Events of the
Great Patriotic War
- 1941 -

  


1941 - Invasion
 

This section will focus on a the events of the Great Patriotic War, also known as the Eastern Front of the Second World War.  No other war in history involved as many men and as many vehicles as this one.  It required the total effort of the Soviet people along with the resources and equipment sent to them by the United States and England to bring victory

Dates below are color coded depending on where the selected event took place.  All dates in Black took place in Europe, while naval actions will be highlighted in Dark Blue, actions that took place in the Caucasus and Asia will be highlighted in Brown.

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of the Great Patriotic War

  
 

June 1941
 

22 June

Operation Barbarossa
At 0300 a force of three million Germans and Axis troops open a 2000 mile front in a surprise attack on the Soviet Union.
24 June Wehrmacht takes Vilnius and Kaunas.
25 June Finland is attacked by Soviet air force.
26 June Finland declares war on USSR.  Germans capture Daugavpils, River Dvina crossings, and Brest-Litovsk after a one week siege.
29 June Stalin, Malenkov, Voroshilov, and Beria form Defense Committee.
July 1941
  1 July Germans take Riga, Guderian's tanks cross the Berezina.
2 July Stalin orders a "scorched earth" policy.
9 July Germans take Minsk pocket and Vitebsk.
11 July Voroshilov, Timoshenko, and Budenny are appointed commanders of the North, Central, and South fronts of the USSR.
15 July Smolensk is captured by German Army Group Center.
20 July Smolensk pocket closed by Gunderian.  Soviet losses - 230,000 prisoners, 2,600 tanks, and 1,400 artillery pieces.
22 July German attack stopped at Lake Ilmen due to exhaustion.
August 1941
  3 August Uman pocket closed by Kleist and Stulpnagel.  In the north, independent of German plans, General Mannerheim continues attacks to recover Karelian Isthmus.
5 August Organized Soviet resistance in Smolensk pocket ends.  Romanians begin siege of Odessa.  Siege will last 73 days.
7 August Stalin becomes Supreme Commander of Soviet forces.
24 August Soviets counter-attack at Gomel and inflict heavy casualties on Romanians at Odessa.  Finnish forces surround Soviets at Vyborg (Viipuri).
25 August Soviets forces enter Persia along with British forces to control a wavering Iraq.
29 August Soviets evacuate Karelian Isthmus.
September 1941
  1 September General Timoshenko continues counter attacks in Gomel sector.
5 September Estonia completely occupied by German forces.
8 September Leningrad is cut off by German tank forces.
12 September First snows on Eastern front slow German advances.
15 September General Kleist and General Guderian have their armor forces meet at Lokhvitsa, trapping four Soviet armies.  Siege of Leningrad begins.
17 September Stavka orders Soviet forces to withdraw from the Kiev area.
18-25 September Germans annihilate Kiev pocket.  665,000 Soviet troops surrender.
19 September Kiev falls to German forces.
26 September Hitler orders offensive against Moscow.

 

 

October 1941
  2 October German forces launch attack against Moscow.
3 October Adolph Hitler declared, "Russia is defeated and will never rise again"
6 October Soviet 9th and 18th armies are trapped near Melitopol.  106,000 Soviet prisoners are taken.
7 October Bryansk pocket and Vyazma pockets are cut off by German armored spearheads.
8 October Orel falls to Germans, but heavy rain begins to hamper advances.
14 October Soviet forces within Vyazma pocket are destroyed.
20 October Germans destroy Soviet forces within Bryansk pocket and advance into Mozhaisk - 40 miles from Moscow.
21 October General G. Zhukov is appointed commander of Moscow outer defenses.
24 October Kharkov falls to German forces.
28 October German 11th Army breaks into the Crimean Peninsula.
30 October German forces under Gen. Bock attack Moscow from north-west.
November 1941
  3 November Kursk falls to the Wehrmacht.
9 November German 11th Army captures Yalta.
15 November Renewed German offensives against Moscow by Army Group Center.
16 November German forces capture Kerch.
17 November General Lopatin launches counter-attack at Rostov with Soviet 37th Reserve Army. 
27 November Units of Panzergruppe 3 reach the Volga Canal and are now 19 miles from Moscow.
28 November Under fierce attack from Soviet forces, Germans pull out of Rostov.
December 1941
  1 December Soviets begin counter-attack at Tula.
5 December German command goes on defensive until Spring in an attempt to straighten their lines and build reserves.
6 December Soviet reinforcements attempt a pincer attack in a major offensive in Moscow area.
15 December Soviet forces retake Kalinin.
16 December German forces ordered by Hitler to hold at all costs.  Withdrawal and regrouping is no longer allowed.
26 December Soviet forces land on Kerch peninsula.
29 December Kerch and Feodosiya are retaken by Soviet forces.

 


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Sources Cited

(1) Bauer, Eddie,  Illustrated World War II Encyclopedia (vol 24), Tarrytown, NY: H.S. Stuttman Inc, 1978

Last Updated 14 January 2019 by Ryan Stavka