Stalingrad and Kursk battles, their political and military-strategic significance. The battles of Stalingrad and Kursk as turning points in the course of the Great Patriotic War Dates of the Stalingrad and Kursk battles

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Introduction

1. Stalingrad battle

2. Battle of Kursk

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

The Soviet command began to develop a plan to defeat the enemy. The main goal of the upcoming winter campaign 1942 -1943. was to wrest the strategic initiative from the hands of the enemy, inflict a heavy defeat on him and thereby achieve a decisive turning point in the course of the war. At the same time, the Red Army was supposed to deliver the main blow in the South-West direction against one of the largest and most active enemy grouping. Its defeat would lead to the collapse of the entire southern wing of the enemy front and, consequently, to the liberation of important industrial and agricultural regions of the country. And the defeat of the satellites of Nazi Germany, operating in the south, would inevitably intensify the contradiction within the fascist bloc. To achieve this goal, our people have created all the necessary prerequisites.

By November 1942. As a result of the increased power of the Red Army and the huge losses suffered by the Nazi army on the Soviet-German front, the balance of forces changed in favor of the Soviet troops. Of the 333 divisions and 18 brigades that the enemy had, there were 258 divisions and 16 brigades on the Soviet-German front, including 66 divisions and 13 satellite brigades. By that time, the active army of fascist Germany had 6,795 thousand people, including 5 million on the Soviet-German front.In total, taking into account the satellite troops, the enemy had 6,270,000 soldiers and officers at the front, 70,980 guns and mortars, 6,800 tanks and assault guns , 3500 combat aircraft.

If we take 100% of the production of certain types of equipment in 1940, then in 1941 the tank industry produced 112%, and in 1942 - 194%; aviation - respectively 126% and 178%; ammunition - 152% and 218%. A new legendary T-34 tank appeared. At the same time, the quality of military equipment and weapons was improved.

A different situation developed in Nazi Germany. As a result of defeats in the winter of 1942-1943. The German fascist army was forced to leave the territories captured in 1942 and partially in 1943. The Nazis were now paying for their military adventure with the blood of millions of soldiers and officers. The battlefields of recent battles were littered with thousands of destroyed enemy tanks, guns, aircraft. Huge losses in people and military equipment undermined the morale and population of Germany.

After fierce battles, the winter of 1942 - 1943. there was a lull on the Soviet-German front. The belligerents learned lessons from the past battles and outlined plans for further action. The troops were replenished with people and equipment, accumulated reserves, and carried out regroupings. However, in the Far East, the Japanese offensive apparently reached its climax, if not passed it.

1. Stalingrad battle

The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the most important events of the Second World War. The battle included an attempt by the Wehrmacht to seize the left bank of the Volga in the Stalingrad region (present-day Volgograd) and the city itself, a confrontation in the city, and a counteroffensive by the Red Army (Operation Uranus), as a result of which the VI Army of the Wehrmacht and other forces of Germany's allies in and around the city were surrounded and partly destroyed, partly captured. According to rough estimates, the total losses of both sides in this battle exceed two million people. The Axis powers lost a large number of men and weapons and were subsequently unable to fully recover from the defeat. J.V. Stalin wrote:

“Stalingrad was the decline of the German fascist army. After the Stalingrad massacre, as you know, the Germans could no longer recover. "

After the capture of Rostov, Hitler transferred the 4th Panzer Army from Group A, advancing in the Caucasus, to Group B, aimed east towards the Volga and Stalingrad.

Army Group South was selected to push across the southern steppes of Russia into the Caucasus to seize vital oil fields. The summer offensive was codenamed "Fall Blau" (German for blue). It involved the VI and XVII armies of the Wehrmacht and the 1st tank with the 4th tank armies. In 1941, Army Group South captured Ukraine and was located in the area of the planned offensive.

After the Kharkov disaster of the Red Army in May 1942, Hitler intervened in strategic planning by ordering Army Group South to split in two. Army Group "A" was supposed to continue the offensive in the North Caucasus. Army Group B, including Friedrich Paulus's 6th Army and Hoth's 4th Panzer Army, was to move east towards the Volga and Stalingrad.

Operation Blau began with an offensive by Army Group South on the troops of the Bryansk Front to the north and the troops of the Southwest Front to the south of Voronezh. It is worth noting that, despite a two-month break in active hostilities by the troops of the Bryansk Front, the result turned out to be no less catastrophic than for the troops of the South-Western Front, battered by the May battles. On the very first day of the operation, both Soviet fronts were broken through tens of kilometers and the Germans rushed to the Don. Soviet troops could oppose the Germans only with weak resistance in the vast desert steppes, and then they began to flock to the east in complete disarray. Attempts to re-form the defense ended in complete failure, when German units entered the Soviet defensive positions from the flank. Several divisions of the Red Army in mid-July fell into a cauldron in the south of the Voronezh region near the village of Millerovo.

Meanwhile, the 2nd Hungarian and 4th Panzer Armies launched an attack on Voronezh, capturing the city on 5 July.

6th Army's initial offensive was so successful that Hitler intervened again, ordering 4th Panzer Army to join Army Group South (A). As a result, a huge "traffic jam" was formed when the 4th and 6th armies needed several roads in the zone of operations. Both armies were stuck tightly, and the delay turned out to be quite long and slowed down the German advance by one week. With a slowed offensive, Hitler changed his mind and reassigned the target of the 4th Panzer Army back to the Stalingrad direction.

By the end of July, the Germans pushed the Soviet troops back across the Don. The defense line stretched for hundreds of kilometers from north to south along the Don. To organize a defense along the river, the Germans had to use, in addition to their 2nd Army, the armies of their Italian, Hungarian and Romanian allies. 6th Army was only a few dozen kilometers from Stalingrad, and 4th Panzer, south of it, turned north to help take the city. To the south, Army Group South (A) continued to deepen further into the Caucasus, but its advance slowed down. Army Group South (A) was too far south to provide support for Army Group South (B) in the north.

Now German intentions became completely clear to the Soviet command, so in July it developed plans for the defense of Stalingrad. Soviet troops continued to move east until the Germans were ordered to attack Stalingrad. Stalingrad's eastern border was the Volga River, and additional Soviet troops were deployed on the other side of the river. This unit of units was reorganized into the 62nd Army under the command of Vasily Chuikov, whose task was to defend Stalingrad at any cost.

In November, after three months of carnage and a slow, costly offensive, the Germans finally reached the banks of the river, capturing 90% of the destroyed city and breaking the remaining Soviet troops in two, which left them in two narrow cauldrons. In addition to all this, a crust of ice formed on the Volga, preventing the approach of boats and supplies for the Soviet troops in a difficult situation. Despite everything, the struggle, especially on the Mamayev Kurgan and in the factories in the northern part of the city, continued as fiercely as ever. The battles for the Krasny Oktyabr plant, the tractor plant and the Barricades artillery plant became known all over the world. While Soviet soldiers continued to defend their positions, firing at the Germans, workers in factories and factories repaired damaged Soviet tanks and weapons in the immediate vicinity of the battlefield, and sometimes on the battlefield itself.

On November 19, 1942, the Red Army launched an offensive as part of Operation Uranus. On November 23, in the Kalach area, a circle of encirclement was closed around the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht. The plan "Uranus" was not fully implemented, since it was not possible to dismember the 6th army into two parts from the very beginning (by a strike of the 24th army in the area between the Volga and Don rivers). Attempts to liquidate the surrounded outright in these conditions also failed, despite the significant superiority in forces - the superior tactical quality of the Germans affected. However, the 6th Army was isolated and supplies of fuel, ammunition and food were progressively reduced, despite attempts to supply it by air made by the 4th Luftflot under the command of Wolfram von Richthofen. Operation Uranus ended with the defeat of the 6th Army and the surrender of tens of thousands of German servicemen, led by Field Marshal Paulus and his headquarters.

On January 10, the offensive of Soviet troops began, the main blow was inflicted in the zone of General Batov's 65th Army. However, the German resistance turned out to be so serious that the offensive had to be temporarily stopped. From January 17 to 22, the offensive was suspended for regrouping, new attacks on January 22-26 led to the dismemberment of the 6th Army into two groups (Soviet troops united in the Mamayev Kurgan area). By January 31, the southern group was liquidated (the command and headquarters of the 6th Army, led by Paulus, were captured), by February 2, the encircled northern group surrendered. Shooting in the city went on until February 3 - the Khivi resisted even after the German surrender, since they were not threatened with captivity. About 90 thousand were taken prisoner at this, the last stage of the operation. The elimination of the 6th Army, according to the "Ring" plan, was to be completed in a week, but in reality it lasted 23 days. (The 24th Army had to be reorganized after Operation Ring).

2. Battle of Kursk

Battle of Kursk (July 5, 1943 - August 23, 1943, also known as the Battle of the Kursk Bulge, Operation Citadel German Unternehmen Zitadelle) in terms of its scope, forces and means involved, tension, results and military-political consequences, is one of key battles of the Great Patriotic War. The Battle of Kursk lasted forty-nine days - from July 5 to August 23, 1943. In Soviet and Russian historiography, it is customary to divide the battle into three parts: the Kursk defensive operation (July 5-23); Oryol (July 12 - August 18) and Belgorod-Kharkov (August 3-23) offensive.

The German offensive began on the morning of July 5, 1943. Since the Soviet command knew exactly the time of the start of the operation, at 3 a.m. (the German army fought in Berlin time - translated into Moscow time as 6 a.m.), artillery and aviation counterpreparations were carried out 30-40 minutes before the start of the operation. The artillery preparation fell on empty positions, the Germans were still sleeping in their dugouts; however, Soviet counterpreparations awakened them. When the Soviet command later realized from the testimony of German prisoners of war that its blow did not fall on the dense masses of German infantry in the trenches, awaiting a signal to start an attack, it considered the reason for the failure of the artillery that the Germans allegedly planned to withdraw their troops into the first line of trenches, along which and a blow was struck, 5-10 minutes before the start of the offensive, so the artillery preparation was wasted. However, it was believed that the Soviet fire strike nevertheless disrupted communications in the German units and caused great damage to the German artillery, which is why the strike was postponed to 6 hours 30 minutes (the Germans began an artillery barrage at 6 hours, half an hour later - the attack).

Before the start of the ground operation, at 6 a.m. our time, the Germans also launched a bomb and artillery strike against the Soviet defensive lines. The tanks that went over to the offensive immediately encountered serious resistance. The main blow on the northern face was delivered in the direction of Olkhovatka. Unable to achieve success, the Germans suffered a blow in the direction of Ponyri, but even here they could not break through the Soviet defenses. The Wehrmacht was able to advance only 10-12 km, after which already from July 10, having lost up to two-thirds of the tanks, the 9th German army went on the defensive. On the southern face, the main attacks of the Germans were directed to the areas of Korochi and Oboyan.

Operation "Citadel" - the general offensive of the German army on the Eastern Front in 1943 - had the goal of encircling the troops of the Central (K. K. Rokossovsky) and Voronezh (N. F. Vatutin) fronts in the region of the city of Kursk by counter-strikes from the north and south under the foundation of the Kursk salient, as well as the defeat of Soviet operational and strategic reserves east of the main direction of the main attack (including in the area of Prokhorovka station). The main blow from the southern direction was delivered by the forces of the 4th Panzer Army (commander - Hermann Goth, 48 TC and 2 TC SS) with the support of the army group "Kempf" (V. Kempf).

At the initial stage of the offensive, the 48th Panzer Corps (comm.: O. von Knobelsdorf, Chief of Staff: F. von Mellentin, 527 tanks, 147 self-propelled guns), which was the strongest formation of the 4th Panzer Army, consisting of: 3 and 11 Panzer divisions, mechanized (tank-grenadier) division "Great Germany", 10 tank brigade and 911 dep. battalion of assault guns, with the support of 332 and 167 infantry divisions, had the task of breaking through the first, second and third lines of defense of the Voronezh Front units from the Gertsovka - Butovo area in the direction of Cherkasskoye - Yakovlevo - Oboyan. It was assumed that in the Yakovlevo area there are 48 shopping malls. will connect with parts of 2 shopping mall. The SS (thereby encircling units of the 52nd Guards and 67th Guards Rifles), will change parts of 2 tk. SS, after which parts of the SS corps were supposed to be used against the operational reserves of the Red Army in the area of Art. Prokhorovka, and 48 shopping mall. had to continue operations on the main direction Oboyan - Kursk.

To complete the assigned task, parts of 48 tk. on the first day of the offensive (day "X") it was required to break into the defense of the 6th Guards. "A2" (Lieutenant General I. M. Chistyakov) at the junction of the 71st Guards Rifle Division (Colonel I. P. Sivakov) and 67 Guards Rifle Division (Colonel A. I. Baksov), capture the large village of Cherkasskoye and carry out a breakthrough with armored vehicles parts in the direction of the village Yakovlevo. The offensive plan of 48 mk determined that the village of Cherkasskoye was to be captured by 10:00 on July 5. And already on July 6, parts of the 48th shopping mall. had to reach the city of Oboyan.

However, as a result of the actions of Soviet units and formations, their courage and resilience shown by them, as well as the preparation of defensive lines they carried out in advance, the plans of the Wehrmacht in this direction were "significantly adjusted" - 48 tk. did not reach Oboyan at all.

An important factor in the success of German tank units was the qualitative leap in the combat characteristics of German armored vehicles that took place by the summer of 1943. Already during the first day of the defensive operation on the Kursk Bulge, the insufficient power of the anti-tank weapons in service with the Soviet units manifested itself in the fight against both the new German Pz.V and Pz.VI tanks, and with modernized tanks of older brands (about half of the Soviet Iptap were armed with 45-mm guns, the power of 76-mm Soviet field and American tank guns made it possible to effectively destroy modern or modernized enemy tanks at distances half to three times less than the effective range of fire of the latter, heavy tank and self-propelled units at that time were practically absent, not only in the combined arms 6th Guards "A", but also in the second line of defense of the 1st tank army of M.E. Katukov, which occupied behind it the second line of defense.

On July 12, the largest oncoming tank battle in history took place in the Prokhorovka area. From the German side, according to V. Zamulin, the 2nd SS Panzer Corps participated in it, which had 494 tanks and self-propelled guns, including 15 Tigers and not a single Panther. German data, however, suggests that one SS Panzer Division was involved in the battle with fewer than 200 tanks [source?]. According to Soviet sources, about 700 tanks and assault guns took part in the battle from the German side. However, this could not be: even according to Zamulin's data, an already battered tank corps took part in the battle on the German side, which at the beginning of the operation only counted 494 tanks, and according to German data - one SS tank division, numbering less than 200 tanks. From the Soviet side, the 5th Panzer Army of P. Rotmistrov, numbering about 850 tanks, took part in the battle. According to Soviet data, about 400 German tanks, 300 vehicles, over 3500 soldiers and officers remained on the battlefield in the battle of Prokhorovka.

On July 12, the Western (commanded by Colonel-General Vasily Sokolovsky) and Bryansk (commanded by Colonel-General Markian Popov) fronts launched an offensive against the enemy's 2nd tank and 9th armies in the Orel region. By the end of the day on July 13, Soviet troops broke through the enemy's defenses. On July 26, the Germans left the Oryol bridgehead and began to withdraw to the Hagen defensive line (east of Bryansk). On August 5, Soviet troops occupied Oryol.

On the southern face, the counter-offensive by the forces of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts began on August 3. On August 5, Belgorod was liberated, on August 7 - Bogodukhov. Developing the offensive, Soviet troops cut the Kharkov-Poltava railway on August 11, and on August 23 captured Kharkov. The German counterstrikes were unsuccessful.

On August 5, the first salute in the entire war was given in Moscow - in honor of the liberation of Orel and Belgorod.

Conclusion

The victory of the Soviet army at Kursk marked the final transition to the allies of the strategic initiative in World War II. By the time the front stabilized, Soviet troops had reached their initial positions for an offensive on the Dnieper. British-American forces landed in Sicily in the midst of the battle. An indirect result of the Battle of Kursk was the withdrawal of Italy from the war on September 8, 1943. [source?]

After the end of the battle on the Kursk Bulge, the German command lost the ability to conduct strategic offensive operations. Local massive offensives, such as "Watch on the Rhine" (1944) or the operation on Balaton (1945), were also unsuccessful.

Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, who designed and carried out Operation Citadel, later spoke of it like this: It was the last attempt to preserve our initiative in the East. With her failure, tantamount to failure, the initiative finally passed to the Soviet side. Therefore, Operation Citadel is a decisive turning point in the war on the Eastern Front.

The losses of the parties in the battle remain unclear. So, Soviet historians, including Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences Alexander Samsonov, speak of more than 500,000 killed, wounded or captured, 1,500 tanks and over 3,700 aircraft.

However, German archival data indicate that the Wehrmacht in July-August 1943 lost only 164,588 people around the world killed and missing. This makes the figure of more than 500 thousand killed and wounded unrealistic. At the same time, these figures include both captured and killed Germans (although the number of German prisoners in this operation was insignificant).

In addition, according to German documents, on the entire Eastern Front, the Luftwaffe lost only 1,696 aircraft in July-August 1943.

On the other hand, even Soviet commanders during the war years did not consider the Soviet military reports of German losses to be true; Thus, General Malinin (chief of staff of the front) wrote to the lower headquarters: "Looking through the daily results of the day about the number of destroyed manpower and equipment and captured trophies, I came to the conclusion that these data are significantly overestimated and, therefore, do not correspond to reality."

Bibliography

Antipenko, N.A. On the main direction (Memoirs of the Deputy Front Commander) / N.A.Antipenko. - Moscow: Nauka, 1967. - 350 p.

Glantz, D. Battle of Kursk. Decisive turning point of the Second World War. / D. Glantz. - M: Dikta, 2007 .-- 365 p.

Zamulin V. Prokhorovka-unknown battle of the great war. / V. Zamulin. - M.: AST Keeper, 2006. - 323 p.

Zamulin V., Kurskiy break. The decisive battle of the Patriotic War. / V. Zamulin - M .: Yauza, Eksmo, 2007 .-- 960 p.

Müller-Hillebrand B. German Land Army 1933-1945. / B. Muller-Gillebrand - M.: Nauka, 2003 .-- 366 p.

The True Story of the Luftwaffe. The rise and fall of Goering's brainchild. M., 2006 .-- 329 p.

Samsonov, A. M. The Second World War. USSR Academy of Sciences, dep. History, Institute of History of the USSR. / A.M. Samsonov. - M: Nauka, 1985 .-- 345 p.

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Lesson objectives.

Educational: to form knowledge about the completion of a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War. To acquaint with the main events of the Battle of Kursk, to show the military art of the Soviet command, the heroism of the soldiers. Determine the significance of the Battle of Kursk.
Developing: to form the ability to analyze, draw conclusions, compare, work with a source.
Educational: foster feelings of patriotism, pride in their people.

Methods: Reproductive-verbal, visual, partial-search.

Forms: Individual, frontal.

Basic concepts: radical fracture.

Lesson equipment:

textbook A.A. Danilov, L.G. Kosulin "History of Russia" XX - early XXI century,
map "Great Patriotic War",
TSO, video materials on the Battle of Kursk.

Lesson plan

Introductory remarks by the teacher. Message of the topic, the purpose of the lesson.
Repetition and actualization of knowledge.
Learning new material.
Anchoring.
Self-study assignment. Assessment of knowledge.

Teacher. We continue to study one of the most difficult periods in the history of our country - the Great Patriotic War. In the last lesson, they took apart the Battle of Stalingrad, which marked the beginning of a radical change in the course of the war. The purpose of this lesson is to consider the completion of a fundamental change, get acquainted with the main events of the Battle of Kursk, compare it with Stalingrad, and determine the meaning. During the lesson, you need to fill in the following table:

A radical turning point in the course of the war

The first part of the table is filled in at the beginning of the lesson. One person goes to the board. While he is working with the table, there is a repetition.

Frontal poll.

Question: What is the date of the Second World War?

Question: Name the stages of the war.

Answer: June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942 - initial stage November 19, 1942 - end of 1943 - a period of radical change

Question: What are the main events of the initial stage?

Answer: The Germans had a strategic initiative, the retreat of Soviet troops, the Germans occupied Belarus, the Baltic States, and the Ukraine. Battle for Moscow. The beginning of the defense of Stalingrad.

Question: What is a radical change in the course of the war?

Answer: Transition of the strategic initiative from the German army to the Soviet one.

Question: What battles were the result of a radical change?

Answer: Stalingrad and Kursk battles.

Teacher. Checking the table - the Battle of Stalingrad.

Teacher. After Stalingrad, Hitler decided to take revenge, a "total" mobilization was carried out, German divisions from European countries were transferred to the Eastern Front (50 divisions in total). An offensive plan has been developed.

Working with a document.

Teacher. Read the document and answer the questions.

From the operational order of the Fuhrer No. 6
on the operation "Citadel"
April 15, 1943

I decided: as soon as weather conditions permit, carry out Operation Citadel as an offensive strike this year.

Therefore, particular importance is attached to this offensive. It must be done quickly and with great penetrating power. It should transfer the initiative for the spring and summer into our hands.

In this regard, all preparations should be carried out with the greatest circumspection and energy. Use the best formations, the best weapons, the best commanders, and a large amount of ammunition on all the main directions. Every commander, every private must be imbued with an understanding of the decisive significance of this offensive. The victory at Kursk should serve as a torch for the whole world.

For this I order:

1. The purpose of the offensive is to encircle the enemy forces in the Kursk region by means of a massive, merciless and quickly carried out by each of the attacking armies from the Belgorod region and south of Orel and destroy them with a concentrated offensive ...

2. It is necessary:

a) ensure surprise as reliably as possible and, above all, leave the enemy in the dark about the day of the offensive.

b) concentrate the offensive forces as best as possible on a narrow sector of the front in order to use superiority in individual points of all offensive means (tanks, assault guns, artillery, smoke mortars, etc.) and with one blow, before the combination of both advancing armies, to break through the front enemy and surround him….

c) carry out the offensive so quickly that the enemy could neither escape the encirclement, nor pull up his reserves from other fronts ...

Why did the German command attach decisive importance to this operation?
What factors were the bets placed on in the development of this operation? (Write down the factors in a notebook).

Suddenness.
Strike to strike on a narrow section of the front, concentrating a huge amount of equipment.
Rapidity.

Teacher. The Soviet command was aware of the impending operation. It was decided to prepare for defense in strict confidence, while sending the Germans disinformation about the impending strike on another sector of the front.

Question: which of the factors planned by Hitler could not be fulfilled?

Answer: The suddenness of the blow.

Teacher. After watching the video about the Battle of Kursk, you must answer the questions by filling out the table. Questions are written on the chalkboard.

What was the goal of the Germans when planning the operation?
What steps did the German command take to prepare for the offensive?
What new technology did Germany and the Soviet Union have?
What is the main battle of the Battle of Kursk?
Results.
The significance of the Battle of Kursk.

After viewing, the filling of the table is checked.

After checking, there is a comparison of the Stalingrad and Kursk battles.

Teacher. After the victory, the Soviet army went on the offensive. On August 5, Belgorod and Orel were liberated. The first victorious salute in the history of the Second World War was fired in Moscow. In a short time they liberated Kharkov, Donbass, Bryansk, Smolensk.

Anchoring

Teacher. The English historian A. Clarke wrote in his work “Barbarossa”: “... the German command relied on a lightning strike with the widespread use of new military equipment - Junkers, a short intensive artillery preparation, close interaction of a mass of tanks and infantry ... .. without due regard to the changed conditions for excluding simple arithmetic increment of the corresponding components .. "

Please comment on this statement.

Answer: The Germans used the old methods, increasing the number.

Teacher. What can you say about the Soviet command?

Answer: New strategy and tactics. G.K. Zhukova - active defense, exhausting the enemy and going over to the offensive. Rokossovsky's proposal is a preemptive strike.

Self-study assignment: p. 256, questions 3, 4.

Stalingrad and Kursk battles. A radical turning point in the war.

Stage 1 - July 17 - November 19, 1942 ᴦ.- defensive battles, state of siege for 125 days, street battles. The enemy forces were superior in personnel by 1.7 times, in artillery and tanks - 1.3 times, in aircraft - 2 times.

Capture of the area by the enemy ᴦ. Stalingrad posed a serious danger, since it was here that the main artery of the country passed through which Baku oil was transported, which was necessary for the front of the national economy.

Fall ᴦ. Stalingrad and a breakthrough to the Volga would lead to the loss of a major hub, communications linking the central regions of the European part of the Soviet Union with the Caucasus, as well as to disruption of communications on the highways going to Central Asia and the Urals. Particularly important was the river.
Posted on ref.rf
Volga, through which the Caucasian oil was transported.

ᴦ was of great strategic importance. Stalingrad and for the Soviet troops. Holding the area ᴦ. Stalingrad, Soviet troops hung from the north over the Caucasian group of the enemy and had a real opportunity at the necessary moment to strike at its flank and rear, and subsequently completely defeat its troops at the southern end of the Soviet-German front.

The Soviet high command, on the basis of a deep analysis of the situation, correctly determined the value of ᴦ. Stalingrad, foreseeing that it was here that the decisive struggle would unfold at this stage of the war. Considering also that in the most difficult situation, the Stalingrad direction became extremely profitable in operational terms, since from there it is possible to deliver a very dangerous blow to the flank and rear of the enemy grouping advancing across the river.
Posted on ref.rf
Don to the Caucasus.

Τᴀᴋᴎᴍ ᴏϬᴩᴀᴈᴏᴍ, the idea of the Bet on the organization of strategic defense was to bleed and stop the enemy in stubborn defensive battles, not allowing him to the r.
Posted on ref.rf
To gain time on the Volga, it is extremely important for the preparation of strategic reserves and their advance to the region ᴦ. Stalingrad in order to subsequently launch a decisive offensive.

July 17, 1942 ᴦ. the vanguards of the divisions of the 6th German army met at the border of the Chir and Tsimla rivers with the advance detachments of the 62nd and 64th armies of the Stalingrad front. The battles of the detachments put Start the great Battle of Stalingrad.

The heroic struggle of Soviet soldiers continued for six days. With their perseverance and perseverance, they did not allow the enemy to break through to Stalingrad on the move.

When in a large bend of the river.
Posted on ref.rf
Don, in single combat with the 6th German Army, the formations of the Stalingrad Front entered into combat the enemy realized that in this direction he would meet strong resistance from Soviet troops. On July 23, the Hitlerite command issued Directive No. 45. It specified the tasks of the troops advancing on the Volga and the Caucasus.

Army Group Bʼʼ (2nd, 6th German and 2nd Hungarian armies), which included 30 divisions, was ordered to defeat the grouping of Soviet troops in the area ᴦ. Stalingrad, seize the city and disrupt traffic along the Volga; subsequently strike along the river to the southeast and exit to ᴦ. Astrakhan.

Army group Аʼʼ (1st, 4th tank, 17th, 11th field armies), which had 41 divisions, was supposed to encircle and destroy the forces of Soviet troops in the region to the south and southeast ᴦ. Rostov-on-Don, and cut the Tikhoretsk-Stalingrad railroad with forward units. After the destruction of the grouping of Soviet troops south of the river.
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Don, it was planned to develop an offensive in three directions for the complete mastery of the Caucasus.

The Soviet army suffered huge losses, but stood to its death, because everyone knew that there was nowhere to retreat further. In case the enemy captures ᴦ. Stalingrad, then the Soviet army simply could not win further in this battle, and if it had chances, then it was simply scanty, that it would be almost impossible. At this time, the slogan “Russia is great, but nowhere to retreat!” Appeared, and in this regard, the soldiers of the Stalingrad front fought. They fought not for life, but to the death. This was confirmed by the huge number of feats that were performed during these days in ᴦ. Stalingrad and on its outskirts. Here are some of them.

Soviet pilot Major V.V. Zemlyansky. August 7, 1942 ᴦ. brought down his burning plane on enemy tanks in the 74 km junction area.

In October 1942 ᴦ. in the area of the "Barricades" plant, a signalman of the 308th rifle division, Matvey Putilov, under enemy fire, was carrying out a mission to restore communications. When he was looking for a broken wire, he was wounded in the shoulder by a mine fragment. Overcoming the pain, Putilov crawled to the place where the wire was broken, he was wounded again; an enemy mine shattered his arm. Losing consciousness and unable to act with his hand, the sergeant squeezed the ends of the wire with his teeth, and a current passed through his body. Having restored the connection, Putilov died with the ends of the telephone wires clenched in his teeth.

And there were dozens, hundreds of such feats. The soldiers rushed to the embrasures of enemy tanks, the pilots went to air and ground rams, and they all knew that they would die or might die, but this did not prevent them from performing more and more new feats.

Speaking of everything, one cannot fail to mention the Stalingrad ferries, which played an important role in the Battle of Stalingrad. With the start of the bombing ᴦ. Stalingrad, all ferry crossings connecting the city center with the left bank of the river.
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The Volga was forced to stop working, as the enemy struck at ships, piers and piers.

Made through the river.
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Volga voyages single river vessels, more than 10 minesweepers of the WWF and means of pontoon-bridge battalions, rescuing the inhabitants of the city.

Maneuvering among the explosions of bombs, dodging the cannon and machine-gun bursts of fascist aircraft and fighting off their attacks with the fire of their anti-aircraft weapons, they made their way to the right bank of the river.
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Volga, delivering military replenishment, ammunition, equipment, and there they took residents and wounded soldiers and transported them to the left bank.

The fire and rescue steamer "Extinguisher" these days was in the very heat. He rushed along the roadstead from one burning or damaged boat to another, saving them from the fire and towing them to safety.

He became famous in those days for the entire river.
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The Volga is a small old paddle steamer "Swallow". In the early days of the violent bombing, Swallow transported residents from the city enveloped in fire to the left bank of the river.
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Volga. Working at the Stalingrad ferries, Swallow transported 18 thousand people and towed 20 thousand tons of various cargo.

On September 12, at a meeting at the headquarters of the Wehrmacht near Vinnitsa, Hitler resolutely demanded at any cost and as soon as possible to capture Stalingrad. For the assault on the city, the troops of the army group "B" were significantly reinforced by transferring formations from the Caucasian direction of the Western Front. As a result, only during the first half of September in the region ᴦ. Nine divisions and one brigade were sent to Stalingrad.

Fact: from the memoirs of Zhukov: ʼʼ13, 14, 15 September for the Stalingrad people were hard, too hard days. The enemy, regardless of anything, made his way step by step through the ruins of the city all the way to the Volga. It seemed that people could not stand it. But as soon as the enemy rushed forward, as our glorious soldiers shot him point-blank, the ruins of Stalingrad became a fortress. At the same time, the strength of the defenders of the city became less and less every hour. The turning point in these difficult days, and as at times it seemed the last hours, was created by the 13th Guards Army of A.I. Rodimtseva. After crossing to Stalingrad, she immediately counterattacked the enemy. Her blow was completely unexpected for the enemy. On September 16, Rodimtsev's division, along with other parts of the 62nd Army, recaptured Mamayev Kurgan. The air formations of A.E. Golovanov and S. I. Rudenko, counterattacks by the troops of the Stalingrad Front from the north.

The names of the soldiers of the garrisons of the House of Sergeant Ya.F. Pavlov and the House of Lieutenant N.E. Zabolotny, whose exploits became a symbol of the great courage and mass heroism of the soldiers of the Soviet army.

On the night of December 27, 1942 ᴦ. reconnaissance group of the 7th company of the 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 13th Guards Rifle Division as part of Sergeant Ya.F. Pavlova knocked the enemies out of a four-story building on Penza Street and held it for almost three days.

The defense of the legendary house, which went down in the history of the Great Patriotic War as an immortal monument of military Glory, lasted 58 days. And this is not the only case of heroism in history ᴦ. Stalingrad. The defenders of this proud fought not only with amazing courage and self-sacrifice, but also with increasing skill.

Preparing for the general assault, the German command mobilized all possible forces. Almost all the reinforcements that arrived at the Soviet-German front were sent to ᴦ. Stalingrad.

They intended to deliver the main blow to the enemy at the Tractor Plant and the Barricades and Red October factories. Their actions supported up to 1,000 aircraft.

On October 10, the Nazis launched violent attacks against the units defending the Tractor Plant. Attacks followed one after another, the German command planned to seize the Tractor Plant and, dismembering the 62nd Army, to destroy it.

Having suffered heavy losses, on October 15, the enemy seized the Tractor Plant and broke through to the river in a narrow 2.5-kilometer stretch.
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Volga. The position of the troops of the 62nd Army deteriorated significantly. Colonel Gorokhov's group was cut off from the basic forces of the army. And yet the Fuehrer's order was not carried out by the fascist generals and their divisions. Soviet soldiers thwarted the plan to capture the city.

At the final stage of the defensive battle, a struggle unfolded for the Krasny Oktyabr and Barricades factories, as well as in the area of the Rynok settlement. Soviet units lacked manpower, firepower, people were tired of continuous battles. The maneuver by forces and means of the defending troops was limited.

The Nazis captured the commanding heights and fired at the area not only with artillery, but also with rifle and machine-gun fire to the entire depth of the defense. Thousands of planes stormed the positions of Soviet soldiers from the air. But the defenders of Stalingrad held the defensive unwaveringly.

The whole world followed with great attention the course of the battle on the river.
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Volga. The word "Stalingrad" did not leave the pages of the press, it was carried across all continents on the air. Everywhere people felt and understood that the outcome of the war was being decided in Stalingrad.

The defense of the city lasted more than two months and ended in the collapse of the enemy's plans. Hitler did not achieve his goal. The heroic city was held back. The offensive capabilities of the German fascist army dried up in the bloody battles on the approaches to Stalingrad and in the city itself. The losses of Hitler's troops during the entire defensive period were very impressive: about 700,000 soldiers and officers wounded and killed, more than 1,000 tanks and assault guns, over 2,000 guns and mortars, over 1,400 combat and transport aircraft.

Heroic defense of Soviet troops at ᴦ. Stalingrad demonstrated to the whole world the high moral and combat qualities of the Soviet troops, their indestructible staunchness and mass heroism.

To the aid of the defenders ᴦ. The whole country came to Stalingrad. New units and formations of all types of troops were formed. More military equipment of new types began to arrive. The fighting skill of Soviet soldiers, who had received severe training in the crucible of war, grew. As a result of the strengthening of the power of the Soviet state, the army exhausted and bled the fascist hordes. This created the conditions for the transition of Soviet troops to the counteroffensive, the beginning of which marks a new period in the Great Patriotic War.

Thus ended the first half of the heroic Stalingrad epic, unparalleled in history.

Stage 2 - November 19 - 30, 1942 ᴦ. - operation of the Soviet troops ʼʼUran- On November 19, the troops of the Southwestern and Don fronts, after a powerful artillery barrage, in which 3,500 guns and mortars took part, went on the offensive. ʼʼExactly at 7.30 a.m. November 19 - recalls Colonel-General I.M. Chistyakov - the silence of the frosty November morning was torn apart by a volley of guards mortars. And together with the Katyushas all our guns and mortars struck. "God of War" spoke at the top of his voice. For an hour and twenty minutes the cannonade thundered. Hundreds of tons of metal fell on the enemy's head.

Fact:ʼʼNovember 19 at 7.30 a.m. - Zhukov describes - the troops of the Southwestern Front with a mighty blow broke through the defenses of the 3rd Romanian Army simultaneously in two sectors: the 5th Panzer Army under the command of Lieutenant General Romanenko from the bridgehead south-west of Serafimovich and 21 Army under the command of Major General Chistyakov - from the bridgehead at Kletskaya. The Romanian troops could not withstand the blow and began to retreat or surrender. The enemy, with a strong counterattack of German units, tried to stop the advance of our troops, but was crushed by the 1st and 2nd Panzer Corps brought into action. A tactical breakthrough in the sector of the Southwestern Front was completedʼʼ.

On November 20, the army of the Stalingrad Front joined the counteroffensive, which was commanded by General A.I. Eremenko.

On November 23, in the Kalach region, the troops of the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts met. From the north, units of the 26th Tank Corps of General A.G. Rodin and the 4th Tank Corps of General A.G. Kravchenko, and from the south - units of the 4th mechanized corps of General V.T. Volsky. The encirclement of the enemy is over. In the encirclement ring were 22 divisions and 160 separate units of the 6th and 4th tank German armies with a total strength of over 300 thousand people.

By the end of November 25, external and internal encirclement fronts were created. The first was formed by the troops of all three fronts that took part in the Uranus operation, the second was created by part of the forces of the South-Western and Stalingrad fronts, which reached the line of the Krivaya and Chir rivers and further along the line of Suravikino, Abganerovo, Umantsevo.

By November 30, when Operation Uranus was largely completed, Soviet forces had formed a 300-kilometer gap in the enemy's strategic front. His large group was squeezed into a tight ring of encirclement. The length of the encirclement front was 170 kilometers. The ratio of forces of the sides here was 1: 1.5 in favor of ours.

The Hitlerite command could not come to terms with the fact that such a large group was surrounded. Hitler and his inner circle did not even allow the idea of withdrawing the 6th Army from the encirclement.

To restore the situation and unblock the encirclement of the troops, the fascist command began urgently transferring reserves from other sectors of the Soviet-German front and from Western Europe. From the troops operating at Stalingrad and the reserves that approached, it formed an army group "Don", at the head of which was placed an experienced fascist Field Marshal E. Manstein. This group was supposed to strike at ᴦ. Stalingrad, break through the outer front of the encirclement of Soviet troops and link up with the 6th Army. This plan was codenamed "Winter Thunderstorm". These actions were to begin at a special signal - "Thunderclap".

The Soviet Supreme High Command figured out the enemy and set the task for the troops of the Don and Stalingrad fronts to destroy the encircled grouping.

The plan for the final defeat of the encircled enemy, developed by a representative of the Headquarters in conjunction with the Military Council of the Don Front, was approved on January 4, 1943. It provided for a cleaving strike from west to east, simultaneously cutting off individual enemy units, and then destroying each of them separately.

January 8, 1943 ᴦ. the Soviet command offered surrender to the surrounded enemy. The presented conditions of surrender testified to the humane nature of the ultimatum and fully corresponded to international relations.

After surrender, all soldiers and officers were guaranteed personal safety, immediate provision of normal food, and the wounded and sick with medical care. The ultimatum expired at 10 o'clock on 9 January. By order of Hitler, the ultimatum was rejected.

On the morning of January 10, 1943, exactly one day after the expiration of the ultimatum, Soviet troops began to liquidate the encircled group. After a powerful artillery and air preparation, the infantry and tanks went on the offensive. The last operation began under ᴦ. Stalingrad, bearing the code name "Ring".

Despite the stubborn resistance of the enemy, his defenses were broken through in all directions of the Soviet offensive. The encirclement ring was shrinking every day. Doomed to death, the Nazi soldiers were starving, horses were even eaten. The stocks of ammunition and fuel were melting catastrophically. The hospitals were overcrowded with the wounded and sick, and there was not enough medicine.

January 10 - February 2, 1943 ᴦ.- Operation "Ring" to eliminate the enemy grouping - 113 thousand people were taken prisoner, incl. 2.5 thousand officers, 23 generals led by Field Marshal F. Pauls.

Exhausted, hungry, frostbitten German prisoners, despite the efforts of Soviet military doctors, died. After the war, no more than 6 thousand "Stalingraders" returned to Germany. Later F. Pauls wrote that "the doctors and the command of the Red Army did everything that was humanly possible to save the lives of the prisoners."

Fact: after surrendering to ᴦ. In Stalingrad, Field Marshal Pauls was in Soviet captivity for 10 years. At the Nuremberg trials, he acted as a witness on the part of the Soviet prosecution, in 1953 ᴦ. was handed over to the authorities of the GDR; worked as an inspector of public education. Died 1957 ᴦ.

Outcomes: aggravation of the internal political situation in fascist Germany; activation of the Resistance movement in the occupied countries; Japan refrained from entering the war against the USSR; Turkey remained neutral; Soviet troops, going over to the offensive along the entire front, disabled 43% of Hitler's troops on the Eastern Front, and ensured the beginning of a radical turning point in the war.

After fierce battles in the winter of 1942-1943. there was a lull on the Soviet-German front: the belligerents learned lessons from the past battles; outlined plans for further action; accumulated reserves, carried out regroupings; replenished with people and equipment.

The military-political situation of the USSR by the summer of 1943 ᴦ .: authority in the international arena has grown, relations with other states have expanded; the art of war and the technical equipment of the army grew due to the development of military production.

Headquarters of the Supreme Command (VGK) from March 1943 ᴦ. worked on a strategic offensive plan, the task of which was to defeat the main forces of the Yug and Center Army groups, crush the enemy defenses on the front from ᴦ. Smolensk to the Black Sea. It was assumed that the Soviet troops would be the first to go over to the offensive. At the same time, in mid-April, based on data that the Wehrmacht command plans to carry out an offensive under ᴦ. Kursk, it was decided to bleed the German troops with a powerful defense, and then launch a counteroffensive. Possessing a strategic initiative, the Soviet side deliberately began hostilities not with an offensive, but with a defense. The development of events showed that this plan was correct.

Fascist Germany from the spring of 1943 ᴦ. launched intense preparations for the offensive. The Nazis established the mass production of new medium and heavy tanks, increased compared to 1942 ᴦ. production of guns, mortars and combat aircraft. Due to total mobilization, they almost completely made up for the losses incurred in personnel.

The fascist German command decided to hold in the summer of 1943 ᴦ. a major offensive and regain control of the strategic initiative. The idea of the operation was to encircle and destroy the Soviet troops in the Kursk salient with powerful counter-strikes from the regions of Orel and Belgorod to Kursk. In the future, the enemy intended to defeat the Soviet troops in the Donbass. To carry out the operation near Kursk, called the Citadel, the enemy concentrated huge forces and appointed the most experienced military leaders: 50 divisions, incl. 16 tank, Army Group Center (commanded by General Field Marshal G. Kluge) and Army Group South (commanded by General Field Marshal E. Manstein). In total, the enemy's strike groups included over 900 thousand people, about 10 thousand guns and mortars, up to 2,700 tanks and assault guns, and more than 2,000 aircraft.

1 Commencing 5 July 1943 ᴦ. The Soviet command opposed the offensive of the German fascist troops against the northern and southern faces of the Kursk salient with a solid active defense. The enemy, attacking Kursk from the north, was stopped four days later. He managed to drive a wedge into the defenses of the Soviet troops for 10-12 km. The grouping, advancing on Kursk from the south, advanced 35 km, but did not reach the goal.

2 On July 12, Soviet troops, having exhausted the enemy, launched a counteroffensive. On this day, in the area of the Prokhorovka railway station, the largest tank battle of the Second World War took place (up to 1200 tanks and self-propelled guns on both sides). Developing the offensive, the Soviet ground forces, supported from the air by strikes from the forces of the 2nd and 17th air armies, as well as long-range aviation, by August 23 threw the enemy back to the west by 140-150 km, liberated the cities of Orel, Belgorod and Kharkov.

conclusions: The counter-offensive of the Red Army near Kursk ended with an outstanding victory for us. The enemy suffered irreparable losses and thwarted all his attempts to hold strategic bridgeheads in the regions of Orel and Kharkov.

1The success of the counteroffensive was ensured, above all, by the skillful choice of the moment for our troops to go on the offensive. It began in conditions when the main shock groupings of the Germans suffered huge losses and a crisis was defined in their offensive. Success was also ensured by the skillful organization of strategic relations between the groups of fronts advancing in the western and southwestern, as well as in other directions. This made it impossible for the fascist German command to carry out the regrouping of troops in directions that were dangerous for it.

2 The large strategic reserves of the Supreme Command Headquarters previously created in the Kursk sector and used for the development of the fronts' offensive had a huge impact on the success of the counteroffensive.

3 Soviet troops for the first time solved the problem of breaking through in advance the preparatory, deeply echeloned enemy defense and the subsequent development of operational success. This was achieved thanks to the creation of powerful groupings in the fronts and armies, the massing of forces and equipment in the areas of the breakthrough and the presence of tank formations in the fronts, and large tank (mechanized) formations in the armies.

4 Before the start of the counteroffensive, reconnaissance in force was carried out wider than in previous operations, not only by reinforced companies, but also by forward battalions.

5 In the course of the counteroffensive, the fronts and armies gained experience in repelling the counterattacks of large enemy tank groupings. It was carried out with close cooperation of all combat arms and aviation. To stop the enemy and defeat his advancing troops, the fronts and armies with part of their forces went over to a tough defense while simultaneously delivering a powerful blow to the flank and rear of the enemy's counterblow group. As a result of the increase in the number of military equipment and means of strengthening the tactical density of our troops in the counteroffensive under ᴦ. Kursk increased in comparison with the counteroffensive under ᴦ. Stalingrad 2-3 times.

6 New in the field of offensive combat tactics was the transition of units and formations from single-echelon to deeply echeloned battle formations. This turned out to be possible due to the narrowing of their sectors and offensive zones.

7 In the counteroffensive near Kursk, the methods of using the combat arms and aviation were improved. Tank and mechanized troops were used on a larger scale. The density of NPP tanks in comparison with the counteroffensive under ᴦ. Stalingrad increased and amounted to 15-20 tanks and self-propelled guns per 1 km of the front. At the same time, when a strong, deeply echeloned defense of the enemy was broken through, such densities turned out to be insufficient. Tank and mechanized corps became the main means of developing the success of combined-arms armies, and tank armies of a uniform composition became the echelon of developing the front's success. Their use to complete the breakthrough of a previously prepared positional defense was a forced measure, often leading to significant losses of tanks, to a weakening of tank formations and formations, but in the specific conditions of the situation it justified itself. For the first time, self-propelled artillery regiments were widely used near Kursk. Experience has shown that they were an effective means of supporting the offensive of tanks and infantry.

8 There were also peculiarities in the use of artillery: the density of guns and mortars increased significantly in the direction of the main attack; the gap between the end of the artillery barrage and the beginning of support for the attack was closed; army artillery groups, according to the number of corps of the first echelon, began to be divided into subgroups; in the rifle regiment, along with the infantry support group, a group for direct fire was created.

9 The main tasks of the engineering troops were to clear, restore and build roads and bridges, to clear minefields, to cover the flanks, to secure the captured lines and to ensure the formation of water barriers.

The 10th Air Force finally won air supremacy and inflicted irreparable losses on enemy aircraft. Οʜᴎ were used over the battlefield in close cooperation with ground forces.

Outcomes: battle under ᴦ. Kursk was the main event of the summer-autumn campaign of the second period of the Great Patriotic War.

1 Of the 70 enemy divisions that took part in this battle, the Red Army defeated 30 divisions, incl. 7 tank, destroyed over 3500 aircraft. Conditions were created for the transition of our troops to a general offensive on most of the Soviet-German front. The crushing defeat of the Nazi troops at the Kursk Bulge completed a radical turning point in the course of the war.

2 As a result of the battle under ᴦ. In Kursk, Soviet troops broke the backbone of the German fascist army, thwarted its attempts to take revenge for the defeat at Stalingrad and forced them to finally go over to the strategic defense. The Soviet Armed Forces have firmly seized the strategic initiative. A radical turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War in favor of the USSR ended.

3 Battle of ᴦ. Kursk forced the fascist German command to withdraw large formations of troops and aviation from the Mediterranean theater of operations, which allowed the American-British troops to conduct an operation in Italy and ultimately predetermined the country's withdrawal from the war. Defeat under ᴦ. Kursk undermined the morale of the German fascist army, exacerbated the crisis within the Hitlerite aggressive bloc.

4 In the countries conquered by the fascist troops, the national liberation movement began to develop even more.

For their courage and heroism in the battle of Kursk, more than 100 thousand soldiers, officers and generals of the Red Army were awarded orders and medals, 180 especially distinguished soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In the summer of 1942, the fascist leadership planned to seize the oil regions of the Caucasus and the fertile regions of the Don, Kuban, and the Lower Volga region. Supreme Commander-in-Chief JV Stalin determined the defeat of the Wehrmacht and the liberation of the entire territory of the country as the main task of the Soviet troops for the summer-autumn campaign of 1942. But the underestimation of the enemy and the overestimation of their own forces turned into a real tragedy for the Soviet troops. In May 1942, the Crimean Front was defeated on the Kerch Peninsula. On July 4, 1942, our troops left Sevastopol. In May 1942, the troops of the Southwestern and Southern Fronts, having launched an offensive in the Kharkov region, were defeated.

In July 1942, the troops of the Bryansk, Southwestern and Southern Fronts left the eastern regions of Donbass and the right bank of the Don, which created a threat of a breakthrough by fascist German troops to the Volga and the Caucasus. Under these conditions, the order of the NCO was issued # 227 of July 27, 1942, providing for punishment for retreat without an order. For the execution of the retreating Soviet units, barrage detachments were formed, located in the rear of the troops. The main requirement of order # 227: "Not one step back!"

On August 23, 1942, German units reached the Volga. On August 25, 1942, martial law was declared in Stalingrad. On August 26, 1942, G.K. Zhukov was appointed First Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

German troops made four attempts to storm Stalingrad. The battle was fought for every house, and sometimes for every floor.

On September 12, 1942, the Soviet command began to develop an offensive operation at Stalingrad. For these purposes, the forces of three fronts were involved: Southwestern, Don and Stalingrad.

In July - December 1942, in the Caucasian direction, the troops of the North Caucasian and Transcaucasian fronts, together with the Black Sea Fleet, exhausted the enemy in heavy defensive battles and thwarted the plans of the German command to seize the Caucasus.

In other directions, the Soviet command, during the summer-autumn campaign of 1942, carried out a number of offensive operations that fettered the enemy's forces and prevented him from carrying out strategic transfers along the front. By mid-November 1942, Soviet troops forced the enemy to go over to the defensive.

By the fall of 1942, the Soviet command had learned from the defeats and failures of the initial period of the war. A new officer corps was formed, high and medium-level commanders emerged. By the middle of 1942, it was possible to transfer the national economic complex to a military track - more than 1200 evacuated industrial enterprises began to produce products.

As a result, already at the end of 1942, the USSR produced more tanks, aircraft, guns and other military equipment than Germany, which became the material basis for the victory.

1942 On the fifth day of the offensive, the forward units of the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts united. A significant group of German troops, numbering more than 250 thousand people, was surrounded. 10 january

1943 Soviet troops began to liquidate the enemy grouping surrounded at Stalingrad. On February 2, 1943, the Battle of Stalingrad ended. 91 thousand people were taken prisoner, led by the commander of the 6th German army, Field Marshal F. Paulus.

For 6.5 months of the Battle of Stalingrad, Germany and its allies lost up to 1.5 million people. The strategic initiative finally passed into the hands of the Soviet armed forces, the anti-Hitler coalition was strengthened.

In January 1943, the Red Army was renamed the Soviet Army.

In the spring of 1943, the enemy was thrown back 600-700 km from Stalingrad and was forced to transfer units from the west to the Soviet-German front. In January 1943, the blockade of Leningrad was partially broken. During the years of the blockade, about 850 thousand civilians of the city died from hunger, cold and bombing.

In the spring of 1943, there was a pause on the Soviet-German front. In 1943, Germany and its allies carried out a total mobilization, increased the output of military products, including new types of weapons. The Wehrmacht command planned in the summer of 1943 to carry out a major offensive operation in the region of the Kursk salient of the front (Operation Citadel), defeat the Soviet troops, and then strike at the rear of the Southwestern Front (Operation Panther) and subsequently again create a threat to Moscow ... For this, in the Kursk Bulge area, up to 50 divisions were concentrated, including 19 tank and motorized ones, and other units - a total of over 900 thousand people, about 10 thousand guns and mortars, up to 2.7 thousand tanks, over 2 thousand . aircraft. This group was opposed by the troops of the Central and Voronezh fronts, numbering 1.3 million people, over 19 thousand guns and mortars, more than 3.4 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery systems (self-propelled artillery units), more than 2.1 thousand aircraft. In the rear of the Soviet troops were large strategic reserves, united on July 9 in the Steppe Front.

The headquarters of the Supreme High Command adopted a defense plan on the Kursk salient in order to defeat the enemy tank groupings and launch a counteroffensive.

From July 5, 1943, our troops, stubbornly defending themselves, stopped the enemy, who had wedged 10-35 km behind the front line. In the sector of the Voronezh Front, German troops approached the small village of Prokhorovka, where the largest tank battle of the Second World War took place. At the same time, up to 1,200 tanks, self-propelled and assault guns took part in the oncoming engagement from both sides.

On July 12, 1943, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive. On August 5, 1943, Oryol and Belgorod were liberated, on August 23 - Kharkov. This was the end of the Battle of Kursk. During the battles at the Kursk Bulge, the Wehrmacht lost over 0.5 million people, 3 thousand guns, 1.5 thousand tanks, over 3.7 thousand aircraft.

Internationally, the victory of the Soviet troops prepared the conditions for the successful course of hostilities of the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition in Italy and the withdrawal of this country from the war. The Battle of Kursk significantly enriched the experience of the Soviet armed forces in organizing strategic defense and offensive.

Soviet troops of the Southwestern and Southern Fronts liberated Donbass and at the end of September 1943 reached the Dnieper in the section from Dnepropetrovsk to Zaporozhye. The troops of the Central, Voronezh and Steppe fronts successfully developed an offensive in the Gomel, Chernigov, Kiev and Poltava-Kremenchug directions. In October, the troops of the four Soviet fronts (renamed the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ukrainian) shifted their efforts to the right bank of the Dnieper. On November 6, 1943, the formations of the 1st Ukrainian Front entered Kiev. In the south of Ukraine, the troops of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ukrainian fronts liberated Zaporozhye, Dnepropetrovsk, blocked the enemy in the Crimea.

On October 9, 1943, the troops of the North Caucasian Front, in cooperation with the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov Military Flotilla, liberated the Taman Peninsula. The forces of the Kalinin, Western and Bryansk fronts successfully carried out an offensive in the western strategic direction. Throwing the enemy 200-300 km from Moscow, Soviet troops began to liberate Belarus and by the end of December reached Polesie.

Stage 1 - July 17 - November 19, 1942 - defensive battles, state of siege for 125 days, street battles. The enemy's forces were 1.7 times superior in personnel, 1.3 times in artillery and tanks, and almost 2 times in aircraft.

Stage 2 - November 19, 1942 - the operation of the Soviet troops "Uranus" - the offensive of the Southwestern and Don fronts under the command of N.F. Vatutin and K.K. Rokossovsky northwest of Stalingrad.
November 20, 1942 - the armies of the Stalingrad Front under the leadership of General A.I. Eremenko south of the city struck at the enemy.

January 10, 1943 - Operation "Ring" - to eliminate the enemy grouping - 113 thousand people were taken prisoner, including 2.5 thousand officers, 23 generals led by Field Marshal F. Paulus.
Results: aggravation of the internal political situation in fascist Germany; activation of the Resistance movement in the occupied lines; Japan refrained from entering the war against the USSR; Turkey remained neutral; Soviet troops, going over to the offensive along the entire front, disabled 43% of Hitler's troops on the Eastern Front, and ensured the beginning of a radical turning point in the war.

The military-political situation of the USSR by the summer of 1943: authority in the international arena has grown, ties with other states have expanded; the art of war and the technical equipment of the army grew due to the development of military production.

However, despite major defeats, Germany and its satellites launched preparations for an offensive; total mobilization of those capable of carrying weapons from 15 to 50 years, about 1 million highly skilled workers were drafted into the army; the labor shortage was made up for by 2 million foreign workers and prisoners of war; the necessary stocks of military products were created.

The ratio of forces to the summer of 1943: the USSR outnumbered the enemy by 1.2 times in manpower and military equipment.
Operation Citadel is the code name for the German offensive in the summer of 1943 in the Kursk salient area. “Victory at Kursk. - Hitler declared, - should become a torch for the whole world.
Battle of Kursk - July 5 - August 23, 1943. It was held in 2 stages: Stage 1 - July 5 - July 11, 1943 - defensive battles of the Soviet troops; Stage 2 - June 12 - August 23, 1943 - a counter-offensive, the success of which was ensured by: the skillful choice of the moment of the transition of our troops from defense to offensive; the skillful organization of strategic interaction between the front groups made it impossible for the enemy to regroup his troops; reconnaissance in force was practiced wider than in previous operations; the tactical density of troops near Kursk was 2 - 3 times higher than at Stalingrad; transition to deeply echeloned battle formations; the use of self-propelled artillery regiments for the first time; The Air Force gained air supremacy and was used over the battlefield in close cooperation with ground forces; "Rail war" of the Belarusian partisans.

Results: a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War has been completed; the morale of the German fascist army has been undermined; aggravation of the crisis within the Hitlerite bloc; favorable conditions were created for the opening of a second front.