Military & Defense
The Great Patriotic War, the Cold War and the defence industry.
The Berlin Blockade and Airlift: How a City Was Supplied
Why did the Berlin blockade begin, how did the airlift work, and why did flights continue after May 1949? Explore the logistics, dates and documents.
The Soviet-Afghan War: nine years that broke the USSR's back
A decision made by a narrow circle of Politburo old men, a palace stormed in 43 minutes — and nine years of a war the country waged without calling it a war. The story of the "bleeding wound" that hastened the Union's end.
The Cuban Missile Crisis: thirteen days on the edge of nuclear war
In October 1962, Soviet missiles in Cuba brought the world closer to nuclear war than ever before. Thirteen days, a secret deal, and a man aboard a submarine who may have saved the planet.
The Berlin Wall: 28 years of the Cold War's greatest symbol
In a single August night in 1961, a city was cut in half. Twenty-eight years, at least 140 dead, over 5,000 successful escapes — and one botched press conference that brought it all down in an evening.
The Suez Crisis of 1956: causes, the war, and the Soviet role
In 1956 Britain, France and Israel invaded Egypt over the Suez Canal — and won the fighting, but were forced to retreat under pressure from the United States and the USSR. How it changed the world.
The Warsaw Pact: the alliance that fought only its own members
Moscow's answer to NATO: eight countries, a unified command and 36 years of standoff. The bloc's paradox is that in its entire history its armies fought together only once — against one of its own members.
The AK-47: the most mass-produced weapon in history
The son of dispossessed peasants conceived it on a hospital bed, and the world replicated it a hundred million times. The story of the AK-47 — from a secret design contest to the flag of Mozambique and its creator's letter to the Patriarch.
The Cold War: half a century of superpower confrontation
For almost half a century the US and the USSR teetered on the edge of war without ever fighting each other directly. The arms race, space, the Berlin Wall, proxy wars and nuclear fear — a full account of the Cold War.
The Battle of Kursk: the largest tank battle in history
Six thousand tanks, two million men, four thousand aircraft. Germany's last great offensive in the East — one the Red Army knew by heart before it began, and met with three hundred kilometers of defenses.
The Battle of Stalingrad: 200 days that turned the war
The largest and bloodiest urban battle in history: fighting for every house, the encirclement of an entire army, and nearly two million human fates. How a city on the Volga turned the tide of the Second World War.
The Siege of Leningrad: 872 days of a city under blockade
The deadliest siege in human history: 125 grams of bread a day, the Road of Life across frozen Lake Ladoga, Tanya Savicheva's diary — and a city that never surrendered.
Operation Barbarossa: Germany's 1941 Invasion of the Soviet Union
On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, the vast invasion of the Soviet Union. The Wehrmacht won enormous early victories, but the plan for a quick war broke down before Moscow.
The Great Patriotic War: the 1,418 days that changed the world
The bloodiest war in human history: from the catastrophe of June 22, 1941, through Moscow, Stalingrad and Kursk — to Berlin. The people's feat and the price of victory, told honestly.
The T-34 tank: a legend of the Great Patriotic War
The T-34 is a symbol of victory and one of the most influential tanks in history. What made it good, where it fell short of German machines, and why its mass production decided everything.