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Battle Of Raseiniai
The Battle of Raseiniai (23–27 June 1941) was a large tank battle that took place in the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The battle was fought between the elements of the German 4th Panzer Group and the Soviet 3rd Mechanized Corps with the 12th Mechanised Corps, in Lithuania, north-west of Kaunas. The Red Army tried to contain and destroy the German troops that had crossed the Neman River but was unable to prevent them from advancing. The result of the battle was the destruction of most of the Soviet armoured forces of the Northwestern Front, which cleared the way for the Germans to attack towards the crossings of the Daugava River (Western Dvina). The fighting around Raseiniai was one of the main battles of the initial phase of Operation Barbarossa, referred to in Soviet historiography as the Border Defensive Battles (22–27 June 1941) and formed part of the larger Soviet Baltic Strategic Defensive Operation. Prelude Army Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the European Axis powers and Allies of World War II, Allies, including the Soviet Union (USSR) and Polish Armed Forces in the East, Poland. It encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltic states, Baltics), and Southeast Europe (Balkans), and lasted from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945. Of the estimated World War II casualties, 70–85 million deaths attributed to World War II, around 30 million occurred on the Eastern Front, including 9 million children. The Eastern Front was decisive in determining the outcome in the European theatre of World War II, European theatre of operations in World War II, eventually serving as the main reason for the defeat of Nazi Germany and the Axis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baltic Operation
The Baltic strategic defensive operation () encompassed the operations of the Red Army from 22 June to 9 July 1941 conducted over the territories of the occupied Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia in response to the offensive launched by the Wehrmacht in Operation Barbarossa. Operational parts The operation consisted of three distinct smaller operations :Border defensive battles (22–24 June 1941) :: Battle of Raseiniai also known as the Kaunas counterattack :Šiauliai counter-offensive operation (24–27 June 1941) : Defense of the Hanko Naval Base (22 June–2 December 1941) Execution The principal Red Army formations of the operation were the Northwestern Front and the Baltic Fleet, with the major ground forces consisting of the 8th (commander General Major Pyotr Sobennikov), 11th (commander Lieutenant General Vasily Morozov) and later 27th Armies. The operation was conducted after the forces of the Baltic Special Military District were alerted in the morning of 22 J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
27th Army (Soviet Union)
The 27th Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army, which fought in World War II. First formation The 27th Army was formed in May 1941, under the command of Major General Nikolai Berzarin. On 22 June 1941 it consisted of the 22nd and 24th Territorial Rifle Corps, the 16th and 67th Rifle Divisions, 3rd Separate Rifle Brigade, two artillery regiments, and two anti-tank regiments. It became part of the Northwestern Front on the outbreak of Operation Barbarossa, fighting in the Soviet defense of the Baltic, known in Soviet historiography as the Baltic Strategic Defensive Operation. From June to October 1941 the 27th Army fought on the Dvina River, during the Staraya Russa Offensive, and at Kholm and Demyansk. By 1 November 1941 the army's forces had been reduced to the 23rd and 33rd Rifle Divisions, the 613th Artillery Regiment of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command (RVGK), the 28th Tank Division, and three Battalions of engineers. In December 1941 the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
11th Army (Soviet Union)
The 11th Army was an army of the Red Army during World War II. The army was formed in the Belarusian Special Military District (BSMD) in 1939 from the former Minsk Army Group. It fought in the Soviet invasion of Poland, the Baltic Operation, the Demyansk Pocket, and the Battle of Kursk. The army disbanded in December 1943. World War II In 1939, the 11th Army was formed in the Belarusian Special Military District (BSMD) from the former Minsk Army Group. It took part in the Soviet invasion of Poland. In the summer of 1940 it became part of the Baltic Military District (from 17 August 1940 the Baltic Special military district). During the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the 11th Army included the 16th Rifle Corps (which included the 5th, 33rd and 188th Rifle Divisions), the 29th Rifle Corps ( 179th and 184th Rifle Divisions), the 3rd Mechanised Corps (640 tanks), the 23rd, 126th and 128th Rifle Divisions, the 42nd (Siauliai) and 46th Fortified Regi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
8th Army (Soviet Union)
The 8th Army was a field army of the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War. Winter War The 8th Army was formed in October 1939 (or 14 September 1939) from the Novgorod Army Operational Group of the Leningrad Military District with the task of providing security of the Northwestern borders of the USSR. (The Novgorod Group had been created a month before, on 13 August 1939 by the order No. 0129 of the Chairman of the People's Commissariat for Defence, Marshal of the Soviet Union K.E. Voroshilov. The Group was created for operations in Estonia and Latvia.) On 30 November 1939 the Soviet Union attacked Finland in the Winter War. The strength of the 8th Army, or overall the Red Army, in the north of Lake Ladoga ( Ladoga Karelia), surprised the Finnish general staff. The Finns deployed only two divisions, and they had a support group of three brigades, bringing their total strength to over 30,000 uniforms. The Soviets had a division for almost all roads leading west to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northwestern Front
The Northwestern Front (Russian: ''Северо-Западный фронт'') was a military formation of the Red Army during the Winter War and World War II. It was operational with the 7th and 13th Armies during the Winter War. It was re-created on 22 June 1941, the first day of the Eastern Front on the basis of the Baltic Special Military District. On 22 June the Front consisted of the 8th, 11th, and 27th Armies, as well as the 5th Airborne Corps and the headquarters of the 65th Rifle Corps. Combat history Winter War The staff of the Leningrad Military District. 1941 In the summer of 1941 all elements of the front commanded by General Colonel Fyodor Isodorovich Kuznetsov were involved in heavy fighting in the Baltic Republics and on the approaches and the outskirts of Leningrad. During first 18 days of the war the armies retreated over 450 km into Russia. On 14 July the Soviet 11th Army led a successful counter-offensive from Utogrosh and the Dno district to S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baltic Military District
The Baltic Military District () was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Baltic states, formed shortly before the German invasion during World War II. After the end of the war the Kaliningrad Oblast was added to the District's control in 1946, and the territory of Estonia was transferred back to the Baltic Military District from the Leningrad Military District in 1956. The Baltic Military District was disbanded after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 and reorganised into the North Western Group of Forces, which ceased to exist following the withdrawal of all Russian troops from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on 1 September 1994. World War II First formation (1940–1941) The Baltic Military District was first created by order of the USSR People's Commissar of Defence on 11 July 1940, under the command of Colonel General Aleksandr Loktionov. Its headquarters was formed from the headquarters of the disbanded Kalinin Military District in Riga on 13 Augus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baltic Republics
The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea are sometimes referred to as the "Baltic nations", less often and in historical circumstances also as the "Baltic republics", the "Baltic lands", or simply the Baltics. The term "Balticum" is sometimes used to describe the region comprising the three states; see e.g All three Baltic countries are classified as World Bank high-income economy, high-income economies by the World Bank and maintain a very high Human Development Index. The three governments engage in intergovernmental and parliamentary cooperation. There is also frequent cooperation in foreign and security policy, defence, energy, and transportation. Etymology The term ''Baltic'' stems from the name of the Baltic Sea – a hydronym dating back to at least ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luftflotte 1
''Luftflotte'' 1 ("Air Fleet 1") was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed on 1 February 1939 from ''Luftwaffengruppenkommando'' 1 in Berlin. This Luftwaffe detachment served in Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ..., Latvia, Lithuania and Finland, supporting Axis forces in area; with command offices in Malpils, Latvia, (26 June 1944), Eastern front. Units under command Strategic reconnaissance *Stab/FAGr 1 (Riga–Spilve, Riga, Spilve) *3.(F)/22 (Riga–Spilve) *5.(F)/122 (Mitau) *NASt 3 (Riga–Spilve) Maritime reconnaissance *1./SAGr 127 (Reval–Ülemiste) Transports *1./TGr 10(Ital.) (Riga–Spilve) Transports (special works) This unit was branch of Kampfgeschwader 200 (KG 200) with bases in East Prussia, C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4th Panzer Group
The 4th Panzer Army (), operating as Panzer Group 4 () from its formation on 15 February 1941 to 1 January 1942, was a German panzer formation during World War II. As a key armoured component of the Wehrmacht, the army took part in the crucial battles of the German-Soviet war of 1941–45, including Operation Barbarossa, the Battle of Moscow, the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Kursk, and the 1943 Battle of Kiev. The army was destroyed during the Battle of Stalingrad, but later reconstituted. Formation and preparations for Operation Barbarossa As part of the German High Command's preparations for Operation Barbarossa, Generaloberst Erich Hoepner was appointed to command the 4th Panzer Group in February 1941. It was to drive toward Leningrad as part of Army Group North under Wilhelm von Leeb. On 30 March 1941, Hitler delivered a speech to about two hundred senior Wehrmacht officers where he laid out his plans for an ideological war of annihilation (''Vernichtungskrie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
16th Army (Wehrmacht)
The 16th Army () was a World War II field army of the Wehrmacht. History It took part in the Battle of France. It was then deployed with Army Group North during Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. It fought its way into northern Russia where in January 1942 part of it was encircled by the Soviets near Demyansk. Hitler forbade a withdrawal and the Army was re-supplied by air until a land corridor was opened in April 1942. It was subsequently involved in the Siege of Leningrad. The Soviets relieved Leningrad in January 1944. On February 19, 1944, the Soviet 2nd Baltic Front launched a fresh set of attacks against the German 16th Army around Kholm. The Soviet 22nd Army (Soviet Union), 22nd Army made good progress in the initial assault. These attacks greatly diminished the 16th Army. It, along with the 18th Army was cut off in the Courland Peninsula when the Soviets launched their Operation Bagration, summer and autumn offensives of 1944. It stayed trappe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
18th Army (Wehrmacht)
The 18th Army (German: ''18. Armee'') was a World War II field army in the German ''Wehrmacht''. Formed in November 1939 in Military Region (''Wehrkreis'') VI, the 18th Army was part of the offensive into the Netherlands (Battle of the Netherlands) and Belgium (Battle of Belgium) during Fall Gelb and later moved into France in 1940. The 18th Army was then moved East and participated in Operation Barbarossa in 1941. The Army was a part of the Army Group North until early 1945, when it was subordinated to Army Group Kurland. In October 1944, the army was encircled by the Red Army offensives and spent the remainder of the war in the Courland Pocket The Courland Pocket was a Pocket (military), pocket located on the Courland Peninsula in Latvia on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 9 October 1944 to 10 May 1945. Army Group North of the ''Wehrmacht'' were .... History On 22 July 1940, the 18th Army consisted of XXVI Corps ( 161st and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
