Collapse of Napoleonic Army
Even before the war, Napoleon claimed that if he took Moscow, he would strike Russia in the very heart. In fact, it was Moscow that defeated Napoleonic army. Having entered the city on September 14, Napoleon's army ceased to exist as a combat unit.
Total robbery and violence against the population turned the Grand Army into a bunch of marauders. The once invincible French army was disintegrating before our eyes; when Napoleon realized this, it was too late. He was trapped.
To save the army, Napoleon sent a letter to Emperor Alexander I with a proposal to make peace. But Alexander did not answer. Then Napoleon realized that he had lost. He had no choice but to leave Moscow. And he gave the order to his troops to leave the city.
The French army's communications lines, stretched over hundreds of kilometers, could not provide the troops with everything they needed; moreover, the fire that raged in Moscow for more than a week destroyed all possible food supplies. Napoleon gave the order to retreat, leaving Moscow; the French army was pulling behind it a huge convoy with looted goods, which greatly affected its maneuverability.
Taking advantage of this, Kutuzov cut off Napoleon's troops from the southern provinces and, with the help of auxiliary troops from the north, forced the French to retreat along the old Smolensk road. Napoleon's army was melting before our eyes, due to the lack of provisions, famine began, constant threats to the Russian army, moving in parallel, forced the French to abandon everything just to move forward faster.
At the end of November, the Great Army that reached the Berezina River was a pitiful sight. There was a complete absence of cavalry, all artillery was abandoned, about 40 thousand people were unarmed, wounded and frostbitten. To avoid complete destruction during the crossing from the attacking Russian army, Napoleon ordered the bridges to be burned, fled, and left the remnants of the army to the mercy of fate.
"Winners"
The “Winners” project (pobediteli.ru), created for the 60th anniversary of the Victory, is a civil initiative of individuals and companies. The most important part of the project is a search system for lists of WWII veterans, which helps people find each other.
According to the creators of the project, literally from the first day they began to receive letters from site visitors who found their relatives and friends on the list who were considered dead. It turned out that, despite the fact that the war ended more than 60 years ago, not all relatives and friends found each other.
The creators of the project publish requests for searches for WWII veterans. People who find out that someone is looking for them, or their friends, provide the site administration with their contact information. This way, people who are looking for each other can contact directly and finally meet.
Another interesting part of the project is a multimedia map of the war with the memories of participants and archival chronicles. This is an interactive map that clearly presents the entire history of the military operations of the Second World War. Key points are accompanied by additional information with photographs and videos, as well as audio recordings of veterans' memories.
The Great Patriotic War - a booklet for parents
The booklet for parents introduces a summary of the project and answers key questions. During the project, students will conduct research, get acquainted with works, collect and publish materials about the Great Patriotic War.
An example of a student project activity product
Diary of the “Luchiki” team in Rasskazovo, contents:
- Self-assessment sheet: Stage 1 “Getting to know each other”
- Stage “Memory of the Second World War” and description
- Self-assessment sheet: Stage 2 “Memory of the Second World War”
- Team work at the stage “Memory of the Great Patriotic War”
- Self-assessment sheet: Stage 3 “Celebration with tears in our eyes”
- Self-assessment sheet: stage 4 “Connection of generations”
- Self-assessment sheet: final stage
Thanks to this project, we learned many previously unknown facts about the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. It was very interesting for us to study the history of our country not only as part of the educational process, but from additional sources of information, which is what this project is.
Working on the project turned out to be very interesting and educational.
Joint actions and discussions brought together a team of teachers, children and parents. The team shared the knowledge they gained with the whole class, relatives, and others.
Diary of the team "Luchiki"
Interview with veteran Stepanova Galina Sergeevna
War is an essay
Drawing competition “Let there always be sunshine”
Drawing competition “Let there always be sunshine.” The works were completed by our participants and are posted in the center’s gallery.
Formative and summative assessment materials
Materials for formative and summative assessments are presented in the form of various tables and forms. They allow you to evaluate the activities of project participants at each stage. Here are materials for the project dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Table Z-I-U-K
Personal participation table
Form for self-organization of work within a team
Self-assessment forms
Interview preparedness form
Reflection for project participants
Podolsk became an outpost on the enemy’s path
In total, during the war years, more than 40 thousand residents of Podolsk and the region were drafted into the active army. Over 20 thousand died a brave death on the battlefield. And we remember everyone’s feat. From the very beginning of the war, Podolsk became an outpost on the path of the enemy, dreaming of a lightning capture of the capital of our Motherland.
At the end of June 1941, in accordance with the resolution of the State Defense Committee, a people's militia battalion was formed in Podolsk, which included 620 residents of Podolsk and the region. The battalion became part of the 8th and 9th rifle divisions of the Kirovsky district of Moscow. The militia took part in the construction of defensive structures and showed themselves in heroic battles to defend Moscow.
To combat possible enemy agents and saboteurs, organize patrol service and assist the police in maintaining public order during an air raid raid in the city, Podolsk Fighter Battalion No. 41 was formed in June 1941. The 200 personnel were relieved of work at work, guarded the bridge over Pakhra, patrolled the streets of Podolsk, Klimovsk, Domodedovo, served at checkpoints in Kurilov, Oznobishin.
At the beginning of October 1941, the battalion's soldiers fought in the areas of Naro-Fominsk, Borovsk, Vereya and Balabanov. On November 7, 1941, the fighter battalion took part in the parade on Red Square. By the beginning of December 1941, the battalion numbered more than 420 people. The fighters were sent to the borders of the Nara River, participated in the combat operations of the 43rd Army, many were awarded orders and medals for their courage and heroism. 36 dead soldiers were buried in a mass grave near the village of Romanovo.
The approaches to Podolsk were defended by a workers' regiment, the core of which were men and women workers of the Podolsk Mechanical Plant. After completing combat training, the fighters became part of the 186th reserve rifle regiment. Many Podol residents distinguished themselves in reconnaissance operations on instructions from the command of the 43rd Army.
To fight behind enemy lines, city and district partisan detachments were formed. The partisans repeatedly delivered valuable intelligence data to the headquarters of the 43rd Army, carried out combat missions to destroy enemy manpower and equipment, and participated in the defeat of the German headquarters of the 12th Army Corps at Ugodsky Zavod. Dozens of Podol residents received government awards for their participation in the partisan struggle.
By decree of the State Defense Committee, a state of siege was introduced in Moscow and surrounding areas from October 20. Podolsk became a front-line city and was included in the main defensive line of the Moscow defense zone. During the tense days of the battle for Moscow, a city defense committee was created, headed by the first secretary of the city party committee, Philip Ivanovich Ivanov . “One of the large industrial centers near Moscow - the city of Podolsk - has now turned into a fortress city, closing one of the far southern approaches to Moscow.
This transformation of the city is noticeable everywhere..." (Moskovskaya Pravda newspaper, October 25, 1941). The enemy was 40 kilometers from Podolsk. In a short time, in bad weather and under frequent bombing, the townspeople built 16 barricades with firing points on the central streets, installed anti-tank hedgehogs and wire barriers, equipped 170 machine gun, rifle and cannon nests in their houses, and built two additional bridges across Pakhra. Around the city, 273 military fortifications were erected, anti-tank ditches and 16 km of trenches were dug, and six forest blockages with a length of 8 km were made.
Fierce fighting took place on the front lines of defense. The feat of the Podolsk cadets, who at the cost of two and a half thousand lives stopped the enemy on the southern approaches to Moscow, will remain forever in the people's memory. Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov called their feat a symbol of the heroism and valor of the defenders of the Fatherland, which will forever go down in world military history. The cadet ranks consisted of young guys of various nationalities - Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Chuvash, Mari, Georgians, Armenians, Abkhazians. Multinationality did not prevent them from understanding each other, because everyone was united by a deep feeling of love for the Motherland...
In the Podolsk sky, the legendary fighter pilot Viktor Talalikhin . On August 8, 1941, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against German fascism and the courage and heroism shown to junior lieutenant V.V. Talalikhin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The city housed the Central Women's Sniper Training School, whose students fought heroically against the Nazis. Six of them were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The name of one of them, Tatyana Baramzina, is named after a street in Podolsk.
Podolsk doctors worked selflessly, day and night. More than 30 hospitals were deployed in the city and region. Only one of them - evacuation hospital No. 1857, headed by the famous Podolsk surgeon, Honored Doctor of the RSFSR Nikolai Ivanovich Mashtakov - during the war years, passing along front roads, received and healed almost 140 thousand wounded and sick.
Great Army. Start of the hike
Having carefully prepared, Napoleon launched an invasion of Russia. He could not even imagine what catastrophe awaited him ahead. Beginning on June 11, 1812, the advanced units of Napoleonic army began crossing the Neman and Bug rivers in different places. Napoleon's army had a total strength of more than 600 thousand people; such a number of troops could not be assembled in one place, so the French acted in several directions.
Napoleon's strategic plan was to defeat the main forces of the Russian army in one, maximum two general battles. This is what he tried to accomplish. The Russian army was not inferior to Napoleonic's in terms of combat effectiveness, but was three times inferior in numbers; moreover, bad roads and long distances did not allow combining common forces together.
Barclay de Tolly, who commanded the 1st Army at the time of the invasion, was in the Baltic region, the 2nd Army was commanded by Bagration, which was in western Belarus. The decision was made to unite the two armies together. Napoleon understood that it would be easier to defeat the scattered enemy forces, so he tried with all his might to do this.
The two Russian armies retreated, avoiding major battles, but at the same time it was not a disorderly flight; they had to constantly repel attacks by large enemy units, who tried with all their might to prevent the connection of the two armies. Near Smolensk on August 3, 1812, the two armies united together, this was the first strategic victory.
Barclay de Tolly was appointed commander of the united army; he was not a supporter of a general battle, and his position had serious reasons for this. In the event of defeat, it would not be possible to equip a new combat-ready army, since in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century the current recruiting system did not allow this to be done in a short time.
They decided to retreat in the Moscow direction, leaving Bagration’s army of 34 thousand people as cover. Bagration restrained Napoleon's army storming Smolensk, and the main forces retreated in an organized manner without losses.
battle of Borodino
The general battle began on September 7 (August 26), 1812, early in the morning. Kutuzov successfully positioned his troops, stopping all attempts by the French to attack the army from the flanks. Napoleon had no choice but to throw his main forces head-on into well-fortified positions. The battle lasted 12 hours, there were huge losses on both sides - more than 58 thousand people for the French army and almost 46 thousand people for the Russians.
There were no winners in this battle. But the Russian army proved that it could fight on equal terms with Napoleon’s “invincible” army. Napoleon's confidence in victory over Russia was shaken.
Kutuzov understood that a new battle could completely destroy the army, so in the village of Fili on September 13 he decided to further retreat. I had to leave Moscow.
