Joseph Stalin: Did you mean...?

The Red Army of the USSR began the Second World War (1939-45) with a series of shocking defeats, but from late 1942, it rallied and held on to key cities like the capital Moscow, Leningrad (Saint Petersburg), and Stalingrad (Volgograd). Then...

Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), the leader of Nazi Germany, was intent on attacking the USSR in the summer of 1941. With Western Europe subdued in 1940, Hitler could finally pursue his dream of territorial expansion in the East, destroy Bolshevism...

Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès (1748-1836), commonly known as Abbé Sieyès, was a French clergyman and political writer, who became a leading voice in the Third Estate during the French Revolution (1789-99). Sieyès played instrumental roles in both...

The Battle of Moscow (Oct 41 to Jan 42) was Germany's first major land defeat in the Second World War (1939-45). Although Axis panzer divisions reached within 20 miles (32 km) of the Soviet capital, the USSR's Red Army, led by Marshal Georgi...

The Battle of Kiev (Kyiv) in July-September 1941 was a major Axis victory in Operation Barbarossa, Adolf Hitler's attack on the USSR during the Second World War (1939-45). Hitler wanted the resources of Ukraine since these would allow the...

A photograph of the leaders of the USSR and USA, Joseph Stalin and Franklin D. Roosevelt, in discussion during the Yalta Conference of February 1945 which discussed how to best end the Second World War (1939-45) and what the post-war world...

A photograph of UK Prime Minister Clement Attlee, US President Harry S. Truman, and the Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin at the Potsdam Conference in Germany, July-August 1945. The conference discussed issues concerning the conclusion of the...

A photograph of the leaders of Britian, USA, and USSR - Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Jospeph Stalin - at the Yalta Conference of February 1945 which discussed how to best end the Second World War (1939-45) and what the post-war...

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was a Russian composer of operas, ballets, concertos, string quartets, and 15 symphonies. Shostakovich was frequently denounced by the repressive Soviet state, but in some periods, he also gained official favour...

The leader of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) ordered the invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. Hitler's refusal to withdraw brought a declaration of war from Britain and France on 3 September, and so began the Second World War (1939-45...