Dates and events of the Great Patriotic War. When the Great Patriotic War began

Celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory. Unfortunately, preparations for the celebrations timed to coincide with this anniversary are taking place in a situation where in some states they are trying to belittle the role of the Soviet people in the destruction of fascism. Therefore, today is the time to study those events in order to reasonably fight against attempts to rewrite history and even present our country as an aggressor who carried out an “invasion of Germany”. In particular, it is worth knowing why the beginning of the Second World War became a time of catastrophic losses for the USSR. And how our country nevertheless managed not only to expel the invaders from its territory, but also to end the war by hoisting the banner of Victory over the Reichstag.

Name

First of all, let's deal with what is meant by the Second World War. The fact is that such a name is present only in Soviet sources, and for the whole world the events that took place between the end of June 1941 and May 1945 are only part of the hostilities of the Second World War, localized in the Eastern European region of the planet. The term Great Patriotic War itself first appeared on the pages of the Pravda newspaper the day after the start of the invasion of the Third Reich troops into the territory of the USSR. As for German historiography, the expressions "Eastern campaign" and "Russian campaign" are used instead.

background

Adolf Hitler declared his desire to conquer Russia and "the outlying states that are subordinate to it" back in 1925. Eight years later, after becoming Reich Chancellor, he began to pursue a policy aimed at preparing for war in order to expand "living space for the German people." At the same time, the “Führer of the German nation” constantly and very successfully played diplomatic multi-way combinations in order to lull the vigilance of the alleged opponents and further quarrel the USSR and the countries of the West.

Military operations in Europe preceding the Second World War

In 1936, Germany sent its troops into the Rhine zone, which was a kind of protective barrier for France, to which there was no serious reaction from the international community. A year and a half later, the German government, as a result of a plebiscite, annexed Austria to Germany, and then occupied the Sudetenland, inhabited by Germans, but belonging to Czechoslovakia. Feeling intoxicated by these almost bloodless victories, Hitler ordered the invasion of Poland, and then went through the "blitzkrieg" throughout Western Europe, almost never meeting serious resistance. The only country that continued to resist the troops of the Third Reich in the year the Second World War began was Great Britain. However, in this war, ground military units from none of the conflicting parties were involved, so the Wehrmacht was able to concentrate all its main forces near the borders with the USSR.

Accession to the USSR of Bessarabia, the Baltic countries and Northern Bukovina

Speaking briefly about the beginning of the Second World War, one cannot fail to mention the annexation of the Baltic states that preceded this event, in which government coups took place in 1940 with the support of Moscow. In addition, the USSR demanded that Romania return Bessarabia and transfer Northern Bukovina to it, and as a result of the war with Finland, a part of the Karelian Isthmus, controlled by the Soviet Union, was added. Thus, the borders of the country were moved to the west, but it included territories, part of the population of which did not accept the loss of independence of their states and was hostile to the new authorities.

Despite the prevailing opinion that the Soviet Union was not preparing for war, preparations, and very serious ones, were nevertheless carried out. In particular, from the beginning of 1940, significant funds were directed to the development of the sector of the economy, focused on the production of military equipment and servicing the needs of the Red Army. As a result, at the time of the German attack on the USSR, the Red Army was armed with more than 59, 7 thousand guns and mortars, 12,782 tanks and 10,743 aircraft.

At the same time, according to historians, the beginning of the Second World War could have been completely different if the repressions of the second half of the 30s had not deprived the country's Armed Forces of thousands of experienced military personnel, who simply had no one to replace. But be that as it may, back in 1939 it was decided to increase the terms of active service in the army and reduce the draft age, which made it possible to have more than 3.2 million soldiers and officers in the ranks of the Red Army at the start of the war.

WWII: reasons for the start

As already mentioned, among the priority tasks of the Nazis initially there was a desire to seize "lands in the East." Moreover, Hitler even directly pointed out that the main mistake of German foreign policy over the previous 6 centuries was to strive to the south and to the west, instead of striving to the east. In addition, in one of his speeches at a meeting with the high command of the Wehrmacht, Hitler stated that if Russia was defeated, then England would be forced to capitulate, and Germany would become "the ruler of Europe and the Balkans."

The Second World War, and more specifically, the Second World War, also had an ideological background, since Hitler and his closest associates fanatically hated the Communists and considered the representatives of the peoples inhabiting the USSR to be subhuman, who should become "fertilizer" in the field of prosperity of the German nation.

When did WWII start

To this day, the disputes of historians related to why Germany chose June 22, 1941 to attack the Soviet Union did not subside.

Although there are many who are trying to find a mystical justification for this, most likely the German command proceeded from the fact that the summer solstice is the shortest night of the year. This meant that around 4 o'clock in the morning, when most of the inhabitants of the European part of the USSR would sleep, it would be twilight in the yard, and in an hour it would be completely light. In addition, this date fell on a Sunday, which means that many officers could be absent from the units, having gone to visit their relatives on Saturday morning. The Germans were also aware of the habit of the “Russians” to allow themselves a fair amount of strong alcohol on weekends.

As you can see, the start date of the Second World War was not chosen by chance, and the pedantic Germans provided for almost everything. Moreover, they managed to keep their intentions secret, and the Soviet command found out about their plans only a few hours before the attack on the USSR from a defector. The relevant directive was immediately sent to the troops, but it was already too late.

Directive number 1

Half an hour before the onset of June 22, an order was received in 5 border districts of the USSR to bring them to combat readiness. However, the same directive prescribed not to succumb to provocations and contained not entirely clear wording. The result was that the local command began to send requests to Moscow with a request to specify the order instead of taking decisive action. So precious minutes were lost, and the warning about the impending attack did not play any role.

Events of the first days of the war

At 0400 in Berlin, the German Foreign Minister presented the Soviet ambassador with a note by which the imperial government declared war on the USSR. At the same time, after aviation and artillery preparation, the troops of the Third Reich crossed the border of the Soviet Union. On the same day, at noon, Molotov spoke on the radio, and it was from him that many citizens of the USSR heard about the beginning of the war. In the first days after the invasion of the German troops, the Second World War was perceived by the Soviet people as an adventure on the part of the Germans, since they were confident in the defense capability of their country and believed in a quick victory over the enemy. However, the leadership of the USSR understood the seriousness of the situation and did not share the optimism of the people. In this regard, already on June 23, the State Defense Committee and the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command were formed.

Since the Finnish airfields were actively used by the German Luftwaffe, on June 25, Soviet aircraft launched an air raid aimed at destroying them. Helsinki and Turku were also bombed. As a result, the beginning of the Second World War was also marked by the unfreezing of the conflict with Finland, which also declared war on the USSR and in a few days regained all the territories lost during the Winter Campaign of 1939-1940.

The reaction of England and the USA

The beginning of the Second World War was perceived by government circles in the United States and England as a gift of providence. The fact is that they hoped to prepare for the defense of the British Isles, while "Hitler will free his feet from the Russian swamp." However, already on June 24, President Roosevelt announced that his country would provide assistance to the USSR, as he believed that the main threat to the world came from the Nazis. Unfortunately, at that time these were just words that did not mean that the United States was ready to open a Second Front, since the start of the war (WWII) was beneficial for this country. As for Great Britain, on the eve of the invasion, Prime Minister Churchill announced that his goal was to destroy Hitler, and he was ready to help the USSR, because, “having finished with Russia,” the Germans would invade the British Isles.

Now you know what was the history of the beginning of the Second World War, which ended with the victory of the Soviet people.

Chronicle of the Great Patriotic War

June 22, 1941
Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union without declaring war

Despite the heroism and self-sacrifice of soldiers and officers, it was not possible to repel the treacherous attack. In the first weeks of the war, the Soviet army and navy suffered catastrophic losses: from June 22 to July 9, 1941, more than 500,000 servicemen died.

Units of the 6th and 42nd rifle divisions, the 17th border detachment and the 132nd separate battalion of the NKVD troops, totaling 3,500 people, were among the first to meet the enemy. Despite the enormous numerical superiority of the Germans, the defenders of the fortress resisted for a whole month.

The German Army Group "North" under the command of Field Marshal von Leeb captured the city of Shlisselburg (Petrokrepost), taking control of the source of the Neva and blockading Leningrad from land. Thus began the 900-day blockade of Leningrad, which claimed the lives of about a million people.

According to the plan of operation "Typhoon", approved by Hitler in September, Moscow was subject to complete destruction along with the entire population. But the plans of the Nazis were not destined to come true. The words of political instructor Vasily Klochkov flew around the whole country: “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat: behind is Moscow!”

The troops of the 11th German Army, which broke through to the Crimea in October 1941, tried to capture the city on the move. Despite a twofold superiority of the enemy in manpower and a tenfold superiority in tanks and aircraft, the defense of Sevastopol lasted 250 days. This episode of the war went down in history as an example of mass heroism and self-sacrifice of the city's defenders.

This military parade was of particular importance - it was necessary to tell the world that Moscow stands and will stand firm. Right from the parade on the main square of the country, the soldiers of the Red Army went to the front, which was only a few kilometers from the center of Moscow.

The victory of the Soviet army in the Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point in the war. The USSR snatched the strategic initiative from the enemy and did not let it go again. In honor of the feat of the heroes of Stalingrad, the memorial complex "The Motherland Calls!" was built on Mamaev Kurgan in the 1960s.

The Battle of Kursk, which lasted 49 days, marked a turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War. Having won, the Red Army pushed the enemy back 140-150 kilometers to the west and liberated Orel, Belgorod and Kharkov.

July 12, 1943
Battle of Prokhorovka - the largest tank battle of World War II

In the battle, 1.5 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns met on both sides. The Nazis lost over 350 tanks and over 10,000 men. On the same day, our troops launched an offensive and in less than a week defeated the Oryol grouping of the enemy.

January 27, 1944
The final liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade

The strategic operation to lift the blockade, called the "January Thunder", involved three fronts: Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic. Particularly successful were the actions of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, which pushed the enemy back 70–100 kilometers from the city.

April 9, 1945
Soviet troops occupied the fortress city of Koenigsberg (Kaliningrad)

The troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front, after stubborn street fighting, completed the defeat of the Koenigsberg group of German troops and stormed the fortress and the main city of East Prussia, Koenigsberg, a strategically important German defense center on the Baltic Sea.

The Berlin offensive operation of the 2nd Belorussian, 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts is one of the last strategic operations of the Soviet troops, during which the Red Army occupied the capital of Germany and victoriously ended the Great Patriotic War and World War II in Europe.

May 8, 1945
Signing of the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany

At 22:43 local time (May 9 at 0:43 Moscow time) in the building of the military engineering school in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, the final act of the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany and its armed forces was signed. The Great Patriotic War is over.

In the post-war years, historians tried minute by minute to restore the chronology of the start of hostilities in the Great Patriotic War. It is generally accepted that the war began on June 22 at exactly 4 am. But in fact, Georgy Zhukov, who at that time was the chief of the General Staff, already at 03:06 received the first signal about military clashes with the Germans. And at 4:00, the Soviet ambassador Dekanozov V.G., who was in Berlin, received from Ribbentrop, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, a package of official documents on the beginning of the war, which included a note and several appendices to it.

Start of hostilities

On June 22, in the early morning, having carefully prepared aviation and artillery forces, German troops crossed the borders of the Soviet Union. After 2 hours, V.M. Molotov had already hosted the German Ambassador W. Schulenberg. This visit took place at exactly 05:30, as evidenced by entries in the visitor's book. The German ambassador provided an official statement containing information about the sabotage actions of the USSR against Germany. The documents also spoke of the political manipulations of the Soviet Union directed against Germany. The essence of this statement was that Germany is taking military action to counter the threat and protect its territory.

Molotov officially declared the beginning of the war. And this fact raises many questions. First, the announcement was made much later. The speech on the radio was heard by the population of the country only at 12:15. More than 9 hours have passed since the start of hostilities, during which the Germans bombed our territory with might and main. From the German side, the appeal was recorded at 6:30 (Berlin time). It was also a mystery that Molotov, and not Stalin, reported the outbreak of hostilities. Modern historians put forward more than one version. Some argue that the head of the USSR was on vacation at that time. According to the version of foreign historians Brackman and Payne, during this period, Stalin was resting in Sochi. There is also an assumption that he was on the spot and simply refused, shifting all responsibility to Molotov. Such a statement is based on entries in the visitor's log - on this day, Stalin hosted a reception and even received the British ambassador.

There are also disagreements regarding the authorship of the text, which was compiled for an official speech. According to G. N. Peskova, who worked on restoring the chronology of events, the text of the message was handwritten by Molotov. But from the style of presentation and the corrections made later in this text, they came to the conclusion that the content of the text was edited by Stalin. Subsequently, Molotov spoke on the radio mentioning that he was acting on behalf of Joseph Vissarionovich. Later, when comparing the content of the written text and the spoken speech, historians found some differences, which mainly related to the extent of the territories that were attacked. There were other discrepancies, but they were not of great strategic importance. In any case, the fact that the war began earlier than the time indicated in official sources has been documented by researchers.

The Great Patriotic War, the stages of which we will consider in this article, is one of the most difficult historical trials that befell the Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians and other peoples who lived on the territory of the USSR. These 1418 days and nights will forever 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 done based on the nature of the events that took place at the front. In different periods of the war, the initiative belonged to different armies.
Most historians detail the stages of the Great Patriotic War as follows:

• from June 22 to November 18, 1941 (stage 1 of the Great Patriotic War);
• from November 19, 1941 to the end of 1943 (stage 2 of the Great Patriotic War);
• from January 1944 to May 1945 (3rd stage of the Great Patriotic War).

Great Patriotic War: periods

Each of the periods of the Great Patriotic War has its own characteristics, which relate to the areas of hostilities, the use of new types of weapons and the advantages of one of the armies. I would like to first talk about the stages of the Great Patriotic War briefly.

• The initial stage of hostilities was characterized by the full initiative of the Nazi troops. During this time, Hitler's army completely occupied Belarus, Ukraine and almost reached Moscow. The Soviet army, of course, fought to the best of its ability, but constantly retreated. The great success of the Red Army during this period was the victory near Moscow. But in general, the offensive of the German troops continued. They were able to occupy many territories of the Caucasus, they reached almost the modern borders of Chechnya, but the Nazis failed to take Grozny. Important battles in the middle of 1942 took place on the Crimean front. Finished stage 1
• The second stage of the Great Patriotic War brought the advantage of the Red Army. After the victory at Stalingrad over the army of Paulus, the Soviet troops received good conditions for the liberation offensive. Leningrad, the battle of Kursk and the general offensive on all fronts at that time made it clear that the Nazi 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 already mainly on 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.

Reasons for the existing periodization of the Second World War

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

• surprise attack of the enemy;
• attacks by a massive front of troops on significantly stretched territories;
• the lack of extensive experience in combat operations in the Soviet army;
• superiority of the German army in technical equipment.

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

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

The third stage of the war was also quite long. The main distinction between the 2nd and 3rd stages of hostilities against the Nazi troops seems to be that in 1944 the epicenter of hostilities 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 spacecraft had to liberate all of Ukraine and Belarus, as well as the countries of Eastern Europe.

Battles of 1941

In 1941, the position of the USSR, as already emphasized, was extremely difficult. Belarus and Lithuania were the first to be attacked by infantry and motorized units of the fascist army. On June 22, the defense of the Brest Fortress began. The Nazis hoped to pass this outpost much faster than they succeeded. Fierce battles went on for several days, and the final surrender of Brest took place only on July 20, 1941. Also these days the Nazis were advancing in the direction of Siauliai and Grodno. That is why on June 23-25 ​​the USSR army launched a counteroffensive in these areas.

The first stages of the Great Patriotic War in 1941 showed that the Red Army would not be able to cope with the enemy without a retreat. So great was the onslaught of the Nazis! How was the retreat in the first months of the war? It took place with battles. Also, the army and the communists, in order to make life as difficult as possible for the enemy, undermined infrastructure facilities that could not be evacuated to safe places. The strong resistance of the army was due to the need to evacuate important production facilities for the country in the rear.

Of the largest battles of 1941, it is worth noting the Kyiv defensive operation, which lasted from July 7 to September 26, and the battle for Moscow (September 30, 1941 - April 1942). Also, an important role in the history of the Second World War is assigned to the exploits of Soviet sailors.

1942 in the history of the Second World War

The initial stage of the Great Patriotic War showed Hitler that he would simply not succeed in defeating the Soviet army. His strategic task to take Moscow before the winter of 1941 did not materialize. Until May 1942, the general offensive of the Soviet troops continued, which began in December 1941 near Moscow. But this offensive was stopped by the Nazis at the Kharkov bridgehead, where a large group of troops was surrounded and lost the battle.

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

Also, active offensive actions of the Nazis 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 near Stalingrad and in the Caucasus. The defense of Stalingrad entered the annals of history as an example of the heroism and invincibility of Soviet soldiers. The city itself was completely destroyed, several houses survived, but the Nazis could not take it. The 1st stage of the Great Patriotic War ended with the victory of the spacecraft near Stalingrad and the beginning of the offensive of the Soviet troops. Although the defense was still going on in some sectors of the front, the turning point in the war had already arrived.

The second stage of the Great Patriotic War

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

Operation Ring was completed on February 2, 1943. The army of General Paulus was surrounded. On January 18 of the same year, they finally managed to break the blockade of Leningrad. These days the Red Army launched an offensive towards Voronezh and Kaluga. The city of Voronezh was recaptured from the enemy on January 25. The attack continued on. In February 1943, the Voroshilovgrad offensive operation took place. Gradually, the Red Army moves on to the liberation of Ukraine, although not all cities have yet been recaptured from the Nazis. March 1943 was remembered for the liberation of Vyazma and the counteroffensive of Hitler's army in the Donbass. Our troops eventually coped with this attack, but the Nazis managed to somewhat restrain the advance of Soviet troops deep into Ukraine. The fight on this bridgehead lasted more than a month. After that, the main focus of the fighting shifted to the Kuban, because in order to successfully advance further to the West, it was necessary to liberate the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories from enemies. Active fighting in this direction went on for about three months. The offensive was complicated by the proximity of the mountains and the active operations of enemy aircraft.

Second half of 1943

In the history of the Second World War, July 1943 stands apart. During this period, two very important events took place. German intelligence constantly reported information about the impending major offensive of the Soviet troops. But it was not known exactly where the attack would take place. Of course, the Soviet top military officials knew that German intelligence officers were working in many spacecraft structures (like the Soviet ones in Germany), so they used disinformation as much as possible. On July 5, the Battle of Kursk took place. The Nazis hoped that by winning this battle, they would be able to go on the offensive again. Yes, they were able to advance a little, but in general they did not win the battle, therefore, on the 20th of July 1943, the second stage of the Great Patriotic War reached its qualitative apogee. And what was the second significant event? Have not forgotten yet On the field near this village, the largest tank battle in history at that time took place, which also remained with the USSR.

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

Battle for Kyiv

Kyiv was one of several strategically important cities in the USSR. The population of the city before the war reached 1 million people. During the Second World War, it decreased by five times. But now about the main thing. The Red Army was preparing for the capture of Kyiv for a very long time, because this city was also extremely important for the Nazis. To capture Kyiv, it was necessary to force the Dnieper. The battle for this river, which was a symbol of Ukraine, began on September 22. The forcing was very difficult, many of our soldiers died. In October, the command planned to try to take Kyiv. The most convenient for this was the Bukrinsky bridgehead. But these plans became known to the Germans, so they transferred significant forces here. It became impossible to take Kyiv from the Bukrinsky bridgehead. Our reconnaissance was tasked to find another place to attack the enemy. The Lyutezhsky bridgehead turned out to be the most optimal, but it was technically very difficult to transfer troops there. Since Kyiv had to be taken before the next anniversary of November 7, the command of the Kyiv offensive operation decided to transfer troops from Bukrinsky to the Lyutezhsky bridgehead. Certainly, not everyone believed in the reality of this plan, because it was necessary, unnoticed by the enemy, under the cover of night, to cross the Dnieper twice and travel a long distance by land. Of course, the spacecraft suffered a lot of losses, but it was impossible to take Kyiv in a different way. This move by the Soviet military leaders was crowned with success. The Red Army managed to enter Kyiv on the morning of November 6, 1943. And the battle for the Dnieper in other sectors of the front continued almost until the end of the year. With the victory of the spacecraft in this battle, the first stages of the Great Patriotic War ended.

War in 1944-1945

The final stage of the Great Patriotic War became possible only thanks to the heroism of our soldiers. In the first half of 1944, almost the entire Right-Bank Ukraine and Crimea were liberated. The final stage of the Great Patriotic War was marked by one of the largest offensives of the Red Army in all the years of hostilities. We are talking about the Proskurovo-Bukovina and Uman-Botoshansk operations, which ended by the end of April 1944. With the completion of these operations, almost the entire territory of Ukraine was liberated, the restoration of the republic began after exhausting hostilities.

The Red Army in the battles abroad of the USSR

The Great Patriotic War, the stages of which we are considering today, was coming to its logical conclusion. Beginning in April 1944, Soviet troops slowly began to push the Nazis out of 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, there were many events on the second front. When the defeat of Germany became inevitable, the allies of the USSR in the anti-Hitler coalition became more actively involved in the war. The battles in Greece, Sicily, near Asia - all of them were aimed at the victory of the anti-Hitler coalition troops in the fight against fascism.

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

Consequences of the Great Patriotic War

The Great Patriotic War, the stages of the hostilities of which were absolutely logical, ended almost 4 years after the start. It was much more brutal and bloody than the First World War, which ended in 1918.

Its consequences can be divided into 3 groups: economic, political and ethnographic. In the territories that were under occupation, a lot of enterprises were destroyed. Part of the plants and factories were evacuated and not all returned. In terms of politics, the entire system of life in the world actually changed, new ones were formed. Gradually, a new security system was built in Europe and the world. The United Nations has become the new guarantor of security. During the war, a lot of 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 was impossible to conquer such a large country as the USSR. The state gradually emerged from the crisis, rebuilt. In many ways, the rapid recovery is due to the heroic efforts of the people.

The opposition of the Russian people to the aggression of Germany and other countries seeking to establish a "new world order". This war became a battle between two opposing civilizations, in which the Western world set as its goal the complete destruction of Russia - the USSR as a state and nation, the seizure of a significant part of its territories and the formation of puppet regimes subject to Germany in the rest of its parts. The Judeo-Masonic regimes of the USA and England, who saw Hitler as an instrument for the implementation of their plans for world domination and the destruction of Russia, pushed Germany to war against Russia.

On June 22, 1941, the German armed forces, consisting of 103 divisions, including 10 tank divisions, invaded Russia. Their total number numbered five and a half million people, of which more than 900 thousand were military personnel of the Western allies of Germany - Italians, Spaniards, French, Dutch, Finns, Romanians, Hungarians, etc. 4300 tanks and assault guns were attached to this perfidious Western international , 4980 combat aircraft, 47200 guns and mortars.

Opposing the aggressor, the Russian armed forces of five western border military districts and three fleets were twice as inferior to the enemy in manpower, and in the first echelon of our armies there were only 56 rifle and cavalry divisions, which were difficult to compete with the German tank corps. The aggressor also had a great advantage in terms of artillery, tanks and aircraft of the latest designs.

By nationality, more than 90% of the Soviet army opposing Germany were Russians (Great Russians, Little Russians and Belarusians), which is why it can be called the Russian army without exaggeration, which does not in the least detract from the feasible contribution of other peoples of Russia in confronting the common enemy.

Treacherously, without declaring war, having concentrated overwhelming superiority on the direction of strikes, the aggressor broke through the defenses of the Russian troops, seized the strategic initiative and air supremacy. The enemy occupied a significant part of the country, moved inland up to 300 - 600 km.

On June 23, the Headquarters of the High Command was created (from August 6 - the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command). All power was concentrated in the State Defense Committee (GKO), created on June 30. Since August 8, I.V. Stalin became the Supreme Commander. He gathered around him the outstanding Russian commanders G. K. Zhukov, S. K. Timoshenko, B. M. Shaposhnikov, A. M. Vasilevsky, K. K. Rokossovsky, N. F. Vatutin, A. I. Eremenko, K. A. Meretskov, I. S. Konev, I. D. Chernyakhovsky and many others. In his public speeches, Stalin relies on the feeling of patriotism of the Russian people, urging them to follow the example of their heroic ancestors. The main military events of the summer-autumn campaign of 1941 were the Battle of Smolensk, the defense of Leningrad and the beginning of its blockade, the military catastrophe of the Soviet troops in Ukraine, the defense of Odessa, the beginning of the defense of Sevastopol, the loss of Donbass, the defensive period of the Moscow battle. The Russian army retreated 850-1200 km, but the enemy was stopped in the main directions near Leningrad, Moscow and Rostov and went on the defensive.

The winter campaign of 1941-42 began with a counteroffensive by Russian troops in the western strategic direction. In the course of it, a counteroffensive was carried out near Moscow, the Luban, Rzhev-Vyazemskaya, Barvenkovsko-Lozovskaya and Kerch-Feodosiya landing operations. Russian troops removed the threat to Moscow and the North Caucasus, eased the situation in Leningrad, completely or partially liberated the territory of 10 regions, as well as over 60 cities. The blitzkrieg strategy collapsed. About 50 enemy divisions were destroyed. A major role in defeating the enemy was played by the patriotism of the Russian people, which was widely manifested from the first days of the war. Thousands of folk heroes like A. Matrosov and Z. Kosmodemyanskaya, hundreds of thousands of partisans behind enemy lines, already in the first months greatly shook the morale of the aggressor.

In the summer-autumn campaign of 1942, the main military events unfolded in the southwestern direction: the defeat of the Crimean Front, the military catastrophe of the Soviet troops in the Kharkov operation, the Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad, Donbass, Stalingrad defensive operations, the battle in the North Caucasus. In the northwestern direction, the Russian army carried out the Demyansk and Rzhev-Sychevsk offensive operations. The enemy advanced 500 - 650 km, went to the Volga, captured part of the passes of the Main Caucasian Range. The territory was occupied, where before the war 42% of the population lived, a third of the gross output was produced, and more than 45% of the sown area was located. The economy was transferred to the war footing. A large number of enterprises were relocated to the eastern regions of the country (only in the second half of 1941 - 2,593, including 1,523 large ones), and 2.3 million heads of cattle were exported. In the first half of 1942, 10,000 aircraft, 11,000 tanks, approx. 54 thousand guns. In the 2nd half of the year, their output increased by more than 1.5 times.

In the winter campaign of 1942-43, the main military events were the Stalingrad and North Caucasian offensive operations, the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad. The Russian army advanced 600-700 km to the west, liberating a territory of over 480 thousand square meters. km, defeated 100 divisions (40% of the enemy forces on the Soviet-German front). In the summer-autumn campaign of 1943, the Battle of Kursk was the decisive event. The partisans played an important role (Operation Rail War). During the battle for the Dnieper, 38 thousand settlements were liberated, including 160 cities; with the capture of strategic bridgeheads on the Dnieper, conditions were created for an offensive in Belarus. In the battle for the Dnieper, the partisans carried out Operation Concert to destroy enemy communications. The Smolensk and Bryansk offensive operations were carried out in other directions. The Russian army fought up to 500 - 1300 km, defeated 218 divisions.

During the winter campaign of 1943-44, the Russian army carried out an offensive in the Ukraine (10 simultaneous and consecutive front-line operations united by a common plan). She completed the defeat of Army Group South, went beyond the border with Romania and transferred the fighting to its territory. Almost simultaneously, the Leningrad-Novgorod offensive operation unfolded; Leningrad was finally released. As a result of the Crimean operation, Crimea was liberated. Russian troops advanced west by 250 - 450 km, liberated approx. 300 thousand sq. km of territory, reached the state border with Czechoslovakia.

In June 1944, when the United States and Britain realized that Russia could win the war without their participation, they opened a 2nd front in France. This worsened the military-political position of Germany. In the summer-autumn campaign of 1944, Russian troops carried out the Belorussian, Lvov-Sandomierz, East Carpathian, Iasi-Kishinev, Baltic, Debrecen, East Carpathian, Belgrade, partly Budapest and Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operations. The liberation of Belarus, Little Russia and the Baltic states (except for some regions of Latvia), partially Czechoslovakia was completed, Romania and Hungary were forced to surrender and entered the war against Germany, the Soviet Arctic and the northern regions of Norway were liberated from the invaders.

The 1945 campaign in Europe included the East Prussian, Vistula-Oder, completion of the Budapest, East Pomeranian, Lower Silesian, Upper Silesian, West Carpathian, Vienna and Berlin operations, which ended with the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. After the Berlin operation, Russian troops, together with the 2nd Army of the Polish Army, the 1st and 4th Romanian armies and the 1st Czechoslovak corps, carried out the Prague operation.

The victory in the war greatly raised the spirit of the Russian people, contributed to the growth of their national self-consciousness and faith in their own strength. As a result of the victory, Russia regained most of what was taken from her as a result of the revolution (except for Finland and Poland). The historical Russian lands in Galicia, Bukovina, Bessarabia, etc. returned to its composition. Most of the Russian people (including Little Russians and Belarusians) again became a single entity in one state, which created the preconditions for their unification in a single Church. The fulfillment of this historic task was the main positive outcome of the war. The victory of Russian arms created favorable conditions for Slavic unity. At some stage, the Slavic countries united with Russia in something like a fraternal federation. The peoples of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia realized for a certain period how important it was for the Slavic world to stick together in the fight against the West's encroachments on the Slavic lands.

At the initiative of Russia, Poland received Silesia and a significant part of East Prussia, from which the city of Konigsberg with its surrounding territory passed into the possession of the Russian state, and Czechoslovakia regained the Sudetenland occupied by Germany earlier.

The great mission to save humanity from the “new world order” was given to Russia at a huge price: the Russian people and the fraternal peoples of our Fatherland paid for this with the lives of 47 million people (including direct and indirect losses), of which approximately 37 million people were actually Russians (including Little Russians and Belarusians).

Most of all, it was not the military who directly participated in the hostilities that died, but civilians, the civilian population of our country. The irretrievable losses of the Russian army (killed, dead from wounds, missing, killed in captivity) amount to 8 million 668 thousand 400 people. The remaining 35 million are the lives of the civilian population. During the war years, about 25 million people were evacuated to the East. Approximately 80 million people, or about 40% of the population of our country, turned out to be in the territory occupied by Germany. All these people became "objects" of the implementation of the misanthropic program "Ost", were subjected to brutal repressions, died from the famine organized by the Germans. About 6 million people were driven into German slavery, many of them died from unbearable living conditions.

As a result of the war, the genetic fund of the most active and viable part of the population was significantly undermined, because in it, first of all, the strongest and most energetic members of society, capable of producing the most valuable offspring, perished. In addition, due to the fall in the birth rate, the country missed tens of millions of future citizens.

The enormous price of victory fell most heavily on the shoulders of the Russian people (including the Little Russians and Belarusians), because the main hostilities were fought on their ethnic territories, and it was to them that the enemy was especially cruel and merciless.

In addition to huge human losses, our country suffered colossal material damage. Not a single country in its entire history and in the Second World War had such losses and barbaric destruction from the aggressors as fell on Great Russia. The total material losses of Russia in world prices amounted to more than a trillion dollars (US national income over several years).