For the historians out there, the first major battle to be lost, with a million Russians dying, many argue the major cause of Hitler's downfall

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Battle of Moscow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the 1941 battle. For other uses, see Battle of Moscow (disambiguation).
Battle of Moscow
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
RIAN archive 429 Fresh forces going to the front.jpg
December 1941. Fresh forces going to the front from Moscow.
Date 2 October 1941 – 7 January 1942
Location Moscow Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Result

Decisive Soviet victory

Strategic Soviet success
German operational and tactical failure
Failure of Operation Barbarossa

Belligerents
Germany Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler
Nazi Germany Fedor von Bock
Nazi Germany Heinz Guderian
Nazi Germany Albert Kesselring Soviet Union Joseph Stalin
Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov
Soviet Union Aleksandr Vasilevsky
Strength
As of 1 October 1941:
1,929,406 men,
[1][2][3] 1,000 tanks,[4]
14,000 guns,
Initial aircraft: 549 serviceable[5][6][7] At time of counter offensive: 599[8] As of 1 October 1941:
1,250,000–1,400,000 men,
3,232 tanks,
7,600 guns,
Initial aircraft: 936 (545 serviceable)[5] At time of counter offensive: 1,376[8]
Casualties and losses
174,000–400,000(see §7) 650,000–1,280,000(see §7)
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Eastern Front
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v t e

Operation Barbarossa

The Battle of Moscow (Russian: Битва за Москву) is the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a 600 km (370 mi) sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow, capital of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the largest Soviet city. Moscow was one of the primary military and political objectives for Axis forces in their invasion of the Soviet Union.

The German strategic offensive named Operation Typhoon was planned to conduct two pincer offensives, one to the north of Moscow against the Kalinin Front by the 3rd and 4th Panzer Armies, simultaneously severing the Moscow–Leningrad railway, and another to the south of Moscow Oblast against the Western Front south of Tula, by the 2nd Panzer Army, while the 4th Army advanced directly towards Moscow from the west. A separate operational German plan, codenamed Operation Wotan, was included in the final phase of the German offensive.

Initially, the Soviet forces conducted a strategic defence of the Moscow Oblast by constructing three defensive belts, deploying newly raised reserve armies, and bringing troops from the Siberian and Far Eastern Military Districts. Subsequently, as the German offensives were halted, a Soviet strategic counter-offensive and smaller-scale offensive operations were executed to force the German armies back to the positions around the cities of Oryol, Vyazma and Vitebsk, nearly surrounding three German armies in the process.

FULL ARTICLE ON WIKI

The Great Patriotic War. Hitler never learned from Napoleon's mistakes. Never fight a winter war on Russian soil.

Possible we would all be speaking German, driving efficient German cars, living well, all be highly educated, drinking great beer and eating good food, listening to great music, reading great books if...oh, wait...