Editing World War II (section)

=== Eastern Front (1942–1943) ===
[[File:RIAN archive 44732 Soviet soldiers attack house.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|[[Red Army]] soldiers on the counterattack during the [[Battle of Stalingrad]], February 1943]]

Despite considerable losses, in early 1942 Germany and its allies stopped a major Soviet offensive in [[Central Russia|central]] and [[southern Russia]], keeping most territorial gains they had achieved during the previous year.{{sfn|Glantz|2001|p=31}} In May, the Germans defeated Soviet offensives in the [[Battle of the Kerch Peninsula|Kerch Peninsula]] and at [[Second Battle of Kharkov|Kharkov]],{{sfn|Read|2004|p=764}} and then in June 1942 launched their main [[Case Blue|summer offensive]] against southern Russia, to seize the [[Petroleum industry in Azerbaijan|oil fields of the Caucasus]] and occupy the [[Kuban]] [[steppe]], while maintaining positions on the northern and central areas of the front. The Germans split [[Army Group South]] into two groups: [[Army Group A]] advanced to the lower [[Don (river)|Don River]] and struck south-east to the Caucasus, while [[Army Group B]] headed towards the [[Volga|Volga River]]. The Soviets decided to make their stand at Stalingrad on the Volga.{{sfn|Davies|2006|loc=p. 100 (2008 ed.)}}

By mid-November, the Germans had [[Battle of Stalingrad|nearly taken Stalingrad]] in bitter [[urban warfare|street fighting]]. The Soviets began their second winter counter-offensive, starting with an [[Operation Uranus|encirclement of German forces at Stalingrad]],{{sfn|Beevor|1998|pp=239–265}} and an assault on the [[Operation Mars|Rzhev salient near Moscow]], though the latter failed disastrously.{{sfn|Black|2003|p=119}} By early February 1943, the German Army had taken tremendous losses; German troops at Stalingrad had been defeated,{{sfn|Beevor|1998|pp=383–391}} and the front-line had been pushed back beyond its position before the summer offensive. In mid-February, after the Soviet push had tapered off, the Germans launched another [[Third Battle of Kharkov|attack on Kharkov]], creating a [[Salient (military)|salient]] in their front line around the Soviet city of [[Kursk]].{{sfn|Erickson|2001|p=142}}