Cold Winter

As the beginning of 1942 came, a part of Soviet land was under Nazi control. Yet the hard winter had caused the Nazi's to stop dead in their tracks to take over Russia. As the standstill continued on, the Soviets were mobilizing men in an effort to raise their troop strength to 9 million. The factories that produced the Soviet war machine were moved out of harm's way and were beginning new life into the desperate Soviet army.

Soviet prisoners are being treated with no respect by the German forces. Reports tell us that by February 1942, 2.8 to 3.9 million Soviet P.O.W.s (or prisoners of war) were killed. The German forces executed hundreds of thousands. The others are reported to of died from the horrible conditions they were kept in.

Stalin is believed to have realized that Hitler had a summer offense in his pocket. So Stalin did the obvious thing and put his reinforcements in front of Moscow. When Hitler finally withdrew his forces 85 miles away from Moscow, Stalin could not wait for him to strike. He ordered an attack in May to take back the southern city of Kharkov. Soviet forces felt a strong sense of strong German resistance and were forced to retreat.

Shortly after the battle of Kharkov, Hitler started his summer offense. He headed towards the valuable oil fields of Malikop and Gronzy. When Hitler finally reached the Gronzy fields, he found that the Soviets had destroyed the fields. Hitler therefore turned his forces towards Stalingrad.

Josef Stalin

The Anti-Comintern Pact

The Beginning of Alliances

The Nazi-Soviet Pact

The Invasion of Finland

The Annexation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

Shifting Sides

Operation Barabossa

"The Russians Lost the War in Eight Days"

Cold Winter

Moscow, Kiev, and Stalingrad

The Battle for Moscow