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the no and Ukraine in the south. r the rst t weeks, the Germans were success l, largely because the attack had caught the Soviet gove ­ ment by surprise. But the ssians were erce ghters and had many more troops an the Germans had suspected. The Germans were ghting alo a thousand-mile ont and had spread emselves too thin. In the nor
they besieged Leningrad, in the south they won a major victory at Ki , but in e center the weather came to e aid of the ssians. The rst snows came on October 6, slowing down the tanks and supply convoys. Nevertheless by the end of November, the Germans were within 30 miles of Moscow. On December 1 they mounted an all-out attack. But the superb ssian troops aided by the eezing weather held the city. By January the Germans were retreating r the rst time in the war.
Hitler was rious, blaming his generals r the defeat. He there took er total control of the army and began directing the r personally, though he s hundreds of miles away. He absolutely rbade the German armies to retreat any rther. This led to even more casualties-by Februa 28 a million men had been lled or wounded. The Germans were bogged down in the snow and mud of Russia. N eless the y held together-it did not fall apart as had Napoleon's-giving e Germans hope that in the spring they could success lly coun rattack.
War in the ci c
Germany and Italy were not the only Axis powers. On November 27, 1936 Germany had signed a trea of alliance with Japan. Just as Hitler wanted to establish a German-controlled "New Order" in Europe, so Japan wanted to dominate a "Co-Prosperity Sphere" in Asia. Japan had an out­ standing navy and was simply waiting r a vorable opportunity to begin its conquest of the ci c.
On October 16, 1941 a new prime minister named o came into p er in Japan. He ordered prepa tions r a su rise attack on the United States, regarded as Japan's prima rival in the ci c. On Nove er 24 a Japanese carrier task rce sailed r Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the chief U.S. naval base in e ci c. Though lations between the U.S. and Japan had been getti steadily worse, the U.S. military in Hawaii did not know an attack s coming. On December 6 a U.S. N y intelligence report lis d most of the Japanese ships in their home ports, including all the ships of the task rce. On December 7 at 7:30 A.M., the Japanese planes began bombing the U.S. eet in Pearl Harbor, taking the Americans totally by surprise, sinking ve battleships and three cruisers, destroying 177 aircra and killing 3,000. On