Liberation of Belgrade from the Nazis, 1944

2014 was rich for anniversaries. After all, 70 years ago, the liberation of Belgrade, Bucharest, Sofia and many other cities and capitals of Europe by Soviet troops took place. Particularly solemnly celebrated this anniversary of fraternal Serbia, where to this day remember the feat of the soldiers of the Red Army. Since the liberation of Belgrade in 1944, which Soviet and Yugoslav commanders played a decisive role in this?

Prehistory

The occupation of Yugoslavia by fascist troops began after the intensive bombardment of Belgrade on April 6, 1941. Immediately after this, the formation of partisan movement began. And initially there were two wings: monarchist and communist. It is clear that the Allies decided to support the supporters of the expelled King Peter II. However, by 1943 the monarchists, or Chetniks, as they were still called, completely discredited themselves by ethnic cleansing of the non-Serb population of Yugoslavia, and the Soviet and British governments openly supported the leader of the Communists, Josip Broz Tito.

Situation at the front before the Belgrade operation

Due to its geographic location, Serbia has always been a strategically important point in the Balkans. Therefore, from the first days of the occupation of this part of Yugoslavia, the German command held considerable forces there. Moreover, after the successes of the Red Army in Romania and Bulgaria and its access to the Danube, Serbia acquired an even greater importance for the Wehrmacht. The fact is that on the eastern borders of this country the Nazis were going to organize a front of defense against the advancing Soviet troops, which would allow troops to withdraw from Greece and Macedonia and send them to defend the borders of Germany itself. Thus, it was obvious that the liberation of Belgrade (1944) would be difficult and would require good preparation.

In particular, as early as July 28, 1944, parts of Yugoslavia's PLA came from Bosnia towards Serbia, and in September Soviet troops began to pull up there. The news of the offensive of the Red Army was enthusiastically received by the inhabitants of the Yugoslav capital, for which it became a sign that the liberation of Belgrade is already near. In addition, in early autumn the German command decided to withdraw the group of armies "E" from the Balkans to Hungary, and the liberated Bulgaria declared war on Germany and gave the command of the III Ukrainian Front I, II and IV to the Bulgarian armies.

Start of operation

Between September 15 and 21, the 17th Air Army received orders from the Soviet command to bomb the bridges and other important targets, thereby preventing the withdrawal of German troops from the Southern regions of Yugoslavia and Greece. After that, on September 28, the 57th Army launched an assault on Belgrade, which was covered by the Danube flotilla from the right flank, forced to make its way through the minefields. Soviet troops, in cooperation with the units of the NOAI, breached the enemy's defenses along the border with Bulgaria in a short time and made the most difficult crossing through the Eastern Serb Mountains, constantly engaging in fights with the retreating Germans.

Liberation of Belgrade: date and milestones of the operation

On October 8, Soviet troops crossed the Morava River and captured bridgeheads in Palanca and Velika Plana. From there, on October 12, an offensive began on Belgrade from the south, in which Bulgarian military units and two corps of NOAIA took part. At the same time, the Danube forced one of the corps of the Ukrainian Front, which made it possible to attack the capital of Yugoslavia from the north-east.

By October 14, during the Belgrade operation, the following events occurred:

• The 12th building of the NOAIA took control of the roads leading to the capital, located south of the Sava river;
• V Guards Mechanized Corps approached Belgrade and entered the battle on its outskirts;
• The 57th Army began to advance along the Danube, seeking to enter Belgrade as soon as possible.

In addition, on 16 October a landing was planted in Smederevo by the Danube Flotilla. Even with the involvement of such large forces, the complete liberation of Belgrade from the Nazis took place only six days after the beginning of the operation. The fact is that the German garrison of the city numbered more than 20,000 people, who had 170 guns and mortars, as well as 40 tanks. And, judging by the secret directive of the command of the Wehrmacht, all these forces were going to sacrifice in order to ensure the retreat of the many-thousandth grouping of the "E" army.

Military units that took part in the Belgrade operation, and losses of CA and NOAI

On the Soviet side, the IV Guards Mechanized Corps, the 236th Rifle Division, the 73rd and 106th Guards Divisions, one anti-aircraft artillery division, several mortar, artillery and self-propelled artillery regiments, and three separate antiaircraft artillery regiments participated in the assault on the Yugoslav capital. Moreover, the role of the Yugoslav side, which provided 8 divisions, without which the liberation of Belgrade could be dragged on even further, can not be underestimated. During the operation, the Red Army lost more than 30,000 soldiers and officers wounded, killed and missing, of whom about 1,000 people died directly on the streets of the city. At the same time, the victims of NOAI during the assault amounted to 2,953 volunteers.

Warlords who played an important role in liberating the capital of Yugoslavia

The liberation of Belgrade (1944) took place in large part thanks to the concerted actions of the Soviet and Yugoslav command. As already mentioned, the main role in this was assigned to the III Ukrainian Front under the command of F. I. Tolbukhin, and specifically the 57th Army, which at that time was led by Lieutenant-General N. A. Hagen. Among the Soviet generals, we should also mention General Zhdanov, who commanded the IV Guards Mechanized Corps and received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and People's Hero of Yugoslavia for the Belgrade operation. As for the command of the units of the NOAIA who stormed Belgrade, it was assigned to Peko Dapchevic, who showed his organizational skills even during the Civil War in Spain.

Medal "For the Liberation of Belgrade"

On June 9, 1945, a special state award was instituted to encourage those who distinguished themselves in the battles for the Yugoslav capital. She became the Medal "For the Liberation of Belgrade", which received about 70,000 people. This award is a regular circle of brass with a diameter of 3.2 cm, connected by a ring and a lug with a standard pentagonal shoe, which is covered with a green ribbon with a black stripe in the middle. The obverse of the medal has a convex inscription "For the liberation of Belgrade", over which is a five-pointed star. In addition, a laurel wreath is depicted on the circumference . As for the reverse, there is the day of liberation of Belgrade, and above this inscription is a miniature five-pointed star. The design of the medal was created by the artist AI Kuznetsov, it is prescribed to be worn on the left side of the chest.

Celebrations on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade

Although traditionally parades on the occasion of the completion of the German occupation of the Serbian capital are held on October 20, in 2014 the celebrations were held four days earlier. According to the official version, this was due to the fact that it was on October 16, 1944, that Soviet troops liberated the center of Belgrade. In addition, the press reported that this was done to ensure that the celebrations were attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Parade "The winner's step" in Belgrade

October 16, 2014 in the Serbian capital for the first time since 1985 held a military parade. Thus, the authorities of this country decided to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade. This solemn event was attended by about 100 thousand residents, senior officials of Serbia and V. Putin. In addition to the passage of columns of Serbian servicemen and equipment, Russian pilots from the Strizhi group showed their art in the sky over Belgrade.

Thus, it can be stated that attempts to rewrite the history of Europe in the past century in the case of Serbia are not successful, and the people of this country remember the feat of a Soviet soldier who drove out the fascist scum and liberated Belgrade.