The liberation of Europe from fascism. European liberation operations

Adolf Hitler, who came to power in Germany with his party in Germany in 1933, rejected the limitations of the Treaty of Versailles, reinstated conscription, and rapidly launched mass arms production and the deployment of the armed forces. At the same time, a powerful repressive system was created in the country to suppress the protest of the dissatisfied, and propaganda was launched about the exclusivity of the German nation, its belonging to the higher Aryan race and the need to subjugate other peoples and the will of the descendants of Siegfried. The German population was inspired by the idea that the seizure and economic development of foreign territories would provide the necessary living space and resources for the development of Germany and the rapid improvement of the life of every German.

Having created the material and ideological basis for aggression, Hitler unleashed a new world war, capturing almost the whole of Europe, with the exception of his satellite countries, allies and neutral states (Sweden, Switzerland, sympathizing with the Nazis of Portugal, the Vatican). Half the European territory of the USSR was also occupied. The Germans were eager for the Caucasus, the Middle East and further to India.

And yet, the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, with the decisive contribution that the USSR suffered the greatest losses, managed to turn the tide of the war and win the great Victory, the 70th anniversary of which was recently celebrated all over the world. The liberation of the countries of Europe occurred through the onset of the allies both from the east and from the west with the support of the population, sometimes in these countries the anti-fascist forces or the ruling elites who reconsidered their position achieved liberation on their own. However, the latter became possible under the influence of a successful offensive by the anti-Hitler coalition. A review of the events surrounding the liberation of Europe is summarized below.

War in the West before the opening of the Second Front

In the October days of 1942, the British troops of Marshal Montgomery defeated the Italo-German group advancing on Cairo and the Suez Canal in the battle of El Alamein. On the other side of North Africa (Algeria and Morocco) the troops of the American General Eisenhower, the future president of the United States, landed. Pressing on both sides of the Italian and German units, the Allies drove them to Tunisia, where the Axis forces pressed to the sea were forced to capitulate. This event took place in 1943, May 13.

This victory allowed the Anglo-American armed forces in July 1943 to land in Sicily. In turn, the matter was not limited to Sicily, and the troops of the anti-Hitler coalition continued their invasion of Italy, forcing the Gulf of Messina and landing directly on the Apennine Peninsula. This provoked a crisis of Italian fascism, the elimination and removal of the leader of the black shirts Duce Mussolini from all posts with his subsequent arrest. The new Italian government declared war on Germany, but the northern and central parts of the country fell under German occupation.

The preparations for the opening of a new front in the struggle against Germany, the material support of Great Britain and the USSR, to a large extent depended on the situation in the Atlantic. The German "wolf packs" of submarines, torpedo bombers and surface raider ships, supported by large ships, waged a fierce war to disrupt the Atlantic convoys of the Allies, simultaneously solving the problem of Germany’s naval deblockade. But the powerful efforts of the aviation and navy of the United States and Great Britain by 1943 made it possible to talk about a turning point. So, in 1942, the forces of the Allied fleet and their aircraft destroyed two hundred submarines of Admiral Doenitz. The Germans practically stopped the attacks on the convoys and hunted for single ships that lagged behind or fought off the rest.

The beginning of the liberation of Europe by the troops of the USSR and its allies on the Eastern Front

By 1944, decisive battles were left behind, which became crucial stages on the way of our people and the whole world to a great Victory. In the January days of the penultimate year of the war, a series of strategic offensive operations began, which led to the complete liberation of the USSR-occupied lands of the USSR with access to the state border. At first, separate front-line operations carried out within the framework of military logic were later, in the analysis, logically combined into a common campaign of 1944. Actually, in 1944, the Great Patriotic War, the liberation of Europe by Soviet troops merged into a single process. To give harmony and completeness to the picture of the events of that year on the Eastern Front, it is advisable to present all the data in the form of a table:

Military action in Europe (Center and Southeast)

The entry to the borders of the USSR and the further offensive of troops in other countries served as a pretext for the statement of the Soviet government. This document noted the need for the final defeat of the German fascist armed forces and the assurance that the USSR did not plan to change the political structure of these states and violate their territorial integrity.

Nevertheless, the Soviet Union openly supported forces loyal to it, especially the Communists and their closest allies. In the political arena, the leadership of the USSR sought from the governments of Great Britain and the United States recognition of their interests in vast areas of Europe. The growing authority of the Soviet Union and Stalin, the presence of the Red Army in the respective territories forced Churchill and Roosevelt to recognize the Balkans (without Greece) as the Soviet sphere of influence. In Poland, the USSR achieved the creation of a government loyal to Moscow, as opposed to the emigrant Polish government in London.

The liberation of Europe by Soviet troops took place in close collaboration with partisan movements and the armed forces of other countries. The Polish army, the Yugoslav army led by Joseph Broz Tito, the Czechoslovak Corps of Ludwig Svoboda, Slovak rebels took an active part in the struggle for the liberation of Eastern Europe.

In 1944, on August 23, a royal coup took place in royal Romania against the backdrop of the prevailing anti-fascist conspiracy with a wide political base - from communists to monarchists. As a result of this event, Romania also became anti-fascist, declaring war on Germany and Hungary.

On August 31, troops of the Red Army entered Bucharest, and Romanian units joined its composition. This was the reason for awarding the Romanian King Mihai with the Soviet Order of Victory, although Romania participated in the fascist aggression against the USSR. In particular, the Romanian troops occupied Odessa and ingloriously fought at Stalingrad.

Bulgaria, being an ally of the Reich, refused to send troops to the eastern front, Tsar Boris (German by nationality) answered Hitler that the Bulgarians would not fight against the Russians who had liberated them from the Ottoman yoke. Bulgaria did not even declare war on the USSR; it met parts of the advancing Red Army troops entering its territory with unfolded banners and solemn music. After the September 9 coup, the communist government came to power in the country, declaring war on Germany.

As already mentioned, Finland also emerged from the war. On the day of September 19, 1944, her government signed a truce with the USSR on completely honorable terms.

Slovak national armed rebellion

This most heroic page of the struggle of the Slovak people occupies a special place in the history of the liberation of Europe.

Slovakia before the war and for a long time after the war was part of Czechoslovakia. Hitler, having occupied the Czech Republic, formally granted Slovakia independence, in fact, turning it into his satellite. The Slovak units were sent to the eastern front, but due to their insecurity (Slavic community with Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarussians caused Slovaks to feel sympathy for all Soviet people) they were more often used by Germans in the rear to protect communications and fight against partisans. But this led to numerous transitions of Slovaks into the ranks of Soviet partisans. Partisan movement also developed and expanded on the territory of Slovakia.

At the end of the hot, in the literal and figurative sense of the summer of 1944, the famous Augustow Slovak anti-fascist uprising flared up. For the help of the rebellious people, troops were deployed, which were part of the 1st Ukrainian Front. Among them was the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps. This compound was commanded by General Ludwig Freedom, who became the president of Czechoslovakia in 1968. On October 6, as a result of stubborn battles in the Carpathian Mountains (Duklins Pass), the liberators entered the fighting territory of Slovakia. However, bloody and stubborn battles, which lasted until the very end of October, did not immediately lead to the intended goal - the Soviet troops failed to overcome the Carpathians and connect with the rebels. A considerable part of the civilian population and partisans went into the mountains, continuing the struggle and participating in the gradual liberation of their country by parts of the advancing Red Army. On the part of the Soviet Union, they were assisted by both people and weapons, ammunition. The transfers were carried out by air.

Fights in Hungary, Austria and the first stage of the battle for East Prussia

The logic and sequence of battles led to the fact that by October 1944, Hungary remained the only serious ally of Hitler in this region, although it also unsuccessfully tried to get out of the war. Ruler Horthy was arrested by the Germans, and the Hungarians had to fight to the end. The fierce fighting for Budapest did not allow the Soviet troops to take it on the first try. Only the third time was success achieved, and on February 13, 1945, the Hungarian capital fell. During the same February, the rout of the Budapest group of German troops ended.

In April, the Battle of Balaton took place, when the Nazi forces launched a furious counterattack against the Red Army, but the Soviet units and units managed to stop and defeat the enemy. Then, in April, Soviet troops liberated Vienna, the capital of Austria, and captured Koenigsberg in East Prussia.

East Prussia itself was a continuous deeply echeloned defensive zone with strong defense structures of reinforced concrete structures. The advance organization of defensive schemes for each city provided for the presence of approaches to the settlement. Numerous forts, trenches, bunkers, bunkers, mine-wire fences were protection from the advancing troops. Buildings inside cities also turned into defense nodes with a multi-layer fire system.

And yet the offensive of the armies that make up the two Belarusian fronts (2nd and 3rd) unfolded in mid-January of the new year, 1945. For three months, Soviet troops grind this group of the Wehrmacht and SS units. At the same time, soldiers of the Red Army, from privates to generals, suffered heavy losses. On April 18, one of them was the death from a fragment of an enemy shell of Army General I. D. Chernyakhovsky, commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front.

But be that as it may, will, courage and heroism, backed by competent massive artillery fire (5,000 artillery pieces were used in battles for East Prussia, including 203 mm and 305 mm howitzers from RGK units) and support of aviation, led to the surrender of the capital of this region of Germany, the fortified city of Koenigsberg. The assault on this most important strategic defense center of Nazi Germany was carried out from April 7 to 9, 1945. Tens of thousands of German soldiers died, about 100 thousand were captured.

Warsaw Uprising

Let us turn to the exciting and tragic pages in the epic of the liberation of Europe, which still causes controversy among various political and public figures, historians and propagandists of various stripes and calibers. So, we will talk about the armed uprising of 1944 in the Polish capital under the leadership of the London émigré government.

During the years of the fascist occupation, Poland lost 6 million of its citizens from the total population of 35 million people. The occupation regime was severe, this led to the emergence and activation of Polish resistance forces. But they were heterogeneous. So, the mass army operating in the country of Craiova was subordinate to the London Polish government in exile. After Soviet troops entered Poland, a pro-communist government was created - the Committee for National Liberation. Under his leadership, the armed forces of the Ludova Army fought. The approach to Warsaw of the Red Army with units of the Ludova Army was inevitably supposed to bring this committee to power throughout Polish territory. To prevent this, the émigré government in London and units of the Home Army decided to independently liberate Warsaw and, without careful and lengthy preparations, raised an armed uprising there. It happened on August 1st. It was attended by many residents of the capital of Poland. But the Soviet leadership extremely negatively condemned this action, calling it a gamble. According to some analysts, the USSR refused to support the rebels with weapons and ammunition; in the opinion of others, the Red Army was not able to provide the required support. However, there are two facts - on September 13, Soviet units went ashore in the Vistula near Warsaw, and the death of the rebels in the last phase of the uprising actually happened before their eyes. Another fact - in the last days of the uprising, assistance to the Warsaw from the Soviet troops, according to Stalin's personal order, was nevertheless provided, although at that moment she already did not decide anything.

Having lost 18 thousand soldiers and 200 000 civilians of Warsaw killed, the leaders of the uprising surrendered on October 2, 1944. German troops, as punishment, began to destroy the city, many of its inhabitants were forced to flee.

The complete liberation of Poland

By the beginning of 1945, the USSR had an overwhelming strategic superiority over the enemy, surpassing him twice in the number of soldiers, three times in the number of tanks and self-propelled guns, four times in the number of artillery barrels (guns and mortars), eight times in the number of aircraft. Separately, it is worth noting that on the Eastern Front there were armies, formations and units of allies with a total number of half a million people. With absolute dominance in the air, Soviet troops themselves were able to choose the direction and time of the main attacks, launching simultaneous offensive operations on different fronts and their sectors. It could be allowed to fight, striking at the enemy where and when it was convenient and profitable.

The general offensive was scheduled for January 20. The entire army and two fleets were involved in the fighting.

But, as already mentioned in this article, on the Western Front, in December 1944, the Nazi forces in the Ardennes suddenly attacked the Anglo-American units and drove them 100 km back. The Americans lost about 40 thousand people. Churchill personally appealed to Stalin for help; this request received a positive response. The offensive of the Soviet fronts, despite incomplete preparations, began on January 12, 1945 and was the most powerful and widespread in the entire war. It lasted 23 days. By February 3, units of the advancing Red Army reached the shore of the Oder - German land lay behind it, from where World War II fell. January 17, Soviet units entered Warsaw.

The Wisla-Oder operation carried out by the Soviet command completed the process of liberating Poland and saved the troops of the Western allies from defeating the Ardennes, created the conditions for the assault on Berlin and the end of the war in Europe.

The liberation of Czechoslovakia

Decisive battles for this country, which occupies key positions in Europe, have unfolded since mid-April 1945. Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, was released earlier on April 4. And on the 30th, Soviet troops captured the large industrial center of Moravsk Ostrava.

On May 5, the inhabitants of Prague rose in armed rebellion against the invaders. The Nazis tried to drown this rebellion in blood; they were not even stopped by the act of surrender, signed by the German command on 05/05/1945.

The rebel residents of Prague turned on the radio to the Allies asking for help. The Soviet command responded to this call, throwing two tank armies of the 3rd Ukrainian Front on a march to Prague. Having completed a three-hundred-kilometer march, these armies entered Prague in three days, May 9. Other troops of the 1st, 2nd and 4th Ukrainian fronts joined in this attack, as a result of which Czechoslovakia was completely liberated from fascist occupation. The liberation of the peoples of Europe from fascism was completed.

Second front

On July 6, after colossal preparations in the West, the invasion of the Allied expeditionary forces began - the grandiose landing operation Overlord. Anglo-American troops with parts of Free France, Polish, Czechoslovak units totaling 2 million 876 thousand people with massive support from the fleets and aircraft landed in the North of France, in Normandy. Thus, the long-awaited Second Front was finally opened. Partisan detachments and the underground resistance forces of the occupied European countries acted behind the Germans. Planned throw in the heart of Germany. Roosevelt believed that the Americans should take Berlin.

During the Allied forces offensive, armed uprisings took place in France, Belgium and Denmark. The French and Belgians liberated their capitals, with the help of the expeditionary forces of the Allies achieved the liberation of their countries. The Danes were less fortunate - they did not receive help, and their rebellion was crushed by the invaders.

Allied Political and Strategic Decisions

As a result of irresistible strikes and the impressive scale and depth of the offensive of the Soviet troops in 1944 and early 1945, the imminent end of the war and the inevitability of the final defeat of the German army became apparent. It is time for the Allies to agree on all aspects of the latest attack on Germany and discuss the problems of the post-war world order. The growing authority of the USSR and the recognition by all allies of its decisive contribution to the defeat of the aggressor made it possible to accept the proposal of the Soviet Union to hold in Yalta a conference of the heads of government of the three main countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition.

Between February 4 and 11, JV Stalin, F. D. Roosevelt and W. Churchill met at the Yalta Conference, which became the highest point of cooperation between the powers opposing Hitler. Western leaders recognized the ability of the USSR alone to complete the victorious operations to liberate Europe. Perhaps this circumstance made it possible to reach agreements on all issues.

Militarily, issues of interaction and the borders of the zones of occupation were resolved. The central political issue - about the future of Germany - was resolved in the sense that this country would remain indivisible, democratic, demilitarized, unable to pose a threat to the rest of humanity in the future.

On the Polish question, the powers also reached a consensus. Poland opened the way for free independent development within historically fair borders.

It was decided to create the UN with the aim of achieving mutual understanding, agreement and preventing aggression between countries in the post-war world.

And, finally, for the speedy end of the war and the suppression of the hotbed of military aggression in the Far East, the dates for the USSR's entry into the Allied war against Japan were agreed.

The Battle of Berlin and the End of the War

April 16 marked the beginning of the Berlin operation. As a result of two weeks of bloody battles on the outskirts of Berlin (Zeelovsky heights) and in the city itself, where every street and every major house turned into a fortress, the Red Army fighters managed to take the lair of fascism - the Reichstag and hoist a red banner over it.

And finally, on the night of May 8–9, in Karlhorst, a suburb of the German capital, an act was signed by all parties on the unconditional surrender of all German troops.

But the liberation of Europe from fascism did not end there. On May 9, having already taken Berlin, the fighters from the units and formations of the 1st Ukrainian Front, helping rebel Prague, advanced in a swift march to the Czechoslovak capital and defeated the fascist group. It is noteworthy that in a futile attempt to save their unenviable fate, the parts of the so-called. the army of the traitor Vlasov, or ROA, went over to the side of Prague.

And one more remark. The nations and states united in the years of general danger in the post-war period gradually began to move away from each other. Numerous attempts to review the outcome of the war have not stopped so far. Even Victory Day is celebrated on different days. Most countries consider it a public holiday on May 8, and in the USSR, now in Russia, remembering the fierce bloody Prague battles of 1945, they celebrate Victory Day on May 9. Unfortunately, there is a biased approach to giving new generations a story about how the liberation of European countries from fascism took place.

Conclusion

The liberation of Europe from fascism was made possible thanks to the heroic super-efforts of the Soviet Union and its allies, the struggle of the Resistance forces in the territories occupied by fascists. The Second World War had not yet ended; the defeat of Japan was ahead, but the main victory was already won. The most powerful German war machine was broken and defeated.

But the unification of nations in the fight against fascism could not be maintained in the postwar period. Like the rest of the world, Europe was divided into two camps, Western and Eastern, capitalist and socialist. How long was Germany itself divided. The world socialist system was created, which is now greatly modified, but continues to exist.

The liberation of Europe, the Second World War were very bloody. The human losses of Europe in the last world war are estimated at 40 million people, of which 2 million are citizens of Western Europe and 7 million are citizens of Germany. The remaining 30 million people are the losses of the peoples of eastern Europe and the USSR.

And yet, the main result is the liberation of peoples from the fascist fetters. At present, mankind is faced with the urgent task of preventing the revenge of the brown plague and recalling the experience of combining diverse, sometimes antagonistic political and state forces in the face of the threat of terrorism and the destruction of culture and civilization. The liberation of Europe, 1945 will be for a long time the objects of scientific, military, political, historical and moral analysis. The relevance of the experience of the epic experienced today is greater than ever!