Romanian army in the battle for Odessa in 1941.

In connection with the deterioration of the position of the Southern Front, the Soviet Supreme High Command decided to evacuate Odessa in order to use the troops stationed there to strengthen the defense of the Crimea and Sevastopol. In the picture: the Romanian army enters the city.

When the German invasion of the Soviet Union began on June 22, 1941 (Operation Barbarossa), one of the first allied armies that, together with the Wehrmacht, moved deep into the USSR, was the Romanian army.

In September 1939, Romania remained neutral in the face of the German-Soviet conquest of Poland. However, Germany gradually subjugated this country economically and politically, using the Romanian fascist Iron Guard movement led by Horia Sim, blindly oriented towards the Third Reich and its leader Adolf Hitler. German actions found fertile ground as Romania felt increasingly threatened by the Soviet Union. The USSR, implementing the provisions of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact of August 1939, forced Romania to transfer Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in June 1940. In July, Romania withdrew from the League of Nations. Another blow to the country was dealt by the future ally when Germany and Italy stepped up support for the Hungarian policy, forcing the Romanian government to hand over another piece of Romanian territory to Hungary. As part of the Vienna Arbitration of August 30, 1940, Maramures, Krishna and northern Transylvania (43 km²) were transferred to Hungary. In September, Romania ceded Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria. King Charles II did not save the government of Prime Minister J. Gigurt and on September 500, 4, General Ion Antonescu became head of government, and Horia Sima became deputy prime minister. Under pressure from the new government and public sentiment, the king abdicated in favor of his son Michael I. On November 1940, Romania acceded to the Anti-Comintern Pact and refused British guarantees, which was a sham. The Iron Guard was preparing a coup d'état to seize all power. The plot was uncovered, the conspirators were arrested or, like Horia Sima, fled to Germany. Regular battles took place between the Romanian army and legionary units; 23 people died, including 2500 soldiers. The Iron Guard was removed from power in January 490, but its supporters and members did not disappear and still enjoyed considerable support, especially in the army. There was a reorganization of the government, headed by General Antonescu, who took the title of "Conducator" - the commander-in-chief of the Romanian nation.

On September 17, 1940, Antonescu asked for help in reorganizing and training the German army. The German military mission officially arrived on 12 October; it consisted of 22 people, including 430 military men. Among them were anti-aircraft artillery units, which were sent mainly to the oil fields in Ploiesti with the task of protecting them from possible British air raids. The first units of the Wehrmacht arrived immediately after the training units and military mission specialists. The 17th Panzer Division also had to protect the oil fields. The 561th Panzer Division arrived in mid-December 13, and in the spring of 6, the transfer of parts of the 1940th Army to Romanian territory was completed. Two-thirds of the German 1941th Army, formed in Romania, consisted of infantry divisions and Romanian cavalry. Thus, the Allied forces formed a very important part of Army Group South, despite the negative opinions expressed by Hitler on March 11, 11 at a meeting with the generals: the Romanians are lazy, corrupt; this is moral rot. (…) their troops are usable only when wide rivers separate them from the battlefield, but even then they are unreliable.

In the first half of May 1941, Hitler and Antonescu met for the third time in the presence of Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German Foreign Minister. According to the story of the Romanian leader in 1946, it was at this meeting that we decided together to definitely attack the Soviet Union. Hitler announced that after the preparations were completed, the operation was to begin suddenly along the entire border from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea. Romania was supposed to return the territories lost to the USSR and get the right to govern the territories up to the Dnieper.

Romanian army on the eve of the war

By that time, the preparations of the Romanian army for the invasion had already advanced. Under the leadership of the Germans, three infantry divisions were trained, which were to become a model for the rest, and a tank division began to form. Romania also began equipping the army with more modern weapons, especially captured French ones. However, from the point of view of the most important military preparations, the most important was the order to increase the army from 26 to 40 divisions. The growing German influence was also reflected in the organizational structure of the army; this is best seen in the division. They consisted of three infantry regiments, two artillery regiments (52 75-mm guns and 100-mm howitzers), a reconnaissance group (partially mechanized), a battalion of sappers and communications. The division consisted of 17 soldiers and officers. An infantry regiment could successfully carry out defensive tasks with three battalions (three infantry companies, a machine-gun company, a cavalry squadron, and a support company with six 500-mm anti-tank guns). The anti-tank company was equipped with 37 12-mm guns. Four mountain brigades (subsequently transformed into divisions) were also formed to form a mountain corps designed to fight in difficult winter conditions in the mountains. The 47st to 1th battalions trained independently, while the 24th to 25th battalions trained in cross-country skiing. The mountain brigade (26 officers and men) consisted of two three-battalion mountain rifle regiments and a reconnaissance battalion, temporarily reinforced by an artillery regiment (12 mountain guns of 24 mm and 75 mm howitzers and 100 anti-tank guns of 12 mm), using pack traction .

The cavalry constituted a significant force, forming a six-brigade cavalry corps. Part of the 25 cavalry regiments was attached to the reconnaissance groups of the infantry divisions. Six cavalry brigades were organized: 1st, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th cavalry, consisting of richer landowners who were obliged to obey a unit with ... their own horse. In 1941, the cavalry brigades (6500 officers and men) consisted of two cavalry regiments, a motorized regiment, a reconnaissance squadron, an artillery regiment, an anti-tank company with 47 mm guns, and a sapper company.