What is the largest lake in Europe

A.
The answer to mruczek's question is Lake Ladoga, in north-western Russia. It is the largest entirely in Europe. It covers 6,835 square miles (and lies 40 miles north-east of St Petersburg. With Lake Onega to the north-east, Ladoga forms part of a canal system linking the Baltic and White seas.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Q. It's Russian-owned, then

A. Yes - now. Ownership was divided between the Soviet Union and Finland until 1940, when the USSR took over the entire lake after a war against Finland. Ladoga then played a vital part in the defence of Russia in the Second World War.

Q. How

A. Leningrad (now St Petersburg) - Russia's second city and the cultural heart of the Soviet Union - was prime target of the advancing German army in June, 1941. One of the reasons for the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940 was to protect the vulnerable city from Finnish attack. When the Nazis invaded, they called on the Finns to attack Leningrad from the north.

Q. Why was it militarily so important

A. Leningrad's position prevented the Germans from sweeping around the north of Russia and attacking Moscow from behind. As the Nazi pushed forward, many of Leningrad's 3 million citizens dug anti-tank ditches around the city. A Red Army of 200,000 Red Army soldiers prepared for battle.

Q. And the Germans advanced

A. The invaders cut through the Leningrad-Moscow railway, advanced on the city, but failed to break through. In September, 1941, the Nazis decided to besiege the city - to triumph with relentless shelling, air attacks and starvation. The siege lasted 872 days and 650,000 died in 1942 alone. Meagre supplies came in by barge across Lake Ladoga during the summer, 1942. During the winter, trucks would drive over Ladoga's frozen ice.

Q. But the starvation went on

A. Things eased a little by 1943 with Soviet ingenuity - vegetable gardens were planted on any open ground and some food began to grow again. Part of the siege was broken that year by a Russian offensive and was lifted by January, 1944. The siege of Leningrad still remains a symbol of Nazi brutality and aggression on the Eastern Front. Dimitri Shostakovitch wrote his Seventh Symphony, the Leningrad Symphony, during the siege.

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By Steve Cunningham