The Presidential Library marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the battle of Moscow

April 20, 2022 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the battle of Moscow. This victory influenced the entire outcome of the Great Patriotic War becoming the first major defeat of the Nazi invaders. On this day, the myth of the invincibility of Nazi Germany was finally debunked, and the whole world learned about the strength of the spirit and power of the Russian people. The Presidential Library’s portal features Battle of Moscow section of the large-scale collection Memory of the Great Victory which spotlight documentary evidence of the battle for the capital.

The plan of the operation of Nazi Germany to capture Moscow provided for powerful strikes by large groupings to surround the main forces of the Red Army troops covering the capital and destroy them in Bryansk and Vyazma Regions and then swiftly bypass Moscow from the north and south.

The fighting of the Soviet and German troops began on September 30. In the first two days of the strike, the Nazis advanced to a depth of 150 kilometers on the western front and 80 kilometers of the reserve front. During this lightning-fast capture, Bryansk, Vyazma, Orel, Rzhev, Kalinin and other cities near Moscow were occupied. The capture of the capital would be for Nazi Germany the main symbol of the defeat of the USSR.

And although the pace of German advance gradually began to decline, at the end of October 1941, the enemy had no more than a hundred kilometers to Moscow. The capital decided to evacuate the city.

In the film The Defence of Moscow, available on the Presidential Library’s portal, a member of the Moscow underground, Ivan Alekseevich Shchors, recalls: “People left Moscow along the only remaining outlet - the Enthusiasts Highway. The width of this highway was not enough for traffic in one direction. On both sides of the highway with carriages and on horse-drawn carts, on foot with all their property, who was in what, people were walking”.

The Nazis were several times superior to the USSR in terms of armament and army strength, but they did not take into account the importance of the human factor.

Despite the fact that many were on the verge of despair, people were ready to defend the main city of the country at the cost of their own lives. On November 7, 1941, on the day of the October Revolution, Marshal Georgy Zhukov wrote to his family: “I live as before, follow the order of the government, beat the Germans and do not let them reach Moscow. We will take all the measures to prevent them from reaching our capital in the future”.

On the same day, a historic parade took place on Red Square, which demonstrated the determination of the army to fight to victory.

Until the end of November, the offensive of the German army continued. The enemy was only 27 kilometers from Moscow. On December 6, the stage of the counteroffensive of the Soviet army began. One by one, cities and towns were liberated - it was then that all Hitler's plans for a lightning-fast seizure of the USSR were crushed.

During the Rzhev-Vyazemsky operation, which was carried out from January 8 to April 20, 1942 and aimed at completing the defeat of the German Army Group Center, the enemy was driven back 100-250 kilometers from Moscow, Moscow Region, Tula and Ryazan Regions, many districts of Kalinin, Smolensk and Oryol Regions were liberated. On April 20, 1942 the Supreme High Command of the USSR decided to transfer the troops of the western direction to the defence at the line of Rzhev, Gzhatsk, Kirov, Zhizdra.

In the battle near Moscow, the enemy lost over 400 thousand people, 1.3 thousand tanks, 2.5 thousand guns, more than 15 thousand vehicles and many other equipment. There was a psychological turning point among the soldiers and the civilian population: faith in victory strengthened, the myth of the invincibility of the German army collapsed. It was the collapse of the Barbarossa plan as the lightning war plan.