USSR during the Great Patriotic War. The USSR during the Second Great Patriotic War The USSR during the Second World War briefly

On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the territory of the USSR without declaring war. The Great Patriotic War began, which from the first days differed from the war in the West in its scope, bloodshed, the extreme tension of the struggle, the mass atrocities of the Nazis, and the unprecedented self-sacrifice of the citizens of the USSR.

The German side presented the war as a preventive (precautionary). The fabrication of a preventive war was intended to give the attack on the USSR the appearance of a moral justification. The decision to invade was made by the fascist leadership not because the USSR threatened Germany, but because fascist Germany aspired to world domination. The guilt of Germany as the aggressor cannot be questioned. On June 22, Germany carried out, as the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg found, a carefully prepared attack on the USSR “without any warning and without a shadow of legal justification. It was a clear attack." At the same time, some facts of the pre-war history of our country remain the subject of controversy among historians. Of course, this cannot change the assessment of the German attack on the USSR as an act of aggression. In the national historical memory of the people, the war of 1941-1945. will forever remain as Patriotic, liberation. And no details of interest to historians can obscure this indisputable fact.

In June 1940, the German General Staff began to develop a plan for a war against the USSR, and on December 18, Hitler approved the Barbarossa plan, which provided for the completion of the military campaign against the USSR during the "blitzkrieg" in two to four months. The documents of the German leadership left no doubt that they were betting on the destruction of the USSR and millions of its citizens. The Nazis intended to "defeat the Russians as a people", to undermine their "biological strength", to destroy their culture.

Germany and its allies (Finland, Hungary, Romania, Italy) concentrated 190 divisions (5.5 million soldiers and officers), 4.3 thousand tanks, 5 thousand aircraft, 47.2 thousand guns and mortars along the border of the USSR . In the western border military districts of the USSR, 170 divisions (3 million soldiers and commanders), 14.2 thousand tanks, 9.2 thousand combat aircraft, 32.9 thousand guns and mortars were concentrated. At the same time, 16% of the tanks and 18.5% of the aircraft were under repair or in need of repair. The blow was applied in three main directions: to Leningrad, Moscow and Kyiv.

There are three periods in the history of the Great Patriotic War. During the first period (June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942) the strategic initiative belonged to Germany. The Wehrmacht managed to seize the initiative, using the surprise factor of the attack, the concentration of forces and means in the main directions. Already in the first days and months of the war, the Red Army suffered huge losses. In three weeks of fighting, the aggressor completely defeated 28 Soviet divisions, and another 70 lost more than half of their personnel and equipment. The retreat of the Red Army units was often disorderly. A significant part of the fighters and commanders of the Red Army was captured. According to German documents, at the end of 1941 they had 3.9 million Soviet prisoners of war.

What were the reasons for the defeats of the Red Army at the initial stage of the war? First of all, it should be emphasized that the USSR was faced with the strongest and invincible army of the world at that time. The forces and means of Germany and its allies at the beginning of the war were 1.2 times greater than the forces and means of the USSR. In certain positions, the Armed Forces of the USSR were numerically superior to the enemy army, but inferior to it in strategic deployment, in the quality of many types of weapons, in experience, training and literacy of personnel. By the beginning of the war, it was not possible to complete the rearmament of the army: there were not enough modern tanks, aircraft, automatic small arms, communications equipment, etc.

Secondly, serious damage was inflicted to the command cadres during the repressions. In 1937-1939. about 37 thousand commanders of various ranks were dismissed from the army, most for political reasons. Of these, 3-4 thousand were shot as "conspirators", 6-8 thousand were convicted. Although the vast majority of those dismissed and convicted were rehabilitated and returned to the army, the repressions undermined the combat effectiveness of the Red Army. A significant part of the command staff (55%) was in their positions for less than six months. This was due to the fact that the size of the Red Army had more than doubled since 1939.

Thirdly, serious military-strategic miscalculations made by the Soviet political and military leadership had an effect on the formation of the military concept, in assessing the strategic situation in the spring and summer of 1941, in determining the timing of a possible attack on the USSR and the directions of the main attacks of the German troops, which ensured strategic and tactical surprise and multiple superiority of the aggressor in the main directions.

Fourthly, miscalculations were made in the organization of defense and training of troops. The army was in the process of reorganization, the tank corps were not yet combat-ready, the pilots had not yet learned how to fight on the new equipment, the western borders were not fully fortified, the troops had not learned how to fight on the defensive, etc.

From the first days of the war, the restructuring of the life of the country on a military basis began. The principle of maximum centralization of leadership was put at the basis of the restructuring of the activities of the party, state authorities and administration. On June 23, the Headquarters of the High Command was created, headed by People's Commissar of Defense Marshal S.K. Timoshenko. On July 10, Stalin was appointed chairman of the Stavka (Stavka of the Supreme High Command). On June 30, the State Defense Committee was organized under the chairmanship of Stalin. All power in the country was concentrated in his hands. The main activity of the State Defense Committee was the work of deploying the Armed Forces, preparing reserves, providing them with weapons, equipment, and food. During the war years, the State Defense Committee adopted about 10,000 resolutions. Under the leadership of the Committee, the Headquarters planned 9 campaigns, 51 strategic operations and 250 front-line ones.

Military mobilization work has become the most important direction of the state's activity. The general mobilization of those liable for military service made it possible by July to replenish the army with 5.3 million people. During the war years, 34.5 million people (17.5% of the pre-war population) were mobilized into the army and to work in industry (taking into account those who served before the start of the war and volunteers). More than a third of this staff was in the army, of which 5-6.5 million people were constantly in the army. (17.9 million people were recruited to serve in the Wehrmacht - 25.8% of the population of Germany in 1939). Mobilization made it possible to form 648 new divisions during the war, 410 of them in 1941.

Military operations at the front in 1941 were extremely tragic. In the autumn of 1941, Leningrad was blockaded. On the central sector of the front, the Battle of Smolensk unfolded on July 10. A dramatic situation developed in September in the Kyiv region, where there was a threat of encirclement of Soviet troops. The enemy closed the encirclement, captured Kyiv, destroying and capturing more than 600 thousand soldiers and commanders of the Red Army. Having defeated the Kiev grouping of Soviet troops, the German command resumed the offensive of Army Group Center on Moscow. The defense of Odessa continued for more than two months. From October 30, 1941, Sevastopol fought heroically for 250 days.

The attack on Moscow (Operation Typhoon) began on 30 September. Despite the heroic resistance of the Soviet troops, the enemy was approaching Moscow. From October 20, a state of siege was introduced in the capital. On November 7, a military parade took place on Red Square, which was of great moral, psychological and political significance. On the other hand, the morale of the German troops was significantly broken. Their losses on the Eastern Front were without precedent: in June-November 1941 they were three times more than in Poland and on the Western Front, and the losses in the officer corps were five times more than in 1939-1940. On November 16, after a two-week pause, a new German offensive began on Moscow. Simultaneously with the repulse of the enemy offensive, a counteroffensive was being prepared. On December 5, the troops of the Kalinin Front (I.S. Konev), and on December 6, the Western (G.K. Zhukov) and South-Western (S.K. Timoshenko) went on the offensive. The Soviet side had 1100 thousand soldiers and officers, 7.7 thousand guns and mortars, 774 tanks, 1 thousand aircraft against 1708 thousand enemy soldiers and officers, 13.5 thousand guns and mortars, 1170 tanks, 615 aircraft .

In the battle near Moscow from November 16 to December 5, German troops lost 155 thousand people killed and wounded, about 800 tanks, 300 guns and up to 1.5 thousand aircraft. In total, until the end of 1941, Germany and the allies lost on the Eastern Front 273.8 thousand people killed, 802.7 thousand wounded, 57.2 thousand missing.

For a month of fighting, Moscow, Tula and a significant part of the Kalinin region were liberated. In January 1942, the counter-offensive near Moscow developed into a general offensive of the Red Army. However, by March 1942 the power of the offensive dried up, the army suffered heavy losses. It was not possible to develop the success of the counteroffensive along the entire front, which lasted until April 20, 1942. The battle for 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.

In the spring and summer of 1942, the German troops took advantage of the miscalculations of the Soviet command, which was expecting a new attack on Moscow and concentrated more than half of the armies, 62% of aircraft and up to 80% of tanks here. The German command was preparing an offensive in the south, trying to capture the Caucasus and the Lower Volga region. Soviet troops in the south were not enough. Distracting offensive operations in the Crimea and in the Kharkov direction turned into major defeats. German troops occupied the Donbass, went to the big bend of the Don. On July 24, the enemy captured Rostov-on-Don. The situation at the front was critical.

On July 28, the people's commissar of defense issued order No. 227 ("Not a step back!"), Which was intended to stop manifestations of cowardice and desertion, categorically forbade retreat without an order from the command. The order introduced penal battalions and companies for military personnel to serve their sentences for criminal and military crimes. In 1942, 25 thousand people were sent to them, in the subsequent years of the war - 403 thousand. Within each army, 3-5 detachments were created (200 people each), obliged to shoot alarmists on the spot in case of panic and disorderly withdrawal of units . The barrage detachments were disbanded in the fall of 1944.

In August 1942, the enemy reached the banks of the Volga near Stalingrad and the foothills of the Caucasus Range. On August 25, the battle for Stalingrad began, which became decisive for the outcome of the entire war. Stalingrad became synonymous with the mass heroism of the soldiers and the resilience of the Soviet people. The main burden of the struggle for Stalingrad fell on the lot of the armies led by V.I. Chuikov, M.S. Shumilov, A.I. Lopatin, divisions A.I. Rodimtseva and I.I. Lednikov. The defensive operation in Stalingrad cost the lives of 324,000 Soviet soldiers. By mid-November, the offensive capabilities of the Germans dried up, and they went on the defensive.

The war demanded a change in the proportions in the development of the national economy, the improvement of the structure of state management of the economy. At the same time, the rigidly centralized management system created was combined with the expansion of the powers of economic bodies and the initiative of the workers. The first six months of the war were the most difficult for the Soviet economy. Industrial production more than halved, and the production of military equipment and ammunition dropped sharply. People, industrial enterprises, material and cultural values, and livestock were evacuated from the frontline zone. For this work, the Council for Evacuation Affairs was created (chairman N.M. Shvernik, deputies A.N. Kosygin and M.G. Pervukhin). By the beginning of 1942, more than 1,500 industrial enterprises were transported, including 1,360 defense ones. The number of evacuated workers reached a third of the staff. From December 26, 1941, workers and employees of military enterprises were declared mobilized for the entire period of the war, unauthorized leaving the enterprise was punished as desertion.

At the cost of the enormous efforts of the people, from December 1941 the decline in industrial production stopped, and from March 1942 its volume began to grow. By mid-1942, the restructuring of the Soviet economy on a war footing was completed. In the conditions of a significant reduction in labor resources, measures to provide labor force for industry, transport, and new buildings have become an important direction of economic policy. By the end of the war, the number of workers and employees reached 27.5 million people, of which 9.5 million worked in industry (against the level of 1940, this was 86-87%).

Agriculture was in an incredibly difficult situation during the war years. Tractors, motor vehicles, horses were mobilized for the needs of the army. The village was left practically without draft power. Almost the entire able-bodied male population was mobilized into the army. The peasants worked to the limit of their capabilities. During the war years, agricultural production fell catastrophically. Grain harvest in 1942 and 1943 amounted to 30 million tons compared with 95.5 million tons in 1940. The number of cattle was reduced by half, pigs - by 3.6 times. Collective farms had to hand over almost the entire harvest to the state. For 1941-1944 66.1 million tons of grain were harvested, and in 1941-1945. - 85 million tons (for comparison: 22.4 million tons were harvested in 1914-1917). Difficulties in agriculture inevitably affected the food supply of the population. From the first days of the war, a rationing system was introduced to provide the urban population with food.

During the war, extreme conditions were created for the functioning of the financial system. During the war years, revenues to the budget increased through taxes and fees from the population. Government loans and money emission were used to cover the deficit. During the war years, voluntary contributions were widespread - collections of funds from the population to the Defense Fund and the Red Army Fund. During the war, the Soviet financial system showed high mobilization capabilities and efficiency. If in 1940 military spending accounted for about 7% of the national income, then in 1943 it was 33%. Military spending increased sharply in 1941-1945. amounted to 50.8% of all budget expenditures. At the same time, the state budget deficit amounted to only 2.6%.

As a result of emergency measures and the heroic labor of the people, already from the middle of 1942 the USSR had a strong military economy, which provided the army with everything necessary in ever-increasing volumes. During the war years, almost twice as much military equipment and weapons were produced in the USSR than in Germany. We used material and raw material resources and equipment better than in the German economy. The Soviet economy proved to be more efficient during the war years than the economy of fascist Germany.

Thus, the model of the mobilization economy that took shape in the 1930s proved to be very effective during the war years. Rigid centralism, directive planning, the concentration of the means of production in the hands of the state, the absence of competition and market egoism of individual social strata, the labor enthusiasm of millions of people played a decisive role in ensuring economic victory over the enemy. Other factors (lend-lease, the labor of prisoners and prisoners of war) played a subordinate role.

The second period (November 19, 1942 - the end of 1943) is the period of a radical change. On November 19, 1942, the Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive and on November 23 closed the ring around the enemy troops. The cauldron contained 22 divisions with a total strength of 330,000 soldiers and officers. The Soviet command offered to surrender to the encircled troops, but they refused. On February 2, 1943, the grandiose battle near Stalingrad ended. During the liquidation of the encircled grouping of the enemy, 147 thousand soldiers and officers were killed, 91 thousand were captured. Among the prisoners were 24 generals, along with the commander of the 6th Army, Field Marshal F. Paulus.

The operation near Stalingrad developed into a general strategic offensive that lasted until the end of March 1943. Stalingrad raised the prestige of the USSR, led to the rise of the resistance movement in European countries, and contributed to the strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition.

The battle on the Volga predetermined the outcome of the battles in the North Caucasus. There was a threat of encirclement of the enemy's North Caucasian grouping, and it began to retreat. By mid-February 1943, most of the North Caucasus was liberated. Of particular importance was the breakthrough of the enemy blockade of Leningrad in January 1943 by the troops of the Leningrad (A. A. Govorov) and Volkhov (K. A. Meretskov) fronts.

In the summer of 1943, the Wehrmacht command decided to organize a powerful offensive in the Kursk region. The plan "Citadel" was based on the idea: with unexpected counter strikes from Orel and Belgorod, to surround and destroy Soviet troops on the Kursk ledge, and then develop an offensive inland. For this, it was supposed to use a third of the German formations located on the Soviet-German front. At dawn on July 5, the Germans attacked the defenses of the Soviet fronts. The Soviet units stubbornly defended each defensive line. On July 12, an unprecedented tank battle in the history of wars unfolded near Prokhorovka, in which about 1200 tanks took part. On August 5, Soviet troops captured Orel and Belgorod, and on August 23 they liberated Kharkov. The Battle of Kursk ended with the capture of Kharkov. In 50 days of fighting, German troops lost half a million soldiers and officers, 2952 tanks, 844 guns, 1327 aircraft. The losses of the Soviet troops were comparable to the German ones. True, the victory at Kursk was achieved with less bloodshed than before: if Stalingrad claimed the lives of 470 thousand soldiers and commanders of the Red Army, then 253 thousand died during the Battle of Kursk. The victory at Kursk secured a radical change in the course of the war. The omnipotence of the Wehrmacht on the battlefields is over.

Having liberated Orel, Belgorod, Kharkov, the Soviet troops launched a general strategic offensive at the front. The radical turning point in the course of the war, begun near Stalingrad, was completed by the battle for the Dnieper. On November 6, Kyiv was liberated. From November 1942 to December 1943, 46.2% of Soviet territory was liberated. The collapse of the fascist bloc began. Italy was withdrawn from the war.

One of the important areas of the struggle against the Nazi invaders was ideological, educational, propaganda work. Newspapers, radio, party propagandists and political workers, cultural figures explained the nature of the war, strengthened faith in victory, instilled patriotism, devotion to duty and other high moral qualities. The Soviet side countered the misanthropic fascist ideology of racism and genocide with such universal values as national independence, solidarity and friendship of peoples, justice, and humanism. Class, socialist values were not discarded at all, but were largely replaced by patriotic, traditionally national ones.

During the war years, there were changes in the relationship between the state and the church. Already on June 22, 1941, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Sergius, blessed all the Orthodox to defend the Fatherland. The words of the metropolitan carried a huge charge of patriotism, pointed to the deep historical source of people's strength and faith in victory over enemies. Like the official authorities, the church defined the war as national, domestic, patriotic. Anti-religious propaganda has stopped in the country. On September 4, 1943, Stalin met with Metropolitans Sergius, Alexiy, Nikolay, and on September 12, the Council of Bishops elected Metropolitan Sergius Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. The Council adopted a document stating that “everyone guilty of treason to the general church cause and who went over to the side of fascism, as an opponent of the Cross of the Lord, let him be considered excommunicated, and a bishop or cleric - defrocked.” By the end of the war, there were 10,547 Orthodox churches and 75 monasteries in the USSR (before the war, about 380 churches and not a single monastery). Open churches became new centers of Russian national identity, and Christian values became an element of national ideology.

The third period (1944 - May 9, 1945) is the final period of the war. By the beginning of 1944, the German armed forces had 315 divisions, 198 of which fought on the Eastern Front. Together with the Allied troops, there were 4.9 million soldiers and officers here. German industry produced a significant amount of armaments, although the German economic situation was steadily deteriorating. The Soviet industry surpassed the German one in the production of all major types of weapons.

1944 in the history of the Great Patriotic War became the year of the offensive of the Soviet troops on all fronts. In the winter of 1943-1944 the German army group "South" was defeated, the Pravoberezhnaya and part of Western Ukraine were liberated. Soviet troops reached the state border. In January 1944, the blockade of Leningrad was completely lifted. On June 6, 1944, a second front was opened in Europe. During the operation "Bagration" in the summer of 1944, Belarus was liberated. Interestingly, the operation "Bagration" almost mirrored the German blitzkrieg. Hitler and his advisers believed that the Red Army would strike a decisive blow in the south, in Galicia, where the prospect of an attack on Warsaw, in the rear of Army Group Center, opened up before the Soviet troops. It was in this direction that the German command concentrated reserves, but miscalculated. Going on the offensive in Belarus on June 22, 1944, the Soviet troops fought 700 km in five weeks. The pace of the advance of the Soviet troops exceeded the pace of advancement of the tank groups of Guderian and Hoth in the summer of 1941. In the autumn, the liberation of the Baltic began. In the summer-autumn campaign of 1944, Soviet troops advanced 600-1100 km, completing the liberation of the USSR. Enemy losses amounted to 1.6 million people, 6700 tanks, more than 12 thousand aircraft, 28 thousand guns and mortars.

In January 1945, the Vistula-Oder operation began. Its main goal was to break the enemy grouping on the territory of Poland, reach the Oder, seize bridgeheads here and provide favorable conditions for striking at Berlin. After bloody battles, Soviet troops reached the banks of the Oder on February 3. During the Vistula-Oder operation, the Nazis lost 35 divisions.

At the final stage of the war, German troops in the West stopped serious resistance. Almost unopposed, the allies advanced to the East. The Red Army was faced with the task of inflicting a final blow on fascist Germany. The Berlin offensive operation began on April 16, 1945 and continued until May 2. The troops of the 1st Belorussian (G.K. Zhukov), 1st Ukrainian (I.S. Konev), 2nd Belorussian (K.K. Rokossovsky) fronts took part in it. Berlin was fiercely defended by more than a million German soldiers. The advancing Soviet troops numbered 2.5 million fighters, 41.6 thousand guns and mortars, 6250 tanks and self-propelled guns, 7.5 thousand aircraft. On April 25, the encirclement of the Berlin group was completed. After the German command rejected the ultimatum to surrender, the assault on Berlin began. On May 1, the banner of Victory fluttered over the Reichstag, and the next day the garrison capitulated. On the night of May 9, an act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst. However, German troops still held Prague. Soviet troops liberated Prague with a swift throw.

The turning point in the war and the victory were the result of an incredible exertion of forces, the mass heroism of the people, which amazed enemies and allies. The idea that inspired the workers of the front and rear, uniting and multiplying their strength, was the idea of defending the Fatherland. The acts of the highest self-sacrifice and heroism in the name of victory, embodied by the squadron commander Nikolai Gastello, 28 Panfilov soldiers led by political instructor V.G. Klochkov, underground fighter Liza Chaikina, partisan Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, fighter pilot Alexei Maresyev, sergeant Yakov Pavlov and his famous "Pavlov's House" in Stalingrad, underground worker from the "Young Guard" Oleg Koshevoy, private Alexander Matrosov, scout Nikolai Kuznetsov, young partisan Marat Kazei , Lieutenant General D.M. Karbyshev and many thousands of other heroes of the Great Patriotic War.

For courage and heroism, more than 38 million orders and medals were awarded to the defenders of the Motherland, more than 11.6 thousand people received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, among whom were representatives of most nationalities of the country, including 8160 Russians, 2069 Ukrainians, 309 Belarusians, 161 Tatar, 108 Jews, 96 Kazakhs. 16 million 100 thousand home front workers were awarded the medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." The title of Hero of Socialist Labor was awarded to 202 home front workers.

Nazi Germany was defeated, but the world war was still going on. The USSR declared war on Japan. This step was dictated by both allied obligations and the interests of the Soviet Union in the Far East. Japan did not openly oppose the USSR, but throughout the war remained an ally of Germany. She concentrated near the borders of the USSR one and a half million army. The Japanese navy detained Soviet merchant ships, in fact blocked the ports and sea borders of the Soviet Far East. On April 5, 1945, the Soviet government denounced the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Treaty of 1941.

By August, the Soviet command had transferred part of its forces from Europe to the Far East (over 400,000 men, over 7,000 guns and mortars, and 2,000 tanks). Over 1.5 million soldiers, over 27 thousand guns and mortars, over 700 rocket launchers, 5.2 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, over 3.7 thousand aircraft were concentrated against the Kwantung Army. The forces of the Pacific Fleet (416 ships, about 165 thousand sailors), the Amur Flotilla, and border troops were involved in the operation. The commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops was Marshal A.M. Vasilevsky.

On August 6 and 9, the US military dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union announced that from August 9 it would consider itself at war with Japan. Soviet troops defeated the main forces of the Kwantung Army within 10 days, which began to capitulate on August 19. In the second half of August 1945, Soviet troops liberated Manchuria, Northeast China, the northern part of Korea, captured South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The military campaign in the Far East lasted 24 days. In its scope and dynamism, it occupies one of the first places among the operations of the Second World War. The losses of the Japanese totaled 83.7 thousand people killed, more than 640 thousand prisoners. The irretrievable losses of the Soviet Army amounted to about 12 thousand people. September 2, 1945 Japan capitulated.

With the liquidation of the center of war in the Far East, the Second World War ended. The main result of the Great Patriotic War was the elimination of the mortal danger of the USSR-Russia, the threat of enslavement and genocide of the Russian and other peoples of the USSR. Soviet troops liberated, in whole or in part, 13 countries in Europe and Asia.

The USSR made a decisive contribution to the defeat of Germany and its allies. The Soviet Union was the only country that was able to stop Germany's victorious march in 1941. In fierce battles one on one with the main force of the fascist bloc, the USSR achieved a radical turning point in the world war. This created the conditions for the liberation of Europe and hastened the opening of a second front. The USSR eliminated fascist domination over the majority of enslaved peoples, preserving their statehood within historically just boundaries. The Red Army defeated 507 Nazi divisions and 100 divisions of its allies, which is 3.5 times more than the Anglo-American troops on all fronts of the war. On the Soviet-German front, the bulk of Wehrmacht military equipment was destroyed (77 thousand combat aircraft, 48 thousand tanks, 167 thousand guns, 2.5 thousand warships and vehicles). More than 73% of the total losses of the German army suffered in battles with the Armed Forces of the USSR. The Soviet Union was thus the main military-political force that determined the victory and defense of the peoples of the world from enslavement by fascism.

The war caused the Soviet Union a huge demographic loss. The total human losses of the USSR amounted to 26.6 million people, 13.5% of the number of the USSR at the beginning of the war. During the war years, the losses of the Armed Forces of the USSR amounted to 11.4 million people. Of these, 5.2 million people died in battle and died of wounds during the stages of sanitary evacuation; 1.1 million died of wounds in hospitals; 0.6 million were non-combat losses; 5 million people went missing and ended up in Nazi concentration camps. Taking into account those who returned from captivity after the war (1.8 million people) and almost a million people from among those previously recorded as missing, but who survived and were re-conscripted into the army, the demographic losses of the military personnel of the Armed Forces of the USSR amounted to 8.7 million people.

The war unleashed by the Nazis turned into a human tragedy for Germany itself and its allies. Only on the Soviet-German front, the irretrievable losses of Germany amounted to 7181 thousand military personnel, and with the allies - 8649 thousand people. The ratio between Soviet and German deadweight losses is 1.3:1. At the same time, one should keep in mind the fact that the number of prisoners of war who died in Nazi camps (more than 2.5 million people out of 4.6 million) was more than 5 times higher than the number of enemy soldiers who died in Soviet captivity (420 thousand people out of 4.4 million). The total irretrievable demographic losses of the USSR (26.6 million people) are 2.2 times greater than the losses of Germany and its satellites (11.9 million). The big difference is explained by the genocide of the Nazis against the population in the occupied territories, which claimed the lives of 17.9 million people.

As noted in modern literature, “the main reasons for the collapse of the union (in addition to the disappearance of the common threat that held it together) were the growing disagreements on the issues of the post-war order of the world and the intensifying rivalry between the USSR and the USA in strategically important areas where a vacuum of power formed on the ruins of World War II - Central and Eastern Europe, Middle and Far East, China and Korea. The situation was aggravated by the polarization of power between the two new superpowers against the backdrop of a sharp weakening of other world centers of power. This post-battle geopolitical landscape was overlaid with the universal ideological pretensions of the American and Soviet models that had become stronger during the war years, which gave particular urgency and global scope to their struggle for influence in the world.

During the war years, all the peoples of the USSR suffered great irreparable losses. At the same time, the losses of Russian citizens amounted to 71.3% of the total demographic losses of the Armed Forces. Among the dead military personnel, Russians suffered the greatest losses - 5.7 million people (66.4% of all dead), Ukrainians - 1.4 million (15.9%), Belarusians - 253 thousand (2.9%), Tatars - 188 thousand (2.2%), Jews - 142 thousand (1.6%), Kazakhs - 125 thousand (1.5%), Uzbeks - 118 thousand (1.4%), other peoples of the USSR - 8.1%.

Similar information.

The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) - the war between the USSR, Germany and its allies in the framework of World War II on the territory of the USSR and Germany. Germany attacked the USSR on June 22, 1941, with the expectation of a short military campaign, but the war dragged on for several years and ended in the complete defeat of Germany.

Causes of the Great Patriotic War

After the defeat in the First World War, Germany remained in a difficult situation - the political situation was unstable, the economy was in a deep crisis. Around this time, Hitler came to power, who, thanks to his economic reforms, was able to quickly bring Germany out of the crisis and thereby gain the trust of the authorities and the people.

Standing at the head of the country, Hitler began to pursue his policy, which was based on the idea of the superiority of the Germans over other races and peoples. Hitler not only wanted to take revenge for losing the First World War, but also to subjugate the whole world to his will. The result of his claims was the German attack on the Czech Republic and Poland, and then (already within the framework of the outbreak of World War II) on other European countries.

Until 1941, there was a non-aggression pact between Germany and the USSR, but Hitler violated it by attacking the USSR. In order to conquer the Soviet Union, the German command developed a swift attack, which was supposed to bring victory within two months. Having seized the territories and wealth of the USSR, Hitler could have entered into an open confrontation with the United States for the right to world political domination.

The attack was swift, but did not bring the desired results - the Russian army put up stronger resistance than the Germans expected, and the war dragged on for many years.

The main periods of the Great Patriotic War

First period (June 22, 1941 – November 18, 1942). Within a year after the German attack on the USSR, the German army conquered significant territories, which included Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine. After that, the troops moved inland to capture Moscow and Leningrad, however, despite the failures of the Russian soldiers at the beginning of the war, the Germans failed to take the capital.

Leningrad was taken under blockade, but the Germans were not allowed into the city. The battles for Moscow, Leningrad and Novgorod continued until 1942.

The period of a radical change (1942-1943). The middle period of the war got its name due to the fact that it was at this time that the Soviet troops were able to take the advantage in the war into their own hands and launch a counteroffensive. The armies of the Germans and the allies gradually began to retreat back to the western border, many foreign legions were defeated and destroyed.

Due to the fact that the entire industry of the USSR at that time worked for military needs, the Soviet army managed to significantly increase its weapons and put up decent resistance. The army of the USSR from the defender turned into an attacker.

The final period of the war (1943-1945). During this period, the USSR began to recapture the lands occupied by the Germans and move towards Germany. Leningrad was liberated, Soviet troops entered Czechoslovakia, Poland, and then into Germany.

On May 8, Berlin was taken, and the German troops announced their unconditional surrender. Hitler, having learned about the lost war, committed suicide. War is over.

The main battles of the Great Patriotic War

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

The results and significance of the Great Patriotic War

Although the main goal of the Great Patriotic War was defensive, as a result, the Soviet troops went on the offensive and not only liberated their territories, but also destroyed the German army, took Berlin and stopped Hitler's victorious march across Europe.

Unfortunately, despite the victory, this war turned out to be devastating for the USSR - the country's economy after the war was in a deep crisis, since the industry worked exclusively for the military industry, many people were killed, and the rest were starving.

Nevertheless, for the USSR, victory in this war meant that now the Union was becoming a world superpower, which had the right to dictate its terms in the political arena.

Chronology

1941, June 22 - 1945, May 9 The Great Patriotic War
1941 October - December Battle of Moscow
November 1942 - February 1943 Battle of Stalingrad
1943, July - August Battle of Kursk
January 1944 Liquidation of the blockade of Leningrad
1944 Liberation of the territory of the USSR from fascist invaders
1945 April - May Battle of Berlin
May 9, 1945 Victory Day of the Soviet Union over Germany
1945, August - September Defeat of Japan

Great Patriotic War (1941 - 1945)

The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941-1945 as an integral and decisive part of the Second World War of 1939-1945. has three periods:

June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942. It is characterized by measures to turn the country into a single military camp, the collapse of Hitler's strategy of "blitzkrieg" and the creation of conditions for a radical change in the war.

Early 1944 - May 9, 1945. Complete expulsion of the fascist invaders from Soviet soil; the liberation by the Soviet Army of the peoples of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe; final defeat of Nazi Germany.

By 1941, Nazi Germany and its allies captured virtually all of Europe: Poland was defeated, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg were occupied. The French army resisted for only 40 days. The English expeditionary army suffered a major defeat, and its formations were evacuated to the British Isles. Fascist troops entered the territory of the Balkan countries. In Europe, in essence, there was no force that could stop the aggressor. The Soviet Union became such a force. The great feat was accomplished by the Soviet people, who saved world civilization from fascism.

In 1940, the fascist leadership developed a plan “ Barbarossa”, the purpose of which was the lightning defeat of the Soviet Armed Forces and the occupation of the European part of the Soviet Union. Further plans included the complete destruction of the USSR. The ultimate goal of the Nazi troops was to reach the Volga-Arkhangelsk line, and it was planned to paralyze the Urals with the help of aircraft. For this, 153 German divisions and 37 divisions of its allies (Finland, Romania and Hungary) were concentrated in the eastern direction. They had to strike in three directions: central(Minsk - Smolensk - Moscow), northwestern(Baltic - Leningrad) and southern(Ukraine with access to the Black Sea coast). A lightning campaign was planned to capture the European part of the USSR until the autumn of 1941.

The first period of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1942)

The beginning of the war

Implementation of the plan Barbarossa”began at dawn June 22, 1941. extensive air bombardments of the largest industrial and strategic centers, as well as the offensive of the ground forces of Germany and its allies along the entire European border of the USSR (over 4.5 thousand km).

Nazi planes are dropping bombs on peaceful Soviet cities. June 22, 1941

In the first few days, German troops advanced tens and hundreds of kilometers. On the central direction in early July 1941, all of Belarus was captured, and German troops reached the approaches to Smolensk. On the northwestern- the Baltic states are occupied, Leningrad is blocked on September 9. On the south Nazi troops occupied Moldova and the Right-Bank Ukraine. Thus, by the autumn of 1941, Hitler's plan to capture the vast territory of the European part of the USSR was carried out.

153 Nazi divisions (3,300,000 men) and 37 divisions (300,000 men) of Nazi Germany's satellite states were thrown against the Soviet state. They were armed with 3,700 tanks, 4,950 aircraft, and 48,000 guns and mortars.

By the beginning of the war against the USSR, as a result of the occupation of Western European countries, weapons, ammunition and equipment of 180 Czechoslovak, French, British, Belgian, Dutch and Norwegian divisions were at the disposal of fascist Germany. This not only made it possible to equip the fascist troops in sufficient quantities with military equipment and equipment, but also ensured an advantage in military potential over the Soviet troops.

In our western districts, there were 2.9 million people, armed with 1,540 new types of aircraft, 1,475 modern T-34 and KV tanks, and 34,695 guns and mortars. The fascist German army had a great superiority in forces.

Describing the reasons for the failures of the Soviet Armed Forces in the first months of the war, many historians today see them in serious mistakes made by the Soviet leadership in the prewar years. In 1939, large mechanized corps, so necessary in modern warfare, were disbanded, production of 45 and 76 mm anti-tank guns was stopped, fortifications on the old Western border were dismantled, and much more.

The weakening of the command staff caused by pre-war repressions also played a negative role. All this led to an almost complete change in the command and political composition of the Red Army. By the beginning of the war, about 75% of commanders and 70% of political workers had been in their positions for less than one year. Even the chief of the general staff of the ground forces of fascist Germany, General F. Halder, noted in his diary in May 1941: “The Russian officer corps is exceptionally bad. It makes a worse impression than in 1933. It will take Russia 20 years to reach its former height.” It was necessary to recreate the officer corps of our country already in the conditions of the outbreak of war.

Among the serious mistakes of the Soviet leadership, one should also include a miscalculation in determining the time of a possible attack by fascist Germany on the USSR.

Stalin and his entourage believed that the Nazi leadership would not dare to violate the non-aggression pact concluded with the USSR in the near future. All information received through various channels, including military and political intelligence, about the upcoming German attack was considered by Stalin as provocative, aimed at exacerbating relations with Germany. This may also explain the government's assessment, transmitted in a TASS statement on June 14, 1941, in which rumors of an impending German attack were declared provocative. This also explained the fact that the directive on bringing the troops of the western military districts to combat readiness and occupying combat lines by them was given too late. In essence, the directive was received by the troops when the war had already begun. Therefore, the consequences of this were extremely severe.

At the end of June - the first half of July 1941, large defensive border battles unfolded (the defense of the Brest Fortress, etc.).

Defenders of the Brest Fortress. Hood. P. Krivonogov. 1951

From July 16 to August 15, the defense of Smolensk continued in the central direction. In the northwestern direction, the German plan to capture Leningrad failed. In the south, until September 1941, the defense of Kyiv was carried out, until October - Odessa. The stubborn resistance of the Red Army in the summer and autumn of 1941 frustrated Hitler's plan for a blitzkrieg. At the same time, by the fall of 1941, the capture by the fascist command of the vast territory of the USSR with its most important industrial centers and grain regions was a serious loss for the Soviet government. (Reader T11 No. 3)

Restructuring the life of the country on a war footing

Immediately after the German attack, the Soviet government carried out major military-political and economic measures to repel the aggression. On June 23, the Headquarters of the High Command was formed. July 10 it was converted to Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. It included I.V. Stalin (appointed commander-in-chief and soon became People's Commissar of Defense), V.M. Molotov, S.K. Timoshenko, S.M. Budyonny, K.E. Voroshilov, B.M. Shaposhnikov and G.K. Zhukov. By a directive of June 29, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks set the task for the entire country to mobilize all forces and means to fight the enemy. On June 30, the State Defense Committee was created(GKO), concentrating all power in the country. The military doctrine was radically revised, the task was put forward to organize a strategic defense, wear down and stop the offensive of the fascist troops. Large-scale measures were taken to transfer industry to a military footing, to mobilize the population into the army and to build defensive lines.

Page of the newspaper "Moskovsky Bolshevik" dated July 3, 1941 with the text of I.V. Stalin's speech. Fragment

One of the main tasks, which had to be solved from the first days of the war, was the fastest restructuring of the national economy, the entire economy of the country on military rails. The main line of this restructuring was defined in the Directive of June 29, 1941. Specific measures for the restructuring of the national economy began to be carried out from the very beginning of the war. On the second day of the war, a mobilization plan for the production of ammunition and cartridges was introduced. And on June 30, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR approved a mobilization national economic plan for the third quarter of 1941. However, events at the front developed so unfavorably for us that this plan turned out to be unfulfilled. Given the current situation, on July 4, 1941, it was decided to urgently develop a new plan for the development of military production. The GKO decree on July 4, 1941 noted: develop a military-economic plan for ensuring the defense of the country, referring to the use of resources and enterprises located on the Volga, in Western Siberia and the Urals”. In two weeks this commission developed a new plan for the fourth quarter of 1941 and for 1942 for the regions of the Volga region, the Urals, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

For the speedy deployment of a production base in the regions of the Volga region, the Urals, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia, it was decided to bring industrial enterprises of the People's Commissariat of Ammunition, the People's Commissariat for Armaments, the People's Commissariat of Aviation Industry, etc.

Members of the Politburo, who were at the same time members of the State Defense Committee, carried out general management of the main branches of the military economy. The issues of the production of weapons and ammunition were handled by N.A. Voznesensky, aircraft and aircraft engines - G.M. Malenkov, tanks - V.M. Molotov, food, fuel and clothing - A.I. Mikoyan and others. Industrial People's Commissariats were headed by: A.L. Shakhurin - aviation industry, V.L. Vannikov - ammunition, I.F. Tevosyan - ferrous metallurgy, A.I. Efremov - machine tool industry, V.V. Vakhrushev - coal, I.I. Sedin - oil.

The main link in the restructuring of the national economy on a war footing has become industrial restructuring. Almost all mechanical engineering was transferred to military production.

In November 1941, the People's Commissariat for General Engineering was transformed into the People's Commissariat for the Mortar Industry. In addition to the People's Commissariats of the aviation industry, shipbuilding, armaments and ammunition, created before the war, two People's Commissariats were formed at the beginning of the war - for the tank and mortar industries. Thanks to this, all the main branches of the military industry received specialized centralized management. The production of jet mortars, which existed before the war only in prototypes, was started. Their production is organized at the Moscow plant "Compressor". The front-line soldiers gave the name "Katyusha" to the first missile combat installation.

At the same time, the process workforce training through the labor reserve system. In just two years, about 1,100,000 people were trained through this sphere for work in industry.

For the same purposes, in February 1942, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On the mobilization of the able-bodied urban population for work in production and construction” was adopted in February 1942.

In the course of the restructuring of the national economy, the main center of the war economy of the USSR became eastern industrial base, which was significantly expanded and strengthened with the outbreak of war. As early as 1942, the proportion of the eastern regions in all-Union production increased.

As a result, the main burden of supplying the army with weapons and equipment fell on the eastern industrial base. In 1942, the production of military products in the Urals increased by more than 6 times in comparison with 1940, in Western Siberia - 27 times, and in the Volga region - 9 times. On the whole, industrial production in these regions more than tripled during the war. It was a great military and economic victory achieved by the Soviet people during these years. It laid a solid foundation for the final victory over fascist Germany.

The course of hostilities in 1942

The Nazi leadership in the summer of 1942 staked on the capture of the oil regions of the Caucasus, the fertile regions of southern Russia and the industrial Donbass. Kerch and Sevastopol were lost.

At the end of June 1942, a general German offensive was launched in two directions: on Caucasus and east to Volga.

Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union (July 22, 1941 - May 9, 1945)

On the Caucasian direction at the end of July 1942, a strong Nazi group crossed the Don. As a result, Rostov, Stavropol and Novorossiysk were captured. Stubborn battles were fought in the central part of the Main Caucasian Range, where specially trained enemy Alpine riflemen operated in the mountains. Despite the successes achieved in the Caucasian direction, the fascist command failed to solve its main task - to break through into the Transcaucasus to master the oil reserves of Baku. By the end of September, the offensive of the fascist troops in the Caucasus was stopped.

An equally difficult situation for the Soviet command developed on eastbound. Created to cover it Stalingrad Front under the command of Marshal S.K. Timoshenko. In connection with the current critical situation, an order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief No. 227 was issued, which stated: “To retreat further means to ruin ourselves and at the same time our Motherland.” At the end July 1942. enemy in command General von Paulus dealt a powerful blow to Stalingrad front. However, despite the significant superiority in forces, during the month the fascist troops managed to advance only 60-80 km.

From the first days of September began heroic defense of Stalingrad, which actually lasted until the end of 1942. Its significance during the Great Patriotic War is enormous. Thousands of Soviet patriots heroically proved themselves in the battles for the city.

Street fighting in Stalingrad. 1942

As a result, in the battles for Stalingrad, the enemy troops suffered colossal losses. Every month of the battle, about 250 thousand new soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht, the bulk of military equipment, were sent here. By mid-November 1942, the Nazi troops, having lost more than 180 thousand people killed, 500 thousand wounded, were forced to stop the offensive.

During the summer-autumn campaign of 1942, the Nazis managed to occupy a huge part of the European part of the USSR, but the enemy was stopped.

Second period of the Great Patriotic War (1942-1943)

The final stage of the war (1944 - 1945)

Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union (July 22, 1941 - May 9, 1945)

In the winter of 1944, the offensive of the Soviet troops near Leningrad and Novgorod began.

900 day blockade heroic Leningrad, broken through in 1943, was completely removed.

Connected! Breaking the blockade of Leningrad. January 1943

Summer 1944. The Red Army carried out one of the largest operations of the Great Patriotic War (“ Bagration”). Belarus was completely released. This victory opened the way for advances into Poland, the Baltic states and East Prussia. In the middle of August 1944. Soviet troops in the western direction reached border with Germany.

At the end of August, Moldova was liberated.

These largest operations of 1944 were accompanied by the liberation of other territories of the Soviet Union - Transcarpathian Ukraine, the Baltic states, the Karelian Isthmus and the Arctic.

The victories of the Russian troops in 1944 helped the peoples of Bulgaria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia in their struggle against fascism. In these countries, pro-German regimes were overthrown, and patriotic forces came to power. Created back in 1943 on the territory of the USSR, the Polish Army took the side of the anti-Hitler coalition.

Main results offensive operations carried out in 1944, consisted in the fact that the liberation of the Soviet land was completely completed, the state border of the USSR was completely restored, military operations were transferred outside our Motherland.

Front commanders at the final stage of the war

A further offensive of the Red Army against the Nazi troops was launched on the territory of Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. The Soviet command, developing the offensive, conducted a number of operations outside the USSR (Budapest, Belgrade, etc.). They were caused by the need to destroy large enemy groupings in these territories in order to prevent the possibility of their transfer to the defense of Germany. At the same time, the introduction of Soviet troops into the countries of Eastern and Southeastern Europe strengthened the leftist and communist parties in them and, in general, the influence of the Soviet Union in this region.

T-34-85 in the mountains of Transylvania

AT January 1945. Soviet troops began broad offensive operations in order to complete the defeat of fascist Germany. The offensive was on a huge 1,200 km front from the Baltic to the Carpathians. Polish, Czechoslovak, Romanian and Bulgarian troops acted together with the Red Army. The French aviation regiment "Normandy - Neman" also fought as part of the 3rd Belorussian Front.

By the end of the winter of 1945, the Soviet Army had completely liberated Poland and Hungary, a significant part of Czechoslovakia and Austria. In the spring of 1945, the Red Army reached the approaches to Berlin.

Berlin offensive operation (16.IV - 8.V 1945)

Banner of Victory over the Reichstag

It was a difficult battle in a burning, dilapidated city. On May 8, representatives of the Wehrmacht signed an act of unconditional surrender.

The signing of the act of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany

On May 9, Soviet troops completed their last operation - they defeated the grouping of the Nazi army that surrounded the capital of Czechoslovakia - Prague, and entered the city.

The long-awaited Victory Day has come, which has become a great holiday. The decisive role in achieving this victory, in carrying out the defeat of fascist Germany and ending the Second World War, belongs to the Soviet Union.

Defeated fascist standards

Municipal educational institution

Secondary school No. 21

Cities of Syzran, Samara Region

USSR IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Completed by: student of 11 A class

Bezrodnov Alexey

Syzran, 2003

	PAGE
non-aggression pact
Liquidation of Poland
Accession of the Baltic States
Before the start of the war
June 22, 1941
First weeks of the war
The retreat of the red army
Western allies
Captivity
An occupation
Leningrad blockade
Defense of Moscow
Retreat of the Red Army in 1942
The order "not a step back!"
Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Kursk
The offensive of the red army
Big Three meetings
Warsaw Uprising
Allies of Germany
War in Europe
Battle for Berlin
War with Japan

USSR IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR

NON-AGGRESSION PACT

In August 1939, Nazi Germany was completing preparations for war in Europe. Not wanting to fight on two fronts, Hitler offered to sign a Soviet-German non-aggression pact. The treaty promised the Soviet Union not only peace, but also the expansion of the western borders.

Prior to this, the Soviet Union had been negotiating with Britain and France on the creation of an "anti-Hitler coalition". Suddenly, these negotiations were interrupted, and on August 23 German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop arrived in Moscow.

Until then, during the 1930s, anti-fascism was the official Soviet policy. Communists all over the world opposed fascism and Nazism. The turn was so unexpected and incredible that in Moscow there was not even a German flag with a swastika to meet the distinguished guest. The flag was taken from the props of anti-fascist films.

On August 23, Joachim Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov signed the Non-Aggression Pact. The strictly secret additional protocol to it spoke of the delimitation of "spheres of interest" in Eastern Europe. Estonia, Latvia, Right-Bank Poland and Moldova (later Lithuania was added to this list) departed to the Soviet "sphere of interest".

Immediately after the treaty was signed, the anti-fascist campaign in the Soviet press ceased. But England and France were now called "warmongers".

Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars V. Molotov, speaking on October 31, 1939 before the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, stated: “The ideology of Hitlerism, like any other ideological system, can be recognized or denied, this is a matter of political views. But any person will understand that ideology cannot be destroyed by force, it is impossible to end it with a war. Therefore, it is not only senseless, but also criminal to wage such a war as the war for the "destruction of Hitlerism", covered with a false flag of struggle for democracy."

LIQUIDATION OF POLAND

On September 1, 1939, a week after the signing of the Soviet-German treaty, Germany attacked Poland. The Second World War began.

On September 8, Vyacheslav Molotov congratulated Hitler on his "successes" in Poland. On October 17, at 5 o'clock in the morning, the Red Army crossed the border and occupied Right-Bank Poland. The next day, Pravda printed a Soviet-German statement that the troops of the two countries were "restoring order and tranquility in Poland, violated by the collapse of the Polish state."

The Soviet poet Vasily Lebedev-Kumach wrote the following ditty about this:

Panic Poland is no more. The cunning witch is not alive, Poland will not seize in the clutches of Our labor brothers!

Vyacheslav Molotov spoke of this event on October 31 as follows: “It turned out that a short blow to Poland from the side of the first German army, and then the Red Army, was enough to leave nothing of this ugly offspring of the Treaty of Versailles ...”.

On September 22, 1939, a joint Soviet-German military parade took place in Brest. Again, the state flags were raised nearby - the Soviet one with a hammer and sickle and the German one with a swastika. The parade was hosted by Brigade Commander S. Krivoshey and General X. Guderian.

ACCESSION OF THE BALTICS

By the end of the 30s. Of the Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia), only Estonia maintained a relatively free political system. The political system of Latvia, for example, was described by one of its ministers in January 1940 as follows: “Our destiny is led by President Karlis Ulmanis, the Leader of our people ... Never ask:“ Why and why? ”A devoted person will answer without delay, how warrior: "I obey, I will fulfill." However, even the sole rule of Ulmanis was not too tough: he was given credit for not executing a single person.

The Soviet-German treaty gave Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to the "sphere of interest" of the USSR. In September - October, at the request of the Soviet Union, these countries concluded "mutual assistance agreements" with it. Parts of the Red Army entered the Baltic states. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Juozas Urbshys recalled: “Thousands of Lithuanians woke up one morning from the growing roar of engines. But there was no bloodshed. Soviet soldiers were greeted with flowers, bread and salt. Soviet soldiers withdrew to quartering places and simply did not remind of themselves. Of course, it would be ridiculous to say that all Lithuanians were enthusiastic about what happened. But still, then, in 1939, there was an atmosphere of friendliness.

The Soviet soldiers were greatly impressed by the store shelves filled with goods. They said that, probably, "the people here live in poverty, since they cannot buy all the goods that are in the stores."

Calmness persisted until the summer of 1940. From the memoirs of Yu. Urbshis: “Somewhere at the end of May 1940, a Soviet general came to my ministry and said that several Soviet servicemen were lured into some kind of basement, where they were kept for some time . The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic conducted an investigation and ... came to the conclusion that what had happened was a duck.”

Based on several similar allegations, the Soviet government issued ultimatums to Lithuania (June 14), Latvia (June 15) and

Estonia (June 16). The demands were the same everywhere: the resignation of the government and the additional entry of Soviet troops. The Baltic countries accepted all the conditions of the ultimatums. In order to approve the composition of the new governments, Andrei Zhdanov was sent from Moscow to Estonia, Andrei Vyshinsky to Latvia, and Vladimir Dekanozov to Lithuania.

About a month later, parliamentary elections were held in three countries. It was possible to vote in elections for the only official list of "working people" - with the same programs in all three republics.

“We had to vote, as each voter had a stamp in his passport. The absence of a stamp certified that the owner of the passport was an enemy of the people, who evaded the elections and thereby revealed his enemy nature, ”wrote Cheslav Miloš, an eyewitness to the events in the Baltics about the 1940 elections.

In Riga on July 8, the “Appeal of Democratic Latvians” was pasted up. It almost did not differ from the program of the official "Block of the Working People". But on July 9 it was disrupted from everywhere, and its compilers were arrested. In Estonia, one opposition candidate miraculously made it onto the list, but immediately after the election he was arrested for a “criminal offense” and sent to a camp for 15 years.

Until the end of the elections, neither in the programs nor verbally, not a word was said about the possible accession to the Soviet Union. Some communists who naively hinted at this were severely reprimanded. In some places it was directly explained that the slogan of joining the USSR could lead to an organized boycott and disruption of the elections.

But as soon as the elections were held, the accession of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to the USSR suddenly turned out to be the only acceptable and non-negotiable.

The meeting rooms of the newly elected "parliaments" were already decorated with special solemnity with portraits of I. Stalin and V. Lenin, Soviet emblems. At the very first meeting, these parliaments unanimously decided to become part of the Soviet Union.

BEFORE THE WAR

In June 1941, much indicated that Germany launched preparations for war against the Soviet Union. German divisions were moving up to the border. The preparations for the war became known from intelligence reports. In particular, the Soviet intelligence officer Richard Sorge even reported the exact day of the invasion and the number of enemy divisions that would be involved in the operation.

In these difficult conditions, the Soviet leadership tried not to give the slightest reason to start a war. It even allowed "archaeologists" from Germany to look for "the graves of soldiers who died during the First World War." Under this pretext, German officers openly studied the area, outlined the paths of a future invasion.

On June 13, 1941, the famous TASS official statement was published. It refuted "rumors of the proximity of the war between the USSR and Germany." Such rumors are spread by "warmongers" who want to quarrel between the two countries, the statement said. In fact, Germany "just as rigorously as the Soviet Union observes the non-aggression pact."

The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) is a war between the USSR and Germany within the framework of World War II, 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 World War II.

Causes of the Great Patriotic War

After the defeat in the First World War, Germany remained in an extremely difficult economic and political situation, however, after Hitler came to power and carried out reforms, the country was able to build up 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 was rapidly conquering new territories, but until a certain point between Germany and the USSR there was a non-aggression peace treaty 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 involves a swift German attack on the USSR and the seizure of territories within two months. In case of victory, Hitler got the opportunity to start a war with the United States, and he also had 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 company, designed for several months, turned into a protracted war, which later became known as the Great Patriotic War.

The 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 - the troops moved inland to capture Moscow. Russian troops suffered huge losses, the inhabitants of the country in the occupied territories were captured by the Germans 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 way to Leningrad (the city was taken under blockade), Moscow and Novgorod. The Barbarossa plan did not give the desired results, the battles for these cities continued until 1942.
The period of a radical change (1942-1943) On November 19, 1942, the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops began, which yielded significant results - one German and four allied armies were destroyed. The Soviet army continued to advance in all directions, they managed to defeat several armies, start pursuing the Germans and push the front line back towards the west. Thanks to the buildup of military resources (the military industry worked in a special mode), the Soviet army was significantly superior to the German one and could now not only resist, but also dictate its terms in the war. From the defending army of the USSR turned into an attacker.
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 hostilities. The Soviet army continued to advance towards Berlin, recapturing the occupied territories. Leningrad was recaptured, and by 1944, Soviet troops moved towards Poland, and then Germany. On May 8, Berlin was taken, and the German troops declared unconditional surrender.

Major battles of the Great Patriotic War

Defense of the Arctic (June 29, 1941 - November 1, 1944);
Battle for Moscow (September 30, 1941 - April 20, 1942);
Blockade 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 the 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 for Berlin (April 16 - May 8, 1945).

The results and significance of the Great Patriotic War

The main significance of the Great Patriotic War was that it finally broke the German army, preventing Hitler from continuing his struggle for world domination. The war became a turning point in the course of the Second World War and, in fact, its completion.

However, the victory was given to the USSR hard. The country's economy was in a special regime during the war, the 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 the most difficult condition, 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, along with the United States and Great Britain.