Editing 2nd Belorussian Front

{{Short description|Soviet Red Army formation}}
{{Other uses|2nd Front (disambiguation){{!}}2nd Front}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2008}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{infobox military unit
| unit_name = 2nd Belorussian Front
| native_name =
| image = 2gi białoruski.jpg
| caption = Standard of the 2nd Belorussian Front
| dates = 24 February 1944 – 5 April 1944<br>24 April 1944 – 10 June 1945
| country = {{flag|Soviet Union|1936}}
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| branch = [[File:Red Army flag.svg|23px]] [[Red Army]]
| type = [[Front (military formation)|Front]]
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| battles = [[World War II]]
* [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]]
** [[Polesskoe offensive]]
** [[Operation Bagration]]
*** [[Mogilev offensive]]
*** [[Minsk offensive]]
*** [[Belostok offensive]]
** [[East Prussian Offensive]]
** [[East Pomeranian offensive]]
** [[Battle of Berlin]]
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| disbanded = <!-- Commanders -->
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}}

The '''2nd Belorussian Front''' ({{langx|ru|Второй Белорусский фронт}}, ''Vtoroi Belorusskiy front'', also romanized "[[Byelorussian SSR|Byelorussian]]"), was a [[Front (military formation)|major formation]] of the [[Soviet Army]] during [[World War II]], being equivalent to a Western [[army group]].

It was created in February 1944 as the Soviets were pushing the Germans back towards Byelorussia. General Colonel [[Pavel Kurochkin]] was its first commander. On hiatus in April 1944, its headquarters were reformed from the army headquarters of the disbanding [[10th Army (Soviet Union)|10th Army]]. They took part in the [[Battle of Berlin|capture of Berlin]], the capital of [[Nazi Germany]].<ref>Bonn, Slaughterhouse, Aberjona Press, 2005, p.313</ref>

== History ==
The 2nd Belorussian Front was formed on the western axis on 24 February 1944 in accordance with a [[Stavka of the Supreme High Command|Stavka]] directive of 17 February, and included the [[47th Army|47th]], [[61st Army (Soviet Union)|61st]], [[70th Army (Soviet Union)|70th Armies]], supported by the [[6th Air Army]] and the [[Dnieper Flotilla]]. ''General-polkovnik'' [[Pavel Kurochkin]] was appointed its commander. The field headquarters of the army was formed from that of the [[Northwestern Front]]. Subsequently, the [[69th Army (Soviet Union)|69th Army]] joined the front. Between 15 March and 4 April the front conducted the [[Polesskoe offensive]], during which it defeated the German troops around [[Kovel]] and created conditions for the offensive on the [[Brest, Belarus|Brest]] and [[Lublin]] axis. After the conclusion of the offensive, the front was disbanded on 5 April, its troops transferred to the [[1st Belorussian Front]], and the field headquarters withdrawn to the [[Reserve of the Supreme High Command]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=2-й Белорусский фронт |url=https://archive.today/20121221124142/victory.mil.ru/rkka/units/02/03.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121221124142/victory.mil.ru/rkka/units/02/03.html#selection-21.0-24.0 |archive-date=21 December 2012 |website=Victory.mil.ru}}</ref>[[File:Второй Белорусский фронт. На привале.jpg|thumb|Soldiers of the front on a halt, 1944]]The front was reformed on 24 April in accordance with a Stavka directive of 19 April, including the [[33rd Army (Soviet Union)|33rd]], [[49th Army|49th]], and [[50th Army (Soviet Union)|50th Armies]] from the [[Western Front (Soviet Union)|Western Front]], under the command of ''General-polkovnik'' [[Ivan Petrov (army general)|Ivan Petrov]]. The field headquarters of the army was formed from that of the [[10th Army (Soviet Union)|10th Army]]. In May the front's troops took part in localized fighting in Belorussia. Petrov was replaced in command by ''General-polkovnik'' [[Georgy Zakharov (army general)|Georgy Zakharov]] in June. The front conducted the [[Mogilev offensive]] during the first phase of [[Operation Bagration]] between 23 and 28 June, with its troops forcing the [[Dnieper]] in all sectors and liberating [[Mogilev]] on 26 June. Continuing the advance, the front took part in the [[Minsk offensive]] between 29 June and 4 July, mopping up remains of Army Group Centre's [[4th Army (Wehrmacht)|Fourth Army]] under the command of General von Tippelskirch and the remains of the [[9th Army (Wehrmacht)|Ninth Army]] in a large pocket southeast of [[Minsk]]. The front continued driving west in the [[Belostok offensive]] from 5 July, which culminated in the liberation of [[Białystok]] on 27 July.  Between August and November the front's forces liberated western Belorussia, reached the Polish and East Prussian borders, and captured the [[Różan|Rozan]] bridgehead on the west bank of the [[Narew]], north of [[Warsaw]].<ref name=":0" />

On September 13, 2BF captured [[Łomża]], west of [[Białystok]]. In November 1944, Marshal [[Konstantin Rokossovsky]] was appointed commander of 2BF, just in time for its last two great offensives of World War II. As part of a massive attack by four Fronts on January 14, 1945, 2BF attacked [[East Prussia]] ([[East Prussian Offensive]]) and later [[Pomerania]] ([[East Pomeranian Offensive]]).
* On January10, 2BF attacked [[Neustettin]] but was halted by German counterattacks.
* 14 January: 2BF attacks [[East Prussia]] ([[East Prussian Offensive]]), heading through the lower half of the [[Warsaw–Gdańsk railway|Warsaw-Gdańsk railway]].
* 24 January: The 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts attack in [[Pomerania]] ([[East Pomeranian Offensive]]). German Second Army cut off.
* 27 February: Elements of the 2BF enter Pomerania
* On February 28, 2BF captured [[Neustettin]].
* 5 March The fortress city of [[Graudenz]] on the [[Vistula]] surrenders to troops of the 2BF.
* 10 March: 2BF captures [[Zoppot]]
* 13 March: 2BF launches an offensive against the Braunsberg pocket south of [[Königsberg]].
* On March 18, [[First Polish Army (1944-1945)|the Polish Army]] of the 2BF captured the fortress city of [[Kolberg]].
* On March 23, 2BF attacked the German II Army in the [[Danzig]] area.
* 30 March: Soviet troops finally capture Danzig,
* 20 April: 2BF offensive across the lower Oder towards [[Neubrandenburg]], [[Stralsund (region)|Stralsund]], and [[Rostock]].
* 25 April 2BF, seized a large bridgehead on the Oder River south of [[Stettin]], forcing the centre of the III Panzer Army back to [[Prenzlau]].
* 26 April: 2BF takes Stettin.
* 27 April 2BF captures [[Prenzlau]] and [[Angermünde]], 70&nbsp;km (44&nbsp;mi) northwest of Berlin.
* On May 5, elements of the 2BF entered [[Peenemünde]].

On April 9, 1945, [[Kaliningrad#Third Reich|Königsberg]], in ''East Prussia,'' finally fell to the Red Army. This freed up 2BF to move west to the east bank of the [[Oder]] River.  During the first two weeks of April, the Soviets 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 (Oder)|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.

In the early hours on April 16, the final offensive of the war [[Battle of Berlin|to capture Berlin]] and link up with Western Allied forces on the Elbe started with attacks by 1BF and, To the south, General [[Konev]]'s [[1st Ukrainian Front]] (1UF).  On April 20, the 2BF joined in the attack. By April 25, 2BF broke out of its bridge head south of [[Stettin]] and had, by the end of the war captured all of Germany north of Berlin, as far west as the front lines of the British 21 Army Group, which had advanced over the river [[Elbe]] in some places.

== Post-war ==
The Headquarters of the 2nd Byelorussian Front became the Headquarters of the [[Northern Group of Forces]] (NGF), the Soviet occupation force in Poland, effective June 10, 1945. <ref>Craig Crofoot, document on [[Northern Group of Forces]] accessible at www.microarmormayhem.com, including Conventional Forces in Europe data exchange material</ref> Most of the NGF's forces were drawn from the 2nd Belorussian Front, along with some elements of the 1st Byelorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts.

== Component armies ==
The Armies that were part of the 2nd Belorussian Front included:
* [[2nd Shock Army]]
* [[19th Army (Soviet Union)|19th Army]]
* [[49th Army]]
* [[50th Army (Soviet Union)|50th Army]]
* [[65th Army (Soviet Union)|65th Army]]
* [[70th Army]]
* [[5th Guards Tank Army (Soviet Union)|5th Guards Tank Army]]
* [[4th Air Army]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*Antill, P., Battle for Berlin: April – May 1945, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_berlin.html

{{Fronts of the Red Army in World War II}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:2nd Belorussian Front}}
[[Category:Soviet fronts|Belorussian 2]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1944]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1945]]