Battles of Rzhev

Battles Of Rzhev

Naval warfare

• Baltic Sea
• Black Sea
  • Rösselsprung
  • Wunderland

1941

• Barbarossa
  • Białystok and Minsk
  • Smolensk
  • Uman
  • 1st Kiev
  • Leningrad
  • Sevastopol
  • Rostov
  • Moscow
• Finland
• Chechnya

1942

• Rzhev
  • Toropets and Kholm
  • Demyansk
  • Velikiye Luki
  • Mars
• 2nd Kharkov
• Case Blue
• Stalingrad
  • Uranus
  • Winter Storm

1943

• 3rd Kharkov
• Kursk
• 2nd Smolensk
• Lower Dnieper
• 2nd Kiev

1944

• Dnieper and Carpathian
• Leningrad and Novgorod
• Narva
• Hube's Pocket
• Crimea
• Jassy-Kishinev
• Karelia
• Bagration
• Lvov and Sandomierz
• 2nd Jassy-Kishinev
• Baltics
• Debrecen
• Dukla Pass
• Belgrade
• Petsamo and Kirkenes
• Hungary

1945

• Vistula and Oder
• East Prussia
• East Pomerania
• Solstice
• Silesia
• Vienna
• Berlin
• Czechoslovakia
• German capitulation

Rzhev Battles (Russian: Ржевская битва) is a general term for a series of World War II offensives launched during January 8, 1942—March 31, 1943 by the Soviet Red Army in the general directions of Rzhev, Sychevka and Vyazma against a German salient in the vicinity of Moscow, known as the "Rzhev meat grinder" ("Ржевская мясорубка") for these battles' huge losses.

This part of the Second World War was poorly covered by Soviet military historiography, and what coverage exists occurred only after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when historians gained access to relevant documents. Exact dates of particular battles, their names, outcomes, significance, and even losses have not been fully clarified.

A reminder of these nameless battles is the poem by Aleksandr Tvardovsky which contains the evocative phrase I was killed near Rzhev... (Я убит подо Ржевом, (1945–1946)).

The major operations that were executed as part of the strategic offensive were:

1. Rzhev-Vyazma Strategic Offensive Operation (Russian: Ржевско-Вяземская стратегическая наступательная операция) (08.01-20.04.42) of the Kalinin Front, Western Front, Bryansk Front, and Northwestern Front
   1. Sychevsk-Vyazma offensive operation (Russian: Сычевско-Вяземская наступательная операция) (08.01-20.04.42) of the Kalinin Front
   2. Mozhaisk-Vyazma offensive operation (Operation Jupiter) (Russian: Можайско-Вяземская наступательная операция) (10.01-28.02.42) of the Western Front
   3. Toropets-Kholm Offensive Operation (Russian: Торопецко-Холмская наступательная операция) (09.01-06.02.42) of the Northwestern Front and re-assigned to the Kalinin Front from 22.01.42
   4. Vyazma airborne operation (Russian: Вяземская воздушно-десантная операция) (18.01-28.02.42) (see also Operation Hannover) of the Western Front
   5. Rzhev operation (03.03-20.04.42) (Russian: Ржевская наступательная операция)
2. Operation Seydlitz (Russian: Оборонительная операция в районе города Белый, Оборонительная операция под Холм-Жирковским, Холм-Жирковская оборонительная операция)(02.07-23.07.42) launched by 9th Army of Germany to eliminate the salient in the vicinity between Bely and Kholm-Zhirkovsky and annihilate the 39th Army and 11th Cavalry Corps of the Kalinin Front http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/milimprov/ch01.htm
3. First Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive Operation (Russian: Первая Ржевско-Сычёвская (Гжатская) наступательная операция) (30.07.42-23.08.42, other sources say ending on 30.09 or 01.10 in 1942) by the forces of the Kalinin Front and Western Front
4. Second Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive Operation (Operation Mars) (Russian: Вторая Ржевско-Сычёвская наступательная операция) (25.11-20.12.42) by the forces of the Kalinin Front and Western Front
   1. Battle for Velikiye Luki (Russian: Великолукская наступательная операция) (24.11.42-20.01.43) by 3rd Shock Army of the Kalinin Front
5. Third Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive Operation (Operation Büffel) (Russian: Ржевско-Вяземская наступательная операция) (02.03-31.03.43) by the forces of the Kalinin Front and Western Front
   1. At the same time, the southern flank offensive operations on the Bryansk Front