Nazi Germany and its Axis partners invaded the Soviet Union, opening the Eastern Front and forcing the USSR into a total war of survival that would be remembered as the Great Patriotic War.
The USSR established the State Defense Committee (GKO), an extraordinary body that centralized authority over the war economy, production priorities, and mobilization on the home front.
Axis forces initiated a prolonged blockade of Leningrad. The siege became a defining home-front catastrophe and symbol of endurance, with mass civilian suffering and extensive military commitment to keep the city supplied and defended.
Germany’s drive on Moscow opened the climactic struggle for the Soviet capital. Soviet defense, mobilization of reserves, and the coming counteroffensive helped halt the German advance and ended hopes for a swift German victory.
Axis forces began besieging Sevastopol, a key Black Sea port and fortress. The campaign tied down major forces and highlighted the strategic importance of Crimea to both Soviet defense and Axis operations in the south.
The Red Army began major counteroffensives around Moscow, pushing German forces back and demonstrating that the USSR could absorb the 1941 shock and still regain strategic initiative.
Facing deep crisis in 1942, Stalin issued Order No. 227 to tighten discipline, including penal units and "blocking detachments". It reflected the extreme pressures on the home front and the army during the war’s most dangerous phase.
Soviet forces completed the encirclement of the German Sixth Army near Stalingrad, a decisive operational success that shifted momentum and set conditions for the eventual German surrender.
The remaining German forces in the Stalingrad pocket surrendered, marking a watershed defeat for Nazi Germany and a major turning point in the Great Patriotic War.
Germany launched a major offensive against the Kursk salient. Soviet defenses and counteroffensives turned the battle into a decisive failure for Germany’s last major strategic offensive in the East.
Stalin met Roosevelt and Churchill in Tehran, where the Allies coordinated plans for a Western "second front" and synchronized strategy with Soviet offensives—an important junction of wartime diplomacy and coalition warfare.
Soviet forces lifted the siege of Leningrad, ending one of the war’s longest and deadliest blockades and relieving the city after years of starvation, bombardment, and mass civilian loss.
The Red Army launched Operation Bagration, destroying much of Germany’s Army Group Centre and liberating large parts of Belarus, accelerating the Soviet advance toward Central Europe.
Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at Yalta to coordinate final operations and negotiate postwar arrangements for Germany and Europe, foreshadowing both Allied victory and emerging tensions over Eastern Europe.
Soviet armies began the final assault on Berlin, culminating the Red Army’s advance into Germany and bringing the European war to its decisive closing battle.
Berlin’s remaining defenders surrendered, effectively ending organized resistance in the German capital and clearing the way for Germany’s final unconditional surrender.
Following the German surrender signed late on 8 May (Central European time), the USSR commemorated victory on 9 May (Moscow time). Victory Day became a central date of remembrance for the Soviet war effort and home-front sacrifice.
The Great Patriotic War: Soviet Home Front and Eastern Front (1941–1945)
