Eastern Europe · Animated schematic fronts
Second World War – Eastern Front
The conflict between Nazi Germany and its allies and the Soviet Union, 1941–1945. Its prehistory includes the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 23 August 1939: a non-aggression treaty with a secret protocol on eastern European spheres of influence, followed by German and Soviet invasions of Poland. Germany broke the pact with Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941.
Schematic demonstration front lines and territories; not a source-based military reconstruction. A selection of five battles and operations, not a complete inventory.
Estimates & margins
- Deaths20m – 30m
The war between Germany and the Soviet Union in the east caused tens of millions of military and civilian deaths; sources use different geographic and chronological boundaries.
Historians disagree on exact figures; the range shown reflects the scholarly literature.
Operation Barbarossa begins along the border.
- Germany and the Axis powers
- Soviet Union