New Books in Military History

Antonio J. Muñoz, "Hitler's War Against the Partisans During the Stalingrad Offensive: Spring 1942 to the Spring of 1943" (Frontline, 2025)


Listen Later

Dr. Antonio J. Muñoz's Hitler’s War Against the Partisans During The Stalingrad Offensive: Spring 1942 to the Spring of 1943 (Frontline Books, 2025) explores the brutal and widespread partisan warfare on the Eastern Front during 1942-1943, detailing the Axis forces' anti-partisan efforts and the impact on the Soviet war effort.

From the start of the war on the Eastern Front, Hitler’s Ostheer, his Eastern Army, and its associated forces would wage a vernichtungskrieg, or war of annihilation, in the East. Never before had such a wide-reaching campaign been fought.

The preparations for the war against the partisans began before the launch of Operation Barbarossa, during which the Axis forces immediately put their plans into effect. The effects upon the newly conquered territories were soon being felt.

The end of the initial phase of the German invasion of the Soviet Union was met by a Red Army winter offensive which began on 5 December 1941. As the author shows, this had repercussions behind the German lines, where the nascent Soviet partisan movement was attempting to grow and gain a foothold. By the spring of 1942 those early Soviet partisan units were ready to expand. The Germans, aware of the military situation both on the frontlines and in the rear of their armies, also prepared to counter the growing partisan threat. The partisans undoubtedly made a significant contribution to Stalin’s war effort by countering Axis plans to exploit occupied Soviet territories economically, as well as providing valuable assistance to the Red Army by conducting systematic attacks against Hitler's rear communication network.

As the German military planned to continue the Russian campaign into the summer of 1942, new security forces were gathered together and sent to the Soviet Union, and a new headquarters specifically organized to fight the guerrilla menace, was established. In this follow-up study, author Antonio Muñoz picks up the partisan and anti-partisan struggle in the East, where Hitler’s War Against the Partisans During Operation Barbarossa left off.

The struggle behind the frontlines in Russia proved to be as grand and epic as the fight along the front lines. Dr. Muñoz describes this war of attrition along the entire breath of the USSR. In 1942 the Ostheer, acting on Adolf Hitler’s orders, launched their 1942 summer offensive which was aimed at capturing the Caucasus Mountains and the Russian oil fields that lay there.

Dr. Muñoz not only covers the war behind the lines in every region of the occupied USSR, but also describes the German anti-partisan effort behind the lines of Army Group South, as its forces drove into the Caucasus Mountains, the Volga River bend and Stalingrad. No other work has included the guerrilla and anti-partisan struggle specific to the Stalingrad campaign. Muñoz manages to accomplish this, but also to convey the story of the rest of the partisan and anti-guerrilla war in the rest of the USSR from the spring of 1942 to the spring of 1943.
Dr. Antonio J. Muñoz lives in New York City. He is a professor of history at Farmingdale State College in Long Island, New York. He is married, has two daughters and two grandchildren. His last work, published in 2018, covered the history of the German Secret Field Police in Greece, 1941-1944.
Stephen Satkiewicz is an independent scholar with research areas spanning Civilizational Sciences, Social Complexity, Big History, Historical Sociology, Military History, War Studies, International Relations, Geopolitics, and Russian and East European history.
Please check out my earlier interview with Dr. Antonio J. Muñoz on the previous volume in this series Hitler's War Against the Partisans During Operation Barbarossa June 1941 to the Spring of 1942 (Frontline Books, 2025) for the New Books Network. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/military-history

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

New Books in Military HistoryBy Marshall Poe

  • 4.1
  • 4.1
  • 4.1
  • 4.1
  • 4.1

4.1

154 ratings


More shows like New Books in Military History

View all
Ancient Warfare Podcast by The History Network

Ancient Warfare Podcast

531 Listeners

New Books in History by Marshall Poe

New Books in History

206 Listeners

New Books in Psychoanalysis by Marshall Poe

New Books in Psychoanalysis

193 Listeners

New Books in African American Studies by New Books Network

New Books in African American Studies

161 Listeners

New Books in Environmental Studies by Marshall Poe

New Books in Environmental Studies

23 Listeners

New Books in Political Science by New Books Network

New Books in Political Science

62 Listeners

New Books in Literary Studies by New Books Network

New Books in Literary Studies

22 Listeners

New Books in Philosophy by New Books Network

New Books in Philosophy

109 Listeners

The History of WWII Podcast by Ray Harris Jr

The History of WWII Podcast

3,968 Listeners

New Books in Intellectual History by New Books Network

New Books in Intellectual History

61 Listeners

War on the Rocks by Ryan Evans

War on the Rocks

1,076 Listeners

New Books in Asian American Studies by Marshall Poe

New Books in Asian American Studies

25 Listeners

The WW2 Podcast by Angus Wallace

The WW2 Podcast

1,207 Listeners

Dan Snow's History Hit by History Hit

Dan Snow's History Hit

4,659 Listeners

History Unplugged Podcast by History Unplugged

History Unplugged Podcast

4,009 Listeners

The Proceedings Podcast by U.S. Naval Institute

The Proceedings Podcast

211 Listeners

WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk by Goalhanger

WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk

1,318 Listeners

History of the Second World War by Wesley Livesay

History of the Second World War

568 Listeners

Global Security Briefing by The Royal United Services Institute

Global Security Briefing

20 Listeners

School of War by Nebulous Media

School of War

411 Listeners

Battleground by Goalhanger

Battleground

316 Listeners

The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War by Seth Paridon, William Toti

The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War

690 Listeners

WW1: Not So Quiet On The Western Front! | A Battle Guide Production by Dan Hill and Dr. Spencer Jones

WW1: Not So Quiet On The Western Front! | A Battle Guide Production

90 Listeners

WW2: Both Sides of The Wire | A Battle Guide Production by Prof. Matthias Strohn & Jesse Alexander

WW2: Both Sides of The Wire | A Battle Guide Production

63 Listeners