In Soviet historiography, Stalin's ten blows were the ten successful strategic offensives in Europe conducted by the Red Army in 1944 during World War II. The Soviet offensives drove the Axis forces from Soviet territory and precipitated Nazi Germany's collapse.

History of the expression

The term was heard for the first time in November 1944 from Joseph Stalin in his speech "27th anniversary of the Great October socialist revolution" during the 1944 meeting of the Moscow's Soviet deputies. The term was coined as a reflection of the Stalin's cult of personality that prevailed in Soviet Union at the time. It did not reflect specific strategic planning of the Stavka, and at times had been called the "Year of twelve victories," based on the order issued by Stalin on the following day, authorizing the firing of artillery salutes with 24 guns in 12 cities of the Soviet Union: Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Petrozavodsk, Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Kishinev, Tbilisi, Sevastopol, and Lvov. Having in his youth enrolled in the Russian Orthodox Theological Seminary in Tiflis, Stalin would have been familiar with the Bible and specifically with the famous Ten Plagues of Egypt, ten massive "blows" which God was said to have inflicted on the evil Pharaoh and leading to Pharaoh's surrender. The term was discontinued in use after Nikita Khrushchev's 1956 Secret Speech denouncing Stalin and ending his cult of personality following his death.

Background

After the collapse of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad, the Soviet counter-offensives, and the Battle of Kursk later in 1943, it became apparent that the tide of war was turning against Germany. Soviet forces were, all along the front, approaching the pre-war border. Partly because of Führer Directive No. 51, which funneled all new men and materials to the Western Front, to meet the expected Allied Invasion, issued on 3 November 1943, Axis forces along the Eastern Front were severely inadequately equipped in comparison to their Soviet opponents, reinforcements were rare, and reserves were stretched thin. Although in this directive Hitler implied that he might be willing to allow withdrawals, trading space for time, this proved to be false. This, combined with Hitler's insistence on holding onto captured territory at all costs, made Soviet victories in 1944 nearly inevitable.

The offensives

The Government of the U.S.S.R. will make use of all the rights of an occupying power in the occupied territories of Finland. The Supreme Command of the Soviet Military Forces will publish its own orders and directives. The Finnish Government and the Finnish people will by all means try to contribute to the execution of these orders and directives. To serve this aim, the Finnish Government will without delay give an order to all the authorities of the central and local government, to the judicial system, public organisations, and all civil servants to remain in their previous positions, to obey orders unconditionally, and to carry out their duties conscientiously, until the Supreme Command of the Soviet Military Forces gives its directives." While the Red Army had failed to achieve all of its objectives, the offensive nonetheless led to Finland agreeing to Soviet peace terms. On 19 September 1944, the Moscow Armistice was signed, ending the Continuation War. Stalin dubbed the operation the Liberation of Karelia-Finland Soviet Republic.