I never tire of good, detailed, astute war documentaries; been watching them since I was a child. It is far more entertaining to me than fictional history. RUclips has a fine collection, much of which I already own.
@Flattop box Be careful in your assumptions. Knowledge is power and it will happen again. It is in our programming: desire peace, prepare for war, e.t.c.
I watch these in the background while I work. They are simultaneously educational, entertaining, and un-intrusive. I couldn’t agree more w your comment
What truly amazed me is the hardship that soldier,sailors and airmen endured, without faltering. All military suffer in some way, but combat can become a defining moment in your life. Times that you will never forget and sometimes you wish you could.
It must have been absolute hell fighting on the frontline. The winter would have been unbearable. The rain making your clothes all wet. The long nights with no sleep. Lack of food. The Eastern Front was horrific.
Oh, the problem with the rain wasn't the soaked clothes. It was the mud that did them in. Progress slowed to a crawl. The mud was extremely sticky and thick. It took twice as much effort to march half as far. Utterly exhausting. Any vehicle without treads would sink in the mud, tires spinning uselessly. The Germans hadn't seen the like.
Imagine being a Russian soldier during the war. The penal divisions would make soldiers clear mine fields marching in rank and file across them at gunpoint!! It was bad on both sides, but the Russian ppl as a whole went thru some bad stuff
Retreat from Moscow: A New History of Germany's Winter Campaign, 1941-1942 by David Stahel has several chapters with very graphic depictions of the unbearable and brutal conditions.
German army was built for mobility. Forcing them into "hold to the last man" situations and taking away their power to maneuver was one of the biggest blunders of the war.
Far from it. Out of the 152 German divisions in operation Barbarossa, only 19 were Panzer divisions and 14 were motorized. The ratio of four soldiers to tanks was 1,000 to 1. The ratio of horses to tanks was 185 to 1. The vast majority of Germans marched on foot and were heavily reliant upon 625,000 horses. Their spearheads were mobile, but 90% of their infantry fighting divisions weren’t mobile at all. Hitler’s stand your ground order actually saved the Wehrmacht from sure destruction in army group center in December 1941. And by the time the Germans reached Stalingrad they were out of fuel and low on manpower, rendering their machinery useless. Something like 18% of German divisions in the south in 1942 were equipped for offensive operations. Most were only capable of defense at the time of Case Blue.
I just recently talked to a friend of mine who told me she just had 3 boys born and presented them first time to her great grandmother in law. The reaction of old granny was and I quote. "Gut! Sehr gut, dann haben wir bald wieder neue Soldaten. Good, very good, then we will have new soldiers soon." My friend was shoked to hear that reaction in an rather admitting tone. It shows the spirit put into the people during the NS-Regime and how it prevails in them.
Hitler told his generals that he expected the campaign against Russia to be concluded in 13 weeks. It was therefore supposed to be finished by the end of September 1941. Instead, it lasted almost 4 years. Hitler attacked southern Russia in 1942 not because he wanted to surprise Stalin, but because Germany was running out of petroleum. German troops marched in Russia (instead of being carried by trucks) because there wasn't enough fuel to move them. Likewise, much of the German army's supplies were transported by horse because there wasn't enough fuel to move them otherwise.
Good analogy. This is exactly the case. The German Army specialized in hitting hard, hitting fast, and moving on. They HAD to. Supplies were limited so they had to win quickly.
I've been studying it from the inside a couple of times, going there on my motorbike - it's a very lovely and interesting city; you should go there some day! :-D Oh, and the best part - the inhabitants are, like Russians in general, very hospitable and helpful. I love that country with all my heart!
The German Wehrmacht of WW2 was certainly a truly formidable force and the German soldiers, officers, NCO's and rankers were some of the best soldiers in human history.....but, one must never, ever forget that the Wehrmacht had prior to the war sold its soul and honour to a devilish regime intent on world domination and genocide. Many German soldiers were extremely courageous and honourable individuals but the cause they fought and died for so tenaciously up to the very end was not worth one iota of their loyalty - they had truly been led to the gates of hell.
How interesting is that Hitler forbade city fighting in 1941 in Leningrad because of the lessons of Kiev but then committed to Stalingrad ... there was no need to take that city, just half-encircle it and secure the flank on the Volga down to Astrakhan and secure the main objective: the oil fields. Withdrawing from the Rhzev salient and shortening the lines in the center could have given the extra troops (especially if Halder was replaced sooner). The Germans in 1942 still did not understand that this was the very last slim chance to win the war - all SS troops and all reserves should have been thrown into this and even then it was a dubious adventure, pushing 800 km more on an overstretched supply line securing a 400 km flank on the Volga and taking the oil fields. Had they cut off the oil that would have seriously changed the war. But the Germans are still not fighting a total war at this point all their economy is still not mobilized and 42 is when the Soviets are in full swing and the land-lease arrives is significant amounts.
The germans wrongly assumed that the russians were on their last leg of reserves. IF that assumption were to be true, there would have been no reason to NOT expand into the caucasus at that time. They were wrong and should have been more cautious, but hindsight is 20/20...
@@tomtom34b As typical you're getting "the Germans" which I supposedly guess you mean "the generals" mixed up with Hitler. Do you even know the definition for the word "dictatorship." Your intelligence and understanding of the war is at least a micron thick. Congratulations.
they need to cut the Volga to secure the flank of army group B diverted south into the caucasus, there was no need to take Stalingrad to do so, but the entire southern wing of the red army hinged on Stalingrad as it had on Kiev and Smolensk in 1941
@@lewistaylor2858 what I am suggesting is securing the West bank of the Don river which was well within their means from Voronezh to Serafimovich to Kalach, then build a line from Kotelnikova to Elista and to the Kuma river reaching the Caspian. Never venture into Stalingrad that is unimportant the important part is the oil from the Caucasus. Leave the Kalmye steppe open so that the Russians would have to charge through open terrain into a fortified defensive position on a river bank with armored reserves behind it to quickly counterattack, Mannstein did that in 43 after Stalingrad so surely in 42 he could have done it even more so with Luftflotte 4 still reigning in the sky. Once the oil is cut off, the Soviets are seriously set back and Germany has plenty oil to keep the Wehrmacht running. In this grand scheme Rhzev can be given up gradually via flexible defense causing maximum Russian casualties diverting from the south front, most German reinforcements need to go South and minor Axis troops go north to around Rhzev to gradually withdraw from that line (the north is more forested armor is not that important there). Stalingrad did not need to be the hinge.
When you know that your going to be destroyed if you don’t move.... then move .... if not... it’s the same as helping the enemy. So..... screw orders from people who aren’t there.....
I would not say AG South was the least successful initially... The battle for Brody was the largest Tank battle in history even dwarfing Kursk in terms of time and disposition of forces and AG South was up against truly some of the best formations the Russians had at the time.
Noticed a glaring mistake: Army Group South had Luftflotte 4 under Alexander Löhr, Luftflotte 1 under Keller was part of Army Group North (check the other video).
All Germany had to do is send Army Group A to encircled Stalingrad from the southwest and just completely cut off the Russians. Thank the lord Hilter didn't understand anything about war... and wars single greatest commodity above anything, is Time. He did the same thing in the battle of Britain.
Yes, Time was never on Germany's side...it was only a matter of time before the US would bring its military/industrial might to the Continent...And his continuous underestimation of Russian Strength and Production Capacity....
I really enjoy the way that the two experts can disagree with each other but it's done respectfully. It's hard to remember when differing opinions were allowed to coexist respectfully.
The great disrespect that people now dump upon each other automatically came in with Trumpism and the tsunami of foreign, paid trolls. I've been on social media since 2012 and have seen discourse degenerate since around the fall of 2015.
@@grantsmythe8625 yep. Fake news and conspiracy theories and us versus them is destroying this country people believe completely insane things and somehow now public health has become politicized. It's beyond comprehension. I studied political science in college but now I can't watch a moment of politics. It's like a giant disease has come calling and I'm not talking about just covid.
@@bookaufman9643 Oh my goodness how right you are. People are just automatically rude, arrogant and spiteful. This fight can not be won using current methods. The only way to win is not to fight, just drop it, forget it and walk away. Minds cannot be changed through fighting. I'm sick of it. I'm out of it.
31:05 Ogareva boulevard seen from the Cannery's (apartment) House of Specialists on Raboche-Krestyanskaya Ulitsa. 31:08 A view west from near the Tram Car Barn south of the Tsaritsa.
The other more prominent problem experienced by German forces in the East was the inadequate supply of Panzers especially the Tigers and Panthers which were desperate in need to reinforce the weakening lines encountering Soviet counter-assaults on all fronts. Although Schwere Panzer-Abteilung divisions were present, it was never going to be enough to halt the inevitable defeat of the Third Reich since the disastrous Battle of Kursk in Operation Zitadel.
Never understood what Hitler considered victory at Stalingrad. The city had been bombed to rubble. The Soviets could continue to ferry troops across the Volga river because they controlled it's east bank.
IMO, the battle of Stalingrad was lost before it even started by bombing the city into a wasteland. They took away Army group A's air cover which left them exposed to the Russian Air Force slowing down their drive into the Caucasus. By destroying Stalingrad they turned it into a hellish maze of bomb craters and debris which limited tanks, instead of looking for the enemy in windows & doorways now they can come out of anywhere.
+Robert M Well said. Bombing Stalingrad into rubble was in hindsight a big mistake. It would've been much, much easier for the Wehrmacht to battle their way through an intact city.
They were defeated because they were overstretched. Their flanks, being held by thinly spread, ill-equipped Romanian and Hungarian forces, were vulnerable and the target of the Russian pincers that encircled the 6th army and heralded their doom.
Just.. :(. My grandfather was fighting at odessa. The other one grandfather, was comunist and also supposed to fight against soviet on western front. Were funny to see both of them arguing about ww2 "truth" and events.. before AND then after 1990, when comunist regime at least in theory.. was replaced with a democratic one. But back to ww2 eastern front events, one of the final blow for brave german army, was my nation betrayal caused by a puppet king which took soviet promises as good and arrested (then killed) the Great Romanian and Great Army Commander which was Marshal Ion Antonescu!
19:18 Oh, I will argue you a lot right there. The Soviet Union was not yet the superpower it would be and it ultimately became, even though it had help. But the mere fact that it did become a superpower and managed to stop the German Army while the rest of the world prepared or simply watched. That means they were at least equal, if not an even more immediate and powerful threat to Germany than the Anglo Allies. Specially, since the American and British armies were also very far from what they would become. In many ways, by 1942, the Soviets were the only real threat to the Germans. Even more argument is how little Germany worried about the "besieged" British and the still far away USA. Hitler mistake was not declaring war in a "pre emptive strike". It was thinking he had a chance to start with. So, I call complete and transparent Western bias.
It's far-fetched to call the battle of Kursk a turning point. By that time the German army had already suffered enormous casualties it couldn't possibly replace, it was overtaken by the Soviet Union in industrial output, while the Allied invasion of Sicily was imminent. What is often overlooked, perhaps because of Manstein's naivety, who claimed that he could have secured victory had Hitler not canceled the offensive, is that the Soviet army had massive reserves behind Kursk, which were readily available to immediately mitigate the -supposedly within reach- German encirclement of the Kursk salient, as well as the really massive casualties suffered by the Germans in Kursk as long as the operation lasted. And when I say massive, I don't refer to numbers per se, but to the percentage of casualties suffered by the actual combat troops, not the tens of thousands of men in supporting roles. The combat troops suffered casualties in some cases exceeding 50%. Therefore even if the Germans had succeeded in completing the encirclement of the salient, their immediate prospects were bleak to say the least.
"dividing his forces." don't know what Bock was thinking but he certainly wasn't very concerned about his flanks. if he had surrounded Stalingrad they probably would have have created another envelopment and mass surrender. The Crimean offensive was needless and could have been avoided. Strangely it was never fortified for defense after Von Manstein's brilliant if costly Victory.
+elliott brown who? I'm sorry I don't speak Austrian, tee hee. Seriously...after Kiev Hitler order his Generals to stop wiping entire Cities off the Map...Sebastopol was a major exception which if taken intact would have provided a VERY powerful defensive fortification. For another good example Google "MacCarthur vs Nimitz" and how to repeatedly come within an Ace of total annihilation repeatedly...only to somehow win. on how to "correctly" divide your forces Google Erwin Rommel and of course General Robert E Lee. in short..."never divide your forces." I do agree Hitler did take command of all Army Groups in the East...in December, 1941. No one ever really gave Army Group South "orders" really...with catastrophic consequences. Google OKH vs OKW...again not to disagree, thanks for your comments.
+elliott brown as the Russians quickly discovered..."you don't just launch counteroffensives." just ask Heinz Guderain. there is a well thought out theory that the annihilation of Kiev was in fact a "happy accident"...meaning unlike what is presented here Army Group South fully intended on wiping Kiev off the map but was ordered by Hitler to not do that...so instead the German Army swung South of the City only to discover the bulk of the Red Army was not in the Center or North but sitting right in Kiev. For a good primer on these matters Google "US Marine Corps, Battle for Peleliu" "Should be over in two days, men! not even that!" not saying you're wrong just saying... thanks for your interest though as the USA and Russia are now engaged in a War for the Crimea...something that is about the only thing worse than a land invasion of East Asia...
+elliott brown all those dead with no graves or markers. you tell me why we the Americans are there...I'm all ears. My personal view is if you're going to go up against the Golden Horde you better bring your A Game...
The Russians attributed the intelligence gained for Kursk from the Lucy Spy Ring but it could have been a cover for the Ring of Five (SpyCatcher Fame), the Cambridge Spy Ring.
Undoubtedly Bletchley park were a hidden hand in helping the Russian High command glean the intelligence and advantages necessary to win the battle of the Kursk!
Since the weather played a key role in stopping the German advance into Russia, one cannot help but wonder how things might have played out had the Germans initiated Barbarossa in early April rather than June 22. They wasted several months of good weather by delaying it until June.
Unlikely. The roads would've been way to muddy from the snow melting , and all the spring rains. I'm pretty sure that was one of reasons Germany didn't go in at April, and also because of the mess in Greece that musolini had started and couldn't finish.
I would send army group center and group south too Moscow, and have group north cover their flank. Then have group south breakoff towards the oil fields after the capital was sacked. I believe those two groups could have got to Moscow probably 2 months earlier. All that being said, if Hitler would have let his general's fight without his input they would have beat Russia in 41
it seems so. I'm sure he's saying some important and interesting stuff but hell I can't understand him. especially if the camera's not on him where I could at least try to read his lips.
He gives great info and analysis, but his presentation is like a waiter in a five-star restaurant who explains in luscious detail the ingredients and processes behind the entrees and appetizers.
von Rundstedt told Hitler he wanted to give up ground and stage a defensive front for the winter,Hitler refused him so Rundstedt told Hitler if he didn't have confidence in his leadership and judgment that he would like to offer his resignation,Hitler accepted his resignation and took his command.Hitler didn't just sack Rundstedt .
It's hard to get your head around the numbers involved eg 250k 6th army surrender or 600k Russian prisoners early on. This was very big stuff. Though when you consider 8 billion people now on the earth then perhaps peanuts.
Its the same theme over and over , SUPPLY and more RE SUPPLY constantly is what wins or looses the Germans were always over their heads in that aspect in every theatre they were in
@@davidwatson8118 Well actually at the time, everyone did that. The Soviets were horse-drawn, the Japanese were horse-drawn, the Brits I believe were a good deal horse-drawn, etc...the only country that was fully motorized was the United States and that is because it was swimming in oil. The Soviets later in the war became more motorized when the Lend-Lease trucks and fuel from America started arriving.
They spelled the names of General von Schubert and General von Kleist incorrectly... I wonder what else was not looked up by the makers of this documentary
The German Army staff planned for everything in great detail. When they murdered Russian civilians and military prisoners, or let them die by neglect, it was not an accident.
250,000 Werhmacht encircled in Stalingrad with 90,000 surrendered & only 5,000 ever returned. That's 1 German soldier in every 50 surviving the generous conditions supplied by Stalin ! The war brutalized everyone & no-one is innocent. We only helped those Reds as a means to an end but as soon as the WW2 ended guess who was the enemy of the free world ?
@@scottyfox6376 3 million Soviet POWs didn't make it home. They were starved or worked to death. It doesn't justify the treatment of German POWs but the Russians fighting back found what happened to their comrades and civilians. The Germans couldn't expect fair treatment after that.
The German Army never murdered any civilians but did kill communist partisans in France, the Balkans and of course occupied Soviet territories. As for Russian soldiers dying from neglect, that's a total non-argument as "liberated" Soviets prisoners were murdered outright by their countrymen or slowly murdered in the Gulag or Siberia. Stalin's own son was captured by the Germans and when Hitler proposed a trade on 2 or 3 occasions, Stalin cold-bloodedly turned them down. He had no more use for his own son than he did for 5.7 million Soviets soldiers captured by the Germans.
@@scottyfox6376 Compared to the millions of Red Army prisoners who died in German captivity, I'd say the 85.000 from Stalingrad is a drop in the ocean. The Soviet Union lost four times as many people as Germany.... so I don't feel sorry for the Germans. They started it themselves and paid the price. The only truly innocent are the children.
There are many who state that Stalingrad had no strategic value. Not true. With the Baltic and Black sea ports inaccessible to shipping, the primary supply lines were either across Siberia or through The Persian Gulf, over-land to the Caspian Sea and up the Volga to central Russia. -- Stalingrad was a hot-bed of armaments factories. With German control of Stalingrad, Russia is a Japanese blockade of Vladivostok away from starvation.
+davess357 WHO gives a crap about that lol....Army Group South had the best defensive position at Rostov and Kerch. They could have held out for years there against any Russian aggression. The place of battle was MOSCOW. IT WAS THE CENTRAL SUPPLY HUB FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. WITHOUT THAT YOU SPLIT THE COUNTRY COMPLETELY UP IN FOUR GROUPS OR MORE. THEY RELIED ON EACH OTHER FOR SUPPLIES AND MEN. SO MOSCOW WOULD HAVE WON THEM THE WAR OR AT LEAST GOT THEM LENINGRAD AND STALINGRAD WITHOUT THE BIG BATTLES. THEY WOULD HAVE FORCED STALIN TO EITHER DIE IN THE CITY OR FLEE AND EITHER WAY IS A WIN FOR GERMAN PROPAGANDA. IF RUSSIA SAW STALIN RETREATING ITS OVER THEY WILL ALL QUIT BUT IF HE STAYED AND DIED THEN ALL THE LEADERSHIP OF RUSSIA WOULD DIE WITH HIM AND THEY'D STILL LOSE AND GERMANY WOULD KILL EVERY RUSSIA SINCE THEIR ARMY WOULD BE TOTALLY DISORGANIZED WITHOUT STALIN GIVING ORDERS. ZHUKOV AND TIMO AND SOME OTHERS MIGHT HAVE BEEN ROGUE ARMIES BUT THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN IT. THERE WAS NO WAY TO KEEP THEM SUPPLIED SO THEY WOULD ONLY DO SO MUCH BEFORE THEY DISBANDED OR GAVE UP. MOST LIKELY A LOT OF THEM WOULD RUN TO THE URALS AND TRY TO REGROUP TO DO SABOTAGE LATER ON.
+davess357 whenever I think of Stalin I think of Jabba the Hut for some reason. Stalin was an able military commander in World War 1...and witnessed first hand the Red Army getting crushed when it invaded Poland in 1920...AFTER World War 1 was "over." He had a lot of doubts about Leon Trotsky after the whole Warsaw fiasco...but he learned too..I think. For the record Hitler was a moron...but is worthy of study both as a person and a military figure imho. He's a very easy guy to "follow" sadly. the only "political" winner of World War 2 was FDR...and he died before the War ended. He only made one battlefield decision...but it was a big one, namely Leyte Gulf imho.
I'd be more than high if you were the one in charge let alone trying to explain the history of the hapless Army Group South. These clowns should have been wiped out after one month of fighting with Goofy Gert the Staff Guy being Hitler's first public execution. Read David Glantz on this matter as he is totally spot on on what really was the the Russian strategy and how they understood even with Galloping Gert they had Army Group Center right where they wanted them. I do agree Germany could and in fact SHOULD hve defeated the Red Army in 1942 however. The destruction of Kiev was DEVASTATING...then followed up by an even GREATER disaster during the 2nd Battle of Kharkov PLUS Operation Bustard Hunt which was the real gateway to the Caucuses. I think Germany suffered from a lck of imagination when they crossed the Don at Vorehehnz and in a ferocious battle wiped out yet another massive Russian Army. At this point the SENSICAL approach would have been to turn North and take out Moscow once and for all by cutting off its Avenue of retreat and send the 300,000 man Norwegian Army "over the top" taking Murmansk and then wiping out Moscow once and for all. I see nothing the Russian Army holed up in Stalingrad could have done as the German Airforce had complete control of the air still in 1942.
Man... that group of mountaineers at 25:00 that planted the flag are lucky as hell... sure their mission was dangerous but at least they were fighting the elements instead of the Russians AND the elements... the Eastern Front such as Stalingrad must be some of the worst fighting humankind has ever had to endure. Hell must be a more welcoming place then Stalingrad was during World War II
Idiomatic phrase "Captive Romanian" has deeply rooted into Russian language as a synonym for "poor and hungry". Those POWs literally built some of city's factories, roads and other infrostructure, I am talking about Oskemen, Kazakhstan. We still have wasteland called "romanian cemetery". I was a small kid when my father was once mentioned this, it implies that not much of them returned back home, if any realy did. What I think, and I am sure my opinion tallies with thise of the rest of USSR citizens, they have washed away their blood guilt, as well as the rest of German POWs which worked for benefit of soviet industrialization in Sabirea. It might sound too cynical, but they got what they came for - 2 meters of soviet land for each.
Stalingrad exposed what was the fatal flaw in Hitler's plans..What is not ever talked about is that in fact, Von Manstein needed Paulus to breakout was because he lost a good part of his army because of the battle of Rhezev, had he had the Panzers, it is possible that Operation Thunder would have succeeded..
I don't think that the soldiers who fought in the battle of the bulge would consider operations citadel to be the last great German offensive. It was bigger but everything was bigger on that front. I think Hitler's offensive at the end of 1944 in the Ardennes was incredibly important though inevitably it was opposed and defeated by the allies and it's spelled the death knell for the Wermacht on the Western front
The romanian army helped army group south to its advance to Stalingrad.We had good soldiers but poor tanks and training. After Stalingrad the russians were advancing very swift and we just switched sides.
+Peter Bolotski we hate them like everibody do,same like amwrican and other west country,but we respect their military power wath its far better then NATO
+Peter Bolotski and we didnt was to the end,Ungary and Slovakia was to the end,after finland,romania change sides,after bulgaria, rest of the germany ally didnt change,they was conq,that its a diferrence
In Antony Beevor's "Berlin: The Downfall 1945" the author recounts stories of German soldiers retreating into the nation's capital, following a several year's long retreat from Soviet occupied territory in the East. Some of these Wehrmacht soldiers would have invariably come from the detritus of Army Group South. Beevor states that many of these Wehrmacht soldiers had to deal with incredible privation. Soldiers simply did not have the opportunity to change their under clothing for months. Many of us here stateside have dreamed of a hot shower after dealing with a hard day's slog taming the overgrowth within our suburban property, and changing into clean whites after exiting a benevolent bath. To not be afforded the opportunity of showering after months of combat, and when the opportunity arose, if it ever did, to not have a single clean pair of underwear seems beyond unbearable. But when you are dodging bullets. grenades, artillery, air strikes, katusha rocket hits and all other manner of destruction, a day without showering doing gardening work is a plight soldiers on both sides would have gladly substituted into.
Orealy? An objective of Army Group South was Baku during the war gaming? Hardy Har Har. Anyone who dared state that would’ve been beaten to a pulp in 1941.
I never tire of good, detailed, astute war documentaries; been watching them since I was a child. It is far more entertaining to me than fictional history. RUclips has a fine collection, much of which I already own.
I am like minded: a topic that draws me every time. I do worry for the future of humanity.
@Flattop box Be careful in your assumptions. Knowledge is power and it will happen again. It is in our programming: desire peace, prepare for war, e.t.c.
Correct Smooch !!
I watch these in the background while I work. They are simultaneously educational, entertaining, and un-intrusive. I couldn’t agree more w your comment
Smooches yes Sir!
Excellent.
Objective.
Most of the film footage actually matches the narrative.
Good series...thumbs up.
Yes indeed.
What truly amazed me is the hardship that soldier,sailors and airmen endured, without faltering. All military suffer in some way, but combat can become a defining moment in your life. Times that you will never forget and sometimes you wish you could.
It must have been absolute hell fighting on the frontline.
The winter would have been unbearable.
The rain making your clothes all wet.
The long nights with no sleep.
Lack of food.
The Eastern Front was horrific.
Oh, the problem with the rain wasn't the soaked clothes. It was the mud that did them in. Progress slowed to a crawl. The mud was extremely sticky and thick. It took twice as much effort to march half as far. Utterly exhausting. Any vehicle without treads would sink in the mud, tires spinning uselessly. The Germans hadn't seen the like.
Imagine being a Russian soldier during the war. The penal divisions would make soldiers clear mine fields marching in rank and file across them at gunpoint!! It was bad on both sides, but the Russian ppl as a whole went thru some bad stuff
@@adammcgirt7123 that was a lie and a propaganda, i know penal battalion was real but marching their own soldiers into the minefields never happened.
Retreat from Moscow: A New History of Germany's Winter Campaign, 1941-1942 by David Stahel has several chapters with very graphic depictions of the unbearable and brutal conditions.
One to chase up,thanks
for recommending!
I love this series so much. Some of my favorites besides the battlefields narrated by Tim Piggott Smith.
Outstanding documentary!! Thank you for sharing.
German army was built for mobility. Forcing them into "hold to the last man" situations and taking away their power to maneuver was one of the biggest blunders of the war.
Far from it. Out of the 152 German divisions in operation Barbarossa, only 19 were Panzer divisions and 14 were motorized. The ratio of four soldiers to tanks was 1,000 to 1. The ratio of horses to tanks was 185 to 1. The vast majority of Germans marched on foot and were heavily reliant upon 625,000 horses. Their spearheads were mobile, but 90% of their infantry fighting divisions weren’t mobile at all. Hitler’s stand your ground order actually saved the Wehrmacht from sure destruction in army group center in December 1941. And by the time the Germans reached Stalingrad they were out of fuel and low on manpower, rendering their machinery useless. Something like 18% of German divisions in the south in 1942 were equipped for offensive operations. Most were only capable of defense at the time of Case Blue.
Thanks for posting this interesting documentary.
John Erickson, great South Shields accent and hosted Soviet and NATO little get together of generals in his university quarters during the Cold War
Thanks for posting these awesome videos
Army Group South had the support of Luftflotte 4 under Generaloberst Alexander Löhr not Luftflotte 1
Great series of clips Vasile- much obliged (Y)
An excellent and informative documentary.
Take a shot of vodka (or schnapps) every time Hitler refuses a request to withdraw.
😂😃🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🤭🤪🤤
🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
THIS SERIES SHOULD BE IN COLOUR
I just recently talked to a friend of mine who told me she just had 3 boys born and presented them first time to her great grandmother in law. The reaction of old granny was and I quote. "Gut! Sehr gut, dann haben wir bald wieder neue Soldaten. Good, very good, then we will have new soldiers soon." My friend was shoked to hear that reaction in an rather admitting tone. It shows the spirit put into the people during the NS-Regime and how it prevails in them.
Your videos are the best. I'm now a subscriber
The thing with a mobile anything is that it requires oil. And the Germans were running on fumes.
really top shelf documentary, just fascinating...
Fantastic documentary.
splendid lecturer from Sandhurst..
One of the best military formations to walk a battlefield these guys fought to the bitter end.
Hitler told his generals that he expected the campaign against Russia to be concluded in 13 weeks. It was therefore supposed to be finished by the end of September 1941. Instead, it lasted almost 4 years.
Hitler attacked southern Russia in 1942 not because he wanted to surprise Stalin, but because Germany was running out of petroleum. German troops marched in Russia (instead of being carried by trucks) because there wasn't enough fuel to move them. Likewise, much of the German army's supplies were transported by horse because there wasn't enough fuel to move them otherwise.
In fairness, the Red Army had just struggled with Finland. Anyone could have been led to believe that the USSR was militarily weak.
Stalingrad was the craziest battle ever fought.... hats off to the toughness of those that defended the city.... amazing
Hats off to the German and Romanian soldiers fighting the Soviets, the most evil regime ever in europe
This was a really good series of documentaries
Hitler played into Soviet's strength by attempting to hold ground. It's analogous to a quick boxer who tries to outwrestle a sumo.
Good analogy. This is exactly the case. The German Army specialized in hitting hard, hitting fast, and moving on. They HAD to. Supplies were limited so they had to win quickly.
Very thanks for the upload
Currently studying Stalingrad...thanks for timely upload !!
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I've been studying it from the inside a couple of times, going there on my motorbike - it's a very lovely and interesting city; you should go there some day! :-D Oh, and the best part - the inhabitants are, like Russians in general, very hospitable and helpful. I love that country with all my heart!
This is lovely stuff..
Great dokumentin on east front 😉!!!...
This video is very good!!
The German Wehrmacht of WW2 was certainly a truly formidable force and the German soldiers, officers, NCO's and rankers were some of the best soldiers in human history.....but, one must never, ever forget that the Wehrmacht had prior to the war sold its soul and honour to a devilish regime intent on world domination and genocide. Many German soldiers were extremely courageous and honourable individuals but the cause they fought and died for so tenaciously up to the very end was not worth one iota of their loyalty - they had truly been led to the gates of hell.
Very well done!
How interesting is that Hitler forbade city fighting in 1941 in Leningrad because of the lessons of Kiev but then committed to Stalingrad ... there was no need to take that city, just half-encircle it and secure the flank on the Volga down to Astrakhan and secure the main objective: the oil fields. Withdrawing from the Rhzev salient and shortening the lines in the center could have given the extra troops (especially if Halder was replaced sooner). The Germans in 1942 still did not understand that this was the very last slim chance to win the war - all SS troops and all reserves should have been thrown into this and even then it was a dubious adventure, pushing 800 km more on an overstretched supply line securing a 400 km flank on the Volga and taking the oil fields. Had they cut off the oil that would have seriously changed the war. But the Germans are still not fighting a total war at this point all their economy is still not mobilized and 42 is when the Soviets are in full swing and the land-lease arrives is significant amounts.
The germans wrongly assumed that the russians were on their last leg of reserves. IF that assumption were to be true, there would have been no reason to NOT expand into the caucasus at that time. They were wrong and should have been more cautious, but hindsight is 20/20...
Wow, I guess we'll have to make sure you're commanding the entire army next time there's a world war. What an incredible simpleton you are.
@@tomtom34b As typical you're getting "the Germans" which I supposedly guess you mean "the generals" mixed up with Hitler. Do you even know the definition for the word "dictatorship." Your intelligence and understanding of the war is at least a micron thick. Congratulations.
they need to cut the Volga to secure the flank of army group B diverted south into the caucasus, there was no need to take Stalingrad to do so, but the entire southern wing of the red army hinged on Stalingrad as it had on Kiev and Smolensk in 1941
@@lewistaylor2858 what I am suggesting is securing the West bank of the Don river which was well within their means from Voronezh to Serafimovich to Kalach, then build a line from Kotelnikova to Elista and to the Kuma river reaching the Caspian. Never venture into Stalingrad that is unimportant the important part is the oil from the Caucasus. Leave the Kalmye steppe open so that the Russians would have to charge through open terrain into a fortified defensive position on a river bank with armored reserves behind it to quickly counterattack, Mannstein did that in 43 after Stalingrad so surely in 42 he could have done it even more so with Luftflotte 4 still reigning in the sky. Once the oil is cut off, the Soviets are seriously set back and Germany has plenty oil to keep the Wehrmacht running. In this grand scheme Rhzev can be given up gradually via flexible defense causing maximum Russian casualties diverting from the south front, most German reinforcements need to go South and minor Axis troops go north to around Rhzev to gradually withdraw from that line (the north is more forested armor is not that important there). Stalingrad did not need to be the hinge.
When you know that your going to be destroyed if you don’t move.... then move
.... if not... it’s the same as helping the enemy.
So..... screw orders from people who aren’t there.....
I would not say AG South was the least successful initially... The battle for Brody was the largest Tank battle in history even dwarfing Kursk in terms of time and disposition of forces and AG South was up against truly some of the best formations the Russians had at the time.
Helpful,to know.Have heard
of other significant tank
clashes,that one does
sound interesting.
At 30:00... who made that map, showing Stalingrad on the wrong side of the river? :-/
Noticed a glaring mistake: Army Group South had Luftflotte 4 under Alexander Löhr, Luftflotte 1 under Keller was part of Army Group North (check the other video).
also 9:27, 2nd Panzer Army under Manstein when it should say Guderian
walsh must put them to sleep at sandhurst
does anyone know where I can find this series on DVD?
I've got to commend this production, it is very objective and doesn't have the usual bile associated with British accounts of WWII.
+Cyclops8888 Indeed. It's great to watch such an unbiased documentary. Just pure facts and no jewish propaganda, very nice.
hexagon523 hey I agree on this stuff because I've done a lot of research but what do you think of the the scorched earth decree?
Corey White
Scorched earth is a veeery good decree. Yes, realy good :-)
Bile of British accounts? Have you seen the crap the US put out!!
I have to agree with you. This was a very level headed assessment without the usual British racist slant.
Where didyou get the scorched earth series?
This RUclips channel rules
All Germany had to do is send Army Group A to encircled Stalingrad from the southwest and just completely cut off the Russians. Thank the lord Hilter didn't understand anything about war... and wars single greatest commodity above anything, is Time. He did the same thing in the battle of Britain.
Yes, Time was never on Germany's side...it was only a matter of time before the US would bring its military/industrial might to the Continent...And his continuous underestimation of Russian Strength and Production Capacity....
I really enjoy the way that the two experts can disagree with each other but it's done respectfully. It's hard to remember when differing opinions were allowed to coexist respectfully.
The great disrespect that people now dump upon each other automatically came in with Trumpism and the tsunami of foreign, paid trolls. I've been on social media since 2012 and have seen discourse degenerate since around the fall of 2015.
@@grantsmythe8625 yep. Fake news and conspiracy theories and us versus them is destroying this country people believe completely insane things and somehow now public health has become politicized. It's beyond comprehension. I studied political science in college but now I can't watch a moment of politics. It's like a giant disease has come calling and I'm not talking about just covid.
@@bookaufman9643 Oh my goodness how right you are. People are just automatically rude, arrogant and spiteful. This fight can not be won using current methods. The only way to win is not to fight, just drop it, forget it and walk away. Minds cannot be changed through fighting. I'm sick of it. I'm out of it.
31:05 Ogareva boulevard seen from the Cannery's (apartment) House of Specialists on Raboche-Krestyanskaya Ulitsa.
31:08 A view west from near the Tram Car Barn south of the Tsaritsa.
Wow
@@HateTheIRS Indeed
The other more prominent problem experienced by German forces in the East was the inadequate supply of Panzers especially the Tigers and Panthers which were desperate in need to reinforce the weakening lines encountering Soviet counter-assaults on all fronts. Although Schwere Panzer-Abteilung divisions were present, it was never going to be enough to halt the inevitable defeat of the Third Reich since the disastrous Battle of Kursk in Operation Zitadel.
Maikop is now spelled "Maykop." (@ 22:35)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maykop
"Greeted as Liberators." Important part too..
Pegasus produce a good documents!!.
Never understood what Hitler considered victory at Stalingrad. The city had been bombed to rubble. The Soviets could continue to ferry troops across the Volga river because they controlled it's east bank.
IMO, the battle of Stalingrad was lost before it even started by bombing the city into a wasteland. They took away Army group A's air cover which left them exposed to the Russian Air Force slowing down their drive into the Caucasus. By destroying Stalingrad they turned it into a hellish maze of bomb craters and debris which limited tanks, instead of looking for the enemy in windows & doorways now they can come out of anywhere.
+Robert M Well said. Bombing Stalingrad into rubble was in hindsight a big mistake. It would've been much, much easier for the Wehrmacht to battle their way through an intact city.
They were defeated because they were overstretched. Their flanks, being held by thinly spread, ill-equipped Romanian and Hungarian forces, were vulnerable and the target of the Russian pincers that encircled the 6th army and heralded their doom.
"You wouldn't have had much fun in Stalingrad, would you... I said, you wouldn't have had much fun in Stalingrad, would you, ha, ha, ha?"
christosvoskresye
Just.. :(. My grandfather was fighting at odessa. The other one grandfather, was comunist and also supposed to fight against soviet on western front. Were funny to see both of them arguing about ww2 "truth" and events.. before AND then after 1990, when comunist regime at least in theory.. was replaced with a democratic one.
But back to ww2 eastern front events, one of the final blow for brave german army, was my nation betrayal caused by a puppet king which took soviet promises as good and arrested (then killed) the Great Romanian and Great Army Commander which was Marshal Ion Antonescu!
poor van Kleist, every time I see his name they call him "Kliest" XD
19:18
Oh, I will argue you a lot right there. The Soviet Union was not yet the superpower it would be and it ultimately became, even though it had help. But the mere fact that it did become a superpower and managed to stop the German Army while the rest of the world prepared or simply watched. That means they were at least equal, if not an even more immediate and powerful threat to Germany than the Anglo Allies. Specially, since the American and British armies were also very far from what they would become. In many ways, by 1942, the Soviets were the only real threat to the Germans.
Even more argument is how little Germany worried about the "besieged" British and the still far away USA. Hitler mistake was not declaring war in a "pre emptive strike". It was thinking he had a chance to start with. So, I call complete and transparent Western bias.
...how is a statement that the Red Army was the largest in the world 'Western bias?'
Of course u believe in western bias,that's what u are taught
It's far-fetched to call the battle of Kursk a turning point. By that time the German army had already suffered enormous casualties it couldn't possibly replace, it was overtaken by the Soviet Union in industrial output, while the Allied invasion of Sicily was imminent. What is often overlooked, perhaps because of Manstein's naivety, who claimed that he could have secured victory had Hitler not canceled the offensive, is that the Soviet army had massive reserves behind Kursk, which were readily available to immediately mitigate the -supposedly within reach- German encirclement of the Kursk salient, as well as the really massive casualties suffered by the Germans in Kursk as long as the operation lasted. And when I say massive, I don't refer to numbers per se, but to the percentage of casualties suffered by the actual combat troops, not the tens of thousands of men in supporting roles. The combat troops suffered casualties in some cases exceeding 50%. Therefore even if the Germans had succeeded in completing the encirclement of the salient, their immediate prospects were bleak to say the least.
"dividing his forces." don't know what Bock was thinking but he certainly wasn't very concerned about his flanks. if he had surrounded Stalingrad they probably would have have created another envelopment and mass surrender. The Crimean offensive was needless and could have been avoided. Strangely it was never fortified for defense after Von Manstein's brilliant if costly Victory.
+Andrew Doolittle Bock did not have operational control of the theater of war- Hitler did.
+elliott brown who? I'm sorry I don't speak Austrian, tee hee.
Seriously...after Kiev Hitler order his Generals to stop wiping entire Cities off the Map...Sebastopol was a major exception which if taken intact would have provided a VERY powerful defensive fortification. For another good example Google "MacCarthur vs Nimitz" and how to repeatedly come within an Ace of total annihilation repeatedly...only to somehow win.
on how to "correctly" divide your forces Google Erwin Rommel and of course General Robert E Lee.
in short..."never divide your forces." I do agree Hitler did take command of all Army Groups in the East...in December, 1941. No one ever really gave Army Group South "orders" really...with catastrophic consequences.
Google OKH vs OKW...again not to disagree, thanks for your comments.
At 28:05 the map shows Stalingrad EAST of the Volga, lol!!
Yep, I noticed the same mistake. :-D
Tell Ericson that Paulus wasn't a "von."
Good show
Where is episode 1 for Army Group North.
Does anybody know what year this was made? Mid to late 90s?
Dialog from a Russian or German soldier." Karkov was total hell. At least we won't be coming back here again."
no discussion on "staging areas". this is fully mechanized War requiring a vast battlespace just to organize.
+Andrew Doolittle The title of the film is Army Group South not prelude to operation Barbarossa.
+elliott brown as the Russians quickly discovered..."you don't just launch counteroffensives." just ask Heinz Guderain.
there is a well thought out theory that the annihilation of Kiev was in fact a "happy accident"...meaning unlike what is presented here Army Group South fully intended on wiping Kiev off the map but was ordered by Hitler to not do that...so instead the German Army swung South of the City only to discover the bulk of the Red Army was not in the Center or North but sitting right in Kiev.
For a good primer on these matters Google "US Marine Corps, Battle for Peleliu"
"Should be over in two days, men! not even that!"
not saying you're wrong just saying...
thanks for your interest though as the USA and Russia are now engaged in a War for the Crimea...something that is about the only thing worse than a land invasion of East Asia...
+andrew
Next time submit a comment worth reading.
+elliott brown all those dead with no graves or markers. you tell me why we the Americans are there...I'm all ears.
My personal view is if you're going to go up against the Golden Horde you better bring your A Game...
why the fuk is walsh whispering in all these vids???
To irritate you.
It's working apparently.
The Russians attributed the intelligence gained for Kursk from the Lucy Spy Ring but it could have been a cover for the Ring of Five (SpyCatcher Fame), the Cambridge Spy Ring.
Undoubtedly Bletchley park were
a hidden hand in helping the
Russian High command
glean the intelligence
and advantages
necessary to
win the
battle
of the
Kursk!
Since the weather played a key role in stopping the German advance into Russia, one cannot help but wonder how things might have played out had the Germans initiated Barbarossa in early April rather than June 22. They wasted several months of good weather by delaying it until June.
Unlikely. The roads would've been way to muddy from the snow melting , and all the spring rains. I'm pretty sure that was one of reasons Germany didn't go in at April, and also because of the mess in Greece that musolini had started and couldn't finish.
I would send army group center and group south too Moscow, and have group north cover their flank. Then have group south breakoff towards the oil fields after the capital was sacked. I believe those two groups could have got to Moscow probably 2 months earlier. All that being said, if Hitler would have let his general's fight without his input they would have beat Russia in 41
Is stephan Walsh on Valium?
it seems so. I'm sure he's saying some important and interesting stuff but hell I can't understand him. especially if the camera's not on him where I could at least try to read his lips.
He gives great info and analysis, but his presentation is like a waiter in a five-star restaurant who explains in luscious detail the ingredients and processes behind the entrees and appetizers.
They need someone to sign language when he speaks. Or furnish us a lip reader. SPEAK UP STEPHAN!
Yes!! especially when I just want french fries!
Maybe Maybe not!!!... Best docum. So far🤔!!!... Do it better!!!... Better valium than Pervitin😳🤪...
Who forgot to set the sound at at a level it could be heard?
von Rundstedt told Hitler he wanted to give up ground and stage a defensive front for the winter,Hitler refused him so Rundstedt told Hitler if he didn't have confidence in his leadership and judgment that he would like to offer his resignation,Hitler accepted his resignation and took his command.Hitler didn't just sack Rundstedt .
It's hard to get your head around the numbers involved eg 250k 6th army surrender or 600k Russian prisoners early on. This was very big stuff. Though when you consider 8 billion people now on the earth then perhaps peanuts.
'Outcome of WW2 was decided here', ehm, not entirely, as it did not do anything for the war in the Pacific.
Yes almost Entirely because defeating Japan was much easier than Germany.
Its the same theme over and over , SUPPLY and more RE SUPPLY constantly is what wins or looses the Germans were always over their heads in that aspect in every theatre they were in
From what I've heard the Germans barely had enough resources to start the war in the first place
Fancy still using horses and expecting most your troops to walk everywhere.
@@davidwatson8118 Well actually at the time, everyone did that. The Soviets were horse-drawn, the Japanese were horse-drawn, the Brits I believe were a good deal horse-drawn, etc...the only country that was fully motorized was the United States and that is because it was swimming in oil. The Soviets later in the war became more motorized when the Lend-Lease trucks and fuel from America started arriving.
@@WheelsRCool
The Brit's were motorised.
@@davidwatson8118 Not as much early on, they weren't. They made sizable uses of horses until later in the war.
They spelled the names of General von Schubert and General von Kleist incorrectly... I wonder what else was not looked up by the makers of this documentary
was that a guy falling at 4:17?
It was a squirrel.
The German Army staff planned for everything in great detail. When they murdered Russian civilians and military prisoners, or let them die by neglect, it was not an accident.
250,000 Werhmacht encircled in Stalingrad with 90,000 surrendered & only 5,000 ever returned. That's 1 German soldier in every 50 surviving the generous conditions supplied by Stalin ! The war brutalized everyone & no-one is innocent. We only helped those Reds as a means to an end but as soon as the WW2 ended guess who was the enemy of the free world ?
@@scottyfox6376 3 million Soviet POWs didn't make it home. They were starved or worked to death. It doesn't justify the treatment of German POWs but the Russians fighting back found what happened to their comrades and civilians. The Germans couldn't expect fair treatment after that.
The German Army never murdered any civilians but did kill communist partisans in France, the Balkans and of course occupied Soviet territories. As for Russian soldiers dying from neglect, that's a total non-argument as "liberated" Soviets prisoners were murdered outright by their countrymen or slowly murdered in the Gulag or Siberia. Stalin's own son was captured by the Germans and when Hitler proposed a trade on 2 or 3 occasions, Stalin cold-bloodedly turned them down. He had no more use for his own son than he did for 5.7 million Soviets soldiers captured by the Germans.
Harold Fiedler you are insane if you truly believe your first sentence.
@@scottyfox6376 Compared to the millions of Red Army prisoners who died in German captivity, I'd say the 85.000 from Stalingrad is a drop in the ocean. The Soviet Union lost four times as many people as Germany.... so I don't feel sorry for the Germans. They started it themselves and paid the price. The only truly innocent are the children.
Good documentary, very informative, however; get rid of that guy from Sandhurst! About as interesting as wet laundry!
Stephen Walsh looks like his voice is putting his face to asleep 🙃 no disrespect obviously - great historical insight
There are many who state that Stalingrad had no strategic value. Not true. With the Baltic and Black sea ports inaccessible to shipping, the primary supply lines were either across Siberia or through The Persian Gulf, over-land to the Caspian Sea and up the Volga to central Russia. -- Stalingrad was a hot-bed of armaments factories. With German control of Stalingrad, Russia is a Japanese blockade of Vladivostok away from starvation.
+davess357 WHO gives a crap about that lol....Army Group South had the best defensive position at Rostov and Kerch. They could have held out for years there against any Russian aggression. The place of battle was MOSCOW. IT WAS THE CENTRAL SUPPLY HUB FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. WITHOUT THAT YOU SPLIT THE COUNTRY COMPLETELY UP IN FOUR GROUPS OR MORE. THEY RELIED ON EACH OTHER FOR SUPPLIES AND MEN. SO MOSCOW WOULD HAVE WON THEM THE WAR OR AT LEAST GOT THEM LENINGRAD AND STALINGRAD WITHOUT THE BIG BATTLES. THEY WOULD HAVE FORCED STALIN TO EITHER DIE IN THE CITY OR FLEE AND EITHER WAY IS A WIN FOR GERMAN PROPAGANDA. IF RUSSIA SAW STALIN RETREATING ITS OVER THEY WILL ALL QUIT BUT IF HE STAYED AND DIED THEN ALL THE LEADERSHIP OF RUSSIA WOULD DIE WITH HIM AND THEY'D STILL LOSE AND GERMANY WOULD KILL EVERY RUSSIA SINCE THEIR ARMY WOULD BE TOTALLY DISORGANIZED WITHOUT STALIN GIVING ORDERS. ZHUKOV AND TIMO AND SOME OTHERS MIGHT HAVE BEEN ROGUE ARMIES BUT THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN IT. THERE WAS NO WAY TO KEEP THEM SUPPLIED SO THEY WOULD ONLY DO SO MUCH BEFORE THEY DISBANDED OR GAVE UP. MOST LIKELY A LOT OF THEM WOULD RUN TO THE URALS AND TRY TO REGROUP TO DO SABOTAGE LATER ON.
Buku Carateen -- I agree with your strategy. This particular subject matter was about the southern campaign...
+davess357 whenever I think of Stalin I think of Jabba the Hut for some reason. Stalin was an able military commander in World War 1...and witnessed first hand the Red Army getting crushed when it invaded Poland in 1920...AFTER World War 1 was "over." He had a lot of doubts about Leon Trotsky after the whole Warsaw fiasco...but he learned too..I think. For the record Hitler was a moron...but is worthy of study both as a person and a military figure imho. He's a very easy guy to "follow" sadly.
the only "political" winner of World War 2 was FDR...and he died before the War ended.
He only made one battlefield decision...but it was a big one, namely Leyte Gulf imho.
andrew -- Are you high ??
I'd be more than high if you were the one in charge let alone trying to explain the history of the hapless Army Group South. These clowns should have been wiped out after one month of fighting with Goofy Gert the Staff Guy being Hitler's first public execution. Read David Glantz on this matter as he is totally spot on on what really was the the Russian strategy and how they understood even with Galloping Gert they had Army Group Center right where they wanted them. I do agree Germany could and in fact SHOULD hve defeated the Red Army in 1942 however. The destruction of Kiev was DEVASTATING...then followed up by an even GREATER disaster during the 2nd Battle of Kharkov PLUS Operation Bustard Hunt which was the real gateway to the Caucuses. I think Germany suffered from a lck of imagination when they crossed the Don at Vorehehnz and in a ferocious battle wiped out yet another massive Russian Army. At this point the SENSICAL approach would have been to turn North and take out Moscow once and for all by cutting off its Avenue of retreat and send the 300,000 man Norwegian Army "over the top" taking Murmansk and then wiping out Moscow once and for all. I see nothing the Russian Army holed up in Stalingrad could have done as the German Airforce had complete control of the air still in 1942.
rumananian. ? were they from? lol
Rumanian or Romanian are both correct.
28:15 stalingrad is wrong side of river.. but little mistake.
28:41 What aircraft is that? Does anybody know?
Do believe it is a Sukhoi Su-2
Martin
Thanks. Looked up S-2 on wiki and it seems like it was replace by the Il-2 although it could fly much faster
Hitler raised Germany , but buried at same time , great video.
Man... that group of mountaineers at 25:00 that planted the flag are lucky as hell... sure their mission was dangerous but at least they were fighting the elements instead of the Russians AND the elements... the Eastern Front such as Stalingrad must be some of the worst fighting humankind has ever had to endure. Hell must be a more welcoming place then Stalingrad was during World War II
Idiomatic phrase "Captive Romanian" has deeply rooted into Russian language as a synonym for "poor and hungry". Those POWs literally built some of city's factories, roads and other infrostructure, I am talking about Oskemen, Kazakhstan. We still have wasteland called "romanian cemetery". I was a small kid when my father was once mentioned this, it implies that not much of them returned back home, if any realy did. What I think, and I am sure my opinion tallies with thise of the rest of USSR citizens, they have washed away their blood guilt, as well as the rest of German POWs which worked for benefit of soviet industrialization in Sabirea. It might sound too cynical, but they got what they came for - 2 meters of soviet land for each.
Can anyone tell me the music starting at 11:47?
I cannot
I’d rather watch a good documentary rather than marvel or any other type of fiction that people today lose their shit over.
The boats the Germans we're using for river crossings...... Are those BMW motorcycle engines ? As outbourd engine
"and the Red Army was fleeing into Hell, too."
*AND THEY BOTH DECIDED TO DIE TOGETHER THE END.*
Move along..
The trapped Germans were in no shape to break out. They were starving.
👍👌💪💪🙏 !
Stalingrad exposed what was the fatal flaw in Hitler's plans..What is not ever talked about is that in fact, Von Manstein needed Paulus to breakout was because he lost a good part of his army because of the battle of Rhezev, had he had the Panzers, it is possible that Operation Thunder would have succeeded..
I don't think that the soldiers who fought in the battle of the bulge would consider operations citadel to be the last great German offensive. It was bigger but everything was bigger on that front. I think Hitler's offensive at the end of 1944 in the Ardennes was incredibly important though inevitably it was opposed and defeated by the allies and it's spelled the death knell for the Wermacht on the Western front
21:54 what that statue mean a crocodile around the kids ?
Actually yes...good eye catch my friend!
The romanian army helped army group south to its advance to Stalingrad.We had good soldiers but poor tanks and training.
After Stalingrad the russians were advancing very swift and we just switched sides.
+calinescu andrei The Roumanians stuck with the Nazis to the very end, even when other nations left. Do the Roumanians hate Russians so much?
+Peter Bolotski we hate them like everibody do,same like amwrican and other west country,but we respect their military power wath its far better then NATO
+Peter Bolotski and we didnt was to the end,Ungary and Slovakia was to the end,after finland,romania change sides,after bulgaria, rest of the germany ally didnt change,they was conq,that its a diferrence
After murdering ~ 80000 Jews in Odessa all on your own, Very courageous
In Antony Beevor's "Berlin: The Downfall 1945" the author recounts stories of German soldiers retreating into the nation's capital, following a several year's long retreat from Soviet occupied territory in the East. Some of these Wehrmacht soldiers would have invariably come from the detritus of Army Group South. Beevor states that many of these Wehrmacht soldiers had to deal with incredible privation. Soldiers simply did not have the opportunity to change their under clothing for months. Many of us here stateside have dreamed of a hot shower after dealing with a hard day's slog taming the overgrowth within our suburban property, and changing into clean whites after exiting a benevolent bath. To not be afforded the opportunity of showering after months of combat, and when the opportunity arose, if it ever did, to not have a single clean pair of underwear seems beyond unbearable. But when you are dodging bullets. grenades, artillery, air strikes, katusha rocket hits and all other manner of destruction, a day without showering doing gardening work is a plight soldiers on both sides would have gladly substituted into.
Orealy? An objective of Army Group South was Baku during the war gaming? Hardy Har Har. Anyone who dared state that would’ve been beaten to a pulp in 1941.
Main problem is that without Teboil mobile det enda is not possibly....