How many times did Russian troops enter Berlin? How the Russians took Berlin for the first time. The Russians are fighting - the Germans are trembling

How the Russian army first took Berlin

The capture of Berlin by Soviet troops in 1945 marked the victory point in the Great Patriotic War. The red flag over the Reichstag, even decades later, remains the most striking symbol of Victory. But the Soviet soldiers marching on Berlin were not pioneers. Their ancestors first entered the streets of the capitulated German capital two centuries earlier...

The Seven Years' War, which began in 1756, became the first full-scale European conflict in which Russia was drawn into.

The rapid strengthening of Prussia under the rule of the warlike King Frederick II worried the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna and forced her to join the anti-Prussian coalition of Austria and France.

Frederick II, not inclined to diplomacy, called this coalition “the alliance of three women,” referring to Elizabeth, the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa and the favorite French king Marquise de Pompadour.

War with caution

Russia's entry into the war in 1757 was quite cautious and hesitant.

The second reason The reason why Russian military leaders did not seek to force events was the deteriorating health of the empress. It was known that the heir to the throne, Pyotr Fedorovich, was an ardent admirer of the Prussian king and a categorical opponent of the war with him.

Frederick II the Great

The first major battle between the Russians and the Prussians, which took place at Gross-Jägersdorf in 1757, to the great surprise of Frederick II, it ended in victory for the Russian army. This success, however, was offset by the fact that the commander of the Russian army, Field Marshal General Stepan Apraksin, ordered a retreat after the victorious battle.

This step was explained by the news about the serious illness of the empress, and Apraksin was afraid of angering the new emperor, who was about to take the throne.

But Elizaveta Petrovna recovered, Apraksin was removed from his post and sent to prison, where he soon died.

Miracle for the King

The war continued, increasingly turning into a struggle of attrition, which was disadvantageous to Prussia - The country's resources were significantly inferior to those of the enemy, and even the financial support of the allied England could not compensate for this difference.

In August 1759, at the Battle of Kunersdorf, the allied Russian-Austrian forces utterly defeated the army of Frederick II.

Alexander Kotzebue. "Battle of Kunersdorf" (1848)

The king's condition was close to despair.“The truth is, I believe that all is lost. I will not survive the death of my Fatherland. Goodbye forever",- Frederick wrote to his minister.

The road to Berlin was open, but a conflict arose between the Russians and the Austrians, as a result of which the moment to capture the Prussian capital and end the war was missed. Frederick II, taking advantage of the sudden respite, managed to collect new army and continue the war. He called the Allied delay, which saved him, “the miracle of the House of Brandenburg.”

Throughout 1760, Frederick II managed to resist the superior forces of the Allies, which were hampered by inconsistency. At the Battle of Liegnitz, the Prussians defeated the Austrians.

Failed assault

The French and Austrians, concerned about the situation, called on the Russian army to step up its actions. Berlin was proposed as a target.

The capital of Prussia was not a powerful fortress. Weak walls, turning into a wooden palisade - the Prussian kings did not expect that they would have to fight in their own capital.

Frederick himself was distracted by the fight against Austrian troops in Silesia, where he had excellent chances of success. Under these conditions, at the request of the allies, the Russian army was given a directive to conduct a raid on Berlin.

The 20,000-strong Russian corps of Lieutenant General Zakhar Chernyshev advanced to the Prussian capital with the support of the 17,000-strong Austrian corps of Franz von Lassi.

Count Gottlob Kurt Heinrich von Totleben

The Russian vanguard was commanded by Gottlob Totleben, a born German who lived in Berlin for a long time and dreamed of the sole glory of the conqueror of the Prussian capital.

Totleben's troops arrived to Berlin before the main forces. In Berlin they hesitated as to whether to hold the line, but under the influence of Friedrich Seydlitz, the commander of Friedrich's cavalry, who was undergoing treatment in the city after being wounded, they decided to give battle.

The first assault attempt ended in failure. The fires that started in the city after the shelling by the Russian army were quickly extinguished; of the three attacking columns, only one managed to break through directly to the city, but they also had to retreat due to the desperate resistance of the defenders.

Victory with scandal

Following this, the Prussian corps of Prince Eugene of Württemberg came to the aid of Berlin, which forced Totleben to retreat.

The capital of Prussia rejoiced early - the main forces of the Allies approached Berlin. General Chernyshev began to prepare a decisive assault.

On the evening of September 27, a military council met in Berlin, at which it was decided to surrender the city due to the complete superiority of the enemy. At the same time, the envoys were sent to the ambitious Totleben, believing that it would be easier to come to an agreement with a German than with a Russian or Austrian.

Totleben really went towards the besieged, allowing the capitulated Prussian garrison to leave the city.

At the moment when Totleben entered the city, he met with Lieutenant Colonel Rzhevsky, who arrived to negotiate with the Berliners on the terms of surrender on behalf of General Chernyshev. Totleben told the lieutenant colonel to tell him: he had already taken the city and received symbolic keys from it.

Chernyshev arrived in the city beside himself with rage - Totleben’s initiative, supported, as it later turned out, by a bribe from the Berlin authorities, categorically did not suit him. The general gave the order to begin the pursuit of the departing Prussian troops. The Russian cavalry overtook the units retreating to Spandau and defeated them.

“If Berlin is destined to be busy, then let it be the Russians”

The population of Berlin was horrified by the appearance of the Russians, who were described as absolute savages, but, to the surprise of the townspeople, the soldiers of the Russian army behaved with dignity, without committing atrocities against civilians. But the Austrians, who had personal scores to settle with the Prussians, did not restrain themselves - they robbed houses, passers-by on the streets, and destroyed everything they could reach. It got to the point that Russian patrols had to use weapons to reason with their allies.

The stay of the Russian army in Berlin lasted six days. Frederick II, having learned about the fall of the capital, immediately moved an army from Silesia to help the main city of the country. Chernyshev’s plans did not include a battle with the main forces of the Prussian army - he completed his task of distracting Friedrich. Having collected trophies, the Russian army left the city.

Russians in Berlin. Engraving by Daniel Chodowiecki.

The King of Prussia, having received a report of minimal destruction in the capital, remarked: “Thank you to the Russians, they saved Berlin from the horrors with which the Austrians threatened my capital.” But these words of Friedrich were intended only for his immediate circle. The monarch, who highly valued the power of propaganda, ordered that his subjects be informed about the monstrous atrocities of the Russians in Berlin.

However, not everyone wanted to support this myth. The German scientist Leonid Euler wrote this in a letter to a friend about the Russian raid on the Prussian capital: “We had a visit here which in other circumstances would have been extremely pleasant. However, I always wished that if Berlin were ever destined to be occupied by foreign troops, then let it be the Russians ... "

What is salvation for Frederick is death for Peter

The departure of the Russians from Berlin was a pleasant event for Frederick, but it was not of key importance for the outcome of the war. By the end of 1760, he completely lost the opportunity to qualitatively replenish the army, driving prisoners of war into its ranks, who very often defected to the enemy. The army could not conduct offensive operations, and the king increasingly thought about abdicating the throne.

The Russian army took full control East Prussia, whose population has already sworn allegiance to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.

At this very moment, Frederick II was helped by the “second miracle of the House of Brandenburg” - the death of the Russian Empress. Peter III, who replaced her on the throne, not only immediately made peace with his idol and returned to him all the territories conquered by Russia, but also provided troops for the war with yesterday’s allies.

Peter III

What turned out to be happiness for Frederick cost Peter III himself dearly. The Russian army and, first of all, the guard did not appreciate the broad gesture, considering it offensive. As a result, the coup, soon organized by the emperor’s wife Ekaterina Alekseevna, went off like clockwork. Following this, the deposed emperor died under circumstances that were not fully clarified.

But the Russian army firmly remembered the road to Berlin, laid in 1760, so that it could return whenever necessary.

How the Russian army first took Berlin

The Seven Years' War, which began in 1756, became the first full-scale European conflict in which Russia was drawn into.

Frederick II, not inclined to diplomacy, called this coalition “the alliance of three women,” referring to Elizabeth, the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa and the favorite of the French king, the Marquise de Pompadour.

War with caution

Russia's entry into the war in 1757 was quite cautious and hesitant.

Frederick II the Great

This step was explained by the news about the serious illness of the empress, and Apraksin was afraid of angering the new emperor, who was about to take the throne.

But Elizaveta Petrovna recovered, Apraksin was removed from his post and sent to prison, where he soon died.

Miracle for the King

In August 1759, at the Battle of Kunersdorf, the allied Russian-Austrian forces utterly defeated the army of Frederick II.

Alexander Kotzebue. "Battle of Kunersdorf" (1848)

The king's condition was close to despair.“The truth is, I believe that all is lost. I will not survive the death of my Fatherland. Goodbye forever",- Frederick wrote to his minister.

The road to Berlin was open, but a conflict arose between the Russians and the Austrians, as a result of which the moment to capture the Prussian capital and end the war was missed. Frederick II, taking advantage of the sudden respite, managed to gather a new army and continue the war. He called the Allied delay, which saved him, “the miracle of the House of Brandenburg.”

Throughout 1760, Frederick II managed to resist the superior forces of the Allies, which were hampered by inconsistency. At the Battle of Liegnitz, the Prussians defeated the Austrians.

Failed assault

The French and Austrians, concerned about the situation, called on the Russian army to step up its actions. Berlin was proposed as a target.

The capital of Prussia was not a powerful fortress. Weak walls, turning into a wooden palisade - the Prussian kings did not expect that they would have to fight in their own capital.

The 20,000-strong Russian corps of Lieutenant General Zakhar Chernyshev advanced to the Prussian capital with the support of the 17,000-strong Austrian corps of Franz von Lassi.

Count Gottlob Kurt Heinrich von Totleben

The Russian vanguard was commanded by Gottlob Totleben, a born German who lived in Berlin for a long time and dreamed of the sole glory of the conqueror of the Prussian capital.

Victory with scandal

Following this, the Prussian corps of Prince Eugene of Württemberg came to the aid of Berlin, which forced Totleben to retreat.

The capital of Prussia rejoiced early - the main forces of the Allies approached Berlin. General Chernyshev began to prepare a decisive assault.

Totleben really went towards the besieged, allowing the capitulated Prussian garrison to leave the city.

“If Berlin is destined to be busy, then let it be the Russians”

Russians in Berlin. Engraving by Daniel Chodowiecki.

What is salvation for Frederick is death for Peter

The Russian army took full control of East Prussia, whose population had already sworn allegiance to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.

Peter III

But the Russian army firmly remembered the road to Berlin, laid in 1760, so that it could return whenever necessary.

This day in history:

Episode of the Seven Years' War. The capture of the city occurred as a result of the surrender of the city to Russian and Austrian troops by commandant Hans Friedrich von Rochow, who sought to avoid the destruction of the Prussian capital. The capture of the city was preceded by military operation Russian and Austrian troops.

Background

The activation of Prussia, led by King Frederick II, who nurtured ambitious plans for conquest in Central and Eastern Europe, led to the Seven Years' War. This conflict pitted Prussia and England against Austria, France, Sweden and Russia. For Russian Empire this was the first active participation in a large pan-European conflict. Having entered East Prussia, Russian troops occupied a number of cities and defeated the 40,000-strong Prussian army in the town of Gross-Jägersdorf near Königsberg. In the Battle of Kunersdorf (1759), the forces of Field Marshal P. S. Saltykov defeated the army under the command of the Prussian king himself. This put Berlin in danger of being taken over.

The vulnerability of the Prussian capital became obvious back in October 1757, when the Austrian corps of General A. Hadik burst into the suburbs of Berlin and captured it, however, then chose to retreat, forcing the magistrate to pay an indemnity. After the Battle of Kunersdorf, Frederick II expected the capture of Berlin. The anti-Prussian forces had a significant numerical superiority, but despite this, almost the entire campaign of 1760 was unsuccessful. On August 15, Prussian troops inflicted a serious defeat on the enemy at Liegnitz. All this time, however, Berlin continued to remain unprotected, and the French side invited the Allies to launch a new raid on the city. The Austrian commander L. J. Daun agreed to support the Russian troops with the auxiliary corps of General F. M. von Lassi.

The Russian commander P. S. Saltykov ordered General G. Totleben, who stood at the head of the vanguard of the Russian corps of Z. G. Chernyshev (20 thousand soldiers), to completely destroy in Berlin all royal institutions and such important objects as the arsenal, foundry yard, gunpowder mills, cloth factories. In addition, it was assumed that a large indemnity would be taken from Berlin. In case the magistrate did not have enough cash, Totleben was allowed to accept bills guaranteed by the hostages.

Beginning of the Berlin Expedition

On September 16, 1760, the corps of Totleben and Chernyshev marched on Berlin. On October 2, Totleben arrived in Wusterhausen. There he learned that the enemy's capital garrison numbered only 1,200 people - three infantry battalions and two hussar squadrons - but General Johann Dietrich von Hülsen from Torgau and Prince Friedrich Eugene of Württemberg from the north were coming to their rescue. Totleben did not refuse a surprise assault and asked Chernyshev to cover him from the rear.

From the point of view of fortification, Berlin was almost open city. It was located on two islands, surrounded by a wall with bastions. The branches of the Spree River served as ditches for them. The suburbs on the right bank surrounded Earthworks, and on the left there is a stone wall. Of the ten city gates, only one was protected by a flush - an obtuse field fortification. The population of Berlin at the time of the Russian occupation was, according to historian A. Rambo, approximately 120 thousand inhabitants.

The head of the Berlin garrison, General Rokhov, whose forces were inferior to the enemy both quantitatively and qualitatively, was thinking about leaving the city, but under pressure from retired military leaders who were in Berlin, he decided to resist. He ordered the construction of flushes in front of the gates of the city suburbs and placed cannons there. Loopholes were made in the walls, and the crossing of the Spree was taken under protection. Couriers were sent to General Huelsen in Torgau and to the Prince of Württemberg in Templin asking for help. Preparations for the siege provoked panic among the townspeople. Some wealthy Berliners fled to Magdeburg and Hamburg with valuables, others hid their property.

Storming the outskirts of Berlin

On the morning of October 3, Totleben went to Berlin. By 11 o'clock his units occupied the heights opposite the Cottbus and Gallic gates. The Russian military leader sent Lieutenant Chernyshev to General Rokhov with a demand to surrender and, having received a refusal, began preparing to bombard the city and storm the gates. At 2 o'clock, Russian troops opened fire, but due to the lack of large-caliber howitzers, they were unable to break through the city wall or cause fires. Only red-hot kernels helped provoke a fire. The defenders of Berlin responded with cannon fire.

At 9 o'clock in the evening, Totleben decided to simultaneously storm the gates of both suburbs. Prince Prozorovsky with three hundred grenadiers and two cannons was ordered to attack the Gallic Gate, Major Patkul with the same forces - the Cottbus Gate. At midnight, Russian units went on the attack. Both attempts were unsuccessful: Patkul failed to take the gate at all, and Prozorovsky, although he achieved his goal, did not receive support and was forced to retreat by dawn. After this, Totleben resumed the bombardment, which continued until the next morning: Russian guns fired 655 shells, including 567 bombs. On the afternoon of October 4, the vanguard of the forces of the Prince of Württemberg, numbering seven squadrons, arrived in Berlin; the rest, infantry units, were also approaching the city. Totleben withdrew most of his forces to the village of Köpenick, and by the morning of October 5, under the pressure of Prussian reinforcements, the rest of the Russian units left the approaches to Berlin.

Totleben blamed Chernyshev for the failure of his plan, who simply did not have the opportunity to arrive in the vicinity of Berlin before October 5. Chernyshev occupied Fürstenwalde on October 3, and the next day received a request from Totleben for help with men, guns and shells. On the evening of October 5, the forces of the two generals united in Köpenick, Chernyshev assumed overall command. All day on October 6 they waited for the arrival of Panin's division. The Prince of Württemberg, meanwhile, ordered General Hülsen to accelerate the movement towards Berlin via Potsdam.

On October 7, Chernyshev received a dispatch from Panin, who arrived in Fürstenwalde and then proceeded in the direction of Berlin. The military leader decided to attack the forces of the Prince of Württemberg and, if successful, storm the eastern outskirts of the city. Totleben was tasked with organizing a diversionary maneuver, but he was not satisfied with this role and on the same day resumed the assault on the western outskirts. Having forced the troops of the Prince of Württemberg to take refuge behind the walls of Berlin, Totleben attacked the Hülsen units approaching from Potsdam, but was repulsed. At this time, on the approaches to Berlin, the enemy vanguard of Kleist appeared, on the one hand, and the allied corps of the Austrian general Lassi, on the other. Not wanting to wait for help from the Austrians, Totleben attacked Kleist. The Russian units suffered heavy losses, and the outcome of the battle was decided by the intervention of the Lassi Corps. This irritated Totleben, who did not want to share the glory of the conqueror of Berlin with the Austrian commander, and the general returned to his positions in front of the gates of the suburbs. As a result, Huelsen's corps was able to enter Berlin by evening. Chernyshev, who at the same time was operating on the right bank of the Spree, managed to occupy the heights of Lichtenberg and begin shelling the Prussians, forcing them to take refuge in the eastern suburbs.

On October 8, Chernyshev planned to attack the Prince of Württemberg and storm the eastern suburbs, but the arrival of Kleist’s corps disrupted this plan: the number of Prussian units increased to 14 thousand people, and at the same time they were more mobile than the Allied forces. The latter numbered about 34 thousand (almost 20 thousand Russians and 14 thousand Austrians and Saxons, but were divided by the river, while the defenders of Berlin could easily transfer troops from one bank to the other.

Negotiations and surrender

While Chernyshev was planning further actions of the allied forces, Totleben, without his knowledge, decided to enter into negotiations with the enemy on surrender. He did not know that a corresponding decision had also been made at the military council in Berlin. Fearing the destruction of the city during the assault, the Prussian commanders decided that the troops of Kleist, Hülsen and the Prince of Württemberg would retreat to Spandau and Charlottenburg on the night of October 9, and Rochow, meanwhile, would begin negotiations on surrender, which would concern only his garrison. Totleben sent Rokhov a new demand for the surrender of the city and by one in the morning was refused. This led the Russian general to bewilderment, but at three o’clock the Prussian representatives themselves appeared at the Cottbus Gate with proposals from Rokhov. By this time, reinforcements had already left Berlin. At four o'clock in the morning the chief of the garrison signed the surrender. Together with the soldiers and military property, he surrendered. At five o'clock in the morning, Russian troops accepted civilian surrender. The day before, the townspeople gathered in the town hall discussed who to capitulate to, the Austrians or the Russians. The merchant Gotzkovsky, an old friend of Totleben, convinced everyone that the second option was preferable. At first, Totleben demanded an astronomical amount as indemnity - 4 million thalers. But in the end he was persuaded to give up up to 500 thousand in cash and one million in bills guaranteed by hostages. Gotzkovsky promised the town hall to achieve an even greater reduction in indemnity. Totleben guaranteed citizens safety, inviolability of private property, freedom of correspondence and trade, and freedom from billeting.

The joy of the capture of Berlin among the Allied troops was overshadowed by Totleben's act: the Austrians were outraged that in the battles near Berlin the Russians actually assigned them the role of spectators; Saxons - too favorable conditions for surrender (they hoped to avenge the cruelties of Frederick II in Saxony). There was neither a ceremonial entry of troops into the city, nor a thanksgiving service. Russian soldiers clashed with the Austrians and Saxons, which undermined discipline in the allied forces. Berlin suffered almost no damage from looting and destruction: only royal institutions were plundered, and even then not to the ground. Totleben opposed Lassi's idea to blow up the arsenal, citing his reluctance to cause damage to the city.

Results and consequences

The capture of the Prussian capital caused a great stir in Europe. Voltaire wrote to I. Shuvalov that the appearance of Russians in Berlin “makes a much greater impression than all the operas of Metastasio.” Allied courts and envoys brought congratulations to Elizaveta Petrovna. Frederick II, who suffered heavy material losses as a result of the destruction of Berlin, was irritated and humiliated. Count Totleben was presented with the Order of Alexander Nevsky and the rank of Lieutenant General, but as a result, his success was only noted with a certificate for his duty performed. This prompted the military leader to publish a “Report” about the capture of Berlin with exaggeration of his own contribution to the success of the operation and unflattering reviews of Chernyshev and Lassi.

The occupation of the capital of Prussia by the Russians and Austrians lasted only four days: having received information that the troops of Frederick II were approaching Berlin, the allies, who did not have sufficient forces to hold the city, left Berlin. The enemy's abandonment of the capital allowed Frederick to turn his troops to Saxony.

The real threat of the capture of the Prussian capital by the Russians and their allies continued to persist until the end of 1761, when, after the death of Elizabeth Petrovna, Peter III ascended the Russian throne. The so-called “miracle of the House of Brandenburg” occurred - the accession of a great admirer of Frederick II to Russia saved Prussia from defeat. The new monarch radically changed the vector of Russian foreign policy, concluding peace with Prussia, returning all conquered territories to it without any compensation, and even concluding an alliance with the former enemy. In 1762, Peter was overthrown in a palace coup, but his wife and successor Catherine II maintained a neutral position towards Prussia. Following Russia, Sweden also stopped the war with Prussia. This allowed Frederick to resume his offensive in Saxony and Silesia. Austria had no choice but to also agree to a peace agreement. The peace signed in 1763 at Hubertusburg Castle sealed the return to the pre-war status quo.

A copy of someone else's materials

The final battle of the Great Patriotic War was the Battle of Berlin, or the Berlin Strategic offensive, which was held from April 16 to May 8, 1945.

On April 16, at 3 o'clock local time, aviation and artillery preparation began in the sector of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts. After its completion, 143 searchlights were turned on to blind the enemy, and infantry, supported by tanks, went on the attack. Without encountering strong resistance, she advanced 1.5-2 kilometers. However, the further our troops advanced, the stronger the enemy’s resistance grew.

The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front carried out a rapid maneuver to reach Berlin from the south and west. On April 25, troops of the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian Fronts united west of Berlin, completing the encirclement of the entire Berlin enemy group.

The liquidation of the Berlin enemy group directly in the city continued until May 2. Every street and house had to be stormed. On April 29, battles began for the Reichstag, the capture of which was entrusted to the 79th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belorussian Front.

Before the storming of the Reichstag, the Military Council of the 3rd Shock Army presented its divisions with nine Red Banners, specially made to resemble the State Flag of the USSR. One of these Red Banners, known as No. 5 as the Victory Banner, was transferred to the 150th Infantry Division. Similar homemade red banners, flags and flags were available in all forward units, formations and subunits. They, as a rule, were awarded to assault groups, which were recruited from among volunteers and went into battle with the main task - to break into the Reichstag and plant the Victory Banner on it. The first, at 22:30 Moscow time on April 30, 1945, to hoist the assault red banner on the roof of the Reichstag on the sculptural figure “Goddess of Victory” were reconnaissance artillerymen of the 136th Army Cannon Artillery Brigade, senior sergeants G.K. Zagitov, A.F. Lisimenko, A.P. Bobrov and Sergeant A.P. Minin from the assault group of the 79th Rifle Corps, commanded by Captain V.N. Makov, Assault group artillerymen acted together with the battalion of captain S.A. Neustroeva. Two or three hours later, also on the roof of the Reichstag on the sculpture of an equestrian knight - Kaiser Wilhelm - on the orders of the commander of the 756th Infantry Regiment of the 150th Infantry Division, Colonel F.M. Zinchenko erected Red Banner No. 5, which later became famous as the Victory Banner. Red Banner No. 5 was hoisted by scouts Sergeant M.A. Egorov and junior sergeant M.V. Kantaria, who were accompanied by Lieutenant A.P. Berest and machine gunners from the company of senior sergeant I.Ya. Syanova.

The fighting for the Reichstag continued until the morning of May 1. At 6:30 a.m. on May 2, the chief of defense of Berlin, artillery general G. Weidling, surrendered and gave the order to the remnants of the Berlin garrison to cease resistance. In the middle of the day, the Nazi resistance in the city ceased. On the same day, the surrounded groups were eliminated German troops southeast of Berlin.

On May 9 at 0:43 Moscow time, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, as well as representatives of the German Navy, who had the appropriate authority from Doenitz, in the presence of Marshal G.K. Zhukov, on the Soviet side, signed the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany. A brilliantly executed operation coupled with courage Soviet soldiers and officers who fought to end the four-year nightmare of war, led to a logical result: Victory.

Capture of Berlin. 1945 Documentary

PROGRESS OF THE BATTLE

The Berlin operation of the Soviet troops began. Goal: complete the defeat of Germany, capture Berlin, unite with the allies

The infantry and tanks of the 1st Belorussian Front began the attack before dawn under the illumination of anti-aircraft searchlights and advanced 1.5-2 km

With the onset of dawn on the Seelow Heights, the Germans came to their senses and fought with ferocity. Zhukov brings tank armies into battle

16 Apr 45 The troops of Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front encounter less resistance on the path of their advance and immediately cross the Neisse

The commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Konev, orders the commanders of his tank armies, Rybalko and Lelyushenko, to advance on Berlin

Konev demands that Rybalko and Lelyushenko not get involved in protracted and frontal battles, and move forward more boldly towards Berlin

A hero died twice in the battles for Berlin Soviet Union, commander of a tank battalion of the Guards. Mr. S. Khokhryakov

TO Berlin operation, covering the right flank, Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front joined

By the end of the day, Konev’s front completed the breakthrough of the Neissen defense line and crossed the river. Spree and provided conditions for the encirclement of Berlin from the south

Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front Zhukov spend the whole day breaking the 3rd line of enemy defense on the Oderen on the Seelow Heights

By the end of the day, Zhukov’s troops completed the breakthrough of the 3rd line of the Oder line on the Seelow Heights

On the left wing of Zhukov’s front, conditions were created to cut off the enemy’s Frankfurt-Guben group from the Berlin area

Directive of the Supreme High Command Headquarters to the commander of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts: “Treat the Germans better.” , Antonov

Another directive from Headquarters: about identification marks and signals when meeting Soviet armies and allied troops

At 13.50, the long-range artillery of the 79th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Shock Army was the first to open fire on Berlin - the beginning of the assault on the city itself

Apr 20 45 Konev and Zhukov send almost identical orders to the troops of their fronts: “Be the first to break into Berlin!”

By evening, formations of the 2nd Guards Tank, 3rd and 5th Shock Armies of the 1st Belorussian Front reached the northeastern outskirts of Berlin

The 8th Guards and 1st Guards Tank Armies wedged into the city defensive perimeter of Berlin in the areas of Petershagen and Erkner

Hitler ordered the 12th Army, previously aimed at the Americans, to be turned against the 1st Ukrainian Front. It now has the goal of connecting with the remnants of the 9th and 4th Panzer armies, making their way south of Berlin to the west.

3rd Guards Tank Army Rybalko broke into the southern part of Berlin and by 17.30 was fighting for Teltow - Konev’s telegram to Stalin

Hitler in last time refused to leave Berlin while there was such an opportunity. Goebbels and his family moved to a bunker under the Reich Chancellery (“Fuhrer’s bunker”)

Assault flags were presented by the Military Council of the 3rd Shock Army to the divisions storming Berlin. Among them is the flag that became the banner of victory - the assault flag of the 150th Infantry Division

In the area of Spremberg Soviet troops liquidated the surrounded group of Germans. Among the destroyed units tank division"Fuhrer's Guard"

Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front are fighting in the south of Berlin. At the same time they reached the Elbe River northwest of Dresden

Goering, who left Berlin, turned to Hitler on the radio, asking him to approve him at the head of the government. Received an order from Hitler removing him from the government. Bormann ordered Goering's arrest for treason

Himmler unsuccessfully tries, through the Swedish diplomat Bernadotte, to offer the Allies surrender on the Western Front.

Shock formations of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts in the Brandenburg region closed the encirclement of German troops in Berlin

German 9th and 4th tank forces. armies are surrounded in the forests southeast of Berlin. Units of the 1st Ukrainian Front repulse the counterattack of the 12th German Army

Report: “In the Berlin suburb of Ransdorf there are restaurants where they “willingly sell” beer to our fighters for occupation stamps.” The head of the political department of the 28th Guards Rifle Regiment, Borodin, ordered the owners of Ransdorf restaurants to close them until the battle was over.

In the area of Torgau on the Elbe, Soviet troops of the 1st Ukrainian fr. met with the troops of the 12th American Army Group of General Bradley

Having crossed the Spree, the troops of Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front and Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front are rushing towards the center of Berlin. Nothing can stop the rush of Soviet soldiers in Berlin

Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front in Berlin occupied Gartenstadt and Görlitz station, troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front occupied the Dahlem district

Konev turned to Zhukov with a proposal to change the demarcation line between their fronts in Berlin - the center of the city should be transferred to the front

Zhukov asks Stalin to honor the capture of the center of Berlin by the troops of his front, replacing Konev's troops in the south of the city

The General Staff orders Konev's troops, who have already reached Tiergarten, to transfer their offensive zone to Zhukov's troops

Order No. 1 of the military commandant of Berlin, Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General Berzarin, on the transfer of all power in Berlin to the hands of the Soviet military commandant's office. It was announced to the population of the city that the National Socialist Party of Germany and its organizations were dissolved and their activities were prohibited. The order established the order of behavior of the population and determined the basic provisions necessary to normalize life in the city.

Battles began for the Reichstag, the capture of which was entrusted to the 79th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belorussian Front

When breaking through the barriers on the Berlin Kaiserallee, N. Shendrikov’s tank received 2 holes, caught fire, and the crew was disabled. The mortally wounded commander, gathering his last strength, sat down at the control levers and threw the flaming tank at the enemy gun.

Hitler's wedding to Eva Braun in a bunker under the Reich Chancellery. Witness - Goebbels. In his political will, Hitler expelled Goering from the NSDAP and officially named Grand Admiral Dönitz as his successor.

Soviet units are fighting for the Berlin metro

The Soviet command rejected the attempts of the German command to begin negotiations on the time. ceasefire. There is only one demand - surrender!

The assault on the Reichstag building itself began, which was defended by more than 1000 Germans and SS men from different countries

Several red banners were fixed in different places of the Reichstag - from regimental and divisional to homemade

Scouts of the 150th division Egorov and Kantaria were ordered to hoist the Red Banner over the Reichstag around midnight

Lieutenant Berest from Neustroev's battalion led the combat mission to plant the Banner over the Reichstag. Installed around 3.00, May 1

Hitler committed suicide in the Reich Chancellery bunker by taking poison and shooting himself in the temple with a pistol. Hitler's corpse is burned in the courtyard of the Reich Chancellery

Hitler leaves Goebbels as Reich Chancellor, who commits suicide the next day. Before his death, Hitler appointed Bormann Reich Minister for Party Affairs (previously such a post did not exist)

Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front captured Bandenburg, in Berlin they cleared the areas of Charlottenburg, Schöneberg and 100 blocks

In Berlin, Goebbels and his wife Magda committed suicide, having previously killed their 6 children

The commander arrived at the headquarters of Chuikov's army in Berlin. German General Staff Krebs, reported Hitler's suicide, proposed a truce. Stalin confirmed his categorical demand for unconditional surrender in Berlin. At 18 o'clock the Germans rejected it

At 18.30, due to the refusal of surrender, a fire strike was launched at the Berlin garrison. Mass surrender of Germans began

At 01.00, the radios of the 1st Belorussian Front received a message in Russian: “We ask you to cease fire. We are sending envoys to the Potsdam Bridge."

A German officer, on behalf of the commander of the defense of Berlin Weidling, announced the readiness of the Berlin garrison to stop resistance

At 6.00 General Weidling surrendered and an hour later signed an order for the surrender of the Berlin garrison

Enemy resistance in Berlin has completely ceased. The remnants of the garrison surrender en masse

In Berlin, Goebbels' deputy for propaganda and press, Dr. Fritsche, was captured. Fritsche testified during interrogation that Hitler, Goebbels and Chief of the General Staff General Krebs committed suicide

Stalin's order on the contribution of the Zhukov and Konev fronts to the defeat of the Berlin group. By 21.00, 70 thousand Germans had already surrendered.

The irretrievable losses of the Red Army in the Berlin operation were 78 thousand people. Enemy losses - 1 million, incl. 150 thousand killed

Soviet field kitchens are deployed throughout Berlin, where “wild barbarians” feed hungry Berliners

The Seven Years' War became one of the first wars in history that could actually be called a world war. Almost all significant European powers were involved in the conflict, and fighting were carried out on several continents at once. The prelude to the conflict was a series of complex and intricate diplomatic combinations, resulting in two opposing alliances. Moreover, each of the allies had its own interests, which often contradicted the interests of the allies, so the relations between them were far from cloudless.

The immediate cause of the conflict was the sharp rise of Prussia under Frederick II. The once mediocre kingdom in the capable hands of Frederick sharply strengthened, which became a threat to other powers. In the middle of the 18th century, the main struggle for leadership in continental Europe was between Austria and France. However, as a result of the War of the Austrian Succession, Prussia managed to defeat Austria and take away a very tasty morsel from it - Silesia, a large and developed region. This led to a sharp strengthening of Prussia, which began to cause concern for the Russian Empire. Baltic region and the Baltic Sea, which at that time was the main one for Russia (there was no access to the Black Sea yet).

The Austrians were eager for revenge for their failure in the recent war when they lost Silesia. Clashes between French and English colonists led to war breaking out between the two states. The British decided to use Prussia as a deterrent to the French on the continent. Frederick loved and knew how to fight, and the British had a weak ground army. They were ready to give Frederick money, and he was happy to field soldiers. England and Prussia entered into an alliance. France took this as an alliance against itself (and rightly so) and formed an alliance with its old rival, Austria, against Prussia. Frederick was confident that England would be able to keep Russia from entering the war, but in St. Petersburg they wanted to stop Prussia before it became too serious a threat, and the decision was made to join the alliance of Austria and France.

Frederick II jokingly called this coalition a union of three skirts, since Austria and Russia were then ruled by women - Maria Theresa and Elizaveta Petrovna. Although France was formally ruled by Louis XV, the enormous influence throughout French politics was provided by his official favorite, the Marquise de Pompadour, through whose efforts an unusual alliance was created, which Frederick, of course, knew about and did not fail to tease his opponent.

Progress of the war

Prussia had a very large and strong army, however, the Allied military forces together were significantly superior to it, and Frederick's main ally, England, could not help militarily, limiting itself to subsidies and naval support. However, the main battles took place on land, so Frederick had to rely on surprise and his skills.

At the very beginning of the war, he carried out a successful operation, capturing Saxony and replenishing his army with forcibly mobilized Saxon soldiers. Frederick hoped to defeat the Allies piecemeal, expecting that neither the Russian nor the French armies would be able to quickly advance to the main theater of war and he would have time to defeat Austria while she was fighting alone.

However, the Prussian king was unable to defeat the Austrians, although the forces of the parties were approximately comparable. But he managed to crush one of the French armies, which caused a serious drop in the prestige of this country, because its army was then considered the strongest in Europe.

For Russia, the war developed very successfully. Troops led by Apraksin occupied East Prussia and defeated the enemy in the Battle of Gross-Jägersdorf. However, Apraksin not only did not build on his success, but also began to urgently retreat, which greatly surprised the Prussian opponents. For this he was removed from command and arrested. During the investigation, Apraksin stated that his rapid retreat was due to problems with forage and food, but it is now believed that it was part of a failed court intrigue. Empress Elizabeth Petrovna was very ill at that moment, it was expected that she was about to die, and the heir to the throne was Peter III, who was known as a passionate admirer of Frederick.

According to one version, in connection with this, Chancellor Bestuzhev-Ryumin (famous for his complex and numerous intrigues) decided to carry out palace coup(he and Peter mutually hated each other) and put his son, Pavel Petrovich, on the throne, and Apraksin’s army was needed to support the coup. But in the end, the empress recovered from her illness, Apraksin died during the investigation, and Bestuzhev-Ryumin was sent into exile.

Miracle of the Brandenburg House

In 1759, the most important and most famous battle of the war took place - the Battle of Kunersdorf, in which Russian-Austrian troops under the leadership of Saltykov and Laudon defeated Frederick's army. Frederick lost all the artillery and almost all the troops, he himself was on the verge of death, the horse under him was killed, and he was saved only by the preparation (according to another version - a cigarette case) lying in his pocket. Fleeing with the remnants of the army, Frederick lost his hat, which was sent to St. Petersburg as a trophy (it is still kept in Russia).

Now the Allies could only continue the victorious march to Berlin, which Frederick actually could not defend, and force him to sign a peace treaty. But at the very last moment the allies quarreled and separated the armies, instead of pursuing the fleeing Frederick, who later called this situation a miracle of the House of Brandenburg. The contradictions between the allies were very great: the Austrians wanted the reconquest of Silesia and demanded that both armies move in that direction, while the Russians were afraid of stretching communications too far and proposed to wait until Dresden was captured and go to Berlin. As a result, inconsistency did not allow it to reach Berlin that time.

Capture of Berlin

The following year, Frederick, who had lost a large number of soldier, switched to the tactics of small battles and maneuvers, exhausting his opponents. As a result of such tactics, the Prussian capital again found itself unprotected, which both Russian and Austrian troops decided to take advantage of. Each side was in a hurry to be the first to arrive at Berlin, since this would allow them to take the laurels of the conqueror of Berlin for themselves. Large European cities were not captured in every war, and, of course, the capture of Berlin would have been an event on a pan-European scale and would have made the military leader who accomplished this a star of the continent.

Therefore, both Russian and Austrian troops almost ran towards Berlin in order to get ahead of each other. The Austrians were so eager to be the first to Berlin that they walked without rest for 10 days, covering more than 400 miles during this period (that is, on average they walked about 60 kilometers per day). The Austrian soldiers did not complain, although they had nothing to do with the glory of the winner, they simply realized that a huge indemnity could be exacted from Berlin, the thought of which drove them forward.

However, the very first to arrive in Berlin was a Russian detachment under the command of Gottlob Totleben. He was a famous European adventurer who managed to serve at many courts, leaving some of them with great scandal. Already during the Seven Years' War, Totleben (by the way, an ethnic German) found himself in the service of Russia and, having proven himself well on the battlefield, rose to the rank of general.

Berlin was very poorly fortified, but the garrison there was sufficient to defend against a small Russian detachment. Totleben attempted an assault, but eventually retreated and laid siege to the city. At the beginning of October, a detachment of the Prince of Württemberg approached the city and, with fighting, forced Totleben to retreat. But then the main Russian forces of Chernyshev (who exercised overall command), followed by the Austrians of Lassi, approached Berlin.

Now the numerical superiority was already on the side of the allies, and the defenders of the city did not believe in their strength. Not wanting unnecessary bloodshed, the Berlin leadership decided to surrender. The city was handed over to Totleben, which was a cunning calculation. Firstly, he arrived to the city first and was the first to begin the siege, which means that the honor of the conqueror belonged to him, secondly, he was an ethnic German, and the residents counted on him to show humanism towards his compatriots, thirdly, the city It would have been better to hand it over to the Russians and not to the Austrians, since the Russians had no personal accounts with the Prussians in this war, but the Austrians entered the war, guided by a thirst for revenge, and, of course, would have plundered the city completely.

One of richest merchants Prussia - Gochkovsky, who participated in the negotiations on the surrender, recalled: “There was nothing left to do but try to avoid disaster as much as possible through submission and agreement with the enemy. Then the question arose of who to give the city to, the Russians or the Austrians. They asked my opinion, and I said that, in my opinion, it is much better to come to an agreement with the Russians than with the Austrians; that the Austrians are real enemies, and the Russians only help them; that they first approached the city and formally demanded surrender; that, as we hear, they outnumber the Austrians, who, being notorious enemies, will deal with the city much more harshly than the Russians, but with these it is possible to come to an agreement better. This opinion was respected. The governor, Lieutenant General Von Rochow, also joined him, and thus the garrison surrendered to the Russians."

On October 9, 1760, members of the city magistrate gave Totleben a symbolic key to Berlin, the city came under the jurisdiction of Commandant Bachmann, appointed by Totleben. This caused the indignation of Chernyshev, who was in general command of the troops and senior in rank, whom he did not notify about the acceptance of surrender. Because of Chernyshev’s complaints about such arbitrariness, Totleben was not awarded the order and was not promoted in rank, although he had already been nominated for the award.

Negotiations began on the indemnity that the conquered city would pay to the side that captured it and in exchange for which the army would refrain from destroying and plundering the city.

Totleben, at the insistence of General Fermor (commander-in-chief of the Russian troops), demanded 4 million thalers from Berlin. Russian generals knew about the wealth of Berlin, but such a sum was very large even for such a rich city. Gochkovsky recalled: “The mayor of Kircheisen fell into complete despair and almost lost his tongue from fear. The Russian generals thought that the head was faking or drunk, and indignantly ordered him to be taken to the guardhouse. It would have happened; but I swore to the Russian commandant “that the mayor has been suffering from attacks of dizziness for several years.”

As a result of tedious negotiations with members of the Berlin magistrate, the amount of spare money was reduced several times. Instead of 40 barrels of gold, only 15 plus 200 thousand thalers were taken. There was also a problem with the Austrians, who were late to share the pie, since the city had surrendered directly to the Russians. The Austrians were unhappy with this fact and now demanded their share, otherwise they were going to start looting. And the relations between the allies were far from ideal. Totleben, in his report on the capture of Berlin, wrote: “All the streets were full of Austrians, so to protect against robbery by these troops I had to appoint 800 people, and then an infantry regiment with brigadier Benckendorff, and place all the horse grenadiers in the city. Finally, since the Austrians attacked my guards and beat them, I ordered to shoot at them."

Part of the money received was promised to be transferred to the Austrians to stop them from looting. After receiving the indemnity, the city property remained intact, but all the royal (that is, owned by Frederick personally) factories, shops and manufactories were destroyed. Nevertheless, the magistrate managed to preserve the gold and silver manufactories, convincing Totleben that, although they belonged to the king, the income from them did not go to the royal treasury, but to the maintenance of the Potsdam Orphanage, and he ordered the factories to be deleted from the list of those subject to ruin.

After receiving the indemnity and the destruction of Frederick's factories, the Russian-Austrian troops left Berlin. At this time, Frederick and his army were moving towards the capital to liberate it, but there was no point in holding Berlin for the Allies, they had already received everything they wanted from him, so they left the city a few days later.

The presence of the Russian army in Berlin, although it caused understandable inconvenience to local residents, was nevertheless perceived by them as the lesser of two evils. Gochkovsky testified in his memoirs: “I and the whole city can testify that this general (Totleben) treated us more like a friend than an enemy. What would have happened under another military leader? What would he not have said and forced for himself personally? "What would have happened if we had fallen under the rule of the Austrians, to curb whom Count Totleben had to resort to shooting from robbery in the city?"

The Second Miracle of the Brandenburg House

By 1762, all parties to the conflict had exhausted their resources to continue the war and active hostilities had practically ceased. After the death of Elizabeth Petrovna, Peter III became the new emperor, who considered Frederick one of greatest people of its time. His conviction was shared by many contemporaries and all descendants; Frederick was truly unique and known at the same time as a philosopher king, a musician king and a military leader king. Thanks to his efforts, Prussia turned from a provincial kingdom into the center of the unification of German lands, all subsequent German regimes, starting from German Empire and the Weimar Republic, continuing with the Third Reich and ending with modern democratic Germany, honored him as the father of the nation and German statehood. In Germany, since the birth of cinema, a separate genre of cinema has even emerged: films about Friedrich.

Therefore, Peter had reason to admire him and seek an alliance, but this was not done very thoughtfully. Peter concluded a separate peace treaty with Prussia and returned East Prussia, whose inhabitants had already sworn allegiance to Elizabeth Petrovna. In return, Prussia pledged to help in the war with Denmark for Schleswig, which was to be transferred to Russia. However, this war did not have time to begin due to the overthrow of the emperor by his wife, who, however, left the peace treaty in force without renewing the war.

It was this sudden and so happy for Prussia death of Elizabeth and the accession of Peter that was called by the Prussian king the second miracle of the House of Brandenburg. As a result, Prussia, which did not have the opportunity to continue the war, having withdrawn its most combat-ready enemy from the war, found itself among the victors.

The main loser of the war was France, which lost almost all of its North American possessions to Britain and suffered heavy casualties. Austria and Prussia, which also suffered huge losses, maintained the pre-war status quo, which was actually in Prussia's interests. Russia did not gain anything, but did not lose any pre-war territories. In addition, its military losses were the smallest among all participants in the war on European continent, thanks to which she became the owner of the strongest army with rich military experience. It was this war that became the first baptism of fire for the young and unknown officer Alexander Suvorov, the future famous military leader.

Actions Peter III laid the foundation for the reorientation of Russian diplomacy from Austria to Prussia and the creation of a Russian-Prussian alliance. Prussia became a Russian ally for the next century. The vector of Russian expansion gradually began to shift from the Baltic and Scandinavia to the south, to the Black Sea.