What kind of Russian fronts were there in World War II? Soviet fronts during the Great Patriotic War

Commanders of front troops. It was on their ability to manage large military groups that success or failure in operations, battles and engagements depended. The list includes all generals who permanently or temporarily held the position of front commander. 9 of the military leaders on the list died during the war.
1. Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny
Reserve (September-October 1941) North Caucasian (May-August 1942)

2. Ivan Khristoforovich (Hovhannes Khachaturovich) Bagramyan
1st Baltic (November 1943 - February 1945)
3rd Belorussian (April 19, 1945 - until the end of the war)
On June 24, 1945, I. Kh. Bagramyan led the combined regiment of the 1st Baltic Front at the Victory Parade on Red Square in Moscow.

3. Joseph Rodionovich Apanasenko
Since January 1941, Commander of the Far Eastern Front, on February 22, 1941, I. R. Apanasenko was awarded the military rank of Army General. During his command of the Far Eastern Front, he did a lot to strengthen the defense capability of the Soviet Far East.
In June 1943, I. R. Apanasenko, after numerous requests to be sent to the active army, was appointed deputy commander of the Voronezh Front. During the battles near Belgorod on August 5, 1943, he was mortally wounded during an enemy air raid and died on the same day.

4. Pavel Artemyevich Artemyev
Front of the Mozhaisk defense line (July 18-July 30, 1941)
Moscow Reserve Front (October 9-October 12, 1941)
Commanded the parade on Red Square on November 7, 1941. From October 1941 to October 1943, he was commander of the Moscow defense zone.

5. Ivan Aleksandrovich Bogdanov
Reserve Armies Front (July 14-July 25, 1941)
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he was appointed commander of the front of the reserve armies. Since November 1941, commander of the 39th Reserve Army in Torzhok, since December - deputy commander of the 39th Army of the Kalinin Front. In July 1942, after the evacuation of the commander of the 39th Army, Ivan Ivanovich Maslennikov, Ivan Aleksandrovich Bogdanov, who refused to evacuate, took over leadership of the army and led the breakthrough from encirclement. On July 16, 1942, while escaping from encirclement near the village of Krapivna, Kalinin Region, he was wounded. Having led 10,000 soldiers out of encirclement, he died in hospital on July 22 from his wounds.

6. Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky
3rd Belorussian (February-April 1945)

7. Nikolai Fedorovich Vatutin
Voronezh (July 14-October 24, 1942)
South-West (October 25, 1942 - March 1943)
Voronezh (March - October 20, 1943)
1st Ukrainian (October 20, 1943 - February 29, 1944)
On February 29, 1944, N.F. Vatutin, together with his escort, went in two vehicles to the location of the 60th Army to check the progress of preparations for the next operation. As G.K. Zhukov recalled, upon entering one of the villages, “the cars came under fire from a UPA sabotage group. N.F. Vatutin jumped out of the car and, together with the officers, entered into a shootout, during which he was wounded in the thigh.” The seriously wounded military leader was taken by train to a Kyiv hospital. The best doctors were summoned to Kyiv, among whom was the chief surgeon of the Red Army, N. N. Burdenko. Vatutin received a through wound to the thigh with bone fragmentation. Despite surgical intervention and the use of the latest penicillin during treatment, Vatutin developed gas gangrene. A council of doctors led by Professor Shamov proposed amputation as the only means of saving the wounded, but Vatutin refused. It was never possible to save Vatutin, and on April 15, 1944, he died in hospital from blood poisoning

8. Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov
Leningradsky (5-mid September 1941)

9. Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov
Leningradsky (June 1942-May 1945)
2nd Baltic (February-March 1945)

10. Philip Ivanovich Golikov
Bryansky (April-July 1942)
Voronezh (October 1942 - March 1943)

11. Vasily Nikolaevich Gordov
Stalingrad (July 23-August 12, 1942)

12. Andrey Ivanovich Eremenko
Western (June 30-July 2, 1941 and July 19-29, 1941)
Bryansky (August-October 1941)
South-Eastern (August-September 1942)
Stalingrad (September-December 1942)
Yuzhny (January-February 1943)
Kalininsky (April-October 1943)
1st Baltic (October-November 1943)
2nd Baltic (April 1944 - February 1945)
4th Ukrainian (from March 1945 until the end of the war)

13. Mikhail Grigorievich Efremov
Central (7 August - end of August 1941)
From the evening of April 13, all contact with the headquarters of the 33rd Army was lost. The army ceases to exist as a single organism, and its individual parts make their way to the east in disparate groups. On April 19, 1942, in battle, Army Commander M. G. Efremov, who fought like a real hero, was seriously wounded (receiving three wounds) and, not wanting to be captured, when the situation became critical, he called his wife, who served as his medical instructor, and shot him dead. her and yourself. Along with him, the army artillery commander, Major General P. N. Ofrosimov, and almost the entire army headquarters died. Modern researchers note a high spirit of perseverance in the army. The body of M. G. Efremov was first found by the Germans, who, having deep respect for the courageous general, buried him with military honors in the village of Slobodka on April 19, 1942. The 268th Infantry Division of the 12th Army Corps recorded on the map the place of the general’s death; the report came to the Americans after the war and is still in the NARA archive. According to the testimony of Lieutenant General Yu. A. Ryabov (veteran of the 33rd Army), the body of the army commander was brought on poles, but the German general demanded that he be transferred to a stretcher. At the funeral, he ordered the prisoners from Efremov’s army to be put in front of the German soldiers and said: “Fight for Germany the way Efremov fought for Russia.”

14. Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov
Reserve (August-September 1941)
Leningradsky (mid-September-October 1941)
Western (October 1941-August 1942)
1st Ukrainian (March-May 1944)
1st Belorussian (from November 1944 until the end of the war)
On May 8, 1945 at 22:43 (May 9 0:43 Moscow time) in Karlshorst (Berlin) Zhukov accepted the unconditional surrender of the troops of Nazi Germany from Hitler’s Field Marshal General Wilhelm Keitel.

On June 24, 1945, Marshal Zhukov took part in the Victory Parade of the Soviet Union over Germany in the Great Patriotic War, which took place in Moscow on Red Square. The parade was commanded by Marshal Rokossovsky.

THE BEGINNING OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

Eve of war. In the spring of 1941, the approach of war was felt by everyone. Soviet intelligence reported to Stalin almost daily about Hitler's plans. For example, Richard Sorge (Soviet intelligence officer in Japan) reported not only about the transfer of German troops, but also about the timing of the German attack. However, Stalin did not believe these reports, since he was confident that Hitler would not start a war with the USSR as long as England resisted. He believed that a clash with Germany could occur no earlier than the summer of 1942. Therefore, Stalin sought to use the remaining time to prepare for war with maximum benefit. On May 5, 1941, he assumed the powers of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. He did not rule out the possibility of launching a preemptive strike on Germany.

There was a concentration of a huge number of troops on the border with Germany. At the same time, it was impossible to give the Germans a reason to accuse them of violating the non-aggression pact. Therefore, despite Germany’s obvious preparation for aggression against the USSR, Stalin only on the night of June 22 gave the order to bring the troops of the border districts to combat readiness. The troops received this directive already when German aircraft were bombing Soviet cities.

The beginning of the war. At dawn on June 22, 1941, the German army attacked Soviet soil with all its might. Thousands of artillery pieces opened fire. Aviation attacked airfields, military garrisons, communications centers, command posts of the Red Army, and the largest industrial facilities in Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic states. The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people began, lasting 1418 days and nights.

The country's leadership did not immediately understand what exactly had happened. Still fearing provocations from the Germans, Stalin, even in the conditions of the outbreak of war, did not want to believe what had happened. In the new directive, he ordered the troops to “defeat the enemy,” but “not to cross the state border” with Germany.

At noon on the first day of the war, the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR V. M. Molotov addressed the people. Calling on the Soviet people to resolutely repel the enemy, he expressed confidence that the country would defend its freedom and independence. Molotov ended his speech with the words that became the program for all the years of the war: “Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours.”

On the same day, the general mobilization of those liable for military service was announced, martial law was introduced in the western regions of the country, and the Northern, Northwestern, Western, Southwestern, and Southern fronts were formed. To lead them, on June 23, the Headquarters of the High Command (later the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command) was created, which included I.V. Stalin, V.M. Molotov, S.K. Timoshenko, S.M. Budyonny, K.E. Voroshilov, B. M. Shaposhnikov and G. K. Zhukov. J.V. Stalin was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

The war required the abandonment of a number of democratic forms of government of the country provided for by the 1936 Constitution.

On June 30, all power was concentrated in the hands of the State Defense Committee (GKO), whose chairman was Stalin. At the same time, the activities of constitutional authorities continued.

Strengths and plans of the parties. On June 22, the two largest military forces at that time collided in mortal combat. Germany and Italy, Finland, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia, which acted on its side, had 190 divisions against 170 Soviet ones. The number of opposing troops on both sides was approximately equal and totaled about 6 million people. The number of guns and mortars on both sides was approximately equal (48 thousand for Germany and its allies, 47 thousand for the USSR). In terms of the number of tanks (9.2 thousand) and aircraft (8.5 thousand), the USSR surpassed Germany and its allies (4.3 thousand and 5 thousand, respectively).

Taking into account the experience of combat operations in Europe, the Barbarossa plan provided for waging a “blitzkrieg” war against the USSR in three main directions - to Leningrad (Army Group North), Moscow (Center) and Kyiv (South). In a short time, with the help of mainly tank attacks, it was planned to defeat the main forces of the Red Army and reach the Arkhangelsk-Volga-Astrakhan line.

The basis of the tactics of the Red Army before the war was the concept of conducting combat operations “with little blood loss, on foreign territory.” However, the attack by Nazi armies forced us to reconsider these plans.

Failures of the Red Army in the summer - autumn of 1941. The surprise and power of Germany's attack was so great that within three weeks Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, a significant part of Ukraine, Moldova and Estonia were occupied. The enemy advanced 350-600 km deep into Soviet land. In a short period of time, the Red Army lost more than 100 divisions (three-fifths of all troops in the western border districts). More than 20 thousand guns and mortars, 3.5 thousand aircraft (of which 1,200 were destroyed directly at airfields on the first day of the war), 6 thousand tanks, and more than half of the logistics warehouses were destroyed or captured by the enemy. The main forces of the Western Front troops were surrounded. In fact, in the first weeks of the war, all the forces of the “first echelon” of the Red Army were defeated. It seemed that the military catastrophe of the USSR was inevitable.

However, the “easy walk” for the Germans (which was what Hitler’s generals, intoxicated by victories in Western Europe, were counting on) did not work out. In the first weeks of the war, the enemy lost up to 100 thousand people in killed alone (this exceeded all the losses of Hitler’s army in previous wars), 40% of tanks, and almost 1 thousand aircraft. However, the German army continued to maintain a decisive superiority of forces.

Battle for Moscow. The stubborn resistance of the Red Army near Smolensk, Leningrad, Kiev, Odessa, and in other sectors of the front did not allow the Germans to carry out plans to capture Moscow by the beginning of autumn. Only after the encirclement of large forces (665 thousand people) of the Southwestern Front and the capture of Kyiv by the enemy did the Germans begin preparations for the capture of the Soviet capital. This operation was called "Typhoon". To implement it, the German command ensured a significant superiority in manpower (3-3.5 times) and equipment in the directions of the main attacks: tanks - 5-6 times, artillery - 4-5 times. The dominance of German aviation also remained overwhelming.

On September 30, 1941, the Nazis began their general offensive against Moscow. They managed not only to break through the defenses of stubbornly resisting Soviet troops, but also to encircle four armies west of Vyazma and two south of Bryansk. In these “cauldrons” 663 thousand people were captured. However, the encircled Soviet troops continued to pin down up to 20 enemy divisions. A critical situation has developed for Moscow. The fighting was already 80-100 km from the capital. To stop the advance of the Germans, the Mozhaisk defense line was hastily strengthened and reserve troops were brought up. G.K. Zhukov, who was appointed commander of the Western Front, was urgently recalled from Leningrad.

Despite all these measures, by mid-October the enemy came close to the capital. The Kremlin towers were clearly visible through German binoculars. By decision of the State Defense Committee, the evacuation of government institutions, the diplomatic corps, large industrial enterprises, and the population from Moscow began. In case of a breakthrough by the Nazis, all the most important objects of the city had to be destroyed. On October 20, a state of siege was introduced in Moscow.

With a colossal effort, unparalleled courage and heroism of the capital’s defenders, the German offensive was stopped in early November. On November 7, as before, a military parade took place on Red Square, the participants of which immediately went to the front line.

However, in mid-November the Nazi offensive resumed with renewed vigor. Only the stubborn resistance of Soviet soldiers saved the capital again. The 316th Rifle Division under the command of General I.V. Panfilov especially distinguished itself, repelling several tank attacks on the most difficult first day of the German offensive. The feat of a group of Panfilov’s men led by political instructor V. G. Klochkov, who detained more than 30 enemy tanks for a long time, became legendary. Klochkov’s words addressed to the soldiers spread throughout the country: “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat: Moscow is behind us!”

By the end of November, the troops of the Western Front received significant reinforcements from the eastern regions of the country, which allowed the Soviet troops to launch a counteroffensive near Moscow on December 5-6, 1941. In the very first days of the Battle of Moscow, the cities of Kalinin, Solnechnogorsk, Klin, and Istra were liberated. In total, during the winter offensive, Soviet troops defeated 38 German divisions. The enemy was driven back 100-250 km from Moscow. This was the first major defeat of German troops during the entire Second World War.

The victory near Moscow had enormous military and political significance. She dispelled the myth of the invincibility of Hitler's army and the Nazis' hopes for a "lightning war." Japan and Türkiye finally refused to enter the war on the side of Germany. The process of creating the Anti-Hitler Coalition was accelerated.

GERMAN ADVANCE OF 1942 PREREQUISITES FOR A ROOT FRACTURE

The situation at the front in the spring of 1942. Plans of the parties. The victory near Moscow gave rise to illusions among the Soviet leadership regarding the possibility of a quick defeat of the German troops and the end of the war. In January 1942, Stalin set the Red Army the task of launching a general offensive. This task was repeated in other documents.

The only one who opposed the simultaneous offensive of Soviet troops in all three main strategic directions was G.K. Zhukov. He rightly believed that there were no prepared reserves for this. However, under pressure from Stalin, the Headquarters nevertheless decided to attack. The dispersal of already modest resources (by this time the Red Army had lost up to 6 million people killed, wounded, and prisoners) inevitably had to lead to failure.

Stalin believed that in the spring and summer of 1942 the Germans would launch a new attack on Moscow, and ordered the concentration of significant reserve forces in the western direction. Hitler, on the contrary, considered the strategic goal of the upcoming campaign to be a large-scale offensive in the southwestern direction with the goal of breaking through the defenses of the Red Army and capturing the lower Volga and the Caucasus. In order to hide their true intentions, the Germans developed a special plan to disinform the Soviet military command and political leadership, codenamed “Kremlin”. Their plan was largely successful. All this had dire consequences for the situation on the Soviet-German front in 1942.

German offensive in the summer of 1942. The beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad. By the spring of 1942, the preponderance of forces still remained on the side of the German troops. Before launching a general offensive in the southeastern direction, the Germans decided to completely capture Crimea, where the defenders of Sevastopol and the Kerch Peninsula continued to offer heroic resistance to the enemy. The May offensive of the fascists ended in tragedy: in ten days the troops of the Crimean Front were defeated. The losses of the Red Army here amounted to 176 thousand people, 347 tanks, 3476 guns and mortars, 400 aircraft. On July 4, Soviet troops were forced to abandon the city of Russian glory, Sevastopol.

In May, Soviet troops went on the offensive in the Kharkov region, but suffered a severe defeat. The troops of two armies were surrounded and destroyed. Our losses amounted to up to 230 thousand people, more than 5 thousand guns and mortars, 755 tanks. The German command once again firmly captured the strategic initiative.

At the end of June, German troops rushed to the southeast: they occupied Donbass and reached the Don. An immediate threat was created to Stalingrad. On July 24, Rostov-on-Don, the gates of the Caucasus, fell. Only now did Stalin understand the true purpose of the German summer offensive. But it was already too late to change anything. Fearing the rapid loss of the entire Soviet South, on July 28, 1942, Stalin issued order No. 227, in which, under threat of execution, he forbade troops from leaving the front line without instructions from higher command. This order went down in the history of the war under the name “Not a step back!”

In early September, street battles broke out in Stalingrad, which was completely destroyed. But the tenacity and courage of the Soviet defenders of the city on the Volga did what seemed impossible - by mid-November the offensive capabilities of the Germans had completely dried up. By this time, in the battles for Stalingrad, they had lost almost 700 thousand killed and wounded, over 1 thousand tanks and over 1.4 thousand aircraft. The Germans not only failed to occupy the city, but also went on the defensive.

Occupation regime. By the fall of 1942, German troops managed to capture most of the European territory of the USSR. A strict occupation regime was established in the cities and villages they occupied. The main goals of Germany in the war against the USSR were the destruction of the Soviet state, the transformation of the Soviet Union into an agricultural and raw materials appendage and a source of cheap labor for the “Third Reich”.

In the occupied territories, the previous governing bodies were liquidated. All power belonged to the military command of the German army. In the summer of 1941, special courts were introduced, which were given the right to impose death sentences for disobedience to the occupiers. Death camps were created for prisoners of war and those Soviet people who sabotaged the decisions of the German authorities. Everywhere the occupiers staged show executions of party and Soviet activists and members of the underground.

All citizens of the occupied territories aged 18 to 45 years were affected by labor mobilization. They had to work 14-16 hours a day. Hundreds of thousands of Soviet people were sent to forced labor in Germany.

The Ost plan, developed by the Nazis even before the war, contained a program for the “development” of Eastern Europe. According to this plan, it was planned to destroy 30 million Russians, and turn the rest into slaves and resettle them in Siberia. During the war years in the occupied territories of the USSR, the Nazis killed about 11 million people (including about 7 million civilians and about 4 million prisoners of war).

Partisan and underground movement. The threat of physical violence did not stop the Soviet people in the fight against the enemy not only at the front, but also in the rear. The Soviet underground movement emerged in the first weeks of the war. In places subject to occupation, party organs operated illegally.

During the war years, more than 6 thousand partisan detachments were formed, in which more than 1 million people fought. Representatives of most of the peoples of the USSR, as well as citizens of other countries, acted in their ranks. Soviet partisans destroyed, wounded and captured more than 1 million enemy soldiers and officers, representatives of the occupation administration, disabled more than 4 thousand tanks and armored vehicles, 65 thousand vehicles and 1,100 aircraft. They destroyed and damaged 1,600 railway bridges and derailed over 20 thousand railway trains. To coordinate the actions of the partisans, the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement was created in 1942, headed by P.K. Ponomarenko.

The underground heroes acted not only against enemy troops, but also carried out death sentences against Hitler’s executioners. The legendary intelligence officer N.I. Kuznetsov destroyed the chief judge of Ukraine Funk, the vice-governor of Galicia Bauer, and kidnapped the commander of the German punitive forces in Ukraine, General Ilgen. The General Commissioner of Belarus Cuba was blown up by underground member E. Mazanik right in bed in his own residence.

During the war years, the state awarded orders and medals to more than 184 thousand partisans and underground fighters. 249 of them were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The legendary commanders of partisan formations S.A. Kovpak and A.F. Fedorov were nominated for this award twice.

Formation of the Anti-Hitler Coalition. From the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Great Britain and the USA announced their support for the Soviet Union. Prime Minister of England W. Churchill, speaking on the radio on June 22, 1941, said: “The danger to Russia is our danger and the danger of the United States, just as the cause of every Russian fighting for his land and home is the cause of free people and free peoples in every part of the globe."

In July 1941, an agreement was signed between the USSR and Great Britain on joint actions in the war against Hitler, and in early August the US government announced economic and military-technical assistance to the Soviet Union “in the fight against armed aggression.” In September 1941, the first conference of representatives of the three powers was held in Moscow, at which issues of expanding military-technical assistance from Great Britain and the United States to the Soviet Union were discussed. After the United States entered the war against Japan and Germany (December 1941), its military cooperation with the USSR expanded even more.

On January 1, 1942, in Washington, representatives of 26 states signed a declaration in which they pledged to use all their resources to fight the common enemy and not conclude a separate peace. The agreement on the alliance between the USSR and Great Britain signed in May 1942 and the agreement on mutual assistance with the United States in June finally formalized the military alliance of the three countries.

Results of the first period of the war. The first period of the Great Patriotic War, which lasted from June 22, 1941 to November 18, 1942 (before the Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive at Stalingrad), was of great historical significance. The Soviet Union withstood a military blow of such force that no other country could have withstood at that time.

The courage and heroism of the Soviet people thwarted Hitler's plans for a "lightning war." Despite heavy defeats during the first year of the fight against Germany and its allies, the Red Army showed its high fighting qualities. By the summer of 1942, the transition of the country's economy to a war footing was basically completed, which laid the main precondition for a radical change in the course of the war. At this stage, the Anti-Hitler Coalition took shape, possessing enormous military, economic and human resources.

What you need to know about this topic:

Socio-economic and political development of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Nicholas II.

Internal policy of tsarism. Nicholas II. Increased repression. "Police Socialism"

Russo-Japanese War. Reasons, progress, results.

Revolution 1905 - 1907 Character, driving forces and features of the Russian revolution of 1905-1907. stages of the revolution. The reasons for the defeat and the significance of the revolution.

Elections to the State Duma. I State Duma. The agrarian question in the Duma. Dispersal of the Duma. II State Duma. Coup d'etat of June 3, 1907

Third June political system. Electoral law June 3, 1907 III State Duma. The alignment of political forces in the Duma. Activities of the Duma. Government terror. Decline of the labor movement in 1907-1910.

Stolypin agrarian reform.

IV State Duma. Party composition and Duma factions. Activities of the Duma.

Political crisis in Russia on the eve of the war. Labor movement in the summer of 1914. Crisis at the top.

International position of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.

The beginning of the First World War. Origin and nature of the war. Russia's entry into the war. Attitude to the war of parties and classes.

Progress of military operations. Strategic forces and plans of the parties. Results of the war. The role of the Eastern Front in the First World War.

The Russian economy during the First World War.

Worker and peasant movement in 1915-1916. Revolutionary movement in the army and navy. The growth of anti-war sentiment. Formation of the bourgeois opposition.

Russian culture of the 19th - early 20th centuries.

The aggravation of socio-political contradictions in the country in January-February 1917. The beginning, prerequisites and nature of the revolution. Uprising in Petrograd. Formation of the Petrograd Soviet. Temporary Committee of the State Duma. Order N I. Formation of the Provisional Government. Abdication of Nicholas II. The reasons for the emergence of dual power and its essence. The February revolution in Moscow, at the front, in the provinces.

From February to October. The policy of the Provisional Government regarding war and peace, on agrarian, national, and labor issues. Relations between the Provisional Government and the Soviets. Arrival of V.I. Lenin in Petrograd.

Political parties (Cadets, Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, Bolsheviks): political programs, influence among the masses.

Crises of the Provisional Government. Attempted military coup in the country. The growth of revolutionary sentiment among the masses. Bolshevization of the capital's Soviets.

Preparation and conduct of an armed uprising in Petrograd.

II All-Russian Congress of Soviets. Decisions about power, peace, land. Formation of public authorities and management. Composition of the first Soviet government.

Victory of the armed uprising in Moscow. Government agreement with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries. Elections to the Constituent Assembly, its convocation and dispersal.

The first socio-economic transformations in the fields of industry, agriculture, finance, labor and women's issues. Church and State.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, its terms and significance.

Economic tasks of the Soviet government in the spring of 1918. Aggravation of the food issue. Introduction of food dictatorship. Working food detachments. Combeds.

The revolt of the left Socialist Revolutionaries and the collapse of the two-party system in Russia.

The first Soviet Constitution.

Causes of intervention and civil war. Progress of military operations. Human and material losses during the civil war and military intervention.

Domestic policy of the Soviet leadership during the war. "War communism". GOELRO plan.

The policy of the new government regarding culture.

Foreign policy. Treaties with border countries. Russia's participation in the Genoa, Hague, Moscow and Lausanne conferences. Diplomatic recognition of the USSR by the main capitalist countries.

Domestic policy. Socio-economic and political crisis of the early 20s. Famine 1921-1922 Transition to a new economic policy. The essence of NEP. NEP in the field of agriculture, trade, industry. Financial reform. Economic recovery. Crises during the NEP period and its collapse.

Projects for the creation of the USSR. I Congress of Soviets of the USSR. The first government and the Constitution of the USSR.

Illness and death of V.I. Lenin. Intra-party struggle. The beginning of the formation of Stalin's regime.

Industrialization and collectivization. Development and implementation of the first five-year plans. Socialist competition - goal, forms, leaders.

Formation and strengthening of the state system of economic management.

The course towards complete collectivization. Dispossession.

Results of industrialization and collectivization.

Political, national-state development in the 30s. Intra-party struggle. Political repression. Formation of the nomenklatura as a layer of managers. Stalin's regime and the USSR Constitution of 1936

Soviet culture in the 20-30s.

Foreign policy of the second half of the 20s - mid-30s.

Domestic policy. Growth of military production. Emergency measures in the field of labor legislation. Measures to solve the grain problem. Armed forces. The growth of the Red Army. Military reform. Repressions against the command cadres of the Red Army and the Red Army.

Foreign policy. Non-aggression pact and treaty of friendship and borders between the USSR and Germany. The entry of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus into the USSR. Soviet-Finnish war. Inclusion of the Baltic republics and other territories into the USSR.

Periodization of the Great Patriotic War. The initial stage of the war. Turning the country into a military camp. Military defeats 1941-1942 and their reasons. Major military events. Surrender of Nazi Germany. Participation of the USSR in the war with Japan.

Soviet rear during the war.

Deportation of peoples.

Guerrilla warfare.

Human and material losses during the war.

Creation of an anti-Hitler coalition. Declaration of the United Nations. The problem of the second front. "Big Three" conferences. Problems of post-war peace settlement and comprehensive cooperation. USSR and UN.

The beginning of the Cold War. The USSR's contribution to the creation of the "socialist camp". CMEA education.

Domestic policy of the USSR in the mid-40s - early 50s. Restoration of the national economy.

Social and political life. Policy in the field of science and culture. Continued repression. "Leningrad case". Campaign against cosmopolitanism. "The Doctors' Case"

Socio-economic development of Soviet society in the mid-50s - the first half of the 60s.

Socio-political development: XX Congress of the CPSU and condemnation of Stalin’s personality cult. Rehabilitation of victims of repression and deportation. Internal party struggle in the second half of the 50s.

Foreign policy: creation of the Department of Internal Affairs. Entry of Soviet troops into Hungary. Exacerbation of Soviet-Chinese relations. Split of the "socialist camp". Soviet-American relations and the Cuban missile crisis. USSR and "third world" countries. Reduction in the size of the armed forces of the USSR. Moscow Treaty on the Limitation of Nuclear Tests.

USSR in the mid-60s - first half of the 80s.

Socio-economic development: economic reform of 1965

Increasing difficulties in economic development. Declining rates of socio-economic growth.

Constitution of the USSR 1977

Social and political life of the USSR in the 1970s - early 1980s.

Foreign policy: Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Consolidation of post-war borders in Europe. Moscow Treaty with Germany. Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). Soviet-American treaties of the 70s. Soviet-Chinese relations. Entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan. Exacerbation of international tension and the USSR. Strengthening Soviet-American confrontation in the early 80s.

USSR in 1985-1991.

Domestic policy: an attempt to accelerate the socio-economic development of the country. An attempt to reform the political system of Soviet society. Congresses of People's Deputies. Election of the President of the USSR. Multi-party system. Exacerbation of the political crisis.

Exacerbation of the national question. Attempts to reform the national-state structure of the USSR. Declaration of State Sovereignty of the RSFSR. "Novoogaryovsky trial". Collapse of the USSR.

Foreign policy: Soviet-American relations and the problem of disarmament. Agreements with leading capitalist countries. Withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Changing relations with the countries of the socialist community. Collapse of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance and the Warsaw Pact Organization.

Russian Federation in 1992-2000.

Domestic policy: “Shock therapy” in the economy: price liberalization, stages of privatization of commercial and industrial enterprises. Fall in production. Increased social tension. Growth and slowdown in financial inflation. Intensification of the struggle between the executive and legislative branches. Dissolution of the Supreme Council and the Congress of People's Deputies. October events of 1993. Abolition of local bodies of Soviet power. Elections to the Federal Assembly. Constitution of the Russian Federation 1993 Formation of a presidential republic. Exacerbation and overcoming national conflicts in the North Caucasus.

Parliamentary elections of 1995. Presidential elections of 1996. Power and opposition. An attempt to return to the course of liberal reforms (spring 1997) and its failure. Financial crisis of August 1998: causes, economic and political consequences. "Second Chechen War". Parliamentary elections of 1999 and early presidential elections of 2000. Foreign policy: Russia in the CIS. Participation of Russian troops in “hot spots” of the neighboring countries: Moldova, Georgia, Tajikistan. Relations between Russia and foreign countries. Withdrawal of Russian troops from Europe and neighboring countries. Russian-American agreements. Russia and NATO. Russia and the Council of Europe. Yugoslav crises (1999-2000) and Russia’s position.

• Danilov A.A., Kosulina L.G. History of the state and peoples of Russia. XX century.

The front of the armed struggle of the USA and Great Britain, as well as the troops of a number of allied states, against Nazi Germany in 1944-1945. in Western Europe was opened on June 6, 1944 by the landing of the Anglo-American expeditionary forces on the territory of Northern France (Normandy landing operation).

From the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet leadership raised the question of the early opening of a second front in Western Europe by Anglo-American troops to the United States and Great Britain. The landing of the Allies in France led to a reduction in the losses of the Red Army and the civilian population, and the rapid expulsion of the enemy from the occupied areas. At some stages of the fighting in 1941 - 1943. the problem of the second front was of critical importance for the Soviet Union. At the same time, the timely opening of hostilities in the West could significantly speed up the defeat of the fascist bloc and shorten the duration of the entire Second World War. For Western leaders, however, the question of a second front was largely a matter of implementing their strategy.

During the negotiations, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs V.M. Molotov, with British Prime Minister W. Churchill and US President F. Roosevelt in May-June 1942, an agreement was reached on the creation of a second front in Western Europe in 1942. However, soon after the negotiations, Western leaders decided to reconsider their previous commitments and postpone the opening second front

Only during the Tehran Conference in November-December 1943 was the question of the timing of the opening of a second front resolved. The Allies agreed to land their troops in France in May 1944. For his part, he made a statement that at about the same time he would launch a powerful offensive on the Soviet-German front.

The overall leadership of the Allied military operations in Europe was entrusted to the commander of the expeditionary forces, General D. Eisenhower. At the head of the English group of troops was Field Marshal B. Montgomery. The opening of the second front was sincerely welcomed in Moscow. But during the two-year period of the Allies postponing the landing in Northern France - from May 1942 to June 1944. only the irretrievable losses of the Soviet armed forces (killed, captured and missing) amounted to more than 5 million people.

Myagkov M.Yu. Second front. // The Great Patriotic War. Encyclopedia. /Ans. ed. Ak. A.O. Chubaryan. M., 2010

CORRESPONDENCE OF W. CHURCHILL AND J. STALIN DURING THE ALLIED LANDING IN NORMANDY, June 6-9, 1944

Everything started well. Mines, obstacles and coastal batteries have been largely overcome. Airborne assaults were highly successful and were undertaken on a large scale. The infantry landing is deployed quickly, and a large number of tanks and self-propelled guns are already on the shore.

The weather is tolerable, with a tendency to improve.

B) SECRET AND PERSONAL FROM PREMIER J.V. STALIN TO THE PRIME MINISTER Mr. W. CHURCHILL, June 6, 1944.

“Overlord” has received your message about the success of the start of operations. It makes us all happy and hopeful about our future successes.

The summer offensive of the Soviet troops, organized in accordance with the agreement at the Tehran Conference, will begin by mid-June on one of the important sectors of the front. The general offensive of the Soviet troops will unfold in stages by sequentially introducing armies into offensive operations. At the end of June and throughout July, offensive operations will turn into a general offensive of Soviet troops.

I undertake to promptly inform you about the progress of offensive operations.

C) PERSONAL AND MOST SECRET MESSAGE FROM Mr. WINSTON CHURCHILL TO MARSHAL STALIN, June 7, 1944.

1. Thank you for your message and congratulations on Rome. Regarding Overlord, I am quite satisfied with the situation as it developed until noon today, June 7th. Only in one coastal area where the Americans landed there were serious difficulties, and these have now been eliminated. Twenty thousand airborne troops landed safely behind enemy lines on his flanks, in each case making contact with American and British troops landed by sea. We crossed with minor losses. We expected to lose about 10 thousand people. We hope to have most of a quarter of a million people on shore this evening, including a significant number of armored forces (tanks) unloaded ashore from special vessels or reaching the shore under their own power by swimming. This latter type of tank suffered quite significant losses, especially on the American front, due to the fact that the waves capsized these amphibious tanks. We must now expect strong counterattacks, but we expect superior armored forces and, of course, overwhelming air superiority whenever the sky is clear of clouds.

2. Late yesterday evening in the Caen area there was a tank battle between our armored forces that had just landed ashore and fifty enemy tanks from the 21st Armored Grenadier Division, as a result of which the enemy abandoned the battlefield. The British 7th Armored Division is now coming into action and should give us superiority within a few days. We are talking about how much force they can throw against us in the next week. The weather in the Canal area does not appear to interfere in any way with the continuation of our landing. In fact, the weather seems more promising than before. All the commanders are satisfied that, in fact, during the landing process things went better than we expected.

3. Top secret. We expect to very soon establish two large prefabricated ports on the shores of a wide bay at the mouth of the Seine. Nothing like these ports has ever been seen before. Large ocean liners would be able to unload and deliver supplies to the fighting troops through numerous piers. This should be completely unexpected by the enemy, and would allow accumulation to take place to a very large extent regardless of weather conditions. We hope to capture Cherbourg in operations soon.

4. On the other hand, the enemy will quickly and intensively concentrate his forces, and the battles will be fierce and their scale will increase. We still hope that by the date of D-30 we will have deployed about 25 divisions with all their auxiliaries, with both flanks of the front abutting the sea and the front having at least three good ports: Cherbourg and two assembly ports. This front will be continuously supplied and expanded, and later we hope to include the Brest Peninsula. But all this depends on the accidents of war, which you, Marshal Stalin, know so well.

5. We hope that this successful landing and victory at Rome, the fruits of which still need to be collected from the cut off divisions of the Huns, will bring joy to your gallant soldiers after all the burden they had to bear and which no one outside your country felt more keenly than I .

6. After I had dictated the above, I received your message regarding the successful start of Overlord, in which you talk about the summer offensive of the Soviet troops. I sincerely thank you for this. I hope that you will notice that we have never asked you a single question due to our complete confidence in you, your people and your troops.

D) SECRET AND PERSONAL FROM PREMIER J.V. STALIN TO THE PRIME MINISTER Mr. W. CHURCHILL, June 9, 1944.

I received your message dated June 7 with the message about the successful deployment of Operation Overlord. We all salute you and the brave British and American troops and warmly wish you continued success. Preparations for the summer offensive of the Soviet troops are ending. Tomorrow, June 10, the first round of our summer offensive on the Leningrad Front opens.

I was very glad to receive your message, which I conveyed to General Eisenhower. The whole world can see Tehran's plans come to fruition in our concerted attacks against our common enemy. May all good luck and happiness accompany the Soviet armies.

Correspondence of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR with US Presidents and British Prime Ministers during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. T.1. M., 1986

FROM THE MEMOIRS OF D. EISENHOWER

The period from D-Day to our decisive breakthrough of the enemy defenses on July 25 constituted a certain phase in the operations of the Allied forces and was called the “Battle for the Bridgehead.” This phase included a series of continuous and difficult battles, during which, apart from the capture of Cherbourg, we were unable to advance very far. However, it was at this time that the conditions were prepared for subsequent actions to liberate France and Belgium...

From the day we landed on the shore, fighting nowhere acquired the positional character of the First World War, with the exception of battles at individual isolated points. However, such a possibility existed, and all of us, and especially our English friends, remembered all this...

By July 2, 1944, we had landed about a million people in Normandy, including 13 American, 11 British and 1 Canadian divisions. During the same period, we unloaded 566,648 tons of cargo and 171,532 tires ashore. It was very hard and exhausting work, but it paid off handsomely when we finally prepared to strike the enemy with all our might. During these first three weeks we captured 41 thousand prisoners. Our losses amounted to 60,771 people, of which 8,975 were killed.

Eisenhower D. At the Head of the Allied Forces. // The Second World War in the memoirs of W. Churchill, C. de Gaulle, C. Hall, W. Leahy, D. Eisenhower. M., 1990

Formed by the decision of the VKG Headquarters on August 23, 1941 by dividing the Northern Front into Leningrad and Karelian. The Karelian Front included troops located on the line from the Barents Sea to Lake Ladoga (14th and 7th armies, formations and units covering certain important operational directions). By mid-1942, the front had formed the 19th Army in the Kandalaksha direction, the 26th Army in the Kestenga and Ukhta directions, and the 32nd Army in the Medvezhyegorsk direction. By the end of 1942, the 7th Air Army was formed from the front air force.

In the second half of 1944, troops of the Karelian Front, with the active participation of the Ladoga and Onega flotillas, carried out the Svir-Petrozavodsk operation, which led to the liberation of Petrozavodsk and all of South Karelia, and together with the Northern Fleet, the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation. As a result, the Arctic and the northern part of Norway were liberated. On November 15, 1944, in connection with Finland's withdrawal from the war, the Karelian Front was disbanded. Front Commander - Marshal of the Soviet Union K.A. Meretskov (February - November 1944).

Leningrad Front

Formed on August 23, 1941 as a result of the division of the Northern Front into the Karelian and Leningrad fronts. The Leningrad Front conducted an active defense for a long time, covering the approaches to the city on the Neva. In 1944, he switched to decisive offensive actions. In January - February 1944, front troops, together with the Volkhov, 2nd Baltic Fronts and the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, defeated Army Group North near Leningrad and Novgorod. As a result, Leningrad was completely liberated from the enemy blockade.

In June - August of the same year, front troops, with the active participation of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega military flotillas, successfully carried out the Vyborg operation. In July - October 1944, the front took part in the Baltic operation. Having liberated the continental part of Estonia, front troops, in cooperation with the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, cleared the Moonsund Islands of the enemy from September 27 to November 24, 1944. This completed the offensive actions of the Leningrad Front. His troops occupied positions on the Soviet-Finnish border and the Baltic Sea coast from Leningrad to Riga. In connection with the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany, the Leningrad Front accepted the surrender of the Kurland group. On July 24, 1945, the Leningrad Front was transformed into the Leningrad Military District. Front commander since June 1942 - Marshal of the Soviet Union L.A. Govorov.

1st Baltic Front

Formed on October 20, 1943 as a result of the renaming of the Kalinin Front. After the completion of the urban operation in December 1943, in February - March 1944, the troops of the 1st Baltic Front, in cooperation with the troops of the Western Front, launched an offensive near Vitebsk and, having broken through the enemy’s defenses, improved their positions. On June 23, during the Belarusian operation of 1944, the 1st Baltic Front, in cooperation with the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front, carried out the Vitebsk-Orsha operation. Building on their success, from June 29 to July 4, they carried out the Polotsk operation without a pause, advancing with their left wing 120-160 km. In the second half of July, front troops defeated the enemy's Panevezys-Siauliai group during the Siauliai operation of 1944. In September 1944, the Baltic Front took part in the Riga operation.

At the beginning of October, the 1st Baltic Front launched a surprise attack on Memel (Klaipeda). This important naval port was liberated later, on January 28, 1945. In January - February 1945, the 1st Baltic Front part of its forces participated in the East Prussian operation of 1945. On February 24, 1945, the 1st Baltic Front was abolished. His troops, called the Zemland Group, were included in the 3rd Belorussian Front. The front commander is Army General I.Kh. Bagramyan (November 1943 - February 1945).

3rd Belorussian Front

Created on April 24, 1944 as a result of the division of the Western Front into the 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts. Front troops in June - August 1944 participated in the Belarusian operation, in cooperation with the troops of the 1st Baltic Front, from June 23 to 28, they carried out the Vitebsk-Orsha operation. In 6 days, the advancing formations liberated the cities. Vitebsk, Orsha, Bogushevsk, Tolochin and other settlements. From June 29 to July 4, troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front participated in the Minsk operation. Then the front troops carried out the Vilnius, Kaunas and Gumbinen operations. As a result, they reached the state border of the USSR and occupied part of East Prussia and northeast Poland.

In January - April 1945, troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front participated in the East Prussian and Koenigsberg operations. Front commanders - Army General I.D. Chernyakhovsky (April 1944 - February 1945), Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky (February - April 1945).

2nd Belorussian Front

Created on February 17, 1944. On April 5, 1944, the front was disbanded. Re-formed on April 24, 1944. Front troops took part in the Belarusian operation. During it, they carried out the Mogilev operation on June 23-28, 1944, liberated the large regional center of Belarus - the city of Mogilev on June 27, and advanced 60-80 kilometers in 6 days. From June 29 to July 4, 1944, the 2nd Belorussian Front, together with the 1st and 3rd Belorussian Fronts, in cooperation with the partisans of Belarus, carried out the Minsk operation. During it, the capital of Belarus, Minsk, was liberated, and an enemy force of more than 100,000 was surrounded and defeated.

From July 5 to July 27, front troops successfully carried out the Bialystok operation, and from August 14, the Osovets operation. In the course of further offensive operations, they reached the borders of Poland and East Prussia, capturing bridgeheads on the western bank of the river. Narev. In January - May 1945, the front participated in the East Prussian, East Pomeranian and Berlin operations. On June 10, 1945, the front was disbanded. Front commanders: Colonel General P.A. Kurochkin (February - April 1944), Colonel General I.E. Petrov (April - June 1944), Army General G.F. Zakharov (June - November 1944), Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky (November 1944 - June 1945).

1st Belorussian Front

Created on February 17, 1944 as a result of the renaming of the Belorussian Front. From June 24 to June 29, 1944, front troops carried out the Bobruisk operation, encircled and destroyed more than 6 enemy divisions in the Bobruisk area. From June 29 to July 4, together with the 2nd and 3rd Belarusian Fronts and the partisans of Belarus, front troops carried out the Minsk operation. During it, the capital of Belarus, Minsk, was liberated, and a group of more than 100,000 Nazis was defeated. Soviet troops were able to rapidly advance to the western borders of the USSR.

From January 14 to February 3, 1945, participating in the Vistula-Oder operation, the 1st Belorussian Front conducted the Warsaw-Poznan operation. Dealing the main blow from the Magnuszew and Puławy bridgeheads, front troops liberated the capital of Poland, Warsaw, and reached the river by the beginning of February. Oder in the Küstrin region. In February - March, front troops participated in the East Pomeranian operation. As a result, the entire northern part of Poland was cleared of the enemy. From April 16 to May 8, 1945, the 1st Belorussian Front participated in the Berlin operation. On June 10, 1945, the front was disbanded. Front commanders: Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky (February - November 1944), Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov (November 1944 - June 1945).

1st Ukrainian Front

Formed on October 20, 1943. At the final stage of the war, front troops successfully carried out a number of operations. In the first half of 1944, they participated in the Korsun-Shevchenko operation and carried out the Rivne-Lutsk, Proskurov-Chernivtsi, and in the summer Lviv-Sandomierz operations. In January 1945, the 1st Ukrainian Front, in cooperation with the 1st Belorussian Front in the Vistula-Oder operation, launched an offensive into the interior of Poland from the Sandomierz bridgehead. In April - May 1945, troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front took part in the Berlin and then the Prague operations. On June 10, 1945, the 1st Ukrainian Front was disbanded. Front commanders: Army General N.F. Vatutin (October 1943 - March 1944), Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov (March - May 1944), Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev (May 1944 - May 1945).

4th Ukrainian Front

Created on October 20, 1943. In January - February 1944, troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front participated in the Nikopol-Krivoy Rog operation. In April - May 1944, the 4th Ukrainian Front and a separate Primorsky Army, in cooperation with the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov Military Flotilla, carried out the Crimean operation and liberated Crimea. On May 16, 1944, the front was abolished. The 4th Ukrainian Front was formed for the second time on August 6, 1944. In September - October 1944, the troops of this front, in cooperation with the 1st Ukrainian Front, carried out the East Carpathian operation.

In January - February 1945, troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front, in cooperation with troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, carried out the Western Carpathian operation. In the spring of 1945, troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front cleared the Moravska-Ostrava industrial region from the Nazi invaders. On May 6-11, 1945, they took part in the Prague operation. In July 1945, the 4th Ukrainian Front was disbanded. Front commanders: Army General F.I. Tolbukhin (October 1943 - May 1944), Army General I.E. Petrov (August 1944 - March 1945), Army General A.I. Eremenko (March 1945 - July 1945).

2nd Ukrainian Front

Created on October 20, 1943 as a result of the renaming of the Steppe Front. In August 1944, the 2nd Ukrainian Front took part in the Iasi-Kishinev operation. During it, 22 German divisions were destroyed, almost all divisions of the Romanian army were destroyed, and Romania was withdrawn from the war on the side of Nazi Germany. In October 1944, troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front carried out the Debrecen operation and inflicted a heavy defeat on Army Group South. In the period from October 29, 1944 to February 13, 1945, they, in cooperation with part of the forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and the Danube Military Flotilla, carried out the Budapest operation.

In March - April 1945, the troops of the left wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front took part in the Vienna operation, in cooperation with the 3rd Ukrainian Front, they completed the liberation of Hungary, and liberated a significant part of Czechoslovakia and Austria. On May 6-11, 1945, the 2nd Ukrainian Front took part in the Prague operation, during which the defeat of the German army was completed. On June 10, 1945, the 2nd Ukrainian Front was disbanded. Front commanders: Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev (October 1943 - May 1944), Marshal of the Soviet Union R.Ya. Malinovsky (May 1944 - June 1945).

3rd Ukrainian Front

Created on October 20, 1943. During the liberation of Right Bank Ukraine, troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front carried out the Nikopol-Krivoy Rog, and then the Bereznegovato-Snigirevsk and Odessa operations in January - February 1944, in cooperation with the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front. With the assistance of the Black Sea Fleet, they completed the liberation of southern Ukraine. In August 1944, the 3rd Ukrainian Front took part in the Iasi-Kishinev operation. On September 8, 1944, troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front entered the territory of Bulgaria. Between September 28 and October 20, 1944, the 3rd Ukrainian Front carried out the Belgrade operation. As a result, the capital of Yugoslavia, Belgrade, and most of Serbia were liberated.

The result of the later Budapest, Balaton and Vienna operations was the expulsion of the Nazis from Hungary and the eastern part of Austria. On June 15, 1945, the 3rd Ukrainian Front was disbanded. Front commanders: Army General R.Ya. Malinovsky (October 1943 - May 1944), Marshal of the Soviet Union F.I. Tolbukhin (May 1944 - June 1945).

Front commanders who died in battle

• Colonel General Mikhail Petrovich Kirponos, Hero of the Soviet Union, commanded the Southwestern Front, died in September 1941.
• Army General Nikolai Fedorovich Vatutin, Hero of the Soviet Union, commanded the 1st Ukrainian Front. Mortally wounded on February 29, 1944. Died April 15, 1944. Buried in Kyiv.
• Army General Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky, twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Commanded the 3rd Belorussian Front. Mortally wounded on February 18, 1945. He was buried in Vilnius.

The front is the highest operational-strategic formation of troops of the Active Army during the war (military districts are preserved in the rear of the country, as in peacetime). The front includes associations, formations and units of all types of troops. It does not have a single organizational structure. As a rule, a front consists of several combined arms and tank armies, one or two air armies (and more if necessary), several artillery corps and divisions, brigades, separate regiments, separate battalions of special troops (engineering, communications, chemical, repair ), rear units and institutions. Depending on the tasks assigned to the front, the terrain on which it operates, and the enemy forces opposing it, the number of formations, formations and units included in it may be different. Depending on the situation and the tasks being solved, the front can occupy a strip with a width from several hundred kilometers to several kilometers and a depth from several tens of kilometers to 200 km.

During the Great Patriotic War, the front, unlike all other associations, had not a number, but a name. Usually the name of the front was given by the region of its operations (Far Eastern, Ukrainian, etc.) or by the name of the large city in the area of ​​​​which it operated (Leningrad, Voronezh, etc.). In the initial period of the war, fronts were named according to their geographical location in the general line of defense (Northern, Northwestern, etc.). Occasionally, a front received a name according to its purpose (Reserve, Front of Reserve Armies). In the final period of the war, when the Red Army was fighting on the territories of other states, they stopped changing the names of the fronts, and the fronts ended the war with the names they had at the time they crossed the state border.

The enemy of the Red Army, the German Wehrmacht, called an association similar to our front an “army group” (Army Group Center, Army Group South, Army Group C, etc.).

From the author. I think that this is not entirely true. Rather, our front should be equated to the German army. For example, the German 6th Army consisted of about 22 divisions, while in our army there were usually no more than five divisions. The front usually consisted of about four to five armies, i.e. about 20 divisions. And the German army group is no longer a front, but an entire strategic direction.
This is where some deceit occurs. Especially from Russian liberal democrat historians. They say that the Germans encircled and destroyed several Soviet armies at a time, and that the best success of the Red Army was simply the encirclement and defeat of just one German army. But in fact, in Stalingrad, an entire German front was surrounded, according to our opinion. And in the summer of 1944 in Belarus, an entire strategic direction (Army Group Center) was completely defeated and destroyed.

At the head of the front was a serviceman called “Front Commander” (Commander of the Bryansk Front, Commander of the Western Front, etc.). These were senior military leaders with the rank of lieutenant general to army general inclusive, sometimes (usually at the final stage of the war) with the rank of marshal of the Soviet Union. However, the latter rank was not a regular rank of front commander, but an honorary title given for outstanding services.

To ensure control over the implementation of the tasks assigned to the troops by the front commander, to develop combat plans, and organize command and control of troops, he had a front headquarters. Armies, corps, divisions, regiments and other units were transferred to the subordination of the front commander and removed from his subordination by orders of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, depending on the situation and the complexity of combat missions.

The Front was not a once and for all formed organization. During the war, fronts were formed and liquidated quite often. Sometimes, with a narrow range of actions or small numbers of troops included in the front, an organization similar to the front received the name “group of forces” or “defense zone”, or “defense line” (Zemland group of forces, Moscow defense zone, Primorsky group of forces, etc. .P.).
Front commanders

Brief biographical information

1. Army General (1941) Apanasenko Joseph Rodionovich.

1890-1943, Russian, peasant worker, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1916, in the Red Army from 1917, education: VAF in 1932, ensign before the revolution, division commander during the civil war.

2. Colonel General (1942) Artemyev Pavel Artemyevich.

4. Lieutenant General (1942) Bogdanov Ivan Aleksandrovich.

1898-1942, nationality unknown, origin unknown, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from ????, in the Red Army from 1918, formation of the VAF in 1933, non-commissioned officer before the revolution, participant in the civil war.

5. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1935) Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny. 1883-1973, Russian, from the peasantry, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1919, in the Red Army from 1918, education: VAF in 1932, before the revolution, senior non-commissioned officer, army commander during the civil war. Three times Hero of the Soviet Union (1958,1963,1968).

6. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1943) Vasilevsky Alexander Mikhailovich. 1895-1977, Russian, employee, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) since 1938, in the Red Army since 1919, education: VAGS in 1937, speaks German, before the revolution, staff captain, during the civil war, assistant regiment commander. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944,1945).

7. Army General (1943) Vatutin Nikolai Fedorovich.

1901-1944, Russian, from the peasantry, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1921, in the Red Army from 1920, education: VAGS in 1937, speaks English, squad commander during the civil war. Hero of the Soviet Union (1965). Killed in battle.

8. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1935) Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich 1891-1969, Russian, from the workers, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1903, in the Red Army from 1918, education: none, during the civil war, member of the Military Council. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1956,1968), Hero of Socialist Labor (1960).

9. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944) Govorov Leonid Aleksandrovich. 1897-1955, Russian, one of the employees, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) since 1942, in the Red Army since 1920, education: VAGS in 1938, speaks German, lieutenant before the revolution, commander of the artillery division during the civil war. Hero of the Soviet Union (1945).

10. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1961) Golikov Philip Ivanovich. 1900-1980, Russian, from the peasantry, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1918, in the Red Army from 1918, education: VAF in 1933, instructor in the political department during the civil war.

13. Lieutenant General (1940) Efremov Mikhail Grigorievich. 1897-1942, Russian, from the peasantry, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1919, in the Red Army from 1917, education: VAF in 1933, before the revolution, junior non-commissioned officer in the civil war, command division.

14. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1943) Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov. 1896-1974, Russian, peasant worker, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1919, in the Red Army from 1918, education: command courses in 1930, junior non-commissioned officer before the revolution, squadron commander during the Civil War. Four times Hero of the Soviet Union (1939, 1944, 1945, 1956).

15. Army General (1944) Georgy Fedorovich Zakharov.

1897-1957, Russian, peasant employee, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1919, in the Red Army from 1919, formation of the VAGS in 1939, speaks German, before the revolution, second lieutenant, in the civil war of a company company.

16. Colonel General (1941) Kirponos Mikhail Petrovich. 1892-1941, Ukrainian, from peasants, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1918, in the Red Army from 1918, formation of the VAF in 1927, regiment commander during the Civil War. Hero of the Soviet Union (1940). Killed in battle in the summer of 1941 near Kyiv.

17. Colonel General (1943) Kovalev Mikhail Prokofievich. 1897-1967, Russian, from the peasantry, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1927, in the Red Army from 1918, formation of the VAF in 1924, staff captain before the revolution, com. brigades.

18. Lieutenant General (1943) Kozlov Dmitry Timofeevich.

1896-1967, Russian, employee, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) since 1918, in the Red Army since 1918, formation of the VAF in 1928, speaks English, ensign before the revolution, com. shelf.

19. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944) Konev Ivan Stepanovich.

1897-1973, Russian, from peasant background, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1918, in the Red Army from 1918, formation of the VAF in 1934, speaks English, fireworksman before the revolution, chief of staff of the army during the civil war. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945).

23.Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944) Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich. 1897-1967, Ukrainian, from the peasantry, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1926, in the Red Army from 1919, formation of the VAF in 1930, speaks French and Spanish, corporal before the revolution, early in the civil war. machine gun team. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1945, 1958).

24. Army General (1944) Maslennikov Ivan Ivanovich.

1900-1954, Russian, from the workers, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1924, in the Red Army from 1917, formation of the VAF in 1935, regiment commander during the Civil War. Hero of the Soviet Union (1945).

25. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944) Meretskov Kirill Afanasyevich. 1898-1968, Russian, one of the employees, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1917, in the Red Army from 1918, formation of the Red Army VA in 1921, officer before the revolution, chief of staff of the brigade during the civil war. Hero of the Soviet Union (1940).

26. Army General (1941) Pavlov Dmitry Grigorievich.

1899-1941, Russian, from the peasantry, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1919, in the Red Army from 1919, formation of the VAF in 1928, before the revolution, private, during the civil war, assistant regiment commander. Hero of the Soviet Union (1937). Shot by verdict of a military tribunal in July 1941.

27. Army General (1944) Petrov Ivan Efimovich. 1896-1958, Russian, civil servant, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1918, in the Red Army from 1918, formation of the Higher Attestation Commission in 1931, ensign before the revolution, military commissar during the Civil War. brigades. Hero of the Soviet Union (1945).

28. Army General (1953) Popov Markian Mikhailovich.

1902-1969, Russian, employee, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1921, in the Red Army from 1920, formation of the VAF in 1936, speaks English, platoon commander during the civil war.. Hero of the Soviet Union (1965).

29. Army General (1944) Purkaev Maxim Alekseevich.

33. Lieutenant General (1944) Sobennikov Petr Petrovich.

1894-1960, Russian, employee, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1940, in the Red Army from 1918, formation of KUVNAS in 1927, speaks French, cornet before the revolution, division chief of staff during the civil war.

34. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1946) Sokolovsky Vasily Danilovich. 1897-1968, Russian, from the peasantry, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1931, in the Red Army from 1918, formation of the Red Army VA in 1921, during the civil war the division's chief headquarters. Hero of the Soviet Union (1945).

35. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1940) Timoshenko Semyon Konstantinovich. 1895-1970, Russian, from the peasantry, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1919, in the Red Army from 1918, formation of the Higher Attestation Commission in 1930, before the revolution a private, in the civil war com.

brigades. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1940, 1965).

36. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944) Tolbukhin Fedor Ivanovich. 1894-1949, Russian, employee, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1938, in the Red Army from 1918, formation of the VAF in 1934, staff captain before the revolution, early in the civil war.

Operations Department of the Army. Speaks Polish and German. Hero of the Soviet Union (1965).

37. Army General (1940) Tyulenev Ivan Vladimirovich.

1892-1978, Russian, from the workers, in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1918, in the Red Army from 1917, formation of the Red Army VA in 1922, ensign before the revolution, comrade during the civil war. brigades.

Hero of the Soviet Union (1978).

43. Colonel General (1943) Chibisov Nikandr Evlampievich.