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The Great Patriotic War: stages, battles

The Great Patriotic War, the stages of which we will consider in this article, is one of the hardest historical trials that fell to the lot of Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians and other peoples who lived on the territory of the USSR. These 1418 days and nights will always remain in history as the most bloody and cruel time.

The main stages of the Great Patriotic War

The periodization of the events of the Second World War can be made proceeding from the nature of the events that took place at the front. In different periods of the war, the initiative belonged to different armies.
The stages of the Great Patriotic War most historians detail as follows:

  • From June 22 to November 18, 1941 (1 stage of the Great Patriotic War);
  • From November 19, 1941 until the end of 1943 (the second stage of the Great Patriotic War);
  • From January 1944 to May 1945 (the third stage of the Great Patriotic War).

The Great Patriotic War: periods

Each of the periods of the Great Patriotic War has its own peculiarities, which concern the directions of combat operations, the use of new types of weapons and the advantages of one of the armies. I would like to start by talking about the stages of the Great Patriotic War briefly.

  • The initial stage of hostilities was characterized by the full initiative of the German fascist troops. During this time the army of Hitler completely occupied Belarus, Ukraine and practically reached Moscow. Of course, the Soviet army fought to the extent of its capabilities, but it constantly retreated. A huge success of the Red Army in this period was the victory near Moscow. But in general, the German offensive continued. They were able to occupy many areas of the Caucasus, reached almost the modern borders of Chechnya, but failed to take the Terrible. Important battles in the middle of 1942 took place on the Crimean front. Ended stage 1 battle near Stalingrad.
  • The second stage of the Great Patriotic War brought the advantage of the Red Army. After the victory at Stalingrad over the Paulus army, Soviet troops received good conditions for a liberation offensive. The breakthrough of the siege of Leningrad, the battle of Kursk and the general offensive on all fronts at that time made it clear that the Hitlerite army would sooner or later lose the war.
  • In the final period of the war, the offensive of the Red Army continued. The fighting took place mainly in the territory of Ukraine and Belarus. This period was characterized by the progressive advance of the Red Army to the west and the fierce resistance of the enemy. This is the last stage in the Second World War, which ended in victory over the enemy.

Causes of the existing periodization of the Second World War

The stages of the Great Patriotic War, or rather their beginning and completion, are marked by some key events, battles that have become part of world history. The longest period was the first period of the war. The reasons for this are:

  • Surprise attack of the enemy;
  • Attacks by a massive front of troops on vastly stretched territories;
  • Lack of extensive experience in conducting military operations with the Soviet Army;
  • The German army is outnumbered in technical equipment.

The enemy's offensive was only completely stopped by the end of 1942. The main reasons for the success of the Red Army in the second period of the war can be considered:

  • The heroism of Soviet soldiers;
  • Superiority of the Red Army over the enemy;
  • Significant progress in the army of the USSR in technical terms (the emergence of new tanks and anti-aircraft installations, much more).

The third stage of the war was also quite lengthy. The main distinction between the 2 nd and 3 rd stages of military operations against the fascist German troops appears in the fact that in 1944 the epicenter of military operations spread from Russia to Ukraine and Belarus, that is, there was a progressive movement to the west. The final stage of the Great Patriotic War lasted more than a year, because the SC was to liberate the whole of Ukraine and Belarus, as well as the countries of Eastern Europe.

The Battle of 1941

In 1941, the position of the USSR, as already stressed, was extremely difficult. The first attacks of infantry and motorized units of the fascist army were carried out by Belarus and Lithuania. June 22 began the defense of the Brest Fortress. The Nazis expected to go through this outpost much quicker than they could. For several days fierce battles were fought, and the final surrender of Brest took place only on July 20, 1941. Also these days the nazis attacked in the direction of Siauliai and Grodno. That is why on June 23-25 the USSR Army moved in these directions into a counteroffensive.

The first stages of the Great Patriotic War in 1941 showed that the Red Army could not cope with the enemy without retreat. So great was the onslaught of the fascists! How was the retreat in the first months of the war? It passed with fights. Also army men and communists, in order to complicate life as much as possible to the enemy, undermined infrastructure facilities that could not be evacuated to safe places. Strong resistance to the army was due to the need to evacuate in the rear of important for the country's production.

Of the largest battles of 1941, it is worth noting the Kiev defensive operation, which lasted from July 7 to September 26, and the battle for Moscow (September 30, 1941 - April 1942). Also important role in the history of the Great Patriotic War is given to the defense of Odessa and the exploits of Soviet sailors.

1942 in the history of the Great Patriotic War

The initial stage of the Great Patriotic War showed Hitler that he would not be able to defeat the Soviet Army. Its strategic task to take Moscow before the winter of 1941 did not come to fruition. Until May 1942, the general offensive of Soviet troops continued, which began in December 1941 near Moscow. But this offensive was stopped by the Nazis on the Kharkov bridgehead, where a large group of troops fell into the encirclement and lost the battle.

After that, the army of Germany went on the offensive, so again Soviet soldiers had to remember about the defensive actions. Hitler understood that it would be difficult to capture Moscow, so the main blow directed to the city with the symbolic name of Stalingrad.

Also active offensive actions of the fascists took place on the Crimean bridgehead. The defense of Sevastopol continued until July 4, 1942. From July to November, the Red Army conducted active defensive operations at Stalingrad and the Caucasus. The defense of Stalingrad entered the annals of history as an example of heroism and the invincibility of Soviet soldiers. The city itself was completely destroyed, several houses survived, but the fascists could not take it. The first stage of the Great Patriotic War ended with the victory of the spacecraft at Stalingrad and the beginning of the Soviet offensive. Although some sectors of the front still continued defense, but a turning point in the war has already come.

The second stage of the Great Patriotic War

This period lasted almost a year. Of course, in 1943, too, there were many difficulties, but in general, no one could stop the offensive of our troops. Periodically, the Nazis went over to the offensive in separate directions, but already the Great Patriotic War, the stages, the battles that we are now considering, passed into that state when it was clear that Germany would sooner or later lose the war.

Operation "Ring" was completed on February 2, 1943. The army of General Paulus was surrounded. On January 18 of the same year, the blockade of Leningrad was finally broken. These days the Red Army launched an offensive in the direction of Voronezh and Kaluga. The city of Voronezh was repulsed from the enemy on 25 January. The offensive went on. In February 1943 the Voroshilovgrad offensive took place. Gradually the Red Army passes to the liberation of Ukraine, although not all cities have been repulsed by the fascists. March 1943 was remembered by the liberation of Vyazma and the counterattack of Hitler's army in the Donbas. Our troops eventually coped with this attack, but the Nazis managed to somewhat restrain the advance of Soviet troops deep into Ukraine. The struggle on this bridgehead lasted more than a month. After that, the main accent of battles is transferred to the Kuban, because for the successful advance further to the West it was necessary to free the region of the Krasnodar and Stavropol territories from the enemies. Active fighting in this direction took about three months. The offensive was complicated by the proximity of the mountains and the active operations of enemy aircraft.

The second half of 1943

In the history of the Great Patriotic War, July 1943 stands alone. During this period, two very important events occurred. German intelligence constantly reported on the impending major offensive of Soviet troops. But it was not exactly known exactly where the attack would be. Undoubtedly, the Soviet higher military ranks knew that German scouts were working in many structures of the spacecraft (like Soviet ones in Germany), so they used disinformation as much as possible. July 5, the Battle of Kursk took place. The fascists hoped that by winning this battle, they could again go on the offensive. Yes, they were able to advance a little, but in general the battle was not won, so in the 20 days of July 1943 the second stage of the Great Patriotic War reached its qualitative apogee. And what was the second sign event? Have you forgotten the battle of Prokhorovka? On the field near this village was the largest in the history at that time of the tank battle, which also remained for the USSR.

Beginning in August 1943 and until the winter of 1943/1944. The Red Army basically liberates Ukrainian cities. It was very difficult to defeat the enemy in the Kharkov area, but on the morning of August 23, 1943, the USSR army managed to enter this city. And then went a whole series of liberation of Ukrainian cities. In September 1943, the spacecraft entered Donetsk, Poltava, Kremenchug, and Sumy. In October, our troops liberated Dnepropetrovsk, Dneprodzerzhinsk, Melitopol and other surrounding settlements.

The Battle for Kiev

Kiev was one of several strategically important cities in the USSR. The population of the city before the war reached 1 million people. During the years of the Second World War, it decreased fivefold. But now the main thing. The Red Army prepared for a long time to take Kiev, because for the fascists this city was also extremely important. To capture Kiev it was necessary to cross the Dnieper. The battle for this river, which was a symbol of Ukraine, began on September 22. The crossing was very difficult, many of our soldiers were killed. In October the command planned to try to take Kiev. The most convenient for this was the Bukrin bridgehead. But these plans became known to the Germans, so they threw a considerable force here. It is impossible to take Kyiv from the Bukrinsky bridgehead. Our intelligence has been assigned the task of finding another place to attack the enemy. The most optimal was the Lutezh bridgehead, but it was technically very difficult to deploy troops there. Since Kiev had to be taken until the next anniversary of November 7, the command of the Kiev offensive operation decided to transfer troops from Bukrinsky to the Lutezh bridgehead. In fact, not all believed in the reality of this plan, because it was necessary to unnoticed by the enemy, twice to cross the Dnieper twice and to travel a long distance overland. Of course, a lot of losses were incurred by the spacecraft, but it was impossible to take Kiev in another way. This course of Soviet military leaders was crowned with success. The Red Army managed to enter Kiev on the morning of November 6, 1943. And the battle for the Dnieper on other sectors of the front continued almost to the end of the year. With the victory of the spacecraft in this battle, the first stages of the Great Patriotic War ended.

The war in 1944-1945.

The final stage of the Great Patriotic War began with the Kirovograd offensive operation. January 8, the city of Kirovograd was released. Also in January, Soviet troops successfully carried out an offensive on the Korsun-Shevchenko district (Cherkasy region of Ukraine), and liberated almost completely the Kiev and Zhytomyr regions.

The final stage of the Great Patriotic War became possible only thanks to the heroism of our soldiers. In the first half of 1944, virtually all of the Right-Bank Ukraine and the Crimea were liberated. The final stage of the Great Patriotic War was marked by one of the largest offensive of the Red Army in all the years of military operations. It is about Proskurovo-Bukovina and Umansko-Botoshanskoye operations, which ended by the end of April 1944. Almost the entire territory of Ukraine, with the completion of these operations, was liberated, the restoration of the republic began after exhausting military operations.

The Red Army in battles abroad of the USSR

The Great Patriotic War, the stages of which we are examining today, came to its logical conclusion. Beginning in April 1944, Soviet troops slowly began to force out the nazis in the territories of states that were their allies at the start of the war (for example, Romania). Also, active hostilities took place on Polish lands. In 1944, many events were on the second front. When the defeat of Germany became inevitable, the allies of the USSR on the anti-Hitler coalition became more active in the war. The fighting in Greece, Sicily, near the Mariana Islands, in Asia - all of them were aimed at the victory of the troops of the anti-Hitler coalition in the fight against fascism.

3 stages of the Great Patriotic War ended May 9, 1945. It was on this day that all the peoples of the former USSR celebrate the great holiday - Victory Day.

Consequences of the Great Patriotic War

The Great Patriotic War, the stages of military operations which were absolutely logical, was completed almost four years after the start. It was much more cruel and bloody than the First World War, which ended in 1918.

The consequences of it can be divided into 3 groups: economic, political and ethnographic. In the territories that were under occupation, many enterprises were destroyed. Some of the plants and factories were evacuated and not all returned. In terms of politics, the whole system of life in the world has actually changed, new state borders have been formed . Gradually a new security system was built in Europe and the world. The UN became the new guarantor of security. During the war, many people died, so it was necessary to restore the population.

The main stages of the Great Patriotic War, and there were three of them, showed that it is impossible to win such a large country as the USSR. The state gradually came out of the crisis, rebuilt. In many respects, the rapid economic recovery of the USSR is connected with the heroic efforts of the people.

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