The fall of Kiev and the end of resistance in the south now cleared the way for German forces to launch a major attack on Moscow: the loss of so many Soviet troops since the invasion began meant that, for the first time, Soviet forces no longer outnumbered German forces. Also this week for the… Read more »Read more

On 16 September the Soviet defences around Kiev finally collapsed and the Germans took 500,000 prisoners. Two days later the city was in German hands and German soldiers began executing Soviet prisoners; some 350,000 Soviet soldiers were killed in the defence of Kiev. On 18 September Japanese officers were instructed to prepare their troops for… Read more »Read more

The Siege of Leningrad by German and Finnish forces is officially dated from 8 September; it would not end for 900 days. In Ukraine, German troops effectively surrounded the Soviet army defending Kiev. Stalin meanwhile ordered all 600,000 Soviet citizens of German descent in the Volga to be deported to Siberia. And after a US… Read more »Read more

With German and Finnish forces surrounding Leningrad in the north, and a German attack imminent against Kiev in the Ukraine, Stalin ordered the evacuation of all children under 12 from Moscow. On 5 September Germany occupied Estonia. On the night of 7-8 September some 200 RAF bombers mounted the largest air raid on Berlin to… Read more »Read more

In northern Russia, German and Finnish forces closed in on the city of Leningrad, which was now effectively cut off and under siege. As part of the “scorched earth” policy to deprive the German invaders of natural resources, the Russians destroyed the Dnieper Dam, then the largest in the world. British and Soviet troops invaded… Read more »Read more

This week, German forces continued to advance on Leningrad in northern Russia, aided by a Finnish army which took the opportunity to re-establish the border between the two countries which had existed before the Russian invasion last winter. Leningrad was now in range of German artillery, which began shelling the city. In Germany, Hitler ordered… Read more »Read more

On 14 August Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt signed the Atlantic Charter, a statement of ideal post-war aims, including a commitment to no territorial aggrandisement and the restoration of rights to those who had been deprived them, and freedom from fear or want. Meanwhile, Hitler ordered the last of Berlin’s Jews to be deported to… Read more »Read more

This week German forces in Russia finally eradicated the “Smolensk pocket”, capturing 300,000 Soviet soldiers as well as the city itself. In the north, German armies began the final advance towards Leningrad, with orders to destroy the city and take no prisoners. Meanwhile, supplies were finally getting through to the island of Malta; on 10… Read more »Read more

This week, German forces closed in on Smolensk in central Russia. On 31 July SS General Reinhard Heydrich was ordered by Goering to prepare a detailed plan for the “final solution of the Jewish question”, a euphemism for the annihilation of Europe’s Jewish population. In southern Indochina, Vichy France handed over its territory to Japan… Read more »Read more

On 22 July, with their supply lines stretched to breaking point, the Germans were forced to halt their invasion of Russia to allow their armies to regroup. Hitler now decided to overrule his generals and change strategy: in future the aim would be to damage Soviet economic and military production. Hitler therefore ordered the attacks… Read more »Read more