General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
addendum #4 June 22, 1941
Posted by:
Yuri IL\'IN
()
Date: June 22, 2001 04:29AM
<HTML>The price of Victory
In June 1996, shortly before the 55th anniversary of Germany\'s attack on the USSR, President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree declaring June 22 as Day of Remembrance and Sorrow to be marked on the annual basis.
In the four years of the war, which in the Soviet Union was given the name of the Great Patriotic War, this country lost 26 million people, or 14% of the population. No other war in centuries-long history of Russia brought so much destruction, misery and death.
The generation that went to the front in 1941still kept alive the memories of the First World War. But then all the WW I belligerents - Germany, Austro-Hungary, France and Russia - shared its hardships practically evenly, losing between one and a half and two million people each.
Russia\'s WW II human losses were a tragedy on a much greater scale and higher by an order of magnitude. The Soviet Union accounted for almost a half of the population losses of all the belligerent countries. One in every four WW II casualties was a Soviet soldier.
There are figures to illustrate the bitterness of engagements involving the Soviet Army. From June 22, 1941, the date of the German invasion, to May 1945, the Soviet-German front had no parallel anywhere. In 1942, it was over 6,000 kilometers long. The territory engulfed in military operations exceeded, in 1941-1945, that of 12 European states - Britain, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Norway, France, Finland, and Yugoslavia - lumped together.
The war rolled twice across the territory of the Soviet Union: first from west to east, then from east to west. The military operations in the Soviet-German front were distinguished by the particular intensity. The Soviet Army pursued four big campaigns and over 40 major strategic operations between November 1941 and September 1943 alone. The German losses in \"the Eastern front\" made up about 75% of the personnel and military equipment.
1941 and 1943 account for particularly big losses on both sides. Historians estimate that each day of fighting on the Soviet-German front entailed 8,000 Soviet casualties on average. One million Soviet soldiers died while liberating Europe.
One-third of the Soviet male population, or over 31 million, were drafted into the armed forces during the years of the Great Patriotic War. Over 12 million servicemen did not live to see the Victory. More than 6 million of them perished in combat or died of wounds in hospital. Upwards of 5 million soldiers were listed as missing in action.
Only one in every four Soviet POWs managed to survive the German captivity. As many as 6,000 Soviet prison camp inmates died each day. Fifteen million people were wounded or shell-shocked, with 2.5 million of them turning invalids.
The fate of the younger generation was particularly tragic. Two-thirds of those who died in battle or of wounds were young men aged from 19 to 35 years.
The war proved an even harsher affair as far as the civilian population was concerned, with over 13 million peaceful civilians dying in the four years of the war. A particularly hard lot befell those of them, who found themselves in the occupied territories. More than 5 million Soviet citizens were brought to Germany for hard labor.
In the demographic respect, the human losses suffered in the Great Patriotic War make themselves felt up to this day. Had it not been for the war, there would have been 330 to 360 million people living in the territory of the former USSR today instead of the present-day 290 million.
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In June 1996, shortly before the 55th anniversary of Germany\'s attack on the USSR, President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree declaring June 22 as Day of Remembrance and Sorrow to be marked on the annual basis.
In the four years of the war, which in the Soviet Union was given the name of the Great Patriotic War, this country lost 26 million people, or 14% of the population. No other war in centuries-long history of Russia brought so much destruction, misery and death.
The generation that went to the front in 1941still kept alive the memories of the First World War. But then all the WW I belligerents - Germany, Austro-Hungary, France and Russia - shared its hardships practically evenly, losing between one and a half and two million people each.
Russia\'s WW II human losses were a tragedy on a much greater scale and higher by an order of magnitude. The Soviet Union accounted for almost a half of the population losses of all the belligerent countries. One in every four WW II casualties was a Soviet soldier.
There are figures to illustrate the bitterness of engagements involving the Soviet Army. From June 22, 1941, the date of the German invasion, to May 1945, the Soviet-German front had no parallel anywhere. In 1942, it was over 6,000 kilometers long. The territory engulfed in military operations exceeded, in 1941-1945, that of 12 European states - Britain, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Norway, France, Finland, and Yugoslavia - lumped together.
The war rolled twice across the territory of the Soviet Union: first from west to east, then from east to west. The military operations in the Soviet-German front were distinguished by the particular intensity. The Soviet Army pursued four big campaigns and over 40 major strategic operations between November 1941 and September 1943 alone. The German losses in \"the Eastern front\" made up about 75% of the personnel and military equipment.
1941 and 1943 account for particularly big losses on both sides. Historians estimate that each day of fighting on the Soviet-German front entailed 8,000 Soviet casualties on average. One million Soviet soldiers died while liberating Europe.
One-third of the Soviet male population, or over 31 million, were drafted into the armed forces during the years of the Great Patriotic War. Over 12 million servicemen did not live to see the Victory. More than 6 million of them perished in combat or died of wounds in hospital. Upwards of 5 million soldiers were listed as missing in action.
Only one in every four Soviet POWs managed to survive the German captivity. As many as 6,000 Soviet prison camp inmates died each day. Fifteen million people were wounded or shell-shocked, with 2.5 million of them turning invalids.
The fate of the younger generation was particularly tragic. Two-thirds of those who died in battle or of wounds were young men aged from 19 to 35 years.
The war proved an even harsher affair as far as the civilian population was concerned, with over 13 million peaceful civilians dying in the four years of the war. A particularly hard lot befell those of them, who found themselves in the occupied territories. More than 5 million Soviet citizens were brought to Germany for hard labor.
In the demographic respect, the human losses suffered in the Great Patriotic War make themselves felt up to this day. Had it not been for the war, there would have been 330 to 360 million people living in the territory of the former USSR today instead of the present-day 290 million.
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