176

p The Soviet Union fought the Great Patriotic War in the name of deliverance from fascist barbarity. The fate of the peoples was decided in the battle fought on the Soviet- German Front where Soviet forces struck smashing blows at Hitler’s armies. In 1944, the Soviet mission of liberation became particularly expressive.

p Beginning in the latter half of August 1944, the Red Army carried out large-scale offensives against the southern wing of the German forces, clearing the enemy out of Soviet Moldavia and then Rumania and Bulgaria and, ultimately, Yugoslavia, Austria and Hungary. In Southeast Europe, the politico-military and international situation changed completely.

p The mammoth Jassy-Kishinev operation, which gave the 177 start to the developments on the southern wing of the SovietGerman Front, was the principal military event of the period.

p Soviet troops deployed along the line running from the northeastern foothills of the Eastern Carpathians to the Black Sea faced 47 nazi divisions, including three panzer and one motbrised, and 5 brigades of Army Group South Ukraine.  [177•1  In addition, the Germans had a large number of separate regiments and battalions there, plus strong police forces, SS troops, anti-aircraft units and marines in the rear, in Rumania and Bulgaria.

p The arid and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts (Generals R. Y. Malinovsky and F. I. Tolbukhin, respectively), engaged in the Jassy-Kishinev operation, comprised 90 divisions, and nine tank and mechanised corps.  [177•2  The strength of the Soviet and German divisions differed—a Soviet infantry division consisted of 5,600-7,500 men, while a German of 10,000 to i2,ooo.  [177•3  Thus, the Soviet numerical advantage was only slight (i. 4 : i).  [177•4  However, overwhelmingly superior strength was built up in the attack points—as much as 3.9 : i by the and Ukrainian Front and 8 : i by the 3rd. This in personnel, while the advantage in tanks and self-propelled artillery amounted in both cases to nearly 6 : i.  [177•5 

p The offensive began in the morning of August 20, 1944, with enemy defences breached the same day. On the following day Jassy was captured, and nazi fortifications wiped out in the main attack directions. The 2nd Ukrainian Front drove to Fokshani and the 3rd to Galats-Izmail. On August 24, the two fronts made a junction southwest of Kishinev, investing and destroying 18 German divisions.  [177•6  Besides, they surrounded the Rumanian 3rd Army, which surrendered.

p With the Red Army offensive getting into stride and driving into Rumania, the armed rising of the Rumanians was brought closer. The plan of the rising was adopted at a meeting of Communist Party leaders and a group of top-ranking officers on June 13-14, 1944. A Military-Revolutionary Committee was formed, and to expedite the preparing of 178 the rising a concentration camp escape was organised for a group of top Communists. By August 23, fifty combat groups had been formed in Bucharest, with experience of armed resistance.

p These groups went into action on August 23, compelling King Mihai, eager—though somewhat belatedly—to divorce himself from Ion Antonescu, the fascist dictator, to issue an order for his arrest. A combat group headed by Emil Bodnaras brought Ion Antonescu and his deputy, Mihai Antonescu, and a few ministers, to a secret place of the Rumanian Communist Party, where they were kept under guard until transfer to the Soviet Command. Meanwhile, other groups seized important objectives and strategic points in the Rumanian capital, this assuring the victory of the anti-fascist rising and raising the curtain on a popular revolution.

p On August 25, 1944, the Soviet Foreign Commissariat published a statement reaffirming absence of any intention of acquiring any part of Rumanian territory, changing the existing social system in the country or impinging in any way on her independence. "On the contrary,” the Statement said, "the Soviet Government considers it necessary, jointly with the Rumanians, to restore the independence of Rumania by liberating her from the German fascist yoke— Help by Rumanian troops to eliminate the German forces is the only way to bring closer the end of hostilities in Rumanian ter- ritory."  [178•1 

p On August 26, Rumania officially announced her acceptance of the Soviet armistice terms. The nazis retaliated by bombing Bucharest, while trying to seize it with ground troops. Proceeding with rapid liberation of the country the 2nd Ukrainian Front captured Ploesti, centre of the Rumanian oil industry, and entered Bucharest on the following day, August 31. The Soviet troops passed through the streets in perfect order, a cavalcade of thousands of lorries and cars, tanks and self-propelled guns, while hundreds of planes flew overhead. The population watched this display with amazement. The liberation army received a joyous welcome.

p The 2nd Ukrainian Front developed its offensive across Transylvania, hitting the rear of the Hungarian-German 179 troops which defended the Carpathian passes. Meanwhile, the 3rd Ukrainian Front advanced along the Danube across Rumania southward to Dobruja and the Bulgarian border.

p Rumania declared war on Germany and, later, on Hungary, fielding 13-15 divisions, which fought under Soviet com- mand.  [179•1 

p The armistice with Rumania was signed in Moscow on September, 12, 1944. Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky, Commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, affixed his signature to the agreement on behalf of the United Nations on mandate of the Soviet, US and British governments.

p The terms were evidence of Soviet magnanimity. In its demands on defeated Rumania, the Soviet Union confined itself to conditions-essential for the successful completion of its mission of liberation and the final defeat of the fascist bloc. The armistice envisaged that Rumania, which had terminated hostilities against the USSR at.04.00 hours on August 24 and thus withdrawn from the war against the United Nations, would participate under general Soviet guidance in the war against Germany and Hungary with the purpose of recovering her independence and sovereignty. The frontier between the USSR and Rumania was restored in accordance with the June 28, 1940, agreement, with Northern Transylvania to be ultimately restored to Rumania by Hungary.

p Besides, Rumania undertook to turn over to the Soviet Supreme Command as trophy all war property in her territory belonging to Germany and her satellites. Rumania was to make part of the damage caused to the Soviet Union by her armed operations and occupation of Soviet territory, the sum being set at $300 million, payable in goods in six years. Rumania also undertook to return to the Soviet Union all valuables and materials shipped out of Soviet territory during the war. The Rumanian Government accepted the obligation to co-operate with the Soviet Supreme Command in apprehending war criminals, closing down fascist organisations and preventing their revival in future. The agreement envisaged the setting up of an Allied Control Commission to supervise fulfilment of the armistice terms.

p The Rumanian armistice had a reassuring effect on 180 Finland, the military situation of which had become hopeless in face of a Soviet drive in the Karelian Isthmus, Southern Karelia and along the Baltic shore. In the early hours of September 4, 1944, the Finnish Government declared its willingness to accept the Soviet terms. German troops in Finland were told to leave. Moving out, they maltreated the civilian population, massacring thousands of women, old men and children in the one district of Tulus alone.

p The Finnish armistice was signed in Moscow on September 19 by A. A. Zhdanov, prominent leader of the Communist Party and the Soviet Government, on behalf of the United Nations and by mandate of the Soviet and British governments.

p Under the armistice terms, Finland undertook to withdraw her troops behind the 1940 Soviet-Finnish border and disarm all German armed forces still in her territory, and turn over German personnel as war prisoners to the Soviet Command, with the Soviet Government agreeing to assist Finland in this operation. The Soviet-Finnish peace treaty of March 12, 1940 was reinforced.

p Finland undertook to return to the Soviet Union the Petsamo (Pechenga) region, which the Soviet Union had voluntarily given to Finland under treaties concluded on October 14, 1920 and March 12, 1940. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, gave up its lease of Hanko Peninsula, while Finland granted a lease of the Porkkala-Udd area and the adjoining waters for a Soviet naval base. Reparations were set at $300 million, payable in commodities over a period of 6 years. The other armistice terms were the same as those accepted by Rumania.

p The armistice was an important landmark in Finnish history, assuring the country’s independence and laying Tasting foundations for friendship with the Soviet Union, which the subsequent years have amply proved.

p The Finnish armistice, too, thus reflected the lofty idea behind Soviet foreign policy and the deep Soviet respect for national rights and the sovereignty of other peoples.

p In the meantime, troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front rolled on to the Rumanian-Bulgarian border. The anti-popular Bulgarian Government had continued its policy of collaborating with the nazis, but deep-seated revolutionary ferment was in evidence. By the autumn of 1944 something like 30,000 active partisans supported by 200,000 helpers from 181 among the population, had become active.  [181•1  They operated practically all over the country. On August 26, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Bulgaria passed a decision to start a countrywide armed uprising.

p In a note to the Bulgarian Government on September 5, 1944, the Soviet Government described Bulgaria’s policy as "factual prosecution of war with the German camp against the Soviet Union”. For this reason, it said, "henceforth not only Bulgaria is in a state of war against the USSR, since it had earlier also, in effect, been in a state of war against the USSR, but the Soviet Union, too, is in a state of war against Bulgaria".  [181•2 

p On September 8, the Red Army crossed the Bulgarian border from Rumania along a wide frontage. There was no resistance. Bulgarian, troops laid down their arms, while the population extended the Soviet Army an enthusiastic welcome. Partisan commanders released a message of welcome, the opening line of which said, "Welcome!" The message read: "We have waited for you, Red Army brothers. Every salute in honour of your victories has echoed in our hearts. While waiting for you, we have not been idle__

p Your proximity and your will to fight the people’s oppressors are a guarantee tilat Bulgaria will be free, independent and democratic".  [181•3 

p The presence of Soviet,troops in Bulgaria accelerated the revolutionary eruption. In the early hours of September 9, insurrectionists in the capital rapidly seized all important objectives and arrested the government,, which had worked hand in glove with the hitlerites. Power was assumed by the Fatherland Front, formed before the rising began. The new Fatherland Front Government declared war against Germany and published a declaration, spelling out what it would do to democratise the country.

p The victorious Red Army offensive blended with the popular anti-fascist rising. The people made the most of the favourable situation and quickly accomplished a peoples’ democratic revolution.

p On September 9, 1944, the Soviet troops in Bulgaria terminated military operations, which had been quite unique 182 even before, for they did not involve the use of arms. Georgi Dimitrov said: "Though the Soviet Union did declare war on Bulgaria, not a single soldier, either Soviet or Bulgarian, was killed in that ’war’..... The entry of Soviet troops into Bulgaria helped to overthrow the fascist dictatorship and assured the future of the Bulgarian people, the freedom and independence of our state."  [182•1 

p Bulgaria took an active part in the war against Germany, committing nearly 340,000 men in the subsequent opera- tions.  [182•2  Acting under the general guidance of the Soviet Command, -Bulgarian units battled the Germans at home, in Yugoslavia, Hungary and Austria, contributing to the liberation of the Balkan countries and the final defeat of Hitler Germany.

p Negotiations over the Bulgarian armistice terms between the Soviet Union, on the one hand, and the United States and Britain, on the other, were extremely sharp. The Red Army’s presence in Bulgaria frustrated a plan envisaging an AngloAmerican occupation. The governments of the United States and Britain were therefore determined to impose hard terms and tremendous reparations.

p The Soviet Union stood up for the interests of the Bulgarians, and the United States and Britain were forced to give in. But their stand impeded a reparations settlement. The armistice terms only said that Bulgaria would pay reparations, the amount to be fixed later. Accepting these terms, the Bulgarians were confident that the Soviet Union would not allow the imperialist countries to place an insufferable burden on them. In other respects (exclusive of territorial issues), the Bulgarian armistice was much like that concluded with Rumania.

p It was signed in Moscow on October 28, 1944, by Marshal F. I. Tolbukhin, Commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, on behalf of the United Nations and by mandate of the Soviet, US and British governments.

p After liberating Rumania and Bulgaria with the co- operation of local democratic forces, in September 1944, the Red Army reached the frontiers of Hungary and Yugoslavia. There it was confronted by a considerable enemy force 183 of 66 divisions, comprising Army Groups South and F.  [183•1  The Soviet Command, however, had considerably . superior forces—the ist, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ukrainian fronts. The frontage, however, was wide and the terrain extremely difficult, favouring the defending forces.

p On October 6, the 2nd Ukrainian Front thrust into the eastern part of Hungary (the Debrecen Operation). It made good progress despite bitter resistance, liberating the city of Debrecen on October 20, and then ending the Debrecen Operation. Co-operating with troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front, the 2nd also liberated Northern Transylvania and nearly all Hungarian territory left to the Tisza, developing a bridgehead also on its right bank. In the meantime, the 4th Ukrainian Front cleared the Transcarpathian Ukraine.

p The defeat of the German-Hungarian armies in the eastern and northeastern parts of Hungary crowned the first stage of Hungary’s liberation. The second opened without delay. On October 29 troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts began the Budapest Operation.

p Enemy defences between the Tisza and Danube were breached on the first day and at dusk on November 2 the first Soviet units approached Budapest from the south. But they failed to take the city on the march. In the ensuing battles a part of the enemy troops was cut off from Budapest, invested in a bend of the Danube and wiped out. The ring round the Hungarian capital closed towards the end of December, and after many days the city was taken on February 13, 1945, with the surrounded enemy totally routed. But western Hungary was still in enemy hands.

p A Provisional National Assembly of Hungary, which formed a provisional national government, convened in Debrecen on December 21, 1944. Acting on the wishes of the people, the new government took Hungary out of the war, with Germany thus losing the last of her satellites.

p On January 20, 1945, Marshal K. Y. Voroshilov signed an armistice with Hungary in Moscow on behalf of the United Nations and by mandate of the Soviet, US and British governments. It was the same in content as those concluded with Rumania, Bulgaria and Finland. Its Article 12 stipulated partial compensation of losses caused by Hungary’s participation in the war on Germany’s side. The total sum, 184 which was to go to the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, was set at $300 million payable in commodities in the course of six years.

p In Yugoslavia, a people’s war had been fought from the day she was overrun. Much of her territory had been cleared of the enemy. In September 1944 the People’s Army had 400,000 men.  [184•1  But it was unable to liberate the country completely on its own, because as many as 21 German divisions, 7 brigades and some 25 separate regiments, and 10 Bulgarian and Hungarian divisions, were stationed in Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece.  [184•2 

p A new power, that of the revolutionary people, had come into being during the people’s resistance. The functions of a provisional government were performed by the National Liberation Committee. The liberation of the country by a joint Yugoslav-Soviet effort had been discussed beforehand in Moscow. The Yugoslav People’s Liberation Army was supplied considerable quantities of Soviet arms and equipment, and a Soviet air group of two divisions was turned over to the Yugoslav Command for support. An understanding was reached on temporary Soviet military entry into Yugoslavia.

p The Belgrade Operation was launched on September 28, 1944, by troops of the 3rd and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts, the Danube Naval Flotilla and the Yugoslav People’s Liberation Army. Also engaged were 13 Bulgarian divisions and brigades under Soviet command.  [184•3  When the offensive began, a communication was published in Moscow announcing the Red Army’s temporary entry into Yugoslavia with the consent of the National Liberation Committee, and that a civilian administration of the National Liberation Committee of Yugoslavia would exercise power in territory where Red Army troops were stationed.  [184•4 

p The offensive developed well. It was mounted by 19 Soviet divisions, one motorised infantry brigade, a mechanised corps, the Danube Naval Flotilla, the air arm of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and part of the air arm of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.  [184•5  The fraternal co-operation of the Red Army, the 185 Yugoslav National Liberation Army and the Bulgarian Army proved highly effective.

p On October 14, Soviet and Yugoslav troops approached Belgrade. The first to break into the city were units of the 4th Guards Mechanised Corps (General V. I. Zhdanov) and the ist Proletarian Division of Colonel Vaso Ivanovic (People’s Liberation Army of Yugoslavia). Marshal S. S. Biryuzov (then General and Chief-of-Staff of the 3rd Ukrainian Front) recalls: "What made the battle difficult was that we wanted to avoid destruction in Belgrade and casualties among the civilian population. This made us give up powerful air and artillery strikes against residential and administrative quarters. Heavy arms were used with extreme caution. The enemy was attacked chiefly with guns, hand-grenades, automatic weapons and bayonets."  [185•1  Yet Belgrade did not escape considerable damage, caused by totally unnecessary US and British air-raids. The Soviet troops, Biryuzov recalls, were also provocatively attacked by US Air Force planes.  [185•2 

p On October 20, the city was taken. The Belgrade Operation was over. Soviet and Bulgarian troops were pulled out of Yugoslavia for an offensive in Hungary, and all further actions in Yugoslav territory were by the People’s Liberation Army. Further, Soviet aid was not confined to arms and ammunition. The sustained drive of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts in Hungary and Austria complicated the position of the nazi troops and their Croatian menials in Yugoslavia, facilitating their final defeat by the PLA. Josip Broz Tito pointed out later that without the Soviet Union "victory over the fascist invaders would have been impossible, the liberation of Yugoslavia would have been impossible, the creation of a new Yugoslavia would have been impossible".  [185•3 

p The Soviet entry into Yugoslavia and Hungary and the speedy drive west made the position of the German divisions in Albania and Greece untenable. They were in peril of being blockaded in the south of the Balkan Peninsula and began withdrawing north towards the end of September, the Belgrade Operation adding tempo to their evacuation. Taking advantage of the major Red Army success in the Balkans, the National Liberation Army of Albania mounted a broad 186 offensive, pursuing the fleeing German divisions. Albania was totally free by November 29, that day being proclaimed a national holiday.

p A similar situation arose in Greece. Germans were abandoning the country, pursued by a national liberation army of nearly 125,000 men.  [186•1  The National Liberation Front was in the act of taking over power in the country, with hopes of independent, free and democratic development rising before the Greek people. But that did not suit the Greek monarchists, nor Anglo-American reaction. The British Government shipped in troops and mounted extensive armed operations against the people, a people fighting for national independence and freedom.

p British commando landings in Albania, however, ended in total failure. According to Polityka, a Polish newspaper, this was the result of timely information furnished by Harold Philby.  [186•2 

p * * *

Southeast Europe was liberated by Soviet troops with the co-operation of the Balkan national liberation forces. That people’s power was established in the liberated countries was a natural outcome of the mass struggle against the nazis. The people’s governments of Southeast Europe, excluding that of Greece, withstood the onslaught of home and external reactionary forces. Relying on the selfless fraternal support of the Soviet Union, they moved forward to national independence and social progress.