Top 10 Deadliest Battles in History.

The Siege of Leningrad denotes one of the worst and most deadly periods of World War II, as German and Finnish armed militaries attacked the city of Leningrad in the Soviet Union, leading to 1.12 million casualties over a period of around 872 days. The attack started on September 8, 1941 and continued until January 27, 1944. Though Leningrad put up its own defenses in retaliation to the approaching German and Finnish forces, by November of 194 the city had been almost completely surrounded by the German troops. Supplies to the city were cut off, and the inhabitants suffered greatly, with 650,000 Leningraders dying in 1942 alone. Starvation, disease, and shelling activities by the German forces were all partially responsible for the massive death tolls seen during the Siege of Leningrad. Very few supplies that were obtained across Lake Ladoga kept the city’s surviving population alive (even if barely) during this period. In 1943, Soviet troops managed to rupture the German encirclement, allowing more supplies to reach the city. Finally, in January of 1944, the Soviet Army drove out the Germans and pushed them westward, ending the siege of the city.