Coming to power in Germany with his party in 1933, Adolf Hitler abandoned the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, restored conscription, rapidly launched the mass production of weapons and the deployment of the armed forces. At the same time, a powerful repressive system was created in the country to suppress the protests of the dissatisfied and propaganda was launched about the exclusivity of the German nation, its belonging to the highest Aryan race and the need to subordinate other peoples and races to the will of the descendants of Siegfried. The German population was inspired with the idea that the seizure and economic development of foreign territories would provide the necessary living space and resources for the development of Germany and the rapid improvement of the life of every German.
Having created the material and ideological base for aggression, Hitler unleashed a new world war, capturing almost all of Europe, with the exception of his satellite countries, allies and neutral states (Sweden, Switzerland, Nazi-sympathizing Portugal, the Vatican). Half of the European territory of the USSR was also occupied. The Germans rushed to the Caucasus, the Middle East and further to India.
And yet the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition,with the decisive contribution of the USSR, which suffered the greatest losses, they managed to turn the tide of the war and win a great Victory, the 70th anniversary of which was recently celebrated all over the world. The liberation of the countries of Europe took place through the offensive of the allies both from the east and from the west with the support of the population, sometimes in these countries the anti-fascist forces or the ruling elites who revised their position achieved liberation on their own. However, the latter became possible under the influence of the successful offensive of the troops of the anti-Hitler coalition. An overview of the events that accompanied the liberation of Europe is summarized below.
War in the West before the opening of the Second Front
In the October days of 1942, the British troops of Marshal Montgomery in the battle of El Alamein defeated the Italo-German group advancing on Cairo and the Suez Canal. On the other side of North Africa (Algeria and Morocco), the troops of the American General Eisenhower, the future US President, landed. Pressing on both sides of the Italian and German units, the Allies drove them into Tunisia, where the Axis troops pressed to the sea were forced to capitulate. This event happened in 1943, May 13.
This victory allowed the Anglo-American armed forces to land in Sicily in July 1943. In turn, the matter was not limited to Sicily, and the troops of the anti-Hitler coalition continued their invasion of Italy, forcing the Gulf of Messina and landing directly on the Apennine Peninsula. This provoked a crisis of Italian fascism, the removal and removal of the Blackshirt leader Duce Mussolini from all posts withhis subsequent arrest. The new government of Italy declared war on Germany, but the northern and central parts of the country were under German occupation.
Preparation for the opening of a new front in the fight against Germany, the material support of Great Britain and the USSR to a large extent depended on the situation in the Atlantic. German "wolf packs" of submarines, torpedo bombers and surface raiders, supported by large ships, waged a brutal war to disrupt the Allied convoys in the Atlantic, solving the problem of the sea deblockade of Germany along the way. But the powerful efforts of the air force and navy of the USA and Great Britain by 1943 made it possible to speak of a turning point. So, in 1942, the forces of the Allied fleet and their aircraft destroyed two hundred submarines of Admiral Doenitz. The Germans practically stopped attacks on convoys and hunted for single ships that had fallen behind or fought off the rest.
The beginning of the liberation of Europe by the troops of the USSR and its allies on the Eastern Front
By 1944, decisive battles were left behind, which became turning points on the path of our people and the whole world to the great Victory. In the January days of the penultimate year of the war, a series of strategic offensive operations began, which led to the complete liberation of the lands of the USSR occupied by the Germans with access to the state border. Initially carried out within the framework of military logic, separate front-scale operations were later, during analysis, logically combined into a common campaign of 1944. Actually, in 1944 the Great Patriotic War, the liberation of Europe by Soviet troops merged into a single process. To giveharmony and completeness of the picture of the events of that year on the Eastern Front, it is advisable to present all the data in the form of a table:
| pp | Operations | Time | Engaged associations | Result achieved |
| 1st | Leningrad-Novgorodskaya | 14.01 - 1.03 |
Fronts: Leningradsky, Volkhovsky, B altic, Fleet:B altic |
The defeat of the Army Group "North", the complete deblockade of Leningrad, the liberation of the Leningrad Region |
| 2nd | Dnieper-Carpathian | 24.12.1943 - 17.04.1944 |
Fronts: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ukrainian |
Liberation of Right-bank Ukraine |
| 3rd |
Odesskaya Crimean |
1944 |
3rd Ukrainian Front 4th Ukrainian Front Black Sea Fleet |
Liberation of Odessa and Crimea, fascist troops thrown into the sea |
| 4th | Vyborg-Petrozavodsk | 1944 (summer) |
Fronts: Leningradsky, Karelian |
Liberation of Karelia |
| 5th |
Operation "Bagration" (Belarusian) |
23.06 - 28.07 |
Fronts: 1st,2nd and 3rd Belarusian, 1st B altic |
Liberation of Belarus, most of Poland with access to the Vistula and most of Lithuania, access to the borders of Germany |
| 6th | Lviv-Sandomierz region | 13.07 - 2.08 |
Fronts: 1st and 4th Ukrainian |
Liberation of Western Ukraine, crossing of the Vistula, formation of the Sandomierz bridgehead |
| 7th |
Iasi-Chisinau Romanian |
August ------------ 30.08 - 3.10 |
Fronts: 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian 2nd Ukrainian |
Liberation of Moldova, Withdrawal from the war of Romania, Declaration of war by Romania on Germany and Hungary, opening the way to Hungary, withdrawal from the war of Bulgaria, which declared war on Germany, improving conditions for helping the Yugoslav partisans |
| 8th | B altic | 14.09 - 24.11 |
Fronts: 1st, 2nd and 3rd B altic Fleet: B altic |
Liberation of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia Finland withdrawing from the war and declaring war on Germany |
| 9th |
East Carpathian Belgrade |
8.09 - 28.10 28.09 - 20.10 |
Fronts: 1st and 4thUkrainian Soviet, Yugoslav, Slovak units and formations |
Liberation of Yugoslavia and help to the Slovak uprising against parts of the Wehrmacht |
| 10th | Petsamo-Kirkenes | 7.10 - October 29.10 |
Fronts: Karelian |
Northern Finland and Norway liberated from German troops |
Military operations in Europe (Center and South-East)
The exit to the borders of the USSR and the further offensive of troops on the territory of other countries was the reason for the statement of the Soviet government. This document noted the need for the final defeat of the German fascist armed forces and the assurance that the USSR does not plan to change the political structure of these states and violate their territorial integrity.
Nevertheless, the Soviet Union openly supported forces loyal to it, especially the communists and their closest allies. In the political arena, the leadership of the USSR pressed the governments of Great Britain and the United States to recognize their interests in vast areas of Europe. The growth of the authority of the Soviet Union and Stalin, the presence of the Red Army in the respective territories forced Churchill and Roosevelt to recognize the Balkans (excluding Greece) as a Soviet sphere of influence. In Poland, the USSR achieved the creation of a government loyal to Moscow, as opposed to the emigre Polish government in London.
The liberation of Europe by Soviet troops took place in close cooperation with partisan movements and armedby other countries. The Polish army, the Yugoslav army led by Joseph Broz Tito, the Czechoslovak corps of Ludwig Svoboda, the Slovak rebels took an active part in the struggle for the liberation of Eastern Europe.
In 1944, on August 23, a palace coup took place in royal Romania against the backdrop of an established anti-fascist conspiracy with a wide political base - from communists to monarchists. As a result of this event, Romania also became anti-fascist, declaring war on Germany and Hungary.
On August 31, the troops of the Red Army entered Bucharest, and Romanian units joined it. This was the reason for awarding the Romanian King Mihai with the Soviet Order of Victory, although Romania participated in the fascist aggression against the USSR. In particular, Romanian troops occupied Odessa and fought ingloriously near Stalingrad.
Bulgaria, being an ally of the Reich, refused to send troops to the eastern front, Tsar Boris (a German by nationality) answered Hitler that the Bulgarians would not fight against the Russians, who had liberated them from the Ottoman yoke. Bulgaria did not even declare war on the USSR, it met parts of the troops of the advancing Red Army entering its territory with unfurled banners and solemn music. After the September 9 coup, the communist government came to power in the country, declaring war on Germany.
As mentioned, Finland also withdrew from the war. On the day of September 19, 1944, her government signed a truce with the USSR on quite honorable terms.
Slovak nationalarmed uprising
This most heroic page in the struggle of the Slovak people holds a special place in the history of the liberation of Europe.
Slovakia before the war and for a long time after the war was part of Czechoslovakia. Hitler, having occupied the Czech Republic, formally granted independence to Slovakia, in fact, turning it into his satellite. The Slovak units were sent to the eastern front, but due to their unreliability (the Slavic community with the Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians evoked a feeling of sympathy for all Soviet people among the Slovaks), the Germans used them more often in the rear to protect communications and fight partisans. But this led to numerous transitions of the Slovaks into the ranks of the Soviet partisans. On the territory of Slovakia, the partisan movement also developed and expanded.
At the end of the hot, literally and figuratively, summer of 1944, the famous August Slovak anti-fascist uprising flared up. Troops that were part of the 1st Ukrainian Front advanced to help the insurgent people. Among them was the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps. This formation was commanded by General Ludwig Svoboda, who became president of Czechoslovakia in 1968. On October 6, as a result of stubborn battles in the Carpathian Mountains (Dukla Pass), the liberators entered the fighting territory of Slovakia. However, the bloody and stubborn battles that lasted until the very end of October did not immediately lead to the intended goal - the Soviet troops failed to overcome the Carpathians and unite with the rebels. A large part of the civilian population and partisans went to the mountains, continuing the struggle and participating in the gradual liberationof their country by parts of the advancing Red Army. On the part of the Soviet Union, they were assisted both by people and by weapons and ammunition. Transfers were carried out by aircraft.
Fights in Hungary, Austria and the first stage of the battle for East Prussia
The logic and sequence of battles led to the fact that Hungary remained Hitler's only serious ally in this region by October 1944, although she unsuccessfully tried to withdraw from the war. The ruler of Horthy was arrested by the Germans, and the Hungarians had to fight to the end. The fierceness of the battles for Budapest did not allow the Soviet troops to take it on the first try. Success was achieved only for the third time, and on February 13, 1945, the Hungarian capital fell. During the same February, the defeat of the Budapest grouping of German troops ended.
In April, the Battle of Balaton took place, when the Nazi troops launched a fierce counterattack against the Red Army, but the Soviet formations and units managed to stop and defeat the enemy. Then, in April, Soviet troops liberated Vienna, the capital of Austria, and captured Koenigsberg in East Prussia.
East Prussia itself was a continuous deep echeloned defensive zone with the strongest defensive structures made of reinforced concrete structures. The advance organization of defensive schemes for each city provided for the presence of approaches covered to the settlement. Numerous forts, trenches, pillboxes, bunkers, and mine-wire barriers served as protection against the advancing troops. Buildings inside cities also turned into defense nodeswith multilayer fire system.
And yet, the offensive of the armies that are part of the two Belarusian fronts (2nd and 3rd) unfolded in mid-January of the new, 1945. For three months, Soviet troops were grinding this grouping of the Wehrmacht and SS units. At the same time, the soldiers of the Red Army, from private to general, suffered heavy losses. One of them on April 18 was the death from a fragment of an enemy shell of General of the Army I. D. Chernyakhovsky, commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front.
But be that as it may, will, courage and heroism, backed up by competent massive artillery fire (5 thousand artillery pieces were used in the battles for East Prussia, including howitzers of 203-mm and 305-mm caliber from parts of the RGC) and the support of aviation, led to the surrender of the capital of this region of Germany, the fortress city of Koenigsberg. The assault on this most important strategic defense center of Nazi Germany was carried out from April 7 to April 9, 1945. Tens of thousands of German soldiers died, about 100 thousand were captured.
Warsaw Uprising
Let's turn to the exciting and tragic pages in the epic of the liberation of Europe, which are still causing controversy among various political and public figures, historians and propagandists of various stripes and calibers. So, we will talk about the armed uprising of 1944 in the Polish capital under the leadership of the London government in exile.
During the years of Nazi occupation, Poland lost 6 million of its citizens out of a total population of 35 million. The occupation regime was harsh, this led tothe emergence and activation of the Polish resistance forces. But they were different. Thus, the mass Craiova Army operating in the country was subordinate to the London Polish government in exile. After the Soviet troops entered the territory of Poland, a pro-communist government was created - the Committee of National Liberation. Under his leadership, the armed formations of the People's Army fought. The approach of the Red Army with units of the People's Army to Warsaw was bound to bring this committee to power throughout the entire Polish territory. To prevent this, the government in exile in London and the units of the Home Army decided to liberate Warsaw on their own and, without careful and lengthy preparation, raised an armed uprising there. It happened on August 1st. It was attended by many residents of the capital of Poland. But the Soviet leadership condemned this action extremely negatively, calling it an adventure. According to some analysts, the USSR refused to support the rebels with weapons and ammunition, according to others, the Red Army was not able to provide the required support. However, there are two facts - on September 13, the Soviet units reached the banks of the Vistula near Warsaw, and the death of the rebels in the last phase of the uprising actually took place before their eyes. Another fact is that in the last days of the uprising, assistance to the Varsovians from the side of the Soviet troops, on the personal order of Stalin, was nevertheless provided, although at that moment it no longer decided anything.
Having lost 18,000 soldiers and 200,000 civilians of Warsaw killed, the leaders of the uprising capitulated on October 2, 1944. Germanictroops as punishment began to destroy the city, many of its inhabitants were forced to flee.
Complete liberation of Poland
By the beginning of 1945, the USSR had an overwhelming strategic superiority over the enemy, doubling it in the number of soldiers, three times in the number of tanks and self-propelled guns, four times in the number of artillery pieces (guns and mortars), eight times in the number aircraft. Separately, it is worth noting that armies, formations and units of the allies, with a total number of half a million people, operated on the Eastern Front. With absolute air supremacy, Soviet troops were able to choose the direction and time of the main strikes themselves, deploying simultaneous offensive operations on different fronts and their sectors. It was possible to allow fighting, striking the enemy where and when it was convenient and profitable.
The general offensive was scheduled for January 20th. The entire active army and two fleets were involved in the fighting.
But, as already mentioned in this article, on the Western Front, in December 1944, the Nazi troops in the Ardennes suddenly attacked the Anglo-American units and pushed them back 100 km. The Americans lost about 40 thousand people. Churchill personally turned to Stalin with a request for help, this request received a positive response. The offensive of the Soviet fronts, despite incomplete preparations, began on January 12, 1945 and was the most powerful and large-scale in the entire war. It lasted 23 days. By February 3, units of the advancing Red Army reached the banks of the Oder - behind itlay German soil, from where the Second World War fell upon the world. On January 17, Soviet units entered Warsaw.
The Vistula-Oder operation, carried out by the Soviet command, completed the process of liberating Poland and saved the troops of the Western allies from defeat in the Ardennes, created the conditions for the assault on Berlin and the end of the war in Europe.
Liberation of Czechoslovakia
Decisive battles for this country, which occupies key positions in Europe, have been unfolding since mid-April 1945. Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, was liberated earlier, on 4 April. And on the 30th, the large industrial center of Moravska Ostrava was taken by Soviet troops.
On May 5, the inhabitants of Prague rose up in an armed uprising against the invaders. The Nazis tried to drown this uprising in blood, they were not stopped even by the act of surrender signed by the German command on 1945-08-05.
The rebellious citizens of Prague turned over the radio to the allies asking for help. The Soviet command responded to this call by sending two tank armies of the 3rd Ukrainian Front on the march to Prague. Having completed a three-hundred-kilometer march, these armies three days later, on May 9, entered Prague. Other troops of the 1st, 2nd and 4th Ukrainian fronts also joined this offensive, as a result of which Czechoslovakia was completely liberated from fascist occupation. The liberation of the peoples of Europe from fascism has been completed.
Second Front
July 6, after colossal preparations in the West, the invasion of the Allied Expeditionary Force began - a grandioselanding operation "Overlord". Anglo-American troops with units of Free France, Polish, Czechoslovak units with a total number of 2 million 876 thousand people, with massive support from fleets and aircraft, landed in the North of France, in Normandy. Thus, the long-awaited Second Front was finally opened. In the rear of the Germans, partisan detachments and underground resistance forces of the occupied European countries operated. A throw into the very heart of Germany was planned. Roosevelt believed that the Americans should take Berlin.
During the offensive of the allied forces there were armed uprisings in France, Belgium and Denmark. The French and Belgians liberated their capitals, with the help of the expeditionary forces of the Allies, they achieved the liberation of their countries. The Danes were less fortunate - they did not receive help, and their uprising was crushed by the invaders.
Political and strategic decisions of the allies
As a result of the irresistible blows and the impressive scope and depth of the offensive of the Soviet troops in 1944 and early 1945, the imminent end of the war and the inevitability of the final defeat of the German army became obvious. The time has come for the Allies to agree on all aspects of the latest offensive against Germany and to discuss the problems of the post-war world order. The growing prestige of the USSR and the recognition by all allies of its decisive contribution to the defeat of the aggressor made it possible to accept the proposal of the Soviet Union to hold a conference of the heads of governments of the three main countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition in Y alta.
In the period from February 4 to February 11, I. V. Stalin, F. D. Roosevelt and W. Churchill met at the Y alta Conference, which became the highest point of cooperation between the powers opposed to Hitler. The leaders of the West were aware of the ability of the USSR alone to complete victorious operations to liberate Europe. Perhaps this circumstance made it possible to reach agreements on all issues.
In military terms, the issues of interaction and the boundaries of the zones of occupation were resolved. The central political issue - the future of Germany - has been resolved in the sense that this country will remain indivisible, democratic, demilitarized, incapable of posing a threat to the rest of humanity in the future.
The powers also reached a consensus on the Polish issue. The path of free independent development was opened to Poland within historically just boundaries.
It was decided to establish the UN in order to achieve mutual understanding, consent and prevent aggression between countries in the post-war world.
And, finally, for the speedy end of the war and the suppression of the hotbed of military aggression in the Far East, the terms for the entry of the USSR into the Allied war against Japan were agreed upon.
The Battle of Berlin and the end of the war
April 16 marked the beginning of the Berlin operation. As a result of two weeks of bloody battles on the outskirts of Berlin (Zeelow Heights) and in the city itself, where every street and every capital building turned into a fortress, the Red Army managed to take the den of fascism - the Reichstag and hoist a red banner over it.
And finally, on the night of 8 toOn May 9, in Karlhorst, a suburb of the capital of Germany, all parties signed an act of unconditional surrender of all German troops.
But the liberation of Europe from fascism did not end there. On May 9, having already taken Berlin, fighters from the units and formations of the 1st Ukrainian Front, helping the insurgent Prague, advanced on a swift march to the Czechoslovak capital and defeated the fascist group. It is noteworthy that in a fruitless attempt to save their unenviable fate, the units of the so-called. the armies of the traitor Vlasov, or ROA, went over to the side of the Prague people.
And one more note. United in the years of common danger, the peoples and states in the post-war period gradually began to move away from each other. Numerous attempts to revise the results of the war do not stop until now. Even the Victory Day is celebrated on different days. Most countries consider May 8 a holiday, and in the USSR, now in Russia, remembering the fierce bloody Prague battles of 1945, they celebrate Victory Day on May 9. Unfortunately, there is a biased approach to presenting to new generations the story of how the countries of Europe were liberated from fascism.
Conclusion
The liberation of Europe from fascism became possible thanks to the heroic super efforts of the Soviet Union and its allies, the struggle of the resistance forces in the territories occupied by the Nazis. The Second World War was not over yet, the defeat of Japan was ahead, but the main victory had already been won. The most powerful German war machine was broken and defeated.
Butthe unification of nations in the fight against fascism could not be maintained in the postwar period. As in the future and the whole world, Europe was divided into two camps, western and eastern, capitalist and socialist. How long Germany itself was divided. A world system of socialism was created, now greatly modified, but continuing to exist.
The liberation of Europe, the Second World War were very bloody. The human losses of Europe in the last world war are estimated at 40 million people, of which 2 million are citizens of Western Europe and 7 million are citizens of Germany. The remaining 30 million people are the losses of the peoples of Eastern Europe and the USSR.
And yet the main result is the liberation of peoples from the fascist shackles. At present, humanity is faced with the urgent task of preventing the brown plague from returning and remembering the experience of uniting heterogeneous, sometimes antagonistic political and state forces in the face of the threat of terrorism and the destruction of culture and civilization. The liberation of Europe, 1945 will be the objects of scientific, military, political, historical and moral analysis for a long time to come. The relevance of the experience of the epic experienced today is greater than ever!
