Battle of Moscow Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Battle of Moscow

Part of the Eastern Front of World War II

December 1941. Fresh forces going to the front from Moscow.

Date	2 October 1941 – 7 January 1942
Location	Moscow region, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Result	Decisive Soviet victory

Belligerents

Nazi Germany

Soviet Union

Commanders and leaders

Fedor von Bock
Heinz Guderian
Albert Kesselring

Georgy Zhukov
Aleksandr Vasilevsky

Strength

As of 1 October 1941:
1,000,000 men,
1,700 tanks,
14,000 guns,
Aircraft at first: 549 can be used At time of Counter offensive: 599

As of 1 October 1941:
1,250,000 men,
1,000 tanks,
7,600 guns,
Aircraft at first: 936 (545 can be used) At time of Counter offensive: 1,376

Casualties and losses

280,000-400,000

650,000–1,280,000 (mostly captured)

The Battle of Moscow (Russian: Битва под Москвой, German: Schlacht um Moskau) is a name given by Soviet historians to two periods of fighting on a 600 km area of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defenses stopped the German attack on Moscow, the Soviet capital, which was one of the Axis's primary military and political objectives in the invasion of the Soviet Union.

The German strategic offensive named Operation Typhoon was planned to attack Moscow from the north and south. The Soviets reacted by sending in more reserve from the Far East. Shortly, German attacks were stopped, and the Soviets began counter-attack and forced to push the Axis back.

Images for kids

Map of the Vyazma-Bryansk double encirclement (in German).
German offensives during Operation Typhoon
German armored column advances on the Moscow front, October 1941
The mud of the rasputitsa before Moscow, November 1941
Moscow women dig anti-tank trenches around their city in 1941
German tanks and troops on the streets of Kalinin, October 1941
Barricades in a Moscow street, October 1941
Parade by Soviet troops on Red Square, Friday, 7 November 1941, depicted in 1949 painting by Konstantin Yuon vividly demonstrating the symbolic significance of the event
German soldiers tend to a wounded comrade near Moscow, November–December 1941
German soldiers west of Moscow, December 1941
Red Army ski troops in Moscow. Still from documentary Moscow Strikes Back, 1942
The Soviet winter counter-offensive, 5 December 1941 – 7 May 1942
A Soviet machine gunner covers attacking infantry near Tula, in November 1941.
Medal "For the Defence of Moscow": 1,028,600 were awarded from 1 May 1944.
German soldiers surrender: still from the documentary Moscow Strikes Back, 1942
2001 Russian stamp for the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Moscow
Soldiers dressed in Red Army uniforms carrying the standards of the military fronts of the Eastern Front on Red Square, 7 November 2018.

Battle of Moscow facts for kids

Images for kids

See also