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Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along a front, with the main goal of capturing territory up to a line between Arkhangelsk and Astrakhan, known as the A-A line. The attack became the largest and costliest military offensive in history, with around 10 million combatants taking part in the opening phase and over 8 million casualties by the end of the operation on 5 December 1941. It marked a major escalation of World War II, opened the Eastern Front—the largest and deadliest land war in history—and brought the Soviet Union into the Allied powers. The operation, code-named after the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa ("red beard"), put into action Nazi Germany's ideological goals of eradicating communism and conquering the western Soviet Union to repopulate it w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the European Axis powers and Allies of World War II, Allies, including the Soviet Union (USSR) and Polish Armed Forces in the East, Poland. It encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltic states, Baltics), and Southeast Europe (Balkans), and lasted from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945. Of the estimated World War II casualties, 70–85 million deaths attributed to World War II, around 30 million occurred on the Eastern Front, including 9 million children. The Eastern Front was decisive in determining the outcome in the European theatre of World War II, European theatre of operations in World War II, eventually serving as the main reason for the defeat of Nazi Germany and the Axis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3rd Cavalry Division "Principe Amedeo Duca D'Aosta"
The 3rd Cavalry Division "Amadeo I of Spain, Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta" () was a Cavalry or "Celere" (Fast) Division (military), division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The division was formed in 1934, and during World War II was mobilized in June 1940. As a cavalry division it took part in the Invasion of Yugoslavia and was part of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia. Annihilated during the Red Army's Operation Little Saturn in December 1942, the survivors returned to Italy in spring 1943. History The division was formed on 1 November 1934 as 3rd Cavalry Division "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta" in Milan. Although not officially sanctioned the division is considered to be the heir of the 3rd Cavalry Division of Lombardy, which fought in World War I and consisted of the V and VI cavalry brigades and was based in Milan. The division consisted of the III Cavalry Brigade "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta" and the 3rd Artillery Regiment for Cavalry Division. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1922 to 1952 and as the fourth Premier of the Soviet Union, premier from 1941 until his death. He initially governed as part of a Collective leadership in the Soviet Union, collective leadership, but Joseph Stalin's rise to power, consolidated power to become an absolute dictator by the 1930s. Stalin codified the party's official interpretation of Marxism as Marxism–Leninism, while the totalitarian political system he created is known as Stalinism. Born into a poor Georgian family in Gori, Georgia, Gori, Russian Empire, Stalin attended the Tiflis Theological Seminary before joining the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. He raised f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim
Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (, 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish military commander, aristocrat, and statesman. He served as the military leader of the White Guard (Finland), Whites in the Finnish Civil War (1918), as List of regents#Finland, Regent of Finland (1918–1919), as Chief of Defence (Finland), commander-in-chief of the Finnish Defence Forces during Finland in World War II, World War II (1939–1945), and as the sixth president of Finland (1944–1946). He became Finland's only Field marshal (Finland), field marshal in 1933 and was appointed honorary Marshal of Finland in 1942. Born into a Swedish-speaking population of Finland, Swedish-speaking family in the Grand Duchy of Finland, Mannerheim made a career in the Imperial Russian Army, serving in the Russo-Japanese War and the Eastern Front (World War I), Eastern Front of World War I and rising by 1917 to the rank of lieutenant general. He had a prominent place in the Coronation of Nicholas II and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conducător'' during most of World War II. Having been responsible for facilitating the Holocaust in Romania, he was overthrown in 1944, before being tried for war crimes and executed two years later in 1946. A Romanian Army career officer who made his name during the 1907 Romanian peasants' revolt, 1907 peasants' revolt and the Romania in World War I, World War I Romanian campaign, the antisemitic Antonescu sympathized with Far-right politics, far-right and Fascism, fascist politics. He was a military attaché to France and later Chief of the Romanian General Staff, Chief of the General Staff, briefly serving as Ministry of National Defense (Romania), Defence Minister in the National Christian cabinet of Octavian Goga as well as the subsequent F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilhelm Ritter Von Leeb
Wilhelm Josef Franz Ritter von Leeb (5 September 1876 – 29 April 1956) was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field marshal, Field Marshal) of the ''Wehrmacht'' during the Second World War, who was subsequently convicted of war crimes. Leeb was a highly decorated officer in World War I and was awarded the Military Order of Max Joseph which granted him the title of nobility. During the Battle of France, he commanded Army Group C, responsible for the breakthrough of the Maginot Line. During Operation Barbarossa—the invasion of the Soviet Union—Leeb commanded Army Group North, which Baltic Operation, advanced through the Baltic states#Soviet and German occupations, 1940–1991, Baltic States towards Leningrad (present day St. Petersburg), eventually Siege of Leningrad, laying siege to the city. Units under Leeb’s command committed War crimes of the Wehrmacht, war crimes against the civilian population and closely cooperated with the SS ''Einsatzgruppen'', death squads prima ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerd Von Rundstedt
Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt (12 December 1875 – 24 February 1953) was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal) in the ''German Army (1935–1945), Heer'' (Army) of Nazi Germany and OB West, ''Oberbefehlshaber West'' (Commander-in-Chief in the West) during World War II. At the end of the war, aged 69, with over 52 years of service, he was the Army's most senior officer. Born into a Prussian family with a long military tradition, Rundstedt entered the Prussian Army in 1892. During World War I, he served mainly as a staff officer. In the interwar period, he continued his military career, reaching the rank of (Colonel General) before retiring in 1938. He was recalled at the beginning of World War II as commander of Army Group South in the invasion of Poland. He commanded Army Group A during the Battle of France, and requested the Halt Order during the Battle of Dunkirk. He was 1940 Field Marshal Ceremony, promoted to the rank of Field Marshal in 1940. In the inva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fedor Von Bock
Moritz Albrecht Franz Friedrich Fedor von Bock (3 December 1880 – 4 May 1945) was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal) who served in the German Army during the Second World War. Bock served as the commander of Army Group North during the Invasion of Poland in 1939, of Army Group B during the Invasion of France in 1940, of Army Group Center during Operation Barbarossa in 1941, and of Army Group South on the Eastern Front in 1942. Bock was a staff officer of the Imperial German Army during World War I and rose through the ranks of the post-war ''Reichswehr'' during the Weimar Republic. Bock was given his first command post in 1935, playing a key role in the ''Anschluss'', the annexation of the Sudetenland, the invasion of Poland, and the invasion of France for which he was promoted to ''Generalfeldmarschall''. Bock was successful during the Operation Barbarossa and commanded Operation Typhoon, the German attempt to capture Moscow during the autumn and w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hans Jeschonnek
Hans Jeschonnek (9 April 1899 – 18 August 1943) was a German military aviator in the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' during World War I, a general staff officer in the ''Reichswehr'' in the inter–war period and ''Generaloberst'' (Colonel-General) and a Chief of the General Staff (Germany), Chief of the General Staff in the Luftwaffe, the aerial warfare branch of the ''Wehrmacht'' during World War II. He was born in 1899 and joined the military as a cadet in 1909. Trained as an officer at a military academy, he was granted his commission in 1914 and served in the infantry on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front. In 1916 he transferred to the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' and trained as a fighter pilot. Jeschonnek shot down two enemy aircraft by the time of the German defeat in November 1918, earning the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st class. Jeschonnek remained in the military, joining the ''Reichswehr'', the Weimar Republic armed forces. He fought in the Silesian Uprisings in 1919 and then se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which governed Germany from 1933 to 1945. He also served as ''Oberkommando der Luftwaffe, Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe'' (Supreme Commander of the Air Force), a position he held until the final days of the regime. He was born in Rosenheim, Kingdom of Bavaria, Bavaria. A veteran World War I fighter pilot Flying aces, ace, Göring was a recipient of the . He served as the last commander of Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War I), ''Jagdgeschwader'' 1 (JG I), the fighter wing once led by Manfred von Richthofen. An early member of the Nazi Party, Göring was among those wounded in Adolf Hitler's failed Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. While receiving treatment for his injuries, he developed an addiction to morphine that persisted until the last year of his life. Aft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franz Halder
Franz Halder (30 June 1884 – 2 April 1972) was a German general and the chief of staff of the Oberkommando des Heeres, Army High Command (OKH) in Nazi Germany from 1938 until September 1942. During World War II, he directed the planning and implementation of Operation Barbarossa, the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. Halder became instrumental in the radicalisation of warfare on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front. He had his staff draft both the Commissar Order (issued on 6 June 1941) and the Barbarossa Decree (signed on 13 May 1941) that allowed German soldiers to execute Soviet citizens for any reason without fear of later prosecution, leading to numerous war crimes and atrocities during the campaign. After the war, he had a decisive role in the development of the myth of the clean Wehrmacht, myth of the clean ''Wehrmacht''. Halder began his military service in 1914. In 1937 he met and became a supporter of Adolf Hitler. Halder participated in the strategic pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walther Von Brauchitsch
Walther Heinrich Alfred Hermann von Brauchitsch (4 October 1881 – 18 October 1948) was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal) and Commander-in-Chief (''Oberbefehlshaber'') of the German Army during the first two years of World War II. Born into an aristocratic military family, he entered army service in 1901. During World War I, he served with distinction on the corps-level and division-level staff on the Western Front. After the 1933 Nazi seizure of power, Brauchitsch was put in charge of '' Wehrkreis'' I, the East Prussian military district. He borrowed immense sums of money from Adolf Hitler and became dependent on his financial help. Brauchitsch served as Commander-in-Chief of the German Army from February 1938 to December 1941. He played a key role in the Battle of France and oversaw the German invasions of Yugoslavia and Greece. For his part in the Battle of France, he became one of twelve generals promoted to field marshal. After suffering a heart atta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
