In the hot July 1941, the front of the Soviet army, located in the west, was completely defeated by the Nazis. The total number of enemy troops was significantly inferior to ours in number. In those days, namely 74 years ago, this front practically ceased to exist.
Secret ruling and death row
In those difficult days when these events took place, all the soldiers were read the text of an extremely secret decree under No. 169. Its publication dates back to July 16, 1941. For a long time, the contents of this document were top secret. And only during the reign of Gorbachev, when the supreme power of the country made a statement that there were no forbidden topics in the history of the Second World War, the contents of this document were published.
The essence of the ruling
This decree stated that all alarmists, cowards and deserters were considered worse than enemies. Because they not only undermine the common cause,but also significantly offend the honor of the army. Therefore, the military duty of the entire command is considered to be a ruthless reprisal against them, allowing you to restore discipline in the military ranks. And all this was done in order to keep the name of the Red Army soldier in the appropriate light.
After this text, the document listed 9 names of generals and commissars of the Western Front. They had to appear before a military court for allegedly dishonoring the rank they wore. They were also credited with cowardice, the voluntary transfer of weapons to the enemies and the fact that they arbitrarily left their positions. The first in this terrible death list was General Pavlov, commander of the Western Front.
The beginning of a military career
Dmitry Grigoryevich Pavlov was originally from the Kostroma province. There, in 1897, the future colonel-general was born into the family of a poor peasant.
He received his first education first at a rural school, and then at a classroom school. After that, in 1914, he voluntarily joined the army of the Russian Empire. This was the beginning of the First World War. During his service, he rose in rank. Pavlov came to the front as a simple private, and after a while he became a senior non-commissioned officer. In 1916, he was captured by the Germans and stayed there as a forced laborer until 1919, and after the surrender of Germany he returned to his homeland.
Shortly after his return, he becomes a Bolshevik. His career as a red commander begins in the 56th food battalion of the Red Army and rapidlydevelops. He fought with the formations of Makhno, and also participated in the hostilities of the Southern Front. Pavlov occupies all the highest positions, but the war is nearing its end, the reduction of the army begins. Opportunities for further career advancement are also lost.
Pavlov's military education
For a period that lasts almost 15 years, Dmitry Grigorievich remains in the position of regiment commander. All this time, he was actively engaged in his military education, since the family of General Pavlov was very poor and did not have the opportunity to give him this education before. First, the Omsk United Higher Military School of Siberia, where he is improving the skills of a cavalry officer, then the Frunze Military Academy. In between studies, Pavlov fought with bands of Basmachi in Central Asia. There he was assistant commander of the regiment. After graduation, Dmitry Grigorievich takes part in the hostilities taking place in Manchuria.
He acquires his first skills in controlling armored vehicles in 1931 at the courses. They were conducted by the Leningrad Military Transport Academy. It was this type of military equipment that became very popular at that time, and Pavlov connected his future career with it. After that, the future general again takes the post of commander of the 6th mechanized regiment, which was stationed in Gomel.
Only at the beginning of 1934, he finally became the head of the brigade, the location of which was the city of Bobruisk. Afterit took a little more than two years, and Pavlov ended up in the Spanish Civil War. There he acquired his pseudonym - General Pablo.
Participation of General Pablo in hostilities in Spain
In the Spanish war, Pavlov Dmitry Grigorievich, who had the pseudonym General Pablo, participated only for eight months. There he was not only the commander of his mechanized brigade, but also coordinated the actions of combat groups in 9-11 brigades. After that, his active career growth begins. During the fighting on Spanish territory, Pavlov received the title of Hero of the USSR. After that, he was awarded the title of commander. He became the head of ABTU. The contribution that Pavlov Dmitry Grigorievich made to the material development of the armored forces under his command was recognized by almost all historians.
Pavlov and the Great Patriotic War
Even before the Great Patriotic War, Pavlov was appointed commander in the Western Special Military District. This event took place in the summer of 1940. And already in 1941, Pavlov, Hero of the Soviet Union, became an army general.
Just in 1941, the main offensive of the troops of the Third Reich fell on the military district subordinate to him. If we take into account the balance of experience of forces at that time, we can conclude that the Red Army had no chance of winning this resistance. Despite this fact, the top leadership of the Soviet Union decided to significantly aggravate the situation due to the actions taken by General Pavlov, commander of the Western Front.
Pavlov's arrest and sentencing
General Pavlov was arrested on July 4, 1941. At first, they wanted to incriminate him with treason as an accusation. But a little later it was determined that General Pavlov's fault was that he had shown cowardice, inaction and indiscretion. These "sins" were also attributed to all those who were on the death list along with Dmitry Grigorievich. The execution of General Pavlov was scheduled for July 28, 1941.
There are a number of reasons for this harsh punishment. First of all, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the disaster in the Western District was of considerable size. Colonel-General Pavlov was a protege of Uborevich and Meretskov. Therefore, his actions were especially suspicious. In addition, one of the reasons why General Pavlov was shot was his successful political career.
Find the beautiful before meeting the terrible
Most modern historians and publicists are inclined to believe that it was Pavlov, the general of the army, who did everything to ensure that the Nazis instantly captured bridges and crossings and destroyed a significant part of Russian aviation.
It should be noted that his guilt is indeed significant. Even when he already knew about the attack of Hitler's troops on the Soviet Union, he did not consider it necessary to cancel the performance of the Moscow Art Theater, which was supposed to take place in Minsk on June 22 on the stage that belonged to the garrison house of the Red Army. Not only that, just a few hours beforefatal event, General Pavlov was at the same death in Moscow.
And even when the people who were going to the theatrical performance heard announcements on the radio about an air attack that sounded vied from all sides, they did not understand anything and believed that the military had not chosen a very good time for training. And only after the end of the first act of death, people were announced from the stage about the beginning of hostilities and that all employees in the hall should immediately appear at the military registration and enlistment office. As for everyone else, they can watch the death and then go home.
This shows that even high military officials had no idea what the scale of this disaster would be.
Events in the troops of the Western District
At the disposal of the troops of the Western Front was a fairly large number of tanks, manpower and aircraft, which significantly exceeded the strength of the enemy. But the Soviet generals were not familiar with military history and did not take into account the fact that representatives of the Prussian military school use a predictable raid even when the enemy outnumbers them. The German troops possessed the highest technical and tactical combat training, and the Soviet army was completely unprepared for war. She did not have a clear understanding of how to conduct a strategic defense, which in this situation was inevitable.
Significant mistakes of Pavlov and his subordinates
But General Pavlov and his subordinates also made a large number of mistakes. Almost all of the artillery was sent to practice firing, which took place in the deep rear. There were several hundred kilometers from the place of the exercises to the future front line. The construction of alternate airfields was carried out very slowly, on which combat aircraft were to be located in the event that the Germans attacked the country. Because of this, the Nazis very quickly destroyed all Soviet aircraft on the ground.
The tank-dangerous directions were not closed with the help of minefields, although there were talks about this among the military authorities. The bridges were also not prepared to meet the Nazis. Unmined, they made it easier for German tankers to cross water barriers, since they could simply move along bridges. Communication lines were not guarded either. They were destroyed in one night by German saboteurs, part of the Brandenburg-800 unit.
Who is to blame for the defeat?
Pavlov realized the failure of the Soviet army on the first day and quickly reported this to his superiors. But the command was firmly convinced that no one would outwit Stalin, and even Hitler could not do it. It should be noted that representatives of the Soviet military elite (not all of them, of course) were not ready to make independent decisions and organize defense. There was a great lack of courage and readiness to surrender. Pavlov assumed that the war could not start so quickly, and there was still time to prepare for it.
In historyWorld War II, another General Pavlov is mentioned. The 25th Panzer Corps, which de alt a terrible blow to Hitler's hideout, was under the command of Major General Pyotr Petrovich Pavlov. This is a man on whose account a very large number of brave and wise military deeds. Both commanders have nothing to do with each other, except for their surname and rank.
In 1957, the case of General Pavlov was again considered, and he was rehabilitated posthumously. He was also restored to his rank. Stalin was found guilty of all this. But this did not happen because the innocence of General Pavlov was established, but because it was simply necessary to accuse Stalin of something and prove his guilt in the unpreparedness of the Soviet army for military operations. Although, most likely, the time has not yet come to objectively evaluate the activities of the general.
