After the defeat of the main part of the German army in the Battle of Kursk, the expulsion of the Nazi invaders from the territory of the USSR began.

Practically deprived of an army, Germany could no longer attack and went on the defensive.
By order of Hitler, in the fall of 1943, the construction of the "Eastern Wall" began - a system of powerful echeloned defensive fortifications along the line of the Baltic Sea - Belarus - the Dnieper. According to Hitler's plan, the "Eastern Wall" was supposed to fence off Germany from the advancing Soviet troops, to give time to gather forces.
The most powerful defensive structures were erected in Ukraine along the Kyiv-Dnepropetrovsk-Melitopol line. On the one hand, it was a system of pillboxes, other powerful reinforced concrete structures, minefields, artillery along the entire right bank of the Dnieper, on the other hand, there was also a powerful natural barrier - the Dnieper. Due to these circumstances, the German command considered the Dnieper line of the "Eastern Wall" impassable. Hitler gave the order to hold the East Wall at all costs and endure the winter. During this time, by the summer of 1944, it was planned to restore the German army and launch a new offensive to the east.
In order to prevent Germany from recovering from defeat, the Soviet command decides to storm the East Wall.

In August 1943, the battle for the Dnieper began, which:

lasted 4 months - from August to December 1943;
it was carried out in very difficult conditions for the Soviet army - from the "low" (flat) left bank it was necessary to cross the Dnieper on rafts and storm the "high" (mountainous) right bank, stuffed with German defensive structures;
The Soviet army suffered colossal casualties, since the German troops, having fortified on the heights of the right bank of the Dnieper, intensively fired at the Soviet army on the low left bank, drowned rafts with soldiers and equipment crossing the Dnieper, destroyed pontoon bridges;
the crossing of the Dnieper took place in conditions of very bad weather in October - November, ice water, rain and snow;
each bridgehead on the western bank of the Dnieper, each kilometer recaptured, was paid for by hundreds and thousands of dead. Despite this, the Soviet army crossed the Dnieper in stubborn battles. In October 1943, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye and Melitopol were liberated, and on November 6, 1943 - Kyiv.

By December 1943, the Eastern Wall was broken through - the way to the Right-Bank Ukraine, Moldova and further to Europe was opened.

November 28 - December 1, 1943 in Tehran, the capital of Iran, the first meeting of the "big three" - I. Stalin, W. Churchill, F. Roosevelt - the leaders of the main allied states (USSR, Great Britain and the USA) took place during the war. During this meeting:

the basic principles of a post-war settlement were worked out;
a decision was made in principle to open a second front in May - June 1944 - the landing of Anglo-American troops in Normandy (France) and their attack on Germany from the west.

In the spring - summer of 1944, the final stage of the liberation of the USSR took place - the Soviet army launched three powerful offensives:

in the north, during which the remnants of Army Group North were defeated, the blockade of Leningrad was lifted and most of the Baltic was liberated;
in Belarus (Operation Bagration), during which the backbone of Army Group Center was destroyed and Belarus was liberated;
in the south (Iasi-Chisinau operation), during which the Army Group "South" was surrounded and defeated, Moldova, most of the Right-Bank Ukraine, Northern Romania were liberated.

As a result of these operations, by the autumn of 1944, the remnants of the three main German armies that invaded the USSR in 1941 were defeated; most of the territory of the USSR was liberated. The final stage of the war began - the liberation of Europe.

Liberation of the USSR

1944 was the year of the complete liberation of the territory of the USSR. During winter and spring offensive operations The blockade of Leningrad was completely lifted by the Red Army, the Korsun-Shevchenko group of the enemy 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.

fascist army soviet blockade

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 violating the 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, the 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 took part in the liberation of their countries. 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, however, one of the infantry divisions of the Bulgarian army, lining 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 the 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 Vienna, the capital of Austria, and captured the city of Koenigsberg in East Prussia.

The regime of German occupation in Poland was very harsh: during the war, out of 35 million inhabitants, 6 million people died. Nevertheless, since the beginning of the war, a resistance movement has been operating here, called the "Craiova Army" (" 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 ("People's Army") was subordinate to it. Together with Soviet troops and units of the Army of the People's Committee moved to 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 of the Polish capital participated. The Soviet leadership On August 16, J. Stalin wrote to W. Churchill: “The Warsaw action represents 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. The Baltic Fleet helped the ground forces advance along the coast, while the Northern Fleet provided transportation across 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.

The main blow was delivered by the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts, advancing from the Vistula, south of Warsaw, and moving west, towards 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 had the opportunity 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 position, 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, the view of the city so destroyed and burning changed ”(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.

The liberation of the territory of the USSR and European countries. Victory over Nazism in Europe (January 1944 - May 1945)

By the beginning of 1944, Germany's position was deteriorating sharply, its material and human reserves were depleted. However, the enemy was still strong. The command of the Wehrmacht switched to a rigid positional defense. Production military equipment The USSR in 1944 reached its apogee. Soviet military factories produced 7-8 times, guns 6 times, mortars almost 8 times, aircraft 4 times more than before the war. Over 24 thousand km of railways have been restored. Agriculture, thanks to the heroic labor of the collective-farm peasantry, has achieved an increase in the production of grain and livestock products. The sown areas of the country increased by 16 million hectares compared to 1943.

The Supreme High Command set the Red Army the task of clearing the Soviet land of the enemy, starting to liberate the European countries from the occupiers and ending the war with the complete defeat of the aggressor on its territory.

The main content of the winter-spring campaign of 1944 was the implementation of successive strategic operations of the Soviet troops as part of four Ukrainian fronts on the right-bank Ukraine. In a strip with a length of up to 1400 km, during which the main forces of the German fascist army groups "South" and "A" were defeated and access was opened to the state border, the foothills of the Carpathians and the territory of Romania. At the same time, the troops of the Leningrad, Volkhov and 20th Baltic fronts inflicted a defeat on Army Group North, liberating the Leningrad and part of the Kalinin regions. In the spring of 1944 Crimea was cleared of the enemy.

Under these favorable conditions, the Western Allies, after two years of preparation, opened a second front in Europe in northern France. On June 6, 1944, the combined Anglo-American forces, having crossed the English Channel and the Pas de Calais, began the Normandy landing operation, the largest in the years of the war, and in August already entered Paris.

Continuing to develop the strategic initiative, in the summer of 1944 Soviet troops launched a powerful offensive in Karelia, Belarus, Western Ukraine and Moldova. As a result of the advance of Soviet troops in the north, on September 19, Finland, having signed a truce with the USSR, withdrew from the war, and on March 4, 1945, declared war on Germany. During the Yassy-Kishenev operation, 22 Nazi divisions and Romanian troops at the front were destroyed. This forced Romania to withdraw from the war on the side of Germany and, after the anti-fascist uprising of the Romanian people on August 24, declare war on it.

In September-November, the troops of the three Baltic and Leningrad fronts cleared almost the entire territory of the Baltic from the Nazis. Thus, during the summer and autumn of 1944, on the Soviet-German front, the enemy lost 1.6 million soldiers and officers, 20 of his divisions and 22 brigades were defeated. The front came close to the borders of Nazi Germany. In East Prussia he stepped over them. With the opening of the second front, the position of fascist Germany worsened. Squeezed in the grip of two fronts, she could no longer freely transfer forces from the West to the East, she had to carry out a new total mobilization in order to somehow make up for the losses at the front.

During the winter campaign of 1945, further coordination of the military operations of the armed forces of the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition was developed. So after the counteroffensive of the Nazi troops in the Ardennes, the Anglo-American troops found themselves in a difficult situation. Then, at the request of W. Churchill, in mid-January 1945, by agreement with the Anglo-American command, they went on the offensive from the Baltic to the Carpathians and thus provided effective assistance to the Western allies.

In early April, the troops of the Western Allies successfully surrounded and then captured 19 enemy divisions in the Ruhr area. After this operation, the Nazi resistance on the Western Front was practically broken. Using favorable conditions, the Anglo-American-French troops launched an offensive in the center of Germany. By mid-April, they reached the line of the Elbe River, where, on April 25, 1945, a historic meeting of Soviet and American soldiers took place near the city of Torgau. north - western Germany and Denmark.

In January - early April 1945, as a result of a powerful strategic offensive on the entire Soviet-German front, the Soviet army inflicted a crushing situation on the main enemy forces with the forces of ten fronts. During the East Prussian, Vistula-Oder, West Carpathian and the completion of the Budapest operation, Soviet troops created the conditions for further strikes in Pomerania and Silesia, and then for an attack on Berlin. Almost all of Poland and Czechoslovakia, the entire territory of Hungary were liberated. The attempt of the new interim German government, which on May 1, 1945 after the suicide of A. Hitler was headed by Grand Admiral K. Doenitz, to achieve a separate peace with the USA and Great Britain failed. The most reactionary elements of the ruling circles of Great Britain and the USA, secretly from the USSR, tried to negotiate with Germany. The Soviet Union continued to seek to strengthen the anti-Hitler coalition. The decisive victories of the Soviet Armed Forces contributed to the success of the Crimean Conference in 1945. The leaders of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain, at which issues related to the defeat of Germany and its post-war situation were agreed. An agreement was also reached on the entry of the USSR into the war against imperialist Japan 2-3 months after the end of the war in Europe.

During the Berlin operation, the troops of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts, with the support of two armies of the Polish Army, having defeated 93 enemy divisions, captured about 480 thousand people. A huge amount of military trophy equipment and weapons. On May 8, 1945, in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, the Act of the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany to the countries participating in the leading powers of the anti-Hitler coalition was signed.

May 9th became Victory Day over Nazi Germany. In connection with the end of the war in Europe, the Berlin Conference of 1945 was held by the heads of government of the great powers - the USSR, the USA and Great Britain. It discussed the problems of the post-war order of the world in Europe and adopted decisions on a number of issues.

Red Army victories 1943 years meant a radical change not only on the Soviet-German front, but in general in the Second World War. They intensified the contradictions in the camp of Germany's allies. 25 July 1943 in Italy, the fascist government of B. Mussolini fell, and the new leadership, headed by General P. Badoglio, announced 13 October 1943 d. war in Germany. The resistance movement intensified in the occupied countries. AT 1943 fought against the enemy 300 thousand partisans of France, 300 thousand - Yugoslavia, over 70 thousand - Greece, 100 thousand - Italy, 50 thousand - Norway, as well as partisan detachments of other countries. In total, 2.2 million people participated in the resistance movement.
The meetings of the leaders of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain contributed to the coordination of the actions of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. The first of the Big Three conferences was held 28 november - 1 December 1943 in Tehran. The main questions were military - about the second front in Europe. It was decided that no later than 1 May 1944 Anglo-American troops will land in France. A declaration was adopted on joint actions in the war against Germany and on post-war cooperation, and the issue of Poland's post-war borders was considered. The USSR undertook an obligation after the end of the war with Germany to enter the war against Japan.
With January 1944 The third and final stage of the Great Patriotic War began. By this time, the Nazi troops continued to occupy Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Karelia, a significant part of Belarus, Ukraine, the Leningrad and Kalinin regions, Moldova and the Crimea. The Hitlerite command kept in the East the main, most combat-ready troops numbering about 5 million people. Germany still had significant resources to wage war, although its economy had entered a period of serious difficulties.
However, the general military-political situation, in comparison with the first years of the war, changed radically in favor of the USSR and its Armed Forces. Back to top 1944 in the active army of the USSR there were more than 6.3 million people. The production of steel, cast iron, coal and oil production increased rapidly, and the development of the country's eastern regions took place. Defense industry in 1944 produced tanks and aircraft in 5 times more than in 1941 G.
The Soviet Army was faced with the task of completing the liberation of its territory, assisting the peoples of Europe in overthrowing the fascist yoke, and ending the war with the complete defeat of the enemy on his territory. Features of offensive operations 1944 The main purpose of the attack was to strike the enemy with pre-planned powerful strikes in various directions of the Soviet-German front, forcing him to disperse his forces and hindering the organization of an effective defense.
AT 1944 The Red Army inflicted a series of crushing blows on the German troops, which led to the complete liberation of Soviet land from the fascist invaders. Among the largest operations are the following:

January-February - near Leningrad and Novgorod. Was filmed lasting from 8 September 1941 900-day blockade of Leningrad (during the blockade in the city, more than 640 thousand inhabitants; food standard in 1941 was 250 g of bread per day for workers and 125 d for the rest);
february-mart - liberation of Right-Bank Ukraine;
aprilmay - liberation of the Crimea;
June August - Belarusian operation;
July-August - liberation of Western Ukraine;
Start august- YassoKishinevskaya operation;
October - the liberation of the Arctic.
By December 1944 All Soviet territory was liberated. 7 november 1944 in the newspaper Pravda, an order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief No. 220 was printed: “The Soviet state border,” it said, “is restored all the way from the Black to the Barents Sea” (for the first time during the war, Soviet troops reached the state border of the USSR 26 Martha 1944 on the border with Romania). All the allies of Germany left the war - Romania, Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary. The Hitler coalition completely disintegrated. And the number of countries that were at war with Germany was constantly increasing. 22 June 1941 there were 14 of them, and in May 1945 city - 53.

The successes of the Red Army did not mean that the enemy had ceased to pose a serious military threat. An army of almost five million opposed the USSR at the beginning 1944 d. But the Red Army outnumbered the Wehrmacht both in numbers and in firepower. Back to top 1944 g. she totaled more than 6 million soldiers and officers, had 90 thousand guns and mortars (the Germans have about 55 thousand), an approximately equal number of tanks and self-propelled guns and an advantage in 5 thousand aircraft.
The opening of a second front also contributed to the successful course of hostilities. 6 June 1944 Anglo-American troops landed in France. However, the Soviet-German front remained the main one. In June 1944 Germany had on its Eastern Front 259 divisions, and in the West - 81. Paying tribute to all the peoples of the planet who fought against fascism, it should be noted that it was the Soviet Union that was the main force that blocked A. Hitler's path to world domination. The Soviet-German front was the main front where the fate of mankind was decided. Its length ranged from 3000 to 6000 km, it existed 1418 days. Until the summer 1944 G. -
Liberation of the territory of the USSR by the Red Army
,Mupei states 267
the time of the opening of the second front in Europe - 9295% acted here ground forces Germany and its allies, and then from 74 up to 65%.
Having liberated the USSR, the Red Army, pursuing the retreating enemy, entered into 1944 to the territory of foreign countries. She fought in 13 European and Asian states. More than a million Soviet soldiers gave their lives for their liberation from fascism.
AT 1945 The offensive operations of the Red Army took on an even larger scale. The troops launched a final offensive along the entire front from the Baltic to the Carpathians, which was planned for the end of January. But due to the fact that the Anglo-American army in the Ardennes (Belgium) was on the verge of disaster, the Soviet leadership decided to start hostilities ahead of schedule.
The main blows were inflicted on the Warsaw-Berlin direction. Overcoming desperate resistance, the Soviet troops completely liberated Poland, defeated the main forces of the Nazis in East Prussia and Pomerania. At the same time, strikes were inflicted on the territory of Slovakia, Hungary and Austria.
In connection with the approach of the final defeat of Germany, the questions of joint actions of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition at the final stage of the war and in peacetime arose sharply. In February 1945 In Yalta, the second conference of the heads of government of the USSR, the USA and England took place. The conditions for the unconditional surrender of Germany were worked out, as well as measures to eradicate Nazism and turn Germany into a democratic state. These principles are known as "4 D" - democratization, demilitarization, denazification and decartelization. The Allies also agreed on the general principles for resolving the reparation issue, that is, on the amount and procedure for compensating the damage caused by Germany to other countries (the total amount of reparations was established in 20 billion US dollars, of which the USSR was to receive half). An agreement was reached on the entry of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan through 23 months after the surrender of Germany and the return of the Kuril Islands and the southern part of Sakhalin Island to him. In order to maintain peace and security, it was decided to create an international organization - the UN. Its founding conference was held 25 April 1945 in San Francisco.
One of the largest and most significant at the final stage of the war was the Berlin operation. The offensive has begun 16 April. 25 April all roads leading from the city to the west were cut. On the same day, units of the 1st Ukrainian Front met with American troops near the city of Torgau on the Elbe. 30 April The assault on the Reichstag began. 2 May The Berlin garrison capitulated. 8 May- capitulation was signed.
In the last days of the war, the Red Army had to fight stubborn battles in Czechoslovakia. 5 May an armed uprising against the invaders began in Prague. 9 May Soviet troops liberated Prague.

In 1944, the Soviet Army launched an offensive in all sectors of the front - from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea. In January, the offensive of parts of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts began, supported by the Baltic Fleet, which resulted in a complete liberation of Leningrad from enemy blockade, which lasted 900 days, and the expulsion of the Nazis from Novgorod. By the end of February, in cooperation with the troops of the Baltic Front, Leningrad, Novgorod and part of the Kalinin region were completely liberated.

At the end of January, the offensive of the troops of the Ukrainian fronts in the Right-Bank Ukraine began. Fierce battles flared up in February in the area of the Korsun-Shevchenko group, in March - near Chernivtsi. At the same time, enemy groups were defeated in the Nikolaev-Odessa region. Since April, offensive operations have been launched in the Crimea. On April 9, Simferopol was taken, and on May 9, Sevastopol.

In April, having crossed the river. Prut, our armies have transferred military operations to the territory of Romania. The state border of the USSR was restored for several hundred kilometers.

The successful offensive of the Soviet troops in the winter - spring of 1944 accelerated opening a second front in Europe. On June 6, 1944, Anglo-American troops landed in Normandy (France). However, the main front of the Second World War continued to be the Soviet-German, where the main forces of Nazi Germany were concentrated.

In June - August 1944, the troops of the Leningrad, Karelian fronts and the Baltic Fleet, having defeated the Finnish units on the Karelian Isthmus, liberated Vyborg, Petrozavodsk and on August 9 reached the state border with Finland, whose government on September 4 ceased hostilities against the USSR, and after the defeat of the Nazis in the Baltic States (mainly in Estonia) on October 1 declared war on Germany. At the same time, the armies of the Belorussian and Baltic fronts, having defeated the enemy troops in Belarus and Lithuania, liberated Minsk, Vilnius and reached the border of Poland and Germany.

In July - September, parts of the Ukrainian fronts liberated all of Western Ukraine. On August 31, the Germans were driven out of Bucharest (Romania). In early September, Soviet troops entered the territory of Bulgaria.

In the fall of 1944, fierce battles began for liberation of the Baltics- On September 22, Tallinn was liberated, on October 13 - Riga. At the end of October, the Soviet Army entered Norway. In parallel with the offensive in the Baltic states and in the North, in September-October, our armies liberated part of the territory of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Yugoslavia. The Czechoslovak Corps, formed on the territory of the USSR, took part in the battles for the liberation of Czechoslovakia. The troops of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia, together with the armies of Marshal F. I. Tolbukhin, liberated Belgrade on October 20.

The result of the offensive of the Soviet Army in 1944 was complete liberation of the territory of the USSR from fascist invaders and bringing the war into enemy territory.

The victory in the fight against Nazi Germany was obvious. It was achieved not only in battles, but as a result of the heroic labor of the Soviet people in the rear. Despite the enormous destruction caused to the national economy of the country, its industrial potential was constantly growing. In 1944, Soviet industry surpassed military production not only in Germany, but in England and the USA, producing about 30,000 tanks and self-propelled guns, more than 40,000 aircraft, and over 120,000 guns. The Soviet Army was provided with an abundance of light and heavy machine guns, machine guns and rifles. The Soviet economy, thanks to the selfless labor of the workers and peasants, defeated the entire European industry taken together, which was almost completely placed at the service of Nazi Germany. On the liberated lands, the restoration of the national economy immediately began.

It should be noted the work of Soviet scientists, engineers and technicians, who created first-class models of weapons and provided the front with them, which to a large extent determined the victory over the enemy.
Their names are well known - V. G. Grabin, P. M. Goryunov, V. A. Degtyarev, S. V. Ilyushin, S. A. Lavochkin, V. F. Tokarev, G. S. Shpagin, A. S. Yakovlev and others.

The works of remarkable Soviet writers, poets, composers (A. Korneichuk, L. Leonov, K. Simonov, A. Tvardovsky, M. Sholokhov, D. Shostakovich, etc.) ). The unity of the rear and the front was the key to victory.

In 1945, the Soviet Army had an absolute numerical superiority in manpower and equipment. The military potential of Germany was significantly weakened, since it actually found itself without allies and raw material bases. Considering that the Anglo-American troops did not show much activity with the development of offensive operations, the Germans still kept the main forces - 204 divisions - on the Soviet-German front. Moreover, at the end of December 1944, in the Ardennes region, the Germans, with less than 70 divisions, broke through the Anglo-American front and began to push the allied forces, over which there was a threat of encirclement and destruction. On January 6, 1945, British Prime Minister W. Churchill turned to Supreme Commander-in-Chief JV Stalin with a request to expedite offensive operations. Faithful to their allied duty, on January 12, 1945, the Soviet troops (instead of 20) launched an offensive, the front of which stretched from the shores of the Baltic to the Carpathian Mountains and was equal to 1200 km. A powerful offensive was carried out between the Vistula and the Oder - against Warsaw and Vienna. By the end of January was crossed the Oder, released Breslau. January 17 released Warsaw, then Poznan, April 9 - Koenigsberg(now Kaliningrad), April 4 - Bratislava, 13 - Vein. The result of the winter offensive of 1915 was the liberation of Poland, Hungary, East Prussia, Pomerania, Danni, parts of Austria and Silesia. Brandenburg was taken. Soviet troops reached the line Oder - Neisse - Spree. Preparations began for the storming of Berlin.

As early as the beginning of 1945 (February 4-13), a conference of leaders of the USSR, the USA, and Great Britain met in Yalta ( Yalta Conference), which addressed the issue of post-war order of the world. An agreement was reached on the cessation of hostilities only after the unconditional surrender of the fascist command. The heads of government came to an agreement on the need to eliminate the military potential of Germany, the complete destruction of Nazism, military contingents and the center of militarism - the German General Staff. At the same time, it was decided to convict the war criminals and oblige Germany to pay reparations in the amount of 20 billion dollars for the damage caused during the war to the countries with which she fought. Has been previously confirmed decision on the establishment of an international body for the maintenance of peace and security - United Nations. The government of the USSR gave a promise to the allies to enter the war against Japanese imperialism three months after the surrender of Germany.

In the second half of April - early May, the Soviet Army delivered the last blows to Germany. On April 16, the operation to encircle Berlin began, ending by April 25. After a powerful bombardment and artillery shelling, stubborn street battles began. On April 30, between 2 and 3 pm, a red flag was hoisted over the Reichstag.

On May 9, the last enemy grouping was liquidated and Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, was liberated. Hitler's army ceased to exist. May 8 in the Berlin suburb of Karlhorst was signed act of unconditional surrender of Germany.

Great Patriotic War ended with the final defeat of Nazi Germany and its allies. The Soviet Army not only bore the brunt of the war on its shoulders, liberated Europe from fascism, but also saved the Anglo-American troops from defeat, giving them the opportunity to fight against the small German garrisons.

Victory Parade on Red Square - June 24, 1945

On July 17, 1945, a conference of the heads of government of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain met in Potsdam ( Potsdam conference), discussing the outcome of the war. The leaders of the three powers agreed to permanently eliminate German militarism, the Nazi Party (NSDAP) and prevent its revival. Issues related to the payment of reparations by Germany were resolved.

After the defeat of Nazi Germany, Japan continued to conduct military operations against the United States, Britain and other countries. The military actions of Japan also threatened the security of the USSR. The Soviet Union, fulfilling its allied obligations, on August 8, 1945, after rejecting the offer of surrender, declared war on Japan. Japan occupied a significant territory of China, Korea, Manchuria, Indochina. On the border with the USSR, the Japanese government kept the millionth Kwantung Army, threatening with a constant attack, which diverted significant forces of the Soviet Army. Thus, Japan objectively helped the Nazis in an aggressive war. On August 9, our units went on the offensive on three fronts, began Soviet-Japanese War. The entry of the USSR into the war, which had been unsuccessfully waged for several years by the Anglo-American troops, dramatically changed the situation.

Within two weeks, the main force of Japan, the Kwantung Army and its supporting units, was completely defeated. In an effort to raise its "prestige", the United States, without any military necessity, dropped two atomic bombs on the peaceful Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Continuing the offensive, the Soviet Army liberated South Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Manchuria, and a number of cities and ports in North Korea. Seeing that the continuation of the war is meaningless, September 2, 1945 Japan surrendered. Japan's defeat the second World War . The long-awaited peace has come.

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