Explain how the Soviet Union became involved in the Second World War and in what way she participated between 1939 and 1945.

this pact, the USSR had time to rebuild, and was not being attacked. Stalin also thought that with this pact, the Germans would have to start the war on the western front, since it would be impossible to make war against two fronts at the same time and win.        The Second World War did eventually start on the eastern front. The Nazi’s invaded Poland and Britain and France declared war on Germany. Eventually, Hitler did fight on both fronts, and in 1941 launched operation Barbarossa. This operation was a plan to destroy and take over the Soviet Empire. This was the time where Stalin had to be ready, he had about two years to rearm and it was now time to put the Soviet soldiers to the test. It was awful for both sides; the Germans had very modern techniques and had time to plan their attack. Stalin was amazed by the attack since he did not expect it so early. The USSR lost around 8,668,000 soldiers during the Second World War and around 16,900,000 civilians. The Soviets were much better equipped when it came to the “winter war”. The Germans were not used to this kind of cold and thus it was the USSR’s golden chance to attack.        Another factor which drew the USSR into the army was their will to regain the land they lost in the First World War. Stalin saw this as his only chance to prove his power, by reuniting all land which was once lost.        Before the Nazi-Soviet pact, on the 18th of April, 1939, the Soviet Union proposed a triple alliance with Britain and France. Only a few months later Winston Churchill insists on forming a military alliance with the USSR. At the time the Nazi-Soviet pact was signed, it was a “secret pact”, the USSR was playing around with its allies and enemies. One can say they were scared and only tried to look after themselves. In September of that year, the Red Army invades Poland and later takes possession of eastern Poland.        When the USSR finished with Poland they invaded Finland and by the 12th of March 1940 already signed a peace treaty. Finland was quickly defeated. Later on the 25th of June 1941, Finland declared war on the Soviet Union. This time the conflict between the Finns and the Soviets lasted until an armistice was signed by both countries on the 19th of September, 1944.        On the 14th of April, 1941, Japan signs a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. The axis-allied nation of Japan seems to be keeping its promise of the pact during the Second World War. It was one of the few pacts, made by enemies, not to be broken throughout the war.        Next in line was Hungary, who in June, 1941 acknowledged she would go to war with the Soviet Union. By 1944 the Red Army had crushed the Hungarians and set up a new “Red” government. A month later they also captured Budapest.        On the 12th of July, 1941, The Soviet Union and Britain sign an agreement of mutual aid. This meant the Soviets and the British would be fighting side by side to destroy the enemy. Later, in 1943, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin held a conference at Tehran, Iran. This conference was set up in order to “shape their common policy”, this is what the three men stated when the conference was over; "We the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, and the Premier of the Soviet Union, have met these four days past, in this, the Capital of our Ally, Iran, and have shaped and confirmed our common policy." (Declaration of the Three Powers, December 1, 1943)[1]. At the end of the war, the three super powers met once again in Yalta, where the Yalta conference was held. In this conference, Stalin made clear what land he wanted to keep after the war.        The Soviet Union was a very strong nation, even though the Germans attacked with their secret, well planned operation Barbarossa, The Soviets managed to regain much land. In September 1941, the Germans captured Kiev, which was the Ukrainian capital of the Soviet Union. In October, The Germans made an advance on Moscow. Almost a year later, in August 1942, they enter Stalingrad. After this, The German army starts to fail in its battles, and in August 1943 the Red Army recaptures Kharkov, then Smolensk and Kiev. Almost a year after this, they even manage to recapture Minsk. This shows that the German army was not as efficient as it used to be in the beginning of the war and that The Soviet Army was only becoming stronger. This may have been a factor of why the Cold War Started. Indeed, by the end of the war, the USSR was the second biggest aircraft producer (158,218), right after the USA (303,713). This indicated who the two main super powers were.        The Soviet Union also signed a Soviet-Czech peace treaty in December of 1943 and thus the Super Power defended the Czechs. In October 1944 the Red Army entered Czechoslovakia and by the 9th of May, 1945 the German army surrendered to the Red Army. And thus, The Soviet Union was basically drawn into war because of the Munich agreement, the Nazi-Soviet Pact and its own interest in regaining land it had lost after the First World War. The USSR participated all over Europe in this war and managed to regain some land they had lost in the First World War as well as during the Second World War. The Soviet Union also participated in many agreements such as the Yalta conference, Nazi-Soviet Pact, Soviet-Czech peace treaty, Russo-Japanese non-aggression pact and many more. Word Count: 1156 Words Bibliography: www.wikipedia.com – Online Encyclopedia www.spartacus.com – World War 2 Section www.fact-index.com – History Section, Conferences etc. [1] http://www.fact-index.com/t/te/teheran_conference.html