4. Russian counter offensives 1944 Flashcards
On eastern front, what did final two years of war see?
advance of Soviet Army (Red Army) westwards, clearing the Nazi forces from ‘Motherland’ before driving into heart of Reich itself
Overy explains such success was due to Soviet Army’s?
sharp increase in battlefront weapons and “great improvements in the way those weapons were organised and exploited” (military reform)
what was the operation called?
Operation Bagration
what was the operation aim/tactic?
launched massive rapid and strong assault on Hitler’s forces, Army Group Centre, by General Zhukov on 22 June 1944 with aim to move across Belorussia towards Poland -> push Germans out of Soviet Union.
what did the attack consist of?
over one million men, 6 000 tanks and 2 000 aircraft. German lose
300 000 men.
when did Soviet forces start campaign?
early July to drive Germans out of Baltic states = threaten German food supplies
what happened June?
Russians launched attack in German forces in Belorussia, where 285 000 Germans killed or taken prisoner
what comes under Soviet control?
Baltic states
by early October, the Russians were?
in East Prussia
What was happening to Hitler’s empire by end of 1944?
Hitler’s empire in central and Eastern Europe was greatly decreased
what did Russian forces do by beginning of August?
Russian forces moved across Poland, stopping just short of Warsaw while the Polish Resistance rose up against Germans
While Polish Resistance rose up against the Germans in Warsaw, Polish hoped to?
to gain a stronger negotiation position with the Red Army
how long did warsaw rising last?
2 months
result of warsaw rising?
55 000 Polish deaths and 350 000 Poles sent to Germany as slave labour
what was too much for Polish forces?
German air power and artillery/tanks
why did Stalin order forces to stop at River Vistula (near Warsaw)?
to allow the Germans to destroy the Polish forces loyal to the non-Communist Polish government in exile, where the red Army could then move in and destroy German forces
at same time waiting for Germans to destroy Warsaw, Soviet forces gained?
control of Romania and Bulgaria
what did Russia control by April 1945?
all of Eastern Europe and was poised for final onslaught
what does J Jordan state about Operation Bagration?
“…Operation Bagration was Hitler’s worst military setback of the war….dramatically turned the tide of war against the Third Reich.”
what does ML Altogovzen (Soviet writer) state about the Polish army involvement in Warsaw rising?
“encouraged the inhabitants of Warsaw to launch an ill-prepared uprising” where it resulted in thousands of death and destruction of Warsaw
what did ‘Defense and Foreign Affairs Daily (US) 2003’ state about significance of this event?
“Whatever hopes for survival which the Third Reich leaders harboured, evaporated…”
