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Nazi-Soviet Pact
Agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union to not attack each other. It was also an exchange of German manufactured goods for Soviet raw materials. -
Soviet Union invades Poland
The Soviet Union invaded Poland in 1939 in order to "protect" slavs living in Poland. The Soviet Union ended up with about three fifths of Poland and 13 million people. -
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The Winter War
War between the Soviet Union and Finland. It was a result of Stalin wanting to expand his influence over eastern Europe. He also wanted to protect the city of Leningrad. The Fins were outnumbered and used guerrilla tactics against the Soviets. They also fought on skis. The the war ended with Finland agreeing to peace terms and giving up 11 percent of their land. -
Picture for Winter War
Ski Troops -
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Soviet Union Gets Invaded
Germany broke the non-aggression pact that they signed with the Soviet Union in 1939. The Germans also aimed to control the natural resources in Ukraine. It is known as the largest land invasion in history. -
Battle of Moscow
The invasion of the Soviet Union had come as far as Moscow. The Germans tried to encircle Moscow and capture the city for months, but the Soviet soldiers and the increasingly cold weather eventually wore them down. By December, Soviet reinforcements had arrived from the far east and the Soviets launched a counterattack to drive the germans away from Moscow. -
The Battle of Stalingrad
This battle is known as one of the bloodiest battles in history. About 2 million troops were killed or injured during this battle. Hitler wanted to take the city because it had Stalin's name and therefore could be used for propaganda. The Soviets sustained heavy losses, but encircled the city and trapped about 300,000 axis troops.This battle changed the tide of the war for the Allied powers. -
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Operation Little Saturn
This was an Soviet Operation that trapped one third of the german army in Russia in the Caucasus. It was a success and the germans were forced to withdraw from the Caucasus and form a new line 160 miles of where it previously was. -
Operation Bagration
Operation Bagration was a soviet offensive in 1944. It was arguably the largest allied operation 2.3 million men. This operation destroyed 3 german armies. It was designed to support allied operations in France. -
The Battle of Berlin
It was 1945 and Germany had already lost the war, but Hitler would not surrender. At the beginning of April, Soviet forces were ready to attack Seelow Heights which was the last natural line of defense before they reached Berlin. Stalin had two generals that had a rivalry between each other. He told them that whoever broke through german defenses first was authorized to take the capital. The battle was decided by the sheer numbers of the Soviet forces. -
Invasion of Manchuria
After the Allied powers had defeated Germany and captured Berlin, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. They poured more than a million troops into Japanese occupied Manchuria. They caught the Japanese off guard because they thought that they would not have to fight the Soviets until 1946.