Prague Offensive
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The Prague Offensive May 6—May 11, 1945 (Russian:Пражская наступательная операция, Prazhskaya nastupatelnaya operacia, Prague offensive operation) was the last major battle of the Eastern Front of World War II. During the battle, Prague was liberated, and the troops of Army Group Center that did not surrender after the capitulation of Germany were captured (~850,000).
The Battle
The assault was carried out by 1st (Ivan Konev), 2nd (Rodion Malinovsky), 4th Ukrainian Fronts (Andrei Yeremenko), as well as the Polish Second Army, the 1st and 4th Romanian Armies and the 1st Czechoslovakian Army Corps, totalling to more than 2,000,000 personnel. It was opposed by about 900,000 troops of the 1st, 4th and 17th Panzer Armies of the Army Group Center (Ferdinand Schörner) and some Austrian corps under Lothar Rendulic.The assault crushed the last sizeable pocket of German resistance which did not comply with the unconditional surrender of German forces on May 8, and it relieved the Czech partisans fighting in the Prague Uprising started on May 5, 1945 who were aided briefly by the Russian Liberation Army (commanded by captured former Soviet General Andrey Vlasov). Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front did a forced march from south of Berlin, after taking part in the just finished Battle of Berlin.
The left flank of the 2nd Ukrainian Front met with troops of the US Third Army (George Patton) in the regions of České Budějovice and Písek, thus completing the encirclement. Later, 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts met with Americans in the regions of Karlovy Vary and Klatovy. Soviet troops entered Prague on May 9, 1945. Some remnants of Army Group Center continued resistance until May 11, (some sources say May 12).
Aftermath
To honor the participants of the operation, the Soviet Union instituted the Medal for the Liberation of Prague.Formations Involved
Soviet
- 1st Ukrainian Front
- *Polish Second Army
- 2nd Ukrainian Front
- *Romanian First Army
- *Romanian Fourth Army
- 4th Ukrainian Front
- *Czechoslovakian I Corps
German
- Army Group Centre of the German Army
Losses
Soviet
- Personnel
- *11,997 irrecoverable
- *40,501 Wounded & Sick
- *Total 52,498
- Materiél
- *373 Tanks and self-propelled guns
- *1,006 Artillery
- *80 Aircraft
German
Army Group Centre surrendered, all either killed in action, wounded in action, or captured, (~850,000).References
- Советская военная энциклопедия (Soviet Military Encyclopedia), vol. 6 (In Russian).
- *The Soviet Military Encyclopedia, A-F: ISBN 0813314291, G-O: ISBN 0813314305, P-Z: ISBN 0813314313
- Ziemke, E.F. Stalingrad to Berlin
- Glantz, D. & House, J. When Titan's Clashed
- Konev, I. Year of Victory
See also
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