Rogachev–Zhlobin Offensive (1941)
The Rogachev–Zhlobin offensive was a Soviet-led military offensive that took place from 21 to 26 February 1944 within the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II. Soviet forces aimed to advance through Rogachev and defeat the German 9th Army (Wehrmacht), 9th Army of Army Group Centre, which culminated with the movements of other units in preparation of Operation Bagration. Background Germany captured Rogachev during the beginning stages of Operation Barbarossa. The area of Rogachev was part of Adolf Hitler's Rogachev-Vetibsk line during the later stages of the war and was named a stronghold. Tulscaloosa News. Published February 25, 1944. The line did prove effective, holding the Soviet troops in a stalemate for a month. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Konstantin Rokossovsky
Konstantin Konstantinovich (Xaverevich) Rokossovsky (Russian: Константин Константинович Рокоссовский; pl, Konstanty Rokossowski; 21 December 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish officer who became a Marshal of the Soviet Union, a Marshal of Poland, and served as Poland's Defence Minister from 1949 until his removal in 1956 during the Polish October. He became one of the most prominent Red Army commanders of World War II. Born in Warsaw (in present-day Poland; then Vistula Land, part of the Russian Empire), Rokossovsky served in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I. In 1917 he joined the Red Guards (Russia), Red Guards and in 1918 the newly-formed Red Army; he fought with great distinction during the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. Rokossovsky held senior commands until 1937 when he fell victim to Joseph Stalin's Great Purge, during which he was branded a traitor, imprisoned and probably tortured. After Soviet failures ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Viktor Zholudev
Viktor Grigoryevich Zholudev (Russian: Ви́ктор Григо́рьевич Жо́лудев; 22 March 1905 – 21 July 1944) was a Red Army major general and posthumous Hero of the Soviet Union. Zholudev fought in the 1929 Sino-Soviet conflict, the Battle of Lake Khasan in 1938 and the 1939 Battles of Khalkhin Gol, as well as World War II. Zholudev commanded the 37th Guards Rifle Division during its defense of the Stalingrad tractor factory during the Battle of Stalingrad. Early life Viktor Zholudev was born on 22 March 1905 in Uglich in the Yaroslavl Governorate in a working-class family. After completing lower secondary education, he began working as a log driver at age 14 on the Volga River. In 1921, Zholudev moved to Moscow and worked on the Moskva River. Interwar In May 1922, Zholudev was in the Red Army. He was sent to study at the Moscow engineering courses but was soon transferred to the 2nd Infantry Petrograd courses. After graduating in September 1923, Zho ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ernst Busch (field Marshal)
Ernst Bernhard Wilhelm Busch (6 July 1885 – 17 July 1945) was a German Generalfeldmarschall during World War II who commanded the 16th Army (Wehrmacht), 16th Army (as a Generaloberst) and later the massive Army Group Centre. During World War I, Busch served as an infantry officer and was retained in the postwar army of the Weimar Republic. He steadily rose in seniority and by 1936 was a general and commander of the 23rd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht), 23rd Infantry Division. During the invasion of Poland, he commanded VIII Army Corps (Wehrmacht), VIII Army Corps. In 1940, he was appointed commander of the 16th Army; he led it during the 1940 Battle of France and Operation Barbarossa, the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. By October 1943, Busch was a field marshal and commander of Army Group Centre. He was dismissed in June 1944 after the collapse of his command during the Red Army's Operation Bagration. He was later the commander of Army Group Northwest in the final months o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Josef Harpe
Josef Harpe (21 September 1887 – 14 March 1968) was a German general during World War II who commanded the 9th Army. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany. Harpe served on the Eastern Front, where he commanded XXXXI Panzer Corps and the 9th Army. From September 1944 to January 1945 Army Group A, when he was relieved of his command due to the inability of German forces to stop the Soviet Vistula–Oder Offensive. He ended the war commanding the 5th Panzer Army on Western Front. Harpe was also responsible for establishing the Ozarichi death camps, which is considered by historians to be one of the worst atrocities committed by the Wehrmacht. Military career and war crimes Harpe joined the Prussian Army on 28 September 1909 and fought in World War I. After the war, Harpe remained in the Reichswehr military service. In 1931, under the pseudonym ''Direktor Hacker'', he held a position in the secret German-Russian ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a Theater (warfare), theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Polish Armed Forces in the East, Poland and other Allies of World War II, Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltic states, Baltics), and Southeast Europe (Balkans) from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945. It was known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union – and still is in some of its successor states, while almost everywhere else it has been called the ''Eastern Front''. In present-day German and Ukrainian historiography the name German-Soviet War is typically used. The battles on the Eastern Front of the Second World War constituted the largest military confrontation in history. They were characterised by unprecedented ferocity and brutality, wholesale destruction, mass deportations, and immense loss of life due to combat, starvation, expos ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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9th Army (Wehrmacht)
The 9th Army (german: 9. Armee) was a World War II field army. It was activated on 15 May 1940 with General Johannes Blaskowitz in command. History 1940 The 9th Army first saw service along the Siegfried Line during its involvement in the invasion of France. It was kept as a strategic reserve and saw little combat. 1941 By 1941, the 9th Army was heavily strengthened and was deployed with Army Group Center for the invasion of the Soviet Union. During the initial phase of Operation Barbarossa the 4th Army formed the Southern pincer of a massive encirclement of Soviet troops deployed at Białystok, with the German 9th Army forming the Northern pincer. It continued its advance, and soon launched another pincer movement of Soviet troops at Smolensk. Even though successful in encircling Soviet troops, many Soviet troops escaped the pockets due to the large distances it had to secure. Hitler then sent the Panzer forces from Army Group Center to the northern and southern fronts to infli ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre (german: Heeresgruppe Mitte) was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army formations assigned to the invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa). On 25 January 1945, after it was encircled in the Königsberg pocket, Army Group Centre was renamed Army Group North (), and Army Group A () became Army Group Centre. The latter formation retained its name until the end of the war in Europe on 11 May after VE Day. Formation The commander in chief on the formation of the Army Group Centre (22 June 1941) was Fedor von Bock. Order of battle at formation Campaign and operational history Operation Barbarossa On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany and its Axis allies launched their surprise offensive into the Soviet Union. Their armies, totaling over three million men, were to advance in three geographical directi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Operation Bagration
Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная операция «Багратион», Belorusskaya nastupatelnaya Operatsiya ''Bagration''), a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern Front of World War II, just over two weeks after the start of Operation Overlord in the west, causing the Germans to have to fight on two major fronts at the same time. The Soviet Union destroyed 28 of 34 divisions of Army Group Centre and completely shattered the German front line. It was the biggest defeat in German military history, with around 450,000 German casualties, while 300,000 other German soldiers were cut off in the Courland Pocket. On 22 June 1944, the Red Army attacked Army Group Centre in Byelorussia, with the objective of encirclin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after Frederick Barbarossa ("red beard"), a 12th-century Holy Roman emperor and German king, put into action Nazi Germany's ideological goal of conquering the western Soviet Union to repopulate it with Germans. The German aimed to use some of the conquered people as forced labour for the Axis war effort while acquiring the oil reserves of the Caucasus as well as the agricultural resources of various Soviet territories. Their ultimate goal was to create more (living space) for Germany, and the eventual extermination of the indigenous Slavic peoples by mass deportation to Siberia, Germanisation, enslavement, and genocide. In the two years leading up to the invasion, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed political and economic pacts for st ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Zhlobin
Zhlobin ( be, Жло́бін; russian: Жло́бин, pl, Żłobin, lt, Žlobinas) is a city in the Zhlobin District of Gomel Region, Belarus, located on the Dnieper river. As of 2017, the population was 76,078. The city is notable for being the location where steelmaker BMZ was established. BMZ is one of the largest companies in Belarus, and an important producer in the worldwide markets of steel wires and cords. The company is the main sustainer of the town's economy. History In 1939, 19% of the town's population was Jewish. During World War II, Zhlobin was occupied by the German Army from 3 July 1941 until 13 July 1944. The Nazis captured the Jews and imprisoned them in 2 different ghettos, where they suffered from starvation, disease and abuse. On April 12, 1942, 1,200 Jews were murdered in the ghettos. Sport Metallurg Zhlobin of the Belarusian Extraleague is the local pro hockey team. Industrial enterprises of Zhlobin * OJSC "BMZ - managing company of the holdin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vitebsk
Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest city. It is served by Vitebsk Vostochny Airport and Vitebsk Air Base. History Before 1945 Vitebsk developed from a river harbor where the Vićba River (Віцьба, from which it derives its name) flows into the larger Daugava River, Western Dvina, which is spanned in the city by the Kirov Bridge. Archaeological research indicates that Baltic tribes had settlements at the mouth of Vitba. In the 9th century, Slavic settlements of the tribal union of the Krivichs replaced them. According to the ''Chronicle of Michael Brigandine'' (1760), Princess Olga of Kiev founded Vitebsk (also recorded as Dbesk, Vidbesk, Videbsk, Vitepesk, or Vicibesk) in 974. Other versions give 947 or 914. Academician Boris Rybakov and historian Leonid Alekseyev ha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |