The Beginning of the Great Patriotic War

Date of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War (1941)year, June 22) is the day when, violating the agreement on non-aggression, fascist Germany invaded the territory of the Soviet Union. This battle is considered the most brutal and hardest of all battles in the history of Russia.

Officially, the beginning of the Great Patriotic War was not announced. The enemy invaded suddenly, early Sunday morning.

The beginning of the Great Patriotic War waspre-designed detailed plan. It should be noted that before the attack Germany possessed human and industrial resources of the countries of Europe that it had seized earlier. This, of course, strengthened the military and economic potential of the Germans.

Sudden and lightning start of the GreatThe Patriotic War according to the "Barbarossa plan" was to lead to an early defeat of the Soviet Union. Germany intended in a short-term campaign to seize all the major political and industrial centers and join the European part of the USSR. Hitler did not doubt the victory. He considered the Soviet Union to be an unstable, weak state.

Command of the fascist army sent to alltheir military units instructions, according to which all German officers were supposed to suggest that the war is "the liberation of Russia from the Soviet yoke." In this information, the officers were warned about the need to keep silent about the subsequent alleged dismemberment of Russia.

Along the Soviet border was concentratedabout five and a half million German officers (190 divisions), about five thousand units of military aviation and four thousand tanks, more than forty-seven thousand mortars and guns. According to historians, this is the largest invasion army.

At the disposal of the Soviet Union was about 170divisions (about three million soldiers). Not yielding to the number of weapons and equipment, the Soviet Army had insufficient military training. In addition, many aviation and tank connections were reorganized or were only in the process of formation. The country did not have enough transport, communication was not enough. New models of aircraft, tanks and other equipment were in the process of development.

Equally important are the transformationsStalin on the eve of the outbreak of hostilities. Due to the Army's ability to act, a serious blow was struck with mass repression in relation to the command staff of the Soviet troops. In addition, despite the obvious preparatory measures of the German units, the mobilization of the Soviet Army, the regrouping of the units and bringing them into combat readiness was not carried out until the very invasion of the Germans.

When the inevitability of the attack became obvious,June 21, evening in the border districts was directed by the Chief of the General Staff Zhukov and People's Commissar Tymoshenko. The directive referred to the proposal to enter the firing positions and bring the units into combat readiness. Until many connections, this order did not come or went, when military operations have already begun.

In 1941, on June 22 at four o'clock in the morningHitler's troops struck artillery on the border areas of the Soviet Union, and then invaded the country. The German army fought along three strategically important lines - Kiev, Moscow and Leningrad.

Unexpected attack allowed the army of Hitler tothe initial stage of the war to gain a significant advantage. Air raids and tank breakthroughs contributed to the advance of the aggressor deep into the Soviet Union.

The Great Patriotic War begana catastrophe. A large number of connections and frontier posts, having taken the first blow at themselves, perished. A huge number of Soviet soldiers were captured. After the start of the battle, Minsk fell in a week.

Despite the hardest conditions in the Great Patriotic War, Soviet servicemen displayed heroism and courage from the very first days of the battle.