1st Belorussian Front
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The 1st Belorussian Front (alternative spellings are 1st Byelorussian Front and 1st Belarusian Front) was a military subdivision (Front) of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. This sense of the term is not identical with the more general usage of military front which indicates a geographic area in wartime, although a Soviet Front may operate within designated boundaries.
The Belorussian Front was created on October 20, 1943 as the new designation of the existing Central Front. It was renamed the 1st Belorussian Front (1BF) on February 17, 1944, along with the creation of the 2nd Belorussian Front and 3rd Belorussian Front. During 1944, the Front operated in the Bobruysk and Brest-Lublin directions.
The Front took part in the following operations: Operation Bagration, Rogachev-Zhlobin Operation, Bobruysk Operation, Vistula-Oder Offensive, Warsaw-Poznan Operation, Battle of Berlin (Багратион, Рогачевско-Жлобинская, Бобруйская, Висло-Одерская и Варшавско-Познанская)
Following the war, the Front headquarters formed the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.
Commander Zhukov
Marshal Georgy Zhukov was appointed commander of the 1BF for its last two great offensives of World War II. After the capture of Poland and East Prussia from January-March 1945, the Soviets redeployed their forces during the first two weeks of April. Marshal Georgy Zhukov concentrated 1BF, which had been deployed along the Oder river from Frankfurt in the south to the Baltic, into an area in front of the Seelow Heights. The 2nd Belorussian Front moved into the positions being vacated by the 1BF north of the Seelow Heights. While this redeployment was in progress gaps were left in the lines and the remnants of the German II Army which had been bottled up in a pocket near Danzig managed to escape across the Oder.In the early hours of April 16 the final offensive of the war to capture Berlin and link up with Western Allied forces on the Elbe started with attacks by 1BF and by Marshal Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front (1UF) to the south. Initially the 1BF had great difficulty smashing through the German lines of defence, but after three days they had broken through and were approaching the outskirts of Berlin. By 22 April 1BF had penetrated the northern and eastern suburbs of Berlin. They finished the encirclement of Berlin on 25 April when units of the 1BF and 1UF meet at Kietzen west of Berlin. After heavy street by street and house to house fighting, General Weidling, the commander of Berlin's garrison, met with General Chuikov and surrendered Berlin unconditionally at 15:00 hours local time on May 2. On 8 May, after a signing ceremony in Berlin, the German armed forces surrendered to the Allies unconditionally and the war in Europe was over.
Commanders
- General Konstantin K. Rokossovksky [continuing from command of Central Front] (October 1943-November 1944)
- Marshal Georgy K. Zhukov (November 1944-June 1945)
Commissars
- Lt. General Konstantin F. Telegin [continuing from Central Front] (October 1943-May 1944; November 1944-June 1945)
- Colonel General Nikolai A. Bulganin (May 1944-November 1944)
Time Line
1943
- 20 October: Creation
1944
- 17 February: Designated 1st Belorussian Front.
- 26 June: The attacks of 1BF encircle Bobruisk, trapping 40,000 troops of the German 41st Panzer Corps (part of 9th Army).
- 14 September: 1BF with the support of Polish forces captures Praga, a suburb of Warsaw.
- November: Marshal Georgy Zhukov appointed commander of the Front
1945
- 13 January 1BF began an offensive toward Pillkallen in East Prussia, against which they meet stiff resistance from the III Panzer Army.
- 14 January 1BF continues its attacks South of Warsaw from two Vistula bridgeheads, one of which holds 400,000 men and 1,700 tanks.
- 24 January 1BF and 2nd Belorussian Fronts attack Pomerania. German II Army is cut off.
- 25 January 1BF cuts off the fortress city of Posen which held 66,000 Germans and continues its 80 km a day advance.
- 31 January 1BF reaches the river Oder to the North of Küstrin and establishes a bridgehead on the western side less than 60 km from Berlin.
- 1 February 1BF surrounds the fortress town of Küstrin.
- 2 February 1BF reaches the Oder to the south of Frankfurt (Oder)
- 6 February 1BF fans out along the east bank of the Oder between Frankfurt and Küstrin.
- 23 February 1BF captures Posen after a month-long siege.
- 4 March 1BF breaks through the German lines at Stargard and drives towards Stettin. It also establishes a new bridgehead across the Oder to the south of Frankfurt.
- 27 March 1BF is involved in heavy street fighting in Danzig
- 28 March 1BF captures Gotenhafen north of Danzig.
- 29 march The fortress town of Küstrin falls to the 1BF after a siege lasting almost a month.
- 30 March Soviet troops finally capture Danzig
- 16 April 1BF and the 1st Ukrainian Front start the final offensive on Berlin from along the Oder-Neisse line.
- 17 April The 1BF assault against Berlin is stalled by tenacious German resistance on the Seelow Heights, 3 km west of the Oder, with great losses of troops and tanks for the Soviets.
- 18 April 1BF continues to batter the German position across the Seelow Heights in a battle of attrition.
- 19 April 1BF breaks through the German defences on the Seelow Heights and moves rapidly towards Berlin.
- 22 April 1BF penetrates the northern and eastern suburbs of Berlin.
- 25 April Units of the 1BF and 1st Ukrainian Fronts meet at Kietzen west of Berlin. Berlin is now completely encircled by eight Russian armies.
- 30 April Zhukov refuses to grant the defenders of Berlin an armistice and demands an unconditional surrender
- 2 May General Weidling, the commander of Berlin's Garrison meets with General Chuikov and accepts his terms of unconditional surrender of Berlin. The garrison in Berlin surrenders at 3pm local time.
- 8 May In deference to the Soviets, the surrender ceremony to the Western Allies at Rheims on the previous day i repeated before Marshal Zhukov and other Soviet generals at Karlshorst, a suburb of Berlin.
- 10 June. Front disbanded; its command transformed into the command of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.
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