The Great Patriotic War is considered the most bloody for the Soviet people. She claimed, according to some reports, about 40 million lives. The conflict began due to the sudden invasion of the Wehrmacht armies on the USSR on June 22, 1941.
Prerequisites for the creation of the Karelian Front
Adolf Hitler, without warning, gave the command to launch a massive strike across the entire front line. The USSR, unprepared for defense, suffered one defeat after another in the first years of the war. 1941 was the most difficult year for the Red Army, and the Wehrmacht was able to reach Moscow itself.
The main battles were fought on the Stalingrad, Moscow, Leningrad and other directions. However, the Nazis also tried to conquer more northern regions. To prevent this from happening, the Northern Front was created, to which the Karelian Front was subordinate.
History of Creation
During the Great Patriotic War, the Karelian Front was called upon to prevent the enemy from penetrating the Arctic. The combat formation was created on August 23, 1941. It was based on separate combat units of the Northern Front. The backbone was the forces of the 7th and 14th armies. At the time of the creation of the connection, both armiesfought for a rather long front line: from the Barents Sea to Lake Ladoga. It will be called "The Road of Life" in the future. The front headquarters was located in Belomorsk, which was located in the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Republic.
The Northern Fleet provided support to the Karelian Front during the Second World War. The main task that the fighters had to cope with was to ensure the northern flank of the strategic defense in the North of the USSR.
7th Army withdrew from the Karelian Front in 1941. In September 1942, three more armies joined it, and at the end of the same year, units of the 7th Air Army also joined it. The 7th Army returned to the front only in 1944.
Commanders-in-chief of the front
The first Commander-in-Chief of the Karelian Front of the Second World War was Major General of the Red Army V. A. Frolov, who commanded the Soviet forces in this direction until February 1944. From February to November 1944 Marshal of the USSR K. A. Meretskov led the front.
Fighting
Already in August 1941, a month and a half after the outbreak of hostilities, the enemy reached the Karelian front. With heavy losses, the soldiers of the Red Army were able to stop the advance of the Wehrmacht forces and went on the defensive. The enemy wanted to take over the Arctic, and the fighters of the Karelian Front were tasked with protecting this region from Army Group North.
The operation to defend the Arctic lasted from 1941 to 1944 - until the complete victory over the Wehrmacht units in the USSR. In 1941, the military also participated in the defense of the Arcticthe British Air Force, which provided important support to the ground forces and the fleet of the Red Army. Help from the UK was appropriate, because the Nazis prevailed in the air.
The troops of the Karelian Front held the line along the following line: the Zapadnaya Litsa River - Ukhta - Povenets - Lake Onega - the Svir River. On July 4, the enemy was able to reach the Western Litsa River, for which fierce battles began. Bloody defensive actions led to the containment of the enemy offensive by the forces of the 52nd Infantry Division of the Karelian Front. She received substantial support from the Marine Corps.
Forces of the Karelian Front participated in the Murmansk defensive operation. They managed to stop the offensive in this direction. After that, the German command decided that they would no longer attempt to take the city of Murmansk in 1941.
Already in the spring of next year, the Nazis again wanted to take the previously unreached milestone - Murmansk. Parts of the Red Army, in turn, planned to conduct an offensive operation in order to push the Wehrmacht troops beyond the border lines of the USSR. The Murmansk offensive operation was carried out earlier than the Germans planned to launch their attack. She did not bring much success, but did not give the Nazis the opportunity to launch their own offensive. From the moment of the Murmansk operation, the front in this sector stabilized until 1944.
Medvezhyegorsk operation
On January 3, the forces of the Karelian Front launched another operation - Medvezhyegorsk, which lasted until January 10the same 1942. The Soviet army in this area was significantly inferior to the enemy both in numbers and equipment, and in personnel training of the army. The enemy had much more experience in fighting in a wooded area.
On the morning of January 3, the Red Army launched an attack with a small artillery preparation. Parts of the Finnish army quickly reacted to the offensive and launched a sharp and unexpected counterattack for the Soviet soldiers. The command of the Karelian Front failed to carefully prepare an offensive plan. The troops acted in a pattern, striking in the same directions, because of which the enemy was able to successfully counterattack them. The successful defense of the Finnish army led to huge losses on the part of the Red Army.
Fierce fighting, which did not have much success, continued until January 10th. The Soviet army still managed to advance 5 km and somewhat improve their positions. By January 10, the enemy received reinforcements, and the attacks stopped. The Finnish troops decided to return to their previous positions, but the forces of the Karelian Front were able to repel their offensive. During the operation, the Soviet troops still managed to liberate the village of Velikaya Guba.
Svirsko-Petrozavodsk operation
In the summer of 1944, hostilities intensified again after a lull since 1943. The Soviet troops, who had already practically ousted the Wehrmacht forces from the territory of the USSR, carried out the Svir-Petrozavodsk operation. It began on June 21, 1944 and continued until August 9 of the same year. The attack on June 21 began frommassive artillery preparation and a powerful air strike on the defensive positions of the enemy. After that, the overcoming of the Svir River began, and during the fighting, the Soviet army managed to seize a bridgehead on the other side. On the very first day, a massive attack brought success - the forces of the Karelian Front advanced 6 kilometers. The second day of hostilities was even more successful - the Red Army units managed to push the enemy back another 12 kilometers.
On June 23, the 7th Army launched an offensive. The massive attack developed successfully, and the Finnish armies began a hasty retreat the very next day from the start of the operation. The Finnish units were unable to hold the offensive on any of the fronts and were forced to withdraw to the Vidlitsa River, where they took up defensive positions.
In parallel, the offensive of the 32nd Army developed, which managed to capture the city of Medvezhyegorsk, which was not achieved in 1942. On June 28, the Red Army launched an offensive against a more strategically important city - Petrozavodsk. Together with the forces of the Red Army fleet, the city was liberated the very next day. Both sides suffered significant losses in this battle. However, the Finnish army did not have fresh forces, and they were forced to leave the city.
On July 2, the Karelian Front began to attack enemy positions on the Vidlitsa River. Already before July 6, the powerful defense of the Nazis was completely broken, and the Soviet Army managed to advance another 35 km. Fierce battles were fought until August 9, but they did not bring success - the enemy held a tight defense, and the Headquarters gave the order to go over to the defense of the already capturedpositions.
The result of the operation was the defeat of the enemy units that held the Karelian-Finnish SSR, and the liberation of the republic. These events led to the fact that Finland received another reason to withdraw from the war.
Petsamo-Kirkenes operation
From October 7 to November 1, 1944, the Red Army, with the support of the fleet, carried out the successful Petsamo-Kirkenes operation. On October 7, a powerful artillery preparation was carried out, after which the offensive began. During the successful offensive and breaking through the enemy defenses, the city of Pestamo was completely surrounded.
After Pestamo was successfully taken, the cities of Nikel and Tarnet were taken, and at the final stage - the Norwegian city of Kirkenes. During its capture, the Soviet units suffered significant losses. In the battle for the city, Norwegian patriots provided significant support to the Soviet troops.
Results of operations performed
As a result of the above operations, the border with Norway and Finland was restored again. The enemy was completely driven out, and battles were already being fought in enemy territory. On November 15, 1944, Finland announced its surrender and withdrew from World War II. After these events, the Karelian Front was disbanded. After that, its main forces became part of the 1st Far Eastern Front, which was entrusted with the task of conducting the Manchurian offensive operation in 1945 to defeat the Japanese army and the Chinese army of the same name.provinces.
Instead of afterword
It is interesting that only in the sector of the Karelian Front (1941 - 1945) did the fascist army fail to cross the border of the USSR - the Nazis failed to break the defense of Murmansk. Dog teams were also used in this sector of the front, and the fighters themselves fought in the harsh northern climate. During the Great Patriotic War, the Karelian Front was the largest in length, because its total length reached 1600 kilometers. He also didn't have one solid line.
The Karelian Front was the only one of all the fronts of the Great Patriotic War that did not send military equipment and weapons to the rear of the country for repairs. This repair was done in special parts at the enterprises of Karelia and the Murmansk region.
