| Baltic Operation (1941) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofOperation Barbarossa during theEastern Front ofWorld War II | |||||||
 German troops after crossing theNeman (Memel) into theLithuanian SSR, 22 June 1941 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Germany |  Soviet Union | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Wilhelm R. von LeebGeorg von KüchlerErnst BuschErich HoepnerAlfred Keller | Fyodor KuznetsovPyotr SobennikovVasili Morozov [ru]Nikolai BerzarinGustav Jonson | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| 3rd Panzer Group (parts) | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 655,000 1,389 tanks 7,673 artillery pieces 1,070 aircraft | 786,000[1] 1,393 tanks 5,573 artillery pieces 1,210 aircraft | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 4,878 killed 14,976 wounded[2] | 75,202 killed 13,284 wounded 2,523 tanks & SPGs destroyed[3] 990 aircraft destroyed[3] Total: 88,486 casualties[1] | ||||||
TheBaltic strategic defensive operation (Russian:Прибалтийская стратегическая оборонительная операция,romanized: Pribaltiyskaya strategicheskaya oboronitel'naya operatsiya) encompassed the operations of theRed Army from 22 June to 9 July 1941 conducted over the territories ofSoviet-occupiedLithuania,Latvia, andEstonia in response to the offensive launched by theWehrmacht inOperation Barbarossa.
The operation consisted of three distinct smaller operations
The principal Red Army formations of the operation were theNorthwestern Front and theBaltic Fleet, with the major ground forces consisting of the8th (commander General MajorPyotr Sobennikov),11th (commander Lieutenant General Vasily Morozov) and later27th Armies.
The operation was conducted after the forces of theBaltic Special Military District were alerted in the morning of 22 June 1941 following a surprise attack by the GermanWehrmacht'sArmy Group North which consisted of the18th,16th Field Armies and the4th Panzer Group, and elements of the3rd Panzer Group, supported by theLuftflotte 1.[4]
On 22 June, the Soviet 8th Army was positioned in northern Lithuania opposed by the German 18th Army. The Soviet 11th Army defended the rest of the Lithuanian border withEast Prussia and sought to contain the attacks of the German 16th Army and the 4th Panzer Group.
While the Soviet 8th Army retreated along theJelgava–Riga–Tartu–Narva–Pskov direction, the Soviet 11th Army sought to initially hold theKaunas andVilnius sector of the front, but was forced to retreat along theDaugavpils–Pskov–Novgorod axis. Thesewithdrawals, although costly in losses of personnel and materiel, avoided majorencirclements experienced by the fronts to the south, and succeeded in delaying Army Group North sufficiently to allow Soviet forces time to prepare the defense ofLeningrad. Many of the soldiers who had participated in the operation were rerouted to defend Leningrad orMoscow.
The operation was not a single continuous withdrawal, but was punctuated by short-livedcounterattacks, counterstrokes orcounteroffensives.[5]
The subordinate formations and units of the Armies were:
Front subordination
The Soviet forces were defeated and forced to fall back. The next operation, according to the Soviet official history, was theLeningrad strategic defensive operation (10 July-30 September 1941), which attempted to establish a stable front along the Narva–Novgorod line.
The German victory began theGerman occupation of the Baltic states during World War II.