70 years ago, on May 5, 1945, the Prague Uprising began in German-occupied Czechoslovakia. Prague was an important center of communications through which the German command withdrew troops westward to surrender to the Americans. Therefore, the command of Army Group Center, under the command of Field Marshal Scherner, sent troops to the Czech capital. Stubborn battles went on for several days. The Czech National Council sent a radio call to the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition for help. The Soviet Headquarters decided to crush Army Group Center, complete the liberation of Czechoslovakia and help the rebels. On May 6, the strike grouping of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of I. S. Konev was turned to Prague. The armies of the 2nd and 4th Ukrainian fronts under the command of R. Ya. Malinovsky and A. I. Eremenko also took part in the Prague operation.
On the night of May 9, the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front made a swift 80-km dash and on the morning of May 9 broke into Prague. On the same day, the advance units of the 2nd and 4th Ukrainian fronts reached the Czech capital. The city was cleared of German troops. The main forces of Army Group Center were encircled in the area east of Prague. On May 10-11, the main forces of the German group surrendered. Czechoslovakia was liberated, and Soviet troops came into contact with the Americans.
The situation in Czechoslovakia
In 1941-1943. in Czechoslovakia, on the whole, it was calm, the Czechs worked in defense enterprises and strengthened the power of the "Eternal Reich". The most notable event was the liquidation of Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich, on May 27, 1942 (Operation Anthropoid). The assassination attempt was carried out by Czech saboteurs Josef Gabchik and Jan Kubis, who were prepared and thrown into Czechoslovakia by the British special services. In response, the Germans destroyed the village of Lidice: all the men were shot, the women were sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, and the children were distributed among German families.
However, in the winter of 1944-1945, when the Red Army, with the support of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps and Slovak partisans, launched an offensive in South and East Slovakia, the situation began to change. During this period, there were groups in Czechoslovakia that focused on the Czechoslovak government-in-exile led by Edvard Beneš in London and underground groups of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPC) associated with Moscow.
Under the leadership of the communists, the uprising began again in Slovakia. New partisan detachments were formed, old detachments and brigades were replenished. Part of the previously disbanded rebel army joined the partisans. In addition, the forces of the partisans increased thanks to the transfer of new partisan groups to Slovakia from the Soviet Union. The USSR constantly helped the partisans, supplying them with weapons, equipment, ammunition, ammunition and food. With the withdrawal of the Red Army troops into the territory of Slovakia, the partisans were given the task of facilitating the offensive of the Soviet troops.
Gradually, a partisan movement began to emerge in the Czech Republic. The main role here belonged to partisan detachments and organizers who were transferred from Slovakia and the USSR. So in Moravia with heavy battles from Slovakia broke through the famous partisan brigade named after Jan ižka. The network of illegal national committees expanded. In January 1945, there were about 60 partisan detachments and groups in Czechoslovakia, with a total number of about 10 thousand people. As Czechoslovakia was liberated by Soviet troops, partisan detachments were disbanded, Soviet fighters and officers joined the ranks of the Red Army, and local residents became the main asset of the builders of the new Czechoslovakia.
Prague insurgent with a faustpatron at a firing position
Prague rebels on a light tank AMR 35ZT
The offensive of the Red Army
In January-February 1945, the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front advanced 175-225 km in Poland and Czechoslovakia, reached the upper reaches of the Vistula River and the Moravian-Ostrava industrial region. About 2 thousand settlements were liberated, including such large centers as Kosice, Presov, Gorlice, Nowy Sacz, Nowy Targ, Wieliczka, Poprad, Bielsko-Biala, etc. Troops of the right wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front advanced in Czechoslovakia to 40-100 km, going out to the river Hron.
There was a lull until mid-March 1945. The troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front were preparing for the Moravian-Ostrava operation (Moravian-Ostrava offensive operation), and the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front for the Bratislava-Brno operation (Storming of Bratislava; Storming of Brno and Pracen Heights). The troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front launched an offensive on March 10. The Germans had a powerful defense here, which was facilitated by the conditions of the terrain. Therefore, the battles immediately took on a fierce and protracted nature. Only on April 30, the city of Moravska Ostrava was liberated. During May 1-4, battles continued for the complete liberation of the Moravian-Ostrava industrial region.
Meanwhile, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front successfully carried out the Bratislava-Brno operation. On March 25, our troops formed the Hron River, breaking through the powerful enemy defenses. By the end of April 4, the Slovak capital, Bratislava, was liberated. On April 7, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front crossed the Morava. On April 26, Brno, the second most important and largest city in Czechoslovakia, was liberated. As a result, the Bratislava and Brno industrial regions were captured.
Thus, the troops of the 4th and 2nd Ukrainian fronts completely liberated Slovakia and most of Moravia, having covered about 200 km with heavy fighting. Having lost such large administrative and industrial centers as Moravska Ostrava, Bratislava and Brno and other cities, the Germans lost the largest areas of the military industry and coal and metallurgical, raw material base. The success of the Soviet fronts contributed to the quickest fall of the Third Reich. The troops of the 4th and 2nd Ukrainian fronts took up advantageous positions for a strike from the east and south against a large group of the Wehrmacht, which withdrew to the western part of Czechoslovakia. At the same time, during the Berlin operation, the left wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front reached the foothills of the Sudetenland. Our troops captured Cottbus, Spremberg, and reached the Elbe in the Torgau region. As a result, the preconditions were created for an offensive in the Prague direction from the north and northwest.
Soviet tank T-34-85 on Wenceslas Square in Prague
Tank T-34-85 No. 114 of the 7th Guards Tank Corps on Prague Street
Prague uprising
The Czechoslovak government in exile was guided by England and the United States, hoping with their help to restore its power in Czechoslovakia and the previous order. As the Red Army advanced to the west, the influence of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia grew, which became the most powerful political force in the country. This forced the Benes government in London to negotiate the future of Czechoslovakia with other political forces.
In mid-March 1945, Czechoslovak politicians from the Beneš government arrived in Moscow for talks with Czechoslovak communists and representatives of the Slovak National Council. It was decided to establish on the basis of all the anti-fascist forces of the country the National Front of Czechs and Slovaks. The leader of the CPC K. Gottwald was elected its chairman. After lengthy and heated discussions, the program of the future government, which was proposed by the communists, was adopted. It was based on the radical democratization of all institutions, the confiscation of enterprises and lands of the Nazis and their local accomplices, a broad agrarian reform, the nationalization of the credit system and banks. Foreign policy provided for a course towards a close alliance of all Slavic powers. The government of the National Front was formed on an equal footing. The ambassador of Czechoslovakia to the USSR Z. Fierlinger (he was a social democrat) was elected its chairman. Kosice became the temporary seat of the new government.
In addition, a number of issues of interaction between the new Czechoslovak government and Moscow were resolved. The Soviet Union assumed the costs of organizing and arming the new Czechoslovak army, donating weapons and military materials for 10 divisions free of charge. The core of the army was the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps, which already had a glorious military history. Moscow also promised to help Czechoslovakia with various goods and foodstuffs. We discussed the issue of the future of Transcarpathian Rus (Ukraine). Benes, in principle, did not object to the reunification of this region of historical Russia with the USSR, but they finally decided to discuss this issue after the end of the war.
At the end of April 1945, the Red Army liberated almost all of Slovakia and began the liberation of Moravia. The Americans reached the western borders of the Czech Republic. As a result, the Resistance movement intensified in Czechoslovakia. The movement swept through the previously "calm" western Bohemia. The approach of the collapse of Hitler's Germany prompted a desire to hold a high-profile action in the Czech Republic. On April 29, the Central Committee of the CPC discussed the plan for the uprising and sent its representatives to the largest enterprises in the capital, and commanders of detachments and squads were appointed. Both Czech communists and nationalists were interested in the uprising. The national democratic forces based on the bourgeoisie were afraid of the political influence of the USSR on the future of Czechoslovakia and the loss of their influence and status. They wanted to liberate the capital of the Czech Republic on their own and thereby create an independent base for the future government. They also counted on the help of the American army, the Americans were 80 km from Prague in early May. The communists wanted to prevent the seizure of power by the nationalists and also take a leading position in the capital by the time the Red Army arrived.
Events moved rapidly. On May 1-2, the first unrest began. The Germans in Prague itself did not have large forces, and could not immediately suppress them. On May 2-3, riots broke out in other cities as well. In the eastern front-line areas of Moravia, partisans captured a number of villages. The Jan Zizka brigade captured the city of Vizovice. With the support of Soviet troops, the city of Vsetin was liberated. On May 3-4, the uprising engulfed southern Bohemia. On the night of May 5, the workers of the Kladno district revolted.
On May 5, an uprising began in Prague. The Nazi administration tried to thwart the uprising, announced a general "leave" of workers. However, they did not succeed in disrupting the uprising. The core and leading force of the uprising were large factories: Skoda-Smikhov, Walter, Avia, Mikrofon, Eta. The conference of factories and plants appealed to the people to start an armed uprising. The Czech National Council, chaired by Dr. A. Prazhak, led the uprising, and the German troops were presented with an ultimatum to surrender.
On May 5, the rebels made significant progress. The Czechs seized the telegraph office, telephone exchange, post office, radio, main railway stations, a power station and most of the bridges over the Vltava. The capture of the air defense headquarters was of great importance. Hundreds of barricades were erected in the city. They were protected by about 30 thousand people. The Czech National Council began negotiations with the imperial governor Karl Hermann Frank and the commandant of the city, General Rudolf Tussain.
Prague rebels erect a barricade on the approach to Old Town Square
In addition, in early May, the Czechoslovak military, led by General Karel Kutlvashr, made contact with the Russian Liberation Army (ROA), with the commander of the 1st division, General S. Bunyachenko. The Vlasovites went west, wanting to surrender to the Americans. Bunyachenko and his commanders, hoping that the Czechs would grant them political asylum, agreed to help. Vlasov himself did not believe in this adventure, but did not interfere. On May 4, the Vlasovites agreed to support the uprising. However, the Vlasovites did not receive guarantees from the Czechs, so on the night of May 8, most of the Vlasovites began to leave Prague.
The German command was not going to cede Prague, through which important communications were going, necessary for the withdrawal of troops to the west. Significant forces of Army Group Center were sent to suppress the Prague uprising. The Germans attacked the city from three directions: from the north, east and south. At the same time, the units that still remained in Prague intensified their actions. At the same time, the defenders of the capital experienced a great shortage of weapons, especially anti-tank weapons. The Germans used their superiority in armored vehicles and aircraft to air strikes in the center of Prague and pushed towards the center of the capital.
German tank destroyer "Hetzer" in Prague
By May 7, the situation of the rebels had seriously deteriorated. Some of the rebels offered to surrender. Many nationalists, former commanders of the Czechoslovak army left their combat positions. However, the uprising continued. In the middle of the day on May 8, the German command, unexpectedly for the rebels, agreed to the disarmament of their troops, on condition that they were allowed to pass to the west. The Czech National Council, under pressure from bourgeois elements, accepted this proposal. In the evening, only a few German units began to withdraw from the city. At the same time, the SS troops continued their offensive. Only the appearance of Soviet tanks on May 9, 1945 on the streets of Prague saved the capital of Czechoslovakia from destruction.
Residents of Prague meet Marshal of the Soviet Union I. S. Konev
