Beyond Barbarossa: The Eastern Front of World War 2

StAs the first anniversary of Operation Barbarossa approaches, the Soviet high command knows that the Germans are planning another major offensive. But the Germans have a way of surprising their enemies. 

Map 1: The Soviets push back the Germans, winter 1942

Map 2: German Case Blue objectives, 1942

Map 3: Leningrad front

Sturmgeschutz III self-propelled assault gun 

Karl-Gestat super-heavy mortar

Sources:

Clayton Donnell, The Defence of Sevastopol, 1941–1942: The Soviet Perspective. South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword Military Books, 2016.

Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin's War 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017.

Antony Beevor, The Second World War. London, UK: Little, Brown and Co., 2012. 

Wikipedia: Timeline of the Second World War, 1942

— Karl-Gerat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl-Gerat

— Lend-Lease https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease

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It's the spring of 1942. As the German Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe rebuild, the high command plans a new offensive in the east. Meanwhile, the Soviets strike back in Crimea and Kharkiv. 

Map 1: The Crimean peninsula

Map 2: Kerch peninsula

Map 3: The Second Battle of Kharkiv

Sources

Antony Beevor, The Second World War. London, UK: Little, Brown and Co., 2012. 

Ray Harris, The History of World War II podcast. https://worldwariipodcast.net 

David Glantz, Operation Barbarossa: Hitler's Invasion of Russia 1941. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2011

David Stahel, Operation Typhoon: Hitler's March on Moscow, October 1941. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

David Stahel, Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

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David Stahel reveals the real reason that Operation Barbarossa failed, a conclusion he reached after the deepest research into wehrmacht records. 

Author of Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East, as well as several other books on the Second World War in the east, he's a Senior Lecturer in European History at the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia. He joins Beyond Barbarossa for an eye-opening conversation. 

David Stahel's books:

Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 

Kiev 1941: Hitler's Battle for Supremacy in the East. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 

Operation Typhoon: Hitler's March on Moscow, October 1941. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013. 

The Battle for Moscow. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2015. 

Retreat from Moscow: A new history of Germany's winter campaign, 1941–1942. New York: Picador, 2019.

Hitler's Panzer Generals: Guderian, Hoepner, Reinhardt and Schmidt Unguarded. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, coming May 2023.

As editor:

With Alex J. Kay and Jeff Rutherford: Nazi Policy on the Eastern Front, 1941: Total War, Genocide, and Radicalization. University of Rochester Press, 2012. 

Joining Hitler's Crusade: European Nations and the Invasion of the Soviet Union, 1941. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2017. 

With Alex J. Kay: Mass Violence in Nazi-Occupied Europe. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2018.

With Craig W.H. Luther and R. L. DiNardo: Soldiers of Barbarossa: Combat, Genocide and Everyday Experiences on the Eastern Front, June–December 1941.Lanham, MD USA: Stackpole Books, 2020. 

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David Stahel offers a fresh perspective on the Eastern Front, one that turns the common conception of the war upside-down. 

Author of The Battle for Moscow and several other books on the Second World War in the east, he's a Senior Lecturer in European History at the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia. He joins Beyond Barbarossa for an eye-opening conversation. 

David Stahel's books:

Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 

Kiev 1941: Hitler's Battle for Supremacy in the East. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 

Operation Typhoon: Hitler's March on Moscow, October 1941. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013. 

The Battle for Moscow. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2015. 

Retreat from Moscow: A new history of Germany's winter campaign, 1941–1942. New York: Picador, 2019.

Hitler's Panzer Generals: Guderian, Hoepner, Reinhardt and Schmidt Unguarded. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, coming May 2023.

As editor:

With Alex J. Kay and Jeff Rutherford: Nazi Policy on the Eastern Front, 1941: Total War, Genocide, and Radicalization. University of Rochester Press, 2012. 

Joining Hitler's Crusade: European Nations and the Invasion of the Soviet Union, 1941. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2017. 

With Alex J. Kay: Mass Violence in Nazi-Occupied Europe. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2018.

With Craig W.H. Luther and R. L. DiNardo: Soldiers of Barbarossa: Combat, Genocide and Everyday Experiences on the Eastern Front, June–December 1941. Lanham, MD USA: Stackpole Books, 2020. 

Books about the Nazi occupation of Norway mentioned in the episode: 

J.L. Oakley, The Jossing Affair. J.L. Oakley, publisher, 2016.

— The Quisling Factor. J.L. Oakley, publisher, 2020. 

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Stalin orders a general counter-offensive designed to drive the Germans back to Berlin by the end of 1942. Does it work?

Map 1: The Soviet counter-offensive, Winter 1941–1942

Map 2: The Rzhev salient

Map 3: The Lozovoya-Toropets offensive

Sources: 

David Glantz, Operation Barbarossa: Hitler's Invasion of Russia, 1941. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2011. 

Walter Kerr, The Russian Army: Its Men, Its Leaders and Its Battles. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1944.

David Stahel, Retreat from Moscow: A New History of Germany's Winter Campaign, 1941_1942. New York, USA: Picador, 2020.

—, Operation Typhoon: Hitler's March on Moscow, October 1941. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013. 

Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin's War 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017.

Maps: Wikipedia. 

Sound effects: Zapsplat. 

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After stopping Operation Barbarossa, at the opening of 1942, the Red Army launches a series of offensives to drive the Germans back to Berlin. A series of offensives that became a series of bloody failures. 

Map 1: The Soviet Winter Offensives, December 1941 – May 1942

Map 2: The Crimean Peninsula 

Map 3: The Kerch Peninsula

The Red Army and Navy land on the eastern extremity of Crimea

Map 4:  The Lyuban Offensive, or the Battle of Volkhov 

Map 5: The Demyansk Pocket 

Sources:

Clayton Donnell, The Defence of Sevastopol, 1941–1942: The Soviet Perspective. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Books Ltd., 2016

David Glantz, Operation Barbarossa: Hitler's Invasion of Russia 1941. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2011

David Stahel, Operation Typhoon: Hitler's March on Moscow, October 1941. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013 

David Stahel, Retreat from Moscow: A New History of Germany's Winter Campaign, 1941–1942. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019 

Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin's War 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017

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A crucial prelude to Operation Barbarossa and the war on the Eastern Front of World War II: the Winter War between the USSR and Finland. 

Spoiler alert: The Soviet Union gets its ass kicked by a force less than half the size.

This episode is the first part in a three-part series on the Winter War; parts 2 and 3 will be for supporters and members only. 

Map 1: The Mannerheim Line of Finnish defences across the Karelian Isthmus.

Map 2: The USSR's four main attacks on Finland, 30 November 1939 

Map 3: Soviet advances in the Karelian Isthmus, December 1939

Map 4: Ladogo Karelia, north of Lake Ladoga

Sources:

Philip Jowett and Brent Snodgrass, Finland at War 1939–45. New York, NY: Osprey Publishing, 2006.

Wikipedia: Timeline of World War II (1939)

—: The Winter War

The Winter War. Captivating History, 2020.

Vesa Nenye, Peter Munter, Toni Wirtanen and Chris Birks, Finland at War: The Winter War, 1939–40. New York, NY: Osprey Publishing, 2018.

Sound effects obtained from Zapsplat.

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A very special guest joins the podcast this week: the one and only Daniele Bolelli of the History on Fire podcast.

Sources: 

The History on Fire podcast

http://historyonfirepodcast.com/ 

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In December 1941, the German army meets its match: General Winter arrives. So do huge Soviet reinforcements, and the Wehrmacht's advance on Moscow halts and has to back up. 

Map 1: The Moscow Counter-Offensive, December 1941

Map 2: Tikhvin and Leningrad, Nobember 1941 

Sources:

David Glantz, Operation Barbarossa: Hitler's Invasion of Russia 1941. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2011

David Stahel, Operation Typhoon: Hitler's March on Moscow, October 1941. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

David Stahel, Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 

Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin's War 1941-1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2017.

Wikipedia, Timeline of World War II (1941). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_World_War_II_(1941) 

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Ray Harris, 'caster of the History of World War II Podcast, joins me to talk about the significance of the Eastern Front of the Second World War, and some of the surprises he found in his work.

https://worldwariipodcast.net/all-podcasts/ 

Interested in World War II history? Check out Ray's podcast! 

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