The 1st Belorussian Front (alternative spellings are 1st Byelorussian Front and 1st Belarusian Front) was one of the Soviet Army fronts during the World War II.

The term "front" was used by the Red army in World War II to describe a grouping of two or more armies in the same way that the Western Allies used the term "army group", for example US 12th Army Group.

The 1st Belorussian Front (1BF) was created in 1943 (?) as the Soviets pushed the Germans back towards Byelorussia .

In January 1945 Marshal Georgy Zhukov was appointed commander of the 1st Belorussian Front (1BF) just in time for its last two great offensives of World War II. After the capture of Poland and East Prussia during the months of January and February and March 1945. During the first two weeks of April the Soviets performed their fastest Front redeployment of the war. General Georgy Zhukov concentrated 1BF which had been deployed along the Oder river from Frankfurt in the south to the Baltic, into an area in front of the Seelow Heights. The 2nd Belorussian Front moved into the positions being vacated by the 1BF north of the Seelow Heights. While this redeployment was in progress gaps were left in the lines and the remnants of the German II Army which had been bottled up in a pocket near Danzig managed to escape across the Oder.

In the early hours on April 16 the final offensive of the war to capture Berlin and link up with Western Allied forces on the Elbe started with attacks by 1BF and To the south General Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front (1UF). Initally the 1BF had great difficulty smashing throught the German lines of defence but after three days they had broken through and were appoaching the outskirts of Berlin. By 22 April 1BF had penetrated the northern and eastern suburbs of Berlin. The finished the encirclemt of Berlin on 25 April when units of the 1BF and 1UF meet at Kietzen west of Berlin. After heavy street by street and house to house fighting on the 2 May General Weidling, the commander of Berlins Garrison met with General Chuikov and surrenderd Berlin unconditionally at 15:00 hours local time. On 8 May after a signing ceremony in Berlin, the Gereman armed forces surrenderd to the Allies unconditionally and the war in Europe was over

Time Line

1943

1944

• 26 June. The attacks of 1BF encircle Bobruisk, trapping 40,000 troops of German 41st Panzer Corps (part of 9th Army.
• 14 September IBF with the support of Polish forces, captures Praga, a suburb of Warsaw.

1945

• January Marshal Georgy Zhukov appointed commander of the 1BF
• 13 January 1BF began an offensive toward Pillkallen in East Prussia, against which they meet stiff resistance from the III Panzer Army .
• 14 January 1BF continues its attacks South of Warsaw from two Vistula bridgeheads, one of which holds 400,000 men and 1,700 tanks.
• 24 January 1BF and 2nd Belorussian Fronts attacked Pomerania. German II Army was cut off.
• 25 January 1BF cut off the fortress city of Posen which held 66,000 Germans and continued its 80 Km a day advance.
• 31 January IBF reached the river Oder, to the North of Küstrin and establishes a bridgehead on the westen side less than 60 km from Berlin.
• 1 February IBF surround the fortress town of Küstrin.
• 2 February 1BF reaches the Oder to the South of Frankfurt an der Oder
• 6 February 1BF faned out along the east bank of the Oder between Frankfurt and Küstrin.
• 23 February 1BF captured Posen after a month long seige.
• 4 March 1BF broke through at Stargard and drove towards Stettin and also establishes a new bridgehead across the Oder to the South of Frankfurt.
• 27 March 1BF was involved in heavy street fighting in Danzig
• 28 March 1BF captured Gotenhafen north of Danzig.
• 29 march The fortress town of Küstrin fell to the 1BF after siege lasting almost a month.
• 30 March Soviet troops finally captured Danzig
• 16 April 1BF and the 1st Ukrainian Front start the final offensive on Berlin from along the Oder-Neisse line.
• 17 April the 1BF against Berlin is stalled by tenacious German resistance on the Seelow Heights, 3 Km west of the Oder, with great losses of troops and tanks for the Soviets.
• 18 April 1BF continued to batter the German position across the Seelow Heights in a battle of attrition.
• 19 April 1BF Broke through the German defences on the Seelow Heights and moved rapidly towards Berlin.
• 22 April 1BF penetrated the northern and eastern suburbs of Berlin.
• 25 April units of the 1BF and 1st Ukrainian Fronts meet at Kietzen west of Berlin. Berlin is now comleptly encircled by eight Russian armies.
• 30 April Zhukov refuses to grant the defenders of Berlin an armistice and demands an unconditional surrender
• 2 May General Weidling, the commander of Berlins Garrison meets with General Chuikov and accepts his terms of unconditional surrender of Berlin. The garrison in Berlin surrenders at 3pm local time.
• 8 May In deference to the Soviets, the surrender ceremony to the Western Allies at Rheims of the previous day, was repeated before Marshall Zhukov and other Soviet generals at Karlshorst, a suburb of Berlin.