The beginning of the Great Patriotic War. When did the Great Patriotic War begin?

13.10.2019

The confrontation of the Russian people with the aggression of Germany and other countries that sought to establish a “new world order.” This war became a clash between two opposing civilizations, in which the Western world set as its goal the complete destruction of Russia - the USSR as a state and nation, the seizure of a significant part of its territories and the formation of puppet regimes subject to Germany in the remaining parts. Germany was pushed to war against Russia by the Judeo-Masonic regimes of the USA and England, which saw in Hitler an instrument for carrying out their plans for world domination and the destruction of Russia.

On June 22, 1941, German armed forces consisting of 103 divisions, including 10 tank divisions, invaded Russian territory. Their total number numbered five and a half million people, of which more than 900 thousand were military personnel of Germany's Western allies - Italians, Spaniards, French, Dutch, Finns, Romanians, Hungarians, etc. 4,300 tanks and assault guns were assigned to this treacherous Western international , 4980 combat aircraft, 47200 guns and mortars.

The Russian armed forces of the five western border military districts and three fleets opposing the aggressor were twice as inferior to the enemy in manpower, and in the first echelon of our armies there were only 56 rifle and cavalry divisions, which found it difficult to compete with the German tank corps. The aggressor also had a great advantage in artillery, tanks and aircraft of the latest designs.

By nationality, more than 90% of the Soviet army opposing Germany were Russians (Great Russians, Little Russians and Belarusians), which is why, without exaggeration, it can be called the Russian army, which in no way detracts from the feasible contribution of other peoples of Russia in confronting the common enemy.

Treacherously, without declaring war, concentrating overwhelming superiority on the direction of attacks, the aggressor broke through the defenses of Russian troops, seized strategic initiative and air supremacy. The enemy occupied a significant part of the country and advanced inland to 300 - 600 km.

On June 23, the Headquarters of the High Command was created (from August 6 - the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command). All power was concentrated in the State Defense Committee (GKO), created on June 30. From August 8 I.V. Stalin became the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. He gathered around him outstanding Russian commanders G.K. Zhukov, S.K. Timoshenko, B.M. Shaposhnikov, A.M. Vasilevsky, K.K. Rokossovsky, N.F. Vatutin, A.I. Eremenko, K. A. Meretskov, I. S. Konev, I. D. Chernyakhovsky and many others. In his public speeches, Stalin relies on the sense of patriotism of the Russian people and calls on them to follow the example of their heroic ancestors. The main military events of the summer-autumn campaign of 1941 were the Battle of Smolensk, the defense of Leningrad and the beginning of its blockade, the military disaster of Soviet troops in Ukraine, the defense of Odessa, the beginning of the defense of Sevastopol, the loss of Donbass, the defensive period of the Battle of Moscow. The Russian army retreated 850-1200 km, but the enemy was stopped in the main directions near Leningrad, Moscow and Rostov and went on the defensive.

The winter campaign of 1941-42 began with a counter-offensive of Russian troops in the western strategic direction. During it, a counteroffensive near Moscow, the Lyuban, Rzhevsko-Vyazemskaya, Barvenkovsko-Lozovskaya and Kerch-Feodosia landing operations were carried out. Russian troops removed the threat to Moscow and the North Caucasus, eased the situation in Leningrad, and completely or partially liberated the territory of 10 regions, as well as over 60 cities. The blitzkrieg strategy collapsed. About 50 enemy divisions were defeated. The patriotism of the Russian people, which was widely manifested from the first days of the war, played a major role in the defeat of the enemy. Thousands of national heroes like A. Matrosov and Z. Kosmodemyanskaya, hundreds of thousands of partisans behind enemy lines in the first months greatly shook the morale of the aggressor.

In the summer-autumn campaign of 1942, the main military events unfolded in the southwestern direction: the defeat of the Crimean Front, the military disaster of Soviet troops in the Kharkov operation, the Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad, Donbass, Stalingrad defensive operations, the battle in the North Caucasus. In the northwestern direction, the Russian army carried out the Demyansk and Rzhev-Sychevsk offensive operations. The enemy advanced 500 - 650 km, reached the Volga, and captured part of the passes of the Main Caucasus Range. The territory was occupied, where before the war 42% of the population lived, a third of the gross output was produced, and more than 45% of the sown areas were located. The economy was put on a war footing. A large number of enterprises were relocated to the eastern regions of the country (2,593 in the second half of 1941 alone, including 1,523 large ones), and 2.3 million heads of livestock were exported. In the first half of 1942, 10 thousand aircraft, 11 thousand tanks, approx. 54 thousand guns. In the 2nd half of the year, their production increased by more than 1.5 times.

In the winter campaign of 1942-43, the main military events were the Stalingrad and North Caucasus offensive operations and the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad. The Russian army advanced 600 - 700 km westward, liberating a territory of over 480 thousand square meters. km, defeated 100 divisions (40% of the enemy forces on the Soviet-German front). In the summer-autumn campaign of 1943, the decisive event was the Battle of Kursk. The partisans played an important role (Operation Rail War). During the battle for the Dnieper, 38 thousand settlements were liberated, including 160 cities; With the capture of strategic bridgeheads on the Dnieper, conditions were created for an offensive in Belarus. In the Battle of the Dnieper, the partisans carried out Operation Concert to destroy enemy communications. In other directions, the Smolensk and Bryansk offensive operations were carried out. The Russian army fought up to 500 - 1300 km and defeated 218 divisions.

During the winter campaign of 1943-44, the Russian army carried out an offensive in Ukraine (10 simultaneous and sequential front-line operations, united by a common plan). Completed the defeat of Army Group South, crossed the border with Romania and transferred the fighting to its territory. Almost simultaneously, the Leningrad-Novgorod offensive operation unfolded; Leningrad was finally released. As a result of the Crimean operation, Crimea was liberated. Russian troops advanced westward 250 - 450 km, liberating approx. 300 thousand sq. km of territory, reached the state border with Czechoslovakia.

In June 1944, when the USA and England realized that Russia could win the war without their participation, they opened a 2nd front in France. This worsened the military-political situation in Germany. During the summer-autumn campaign of 1944, Russian troops carried out the Belarusian, Lvov-Sandomierz, East Carpathian, Iasi-Kishinev, Baltic, Debrecen, East Carpathian, Belgrade, partially Budapest and Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operations. The liberation of Belarus, Little Russia and the Baltic states (except for some regions of Latvia), partially of Czechoslovakia was completed, Romania and Hungary were forced to capitulate and entered the war against Germany, the Soviet Arctic and the northern regions of Norway were liberated from the occupiers.

Victory in the war greatly raised the spirit of the Russian people and contributed to the growth of their national self-awareness and self-confidence. As a result of the victory, Russia regained most of what was taken from it as a result of the revolution (except for Finland and Poland). The historical Russian lands in Galicia, Bukovina, Bessarabia, etc. returned to its composition. Most of the Russian people (including Little Russians and Belarusians) again became a single entity in one state, which created the preconditions for their unification in a single Church. The fulfillment of this historical task was the main positive outcome of the war. The victory of Russian weapons created favorable conditions for Slavic unity. At some stage, the Slavic countries united with Russia in something like a fraternal federation. For a period of time, the peoples of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia realized how important it was for the Slavic world to stick together in the fight against Western encroachment on Slavic lands.

On Russia's initiative, Poland received Silesia and a significant part of East Prussia, from which the city of Königsberg with its surrounding territory came into the possession of the Russian state, and Czechoslovakia regained the Sudetenland previously captured by Germany.

The great mission to save humanity from the “new world order” was given to Russia at a huge price: the Russian people and the brotherly peoples of our Fatherland paid for this with the lives of 47 million people (including direct and indirect losses), of which approximately 37 million people were Russians themselves (including Little Russians and Belarusians).

Most of the deaths were not of the military directly involved in the hostilities, but of civilians, the civilian population of our country. The irretrievable losses of the Russian army (killed, died from wounds, missing in action, died in captivity) amount to 8 million 668 thousand 400 people. The remaining 35 million are the lives of civilians. During the war years, about 25 million people were evacuated to the East. Approximately 80 million people, or about 40% of the population of our country, ended up in the territory occupied by Germany. All these people became “objects” of the implementation of the misanthropic Ost program, were subjected to brutal repressions, and died from famine organized by the Germans. About 6 million people were driven into German slavery, many of them died from unbearable living conditions.

As a result of the war, the genetic fund of the most active and viable part of the population was significantly undermined, because in it, first of all, the strongest and most energetic members of society, capable of producing the most valuable offspring, died. In addition, due to the falling birth rate, the country is missing tens of millions of future citizens.

The huge price of victory fell most heavily on the shoulders of the Russian people (including Little Russians and Belarusians), because the main hostilities were carried out on their ethnic territories and it was towards them that the enemy was especially cruel and merciless.

In addition to the enormous human losses, our country suffered colossal material damage. Not a single country in its entire history and in the Second World War had such losses and barbaric destruction from aggressors as befell Great Russia. Russia's total material losses in world prices amounted to more than a trillion dollars (US national income for several years).

The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) is a war between the USSR and Germany within the Second World War, which ended with the victory of the Soviet Union over the Nazis and the capture of Berlin. The Great Patriotic War became one of the final stages of the Second World War.

Causes of the Great Patriotic War

After defeat in the First World War, Germany was left in an extremely difficult economic and political situation, however, after Hitler came to power and carried out reforms, the country was able to increase its military power and stabilize the economy. Hitler did not accept the results of the First World War and wanted to take revenge, thereby leading Germany to world domination. As a result of his military campaigns, in 1939 Germany invaded Poland and then Czechoslovakia. A new war has begun.

Hitler's army rapidly conquered new territories, but until a certain point, there was a non-aggression peace treaty between Germany and the USSR, signed by Hitler and Stalin. However, two years after the start of World War II, Hitler violated the non-aggression agreement - his command developed the Barbarossa plan, which envisaged a rapid German attack on the USSR and the seizure of territories within two months. In case of victory, Hitler would have the opportunity to start a war with the United States, and he would also have access to new territories and trade routes.

Contrary to expectations, the unexpected attack on Russia did not produce results - the Russian army turned out to be much better equipped than Hitler expected and offered significant resistance. The campaign, designed to last several months, turned into a protracted war, which later became known as the Great Patriotic War.

Main periods of the Great Patriotic War

The initial period of the war (June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942). On June 22, Germany invaded the territory of the USSR and by the end of the year was able to conquer Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus - troops moved inland to capture Moscow. Russian troops suffered huge losses, the inhabitants of the country in the occupied territories ended up in German captivity and were driven into slavery in Germany. However, despite the fact that the Soviet army was losing, it still managed to stop the Germans on the approach to Leningrad (the city was besieged), Moscow and Novgorod. Plan Barbarossa did not produce the desired results, and battles for these cities continued until 1942.
The period of radical change (1942-1943) On November 19, 1942, the counter-offensive of Soviet troops began, which produced significant results - one German and four allied armies were destroyed. The Soviet army continued its offensive in all directions, they managed to defeat several armies, begin pursuing the Germans and push the front line back towards the west. Thanks to the build-up of military resources (the military industry worked in a special regime), the Soviet army was significantly superior to the German one and could now not only resist, but also dictate its terms in the war. The USSR army turned from a defensive one into an attacking one.
The third period of the war (1943-1945). Despite the fact that Germany managed to significantly increase the power of its army, it was still inferior to the Soviet one, and the USSR continued to play a leading offensive role in the war effort. The Soviet army continued to advance towards Berlin, recapturing the captured territories. Leningrad was retaken, and by 1944, Soviet troops were moving towards Poland and then Germany. On May 8, Berlin was captured and German troops declared unconditional surrender.

Major battles of the Great Patriotic War

Defense of the Arctic (June 29, 1941 - November 1, 1944);
Battle of Moscow (September 30, 1941 - April 20, 1942);
Siege of Leningrad (September 8, 1941 - January 27, 1944);
Battle of Rzhev (January 8, 1942 - March 31, 1943);
Battle of Stalingrad (July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943);
Battle for the Caucasus (July 25, 1942 - October 9, 1943);
Battle of Kursk (July 5 - August 23, 1943);
Battle for Right Bank Ukraine (December 24, 1943 - April 17, 1944);
Belarusian operation (June 23 - August 29, 1944);
Baltic operation (September 14 - November 24, 1944);
Budapest operation (October 29, 1944 - February 13, 1945);
Vistula-Oder operation (January 12 - February 3, 1945);
East Prussian operation (January 13 - April 25, 1945);
Battle of Berlin (April 16 - May 8, 1945).

Results and significance of the Great Patriotic War

The main significance of the Great Patriotic War was that it finally broke the German army, not giving Hitler the opportunity to continue his struggle for world domination. The war became a turning point during the Second World War and, in fact, its completion.

However, the victory was difficult for the USSR. The country's economy was in a special regime throughout the war, factories worked mainly for the military industry, so after the war they had to face a severe crisis. Many factories were destroyed, most of the male population died, people were starving and could not work. The country was in a difficult state, and it took many years for it to recover.

But, despite the fact that the USSR was in a deep crisis, the country turned into a superpower, its political influence on the world stage increased sharply, the Union became one of the largest and most influential states, on a par with the USA and Great Britain.

The Great Patriotic War 1941-1945: summary. The feat of the Soviet people in the fight against fascism

With the beginning of September 1939, the short period of peace between the two great wars of the 20th century ended. Two years later, most of Europe with enormous production and raw materials potential came under the rule of Nazi Germany.

A powerful blow fell on the Soviet Union, for which the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) began. A brief summary of this period in the history of the USSR cannot express the scale of the suffering endured by the Soviet people and the heroism they showed.

On the eve of military trials

The revival of the power of Germany, dissatisfied with the results of the First World War (1914-1918), against the background of the aggressiveness of the party that came to power there, led by the possessed Adolf Hitler, with its ideology of racial superiority, made the threat of a new war for the USSR more and more real. By the end of the 30s, these sentiments penetrated more and more into the people, and the all-powerful leader of the huge country, Stalin, understood this more and more clearly.

The country was preparing. People went to construction sites in the eastern part of the country, military factories were built in Siberia and the Urals - backups to production facilities located near the western borders. Significantly more financial, human and scientific resources were invested in the defense industry than in the civilian industry. To increase the results of labor in cities and in agriculture, ideological (Stakhanov movement) and harsh administrative means (repressive laws on discipline in factories and collective farms) were used.

The reform in the army was prompted by the adoption of the law on universal conscription (1939), and widespread military training was introduced. It was in shooting, parachute clubs, and flying clubs at OSOAVIAKHIM that future soldier-heroes of the Patriotic War of 1941-1945 began to study military science. New military schools were opened, the latest types of weapons were developed, and progressive combat formations were formed: armored and airborne. But there was not enough time, the combat readiness of the Soviet troops was in many respects lower than that of the Wehrmacht - the army of Nazi Germany.

Stalin's suspicion of the power ambitions of the senior command caused great harm. It resulted in monstrous repressions that wiped out up to two-thirds of the officer corps. There is a version about a planned provocation by German military intelligence, which exposed many heroes of the civil war who became victims of purges.

Foreign policy factors

Stalin and the leaders of countries that wanted to limit Hitler’s European hegemony (England, France, the USA) were unable to create a united anti-fascist front before the start of the war. The Soviet leader, in an effort to delay the war, tried to contact Hitler. This led to the signing of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact (agreement) in 1939, which also did not contribute to the rapprochement of anti-Hitler forces.

As it turned out, the country's leadership was mistaken about the value of the peace agreement with Hitler. On June 22, 1941, the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe attacked the entire western borders of the USSR without declaring war. This came as a complete surprise to the Soviet troops and a great shock to Stalin.

Tragic experience

In 1940, Hitler approved the Barbarossa plan. According to this plan, three summer months were allotted for the defeat of the USSR and the capture of its capital. And at first the plan was carried out with precision. All participants in the war recall the almost hopeless mood of mid-summer 1941. 5.5 million German soldiers against 2.9 million Russians, total superiority in weapons - and in a month Belarus, the Baltic states, Moldova, and almost all of Ukraine were captured. The losses of Soviet troops were 1 million killed, 700 thousand prisoners.

The superiority of the Germans in the skill of troop management was noticeable - the combat experience of the army, which had already covered half of Europe, was reflected. Skillful maneuvers encircle and destroy entire groups near Smolensk, Kyiv, in the Moscow direction, and the blockade of Leningrad begins. Stalin was dissatisfied with the actions of his commanders and resorted to the usual repressions - General Pavlov, who commanded the Western Front, was shot for treason.

People's War

And yet Hitler’s plans collapsed. The USSR quickly took a war footing. The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command was created to control the armies and a single governing body for the entire country - the State Defense Committee, headed by the all-powerful leader Stalin.

Hitler believed that Stalin's methods of leading the country, illegal repressions against the intelligentsia, the military, wealthy peasants and entire nationalities would cause the collapse of the state, the emergence of a “fifth column” - as he was used to in Europe. But he miscalculated.

Men in the trenches, women at the machines, old people and small children hated the invaders. Wars of this magnitude affect the fate of every person, and victory requires a universal effort. Sacrifices for the sake of a common victory were made not only because of ideological motives, but also because of innate patriotism, which had roots in pre-revolutionary history.

Battle of Moscow

The invasion received its first serious resistance near Smolensk. With heroic efforts, the attack on the capital was delayed there until the beginning of September.

By October, tanks with crosses on their armor reach Moscow, with the goal of capturing the Soviet capital before the onset of cold weather. The most difficult time during the Great Patriotic War was coming. A state of siege is declared in Moscow (10/19/1941).

The military parade on the anniversary of the October Revolution (11/07/1941) will forever remain in history as a symbol of confidence that Moscow will be able to be defended. Troops and people's militia left Red Square directly to the front, which was located 20 kilometers to the west.

An example of the tenacity of Soviet soldiers was the feat of 28 Red Army soldiers from General Panfilov’s division. They delayed a breakthrough group of 50 tanks at the Dubosekovo crossing for 4 hours and died, destroying 18 combat vehicles. These heroes of the Patriotic War (1941-1945) are only a small part of the Immortal Regiment of the Russian Army. Such self-sacrifice gave rise to doubts about victory among the enemy, strengthening the courage of the defenders.

Recalling the events of the war, Marshal Zhukov, who commanded the Western Front near Moscow, whom Stalin began to promote to the leading roles, always noted the decisive importance of the defense of the capital for achieving victory in May 1945. Any delay by the enemy army made it possible to accumulate forces for a counterattack: fresh units of the Siberian garrisons were transferred to Moscow. Hitler did not plan to wage war in winter conditions; the Germans began to have problems supplying troops. By the beginning of December, there was a turning point in the battle for the Russian capital.

A radical turn

The offensive of the Red Army (December 5, 1941), which was unexpected for Hitler, threw the Germans one and a half hundred miles to the west. The fascist army suffered the first defeat in its history, the plan for a victorious war failed.

The offensive continued until April 1942, but it was far from irreversible changes in the course of the war: major defeats followed near Leningrad, Kharkov, in the Crimea, the Nazis reached the Volga near Stalingrad.

When historians of any country mention the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), a brief summary of its events cannot do without the Battle of Stalingrad. It was at the walls of the city that bore the name of Hitler's sworn enemy that he received the blow that ultimately led to his collapse.

The defense of the city was often carried out hand-to-hand, for every piece of territory. Participants in the war note an unprecedented amount of human and technical assets recruited from both sides and burned in the fire of the Battle of Stalingrad. The Germans lost a quarter of their troops - one and a half million bayonets, 2 million were our losses.

The unprecedented resilience of Soviet soldiers in defense and uncontrollable rage in the offensive, together with the increased tactical skill of the command, ensured the encirclement and capture of 22 divisions of the 6th Army of Field Marshal Paulus. The results of the second military winter shocked Germany and the whole world. The history of the war of 1941-1945 changed course; it became clear that the USSR not only withstood the first blow, but would also inevitably deal a powerful retaliatory blow to the enemy.

The final turning point in the war

The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) contains several examples of the leadership talent of the Soviet command. A summary of the events of 1943 is a series of impressive Russian victories.

The spring of 1943 began with a Soviet offensive in all directions. The configuration of the front line threatened the encirclement of the Soviet Army in the Kursk region. The German offensive operation, called “Citadel,” had precisely this strategic goal, but the Red Army command provided for enhanced defense in the areas of the proposed breakthrough, while simultaneously preparing reserves for a counteroffensive.

The German offensive in early July managed to break through the Soviet defenses only in sections to a depth of 35 km. The history of the war (1941-1945) knows the date of the start of the largest oncoming battle of self-propelled combat vehicles. On a sultry July day, the 12th, the crews of 1,200 tanks began the battle in the steppe near the village of Prokhorovka. The Germans have the latest Tiger and Panther, the Russians have the T-34 with a new, more powerful gun. The defeat inflicted on the Germans knocked the offensive weapons of the motorized corps out of Hitler's hands, and the fascist army went on the strategic defensive.

By the end of August 1943, Belgorod and Orel were recaptured, and Kharkov was liberated. For the first time during the Great Patriotic War, the initiative was seized by the Red Army. Now the German generals had to guess where she would begin hostilities.

In the penultimate war year, historians identify 10 decisive operations that led to the liberation of territory captured by the enemy. Until 1953 they were called “Stalin’s 10 blows.”

Great Patriotic War (1941-1945): summary of military operations of 1944

Lifting the Leningrad blockade (January 1944).
January-April 1944 Korsun-Shevchenko operation, successful battles in Right Bank Ukraine, March 26 – access to the border with Romania.
Liberation of Crimea (May 1944).
The defeat of Finland in Karelia, its exit from the war (June-August 1944).
The offensive of four fronts in Belarus (Operation Bagration).
July-August – battles in Western Ukraine, Lvov-Sandomierz operation.
Iasi-Kishinev operation, defeat of 22 divisions, withdrawal of Romania and Bulgaria from the war (August 1944).
Help for Yugoslav partisans I.B. Tito (September 1944).
Liberation of the Baltic states (July-October of the same year).
October – liberation of the Soviet Arctic and northeast Norway.

End of enemy occupation

By the beginning of November, the territory of the USSR within the pre-war borders was liberated. The period of occupation has ended for the peoples of Belarus and Ukraine. Today's political situation forces some “figures” to present the German occupation almost as a blessing. It’s worth asking about this from Belarusians, who lost every fourth person from the actions of “civilized Europeans.”

It was not for nothing that from the first days of the foreign invasion, partisans began to operate in the occupied territories. The war of 1941-1945 in this sense became an echo of the Patriotic War of 1812, when other European invaders did not know peace on our territory.

Liberation of Europe

The European liberation campaign required an unimaginable expenditure of human and military resources from the USSR. Hitler, who did not even allow the thought that a Soviet soldier would enter German soil, threw all possible forces into battle, putting the elderly and children under arms.

The course of the final stage of the war can be traced by the name of the awards established by the Soviet government. Soviet soldiers-liberators received the following medals of the war of 1941-1945: for the liberation of Belgrade (10/20/1944), Warsaw (01/7/1945), Prague (May 9), for the capture of Budapest (February 13), Koenigsberg (April 10), Vienna (April 13). And finally, military personnel were awarded for the storming of Berlin (May 2).

...And May came. The victory was marked by the signing on May 8 of the Act of Unconditional Surrender of German Troops, and on June 24 a parade was held with the participation of representatives of all fronts, branches and branches of the military.

a great victory

Hitler's adventure cost humanity dearly. The exact number of human losses is still debated. Restoring destroyed cities and establishing an economy required many years of hard work, hunger and deprivation.

The results of the war are now assessed differently. The geopolitical changes that occurred after 1945 had different consequences. The territorial acquisitions of the Soviet Union, the emergence of the socialist camp, and the strengthening of the political weight of the USSR to the status of a superpower soon led to confrontation and increased tension between the allied countries in World War II.

But the main results are not subject to any revision and do not depend on the opinions of politicians looking for immediate benefits. In the Great Patriotic War, our country defended freedom and independence, a terrible enemy was defeated - the bearer of a monstrous ideology that threatened to destroy entire nations, and the peoples of Europe were freed from it.

The participants in the battles are fading into history, the children of war are already elderly, but the memory of that war will live as long as people are able to value freedom, honesty and courage.

A few minutes later, Hitler's hordes invaded the USSR. Simultaneously with the invasion of ground forces, hundreds of enemy aircraft began to bomb airfields, naval bases, communication centers and lines, railway stations, military camps and other military installations. Many Soviet cities were subjected to massive air raids: Libau, Riga, Kaunas, Minsk, Smolensk, Kiev, Zhitomir, Sevastopol, etc. Enemy aircraft operated in the entire western border strip - from the Gulf of Finland to the Black Sea. First of all, it sought to destroy the fighter aircraft of the border military districts at the airfields. As a result of sudden air strikes, the enemy managed to knock out a significant part of the fighter aircraft, mainly new designs, which greatly facilitated the fight for fascist German aviation for air supremacy.
Thus, Hitler’s Germany, treacherously violating the non-aggression pact concluded in 1939, suddenly attacked our Motherland. Together with it, the armed forces of Finland, Romania, Italy, Slovakia, Finland, Spain, Bulgaria and Hungary began fighting against the Soviet Army. The predatory attack of Hitlerite Germany on the USSR became a fait accompli. However, those people who were not directly exposed to the first blows of the enemy and did not receive combat orders from higher headquarters did not yet believe that the war had begun. And it is no coincidence that, having received the first reports from border posts about an enemy invasion, some commanders gave instructions to the troops not to cross the border and not to open fire on enemy aircraft. But this did not last long. Soviet troops began to rapidly advance to the border to meet the invading enemy. Soon, together with the border guards, they entered into battle with the enemy.

The fighting on the ground and in the air became extremely intense. Fierce and bloody battles unfolded along the entire front. Despite the incredibly difficult situation in which Soviet soldiers, officers and generals had to fight from the very first hours of the war, they showed great courage and massive heroism.

The military-political goals of the Soviet Union in the war with Nazi Germany were defined in the directive of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks dated June 29, 1941. The goal of the Great Patriotic War against the fascist invaders was not only to eliminate the danger hanging over our country, but also assistance to all the peoples of Europe groaning under the yoke of German imperialism.
The situation for the Soviet Army in the first days of the war was difficult. Due to the delay in taking measures to bring the troops of the border military districts into combat readiness, our formations were not deployed in a timely manner to repel the aggressor's attack, they entered the battle separately, in parts, and as a result often suffered failures. Advancing along various routes to the front line and meeting the enemy, they fought against him in separate areas. Therefore, the defensive actions of the Soviet troops were of a focal nature. Since there was no continuous front, enemy formations, especially tank units, had the opportunity to strike on the flanks and from the rear. Under these conditions, Soviet troops had to fight surrounded and retreat to the rear lines.

The enemy occupied a significant part of the country, advanced up to 300-600 km, losing 100 thousand people killed, almost 40% of tanks and 950 aircraft. Our losses were even more horrific. Border battles and the initial period of the war (until mid-July) generally led to the defeat of the Red Army. She lost 850 thousand people killed and wounded, 9.5 thousand guns, St. 6 thousand tanks, approx. 3.5 thousand aircraft; approx. captured. 1 million people. On June 23, the Headquarters of the High Command was created (from August 8 - the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command). All power was concentrated in the State Defense Committee (GKO), created on June 30. On August 8, J.V. Stalin became the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The main military events of the summer-autumn campaign of 1941 were the Battle of Smolensk, the defense of Leningrad and the beginning of its blockade, the military disaster of Soviet troops in Ukraine, the defense of Odessa, the beginning of the defense of Sevastopol, the loss of Donbass, the defensive period of the Battle of Moscow. The Red Army retreated 850-1200 km, but the enemy was stopped in the main directions near Leningrad, Moscow and Rostov and went on the defensive. The winter campaign of 1941-42 began with a counter-offensive of Soviet troops in the western strategic direction. During it, a counteroffensive near Moscow, the Lyuban, Rzhevsko-Vyazemskaya, Barvenkovsko-Lozovskaya and Kerch-Feodosia landing operations were carried out. Soviet troops removed the threat to Moscow and the North. Caucasus, eased the situation in Leningrad, completely or partially liberated the territory of 10 regions, as well as St. 60 cities. The blitzkrieg strategy collapsed. It was destroyed approx. 50 enemy divisions.

The enemy established an occupation regime on the occupied territory of the USSR. The territories of the Byelorussian SSR, Ukrainian SSR, Estonian SSR, Latvian SSR, Lithuanian SSR, and 13 regions of the RSFSR were subject to German occupation. Moldova and some areas of the south of the Ukrainian SSR (Transnistria) were included in Romania, part of the Karelo-Finnish SSR was occupied by Finnish troops.
More than ten million Soviet citizens became victims of the occupiers.
As the Russian historian G. A. Bordyugov points out, in the affairs of the Extraordinary State Commission “to establish and investigate the atrocities of the Nazi invaders and their accomplices” (June 1941 - December 1944), 54,784 acts of atrocities against civilians in the occupied Soviet Union were recorded. territories. Among them are crimes such as “the use of civilians during hostilities, the forced mobilization of civilians, the shooting of civilians and the destruction of their homes, rape, the hunt for people - slaves for German industry.”

In the summer-autumn campaign of 1942, Soviet troops had an unrealistic task: to completely defeat the enemy and liberate the entire territory of the country. The main military events unfolded in the southwestern direction: the defeat of the Crimean Front, the military disaster of Soviet troops in the Kharkov operation, the Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad, Donbass, Stalingrad defensive operations, the battle in the North. Caucasus. In the northwestern direction, the Red Army carried out the Demyansk and Rzhev-Sychevsk offensive operations. The enemy advanced 500-650 km, reached the Volga, and captured part of the passes of the Main Caucasus Range. The territory was occupied, where before the war 42% of the population lived, 1/3 of the gross output was produced, and more than 45% of the sown areas were located. The economy was put on a war footing. A large number of enterprises were relocated to the eastern regions of the country (2,593 in the second half of 1941 alone, including 1,523 large ones), and 2.3 million heads of livestock were exported. In the first half of 1942, 10 thousand aircraft, 11 thousand tanks, approx. 54 thousand guns. In the 2nd half of the year, their production increased by more than 1.5 times. Soviet-British agreement of July 12, 1941, Moscow Conference of representatives of the USSR, USA and Great Britain (September 29 - October 1, 1941), Declaration of 26 states of January 1, 1942 on the military alliance of countries that fought against fascism, Soviet-American agreement of June 11, 1942 formed the core of the anti-Hitler coalition.

In the winter campaign of 1942-43, the main military events were the Stalingrad and North Caucasus offensive operations and the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad. The Red Army advanced 600-700 km westward, liberating the territory of St. 480 km2, defeated 100 divisions (40% of the enemy forces on the Soviet-German front). Favorable conditions were created to complete the Allied offensive in the North. Africa, Sicily and South. Italy. In the summer-autumn campaign of 1943, the decisive event was the Battle of Kursk. The partisans played an important role (Operation Rail War). During the battle for the Dnieper, 38 thousand settlements were liberated, including 160 cities; With the capture of strategic bridgeheads on the Dnieper, conditions were created for an offensive in Belarus. In the Battle of the Dnieper, the partisans carried out Operation Concert to destroy enemy communications. The Smolensk and Bryansk offensive operations were carried out in other directions. The Red Army fought up to 500-1300 km and defeated 218 divisions. An important stage in the development of international and inter-allied relations was the Tehran Conference (November 28 - December 1, 1943).

During the winter campaign of 1943-44, the Red Army carried out an offensive in Ukraine (10 simultaneous and sequential front-line operations united by a common plan), completed the defeat of Army Group South, reached the border with Romania and transferred hostilities to its territory.

Almost simultaneously, the Leningrad-Novgorod offensive operation unfolded; Leningrad was finally released. As a result of the Crimean operation, Crimea was liberated. Soviet troops advanced westward 250-450 km and liberated approx. 300 thousand km2 of territory reached the state border with Czechoslovakia. In June 1944, the Allies opened the 2nd Front in France, which worsened the military-political situation in Germany. During the summer-autumn campaign of 1944, Soviet troops carried out the Belarusian, Lvov-Sandomierz, East Carpathian, Iasi-Kishinev, Baltic, Debrecen, East Carpathian, Belgrade, partially Budapest and Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operations. The liberation of Belarus, Ukraine and the Baltic states (except for some regions of Latvia), partially of Czechoslovakia was completed, Romania and Hungary were forced to capitulate and entered the war against Germany, the Soviet Arctic and the northern regions of Norway were liberated from the occupiers. On February 4-11, 1945, the Crimean Conference of the leaders of the USSR, Great Britain and the USA took place in Yalta.

The 1945 campaign in Europe included the East Prussian, Vistula-Oder, completion of Budapest, East Pomeranian, Lower Silesian, Upper Silesian, Western Carpathian, Vienna and Berlin operations, which ended with the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. After the Berlin operation, Soviet troops, together with the 2nd Army of the Polish Army, the 1st and 4th Romanian armies and the 1st Czechoslovak Corps, carried out the Prague operation. On June 24, the Victory Parade took place in Moscow. At the Berlin Conference of the leaders of the three great powers, which took place in July-August, an agreement was reached on issues of post-war peace in Europe. On August 9, 1945, the USSR, fulfilling its allied obligations, began military operations against Japan.

During the Manchurian operation, Soviet troops defeated the Kwantung Army and liberated South. Sakhalin and Kuril Islands. On September 2, 1945, Japan signed the Act of Unconditional Surrender. On the Soviet-German front, 607 enemy divisions were defeated and captured, and 75% of their military equipment was destroyed. According to various sources, Wehrmacht losses ranged from 6 million to 13.7 million people. The USSR lost approx. 27 million people, including 11.3 million people at the front, 4-5 million partisans, many people died in the occupied territory and in the rear of the country. There were approx. in fascist captivity. 6 million people. Material damage amounted to 679 billion rubles. In a difficult, bloody war, the Soviet people made a decisive contribution to the liberation of the peoples of Europe from the fascist yoke. Victory Day (May 9) is celebrated annually as a national holiday and a day of remembrance for those killed.

Bordyugov G. A. The Wehrmacht and the Red Army: on the question of the nature of crimes against the civilian population. Report at the International Scientific Conference “The Experience of World Wars in the History of Russia”, September 11, 2005, Chelyabinsk.
Anfilov V.A. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War (June 22 - mid-July 1941). Military historical essay. - M.: Voenizdat, 1962.
http://cccp.narod.ru/work/enciklop/vov_01.html.

How to tell children about the Great Patriotic War? With this story you can tell your children about the war in an accessible way.

It presents a chronology of the main events of the Great Patriotic War.

Victory will be ours!

- War! War!

On June 22, 1941, German fascists attacked our homeland. They attacked like thieves, like robbers. They wanted to seize our lands, our cities and villages, and either kill our people or make them their servants and slaves. The Great Patriotic War began. It lasted four years.

The path to victory was not easy. The enemies attacked us unexpectedly. They had more tanks and planes. Our armies were retreating. The battles took place on the ground, in the sky, and at sea. Great battles thundered: Moscow, Stalingrad, the Battle of Kursk. Heroic Sevastopol did not surrender to the enemy for 250 days. For 900 days, courageous Leningrad held out under a terrible siege. The Caucasus fought bravely. In Ukraine, Belarus, and other places, formidable partisans crushed the invaders. Millions of people, including children, worked at factory machines and in the fields of the country. The Soviet people (the Soviet Union was the name of our country in those years) did everything to stop the Nazis. Even in the most difficult days, they firmly believed: “The enemy will be defeated! Victory will be ours!"

And then the day came when the advance of the invaders was stopped. The Soviet armies drove the Nazis out of their native land.

And again battles, battles, battles, battles. The blows of the Soviet troops are becoming more and more powerful, more and more indestructible. And the most long-awaited, greatest day came. Our soldiers reached the borders of Germany and stormed the capital of the Nazis - the city of Berlin. It was 1945. Spring was blooming. It was the month of May.

The Nazis admitted their complete defeat on May 9. Since then, this day has become our great holiday - Victory Day.

Our people showed miracles of heroism and courage while defending their native land from the Nazis.

The Brest Fortress stood on the very border. The Nazis attacked it on the very first day of the war. They thought: one day - and the fortress is in their hands. Our soldiers held out for a whole month. And when there was no strength left and the Nazis broke into the fortress, its last defender wrote on the wall with a bayonet: “I’m dying, but I’m not giving up.”

There was the Great Moscow Battle. Fascist tanks rushed forward. On one of the sections of the front, the enemy’s road was blocked by 28 heroic soldiers from General Panfilov’s division. Dozens of tanks were knocked out by soldiers. And they kept walking and walking. The soldiers were exhausted in battle. And the tanks kept coming and going. And yet Panfilov’s men did not retreat in this terrible battle. The Nazis were not allowed to enter Moscow.

General Dmitry Karbyshev was wounded in battle and was captured. He was a professor, a very famous military builder. The Nazis wanted the general to come over to their side. They promised life and high positions. Dmitry Karbyshev did not betray his homeland. The Nazis executed the general. They took us outside into the bitter cold. They doused him with cold water from hoses.

Vasily Zaitsev is a famous hero of the Battle of Stalingrad. He killed three hundred fascists with his sniper rifle. Zaitsev was elusive to his enemies. The fascist commanders had to call the famous shooter from Berlin. That's who will destroy the Soviet sniper. It turned out the other way around. Zaitsev killed a Berlin celebrity. “Three hundred and one,” said Vasily Zaitsev.

During the battles near Stalingrad, field telephone communications were interrupted in one of the artillery regiments. An ordinary soldier, signalman Titaev, crawled under enemy fire to find out where the wire was broken. Found. He just tried to twist the ends of the wires when a fragment of an enemy shell hit the fighter. Before Titaev had time to connect the wires, then, dying, he clamped them tightly with his lips. The connection is working. "Fire! Fire!" - the commands sounded again in the artillery regiment.

The war brought us many deaths. The twelve Grigoryan soldiers were members of a large Armenian family. They served in the same department. They went to the front together. Together we defended our native Caucasus. Together with everyone else we went forward. One reached Berlin. Eleven Grigoryans died. After the war, the residents of the city where the Grigoryans lived planted twelve poplars in honor of the heroes. The poplars have now grown. They stand exactly in a row, like soldiers in formation - tall and beautiful. Eternal memory to the Grigoryans.

Teenagers and even children took part in the fight against enemies. Many of them were awarded military medals and orders for their bravery and courage. Valya Kotik, at the age of twelve, joined a partisan detachment as a scout. At the age of fourteen, for his exploits he became the youngest Hero of the Soviet Union.

An ordinary machine gunner fought in Sevastopol. Slayed enemies accurately. Left alone in the trench, he took on an unequal battle. He was wounded and shell-shocked. But he held the trench. Destroyed up to a hundred fascists. He was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. The machine gunner's name was Ivan Bogatyr. You won't find a better surname.

Fighter pilot Alexander Pokryshkin shot down the first fascist plane at the very beginning of the war. Lucky Pokryshkin. The number of planes he shot down increases - 5, 10, 15. The names of the fronts on which the pilot fought change. The heroic score of victories grew and grew—20, 30, 40. The war was drawing to a close—50, 55, 59. Fifty-nine enemy planes were shot down by fighter pilot Alexander Pokryshkin.

He became a Hero of the Soviet Union.

Became twice Hero of the Soviet Union.

Became Hero of the Soviet Union three times.

Eternal glory to you, Alexander Pokryshkin, the first three times hero in the country.

And here is the story of another feat. Pilot Alexey Maresyev was shot down in an air battle. He survived, but was seriously wounded. His plane crashed on enemy territory in a deep forest. It was winter. He walked for 18 days, and then crawled to his own. He was picked up by the partisans. The pilot had frostbitten feet. They had to be amputated. How can you fly without legs?! Maresyev learned not only to walk and even dance on prosthetics, but most importantly, to fly a fighter. In the very first air battles, he shot down three fascist planes.

The last days of the war were passing. Heavy fighting took place on the streets of Berlin. On one of the Berlin streets, soldier Nikolai Masalov, risking his life, carried a crying German girl from the battlefield under enemy fire. The war is over. In the very center of Berlin, in a park on a high hill, there now stands a monument to a Soviet soldier. He stands with the rescued girl in his arms.