The 52nd Army was a field army of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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 ...

, formed twice.

History

It was created on 25 August 1941 from the headquarters of the

25th Rifle Corps The 25th Army Corps was an army corps of the Soviet Ground Forces uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption ...

and defended north of Novgorod. On 26 September 1941, the 52nd Army headquarters was used to form the 4th Army (II Formation). The 52nd Army headquarters was reestablished on 28 September 1941. In May 1943, the army was moved to control of the

Reserve of the Supreme High Command The Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Russian: Резерв Верховного Главнокомандования; also known as the ''Stavka'' Reserve or RVGK ( ru , РВГК)) comprises reserve military formations and units; the Stav ...

(''Stavka'' Reserve). ''Stavka'' released the 52nd Army to subordination of the Steppe Front in July 1943, and the 52nd Army thereafter fought in Ukraine, southern Poland, southeastern Germany, and finally in northern Czechoslovakia. The army took part in the following operations: :1941 ::Tikhvin Defensive Operation :1942 ::Tikhvin Offensive :: Lyuban Offensive Operation :1943 ::Chernigov-Poltava Offensive ::Cherkassy Offensive :1944 ::Kirovograd Offensive :: Korsun–Shevchenkovsky Offensive :: Uman–Botoșani Offensive :: RIAN archive 608409 Issue of newspaper

Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

:1945 :: Sandomierz–Silesian Offensive :: Lower Silesian Offensive ::

Berlin Offensive The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

, (including the Battle of Bautzen) :: Prague Offensive On 3 April 1945 the 52nd Army comprised the 7th Guards Mechanised Corps, the 48th Rifle Corps ( 116th and 294th Rifle Divisions), the 73rd Rifle Corps ( 50th, 111th and 254th Rifle Divisions) and the 78th Rifle Corps ( 31st, 214th and 373rd Rifle Divisions), the 213th Rifle Division, the 214th Tank Regiment, two artillery units, and service units.http://niehorster.org/012_ussr/45-04-03_Berlin/Army_52.html At the beginning of the Battle of Bautzen, on April 21, 1945, the Germans drove in between the Polish 2nd Army and the 52nd Army around Bautzen, some north-east of Dresden and west of Görlitz, sweeping the Soviet units of the 48th Rifle Corps, and driving towards

Spremberg Spremberg ( dsb, Grodk) is a municipality near the Saxon city of Hoyerswerda and is in the Spree-Neiße district of Brandenburg, Germany. First mentioned in 1301, the town alone has 14,028 inhabitants, and the municipality, including other villa ...

. Major General M. K. Puteiko, commander of the 52nd Army's 254th Rifle Division of the 73rd Rifle Corps was mortally wounded around Bautzen. Subsequently, the 52nd Army took part in the advance on Prague with the 1st Ukrainian Front. Postwar, the army was moved to Poland with its headquarters in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

. It soon moved to western Ukraine, with its headquarters at

Drohobych Drohobych ( uk, Дрого́бич, ; pl, Drohobycz; yi, דראָהאָביטש;) is a city of regional significance in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Drohobych Raion and hosts the administration of Drohobych urban h ...

. On 12 June 1946 the army was converted into the 8th Tank Army and its headquarters moved to

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative ...

. The 48th and 78th Rifle Corps were disbanded, along with the 31st, 111th, 116th, 213th, 214th, and 373rd Rifle Divisions. The 73rd Rifle Corps was transferred to the 13th Army.

Commanders

The army was commanded by the following generals. * Aug 1941 to Jan 1942 -

Nikolai Klykov Nikolai or Nikolay is an East Slavic variant of the masculine name Nicholas. It may refer to: People Royalty * Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855), or Nikolay I, Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855 * Nicholas II of Russia (1868–1918), or Nik ...

* Jan 1942 to Jul 1943 -

Vsevolod Yakovlev Vsevolod or Wsewolod (russian: Все́волод ; uk, Все́волод ) is a Slavic male first name. Its etymology is from Slavic roots 'vse' (all) and 'volodeti' (to rule) and means 'lord-of-everything/everybody', (similar to another princ ...

* Jul 1943 to June 1946 -

Konstantin Koroteev Konstantin Apollonovich Koroteyev (russian: Константи́н Аполло́нович Короте́ев; –4 January 1953) was a Soviet Army colonel general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. He became colonel-general in 1944 and was awarde ...

References

External links

*Leo Niehorster
52nd Army 1945
{{Armies of the Soviet Army 052 Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946