The Soviet government orders an evacuation from Moscow

The invasion opened a war of annihilation across Soviet territory. Stalin’s government had failed to prepare effectively despite warnings; civilians and soldiers endured occupation, mass killing,...

The emergency body concentrated wartime authority and coordinated the state, economy, and military. Soviet survival depended on the labor and sacrifice of diverse peoples, including workers, women,...

A State Defense Committee decision formalized the evacuation apparatus as German forces advanced. Hundreds of factories and millions of people were moved eastward under extraordinary pressure. This...

A decree collectively accused Soviet Germans of collaboration and ordered their deportation to Siberia and Central Asia. Families were uprooted and subjected to forced settlement and labor; collective...

The siege cut the city’s main land connections and subjected civilians to starvation, bombardment, cold, and disease. Stalin’s wartime leadership did not remove the immense human cost; Leningraders’...

Stalin’s order imposed a state of siege from 20 October, restricting movement and authorizing severe penalties as German forces neared the capital. The measure attempted to restore order after panic...

Soviet forces began a major counteroffensive that pushed German troops away from the capital. The victory depended on mass mobilization, strategic reserves, industrial evacuation, and the labor and...

The treaty committed the two states to cooperation against Nazi Germany and to postwar collaboration. It formalized an alliance between political systems with sharply different aims; Stalin sought...

The order forbade unauthorized retreat and created penal units and blocking detachments. It reflected the desperate conditions of the war while subjecting Soviet soldiers to severe coercion...

Soviet forces struck the flanks of German armies around Stalingrad, beginning the encirclement that led to the surrender of the Sixth Army. The battle became a turning point, achieved through the...