The Moscow Battle of 1941

The Second World War knows many significant victories and fateful events. But the Moscow battle takes a very special place in history. It is here, under the walls of the White-stone, the German army suffered its first serious defeat. Near Moscow, the implementation of Hitler's plan Blitzkrieg was practically buried, and the myth of the invincibility of the army of the Third Reich was debunked forever.

In general, the Moscow battle consisted of a complex set of battles and operations that unfolded on a vast territory and continued in the autumn of 1941 and the winter of 1942.

In these events, more than two million people, two and a half thousand tanks, almost two thousand airplanes and more than twenty-five thousand different combat vehicles took part on both sides of the front.

By the nature of the fighting, events near Moscow can be divided into two stages: defensive and offensive.

The Moscow Battle of 1941: the Defensive Stage

In the fall of 1941, Soviet troops were forced to leave Kiev, Smolensk, retreat to Leningrad. Kharkov, Donetsk region, Crimea were under threat of seizure. German troops were carrying huge losses of soldiers and military equipment, but, nevertheless, they still possessed an offensive initiative and were furiously torn to the east.

At Hitler's headquarters, a special operation was called "Typhoon" to capture the capital of the USSR. According to this operation, the city was subject to imprisonment in an absolute blockade, so that no resident could leave it. Next followed the complete destruction and flooding of Moscow. Those who survived there should not have been. Ruins were supposed to be covered with sand, and on top to put a monument in honor of the invincible German army. It is significant that the stone for this monument was brought to Moscow along with military equipment.

In the Moscow direction at that time, there were three Soviet front: Western, Bryansk and Reserve. Against them was the German army of the "Center" group of more than a million soldiers. In it, more than half of the guns, tanks and airplanes were concentrated from the total number, which at that time had the Hitler's army.

At that time the Soviet army had a much smaller stockpile of weapons, and its quality was worse. Therefore, it was very difficult for the Soviet troops on the defensive stage.

The Mozhaisk and Volokolamsk directions represented the shortest route to Moscow. It was there that the first fierce fighting began for the approaches to the capital. Soviet soldiers had a truly heroic resistance. They compensated for the unevenness of forces with personal heroism. At the price of their own lives they sought not to let the enemy to the heart of the Motherland.

In Moscow and the suburbs, a state of siege was declared. Residents were preparing to defend their city.

However, at the end of October 41 the commander Zhukov proposed to replace the defense with a counteroffensive. The task of the Soviet troops was to defeat the shock groups of the enemy and to eliminate a close threat to Moscow.

The Moscow battle, the winter of 1942: the stage of the offensive

On December 6, the Red Army suffered the first serious counterblow to the north and south of Moscow. The strip of offensive deployed for 1000 kilometers - from Yelets to Kalinin. By December 9, our troops are able to push back the enemy by almost 40 kilometers. The Germans, although they had excellent weapons, but were completely unprepared for fighting in the conditions of the harsh Russian winter and the invincible personal heroism of Soviet soldiers. The lack of reserve troops of the enemy also affected.

Hitler was forced to sign an order to transfer his troops to the defense, dismissing most of his generals and switching the supreme command completely to himself. But the situation at the front it failed to break.

By the new 1942 German troops were thrown from Moscow for two hundred kilometers already, Kalinin and Kaluga were liberated from the Hitlerites. There was no immediate threat of taking Moscow.

The Meaning of the Moscow Battle

This event undoubtedly influenced the course of the Second World War, since the Moscow battle brought the first impressive victory to the Soviet troops. The capture of the capital would paralyze the entire country and entailed the unconditional victory of fascist Germany. And here, not only the psychological component played its role. In the Moscow region was concentrated many industrial and defense complexes, which worked throughout the war. 70% of the planes for the army were produced here, most of the shells.

After the enemy was beaten off from the walls of the capital, the morale of Soviet soldiers rose significantly. This enthusiasm and unconditional belief in victory helped later in the battle of Kursk, and at Stalingrad.

From a strategic point of view, the Moscow battle helped to defeat the best German forces - infantry and tank.

Soviet troops were significantly reformed after this battle. Separate disparate parts, already tested in combat, were combined into new divisions with confident and experienced commanders.

It was Moscow that became the Rubicon, through which the German troops could not cross the Second World War.