The Great Patriotic War became the defining event of Russian history of the 20th century. Over 4 years, many military battles took place within the framework of this large-scale conflict, and the most important of them must be known in order to understand the course of the war.
Moscow defense
From the first day of the war, from June 22, 1941, the main objective of the German troops was the capture of Moscow. Active hostilities in this area began on September 30, 1941. Initially, the German leadership planned to end the war by that time, but the resistance of the Soviet troops significantly slowed down the progress of their armies.
The first phase of the offensive was the German operation Typhoon. As a result of this attack, Bryansk and Kirov were captured, and in the vicinity of the Vyazma River, more than 700 thousand Soviet soldiers were surrounded. Of these, more than 600 thousand were captured. Mozhaisk was captured in the second half of October, and the German armies approached Moscow 100 km.
The attack on Moscow was stopped only at the beginning of December, after the most combat-ready units of the Soviet army were assembled for the defense of the capital, including newly arrived divisions from Siberia. The counteroffensive of the Soviet army began with the Kalinin operation. As a result of a series of subsequent attacks, Soviet troops liberated Klin, Yelets and Tula. The Rzhev-Vyazemsky operation of 1942 allowed the German troops to be finally thrown back from Moscow.
A number of experts are of the opinion that severe and early frosts that year played their role in the defeat of German troops near Moscow, but this factor cannot be considered decisive.
Battle of stalingrad
Having failed in the attack on Moscow, the German command reoriented its efforts towards the south. By mid-July 1942, the Wehrmacht armies approached Stalingrad, the most important city on the Volga. The battles in the Stalingrad direction began on July 17. By early August, the Germans crossed the Don and became a real threat to Stalingrad.
At the end of August, battles began in the city. The fighting in the city and its environs continued throughout the summer and autumn, and in November the Soviet counter-offensive began. As a result of Operation Ring, Soviet troops encircled parts of the tank army of Field Marshal Paulus and captured them. The city was defended, but at a high price - Stalingrad was almost completely destroyed, and the losses of Soviet troops amounted to more than 400 thousand people killed and twice as many wounded.
The Battle of Stalingrad was also of great international importance - the Allied countries realized that a final victory over Hitler was possible.
