When Russian troops entered Berlin. Russians in Berlin

The final battle in the Great Patriotic War was the Battle of Berlin, or the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation, which took place from April 16 to May 8, 1945.

On April 16, at 3 o'clock local time, aviation and artillery preparation began in the sector of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts. After its completion, 143 searchlights were turned on to blind the enemy, and infantry, supported by tanks, went on the attack. Without encountering strong resistance, she advanced 1.5-2 kilometers. However, the further our troops advanced, the stronger the enemy’s resistance grew.

The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front carried out a rapid maneuver to reach Berlin from the south and west. On April 25, troops of the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian Fronts united west of Berlin, completing the encirclement of the entire Berlin enemy group.

The liquidation of the Berlin enemy group directly in the city continued until May 2. Every street and house had to be stormed. On April 29, battles began for the Reichstag, the capture of which was entrusted to the 79th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belorussian Front.

Before the storming of the Reichstag, the Military Council of the 3rd Shock Army presented its divisions with nine Red Banners, specially made to resemble the State Flag of the USSR. One of these Red Banners, known as No. 5 as the Victory Banner, was transferred to the 150th Infantry Division. Similar homemade red banners, flags and flags were available in all forward units, formations and subunits. They, as a rule, were awarded to assault groups, which were recruited from among volunteers and went into battle with the main task - to break into the Reichstag and plant the Victory Banner on it. The first, at 22:30 Moscow time on April 30, 1945, to hoist the assault red banner on the roof of the Reichstag on the sculptural figure “Goddess of Victory” were reconnaissance artillerymen of the 136th Army Cannon Artillery Brigade, senior sergeants G.K. Zagitov, A.F. Lisimenko, A.P. Bobrov and Sergeant A.P. Minin from the assault group of the 79th Rifle Corps, commanded by Captain V.N. Makov, the assault artillery group acted together with the battalion of captain S.A. Neustroeva. Two or three hours later, also on the roof of the Reichstag on the sculpture of an equestrian knight - Kaiser Wilhelm - on the orders of the commander of the 756th Infantry Regiment of the 150th Infantry Division, Colonel F.M. Zinchenko erected Red Banner No. 5, which later became famous as the Victory Banner. Red Banner No. 5 was hoisted by scouts Sergeant M.A. Egorov and junior sergeant M.V. Kantaria, who were accompanied by Lieutenant A.P. Berest and machine gunners from the company of senior sergeant I.Ya. Syanova.

The fighting for the Reichstag continued until the morning of May 1. At 6:30 a.m. on May 2, the chief of defense of Berlin, artillery general G. Weidling, surrendered and gave the order to the remnants of the Berlin garrison to cease resistance. In the middle of the day, the Nazi resistance in the city ceased. On the same day, surrounded groups of German troops southeast of Berlin were eliminated.

On May 9 at 0:43 Moscow time, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, as well as representatives of the German Navy, who had the appropriate authority from Doenitz, in the presence of Marshal G.K. Zhukov, on the Soviet side, signed the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany. A brilliantly executed operation, coupled with the courage of Soviet soldiers and officers who fought to end the four-year nightmare of war, led to a logical result: Victory.

Capture of Berlin. 1945 Documentary

PROGRESS OF THE BATTLE

The Berlin operation of the Soviet troops began. Goal: complete the defeat of Germany, capture Berlin, unite with the allies

The infantry and tanks of the 1st Belorussian Front began the attack before dawn under the illumination of anti-aircraft searchlights and advanced 1.5-2 km

With the onset of dawn on the Seelow Heights, the Germans came to their senses and fought with ferocity. Zhukov brings tank armies into battle

16 Apr 45 The troops of Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front encounter less resistance on the path of their advance and immediately cross the Neisse

The commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Konev, orders the commanders of his tank armies, Rybalko and Lelyushenko, to advance on Berlin

Konev demands that Rybalko and Lelyushenko not get involved in protracted and frontal battles, and move forward more boldly towards Berlin

In the battles for Berlin, Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of a tank battalion of the Guards, died twice. Mr. S. Khokhryakov

The 2nd Belorussian Front of Rokossovsky joined the Berlin operation, covering the right flank.

By the end of the day, Konev’s front completed the breakthrough of the Neissen defense line and crossed the river. Spree and provided conditions for the encirclement of Berlin from the south

Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front Zhukov spend the whole day breaking the 3rd line of enemy defense on the Oderen on the Seelow Heights

By the end of the day, Zhukov’s troops completed the breakthrough of the 3rd line of the Oder line on the Seelow Heights

On the left wing of Zhukov’s front, conditions were created to cut off the enemy’s Frankfurt-Guben group from the Berlin area

Directive of the Supreme High Command Headquarters to the commander of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts: “Treat the Germans better.” , Antonov

Another directive from Headquarters: on identification marks and signals when meeting Soviet armies and Allied troops

At 13.50, the long-range artillery of the 79th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Shock Army was the first to open fire on Berlin - the beginning of the assault on the city itself

Apr 20 45 Konev and Zhukov send almost identical orders to the troops of their fronts: “Be the first to break into Berlin!”

By evening, formations of the 2nd Guards Tank, 3rd and 5th Shock Armies of the 1st Belorussian Front reached the northeastern outskirts of Berlin

The 8th Guards and 1st Guards Tank Armies wedged into the city defensive perimeter of Berlin in the areas of Petershagen and Erkner

Hitler ordered the 12th Army, previously aimed at the Americans, to be turned against the 1st Ukrainian Front. It now has the goal of connecting with the remnants of the 9th and 4th Panzer armies, making their way south of Berlin to the west.

Rybalko’s 3rd Guards Tank Army broke into the southern part of Berlin and by 17.30 was fighting for Teltow - Konev’s telegram to Stalin

Hitler refused to leave Berlin for the last time while there was such an opportunity. Goebbels and his family moved to a bunker under the Reich Chancellery (“Fuhrer’s bunker”)

Assault flags were presented by the Military Council of the 3rd Shock Army to the divisions storming Berlin. Among them is the flag that became the banner of victory - the assault flag of the 150th Infantry Division

In the area of ​​Spremberg, Soviet troops eliminated the encircled group of Germans. Among the destroyed units was the tank division "Fuhrer's Guard"

Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front are fighting in the south of Berlin. At the same time they reached the Elbe River northwest of Dresden

Goering, who left Berlin, turned to Hitler on the radio, asking him to approve him at the head of the government. Received an order from Hitler removing him from the government. Bormann ordered Goering's arrest for treason

Himmler unsuccessfully tries, through the Swedish diplomat Bernadotte, to offer the Allies surrender on the Western Front.

Shock formations of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts in the Brandenburg region closed the encirclement of German troops in Berlin

German 9th and 4th tank forces. armies are surrounded in the forests southeast of Berlin. Units of the 1st Ukrainian Front repulse the counterattack of the 12th German Army

Report: “In the Berlin suburb of Ransdorf there are restaurants where they “willingly sell” beer to our fighters for occupation stamps.” The head of the political department of the 28th Guards Rifle Regiment, Borodin, ordered the owners of Ransdorf restaurants to close them until the battle was over.

In the area of ​​​​Torgau on the Elbe, Soviet troops of the 1st Ukrainian fr. met with the troops of the 12th American Army Group of General Bradley

Having crossed the Spree, the troops of Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front and Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front are rushing towards the center of Berlin. Nothing can stop the rush of Soviet soldiers in Berlin

Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front in Berlin occupied Gartenstadt and Görlitz station, troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front occupied the Dahlem district

Konev turned to Zhukov with a proposal to change the demarcation line between their fronts in Berlin - the center of the city should be transferred to the front

Zhukov asks Stalin to honor the capture of the center of Berlin by the troops of his front, replacing Konev's troops in the south of the city

The General Staff orders Konev's troops, who have already reached Tiergarten, to transfer their offensive zone to Zhukov's troops

Order No. 1 of the military commandant of Berlin, Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General Berzarin, on the transfer of all power in Berlin to the hands of the Soviet military commandant's office. It was announced to the population of the city that the National Socialist Party of Germany and its organizations were dissolved and their activities were prohibited. The order established the order of behavior of the population and determined the basic provisions necessary to normalize life in the city.

Battles began for the Reichstag, the capture of which was entrusted to the 79th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belorussian Front

When breaking through the barriers on the Berlin Kaiserallee, N. Shendrikov’s tank received 2 holes, caught fire, and the crew was disabled. The mortally wounded commander, gathering his last strength, sat down at the control levers and threw the flaming tank at the enemy gun.

Hitler's wedding to Eva Braun in a bunker under the Reich Chancellery. Witness - Goebbels. In his political will, Hitler expelled Goering from the NSDAP and officially named Grand Admiral Dönitz as his successor.

Soviet units are fighting for the Berlin metro

The Soviet command rejected the attempts of the German command to begin negotiations on the time. ceasefire. There is only one demand - surrender!

The assault on the Reichstag building itself began, which was defended by more than 1000 Germans and SS men from different countries

Several red banners were fixed in different places of the Reichstag - from regimental and divisional to homemade

Scouts of the 150th division Egorov and Kantaria were ordered to hoist the Red Banner over the Reichstag around midnight

Lieutenant Berest from Neustroev's battalion led the combat mission to plant the Banner over the Reichstag. Installed around 3.00, May 1

Hitler committed suicide in the Reich Chancellery bunker by taking poison and shooting himself in the temple with a pistol. Hitler's corpse is burned in the courtyard of the Reich Chancellery

Hitler leaves Goebbels as Reich Chancellor, who commits suicide the next day. Before his death, Hitler appointed Bormann Reich Minister for Party Affairs (previously such a post did not exist)

Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front captured Bandenburg, in Berlin they cleared the areas of Charlottenburg, Schöneberg and 100 blocks

In Berlin, Goebbels and his wife Magda committed suicide, having previously killed their 6 children

The commander arrived at the headquarters of Chuikov's army in Berlin. German General Staff Krebs, reported Hitler's suicide, proposed a truce. Stalin confirmed his categorical demand for unconditional surrender in Berlin. At 18 o'clock the Germans rejected it

At 18.30, due to the refusal of surrender, a fire strike was launched at the Berlin garrison. Mass surrender of Germans began

At 01.00, the radios of the 1st Belorussian Front received a message in Russian: “We ask you to cease fire. We are sending envoys to the Potsdam Bridge."

A German officer, on behalf of the commander of the defense of Berlin Weidling, announced the readiness of the Berlin garrison to stop resistance

At 6.00 General Weidling surrendered and an hour later signed an order for the surrender of the Berlin garrison

Enemy resistance in Berlin has completely ceased. The remnants of the garrison surrender en masse

In Berlin, Goebbels' deputy for propaganda and press, Dr. Fritsche, was captured. Fritzsche testified during interrogation that Hitler, Goebbels and Chief of the General Staff General Krebs committed suicide

Stalin's order on the contribution of the Zhukov and Konev fronts to the defeat of the Berlin group. By 21.00, 70 thousand Germans had already surrendered.

The irretrievable losses of the Red Army in the Berlin operation were 78 thousand people. Enemy losses - 1 million, incl. 150 thousand killed

Soviet field kitchens are deployed throughout Berlin, where “wild barbarians” feed hungry Berliners

Do you know that our troops took Berlin three times?! 1760 - 1813 - 1945.

Even without going back centuries, when the Prussians and Russians sang, prayed and cursed in the same (or very similar) language, we will find that in the campaign of 1760, during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), the commander-in-chief, General Field Marshal Pyotr Semenovich Saltykov captured Berlin, at that time just the capital of Prussia.

Austria had just quarreled with its northern neighbor and called for help from its powerful eastern neighbor - Russia. When the Austrians were friends with the Prussians, they fought together with the Russians.

This was the time of gallant conquering kings, the heroic image of Charles XII had not yet been forgotten, and Frederick II was already trying to outdo him. And he, like Karl, was not always lucky... The march on Berlin required only 23 thousand people: the corps of General Zakhar Grigoryevich Chernyshev with the attached Don Cossacks of Krasnoshchekov, Totleben’s cavalry and the Austrian allies under the command of General Lassi.

The Berlin garrison, numbering 14 thousand bayonets, was protected by the natural border of the Spree River, Kopenick Castle, flushes and palisades. But, not counting on his charges, the city commandant decided to immediately “make his feet” and, if not for the warlike commanders Lewald, Seydlitz and Knobloch, the battle would not have happened at all.

Ours tried to cross the Spree, but the Prussians forced them to drink some water, and they were unable to seize a bridgehead for the assault on the move. But soon the tenacity of the attackers was rewarded: three hundred Russian grenadiers - renowned masters of bayonet fighting - burst into the Gali and Cottbus gates. But, not receiving reinforcements in time, they lost 92 people killed and were forced to retreat from the Berlin Wall. The second assault detachment, commanded by Major Patkul, retreated without any losses.

Troops from both sides flocked to the Berlin Wall: the regiments of Chernyshev and the Prince of Wirtenberg. The Prussian cuirassiers of General Gulsen - armored vehicles of the eighteenth century - wanted to set out from Potsdam and crush the Russians near the town of Lichtenberg. Ours met them with shrapnel volleys from horse artillery - the prototype of the Katyusha. Not expecting anything like this, the heavy cavalry wavered and was overturned by Russian hussars and cuirassiers.

The morale of the troops was very high. This factor was valued in those days when they fought exclusively in the fresh air. General Panin's division, having covered 75 versts in two days with only knapsacks on their backs and without ammunition or carts, was in full force, from generals to privates, full of the desire to “carry out this attack in the most perfect way.”

It is difficult to say what would have happened to the Berlin garrison, but even the most militant of the Prussian generals decided not to risk it and evacuate from the capital under cover of darkness. They chose Totleben, who was eager to fight less than others, and surrendered to him. Without consulting Chernyshev, Totleben accepted the surrender and let the Prussians pass through his positions. It is interesting that on the Russian side this surrender, not unconditional, but quite acceptable to the Germans, was accepted by Messrs. Totleben, Brink and Bachmann. With the German side, negotiations were conducted by Messrs. Wigner and Bachmann, our namesake.

One can imagine how Commander-in-Chief Chernyshev felt when he learned that the Prussians had “capitulated” and he had been deprived of his valiant victory. He rushed in pursuit of the slowly and culturally retreating enemy columns and began to crumble their orderly ranks into cabbage.

They established secret surveillance over Totleben and soon received irrefutable evidence that he was connected with the enemy. They wanted to shoot the high-ranking double-dealer, but Catherine took pity on Totleben, who had been lured by Friedrich. Our own people. The Totlebenov surname did not end in Rus'; during the Crimean War, the military engineer Totleben built beautiful fortifications around Sevastopol.

STORM NAMED AFTER BENKENDORFF

The next Berlin operation took place when the Russians were driving Napoleon’s army from under the walls of the Moscow fire. We did not call the Patriotic War of 1812 the Great, but the Russians nevertheless visited the capital of Prussia.

The commander of the Berlin direction in the campaign of 1813 was Lieutenant General Pyotr Christianovich Wittgenstein, but the surname Chernyshev could not be avoided here either: Cossack partisans under the command of Major General Prince Alexander Ivanovich Chernyshev on February 6 raided Berlin, defended by French troops under the command of Marshal Augereau.

A few words about the attackers. At one time, military historians made an average portrait of an officer who took part in the Battle of Borodino. He turned out to be: age - thirty-one, not married, since it is difficult to feed a family on one salary, in the army - more than ten years, participant in four battles, knows two European languages, cannot read and write.

At the forefront of the main troops was Alexander Benckendorff, the future gendarmerie chief and oppressor of free-thinking writers. He did not know then and hardly thought about it later, that only thanks to writers will pictures of peaceful life and battles be preserved in the memory of the people.

The unpretentious Russians drove the “cultured” enemy with an indecent speed for the latter. The Berlin garrison outnumbered the 1760 garrison by a thousand men, but the French were even less willing to defend the Prussian capital. They retreated to Leipzig, where Napoleon was gathering his troops for a decisive battle. The Berliners opened the gates, the townspeople welcomed the Russian liberator soldiers. http://vk.com/rus_improvisation Their actions contradicted the French convention they had concluded with the Berlin police, who were obliged to inform the Russians about the enemy’s retreat no earlier than ten o’clock in the morning the next day after the retreat.

The campaign of the thirteenth year had its own May 9th. Let us quote once again “Letters of a Russian Officer” by F.N. Glinka:

“On May 9 we had a common big battle, about which you will read a detailed description in the newspapers and then in the magazine about the actions of a large army, when it is written. I do not even go into detail in describing the excellent actions of the leftist who covered himself that day with the most brilliant glory flank, commanded by the commander Count Miloradovich... At the beginning of the case, Count Miloradovich, going around the regiments, told the soldiers: remember that you are fighting on St. Nicholas Day! This saint of God has always given the Russians victories and is now looking at you from heaven!.."

VICTORY BANNER IN WOMEN'S HANDS

It is unlikely that in the spring of 1945 many in the warring armies knew that the Russians had already been near Berlin. But since they acted there in a completely businesslike manner, the idea comes that the genetic memory of generations still exists.

The Allies hurried as best they could to the “Berlin pie”; against their powerful eighty German divisions there were only sixty German divisions on the Western Front. But the allies failed to participate in the capture of the “lair”; the Red Army surrounded it and took it on their own.

The operation began with thirty-two detachments being sent to the city for reconnaissance in force. Then, when the operational situation was more or less clarified, the guns thundered and 7 million shells rained down on the enemy. “In the first seconds, several machine-gun bursts crackled from the enemy’s side, and then everything became quiet. It seemed as if there was no living creature left on the enemy’s side,” wrote one of the participants in the battle.

But it only seemed so. Entrenched in a defense in depth, the Germans resisted stubbornly. The Seelow Heights were especially difficult for our units; Zhukov promised Stalin to capture them on April 17, but they took them only on the 18th. There were some mistakes; after the war, critics agreed that it would be better to storm the city with a narrower front, perhaps one reinforced Belorussian one.

But be that as it may, by April 20, long-range artillery began shelling the city. And four days later the Red Army broke into the suburbs. It was not so difficult to get through them; the Germans were not preparing to fight here, but in the old part of the city the enemy again came to his senses and began to desperately resist.

When the Red Army soldiers found themselves on the banks of the Spree, the Soviet command had already appointed a commandant of the dilapidated Reichstag, and the battle was still going on. We must pay tribute to the selected SS units who fought for real and to the last...

And soon the banner of the winner’s colors soared over the Reich Chancellery. Many people know about Egorov and Kantaria, but for some reason they have not previously written about the one who raised the banner over the last stronghold of resisting fascism - the imperial chancellery, and this person turned out to be a woman - an instructor in the political department of the 9th Rifle Corps, Anna Vladimirovna Nikulina.

The Seven Years' War became one of the first wars in history that could actually be called a world war. Almost all significant European powers were involved in the conflict, and fighting took place on several continents at once. The prelude to the conflict was a series of complex and intricate diplomatic combinations, resulting in two opposing alliances. Moreover, each of the allies had its own interests, which often contradicted the interests of the allies, so the relations between them were far from cloudless.

The immediate cause of the conflict was the sharp rise of Prussia under Frederick II. The once mediocre kingdom in the capable hands of Frederick sharply strengthened, which became a threat to other powers. In the middle of the 18th century, the main struggle for leadership in continental Europe was between Austria and France. However, as a result of the War of the Austrian Succession, Prussia managed to defeat Austria and take away a very tasty morsel from it - Silesia, a large and developed region. This led to a sharp strengthening of Prussia, which began to cause concern in the Russian Empire for the Baltic region and the Baltic Sea, which at that time was the main one for Russia (there was no access to the Black Sea yet).

The Austrians were eager for revenge for their failure in the recent war when they lost Silesia. Clashes between French and English colonists led to war breaking out between the two states. The British decided to use Prussia as a deterrent to the French on the continent. Frederick loved and knew how to fight, and the British had a weak ground army. They were ready to give Frederick money, and he was happy to field soldiers. England and Prussia entered into an alliance. France took this as an alliance against itself (and rightly so) and formed an alliance with its old rival, Austria, against Prussia. Frederick was confident that England would be able to keep Russia from entering the war, but in St. Petersburg they wanted to stop Prussia before it became too serious a threat, and the decision was made to join the alliance of Austria and France.

Frederick II jokingly called this coalition a union of three skirts, since Austria and Russia were then ruled by women - Maria Theresa and Elizaveta Petrovna. Although France was formally ruled by Louis XV, his official favorite, the Marquise de Pompadour, had a huge influence on all French politics, through whose efforts an unusual alliance was created, which Frederick, of course, knew about and did not fail to tease his opponent.

Progress of the war

Prussia had a very large and strong army, but the military forces of the Allies together were significantly superior to it, and Frederick's main ally, England, could not help militarily, limiting itself to subsidies and naval support. However, the main battles took place on land, so Frederick had to rely on surprise and his skills.

At the very beginning of the war, he carried out a successful operation, capturing Saxony and replenishing his army with forcibly mobilized Saxon soldiers. Frederick hoped to defeat the Allies piecemeal, expecting that neither the Russian nor the French armies would be able to quickly advance to the main theater of war and he would have time to defeat Austria while she was fighting alone.

However, the Prussian king was unable to defeat the Austrians, although the forces of the parties were approximately comparable. But he managed to crush one of the French armies, which caused a serious decline in the prestige of this country, because its army was then considered the strongest in Europe.

For Russia, the war developed very successfully. Troops led by Apraksin occupied East Prussia and defeated the enemy in the Battle of Gross-Jägersdorf. However, Apraksin not only did not build on his success, but also began to urgently retreat, which greatly surprised the Prussian opponents. For this he was removed from command and arrested. During the investigation, Apraksin stated that his rapid retreat was due to problems with forage and food, but it is now believed that it was part of a failed court intrigue. Empress Elizabeth Petrovna was very ill at that moment, it was expected that she was about to die, and the heir to the throne was Peter III, who was known as a passionate admirer of Frederick.

According to one version, in this regard, Chancellor Bestuzhev-Ryumin (famous for his complex and numerous intrigues) decided to carry out a palace coup (he and Peter mutually hated each other) and place his son, Pavel Petrovich, on the throne, and Apraksin’s army was needed for support coup. But in the end, the empress recovered from her illness, Apraksin died during the investigation, and Bestuzhev-Ryumin was sent into exile.

Miracle of the Brandenburg House

In 1759, the most important and most famous battle of the war took place - the Battle of Kunersdorf, in which Russian-Austrian troops under the leadership of Saltykov and Laudon defeated Frederick's army. Frederick lost all the artillery and almost all the troops, he himself was on the verge of death, the horse under him was killed, and he was saved only by the preparation (according to another version - a cigarette case) lying in his pocket. Fleeing with the remnants of the army, Frederick lost his hat, which was sent to St. Petersburg as a trophy (it is still kept in Russia).

Now the Allies could only continue the victorious march to Berlin, which Frederick actually could not defend, and force him to sign a peace treaty. But at the very last moment the allies quarreled and separated the armies, instead of pursuing the fleeing Frederick, who later called this situation a miracle of the House of Brandenburg. The contradictions between the allies were very great: the Austrians wanted the reconquest of Silesia and demanded that both armies move in that direction, while the Russians were afraid of stretching communications too far and proposed to wait until Dresden was captured and go to Berlin. As a result, inconsistency did not allow it to reach Berlin that time.

Capture of Berlin

The following year, Frederick, having lost a large number of soldiers, switched to the tactics of small battles and maneuvers, exhausting his opponents. As a result of such tactics, the Prussian capital again found itself unprotected, which both Russian and Austrian troops decided to take advantage of. Each side was in a hurry to be the first to arrive at Berlin, since this would allow them to take the laurels of the conqueror of Berlin for themselves. Large European cities were not captured in every war, and, of course, the capture of Berlin would have been an event on a pan-European scale and would have made the military leader who accomplished this a star of the continent.

Therefore, both Russian and Austrian troops almost ran towards Berlin in order to get ahead of each other. The Austrians were so eager to be the first to Berlin that they walked without rest for 10 days, covering more than 400 miles during this period (that is, on average they walked about 60 kilometers per day). The Austrian soldiers did not complain, although they had nothing to do with the glory of the winner, they simply realized that a huge indemnity could be exacted from Berlin, the thought of which drove them forward.

However, the very first to arrive in Berlin was a Russian detachment under the command of Gottlob Totleben. He was a famous European adventurer who managed to serve at many courts, leaving some of them with great scandal. Already during the Seven Years' War, Totleben (by the way, an ethnic German) found himself in the service of Russia and, having proven himself well on the battlefield, rose to the rank of general.

Berlin was very poorly fortified, but the garrison there was sufficient to defend against a small Russian detachment. Totleben attempted an assault, but eventually retreated and laid siege to the city. At the beginning of October, a detachment of the Prince of Württemberg approached the city and, with fighting, forced Totleben to retreat. But then the main Russian forces of Chernyshev (who exercised overall command), followed by the Austrians of Lassi, approached Berlin.

Now the numerical superiority was already on the side of the allies, and the defenders of the city did not believe in their strength. Not wanting unnecessary bloodshed, the Berlin leadership decided to surrender. The city was handed over to Totleben, which was a cunning calculation. Firstly, he arrived to the city first and was the first to begin the siege, which means that the honor of the conqueror belonged to him, secondly, he was an ethnic German, and the residents counted on him to show humanism towards his compatriots, thirdly, the city It would have been better to hand it over to the Russians and not to the Austrians, since the Russians had no personal accounts with the Prussians in this war, but the Austrians entered the war, guided by a thirst for revenge, and, of course, would have plundered the city completely.

One of the richest merchants of Prussia, Gochkovsky, who participated in the negotiations on the surrender, recalled: “There was nothing left to do but try to avoid disaster as much as possible through submission and agreement with the enemy. Then the question arose of who to give the city to, the Russians or the Austrians. They asked my opinion , and I said that, in my opinion, it is much better to come to an agreement with the Russians than with the Austrians; that the Austrians are real enemies, and the Russians are only helping them; that they first approached the city and formally demanded surrender; that, as heard, in number they are superior to the Austrians, who, being notorious enemies, will deal with the city much more harshly than the Russians, and with these it is possible to come to an agreement better. This opinion was respected. The governor, Lieutenant General Von Rochow, also joined him, and thus the garrison surrendered to the Russians." .

On October 9, 1760, members of the city magistrate gave Totleben a symbolic key to Berlin, the city came under the jurisdiction of Commandant Bachmann, appointed by Totleben. This caused the indignation of Chernyshev, who was in general command of the troops and senior in rank, whom he did not notify about the acceptance of surrender. Because of Chernyshev’s complaints about such arbitrariness, Totleben was not awarded the order and was not promoted in rank, although he had already been nominated for the award.

Negotiations began on the indemnity that the conquered city would pay to the side that captured it and in exchange for which the army would refrain from destroying and plundering the city.

Totleben, at the insistence of General Fermor (commander-in-chief of the Russian troops), demanded 4 million thalers from Berlin. Russian generals knew about the wealth of Berlin, but such a sum was very large even for such a rich city. Gochkovsky recalled: “The mayor of Kircheisen fell into complete despair and almost lost his tongue from fear. The Russian generals thought that the head was faking or drunk, and indignantly ordered him to be taken to the guardhouse. It would have happened; but I swore to the Russian commandant “that the mayor has been suffering from attacks of dizziness for several years.”

As a result of tedious negotiations with members of the Berlin magistrate, the amount of spare money was reduced several times. Instead of 40 barrels of gold, only 15 plus 200 thousand thalers were taken. There was also a problem with the Austrians, who were late to share the pie, since the city had surrendered directly to the Russians. The Austrians were unhappy with this fact and now demanded their share, otherwise they were going to start looting. And the relations between the allies were far from ideal. Totleben, in his report on the capture of Berlin, wrote: “All the streets were full of Austrians, so to protect against robbery by these troops I had to appoint 800 people, and then an infantry regiment with brigadier Benckendorff, and place all the horse grenadiers in the city. Finally, since the Austrians attacked my guards and beat them, I ordered to shoot at them."

Part of the money received was promised to be transferred to the Austrians to stop them from looting. After receiving the indemnity, the city property remained intact, but all the royal (that is, owned by Frederick personally) factories, shops and manufactories were destroyed. Nevertheless, the magistrate managed to preserve the gold and silver manufactories, convincing Totleben that, although they belonged to the king, the income from them did not go to the royal treasury, but to the maintenance of the Potsdam Orphanage, and he ordered the factories to be deleted from the list of those subject to ruin.

After receiving the indemnity and the destruction of Frederick's factories, the Russian-Austrian troops left Berlin. At this time, Frederick and his army were moving towards the capital to liberate it, but there was no point in holding Berlin for the Allies, they had already received everything they wanted from him, so they left the city a few days later.

The presence of the Russian army in Berlin, although it caused understandable inconvenience to local residents, was nevertheless perceived by them as the lesser of two evils. Gochkovsky testified in his memoirs: “I and the whole city can testify that this general (Totleben) treated us more like a friend than an enemy. What would have happened under another military leader? What would he not have said and forced for himself personally? "What would have happened if we had fallen under the rule of the Austrians, to curb whom Count Totleben had to resort to shooting from robbery in the city?"

The Second Miracle of the Brandenburg House

By 1762, all parties to the conflict had exhausted their resources to continue the war and active hostilities had practically ceased. After the death of Elizabeth Petrovna, Peter III became the new emperor, who considered Frederick one of the greatest people of his time. His conviction was shared by many contemporaries and all descendants; Frederick was truly unique and known at the same time as a philosopher king, a musician king and a military leader king. Thanks to his efforts, Prussia turned from a provincial kingdom into the center of the unification of the German lands; all subsequent German regimes, starting from the German Empire and the Weimar Republic, continuing with the Third Reich and ending with modern democratic Germany, honored him as the father of the nation and German statehood. In Germany, since the birth of cinema, a separate genre of cinema has even emerged: films about Friedrich.

Therefore, Peter had reason to admire him and seek an alliance, but this was not done very thoughtfully. Peter concluded a separate peace treaty with Prussia and returned East Prussia, whose inhabitants had already sworn allegiance to Elizabeth Petrovna. In return, Prussia pledged to help in the war with Denmark for Schleswig, which was to be transferred to Russia. However, this war did not have time to begin due to the overthrow of the emperor by his wife, who, however, left the peace treaty in force without renewing the war.

It was this sudden and so happy for Prussia death of Elizabeth and the accession of Peter that was called by the Prussian king the second miracle of the House of Brandenburg. As a result, Prussia, which did not have the opportunity to continue the war, having withdrawn its most combat-ready enemy from the war, found itself among the victors.

The main loser of the war was France, which lost almost all of its North American possessions to Britain and suffered heavy casualties. Austria and Prussia, which also suffered huge losses, maintained the pre-war status quo, which was actually in Prussia's interests. Russia did not gain anything, but did not lose any pre-war territories. In addition, its military losses were the smallest among all participants in the war on the European continent, thanks to which it became the owner of the strongest army with rich military experience. It was this war that became the first baptism of fire for the young and unknown officer Alexander Suvorov, the future famous military leader.

The actions of Peter III laid the foundation for the reorientation of Russian diplomacy from Austria to Prussia and the creation of a Russian-Prussian alliance. Prussia became a Russian ally for the next century. The vector of Russian expansion gradually began to shift from the Baltic and Scandinavia to the south, to the Black Sea.

Storm of Berlin- the final part of the Berlin offensive operation of 1945, during which the Red Army captured the capital of Nazi Germany and victoriously ended the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War in Europe. The operation lasted from April 25 to May 2.

Storm of Berlin

The “Zoobunker” - a huge reinforced concrete fortress with anti-aircraft batteries on the towers and extensive underground shelter - also served as the largest bomb shelter in the city.

Early in the morning of May 2, the Berlin metro was flooded - a group of sappers from the SS Nordland division blew up a tunnel passing under the Landwehr Canal in the Trebbiner Strasse area. The explosion led to the destruction of the tunnel and filling it with water along a 25-km section. Water rushed into the tunnels, where a large number of civilians and wounded were taking refuge. The number of victims is still unknown.

Information about the number of victims... varies - from fifty to fifteen thousand people... The data that about a hundred people died under water seems more reliable. Of course, there were many thousands of people in the tunnels, including the wounded, children, women and old people, but the water did not spread through the underground communications too quickly. Moreover, it spread underground in various directions. Of course, the picture of advancing water caused genuine horror in people. And some of the wounded, as well as drunken soldiers, as well as civilians, became its inevitable victims. But talking about thousands of deaths would be a gross exaggeration. In most places the water barely reached a depth of one and a half meters, and the inhabitants of the tunnels had enough time to evacuate themselves and save the numerous wounded who were in the “hospital cars” near the Stadtmitte station. It is likely that many of the dead, whose bodies were subsequently brought to the surface, actually died not from water, but from wounds and illnesses even before the destruction of the tunnel.

At one o'clock in the morning on May 2, the radio stations of the 1st Belorussian Front received a message in Russian: “We ask you to cease fire. We are sending envoys to the Potsdam Bridge.” A German officer who arrived at the appointed place, on behalf of the commander of the defense of Berlin, General Weidling, announced the readiness of the Berlin garrison to stop resistance. At 6 a.m. on May 2, Artillery General Weidling, accompanied by three German generals, crossed the front line and surrendered. An hour later, while at the headquarters of the 8th Guards Army, he wrote a surrender order, which was duplicated and, with the help of loudspeaker installations and radio, delivered to enemy units defending in the center of Berlin. As this order was communicated to the defenders, resistance in the city ceased. By the end of the day, the troops of the 8th Guards Army cleared the central part of the city from the enemy. Individual units that did not want to surrender tried to break through to the west, but were destroyed or scattered.

On May 2 at 10 o'clock in the morning everything suddenly became quiet, the fire stopped. And everyone realized that something had happened. We saw white sheets that had been “thrown away” in the Reichstag, the Chancellery building and the Royal Opera House and cellars that had not yet been taken. Entire columns fell from there. A column passed ahead of us, where there were generals, colonels, then soldiers behind them. We walked for probably three hours.

Alexander Bessarab, participant in the Battle of Berlin and the capture of the Reichstag

Results of the operation

Soviet troops defeated the Berlin group of enemy troops and stormed the capital of Germany, Berlin. Developing a further offensive, they reached the Elbe River, where they linked up with American and British troops. With the fall of Berlin and the loss of vital areas, Germany lost the opportunity for organized resistance and soon capitulated. With the completion of the Berlin operation, favorable conditions were created for encircling and destroying the last large enemy groups on the territory of Austria and Czechoslovakia.

The losses of the German armed forces in killed and wounded are unknown. Of the approximately 2 million Berliners, about 125 thousand died. The city was heavily destroyed by bombing even before the arrival of Soviet troops. The bombing continued during the battles near Berlin - the last American bombing on April 20 (Adolph Hitler's birthday) led to food problems. The destruction intensified as a result of Soviet artillery attacks.

Indeed, it is unthinkable that such a huge fortified city could be taken so quickly. We know of no other such examples in the history of World War II.

Alexander Orlov, Doctor of Historical Sciences.

Two Guards IS-2 heavy tank brigades and at least nine Guards heavy self-propelled artillery self-propelled artillery regiments took part in the battles in Berlin, including:

• 1st Belorussian Front
  • 7th Guards Ttbr - 69th Army
  • 11th Guards ttbr - front-line subordination
  • 334 Guards tsap - 47th Army
  • 351 Guards tsap - 3rd shock army, front-line subordination
  • 396 Guards tsap - 5th shock army
  • 394 Guards tsap - 8th Guards Army
  • 362, 399 guards tsap - 1st Guards Tank Army
  • 347 Guards tsap - 2nd Guards Tank Army
• 1st Ukrainian Front
  • 383, 384 guards tsap - 3rd Guards Tank Army

Situation of the civilian population

Fear and despair

A significant part of Berlin, even before the assault, was destroyed as a result of Anglo-American air raids, from which the population hid in basements and bomb shelters. There were not enough bomb shelters and therefore they were constantly overcrowded. In Berlin by that time, in addition to the three million local population (consisting mainly of women, old people and children), there were up to three hundred thousand foreign workers, including “ostarbeiters”, most of whom were forcibly taken to Germany. Entry into bomb shelters and basements was prohibited for them.

Although the war had long been lost for Germany, Hitler ordered resistance to the last. Thousands of teenagers and old men were conscripted into the Volkssturm. From the beginning of March, on the orders of Reichskommissar Goebbels, responsible for the defense of Berlin, tens of thousands of civilians, mostly women, were sent to dig anti-tank ditches around the German capital.

Civilians who violated government orders even in the last days of the war faced execution.

There is no exact information about the number of civilian casualties. Different sources indicate different numbers of people who died directly during the Battle of Berlin. Even decades after the war, previously unknown mass graves are found during construction work.

Violence against civilians

In Western sources, especially recently, a significant number of materials have appeared concerning mass violence by Soviet troops against the civilian population of Berlin and Germany in general - a topic that was practically not raised for many decades after the end of the war.

There are two opposing approaches to this extremely painful problem. On the one hand, there are artistic and documentary works by two English-speaking researchers - “The Last Battle” by Cornelius Ryan and “The Fall of Berlin. 1945" by Anthony Beevor, which are more or less a reconstruction of the events of half a century ago based on the testimony of participants in the events (overwhelmingly representatives of the German side) and memoirs of Soviet commanders. The claims made by Ryan and Beevor are regularly reproduced by the Western press, which presents them as scientifically proven truth.

On the other hand, there are the opinions of Russian representatives (officials and historians), who acknowledge numerous facts of violence, but question the validity of statements about its extreme mass character, as well as the possibility, after so many years, of verifying the shocking digital data provided in the West . Russian authors also draw attention to the fact that such publications, which focus on hyper-emotional descriptions of scenes of violence that were allegedly committed by Soviet troops on German territory, follow the standards of Goebbels propaganda of the beginning of 1945 and are aimed at belittling the role of the Red Army as the liberator of Eastern and Central Europe from fascism and denigrate the image of the Soviet soldier. In addition, the materials distributed in the West provide virtually no information about the measures taken by the Soviet command to combat violence and looting - crimes against civilians, which, as has been repeatedly pointed out, not only lead to tougher resistance of the defending enemy, but also undermine the combat effectiveness and discipline of the advancing army.

Links

Everyone remembers the sacramental phrase of Ivan the Terrible from the comedy film: “Kazan - he took, Astrakhan - he took!” In fact, starting from the 16th century, the Moscow state began to declare itself with loud military victories. And at the same time, it was by no means limited to successes in the eastern lands. Very soon the tread of Russian regiments began to sound in Europe. Which European capitals witnessed the victories of Russian weapons?

Baltics

The Northern War ended with the victory of Russia and allowed Peter I to annex the lands of the Baltic states to the possessions of the Russian crown. In 1710, after a long siege, Riga was taken, and then Revel (Tallinn). At the same time, Russian troops captured the then capital of Finland, Abo.

Stockholm

For the first time, Russian troops appeared in the area of ​​the Swedish capital during the Northern War. In 1719, the Russian fleet carried out landings and raids on the suburbs of Stockholm. The next time Stockholm saw the Russian flag was during the Russian-Swedish war of 1808-1809. The Swedish capital was taken as a result of a unique operation - a forced march across the frozen sea. The army under the command of Bagration covered 250 kilometers on ice, on foot, in a snowstorm. This required five night marches.

The Swedes were confident that they were not in danger, because Russia was separated from them by the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea. As a result, when Russian troops appeared, real panic began in the Swedish capital. This war finally ended all disputes between Russia and Sweden and forever removed Sweden from among the leading European powers. At the same time, the Russians occupied Turku, the then capital of Finland, and Finland became part of the Russian Empire.

Berlin

The Russians took the capital of Prussia and then Germany twice. The first time was in 1760, during the Seven Years' War. The city was taken after a vigorous raid by combined Russian-Austrian troops. Each of the allies, understandably, was in a hurry to get ahead of the other, since the laurels of the winner would go to the one who managed to come first. The Russian army turned out to be more agile.

Berlin was surrendered practically without any resistance. The residents of Berlin froze in horror, expecting the appearance of the “Russian barbarians,” however, as it soon became clear, they should have been wary of the Austrians, who had long-standing scores to settle with the Prussians.

Austrian troops committed robbery and pogroms in Berlin, so the Russians had to reason with them using weapons. It is said that Frederick the Great, upon learning that the destruction in Berlin was minimal, said: “Thank you to the Russians, they saved Berlin from the horrors with which the Austrians threatened my capital!” However, official propaganda, at the behest of the same Frederick, did not skimp on descriptions of the horrors that the “Russian savages” committed. Berlin was captured for the second time in the spring of 1945, ending the bloodiest war in Russian history.

Bucharest

Russian troops occupied the capital of Romania during the Russian-Turkish War of 1806-1812. The Sultan tried to recapture the city, but the Russian army, numbering less than five thousand bayonets, opposed the thirteen thousand-strong Turkish corps and completely defeated it. In this battle, the Turks lost more than 3 thousand, and the Russians - 300 people.

The Turkish army retreated beyond the Danube, and the Sultan was forced to leave Bucharest. Our troops took Bucharest in 1944, during the Iasi-Chisinau operation, which is recognized as one of the most successful and effective military operations of the Second World War. An uprising against the fascist regime began in Bucharest, Soviet troops supported the rebels, and were greeted on the streets of Bucharest with flowers and general rejoicing.

Belgrade

Belgrade was first taken by Russian troops during the same Russian-Turkish war of 1806-1812. An uprising against the Ottoman Empire broke out in Serbia, supported by the Russians. Belgrade was taken, our troops were enthusiastically greeted, and Serbia came under Russian protectorate. Subsequently, Serbia had to be liberated from the Turks again, since the terms of peace were violated by the Ottoman Empire, and with the connivance of European states, the Turks again began to oppress Christians. Our troops entered the streets of Belgrade as liberators in 1944.

In 1798, Russia, as part of an anti-French coalition, began to fight Napoleon, who had seized the lands of Italy. General Ushakov landed near Naples, and taking this city, moved towards Rome, where the French garrison was located. The French hastily retreated. On October 11, 1799, Russian troops entered the “eternal city.” This is how Lieutenant Balabin wrote to Ushakov about this: “Yesterday, with our small corps, we entered the city of Rome.

The delight with which the residents greeted us brings the greatest honor and glory to the Russians. From the very gates of St. John to the soldiers' apartments, both sides of the streets were dotted with inhabitants of both sexes. Our troops could even pass through with difficulty.

"Vivat Pavlo Primo! Viva Moskovito!” - was proclaimed everywhere with applause. The joy of the Romans is explained by the fact that by the time the Russians arrived, bandits and marauders had already begun to rule the city. The appearance of disciplined Russian troops saved Rome from real plunder.

Warsaw

The Russians took this European capital, perhaps, most often. 1794 There was an uprising in Poland, and Suvorov was sent to suppress it. Warsaw was taken, and the assault was accompanied by the notorious “Prague Massacre” (Prague is the name of a suburb of Warsaw). The cruelties of Russian soldiers towards the civilian population, although they occurred, were nevertheless greatly exaggerated.

The next time Warsaw was taken was in 1831, also during a military campaign to suppress the uprising. The battle for the city was very fierce, both sides showed miracles of courage. Finally, our troops took Warsaw in 1944. The assault on the city was also preceded by an uprising, although this time the Poles rebelled not against the Russians, but against the Germans. Warsaw was liberated and saved from destruction by the Nazis.

Sofia

Our troops also had to fight for this city more than once. Sofia was first occupied by the Russians in 1878, during the Russo-Turkish War. The liberation of the ancient capital of Bulgaria from the Turks was preceded by fierce fighting in the Balkans.

When the Russians entered Sofia, they were enthusiastically greeted by the city's residents. This is how the St. Petersburg newspapers wrote about it: “Our troops, with music, songs and waving banners, entered Sofia with the general rejoicing of the people.” In 1944, Sofia was liberated by Soviet troops from the Nazis, and the “Russian brothers” were again greeted with flowers and tears of joy.

Amsterdam

This city was liberated by the Russians from the French garrison during the foreign campaign of the Russian army of 1813-15. The Dutch began an uprising against the Napoleonic occupation of the country and were supported by Cossack units commanded by none other than General Benckendorff. The Cossacks made such a strong impression on the residents of Amsterdam that in memory of the liberation of their city from Napoleon, they celebrated a special holiday for a long time - Cossack Day.

Paris

The capture of Paris was a brilliant conclusion to the foreign campaign. The Parisians did not at all perceive the Russians as liberators, and in fear they expected the appearance of barbarian hordes, terrible bearded Cossacks and Kalmyks. However, very soon fear gave way to curiosity, and then sincere sympathy. The rank and file behaved very disciplined in Paris, and the officers all spoke French and were very gallant and educated people.

Cossacks quickly became fashionable in Paris; whole groups walked around to watch them bathe themselves and bathe their horses in the Seine. Officers were invited to the most fashionable Parisian salons. They say that Alexander I, having visited the Louvre, was very surprised not to see some of the paintings. They explained to him that in anticipation of the arrival of the “terrible Russians,” the evacuation of works of art had begun. The Emperor just shrugged his shoulders. And when the French set out to demolish the statue of Napoleon, the Russian Tsar ordered armed guards to be assigned to the monument. So, who protected the heritage of France from vandalism is still a question.