The Voronezh Front (Russian : Воронежский Фронт) was a front (a military formation equivalent to army group) 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.
Russian is an East Slavic language, which is official in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as being widely used throughout Eastern Europe, the Baltic states, the Caucasus and Central Asia. It was the de facto language of the Soviet Union until its dissolution on 25 December 1991. Although nearly three decades have passed since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russian is used in official capacity or in public life in all the post-Soviet nation-states, as well as in Israel and Mongolia.
A front is a type of military formation that originated in the Russian Empire, and has been used by the Polish Army, the Red Army, the Soviet Army, and Turkey. It is roughly equivalent to an army group in the military of most other countries. It varies in size but in general contains three to five armies. It should not be confused with the more general usage of military front, describing a geographic area in wartime.
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. An army group is the largest field organization handled by a single commander—usually a full general or field marshal—and it generally includes between 400,000 and 1,000,000 soldiers.
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The front was established at the end of June 1942 when tanks of the German Wehrmacht's 6th Army reached Voronezh during the early stages of Operation Blau. It was a renaming of the earlier Bryansk Front.
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat. They have heavy firepower, tracks, a powerful engine and strong armour and provide good battlefield manoeuvrability. They are a mainstay of modern ground forces and a key part of combined arms combat.
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north, and the Alps to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.
The Wehrmacht was the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe. The designation "Wehrmacht" replaced the previously used term Reichswehr, and was the manifestation of the Nazi regime's efforts to rearm Germany to a greater extent than the Treaty of Versailles permitted.
Voronezh Front participated in the Battle of Voronezh, the defensive operations on the approaches to Stalingrad, and in the December 1942 Operation Saturn, the follow-on to the encirclement of German 6th Army at Stalingrad where it destroyed the Hungarian Second Army. Following Operation Saturn the front was involved in Operation Star, which included the Third Battle of Kharkov, and resulted in a long-running battle from 2 February to 23 March 1943, and the reversal of much of the Soviet gains by the Germans. During Zvezda the front included the 38th, 40th, 60th, and 69th Armies plus the 3rd Tank Army. The 3rd Tank Army was so badly battered by the operation that it was reorganized afterwards as the 57th Army. In the Battle of Kursk in August 1943, the front operated on the southern shoulder, during which it commanded the Battle of Prokhorovka on the Soviet side.
The Battle of Stalingrad was the largest confrontation of World War II, in which Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia.
Operation Star or Operation Zvezda was a Red Army offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II begun on 2 February 1943. The attack was the responsibility of the Voronezh Front under the command of Filipp Golikov. Its main objectives were the cities of Kharkov and Kursk. While initially successful in capturing both cities, the Soviets overextended themselves, allowing German Field Marshal Erich von Manstein to launch a counteroffensive and inflict a defeat on the Soviets in the Third Battle of Kharkov.
The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of battles on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by the German Army Group South against the Red Army, around the city of Kharkov between 19 February and 15 March 1943. Known to the German side as the Donets Campaign, and in the Soviet Union as the Donbas and Kharkov operations, the German counterstrike led to the recapture of the cities of Kharkov and Belgorod.
During Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev, which began on August 3, 1943, the front included 38th, 40th, 27th, 6th Guards, 5th Guards, and 1st and 5th Guards Tank Armies. During this battle both 1st and 5th Guards Tank Armies made their main effort in the 5th Guards Army sector, and succeeded eventually in taking both Belgorod and liberating Kharkov. One of the divisions in 5th Guards Army was the 13th Guards Rifle Division. The front also fought in the subsequent liberation of eastern Ukraine.
The 40th Army of the Soviet Union's Soviet Army was an army-level command that participated in World War II from 1941 to 1945 and was reformed specifically for the Soviet–Afghan War from 1979 to circa 1990. The Army became the core for the Soviet occupational force (OKSVA) in Afghanistan in 1980s, officially named as the limited contingent of Soviet forces in Afghanistan.
The 5th Guards Tank Army was a Soviet Guards armored formation which fought in many notable actions during World War II. The army was formed in February 1943. Until the aftermath of the Vilnius Offensive in July 1944, it was commanded by Pavel Rotmistrov.
The 13th Poltava Guards Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army that earned honours during the Great Patriotic War.
Voronezh Front was renamed to the 1st Ukrainian Front on October 20, 1943.
The 1st Ukrainian Front was a front—a force the size of a Western Army group—of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War.
