Talk:Eastern Front (World War II)/Rewrite

The Eastern Front of World War II is the name given to the theatre of war in Eastern Europe, Karelia and the Balkans from 1939 to 1945.

Conquest and partition of Poland, 1939
Main article: Invasion of Poland

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939 had established a non-aggression agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, and a secret protocol described how Poland and the Baltic countries would be divided between them.

The Invasion of Poland of 1939 began with the German invasion of western Poland on 1939-09-01. The Polish army could not withstand the German armoured blitzkrieg and numerical superiority and fell back toward the southeast. The Soviet Union entered eastern Poland on 1939-09-17 under the pretext of protecting Belorussians and Ukrainians. Surrounded by enemies, the Polish government went into exile in France (later the United Kingdom). The war ended on 1939-10-06.

The Polish war caused the United Kingdom and France to declare war on Germany.

Soviet conquest of Bessarabia, 1939
Main articles: Operation Barbarossa and Great Patriotic War

Soviet occupation of the Baltic, 1940
Main article: Occupation of Baltic Republics

Winter War, 1939–1940
Main article: Winter War

Axis occupation of the Balkans, 1940–1941
Main article: Balkans Campaign

taly invaded Albania on April 7, 1939 and Greece on October 28, 1940, but was unable to match the Nazi German success in France. Not only did the Italians fail to conquer Greece, but under the supervision of Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas (term April 13, 1936 - January 29, 1941) the Greeks successfully counterattacked into Albania starting from November 14, 1940.

The Kingdom of Yugoslavia, lacking true leadership of a king and instead ruled by a regency headed by Prince Pavle Karađorđević, signed the Tripartite Treaty on March 25, 1941. The regency did this because they were promised by Hitler that if they joined and let the Axis attack Greece through their territory Yugoslavia would be given areas of Northern Greece including Salonika. However, soon afterwards, after public demonstrations, a March 27 coup d'état was made by Army General Dušan Simović which took control away from the regency and distanced Yugoslavia from the fascists.

The imminent Greek victory over Italy prompted Nazi German intervention. On April 6, 1941 German forces, supported by the Italians, Hungarians and the Bulgarians, engaged in combat with the Greeks and simultaneously invaded Yugoslavia. British, Australian and New Zealand forces were hastily dispatched from Egypt to Greece, but the Allies lacked a co-ordinated strategy, were comprehensively beaten and evacuated to Crete. Advancing rapidly, Axis forces captured Athens, Greece's capital on April 27, 1941 effectively placing most of the country under occupation.

After the mainland was conquered, Nazi Germany invaded Crete in what is known as the Battle of Crete (May 20 - June 1, 1941). Instead of an amphibious assault as expected, Nazi Germany mounted a large airborne invasion. The paratroopers (Fallschirmjäger) were so badly mauled in the process that an airborne operation was never again attempted by Germany during the war. However, the Germans eventually prevailed on Crete. Most of the Allied forces were evacuated to Egypt &mdash; joining King George II of Greece and the exiled Greek government of Emmanouil Tsouderos &mdash; on June 1, 1941.

Once the Balkans were secure, the largest land operation in history was launched, when Germany attacked the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, the postponement of this invasion due to the Balkans would later prove fatal for Nazi Germany.

Continuation War, 1941–1945
Main article: Continuation War

German-Soviet War, 1941–1945
Main article: Great Patriotic War

1941

 * Overview Great Patriotic War
 * Operation Barbarossa
 * Overview Great Patriotic War
 * Operation Typhoon
 * Battle of Rostov
 * The 900-day Siege of Leningrad

Winter 1941/1942

 * Overview Great Patriotic War
 * Battle of Moscow
 * Second Battle of Kharkov

1942

 * Overview Great Patriotic War
 * Battle of Voronezh
 * Battle of the Caucasus
 * Battle of Stalingrad

Winter 1942/1943

 * Overview Great Patriotic War
 * Battle of Stalingrad
 * Operation Saturn
 * Second Rzhev-Sychevka offensive
 * Third Battle of Kharkov
 * Battle of Velikiye Luki

1943

 * Overview Great Patriotic War
 * Battle of Kursk

Winter 1943/1944

 * Overview Great Patriotic War

1944

 * Overview Great Patriotic War
 * Operation Bagration,
 * Lvov-Sandomir Offensive
 * Warsaw Uprising
 * Slovak National Uprising

Winter 1944/1945

 * Overview Great Patriotic War
 * Vistula-Oder Offensive

1945

 * Overview Great Patriotic War
 * Battle of Berlin
 * Battle of Halbe
 * Prague Offensive

Yugoslav War 1941-1945
''Main article: Yugoslavia during the Second World War and Partisans (Yugoslavia)

Category:World War II Eastern European Theatre *