bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Germany > The Eastern Front, updated by RAC 16 May 2022.
The Eastern Front refers to the portion of World War II fought between German and the Soviet Union. The Eastern Front bore 46-plus months of deadly fighting between Soviet forces and Germany and its allies.
The Eastern Front refers to the portion of World War II fought between German and the Soviet Union. The Eastern Front bore 46-plus months of deadly fighting between Soviet forces and Germany and its allies.
At the time, the Soviet Union, also known as the U.S.S.R, was under the control of Joseph Stalin, arguably responsible for more deaths than any other individual in human history. During WWII, the Soviet Union, which collapsed in 1991, consisted of 16 republics, the largest by far being Russia, with the Ukraine in second place.
The scope of the land war on the Eastern Front was without parallel in human history. Losses were enormous, both among combatants and civilians. The Eastern Front witnessed millions of military deaths and even more millions of civilian deaths, often by German barbarity seldom seen in the western world.
Because I am surveying American involvement in World War II, I will make little mention of the Eastern Front. However, I attempt to keep in mind that the Eastern Front was where the most blood was shed.
The scope of the land war on the Eastern Front was without parallel in human history. Losses were enormous, both among combatants and civilians. The Eastern Front witnessed millions of military deaths and even more millions of civilian deaths, often by German barbarity seldom seen in the western world.
Because I am surveying American involvement in World War II, I will make little mention of the Eastern Front. However, I attempt to keep in mind that the Eastern Front was where the most blood was shed.
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On 22 Jun 1941, Gemany violated its 1939 non-agression treaty with the Soviet Union and launched Operation Barbarossa, a massive invasion of the western portions of the Soviet Union. German offensives pushed German forces deep into the Soviet Union in the summer and fall of 1941. The German offensives finally were halted by autumn rains, the onset of winter, and Russian reinforcements arriving from east Asia.
One of the first cities to fall was Grodno, on the Nieman River south of Kaunus. My wife's paternal grandmother came from Grodno. Before World War II, half of the population of Grodno was Jewish. Few survived. |
WW II - The Eastern Front - 1941
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In the spring of 1942, the German offensive began anew, but primarily in the southern portion of the Eastern Front. German goals included seizing Russian oil fields in the northern Caucasus, a goal they barely failed to attain.
In the fall and early winter, Soviet troops finally prevailed in the epic Battle of Stalingrad, located on a bend in the Volga River on the accompanying map. Many view Stalingrad, now named Volgograd, as the turning point in the War with Germany. |
WW II - The Eastern Front - 1942
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In the summer of 1943, Germany tried to regain the initiative with a massive armored attack in the Kurst salient, northwest of Stalingrad on the accompanying mapt. This attack failed, and for the remainder of the war few German attacks were successful.
Kurst was followed by equally massive Russian counteroffensives in 1943 and 1944, with advances shown on this map. |
WW II - The Eastern Front 1943-44
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The final Russian offensive started in January, 1945. In mid-April, Russian troops reached the Elbe River, the prearranged border between the ETO and the Eastern Front. Soviet troops prevailed in the hard-fought Battle of Berlin, from 16 Apr to 2 May, during which Adolf Hitler, the man most responsible for this human catastrophe, suicided in his bunker in Berlin.
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WW II - The Eastern Front - 1945
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Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII-Germany > Eastern Front webpage:
- The WW II - The Eastern Front - 1941 map was found at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Eastern_Front_1941-06_to_1941-12.png
- The WW II - The Eastern Front - 1942 map was found at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eastern_Front_1942-05_to_1942-11.png
- The WW II - The Eastern Front 1943-44 map is courtesy of Encyclopedia Britannica.
- The WW II - The Eastern Front - 1945 map was found at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eastern_Front_1945-01_to_1945-05.png