Russia Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====World War II and United Nations==== {{main|Soviet Union in World War II}} [[File:RIAN archive 602161 Center of Stalingrad after liberation.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Stalingrad]], the largest and bloodiest battle in the history of warfare, ended in 1943 with a decisive Soviet victory against the [[German Army (1935–1945)|German army]].]] The Soviet Union entered [[World War II]] on 17 September 1939 with its [[Soviet invasion of Poland|invasion of Poland]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kornat |first=Marek |title=Choosing Not to Choose in 1939: Poland's Assessment of the Nazi-Soviet Pact |jstor=40647041 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |volume=31 |number=4 |date=December 2009 |journal=[[The International History Review]] |pages=771–797|doi=10.1080/07075332.2009.9641172 |s2cid=155068339}}</ref> in accordance with a secret protocol within the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] with [[Nazi Germany]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Roberts |first=Geoffrey |title=The Soviet Decision for a Pact with Nazi Germany |jstor=152247 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |volume=44 |number=1 |year=1992 |journal=Soviet Studies (Europe-Asia Studies) |pages=57–78}}</ref> The Soviet Union later [[Winter War|invaded Finland]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Spring |first=D. W. |title=The Soviet Decision for War against Finland, 30 November 1939 |jstor=152247 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |volume=38 |number=2 |date=April 1986 |journal=Soviet Studies (Europe-Asia Studies) |pages=207–226}}</ref> and [[Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940)|occupied and annexed the Baltic states]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Saburova |first=Irina |title=The Soviet Occupation of the Baltic States |journal=[[The Russian Review]] |volume=14 |number=1 |pages=36–49 |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |doi=10.2307/126075 |jstor=126075 |date=January 1955}}</ref> as well as [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina|parts of Romania]].<ref>{{cite book |last=King |first=Charles |title=The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the Politics of Culture |date=1999 |publisher=[[Hoover Institution Press]] |url=https://archive.org/details/moldovansromania00king_0/page/n3/mode/2up |isbn= 978-0-817-99791-5}}</ref>{{rp|91–95}} On 22 June 1941, Germany [[Operation Barbarossa|invaded the Soviet Union]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Stolfi |first=Russel H. S. |title=Barbarossa Revisited: A Critical Reappraisal of the Opening Stages of the Russo-German Campaign (June–December 1941) |jstor=1906049 |publisher=[[The University of Chicago Press]] |volume=54 |number=1 |pages=27–46 |journal=[[The Journal of Modern History]] |date=March 1982|doi=10.1086/244076 |s2cid=143690841 }}</ref> opening the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]], the largest theater of World War II.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=David |title=The Eastern Front Campaign: An Operational Level Analysis |publisher=Eschenburg Press |date=2018 |isbn=978-1-789-12193-3}}</ref>{{rp|7}} Eventually, some 5 million [[Red Army]] troops were captured by the Nazis;<ref>{{cite book |last=Chapoutot |first=Johann |title=The Law of Blood: Thinking and Acting as a Nazi |date=2018 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0-674-66043-4}}</ref>{{rp|272}} the latter deliberately [[German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war|starved to death or otherwise killed]] 3.3 million Soviet [[Prisoner of war|POW]]s, and a vast number of civilians, as the "[[Hunger Plan]]" sought to fulfil [[Generalplan Ost]].<ref>{{cite book |last=D. Snyder |first=Timothy |location=New York |title=Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin |date=2010 |publisher=[[Basic Books]] |isbn=978-0-465-00239-9}}</ref>{{rp|175–186}} Although the [[Wehrmacht]] had considerable early success, their attack was halted in the [[Battle of Moscow]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Assmann |first=Kurt |title=The Battle for Moscow, Turning Point of the War |jstor=20030251 |doi=10.2307/20030251 |volume=28 |number=2 |pages=309–326 |publisher=[[Council on Foreign Relations]] |date=January 1950 |journal=[[Foreign Affairs]]}}</ref> Subsequently, the Germans were dealt major defeats first at the [[Battle of Stalingrad]] in the winter of 1942–1943,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Clairmont |first=Frederic F. |title=Stalingrad: Hitler's Nemesis |jstor=4413752 |volume=38 |number=27 |pages=2819–2823 |date=July 2003 |journal=[[Economic and Political Weekly]]}}</ref> and then in the [[Battle of Kursk]] in the summer of 1943.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mulligan |first=Timothy P. |title=Spies, Ciphers and 'Zitadelle': Intelligence and the Battle of Kursk, 1943 |jstor=260932 |pages=235–260 |volume=22 |number=2 |journal=[[Journal of Contemporary History]] |publisher=[[SAGE Publishing]] |date=April 1987|doi=10.1177/002200948702200203 |s2cid=162709461}}</ref> Another German failure was the [[Siege of Leningrad]], in which the city was fully blockaded on land between 1941 and 1944 by German and Finnish forces, and suffered starvation and more than a million deaths, but never surrendered.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Krypton |first=Constantin |title=The Siege of Leningrad |journal=[[The Russian Review]] |volume=13 |number=4 |pages=255–265 |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |doi=10.2307/125859 |jstor=125859 |date=January 1955}}</ref> Soviet forces steamrolled through Eastern and Central Europe in 1944–1945 and [[Battle of Berlin|captured Berlin]] in May 1945.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/history-magazine/article/soviet-victory-battle-berlin-finished-nazi-germany |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320151932/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/history-magazine/article/soviet-victory-battle-berlin-finished-nazi-germany |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 March 2021 |title=The Soviet victory in the Battle of Berlin finished Nazi Germany |work=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]] |first1=Neil |last1=Kagan |first2=Stephen |last2=Hyslop |date=7 May 2020 |access-date=29 May 2021}}</ref> In August 1945, the Red Army [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|invaded Manchuria]] and [[Soviet–Japanese War|ousted the Japanese]] from Northeast Asia, contributing to the Allied victory over Japan.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Morton|first=Louis|title=Soviet Intervention in the War with Japan|volume=40|number=4|date=July 1962|pages=653–662|publisher=[[Council on Foreign Relations]]|journal=[[Foreign Affairs]]|doi=10.2307/20029588|jstor=20029588}}</ref> The 1941–1945 period of World War II is known in Russia as the [[Great Patriotic War (term)|Great Patriotic War]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-s-monumental-tribute-to-the-great-patriotic-war-/30599462.html |title=Russia's Monumental Tributes To The 'Great Patriotic War' |publisher=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] |date=8 May 2020 |access-date=29 May 2021 |archive-date=31 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331102407/https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-s-monumental-tribute-to-the-great-patriotic-war-/30599462.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The Soviet Union, along with the United States, the United Kingdom and China were considered the Big Four of Allied powers in World War II, and later became the [[Four Policemen]], which was the foundation of the [[United Nations Security Council]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Gaddis|first=John Lewis|author-link=John Lewis Gaddis|title=The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941–1947|url=https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesorig0000gadd|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|date=1972|location=New York|isbn=978-0-231-12239-9}}</ref>{{rp|27}} During the war, [[World War II casualties of the Soviet Union|Soviet civilian and military death were about 26–27 million]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ellman |first1=Michael |last2=Maksudov |first2=S. |author1-link=Michael Ellman |title=Soviet Deaths in the Great Patriotic War: A Note |journal=[[Europe-Asia Studies]] |year=1994 |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=671–680 |doi=10.1080/09668139408412190 |pmid=12288331 |jstor=152934}}</ref> accounting for about half of all [[World War II casualties]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cumins |first=Keith |title=Cataclysm: The War on the Eastern Front 1941–45 |publisher=Helion and Company |date=2011 |isbn=978-1-907-67723-6}}</ref>{{rp|295}} The [[Economy of the Soviet Union|Soviet economy]] and infrastructure suffered massive devastation, which caused the [[Soviet famine of 1946–1947]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Harrison |first=Mark |date=14 April 2010 |title=The Soviet Union after 1945: Economic Recovery and Political Repression |url=https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/mharrison/public/pp2011postprint.pdf |website=[[University of Warwick]] |access-date=26 May 2021 |archive-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021204316/https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/mharrison/public/pp2011postprint.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> However, at the expense of a large sacrifice, the Soviet Union emerged as a global superpower.<ref name="Reiman-2016">{{cite book |last=Reiman |first=Michael |title=About Russia, Its Revolutions, Its Development and Its Present |chapter=The USSR as the New World Superpower |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2t4dn7.14 |date=2016 |publisher=[[Peter Lang (publisher)|Peter Lang]] |pages=169–176 |jstor=j.ctv2t4dn7.14 |isbn=978-3-631-67136-8 |access-date=26 May 2021 |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407051631/https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2t4dn7.14 |url-status=live }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page