Battle of the Caucasus
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Caucasus is a name given to a series of German and Soviet operations in the Caucasus
area during the Soviet-German War
.
commander Ivan Tiulenev recounts how thousands of civilians attempted to flee from Ukraine
to the comparatively safe Caspian ports, such as Makhachkala
and Baku
. The Caucasus area became a new area of industry when 226 factories were evacuated there during the 1941 industrial evacuation in Soviet Union. After the Grozny to Kiev
line was captured during German advances, a new railway link between Moscow
and Transcaucasia was re-established with the construction of the new railway line running from Baku
to Orsk
(via Astrakhan
) and bypassing the frontline Grozny
, while a shipping line was maintained over the Caspian Sea
through the town of Krasnovodsk in Turkmenistan
.
However due to lack of time, it proved impracticable to evacuate industry from Caucasus. Oil wells in Maykop
, because they could not be evacuated, were blown up by the Red Army during withdrawal from the city to prevent this resource from falling into German hands.
which was aimed at penetrating to the oil field
s of Azerbaijan
. The German offensive was stopped by the Red Army
in Chechnya
in September during the North Caucasian Strategic Defensive Operation (25 July 1942 - 31 December 1942), partly due to severe drain of German personnel to support the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad
.
The Soviet strategic operation included
The key military base of Novorossiysk
was re-taken by September.
The Taman Peninsula
was cleared from the Germans during the 1st Taman Offensive Operation (4 April 1943 - 10 May 1943), but due to a German counterattack the Red Army was forced on the defensive again during 26 May 1943 - 22 August 1944. This was however followed up with a new Novorossiysk-Taman Strategic Offensive Operation (10 September 1943 - 9 October 1943) which, following the Novorossiysk Amphibious Operation (10 September 1943 - 16 September 1943), resulted in the successful 2nd Taman Offensive Operation (10 September 1943 - 9 October 1943).
- General Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) Wilhelm List
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
area during the Soviet-German War
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
.
1941 operations
In his memoirs, Soviet Transcaucasian FrontTranscaucasian Front
Transcaucasian Front or Transcaucasus Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. This sense of the term is not identical with the more general usage of military front which indicates a geographic area in wartime, although a Soviet Front may operate within designated...
commander Ivan Tiulenev recounts how thousands of civilians attempted to flee from 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...
to the comparatively safe Caspian ports, such as Makhachkala
Makhachkala
-Twin towns/sister cities:Makhachkala is twinned with: Sfax, Tunisia Siping, China Spokane, United States Vladikavkaz, Russia Yalova, Turkey Ndola, Zambia-See also:*...
and Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
. The Caucasus area became a new area of industry when 226 factories were evacuated there during the 1941 industrial evacuation in Soviet Union. After the Grozny to Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
line was captured during German advances, a new railway link between Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and Transcaucasia was re-established with the construction of the new railway line running from Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
to Orsk
Orsk
Orsk is the second largest city in Orenburg Oblast, Russia, located on the steppe about southeast of the southern tip of the Ural Mountains. The city straddles the Ural River. Since this river is considered a boundary between Europe and Asia, Orsk can be said to lie in two continents. It is...
(via Astrakhan
Astrakhan
Astrakhan is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the left bank of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of below the sea level. Population:...
) and bypassing the frontline Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
, while a shipping line was maintained over the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
through the town of Krasnovodsk in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
.
However due to lack of time, it proved impracticable to evacuate industry from Caucasus. Oil wells in Maykop
Maykop
Maykop is the capital city of the Republic of Adygea, Russia, located on the right bank of the Belaya River . Population: -History:...
, because they could not be evacuated, were blown up by the Red Army during withdrawal from the city to prevent this resource from falling into German hands.
1942 operations
In 1942, the German Army (Wehrmacht Heer) launched Operation EdelweissOperation Edelweiss
Operation Edelweiss , named after the mountain flower, was a German plan to gain control over the Caucasus and capture the oil fields of Baku during the Soviet-German War. The operation was authorised by Hitler on 23 July 1942...
which was aimed at penetrating to the oil field
Oil field
An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area...
s of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
. The German offensive was stopped by the 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...
in Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
in September during the North Caucasian Strategic Defensive Operation (25 July 1942 - 31 December 1942), partly due to severe drain of German personnel to support the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
.
The Soviet strategic operation included
- Tikhoretsk-Stavropol Defensive Operation (25 July 1942 - 5 August 1942)
- Armavir-Maikop Defensive Operation (6 August 1942 - 17 August 1942)
- Novorossiysk Defensive Operation (19 August 1942 - 26 September 1942)
- Mozdok-Malgobek Defensive Operation (1 September 1942 - 28 September 1942)
- Tuapse Defensive Operation (25 September 1942 - 20 December 1942)
- Nalckik-Ordzhonikidze Defensive Operation (25 October 1942 - 12 November 1942)
1943 operations
The Soviet North Caucasian Strategic Offensive Operation (1 January 1943 - 4 February 1943) was launched with the objective of removing threat of German bombing of the oil fields. In this operation Germany lost according to Soviet information 30,690 dead soldiers, 3,000 captured and 229 tanks. The operation consisted of operations with more limited operational objectives- Salsk-Rostov Offensive Operation (1 January 1943 - 4 February 1943)
- Mozdok-Stavropol Offensive Operation (1 January 1943 - 24 January 1943)
- Novorossiysk-Maikop Offensive Operation (11 January 1943 - 4 February 1943)
- Tikhoretsk-Eisk Offensive Operation (24 January 1943 - 4 February 1943)
The key military base of Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is the country's main port on the Black Sea and the leading Russian port for importing grain. It is one of the few cities honored with the title of the Hero City. Population: -History:...
was re-taken by September.
The Taman Peninsula
Taman peninsula
The Taman Peninsula is a peninsula in the present-day Krasnodar Krai of Russia. It is bounded on the north by the Sea of Azov, on the west by the Strait of Kerch and on the south by the Black Sea. The peninsula has evolved over the past two millennia from a chain of islands into the peninsula it is...
was cleared from the Germans during the 1st Taman Offensive Operation (4 April 1943 - 10 May 1943), but due to a German counterattack the Red Army was forced on the defensive again during 26 May 1943 - 22 August 1944. This was however followed up with a new Novorossiysk-Taman Strategic Offensive Operation (10 September 1943 - 9 October 1943) which, following the Novorossiysk Amphibious Operation (10 September 1943 - 16 September 1943), resulted in the successful 2nd Taman Offensive Operation (10 September 1943 - 9 October 1943).
1944 operations
Only during the Winter Spring Campaign of 1944 (1 January - 31 May) was the Red Army able to complete re-taking of Crimea following the execution of the Crimean Strategic Offensive Operation (8 April 1944 - 12 May 1943) that included:- Kerch-Eltingen Amphibious Offensive OperationKerch-Eltigen OperationThe Kerch–Eltigen Operation was a World War II amphibious offensive made in November 1943 by the Red Army as a precursor to the Crimean Offensive with the object of defeating and forcing the withdrawal of the German forces from the Crimea...
(31 October 1943 - 11 December 1944) - Perekop-Sevastopol Offensive Operation (8 April 1944 - 12 May 1944)
- Kerch-Sevastopol Offensive Operation (11 April 1944 - 12 May 1944)
Forces and commanders
Red Army
- North Caucasian FrontNorth Caucasian FrontThe North Caucasian Front or North Caucasus Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. This sense of the term is not identical with the more general usage of military front which indicates a geographic area in wartime, although a Soviet Front may operate within designated...
(Marshal Semyon Budenny) - until September 1942 - Transcaucasian FrontTranscaucasian FrontTranscaucasian Front or Transcaucasus Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. This sense of the term is not identical with the more general usage of military front which indicates a geographic area in wartime, although a Soviet Front may operate within designated...
(General of the Army Ivan TyulenevIvan TyulenevIvan Vladimirovich Tyulenev was a Soviet military commander, one of the first to be promoted Soviet General of the Army in 1940.- Biography :...
) - Black Sea FleetBlack Sea FleetThe Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic sub-unit of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. It is based in various harbors of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov....
(Vice-Admiral Filipp Oktyabrsky) - Azov Sea Flotilla (Counter-Admiral Sergey GorshkovSergey GorshkovAdmiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Sergey Georgiyevich Gorshkov was a Soviet naval officer during the Cold War who oversaw the expansion of the Soviet Navy into a global force....
)
Wehrmacht
Army Group AArmy Group A
Army Group A was the name of a number of German Army Groups during World War II.-Western Front, 1940:During the German invasion of the Low Countries and France Army Group A was under the command of General Gerd von Rundstedt, and was responsible for the break-out through the Ardennes...
- General Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) Wilhelm List
- 1st Tank Army- GeneralGeneralA general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Paul von KleistPaul Ludwig Ewald von KleistPaul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist was a leading German field marshal during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords... - 17th Army17th Army (Germany)The German Seventeenth Army was a World War II field army.-Commanding officers:* General der Infanterie Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel * Generaloberst Hermann Hoth...
- Colonel-General (Generaloberst) Richard RuoffRichard RuoffRichard Ruoff was an officer in the German Army before and during World War II.Colonel-General Richard Ruoff commanded the 4th Tank Army from 8 January 1942 to 31 May 1942...
German offensives (1942)
- August 3, 1942 - WehrmachtWehrmachtThe 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:...
takes StavropolStavropol-International relations:-Twin towns/sister cities:Stavropol is twinned with: Des Moines, United States Béziers, France Pazardzhik, Bulgaria-External links:* **... - August 10, 1942 - Wehrmacht takes MaykopMaykopMaykop is the capital city of the Republic of Adygea, Russia, located on the right bank of the Belaya River . Population: -History:...
- August 12, 1942 - Wehrmacht takes KrasnodarKrasnodarKrasnodar is a city in Southern Russia, located on the Kuban River about northeast of the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. It is the administrative center of Krasnodar Krai . Population: -Name:...
- August 25, 1942 - Wehrmacht takes MozdokMozdokMozdok is a town and the administrative center of Mozdoksky District of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania in southern Russia, located on the left shore of the Terek River, north of Vladikavkaz, the republic's capital. The name of the town literally means "dense forest" in the Kabardian language...
- September 11, 1942 - Wehrmacht takes NovorossiyskNovorossiyskNovorossiysk is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is the country's main port on the Black Sea and the leading Russian port for importing grain. It is one of the few cities honored with the title of the Hero City. Population: -History:...
- September 1942 - German offensive effectively stopped near Mozdok
Soviet counter-offensives (1943)
- January 3, 1943 - Red ArmyRed ArmyThe 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...
retake MozdokMozdokMozdok is a town and the administrative center of Mozdoksky District of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania in southern Russia, located on the left shore of the Terek River, north of Vladikavkaz, the republic's capital. The name of the town literally means "dense forest" in the Kabardian language... - January 21, 1943 - Red Army retake StavropolStavropol-International relations:-Twin towns/sister cities:Stavropol is twinned with: Des Moines, United States Béziers, France Pazardzhik, Bulgaria-External links:* **...
- January 23, 1943 - Red Army retake Armavir
- January 29, 1943 - Red Army retake MaykopMaykopMaykop is the capital city of the Republic of Adygea, Russia, located on the right bank of the Belaya River . Population: -History:...
- 4 February 1943 - Soviet marines beat off a German attempt to land at Malaya ZemlyaMalaya ZemlyaMalaya Zemlya was a Soviet uphill outpost on Cape Myskhako that was recaptured after fierce, bloody battles with the Germans during the Battle of Caucasus, on the night of 4 February 1943...
- February 5, 1943 - Soviet forces landing in NovorossiyskNovorossiyskNovorossiysk is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is the country's main port on the Black Sea and the leading Russian port for importing grain. It is one of the few cities honored with the title of the Hero City. Population: -History:...
- February 12, 1943 - Red Army retake KrasnodarKrasnodarKrasnodar is a city in Southern Russia, located on the Kuban River about northeast of the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. It is the administrative center of Krasnodar Krai . Population: -Name:...
- September 9, 1943 - the Blue Line of German Defense broken
- September 16, 1943 - Red Army retake NovorossiyskNovorossiyskNovorossiysk is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is the country's main port on the Black Sea and the leading Russian port for importing grain. It is one of the few cities honored with the title of the Hero City. Population: -History:...
- October 9, 1943 - Red Army retake Taman PeninsulaTaman peninsulaThe Taman Peninsula is a peninsula in the present-day Krasnodar Krai of Russia. It is bounded on the north by the Sea of Azov, on the west by the Strait of Kerch and on the south by the Black Sea. The peninsula has evolved over the past two millennia from a chain of islands into the peninsula it is...