Eastern Front
1942: The German summer offensive
May – November 1942 · 3 battles
In the spring of 1942 both sides sought a decision in the south of the Eastern Front. The Soviet offensive at Kharkov in May ended with several armies encircled and destroyed, and the Germans drove the Red Army off the Kerch Peninsula and in July took Sevastopol. On 28 June Operation Blue began: German and allied troops advanced across the steppes of the Don towards the Caucasus and its oil, and towards the Volga at Stalingrad. The Wehrmacht reached the foothills of the Caucasus and broke into Stalingrad, but lost its momentum in exhausting street fighting, and on 19 November 1942 a Soviet counter-offensive trapped the 6th Army in a pocket.
- 12–28 May 1942Second Battle of KharkovOn 12–28 May 1942 Timoshenko's offensive on Kharkiv ended in a German counter-attack and the destruction of three Soviet armies in the Barvenkovo pocket.
- 28 June – 18 November 1942Key battleCase BlueOn 28 June 1942 Germany struck in the southern USSR for Caucasus oil. It reached the Volga at Stalingrad and the Caucasus but did not destroy the Red Army.
- 23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943Key battleBattle of StalingradFrom 23 August 1942 to 2 February 1943 the Germans assaulted Stalingrad on the Volga. Paulus's encircled 6th Army surrendered – the turning point in the east.