And the end of the bloodshed, because it was she who put an end to the end of the Great Patriotic War.

In the period from January to March 1945, Soviet troops fought active battles in Germany. Thanks to unprecedented heroism in the area and the Neisse, strategic bridgeheads were captured by Soviet troops, including the Kustrin area.

The Berlin operation lasted only 23 days, began on April 16 and ended on May 8, 1945. Our troops made a throw across Germany to the west for a distance of almost 220 km, and the front of fierce hostilities spread over a width of more than 300 km.

At the same time, without encountering particularly organized resistance, the Anglo-American allied forces approached Berlin.

The plan of the Soviet troops was, first of all, to inflict several powerful and unexpected blows on a wide front. The second task was to separate the remnants of the fascist troops, namely the Berlin group, into parts. The third, final part of the plan was to encircle and finally destroy the remnants of the Nazi troops in parts and at this stage to capture the city of Berlin.

But, before starting the main, decisive battle in the war, a huge preparatory work was carried out. Soviet aircraft carried out 6 reconnaissance sorties. Their goal was aerial photography of Berlin. The scouts were interested in the fascist defensive lines of the city and fortifications. Almost 15,000 aerial photographs were taken by pilots. Based on the results of these surveys and interviews of prisoners, special maps of the fortified areas of the city were compiled. It was they who were successfully used in organizing the offensive of the Soviet troops.

A detailed plan of the terrain and defensive enemy fortifications, which were studied in detail, ensured the successful assault on Berlin and fighting in the center of the capital.

In order to deliver weapons and ammunition, as well as fuel, on time, Soviet engineers converted the German railway track to the familiar Russian track all the way to the Oder.

The assault on Berlin was carefully prepared, for this, along with maps, an exact layout of the city was made. It displayed the layout of streets and squares. The slightest features of attacks and assaults on the streets of the capital were worked out.

In addition, the scouts carried out misinformation of the enemy, and the date of the strategic offensive was kept in strict secrecy. Only two hours before the attack, junior commanders had the right to tell their subordinate Red Army men about the offensive.

The Berlin operation of 1945 began on April 16 with the main attack of the Soviet troops from the bridgehead in the Kustrin area on the Oder River. First, Soviet artillery struck a powerful blow, and then aviation.

The Berlin operation was a fierce battle, the remnants of the fascist army did not want to give up the capital, because it would have been a complete fall. The battles were very fierce, the enemy had an order - not to surrender Berlin.

As noted earlier, the Berlin operation lasted only 23 days. Given that the battle was on the territory of the Reich, and it was the agony of fascism, the battle was special.

The heroic 1st Belorussian Front was the first to act, it was he who delivered the strongest blow to the enemy, and the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front launched an active offensive at the same time on the Neisse River.

It should be noted that the Nazis were well prepared for defense. On the banks of the Neisse and Oder rivers, they created powerful defensive fortifications that stretched up to 40 kilometers in depth.

The city of Berlin at that time consisted of three rings built in the form of rings. The Nazis skillfully used obstacles: every lake, river, canal and numerous ravines, and the surviving large buildings played the role of strongholds, ready for all-round defense. The streets and squares of Berlin have turned into real barricades.

Starting from April 21, as soon as the Soviet army entered Berlin, and right up to the very streets of the capital, there were endless battles. Streets and houses were taken by storm, fighting was going on even in subway tunnels, in sewer pipes, in dungeons.

Berlin offensive ended with the victory of the Soviet troops. The last efforts of the Nazi command to keep Berlin in their hands ended in complete failure.

April 20 became a special day in this operation. This was a turning point in the battle for Berlin, as Berlin fell on April 21, but even before May 2 there were life-and-death battles. April 25 also happened major event, since the Ukrainian troops in the area of ​​​​the cities of Torgau and Riza met with the soldiers of the 1st American Army.

On April 30, Red was already developing over the Reichstag, and on the same April 30, Hitler, the inspirer of the bloody war century, took poison.

On May 8, 1945, the main document of the war, the act of complete surrender of Nazi Germany, was signed.

During the operation, our troops lost about 350 thousand people. The loss of manpower of the Red Army amounted to 15 thousand people per day.

Undoubtedly, this war, inhuman in its cruelty, was won by a simple soviet soldier because he knew that he died for his country!

Berlin strategic offensive operation (Berlin operation, Capture of Berlin)- offensive operation of the Soviet troops during Great Patriotic War, which ended with the capture of Berlin and victory in the war.

The military operation was conducted on the territory of Europe from April 16 to May 9, 1945, during which the territories occupied by the Germans were liberated and Berlin was taken under control. Berlin operation was the last in Great Patriotic and World War II.

As part of Berlin operation the following smaller operations were carried out:

• Stettin-Rostock;
• Zelovsko-Berlinskaya;
• Cottbus-Potsdam;
• Stremberg-Torgauskaya;
• Brandenburg-Rathenow.

The purpose of the operation was the capture of Berlin, which would allow Soviet troops open the way to connecting with the Allies on the Elbe River and thus prevent Hitler from delaying second world war for a longer period.

The course of the Berlin operation

In November 1944, the General Staff of the Soviet troops began planning an offensive operation on the outskirts of the German capital. During the operation, it was supposed to defeat the German Army Group "A" and finally liberate the occupied territories of Poland.

At the end of the same month, the German army launched a counteroffensive in the Ardennes and was able to push back the Allied troops, thereby putting them almost on the brink of defeat. To continue the war, the allies needed the support of the USSR - for this, the leadership of the United States and Great Britain turned to the Soviet Union with a request to send their troops and conduct offensive operations in order to distract Hitler and give the allies the opportunity to recover.

The Soviet command agreed, and the USSR army launched an offensive, but the operation began almost a week earlier, due to which there was insufficient preparation and, as a result, heavy losses.

By mid-February, Soviet troops were able to cross the Oder, the last obstacle on the way to Berlin. A little more than seventy kilometers remained to the capital of Germany. From that moment on, the fighting took on a more protracted and fierce character - Germany did not want to give up and tried with all its might to restrain the Soviet offensive, but it was quite difficult to stop the Red Army.

At the same time, preparations began on the territory of East Prussia for the assault on the Königsberg fortress, which was extremely well fortified and seemed almost impregnable. For the assault, the Soviet troops carried out a thorough artillery preparation, which as a result bore fruit - the fortress was taken unusually quickly.

In April 1945, the Soviet army began preparations for the long-awaited assault on Berlin. The leadership of the USSR was of the opinion that in order to achieve the success of the entire operation, it was necessary to urgently carry out an assault without delay, since the prolongation of the war itself could lead to the Germans being able to open another front in the West and conclude a separate peace. In addition, the leadership of the USSR did not want to give Berlin to the Allied forces.

Berlin offensive operation prepared very carefully. Huge stocks of military equipment and ammunition were transferred to the outskirts of the city, and the forces of three fronts were pulled together. The operation was commanded by marshals G.K. Zhukov, K.K. Rokossovsky and I.S. Konev. In total, more than 3 million people participated in the battle on both sides.

Storming Berlin

Berlin operation characterized by the highest density of artillery shells in the history of all world wars. The defense of Berlin was thought out to the smallest detail, and it was not so easy to break through the system of fortifications and tricks, by the way, the loss of armored vehicles amounted to 1800 units. That is why the command decided to bring up all the nearby artillery to suppress the defense of the city. The result was a truly hellish fire that literally wiped out the enemy's front line of defense.

The assault on the city began on April 16 at 3 am. In the light of searchlights, one and a half hundred tanks and infantry attacked the defensive positions of the Germans. A fierce battle was fought for four days, after which the forces of three Soviet fronts and the troops of the Polish army managed to encircle the city. On the same day, Soviet troops met with the allies on the Elbe. As a result of four days of fighting, several hundred thousand people were captured, dozens of armored vehicles were destroyed.

However, despite the offensive, Hitler was not going to surrender Berlin, he insisted that the city must be held at all costs. Hitler refused to surrender even after the Soviet troops came close to the city, he threw all available human resources, including children and the elderly, onto the field of operations.

On April 21, the Soviet army was able to reach the outskirts of Berlin and start street fighting there - German soldiers fought to the last, following Hitler's order not to surrender.

On April 30, the Soviet flag was hoisted on the building - the war ended, Germany was defeated.

The results of the Berlin operation

Berlin operation put an end to the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War. As a result of the rapid offensive of the Soviet troops, Germany was forced to surrender, all chances for opening a second front and making peace with the allies were cut off. Hitler, having learned about the defeat of his army and the entire fascist regime, committed suicide. More awards were given for the storming of Berlin than for the rest of the military operations of the Second World War. 180 units were awarded honorary "Berlin" distinctions, which in terms of personnel - 1 million 100 thousand people.

How did this important historical event take place? What preceded it, what were the plans and the alignment of forces of the warring parties. How the operation of the Soviet troops to capture Berlin developed, the chronology of events, the assault on the Reichstag with the hoisting of the Banner of Victory and the significance of the historical battle.

The capture of Berlin and the fall of the Third Reich

By the middle of spring 1945, the main events were unfolding in a significant part of Germany. By this time, Poland, Hungary, almost all of Czechoslovakia, Eastern Pomerania and Silesia had been liberated. The troops of the Red Army liberated the capital of Austria - Vienna. The defeat of large enemy groupings in East Prussia, Courland, and the Zemlandsky Peninsula was completed. Most of the coast of the Baltic Sea remained with our army. Finland, Bulgaria, Romania and Italy were withdrawn from the war.

In the south, the Yugoslav army, together with the Soviet troops, cleared most of Serbia and its capital Belgrade from the Nazis. From the west, the Allies crossed the Rhine and the operation to defeat the Ruhr group was coming to an end.

The German economy was in great difficulty. The raw material areas of the previously occupied countries were lost. The decline in the industry continued. Production of military products for six months has decreased by more than 60 percent. In addition, the Wehrmacht experienced difficulties with mobilization resources. Sixteen-year-old youths were already subject to the call. However, Berlin still remained not only the political capital of fascism, but also a major economic center. In addition, Hitler concentrated the main forces with a huge combat potential in the Berlin direction.

That is why the defeat of the Berlin grouping of German troops and the capture of the capital of the Third Reich had such importance.The battle for Berlin and its fall was to put an end to the Great Patriotic War and become the natural outcome of the Second World War of 1939-1945.

Berlin offensive operation

All participants were interested in the speedy end of hostilities. anti-Hitler coalition. The fundamental questions, namely: who will take Berlin, the division of spheres of influence in Europe, the post-war structure of Germany and others, were resolved in the Crimea at a conference in Yalta.

The enemy understood that strategically the war was lost, but in the current situation he tried to extract tactical benefits. His main task was to drag out the war in order to find ways out for separate negotiations with the Western allies of the USSR in order to obtain more favorable terms of surrender.

There is also an opinion that Hitler had hope for the so-called weapon of retaliation, which was at the stage of final development and was supposed to turn the balance of power. That is why the Wehrmacht needed time, and losses here did not play any role. Therefore, Hitler concentrated 214 divisions on the Soviet-German front, and only 60 on the American-British one.

Preparation of an offensive operation, the position and tasks of the parties. The balance of forces and means

On the German side, the defense of the Berlin direction was assigned to army groups "Center" and "Vistula". The construction of echeloned defense was carried out from the beginning of 1945. The main part of it was the Oder-Neissen line and the Berlin defensive area.

The first was a deep defense of three lanes up to forty kilometers wide, with powerful strongholds, engineering barriers and areas prepared for flooding.

In the Berlin defensive area, three so-called defensive ring bypasses were equipped. The first, or external, was prepared at a distance of twenty-five to forty kilometers from the center of the capital. It included strongholds and points of resistance in settlements, defense lines along rivers and canals. The second main, or internal, up to eight kilometers deep passed through the outskirts of Berlin. All lines and positions were tied into a single system of fire. The third city bypass coincided with the ring railway. Berlin itself was divided into nine sectors by the command of the Nazi troops. The streets leading to the city center were barricaded, the first floors of buildings were turned into long-term firing points and structures, trenches and caponiers were dug for guns and tanks. All positions were connected by message moves. For a covert maneuver, it was supposed to actively use the metro as a roadway.

The operation of the Soviet troops to capture Berlin began to be developed during the winter offensive.

Plan for the Battle of Berlin

The idea of ​​​​the command was this - to break through the Oder-Neissen line with coordinated strikes from three fronts, then, developing the offensive, go to Berlin, surround the enemy grouping, cut it into several parts and destroy it. In the future, no later than 15 days from the beginning of the operation, reach the Elbe to join the Allied forces. To do this, the Headquarters decided to involve the 1st and 2nd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts.

Due to the fact that the Soviet-German front narrowed, the Nazis in the Berlin direction managed to achieve an incredible density of troops. In some areas, it reached 1 division per 3 kilometers of the front line. The army groups "Center", "Vistula" included 48 infantry, 6 tank, 9 motorized divisions, 37 separate infantry regiments, 98 separate infantry battalions. Also, the Nazis had about two thousand aircraft, including 120 jets. In addition, about two hundred battalions, the so-called Volkssturm, were formed in the Berlin garrison, their total number exceeded two hundred thousand people.

Three Soviet fronts outnumbered the enemy and had the 21st combined arms army, 4 tank and 3 air, in addition, 10 separate tank and mechanized and 4 cavalry corps. It was also envisaged to involve the Baltic Fleet, the Dnieper military flotilla, long-range aviation and part of the country's air defense forces. In addition, Polish formations took part in the operation - they included 2 armies, a tank and aviation corps, 2 artillery divisions, a mortar brigade.

By the beginning of the operation, Soviet troops had an advantage over the Germans:

• in personnel by 2.5 times;
• in guns and mortars by 4 times;
• in tanks and self-propelled artillery installations by 4.1 times;
• in airplanes by 2.3 times.

Operation start

The offensive was to begin April 16. In front of him, in the offensive zone of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts, one rifle battalion from each tried to open fire weapons on the front line of the enemy’s defense.

AT 5.00 artillery preparation started on the appointed date. After that 1 -th Belorussian Front under the command of Marshal Zhukov went on the offensive, inflicting three blows: one main and two auxiliary. The main one in the direction of Berlin through the Seelow Heights and the city of Seelow, the auxiliary ones are north and south of the German capital. The enemy stubbornly resisted, and it was not possible to take the heights from a swoop. After a series of detour maneuvers, only towards the end of the day did our army finally take the city of Zelov.

On the first and second days of the operation, battles were fought in the first line of defense of the German fascists. It was not until April 17 that a breach was finally made in the second lane. The German command tried to stop the offensive by committing available reserves into battle, but they did not succeed. The battles continued on 18 and 19 April. The pace of progress remained very low. The Nazis were not going to give up, their defense was filled with a large number of anti-tank weapons. Dense artillery fire, stiffness of maneuver due to difficult terrain - all this influenced the actions of our troops. Nevertheless, on April 19, at the end of the day, they broke through the third, last line of defense of this line. As a result, in the first four days, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front advanced 30 kilometers.

The offensive of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal Konev was more successful. During the first day, the troops crossed the Neisse River, broke through the first line of defense and wedged to a depth of 13 kilometers. The next day, throwing the main forces of the front into battle, they broke through the second lane and advanced 20 kilometers. The enemy retreated across the river Spree. The Wehrmacht, preventing a deep bypass of the entire Berlin grouping, transferred the reserves of the Center group to this sector. Despite this, on April 18, our troops crossed the Spree River and broke into the front line of the defense of the third line. At the end of the third day, in the direction of the main attack, the 1st Ukrainian Front advanced to a depth of 30 kilometers. In the process of further movement by the second half of April, our units and formations cut off the Vistula Army Group from the Center. Large enemy forces were in a semi-encirclement.

Troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front, commanded by Marshal Rokossovsky, according to the plan, they were supposed to attack on April 20, but in order to facilitate the task of the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, they began to cross the Oder on the 18th. By their actions, they pulled part of the enemy's forces and reserves onto themselves. Preparations for the main phase of the operation were completed.

Storming Berlin

Before April 20, all 3 Soviet fronts basically completed the task of breaking through the Oder-Neissen line and destroying the Nazi troops in the suburbs of Berlin. It was time to move on to the assault on the German capital itself.

The beginning of the battle

On April 20, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front began shelling the outskirts of Berlin with long-range artillery, and on April 21 they broke through the first bypass line. Since April 22, fighting has already been fought directly in the city. The distance between the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts advancing from the northeast from the south was reduced. The prerequisites for the complete encirclement of the German capital were created, it also became possible to cut off from the city and encircle a large grouping of the enemy’s 9th infantry army numbering up to two hundred thousand people, with the task of preventing its breakthrough to Berlin or retreat to the west. This plan was implemented on 23 and 24 April.

To avoid encirclement, the Wehrmacht command decided to remove all troops from the western front and throw them on the deblockade of the capital and the encircled 9th Army. On April 26, part of the forces of the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian fronts took up defensive positions. It was necessary to prevent a breakthrough both from the inside and from the outside.

Fighting to destroy the encircled group continued until May 1. In some areas, the fascist German troops managed to break through the defense ring and go to the west, but these attempts were thwarted in time. Only small groups were able to break through and surrender to the Americans. In total, in this area, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian fronts managed to capture about 120 thousand soldiers and officers, a large number of tanks and field guns.

On April 25, Soviet troops met with American troops on the Elbe. Through a well-organized defense and access to the Elbe, units of the 1st Ukrainian Front created a very successful bridgehead. It became important for the subsequent attack on Prague.

Culmination of the Battle of Berlin

Meanwhile, in Berlin, the fighting reached its climax. Assault detachments and groups carried out advancement deep into the city. They consistently moved from building to building, from quarter to quarter, from district to district, destroying pockets of resistance, disrupting the control of the defenders. In the city, the use of tanks was limited.

However, tanks played an important role in the battle for Berlin. Hardened in tank battles on the Kursk Bulge, during the liberation of Belarus and Ukraine, tankers were not to be frightened by Berlin. But they were used only in close cooperation with the infantry. Single attempts, as a rule, led to losses. Artillery units also encountered certain features of the application. Some of them were assigned to assault groups for direct fire and destruction.

Storming of the Reichstag. Banner over the Reichstag

On April 27, the battles for the city center began, which were not interrupted day or night. The Berlin garrison did not stop fighting. On April 28, it flared up again near the Reichstag. It was organized by the troops of the 3rd shock army of the 1st Belorussian Front. But our fighters were able to come close to the building only on April 30th.

Assault groups were given red flags, one of which belonged to the 150th Infantry Division of the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belorussian Front, later became the Banner of Victory. It was erected on May 1 on the pediment of the building by soldiers of the infantry regiment of the Idritskaya division M.A. Egorov and M.V. Kantaria. It was a symbol of the capture of the main fascist citadel.

Standard-bearers of Victory

While preparations for the Victory Parade in June 1945 were in full swing, there was not even a question of whom to appoint as the flag bearers of the Victory. It was Yegorov and Kantaria who were instructed to act as assistant denominator and carry the Banner of Victory across the main square of the country.

Unfortunately, the plans did not materialize. The front-line soldiers, who defeated the Nazis, could not cope with combat science. In addition, combat wounds still made themselves felt. Despite everything, they trained very hard, sparing neither effort nor time.

Marshal G.K. Zhukov, who hosted that famous parade, looked at the rehearsal of carrying the banner and came to the conclusion that it would be too difficult for the heroes of the battle for Berlin. Therefore, he ordered the removal of the Banner to be canceled and the parade to be held without this symbolic part.

But after 20 years, two heroes still carried the Banner of Victory across Red Square. It happened at the 1965 Victory Parade.

Capture of Berlin

The capture of Berlin did not end with the storming of the Reichstag. By May 30, the German troops defending the city were divided into four parts. Their management was completely broken. The Germans were on the brink of disaster. On the same day, the Fuhrer took his own life. On May 1, the chief of the Wehrmacht General Staff, General Krebe, entered into negotiations with the Soviet command and offered to temporarily stop hostilities. Zhukov put forward the only demand - unconditional surrender. It was rejected, and the assault resumed.

Late at night on May 2, the commander of the defense of the German capital, General Weidling, surrendered, and our radio stations began to receive a message from the Nazis asking for a ceasefire. By 3:00 p.m., the resistance had completely ceased. The historic assault is over.

The battle for Berlin was over, but the offensive continued. The 1st Ukrainian Front began a regrouping, the purpose of which was an attack on Prague and the liberation of Czechoslovakia. At the same time, the 1st Belorussian by May 7 went out on a wide front to the Elbe. The 2nd Belorussian reached the coast of the Baltic Sea, and also entered into interaction with the 2nd British army, positioned on the Elbe. Later, he began the liberation of the Danish islands in the Baltic Sea.

The results of the assault on Berlin and the entire Berlin operation

The active phase of the Berlin operation lasted a little over two weeks. Her results are:

• a large group of Nazis was defeated, the command of the Wehrmacht practically lost control of the remaining troops;
• the main part of the top leadership of Germany was captured, as well as almost 380 thousand soldiers and officers;
• gained experience in the use of different types of troops in urban battles;
• made an invaluable contribution to the Soviet military art;
• according to various estimates, it was the Berlin operation that dissuaded the leadership of the United States and Britain from starting a war against the USSR.

On the night of May 9, Field Marshal Keitel in Potsdam signed an act that meant complete and unconditional surrender Germany. So May 9 became the Day Great Victory. A conference was soon held there, at which the fate of post-war Germany was decided and the map of Europe was finally redrawn. There were still a few months left before the end of the Second World War of 1939-1945.

All the heroes of the battle were marked by the leadership of the USSR. More than six hundred people were awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union.

In addition, in order to recognize special merits to the Fatherland, a medal was developed "For the capture of Berlin." Interesting fact- the battles in the German capital were still ongoing, and in Moscow they had already presented a sketch of the future medal. The Soviet leadership wanted Russian soldiers to know that wherever they fought for the glory of the Motherland, their awards would find their heroes.

Over a million people have been awarded. In addition to our soldiers, servicemen of the Polish army, who especially distinguished themselves in battles, also received medals. There are a total of seven such awards established for victories in cities outside the USSR.

By the beginning of April 1945, Soviet troops reached the central regions of Germany in a wide strip and were located 60-70 km from its capital, Berlin. Attaching exceptional importance to the Berlin direction, the main command of the Wehrmacht deployed the 3rd tank and 9th armies of the Vistula army group, the 4th tank and 17th armies of the Center army group, aviation of the 6th air fleet and air Fleet "Reich". This grouping included 48 infantry, four tank and ten motorized divisions, 37 separate regiments and 98 separate battalions, two separate tank regiments, other formations and units of the branches of the armed forces and combat arms - a total of about 1 million people, 8 thousand guns and mortars, over 1200 tanks and assault guns, 3330 aircraft.

The area of ​​forthcoming hostilities abounded in a large number of rivers, lakes, canals and large forests, which were widely used by the enemy in creating a system of defensive lines and lines. The Oder-Neisen defensive line with a depth of 20-40 km included three lanes. The first strip, which ran along the western banks of the Oder and Neisse rivers, consisted of two to three positions and had a depth of 5-10 km. It was especially strongly fortified in front of the Kyustrinsky bridgehead. The front line was covered by minefields, barbed wire and subtle obstacles. The average density of mining in the most important directions reached 2 thousand mines per 1 km.

At a distance of 10-20 km from the front line, a second lane ran along the western banks of numerous rivers. Within its limits were also Zelov heights, which towered over the valley of the river. Oder at 40-60 m. The basis of the third strip were settlements, turned into strong nodes of resistance. Further in the depths was the Berlin defensive area, which consisted of three ring contours and the city itself, prepared for long-term resistance. The outer defensive bypass was located at a distance of 25-40 km from the center, and the inner one ran along the outskirts of the Berlin suburbs.

The purpose of the operation was to defeat the German troops in the Berlin direction, to capture the capital of Germany and with access to the river. Elba to get in touch with the Allied armies. Its plan was to inflict several blows in a wide band, surround and at the same time cut the enemy grouping into pieces and destroy them individually. The Supreme Command Headquarters involved the 2nd and 1st Belorussian, 1st Ukrainian fronts, part of the forces of the Baltic Fleet, the 18th Air Army, the Dnieper military flotilla to carry out the operation - in total up to 2.5 million people, 41,600 guns and mortars, 6300 tanks and self-propelled guns, 8400 aircraft.

The task of the 1st Belorussian Front was to deliver the main blow from the Kustrinsky bridgehead on the Oder with the forces of seven armies, of which two were tank armies, to capture Berlin and, no later than 12-15 days of the operation, reach the river. Elbe. The 1st Ukrainian Front was to break through the enemy defenses on the river. Neisse, part of the forces to assist the 1st Belorussian Front in capturing the capital of Germany, and the main forces, developing the offensive in the northern and northwestern directions, no later than 10-12 days to capture the border along the river. Elbe to Dresden. The encirclement of Berlin was achieved by its detour from the north and northwest by the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, and from the south and southwest by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front. The 2nd Belorussian Front received the task of crossing the river. Oder in the lower reaches, defeat the Stettin grouping of the enemy and continue the offensive in the direction of Rostock.

The transition to the offensive of the 1st Belorussian Front was preceded by reconnaissance in force, carried out on April 14 and 15 by advanced battalions. Taking advantage of their success in separate sectors, regiments of the first echelons of divisions were brought into battle, which overcame the most dense minefields. But the measures taken did not allow misleading the German command. Having determined that the Soviet troops planned to deliver the main blow from the Kustra bridgehead, the commander of the Vistula Army Group, Colonel-General G. Heinrici, on the evening of April 15, ordered the infantry units and artillery of the 9th Army to be withdrawn from the front line to the depth of defense.

At 5 am on April 16, before dawn, artillery preparation began, during which the most dense fire was fired at the first position left by the enemy. After its completion, 143 powerful searchlights were turned on. Encountering no organized resistance, infantry formations with the support of aviation overcame 1.5-2 km. However, with their access to the third position, the battles took on a fierce character. In order to increase the force of impact, the Marshal of the Soviet Union brought into battle the 1st and 2nd Guards Tank Armies of Colonel General M.E. Katukov and S.I. Bogdanov. Unlike the plan, this input was carried out even before the Zelov heights were mastered. But only by the end of the next day, the divisions of the 5th shock and 8th guards armies, Colonel General N.E. Berzarin and V.I. Chuikov, together with tank corps, with the support of bomber and attack aircraft, were able to break through the enemy defenses in the second lane and advance to a depth of 11-13 km.

During April 18 and 19, the main strike force of the 1st Belorussian Front, successively overcoming echeloned positions, lanes and lines, increased its penetration to 30 km and cut the German 9th Army into three parts. It attracted a significant part of the enemy's operational reserves. In four days, he transferred an additional seven divisions, two brigades of tank destroyers, and more than 30 separate battalions to its zone. Soviet troops inflicted significant damage on the enemy: nine of his divisions lost up to 80% of their people and almost all military equipment. Seven more divisions lost more than half of their composition. But their own losses were significant. Only in tanks and self-propelled guns they amounted to 727 units (23% of those available at the beginning of the operation).

In the zone of the 1st Ukrainian Front, reconnaissance in force was carried out on the night of April 16. In the morning, after artillery and aviation preparation, reinforced battalions began crossing the river under the cover of a smoke screen. Neisse. Having seized the bridgeheads, they ensured the construction of pontoon bridges, along which formations of the first echelon of the armies, as well as the advanced units of the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies, the 25th and 4th Guards Tank Corps, crossed to the opposite bank. During the day, the strike force broke through the main line of defense of the German troops in a sector 26 km wide and advanced 13 km in depth, however, as on the 1st Belorussian Front, it did not complete the task of the day.

On April 17, the Marshal of the Soviet Union brought into battle the main forces of the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies, Colonel Generals and, who broke through the enemy's second line of defense and advanced 18 km in two days. Attempts by the German command to delay their offensive with numerous counterattacks from their reserves were not successful, and it was forced to begin a retreat to the third line of defense, which ran along the river. Spree. In order to pre-empt the enemy from occupying a profitable defensive line, the commander of the front troops ordered to increase the pace of advance to the maximum. Fulfilling the task, the rifle divisions of the 13th Army (Colonel General N.P. Pukhov), the tank corps of the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies reached the Spree by the end of April 18, crossed it on the move and captured the bridgehead.

On the whole, in three days, the front's shock grouping completed the breakthrough of the Neissen defensive line in the direction of the main attack to a depth of 30 km. At the same time, the 2nd Army of the Polish Army (Lieutenant General K. Sverchevsky), the 52nd Army (Colonel General K.A. Koroteev) and the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps (Lieutenant General V.K. Baranov) operating in the Dresden direction ) moved to the west by 25-30 km.

After breaking through the Oder-Neissen line, the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts began to develop an offensive in order to encircle Berlin. Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov decided to bypass the capital of Germany from the northeast to carry out the 47th (Lieutenant General F.I. Perkhorovich) and 3rd shock (Colonel General V.I. Kuznetsov) armies in cooperation with the corps of the 2nd Guards Tank Army. The 5th shock, 8th guards and 1st guards tank armies were to continue the attack on the city from the east and isolate the enemy's Frankfurt-Guben grouping from it.

According to the plan of the Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev, the 3rd Guards and 13th Armies, as well as the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies, were intended to cover Berlin from the south. At the same time, the 4th Guards Tank Army was to link up to the west of the city with the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front and encircle the enemy's Berlin grouping itself.

During April 20-22, the nature of hostilities in the zone of the 1st Belorussian Front did not change. His armies were forced, as before, to overcome the fierce resistance of the German troops in numerous strongholds, each time carrying out artillery and aviation training. The tank corps were never able to break away from the rifle units and acted on the same line with them. Nevertheless, they consistently broke through the outer and inner defensive contours of the city and started fighting on its northeastern and northern outskirts.

The 1st Ukrainian Front operated under more favorable conditions. In the course of breaking through the defensive lines on the Neisse and Spree rivers, he defeated the enemy's operational reserves, which allowed mobile formations to develop the offensive in separate directions at a high pace. On April 20, the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies reached the approaches to Berlin. Destroying the enemy over the next two days in the areas of Zossen, Luckenwalde and Ueterbog, they overcame the outer Berlin defensive bypass, broke into the southern outskirts of the city and cut off the retreat of the German 9th Army to the west. To accomplish the same task, the 28th Army of Lieutenant General A.A. was also introduced into the battle from the second echelon. Luchinsky.

In the course of further actions, units of the 8th Guards Army of the 1st Belorussian Front and the 28th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front established interaction in the Bonsdorf area on April 24, thereby completing the encirclement of the Frankfurt-Guben grouping of the enemy. The next day, when the 2nd and 4th Guards Tank Armies joined west of Potsdam, the same fate befell his Berlin grouping. At the same time, units of the 5th Guards Army, Colonel-General A.S. Zhadova met on the Elbe in the Torgau region with the American 1st Army.

Starting from April 20, the 2nd Belorussian Front of Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. began to implement the general plan of the operation. Rokossovsky. On that day, the formation of the 65th, 70th and 49th armies of Colonel General P.I. Batova, V.S. Popova and I.T. Grishin crossed the river. West Oder and captured bridgeheads on its western bank. Overcoming enemy fire resistance and repulsing counterattacks by his reserves, formations of the 65th and 70th armies united the captured bridgeheads into one up to 30 km wide and up to 6 km deep. Developing the offensive from it, by the end of April 25, they had completed the breakthrough of the main line of defense of the German 3rd Panzer Army.

The final stage of the Berlin offensive began on 26 April. Its content was to destroy the encircled enemy groups and capture the capital of Germany. Deciding to hold Berlin to the last opportunity, on April 22 Hitler ordered the 12th Army, which until that time had been operating against American troops, to break through to the southern suburbs of the city. The encircled 9th Army was supposed to break through in the same direction. After the connection, they were to strike at the Soviet troops that had bypassed Berlin from the south. To meet them from the north, it was planned to launch an offensive by Steiner's army group.

Anticipating the possibility of a breakthrough of the Frankfurt-Guben enemy grouping to the west, Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev ordered four rifle divisions of the 28th and 13th armies, reinforced with tanks, self-propelled guns and anti-tank artillery, to go on the defensive and frustrate the plans of the Wehrmacht high command. At the same time, the destruction of the encircled troops began. By that time, up to 15 divisions of the German 9th and 4th tank armies were blocked in the forests southeast of Berlin. They numbered 200 thousand soldiers and officers, more than 2 thousand guns and mortars, over 300 tanks and assault guns. To defeat the enemy from the two fronts, six armies were involved, part of the forces of the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies, the main forces of the 2nd Air Army of Colonel General Aviation S.A. Krasovsky.

Inflicting simultaneous frontal strikes and strikes in converging directions, the Soviet troops constantly reduced the area of ​​the encirclement area, cut the enemy grouping into parts, disrupted the interaction between them and destroyed them individually. At the same time, they stopped the unceasing attempts of the German command to make a breakthrough to connect with the 12th Army. To do this, it was necessary to constantly build up forces and means in threatened directions, to increase the depth of combat formations of troops on them to 15-20 km.

Despite heavy losses, the enemy persistently rushed to the west. Its maximum advance was more than 30 km, and the minimum distance between the formations of the 9th and 12th armies that delivered counter strikes was only 3-4 km. However, by the beginning of May, the Frankfurt-Guben group had ceased to exist. During heavy fighting, up to 60,000 people were killed, 120,000 soldiers and officers were captured, over 300 tanks and assault guns, 1,500 field and anti-aircraft artillery guns, 17,600 vehicles, and a large number of other equipment were captured.

The destruction of the Berlin group, which numbered over 200 thousand people, more than 3 thousand guns and mortars, 250 tanks, was carried out in the period from April 26 to May 2. At the same time, the main way to overcome enemy resistance was the widespread use of assault detachments as part of rifle units, reinforced with artillery, tanks, self-propelled guns and sappers. They attacked with the support of aviation of the 16th (Colonel-General of Aviation K.A. Vershinin) and 18th (Chief Marshal of Aviation A.E. Golovanov) air armies in narrow areas and cut the German units into many isolated groups.

On April 26, formations of the 47th Army of the 1st Belorussian Front and the 3rd Guards Tank Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front separated the enemy groups located in Potsdam and directly in Berlin. The next day, Soviet troops captured Potsdam and at the same time started fighting in the central (ninth) defensive sector of Berlin, where the highest state and military authorities of Germany were located.

On April 29, the rifle corps of the 3rd shock army entered the Reichstag area. The approaches to it were covered by the river. Spree and a number of fortified large buildings. At 13:30 on April 30, artillery preparation for the assault began, in which, in addition to artillery operating from closed positions, 152- and 203-mm howitzers took part as direct fire guns. After its completion, units of the 79th Rifle Corps attacked the enemy and broke into the Reichstag.

As a result of the fighting on April 30, the position of the Berlin group became hopeless. It was divided into isolated groups, command and control of troops at all levels was violated. Despite this, individual subunits and units of the enemy continued futile resistance for several days. Only by the end of May 5 it was finally broken. 134,000 surrendered. German soldiers and officers.

In the period from May 3 to May 8, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front advanced in a wide strip to the river. Elbe. The 2nd Belorussian Front, operating to the north, by that time had completed the defeat of the German 3rd Panzer Army, reached the coast of the Baltic Sea and the line of the Elbe. On May 4, in the Wismar-Grabov sector, his formations established contact with units of the British 2nd Army.

During the Berlin operation, the 2nd and 1st Belorussian, 1st Ukrainian fronts defeated 70 infantry, 12 tank and 11 motorized divisions, 3 battle groups, 10 separate brigades, 31 separate regiments, 12 separate battalions and 2 military schools. They captured about 480 thousand enemy soldiers and officers, captured 1550 tanks, 8600 guns, 4150 aircraft. At the same time, the losses of the Soviet troops amounted to 274,184 people, of which 78,291 were irretrievable, 2,108 guns and mortars, 1,997 tanks and self-propelled artillery, 917 combat aircraft.

A distinctive feature of the operation, compared with the largest offensive operations carried out in 1944-1945, was its shallow depth, which amounted to 160-200 km. This was due to the line of the meeting of the Soviet and allied forces along the river Elbe. Nevertheless, the Berlin operation is an instructive example of an offensive aimed at encircling a large enemy grouping while cutting it into pieces and destroying each of them separately. It also fully reflects the issues of consistently breaking through echeloned defensive lines and lines, timely buildup of strike force, the use of tank armies and corps as mobile groups of fronts and armies, and combat operations in a large city.

For courage, heroism and high military skill shown during the operation, 187 formations and units were awarded the honorary title "Berlin". By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 9, 1945, the medal "For the Capture of Berlin" was established, which was awarded to about 1082 thousand Soviet soldiers.

Sergei Aptreikin,
Leading Research Fellow of the Research
Institute ( military history) Military Academy
General Staff of the RF Armed Forces

During the Great Patriotic War, Soviet troops carried out the Berlin strategic offensive operation, the purpose of which was to defeat the main forces of the German army groups Vistula and Center, capture Berlin, reach the Elbe River and join forces with the Allied forces.

The troops of the Red Army, having defeated large groupings of Nazi troops in East Prussia, Poland and East Pomerania during January-March 1945, by the end of March reached the Oder and Neisse rivers on a wide front. After the liberation of Hungary and the occupation of Vienna by Soviet troops in mid-April, fascist Germany was under the blows of the Red Army from the east and south. At the same time, from the west, without encountering any organized resistance from the Germans, the Allied troops advanced in the Hamburg, Leipzig and Prague directions.

The main forces of the Nazi troops acted against the Red Army. By April 16, there were 214 divisions on the Soviet-German front (of which 34 were armored and 15 motorized) and 14 brigades, and against the American-British troops, the German command held only 60 poorly equipped divisions, of which five were armored. The Berlin direction was defended by 48 infantry, six tank and nine motorized divisions and many other units and formations (a total of one million people, 10.4 thousand guns and mortars, 1.5 thousand tanks and assault guns). From the air, ground troops covered 3.3 thousand combat aircraft.

The defense of the Nazi troops in the Berlin direction included the Oder-Neissen line 20-40 kilometers deep, which had three defensive lanes, and the Berlin defensive area, which consisted of three ring contours - external, internal and urban. In total, with Berlin, the depth of defense reached 100 kilometers, it was crossed by numerous canals and rivers, which served as serious obstacles for tank troops.

The Soviet Supreme High Command during the Berlin offensive operation provided for breaking through the enemy’s defenses along the Oder and Neisse and, developing the offensive in depth, encircle the main grouping of Nazi troops, dismember it and subsequently destroy it in parts, and then go to the Elbe. For this, the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front under the command of Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front under the command of Marshal Georgy Zhukov and the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal Ivan Konev were involved. The Dnieper military flotilla, part of the forces of the Baltic Fleet, the 1st and 2nd armies of the Polish Army took part in the operation. In total, the Red Army troops advancing on Berlin numbered over two million people, about 42 thousand guns and mortars, 6250 tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts, 7.5 thousand combat aircraft.

According to the plan of the operation, the 1st Belorussian Front was supposed to capture Berlin and reach the Elbe no later than 12-15 days later. The 1st Ukrainian Front had the task of defeating the enemy in the area of ​​Cottbus and south of Berlin, and on the 10th-12th day of the operation to capture the line of Belitz, Wittenberg and further the Elbe River to Dresden. The 2nd Belorussian Front was to cross the Oder River, defeat the Stettin enemy grouping and cut off the main forces of the German 3rd Panzer Army from Berlin.

On April 16, 1945, after a powerful air and artillery preparation, a decisive attack by the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts of the Oder-Neissen defensive line began. In the area of ​​the main attack of the 1st Belorussian Front, where the offensive was launched before dawn, the infantry and tanks, in order to demoralize the enemy, went on the attack in a zone illuminated by 140 powerful searchlights. The troops of the shock group of the front had to sequentially break through several lanes of defense in depth. By the end of April 17, they managed to break through the enemy defenses in the main sectors near the Seelow Heights. The troops of the 1st Belorussian Front completed the breakthrough of the third line of the Oder line of defense by the end of April 19. On the right wing of the shock group of the front, the 47th Army and the 3rd Shock Army were successfully moving forward to cover Berlin from the north and northwest. On the left wing, conditions were created for bypassing the Frankfurt-Guben enemy grouping from the north and cutting it off from the Berlin area.

The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front crossed the Neisse River, on the first day they broke through the enemy's main line of defense, and wedged 1-1.5 kilometers into the second. By the end of April 18, the troops of the front had completed the breakthrough of the Neusen defense line, crossed the Spree River and provided the conditions for the encirclement of Berlin from the south. On the Dresden direction, formations of the 52nd Army repelled an enemy counterattack from the area north of Görlitz.

On April 18-19, the advanced units of the 2nd Belorussian Front crossed the Ost-Oder, crossed the interfluve of the Ost-Oder and West-Oder, and then began crossing the West-Oder.

On April 20, artillery fire of the 1st Belorussian Front on Berlin laid the foundation for its assault. On April 21, tanks of the 1st Ukrainian Front broke into the southern outskirts of Berlin. On April 24, the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts joined in the Bonsdorf area (southeast of Berlin), completing the encirclement of the Frankfurt-Guben grouping of the enemy. On April 25, tank formations of the fronts, leaving in the Potsdam area, completed the encirclement of the entire Berlin grouping (500 thousand people). On the same day, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front crossed the Elbe River and joined the American troops in the Torgau region.

During the offensive, the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front crossed the Oder and, having broken through the enemy's defenses, advanced to a depth of 20 kilometers by April 25; they firmly fettered the German 3rd Panzer Army, depriving it of the opportunity to launch a counterattack from the north against the Soviet troops surrounding Berlin.

The Frankfurt-Guben grouping was destroyed by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian fronts from April 26 to May 1. The destruction of the Berlin grouping directly in the city continued until May 2. By 3 pm on May 2, enemy resistance in the city had ceased. Fighting with separate groups, breaking through from the outskirts of Berlin to the west, ended on May 5th.

Simultaneously with the defeat of the encircled groupings, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front on May 7 reached the Elbe River on a wide front.

At the same time, the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front, successfully advancing in Western Pomerania and Mecklenburg, on April 26 captured the main strongholds of the enemy’s defense on the western bank of the Oder River - Pölitz, Stettin, Gatow and Schwedt and, deploying a swift pursuit of the remnants of the defeated 3rd tank army, on May 3 they reached the coast of the Baltic Sea, and on May 4 they advanced to the line of Wismar, Schwerin, the Elde River, where they came into contact with the British troops. On May 4-5, the troops of the front cleared the islands of Vollin, Usedom and Rügen from the enemy, and on May 9 they landed on the Danish island of Bornholm.

The resistance of the Nazi troops was finally broken. On the night of May 9, in the Berlin district of Karlshorst, the Act of Surrender of the Armed Forces of Nazi Germany was signed.

The Berlin operation lasted 23 days, the width of the front of hostilities reached 300 kilometers. The depth of front-line operations was 100-220 kilometers, the average daily advance rate was 5-10 kilometers. As part of the Berlin operation, the Stettin-Rostock, Zelow-Berlin, Cottbus-Potsdam, Stremberg-Torgau and Brandenburg-Rathen front-line offensive operations were carried out.

During the Berlin operation, Soviet troops surrounded and liquidated the largest grouping of enemy troops in the history of wars.

They defeated 70 infantry, 23 tank and mechanized divisions of the enemy, captured 480 thousand people.

The Berlin operation cost the Soviet troops dearly. Their irretrievable losses amounted to 78,291 people, and sanitary - 274,184 people.

More than 600 participants in the Berlin operation were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. 13 people were awarded the second Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

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