+The Great Battles
Between the start of the Great Patriotic War and the German surrender a lot of bloody battles took place. Some of them went down in history as the determining ones in the course of the most terrible war in the history of mankind. During the first months of war the Germans achieved great successes. They
captured the city of Smolensk,
surrounded Leningrad and
were threatening Moscow.
The Battle of Moscow (October 2, 1941 – January 7, 1942) was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategic fighting on the Eastern front. The Germans
underestimated the strength of our army, which led to the end of the German “Operation Barbarossa”, giving our forces an opportunity to start a counter-offensive attack and becoming a turning point of the whole war.
The Battle of Stalingrad, (July 17, 1942–February 2, 1943) was a major
battle on the Eastern Front of the Great Patriotic War, where Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd). However, the defenders of the city raised their
arms and
weapons against the enemy and the battle resulted in successful Soviet defense of the city and helped the Russian army to take the initiative for the entire course of the war.
The Battle of Kursk (July 5, 1943 – August 23, 1943) (also known as “The Kursk Bulge”) was a clash between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front. The Soviet Army was victorious in this battle and Hitler's dreams of conquering Russia were ended. German troops were unable to break through the Red Army's fortifications and so lost the advantage. However, our troops won at great cost.
The Byelorussian Strategic Offensive Operation (June 22 – August 19, 1944 (also known as “the Operation Bagration”)) was focused on surrounding and destroying main fascist armies. It was the biggest defeat in German military history, with severe casualties for Germany which allowed the Soviet forces to Berlin.
The Battle of Berlin, (April 16 – May 2, 1945) (Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union) which is also known as the "Fall of Berlin", was one of the last major offensives during the course of the Great Patriotic War. The Red Army attacked Berlin from the east and south eventually taking control of the entire city.
The main reason for those fantastic victories was our people’s
selflessness and the strength of our army’s
spirit.
