1941 : GERMANS ADVANCE IN USSR:
One week after launching a massive invasion of the USSR, German
divisions make staggering advances on Leningrad, Moscow, and Kiev.
Despite his signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939, Soviet leader
Joseph Stalin knew that war with Nazi Germany--the USSR's natural
ideological enemy--was inevitable. In 1941, he received reports that
German forces were massing along the USSR's eastern border. He ordered
a partial mobilization, unwisely believing that Nazi leader Adolf
Hitler would never open another front until Britain was subdued.
Stalin was thus surprised by the invasion that came on June 22, 1941.
On that day, 150 German divisions poured across the Soviet Union's
1,800-mile-long eastern frontier in one of the largest and most
powerful military operations in history.
Aided by its far superior air force, the Luftwaffe, the Germans raced
across the USSR in three great army groups, inflicting terrible
casualties on the Red Army and Soviet civilians. On June 29, the
cities of Riga and Ventspils in Latvia fell, 200 Soviet aircraft were
shot down, and the encirclement of three Russian armies was nearly
complete at Minsk in Belarus. Assisted by their Romanian and Finnish
allies, the Germans conquered vast territory in the opening months of
the invasion, and by mid-October the great Russian cities of Leningrad
and Moscow were under siege.
However, like Napoleon Bonaparte in 1812, Hitler failed to take into
account the Russian people's historic determination in resisting
invaders. Although millions of Soviet soldiers and citizens perished
in 1941, and to the rest of the world it seemed certain that the USSR
would fall, the defiant Red Army and bitter Russian populace were
steadily crushing Hitler's hopes for a quick victory. Stalin had far
greater reserves of Red Army divisions than German intelligence had
anticipated, and the Soviet government did not collapse from lack of
popular support as expected. Confronted with the harsh reality of Nazi
occupation, Soviets chose Stalin's regime as the lesser of two evils
and willingly sacrificed themselves in what became known as the "Great
Patriotic War."
The German offensive against Moscow stalled only 20 miles from the
Kremlin, Leningrad's spirit of resistance remained strong, and the
Soviet armament industry--transported by train to the safety of the
east--carried on, safe from the fighting. Finally, what the Russians
call "General Winter" rallied again to their cause, crippling the
Germans' ability to maneuver and thinning the ranks of the divisions
ordered to hold their positions until the next summer offensive. The
winter of 1941 came early and was the worst in decades, and German
troops without winter coats were decimated by the major Soviet
counteroffensives that began in December.
In May 1942, the Germans, who had held their line at great cost,
launched their summer offensive. They captured the Caucasus and pushed
to the city of Stalingrad, where one of the greatest battles of World
War II began. In November 1942, a massive Soviet counteroffensive was
launched out of the rubble of Stalingrad, and at the end of January
1943 German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrendered his encircled
army. It was the turning point in the war, and the Soviets
subsequently recaptured all the territory taken by the Germans in
their 1942 offensive.
In July 1943, the Germans launched their last major attack, at Kursk;
after two months of fierce battle involving thousands of tanks it
ended in failure. From thereon, the Red Army steadily pushed the
Germans back in a series of Soviet offensives. In January 1944,
Leningrad was relieved, and a giant offensive to sweep the USSR clean
of its invaders began in May. In January 1945, the Red Army launched
its final offensive, driving into Czechoslovakia and Austria and, in
late April, Berlin. The German capital was captured on May 2, and five
days later Germany surrendered in World War II.
More than 18 million Soviet soldiers and civilians lost their lives in
the Great Patriotic War. Germany lost more than three million men as a
result of its disastrous invasion of the USSR.
history.com/tdih.do
1966 : Vietnam air war escalates
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5133
1972 : Supreme Court strikes down death penalty
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5134
1974 : Isabela Peron takes office as Argentine president
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5135
#########################################
One week after launching a massive invasion of the USSR, German
divisions make staggering advances on Leningrad, Moscow, and Kiev.
Despite his signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939, Soviet leader
Joseph Stalin knew that war with Nazi Germany--the USSR's natural
ideological enemy--was inevitable. In 1941, he received reports that
German forces were massing along the USSR's eastern border. He ordered
a partial mobilization, unwisely believing that Nazi leader Adolf
Hitler would never open another front until Britain was subdued.
Stalin was thus surprised by the invasion that came on June 22, 1941.
On that day, 150 German divisions poured across the Soviet Union's
1,800-mile-long eastern frontier in one of the largest and most
powerful military operations in history.
Aided by its far superior air force, the Luftwaffe, the Germans raced
across the USSR in three great army groups, inflicting terrible
casualties on the Red Army and Soviet civilians. On June 29, the
cities of Riga and Ventspils in Latvia fell, 200 Soviet aircraft were
shot down, and the encirclement of three Russian armies was nearly
complete at Minsk in Belarus. Assisted by their Romanian and Finnish
allies, the Germans conquered vast territory in the opening months of
the invasion, and by mid-October the great Russian cities of Leningrad
and Moscow were under siege.
However, like Napoleon Bonaparte in 1812, Hitler failed to take into
account the Russian people's historic determination in resisting
invaders. Although millions of Soviet soldiers and citizens perished
in 1941, and to the rest of the world it seemed certain that the USSR
would fall, the defiant Red Army and bitter Russian populace were
steadily crushing Hitler's hopes for a quick victory. Stalin had far
greater reserves of Red Army divisions than German intelligence had
anticipated, and the Soviet government did not collapse from lack of
popular support as expected. Confronted with the harsh reality of Nazi
occupation, Soviets chose Stalin's regime as the lesser of two evils
and willingly sacrificed themselves in what became known as the "Great
Patriotic War."
The German offensive against Moscow stalled only 20 miles from the
Kremlin, Leningrad's spirit of resistance remained strong, and the
Soviet armament industry--transported by train to the safety of the
east--carried on, safe from the fighting. Finally, what the Russians
call "General Winter" rallied again to their cause, crippling the
Germans' ability to maneuver and thinning the ranks of the divisions
ordered to hold their positions until the next summer offensive. The
winter of 1941 came early and was the worst in decades, and German
troops without winter coats were decimated by the major Soviet
counteroffensives that began in December.
In May 1942, the Germans, who had held their line at great cost,
launched their summer offensive. They captured the Caucasus and pushed
to the city of Stalingrad, where one of the greatest battles of World
War II began. In November 1942, a massive Soviet counteroffensive was
launched out of the rubble of Stalingrad, and at the end of January
1943 German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrendered his encircled
army. It was the turning point in the war, and the Soviets
subsequently recaptured all the territory taken by the Germans in
their 1942 offensive.
In July 1943, the Germans launched their last major attack, at Kursk;
after two months of fierce battle involving thousands of tanks it
ended in failure. From thereon, the Red Army steadily pushed the
Germans back in a series of Soviet offensives. In January 1944,
Leningrad was relieved, and a giant offensive to sweep the USSR clean
of its invaders began in May. In January 1945, the Red Army launched
its final offensive, driving into Czechoslovakia and Austria and, in
late April, Berlin. The German capital was captured on May 2, and five
days later Germany surrendered in World War II.
More than 18 million Soviet soldiers and civilians lost their lives in
the Great Patriotic War. Germany lost more than three million men as a
result of its disastrous invasion of the USSR.
history.com/tdih.do
1966 : Vietnam air war escalates
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5133
1972 : Supreme Court strikes down death penalty
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5134
1974 : Isabela Peron takes office as Argentine president
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5135
#########################################
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