Where is the battle? Major battles of World War II

War is the worst thing that can happen in our lives. This must not be forgotten.

Especially about these five battles. The amount of blood in them is amazing...

1. Battle of Stalingrad, 1942-1943

Opponents: Nazi Germany vs. USSR
Losses: Germany 841,000; Soviet Union 1,130,000
Total: 1,971,000
Result: Victory of the USSR

The German offensive began with a devastating series of Luftwaffe raids that left much of Stalingrad in ruins. But the bombing did not completely destroy the urban landscape. As they advanced, the German army became embroiled in brutal street fighting with Soviet forces. Although the Germans took control of more than 90% of the city, Wehrmacht forces were unable to dislodge the remaining stubborn Soviet soldiers.

Cold weather set in, and in November 1942 the Red Army launched a double attack on the German 6th Army in Stalingrad. The flanks collapsed, and the 6th Army was surrounded both by the Red Army and by the harsh Russian winter. Hunger, cold and sporadic attacks by Soviet troops began to take their toll. But Hitler did not allow the 6th Army to retreat. By February 1943, after a failed German breakout when food supply lines were cut, the 6th Army was defeated.

2. Battle of Leipzig, 1813

Opponents: France vs. Russia, Austria and Prussia
Casualties: 30,000 French, 54,000 Allied
Total: 84000
Result: Victory of the Coalition forces

The Battle of Leipzig was the largest and most severe defeat suffered by Napoleon, and the largest battle in Europe before the outbreak of the First World War. Faced with attacks from all sides, the French army performed surprisingly well, keeping their attackers at bay for over nine hours before they began to be outnumbered.

Realizing his inevitable defeat, Napoleon began to withdraw his troops in an orderly manner across the only remaining bridge. The bridge was blown up too early. More than 20,000 French soldiers were thrown into the water and drowned while trying to cross the river. The defeat opened the door to France for Allied forces.

3. Battle of Borodino, 1812

Opponents: Russia vs France
Losses: Russians – 30,000 - 58,000; French – 40,000 - 58,000
Total: 70,000
Result: Different interpretations of the results

Borodino is considered the bloodiest one-day battle in history. Napoleon's army invaded the Russian Empire without declaring war. The rapid advance of the powerful French army forced the Russian command to retreat deeper into the country. Commander-in-Chief M.I. Kutuzov decided to give a general battle not far from Moscow, near the village of Borodino.

During this battle, every hour on the battlefield, about 6 thousand people were killed or injured, according to the most conservative estimates. During the battle, the Russian army lost about 30% of its strength, the French - about 25%. In absolute numbers, this is about 60 thousand killed on both sides. But, according to some sources, up to 100 thousand people were killed during the battle and died later from injuries. Not a single one-day battle that took place before Borodino was so bloody.

Opponents: Britain vs Germany
Losses: Britain 60,000, Germany 8,000
Total: 68,000
Result: Inconclusive

The British Army suffered the bloodiest day in its history in the opening stages of a battle that would last for months. More than a million people were killed as a result of the hostilities, and the original military tactical situation remained largely unchanged. The plan was to wear down the German defenses with artillery bombardment to the point that the attacking British and French forces could simply move in and occupy the opposing trenches. But the shelling did not bring the expected destructive consequences.

As soon as the soldiers left the trenches, the Germans opened fire with machine guns. Poorly coordinated artillery often covered its own advancing infantry with fire or was often left without cover. As darkness fell, despite the massive loss of life, only a few targets were occupied. Attacks continued in this manner until October 1916.

5. Battle of Cannae, 216 BC

Opponents: Rome vs Carthage
Losses: 10,000 Carthaginians, 50,000 Romans
Total: 60,000
Result: Carthaginian victory

The Carthaginian general Hannibal led his army through the Alps and defeated two Roman armies at Trebia and Lake Trasimene, seeking to engage the Romans in a final decisive battle. The Romans massed their heavy infantry in the center, hoping to break through the middle of the Carthaginian army. Hannibal, in anticipation of a central Roman attack, deployed his best troops on the flanks of his army.

As the center of the Carthaginian forces collapsed, the Carthaginian sides closed in on the Roman flanks. The mass of legionnaires in the back ranks forced the first ranks to move forward uncontrollably, not knowing that they were driving themselves into a trap. Eventually, the Carthaginian cavalry arrived and closed the gap, thus completely encircling the Roman army. In close combat, the legionnaires, unable to escape, were forced to fight to the death. As a result of the battle, 50 thousand Roman citizens and two consuls were killed.

Invaders came from both the West and the East. They spoke different languages, they had different weapons. But their goals were the same - to ruin and plunder the country, to kill or take its inhabitants into captivity and slavery.

Today, in connection with this holiday, we decided to remember the most significant battles in the history of our Fatherland. If we forgot something, you can write it in the comments.

1. Defeat of the Khazar Kaganate (965)

The Khazar Khaganate was for a long time the main rival of the Russian state. The unification of Slavic tribes around Rus', many of which had previously been dependent on Khazaria, could not but increase tension in relations between the two powers.

In 965, Prince Svyatoslav subjugated the Khazar Khaganate to his power, and then organized a campaign against the strong tribal union of the Vyatichi, who paid tribute to the Khazars. Svyatoslav Igorevich defeated the Kagan’s army in battle and raided his entire state, from the Volga to the North Caucasus. Important Khazar cities were annexed to Rus' - the fortress of Sarkel (White Vezha) on the Don, which controlled the route from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea (now at the bottom of the Tsimlyansk Reservoir), and the port of Tmutarakan on the Taman Peninsula. The Black Sea Khazars fell into the sphere of Russian influence. The remnants of the Kaganate on the Volga were destroyed in the 11th century by the Polovtsians.

2. Battle of the Neva (1240)

The Novgorod prince was only 19 years old when, in the summer of 1240, Swedish ships, probably led by Birger Magnusson, entered the mouth of the Neva. Knowing that Novgorod was deprived of the support of the southern principalities, the Swedes, instructed from Rome, hoped, at a minimum, to seize all the lands north of the Neva, simultaneously converting both pagans and Orthodox Karelians to Catholicism.

The young Novgorod prince led a lightning attack by his squad and destroyed the Swedes' camp before they could strengthen it. When getting ready for the campaign, Alexander was in such a hurry that he did not gather all the Novgorodians who wanted to join, believing that speed would be decisive, and he turned out to be right. In the battle, Alexander fought in the front ranks.

The decisive victory over superior forces brought Prince Alexander great fame and the honorary nickname - Nevsky.

However, the Novgorod boyars feared the growing influence of the prince and tried to remove him from governing the city. Alexander soon left Novgorod, but a year later the threat of a new war forced the Novgorodians to turn to him again.

3. Battle of the Ice (1242)

In 1242, German knights from the Livonian Order captured Pskov and approached Novgorod. The Novgorodians, who had quarreled with Prince Alexander a year before, turned to him for help and again transferred power to him. The prince gathered an army, expelled the enemies from the Novgorod and Pskov lands and went to Lake Peipsi.

On the ice of the lake in 1242, in a battle known as the Battle of the Ice, Alexander Yaroslavich destroyed an army of German knights. The Russian riflemen, despite the onslaught of the Germans who were breaking through the regiments in the center, bravely resisted the attackers. This courage helped the Russians surround the knights from the flanks and win. Pursuing the survivors for seven miles, Alexander showed the firmness of the Russian army. Victory in the battle led to the signing of a peace agreement between Novgorod and the Livonian Order.

4. Battle of Kulikovo (1380)

The Battle of Kulikovo, which took place on September 8, 1380, was a turning point that showed the strength of the united Russian army and the ability of Rus' to resist the Horde.

The conflict between Mamai and Dmitry Donskoy became more and more aggravated. The Principality of Moscow strengthened, Rus' won many victories over the troops of the Horde. Donskoy did not listen to Mamai when he gave Prince Mikhail Tverskoy a label for Vladimir, and then stopped paying tribute to the Horde. All this could not help but lead Mamai to the idea of the need for a quick victory over the enemy who was gaining strength.

In 1378, he sent an army against Dmitry, but it was defeated on the Vozha River. Soon Mamai lost influence on the Volga lands due to the invasion of Tokhtamysh. In 1380, the Horde commander decided to attack the Donskoy army in order to completely defeat his forces.

On September 8, 1380, when the armies clashed, it became clear that there would be a lot of losses on both sides. The legendary exploits of Alexander Peresvet, Mikhail Brenok and Dmitry Donskoy were described in “The Tale of the Massacre of Mamaev.” The turning point for the battle was the moment when Bobrok ordered to delay the ambush regiment, and then cut off the retreat of the Tatars who had broken through to the river. The Horde cavalry was driven into the river and destroyed, meanwhile the remaining forces mixed up other enemy troops, and the Horde began to retreat in disorder. Mamai fled, realizing that he no longer had the strength to continue the fight. According to various estimates, on September 8, 1380, from 40 to 70 thousand Russians and from 90 to 150 thousand Horde troops fought in the decisive battle. The victory of Dmitry Donskoy significantly weakened the Golden Horde, which predetermined its further collapse.

5. Standing on the Ugra (1480)

This event marks the end of the Horde's influence on the politics of the Russian princes.

In 1480, after Ivan III tore up the khan's label, Khan Akhmat, having concluded an alliance with the Lithuanian prince Casimir, moved to Rus'. Seeking to unite with the Lithuanian army, on October 8 he approached the Ugra River, a tributary of the Oka. Here he was met by the Russian army.

Akhmat's attempt to cross the Ugra was repulsed in a four-day battle. Then the khan began to wait for the Lithuanians. Ivan III, in order to gain time, began negotiations with him. At this time, the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray, an ally of Moscow, attacked the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which did not allow Casimir to help Akhmat. On October 20, the regiments of his brothers, Boris and Andrei Bolshoi, came to reinforce Ivan III. Having learned about this, Akhmat turned his army back to the steppe on November 11. Soon Akhmat was killed in the Horde. So Rus' finally broke the Horde yoke and gained independence.

6. Battle of Molodi (1572)

On July 29, 1572, the Battle of Molodi began - a battle whose outcome decided the course of Russian history.

The situation before the battle was very unfavorable. The main forces of the Russian army were stuck in a fierce struggle in the west with Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was possible to gather only a small zemstvo army and guardsmen under the command of Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Vorotynsky and governor Dmitry Ivanovich Khvorostinin against the Tatars. They were joined by a 7,000-strong detachment of German mercenaries and Don Cossacks. The total number of Russian troops was 20,034 people.

To fight the Tatar cavalry, Prince Vorotynsky decided to use the “walk-gorod” - a mobile fortress, behind the walls of which archers and gunners took refuge. Russian troops not only stopped the enemy, which was six times superior, but also put him to flight. The Crimean-Turkish army of Devlet-Girey was almost completely destroyed.

Only 20 thousand horsemen returned to Crimea, and none of the Janissaries escaped. The Russian army, including the oprichnina army, also suffered heavy losses. In the fall of 1572, the oprichnina regime was abolished. The heroic victory of the Russian army in the Battle of Molodin - the last major battle between Rus' and the Steppe - was of enormous geopolitical significance. Moscow was saved from complete destruction, and the Russian state from defeat and loss of independence. Russia retained control over the entire course of the Volga - the most important trade and transport artery. The Nogai horde, convinced of the weakness of the Crimean Khan, broke away from him.

7. Battle of Moscow (1612)

The Battle of Moscow became the decisive episode of the Time of Troubles. The occupation of Moscow was lifted by the forces of the Second Militia, led by Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. The garrison, completely blocked in the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod, having received no help from King Sigismund III, began to experience an acute shortage of provisions, it even reached the point of cannibalism. On October 26, the remnants of the occupation detachment surrendered to the mercy of the winner.

Moscow was liberated. “The hope of taking possession of the entire Moscow state collapsed irrevocably,” wrote a Polish chronicler.

8. Battle of Poltava (1709)

On June 27, 1709, the general battle of the Northern War took place near Poltava with the participation of 37,000-strong Swedish and 60,000-strong Russian armies. Little Russian Cossacks participated in the battle on both sides, but most fought for the Russians. The Swedish army was almost completely destroyed. Charles XII and Mazepa fled to Turkish possessions in Moldavia.

Sweden's military forces were undermined, and its army was forever left among the best in the world. After the Battle of Poltava, Russia's superiority became obvious. Denmark and Poland resumed participation in the Nordic Alliance. Soon the end of Swedish domination in the Baltic was put to an end.

9. Battle of Chesme (1770)

The decisive naval battle in Chesme Bay took place at the height of the Russian-Turkish War of 1768-1774.

Despite the fact that the balance of forces in the battle was 30/73 (not in favor of the Russian fleet), the competent command of Alexei Orlov and the valor of our sailors allowed the Russians to gain strategic superiority in the battle.

The Turkish flagship Burj u Zafer was set on fire, followed by many more ships of the Turkish fleet.

Chesmen was a triumph for the Russian fleet, secured the blockade of the Dardanelles and seriously disrupted Turkish communications in the Aegean Sea.

10. Battle of Kozludzhi (1774)

During the Russian-Turkish War of 1768-1774, Russia achieved another important victory. The Russian army under the command of Alexander Suvorov and Mikhail Kamensky near the city of Kozludzha (now Suvorovo in Bulgaria), with an unequal balance of forces (24 thousand versus 40 thousand), was able to win. Alexander Suvorov managed to knock the Turks out of the hill and put them to flight without even resorting to a bayonet attack. This victory largely determined the outcome of the Russian-Turkish war and forced the Ottoman Empire to sign a peace treaty.

11. Capture of Ishmael (1790)

On December 22, 1790, Russian troops under the command of Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov stormed the previously impregnable Turkish fortress of Izmail.

Shortly before the war, with the help of French and German engineers, Izmail was turned into a fairly powerful fortress. Defended by a large garrison, it withstood two sieges undertaken by Russian troops without any particular difficulties.

Suvorov took command just 8 days before the final assault. He devoted all the remaining time to training soldiers. The troops trained to overcome obstacles and ramparts specially created near the Russian camp, and practiced hand-to-hand combat techniques on stuffed animals.

A day before the assault, a powerful artillery shelling of the city began from all guns. It was fired upon both from land and sea.

At 3 a.m., long before dawn, a flare was launched. This was a sign of preparation for the assault. Russian troops left the location and formed into three detachments of three columns.

At half past five the soldiers launched an attack. The fortress was attacked from all sides at once. By four o'clock the resistance was completely suppressed in all parts of the city - the impregnable fortress fell.

The Russians lost more than 2,000 soldiers killed and about 3,000 wounded in the battle. Significant losses. But they could not be compared with the losses of the Turks - they only lost about 26,000 people killed. The news of the capture of Ishmael spread throughout Europe like lightning.

The Turks realized the complete futility of further resistance and signed the Treaty of Jassy the following year. They renounced claims to Crimea and a protectorate over Georgia, and ceded part of the Black Sea region to Russia. The border between the Russian and Ottoman empires moved towards the Dniester. True, Ishmael had to be returned back to the Turks.

In honor of the capture of Izmail, Derzhavin and Kozlovsky wrote the song “Thunder of Victory, Ring Out!” Until 1816 it remained the unofficial anthem of the Empire.

12. Battle of Cape Tendra (1790)

The commander of the Turkish squadron, Hasan Pasha, managed to convince the Sultan of the imminent defeat of the Russian navy, and at the end of August 1790 he moved the main forces to Cape Tendra (not far from modern Odessa). However, for the anchored Turkish fleet, the rapid approach of the Russian squadron under the command of Fyodor Ushakov was an unpleasant surprise. Despite the superiority in the number of ships (45 versus 37), the Turkish fleet tried to flee. However, by that time, Russian ships had already attacked the front line of the Turks. Ushakov managed to remove all the flagship ships of the Turkish fleet from the battle and thereby demoralize the rest of the enemy squadron. The Russian fleet did not lose a single ship.

13. Battle of Borodino (1812)

On August 26, 1812, significant forces of the French and Russian armies clashed in the battle near the village of Borodino, 125 kilometers west of Moscow. The regular troops under the command of Napoleon numbered about 137 thousand people, the army of Mikhail Kutuzov with the Cossacks and militia that joined it reached 120 thousand. The rugged terrain made it possible to move reserves unnoticed, and to install artillery batteries on hills.

On August 24, Napoleon approached the Shevardinsky redoubt, which stood near the village of the same name, three miles in front of the Borodino field.

The Battle of Borodino began a day after the battle at the Shevardinsky redoubt and became the largest battle in the War of 1812. The losses on both sides were colossal: the French lost 28 thousand people, the Russians - 46.5 thousand.

Although Kutuzov gave the order to retreat to Moscow after the battle, in his report to Alexander I he called the Russian army the winner of the battle. Many Russian historians think so.

French scientists see the battle at Borodino differently. In their opinion, “in the Battle of the Moscow River” Napoleonic troops won. Napoleon himself, reflecting on the results of the battle, said: “The French showed themselves worthy of victory, and the Russians acquired the right to be invincible.”

14. Battle of Elisavetpol (1826)

One of the key episodes of the Russian-Persian War of 1826-1828 was the battle near Elisavetpol (now the Azerbaijani city of Ganja). The victory then achieved by Russian troops under the command of Ivan Paskevich over the Persian army of Abbas Mirza became an example of military leadership. Paskevich managed to use the confusion of the Persians who had fallen into the ravine to launch a counterattack. Despite the superior enemy forces (35 thousand against 10 thousand), the Russian regiments began to push back Abbas Mirza’s army along the entire front of the attack. The losses of the Russian side amounted to 46 killed, the Persians were missing 2,000 people.

15. Capture of Erivan (1827)

The fall of the fortified city of Erivan was the culmination of numerous Russian attempts to establish control over the Transcaucasus. Built in the middle of the 16th century, the fortress was considered impregnable and more than once became a stumbling block for the Russian army. Ivan Paskevich managed to competently besiege the city from three sides, placing cannons along the entire perimeter. “The Russian artillery acted wonderfully,” recalled the Armenians remaining in the fortress. Paskevich knew exactly where the Persian positions were located. On the eighth day of the siege, Russian soldiers burst into the city and dealt with the fortress garrison with bayonets.

16. Battle of Sarykamysh (1914)

By December 1914, during the First World War, Russia occupied a 350 km front from the Black Sea to Lake Van, while a significant part of the Caucasian Army was pushed forward - deep into Turkish territory. Turkey had a tempting plan to outflank the Russian forces, thereby cutting the Sarykamysh-Kars railway.

The tenacity and initiative of the Russians who defended Sarakamysh played a decisive role in the operation, the success of which literally hung by a thread. Unable to take Sarykamysh on the move, two Turkish corps fell into the arms of an icy cold, which became fatal for them.

Turkish troops lost 10 thousand people due to frostbite in just one day, December 14th.

The last Turkish attempt to take Sarykamysh on December 17 was repulsed by Russian counterattacks and ended in failure. At this point, the offensive impulse of the Turkish troops, suffering from frosts and poor supplies, was exhausted.

The turning point has arrived. On the same day, the Russians launched a counteroffensive and pushed the Turks back from Sarykamysh. The Turkish military leader Enver Pasha decided to intensify the frontal attack and transferred the main blow to Karaurgan, which was defended by parts of the Sarykamysh detachment of General Berkhman. But here, too, the fierce attacks of the 11th Turkish Corps, advancing on Sarykamysh from the front, were repelled.

On December 19, Russian troops advancing near Sarykamysh completely surrounded the 9th Turkish Corps, frozen by snow storms. Its remnants, after stubborn three-day battles, capitulated. Units of the 10th Corps managed to retreat, but were defeated near Ardahan.

On December 25, General N.N. Yudenich became commander of the Caucasian Army, who gave the order to launch a counteroffensive near Karaurgan. Having thrown back the remnants of the 3rd Army by 30–40 km by January 5, 1915, the Russians stopped the pursuit, which was carried out in a 20-degree cold. And there was almost no one to pursue.

Enver Pasha's troops lost 78 thousand people (over 80% of their personnel) killed, frozen, wounded and captured. Russian losses amounted to 26 thousand people (killed, wounded, frostbitten).

The victory at Sarykamysh stopped Turkish aggression in Transcaucasia and strengthened the position of the Caucasian Army.

17. Brusilovsky breakthrough (1916)

One of the most important operations on the Eastern Front in 1916 was the offensive on the Southwestern Front, designed not only to turn the tide of military operations on the Eastern Front, but also to cover the Allied offensive on the Somme. The result was the Brusilov breakthrough, which significantly undermined the military power of the Austro-Hungarian army and pushed Romania to enter the war on the side of the Entente.

The offensive operation of the Southwestern Front under the command of General Alexei Brusilov, carried out from May to September 1916, became, according to military historian Anton Kersnovsky, “a victory such as we have never won in a world war.” The number of forces that were involved on both sides is also impressive - 1,732,000 Russian soldiers and 1,061,000 soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian and German armies.

18. Khalkhin-Gol operation

Since the beginning of 1939, several incidents between the Mongols and the Japanese-Manchus occurred in the area of the border between the Mongolian People's Republic (on whose territory, in accordance with the Soviet-Mongolian protocol of 1936, Soviet troops were located) and the puppet state of Manchukuo, which was actually ruled by Japan. Mongolia, behind which stood the Soviet Union, announced the passage of the border near the small village of Nomon-Khan-Burd-Obo, and Manchukuo, behind which stood Japan, drew the border along the Khalkhin-Gol River. In May, the command of the Japanese Kwantung Army concentrated significant forces at Khalkhin Gol. The Japanese managed to achieve superiority in infantry, artillery and cavalry over the Soviet 57th separate rifle corps deployed in Mongolia. However, Soviet troops had an advantage in aviation and armored forces. Since May, the Japanese held the eastern bank of Khalkhin Gol, but in the summer they decided to cross the river and seize a bridgehead on the “Mongolian” bank.

On July 2, Japanese units crossed the “Manchurian-Mongolian” border officially recognized by Japan and tried to gain a foothold. The command of the Red Army brought into action all the forces that could be delivered to the conflict area. Soviet mechanized brigades, having made an unprecedented forced march through the desert, immediately entered the battle in the area of Mount Bayin-Tsagan, in which about 400 tanks and armored vehicles, over 300 guns and several hundred aircraft took part on both sides. As a result, the Japanese lost almost all of their tanks. During the 3-day bloody battle, the Japanese were pushed back across the river. However, now Moscow was insisting on a forceful solution to the issue, especially since there was a threat of a second Japanese invasion. G.K. Zhukov was appointed commander of the rifle corps. Aviation was strengthened by pilots with experience of fighting in Spain and China. On August 20, Soviet troops went on the offensive. By the end of August 23, Japanese troops were surrounded. An attempt to release this group made by the enemy was repulsed. Those surrounded fought fiercely until August 31. The conflict led to the complete resignation of the command of the Kwantung Army and a change of government. The new government immediately asked the Soviet side for a truce, which was signed in Moscow on September 15.

19. Battle of Moscow (1941-1942)

The long and bloody defense of Moscow, which began in September 1941, moved into the offensive phase on December 5, ending on April 20, 1942. On December 5, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive and German divisions rolled west. The plan of the Soviet command - to encircle the main forces of Army Group Center east of Vyazma - could not be fully implemented. The Soviet troops lacked mobile formations, and there was no experience of a coordinated offensive of such masses of troops.

However, the result was impressive. The enemy was driven back 100–250 kilometers from Moscow, and the immediate threat to the capital, which was the most important industrial and transport hub, was eliminated. In addition, the victory near Moscow had enormous psychological significance. For the first time in the entire war, the enemy was defeated and retreated tens and hundreds of kilometers. German General Gunter Blumentritt recalled: “It was now important for Germany’s political leaders to understand that the days of the blitzkrieg were a thing of the past. We were confronted by an army whose fighting qualities were far superior to all other armies we had ever encountered.”

20. Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943)

The defense of Stalingrad became one of the most fierce operations of that war. By the end of the street fighting, which lasted from August to November, Soviet troops held only three isolated bridgeheads on the right bank of the Volga; There were 500–700 people left in the divisions of the 62nd Army defending the city, but the Germans failed to throw them into the river. Meanwhile, since September, the Soviet command had been preparing an operation to encircle the German group advancing on Stalingrad.

On November 19, 1942, Soviet troops launched an offensive north of Stalingrad, and the next day - south of it. On November 23, the striking wedges of the Soviet troops met near the city of Kalach, which marked the encirclement of the enemy’s Stalingrad group. 22 enemy divisions (about 300 thousand people) were surrounded. This was the turning point of the entire war.

In December 1942, the German command tried to release the encircled group, but Soviet troops repelled this onslaught. The fighting in the Stalingrad area continued until February 2, 1943. Over 90 thousand enemy soldiers and officers (including 24 generals) surrendered.

Soviet trophies included 5,762 guns, 1,312 mortars, 12,701 machine guns, 156,987 rifles, 10,722 machine guns, 744 aircraft, 166 tanks, 261 armored vehicles, 80,438 cars, 10,679 motorcycles, 240 tractors, 571 tractors, 3 armored trains and other military property .

21. Battle of Kursk (1943)

The Battle of Kursk is one of the greatest in the history of the Great Patriotic War, marking a radical turning point in hostilities. After it, the strategic initiative completely passed into the hands of the Soviet command.

Building on the success achieved at Stalingrad, Soviet troops launched a large-scale offensive on the front from Voronezh to the Black Sea. At the same time, in January 1943, besieged Leningrad was released.

Only in the spring of 1943 did the Wehrmacht manage to stop the Soviet offensive in Ukraine. Although units of the Red Army occupied Kharkov and Kursk, and the advanced units of the Southwestern Front were already fighting on the outskirts of Zaporozhye, German troops, transferring reserves from other sectors of the front, pulling up troops from Western Europe, actively maneuvering mechanized formations, went on a counteroffensive and re-occupied Kharkov . As a result, the front line on the southern flank of the confrontation acquired a characteristic shape, which later became known as the Kursk Bulge.

It was here that the German command decided to inflict a decisive defeat on the Soviet troops. It was supposed to cut it off with blows at the base of the arc, encircling two Soviet fronts at once.

The German command planned to achieve success, among other things, through the widespread use of the latest types of military equipment. It was on the Kursk Bulge that heavy German Panther tanks and Ferdinand self-propelled artillery guns were used for the first time.

The Soviet command knew about the enemy's plans and deliberately decided to cede the strategic initiative to the enemy. The idea was to wear down the Wehrmacht shock divisions in pre-prepared positions and then launch a counteroffensive. And we must admit: this plan was a success.

Yes, not everything went as planned and on the southern front of the arc German tank wedges almost broke through the defense, but on the whole the Soviet operation developed according to the original plan. One of the largest tank battles in the world took place in the area of Prokhorovka station, in which over 800 tanks simultaneously took part. Although Soviet troops also suffered heavy losses in this battle, the Germans lost their offensive potential.

More than 100 thousand participants in the Battle of Kursk were awarded orders and medals, more than 180 were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In honor of the victory in the Battle of Kursk, an artillery salute was fired for the first time.

22. Capture of Berlin (1945)

The assault on Berlin began on April 25, 1945 and lasted until May 2. Soviet troops had to literally chew through the enemy’s defenses - battles took place for every crossroads, for every house. The city's garrison numbered 200 thousand people, who had about 3,000 guns and about 250 tanks, so the assault on Berlin was an operation quite comparable to the defeat of the encircled German army at Stalingrad.

On May 1, the new chief of the German General Staff, General Krebs, informed Soviet representatives about Hitler's suicide and proposed a truce. However, the Soviet side demanded unconditional surrender. In this situation, the new German government set a course for achieving an early surrender to the Western allies. Since Berlin was already surrounded, on May 2 the commander of the city’s garrison, General Weindling, capitulated, but only on behalf of the Berlin garrison.

It is characteristic that some units refused to carry out this order and tried to break through to the west, but were intercepted and defeated. Meanwhile, negotiations between German and Anglo-American representatives were taking place in Reims. The German delegation insisted on the surrender of troops on the western front, hoping to continue the war in the east, but the American command demanded unconditional surrender.

Finally, on May 7, the unconditional surrender of Germany was signed, which was to occur at 23.01 on May 8. On behalf of the USSR, this act was signed by General Susloparov. However, the Soviet government considered that the surrender of Germany should, firstly, take place in Berlin, and secondly, be signed by the Soviet command.

23. Defeat of the Kwantung Army (1945)

Japan during World War II was an ally of Nazi Germany and waged a war of conquest with China, during which all known types of weapons of mass destruction were used, including biological and chemical weapons.

Marshal Vasilevsky was appointed commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East. In less than a month, Soviet troops defeated the million-strong Kwantung Army stationed in Manchuria and liberated all of Northern China and part of Central China from Japanese occupation.

The Kwantung Army was fought by a highly professional army. It was impossible to stop her. Military textbooks include the operation of Soviet troops to overcome the Gobi Desert and the Khingan Range. In just two days, the 6th Guards Tank Army crossed the mountains and found itself deep behind enemy lines. During this outstanding offensive, about 200 thousand Japanese were captured and many weapons and equipment were captured.

Through the heroic efforts of our soldiers, the “Ostraya” and “Camel” heights of the Khutou fortified area were also taken. The approaches to the heights were in hard-to-reach swampy areas and were well protected by scarps and wire fences. The Japanese firing points were carved into granite rock.

The capture of the Hutou fortress cost the lives of over a thousand Soviet soldiers and officers. The Japanese did not negotiate and rejected all calls for surrender. During the 11 days of the assault, almost all of them died, only 53 people surrendered.

As a result of the war, the Soviet Union regained the territories lost to the Russian Empire in 1905 following the Peace of Portsmouth, but Japan has not yet recognized the loss of the Southern Kuril Islands. Japan capitulated, but a peace treaty with the Soviet Union was not signed.

The battles are very different. Some last several hours, others stretch out over long days and even months. The final outcome of the war depends on some, while others decide absolutely nothing. Some are carefully planned and prepared, some break out accidentally, as a result of ridiculous misunderstandings. But battles of all times and peoples have one thing in common: people die in them. We invite you to look at the list of the bloodiest battles in human history.

Of course, what was considered huge losses for the ancient world, in the age of carpet bombing and tank raids no longer looks so terrible. But each of the battles we presented was considered a real disaster for its time.

Battle of Plataea (9 September 479 BC)

This clash decided the outcome of the Greco-Persian wars and put an end to King Xerxes' claims to rule over Hellas. In order to defeat a common enemy, Athens and Sparta put aside their eternal feuds and joined forces, but even their joint army was much smaller than the countless hordes of the Persian king.

The troops positioned themselves opposite each other along the banks of the Asopus River. After several skirmishes, the Persians managed to block the Greeks' access to water and force them to begin retreating. Having rushed in pursuit, the Persians came across a harsh rebuff from one of the Spartan detachments remaining in the rear. At the same time, the Persian military leader Mardonius was killed, which greatly undermined the morale of his army. Having learned about the successes of the Spartans, the remaining Greek troops stopped retreating and counterattacked. Soon the Persian army fled, was trapped in its own camp and was completely killed. According to the testimony of Herodotus, only 43 thousand Persian soldiers under the command of Artabazus survived, who were afraid to engage in battle with the Spartans and fled.

Sides and commanders:

Union of Greek Cities - Pausanias, Aristides

Persia - Mardonius

Strengths of the parties:

Greeks-110 thousand

Persians - about 350 thousand (120 thousand according to modern estimates)

Losses:

Greeks - about 10,000

Persians - 257,000 (about 100,000 thousand according to modern estimates)

Battle of Cannae (2 August 216 BC)

The largest battle of the Second Punic War was a triumph for the Carthaginian commander Hannibal Barca. Before this, he had already twice won major victories over the proud Romans - at Trebia and at Lake Trasimene. But this time the inhabitants of the Eternal City decided to repel the conqueror who had boldly invaded Italy. A huge army was moved against the Punes under the command of two Roman consuls. The Romans outnumbered the Carthaginian forces by more than two to one.

However, everything was decided not by numbers, but by skill. Hannibal skillfully positioned his troops, concentrating light infantry in the center and placing cavalry on the flanks. Having taken the brunt of the Roman attack, the center failed. At this time, the Punic cavalry pushed through the Roman flanks, and the legionnaires, carried away by the offensive, found themselves inside a concave arc of enemy forces. Soon they were hit by sudden attacks from both flanks and from the rear. Finding themselves surrounded and in panic, the Roman army was completely routed. Among others, the consul Lucius Aemilius Paulus and 80 Roman senators were killed.

Sides and commanders:

Carthage - Hannibal Barca, Magarbal, Mago

Roman Republic - Lucius Aemilius Paulus, Gaius Terence Varro

Strengths of the parties:

Carthage - 36 thousand infantry and 8 thousand horsemen

Romans - 87 thousand soldiers

Losses:

Carthage - 5700 killed, 10 thousand wounded

Romans - from 50 to 70 thousand killed

Battle of Chaplin (260 BC)

At the beginning of the 3rd century BC. Chinese kingdom of qin conquered the neighbors one by one. Only the northern kingdom of Zhou was able to provide serious resistance. After several years of low-intensity fighting, the time has come for the decisive battle between these two rivals. On the eve of the pitched battle, both Qin and Zhou replaced their commanders-in-chief. The Zhou army was led by the young strategist Zhao Ko, who knew military theory very well, but had absolutely no experience in combat. Qin placed Bai Hi at the head of its forces, a talented and experienced commander who had earned a reputation as a ruthless killer and butcher who knew no mercy.

Bai He easily deceived his inexperienced opponent. Feigning a retreat, he lured the Zhou army into a narrow mountain valley and locked it there, blocking all the passes. Under such conditions, even small Qin detachments could completely block the enemy army. All attempts to make a breakthrough were unsuccessful. After being under siege for 46 days, suffering from hunger, the Zhou army surrendered in full force. Bai Qi showed unheard-of cruelty - on his orders, 400 thousand captives were buried alive in the ground. Only 240 people were released so that they could tell about it at home.

Sides and commanders:

Qin - Bai He, Wang He

Zhou - Lian Po, Zhao Ko

Strengths of the parties:

Qin - 650 thousand

Zhou - 500 thousand

Losses:

Qin - about 250 thousand

Zhou - 450 thousand

Battle of Kulikovo Field (September 8, 1380)

Exactly on Kulikovo field For the first time, the united Russian army inflicted a crushing defeat on the superior forces of the Horde. From that moment it became clear that the power of the Russian principalities would have to be taken seriously.

In the 70s of the 14th century, the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich inflicted several small but sensitive defeats on the temnik Mamai, who proclaimed himself the head of the Golden Horde. To strengthen his power and rein in the unruly Russians, Mamai moved a large army. In order to resist him, Dmitry Ivanovich had to show miracles of diplomacy, gathering an alliance. And yet the assembled army was smaller than the Horde.

The main blow was taken by the Big Regiment and the Left Hand Regiment. The battle was so hot that the fighters had to stand directly on the corpses - the ground was not visible. The front of the Russian troops was almost broken through, but they were still able to hold out until the Ambush Regiment struck the Mongolian rear. This came as a complete surprise to Mamai, who did not think about leaving a reserve. His army fled, and the Russians pursued and beat those fleeing for about 50 miles.

Sides and commanders:

Union of Russian Principalities - Dmitry Donskoy, Dmitry Bobrok, Vladimir Brave

Golden Horde - Mamai

Strengths of the parties:

Russians - about 70,000

Horde - about 150,000

Losses:

Russians - about 20,000

Horde - about 130,000

The largest land battle in human history is also the bloodiest. Stalingrad was a principled position - letting the enemy through here meant losing the war and devaluing the feat accomplished by Soviet soldiers in the defense of Moscow, so throughout the operation the battles were extremely fierce. Despite the fact that Luftwaffe bombing turned Stalingrad into ruins, and enemy troops were able to occupy about 90 percent of the city, they were never able to win. At the cost of incredible efforts, in the most difficult conditions of urban battles, the Soviet troops managed to hold their positions.

In the early autumn of 1942, preparations began for a Soviet counterattack, and on November 19, Operation Uranus was launched, as a result of which the city was liberated and the enemy defeated. About 110 thousand soldiers, 24 generals and Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus were captured. But this victory was bought at a high price...

Sides and commanders:

USSR - Alexander Vasilevsky, Nikolai Voronov, Konstantin Rokossovsky

Axis countries (Germany, Romania, Italy, Hungary, Croatia) - Erich von Manstein, Maximilian von Weichs, Friedrich Paulus

Strengths of the parties:

USSR - 1.14 million (386,000 at the beginning of the operation)

Axis countries - 987,300 people (430,000 at the beginning of the operation)

Losses:

USSR - 1,129,619 people

Axis countries - 1,500,000 people

Magazine: Military History, No. 10 - October 2015
Category: The most, the most

From:

Battle of Moscow 1941– 1942 The battle has two main stages: defensive (September 30 – December 5, 1941) and offensive (December 5, 1941 – April 20, 1942). At the first stage, the goal of the Soviet troops was the defense of Moscow, at the second - the defeat of enemy forces advancing on Moscow.

By the beginning of the German offensive on Moscow, Army Group Center (Field Marshal F. Bock) had 74.5 divisions (approximately 38% infantry and 64% tank and mechanized divisions operating on the Soviet-German front), 1,800,000 people, 1,700 tanks, over 14,000 guns and mortars, 1,390 aircraft. Soviet troops in the Western direction, consisting of three fronts, had 1,250 thousand people, 990 tanks, 7,600 guns and mortars and 677 aircraft.

At the first stage, Soviet troops of the Western Front (Colonel General I.S. Konev, and from October 10 - Army General G.K. Zhukov), Bryansk (until October 10 - Colonel General A.I. Eremenko) and Kalinin (from October 17 - I.S. Konev) fronts stopped the advance of the troops of Army Group Center (implementation of the German Operation Typhoon) at the line south of the Volga Reservoir, Dmitrov, Yakhroma, Krasnaya Polyana (27 km from Moscow), east of Istra, west of Kubinka , Naro-Fominsk, west of Serpukhov, east of Aleksin, Tula. During the defensive battles, the enemy was significantly bled dry. On December 5-6, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive, and on January 7-10, 1942, they launched a general offensive along the entire front. In January-April 1942, troops of the Western, Kalinin, Bryansk (from December 18 - Colonel General Ya.T. Cherevichenko) and Northwestern (Tenant General P.A. Kurochkin) fronts defeated the enemy and drove him back for 100-250 km. 11 tank, 4 motorized and 23 infantry divisions were defeated. Enemy losses during the period January 1 – March 30, 1942 alone amounted to 333 thousand people.

The Battle of Moscow was of great importance: the myth of the invincibility of the German army was dispelled, the plan for a lightning war was thwarted, and the international position of the USSR was strengthened.

Battle of Stalingrad 1942 – 1943 Defensive (July 17 – November 18, 1942) and offensive (November 19, 1942 – February 2, 1943) operations carried out by Soviet troops with the aim of defending Stalingrad and defeating a large enemy strategic group operating in the Stalingrad direction.

In defensive battles in the Stalingrad area and in the city itself, troops of the Stalingrad Front (Marshal S.K. Timoshenko, from July 23 - Lieutenant General V.N. Gordov, from August 5 - Colonel General A.I. Eremenko) and the Don Front (from September 28 - Lieutenant General K.K. Rokossovsky) managed to stop the offensive of the 6th Army of Colonel General F. Paulus and the 4th Tank Army. By July 17, the 6th Army included 13 divisions (about 270 thousand people, 3 thousand guns and mortars, about 500 tanks). They were supported by aviation of the 4th Air Fleet (up to 1200 aircraft). The troops of the Stalingrad Front numbered 160 thousand people, 2.2 thousand guns, about 400 tanks and 454 aircraft. At the cost of great efforts, the command of the Soviet troops managed not only to stop the advance of German troops in Stalingrad, but also to gather significant forces for the start of the counteroffensive (1,103 thousand people, 15,500 guns and mortars, 1,463 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1,350 combat aircraft). By this time, a significant group of German troops and forces of countries allied to Germany (in particular, the 8th Italian, 3rd and 4th Romanian armies) had been sent to help the troops of Field Marshal F. Paulus. The total number of enemy troops at the beginning of the Soviet counteroffensive was 1,011.5 thousand people, 10,290 guns and mortars, 675 tanks and assault guns, 1,216 combat aircraft.

On November 19-20, troops of the Southwestern Front (Lieutenant General N.F. Vatutin), Stalingrad and Don Fronts went on the offensive and surrounded 22 divisions (330 thousand people) in the Stalingrad area. Having repelled an enemy attempt to liberate the encircled group in December, Soviet troops liquidated it. January 31 – February 2, 1943, the remnants of the enemy’s 6th Army, led by Field Marshal F. Paulus, surrendered (91 thousand people).

The victory at Stalingrad marked the beginning of a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War.

Battle of Kursk 1943 Defensive (July 5 – 23) and offensive (July 12 – August 23) operations carried out by Soviet troops in the Kursk region to disrupt a major offensive by German troops and defeat the enemy’s strategic grouping. After the defeat of its troops at Stalingrad, the German command intended to conduct a major offensive operation in the Kursk region (Operation Citadel). Significant enemy forces were involved in its implementation - 50 divisions (including 16 tank and mechanized) and a number of individual units of Army Group Center (Field Marshal G. Kluge) and Army Group South (Field Marshal E .Manstein). This accounted for about 70% of tank, up to 30% of motorized and more than 20% of infantry divisions operating on the Soviet-German front, as well as over 65% of all combat aircraft. About 20 enemy divisions operated on the flanks of the strike groups. The ground forces were supported by aviation from the 4th and 6th Air Fleets. In total, the enemy strike forces numbered over 900 thousand people, about 10 thousand guns and mortars, up to 2,700 tanks and self-propelled guns (most of them were new designs - “Tigers”, “Panthers” and “Ferdinands”) and about 2050 aircraft (including the latest designs - Focke-Wulf-190A and Henkel-129).

The Soviet command entrusted the task of repelling the enemy offensive to the troops of the Central Front (from Orel) and the Voronezh Front (from Belgorod). After solving the defense problems, it was planned to defeat the enemy’s Oryol grouping (Kutuzov plan) by troops of the right wing of the Central Front (Army General K.K. Rokossovsky), Bryansk (Colonel General M.M. Popov) and the left wing of the Western Front (Colonel General V.D. Sokolovsky). The offensive operation in the Belgorod-Kharkov direction (plan “Commander Rumyantsev”) was to be carried out by the forces of the Voronezh Front (Army General N.F. Vatutin) and the Steppe Front (Colonel General I.S. Konev) in cooperation with the troops of the Southwestern front (Army General R.Ya. Malinovsky). The general coordination of the actions of all these forces was entrusted to the representatives of the Marshal Headquarters G.K. Zhukov and A.M. Vasilevsky.

By the beginning of July, the Central and Voronezh Fronts had 1,336 thousand people, over 19 thousand guns and mortars, 3,444 tanks and self-propelled guns (including 900 light tanks) and 2,172 aircraft. In the rear of the Kursk salient, the Steppe Military District was deployed (from July 9 - the front), which was the strategic reserve of Headquarters.

The enemy offensive was to begin at 3 a.m. on July 5. However, just before it began, Soviet troops carried out artillery counter-preparation and inflicted heavy damage on the enemy in places where they were concentrated. The German offensive began only 2.5 hours later and was not of the originally intended nature. The measures taken managed to restrain the enemy’s advance (in 7 days he managed to advance only 10-12 km in the direction of the Central Front). The most powerful enemy group was operating in the direction of the Voronezh Front. Here the enemy advanced up to 35 km deep into the defense of the Soviet troops. On July 12, a turning point occurred in the battle. On this day, in the Prokhorovka area, the largest oncoming tank battle in history took place, in which 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns took part on both sides. The enemy lost here on this day alone up to 400 tanks and self-propelled guns and 10 thousand people. killed, On July 12, a new stage began in the Battle of Kursk, during which the counteroffensive of Soviet troops developed as part of the Oryol operation and the Belgorod-Kharkov operation, which ended with the liberation of Orel and Belgorod on August 5, and Kharkov on August 23.

As a result of the Battle of Kursk, 30 enemy divisions (including 7 tank divisions) were completely defeated. The enemy lost over 500 thousand people, 1.5 thousand tanks, over 3.7 thousand aircraft, 3 thousand guns.

The main result of the battle was the transition of German troops in all theaters of military operations to strategic defense. The strategic initiative finally passed into the hands of the Soviet command. In the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War, the radical change begun by the Battle of Stalingrad was completed.

Belarusian operation (June 23– August 29, 1944). Code name: Operation Bagration. One of the largest strategic offensive operations undertaken by the Soviet high command with the aim of defeating the Nazi Army Group Center and liberating Belarus. The total number of enemy troops was 63 divisions and 3 brigades numbering 1.2 million people, 9.5 thousand guns, 900 tanks and 1350 aircraft. The enemy group was commanded by Field Marshal General E. Bush, and from June 28 by Field Marshal General V. Model. It was opposed by Soviet troops of four fronts (1st Baltic, 3rd Belorussian, 2nd Belorussian and 1st Belorussian) under the command, respectively, of Army General I.Kh. Bagramyan, Army General I.D. Chernyakhovsky, Army General G. F. Zakharov and Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky. The four fronts united 20 combined arms and 2 tank armies (a total of 166 divisions, 12 tank and mechanized corps, 7 fortified areas and 21 brigades). The total number of Soviet troops reached 2.4 million people, armed with about 36 thousand guns, 5.2 thousand tanks, 5.3 thousand combat aircraft.

Based on the nature of the combat operations and the achievement of the assigned objectives, the operation is divided into two stages. At the first (June 23 – July 4), the Vitebsk-Orsha, Mogilev, Bobruisk and Polotsk operations were carried out and the encirclement of the enemy’s Minsk group was completed. The second stage (July 5 – August 29) involved the destruction of the encircled enemy and the entry of Soviet troops to new frontiers during the Siauliai, Vilnius, Kaunas, Bialystok and Lublin-Brest operations. During the Belarusian operation, the enemy completely lost 17 divisions and 3 brigades, and 50 divisions lost more than 50% of their strength. The total enemy losses amounted to about 500 thousand killed, wounded and prisoners. During the operation, Lithuania and Latvia were partially liberated. On July 20, the Red Army entered the territory of Poland and on August 17 approached the borders of East Prussia. By August 29, she entered the outskirts of Warsaw. In general, on a front length of 1100 km, our troops advanced 550-600 km, completely cutting off the enemy’s Northern group in the Baltic states. For participation in the operation, over 400 thousand soldiers and officers of the Soviet Army were awarded military orders and medals.

Berlin operation 1945 The final strategic offensive operation carried out by Soviet troops from April 16 to May 8, 1945. The goal of the operation was to defeat the group of German troops defending in the Berlin direction, capture Berlin and reach the Elbe to join the Allied forces. In the Berlin direction, the troops of the Vistula group and the Center group under the command of Colonel General G. Heinrici and Field Marshal F. Scherner took up defensive positions. The total number of enemy troops was 1 million people, 10,400 guns, 1,500 tanks, 3,300 aircraft. In the rear of these army groups there were reserve units consisting of 8 divisions, as well as the Berlin garrison of 200 thousand people.

To carry out the operation, troops of three fronts were involved: 2nd Belorussian (Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky), 1st Belorussian (Marshal G.K. Zhukov), 1st Ukrainian (Marshal I.S. Konev). According to the nature of the tasks performed and the results, the Berlin operation is divided into 3 stages: Stage 1 - breaking through the Oder-Neissen line of enemy defense (April 16 - 19); Stage 2 – encirclement and dismemberment of enemy troops (April 19 – 25); Stage 3 – destruction of the surrounded groups and capture of Berlin (April 26 – May 8). The main goals of the operation were achieved in 16-17 days.

For the success of the operation, 1,082,000 soldiers were awarded the medal “For the Capture of Berlin.” More than 600 participants in the operation became Heroes of the Soviet Union, and 13 people.

awarded the 2nd Gold Star medal.

In the four years that passed between the undeclared start of the war and the signing of the German surrender, the parties fought countless battles. Some of them will forever go down in military history as battles that determined the outcome of the most terrible war in human history. Today Primorskaya Gazeta will remember the five most significant battles of the Great Patriotic War.

1. Battle of Moscow (1941 - 1942)

At the beginning of September 1941, the German command began preparing the operation to capture Moscow. The idea of the operation was to use powerful strikes from large groups to encircle the main forces of the Red Army troops covering the capital and destroy them in the areas of Bryansk and Vyazma, and then quickly bypass Moscow from the north and south with the aim of capturing it. The operation to capture Moscow was codenamed “Typhoon”.

Red Army soldiers go straight from the parade to the front

The general offensive of German troops began on September 30, 1941, and by October 7 they managed to encircle four Soviet armies west of Vyazma and two south of Bryansk. The path to Moscow, as the German command believed, was open. But the plans of the fascists were not destined to come true. The encircled Soviet armies pinned down about 20 German divisions in stubborn battles for two weeks. At this time, the Mozhaisk defense line was hastily strengthened, and reserve troops were urgently brought up. Georgy Zhukov was recalled from the Leningrad Front and took command of the Western Front on October 10.

Despite heavy losses, the Germans continued to rush towards Moscow. They captured Kalinin, Mozhaisk, Maloyaroslavets. In mid-October, the evacuation of government institutions, the diplomatic corps, industrial enterprises, and the population from Moscow began. The rush to evacuate created confusion and panic. Rumors spread throughout Moscow about the planned surrender of the city to the Germans. This forced the State Defense Committee to introduce a state of siege in Moscow from October 20.

By the beginning of November, the city’s defenders managed to stop the enemy’s advance, and on December 5, Soviet troops, having repelled a number of more attacks, went on the offensive. On the fields of the Moscow region, Germany suffered its first major defeat in World War II, and the myth of the invincibility of its army was dispelled. The Germans lost a total of more than half a million people, 1,300 tanks, 2,500 guns, more than 15 thousand vehicles and much other equipment.

2. Battle of Stalingrad (1942 - 1943)

Encouraged by the successes near Moscow, the Soviet leadership tried to seize the strategic initiative and in May 1942 launched large forces on the offensive near Kharkov. For the Wehrmacht, this operation came as a complete surprise, and at first the Soviet offensive was a serious threat to the German Army Group South.

German military leaders, however, demonstrated that they were capable of making bold decisions in critical situations, and thanks to the concentration of troops on a narrow section of the front, they were able to break through the Soviet defenses, take the attacking group into a “cauldron” and defeat it.

Street fighting in Stalingrad

The “Kharkov disaster” was a serious blow to the morale of the USSR army, but the worst consequence was that the road to the Caucasus and the Volga direction was no longer covered by anyone.

In May 1942, the Fuehrer of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler, personally intervened in strategic planning and ordered the division of Army Group South into two groups. One of them was to continue the offensive into the northern Caucasus, and Group B, including Paulus's 6th Army and Hoth's 4th Panzer Army, was to move east towards the Volga and Stalingrad.

The capture of Stalingrad was very important for Hitler for several reasons. It was a large industrial city on the banks of the Volga, along which and along which strategically important transport routes ran, connecting the Center of Russia with the Southern regions of the USSR. The capture of Stalingrad would have allowed the Nazis to cut the water and land communications vital for the USSR, reliably cover the left flank of the German troops advancing in the Caucasus, and create serious supply problems for the Red Army units opposing them. Finally, the very fact that the city bore the name of Stalin, Hitler’s ideological enemy, made the capture of the city a winning ideological and propaganda move.

However, the defenders of Stalingrad managed not only to defend their city, but also to encircle and then destroy the enemy army along with the formations rushing to its aid.

German fighter shot down in the sky over Stalingrad

From January 10 to February 2, 1943 alone, over 91 thousand people were captured, including two and a half thousand officers and 24 generals. In total, during the Battle of Stalingrad, the enemy lost about one and a half million people killed, wounded, captured and missing - a quarter of their forces operating on the Soviet-German front.

The victory of the Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad had enormous political and international significance; it had a significant impact on the development of the Resistance Movement in the territories of European states occupied by the fascist invaders. As a result of the battle, the Soviet armed forces wrested the strategic initiative from the enemy and retained it until the end of the war.

3. Battle of Kursk (1943)

The successes achieved at Stalingrad were consolidated in the summer of that year.

During the winter offensive of the Red Army and the subsequent counter-offensive of the Wehrmacht in Eastern Ukraine, a protrusion up to 150 kilometers deep and up to 200 kilometers wide, facing west, was formed in the center of the Soviet-German front - the so-called “Kursk Bulge”. The German command, flattering itself with the hope of regaining the strategic initiative, decided to conduct a strategic operation on the Kursk salient. For this purpose, a military operation codenamed “Citadel” was developed and approved. Having information about the preparation of enemy troops for an offensive, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to temporarily go on the defensive on the Kursk Bulge and, during the defensive battle, bleed the enemy’s strike forces and thereby create favorable conditions for the Soviet troops to launch a counteroffensive, and then a general strategic offensive.

Soviet soldiers advance under the cover of tanks

To carry out Operation Citadel, the German command concentrated in a narrow area about 70% of tank, up to 30% of motorized and more than 20% of infantry divisions, as well as over 65% of all combat aircraft operating on the Soviet-German front.

On July 5, 1943, German attack groups, according to the operation plan, began an attack on Kursk from the Orel and Belgorod areas, and on July 12, in the area of the Prokhorovka railway station, 56 kilometers north of Belgorod, the largest oncoming tank battle of the Second World War took place. On both sides, up to 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns took part in the battle. The fierce battle lasted all day; by evening, tank crews and infantry were fighting hand-to-hand.

Despite the massive scale of the offensive, Soviet troops managed to stop the enemy’s advance deeper into the Kursk ledge, and just a day later, troops from the Bryansk, Central and Western fronts organized a counteroffensive. By July 18, the Soviet army had completely eliminated the enemy wedge in the Kursk direction; a little later, troops of the Steppe Front were brought into the battle and began pursuing the retreating enemy.

Red Army counteroffensive

Developing the offensive, Soviet ground forces, supported by air strikes from two air armies, as well as long-range aviation, pushed the enemy to the west and liberated Orel, Belgorod and Kharkov.

According to Soviet sources, the Wehrmacht lost over 500 thousand soldiers and officers, 1.5 thousand tanks, more than 3.7 thousand aircraft, and three thousand guns in the Battle of Kursk. The losses of Soviet troops were even worse. 863 thousand people did not return from the battle, and the armored fleet was depleted by six thousand vehicles.

However, the demographic resources of the USSR were much higher than the German ones, so the Battle of Kursk was more difficult for the invaders. The balance of forces at the front changed sharply in favor of the Red Army, which provided it with favorable conditions for the deployment of a general strategic offensive. The whole world realized that the defeat of Nazi Germany was a matter of time.

4. Belarusian operation (1944)

One of the largest military operations in human history, in which up to four million people took part on both sides (according to various sources).

By June 1944, the front line in the east approached the line Vitebsk - Orsha - Mogilev - Zhlobin, forming a huge protrusion - a wedge facing deep into the USSR, the so-called “Belarusian balcony”. If in Ukraine the Red Army managed to achieve a series of impressive successes (almost the entire territory of the republic was liberated, the Wehrmacht suffered heavy losses in the chain of “cauldrons”), then when trying to break through in the direction of Minsk in the winter of 1943-1944, the successes, on the contrary, were quite modest.

Artillery attack on German positions

At the same time, by the end of spring 1944, the offensive in the south slowed down, and the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, on the initiative of Konstantin Rokossovsky, decided to change the direction of efforts.

The goal of the operation was the defeat of the German Army Group Center and the liberation of Belarus with subsequent access to the territories of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. This offensive operation was included in the operational documents of the Headquarters under the code name “Bagration”.

The operation plan provided for a simultaneous breakthrough of the enemy’s defenses in six sections of the “Belarusian Balcony”.

The operation consisted of two stages. During the first, which lasted from June 23 to July 4, Soviet troops broke through the front and, with the help of a series of enveloping maneuvers, surrounded large German groups. Near Bobruisk, Soviet troops for the first time used a massive air strike to destroy the encircled group, which disorganized and scattered the German units going for a breakthrough.

To the west!

As a result, the main forces of Army Group Center were defeated, a 400-kilometer gap was formed in the center of the Soviet-German front, and Soviet troops were able to advance to the West. A huge role in this operation was played by Belarusian partisans, who disorganized the operational rear of the Germans, paralyzing their transfer of reserves.

At the second stage (July 5 - August 29), operations were carried out that ensured that Soviet troops continued to advance deeper into territories that had recently been under enemy control.

During the Belarusian operation, the USSR army liberated all of Belarus, most of Lithuania and Latvia, entered the territory of Poland and advanced to the borders of East Prussia. For carrying out the operation, Army General Konstantin Rokossovsky received the rank of marshal.

5. Berlin operation (1945)

One of the last strategic operations of Soviet troops in the European theater of operations, during which the Red Army occupied the capital of Germany and victoriously ended the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War in Europe. The operation lasted 23 days - from April 16 to May 8, 1945, during which Soviet troops advanced westward to a distance of 100 to 220 km.

After the fighting on the streets of Berlin

At the final stage of the Great Patriotic War, the world community no longer had any doubts that the anti-Hitler coalition would win the protracted war. However, the German leadership hoped to the last to mitigate the consequences of the war. In particular, the Germans wanted to conclude a separate peace with Great Britain and the United States, and then, left alone with the Soviet Union, gradually restore strategic equality.

Therefore, the Soviet command was required to make quick and bold decisions aimed at ending the war as quickly as possible. It was necessary to prepare and carry out an operation to defeat a group of German troops in the Berlin direction, capture Berlin and reach the Elbe River to join the Allied forces. The successful completion of this strategic task made it possible to thwart the plans of the Nazi leadership.

To carry out the operation, troops of three fronts were involved: the 2nd Belorussian under the leadership of Marshal Rokossovsky, the 1st Belorussian (Marshal G.K. Zhukov) and the 1st Ukrainian (Marshal I.S. Konev). In total, the attacking troops included up to 2.5 million soldiers and officers, 41,600 guns and mortars, 6,250 tanks and self-propelled artillery units, 7,500 aircraft, as well as part of the forces of the Baltic Fleet and the Dnieper Military Flotilla.

Based on the nature of the tasks performed and the results, the Berlin operation was divided into three stages. First, the Oder-Neissen line of enemy defense was broken through, then the enemy troops were surrounded and dismembered.

On April 30, 1945 at 21:30, units of the 150th Infantry Division under the command of Major General V.M. Shatilov and the 171st Infantry Division under the command of Colonel A.I. Negoda stormed the main part of the Reichstag building. The remaining Nazi units offered stubborn resistance. We had to fight for every room. In the early morning of May 1, the assault flag of the 150th Infantry Division was raised over the Reichstag, but the battle for the Reichstag continued all day, and only on the night of May 2 did the Reichstag garrison capitulate.

On May 1, only the Tiergarten district and the government quarter remained in German hands. The imperial chancellery was located here, in the courtyard of which there was a bunker at Hitler's headquarters. On the night of May 1, by prior agreement, the Chief of the General Staff of the German Ground Forces, General Krebs, arrived at the headquarters of the 8th Guards Army. He informed the army commander, General V.I. Chuikov, about Hitler’s suicide and the proposal of the new German government to conclude a truce. However, the German government rejected the demand for unconditional surrender, and Soviet troops resumed the assault with renewed vigor.

Soviet soldiers against the backdrop of the captured Reichstag

At one o'clock in the morning on May 2, the radio stations of the 1st Belorussian Front received a message in Russian: “We ask you to cease fire. We are sending envoys to the Potsdam Bridge." A German officer who arrived at the appointed place, on behalf of the commander of the defense of Berlin, General Weidling, announced the readiness of the Berlin garrison to stop resistance. At 6 a.m. on May 2, Artillery General Weidling, accompanied by three German generals, crossed the front line and surrendered. An hour later, while at the headquarters of the 8th Guards Army, he wrote a surrender order, which was duplicated and, with the help of loudspeaker installations and radio, delivered to enemy units defending in the center of Berlin. As this order was communicated to the defenders, resistance in the city ceased. By the end of the day, the troops of the 8th Guards Army cleared the central part of the city from the enemy. Individual units that did not want to surrender tried to break through to the west, but were destroyed or scattered.

Alexey Mikhaldyk