World War II events eastern front. Eastern European Front of World War II

Sections: History and social studies

Lesson objectives:

Based on events and documents, deepen students' knowledge about the anti-Hitler coalition.
Find out the role of the Second Front in World War II in 1941–1945.
Continue to develop students' analytical abilities through working with historical document, table.
To foster patriotism and pride for the feat of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War and moral education.

Equipment:

Map “World War II”.
Package of documents.
Use of ICT – presentation“The role of the Eastern Front in World War II.”

Problematic situation.

From the book by M. Ferro “How to tell a story to children in different countries peace."

“Fifty years after the outbreak of the Second World War, history in every country continues to successfully fulfill the function of justifying itself. This becomes clear when you compare English, German, French, Soviet or American school textbooks. A comparative study of textbooks reveals “hot spots” of these disagreements.

Study plan

Battle of Moscow. The formation of the anti-Hitler coalition.
Battle of Stalingrad. Battle of El Alamein
Battle of Kursk. Sicilian operation.
Opening of the Second Front. Operation “Bagration”.
Battle of the Bulge. Vistula-Oder operation.
Meeting on the Elbe.
The decisive role of the Eastern Front in World War II.

1. Battle of Moscow. The formation of the anti-Hitler coalition.

A new stage of World War II began on June 22, 1941, after the attack of Germany and its allies on the USSR. The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people became the most important component of the world war, and the Soviet-German front became its main front.

The heavy battles of the summer and autumn of 1941, the fierce resistance of Soviet troops, thwarted the German plan for a “lightning war”. Two general offensives of the German army and its allies, launched on September 30 and November 15–16, 1941, did not achieve their goal. It was not possible to take Moscow.

On December 5–6, a counteroffensive by Soviet troops began, as a result of which the enemy was thrown back 100–250 km from the capital, and 50 German divisions were defeated.

Trying to save the army from disaster, from December 1941 to April 1942, Hitler’s command transferred 39 divisions to the Soviet-German front from Germany and the occupied countries of Europe. (Slide 2 - Presentation)

Students work with the table “The balance of forces in the battle of Moscow.” Slide 3

At the height of the battle for Moscow, the chief of the general staff ground forces Germany general Halder wrote in his diary: “We will never again have the kind of ground forces that we had by June 1941.””.

The offensive developed in the absence of a general superiority in forces and means over the enemy on the Soviet side, in conditions of a harsh and snowy winter, with a lack of military equipment and ammunition, experience in organizing and conducting such offensive operations.

The defeat of fascist troops near Moscow at the end of 1941 - beginning of 1942 was the first major defeat of the German army: it served as a powerful impetus for the development of the struggle against the Hitler bloc.

The historical significance of the victory of Soviet troops near Moscow: The plan for a lightning war was thwarted, the war became protracted

The myth of the invincibility of the fascist army is dispelled
Germany's first major defeat since the start of World War II
The international authority of the USSR rose
Accelerated the creation of the anti-Hitler coalition

This was Germany's first major defeat in World War II. In this regard, W. Churchill wrote: “The Russian resistance broke the back of the German armies.” Slide 4

In 1941 - the first half of 1942 Pacific Ocean, in Southeast Asia and North Africa, the USSR's allies were retreating. Commander in Chief of the US Armed Forces Far East general D. MacArthur addressed the defeated American troops with a statement that said: “From the current international situation it is clear that today the hopes of world civilization are inextricably linked with the actions of the Red Army and its valiant banners.”Slide 5

2. Battle of Stalingrad. Battle of El Alamein.

The USSR's allies conducted military operations in North Africa, Italy, the Mediterranean Sea, Western Europe, Atlantic, Pacific, Southeast Asia. Despite the favorable strategic situation for the troops of England and the United States, the armed struggle on the North African front became protracted. The largest battle here was the battle of El Alamein (October–November 1942), where the British, having a significant superiority in forces and resources, won. This time too, the fascist troops failed to build on their success, since all their strategic reserves were sent to the Soviet-German front. Slide 6

“Very little was required to capture Alexandria and break through to the Suez Canal and Palestine,” admitted IN. Keitel. “But just then we were not strong enough in this direction... primarily because of the war with Russia.”.

Question. What does V. Keitel mean?

Therefore, the attempts of some Western historians to qualify this victory as a “turn of fate” in the Second World War are clearly untenable.

English historian J. Fuller evaluates the battle of El Alamein as “the most decisive land battle to protect the interests of the Allies and one of the most decisive in the history of England. Rommel's losses were catastrophic: 59 thousand killed, wounded and prisoners; 500 tanks; 400 guns...”Slide 7

However, comparing the figures for the losses of fascist troops at El Alamein and at Stalingrad, we will see the following picture:

personnel losses are 14 times greater; losses of guns and mortars are 25 times greater; tank losses are 4 times more than at El Alamein. Slide 8

Working with the table “Correlation of forces in the most important battles of 1942–1943.” Slide 9

	Battle of El Alamein	Battle of El Alamein	Battle of Stalingrad	Battle of Stalingrad
	Italo-German troops	English troops	The Germans and their satellites	Soviet troops
Number	104 000	195 000	1 000 000	1 000 000
Tanks and self-propelled guns	489	1029	675	1 463
Artillery	1 219	2 311	10 300	15 000
Aircraft	675	750	1 216	1 350

Students analyze the table and record the conclusion on their worksheets.

For two hundred days and nights the fierce Battle of Stalingrad did not subside. In scope, intensity and consequences, it had no equal in history. The Stalingrad epic ended with a decisive victory for the Soviet army. As a result of the counteroffensive near Stalingrad, Soviet troops defeated: the 6th and 4th German tank armies; 3rd and 4th Romanian armies; Italian 8th Army

In connection with the disaster at Stalingrad, three days of mourning were declared in Germany.

German general K. Tippelskirch wrote in his book “The History of the Second World War”: “In the framework of the war as a whole, events in North Africa are given a more prominent place than Battle of Stalingrad. However, the disaster at Stalingrad shocked the German army and the German people more because it was more sensitive to them. Something almost unattainable happened there - the death of an army surrounded by the enemy.” Slide No. 6

To stabilize the strategic defense front. Hitler's command transferred more than 33 divisions from Western Europe to the east from November 19, 1942 to March 30, 1943 alone.

English historian D. Erickson This is how he evaluates the battle of Stalingrad: “The victory at Stalingrad, working as a powerful reactor, influenced all subsequent events on the Eastern Front and in general.”

Question. Why is the Battle of Stalingrad considered the beginning of a radical turning point during the war?

Assessing the actions of the Soviet Armed Forces and their impact on the course of the war, the British Prime Minister W. Churchill A few days before the end of the Battle of Stalingrad he admitted: “... all our military operations are carried out on a very small scale compared to the enormous resources of England and the United States, and even more so compared to the gigantic efforts of Russia.”

3. Battle of Kursk. Sicilian operation.

Nazi Germany wanted revenge and was preparing a new offensive for the summer of 1943. A powerful offensive was supposed to change the situation at the front in favor of Germany. Fascist politicians and strategists counted on the inactivity of the USSR's allies in the anti-Hitler coalition - the USA and England, who continued to violate their obligations to open a second front in Europe. This allowed Germany to transfer fresh divisions from the west to the Soviet-German front. The Nazis carried out total mobilization in the country and accelerated the production of military equipment. By July 1943 they concentrated on the Soviet-German front:

5.3 million people
54 thousand guns and mortars
5.8 thousand tanks and assault guns
3 thousand combat aircraft

The Kursk region was chosen as the location of the offensive. The new offensive was given the code name “Citadel”. Slide 10

During Battle of Kursk The Soviet Armed Forces inflicted such a defeat on Nazi Germany from which it could no longer recover. The enemy lost:

500 thousand soldiers and officers
3 thousand guns
1.5 thousand tanks
3.7 thousand aircraft

Fascist Germany really faced the prospect of imminent defeat.

The crushing defeat at Kursk forced the fascist command to transfer large ground and air forces from the west to the Soviet-German front. This circumstance facilitated the landing of Anglo-American troops in Italy. Slide 11

In the summer of 1943 they began fighting in Europe and the Western powers. But they did not open, as expected, a second front against Germany. Taking advantage of the favorable situation, the United States and England carried out the Sicilian landing operation - July-August 1943. It was prepared and carried out in the difficult conditions of the Wehrmacht on the Soviet-German front. Mussolini was removed from power and the new government concluded a truce agreement with the Anglo-American command. On September 8, 1943, Italy signed the surrender.

The actions of the Anglo-American troops in Italy were distinguished by caution and slowness. As the fascist generals admitted, for Germany, “too busy on the Eastern Front, it always remained a secondary area of military operations.” Slide 12

A radical turning point in the course of the Second World War was achieved in conditions when the Anglo-American troops had not yet begun widespread military operations in Europe.

The victory in the Battle of Kursk showed that the USSR was able to win the war alone, without the help of its allies.

In this regard, the President of the United States F. Roosevelt said: “If things in Russia continue to go as they are now, then perhaps next spring there will be no need for a second front.” Slide 13

Question. How do you understand F. Roosevelt's words?

4. Opening of the Second Front. Operation “Bagration”

In 1944, Soviet troops launched a series of sequential and simultaneous attacks on the enemy in all strategic directions of the Soviet-German front from the Barents to the Black Sea. The main forces of the Wehrmacht were focused on the Soviet-German front, where they suffered huge losses. The fascist command transferred more and more new reinforcements to the sbda. By the beginning of 1944, there were almost 2.5 times fewer fascist divisions in the west than in the east.

The USA and England by this time had enormous military power. The total number of their armed forces exceeded 18 million people. However, their level of combat participation was low: 75% of American troops remained on US soil; 60% of English are in the British Isles. Slide 14

Question. Why did the Allies hesitate to open the Second Front?

The decision on the Second Front, adopted at the negotiations between the USSR, the USA and Great Britain, provided for its opening in 1942. However, for two years the USA and Great Britain deliberately evaded their obligations and opened the Second Front only when it became clear that the USSR could defeat Nazi Germany on its own. It was politically unprofitable for the Allies to further delay the opening of the Second Front: it was possible to be late for the end of the war in Europe

The Normandy landing operation of American-British troops - code-named Operation Overlord - began on June 6, 1944 with the landing of sea and airborne assault forces on the coast of Northern France. German aviation and navy were unable to provide serious resistance, since the Allies had the advantage:

Personnel – 3 times
Tanks – 3 times
Airplanes – 60 times
Complete domination of the sea

The Second Front played a well-known role in the general struggle of the anti-Hitler coalition against Nazi Germany and its satellites. However, even after the opening of the Second Front, where 56-75 Wehrmacht divisions operated, the main front of World War II continued to be the Soviet-German front, where the main enemy forces operated in 1941-45 - 190-266 divisions. Slide 15

The combat effectiveness of German troops in the west was significantly lower than in the east; they preferred to surrender rather than resist.

In September 1944, W. Churchill wrote: “...It was the Russian army that let the guts out of the German war machine.”

The opening of the Second Front took place at a time when the largest strategic offensive operation to liberate Belarus, code-named “Bagration,” began on the Soviet-German front. The Belarusian operation unfolded over a vast territory - along the front from the Western Dvina to Pripyat - 1100 km. One of the objectives of the Belarusian operation was to provide assistance to the allies. Slide 16

5. Battle of the Bulge. Vistula-Oder operation.

At the end of 1944, the position of the Allies in connection with the counter-offensive of fascist troops in the Ardennes deteriorated significantly. A sudden attack by fascist troops on December 16, 1944 took the units of the 1st American Army by surprise. Having broken through the defenses, the Germans quickly moved forward. The disorderly retreat of the Americans was stopped, but the situation remained difficult.

In this difficult situation for the allies, the head of the British government, W. Churchill, turned on January 6, 1945 to I.V. To Stalin with a message asking for help: “Heavy fighting is going on in the west. I would be grateful if you could advise whether we can count on a major Russian offensive on the front during January.” Slide 17

According to the original plan, the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts were supposed to go on the offensive on January 20, 1945. But this period has been adjusted

True to its allied duty, on January 12, 1945, earlier than planned, the Red Army went on the offensive from Baltic Sea to the Carpathians. This forced the Nazi command to abandon the continuation of any active operations in the West and urgently transfer to Eastern front 13 divisions, including 6 tank divisions - 800 tanks. The crisis situation for the Allies was over. Slide 18

W. Churchill subsequently wrote: “It was a wonderful feat on the part of the Russians to speed up a widespread offensive, undoubtedly at the cost of human lives.”

6. Meeting on the Elbe

On April 1, 1945, Churchill wrote to Roosevelt: “The Russian armies will undoubtedly capture all of Austria and enter Vienna. If they also capture Berlin, will they not have an overly exaggerated impression that they have made an overwhelming contribution to our common victory?

On April 16, 1945, the Berlin operation began. On April 25, Soviet troops met on the Elbe River with patrols of the 69th Infantry Division of the 1st American Army. It was a friendly meeting of allied soldiers in the most difficult war in the history of mankind. Soviet and American officers and soldiers exchanged friendly handshakes. The meeting of the allies took place in the very center of Germany, in the small town of Torgau. Slide 19

Many years later, November 25, 1954 W. Churchill wrote: “I believe that I was the first known person to openly declare the fact that we must have Germany on our side against the Russians. Even before the war ended, I sent a telegram to Montgomery, instructing him to carefully collect German weapons and put them away so that they could be easily distributed again to the German soldiers with whom we would have to cooperate if the Soviet offensive continued.

From the book of the English historian A. Taylor: “In February 1945, the Western powers still foresaw heavy and bloody battles with the Germans; British chiefs of staff even thought the war would last until November and so put unity first. And then, when victory unexpectedly turned out to be easy, the British and Americans regretted that they treated Soviet Russia as if they considered it an equal partner.”

7. The decisive role of the Eastern Front in World War II

The war irrefutably demonstrates that its burdens fell on the coalition participants far from equally, and their contribution to the common victory was not the same.

The main role in the defeat of fascist Germany and then militaristic Japan, their partners in the bloc, was played by the Soviet Union.

The historical truth is that it was the USSR’s contribution to achieving victory that turned out to be decisive. This conclusion is based on objective facts and a comprehensive analysis of the events of the war. Slide 20

The Soviet-German front from June 22, 1941 to May 9, 1945 remained the decisive front of the Second World War in terms of the number of troops involved, the duration and intensity of the struggle, its scope and final results.

Losses Nazi troops on the Soviet-German front:

in personnel - 4 times more than on all other fronts
tanks and assault guns - 75 percent
aviation – 75 percent
artillery pieces - 74 percent

Working with the table “Distribution of ground forces of Nazi Germany and its European allies along active fronts in 1941-1945 (number of divisions)” Slide No. 21

Front	June 1941	April 1942	November 1942	April 1943	January 1944	June 1944	January 1945
Soviet-German front	190	219	266	233	245	239,5	195,5
Other fronts	9	11	12,5	14,5	21	85	107

Students analyze the table and record the conclusion on their worksheets.

Some Western historians seek to artificially exaggerate the significance of those theaters of war where Anglo-American troops fought. They are not averse to portraying the decisive battles on the Soviet-German front, which changed the course of the war, as local battles, putting them on a par with operations on other fronts.

The decisive contribution of the USSR to the victory is also determined by the fact that the Wehrmacht suffered more than 73 percent of its total losses in battles and battles on the eastern front.

Noting this fact, the US President F. Roosevelt wrote: “From the point of view of grand strategy... it is difficult to escape the obvious fact that the Russian armies destroy more enemy soldiers and weapons than all the other 25 states of the United Nations combined.” Slide 22 –Presentation

German tanks line up for an attack in open terrain, as was typical during the first phase of hostilities on the Eastern Front in July 1941.

The location of the operator and the lack of uniform weapons among the squad members suggests that this salvo of an anti-tank gun on Soviet armored vehicles can be dated to the end of June - beginning of July 1941.

German army remained two-tier, having modern tank formations and grenadier units from the last war. The photograph shows German cavalry crossing a bridge in Russia, summer 1941.

Russia's wide rivers proved to be a less reliable barrier than the defenders had hoped. The photo shows German troops in rubber boats crossing the Dnieper in July.

In Russia in 1941 the Germans won battle after battle just as they had previously won in Poland in 1939 and France and the Netherlands in 1940 with the help of effective air support. This photo shows a camouflaged Russian airfield under a "hail of bombs."

March into the depths of Russia, September 1941. Most German soldiers just as their fathers and grandfathers went into battle on foot or on horseback.

Rapid German tank attacks created huge “cauldrons” into which many army units fell: according to German data, as of July 11, there were already more than 400 thousand prisoners of war.

A German machine gun post controls a street in Kharkov October 1941

Narva, located on the shore Gulf of Finland, witnessed the Russian defeat from the Swedish army Charles XII in 1700. In the photograph, German infantry passes under the old fortifications, September 1941.

Ukrainian peasants follow the orders of German soldiers. Most of the population of the areas captured by the Germans did not perceive what was happening as deliverance from the Soviet yoke, and the inability of the Germans to recognize this fact was their main political and strategic failure.

This photograph, taken in January 1942, shows civilians being shot by the Germans in a schoolyard in Rostov-on-Don.

The German occupation was harsh and helped alienate the masses of people who had initially welcomed the Germans. In this undated photograph found on a captured German soldier, we see how German officer hangs the prisoner.

The Russian December counteroffensive used troops trained and equipped to fight in harsh winter conditions. The German command was shocked and Hitler, by personal order, demanded to hold the defense regardless of losses.

A nation at war: Moscow Komsomol members are digging anti-tank ditches on the outskirts of the Russian capital.

German prisoners of war captured during the winter offensive

The desire for justice is one of the most important human aspirations. In any even somewhat complexly arranged public organizations The need for a moral assessment of interactions with other people has always been extremely great. Justice is the most important incentive for people to act, to evaluate what is happening, the most important element of perception of both themselves and the world.

The chapters written below do not pretend to be any complete description of the history of the concepts of justice. But in them we tried to focus on the basic principles, of which different times people came out, assessing the world and themselves. And also on the paradoxes that they encountered while implementing certain principles of justice.

The Greeks discover justice

The idea of justice appears in Greece. Which is understandable. As soon as people unite into communities (polises) and begin to interact with each other not only at the level of tribal relations or at the level of direct rule-subordination, there is a need for a moral assessment of such interaction.

Before that, the whole logic of justice fit into a simple scheme: justice is following a given order of things. The Greeks, however, also largely adopted this logic - the teaching of the sages and founders of the Greek city-states one way or another boiled down to a clear thesis: “Only what is in our laws and customs is fair.” But as cities developed, this logic became noticeably more complex and expanded.

So, what is fair is what does not harm others and is done for the benefit. Well, since the natural order of things is an objective good, then following it is the basis for any criteria for assessing justice.

The same Aristotle wrote very convincingly about the justice of slavery. Barbarians are naturally destined for physical labor and submission, and therefore it is very fair that the Greeks - naturally destined for mental and spiritual labor - make them slaves. Because it is good for barbarians to be slaves, even if they themselves do not understand this due to their unreasonableness. The same logic allowed Aristotle to talk about a just war. The war waged by the Greeks against the barbarians in order to replenish the army of slaves is just, since it restores the natural state of things and serves for the benefit of all. Slaves receive masters and the opportunity to realize their destiny, and the Greeks receive slaves.

Plato, based on the same logic of justice, proposed carefully monitoring how children play and, based on the type of play, assigning them to social groups for the rest of their lives. Those who play war are guards, they need to be taught the craft of war. Those who rule are philosopher rulers, they must be taught Platonic philosophy. And you don’t need to teach everyone else - they will work.

Naturally, the Greeks distinguished between the good of the individual and the common good. The second is certainly more important and significant. Therefore, the common good has always had primacy in the assessment of justice. If something infringes on other individual people, but implies the common good, this is certainly fair. However, for the Greeks there was no particular contradiction here. They called the common good the good for the polis, and the cities in Greece were small, and not at the level of abstraction, but at a very specific level it was assumed that the one whose benefit was infringed, for the benefit of everyone, would return it as a member of the community, with a profit. This logic, of course, led to the fact that justice for your own (residents of your policy) was very different from justice for strangers.

Socrates, who confused everything

So, the Greeks figured out what good is. We figured out what the natural order of things is. We figured out what justice is.

But there was one Greek who loved to ask questions. Good-natured, consistent and logical. You already understand that we are talking about Socrates.

In Xenophon’s “Memoirs of Socrates” there is an amazing chapter “Conversation with Euthydemus about the need to study.” This chapter ends with the following words: “And many, driven to such despair by Socrates, no longer wanted to have anything to do with him.” The cause of despair was those same consistent questions that Socrates asked the young politician Euthydemus about justice and goodness.

Read this brilliant dialogue from Xenophon himself or, perhaps even better, as presented by Mikhail Leonovich Gasparov. However, you can do it right here.

“Tell me: is it fair to lie, deceive, steal, capture people and sell them into slavery?” - “Of course, it’s unfair!” - “Well, if the commander, having repelled the attack of the enemies, captures prisoners and sells them into slavery, will that also be unfair?” - “No, perhaps that’s fair.” - “What if he robs and destroys their land?” - “That’s also fair.” - “What if he deceives them with military tricks?” - “That’s also fair. Yes, perhaps I told you inaccurately: lying, deceit, and theft are fair to enemies, but unfair to friends.”

"Wonderful! Now, it seems, I am beginning to understand. But tell me this, Euthydemus: if the commander sees that his soldiers are despondent, and lies to them that allies are approaching them, and thereby encourages them, will such a lie be unfair? - “No, perhaps it’s fair.” - “And if a son needs medicine, but he does not want to take it, and the father deceives him by putting it in his food, and the son will recover, will such deception be unfair?” - “No, fair too.” - “And if someone, seeing a friend in despair and fearing that he might commit suicide, steals or takes away his sword and dagger, what can we say about such theft?” - “And that’s fair. Yes, Socrates, it turns out that I again told you inaccurately; it was necessary to say: lies, deceit, and theft are fair to enemies, but fair to friends when done for their benefit, and unfair when done to their evil.”

“Very good, Euthydemus; Now I see that before recognizing justice, I need to learn to recognize good and evil. But of course you know that?” - “I think I know, Socrates; although for some reason I’m not so sure about it anymore.” - “So what is this?” - “Well, for example, health is a good thing, and illness is an evil; food or drink that leads to health is good, and that leads to illness is evil.” - “Very good, I understood about food and drink; but then, perhaps, it would be more accurate to say about health in the same way: when it leads to good, then it is good, and when it leads to evil, then it is evil? - “What are you saying, Socrates, when can health be bad?” - “But, for example, an unholy war began and, of course, ended in defeat; the healthy went to war and died, while the sick stayed home and survived; What was health here - good or evil?

“Yes, I see, Socrates, that my example is unsuccessful. But, perhaps, we can say that intelligence is a blessing! - “Is it always? The Persian king often demands smart and skilled artisans from Greek cities to his court, keeps them with him and does not let them into their homeland; Is their intelligence good for them? - “Then - beauty, strength, wealth, glory!” - “But the beautiful ones are more often attacked by slave traders, because beautiful slaves are more valuable; the strong often take on a task that exceeds their strength and end up in trouble; the rich are pampered, become victims of intrigue and die; fame always causes envy, and this also leads to a lot of evil.”

“Well, if that’s the case,” Euthydemus said sadly, “then I don’t even know what I should pray to the gods for.” - "Do not worry! It just means that you don’t yet know what you want to tell people about. But do you really know the people?” - “I think I know, Socrates.” - “Who does the people consist of?” - “From the poor and the rich.” - “Who do you call poor and rich?” - “The poor are those who do not have enough to live on, and the rich are those who have everything in abundance and beyond.” - “Doesn’t it happen that a poor man can get by very well with his small means, but any riches are not enough for a rich man?” - “Really, it happens! There are even tyrants, for whom their entire treasury is not enough and needs illegal extortions.” - “So what? Shouldn’t we classify these tyrants among the poor, and the economic poor among the rich?” - “No, it’s better not to, Socrates; I see that here too, it turns out, I don’t know anything.”

“Don't despair! You will still think about the people, but you, of course, have thought about yourself and your future fellow speakers, more than once. So tell me this: there are also such bad speakers who deceive the people to their detriment. Some do it unintentionally, and some even do it intentionally. Which ones are better and which ones are worse?” - “I think, Socrates, that intentional deceivers are much worse and more unjust than unintentional ones.” - “Tell me: if one person deliberately reads and writes with errors, and another does not on purpose, then which of them is more literate?” - “Probably the one on purpose: after all, if he wants, he can write without mistakes.” - “But doesn’t it turn out that an intentional deceiver is better and fairer than an unintentional one: after all, if he wants, he can speak to the people without deception!” - “Don’t, Socrates, don’t tell me that, even without you I now see that I don’t know anything and it would be better for me to sit and be silent!”

Romans. Justice is right

The Romans were also concerned with the problem of justice. Rome, although it began as a small settlement, quickly grew into a huge state ruling over the entire Mediterranean. The Greek logic of polis justice no longer worked very well here. Too many people, too many provinces, too many different interactions.

Law helped the Romans cope with the idea of justice. A rebuilt and constantly being completed system of laws to which all citizens of Rome were subject. Cicero wrote that the state is a community of people united by common interests and agreement in relation to laws.

The legal system combined the interests of society, the interests of specific people, and the interests of Rome as a state. All this has been described and codified.

Hence law as the initial logic of justice. What is fair is what is lawful. And justice is realized through the possession of the right, through the opportunity to be the object of the action of the law.

“Don’t touch me, I’m a Roman citizen!” - a person included in the system of Roman law proudly exclaimed, and those who wanted to harm him understood that the whole power of the empire would fall on them.

Christian logic of justice or Everything has become complicated again

The “New Testament” again got things a little confusing.

Firstly, I asked absolute coordinates justice. The Last Judgment is coming. Only there will true justice be revealed and only this justice matters.

Secondly, your good deeds and just life here on earth can somehow influence that very decision of the High Court. But these deeds and a just life must be an act of our free will.

Thirdly, the requirement to love your neighbor as yourself, declared by Christ as the main moral value of Christianity, is still something more than just a requirement to try not to harm or to have a disposition for good. The Christian ideal presupposes the need to perceive others as oneself.

And finally, the New Testament abolished the division of people into friends and foes, into worthy and unworthy, into those whose destiny was to be a master and those whose destiny was to be a slave: “In the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew , neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all” (Epistle to the Colossians of the Holy Apostle Paul, 3.8)

Based on the logic of the New Testament, now all people should be perceived as equal subjects of justice. And the same criteria of fairness must be applied to everyone. And the principle of “love of neighbor” requires more from justice than simple adherence to formal criteria of good. The criteria of justice cease to be the same; they turn out to be different for everyone. And then there is the Last Judgment in the inevitable future.

In general, all this was too difficult, requiring too much mental and social effort. Fortunately, religious logic itself made it possible to perceive the world in the traditional paradigm of justice. Following the traditions and instructions of the church leads more reliably to the kingdom of heaven, for these are both good deeds and a just life. And all these acts of good free will can be omitted. We are Christians and believe in Christ (no matter what he says), and those who do not believe - our criteria of justice do not fit those. As a result, Christians, when necessary, substantiated the justice of any wars and any slavery no worse than Aristotle.

However, what was said in the New Testament still had its influence one way or another. And on religious consciousness, and on the entire European culture.

Don't do things you don't want them to do to you.

“In everything therefore, whatever you want people to do to you, do so to them, for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12). These words of Christ from the Sermon on the Mount are one of the formulations of a universal moral maxim. Confucius, the Upanishads, and many other places have approximately the same formula.

And it was this formula that became the starting point for thinking about justice in the Enlightenment. The world has become more complex, people speaking different languages, believers in different ways and in different things, doing different things, increasingly collided with each other. Practical reason required a logical and consistent formula of justice. And he found it in a moral maxim.

It is easy to see that this maxim has at least two very different versions.

“Don’t do what you don’t want to be done to you.”

“Do as you would like to be treated.”

The first was called the principle of justice, the second - the principle of mercy. The combination of these two principles solved the problem of who exactly should be considered the neighbor who should be loved (in the Sermon on the Mount, it was the second option). And the first principle provided grounds for a clear justification for just actions.

All these thoughts were summarized and brought into the categorical imperative by Kant. However, he had to (as the consistent logic of his thoughts required) slightly change the wording: “Act in such a way that the maxim of your will could be a universal law.” The author of the famous “Critic” has another option: “Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, both in your own person and in the person of everyone else, as an end, and never treat it only as a means.”

How Marx put everything in its place and justified the struggle for justice

But with this formula, in any formulation of it, big problems were discovered. Especially if you go beyond the Christian idea of the highest (divine) good and the highest judge. But what if others do exactly what you wouldn’t want them to do to you? What to do if you are treated unfairly?

And further. People are very different, “what is healthy for a Russian is karachun for a German.” Some people passionately want to see the holy cross on Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, while others don’t care at all; for some, control over the Bosphorus and Dardanelles is vital, while for others it’s important to find somewhere half a buck for a shot of vodka.

And here Karl Marx helped everyone. He explained everything. The world is divided into warring ones (no, no longer cities like Aristotle), but classes. Some classes are oppressed and others are oppressive. Everything the oppressors do is unjust. Everything the oppressed do is just. Especially if these oppressed are the proletariat. Because science has proven that the proletariat is the highest class, which is the future, and which represents the objectively good majority and the logic of progress.

So:

First of all, there is no justice for everyone.

Secondly, what is fair is what is done for the benefit of the majority.

Thirdly, what is true is what is objective, immutable (cf. the objective laws of the universe among the Greeks) and progressive.

And finally, what is true is that it is for the benefit of the oppressed, and therefore requires struggle. Requires the suppression of those who are against, those who oppress and stand in the way of progress

Actually, Marxism became for many years the main logic of the struggle for justice. And she still is. True, with one important change. Justice for the majority has fallen out of modern Marxist logic.

American philosopher John Rawls created the theory of “just inequality”, which is based on “equality of access to fundamental rights and freedoms” and “priority in access to any opportunities to those who have fewer of these opportunities.” There was nothing Marxist in Rawls’s logic; rather, on the contrary, it was obviously an anti-Marxist doctrine. However, it was precisely the combination of Rawls’s formula and the Marxist approach that created modern foundations to fight for justice to destroy

The Marxist logic of the struggle for justice is based on the rights of the oppressed. Marx reasoned in the category of large groups and global processes, and his oppressed was the proletariat - destined to be the majority by the logic of progress. But if you shift the focus a little, then in the place of the proletariat there may be any other oppressed marginal groups that do not necessarily constitute the majority. And so, from Marx’s desire to achieve justice for all, the struggle for the rights of any minorities grows, turning the ideas of the German from the century before last inside out.

Plan:

1 Poland. Finland. Baltics. (September 1939 – June 1941)
2 Invasion of the USSR. Moscow Battle
3 Summer campaign of 1942. Initial period of the Battle of Stalingrad (June 1942 - November 1942)
4 Radical change (November 1942 - December 1943)
5 Offensive in Belarus and Western Ukraine (December 1943 - September 1944)
6 Offensive in Karelia and the Balkans (September 1944 - January 1945)
7 The final stage of the war. Surrender of Germany (January - May 1945)

Introduction

Eastern European Theater of World War II(1939−1945) – fighting in Eastern Europe during World War II.
In Russia, the period of the Soviet-German war of 1941-1945 is called the Great Patriotic War.

1. Poland. Finland. Baltics. (September 1939 – June 1941)

September 1, 1939 Germany attacks Poland. Great Britain and France declare war on Germany, but do not take any active action in the West (“Strange War”). Despite the desperate resistance of the Polish troops, by September 8 the Germans had broken all pockets of resistance and besieged Warsaw. On September 17, the USSR, relying on a secret annex to the Non-Aggression Treaty between Germany and the USSR on the division of spheres of influence, invades Polish territory from the east and occupies Western Ukraine and Western Belarus. The Polish government flees the country, the Polish army is left without command. On September 28, Warsaw fell. By October 5, the USSR and Germany complete the division of Poland.

On November 30, after a series of failed negotiations on the exchange of territories, the USSR declares war on Finland and invades its territory. However, Soviet troops were unable to immediately break through the fortified Mannerheim line. After fierce fighting in February 1940, the Red Army finally breaks through the fortified line, but due to the difficult international situation, the USSR decides to stop the offensive and enters into negotiations with Finland. Under the terms of the agreement, the border on the Karelian Isthmus was moved away from Leningrad from 32 km to 150 km.

In June 1940, Bessarabia joined the USSR, and in August the Baltic states joined.

In the spring of 1941, Germany concluded alliance treaties with Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Finland and Slovakia and began intensive preparations for war against the USSR.

2. Invasion of the USSR. Moscow Battle

On June 22, 1941, Germany declared war on the USSR and at the same time began military operations along the entire front of the Soviet-German border. Germany was supported by its allies: Italy, Finland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. As a result of a surprise attack, German troops managed to penetrate deep into Soviet territory in the first weeks of the war. By the end of the first ten days of July, Germany had captured Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, a significant part of Ukraine, and part of Moldova. Soviet counterattacks ended in failure; a large number of soldiers and officers of the Red Army.

As a result of the Battle of Smolensk, at the cost of huge losses, the Soviet army managed to restrain the enemy’s offensive impulse and prevent them from taking Moscow on the move. From July to October, the Germans occupied the eastern part of Ukraine, Crimea (with the exception of Sevastopol), Estonia, and the western regions of the RSFSR (Pskov, Smolensk, Bryansk, Kursk and others). The blockade of Leningrad began.

September 30 - October 2, German troops resumed their attack on Moscow, again achieved serious success, but were then stopped. In December 1941, the Red Army launched a counteroffensive and drove them back from Moscow, inflicting a significant defeat on them. The threat to Moscow was eliminated.

However, the general offensive undertaken by the Red Army in January - April 1942 did not lead to the collapse of the Wehrmacht defense front. The decision on the possession of strategic initiative was postponed until the summer campaign of 1942.

3. Summer campaign of 1942. Initial period of the Battle of Stalingrad (June 1942 - November 1942)

Both the Soviet and German sides expected the summer of 1942 to implement their offensive plans.
According to OKW Directive No. 41 of April 5, 1942, the main objectives of the 1942 campaign were the Caucasus and Leningrad.

The general initial plans for the campaign in the East remain in force: the main task is to, while maintaining the position in the central sector, take Leningrad in the north and establish land contact with the Finns, and on the southern flank of the front to make a breakthrough into the Caucasus.

The main efforts of the Red Army, according to the plans of the Supreme Command Headquarters, were supposed to be concentrated on the central sector of the Soviet-German front. It was also planned to carry out an offensive near Kharkov, in the Crimea and break the blockade of Leningrad.

However, the offensive launched by Soviet troops in May 1942 near Kharkov ended in failure. German troops managed to parry the attack, defeated Soviet troops and went on the offensive themselves. In addition, German troops managed to defeat Soviet troops in the Kerch region. The defense of Soviet troops in the southern sector was weakened. Taking advantage of this, the German command launched a strategic offensive in two directions: towards Stalingrad and the Caucasus.
After fierce fighting near Voronezh and in the Donbass, German troops of Army Group B managed to break through to the big bend of the Don. In mid-July, the Battle of Stalingrad began, in which Soviet troops, at the cost of heavy losses, managed to pin down the enemy strike force.
Army Group A, advancing in the Caucasus, took Rostov-on-Don on July 23 and continued its attack on Kuban. On August 12, Krasnodar was captured. However, in battles in the foothills of the Caucasus and near Novorossiysk, Soviet troops managed to stop the enemy.

Meanwhile, in the central sector, the Soviet command launched a major offensive operation to defeat the enemy’s Rzhev-Sychev group (9th Army of Army Group Center). However, the Rzhev-Sychevsky operation, carried out from July 30 to the end of September, was not successful.
It was also not possible to break the blockade of Leningrad, although the Soviet offensive forced the German command to abandon the assault on the city.

4. Radical change (November 1942 - December 1943)

On November 19, 1942, the counteroffensive of Soviet troops began near Stalingrad, on November 23, parts of Stalingrad and Southwestern Fronts united near the city of Kalach-on-Don and surrounded 22 enemy divisions.

The offensive on the central sector of the front, which began on November 25, 1942, ended in failure for the Soviet troops (see Second Rzhev-Sychev operation), but diverted significant Wehrmacht forces.

The victory in the south was of enormous importance for the development of events of the entire campaign. It was Germany's first major defeat in World War II and marked the beginning of a period of radical change on the Eastern Front.

The Soviet command decided to take advantage of the favorable situation that arose after the encirclement and defeat of German troops at Stalingrad and on the Upper Don (see Ostrogozh-Rossoshansk and Voronezh-Kastornensk operations). The new strategic plan included a major three-stage strategic operation (code name unknown): in the first stage, the Bryansk Front and the left wing of the Western Front, reinforced by the Central Front (renamed Don Front) transferred from Stalingrad, were supposed to defeat the 2nd Field and 2nd enemy tank army near Orel. At the second and third stages of the operation, Kalininsky and Western fronts were supposed to launch an offensive through Velizh and from Kirov to the rear of the Rzhev-Vyazma enemy group and connect with the troops of the Central Front near Smolensk. The new strategic offensive was to begin on February 12 with the attack on Oryol and continued on February 15, after the Central Front was brought into battle.

However, the German counter-offensive near Kharkov in February-March 1943 disrupted the implementation of Soviet plans and led to the stabilization of the front.

In July 1943, the German command tried to regain the initiative and defeat the Red Army at the Kursk Bulge. At the cost of enormous losses, the Soviet troops held back and exhausted the German army and were eventually able to win the battle. After this defeat, the Wehrmacht leadership finally lost the strategic initiative, was forced to abandon the offensive strategy and went on the defensive until the end of the war.

In the fall of 1943, the Red Army liberated most of Ukraine and part of Belarus from the Germans.

5. Offensive in Belarus and Western Ukraine (December 1943 - September 1944)

In the winter of 1943-1944, the Red Army carried out an offensive in Ukraine, liberated Leningrad, liberated Crimea, reached the Carpathians and entered the territory of Romania. The grandiose offensive of the Red Army in Belarus and Western Ukraine in the summer of 1944 ended with the defeat of the two largest Wehrmacht strategic groups in the center of the Soviet-German front, a breakthrough of the German front to a depth of 600 km, the complete destruction of 26 divisions and inflicting heavy losses on 82 Nazi divisions. Soviet troops reached the border of East Prussia, occupied the Baltic states, entered Polish territory and approached the Vistula.

6. Offensive in Karelia and the Balkans (September 1944 - January 1945)

By September 1944, Soviet troops carried out operations in Karelia and the Arctic. Finland withdrew from the war and broke its alliance with Germany. However, German troops refused to leave Finnish territory. As a result, Finnish troops had to fight against their former allies.

In the Balkans, the Red Army carried out a major operation, as a result of which the governments of Romania and Bulgaria were overthrown, and Romania broke the alliance with Germany. The new puppet pro-Soviet governments of both countries declared war on Germany. In October, Soviet troops entered Hungarian territory and helped the anti-fascist uprising in Slovakia. In January 1945, the Red Army captured Budapest and forced Hungary to surrender. However, the pro-German puppet government in Hungary proved much more popular than in Romania or Bulgaria. The Hungarian communists were never able to raise an army for the war against Germany, and on the German side, Hungarian troops continued to fight until the end of the war.

7. The final stage of the war. Surrender of Germany (January - May 1945)

From January to April 1945, Soviet troops completely occupied Poland, East Prussia, entered Austrian territory. For the defense of Berlin, the German command concentrated more than 1 million people. After stubborn fighting, Soviet troops broke into the city. On April 28, the Reichstag fell. On May 2, the fighting in Berlin ended and the city's garrison capitulated.

However, the German army continued to resist against the Soviet troops. A huge group of Field Marshal F. Schörner was surrounded on the territory of Czechoslovakia. And although the act of surrender in Karlhorst was signed on the night of May 8–9, the battles of World War II in Europe ended only on May 11. More than 860 thousand Germans were captured as a result of the Prague operation alone.

Notes

“Hitler needed Romania as a strategic bridgehead and as a supplier of oil. That’s why he occupied it before the start of the war” (Marshal Ion Antonescu).
V. I. Dashichev. The bankruptcy of the strategy of German fascism. Moscow, Nauka Publishing House, 1973. vol. 2. Aggression against the USSR. The fall of the "third empire" - katynbooks.narod.ru/foreign/dashichev-02.htm/
D. Glanz. The largest defeat of Zhukov, the Catastrophe of the Red Army in Operation Mars 1942 - M.: AST: Astrel, 2006.

In the CIS countries, the war on the Eastern European Front, which became the site of the largest military confrontation in Russia, is called the Great Patriotic War. More than 400 military formations of the German and Red Army fought for 4 years on a front that stretched over more than 1,600 km. Over the years, about 8 million Soviet and 4 million German soldiers laid down their lives on the Eastern European Front. The military operations were particularly fierce: the largest tank battle in history (the Battle of Kursk), the longest siege of the city (almost 900-day blockade of Leningrad), a scorched earth policy, the complete destruction of thousands of villages, mass deportations, executions... The situation was complicated by the fact that inside the Soviet There was a split in the armed forces. 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!”, prohibiting Soviet soldiers from retreating without orders. In case of disobedience, the military leaders faced a tribunal, and the soldiers could immediately receive punishment from their colleagues, who had to shoot at anyone who ran from the battlefield. This collection contains photographs from 1942-1943, covering the period of the Great Patriotic War from the siege of Leningrad to the decisive Soviet victories near Stalingrad and Kursk. The scale of military operations of that time is almost impossible to imagine, much less to cover in one photo report, but we bring to your attention photographs that have preserved scenes of military operations on the Eastern European Front for posterity.

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

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

A German anti-tank gun prepares for battle on the Soviet front, late 1942. (AP Photo)

Residents of Leningrad collect water during the nearly 900-day siege Soviet city by the German occupiers, winter 1942. The Germans were unable 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 medicine and equipment, people quickly died from illness and injury. During the siege of Leningrad, 1.5 million soldiers and civilians died, the same number of Leningraders were evacuated, but many of them died along the way due to hunger, 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 German invaders in August 1942. (AP Photo)

German motorized artillery crossing 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 a Warsaw post office by a Polish resistance member who was collecting evidence of Nazi war crimes. The original photograph belonged to 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 photo card: “Ukrainian SSR, 1942, extermination of the Jews, Ivangorod.”

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

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

Soviet war orphans stand near the ruins of their home, late 1942. The German occupiers destroyed their home and took their parents 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 in 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)

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

A German tank approaches a broken 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 Soviet army. Photo: Stuka dive bombers bomb 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 thousand tanks in various conditions in the cemetery. (AP Photo

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

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

Soviet soldiers in winter uniform took a 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 Fallen Fighters in Stalingrad, January 1943. (Georgy Zelma/Waralbum.ru)

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

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

Red Army soldiers in camouflage attack German positions across a snowy field on the German-Soviet front, March 3, 1943. (AP Photo)

Soviet infantrymen march through the snow-covered hills around Stalingrad to liberate the city from the Nazi invaders, early 1943. The Red Army surrounded the German 6th Army, 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 surrounded by Soviet forces in Stalingrad, the German 6th Army capitulated, losing 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 Red Army headquarters near Stalingrad, USSR, March 1, 1943. Paulus was the first German field marshal to be captured by the Soviets. Contrary to Hitler's expectations that Paulus would fight until his death (or commit suicide after defeat), in Soviet captivity the field marshal began to criticize the Nazi regime. He subsequently acted as a prosecution witness at the Nuremberg trials. (AP Photo)

Red Army soldiers sit in a trench as a Soviet T-34 tank passes over them 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 shoot at an enemy plane, 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 prepare for a new attack during the Battle of Kursk, July 28, 1943. The German army had been preparing for the offensive for months, but the Soviets were aware of Germany's plans and developed a powerful defense system. After the defeat of German troops in the Battle of Kursk, the Red Army maintained superiority until the very end of the war. (AP Photo)

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

Soviet soldiers advance 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)