Day of the Start of the Soviet Counteroffensive near Moscow
December 5 · Level 10 · #65 of 2238
On 5 December 1941 Soviet troops began a counteroffensive near Moscow, halting the German drive on the capital. In Russia the date is one of the Days of Military Glory.
How it is celebrated: people lay flowers at memorials and war graves, schools hold remembrance lessons, and veterans and historians talk about the battle. Around Moscow, history clubs sometimes stage military reenactments.
By early 1942 German forces had been pushed back from Moscow by roughly 100 to 250 kilometres. After the grim autumn of 1941, it was the first success of that scale for the Red Army.