Massacre of Kyiv Jews begins at Babyn Yar

Vyacheslav Molotov’s broadcast informed Soviet listeners of the invasion and called for resistance. The statement framed the war as defense of the homeland and set out the state’s public response to a...

The emergency committee concentrated wartime authority in a small body led by Stalin. It coordinated military, industrial, and civilian mobilization, placing the Union’s republics and populations...

The two governments agreed not to conclude a separate peace and to cooperate against Germany. The agreement established an alliance of necessity between states whose earlier political relations had...

The decree accused the Volga German population collectively of potential collaboration and ordered removal to eastern regions. It dissolved the Volga German autonomous republic and uprooted families...

The siege isolated the city from land routes and produced catastrophic hunger, bombardment, and civilian deaths. Residents, including women and children, sustained defense and transport under...

The United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union agreed on a schedule of military and civilian supplies. Lend-Lease aid contributed to Soviet logistics and production, while Soviet labor and...

Soviet forces launched a counteroffensive that pushed German troops away from Moscow. The victory halted Germany’s immediate advance on the capital but came after enormous military and civilian losses...

The treaty formalized Allied military presence and promised respect for Iranian sovereignty. Iran’s territory and transport routes were strategically vital to supplying the Soviet war effort, while...

The Red Army launched an offensive that was encircled and defeated by German forces. The failure cost lives and equipment and left a large area of Ukraine exposed to occupation and further atrocities.

The order imposed severe discipline, established penal units, and authorized blocking detachments. It reflected the military crisis of 1942 and the state’s use of coercion to prevent retreat;...