Battle of the Caucasus
The Battle of the Caucasus was a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus as part of the Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, opening the Caucasus region of the southern Soviet Union to the Germans and threatening the oil fields beyond at Maikop, Grozny, and ultimately Baku. Two days prior, Adolf Hitler had issued a directive to launch an operation into the Caucasus named Operation Edelweiß. German units would reach their high water mark in the Caucasus in early November 1942, getting as far as the town of Alagir and city of Ordzhonikidze, some 610 km from their starting positions. Axis forces were compelled to withdraw from the area later that winter as Operation Little Saturn threatened to cut them off.
This article is about the World War II military campaign. For the World War I military campaign, see Caucasus Campaign. For the 19th century Russian invasion, see Caucasian War.10 August 1942 – German Army takes
Maykop
12 August 1942 – German Army takes
Krasnodar
23 August 1942 – German Army takes
Mozdok
21 January 1943 – Red Army retakes
Stavropol
23 January 1943 – Red Army retakes
Armavir
29 January 1943 – Red Army retakes
Maykop
4 February 1943 – Soviet marines repel a German attempt to land at , an island fort that controlled access to the port at Novorossiysk. Soviets hold this island until relieved in September, denying the use of the port to the Germans.
Malaya Zemlya
12 February 1943 – Red Army retakes
Krasnodar
16 February 1943 – Red Army retakes
Rostov
9 September 1943 – the Germans begin to retreat from the Blue Line defensive positions
16 September 1943 – Red Army occupies , relieving the sailors and marines at Malaya Zemlya.
Novorossiysk
9 October 1943 – Red Army controls the whole of the
Taman Peninsula
1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya
Army Group A action – Caucasus campaign
Baku Air Defence Army
The Battle of Stalingrad, Chapter 7, "Caucasus, there and back", pp. 648–651
Alexander Werth
"Cherez Tri Voyny" (Through Three Wars), Moscow, 1960, p. 176.
Ivan Tyulenev
(in Russian) Иван Тюленев. Крах операции "Эдельвейс". Орджоникидзе, 1975.
(in Russian) К.-М. Алиев. В зоне "Эдельвейса". М.-Ставрополь, 2005.
Javrishvili K. Battle of Caucasus: Case for Georgian Alpinists, Translated by Michael P. Willis, 2017.
(in Russian)
Ясен Дьяченко. История альпинизма. Война на Кавказе
(in Russian)
Великая Война – Кавказ
(in Russian)
Операция "Эдельвейс". Последняя тайна
(in Russian)