The gravest mistakes of the USSR allies in the Second World War. Anti-Hitler coalition

It is not customary to talk much about the assistance of the USSR allies during the Second World War. However, it was there, and it was considerable. And not only within the framework of Lend-Lease. Soviet troops were supplied with food, medicine, and military equipment.

As you know, from love to hate there is only one step. Especially in politics, where it is quite permissible to smile at those whom yesterday you reviled as fiends of hell. Here we are, if we open the Pravda newspaper for 1941 (before June 22), we will immediately find out how bad the Americans and British were. They starved their own population and started a war in Europe, while the Chancellor of the German people, Adolf Hitler, was just defending himself...

Well, even earlier in Pravda one could even find the words that “fascism helps the growth of class consciousness of the working class”...

And then they became suddenly good...

But then came June 22, 1941, and literally the next day Pravda came out with reports that Winston Churchill promised military aid to the USSR, and the US President unfrozen Soviet deposits in American banks, frozen after the war with Finland. That's all! Articles about hunger among British workers disappeared in an instant, and Hitler turned from “Chancellor of the German People” into a cannibal.

Convoy "Dervish" and others

Of course, we don't know about all the behind-the-scenes negotiations that took place at that time; Even the declassified correspondence between Stalin and Churchill does not reveal all the nuances of this difficult period of our common history. But there are facts showing that the Anglo-American allies of the USSR began to provide assistance, if not immediately, then in a sufficiently timely manner. Already on August 12, 1941, the Dervish convoy of ships left Loch Ewe Bay (Great Britain).

On the first transports of the Dervish convoy on August 31, 1941, ten thousand tons of rubber, about four thousand depth charges and magnetic mines, fifteen Hurricane fighters, as well as 524 military pilots from the 151st Air Wing of two Royal Military Squadrons were delivered to Arkhangelsk. British Air Force.[С-BLOCK]

Later, pilots even from Australia arrived on the territory of the USSR. There were a total of 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945 (although there were no convoys between July and September 1942 and March and November 1943). In total, about 1,400 merchant ships delivered important military materials to the USSR under the Lend-Lease program.

85 merchant ships and 16 warships of the Royal Navy (2 cruisers, 6 destroyers and 8 other escort vessels) were lost. And this is only the northern route, because the cargo flow also went through Iran, through Vladivostok, and planes from the USA were directly transported to Siberia from Alaska. Well, then the same “Pravda” reported that in honor of the victories of the Red Army and the conclusion of agreements between the USSR and Great Britain, the British were organizing folk festivals.

Not only and not so much convoys!

The Soviet Union received assistance from its allies not only through Lend-Lease. In the USA, the “Russia War Relief Committee” was organized.

“Using the money collected, the committee purchased and sent medicines, medical supplies and equipment, food, and clothing to the Red Army and the Soviet people. In total, during the war, the Soviet Union received assistance worth more than one and a half billion dollars.” A similar committee led by Churchill’s wife operated in England, and it also purchased medicines and food to help the USSR.

When Pravda wrote the truth!

On June 11, 1944, the Pravda newspaper published significant material on the entire page: “On the supply of weapons, strategic raw materials, industrial equipment and food to the Soviet Union by the United States of America, Great Britain and Canada,” and it was immediately reprinted by all Soviet newspapers, including local and even newspapers of individual tank armies.

It reported in detail how much had been sent to us and how many tons of cargo were floating by sea at the time the newspaper was published! Not only tanks, guns and airplanes were listed, but also rubber, copper, zinc, rails, flour, electric motors and presses, portal cranes and industrial diamonds![С-BLOCK]

Military shoes - 15 million pairs, 6491 metal-cutting machines and much more. It is interesting that the message made an exact division of how much was purchased in cash, that is, before the adoption of the Lend-Lease program, and how much was sent after. By the way, it was precisely the fact that at the beginning of the war a lot of things were purchased for money that gave rise to the opinion that still exists today that all Lend-Lease came to us for money, and for gold. No, a lot was paid for with “reverse Lend-Lease” - raw materials, but the payment was postponed until the end of the war, since everything that was destroyed during hostilities was not subject to payment!
Well, why such information was needed at this particular time is understandable. Good PR is always a useful thing! On the one hand, the citizens of the USSR learned how much they supply us with, on the other hand, the Germans learned the same thing, and they simply could not help but be overcome by despondency.

How much can you trust these numbers? Obviously it is possible. After all, if they contained incorrect data, then only German intelligence would have figured it out, although according to some indicators, how could they declare everything else propaganda and, of course, Stalin, giving permission for the publication of this information, could not help but understand this!

Both quantity and quality!

In Soviet times, equipment supplied under Lend-Lease was usually criticized. But... it’s worth reading the same “Pravda” and in particular the articles of the famous pilot Gromov about American and British aircraft, articles about the same English Matilda tanks, to be convinced that during the war all this was assessed completely differently than after its end!

How can one appreciate the powerful presses that were used to stamp turrets for T-34 tanks, American drills with corundum tips, or industrial diamonds, which Soviet industry did not produce at all?! So the quantity and quality of supplies, as well as the participation of foreign technical specialists, sailors and pilots, was very noticeable. Well, then politics and the post-war situation intervened in this matter, and everything that was good during the war years immediately became bad with just the stroke of a leading pen!

On the same topic:

What assistance did the USSR allies provide during World War II? The best fighters during World War II

Military operations in World War II took place on the territory of 40 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and four oceans. More than fifty million people died in this war, it had a huge impact on the destinies of mankind, since fascist Germany and militaristic Japan, which were the striking forces of imperialism, were defeated.

During the Second World War, valuable experience was gained in combat operations, in which millions of armies, equipped with the latest means of combat, took part. Various operations were carried out. Military operations were carried out in various theaters of war (land, sea) and in various natural and climatic conditions.

The combat experience of the Great Patriotic War has not lost its significance even today. Wars are unique and inimitable - the history of wars testifies, but historical continuity in the art of war remains.

Military operations of the USSR allies in the Mediterranean and Western European theaters of military operations (1940-1945)

In North Africa and the Middle East, the interests of three capitalist states collided: fascist Germany, England and Italy. In 1940, Italy had the largest military forces in this area. British troops were dispersed in various areas of Egypt and the Middle East.

The desire of Italian fascism to seize Egypt, the Suez Canal zone and penetrate the Middle East did not correspond to the interests of England and led to military action in North Africa in the fall of 1940. These actions took place over the vast territory of Egypt, Libya, Algeria and Tunisia, as well as in the Mediterranean Sea.

Main events on land in 1941-1942. occurred in the Libyan desert and western regions of Egypt, in a narrow strip of terrain stretching up to 1300 km - from El Agheil in Libya to El Alamein in Egypt. Military operations were carried out in a coastal strip 20-40 km deep on terrain that allowed the use of all types of troops.

The Italian army invaded Egypt from Libya (a colony of Italy) in September 1940, but could not achieve serious success due to poorly organized supplies. British troops in December 1941 not only pushed back the Italians, but also, pursuing them, by the beginning of February 1941, advanced through the Libyan desert almost 800 km to the west and inflicted a heavy defeat on them.

Hitler's command, trying to seize key positions in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, transferred one tank and one light infantry division under the command of General Rommel to North Africa to help the Italians. At the end of March 1941, German-Italian troops went on the offensive and, having defeated the British army, drove it back to the borders of Egypt.

In mid-June 1941, Rommel was forced to abandon further offensive and went on the defensive. First of all, this was a consequence of the hostilities that began on the Soviet-German front, as well as the increased resistance of the British. Now the Nazi command was not going to take major offensive actions in Africa “until the victory over the USSR.” Beginning in the summer of 1941, military operations in North Africa were determined mainly by the situation on the Soviet-German front.

Taking advantage of the favorable situation that had developed by the autumn of 1941, British troops united in the 8th Army (4 infantry divisions, 2 infantry brigades, 455 tanks and up to 700 aircraft), after careful preparation, went on the offensive on November 18 from the Libyan-Egyptian area borders. During several tank battles, the German-Italian forces were defeated and driven back across the Libyan desert to the El Agheila area. But, having won this victory, the British calmed down, underestimated the enemy and were taken by surprise when the German-Italian troops at the end of May 1942 again suddenly went on the offensive. Having suffered heavy losses, the 8th British Army was forced to retreat and stopped the enemy only in Western Egypt, at El Alamein.

Operation of the British 8th Army at El Alamein

By early July 1942, both sides were defending fortified positions between the coast at El Alamein and the Qatar Basin. In the autumn of 1942, the British army had a favorable situation for a new offensive. The main forces of the fascist German army were tightly pinned down on the Soviet-German front, where they suffered heavy losses. Taking this into account, the British command decided to launch an offensive from the El Alamein area.

By the beginning of October 1942, the troops of the British 8th Army under the command of General Montgomery included the 30th, 13th and 10th Army Corps. The British command equipped its troops with everything necessary to carry out a major offensive operation, which involved 600 tanks, 2,275 guns and up to 1,200 aircraft.

The situation was completely different in the German-Italian troops. They received no reinforcements from Europe. The German-Italian forces included the 20th, 21st and 10th Italian Army Corps and the German Afrika Korps, a total of 14 divisions and one parachute brigade. The tank divisions were not fully equipped. Supply for all types did not exceed 40%; there was only a week's supply of gasoline. There were only 3.3 rounds of ammunition available instead of the required 8.

The Allied forces outnumbered the enemy in men by more than one and a half times, in tanks and artillery by more than twice, and in aviation they had a fourfold superiority. The most suitable for an offensive was the coastal strip of terrain, 20-40 km wide. It was crossed by a highway, a railway and an oil pipeline, through which the troops were supplied.

The commander of the 8th British Army decided to deliver the main blow on the right flank, breaking through the German-Italian defense on a 6.5-kilometer front with the forces of four infantry divisions of the 30th Army Corps, which were in the first echelon of the army. With the army's troops reaching the coastal highway, it was planned to develop an offensive into the depths of Libya. An auxiliary attack was carried out by the 13th Army Corps.

The plan of the German-Italian command was defensive in nature. It decided to repel a possible offensive by British troops with the infantry divisions located in the first echelon, and destroy the troops that broke through with counterattacks from four tank divisions of the second echelon of the army.

To carry out a breakthrough for the first time in a desert theater, a strong artillery group was created. The density of artillery in the breakthrough area reached 100 guns and mortars per 1 km of front. Preliminary air preparation was of great importance, during which the Anglo-American air forces launched effective attacks on German communications, ports and airfields.

In the desert, camouflage and disinformation were of utmost importance. The lack of cover made it easier for the Germans to observe the British preparations from the air. This was taken into account by the command of the British troops. The British, knowing that it was impossible to completely hide all preparations for an offensive in the desert, decided to mislead the enemy regarding the timing of the offensive and the location of the attack. To do this, they disguised the tank group on the right flank as trucks, built mock-ups of tanks on the left flank and imitated an artillery group with wooden guns. On the left flank of the army, a false radio network of the 10th Army Corps operated, and a false oil pipeline was built from old cans and models of pumping stations. All this was done in order to give the enemy the impression of an impending attack on the left flank.

At 23.00 on October 25, 1942, a 20-minute artillery preparation began. Concentrated attacks were carried out on artillery batteries, command and observation posts and enemy resistance centers. At 23:30 the infantry began its offensive.

The formations of the first echelon of the 8th Army advanced very slowly. During the night they passed through a 6-kilometer neutral zone, approached the front edge of the German-Italian defense and only attacked the enemy in certain areas. Over the next two days, fierce battles were fought for the main position of the German-Italian defense.

The British were unable to quickly break through the enemy's tactical defense zone. On October 27, 1942, Rommel began to regroup his forces. He wanted to create an attack tank fist on his northern flank to defeat the main attacking group of the British. Thus, all available tank forces were concentrated on the northern flanks of both sides. The critical moment of the battle had arrived. On the afternoon of October 28, 1942, British planes took to the air and delivered strong blows to the German and Italian tank divisions located in their original areas and thwarted the counterattack that was being prepared.

After a pause, the troops of the 8th Army resumed their offensive on the night of November 2, 1942. However, despite complete superiority, especially in artillery and aviation, British troops continued to advance slowly. Having covered 4 km in 1.5 days, the formations of the 8th Army completed the breakthrough. The 7th Armored Division was introduced into the resulting gap and began to develop an offensive to the west. The Italian troops, having suffered defeat, capitulated. This ended the battle of El Alamein.

Over the next month, the troops of the 8th Army advanced almost 1200 km (average daily pace 40 km). It was stopped by the Germans only on November 23, 1942 at a position near El Agheil.

The political and military leadership of the United States, despite its obligations, in 1942 and 1943. did not open a second front in Europe. At the insistence of the British Prime Minister, a decision was made at the end of 1942 to land American and British troops in North Africa, in the French colonies of Algeria and Tunisia.

On October 22, 1942, the operation to land an expeditionary force in North Africa (“Torch”) began. The USA and England have been carefully preparing for it for a long time. Transports with troops (about 650 ships in total) moved from England and the USA. On the morning of November 8, 1942, 42 Allied troops landed in the areas of Algiers, Oran and Casablanca. Along the entire route of the sea crossing, the caravans of ships did not encounter any opposition from the German fleet or aviation. This allowed American and British troops to unhindered, in 15-20 days, occupy French Morocco and Algeria and reach Tunisia at the end of November.

The German command urgently took countermeasures. As early as November 10, 1942, it began transporting large forces to Tunisia by air and sea. By November 15, 1942, the newly arrived German formations deployed on a front of 300 km from the coast south to Sfax, with a front to the west. However, the Germans were late in transferring troops to Tunisia.

Meanwhile, the 8th British Army, advancing along the coast, occupied Tripoli. Rommel's troops retreated to the fortified Maret line. In the second half of March, English troops carried out a deep bypass of the Mareth line from the south, through the desert and mountains. The outflanking group advanced 180 km. Rommel managed to bring the weakened, exhausted army out of the attack, after which, transferring command to the Italian general, he left for Germany. The remnants of the German army were defeated and captured in mid-May 1943 in the area of ​​Cape Bon.

The leaders of England and the United States decided, following the end of hostilities in North Africa, to land expeditionary forces in Sicily.

The landing in Sicily was characterized by the concentration of large forces and the creation of multiple superiority over the defending Italian troops. The landing of troops of the 15th Allied Army Group was supported by 4 thousand combat and 900 transport aircraft, as well as over 3 thousand ships. Preliminary aviation training lasted about 50 days. The desire to create maximum superiority, especially in technical means of combat, became the main distinguishing feature of the military art of the armed forces of England and the United States.

On July 10, 1943, the Allies invaded Sicily with large forces of fleet, aviation and landing troops, occupied it in mid-August 1943, and on September 3, 1943 they began landing on the southern coast of the Apennine Peninsula. In such a situation and as a result of the struggle launched by the Italian people against fascism, the Mussolini regime was overthrown. The new government of Badoglio, influenced by failures in North Africa and Sicily, the disaster of the Nazi army at Kursk and the growth of the anti-fascist movement of the Italian people, was forced to conclude a truce with the allies on September 3, 1943. Italy left the war. The fascist German command withdrew its troops to the area south of Rome. Here in November 1943 the front stabilized.

Thus, the victory achieved by the Allies in North Africa and Italy had relatively little significance for the course and outcome of the Second World War. Italy's withdrawal from the war in 1943 weakened the forces of the fascist bloc, but the diversion of allied forces to conduct operations in Italy delayed the opening of a second front in Europe.

By the summer of 1944, the situation in Europe was determined by the victories of Soviet troops on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War and the powerful national liberation movement in the countries occupied by the Nazis. It clearly demonstrated the ability of the Red Army to complete the liberation of the territory not only of the Soviet Union, but also of the enslaved countries of Europe without the help of allies. This is what forced the ruling circles of the USA and England, after long delays, to hurry up with the opening of a second front in Europe.

The Normandy landing operation (Operation Overlord) of Anglo-American troops on the coast of Northwestern France, carried out from June 6 to July 24, 1944.

The plan for the Normandy landing operation provided for an amphibious landing consisting of five infantry divisions on the coast of the Bay of Senskaya on an area of ​​about 80 km and an airborne assault consisting of three airborne divisions at a depth of 10-15 km from the coast, seizing bridgeheads, then combining them into one and expand it by the end of the twentieth day to 100 km along the front and 100-110 km in depth (reach the Avranches-Domfront-Falaise line).

When choosing the area for landing troops, the American-British command proceeded from the fact that the enemy, considering the most likely invasion on the coast of the Pas-de-Calais Strait, paid little attention to the area of ​​the Bay of Seine.

The start of the landing of troops was scheduled for the morning of June 6, 1944. This time was the most favorable for the landing. During these hours, visibility was the best, and the high and low tide conditions made it possible to approach closer to the shore and at the same time clear obstacles.

The general landing front was divided into two zones: the western, where American troops were to land, and the eastern, for British troops. The western zone was divided into two separate sections, the eastern zone into three sections. At each landing site, one reinforced infantry division was to land simultaneously. According to the number of landing sites, five landing detachments were created, which included the landing troops of these divisions and the naval forces that transported them.

All ground forces involved in the landing operation were united into the 21st Army Group. In its first echelon, troops of the 1st American and 2nd British armies landed, in the second - troops of the 1st Canadian Army.

The battle formations of the corps of the 1st American and 2nd British armies also had a two-echelon formation. The two corps that made up the first echelon of the American 1st Army landed in their first echelons two infantry divisions, reinforced by five tank battalions and two Ranger battalions. In the first echelons of the two corps of the 2nd British Army, three infantry divisions operated, reinforced by three assault tank brigades and two Commando brigades. Each division of the first echelon initially landed 1-2 reinforced regiments (brigades).

Along with ground forces, airborne troops consisting of three airborne divisions (82nd and 101st American and 6th British) were involved in the operation. Airborne landings were supposed to be dropped on the flanks of the landing area to a depth of 10-15 km from the coast 4-5 hours before the start of the amphibious landing. The American airborne divisions were to land in the area north of the city of Carentan, the British airborne division - in the area northeast of the city of Caen. The airborne troops had to assist the amphibious assault during the landing and capture of the beachhead on the shore, for which they would capture road junctions, crossings, bridges and other objects in the landing areas and prevent enemy reserves from approaching the landing areas from the sea.

In the interests of achieving surprise, measures were taken to covertly concentrate forces and assets, to misinform the enemy, for which false concentrations of troops and equipment were created, and demonstrative actions were carried out where troops were not supposed to be landed. Despite the undoubted weakness of the actions of the German aviation and navy, the American-British command organized cover of the operation from the sea, air defense, anti-submarine and mine defense.

To carry out the operation, the troops had a large number of transport and landing facilities. To supply the troops with everything necessary, two artificial ports were built on the coast of Senskaya Bay in the very first days of the operation, and a gas pipeline was laid along the bottom of the English Channel.

At 2.00 on June 6, the airborne troops began being dropped. Units of the 82nd American Airborne Division landed in the area west of Sainte-Mère-Eglise. The 101st Airborne Division landed in the area north of Carentan. The British 6th Airborne Division landed in an area northeast of Caen and established a foothold in the landing area.

At 5 o'clock on June 6, artillery preparation for the amphibious landing began. At 6:30 a.m. on June 6 in the American landing zone and about an hour later in the British zone, the first amphibious landing groups entered the coast of Seine Bay. The disembarkation order was as follows. Initially, small assault groups of amphibious tanks were landed on the seashore, which had the task of ensuring the landing of engineering and sapper groups. The latter were supposed to clear obstacles and ensure the landing of infantry and military equipment of the amphibious assault on the shore.

Subunits and units of the naval landing force, using the confusion of the Germans, their numerical superiority and massive naval artillery fire, made their way to the shore and pushed back the enemy.

This was greatly facilitated by air preparation for the landing and support of troops on the shore. The Germans did not actually interfere with the actions of American and British aviation. During June 6, only 50 German sorties were recorded in the area of ​​Senskaya Bay.

By the end of the first day of the operation, the American-British troops managed to capture separate bridgeheads up to 10 km deep. During the day of June 6, the main forces of five infantry and three airborne divisions, several tank regiments and brigades, and four Commando and Ranger detachments were landed. This success was achieved due to the fact that during the air and artillery preparation the anti-landing defense of the Nazi troops on the shore was largely suppressed. The fire from the surviving German batteries was ineffective.

During June 7 and 8, simultaneously with the consolidation of captured bridgeheads and the improvement of occupied positions, the intensive transfer of new forces and equipment of expeditionary forces to the coast of Senskaya Bay continued. By the end of June 8, eight infantry, one tank and three airborne divisions and a large number of reinforcement units were concentrated on the bridgeheads.

On the morning of June 9, American-British troops went on the offensive with the aim of creating a single bridgehead. As a result of the fighting in the period June 9-12, they managed to unite the captured bridgeheads into a common bridgehead with a length of about 80 km along the front and 13-18 km in depth.

By June 12, the German command, having brought into battle an additional three tank and one motorized divisions, brought the grouping of its troops in Normandy to 12 divisions. However, these troops rushed into battle in parts; as they approached, a strong striking fist was not created from them. As a result, they could not have a serious influence on the course of hostilities. In addition, the German divisions experienced a great shortage of fuel and ammunition.

The situation that developed in mid-June 1944 was favorable for the deployment of offensive actions with the aim of expanding the bridgehead. By the end of June, troops of the 1st American Army captured Cherbourg and cleared the Cotentin Peninsula of the remnants of German troops.

In the first half of July, the port of Cherbourg was restored and subsequently played a significant role in supplying the American-British troops in Normandy. This was especially important because two temporary ports built in the early days of the operation were destroyed during a storm on June 19, 1944. One of these ports was soon rebuilt.

By the end of June, the captured bridgehead was expanded to 100 km along the front and from 20 to 40 km in depth. By this time, the main forces of the 1st American and 2nd British armies and part of the forces of the 1st Canadian Army had landed on the bridgehead. The total number of expeditionary forces on the bridgehead reached one million people. These forces were opposed by 13 German divisions, which had suffered heavy losses in previous battles and operated partly in battle groups. The fact that in the second half of June the fascist German command increased its troops in Normandy by only one division is explained by the following: it still believed that the Anglo-Americans would deliver the main blow through the Pas-de-Calais Strait, and therefore continued to hold there are relatively large forces in this direction. Not a single German unit was transferred from the coast of the Pas-de-Calais Strait to Normandy.

Thus, the situation allowed the Anglo-Americans to launch a major offensive in Northwestern France already at the beginning of July. However, in an effort to create conditions for a complete guarantee of success, the American-British command postponed the start of such an offensive until the end of this month.

During July, troops of the 1st American Army, continuing combat operations to expand the bridgehead, advanced 10-15 km southward and occupied the city and road junction of Saint-Lo. The main efforts of the troops of the 2nd British Army at this time were aimed at capturing the city of Caen, to which both sides attached great importance.

On July 7-8, the British launched an offensive with three infantry divisions and three armored brigades with the aim of capturing the northwestern part of Caen, in which units of one German division were defending. During the day of July 8, the advancing troops were unable to achieve success. By the end of July 9, the British captured the northwestern part of this city.

In order to create a bridgehead on the southeastern bank of the river. Orne and the capture of the second half of Caen, the British-Canadian troops launched a new offensive on July 18. Within three days, the troops completely captured the city of Kan and advanced southeast to 10 km. Attempts by the British-Canadian troops to advance further to the south and southeast, made on July 21-24, were unsuccessful.

Thus, in the period from June 6 to July 24, 1944, the American-British expeditionary forces managed to land in Normandy and occupy a bridgehead of about 100 km along the front and up to 30-50 km in depth. This bridgehead was approximately half the size of the one that was planned to be occupied according to the landing operation plan. However, under conditions of absolute air supremacy, the captured bridgehead made it possible to concentrate a large amount of forces and resources on it. The American-British command had every opportunity to prepare and conduct a major offensive operation in Northwestern France.

Allied offensive in France, Belgium and Holland

The Falaise operation was an offensive operation of Anglo-American troops in Northwestern France, carried out from August 10 to August 25, 1944.

The goal of the Falaise operation was to encircle and destroy a group of German troops in the area of ​​the cities of Falaise, Mortain, Argentan and reach the Seine River.

After the completion of the Normandy operation of 1944, the allied command (supreme commander of the allied expeditionary forces, General D. Eisenhower), taking advantage of the favorable situation (the main forces of the Wehrmacht were constrained by the offensive of Soviet troops on the Soviet-German front), from July 25, without expecting the complete concentration of their troops, launched an offensive in Northwestern France with the intention of pushing German troops back beyond the Loire and Seine rivers.

By August 10, the troops of the 12th Army Group (1st and 3rd American armies; commander General O. Bradley) deeply encircled from the south the main forces of the enemy forces defending against the allies (5th tank and 7th armies) from the Army Group B (commander Field Marshal V. Model). From the north they were surrounded by troops of the 21st Army Group (2nd British and 1st Canadian armies; commander General B. Montgomery).

In the area formed in the area of ​​the cities of Falaise, Argentan, the so-called. There were up to 20 German divisions in the “Falaise sack”. The Allies had no less than 28 divisions against them and had complete air supremacy. Taking advantage of the favorable situation, the allied command decided to surround the Falaise group with counter attacks on Argentan by the forces of the 3rd American Army from the south, from the Le Mans area, and by the forces of the 1st Canadian Army from the north, the area north of Falaise.

The offensive of the American troops began on August 10, 1944. Units operating in the main direction of the 15th Army Corps reached the Argentan area on August 13, but were stopped here on the orders of Bradley and with the approval of Eisenhower, who feared that the corps would cross the boundary line with the 21st Group armies would lead to mixing of American and Canadian forces and loss of command and control. Leaving the 2nd division and 7 artillery divisions to defend in the Argentan area until the Canadians arrived, the American command turned the main forces of the 3rd Army east, to the Seine River. However, the troops of the 21st Army Group advanced extremely slowly, at a pace of 6-7 km per day, and only on August 17 did the British occupy Falaise, and the Canadians bypassed it from the east.

The German command began to withdraw the main forces of the 5th Panzer and 7th armies through the 40-km pass remaining between Falaise and Argentan.

Only on August 18, American troops (1st Army) resumed their offensive from the Argentan area to the north and two days later in the area of ​​Chambois and Tren they linked up with the 1st Polish Armored Division (1st Canadian Army), completing the encirclement. Over 8 German divisions were surrounded (including 3 tank divisions). The remaining forces of the 5th Panzer and 7th Armies retreated to the Lizaro, Gase, Rugle line and consolidated there, ensuring the withdrawal of the entire Army Group B beyond the Seine.

On August 20, German troops, with counter attacks from five tank and two infantry divisions concentrated east of Tren, Chambois against the outer front of the encirclement, and units of tank and parachute corps from the encircled group, broke through the front of the encirclement. About half of the encircled German troops managed to retreat beyond the Seine, the rest were captured.

By August 25, allied troops reached the Seine and captured small bridgeheads on its right bank. On August 19, an armed uprising began in Paris, ending on August 25 with the surrender of the German garrison. On August 26, Hitler's troops began to retreat to the borders of Germany. The Allied armies began pursuit along the entire front. By September 12, the German command withdrew the bulk of its troops and organized defense in the southern part of Holland and on the Siegfried Line.

The Falaise operation was successful for the Allied forces. However, despite the most favorable conditions, the Allies, as a result of indecisive actions and shortcomings in command and control, failed to complete the encirclement in a timely manner and achieve the goal set in the operation to destroy the troops of the 7th and 5th Tank Armies.

Dutch operation, an offensive operation of the Anglo-American troops, carried out from September 17 to November 10, 1944.

Taking advantage of the fact that the main forces of the Germans were on the Eastern Front, the Allies carried out a series of successful offensive operations in France and by mid-September the troops of their northern wing captured almost the entire territory of Belgium and reached the borders of Holland.

The 21st Allied Army Group (commanded by Field Marshal B. Montgomery), consisting of the 2nd British and 1st Canadian armies (a total of 16 divisions, including 5 armored divisions) reached the Bre line, northern. Gel, sev. Antwerp, north-east. Bruges. In the rear of the advancing Allied troops, there remained surrounded German garrisons in the ports of Boulogne, Calais, and Dunkirk. The 15th and 1st Parachute Armies (a total of 9 divisions and 2 battle groups) of the German troops of Army Group B (commanded by Field Marshal General V. Model) were defending in front of the British-Canadian troops on this section of the front.

The Allied command, trying to create favorable conditions for a further attack on the Ruhr, the main economic base of Nazi Germany, decided to conduct the Dutch operation with the help of the 21st Army Group.

The troops of the 2nd English Army were given the task of breaking through the enemy’s defenses and developing an offensive towards Arnhem, seizing a bridgehead on the northern bank of the Lower Rhine and thereby creating conditions for a further offensive. To strengthen the troops of the 2nd British Army and seize crossings across the Meuse, Waal and Lower Rhine rivers, it was assigned the 1st Allied Airborne Corps (82nd, 101st American, 1st British Airborne Divisions and Polish Parachute Brigade) .

In the offensive zone of the troops of the 2nd British Army, the main blow was delivered by the 30th Army Corps (one armored and two tank divisions) with the task of breaking through enemy defenses on a narrow section of the front and advancing to Eindhoven, Grave, Nijmegem, Arnhem, using the crossings across water barriers captured by landing forces dropped in the corps' offensive zone.

For artillery preparation and support, 880 guns (136 per 1 km of front) were concentrated in the offensive zone of the 30th Army Corps.

The 8th and 12th Army Corps were supposed to operate on the flanks of the strike group in order to expand the breakthrough front.

About 650 aircraft were used to provide air support for the troops of the 2nd British Army.

The balance of forces in the zone of the 2nd British Army was in favor of the allies 2:1 (in the direction of the main attack 4:1), in terms of aviation and tanks it was absolute.

The troops of the 1st Canadian Army had the task of eliminating the encircled enemy group in the area of ​​Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk and clearing the Germans from the mouth of the Scheldt River, and then advancing on Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

On September 17-18, after aviation training, airborne assault forces were dropped in the areas of Veghel, Grave, and Arnhem (the Arnhem airborne operation of 1944, carried out from September 17 to 26 as part of the Dutch operation).

The 30th Army Corps, after a short air and artillery preparation, went on the offensive. The armored division, operating in the first echelon of the corps, broke through the enemy's defenses. It was followed by two infantry divisions.

By the end of the first day, the allied forces advanced to a depth of 6-8 kilometers. On September 18, units of the corps approached Eindhoven, where they linked up with the 101st Airborne Division. On September 20, troops of the 30th Army Corps reached Nijmegen in a narrow sector and linked up with the 82nd Airborne Division. The 8th and 12th Army Corps, operating on the flanks of the strike force, met stubborn enemy resistance and only slightly expanded the breakthrough front. The German command, concentrating tank and infantry formations, launched a counterattack on the flank of the advancing Allied group and on their landings in the Arnhem area.

The situation for the allied forces became more complicated, and a real threat of encirclement of the strike force was created. The British 1st Airborne Division and the Polish 1st Parachute Brigade suffered heavy losses. With great difficulty, the command of the 2nd British Army managed to fend off the enemy's counterattack. On September 27-29, British troops reached the southern bank of the Lower Rhine and were forced to go on the defensive, failing to seize a bridgehead on the northern bank.

With the start of the Dutch operation, troops of the 1st Canadian Army fought against the encircled enemy garrisons and liberated Boulogne (September 22) and Calais (September 30). The advance north-west of Antwerp developed slowly, and Canadian troops reached the mouth of the Scheldt only towards the end of September.

In October-November, troops of the 21st Army Group continued offensive operations with limited objectives, trying to capture the territory north of Antwerp. The troops of the 2nd British Army, having regrouped, struck with the forces of the 12th Army Corps in the direction of Breda.

Troops of the 1st Canadian Army advanced on Rosendal, Bergen and fought to capture the Zuid-Beveland Peninsula and Walcheren Island. The Allied advance was slow. On October 30, Zuid-Beveland was occupied, and on November 9, Walcheren.

By November 10, the Allied forces reached the Meuse River, from Grave to the mouth, capturing the southwestern part of the Netherlands. In 55 days, the Anglo-Canadian troops advanced to a depth of 45 to 90 km on a front of 200 km. The objectives of the operation were not fully accomplished.

The characteristic features of the Dutch operation were the use of large airborne assaults to facilitate the offensive on the main axis, the deep formation of the battle formation of the advancing army corps, and the high density of artillery for the allied forces.

At the same time, breaking through the enemy’s defenses on a narrow section of the front (initially 1.5 km) and subsequently expanding it with active actions on the flanks of the strike group did not bring the expected results.

Operation of the Ardennes (in the Ardennes region in south-eastern Belgium), an offensive operation of German troops carried out in December 1944 - January 1945.

The goal of the Ardennes Operation (codenamed “Watch on the Rhine”) was to defeat the American-British forces, change the situation in Western Europe in favor of Germany and free up Wehrmacht forces to fight against the USSR.

Operation plan: break through the front in the Monschau, Echternach sector, cross the Meuse River in the areas of Liege and Namur, and on the 7th day of the operation, reaching Antwerp, cut off the Allied troops in Belgium and Holland (1st Canadian, 2nd English, 9 -I and 1st American armies) and defeat them.

The operation involved troops of the 6th SS, 5th Tank, 7th Field Army of Army Group B (commanded by Field Marshal V. Model). A total of 25 divisions were intended, including 7 tank divisions. The offensive group consisted of about 250 thousand people, 900 tanks and assault guns, 800 aircraft, 2,517 guns and mortars. However, this was not enough; the command of the German troops planned to transfer part of the forces from other sectors of the Western Front and from Germany during the offensive.

The strike force was provided with fuel for only half the depth of the operation. The Anglo-American command considered the Ardennes region unsuitable for conducting broad offensive operations. Here, on a 115-kilometer section of the front, the Germans were opposed by up to 5 divisions (83 thousand people, 242 tanks, 182 self-propelled anti-tank guns and 394 artillery guns) from the 1st Army of the 12th Army Group (commanded by General O. Bradley).

The German offensive began at dawn on December 16, 1944. Caught by surprise, American troops were unable to resist, suffered heavy losses and retreated.

By December 25, the German group, having broken through the front, advanced to a depth of more than 90 km. Its advanced tank units reached the area of ​​Dinan and were located 4 km from the Meuse River. The Anglo-American command was forced to transfer divisions there from other sectors of the front. On December 23, with the onset of flying weather, allied aviation began to operate actively. From December 22 to 26, troops of the 3rd American Army launched a counterattack on the southern flank of the advancing enemy group and linked up with units of the 101st Airborne Division encircled in Bastogne. By the end of December, the Germans advanced on the river. The Maas was stopped. However, the German command did not abandon its plans. On the night of January 1, 1945, it launched an offensive in Alsace, in the Strasbourg area, against the troops of the 7th American Army. On January 1, more than 1,000 German aircraft launched a surprise attack on airfields in France, Belgium and Holland, resulting in the destruction of 260 Allied aircraft. The position of the Allied troops remained difficult. 01/06/1945 W. Churchill turned to I. Stalin with a request for help. Fulfilling their allied duty, Soviet troops began it on January 12 - eight days earlier than planned. The offensive of the Soviet troops forced the Germans to curtail active operations on the Western Front and transfer their forces from there to the East.

By the end of January, the Germans in the Ardennes retreated to their original positions. Losses in the Ardennes operation on the Allied side amounted to about 77 thousand people, and on the German side - about 82 thousand people.

The Ardennes operation was the culmination of the struggle on the Western Front. The forced transfer of large forces and assets to the Soviet-German front, the losses suffered in the Ardennes, the lack of reserves - all this led to a sharp weakening of German troops on the Western Front and contributed to the success of the armed forces of the United States, England and France in subsequent offensive operations, which took on the nature of pursuing the retreating enemy.

The Ruhr offensive operation of the Anglo-American troops, carried out from March 23 to April 18, 1945.

The goal of the Ruhr operation was to defeat the enemy's Ruhr group, and subsequently to advance towards the Soviet troops towards the Elbe and dismember the German troops. This operation was the final one in the military operations in Western Europe by Anglo-American troops.

In the first half of March, Allied troops completely captured the left bank of the Rhine and captured two bridgeheads on its right bank in the areas of the cities of Oppenheim and Remagen. By that time, Soviet troops advancing from the east were on the Oder, 60 km from Berlin and were preparing for the final blow to Nazi Germany.

The Allied Command (Supreme Commander-in-Chief General D. Eisenhower) decided to launch an offensive deep into Germany along the entire front. To do this, it planned, first of all, to defeat the most powerful enemy group on the Western Front, which defended the Ruhr industrial region (5th Panzer and 15th Armies of Group B) under the command of Field Marshal V. Model and part of the forces of 1- th Parachute Army.

The German Ruhr group included 29 divisions and one brigade - half of all forces deployed on the Western Front. It was supported by the main aviation forces of the 3rd Air Fleet and the Reich Air Fleet, which had only 1,704 combat aircraft. The German formations were 50-75% staffed and lacked fuel and ammunition.

The Allied command attracted the main forces of the 21st Army Group (9th American and 2nd British Armies) under the command of Field Marshal B. Montgomery, the 12th Army Group (3rd and 1st American Armies) to participate in the Ruhr operation. under the command of General O. Bradley and the 18th separate airborne corps - a total of 51 divisions, including 14 armored, 2 airborne and 12 brigades, incl. 7 armored vehicles.

According to the plan of the operation, the main blow was delivered by the forces of the 21st Army Group from the Wesel region and an auxiliary blow from the Rhine bridgeheads by the forces of the 1st Army Group on Kassel. In the future, it was planned to develop the offensive in the general direction of the Elbe River.

The offensive of the main group of the 21st Army Group began on the night of March 24 after powerful artillery and air preparation. They were preceded by two weeks of preliminary aviation training. During the night, troops of the 2nd British and 9th American armies crossed the Rhine and captured a bridgehead on its right bank. In the morning of March 24, the 18th Airborne Corps was landed behind enemy lines east of the Rhine. In the afternoon, the British troops advancing from the front joined the landing force. The enemy offered only minor resistance. In the following days, the captured bridgeheads were united, and on March 28, the general bridgehead was expanded to 60 km along the front and 35 km in depth.

In the direction of the auxiliary attack, the 1st and 3rd American armies developed an offensive to the north and northeast. On April 1, troops of the 1st and 9th American armies united in the Lipstadt area, creating an internal front of encirclement of the Germans in the Ruhr industrial region (18 divisions, about 325 thousand people in total). With the encirclement of this group, the western front of the German troops virtually disintegrated.

The Anglo-American command decided to shift the main efforts to the central direction in order to develop an offensive on the external front of the encirclement. In this regard, on April 4, the 9th Army was transferred from the 21st to the 12th Army Group, which was advancing to the middle reaches of the Elbe. Almost without encountering enemy resistance, the troops of the 12th Army Group reached the Elbe in the Magdeburg area on April 12, and captured Leipzig on April 19. In other directions, the Allied offensive developed in a similar situation.

At the same time, part of the forces of the 12th Army Group fought against the encircled Ruhr group, which capitulated on April 18.

For the first time, the Allies managed to encircle a large group of German troops. This operation was carried out with the absolute superiority of the Allies in strength and means, in extremely favorable conditions, when the main forces of the Germans were turned against Soviet troops threatening Berlin, and German troops in the west, seeing the hopelessness of the situation, capitulated to the Anglo-American troops.

Although the Allies in the anti-Hitler coalition were ultimately victorious in World War II, they made many serious mistakes along the way. Few people remember the mistakes of winners and take them seriously, but in fact, many valuable lessons can be learned from them. From appeasement and defeat at Dunkirk to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Allies were clearly flawed and made many mistakes along the way to victory. So what were these mistakes? Let's take a little trip back in time...

Misguided policy of appeasement

During the pre-war period, Britain and France pursued a policy of appeasement to prevent war. Knowing that European democracies did not want war, Hitler set his own conditions to see how far he could go with impunity. This policy became infamous due to the meeting between British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and Hitler at Berchtesgaden, when, without consulting the Czech government, Chamberlain effectively gave the entire Sudetenland to Hitler. He returned to England, declaring that he had returned peace to his country, but in fact he only made the situation worse. Ultimately, Hitler fragmented all of Czechoslovakia.

Underestimation of Japan's military power

The racist views of the Americans towards the Japanese were perhaps the main reason for their unpreparedness for a confrontation on the eve of the attack on Pearl Harbor. American magazines and newspapers portrayed the Japanese as inept, technologically backward, and "ridiculous" people. They also spread ridiculous stories that the Japanese were physiologically incapable of being good pilots.

Failure to Anticipate the German Blitzkrieg

Despite clear signs that Hitler was planning to invade France through the Ardennes, the French and other Allies completely ignored them, not believing that Hitler would decide to do so. Failure to anticipate Hitler's actions led to one of the most crushing defeats of the 20th century, when Hitler launched a rapid tank offensive, the blitzkrieg. Seven weeks later, Hitler was photographed in front of the Eiffel Tower. To humiliate the French, he forced France to surrender in the same carriage in the Forest of Compiègne where Germany had surrendered 22 years earlier.

Refusal to attack Germany after its invasion of Poland

England and France assured Poland that they would protect it if attacked, but on September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and destroyed its armed forces, which numbered more than 2 thousand tanks and thousands of aircraft. Within 27 days, Warsaw surrendered. Although England and France responded by formally declaring war on Germany, they actually did nothing for Poland. The declaration turned out to be empty words, and Poland eventually found itself under Nazi occupation, which lasted until 1945.

Failed attack on the port of Dieppe

In 1942, the Allies raided the occupied French port of Dieppe. Their forces included 5,000 Canadian troops, 2,000 British, and a small number of Americans and French, supported by tanks and aircraft. The landing ultimately proved to be a disaster, killing 3,600 people, losing many tanks and aircraft, and causing the Allies to fail to achieve their objectives. However, some historians argue that the failure helped the Allies gain the necessary experience and knowledge to finally enter the war on D-Day.

Low quality tanks

American and British troops were armed with significantly weaker and unreliable tanks compared to German ones. Thus, the M4 Sherman tank had a low-velocity gun, and its armor was easily penetrated by German Panther shells. Their only salvation was powerful air support and the numerical superiority of tank forces. However, if the Allies had better tanks, the battles against Germany could have been more successful.

The Americans did not have a convoy system in the early years of the war.

Since the British had had to deal with the German U-Boat more than once, they developed many unique systems to combat it, including a successful convoy system that included escort vessels. However, despite the urgent need, the United States did not implement this system until 1942, which resulted in significant losses on its part that could have been prevented.

The French lack of flank defense during the German blitzkrieg

Not only did the French fail to anticipate the German blitzkrieg, their army was completely disorganized and unprepared for an effective defense. Blitzkrieg is highly vulnerable to counterattacks and flanking operations. If the French had used flank defense like the Russians, they would not have been conquered so easily.

Everyone knows that during the Great Patriotic War the Soviet Union had three main allies: England, France and the USA, which assisted the USSR in the fight against fascism. But the Soviet Union also had other allies.
Back in July 1941, the USSR signed an agreement on the fight against a common enemy with the governments of Czechoslovakia and Poland, who were in exile in London. In September of the first year of the war, a conference in London, the Soviet leadership established contacts with Belgium, Holland, Norway, Yugoslavia, Luxembourg and the National Committee of Free France. And only in May 1942, a Soviet-British agreement on an alliance in the war against Nazi Germany and its accomplices in Europe and on cooperation and mutual assistance after the end of the war was signed in London. Following this, on June 11, 1942, a Soviet-American agreement was concluded in Washington on the principles of mutual assistance and the conduct of war against fascist aggression. These agreements formed the core of the anti-Hitler coalition.
However, the alliance between the USSR, the USA and England was not bound by a tripartite alliance treaty. Only bilateral agreements existed and were in force. Relations within the coalition did not fit into the parameters of the bloc and rather corresponded to the concept of a temporary alliance.
But there were also states that themselves were the first to offer assistance to the Soviet Union, without demanding anything in return. One of such states is the Tuvan People's Republic. This small state previously belonged to the Chinese Qing Empire under the name “Tianu-Uriankhai”. In 1912, during the Xinghai Revolution in China, the Tuvans asked to become a Russian protectorate. And in April 1914, by decree of Nicholas II, Tuva received a Russian protectorate and was annexed to the Yenisei province. After the revolution and civil war in Russia in 1922, Tuva became an independent state, the Tuvan People's Republic (TPR), under the auspices of the USSR. But only the USSR and Mongolia recognized the new state, and until 1945, on all maps except Soviet ones, this territory was depicted as Chinese.
In 1941, the Tuvans, having learned about the German attack on the USSR, immediately (June 23, 1941) declared war on the Third Reich and all its allies.
The People's Khural of Tuva declared: “The Tuvan people are ready, without sparing their lives, to participate with all their might and means in the struggle of the Soviet Union against the fascist aggressor until the final victory over him.”
Tuva immediately handed over its gold reserves (worth 35 million rubles, a huge amount of money at that time), and offered to mobilize its troops and send them to the Soviet-German front. But Moscow abandoned the Tuvan soldiers due to the small number of people. In addition, aggressive Japanese troops stood on the eastern borders of the USSR, ready to open a “second front” against the USSR, and Tuvan troops could turn out to be a deterrent to the Japanese army.
Thus, Tuva became the first allies of the USSR in World War II.
Tuva helped the fighting Soviet Union in any way it could. With voluntary donations from Tuvan citizens, two tank brigades were created and fully equipped. The republic's funds were used to purchase and transfer to the Soviet army 10 Yak-7B fighters. The Tuvans transferred 50 thousand horses and 750 thousand heads of cattle to the USSR.
The Tuvans supplied 52 thousand pairs of skis, 10 thousand sheepskin coats, 400 thousand tons of meat, ghee, wool, leather, canned fruit and berries, barley, flour, wax, and resin to the front. And all the help of the Tuvan people to the Red Army was free of charge. The Tuvans sincerely did not understand how to take money from a fighting ally.
By 1943, when it became clear that Japan would no longer dare to go to war with the USSR, Tuvan volunteers were allowed to fight the Nazis. A Tuvan tank brigade was formed, which fought as part of the 52nd Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front and several cavalry divisions, which immediately showed high fighting qualities. Skillfully camouflaging themselves, they carried out raids on the enemy's rear, fortunately the steppe horses are extremely hardy and unpretentious, they unexpectedly attacked the Germans, sometimes, catching the infantry on the march, they attacked "at a swoop", not allowing them to lie down and organize a defense. Soon the Germans began to be panicky afraid of the Tuvan cavalrymen, who in the war did not take prisoners on principle, and if they caught someone alive, then in the evening, by the fire, secretly from the political instructor, they slowly sent them “as a messenger to the Upper Heaven” to tell their “ancestors” about their victory and good spirits."
The surviving German army officer, G. Remke, left the following memories: “their attacks were terrible and had an extremely demoralizing effect on the Wehrmacht soldiers.” “Hordes of barbarians were galloping towards us, from whom there was no escape.”
However, victories were achieved at great cost. Out of 10,000 Tuvan volunteers, only 300 people returned home. They did not spare their enemies, despised cowardice, and were not afraid of death.
In 1944, the Tuvan People's Republic became part of the USSR with autonomy rights. And the national military units were transformed into the Separate 7th Cavalry Division of the Red Banner Siberian Military District.
Also during the war years, large supplies of food, uniforms and other goods were from the Mongolian People's Republic.
According to historians, supplies from Tuva and Mongolia were only a third less in volume than all total supplies from the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and other countries.
Few people know that Tuva is still at war with Germany. Declaring war on Germany in 1941, the Tuvan People's Republic was a separate state, and in 1944, having become part of the USSR, it could no longer sign the surrender of Germany and the subsequent peace treaty of 1955 since it was no longer a separate state.
These are the allies of the USSR.

USSR and allies in World War II

Introduction

The heroic epic of the Great Patriotic War, the most brutal of all the wars that our country has experienced, is going further and further into history. World War II 1939-1945 - the largest war in human history, unleashed by fascist Germany, fascist Italy and militaristic Japan. 61 states (more than 80% of the world's population) were drawn into the war; military operations were carried out on the territory of 40 states. More than 20 million people died.

On the eve of the war, a radical restructuring of our armed forces was carried out. Ground forces included rifle (infantry), armored and mechanized troops, artillery and cavalry. They also included special troops: communications, engineering, air defense, chemical defense and others. Organizationally, they united into 33 rifle, tank, motorized and cavalry divisions, 170 of which were located in the western military districts. Over 80% of the personnel of the Armed Forces served in the ground forces. The Air Force and Navy were significantly strengthened.

The peaceful efforts of the Soviet Union to curb fascist aggression were not supported by England, France and the USA. France was soon conquered by Germany and capitulated, and the British government, fearing the landing of German troops on the islands, did everything to push German fascism to the East, to war against the USSR. And they achieved it. On June 22, 1941, Germany treacherously attacked the Soviet Union. Germany's European allies - Italy, Hungary, Romania and Finland - also entered the war against the USSR.

We believe that the topic we chose is very relevant to this day.

We set ourselves the following task: to study what the role of the USSR was in achieving victory in the 2nd World War.

The goals of our work are as follows:

1 Determination of the degree of participation of the USSR in the 2nd World War

2 Determining the extent of Allied participation in World War 2

3 Joint actions of the USSR and allies in the 2nd World War.

We will try to answer these questions in our work.

1. The formation of the anti-Hitler coalition

Immediately after the start of the Great Patriotic War, the governments of England and the United States, taking into account the sharply increased threat to the security of their own countries, made statements of support for the just struggle of the peoples of the USSR.

« Behind latest 25 years nobody Not was more consistent enemy communism, how I said Prime Minister Great Britain U. Churchill V radio message To compatriots 22 June 1941 G. - I Not I'll take it back neither one words. But All This turns pale before unfolding Now a spectacle. Past With his crimes, madness And tragedies disappears. I I see Russians soldier, standing, on threshold his native land, protecting fields, which their fathers processed With immemorial times I I see their protecting their Houses, Where their mothers And wives pray - Yes, for there are time, When pray All, - O security their loved ones, O return his breadwinner his defender And supports… This Not class war, A war, V which pulled in all British empire And commonwealth nations, without differences race, religion or parties… If Hitler imagines as if his attack on Soviet Russia will cause though the slightest discrepancy V purposes or weakening efforts great democracies which decided destroy his, That He deep is mistaken» .

On July 12, 1941, a Soviet-British agreement on joint actions against Germany and its allies was concluded in Moscow. It was the first step towards creating an anti-Hitler coalition. Legally, the coalition took shape in January 1942, when in Washington, the capital of the United States, which entered the war with Japan and Germany after the Japanese armed forces struck the American base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands in December 1941, the Declaration was signed by representatives of 26 states The United Nations about the fight against the aggressor. During the war, more than 20 more countries joined this Declaration.

In October 1941, the USSR, England and the USA reached an agreement on Anglo-American supplies of weapons and food to our country in exchange for strategic raw materials. In May 1942, an agreement was concluded with England on an alliance in the war and cooperation after its end, in July - an agreement with the United States on assistance under Lend-Lease (loan or lease of weapons, ammunition, food, etc.) In September of that In the same year, the Soviet government recognized General Charles de Gaulle, who led the Free France movement, as the leader of “all free Frenchmen, wherever they are.”

General volume supplies By Lend-Lease was assessed V 11,3 billion dollars. Quarter everyone cargo had to on food (stew, fats and so on.), rest - on combat technology, equipment And raw materials. By separate their species numbers were very impressive: 1 0 % from domestic production tanks, 1 2 % -airplanes, 5 0 % -cars, over 9 0 % - steam locomotives, 3 6 % -colored metals IN in general same, By calculations economists, allied supplies Not exceeded three percent from Soviet production food goods, 4 % from the produced industrial products, including defense How later noted minister labor V military government U. Churchill Ernest Bevin, « VXia help, which We were V condition render, was insignificant By comparison With huge efforts Soviet of people. Our descendants, studying history, will With admiration And with gratitude recall heroism great Russian people» .

The stumbling block in the relationship between the “Big Three” (USA, England and the USSR) was the question of opening a second front against Nazi Germany in Western Europe, which would divert a significant part of the German troops from the Eastern Front and bring the end of the war closer. The initially reached agreement on its deployment in 1942 was not fulfilled by the ruling circles of England and the United States. Their activity was limited mainly to the periphery of the theater of operations (in 1941-1943 - battles in North Africa, in 1943 - landings in Sicily and Southern Italy).

2. Meeting in Tehran

The Tehran Conference became the first conference of the “Big Three” - the leaders of three countries - during the Second World War: F.D. Roosevelt (USA), W. Churchill (Great Britain) and I.V. Stalin (USSR), held in Tehran on November 28 - December 1, 1943. The success of the Red Army in defeating the common enemy was complemented by the landing of allied Anglo-American troops in Italy at the end of July 1943. However, the Soviet leadership was waiting for the allies' promise to be fulfilled - the landing of their troops in France, which would significantly speed up the victory over Germany. In November - December 1943, a meeting of the leaders of the USSR, USA and England (the “Big Three”) took place in Tehran. Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill agreed on the opening of a second front in Europe in May - June 1944, on the creation of the UN after the war, on the post-war world order, on the fate of Germany after its military defeat, etc. The USSR promised to enter the war against Japan after the end of the war in Europe. The historical significance of the conference can hardly be overestimated - it was the first meeting of the Big Three, at which the fate of millions of people and the future of the world were decided. The conference was designed to develop a final strategy for the fight against Germany and its allies; it became an important stage in the development of international and inter-allied relations; a number of issues of war and peace were considered and resolved at it. The main issue was the opening of a second front in Western Europe. W. Churchill's proposal was accepted that Poland's claims to the lands of Western Belarus and Western Ukraine would be satisfied at the expense of Germany, and the Curzon line should be the border in the east. At the conference, US President Roosevelt outlined the American point of view regarding the creation of an international security organization in the future, which he already spoke about in general terms to the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR V.M. Molotov during his stay in Washington in the summer of 1942 and what was the subject of discussion between Roosevelt and the British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden in March 1943. After the end of the war, it was proposed to create a world organization on the principles of the United Nations, and its activities did not include military issues, that is, it should not be similar to the League of Nations.

3. Meeting in Yalta

In 1943, in Tehran, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill discussed mainly the problem of achieving victory over the Third Reich; in Potsdam in July-August 1945, the allies resolved issues of peaceful settlement and division of Germany, and in Yalta, major decisions were made on the future division of the world between the winning countries. By that time, the collapse of Nazism was no longer in doubt, and victory over Germany was only a matter of time - as a result of powerful offensive strikes by Soviet troops, military operations were transferred to German territory, and the war entered its final stage. The fate of Japan also did not raise any special questions, since the United States already controlled almost the entire Pacific Ocean. The Allies understood that they had a unique chance to manage the history of Europe in their own way, since for the first time in history, almost all of Europe was in the hands of just three states. All decisions of Yalta, in general, related to two problems. Firstly, it was necessary to draw new state borders on the territory recently occupied by the Third Reich. At the same time, it was necessary to establish unofficial, but generally recognized by all sides, demarcation lines between the spheres of influence of the allies - a task that had begun in Tehran. Secondly, the allies understood perfectly well that after the disappearance of the common enemy, the forced unification of the West and the USSR would lose all meaning, and therefore it was necessary to create procedures to guarantee the immutability of the dividing lines drawn on the world map. On the issue of border redistribution, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin managed to find a common language on almost all issues. The contours of Poland after World War II changed dramatically - before the war it was the largest country in Central Europe, but it shrank sharply and moved to the west and north. A fundamental decision was made on the occupation and division of Germany into occupation zones and on the allocation of its own zone to France. The eternal Balkan issue was also discussed - in particular, the situation in Yugoslavia and Greece. The Declaration of a Liberated Europe was also signed in Yalta, which determined the principles of the policy of the victors in the territories conquered from the enemy. It assumed, in particular, the restoration of the sovereign rights of the peoples of these territories, as well as the right of the allies to jointly “help” these peoples “improve conditions” for the exercise of these same rights. Once again the issue of reparations was raised. However, the Allies were never able to finally determine the amount of compensation. It was only decided that the United States and Great Britain would give Moscow 50 percent of all reparations. The fate of the Far East was fundamentally decided by a separate document. In exchange for the participation of Soviet troops in the war against Japan, Stalin received significant concessions from the United States and Great Britain. Firstly, the USSR received the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin, which had been lost in the Russo-Japanese War. In addition, Mongolia was recognized as an independent state. The Soviet side was also promised Port Arthur and the Chinese Eastern Railway. The Yalta Conference of the leaders of the USA, USSR and Great Britain was of great historical significance. It was one of the largest international meetings of wartime, an important milestone in the cooperation of the powers of the anti-Hitler coalition in waging war against a common enemy. The adoption of agreed decisions at the conference again showed the possibility of cooperation between states with different social systems. This was one of the last conferences of the pre-atomic era. The bipolar world created in Yalta and the division of Europe into East And west survived for more than 40 years, until the end of the 1980s. During the conference, another agreement was concluded, which was very important for the Soviet side, namely an agreement on the repatriation of military and civilians, that is, displaced persons - persons liberated (captured) in territories captured by the Allies.

4. Potsdam Conference

The Potsdam Conference took place in Potsdam at the Cecilienhof Palace from July 17 to August 2, 1945, with the participation of the leadership of the three largest powers of the anti-Hitler coalition in World War II in order to determine further steps for the post-war structure of Europe. This was the third and last meeting of the “Big Three” of the anti-Hitler coalition. The first two took place at the end of 1943 in Tehran (Iran) and at the beginning of 1945 in Yalta (Soviet Union). 36 of the 176 rooms of the palace were reserved for the conference. The delegations were not housed in Cecilienhof, but in villas in Potsdam's Babelsberg district - the Soviet delegation was housed in a villa that had previously belonged to General Ludendorff. The former salon of the Crown Prince served as the working room of the Americans; the former office of the Crown Prince served as the working room of the Soviet delegation. Now the Cecilienhof Palace houses a hotel and restaurant, as well as a memorial museum of the Potsdam Conference.

The goals of the occupation of Germany by the Allies were proclaimed to be denazification, demilitarization, democratization, decentralization and decartelization. The goal of preserving German unity was also proclaimed. By decision of the Potsdam Conference, Germany's eastern borders were moved west to the Neisse line, which reduced its territory by 25% compared to 1937. The territories east of the new border consisted of East Prussia, Silesia, West Prussia, and two-thirds of Pomerania. These are mainly agricultural areas, with the exception of Upper Silesia, which was the second largest center of German heavy industry. Most of the territories separated from Germany became part of Poland. The Soviet Union, together with the capital Königsberg (which was renamed Kaliningrad the following year), included one third of East Prussia, on whose territory the Königsberg (since March 1946 - Kaliningrad) region of the RSFSR was created. A small part, which included part of the Curonian Spit and the city of Klaipeda (Klaipeda or Memel region, so-called. "Memel sector"), was transferred by the leadership of the Soviet Union in 1945 to the Lithuanian SSR. At the Potsdam Conference, Stalin confirmed his commitment to declare war on Japan no later than three months after the surrender of Germany. The Allies also signed the Potsdam Declaration, which demanded Japan's unconditional surrender.

A pressing issue discussed during the conference was the problem of dividing the remaining German fleet. On July 22-23, Stalin and Molotov presented at the conference the territorial claims of the USSR to Turkey and the demand for a favorable regime for the USSR in the Black Sea straits. These claims were not supported by the British and American sides (although the final minutes of the conference mention a revision of the Montreux Convention taking into account the views of the Turkish side). On the final day of the conference, the heads of delegations made fundamental decisions to resolve post-war issues, approved on August 7, 1945 with certain reservations by France, which was not invited to the conference. In Potsdam, many contradictions between the allies emerged, which soon led to the Cold War.

5. Creation of the UN

anti-Hitler ally coalition post-dame

The United Nations (UN) is an international organization of states created to maintain and strengthen international peace, security, and develop cooperation between countries. The name United Nations, proposed by United States President Franklin Roosevelt, was first used in the Declaration of the United Nations on January 1, 1942, when, during World War II, representatives of 26 states pledged on behalf of their governments to continue the joint struggle against the countries of the Nazi bloc. The first contours of the UN were outlined at a conference in Washington at the Dumbarton Oaks mansion. In two series of meetings held from September 21 to October 7, 1944, the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and China agreed on the goals, structure, and functions of the world organization. On February 11, 1945, following meetings in Yalta, US, UK and USSR leaders Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin declared their determination to establish “a universal international organization for the maintenance of peace and security.” On April 25, 1945, representatives from 50 countries met in San Francisco at the United Nations Conference on the Establishment of an International Organization to develop the UN Charter. Delegates from countries representing over 80% of the world's population gathered in San Francisco. The Conference was attended by 850 delegates, and together with their advisers, delegation staff and the Conference secretariat, the total number of persons taking part in the work of the Conference reached 3,500. In addition, there were more than 2,500 representatives of the press, radio and newsreels, as well as observers from various societies and organizations. The San Francisco Conference was not only one of the most important in history, but in all likelihood the largest international gathering ever held. The agenda of the Conference included proposals developed by representatives of China, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and the United States at Dumbarton Oaks, on the basis of which the delegates were to develop a Charter acceptable to all states. On June 25, 1945, the Charter of 111 articles was unanimously adopted.

The Charter was signed on June 26, 1945 by representatives of 50 countries. Poland, not represented at the Conference, signed it later and became the 51st founding state. The UN has officially existed since October 24, 1945 - to this day the Charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, the United States and most of the other signatory states. October 24 is celebrated annually as United Nations Day. The purposes of the UN, as enshrined in its Charter, are the maintenance of international peace and security, the prevention and elimination of threats to peace, and the suppression of acts of aggression, the settlement or resolution by peaceful means of international disputes, the development of friendly relations between nations based on respect for the principle of equality and self-determination of peoples; implementation of international cooperation in economic, social, cultural and humanitarian fields, promotion and development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of race, gender, language and religion. UN members have pledged to act in accordance with the following principles: sovereign equality of states; resolution of international disputes by peaceful means; refusal in international relations to threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.

Conclusion

The Second World War ended with complete defeat and capitulation of those who started it. The victory in the war had world-historical significance. The huge military forces of the aggressor countries were defeated. The military defeat of Germany, Italy and Japan, and other powers of the Hitler Axis meant the collapse of brutal dictatorial regimes. The victory strengthened sympathy for the USSR throughout the world and immeasurably raised the authority of our country.

The USSR played a major role in the anti-Hitler coalition. The opening of the second front was delayed until the summer of 1944 and therefore the USSR took over the main enemy forces. The role of allies cannot be denied. The anti-Hitler coalition was formed in 1941. In Tehran, important issues were: the post-war structure of the world, the opening of a second front, the creation of the UN after the war, the future fate of Germany. In February 1945, the same issues were discussed and the USSR made a promise to war against Japan 2-3 months after the defeat of Germany. At the conference in Potsdam, the Big Three were represented in a new composition - Churchill was replaced by Atlee, having won the elections in Great Britain, and the American delegation was headed by G. Truman. At the conference, new borders were established in Europe, the Polish question and the upcoming war with Japan were discussed.

The Second World War ended with the defeat of Japan and on September 2, 1945, the surrender of Japan was signed on the cruiser Missouri.

List of sources and literature used

1. “The Great Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius 2006 (3CD)”

2. Borisov N.S., Levandovsky A.A., Shchetinyuk Yu.A. The key to the history of the Fatherland - M: Moscow University Publishing House.

3. Great Patriotic War. Voenizdat. M. 1989

4. The Great Patriotic War: questions and answers / Bobylev P.N., Lipitsky S.V., Monin M.E., Pankratov N.R. - M: Politizdat.

5. History of Russia, XX - early XXI centuries: textbook. for 9th grade. general education institutions / A.A. Danilov, L.G. Kosulina, M.Yu. Brandt. - 3rd ed. - M.: Education, 2006. - 381 p.,

6. Russia in the twentieth century: Textbook. For 10-11 grades. general education institutions /A.A. Levandovsky, Yu.A. Shchetinov. - 5th ed. - M.: Education, 2001. - 368 p.,

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