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The Eastern Front, of the Second World War, occupied countries which were known to have extremely harsh winters. The fighting which took place on the Eastern Front, during World War Two, was mainly between Germany and the Soviet Union. This took place from June 1941 to May 1945. During these harsh battles four winters would pass, in what could be a terrible climate at the best of times.

When German soldiers crossed Russian borders on 22nd June 1941 the non-aggression pact which had been made by these two countries was broken. With Russia as one of it's enemies Germany would have to often fight in dire weather conditions. The Eastern front consisted of Finland, the Baltics, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Hungary, the Balkans and more. All of these countries had harsh terrains and weather patterns.

As the war progressed and supplies of food and basic uniform clothing became scarce, the soldiers suffered even more at the hands of the weather. More lives were lost on the eastern battle front than anywhere else and many of those were due to the climate.

By October 1941 the Germans seemed to have the upper hand against the Soviets. As the weather had been deteriorating the Germans took the opportunity to regroup. This pause in the fighting was to cost them dearly. It gave Stalin time to bring in troops from the East who were no longer essential there, and to build new armies. Fierce fighting began again in earnest with gains and losses on both sides. By December the first blizzards of winter had begun.

The Germans were ill equipped for the ravages of winter, and frostbite and disease caused more deaths and casualties than the actual battles. All this severe weather caused problems for weapons and munitions and the Luftwaffe were grounded due to adverse flying conditions.

These weather patterns continued throughout the winters of the fighting on the Eastern front. Spring could be hazardous also with heavy spring rains a normal occurrence. In conclusion I would say that there is no doubt that all the adverse weather conditions played a part in Germany's eventual downfall on the eastern Front.

Learn more about this author, Ethel Smith.
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