Russia 1943-1945
When the German Army Group A walked straight into a trap. The Soviet plan was for the Trans-Causcaus Front to attack the salient head-on, and the South Front would penetrate to the Sea of Azov. Army Group A would be a major loss for the Germans.
The Russian offensives began as early as November 19, when Army Group A was subjected to a massive attack. Hitler refused to allow a withdrawl until December 28. Thw withdrawl saved Army Group A.
A major Soviet thrust was now nearing the important city of Kharkhov. Lieutenant General Paul Hausser and his II SS Panzer (tank) Corps defended the city. But only after a short time fighting, he withdrew against Hitler's orders, therefore saving his panzers from destruction. The commander of the German Army Group South, Field Marshall Erich von Manstein, porposedd a plan. In it, regrouping German forces would smash through the overstretched Soviet lines. The attack caught the Soviets by surprise, and they suffered heavy casualties. They fell back on March 15, and the Germans re-took Kharkov. But soon spring thaws halted the offensive. The Soviets now held a major bulge of territory in the north, centered around the city of Kursk.
Maps of the Battle of Kursk
The Kursk salient, in Hitler's eyes, seemed a ripe place to attack. Inside it were 1.3 million men, the finest in the Red Army. If the troops inside could be destroyed, the Germans would have the obvious advantage. The salient (bulge) was not small, being 160 miles accross, but the German Ninth Army in the north and the German Eigth Army and Fourth Panzer Army iin the south beleived they could accomplish their task. The first directives were sent on March 13, but the offensive was postponed until July 5. But the Soviets had, with the extra time, greatly improved their defenses, and enjoyed information from a spy ring in Switzerland. There were 5,000 tanks and 500,000 men in the Soviet reserve.
On July 5, the Russians bombarded the German lines, but this did nothing to stop the offensive. Neither of the pincers got very far. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd SS Panzer Divisions headed into Prokhorovka, an ran into a Soviet trap. It was the greatest tank battle in history, involving 1000 tanks. The Germans lost. German losses for the offensive totaled 35,000 men and between 50 and 150 tanks. Soviet losses were about the same amount of men and 400 tanks. Unfortunately for the Germans, however, the Soviet could afford these losses, while the Germans could not. The offensive was called off on July 20, but by that time, there was little else the Germans could do.
Soviet attacks after the faliure of the German offensive threw the Germans into dissarray. The first offensives straightened the line near Kursk. Belgorod was taken on August 5. Manstein could do little to halt or even slow the Soviet advance. Kharkov, was liberated on 23 August. Stalin then massed 2, 600,000 and 2,400 tanks in preparation for an offensive that would carry the Soviets to the River Dneiper by the end of 1943. Manstein wanted to withdraw but Hitler was stubborn. By the time a withdrawl was allowed, the Russians threatened his flanks. The disorganized retreat was harried even more by German efforts to carry back or destroy everything of value. The Russians did not stop at the River Dneiper. They established small bridgeheads and they grew. In December, the Crimea was isolated, along with 650,000 men. Hitler was in a jam.
Meanwhile, preparations were under way for an offensive that would releive Leningrad and liberate the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Although the commander of the Leningrad Front, General Leonid Govorov, was supposed to comence planning in September 1943, not until December was he completed. The offensives around Leningrad would be done by the Soviet Second Shock Army, the Sixtey-Seventh Army, and the Forty-Second Army. These offensives woud push the Germans back to Lake Peipus. On January 14, 1944, the Germans were caught by surprise as artillery barrages devastated their lines. Not surprisingly, when Field Marshall Georg von Kuechler, the commander of Army Group North, requested permission to withdraw, Hitler refused. His refusal was basically an execution order for many of Kuechler's forces. When he withdrew on Jan. 19, against Hitler's orders, it cost his job and he was immediately replaced by Field Marshall Walther Model, but there was still little that he could do. By autumn, the Germans had been pushed back to the Baltic coast. The Baltic states were easily taken, and before the end of 1944, Soviet forces had crossed into East Prussia before they halted.
In the Ukraine, by the end of 1943, the Soviets were ready to commence more offensives against Army Group South and Army Group A. The Germans were wrong in thinking that the winter would halt the Soviets. The offensives began on December 24. On 24 January, an encirclement took place, trapping 60,000 Germans. To releive the pocket, the III and XLVII Panzer Corps counterattacked into a Soviet trap. Only 30,000 men of the First Panzer Army and the Eighth Army escaped. On 4 March, despite mud, 3 Soviet fronts launched a massive offensive. The Germans had no choice but to withdraw to the River Bug. The newly arrived II Panzer Corps did nothing to the Soviets enering Romania on 10 April. Meanwhile, in the Crimea the Soviets attacked on April 8. Within 21 days, the Germans had withdrawn to Stevastopol. On May 9 the surviviors moved to the beach but only 1000 were rescued. the Crimea was cleared my May 12.
Despite Soviet advances in the north and south, the German Army Group Center still held a massive salient before Moscow. The Germans only had 500,000 men in the salient. By contrast, the Soviets had four fronts-1.2 million men, 4000 tanks and 6000 aircraft-massed against them. The Soviet offensive was codenamed Operation Bagration, after a general who had fought Napoleon in 1812, and would begin on June 22, the third anniversary of Operation Barbarossa. The offensive began at 5 a.m. following a massive artillery bombardment. The Germans were surprised and overstretched; therefore the Soviets broke through easily. Vitbesk was tanked on June 27, along with 30,000 Germans. The 1st Bellorussian Front encircled another 40,000 men. Bobryusk fell on June 29. Lvov fell on 27 July. The Soviets then attacked into Poland. An uprising began in Warsaw, but failed miserably. Soviet forces halted a few miles from Warsaw, and did not move until January 1945. Maps of Russian offensives in 1944
As earlier mentioned, the Soviets entered Romania in 1944. On 20 August the 2nd and 3rd Ukranian Fronts continued their advance and concentrated against the Romanian Third and Fourth Armies. Romania switched to the Russians' side on 28 June, and Romania declared war on Germany. Soon after the Soviets entered Hungary, with a possibility ob isolating German troops in Yugoslavia and Albania. Hungary tried to negotiate with the Soviets, but the Hungarian leader was arrested by the Nazis, and replaced by a Fascist. The Germans fought well around Budapest in Hungary. The city did not fall until February 1945. Yugoslavia proved easy to conquest, and Army Group E was almost cut off before it began withdrawl.
Russian offensives in Poland
January 1945 began indecisively. The Russian lunges of 1944 had outran their supply lines and the Russian forces had ended up disorganized. Hitler's armies were in a tight spot. They were being threatened both from Soviet spearheads in Poland and Eastern Europe and by the Western Allies in Western Europe. The Soviets' next attack would obviously be directed toward Berlin, but Hitler's attention remained elsewhere. By early January 2.5 million men with enormous artillery and armor support, were at the front line in Poland ready to attack. The offensive was scheduled for January 12. On that day, the 2nd Belorussian Front cut off the German Army Group Center, 500,000 men, and drove them to the Baltic coast and effectively neutralized them. At the same time, the First Ukrainian Front attacked Army Group A and caught the army group by surprise. By 17 January the First Ukrainian Front had advanced 100 miles. The First Belorussian Front got to within 50 miles of Berlin by the end of the month. Now all the Soviets had to do was to mount a final offensive toward Berlin.
Meanwhile, the Germans were under attack further south. Budapest was under seige, and Hitler sent an SS Panzer Army to relieve it. It mounted Operation Spring Awakening on March 6, a massive counterattack on a wide front. It failed and by the time it had been pulled back the army had a mere 50 tanks. Vienna was entered on April 6 and was cleared 4 days later. Army Group Center held on to a wide area, centered around Prague, until May 11, after Germany had surrendered. It was the last act of the war in Europe.
Map of the Battle of Berlin
The final Soviet offensive to take Gerlin began on April 16, 1945. There were several German defense lines, but they they lacked good manpower and equipment. But Soviet casualties were high as German Home Guard units fought to the last man. But Soviet might was overwhelming. Berlin was entered on 21 June. Hitler took command a day later. The German parliament building was taken on the 30th. Hitler shot himself at 3:30 p.m. that day. That was basically the end, and the final surrender terms were negotiated on 7 May. The war in Europe was over.
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