During the course of the Second World War the
Red Army carried out a number of different
military operations. The scope of these operations, usually known by the major cities around which they took place, was usually termed "operational-strategic" or "strategic", depending on the scale. An "operational-strategic" operation was usually undertaken by at least a group of
Armies or a single
Front. A "strategic" operation usually demanded cooperation of several Fronts to achieve its objectives. In both cases the operations could last from a week to several months. strategic operations were combined into seasonal
campaigns, because weather and ground conditions affected planning.
Soviet historians disagreed on which operations to classify as strategic or front-level, and the names of operations often differed between early military studies and later official histories. In the 1960s 40 strategic operations were discussed, in the 1970s this expanded to 55, and by the beginning of the 1980s, "more than 50." The six-volume official History of the Great Patriotic War, published between 1960 and 1965, and the twelve-volume History of the Second World War 1939–1945, published between 1973 and 1982, did not clarify the number of strategic operations. In an attempt to resolve the discussion, the Military-Historical Journal of the Ministry of Defense published discussions during 1985 and 1986 between military historians and military leaders about strategic operations. As a result of these discussions, a list of strategic operations was developed, and the number of troops involved and durations of the operations were specified.[1] However, this issue was not fully resolved, as the work of the commission of
Grigory Krivosheyev on Soviet casualties published in 1993 contained a slightly different list of strategic operations.[2]
First period (22 June 1941 – 18 November 1942)
Summer–Autumn campaign of 1941 (22 June – 4 December)
^"Итоги дискуссии о стратегических операциях Великой Отечественной войны" [Results of the discussion on strategic operations of the Great Patriotic War]. Voenno-istorichesky zhurnal (in Russian) (10): 8–24. 1987.
^Krivosheyev, G. F.; Andronikov, V. M.; Burikov, P. D. (1993). Гриф секретности снят: Потери Вооружённых Сил СССР в войнах, боевых действиях и военных конфликтах: Статистическое исследование [Removing the stamp of secrecy: Losses of the Armed Forces of the USSR in wars, military operations and military conflicts: Statistical research] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat. pp. 368–370.
ISBN5-203-01400-0.
^Although often given in Western sources as gallop (e.g. Glantz in When Titans Clashed), the correct translation is hurdle jump as the word for gallop in Russian is gallop
During the course of the Second World War the
Red Army carried out a number of different
military operations. The scope of these operations, usually known by the major cities around which they took place, was usually termed "operational-strategic" or "strategic", depending on the scale. An "operational-strategic" operation was usually undertaken by at least a group of
Armies or a single
Front. A "strategic" operation usually demanded cooperation of several Fronts to achieve its objectives. In both cases the operations could last from a week to several months. strategic operations were combined into seasonal
campaigns, because weather and ground conditions affected planning.
Soviet historians disagreed on which operations to classify as strategic or front-level, and the names of operations often differed between early military studies and later official histories. In the 1960s 40 strategic operations were discussed, in the 1970s this expanded to 55, and by the beginning of the 1980s, "more than 50." The six-volume official History of the Great Patriotic War, published between 1960 and 1965, and the twelve-volume History of the Second World War 1939–1945, published between 1973 and 1982, did not clarify the number of strategic operations. In an attempt to resolve the discussion, the Military-Historical Journal of the Ministry of Defense published discussions during 1985 and 1986 between military historians and military leaders about strategic operations. As a result of these discussions, a list of strategic operations was developed, and the number of troops involved and durations of the operations were specified.[1] However, this issue was not fully resolved, as the work of the commission of
Grigory Krivosheyev on Soviet casualties published in 1993 contained a slightly different list of strategic operations.[2]
First period (22 June 1941 – 18 November 1942)
Summer–Autumn campaign of 1941 (22 June – 4 December)
^"Итоги дискуссии о стратегических операциях Великой Отечественной войны" [Results of the discussion on strategic operations of the Great Patriotic War]. Voenno-istorichesky zhurnal (in Russian) (10): 8–24. 1987.
^Krivosheyev, G. F.; Andronikov, V. M.; Burikov, P. D. (1993). Гриф секретности снят: Потери Вооружённых Сил СССР в войнах, боевых действиях и военных конфликтах: Статистическое исследование [Removing the stamp of secrecy: Losses of the Armed Forces of the USSR in wars, military operations and military conflicts: Statistical research] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat. pp. 368–370.
ISBN5-203-01400-0.
^Although often given in Western sources as gallop (e.g. Glantz in When Titans Clashed), the correct translation is hurdle jump as the word for gallop in Russian is gallop