Eastern Front

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military operations on the Eastern Front, 1941–45

German soldiers during Operation Barbarossa

Why did the German-led invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 fall short?

Operation Barbarossa: Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union

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Eastern Front: Facts & Related Content

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News •

Russia-Ukraine War: Zelensky Says Eastern Front Endures Barrage of Shelling (Published 2022) • May 5, 2025, 5:11 AM ET (New York Times)

Facts

Location	Europe
Context	World War II

Photos and Videos

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

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Timeline

Operation Barbarossa

June 22, 1941

Siege of Leningrad

September 8, 1941 - January 27, 1944

Battle of Stalingrad

August 22, 1942 - February 2, 1943

Battle of Kursk

July 5, 1943 - August 23, 1943

Key People

Georgy Zhukov

Soviet marshal

Gerd von Rundstedt

German field marshal

Ivan Stepanovich Konev

Soviet general

Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov

Soviet military and political leader

Heinz Guderian

German general

Heinrich Eberbach

German military officer

Fedor von Bock

German military officer

Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky

Soviet commander

Paul Ludwig von Kleist

German general

Pyotr Nikolayevich Krasnov

Russian officer

Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky

Soviet military officer

Günther von Kluge

German general

Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov

Soviet officer

Hasso, baron of Manteuffel

German military strategist

Walther von Brauchitsch

German military officer

Semyon Timoshenko

Soviet general