Day-by-Day Timeline of Events
Monday, May 1st - May 31st, 1944
Plans begin for a major Soviet offensive against the German Army in the East.
Saturday, May 20th, 1944
The Soviet offensive is detailed under the codename of "Operation Bagration".
Saturday, May 20th, 1944
The launch date for Operation Bagration is set for June 22nd.
Monday, June 19th, 1944
Soviet partisan groups spring into action along the German rear guard and wreak havoc for days. Targets include supply and communication lines. Tens of thousands of explosive acts of sabotage are noted.
Thursday, June 22nd, 1944
Operation Bagration is put into action with General Zhukov in command.
Thursday, June 22nd, 1944
Totaling over 1.2 million troops, the 1st Baltic Front - along with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts - are put into action along four fronts. Vitebsk is quickly taken and controlled. The 3rd Panzer Army suffers heavy losses.
Friday, June 23rd, 1944
By this date, the partisan actions along the German rear dwindle in preparation for the upcoming offensive.
Friday, June 23rd, 1944
The 1st and 3rd Belorussian Fronts advanced to northeast of Minsk, surrounding the German 4th Army.
Monday, June 26th, 1944
With the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts closing, Hitler okays the order for the 9th Army to retreat to more favorable ground.
Wednesday, June 28th, 1944
Hitler replaces Field Marshal Busch with General Model to help stem his losses.
Thursday, June 29th, 1944
The Soviets take Bobruysk.
Thursday, June 29th, 1944
The 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts close in and around the city of Minsk, attempting to join forces of the 3rd Belorussian Front.
Friday, June 30th, 1944
By this date, the German Army has recorded some 200,000 casualties from the aggressive Soviet offensive.
Tuesday, July 4th, 1944
Minsk falls to the Soviet offensive.
Tuesday, July 4th, 1944
By this date, the 160,000-strong German 4th Army alone reports losses of 130,000 troops.
Tuesday, July 4th, 1944
German losses total 400,000 personnel.
Wednesday, July 5th, 1944
Encircled, remnants of the German 4th Army are captured or killed trying to flee.
Tuesday, July 11th, 1944
The German 9th Army is obliterated under the might of the Red Army.
Thursday, July 13th, 1944
Vilnius, Lithuania is captured by Soviet ground troops.
Thursday, July 13th, 1944
A new Soviet land offensive is launched with elements of the Soviet 1st and 4th Ukranian Fronts. Their target is Germany Army Group North in the Ukraine on their way to southern Poland.
Monday, July 17th, 1944
White Russia is cleansed of all German invaders, leading celebrations in the Soviet capital of Moscow.
Monday, July 17th, 1944
Some 57,000 German captives are paraded through the streets of Moscow.
Monday, July 17th, 1944
German Army Group Center is completely annihilated from the German ranks.
Thursday, July 27th, 1944
Lvov is clamed by the Ukranian Fronts.
Friday, July 28th, 1944
Soviet forces lay claim to Brest-Litovsk.
Tuesday, August 1st, 1944
The move westward continues.
Tuesday, August 15th, 1944
Stretched and strained supply lines bring the Soviet war machine to a halt.
Wednesday, August 30th, 1944
The massive Soviet offensive ends with much of the German-held territories now in Russian hands. The Soviet Army has made it as far as the outskirts of Warsaw in Poland with a front running from Lithuania in the north, through Belorussia in the center and Poland/Ukraine in the south.