Russia possesses rich reserves of iron ore, manganese, chromium, nickel, platinum, titanium, copper, tin, lead, tungsten, diamonds, phosphates, and gold, and the forests of Siberia contain an estimated one-fifth of the world’s timber, mainly conifers (see fig.

What are Russia’s four main regions and what are the main qualities of each?

• Siberia. This consists of the Eastern Frontier and the Russian Far East.
• The core region. This holds most of Russia’s population and industries.
• Southern Russia. This region bridges the gap between Europe and Asia.
• The Far East.

Physioeconomically, the Russian Federation may be conveniently divided into 9 major regions: the Central European Region, the North and Northwest European Region, the Volga Region, the North Caucasus, the Ural Region, Western Siberia, Eastern Siberia, Northern and Northwestern Siberia, and the Russian Far East.

Moscow

Tsaritsyn

The Battle of Stalingrad is considered by many historians to have been the turning point in World War Two in Europe. The battle at Stalingrad bled the German army dry in Russia and after this defeat, the Germany Army was in full retreat. The Germans final target was to have been Baku.

The Soviets took so many casualties largely because of the politics of the Soviet regime. Stalin’s purges in the 30s replaced the professional officer corps with officers thought to be more loyal the Stalin and the party (although even the pre-purge officer corps was no match for the Germans).

The Soviet Union in World War II is the story of several wars. When World War II started, the Soviet Union was effectively an ally of Nazi Germany in a relatively conventional European interstate war. Although the Germans did most of the fighting in Poland, the Soviet Union occupied the eastern part.

On October 13, 1943, the government of Italy declares war on its former Axis partner Germany and joins the battle on the side of the Allies. On the day of Italy’s surrender, Hitler launched Operation Axis, the occupation of Italy.