occupation. To resolve issues relating to Germany as a whole, a Control Council was established, consisting of the commanders-in-chief of the occupying forces. It was supposed to introduce the armed forces of the three powers into the area of Greater Berlin.
During the conference, Great Britain and the United States put forward plans for the division of Germany into three and even five independent states. The USSR resolutely opposed the plan for the dismemberment of Germany. He put forward a program that was aimed not only at the eradication of German militarism, but also took into account national interests the German people themselves. At the initiative of the Soviet Union, an exceptionally important decision was taken, which emphasized: "Our adamant goal is the destruction of German militarism and Nazism and the creation of a guarantee that Germany will never again be able to disturb the peace of the whole world. Our goals do not include the destruction of German people".
The Crimean Conference devoted much attention to the problem of ensuring international security in the post-war period. To maintain and preserve peace, it was decided to establish the United Nations, an agreement was reached that the founding conference of the United Nations to prepare its Charter would open on April 25, 1945 in the United States in the city of San Francisco and that the vote in the UN Security Council should be based on principle of unanimity among the great powers.
The Crimean Conference also developed a declaration "Unity in the organization of peace, as well as in the conduct of war." It solemnly promised to preserve and strengthen in peacetime that unity of action which made victory in the Second World War possible.
The Soviet government was satisfied with the results of the conference. The Soviet delegation managed to defend its position on all fundamental issues related to the country's security in the post-war period, as well as to protect the fundamental interests of the Polish people.
The conference clearly showed that the great powers have enormous opportunities for fruitful cooperation. Its decisions testified to the further strengthening of the anti-fascist coalition and contributed to the successful actions of the allies at the final stage of the war. History of Soviet Foreign Policy: 1917 - 1945 / ed. A. Gromyko and B.N. Ponomareva.M. Politizdat, 1986 - S. 446 - 447.
In October 1942, the British troops in North Africa launched a counteroffensive under the command of General B.L. Montgomery. In the battle of El Alamein, the Italo-German troops were defeated. Their non-stop withdrawal to the west began. In November, from the opposite side of North Africa, in Morocco, American troops landed under the command of General Dwight Eisenhower. Pressed from both sides, the Italo-German troops were pressed to the sea in Tunisia, where they capitulated on May 13, 1943.
In July 1943, the Allies landed on the island of Sicily. The appearance of enemy troops on their own territory caused a crisis of the fascist regime in Italy. Mussolini was removed from power and arrested. The new government was headed by Marshal Badoglio. The fascist party was disbanded, an amnesty for political prisoners was held, and secret negotiations were started with the allies. On September 3, the Allies crossed the Strait of Messina and landed on the Apennine Peninsula. On the same day, Badoglio signed an armistice with the United Nations. Italian troops ceased resistance to the allies. At that moment, German troops entered Italy in a swift march from the north. North of Naples, another front was formed in Europe. In the part of Italy occupied by Germany, a fascist regime was recreated, led by Mussolini released from custody. But now his power rested only on strength. german army. The Badoglio government, for its part, declared war on Germany.
There was also a turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic. First of all, the Allies managed to reduce losses from the actions of German submarines. All ships began to cross the Atlantic only as part of guarded convoys. Over the entire North Atlantic, a system of constant surveillance from aircraft was deployed, about 3 thousand ships were ready to start hunting for submarines as soon as they were discovered. German submarines were forced to be submerged most of the time, which reduced their range and time spent on combat duty. Losses began to grow in the German submarine fleet, and the possibilities of its replenishment narrowed. In 1942, about 200 submarines were sunk. They practically stopped attacking convoys and hunted only for single stragglers and stragglers. The convoys began to cross the Atlantic without hindrance.
- 1944 was the year of the complete liberation of the territory of the USSR. During the winter and spring offensive operations of the Red Army, the blockade of Leningrad was completely lifted, the enemy's Korsun-Shevchenko grouping was surrounded and captured, Crimea and most of Ukraine were liberated.
- On March 26, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal I.S. Konev were the first to reach the state border of the USSR with Romania. On the third anniversary of the attack of fascist Germany on the Soviet country, the grandiose Belarusian offensive operation began, culminating in the liberation of a significant part of Soviet land from German occupation. In the autumn of 1944, the state border of the USSR was restored along its entire length. Under the blows of the Red Army, the fascist bloc collapsed.
The Soviet government officially declared that the entry of the Red Army into the territory of other countries was caused by the need to completely defeat the armed forces of Germany and did not pursue the goal of changing the political structure of these states or disrupting territorial integrity. Soviet troops had to fight on the territory of many European countries captured by the Germans, from Norway to Austria. Most of all (600 thousand) Soviet soldiers and officers died and were buried on the territory of modern Poland, more than 140 thousand - in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, 26 thousand - in Austria.
The exit of the Red Army on a broad front into Central and South-Eastern Europe immediately raised the question of further relations between the countries of this region and the USSR. On the eve of and during the battles for this vast and vital region, the USSR began to openly support the pro-Soviet politicians of these countries - mainly from among the communists. At the same time, the Soviet leadership sought recognition from the United States and Britain of their special interests in this part of Europe. Given the presence of Soviet troops there, in 1944 Churchill agreed with the inclusion of all the Balkan countries, except Greece, in the sphere of influence of the USSR. In 1944, Stalin secured the creation of a pro-Soviet government in Poland, parallel to the government in exile in London. Of all these countries, only in Yugoslavia did Soviet troops receive powerful support from the partisan army of Josip Broz Tito. On October 20, 1944, together with the partisans, the Red Army liberated Belgrade from the enemy.
Together with the Soviet troops, they took part in the liberation of their countries Czechoslovak Corps, the Bulgarian army, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia, the 1st and 2nd armies of the Polish Army, several Romanian units and formations. In the summer of 1944, a broad conspiracy - from communists to monarchists - arose for this purpose in Romania. At this time, the Red Army was already fighting on Romanian territory. On August 23 in Bucharest there was palace coup. The next day the new government declared war on Germany.
On August 31, Soviet troops entered Bucharest. The Romanian armies joined the Soviet fronts. King Mihai later even received the Order of Victory from Moscow (although before that his army had fought against the USSR). At the same time, on fairly honorable terms, Finland managed to withdraw from the war, signing an armistice on September 19, 1944.
Throughout the war, Bulgaria was an ally of Germany and fought against England and the United States, but it did not declare war on the Soviet Union. September 5, 1944 The Soviet government declared war on Bulgaria, giving the order to launch an offensive, but one of the infantry divisions of the Bulgarian army, lined up along the road, met our units with unfolded red banners and solemn music. After some time, the same events occurred in other directions. Spontaneous fraternization of Soviet soldiers with the Bulgarian people began. On the night of September 9, a bloodless coup took place in Bulgaria. A new government came to power in Sofia, under the strong influence of the communists. Bulgaria declared war on Germany.
At the end of August 1944, a popular anti-fascist uprising broke out in Slovakia, and units of the 1st Ukrainian Front, which included the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps under the command of General L. Svoboda, were sent to help him. Stubborn fighting began in the area of the Carpathian Mountains. On October 6, Soviet and Czechoslovak troops entered the land of Czechoslovakia in the area of the Dukla Pass. This day is now celebrated as the Day of the Czechoslovak People's Army. Bloody battles lasted until the end of October. The Soviet troops failed to completely overcome the Carpathians and unite with the rebels. But gradually the liberation of Eastern Slovakia continued. It was attended by the rebels, who went to the mountains and became partisans, and the civilian population. The Soviet command helped them with people, weapons and ammunition.
By October 1944, Germany had the only ally in Europe - Hungary. On October 15, the supreme ruler of the country, Miklos Horthy, also tried to withdraw it from the war, but to no avail. He was arrested by the Germans. After that, Hungary had to fight to the end. Stubborn battles went for Budapest. Soviet troops managed to take it only on the third attempt on February 13, 1945. And last battles in Hungary ended only in April. In February, the Budapest group of Germans was defeated. In the area of Lake Balaton (Hungary), the enemy made a last attempt to go on the offensive, but was defeated. In April, Soviet troops liberated the capital of Austria, Vienna, and captured the city of Koenigsberg in East Prussia.
The regime of German occupation in Poland was very severe: during the war, out of 35 million inhabitants, 6 million people died. Patriotic army"). It supported the Polish government in exile. On July 20, 1944, Soviet troops entered the territory of Poland. An interim government of the country, led by the Communists, was immediately created, the Committee of National Liberation. The Army of Ludov was subordinate to him (" People's Army"). Together with the Soviet troops and units of the Army, the People's Committee moved towards Warsaw. The Home Army strongly opposed the coming to power of this committee. Therefore, it tried to liberate Warsaw from the Germans on its own. On August 1, an uprising broke out in the city, in which most of the inhabitants participated The Soviet leadership reacted sharply negatively to the uprising. J. Stalin wrote to W. Churchill on August 16: "The Warsaw action is a reckless terrible adventure, costing the population great sacrifices. In the situation that had arisen, the Soviet command came to the conclusion that it should dissociate itself from the Warsaw adventure, since it could not bear either direct or indirect responsibility for the Warsaw action. "Failing to support the rebels, the Soviet leadership refused to drop weapons and food from aircraft.
On September 13, Soviet troops reached Warsaw and stopped on the other side of the Vistula. From here they could watch the Germans mercilessly crack down on the rebels. Now they began to provide assistance, dropping everything they needed from Soviet aircraft. But the uprising was already fading. During its suppression, about 18,000 rebels and 200,000 peaceful Varsovians were killed. On October 2, the leaders of the Warsaw Uprising decided to surrender. As punishment, the Germans almost completely destroyed Warsaw. Residential buildings were burned or blown up. The surviving residents left the city.
By the beginning of 1945, the Soviet active forces had twice as many soldiers as the opposing enemy, three times as many tanks and self-propelled guns, four times as many guns and mortars, almost eight times as many combat aircraft. Our aircraft dominated the air. Nearly half a million soldiers and officers of its allies fought side by side with the Red Army. All this allowed the Soviet command to simultaneously launch an offensive on the entire front and strike at the enemy where it was convenient for us, and when it was beneficial for us.
The troops of seven fronts were involved in the winter offensive - three Belorussian and four Ukrainian. The troops of the 1st and 2nd Baltic Fronts continued to block the enemy grouping in Courland from land. Baltic Fleet helped the ground forces advance along the coast, and the Northern Fleet provided transportation through the Barents Sea. It was planned to start the offensive in the second half of January.
But the Soviet command was forced to amend its plan, and here's why. In mid-December 1944, the Nazis suddenly attacked American and British troops in the Ardennes, on the border of Belgium and France, and pushed the allied forces 100 km to the west, towards the sea. This defeat was especially painful for the British - the situation reminded them of the tragic days of June 1940, when their troops were pressed to the sea in the Dunkirk area. On January 6, Churchill turned to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces, I. V. Stalin, with a request to expedite the Red Army's transition to the offensive in order to alleviate the situation of the Anglo-American troops. This request was granted, and the Red Army, despite the incompleteness of preparations, on January 12, 1945, launched a general offensive from the shores of the Baltic to the southern spurs of the Carpathians. It was the largest and most powerful offensive of the entire war.
Main blow inflicted by the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts, advancing from the Vistula, south of Warsaw, and moving west, to the borders of Germany. These fronts were commanded by Marshals of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov and I.S. Konev. These fronts included 2,200,000 soldiers and officers, more than 32,000 guns and mortars, about 6,500 tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts, and about 5,000 combat aircraft. They quickly broke the resistance of the Germans, completely destroyed 35 enemy divisions. 25 enemy divisions lost from 50 to 70% of their composition.
For 23 days the continuous advance to the west continued. Soviet soldiers fought 500 - 600 km. On February 3, they were already on the banks of the Oder. Before them lay the land of Germany, whence the calamity of war had come to us. On January 17, Soviet troops entered the Polish capital. The city, turned into ruins, looked completely dead. During the Vistula-Oder operation (February 1945), the territory of Poland was completely cleared of the Nazi invaders, the Vistula-Oder operation saved the Allied troops in the Ardennes from defeat, where the Americans lost 40 thousand people.
The Soviet command offered to arrange negotiations with the underground leadership of the Home Army. However, at the very first meeting, its head, General L. Okulitsky, was arrested. In June 1945, an open trial was held in Moscow over the leaders of the Home Army. As in previous open trials in Moscow, the defendants pleaded guilty and repented of their "anti-Soviet activities." 12 of them were sentenced to imprisonment.
In mid-January, a no less powerful offensive was launched in East Prussia by the troops of the 3rd and 2nd Belorussian Fronts under the command of General of the Army I.D. Chernyakhovsky and Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky. East Prussia - the nest of Prussian landlords and the military - the Nazis turned into a continuous fortified area with solid reinforced concrete defensive structures. The enemy organized the defense of their cities in advance. He covered the approaches to them with fortifications (adapting old forts, building pillboxes, bunkers, trenches, etc.), and inside the cities most of the buildings, including factory ones, were adapted for defense. Many buildings had an all-round view, others flanked the approaches to them. As a result, many strong strongholds and centers of resistance were created, reinforced with barricades, trenches, and traps. If we add to the above that the walls of some buildings were not even penetrated by 76-mm shells of the ZIS-3 divisional cannons, it becomes clear that the Germans were able to provide long-term and stubborn resistance to our advancing troops.
The enemy’s tactics in urban combat consisted of firmly holding positions (fortified buildings, quarters, streets, lanes), using high-density fire to impede the movement of the attackers to the object of attack, and in case of its loss, counterattack from neighboring houses to restore the situation, create fire bags in the area of the captured object and thereby inflict defeat on the advancing, thwart the attack. The garrison of the building (quarter) was quite numerous, since not only regular Wehrmacht troops, but also militia units (Volkssturm) participated in the defense of the city.
Our soldiers suffered heavy losses. On February 18, a hero of the Great Patriotic War, an outstanding commander, commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, General of the Army I. D. Chernyakhovsky, who was slain by a fragment of an enemy shell, fell on the battlefield. Step by step, squeezing the ring around the encircled German grouping, our units cleared the entire East Prussia of the enemy in three months of fighting. The assault on Koenigsberg began on April 7th. This assault was accompanied by unprecedented artillery and air support, for organizing which Air Force Chief Air Marshal Novikov received a Hero of the Soviet Union. The use of 5,000 guns, including heavy artillery of caliber 203 and 305 (!) mm, as well as mortars of caliber 160 mm, 2,500 aircraft “...destroyed the fortifications of the fortress and demoralized the soldiers and officers. Going out into the street to contact the headquarters of the units, we did not know where to go, completely losing our bearings, so destroyed and burning the city changed its appearance ”(witness testimony from the German side). On April 9, the main fortress of the Nazis capitulated - the city of Koenigsberg (now Kaliningrad). Almost 100 thousand German soldiers and officers surrendered, tens of thousands were killed.
Meanwhile, in the south of the Soviet-German front, in the area of Budapest liberated by Soviet troops on February 13, 1945, the Nazis unsuccessfully tried to seize the initiative and repeatedly launched counterattacks. On March 6, they even launched a large counteroffensive between the lakes Velence and Balaton, southwest of Budapest. Hitler ordered to transfer here from the Western European front, from the Ardennes, large tank forces. But the Soviet soldiers of the 3rd and 2nd Ukrainian fronts, having beaten off the fierce attacks of the enemy, resumed the offensive on March 16, liberated Hungary from the Nazis, entered the territory of Austria, and on April 13 captured the capital, Vienna.
In February and March, our troops also successfully thwarted an enemy attempt to launch a counteroffensive in Eastern Pomerania and drove the Nazis out of this ancient Polish region. From mid-April 1945, the troops of the 4th and 2nd Ukrainian fronts launched the final battles for the liberation of Czechoslovakia. On April 30, a large industrial center of Czechoslovakia, Moravska Ostrava, was liberated. The capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, was liberated on April 4, but it was still far from the capital of Czechoslovakia, Prague. Meanwhile, on May 5, an armed uprising of the inhabitants of the city began in Nazi-occupied Prague.
The Nazis were preparing to drown the uprising in blood. The rebels turned on the radio to the allied forces with a call for help. The Soviet command responded to this call. Two tank armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front made an unprecedented 300-kilometer march from the outskirts of Berlin to Prague in three days. On May 9, they entered the capital of the fraternal people and helped save it from destruction. All the troops of the 1st, 4th and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts joined the offensive, which unfolded from Dresden to the Danube. The fascist invaders were completely expelled from Czechoslovakia.
On April 16, the Berlin operation began, which ended two weeks later with the hoisting of the red banner over the defeated Reichstag. After the capture of Berlin, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front made a swift march to the aid of the insurgent Prague and on the morning of May 9 entered the streets of the Czechoslovak capital. On the night of May 8-9, 1945, in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, representatives of the German command signed an act on unconditional surrender all armed forces of Germany. The war in Europe is over. soviet army counteroffensive german occupation
The radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War as a result of the military operations of the Red Army caused a powerful rise in the anti-fascist and national liberation movement in the occupied countries, which developed from the first days of the world war and was called the Resistance. It was the inevitable reaction of the populations of the occupied countries to the order established by Germany, Italy and Japan. The situation of the countries they captured was different - the independence of some was simply destroyed, in others regimes were established that duplicated political system Germany (Slovakia, Croatia). But the meaning of the "new order" was the same everywhere: the elimination of independence and sovereignty, all democratic and social gains, unbridled economic exploitation and the arbitrariness of the invaders. To this must be added the actions of the German occupation authorities to implement the racial policy of extermination of "inferior" peoples.
Scattered throughout Europe concentration camps, the largest of which were Auschwitz, Majdanek, Treblinka, Dachau, Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen, Ravensbrück, Mauthausen. They languished in prisoners of war, members of the resistance movement, people declared racially inferior. In total, 18 million people ended up in concentration camps, 12 of whom were killed. Millions of Europeans were forcibly taken to work in Germany. To keep the population in obedience, a system of hostage-taking and massacres of civilians was widely used. The symbols of this policy were the complete destruction of the inhabitants of the villages of Oradour in France, Lidice in Czechoslovakia, Khatyn in Belarus. In the territories inhabited by the Slavic peoples, the Nazis created the conditions for their gradual degeneration and death. These territories themselves were to be settled by the Aryans. It was a policy of genocide.
The forms of resistance were different. In some cases, it was the collection and transfer of valuable information to the allies. In others - sabotage, disruption of military supplies, disruption of the rhythm of military production, sabotage. In the same years, the first partisan detachments began to be created in Poland, Yugoslavia, Albania, and Greece. One of the first acts of European resistance was the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto in 1943. For almost a month, the poorly armed inhabitants of the Jewish ghetto, doomed to destruction, fought heroic battles with the German troops. Common governing bodies movementResistance. So in France it united under the leadership of General Charles de Gaulle.
The resistance movement acquired a mass character, in its ranks there were representatives of different segments of the population. Communists played an active role in the Resistance. It was they who, as a rule, became the organizers of partisan detachments, created liberated areas in the fascist rear, in which power belonged to people's democratic councils or committees. The authority of the communist parties in the struggle against fascism grew, and their numbers increased.
The Communist parties acted independently, since the Comintern was dissolved. Communists who actively fought against fascism participated in the leadership of the resistance movement, gained authority and claimed power or at least participation in the government in many countries. So, in the liberated part of Italy, representatives of all anti-fascist parties, including two communists, entered the government. In the territories that were liberated by the Anglo-American troops, Western countries supported the liberal parties and groups and sought by all means to push the communists out of power. They rightly saw in the communists, despite their struggle against fascism, a destructive force for Western civilization, because the communists set the goal of their activities to destroy it. In the countries that were liberated by the Soviet Army, support was provided to the communist forces. With the support of the USSR, including military support, governments of anti-fascist forces came to power in the countries of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, in which the communists played a prominent, and often decisive role.
The provisional government of France sought to restore the country's position as a great power. France joined the fight against the fascist bloc. Without doubting victory over Germany and Japan, the great powers that formed the core of the anti-Hitler coalition and bore the brunt of the fight against fascism paid more and more attention to the problems of the post-war system. The role of the United States, whose economic and military potential has increased significantly during the years of the world war, has increased. The United States ranked first in the world in all economic indicators and expected to play a decisive role in the post-war world. AT American society spread the ideas of class, cooperation, transformation of society solely through reforms.
East Prussia was an important foothold for the Germans. Heavily fortified, it was considered equally suitable for defense and offensive. The borders of East Prussia were clad in iron and concrete, the border land was cut with trenches and military engineering structures. To protect East Prussia, the German command had three armies that were part of Army Group Center and numbered 41 divisions. There were also a significant number of various military units and institutions: police, serfs, training, reserve, technical and rear, which significantly increased the total number of troops.
In October 1944, after a short respite, the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front, in cooperation with the 1st Baltic Front, received the task of defeating the enemy's Tilsit-Gumbinnen grouping and capturing Koenigsberg. The 3rd Guards Artillery Division was supposed to support the offensive of the 65th Rifle Corps, which had the task of breaking through the enemy defenses that covered the borders of East Prussia, and, advancing along the Bolshie Shelva-Stallupenen railway, cross the border and capture the city of Stallupenen on the second day.
On the morning of October 16, the troops went on the offensive and, breaking through the heavily fortified enemy defenses in the Insterburg direction, began to slowly move forward, and by the end of the day they came close to the state border. On the second day of the operation, after a powerful artillery fire attack on objects located on Prussian soil, units of the 65th Rifle Corps attacked enemy positions, broke into the territory of East Prussia and occupied several settlements. The battles went on around the clock, every meter of the earth had to be beaten off. On October 18, after a short artillery preparation, the formations of the corps again attacked the enemy. The battle broke out for the city of Eidtkunen. By evening he was taken. It was the first German city taken by the Soviet troops.
Despite Hitler's stern demand not to leave positions without an order, the German troops, under the blows of the Red Army, were forced to retreat deep into East Prussia. On October 23, units of the 144th Infantry Division, with the support of the 7th and 22nd guard brigades entered the northeastern outskirts of the city of Stallupenen. Rifle units on the night of October 24 captured this city.
For ten days of intense fighting, from October 16 to 25, the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front, wedged into East Prussia, advanced 30 kilometers. The troops took possession of a number of settlements and, cutting railway Pilkallen - Stallupenen, reached the line of Wiltauten, Schaaren, Myllunen. Here the enemy put up even more stubborn resistance. The Soviet troops suspended the offensive and, by order of the commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, went over to temporary defense. The 3rd Guards Artillery Breakthrough Division, after a slight regrouping, took up battle formations in the Ossinen, Lapiskenen, Gross Dagutelen, Drusken zone. Most of its batteries took up anti-tank defenses.
In November 1944, work began on the plan for the winter-spring campaign of 1945 at the General Staff and Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. The Red Army was given the decisive task of finally crushing fascist Germany and victoriously ending the Great Patriotic War. By the end of November, the development of the plan for the East Prussian offensive operation was basically completed. According to the plan, its overall goal was to cut off the troops of Army Group Center, defending in East Prussia (from November 26, 1944 - Army Group North), from the rest of the German armies, press them to the sea, dismember and destroy in parts.
2 Beginning of the East Prussian offensive
On the evening of January 12, it snowed, a blizzard began. Soviet troops, having taken their starting positions, prepared for the offensive. On the morning of January 13, shelling began. Artillery preparation lasted two hours. Due to the fog that hung over the troops, air combat operations were excluded, and the pilots were unable to provide assistance to the advancing infantry.
Artillery fire was fired simultaneously throughout the entire depth of the main line of defense. Small-caliber guns, firing direct fire, fired on the first line of trenches, destroying manpower and firepower. Medium-caliber artillery destroyed the second and third defensive lines. Larger guns smashed the second echelons, rear areas and areas of concentration of reserves, located 12-15 kilometers from the front line, destroyed solid wood-and-earth and reinforced concrete structures. The Germans stubbornly defended their positions. On the first day of the offensive, the 72nd Rifle Corps advanced only two kilometers, the 65th Rifle Corps advanced about four.
At dawn on January 14, after a powerful artillery preparation, the troops of the 5th Army resumed the offensive and, having knocked the enemy out of their positions, began to slowly move west. The Nazis dozens of times rushed to the counterattack. But all their attempts to stop the offensive of the Soviet troops were reflected by well-aimed artillery fire. The enemy retreated to previously prepared positions.
3 Insterburg operation
The troops of the Red Army, overcoming resistance, approached the intermediate line of enemy defense, based on Duden, Yentkutkampen, Kattenau, where they met such fierce resistance that the infantry had to lie low. Artillerymen promptly launched a ten-minute massive attack on the main nodes of resistance, and the advanced units of the army again went forward. By the end of January 14, the troops captured the heavily fortified settlements of Duden, Yentkutkampen, Kattenau and sent a blow to Kussen.
For four days of bloody fighting, army troops broke into more than ten trenches. Having gone to a depth of up to 15 kilometers, they approached the second intermediate line of enemy defense - the Gumbinnen fortified area. It took five days to gnaw through the positions of the Gumbinnen forefield, and only on January 17 the troops were able to start storming its main zone. With the capture of this line, a free path to Insterburg was opened before the troops of the front. The Germans understood this, and therefore provided truly fanatical resistance. All approaches to settlements were mined, pitted with trenches and surrounded by a dense network of wire fences, each village was turned into a strong stronghold. But the approaches to the highway connecting Kussen with Gumbinnen were especially strongly fortified, covered with a deep anti-tank ditch and various barriers.
On the morning of January 19, after a powerful artillery preparation, the troops of the 5th Army again went on the offensive and, overcoming enemy resistance, began to slowly move forward. By the end of the day, advanced units, with the assistance of artillery, captured several strongholds. The most successful offensive that day was the 72nd Rifle Corps, which advanced more than 10 kilometers. Now his troops came close to the last line of the Gumbinnen fortified region, which ran along the line of Pazhleigen, Wittgirren, Mallvisken, Schmilgen and Gumbinnen. The 45th Rifle Corps started a battle for Abshrutten, Ederkemen, and its 184th Rifle Division reached the eastern bank of the Aimenis River in the Uzhbollen area. =
In seven days, the army, having broken through four heavily fortified defensive lines, advanced 30 kilometers and captured hundreds of settlements, including Kattenau, Kussen, Kraupishken. At the same time, the 28th Army (the neighbor on the left) also captured several strongholds and reached the approaches to the large administrative center of East Prussia - Gumbinnen.
On the morning of January 21, more than a thousand guns and mortars brought down tons of metal on the Insterburg fortifications. The artillery cannonade lasted an hour, after which the rifle divisions, breaking the enemy's resistance, rushed forward. Under the blows of the Soviet troops, throwing fortifications, the Germans quickly retreated to the city center. The solid front was broken, the balls took on a focal character, now subsiding, now flaring up. On January 22, army troops completely captured one of largest cities East Prussia - the city-fortress of Insterburg.
On January 23, the enemy, having lost almost all of its external defensive lines after the surrender of Insterburg, began to retreat to the Baltic Sea. Hiding behind rearguards, reinforced tanks and self-propelled artillery, he still continued to snarl.
By order of the commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, the 5th Army, changing direction, went to Kreuzburg. The 65th Rifle Corps on the night of January 23 also received new task: go to the northern bank of the Pregel River, force it and develop an offensive on Ilmsdorf on the front of Plibishken, Simonen.
By February 1, the advanced units of the 5th Army reached the line of Koenigsberg, Kreuzburg, Preussish-Eylau. Having met fierce resistance from the enemy, they were forced to temporarily go on the defensive in order to prepare forces and means for a new assault.
4 Mlavsko-Elbing operation
By the beginning of the East Prussian offensive, the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front occupied the line of the Augustow Canal, the Beaver and Nareva rivers. Bridgeheads were at Augustow, Ruzhan and Serotsk. The main blow was to be delivered from the Ruzhany bridgehead by the 3rd, 48th, 2nd shock armies and the 5th Guards Tank Army on Marienburg. The 65th and 70th armies struck from the Serotsky bridgehead to the northwest. The 49th Army struck at Myshinets. There were well-modernized field installations and anti-tank barriers of German troops. Old fortresses (Mlava, Modlin, Elbing, Marienburg, Torun) strengthened the defense.
The terrain and the defense of the German troops did not allow breaking through in one continuous area. Therefore, between the sections of the breakthrough was from 5 to 21 km. In these areas, areas of high artillery density were created - 180-300 guns per 1 km of the front.
On January 14, 1945, the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front went on the offensive. The Germans offered stubborn resistance, undertaking counterattacks. But the troops, with the help of two tank and mechanized corps, broke through the main line of defense on January 15, and by the end of January 16 they advanced 10–25 km and completed the breakthrough of the entire tactical defense of the Nazis. In connection with the improvement of the weather from January 16, Soviet aviation began to operate actively. During the day, she made more than 2,500 sorties.
On January 17, in the zone of the 48th Army, the 5th Guards Tank Army was introduced into the gap. During the day, the tank army increased the depth of the breakthrough to 60 km and reached the Mlavsky fortified area. In the early days, up to 85% of the front's aviation forces were involved in assisting the successful offensive of the tank army. Therefore, several concentrated air strikes were carried out on the railway junctions of Ortelsburg, Allenstein and Neidenburg. The concentration of the main efforts of aviation on the right wing of the front made it possible to disrupt the regrouping of the Germans and provide effective support to the tank army. The rapid offensive of Soviet tanks thwarted the counterattack of the Nazis, which was being prepared from the areas of Ciechanow and Pshasnysh.
Developing the offensive, Soviet troops bypassed the Mlava fortified area from the north and south and captured Mlava by the morning of January 19. The troops of the left wing of the front by this time had reached the approaches to Plonsk and captured Modlin. The main forces and reserves of the 2nd German Army were destroyed.
On the morning of January 19, the troops of the center and left wing of the front, with the active support of aviation, went over to the pursuit of German troops, deeply covering the right flank of the East Prussian grouping. Under the threat of encirclement, on January 22, the German command began the withdrawal of troops from the Masurian Lakes region to the northwest. However, already on January 25, the mobile formations of the Red Army, having bypassed Elbing from the east, reached the Frichess Haff Bay and cut off the main land communications of Army Group Center. The Germans could communicate with the troops operating beyond the Vistula only along the Frische-Nerung spit.
On January 26, formations of the 2nd shock army broke into Marienburg. By this time, the troops of the left wing of the front had reached the Vistula and, in the Bromberg area, captured a bridgehead on its western bank.
5 Hejlsberg operation
On February 10, 1945, the 3rd Belorussian Front began an operation to destroy the largest German grouping concentrated around the Heilsberg fortified area, southwest of Koenigsberg. The general idea of the operation was as follows. The 5th Guards Tank Army was to advance along the Frischess-Haff Bay in order to prevent the withdrawal of the Heilsber group to the Frische-Nerung Spit (Baltic / Vistula Spit), and also to exclude the evacuation of German troops by sea. The main forces of the front were to advance in the general direction of Heiligenbeil and the city of Deutsch-Thirau.
At the beginning of the operation, the offensive developed extremely slowly. The reason for this was immediately many factors: the stretching of the rear, the short time for preparing the offensive, the extremely dense defense of the enemy, besides, bad weather did not allow the use of aviation. About 20 German divisions resisted our troops here, gradually squeezing the encirclement. The troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front were supported by aviation of the 1st air army. The greatest success was achieved by the 28th Army, which was able to capture a large defensive stronghold and an important transport hub - the city of Preussisch-Eylau. But this did not change the overall picture. The pace of advance did not exceed 2 kilometers per day.
Particularly fierce battles unfolded for the transport hub and the powerful stronghold of the defense of the city of Melzak. The assault on the city lasted four days. It was only on February 17 that Melzac was captured.
On March 13, the 3rd Belorussian Front resumed offensive operations against enemy troops blockaded southwest of Koenigsberg. The operation resumed after a 40-minute artillery preparation, at the initial stage it was not possible to connect aviation, the weather did not allow it. But, despite all the difficulties and the stubborn resistance of the German troops, the defense was broken through.
By mid-March, Soviet troops came close to the city of Deutsch-Thirau. The enemy desperately resisted, the battles were stubborn. On the approach to the city, the enemy organized a well-planned defense: to the right of the road at a dominant height there were four anti-tank defense batteries on direct fire, to the left in the forest three self-propelled guns and two anti-tank guns were camouflaged. It was impossible to get around the height because of the heavily swampy terrain around it. It remained only to knock the enemy out of the forest and from a height. At dawn on March 16, the tank company went on a breakthrough. In this battle, 70 enemy soldiers, one self-propelled and 15 anti-tank guns were destroyed. A few days later, another city was taken - Ludwigsort.
On March 18, after some improvement in weather conditions, aviation of the 1st and 3rd air armies joined the offensive. This circumstance significantly increased the pressure on the German defense. The bridgehead occupied by the Heilsber Group was steadily narrowing. By the sixth day of the offensive, it did not exceed 30 kilometers along the front and 10 kilometers in depth, which allowed our troops to completely shoot through it with artillery.
On March 20, 1945, the top military leadership of the Wehrmacht decided to evacuate the 4th Army by sea to the Pillau (Baltiysk) region. However, the troops of the Red Army, intensifying the onslaught, thwarted the plans of the German command.
On March 26, 1945, German troops began laying down their arms. On March 29, the Heilsber grouping of the Wehrmacht ceased to exist, and the entire southern shore of Frichess Huff came under the control of Soviet troops.
6 Königsberg operation
The German command took all possible measures to prepare the fortress city of Koenigsberg for long-term resistance under the siege. The city had underground factories, numerous military arsenals and warehouses. In Konigsberg, the Germans had three rings of defense. The first - 6-8 kilometers from the city center - consisted of trenches, an anti-tank ditch, barbed wire and minefields. On this ring there were 15 forts (built by 1882) with garrisons of 150-200 people, with 12-15 guns. The second ring of defense ran along the outskirts of the city and consisted of stone buildings, barricades, firing points at crossroads and minefields. The third ring, in the center of the city, consisted of 9 bastions, towers and ravelins (built in the 17th century and rebuilt in 1843-1873).
The garrison of the fortress city consisted of approximately 130 thousand people. It was armed with about 4,000 guns and mortars, as well as over 100 tanks and assault guns. To attack Koenigsberg, Soviet troops concentrated 137 thousand soldiers and officers, over 5000 guns and mortars, about 500 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2400 aircraft in the city area.
On April 2, 1945, the 3rd Belorussian Front, in preparation for the assault on Koenigsberg, began an operation to destroy defenses and long-term fortified firing points. The massive artillery bombardment lasted 4 days. The aviation of the front and the Baltic Fleet also participated in the operation.
On April 6 at 12 noon, after a powerful artillery attack on the advanced positions of the Germans, the Sotsk troops went on the offensive. The formations of the 11th Army of General Galitsky and the 43rd Army of General Beloborodov went on the offensive. At noon, after an artillery and air raid, the infantry went on the attack. By the end of the day, the forces of the 43rd, 50th and 11th Guards Army were able to break through the fortifications of the outer contour of Koenigsberg and reach the outskirts of the city. On April 7, fierce battles for the city continued. By evening, more than 100 city blocks were cleared of the enemy, 2 forts were captured.
On the morning of April 8, the weather improved, which made it possible to use aviation in full force. 500 heavy bombers of the 18th Air Army brought down a real hail powerful bombs. Having received support from the air, the assault troops of the armies moved steadily towards the city center. During this day, another 130 city blocks were cleared of German troops, and 3 forts were taken. By the evening of April 8, the main station and the port of the city were cleared of the enemy.
During the entire offensive, a lot of work had to be done by sapper-engineer formations. In the city, not only roads were mined, but also large buildings, the undermining of which was supposed to create powerful blockages. As soon as a house or enterprise could be liberated from the enemy, sappers immediately set about clearing it.
On the night of April 9, the Soviet armies advancing from the north and south united, thereby the Königsberg group was cut in two.
On April 9, 1945, the commandant of the fortress, General O. Lash, ordered the surrender. During April 9-10, Soviet troops accepted the surrender of the German garrison. Nevertheless, for several more days our subunits had to resist enemy units that did not want to lay down their arms.
7 Zemland operation
After the assault on Koenigsberg, only the Zemland task force remained in East Prussia, which occupied the defenses on the peninsula of the same name. In total, the strength of the German group reached about 65 thousand soldiers and officers, supported by 12,000 guns and mortars, as well as approximately 160 tanks and self-propelled guns. The peninsula was well fortified, and abounded with strongholds of resistance.
By April 11, 1945, the Red Army troops concentrated to break through German defense on the Zemland Peninsula. Four armies were involved in the operation: the 5th, 39th, 43rd and 11th Guards, in which there were over 110 thousand soldiers and officers, 5200 guns and mortars, 451 rocket artillery installations, 324 tanks and self-propelled artillery installations.
On the night of April 12, Vasilevsky, the front commander, suggested that the German troops lay down their arms. There was no response from the German command.
At 8 am on April 13, after a powerful artillery raid, the troops of the front went on the offensive. Already on April 14, under the onslaught of Soviet troops, German troops began to retreat to the port city of Pillau. By April 15, the northwestern part of the peninsula was completely cleared of German troops.
On April 17, the port city of Fishhausen (Primorsk) was taken by a swift blow of the 39th and 43rd armies. By April 20, the remnants of German troops with a total strength of about 20 thousand people were entrenched in the Pillau area. Relying on a defensive line well prepared in engineering terms, the Germans put up stubborn resistance. The Germans fought with the bitterness of the doomed, they had nowhere to retreat. In addition, in its northern part, the peninsula was very narrow, which completely leveled the advantage of the advancing forces. For 6 days there were fierce battles for Pillau. On April 25, Soviet troops still managed to break into the outskirts of the city. By the evening of the same day, the red flag of victory was raised over the last bastion of East Prussia.
With the end of the Zemland operation, the East Prussian operation also ended. The campaign lasted 103 days and became the longest operation of the last year of the War.
At the end of March 1944 Soviet troops went to the border river Prut. Four months later, on July 20, they crossed the Western Bug River and entered the territory of Poland. This event coincided with the assassination attempt by Colonel Klaus Stauffenberg on Hitler. On August 1, an uprising took place in Warsaw, organized by the command of the Home Army and the representative office of the pro-Western Polish government in exile. On the same day, the Soviet Union recognized the Polish Committee for National Liberation as a legitimate authority.
The Red Army achieved success in Romania, in the southern direction of the Soviet-German front. On August 23, Romania declared war on its former ally, Germany. On August 31, Soviet troops entered Bucharest. In early September, an anti-fascist uprising took place in Belgrade. In October, some parts of the Red Army entered Czechoslovakia, others, having occupied Transylvania, moved towards the capital Hungary Budapest. Tito's partisan army, together with the Soviet troops, liberated Belgrade. In the north of Europe, Finland withdrew from the war by signing a truce with the USSR. By the end of 1944, the first stage was over liberation of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe from fascism and the collapse of the block of states allied with Germany
Tehran, Crimean and Potsdam conferences: the post-war structure of Europe.
TEHRAN CONFERENCE - a meeting of heads of government of the three allied powers of the anti-Hitler coalition in World War II: Chairman of the USSR Council of People's Commissars IV Stalin, US President FD Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. At the conference, which took place from November 28 to December 1, 1943 in Tehran (Iran), Declarations were adopted on joint actions in the war against Germany and on the post-war cooperation of the three allied powers, a decision to open a second front in Europe no later than May 1, 1944, on post-war borders of Poland. The delegation of the USSR, meeting the wishes of the allies, promised to declare war on Japan after the defeat of the German army.
CRIMEAN CONFERENCE (Yalta Conference) - a meeting of the heads of government of the allied powers of the anti-Hitler coalition in World War II: Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR I. V. Stalin, US President F. D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister W. Churchill with the participation of foreign ministers , chiefs of higher staffs. The meetings of the "Big Three" (Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill) were held on February 4-11, 1945 in the Livadia Palace near Yalta at a time when hostilities entered the final stage. At the conference, plans were agreed upon for the final defeat of Germany, the attitude towards Germany after its surrender was determined, and the principles of the post-war order of the world were outlined. In order to create a lasting peace and a system of international security, the participants in the Crimean Conference declared the need to destroy German militarism and Nazism.
BERLIN CONFERENCE 1945 (Potsdam Conference) (July 17 - August 2, Potsdam) of the heads of missions of the main powers - winners in the 2nd World War: the USSR (JV Stalin), the USA (G. Truman) and Great Britain (W. Churchill , since July 28 K. Attlee). Decided on the demilitarization and denazification of Germany, the destruction of German monopolies, on reparations, on the western border of Poland; confirmed the transfer of the USSR to the city of Konigsberg and the area adjacent to it, etc.
The reasons cold war
- After the end of World War II, two superpowers appeared in the world: the USSR and the USA. The Soviet Union made a decisive contribution to the victory over fascism, possessed at that time the most combat-ready army, armed with the latest technology. The movement in support of the Soviet Union intensified in the world due to the emergence of states with a socialist regime in Eastern Europe.
- Western countries, led by the United States, watched with alarm the growing popularity of the Soviet Union. The creation of the atomic bomb in the United States and its use against Japan allowed the American government to believe that it could dictate its will to the whole world. Plans for an atomic attack on the Soviet Union immediately began to be developed. The Soviet leadership suspected the possibility of such actions and hastily carried out work on the creation of such weapons in the USSR. During the period when the US was the sole owner atomic weapons the war did not start just because limited quantity bombs would not have allowed a complete victory. In addition, the Americans were afraid of the support of the USSR by many states.
- The ideological justification for the Cold War was W. Churchill's speech in Fulton (1946). In it, he stated that the Soviet Union is a threat to the whole world. The socialist system strives to master the globe and establish its dominance. Churchill considered the English-speaking countries (first of all, the USA and England) to be the main force capable of countering the world threat, which should declare a new crusade. The USSR took note of the threat. From this moment the Cold War begins.
Cold War: Causes and Milestones.
The course of the Cold War
- The Cold War did not develop into the Third World War, but there were situations when this could well happen.
- In 1949, the Soviet Union invented the atomic bomb. The seemingly achieved parity between the superpowers turned into an arms race - a constant increase in military-technical potential and the invention of a more powerful type of weapon.
- In 1949, NATO was formed - a military-political bloc of Western states, and in 1955 - the Warsaw Pact, which united the socialist states of Eastern Europe headed by the USSR. The main opposing sides have formed.
- The first "hot spot" of the Cold War was the Korean War (1950-1953). AT South Korea a pro-American regime was in power, in the North - a pro-Soviet one. NATO sent its armed forces, the help of the USSR was expressed in the supply of military equipment and the dispatch of specialists. The war ended with the recognition of the division of Korea into two states.
- The most dangerous moment of the Cold War was the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962). The USSR deployed its nuclear missiles in Cuba, in close proximity to the United States. The Americans knew about it. The Soviet Union was required to remove the missiles. After the refusal, the military forces of the superpowers were put on alert. However, common sense prevailed. The USSR agreed to the demand, the Americans removed their missiles from Turkey in return.
- The further history of the Cold War was expressed in the material and ideological support by the Soviet Union of the third world countries in their national liberation movement. The United States, under the pretext of fighting for democracy, provided the same support to pro-Western regimes. The confrontation led to local military conflicts around the globe, the largest of which was the US war in Vietnam (1964-1975).
- Second half of the 70s. was marked by an easing of tension. A number of negotiations were held, economic and cultural ties began to be established between the Western and Eastern blocs.
- However, in the late 70s, the superpowers made another breakthrough in the arms race. In addition, in 1979 the USSR sent its troops into Afghanistan. Relations deteriorated again.
- Perestroika and the collapse of the Soviet Union led to the collapse of the entire socialist system. The Cold War ended in connection with the voluntary withdrawal from the confrontation of one of the superpowers. Americans rightfully consider themselves victorious in the war.
Results of the Cold War
- The Cold War for a long time kept mankind in fear of the possibility of a Third World War, which could very well be the last in human history. By the end of the confrontation, according to various estimates, the planet had accumulated such a quantity of nuclear weapons that would be enough to blow up 40 times Earth.
- The Cold War led to military clashes in which people died and states suffered enormous damage. The arms race itself was ruinous for both superpowers.
- The end of the Cold War should be recognized as a human achievement. However, the conditions under which this became possible led to the collapse of the great state with all the ensuing consequences. There was a threat of the formation of a unipolar world led by the United States.
Korean War
The success of the Soviet troops in the Iasi-Kishinev operation had a decisive influence on the change in the political situation in Romania. On August 23, 1941, the country's government decided to break off relations with Germany and declare war on it. Romanian units took part in the fighting together with the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. On August 31 they entered Bucharest.
On September 8, 1944, Soviet troops entered the territory of Bulgaria. The Soviet Union declared war on it, because the Bulgarian government continued to be an ally of Nazi Germany. The Soviet command established contact with the People's Liberation Insurgent Army of Bulgaria. On September 9, an uprising began in Sofia. The government created by the Fatherland Front severed relations with Germany and declared war on it. On September 16, Soviet troops entered Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.
In September, the Red Army reached the eastern borders of Yugoslavia. During the Soviet-Yugoslav negotiations in Moscow, an agreement was concluded on the entry of Soviet troops into the territory of Yugoslavia. On October 20, troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and units of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia liberated Belgrade.
The victories of the Soviet troops had a huge impact on the development of events in Czechoslovakia. On August 29, 1944, the Slovak National Uprising began in connection with the entry of German troops into its territory. In response to a request for help from the Slovak patriots, the Soviet command sent the 2nd Czechoslovak Airborne Brigade and the Czechoslovak Fighter Aviation Regiment to Slovakia, and increased the airlift of weapons, ammunition, and medicines. In order to provide quick and effective assistance to the rebels, it was decided to strike directly through the Carpathians, and not bypassing them, as originally planned. The offensive began on 8 September. But it was not possible to quickly overcome the Carpathian borders, and the uprising was suppressed.
By the end of September, Hungary remained the only ally of Nazi Germany in Europe. She covered the path to Austria and to the south of Germany. Hungary was also of great economic importance for the Nazis, supplying them with oil and food. The fascist German command decided to keep Hungary at all costs and concentrated large forces here.
Having entered the Hungarian territory, the Soviet troops met fierce resistance from the enemy. In October, part of Hungary was liberated, but the forces to capture its capital were not enough. As a result of bloody battles, the encirclement of the Budapest group was completed only by the end of December. To avoid unnecessary casualties, the Soviet command sent an ultimatum to the garrison of Budapest to surrender. The Nazis rejected him and shot the Soviet parliamentarians. Budapest was liberated from the Nazis only on February 13, 1945.
The decisive battles for the liberation of Poland unfolded as a result of the Vistula-Oder operation (January 12 - February 3, 1945). The Soviet command did not plan to start it on January 20, but the offensive of the Nazi army on the Western Front brought the Anglo-American troops to the brink of disaster. The offensive of the Soviet troops, launched at the request of the allies, was accelerated. On January 12, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front went on the offensive, and on January 14, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front. The enemy defense was broken through, and he began to retreat. On January 17, Soviet soldiers, together with units of the Polish Army, liberated Warsaw. By the end of March, they reached the coast of the Baltic Sea, to the Oder and Neisse rivers. Soviet troops were stationed 60-70 km from Berlin.
The fighting in Europe ended on May 9, 1945 in Prague, after the signing of the act of unconditional surrender by Nazi Germany.
During the liberation of the peoples of Europe from the Nazi occupation, more than a million Soviet soldiers and officers perished. The vast majority of them are the sons of Russia. 600 thousand Soviet soldiers are buried in Polish soil, over 140 thousand - in Hungary, the same number - in Czechoslovakia, 102 thousand - in Germany, 69 - thousand - in Romania, 26 thousand are buried in Austria, 8 thousand - in Yugoslavia.
By the end of 1944, Soviet troops completely liberated Romania and Bulgaria, as well as the eastern regions of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia. Everywhere where the troops of the USSR entered, the normal life, state authorities acted in the center and locally, order was restored in the economy.