The initial period of the war June 1941 November 1942. The Great Patriotic War. Stages of the Great Patriotic War

Plan Barbarossa. The alignment and balance of power

on the eve of the war.

On December 5, 1940, Hitler made the final decision to start a war with the USSR, confirmed on December 18 by "Directive 21". By the beginning of 1941, a detailed plan of military operations "Barbarossa" was developed. It was designed for "blitzkrieg" and was based on the coordinated actions of four army groups:

Finnish (commanded by the German General von Dietl and the Finnish Field Marshal Mannerheim) - was aimed at Murmansk, the White Sea and Ladoga;

"North" (commander - Field Marshal V. Leeb; goal - to destroy Soviet troops in the Baltic states, capture ports in the Baltic Sea and Leningrad) - to Leningrad;

"Center" (under the command of Field Marshal F. Bock; the goal is an attack on Minsk, then on Smolensk and Moscow) - on Moscow;

"South" (commander Field Marshal G. Rundstedt; the goal is to reach the Dnieper and launch an offensive to the southeast) - to occupy Ukraine.

Germany put forward up to 5.5 million soldiers and officers against the USSR, the USSR could only oppose it with 2.7 million people.

Stages of the Great Patriotic War.

Historians usually divide the entire course of hostilities into three periods:

3) the period of the liberation of the USSR and the defeat of Nazi Germany (1944 - May 9, 1945). The participation of the USSR in World War II continued with the period of the Soviet-Japanese War (August 9 - September 2, 1945).

The beginning of the war.

The war began on the morning of June 22, 1941 with aerial bombardment and an offensive by ground forces. Already on the first day, German aviation bombed 66 airfields and destroyed 1200 Soviet aircraft.

On the very first day of the war, three fronts were formed on the basis of the border military districts: the North-Western (commander - General F.I. Kuznetsov), the Western (under the command of General D.G. Pavlov) and the South-Western (commander - General M. P. Kirponos). On June 24, the fourth is created - the Northern Front (under the command of General M.M. Popov).

On June 23, the Headquarters of the High Command is established, which in August was transformed into the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. It was headed by Stalin.

On June 29, 1941, martial law was introduced in the country. The next day, the State Defense Committee (GKO) was created, officially becoming the highest body of state and military power. I.V. was appointed chairman of the GKO. Stalin. The GKO also included V.M. Molotov, G.M. Malenkov, L.P. Beria, and later - N.A. Voznesensky, L.M. Kaganovich, N.A. Bulganin.

Military defeats 1941 - 1942 yearsandthemthe reasons.

In the first three weeks of the war, 28 Soviet divisions were completely destroyed, 72 more than half. German troops advanced 300 - 600 km deep into Soviet territory, occupying Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, right-bank Ukraine, almost all of Moldova.

The Soviet side tried to organize counterattacks at the end of June - in the region of Rovno, Dubno. Brody, in July - in the Llepelsky and Bobruisk directions, in the areas of Soltsy - Berdichev and south of Kiev. In the Smolensk region, Soviet troops held the line from July 16 to August 15, which created a strategic and psychological delay in the implementation of the "blitzkrieg" plan.

On August 23, Hitler demanded from his troops not only the capture of Moscow, but also the capture of the resources of Ukraine and the Caucasus. The offensive on the flanks developed rapidly. Tikhvin and Vyborg were taken in the northwest; On September 9, Leningrad was blocked. On September 19, Kyiv was surrounded in the southwest, where about 650 thousand people were taken prisoner. Having taken Kyiv, the Germans launched an offensive against the Donbass and the Crimea, and on November 3 they approached Sevastopol.

Despite visible successes, in the first five weeks of the war, the German army lost about 200 thousand people (twice as many as during the two years of the war in Europe), over 1.5 thousand tanks and 1 thousand aircraft. But the Soviet side also suffered huge losses: up to 5 million people were captured, killed and wounded, a significant part of military equipment.

Among the reasons for the defeat of the Red Army at the beginning of the war, the main ones were:

1) the military-economic potential of Germany, which used the resources of almost all of Western Europe, significantly exceeded the military-economic potential of the USSR;

2) the Nazi army was mobilized, had two years of experience in modern warfare, while the professional level of the Soviet troops, especially command personnel, decreased after mass repressions in the army;

3) major miscalculations by the Soviet leadership in military technology - in particular, an underestimation of the role of mechanized formations, outdated ideas about the methods of waging war in the initial period;

4) the miscalculations of Stalin and his entourage in the analysis of the international situation, in determining the timing of the possible outbreak of war, which led to the surprise attack of the enemy.

Moscow battle. Spring attack.

The central event of the first period of the war was the Battle of Moscow.

Under the general name "Battle for Moscow" they combine defensive (September 30 - December 5, 1941) and offensive (December 5, 1941 - April 20, 1942) operations carried out by the troops of the Western (I.S. Konev, from October 10 - G. K. Zhukov), Reserve (S.M. Budyonny). Bryansk (A.I. Eremenko), Kalinin (I.S. Konev) and Southwestern (S.K. Timoshenko) fronts.

On September 24, the command of Army Group Center made the last adjustments to the plan for Operation Typhoon - the attack on Moscow. The first line of Soviet defense was torn on the line between Rzhev and Vyazma on October 5; On October 6, Bryansk fell. The second line of defense, near Mozhaisk, delayed the German offensive for several days. On October 10, Zhukov was appointed commander of the Western Front. October 12, the Germans occupied Kaluga, October 14 - Kalinin.

On November 16, the Nazi offensive resumed: by the end of November - the beginning of December, they managed to reach the Moscow-Volga canal, force it (Khimki was occupied on December 5), force the Nara River north and south of Naro-Fominsk, approach Kashira, but failed to advance further. Operation "Typhoon" failed, the "blitzkrieg" plan was thwarted; On December 6, the troops of the Kalinin, Western and right wing of the Southwestern Fronts launched a counteroffensive. Kaluga, Orel, Kalinin were returned, in some sectors of the front the advance reached 120 kilometers in December alone. However, the following month the counteroffensive fizzled out, and by March 1942 the front had stabilized on the Velikiye Luki-Gzhatsk-Kirov, Oka line.

On April 8, the order was given to go on the offensive in the expectation that the Wehrmacht would quickly use up its forces. However, from April to October 1942, the Red Army suffered a series of serious defeats. The events in the South-Western direction developed especially dramatically. On June 28, having seized the strategic initiative, the Germans went on the offensive east of Kursk, trying to encircle and destroy the troops of the Bryansk and then the Southwestern and Southern fronts. On July 2, the Soviet line of defense was broken through at the junction of the Bryansk and Southwestern Fronts, and on July 15, between the Don and the Seversky Donets, the second line of defense was broken through. On July 24, Soviet troops left Rostov and retreated beyond the Don.

In August, the Germans launched an offensive in the Caucasian direction - on August 5 they occupied Stavropol, on the 11th - Krasnodar, on the 14th - Novorossiysk. Thus, despite the failure of the "blitzkrieg" plan, the heavy losses of the Germans and the variable success of the battles, the military campaigns of 1941, the year - the summer of 1942, in general, developed unsuccessfully for the USSR, and the turn in the war would take place only in the summer of 1943.

On June 22, 1941, the troops of Germany and its allies invaded the territory of the USSR and went on the offensive on the front stretching from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea. The enemy fettered the ground forces, the border districts were not put on alert. Only the Navy, thanks to the actions of its commander-in-chief, Admiral N.G. Kuznetsova suffered minimal losses. Invasion Admiral of the Fleet of the USSR N.G. Kuznetsov

The Germans delivered the main blow in the Western Front, commander General D.G. Pavlov. The suddenness of the attack, tank breakthroughs, massive air strikes allowed the German troops to advance a kilometer by July 10, 1941 and reach the Polotsk-Vitebsk-Orsha-Zhlobin line. Invasion Soviet planes after the air raid

Having concentrated a large number of tanks, the commander of the Southwestern Front, M.P. Kirponos tried to stop the advance of the German Army Group South. On June 26-29, 1941, the largest tank battle unfolded near Berestechko, Lutsk and Dubno. M.P. Invasion Kirponos

On June 22, 1941, V.M. Molotov announced the German attack. On June 23, 1941, Stalin signed the decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on the establishment of the Headquarters of the High Command, headed by S.K. Timoshenko. It soon became clear that it would not be possible to win with “little bloodshed” and on “foreign land”. Mobilization of the country Soviet aircraft after the air raid

The Kremlin's reaction to the attack was typical of the Soviet leadership - they began to look for "switchmen". Commander of the Western Front D.G. Pavlov was shot. At the same time, all the forces of the country were mobilized. On June 30, 1941, the State Defense Committee (GKO) was created - an emergency authority, the orders of which had the force of law. Mobilization of the country D.G. Pavlov

July 3, 1941 I.V. Stalin spoke on the radio with an appeal in which the war that had begun was called a nationwide, Patriotic war. The State Defense Committee took measures to organize the defense of the country, mobilization was announced, people and enterprises began to be evacuated, and martial law was introduced. Mobilization of the country I.V. Stalin

NKVD headed by L.P. Beria created destroyer battalions, in July 1941 the institution of military commissars was restored. On July 10, 1941, the Headquarters of the High Command was transformed into the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, headed by Stalin. Mobilization of the country L.P. Beria

The country was gripped by an unprecedented patriotic upsurge. Hundreds of Soviet soldiers showed unprecedented stamina and courage in the first days of the war - Captain N.F. Gastello, Baltic sailors - defenders of the Moonsund archipelago, heroic defenders of the Brest Fortress. On July 4, 1941, the GKO adopted a resolution on the formation of a people's militia. The spiritual mood of the peoples of the USSR was reflected in the song that sounded in the first days of the war: “Get up, the country is huge!” Mobilization of the country N.F. Gastello

Army Group Center faced organized resistance from the Red Army for a month and a half. In early September 1941, troops under the command of G.K. Zhukov was forced out by the German group near Yelnya - this was the first defeat of the Wehrmacht. But in August 1941, the Nazis moved to Ukraine and Leningrad to seize the Crimea and Donbass. An attempt to stop the German offensive ended in a heavy defeat for the Red Army. Catastrophe in Ukraine Fragment of the German headquarters map for September 2, 1941

Having cut off the Crimea, establishing a blockade of Leningrad, the German army again transferred the main blow to the Moscow direction. The plan to capture Moscow was called "Typhoon". In mid-October 1941, the evacuation from the capital began urgently. On November 7, 1941, a military parade took place on Red Square, the participants of which immediately went to the front. Battle of Moscow Parade on Red Square

The troops of the Kalinin Front, led by I.S. Konev tried to hold down the offensive of the Wehrmacht. 16th Army K.K. Rokossovsky stopped the Germans at Mozhaisk. Tank brigade M.E. Katukova blocked the way for the advance of the enemy in the Tula direction. The Typhoon plan was thwarted. Battle of Moscow I.S. Konev K.K. Rokossovsky M.E. Katukov

By December 20, 1941, the offensive of the Red Army had stopped. The failure of the German offensive on Moscow dispelled the myth of the invincibility of the German army. He contributed to the growth of the liberation, anti-fascist movement of the peoples in the territories occupied by Germany and its allies. The Barbarossa plan was a total failure. Battle of Moscow

The defeat of the Wehrmacht near Moscow also contributed to the formation of the anti-Hitler coalition. The American lend-lease system was extended to the USSR. In 1942, the Soviet command developed a plan to carry out a broad offensive along the entire Soviet-German front. However, in January 1942, the Red Army units failed to destroy the Rzhev-Vyazma group of Germans, and in May 1942, the Soviet troops suffered a major defeat near Kharkov and Kerch. An attempt to eliminate the blockade of Leningrad also turned out to be a failure. Meanwhile, the Wehrmacht launched an offensive into the Caucasus. Fighting in the spring - summer of 1942 I. Toidze. 1941 poster

The heroic defense of Stalingrad was led by Generals V.I. Chuikov and M.S. Shumilov. The German 6th Army broke through to the Volga north of the city, then to its very center, but it failed to do the same south of Stalingrad. Defense of Stalingrad V.I. Chuikov M.S. Shumilov

Partisans were active in the territory occupied by the Germans. In May 1942, the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement was created to coordinate the actions of the partisans with the actions of the Red Army. The famous commanders of partisan formations were S.A. Kovpak, D.N. Medvedev, P.M. Masherov and others. Partisan movement S.A. Kovpak D.N. Medvedev P.M. Masherov
The war radically changed people's lives. At first there was hope that the fighting would move to enemy territory, but it soon became clear that the fate of the country itself was being decided during the course of the war. The atrocities of the fascists led the Soviet people to the need for a merciless struggle against the aggressor. In his speech on July 3, Stalin unexpectedly said: "Brothers and sisters!" People understood the need for unity and selflessness in the struggle, and this became a prerequisite for the partisan movement. Soviet rear during the war Refugees

The threat of occupation of the front-line areas forced the export of all the most valuable things - equipment, raw materials, people, etc. - from there. This activity was spearheaded by the Evacuation Board. In a short time, a huge amount of cargo was transferred to the East. For 5 months, 1,500 large enterprises and 10 million people were evacuated. In a new place, new production facilities were erected for them, or they were merged with existing enterprises. Soviet rear during the war Evacuated plant in a new location

Many industries were re-profiled for the production of military products. In December 1941, the decline in production stopped and its growth began. In the middle of 1942, the restructuring of the country's life for a military one was successfully completed, although Western experts believed that we would need at least 5 years for this. The Soviet economy eventually won the competition against the economy of Nazi Germany and this was one of the reasons for our victory in the war. Soviet rear during the war Poster 1943

The war dealt a heavy blow to the education system. Thousands of schools were destroyed, there were not enough textbooks and notebooks. But the work of schools continued even in the besieged Sevastopol, Leningrad, Stalingrad and other cities. In the occupied regions, the education of children has ceased. Scientific centers during the war moved to the East. Research institutes of the USSR Academy of Sciences were evacuated here. Soviet rear during the war years

During the war years, Soviet scientists worked for the needs of the army. Academician E. Paton developed a new method of steel welding, which made it possible to obtain heavy-duty tank hulls. A. Ioffe created the world's first radars. Doctors developed a technique for blood transfusion and for the first time began to use penicillin. In 1943, the development of Soviet nuclear weapons began. The designers worked on the creation of new types of weapons. Soviet rear during the war Constructor P. Degtyarev

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Plan:

Invasion. Summer disaster in 1941 Mobilization of the country. Smolensk battle and catastrophe in Ukraine. Battle near Moscow. The birth of the anti-Hitler coalition. Combat events in the spring - summer of 1942. The defense of Stalingrad. Occupation regime on Soviet territory. partisan movement. "Everything for the front, everything for victory!"

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Invasion. Summer disaster 1941

On June 22, 1941, the troops of Germany and its allies (Hungary, Italy, Romania, Finland) invaded the territory of the Soviet Union and went on the offensive on the front stretching from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea. Having won air supremacy, the enemy pinned down Soviet ground forces, primarily tanks, which were being destroyed from the air. The troops did not have time to fulfill the order given from Moscow to put the border districts on combat readiness too late, communication with them was broken.

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mobilization of the country.

The German attack came as a surprise to the Soviet leadership. However, a few hours after the start of the war, a directive was sent to the troops: “To fall upon the enemy forces and destroy them in areas where they violated the Soviet border. Do not cross the border until further notice." On June 23, 1941, Stalin signed the decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on the establishment of the Headquarters of the High Command, it was headed by S.K. Timoshenko.

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The Kremlin's reaction to the belated information about the catastrophe: Search for the perpetrators of the failures Mobilization of all forces to repel fascist aggression June 30, 1941 - the State Defense Committee (GKO) was created, headed by I.V. Stalin. On July 3, 1941, he spoke on the radio with an appeal in which the war that had begun was called a nationwide, Patriotic war. The State Defense Committee took measures to organize the defense of the country with the involvement of all its socio-economic and military resources. Mobilization was announced, putting an additional 5.3 million people under arms. The country was engulfed in a patriotic upsurge. Heroic resistance to the advancing enemy acquired a massive character. People hurried to the military registration and enlistment offices, volunteering for the front. On July 4, 1941, the GKO adopted a resolution on the formation of a people's militia, in which about 1 million people signed up in a short time. About 40 divisions of the people's militia took part in the fighting.

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Smolensk battle and catastrophe in Ukraine.

Army Group Center faced organized resistance from the Red Army for a month and a half in the Battle of Smolensk. Of particular concern to the Soviet command was the "Yelninsky ledge" - a possible springboard for the German offensive on Moscow in the area of ​​​​the city of Yelnya. The troops led by G.K. Zhukov, in early September 1941, ousted the German grouping from it, which suffered heavy losses. This success was of great moral and psychological significance. Near Yelnya, the Red Army defeated the Wehrmacht for the first time in the Great Patriotic War. In August 1941, the Nazis halted their attack on Moscow. Tank armies of the Army Group "Center" moved to Ukraine and Leningrad. An attempt to stop the German advance into Ukraine ended in a heavy defeat. As a result, by mid-September 1941, in the Kyiv region and on the left bank of the Dnieper, 4 Soviet armies were surrounded, a total of about 453 thousand people.

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Battle near Moscow.

The operation to capture the capital of the USSR, which began, received the code name "Typhoon". The general offensive of the German troops of the Center group began on September 30, 1941 with a strike by the tank army of General Guderian in the direction of Orel - Tula - Moscow. The Germans captured Kaluga and Maloyaroslavets, approached Serpukhov, but in the battles for Maloyaroslavets near the village of Borodino and near Mozhaisk at the end of October 1941 they were stopped by the 16th army of Kakar Rokossovsky. At the cost of their own lives, they repulsed a tank attack on the Leningrad Highway at the Dubosekovo junction by 28 Panfilov fighters led by V.G. Klochkov.

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On December 5-6, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive near Moscow. The Kalinin Front under the command of Konev liberated the city of Kalinin and rushed to Rzhev. The Western Front under the command of Zhukov defeated the Germans and moved to Ruza and Volokolamsk. By mid-December 1941, the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops on three fronts with heavy losses pushed the enemy back 60 km north and 120 km south of Moscow. By December 20, the offensive of the Soviet troops on the main directions was suspended. The Germans shortened the front and strengthened its defenses.

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The birth of the anti-Hitler coalition

Immediately after the invasion of German troops into the territory of the USSR, the leaders of Great Britain and the United States declared their support for the Soviet Union in the fight against the invaders. Agreements were concluded with the emigrant governments of Czechoslovakia and Poland on the formation of Polish and Czechoslovak military formations in the Soviet Union. The USSR and Great Britain sent troops to Iran, preventing it from taking the side of Germany.

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In September 1941, a conference of representatives of the USSR, Great Britain and the USA was held in Moscow. According to its decisions, the Lend-Lease system extended to the Soviet Union. It was a program of gratuitous aid from the United States of America to countries fighting Nazism. It was provided on the condition that only those equipment and resources that would not be used during the war were subject to payment. The first 20 tanks and 193 aircraft arrived in the USSR in October 1941.

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Fighting in the spring and summer of 1942

In January 1942, Soviet troops went on the offensive in order to destroy the enemy's Rzhev-Vyazma grouping. Having advanced 80-250 km, having suffered heavy losses, the formations of the Red Army failed to reach their goal. In May 1942, they suffered a serious defeat near Kharkov and Kerch, which sealed the fall of Sevastopol. German troops broke through the front north of Kursk and reached Voronezh. The attempt of the Red Army to liquidate the blockade of Leningrad also turned out to be a failure. The Red Army has used up the reserves intended for the summer offensive. The Wehrmacht again seized the initiative and began to implement the plan to capture the Caucasus.

Period from June 1941 to November 1942 is the first stage of the Great Patriotic War. This time was the most difficult in the entire war, our country had to completely rebuild the economy on a war footing and, straining all reserves, restrain fascist aggression.

The war began on June 22, 1941, at four o'clock in the morning. The USSR was unprepared for war because of the hopes of I.

Stalin on the fulfillment by Hitler of the conditions of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The Soviet intelligence officer R. Sorge repeatedly warned the government about Hitler's plans, but Stalin was adamant and did not expect a German attack until 1942. The unexpectedness of the attack, the concentration of huge forces by Germany and the thoughtfulness of hostilities played a large role in the rapid advance of the Nazis on the territory of the USSR. Our country, as a result of the sudden start of the war, had to endure long defeats, lose land and people. In the first month of the war, the Red Army left almost the entire Baltic, Belarus, Moldova and most of Ukraine. She lost about 1 million fighters, of which 724 thousand were captured. Near Minsk, almost all the armies of the Western Front were defeated, against which Germany dealt the main blow.

But the worst was waiting for our country ahead. According to the German plan "Barbarossa", the blow was to be delivered in three directions: Army Group "North" moved to Leningrad, "South" - to Kyiv, "Center" - to Moscow. It was Moscow that became Hitler's main goal at the beginning of the military campaign, due to its peripheral position, the capture of Moscow meant a loss of control over the railways, which means an actual defeat in the war. From September 30, 1941 to January 1942. battles were fought near Moscow, in which the Red Army suffered heavy losses. In October, Zhukov was appointed commander of the troops of the Western Front, who defended Moscow. But Zhukov managed to start the counteroffensive only on December 5-6, he managed to correctly coordinate the actions of the army and push the enemy away from Moscow, ensuring its safety. It was of great importance: the defeat near Moscow was the first major defeat of the German army in the entire Second World War. As a result of the Battle of Moscow, the German plan of "blitzkrieg" - lightning war was finally thwarted.

However, the Battle of Moscow did not decide the entire course of hostilities; the Battle of Stalingrad played the most important role, during which a period of radical change began. From July 17 to November 18, the Stalingrad Front held the line. Due to desertion and losses, after the start of the fighting near Stalingrad, decree No. 227 "Not a step back" was issued. It had an effect on the fighters, and in November, in accordance with the plan "Uranus" (the encirclement of the Stalingrad enemy grouping led by Paulus), Generals Vatutin, Rokossovsky and Eremenko launched a successful offensive.

The first stage of the war ended, at that time our country managed to transfer the economy to a military footing and contain the main blow of the enemy, at the cost of huge losses, the Red Army began to conduct offensive operations and take the first steps towards the Great Victory.

The beginning of the Great Patriotic War

On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany violated the Soviet-German non-aggression pact - its army invaded the territory of the USSR without declaring war. The most difficult and most cruel of all the wars experienced by our Motherland began.

The Great Patriotic War was an integral part of the Second World War. And although the Second World War was fought over vast areas, the Soviet-German front became the main springboard for hostilities.

Before the attack on the USSR, Germany had at its disposal the industry, raw materials, and human resources of the European countries it had captured, which sharply increased its military and economic potential.

The development of a detailed plan for a military attack on our country began in July 1940. The final version, called the Barbarossa Plan, was approved on December 18, 1940. It was based on the conduct of "blitzkrieg" - "blitzkrieg". Hitler's strategists planned to defeat the Soviet Union in a short campaign and end the war by the autumn of 1941. They hoped to quickly capture the most important industrial and political centers and annex the entire European part of the Union to Germany. The rulers of fascist Germany were convinced of the fragility of the Soviet state and did not doubt a quick victory.

Hiding their true goals, two days before the start of hostilities, the German command sent instructions to military units for the information of all officers who were supposed to inspire their soldiers that “Germany is liberating Russia from the yoke of the Soviets. Under no circumstances should there be any further dismemberment of Russia. In this connection, one should speak only of the Soviets, the Red Army, and so on; and not about Russia and the Russian people.”

Hitlerite Germany and its satellites concentrated 190 divisions (5.5 million soldiers and officers), almost 4,000 tanks, about 5,000 combat aircraft, and over 47,000 guns and mortars along the USSR border. It was the largest invading army in history.

In the western border military districts of the USSR, 170 divisions (almost 3 million soldiers and commanders) were concentrated, more than half of all military equipment. The Red Army was not inferior to the aggressor in terms of the number of military equipment and modern weapons, but lagged far behind in the ability to dispose of them. Lacked transport, means of communication. Many tank, motorized and aviation formations were in the process of reorganization and formation. New types of tanks and aircraft were only being mastered by personnel. According to updated data, as of June 1, 1941, there were 12,782 tanks in the western border districts, of which 10,540 units, or 82%, were combat-ready.

I think that enormous damage was done to the preparation of the Soviet people for war, to the efficiency of the army, by Stalin's military-strategic mistakes, by repressions against command personnel. Under his influence, the defense was based on considerations of preventing the enemy from invading our territory, repelling his offensive with powerful counterattacks, transferring military operations to the territory of the aggressor. Stalin rejected the conclusion of the General Staff that in the event of war with Germany, it would deal the main blow in the Smolensk-Moscow direction. In his opinion, the main blow can be dealt in Ukraine. Despite clear signs of preparations for fascist aggression against the USSR, Stalin forbade the military command to carry out the necessary mobilization measures, regroup in the border districts and put them on alert. In my opinion, the mistakes and miscalculations made caused major defeats in the initial period of the war.

When it became obvious that an attack by fascist Germany on the USSR was inevitable, on the evening of June 21 a directive was sent to the border districts signed by People's Commissar of Defense S.K. Timoshenko and Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army G.K. Zhukov. It said that “during the period from June 22 to June 23, 1941, a surprise attack by the Germans is possible ...”, and it was proposed to go to firing positions, put all units on alert. This directive did not have time to reach many units and formations, or reached it when the war had already begun.

On Sunday, June 22, 1941, at 4 o'clock in the morning, fascist troops launched a powerful artillery strike on the border fortified regions of the USSR and invaded its borders. Thousands of tons of deadly cargo fell on airfields, railways, naval bases, communication lines, depots of military equipment and ammunition, on sleeping Soviet cities.

The Nazis launched an offensive in three strategic directions - Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev. Here the fascist command concentrated the largest number of forces and means, including the main tank formations.

The suddenness of the attack allowed the Nazi army to gain significant advantages. As a result of air raids and tank breakthroughs, the enemy managed to advance deep into Soviet territory and paralyze communications between headquarters and military formations.

The start of the war was disastrous. Many frontier posts and formations that took on the force of the first blow of the enemy perished. A huge number of soldiers were taken prisoner. Minsk fell six days after the start of the war.

Despite the most difficult conditions of hostilities, the defenders of the Fatherland from the very first days of the war showed courage and heroism. The retreat of the Soviet troops was accompanied by fierce battles. A striking example of heroism was the defense of the Brest Fortress. Its garrison, led by major P. M. Gavrilov, captain I. N. Zubachev, regimental commissar E. M. Fomin, courageously defended until mid-July, pinning down significant enemy forces and inflicting significant losses on him. Despite the stubborn resistance of the Soviet troops, by July 10 the aggressor captured Latvia, Lithuania, a significant part of Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova. Hitler's generals were already ready to celebrate the victory. Not only enemies, but also some of our friends abroad believed that the Soviet country would not be able to withstand this mortal battle with fascism.

Smolensk battle

The capture by the fascist German army of a significant territory of our country was regarded by the Hitlerite leadership as a decisive success, ensuring the victory of the war. It seemed to him that only the last resistance of the weakened Red Army remained to be overcome. It was decided to continue the offensive in all three main directions - Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv.

Developing the initial success, the Nazi command intensified the onslaught in the main, Moscow direction. It believed that the capture of the capital of the Soviet state would decide the fate of the entire war. The way to Moscow lay through Smolensk.

On July 10, the enemy launched a swift offensive in the Smolensk direction with two shock tank groups, trying to split the Western Front, surround the Soviet troops covering Smolensk and open the way to Moscow. The battle of Smolensk is the largest and most stubborn battle of the first months of the war. It took place in difficult conditions for the Red Army. The enemy had a double superiority in men, artillery and aircraft, almost four times in tanks.

At the beginning of the battle, the enemy managed to make a number of deep breakthroughs. However, the resistance of the Soviet troops turned out to be much stronger than the enemy expected. They not only defended themselves, but also delivered a sensitive retaliatory strike.

Large enemy forces were held back by the defenders of Mogilev. Even getting into the environment, the military formations continued a stubborn struggle.

Enormous assistance to the troops was provided by the population of the front-line regions - Smolensk, Oryol, Kalinin.

By mid-July, the enemy managed to reach Smolensk. On the evening of July 15, fascist troops broke into the southern part of the city. Nevertheless, the fighting for Smolensk continued for almost two more weeks. The Soviet command took all measures to prevent the further advance of enemy troops. In fierce battles, military units and formations showed genuine heroism.

In the battle of Smolensk, a new weapon was used - rocket launchers (the famous "Katyusha"). Powerful fire strikes by an experimental battery under the command of Captain I. A. Flerov in the Orsha area, and then Rudnya and Yelnya, sowed panic in the ranks of the enemy. In early October 1941, Flerov's battery was ambushed. After an unequal battle, in which its commander died the death of the brave, the soldiers blew up the artillery installations.

Active actions of the Western Front inflicted significant damage on the enemy troops, his strike groups were exhausted and weakened. On July 30, Hitler's command was forced to give an order to Army Group Center to stop the offensive and go on the defensive. For the first time in the Second World War, the German army was faced with the necessity of defending itself on the main, decisive axis of its offensive.

During the Battle of Smolensk, on the night of July 21-22, 1941, German aviation made a major raid on Moscow, which lasted five and a half hours. As a result of the raid, 37 buildings were damaged, 1166 fires broke out, 792 people were injured, of which 130 were killed.

In response to this raid, on the night of August 7-8, “a group of aircraft of the Baltic Fleet made, as noted in the order of I.V. Stalin, a reconnaissance flight to Germany and bombed the city of Berlin. 5 planes dropped bombs over the center of Berlin, and the rest on the outskirts of the city.”

Near Smolensk, the intense struggle continued. On September 5, the troops of the Reserve Front under the command of General G.K. Zhukov, in an offensive operation, broke through the defenses of the Nazi troops and liberated Yelnya. The enemy lost several divisions. On September 10, with the transition to the defense of the troops of the Western, Reserve and Bryansk fronts, the two-month battle of Smolensk ended.

Near Smolensk, a serious blow was dealt to Hitler's plan of "blitzkrieg".

Defense of Odessa

In the plans of the Nazi command, Odessa occupied a special place: a large industrial center in the south of Ukraine, a first-class port on the Black Sea and a naval base of the Black Sea Fleet. The Nazis sought to capture Odessa as quickly as possible in order to use it to supply their troops, rushing to the Crimea and the Caucasus. That is why the fascist leadership allocated large forces for the attack on Odessa - the 4th Romanian army. The enemy had no doubt that the city, not protected from land by natural obstacles, would become an easy prey for a 200,000-strong group of Romanian troops.

The legendary defense of Odessa continued for more than two months. In August, a state of siege is introduced in Odessa. Rear Admiral G. V. Zhukov was appointed commander of the Odessa defensive region. The Red Army soldiers, sailors and residents of the city, who became a single military garrison, repelled the fierce attacks of the enemy. The working people of Odessa provided the defenders of the city with everything they needed, although they lacked food and water, which was also issued on cards.

Expressing the admiration of all Soviet people for the steadfastness of the defenders of Odessa, on September 11, 1941, the Pravda newspaper called the heroic defense of Odessa "an exciting example of selfless love for the Motherland and for the native city, an amazing manifestation of mass fearlessness and collective heroism." Only with a change in the situation in connection with the threat of the seizure of the Crimea, on the orders of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, the defenders of Odessa left the city on October 16, 1941 in an organized manner.

I think that the heroic defense of Odessa, which lasted until October 16, was of great military-political and strategic importance. A large grouping of enemy troops was stuck near Odessa for 73 days, losing over 160 thousand soldiers and officers, up to 100 tanks, and about 200 aircraft. Having pinned down a significant part (more than one quarter) of the fascist German army group “South” near Odessa, the defenders of the city thereby ensured the withdrawal of the Southern Front beyond the Dnieper. The outgoing troops took out not only almost all military equipment, but also thousands of tons of industrial equipment. A significant part of the participants in the defense of Odessa was transferred to Sevastopol.

Defense of Sevastopol

The defense of Sevastopol is one of the most heroic pages of the Great Patriotic War. From October 30, 1941, the defenders of Sevastopol - the soldiers of the Primorsky Army (commander - Major General I.E. Petrov) and the sailors of the Black Sea Fleet (commander - Vice Admiral F.S. Oktyabrsky) - repelled one after another violent attacks of the fascist troops. Deprived of land connections with the rear, experiencing enormous difficulties with the supply of ammunition and food, the defenders of Sevastopol fought selflessly. The enemy repeatedly tried to take the city by storm, subjected it to severe bombardments, but Sevastopol stood firm.

In my opinion, the defense of Sevastopol was also very important, since the defenders of Sevastopol fettered the 11th army of the enemy for a long time, depriving the Nazis of the opportunity to use it for an offensive on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front, and so bled it, that in order to restore the combat capability of those who were part of this army of formations took a long time. And in just 8 months of fighting near Sevastopol, the enemy lost up to 300 thousand people killed and wounded, 400 tanks, 900 aircraft. As many enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed as the Nazi army had lost in all the territories of military operations before the attack on the USSR.

Battle near Kyiv

The capital of Soviet Ukraine was bombarded by Nazi aviation at the very beginning of the war. According to the “Barbarossa” plan, Army Group “South” directed the main attack on Kyiv. After the capture of the city (and this, according to the calculations of the Nazi strategists, was supposed to be carried out in the very first month of the war), the tank formations of the Nazis were to move along the Dnieper in a southeast direction in order to encircle and destroy all Soviet troops located on the Right-Bank Ukraine. Bringing this idea to life would open up to the Army Group "South" the prospect of quickly mastering the entire southern part of the USSR and would protect the Army Group "Center", advancing on Moscow, from the blows of the Red Army from the south.

But the heroic troops of the Southwestern Front (commanded by Colonel General MP Kirponos) and the inhabitants of Kyiv made significant adjustments to the plans of the aggressor. Although the advanced units of the enemy motorized infantry and tanks managed to reach the nearest approaches to the city on July 11, they could not capture Kyiv on the move.

Having begun the assault on the city at the end of July, the Nazis, having suffered heavy losses, were forced on August 10 to decide to stop it.

The forced turn of the German armies to the south, as a result of which the Nazis managed to encircle four armies of the Southwestern Front, is interpreted by many historians as Hitler’s “fatal mistake”, which led to the defeat near Moscow and the disruption of the entire war plan against the USSR. “When the battle for Kyiv ended,” Halder argued, “requiring the full use of mobile means ... Hitler ordered an attack on Moscow. Now, to carry it out again, it was necessary to transfer large forces from Ukraine. But it was already too late.”6

I believe that the impact of more than two months of defense of the capital of Soviet Ukraine on subsequent events both at the front and in the rear is enormous. From 16 to 21 divisions of the 6th German Army - the most powerful in the Army Group "South" - were pinned down on the outskirts of Kyiv in the days of its heroic defense. The enemy lost over 100 thousand soldiers and officers near Kyiv. And all this, taken together, delayed for a long time the capture by the enemy of the economically and defensively important regions of the country.

Defense of Leningrad

In the "Barbarossa" plan, Leningrad was considered as one of the top-priority objects, which the Nazi divisions had to seize at all costs. The notorious Hitler Field Marshal Paulus,7 who took an active and direct part in the development of the war plan against our country, testified that “the capture of Moscow had to be preceded by the capture of Leningrad” and that “many goals were pursued, namely: the capture of the main bases of the Russian Baltic Fleet, the destruction of the military-industrial potential of Leningrad and, mainly, the elimination of Leningrad as a springboard for a counteroffensive to the rear of the main forces of the German army moving towards Moscow. Therefore, Leningrad had to be taken first, in order to then allow the development of offensive operations to capture Moscow.

But the Nazi troops could not capture Leningrad, although not only the Nazis, but also many military leaders from the states allied to the USSR, had no doubts about its inevitable fall in September 1941. The Hitlerite leadership considered it necessary to appoint the commandant of the city in advance, who, in turn, hastened to prepare and distribute to the generals of Army Group North special passes for cars for unhindered travel around Leningrad. On September 4, Hitler announced that the goals set for the North Army Group had been achieved (in the country of enemies, the fall of Leningrad was expected from one hour to the next), and a day later he signed a directive on preparing a general offensive against Moscow, ordering that the Center be transferred to the Army Group ”from near Leningrad, part of the tank, mechanized and aviation formations. However, all the hopes and plans of the enemy, connected with the capture of Leningrad, suffered a complete failure.

The city was defended by the heroic fighters of the Red Army, relying on the support of the population of Leningrad, its working class. Feeling the reliable support of the Leningraders, the soldiers of the Leningrad Front, commanded by General of the Army G.K. Zhukov, fought heroically against the enemies in the most critical days of September. I think that it was the unity and cohesion of the troops and the population, their selflessness and determination to defend the city that were the force that stopped the enemy and did not let him into Leningrad.

The command of the Leningrad Front in a short time mobilized hundreds of thousands of residents, who, together with the soldiers, turned the city into an impregnable fortress. By mid-July 1941, the offensive of the German army was stopped at the distant approaches to Leningrad. Did not reach the goal and the blow of the Finnish army from the north. An important role in the struggle for Leningrad was played by stubborn battles in the Baltic states, the defense of Tallinn, the Moonsud Islands, and the heroic defense of the Hanko Peninsula.

Critical days for the defense of the city came in late August - early September. Having regrouped and significantly replenished its forces, the fascist army resumed the offensive. The enemy managed to break through the defenses of the Soviet troops. On September 8, 1941, having captured Shlisselburg, the enemy surrounded Leningrad from land. The 900-day blockade of the city began. On September 10, 1941, G.K. Zhukov was appointed commander of the Leningrad Front.

In my opinion, the significance of the heroic defense of Leningrad in the summer and autumn of 1941 is enormous. The fascist German army group "North" not only did not capture Leningrad, but also found itself pinned down for a long time on the outskirts of the city. And this, in turn, meant that the plan of the authors of the Barbarossa plan to transfer the troops of this group to the Moscow direction had failed.

Leningrad blockade

Unable to overcome the resistance of the defenders of Leningrad, the Nazis relied on the barbaric destruction of the city by aircraft and heavy artillery. For 611 days, the city was subjected to intense artillery shelling and bombardment.

The blockade put the defenders of the city in an extremely difficult position. The worst experience was hunger. In September-November, the norms for issuing bread to the population were reduced five times. Food in the troops was sharply reduced. The daily norm of bread in November - December 1941 was 250 grams for workers, 125 grams for employees and dependents. Bread, which was baked, moreover, with a significant proportion of all sorts of impurities, was practically the only food product, the rest was given out in scanty quantities, with delays and interruptions.

The onset of winter cold exacerbated the disasters of Leningraders. Fuel supplies ran out, turbines of power plants stopped, heating, water supply and sewerage failed.

From hunger, cold, malnutrition, bombing and shelling, at least a million inhabitants of Leningrad died.

The Soviet command repeatedly made attempts to break through the blockade ring, but the forces for this were still not enough. To connect Leningrad with the mainland, an ice track was laid across Lake Ladoga, called the Road of Life by Leningraders. The ice track operated for five months and made it possible to raise the norms for issuing bread to Leningraders three times. About 550 thousand people and equipment for military industry enterprises were taken out of besieged Leningrad.

From all that has been said above, I can conclude that the Battle of Smolensk, the defense of Kyiv, Odessa, Sevastopol, and Leningrad showed the high morale of the people, their uncompromising steadfastness in defending the Motherland.

As a result of Germany's successes, a significant part of the western and southeastern regions of the RSFSR, in which 30 million people lived in 1941, were occupied. Smolensk, Pskov, Novgorod, Leningrad, Kalinin, Kursk, Orel, Bryansk, Tula regions, regions of the Ryazan region, Stavropol Territory, North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, etc. were occupied.

I consider it most important that on none of the three main strategic directions of the offensive the fascist German army was able to achieve the solution of the assigned tasks. The calculations of the Nazi command for a quick and easy victory in the war with the Soviet Union did not materialize.

Battle for Moscow

Using some lull that came on the Central Front after the Battle of Smolensk, the Nazi General Staff developed a plan for a decisive offensive against Moscow, which received the code name "Typhoon". It was assumed that the fascist army would break through the Soviet defenses with a swift blow and capture the capital. To solve this problem, the enemy concentrated huge forces: 1,800,000 soldiers and officers, 1,700 tanks, 1,390 aircraft, 14,000 guns and mortars. The State Defense Committee and the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command from the very beginning of the war attached particular importance to the defense of Moscow. They mobilized construction organizations and engineering troops, called on the population to strengthen the defensive lines of the Moscow region in the summer heat and autumn bad weather, pillboxes and dugouts were erected, trenches and anti-tank ditches were dug. The Vyazemskaya and Mozhaisk lines of defense were created.

By the beginning of the battle for Moscow, the approaches to it were covered by three fronts: the Western - under the command of General I. S. Konev, the Reserve - under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union S. M. Budyonny and the Bryansk - under the command of General A. I. Eremenko. These fronts included about 1,250,000 men, 7,600 guns and mortars, 990 tanks, and 677 aircraft. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the Soviet troops in this direction had practically no operational reserves at that time. Superiority in forces remained on the side of the enemy.

The offensive of the fascist army began on September 30. With powerful tank strikes, she managed to break through the defenses, surround part of the Soviet troops in the Bryansk region. October 2 was followed by a blow to the west of Vyazma. The situation became extremely dangerous. It seemed that the way to Moscow was open. But the Soviet troops, who fought in the encirclement near Vyazma and Bryansk, with their resistance fettered large enemy forces, delayed his advance. The general leadership of the encircled troops was carried out by Lieutenant General M.F. Lukin, who set an example of the impeccable performance of military duty, high command skills, and loyalty to the Motherland and people.

The enemy suffered heavy losses in people and military equipment, his offensive slowed down. The enemy faced fierce resistance in all directions. On the legendary field of Russian military glory, Borodino, units under the command of Colonel V. I. Polosukhin fought bravely. For 66 days the troops of the 33rd Army held the defense of Naro-Fominsk (commander - Lieutenant General M. G. Efremov). In the Maloyaroslavl direction, units of Colonel A.F. Naumov and cadets of Podolsk military schools steadfastly repulsed the onslaught of the enemy. I think that the feat of the young Podolsk cadets should be especially noted, at the cost of their lives they stopped enemy tanks in a sector where the front practically did not exist.

In the second half of October, the enemy, having overcome the resistance of the units surrounded at Vyazma, again went over to the offensive. Having made a breakthrough, the Nazi troops captured Kalinin, Maloyaroslavets, Mozhaisk, Volokolamsk. In these critical days, the main slogan was the call: “Everyone to defend our native Moscow!” G.K. Zhukov was appointed commander of the Western Front, which defended Moscow. On October 20, a state of siege was introduced in the capital and its suburbs.

The whole country rose to defend Moscow. From the Urals and from Siberia, from the Far East and from Central Asia there were trains with replenishment, weapons, and ammunition. 50 thousand fighters of the people's militia - the working people of the capital - came to the aid of the front. In early November, the enemy offensive was stopped.

In my opinion, the working people of Tula made an invaluable contribution to the defense of Moscow. When on October 30 the tanks of the enemy, who considered the fate of Tula a foregone conclusion, tried to break into the city, the Soviet soldiers, together with the garrison and the militias, defended it. The defenders of Tula thwarted the enemy's plan to capture the city on the move. Tula, which was the southern outpost of the defense of the capital, turned into a fortress that the enemy could not crush.

Moscow was also reliably protected from air attacks. Although the Nazi command allocated the best air formations for raids on Moscow, the air defense of the capital acted skillfully and in an organized manner. Only single planes managed to break through to the city. The offensive of the fascist troops on Moscow resumed on November 15-18. Klin, Solnechnogorsk, Kryukov, Yakhroma, Istra were captured. Particularly stubborn were the battles in the zone of the 16th Army near Volokolamsk (commander - Lieutenant General K.K. Rokossovsky). At the Dubosekovo junction, a group of tank destroyers from the 316th division of General I.V. Panfilov, led by political instructor V.G. Klochkov, stood to death. The words spoken by Klochkov: “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - behind Moscow” - flew around the whole country. The battle lasted four hours, the enemy lost 18 tanks and dozens of soldiers here, but could not break through the defenses. 23 Panfilov's heroes (out of 28), together with Vasily Klochkov, died the death of the brave, but did not let the Nazis to Moscow.

I think the main thing is that although in some areas the Nazis approached the capital at 25-30 km, they did not succeed in advancing further. The heroic efforts of the Soviet troops, the people's militia, the Nazi army was stopped at the walls of the capital of Russia.

Counteroffensive and defeat of the Nazi troops near Moscow

On November 1, 1941, the Supreme Command Headquarters decided to form ten reserve armies in the rear. Of these, by the end of November, six armies were advanced to the Moscow direction. In addition, several dozen ski and tank battalions were formed.

By the beginning of December, the balance of power near Moscow began to change. The enemy retained superiority in the number of troops, the number of artillery and tanks, but it was no longer overwhelming. For the first time, Soviet aviation had a slight advantage.

By this time, all the divisions of the "Center" group were involved in the battle. Heavy losses and physical fatigue limited the offensive capabilities of the enemy.

On December 5, 1941, the Nazi leadership made another attempt to attack Moscow. But the enemy was immediately stopped. At the moment when his offensive capabilities were exhausted and he had not yet managed to go on the defensive, on December 5-6, 1941, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive along the entire front - from Kalinin to Yelets. For the Nazis, it was a complete surprise. The fascist command was unable to repel the powerful blows of the Soviet troops.

December 13, 1941 sounded to the whole world. The message of the Moscow Radio: “... The troops of our Western Front, having exhausted the enemy in previous battles, launched a counteroffensive against his strike flank groups. As a result of the launched offensive, both of these groups were defeated and hastily retreated, abandoning their equipment, weapons and suffering huge losses. This summary of the Soviet Information Bureau was the first herald of the coming victory.

By the beginning of January 1942, the Red Army had liberated Kalinin, Kaluga, and many settlements. The Nazis were pushed back from Moscow by 100-250 km. The immediate threat to the capital was over.

I believe that the victory near Moscow was of historical significance. After five months of retreat and exhausting defensive battles, the Red Army, which the enemy declared already defeated, went on the offensive, and under its blows, the "invincible" Nazi troops retreated. Hitler's army, marching triumphantly across Europe, suffered its first major defeat. Near Moscow, the strategy of a "blitzkrieg" war finally collapsed. The failure of the attack on Moscow shook the entire fascist bloc and prevented Japan and Turkey from entering the war on Germany's side.

The counteroffensive near Moscow in January 1942 was turned into a general offensive along the entire front. Soviet troops fought offensive battles in the North-West against the enemy armies blocking Leningrad, in the center - in the direction of Rzhev and Vyazma, in the south-west - in the direction of Orel, Kharkov and on the Kerch Peninsula. The winter offensive of the Red Army continued until April 1942. The Moscow and Tula regions, many districts of the Kalinin, Smolensk, Ryazan and Oryol regions were completely liberated.

Military operations in the summer and autumn of 1942

By the spring of 1942, the Nazi army was still 150 km from Moscow. Fascist Germany not only made up for the losses suffered, but also increased its armed forces. Although some representatives of the German command spoke out for a new offensive against Moscow and for the capture of Leningrad, the Nazi leadership decided to deliver the main blow in the south. Now it considered the capture of the southern regions, rich in strategic raw materials, to be the main task. In the planned offensive, military-economic goals were put forward in the first place. The capture of Caucasian oil became a necessary condition for the further conduct of the war by Germany, since the equipment had already begun to experience an acute shortage of fuel. In addition, the conquest of the Caucasus was supposed to induce Turkey to enter the war against the USSR.

When planning military operations in the summer of 1942, the Soviet leadership proceeded from the need to switch to temporary defense. It was obvious that the enemy still had superiority in the number of troops and equipment, military units after the winter offensive needed to recuperate, and the formation of new formations was hindered by the insufficient level of production of the latest types of weapons and the need to master them.

Disregarding the competent opinion of the members of the Headquarters, JV Stalin decided that the main events would again unfold in the Moscow direction, and concentrated the main forces here. I believe that insufficient attention to the South-Western direction had a negative impact on the further course of hostilities.

The offensive of the fascist troops in May 1942 began on the Crimean front. Our troops, having suffered serious losses, were forced to evacuate from the Crimea to the Taman Peninsula. Following this, the enemy began a new assault on Sevastopol. The forces turned out to be unequal, and on July 4, after a 250-day heroic defense, the Soviet troops left the city.

The situation in the Kharkov area was even more unfortunate. The offensive of the Red Army, undertaken in mid-May on the Southwestern Front, failed: the troops were surrounded, from which few units were able to escape.

A serious defeat was the encirclement and death of the 2nd Army of the Volkhov Front, whose commander A. A. Vlasov became a traitor and organizer of the Russian Liberation Army, which acted jointly with the Nazi troops.

Continuing the offensive, the fascist German troops occupied the Donbass, entered the great bend of the Don, and recaptured Rostov. The Hitlerite command decided to simultaneously attack Stalingrad and the Caucasus. It had no doubt that this time it would achieve its goals.

Battle for the Caucasus

The battle for the Caucasus began at the end of July 1942, and for five months the Soviet troops held back the onslaught of the enemy.

The Nazis captured a significant part of the North Caucasus. They were stopped at the approaches to Ordzhonikidze, at the passes of the Main Caucasian Range, on the Black Sea coast - near Novorossiysk.

The point of view of the German High Command, which had developed by the end of July, was formulated as follows: "The fate of the Caucasus will be decided at Stalingrad." On July 31, Hitler ordered the 4th Panzer Army to turn from the Caucasian direction to Stalingrad. The forces of the enemy grouping rushing towards Stalingrad built up very quickly: in mid-July it had 14, and in mid-August 39 divisions. The Stalingrad direction from an auxiliary one turned into the main, decisive one.

In the second half of August 1942, the fascist German troops resumed active offensive operations in the Caucasus, striving at any cost to overcome the Main Caucasian Range and capture the oil-bearing regions of Grozny and Baku. I think that it was not the ridges of the Caucasus Mountains that became an insurmountable obstacle in their path, but the amazing resilience, mass heroism and high skill of the Soviet soldiers who defended the Caucasus.

Defense of Stalingrad

In the offensive in the summer of 1942, the German command attached particular importance to the capture of Stalingrad. Access to the Volga gave the enemy the opportunity to cut this important transport artery, through which bread and oil were delivered to the central regions from the south, to predetermine success in the battle for the Caucasus.

The situation near Stalingrad was extremely unfavorable for the Soviet troops. The advancing German 6th Army had an overwhelming advantage in manpower and weapons. On July 17, fighting began on the outskirts of Stalingrad. On August 23, the enemy managed to break through to the Volga north of the city. The situation became critical. The Nazis subjected Stalingrad to continuous bombardments. Hundreds of buildings were destroyed, entire districts were turned into ruins, and many residents died. On August 25, a state of siege was introduced in Stalingrad. The city has become a front. An attempt by the Nazis to capture it with a strike from the north along the Volga was repulsed. The Nazis were stopped on the northwestern outskirts of Stalingrad.

Continuing to build up forces, the Nazi command concentrated by the end of September in the army group advancing on Stalingrad, more than 80 divisions.

By mid-September, when the enemy came close to the city also from the west and south-west, the further defense of Stalingrad was entrusted to the 62nd (commander - Major General M.S. Shumilov) Army. Fierce street fighting broke out in the city. Its defenders, into whose ranks more and more new recruits poured in, showed exceptional stamina and mass heroism. A special role in these difficult days was played by the Guards Rifle Division under the command of Colonel N.F. Batyuk.

Repeatedly, Mamaev Kurgan, the territories of the tractor factory, the Barrikady and Krasny Oktyabr factories, streets and houses passed from hand to hand. Soviet soldiers fought to the death. Their motto was the words of sniper Vasily Zaitsev: “There is no land for us beyond the Volga!”

Several times the fascist Fuhrer set the dates for the capture of Stalingrad, but did not wait for the message that Stalingrad had fallen. “We have one kilometer left to reach the Volga, but we cannot pass it,” one of the failed “conquerors of Stalingrad” wrote home in those days.11

In early November, ice appeared on the Volga, communication with the right bank was broken, the defenders of the city were running out of ammunition, food, and medicines. Under these conditions, the enemy launched a new assault, but the defenders of Stalingrad held out.

Soviet troops frustrated the plans of the fascist command, pinning down its best divisions in the Stalingrad region. The fate of the war was decided in the battle on the Volga. I believe that by the heroic defense of Stalingrad and the Caucasus, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union predetermined the collapse of the strategic plans of the Nazi bloc for 1942.

By the second half of November 1942, the situation on the Soviet-German front was still tense. However, it became obvious that the leadership of fascist Germany did not achieve the goals set in the war with the USSR.

In the history of the Great Patriotic War, the first period was the most difficult for our Motherland. Hitler's hordes captured a significant part of the Soviet territory with its population and economy. The planned mobilization of forces and means for the needs of the war turned out to be disrupted, and the most difficult problem arose of evacuating huge masses of people and material values ​​to the east of the country. The Red Army suffered heavy losses, as a result of which the German numerical superiority in men and weapons increased even more. But I believe that an assessment of the results of the initial period of the war only through the prism of the failures of the Soviet troops, without taking into account a number of other important points, can lead to one-sided, and therefore incorrect, conclusions. An example of such a conclusion can be found in Halder's diary,12 which on July 3, 1941, made the following entry: "It will not be an exaggeration if I say that the campaign against Russia was won within 14 days." An entry in Halder's diary indicates that he considered the main task of the war against the USSR solved. The next day, July 4, Hitler himself boastfully declared: “I always try to put myself in the position of the enemy. In fact, he has already lost the war.”13

In general, the first period of the war was the most difficult for the Soviet people and their armed forces. The troops of fascist Germany seized part of the Soviet territory, where about 42% of the population lived before the war. However, fascist Germany did not achieve its goals in the war with the USSR. Her political and military plans failed. As a result of the enormous work of the party and government, the heroic efforts of the working people of the USSR, by the end of 1942, a well-coordinated and rapidly growing military economy was created. The military and labor exploits of the Soviet people led to a radical turning point in the course of the struggle against fascist Germany in their favor. In severe battles, the political hardening and combat skill of the commanders and the entire personnel of the Soviet Army increased. Practical experience was gained in organizing defense, offensive and all types of support for troops and their combat operations, in matters of creating and using reserves, organizing the combat use of various branches of the armed forces, as well as branches of the Armed Forces. I think that by the end of the first period of the war, the Soviet Army became stronger and more experienced, capable of solving complex tasks aimed at defeating the enemy.