-
Period: to
The Eastern Front
-
The Great Purge begins
Stalin and the Politburo order for the mass execution and elimination of any and all enemies of the state. The NKVD carries out Stalin's various purges, which last from 1936-1939, with brutal efficiency and arrest and kill over 20 million individuals from every facet of Soviet society. -
Molotov-Von Ribbentrop Non Aggression Pact
The U.S.S.R and the Third Reich agreed to not invade each other for 10 years, this allowed Germany to invade Poland unopposed. Furthermore, Russia would gain the Eastern portion of Poland and all of Estonia, Lithuanina, and Latvia. -
Soviet Union invades Finland
Believing its security to be "threatened" and seeking more lands the massive Red Army invaded the Scandanavian nation of Finland. Aided by one of the coldest winters in history, use of natural defenses and ski-troops, and the U.S.S.R's recent purge of officers, the Finns were able to mout spectacular defense against all odds. Though the Russians finally prevail on March 10th, 1940, their victory is costly with the Finns accuring over 360,000 Russian casualties and they gain little land. -
Operation Barbarossa
Largest land invasion of history in which more than 4 million Axis soldiers invaded and carved deep into the U.S.S.R. Massive amounts of Soviet military personnel, over 150,000 in the first week, were killed and entire armies were enveloped by the Nazi Juggernaut. The invasion would be halted by the infamous Russian Winter and stiff Russian Resistance. -
Siege of Leningrad
German and Finnish forces fight to encircle the Soviet Union's second largest city. The Axis forces lay siege to the stuggling and tenacious defenders for a total of 872 days, by which time more than 1 million civilians and countless Soviet soldiers were dead. The nearby Lake Ladoga acted as a frozen lifeline upon which supplys could be funneled across to the besieged city. On January 27th, 1944 the Germans made a strategic retreat southwards to avoid being devastated. -
Defense of Moscow
The Germans continued their push into the heart of the Motherland in an attempt to seize Moscow. The Whermacht becomes bogged down by the onset of the mud season and the Soviet utilize a scorched earth policy to ensure no resources are availiable to the invaders. Aided by a brutal russian winter the Soviets defenders were able to repel the Germans, on January 7th, 1942, and begin their Winter Counter-offensive. The Germans lose around 400,000 men, and the Soviets lose approximately 1,128,000. -
Stalin decrees "Order 227"
Josef Stalin issued "Order No. 270," on August 16th, 1941, to increase the morale of the Soviet military. The order decreed that there could be no surrender and those that surrendered would be shot and their family's "detained." Stalin then revised the order by creating "Order No. 227" declared that there could be "Not one step back!" and that all Soviet soldiers must fight to the last man or die trying. Also, all retreaing soldiers were to be deemed enemies of the state and executed. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Germans began their drive into Southern Russia in the summer of 1942 and pushed on to the city of Stalingrad on banks of the Volga. Stalingrad would quickly become the largest and bloodiest battle in human history, costing the lives of more than 2 million, and would witness brutal urban close quarters and street to street and house to house fighting
between German and Soviet forces amongst the rubble and
ruin. The Soviets eventually emerged victorious on February
2nd, 1943. -
Operation Uranus
Soviet forces counterattack German forces in the vicinity of Stalingrad as the Winter sets in. The Axis forces are greatly undersupplied and illequipped to face the fury of the Russian winter of 1942. The Soviets gain the inititaive by luanching a massive three pronged attack that leaves the enemy stunned and confused, and leaves the German Sixth Army encircled. Left to die the Sixth Army eventually surrendered in February, and thus the Germans had lost the intiative on the Eastern Front. -
Battle of Kursk
After repelling the counterattack that destroyed the Sixth Army in March 1943, the Germans prepared a massive counter-offensive to turn the tide on the Eastern Front. The Germans mustered around 800,000 men equipped with the latest in equipment and vehicles in the German arsenal to break through the gigantic amounts of defenses constructed by the Soviets. The German northern attack became bogged down, whilst the attack from the south succeeded until repulsed at Prokhorovoka on July 12th, 1943. -
Second Battle of Kiev
After repulsing the Germans at Kursk, the Soviets luanched on attack on the retreating Germans to seize back Ukraine, and cross the Dneiper. The Soviets encountered some difficulties but managed to liberate the U.S.S.R's third largest city, Kiev, on November 13th, 1943, and then defended their possessions in Ukraine until November 22nd, 1943. The Germans were soon forced to retreat from Ukraine to refit and resupply. -
Operation Bagration
In the summer of 1944 the Soviets prepared a massive attack into Belarus, Poland, Ukraine, and the Baltic States. The Soviets used the cover of darkness and various camouflage technics to hide their troop movements as well as large amounts of deception to mask their true intentions. The initial Soviets attack in Belarus caught the Germans by complete suprise and forced much of the Whermacht on the Eastern Front to retreat or face utter obliteration. -
Battle of Berlin
The Soviet Juggernaut continued to carve deep into German occupied lands and by April 16th the 6.2 million strong Red Army was poised to seize the heart of the Third Reich, Berlin. This battle would witness some of the Eastern Front's most brutal fighting as the Soviets fought house-house and street-street, above and below ground against the tenacious German defenders. By May 2nd, 1945 the Germans finally surrendered against the Soviet onslaught. -
Germany surrenders to Soviet High Command
On May 8th, 1945, facing destruction on both fronts the German high command finally surrendered to the Western allies and the Soviet High Command. The Germans had lost a total of 8.8 million individuals (5.3 million of which were soldiers) in WWII, whereas the Soviets had lost a total of 24 million individuals (10.7 million of which were soldiers) in their fight to take back their lands and defeat the Nazi Invader. -
Potsdam Conference
The Big Three met in Potsdam, Germany to dicuss the fate of post-war Germany and war ravaged Europe. Furthermore, the Big Three came together to dicuss the balance of power in post-war Europe, with various victorious nations receiving their specific zones of power within Germany. However, the "Iron Curtain" had already fallen and the atomic bombings of Japan had occured, thus resulting in the start of the Cold War.
