Strategy

Blitzkrieg is based on the close cooperation of infantry and tank formations with air support. The blitzkrieg strategy is similar to the theory of a deep offensive operation adopted in the USSR on the eve of the Great Patriotic War (S. N. Ammosov, V. K. Triandafillov, K. B. Kalinovsky, etc.). According to the blitzkrieg strategy, tank units, supported by infantry, break through into enemy rear lines, bypassing and encircling heavily fortified positions. Encircled enemy formations, experiencing difficulties with the supply of ammunition, equipment and food, are easily achieved by the attackers or surrendered.

An important feature of blitzkrieg is that the main enemy forces are not the main targets of the offensive. After all, a battle with them gives the enemy the opportunity to use most of his military potential, and therefore unjustifiably prolong the military operation. The priority task of blitzkrieg is to deprive the enemy of the opportunity to continue successful military operations even while maintaining manpower, equipment and ammunition. And for this it is necessary, first of all, to capture or destroy the control systems, transport infrastructure, supply and transport hubs.

Practical use

One of the first attempts to carry out blitzkrieg was made by German troops during the First World War on the Western Front. According to the Schlieffen plan, it was supposed to deliver a lightning strike on France, end the war with it in 1.5-2 months by signing a victorious peace, and then switch to the Eastern Front. However, the resistance of the French and Belgian troops thwarted these plans, the lack of tanks and the imperfection of aviation of that era played a role, as well as the successful offensive of the Russian army in East Prussia, which required the transfer of part of the forces to repel it. All this led to the fact that German troops advanced too slowly, and the Allies managed to pull up forces and win the Battle of the Marne in September 1914. The war became protracted.

For the first time, blitzkrieg in practice was brilliantly carried out by German military strategists (Manstein, von Kleist, Guderian, Rundstedt and others) at the beginning of World War II during the capture of Poland: by the end of September, Poland ceased to exist, although more than a million non-mobilized people of military age remained in it. In France, manpower reserves were also not exhausted by the time the armistice was signed. The entire campaign in France took only 6 weeks: from May 10 to June 21, 1940, and in Poland - 5 weeks from September 1 to October 5 (the date the resistance of the last regular units ceased Polish army) 1939. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War The blitzkrieg strategy allowed Nazi Germany to quickly destroy Soviet troops in a zone 100-300 km east of the border between the USSR and Germany and its allies. However, the Nazis lost time to destroy the surrounded Soviet troops, wear and tear of equipment and resistance from the defenders ultimately led to the failure of the blitzkrieg strategy on this front.

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See what “Lightning War” is in other dictionaries:

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The meaning of the word "blitzkrieg" (Blitzkrieg - "lightning", Krieg - "war") is known to many. This military strategy. It involves a lightning-fast attack on the enemy using a large amount of military equipment. It is assumed that the enemy will not have time to deploy his main forces and will be successfully defeated. This is exactly the tactic the Germans used when they attacked the Soviet Union in 1941. We will talk about this military operation in our article.

Background

The theory of lightning war arose in the early 20th century. It was invented by the German military leader Alfred von Schlieffen. The tactics were very clever. The world was experiencing an unprecedented technological boom, and the military had new combat weapons at its disposal. But during the First World War the blitzkrieg failed. The imperfection of military equipment and weak aviation had an impact. Germany's rapid offensive against France faltered. The successful use of this method of military action was postponed until better times. And they came in 1940, when Nazi Germany carried out a lightning occupation, first in Poland and then in France.

"Barborossa"

In 1941, it was the USSR's turn. Hitler rushed to the East with a very specific goal. He needed to neutralize the Soviet Union in order to strengthen his dominance in Europe. England continued to resist, counting on the support of the Red Army. This obstacle had to be eliminated.

The Barbarossa plan was developed to attack the USSR. It was based on the theory of blitzkrieg. It was a very ambitious project. The German fighting machine was about to unleash all its might on the Soviet Union. It was considered possible to destroy the main forces of the Russian troops through the operational invasion of tank divisions. Four combat groups were created, combining tank, motorized and infantry divisions. They had to first penetrate far behind enemy lines, and then unite with each other. Final goal a new lightning war envisaged the seizure of USSR territory up to the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line. Before the attack, Hitler's strategists were confident that the war with the Soviet Union would take them only three to four months.

Strategy

German troops were divided into three large groups: "North", "Center" and "South". "North" was advancing on Leningrad. "Center" was rushing towards Moscow. "South" was supposed to conquer Kyiv and Donbass. The main role in the attack was given to tank groups. There were four of them, led by Guderian, Hoth, Gopner and Kleist. It was they who were supposed to carry out the fleeting blitzkrieg. It wasn't that impossible. However, the German generals miscalculated.

Start

On June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began. German bombers were the first to cross the border of the Soviet Union. They bombed Russian cities and military airfields. It was a smart move. The destruction of Soviet aviation gave the invaders a serious advantage. The damage was particularly severe in Belarus. In the first hours of the war, 700 aircraft were destroyed.

Then German ground divisions entered the lightning war. And if the army group "North" managed to successfully cross the Neman and approach Vilnius, then the "Center" met unexpected resistance in Brest. Of course, this did not stop Hitler’s elite units. However, it made an impression on the German soldiers. For the first time they realized who they had to deal with. The Russians died, but did not give up.

Tank battles

The German Blitzkrieg in the Soviet Union failed. But Hitler had a huge chance of success. In 1941, the Germans had the most advanced military equipment in the world. Therefore, the very first tank battle between the Russians and the Nazis turned into a beating. The fact is that Soviet combat vehicles of the 1932 model were defenseless against enemy guns. They did not meet modern requirements. More than 300 T-26 and BT-7 light tanks were destroyed in the first days of the war. However, in some places the Nazis encountered serious resistance. The big shock for them was the meeting with the brand new T-34 and KV-1. German shells flew off the tanks, which seemed like unprecedented monsters to the invaders. But the general situation at the front was still catastrophic. The Soviet Union did not have time to deploy its main forces. The Red Army suffered huge losses.

Chronicle of events

Period from June 22, 1941 to November 18, 1942. Historians call it the first stage of the Great Patriotic War. At this time, the initiative belonged entirely to the invaders. For comparatively short term The Nazis occupied Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Estonia, Belarus and Moldova. Then enemy divisions began the siege of Leningrad and captured Novgorod and Rostov-on-Don. However, the main goal of the Nazis was Moscow. This would allow the Soviet Union to be struck at the very heart. However, the lightning offensive quickly fell behind the approved schedule. On September 8, 1941, the military blockade of Leningrad began. The Wehrmacht troops stood under it for 872 days, but were never able to conquer the city. Biggest defeat The Red Army is considered the Kyiv Cauldron. More than 600,000 people died there. The Germans captured a huge amount of military equipment, opened their way to the Azov region and Donbass, but... lost precious time. It was not for nothing that the commander of the 2nd Panzer Division, Guderian, left the front line, came to Hitler’s headquarters and tried to convince him that the main task in Germany this moment- occupation of Moscow. Blitzkrieg is a powerful breakthrough into the interior of the country, which turns into complete defeat for the enemy. However, Hitler did not listen to anyone. He preferred to send military units of the “Center” to the South to seize territories where valuable natural resources were concentrated.

Blitzkrieg failure

This is a turning point in the history of Nazi Germany. Now the Nazis had no chance. They say that Field Marshal Keitel, when asked when he first realized that the blitzkrieg had failed, answered only one word: “Moscow.” The defense of the capital turned the tide of the Second World War. On December 6, 1941, the Red Army launched a counteroffensive. After this, the "lightning" war turned into a battle of attrition. How could enemy strategists make such a miscalculation? Among the reasons, some historians name total Russian impassability and severe frost. However, the invaders themselves pointed to two main reasons:

• fierce enemy resistance;
• biased assessment of the defense capability of the Red Army.

Of course, the fact that Russian soldiers defended their Motherland also played a role. And they managed to defend every inch of their native land. The failure of Nazi Germany's blitzkrieg against the USSR is a great feat that evokes sincere admiration. And this feat was accomplished by soldiers of the multinational Red Army.

Problematic aspects of the history of the initial period of the Great Patriotic War. On June 22, 1941, the troops of Nazi Germany invaded Soviet territory. For many years in Russian historiography it was generally accepted that for the Soviet leaders (as well as for the majority of the people) the attack of Nazi Germany was unexpected, sudden. Published at the end of the 20th century. previously top secret documents completely refute this view. INO OGPU (as Soviet intelligence was then called) repeatedly warned Stalin about a possible German attack on the USSR. However, in pre-war years intelligence, drained of blood by repression, made many mistakes and was repeatedly mistaken in its forecasts. In particular, she was unable to obtain information about the Munich Agreement, as well as details of the Barbarossa plan. It is important that by June 21, 1941, Stalin had at least six various options the timing of Germany's attack on our country, which could not but affect his decisions.

At 4 o'clock in the morning, German aircraft began to bomb Soviet cities - Smolensk, Kyiv, Zhitomir, Murmansk, Riga, Kaunas, Liepaja, military bases (Kronstadt, Sevastopol, Izmail), railway tracks and bridges. During the first day of the war, 66 airfields and 1,200 aircraft were destroyed, of which 800 were on the ground. By the end of June 22, enemy groups had advanced to a depth of 50-60 km.

Stalin's mistakes and miscalculations regarding the timing and location of the German invasion allowed the aggressor to gain significant advantages. In accordance with the plan for the defense of the state border of the USSR, developed and approved by the government in February 1941, mobilization activities began during May-June. About 2,500 reinforced concrete structures were built in the border areas, and the network of military airfields expanded. In the second half of May - early June, troops from the internal military districts were transferred to the western border. However, by the time the Germans attacked, the strategic deployment of troops was not completed. To the repeated proposals of the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army G.K. Zhukov to bring the border troops into combat readiness, Stalin stubbornly refused. Only on the evening of June 21, having received a message from a defector that at dawn German troops would launch an attack on the USSR, the High Command sent directive No. 1 to the border districts on putting troops on combat readiness, but it did not contain specific instructions and allowed ambiguous interpretation of individual points. In addition, the directive was received very late: it never reached some border districts that took the first blows from the enemy.

On the eve of the attack, Hitler's Germany and its allies concentrated 190 divisions (5.5 million people), more than 4 thousand tanks, 4.3 thousand combat aircraft, over 47 thousand guns and mortars, and 246 ships along the borders of the Soviet Union. Declassified materials indicate that by June 22, 1941, the Germans and their allies had superiority only in manpower, but were inferior to the Red Army in tanks by almost three times and in combat aircraft by more than two times. Thus, the military potential of the Red Army was not much lower compared to the potential of the German troops.

170 divisions (2.9 million people) and 11 thousand tanks were concentrated in the western border military districts of the USSR. True, a significant part of the tanks were of obsolete types, of which 3.8 thousand were in a state of combat readiness. New weapons were just entering the troops; many tank and aviation formations had not been formed. Of the 29 mechanized corps, only one was completed.

A similar situation was observed in aviation. Of the 9 thousand aircraft located in the western districts, 1200 did not have flight crews, and 13% were completely faulty. There were about 1.5 thousand new aircraft (IL-2, MiG-3, LaGG-3, Yak-1), and only 208 crews trained for them.

Having a quantitative advantage over the enemy in tanks and aircraft, the Red Army was significantly inferior to the enemy in the motorization of troops. In 1941, the German Wehrmacht had a twofold superiority in the number of vehicles (500 thousand versus 270 thousand for the Red Army). Preparing to launch a maneuver strike against the USSR, Germany created the necessary infrastructure. Tank and motorized formations were provided with fuel for 700-800 km of march.

In general, we can talk about the presence of a significant number of objective and subjective circumstances that did not allow the Red Army to use its quantitative superiority in technology. Among them is a shortage of command personnel, mainly due to repression (25% of commanders were missing in the ground forces, 30% in aviation, 73% completed only junior lieutenant courses or were called up from the reserves). The pilots' training was clearly insufficient. In the first quarter of 1941 alone, “due to laxity,” 71 disasters occurred, in which 141 people died and 138 planes crashed. The overestimation of the strength and capabilities of the Red Army by Soviet military leaders, who believed that “our divisions are stronger than the divisions of the Nazi army,” also played a negative role. The troops did not study the experience of Wehrmacht battles in Europe in 1939-1940. The shortcomings of leadership, tactics and organization that emerged during the Soviet-Finnish War also occurred at the first stage of the Great Patriotic War. Tank armies were created only in 1943.

The lack of understanding of the scale of the German invasion by the Soviet command, and primarily by Stalin, is evidenced, in particular, by the second directive sent to the troops at 7 a.m. on June 22: “...troops with all forces and means to attack enemy forces and destroy them in the areas where they violated the Soviet border."

1. What problems associated with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War are discussed by historians and concern modern society?

2. Why do you think they receive so much attention so many decades after the end of the war?

3. What is your opinion about the reasons that led to the retreat of the Red Army and the huge losses at the beginning of the war?

"Blitzkrieg": plans and realities. On June 22, V. M. Molotov made a call to repel the aggressor on the radio. JV Stalin's speech took place only on July 3.

Working with a document

Read the speeches of V. M. Molotov and I. V. Stalin.

1. Why do contemporaries of the war remember these performances?

2. How did the Soviet people perceive the country’s leaders in those troubled days?

The fascist command organized an offensive in three strategic directions: Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev. The Soviet command was expecting the main blow in the southwest, but Hitler delivered it in the center. The advance of the Germans, contrary to their expectations, was accompanied by fierce fighting. From the very beginning of the war, Soviet troops put up serious resistance to the enemy. For the first time since 1939, the Germans began to suffer significant losses.

A striking manifestation of the heroism and courage of our soldiers and officers in initial stage war was the defense of the Brest Fortress. Its garrison under the command of Major Π. M. Gavrilova held back attacks from superior enemy forces for more than a month.

June 23, soldiers of the 99th rifle division They drove the Germans out of Przemysl with a counterattack and held the city for 5 days. In the very first battles, the 1st Artillery Anti-Tank Brigade, which consisted mainly of young Muscovites, destroyed 42 tanks of General von Kleist’s group. On June 23, the division of Colonel I. D. Chernyakhovsky, commander of the fronts and later general of the army, completely destroyed the motorized regiment of the 4th Panzer Group of General Hepner. There were many such examples. But despite the massive heroism and self-sacrifice of Soviet soldiers, the results of the initial stage of the war turned out to be catastrophic for the Red Army. By mid-July 1941, fascist troops captured Latvia, Lithuania, a significant part of Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova, the cities of Pskov, Lvov, and a huge number of Soviet soldiers and officers were captured.

A terrible tragedy took place near Minsk. Here, by July 9, the Germans managed to encircle almost 30 Soviet divisions. Minsk was abandoned with fighting, 323 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers were captured, losses Western Front amounted to 418 thousand people. Stalin blamed the commander of the Western Front, D. G. Pavlov, and other military leaders for this defeat. All of them were shot by the Supreme Court on charges of cowardice (rehabilitated in 1956).

On August 16, 1941, during the retreat of the Soviet troops, Stalin issued order No. 270, according to which deserters from command personnel should be shot on the spot, and those who were surrounded should not surrender and fight to the last bullet.

The repressive policy also affected the civilian population. In August 1941, Soviet Germans (about 1.5 million people) were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan and most of them were sent to the labor army.

In these difficult conditions, the Soviet people managed to unite against the common enemy - fascism and showed heroic character. The occupation of a significant part of Soviet territory was assessed by the Nazi command as a decisive success in the war, but the Red Army turned out to be much stronger than the fascist strategists expected. Soviet troops not only defended themselves, but also struck back at the enemy. Advancing towards Moscow, the enemy encountered fierce resistance during the capture of Smolensk. The Battle of Smolensk lasted two months (from July 10 to September 10, 1941). During this battle, the Soviet command used the famous Katyushas for the first time. Rocket launchers under the command of Captain I.A. Flerov struck the enemy in the Orsha area, and then Rudnya and Yelnya. In bloody battles, Soviet soldiers and commanders showed true heroism. On July 30, the Germans were forced to go on the defensive for the first time. On September 5, 1941, troops of the Reserve Front under the command of G.K. Zhukov, during a counteroffensive, broke through the enemy’s defenses and liberated Yelnya. The enemy lost several divisions (more than 50 thousand soldiers). For their differences in the Elninsky operation, the four best rifle divisions were the first in the Red Army to receive the rank of guards.

During the battles near Smolensk from August 9 to 10, 1941, the air division under the command of M.V. Vodopyanov on PE-8 aircraft, having made a heroic flight, bombed Berlin for the first time. The battle near Smolensk allowed the Soviet command to gain time to prepare the defense of Moscow. On September 10, the enemy was stopped 300 km from Moscow. Hitler's “blitzkrieg” was dealt a serious blow.

The initial stage of the Great Patriotic War are the most tragic pages of its history. By mid-July 1941, out of 170 Soviet divisions, 28 were completely defeated, 70 divisions lost over 50% of their personnel and equipment. The troops of the Western Front suffered especially heavy losses. German troops, having advanced over several weeks of fighting to different directions 300-500 km inland of our country, they captured the territory on which almost 2/3 of industrial and agricultural products were produced before the war. About 23 million fell into occupation Soviet people. By the end of 1941, the total number of prisoners of war reached 3.9 million people.

Organizing resistance to the enemy. In the very first days of the war, the country's leadership took a number of measures to organize resistance to the enemy: general mobilization was announced, and the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR was created. The secret directive of June 29 contained a strict requirement to defend every inch of Soviet land; in case of a forced retreat, do not leave anything to the enemy; destroy valuable property that cannot be removed; create partisan detachments and sabotage groups in the occupied territory.

Mobilization opportunities Soviet system, strengthened by patriotism and sacrifice Soviet people, played an important role in organizing resistance to the enemy. The call “Everything for the front, everything for victory!” was accepted by all the people. Hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens voluntarily joined the active army. In the week since the start of the war, over 5 million people were mobilized.

June 30, 1941 was created State Committee Defense (GKO) - extraordinary highest government agency USSR led by J.V. Stalin. The State Defense Committee concentrated all power in the country during the war. Much attention was paid to military-economic work. A week after the start of the war, a mobilization plan for the third quarter of 1941 was adopted. By the Decree of the State Defense Committee of July 4, 1941, the development of a military economic plan for the use of resources and the development of enterprises evacuated to the eastern regions of the country began.

From the very first days of the war, all industrial and scientific institutions Countries have begun to restructure their work to meet defense needs. During the wartime period, the entire working population of cities was mobilized to work in production and construction. Decree “On the working hours of workers and employees in war time» of June 26, 1941, a working day of 11 hours was established, mandatory overtime was provided for, and vacations were abolished. A card system for distributing food among the population was reintroduced.

Muscovites at the TASS windows on Kuznetsky Most. 1941

Industrial enterprises, equipment, material and cultural values ​​were transported to the rear. In just the first six months, over 1,500 large industrial enterprises, many were evacuated educational establishments, research institutes, libraries, museums, theaters. More than 10 million people were taken to the east of the country (according to some sources - 17 million people). The creation of a military-industrial base in the eastern regions of the country took place under extremely difficult conditions. People in the rear worked around the clock, often under open air, in severe frosts. By mid-1942, the restructuring of the economy on a war footing was largely completed. The eastern regions of the country became the main arsenal of the front and the main production base of the country.

Western supplies played a significant role in the Soviet military economy, the production of which was reduced from 30 to 70%, especially at the initial stage.

In accordance with the first Moscow Protocol on military supplies to the USA and Great Britain in 1941-1942, signed on October 1, 1941. a significant amount of weapons, raw materials and military materials were sent monthly. The Red Army received 4697 tanks. Since July 1942, the American Lend-Lease law officially extended to the USSR, according to which the Soviet Union received in 1941-1945. cargo worth $11 billion, including more than 22 thousand aircraft, 12,700 tanks, 376 thousand trucks, 51 thousand jeeps, 4.5 million tons of food, 2.1 million tons of oil products, 2,000 steam locomotives, 281 warships .

Military operations in the fall of 1941 The outcome of the entire war was seriously influenced by the defensive battles that the Red Army fought in the summer and autumn of 1941. Hitler’s strategic failures near Smolensk forced him to change the direction of the main attack and reorient it from the center to the south - to Kyiv, Donbass, Rostov. Significant forces were concentrated near Kiev from both the German and Soviet sides. Together with personnel units, militia residents of Kyiv heroically fought against the fascists. However, the Germans managed to enter the rear of the 6th and 12th armies and encircle them. For almost a whole week, Soviet soldiers and officers heroically resisted. Trying to save the troops, the commander of the Southwestern Front, Marshal Budyonny, asked the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command for permission to leave Kyiv, but Stalin was against it. Only on September 18 was the order given to abandon Kyiv, but it was already too late - few managed to escape from the encirclement. In fact, both armies were lost. With the capture of Kyiv by the enemy, the road to Moscow through Bryansk and Orel opened.

At the same time, the Germans were attacking Odessa, an important base of the Black Sea Fleet. The legendary defense of Odessa lasted more than two months. The Red Army soldiers, sailors and city residents became a single combat garrison and successfully repelled the onslaught of several Romanian divisions. Only on October 16, in connection with the threat of the seizure of Crimea by order of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, the defenders of Odessa left the city. A significant part of the participants in the defense of Odessa was transferred to Sevastopol. On its defensive lines, the warriors of the Primorsky Army (commander - General I. E. Petrov) and the sailors of the Black Sea Fleet (led by Vice Admiral F. S. Oktyabrsky) destroyed almost as much enemy manpower as the Nazi army lost in all theaters of combat actions before the attack on the USSR. The enemy tried more than once to take the city by storm, but Sevastopol stood unshakable.

Army Group North, having captured Pskov on July 9, advanced close to Leningrad. His fall, according to the plans of the German command, should have preceded the capture of Moscow. However, despite repeated attempts, the Germans and the Finns working together with them failed to take the city. On September 8, 1941, the 900-day siege of Leningrad began. For 611 days the city was subjected to intense artillery shelling and bombing. The blockade put its defenders in an extremely difficult position. Daily norm bread in November-December 1941 was: workers - 250 g, employees and dependents - 125 g. About a million residents of Leningrad died from hunger, cold, bombing and shelling. To connect the city with the mainland, an ice track was built across Lake Ladoga, called the Road of Life by Leningraders.

Despite the occupation of a significant part of the western and southern regions of the country, none of the three main In the strategic directions of the offensive, the German army did not achieve decisive successes.

Battle of Moscow. On September 30, 1941, after some calm that occurred on the Central Front after the Battle of Smolensk, a new offensive by enemy troops began. The tank army of German General G. Guderian directed an attack along the Orel-Tula-Moscow line and captured Orel and Bryansk. In accordance with the Typhoon plan, the enemy concentrated 1.8 million soldiers and officers and a significant amount of military equipment in the Moscow direction, creating a numerical superiority over Soviet troops. The heroic resistance of the Red Army did not stop the Nazis; during the offensive, they managed to capture the cities of Vyazma, Mozhaisk, Kalinin and Maloyaroslavets and approach Moscow 80-100 km.

At the beginning of October, the situation became critical: as a result of the encirclement of five Soviet armies, the path to Moscow was practically open. The Soviet command took a number of urgent measures. On October 12, the Western Front was created under the command of General G.K. Zhukov, and the armies of the Reserve Front were also transferred to it. Particularly fierce fighting in the Moscow direction flared up in mid-October.

On October 15, 1941, the State Defense Committee decided to evacuate part of government and party institutions, the diplomatic corps to Kuibyshev (now Samara), and prepare for the destruction of 1,119 industrial enterprises and facilities in Moscow and the region. A state of siege was declared in Moscow.

Barrage balloon Bolshoi Theater. 1941

The whole country rose to defend the capital. Trains with reinforcements, weapons, and ammunition from Siberia, the Urals, the Far East, and Central Asia were rushing to Moscow. 50 thousand militia fighters came to the aid of the front.

The defenders of Tula made an invaluable contribution to the defense of Moscow. Their heroic actions prevented Guderian's army from taking the city. Moscow was also reliably protected from air attack. Defending the skies of the capital, pilot V.V. Talalikhin was one of the first to use a night air ram, for which he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

As a result of the measures taken at the end of October - beginning of November, the Nazi offensive was stopped. Operation Typhoon was disrupted. On November 6 in Moscow, in the hall of the Mayakovskaya metro station, a ceremonial meeting dedicated to the anniversary was held October revolution, at which I.V. Stalin gave a speech. On November 7, 1941, a traditional parade took place on Red Square, after which the troops immediately went to the front. All these events had great importance to maintain the morale of Soviet soldiers.

By mid-November, German troops launched a new offensive against Moscow. 51 divisions took part in it, including 13 tank and 7 motorized divisions, armed with 1.5 thousand tanks, 3 thousand guns, and supported by 700 aircraft.

As a result of the offensive, the Germans managed to capture Klin, Solnechnogorsk, Kryukovo, Yakhroma, Istra and approach Moscow within 25-30 km. The fighting was especially difficult in the defense zone of the 16th Army (commander - General K.K. Rokossovsky) in the Istra region. A group of tank destroyers from the 316th Infantry Division of General I.V. Panfilov, who died in battle on November 18, stood to their death. Thanks to the heroic efforts of the soldiers, the Nazi troops were stopped almost at the walls of the capital.

At the beginning of December 1941, the Soviet command, in secrecy, was preparing a counteroffensive near Moscow. Such an operation became possible after the formation of 10 reserve armies in the rear and a change in the balance of forces. The enemy retained superiority in the number of troops, artillery and tanks, but it was no longer overwhelming. At the beginning of December, the Germans launched another attack on Moscow, but during its course, on December 5-6, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive along the entire front - from Kalinin to Yelets. It was attended by troops of three fronts - Western (under the command of G. K. Zhukov), Kalinin (under the command of I. S. Konev) and South-Western (under the command of

S.K. Timoshenko). This offensive was a complete surprise for the German command, which was unable to repel the powerful attacks of the Red Army. By the beginning of January 1942, Soviet troops pushed the Nazis back from Moscow 100-250 km. The winter offensive of the Red Army continued until April 1942. As a result, the Moscow and Tula regions, many areas of the Smolensk, Kalinin, Ryazan and Oryol regions were completely liberated. Thus, the “blitzkrieg” strategy finally collapsed near Moscow. The failure of the attack on Moscow prevented Japan and Turkey from entering the war on the German side. The victory of the Red Army pushed the USA and England to create an anti-Hitler coalition.

Questions and tasks

1. (Work in groups.) Independently divide the text of the second paragraph into relatively complete parts so that their names reflect: a) the main events of June - December 1941; b) mobilization of the country to repel fascist aggressors; c) stages that can be distinguished in the development of military operations in the second half of 1941.

2. What did Hitler’s command count on during the “blitzkrieg” against the USSR and what were the reasons for the collapse of these plans?

3*. Try, based on documentary sources and the thematic map “The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union,” to compile reports from the Information Bureau on the situation on the fronts in July - December 1941. They usually began with the words: “During the day... our troops fought fierce battles with the enemy in the area ..." or "During... our troops... continue to successfully develop the offensive...".



To the question when the lightning war plan asked by the author was thwarted Nastena the best answer is December 5, 1941

Answer from 22 answers[guru]

Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: when was the plan for a lightning war disrupted?

Answer from Salt out[expert]
From the first days of the war, everything went wrong - the pace of advance slowed down, enemy resistance increased, communications were stretched...

Answer from Neuropathologist[guru]
According to the blitzkrieg plan, the Germans expected to end the war with the USSR a maximum of three months before October 1; the war was supposed to end with the Germans reaching the line of Arkhangelsk, Gorky, Kuibyshev, Astrakhan. In reality, on October 1, the Germans were stuck somewhere near Vyazma, it turns out that Hitler’s plan was thwarted already in the first days of the war.

Answer from VictoryZi[expert]
in 1941

Answer from Welfare[master]
Among the largest events of the Second World War great battle near Moscow it occupies a special place. The defeat of fascist troops near Moscow was the beginning of a radical turn in the course of the war. The legend of the invincibility of Hitler's army has been debunked.

Answer from Zabiiaka[guru]
If you didn’t rely on the school curriculum, then in fact it was immediately disrupted.
"...But from the first days of the war, the enemy encountered fierce, truly heroic resistance from Soviet soldiers and the population of the front-line areas. Without stubborn struggle and bloody battles, not a single position, not a single settlement, surrendered. The aggressor suffered heavy losses in people and military equipment , his advance into the interior of the country slowed down every day.
Until the last bullet, Soviet border guards fought against the fascist hordes, armed only small arms. A number of border outposts, the garrisons of which numbered only 40-50 people, held their lines for 2-3 days, although the Nazi command planned to crush them in 15-30 minutes of battle. The whole world knows the epic of the heroic defense of the Brest Fortress. Amazing examples of resilience and mass heroism were shown by Soviet soldiers and the local population in defending the cities of Liepaja, Tallinn, Siauliai, and Przemysl.
In the first days of the war, Soviet mechanized troops launched a powerful counterattack against enemy tank forces in the area Ukrainian cities Dubno, Lutsk, Brody, Rivne. As a result of this, the advance of the fascist hordes on Kyiv was delayed.
Similar heroic deeds and events occurred every day on all sectors of the huge Soviet-German front. This cooled the ardor of the fascist strategists and forced them to think about what the adventure they had begun would threaten them with. In particular, one of the highest military leaders in Germany, Chief of the Wehrmacht General Staff, General F. Halder, wrote in his diary on June 24, 1941: “The tenacity of individual Russian formations in battle should be noted. There were cases when garrisons of pillboxes blew themselves up along with the pillboxes, not wanting to surrender." Five days later, Halder again notes: “Information from the front confirms that the Russians are fighting everywhere to the last man.”
In general, there is evidence that the USSR was preparing for this war. And even more than that, he intended to inflict preemptive strike, for example, why the spacecraft were plagued by failures in the first months of the war - because all military equipment was mainly of an offensive nature, i.e. lighter tanks - for marching along European roads, and not powerful and heavy ones for defense. And so on, but I'm afraid they don't study this in school =)))

On September 5, the high command of the German armed forces issued order No. 35 to prepare an attack on Moscow. It was planned to be applied after the implementation of the main previous steps. Blitz operations in Ukraine were of particular importance in Hitler's plans. Only after their successful completion at the end of September and beginning of October was it planned to move on to the most important thing - the attack on Moscow. It is no coincidence that in the summer of 1941 the Nazis concentrated their main forces on the southern front.

Careful preparation for a strike on the capital

According to Hitler’s initial assumptions, the capital of the USSR was supposed to fall in September, but subsequently no one chose to return to the goals loudly proclaimed at the beginning. Indeed, according to some of the most optimistic forecasts, Moscow was planned to be captured during July. In the second half of September, on the occasion of the three-month anniversary of the opening of the Eastern Front, the successes of the German army and its allies were actively recalled everywhere. However, the real situation at the front was by no means rosy. September was coming to an end, and the Wehrmacht soldiers never marched through the streets of Leningrad or the streets of Moscow. The July directives on a breakthrough through Rostov to the Caucasus and the Volga were not implemented either. Despite initially fast promotion, the Nazis failed to break the spirit and fighting capacity of the Red Army, and they failed to win the sympathy of most of the Soviet people. As it soon turned out, the estimates of the Red Army's reserves for further battles were also extremely erroneous. The sixth of September was a very important day in Hitler's Wolf's Lair. It was then that the adjutant handed Hitler a folder with order number 35. It was detailed plan further actions against the Soviet army, which was supposed to finally and irrevocably decide the outcome of the war on the Eastern Front in favor of the Nazi army. Already on the same day, the commanders received orders to prepare for an operation against the army of General Timoshenko. Only after the defeat of the main part of the Soviet army was Army Group Center supposed to begin pursuing the retreating Soviet troops in the direction of Moscow. In preparation for the decisive clash, all aspects were worked out to the smallest detail, including plans for the delivery of ammunition, ammunition, transport, provisions and the formation of new divisions. All necessary tasks included a precise time plan for the strike on Moscow to be a real success. On the detailed map of the Eastern Front in Hitler's bunker, all events were marked with all the appropriate signs: the concentration of troops, their advance, the current situation, a review of reserves and expected new attacks as part of planned operations. Already at the beginning of September, Hitler also discussed among his closest associates the next plans for the occupied territory of the USSR. Then he literally said the following: “When settling Russian territories with peasants of the Reich, they must live in the best, most beautiful houses. German institutions should be located in the most beautiful buildings, Reich Commissioners - in palaces. Around the cities at a distance of 30 - 40 kilometers there will be comfortable villages connected to each other by excellent roads. Next there will be a different world in which we will let the Russians live the way they want. The main thing is that we will control them. In the event of a revolution, it is enough to drop a few bombs on their cities, and everything will be fine. What India is for England, the eastern territories will be for us. We will send Norwegians, Danes, Swedes, and Dutch to Siberia to help. We will carry out the planned racial policy. We will no longer allow a single German to leave Europe for England. We will not drain the swamps, but will take only the best land. We will set up extensive military training grounds in the marshy areas.”

Tremendous power at work

For the main attack on Moscow, Hitler attracted 1.6 million people and the most modern technology. A large-scale attack on the Soviet capital began on October 2, 1941. Subsequently, Soviet generals stated that on some days the advance of enemy forces was so rapid that even the General Staff did not believe it. At first glance, the situation on the central sector of the front was developing very favorably for the Wehrmacht. Already on the third of October Oryol was captured. A day later, Soviet units were surrounded near Bryansk. Over the next two days Yukhnov was busy. During this period, Hitler waited every day for Soviet surrender, but it never happened. In mid-October, the Wehrmacht reached the Moscow defense zone. However, each subsequent day proved that progress was slowing down. On the one hand, there was the influence of the weather, and on the other hand, there was also a deterioration in the supply of the advancing troops. On October 24, reports came from the front that part of the German troops were only 60 kilometers from Moscow. Off-road progress became increasingly difficult, and the number of soldiers who fell ill due to the cold and insufficient uniforms and food grew. So the Nazis were forced to quickly build underground bunkers to escape harsh weather and fire from Soviet positions. At the end of October, Marshal von Bock decided to launch the final offensive on the first day of November in order to enter Moscow on the seventh of November - the day of an important Soviet public holiday. However, the Supreme Command did not give the necessary consent, but on the contrary, ordered no offensive actions to be taken in the near future.

When the German Army Group Center launched an offensive on the defensive lines near Rzhev and Vyazma on October 2, the goal was to capture Moscow by October 12 (this deadline has changed more than once since the beginning of Hitler’s eastern campaign). To achieve this goal, the Germans brought in almost half the divisions from the entire Eastern Front, 75% of tanks and more than a thousand aircraft. This was a truly enormous force, and it was clear that Hitler had put everything on one card and was really going to take the Soviet capital at any cost. After three days of fierce fighting, German forces still managed to break through the defenses on both sides of Vyazma, but the Germans encountered more resistance than expected. Kaluga was taken on October 12, Kalinin fell two days later, and Maloyaroslavets fell four days later. The very next day a state of siege was declared in Moscow. The diplomatic corps and the government were ordered to evacuate to Kuibyshev. The General Staff and Politburo remained reduced in strength in Moscow. Large factories that worked for defense, scientific and cultural institutions were also taken away. On the approaches to Moscow, barricades and anti-tank fortifications were built at a rapid pace. The German attack was stopped on October 22 near Mtsensk, but the very next day it resumed in the northwest of the city and advanced towards Tula. But the Nazis failed to take it. The last German success of this period was the capture of Volokolamsk. Further off-road advance against fortified defenses became impossible. The fascist high command became more and more nervous every day. The majority of German generals did not hide their opinion that in the current situation the Fuhrer's orders for a further offensive were impossible to carry out. Thus, at the end of October, the first battle for Moscow practically ends. Despite the fact that in the middle of the month the situation was developing more than favorably for the Wehrmacht, and was taking a critical turn for the defenders of Moscow, the German troops failed to achieve their goal. After the war, Marshal Zhukov said that the most critical situation was in the period from October 6 to October 13.

Vain expectation of Soviet surrender

In Germany, mainly during October, optimism reigned. Fascist propaganda reported more and more successes on the Eastern Front. People were told that the USSR was teetering on the brink of an inevitable catastrophe, and that Stalin would soon capitulate. On October 2, in a daily address addressed to German soldiers on the Eastern Front, Hitler declared: “In just a few weeks, the three largest industrial areas of the Bolsheviks will be completely in our hands. We have finally created all the conditions for a powerful final blow that will destroy the enemy before the onset of winter. All the preparation that could have been done has already been completed. This time we carried it out systematically, step by step, in order to put the enemy in a position in which we could deal death blow. Today begins the final, great and decisive battle of this year.” Just a day later, Hitler again addressed his soldiers with these words: “Forty-eight hours ago new operations of gigantic proportions began. They will lead to the destruction of our enemy in the east. The enemy has already been completely defeated, and he will never regain his strength.” German authorities increasingly talked about the final defeat of the USSR. The imperial chief of the press, Dietrich, did not lag behind, and on October 9 he stated verbatim the following: “Gentlemen, any decision of the German High Command is always implemented, no matter what the resistance. The new successes of German weapons prove that the outcome of the military campaign to the east is already predetermined. In the military sense of the word, Soviet Russia was already defeated. You cannot blame me for ever giving you erroneous information. Therefore, today I vouch with my good name for the veracity of this news.” Just on October 9, all Nazi radio stations and newspapers reported that the war in the east was almost over. On that day, Hitler also confidently declared that although the German troops still had quite difficult battles ahead, the peak had already been overcome, and the war in the east would be crowned with victory, which would soon become obvious. However, in the following days the opposite happened, and Hitler soon had to regret his words. In the weeks that followed, events no longer developed favorably for the German forces. Lack of preparation for harsh winter conditions and underestimation of Soviet combat capability and reserves played a fatal role for the Nazis. As early as October 10, the main Nazi newspaper published an article on the front page entitled “The Great Hour Has Come! The outcome of the war in the east is predetermined! Conveyed completely different information at the same time Soviet press. For example, on October 8, Red Star published an editorial in which the German offensive was called a last desperate attempt. Allegedly, Hitler threw all the forces he had at her, including outdated and small tanks that fell into the hands of the Germans after the capture of Belgium, Holland and France. The article also stated that the Soviet soldier must destroy these tanks at any cost, be they old or new, large or small. All the old armored vehicles from all over Europe, which have long been scrapped, are now sent to fight the Soviet Union.

Context

The Battle of Moscow: How Hitler Almost Defeated Stalin

Newsweek 09/05/2007

What decided the outcome of the Battle of Moscow in 1941

Die Welt 12/14/2013

Archives: The Germans suffered huge losses in the Battle of Moscow

The Times 12/22/2011

Forgotten Battle near Moscow

Kaleva 05/12/2005
On October 13, news about the capture of Moscow and Stalin’s request for a truce spread around Germany. Film magazines competed to see who could best tell about the approaching victory over the USSR. Despite the unfavorable weather and ubiquitous mud, German troops are rapidly advancing towards Moscow, and its residents can already hear the noise of the approaching front. However, October, which started so well for the Nazis, was not marked by the declared successes, and therefore the victorious fanfare gradually quietly disappeared from the press and radio. In addition, in October the cold made itself known with certainty. There were frosts at night, and during the day the soil turned into an impassable mess. Back in mid-October, the situation for the Wehrmacht was quite favorable, but the advance began to noticeably stall until it finally stopped. The desire of the German generals to walk along Red Square on November 7 turned out to be too bold and far from reality.

Second Battle of Moscow

But the Nazis were not going to give up their goals so easily. Already at the beginning of November, they began a new regrouping of forces for another, as they themselves believed, this time the final striking blow on Moscow. In mid-November, Army Group Center prepared 73 divisions (14 tank divisions). Hitler's generals planned to surround the city from the north and south and defeat the Soviet forces west of Moscow. A new offensive on the capital began on November 15. On November 19, the Germans captured the important city of Istra, and four days later - Klin and Solnechnogorsk. Stalinogorsk was occupied on November 20. But in this extremely difficult situation in Moscow there was no defeatist mood. On November 6, a ceremonial meeting of the Moscow Council was held in the lobby of the Moscow metro. Stalin acknowledged the Soviet defeats, but at the same time recalled the failure of Hitler's plans for a lightning war. Stalin attributed the military defeats, first of all, to an insufficient number of aircraft and tanks, and this in a situation where there was no second front. Territorial conquests, according to Stalin, were due to the fact that the Germans managed to seize the industrial bases of some European states, primarily Belgium, France, Holland and Czechoslovakia. According to Hitler at a speech in the Reichstag on April 29, 1939, having occupied Czechoslovakia, Germany received 1582 aircraft, 469 tanks, 501 anti-aircraft guns, 2175 guns of various calibers, 115 thousand rifles, 3 million artillery shells, 43 thousand machine guns, a billion infantry ammunition and other military materials: sapper, fastening, measuring devices, a lot of cars, spotlights and other things. On November 7, on the day of an important public holiday, a parade took place on Red Square. Soldiers in winter uniforms and tanks, as well as other equipment, were buried in the snow. The units went from the parade straight to their combat positions.

November 17 was an important milestone in the battle for Moscow. Then Hitler’s favorite General Guderian received information that soldiers from Siberia had appeared at the Uzlovaya station, and that transport trains were bringing in new Soviet reinforcements along the Ryazan-Kolomna branch. According to other information, the German 112th Division retreated, and the number of soldiers with frostbite, unable to fight, was growing. The soldiers of this division were seized by panic, which spread along part of the front right up to Bogoroditsk. Mass desertion became a big warning for the German troops and their command. This was a clear signal that the German infantry was exhausted. However, the German command still did not take these signals seriously. After all, on the approaches to Moscow, the Germans still occupied a dangerous position. On November 28, they took the bridge near Yakhroma and made their way to the eastern bank of the Moscow-Volga canal. Long and incredibly brutal battles broke out for the key city - Tula. At the end of November, some German generals already understood the seriousness of the situation in which their forces found themselves in front of Moscow and in other parts of the front. Characteristic, for example, are the words of General Halder: “Field Marshal von Bock personally leads the battle near Moscow from his mobile command post. His energy propels the troops forward by all means... The troops have almost exhausted their strength. Von Bock compares this battle with the Battle of the Marne." First of all, the lack of winter equipment, according to the Germans, played a tragic role. Von Bock also asked to send the 12th division from the reserve, since there were no longer enough forces to encircle Moscow.

The last German offensive began on the second of December. Some German commanders firmly believed in success and the capture of Moscow. The fighting then took place in a situation where there was a lot of snow everywhere and there were severe frosts. By noon that day, several German units reached the Moscow suburb of Khimki, near the Sheremetyevo airfield that later appeared. But they never managed to advance further. So only German prisoners of war were able to see the Kremlin with their own eyes. On the fourth of December, General Guderian's units again approached Tula and began to make their way to the Moscow River, but in the end, due to a lack of ammunition, they had to retreat with heavy losses. This was the very last German offensive near Moscow. A noticeable retreat soon followed on almost all sectors of the front near Moscow. All this was accompanied by further major losses, including equipment that the Nazis did not have time to take out during the retreat. On the night of December 5-6, Guderian, on his own responsibility, led his units into retreat. He bases his decision on extremely unfavorable climatic conditions and the exhaustion of the offensive capabilities of neighboring units. At the same time, for the same reasons, two armored units located 35 kilometers north of Moscow are abandoning the planned offensive.

The heavy defeat of the Nazis near Moscow was the beginning of their disaster on the Eastern Front

On December 5, the offensive of the Soviet troops of the Kalinin Front, the Western Front and the right wing of the Southwestern Front began. In a counteroffensive that was unexpected for the Germans, the Soviet command managed to involve more than a million soldiers, more than a thousand aircraft, more than 800 tanks and more than 7,500 guns. Just recently, very self-confident German troops were forced to rapidly retreat from Moscow, Tikhvin and Taganrog. German forces were retreating along almost the entire length of the front. A parallel is often drawn with 1812 and the rapid retreat of Napoleon’s troops from Moscow and Russia in general. By December 20, the Nazis were forced to leave Klin, Kalinin and the Tula region. “Our attack on Moscow failed. We suffered a heavy defeat, the consequences of which, as it became clear in the following weeks, were fatal, and the obstinacy of the high command in distant East Prussia was to blame,” General Guderian later said. After this failure, Hitler himself took charge of military operations and changed command almost everywhere. Later, General Halder admitted that the defeat near Moscow was a disaster and, in fact, the beginning great tragedy in the east. In December 1941, General von Bock wrote the following in his diary: “Now I have no doubt that the military operation near Moscow, in which I probably played the most important role, failed and marked a turning point in the war in general.” German military historian Reinhard wrote: "Hitler's plans, and with them the prospect of winning the war, failed in October 1941, especially after the launch of the Russian counter-offensive near Moscow in December 1941." Ludwik Svoboda, who was in the USSR at that time and was preparing conditions there for training our soldiers, wrote in his personal diary: “The Red Army’s offensive along the entire front is very successful. It seems that the German army is facing disaster near Moscow. Its defeat depends on how strong Hitler's government is in the Reich. From the German army, undoubtedly, only remnants will return home.”

The offensive of the Soviet army continued successfully in December 1941 and January 1942, and during it many cities and villages were liberated. For example, Volokolamsk was liberated on December 20, Naro-Fominsk on December 26, Maloyaroslavets on January 2, and Borovsk on January 4. Rzhev was recaptured on January 7, 1942. In January 1942, Soviet forces were almost equal to the 183 divisions of the Germans and their satellites, but the Soviet army had an advantage in the number of tanks and aircraft. In the period from December 6 to January 10 alone, the losses of Hitler’s troops amounted to more than 300 thousand killed and wounded. The German troops faced serious difficulties that were not easy to disguise, because by the first of January 1942 they were short of about 340 thousand people. During the counteroffensive near Moscow, the Red Army recaptured more than 11,000 towns and villages northwest of the capital and advanced 400 kilometers in some areas. Territories the size of the former Czechoslovakia, with a population of approximately five million people, were liberated. The first significant turning point occurred in the war. Goebbels, who appealed to the population to donate winter clothing and skis to the Wehrmacht, was forced to admit that “millions of our soldiers, after a year of fierce fighting, stand face to face with an enemy who has a great numerical and material advantage.” Some parts of the uniform made from surrogate raw materials did not protect against the harsh Russian winter. The British fleet, which held a blockade of Germany for two years, undoubtedly made its contribution here, so the Germans did not have enough wool to sew high-quality clothes for the soldiers.

The Nazis retreating from Moscow left behind a huge desert. They did not disdain the barbaric seizure of valuables. Before retreating to Klin, they plundered Tchaikovsky’s house, in which they burned furniture and books of the famous composer. In Istra they burned the New Jerusalem Monastery. In Yasnaya Polyana, in Tolstoy's house, where Guderian's main headquarters was located, the museum was looted, and many objects were destroyed and burned.

After the start of a large-scale German offensive on Moscow in early October 1941, over the next two months the fate of the USSR capital hung in the balance. There were days when the Germans declared that their victory was very close and that on the battlefield they were the masters of the situation. The whole world could more than once hear proclamations that the Kremlin domes can already be seen with good field binoculars. At certain moments, the Kremlin indeed seemed very close to the fascist invaders, but even then it was and forever remained inaccessible to them. In mid-December 1941, the whole world learned about the German defeat near Moscow. This defeat lifted the spirits in our country. In the illegal newspaper Krasnoe Pravo, edited by Julius Fuček, the Christmas wish then was:

“Everyone will be delighted to receive a generous gift of peace and freedom under the Christmas tree on the Generous Evening, and Hitler on the Christmas tree.”

How did Czech television celebrate the anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War this year or the current anniversary of the Battle of Moscow? It did not disappoint this time either: from the fourth of September we are shown a 44-episode documentary film entitled “Heydrich. Last decision." I am confident that we have every right to demand that other important anniversaries related to the events of the Second World War receive adequate television time. The anniversary of the Battle of Moscow undoubtedly applies to them. But instead we continue to watch repeats of programs about the Wehrmacht or the “important” people of the Third Reich. True, this has long been very typical for Czech television.