The Eastern Front was a theatre of World War II which primarily involved combat between the nations and allies of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Combat in the Eastern Front began with the two powers remaining peaceful towards each other, with the annexation of countries such as Albania and portions of Poland by Germany and its allies, and the annexation of Finland and the rest of Poland by the Soviet Union. However, in 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, putting an end to the peacetime. The majority of major battles in the Eastern Theatre from 1941 until the end of the war in 1945 were fought between the two powers. The following timeline indicates major events taking place on the Eastern Front.
September 1: Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe.
September 3: Honoring their guarantee of Poland’s borders, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.
September 17: The Soviet Union invades Poland from the east. The Polish government flees into exile via Romania, first to France and then later to Great Britain.
September 27–29: Warsaw surrenders on September 27. Germany and the Soviet Union divide Poland between them.[1]
1940
November 30, 1939 – March 12, 1940: The Soviet Union invades Finland, initiating the so-called Winter War. The Finns sue for an armistice and cede the northern shores of Lake Ladoga to the Soviet Union. They also cede the small Finnish coastline on the Arctic Ocean.
April 9 – June 9: Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrenders on the day of the attack. Norway holds out until June 9.
May 10 – June 22: Germany attacks western Europe, specifically France and the neutral Low Countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg). Luxembourg is occupied on May 10; the Netherlands surrenders on May 14; and Belgium surrenders on May 28. On June 22, France signs an armistice agreement by which the Germans occupy the northern half of the country and the entire Atlantic coastline. In southern France, a collaborationist regime with its capital in Vichy is established.
June 10: Italy enters the war. Italy invades southern France on June 21.
June 28: The Soviet Union forces Romania to cede the eastern province of Bessarabia and the northern half of Bukovina to Soviet Ukraine.
June 14 – August 6: The Soviet Union occupies the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) on June 14–18. On July 14–15, it engineers Communist coup d’états in each of these countries and then annexes them as Soviet Republics on August 3–6.
July 10 – October 31: The air war known as the Battle of Britain ends in defeat for Nazi Germany.
August 30: Second Vienna Award: Germany and Italy arbitrate a decision on the division of the disputed province of Transylvania between Romania and Hungary. The loss of northern Transylvania forces Romanian King Carol to abdicate in favor of his son, Michael, and brings to power a dictatorship under General Ion Antonescu.
September 13: The Italians invade British-controlled Egypt from Italian-controlled Libya.
October 21 – October 27: Battle of Rostov – Germans initially occupied Rostov but were over-extended and driven back along shore of Sea of Azov by the Red Army
November 16, 1941 – July 4, 1942: Siege of Sevastopol – Crimea is occupied by the Germans
December 5, 1941 – April 30, 1942: Winter Campaign of 1941–1942 – Massed Soviet troops are able to push the overextended Germans back all along the front (see Battle of Moscow)
July 23, 1942 – February 1, 1943: Battle of the Caucasus – German troops climb Mount Elbrus but Axis cannot fight their way through to the Caspian Sea oilfields
November 19: Operation Uranus launched – Romanian 3rd and 4th armies destroyed; 300,000 Axis troops trapped at Stalingrad
October 6 – October 28: Battle of Debrecen – German Army Group Fretter-Pico surrounded and destroyed Soviet Mobile Group Pliyev of the 2nd Ukrainian Front
January 12 – February 2: Vistula-Oder Offensive – Soviet advance from Poland to deep within the borders of Germany (seen from the location of the borders then)
