At the end of the Second World War, vast territories of Europe and Asia lay in ruins, people returned home, buried the dead and began to rebuild the destroyed cities. When World War II began in the late 1930s, the world's population was approximately 2 billion. In less than ten years of war between the allied forces and the countries of the fascist bloc, a total of 80 million people, or 4% of the entire population of the planet, were killed. Over time, the allied forces turned into invaders who occupied Germany, Japan and most of the territories under their control. War crimes cases were heard in Europe and Asia, followed by numerous executions and imprisonments. Millions of Germans and Japanese were forcibly evicted from the regions they considered their home.

The occupation by the Allied forces and some decisions of the UN led to certain consequences in the future, including the division of Germany into East and West, as well as the formation of North and South Korea and the start of the Korean War in 1950. Thanks to the UN plan for the partition of Palestine in 1948, Israel proclaimed itself an independent state, but the Arab-Israeli conflict broke out. Increasing tension between the West and the countries of the Soviet bloc resulted in the Cold War. In connection with the development and proliferation of nuclear weapons, a real threat of World War III loomed if the parties could not find a common language. The Second World War was the most significant event of the 20th century, and its consequences continue to influence the modern world even after 65 years. (45 photos) (This is the final part of the cycle. See all parts: )

Between the end of 1940 and the summer of 1941, the conflict between states escalated into a real world war. In Africa, the East African Campaign began, as did the Western Desert Campaign. Mostly Italian and British troops fought in the deserts of Egypt and Libya in the territory from Ethiopia to Kenya. Germany, Italy and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact in Berlin - an agreement on cooperation between three states. The Japanese army occupied Vietnam, established its bases in French Indochina, and continued its advance into China. Mussolini ordered his troops to launch an offensive against Greece, initiating the Italo-Greek War and the Balkan Campaign. At the same time, the Battle of Britain continued. The forces of Germany and Great Britain delivered air strikes to each other and participated in naval battles. The United States accepted the lend-lease program and handed over military equipment and ammunition worth about $50 billion to the anti-Hitler coalition forces. A new tragic stage began in the history of World War II: the Nazis founded ghettos in Warsaw and other Polish cities, and forced all the Jews of the area to move there.

available to pilots and tankers from April 11 to May 10

✔ 1 day

Monday | 04/11/2016

Battle for Britain. Late convoy - AB (aviation)
Battle for Britain. The hardest day - RB (aviation)
Battle of Britain - SB (aviation)

The cycle of events “Chronicles of the Second World War” will cover battles in all theaters of military operations and will allow pilots and tankers to take part in the reconstruction of real battles on specially selected vehicles.
This year we start the cycle with one of the biggest air battles of the war - the Battle of Britain!
Having died down in 1940, it left a huge mark on the history of the confrontation between Nazi Germany and Great Britain and changed the plans of the German command to land on the territory of England after the defeat of the Luftwaffe.

Around noon on August 18, the forces of the 2nd Air Fleet of the Luftwaffe launched a series of attacks, during which about 850 sorties were made. The German target was the air base area at Biggin Hill and Kenley, located in the all-important 11th Defense Group, in the south-east of England. The Biggin Hill base was hit by 60 He.111s from KG1, Kenley was hit by 48 Ju.88s and Do.17s from KG76. This was preceded by a Bf.109 raid, and the bombers themselves were covered by another group, consisting of Bf.109 and Bf.110. A total of 108 bombers and 150 fighters took part in the operation.

✔ 2 day

Tuesday | 04/12/2016

USSR reflects the invasion of German troops - AB (aircraft)
USSR reflects the invasion of German troops - RB (aircraft)
USSR reflects the invasion of German troops - SB (aircraft)
Tank breakthrough - AB (tanks)
Tank breakthrough - RB (tanks/aircraft)
Tank breakthrough - SB (tanks/aircraft)

The second day of the "Chronicles of World War II" will take us to the Eastern European theater of operations. On June 22, 1941, German troops crossed the border of the USSR without declaring war, thereby marking the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. In the very first days after the start of the Barbarossa plan, fierce battles unfolded on all fronts of the East European theater of operations, in which the German troops, actively using aviation, mostly prevailed.

In the first hours of the war, German aviation made many sorties in order to destroy the front-line communications of the Soviet side, destroy military units and airfields, industrial and significant civilian facilities. According to official data, during the first day of the war, the Luftwaffe managed to destroy about 1,200 Soviet aircraft, most of them on the ground.

On June 22-23, 1941, one of the first tank battles of the Great Patriotic War took place near the city of Alytus. The 7th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht, advancing in Lithuania along the Suwalki-Kalvaria-Alytus-Vilnius road, clashed with the Soviet 5th Panzer Division.

✔ 3 day

Wednesday | 04/13/2016

The beginning of the battle of Smolensk - AB (aircraft)
The beginning of the battle of Smolensk - RB (aircraft)
The beginning of the battle of Smolensk - SB (aircraft)
The rapid offensive of the German troops - AB (tanks)
The rapid offensive of the German troops - RB (tanks / planes)
The rapid offensive of the German troops - SB (tanks / planes)

The third day of the "Chronicles of the Second World War" will also be dedicated to the events on the Eastern Front. The battle of Smolensk became one of the largest in the first months of the war. It lasted about two months and included a number of defensive and offensive operations on both sides. The purpose of the Battle of Smolensk was to stop the advance of Army Group Center deep into Soviet territory. The battle began on July 10, 1941 with the offensive of the mobile formations of the 4th Army on Vitebsk and Mogilev. In the course of further hostilities, the 29th Motorized Division from Guderian's group entered Smolensk, encountering desperate resistance from the city's defenders.

✔ 4 day

Thursday | 04/14/2016

Battle of Volokolamsk - AB (aircraft)
Battle of Volokolamsk - RB (aircraft)
Battle of Volokolamsk - SB (aircraft)
Volokolamsk - AB (tanks)
Volokolamsk - RB (tanks/aircraft)
Volokolamsk - SB (tanks/aircraft

The Vyazemsky operation of October 1941 is one of the most controversial episodes of the first year of the war. During the ongoing German offensive, four armies were surrounded: 37 divisions, 9 tank brigades, 31 artillery regiments of the RGK. Thus, on the main, Moscow, direction of the offensive of the Nazis, the Vyazemsky cauldron was formed.

At the same time, on the outskirts of Moscow, the Soviet command sought to delay the advancing German units in the Volokolamsk direction for as long as possible: it took time to prepare the defense of the capital. Although there were almost no fortifications in the direction, the Soviet troops managed to hold out here for almost 12 days.

Moscow was protected from air raids not only by anti-aircraft artillery batteries, but also by air defense aviation. In 1941, the Moscow air defense included the 6th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Corps, which included 23 fighter aviation regiments. During the defense of Moscow, air defense fighter regiments made a huge contribution to the defense of the capital from German bomber raids.

In the southern direction these days, battles thundered on the territory of the Crimean peninsula. The defense of Sevastopol became one of the most famous episodes of the Great Patriotic War. In the middle of autumn 1941, in the southern direction, German troops came close to the city of Sevastopol: from October 30, fighting was already going on at the distant approaches to the city. Despite the fact that in November the USSR had practically no ground forces left in the region, the defense of Sevastopol continued: with the support of the fleet, sailors and scattered units of the ground forces, who retreated to the city, heroically participated in the battles on the ground.

Attention! At 17:00, in the RB Co-op mode ([Dominance] Volokolamsk - tanks/aircraft), an experimental event was enabled with a vehicle limit per team. The specified setup will have the following restrictions on the team:
USSR

• Kv-1 L11 - 1 pc.
• T-34 1941 - 3 pcs.
• T-34 1941 (from the set) - 1 pc.
• Su-100Y - 1 pc.

Germany

• Dicker Max - 2 pcs.

✔ 5 day

Friday | 04/15/2016

Pacific War. Battle of Guam - AB (aircraft)
Pacific War. Battle of Wake - RB (aircraft)
Pacific War. Attack on Pearl Harbor - SB (aircraft)

The fifth day of World War II Chronicles will take players to the Pacific theater of operations. On December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft made a surprise raid on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and disabled or completely destroyed eight battleships and over 300 aircraft.

The Battle of Wake Island began at the same time as the attack on Pearl Harbor and ended on December 23, 1941, with the surrender of American forces to the Japanese. Battles were fought both on the atoll itself and around it - on the islands of Peel and Wilkes - with the participation of the air, land and sea forces of Japan and the United States, but the fleet was primarily used.

On December 8, 1941, the Battle of Guam began, during which the Japanese troops managed to capture the island, which was extremely important from a strategic point of view, in a few days, crushing the resistance of the defending American side.

✔ 6 day

Saturday | 04/16/2016

Approaches to Moscow - AB (aircraft)
Battle for Moscow. The beginning of the Rzhev-Vyazemsky operation - RB (aircraft)
Battle for Moscow. The beginning of the Rzhev-Vyazemskaya operation - SB (aircraft)
Battle for Moscow. The offensive of the Soviet troops - AB (tanks)
Battle for Moscow. The offensive of the Soviet troops - RB (tanks / planes)
Battle for Moscow. The offensive of the Soviet troops - SB (tanks / aircraft

The sixth day takes us to fierce battles on the territory of the USSR in 1942.

The counteroffensive of the Soviet troops near Moscow brought the first large-scale victory of the Red Army. There were still many years of war ahead, but the success of the Soviet troops on the outskirts of Moscow meant a change in the combat situation in general, and also caused an incredible rise in the morale of the Soviet people. Fierce fighting continued.

The battle for Moscow changed the balance of power in the central direction: the German army, hitherto considered invincible, was unable to capture Moscow, and its advance deep into the territory of the USSR was broken by a decisive counteroffensive of the Soviet troops. The Rzhev-Vyazemsky operation was supposed to develop the successes of the counteroffensive.

✔ 7 day

Sunday | 04/17/2016

Pacific War. Assault on the atoll - AB (aircraft)
Pacific War. Battle of Midway - RB (aircraft)
Pacific War. Battle of Midway - SB (aircraft)

On the seventh day of Chronicles of the Second World War, players are waiting for the Pacific Theater of Action and the Battle of Midway Atoll.

From June 4 to June 6, a naval battle took place off Midway Atoll. It was it that became a turning point in the history of the confrontation between the United States and Japan in the Pacific theater of operations, since the US fleet managed to win a decisive victory over the forces of the Japanese Empire. Naval aviation played a special role in the battle: now the command of both sides could not underestimate its importance. In total, about 500 aircraft were involved in the naval battle.

Never before has naval aviation been able to play such a significant role as it played in the Pacific theater of operations. Carrier-based and ground-based aircraft, armed with bombs and torpedoes, now posed the same threat to the enemy fleet as the guns of battleships.

✔8 day

Monday| 04/18/2016

Until 16:00 UTC on April 19, the following Events are available:

The beginning of the battles for Stalingrad - SB (aircraft)
Stalingrad. Tank plant - RB (aircraft)
Fights in the Bend of the Volga - AB (aircraft)

The battle of Stalingrad is one of the most famous episodes not only of the Great Patriotic War, but also of the Second World War as a whole. It began with the German attack on the city in the summer of 1942 and with the heroic defense of the city by Soviet troops. In many ways, the further course of hostilities depended on the victory at Stalingrad: the capture of the city would open the way for German troops to oil reserves in the south of the USSR. It was extremely important for the Soviet command to hold out and counterattack for as long as possible, and also not to allow the Nazis to cross the Volga. The heroic defense of the city's borders continued.

✔ 9 day

Tuesday| 04/19/2016

The following Events are available until April 20 at 10:00 UTC:

Defense of Malta - AB (aircraft)

Defense of Malta - SB (aircraft)

Malta. Operation Pedestal - RB (aircraft)

The island of Malta is located in the Mediterranean Sea between Italy and African continent. Because of his geographical location Malta turned out to be extremely important for both sides of the conflict: for the Axis countries - in order to establish a springboard for operations in North Africa, for the Allies - in order to prepare a landing operation in Italy. Thus, at the first stage of the war, in 1940-1942, fierce battles unfolded for possession of the territory.

During the war, Malta was one of the most intensively bombarded territories - during the two years of the siege, about 3,000 enemy raids were made on the island.

Operation Pedestal - a convoy of 14 merchant ships escorted by 44 warships, including battleships and aircraft carriers. In parallel, the British Mediterranean Fleet carried out sabotage against German troops on the other side of the sea. In early August, the convoy came under relentless attack. On August 13, 1942, the day of the Maltese feast of St. Mary, the surviving ships of the convoy arrived in Malta. The most important factor also came the arrival of the American tanker SS Ohio with them.

✔10 day

Wednesday| 20.04.2016

Until 16:00 UTC April 21, the following Events are available:

Battle for the Caucasus. Kuban. Capture of Novorossiysk - SB (aircraft)

Battle for the Caucasus. Road to Grozny - RB (aircraft)
Battle for the Caucasus. Road to Grozny - AB (aircraft)
Battle for the Caucasus. Mozdok - AB (tanks)

Battle for the Caucasus. Mozdok - RB (tanks/aircraft)

Battle for the Caucasus. Mozdok - SB (tanks/aircraft)

On September 11, units of the 17th Army, having captured most of Novorossiysk, were stopped on the southeastern outskirts of the city. In a new offensive, undertaken from 19 to 26 August, the 3rd Romanian mountain rifle division was almost completely destroyed. Due to heavy losses on September 26, German troops went on the defensive near Novorossiysk, which lasted more than a year.

On September 24, German troops, reinforcing the Mozdok grouping with the SS Viking Panzer Division, withdrawn from the Tuapse direction, went on the offensive through the Elkhot Gates (along the valley along the Terek) in the direction of Ordzhonikidze and along the Prokhladny-Grozny railway along the Sunzha river valley to Grozny. By September 29, after four days of stubborn fighting, German troops captured the Terek, Planovskoye, Elkhotovo, Illarionovka, but they could not advance further than Malgobek and were forced to go on the defensive.

✔11 day

Thursday| 04/21/2016

Until 16:00 UTC on April 22, the following Events are available:

Africa. Landing of the British Army - AB (aircraft)
Africa. Landing of the British Army - RB (aircraft)
Africa. Landing of the British Army - SB (aircraft)
Africa. Advance of the British 8th Army - AB (tanks)
Africa. British 8th Army Offensive - RB (tanks/aircraft)
Africa. British 8th Army Offensive - SB (tanks/aircraft)

Pilots and tankers, based on your feedback, changes have been made to today's battle formats of the Chronicle of the Second World War.

• Aircraft Arcade Mode: aircraft with machine guns have been added to sets. The imbalanced cannon planes have been removed.
• Aviation Realistic and Simulation modes: presented in the format of duel battles.
• In aviation AB, the restriction on the number of Respawns is disabled.
• Today, in the joint battles of the RB regime, restrictions on attack aircraft will be included.
• Limits on attack aircraft have been added to Joint Battles of the Republic of Belarus. Junkers and Blenheim are limited to 5 aircraft per battle on each side and 4000V per Revival. All other equipment is available immediately. The number of Respawns has been increased from 2 to 3.
• Additional missions have been added to Tank Events. For AB, capture and superiority modes are available. Dominance and Combat are available for RB and SB.

Changes made based on your feedback. Thank you for your activity!

An important stage in the confrontation between the Allies and the Axis in the African theater of operations was the battle of El Alamein. Having died down in the summer and autumn of 1942, it was it that allowed the Allies to launch a decisive offensive against Rommel's grouping in Tunisia. However, the results of both the first and second stages were contradictory. Speaking about the success of the British army after the completion of the second stage of the battle, Churchill emphasized that “This is not the end. It's not even the beginning of the end. But perhaps this is the end of the beginning.” The hardest battles were still ahead, but the front line was shifting to the west, which indicated a change in the situation.

✔12 day

Friday| 04/22/2016

Until 16:00 UTC April 23, the following Events are available:

Pacific War. Guadalcanal - RB (aircraft)

Pacific War. Guadalcanal - SB (aircraft)
Pacific War. In the skies over Guadalcanal - AB (aircraft)

Guadalcanal Island was an important strategic base for both sides: the Japanese occupied the island - part of the British colony of the Solomon Islands - at the beginning of the war and could use it to attack Allied convoys moving between the United States, Australia and New Zealand. The Allies, on the other hand, needed to protect the convoys and use the island's air base to intercept Japanese aircraft and plan combat operations in the future.

On August 7, US forces landed on the island for the first time, catching the Japanese by surprise. The operation was a success for the Americans. This provoked the Japanese command to make a series of attempts to return the island, which marked the beginning of a series of major sea and land battles. However, the initiative remained in the hands of the Allies.

✔13 day

Saturday| 04/23/2016

Until April 24 at 16:00 UTC, the following Events are available:

Stalingrad. Operation Uranus - RB (aircraft)

Stalingrad. Operation Uranus - SB (aircraft)
Beginning of the Voronezh-Kastornoe operation - AB (aircraft)
Battles for Stalingrad - AB (tanks)

Battles for Stalingrad - RB (tanks/aircraft)

Battles for Stalingrad - SB (tanks/aircraft)

Operation "Uranus" became one of the most successful for the Soviet Army during the entire war: the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops near Stalingrad allowed not only to recapture the city itself, but also to capture thousands of Germans, demoralize the enemy and radically change the whole situation in the southern direction in favor of the USSR.

The operation began on November 19, 1942 with a powerful artillery preparation and attack by the 5th tank army of the USSR on the positions of the 3rd Romanian army. The suddenness of the attack and the onslaught made it possible to break through the defenses and develop the offensive in this and other directions.

By the end of November, there was a preponderance of forces in favor of the USSR. Hitler rejected Paulus' offer of surrender and ordered the city to be defended at all costs. This was the beginning of long and difficult street battles and numerous skirmishes, which ended only after the end of Operation Ring: the encirclement of the German forces by Field Marshal Paulus by Soviet troops.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR (1939-1945)

Read also: Great Patriotic War - chronological table, Patriotic War of 1812 - chronology, Northern War - chronology, World War I - chronology, Russo-Japanese War - chronology, October Revolution of 1917 - chronology, Civil War in Russia 1918-20 - chronology.

1939

August 23. Signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (non-aggression pact between the USSR and Germany).

September 17th. The Polish government is transported to Romania. Soviet troops invade Poland.

September 28th. The signing of the "Treaty of Friendship and Border" between the USSR and Germany, it formally completes the division of Poland by them. The conclusion of the "mutual assistance pact" between the USSR and Estonia.

October 5th. The conclusion of the "mutual assistance pact" between the USSR and Latvia. The Soviet offer of Finland to conclude a "mutual assistance pact", the beginning of negotiations between Finland and the USSR.

the 13th of November. The termination of the Soviet-Finnish negotiations - Finland refuses the "mutual assistance pact" with the USSR.

November 26th. The “Mainil incident” is the reason for the beginning of the Soviet-Finnish war on November 30th.

December 1. Creation of the "People's Government of Finland" headed by O. Kuusinen. December 2, it signs with the USSR an agreement "On Mutual Assistance and Friendship".

December 7th. Beginning of the Battle of Suomussalmi. She went until January 8, 1940 and ended in a heavy defeat of the Soviet troops.

Second World War. The coming storm

1940

April May. Execution of more than 20 thousand Polish officers and intellectuals by the NKVD in the Katyn forest, Ostashkovsky, Starobelsky and other camps.

September - December. Beginning of Germany's secret preparations for war with the USSR. Development of the "Plan Barbarossa".

1941

January 15. Negus Haile Selasie entered the Abyssinian territory, which he abandoned in 1936.

March 1. Bulgaria joins the Tripartite Pact. German troops enter Bulgaria.

March 25. The Yugoslav government of Prince Regent Paul accedes to the Tripartite Pact.

March 27th. Government coup in Yugoslavia. King Peter II entrusts the formation of a new government to General Simovich. Mobilization of the Yugoslav army.

April, 4. Coup d'état by Rashid Ali al-Gaylani in Iraq, in favor of Germany.

April 13th. The signing of the Soviet-Japanese neutrality treaty for a period of five years.

14th of April. Battles for Tobruk. Defensive battles of the Germans on the Egyptian border (April 14 - November 17).

April 18th. Surrender of the Yugoslav army. Partition of Yugoslavia. Creation of an independent Croatia.

26 April. Roosevelt announced his intention to establish American air bases in Greenland.

the 6th of May. Stalin instead of Molotov becomes Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars.

12 May. Admiral Darlan in Berchtesgaden. The Pétain government provides the Germans with bases in Syria.

May. Roosevelt declared "a state of extreme national danger."

12 June. British aviation begins a systematic bombardment of the industrial centers of Germany.

June 25th. Finland enters the war on the side of Germany in response to the Soviet bombardment of 19 airfields on its territory.

30 June. The capture of Riga by the Germans (see Baltic operation). The capture of Lvov by the Germans (see Lvov-Chernivtsi operation.) Creation of the highest authority in the USSR for the war period - the State Defense Committee (GKO): chairman Stalin, members - Molotov (deputy chairman), Beria, Malenkov, Voroshilov.

3 July. Stalin's order to organize a partisan movement in the rear of the Germans and to destroy everything that the enemy can get. Stalin's first speech on the radio since the beginning of the war: "Brothers and sisters! .. My friends! .. Despite the heroic resistance of the Red Army, despite the fact that the best divisions of the enemy and the best parts of his aviation have already been defeated and found their grave on the battlefields , the enemy continues to climb forward"

10 July. The end of the 14-day battles near Bialystok and Minsk, the encirclement here in two bags of more than 300 thousand Soviet soldiers. The Nazis are completing the encirclement of the 100,000th group of the Red Army near Uman. The beginning of the battle at Smolensk (July 10 - August 5).

October 15th. Evacuation from Moscow of the leadership of the Communist Party, the General Staff and administrative institutions.

29th of October. The Germans drop a large bomb on the Kremlin: 41 people die and more than 100 are injured.

November 1-15. Temporary cessation of the German offensive on Moscow due to the exhaustion of troops and severe mudslides.

November 6th. In his annual October anniversary speech at the Mayakovskaya metro station, Stalin announces the failure of the German Blitzkrieg (blitzkrieg) in Russia.

November 15 - December 4. Attempt of a decisive breakthrough of the Germans to Moscow.

November 18th. British offensive in Africa. Battle of Marmarik (area between Cyrenaica and the Nile Delta). German retreat in Cyrenaica

November 22. Rostov-on-Don is occupied by the Germans - and a week later recaptured by units of the Red Army Beginning of defensive battles of the Germans in the Donets Basin.

End of December. Capitulation of Hong Kong.

1942

Before January 1, 1942 The Red Army and Navy are losing a total of 4.5 million people, of which 2.3 million are missing and captured (most likely, these figures are also incomplete). Despite this, Stalin longs to end the war victoriously already in 1942, which becomes the cause of many strategic mistakes.

1st of January . The Union of the United Nations (26 nations fighting against the fascist bloc) was created in Washington - the rudiment of the UN. It also includes the USSR.

Jan. 7 . The beginning of the Soviet Lyuban offensive operation: attempts to strike from two sides on Lyuban, located north of Novgorod, to surround the German troops stationed here. This operation lasts 16 weeks, ending with the failure and defeat of the 2nd shock army of A. Vlasov.

January 8 . The Rzhev-Vyazemsky operation of 1942 (January 8 - April 20): an unsuccessful attempt to quickly “cut off” the Rzhev ledge held by the Germans costs the Red Army (according to official Soviet data) 770 thousand losses against 330 thousand German.

January February . The encirclement of the Germans on the Demyansk bridgehead (south Novgorod region, January February). They defend here until April - May, when they break through the encirclement, holding Demyansk. German losses at the same time - 45 thousand, Soviet - 245 thousand.

January 26 . Landing of the first American expeditionary force in Northern Ireland.

February 19th. The Riom process against the "culprits of the defeat of France" - Daladier, Leon Blum, General Gamelin and others (February 19 - April 2).

February 23. The Roosevelt Lend-Lease Act applies to all allied nations (USSR).

28th of February. German-Italian troops recapture Marmarica (February 28 - June 29).

11th of March. Another attempt to solve the Indian question: the mission of Cripps to India.

March 12th. General Toyo invites America, England, China and Australia to abandon the hopeless war for them.

April 1st. A special resolution of the Politburo subjected Voroshilov to devastating criticism, who refused to take command of the Volkhov Front.

April. Hitler gains full power. Hitler's will is henceforth the law for Germany. British aircraft drop an average of 250 tons of explosives per night over Germany.

May 8-21 . Battle for the Kerch Peninsula. Kerch is taken by the Germans (May 15). A failed attempt to liberate the Crimea in 1942 costs the Red Army up to 150,000 casualties.

August 23. Exit of the 6th German Army to the outskirts of Stalingrad. Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad. The most brutal bombardment of the city.

August. Offensive battles of the Red Army near Rzhev.

September 30th. Hitler announces Germany's transition from offensive to defensive strategy (development of conquered territories).

January to October The Red Army is losing 5.5 million soldiers killed, wounded and captured.

October 23. Battle of El Alamein. The defeat of the Rommel expeditionary force (October 20 - November 3).

October 9th. The liquidation of the institution of commissars in the Red Army, the introduction of unity of command of military commanders.

November 8th. Allied landings in North Africa, commanded by General Eisenhower.

11th of November. The breakthrough of the German army to the Volga in Stalingrad, the Soviet troops defending the city are divided into two narrow pockets. The Germans begin to occupy all of France. Demobilization of the French army saved after the armistice of 1940.

November 19th. The beginning of the Soviet counter-offensive near Stalingrad - Operation Uranus.

November 25. The beginning of the Second Rzhev-Sychev operation ("Operation Mars", 25.11 - 20.12): an unsuccessful attempt to defeat the 9th German army near Rzhev. It costs the Red Army 100,000 killed and 235,000 wounded against 40,000 total German losses. If "Mars" ended successfully, "Jupiter" should have followed it: the defeat of the main part of the German army group "Center" in the Vyazma region.

November 27th. Self-sinking of large units of the French navy in Toulon.

December 16th. The beginning of the Red Army operation "Small Saturn" (December 16-30) - an attack from the south of the Voronezh region (from Kalach and Rossosh), to Morozovsk (north of the Rostov region). Initially, it was supposed to rush south to Rostov-on-Don itself and cut off the entire German group "South" in this way, but for this "Big Saturn" did not have enough strength, and had to limit itself to "Small".

December 23rd. Termination of Operation Winter Storm - Manstein's attempts to rescue the Germans in Stalingrad with a blow from the south. Capture by the Red Army of the airfield in Tatsinskaya - the main external source of supply for the encircled Stalingrad group of Germans.

End of December. Rommel is delayed in Tunisia. Stopping the allied offensive in Africa.

1943

1 January. The beginning of the North Caucasian operation of the Red Army.

6 January. Decree "On the introduction of shoulder straps for the personnel of the Red Army."

11 January. Liberation from the Germans of Pyatigorsk, Kislovodsk and Mineralnye Vody.

January 12-30. The Soviet Operation Iskra breaks through the blockade of Leningrad by opening (after the liberation of Shlisselburg on January 18) a narrow land corridor to the city. Soviet losses in this operation - approx. 105 thousand killed, wounded and captured, German - approx. 35 thousand

January 14-26. Casablanca Conference (demanding "unconditional surrender of the Axis powers").

21 January. Liberation from the Germans of Voroshilovsk (Stavropol).

January 29. The beginning of Vatutin's Voroshilovgrad operation ("Operation Leap", January 29 - February 18): the initial goal was to reach through Voroshilovgrad and Donetsk to Sea of ​​Azov and cut off the Germans in the Donbass, but only managed to take Izyum and Voroshilovgrad (Lugansk).

The 14th of February. Liberation by the Red Army of Rostov-on-Don and Lugansk. Creation by the Red Army of the Malaya Zemlya bridgehead near Myskhako, with the aim of attacking Novorossiysk. The Germans, however, are held in Novorossiysk until September 16, 1943.

February 19th. The beginning of Manstein's counter-offensive in the south ("Third Battle for Kharkov"), which disrupts the Soviet operation "Leap".

March 1. The beginning of Operation Buffel (Buffalo, March 1-30): German troops leave the Rzhevsky ledge by a systematic retreat in order to transfer part of their forces from there to the Kursk Bulge. Soviet historians then present "Buffel" not as a conscious withdrawal of the Germans, but as a successful offensive "Rzhev-Vyazemsky operation of the Red Army in 1943".

20th of March. Battle for Tunisia. The defeat of the German troops in Africa (March 20 - May 12).

April 13th. The Germans announce a mass grave of Polish officers shot by the Soviet NKVD near Katyn near Smolensk.

16 April. The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs offers his mediation between the belligerents in order to conclude peace.

June 3rd. Creation of the French National Liberation Committee (formerly: French National Committee).

June. The German submarine danger is reduced to a minimum.

5'th of July. German offensive on the northern and southern faces of the Kursk ledge - the beginning Battle of Kursk(July 5-23, 1943).

10 July. The landing of the Anglo-Americans in Sicily (July 10 - August 17). Their start of hostilities in Italy diverts a lot of enemy forces from the Soviet front and in fact is already tantamount to the opening of a Second Front in Europe.

July, 12. The Battle of Prokhorovka - stopping the most dangerous German breakthrough on the southern front Kursk Bulge. Losses in Operation Citadel (July 5-12): Soviet - approx. 180 thousand soldiers, German - approx. 55,000 Beginning of Operation Kutuzov, the Soviet counter-offensive on the Oryol Bulge (the northern face of the Kursk ledge).

July 17th. Creation in Sicily AMGOT (Allied Military Government for the Occupied Territories).

23 September. Mussolini's announcement of the continuation of fascist rule in northern Italy (Italian Social Republic or Republic of Salo).

September 25th. Parts of the Red Army capture Smolensk and reach the line of the Dnieper. Losses in the Smolensk operation: Soviet - 450 thousand; German - 70 thousand (according to German data) or 200-250 thousand (according to Soviet data).

October 7th. A new big Soviet offensive from Vitebsk to the Taman Peninsula.

October 19-30. Third Moscow Conference of the Three Great Powers. It is attended by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs: Molotov, Eden and Cordell Hull. At this conference, the USA and Britain promise to open a second (besides the Italian) front in Europe in the spring of 1944; the four great powers (including China) sign the "Declaration on the Question of Global Security", where for the first time jointly proclaim the formula of unconditional surrender of the fascist states as an indispensable condition for ending the war; a European Consultative Commission (from representatives of the USSR, the USA and England) is created to discuss issues related to the surrender of the Axis states.

End of october. The Red Army took Dnepropetrovsk and Melitopol. Crimea is cut off.

November 6th. Liberation of Kyiv from the Germans. Losses in the Kyiv operation: Soviet: 118 thousand, German - 17 thousand.

November 9. Congress of Representatives of the 44th United Nations in Washington (November 9 - December 1).

the 13th of November. Liberation from the Germans of Zhytomyr. On November 20, Zhytomyr was recaptured by the Germans - and again liberated on December 31.

November December. Manstein's unsuccessful counterattack on Kyiv.

November 28 - December 1. The Tehran Conference (Roosevelt-Churchill-Stalin) decides to open a second front in the West - and not in the Balkans, but in France; the Western allies agree to confirm the 1939 Soviet-Polish border after the war (along the "Curzon Line"); they veiledly agree to recognize the entry of the Baltic states into the USSR; on the whole, Roosevelt's proposal to create a new world organization to replace the former League of Nations is approved; Stalin promises to enter the war against Japan after the defeat of Germany.

December 24th. General Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Commander of the armies of the Second Front in the West.

1944

January 24 - February 17. The Korsun-Shevchenko operation leads to the encirclement of 10 German divisions in the bend of the Dnieper.

March 29. The Red Army occupies Chernivtsi, and on the eve of this city enters the territory of Romania.

April 10th. Odessa is taken by the Red Army. The first awards with the Order "Victory": Zhukov and Vasilevsky receive it, and on April 29 - Stalin.

The Second World War. The ring shrinks

May 17th. After 4 months of fierce fighting, Allied forces break through the Gustav Line in Italy. Fall of Cassino.

June 6 . Allied landings in Normandy (Operation Overlord). Opening of the Second Front in Western Europe.

IN June 1944 the strength of the active Soviet army reaches 6.6 million; it has 13 thousand aircraft, 8 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, 100 thousand guns and mortars. The ratio of forces on the Soviet-German front in terms of personnel is 1.5:1 in favor of the Red Army, in terms of guns and mortars 1.7:1, in terms of aircraft 4.2:1. For tanks, the forces are approximately equal.

June 23 . The beginning of the operation "Bagration" (June 23 - August 29, 1944) - the liberation of the Red Army of Belarus.

In the CIS countries, the war on the Eastern European front, which has become the site of the largest military confrontation in the world, is called the Great Patriotic War. Over 400 military formations of the German and Red Army fought for 4 years on the front, which stretched over more than 1600 km. During these years, about 8 million Soviet and 4 million German soldiers laid down their lives on the East European front. The hostilities were especially fierce: the largest tank battle in history (Battle of Kursk), the longest siege of the city (almost 900-day siege of Leningrad), the scorched earth policy, the complete destruction of thousands of villages, mass deportations, executions ... The situation was complicated by the fact that inside the Soviet the armed forces were split. At the beginning of the war, some groups even recognized the Nazi invaders as liberators from Stalin's regime and fought against the Red Army. After a series of defeats for the Red Army, Stalin issued order No. 227 "Not a step back!" Forbidding Soviet soldiers to retreat without an order. In case of disobedience of the military leaders, a tribunal awaited, and the soldiers could immediately receive punishment from their colleagues, who were supposed to shoot at everyone who ran from the battlefield. This collection contains photographs of 1942-1943, covering the period of the Great Patriotic War from the blockade of Leningrad to decisive Soviet victories at Stalingrad and Kursk. The scale of the hostilities of that time is almost impossible to imagine, and even more so to cover in one photo essay, but we offer you pictures that have preserved for posterity the scenes of hostilities on the Eastern European front.

Soviet soldiers go into battle through the ruins of Stalingrad, autumn 1942. (Georgy Zelma/Waralbum.ru)

The detachment commander watches the advance of his troops in the Kharkov region, Ukrainian SSR, June 21, 1942. (AP Photo)

A German anti-tank gun is being prepared for combat on the Soviet front, late 1942. (AP Photo)

Residents of Leningrad collect water during the almost 900-day blockade of the Soviet city by the German invaders, winter 1942. The Germans failed to capture Leningrad, but surrounded it with a blockade ring, damaged communications and shelled the city for more than two years. (AP Photo)

Funeral in Leningrad, spring 1942. As a result of the blockade, famine began in Leningrad, and due to the lack of medicines and equipment, people quickly died from diseases and injuries. During the siege of Leningrad, 1.5 million soldiers and civilians died, the same number of Leningraders were evacuated, but many of them died on the way due to starvation, disease and bombing. (Vsevolod Tarasevich/Waralbum.ru)

The scene after a fierce battle on the streets of Rostov during the occupation of the Soviet city by the German invaders in August 1942. (AP Photo)

German motorized artillery crosses the Don River on a pontoon bridge, July 31, 1942. (AP Photo)

A Soviet woman looks at a burning house, 1942. (NARA)

German soldiers shoot Jews near Ivangorod, Ukrainian SSR, 1942. This photograph was mailed to Germany and intercepted at the post office in Warsaw by a member of the Polish resistance who was collecting evidence of Nazi war crimes. The original photo was taken by Tadeusz Mazur and Jerzy Tomaszewski and is now kept in the Historical Archives in Warsaw. The signature left by the Germans on the back of the photograph: "Ukrainian SSR, 1942, the extermination of Jews, Ivangorod."

A German soldier takes part in the Battle of Stalingrad, spring 1942. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv/German Federal Archive)

In 1942, soldiers of the Red Army entered a village near Leningrad and found there 38 bodies of Soviet prisoners of war, tortured to death by the German invaders. (AP Photo)

Soviet war orphans stand near the ruins of their home, late 1942. The German invaders destroyed their house, and their parents were taken prisoner. (AP Photo)

A German armored car drives among the ruins of a Soviet fortress in Sevastopol, Ukrainian SSR, August 4, 1942. (AP Photo)

Stalingrad in October 1942. Soviet soldiers fight on the ruins of the Red October factory. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv/German Federal Archive)

Red Army soldiers prepare to fire anti-tank guns at approaching German tanks, October 13, 1942. (AP Photo)

German Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber takes part in the Battle of Stalingrad. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv/German Federal Archive)

A German tank drives up to a wrecked Soviet tank on the outskirts of a forest, USSR, October 20, 1942. (AP Photo)

German soldiers go on the offensive near Stalingrad, late 1942. (NARA)

A German soldier hangs a Nazi flag on a building in the center of Stalingrad. (NARA)

The Germans continued to fight for Stalingrad, despite the threat of encirclement by the Soviet army. In the photo: Stuka dive bombers bombard the factory district of Stalingrad, November 24, 1942. (AP Photo)

A horse looks for food in the ruins of Stalingrad, December 1942. (AP Photo)

Tank cemetery organized by the Germans in Rzhev, December 21, 1942. There were about 2,000 tanks in various conditions at the cemetery. (AP Photo

German soldiers walk through the ruins of a gas generating station in Stalingrad's factory district, December 28, 1942. (AP Photo)

Soldiers of the Red Army firing at the enemy from the backyard of an abandoned house on the outskirts of Stalingrad, December 16, 1942. (AP Photo)

Soviet soldiers in winter uniforms took up position on the roof of a building in Stalingrad, January 1943. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv/German Federal Archive)

A Soviet T-34 tank rushes through the Square of the Fallen Fighters in Stalingrad, January 1943. (Georgy Zelma/Waralbum.ru)

Soviet soldiers take cover behind barricades made of ruins during a battle with the German occupiers on the outskirts of Stalingrad in early 1943. (AP Photo)

German soldiers advance through the ruined streets of Stalingrad, early 1943. (AP Photo)

Soldiers of the Red Army in camouflage go on the offensive against German positions across a snow-covered field on the German-Soviet front, March 3, 1943. (AP Photo)

Soviet infantrymen walk along the snow-covered hills in the vicinity of Stalingrad to liberate the city from Nazi invaders, early 1943. The Red Army surrounded the 6th Army of Germany, consisting of about 300 thousand German and Romanian soldiers. (AP Photo)

A Soviet soldier guards a captured German soldier, February 1943. After spending several months in the Soviet encirclement in Stalingrad, the German 6th Army capitulated, having lost 200 thousand soldiers in fierce battles and as a result of starvation. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv/German Federal Archive)

German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus is interrogated at the headquarters of the Red Army near Stalingrad, USSR, March 1, 1943. Paulus was the first German field marshal to be taken prisoner by the Soviets. Contrary to Hitler's expectations that Paulus would fight to the death (or commit suicide after defeat), in Soviet captivity the field marshal began to criticize the Nazi regime. Subsequently, he appeared as a witness for the prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials. (AP Photo)

Red Army soldiers sit in a trench with a Soviet T-34 tank passing over it during the Battle of Kursk in 1943. (Mark Markov-Grinberg/Waralbum.ru)

The bodies of German soldiers lie along the road southwest of Stalingrad, April 14, 1943. (AP Photo)

Soviet soldiers firing at an enemy aircraft, June 1943. (Waralbum.ru)

German Tiger tanks take part in fierce fighting south of Orel during the Battle of Kursk, mid-July 1943. From July to August 1943, the greatest tank battle in history took place in the Kursk region, in which about 3 thousand German and more than 5 thousand Soviet tanks took part. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv/German Federal Archive)

German tanks are preparing for a new attack during the Battle of Kursk, July 28, 1943. The German army had been preparing for the offensive for many months, but the Soviets were aware of Germany's plans and developed a powerful defense system. After the defeat of the German troops in the Battle of Kursk, the Red Army maintained superiority until the very end of the war. (AP Photo)

German soldiers walk ahead of a Tiger tank during the Battle of Kursk in June or July 1943. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv/German Federal Archive)

Soviet soldiers advancing on German positions in a smoke screen, USSR, July 23, 1943. (AP Photo)

Captured German tanks stand in a field southwest of Stalingrad, April 14, 1943. (AP Photo)

A Soviet lieutenant distributes cigarettes to German prisoners of war near Kursk, July 1943. (Michael Savin/Waralbum.ru)

View of Stalingrad, almost completely destroyed after six months of fierce fighting, at the end of hostilities at the end of 1943. (Michael Savin/Waralbum.ru)

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The chronicle of the Second World War is a topic that is invariably under constant attention and developed by authors of both domestic and foreign, including German historical literature. In the repeatedly published and republished chronicle of the war, they include a mention of events that sometimes represent from different points of view highest value for the course of world history.

The following are set out in chronological order major events of the war in 1939.

August 31 the German press reported, "... on Thursday at about 20 o'clock the premises of the radio station in Gleiwitz were seized by the Poles."

September

September 1 at 4:45 a.m., a German training ship, the obsolete battleship Schleswig-Holstein, arrived in Danzig on a friendly visit and enthusiastically met by the local population, opens fire on the Polish fortifications on Westerplatte.

On the same day in Germany, the police issued an order forbidding Jews from traveling abroad. From the very first days of the offensive, the population joined the hostilities. In the Polish city of Bromberg, several thousand Germans living here were killed by the Poles on suspicion of collaborating with the German army. These killings were used German propaganda to justify terror against the local population.

September 1, putting on a soldier's uniform, Hitler spoke in the Reichstag. In justifying the attack on Poland, Hitler cited the incident at Gleiwitz. At the same time, he carefully avoided the term "war", fearing the entry into the conflict of England and France, which gave Poland the appropriate guarantees. The order he issued spoke only of "active defense" against Polish aggression.

On the same day, England and France, under the threat of a declaration of war, demanded the immediate withdrawal of German troops from Polish territory. Mussolini proposed to convene a conference for a peaceful solution of the Polish question. But Hitler refused.

September 1 The Soviet Union introduced compulsory military service. At the same time, the draft age was reduced from 21 to 19 years, and for some categories - up to 18 years. In a short time, the strength of the army reached 5 million people. That was about 3% of the population. Thus, Stalin began in a hidden form mobilization, which is an irreversible process that has the character of a chain reaction, inevitably leading to war.

September 3 at 9 o'clock England, and at 12.20 France declared war on Germany. Australia, India and New Zealand do the same. The "strange war" began. No operations of strategic importance were conducted on the European continent. The parties were aware of the danger of entering into a land war with its huge loss of life. The offensive of the German troops developed according to plan. The Polish lancers were a weak military force compared to the coordinated tank formations and the Luftwaffe.

4 September During a British air raid on Wilhelmshaven, 24 bombers were shot down.

9th of September The Polish army "Poznan" under the command of General Tadeusz Kutrzeb begins the decisive battle near Bzura with the German 8th Army under the command of General of Infantry Johann Blaskowitz.

12-th of September the Polish army surrounded near Radom capitulates. 60,000 Poles are captured. On the same day, the first Allied war council met at Abbeville.

September 14 off the coast of Scotland, the first German submarine U-39 was sunk by depth charges while trying to torpedo the aircraft carrier Ark-Royal.

16 of September the Polish ambassador to the USSR was told that since the Polish state no longer existed, the Soviet Union should take under its protection the inhabitants Western Ukraine and Western Belarus.

16 of September the military group "South" under the command of Colonel General Gerd von Rundstedt begin to encircle the Polish armies "Poznan" and "Pomorze" near Bzura.

September 17, at 6 o'clock in the morning, in accordance with the plan previously agreed with Hitler, two Soviet military groups crossed the state border with Poland.

The Belorussian Front was commanded by General Kovalev, who was advancing on Vilna, Grodno and Bialystok. The Ukrainian front was commanded by Marshal Timoshenko, who was advancing on Lemberg (Lvov). Previously, the Polish army, even slightly larger in number than the German army, retained the hope, if not of victory, then at least of making peace on difficult terms, but now there is no way for Poland to maintain its statehood. In the evening of the same day, the Polish government and army command moved to Romania.

September 21 Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the secret police and security services of the SS, outlines the principles of the occupation policy in Poland: the liquidation of the intelligentsia, the ghettoization of Jews and the resettlement of Poles in a special territory with a center in Krakow.

September 22nd In 1939, brigade commander S. M. Krivoshein, together with General G. Guderian, takes a joint parade of Soviet and German troops in the Belarusian city of Brest, they knew each other from their studies at the Kama school.

September 26 after 17 days of resistance, in which about 100,000 people participated, Warsaw capitulated.

September 28 The fortress of Modlin capitulated, the Polish campaign ended, although individual garrisons continued to resist in the Lublin region until October 6.

September 28 Joachim Ribbentrop goes to Moscow to agree on the Soviet-Polish border. According to the new secret protocol, all of Lithuania went to the area of ​​interests of the USSR, and the border from the Vistula was shifted east to the Bug. In the Polish campaign Soviet Union lost 737 killed and 1859 wounded soldiers.

217,000 Polish soldiers ended up in Soviet captivity. The state of Poland disappeared from geographical maps. In the school geographic atlas published in 1940, the inscription “Area of ​​State Interests of Germany” appeared on the site of former Poland. The Germans called this administrative entity the German General Government (Deutsche Generalgouvernement).

September 30th in France, General Wladislaw Sikopski organized the Polish government-in-exile and at the same time raised an army of 90,000 Poles who managed to escape to the West.

October

The 4th of October a secret decree grants amnesty to Germans living in Poland who took part in German pogroms.

October 6 At a meeting of the Reichstag, Hitler summed up the results of the Polish campaign, at which he offered peace to the West. At the same time, he demanded a revision of the Versailles agreement, the return of lost colonies to Germany and the abolition of restrictions on weapons. Since Germany at this point had become the hegemon in central Europe, Hitler's peace initiative was rejected by France on October 10, and by Britain on October 12.

October 7th Reichsführer SS and police chief Heinrich Himmler orders the "Strengthening of the German people's statehood" by the forced resettlement of Poles in the formed General Government.

October 9 the Reich Chancellery discussed the implementation of plans for euthanasia. It was supposed to destroy 65-70 thousand people.

The USSR transfers Vilnius, which was previously in Poland, to Lithuania.

October 12 occupied by the Germans and not part of Germany, the lands were turned into a general government under the leadership of Rekhsminister Hans Frank. The deportation of Jews from Austria, and the protectorate of the Czech Republic and Moravia has begun.

October 14 U-47 captain Gunther Prien sinks the English battleship Royal Oak in Scapa Flow Bay.

17 October during a German air raid on Scapa Flow, the obsolete battleship Iron Duke was seriously damaged.

October 21 Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano Count von Cornelazzo and German Ambassador Hans Georg von Mackensen agree on the resettlement of Germans from South Tyrol.

the 25th of October A "General Government for the Occupation of Polish Territory" (Generalgouvernements für die besetzen pollnischen Gebiete) is created.

28 of October Himmler issues an order addressed to unmarried members of the SS to take part in the education of youth.

October 30 an agreement is concluded with Lithuania on resettlement. An order is issued to evict Jews from Pomerania, West Prussia (Posen) and Upper Silesia to the General Government.

October 31 1939, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov, speaking at a session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, declared to thunderous applause: “It took not such a strong blow from the German armed forces and the units of the Red Army that joined them, so that Poland, this disgusting offspring of the Versailles Treaty, would not nothing left."

The occupiers in the occupied territory began a broad campaign to destroy the Polish intelligentsia, clergy and officers of the armed forces. Several thousand Polish officers were shot at Katyn near Smolensk. After the capture of this territory during the hostilities of the Second World War, the German command invited representatives of the International Red Cross and presented them with irrefutable evidence of this crime.

November

the 3rd of November The Soviet and German governments sign an agreement on the resettlement of the German population (German Volksdeutsche) from Western Ukraine, as well as Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians and Ruthenians from the General Government.

November 4 Roosevelt signs the revised Neutrality Act. It gives permission to the belligerents to purchase American weapons, provided that they are exported on their own ships of these countries.

November 6 the entire teaching staff of the university in Krakow was sent to a concentration camp.

November 7 due to the weather, the previously planned transition to the offensive of the German troops was postponed from November 12 to November 15.

11th of November Governor-General Hans Frank orders the execution of all residents of houses on which posters appeared, reminiscent of the day of the restoration of the Polish state on November 11, 1918.

November 16 General Field Marshal Goering orders to increase the attraction of Polish labor to work in Germany.

November 18th General Blaskowitz reports to Hitler on police and SS Sonderkommando atrocities in Poland The Jews of the Krakow region must wear the distinctive Star of David from November 1st. While crossing the Channel, a Dutch passenger ship is blown up by a mine. 84 people died.

November 21 off the coast of Scotland near the Firth of Fort, the cruiser Belfast is heavily damaged by an explosion on a mine.

In its negotiations with Finland, the Soviet government offered in exchange for the territory of the Karelian Isthmus and the right to lease the Hanko Peninsula for the organization of a military base there, a much larger territory in central Karelia. The Finnish government refused, and Molotov called him "pea jesters."

November 26 The Soviet government handed Finland a note of protest against the alleged shelling of the Soviet border outpost near Mainil by the Finnish side. But the Finnish government reported that there were no guns suitable for such a shelling in this place. In addition, according to Finnish sound-measuring reconnaissance, firing was carried out from Soviet territory from the Sertolov and Chernaya Rechka regions, where large contingents of the Red Army were located not far from Leningrad. Nevertheless, the Finns suggested that a competent commission be convened to investigate the border incident.

November 27 King George VI of England signs a decree banning exports to Germany. This event is also supported by France.

November 28. The German high command reports the sinking of the English cruiser by the submarine U47 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Günter Prien.

November 30th Soviet aircraft bomb Helsinki. The Winter War begins. In the first days of the war, the Red Army practically did not meet resistance from the defending Finns.

December

December 7 the Germans make a successful mining of the waters off the coast of England. At the same time, the English destroyer was heavily damaged.

December 8 after the arrival of the commission in Przemysl, the resettlement of 120,000 Volksdeutsche from Volyn and Eastern Galicia to Germany begins.

9th December People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the USSR informs ambassadors accredited in Moscow about the beginning of the blockade of the Finnish coast and declaring it a war zone

December 14 The League of Nations in Geneva excludes the Soviet Union from its membership for aggression against Finland. ,

December 14 British air raid on Wilhelmhafen ends with the loss of 6 bombers The administration of the League of Nations in Geneva will exclude the USSR from the members of this organization for aggression against Finland.

December 16 First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill repeats the statement he made on September 19 about the readiness to enter Norway.

December 17 the heavily damaged pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee was scuttled by the commander at the mouth of the Laplata.

December 22 after seven days of fighting in the Summa-Khotinen region, it ends with no results huge losses when trying to break through the "Mannerheim Line" in the forehead.

Soviet troops invaded the territory of Finland, intending to cut it and go to the Gulf of Bothnia. But here the Finns adopted the tactics of guerrilla warfare. In small groups of skiers who knew the area well, they fired from ambushes on columns of troops stretched along the narrow forest roads. At the same time, their main goal was commanders and camp kitchens. The encircled troops, in accordance with the charters, occupied a circular defense, forming sedentary pockets of resistance, called "motti" by the Finns, the elimination of which was only a matter of time

December 28th end in complete defeat after the fighting, which lasted 17 days, the Soviet 163rd Infantry Division of the Red Army (intended to capture Oulu on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia) at Suomussalmi.

The complete professional incompetence of the command staff and the lack of initiative of the entire mass of commanders were a hallmark of the Red Army of that time. German officers and soldiers, who were friendly watching the actions of Soviet military leaders during joint exercises, said that in their overwhelming majority, their qualifications should not have allowed them to occupy positions higher than non-commissioned officers. The situation was further aggravated by the fact that all tactical and strategic developments and measures to change the structure of the army in accordance with the new conditions of warfare were declared "bourgeois prejudices", and the training of soldiers was again reduced to drill and the acquisition of political knowledge, as was the case in time of the civil war. This was based on the fear of responsibility, which was the result of a campaign of suspicion and unfounded repression that swept the whole country, in which there was no way to prove one's case with any manifestation of one's own initiative. Such an army was fundamentally doomed to military failures and only the personal stamina of the soldiers could save it from complete defeat, and victory could only be achieved by huge human reserves, significantly exceeding the reserves that a possible enemy would have.