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Stalin's Red Army entered World War II as a relatively untried fighting force. In 1941, with the launch of Operation "Barbarossa", it joined battle with Hitler's army, the most powerful in history. After a desperate war of attrition over four years the Red Army beat the Nazis into defeat on the Eastern Front and won lasting fame and glory in 1945 by eclipsing the military might of the Third Reich. From the army's development prior to the outbreak of war in 1939 to the army's peak in 1945, every aspect of their force is examined here; the organizational structures, combat arms infantry, armour and mechanized forces, cavalry, airbourne and special forces along with a technical overview of infantry weapons, armoured vehicles and artillery, and support equipment. Fully illustrated with a comprehensive selection of archive photographs, charts and tables of organization, this is a useful source of reference for anyone interested in the armies of World War II.