Battle of the Seelow Heights
Part of World War II
Date: April 16, 1945 - April 19, 1945 Location: Seelow Heights, Germany Result: Soviet victory
Combatants
Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders
Gotthard Heinrici	Georgy Zhukov
Strength
100,000 men 512 Tanks 344 artillery pieces 400 Anti-aircraft guns	1,000,000 men 3,155 Tanks 16,934 artillery pieces
Casualties
12,000 Killed	33,000 Killed

The Battle of the Seelow Heights was one of the last pitched battles of World War II. It was fought over four days, from April 16 until April 19, 1945. Close to one million Soviet soldiers were in action to break through the "Gates to Berlin" which was defended by about 100,000 German soldiers. Combatants Allies: Soviet Union United Kingdom United States and others Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Franklin Roosevelt Joseph Stalin Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead: 50,000,000 Military dead: 8,000... April 16 is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... The Seelow Heights were the scene of the bloodiest battle on German soil during the Second World War. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany_1933. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union. ... Gotthard Heinrici Gotthard Heinrici was a General in the German Army during World War II Personal Life Born in Gumbinnen, Germany, on Christmas Day 1886, there are few details about Heinricis personal life. ... Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, GCB (Russian: ) (December 1 [O.S. November 19] 1896–June 18, 1974), was a Soviet military commander and politician who, in the course of World War II, led the Red Army to liberate the Soviet Union from the Nazi occupation... The Eastern Front of World War II was the theatre of war covering the conflict in central and eastern European regions from June 1941 to May 1945. ... Combatants Axis Powers Soviet Union Commanders Supreme commander: Adolf Hitler Supreme commander: Josef Stalin Strength ~ 3. ... Combatants Axis Powers, Spanish Blue Division Soviet Union Commanders Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb Georg von Kuechler Kliment Voroshilov Georgy Zhukov Strength 725,000 930,000 Casualties Unknown 300,000 military, 16,470 civilians from bombings and estimated 1 million civilians from starvation The Siege of Leningrad (Russian: блокада Ленинграда) was the German... Combatants Germany, Romania Soviet Union Commanders Erich von Manstein Filipp Oktyabrskiy, Ivan Petrov Strength 350,000+ 106,000 Casualties at least 100,000 killed, wounded or captured. ... Combatants Germany Soviet Union Commanders Fedor von Bock Georgi Zhukov Strength ~ 1,500,000 ~ 1,500,000 Casualties 250,000 700,000 The Battle of Moscow refers to the defense of the Soviet capital of Moscow and the subsequent counter-offensive against the German army, between October 1941 and January... The formation of the Rzhev salient during the winter of 1941-1942. ... Combatants Germany Soviet Union Commanders Fedor von Bock, Friedrich Paulus Semyon Timoshenko Strength 300,000 men, 1000 tanks, 1500 aircraft 640,000 men, 1200 tanks, 1000 aircraft Casualties 20,000 killed, wounded or captured 207,057 killed, wounded or captured, 652 tanks, 1,646 guns, 3,278 mortars, 57,626... Combatants Axis Powers Soviet Union Commanders Erich von Manstein Friedrich Paulus Hermann Hoth Georgy Zhukov Vasily Chuikov Aleksandr Vasilevsky Strength German Sixth Army German Fourth Panzer Army Romanian Third Army Romanian Fourth Army Hungarian Second Army Italian Eighth Army 500,000 Germans Unknown number Reinforcements Unknown number Axis-allies Stalingrad... Combatants Germany Soviet Union Commanders Kurt von der Chevallerie M. A. Purkayev Strength ~20,000 (on 19 Nov) 100,000 (on 19 Nov) Casualties 17,000 killed or wounded, 3,000 captured 30,000 killed or wounded Situation after the initial Soviet advance. ... The eastern front at the time of the Second Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive. ... Combatants Germany Soviet Union Commanders Erich von Manstein, Günther von Kluge, Walther Model Georgy Zhukov, Konstantin Rokossovsky, Nikolai Vatutin Strength 800,000 infantry, 2,700 tanks, 2,000 aircraft 1,300,000 infantry, 3,600 tanks, 2,400 aircraft Casualties 500,000 dead, wounded, or captured 500 tanks 200... Combatants Axis Soviet Union Commanders Günther von Kluge Andrei Yeremenko Vasily Sokolovsky Strength 850,000 men 8,800 guns 500 tanks 700 planes[1] 1,253,000 men 20,640 guns 1,430 tanks 1,100 planes[2] Casualties (Soviet est. ... Combatants Axis Soviet Union Commanders Erich von Manstein Rokossovsky, Konev Strength 1,250,000 men 12,600 guns 2,100 tanks 2,000 planes 2,650,000 men 51,000 guns 2,400 tanks 2,850 planes Casualties Low est. ... The 1943 Battle of Kiev resulted in a Soviet victory, forcing the German invaders of the Soviet Union to retreat further. ... Combatants Germany Soviet Union Commanders Erich von Manstein, Wilhelm Stemmerman (Gruppe Stemmerman), Hermann Breith, III Panzerkorps Georgi Zhukov, Nikolai Vatutin (1st Ukrainian Front), Ivan Konev (2nd Ukrainian Front), Strength 56,000 70 tanks and assault guns In packet only but much large with relief troops 200,000 500 tanks Casualties... Combatants Germany Soviet Union Commanders Erich von Manstein (Army Group South) Hans-Valentin Hube (First Panzer Army) Georgi Zhukov Nikolai Vatutin (1st Ukrainian Front) Ivan Koniev (2nd Ukrainian Front) Strength 200,000 500,000 Casualties  ?  ? 357 tanks The Battle of the Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket, also known as Hubes Pocket... Combatants Axis Soviet Union Commanders Ernst Busch Konstantin Rokossovski Georgy Zhukov Aleksandr Vasilevsky Strength 800,000 1,700,000 Casualties (Soviet est. ... The Lvov-Sandomierz Operation was the general attack by Soviet forces to clear the Germans from Ukraine. ... Combatants Red Army Wehrmacht Heeresgruppe Südukraine, Romanian Army Commanders Marshal Semyon Timoshenko Generaloberst Friessner Strength 1,341,200, 1,874 tanks and assault guns ca. ... Combatants Wehrmacht i. ... Combatants Axis Soviet Union Commanders General Otto von Lasch Marshal Vasilevsky Marshal Rokossovsky Strength 130,000 250,000 Casualties 50,000 60,000 The Battle of Königsberg was the last battle of the East Prussian Operation. ... Combatants Nazi Germany Soviet Union (incl. ... The Eastern Front at the time of the Prague Offensive. ... Combatants Soviet Union Japan Commanders Alexandr Vasilevskij Otsuzo Yamada Strength Soviet Union 1,577,225 men, 26,137 artillery, 1,852 sup. ... Combatants Nazi Germany Soviet Union (incl. ... Combatants Nazi Germany Soviet Union (incl. ... The Battle of Halbe occurred during the last days of April 1945 in the Spree Forest near the village of Halbe, south-east of Berlin. ... A pitched battle is a battle were both sides choose to fight at a chosen location and time and where either side has the option to disengage either before the battle starts, or shortly after the first armed exchanges. ... Combatants Allies: Soviet Union United Kingdom United States and others Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Franklin Roosevelt Joseph Stalin Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead: 50,000,000 Military dead: 8,000... April 16 is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). ... April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... A soldier is a person who serves in an armed force for pay. ...

This battle is often incoporated into the Battle of the Oder-Neisse of which the Seelow Heights was the sector in which most of the fighting in the overall battle took place, but it was only one of several points along the Oder-Neisse that the Soviets crossed to attack the Germans. The battle of the Oder-Neisse was itself only the first battle in the larger context of the Battle of Berlin. The Battle of the Oder-Neisse was one of the last pitched battles of World War II. It was fought over four days, from April 16 until April 19, 1945, within the larger context of the Battle of Berlin. ... Combatants Nazi Germany Soviet Union (incl. ...

Buildup

On April 9, 1945 Königsberg in East Prussia finally fell to the Red Army. This freed up General Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front (2BF) to move west to the east bank of the Oder river. During the first two weeks of April the Russians performed their fastest Front redeployment of the war. General Georgy Zhukov concentrated his 1st Belorussian Front (1BF) which had been deployed along the Oder river from Frankfurt in the south to the Baltic, into an area in front of the Seelow Heights. The 2BF moved into the positions being vacated by the 1BF north of the Seelow Heights. While this redeployment was in progress gaps were left in the lines and the remnants of the German II Army, which had been bottled up in a pocket near Danzig, managed to escape across the Oder. To the south, General Konev shifted the main weight of the 1st Ukrainian Front (1UF) out of Upper Silesia north-west to the Neisse River. April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Government Russia District Subdivision Russia Northwestern Federal District Kaliningrad Oblast Mayor Yuri Savenko (2005) Geographical characteristics Area  - City 215. ... East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ... Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky (Russian: КОНСТАНТИН КОНСТАНТИНОВИЧ РОКОССОВСКИЙ, Polish name Konstanty Rokossowski) (December 21, 1896 - August 3, 1968), Soviet military commander and Polish Defence Minister, was born in the town of Velikie Luki near Pskov in northern Russia, the son of a Polish railway... The 2nd Belorussian Front (alternative spellings are 2nd Byelorussian Front and 2nd Belarusian Front) was one of the Soviet Army fronts during World War II. The term front was used by the Soviets army in World War II to describe a grouping of two or more armies in the same... The Oder (or Odra) River (German: Oder, Polish/Czech: Odra, Ancient Latin: Viadua, Viadrus, Medieval Latin: Odera, Oddera) is a river in Central Europe (mostly in Poland). ... Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, GCB (Russian: ) (December 1 [O.S. November 19] 1896–June 18, 1974), was a Soviet military commander and politician who, in the course of World War II, led the Red Army to liberate the Soviet Union from the Nazi occupation... The 1st Belorussian Front (alternative spellings are 1st Byelorussian Front and 1st Belarusian Front) was a Soviet Army Front during the Great Patriotic War. ... Frankfurt (Oder) ( Sorbian/Lusatian: Frankobord ) is a city in Brandenburg, Germany located on the Oder River, on the German-Polish border directly opposite the city of SÅ‚ubice. ... The Seelow Heights were the scene of the bloodiest battle on German soil during the Second World War. ... The German Second Army (German: ) was a World War II field army. ... Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Koniev Ivan Stepanovich Koniev (Russian Иван Степанович Конев) (December 28, 1897 - May 21, 1973), Soviet military commander, was born into a peasant family near Podosinovsky in central Russia (now in Kirov Oblast). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Map of Upper Silesia, 1746 Upper Silesia (Polish: Górny ÅšlÄ…sk, German: Oberschlesien, Czech: Horní Slezsko) is the south-eastern part of Silesia, a historical and geographical region of Poland (Opole Voivodship and Silesian Voivodship) and of the Czech Republic (Silesian-Moravian Region). ... The Lusatian Neisse (German Lausitzer Neiße, Polish Nysa Łużycka, Czech Lužická Nisa) is a river in the Czech Republic (54 km) and on Polish-German border (198 km), in total 252 km long. ...

The three Soviet Fronts had altogether 2.5 million men (including 78,556 soldiers of the 1st Polish Army); 6,250 tanks; 7,500 aircraft; 41,600 artillery pieces and mortars; 3,255 truck-mounted Katyusha rockets (nicknamed 'Stalin Organs'); and 95,383 motor vehicles, many manufactured in the USA. Polish flag over Berlin. ... A 155 mm artillery shell fired by a United States 11th Marine regiment M-198 howitzer Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... US soldier loading a M224 60-mm mortar. ... The driver of this DAF tractor with an auto-transport semi-trailer prepares to offload Å koda Octavia cars in Cardiff, Wales For other meanings, see Truck (disambiguation). ... A Redstone rocket, part of the Mercury program The traditional definition of a rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving fluid from within a rocket engine. ... The 82mm BM-8 and 132mm BM-13 Katyusha rocket launchers were built and fielded by the Soviet Union in World War II. These launchers acquired this name, unofficial but immediately recognized in the Red Army, from the title of a popular Russian wartime song, Katyusha. ...

On the northern flank Seelow Heights stretching to the coast The 2BF had 8 armies consisting of 33 rifle divisions, 4 tank and mechanised corps, 3 artillery divisions, and a mixture of more artillery and rocket launcher brigades. The front had 951 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 6,642 artillery pieces. The 1BF had 11 armies consisting of 77 rifle divisions, 7 tank and mechanised corps, 8 artillery divisions, and a mixture of more artillery and rocket launcher brigades. the front had 3,155 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 16,934 artillery pieces.

On the northern flank of facing the 2BF, the German III Panzer Army had 11 divisions, 212 tanks, and practically no conventional artillery but between 600 and 700 anti-aircraft guns (some of them 88mm which were very effective anti-tank guns). The German IX Army covering the front which stretched from about the Finow Canal in the north to Guben in the south and included the Seelow Heights, had 14 divisions, 512 tanks, 344 artillery pieces and 300 to 400 anti-aircraft guns.^[1] The Finow Canal (German Finowkanal) is one of the oldest artificial waterways in Europe. ... Along with Frankfurt an der Oder and Goerlitz, Guben is one of the split cities on the eastern German/Polish border. ...

General Gotthard Heinrici replaced Himmler as commander of Army Group Vistula on March 20. He was one of the best defensive tacticians in the German army and immediately started to lay defensive plans. He (correctly) assessed that the main Soviet thrust would be made over the Oder river and along the main east-west autobahn. He decided not to try to defend the banks of the Oder with anything more than a light skirmishing screen. Instead he arranged that his engineers fortify the Seelow Heights which lay about 48 meters above the Oder and overlooked the river at the point where the Autobahn crossed it. He started to thin out the line in other areas to increase the manpower available to defend the heights. German army engineers turned the Oder's flood plain, already saturated by the spring thaw, into a swamp by releasing the waters in a reservoir upstream. Behind this they built three belts of defensive emplacements which reached back towards the outskirts of Berlin. The last line of which was known as the Wotan position 10 to 15 miles behind the front line^[2]. These lines consisted of anti-tank ditches, anti-tank gun emplacements, and an extensive network of trenches and bunkers. Gotthard Heinrici Gotthard Heinrici was a General in the German Army during World War II Personal Life Born in Gumbinnen, Germany, on Christmas Day 1886, there are few details about Heinricis personal life. ... March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap years). ...

The Battle

In the early hours on April 16, the offensive began with a massive bombardment by thousands of artillery pieces, and Katyusha rockets which sustained the barrage for days. Shortly afterwards, and well before dawn, the 1BF attacked across the Oder. The 1UF attacked across the Neisse before the dawn the same morning. The 1BF was the stronger force but it had the more difficult assignment and was facing the majority of the German forces. April 16 is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). ...

The initial attack by the 1BF was a disaster. Heinrici and General Theodor Busse, the commander of IX Army which was the army holding the heights, anticipated the attack and withdrew their defenders from the first line of trenches just before the Soviet artillery obliterated them. The light from 143 searchlights which it was planned would blind the defenders was diffused by the early morning mist and made useful silhouettes of the attacking Soviet formations. The swampy ground proved to be a great hindrance and under a German counter barrage, Soviet casualties were enormous. Frustrated by the slow advance, or on the direct orders of Stalin, Zhukov threw in his reserves, which in his plan were to have been held back to exploit the expected breakthrough. By early evening an advance of almost six kilometres had been achieved in some areas, but the German lines remained intact. In the south the attack by the 1UF was keeping to plan. Zhukov was forced to report that the Battle of the Seelow Heights was not going to plan. Stalin, to spur Zhukov, told him that he would give Konev permission to wheel his tank armies towards Berlin from the south. General der Infanterie Theodor Busse (15 December 1897 in Frankfurt † 21 October 1986 in Wallerstein). ... The German Ninth Army (German: ) was a World War II field army. ...

On the second day, the 1BF staff were reduced to combing the rear areas for any troops which could be thrown into the battle. The Soviet tactic of using massed attacks was proving more costly than usual. By night fall of April 17, the German front before Zhukov remained unbroken, but only just. To the south Army Group Centre under the command of General Ferdinand Schörner were not proving such a hindrance. IV Panzer Army on the north flank of his formation was falling back under the weight of the 1UF Attack. He kept his two reserve panzer division in the south covering his centre, instead of using them to shore up the IV Panzer Army. This was the turning point in the battle because by nightfall the positions of both the Army Group Vistula and southern sectors of Army Group Centre were becoming untenable. Unless they fell back in line with the IV Panzer Army they faced envelopment. In effect, Konev's successful attacks on Schörner's poor defences, to the south of the battle of the Seelow Heights, were unhinging Heinrici's brilliant defence. April 17 is the 107th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (108th in leap years). ... Army Group Centre (Heeresgruppe Mitte in German) was created on 22 June 1941 when Army Group B was renamed Army Group Centre. ... Ferdinand Schörner (December 5, 1892 - February 7, 1973) was a general and later Field Marshal in the German Wehrmacht during World War II. // Early life He was born in Munich, Bavaria. ... Panzergruppe 4 4. ...

On April 18, both Soviet Fronts made steady progress but Soviet losses were again substantial. By the nightfall, the 1BF had reached the third and final German line of defence and the 1UF having captured Forst was preparing to break out into open country. April 18 is the 108th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (109th in leap years). ... There are communes that have the name Forst in Germany Forst (Unterfranken) Forst, Baden Forst, Mittelfranken Forst, Eifel Forst, Hunsrück Forst, Lausitz Forst, Bavaria Forst an der Weinstraße Forst, Odenwald in Switzerland Forst, Switzerland, in the Canton of Bern Other Forst, Algund, a commune in South Tyrol This...

On April 19 (the fourth day), the 1BF broke through the final line of the Seelow Heights and nothing but broken German formations lay between them and Berlin. The remnants of the IX Army which had been holding the heights and the remaining northern flank of the IV Panzer Army were in danger of being enveloped by elements of the 1UF, these were the 3rd Guards Army and the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies, which having broken through the IV Panzer Army turned north towards Berlin and the 1BF. Other armies of the 1UF raced west towards the Americans. By the end of the 19th the German eastern front line had ceased to exist. All that remained were pockets of resistance. April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). ...

The cost to the Soviet forces had been very high, with over 2,807 tanks lost between April 1 and April 19. During the same period the Allies in the west lost 1,079 tanks. 70,000 Soviets and 12,000 Germans lost their lives during the four days of the battle. April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). ...

Conclusion

The defensive line on the Seelow Heights was the last major defensive line outside Berlin. Following April 19, the road to Berlin (90 kilometers westward) lay open. By April 23 Berlin was fully encircled and the Battle for Berlin entered its last stage. Within two weeks Hitler was dead and the war in Europe was effectively over. April 23 is the 113th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (114th in leap years). ... Combatants Nazi Germany Soviet Union (incl. ... Hitler redirects here. ... The final battles of the European Theatre of World War II and the German surrender took place in late April and early May 1945. ...

Following the war, Zhukov's critics claimed that he should have diverted 1BF from the main highway to Berlin, circumventing the strong German defences at Seelow Heights by way of the 1UF's route over the Neisse, thereby preventing many casualties and the delay in the Berlin advance. However, the 1BF had been drawn up on a very narrow front, possibly preventing a bypass. The other Front commanders could and did bypass the main defences.

See also

• Eastern Front (World War II)

The Eastern Front of World War II was the theatre of war covering the conflict in central and eastern European regions from June 1941 to May 1945. ...

References

• Beevor, Antony. The Fall of Berlin, 1945, ISBN 0-670-88695-5
• Ziemke, Earl F. Battle For Berlin: End Of The Third Reich, NY:Ballantine Books, London:Macdomald & Co, 1969.

Antony Beevor (born on December 14, 1946) is a British historian, educated at Winchester College and Sandhurst. ...

Notes

1. ↑  Ziemke References Page 76
2. ↑  Ziemke References Page 76