{{Short description|Soviet offensive against Nazi Germany during World War II}} {{For|the World War I German offensive|Riga Offensive (1917) }}
{{Infobox military conflict | conflict = Riga offensive (1944) | partof = the Baltic offensive during the Eastern Front (World War II) | image = File:BALTICO RIGA.jpg | caption = Soviet troops in Riga looking at the St. Peter's Church, October 1944 | date = September 14 – October 24, 1944 | place = Latvia, Estonia |coordinates={{coord|56|58|N|24|19|E|type:landmark_region:LV|display=inline,title}} | result = Soviet victory | combatant1 = {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} Germany | combatant2 = {{flag|Soviet Union|1936}} | commander1 = Ferdinand Schörner | commander2 = Ivan Bagramyan<br />Andrei Yeremenko<br /> Ivan Maslennikov | strength1 = | strength2 = | casualties1 = | casualties2 = }} {{Campaignbox Axis-Soviet War}} {{Campaignbox Leningrad and Baltics 1941-1944}}
The '''Riga offensive''' ({{langx|ru|Рижская наступательная операция|lit=Riga offensive operation}}) was part of the larger Baltic offensive on the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place late in 1944, and drove German forces from the city of Riga.
==Prelude== {{Main article|Operation Bagration|Tartu offensive}} Soviet forces had advanced towards the Baltic coast in the beginning of their Tartu offensive and at the end of the highly successful Belorussian offensive (Operation Bagration), during July and August 1944, and at one point had broken through to the Gulf of Riga. The victories in July were highly unexpected, and at one point on July 31, the commander of the 8th mechanized brigade communicated with corps headquarters to notify them that its tanks had reached the beach. In an unusual act, they were ordered to fill several bottles of sea water, have them signed, and flown to The Kremlin as proof that Army Group North had been cut off from the Reich. During August, the German 18th Army had mounted a counter-attack, Operation Doppelkopf. Simultaneously the German Valga–Võrtsjärv line, supported by the local Estonian Omakaitse militia battalions, repelled the heavy pressure of the Soviet 3rd Baltic Front's Tartu offensive.<ref name=laar2/> The German Army Group North's commander, Ferdinand Schörner designed Operation Aster to pull his troops out of mainland Estonia. The parallel Riga offensive would see Soviet forces apply further pressure on Army Group North, which still held much of Latvia and Estonia.
==Deployments== {{unreferenced section|date=October 2019}}
===Red Army===
Elements of:
*1st Baltic Front (General Ivan Bagramyan) *2nd Baltic Front (General Andrei Yeremenko) **22nd Army *3rd Baltic Front (General Ivan Maslennikov)
===German and affiliated forces===
*Army Group North (General Ferdinand Schoerner) **Sixteenth Army (General Carl Hilpert) **Eighteenth Army (General Ehrenfried-Oskar Boege) *Elements of Army Group Centre temporarily reassigned to Army Group North **Third Panzer Army (General Erhard Raus) *Omakaitse
==The offensive== The Soviet forces launched a ferocious attack on the Riga axis on September 14, 1944. Within 4 days, the German 16th Army had suffered serious damage, while in the 18th Army's sector, ten of the eighteen German divisions had been reduced to the ''Kampfgruppe'' level.<ref name=mitchamp150>Mitcham, p. 150</ref> In the northern segment placed along Lake Võrtsjärv, and the Väike Emajõgi and Gauja rivers, the Soviet 3rd Baltic Front attacked the German XXVIII Army Corps backed by Omakaitse battalions.<ref name=hiio>{{cite book|author=Toomas Hiio|author-link=:et:Toomas Hiio|year=2006|chapter=Combat in Estonia in 1944 |editor=Toomas Hiio |editor2=Meelis Maripuu |editor3=Indrek Paavle |title=Estonia 1940–1945: Reports of the Estonian International Commission for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity |location=Tallinn |publisher=Estonian Foundation for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity}}</ref> In fierce battles, the German and Estonian units held their positions.<ref name=laar2>{{cite book |title=Estonia in World War II |last=Laar |first=Mart |year=2005 |publisher=Grenader| author-link=Mart Laar|location=Tallinn}}</ref>
From the south, the 43rd Army was threatening the approaches to Riga itself, where the German X Corps had been shattered.<ref name=mitchamp150>Mitcham, p. 150</ref> Schoerner began to move his divisions into the Courland Peninsula, intending to shorten the front and pull back from Riga. A counter-attack was carried out by the XXXIX Panzer Corps of 3rd Panzer Army, temporarily placed under Schörner's overall command, but the Soviet opposition was too strong.<ref name=mitchamp148>Mitcham, p. 148</ref>
In the meantime, ''Stavka'' had been preparing a new axis of attack under the cover of a further push towards Riga, the new plan being put forward in a directive of September 24.<ref name=glantzp433>Glantz, p. 433</ref> On September 27, the 16th Army began to report Soviet traffic ''away'' from its front, to the south-west.<ref name=mitchamp150>Mitcham, p. 150</ref> In fact, several major Soviet force concentrations (notably the 4th Shock and 51st Armies) were being shifted southwards in preparation for a major thrust westwards towards Memel by the 1st Baltic Front. German intelligence detected the movement of several of the armies involved, but were unable to detect their destination.<ref name=glantzp440>Glantz, p. 440</ref>
The resulting offensive, the Battle of Memel, was launched on October 5; Bagramyan's 1st Baltic Front shattered the Third Panzer Army, finally severing the land connection between the German Army Group Centre and Army Group North. Schoerner's forces around Riga and in Courland were now cut off.
On October 9, Schoerner signalled that he would attack towards Memel and try and re-establish the land connection if Riga could be evacuated.<ref name=mitchamp152>Mitcham, p. 152</ref> Soviet forces were again moving forwards outside Riga, and brought the city within the range of artillery fire on October 10. Leaving a screening force of the 227th Infantry Division and the guns of the 6th Motorized Anti-Aircraft Division, the 18th Army retreated through Riga into Courland, destroying bridges on its route.<ref name=mitchamp152>Mitcham, p. 152</ref> Riga was taken by forces of the 3rd Baltic Front on October 13. Over the next few days Soviet units were reported in action to the west of Riga, stating that German forces had been cleared from the eastern bank of the Lielupe River by October 17.<ref name=RIA>{{Cite web |url=http://eng.9may.ru/17.10.1944/eng_inform/m9002556 |title=RIA Novosti Archive |access-date=2008-04-21 |archive-date=2011-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720160113/http://eng.9may.ru/17.10.1944/eng_inform/m9002556 }}</ref>
==Aftermath==
Army Group North had been driven into the Courland Pocket, where it remained isolated until the end of the war in Europe.
==Citations and references== {{Reflist}}
===Cited sources=== {{Refbegin}} *Glantz, D. ''Soviet Military Deception in the Second World War'', Frank Cass, London, 1989, {{ISBN|0-7146-3347-X}} * {{Cite book |last=Mitcham |first=Samuel W. | author-link = Samuel W. Mitcham |year=2007 |title=The German Defeat in the East, 1944–45 |location=Mechanicsburg, PA |publisher=Stackpole Books |isbn=978-0-8117-3371-7 }} {{Refend}}
Category:Conflicts in 1944 Category:Battles and operations of the Soviet–German War Category:September 1944 in Europe Category:October 1944 in Europe Category:1944 in Latvia Category:1944 in Estonia Category:Military history of Latvia Category:Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic Category:Generalbezirk Lettland Category:Riga in World War II