istoryworld
Events relating to russia
A Russian army invades Poland from the east, fulfilling the secret protocol of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
Stalin appoints Vyacheslav Molotov as People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs for the USSR
A Franco-British military mission arrives in Moscow to persuade Stalin to join a pact in defence of Poland
Ribbentrop flies to Moscow to sign a Nonaggression Pact with Molotov, depriving Britain and France of an ally
A secret protocol, attached to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, divides Poland and the Baltic states between Germany and Russia
Warsaw falls, after a brave resistance, whereupon Germany and Russia carve up Poland
Nazi murder squads (Einsatzgruppen) kill Poland's elite
Soviet troops cross the borders of Finland, beginning the brief Russo-Finnish War, in keeping with the secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Finns win spectacular victories in counter-attacks against the Russian invaders, destroying four Soviet divisions
The USSR is expelled from the League of Nations because of the Soviet invasion of Finland
An assassin sent by Stalin kills the exiled Trotsky in his home in Mexico City
The Treaty of Moscow ends the war between the USSR and Finland, after 200,000 Soviet deaths in the three months of hostilities
More than 4000 Polish officers are massacred at Katyń on Stalin's orders
Adolf Hitler orders preparations to be made for Operation Barbarossa, his planned invasion of the Soviet Union
German armies cross the border to invade Russia on a front from the Baltic to southern Poland
In preparation for the invasion of Russia, Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler set up Special Task Commandos (Einsatzkommando) to exterminate Communists and Jews
The systematic shooting of Russian Jews by German Einsatzgruppen is the first step in the development of the Holocaust
Less than four weeks after crossing the Russian border, a German army is within 200 miles of Moscow
The first of the Arctic convoys leaves Scapa Flow, in the north of Scotland, taking Hurricane fighters and raw materials to the Soviet Union
A week or two after reaching Leningrad a Germany army establishes a siege that will last 900 days
With British and Russian support, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi succeeds his deposed father as shah of Iran
The German advance is held just short of Moscow as winter arrives
Dmitry Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony, mainly written during the siege of Leningrad, has its premiere in Kuybishev
A renewed German campaign eastwards in Russia results in the capture of Sebastopol and the Crimea
Russia's new heavy industry is relocated to the east to escape the German advance
