Red Army counteroffensive begins near Moscow

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...

German SS and police units and auxiliaries murdered tens of thousands of Jews over two days at Babyn Yar. Further victims included Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, and others. Later Soviet memorial...

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...

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;...

A major German air raid destroyed much of the city and killed civilians. The battle that followed transformed an urban industrial center into a battlefield and became a turning point in the war.

Soviet forces attacked the weaker flanks of the German-led forces around Stalingrad and encircled the Sixth Army. The operation depended on mobilization across multiple Soviet republics and the...