The Great Patriotic War briefly. The Great Patriotic War began The course of the Second World War 1941 1945

The Great Patriotic War, which lasted almost four years, affected every home, every family, claimed millions of lives. This applied to everyone, because Hitler did not just go to conquer the country, he went to destroy everything and everyone, sparing no one and nothing. The first information about the attack began to arrive at 3:15 at night from Sevastopol, and at four o'clock in the morning the entire western land of the Soviet state was attacked. And at the same time, the cities of Kyiv, Minsk, Brest, Mogilev and others were subjected to air bombardment.

For a long time it was believed that the top leadership of the Union, headed by Stalin, did not believe in the attack of Nazi Germany in the summer of 1941. However, recent studies of archival documents have led a number of historians to believe that the order to bring the western districts to combat readiness was issued by the Directive of the General Staff of the Red Army on June 18, 1941.

This Directive appears in the protocols of the interrogation of the former commander of the Western Front, Pavlov, although the Directive itself has not yet been found. According to historians, if it had been carried out a few days before the outbreak of hostilities, then by the winter of 1941 the Germans would have reached Smolensk.

In the first months of the border battles, the Red Army lost about 3 million people killed and taken prisoner. Against the backdrop of a general retreat, the Brest Fortress stands out, heroically defending itself for a month, Przemysl - a city where the Soviet not only withstood the blow of the German troops, but also managed to launch a counterattack and push the Germans back two kilometers deep into Poland.

The troops of the southern front (the former Odessa military district) repelled enemy attacks and went deep into Romanian territory for several kilometers. The Soviet navy and naval aviation, brought to full combat readiness a few hours before the attack, did not lose a single ship or aircraft on that tragic day. And naval aviation in the autumn of 1941 bombed Berlin.

One of the most significant events of the beginning of the war was the capture by German troops of the suburbs of Leningrad on September 8, 1941 and the capture of the city in a tight ring. The blockade, which lasted 872 days and was lifted by the Soviet troops only in January 1943, caused enormous damage to the city and its inhabitants. Unique architectural monuments were destroyed, palaces and temples, considered the pride of the Russian people, were burned. 1.5 million people, including young children, died from starvation, cold and constant bombing.

Selfless and heroic resistance, which was put up by a simple Russian soldier at the very beginning of the war, thwarted the Germans' attempt to conduct a lightning war on the territory of the USSR - a blitzkrieg and in a short six months to bring a great country to its knees.

At dawn on June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. On the German side were Romania, Hungary, Italy and Finland. The grouping of the aggressor troops numbered 5.5 million people, 190 divisions, 5 thousand aircraft, about 4 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery installations (ACS), 47 thousand guns and mortars.

In accordance with the Barbarossa plan developed in 1940, Germany planned to reach the Arkhangelsk-Volga-Astrakhan line as soon as possible (in 6-10 weeks). It was a setup for blitzkrieg - lightning war. Thus began the Great Patriotic War.

The main periods of the Great Patriotic War

The first period (June 22, 1941–November 18, 1942) from the beginning of the war to the beginning of the offensive of the Soviet troops near Stalingrad. It was the most difficult period for the USSR.

Having created a multiple superiority in people and military equipment in the main directions of the offensive, the German army has achieved significant success.

By the end of November 1941, the Soviet troops, retreating under the blows of superior enemy forces to Leningrad, Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, left the enemy a vast territory, lost about 5 million people killed, missing and captured, most of the tanks and aircraft .

The main efforts of the Nazi troops in the fall of 1941 were aimed at capturing Moscow.

Victory near Moscow

Battle for Moscow lasted from September 30, 1941 to April 20, 1942. On December 5-6, 1941, the Red Army went on the offensive, the enemy's defense front was broken through. Fascist troops were pushed back from Moscow by 100-250 km. The plan to capture Moscow failed, the lightning war in the east did not take place.

The victory near Moscow was of great international importance. Japan and Türkiye refrained from entering the war against the USSR. The increased prestige of the USSR on the world stage contributed to the creation of an anti-Hitler coalition.

However, in the summer of 1942, due to the mistakes of the Soviet leadership (primarily Stalin), the Red Army suffered a number of major defeats in the North-West, near Kharkov and in the Crimea.

The Nazi troops reached the Volga - Stalingrad and the Caucasus.

The stubborn defense of the Soviet troops in these areas, as well as the transfer of the country's economy to a military footing, the creation of a well-coordinated military economy, the deployment of a partisan movement behind enemy lines prepared the necessary conditions for the Soviet troops to go on the offensive.

Stalingrad. Kursk Bulge

The second period (November 19, 1942 - the end of 1943) was a radical turning point in the war. Having exhausted and bled the enemy in defensive battles, on November 19, 1942, the Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive, surrounding 22 fascist divisions near Stalingrad, numbering more than 300 thousand people. On February 2, 1943, this grouping was liquidated. At the same time, enemy troops were expelled from the North Caucasus. By the summer of 1943, the Soviet-German front had stabilized.

Using the configuration of the front that was favorable for them, on July 5, 1943, the fascist troops went on the offensive near Kursk in order to regain the strategic initiative and encircle the Soviet grouping of troops on the Kursk Bulge. During fierce battles, the enemy offensive was stopped. On August 23, 1943, Soviet troops liberated Orel, Belgorod, Kharkov, went to the Dnieper, and on November 6, 1943, Kyiv was liberated.

During the summer-autumn offensive, half of the enemy divisions were defeated, and significant territories of the Soviet Union were liberated. The disintegration of the fascist bloc began, in 1943 Italy withdrew from the war.

1943 was a year of a radical turning point not only in the course of hostilities on the fronts, but also in the work of the Soviet rear. Thanks to the selfless work of the home front, by the end of 1943, an economic victory over Germany was won. The military industry in 1943 gave the front 29.9 thousand aircraft, 24.1 thousand tanks, 130.3 thousand guns of all kinds. This was more than Germany produced in 1943. The Soviet Union in 1943 surpassed Germany in the production of the main types of military equipment and weapons.

The third period (the end of 1943 - May 8, 1945) is the final period of the Great Patriotic War. In 1944, the Soviet economy reached its highest boom ever during the war. Industry, transport, and agriculture developed successfully. War production grew especially rapidly. The production of tanks and self-propelled guns in 1944 increased from 24,000 to 29,000 compared to 1943, and combat aircraft, from 30,000 to 33,000 units. From the beginning of the war to 1945, about 6 thousand enterprises were put into operation.

1944 was marked by the victories of the Soviet Armed Forces. The entire territory of the USSR was completely liberated from the fascist invaders. The Soviet Union came to the aid of the peoples of Europe - the Soviet Army liberated Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, fought its way to Norway. Romania and Bulgaria declared war on Germany. Finland left the war.

The successful offensive actions of the Soviet Army prompted the Allies on June 6, 1944 to open a second front in Europe - Anglo-American troops under the command of General D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) landed in northern France, in Normandy. But the Soviet-German front still remained the main and most active front of World War II.

During the winter offensive of 1945, the Soviet Army pushed the enemy back more than 500 km. Poland, Hungary and Austria, the eastern part of Czechoslovakia were almost completely liberated. The Soviet Army reached the Oder (60 km from Berlin). On April 25, 1945, a historic meeting of Soviet troops with American and British troops took place on the Elbe, in the Torgau region.

The fighting in Berlin was exceptionally fierce and stubborn. On April 30, the banner of Victory was hoisted over the Reichstag. On May 8, the act of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany was signed. May 9th became Victory Day. From July 17 to August 2, 1945, the Third Conference of the Heads of Government of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain was held in Potsdam, a suburb of Berlin, which made important decisions on the post-war peace in Europe, the German problem and other issues. On June 24, 1945, the Victory Parade took place on Red Square in Moscow.

Soviet victory over Nazi Germany

The victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany was not only political and military, but also economic.

This is evidenced by the fact that in the period from July 1941 to August 1945, significantly more military equipment and weapons were produced in our country than in Germany.

Here are the specific data (thousand pieces):

This economic victory in the war was made possible by the fact that the Soviet Union managed to create a more perfect economic organization and achieve a more efficient use of all its resources.

War with Japan. End of World War II

However, the end of hostilities in Europe did not mean the end of World War II. In accordance with the agreement in principle at Yalta (February 1945), on August 8, 1945, the Soviet government declared war on Japan.

Soviet troops launched offensive operations on a front stretching over 5,000 km. The geographical and climatic conditions in which the fighting took place were extremely difficult.

The advancing Soviet troops had to overcome the ridges of the Greater and Lesser Khingan and the East Manchurian mountains, deep and turbulent rivers, waterless deserts, and difficult forests.

But despite these difficulties, the Japanese troops were defeated.

In the course of stubborn fighting in 23 days, Soviet troops liberated Northeast China, North Korea, the southern part of Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands. 600 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were captured, a large number of weapons and military equipment were captured.

Under the blows of the armed forces of the USSR and its allies in the war (primarily the United States, Britain, China), Japan capitulated on September 2, 1945. The southern part of Sakhalin and the islands of the Kuril chain went to the Soviet Union.

The United States, having dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, marked the beginning of a new nuclear era.

The main lesson of World War II

The economic and socio-political situation that developed in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century gave rise to the revolution of 1905-1907, then the February and October revolutions of 1917.

Russia's participation in the First World War, the Civil War and the military intervention of 1918-1920. led to the loss of millions of lives of Russians and the huge devastation of the national economy of the country.

The New Economic Policy (NEP) of the Bolshevik Party made it possible within seven years (1921-1927) to overcome devastation, restore industry, agriculture, transport, establish commodity-money relations, and carry out financial reform.

However, the NEP turned out to be not free from internal contradictions and crisis phenomena. Therefore, in 1928 it was finished.

Stalin's leadership in the late 20's - early 30's. took a course towards the accelerated construction of state socialism through the accelerated implementation of the industrialization of the country and the complete collectivization of agriculture.

In the process of implementing this course, a command-administrative system of governance and the cult of Stalin's personality developed, which brought many troubles to our people. However, it should be noted that the industrialization of the country and the collectivization of agriculture. were an important factor in ensuring the economic victory over the enemy during the Great Patriotic War.

The Great Patriotic War was an important component of the Second World War . The Soviet people and its Armed Forces bore the brunt of this war on their shoulders and achieved a historic victory over Nazi Germany and its allies.

Members of the anti-Hitler coalition made their significant contribution to the victory over the forces of fascism and militarism.

The main lesson of the Second World War is that the prevention of war requires the unity of action of peace-loving forces.

In the period leading up to World War II, it could have been prevented.

Many countries and public organizations have tried to do this, but unity of action has not been achieved.

“That longest day of the year, with its cloudless weather,
He gave us a common misfortune for everyone, for all four years.
She pressed such a mark and laid so many on the ground,
That for twenty years and thirty years the living cannot believe that they are alive ... ".

K. M. Simonov

On June 22, 1941, at 4 a.m., without declaring war, after artillery and air preparation, the main forces of the Wehrmacht and the troops of the German allies (about 190 divisions) suddenly launched a powerful offensive along the entire western border of the USSR from the Black to the Baltic Sea.

Kiev, Riga, Kaunas, Vindava, Libau, Siauliai, Vilnius, Minsk, Grodno, Brest, Baranovichi, Bobruisk, Zhitomir, Sevastopol and many other cities, railway junctions, airfields, and naval bases of the USSR were bombed. Artillery shelling of border fortifications and areas of deployment of Soviet troops near the border was carried out. At 5-6 o'clock in the morning, the Nazi troops crossed the state border of the USSR and launched an offensive deep into Soviet territory. Only an hour and a half after the start of the offensive, the German ambassador to the Soviet Union, Count Werner von Schulenburg, made a statement declaring war on the USSR.

At 12 noon, all the radio stations of the Soviet Union broadcast a government message about the attack on our country by fascist Germany. In a statement made by People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs V. M. Molotov on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Soviet government, it was pointed out that the attack of fascist Germany on the USSR was treachery unprecedented in the history of civilized peoples.

Following the government message, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the mobilization of citizens liable for military service in 1905-1918 was transmitted. birth. On June 23, the Headquarters of the High Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR (later the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command) was created, headed by the People's Commissar of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union S. K. Timoshenko.

In border battles and in the initial period of the war (until mid-July), the Red Army lost 850 thousand people killed and wounded; 9.5 thousand guns, over 6 thousand tanks, about 3.5 thousand aircraft were destroyed; about 1 million people were taken prisoner. The German army occupied a significant part of the country, advanced inland up to 300-600 km, while losing 100 thousand people killed, almost 40% of tanks and 950 aircraft. However, the plan for a lightning war, during which the German command intended to capture the entire Soviet Union in a few months, failed.

On July 13, 1992, by the decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation, the day of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War was declared the Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of the Fatherland.

On June 8, 1996, President of Russia Boris N. Yeltsin declared June 22 the Day of Memory and Sorrow. On this day, national flags are flown at half mast throughout the country, entertainment events and programs are cancelled. The Day of Memory and Sorrow is also celebrated in Ukraine and Belarus, which were the first to take the hit of the Nazis, and in other CIS countries.

Lit .: 1941 - lessons and conclusions. M., 1992; The same [Electronic resource]. URL: http://militera.lib.ru/h/1941/index.html ; Anfilov V.A. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War (June 22 - mid-July 1941). Military history essay. M., 1962; The same [Electronic resource]. URL : http://militera.lib.ru/research/anfilov/index.html; Halder F. Military diary. Daily notes of the Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces 1939-1942. T. I. M., 1968. From the contents: June 22, 1941 (Sunday). 1st day of the war; The same [Electronic resource]. URL: http://militera.lib.ru/db/halder/1941_06.html ; Zhukov G.K. Memories and reflections. In 2 vols. T. 1. Ch. 10. The beginning of the war. M., 2002; The same [Electronic resource]. URL: http://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/zhukov1/10.html ;Note of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany dated June 21, 1941 [Electronic resource] // Winners - Soldiers of the Great War. 2005-2018. URL :

On June 22, 1941, at 4 o'clock in the morning, fascist Germany treacherously invaded the USSR without declaring war. This attack ended the chain of aggressive actions of Hitlerite Germany, which, thanks to the connivance and instigation of the Western powers, grossly violated the elementary norms of international law, resorted to predatory seizures and monstrous atrocities in the occupied countries.

In accordance with the Barbarossa plan, the fascist offensive began on a broad front by several groupings in various directions. The army was stationed in the north "Norway" advancing on Murmansk and Kandalaksha; an army group was advancing from East Prussia to the Baltic states and Leningrad "North"; most powerful army group "Center" had the goal of defeating units of the Red Army in Belorussia, capturing Vitebsk-Smolensk and taking Moscow on the move; army group "South" was concentrated from Lublin to the mouth of the Danube and led the attack on Kyiv - Donbass. The plans of the Nazis boiled down to delivering a surprise strike in these areas, destroying border and military units, breaking through to the rear, capturing Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv and the most important industrial centers of the southern regions of the country.

The command of the German army expected to end the war in 6-8 weeks.

190 enemy divisions, about 5.5 million soldiers, up to 50 thousand guns and mortars, 4300 tanks, almost 5 thousand aircraft and about 200 warships were thrown into the offensive against the Soviet Union.

The war began in exceptionally favorable conditions for Germany. Before the attack on the USSR, Germany captured almost all of Western Europe, whose economy worked for the Nazis. Therefore, Germany had a powerful material and technical base.

Germany's military products were supplied by 6,500 largest enterprises in Western Europe. More than 3 million foreign workers were involved in the military industry. In Western European countries, the Nazis looted a lot of weapons, military equipment, trucks, wagons and steam locomotives. The military and economic resources of Germany and its allies greatly exceeded those of the USSR. Germany fully mobilized its army, as well as the armies of its allies. Most of the German army was concentrated near the borders of the Soviet Union. In addition, imperialist Japan threatened an attack from the East, which diverted a significant part of the Soviet Armed Forces to defend the country's eastern borders. In the theses of the Central Committee of the CPSU "50 years of the Great October Socialist Revolution" an analysis of the reasons for the temporary failures of the Red Army in the initial period of the war is given. They are connected with the fact that the Nazis used temporary advantages:

• the militarization of the economy and the whole life of Germany;
• lengthy preparations for a war of conquest and more than two years of experience in conducting military operations in the West;
• superiority in armament and the number of troops concentrated in advance in the border zones.

They had at their disposal the economic and military resources of almost all of Western Europe. The miscalculations made in determining the possible timing of an attack by Nazi Germany on our country and the related omissions in preparing to repulse the first blows played their role. There were reliable data on the concentration of German troops near the borders of the USSR and the preparation of Germany for an attack on our country. However, the troops of the western military districts were not brought to a state of full combat readiness.

All these reasons put the Soviet country in a difficult position. However, the enormous difficulties of the initial period of the war did not break the fighting spirit of the Red Army, did not shake the stamina of the Soviet people. From the first days of the attack, it became clear that the blitzkrieg plan had collapsed. Accustomed to easy victories over the Western countries, whose governments betrayed their people to be torn to pieces by the occupiers, the fascists met stubborn resistance from the Soviet Armed Forces, border guards and the entire Soviet people. The war lasted 1418 days. Groups of border guards bravely fought on the border. The garrison of the Brest Fortress covered itself with unfading glory. The defense of the fortress was led by Captain I. N. Zubachev, regimental commissar E. M. Fomin, Major P. M. Gavrilov and others. (In total, about 200 rams were made during the war years). On June 26, the crew of Captain N.F. Gastello (A.A. Burdenyuk, G.N. Skorobogaty, A.A. Kalinin) crashed into a column of enemy troops on a burning plane. Hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers from the first days of the war showed examples of courage and heroism.

Lasted two months Smolensk battle. Born here near Smolensk soviet guard. The battle in the Smolensk region delayed the enemy advance until mid-September 1941.
During the Battle of Smolensk, the Red Army thwarted the plans of the enemy. The delay of the enemy offensive in the central direction was the first strategic success of the Soviet troops.

The Communist Party became the leading and guiding force for the defense of the country and the preparation for the destruction of the Nazi troops. From the first days of the war, the Party took urgent measures to organize a rebuff to the aggressor, carried out a huge amount of work to restructure all work on a war footing, to turn the country into a single military camp.

“For a real war,” wrote V. I. Lenin, “a strong organized rear is necessary. The best army, the most devoted to the cause of the revolution, people will be immediately exterminated by the enemy if they are not sufficiently armed, supplied with food, and trained ”(V. I. Lenin, Poln. sobr. soch., vol. 35, p. 408).

These Leninist instructions formed the basis for organizing the struggle against the enemy. On June 22, 1941, on behalf of the Soviet government, V. M. Molotov, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR, spoke on the radio about the "robber" attack of Nazi Germany and a call to fight the enemy. On the same day, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was adopted on the introduction of martial law on the European territory of the USSR, as well as the Decree on the mobilization of a number of ages in 14 military districts. On June 23, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution on the tasks of party and Soviet organizations in war conditions. On June 24, the Evacuation Council was formed, and on June 27, the decree of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR “On the procedure for the export and placement of human contingents and valuable property” determined the procedure for the evacuation of productive forces and the population to the eastern regions. In the directive of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated June 29, 1941, the most important tasks for mobilizing all forces and means to defeat the enemy were set out to party and Soviet organizations in the front-line regions.

“... In the war with fascist Germany imposed on us,” this document said, “the question of life and death of the Soviet state is being decided, of whether the peoples of the Soviet Union should be free or fall into enslavement.” The Central Committee and the Soviet government called for realizing the depth of the danger, reorganizing all work on a war footing, organizing all-round assistance to the front, increasing the production of weapons, ammunition, tanks, aircraft in every possible way, in the event of a forced withdrawal of the Red Army, to remove all valuable property, and to destroy what cannot be taken out , in the areas occupied by the enemy to organize partisan detachments. On July 3, the main provisions of the directive were outlined in a radio speech by IV Stalin. The directive determined the nature of the war, the degree of threat and danger, set the tasks of turning the country into a single military camp, strengthening the Armed Forces in every possible way, restructuring the work of the rear on a military basis, and mobilizing all forces to repulse the enemy. On June 30, 1941, an emergency body was created to quickly mobilize all the forces and means of the country to repel and defeat the enemy - State Defense Committee (GKO) headed by I. V. Stalin. All power in the country, state, military and economic leadership was concentrated in the hands of the State Defense Committee. It united the activities of all state and military institutions, party, trade union and Komsomol organizations.

Under war conditions, the restructuring of the entire economy on a war footing was of paramount importance. approved at the end of June "Mobilization national economic plan for the III quarter of 1941", and on August 16 "The military economic plan for the IV quarter of 1941 and for 1942 for the regions of the Volga region, the Urals, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia". In just five months of 1941, more than 1360 large military enterprises were relocated and about 10 million people were evacuated. Even according to bourgeois experts industry evacuation in the second half of 1941 and early 1942 and its deployment in the East should be considered among the most amazing feats of the peoples of the Soviet Union during the war. The evacuated Kramatorsk plant was launched 12 days after arriving at the site, Zaporozhye - after 20. By the end of 1941, the Urals produced 62% of iron and 50% of steel. In scope and significance, this was equal to the largest battles of wartime. The restructuring of the national economy on a war footing was completed by the middle of 1942.

The Party did a great deal of organizational work in the army. In accordance with the decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, on July 16, 1941, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree "On the reorganization of political propaganda bodies and the introduction of the institution of military commissars". From July 16 in the Army, and from July 20 in the Navy, the institution of military commissars was introduced. During the second half of 1941, up to 1.5 million communists and more than 2 million Komsomol members were mobilized into the army (the party sent up to 40% of the entire membership to the active army). Prominent party leaders L. I. Brezhnev, A. A. Zhdanov, A. S. Shcherbakov, M. A. Suslov and others were sent to party work in the army.

On August 8, 1941, I. V. Stalin was appointed Supreme Commander of all the Armed Forces of the USSR. In order to concentrate all the functions of managing military operations, the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was formed. Hundreds of thousands of communists and Komsomol members went to the front. About 300 thousand of the best representatives of the working class and intelligentsia of Moscow and Leningrad joined the ranks of the people's militia.

Meanwhile, the enemy stubbornly rushed to Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv, Odessa, Sevastopol and other major industrial centers of the country. An important place in the plans of fascist Germany was occupied by the calculation of the international isolation of the USSR. However, from the very first days of the war, an anti-Hitler coalition began to take shape. Already on June 22, 1941, the British government announced its support for the USSR in the fight against fascism, and on July 12 signed an agreement on joint actions against Nazi Germany. On August 2, 1941, US President F. Roosevelt announced economic support for the Soviet Union. September 29, 1941 gathered in Moscow tri-power conference(USSR, USA and England), which developed a plan for Anglo-American assistance in the fight against the enemy. Hitler's calculation for the international isolation of the USSR failed. On January 1, 1942, a declaration of 26 states was signed in Washington anti-Hitler coalition about the use of all the resources of these countries for the struggle against the German bloc. However, the allies were in no hurry to provide effective assistance aimed at defeating fascism, trying to weaken the belligerents.

By October, the Nazi invaders, despite the heroic resistance of our troops, managed to approach Moscow from three sides, simultaneously launching an offensive on the Don, in the Crimea, near Leningrad. Heroically defended Odessa and Sevastopol. September 30, 1941 the German command begins the first, and in November - the second general offensive against Moscow. The Nazis managed to occupy Klin, Yakhroma, Naro-Fominsk, Istra and other cities of the Moscow region. Soviet troops fought a heroic defense of the capital, showing examples of courage and heroism. The 316th rifle division of General Panfilov fought to the death in fierce battles. A partisan movement unfolded behind enemy lines. About 10 thousand partisans fought near Moscow alone. On December 5-6, 1941, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive near Moscow. At the same time, offensive operations were launched on the Western, Kalinin and Southwestern fronts. The powerful offensive of the Soviet troops in the winter of 1941/42 drove the fascists back in a number of places at a distance of up to 400 km from the capital and was their first major defeat in World War II.

Main result Moscow battle consisted in the fact that the strategic initiative was wrested from the hands of the enemy and the blitzkrieg plan failed. The defeat of the Germans near Moscow was a decisive turn in the military operations of the Red Army and had a great influence on the entire subsequent course of the war.

By the spring of 1942, the production of military products was established in the eastern regions of the country. By the middle of the year, most of the evacuated enterprises were deployed in new places. The transfer of the country's economy to a military footing was largely completed. In the rear - in Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Siberia, the Urals - there were more than 10 thousand industrial construction projects.

Instead of men who went to the front, women and youth came to the machines. Despite very difficult living conditions, Soviet people worked selflessly to ensure victory at the front. They worked one and a half to two shifts to restore industry and supply the front with everything necessary. All-Union socialist competition developed widely, the winners of which were awarded Red Banner GKO. In 1942 agricultural workers organized overplanned crops for the defense fund. The collective farm peasantry supplied the front and rear with food and industrial raw materials.

The situation in the temporarily occupied regions of the country was exceptionally difficult. The Nazis plundered cities and villages, mocked the civilian population. At the enterprises, German officials were appointed to oversee the work. The best lands were selected for farming for German soldiers. In all occupied settlements, German garrisons were kept at the expense of the population. However, the economic and social policy of the Nazis, which they tried to pursue in the occupied territories, immediately failed. The Soviet people, brought up on the ideas of the Communist Party, believed in the victory of the Soviet country, did not succumb to Hitler's provocations and demagogy.

Winter offensive of the Red Army in 1941/42 dealt a powerful blow to fascist Germany, to its military machine, but the Nazi army was still strong. Soviet troops fought stubborn defensive battles.

In this situation, the nationwide struggle of the Soviet people behind enemy lines played an important role, especially partisan movement.

Thousands of Soviet people went to partisan detachments. A partisan war developed widely in the Ukraine, in Belorussia and in the Smolensk region, in the Crimea and in a number of other places. In cities and villages temporarily occupied by the enemy, underground party and Komsomol organizations operated. In accordance with the resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of July 18, 1941 No. "On the organization of the struggle in the rear of the German troops" 3,500 partisan detachments and groups, 32 underground regional committees, 805 city and district party committees, 5,429 primary party organizations, 10 regional, 210 inter-district city and 45 thousand primary Komsomol organizations were created. To coordinate the actions of partisan detachments and underground groups with units of the Red Army, by decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on May 30, 1942, at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, the central headquarters of the partisan movement. Headquarters for the leadership of the partisan movement were formed in Belarus, Ukraine and other republics and regions occupied by the enemy.

After the defeat near Moscow and the winter offensive of our troops, the Nazi command was preparing a new major offensive with the aim of capturing all the southern regions of the country (Crimea, the North Caucasus, the Don) up to the Volga, capturing Stalingrad and tearing Transcaucasia from the center of the country. This posed an exceptionally serious threat to our country.

By the summer of 1942, the international situation had changed, characterized by the strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition. In May - June 1942, agreements were signed between the USSR, Britain and the USA on an alliance in the war against Germany and on post-war cooperation. In particular, an agreement was reached on the opening in 1942 in Europe second front against Germany, which would have greatly accelerated the defeat of fascism. But the allies in every possible way delayed its opening. Taking advantage of this, the fascist command transferred divisions from the Western Front to the Eastern. By the spring of 1942, the Nazi army had 237 divisions, massive aviation, tanks, artillery and other types of equipment for a new offensive.

intensified Leningrad blockade, almost daily subjected to artillery fire. In May, the Kerch Strait was captured. On July 3, the High Command ordered the heroic defenders of Sevastopol to leave the city after a 250-day defense, since it was not possible to keep the Crimea. As a result of the defeat of the Soviet troops in the area of ​​Kharkov and the Don, the enemy reached the Volga. The Stalingrad Front, created in July, took upon itself the powerful blows of the enemy. Retreating with heavy fighting, our troops inflicted huge damage on the enemy. In parallel, the fascist offensive was going on in the North Caucasus, where Stavropol, Krasnodar, Maykop were occupied. In the Mozdok area, the Nazi offensive was suspended.

The main battles unfolded on the Volga. The enemy sought to capture Stalingrad at any cost. The heroic defense of the city was one of the brightest pages of the Patriotic War. The working class, women, old people, teenagers - the entire population rose to the defense of Stalingrad. Despite the mortal danger, the workers of the tractor factory daily sent tanks to the front lines. In September, fighting broke out in the city for every street, for every house.

All of Europe fought against us

The very first strategic counter-offensive of the Soviet troops in the Great Patriotic War revealed a very unpleasant circumstance for the USSR. Among the captured enemy troops near Moscow there were many military units France, Poland, Holland, Finland, Austria, Norway and other countries. The imprint of almost all major European firms was found on captured military equipment and shells. In general, as one could assume and as they thought in the Soviet Union, that the European proletarians would never go up in arms against the state of workers and peasants, that they would sabotage the production of weapons for Hitler.

But exactly the opposite happened. A very characteristic find was made by our soldiers after the liberation of the Moscow region in the area of ​​​​the historical Borodino field - next to the French cemetery of 1812, they discovered fresh graves of Napoleon's descendants. The Soviet 32nd Rifle Division of the Red Banner, Colonel V.I. fought here. Polosukhin, whose fighters could not even imagine that they were being opposed "French allies".

A more or less complete picture of this battle was revealed only after the Victory. Chief of Staff of the 4th German Army G. Blumentritt published a memoir in which he wrote:

“The four battalions of French volunteers operating as part of the 4th Army turned out to be less persistent. At Borodin, Field Marshal von Kluge addressed them with a speech, recalling how, during the time of Napoleon, the French and Germans fought here side by side against a common enemy - Russia. The next day, the French boldly went into battle, but, unfortunately, they could not withstand either the powerful attack of the enemy, or the severe frost and snowstorm. They had never had to endure such trials before. The French legion was defeated, having suffered heavy losses from enemy fire. A few days later he was taken to the rear and sent to the West ... "

Here is an interesting archival document - a list of prisoners of war who surrendered to Soviet troops during the war years. Recall that a prisoner of war is one who fights in uniform with a weapon in his hands.

Hitler takes the parade of the Wehrmacht, 1940 (megabook.ru)

So, Germans – 2 389 560, Hungarians – 513 767, Romanians – 187 370, Austrians – 156 682, Czechs And Slovaks – 69 977, Poles – 60 280, Italians – 48 957, French people – 23 136, Croats – 21 822, Moldovans – 14 129, Jews – 10 173, Dutch – 4 729, Finns – 2 377, Belgians – 2 010, Luxembourgers – 1652, Danes – 457, Spaniards – 452, gypsies – 383, Norse – 101, Swedes – 72.

And these are only those who survived and were captured. In reality, much more Europeans fought against us.

The ancient Roman senator Cato the Elder went down in history by the fact that he always ended any public speech on any topic with the words: "Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam", which literally means: "Otherwise, I believe that Carthage must be destroyed." (Carthage is a city-state hostile to Rome.) I am not ready to completely become like Senator Cato, but I will use any excuse to mention once again: in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the USSR, with an initial strength 190 million. people, fought not with 80 million of the then Germans. The Soviet Union fought practically with all Europe, the number of which (with the exception of England allied to us and partisan Serbia not surrendering to the Germans) was about 400 million. Human.

During the Great Patriotic War, overcoats in the USSR were put on by 34,476.7 thousand people, i.e. 17,8% population. And Germany mobilized into its armed forces already 21% from the population. It would seem that the Germans in their military efforts strained more than the USSR. But women served in the Red Army in large numbers, both voluntarily and by conscription. There were a lot of purely female units and divisions (anti-aircraft, aviation, etc.). During a period of desperate situation, the State Defense Committee decided (remaining, however, on paper) to create women's rifle formations, in which men would be only those who load heavy artillery pieces.

And among the Germans, even at the moment of their agony, women not only did not serve in the army, but there were very few of them in production. Why is that? Because in the USSR one man accounted for three women, and in Germany - on the contrary? No, that's not the point. In order to fight, you need not only soldiers, but also weapons with food. And for their production, men are also needed, who cannot be replaced by women or teenagers. Therefore, the USSR was forced send women to the front instead of men.

The Germans did not have such a problem: they were provided with weapons and food by all of Europe. The French not only handed over all their tanks to the Germans, but also produced a huge amount of military equipment for them - from cars to optical rangefinders.

Czechs with only one firm "Skoda" produced more weapons than all of pre-war Great Britain, built the entire fleet of German armored personnel carriers, a huge number of tanks, aircraft, small arms, artillery and ammunition.

The Poles built airplanes, Polish Jews explosives, synthetic gasoline and rubber were produced in Auschwitz to kill Soviet citizens; the Swedes mined ore and supplied the Germans with components for military equipment (for example, bearings), the Norwegians supplied the Nazis with seafood, the Danes with oil ... In short, all of Europe tried its best.

And she tried not only on the labor front. Only the elite troops of Nazi Germany - the SS troops - accepted into their ranks 400 thousand. "blonde beasts" from other countries, and in total they joined the Nazi army from all over Europe 1800 thousand. volunteers, forming 59 divisions, 23 brigades and several national regiments and legions.

The most elite of these divisions did not have numbers, but their own names indicating their national origin: Wallonia, Galicia, Bohemia and Moravia, Viking, Denemark, Gembez, Langemark, Nordland ”, “Netherlands”, “Charlemagne”, etc.

Europeans served as volunteers not only in the national, but also in the German divisions. So let's say an elite German division "Greater Germany". It would seem that, if only because of the name, it should have been completed only by the Germans. However, the Frenchman who served in it Guy Sayer recalls that on the eve of the Battle of Kursk, there were 9 Germans out of 11 in his infantry unit, and besides him, the Czech also did not understand German well. And all this in addition to the official allies of Germany, whose armies shoulder to shoulder burned and plundered the Soviet Union - Italians, Romanian, Hungarians, Finns, Croats, Slovaks, besides Bulgarians who at that time burned and plundered partisan Serbia. Even officially neutral Spaniards sent their "Blue Division" near Leningrad!

In order to evaluate the national composition of all the European bastards who, hoping for easy prey, climbed up to us to kill Soviet and Russian people, I will give a table of that part of the foreign volunteers who guessed to surrender to us in time:

Germans – 2 389 560, Hungarians – 513 767, Romanians – 187 370, Austrians – 156 682, Czechs And Slovaks – 69 977, Poles – 60 280, Italians – 48 957, French people – 23 136, Croats – 21 822, Moldovans – 14 129, Jews – 10 173, Dutch – 4 729, Finns – 2 377, Belgians – 2 010, Luxembourgers – 1652, Danes – 457, Spaniards – 452, gypsies – 383, Norse – 101, Swedes – 72.

This table, first published at the end of 1990, should be repeated again and for these reasons. After the accession of “democracy” on the territory of the USSR, the table is continuously “improved” in terms of “enlarging lines”. As a result, in “serious” books by “professional historians” on the topic of war, say, in the statistical collection “Russia and the USSR in the Wars of the 20th Century” or in the reference book “The World of Russian History”, the data in this table are distorted. Some nationalities have disappeared from it.

Jews disappeared first., which, as you can see from the original table, served Hitler as many as the Finns and the Dutch combined. And I, for example, do not see why we should throw out Jewish verses from this Hitler song.

By the way, the Poles today are trying to push the Jews away from the position of “the main sufferers of the Second World War”, and there are more of them on the lists of prisoners than the Italians who officially and actually fought with us.

Why, and the presented table does not reflect the true quantitative and national composition of the prisoners. First of all, it does not represent at all our domestic scum, who, either due to acquired idiocy, or because of cowardice and cowardice, served the Germans - from Bandera to Vlasov.

By the way, they were punished to insultingly easily. It’s good if a Vlasovite fell into the hands of front-line soldiers as prisoners. Then he most often got what he deserved. But after all, traitors contrived to surrender to the rear units, dressed in civilian clothes, pretended to be Germans when they surrendered, etc. In this case, the Soviet court literally patted them on the head.

At one time, domestic anti-Sovietists published collections of their memoirs abroad. One of them describes the judicial “sufferings” of a Vlasovite who defended Berlin: he changed clothes ... to the Soviet soldiers who captured him ... introduced himself as a Frenchman and thus got to the military tribunal. And then reading his boasting is insulting: “They gave me five years of distant camps - and that was lucky. In a hurry, they considered it for the worker-peasant petty. Soldiers captured with weapons and officers were sculpted ten. When escorted to the camp, he fled to the West.

Five years for the murder of Soviet people and treason! What kind of punishment is this?! Well, at least 20, so that the spiritual wounds of widows and orphans heal and it would not be so insulting to look at these vile hari ...

For the same reason, they are not listed as prisoners of war. Crimean Tatars who stormed Sevastopol for Manstein, Kalmyks and so on.

Not listed Estonians, Latvians And Lithuanians, who had their own national divisions as part of the Nazi troops, but were considered Soviet citizens and, therefore, served their meager terms in the GULAG camps, and not in the GUPVI camps. (GULAG - the main department of the camps - was engaged in keeping criminals, and GUPVI - the main department for prisoners of war and internees - prisoners.) Meanwhile, not all prisoners even got into the GUPVI, since this department counted only those who got into its rear camps from frontline transit points.

Estonian legionnaires of the Wehrmacht fought against the USSR with particular fury (ookaboo.com)

But since 1943, national divisions of Poles, Czechs, and Romanians began to form in the USSR to fight the Germans. And the prisoners of these nationalities were not sent to the GUPVI, but immediately to the recruitment points for such formations - they fought together with the Germans, let them fight against them! By the way, there were 600 thousand. Even de Gaulle was sent to his army 1500 French.

Before the start of the war with the USSR Hitler appealed to the Europeans to crusade against Bolshevism. Here is how they responded to it (data for June - October 1941, which do not take into account the huge military contingents Italy, Hungary, Romania and other allies of Hitler). From Spanish volunteers ( 18000 people) in the Wehrmacht, the 250th Infantry Division was formed. In July, the personnel took the oath to Hitler and departed for the Soviet-German front. During September-October 1941, from French volunteers (approx. 3000 people) the 638th Infantry Regiment was formed. In October, the regiment was sent to Smolensk, and then to Moscow. From Belgians in July 1941, the 373rd Walloon Battalion was formed (approximately 850 people), transferred to the 97th Infantry Division of the 17th Army of the Wehrmacht.

From Croatian Volunteers were formed by the 369th Infantry Regiment of the Wehrmacht and the Croatian Legion as part of the Italian troops. Approximately 2000 Swedes signed up as a volunteer in Finland. Of these, approximately 850 people participated in the fighting near Hanko, as part of the Swedish volunteer battalion.

By the end of June 1941 294 Norwegians already served in the SS regiment "Nordland". After the start of the war with the USSR in Norway, the volunteer legion "Norway" was created ( 1200 Human). After taking the oath to Hitler, he was sent to Leningrad. By the end of June 1941, the SS division "Viking" had 216 Danes. After the start of the war with the USSR, the Danish "Volunteer Corps" began to form.

Stand apart in aiding fascism are our Polish comrades. Immediately after the end of the German-Polish war, the idea of ​​​​creating a Polish army fighting on the side of Germany came up with the Polish nationalist Wladislav Gizbert-Studnitsky. He developed a project to build a Polish 12-15 million pro-German state. Gizbert-Studnitsky proposed a plan to send Polish troops to the eastern front. Later the idea of ​​a Polish-German alliance and 35 thousandth Polish army supported by the Sword and Plow organization associated with the Home Army.

In the first months of the war against the USSR, Polish soldiers in the fascist army had the so-called status hi-wi (volunteers). Later, Hitler gave special permission for the Poles to serve in the Wehrmacht. After that, in relation to the Poles, it was categorically forbidden to use the name hi-wi, because the Nazis treated them as full-fledged soldiers. Every Pole aged 16 to 50 could become a volunteer, it was only necessary to pass a preliminary medical examination.

The Poles, along with other European nations, were urged to stand "in defense of Western civilization from Soviet barbarism." Here is a quote from a Nazi leaflet in Polish: “The German armed forces are leading the decisive struggle to defend Europe from Bolshevism. Any honest assistant in this struggle will be welcomed as a comrade-in-arms ... "

The text of the oath of the Polish soldiers read: “I swear before God this sacred oath that in the fight for the future of Europe in the ranks of the German Wehrmacht I will be absolutely obedient to the Supreme Commander Adolf Hitler, and as a brave soldier I am ready at any time to devote my strength to fulfill this oath ... "

It is amazing that even the strictest guardian of the Aryan gene pool Himmler allowed to form units from the Poles SS. The first sign was the Goral Legion of the Waffen-SS. Gorals are an ethnic group within the Polish nation. In 1942, the Nazis convened a Goral Committee in Zakopane. Was appointed "Goralenführer" Vaclav Krzheptovsky.

He and his inner circle made a number of trips to cities and villages, calling them to fight against the worst enemy of civilization - Judeo-Bolshevism. It was decided to create a Goral volunteer legion of the Waffen-SS, adapted for operations in mountainous areas. Krzheptovsky managed to collect 410 highlanders. But after a medical examination in the SS bodies, it remained 300 Human.

Another Polish Legion of the SS was formed in mid-July 1944. It was entered 1500 Polish volunteers. In October, the legion was based in Rzechow, in December near Tomaszow. In January 1945, the legion was divided into two groups (1st Lieutenant Macnik, 2nd Lieutenant Errling) and sent to participate in anti-partisan operations in the Tuchol forests. In February, both groups were destroyed by the Soviet army.

President of the Academy of Military Sciences, General of the Army Mahmut Gareev gave such an assessment of the participation of a number of European countries in the fight against fascism: During the war, all of Europe fought against us. Three hundred and fifty million people, regardless of whether they fought with weapons in their hands, or stood at the machine, producing weapons for the Wehrmacht, did one thing.

During World War II, 20,000 members of the French Resistance died. And 200,000 French fought against us. We also captured 60,000 Poles. 2 million European volunteers fought for Hitler against the USSR.

In this regard, it looks at least strange to invite military personnel from a number of countries NATO take part in the parade on Red Square in honor of the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory, - says a member of the International Association of Historians of the Second World War, Professor of the Military Humanitarian Academy, Colonel Yuri Rubtsov. - This insults the memory of our defenders of the Fatherland, who died at the hands of numerous "European friends of Hitler".

Helpful Conclusion

During the Second World War against the Soviet Union, which had an initial population of just over 190 million. people fought a European coalition of more than 400 million. people, and when we were not Russians, but Soviet citizens, we defeated this coalition.

All of Europe fought against us A

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