On April 12, 1798, the Directory signed a decree on the formation of the Eastern Army, which was to be commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte. After the defeats of the French fleet at sea, the only chance to defeat Britain was to strike at its eastern colonies - so believed the triumphant Italian campaign.

This curious photograph, which you are now seeing, shows the moment of the capture of Jakob Nacken, the tallest Wehrmacht soldier at 2 meters 21 centimeters, by Canadian Corporal Bob Roberts, who was 1 meter 60 centimeters tall. The situation looked quite funny: a huge, bewildered Wehrmacht Ober-Efreier and a small Canadian corporal searching him.

Betrayal is an integral part of our life, it is always terrible and very difficult to survive, especially on the scale of an entire country. Throughout the history of the USSR there were many brave and courageous people who were not afraid to give their lives for the common cause, but there is no escape from traitors. In this article you will learn about the five main traitors in the history of the USSR, in my opinion, you can leave the names of your ‘heroes’ in the comments.

Historians still argue about the figure of hetman Ivan Mazepa. Some consider him a ‘professional traitor’, others argue that he could not do otherwise, as he was Ukrainian to the core and Ukraine was always more native to him than Russia.