Soviet and U.S. troops meet at the Elbe River

NKVD forces began mass deportation of Chechens and Ingush to Central Asia under collective accusations of collaboration. People were forced from their homes in winter; many died during removal and...

The NKVD deported the Balkar population from the North Caucasus to Central Asia and Siberia and abolished the Kabardino-Balkar autonomous arrangement. The date coincided with International Women’s...

The Soviet government deported the Crimean Tatar population to Central Asia, citing collective collaboration. Families were removed at gunpoint, with many deaths during deportation and exile; the...

Soviet authorities removed Meskhetian Turks and several other borderland communities from southern Georgia to Central Asia. The state cited security concerns and alleged collaboration, but the...

Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill negotiated the final campaign against Nazi Germany and postwar arrangements. Agreements on liberated Europe coexisted with Soviet domination in Eastern Europe, where...

The parade celebrated the Red Army’s victory and projected Stalin’s authority through a carefully staged public spectacle. It honored immense popular sacrifice while centering the state and military...

The Allied leaders discussed occupation of Germany, postwar borders, and Eastern Europe. U.S. diplomatic records reveal sharp disagreement over elections and political control in countries occupied by...

The USSR entered the war against Japan after the European war had ended, in line with commitments made to its Allies. The declaration opened a Soviet campaign in Northeast Asia and aimed to secure...

The Red Army attacked Japanese forces in Manchuria, Korea, and surrounding territories. The swift campaign helped bring about Japan’s surrender and expanded Soviet influence in Northeast Asia, while...

The surrender formally ended the Second World War. Stalin’s Soviet Union emerged as a global power with influence in Eastern Europe and Northeast Asia, but wartime victory also consolidated a security...