World War II: The Eastern Front
Friday August 17, 2007
We continue our overview of World War II with a look at the fighting on the Eastern Front. The largest front of the war, the Eastern Front saw brutal fighting between Germany and the Soviet Union. Best known for massive battles such as Stalingrad, Kursk, and Berlin (right), the Eastern Front produced more casualties than any other theater during the conflict. It also saw a multitude of atrocities committed by both sides. Ultimately, the Eastern Front proved to be Nazi Germany's undoing as it consumed vast amounts of manpower and supplies that were needed to combat the Allies in other theaters.
Photograph Courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org
Comments
You clearly stated the magnitude of the fighting on the Eastern Front. I had read that the ten largest land battles of WW2 were all fought on the Eastern Front and have been looking for a list. No one offers a list of WW2 battles by size. Might you have this information?
Could anyone blame the Soviet soldiers for their atrocities that they carried out on the Nazi forces? Afterall, the aggressors were the Nazis, not the Soviets. But the atrocities committed by the Soviets against Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Ukrainians who initially welcomed the Nazis as liberators cannot be overlooked, cannot be justified in any way, and cannot be brushed aside as just a side effect of a brutal war. The invading Soviet forces carried out a vengeance upon the German populace as well that was undeserved and misplaced. Historians cannot overlook these crimes against humanity.
On the flip side of that… The Nazis brutal attempts to dehumanize and blot out entire civilizations through the use of rape, torture, murder and slavery can never be forgotten. It must be studied, it must be taught and reminded to future generations in the hope that humanity may never experience such horror ever again.