The Great Patriotic War, the stages of which we will consider in this article, is one of the most difficult historical trials that fell on the lot of Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians and other peoples living in the territory of the USSR. These 1418 days and nights will forever remain in history as the most bloody and cruel time.
The main stages of the Great Patriotic War
Periodicization of the events of the Second World War can be done based on the nature of the events that took place at the front. In different periods of the war, the initiative belonged to different armies.
The stages of the Great Patriotic War, most historians detail as follows:
- from June 22 to November 18, 1941 (1st stage of World War II);
- from November 19, 1941 to the end of 1943 (2 stage of the Great Patriotic War);
- from January 1944 to May 1945 (3rd stage of the Great Patriotic War).
World War II: periods
Each of the periods of the Great Patriotic War has its own characteristics, which relate to the directions of military operations, the use of new types of weapons and the advantages of one of the armies. First, I would like to talk briefly about the stages of the Great Patriotic War.
- The initial stage of hostilities was characterized by the complete initiative of the Nazi troops. During this time, Hitler’s army completely occupied Belarus, Ukraine and almost reached Moscow. The Soviet army, of course, fought to the best of its ability, but constantly retreated. The huge success of the Red Army during this period was the victory near Moscow. But in general, the German offensive continued. They were able to occupy many territories of the Caucasus, reached almost the modern borders of Chechnya, but the Nazis failed to take Grozny. Important fights in the middle of 1942 took place on the Crimean Front. Stage 1 ended with the battle of Stalingrad.
- The second stage of World War II brought the advantage of the Red Army. After the victory at Stalingrad over the Paulus army, Soviet troops received good conditions for a liberation attack. The breakthrough of the siege of Leningrad, the battle of Kursk and the general offensive on all fronts at that time made it clear that the Nazi army would sooner or later lose the war.
- In the final period of the war, the offensive of the Red Army continued. The fighting took place mainly in Ukraine and Belarus. This period was characterized by the progressive advance of the Red Army to the west and fierce resistance of the enemy. This is the last stage in the Second World War, which ended in victory over the enemy.
The reasons for the existing periodization of the Second World War
The stages of the Great Patriotic War, or rather their beginning and end, are marked by some key events, battles that have entered the history of the world. The longest was the first period of the war. The reasons for this are:
- surprise attack of the enemy;
- attacks by a massive front of troops in significantly extended territories;
- lack of extensive experience in conducting military operations in the Soviet army;
- the superiority of the German army in technical equipment.
It was only possible to stop the advance of the enemy only by the end of 1942. The main reasons for the success of the Red Army in the second period of the war can be considered:
- the heroism of Soviet soldiers;
- superiority of the Red Army over the enemy;
- significant progress of the USSR army in technical terms (the appearance of new tanks and anti-aircraft mounts, much more).
The third stage of the war was also quite lengthy. The main distinction between the 2nd and 3rd stages of hostilities against Nazi troops seems to be that in 1944 the epicenter of hostilities spread from Russia to Ukraine and Belarus, that is, a progressive movement to the west was traced. The final stage of the Great Patriotic War lasted more than a year, because the spacecraft was to liberate the whole of Ukraine and Belarus, as well as the countries of Eastern Europe.
Battle of 1941
In 1941, the situation of the USSR, as already emphasized, was extremely difficult. The first attacks of infantry and motorized units of the fascist army were Belarus and Lithuania. On June 22, the defense of the Brest Fortress began. The Nazis expected to pass this outpost much faster than they succeeded. Fierce battles went on for several days, and the final surrender of Brest occurred only on July 20, 1941. Also these days the Nazis advanced in the direction of Šiauliai and Grodno. That is why, on June 23-25, the USSR army launched a counterattack in these areas.
The first stages of World War II in 1941 showed that the Red Army could not cope with the enemy without a retreat. So great was the onslaught of the Nazis! How was the retreat in the first months of the war? It took place with battles. Also, army men and communists, in order to complicate the life of the enemy as much as possible, undermined infrastructure facilities that could not be evacuated to safe places. The strong resistance of the army was due to the need to evacuate production important for the country in the rear.
Of the largest battles of 1941, it is worth noting the Kiev defensive operation, which lasted from July 7 to September 26, and the battle for Moscow (September 30, 1941 - April 1942). Also, an important role in the history of the Second World War is assigned to the defense of Odessa and the exploits of Soviet sailors.
1942 in the history of the Second World War
The initial stage of the Great Patriotic War showed Hitler that he simply could not succeed in defeating the Soviet Army. His strategic task to take Moscow until the winter of 1941 did not materialize. Until May 1942, the general offensive of the Soviet troops continued, which began as early as December 1941 near Moscow. But this attack was stopped by the Nazis on the Kharkov bridgehead, where a large group of troops were surrounded and lost the battle.
After that, the German army went on the offensive, so again the Soviet soldiers had to remember about defensive actions. Hitler understood that it would be difficult to capture Moscow, so he directed the main blow at the city with the symbolic name Stalingrad.
Active Nazi offensives also took place on the Crimean bridgehead. The defense of Sevastopol lasted until July 4, 1942. From July to November, the Red Army conducted active defensive operations near Stalingrad and the Caucasus. The defense of Stalingrad was included in the annals of history as an example of the heroism and invincibility of Soviet soldiers. The city itself was completely destroyed, several houses survived, but the Nazis could not take it. Stage 1 of the Great Patriotic War ended with the victory of the spacecraft near Stalingrad and the beginning of the offensive of the Soviet troops. Although defense was still ongoing in some sectors of the front, a turning point in the war had already arrived.
The second stage of the Great Patriotic War
This period lasted almost a year. Of course, in 1943 there were also many difficulties, but in general, no one could stop the advance of our troops. From time to time, the Nazis went on the offensive in separate directions, but the Great Patriotic War, the stages of which we are now considering battles, went into a state where it was clear that Germany would lose the war sooner or later.
Operation Ring was completed on February 2, 1943. The army of General Paulus was surrounded. On January 18 of the same year, it was finally possible to break through the blockade of Leningrad. These days, the Red Army launched an offensive towards Voronezh and Kaluga. The city of Voronezh was recaptured from the enemy on January 25. The offensive continued further. In February 1943, the Voroshilovgrad offensive operation took place. Gradually, the Red Army moves to the liberation of Ukraine, although not all cities have been recaptured from the Nazis. March 1943 was remembered for the liberation of Vyazma and the counterattack of Hitler’s army in the Donbass. Our troops eventually cope with this attack, but the Nazis managed to somewhat restrain the advance of Soviet troops deep into Ukraine. The fight on this bridgehead lasted more than a month. After that, the main focus of the fighting is transferred to the Kuban, because for successful advance further to the West it was necessary to free the area of Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories from enemies. Active battles in this direction lasted about three months. The offensive was complicated by the proximity of the mountains and the active operations of enemy aircraft.
Second half of 1943
In the history of the Second World War, July 1943 stands apart. During this period, 2 very important events took place. German intelligence constantly reported on the impending major offensive by Soviet troops. But it was not known exactly where the attack would be. Undoubtedly, the Soviet senior military officials knew that German intelligence officers work in many structures of the spacecraft (like the Soviet ones in Germany), therefore they misused the information as much as possible. On July 5, the battle of Kursk took place. The Nazis hoped that by winning this battle, they would be able to go on the offensive again. Yes, they were able to advance a little, but in general they did not win the battle, so in the 20th of July 1943 the second stage of the Great Patriotic War reached its peak of quality. And what was the second significant event? Have you forgotten the battle of Prokhorovka? On the field near this village, the largest tank battle in history at that time took place, which also remained for the USSR.
From August 1943 until the winter of 1943/1944 The Red Army mainly frees Ukrainian cities. It was very difficult to defeat the enemy in the Kharkov region, but on the morning of August 23, 1943, the USSR army managed to enter this city. And then went a whole series of liberation of Ukrainian cities. In September 1943, the spacecraft entered Donetsk, Poltava, Kremenchug, Sumy. In October, our troops liberated Dnepropetrovsk, Dneprodzerzhinsk, Melitopol and other surrounding settlements.
Battle for Kiev
Kiev was one of several strategically important cities of the USSR. The population of the city before the war reached 1 million people. Over the years of the Second World War, it decreased by five times. But now about the main thing. The Red Army took a very long time preparing for the capture of Kiev, because for the fascists this city was also extremely important. To capture Kiev, it was necessary to force the Dnieper. The battle for this river, which is a symbol of Ukraine, began on September 22. The crossing was very difficult, many of our soldiers died. In October, the command planned to try to take Kiev. The most convenient for this was the Bukrinsky bridgehead. But these plans became known to the Germans, so they threw considerable forces here. It became impossible to take Kiev from the Bukrinsky bridgehead. Our intelligence was tasked with finding another place to attack the enemy. The Lutezh bridgehead turned out to be the most optimal, but it was technically very difficult to transfer troops there. Since Kiev had to be taken before the next anniversary on November 7, the command of the Kiev offensive operation decided to transfer troops from Bukrinsky to Lyutezhsky bridgehead. Probably not everyone believed in the reality of this plan, because it was imperceptible for the enemy to cross the Dnieper twice under cover of night and travel an even greater distance by land. Of course, the spacecraft suffered a lot of losses, but it was impossible to take Kiev in a different way. This move of the Soviet military leaders was crowned with success. The Red Army managed to enter Kiev on the morning of November 6, 1943. And the battle for the Dnieper in other sectors of the front continued almost until the end of the year. With the victory of the spacecraft in this battle, the first stages of the Great Patriotic War ended.
The war in 1944-1945
The final stage of World War II began with the Kirovograd offensive operation. On January 8, the city of Kirovograd was liberated. Also in January, Soviet troops successfully attacked the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky district (Cherkasy region of Ukraine), and also liberated almost completely the Kiev and Zhytomyr regions.
The final stage of World War II became possible only thanks to the heroism of our soldiers. In the first half of 1944, almost all of the Right-Bank Ukraine and Crimea were liberated. The final stage of the Great Patriotic War was noted as one of the largest for all years of hostilities by the offensive of the Red Army. We are talking about the Proskurovo-Bukovina and Uman-Botoshansk operations, which ended by the end of April 1944. Almost the entire territory of Ukraine with the completion of these operations was liberated, the restoration of the republic after exhausting hostilities began.
Red Army in battles abroad of the USSR
The Great Patriotic War, the stages of which we are considering today, was approaching its logical conclusion. Beginning in April 1944, Soviet troops slowly began to supplant the Nazis on the territory of states that at the start of the war were their allies (for example, Romania). Also, active hostilities took place on Polish lands. In 1944, there were many events on the second front. When the defeat of Germany became inevitable, the allies of the USSR in the anti-Hitler coalition more actively joined the war. The fighting in Greece, in Sicily, near the Mariana Islands, in Asia - all of them were aimed at the victory of the forces of the anti-Hitler coalition in the fight against fascism.
3 stages of World War II ended on May 9, 1945. On this day, all the peoples of the former USSR celebrate a great holiday - Victory Day.
The consequences of World War II
The Great Patriotic War, the stages of hostilities of which were absolutely logical, ended almost 4 years after the start. It was much more brutal and bloody than the First World War, which ended in 1918.
Its consequences can be divided into 3 groups: economic, political and ethnographic. In the territories that were under occupation, a lot of enterprises were destroyed. Some factories and factories were evacuated and not all returned. In terms of politics, the whole system of life in the world has actually changed; new state borders have been formed . Gradually, a new security system was being built in Europe and the world. The UN became the new guarantor of security. During the war, a lot of people died, so it was necessary to restore population.
The main stages of the Great Patriotic War, and there were three of them, showed that it was impossible to conquer such a large country as the USSR. The state gradually emerged from the crisis, rebuilt. In many ways, the rapid recovery of the USSR economy is connected with the heroic efforts of the people.