RussiaRussia, or the Russian Federation, is a country in Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the largest country in the world, spanning eleven time zones and sharing land borders with fourteen countries. With a population of over 140 million, Russia is the most populous country in Europe and the ninth-most populous in the world. It is a highly urbanised country, with three-fourths of its population living in urban areas.
NATOIntergovernmental military allianceThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmentalmilitary alliance between 32 member states (thirty in Europe and two in North America). Founded in the aftermath of World War II, NATO was established with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. The organization serves as a system of collective security and deterrence, whereby its independent members agree to defend each-other from attack by any outside party.
Russo-Ukrainian warOngoing conflict since 2014BelligerentsRussiaDonetsk PRLuhansk PR North Korea BelarusSupplied by:For details, see Russian military suppliersUkraineSupplied by:For details, see military aid to UkraineCommanders and leadersVladimir PutinSergei ShoiguAndrey BelousovValery GerasimovYevgeny PrigozhinDenis PushilinDmitry TrapeznikovAlexander ZakharchenkoLeonid PasechnikIgor PlotnitskyValery BolotovVolodymyr ZelenskyyPetro PoroshenkoOleksandr TurchynovAndrii ZahorodniukStepan PoltorakRuslan KhomchakValeriy HeleteyIhor TenyukhValerii ZaluzhnyiOleksandr SyrskyiMykhailo DrapatyiStrengthFor details of strengths and units involved at key points in the conflict, see:Combatants of the war in Donbas (2014–2022)Russo-Ukrainian war order of battleCasualties and losses Hundreds of thousands, reports vary widely.
Nazi GermanyGerman state from 1933 to 1945Nazi Germany, officially the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", referred to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and the German Empire (1871–1918).
MongoliaCountry in East AsiaMongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and covers an area of 1,564,116 square kilometers (603,909 square miles), making it the 18th-largest country in the world and the second largest landlocked nation after Kazakhstan, as well as the largest landlocked country that does not border an inland sea.
Franz Josef StraussGerman politician (1915–1988)Personal detailsBorn(1915-09-06)6 September 1915Munich, Bavaria, GermanyDied3 October 1988(1988-10-03) (aged 73)Regensburg, West GermanyPartyChristian Social Union(1946–1988)SpouseMarianne Zwicknagl (m. 1957; died 1984)Children3, including MonikaEducationLMU MunichOccupationPoliticianTeacherCivil servantSignatureMilitary serviceAllegianceGermanyBranch/serviceHeerYears of service1939–1945RankOberleutnantBattles/warsWorld War IIWestern FrontBattle of FranceAllied invasion of Germany Eastern FrontSiege of SevastopolBattle of Stalingrad (WIA)Franz Josef Strauss (German: Strauß; 6 September 1915 – 3 October 1988) was a German politician.
Cold War1947–1991 geopolitical rivalry between US and USSR NATO and Warsaw Pact states in 1988Duration44 years and 9 monthsPart of the post-World War II eraLocationGlobalThe Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalistWestern Bloc and communistEastern Bloc. It began in the aftermath of the Second World War and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
West GermanyToday part ofGermanyFrom 1952 onwards, the official national anthem of West Germany was Deutschlandlied in its entirety, but only the third stanza was typically sung at official events.The state did not cease to exist after reunification but continued as the Federal Republic in an enlarged territory.Population statistics according to the Federal Statistical Office of GermanyIn the state of Saarland, between January 1957 and July 1959, the French franc and Saar francAt first, Bonn was referred to only as the provisional seat of government institutions, but from the early 1970s it was called the "federal capital" (Bundeshauptstadt).Although West Berlin was formally under the sovereignty of the Western Allies and separate from West Germany, it operated as a de facto state of West Germany in many ways, including being represented by non-voting delegates in the West German legislative bodies.West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990.
Finnish languageFinnic languageFinnish (endonym: suomi or suomen kieli) is a Finnic language of the Uralic language family, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland, alongside Swedish. In Sweden, both Finnish and Meänkieli (which has significant mutual intelligibility with Finnish) are official minority languages.
SovereigntySovereignty is generally defined as supreme, independent control and lawmaking authority over a territory. It is expressed through the power to rule and make law. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy, which refers to the ability of a state to act independently in international affairs.
PejorativeA pejorative word, phrase, slur, or derogatory term is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, hatred, or disregard. Sometimes, a term is regarded as pejorative in some social or ethnic groups but not in others or may be originally pejorative but later adopt a non-pejorative sense (or vice versa) in some or all contexts.
Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present)BelligerentsRussiaBelarusNorth KoreaUkraineCommanders and leadersVladimir PutinValery GerasimovSergei ShoiguAndrey BelousovVolodymyr ZelenskyyMykhailo DrapatyiOleksandr SyrskyiValerii ZaluzhnyiUnits involvedOrder of battleOrder of battleStrengthPre-invasion at border:169,000–190,000Pre-invasion total:900,000 military554,000 paramilitaryIn February 2023:300,000+ active personnel in UkraineIn June 2024:700,000 active personnel in the areaPre-invasion total:196,600 military102,000 paramilitaryJuly 2022 total:up to 700,000September 2023 total:over 800,000Casualties and losses Reports vary widely, see § Casualties for details.On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the existing war between the two countries that began when Russia attacked Ukraine in 2014.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.