<DIV>It is a common misunderstanding that the Red army, on Stalin's order, halted outside Warsaw in August 1944 to let the German troops suppress the Polish uprising in the capital. Joseph Stalin of course didn't want to let a pro-British Polish government get a foothold in Warsaw. The fact is that on the last day of July (the night before the start of the uprising) the Red Army was on their way into Praga (the east part of Warsaw on the east bank of Vistula) when the German troops put in a violent counterattack. This started the bitter fight that came to be called The Battle for Praga, which is virtually unknown in Western military history publishing.</DIV>