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Eastern Front of World War II

Eastern Front
Part of World War II
EasternFrontWWIIcolage.png
Clockwise from top left: Soviet Il-2 ground attack aircraft in Berlin sky; German Tiger I tanks during the Battle of Kursk; German Stuka dive bombers on the Eastern Front, winter 1943–1944; Killings of Jews by German Einsatzgruppen in Ukraine; Wilhelm Keitel signing the German Instrument of Surrender; Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad
Date 22 June 1941 (1941-06-22) – 9 May 1945 (1945-05-09)
(3 years, 10 months, 2 weeks and 3 days)
Location Europe east of Germany: Central, Eastern and Northern Europe; in later stages Southeast Europe (Balkans), Germany and Austria
Result Decisive Allied victory, end of World War II in Europe (concurrently with the Western Front), destruction of the Third Reich and the death of Adolf Hitler
  • Soviet Union occupies Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe and establishes pro-Soviet Communist governments in countries including Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and East Germany.
  • Establishment of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia.
  • Beginning of the Cold War and the creation of the Iron Curtain.
  • The beginning of the Greek Civil War.
Territorial
changes
Belligerents

Axis powers
 Germany
 Romania (until 1944)
 Italy (until 1943)
 Hungary


Axis puppet states
 Slovak Republic
 Croatia
Co-belligerents
 Finland (until 1944)
 Bulgaria (until 1944)

Allies
 Soviet Union
Poland Poland
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia (from 1943)
Democratic Federal Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (from 1944)
Tuvan People's Republic Tuva (until 1944)


Former Axis powers or co-belligerents
 Romania (from 1944)
Bulgaria (from 1944)
 Finland (from 1944)
Aerial and naval only
United States United States
United Kingdom United Kingdom
Free France Free France (1943–45)
Commanders and leaders
Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler (commander-in-chief)
Nazi Germany Walther von Brauchitsch
Nazi Germany Franz Halder
Nazi Germany Kurt Zeitzler
Nazi Germany Heinz Guderian
Kingdom of Romania Ion Antonescu
Kingdom of Italy Benito Mussolini
Finland Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim
Kingdom of Hungary (1920–46) Miklós Horthy
Soviet Union Joseph Stalin (commander-in-chief)
Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov
Soviet Union Boris Shaposhnikov
Soviet Union Aleksandr Vasilevsky
Soviet Union Aleksei Antonov
Democratic Federal Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito
Strength
1941
  • 3,767,000 troops
1943
  • 3,933,000 troops
1945
  • 1,960,000 troops
1941
  • 2,680,000 troops
1943
  • 6,724,000 troops
1945
  • 6,410,000 troops
Casualties and losses
See below See below

Axis powers
 Germany
 Romania (until 1944)
 Italy (until 1943)
 Hungary

Allies
 Soviet Union
Poland Poland
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia (from 1943)
Democratic Federal Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (from 1944)
Tuvan People's Republic Tuva (until 1944)


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