When the ring Soviet troops closed around the capital of Germany, Marshal G. Zhukov ordered his fighters to be ready to fight day and night, not for a second giving the Germans a break. The besieged garrison got a chance to avoid unnecessary bloodshed: on April 23, 1945, the Soviet command sent an ultimatum to surrender to Berlin. The Germans did not answer. And then the blow of four Soviet combined arms and the same number of tank armies hit the city.
The battle in the heart of the agonizing Reich lasted seven days and went down in history as one of the largest and bloodiest. This material is dedicated to interesting and little-known events of the main battle of 1945.
The Berlin offensive began on April 16, 1945. At the same time, the battle plan implied that Berlin would fall on the sixth day of the operation. Another six days were allotted for the completion of hostilities. Thus, if the original scenario came true, Victory Day would fall on April 28th.
In The Fall of Berlin, historians Anthony Reed and David Fischer called the German capital "a fortress with paper walls." So they hinted at her weakness before the decisive blow of the Red Army. However, the Berlin garrison numbered about 100 thousand people, at least 800 guns, 60 tanks. The city was heavily fortified, mined and blocked off by barricades. So that soviet soldiers who went through the hurricane of urban battles in Berlin would hardly agree with historians.
The barricades with which the Germans blocked the streets of Berlin in many places were built thoroughly. The thickness and height of these structures exceeded two meters. Logs, stone, sometimes rails and metal beams were used as materials. Most of the barricades blocked the streets completely, but on the main city highways there were passages in the barriers. In the event of a threat of a breakthrough, they could be quickly closed by blowing up part of the barricade.
Although the Berlin garrison fought desperately, the decline in morale of the German soldiers and militias was evident. The documents recorded many cases when the Germans, a few days before the official surrender, massively surrendered. For example, on April 25, 1945, the Soviet side sent an employee to a tobacco factory in the Pankow district of Berlin to negotiate the surrender of its defenders. Previously, he was shown German prisoners, so that he would be convinced that they were being treated normally. As a result, the worker brought from the factory (according to various reports) 600–700 militia fighters, who voluntarily surrendered their weapons.
The shells of the Katyusha M-31 installation were almost two meters long and weighed almost 95 kg. During street fighting in Berlin, Soviet fighters dragged them into houses by hand, set up a launcher on window sills, or simply placed a projectile on a sheet of slate and fired direct fire at the enemy in the building across the street. Most actively, this non-standard technique was used by the soldiers of the 3rd Guards Army, which was the first to reach the Reichstag.
During the storming of Berlin, many captured German Faustpatron anti-tank grenade launchers fell into the hands of Soviet soldiers. It turned out that for breaking through the walls of houses during an assault, this weapon is no less effective than against armored vehicles. And certainly more convenient than working with a pickaxe or undermining an explosive charge.
For the assault group, firing points on the upper floors and attics of houses posed a great danger. Among other things, it was difficult to hit them with the fire of tank and self-propelled guns: vehicles often could not raise the barrel at such an angle. Therefore, unit commanders tried to include Lend-Lease armored personnel carriers with heavy anti-aircraft machine guns, which worked perfectly on the upper floors, in the assault groups. The DShK anti-aircraft machine guns (pictured) mounted on IS tanks were also actively used for these purposes.
During the battles for Berlin, it turned out that in the conditions of urban development, conventional guns put forward for direct fire work better and suffer fewer losses than tanks, because the latter "see poorly". And the gun crews, as a rule, had time to notice the Faustniks in time and destroy them.
German anti-aircraft towers were important nodes in the defense of Berlin. One of them was in the Zoological Garden (see photo). She belonged to the first, most powerful generation of construction. The structure, 39 meters high with a wall thickness of about 2.5 meters, was built of such strong concrete that it withstood the fire of Soviet heavy-duty guns with a caliber of 152 to 203 mm. The defenders of the tower capitulated on May 2, along with the remnants of the Berlin garrison.
Churches played an important role in the Berlin defense system. They, as a rule, were located on the squares, which means they had excellent all-round visibility and wide firing sectors. Fire from one church could prevent the advance of Soviet troops along several streets at once. So, for example, the Soviet 248th Rifle Division was detained for two days by a church at the intersection of Linden, Hochstrasse and Orlanien streets. It was possible to take it only after the complete encirclement and blocking of underground exits on April 30, 1945. In the photo - Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, one of the strongholds of the defense.
For the Berlin Zoological Garden (in the photo - a view of the garden and anti-aircraft tower) there were fierce battles. Despite this, some animals managed to survive. Among them was a mountain goat. For fun, Soviet fighters hung the German Iron Cross around his neck - for bravery.
A risky but successful enterprise of the Red Army was the use of a balloon ( hot air balloon) to correct artillery fire on the center of Berlin. Despite powerful anti-aircraft fire, the device rose over the park Kerner. The balloon was attacked by enemy aircraft, it was shot through by German anti-aircraft guns, so the device had to be urgently landed in order to repair the broken shell. Apart from this time, the balloon remained in the air all day. None of the spotter officers working on it were injured.
The only unit of the Soviet fleet, the Dnieper military flotilla, took part in the storming of Berlin. A detachment of half-glider boats under Lieutenant Kalinin played a particularly important role. Under fire, these small seven-meter shells, armed only with a machine gun, repeatedly crossed the Spree River. From April 23 to April 25, they managed to transport about 16,000 people, 100 guns and mortars, and a lot of related cargo from coast to coast.
During the assault on the Reichstag, only for direct fire on the German defenses, the Red Army concentrated 89 guns, about 40 tanks and six self-propelled guns. More cannons and howitzers fired from concealed positions.
The pilots of the Soviet 2nd Air Army decided to keep up with the infantry and decorate the Reichstag with their banners. They prepared two red banners. On one was written: "Long live May 1!" The other was marked with the inscriptions “Victory!” and "Glory to the Soviet soldiers who hoisted the banner of Victory over Berlin"! On May 1, when fighting was still going on in the building, two groups of aircraft passed over the Reichstag and dropped the banners by parachute. After that, the groups returned to base without loss.
On May 2, 1945, on the day of the capitulation of the Berlin garrison, a concert was held on the steps of the Reichstag by People's Artist of the USSR Lidia Ruslanova, which lasted until late at night. After the concert, the great singer signed on the column of the Reichstag.
The capture of Berlin was a necessary final point in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people.
The enemy, who came to Russian soil and brought incredible losses, terrible destruction, plunder of cultural values and left behind scorched territories, had to not just be expelled.
He must be defeated and defeated in his own land. for all four bloody years of the war, it was associated with the Soviet people as the lair and stronghold of Hitlerism.
The complete and final victory in this war was to end with the capture of the capital of Nazi Germany. And it was the Red Army that had to complete this victorious operation.
This was demanded not only by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin, but it was necessary for the entire Soviet people.
Battle for Berlin
The final operation during the Second World War began on April 16, 1945 and ended on May 8, 1945. The Germans defended themselves fanatically and desperately in Berlin, which turned into a city-fortress on the orders of the Wehrmacht.
Literally every street was prepared for a long and bloody battle. 900 square kilometers, including not only the city itself, but also its suburbs, were turned into a well-fortified area. All sectors of the area were connected by a network of underground passages.
The German command hastily removed troops from the Western Front and transferred them to Berlin, directing them against the Red Army. The allies of the Soviet Union in the anti-Hitler coalition planned to take Berlin first, this was their priority task. But for the Soviet command, it was also the most important.
Intelligence provided the Soviet command with a plan for the Berlin fortified area, and on the basis of this, a plan was drawn up. military operation for the capture of Berlin. Three fronts under the command of G.K. participated in the capture of Berlin. a, K.K. and I.S. Konev.
The forces of these fronts had to gradually break through, crush and crush the enemy defenses, encircle and dismember the main enemy forces, and encircle the fascist capital. An important point of this operation, which was supposed to bring tangible results, was a night attack using searchlights. Previously, the Soviet command had already applied this practice and it had a significant effect.
The amount of ammunition for shelling amounted to almost 7 million. A huge number of manpower - more than 3.5 million people were involved in this operation from both sides. It was the largest operation ever. From the German side, almost all forces took part in the defense of Berlin.
The battles involved not only professional soldiers, but also the militia, regardless of age and physical capabilities. The defense consisted of three lines. The first line included natural obstacles - rivers, canals, lakes. Large-scale mining was used against tanks and infantry - about 2 thousand mines per sq. km.
A huge number of tank destroyers with faustpatrons were involved. The assault on the Nazi citadel began on April 16, 1945 at 3 o'clock in the morning with a strong artillery attack. After its completion, the Germans began to blind 140 powerful searchlights, which helped to successfully carry out the attack with tanks and infantry.
Already after four days of fierce hostilities, the first line of defense was crushed and the fronts of Zhukov and Konev closed a ring around Berlin. During the first stage, the Red Army defeated 93 German divisions and captured almost 490,000 Nazis. A meeting of Soviet and American soldiers took place on the Elbe River.
The Eastern Front merged with the Western Front. The second defensive line was considered the main one and ran along the outskirts of the suburbs of Berlin. Anti-tank obstacles and numerous barbed wire were erected on the streets.
Fall of Berlin
On April 21, the second line of defense of the Nazis was crushed and fierce, bloody battles were already taking place on the outskirts of Berlin. The German soldiers fought with the desperation of the doomed and surrendered extremely reluctantly, only if they were aware of the hopelessness of their situation. The third line of defense ran along the district railway.
All the streets that led to the center were barricaded and mined. Bridges, including the subway, are prepared for explosions. After a week of fierce street fighting, on April 29, Soviet soldiers launched an assault on the Reichstag, and on April 30, 1945, they hoisted the Red Banner over it.
On May 1, the Soviet command received the news that he had committed suicide the day before. General Krabs, Chief of the General Staff of the German Ground Forces, was taken to the headquarters of the 8th Guards Army with a white flag and negotiations for an armistice were started. The headquarters of the Berlin defense on May 2 gave the order to stop the resistance.
German troops stopped fighting and Berlin fell. More than 300 thousand killed and wounded - such losses were suffered by Soviet troops during the capture of Berlin. On the night of May 8-9, an act of unconditional surrender was signed between defeated Germany and members of the anti-Hitler coalition. The war in Europe was over.
conclusions
By taking Berlin, which for all progressive mankind personified the stronghold of fascism and Hitlerism, the Soviet Union confirmed its leading role in the Second World War. The victorious defeat of the Wehrmacht led to complete capitulation and the fall of the existing regime in Germany.
The Berlin operation was not the most difficult for the Soviet troops. In 1945, when everyone, even the most inexperienced fighters, understood that there was very little left before the end of the war, when almost all of their native land was cleared of the enemy, and Soviet troops, surpassing the enemy in both quantity and quality of weapons, stood on the outskirts to Hitler's lair, I think, it was still easier to fight than or a year later, when it was necessary to hand over to the enemy city after city, region after region. The fact that the operation, developed by the best Soviet commanders, would end in success, no one had any doubts: neither in Moscow, nor even in Berlin, which continued to agonize, from where the Fuhrer continued to send directives to army headquarters and call the piece of Central Europe torn apart by bombing and flooded with refugees " empire."
War and politics
But despite all the obviousness of the outcome of the Berlin operation, on the eve of the upcoming battles, the military aspects gave way to political ones. The closer the end of the war was, the more attention the allied powers paid to the question of the post-war reorganization of the world. The impending collapse of the Third Reich posed before the USSR, the USA and Great Britain (at that time France had already joined them) a lot of questions, which, even if they were discussed at the Yalta Conference, still gave rise to wariness and even mistrust towards each other. The command of the Soviet troops had to build their plans, in accordance not with the convenience of the current military positions, but with the need to give more weight to Moscow's arguments in the course of its future negotiations with the allies. That is why at the last stage of the Great Patriotic War political considerations sometimes interfered so decisively in the operational plans of Soviet military leaders.
For this reason alone, despite the victorious mood of the soldiers and officers of the Red Army, the Berlin operation cannot be called a cakewalk. The high stakes of this battle made it one of the most stubborn and bloody on the Eastern Front. The Nazis defended their last line and they had nothing to lose. In addition, the Germans were led not just by blind fanaticism. In addition to the actual protection of the capital of the Reich, they had another important goal- as long as possible to restrain the offensive of the Soviet troops, so that most of the territory of Germany came under the control of the allies. And the defenders of Berlin themselves were more attracted by the prospect of being in the hands of the Anglo-Americans than of falling into Russian captivity. Hitler's propaganda also instilled such views everywhere, although it represented the British and the Yankees as swaggering countrymen, but did not attribute to them the satanic bloodthirstiness, which, according to Dr. Goebbels, was distinguished by " Bolshevik Slavic-Tatar hordes«.
On the way to the lair
By mid-April, the Nazi army, despite the bashing that had been given to it for two years now on all European fronts, continued to remain in a very combat-ready state. The strength of the Wehrmacht was estimated at 223 divisions and brigades, most of which, including the most combat-ready, operated on the Soviet-German front. A series of defeats and heavy losses undermined the morale of the German troops at the front and the population in the rear, but it was not completely broken.
In the Berlin direction, the fascist German command concentrated a large grouping as part of the Vistula and Center Army Groups (a total of about 1 million people, 10,400 guns and mortars, 1,530 tanks and assault guns, over 3,300 aircraft). On the western banks of the Oder and Neisse rivers, a defense in depth was created, including the Oder-Neissen line, which consisted of three lanes 20-40 kilometers deep, and the Berlin defensive area. The total number of the Berlin garrison exceeded 200 thousand people. For the convenience of command and control, the city was divided into 9 sectors. The most carefully prepared central sector, which covered the main state and administrative institutions, including the Reichstag and the Imperial Chancellery. All defensive positions were interconnected by communications. The metro was widely used for covert maneuvering by forces and means.
For the offensive in the Berlin direction, the Soviet command concentrated 19 combined arms (including 2 Polish), 4 tank and 4 air armies (2.5 million people, 41,600 guns and mortars, 6,250 tanks and self-propelled artillery installations, 7,500 aircraft). The plan of the operation was to inflict several powerful blows on a wide front, dismember the Berlin enemy grouping, surround and destroy it piece by piece. The main role in the capture of Berlin was assigned to the armies of Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, commander of the 1st Belorussian Front. At the same time, the directives of the Headquarters did not provide for the organization of operational-tactical cooperation with the 1st Ukrainian (commander Marshal Ivan Stepanovich Konev) and 2nd Belorussian fronts (commander Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky). When breaking through the Oder-Neissen line, the 1st Belorussian Front was supposed to deliver the main blow from a small bridgehead, attack with an open right flank, attack the enemy's defense in depth in the forehead.
They tried to implement this plan back in February, but then the offensive failed - the Soviet command underestimated the enemy. In bloody battles, both sides suffered heavy losses, but the Germans still managed to stop the advance of the Soviet troops by transferring additional units to this sector of the front.
Bet on a lightning strike straight to the heart Hitler's Reich In order to get ahead of the allies and single-handedly put an end to fascist Germany, Moscow, as always in such cases, overshadowed the question of the cost of victory. If it were possible to squeeze the German troops concentrated around Berlin into a “cauldron”, dismember them into parts and destroy them separately, without rushing to storm the well-fortified Seelow Heights that covered the capital of the Reich from the east, then Soviet army would have avoided the losses that she had suffered, striving at all costs to enter the city by the shortest route.
But it was here that operational expediency had to give way to political considerations. Despite the few days allocated to the Red Army to capture Berlin, the Allied troops, moving on an accelerated march, could well get there earlier - on the Western Front by that time the Germans had practically ceased to resist, surrendering to whole corps and divisions. But, apparently, the blow delivered in January by German tanks in the Ardennes had such an effect on the Allies that, even in the absence of resistance, they observed the greatest caution in Germany. But the pace of advance for the Soviet army during the Berlin operation was determined as follows: for combined arms armies - 8-14 kilometers, for tank armies - 30-37 kilometers per day.
To Berlin!
On April 16, at 03:00 local time, aviation and artillery preparation began on the sector of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts. After its completion, 143 searchlights were turned on, and the infantry, supported by tanks, attacked the enemy. Encountering no strong resistance, she advanced 1.5-2 kilometers. However, the closer our troops approached, the stronger the resistance of the enemy increased.
In order to strengthen the onslaught, Zhukov brought tank armies into battle in the afternoon. Their forward detachments completed the breakthrough of the first line of defense. However, approaching the Seelow Heights, the infantry and tanks met the unsuppressed enemy defenses. During the first day of the offensive, the troops of the front advanced only 3-8 kilometers and could not break through the defenses on the Seelow Heights. The premature introduction of tank formations created chaos in the operational formation of combined arms armies, caused a disruption in their rear communications, and confusion in command and control.
Only by the end of April 17 did the troops of the front overcome the second line of defense. Two days later, the Oder line of defense of the Germans was finally broken through. As a result of a four-day fierce struggle, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front advanced to a depth of 34 kilometers.
The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front, in turn, advanced 1-1.5 kilometers by the end of the first day of the offensive. The Germans began to retreat across the Spree River, and on April 17, Marshal Konev ordered the troops "on the shoulders of the enemy" to cross the river in order to "open a non-stop route to Berlin." Taking into account the hitch of the armies of Marshal Zhukov and the success of the 1st Ukrainian Front, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to encircle the city with the forces of three fronts, which was not originally envisaged by the operation plan.
Despite the unrelenting resistance of the enemy, the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts decisively "bite" into its defenses and, bypassing the fortified settlements, approached Berlin. By the end of April 21, the tank armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front reached the outer defensive line of the German capital. On the same day, part of the forces of the 1st Belorussian Front bypassed Berlin and continued their accelerated advance towards the Elbe, where they were supposed to meet with the Allied forces.
It was on the eve of the decisive assault on Berlin between Marshals Zhukov and Konev that an unjustified competition unfolded for the right to be the first to report on the breakthrough of the troops of their front to the capital of the Third Reich. In fact, the command of the fronts demanded that the troops go forward, regardless of any losses in manpower and equipment.
On April 22, the last operational meeting of the German High Command was held at the Imperial Chancellery, which was attended by Hitler. It was decided to remove the 12th Army of Walter Wenck from positions on the Elbe and send it to the east, towards the troops of the 9th Army, which attacked the Soviet troops, from the area southeast of Berlin. In an effort to delay the offensive of the 1st Ukrainian Front, the German command launched a counterattack from the Görlitz region to the rear of the strike group of Soviet troops. By April 23, German troops had penetrated 20 kilometers into their location. However, towards the end next day the advance of the enemy was halted.
On April 24, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front united southeast of Berlin with the armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front. The ring of encirclement was closed to the west of the city. At the same time, in the Torgau area, Soviet troops met with the Americans. Thus, the Berlin grouping of the enemy turned out to be dissected into two isolated groups: Berlin and Frankfurt-Guben
Flag over the Reichstag
It took five days, from April 26 to May 2, to eliminate the strongest Frankfurt-Guben group of Germans of the Red Army at that time. The enemy fought with the desperation of a cornered beast, before which suddenly loomed the hope of salvation, because if they joined the Wenck army, the Germans would have a corridor to go to the West, directly captured by the Americans. After stubborn fighting on the night of April 29, the Nazis managed to break through the encirclement of Soviet troops at the junction of two fronts. As a result, they formed a corridor up to two kilometers wide, through which they began to retreat west to Luckenwalde. But by the end of the day, the enemy was stopped, and his troops were dissected, surrounded and destroyed by May 1. A few units broke through to the West.
The assault on the German capital itself also began on April 26. The Soviet armies struck in converging directions towards the center of the city. The fighting went on day and night. They were conducted on the ground, in underground communications and in the air. The next day, the enemy in Potsdam was destroyed, and in Berlin compressed into a strip up to 2-3 kilometers wide, stretching from east to west for another 16 kilometers.
The tension of the fighting in Berlin increased as the Soviet troops advanced towards the city center, towards the Reichstag and government buildings. The armies that stormed Berlin had predetermined offensive lines, units and subunits attacked specific objects - districts, streets, buildings and structures. The battles were fought, as a rule, by assault groups and detachments made up of units of all branches of the armed forces; tanks, direct fire guns, flamethrowers and even captured faustpatrons were used.
It is difficult to talk about the tension of the fighting in Berlin, even after reading the memories of the participants in those events. There was an assault on the real lair - the city from where fascism spread like a plague throughout Europe, where the craziest Nazi ideas were born and where every house was an enemy fortress. The whole city was saturated with defensive structures - especially, as already mentioned, the Reich Chancellery and the Reichstag were fortified. A strong fortified area was created in Tiergaten Park. The Nazis made extensive use of tanks and heavy artillery, mercilessly turning their capital into a heap of ruins. Every effort was made to hold back the offensive of the Soviet troops - the metro was flooded, houses were blown up to block the streets, and most importantly, until the very last moment, people were driven to the slaughter so that they would keep the defense. In fact, it was a mass suicide - the behavior of the defenders of Berlin can be compared, perhaps, with the Japanese "kamikaze". The same lack of alternatives - only death in the name of the Fuhrer, who himself was already standing on the edge of the grave.
By the end of April 28, the encircled Berlin grouping was cut into three parts. The next evening, General Weidling, commander of the city's defense, presented Hitler with a plan for a breakthrough to the west, and Hitler approved it. The breakthrough was scheduled for 30 April. The optimism of this man can only be envied, although, perhaps, the whole point is that in the last days of his life, at the sight of how the monstrous empire he built crumbles to dust under the blows of Soviet troops, the Fuhrer practically lost the ability to think clearly.
On April 29, fighting began for the Reichstag, which was defended by about a thousand people. What these people fought for is hard to understand, but each floor of the building had to be taken with a fight. After a series of attacks, units of the 171st and 150th rifle divisions broke into the building. On April 30, at 2:25 p.m., Sergeants Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantaria hoisted the Victory Banner over the Reichstag. The capture of the Reichstag was of great political and moral significance. The courage, selflessness and heroism of Soviet soldiers were actively promoted in the troops, the names of the heroes of those battles were heard in the reports of the Soviet Information Bureau throughout the country. And the very sight of the main building of Nazism, decorated with inscriptions of Soviet soldiers who carried all their hatred for the enemy and jubilation over victory from the banks of the Volga and Dnieper, told everyone and everyone that the Third Reich was crushed.
On May 1, at 03:50, the head of the general staff of the Wehrmacht ground forces, General of the Infantry Krebs, was brought to the command post of the 8th Guards Army, commanded by the hero of Stalingrad, General Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov. He declared that he was authorized to negotiate an armistice and reported Hitler's suicide. Deputy Zhukov went to Chuikov for negotiations with Krebs with Stalin's order to conduct no negotiations, except for unconditional surrender, with no one. Zhukov himself delivered an ultimatum: if consent to unconditional surrender is not given before 10 o'clock, the Soviet troops will strike such a blow, from which "nothing will remain in Berlin but ruins." The leadership of the dying Reich was slow to respond. Therefore, at 10:40, Soviet troops opened heavy fire on the remnants of the defense in the center of Berlin. By 18 o'clock it became known that the enemy had rejected the demand for unconditional surrender. After that, the final assault began on the central part of the city, where the Imperial Chancellery was located.
The battle for this object lasted all night from 1 to 2 May. The Germans made desperate attempts to push back the Soviet soldiers, but all their counterattacks were thwarted. By morning, all the premises were cleared of the enemy: not far from the entrance to the bunker of the office, the corpse of Goebbels was found, and in one of the rooms - the bodies of his wife and six children. According to eyewitnesses, several corpses of Hitler's doubles were also found in the building, but the remains of the Fuhrer themselves were discovered later.
On the night of May 2, at 1:50 a.m., the radio station of the Berlin Defense Headquarters transmitted in German and Russian: We are sending our parliamentarians to the Bismarck-Straße bridge. We stop hostilities". On May 2, the Deputy Minister of Propaganda, Dr. Fritsche, turned to the Soviet command with a request for permission to speak on the radio with an appeal to the German troops of the Berlin garrison to stop all resistance. By 3 pm on May 2, the remnants of the Berlin garrison, totaling more than 134 thousand people, surrendered.
The price of victory
After the fall of Berlin, active hostilities were conducted in fact only in Czechoslovakia. On the territory of Germany itself, only a few units tried not even to keep the Soviet troops, but to break through to the west in order to surrender to the Allies. Despite the fact that Admiral Karl Doenitz, appointed by Hitler as Reich Chancellor, continued to issue orders urging German soldiers not to lay down their arms, the surrender took on a mass character.
Goebbels' propaganda machine worked well: the image of a bloodthirsty savage eating the meat of German babies was fixed in the minds of the subjects of the Third Reich for a long time. Of course, it is impossible to completely deny the facts of the murders of civilians, the rape of German women and the robbery of the population by the Soviet troops. And the allies often behaved on German territory far from being liberators. However, in a war as in a war, especially since the Soviet troops, unlike the Americans and the British, had to overcome fierce resistance at every step almost until the very end of the war. Moreover, not only military personnel were involved in this resistance, but also civilians, hastily armed and stuffed with Hitler's ideology. Elderly veterans of the First World War and 14-year-old boys armed with fauspatrons joined the ranks of the defenders of Berlin.
These Germans could be understood and humanly pitied - in front of them were Soviet soldiers, who, thanks to Goebbels' tales, turned into a horde of cannibals, and behind their backs were courts-martial, which, until the very last hours of the war, continued to pass death sentences for desertion. Moreover, in his hatred of everything Soviet, Hitler ordered that all of Germany be turned into a cemetery. On his orders, retreating troops used scorched-earth tactics everywhere, leaving destruction, starvation, and death in their wake.
The fact that the resistance of the Nazis during the Berlin operation was desperate in the full sense of the word is also evidenced by the fact that the losses of the Soviet troops in it amounted to 361367 people killed and wounded ( irretrievable losses- 81 thousand). And the average daily losses (15,712 people) were even higher than during the Battle of Stalingrad or Kursk. However, the desire of the Soviet Headquarters, primarily Marshal Zhukov, to take Berlin at all costs as soon as possible played a role here.
The enemy also knew about the heavy losses of the Soviet troops, who were trying to push through the defenses on the outskirts of Berlin. The hitch in the attack on the Seelow Heights caused great joy at the headquarters of the German command. Hitler enthusiastically exclaimed: We repulsed this blow. Near Berlin, the Russians will suffer the most bloody defeat that can ever be!". The Fuhrer, as usual, turned out to be a poor visionary, but it cannot be denied that Berlin was taken at a really high price, even if we take into account the rapid pace of advance of the Soviet troops and the strength of the enemy opposing them - after all, in just 16 days the Red Army defeated about a hundred enemy divisions that did not surrender, but tried desperately to resist.
But this price was paid for the capture of the main stronghold of Nazism, and therefore - for the victory in the Great Patriotic War. On May 9, at 0:43 Moscow time, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, as well as representatives of the German Navy, who had the appropriate authority from Doenitz, signed the Act of Germany's unconditional surrender. A brilliant operation, coupled with the courage of Soviet soldiers and officers who fought to end the four-year nightmare of war, led to a logical outcome: Victory.
The Berlin operation of the Red Army, which was carried out from April 16 to May 2, 1945, became a triumph for the Soviet troops: Berlin, the capital of the Third Reich, was defeated, and the Nazi empire was completely defeated.
The history of the battle for Berlin has been repeatedly described in the military history literature here and abroad. Estimates are different, sometimes polar: some consider it the standard of military art, others believe that this is far from the best sample military art.
Be that as it may, when describing the capture of Berlin by the Red Army in Western historiography of this most important operation, the main attention is paid to two issues: the level of military skill of the Red Army and the attitude of Soviet soldiers towards the population of Berlin. When covering these topics, not all, but many authors from other countries, and in recent years, some domestic historians, seek to emphasize the negative phenomena in both issues.
How did all this really happen, given the conditions and time of the Soviet troops in April-May 1945?
The main blow to Berlin was delivered by the 1st Belorussian Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov. Photo by Georgy Petrusov.
DID BERLIN LUMBLED WITH A MOUNTAIN OF CORPSES OR WAS A GOLDEN PAGE IN THE HISTORY OF MILITARY ART?
Most critics agree that the fronts that carried out the Berlin operation, despite their superiority over the enemy, acted insufficiently skillfully and suffered unjustifiably high losses.
Thus, David Glantz, a well-known American military historian, writes that “the Berlin operation was one of the most unsuccessful for Zhukov” (in brackets, we say that the same Glantz calls Zhukov’s most unsuccessful operation the Rzhev-Sychevsk offensive operation “Mars”, which was carried out on 25.11 -20.12.1942). According to the German historian Karl-Heinz Frieser, “a gigantic Soviet fire strike (meaning the artillery preparation on April 16 - author’s note) went into the sand ... The use of searchlights glorified by Zhukovsky propaganda was just as unproductive and even harmful.” The Russian historian Andrey Mertsalov notes that Zhukov “lost his nerves” and “in a state of passion, he made a fatal mistake. Designed to develop operational success, he used tank armies to break through tactical defenses. As a ram, 1400 tanks were used, which went through the marching orders of the 8th Guards. armies, mixed them up and made a huge confusion in the system of command and control. The operational plan was thwarted. As Mertsalov notes, “the mistake was all the more “severe” because the 8th Guards. the army had its own tanks in large numbers.
But was it just like that?
Yes, the Berlin operation cost us heavy losses - 78,291 killed and 274,184 wounded. The average daily losses amounted to 15,325 people - one of the highest losses suffered by the Red Army in strategic and independent front-line operations during the entire period of the war.
But in order to talk sensibly about this operation, it is necessary to remember the environment in which it was carried out.
First, it had to be carried out as soon as possible. Why? Because already on April 22, after listening to a report on the situation at the front, Hitler made a decision: to throw all his forces against the Russian troops. What did it mean? And the fact that, having long wanted to open the front to the Western allies, and now having received Hitler's permission, the German generals were ready to surrender part of their troops to the Anglo-American armies in order to throw all the remaining forces on the Eastern Front. And Stalin was well aware of this. This was also indicated by the negotiations of the allies in Switzerland with SS General Karl Wolf, and the negotiations with the Germans in Sweden, and the main actions of the Wehrmacht on the Western Front. And here we must pay tribute to Stalin's intuition. He foresaw what the English historian Basil Liddell Hart would later write about: “The Germans may make a fatal decision to sacrifice the defense of the Rhine for the defense of the Oder in order to delay the Russians.”
In the spring of 1945, the military-political situation demanded that the Berlin operation be carried out as soon as possible.
In essence, on April 11, after the Americans encircled Army Group B in the Ruhr under the command of Field Marshal Model, the resistance of the German troops in the West ceased. One of the American journalists wrote: “Cities fell like skittles. We drove 150 km without hearing a single shot. The city of Kassel surrendered through the intermediary of the burgomaster. Osnabrück surrendered without resistance on 5 April. Mannheim capitulated by telephone." On April 16, the mass surrender of Wehrmacht soldiers and officers into captivity began.
But if on the Western Front "cities fell like skittles", then on the Eastern Front the German resistance was desperate to the point of fanaticism. Stalin wrote to Roosevelt with irritation on April 7: “The Germans have 147 divisions on the Eastern Front. They could, without prejudice to their cause, remove 15-20 divisions from the Eastern Front and transfer them to help their troops on the Western Front. However, the Germans did not and will not do this. They continue to fight fiercely with the Russians for some little-known Zemlyanitsa station in Czechoslovakia, which they need as much as a dead poultice, but without any resistance they surrender such important cities in the center of Germany as Osnabrück, Mannheim, Kassel. That is, the way for the Western allies to Berlin was essentially open.
What was left for the Soviet troops to do in order to prevent the opening of the gates of Berlin for the Western allies? Only one. Take over the capital of the Third Reich faster. And therefore, all reproaches against our front commanders, especially Zhukov, lose ground.
On the Eastern Front, German resistance was desperate to the point of fanaticism.
Zhukov, Konev and Rokossovsky had one task - to capture the capital of the Third Reich as quickly as possible. And it wasn't easy. The Berlin operation did not fit into the canons of offensive operations of front groups of those years.
Speaking to the editors of the Military Historical Journal in August 1966, Zhukov said: “Now, after a long time, thinking about the Berlin operation, I came to the conclusion that the defeat of the Berlin enemy grouping and the capture of Berlin itself were done correctly, but you can It would have been possible to carry out this operation in a slightly different way.
Yes, of course, reflecting on the past, our commanders and modern historians find the best options. But this is today, after many years and in completely different conditions. And then? Then there was one task: to take Berlin as quickly as possible. But this required careful preparation.
And it must be admitted that Zhukov did not succumb to the moods of Stalin, and the General Staff, and the commander of his key army, Chuikov, who believed that after seizing the bridgehead on the Oder near the city of Kustrin, they should immediately go to Berlin. He was well aware that the troops were tired, the rear lagged behind, a pause was needed for the last final offensive. He also saw something else: the 2nd Belorussian Front lagged behind by 500 km. To the right of him, Zhukov, the 1st Belorussian Front hangs a powerful grouping - the Vistula Army Group. Guderian later wrote: “The German command intended to deliver a powerful counterattack by the forces of the Vistula Army Group with lightning speed until the Russians pulled up large forces to the front or until they figured out our intentions.”
Even the boys from the Hitler Youth were thrown into battle.
And he, Zhukov, managed to convince the Headquarters that in February the attack on Berlin would not bring success. And then Stalin decided to launch an attack on Berlin on April 16, but to carry out the operation in no more than two weeks.
The main blow was delivered by Zhukov's front - the 1st Belorussian. But the environment in which he had to operate was very specific.
By decision of the commander, the front delivered the main blow from the bridgehead west of Kustrin with the forces of five combined arms and two tank armies. The combined arms armies were supposed to break through the first defensive line 6-8 km deep on the very first day. Then, in order to develop success, tank armies had to be introduced into the breakthrough. At the same time, the situation and terrain made it difficult for any other forms of maneuver. Therefore, Zhukov's favorite technique was chosen - a frontal strike. The goal is to split the forces concentrated on the shortest path to the capital of the Third Reich in the direction of Kustrin-Berlin. The breakthrough was planned on a wide front - 44 km (25% of the entire length of the 1st Belorussian). Why? Because a breakthrough on a broad front in three directions excluded the counter-maneuver of enemy forces to cover Berlin from the east.
The enemy was placed in a position where he could not weaken the flanks without risking letting the Red Army capture Berlin from the north and south, but he could not strengthen the flanks at the expense of the center, because. this would speed up the advance of Soviet troops in the Kustrin-Berlin direction.
For the fighting in Berlin were created assault squads. This B-4 howitzer was attached to the first battalion of the 756th rifle regiment of the 150th rifle division. Photo by Yakov Ryumkin.
But it must be borne in mind that the experience of almost four years of war has taught both belligerents a lot. So, it was necessary to do something new, unexpected for the German troops, something for which they were not ready. And Zhukov begins the offensive not at dawn, as usual, but at night after a short artillery preparation and begins the attack with the sudden activation of 143 powerful searchlights in order to blind the enemy, to suppress him not only with fire, but also with a sudden psychological technique - blinding.
Historians vary in their assessment of the success of the searchlights, but the German participants acknowledge its surprise and effectiveness.
However, the peculiarity of the Berlin operation was that, in fact, the first defensive line was immediately followed by the second, and behind it were fortified settlements all the way to Berlin. This factor was not properly assessed by the Soviet command. Zhukov understood that after breaking through the enemy’s tactical defense zone, he would throw tank armies into the gap, lure the main forces of the Berlin garrison to fight them and destroy them in the “open field”.
Soviet tanks at the bridge over the Spree River near the Reichstag.
Therefore, to break through two lines of defense (but what!) in one day by combined arms armies was an impossible task for combined arms armies.
And then the commander of the 1st Belorussian Front decides to bring tank armies into battle - in fact, to directly support the infantry. The pace of advance has increased.
But we must not forget that these were the last days of the war, the last battles for the victory of Russia. “And it’s not at all scary to die for her,” as the poet Mikhail Nozhkin wrote, “but everyone still hopes to live.” And this factor could not be discounted. Zhukov directs the 1st Guards. tank army not to the north, but bypassing the city, and to the southeastern outskirts of Berlin, cutting off the escape route of the 9th German army to Berlin.
But then the tankers and infantry broke into Berlin, fighting began in the city. Assault detachments are being created, which include infantry and tank units, sappers, flamethrowers, artillerymen. The battle goes for every street, every house, every floor.
Tank armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front enter Berlin from the south. For some time there is a mixing of troops. In this regard, Konev's troops are withdrawn from Berlin, Zhukov continues the assault on the capital of the Nazi Reich.
Self-propelled guns SU-76M on a street in Berlin.
This is how this extraordinary offensive operation took place. Therefore, critics of its implementation, at least, should take into account the uniqueness of the situation, and not analyze it according to classical canons.
Of course, there were mistakes of command and executors, and interruptions in supply, and skirmishes between units of the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian fronts, and aviation sometimes hit the wrong targets. Yes, it was all.
But among all this chaos, generated by the deadly last battle between the two great armies, it is necessary to distinguish the main thing. We have won a final victory over a strong and desperately resisting enemy. "The enemy was strong, the greater our glory!". We have put a winning point in the war against the fascist bloc. Defeated and destroyed the Third Reich. The Red Army, having become the strongest in the world, raised its banners high in the center of Europe. Against the background of all this, the mistakes and miscalculations that happen to every commander in every war fade. The Berlin operation is forever inscribed as a golden page in the history of military art.
"HORSES OF BARBARS" FLOWING INTO "CIVILIZED EUROPE", OR ALL THE LIBERATIONS?
As mentioned above, a favorite topic of historians who want to discredit the successes of the Red Army during the war in every possible way is the comparison of Soviet soldiers with "hordes of barbarians", "Asiatic hordes" that poured into "civilized Europe" with the aim of robbery, excesses and violence. This theme is especially exaggerated when describing the Berlin operation and the attitude of soldiers and officers of the Red Army to the civilian population.
Musical moment. Photo by Anatoly Egorov.
The English historian Anthony Beevor, the author of the sensational book The Fall of Berlin, is especially sophisticated in this direction. Without bothering to check the facts, the author mainly cites the statements of people who met him (like a "poll on the streets" practiced on modern radio stations). Statements, of course, can be different, but the author cites only those that speak of looting and especially the violence of Soviet soldiers against women. The data is very vague. For example, “one Komsomol organizer of a tank company said that Soviet soldiers raped at least 2 million women”, “one doctor calculated that the violence was massive”, “Berliners remember the violence that took place”, etc. About the same, unfortunately, and also without reference to documents, Jeffrey Roberts, the author of the generally objective book "Victory at Stalingrad", writes.
At the same time, Beevor singles out “sexual pathologies in all representatives of Soviet society, formed by the policy of the authorities in the field of sexual education” among the main reasons for violent actions by Soviet soldiers.
Of course, as in any army, there were cases of looting and violence. But one thing is the European medieval principle, when the captured cities were given for three days to be plundered. And it is a completely different matter when the political leadership, the command of the army do (and effectively do) everything possible to stop or reduce excesses to a minimum.
This task was not easy for the Soviet leadership, but it was carried out everywhere and with dignity. And this is after what the Soviet soldier saw on the lands he liberated: the atrocities of the German invaders, devastated cities and villages, millions of people turned into slaves, the consequences of bombing, shelling, overwork and terror in the temporarily occupied territory of the country, not to mention indirect losses. Tens of millions were left homeless. Tragedy, horror came to every Soviet family, and the fury of the soldiers and officers who entered the enemy land with battles knew no bounds. An avalanche of revenge could have overwhelmed Germany, but this did not happen. It was not possible to completely prevent violence, but they managed to contain it, and then reduce it to a minimum.
First day of peace in Berlin. Soviet soldiers communicate with civilians. Photo by Viktor Temin.
In passing, we say that the British historian is clearly silent about the fact that the German command in the occupied territory, not only of the USSR, but also of other countries, regularly organized roundups of women in order to deliver them to the front line for the joy of the German soldiers. It would be interesting to hear his opinion, was it connected with the sexual pathologies of the Germans, "formed by the policy of the authorities in the field of sexual education"?
Recall that the political position on the attitude towards the German population was first formulated by Stalin in February 1942. Rejecting the Nazi slander that the Red Army aims to exterminate the German people and destroy the German state, the Soviet leader said: “The experience of history says that the Hitlers are coming and leave, but the German people, and the German state remain. The Wehrmacht at that time was still 100 km from Moscow.
With the entry of the Red Army into the territory of the aggressor countries, emergency measures were taken to prevent outrages against the peaceful German population. On January 19, 1945, Stalin signed an order that demanded that no rude treatment of the local population be allowed. The order was communicated to every soldier. This order was followed up by orders from the Military Councils of the fronts, army commanders, division commanders of other formations. The order of the Military Council of the 2nd Belorussian Front, signed by Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky, ordered marauders and rapists to be shot at the scene of the crime.
With the beginning of the Berlin operation, the Headquarters sent a new document to the troops:
Directive of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command to the commanders of the troops and members of the military councils of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts on changing the attitude towards German prisoners of war and the civilian population on April 20, 1945
The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command orders:
1. Demand a change in attitude towards the Germans, both prisoners of war and civilians. It's better to deal with the Germans. The brutal treatment of the Germans makes them afraid and makes them resist stubbornly, not surrendering.
A more humane attitude towards the Germans will make it easier for us to conduct military operations on their territory and, undoubtedly, will reduce the stubbornness of the Germans in defense.
2. In the regions of Germany to the west of the line, the mouth of the Oder River, Furstenberg, then the Neisse River (to the west), create German administrations, and install burgomasters - Germans in the cities.
The rank and file members of the National Socialist Party, if they are loyal to the Red Army, should not be touched, but only the leaders should be detained if they did not have time to escape.
3. Improving attitudes towards the Germans should not lead to a decrease in vigilance and familiarity with the Germans.
Headquarters of the Supreme High Command.
I. STALIN
ANTONOV
Along with explanatory work, harsh punitive measures were taken. According to the data of the Military Prosecutor's Office, in the first months of 1945, 4148 officers and big number privates. Several show trials of military personnel resulted in death sentences for those responsible.
The commander of the 756th Infantry Regiment, the first commandant of the Reichstag Fyodor Zinchenko.
For comparison, in the US Army, where the number of rapes has risen sharply, 69 people were executed for murder, looting and rape with murder in April, and more than 400 people were convicted in April alone. Eisenhower, after the entry of Western troops into Germany, generally forbade military personnel from any communication with the local population. However, as noted by American historians, this ban was doomed to failure "because it was contrary to the very nature of a young healthy American and allied soldier when it came to women and children."
As for the Red Army, thousands of documents of political agencies (the so-called "7 departments"), commandant's offices, prosecutor's offices, which were directly involved in eliminating negative phenomena in relations between troops and the local population, show that intensive work was constantly carried out in this direction, and it gradually brought positive results.
The state of relations between the army and the population was also closely monitored by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. And it gave results.
Here, for example, is an excerpt from the report of the head of the political department of the 8th Guards Army to the head of the political department of the 1st Belorussian Front about the behavior of the German population in the occupied suburbs of Berlin and its attitude towards Soviet military personnel dated April 25, 1945:
The general impression from the first meetings with the residents of the suburbs of Berlin - the settlements of Ransdorf and Wilhelmshagen - is that the majority of the population treats us loyally, strives to emphasize this both in conversations and in behavior. Almost all residents say: "We did not want to fight, now let Hitler fight." At the same time, everyone tries to emphasize that he is not involved in the Nazis, he never supported Hitler's policy, some persistently try to convince that they are communists.
Restaurants in Wilhelmshagen and Ransdorf sell spirits, beer and snacks. Moreover, restaurant owners are willing to sell all this to our soldiers and officers for occupation stamps. Head of the political department of the 28th Guards. sk Colonel Borodin ordered the owners of Ransdorf's restaurants to close the restaurants for a while until the battle ended.
Head of the political department of the 8th Guards. the army of the Major General M. SKOSYREV
In one of the reports of a member of the Military Council of the 1st Ukrainian Front, it is indicated that “the Germans carefully carry out all orders and express satisfaction with the regime established for them. So, the pastor of the city of Zagan, Ernst Schlichen, said: “The measures taken by the Soviet command are regarded by the German population as fair, arising from military conditions. But individual cases of arbitrariness, especially the facts of rape of women, keep the Germans in constant fear and tension. The military councils of the front and the armies are waging a resolute struggle against the looting and rape of German women.
Unfortunately, rarely does anyone in the West think of something else. About the disinterested help of the Red Army to Berliners and Germans from other cities. But it is not in vain that there is (and recently renovated) a monument to the Soviet soldier-liberator in Berlin's Treptow Park. The soldier stands with his sword down and clutching the rescued girl to his chest. The prototype of this monument was the feat of the soldier Nikolai Masolov, who, under heavy enemy fire, risking his life, carried a German child from the battlefield. This feat was accomplished by many Soviet soldiers, while some of them died in the last days of the war.
Colonel Fyodor Zinchenko was appointed commandant of the Reichstag before the start of its assault on April 30, 1945. Half an hour before the battle, he learned about the death of his last brother. Two others died near Moscow and Stalingrad. All six of his sisters were widows. But, fulfilling his duty, the commandant first of all took care of the local population. The assault on the Reichstag was still going on, and the regimental cooks were already distributing food to the starving Germans.
Reconnaissance platoon of the 674th Infantry Regiment of the 150th Infantry Idritsa Division on the steps of the Reichstag. On the foreground- Private Grigory Bulatov.
Immediately after the capture of Berlin, the following food standards were introduced for the population of the German capital for each inhabitant (depending on the nature of the activity): bread - 300-600 grams; cereals - 30-80 grams; meat - 20-100 grams; fat - 70 grams; sugar - 15-30 grams; potatoes - 400-500 grams. Children under 13 were given 200 grams of milk daily. Approximately the same norms were established for other cities and towns in the areas of Germany liberated by the Soviet Army. In early May 1945, the Military Council of the 1st Belorussian Front reported on the situation in Berlin to the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief: “The measures taken by the Soviet command to supply food and improve life in the city stunned the Germans. They are surprised by the generosity, the quick restoration of order in the city, the discipline of the troops. Indeed, in Berlin alone, from the resources of the Soviet troops for the needs of the local population, 105 thousand tons of grain, 18 thousand tons of meat products, 1500 tons of fat, 6 thousand tons of sugar, 50 thousand tons of potatoes and other products were allocated in the shortest possible time. City self-government was given 5,000 dairy cows to provide children with milk, 1,000 trucks and 100 cars, 1,000 tons of fuel and lubricants to establish intracity transportation.
A similar picture was observed everywhere in Germany, where the Soviet Army entered. It was not easy at that time to find the necessary resources: the Soviet population received modest food rations strictly on ration cards. But the Soviet government did everything to provide the German population with the necessary products.
Much work has been done to restore educational institutions. With the support of the Soviet military administration and thanks to the selfless work of local democratic self-government bodies, by the end of June, classes were going on in 580 schools in Berlin, where 233 thousand children studied. 88 orphanages and 120 cinemas have started work. Theaters, restaurants, cafes were opened.
Even in the days of fierce battles, the Soviet military authorities took under protection the outstanding monuments of German architecture and art, preserved for mankind the famous Dresden Gallery, the richest book stocks in Berlin, Potsdam and other cities.
In conclusion, we repeat once again: the task of mastering such a huge city as Berlin was extremely difficult. But the troops of the fronts of Zhukov, Konev, Rokossovsky coped with it brilliantly. The significance of this victory is recognized throughout the world, including by German generals and military leaders of the Allied forces.
Here, in particular, how one of the outstanding military leaders of that time, General of the Army George Marshall, assessed the Battle of Berlin: “The chronicle of this battle gives many lessons for everyone involved in the art of war. The assault on the capital of Nazi Germany is one of the most difficult operations of the Soviet troops during World War II. This operation is a wonderful page of glory, military science and art."
Berlin strategic offensive operation (Berlin operation, Capture of Berlin) - an offensive operation of the Soviet troops during the Great Patriotic War, which ended with the capture of Berlin and victory in the war.
The military operation was conducted on the territory of Europe from April 16 to May 9, 1945, during which the territories occupied by the Germans were liberated and Berlin was taken under control. The Berlin operation was the last in the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War.
The following smaller operations were carried out as part of the Berlin operation:
- Stettin-Rostock;
- Zelovsko-Berlinskaya;
- Cottbus-Potsdam;
- Stremberg-Torgauskaya;
- Brandenburg-Rathenow.
The purpose of the operation was the capture of Berlin, which would allow the Soviet troops to open the way to connect with the Allies on the Elbe River and thus prevent Hitler from dragging out the Second World War for a longer period.
The course of the Berlin operation
In November 1944, the General Staff of the Soviet troops began planning an offensive operation on the outskirts of the German capital. During the operation, it was supposed to defeat the German Army Group "A" and finally liberate the occupied territories of Poland.
At the end of the same month, the German army launched a counteroffensive in the Ardennes and was able to push back the Allied troops, thereby putting them almost on the brink of defeat. To continue the war, the Allies needed the support of the USSR - for this, the leadership of the United States and Great Britain turned to Soviet Union with a request to send his troops and carry out offensive operations in order to distract Hitler and give the Allies an opportunity to recover.
The Soviet command agreed, and the USSR army launched an offensive, but the operation began almost a week earlier, due to which there was insufficient preparation and, as a result, heavy losses.
By mid-February, Soviet troops were able to cross the Oder, the last obstacle on the way to Berlin. A little more than seventy kilometers remained to the capital of Germany. From that moment on, the fighting took on a more protracted and fierce character - Germany did not want to give up and tried with all its might to restrain the Soviet offensive, but it was quite difficult to stop the Red Army.
At the same time, preparations began on the territory of East Prussia for the assault on the Königsberg fortress, which was extremely well fortified and seemed almost impregnable. For the assault, the Soviet troops carried out a thorough artillery preparation, which, as a result, paid off - the fortress was taken unusually quickly.
In April 1945, the Soviet army began preparations for the long-awaited assault on Berlin. The leadership of the USSR was of the opinion that in order to achieve the success of the entire operation, it was necessary to urgently carry out an assault without delay, since the prolongation of the war itself could lead to the Germans being able to open another front in the West and conclude a separate peace. In addition, the leadership of the USSR did not want to give Berlin to the Allied forces.
The Berlin offensive was prepared very carefully. Huge stocks of military equipment and ammunition were transferred to the outskirts of the city, and the forces of three fronts were pulled together. The operation was commanded by marshals G.K. Zhukov, K.K. Rokossovsky and I.S. Konev. In total, more than 3 million people participated in the battle on both sides.
Storming Berlin
The assault on the city began on April 16 at 3 am. In the light of searchlights, one and a half hundred tanks and infantry attacked the defensive positions of the Germans. A fierce battle was fought for four days, after which the forces of three Soviet fronts and the troops of the Polish army managed to encircle the city. On the same day, Soviet troops met with the allies on the Elbe. As a result of four days of fighting, several hundred thousand people were captured, dozens of armored vehicles were destroyed.
However, despite the offensive, Hitler was not going to surrender Berlin, he insisted that the city must be held at all costs. Hitler refused to surrender even after the Soviet troops came close to the city, he threw all available human resources, including children and the elderly, onto the field of operations.
On April 21, the Soviet army was able to reach the outskirts of Berlin and start street fighting there - German soldiers fought to the last, following Hitler's order not to surrender.
On April 29, Soviet soldiers stormed the Reichstag building. On April 30, the Soviet flag was hoisted on the building - the war ended, Germany was defeated.
The results of the Berlin operation
The Berlin operation put an end to the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War. As a result of the rapid offensive of the Soviet troops, Germany was forced to surrender, all chances for opening a second front and making peace with the allies were cut off. Hitler, having learned about the defeat of his army and the entire fascist regime, committed suicide.
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