Joseph Stalin
Wretched Misconduct of the Red Army
By Martin K.A. MorganThe vast Soviet War Memorial in Berlin’s Treptower Park commemorates 5,000 Red Army soldiers who fell in battle in the city in April and May 1945. Read more
Joseph Stalin
Finland on the Eastern Front: Defense of the VKT Line
By Henrik O. LundeIn 1941, Finland joined Nazi Germany in its attack on the Soviet Union, resulting in the third war with its giant eastern neighbor in 23 years. Read more
Joseph Stalin
Operation Long Jump: The Nazi Assassination Attempt on the “Big Three”
By Mason B. WebbIn German it was called Operation Rösselsprung, which translates to “Long Jump.” Its goal was to kill or kidnap the Allies’ “Big Three” leaders––Soviet Premier Josef Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston S. Read more
Joseph Stalin
Nicholas Horthy: Hitler’s Vassal?
By Blaine TaylorThe career of Admiral Nicholas Horthy spanned not only two world wars, but also stretched across the decades from the age of sail to atomic-powered submarines. Read more
Joseph Stalin
The Big Three in Tehran: The Meeting That Shaped WWII
By Michael D. HullWorld War II made a disparate trio of allies —British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Marshal Joseph Stalin, and American President Franklin D. Read more
Joseph Stalin
How Politics, Blunders, and Betrayal in the European Theater Shaped the Postwar Order
By William WeidnerBritish historian Alan Clark wrote in his book Barbarossa, “Roosevelt’s betrayal of Eastern Europe, whether out of calculation or gullibility, is so notorious as to need no further recapitulation.” Read more
Joseph Stalin
Was General Patton Murdered? New Light on an Old Conspiracy
by Peter CrossWhen one thinks about the major conspiracy theories of the post-World War II era, one is drawn to the assassinations of President John F. Read more
Joseph Stalin
A Masterful German Defense at the Battle of Seelow Heights
By William E. WelshThe officers huddled in a candlelit cellar in an abandoned farmhouse midway between the Oder River and Berlin. Read more
Joseph Stalin
Engineering Excellence, Political Dysfunction: Mercedes-Benz in WWII
by Albert MrozFew would argue that Daimler-Benz is one of the most prominent and highly regarded motor vehicle manufacturers in automotive history. Read more
Joseph Stalin
The Red Army’s Bloody Clash at Izyum
By Pat McTaggartDuring the winter of 1941, both the Red Army and the German Wehrmacht experienced a terrifying bloodletting. Adolf Hitler’s seemingly invincible armies, having advanced hundreds of miles inside the Soviet Union, were slowed by the October muddy season that had turned all but a few roads into almost impassible quagmires. Read more
Joseph Stalin
Soviet Partisans: The Rag-Tag Scourge Along WWII’s Eastern Front
by Pat MctaggartThe concept of Soviet partisans participating in Russia’s wars was nothing new in 1941. During Napoleon’s invasion of the country in 1812, small bands of civilians harassed the French and their allies both before and after the retreat from Moscow. Read more
Joseph Stalin
General Andrei Vlasov & Hitler’s Third Reich
By Wil DeacAndrei Andreievich Vlasov, one of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s favorite generals, played a key role in saving Moscow from Adolf Hitler’s armies during the winter of 1941-1942. Read more
Joseph Stalin
Vyacheslav M. Molotov: Steel’s Hammer
By Blaine TaylorThe arrival of Vyacheslav M. Molotov, the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union, in Berlin on a rainy November 12, 1940, was a solemn, strained occasion. Read more
Joseph Stalin
Tula: Hero City of the Soviet Union
By Pat McTaggartIn 1976, the Soviet city of Tula joined an elite group of nine other Soviet communities designated as “Hero Cities.” Read more
Joseph Stalin
The Bid to Break Turkish Neutrality in WWII
By Greg WagmanMaybe the Turks were just bad at picking the winning side. In World War I the Central Powers were defeated by the Allies, so in October 1939 they switched to ally with Britain and France. Read more
Joseph Stalin
The Hossbach Memorandum
By Blaine TaylorOn June 24, 1937, German Minister of War Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg issued a directive marked Top Secret with only four copies to be made, the first for himself and the other three for the heads of the armed forces of the Third Reich. Read more
Joseph Stalin
The PTRS 41 and Other and Russian Anti-Tank Rifles
By Robert CashnerEver since the tank appeared on the battlefield during World War I, armies the world over have sought to field man-portable infantry antitank weapons to give the infantryman a viable defense against the metal monsters. Read more
Joseph Stalin
The Red Army’s T-34 Tank: The Eastern Front and Beyond
By Blaine TaylorIn 1942, careworn Nazi Führer Adolf Hitler lamented to his military intimates at his Wolf’s Lair headquarters near Rastenburg in East Prussia, “If I had known that there were so many of them, I would have had second thoughts about invading!” Read more
Joseph Stalin
The Russo-Finnish War: Why Stalin Tried to Invade Finland
By Arnold BlumbergPrior to the Russo-Finnish War, problems were already setting in for Russia and Germany. The hugely cynical German-Soviet nonaggression pact, concluded in August 1939, assigned the Baltic region of eastern Europe to the exclusive sphere of influence of Communist Russia. Read more
Joseph Stalin
Operation Spring Awakening: Adolf Hitler’s Last WWII Offensive
By Major General Michael ReynoldsIn January 12, 1945, Adolf Hitler received the news he had been dreading—the Soviet Red Army had launched its winter offensive. Read more
