Eastern Front (World War II)

The Eastern Front of World War II was the area of conflict created by Nazi Germany's Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of its former ally, the Soviet Union. Though Germany had been initially successful, poor strategic decisions, Partisan Resistance, and the Russian Winter eventually allowed the Red Army to push back the Germans. It ended with the Battle of Berlin in 1945 and the suicide of Adolf Hitler. Well over 15 million soldiers died on the Eastern Front, and millions more civilians, mostly Russians.