1st Ukrainian Front
Encyclopedia
The 1st Ukrainian Front was a front
Front (Soviet Army)
A front was a major military organization in the Soviet Army during many wars. It was roughly equivalent to an army group in the militaries of most other countries except Germany...

—a force the size of a Western Army group
Army group
An army group is a military organization consisting of several field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area...

—of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

's Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Wartime

On October 20, 1943 the Voronezh Front
Voronezh Front
The Voronezh Front was a front of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. The name indicated the primary geographical region in which the Front first fought, based on the town of Voronezh on the Don River....

 was renamed to the 1st Ukrainian Front. This name change reflected the westward advance of the Red Army in its campaign against the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

, leaving Russia behind and moving into Ukraine. The front participated or conducted battles in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

, and Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

 during 1944 and 1945.

During 1944, the front participated with other fronts in the battles of Korsun-Shevchenkivskyy, and the battle of Hube's Pocket in Ukraine. It conducted the Lviv-Sandomierz Offensive, during which the Front was controlling the Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army
Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army
The 1st Tank Army was a Soviet armoured formation that fought as part of the Red Army on the Eastern Front during World War II. The army was commanded throughout most of the war by Mikhail Katukov...

, 3rd Guards Tank Army
3rd Guards Tank Army (Soviet Union)
The 3rd Guards Tank Army was a tank army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. The 3rd Tank Army was created in 1942 and fought in the southern areas of the Soviet Union, Poland, Germany, and Czechoslovakia until the defeat of Germany in 1945...

, 4th Tank Army
4th Tank Army (Soviet Union)
The 20th Guards Army, , is a field army, since 1991, part of the Russian Ground Forces.-1st Formation :It was first formed within the Stalingrad Front from July 1942 and...

, 3rd Guards
Soviet Third Guards Army
The 3rd Guards Army was a field army of the Soviet Red Army that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II, notably in 1945.It was created in December 1942, as part of the Southwestern Front , according to the order of the Supreme High Command on formation of the 3rd Guards Army...

, 5th Guards, 13th
13th Army (Soviet Union)
The 13th Army was a name given to several field armies of the Soviet Union's Red Army, first created during the Russian Civil War...

, 38th
38th Army (Soviet Union)
The 38th Red Banner Army of was a field army of the Soviet Union that existed between 1941 and 1991.The army headquarters was formed in July 1941 by redesignation of the staff of 8th Mechanised Corps.On 1 May 1945, the army was part of 4th Ukrainian Front...

, and 60th Armies
Army (Soviet Army)
An army, besides the generalized meanings of ‘a country's armed forces’ or its ‘land forces’, is a type of formation in militaries of various countries, including the Soviet Union. This article serves a central point of reference for Soviet armies without individual articles, and explains some of...

. It then took part in the battle for Ternopil'.

In 1945 the front participated in the Vistula-Oder offensive
Vistula-Oder Offensive
The Vistula–Oder Offensive was a successful Red Army operation on the Eastern Front in the European Theatre of World War II; it took place between 12 January and 2 February 1945...

, and conducted the Silesian
Silesian Offensives
The Silesian Offensives were two 1945 offensives conducted by the Soviet Red Army against the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front in World War II.-The offensives:...

 and Prague
Prague Offensive
The Prague Offensive was the last major Soviet operation of World War II in Europe. The offensive, and the battle for Prague, was fought on the Eastern Front from 6 May to 11 May 1945. This battle for the city is particularly noteworthy in that it ended after the Third Reich capitulated on 8 May...

 Operations, and the siege of Breslau. It also participated in the Berlin operations in Germany and Poland. The front also conducted the major part of the Halbe Encirclement
Battle of Halbe
The Battle of Halbe lasted from April 24 - May 1, 1945 was a battle in which the German Ninth Army, under the command of Colonel General Theodor Busse was destroyed as a fighting force by the Red Army during the Battle for Berlin....

, in which most of the German 9th Army was destroyed south of Berlin. By this time the Polish Second Army
Polish Second Army
The Polish Second Army was a Polish Army unit formed in the Soviet Union in 1944 as part of the People's Army of Poland. The organization begun in August under the command of generals Karol Świerczewski and Stanislav Poplavsky, and the formation under command of general Świerczewski entered active...

 was operating as part of the Front. Finally 1st Ukrainian Front provided the defence against the counter-attacks by Armee Wenck which aimed to relieve Berlin and the 9th Army
German Ninth Army
The 9th Army was a World War II field army.The 9th Army was activated on May 15, 1940 with General Johannes Blaskowitz in command.-1940:The 9th Army first saw service along the Siegfried Line when it was involved in the invasion of France...

.

The front was victorious in all of its operations over the opposing forces of the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

. The Prague Operation was the final battle of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.

Following the war, the Front headquarters formed the Central Group of Forces
Central Group of Forces
The Central Group of Forces was a Soviet military formation used to control Soviet troops in Central Europe on two occasions: in Austria and Hungary from 1945-55 and troops stationed in Czechoslovakia after the Prague Spring of 1968....

 of the Red Army in Austria and Hungary, guarding the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...

.

Commanders

  • General Nikolai F. Vatutin (October 1943-March 1944)
  • Marshal Georgy K. Zhukov
    Georgy Zhukov
    Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov , was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the Axis Powers' occupation...

     (March 1944-May 1944)
  • Marshal Ivan S. Konev
    Ivan Konev
    Ivan Stepanovich Konev , was a Soviet military commander, who led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front during World War II, retook much of Eastern Europe from occupation by the Axis Powers, and helped in the capture of Germany's capital, Berlin....

     (May 1944-May 1945)

Armies

The armies that were part of the 1st Ukrainian Front included:
  • 3rd Guards Army
  • 13th Army
    13th Army (Soviet Union)
    The 13th Army was a name given to several field armies of the Soviet Union's Red Army, first created during the Russian Civil War...

  • 5th Guards Army
  • 2nd Polish Army
    Polish Second Army
    The Polish Second Army was a Polish Army unit formed in the Soviet Union in 1944 as part of the People's Army of Poland. The organization begun in August under the command of generals Karol Świerczewski and Stanislav Poplavsky, and the formation under command of general Świerczewski entered active...

  • 52nd Army
  • 2nd Air Army
    2nd Air Army
    The 2nd Air Army was a formation of the Aviation of the Red Army as part of the Soviet Armed Forces during the Second World War...

  • 3rd Guards Tank Army
    3rd Guards Tank Army (Soviet Union)
    The 3rd Guards Tank Army was a tank army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. The 3rd Tank Army was created in 1942 and fought in the southern areas of the Soviet Union, Poland, Germany, and Czechoslovakia until the defeat of Germany in 1945...

  • 4th Guards Tank Army
    4th Tank Army (Soviet Union)
    The 20th Guards Army, , is a field army, since 1991, part of the Russian Ground Forces.-1st Formation :It was first formed within the Stalingrad Front from July 1942 and...

  • 28th Army
    28th Army (Soviet Union)
    The 28th Army was a field army of the Red Army and the Soviet Ground Forces, formed three times in 1941-42 and postwar active for many years in the Belorussian Military District.- First Formation :...

  • 31st Army

Further reading

  • http://www.unithistories.com/units_index/default.asp?file=../units_russian/000_sta_front.asp?
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