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Eastern Front: Quick Facts

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Facts

Location Europe
Context World War II

Photos and Videos

Battle of Stalingrad
Two side-by-side black and white maps showing the Russian Front during World War II. The left map illustrates the Axis offensive from 1941 to 1942, with battle lines advancing deep into Soviet territory. The right map shows the Soviet counter-offensive from 1942 to 1945, with battle lines pushing westward through Eastern Europe toward Germany. Major cities, national borders, and key battle lines for different years are marked, covering areas from Germany and Poland to the Soviet Union and the Bl
Adolf Hitler and Colonel General Alfred Jodl in military uniforms lean over a table studying maps during World War II.
German military officer Wilhelm Keitel in uniform and peaked cap with eagle insignia, facing forward in a formal portrait.
Operation Barbarossa
Two Red Army ambulance women in uniform crouch low in tall grass, carrying a stretcher as they move through a Soviet frontline position during World War II.
Siege of Leningrad
Operation Barbarossa
Georgy Zhukov
A group of Soviet soldiers in heavy winter coats and hats gather closely around a map in a snowy field, planning a raid during World War II.
Why Did the German-Led Invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 Fall Short?
Operation Barbarossa: Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union
Examine how Stalin's Red Army defeated Hitler's Fourth and Sixth Armies in the Battle of Stalingrad
The brutal Battle of Stalingrad explained
Consequences of World War II: Mass migration
See All Videos and Images →

Timeline

Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
June 22, 1941
Siege of Leningrad
Siege of Leningrad
September 8, 1941 - January 27, 1944
Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
August 22, 1942 - February 2, 1943
Stone memorial arch in Kursk, Russia, topped with a statue of a horseman holding a spear, with statues and reliefs on the arch and a church visible through the central archway.
Battle of Kursk
July 5, 1943 - August 23, 1943

Key People

Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Zhukov
Soviet military commander
Gerd von Rundstedt in German military uniform and cap, shown in a black-and-white portrait.
Gerd von Rundstedt
German field marshal
Ivan Konev
Ivan Stepanovich Konev
Soviet general
Voroshilov, Kliment Yefremovich
Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov
Soviet military and political leader
Heinz Guderian
Heinz Guderian
German general
Eberbach, Heinrich
Heinrich Eberbach
German military officer
Bock, Fedor von
Fedor von Bock
German military officer
default image
Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky
Soviet commander
Kleist, Paul Ludwig von
Paul Ludwig von Kleist
German general
default image
Pyotr Nikolayevich Krasnov
Russian officer
default image
Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky
Soviet military officer
Günther von Kluge, German field marshal during World War II.
Günther von Kluge
German general
Vlasov, Andrey Andreyevich
Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov
Soviet officer
default image
Hasso, baron of Manteuffel
German military strategist
Brauchitsch, Walther von
Walther von Brauchitsch
German military officer
Semyon Timoshenko
Semyon Timoshenko
Soviet general