A radical turning point in the course of the war (1942-1943) Until the spring-summer of 1942, the strategic initiative on all fronts of the world war was entirely owned by the "Axis Powers". The allies in the anti-Hitler coalition fought the hardest defensive battles. More than once the situation was

1. After the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad in early 1943, the strategic initiative in the war passed to the Red (Soviet) Army, which did not miss it until the very end of the war. 1943 - 1945 became the time of the liberation of the territory of the USSR and the complete defeat of the enemy on its territory. 1943 was not only the year of a radical turning point in the war, but also of significant changes in the essence and structure of the army itself.

- after the Battle of Stalingrad, it was decided to abandon the old name - the Red Army, which the army wore for exactly 25 years, in addition, the army ceased to be called Workers 'and Peasants';

- a new name was introduced - the Soviet army;

- the image of the army changed radically - the former invented by the Bolsheviks were eliminated military ranks, as well as the paraphernalia introduced by the Bolsheviks - insignia (stripes) on the sleeves and collar instead of shoulder straps, Budennovka hats, etc .;

- shoulder straps that were canceled after the revolution, classical military ranks and the generally accepted military uniform were restored;

- along with the image in 1943, the essence of the army also changed - it ceased to be regarded as a combat detachment of workers and peasants, different from the armies of the whole world, and turned into a nationwide modern army.

2. In March - June 1943, the reformed Soviet army developed the success of the Battle of Stalingrad and carried out a successful offensive to the west. As a result of the offensive in June 1943, the so-called Kursk Bulge was formed - a deep ledge of the liberated territories in the west, which wedged into the positions of the Nazi troops. The German command decided to use this strategic situation, which decided to surround the Kursk salient and turn the "Kursk Bulge" into a "Kursk cauldron" - to surround and defeat the advancing Soviet Army near Kursk. To achieve this goal, Hitler made an unprecedented decision - to pull the entire German army to Kursk and stake the fate of the entire war. However, Hitler did not take into account the fact that on the eve of the Battle of Kursk, British intelligence, which deciphered the top-secret German Enigma cipher system in 1943, handed over to the Soviet command a detailed plan of the Germans for conducting the battle - strategy, exact dates and times of military operations, names of commanders, plans troop movements. Based on this information, a Soviet battle plan was developed, which took into account the plans of the Germans, their strengths and weaknesses. Germany fought this battle, like all the other battles of 1943-1945. "blindly".

By the beginning of July 1943, the best forces of both the Soviet and German armies were drawn to Kursk - about 3 million people, 5 thousand tanks, 10 thousand guns from both sides. The Battle of Kursk lasted about 50 days - from July 5 to August 23, 1943:

- the battle began in a situation unfavorable for the Germans - knowing the exact date of the offensive and the location of the troops, an hour before the offensive, the Soviet army began the most powerful artillery preparation in the history of wars (German positions were fired from all types of guns, artillery, Katyusha rocket launchers, were subjected to heavy bombardment , as a result of which the actions of the Germans were disorganized from the very beginning);

- then the Soviet army gave the Germans the opportunity to launch an offensive, as a result of which many German units fell into the "traps" of the Soviet army, ran into previously prepared minefields, were counterattacked by Soviet troops;

- the most difficult were tank battles, only near the village of Prokhorovka there was a head-on collision of 1200 Soviet and German tanks;

- having exhausted the German army, the Soviet army launched a counteroffensive and cut the German army into two parts;

- at the same time, using British intelligence, the Soviet army destroyed the German headquarters and command posts- the German army lost control;

- at the same time, the partisans began a large-scale rail war (Operation Concert, etc.) - they blew up and derailed dozens of echelons with German military equipment and food, which bled the German army;

- at the end of August 1943, the exhausted German army was surrounded and defeated.

During the Battle of Kursk, the losses of the Wehrmacht amounted to more than half a million soldiers, 1600 tanks, 3700 aircraft, 5000 guns. The defeat at the Kursk Bulge was a disaster for Germany. Germany in the summer of 1943 found itself in the same situation as the USSR in 1941 - in the course of one battle, it lost the bulk of the army. Having lost the entire army at once, Germany went on the defensive, and the territory of most of the USSR was relatively quickly liberated by the Soviet army by the end of 1943.

The period of a radical change (Radical change) is a radical change in forces during the Great Patriotic War, characterized by the transition of the initiative into the hands of the USSR and the Soviet army, as well as a sharp increase in the military-economic situation of the Soviet Union.

In the first period of the Great Patriotic War, the initiative belonged entirely to Hitler and Nazi Germany. Several factors contributed to this at once: firstly, Germany had a huge military and industrial power, thanks to which its army was more numerous and its military equipment more modern; secondly, the surprise factor greatly contributed to Hitler's success - although the attack on the USSR was not completely unexpected for the Soviet command, it nevertheless caught Soviet army unawares, because of which she could not carefully prepare and put up a worthy rebuff even in her own territories. Already in the first two years of the war, Hitler and the allies managed to capture Ukraine, Belarus, blockade Leningrad and come close to Moscow. The Soviet army during this period suffered one defeat after another.

However, Hitler's superiority could not last long, and the great battle of Stalingrad marked the beginning of a radical turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War.

The strategic initiative passed from Germany to the USSR. The Germans lost their superiority in the war, the Red Army launched a counteroffensive, and Germany turned from an attacker into a defender, gradually retreating back to the borders;

The rise of the economy and the military industry, the entire industry of the USSR, on the orders of Stalin, was aimed at meeting the needs of the front. This made it possible to completely re-equip the Soviet army in a short time, giving it an advantage over the enemy;

Qualitative changes in the world arena were also achieved thanks to the counter-offensive of the Soviet Union that had begun.

The course of the radical fracture

In 1942, in the winter, the Soviet command made several attempts to seize the initiative and launch a counteroffensive, however, both the winter and spring offensives were unsuccessful - the Germans were still in full control of the situation, and the Soviet troops were losing more and more territories. In the same period, Germany received serious reinforcements, which only increased its power.

At the end of June 1942, the Germans began to advance in the south from Stalingrad, where protracted and very fierce battles for the city unfolded. Stalin, seeing the situation, issued the famous order "Not a step back", in which he said that the city should not be taken in any case. It was necessary to organize a defense, which the Soviet command did, transferring all its forces to Stalingrad. The battle for the city lasted several months, but the Germans failed to take Stalingrad, despite the huge losses on the part of the Soviet army.

The beginning of a radical change was laid in the second period of the Battle of Stalingrad, along with Operation Uranus, according to which it was planned to unite several Soviet fronts and with their help to take the German army into the ring, forcing it to capitulate, or simply destroy the enemy. The operation was led by Generals G.K. Zhukov and A.M. Vasilevsky. On November 23, the Germans were completely surrounded, and by February 2 they were destroyed. The Battle of Stalingrad ended with a triumphant victory for the Soviet Union.

From that moment on, the strategic initiative passed to the USSR, new weapons and uniforms began to actively enter the front, which in a short time ensured technical superiority. In the winter-spring of 1943, the USSR strengthened its position by recapturing Leningrad and launching an offensive in the Caucasus and the Don.

The final turning point occurred along with the Battle of Kursk (July 5 - August 23, 1943). At the beginning of the year, the Germans managed to achieve some success in the southern direction, so the command decided to launch an offensive operation on the Kursk salient in order to seize the initiative again. On July 12, a major tank battle took place, which ended in complete defeat. german army. The Soviet Union was able to recapture Belgorod, Orel and Kharkov, as well as inflict heavy losses on Hitler's army.

The Battle of Kursk was the last stage of a radical turning point. From that moment until the end of the war, the initiative never again passed into the hands of Germany. The Soviet Union was able not only to win back its own territories, but also to reach Berlin.

The results and significance of a radical change.

It is difficult to overestimate the significance of the radical change for the Great Patriotic War. The Soviet Union was able to return its territories, free prisoners of war and forever seize the military initiative in its own hands, confidently destroying the enemy armies.

The transition of the initiative in the war to the USSR was also reflected in the course of the Second World War. After the defeat at Stalingrad in Germany, for the first time in the entire war, a three-day mourning was declared, which became a sign for the allied European troops, who were convinced that Hitler's hegemony could be overthrown, and he himself destroyed.

The proof that the turning point had taken place was the Tehran conference, which brought together in 1943 the heads of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain. The conference discussed the opening of a second European front, and a strategy to fight Hitler.

In fact, the period of a radical change was the beginning of the fall of the Hitler Empire.

1. THE BEGINNING OF A RADICAL TURNING DURING THE WAR AND THE LIBERATION OF THE EASTERN REGIONS OF THE UKRAINIAN SSR

Prerequisites for a turning point in the course of the war. The creation of the prerequisites for a radical change took place in incredibly difficult conditions. During the hostilities, the Soviet Union suffered huge losses in people and military equipment. The enemy captured the most important economic regions, which before the war provided 71% of the all-Union production of cast iron, 58% of steel, 63% of coal, 60% of aluminum, and 42% of electricity. These areas accounted for 47% of the most productive crop areas.

No capitalist country would have been able to continue the struggle with such losses. The advantages of the socialist system were obvious. They found expression both in the planned development of heavy industry in the East of the country in the prewar years, and in the ability to mobilize all available resources for the war to the maximum. Despite the fact that fascist Germany produced 4 times more steel, the Soviet industry in 1942 produced 15,000 more tanks than the German one. Although Germany produced several times more aluminum, the Red Army received 10,027 more aircraft than the Nazi Wehrmacht. In 1942, Soviet industry produced 22,000 more field guns with a caliber of 76 mm and above. This victorious gap was preserved in subsequent years.

The entire industrial output of Western Siberia in 1942 doubled as compared to 1940, and the production of armaments increased 27 times here. In the Volga region, with an increase in production by 3 times compared to 1940, the production of weapons increased by 9 times. Of particular importance was the Ural industry, which during the war years became the main arsenal of the country. In the Urals, with a general increase in production by 3 times, the output of military equipment increased by 5 times and in terms of its volume far exceeded the total production of weapons in other industrial regions.

It was very important that the new military equipment, which went to the troops in a wide stream, fully met the requirements of the war, it equaled the enemy's weapons, and in some cases surpassed them qualitatively. These successes were achieved with the utmost effort of all the forces of the Soviet rear, primarily thanks to the unparalleled labor heroism of the working class. In the autumn of 1941 and during the Battle of Moscow, the output of military products in the Soviet Union fell to the very low level for the entire war. The evacuated enterprises were then only located in new places or were still on wheels. The industry of the eastern regions could not bear the entire burden of supplying the vast front. In a year the situation has changed radically. In the second half of 1942, the enterprises relocated from Ukraine and other western regions of the USSR were fully operational. Therefore, it was during that period that the largest increase in the production of military equipment occurred.

The gradual change in the balance of forces in military equipment was of decisive importance for the further course of the war. By the end of autumn 1942, fascist Germany and its satellites had 6.2 million soldiers and officers, 51.7 thousand guns and heavy mortars, 5080 tanks and self-propelled guns, 3.5 thousand combat aircraft on the Soviet-German front. In the active troops of the Red Army, there were 6.6 million fighters and commanders, 4544 combat aircraft. The reserve had 27 rifle divisions and six brigades, five tank and mechanized corps, four air corps, four separate air divisions and 10 separate aviation regiments.

In addition to eliminating the technical advantage of the enemy, a radical improvement in the leadership of troops, an increase in their combat skills and stamina, was of enormous importance.

During the war, the youngest and most talented generals among the armies of all the warring countries formed in the Red Army. The process of nominating capable and energetic young military leaders and commanders began from the first days of the war, but it became especially intense in 1942. People who showed themselves in the best way in the conditions of war with the strongest army of the capitalist world were resolutely appointed to command posts. These were cadres educated by the Party in the pre-war period, who mastered the heights of military science. They combined boundless devotion to the cause of communism with high professional training. The entire army learned to fight in a new way, at the level of the harsh requirements that the war set. New military manuals issued in 1942 summarized the experience gained by the best commanders on the battlefield. During 1942, 575,000 new commanders were trained, more than in any other year. The officer corps of the Red Army grew quantitatively and qualitatively, tempered and enriched with experience in heavy battles. The day-to-day political and educational work of the party, aimed at strengthening the fighting spirit of Soviet soldiers, also brought results. The defense of Stalingrad showed a new, qualitatively increased stamina of the Soviet troops in battle. Its role in the further course of the war cannot be overestimated.

The combat skill of Soviet soldiers has risen, the level of Soviet military art has risen. New methods of warfare were worked out and tested in combat, and the structure of the Armed Forces was improved. Of great importance, in particular, was the creation of artillery divisions and breakthrough corps based on the idea of ​​General N. N. Voronov, Commander-in-Chief of Red Army Artillery. These formations became the main striking force of the army and, together with the infantry units, ensured a breakthrough of the enemy front. The newly created tank and mechanized corps, which had already begun to unite in the army, when introduced into the gap, were able to carry out deep maneuvers behind enemy lines and surround his troops.

Thus, through the tireless efforts of the Party and the people, the Red Army was transformed into an army capable of carrying out the most complex combat missions. The growing strength of the Red Army, based on the unity and might of the Soviet rear, gave grounds for the Soviet Supreme High Command to look confidently into the future at the most difficult moment of heavy defensive battles in Stalingrad.

“The enemy has already once experienced the power of the Red Army’s strikes near Rostov, near Moscow, near Tikhvin,” said the order of the People’s Commissar of Defense I.V. Every dog ​​has his day!" These words found a deep response in the hearts of the soldiers of the Red Army, all Soviet people. The historical gains of the Land of Soviets, which in those terrible days celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Great October Revolution, and the patriotic duty of every Soviet citizen in the fight against the hated enemy were the content of the mass political work of the Communist Party in the army and rear. The Party directed the Soviet people and their Armed Forces to achieve a turning point in the war. United around the Leninist party, the Soviet soldiers were preparing to move from defense to offensive and were determined to drive the enemy from Soviet soil, free millions of their brothers and sisters, achieve victory over fascist invaders.

The enormous world-historical significance of the defensive actions of the Red Army, the heroic struggle of the Soviet people against the fascist invaders, was that they created the prerequisites for a radical change in the course of the entire Second World War in favor of the states of the anti-fascist coalition. In fierce battles, the enemy's forces were undermined, and his advance stopped. The strength of the Red Army had grown so much that it was already in a position to move from defense to a decisive offensive.

Victory at Stalingrad. Even during the fierce battles in the south, the Soviet command purposefully prepared a counteroffensive. The general plan for the offensive in the Stalingrad direction, which became the key sector of the Soviet-German front due to the concentration of the main strike group of fascist troops here, arose as early as September 1942. Preparations were carried out in the conditions of a tense and difficult defensive battle for the Soviet troops. It was possible to complete it in a short time, by mid-November 1942.

The purpose of the counteroffensive was to encircle and defeat the shock grouping of the Nazi troops near Stalingrad as a prerequisite for the defeat of the entire southern wing of the enemy front. The troops of three fronts were to strike at the Stalingrad grouping of the enemy: the South-Western (commander - General N.F. Vatutin), Donskoy (commander - General K.K. Rokossovsky) and Stalingrad (commander - General A.I. Eremenko). General management of the preparation and coordination of fronts during the offensive was entrusted to the representatives of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command G.K. Zhukov and A.M. Vasilevsky.

The operation was planned to be carried out by strikes against the enemy grouping from the flanks. This option was dictated by the front line and the location of the Nazi troops. The enemy offensive led to a deep bending of the front at an angle to the east. At the top of the corner, resting on Stalingrad, stood the main forces of Army Group "B" - the 6th field army and formations of the 4th tank army of the Nazis. The northern flank of the army group, starting from Voronezh, was occupied by the 2nd Hungarian, 8th Italian and 3rd Romanian armies, the southern flank - by the 4th Romanian army. The troops of the Nazi satellites were not distinguished by high combat capability, and this facilitated the implementation of the plan.

At the first stage of the offensive, the Soviet troops were tasked with enveloping counter strikes from areas in the northwest and south of Stalingrad to break through the front and encircle the main forces of the enemy grouping. On the northern flank from the Serafimovichi-Kletskaya area, the strike was assigned to the troops of the left wing of the Southwestern Front together with the right wing of the Don Front. On the southern flank - from the Sarpinsky Lakes region - to the troops of the left wing of the Stalingrad Front. Near Kalach-on-Don, the southern and northern strike groups were to link up and close the encirclement.

The balance of forces in the Stalingrad direction before the start of the Soviet counteroffensive was as follows. Our three fronts numbered 1103 thousand people, 15.5 thousand guns and heavy mortars, 1463 tanks, 1350 combat aircraft; enemy troops - 1011.5 thousand soldiers and officers, 10.3 thousand guns and mortars, 675 tanks, 1216 combat aircraft. Thus, our troops did not have overwhelming superiority, and victory could only be achieved through a bold maneuver. In order to ensure the success of the offensive, the Soviet command concentrated most of its available forces in the strike directions by weakening other sectors of its front.

The preparations for the counteroffensive were carried out in strict secrecy. Only a narrow circle of senior leadership knew about the plans of the command and the general course of preparation. All orders for the regrouping of troops, the creation of the necessary supplies, starting positions, etc. were given only orally and in a form that could not reveal the plan of the command. Every effort was made to disguise the preparations for a counteroffensive. In the first half of November 1942, the Red Army did not conduct particularly active operations in the Stalingrad direction. However, in the central sector, the Kalinin and Western fronts launched stubborn battles to eliminate the Rzhev salient of the enemy front, from where the German Army Group Center still threatened Moscow. This disorientated the fascist leadership.

Expecting the offensive of the Red Army in the Moscow direction, the enemy command sent its reinforcements and reserves there. In October and the first half of November, when the preparations for the Soviet counteroffensive near Stalingrad were coming to an end, the enemy pulled up 12 additional divisions to the central front, concentrating almost half of all his tank and motorized forces there. In early November, fascist intelligence established an increase in the number of bridges across the Don northwest of Stalingrad. Based on these data, the Nazi command concluded that the Red Army was preparing to intensify local operations against the 3rd Romanian Army. It was convinced that the Soviet side did not have sufficient forces here for extensive offensive operations.

The offensive of the troops of the South-Western and Don Fronts was planned to be carried out 120-140 km deep, the Stalingrad Front - 110-120 km. In order to coordinate the actions of both groupings of Soviet troops and to disrupt the enemy's countermeasures, the strike of the Stalingrad Front was planned a day later. The offensive was planned to be carried out in the shortest possible time: the breakthrough of the enemy defense and the closure of the encirclement were to occur in 2-3 days.

The carefully prepared operation began exactly as planned. At 7:30 am on November 19, 1942, Soviet artillery opened heavy fire, concentrated in the breakthrough areas northwest of Stalingrad. On the positions of the Nazi troops that day, 689 thousand shells fell, which, during transportation, occupied over 1,300 railway cars. At 0850 hours, infantry units supported by tanks went on the offensive. Fierce battles ensued. In order to quickly complete the breakthrough of the tactical zone of the enemy defense, tank corps were brought into battle, and on November 20 cavalry corps. On November 20, unexpectedly for the enemy, the troops of the Stalingrad Front went on the offensive from the south. The strike grouping of the left wing of the front quickly advanced through the gaps in the enemy defenses towards the troops of the northern strike group.

The mobile formations of the Soviet troops had to overcome the defensive lines and the desperate resistance of enemy units urgently transferred by the Nazi command to the places of the breakthrough. The enemy sought counterattacks on the bases of the Soviet tank wedges to disrupt their advance and close the breakthroughs. However, these attempts were reflected in pre-allocated parts. On the right flank of the shock grouping of the Southwestern Front, there were strong barriers of rifle and cavalry formations. They moved to the west and south-west, to the border of the Krivaya and Chir rivers, to reliably support the entire operation by creating an external front as far as possible from the encirclement boiler. The left flank of the strike force of the Stalingrad Front was covered by troops advancing in a southwestern direction on the Korobkin-Aksai line.

The enemy front was broken through in seven sectors at once. This upset the counter-actions of the Nazi command and led to a number of local encirclements. At the same time, holding down the forces of the Nazis, began offensive operations. heroic defenders Stalingrad. Fierce fighting unfolded along the entire front. Realizing the threat of a gigantic encirclement, the command of the enemy's Stalingrad group threw its troops into counterattacks in almost all directions, trying to save room for maneuver and prevent the ring from closing. Overcoming the fierce resistance of the enemy, the Soviet troops continued to advance in accordance with the plan. On November 23, the mobile formations of the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts closed in the Kalach area. The Stalingrad group of Nazi troops was in the boiler.

The Red Army dealt a blow of unprecedented force. For 4.5 days, 11 infantry, two tank, one cavalry divisions of the enemy were defeated. Fascist troops lost 95 thousand soldiers and officers killed, 72.4 thousand wounded. Over 300 thousand enemy troops, hundreds of tanks, 6.7 thousand guns, 61 thousand vehicles - 22 divisions, nine artillery and mortar regiments of the high command reserve and one and a half hundred units and reinforcement units - were clamped in pincers.

Soviet troops continued to strike in order to narrow the encirclement as much as possible. Initially covered in an area of ​​9 thousand km 2, the enemy grouping was compressed until November 30 in an area of ​​1.5 thousand km 2. The operational encirclement became tactical: shot through by Soviet artillery to the full depth. The enemy was deprived of the opportunity to freely maneuver forces inside the encirclement.

In early December 1942, the troops of the Stalingrad and Don Fronts launched offensive operations in order to eliminate the encircled group. The lack of strength made it impossible to immediately achieve success. The destruction of the encircled group had to be postponed for a while because of the need to reliably ensure the repulsion of enemy attacks from the outside.

The fulfillment of this task became the content of the second stage of the counteroffensive. The Soviet command foresaw that after the encirclement near Stalingrad, the enemy would seek to release his troops. To prevent this, the troops of the outer flanks of the Southwestern and Stalingrad dandies were to form a wide gap between the encircled grouping and the main (outer) front of the enemy troops. By the end of November, it ranged from 40 to 140 km.

The first attempts of the Nazi command to release the encircled troops did not pose a great danger. The enemy did not yet have enough troops in those areas from which he had to attack. The situation worsened with the approach of reserves and the regrouping of forces that remained with the Nazi command in the Stalingrad direction. Fascist troops began to concentrate in the areas of Tormosin and Kotelnikovsky, southwest of Stalingrad. The Tormosinskaya group had one tank and four infantry divisions, three of which were delivered by plane from Germany. The Kotelnikovskaya group consisted of three tank divisions deployed from France, the North Caucasus and from near Bryansk. It also included the remnants of the 4th Romanian army. These troops, along with those surrounded at Stalingrad, were included in the newly created Army Group Don. This group was headed by the headquarters of the 11th Army, together with its commander, Field Marshal E. Manstein. The 11th Army itself, after Sevastopol, was sent near Leningrad, and was also partially used to patch up various sectors of the Nazi Eastern Front. The task of Army Group "Don" was to release the grouping surrounded by Stalingrad and restore the situation that existed before November 19.

On December 12, the Kotelnikov group under the command of General G. Goth went on the offensive, striking on a narrow front along the Tikhoretsk-Stalingrad railway. For the first time, a battalion of new heavy tanks of the Tiger type operated in its composition. They had 120 mm frontal armor, an 88 mm gun and at that time were the most powerful tanks in the world. With massive tank strikes, the enemy managed to advance 45 km in 3 days. The troops of the 51st Army, weakened in previous battles, defending this sector of the front, had half as many guns and 5 times fewer tanks. But by that time, Soviet soldiers had gone through the school of the Stalingrad battle and showed truly iron stamina. Despite the huge superiority in tanks, the enemy met fierce resistance everywhere and paid dearly for every kilometer.

The most fierce battle was on December 18 near the Verkhnekumsky farm. Hill 137.2, which was defended by a rifle company, a platoon of armor-piercers and a battery of anti-tank guns, was attacked by 30 enemy tanks and an infantry battalion. Soviet soldiers, commanded by Senior Lieutenant P.N. Naumov, repelled three attacks. Many fighters died, but those who still could hold weapons remained in the ranks. The enemy managed to capture the height only when there was no one to defend it. Here he lost 18 tanks and about 300 soldiers and officers. But by the end of the day, the Nazis were driven back from a height by a counterattack of Soviet tanks and infantry, and our defense was completely restored.

The shock group of General Hoth suffered heavy losses, but continued to rush towards the encircled troops. To reinforce it, another tank division was thrown into battle.

On December 19, the enemy crossed the river on ice. Myshkov and overcame two-thirds of the way to the encircled troops, from which Gotha was now separated by 35-40 km. The Tormosinskaya group was also completing preparations for the offensive. There was a real threat of release of the encircled Stalingrad grouping of the enemy. The commander of the encircled troops, General F. Paulus, that day received an order to prepare for a counterattack, but he could not carry it out due to the lack of fuel for the tanks.

According to the first plan of the Soviet command, after the encirclement of the enemy near Stalingrad, the troops of the Voronezh and the right flank of the Southwestern Fronts were to advance from the Middle Don, south of Voronezh, to Rostov. Such a blow - at the root of the Hitlerite summer offensive of 1942 - was supposed to completely cut off all enemy armies that had broken through to the east. The implementation of this plan could lead to the encirclement and complete destruction of the entire southern wing of the enemy front. However, due to the aggravation of the situation in December, the plan was changed. The offensive from the Middle Don was now carried out not to the south (Rostov), ​​but to the southeast, to the rear of the enemy army group "Don", in order to eliminate the danger of its breakthrough to the Stalingrad group of fascists. The flexible strategy of the Soviet command thwarted the enemy's actions to release Paulus' troops.

On December 16, the Voronezh and Southwestern fronts went on the offensive. For 3 days, the enemy defenses on the Middle Don for 200 km, from Novaya Kalitva to Chernyshevskaya, were broken through in five places. The Soviet tank corps overcame from 100 to 200 km and in the rear of the Don Army Group, at the turn of Millerovo - Tatsinskaya - Morozovskaya, started fighting with four enemy infantry divisions intended to release the troops of the Stalingrad group. The 24th tank corps of General V. M. Badanov, during a deep daring raid, captured one of the main airfields near Tatsinskaya, through which the troops encircled near Stalingrad were supplied. Tank caterpillars at the airfield destroyed about 350 transport aircraft. Huge stocks of food, fuel, ammunition of the enemy became prey to fire. As a result of the strikes of Soviet troops on the Middle Don, by the end of December, 11 Italian, Romanian and German divisions and two brigades were defeated. During these battles, the Tormosinskaya group of fascist troops ceased to exist. A 350-kilometer enemy front along the Don and Chir rivers was liquidated. The enemy command lost a territory 150-200 km deep and the last hope of releasing the troops encircled near Stalingrad.

Fierce battles continued with the grouping of General Goth. Opa stormed the defense of the Soviet troops along the river. Myshkova, southwest of Stalingrad, trying at any cost to break through to the encircled troops. The fighting reached unprecedented intensity on December 19, when General Hoth threw 300 tanks into the offensive. Never since the beginning of the war had the Nazi command delivered such a massive tank strike on a limited sector of the front. Soviet soldiers heroically repulsed the furious attacks of the enemy. Units of the 2nd Guards Army of General R. Ya. Malinovsky, transferred from the northern front of the Stalingrad cauldron, came up to the aid of the units of the 51st Army in a forced march. The balance of power was rapidly changing in favor of the Soviet troops.

On December 24, the troops of the Stalingrad Front under the command of General A.I. Eremenko went on the offensive against the Gotha army group. Two rifle corps of the 2nd Guards Army attacked Kotelnikovo from the north, two mechanized corps from the south, and the 51st Army attacked from the northeast. As a result of heavy fighting, which lasted until December 31, the enemy Kotelnikovskaya grouping was defeated, its remnants were driven back 200 km southwest of Stalingrad.

Thus ended the second stage of the Stalingrad counter-offensive of the Soviet troops. The strikes of the troops of three Soviet fronts nullified the efforts of the fascist command to free their encircled grouping. By that time, it was compressed in a section that resembled a rhombus elongated from west to east, the sharp end of which clung to Stalingrad. The position of the encircled troops worsened every day. They lacked food, medicine, and warm clothing. A huge number of vehicles and military equipment was idle due to lack of fuel. Paulus' troops were blocked from the air. Soviet aviation and anti-aircraft gunners tightly blocked the path of enemy aircraft. Fascist aviation, supplying the encircled group, suffered heavy losses and instead of the minimum required daily 500 tons of cargo delivered no more than 100 tons. Diseases spread among the encircled troops, cases of frostbite became more frequent.

The command of the encircled group repeatedly raised the question of organizing a breakthrough from the ring. Hitler did not accept such proposals, promising outside help. However, the victories of the Soviet troops on the Middle Don and southwest of Stalingrad made the position of the encircled enemy divisions hopeless.

By the beginning of 1943, the number of encircled troops had drastically decreased. The enemy suffered significant losses during the November and December battles. Fascist soldiers died by the thousands from bombardments, artillery shelling, and diseases. Over 20 thousand wounded were taken out by air. But in general, the encircled group still numbered 250 thousand people. This mass of troops maintained discipline and, following the orders of the command, put up fierce resistance. The liquidation of the encircled group was a difficult task, since the Soviet troops did not have a noticeable numerical superiority.

This task was entrusted to the troops of the Don Front. The general management of the operation was carried out by the representative of the General Headquarters, General N. N. Voronov. The operation to eliminate the encircled group, which consisted of three successive phases, became the third stage of the Soviet offensive near Stalingrad. In the first phase, the task was to eliminate the western and northeastern parts of the encircled grouping, in the second - the southern part, in the third - to complete the rout.

The start of the offensive was scheduled for 10 January. On January 8, in order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, the Soviet command, by radio and through parliamentarians, delivered an ultimatum to the command of the encircled troops. The enemy was asked to stop hopeless resistance. The Nazi command rejected the ultimatum.

On the morning of January 10, the thunder of 2 thousand Soviet guns, 3 thousand mortars and a large number of rocket launchers heralded the beginning of the final offensive of the Red Army near Stalingrad. After 55 minutes, at 9 o'clock in the morning, rifle units and tanks, supported from the air by bomber and ground attack aircraft, went on the attack. By January 17, the enemy pulled his troops into the former Stalingrad bypass. Encirclement radius decreased from 27 to 16 km. Regrouping forces, the Soviet troops on January 22 launched the last phase of the offensive. By evening, they captured the fortifications of the inner contour, and on January 24 they broke through to the western and southwestern outskirts of Stalingrad. The next day, fierce fighting began on the streets of the city. The 62nd Army of General V.I. Chuikov was advancing from the east. Soldiers of General A.I. F. E. Dzerzhinsky. On January 26, the shock group of the 62nd Army connected with the troops of the 21st, which were breaking through from the west. The enemy troops were divided into northern and southern parts.

The Nazis fought back with the fury of the doomed, but every hour of the battle inevitably brought the end of the Stalingrad epic closer. Hitler's orders to continue the fanatical struggle to the last soldier and last cartridge and the assignment of the rank of field marshal to Paulus, commander of the 6th Army, could not change anything. On the morning of January 31, the troops of the 64th Army captured Paulus along with his headquarters. By 1 pm, the entire southern part of the encircled Nazi troops capitulated. On February 1, a powerful fire strike by Soviet artillery crushed the ability to resist and the northern part.

On February 2, 1943, at 4 p.m., the historical Battle of Stalingrad ended. It was an outstanding victory for Soviet weapons. The color of the Nazi Wehrmacht found a grave near Stalingrad. During the fighting since the beginning of the Soviet counter-offensive, the enemy lost over 800 thousand people killed, wounded and captured, over 10 thousand guns and mortars, more than 70 thousand vehicles, about 2 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, 3 thousand combat and transport aircraft . 32 divisions and three brigades were destroyed, another 16 divisions lost more than half of their composition. The German army had never suffered such a catastrophe before. A forced recognition of its size was a three-day mourning in Germany, announced by the Nazi leaders on the occasion of the death of the 6th Army.

The defeat of the enemy at Stalingrad was a triumph of Soviet military art. Skillful leadership of the troops, the ability to focus all efforts on achieving a turning point in the war allowed the Soviet command to organize and carry out a powerful counteroffensive in the conditions of the most difficult defensive battle.

The elimination of the enemy's superiority in military equipment by the time the Soviet troops went on the counteroffensive near Stalingrad provided the Soviet command with the opportunity to deliver massive strikes with artillery, tanks, and aircraft. Eternal glory was earned by the main workers of the war - the Soviet infantrymen.

In the course of battles, the close interaction of all branches of the armed forces was combined with the fullest use of the combat capabilities of each of them.

The mighty Soviet artillery played a huge role in the defeat of the Nazi troops near Stalingrad. The day of November 19, when the enemy front near Stalingrad was hacked, began to be celebrated annually in our country as Artillery Day (later - and missile troops).

In the Battle of Stalingrad, Soviet troops showed the whole world examples of boundless courage, steadfastness, endurance, mass heroism. The soldiers of Stalingrad were the force against which the avalanche of the enemy offensive finally broke.

Russians and Georgians, Ukrainians and Kazakhs, Bashkirs and Belarusians and representatives of other nationalities stood shoulder to shoulder in the ranks of the immortal defenders of Stalingrad in the people's memory. As always, the communists, the sons of the great party of Lenin, went ahead, organizing and leading everyone. In the days of fierce battles for Stalingrad, the flow of applications for joining the party intensified. “If I die, please consider me a communist,” wrote many of them. The defenders of Stalingrad knew that each of them could die in battle, but they were convinced of the victory of their just cause.

The Soviet Motherland adequately appreciated the feat of the Stalingrad heroes. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were awarded orders and medals, about a hundred were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, 55 formations and units were awarded orders, 179 became guardsmen. Stalingrad was among the hero cities awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

The power of the strike of the Soviet troops near Stalingrad shocked the whole world. The news of the transition of the Red Army to the counteroffensive was broadcast with enthusiasm by all the radio stations of the countries of the anti-fascist coalition. Each message of the Soviet Information Bureau was met with enthusiasm by the masses of the people. allied states. The European peoples enslaved by Hitler followed with hope the heroic struggle of the Red Army, expecting from it liberation from the fascist yoke.

In the days when the whole world rejoiced over the Stalingrad victory, the holiday of the Soviet people, who celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Red Army, turned into a national holiday of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.

In England, the anniversary of the Red Army was solemnly celebrated throughout the country. Mass rallies took place in Manchester, Sheffield, Cardiff, Newcastle and other cities. There was even a parade in honor of the Red Army - an unprecedented fact. On February 24, 1943, representatives of military units stationed in southern and central England arrived at the parade in Oxford on February 24, 1943. “Every Englishman instinctively understood,” wrote general secretary The Communist Party of Great Britain G. Pollit, - that the battle of Stalingrad was not only a battle for the Soviet Union, but also a battle for England.

At the Tehran Conference of the Three Powers, in November 1943, British Prime Minister W. Churchill handed JV Stalin an honorary sword from King George VI to the citizens of Stalingrad in commemoration of the victory over the Nazi invaders. Honorary weapons were solemnly displayed in the main cities of the United Kingdom. Hundreds of thousands of British flocked to the demonstration sites, expressing deep gratitude and respect Soviet ally. The sword of honor to Stalingrad was a gift from the British people to the heroic Soviet people.

In the United States, the anniversary of the Red Army was also widely celebrated by the public. Speaking at a crowded meeting in New York, Senator K. Pepper said: “Everyone who will enjoy freedom in the future will remain indebted to the Red Army. We have the honor not only to express our respect for the Red Army, but also to be its allies and friends. The courage, endurance and heroism of the Red Army will forever remain a source of inspiration for all people.”

This was a recognition of the world-historical significance of the Stalingrad victory of the Red Army and the decisive contribution of the Soviet people to the defeat of the fascist powers. The President of the United States F. Roosevelt in May 1944 sent a special letter to Stalingrad. Its text read: “On behalf of the people of the United States, I present this charter to the city of Stalingrad to celebrate our admiration for its valiant defenders, whose courage, fortitude and selflessness during the siege from September 13, 1942 to January 31, 1943, will forever inspire the hearts of all free people. Their glorious victory stopped the tide of invasion and became the turning point of the Allied Nations' war against the forces of aggression."

The World-Historical Significance of the Battle of Stalingrad. In the winter of 1942/43, the Red Army completely destroyed the 6th field and 4th tank armies of the Germans, the 3rd and 4th Romanian, 8th Italian and 2nd Hungarian armies. In total, Soviet troops defeated 100 enemy divisions. The enemy lost over 3.5 thousand tanks and 4.3 thousand aircraft.

The central place in the winter campaign of 1942/43 belonged to the Battle of Stalingrad, which undermined the forces of the Nazi Wehrmacht. For 6.5 months of fighting, the fascist bloc lost over a quarter of all its troops operating on the Eastern Front near Stalingrad. About 1.5 million enemy soldiers and officers were killed, wounded or captured. The success at Stalingrad made it possible to carry out a broad offensive, during which the Soviet troops liberated more territory than the enemy managed to capture during the entire 1942. The beginning was laid for the liberation of the Ukrainian land from the fascist invaders.

Immortal for centuries, the defense and victory of the Red Army at Stalingrad was the initial basis for the success of Soviet weapons in the winter campaign of 1942/43. History knows no other battle that would be of such tremendous importance for the fate of mankind. The victory of the Soviet troops at Stalingrad decisively turned the course of World War II in favor of the anti-Hitler coalition.

The first period of the war, the period of retreat and defense of the Soviet troops, is over. A new stage of the war began - the expulsion of the invaders from Soviet soil. The course of the war testified that as a result of the full deployment of forces, the Soviet Union was becoming stronger than the entire Nazi bloc. The triumph of the Soviet troops at Stalingrad showed that the offensive power of the Hitlerite military machine had been undermined, and the strike force of the Red Army had increased, that all the prerequisites had been created for its further victorious offensive.

The defeat of the fascist troops at Stalingrad caused a cruel political crisis in fascist Germany, undermined the position of the Hitlerite clique inside the country, dealt a powerful blow to the military machine of German imperialism, had a detrimental effect on the morale of the army, and weakened the front and rear of the enemy.

In the winter of 1942/43, units of the Italian, Romanian and Hungarian armies - allies of Nazi Germany - were defeated on the Soviet-German front. This led to an acute crisis in the camp of the Nazi vassals. As a result of the brilliant victories of the Red Army, the entire Hitlerite bloc, which had been held together by the temporary successes of the German fascist troops in the first period of the war, found itself in a state close to collapse.

The victory of the Red Army at Stalingrad deepened the foreign policy isolation of Nazi Germany. Anti-German tendencies intensified in the policy of neutral states. Hitler's satellites began to look for ways to save themselves from the catastrophe that was inevitable if they continued the war on the side of Germany. Of great importance was the fact that after the Battle of Stalingrad, Japan was forced to completely abandon all thoughts of attacking the USSR. Thus, the victory at Stalingrad saved the Soviet Union from the threat of fighting on two fronts.

The victory of the Soviet troops in the Stalingrad epic undermined the European rear of Nazi Germany, caused a mighty upsurge in the national liberation struggle in all the occupied countries. The peoples of these countries, inspired by the heroic example of the Soviet Union, launched an active struggle against the invaders, striving to hasten the final victory over the enemy and their liberation.

The world-historic victory of the Red Army at Stalingrad inspired the peoples of the anti-Hitler coalition to further struggle against fascism, raised the international prestige of the USSR, and strengthened its leading position in the coalition. The democratic forces of the world have rallied more closely around the Soviet state, the standard-bearer of the struggle against fascism and aggression, for the freedom and independence of peoples.

But the significance of the Battle of Stalingrad does not end there. The Soviet-German front was the main front of World War II. He was the axis around which the whole system of events revolved in the Second World War after the German attack on the USSR. In the overall balance, the African, Pacific, Chinese, and Burmese fronts were minor theaters of war. The outcome of the struggle on each of them depended on the balance of forces of the parties, but the result of the world war as a whole was decided on the Soviet-German front. The USSR took upon itself the blow of the main forces of the entire fascist bloc, and its struggle was of worldwide significance, because only the Soviet Union proved capable of repulsing the fascist aggressors. Therefore, the radical turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War as a result of the counter-offensive and the victory of the Soviet troops at Stalingrad also meant a turning point in the course of the entire Second World War.

General offensive of the Red Army. The victory at Stalingrad and the change in the overall balance of forces at the front in favor of the Red Army made it possible for the Soviet command to launch new operations. The center of gravity of offensive operations remained in the south. Gam developed especially favorable conditions for new attacks on the enemy. They promised the greatest strategic effect: the completion of the defeat of the southern wing of the enemy front, the return of the most important industrial and agricultural regions of the country, the complete collapse of Hitler's plans related to the offensive in the Caucasus.

By the end of 1942 Nazi German troops Army Group "A" was stopped on the outskirts of Ordzhonikidze and Grozny, on the passes of the Main Caucasian Range and in the Novorossiysk region. The march on Baku failed, but the enemy command expected to resume it in the spring. The events near Stalingrad, on the Don - in the deep rear of the Caucasian grouping of fascist troops - crossed out these calculations.

On January 1, 1943, the Southern Front (renamed Stalingrad), having regrouped its troops after the defeat of Goth's tank divisions, launched a new offensive. Its purpose was to cut the rear communications of the Caucasian group of fascists. Initially, this task was assigned to the troops of the Voronezh and Southwestern fronts, which were supposed to attack Rostov from the north. Now the attack on Rostov was delivered from the east by troops Southern Front from the region of the Salsky steppes, south of Kotelnikovsky.

The offensive of the troops of the Southern Front along the Lower Don to the Sea of ​​Azov forced the Nazi command to take urgent measures to save their Caucasian grouping. It immediately began a phased withdrawal of the 1st Panzer Army from the Caucasus. Behind her, along the Baku-Rostov railway, the troops of the northern group of the Transcaucasian Front, allocated on January 24 to the North Caucasian Front, advanced. On January 28, the situation forced the enemy command to order the withdrawal of the 1st Tank Army to the Donbass region, and the 17th Field Army to the Lower Kuban and the Taman Peninsula. Now the 17th Army had contact with its rear only through the sea and the Kerch Strait. Clinging to the Taman bridgehead, Hitler still harbored the hope of returning to the Caucasus.

On February 9, the Black Sea Group of Soviet troops transferred to the North Caucasian Front launched an offensive against the 17th Army. For 3 days of fighting, she liberated Krasnodar - the administrative center of the Kuban. The enemy foothold was narrowed.

At the same time, stubborn battles near Novorossiysk continued. On February 4, a detachment landed on the western shore of the Tsemess Bay, south of Novorossiysk, occupied by the enemy. marines under the command of Major Ts. L. Kunikov. The paratroopers recaptured the suburb of Novorossiysk - the village of Stanichka - from the Nazis. Reinforcements delivered under heavy enemy fire made it possible to expand the bridgehead, which held out in the rear of the Nazis for 7 months, until the liberation of Novorossiysk. Its creation and defense became one of the most heroic pages in the history of the Great Patriotic War. 21 defenders of the "Malaya Zemlya" near Novorossiysk were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, over 2 thousand were awarded orders and medals, and Novorossiysk was awarded the title of "Hero City" for the exploits of small-landers with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. This expressed the gratitude of the Soviet people, the party and the government, gave a high assessment of the feats of arms of all those who, not sparing their lives, showed unparalleled courage, steadfastness and heroism near the walls of the city, blocking the enemy's path to the North Caucasus.

In mid-January 1943, Soviet troops launched an offensive on the Upper Don, south and west of Voronezh. His goal was primarily to capture the Voronezh-Millerovo railway, which was necessary to supply the Soviet troops, who were to advance on Kharkov and the Donbass. On January 13-26, the troops of the Voronezh Front under the command of General F.I. Golikov surrounded and destroyed up to five enemy divisions in the Ostrogozhsk region and up to eight enemy divisions in the Rossosh region. In total, 15 enemy divisions were eliminated in this operation.

At the same time, the troops of the Voronezh Front, together with the Bryansk Front, surrounded about 10 enemy divisions between Voronezh and Kastorna. The victory in the Ostrogozh-Rossosh operation created the prerequisites for an offensive against Kharkov and Donbass, and as a result of the Voronezh-Kastornenskaya operation, which ended on February 17, Voronezh was liberated and the prerequisites for an offensive against Kursk were created. The enemy suffered new heavy losses. This made it impossible for him to provide effective resistance to further offensive actions of the Soviet troops in the south.

One of the most important successes achieved by the Soviet troops in the winter campaign of 1942/43 was the breakthrough of the enemy blockade of Leningrad. Of all the immeasurable difficulties and terrible hardships that the Soviet people had to endure in the war, the most difficult fell on the lot of the inhabitants of Leningrad. The huge city besieged by the enemy did not have the necessary supplies of food and fuel. Already in the first blockade winter, hundreds of thousands of Leningraders died of hunger and cold. However, the fascists did not succeed with the bony hand of hunger to force the capitulation of the city of Lenin, which they could not defeat by force of arms. The “Dear Life” through Lake Ladoga maintained a minimum level of supply, but only a breakthrough of the enemy blockade could radically improve the position of Leningrad.

Despite the efforts made, the troops of the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts in 1942 were unable to complete this task. Now they had to counter strikes from the east and west to eliminate the ledge of the enemy front in the Shlisselburg-Sinyavino region, which reached Lake Ladoga, recapture the Leningrad-Volkhov railway and in this way restore contact with Leningrad by land.

In a week of heavy fighting, Soviet troops overcame the powerful defenses created by the Nazis. On January 18, 1943, the 2nd shock army of the Volkhov Front, General V.Z. Romanovsky, joined in the Sinyavin area with the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front, General M.P. Dukhanov. Along the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, a narrow strip of land 8-11 km wide was recaptured from the enemy. Thus the blockade of Leningrad was broken. Despite the fact that the enemy still continued the siege and shelling of the hero city, his position now changed radically.

Important developments have taken place in other areas as well. The troops of the Kalinin Front recaptured Velikiye Luki from the enemy in an enveloping maneuver. A large ledge of the enemy front, covering Vyazma, Rzhev, Gzhatsk, only 150 km west of Moscow, was a particular threat. Therefore, throughout the autumn of 1942, Soviet troops fought stubborn, bloody battles here. offensive battles, but were not successful. Fighting resumed in November. At the end of February 1943, the troops of the Kalinin Front launched a decisive offensive against Rzhev. This time, neither the powerful defense system nor the fierce counterattacks of the Nazis could stop the Soviet soldiers. Rzhev was surrounded and stormed on March 3. After 3 days, tank and rifle units of the Western Front liberated Gzhatsk, which was an outpost of enemy positions near Moscow. On March 13, they completed their success by driving the enemy out of Vyazma. The most important foothold of the enemy aimed at Moscow ceased to exist. The Soviet troops won a major victory, seriously improving the situation on the central sector of the front.