Lower Silesian Offensive

Overview

The Lower Silesian offensive was a Soviet offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II in 1945, involving forces of the 1st Ukrainian Front under Marshal Ivan Konev. It cleared German troops from much of Lower Silesia and besieged a large German force in the provincial capital, Breslau. The offensive began on February 8 and continued until February 24, when the Soviets ceased their offensive having captured a small bridgehead across the Neisse River near Forst. The offensive directly succeeded the Vistula–Oder offensive, in which Konev's troops had driven the German Army Group A from Poland, liberating Kraków and taking bridgeheads over the Oder.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Lower Silesian Offensive extended Soviet momentum on the Eastern Front following the Vistula–Oder Offensive, in which Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front had expelled German Army Group A from Poland, liberated Kraków, and seized bridgeheads over the Oder. Launching on February 8, 1945, the offensive cleared German forces from much of Lower Silesia and encircled a substantial German garrison in Breslau, the provincial capital. By the time operations ceased on February 24, Soviet forces had secured a small but operationally significant bridgehead across the Neisse River near Forst. That crossing point positioned the 1st Ukrainian Front for subsequent offensive action westward into Germany, making the offensive a direct link between the liberation of Poland and the final drive toward Berlin. The siege of Breslau, a consequence of the encirclement achieved during the operation, tied down German forces that could not be redeployed to contest the front elsewhere.

Commanders (2)