A significant component of World War II, the Great Patriotic War, played a prominent and decisive role in unleashing one of the bloodiest international conflicts of the 20th century.
Periodization of the Second World War
The five-year confrontation that took place on the territory of the republics that were part of the Soviet Union is divided by historians into three periods.
- Period I (1941-22-06-1942-18-11) includes the transition of the USSR to a military footing, the failure of Hitler's initial plan for a "blitzkrieg", as well as the creation of conditions for turning the tide of hostilities in favor of the Coalition countries.
- Period II (1942-19-11 - the end of 1943) is associated with a radical turning point in the military conflict.
- Period III (January 1944 - May 9, 1945) - the crushing defeat of the Nazi troops, their expulsion from the Soviet territories, the liberation of the countries of South-Eastern and Eastern Europe by the Red Army.
How it all began
The biggest battles of the Great Patriotic War have been briefly and in detail described more than once. They will be discussed in this article.
Unexpected andGermany's swift attack on Poland, and then on other European countries, led to the fact that by 1941 the Nazis, together with the Allies, had captured vast territories. Poland was defeated, and Norway, Denmark, Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium were occupied. France was able to resist only 40 days, after which it was also captured. The Nazis inflicted a major defeat on the expeditionary army of Great Britain, after which they entered the territory of the Balkans. The Red Army became the main obstacle in the way of Germany, and the biggest battles of the Great Patriotic War proved that the power and indestructibility of the spirit of the Soviet people, who defended the freedom of their Motherland, is one of the decisive factors in the successful fight against the enemy.
Plan Barbarossa
In the plans of the German command, the USSR was just a pawn, which was easily and quickly removed from the path, thanks to the so-called blitzkrieg, the principles of which were set out in the "Barbarossa plan".
Its development was carried out under the leadership of General Friedrich Paulus. According to this plan, the Soviet troops were to be defeated in a short time by Germany and its allies, and the European part of the territory of the Soviet Union was to be captured. Further, the complete defeat and destruction of the USSR was assumed.
The largest battles of the Great Patriotic War, presented in historical order, clearly show which side had the advantage at the beginning of the confrontation and how it all ended in the end.
The ambitious plan of the Germans assumed that withinfive months they will be able to capture the key cities of the USSR and reach the Arkhangelsk-Volga-Astrakhan line. The war against the USSR was to end by the autumn of 1941. Adolf Hitler counted on this. On his orders, the impressive forces of Germany and the allied countries concentrated in the eastern direction. What major battles of the Great Patriotic War did they have to endure in order to finally be convinced of the impossibility of establishing world domination of Germany?
It was assumed that the blow would be delivered in three directions in order to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible, standing on the way to world domination:
- Central (Minsk-Moscow line);
- Southern (Ukraine and the Black Sea coast);
- North-Western (the B altic countries and Leningrad).
The biggest battles of the Great Patriotic War: the struggle for the capital
The operation to capture Moscow was codenamed "Typhoon". Its beginning was in September 1941.
The implementation of the plan to capture the capital of the USSR was entrusted to Army Group Center, headed by Field Marshal Fedor von Bock. The enemy outnumbered the Red Army not only in the number of soldiers (1, 2 times), but also in armament (more than 2 times). And yet, the major battles of the Great Patriotic War soon proved that more does not mean stronger.
Fight against the Germans in this direction were the troops of the Southwestern, Northwestern, Western and Reserve fronts. In addition, they took an active part in hostilities.partisans and militias.
Beginning of confrontation
In October, the main line of Soviet defense was broken through in the central direction: the Nazis captured Vyazma and Bryansk. The second line, passing near Mozhaisk, managed to briefly delay the offensive. In October 1941, Georgy Zhukov became head of the Western Front and declared a state of siege in Moscow.
By the end of October, the fighting took place literally 100 kilometers from the capital.
However, numerous military operations and major battles of the Great Patriotic War carried out during the defense of the city prevented the Germans from capturing Moscow.
Fracture in battle
Already in November 1941, the last attempts of the Nazis to conquer Moscow were prevented. The advantage turned out to be with the Soviet Army, thus providing it with the opportunity to go on the counteroffensive.
The German command blamed the reasons for the failure on the autumn bad weather and mudslides. The largest battles of the Great Patriotic War shook the Germans' confidence in their own invincibility. Enraged by the failure, the Fuhrer gave the order to capture the capital before the winter cold, and on November 15, the Nazis again tried to go on the offensive. Despite huge losses, the German troops managed to break through to the city.
However, their further advance was prevented, and the last attempts of the Nazis to break through to Moscow ended in failure.
The end of 1941 was marked by the offensive of the Red Army against the enemy troops. At the beginningJanuary 1942, it covered the entire front line. The troops of the invaders were driven back 200-250 kilometers. As a result of a successful operation, Soviet soldiers liberated the Ryazan, Tula, Moscow regions, as well as some areas of the Oryol, Smolensk, Kalinin regions. During the confrontation, Germany lost a large amount of equipment, including about 2,500 firearms and 1,300 tanks.
The largest battles of the Great Patriotic War, in particular the battle for Moscow, proved that victory over the enemy is possible, despite its military-technical superiority.
Interesting facts about the battle for Moscow
One of the most important battles of the war of the Soviets against the countries of the Triple Alliance - the battle for Moscow, was a brilliant embodiment of the plan to disrupt the blitzkrieg. Whatever methods the Soviet soldiers resorted to to prevent the capture of the capital by the enemy.
Thus, during the confrontation, the soldiers of the Red Army launched huge, 35-meter balloons into the sky. The purpose of such actions was to reduce the aiming accuracy of German bombers. These giants rose to a height of 3-4 kilometers and, being there, significantly hampered the work of enemy aircraft.
More than seven million people took part in the battle for the capital. Therefore, it is considered one of the largest.
Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky, who led the 16th Army, played a significant role in the battle for Moscow. In the autumn of 1941, his troops blocked the Volokolamskoye and Leningradskoye highways, preventingthe enemy to break through to the city. The defense in this area lasted two weeks: the locks of the Istra reservoir were blown up, and the approaches to the capital were mined.
Another interesting fact in the history of the legendary battle: in mid-October 1941, the Moscow metro was closed. It was the only day in the history of the metropolitan metro when it did not work. The panic caused by this event led to the so-called exodus of residents - the city was empty, marauders began to operate. The situation was saved by an order to take decisive measures against fugitives and marauders, according to which even the execution of violators was allowed. This fact stopped the exodus of people from Moscow and stopped the panic.
Battle of Stalingrad
The biggest battles of the Great Patriotic War took place on the outskirts of the country's key cities. One of the most important confrontations was the battle for Stalingrad, which covered the segment from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943.
The goal of the Germans in this direction was to break through to the south of the USSR, where numerous enterprises of the metallurgical and defense industries were located, as well as the main food reserves.
Establishment of the Stalingrad Front
During the offensive of the Nazis and their allies, the Soviet troops suffered significant damage in the battles for Kharkov; the Southwestern Front was defeated; divisions and regiments of the Red Army were scattered, and the lack of fortified positions and open steppes gave the Germans the opportunity to pass almost unhindered to the Caucasus.
Such a seemingly hopeless situation in the USSR gave Hitler confidence in his imminent success. On his orders, the army "South" was divided into 2 parts - the goal of part "A" was to capture the North Caucasus, and part "B" - Stalingrad, where the Volga flowed - the main water artery of the country.
In a short period Rostov-on-Don was taken, and the Germans moved to Stalingrad. Due to the fact that 2 armies were going in this direction at once, a huge traffic jam formed. As a result, one of the armies was ordered to return to the Caucasus. This hitch delayed the advance for a whole week.
In July 1942, a united Stalingrad Front was formed, the purpose of which was to protect the city from the enemy and organize defense. The whole difficulty of the task was that the newly formed units did not yet have interaction experience, there was not enough ammunition, and there were no any defensive structures.
Soviet troops outnumbered the Germans in terms of the number of people, but were almost twice inferior to them in equipment and weapons, which were sorely lacking.
The desperate struggle of the Red Army delayed the enemy's entry into Stalingrad, but in September the fighting moved from the outlying territories to the city. At the end of August, the Germans destroyed Stalingrad, first by bombing and then dropping high-explosive and incendiary bombs on it.
Operation Ring
The inhabitants of the city fought for every meter of land. The result of many months of confrontation was a turning point in the battle: in January 1943, Operation Ring was launched, which lasted 23 days.
It resulted in the defeat of the enemy, the destruction of his armies and the surrender on February 2 of the surviving troops. This success was a real breakthrough in the course of hostilities, shook Germany's position and questioned its influence on other states. He gave the Soviet people hope for a future victory.
Battle of Kursk
The defeat of the troops of Germany and its allies near Stalingrad was the impetus for Hitler, in order to avoid centrifugal tendencies within the Union of Tripartite Pact countries, to decide to carry out a major offensive against the Red Army, code-named "Citadel". The battle began on July 5 of the same year. The Germans launched new tanks, which did not frighten the Soviet troops, who put up effective resistance to them. By July 7, both armies had lost a huge number of people and equipment, and the tank battle near Ponyry led to the loss of a large number of vehicles and people by the Germans. This turned out to be a significant factor in weakening the Nazis in the northern segment of the Kursk salient.
Record tank battle
July 8 near Prokhorovka began the largest tank battle of the Great Patriotic War. About 1200 combat vehicles took part in it. The standoff lasted for several days. The climax came on July 12, when two tank battles took place simultaneously near Prokhorovka, ending in a draw. Despite the fact that neither side seized the decisive initiative, the offensive of the German troops was stopped, and on July 17 the defensive phase of the battle turned into an offensive part. Herthe result was that the Nazis were thrown back to the south of the Kursk Bulge, to their original positions. Belgorod and Orel were liberated in August.
What major battle ended the Great Patriotic War? This battle was the confrontation on the Kursk Bulge, the decisive chord of which was the liberation of Kharkov on 1944-23-08. It was this event that ended a series of major battles on the territory of the USSR and marked the beginning of the liberation of Europe by Soviet soldiers.
Major battles of the Great Patriotic War: table
For a better understanding of the course of the war, especially with regard to its most significant battles, there is a table reflecting the periodicity of what is happening.
| Battle for Moscow | 30.09.1941-20.04.1942 |
| Siege of Leningrad | 1941-08-09-1944-27-01 |
| Battle of Rzhev | 08.01.1942-31.03.1943 |
| Battle of Stalingrad | 17.07.1942-02.02.1943 |
| Battle for the Caucasus | 25.07.1942-09.10.1943 |
| Battle of Kursk | 1943-05-07-1943-23-08 |
The major battles of the Great Patriotic War, whose names are known today to people of any age, have become indisputable evidence of the fortitude and will of the Soviet people, who did not allow the establishment of fascist power not only onterritory of the USSR, but throughout the world.
