The period from November 19, 1942 to 1943 inclusive - a radical turning point in the course of the Second World War. It is characterized by the transition of Soviet troops to the offensive along the entire front and the massive expulsion of the enemy from the occupied territory, the intensification of the actions of the Anglo-American troops in North Africa and the Mediterranean, the beginning of the crisis of the fascist bloc, the intensification of the partisan and national liberation movements, a sharp increase in military production in countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, etc.
It must be emphasized that in the heavy fighting on the Soviet-German front, fascist Germany gradually lost its advantages. Only in the first year of the war, the Nazi army lost 40% of the troops that attacked the USSR. Significant losses were inflicted on the invaders by Soviet partisans, whose number was constantly growing. At the end of 1942, there were more than 125 thousand people in partisan detachments, against whom the German command sent about 10% of the ground forces of the Soviet-German front. The partisans controlled an area equal in area to such states as Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark combined.
From the spring of 1942, a gradual increase began industrial production in the USSR. There was a radical change in the work of the rear. During 1942, Soviet industry produced military equipment and more equipment than Germany, together with her European allies and occupied countries. Soviet T-34 tanks, Il-2 attack aircraft designed by Ilyushin, fighters designed by Yakovlev and Lavochkin, Katyusha rocket launchers were the best in the world.
The central event of 1942-1943. there is the Battle of Stalingrad.
The heroic defense of Stalingrad and the Caucasus, the success of the military economy, the creation of large reserves prepared the conditions for the counteroffensive of the Red Army. On November 19, 1942, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive near Stalingrad. The forces of the South-Western, Stalingrad, Don Fronts surrounded the 330,000-strong group of German troops; on February 2, 1943, the remnants of the encircled group capitulated. His entire command was captured - 24 generals led by Field Marshal Paulus. Three days of mourning has been declared in Germany.
What is the military political significance defeat of the fascist troops near Stalingrad?
Firstly, it was a great success of the Soviet military art and the beginning of a radical turning point in the course of the war.
Secondly, this victory forced Japan and Turkey to maintain "neutrality" in relation to the Soviet Union.
thirdly, the victory at Stalingrad accelerated the disintegration of the fascist bloc, sharply undermined the morale of the fascist armies.
fourthly, a favorable environment was created for the further activation of the resistance movement against the fascist occupiers. Only the number of military formations of European states that were created on the territory of the Soviet Union exceeded 550 thousand people by the end of the war.
After the battle of Stalingrad, the influence of the Soviet Union also grew significantly. To commemorate the victory over the invaders, King George VI of Great Britain handed over the sword of honor to the citizens of Stalingrad, and US President Roosevelt sent a letter of honor to Stalingrad, in which the courage and fortitude of Soviet soldiers were commended. "Their glorious victory," Roosevelt pointed out, "stopped the tide of invasion and became the turning point in the war of the Allied Nations against the forces of aggression."
The fundamental turning point in the war, founded by the victory at Stalingrad, was consolidated by the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943.
Having carried out total mobilization, significantly increasing the production of military equipment, especially aircraft and new tanks "Tiger" and "Panther", Germany, in accordance with the "Citadel" plan, decided to take revenge with a new offensive on the Kursk Bulge. The Soviet command unraveled the enemy's plan, and the offensive of the German troops, which began on July 5, 1943, collapsed. Especially fierce was the tank battle near Prokhorovka - the largest in World War II. The Battle of Kursk ended on August 23 with the liberation of Kharkov.
The battle lasted 50 days and surpassed the Moscow and Stalingrad battles in scale. So, if in the battle near Moscow 1.5 million people took part on both sides, near Stalingrad - 2 million, then in the battle on the Kursk Bulge - 4 million people. This battle put Nazi Germany in front of a catastrophe. From now until the end of the war, she was forced only to defend herself.
A new victorious offensive of the Soviet troops began, during which the Red Army liberated the Donbass and Left-Bank Ukraine, the Nazis' calculations failed to organize a defensive line on the Dnieper. The military skill acquired by the Red Army during the war made it possible to force the Dnieper on the move, liberate the capital of Ukraine Kyiv on November 6, 1943 and advance far to the Right Bank.
On the central sector of the Soviet-German front, Soviet troops liberated Bryansk, Gomel, Smolensk, and the eastern part of Belarus. Partisans provided great assistance to the regular army. In 1943, they organized 5 times more sabotage and destroyed 4 times more Nazis than in 1942.
Analyzing the period of a radical turning point in the course of World War II and paying tribute to the role of the Soviet-German front, we must not forget that victory was forged by all participants in the anti-Hitler coalition. Thus, the United States, having entered the war, only in the first six months of the war increased military orders by 6 times and spent a huge amount - $ 100 billion. The government directed its main efforts to the production of ships, aircraft and tanks. In order to finally eliminate Japan's advantage in aircraft carriers, the United States immediately laid down 28 new aircraft carriers of various classes, while Japan built only 6. Particular attention was paid to the offensive type of weapon - bomber aviation, which was armed with the world's largest 4-engine bombers "Flying Fortress". In the course of 1942 alone, US industry produced 32,000 tanks and 49,000 combat aircraft, coming out on top in the world. Aircraft and ships were equipped with the latest radars and other instruments. At a meeting between Churchill and Roosevelt in the summer of 1942, it was decided to concentrate all work on the manufacture of the atomic bomb in America. The head of the so-called Manhattan Project, General Groves, and the scientific supervisor, the outstanding physicist G. Oppenheimer. In December 1942, the outstanding Italian physicist E. Fermi, who emigrated to the United States, for the first time carried out a chain reaction in a nuclear reactor he built. After that, the path to the creation of an atomic bomb was opened.
The military economy of Great Britain also achieved certain successes. In general, by the autumn of 1942, the USSR, the USA and Great Britain produced 5 times more guns and mortars, 3 times more aircraft and almost 10 times more tanks than Germany, Italy and Japan combined. The strength of the armed forces of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain was more than one and a half times greater than the armed forces of the fascist bloc.
Such an advantage over the forces of the aggressor states could not but affect the various theaters of the Second World War, and to a certain extent contributed to the coordination of the actions of the allies. It was at the height of the Battle of Stalingrad on October 22, 1942 that the 8th British Army under the command of General B. Montgomery went on the offensive in the El Alamein area. Having a multiple superiority of forces over Rommel's corps, the British army defeated the enemy. Italian German troops began to retreat from Egypt to the territory of Libya. It was at this moment at the other end of North Africa in the ports of Morocco and Algeria (the colonial possessions of the Vichy government) that the Allied fleet landed an Anglo-American landing under the command of American General D. Eisenhower.
Now both groupings of allies from East and West were advancing into Tunisia, where Hitler had transferred German troops. Only on May 13, 1943, the Italian-German troops capitulated. 240 thousand prisoners fell into the hands of the allies. The total losses of the Italo-German troops exceeded 300 thousand soldiers and officers.
Although the capture of North Africa was a great success for the Allies, it did not yet mean the opening of a second front, as English and American historians often say. Only in May 1943, at a meeting in Washington, Roosevelt and Churchill decided to open a second front in France no later than May 1, 1944. The conference also adopted a plan for landing in Sicily with the aim of withdrawing Italy from the war, plans for aerial bombardment of Germany and plans for operations in pacific ocean.
Having secured their communications, on July 10, 1943, during the Battle of Kursk, the Anglo-American troops landed in Sicily and, without encountering serious resistance, captured the island.
In the Italian ruling circles, which were convinced of the inevitability of defeat, a crisis ensued. Mussolini was arrested by the royal guard, removed from the post of prime minister and replaced by the former chief of the general staff, Marshal Badoglio. On September 8, 1943, London radio announced the signing of an armistice with Italy. Anglo-American troops, in agreement with Badoglio, landed in southern Italy. In response, the German troops that were in Italy disarmed the Italian army and occupied Northern and Central Italy. The occupiers formed an Italian fascist government led by Mussolini, who had previously been liberated by German paratroopers. The Badoglio government declared war on Germany.
The collapse of the fascist regime in Italy and its transition to the side of the Allies was of great political significance: the Italian army withdrew from the struggle, in southern Italy fascism fell, and in northern and central Italy it was supported only by German bayonets. The main countries of the fascist bloc - Germany and Japan - after the capitulation of Italy published a joint declaration of loyalty to the Trinity Pact, but each of the partners already set only their own goals. With no opportunity for a new offensive, Japan went on the defensive in the autumn of 1942. The ruling circles of Germany's satellite countries also thought about how to get out of the war. Thus, the turning point in the course of hostilities caused a deep crisis in the fascist bloc and was a harbinger of the final defeat of the aggressors.
Conversely, the radical turning point in World War II contributed to the expansion of the anti-Hitler coalition. In 1942-1943. a number of previously neutral countries, including Mexico, Brazil, Iran, Iraq, Bolivia, Colombia, decided to declare war on the countries of the fascist bloc, join the anti-Hitler coalition and sign the United Nations Declaration. By the end of 1943, 32 states had signed the Declaration. Hatred of fascism grew throughout the progressive world, and calls for the opening of a second front sounded more insistently. In this regard, we should note the decisions of the international conferences held in 1943 in Moscow, Tehran and Cairo, at which the military plans and policies of the allies for the defeat of fascist Germany and militarist Japan were agreed upon.
So, in October 1943, a conference of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain was held in Moscow, which actually prepared the first meeting of the leaders of the three great powers - Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt - in November - December 1943 in Tehran.
The Tehran Conference adopted an agreed decision to carry out the landing of Anglo-American troops in Northern France in May 1944 and to support IT with an operation in Southern France. The Soviet Union, in turn, promised to organize a major offensive against Eastern Front and confirmed his decision after the war in Europe to enter the war against Japan.
The implementation of the decisions of this conference and other agreements became the main direction of the Allies' actions at the final stage of the Second World War. The Red Army, in the course of major operations that developed into a strategic offensive, began to smash the enemy on the entire Soviet-German front. So, in January 1944, the blockade of Leningrad was completely eliminated. The successful actions of the Soviet troops are convincingly evidenced by the results of the Korsun-Shevchenko operation (January - February 1944), which is called the second Stalingrad.
By mid-April 1944, Right-Bank Ukraine was completely liberated, in April - May - Crimea. In the summer of 1944, the Belarusian operation was successfully carried out, during which 30 enemy divisions were surrounded and liquidated. 57 thousand captured Germans were escorted to the streets of Moscow. This demonstrated the political and military fall of Nazi Germany. In July - August 1944, Western Ukraine, the southeastern regions of Poland and the Moldavian SSR were liberated. Romania fell out of the fascist bloc, Bulgaria was liberated from the Germans.
In September-October, Army Group North was defeated. Liberated Estonia and almost all of Latvia and Lithuania. At the end of 1944, Hungary was liberated, which declared war on Germany. Assistance was provided in the liberation of Yugoslavia. In October 1944, Soviet troops operating in the Arctic came to the border with Norway and, with the consent of the Norwegian government, transferred the fighting to its territory.
The offensive of the Soviet troops along the entire length of the Eastern Front in 1944 became the main prerequisite for the final decision of the United States and Britain to open a second front, which took place in June 1944.
The Allies launched Operation Overlord, the landing of their troops in Northern France. It was the largest landing operation of the Second World War: 6 thousand military, landing and merchant ships delivered 3 Allied armies to the shores of Normandy, which included 10 tank divisions, an air armada - 11 thousand aircraft - covered them from the air; along with the British and American troops, Canadian troops took part in the landing, as well as French military units formed by the French Committee of National Liberation, which on the eve of the landing proclaimed itself the Provisional Government of France - By would command the landing. Montgomery, who received the rank of field marshal after the victory in North Africa. The general leadership of the invasion forces was carried out by General D. Eisenhower. In terms of personnel, the Allied troops were 3 times superior to the German ones that they were opposed to during this period. The Allies had 2 times more guns, 3 times more tanks and 60 times more aircraft. In addition, according to Eisenhower, the French partisans provided assistance equivalent to the actions of 15 regular divisions. On July 25, 1944, the Allies liberated Northern France. The main forces of the Nazis miraculously managed to avoid encirclement and they retreated to the east.
On August 15, 1944, the Allies launched Operation Envil. They landed two armies in the south of France, which soon linked up with those in the north. As a result, by September, almost all of France had been cleared of invaders. Anglo-American troops entered the territory of Belgium and the Netherlands. Only at the western borders of Germany did the front temporarily stabilize. The successful actions of the Allies in France facilitated their operations in Italy as well.
So, the landing of the allies in France and subsequent hostilities in Western Europe led to the opening of a second front. From 60 to 70% of the troops of Nazi Germany fought on the Soviet-German front until the end of the war, and the actions of the Anglo-American troops in Western Europe pulled back up to 1/3 of the German ground forces.
The rulers of fascist Germany, realizing the complete hopelessness of purely defensive tactics, decided to organize a counteroffensive on the Western Front and force Great Britain and the United States to conclude a separate peace. In December 1944, German troops dealt a crushing blow to the Allied forces near the Ardennes and advanced 100 km. Then the Nazi offensive began in Alsace. In this regard, on January 12, 1945, at the request of the allies, Soviet troops launched an offensive along the entire length of the Soviet-German front and pulled back 16 divisions from the Western Front. The successes of the Red Army made it possible for the Allies to restore the front and prepare for a new offensive.
During the first six days of the offensive, Soviet troops broke through the defenses on a 500-kilometer front and began to resolutely approach the borders of the Reich, and in early February 1945 they reached the Oder 60-70 km from Berlin. In the southern segment, Soviet troops, together with Yugoslav, Bulgarian and Romanian units, completed the liberation of Hungary.
The Nazis now pinned their last hopes on a split in the anti-Hitler coalition and a separate peace with Great Britain and the USA. But they were dispelled by the Crimean (Yalta) conference of the heads of government of the three states (Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill), held in February 1945. The conference participants agreed on plans for the defeat of Germany and agreed on a joint policy towards a defeated Germany and a liberated Europe. In particular, the Allies decided to disarm and disband all German armed forces, destroy the German General Staff, liquidate or take control of the German war industry, punish war criminals, etc. To achieve this goal, the Allies decided to long time occupy Germany, dividing it into appropriate zones. The Crimean Conference decided to convene the founding conference of the United Nations on April 25, 1945, in San Francisco. All states that declared war on Germany and Japan by March 1, 1945 could become members of the ITS. An agreement was reached that the Ukrainian and Byelorussian SSRs would become members of the UN together with the Soviet Union. By a secret agreement between the leaders of the three states, the conditions under which the USSR was to enter the war with Japan were determined.
After the Crimean Conference, the Nazis' attempts to enter into official negotiations with the Western powers reached a dead end. On February 8, 1946, the Anglo-American troops under the command of Eisenhower and Montgomery went on the offensive on the Western Front and in early April surrounded a large group Nazi German troops in the Ruhr region. Allied operations in Italy were successful. So, the German defense on the Western Front was broken through, and the allied troops, without encountering serious resistance, began to quickly move deep into Germany. And although Great Britain, the USA and the USSR agreed on the border of the advance of troops, the ruling circles of Western countries were considering the question of how to get ahead of the Soviet troops and capture Berlin. Anti-Soviet sentiments especially intensified after the death of Roosevelt on April 12, 1945. Former US Vice President Harry Truman became President. Taking advantage of the situation, the Nazis again sounded out the possibility of "partial surrender" to Great Britain and the United States, without the participation of the USSR. However, these hopes were in vain.
On April 13, 1945, Soviet troops entered Vienna, on April 24 they surrounded Berlin and began fighting in the German capital.
On April 25, the advanced units of the American troops reached the city of Elba in the area of the city of Torgau and joined with the Soviet troops. On April 29, German troops surrendered in Italy. Local partisans captured and executed Mussolini, and on April 30 Hitler committed suicide.
On May 2, the garrison of Berlin surrendered, and on May 8 in Berlin, under the chairmanship of Marshal G.K. Zhukov, a solemn signing of the act of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany took place. On May 9, Soviet troops liberated rebellious Prague. Hostilities in Europe are over. May 9 became a national holiday in the USSR - Victory Day.
On July 17, 1945, in the suburbs of Berlin - Potsdam, a new conference of the heads of government of the USA, the USSR and Great Britain was held to solve the urgent problems of the post-war organization. The central place in the work of the conference was once again occupied by the question of policy towards Germany. In addition, the conference agreed on the issue of reparations, on the new Polish-German border along the Audrey-Nies (Neisse), on the transfer of the USSR to the Konigsberg (now Kaliningrad) region. The Soviet Union privately confirmed that it would go to war with Japan on the terms agreed during the Yalta Conference.
As we can see, with the cessation of hostilities in Europe, the Second World War didn't end. Japanese militarism was at war. As early as the beginning of 1944, the armed forces of the United States and Great Britain launched an offensive in the Pacific Ocean and Asia. On October 23, 1944, the largest naval battle in the history of World War II began off the island of Leyte (Philippines). 330 large warships participated on both sides, including 39 aircraft carriers and 21 battleships. It was in this four-day battle that the Japanese first used "kamikaze" aircraft, that is, aircraft with suicide bomber pilots. Numerical and technical superiority brought victory to the American fleet.
On the Asian continent, major military operations unfolded in China and Burma. In the spring of 1945, the American command landed troops in Indonesia and began to prepare for the invasion of Japan. Particularly fierce battles were fought over the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Having received bases on these islands, American aircraft began to systematically bomb Japanese cities.
Waging war against Japan, the US and British governments gave special meaning participation in it of the Soviet Union, which on April 5, 1945, denounced the Soviet-Japanese neutrality pact. The fact is that even after the surrender of Germany, Japan had at its disposal significant ground forces (about 4 million people) and retained most of the occupied territories under its control. In addition, the Japanese government rejected the Potsdam Declaration (July 1945, US, UK and China) for Japan's unconditional surrender.
In accordance with the decisions of the Crimean and Potsdam conferences on August 8, 1945, the USSR declared war on Japan and acceded to the Potsdam Declaration.
Having defeated the million-strong Kwantung Army, Soviet troops liberated Northeast China and North Korea, captured South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Many historians believe that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), which killed hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians, were caused not by military necessity, but rather by a demonstration of American power. Some historians believe that this was the beginning of the Cold War against the USSR.
On September 2, 1945, in Tokyo Bay, on board the American battleship Missouri, under the chairmanship of the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces, General D. MacArthur, the signing of the Act of Surrender of Japan took place. In accordance with this act, Japanese troops in Japan and in the territories occupied by it laid down their arms. South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were transferred to the Soviet Union. American troops occupied Japan. World War II is over.
So, the victory over Germany, Italy, Japan, their allies and satellites was achieved by the joint efforts of the USSR, the USA, Great Britain, China, Canada and other countries of the anti-Hitler coalition - a short-lived, but great militant alliance of peoples and states united to fight aggression.
The period from November 19, 1942 to 1943 inclusive - a radical change in the course. World War II. It is characterized by the transition of the Soviet troops to the offensive along the entire front and the massive expulsion of the enemy from the occupied territory, the intensification of the actions of the Anglo-American troops. North. Africa and on. the Mediterranean Sea, the beginning of the crisis of the fascist bloc, the activation of partisan and national-volitional movements, a sharp increase in military production in the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, all of a sudden.
It must be emphasized that in heavy battles on the Soviet-German front, fascist. Germany gradually lost its advantages. Only in the first year of the war, the Nazi army lost 40% of the troops that attacked. THE USSR. Significant losses were inflicted on the invaders by Soviet partisans, whose number was constantly growing at the end of 1942, there were more than 125 thousand people in partisan detachments, against which the German command sent about 10% of the ground forces of the Soviet-German front. The partisans controlled a territory equal in area to such states as. Belgium,. Netherlands and. Denmark taken together.
In the spring of 1942, a gradual increase in industrial production began. THE USSR. A radical change came in the work of the rear during 1942, the Soviet industry produced more military equipment and equipment than. Germany together with her European allies and occupied countries. Soviet tanks. T-34, attack aircraft. IL-2 design. Ilyushin, design fighters. Yakovleva and. Lavochkin, reactive. Mino goals "Katyusha" were the best in the world, the best in the world.
The central event of 1942-1943 is. Battle of Stalingrad
Heroic Defense. Stalingrad and. Caucasus, the successes of the military economy, the creation of large reserves prepared the conditions for a counteroffensive. Red. Army On November 19, 1942, Soviet troops crossed into the counter-navigation stupas under. Stalingrad. Forces. Southwestern,. Stalingradsky, The Don Front was surrounded by a 330,000-strong group of German troops; on February 2, 1943, the remnants of the encircled group capitulated. His entire command was captured - 24 generals, led by a field marshal. Paulus. In. Germany was proclaimed a three-day. Trau mourning.
What is the military-political significance of the defeat of the fascist troops under. Stalingrad?
Firstly, it was a great success of Soviet military art and the beginning of a radical turning point in the course of the war.
Secondly, this victory forced. Japan and. Turkey to maintain "neutrality" in relation to. Soviet. Union
Third, victory under. Stalingrad accelerated the collapse of the fascist bloc, sharply undermined the morale of the fascist armies
Fourthly, a favorable environment was created for the further activation of the movement. Resistance against the fascist invaders. Only the number of military formations of European states created on the territory. Soviet. Union, exceeded by the end of the war 550 thousand.
After the battle under Stalingrad has grown significantly and influence. Soviet. Union to commemorate the victory over the invaders king. UK. George VI handed over to the citizens. Stalingrad sword of honor, and the president. US SHA. Roosevelt sent in. Stalingrad a certificate of honor, which emphasized the courage and fortitude of the Soviet soldiers "their glorious victory," Roosevelt pointed out, "stopped the wave of invasion and became a turning point in the war. Allied. Nations against the forces of aggression and aggression."
Founded by victory under. Stalingrad, a radical turning point in the war was secured by the battle under. Kursk in the summer of 1943
Having made a total mobilization, significantly increasing the production of military equipment, especially aircraft and new tanks "Tiger" and "Panther". Germany, according to the "Citadel" plan, decided to take revenge with a new offensive. Kursk Bulge. The Soviet command unraveled the enemy's plan, and the offensive of the German troops, which began on July 5, 1943, collapsed. The tank battle was especially fierce. Prokhorovka - the largest in. World War II. Battle on. The Kursk Bulge ended on August 23 with the liberation. Harkoved 23 sickles to the curtsy. Kharkov.
The battle lasted 50 days and surpassed in scale. Moscow and. Stalingrad battle. So, if in the battle under. Moscow on both sides involved 1.5 million people, under. Stalingrad - 2 million, then in the battle on. Kursk Bulge - 4 million people. This battle set the fascist. Germany before the disaster. From now until the end of the war, she was forced only to defend herself.
A new victorious offensive of the Soviet troops began, during which. The Red Army liberated. Donbass and. Left-bank Ukraine, the calculations of the Nazis failed to organize a defensive line on. Dnieper military skill acquired. The Red Army during the war, allowed to force on the move. Dnieper, liberate the capital of Ukraine on November 6, 1943. Kyiv and move far to the right bank.
On the central segment of the Soviet-German front, Soviet troops were liberated. Bryansk,. Gomel. Smolensk, eastern part. Belarus. Partisans provided great assistance to the regular army. In 1943 they organized 5 times more sabotage and killed 4 times more Nazis than in 19422.
Analyzing the period of radical change in the course. World War II, and paying tribute to the role of the Soviet-German front, we must not forget that victory was forged by all participants in the anti-Hitler koalas. Like. So,. The United States, having entered the war, only in the first six months of the war increased military orders by 6 times and spent a huge amount - $ 100 billion. The government directed its main efforts to the production of ships, aircraft and tanks. To finally eliminate the advantage. Japan in aircraft carriers. The United States immediately laid down 28 new aircraft carriers of various classes, while. Japan built only six. US products and 32 thousand tanks and 49 thousand combat aircraft, coming out on top in the world. Aircraft and ships were equipped with the latest radars and other instruments. At the meeting. Churchill and. Roosevelt in the summer of 1942, it was decided to concentrate in. America, all the work on the manufacture of the atomic bomb. The chief of the so-called The Manhattan Project was a general. Groves, scientific director - an outstanding physicist. R. Oppenheimer, in December and 1942 an outstanding Italian physicist. E. Fermi, emigrated to. United States, for the first time carried out a chain reaction in a nuclear reactor built by him. After that, the path to the creation of the atomic bomb was discovered by the atomic bomb.
The military economy also achieved certain successes. UK. In general, until the autumn of 1942, the USSR,. USA and. Great Britain produced 5 times more guns and mortars, 3 times more aircraft and almost 10 times more tanks than. Germany,. Italy and. Japan combined. The strength of the armed forces. THE USSR,. USA and. Great Britain more than one and a half times the armed forces of the fascist bloc.
Such an advantage over the forces of the aggressor states could not but be reflected in various theaters. World War II, to some extent contributed to the coordination of the Allies. It was in the midst of the battle under. Stalingrad 22 Oct. Tnya 1942 8th British Army under the command of a general. B. Montgomery went on the offensive in the area. El Alamein. Having a multiple superiority of forces over the corps. Rommel, the British army defeated the enemy. Italo-German troops began to retreat from. Egypt to the territory. Libya. It is at this moment on the other end. North. Africa in ports. Morocco and. Algeria (colonial possessions of the government. Vichy), the allied fleet landed an Anglo-American landing force under the command of an American general. D. Eisenhowernhauer.
Now both factions are allied with. East and. West advanced in. Tunisia where. Hitler transferred German troops. Only on May 13, 1943, the Italian-German troops capitulated. 240 thousand prisoners fell into the hands of the allies. The total losses of the Italo-German troops exceeded 300 thousand soldiers and officers.
Although mastery. North. Africa was a great success for the Allies, but it did not yet mean the opening of a second front, as English and American historians often say. Only in May 1943 at a meeting in. Washington. Roosevelt i. Churchill decided to open a second front in. France no later than May 1, 1944, the Conference also adopted a plan for landing on. Sicily with the aim of withdrawing. Italy from the wars and, plans for aerial bombing. Germany and plans for operations. Pacific Ocean.
Having secured their communications, on July 10, 1943, during the battle on. Kursk Bulge, Anglo-American troops landed on. Sicily and, without meeting serious resistance, took possession of the island
In the Italian ruling circles, which were convinced of the inevitability of defeat, a crisis ensued. Mussolini was arrested by the royal guard, removed from the post of prime minister and replaced by the former initial nickname of the general staff, marshal. Badoglio September 8, 1943 London radio announced the signing of an armistice with. Italy. Anglo-American troops in agreement with. Badoglio landed in the south. Ita. Lee. In response, the German troops were in. Italy, disarmed the Italian army and occupied. Northern and. Central. Italy. The occupiers formed an Italian fascist government headed by s. Mussolini, who had previously been liberated by German paratroopers. Government. Badoglio announced. Germany war war.
The collapse of the fascist regime c. Italy and its transition to the side of the Allies was of great political importance: the Italian army withdrew from the struggle, c. South. Fascism fell in Italy, and c. Northern and. The central was held only by German bayonets. The main countries of the fascist bloc -. Germany i. Japan - after the surrender. Italy issued a joint declaration of allegiance. Tripartite Pact, but each of the partners already set only their own goals. With no opportunity for a new offensive,. Japan went on the defensive in the autumn of 1942. In the ruling circles of the countries - satellites. Germany also thought about how to get out of the war. So, pearls in the course of hostilities caused a deep crisis of the fascist bloc and was a harbinger of the final defeat of the aggressors.
Conversely, a radical change in World War II contributed to the expansion of the anti-Hitler coalition. In 1942-1943 pp a number of previously neutral countries, including. Mexico,. Brazil,. Iran,. Iraq, more ia,. Colombia, decided to declare war on the states of the fascist bloc, join the anti-Hitler coalition and sign. Declaration. United. Nations. By the end of 1943, 32 states had signed the Declaration. Hatred of fascism grew throughout the progressive world, and calls for the opening of a second front sounded more and more insistently. In this regard, the decision of the international conferences held in 1943 should be noted. Moscow. Tehran and. Cairo, where the plans for military operations and the policy of the allies to defeat the fascist were agreed. Germany and militaristic Japan. Japan.
So, in October 1943. Moscow hosted a conference of foreign ministers. THE USSR,. USA and. Great Britain, actually prepared the first meeting of the leaders of the three great powers -. Stalin. Churchill and I. Roosevelt - in November - December 1943. Tehran.
The Tehran Conference adopted an agreed decision to carry out the landing of Anglo-American troops c. North. France in May 1944 and support it with Operation c. South. France. Soviet. The Union, in turn, promised to organize a major offensive against. Eastern Front and confirmed his decision after the war. Europe to go to war against Japan.
The implementation of the decisions of this conference and other agreements became the main direction of the Allies' actions in the final stage. World War II. The Red Army, in the course of major operations that developed into a strategic offensive, began to smash the enemy on the entire Soviet-German front. So, in January 1944, the blockade was completely eliminated. Leningrad. The results convincingly testify to the successful actions of the Soviet troops. Korsun-Shevchenko operation (January - February 1944 p), which is called the second. Stalingradomrad.
By mid-April 1944 he was completely released. Right-bank Ukraine, in April - May -. Crimea. In the summer of 1944, it was successfully carried out. Belarusian operation, during which 30 voro divisions were surrounded and liquidated. RSA 57 thousand captured Germans were escorted to the streets. Moscow. This demonstrated the political and military fall of the fascist. Germany. Released in July - August 1944. Western Ukraine, southeast or districts. Poland and. Moldovan PCP. Dropped out of the fascist bloc. Romania, liberated from the Germans. Bulgaria. Bulgaria.
In September - October was defeated Army Group"North"Liberated. Estonia and almost all. Latvia and. Lithuania was liberated at the end of 1944. Hungary, which declared war. Germany. Assistance was provided in the released. UNI. Yugoslavia. In October 1944, Soviet troops operating in. Arctic, went to the border with. Norway and with the consent of the Norwegian government transferred the fighting on its territory to the territory.
The offensive of the Soviet troops throughout. Eastern Front in 1944 became the main prerequisite for the final decision. USA and. England about the opening of the second front, which took place in June 1944
The Allies launched Operation Overlord - the landing of their troops in. North. France. It was the largest landing operation. World War II: 6 thousand military, landing and merchant ships were delivered to b shores. Normandy 3 Allied armies, which included 10 tank divisions, an air armada - 11 thousand aircraft - covered them from the air; along with the British and American troops, Canadian troops participated in the landing, as well as French military units formed. The French Committee of National Liberation, which proclaimed itself on the eve of the landing. Provisional government. France -. Where. Santom was in command. B. Montgomery, who received the rank of field marshal after the victory in. North. Africa. General command of the invasion forces was carried out by the general. D. Eisenhower. In terms of personnel, the allied eyelashes of the Skye were 3 times superior to the German ones, which they were opposed to during this period. The Allies had 2 times more guns, 3 times more tanks and 60 times more aircraft. In addition, according to. Eisenhower, the French partisans provided assistance equivalent to the actions of 15 regular divisions on July 25, 1944, the allies released. Northern. France?
On August 15, 1944, the Allies launched Operation Envil. They landed in the south. France had two armies, which soon linked up with those in the north. As a result, by September, almost all. France??was cleared of the invaders. Anglo-American troops entered the territory. Belgium and. Netherlands. Only at the western borders. Germany's front temporarily stabilized. Successful actions of the allies in. France will facilitate or their operations and to. Italian and in Italy.
So, the landing of the allies in. France and subsequent hostilities c. Western. Europe led to the opening of a second front. From 60 to 70% of the Nazi troops fought on the Soviet-German front until the end of the war. Germany, and the actions of the Anglo-American troops in. Western. Europe was pulled over to 1/3 of the ground forces. Germany.
Fascist rulers. Germany, realizing the complete hopelessness of purely defensive tactics, decided to organize a counterattack on. Western front and force. UK and. United States to conclude a separate peace. In December 1944, German troops dealt a crushing blow to the Allied troops in. Ardennes and moved forward 100 km. Then the Nazi offensive began. Alsace. In this regard, on January 12, 1945, on about. Hannah of the allies, the Soviet troops launched an offensive along the entire length of the Soviet-German front and pulled back 16 divisions from. Western Front. Successes. The Red Army was given the opportunity for the allies to retake the front and prepare for a new offensive-attack.
During the first six days of the offensive, Soviet troops broke through the defenses on a 500-kilometer stretch of the front and began to resolutely approach the borders of the Reich, and in early February 1945 they reached. Oder for 60-70 km. Berlin. In the southern segment, Soviet troops, together with Yugoslav, Bulgarian and Romanian units, completed the liberation. Hungarian.
The Nazis now pinned their last hopes on a split in the anti-Hitler coalition and a separate peace treaty. UK and. USA. But they were scattered. Crimean (Yalta) conference of the heads of governments of the three powers whinnying. Stalin. Roosevelt i. Churchill), held in February 1945. The participants of the conference agreed on plans for the defeat. Germany and agreed on a joint policy towards the defeated. Germany and Liberated. In particular, the Allies decided to disarm and disband all German armed forces, destroy the German General Staff, liquidate or take control of the war industry. Germany, for now, an army of war criminals, etc. To achieve this goal, the Allies decided to occupy for a long time. Germany, dividing it into corresponding zones. The Crimean Conference decided to convene on April 25, 1945. San Francisco. founding conference. UN. Participants. It could be all the states that declared war. Germany and. Japan until March 1, 1945. It was agreed that the members. UN together with Soviet. The Ukrainian and. Belarusian PCP. The secret agreement of the leaders of the three powers determined the conditions on which. The USSR was supposed to go to war with. Japan h. Japan.
After. Crimean Conference attempts by the Nazis to enter into formal negotiations with the Western powers stalled February 8, 1946, the Anglo-American troops under command. Eisenhower and. Montgomery went on the offensive on. Western Front and in early April surrounded a large grouping of Nazi troops in the area. Ruhr. Allied operations were successful. Italy. So, the German turn on on. The western front was broken through, and the Allied troops, without encountering serious resistance, began to quickly move inland. Germany. And although. Great Britain,. USA and. The USSR agreed on the boundaries of the advance of troops, in the ruling circles of Western countries, they pondered the question of how to get ahead of the Soviet troops and capture. Berlin. Anti-Soviet sentiments especially intensified after his death. Roosevelt on April 12, 1945. Former Vice President became Prez identi. USA. Harry. Truman. Taking advantage of the situation, the Nazis again probed the possibility of "partial surrender" before. UK and. USA, without participation. THE USSR. However, these hopes turned out to be useless, they turned out to be marnimi.
On April 13, 1945, Soviet troops entered the Vienna, April 24 surrounded. Berlin and began fighting in the capital. Germany
On April 25, the advanced units of the American troops reached the river. Elba and around the city. Torgau linked up with the Soviet troops On 29 April the German troops capitulated to. Italy. Local partisans took him prisoner. Mussolini. And they executed him, and on April 30 he committed suicide. Hitlerer.
On May 2, the garrison capitulated. Berlin, and on 8 May c. Berlin under the chairmanship of the marshal. GK. Zhukov, a solemn signing of the act of unconditional surrender of the Nazis took place. In Germany, on May 9, the Soviet troops liberated the rebels. Prague. Military action in Europe is over. Day 9 May became a national holiday c. THE USSR -. Happy. Pobedemogi.
To solve the urgent tasks of the post-war device on July 17, 1945 in the suburbs. Berlin -. Potsdam hosted a new conference of heads of government. USA,. USSR and. UK. The central place in the work of the conference was once again occupied by the question of policy towards. Germany. In addition, the conference agreed on the issue of reparations, on the new Polish-German border. Odre -. Nisa (Neisse), about the transfer. CPC. R. Koenigsberg (now. Kaliningrad) region. Soviet. The Union has confidentially confirmed that it will go to war with. Japan on terms agreed at the time. Yalta Confederation.
As we can see, with the cessation of hostilities in. Europe. World War II is not over. Japanese militarism was at war. Since the beginning of 1944, the armed forces. USA and. Great Britain launched an offensive on. the Pacific Ocean and Asia October 23, 1944 near the island. Leyte (Philippines) began the largest in history. World War II naval battle. 330 large warships, including 39 aircraft carriers and 21 battleships, took part on both sides. It was in this four-day battle that the Japanese first used "kamikaze" aircraft, that is, aircraft with suicide pilots. Numerical and technical superiority brought victory to America's media space to the Floterican fleet.
On the. the Asian continent major military operations unfolded in. China and. Burma. In the spring of 1945, the American command landed troops in. Indonesia and began to prepare for the invasion of. Japan. Especially zhor rstok battles were fought for the islands. Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Having received bases on these islands, American aviation began to systematically bomb Japanese cities.
Waging war against Japan, government. USA and. Great Britain attached particular importance to participation in it. Soviet. Union, on April 5, 1945, denounced the Soviet-Japanese neutrality pact. Deal in is, that and after capitulation. Germany. Japan had significant ground forces (about 4 million people) and retained most of the occupied territories under its control. In addition, the Japanese government rejected. Potsdam Declaration (July 1945, USA, Great Britain and China) on the unconditional surrender of Japan.
accordance with the decisions. Crimean and. Potsdam conference August 8, 1945 the USSR declared war. Japan and acceded to the Potsdam Declaration
Defeated the millionth. The Kwantung Army, Soviet troops were liberated. Northeastern. China and. Northern. Korea, they took over. Southern. Sakhalin and. Kuril Islands. Many historians believe that there was no atomic bombing. Hiroshima (August 6) and. Nagasaki (August 9), which killed hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians, was caused not by military necessity, but rather by a demonstration of American strength. Some historians believe that this was the beginning of the Cold War against. CPC; against. SRSR.
September 2, 1945 Tokyo Bay aboard the US battleship "Missouri" and the guide presided over by the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces General. D. MacArthur was signed. Act of Surrender. Japan i. According to this act, the Japanese troops c. Japan and the territories it occupied were weapons. Southern. Sakhalin and. The Kuril Islands were transferred. Soviet. Union. American troops occupied Japan. World War II ended and died.
So, win over. Germany,. Italy,. Japan, their allies and satellites have been achieved by joint efforts. THE USSR,. USA,. UK,. China,. Canada and other countries of the anti-Hitler coalition - a short-lived but large militant alliance of peoples and states united to fight aggression.
A turning point in the war was outlined in the summer and autumn of 1942. In the offensive in the summer of 1942, the German command attached particular importance to the capture of Stalingrad: 1) access to the Volga gave the enemy the opportunity to cut this important transport artery 2) the capture of Stalingrad opened the way to the Caucasus.
The advancing Nazi 6th Army had an advantage in manpower and weapons. On July 17, fighting began on the outskirts of the city. On September 23, the enemy managed to fight and approach the Volga north of the city. Stalingrad became a front, but an attempt by the enemy to capture it with a blow from the north was thwarted. The counteroffensive of the Soviet troops began on November 19, 1942. The enemy grouping with a total number of 330 thousand people was surrounded. On December 12, 1942, the Nazi command made an attempt to break through the blockade with a blow from the area of the village of Kotelnikovsky, but the army of Lieutenant General R.Ya. Malinovsky managed to defeat the fascist formations. The offensive of the Soviet troops on the Middle Don was launched, which forced the Nazis to abandon the idea of releasing the encircled group. On January 10, 1943, the troops of the Don Front went on the offensive, and on February 2, Field Marshal Paulus signed the act of surrender. The Battle of Stalingrad (17.07.1942-2.02.1943) ended with the victory of the Red Army.
The battle on the Volga predetermined the outcome of the battles in the North Caucasus. By mid-February 1943, most of it was liberated. In January 1943, the ring of the enemy blockade of Leningrad was broken. The process of a radical turning point in the war ended during the Battle of Kursk in July-August 1943. The culmination of the battle was the largest tank battle near Prokhorovka, and the operation ended with the capture of Kharkov. The reasons for the victory of the Soviet troops in the Battle of Kursk, its significance: 1) the Soviet command, based on intelligence data, unraveled the enemy’s plan 2) the Soviet command knew the time of the offensive, carried out powerful artillery preparation 3) the enemy was stopped along the entire front 4) the strategic initiative was finally transferred to the Soviet side ; 5) victories at the front had a decisive impact on the opening of a second front
No. 45. Military events of the Great Patriotic War of 1944. The final stage of the Second World War (1944-1945)
Major military operations 1944–1945
Korsun-Shevchenkovskaya. The troops of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts closed ten enemy divisions in a ring and completed the rout of the group. In April 1944, Kherson, Vinnitsa, Nikolaev were liberated, and in early April - Odessa. The Belarusian operation ("Bagration") began on June 23, 1944. Minsk was liberated. Overcoming enemy resistance, on August 17, Soviet troops reached the German border. As a result Iasi-Kishinev operation On August 20–24, 1944, Moldavia was liberated. In October-November 1944, the strategically important Murmansk region and the north-eastern regions of Norway were liberated from the enemy.
The victories of the Red Army created the conditions for the liberation of the countries of Europe occupied by the Nazis and assistance to their peoples: 1) on August 31, 1944, the troops entered Bucharest; 2) On September 9, an uprising began in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The Soviet army entered Sofia; 3) On October 20, 1944, the troops liberated Belgrade; 4) in Hungary, Soviet troops met fierce resistance from the enemy. Budapest was liberated from the Nazis only on February 13, 1945. 5) On January 17, Soviet soldiers liberated Warsaw.
Berlin operation. The question of who will be the first to enter the German capital has become an acute political problem. Soviet troops were 60 km from Berlin, and parts of the Anglo-American troops by April 1945 were 100 km away. However, the Red Army overcame fierce opposition, and the Anglo-American troops faced weak resistance. The troops of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts and the 1st Ukrainian front headed by G.K. Zhukov, K.K. Rokossovsky, I.S. Konev. The offensive began at 5 am on April 16, 1945. Artillery and bombers dealt crushing blows to the enemy. The enemy defended fiercely. On April 21, shock units of the Red Army broke into the outskirts of Berlin. The troops advancing from the north and south joined up west of Berlin. On the Elbe River, near the city of Torgau, they had a significant meeting with the American army. On May 8, an act of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany was signed in the suburbs of Berlin. From the Soviet side, the signature was put by Marshal G.K. Zhukov. The war in Europe is over. The fighting in Europe ended on May 9 in Prague after Germany signed the act of unconditional surrender
No. 47. Restoration and development of the national economy in the first post-war decade (1945-1955)
After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet people got the opportunity to start peaceful labor. The main problems of the post-war period: 1) the demobilization of the army: out of 11.5 million military personnel in 1945-1946. about 8.5 million people were transferred to the reserve, who needed to be provided with housing, which in a devastated country was an impossible task. A large number of the population in the post-war years lived in barracks; 2) an urgent conversion was needed (transferring the economy to a peaceful track), which led to a decline in industrial production.
The main source of the country's reconstruction, as well as the victory in the war, was the selfless enthusiasm of the Soviet people: 1) during the years of the first post-war five-year plan (1946–1950), 6,200 industrial enterprises were restored and built again; 2) in 1948 the pre-war level of industrial production was reached; 3) in 1950 the level of pre-war production was surpassed by 73%; 4) the Stakhanovite movement unfolded again. 5) the country's economy has not lost its militaristic orientation: Soviet government and at a new stage, constantly preparing for a war for survival in a capitalist environment; 6) the leadership of the country and personally I.V. Stalin showed great attention to the development of the military industry and related scientific research. 7) the first test of the Soviet atomic bomb took place in 1949 at the test site in Semipalatinsk; 8) in 1947, the first Soviet ballistic missile was tested, which was developed under the leadership of S.P. Queen. The satisfaction of people's material needs, as in the pre-war years, was relegated to the background by the country's leadership. But already in 1947 the rationing system for food products was abolished. The countryside, as in the pre-war period, remained a source for pumping out funds that the state received at the expense of the practically unpaid labor of collective farmers. In 1946–1947 due to drought, a poor grain harvest was observed. The village was engulfed in hunger
No. 48. USSR in the 50-60s. 20th Congress of the CPSU. "Khrushchev thaw"
Organizing the "great terror" in the post-war years, Stalin set himself the goal of intimidating the people, suppressing any, even potential, opposition. But the sudden death of the head of the country in March 1953 changed the situation in the country. The country was entering a new period of its internal and external political development. There was an aggravation of the struggle in the leadership of the country for power. An attempt by L.P. Beria to take the place of the leader failed. On June 26, 1953, he was arrested and soon executed, not for his crimes, but on trumped-up charges of espionage. The most successful in the struggle for power was N.S. Khrushchev
One of the central places in the activities of N.S. Khrushchev was occupied with the work of overcoming the personality cult of I.V. Stalin: 1) criticism of this phenomenon began in the press; 2) law enforcement agencies were reorganized; 3) work was carried out to rehabilitate victims of repression; 4) of general importance in the socio-political life of the country was the XX Congress of the CPSU (February 1956), at a closed meeting of which N.S. Khrushchev made a report "On the cult of personality and its consequences." This report was not published, although it was widely discussed in the party organizations of the country. (The text of the report was first published in the USSR in 1989.)
Since 1953, cardinal transformations began in the country's economy.
The development of a new agrarian policy began, which included the development of virgin and fallow lands, the enlargement of collective farms, and the curtailment of personal subsidiary plots. But the food problem continued to be acute. The USSR began to buy grain abroad.
The decade from 1954 to 1964 went down in the history of the country as a time of "thaw". The death of Stalin, the removal from power of Beria put an end to mass terror in the country. Political prisoners were returning from camps and prisons. Criticism of "Stalin's personality cult" woke up Soviet society, gave rise to faith, hope for a change for the better. Changes in public life gave a powerful impetus to the development of culture and art. Since the mid 50s. the leadership of culture became more democratic: previously forbidden poems were published. The party leadership admitted its erroneous decisions on certain issues.
At the same time, the leadership of the party determined the boundaries of de-Stalinization, continued ideological pressure in the spirit of traditional communist propaganda. The censorship press did not weaken, continued to exist.
The "Pasternak case" clearly showed the limitations of the Khrushchev "thaw". B. Pasternak was unfairly expelled from the Union of Writers of the USSR for publishing his novel Doctor Zhivago abroad
Events unfolded differently in Yugoslavia. In March 1941, the Yugoslav government signed an alliance pact with Germany. However, the patriotic command of the Yugoslav army carried out a coup d'état and terminated the treaty. Germany's response was to start hostilities in the Balkans in April. The huge superiority in forces allowed the Wehrmacht to defeat the Yugoslav army within a week and a half, and then crush the pockets of resistance in Greece. The territory of the Balkan Peninsula was divided among the countries of the German bloc. However, the struggle of the Yugoslav people continued, the resistance movement was expanding in the country - one of the most powerful in Europe.
The last act of the Balkan campaign was the battle for the island of Crete, occupied by British troops in November 1940. The battle for Crete went down in the history of the Second World War as the largest airborne operation. 1280 Luftwaffe aircraft and almost all Wehrmacht landing units took part in it. Despite the overall success of the operation, the huge losses among these elite units made it impossible to use them later as an independent branch of the military.
With the end of the Balkan campaign, only three truly neutral, independent states remained in Europe - Sweden, Switzerland and Ireland. The Soviet Union was chosen as the next target of aggression. Formally, the Soviet-German treaty of 1939 was still in effect, but its true potential had already been exhausted. Chapter of Eastern Europe on spheres of influence allowed the USSR to freely include Western Belarus and Western Ukraine, the Baltic republics - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, part of the Romanian territories (Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina), with the help of military measures to achieve territorial concessions to Finland. Germany, using the treaty with the USSR, conducted the first and most important campaigns in Europe, avoiding the dispersion of forces on two fronts. Now nothing separated the two huge powers, and the choice could only be made between further military-political rapprochement or an open clash. The decisive moment was the Soviet-German negotiations in November 1940 in Berlin. At them, the Soviet Union was invited to join the Steel Pact. The refusal of the USSR from the obviously unequal union predetermined the inevitability of war.
A turning point in World War II. June 22, 1941 German troops invaded the territory of the USSR. The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people began. This radically changed the global political balance of power. On the same day, the head of the British government, W. Churchill, and US President F. Roosevelt declared that they were ready to render all possible assistance to the Soviet Union in repelling German aggression. Already on July 12, an agreement on mutual assistance and support was concluded between England and the Soviet Union. Thus, the beginning of the anti-Hitler coalition was laid, which played a large role in the defeat of the armies of Nazi Germany and its allies. At the end of 1941, a conference of the USSR, the USA and England was held in Moscow, at which a protocol was signed on military supplies from the USA and England to the Soviet Union. In January 1942, 26 countries signed the Declaration of the United Nations in Washington. They pledged to use all their resources to fight against the fascist bloc, to cooperate with each other.
The strategic defeat of the Red Army in the first months of the war did not lead to the defeat of the USSR. The German rampart was stopped at the approaches to Leningrad and Moscow. The balance of power began to slowly level out. The German army, focused on blitzkrieg - one breakthrough and one decisive victory, was in dire need of reinforcements, regrouping, establishing rear services, and revising tactics. Using this advantageous moment, the Soviet command, at the cost of incredible exertion of forces, managed to organize a successful counteroffensive near Moscow in December 1941. The following year, having exhausted the enemy in fierce battles for Stalingrad, the Red Army launched a decisive counteroffensive - a radical change began in the Great Patriotic war. The victory in the Battle of Kursk in 1943 completed this landmark stage. The strategic initiative finally passed to the Soviet Army. The turning point occurred not only due to brilliant victories, but also due to the growing advantage of the entire economic potential of the USSR over the possibilities of the Reich economy. From that moment on, any changes in the tactical situation at the front could only delay the collapse Nazi Germany. A war waged by the forces of entire nations, a war of social systems and economic models, left no room for chance and military luck.
It is highly symbolic that it was precisely in the same period, in the second half of 1942 - the first half of 1943, that a radical change took place in military operations on other fronts of the Second World War. And although the scale of events on them was not as great as on the Soviet-German front, the role of the allies in the geopolitical and moral defeat of the Nazi bloc was exceptionally great.
The African theater of operations was formed already in the summer of 1940. For several months, the main opposing forces were the 50,000-strong British corps, which controls Egypt and part of Somalia, and more than 200,000-strong Italian army stationed in Libya, Cyrenaica, Abyssinia, Eritrea. A clear superiority in forces allowed the Italians to develop active operations to drive the enemy to the Egyptian border. However, after the fall of Greece and Crete, significant forces of the British ground forces, fleet and aviation were evacuated to North Africa. Already in February 1941, the British developed a successful offensive in Northeast Africa. The situation was changed by the landing in Libya of a German tank corps under the command of General Rommel, one of the most talented commanders of the Reich. Rommel not only managed to stop the enemy, but also went on a swift offensive. Only by May did the front stabilize on the Egyptian border. In the summer of 1941, the British army concentrated its efforts on suppressing the uprising of the Iraqi army, supported by German aircraft. Then the French protectorate of Syria was also captured, and an invasion of Iran was carried out jointly with the USSR. Attempts to attack the positions of the German-Italian troops in Africa were not successful.
In the spring of 1942, Rommel managed to achieve considerable success on the African front. Using the tactics of maneuver warfare in desert conditions, inflicting unexpected blows with small tank formations, he deprived the enemy of the initiative. At the end of May, the German corps launched a decisive offensive, invading Egyptian territory. Only in July, the Germans were stopped on a fortified line near El Alamein, 100 km from Alexandria. Here, in the autumn of 1942, the battle took place, which made the final turning point in the course of hostilities in Africa. In November, British troops under the command of General Montgomery went on the offensive. At the same time, General Eisenhower's Anglo-American troops landed in Algiers. German and Italian formations retreated to the territory of Tunisia, occupying the fortified line "Maret". With each month, the numerical superiority of the Anglo-American troops became greater. Realizing that the enemy was accumulating strength for a decisive blow, Rommel made in February 1943 the last attempt to turn the tide of events. Its tank units broke through the battle formations of the American troops and smashed their rear for 10 days. However, the balance of power was already too unequal. In March, the last German attacks were repulsed, and then within a month and a half, their Tunisian group was completely destroyed. The Allies eliminated the African front and received full strategic initiative in the Mediterranean region.
Events of a turning point took place during these months in the Pacific theater of operations as well. The war in the Pacific began only at the end of 1941. On December 7, Japanese aircraft suddenly, without an official declaration of war, subjected to a fierce bombardment of a large American naval base in the Hawaiian Islands at Pearl Harbor. As a result, the Americans suffered heavy losses. On December 8, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan, and on December 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. Simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched an offensive against the British colonial possessions and captured Hong Kong, Malaya, and Singapore. After the defeat of the combined Anglo-Dutch-American fleet in the battle in the Java Sea in February 1942, the Japanese armed forces took control of almost the entire central zone of the Pacific Ocean, coming close to the Australian outer defense line. The offensive also developed on the mainland - in Burma. In April, an attack was made on the British base on the island of Ceylon. But the Japanese failed to develop success further in the direction of the Red Sea. Their offensive to the south also stopped - in May 1942, in the battle in the Coral Sea, their fleet could not push back the American formations. The battle in the Coral Sea was the first where aircraft carriers played the main role - since that time, naval battles have turned into a duel of carrier-based aircraft of the opposing fleets.
From June 1942 to February 1943, decisive events took place in the Pacific that determined the outcome of the campaign. Trying not to lose the initiative, the Japanese fleet tried to strike at a military base on Midway Atoll in the direction of the Hawaiian Islands. The success of this operation could move the battle line much closer to the United States. However, the attack was much worse prepared than the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was not only repulsed, but also led to significant losses of the Japanese fleet from American air strikes. From August 1942, the Japanese fleet also made unsuccessful attempts to gain a foothold in the Solomon Islands archipelago on the outskirts of Australia. The main battles, which brought colossal losses to both sides, unfolded near the island of Gaudalcanal. But if the power of American industry made it possible by this time to steadily increase the power of the fleet, then Japan could no longer make up for the growing losses. In February 1943, the Japanese fleet leaves the archipelago to the north. In fact, recognizing a strategic defeat, the Japanese headquarters changes the plan of military operations and goes on the defensive along the radius of the Kuril Islands, the area of the South Seas, New Guinea and Burma.
In addition to the Pacific Ocean, military operations were also actively conducted on the sea lanes of the Atlantic. The main strategic goal of the German naval forces was to blockade the British Isles. However, it was difficult to implement it after the heavy losses of the Norwegian campaign. Great hopes were placed on the largest warship of that time, the battleship Bismarck (in connection with the decisions of the Washington Conference of 1922, ships of this class were not built either in the USA or in Great Britain). Bismarck undertook his only campaign in April-May 1941. Left without the support of other ships, he was forced to engage in single combat with almost half of the British Atlantic fleet. At the cost of heavy losses, the British managed to destroy this sea fortress. Subsequently, the actions of the German surface fleet were reduced to attacks by raiders - small cruisers that attacked, as a rule, single ships, but were powerless against well-protected convoys. From January 1942, the German command was finally reoriented to submarine warfare. Admiral Doenitz, who made great efforts to develop the Reich submarine fleet as an elite branch of the armed forces, achieved the transformation of the construction of submarines into one of the priorities in the activities of German industry. The rapid build-up of forces in the Atlantic, the use of "wolf pack" tactics: simultaneous attacks on convoys by a whole group of submarines, great experience and the excellent training of the crews of German submarines - all this ensured significant losses of the Allied fleet in 1942. But already at the beginning of 1943, technical innovations and the strengthening of the military escort of merchant ships made it possible to significantly increase the effectiveness of anti-submarine defense and secure sea communications. German submarines were forced to move to single actions. In April 1943, Doenitz, in his report, acknowledged the failure of plans for total submarine warfare: the enemy put into operation more ships every month than his crews could sink. Since that time, the German submarine fleet has largely reoriented itself to the delivery of strategic raw materials from Latin America.
Thus, with the external isolation of the main theaters of military operations in almost all of them, at the end of 1942 and the beginning of 1943, a radical change occurs, the strategic initiative passes to the opponents of the German bloc. At the same time, the consolidation of the anti-Hitler coalition itself was taking place. The impetus for this was the signing in May-June 1942 of the Soviet-British treaty, according to which Great Britain assumed obligations to provide the USSR with "military and other assistance of any kind", as well as the Soviet-American agreement on supplying the USSR with military materials. In June
In 1942, a general Soviet-American agreement was concluded in Washington on the principles of mutual assistance and waging war against aggression. The agreement provided for the extension to the USSR of the law on lend-lease (loan or lease of weapons and military materials), adopted by the US Congress in March 1941. The signing of these agreements actually completed the formation of the main core of the anti-Hitler coalition. In August 1943, the USSR also established diplomatic relations with the committee of General Charles de Gaulle, who led the French Resistance forces.
The radical change in the course of the war had a different effect on the situation in the Hitlerite bloc. In Germany itself and the satellite countries, an internal political crisis was growing, the economy was working at its limit. The government circles of Romania, Finland, Bulgaria, and Hungary began attempts to establish unofficial diplomatic contacts with representatives of the anti-Hitler coalition in order to ensure the possibility of a separate peace and a way out of the war. In these countries and in the occupied territories, the resistance movement was expanding, turning into a serious military and political force.
The radical change caused a change in the strategy of the participants in the war. Germany and its allies are switching to strategic defense, trying to wear down and bleed the enemy in fierce battles, and also hoping to deepen internal contradictions in the anti-Hitler coalition. The USSR, USA, Great Britain, on the contrary, are striving to use their clear superiority and impose on the enemy a fight on several fronts until he is completely destroyed. From this point of view, the opening of a second front in Europe by the forces of the Anglo-American army acquired fundamental importance. The Soviet command insisted on a speedy resolution of this issue. However, the complexity of the upcoming large-scale landing operation forced the allies to postpone its dates several times and, as a first step, choose a landing on Sicily, far from the main theater of operations. This invasion took place on the night of July 10, 1943. Despite the calculated superiority of the Italo-German troops, the island was liberated as soon as possible - low morale and disorganization of the Italian units, as well as strong support local residents, including the famous mafia crime syndicate, which suffered greatly from the persecution of the fascist regime of Mussolini. In the government circles of Italy itself, a deep political crisis was growing. Its denouement came on July 25, when Mussolini was removed from the post of prime minister by the decision of the Great Fascist Council, the highest authority of the state. His successor was Marshal Badoglio, who hoped to start separate negotiations with the Anglo-American command. In this situation, German formations began to enter Northern Italy, and Anglo-American troops landed in the south of the country. The Badoglio government announced its surrender and retained power in the territory occupied by the Allies. In the north, in the city of Salo, the new government of Mussolini was formed. The country was split. Nevertheless, Italy actually withdrew from the war and the fighting on the Apennine Peninsula was subsequently carried out mainly by German and Anglo-American troops.
The opening of the second front and the end of the war. The transition to the control of the allies of the Mediterranean region made it possible to return to the question of opening a second front in the most important direction - in Western Europe. A political decision on this matter was made by the Tehran Conference, which took place from November 28 to December 1, 1943. This was the first personal meeting of the leaders of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain - I. Stalin, F. Roosevelt and W. Churchill. An agreement was reached on the landing of Anglo-American troops in France by the beginning of the summer of 1944. The Allied command developed the Overlord plan, the largest landing operation in the history of wars. The area of the English Channel was chosen as the place for its implementation.
On June 6, 1944, in Normandy (on the northern coast of France), the landing of Anglo-American troops led by American General D. Eisenhower began. On July 25, a general offensive began from the captured bridgeheads. His pace was slow. The resistance of the German units turned out to be stronger than expected, and the allied command was unable to ensure effective interaction of their troops at this stage. At this crucial moment, the French resistance movement played a huge role. Almost the entire country was engulfed in outbreaks of armed uprisings. On August 18, an uprising began in Paris. On the last step he was supported by the panzer troops of General Leclerc, who arrived in time - part of those French formations that took part in the landing of the allies. Thus, Paris was liberated by the French themselves. Realizing the futility of further holding France, the German command began to withdraw its troops to the north. Anglo-American formations almost unhindered pursued the enemy to the borders of France. However, an attempt to break through the old fortifications of the "Siegfried Line" on the move failed. In September, the front line stabilized along the southern border of the Netherlands, at the western border of Germany to Luxembourg and south to the borders of neutral Switzerland. In total, during this time, the Wehrmacht lost about 460 thousand people on the Western Front. killed and wounded, allies - 225 thousand people.
The strategy for further actions caused disagreement among the allied command. General Eisenhower insisted on carrying out the offensive on a broad front, with the main thrust at the mouth of the Scheldt. The British generals put forward the idea of a concentrated strike north of the Ardennes with a breakthrough into German territory. At the Quebec Conference of US and British leaders in September 1944, it was decided to support Eisenhower's proposal. Since September 17, offensive operations have been launched along the entire northern border of France and in the Saarland. However, they did not have much effect. Despite the heavy losses and the numerical superiority of the enemy, the German units steadily held all strategic positions on the Siegfried Line. Moreover, having formed a strike force from 21 divisions, including 7 tank divisions, the German command launched a strong counterattack on December 16 in the Ardennes region. As in 1940, the tank wedge overcame the hard-to-reach mountainous terrain and rushed to the rear of the American troops. The position of the allies became critical. The depth of the breakthrough by December 23 was up to 100 km. On December 31, the Germans went on the offensive in Alsace. On January 1, a massed strike of 1,000 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed 260 British and American aircraft at the airfields. Only an acute shortage of reserves did not allow to build on this success. Nevertheless, by the beginning of 1945, the situation on the Western Front remained quite difficult for the Allies. The final defeat of Germany was predetermined by the success of the strategic offensive of the Red Army in 1944.
By the beginning of 1945, the Soviet command was preparing a plan for a new strategic offensive with the aim of finally defeating Germany. Despite the doom of the Nazi regime, the Wehrmacht still had enough strength to resist. The German army still had more than 9 million people, more than 110 thousand guns, 7 thousand aircraft, 13 thousand tanks. Hitler counted on the fact that stubborn battles in Germany would accelerate the collapse of the Allied coalition and the withdrawal from the war of Great Britain and the United States. However, with all the growing political contradictions between the Soviet and Anglo-American leadership, the primary need for a military defeat and complete elimination Nazism. Moreover, the difficult situation on the Western Front forced the Soviet command to even speed up the offensive. It began on January 12 in the central sector of the front. The success of the Vistula-Oder operation made it possible to liberate the territory of Poland and block the East Prussian grouping of the enemy. By mid-April, she was defeated. At the same time, a large-scale offensive was developed in the direction of Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna. The final liberation of Hungary, most of Czechoslovakia and Austria created the conditions for a decisive blow by the Soviet Army in the Berlin direction, as well as the activation of the Anglo-American troops on the western borders of Germany. In February-March, having overcome the fortifications of the "Siegfried Line", the Allies reached the Rhine and completed the encirclement of the enemy's Ruhr grouping. In the first half of April, the Anglo-American formations began to reach the Elbe, meeting with the Soviet units moving towards them.
The final blow to Nazi Germany was dealt during the Berlin operation, which began on April 16. The assault on Berlin and the suppression of the last pockets of resistance in Germany as a whole were completed by May 2. The day before, General Krebs, on behalf of Goebbels and Bormann, who led the regime after Hitler's suicide on April 30, turned to the Soviet command with a request for a truce. On May 8, Germany signed the act of unconditional surrender.
The defeat of Germany raised the question of a post-war settlement. Of particular importance in this regard were the Crimean (February 1945) and Potsdam (July-August 1945) conferences of the leaders of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain, dedicated to "working out the solid foundations of the future world." The main issue at both conferences was the question of the future of Germany itself. According to the decisions of the conferences, it was planned to divide this country into four occupation zones - Soviet, American, British and French. Berlin, accordingly, was also divided into four sectors, in which the responsibility for administration was assigned to the four allied powers. The dissolution of all armed forces and the dismantling of the German military industry, the outlawing of German fascism and militarism, the punishment of war criminals, etc. were envisaged. October 1, 1946
The war in Asia and the Pacific was coming to an end. Here the main contribution to the defeat of militaristic Japan was made by the United States. Already in the summer of 1943, a strike group under the command of General MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz began the liberation of the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. Japanese army and the fleet lost the strategic initiative, but offered fierce resistance. The Japanese leadership was preparing for the defense of the mother country and at the same time stepped up measures to put together a coalition of states South-East Asia. For this purpose, Burma and the Philippines were granted independence, a provisional government of Free India was created, and an agreement was concluded with Thailand on the return of a number of island territories to it. However, it was not possible to create a pro-Japanese coalition. The growing national liberation movement in this region was directed both against the former colonizers and against the Japanese invaders.
In January 1944, American forces set about liberating the Marshall Islands and attacked the fortress on Truk Island, the key to the Caroline Islands archipelago. Fierce fighting continued until August 1944. In particular, in June, the largest naval battle of the Pacific campaign took place here, in which carrier-based aviation already played the main role - more than one and a half thousand aircraft on both sides. By the end of the summer, the most important Japanese strongholds in the archipelagos were eliminated. The American fleet firmly controlled the central zone of the Pacific Ocean. In the autumn of 1944, the Japanese command tried for the last time to make a turning point in the course of the war - in accordance with the Katsu plan, a counterattack was prepared in the Philippine Islands with the widespread use of kamikaze (suicide pilots) and sea swimmers-saboteurs. The Americans really suffered serious losses in these battles, but for the Japanese fleet the struggle for the initiative ended disastrously - it ceased to exist as a maneuverable formation.
From the beginning of 1945, the Japanese army concentrated only on the defense of the mother country and the nearest approaches to it. Japan seemed to be on the brink of collapse. However, in reality the situation was quite different. Sprawling lines of communication made effective offensive operations by American forces difficult. The US Navy had an overwhelming advantage, but Japan had a huge, almost 7 million-strong land army. The aviation of the metropolis was twice the carrier-based aviation of the US Navy. The Japanese army was distinguished by high morale.
For the first time, the American command felt a change in the nature of hostilities during the battle for the island of Okinawa on the distant approaches to Japan. Having a colossal advantage in forces, the American fleet spent almost three months capturing the island, suffering significant losses. After the end of these battles in May 1945, the activity of both sides was significantly reduced. The American command tried to force Japan to surrender by using new weapons of mass destruction. On August 6, for the first time, American aviation, having dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, used atomic weapons against the hostile side. Literally in a few minutes, the huge city was turned into ruins, 250 thousand people. died, and tens of thousands of people were either maimed or then died a painful death. On August 9, the second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. However, these measures had no military effect.
It was possible to accelerate the defeat of Japan only with the entry of the USSR into the war in the Pacific on August 9. The Soviet Army liberated the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin from Japanese troops, defeated the million-strong Kwantung Army of Japan in Manchuria, and made a significant contribution to the liberation of the Korean Peninsula from Japanese occupation. On September 2, 1945, realizing the inevitability of their defeat, the Japanese command signed an act of surrender aboard the American battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
This marked the end of the Second World War. One of the most important results of the war was the military defeat of the most aggressive bloc - Nazi Germany, fascist Italy and militaristic Japan, who were striving for world domination. Fascism was destroyed social system, an alternative to democracy and communism. During and as a result of the war, the weight and influence of the USSR increased immeasurably and turned into one of the two military-political superpowers. In the capitalist world, the United States came to the fore, becoming the most powerful economic and military-political power. The war became a kind of prelude to the collapse of colonial empires and the formation of many new independent states.
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Disciplines « The newesthistoryforeigncountries in world historiography” are as follows: acquaintance with the historiography of the main problems lateststoriescountries West; consideration...
New history of foreign countries in world historiography
ProgramHUMANITARIAN UNIVERSITY NAMED AFTER M.A. SHOLOKHOVA Newhistoryforeigncountries in world historiography Program for ... special education. The tasks of studying the discipline " Newhistoryforeigncountries in world historiography" are as follows: 1. Consider ...
On November 19, 1942, the offensive of the Soviet troops near Stalingrad began, which ended with the encirclement of more than 300 thousand German soldiers and officers, their subsequent defeat and surrender. The encirclement ring closed after the 6th by the German army near Stalingrad on November 23.
During Battle of Stalingrad the Wehrmacht lost up to 1.5 million people, which was about a fourth of all German forces operating at that time on the Soviet-German front. This victory of the Red Army finally buried the plans of the Blitzkrieg.
Before the victory over Germany, however, it was still very far away. As Churchill said wittily then: “Stalingrad is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning.”
During 1942, Italy lost three of its colonies, which it had before Mussolini came to power. This greatly undermined the authority of the Duce.
African Corps
One of the signs of the impending defeat of the Axis countries was the news of the failures of Rommel's Afrika Korps, which was already on the threshold of Egypt, ready to move further through the Middle East and Turkey to join the German 17th Army, breaking through the Kuban and the Caucasus.
Operation Torch
On November 8, immediately after the victory at El Alamein, Operation Torch began - the Anglo-American invasion of North Africa. The operation was led by American General Dwight Eisenhower, the future President of the United States. As a result of a successful landing, the Italian troops in Tunisia and the Afrika Korps were driven out by superior allied forces to a narrow strip of the Libyan coast: 250 thousand soldiers (including 125 thousand Germans) were pressed to the sea. Hitler forbade them to surrender, and capitulation followed only in May 1943.
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Front |
Length, km |
The available forces of the Wehrmacht and its allies in this area |
Number of soldiers per 1 km, pers. |
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Eastern front |
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Finland |
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Norway |
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Western Europe |
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Southeast Europe |
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Total |
6.745 million |
"New order"
On January 21, 1943, at a meeting in Casablanca, Churchill and Roosevelt agreed to continue the war until the unconditional surrender of Germany. In May 1943, Stalin joined this demand. He was already talking about the surrender of Germany, Italy and Japan. material from the site
On July 12, 1943, on the Kursk Bulge, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive along a front of 2,000 km. As a result, the strategic initiative has completely shifted to Soviet army. The victory at the Kursk Bulge testified to the growing superiority of the economic potential of the USSR. After this victory, the inequality of efforts undertaken within the framework of the struggle of the anti-Hitler coalition against Nazi Germany became especially clearly visible.
With the defeat of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front in 1943, it became obvious that the efforts made by the USSR were inadequate to the efforts of the allies. To compensate for this weakness, Roosevelt made concessions to Stalin on territorial issues. Stalin wanted to keep what he received from Hitler according to the secret protocol of August 23, 1939.
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