It is not easy to make a list of the most important battles in the history of World War 2. Every battle, every inch of land inhabited by the enemy brought the allies closer to victory over Nazism, no matter where the battle took place and how big it was. The feat of every war-liberator is equally priceless.

And yet, we tried to highlight the 10 largest and most significant battles of the Second World War, the outcome of which significantly influenced the further course of the war.

TOP 12 most powerful battles of World War II(list sorted chronologically):

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1. Battle of the Atlantic

(September 1, 1939 – May 1945)

USS Spencer. During World War II, he sank several German submarines. It was a convoy ship.

And although this battle cannot be called the most massive and bloody, its significance was very high. For Germany, the purpose of this battle was to disrupt Allied communications in the Atlantic. First of all, to weaken the UK.

During the battles, the German fleet tried to sink all possible allied ships, from military to transport and food. The main weapon of Germany were submarines, they have successfully proven themselves from the very beginning of the battles. During World War II, Germany built more than a thousand submarines of various types, which dominated the Atlantic until the spring of 1943.

By this time, despite the colossal losses, the Allies still tried to improve the protection of their communications, as well as increase the number of anti-submarine forces. This made it possible to break the dominance of German troops in the waters of the Atlantic.

Already from the middle of 1944, the dominance of the Allies in the Atlantic was obvious. Germany was defeated not only on land, but also at sea. The opening of a second front forced the enemy to go on the defensive.

The losses of the parties during the Battle of the Atlantic differ in many sources. Germany alone lost more than 30,000 submariners and 789 submarines. On the other hand, 179 Allied warships and 2,828 ships were sunk by German forces.

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(May 10 - June 25, 1940)

This is a successful operation of the Axis of the Nazi bloc to take over the Benelux countries, as well as France, with the goal of complete dominance in Europe. The German troops used the tactics of rapid warfare, during which, in a short period of time, with the help of a massive attack, the armies of Belgium, the Netherlands and France were completely defeated.

Allied losses during the French campaign amounted to more than 112 thousand killed, 245 thousand wounded and 1.5 prisoners. Wehrmacht troops lost about 45 thousand people killed and about 110 thousand people were injured.

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(July 9 - October 30, 1940)

It was an almost four-month battle for air supremacy between the Wehrmacht and the armed forces of Great Britain. The Germans pursued the goal of gaining air superiority over the British Isles in order to subsequently provide air cover for the bombing of British territory and the ground operation to invade Great Britain.

From the side of the Third Reich, the main forces were Messerschmitt (Messerschmitt) fighters of the Bf.109E and Bf.110C modifications, which in many respects surpassed the British Hurricane Mk I and Spitfire Mk I. Nevertheless, the Germans failed this battle, losing about 3 thousands of its pilots. The British lost 1,800 pilots in the battle and about 120,000 islanders were killed in the bombardment. Also, at least 2 million buildings and structures were destroyed by German bombs.

The British victory in this battle strengthened the morale of the British soldiers and inspired the allies. By the end of the battle, the Germans realized that their plan had failed and redeployed their forces to the opened eastern direction - the USSR.

Perhaps it would not be an exaggeration to say that the tank battles of the Second World War are one of its main images. How are the trenches an image of the First World War or nuclear missiles of the post-war confrontation between the socialist and capitalist camps. Actually, this is not surprising, since the tank battles of World War II largely determined its nature and course.

Not the last merit in this belongs to one of the main ideologists and theorists of motorized warfare, German general Heinz Guderian. He largely owns the initiatives of the most powerful blows with a single fist of the troops, thanks to which the Nazi forces achieved such dizzying successes on the European and African continents for more than two years. The tank battles of the Second World War especially gave brilliant results at its first stage, defeating outdated morally Polish equipment in record time. It was Guderian's divisions that provided the breakthrough German armies under Sedan and the successful occupation of French and Belgian territories. Only the so-called "Dunker miracle" saved the remnants of the armies of the French and British from total defeat, allowing them to reorganize in the future and protect England in the sky at first and prevent the Nazis from concentrating absolutely all their military power in the east. Let's take a closer look at the three largest tank battles of this whole massacre.

Prokhorovka, tank battle

Tank battles of World War II: the battle of Senno

This episode took place at the very beginning of the German invasion of the USSR and became integral part Vitebsk battle. After the capture of Minsk, the German units advanced to the confluence of the Dnieper and Dvina, intending to launch an offensive against Moscow from there. From the side of the Soviet state, two combat vehicles numbering more than 900 participated in the battle. The Wehrmacht had at its disposal three divisions and about a thousand serviceable tanks, backed up by aircraft. As a result of the battle on July 6-10, 1941, the Soviet forces lost more than eight hundred of their combat units, which opened up the opportunity for the enemy to continue their advance without changing plans and launch an offensive towards Moscow.

The largest tank battle in history

In fact, the biggest battle took place even earlier! Already in the first days of the Nazi invasion (June 23-30, 1941) between the cities of Brody - Lutsk - Dubno, in Western Ukraine, there was a clash involving more than 3200 tanks. In addition, the number of combat vehicles here was three times greater than near Prokhorovka, and the battle lasted not one day, but a whole week! As a result of the battle, the Soviet corps were literally crushed, the armies Southwestern Front suffered a quick and crushing defeat, which opened the way for the enemy to Kyiv, Kharkov and further occupation of Ukraine.

The Second World War was the bloodiest and most brutal military conflict in the history of mankind and the only one in which nuclear weapon. 61 states took part in it. The dates of the beginning and end of this war are among the most significant for the entire civilized world. The causes of the Second World War were the imbalance of power in the world and the problems provoked by the results of the First World War, in particular territorial disputes. The United States, England, France, who won the First World War, concluded the Treaty of Versailles on the most unfavorable and humiliating conditions for the losing countries, Turkey and Germany, which provoked an increase in tension in the world. At the same time, adopted in the late 1930s by Britain and France, the policy of appeasing the aggressor made it possible for Germany to sharply increase its military potential, which accelerated the transition of the Nazis to active military operations.

The main battles of the Second World War, which were of great importance for the history of the USSR, are:

By the end of September 1941, the Wehrmacht overcame the resistance of the Soviet troops in the battle of Smolensk. Covertly concentrating more than half of the troops on the Soviet-German front, the Germans launched an offensive against Moscow.

The Center Group began to implement the elaborate Typhoon plan. The Germans managed to break through the heavily stretched defenses of the Soviet troops and, having penetrated deeply into the rear, surrounded two Soviet armies near Bryansk and four near Vyazma. More than 660 thousand soldiers were taken prisoner.

Every day the situation near Moscow became more and more dramatic. Hitler's troops came close to the city.

By the beginning of December 1941, the Germans managed to reach the Moscow-Volga canal and, having crossed it, took Khimki. From the east, the Germans crossed the Nara River and reached Kashira. On October 8, the State Defense Committee decided to evacuate a significant part of government institutions and enterprises. In Moscow, the creation of a militia began, the city went into a state of siege.

Despite the difficult situation at the front, on November 7, 1941, a military parade took place on Red Square. Stalin made a patriotic speech. This made a huge impression on Soviet citizens giving them the confidence to win. From the parade, the troops went to the front line.

The troops were tasked with defeating the attack groups of the Center army and eliminating the threat of the capture of Moscow.

This came as a complete surprise to the German command. During this offensive, German troops were pushed back 120-150 km from the capital.

During December, they lost over 120 thousand soldiers and officers killed. The Red Army liberated the cities of Kaluga and Tver.

For the first time in all previous military campaigns fascist troops suffered such losses. Before the whole world near Moscow, the myth of their invincibility was dispelled.

The Battle of Stalingrad July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943, which marked a radical turning point in the war.

The Battle of Stalingrad, one of the greatest battles of the Great Patriotic War, was a turning point in the course of World War II. Interest in Stalingrad is not weakening, and the disputes of researchers do not subside. Stalingrad is a city that has become a symbol of suffering and pain, a symbol of the greatest courage. Stalingrad will remain in the memory of mankind for centuries. The battle of Stalingrad is conditionally divided into two periods: defensive and offensive. The defensive period began on July 17, 1942 and ended on November 18, 1942. The offensive period began with the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops on November 19, 1942 and ended with victorious volleys on February 2, 1943. More than 2 million people participated in the battle at certain stages.

The battle of Stalingrad in terms of the duration and fierceness of the fighting, in terms of the number of people and military equipment participating, surpassed all the battles of world history that preceded it. It unfolded over a vast territory of 100 thousand km2. At certain stages, more than 2 million people, more than 2 thousand tanks, more than 2 thousand aircraft, 26 thousand guns participated in it on both sides. According to the results, the battle surpassed all previous ones. During her time, the Soviet armed forces defeated five enemy armies: two German, two Romanian and one Italian. The fascist German troops lost in killed, wounded, captured up to 1.5 million soldiers and officers and a large number of military equipment, weapons and equipment.

The motherland highly appreciated the historical feat of Stalingrad. He was awarded the title of Hero City. 55 formations and units that distinguished themselves in Battle of Stalingrad were awarded medals.

The Battle of Stalingrad ended, the historical significance of which was recognized by the whole world. Stalingrad lay in ruins. The total material damage exceeded 9 billion rubles. And it was quite understandable the desire of people to see it revived and not just a city for residents, but a city-monument, in stone and bronze, with an instructive lesson in retribution to the enemy, a city eternal memory its fallen defenders. Every Stalingrad family suffered - 300,000 civilians were evacuated, 75,000 people fought in militia units and destruction battalions, 43,000 people died during enemy air raids and shelling, 50,000 people were wounded, forced labor in Germany was hijacked 46 thousand people.

The revival of the hero city has become a significant milestone in the history of the people, the country.

The Battle of Kursk July 5 - August 23, 1943, during which the largest tank battle of the Second World War took place - near the village of Prokhorovka.

The Battle of Kursk occupies a special place in the Great Patriotic War. It lasted 50 days and nights, from July 5 to August 23, 1943. This battle has no equal in its bitterness and stubbornness of the struggle.

The general plan of the German command was to encircle and destroy the troops of the Central and Voronezh fronts defending in the Kursk region. If successful, it was supposed to expand the front of the offensive and return the strategic initiative. To implement their plans, the enemy concentrated powerful strike groups.

The Soviet command decided to first bleed the enemy strike groups in defensive battles, and then go on the counteroffensive. The battle that began immediately took on a grandiose scope and was of an extremely tense character. Our troops did not flinch. They met the avalanche of enemy tanks and infantry with unprecedented stamina and courage. The offensive of the enemy strike groups was suspended. Only at the cost of huge losses did he manage to penetrate our defenses in some areas. On the Central Front - at 10-12 km, on the Voronezh - up to 35 km. Finally buried the Nazi operation "Citadel" the largest in the entire second world war oncoming tank battle near Prokhorovka. It happened on July 12th. 1200 tanks and self-propelled guns simultaneously participated in it from both sides. This battle was won by the Soviet soldiers. The Nazis, having lost up to 400 tanks during the day of the battle, were forced to abandon the offensive.

On July 12, the second stage of the Battle of Kursk began - the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops. On August 5, Soviet troops liberated the cities of Orel and Belgorod. On the evening of August 5, in honor of this major success, a victorious salute was given in Moscow for the first time in two years of the war. Since that time, artillery salutes have constantly announced the glorious victories of Soviet weapons. On August 23, Kharkov was liberated. So the battle on the Kursk fiery arch ended victoriously. military bloody tank Kursk

The Battle of Berlin - which led to the surrender of Germany.

In the second half of April 1945, the Red Army delivered the final blow to Nazi Germany and its armed forces.

The troops of the Belorussian, Ukrainian 1st and 2nd Belorussian fronts from the line of the Oder and Neisse rivers launched a grand offensive against the Vistula Army Group and the left wing of the Center Army Group, covering Berlin. The troops of the 1st and 2nd Polish armies also took part in the Berlin operation. 41,600 guns and mortars, more than 6,250 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 7,500 aircraft took part in the assault on Berlin from the Soviet side.

The German armies covering Berlin had about a million soldiers and officers, 10,400 guns and mortars, over 1,500 tanks and assault guns, and 3,300 aircraft. In the face of formidable danger, the Nazi command concentrated its forces in the east against the Red Army advancing along the entire front. In addition, the Nazis were looking for ways to diplomatically avoid disaster. To this end, they tried to start negotiations with the United States and England on the conclusion of a separate peace. However, these attempts were not successful. Nothing could save Nazi Germany and its army from complete defeat.

Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front reached Berlin from the south and southwest. On the night of April 25, in cooperation with the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, they completed the complete encirclement of the Berlin enemy grouping. On the same day, the troops of the 5th Guards Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front reached the Elbe River and in the Torgau area came into contact with units of the 1st American Army. Ten days on the streets of the capital of Nazi Germany were fierce bon. 8th Guards Army under the command of General V.I. Chuikov, troops of the 3rd shock army under the command of General V.I. Kuznetsov, they made their way towards each other in order to unite in the Reichstag area.

The Berlin grouping of the enemy was divided into four isolated parts. At dawn on April 30, Soviet soldiers, who had captured the central region of Berlin, stormed the Reichstag. The fascist leaders were completely at a loss. Some of them fled Berlin, others committed suicide. On the afternoon of April 30, Hitler himself committed suicide.

At 18 o'clock on the same day, as a result of a swift attack, Soviet soldiers ended up at the Reichstag building.

The troops of the 2nd and 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts in early May reached the line Wismar - Schwerin - Wittegburg - Elbe to Meissen, and along its entire length came into contact with the Anglo-American troops advancing from west.

Significance of World War II for Soviet Union huge. The defeat of the fascists determined future history countries. According to the results of the conclusions that followed the defeat of Germany peace treaties, the USSR significantly expanded its borders. At the same time, the totalitarian system was strengthened in the Union. In some European countries established communist regimes. Victory in the war did not save the USSR from the mass repressions that followed in the 1950s.

In Stalingrad, the course of the world made a sharp turn

In Russian military history, the battle of Stalingrad has always been considered the most outstanding and significant event Great Patriotic War and the entire Second World War. The highest assessment of the victory of the Soviet Union in the Battle of Stalingrad is also given by modern world historiography. “At the turn of the century, Stalingrad was recognized as the decisive battle not only of the Second World War, but of the era as a whole,” emphasizes the British historian J. Roberts.

During the Great Patriotic War, there were other equally brilliant Soviet victories - both in terms of their strategic results and in terms of the level of military art. So why does Stalingrad stand out among them? In connection with the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad, I would like to reflect on this.

The interests of historical science and the development of cooperation between peoples require the release military history from the spirit of confrontation, to subordinate the research of scientists to the interests of deep, truthful and objective coverage of the history of the Second World War, including the Battle of Stalingrad. This is due to the fact that some people want to falsify the history of the Second World War, "re-war" the war on paper.

Much has been written about the Battle of Stalingrad. Therefore, there is no need to retell its course in detail. Historians and the military rightly wrote that its outcome was due to the increased power of the country and the Red Army by the autumn of 1942, the high level of military leadership of its command cadres, the mass heroism of Soviet soldiers, the unity and selflessness of the entire Soviet people. It was emphasized that our strategy, operational art and tactics in the course of this battle made a new major step forward in their development and were enriched with new provisions.

PLANS OF THE PARTIES FOR 1942

When discussing plans for a summer campaign at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (VGK) in March 1942, the General Staff (Boris Shaposhnikov) and Georgy Zhukov proposed that the transition to strategic defense be considered the main course of action.

Zhukov considered it possible to take private offensive actions only in the zone of the Western Front. Semyon Timoshenko proposed, in addition, to conduct an offensive operation in the Kharkov direction. To the objections of Zhukov and Shaposhnikov regarding this proposal, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Joseph Stalin stated: “We can’t sit on the defensive with our hands folded, we can’t wait until the Germans strike first! We must ourselves deliver a number of preemptive strikes on a broad front and feel the readiness of the enemy.

As a result, it was decided to undertake a number of offensive operations in the Crimea, in the Kharkov region, in the Lgovsk and Smolensk directions, in the regions of Leningrad and Demyansk.

As for the plans of the German command, at one time it was believed that it set its main goal capture of Moscow by a deep detour from the south. But in reality, according to the directive of the Fuhrer and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Germany, Hitler No. 41 of April 5, 1942, the main goal of the German offensive in the summer of 1942 was to seize the Donbass, Caucasian oil and, by disrupting communications in the depths of the country, deprive the USSR of the most important resources coming from these districts.

Firstly, when striking in the south, conditions were created for achieving surprise and more favorable opportunities for achieving success, because in 1942 our Supreme Command was again expecting the main attack of the enemy in the Moscow direction, and the main forces and reserves were concentrated here. Nor was the German disinformation plan "Kremlin" unraveled.

Secondly, when advancing in the Moscow direction, the German troops would have to break through the defenses prepared in advance, in depth with the prospect of protracted hostilities. If in 1941 near Moscow the German Wehrmacht failed to overcome the resistance of the retreating Red Army with heavy losses, then in 1942 it was all the more difficult for the Germans to count on the capture of Moscow. At that time, in the south, in the Kharkov region, as a result of a major defeat of the Soviet troops, the German army was confronted by our significantly weakened forces; it was here that the most vulnerable section of the Soviet front was located.

Thirdly, when the main blow was delivered by the German army in the Moscow direction and even, at worst, capturing Moscow (which was unlikely), the retention by the Soviet troops of exceptionally important economic terms areas in the south created the conditions for the continuation of the war and its successful completion.

All this suggests that strategic plans Hitler's command basically correctly took into account the current situation. But even under this condition, the troops of Germany and its satellites would not have been able to advance so far and reach the Volga, if not for the major mistakes of the Soviet command in assessing the direction of a possible enemy strike, inconsistency and indecision in choosing a method of action. On the one hand, in principle, it was supposed to switch to strategic defense, on the other hand, a number of unprepared and unsupported offensive operations were undertaken. This led to the dispersal of forces, and our army was unprepared for either defense or offensive. Oddly enough, but the Soviet troops again found themselves in the same uncertain position as in 1941.

And in 1942, despite the defeats of 1941, the ideologized cult of the offensive doctrine continued to press so hard, the underestimation of defense, its false understanding were so deeply rooted in the minds of the Soviet command that they were embarrassed as something unworthy for the Red Army and were not resolved in full apply.

In the light of the plans of the parties discussed above, an important aspect is clearly clarified: the Stalingrad strategic operation was an interconnected part of the entire system of strategic actions of the Soviet Armed Forces in 1942. In many military-historical works, the Stalingrad operation was considered in isolation from other operations carried out in the western direction. This also applies to Operation Mars in 1942, the essence of which is most perverted, especially in American historiography.

The main remark boils down to the fact that the main, decisive strategic operation in the autumn and winter of 1942-1943 was not operations in the southwest, but offensive operations carried out in the western strategic direction. The basis for this conclusion is the fact that fewer forces and means were allocated to solve problems in the south than in the western direction. But in reality this is not entirely true, because the southern strategic direction must be taken as a whole, and not only the troops near Stalingrad, including the troops in the North Caucasus and the troops of the Voronezh direction, which were practically directed to the southern direction. In addition, we must take into account the fact that the offensive actions of our troops in the west did not allow the German command to transfer forces to the south. Our main strategic reserves were located southeast of Moscow and could be transferred to the south.

DEFENSIVE OPERATIONS ON THE APPROACHES TO STALINGRAD

The second group of questions relates to the first stage of the Battle of Stalingrad (from July 17 to November 18, 1942) and stems from the need for a more objective, critical assessment of defensive battles and operations on the outskirts of Stalingrad. During this period, there were the most omissions and shortcomings in the actions of our command and troops. Military theoretical thought has yet to clarify how our army, under catastrophically difficult conditions, nevertheless managed to restore in the summer of 1942 the almost completely disrupted strategic front in the southwestern direction. It is known that only from July 17 to September 30, 1942, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command sent 50 rifle and cavalry divisions, 33 brigades, including 24 tank brigades, to reinforce the Stalingrad direction.

At the same time, the Soviet command did not plan and did not set the task for the troops to stop the advancing enemy only after retreating to the Volga. It repeatedly demanded that the enemy be stopped at a number of lines even on the distant approaches to Stalingrad. Why was it not possible, despite the large number of reserves, the courage and mass heroism of officers and soldiers, the skillful actions of a number of formations and units? There were, of course, many cases of confusion and panic, especially after severe lesions and heavy losses of our troops in May-June 1942. In order for a psychological turning point to occur in the troops, a serious shake-up was needed. And in this regard, the order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 227 played its generally positive role, giving a sharp and truthful assessment of the situation and permeated with the main requirement - "Not a step back!" It was a very harsh and extremely rigid document, but forced and necessary in the then prevailing conditions.

Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus preferred captivity to suicide.

The main reason for the failure of a number of defensive battles on the outskirts of Stalingrad was that the Soviet command repeated the mistakes of 1941 in organizing strategic defense.

After each major breakthrough of the German army, instead of a sober assessment of the situation and making a decision on defense at one or another advantageous line, where the retreating troops would retreat with battles and fresh formations from the depths would be pulled up in advance, orders were given to hold the occupied lines at any cost, even when it was impossible . Reserve formations and incoming replenishment on the move were sent into battle, as a rule, to deliver poorly prepared counterattacks and counterattacks. Therefore, the enemy had the opportunity to beat them in parts, and the Soviet troops were deprived of the opportunity to properly gain a foothold and organize defense on new lines.

The nervous reaction to each retreat further aggravated the already difficult, difficult situation and doomed the troops to new retreats.

It should also be recognized that the German troops carried out offensive operations quite skillfully, widely maneuvering and massively using tank and motorized formations in open, tank-accessible terrain. Having met resistance in one sector or another, they quickly changed the direction of their attacks, trying to reach the flank and rear of the Soviet troops, whose maneuverability was much lower.

The setting of unrealistic tasks, the appointment of dates for the start of hostilities and operations without taking into account the minimum necessary time for preparing for their conduct, also made themselves felt when many counterattacks and counterattacks were delivered during defensive operations. For example, on September 3, 1942, in connection with the difficult situation in the Stalingrad Front, Stalin sent a telegram to the representative of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command: “Demand from the commander of the troops, standing to the north and north-west of Stalingrad, to immediately strike at the enemy and come to the aid of the Stalingraders.”

There were many such telegrams and demands. It is not difficult for a person who understands at least a little about military affairs to understand their absurdity: how can troops, without minimal training and organization, take and “hit” and go on the offensive. Defense activity had great importance to wear down the enemy, disrupt and delay his offensive actions. But counterattacks could be more effective with more careful preparation and material support.

In the course of defensive battles on the outskirts of Stalingrad, air defense was extremely weak, and therefore it was necessary to operate in conditions of significant superiority of enemy aircraft, which made it especially difficult for troops to maneuver.

If at the beginning of the war the inexperience of personnel also affected, then after heavy losses in 1941 and in the spring of 1942, the problem of personnel was even more acute, although there were many commanders who managed to harden and gain combat experience. A lot of mistakes, omissions and even cases of criminal irresponsibility were made on the part of the commanders of the fronts, armies, commanders of formations and units. Taken together, they also seriously complicated the situation, but were not as decisive as the miscalculations made by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. Not to mention the fact that the too frequent change of commanders, commanders (only in July-August 1942, three commanders of the Stalingrad Front were replaced) did not allow them to get used to the situation.

The fear of encirclement adversely affected the stability of the troops. Political distrust and repressions against military personnel, who during the retreats in 1941 and in the spring of 1942, were surrounded, played a detrimental role in this respect. And after the war, officers who were surrounded were not accepted to study at military academies. It seemed to the military-political bodies and the bosses of the NKVD that such an attitude towards the "encirclement" could increase the stamina of the troops. But everything was the opposite - the fear of encirclement reduced the stubbornness of the troops in the defense. At the same time, it was not taken into account that, as a rule, the most staunchly defending troops fell into the encirclement, often as a result of the retreat of their neighbors. It was this most selfless part of the military that was persecuted. No one was held responsible for this wild and criminal incompetence.

FEATURES OF THE STALINGRAD OFFENSIVE OPERATION

From the experience of the second stage of the Battle of Stalingrad (from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943), when the troops of the Southwestern, Don and Stalingrad fronts carried out a counteroffensive, important conclusions and lessons follow on the preparation and conduct of offensive operations to encircle and destroy the enemy.

The strategic plan of this counter-offensive was to encircle and destroy the group of German fascists from the area south of Stalingrad in the general direction to Kalach troops and their satellites (Romanian, Italian, Hungarian troops) east of Stalingrad. Long-range aviation and the Volga flotilla also took part in the operation.

Various points of view are expressed as to who owns the initial idea of ​​a counteroffensive with encirclement and destruction of the main enemy forces. Khrushchev, Eremenko, and many others claimed this. Speaking objectively, this idea in general view, as many participants in the war recall, literally “was in the air,” because the very configuration of the front already suggested the need to strike at the flanks of the enemy grouping under the command of Friedrich Paulus.

But the main, most difficult task was how to concretize and implement this idea, taking into account the current situation, how to gather and concentrate the necessary forces and means in time and organize their actions, where exactly to direct strikes and with what tasks. It can be considered an established fact that the main idea of ​​this plan, of course, belongs to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, and above all to Georgy Zhukov, Alexander Vasilevsky and the General Staff. Another thing is that it was born on the basis of proposals, meetings and conversations with generals and officers of the fronts.

On the whole, it must be said that the level of military skill of command personnel and headquarters, the combat skill of all personnel in the preparation and conduct of offensive operations at the second stage of the Battle of Stalingrad was significantly higher than in all previous offensive operations. Many methods of preparing and conducting combat operations, having appeared here for the first time (not always in their finished form), were then used with great success in the operations of 1943-1945.

Near Stalingrad, the massive use of forces and means in the directions chosen for the offensive was carried out with great success, although not yet to the same extent as in the operations of 1944-1945. So, on the South-Western Front, in the breakthrough section of 22 km (9% of the entire width of the strip), out of 18 rifle divisions, 9 were concentrated; on the Stalingrad front on the 40 km section (9%) out of 12 divisions - 8; in addition, 80% of all tanks and up to 85% of artillery were concentrated in these areas. However, the density of artillery was only 56 guns and mortars per 1 km of the breakthrough area, while in subsequent operations it was 200–250 or more. In general, the secrecy of preparation and the suddenness of the transition to the offensive were achieved.

In essence, for the first time during the war, not only careful planning of operations was carried out, but also painstaking work on the ground with commanders of all levels was carried out to the extent necessary to prepare for combat operations, organize interaction, combat, rear and technical support. The reconnaissance succeeded, albeit incompletely, in revealing the enemy's fire system, which made it possible to carry out a more reliable fire defeat than was the case in previous offensive operations.

For the first time, an artillery and air offensive was used in full, although not everything was sufficiently clearly worked out in the methods of artillery preparation and attack support.

For the first time, before an offensive on a broad front, reconnaissance in combat was carried out in the zones of all armies by advanced subunits in order to clarify the location of the enemy's forward edge and system of fire. But in the bands of some armies, it was carried out two to three days, and in the 21st and 57th armies - five days before the start of the offensive, which under other circumstances could reveal the beginning of the offensive, and the obtained data on the enemy’s fire system could become significantly outdated .

Near Stalingrad, for the first time, during a major offensive operation, new infantry combat formations were used in accordance with the requirements of the order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 306 - with a one-echelon construction of not only subunits, units, but also formations. Such a formation reduced the losses of troops and made it possible to more fully use infantry firepower. But at the same time, the absence of second echelons made it difficult to build up efforts in a timely manner to develop the offensive in depth. It was one of the reasons why rifle divisions the first echelon failed to break through the enemy defenses; already at a depth of 3–4 km, tank corps had to be brought into battle, which, under the then prevailing situation, was a necessary measure. The experience of these and subsequent offensive operations showed that in regiments and divisions, when possible, it is imperative to create second echelons.

The volume of material and technical support for the troops has increased significantly. By the beginning of the counteroffensive, 8 million artillery shells and mines were concentrated on three fronts. For example: in 1914 the entire Russian army had 7 million shells.

But if we compare it with the needs of fire damage, then the November offensive operations of 1942 were relatively insufficiently provided with ammunition - an average of 1.7-3.7 ammunition; Southwestern Front - 3.4; Don - 1.7; Stalingrad - 2. For example, in the Belorussian or Vistula-Oder operations, the supply of fronts with ammunition was up to 4.5 ammunition.

Regarding the second stage of the Battle of Stalingrad, connected with the actions of the troops to destroy the encircled enemy grouping and develop an offensive on the external front, two questions arise, on which different opinions are expressed.

First, some historians and military experts believe that a serious flaw in the Soviet counter-offensive operation near Stalingrad is the fact that a large gap has formed between the encirclement of the enemy grouping and its destruction, while the classical position of military art says that the encirclement and destruction of the enemy should be one a continuous process, which was subsequently achieved in the Belarusian, Yasso-Kishinev and some other operations. But what they managed to do near Stalingrad was a great achievement for that time, especially if we remember that in the offensive near Moscow, near Demyansk and in other areas it was not even possible to surround the enemy, and near Kharkov in the spring of 1942, the Soviet troops surrounding the enemy, they themselves were surrounded and defeated.

During the counteroffensive near Stalingrad, on the one hand, all the necessary measures were not taken to dismember and destroy the enemy in the course of his encirclement, although one must also take into account large sizes the territory on which the encircled enemy was located, and the greater density of his groupings. On the other hand, the presence of large enemy forces on the outer front, seeking to release the encircled 6th Army of Paulus, did not make it possible to concentrate sufficient forces to quickly eliminate the enemy troops encircled near Stalingrad.

In Stalingrad, the battle was for every house.

The headquarters of the Supreme High Command belatedly decided to unite the control of all troops engaged in the destruction of the encircled grouping in the hands of one front. Only in mid-December 1942, a directive was received on the transfer of all troops involved near Stalingrad to the Don Front.

Secondly, how legitimate was the decision of the Supreme Command Headquarters to send the 2nd Guards Army of Rodion Malinovsky to defeat the Erich Manstein group in the Kotelnikovsky direction. As you know, the 2nd Guards Army was originally intended to operate as part of the Southwestern Front, then, with a change in the situation, it was decided to transfer it to the Don Front to participate in the destruction of the encircled enemy grouping. But with the appearance in the Kotelnikovsky direction of the enemy army group "Don" under the command of Manstein, the Supreme Command Headquarters, at the request of General Eremenko, a new decision was made - to transfer the 2nd Guards Army to the Stalingrad Front for operations in the Kotelnikovsky direction. This proposal was also supported by Vasilevsky, who was at that time at the command post of the Don Front. Rokossovsky continued to insist on the transfer of the 2nd Guards Army to the Don Front in order to accelerate the destruction of the encircled enemy grouping. Nikolai Voronov also opposed the transfer of the 2nd Guards Army to the Stalingrad Front. After the war, he called this decision a "terrible miscalculation" of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command.

But a careful analysis of the situation at that time, with the involvement of enemy documents that became known to us after the war, shows that the decision of the Supreme Command Headquarters to send the 2nd Guards Army to defeat Manstein was apparently more appropriate. There was no guarantee that with the inclusion of the 2nd Guards Army in the Don Front, it would be possible to quickly deal with the encircled Paulus group. Subsequent events confirmed how difficult the task was to destroy 22 enemy divisions, numbering up to 250 thousand people. There was a big, insufficiently justified risk that a breakthrough of the Manstein grouping and a strike against it by the Paulus army could lead to the release of the encircled enemy grouping and disruption of the further offensive of the troops of the Southwestern and Voronezh fronts.

ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD FOR THE SECOND WORLD WAR

In world historiography, there is no common understanding of the significance of the Battle of Stalingrad for the course and outcome of World War II. After the end of the war, statements appeared in Western literature that not the Battle of Stalingrad, but the victory of the Allied forces at El Alamein was the most significant turning point in the course of World War II. Of course, for the sake of objectivity, it must be admitted that the Allies won a major victory near El Alamein, which made a significant contribution to the defeat of the common enemy. But still, the battle of El Alamein cannot be compared with the Battle of Stalingrad.

If we talk about the military-strategic side of things, the Battle of Stalingrad took place on a vast territory, almost 100 thousand square meters. km, and the operation near El Alamein - on a relatively narrow African coast.

More than 2.1 million people, over 26,000 guns and mortars, 2,100 tanks and over 2,500 warplanes took part in certain stages of the battle near Stalingrad on both sides. The German command for the battles near Stalingrad attracted 1 million 11 thousand people, 10,290 guns, 675 tanks and 1216 aircraft. While near El Alamein, Rommel's African corps had only 80 thousand people, 540 tanks, 1200 guns and 350 aircraft.

The battle of Stalingrad lasted 200 days and nights (from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943), and the battle of El Alamein lasted 11 days (from October 23 to November 4, 1942), not to mention the incomparability of tension and bitterness of the two these battles. If at El Alamein the fascist bloc lost 55 thousand people, 320 tanks and about 1 thousand guns, then at Stalingrad the losses of Germany and its satellites were 10-15 times greater. About 144 thousand people were taken prisoner. The 330,000th grouping of troops was destroyed. The losses of the Soviet troops were also very large - irretrievable losses amounted to 478,741 people. Many of the soldiers' lives could have been saved. Yet our sacrifices were not in vain.

The military-political significance of the events that took place is incomparable. The Battle of Stalingrad took place in the main European theater of operations, where the fate of the war was decided. The El Alamein operation took place in North Africa in a secondary theater of operations; her influence on the course of events could be indirect. The attention of the whole world was then riveted not to El Alamein, but to Stalingrad.

The victory at Stalingrad had a huge impact on freedom movement peoples of the whole world. A mighty wave of the national liberation movement swept through all the countries that fell under the yoke of Nazism.

In turn, the major defeats and huge losses of the Wehrmacht near Stalingrad sharply worsened the military-political and economic situation in Germany, put it before the deepest crisis. The damage of enemy tanks and vehicles in the Battle of Stalingrad was equal, for example, to six months of their production by German factories, guns - four months, and mortars and small arms - two months. And in order to make up for such large losses, the German military industry was forced to work with extremely high voltage. The crisis of human reserves sharply worsened.

The catastrophe on the Volga left its noticeable imprint on the morale of the Wehrmacht. In the German army, the number of cases of desertion and disobedience to commanders increased, military crimes became more frequent. After Stalingrad, the number of death sentences handed down by Nazi justice to German servicemen increased significantly. German soldiers began to lead with less persistence fighting, began to fear strikes from the flanks and encirclement. Among some politicians and representatives of senior officers, oppositional moods to Hitler appeared.

The victory of the Red Army at Stalingrad shook the fascist military bloc, had a depressing effect on the satellites of Germany, and caused panic and irresolvable contradictions in their camp. The ruling leaders of Italy, Romania, Hungary and Finland, in order to save themselves from the impending catastrophe, began to look for pretexts for withdrawing from the war, ignoring Hitler's orders to send troops to the Soviet-German front. Since 1943, not only individual soldiers and officers, but also entire units and units of the Romanian, Hungarian and Italian armies surrendered to the Red Army. Relations between the Wehrmacht and the Allied armies escalated.

The crushing defeat of the fascist hordes at Stalingrad had a sobering effect on the ruling circles of Japan and Turkey. They abandoned their intentions to go to war against the USSR.

Under the influence of the successes achieved by the Red Army at Stalingrad and in subsequent operations of the winter campaign of 1942-1943, Germany's isolation in the international arena increased and at the same time the international prestige of the USSR increased. In 1942-1943, the Soviet government established diplomatic relations with Austria, Canada, Holland, Cuba, Egypt, Colombia, Ethiopia, and resumed previously interrupted diplomatic relations with Luxembourg, Mexico and Uruguay. Relations with the London-based governments of Czechoslovakia and Poland improved. On the territory of the USSR, the formation of military units and formations of a number of countries of the anti-Hitler coalition began - the French aviation squadron "Normandie", the 1st Czechoslovak infantry brigade, the 1st Polish division named after Tadeusz Kosciuszko. All of them subsequently joined the fight against the Nazi troops on the Soviet-German front.

All this suggests that it was the battle of Stalingrad, and not the operation of El Alamein, that broke the back of the Wehrmacht and marked the beginning of a radical turning point in World War II in favor of the anti-Hitler coalition. More precisely, Stalingrad predetermined this radical change.

The heroism and courage of Soviet soldiers shown during the battles of the Great Patriotic War deserve eternal memory. The wisdom of military leaders, which has become one of the most important components of the common victory, does not cease to amaze us even today.

Over the long years of the war, so many battles took place that even some historians disagree on the interpretation of the meaning of certain battles. And yet, the largest battles that have a significant impact on the further course of hostilities are known to almost every person. It is these battles that will be discussed in our article.

Name of the battle	Commanders who took part in the battle	Outcome of the battle
	Aviation Major Ionov A.P., Aviation Major General Kutsevalov T.F., F.I. Kuznetsov, V.F. Tributs.	Despite the stubborn struggle of the Soviet soldiers, the operation ended on July 9 after the Germans broke through the defenses in the area of ​​the Velikaya River. This military operation smoothly turned into a struggle for the Leningrad region.
	G.K. Zhukov, I.S. Konev, M.F. Lukin, P.A. Kurochkin, K.K. Rokossovsky	This battle is considered one of the bloodiest in the history of the Second World War. At the cost of millions of losses of the Soviet army, it was possible to delay the advance of Hitler's army on Moscow.
	Popov M.M., Frolov V.A., Voroshilov K.E., Zhukov G.K., Meretskov K.A.	After the beginning of the blockade of Leningrad, local residents and military leaders had to fight fierce battles for several years. As a result, the blockade was lifted, the city was liberated. However, Leningrad itself was subjected to horrendous destruction, and the death toll local residents exceeded several hundred thousand.
	I.V. Stalin, G.K. Zhukov, A.M. Vasilevsky, S.M. Budyonny, A.A. Vlasov.	Despite huge losses, the Soviet troops managed to win. The Germans were thrown back 150-200 kilometers back, and the Soviet troops managed to liberate the Tula, Ryazan and Moscow regions.
	I.S. Konev, G.K. Zhukov.	The Germans managed to push back another 200 kilometers. Soviet troops completed the liberation of the Tula and Moscow regions, liberated some areas of the Smolensk region
	A.M. Vasilevsky, N.F. Vatutin, A.I. Eremenko, S.K. Timoshenko, V.I. Chuikov	It is the victory at Stalingrad that many historians call among the most important turning points in the course of the Second World War. The Red Army managed to win a strong-willed victory, pushing the Germans far back, and proving that the fascist army also had its vulnerabilities.
	CM. Budyonny, I.E. Petrov, I.I. Maslennikov, F.S. October	Soviet troops were able to win a landslide victory, liberating Checheno-Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Stavropol region and Rostov region.
	Georgy Zhukov, Ivan Konev, Konstantin Rokossovsky	The Kursk Bulge became one of the bloodiest battles, but it ensured the end of the turning point in the course of the Second World War. Soviet troops managed to push the Germans even further, almost to the border of the country.
	V.D. Sokolovsky, I.Kh. Bagramyan	On the one hand, the operation was unsuccessful, because the Soviet troops failed to reach Minsk and capture Vitebsk. However, the forces of the Nazis were severely wounded, and as a result of the battle, the tank reserves were almost running out.
	Konstantin Rokossovsky, Alexey Antonov, Ivan Bagramyan, Georgy Zhukov	Operation Bagration turned out to be incredibly successful, because the territories of Belarus, part of the Baltic states and areas of Eastern Poland were recaptured.
	Georgy Zhukov, Ivan Konev	The Soviet troops managed to defeat 35 enemy divisions and directly go to Berlin for the final battle.
	I.V. Stalin, G.K. Zhukov, K.K. Rokossovsky, I.S. Konev	Soviet troops after a long resistance managed to take the capital of Germany. With the capture of Berlin, the Great Patriotic War officially ended.