9. Battle of Kursk

Leningrad blockade.

Breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad

The New Order” in Germany and the partisan movement.

Hitler's concept of a complete reorganization of German public life in accordance with the Nazi worldview. Speaking in June 1933 to the leadership of the Nazi Party, Hitler declared that "the dynamism of the national revolution still exists in Germany and that it must continue until its complete completion. All aspects of life in the Third Reich must be subordinated to the policy of "gleichschaltung". In practice, this meant the formation of a police regime and the establishment of a brutal dictatorship in the country.
The Reichstag, as a legislative body, was rapidly losing its power, and the Weimar Constitution ceased immediately after the Nazis came to power.
Nazi propaganda tirelessly tried to convince the German layman that the "new order" would bring true freedom and prosperity to Germany.

The partisan movement (partisan war of 1941 - 1945) is one of the sides of the resistance of the USSR to the fascist troops of Germany and the allies during the Great Patriotic War.

The partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War was very large-scale and, most importantly, well organized. It differed from other popular uprisings in that it had a clear command system, was legalized and was subject to Soviet power. The partisans were controlled by special bodies, their activities were spelled out in several legislative acts and had goals described personally by Stalin. The number of partisans during the Great Patriotic War amounted to about a million people, more than six thousand various underground detachments were formed, which included all categories of citizens.

The purpose of the guerrilla war 1941-1945. - the destruction of the infrastructure of the German army, the disruption of the supply of food and weapons, the destabilization of the entire fascist machine.

Khrushchev thaw events

The period of the Khrushchev thaw is characterized by the following events:

• The process of rehabilitation of the victims of repressions began, the innocently convicted population was granted amnesty, the relatives of the “enemies of the people” became innocent.
• The republics of the USSR received more political and legal rights.
• The year 1957 was marked by the return of Chechens and Balkars to their lands, from which they had been evicted during Stalin's time in connection with the accusation of treason. But such a decision did not apply to the Volga Germans and Crimean Tatars.
• Also, 1957 is famous for holding the International Festival of Youth and Students, which, in turn, speaks of the “opening of the iron curtain”, mitigation of censorship.
• The result of these processes is the emergence of new public organizations. The trade union bodies are being reorganized: the staff of the top echelon of the trade union system has been reduced, the rights of primary organizations have been expanded.
• Passports were issued to people living in the village, the collective farm.
• Rapid development of light industry and agriculture.
• Active construction of cities.
• Improving the standard of living of the population.

One of the main achievements of the policy of 1953-1964. was the implementation of social reforms, which included the solution of the issue of pensions, an increase in the income of the population, the solution of the housing problem, the introduction of a five-day week. The period of the Khrushchev thaw was a difficult time in the history of the Soviet state. Per so in a short time (10 years) many changes and innovations were carried out. The most important achievement was the exposure of the crimes of the Stalinist system, the population discovered the consequences of totalitarianism.

Results

So, the policy of the Khrushchev thaw was of a superficial nature, did not affect the foundations of the totalitarian system. The dominant one-party system with the application of the ideas of Marxism-Leninism was preserved. Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev was not going to carry out complete de-Stalinization, because it meant the recognition of his own crimes. And since it was not possible to completely renounce the Stalinist era, Khrushchev's transformations did not take root for a long time. In 1964, a conspiracy against Khrushchev matured, and from this period a new era began in the history of the Soviet Union.

Perestroika of the USSR.

By the mid 80s. the backlog of the USSR from the West became more and more obvious. The country needed reform. In April 1985, the new General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, MS Gorbachev, announced the beginning of "perestroika and acceleration." But he did not have a reform plan. Business was legalized under the guise of cooperatives, but immediately taxed with excessive taxes, besides, money of criminal structures was often “laundered” there. The independence of enterprises expanded, but the weakening of centralization in a system that would not work without it, and in such conditions, the delay in the creation of a normal market system led in 1990-1991. to the collapse of the economy. Glasnost appeared, i.e. freedom of speech, but mostly only in large cities. Rehabilitation of the victims of the Stalinist (and not only) regime resumed. The awakening of hopes and publicity gave rise to a new upsurge in culture, and previously forbidden works began to be published. The exposure of Stalinism resumed, turning into an exposure of the communist system as a whole. In 1989, the First Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR met, elected on an alternative basis (previously only one candidate was nominated). During the elections, the anti-communist movement "Democratic Russia" arose, uniting supporters of the reorganization of the country according to the Western model. They were supported primarily by the intelligentsia. At the congress, they organized the Interregional Deputy Group faction. Since 1990, its leaders have headed the capital cities: G. Kh. Popov - Moscow, A. A. Sobchak - Leningrad (St. Petersburg). In 1990, under pressure from the opposition, the phrase about the leading role of the CPSU was removed from the Constitution. A variety of parties emerged. Gradually, power began to move from party structures to councils elected by the people, but even those often could not improve the situation. Often the heads of local party organizations themselves became leaders of the soviets. In 1990, the positions of the President of the USSR (Gorbachev became him) and the RSFSR (member of "Democratic Russia" B. N. Yeltsin) were introduced. Supporters of the preservation of the former system (Vice-President of the USSR G.I. Yanaev, Prime Minister V.S. Pavlov, Minister of Defense of the USSR D.T. declared a state of emergency, but already on August 21 they failed and were arrested.

Stages.

1st stage(March 1985 - January 1987). The beginning of the Perestroika period was characterized by the recognition of the shortcomings of the existing polit-econ.s / s of the USSR and attempts to correct them with several large-scale administrative campaigns - an anti-alcohol campaign, “b-ba with unearned. income”, the introduction of state acceptance , demonstration b-would be with corruption. Radical steps have not yet been taken in this period, outwardly everything remained the same as before. At the same time, in 1985-86, the main / mass of the old / personnel of the Brezhn / conscription was replaced with a new team of managers. Thus, the beginning of the perestroika stage can be regarded as a kind of “calm before the storm”.
2nd stage(January 1987 - June 1989). "Golden Age" of Perestroika. Characterized by the beginning of large-scale reforms in all spheres of life of Soviet society. Half a publicity is being proclaimed in public life - the mitigation of censorship in the media and the lifting of bans on things that were previously considered taboo. In the eq-ke, private entrepreneurship is legalized in the f-me of cooperatives, joint ventures with foreign companies are being actively created. In international politics, the main doctrine is "New Thinking" - a course towards the rejection of the class approach in diplomacy and the improvement of relations with the West. Part of the population is seized with euphoria from the long-awaited changes and unprecedented freedom by Soviet standards. At the same time, during this period, general instability began to gradually increase in the country: the economic situation worsened, separatist sentiments appeared on the national outskirts, 1st interethnic clashes broke out.
3rd stage(June 1989 - 1991). The final stage of Perestroika, originating from the First Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. During this period, there is a sharp destabilization of the political situation in the country: after the Congress, the confrontation between the communist regime and the new political forces that arose as a result of the democratization of society began. Difficulties in the ek-ke develop into a full-blown crisis. Reaches the climax of chronic goods. shortage: empty store shelves become a symbol of the turn of the 80s and 90s. Perestroika euphoria in society is replaced by disappointment, uncertainty about the future, and mass anti-soviet sentiments. "New thinking" in the international arena boils down to endless one-sided concessions to the West, as a result of which the USSR loses many positions and the status of a superpower. In Russia and other republics of the Union, separatist-minded forces come to power - a "parade of sovereignties" begins. The logical result of this development of events was the elimination of the power of the CPSU and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
(However, it is debatable whether the events that took place in the domestic and foreign policy of the USSR in 1991 should be attributed to Perestroika, since at least it is not known for certain when the term "perestroika" was last used in the ideological politics of the Soviets. At the same time, it is historically reliable that as a result of the events of 1991, which are, if not a stage of Perestroika, then at least its direct logical continuation, its fundamental object, the USSR, collapsed. Perestroika, which was originally a kind of reform of its object - the USSR, in the end was a voluntary or involuntary cause of the destruction of this holy object.)
Fak-ki Perestroika in its original form, i.e. as a course towards the improvement of socialism, ended in the first half of 1990. The subsequent events, in fact, were already the beginning of a complete change in the system: the dismantling of the socialist system and the construction of capitalism in its place according to the Western model

Defeat of the Kwantung Army

In early August 1945, the Soviet Union, fulfilling its obligations to the allies, began military operations in the Far East. A large strategic enemy grouping was concentrated on the territory of Manchuria and North Korea. Its basis was the Japanese Kwantung Army (commander - General O. Yamada).

Under General Yamada were also troops formed in the occupied territories - the army of the "state" of Manchukuo, the army of Inner Mongolia under the command of Prince Dewan and the Suiyuan army group.

The enemy troops numbered over 1 million people, 6260 guns and mortars, 1155 tanks, 1900 aircraft, 25 ships. A third of the group's troops were located in the border zone, the main forces - in the central regions of Manchuria.

There were 17 fortified areas along the borders with the Soviet Union and the Mongolian People's Republic (MPR).

In preparation for the operation, the Soviet command during May - early August transferred to the Far East part of the troops and equipment released in the west. From the newly arrived, as well as the troops already existing in the Far East, 3 fronts were formed: Transbaikal (commander - Marshal of the Soviet Union R.Ya. Malinovsky), 1st Far East (commander - Marshal of the Soviet Union K.A. Meretskov), 2- th Far East (commander - General of the Army

M.A. Purkaev). The troops of the fronts numbered over 1.5 million people, over 27 thousand guns and mortars, more than 700 rocket artillery installations, 5250 tanks and self-propelled guns, over 3.7 thousand aircraft. The forces of the Pacific Fleet involved in the operation (commander - Admiral I.S. Yumashev) numbered about 165 thousand personnel, 416 ships, 1382 combat aircraft, 2550 guns and mortars.

In addition, the Amur military flotilla (12.5 thousand people, 126 ships, 68 combat aircraft, 199 guns and mortars; commander - Rear Admiral N.V. Antonov), as well as the Border Troops of the adjacent districts, participated in the battles. The general command of the Soviet troops in the Far East was carried out by Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky. The Mongolian troops were commanded by Marshal of the MPR Kh. Choibalsan. The actions of the forces of the Navy and the Air Force were led by Admiral of the Fleet N.G. Kuznetsov and Air Chief Marshal A. A. Novikov.

To defeat the forces of the Kwantung Army and its allies, the Soviet command planned to deliver two main strikes from the territory of Mongolia and Soviet Primorye, as well as several auxiliary strikes in the general direction to the central regions of Manchuria. After the completion of a deep envelopment of the main forces of the Kwantung Army, they were supposed to be cut and defeated piece by piece. The fighting was to be carried out in a complex theater of operations, replete with various difficult terrain types (desert, mountain, taiga) and large rivers.

The offensive began on August 9 with the simultaneous actions of three Soviet fronts. Military installations in Harbin, Changchun and Jilin, as well as areas of concentration of troops, communication centers and communications of the enemy in the border areas were subjected to massive air strikes. Pacific Fleet ships attacked Japanese naval bases in North Korea and cut communications linking Korea and Manchuria with Japan.

The troops of the Trans-Baikal Front advanced from the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic and Soviet Dauria. The forward detachments crossed the border on the night of August 9 and launched a swift offensive. The main forces moved forward at dawn. Having overcome the waterless steppes, the Gobi Desert and the Great Khingan mountain system, the armies of the Transbaikal Front defeated the Kalgan, Solun and Hailar enemy groups, reached the approaches to the large industrial and administrative centers of Manchuria, cut off the Kwantung Army from the Japanese troops in Northern China and, having occupied Changchun and Shenyang, advanced towards Dalian and Lushun.

The troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front advanced from Primorye towards the Trans-Baikal Front. They broke through the enemy's border fortifications, after which, having repulsed strong counterattacks of the Japanese troops in the Mudanjiang region, they occupied Kirin and Harbin together with the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front.

In cooperation with the landing forces of the Pacific Fleet, they captured the North Korean ports of Ungi, Najin, Chongjin, Wonsan. Japanese troops were cut off from the mother country. At the same time, the troops of the front were advancing on Harbin and Kirin, fighting to eliminate individual enemy groupings that continued to resist. For the speedy liberation of Harbin, Jilin, Pyongyang and other cities, airborne assault forces were landed in them from August 18 to 24.

The troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, in cooperation with the Amur military flotilla, crossed the Amur and Ussuri and within three days cleared the entire right bank of the Amur from the enemy. After that, they broke through the enemy's long-term defenses in the Heihe and Fujin regions and then launched an offensive deep into Manchuria.

Having overcome the Lesser Khingan mountain range by August 20, the forward detachments of the front developed an offensive against Qiqihar. On August 20, formations of the 15th Army entered Harbin, already occupied by Soviet airborne troops and sailors of the Amur Flotilla.

By August 20, Soviet troops, having advanced deep into Northeast China from 200-300 km from the east and north to 400-800 km from the west, reached the Manchurian Plain, surrounded and dismembered the Japanese grouping into several isolated parts. On August 19, Japanese troops began to surrender en masse.

After the defeat of the Kwantung Army and the loss of the military-economic base in Northeast China and North Korea, Japan lost its last strength and ability to continue the war. On September 2, 1945, aboard the USS Missouri, Japanese representatives signed an act of surrender, which brought the Second World War to an end.

Periodization of the Second World War.

The main periods of the Great Patriotic War

• The first period (June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942) Within a year after the German attack on the USSR, the German army was able to conquer significant territories, which included Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine. After that, the troops moved inland with the aim of capturing Moscow and Leningrad, however, despite the failures of the Russian soldiers at the beginning of the war, the Germans failed to take the capital.

Leningrad was taken under blockade, but the Germans were not allowed into the city. The battles for Moscow, Leningrad and Novgorod continued until 1942;

• The period of a radical change (1942 - 1943) The middle period of the war bears such a name due to the fact that it was at this time that the Soviet troops were able to take the advantage in the war into their own hands and launch a counteroffensive. The armies of the Germans and the allies gradually began to retreat back to the western border, many foreign legions were defeated and destroyed.

Due to the fact that the entire industry of the USSR at that time worked for military needs, the Soviet army managed to significantly increase its weapons and put up decent resistance. The army of the USSR turned from a defender into an attacker;

• The final period of the war (1943 - 1945). During this period, the USSR began to recapture the lands occupied by the Germans and move towards Germany. Leningrad was liberated, Soviet troops entered Czechoslovakia, Poland, and then into Germany.

On May 8, Berlin was taken, and the German troops announced their unconditional surrender. Hitler, having learned about the lost war, committed suicide. War is over.

Battle of Smolensk (1945)

The course of the Smolensk battle

On July 10, 1941, the German offensive began on the right wing and in the center of the Western Front. A group consisting of 13 infantry, 9 tank and 7 motorized divisions was able to break through the Soviet defenses as soon as possible and move towards Mogilev. Soon the city was surrounded, Orsha was captured, and part of Smolensk, Yelnya and Krichev were also captured. Part of the Soviet army ended up in a German encirclement near Smolensk.

On July 21, Soviet troops received long-awaited reinforcements and a counteroffensive was launched in the direction of Smolensk. A number of Soviet troops attacked the German headquarters, a fierce battle began. Despite the fact that it was not possible to defeat the Germans, the centralized offensive of the fascist troops was nevertheless broken, and the troops were forced to switch to defensive tactics instead of offensive ones. Several Soviet armies during this period were combined to create a more effective offensive campaign.

On August 8, the Germans again went on the offensive in the region of the Central and Bryansk fronts. The offensive was designed to secure their own army from the Soviet threat and re-open the opportunity for an offensive. The Soviet army retreated, but this was only a strategic move, designed to strengthen the army and bring up new forces. After the reorganization, on August 17, Soviet troops again attacked the Germans, as a result of which the German army was again pushed back and suffered significant losses.

Battles with varying success for one side or another continued for some time, the German army was losing soldiers and its advantage, even despite small victories. As a result, on September 8, Soviet troops managed to completely eliminate the German offensive and secure Smolensk and the surrounding areas, opening the way to Moscow.

The results of the Smolensk battle

Despite the numerical superiority of the German army and the lack of strength among the Soviet soldiers, the USSR still managed, albeit at the cost of significant losses, to recapture Smolensk and frustrate the further plans of the German command. The Smolensk operation was extremely important for the further course of the war, since the Germans lost the possibility of a direct attack on Moscow, and were forced to turn from attackers into defenders. The swift plan to capture the USSR was thwarted once again.

Thanks to the victory at Smolensk, the Soviet command was able to buy some more time in order to more thoroughly prepare Moscow for the defense, which was just a matter of time.

Battle for Moscow. Operation Typhoon

The battle for Moscow included the fighting of Soviet and German troops in the Moscow direction and was divided into two periods: defensive (September 30 - December 4, 1941) and offensive (December 5-6, 1941 - April 20, 1942). In German and Western military history, the battle is known as "Operation Typhoon". The Moscow operation unfolded over a vast area, the borders of which in the north ran along the Volga River, from Kalyazin to Rzhev, in the west - along the railway line Rzhev, Vyazma, Bryansk (to Dyatkovo), in the south - along the conditional line Ryazhsk, Gorbachevo station, Dyatkovo. So, the German attack on Moscow began on September 30, after the Wehrmacht forces were able to break the resistance of the Red Army units near Smolensk.

The task of the Center group was to implement the Typhoon plan - to capture the capital of the USSR before the onset of cold weather. More than half of the Nazi forces located on the Soviet-German border were involved in this offensive. As a result, the Germans were able to penetrate deep into the rear of the Soviet troops and surround four armies near Vyazma and two near Bryansk. Then more than 660 thousand Soviet soldiers fell into fascist captivity.

The Red Army had no reserves behind the front line. Only the heroic resistance of the Soviet troops made it possible to pin down the forces of 28 German divisions. A very small part of the soldiers managed to break out of the encirclement. But this gave time to organize the defense of Moscow. As a result, the German troops failed to approach the capital closer than 20-30 km. Based on the results of these battles, in order to maintain the spirit of the Soviet people, on November 28, the Red Star published an editorial "Testament of 28 Fallen Heroes."

9. Battle of Kursk , according to historians, was a turning point in the Great Patriotic War. More than six thousand tanks took part in the battles on the Kursk Bulge. There has never been such a thing in world history, and probably never will be again.

The actions of the Soviet fronts on the Kursk Bulge were led by Marshals Georgy Zhukov and Vasilevsky. The number of the Soviet army amounted to more than 1 million people. The soldiers were supported by more than 19,000 guns and mortars, and 2,000 aircraft provided air support to Soviet infantrymen. The Germans countered the USSR on the Kursk Bulge with 900,000 soldiers, 10,000 guns and more than 2,000 aircraft.

The German plan was as follows. They were going to capture the Kursk ledge with a lightning strike and launch a full-scale offensive. Soviet intelligence did not eat its bread in vain, and reported the German plans to the Soviet command. Having learned the exact time of the offensive and the purpose of the main attack, our leaders ordered to strengthen the defenses in these places.

The Germans launched an offensive on the Kursk Bulge. On the Germans gathered in front of the front line, a heavy fire of Soviet artillery fell, causing them great damage. The offensive of the enemy stalled, and went with a delay of a couple of hours. During the day of fighting, the enemy advanced only 5 kilometers, and in 6 days of the offensive on the Kursk Bulge, 12 km. This state of affairs hardly suited the German command.

During the battles on the Kursk Bulge, the largest tank battle in history took place near the village of Prokhorovka. 800 tanks from each side met in battle. It was an impressive and terrible sight. On the battlefield were the best tank models of the Second World War. Soviet T-34 clashed with the German Tiger. St. John's wort was also tested in that battle. 57 mm cannon that pierced the armor of the "Tiger".

Another innovation was the use of anti-tank bombs, the weight of which was small, and the damage caused took the tank out of combat. The German offensive bogged down, the tired enemy began to retreat to their previous positions.

Soon our counteroffensive began. Soviet soldiers took the fortifications and, with the support of aviation, made a breakthrough in the German defenses. The battle on the Kursk Bulge lasted about 50 days. During this time, the Russian army destroyed 30 German divisions, including 7 tank divisions, 1.5 thousand aircraft, 3 thousand guns, 15 thousand tanks. The casualties of the Wehrmacht on the Kursk Bulge amounted to 500 thousand people.

The victory in the Battle of Kursk showed Germany the strength of the Red Army. The specter of defeat in the war hung over the Wehrmacht. More than 100 thousand participants in the battles on the Kursk Bulge were awarded orders and medals. The chronology of the Battle of Kursk is measured by the following time frames: July 5 - August 23, 1943.

Leningrad blockade.

The blockade of Leningrad lasted exactly 871 days. This is the longest and most terrible siege of the city in the history of mankind. Almost 900 days of pain and suffering, courage and selflessness. Many years after the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad, many historians, and even ordinary people, wondered if this nightmare could have been avoided. Escape, apparently not. For Hitler, Leningrad was a "tidbit" - after all, the Baltic Fleet and the road to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk are located here, from where help from the allies came from during the war, and if the city had surrendered, it would have been destroyed and wiped off the face of the earth.

Breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad

In 1943, a turning point occurred in the war, and at the end of the year, Soviet troops were preparing to liberate the city. On January 14, 1944, during the general offensive of the Soviet troops, the final operation began to lift the blockade of Leningrad.

The task was to inflict a crushing blow on the enemy south of Lake Ladoga and restore the land routes connecting the city with the country. By January 27, 1944, the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, with the help of Kronstadt artillery, broke through the blockade of Leningrad. The Nazis began to retreat. Soon the cities of Pushkin, Gatchina and Chudovo were liberated. The blockade was completely lifted.

The blockade of Leningrad is a tragic and great page in Russian history, which claimed more than 2 million human lives. As long as the memory of these terrible days lives in the hearts of people, finds a response in talented works of art, is passed from hand to hand to descendants - this will not happen again! The blockade of Leningrad was briefly but succinctly described by Vera Inberg, her lines are a hymn to the great city and at the same time a requiem for the departed.

Operation Typhoon

At the end of September 1941, a tense situation continued on the Soviet-German front. Soviet troops retreated to Leningrad, left Smolensk and Kyiv. The initiative of action continued to remain in the hands of the German troops, but they met with unexpectedly stubborn and selfless resistance from the Red Army and suffered significant losses in manpower and equipment. The pace of advance turned out to be significantly lower than planned, and the attempt to break through to Moscow on the move failed.

Already in early September, the German command ordered the transition of troops in the Moscow direction to temporary defense and began preparing an operation to capture Moscow, code-named "Typhoon". Large groups were concentrated in the areas of Dukhovshchina, Roslavl and Shostka. With powerful blows, they were supposed to surround the main forces of the Red Army, covering the capital; destroy them in the areas of Bryansk and Vyazma, and then rapidly bypass Moscow from the north and south in order to capture it.

To fulfill this plan, in the Army Group Center (commander - Field Marshal F. Bock), 77 divisions were assembled, including 14 tank and 8 motorized divisions, in which there were over 1 million people, over 14,000 guns and mortars, 1,700 tanks, 950 aircraft. The defense against the troops of the Army Group "Center" was held by the troops of the Western (commander - Colonel General I.S. Konev), Bryansk (commander - Colonel General A.I. Eremenko) and the Reserve (commander - Marshal of the Soviet Union SM. Budyonny) fronts .

The Soviet troops numbered about 800 thousand people, 6800 guns and mortars, 780 tanks (of which 140 were heavy and medium) and 545 aircraft. Thus, the superiority of the German troops was: in terms of the number of people - 1.2, artillery and mortars - 2.1 times, tanks - 2.2 times, combat aircraft - 1.7 times. Possessing a significant fleet of vehicles and tractors, the German troops had a significant advantage in mobility.

Despite the fact that many Soviet divisions, especially the newly formed ones, as well as the 12 rifle divisions of the people's militia of the Reserve Front, did not have combat experience and proper weapons, the Soviet Supreme High Command hoped to gain time by stubborn defense to form and concentrate new reserves. To do this, it was necessary to quickly create defensive lines on the far and near approaches to Moscow, consisting of 8-9 defensive lines and occupying over 300 km along the front and 200-250 km in depth.

In the preparation of these lines, the troops of reserve formations, divisions of the Moscow People's Militia, as well as the population of Smolensk, Bryansk, Tula, Kalinin, Moscow regions and Moscow took part. In the rear of the country, reserves were formed at an accelerated pace.

Due to the high pace of the German offensive and the lack of time and forces, a significant part of the measures to strengthen the defense was not completed. The construction of engineering barriers was not completed everywhere, the fronts needed to be replenished, there was a shortage of ammunition.

On September 24, Hitler and Brauchitsch held the last meeting of all the commanders of the tank and field armies. Two days later, the Fuehrer issued an offensive order. The German command believed that Operation Typhoon would end no later than mid-November.

On September 30, von Bock's army group went on the offensive in two directions - on Vyazma and Bryansk. At his disposal were the 2nd, 4th and 9th armies and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th tank armies. Tank units passed through the positions of the 13th Soviet Army. On October 2, the main forces of Army Group Center went on the offensive from the Yartsevo and Roslavl regions against the troops of the Western and Reserve Fronts. The Soviet troops stubbornly resisted, but the enemy broke through the defenses on the very first day and advanced 40-50 km with mobile formations in the directions of Orel, Yukhnov and Vyazma. Attempts by the fronts to launch counterattacks with weak reserves did not produce results.

On October 3, the advanced units of the 2nd Panzer Group cut off the escape routes of the 3rd and 13th armies of the Bryansk Front and broke into Orel at the end of the day. The breakthrough of the defense of the troops of the Western and Reserve fronts in the Yartsevo and Roslavl directions and the withdrawal of part of the forces of the fronts created a dangerous situation in the Vyazemsky direction. On October 4, the enemy captured Spas-Demensk and Kirov, on October 5 - Yukhnov and went to the Vyazma region.

On October 6, Bryansk was in the hands of the enemy. In the Vyazma region, formations of the 19th, 20th, 24th and 32nd armies were surrounded. With stubborn resistance, the encircled troops pinned down significant enemy forces. Part of the forces managed to break out of the encirclement by mid-October. The unfavorable development of events in the region of Vyazma and Bryansk posed a significant threat to Moscow. Under these conditions, the Soviet command took measures to strengthen the Mozhaisk line of defense, where troops were urgently transferred from the reserve and from other fronts. To unite the troops of the western direction and organize a more precise control of them, the remaining troops of the Reserve Front were transferred on October 10 to the Western Front. On the same day, General of the Army G.K. Zhukov was appointed commander of the front. Two days later, the troops of the Mozhaisk line of defense were also subordinated to the Western Front.

On October 12, the State Defense Committee (GKO) decided to build defensive lines directly in the area of ​​​​the capital. At 15-20 km from Moscow, it was planned to build the main line, and the city line was to pass along the district railway. 450 thousand residents of the capital were mobilized for the construction of defensive structures, 75% of them were women.

It was decided to evacuate from Moscow part of the party and government institutions, large defense plants, scientific and cultural institutions. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief, part of the State Defense Committee and the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (SVG) remained in Moscow. In a short time, an external defensive belt was built and fortifications were erected inside the city. Of the volunteers in Moscow, 3 divisions of the people's militia were formed.

The energetic measures taken by the command made it possible to create a new front of defense in the Moscow direction. However, the position of the troops of the Western Front, who took up defensive positions on the Mozhaisk line, remained extremely difficult. The number of troops of the Western Front, which defended the front from the Moscow Sea to Kaluga, was only about 90 thousand people.

Only the most important directions leading to Moscow were sufficiently firmly covered: Volokolamsk, Mozhaisk, Maloyaroslavets and Kaluga, on which, respectively, the 16th Army of Lieutenant General K.K. Rokossovsky, the 5th Army of Major General of Artillery L.A. Govorov defended , 43rd Army of Major General K.D. Golubev, 49th Army of Lieutenant General I.G. Zakharkin. German aviation had complete air supremacy. The work of the front-line rear and command and control of the troops were complicated, because. the roads were filled with motor vehicles, streams of refugees, horse-drawn carts, herds of cattle.

In mid-October, fierce battles unfolded on the Mozhaisk line of defense. Soviet troops offered fierce resistance to superior enemy forces, but Kaluga fell on October 13, Borovsk on October 16, and Mozhaisk and Maloyaroslavets fell on October 18. Only by the greatest exertion of forces was it possible to stop the German offensive at the turn of the Protva and Nara rivers. No less fierce fighting took place in other sectors of the front. On October 17, Kalinin was abandoned. To cover the capital from the north-west, on October 17, the Kalinin Front was created on the basis of the troops of the right wing of the Western Front (commander - Colonel General I.S. Konev).

The enemy's attempt to strike from the Kalinin area to the rear of the front was thwarted, and his offensive in the Tula direction was stopped by the actions of the troops of the 50th Army and the Tula militia, supported by the Stavka reserves. On October 19, by order of the State Defense Committee, a state of siege was introduced in Moscow and adjacent areas. German aviation made 31 raids on Moscow, during which 273 aircraft were shot down. Thanks to the successful actions of the Moscow Air Defense Forces, major destruction in the city was avoided.

The opposition of the Soviet troops gradually intensified, but the enemy introduced new formations into the battle and retained numerical superiority in the directions of the main attacks. It was not possible to stabilize the defense on the distant approaches to Moscow, and at the end of October the fighting was already going on 80-100 km from Moscow. An immediate threat loomed over the capital.

At the beginning of November, the German offensive stopped. The stubborn defense of the Soviet troops, of course, was a decisive factor, but the influence of the autumn thaw cannot be denied, because. because of it, the German troops lost their maneuverability, and their supply deteriorated significantly. In addition, aviation lost the ability to operate from unpaved airfields, and by order of Hitler, the 2nd Air Corps and the 2nd Air Fleet were sent to Sicily.

Be that as it may, the German command decided to resume the offensive after the start of frost, and until that time they had pulled up reserves and regrouped. To resume the attack on Moscow, it deployed 51 divisions, including 13 armored and 7 motorized. The superiority in forces remained on the side of the enemy: in people - 2 times, in artillery - 2.5 times, in tanks - 1.5 times. On the Volokolamsk and Tula directions, the superiority of the enemy was even more significant. According to the plan of the Nazi command, Army Group Center was to break the flank units of the defense of the Soviet troops and surround Moscow,

The Soviet command tried to make full use of the few weeks of respite. During this time, Zhukov created a defense in depth, which passed through the forests adjacent to the Nara River, from Serpukhov in the south to Naro-Fominskaya and further north. The command was able to transfer fresh army corps from Siberia and mobilize the Moscow militias. Now the troops of von Bock, exhausted in previous battles and completely unprepared for the frosts that soon struck, had to advance on the new enemy armies that had come from nowhere, which was already considered completely defeated. On November 13, a meeting of the chiefs of staff of the army groups was held in Orsha with the participation of Brauchitsch, Halder and von Bock. The changed situation called into question the advisability of continuing the offensive. Leeb and Rundstedt insisted on calling off the offensive, and Hitler seems to have been inclined to the same opinion. But Brauchitsch, Halder and von Bock managed to insist on a renewal. Under their pressure, Hitler gave the order to launch the offensive on 15 November.

The attack on Moscow was planned to be carried out by the forces of the 4th Army of von Kluge. The right flank of von Bock from the Oka to the Nara was significantly weakened and constantly attacked by the Red Army. South of Nara, Guderian's 2nd Panzer Army and Weichs' 2nd Field Army were to advance towards Tula, capture it, and outflank Moscow. The main blow of the 4th Army was directed to the Moscow-Smolensk highway. To the north of this road, the 4th Panzer Army was advancing, concentrated between Ruza and Volokolamsk. She was supposed to strike to the left of the Moscow-Smolensk highway, then turn and attack the capital of the USSR from the west and northwest.

Snow fell on November 15 and frost hit almost immediately. The German artillery proved to be completely useless, since it did not have the necessary lubricants to protect the moving parts of the guns. Only 30% of mobile equipment was in working condition. Most of the tanks were also idle, as their optical sights were unsuitable for such low temperatures. The infantry, which did not have appropriate winter uniforms, moved forward with difficulty.

The German troops delivered the main blows in the directions of Klin - Rogachevo, trying to bypass Moscow from the north, and to Tula - Kashira, bypassing the capital from the south. At the cost of heavy losses at the end of November, the Germans managed to capture the Klin-Solnechnogorsk-Istra region, reach the Moscow-Volga canal in the Yakhroma region and occupy Krasnaya Polyana (27 km from Moscow). Here the enemy was stopped and forced to go on the defensive.

On November 24, Guderian arrived at von Bock's headquarters in Smolensk and demanded that the field marshal immediately stop the offensive. The field marshal urgently contacted Brauchitsch, who agreed to temporarily postpone the capture of Moscow from the east. But Hitler ordered the offensive to continue.

The Soviet command pulled up additional forces to the most threatened areas. On November 27, Soviet troops launched a counterattack on General Guderian's 2nd Panzer Army and drove it back from Kashira. Having suffered a defeat near Kashira, the 2nd German Panzer Army tried to bypass Tula from the northeast and cut the Serpukhov-Tula railways and highways. With a counterattack, the Soviet troops pushed the enemy back to their original positions.

On December 1, the command of Army Group Center made a new attempt to break through to Moscow in the Aprelevka area, but it also ended in failure. On December 2, the advanced units of the 1st shock and 20th armies repelled all enemy attacks north of Moscow in the Dmitrov region and to the south and forced him to stop the offensive. On December 3-5, the 1st shock and 20th armies launched several strong counterattacks in the area of ​​Yakhroma and Krasnaya Polyana.

The left-flank divisions of the 16th Army, in cooperation with the 5th Army, pushed the enemy back from the large bend of the Moskva River northeast of Zvenigorod. The shock group of the 33rd Army, having defeated the German units on December 4-5, restored the situation on Nara. The 50th and 49th armies repelled all attacks north of Tula. Thus, as a result of the counterattacks of the Soviet troops in early December, the last attempts of the German troops to break through to Moscow were thwarted. German losses near Moscow for the period from November 16 to December 5 are estimated at 155 thousand people killed and wounded, about 800 tanks, 300 guns and about 1500 aircraft. During the defense of the capital, prerequisites were created for the transition of Soviet troops to a counteroffensive.

Operation Typhoon, called by the Nazi strategists "the main battle of the year", began on September 30 with the transition to the offensive of the Second Panzer Group of General Heinz Guderian in the Bryansk Front from the Shostka region.
On October 2, the remaining two groups from the regions of Dukhovshchina and Roslavl went on the offensive. Their attacks were directed in converging directions to Vyazma in order to cover the main forces of the Western and Reserve fronts. On the very first day, enemy divisions penetrated the defenses of the Red Army for 15-30 kilometers.
On October 3-4, the command of the Western Front, with the forces of the army and front reserves, launched counterattacks on the broken through Nazi units, which, however, were not successful, since they were carried out by sedentary groups and without proper artillery and air support.
In the first days, the enemy offensive developed successfully. He managed to reach the rear of the 3rd and 13th armies of the Bryansk Front, and on October 6, west of Vyazma, encircle the 19th and 20th armies of the Western and the 24th and 32nd armies of the Reserve fronts. The troops, who found themselves in the Vyazma encirclement, waged a courageous fight against the enemy. They launched counterattacks and broke through the encirclement. Here is how the participants in the exit from the encirclement as part of the 29th Infantry Division P. Lukin, N. Okhapkin and P. Silantyev tell about this. “The attacks of our troops followed one after another, they were preceded by artillery preparation. Our attacks were especially fierce on October 8-12, when Captain Flerov's Katyusha battery joined the division's combat operations ... For the Germans, the offensive of the encircled battalions and regiments of Soviet troops was a complete surprise. The Nazis, apparently, believed that since our units were surrounded and suffered significant losses, they were no longer dangerous, they were finished. And suddenly these regiments and battalions found the strength and went forward in an easterly direction. The Germans had to hastily pull together large formations and equipment here.
The active combat operations of the Soviet troops in the encirclement had a serious impact on the development of events. They tied down 28 Nazi divisions in the Vyazma region, which got stuck here and could not continue the offensive against Moscow.
At the same time, in the zone of the 43rd Army of the Reserve Front, the Nazis broke through along the Warsaw highway (now the A101 Moscow-Roslavl highway) and captured the important strategic settlement of Yukhnov. The Soviet command, which discovered the accumulation of German motorized columns late, could not find the strength to stop the breakthrough.
In the afternoon of October 5, cadets of the Podolsk Infantry and Podolsk Artillery Schools were raised on combat alert. By this time, only 17-18 year old cadets of the first year of study remained at the school, since the senior cadets were released ahead of schedule. The cadets had to urgently advance to the Maloyaroslavets area in order to occupy a combat sector on the left flank of the Mozhaisk line of defense. But first of all, it was necessary to throw forward detachments in order to delay the Germans at any cost until the defense was ready. The infantry school allocates an artillery combined division to the forward detachment, which is ordered to command captain Rosikov, one of the cadet teachers.
By the morning of October 6, the advance detachment reached the Ugra River and immediately attacked the already crossed enemy units. As it turned out later, it was the vanguard of one of the divisions of the 4th tank group (army) of the enemy, which was completing the encirclement of several of our armies near Vyazma. The desperate attack of the young "Red Junkers" was a complete surprise for the Germans, and they were forced out beyond the Ugra.
But this was only the beginning of the first test of the cadets. Ahead were several difficult days of withdrawal under the blows of tanks, almost continuous bombing - to the Ilyinsky section of the Mozhaisk line, where the main forces of the schools were deployed. For two weeks, suffering heavy losses, the Podolsk cadets defended the line. Many years later, this will be called the feat of the Podolsk cadets.
In those two weeks, the inscription: "two ill-fated cadet schools" did not leave the operational maps in the German headquarters.
To capture Maloyaroslavets, which was the key to Podolsk and Moscow, the enemy abandoned two divisions - motorized and infantry. They were opposed by formations and units of the 43rd Army of Lieutenant General S. D. Akimov: the 312th Infantry Division under the command of Colonel A.F. Naumov, units of the Podolsk infantry and artillery schools, the 108th Reserve Rifle Regiment, combined battalion 616- 1st Infantry Regiment, six artillery regiments, a guards mortar regiment, three separate machine-gun and artillery battalions, seven separate flamethrower companies, and others.
All attempts to hold back the advance of the enemy in this direction by the forces of the army turned out to be futile. Then, on the orders of the command of the Western Front, on October 13-14, a counterattack was launched by the forces of the 110th and 113th rifle divisions of colonels S. T. Gladyshev and K. I. Mironov. However, he was also unsuccessful. The situation did not change the additional entry into the battle of the 53rd Infantry Division (commander Colonel N. P. Krasnoretsky), the 9th (commander Lieutenant Colonel I. F. Kirichenko) and the 17th (commander Major N. Ya. Klypin) tank brigades . The defense area was surrendered.

Last push for Moscow

German tanks attack Soviet positions near Istra, November 25, 1941.
“Now stop the enemy on the outskirts of our capital, do not let him in, grind the Nazi divisions and corps in battles ... The Moscow knot is now decisive ... A little more time will pass, and the enemy’s attack on Moscow will have to choke. It is necessary at all costs to withstand the tension of these days ”(G.K. Zhukov, 11/26/1941).
To resume the attack on Moscow, the Wehrmacht deployed 51 divisions, including 13 tank and 7 motorized. According to the plan of the German command, Army Group Center was to break the flank units of the defense of the Soviet troops and surround Moscow.
The Soviet command reinforced the dangerous sectors of the front with reserves and reinforcements. The parade on Red Square on November 7, 1941 was of great political importance. Thus, the government of the USSR and personally I. V. Stalin demonstrated their determination to fight to the end.
The offensive of German troops on Moscow resumed from the northwest on November 15-16, from the southwest on November 18. The enemy delivered the main blows in the directions of Klin-Rogachevo and Tula-Kashira. At the end of November, the enemy managed to capture the area of ​​Klin, Solnechnogorsk, Istra, reach the Moscow-Volga Canal in the Yakhroma area and occupy Krasnaya Polyana (32 km from the Moscow Kremlin). The further advance of the Germans in the northern direction was prevented by the discharge of water from the Istra, Ivankovsky reservoirs and reservoirs of the Moscow Canal. According to the memoirs of Marshal Shaposhnikov, “as the Germans approached this line, the water outlets of the reservoir were blown up (after the crossing of our troops), resulting in a water stream up to 2.5 m high for up to 50 km south of the reservoir. Attempts by the Germans to close the spillways were unsuccessful.
The 1st Shock Army and the 20th Army were transferred to the Western Front, which covered the gap between the 30th (on November 17 transferred to the Western Front) and the 16th Armies. As a result of the involvement of Soviet reserves, the enemy was stopped and forced to go on the defensive.
At the end of November there were fierce battles in the area of ​​Kashira and Tula. On November 27, Soviet troops launched a counterattack on the 2nd Panzer Army and drove it back from Kashira. The 2nd Panzer Army tried to bypass Tula from the northeast and cut off the Serpukhov-Tula railways and highways, but the counterattack of the Soviet troops threw the enemy back to their original positions.
On December 1, the command of Army Group Center made a new attempt to break through to Moscow in the Aprelevka area. On December 2, the Germans occupied Burtsevo, the closest settlement to Moscow on the southwestern front. Thanks to the well-organized interaction of the 33rd Army of General M. G. Efremov and the 5th Army of General L.A. Govorov, this attempt was eliminated. The Supreme Command Headquarters ordered, in addition to the new 10th and 20th armies transferred to the Western Front from the reserve of the Headquarters of the 1st Shock, to include the 24th and 60th armies in the Moscow defense zone.
On December 2, the advanced units of the 1st Shock and 20th armies repelled all enemy attacks north of Moscow in the Dmitrov region and to the south and forced him to stop the offensive. On December 3-5, the 1st Shock and 20th armies launched several strong counterattacks in the Yakhroma and Krasnaya Polyana region and began to push the enemy. The left-flank divisions of the 16th Army, in cooperation with the 5th Army, pushed the enemy back from the large bend of the river. Moscow northeast of Zvenigorod. The strike group of the 33rd Army, having defeated enemy units on December 4-5, restored the situation on the Nara River.

The results of the defense of Moscow

During the defensive stage of the Battle of Moscow, the Soviet command imposed on the enemy a “war of attrition” (when the “last battalion” rushes into battle, which should decide the outcome of the battle). But if during the battle all the reserves of the German command were exhausted, the Soviet command managed to save the main forces (from the strategic reserves, only the 1st Shock Army and the 20th Army were brought into battle).
The commander of the German 2nd Panzer Army G. Guderian wrote down his summary like this:

The attack on Moscow failed. All the sacrifices and efforts of our valiant troops were in vain. We have suffered a serious defeat, which, due to the stubbornness of the high command, led to fatal consequences in the coming weeks. In the German offensive, a crisis ensued, the strength and morale of the German army were broken.

Feeling a turning point during the battle, the Soviet command gave the order for a counteroffensive.

Even during the battle near Kyiv, when the success of the Nazi troops was indicated, the German General Staff developed a plan for an attack on Moscow. This plan, approved by Hitler, evoked the full approval of the generals and field marshals at a meeting held in September 1941 near Smolensk. The fascist command, believing that with the victory Kyiv had opened up new opportunities for deep, rapid operations on the entire Soviet-German front, had no doubts about the rapid capture of Moscow and complete victory. By the end of September, the strategic situation changed dramatically in favor of the Nazi army. Hitler's General Staff gave the operation the name "Typhoon", believing that Army Group Center, like a typhoon, would sweep away the Soviet defenses with a swift offensive and capture Moscow. According to the plans of the enemy, the war was to end with his victory before the onset of winter.

Army Group Center now included the 2nd, 4th, 9th field armies, 2nd, 4th and 3rd tank groups. This group included 77 divisions, including 14 armored and 8 motorized. This amounted to 38% of the infantry and 64% of the enemy tank and motorized divisions operating on the Soviet-German front.

The entire mass of the troops of the "Center" group deployed for an offensive on the front from Andreapol to Glukhov in a zone bounded from the south by the Kursk direction, from the north - by Kalinin. In the area of ​​​​Dukhovshchina, Roslavl and Shostka, three strike groups were concentrated, the basis of which were tank groups. One of these groups, after breaking through the enemy defenses near Roslavl, was to advance in a northeasterly direction towards Vyazma and there join up with another strike group advancing on Vyazma from the northwest. Thus, it was planned to encircle and destroy the enemy east of Smolensk. The 2nd Panzer Group was tasked with advancing from the Glukhov area to Orel and between Novgorod-Seversky and Bryansk to reach the rear of the enemy, whose actions were constrained by the frontal offensive of the 2nd Army. Thus, to strike at Moscow, Army Group Center had significant forces at its disposal: three field armies and three tank groups.

On the way to our capital, they were opposed by the Western (commander - I.S. Konev), Reserve (commander - S.M. Budyonny) and Bryansk (commander - A.I. Eremenko) fronts. The reserve front was located mostly in the second echelon, only its left wing occupied positions on the front line.

BATTLE OUTSIDE MOSCOW 1941-42 , defensive and offensive operations of the Soviet troops during the Great Patriotic War in order to defend Moscow and defeat the German groupings of troops. The offensive according to the Typhoon plan was launched by German troops on September 30 in the Bryansk direction and on October 2 in the Vyazma direction. Despite the fierce resistance of the Soviet troops, the enemy broke through their defenses. At the cost of huge losses in late November and early December, he managed to reach the Volga-Moscow canal, force the Nara River, and approach the city of Kashira from the south. Further attempts by the enemy to break through to Moscow were thwarted. The enemy was drained of blood (Moscow defensive operation 1941). During the counter-offensive on December 5-6, Soviet troops liberated over 11 thousand settlements from the invaders and by the beginning of January 1942 drove the enemy back 100-250 km, inflicted a heavy defeat on 38 enemy divisions. As a result of the counter-offensive and the general offensive, the enemy was driven back to the west by 150-400 km. (Moscow offensive operation).

Moscow defensive operation 1941, 30.9-5.12.

Owls. Soyuz S.M. Budyonny), Bryansk (Leutnant General A.I. Eremenko, since October Major General G.F. Zakharov) and Kalinin (Polish General I.S. Konev) fronts; part of the battle near Moscow. The goal is to repel the enemy's offensive (gr. armies "Center", F. Bock) on Moscow and bleed his shock groups. During the Moscow defensive operation, owls. troops carried out: Vyazemsky, Orel-Bryansk, Mozhaisk-Maloyaroslavl, Kalinin, Klinsko-Solnechnogorsk, Naro-Fominsk and Tula front-line defensive operations. In late November - early December, the last attempts of the enemy to break through to Moscow were thwarted and conditions were created for the Soviet troops to go on a counteroffensive.

Moscow offensive operation, 5.12.41-7.1.42 During the Kalinin, Klinsko-Solnechnogorsk, Tula, Kaluga and Yelets front-line offensive operations, German troops were thrown back 100-250 km to the west.

Oryol-Bryansk operation (30.9-23.10) On September 30, 1941, Guderian's 2nd tank group from the Shostka-Glukhov area attacked Sevsk in the rear of the troops of the 13th Army. The 2nd German Army, breaking through the defenses of the 50th Army, moved to Bryansk and to the rear of the 3rd Army. On October 3, German troops captured Orel with a swift blow and tried to develop an offensive along the Orel-Tula highway. To cover the Oryol-Tula direction, the Stavka moved the 1st Guards Rifle Corps out of its reserve, reinforcing it with tank brigades, an aviation group, an RS regiment, and several other special units. The command of this corps was entrusted to Major General D.D. Lelyushenko. The corps was supposed to concentrate no later than October 5 in the area of ​​​​Mtsensk, Otrada, Cherni. By October 6, the defense line of the Bryansk Front had been broken through in three places. On October 6, Bryansk was occupied. The 3rd, 13th and partially 50th armies of the Bryansk Front were surrounded.

the forces of Army Group Center went on the offensive against the Western and Reserve fronts from the regions of Roslavl and Dukhovshchina. Having closed on October 6 west of Vyazma, the Germans surrounded the 16th, 19th and 20th armies of the Western Front and the 24th and 32nd armies of the Reserve Front. The troops remaining outside the pocket also suffered heavy losses. Part of them retreated to the northeast, to Kalinin (Kalinin operation (10.10-4.12)), part - to the unfinished Mozhaisk defensive line (Mozhaisk-Maloyaroslavskaya operation (10-30.10)). Before the German troops, it seemed, opened an unhindered path to Moscow.

The jubilation of the leaders of the Reich proved premature. Again, as in the summer months of 1941, the encircled Soviet troops did not think about surrender, but continued to fight with unrelenting tenacity. The encircled units of the Bryansk Front made a breakthrough, thereby delaying Guderian's advance to the northeast of Orel. By October 23, all three armies, at the cost of heavy losses (the commander and a member of the military council were killed in the 50th Army), made their way out of the encirclement and took up defense on new lines.

As a result of the stubborn resistance of units of the Bryansk Front, the Nazis failed to break into Tula on the move (Tula defensive operation (24.10-5.12)). Having received a respite, the defenders of the arsenal city turned it into a real fortress.

Near Vyazma, events took a more difficult turn. The Germans managed to create a dense ring around the Soviet armies. But surrounded under the command of Lieutenant General M.F. Lukin continued to fight.

For the Germans, the offensive of the encircled battalions and regiments of Soviet troops was a complete surprise. The Nazis apparently believed that since our units were surrounded and suffered significant losses, they were no longer dangerous, they were finished. And suddenly these regiments and battalions found the strength and went forward in an easterly direction. The Germans had to hastily pull together large formations and equipment here.

Few managed to escape from the Vyazma cauldron. Most of the encircled died, or, left without ammunition, were forced to surrender. According to German information, 663 thousand prisoners of war were captured near Vyazma. It seemed that the Wehrmacht had achieved another great success. But to eliminate the encircled grouping, the command of Army Group Center had to allocate 28 divisions.

From the remnants of the Western and Reserve Fronts, as well as parts of the Stavka reserve, a new Western Front was formed. He commanded them from December 10, Zhukov, recalled from Leningrad. The former commander, Colonel General I.S. Konev, barely escaped arrest: Stalin was going to blame him for the failures, as in June - on Pavlov. Konev owed his salvation to Zhukov, who insisted on the appointment of the general removed from command as his deputy.

A week later, Konev was appointed commander of the new Kalinin Front, created from parts of the Western and Reserve Fronts that remained north of the German strike. Later, he commanded the fronts throughout the war, became Marshal of the Soviet Union, holder of the Order of Victory, became one of the largest generals of the Great Patriotic War - along with G.K. Zhukov, A.M. Vasilevsky, K.K. Rokossovsky.

By mid-October, German troops reached the Mozhaisk line of defense and, as a result of heavy fighting, broke through it. By the end of October, the front line was established at the turn of Kalinin - Volokolamsk - Cuban- Naro-Fominsk - Serpukhov- Tarusa - Aleksin - Tula(underlined the names of the cities that remained on the Soviet side of the front).
On October 27, the German troops, having suffered heavy losses in personnel and equipment, went over to the defensive to regroup before the last push to Moscow. Official Goebbels propaganda reported that "the offensive was temporarily suspended due to the weather."

In early October 1941, the Germans launched Operation Typhoon and moved their troops to Moscow. A few kilometers from this city, a disaster began.

On October 2, 1941, Hitler, having launched Operation Typhoon, put everything at stake. Before the onset of the Russian winter, it was supposed to inflict a “crushing defeat” on the Soviet armed forces, and turn the capital of the USSR into a lifeless heap of ruins. In fact, this meant that the enemy had to be defeated within one month, since before the first frosts, mud had to be reckoned with for several weeks before the first frosts. And winter in Russia begins, as a rule, no later than November.

The fact that Hitler's armies, after three and a half months of hardest fighting and a reduction in combat capability by 50% in some of them, were able to muster forces for such an operation is not least due to Hitler's biggest victory. Against the wishes of his generals, "the greatest commander of all time" at the end of August sent his tank divisions to the south, which were supposed to participate in the attack on Moscow. Having formed a cauldron near Kyiv, they destroyed 160,000 Soviet soldiers there and took 660,000 Red Army soldiers prisoner.

Nearly 80 divisions in six armies

His invincible armies were now to win "in the decisive battle of this year" within a few weeks. Hitler was right. This was to be the decisive battle of the war. In two months he will lose it.

At the same time, at first, Operation Typhoon went even better than his generals could ever hope for. This was not so much due to Hitler's moral influence - "the upcoming battle will - perhaps for the first time - be considered by all the states of Europe as a joint action aimed at saving the most valuable cultural continent" - but with the professional and brutal management of his soldiers. Almost 80 divisions in three land armies and three tank armies (tank groups) were able to prepare the German high command for this operation.

Despite strong warnings that there were not enough armaments and the necessary supplies not provided, the generals yielded to their Führer and gave their subordinate troops, as they mistakenly believed, "the last powerful push" forward. Within ten days in the battles with the formation of pockets near Vyazma and Bryansk, 673,000 Soviet soldiers were taken prisoner and 1,300 tanks were captured. Stalin at this time was thinking about the possibility of sending the head of his secret service, Beria, to negotiate with Hitler, while the Führer forbade discussion of any proposals for the surrender of Moscow. This city was to disappear from the face of the earth forever.

German propaganda had already announced to both its own and foreign press that the "defeat of the Timoshenko Army Group" was of decisive importance for the course of the war, and the chief of staff of the Wehrmacht's operational leadership, General Jodl, had already confirmed this in confidence, but the real situation at the front looked different. Although the German troops managed to break through the outer defensive ring of Moscow, nevertheless, the ensuing period of mud formation stopped the offensive for several weeks. Soon it began to snow.

Dispatches of Richard Sorge

At this time, Stalin ordered the evacuation of the central authorities to the banks of the Volga. A total of two million people fled the city. With the help of cruel actions, the morale of the rest of the population, which was supposed to participate in the construction of protective structures, was maintained. From the civilian population, 87 working battalions and 12 divisions of the people's militia were formed. Separate parts of Moscow were mined.

However, the real joker for Stalin was the reports sent from Japan by the German-Russian spy Richard Sorge. Before his exposure in mid-October, Sorge informed the Soviet leadership that Imperial Japan, despite all its belligerent rhetoric, would not launch an offensive in the Far East. In this way, Stalin was able to send to the front as a reserve about a million soldiers well equipped for combat operations.

The German Abwehr did not have this information. When the Wehrmacht, after the established frosts, again intensified offensive operations, it constantly encountered new Soviet groups, which, unlike the German divisions, had winter clothes. In the hope of a quick victory, many German units left in other places the additional equipment at their disposal or, since the outcome of the war was already considered decided in August, they were not provided with overcoats and gloves at all.

It should be added to this that, due to the lack of trucks, even horse-drawn carts had to be used. In many panzer divisions, only a third of the tanks were in combat readiness. Some infantry divisions had a total of only one fully equipped and ready for battle battalion. One of the German air fleets was redeployed to the Mediterranean region to support Rommel's African Corps.

Although the commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, said at the time that the moment was approaching "when the forces of the troops will be completely exhausted," Hitler nevertheless continued to drive his bloodless divisions forward. Even his chief of staff, Franz Halder, realized that "the troops here have reached the limit." In early December, one of the reconnaissance units managed to break through to the suburbs of Moscow. Three days later, the Soviet counter-offensive began with the participation of a million troops and 700 tanks.

The German leadership was taken by surprise, and it seemed that the defeat of Army Group Center was only a matter of time. The Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces, Halder, admitted in his diary that "the most critical situation in the course of the two world wars" had developed. However, this was not enough for Hitler.

War becomes global

While his soldiers in the east suffered from enemy shells, hunger and snow, the Führer declared war on the United States on December 11th. Five days later, the dictator ordered an end to the retreat "and with the help of the fanatical actions of every commander ... to force the troops into fanatical resistance in their positions." On December 19, Hitler officially became commander in chief of the ground forces. But even this was not enough. With a 50-degree frost, his divisions were thrown back 300 kilometers to the west. “However, the expected defeat did not happen as a result, and this is not due to the firmness and professionalism of the German military leadership, but to serious mistakes made by the Stavka, the Soviet high command,” Munich historian Christian Hartmann believes. In addition, in order to determine the direction of the main attack, the Soviet troops carried out offensive operations on a 1,000-kilometer front. Over a million Soviet soldiers were opposed by 500,000 Germans.

Nevertheless, the crazy idea of ​​defeating the Soviet Union in a blitzkrieg turned into a nightmare. The failure of Operation Typhoon marked the beginning of an all-out material war that Germany waged against the Soviet Union, England, and America and in which she could not win. Hitler seemed to realize this. Because it was at this moment that he began to actively implement the second goal of his war of annihilation - the elimination of the Jews, whose representatives he considered the true rulers of the Soviet Union.