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''This is a sub-article to Battle of Narva.'' The Battle of Narva Bridgehead (Estonian: ''Narva lahingud''; German: ''Schlacht um den Brückenkopf von Narva''; Russian: ''Битва за плацдарм Нарва''; 2 February – 26 July 1944) was the campaign that stalled the Soviet Estonian Operation in the surroundings of the town of Narva for six months. It was the first phase of the Battle of Narva campaign fought at the Eastern Front during World War II, the second phase being the Battle of Tannenberg Line. A number of volunteer Waffen SS units from Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium fought on the German side. Several Western authors dealing with the foreign national units nickname the campaign as the Battle of the European SS. The involved Estonian conscripts fought to defend their country against the looming Soviet reoccupation. The Soviet Estonian Offensive was a follow-on of the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive. Its aim was to reconquer Estonia, which was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. Although Narva was not the main direction of the Soviet offensives on the Eastern Front in 1944, the Baltic Sea seemed the quickest way to Joseph Stalin for taking the battles to the German ground and seizing control of Finland.〔 The Soviet Estonian offensive stalled after securing several bridgeheads over the Narva River and facing the Nazi German Wotan Line. The fierce fighting starting in February stopped at the end of April. With the Narva Offensive, 24–30 July 1944, the Red Army captured the town of Narva, as the German troops retreated 16 kilometres to the southwest to continue fighting at their prepared positions. The German forces managed to block the Soviet advance to the Baltic ports for nearly six months due to the nature of the terrain and the resistance of the international troops. ==Background== Breaking through the Narva isthmus situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Peipus was of major strategic importance to the Soviet Armed Forces. The success of the Estonian Operation would have provided unobstructed advance along the coast to Tallinn, forcing Army Group North to escape from Estonia for fear of being besieged. For the Baltic Fleet trapped in an eastern bay of the Gulf of Finland, Tallinn was the closest exit to the Baltic Sea. The ejection of Army Group North from Estonia would have made southern Finland subject to air and amphibious attacks originating from Estonian bases. The retreat of Army Group North from the surroundings of Leningrad made the commanders of Finland realise that soon it may be too late to start negotiations with the Soviet Union. On 31 January 1944, General Field Marshal Keitel sent a letter to the Finnish Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim, claiming that the retreat of Army Group North to the Panther Line constituted no danger whatsoever to Finland.〔 Marshal Mannerheim did not share the optimism, expressing his concern that the road in Narva would be open not only to Estonia, but also to Finland. As the German condition worsened in the Narva front, President of Finland Juho Kusti Paasikivi was presented with Stalin's peace terms on 8 February. However, Finland resumed in the war. To separate Finland from Germany and make her defence hopeless, Stalin needed to conquer Estonia.〔〔 Stalin hoped that a breakthrough at Narva would make Finland sign a peace treaty quickly.〔〔 The perspective of an invasion to East Prussia through Estonia〔 appealed even more to the Soviet Main Command, as it appeared bringing German resistance to a collapse.〔 Stalin gave a short and clear order to the Leningrad Front on 14 February:〔 With the tactical success of Army Group Narwa in late February, March and April, Finland terminated the negotiations with the Soviet Union on 18 April.〔(Chronology ) at the EIHC〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle for Narva Bridgehead」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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