Century error fee
Hitler seemed closer and more understandable to “Western democracies,” and his clash with the Soviet Union was an ideal option.
75 years separate us from the tragic date - 22 June 1941. This is the day of the beginning of the most bloody war in the world storiesthat cost the peoples of our country huge losses and losses. The Soviet Union has become smaller for 26 600 000 citizens. Among the victims of the 13,7 war, a million civilians constitute. Of these, 7,4 million were deliberately exterminated by the invaders, 2,2 million died at work in Germany, 4,1 million died from starvation in the occupation. The situation on the eve of the Great Patriotic War is very similar to the current one in relation to the Russian Federation - a collective conspiracy.
The total irretrievable losses of the Red Army amounted to 11 944 100 people, including killed - 6 885 000, missing, captured - 4 559 000. In the USSR, 1710 cities were destroyed, more than 70 thousands of villages, 32 thousands of factories and plants, 98 thousands of collective farms looted.
The essence and consequences of this war, its place and role in history turned out to be so significant that it organically entered the popular consciousness as Great. What are the lessons of her initial period?
Clouds over Europe
Political goals and content immediately made the Patriotic War, because the independence of the Motherland was at stake, and all the peoples of the Soviet Union defended the Fatherland, their historical choice. The war became popular because there was no family that it would not scorch, and the Victory was achieved in blood and then tens of millions of Soviet people who heroically fought with the enemy at the front and worked selflessly in the rear.
The war of the USSR against fascist Germany and its allies was extremely fair. The defeat inevitably entailed not only the disappearance of the Soviet system, but also the death of statehood that had existed on the territory of historical Russia for centuries. The peoples of the USSR were threatened with physical destruction.
The ideology of patriotism has always rallied us and was crucial in the fight against the enemy. So it was, is and will be. Unfortunately, after the destruction of the USSR, the spiritual life of many of its peoples distorted the growing trend of falsifying our common past. And this is not the only problem. Today, the sad reality is that many young citizens of Russia know little about the military history of their homeland.
But in spite of everything, the historical memory of the people retained the Great Patriotic War as a nationwide feat, and its results and consequences - as outstanding events. This assessment is based on numerous objective and subjective circumstances. Here is the “small story” of each family, and the “big story” of the whole country.
In the past two decades, we and abroad have gained a lot of publications aimed at understanding this or that problem of war, its strategic, operational, tactical, political, spiritual and moral aspects. In a number of works, gaps in the coverage of well-known and little-studied sides of the Great Patriotic and World War II, as well as individual events were successfully filled, weighted and accurate estimates were given. But not without extremes. In pursuit of imaginary novelty and sensationalism, a departure from the historical truth is allowed, facts are misinterpreted for the sake of conjuncture.
The study of the history of the Great Patriotic War as the most important part of the Second World War is impossible outside the context of the complex processes of the previous quarter of a century. At this time, the geopolitical situation in the world has changed dramatically. Three huge empires collapsed: Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and Russian, new states emerged. The balance of forces in the international arena became fundamentally different, but neither the First World War itself, nor the peace agreements that followed it resolved the problems that led to the outbreak of a global conflict. Moreover, the foundations of new, even deeper and hidden contradictions were laid. In this sense, the assessment, which the French Marshal Ferdinand Foch gave the situation in 1919, cannot be called anything but prophetic: “This is not the world. This is a truce for 20 years. ”
After the revolution of 1917 in Russia in October, new ones were added to the “customary” traditional contradictions between the leading industrial powers: between the capitalist system and the socialist state. They became the cause of the international isolation of the Soviet Union, forced to develop in conditions of constant military threat. By the very fact of its existence, the USSR represented a danger to the old world, which was also experiencing a systemic internal crisis. In this regard, the Bolshevik expectations of the "world revolution" were based on real objective and subjective premises. As for the limited support that the Soviet Communists through the Comintern rendered like-minded people in the Western countries, it was not only a consequence of ideological convictions, but also an attempt to escape from a hostile, deadly environment. As you know, these hopes were not justified, the world revolution did not happen.
At the end of the First World Idea, the revival of nations found fertile ground in the so-called defeated countries. The society of these states saw a way out of the crisis in the ideology of fascism. So, in 1922, the fascists led by Mussolini came to power in Italy. In 1933, the leader of the German National Socialists, Hitler, who created the most cruel version of fascism, was appointed chancellor. A year later, he concentrated in his hands the full power and began active preparations for a big war. The semantic core of his ideology was the vicious conception of the division of humanity into fully-qualified and fully-entitled races, and those whose destiny is death or enslavement.
Militant nationalism found many supporters both in Europe and abroad. Fascist coups occurred in Hungary (March 1 1920), Bulgaria (June 9 1923 th), Spain (September 13 1923 th), Portugal and Poland (May 1926 th). Even in the United States, Great Britain and France, influential nationalist parties and organizations emerged, headed by politicians who favored Hitler. The loud assassinations of Yugoslav King Alexander, French Foreign Minister Bart, Austrian Chancellor Dolfus, Romanian Prime Minister Duki were visible evidence of the rapid destabilization of the political situation in Europe.
With appeals to destroy the USSR, Hitler spoke from the very beginning of his political career. In his book “My Struggle”, the first edition of which was published as early as 1925, he stated that the main foreign policy goal of the National Socialists was to conquer and settle the vast lands in Eastern Europe by the Germans, only this would provide Germany with the status of a power capable of entering in the struggle for world domination.
Hitler argued that the vast Russian empire allegedly existed solely due to the presence in it of "state-forming German elements among inferior races", that without the "German core" lost during the revolutionary events at the end of the First World War, it was already ripe for disintegration. Shortly before the Nazis seized power in Germany, he said: “All Russia must be divided into its component parts. These components are the natural imperial territory of Germany. ”
Prelude "Barbarossa"
After the appointment of 30 in January 1933 of the year by Hitler Reich Chancellor, the preparation for the destruction of the USSR became the main direction of the internal and foreign policy of the Third Reich. Already February 3 in a closed meeting with representatives of the Reichswehr high command, Hitler announced that his government intends to "eradicate Marxism", establish "a strictly authoritarian regime" and introduce universal military service. This is in the field of domestic policy. And in the foreign - to achieve the abolition of the Versailles Peace Treaty, to find allies, to prepare for "the seizure of the new living space in the East and its ruthless Germanization."
In the pre-war years, England and France demonstrated a willingness to give up someone else’s, but not their own, in order to preserve the illusion of peace in Europe. The United States preferred to stand aside for the time being. The West wanted at least to gain time for organizing its own defense and, if possible, with the help of Germany to solve the problem of neutralizing the USSR.
In turn, Hitler tried to achieve his goals, dividing opponents and breaking them in parts. He used distrust in the West, even hatred of the Soviet Union. France and Britain were frightened by the revolutionary rhetoric of the Comintern, as well as by the assistance that the USSR provided to the Spanish Republicans, the Kuomintang China, and left forces in general. Hitler seemed closer and more understandable to the “Western democracies,” his clash with the Soviet Union looked in their eyes as an ideal option, the realization of which they strongly promoted. For this mistake the world had to pay a huge price.
The breakdown of forces for the fascists was the Spanish Civil War (July 1936-th - April 1939-th). The victory of the rebels under the leadership of General Franco accelerated the maturing of a general war. It was the fear of her that caused the West to shy away from helping the Republican government, to yield to Hitler and Mussolini, which untied their hands for further action.
In March, 1936-st German troops entered the demilitarized Rhineland, two years later the Anschluss of Austria occurred, which greatly improved the strategic position of Germany. 29 – 30 September 1938 was held in Munich, the meeting of the English and French Prime Ministers Chamberlain and Daladier with Hitler and Mussolini. The agreement they signed provided for the transfer of the Sudetenland belonging to Czechoslovakia to Germany (where a significant number of Germans lived), and some territories were withdrawn by Hungary and Poland. The West actually sacrificed Czechoslovakia, trying to appease Hitler, and the Soviet offers of help to this country were ignored.
Result? In March 1939, Germany liquidated Czechoslovakia as a sovereign state, and two weeks later captured Memel. After which the victims of German aggression were the peoples of Poland (September 1 - October 6, 1939), Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, France (from April 10 to June 22, 1940). In Compiegne, in the same car where the surrender of Germany was signed in 1918, a Franco-German truce was concluded, according to which Paris agrees to occupy most of the country's territory, demobilize almost the entire land army, and intern the naval fleet и aviation.
Now it was necessary to crush only the USSR in order to establish dominance over all continental Europe. The conclusion of the German-Soviet non-aggression treaties (23 August 1939 th) and friendship and border (28 September 1939 th) with additional secret protocols was considered in Berlin as a tactical maneuver to create the most favorable political and strategic prerequisites for aggression against the USSR. Speaking to a group of members of the Reichstag 28 of August 1939, Hitler emphasized that the non-aggression pact “does not change anything in the principled anti-Bolshevik policy” and moreover will be used by Germany against the Soviets.
Having concluded 22 on June 1940, a truce with France, the German leadership, despite the fact that he did not manage to withdraw England from the war, decided to turn weapon against the USSR. Colonel Halder, Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces, already on July 3 on his own initiative, even before receiving the relevant order from Hitler, began to study the issue of a military strike against Russia that would force her to recognize the dominant role of Germany in Europe. The plan was completed in the first half of December.
18 December 1940 of the year Hitler signed directive No. 21, in which, under the heading “Top Secret. Only for command! ”Contained a plan of attack on the Soviet Union. The key task of the Wehrmacht was the destruction of the Red Army. The plan was given the provisional name "Barbarossa" - in honor of the aggressive policy of the King of Germany Frederick I Gigenshtaufen (1122 – 1190), nicknamed Barbarossa for his red beard.
The essence of the directive most fully reflected the phrases with which it began: “The German armed forces must be ready to defeat Soviet Russia during the short-term campaign before the war against England is over ...” The absolutization of the German military command of experience reflected in a concentrated form lightning wars against Poland and France, the conviction that the next blitzkrieg will end in a few weeks of border battles.
The Barbarossa plan envisaged the participation of Rumania and Finland in the war. The Romanian troops were supposed to "support the offensive of the southern flank of the German troops, at least at the beginning of the operation," and "for the rest, to carry out auxiliary service in the rear areas." The Finnish army was instructed to cover up the concentration and deployment of a group of German troops advancing from occupied Norway near the Soviet border, and then conduct combat operations jointly.
In May, 1941 was also involved in the preparation of an attack on the USSR. Located in the center of Europe, it was the crossroads of the most important communications. Without its participation or even consent, the German command could not transfer its troops to South-Eastern Europe.
The whole of Europe worked for Hitler
January 31 The 1941 General Command of the Ground Forces prepared a strategic deployment directive in accordance with the Barbarossa plan. 3 February she was approved and sent to the headquarters of the three army groups, the Luftwaffe and the naval forces. At the end of February, 1941 began the deployment of German troops near the borders of the USSR.
Russian military strike, which would force her to recognize the dominant role of Germany in Europe "
The leaders of the allied German countries believed that the Wehrmacht was capable of crushing the Red Army in a few weeks or months. Therefore, the rulers of Italy, Slovakia and Croatia, on their own initiative, hastily sent their troops to the Eastern Front. In a matter of weeks, an Italian expeditionary corps consisting of three divisions, a Slovak corps with two divisions and a Croatian reinforced regiment arrived here. These compounds supported 83 Italian, 51 Slovak and up to 60 Croatian combat aircraft.
Higher instances of the Third Reich in advance developed plans for not only waging war against the Soviet Union, but also for its economic exploitation and dismemberment (the “Ost” plan). The speeches of the Nazi leader in front of the top of the Wehrmacht 9 in January, 17 and 30 in March 1941, give an idea of how they saw the war with the USSR in Berlin. Hitler declared that it would be "the complete opposite of a normal war in the west and north of Europe," and provides for "total destruction, the destruction of Russia as a state." It is necessary to crush not only the Red Army, but also the "control mechanism" of the USSR, "destroy the commissars and the communist intelligentsia," functionaries, and thus destroy the "ideological ties" of the Russian people.
By the beginning of the war against the USSR, the representatives of the Wehrmacht high command well assimilated the Nazi world view and perceived Hitler not only as the Supreme Commander, but also as an ideological leader. They put his criminal instructions in the form of orders to the troops.
28 April 1941, the order of Brauchitsch issued an order “The procedure for the use of the security police and the security services (SD) in ground forces”. It emphasized that the army commanders, together with the commanders of the special punitive formations of the Nazi Security Service (SD), are responsible for carrying out actions to destroy communists, Jews and "other radical elements" in the rear front areas without trial. The chief of staff of the Wehrmacht’s High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) on May 13 of Keitel 1941 issued an order “On Special Jurisdiction in the“ Barbarossa ”Region and Special Authorities of the Troops”. With the soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht was removed responsibility for future crimes in the occupied territory of the USSR. They were instructed to be ruthless, to shoot on the spot without a trial all those who would show even the slightest resistance or sympathize with the partisans. The Guidelines on the Conduct of Troops in Russia, as one of the annexes to special order No. 1 of 19 of May 1941 of the Barbarossa directive, stated: “This struggle requires merciless and decisive actions against Bolshevik instigators, partisans, saboteurs, Jews and complete suppression of any attempt at active or passive resistance. " 6 June 1941, the headquarters of the OKW issued an "Instruction on the Treatment of Political Commissioners." The soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht were ordered to exterminate on the spot all the captured political workers of the Red Army. These ideologically motivated orders contradicting international law were approved by Hitler.
The criminal goals of the leadership of Nazi Germany in the war against the USSR, if we put them in several lines, were as follows: the destruction of the Soviet Union as a state, the seizure of its wealth and land, the extermination of the most active part of the population, first of all, representatives of party and Soviet organs, intellectuals and all those who led the fight against the aggressor. The rest of the citizens were destined to either expulsion to Siberia without means of subsistence, or the fate of the slaves of the Aryan masters. The rationale for these goals were the racist views of the Nazi leadership, contempt for the Slavs and other "subhumans", which hinder the "existence and reproduction of the highest race" allegedly due to the catastrophic lack of "living space."
It was envisaged for seven months (August 1940-th - April 1941-th) to ensure the complete re-equipment of the ground forces (at the rate of 200 divisions). Not only the factories of the Third Reich, but also 4876 enterprises of the occupied Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium and France took up its implementation.
The aviation industry of Germany and its affiliated territories produced 1940 in 10, and 250 military aircraft of all types in 1941. The main attention in preparing for the attack on the USSR was paid to the accelerated production of fighter jets. From the second half of 11, the production of armored vehicles became the highest priority military program. Over the year it has doubled. If for the whole of 030 went 1940 light and medium tank, then only in the first half of 1941 their release reached 1621 units. In January 1941, the command demanded that the monthly production of tanks and armored personnel carriers be brought to 1250 vehicles. In addition to them, wheeled and semi-tracked armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers were created with 7,62 and 7,92 mm machine guns, 20 mm anti-aircraft and 47 mm anti-tank guns and flamethrowers. Their output has more than doubled.
At the start of 1941, Germanic weapons production reached its highest level. In the second quarter, 306 tanks were launched monthly against 109 in the same period of 1940 of the year. Compared to 1 on April 1940, the growth of ground army armaments for 1 June 1941 was expressed in the following figures: for light 75-mm infantry guns - by 1,26 times, for ammunition to them - by 21 times; for heavy 149,1-mm infantry guns - 1,86 times, ammunition for them - 15 times; 105-mm field howitzers - 1,31 times, ammunition for them - 18 times; for heavy 150-mm field howitzers - 1,33 times, for ammunition - 10 times; 210-mm mortars - 3,13 times, ammunition for them - 29 times.
In connection with preparations for war against the USSR, the production of ammunition was significantly increased. Only for the implementation of the initial stage of the operation "Barbarossa" they were allocated about 300 thousand tons.
In value terms, the production of weapons and equipment increased from 700 million marks in 1939 year to two billion in 1941-m. The share of military products in the total industrial output increased in the same years from 9 to 19 percent.
The bottleneck was the unstable supply of Germany with strategic raw materials, as well as a lack of human resources. But the success of the Nazis in the campaigns against Poland, France, and other countries created the Wehrmacht command and political leadership confidence that the war against the CCCR could be won during the short-term campaign and without full mobilization pressure of the economy.
Starting aggression against the USSR, Germany also hoped that it would not have to wage war on two fronts, with the exception of naval and air operations in the West. The German military command, together with representatives of the German industry, made plans for the quick capture and development of natural resources, industrial enterprises and the workforce of the Soviet Union. On this basis, the leadership of the Third Reich considered it possible in a short time to increase its military-economic potential and take further steps towards world domination.
Before the attack on France in the Wehrmacht there were 156 divisions, including 10 tank and 6 motorized, then before the attack on the USSR there were already 214 divisions, including 21 tank and 14 motorized. For the war in the East, more than 70 percent of the connections were allocated: 153 divisions, including 17 tank and 14 motorized, as well as three brigades. It was the most combat-ready part of the German ground forces.
For the air support of the five air fleets available in the Wehrmacht, three are fully allocated and one is partially allocated. These forces, according to the German military command, were quite enough to defeat the Red Army.
In order to create more favorable conditions for the deployment of its troops at the western borders of the USSR, the Reich achieved the accession of the three countries (Germany, Italy, Japan) of a number of European countries: Hungary (November 20, 1940 November), Romania (November 23), Slovakia (24 November), Bulgaria (March 1 1941), “independent” Croatia (June 16), created by the Hitler government after the defeat and dismemberment of Yugoslavia in April 1941. With Finland, Berlin established military cooperation without including it in the Three-Power Pact. Under the cover of 12 and 20 of 1940 on the transit of military materials and troops in occupied Norway entered into Helsinki in September, the Finnish territory was transformed into an operational base for an attack on the USSR. The Turkish government, while maintaining neutrality at a certain stage, planned to enter the war on the side of the Axis countries and was ready to attack the Soviet Union in the autumn of 1942.
It was not possible to complete the deployment of the main German forces in the east according to the Barbarossa plan, as planned, before 15 in May. Part of the German troops from 6 to 29 on April 1941-th participated in the Balkan campaign against Yugoslavia and Greece. On April 30, at the Wehrmacht High Command meeting, the start of Operation Barbarossa was postponed to June 22.
The deployment of German troops intended to attack the USSR ended in the middle of the month. The grouping of the German armed forces 22 June 1941, there were 4,1 million people, 40 500 artillery guns, about 4200 tanks and assault guns, more 3600 combat aircraft, 159 ships. Taking into account the troops of Finland, Romania and Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Croatia, about five million people, 182 divisions and 20 brigades, 47 200 guns and mortars, about 4400 tanks and assault guns, more 4300 combat aircraft, 246, were concentrated to invade the USSR. ships.
Thus, in the summer of 1941, the main military forces of the block of aggressors came out against the USSR. An armed struggle unprecedented in scope and tension began. From its outcome depended the direction of human history.
“Oldenburg” is the codename for the economic subdivision of the “Barbarossa” plan. Provision was made for the service of the Reich of all stocks of raw materials and large industrial enterprises in the territory between the Vistula and the Urals.
The most valuable industrial equipment was supposed to be sent to the Reich, and that which Germany does not need is to be destroyed. The initial version of the Oldenburg plan (Goering’s Green Folder) was approved at a secret meeting of the March 1 1941 of the year (1317 PS protocol). Finally approved after a two-month detailed study of 29 on April 1941-th (minutes of the secret 1157 PS meeting). The territory of the USSR was divided into four economic inspectorates (Leningrad, Moscow, Kiev, Baku) and 23 commandant's offices, as well as the 12 bureau. For coordination, the headquarters of Oldenburg was formed.
Subsequently, it was supposed to split the European part of the USSR into seven states, each of which was to be economically dependent on Germany. The Baltic territory was planned to be a protectorate and later incorporated into the Reich.
The economic robbery was accompanied by the implementation of the OST plan — the extermination, relocation, and Germanization of the Russian people. For Ingermanlandia, which was supposed to include Pskov land, a sharp reduction in population (physical destruction, decline in fertility, relocation to remote areas) was proposed, as well as the transfer of the liberated territory to German colonists. This plan was designed for the future, but some directives were embodied as early as the occupation period.
Several German landowners arrived on the Pskov lands. One of them, Beck, was given the opportunity to create a latifundia on the basis of the Gari state farm in the Dnovsky district (5700 hectares). In this territory there were 14 villages, more than a thousand peasant farms, which turned out to be slaves. In Porkhov district on the lands of the state farm "Iskra" arranged the estate of Baron Schauer.
From the first days of the occupation, compulsory labor service was introduced for all persons from 18 to 45 years, which was later extended to those who turned 15 and extended to 65 years for men and to 45 for women. The working day lasted 14 – 16 hours. Many of those who remained in the occupied territory worked at the power station, on the railway, on the peat fields, and in the tannery, being subjected to corporal punishment and imprisonment. The invaders deprived the Russian population of the right to study in schools. All libraries, cinemas, clubs, museums were looted.
A terrible page of the occupation - sending young people to work in Germany and the Baltic States. They were placed in farms, where they labored in the field, looked after the livestock, while receiving scarce food, wearing their own clothes and being bullied. Some were sent to military factories in Germany, where the working day lasted 12 hours, and the salary was 12 marks per month. This money was enough to buy 200 grams of bread and 20 grams of margarine a day.
The Germans created several concentration camps in the occupied territory. They contained hundreds of thousands of wounded and sick. Only in a concentration camp at Kresty, 65 killed thousands of people - something like this was the whole pre-war population of Pskov.
First Guerrilla
Despite the "new order" based on fear, brutal exploitation, robbery and violence, the fascists failed to break the Pskovites. In the first months of the occupation, partisan detachments from 25 to 180 were organized.
The position of the northern capital, blocked from all sides, forced the leaders of the regional party committee to force the creation of the headquarters of the partisan movement in the Leningrad Region, which included the northern part of the present Pskov. LSDPD was formed on September 27 1941 of the year, the first in the country, long before the organization of the central headquarters (in May 1942).
Taking into account the situation, it was decided to create base groups and brigades (mainly in Leningrad), which were then thrown across the front line and already in the occupied territory gathered isolated guerrilla units, called upon the local population to resist. There was also a self-organization based on extermination battalions and the people's militia.
The core of the 2 of the Leningrad partisan brigade (commander - cadre officer Nikolai Vasilyev), which soon became the leader, was formed from Soviet workers in the eastern regions of the Pskov region and professional military. His goal was to unite all the scattered and small groups in the occupied territory. In August, 1941-th, this task was completed.
Soon, 2-I LBP won a large part of the territory from which the first Guerrilla Territory was formed from the enemy. Here, south of Lake Ilmen, at the junction of the modern Pskov and Novgorod regions, there were no large German garrisons, so it was possible to expand the borders of the region, making small strikes and sabotage. But the population of the villages received the hope that they had real protection, armed groups would always come to the rescue. The peasants provided all possible support to the partisans with food, clothing, information about the location and movement of the German troops. More than 400 villages were located on the territory of the Guerrilla Territory. Here, in the form of office buildings and village councils, Soviet power was restored, schools worked, newspapers were published.
At the first stage of the war it was the most significant area of the partisans. In the winter of 1941 – 1942, they made raids to destroy the German garrisons (Jasski, Tyurikovo, Dedovichi). In March, a carriage with food for the besieged Leningrad was sent from the region to 1942. During this period, the 2 Brigade thrice reflected the onset of punitive expeditions (November 1941, May and June 1942), and each time she managed to win, first thanks to national support, which was also manifested in the increase in the number of fighters: August 1941 th to three thousand a year later. Fortified outposts were created along the border of the region. Punishers committed atrocities in areas adjacent to the partisan region: they burned villages, killed peasants. The partisans also had losses: 360 dead, 487 injured in the first year.
Over its centuries-old history, Pskov had to participate in the 120 wars and endure 30 sieges, but still the most heroic and tragic moments of its history will forever remain connected with the Great Patriotic War.
Way to glory
Early in the morning of May 1, 1945, Alexei Berest, Mikhail Egorov and Meliton Kantaria, with the support of company gunners I. Syanova, hoisted the assault flag of the 150 Infantry Division, which later became the Banner of Victory, over the Reichstag. This division was formed in September 1943 in the area of Staraya Russa on the basis of 127, 144 and 151 of rifle brigades of the North-Western Front.
Since September 12, the 150-Infantry has already taken part in local battles. Until the end of 1943, she participated in battles as part of 22 and 6 of the Guards armies. From 5 January to the end of July, 1944-th fought defensive and offensive battles as part of the 3-th Shock Army of the 2-Baltic Front. During the Rezhitsko-Dvinskaya and Madona operations, she took part in the liberation of the cities: July 12 - Idritsa, July 27 - Režice (Rezekne), August 13 - Madona. By order of the Supreme Commander from 12 July 1944, for military service, the 150 Infantry Division was awarded the honorary title Idritskaya. The division led offensive battles in the Riga operation (September 14 - October 22 1944 of the year).
As part of the 3 Shock Army of the 1 Belorussian Front, the 150 Rifle Division Idritskaya Order of the Kutuzov Division took part in the Berlin operation (April 16 - 8 May 1945), leading combat operations on the main line.
30 April after several attacks units 150 th infantry division under the command of Major General V. Shatilova and 171 th Infantry Division under the command of Colonel A. Reason stormed captured the main part of the Reichstag. The remaining Nazi units offered fierce resistance. I had to fight literally for every room. During the battle for the Reichstag, the assault flag of the 150 Division was mounted on the dome of the building. By order of the Supreme Command of 11 June 1945, the division was given the honorary title Berlin.
Pskov after liberation was a terrible picture of destruction. The total damage to the city in post-war prices amounted to 1,5 billion rubles. Residents had to make a new feat, this time labor.
The leadership of the state understood the importance of the city in the history of the country and Russian culture, which provided great help and support to the Pskov people. In accordance with the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 23 August 1944, Pskov became the center of the newly formed region. November 1 The 1945, by decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, is included in the number of 15 oldest cities in the country, which were subject to primary restoration. All these measures contributed not only to the revival in historical and cultural guises, but also to the acquisition of new - political and economic values.
By presidential decree from 5 December 2009 of the year for the courage, resilience and mass heroism shown by the defenders of Pskov in the struggle for the freedom and independence of the Fatherland, he was awarded the honorary title of the City of Military Glory.
Lessons and conclusions
The question is valid: could the beginning of a war have been different for us, could it have been better prepared to repel aggression? Accomplishment of all that was planned was not allowed by an acute shortage of time and insufficient material resources. The restructuring of the economy for the needs of the future war was far from over. Numerous measures to strengthen and rearm the army did not have time to finish either. Fortifications on the old and new frontiers were not completed and poorly equipped. The army, which has grown many times, felt a great need for qualified command personnel.
Speaking about the subjective side of the problem, one cannot but recognize the personal responsibility of the Soviet political and military leadership, Stalin personally for the mistakes made in preparing the country and the army for war, for mass repressions. And also for the fact that the order to bring the border districts on full alert was given too late.
The roots of many wrong decisions should be sought in the fact that the leaders of the USSR mistakenly assessed the political possibilities of preventing a war with Germany in 1941. Hence, the fear of provocations, and the delay with the necessary orders. The stakes in the prewar most difficult game with Hitler were extremely high, and the significance of its possible outcome was so great that the risks were underestimated. And it was very expensive. We got the hardest war on our territory with huge losses of population.
It would seem that our victims are a confirmation of the Soviet Union’s unpreparedness for war. They are truly immense. Only in June - September of 1941 did the irretrievable losses of the Soviet troops exceed 2,1 million, including those killed, dead from wounds and diseases - 430 578 people, missing and prisoners - 1 699 099. The Germans in the same period left thousands of people killed on the Soviet-German front 185. Wehrmacht tank divisions already by mid-August lost up to 50 per cent of personnel and about half of the tanks.
Nevertheless, the tragic results of the initial period of the war should not prevent us from seeing the main thing: the Soviet Union survived. And this means that in the broad sense of the word he was ready for war and proved himself worthy of victory.
In Poland, France and other European countries, unavailability was of a fatal nature, and this is confirmed by the fact of their rapid and crushing defeat.
The USSR withstood the blow and did not collapse, although many had predicted this. The country and the army retained controllability. In order to unite the efforts of the front and the rear, all power was concentrated in the hands of the 30 State Defense Committee formed on June 1941. The brilliantly organized evacuation of millions of people, thousands of enterprises, and enormous material assets made it possible already in 1942 to surpass Germany in the production of the main types of military products.
Despite all the military successes and the seizure of many regions of the USSR with a multi-million population, the aggressor was unable to achieve the goal: to destroy the main forces of the Red Army and to secure unimpeded progress inland.
Significant in this respect is the sharp slowdown in the onset of the German fascist troops. The average daily rate of advance of the Wehrmacht compared with the first days of the war by September 1941-th reduced in the north-west direction from 26 to two or three kilometers, in the west - from 30 to two or two and a half kilometers, in the south-west - from 20 to six kilometers away. During the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops near Moscow in December 1941, the Germans were driven away from the capital, which meant the failure of the Barbarossa plan and the blitzkrieg strategy.
Won time, the Soviet command used to organize the defense, the formation of reserves and evacuation.
Before the attack on the Soviet Union, Germany in lightning military campaigns defeated and seized many European states. Hitler and his entourage, believing in the doctrine of the blitzkrieg, hoped that it would work flawlessly against the USSR. The temporary successes of the aggressor cost him big irrecoverable losses, undermined material and moral-psychological forces.
Overcoming significant shortcomings in the organization and conduct of hostilities, the commanders of the Red Army studied the skills of command and control, mastered the advanced achievements of the art of war.
The consciousness of the Soviet people became different in the fire of war: the initial confusion was replaced by firm confidence in the rightness of the struggle against fascism, in the inevitability of the triumph of justice, in Victory. A sense of historical responsibility for the fate of the Motherland, for the lives of loved ones, multiplied the forces of resistance to the enemy.
75 years separate us from the tragic date - 22 June 1941. This is the day of the beginning of the most bloody war in the world storiesthat cost the peoples of our country huge losses and losses. The Soviet Union has become smaller for 26 600 000 citizens. Among the victims of the 13,7 war, a million civilians constitute. Of these, 7,4 million were deliberately exterminated by the invaders, 2,2 million died at work in Germany, 4,1 million died from starvation in the occupation. The situation on the eve of the Great Patriotic War is very similar to the current one in relation to the Russian Federation - a collective conspiracy.
The total irretrievable losses of the Red Army amounted to 11 944 100 people, including killed - 6 885 000, missing, captured - 4 559 000. In the USSR, 1710 cities were destroyed, more than 70 thousands of villages, 32 thousands of factories and plants, 98 thousands of collective farms looted.
The essence and consequences of this war, its place and role in history turned out to be so significant that it organically entered the popular consciousness as Great. What are the lessons of her initial period?
Clouds over Europe
Political goals and content immediately made the Patriotic War, because the independence of the Motherland was at stake, and all the peoples of the Soviet Union defended the Fatherland, their historical choice. The war became popular because there was no family that it would not scorch, and the Victory was achieved in blood and then tens of millions of Soviet people who heroically fought with the enemy at the front and worked selflessly in the rear.
The war of the USSR against fascist Germany and its allies was extremely fair. The defeat inevitably entailed not only the disappearance of the Soviet system, but also the death of statehood that had existed on the territory of historical Russia for centuries. The peoples of the USSR were threatened with physical destruction.
The ideology of patriotism has always rallied us and was crucial in the fight against the enemy. So it was, is and will be. Unfortunately, after the destruction of the USSR, the spiritual life of many of its peoples distorted the growing trend of falsifying our common past. And this is not the only problem. Today, the sad reality is that many young citizens of Russia know little about the military history of their homeland.
But in spite of everything, the historical memory of the people retained the Great Patriotic War as a nationwide feat, and its results and consequences - as outstanding events. This assessment is based on numerous objective and subjective circumstances. Here is the “small story” of each family, and the “big story” of the whole country.
In the past two decades, we and abroad have gained a lot of publications aimed at understanding this or that problem of war, its strategic, operational, tactical, political, spiritual and moral aspects. In a number of works, gaps in the coverage of well-known and little-studied sides of the Great Patriotic and World War II, as well as individual events were successfully filled, weighted and accurate estimates were given. But not without extremes. In pursuit of imaginary novelty and sensationalism, a departure from the historical truth is allowed, facts are misinterpreted for the sake of conjuncture.
The study of the history of the Great Patriotic War as the most important part of the Second World War is impossible outside the context of the complex processes of the previous quarter of a century. At this time, the geopolitical situation in the world has changed dramatically. Three huge empires collapsed: Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and Russian, new states emerged. The balance of forces in the international arena became fundamentally different, but neither the First World War itself, nor the peace agreements that followed it resolved the problems that led to the outbreak of a global conflict. Moreover, the foundations of new, even deeper and hidden contradictions were laid. In this sense, the assessment, which the French Marshal Ferdinand Foch gave the situation in 1919, cannot be called anything but prophetic: “This is not the world. This is a truce for 20 years. ”
After the revolution of 1917 in Russia in October, new ones were added to the “customary” traditional contradictions between the leading industrial powers: between the capitalist system and the socialist state. They became the cause of the international isolation of the Soviet Union, forced to develop in conditions of constant military threat. By the very fact of its existence, the USSR represented a danger to the old world, which was also experiencing a systemic internal crisis. In this regard, the Bolshevik expectations of the "world revolution" were based on real objective and subjective premises. As for the limited support that the Soviet Communists through the Comintern rendered like-minded people in the Western countries, it was not only a consequence of ideological convictions, but also an attempt to escape from a hostile, deadly environment. As you know, these hopes were not justified, the world revolution did not happen.At the end of the First World Idea, the revival of nations found fertile ground in the so-called defeated countries. The society of these states saw a way out of the crisis in the ideology of fascism. So, in 1922, the fascists led by Mussolini came to power in Italy. In 1933, the leader of the German National Socialists, Hitler, who created the most cruel version of fascism, was appointed chancellor. A year later, he concentrated in his hands the full power and began active preparations for a big war. The semantic core of his ideology was the vicious conception of the division of humanity into fully-qualified and fully-entitled races, and those whose destiny is death or enslavement.
Militant nationalism found many supporters both in Europe and abroad. Fascist coups occurred in Hungary (March 1 1920), Bulgaria (June 9 1923 th), Spain (September 13 1923 th), Portugal and Poland (May 1926 th). Even in the United States, Great Britain and France, influential nationalist parties and organizations emerged, headed by politicians who favored Hitler. The loud assassinations of Yugoslav King Alexander, French Foreign Minister Bart, Austrian Chancellor Dolfus, Romanian Prime Minister Duki were visible evidence of the rapid destabilization of the political situation in Europe.
With appeals to destroy the USSR, Hitler spoke from the very beginning of his political career. In his book “My Struggle”, the first edition of which was published as early as 1925, he stated that the main foreign policy goal of the National Socialists was to conquer and settle the vast lands in Eastern Europe by the Germans, only this would provide Germany with the status of a power capable of entering in the struggle for world domination.
Hitler argued that the vast Russian empire allegedly existed solely due to the presence in it of "state-forming German elements among inferior races", that without the "German core" lost during the revolutionary events at the end of the First World War, it was already ripe for disintegration. Shortly before the Nazis seized power in Germany, he said: “All Russia must be divided into its component parts. These components are the natural imperial territory of Germany. ”
Prelude "Barbarossa"
After the appointment of 30 in January 1933 of the year by Hitler Reich Chancellor, the preparation for the destruction of the USSR became the main direction of the internal and foreign policy of the Third Reich. Already February 3 in a closed meeting with representatives of the Reichswehr high command, Hitler announced that his government intends to "eradicate Marxism", establish "a strictly authoritarian regime" and introduce universal military service. This is in the field of domestic policy. And in the foreign - to achieve the abolition of the Versailles Peace Treaty, to find allies, to prepare for "the seizure of the new living space in the East and its ruthless Germanization."
In the pre-war years, England and France demonstrated a willingness to give up someone else’s, but not their own, in order to preserve the illusion of peace in Europe. The United States preferred to stand aside for the time being. The West wanted at least to gain time for organizing its own defense and, if possible, with the help of Germany to solve the problem of neutralizing the USSR.
In turn, Hitler tried to achieve his goals, dividing opponents and breaking them in parts. He used distrust in the West, even hatred of the Soviet Union. France and Britain were frightened by the revolutionary rhetoric of the Comintern, as well as by the assistance that the USSR provided to the Spanish Republicans, the Kuomintang China, and left forces in general. Hitler seemed closer and more understandable to the “Western democracies,” his clash with the Soviet Union looked in their eyes as an ideal option, the realization of which they strongly promoted. For this mistake the world had to pay a huge price.
The breakdown of forces for the fascists was the Spanish Civil War (July 1936-th - April 1939-th). The victory of the rebels under the leadership of General Franco accelerated the maturing of a general war. It was the fear of her that caused the West to shy away from helping the Republican government, to yield to Hitler and Mussolini, which untied their hands for further action.
In March, 1936-st German troops entered the demilitarized Rhineland, two years later the Anschluss of Austria occurred, which greatly improved the strategic position of Germany. 29 – 30 September 1938 was held in Munich, the meeting of the English and French Prime Ministers Chamberlain and Daladier with Hitler and Mussolini. The agreement they signed provided for the transfer of the Sudetenland belonging to Czechoslovakia to Germany (where a significant number of Germans lived), and some territories were withdrawn by Hungary and Poland. The West actually sacrificed Czechoslovakia, trying to appease Hitler, and the Soviet offers of help to this country were ignored.Result? In March 1939, Germany liquidated Czechoslovakia as a sovereign state, and two weeks later captured Memel. After which the victims of German aggression were the peoples of Poland (September 1 - October 6, 1939), Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, France (from April 10 to June 22, 1940). In Compiegne, in the same car where the surrender of Germany was signed in 1918, a Franco-German truce was concluded, according to which Paris agrees to occupy most of the country's territory, demobilize almost the entire land army, and intern the naval fleet и aviation.
Now it was necessary to crush only the USSR in order to establish dominance over all continental Europe. The conclusion of the German-Soviet non-aggression treaties (23 August 1939 th) and friendship and border (28 September 1939 th) with additional secret protocols was considered in Berlin as a tactical maneuver to create the most favorable political and strategic prerequisites for aggression against the USSR. Speaking to a group of members of the Reichstag 28 of August 1939, Hitler emphasized that the non-aggression pact “does not change anything in the principled anti-Bolshevik policy” and moreover will be used by Germany against the Soviets.
Having concluded 22 on June 1940, a truce with France, the German leadership, despite the fact that he did not manage to withdraw England from the war, decided to turn weapon against the USSR. Colonel Halder, Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces, already on July 3 on his own initiative, even before receiving the relevant order from Hitler, began to study the issue of a military strike against Russia that would force her to recognize the dominant role of Germany in Europe. The plan was completed in the first half of December.
18 December 1940 of the year Hitler signed directive No. 21, in which, under the heading “Top Secret. Only for command! ”Contained a plan of attack on the Soviet Union. The key task of the Wehrmacht was the destruction of the Red Army. The plan was given the provisional name "Barbarossa" - in honor of the aggressive policy of the King of Germany Frederick I Gigenshtaufen (1122 – 1190), nicknamed Barbarossa for his red beard.
The essence of the directive most fully reflected the phrases with which it began: “The German armed forces must be ready to defeat Soviet Russia during the short-term campaign before the war against England is over ...” The absolutization of the German military command of experience reflected in a concentrated form lightning wars against Poland and France, the conviction that the next blitzkrieg will end in a few weeks of border battles.
The Barbarossa plan envisaged the participation of Rumania and Finland in the war. The Romanian troops were supposed to "support the offensive of the southern flank of the German troops, at least at the beginning of the operation," and "for the rest, to carry out auxiliary service in the rear areas." The Finnish army was instructed to cover up the concentration and deployment of a group of German troops advancing from occupied Norway near the Soviet border, and then conduct combat operations jointly.
In May, 1941 was also involved in the preparation of an attack on the USSR. Located in the center of Europe, it was the crossroads of the most important communications. Without its participation or even consent, the German command could not transfer its troops to South-Eastern Europe.
The whole of Europe worked for Hitler
January 31 The 1941 General Command of the Ground Forces prepared a strategic deployment directive in accordance with the Barbarossa plan. 3 February she was approved and sent to the headquarters of the three army groups, the Luftwaffe and the naval forces. At the end of February, 1941 began the deployment of German troops near the borders of the USSR.
Russian military strike, which would force her to recognize the dominant role of Germany in Europe "
The leaders of the allied German countries believed that the Wehrmacht was capable of crushing the Red Army in a few weeks or months. Therefore, the rulers of Italy, Slovakia and Croatia, on their own initiative, hastily sent their troops to the Eastern Front. In a matter of weeks, an Italian expeditionary corps consisting of three divisions, a Slovak corps with two divisions and a Croatian reinforced regiment arrived here. These compounds supported 83 Italian, 51 Slovak and up to 60 Croatian combat aircraft.
Higher instances of the Third Reich in advance developed plans for not only waging war against the Soviet Union, but also for its economic exploitation and dismemberment (the “Ost” plan). The speeches of the Nazi leader in front of the top of the Wehrmacht 9 in January, 17 and 30 in March 1941, give an idea of how they saw the war with the USSR in Berlin. Hitler declared that it would be "the complete opposite of a normal war in the west and north of Europe," and provides for "total destruction, the destruction of Russia as a state." It is necessary to crush not only the Red Army, but also the "control mechanism" of the USSR, "destroy the commissars and the communist intelligentsia," functionaries, and thus destroy the "ideological ties" of the Russian people.
By the beginning of the war against the USSR, the representatives of the Wehrmacht high command well assimilated the Nazi world view and perceived Hitler not only as the Supreme Commander, but also as an ideological leader. They put his criminal instructions in the form of orders to the troops.
28 April 1941, the order of Brauchitsch issued an order “The procedure for the use of the security police and the security services (SD) in ground forces”. It emphasized that the army commanders, together with the commanders of the special punitive formations of the Nazi Security Service (SD), are responsible for carrying out actions to destroy communists, Jews and "other radical elements" in the rear front areas without trial. The chief of staff of the Wehrmacht’s High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) on May 13 of Keitel 1941 issued an order “On Special Jurisdiction in the“ Barbarossa ”Region and Special Authorities of the Troops”. With the soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht was removed responsibility for future crimes in the occupied territory of the USSR. They were instructed to be ruthless, to shoot on the spot without a trial all those who would show even the slightest resistance or sympathize with the partisans. The Guidelines on the Conduct of Troops in Russia, as one of the annexes to special order No. 1 of 19 of May 1941 of the Barbarossa directive, stated: “This struggle requires merciless and decisive actions against Bolshevik instigators, partisans, saboteurs, Jews and complete suppression of any attempt at active or passive resistance. " 6 June 1941, the headquarters of the OKW issued an "Instruction on the Treatment of Political Commissioners." The soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht were ordered to exterminate on the spot all the captured political workers of the Red Army. These ideologically motivated orders contradicting international law were approved by Hitler.
The criminal goals of the leadership of Nazi Germany in the war against the USSR, if we put them in several lines, were as follows: the destruction of the Soviet Union as a state, the seizure of its wealth and land, the extermination of the most active part of the population, first of all, representatives of party and Soviet organs, intellectuals and all those who led the fight against the aggressor. The rest of the citizens were destined to either expulsion to Siberia without means of subsistence, or the fate of the slaves of the Aryan masters. The rationale for these goals were the racist views of the Nazi leadership, contempt for the Slavs and other "subhumans", which hinder the "existence and reproduction of the highest race" allegedly due to the catastrophic lack of "living space."
It was envisaged for seven months (August 1940-th - April 1941-th) to ensure the complete re-equipment of the ground forces (at the rate of 200 divisions). Not only the factories of the Third Reich, but also 4876 enterprises of the occupied Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium and France took up its implementation.
The aviation industry of Germany and its affiliated territories produced 1940 in 10, and 250 military aircraft of all types in 1941. The main attention in preparing for the attack on the USSR was paid to the accelerated production of fighter jets. From the second half of 11, the production of armored vehicles became the highest priority military program. Over the year it has doubled. If for the whole of 030 went 1940 light and medium tank, then only in the first half of 1941 their release reached 1621 units. In January 1941, the command demanded that the monthly production of tanks and armored personnel carriers be brought to 1250 vehicles. In addition to them, wheeled and semi-tracked armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers were created with 7,62 and 7,92 mm machine guns, 20 mm anti-aircraft and 47 mm anti-tank guns and flamethrowers. Their output has more than doubled.
At the start of 1941, Germanic weapons production reached its highest level. In the second quarter, 306 tanks were launched monthly against 109 in the same period of 1940 of the year. Compared to 1 on April 1940, the growth of ground army armaments for 1 June 1941 was expressed in the following figures: for light 75-mm infantry guns - by 1,26 times, for ammunition to them - by 21 times; for heavy 149,1-mm infantry guns - 1,86 times, ammunition for them - 15 times; 105-mm field howitzers - 1,31 times, ammunition for them - 18 times; for heavy 150-mm field howitzers - 1,33 times, for ammunition - 10 times; 210-mm mortars - 3,13 times, ammunition for them - 29 times.
In connection with preparations for war against the USSR, the production of ammunition was significantly increased. Only for the implementation of the initial stage of the operation "Barbarossa" they were allocated about 300 thousand tons.
In value terms, the production of weapons and equipment increased from 700 million marks in 1939 year to two billion in 1941-m. The share of military products in the total industrial output increased in the same years from 9 to 19 percent.
The bottleneck was the unstable supply of Germany with strategic raw materials, as well as a lack of human resources. But the success of the Nazis in the campaigns against Poland, France, and other countries created the Wehrmacht command and political leadership confidence that the war against the CCCR could be won during the short-term campaign and without full mobilization pressure of the economy.
Starting aggression against the USSR, Germany also hoped that it would not have to wage war on two fronts, with the exception of naval and air operations in the West. The German military command, together with representatives of the German industry, made plans for the quick capture and development of natural resources, industrial enterprises and the workforce of the Soviet Union. On this basis, the leadership of the Third Reich considered it possible in a short time to increase its military-economic potential and take further steps towards world domination.
Before the attack on France in the Wehrmacht there were 156 divisions, including 10 tank and 6 motorized, then before the attack on the USSR there were already 214 divisions, including 21 tank and 14 motorized. For the war in the East, more than 70 percent of the connections were allocated: 153 divisions, including 17 tank and 14 motorized, as well as three brigades. It was the most combat-ready part of the German ground forces.
For the air support of the five air fleets available in the Wehrmacht, three are fully allocated and one is partially allocated. These forces, according to the German military command, were quite enough to defeat the Red Army.
In order to create more favorable conditions for the deployment of its troops at the western borders of the USSR, the Reich achieved the accession of the three countries (Germany, Italy, Japan) of a number of European countries: Hungary (November 20, 1940 November), Romania (November 23), Slovakia (24 November), Bulgaria (March 1 1941), “independent” Croatia (June 16), created by the Hitler government after the defeat and dismemberment of Yugoslavia in April 1941. With Finland, Berlin established military cooperation without including it in the Three-Power Pact. Under the cover of 12 and 20 of 1940 on the transit of military materials and troops in occupied Norway entered into Helsinki in September, the Finnish territory was transformed into an operational base for an attack on the USSR. The Turkish government, while maintaining neutrality at a certain stage, planned to enter the war on the side of the Axis countries and was ready to attack the Soviet Union in the autumn of 1942.
It was not possible to complete the deployment of the main German forces in the east according to the Barbarossa plan, as planned, before 15 in May. Part of the German troops from 6 to 29 on April 1941-th participated in the Balkan campaign against Yugoslavia and Greece. On April 30, at the Wehrmacht High Command meeting, the start of Operation Barbarossa was postponed to June 22.
The deployment of German troops intended to attack the USSR ended in the middle of the month. The grouping of the German armed forces 22 June 1941, there were 4,1 million people, 40 500 artillery guns, about 4200 tanks and assault guns, more 3600 combat aircraft, 159 ships. Taking into account the troops of Finland, Romania and Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Croatia, about five million people, 182 divisions and 20 brigades, 47 200 guns and mortars, about 4400 tanks and assault guns, more 4300 combat aircraft, 246, were concentrated to invade the USSR. ships.
Thus, in the summer of 1941, the main military forces of the block of aggressors came out against the USSR. An armed struggle unprecedented in scope and tension began. From its outcome depended the direction of human history.
“Oldenburg” is the codename for the economic subdivision of the “Barbarossa” plan. Provision was made for the service of the Reich of all stocks of raw materials and large industrial enterprises in the territory between the Vistula and the Urals.
The most valuable industrial equipment was supposed to be sent to the Reich, and that which Germany does not need is to be destroyed. The initial version of the Oldenburg plan (Goering’s Green Folder) was approved at a secret meeting of the March 1 1941 of the year (1317 PS protocol). Finally approved after a two-month detailed study of 29 on April 1941-th (minutes of the secret 1157 PS meeting). The territory of the USSR was divided into four economic inspectorates (Leningrad, Moscow, Kiev, Baku) and 23 commandant's offices, as well as the 12 bureau. For coordination, the headquarters of Oldenburg was formed.
Subsequently, it was supposed to split the European part of the USSR into seven states, each of which was to be economically dependent on Germany. The Baltic territory was planned to be a protectorate and later incorporated into the Reich.
The economic robbery was accompanied by the implementation of the OST plan — the extermination, relocation, and Germanization of the Russian people. For Ingermanlandia, which was supposed to include Pskov land, a sharp reduction in population (physical destruction, decline in fertility, relocation to remote areas) was proposed, as well as the transfer of the liberated territory to German colonists. This plan was designed for the future, but some directives were embodied as early as the occupation period.
Several German landowners arrived on the Pskov lands. One of them, Beck, was given the opportunity to create a latifundia on the basis of the Gari state farm in the Dnovsky district (5700 hectares). In this territory there were 14 villages, more than a thousand peasant farms, which turned out to be slaves. In Porkhov district on the lands of the state farm "Iskra" arranged the estate of Baron Schauer.
From the first days of the occupation, compulsory labor service was introduced for all persons from 18 to 45 years, which was later extended to those who turned 15 and extended to 65 years for men and to 45 for women. The working day lasted 14 – 16 hours. Many of those who remained in the occupied territory worked at the power station, on the railway, on the peat fields, and in the tannery, being subjected to corporal punishment and imprisonment. The invaders deprived the Russian population of the right to study in schools. All libraries, cinemas, clubs, museums were looted.
A terrible page of the occupation - sending young people to work in Germany and the Baltic States. They were placed in farms, where they labored in the field, looked after the livestock, while receiving scarce food, wearing their own clothes and being bullied. Some were sent to military factories in Germany, where the working day lasted 12 hours, and the salary was 12 marks per month. This money was enough to buy 200 grams of bread and 20 grams of margarine a day.
The Germans created several concentration camps in the occupied territory. They contained hundreds of thousands of wounded and sick. Only in a concentration camp at Kresty, 65 killed thousands of people - something like this was the whole pre-war population of Pskov.
First Guerrilla
Despite the "new order" based on fear, brutal exploitation, robbery and violence, the fascists failed to break the Pskovites. In the first months of the occupation, partisan detachments from 25 to 180 were organized.
The position of the northern capital, blocked from all sides, forced the leaders of the regional party committee to force the creation of the headquarters of the partisan movement in the Leningrad Region, which included the northern part of the present Pskov. LSDPD was formed on September 27 1941 of the year, the first in the country, long before the organization of the central headquarters (in May 1942).
Taking into account the situation, it was decided to create base groups and brigades (mainly in Leningrad), which were then thrown across the front line and already in the occupied territory gathered isolated guerrilla units, called upon the local population to resist. There was also a self-organization based on extermination battalions and the people's militia.
The core of the 2 of the Leningrad partisan brigade (commander - cadre officer Nikolai Vasilyev), which soon became the leader, was formed from Soviet workers in the eastern regions of the Pskov region and professional military. His goal was to unite all the scattered and small groups in the occupied territory. In August, 1941-th, this task was completed.
Soon, 2-I LBP won a large part of the territory from which the first Guerrilla Territory was formed from the enemy. Here, south of Lake Ilmen, at the junction of the modern Pskov and Novgorod regions, there were no large German garrisons, so it was possible to expand the borders of the region, making small strikes and sabotage. But the population of the villages received the hope that they had real protection, armed groups would always come to the rescue. The peasants provided all possible support to the partisans with food, clothing, information about the location and movement of the German troops. More than 400 villages were located on the territory of the Guerrilla Territory. Here, in the form of office buildings and village councils, Soviet power was restored, schools worked, newspapers were published.
At the first stage of the war it was the most significant area of the partisans. In the winter of 1941 – 1942, they made raids to destroy the German garrisons (Jasski, Tyurikovo, Dedovichi). In March, a carriage with food for the besieged Leningrad was sent from the region to 1942. During this period, the 2 Brigade thrice reflected the onset of punitive expeditions (November 1941, May and June 1942), and each time she managed to win, first thanks to national support, which was also manifested in the increase in the number of fighters: August 1941 th to three thousand a year later. Fortified outposts were created along the border of the region. Punishers committed atrocities in areas adjacent to the partisan region: they burned villages, killed peasants. The partisans also had losses: 360 dead, 487 injured in the first year.
Over its centuries-old history, Pskov had to participate in the 120 wars and endure 30 sieges, but still the most heroic and tragic moments of its history will forever remain connected with the Great Patriotic War.
Way to glory
Early in the morning of May 1, 1945, Alexei Berest, Mikhail Egorov and Meliton Kantaria, with the support of company gunners I. Syanova, hoisted the assault flag of the 150 Infantry Division, which later became the Banner of Victory, over the Reichstag. This division was formed in September 1943 in the area of Staraya Russa on the basis of 127, 144 and 151 of rifle brigades of the North-Western Front.
Since September 12, the 150-Infantry has already taken part in local battles. Until the end of 1943, she participated in battles as part of 22 and 6 of the Guards armies. From 5 January to the end of July, 1944-th fought defensive and offensive battles as part of the 3-th Shock Army of the 2-Baltic Front. During the Rezhitsko-Dvinskaya and Madona operations, she took part in the liberation of the cities: July 12 - Idritsa, July 27 - Režice (Rezekne), August 13 - Madona. By order of the Supreme Commander from 12 July 1944, for military service, the 150 Infantry Division was awarded the honorary title Idritskaya. The division led offensive battles in the Riga operation (September 14 - October 22 1944 of the year).
As part of the 3 Shock Army of the 1 Belorussian Front, the 150 Rifle Division Idritskaya Order of the Kutuzov Division took part in the Berlin operation (April 16 - 8 May 1945), leading combat operations on the main line.
30 April after several attacks units 150 th infantry division under the command of Major General V. Shatilova and 171 th Infantry Division under the command of Colonel A. Reason stormed captured the main part of the Reichstag. The remaining Nazi units offered fierce resistance. I had to fight literally for every room. During the battle for the Reichstag, the assault flag of the 150 Division was mounted on the dome of the building. By order of the Supreme Command of 11 June 1945, the division was given the honorary title Berlin.
Pskov after liberation was a terrible picture of destruction. The total damage to the city in post-war prices amounted to 1,5 billion rubles. Residents had to make a new feat, this time labor.
The leadership of the state understood the importance of the city in the history of the country and Russian culture, which provided great help and support to the Pskov people. In accordance with the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 23 August 1944, Pskov became the center of the newly formed region. November 1 The 1945, by decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, is included in the number of 15 oldest cities in the country, which were subject to primary restoration. All these measures contributed not only to the revival in historical and cultural guises, but also to the acquisition of new - political and economic values.
By presidential decree from 5 December 2009 of the year for the courage, resilience and mass heroism shown by the defenders of Pskov in the struggle for the freedom and independence of the Fatherland, he was awarded the honorary title of the City of Military Glory.
Lessons and conclusions
The question is valid: could the beginning of a war have been different for us, could it have been better prepared to repel aggression? Accomplishment of all that was planned was not allowed by an acute shortage of time and insufficient material resources. The restructuring of the economy for the needs of the future war was far from over. Numerous measures to strengthen and rearm the army did not have time to finish either. Fortifications on the old and new frontiers were not completed and poorly equipped. The army, which has grown many times, felt a great need for qualified command personnel.
Speaking about the subjective side of the problem, one cannot but recognize the personal responsibility of the Soviet political and military leadership, Stalin personally for the mistakes made in preparing the country and the army for war, for mass repressions. And also for the fact that the order to bring the border districts on full alert was given too late.
The roots of many wrong decisions should be sought in the fact that the leaders of the USSR mistakenly assessed the political possibilities of preventing a war with Germany in 1941. Hence, the fear of provocations, and the delay with the necessary orders. The stakes in the prewar most difficult game with Hitler were extremely high, and the significance of its possible outcome was so great that the risks were underestimated. And it was very expensive. We got the hardest war on our territory with huge losses of population.
It would seem that our victims are a confirmation of the Soviet Union’s unpreparedness for war. They are truly immense. Only in June - September of 1941 did the irretrievable losses of the Soviet troops exceed 2,1 million, including those killed, dead from wounds and diseases - 430 578 people, missing and prisoners - 1 699 099. The Germans in the same period left thousands of people killed on the Soviet-German front 185. Wehrmacht tank divisions already by mid-August lost up to 50 per cent of personnel and about half of the tanks.
Nevertheless, the tragic results of the initial period of the war should not prevent us from seeing the main thing: the Soviet Union survived. And this means that in the broad sense of the word he was ready for war and proved himself worthy of victory.
In Poland, France and other European countries, unavailability was of a fatal nature, and this is confirmed by the fact of their rapid and crushing defeat.
The USSR withstood the blow and did not collapse, although many had predicted this. The country and the army retained controllability. In order to unite the efforts of the front and the rear, all power was concentrated in the hands of the 30 State Defense Committee formed on June 1941. The brilliantly organized evacuation of millions of people, thousands of enterprises, and enormous material assets made it possible already in 1942 to surpass Germany in the production of the main types of military products.
Despite all the military successes and the seizure of many regions of the USSR with a multi-million population, the aggressor was unable to achieve the goal: to destroy the main forces of the Red Army and to secure unimpeded progress inland.
Significant in this respect is the sharp slowdown in the onset of the German fascist troops. The average daily rate of advance of the Wehrmacht compared with the first days of the war by September 1941-th reduced in the north-west direction from 26 to two or three kilometers, in the west - from 30 to two or two and a half kilometers, in the south-west - from 20 to six kilometers away. During the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops near Moscow in December 1941, the Germans were driven away from the capital, which meant the failure of the Barbarossa plan and the blitzkrieg strategy.
Won time, the Soviet command used to organize the defense, the formation of reserves and evacuation.
Before the attack on the Soviet Union, Germany in lightning military campaigns defeated and seized many European states. Hitler and his entourage, believing in the doctrine of the blitzkrieg, hoped that it would work flawlessly against the USSR. The temporary successes of the aggressor cost him big irrecoverable losses, undermined material and moral-psychological forces.
Overcoming significant shortcomings in the organization and conduct of hostilities, the commanders of the Red Army studied the skills of command and control, mastered the advanced achievements of the art of war.
The consciousness of the Soviet people became different in the fire of war: the initial confusion was replaced by firm confidence in the rightness of the struggle against fascism, in the inevitability of the triumph of justice, in Victory. A sense of historical responsibility for the fate of the Motherland, for the lives of loved ones, multiplied the forces of resistance to the enemy.
Information