Finland

The Thirties were marked by confrontation and violence. The Western diplomats practicing Appeasement believed it would prevent another global war, but were woefully unaware of what they were dealing with. Most of the confrontation was between the ideologies of Nazism and Communism; they became mortal enemies in the thirties, which made their non-aggression pact and the dismemberment of Poland all the more shocking.

For centuries the cultural heart of Russia and the second largest city in the Soviet Union, Leningrad was a prime target of the advancing German Army Group North in June 1941.

After the Battle of Kursk in July 1943, the Germans took up defensive positions and fell back in an orderly retreat.The Red Army, now with aggressive, confident commanders like Georgi Zhukov and Vasily Chuikov backed by increasing quantities of tanks, aircraft, planes and men, supplemented by deliveries from the United States and the U

Before World War I Finland was part of Imperial Russia. As part of realm of the Czars, Finland chafed under its rule. After the war Finland, along with Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, were carved out of the old empire and made into autonomous nations.