100 GERMANY TRIUMPHANT 1939–1941
Sea of Azov
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Dniester
Bug
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Dniepr
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LakeLadoga
LakeOnega
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Do
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Caucasus
CRIMEA
BELORUSSIA
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Army Group
North
LeningradFront
VolkhovFront
North-West Front
KalininFront
West Front
Bryansk Front
South-West Front
South Front
Crimean Front
Azov Flotilla
Black SeaFleet
Army Group
Center
Army Group
South
Vyshnniy Volochek
Novgorod
Leningrad
Maladzyechna
Novorossiysk
Staraya Russa
Novozybkov
Stary Oskol
Alekseyevka
Velikiye Luki
VelizhDemidov
Bogoroditsk
Stalinogorsk
Bila Tserkva
Sevastopol
Voznesensk
Izyum
Simferopol
Eupatoria
Kryvyy Rih
Chernobyl
Berdyansk
Dzhankoy
Feodosiya
Mykolayiv
Voronezh
Mogilev
Smolensk
Vitebsk
Cherkassy
Demyansk Nelidovo
Babruysk
Belgorod
Mariupol
Melitopol
Taganrog
Konotop
Donetsk
Moscow
Kishinev
Kherson
Barysaw
Nikopol
Bryansk
Vyazma
Kharkov
Lokhvitsa
Odessa
Tikhvin
Zaborie Poltava
Ryazan
Valuyki
Roslavl
Kaluga
Mazyr
Rzhev
Yelets
Minsk
Kerch
Kursk
Sumy
Tartu
Kirov
Orel
Luga
Kalinin
Kiev
Tula
Rostov
Stalingrad
Klin
ESTONIA
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Soviet counterattacks Jan–Feb 1942
A RENEWED PUSH
JANUARY–FEBRUARY 1942
From January 7, the Soviets renewed their offensive against the Germans, hoping to push them westward and force them to squander their reserves before the spring came. The Soviet high command planned a pincer movement to envelop Vyazma, Rzhev, and Smolensk. Soviet tanks and ski battalions from the North-West and Kalinin Fronts pushed south and south-west toward Velikiye Luki and Demidov. The West Front squeezed the German salient at Rzhev from the east, but failed to re-capture Vyazma.
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Izyum salient
THE IZYUM SALIENT JANUARY 18–30, 1942In eastern Ukraine, the armies of the Soviet South Front breached German lines on the Donets River and drove 62 miles (100
km) toward the rear of the
German forces and their communications center at Kharkov. Lacking reserves and logistical support, the Soviets were forced back by the end of January into
a 38
sq mile (100
sq km) salient near Izyum, where
they were at risk of being cut off.
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Soviet advance on Izyum
Dec 26, 1941
German
General Guderian is relieved
of his command after retreating from Tula.
Feb 23, 1942
Stalin
MOSCOW SAVEDSoviet actions between December 1941 and April 30, 1942 brought them gains that relieved the pressure on Moscow. Their advance also threatened German lines addresses the Soviet people, promising to defeat the “Hitlerite” invaders.
of communication at Kharkov, and won
a valuable toehold in Crimea. KEY
German army groups Soviet fronts
(army groups)
Territory held by
Soviet army, Dec 5, 1941Regained by Soviets by Jan 1, 1942
Regained by Soviets
by April 30, 1942
DEC 1941
JAN 1942
FEB
MAR
MAY
TIMELINE^12345
APR
THE COUNTEROFFENSIVE BEGINS
DECEMBER 5–31, 1941On the night of December 5, the Soviets launched a huge counteroffensive. To drive the Germans back from Moscow, they concentrated on the salients
to the north-west and south-east of the city, and liberated Klin by December 15. The German general Guderian’s panzer group was nearly trapped near
Tula as the Soviets re-took the area, but managed to escape to Bryansk. By the end of the year, Moscow was out of immediate danger.
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Soviet counterattacks, Dec 1941
German panzers
retreat
German forces
in Rzhev-Vyazma
salientSoviet airborne
landings, Jan 1942
German counterattacks, Mar 1942Encircled Soviet partisan resistance
PARATROOPERS AND PARTISANS
JANUARY 18–APRIL 1, 1942In a bid to encircle German forces in the Rzhev-Vyazma salient and cut their lines of communication, Soviet paratroopers were dropped behind German forces holding Vyazma from January 18. Although supported by Soviet partisans in the area and troops of the Kalinin and West Fronts, the Soviet forces soon found themselves encircled and engaged in a bitter struggle to close off the rear of the salient.
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