Introduction
The most important component of World War II was the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders. Great victories were won by the forces of the Soviet army and the question of the final collapse of fascist Germany was resolved. But these victories were given by hard work, the courage of our soldiers.
The war began for the Soviet Union, bypassing all peace treaties with fascist Germany, when our country did everything possible to prevent it, but the first blows of the aggressor inflicted enormous damage on the USSR, the battles were very heavy, with heavy losses both in equipment and in the number of Armed Forces. forces. Parts of the Red Army were forced to retreat inland.
The failures of the first months of the Great Patriotic War for the USSR were due to many objective and subjective factors. Many works have been written on this topic, numerous studies have been carried out. An analysis of military operations and an assessment of the tactical and strategic decisions of the command of the Armed Forces and the political leadership of the Soviet Union are of interest even today. In the 1990s, documents were declassified and statistics related to the topic of the Great Patriotic War were made public. These data make it possible to more accurately characterize certain events during the war, the reasons for the victories or failures of the Red Army, including the reasons for the failures of the first, most difficult months of the war.
In this paper, another attempt is made to summarize the materials related to the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, to explain what caused the first failures of our army in border and defensive battles in the summer and early autumn of 1941. A sober analysis of the situation in the world, an objective assessment of the capabilities of the country's armed forces on the eve of the war make it possible to give a worthy rebuff to the enemy and minimize the loss of personnel and equipment.
Has everything been done for this by the party and the government of the USSR? Let's try to answer this question from the standpoint of modern man.
Now, when the international situation in many countries of the world remains tense, fighting, analysis of the course and results of the last world war (including the Great Patriotic War), the causes of failures may be relevant for contemporaries, will avoid unnecessary victims ..
1 Foreign policy of the USSR before the war
1.1 Diplomatic relations of the USSR with the countries of the world before the war
To understand the conditions in which the Soviet Union was in the late 30s and early 40s of the twentieth century, i.e. just before the start of the Great Patriotic War, it is necessary to correctly assess the international situation of that time and the role of the USSR in the international arena.
The Soviet Union at that time was the only country in Europe with a communist regime. The successes of the first five-year plans, the rapid growth of industry, and the improvement of people's lives could not but alarm Western European political circles. The governments of these countries could not allow a repetition of the October Revolution in their countries, they were afraid of the expansion of the revolution from the USSR. First, the leader of the world proletariat, V.I. Lenin, and then his successor as head of the Soviet state, I.V. Stalin unequivocally declared the spread of the proletarian revolution throughout the world and the world domination of communist ideology. At the same time, Western governments did not want to spoil relations with the growing Union. This is on the one hand. On the other hand, the threat of fascism loomed over Europe. The European states could not allow either one or the other unfolding of events. Everyone was looking for possible compromises, including the Soviet Union.
Hitler's rise to power in 1933 forced to force the Soviet policy towards the creation of a system of collective security. In 1933 after a long break, diplomatic relations with the United States were restored, in 1934. The USSR was admitted to the League of Nations. All this testified to the strengthening of the international prestige of the USSR and created favorable conditions for the intensification of the state's foreign policy activities. In 1935 The Soviet Union concluded agreements on mutual assistance in case of war with France and Czechoslovakia. In 1936 an agreement was concluded with the Mongolian People's Republic, and in 1937. - non-aggression pact with China.
Soviet diplomacy in those years sought, on the one hand, to implement the plan of collective security in Europe, not to succumb to the provocations of the enemy, to prevent a wide anti-Soviet front, and on the other hand, to take the necessary measures to strengthen the country's defense capability.
Soviet government was looking for ways of a constructive alliance with France and England and invited them to conclude a pact in case of war, but the negotiations on this issue reached an impasse, because the Western powers did not want to take them seriously, and considered them as a temporary tactical move, pushed the USSR to accept unilateral obligations.
At the same time, Germany during this period was not profitable war with the USSR. Her plans included the occupation of France, England, Poland with the further creation of a "united" Europe under the auspices of Germany. The attack on the USSR, with its vast reserves of natural resources, was defined by Germany as a later task.
Under these conditions, the tendency of the Soviet foreign policy to the normalization of relations with Germany, although negotiations with England and France were not completely abandoned. But it soon became clear that negotiations with the military missions of these countries were impossible, and they were interrupted for an indefinite period.
In parallel, on August 20, a Soviet-German trade and credit agreement was signed in Berlin, and on August 23, after 3 hours of negotiations between Germany and Soviet Union A non-aggression pact was signed for a period of 10 years, called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, after the foreign ministers who sealed it with their signatures. This document reflected the legitimate interests of the USSR, providing the necessary reserve of time for our country to prepare for entry into a major war, and also prevented the possibility of a war on two fronts - against Germany in Europe and against Japan in the Far East. At the same time, the secret protocols to this pact testified to the imperial ambitions of both states. They stipulated spheres of influence in Europe, the division of Poland. According to this agreement, the rights to the Baltic States, Western Ukraine, Western Belarus, Bessarabia, and Finland were transferred to the USSR.
1.2 Beginning of World War II
World War II began with the occupation of Poland on September 1, 1939. France and England declared war on Germany, but did not provide real assistance, hoping for an early clash between Germany and the USSR in the conditions of Germany's access to the borders of the USSR. Soon the occupation of Western Europe became a reality. During May-June, the Germans occupied Holland, Belgium, France, even despite the latter's considerable forces and well-fortified borders (the Maginot line). Although the Germans carried out endless bombardments of England, they did not manage to land on the islands. In the future, England, along with the USSR and the USA, will become one of the leading forces in creating an anti-Hitler coalition. Bogged down in England, Hitler decided to change the direction of the war in the summer of 1940. On December 18, 1940, he signed a plan to attack the USSR, called the "Plan Barbarossa."
In October 1939, the USSR offered Finland to lease for 30 years part of its territory, which were of strategic importance for the Soviet state. In response to Finland's refusal on this issue, a military conflict broke out between the countries, which lasted 105 days, until March 1940, this company brought great political and moral damage to our country, despite the victory. The actions of the USSR were recognized by the international community as undisguised aggression, in addition, this war showed the poor readiness of the Red Army for modern combat and had a stimulating effect on the modernization of the armed forces, contributed to the accelerated build-up of military-industrial potential.
The situation of that time (the end of the 30s - the beginning of the 40s) clearly testified to the imminent unleashing of the war of fascist Germany against the USSR.
It was clear that having taken control of almost all European states, Germany would sooner or later attack the USSR. Germany began preparations for the transfer of its troops in the summer of 1940.
In the development of the "Plan Barbarossa", the German government adopted a directive on the strategic concentration and deployment of troops dated January 31, 1941. in the section “General Tasks” it was said: “Operations should be carried out in such a way that by means of a deep wedging of tank troops, the entire mass of Russian troops located in Western Russia (on the territory of Belarus, Right-Bank Ukraine and the Baltic States west of the Dnieper and Western Dvina) was destroyed - author. ). At the same time, it is necessary to prevent the possibility of a retreat of able-bodied Russian troops into the vast interior regions of the country.
2 Great Patriotic War 1941-1945
2.1 Beginning of the Great Patriotic War
Acting in accordance with the "Plan Barbarossa", at dawn on June 22, 1941. fascist Germany, without declaring war, crossed the Soviet state border for almost 6 thousand km. The enemy army, numbering 5.5 million people and consisting of representatives of 12 European countries, unleashed a flurry of bombing attacks on the territory of the USSR. The frontier troops and advanced units of the covering troops were the first to take the blow, the personnel of many outposts were completely killed.
arrangement German troops looked like this:
Army Group "Center" - commander - Field Marshal G. von Bock, a total of 50 divisions
(including 9 tank, 6 motorized and two motorized brigades, supported - 2 air fleet of 1680 aircraft);
Army Group North - Commander Field Marshal W. von Leeb, 29 divisions in total (including 3 tank and 3 motorized, supported 1 air fleet of 1070 aircraft);
Army Group "South" - Commander-Field Marshal G. von Runstadt, a total of 57 divisions (including 5 tank and 4 motorized, 13 motorized brigades, supported 4 air fleet and the Romanian Air Force in total 1300 aircraft).
To push the enemy beyond the borders of the USSR, on the evening of June 22, 1941. Directive No. 2 was issued on the counter-offensive of the Red Army with the aim of defeating the enemy and transferring hostilities to enemy territory. But this directive testified to a misunderstanding of the current situation and led to the senseless death of thousands of Soviet soldiers, the loss of equipment. The Soviet troops were only able to delay the aggressor's offensive for a few days. they were dispersed to great depths and subjected to surprise attack. They were shot at close range, equipment broke down, there was not enough fuel. Many crews were forced to blow up their tanks themselves so that they would not get to the enemy. Eyewitnesses note that aviation at that moment was powerless to somehow help the ground forces. German aviation fought with our heavy bombers, which were too slow and constantly attacked.
There were cases of panic, flight, desertion from the battlefield and along the way to the front line. The Soviet troops were stunned by the massive onslaught of the Nazis. The moral characteristics of the soldiers weakened, some even injured themselves, shot their limbs out of fear of responsibility for their behavior in battle. Of course, this does not characterize the entire army, but it gives an idea of the situation in the first hours and days of the war. Where there was a strong command and political composition, the troops fought confidently, in an organized manner and could give a worthy rebuff to the enemy.
And yet, it was not possible to reverse the initiative in the first days.
As Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky “It was clear that we had lost the border battle. It will now be fashionable to stop the enemy not by throwing disparate units and formations to a shattered front, but by creating somewhere in the depths of our territory a strong grouping capable of not only resisting the powerful military machine of the enemy, but also inflicting a crushing blow on him.
The suddenness of the attack destroyed the command of the Soviet troops. Under the onslaught of superior enemy forces, our troops retreated deep into the country, showing courage and heroism, holding important strategic lines and objects, delivering counterattacks that slowed down his advance. History included the defense of the Brest Fortress, the Liepaja naval base, Tallinn, the Moonsund Islands, the Hanko Peninsula, etc.
2.2 Defensive battles of the first months of the war
In general, the first days of the war were the most difficult for the Red Army and the entire Soviet people. In the first hours of the war, German aircraft attacked Sevastopol, Kiev, Minsk, Murmansk, Odessa and other cities to a depth of 300 km .. in a short time, the Nazi troops advanced in the northwest direction 400-500 km deep into our country, in the west direction - 450-600 km, in the southwest - 300-350 km, captured vast territories and came close to Leningrad and Smolensk. .
Soviet troops defended to the last. A.I. Balashov, with reference to declassified documents, cites the losses of Soviet troops in defensive operations of the first, most difficult period of the Great Patriotic War:
Baltic defense operation - the loss of more than 88 thousand soldiers and officers, incl. 75 thousand irretrievably (i.e. captured, destroyed, missing, died of wounds).
Belarusian defensive operation - the loss of more than 414 thousand soldiers and officers, incl. 341 thousand irrevocably.
Lviv-Chernivtsi defensive operation - the loss of more than 241 thousand soldiers and officers, including 171 thousand. irrevocably
Battle of Smolensk July 10-September 10 - the loss of more than 760 thousand soldiers and officers, incl. 486 thousand irrevocably
Kyiv defensive operation July 7-September 26, the loss of more than 700 thousand soldiers and officers, incl. 616 thousand irrevocably, and other battles.
The total losses of the Soviet Armed Forces on initial stage wars, according to statistics, amounted to more than 2.8 million people, of which 235 thousand were killed and 1.7 million people were missing.
The suddenness of the attack made it possible to destroy 1,200 Red Army aircraft at the airfields. Many warehouses with fuel and ammunition, located in the border zone, fell into the hands of the enemy. The Western Front lost almost all artillery depots, in which more than 2 thousand wagons of ammunition were stored.
The first victories of the fascist troops made it possible to speak with confidence about the successful implementation of the "Barbarossa plan", which took 8-10 weeks to defeat the USSR - in three weeks of the war the Germans occupied almost all of Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, a significant part of Estonia, Ukraine, Moldova. About 3 million of the total number of prisoners of war during the Great Patriotic War were captured in 1941. 28 Soviet divisions were defeated, 72 divisions lost up to 50% and more in people and military equipment. The total losses in equipment amounted to 6 thousand tanks, at least 6.5 thousand guns of 76 mm caliber and above, more than 3 thousand anti-tank guns, about 12 thousand mortars, 3.5 thousand aircraft.
These days and weeks has been crushed most of personnel of the Red Army, aviation and armored forces suffered irreparable losses, as a result of which the Red Army remained on long time without air and tank cover.
Despite significant losses in equipment and manpower, the Red Army fought fierce battles for every kilometer of Soviet territory, eyewitnesses noted that the defense Soviet troops much more stubborn than in the west. It was obvious that the Germans underestimated the morale of the enemy. In his diary, August 11, 1941. Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces F. Halder wrote: "The general situation shows that the colossus of Russia was underestimated by us."
The stubborn resistance of the Red Army made it possible to delay the advance of the German troops, recover from the suddenness of the attack and develop new strategies for conducting battles.
3 Reasons for the failure of the Soviet troops
In the first months of the war, serious mistakes made by the country's leadership in the prewar years were revealed.
Broad Spectrum Analysis historical literature allows us to single out the following main reasons for the defeats of the Red Army in the first months of the Great Patriotic War:
Miscalculations of the top political leadership of the USSR on the timing of the German attack;
Qualitative military superiority of the enemy;
The delay in the strategic deployment of the Soviet Armed Forces on the western borders of the USSR;
Repressions in the Red Army;.
Let's look at these reasons in more detail.
3.1 Miscalculations of the top political leadership of the USSR on the timing of the German attack
One of the serious mistakes of the Soviet leadership should be considered a miscalculation in determining the possible time for an attack by fascist Germany on the Soviet Union. The non-aggression pact concluded with Germany in 1939 allowed Stalin and his inner circle to believe that Germany would not risk violating it in the near future, and the USSR still had time to systematically prepare for a possible repulse of aggression from the enemy. In addition, I.V. Stalin believed that Hitler would not start a war on two fronts - in the west of Europe and on the territory of the USSR. The Soviet government believed that until 1942. succeed in preventing the USSR from being drawn into the war. As you can see, this belief turned out to be wrong.
In spite of clear signs approaching war, Stalin was confident that he would be able to delay the start of the German war against the Soviet Union by diplomatic and political measures. Stalin's views were fully shared by Malenkov, who in those years was the secretary of the Central Committee of the party. Eighteen days before the start of the war, at a meeting of the Main Military Council, he sharply criticized the draft directive on the tasks of party political work in the army. Malenkov believed that this document was drawn up taking into account the close possibility of an attack and therefore was not suitable as a guideline for the troops:
“The document is primitively stated, as if we were going to fight tomorrow”
Intelligence from numerous sources was not taken into account. Faithful reports were not given due weight Soviet intelligence officers, including the famous communist, hero of the Soviet Union R. Sorge. But at the same time, it should be noted that often the information was contradictory, made it difficult to analyze the information and could not contribute to the disclosure of the main goal of disinformation by the Nazi special services - to achieve the surprise of the first strike of the Wehrmacht.
Intelligence came to the government from sources such as
Foreign intelligence of the Navy;
Very negative value had the conclusion of the head of the GRU, Lieutenant General F.I. Golikov dated March 20, 1941. that information about the impending German attack on the USSR should be considered false and coming from the British or even from German intelligence.
A lot of disinformation came through diplomatic channels. On June 19, 1941, the Soviet ambassador to France sent him to the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs. message like this:
“Now all the journalists here are talking about the general mobilization in the USSR, about the fact that Germany presented us with an ultimatum about secession of Ukraine and transferring it to the protectorate of Germany, and so on. These rumors come not only from the British and Americans, but also from their German circles. Apparently, the Germans, taking advantage of this agitation, are preparing a decisive attack on England. .
The USSR hoped that the declaration of war would take place closer to 1942 and with the presentation of an ultimatum, i.e. diplomatically, as it was in Europe, and now the so-called "game of nerves" was being waged.
The most truthful data came from the 1st Directorate of the NKGB. Through the channel of this body on June 17, 1941. Stalin was presented with a special message from Berlin, which stated:
"All German military measures to prepare for an armed uprising against the USSR have been fully completed, and a strike can be expected at any time." thus, the information about the imminent German attack on the USSR, being reported in a disjointed form, did not create a convincing picture of the events taking place, and could not answer the questions: when can the border be violated and a war break out, what are the goals of the aggressor's combat operations, it was regarded as provocative and aimed at aggravating relations with Germany. The government of the USSR was afraid that an active buildup of armed forces in the region of the western borders could provoke Germany and serve as a pretext for starting a war. It was strictly forbidden to hold such events. June 14, 1941 TASS message was broadcast in the press and on the radio. It said: “... Rumors about Germany's intention to undermine the pact and launch an attack on the USSR are devoid of any ground, and the recent transfer of German troops ... to the eastern and northeastern regions of Germany is connected, presumably, with other motives that have nothing to do with to Soviet-German relations".
This message could only further disorient the population and the Armed Forces of the USSR. June 22, 1941 showed how deeply the leaders of the state were deeply mistaken regarding the plans of Nazi Germany. Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky notes: "What happened on June 22 was not foreseen by any plans, so the troops were taken by surprise in the full sense of the word."
Another miscalculation of the leadership of the USSR and the General Staff of the Red Army was the incorrect determination of the direction of the main attack of the Wehrmacht forces. The main blow of fascist Germany was considered not the central direction, along the Brest-Minsk-Moscow line, but the southwestern one, towards Kyiv and Ukraine. In this direction, literally before the war itself, the main forces of the Red Army were transferred, thereby exposing other directions.
Thus, conflicting information about the timing of the German attack on the USSR, the hopes of the political leadership of the country that the enemy would comply with the agreements reached earlier, and the underestimation of the Wehrmacht's plans for their own state did not allow them to prepare in time to repel the strike.
3.2 The delay in the strategic deployment of the Soviet Armed Forces
The strategy covers the theory and practice of preparing the country and the armed forces for war, planning and conducting war and strategic operations.
Many authors, researchers of military operations during the war of 1941-1945, note that the number of equipment and personnel of the armies at the beginning of the attack was approximately equal, in some positions there is some superiority of the Soviet Armed Forces. (See paragraph 3.3) ,
What prevented you from using all the equipment and weapons to repel the attack of the fascist army?
The fact is that an erroneous estimate of the time of a possible German attack on the Soviet Union led to a delay in the strategic deployment of the Armed Forces of the Union, and the suddenness of the strike destroyed a lot of military equipment and ammunition depots.
Unpreparedness to repel an attack was primarily manifested in the poor organization of the defense. The considerable length of the western border also led to the stretching of the Red Army forces along the entire frontier line.
Accession to the USSR of Western Ukraine, Western Belarus, Bessarabia, the Baltic states in 1939-1940. led to the fact that the old, well-organized border outposts and defense lines were disbanded. The border structure moved to the west. I had to hastily build and re-form the entire border infrastructure. This was done slowly, there was a shortage of funds. In addition, it was necessary to build new car roads and laying railway lines for the transport of material resources, people. Those railway tracks that were on the territory of these countries were narrow-gauge, European. In the USSR, the tracks were with a wide gauge. As a result, the supply of materials and equipment, the equipment of the western borders lagged behind the needs of the Red Army.
The defense of the borders was ineptly organized. The troops that were supposed to cover the borders were in an extremely disadvantageous position. In the immediate vicinity of the border (3-5 km) there were only separate companies and battalions. Most of the divisions intended to cover the border were far from it, engaged in combat training by the standards of peacetime. Many formations conducted exercises away from objects and their bases.
It should be noted that before the war and at its very beginning, the leadership of the army made miscalculations in the acquisition of formations with personnel and equipment. Compared with pre-war standards, the staffing of most units was no more than 60%. The operational formation of the front was one-echelon, and the reserve formations were few in number. Due to the lack of funds and forces, it was not possible to create the connections provided for by the norms. One division was located at 15 km 4 tanks - 1.6, guns and mortars - 7.5, anti-tank guns - 1.5, anti-aircraft artillery - 1.3 per 1 km of the front. Such defense did not allow for sufficient stability of the borders.
In Belarus, out of 6 mechanized corps, only one was equipped with equipment (tanks, vehicles, artillery, etc.) according to standard standards, and the rest had a significant understaff (the 17th and 20-1 mechanized corps actually had no tanks at all).
Divisions of the 1st echelon (a total of 56 divisions and 2 brigades) were located at a depth of up to 50 km, divisions of the 2nd echelon were removed from the border by 50-100 km, reserve formations - by 100-400 km.
Plan for covering the border, developed by the General Staff in May 1941. did not provide for the equipment of defensive lines by troops of the 2nd and 3rd echelons. They were tasked with taking positions and being ready to launch a counterattack. Battalions of the 1st echelon were supposed to prepare in engineering terms and take up defense.
In February 1941 at the suggestion of the Chief of the General Staff G.K. Zhukov, a plan was adopted to expand the ground forces by almost 100 divisions, although it would be more expedient to understaff and transfer the available divisions to wartime states and increase their combat readiness. All tank divisions were part of the 2nd echelon.
The placement of mobilization stocks was extremely unsuccessful. A large number were located near the borders, and, therefore, fell under the blows of the German troops first, depriving some of the resources.
Military aviation by June 1941 relocated to the new western airfields, which were insufficiently equipped and poorly covered by air defense forces.
Despite the increase in the groupings of German troops in the border areas, only on June 16, 1941, the transfer of the 2nd echelon of covering armies from their places of permanent deployment to the borders began. Strategic deployment was carried out without bringing the covering forces to repulse the aggressor's preemptive strike. The deployment did not meet the tasks of repelling a sudden attack by the enemy.
Some authors, such as V. Suvorov (Rezun), believe that such a deployment was planned not for the purpose of defending the borders, but for invading enemy territory. . As they say: "The best defense is an attack." But this is only the opinion of a small group of historians. Most are of a different opinion.
The miscalculation of the General Staff of the Red Army in assessing the direction of the enemy's main attack played a negative role. Literally on the eve of the war, strategic and operational plans were revised and such a direction was recognized not as the central one, along the Brest-Minsk-Moscow line, but as the southwestern one, towards Kyiv and Ukraine. Troops began to gather in the Kyiv Military District, thereby exposing the central and other directions. But as you know, the Germans delivered the most significant blow precisely in the central direction.
Analyzing the pace of the strategic deployment of the Soviet Armed Forces, most historians come to the conclusion that it would have been possible to complete the deployment no earlier than the spring of 1942. Thus, the failure to meet the deadlines for the strategic deployment of our troops did not allow us to adequately organize the defense of the western borders and give a worthy rebuff to the forces of fascist Germany.
3.3 Qualitative military superiority of the enemy
Despite the non-aggression agreements between the USSR and Germany, no one doubted that sooner or later the Soviet Union would become the target of an attack by the Nazis. It was only a matter of time. The country tried to prepare to repel aggression.
By the middle of 1941. The USSR had a material and technical base that, when it was mobilized, ensured the production of military equipment and weapons. Important measures were taken to restructure industry and transport, ready to fulfill defense orders, the armed forces were developed, their technical re-equipment was carried out, and the training of military personnel was expanded.
Allocations for military needs increased significantly. The share of military spending in the Soviet budget was 43% in 1941. against 265 In 1939. The output of military products exceeded the rate of industrial growth by almost three times. Factories urgently relocated to the east of the country. New defense plants were built at a rapid pace and existing defense plants were reconstructed, they were allocated more metal, electricity, and new machine tools. By the summer of 1941 one fifth of the defense factories worked in the eastern regions of the USSR.
New warehouses with fuel and ammunition were built everywhere, new ones were built and old airfields were reconstructed.
The armed forces were equipped with new small arms, artillery, tank and aircraft weapons and military equipment, samples of which were developed, tested and introduced into mass production.
The number of Armed Forces of the USSR by June 1941 amounted to over 5 million people, including in the Ground Forces and Air Defense Forces - over 4.5 million people, in the Air Force - 476 thousand people, in the Navy - 344 thousand people. people
The army was armed with over 67 thousand guns and mortars.
As can be seen from the above, training was carried out in all directions.
The build-up of the military power of the USSR before the Great Patriotic War
1941-1945 theoretically could allow to confront the enemy in due measure. In quantitative terms, the forces of both opposing war machines were approximately the same. The data given by different authors differ slightly from each other. Let us present information from three sources to characterize the correlation of forces.
EAT. Skvortsova gives the following figures: the general characteristics of the two warring armies on the borders of the USSR are as follows:
A.I. Balashov notes that the concentration of armed forces on June 22, 1941. in border districts is:
As follows from the above, the number of equipment and personnel of the armies is approximately equal, in some positions there is some superiority of the Soviet Armed Forces.
What prevented you from using all the equipment and weapons to repel the attack of the fascist army? Let's try to answer this question.
The quantitative superiority of the Red Army in military equipment in many positions did not mean a qualitative superiority. Modern combat also required modern weapons. But he had a lot of problems.
The solution of questions about new types of weapons was entrusted to the deputy. People's Commissar of Defense G.I. Kulik, L.Z. Mekhlis and E.A. Shchadenko, who, without sufficient reason, removed the existing samples from service and for a long time did not dare to introduce new ones into production. Leading employees of the People's Commissariat of Defense based on incorrect conclusions from the experience of the Soviet-Finnish war in urgently pushed large-caliber guns and their ammunition into production. Anti-tank weapons, 45 mm and 76 mm guns, were discontinued. Before the start of the war, the production of anti-aircraft artillery guns was not started. Ammunition production fell sharply behind.
There were too few new models of aircraft and tanks, especially T-34 tanks and heavy KV tanks, and they did not have time to master their production by the beginning of the war. This was led to a rash decision to eliminate large formations of armored forces and replace them with more maneuverable and manageable separate brigades, based on the specific experience of military operations in Spain in 1936-1939. Such a reorganization was carried out on the eve of the war, but it must be admitted that the Soviet command soon realized the mistake and began to correct it. They again began to form large mechanized corps, but by June 1941. they were unprepared for war.
Security of the troops of the border districts modern types armaments was 16.7% for tanks and 19% for aviation. The old material part was significantly worn out and required repair. The new technology was not fully mastered by the personnel of the Armed Forces. The old equipment was not used to train newly drafted into the army and military personnel who came from the reserve in order to preserve the remaining motorcycle and flight resource. As a result, by the beginning of the war, many tank drivers had only 1.5-2 hours of driving practice, and the pilots' flight time was approximately 4 hours (in the Kiev Special Military District).
They used bombers of old models - SB, TB-3, which flew out on combat missions without the necessary cover of fighters and in small groups, which led to significant losses.
There were also claims to small arms. The 50mm caliber mortars supplied to the Red Army turned out to be practically unsuitable for use. The combat capabilities of artillery were reduced due to the lack of mechanical traction, communications and reconnaissance.
The weak motorization of the Red Army sharply reduced the maneuverability of its units and formations. They advanced to the deployment lines untimely, left their positions untimely when it was necessary to escape from the enemy's attack.
Among other things, there were not enough modern radio stations, telephones, cable. The outbreak of the war revealed the lack of readiness and vulnerability of the fixed lines and nodes used by the Supreme High Command from enemy influence. This greatly complicated the command and control of the troops and required the adoption of the necessary measures. The notification of the appearance of enemy aircraft was poorly organized. Therefore, fighters often took to the air to cover their objects with a delay.
What did fascist Germany oppose to the Armed Forces of the USSR?
By militarizing the economy and all life, seizing the industry and strategic raw materials of other countries, forcing the use of cheap work force occupied states Germany has created a huge military-technical potential. Since 1934 to 1940 the country's military production increased 22 times. The size of the German armed forces increased almost 36 times (from 105,000 to 3,755,000).
Germany had a highly developed industry, electrical, metallurgical, chemical, powerful energy base. The extraction of coal and iron ore increased sharply, the volume of metallurgical production grew 1.5 times.
By the beginning of the war, Germany had accumulated significant reserves of non-ferrous metals - copper, zinc, lead, aluminum, etc.
In addition to its own oil resources, Germany used oil from Romania, Austria, Hungary, and Poland. The production of synthetic fuels has increased. By 1941 it had 8 million tons of oil products and an additional 8.8 million tons of liquid fuels and lubricants in France, Belgium and Holland.
The production of aircraft, armored vehicles, light tanks, and medium tanks has increased. The production of artillery and small arms has increased significantly.
A well-developed automobile industry ensured high motorization of the Armed Forces.
New railways, highways in the east of the empire, highways, training grounds, barracks were built.
The preparation of German troops for war was carried out in all directions - equipment, personnel, food, fuel, economic opportunities of almost all of Europe worked to equip the troops in accordance with the requirements of modern military science.
By 1941 German troops concentrated near the borders of the USSR compact dense groupings. There were 103 divisions in the first echelon. They were fully equipped, had great striking power.
In the direction of the main attacks, the superiority of the enemy reached several times, for example:
in the Kaunas-Daugavpils direction, 34 (of which 7 tank) divisions of the Wehrmacht opposed 18 Soviet rifle divisions;
in the Brest-Baranovichi direction against 7 Soviet divisions - 16 German (including 5 tank);
in the Lutsk-Rivne direction against 9 Soviet divisions - 19 German (including 5 tank).
The divisions of fascist Germany were fully equipped with modern types of weapons, military equipment, transport, communications, and staffed with personnel with experience in modern combat. Parts of the Wehrmacht had high maneuverability, good interaction between various parts of motorized infantry, armored forces and aviation. In Poland, on the Western Front, in the Balkans, they went through a good school. The personnel of the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe forces (that is, the main forces of the "blitzkrieg") had serious theoretical and practical training, a high degree of combat training and professionalism.
The qualitative superiority of the German army was in small arms. The German armies were armed with a significant number of automatic weapons
(submachine gun, or machine gun, MP-40). This allowed the imposition of close combat, where the superiority of automatic weapons was of great importance.
Thus, the miscalculations of the country's leadership in determining the most important types of weapons for successfully confronting the aggressor and equipping the troops with new types of equipment could not but affect the defense of state borders and allowed the enemy to move deep into the USSR. This view is held by many historians.
But there is another opinion about the qualitative superiority of Germany in technology.
Balashov cites the following data [2, p.75-76]:
The T-34 and KV tanks accounted for 34% of all armored vehicles of the German invasion army, and the new aircraft of the Red Army - 30% of the total number of German aircraft to support the invasion army. Soviet tanks BT-7 and medium tanks T-26 were qualitatively inferior to the German T-III and T-IV, but they could well compete in battle with the light T-I and T-II. The Soviet aircraft LAG-3 and Yak-1 corresponded in terms of flight and tactical qualities to the Me-109, and the MiG-3 a little to German fighters. The Soviet new bombers Pe-2, IL-4 were significantly superior to the Yu-87 and Xe-III, the IL-2 attack aircraft had no analogues in the German Air Force.
Thus, the data cited above indicate that there are no sufficient grounds to assert a significant qualitative superiority of the German invasion army in terms of tanks and aircraft. The professionalism of tank and flight crews and their combat experience seem to be much more significant than the number. The personnel of the Soviet army did not have the proper skills. The repressions of the pre-war years were also to blame for this. Unfortunately, the provision of the border districts of the Red Army with modern types of weapons was 16.7% for tanks and 19% for aviation. And the losses in military equipment in the first days of the war did not allow the units of the Red Army to adequately resist the enemy.
The qualitative superiority of the German army was in small arms. The German armies were armed with a significant number of automatic weapons (submachine gun, or machine gun, MP-40). This allowed the imposition of close combat, where the superiority of automatic weapons was of great importance.
In general, assessing the combat capabilities of the Soviet border districts by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, one can state their good combat capabilities, although they are inferior in some components of the aggressor's army, which, if used correctly, could help repel the first German strike.
3.3 Repression in the Red Army
The mass repressions of the late 30s significantly weakened the command and officer staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR, by the beginning of the war, approximately 70-75% of commanders and political officers had been in their positions for no more than one year.
According to the estimates of modern researchers of the war, only for 1937-1938. more than 40 thousand commanders of the Red Army and the Soviet Navy were repressed, of which more than 9 thousand people of higher and senior command staff, i.e. about 60-70%.
It is enough to cite the following data to understand how the command staff of the army suffered [2, p. 104-106]:
Of the five marshals available by 1937, three were repressed (M.N. Tukhachevsky, A.I. Egorov, V.K. Blucher), all were shot;
Of the four commanders of the 1st rank - four (I.F. Fedko, I.E. Yakir, I.P. Uboevich, I.P. Belov);
Of the two flagships of the fleet of the 1st rank - both (M.V. Viktorov, V.M. Orlov);
Of the 12 commanders of the 2nd rank - all 12;
Out of 67 commanders - 60;
Of the 199 commanders - 136 (including the head of the academy of the General Staff D.A. Kuchinsky);
Out of 397 brigade commanders - 211.
Many other military leaders were under the threat of arrest, compromising material was collected on S.M. Budyonny, B.M. Shaposhnikova, D.G. Pavlova, S.K. Timoshenko and others. On the eve and at the very beginning of the war, the NKVD arrested a group of prominent military leaders of the Red Army: K.A. Meretskov, P.V. Rychagov, G.M. Stern and others. With the exception of Meretskov, they were all shot in October 1941.
As a result, by the summer of 1941, among the commanding staff of the Red Army ground forces, only 4.3% of officers had a higher education, 36.5% had a specialized secondary education, 15.9% had no military education at all, and the remaining 43.3% had completed only short-term junior lieutenant courses or were drafted into the army from the reserve
In modern history, the issue of repression in the Red Army is interpreted ambiguously. Most researchers believe that the repressions were carried out in order to strengthen Stalin's personal power. The repressed military leaders were considered agents of Germany and other countries. For example, Tukhachevsky, who owes much to
L. Trotsky career, was accused of treason, terror and military conspiracy, because he did not exalt the name of Stalin, and thus, was an objectionable person to him.
But on the other hand, Trotsky stated abroad that not everyone in the Red Army was loyal to Stalin, and it would be dangerous for the latter to leave his friend Tukhachevsky in high command. The head of state dealt with them according to the laws of war.
W. Churchill notes: “The purge of the Russian army from pro-German elements caused severe damage to its combat capability,” but at the same time notes that
"A system of government based on terror can be strengthened by the ruthless and successful assertion of its power."
Unlike the officers of the Wehrmacht, who had a special military education and gained colossal experience in the war of the Polish and French military companies of 1939-1940, and some of the officers and the experience of the First World War, our commanders in the vast majority did not have such.
In addition, as noted earlier, the time of a possible attack on the USSR was incorrectly determined. Stalin was convinced that Hitler would not dare to attack the Soviet Union, waging a war on two fronts. The superiority of the communist system and the Red Army was propagated among the troops, and the conviction in the soldiers grew stronger in a quick victory over the enemy. For many ordinary warriors, the war seemed like a "walk".
The deep conviction of the composition of the Red Army that its troops would fight only on foreign territory and with "little bloodshed" did not allow timely preparations to repel aggression.
In May 1940, a specially created commission headed by the Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks A.A. Zhdanov conducted an inspection by the People's Commissariat of Defense, as a result of which it was noted that the People's Commissariat did not know the true state of affairs in the army, did not have an operational plan for the war, and did not attach due importance to the combat skills of soldiers.
The Red Army was left without battle-hardened experienced commanders. Young cadres, although they were devoted to Stalin and the Soviet state, did not have the talent and due experience. Experience had to be acquired in the outbreak of the war.
Thus, mass repressions created a difficult situation in the army, affected the fighting qualities of soldiers and officers, who turned out to be poorly prepared for a serious war, and weakened moral principles. In the order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR of December 28, 1938 No. "On the fight against drunkenness in the Red Army" said:
"... the tarnished honor of a soldier of the Red Army and the honor of the military unit to which you belong, few people worry us"
The Headquarters did not have the necessary experience either, therefore there were serious miscalculations at the beginning of the war.
Conclusion
Great Patriotic War 1941-1954 was an ordeal for the whole country and the entire Soviet people. The courage and heroism of our soldiers and home front workers, perhaps, has no analogues in world history. The Soviet people withstood the hardships of the war years, knew the bitterness of loss and the joy of Victory. Although more than 60 years have passed since the end of the war, its lessons should not pass without a trace for future generations.
We must remember the lessons of history and try to prevent them from happening in the future. The victory of the Soviet people in the last war came at a heavy price. From the first days of the war, the country suffered significant losses. Only the mobilization of all forces made it possible to turn the tide of the war.
Analyzing the reasons for the failures of the Red Army in the first days and months of the war in a broad aspect, we can conclude that they were largely the result of the functioning of the totalitarian political regime that had formed in the USSR by the end of the 30s.
The main, most important reasons for the failures of the first stage of the war - repression in the Red Army, miscalculations by the top leadership of the state in determining the time of the German attack on the USSR, the delay in the strategic deployment of the armed forces on the western borders, errors in the strategy and tactics of the first battles, the qualitative superiority of the enemy, were determined by the cult personality.
Repressions in the Red Army, political, scientific, economic circles contributed to the underestimation of the situation in the country and the world, jeopardized the combat capability of the state. The lack of qualified personnel, primarily of the highest level, in almost all areas did not allow timely and proper response to the ever-changing situation in the world. Ultimately, this led to colossal losses in the Great Patriotic War, especially at the initial stage.
Bibliography
1. E. Kulkov, M. Malkov, O. Rzheshevsky "War 1941-1945". World history. War and peace / M .: "OLMA-PRESS", 2005 - 479s. 2. A.I. Balashov, G.P. Rudakov "History of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945)"
St. Petersburg: Peter, 2005 - 464 pp.: ill.
3. The latest history of the fatherland. XX century: Proc. Allowance for university students; in 2 volumes - V.2 / ed. A.F. Kiseleva, E.M. Shchagina. - M.: VLADOS Humanitarian Publishing Center, 1998 - 448s.
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7. E.M. Skvortsova, A.N. Markov "History of the Fatherland" .- M. Ed. UNITI.- 2004.
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Historians and military leaders of the Great Patriotic War are almost unanimous in their opinion that the most significant miscalculation that predetermined the tragedy of 1941 was the outdated doctrine of warfare, which the Red Army adhered to.
Historians and military leaders of the Great Patriotic War are almost unanimous in their opinion that the most significant miscalculation that predetermined the tragedy of 1941 was the outdated doctrine of warfare, which the Red Army adhered to.
Researchers V. Solovyov and Y. Kirshin, laying the responsibility on Stalin, Voroshilov, Timoshenko and Zhukov, note that they "did not understand the content of the initial period of the war, made mistakes in planning, in strategic deployment, in determining the direction of the main attack of the German troops."
An unexpected blitzkrieg
Despite the fact that the blitzkrieg strategy was successfully tested by the Wehrmacht troops in the European campaign, the Soviet command ignored it and counted on a completely different beginning of a possible war between Germany and the USSR.
“The People’s Commissar for Defense and the General Staff believed that the war between such major powers as Germany and the Soviet Union should begin according to the previously existing scheme: the main forces enter the battle a few days after the border battles,” Zhukov recalled.
The command of the Red Army assumed that the Germans would launch an offensive with limited forces, and only after the border battles would the concentration and deployment of the main troops be completed. The General Staff expected that while the covering army would conduct an active defense, exhausting and bleeding the Nazis, the country would be able to carry out a full-scale mobilization.
However, an analysis of the strategy of warfare in Europe by the German troops shows that the success of the Wehrmacht was primarily due to the powerful strikes of the armored forces, supported by aircraft, which quickly cut through the enemy defenses.
The main task of the first days of the war was not the seizure of territory, but the destruction of the defense capability of the invaded country.
The miscalculation of the command of the USSR led to the fact that German aviation on the very first day of the war destroyed more than 1,200 combat aircraft and actually secured air supremacy for itself. As a result of the surprise attack, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and officers were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. The German command achieved its goal: the control of the Red Army troops was violated for some time.
Unfortunate disposition of troops
As many researchers note, the nature of the location of the Soviet troops was very convenient for striking at German territory, but detrimental to a defensive operation. The deployment that took shape at the beginning of the war was formed earlier in accordance with the plan of the General Staff to deliver preventive strikes on German territory. According to the September 1940 version of the Fundamentals of Deployment, such a deployment of troops was abandoned, but only on paper.
At the time of the attack by the German army, the military formations of the Red Army were not with deployed rears, but were divided into three echelons out of operational communication with each other. Such miscalculations of the General Staff allowed the Wehrmacht army to easily achieve a numerical superiority and destroy the Soviet troops in parts.
The situation was especially alarming on the "Bialystok ledge", which went for many kilometers towards the enemy. This arrangement of troops created a threat of deep coverage and encirclement of the 3rd, 4th, and 10th armies of the Western District. Fears were confirmed: literally in a matter of days, three armies were surrounded and defeated, and on June 28 the Germans entered Minsk.
Reckless counteroffensives
On June 22, at 7 o'clock in the morning, Stalin's directive was issued, which stated: "troops to attack enemy forces with all their strength and means and destroy them in the area where they violated the Soviet border."
Such an order testified to a misunderstanding by the USSR high command of the scale of the invasion.
Six months later, when the German troops were driven back from Moscow, Stalin demanded a counteroffensive on other fronts as well. Few could object to him. Despite the unpreparedness of the Soviet army to conduct full-scale military operations, a counteroffensive was launched along the entire length of the front - from Tikhvin to the Kerch Peninsula.
Moreover, the troops were ordered to dismember and destroy the main forces of Army Group Center. The Stavka overestimated its capabilities: the Red Army on this stage war was unable to concentrate sufficient forces in the main direction, could not massively use tanks and artillery.
On May 2, 1942, one of the planned operations began in the Kharkov region, which, according to historians, was carried out while ignoring the capabilities of the enemy and neglecting the complications that an unfortified bridgehead could lead to. On May 17, the Germans attacked from two sides and a week later turned the bridgehead into a "boiler". About 240 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers were captured as a result of this operation.
Unavailability of inventories
The General Staff believed that in the conditions of the impending war, the material and technical means needed to be pulled closer to the troops. 340 out of 887 stationary warehouses and bases of the Red Army were located in the border districts, including more than 30 million shells and mines. Only in the area of the Brest Fortress, 34 wagons of ammunition were stored. In addition, most of the artillery of the corps and divisions was not in the frontline zone, but in training camps.
The course of hostilities showed the recklessness of such a decision. It was no longer possible to withdraw military equipment, ammunition, fuel and lubricants in a short time. As a result, they were either destroyed or captured by the Germans.
Another mistake of the General Staff was a large accumulation of aircraft at airfields, while camouflage and air defense cover were weak. If the forward units of the army aviation were based too close to the border - 10-30 km., Then the front-line and long-range aviation units were located too far - from 500 to 900 km.
Main forces towards Moscow
In mid-July 1941, Army Group Center rushed into a gap in the Soviet defenses between the Western Dvina and Dnieper rivers. Now the way to Moscow was open. Predictably for the German command, the Headquarters placed the main forces in the Moscow direction. According to some reports, up to 40% of the personnel of the Red Army, the same amount of artillery and about 35% of the total number of aircraft and tanks were concentrated on the path of Army Group Center.
The tactics of the Soviet command remained the same: to meet the enemy head-on, wear him down, and then go on the counteroffensive with all available forces. The main task - to keep Moscow at any cost - was completed, however, most of the armies concentrated in the Moscow direction fell into the "cauldrons" near Vyazma and Bryansk. In two "cauldrons" were 7 field directorates of the armies out of 15, 64 divisions out of 95, 11 tank regiments out of 13 and 50 artillery brigades out of 62.
The General Staff was aware of the possibility of an offensive by German troops in the south, but most of the reserves were concentrated not in the direction of Stalingrad and the Caucasus, but near Moscow. This strategy led to the success of the German army in the southern direction.
Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
on the topic: "The reasons for the military failures of the Red Army in the Great Patriotic War (in the period 1941-1942)"
by discipline: History
Moscow, 2012
INTRODUCTION
CONCLUSION
LIST OF USED LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
The Great Patriotic War lasted from June 22, 1941 to May 9, 1945 and became the bloodiest in the history of our country. Colossal human losses were suffered (about 27 million people), 70 thousand cities, towns and villages were destroyed, huge damage was done to agriculture, transport and industry in the European part of the Soviet Union.
The war ended with the unconditional surrender of Germany (and even earlier - of its satellites), but the path to victory was very long and difficult. But to this day it often remains incomprehensible how it could happen that at first the German troops reached Leningrad and Moscow, later - to Stalingrad and North Caucasus. Figures of losses of the Red Army in 1941-1942. often terrifying in their size.
There are several reasons for the defeats of the initial period of the war, each of which played its own negative role. Of course, there are many views on aspects of that war, different sources name different numbers of enemy troops, their losses, the reasons for victories and defeats.
The purpose of this work is to understand the reasons for the military failures of the Red Army in 1941-1942.
We will study the first stage of the war (June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942), find out why the Red Army suffered many defeats, suffered huge losses and retreated inland
CHAPTER 1. The initial period of the Great Patriotic War
§one. Armed forces of the USSR and Germany before the war
By the summer of 1941, the German army (the so-called "Wehrmacht") had vast combat experience: the war in Spain (1936-39), the Polish campaign (1939), the capture of Denmark and Norway (April-June 1940 .), French campaign (May-June 1940), Balkan campaign (April-May 1940) In all these campaigns german army adhered to the theory of "blitzkrieg" ("lightning war"). Blitzkrieg is based on the close cooperation of infantry<#"justify">§2. Brief chronology of the initial period of the Great Patriotic War
June, German troops attacked the USSR from the Baltic to the Black Sea. More than a thousand Soviet aircraft were destroyed on the ground, many divisions were immediately defeated, and bases and depots with fuel and ammunition were destroyed or captured. Thanks to this, the German troops moved very quickly through the territory of the Soviet Union.
June, Minsk fell, 330 thousand soldiers of the Red Army were captured. Then the German troops captured almost the entire Baltic, all of Belarus and were already close to Kiev. In August, the defense of Odessa began.
From July to September, the Battle of Smolensk lasted, ending with the loss of the city and the capture of about 180,000 Red Army soldiers. In early September, the defense of Leningrad began, and on September 19 the Germans took Kyiv, capturing more than 600 thousand soldiers and officers of the Red Army.
September began the first stage of the battle for Moscow, in October the Germans captured the entire Crimea and blockaded Sevastopol. The defense of Odessa was stopped, its defenders were thrown into the defense of Sevastopol.
In October, near Vyazma and Bryansk, Soviet troops were defeated, losing more than 600 thousand prisoners. The Wehrmacht rushed to Moscow, but the advance of the Germans was hampered by considerable losses, the heroic resistance of the Red Army and the difficulties of supplying troops on such extensive communications.
In November, the German offensive began to run out of steam. The Red Army was pulling up reserves from the Urals, Siberia, the Far East and preparing a counteroffensive near Moscow.
On December 6, the counteroffensive began. Soviet troops advanced 100-250 km, liberated Kalinin, Kaluga and many other cities, defeated dozens of German infantry and tank divisions.
The counteroffensive was also supported in other sectors of the front. During the Tikhvin offensive operation, Soviet troops liberated Tikhvin and reduced pressure on Leningrad, during the Kerch-Feodosiya operation, the Kerch Peninsula and the city of Kerch were liberated. Rostov-on-Don was liberated on November 29, 1941.
In the areas of the cities of Demyansk and Kholm, German troops were surrounded by Soviet units, but subsequently released.
However, although the German troops were defeated and driven back in many places, they were not decisively defeated.
At the beginning of 1942, Soviet troops tried to continue advancing (Rzhev-Sychevskaya, Lyubanskaya, Barvenkovo-Lozovskaya operations), but the offensives were almost unsuccessful and led to heavy losses.
And the Germans responded with strong blows in the south of the USSR. In May, the Crimean Front was defeated, and Sevastopol fell in July. The German offensive began on the Don. By August, the Germans reached Voronezh, took Voroshilovgrad, Rostov-on-Don, Kotelnikov, Izyum. On July 17, the defensive period began Battle of Stalingrad, and on July 25 - the defense of the Caucasus.
In August 1942, fierce battles broke out in Stalingrad itself, in the Caucasus the Germans captured Stavropol, Maykop, Krasnodar, Elista, Mozdok, and hoisted the German flag on Elbrus.
In September-October, fierce fighting continued in Stalingrad and the Caucasus. However, the Germans failed to completely capture Stalingrad and Novorossiysk, and they also failed to break through to Baku oil.
The command of the Red Army began to prepare a counteroffensive near Stalingrad, which began on November 19, 1942 and marked the beginning of a radical turning point in the course of the war.
Thus, during the first stage of the war, the Red Army suffered many defeats, several million Red Army soldiers were captured, a significant part of the territory with the main centers of industry and Agriculture. And only from the end of 1942 did the situation begin to improve.
CHAPTER 2. The reasons for the military failures of the Red Army in 1941-1942.
§one. Unpreparedness of the Red Army for war
Preparations for a major war that began in 1939, a sharp increase in the Armed Forces of the USSR, the production of a large amount of military equipment, combat experience gained in Spain, at Khasan and Khalkhin Gol, in the Winter War - all this, it would seem, should have become tangible the advantages of the Red Army in battles with the Wehrmacht.
However, in general, the country was not yet ready for such a total war. Many divisions formed in 1939-1941 had an incomplete strength and were poorly provided with military equipment, moreover, they also had poor command of it. The repressions of the late 30s also had an effect, when a significant part of the experienced command personnel was destroyed, and less competent or inexperienced commanders took their place, in contrast to the German army, in which all generals and most of the officers had combat experience since the First World War , as well as the experience of all campaigns 1939-1941.
The transport capabilities of Germany were an order of magnitude higher than those of the Soviet Union. The Germans could move reinforcements much faster, regroup troops, organize their supply. The USSR had significant human resources, but these resources were much less mobile than the German ones. By the beginning of hostilities, the Wehrmacht outnumbered the Red Army in terms of the number of trucks by about half, i.e. was more mobile. There are also samples that simply did not have an analogue in the Soviet armed forces. These are high-speed heavy artillery tractors and armored personnel carriers.
In general, the German army was much better prepared for war than the Red Army. If in the USSR this preparation lasted less than two years before the war, then Germany began to intensively develop the armed forces and the military industry immediately after Hitler came to power. For example, in Germany, universal military service was restored on March 16, 1935, and in the USSR - only on September 1, 1939.
§2. Strategic miscalculations of the command of the Red Army
But, if the unpreparedness of the Red Army for war became one of the reasons for the defeat of 1941, then in 1942 the Soviet troops were already experienced, they had behind them not only defeats and retreats, but also victories (the Battle of Moscow, the liberation of Rostov, the Kerch-Feodosia operation , continuation of the defense of Sevastopol). But, nevertheless, it was in 1942 that the Wehrmacht reached its maximum advance on the territory of the Soviet Union. German troops reached Stalingrad, Voronezh, Novorossiysk, Mount Elbrus.
The reason for these defeats was the reassessment by the command (and primarily by Stalin) of the successes of the Soviet troops during the winter counteroffensive of 1941-1942. German troops were driven back from Moscow and Rostov-on-Don, and also left the Kerch Peninsula and reduced pressure on Sevastopol. But they were not completely defeated, especially in a southerly direction. German active operations in 1942 were also logical in the southern direction - these Wehrmacht forces suffered the least.
The next failure of the Red Army in 1942 was the Kharkov operation, which cost the irretrievable loss of 171 thousand soldiers of the Red Army. Again, as in 1941, the generals - this time A.M. Vasilevsky - asked for permission to withdraw troops, and again Stalin did not give such permission.
An important aspect failures of the Red Army during the winter counter-offensive of 1941-1942. there was a lack of the required number of tank formations, which seriously affected the mobility of Soviet troops. The infantry and cavalry broke through the German defenses, but this often ended there - there was almost no one and nothing to surround the enemy, since the superiority in manpower was minimal. As a result, both "cauldrons" (Demyansky and Kholmsky) were rescued by the Germans without any problems after the arrival of reinforcements. In addition, the encircled German troops in these pockets were supported by transport aircraft, which was difficult to fight due to the huge losses of Soviet aircraft in the first months of the war.
A common mistake was the incorrect determination of the directions of the main attacks of the enemy. Thus, in Ukraine, the command of the Southwestern Front, led by General Kirponos, was constantly afraid of turning the 1st Panzer Group to the south, to the rear of the Lvov salient. This led to unnecessary throwing of mechanized corps, and, as a result, to large losses (in the battle near Dubno-Lutsk-Brody - more than 2.5 thousand tanks, during the Lepel counterattack - about 830 tanks, near Uman - more than 200 tanks, under Kiev - more than 400 tanks.)
§3. Repressions in the pre-war period
According to various sources, during the repressions of 1937-1941. were shot, arrested or dismissed from the armed forces from 25 to 50 thousand officers. The highest commanding staff suffered the most significant losses - from brigade commanders (major generals) to marshals. This greatly affected the actions of the Soviet troops in the first period of the war.
The fact is that old, experienced commanders who went through the school of the First World War, the Soviet-Polish, Civil Wars (Primakov, Putna, Tukhachevsky, Yakir, Uborevich, Blyukher, Yegorov and many others) were subjected to repressions, and young officers came in their place, often had no experience in commanding large formations, and even in a war against the best army in the world.
Thus, by the beginning of the war, approximately 70-75% of commanders and political officers had been in their positions for no more than one year. By the summer of 1941, among the commanders of the Red Army ground forces, only 4.3% of the officers had a higher education, 36.5% had a specialized secondary education, 15.9% had no military education at all, and the remaining 43.3% completed only short-term courses junior lieutenants or were drafted into the army from the reserve.
But even solid military experience could not always help to win. For example, General D.T. Kozlov had been fighting since 1915, but he could not oppose anything to the superiority of the Wehrmacht during the fighting in the Crimea in the spring of 1942. The same happened with V.N. Gordova - long military experience, command of the front (Stalingrad), a series of failures that would have happened under any other commander, and, as a result, removal from office.
Thus, the already indicated reasons for the defeats of the Red Army were superimposed by the lack of a good experienced command, which together led to the horrific defeats of 1941 and, to a lesser extent, 1942. And only by 1943, the Red Army commanders were able to adequately master the art of mechanized warfare, encirclement and destruction large enemy forces, powerful front-line offensives (similar to the German summer of 1941).
CONCLUSION
So, we found out the main reasons for the defeats of the Soviet troops at the first stage of the war. This:
the unpreparedness of the Red Army for war (this includes errors in the deployment of troops, poor mechanization, a large number of obsolete equipment and weapons, lengthy communications, lack of such combat experience, like the Wehrmacht, etc.);
strategic miscalculations by the command of the Red Army, and, above all, by Joseph Stalin as the head of state (mistakes in determining the date and likelihood of war, constant orders to hold cities to the last soldier with subsequent thousands of victims, incorrect definition of the main attacks of the Germans (both in 1941 and and in 1942), untimely and slow response to dangers and threats);
repressions in the Red Army in the prewar period, and during the war too (for example, the execution of General D.G. Pavlov and many other generals in 1941) - not only weakened the Red Army, but also became not the last reason in Hitler's determination to start war with the Soviet Union.
But, nevertheless, by the end of 1942, the Red Army was able not only to hold Stalingrad and the Caucasus, but also to defeat the German and allied troops and launch a powerful counteroffensive. Of course, during the war, the Soviet troops still often had setbacks, but there were no such defeats as near Kiev and Vyazma in 1941, in the Battle of Kharkov and in the Crimean operation in 1942. Taught by bitter experience, the Red Army marched steadily towards victory. Germany's strategic miscalculations turned out to be more sad in terms of consequences. The Germans underestimated not only the military power of the USSR, but also the readiness of the Soviet people to resist, and also greatly overestimated their capabilities. The strategy and tactics that brought them success in Europe in 1939-1940 did not work in the conditions of our country.
List of used literature
1.Isaev A.V. "Offensive of Marshal Shaposhnikov. The history of the Second World War, which we did not know. - M.: Publishing house "Yauza", 2005 - 384 p.
.A.I. Balashov, G.P. Rudakov "History of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945)". - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2005 - 464 p.
.Lubchenkov Yu.N. "100 Great Generals of World War II". - M.: Veche, 2005. - 480 p.
.Zolotarev V.A., Saxonov O.V., Tyushkevich S.A. Military history of Russia. Zhukovsky.- M.: Kuchkovo Pole, 2002. - 736 p.
.Shishov A.V. Military conflicts of the twentieth century. From South Africa to Chechnya" - Moscow: Veche, 2006. - 576 p.
.Great Patriotic War 1941-1945: Encyclopedia. . -.ch. ed. MM. Kozlov. - M.: "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1985. - 832p. from ill.
Tags: Reasons for the military failures of the Red Army in the Great Patriotic War (in the period 1941-1942) Abstract History
Alarming reports of an impending German attack came from everywhere:
In March 1941, intelligence officer Richard Sorge (who worked in Japan as a German journalist) reported on the possible timing of the attack.
Radiograms from Soviet ships from foreign ports.
Pro-Soviet citizens of Poland, Hungary, Romania reported.
Information from diplomats and ambassadors.
Messages from border districts.
from other scouts.
But Stalin ignored these messages, because he was afraid of provocations from England, sought to maintain an alliance with Hitler, believed that Germany would not fight the USSR on 2 fronts and first defeat England. June 14, 1941 - A special TASS report appeared stating that all rumors about a war with Germany were lies. The troops were not put on alert, although Zhukov, appointed chief of the General Staff in January 1941, insisted on this.
The Great Patriotic War has begun June 22, 1941 year at 4 o'clock in the morning. The German attack was sudden. This provided an advantage. German aviation dominated the air - bombing attacks were carried out to a depth of 400 kilometers, 60 airfields were bombed, 1200 aircraft were destroyed on the first day (800 on the ground). The Soviet command did not have a clear idea of the scale of the invasion, conflicting directives were issued.
The Germans developed the offensive in accordance with the Barbarossa plan in three directions:
Army Group North advanced on the Baltic states and Leningrad - by July 10 it had advanced 500 kilometers.
Army Group "Center" advanced on Moscow, advanced 600 kilometers.
Army Group "South" - to Kyiv, advanced 300 kilometers.
Our army suffered huge losses, the ratio of losses was 1: 8, about 3 million were captured, out of 170 divisions, 28 were completely defeated, 70 lost up to half of their strength. The situation was catastrophic. But everywhere the Germans met with desperate resistance. The frontier outposts were the first to take the blow of the enemy - the outpost of Lieutenant Lopatin fought for 11 days, the Brest Fortress, rams in the air, an oncoming tank battle near Rovno for 1 month.
When the situation cleared up, strategic defense plan.
Major defensive battles unfolded in all three directions:
June - August - the defense of Tallinn - the main base of the Baltic Fleet.
Mogilev defended for 23 days.
July 10 - September 10 - the defense of Smolensk (on September 5, in the area of \u200b\u200bthe city of Yelnya, Zhukov managed to organize a counteroffensive, the Soviet guard was born).
Kyiv defended for 2 months.
Odessa defended for 73 days.
250 days - the defense of Sevastopol (the losses of the Germans are greater than during the capture of Europe).
Thus, despite huge losses, the Red Army is waging stubborn defensive battles. Hitler focuses his main forces on the central direction.
Urgent measures are being taken to organize a rebuff to the enemy:
1. A general military mobilization of men born in 1905-1918 has been announced. This allowed 5.5 million people to be drafted into the army by July 1.
2. Martial law has been introduced in the western regions of the country.
3. The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command was formed (Stalin, Voroshilov, Budyonny, Shaposhnikov, Timoshenko, Zhukov).
4. June 24 - a special council for evacuation was created (headed by Shvernik, 1.5 thousand enterprises and 10 million people were evacuated in 6 months).
5. On August 8, Stalin was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief and People's Commissar of Defense (+ from May 5 he headed the government + head of the party).
6. GKO was created - to manage the activities of all government departments and institutions in a war.
7. Detachments of the people's militia are being formed.
8. The mobilization national economic plan for the 4th quarter of 1941 was approved, according to which:
Enterprises were transferred to the production of military products.
Enterprises from threatening areas were evacuated to the east, to the Urals and Central Asia.
The population was involved in the construction of defensive lines.
An 11-hour working day was introduced, holidays were canceled, and mandatory overtime work was introduced.
9. The call of the country's leadership to deploy various forms socialist competition, to raise funds for the defense fund, to donate.
The war becomes domestic, the enthusiasm of the people in organizing a rebuff to the enemy is clearly manifested: participation in the construction of defensive structures, joining the fighter battalions to fight saboteurs, the people's militia, volunteers for the Red Army, duty to help air defense, raising funds and things for the defense fund .
Results of the initial period of the war:
Loss of a huge territory (the Baltic States, part of Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, a number of regions of Russia).
Huge casualties in the army and among the civilian population.
Economic problems - loss of districts with large enterprises different industries and agricultural production, the process of evacuation of enterprises.
Urgent measures are being taken to organize a rebuff to the enemy.
The mood of the German soldiers has changed (the war in Russia is not a walk around Europe).
Reasons for failure in initial period wars:
1. The suddenness of the attack for the army, not brought to full combat readiness, and for the population, confident that in the near future there will be no war with Germany.
2. The superiority of the German army (in terms of numbers, in technology, in combat experience, in the quality of officer cadres, there were plans, allies, a huge economic potential was involved, intelligence work).
3. The miscalculations of the high command and Stalin personally:
Incorrect timing of the attack,
Ignored intelligence data and reports of a possible outbreak of war,
Mistaken military doctrine
The direction of the main blow is incorrectly determined.
4. Low professional level officer cadres (due to repression).
5. The incompleteness of the process of reorganization of the army and rearmament of the army, the construction of defensive fortifications on the western borders.
6. The need to keep large armed forces in the Far East (against Japan), in the south (against Turkey and Iran), in the northwest (against Finland) and in the Gulag (to protect prisoners).
Thus, in the initial period, the war is developing extremely unsuccessfully for the USSR, it is difficult to turn the tide, but everything possible is being done for this.
What are the reasons for the failures of the Red Army in the first months of the Great Patriotic War?
The first period of the war (06/22/41-11/18/42) was extremely unsuccessful for the Red Army. These failures are due to a combination of objective and subjective factors:
- 1. Hitler's Germany, long before the attack, transferred the economy to war footing. Due to the occupied countries and satellites, its avenue had a more powerful material, technical and raw material base than the defense avenue of the USSR. The German fascist army (5.5 million people) had 2 years of experience in waging war with the massive use of aviation, tanks, motorized infantry and artillery. It was fully mobilized, concentrated in 3 strong compact groups deployed along the western borders of the USSR, well technically equipped. A minimum of forces has been left in the West. Italy, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Spain acted on the side of Germany, which led to a sharp increase in the front from the Black Sea to the Barents Sea (up to 4500 km).
- 2. During the years of industrialization in the USSR, a military-economic base was created, and in the pre-war years a lot was done for defense. However, much was not achieved: the Soviet armed forces were in the process of reorganization, re-equipment and retraining. The necessary mobilization stocks were not created, the defense project did not have time to switch to the mass production of new models. Therefore, equipment and weapons had to be mastered in battle. By the time of the invasion, the army and aviation did not have experience in modern warfare and were not mobilized. Most of the divisions were under-armed. The organization of the enemy troops and his tactics were not sufficiently taken into account, although attempts were made. The experience of the outbreak of the war was not studied adequately.
- 3. USSR - 150 divisions - one repelled the attack of Nazi Germany and its satellites (184 divisions and 18 brigades). The hostile course of the Japanese militarists made it impossible to concentrate all of their Armed Forces on the Soviet-German front. 63 divisions had to be kept in the East against the Japanese army.
- 4. The sudden attack by Germany intensified favorable circumstances for the enemy and allowed the Nazi command to seize the strategic initiative. Suddenness is a relative concept. The Soviet leadership knew about the impending German aggression, but the measures taken were half-hearted and not specific. The blame for this is Stalin with his entourage, the General Staff of the Red Army and the People's Commissar of Defense.
- 5. Consequences of mass repressions against command staff and political workers of the Armed Forces. From May 1937 to September 1938 alone, about 40 thousand people were subjected to repressions, including commanders of districts and fleets, members of military councils and heads of political departments of military districts and fleets, corps commanders, almost all division and brigade commanders, about 1/2 of regimental commanders. 70% of the staff was moved. By the beginning of the war, only 7% of the commanders had a higher military education, and > 1/3 did not complete the full course of study. Some divisions and regiments were commanded by captains and senior lieutenants. The leaders of military science and industry, designers (Tupolev and others) were also repressed. already at the beginning of the war, prominent military leaders were shot.
- 6. The reason for the failure was also the fact that Stalin rejected the plan of the General Staff, which provided that the main direction of the offensive of the Nazi troops would be the Moscow direction. The revised plan for the defense of the country provided for the main direction of attack of the German troops in Kiev, with the aim of capturing Ukraine. There was also Stalin's miscalculation in the timing of the German attack and, hence, the delay in the directive on bringing the troops to combat readiness. Stalin made many significant mistakes on the eve and at the beginning of the war. Therefore, some analysts consider Stalin the main culprit for all the failures at the beginning of the war, since he was the leader of the party and the state, who had full political and military power.
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