''I was killed near Rzhev In a nameless bog, In fifth company, On the Left flank, In a cruel air raid I didn’t hear explosions And did not see the flash Down to an abyss from a cliff No start, no end And in this whole world To the end of its days - Neither patches, nor badges From my tunic you’ll find I am where the blind roots Seek for food in the dark I am where the rye waves On a hill in the dust'' -Alexander Tvardovsky
6:15 so glad you used a picture of "Pavlov's House". The whole story about the brave soviets holding that appartment is incedebly heroic. So much so in fact, that "call of duty" had a level about it in the original COD game. It's genuinly a wikipedia article i enjoyed reading.
We've teamed up with Wargaming to bring you an extra series of Extra History about World War II: The Battle of Kursk! Make sure you watch the additional video with a comment from James: bit.ly/1Pzy1k5
+Wiggum Esquilax Not the only thing about Germany and Germany's strategy that Hitler wrecked... If the nazis had been pure anti-communists as opposed to anti-semites and anti-slavics, they might have stood a much better chance, as well as being much less dickish.
+Benign Gamer pavlov was a real place held by a real man and a small squad called pavlov for the majority of the battle for stalingrad, the germans codenamed the area "castle" while the russians just called it "pavlov's house"
+twiliblade But I don't think the real Pavlov's House had a cap point labelled "C" right in front of where that goddamned T-34 tanker keeps camping. Also, screw every single tanker that ever happened to that map...
@@florians9949 Though the french army is funny to laugh at, the french leadership was responsible for the French collapse since army doctrine was incorrect for the war they were fighting.
France didn't invade Germany but there was one time during the invasion of Poland that the French launched a small operation to invade Germany while the Germans were focused on Poland
When you say the Germans are hailed as liberators in the "Balkans" I assume you mean the "Baltic" states that the USSR occupied in 1940 (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania).
You mean that Soviet Union got them back since they were part of the Russian Empire still before 1917 and some of them never had even existed as countries? Occupation where their population exploded, with new factories and sea ports (that are being used to this day) being built? Then after 20 years since the end of their "occupation" their population has dropped by 20-30%.
@@CloneDAnon all economic benefits, factories and the amount of population can't be worth of Stalin's repressions, executions, deportations and the loss of freedom and independence that the Baltic states and their native* people have suffered during the Soviet rule.** People of many small countries are not willing to compete for being strong and influential, instead they can be proud of their national identity and their way of life without necessarily possessing tons of nuclear misslies/factories/territories/tanks, etc. They just want to be independant and determine the way they live THEMSELVES because they can cope with this better than any foreign occupying power, because it's THEIR country and THEIR future. Moreover, many Russians are obsessed with the idea of "great Russia at any cost", even if they have to struggle for living. But any nation is its people, not a territory or national interests. So if Russia is superpowerful in military, resources and economics and has a big population and vast territories - this doesn't yet mean that Russia is successful. Successful is the country where people live happily and share a high level of life. Statistics doesn't matter, it's people's lives that matter. * primarily estonians, latvians and lithuanians. You are telling about the population explosion - but that was mostly due to newcoming Russian settlers, so this doesn't count a lot as a benefit ** Russians have suffered a lot as well - but this doesn't mean that making the Baltics to suffer along with Russians somehow justifies Stalin or lessens the degree of the Baltics' sufferings
Part 2 is now live! Time to take a close look at the tanks and field conditions that would play crucial roles in the Battle of Kursk. Watch: ruclips.net/video/QdK2Sim_ZRU/видео.html
Have you seen the documentary soviet storm war in the east ( I think that's what it called ) it shows of the conflict with Russia from the binging of the war till the end. It is really cool you guys should see it
I just want to point out that a great lack of competence in Soviet command in the beginning of the War, was not entirely due to purges Stalin made out of his bloodlust, of fear of opposition. A much greater role in this was due to a civil war thar raged in USSR a few decades bofere. Before USSR was even born, Russian army was loyal to Russian Emperor. And with Emperor being effectively dethroned by the time Soviets were grabbing the Power meant that many officers refused to serve Soviets. Or even worse -took arms against them. And beside this, common soldiers (who supported Soviets mostly) often killed their officers withour asking if those officers would support the new power - in anger for the massivelossesRussian Army took in first World War. So by the time Stalin got to power, he had not so many competent officers to begin with... So even without the purges, conpetence of Soviet Army during the initial stagesof the war would not be soaring. *** And on a side note. It alwyas astonish me why people never mentioned how much of the tactics used by Soviets to stall German winter offensive operations were actually learned by Russian from Finns, during the Winter War...
+Misael Ramirez Or about the story of Vaqueros in both the Mexican and American frontier. Or of American immigration policy from the 1850s to the 1960s.
+Reichtangle Wanna source that statement? If they have as you say, "pro soviet bias", whatever that means. A lot of people are biased against the nazis for being such assholes. It's not really anything weird about it. It doesn't make the soviets good, however we can count ourselves lucky they fought against the nazis. Just because ww2 is basically the story of how nazis did horrible things which they were punished for, doesn't mean that by mere mention of that fact ignores all the horrible things the west or soviets did. Or the japanese.
Germany did actually defeat Russia during WW I. They even made a seperate peace with them. It's all about riling up the minorities against the Russians.
***** Ya I heard the Soviet's T-26 tanks were very unreliable and inferior to German armor at the time and later even their famed T-34 had it's several flaws and disadvantages against German tanks.
***** So basically it was quantity over quality at that point? Wow. I wonder how many defective deathtraps they've produced that malfunctioned during the heat of battle..
For those asking about the Justinian & Theodora series, it will continue airing as normal on Saturdays! These bonus episodes are just that - BONUS episodes!
hi just like you thank you for your work on Justinian and Theodora has inspired me to research the period.I have just started writing a fiction on the period.So thank you
The Mongolians never fought Russia. They subdued Russian principalities. Once Russia was united - the Mongols were crushed. Nobody ever beat UNITED RUSSIA.
There are a few major inaccuracies which should be addressed. Firstly, the commander of the 6th army (Friedrich Paulus) did not "refuse to surrender" as you've said, in fact the truth of the matter is quite the opposite, he beseeched Hitler to allow him to surrender, but was emphatically denied. As it were, he DID surrender anyway-- openly defying Hitler's orders so that he could save the remnants of the 6th. When Stalingrad was encircled, the pocket was eventually split into three, with the command network fragmented. The northern pocket (NOT commanded by Paulus) fought on until February 2nd, which is what might have led you to believe they refused to surrender, but they too DID surrender as well by that point. It's true though that the Russians did ask the Germans over loudspeaker to surrender, and to that, they did refuse, but again that was earlier on and not what you're talking about. I think you should make a point to correct this. It's really an affront to the dignity of all those who died at Stalingrad.
urbxy There's always a reason to correct misinformation, especially when talking about history. You could mind as well be given a fantasy book and be told it's real history and you'd probably believe it
They surrendered when they starved and had no ammution. Most of the army died from starvation (POWs were so thin and sick that they died, ~95% of them died until the end of war againt ~30% of entire German POWs). They were getting a couple of pieces of bread each *day* for weeks in the Russian winter, fighting Soviet soldiers. Sick and starved, starved and sick... P.S. They got a taste of their own medicine - they decimated Leningrad & Stalingrad, millions of civillians.
How could anyone in the Balkans be "looking westward for salvation from the brutal Soviet regime? (1:35)" The Soviets did not rule anywhere in the Balkans. Communism had come to Hungary, but not yet to Romania or any other Balkan country. The only people in the Balkans I ever heard of welcoming the Germans were Bosnians and Croats, which is why the old resentments burst out again during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s as both Bosnians and Croats took arms against Serbs and vice versa.
SpectatorAlius infact the kosovar albanian communist leader began removing pro nationalist serbs and albanians and wanted to maintain brotherhood and unity and wanted to live with the serbs together in kosovo and the albanians protested on this
@@connorbranscombe6819 So What they Mistook something and even Edited the Diffrence in so why is everybody going on about that when they know themselves
I like how it's taken so long to get to world war 2, it's one of the most highly covered events in western history, so it's nice that you've covered lots of other interesting and esoteric topics like the South Sea Bubble before you got to the second world war.
YES! YES! YEEEEEESSSSSSSSS! It should really be called The War for Kursk. I giggle about how insanely large that battle was. It's like two children taking all their plastic soldiers and toys and just mashing them together in the dirt making explosion noises.
If those two children and their plastic soldiers making explosion noises resulted in a total casualty count of 1,310,939 men, tanks, guns, and aircraft (not counting damaged vehicles).
Whatefuck is wrong with you? Do you think it was a game for the soviets? It was a battle for survival! My family fought in Kursk and Leningrad and I am extremely proud of the soviet people
Misael Ramirez I'm hoping someone has a game they want EC to a video on the real world origins of some mythological origins of some creatures or gods for, so Extra Mythology can be born...
You guys are easily my favorite channel on RUclips. I love the history, you guys really know how to weave a narrative. We’ll miss you Dan, you beautiful high-pitched bastard, God bless.
0:15 Kursk was not the largest tank battle in history. That was Dubno/Brody, in 1941. 0:58 Soviet leadership was also struggling because of the large influx of new units, which would not have had enough officers even without the purges. 1:28 Baltic states, not Balkan states 3:24 The Reich was desperately short of oil and seizing Moscow may not have collapsed Soviet resistance. There is a good argument for Hitler's decision to seize the oilfields. 4:00 The Axis forces began hostilities with greater manpower than the Soviet Union, despite common myths. 4:45 The Soviets had not merely stalled the Wehrmacht at Moscow. In the first 9 months of the war the Axis sustained over a million casualties. 5:30 Stalingrad only one of many minor objectives in the 1942 campaign. It did not have great significance to the OKH until 6th army became bogged down there. 6:45 The Romanian forces were also accompanied by Italian and Hungarian forces.
I was reading a book about The Battle of Kursk, and how Russia used strategic retreat to lure the Germans in. They then encircled them. So I came to some of these videos to see if anybody else made that connection in regards to what's happening today. I'm glad I'm not alone.
Man I'm super happy you guys did a session about the Battle of Kursk. It's one of my favorite battles of World War 2, along with the Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of the Bulge.
So I went into history class and get my homework and I see in one question what are the 3 key battles that won the war for the Allies and one thing I wrote was the battle of Stalingrad but that was incorrect and I was extremely surprised. the battle of Stalingrad was the key battle for the war. it showed how the Nazis can be defeated. the answers showed how America and Eurocentric the history classes are and if you agree with me that Stalingrad was key for victory like me then reply and like this comment
idk is Stalingrad considered a battle? I’d say it’s more of a siege or campaign. A “battle” doesn’t usually last for years. I’m probably nitpicking but that may also be why your answer was considered wrong
The battles that I will pick is Midway, Battle of Britain, El Alamein and the ones that I would add just to be save are Kursk, the Guadalcanal campaign and Stalingrad
+BlackWolf9988 Those historical situations are always interesting. I have one half of my family who were civilians in Hungary dealing with the horrible stuff that went down there, and on the other side, I have a great grandpa who literally fought in the Battle of Verdun and only survived because of sheer blind luck. History is a funny thing when you think down to the level of individual troops and civilians involved
+BlackWolf9988 I remember meeting a very nice American man in Berlin who had fought in the Vietnam war, and whose father had been a conscript in the Wehrmacht. We had a very interesting conversation about how soldiers are in a very real way non-political, in his opinion both he and his father had fought in morally unjustified wars but he argued that neither of them were responsible, and that the average soldier in every war is functionally the same. Sam Pekinpah's film Cross of Iron really captures that.
JohnTheGreat7822 you can't say it like this sure 75% of the german army was fighting on the easter front but still the western front wasn't a joke (d-day and other battles just saying).
Well you got the German tanks right for Barbarossa, the short barreled PzIV is a good representation of what they were armed with in 1941... unfortunately, you're using the T-34-85 for the Soviets and the T-34-85 came...somewhat later, IIRC the T-34-85 wasn't even present at Kursk, or if it was, it was in small numbers. The Soviets fought mostly with the T-34-76 at Kursk. The 85 first started showing up in numbers only after Operation Bagration. TL:DR You should be using the model of the T-34-76, which has a much smaller turret and a much shorter gun.
Well this one's sponsored by Wargaming, so they're gonna get comments from those of us that are. :p The artist probably drew the first T-34 he/she saw on an Internet search which unfortunately happened to be a T-34-85
Could you do an episode on the finnish winter war? I find it really cool (no pun intended) how such a small country could withstand the soviet union for so long.
+Galaith100 I believe stupidity in terms of Russian planning for the war is a gross understatement. The only Generals (except for two) were basically Stalin's political friends who had no idea how an army was meant to function. They sent men in Khaki uniforms to fight in the white setting of winter, they sent men from Southern Ukraine to fight in a Finnish winter; many of those men had never seen snow before in their lives, and were suddenly waist deep in it in -40°C temperatures. They sent consistent suicide charges against Finnish positions, which, although lightly manned, were well equipped to fight infantry, especially with Soviet artillery firing on its own men. The Soviets also attempted to send tanks into central and northern Finland, where there were barely any roads, and Finns could chuck molotov cocktails and snipe officers at their leasure. Not to mention, the Soviets failed to adapt to the invention of the Molotov; which cost thousands of tank crews their lives.
+Benign Gamer In fact, the Soviets failed for the longest time to experiment with new tactics. Stalin adored the idea of the German Blitzkriegs, however when his armies failed to do that, they kept on doing what they failed at; this goes for all branches of the Red Army. The air force consistently bombed civilian centers, and failed to destroy most of the production, at the cost of hundreds of bomber crews (but not many fighter crews because the Soviet air force failed to send escorts). And I could go on and on, the Winter War was a mess for the USSR, and only ended when the Finns were effectively drowning in Russian bodies and out of all ammunition, with peace talks in Moscow, not Helsinki, as Stalin had hoped.
Yes, he realized that Zhukov would be the one to save his bacon. He saw that Zhukov was competent (rather than being an ideological appointee) after winning the Battle of Khalkin Gol in 1939.
@@khalassword7885 Yes, but rule is that invasion date is the one by which battling countries or other forces count their time. Or should we some American dates call by our dates? Should 9/11 be 9/10 or 9/12?
I'm surprised you guys didn't mention Russia's tactic of 'scorched earth'. By burning all crops, oil rigs and supplies every time they lost a front, they exausted the nazi's ability to resupply. Not to mention how hard it was already for them to get supplies from the rear, as germany was far away from the scene. I wanted to also mention another thing that you slightly hinted at, but i'm sad that you didn't draw it 4:59 At the harsh winters of russia, the fuel of the tanks reached to a freeze, and made tanks come to a halt. They had to use blow torches to heat up the fuel tanks or waste a lot of fuel by keeping the engines running.
The Germans actually outnumbered the USSR at the front so saying the Germans culled the red army to the Wehrmacht's size would be incorrect or at best misleading. The human wave tactics and lack of strategic thinking of the USSR are a common and often deliberate misrepresentation made by western historians relying on Nazi sources and propaganda for their numbers. It's a shame to see this here. For anyone interested in a detailed and unbiased coverage of the eastern front I would recommend the channel TIK and star media's "the Great Patriotic War" documentary series.
They also completely misunderstood the geopolitics behind it. They seem to be under the impression that it was some kind of alliance, rather than a desperate measure taken after being denied help from the Allies.
After long years of friendly cooperation both the dictators decided to sign a formal treaty. Publicly it was announced as a "non-aggression pact", but in fact they divided Eastern Europe between both their empires of terror. And then they attacked Poland together and started the war. Why should Stalin seek the help of Allies in 1939?! Namely against his best foreign friend Hitler? Its an ridiculous idea really. :o) It's easy to find the facts, no need to repeat the old nazi/commie propaganda. Pls see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pact .
Michal Pavlát Let me guess, Polish, right? I don't know what kind of history they teach you over there but anyone with basic knowledge is aware of Stalin's efforts to march against Hitler and even get the British and French on board. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/3223834/Stalin-planned-to-send-a-million-troops-to-stop-Hitler-if-Britain-and-France-agreed-pact.html Ironically, because the Polish refused the idea of Soviet troops crossing through Poland to attack Germany these plans never came to fruition and they ended up being split in half by both Axis and Soviets.
It wasn't Stalin that seek help from the Allies 1st but it was Churchill who warned Stalin that Hitler was amassing forces in the Balkans for a strike on the Russian heartlands and when it did, it spiralled out of control then Stalin knew that all the support he had given to Hitler was all for naught thus he switched side on the behest of Britain and worked with them. Which turned out well...
What are you people talking about? Germans met as liberators? Mates, that would be only true maybe in far far west part of Yugoslavia. Greece fought Germans and Yugoslavia as a whole, sure, she didn't last a lot, got overrun and THEN you could see supports for Germans. Biggest supporters were Croatians and Slovakians, but on the other side, whole Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro was against Germans, from start of the war till end of it. Lets not depict it like people on Balkans were happy to ''get out of Soviet union regime'' cause it wasn't really like that. Sure, Yugoslavia didn't like Russia for simple reason, she was monarchy while S.U was filled with commies but after the war Yugoslavia became communistic so it's not really about that. Germans were NOT met with open hands as liberators. If that ever happened, that would be just in out most western parts of Yugoslavia. EDIT: Also,I hope you gonna mention a precious Russian spy in middle of Germany who grew up there and was pretending to be a German and even got rank of an officer and was going to marry a dougther of some bigger rank all while every day after work he would go to near by forest where he lived and report back to Russia. He was key point to tell S.U. where Germans will try to strike to save up that very 6th army. Imagine that, being behind the enemy, pretending you are one of them, even going to marry. And his future father-in-law made a slip about where attack is going to happen even though this particular rank shouldn't know it cause it was top secret and because of that information Russians knew exactly where to make bigger defenses to fight off Germans while they collaps from the other side.
antari And there's reason for it. Bulgarians held grudge over Serbia for taking Macedonia from them in Balkan wars. Macedonia (and by Macedonia I don't mean real Macedonia in Greece but country nowdays known as F.Y.R.M. as short for Former Yugoslav Republic Macedonia) was supposed to split in 3 ways, one Bulgaria, one Serbia and one to Greece, but Serbians deemed Bulgarians uneffective in war against Turks and decided they deserve 2/3 of the profit. Which was kinda right, cause Bulgarians didn't really do proper 33%, it was mostly Serbia and Greece but STILL a massive dick move. That happened just 30 years before WW2. Then Bulgaria made second war attacking Serbians for that part of Macedonia, but Serbians and Greece united and kicked Bulgaria's ass (almost literally). And cause of that, Bulgarians saw opportunity to side with side that Serbia was against, so they can reclaim some territories. WW2 is not ''out of the blue'' stuff, to really understand WW2 you gotta understand 40 years of history before that.
+Stefan Kojadinov " ...but Serbians and Greece united and kicked Bulgaria's ass (almost literally) " or more like sneaky Romanians attacking from the North and stealing Northern Dobruja and the Turks coming back and invading Thrace from South-East.Yeah fighting on 4 fronts is not really fair.
+Stefan Kojadinov He misspoke. Meant Baltic not Balkans. Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia hated Soviet rule and wanted liberty, and believed that liberty would be obtained through Hitler.
4393kb Fair? Sorry, haven't heard of that fairy tale. Life isn't fair. Bulgarians sneak attacked Serbia borders, Romanians sneak attacked Bulgaria borders. Does it really matter though? Bulgaria made a terrbile move when doing that, even if Greece and Romania would (by some miracle) not come to war, Serbia was still strong enough to fight them, I am not saying they would crush or anything, but it would be a war, that sneak attack wouldn't suddenly bring them victory. That's really not the point though, the point is about holding the grudge for it.
My Great Grandfather fought in Stalingrad in the German Army, he manned a bipod machine gun and in the early days of the battle he was hot through the head. He survived but was permanently blind.
Since when was the Soviet Union supposed to be part of the axis as implied? Secondly why is Denmark a part of the Third Reich on the map and why is East Prussia mysteriously absent? Not to mention mixing up the Baltics with the Balkans.....
2:10 Except that didn't happen. You are likely refering to the population of Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian SSRs, as those were the places where that occurred. The popular opinion about Germans had no changed. For Germans, Lithuanians, Estonians and Latvians were not in fact subhuman (or Untermeschen), unlike the Slavic population of the USSR. Not only that, but the Baltic population would also see Germans as liberators due to the fact that their countries got annexed back in 1940 per the terms of the Molotov-Rubbentrop pact. By letting the Soviets take over the Baltic states, Germans ensured that the locals would see them in good light once the war between the two would've started.
Thank you so much. I am working on a project for Global and this video really helped pick out the important parts of these events. I love this channel thanks guys!
The French invasion of Germany failed horribly at 5:10 xD Also I think that you mistake the Baltic states for the Balkans at a few places. The countries in the Balkans had already joined or been subjugated by Germany prior to Barbarossa. The Baltic states had been annexed by the Soviets in 1940 due to the Molotov - Ribbentrop pact :)
Jona Emo How so? We were occupied but none of our territory was ever officially annexed as far as I know. We never became a part of germany, none of our military ever helped germany and we kept sovereign rule for most of the occupation, specifically disbanding our government when the occupation started demanding too much of us. There is no way denmark being a part of nazi germany is true.
(first off sorry for my bad english)My Grand Grand [insert English word for Opa here] fought in this battle in His last years he told me what he [insert english word for erfuhr here] :He saw how germans died by freezing to death and getting frozen toes cut off ... His part ended When he was shot in the lung beside His friend so what His friend did was carry him to the Leichenhaufen and put him on it so that nobody would shoot him. my grand(opa)of course was reported ded to His family but in the end he stood infront of His mother thanks to His friend.
Gentleman this is not kurks this is not either Minsk or Kiev this is Stalingrad it bears the name of the boss a plus ofr you if you get that movie referance
+pc master race "Here, the men's only choice is between German bullets and ours. But there's another way. The way of courage. The way of love of the Motherland"
The fun fact: USSR planned four operations - Uranus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter. The size of Saturn operation was reduced, so the operation was renamed to Small Saturn.
1:32 I think you mean the Baltic, not the Balkans. In the Balkans most people fought back the occupiers via resistance movements. This video is so full of incorrect information.
my grandfather fought there (on the german side in the wehrmacht) so i got alot of informations first hand, rly intresting to hear a person who was rly there ^^
0:40 the soviet union had actively sort to ally against Germany being the last nation to sign a treaty with Germany as the western powers had done nothing to stop Hitler, Stalin even wrote letters calling for the liberation of Czechoslovakia and an anti Nazi alliance so where is this line coming from that the soviet and the Nazi were supposedly on such close relation. 0:54 total surprise ? no a surprise attack sure but if you look back as early as the time of Lenin there is a prediction of a western invasion and Stalin in his speech on the 5 year plan proclaims "We are fifty or hundred years behind the advanced country's. we must make this good distance in ten years.Either we do it ,or they will crush us." Stalin did not see soviet development as just a matter of economic improvement he knew that if the union was to stand it would need to develop and had to have the strength to stand on its own feet that's why such a large push was made to industrialization and collectivization 1:00 and why were these purges carried out? Stalin if often made out to be some blood crazed paranoid mad man but these purges removed the disloyal parts of the general staff which prevented the same kind of betrayal that happened in France from happening in the USSR. 1:20 the soviet attacks and withdraws where part of the general strategy by pulling troops back and forming Guerrilla units the soviet union exploited its vast land mass in the war simply presenting it as some kinda half botched attempt at holding the front is inaccurate. 1:30 the Baltic's had been far right before the soviet unions occupation before WW2 Latvia had it own concentration camps something that has be swept under the rug by recent historians. this is why they view the Nazi preferably because they viewed Russians as "uncivilized orcs " since this one is harder to find i suggest looking at RTs coverage of the story :www.rt.com/news/249021-survivors-latvian-concentration-salaspils/ 2:37 not entirely true competence and ideology played an important role as getting loyal commanders meant that the stock of people was limited to communist and left leaning people with the necessary skill, fortunately the improvement made from the start of the revolution up to the start of WW2 meant that the population was over all loyal one of the reason that such large number joined the war and why so many would go to the front in the name of the union and in the name of Stalin. its also one of the reason that rebellions and Nazi cooperation was not as wide spread. its also worth noting that being a soviet commissar meant inspiring people to fight for the communist ideology often leading the charge so having a good understanding of the ideology was important in this field. 5:20 not only where the soviets better supplied but the Nazis had to deal with guerrilla units in the rear and the soviet troops had a thirst for vengeance the Nazis had attacked they're country, murdered many friends and family member not only solider but civilians, pillaged they're land and bombed they're city's and destroyed many of the gains they had made to say they were pissed would be an understatement and as they headed west this did not diminish it only grew as they came across burned villages and torched cities. The General feel of the video is that of the USSR and Nazi Germany as being some how equal with the typical western bias against communists ,the soviet union and Stalin maybe it simply because the video is on it own that i get this impression and maybe it would work better with a soviet perspective from the time of Lenin up to the end of WW2 or maybe it because it made by people brought up with western lies about the soviet union which were propagated in the cold war and still are popularized today.
wrong on many levels, but i dont have time to correct that. But ill try... Stalin quote: The red army is the only army, in which its more dangerous to retreat than to attack. All soldiers who retreated were shot immediatly. 157.000 soviet sholdiers were shot. There was nothing like a guerilla plan from the beginning. Stalin reached to the guerillas not before 42. These purges were carried out because Stalin was a mass murderer. About the baltics. Yes population helped Nazis to purge jews. But they used the massacres from the NKVD to agitate against the jews. Nazis said its the jewish peoples fault NKVD shot so many of your relatives basically. The things you say about 0:54 are wrong aswell. Stalin allied with germany becauses it was in his own interest. He got the Baltics, a part of Poland (he lost against the polish in a war before) so revange. Also Germany and SU had an intensive trait relationship. Stalin got Industrial parts and weapons in return for transporting crop and oil to germany.
I'm amazed, that after that number of comments, no-one stated, that polish resistance was important too and in terms of fighting Russian front - IMO more important than Balkans resistance. Because, ya know... geography ;) OFC I don't mean, that Balkan people didn't suffer, they bravely fought against Germans. Also - when you mention "Balkans welcomed Germans"... ya... don't do it. Situation too messed up. But in fact, there was Croatian collaboration goverment, and Romanians, Bulgarians and (sadly) Hungarians were on the "wrong" side. And they're quite big part of the Balkans...
+Tesla-Effect Ok, I'm not going into the Balkans part, because it was always a mess, and a lot of people suffered. But talking about Eastern Front and saying, that Balkan Resistance was one of the key parts of interrupting German warfare and logistics... Maybe because I'm Polish, but most of supplies from Germany went through Poland, not Balkans... I dunno.
***** Because of Balkan affair, Barbarossa started a month later, than it supossed to launch. And many historicians say, that Germans needed a week of good weather to capture Moscow. Anyway, it's fascinating with history, that it makes you think of many possibilities. So... good work on that, EC! Still, waiting for Lies episode :)
Yes they were on the wrong side but most of them were allied because they had no choice and germany would just take them over, my great grandpa was Romanian and he fought both on the axis and allies side
"I want you to draw Hitler really happy, with a big smile on his face, surrounded by roses." That must have been an interesting conversation.
Yeah
Timestamp? I can’t find it
@@joeziadeh6158 1:36
Yeah
Indeed
''I was killed near Rzhev
In a nameless bog,
In fifth
company,
On the Left flank,
In a cruel air raid
I didn’t hear explosions
And did not see the flash
Down to an abyss from a cliff
No start, no end
And in this whole world
To the end of its days - Neither patches, nor badges
From my tunic you’ll find
I am where the blind roots
Seek for food in the dark
I am where the rye waves
On a hill in the dust''
-Alexander Tvardovsky
Why do you only have one like?
Andro A I've seen this before on the soviet storm documentary the Rzhev meat grinder
Andro A what r u saying
Andro A u
Soviet Poem of a fallen Soldier
6:15 so glad you used a picture of "Pavlov's House". The whole story about the brave soviets holding that appartment is incedebly heroic. So much so in fact, that "call of duty" had a level about it in the original COD game.
It's genuinly a wikipedia article i enjoyed reading.
We've teamed up with Wargaming to bring you an extra series of Extra History about World War II: The Battle of Kursk!
Make sure you watch the additional video with a comment from James: bit.ly/1Pzy1k5
+Extra Credits B.B.B.But, it's monday.
+dragonkingofthestars ssshhhh
Yay more extra history!!!!
+Extra Credits You guys are still going to keep going with Justinian and Theodora one right?
This made my day. WW II Extra History on Monday! *grabs popcorn*
0:29 there is a mistake (?) the one in the left is Ribbentrop and the one of the right is Molotov.
Hahaha
@@michaelvincentrosete2061 He is right
Plus Barbarossa didnt start 21st June, only 22nd.
You’re a mistake
miłosz szczypior the orders to attack were given on the 21st.
when one city owns 2 places for the most deadly sieges.
Wrong petersburg
@@vaports6984 yeah it's the US Petersburg
@@aviatorraj7820 I know
I'm sorry but grammar?
I see nothing wrong with the grammar
The Germans' mistake was in rushing Pavlov's house directly, rather than taking C first.
I see I'm not the only who's played RO2...
+Wiggum Esquilax Not the only thing about Germany and Germany's strategy that Hitler wrecked... If the nazis had been pure anti-communists as opposed to anti-semites and anti-slavics, they might have stood a much better chance, as well as being much less dickish.
+Benign Gamer pavlov was a real place held by a real man and a small squad called pavlov for the majority of the battle for stalingrad, the germans codenamed the area "castle" while the russians just called it "pavlov's house"
+twiliblade But I don't think the real Pavlov's House had a cap point labelled "C" right in front of where that goddamned T-34 tanker keeps camping. Also, screw every single tanker that ever happened to that map...
+Wiggum Esquilax hahahahahaha I'm actually clapping right now
5:11 I never knew that Operation Barbarossa involved France invading Germany.
TheKMB787 who’s turned to surender now pointy hats. Whait, wrong conflict.
@@florians9949 Though the french army is funny to laugh at, the french leadership was responsible for the French collapse since army doctrine was incorrect for the war they were fighting.
France didn't invade Germany but there was one time during the invasion of Poland that the French launched a small operation to invade Germany while the Germans were focused on Poland
@@jocelynndotson7273 The Saar offensive which gives a great show of how "perfect" French high command was.
Omg WTF
Germany: Peace was never an option!
Russia, smiling: *NOR WAS WINTER*
Winter was never an option?
@@Zalidia Winter is not an option, it's a mandatory state
When you say the Germans are hailed as liberators in the "Balkans" I assume you mean the "Baltic" states that the USSR occupied in 1940 (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania).
You mean that Soviet Union got them back since they were part of the Russian Empire still before 1917 and some of them never had even existed as countries? Occupation where their population exploded, with new factories and sea ports (that are being used to this day) being built? Then after 20 years since the end of their "occupation" their population has dropped by 20-30%.
The Balkans hate Nazis
Not all of balkan, NDH was a nazi puppet. They praised the invader and backstabbed Serbia.
@@CloneDAnon all economic benefits, factories and the amount of population can't be worth of Stalin's repressions, executions, deportations and the loss of freedom and independence that the Baltic states and their native* people have suffered during the Soviet rule.** People of many small countries are not willing to compete for being strong and influential, instead they can be proud of their national identity and their way of life without necessarily possessing tons of nuclear misslies/factories/territories/tanks, etc. They just want to be independant and determine the way they live THEMSELVES because they can cope with this better than any foreign occupying power, because it's THEIR country and THEIR future. Moreover, many Russians are obsessed with the idea of "great Russia at any cost", even if they have to struggle for living. But any nation is its people, not a territory or national interests. So if Russia is superpowerful in military, resources and economics and has a big population and vast territories - this doesn't yet mean that Russia is successful. Successful is the country where people live happily and share a high level of life. Statistics doesn't matter, it's people's lives that matter.
* primarily estonians, latvians and lithuanians. You are telling about the population explosion - but that was mostly due to newcoming Russian settlers, so this doesn't count a lot as a benefit
** Russians have suffered a lot as well - but this doesn't mean that making the Baltics to suffer along with Russians somehow justifies Stalin or lessens the degree of the Baltics' sufferings
Stop acting over Smart
Part 2 is now live! Time to take a close look at the tanks and field conditions that would play crucial roles in the Battle of Kursk.
Watch: ruclips.net/video/QdK2Sim_ZRU/видео.html
Have you seen the documentary soviet storm war in the east ( I think that's what it called ) it shows of the conflict with Russia from the binging of the war till the end. It is really cool you guys should see it
plz wittman video
*CORRECTION! Baltics,*
*not Balcans*
I think he thought of the Balkans
Vk 20239 CORRECTION! Balkan,
Not balcan
When your correction gets corrected
smh my head
It’s actually both
Aaaannd we are live! Thank you Extra Credits team for a wonderful presentation of history.
We hope everyone enjoys this episode.
Dude, I'll check this game out just because you sponsored this channel. It shows you have good taste.
+Wargaming Europe Thank you for this! I'll go try WoT now.
+Wargaming Europe Thanks for sponsoring this! I have to respect any developer who uses their game as a teaching opportunity. :)
wot is awesome i downloaded it cuz of my shitty pc
of course (PS I'm a kid and I'm not trolling you
I just want to point out that a great lack of competence in Soviet command in the beginning of the War, was not entirely due to purges Stalin made out of his bloodlust, of fear of opposition.
A much greater role in this was due to a civil war thar raged in USSR a few decades bofere.
Before USSR was even born, Russian army was loyal to Russian Emperor. And with Emperor being effectively dethroned by the time Soviets were grabbing the Power meant that many officers refused to serve Soviets. Or even worse -took arms against them. And beside this, common soldiers (who supported Soviets mostly) often killed their officers withour asking if those officers would support the new power - in anger for the massivelossesRussian Army took in first World War.
So by the time Stalin got to power, he had not so many competent officers to begin with... So even without the purges, conpetence of Soviet Army during the initial stagesof the war would not be soaring.
***
And on a side note. It alwyas astonish me why people never mentioned how much of the tactics used by Soviets to stall German winter offensive operations were actually learned by Russian from Finns, during the Winter War...
I ain't reading all that
Thats a good point the Soviets definitely took some lessons from the Finns, in terms of planning and strategy.
@@frog_man_ree lazy
@@frog_man_reeit's less than a minute read
German Empire: Takes down Russia
The third Reich: takes down France
I see...
уе
The fourth Reich: Takes down Britain
To be fair, Russia took down Russia, with a little help from the Kaiser of course
@@johnlemon9021 This is true
5:19 that is adorable extra credits your artists are the best!
That's the type of sponsoring more companys should do. Just awesome!
+Misael Ramirez Or about the story of Vaqueros in both the Mexican and American frontier. Or of American immigration policy from the 1850s to the 1960s.
+Reichtangle Wanna source that statement? If they have as you say, "pro soviet bias", whatever that means. A lot of people are biased against the nazis for being such assholes. It's not really anything weird about it. It doesn't make the soviets good, however we can count ourselves lucky they fought against the nazis. Just because ww2 is basically the story of how nazis did horrible things which they were punished for, doesn't mean that by mere mention of that fact ignores all the horrible things the west or soviets did. Or the japanese.
+Olof Noaksson soviet union winn alone the 2 world war
+Reichtangle Found the nazi descendant. Poor you, Russia occupied your shit hole of a country for more than 40 years.
+MT5647 Sponsoring education relevant content to your game should become common place.
No one can defeat Russia in the winter... except the mongols!
Que the Mongol-tage ;)
Germany did actually defeat Russia during WW I.
They even made a seperate peace with them.
It's all about riling up the minorities against the Russians.
Unkraut That doesn't really count.
Because?
Unkraut the didnt, the russians had their civil war, and wouldve continued to fight if there had been no civil war
You labeled Molotov and Ribbentrop as one another at 0:29, it should be the other way around.
Wow , i haven't even noticed nice job man
good job
Operation Barbarossa?
Adidas? Check
Vodka? Check
Tanks that malfunction every 2 minutes? Check
I'm ready.
+Dylan Seaton trow some kiks and it'll be all ok
RUSH B! RUSH B! FOR THE MOTHERLAND! FOR RUSSIA!
You forgot your ushanka, komrad
***** Ya I heard the Soviet's T-26 tanks were very unreliable and inferior to German armor at the time and later even their famed T-34 had it's several flaws and disadvantages against German tanks.
***** So basically it was quantity over quality at that point? Wow. I wonder how many defective deathtraps they've produced that malfunctioned during the heat of battle..
One of my grandfathers died in Kursk the other in Stalingrad and the husband of my great-grandmother (she remarried) fought and survived in Berlin.
Do any of your relatives have funny mustaches or have a problem with jews?
For those asking about the Justinian & Theodora series, it will continue airing as normal on Saturdays! These bonus episodes are just that - BONUS episodes!
hi just like you thank you for your work on Justinian and Theodora has inspired me to research the period.I have just started writing a fiction on the period.So thank you
More extra history? I am okay with this decision
+Extra Credits phew.. was worried for a sec there
+Ryan Krebs I am more than okay with this.
+donscottr that sounds awesome !!!
The moral of the the story? Don't invade Russia kids, Napoleon tried it and it was his downfall as well.
Johny Etwer mongolains say otherwise.
Robert Harris They are the descendants of the Mongols. Russia is what is left of it.
Johny Etwer uh. Most everywhere is to some dgree decendent of the mongols. But they actualy went and raided and salightered everything there.
í thought it was to be very well prepared when attacking Rússia. í mean had Napoleon and Hitler started earlier they could have been victorious.
The Mongolians never fought Russia. They subdued Russian principalities. Once Russia was united - the Mongols were crushed. Nobody ever beat UNITED RUSSIA.
There are a few major inaccuracies which should be addressed. Firstly, the commander of the 6th army (Friedrich Paulus) did not "refuse to surrender" as you've said, in fact the truth of the matter is quite the opposite, he beseeched Hitler to allow him to surrender, but was emphatically denied. As it were, he DID surrender anyway-- openly defying Hitler's orders so that he could save the remnants of the 6th. When Stalingrad was encircled, the pocket was eventually split into three, with the command network fragmented. The northern pocket (NOT commanded by Paulus) fought on until February 2nd, which is what might have led you to believe they refused to surrender, but they too DID surrender as well by that point. It's true though that the Russians did ask the Germans over loudspeaker to surrender, and to that, they did refuse, but again that was earlier on and not what you're talking about. I think you should make a point to correct this. It's really an affront to the dignity of all those who died at Stalingrad.
Nikola Filajdic Can you just be happy with what he tried to find out? I mean, you are being a little bit of a pain in the ass.
urbxy He isn't; The video was just miss leading and wrong.
Also, Paulus eventually turned traitor and worked with the Soviets, he eventually became the first general in the East German Army.
urbxy There's always a reason to correct misinformation, especially when talking about history. You could mind as well be given a fantasy book and be told it's real history and you'd probably believe it
They surrendered when they starved and had no ammution. Most of the army died from starvation (POWs were so thin and sick that they died, ~95% of them died until the end of war againt ~30% of entire German POWs). They were getting a couple of pieces of bread each *day* for weeks in the Russian winter, fighting Soviet soldiers. Sick and starved, starved and sick...
P.S. They got a taste of their own medicine - they decimated Leningrad & Stalingrad, millions of civillians.
How could anyone in the Balkans be "looking westward for salvation from the brutal Soviet regime? (1:35)" The Soviets did not rule anywhere in the Balkans. Communism had come to Hungary, but not yet to Romania or any other Balkan country.
The only people in the Balkans I ever heard of welcoming the Germans were Bosnians and Croats, which is why the old resentments burst out again during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s as both Bosnians and Croats took arms against Serbs and vice versa.
He Meant Baltic States chill tf out lol
SpectatorAlius infact the kosovar albanian communist leader began removing pro nationalist serbs and albanians and wanted to maintain brotherhood and unity and wanted to live with the serbs together in kosovo and the albanians protested on this
@@Graczent.D Its a pretty big distinction lmao
@@connorbranscombe6819 So What they Mistook something and even Edited the Diffrence in so why is everybody going on about that when they know themselves
I like how it's taken so long to get to world war 2, it's one of the most highly covered events in western history, so it's nice that you've covered lots of other interesting and esoteric topics like the South Sea Bubble before you got to the second world war.
This aged well
Too well
YES! YES! YEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!
It should really be called The War for Kursk. I giggle about how insanely large that battle was. It's like two children taking all their plastic soldiers and toys and just mashing them together in the dirt making explosion noises.
If those two children and their plastic soldiers making explosion noises resulted in a total casualty count of 1,310,939 men, tanks, guns, and aircraft (not counting damaged vehicles).
Ford Prefect what? Really? Huh. Mine always did. You sure your toys weren't just defective?
Whatefuck is wrong with you? Do you think it was a game for the soviets? It was a battle for survival! My family fought in Kursk and Leningrad and I am extremely proud of the soviet people
Israel Moreno is that a compliment??
And I think the Battle of Medina Ridge in the first gulf war was the largest tank battle.
Very awesome to see this sort of marketing, yes.
Misael Ramirez
I'm hoping someone has a game they want EC to a video on the real world origins of some mythological origins of some creatures or gods for, so Extra Mythology can be born...
+Misael Ramirez One of the ERBs was actually sponsored by Ubisoft. Blackbeard vs Al Capone, to celebrate the launch of Assasins Creed Blackflag
+Gizensha Fox We do like mythology...
+Misael Ramirez Epic Rap Battles? :P
+Gizensha Fox Marketing is all right as long as it offers something of value. Not like most advertisements that are just horrible to watch.
You guys are easily my favorite channel on RUclips. I love the history, you guys really know how to weave a narrative. We’ll miss you Dan, you beautiful high-pitched bastard, God bless.
*INTO THE MOTHERLAND THE GERMAN ARMY MARCH!*
sabaton?
oNE MILLION MEN AT WAR THE SOVIET WRATH UNLEASHEd
In the soviet union...
Summer 1943...
@@BruhBruh-bg5cz tanks line up in thousands, as far the eye can see
PANZERS ON RUSSIAN SOIL, A THUNDER IN THE EAST
0:15 Kursk was not the largest tank battle in history. That was Dubno/Brody, in 1941.
0:58 Soviet leadership was also struggling because of the large influx of new units, which would not have had enough officers even without the purges.
1:28 Baltic states, not Balkan states
3:24 The Reich was desperately short of oil and seizing Moscow may not have collapsed Soviet resistance. There is a good argument for Hitler's decision to seize the oilfields.
4:00 The Axis forces began hostilities with greater manpower than the Soviet Union, despite common myths.
4:45 The Soviets had not merely stalled the Wehrmacht at Moscow. In the first 9 months of the war the Axis sustained over a million casualties.
5:30 Stalingrad only one of many minor objectives in the 1942 campaign. It did not have great significance to the OKH until 6th army became bogged down there.
6:45 The Romanian forces were also accompanied by Italian and Hungarian forces.
THANK YOU!
@@belgarath6508 at 0:28, they got Molotov and Ribbentrop mixed up
Thank you!!! Absolutely correct
So who all is enjoying the sequel in 2024?
I was reading a book about The Battle of Kursk, and how Russia used strategic retreat to lure the Germans in. They then encircled them. So I came to some of these videos to see if anybody else made that connection in regards to what's happening today. I'm glad I'm not alone.
@@JayJay-ki4mii doubt russia can even do that since how many russians are surrendering to Ukrainians
YOOOOO fellow 2024 viewer
WTF is that "And in the Balkans..." part? Oh, you mean Baltics. Indeed.
Balkans: the area of Europe east of Italy and south of Hungary (give or take). Includes Croatia, Macedonia, Greece, Albania, Serbia, etc
yeah they made an error there
+AndroidPhantom Why you skipped Bulgaria ? The Balkan mountains are crossing the whole country.
Are you stupid?? Balkan is south Europe you dumb and there was fightning there
4393kb Etcetera or etc.: and others. There are more to name (Montenegro, Kosovo), but I needn't name them all to get the point across
Man I'm super happy you guys did a session about the Battle of Kursk. It's one of my favorite battles of World War 2, along with the Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of the Bulge.
You’ve got favourite battles it’s not a game it was real life millions died
“Operation Barbarossa” (shows arrows going from France to the Rhineland)
So I went into history class and get my homework and I see in one question what are the 3 key battles that won the war for the Allies and one thing I wrote was the battle of Stalingrad but that was incorrect and I was extremely surprised. the battle of Stalingrad was the key battle for the war. it showed how the Nazis can be defeated. the answers showed how America and Eurocentric the history classes are and if you agree with me that Stalingrad was key for victory like me then reply and like this comment
What were the actual answers? If Midway and Leyte Gulf get in then it's American Bias.
you can't objectively say which battle was the most important. It's subjective.
It wasnt just one battle.
War was lost for germany in october 41.
The plan was to surrender the SU in 10 weeks, there was no plan B.
idk is Stalingrad considered a battle? I’d say it’s more of a siege or campaign. A “battle” doesn’t usually last for years. I’m probably nitpicking but that may also be why your answer was considered wrong
The battles that I will pick is Midway, Battle of Britain, El Alamein and the ones that I would add just to be save are Kursk, the Guadalcanal campaign and Stalingrad
Stalingrad? More like, Stallingrad, amirite? :p
+El Bandito *slow claps*
slow claps
*Very slow claps*
*Grabs Walther P38 and BANG....DED*
Well ) The "grad" means "city". So this is city named after Stalin.
In to the motherland the German army marched
BuckSlinger02 and failed
Comrades stand side by side to stop the nazi charge
And our brave soldiers from the motherland marched to Berljin
(Russian launguage of Berlin)
One million men at war, Soviet wrath unleashed!
Fields of Prokorovka Where the heat of battle burned
Even more history? I'll take it.
i love looking neutral at this war. one of my ancestor was fighting in stalingrad for the russians the other was fighting in france for germany.
+BlackWolf9988 Those historical situations are always interesting. I have one half of my family who were civilians in Hungary dealing with the horrible stuff that went down there, and on the other side, I have a great grandpa who literally fought in the Battle of Verdun and only survived because of sheer blind luck.
History is a funny thing when you think down to the level of individual troops and civilians involved
I try to look the same since I had two brothers in my family that were on the same eastern front. One on each side.
+BlackWolf9988 I remember meeting a very nice American man in Berlin who had fought in the Vietnam war, and whose father had been a conscript in the Wehrmacht. We had a very interesting conversation about how soldiers are in a very real way non-political, in his opinion both he and his father had fought in morally unjustified wars but he argued that neither of them were responsible, and that the average soldier in every war is functionally the same. Sam Pekinpah's film Cross of Iron really captures that.
JohnTheGreat7822 you can't say it like this sure 75% of the german army was fighting on the easter front but still the western front wasn't a joke (d-day and other battles just saying).
When the story mentioned Stalingrad, I had to laugh. This story will forever echo through time as the time when Russia herself fought the great war.
Well you got the German tanks right for Barbarossa, the short barreled PzIV is a good representation of what they were armed with in 1941... unfortunately, you're using the T-34-85 for the Soviets and the T-34-85 came...somewhat later, IIRC the T-34-85 wasn't even present at Kursk, or if it was, it was in small numbers. The Soviets fought mostly with the T-34-76 at Kursk. The 85 first started showing up in numbers only after Operation Bagration.
TL:DR You should be using the model of the T-34-76, which has a much smaller turret and a much shorter gun.
Yeah, I was right. Kursk was 43, the T-34-85 started rolling off the assembly line in February of 44
+hagamapama I noticed that too, but not everyone are tank nuts like us...
Well this one's sponsored by Wargaming, so they're gonna get comments from those of us that are. :p The artist probably drew the first T-34 he/she saw on an Internet search which unfortunately happened to be a T-34-85
+hagamapama at least he has done proper tanks rather than a generic tank shape
History is made of minutae.
Could you do an episode on the finnish winter war? I find it really cool (no pun intended) how such a small country could withstand the soviet union for so long.
Galaith100 Yes i know but it's still impressive that the Finns were able to hold of the soviets even if they were so incredibly outnumbered.
+Galaith100 I believe stupidity in terms of Russian planning for the war is a gross understatement. The only Generals (except for two) were basically Stalin's political friends who had no idea how an army was meant to function. They sent men in Khaki uniforms to fight in the white setting of winter, they sent men from Southern Ukraine to fight in a Finnish winter; many of those men had never seen snow before in their lives, and were suddenly waist deep in it in -40°C temperatures. They sent consistent suicide charges against Finnish positions, which, although lightly manned, were well equipped to fight infantry, especially with Soviet artillery firing on its own men. The Soviets also attempted to send tanks into central and northern Finland, where there were barely any roads, and Finns could chuck molotov cocktails and snipe officers at their leasure. Not to mention, the Soviets failed to adapt to the invention of the Molotov; which cost thousands of tank crews their lives.
+Benign Gamer In fact, the Soviets failed for the longest time to experiment with new tactics. Stalin adored the idea of the German Blitzkriegs, however when his armies failed to do that, they kept on doing what they failed at; this goes for all branches of the Red Army. The air force consistently bombed civilian centers, and failed to destroy most of the production, at the cost of hundreds of bomber crews (but not many fighter crews because the Soviet air force failed to send escorts). And I could go on and on, the Winter War was a mess for the USSR, and only ended when the Finns were effectively drowning in Russian bodies and out of all ammunition, with peace talks in Moscow, not Helsinki, as Stalin had hoped.
+Foureye15 Finland is awesome, would love a section on Simo Hayha with that.
+Galaith100 Meh. The Red Army back then was a 3rd rate military force
Anyone’s gonna talk about how he confused Molotov and Ribbentrop on 0:29 ?
When you're a Wermacht soldier and you hear Soviet soldiers shouting "URA"
Ураааааааа!
Im proud that my great grandfather fought heroically in the battle of kursk 🇷🇺🇷🇺
As you should bro
Is your great grandfather Argentinian by any chance.
@@TheeAncientUrchinobviously not
2:30 "The holes in the leadership left by Stalin's purges were filled..." by Stalin lol.
Yes, he realized that Zhukov would be the one to save his bacon. He saw that Zhukov was competent (rather than being an ideological appointee) after winning the Battle of Khalkin Gol in 1939.
Classic Stalin
what the hell is that map at ? 5:11 one that is not Germany two that is a map of France invading Germany ? what the hell ?
That map is why the Germans never took Moscow, they got lost on the way there
Slightly innacurate maps are a local ongoing meme. Just like Walpole.
It's 6D chess, they get D-Day'd by invading Russia
You changed Ribbentrop and Molotow 0:29
I'm glad I'm not the only one to notice
🤣
On purpose probably? Must be some kind of trolling.
The kitty cat used to represent the surprise of the Soviets was awfully surprised!
0:48 Operation Barbarossa (the invasion) start the 22 of June (at 4am) not the 21.
Andrei Khakhaev Saved me the comment.
4 Am for Soviets, other time for Americans and Britans
@@khalassword7885 Yes, but rule is that invasion date is the one by which battling countries or other forces count their time. Or should we some American dates call by our dates? Should 9/11 be 9/10 or 9/12?
@@justinian-the-great 11/9, actually, day goes before month almost everywhere
I'm surprised you guys didn't mention Russia's tactic of 'scorched earth'. By burning all crops, oil rigs and supplies every time they lost a front, they exausted the nazi's ability to resupply. Not to mention how hard it was already for them to get supplies from the rear, as germany was far away from the scene.
I wanted to also mention another thing that you slightly hinted at, but i'm sad that you didn't draw it 4:59
At the harsh winters of russia, the fuel of the tanks reached to a freeze, and made tanks come to a halt. They had to use blow torches to heat up the fuel tanks or waste a lot of fuel by keeping the engines running.
"Hey, how big is the front we'll be fighting on?"
'Really big'
Stop it!!! You are making me want to play HOI3.
+Kevin Devoe Stay strong, that *thing* eats time like crazy.
Kevin Devoe iii
*hoi4
Victoria is the better series
HoI 4 wasn't even released when he posted this comment
1. you look awesome 2. that is the cutest Hitler ever
Did you really just say that
The Battle of Kursk 2024
you forgot eastern prussia in the map
And Wehrmacht is written with an h
+Admiral Ackbar They forgot a lot on this map. Soviet Union and Nazi Germany had a common border by the start of the German-Soviet war.
Our maps can't withstand mistakes of that magnitude!!!
+Dmitrij Bugajev I think they were going for the pre-war borders with that map. (Not entirely sure when the 3 baltic countries where annexed though)
+mergele1000 eastern Prussia was german before the war too you know
World of Goldammo Tanks.
+Ratticus Finch depends, strong frontal and rear armor but flat and not very good side armor as well a 150mm howitzer.
Manuel Fernandez Also slow and size of a map.
+Ratticus Finch Because you're hitting it from the front and letting it angle its armor.
+Geary implying you ALWAYS have a choice to flank them.
Providencenl Not in those maps :D
The Germans actually outnumbered the USSR at the front so saying the Germans culled the red army to the Wehrmacht's size would be incorrect or at best misleading. The human wave tactics and lack of strategic thinking of the USSR are a common and often deliberate misrepresentation made by western historians relying on Nazi sources and propaganda for their numbers. It's a shame to see this here. For anyone interested in a detailed and unbiased coverage of the eastern front I would recommend the channel TIK and star media's "the Great Patriotic War" documentary series.
Not by 1942.
Western sources literally say all of this lol
Huh, when you guys said you were being sponsored to do a WWII episode, I expected it to be from Paradox, since they're making a new Hearts of Iron
Right after this, Paradox sponsored a series about the economics of WWII.
I think you mixed ribbentrop and molotov in the photo
They also completely misunderstood the geopolitics behind it. They seem to be under the impression that it was some kind of alliance, rather than a desperate measure taken after being denied help from the Allies.
+Razeul Yeah. Completely stupid that they mixed the two up. Right at the beginning!
After long years of friendly cooperation both the dictators decided to sign a formal treaty. Publicly it was announced as a "non-aggression pact", but in fact they divided Eastern Europe between both their empires of terror. And then they attacked Poland together and started the war.
Why should Stalin seek the help of Allies in 1939?! Namely against his best foreign friend Hitler? Its an ridiculous idea really. :o)
It's easy to find the facts, no need to repeat the old nazi/commie propaganda. Pls see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pact .
Michal Pavlát Let me guess, Polish, right?
I don't know what kind of history they teach you over there but anyone with basic knowledge is aware of Stalin's efforts to march against Hitler and even get the British and French on board.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/3223834/Stalin-planned-to-send-a-million-troops-to-stop-Hitler-if-Britain-and-France-agreed-pact.html
Ironically, because the Polish refused the idea of Soviet troops crossing through Poland to attack Germany these plans never came to fruition and they ended up being split in half by both Axis and Soviets.
It wasn't Stalin that seek help from the Allies 1st but it was Churchill who warned Stalin that Hitler was amassing forces in the Balkans for a strike on the Russian heartlands and when it did, it spiralled out of control then Stalin knew that all the support he had given to Hitler was all for naught thus he switched side on the behest of Britain and worked with them. Which turned out well...
I'd like them to cover the African front at some point.
And the Italian front too.
What are you people talking about? Germans met as liberators? Mates, that would be only true maybe in far far west part of Yugoslavia. Greece fought Germans and Yugoslavia as a whole, sure, she didn't last a lot, got overrun and THEN you could see supports for Germans.
Biggest supporters were Croatians and Slovakians, but on the other side, whole Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro was against Germans, from start of the war till end of it.
Lets not depict it like people on Balkans were happy to ''get out of Soviet union regime'' cause it wasn't really like that. Sure, Yugoslavia didn't like Russia for simple reason, she was monarchy while S.U was filled with commies but after the war Yugoslavia became communistic so it's not really about that.
Germans were NOT met with open hands as liberators. If that ever happened, that would be just in out most western parts of Yugoslavia.
EDIT: Also,I hope you gonna mention a precious Russian spy in middle of Germany who grew up there and was pretending to be a German and even got rank of an officer and was going to marry a dougther of some bigger rank all while every day after work he would go to near by forest where he lived and report back to Russia.
He was key point to tell S.U. where Germans will try to strike to save up that very 6th army.
Imagine that, being behind the enemy, pretending you are one of them, even going to marry. And his future father-in-law made a slip about where attack is going to happen even though this particular rank shouldn't know it cause it was top secret and because of that information Russians knew exactly where to make bigger defenses to fight off Germans while they collaps from the other side.
+Stefan Kojadinov Bulgaria also aligned with the Reich
antari And there's reason for it. Bulgarians held grudge over Serbia for taking Macedonia from them in Balkan wars.
Macedonia (and by Macedonia I don't mean real Macedonia in Greece but country nowdays known as F.Y.R.M. as short for Former Yugoslav Republic Macedonia) was supposed to split in 3 ways, one Bulgaria, one Serbia and one to Greece, but Serbians deemed Bulgarians uneffective in war against Turks and decided they deserve 2/3 of the profit.
Which was kinda right, cause Bulgarians didn't really do proper 33%, it was mostly Serbia and Greece but STILL a massive dick move.
That happened just 30 years before WW2. Then Bulgaria made second war attacking Serbians for that part of Macedonia, but Serbians and Greece united and kicked Bulgaria's ass (almost literally).
And cause of that, Bulgarians saw opportunity to side with side that Serbia was against, so they can reclaim some territories.
WW2 is not ''out of the blue'' stuff, to really understand WW2 you gotta understand 40 years of history before that.
+Stefan Kojadinov " ...but Serbians and Greece united and kicked Bulgaria's ass (almost literally) " or more like sneaky Romanians attacking from the North and stealing Northern Dobruja and the Turks coming back and invading Thrace from South-East.Yeah fighting on 4 fronts is not really fair.
+Stefan Kojadinov He misspoke. Meant Baltic not Balkans. Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia hated Soviet rule and wanted liberty, and believed that liberty would be obtained through Hitler.
4393kb Fair? Sorry, haven't heard of that fairy tale. Life isn't fair. Bulgarians sneak attacked Serbia borders, Romanians sneak attacked Bulgaria borders.
Does it really matter though? Bulgaria made a terrbile move when doing that, even if Greece and Romania would (by some miracle) not come to war, Serbia was still strong enough to fight them, I am not saying they would crush or anything, but it would be a war, that sneak attack wouldn't suddenly bring them victory.
That's really not the point though, the point is about holding the grudge for it.
30 seconds into this video and I died when I saw that you labeled Ribbentrop as Molotov and Molotov as Ribbentrop
My Great Grandfather fought in Stalingrad in the German Army, he manned a bipod machine gun and in the early days of the battle he was hot through the head. He survived but was permanently blind.
Since when was the Soviet Union supposed to be part of the axis as implied? Secondly why is Denmark a part of the Third Reich on the map and why is East Prussia mysteriously absent? Not to mention mixing up the Baltics with the Balkans.....
You make the video them ffs
@@puccipuu1797 A history video should not misrepresent history. Corrections for mistakes are a necessity.
Kursk, largest tank battle in history, after Dubno-Brody.
What are you talking about? Wasn't Kursk much bigger? Im sorry if Im getting anything wrong all the sources I find say that
Bruh u be on crack
Wtf is Dubno-Brody ??
To the Extra History and Extra Credits team: You are making a difference every day. You are an amazing crew
Please, please, PLEASE cover the Persian Wars (479 BCE) or the Peloponnesian War!
I love Extra History and as a Classics major it would be amazing.
2:10 Except that didn't happen. You are likely refering to the population of Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian SSRs, as those were the places where that occurred. The popular opinion about Germans had no changed. For Germans, Lithuanians, Estonians and Latvians were not in fact subhuman (or Untermeschen), unlike the Slavic population of the USSR. Not only that, but the Baltic population would also see Germans as liberators due to the fact that their countries got annexed back in 1940 per the terms of the Molotov-Rubbentrop pact. By letting the Soviets take over the Baltic states, Germans ensured that the locals would see them in good light once the war between the two would've started.
Except that's still wrong. The Baltic states did not suffer from mass executions because they didn't have that many Slavs living there to begin with.
Yo Heinrich, u a national socialist or a fascist?
Neither.
A shame
Why the hell would I want to be a leftist?
Great compilation of interesting facts. Love the World War II coverage. Thank you.
you're showing molotov as ribbentrop! check it out first!
Btw german general was the first general that surrendered to the russian forces
you mean 'field marshall'? hitler promoted him to discourage him from surrendering, but he was pissed so he surrendered anyway
Jarrad Scarborough Pretty much.
Thank you so much. I am working on a project for Global and this video really helped pick out the important parts of these events. I love this channel thanks guys!
The French invasion of Germany failed horribly at 5:10 xD
Also I think that you mistake the Baltic states for the Balkans at a few places. The countries in the Balkans had already joined or been subjugated by Germany prior to Barbarossa. The Baltic states had been annexed by the Soviets in 1940 due to the Molotov - Ribbentrop pact :)
Brody was the largest tank battle ever
Is there a joke I'm missing?
Nicholas Hakala no, the battle of Dubno Brody was the largest tank battle of the war, taking place in 1941
Ok. interesting
Me and my cousins has repeated this saga over a dozen and 3 times we never get bored. This is our 14 th time watching this again
I thought Barbarossa began on June 22?
3:08 Hitler giving the victory V? Seems legit.
More stories about famous generals and battles and armies I really enjoy videos like that
As a danish bloke I am not sure how comfortable I am with Denmark being labeled as nazi germany on that map :P
+simongreve Im not happy about it either, but its true and you know it.
+Jona Emo yeah, the even show slowakia as part of the Reich (you can argue about that ) but forgot the until 1945 german Eastern Prussia
Jona Emo How so? We were occupied but none of our territory was ever officially annexed as far as I know. We never became a part of germany, none of our military ever helped germany and we kept sovereign rule for most of the occupation, specifically disbanding our government when the occupation started demanding too much of us. There is no way denmark being a part of nazi germany is true.
+simongreve "sovereign rule" ha ,good one
+simongreve well the wehrmacht wasnt only german there were thousands of non germans in the army including Denmark
Those factories are making a *BUTT TON* of tanks, and aircrafts
Why are you here and I don't know your purpose
Are you here from oversimplified?
You guys deserve an award for this!
(first off sorry for my bad english)My Grand Grand [insert English word for Opa here]
fought in this battle in His last years he told me what he [insert english word for erfuhr here] :He saw how germans died by freezing to death and getting frozen toes cut off ...
His part ended When he was shot in the lung beside His friend so what His friend did was carry him to the Leichenhaufen and put him on it so that nobody would shoot him.
my grand(opa)of course was reported ded to His family but in the end he stood infront of His mother thanks to His friend.
Gentleman this is not kurks this is not either Minsk or Kiev this is Stalingrad it bears the name of the boss
a plus ofr you if you get that movie referance
+pc master race
"Here, the men's only choice is between German bullets and ours. But there's another way. The way of courage. The way of love of the Motherland"
Le Name yay a cookie for you
+pc master race
Nikita Sergeievich Kruschev
Soon to be Premier of the Soviet Union.
The fun fact: USSR planned four operations - Uranus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter. The size of Saturn operation was reduced, so the operation was renamed to Small Saturn.
3:37 Petersburg AND Leningrad? Its kind of same city, you know...
Probably another siege in the same city at a different time.
1:32 I think you mean the Baltic, not the Balkans. In the Balkans most people fought back the occupiers via resistance movements. This video is so full of incorrect information.
my grandfather fought there (on the german side in the wehrmacht) so i got alot of informations first hand, rly intresting to hear a person who was rly there ^^
Join the under 100 Club! We have cookies.
+m zhu I joined it
I'm scraping the edge of this club at 94. What kind of cookies do you have?
I made it!
Woo hop! Just in time! I'm 98!
+m zhu No pizza for 99th member?
6th army be like: *HOI4 OUT OF SUPPLY SOUND*
i love this videos my dream job now is a history professor and I'm getting super smart because of you thank you thank you so much.
0:40 the soviet union had actively sort to ally against Germany being the last nation to sign a treaty with Germany as the western powers had done nothing to stop Hitler, Stalin even wrote letters calling for the liberation of Czechoslovakia and an anti Nazi alliance so where is this line coming from that the soviet and the Nazi were supposedly on such close relation.
0:54 total surprise ? no a surprise attack sure but if you look back as early as the time of Lenin there is a prediction of a western invasion and Stalin in his speech on the 5 year plan proclaims "We are fifty or hundred years behind the advanced country's. we must make this good distance in ten years.Either we do it ,or they will crush us." Stalin did not see soviet development as just a matter of economic improvement he knew that if the union was to stand it would need to develop and had to have the strength to stand on its own feet that's why such a large push was made to industrialization and collectivization
1:00 and why were these purges carried out? Stalin if often made out to be some blood crazed paranoid mad man but these purges removed the disloyal parts of the general staff which prevented the same kind of betrayal that happened in France from happening in the USSR.
1:20 the soviet attacks and withdraws where part of the general strategy by pulling troops back and forming Guerrilla units the soviet union exploited its vast land mass in the war simply presenting it as some kinda half botched attempt at holding the front is inaccurate.
1:30 the Baltic's had been far right before the soviet unions occupation before WW2 Latvia had it own concentration camps something that has be swept under the rug by recent historians. this is why they view the Nazi preferably because they viewed Russians as "uncivilized orcs " since this one is harder to find i suggest looking at RTs coverage of the story :www.rt.com/news/249021-survivors-latvian-concentration-salaspils/
2:37 not entirely true competence and ideology played an important role as getting loyal commanders meant that the stock of people was limited to communist and left leaning people with the necessary skill, fortunately the improvement made from the start of the revolution up to the start of WW2 meant that the population was over all loyal one of the reason that such large number joined the war and why so many would go to the front in the name of the union and in the name of Stalin. its also one of the reason that rebellions and Nazi cooperation was not as wide spread.
its also worth noting that being a soviet commissar meant inspiring people to fight for the communist ideology often leading the charge so having a good understanding of the ideology was important in this field.
5:20 not only where the soviets better supplied but the Nazis had to deal with guerrilla units in the rear and the soviet troops had a thirst for vengeance the Nazis had attacked they're country, murdered many friends and family member not only solider but civilians, pillaged they're land and bombed they're city's and destroyed many of the gains they had made to say they were pissed would be an understatement and as they headed west this did not diminish it only grew as they came across burned villages and torched cities.
The General feel of the video is that of the USSR and Nazi Germany as being some how equal with the typical western bias against communists ,the soviet union and Stalin maybe it simply because the video is on it own that i get this impression and maybe it would work better with a soviet perspective from the time of Lenin up to the end of WW2 or maybe it because it made by people brought up with western lies about the soviet union which were propagated in the cold war and still are popularized today.
wrong on many levels, but i dont have time to correct that. But ill try...
Stalin quote: The red army is the only army, in which its more dangerous to retreat than to attack.
All soldiers who retreated were shot immediatly. 157.000 soviet sholdiers were shot.
There was nothing like a guerilla plan from the beginning. Stalin reached to the guerillas not before 42.
These purges were carried out because Stalin was a mass murderer.
About the baltics. Yes population helped Nazis to purge jews. But they used the massacres from the NKVD to agitate against the jews. Nazis said its the jewish peoples fault NKVD shot so many of your relatives basically.
The things you say about 0:54 are wrong aswell. Stalin allied with germany becauses it was in his own interest. He got the Baltics, a part of Poland (he lost against the polish in a war before) so revange. Also Germany and SU had an intensive trait relationship. Stalin got Industrial parts and weapons in return for transporting crop and oil to germany.
I lost my hope in western nations to present the Soviet's role in WWII in unbiased way.
When you mention the Balkans, did you mean the Baltics?
+MrGiggle Biscuits en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkans
i GOTTA SAY... THESE ARE GREAT DOCS...
There are two rules when invading Russia:
1. Never invade Russia in the Winter.
2. NEVER INVADE RUSSIA IN THE WINTER!
+Tonks Moriarty (ZNickel) 3. Unless you are the Mongols
Maxi Reigl
*Mongols montage*
Tonks Moriarty Yup.
+Maxi Reigl What is a John Green.
+Muhamed Ahmed What's a Belgium?
I'm amazed, that after that number of comments, no-one stated, that polish resistance was important too and in terms of fighting Russian front - IMO more important than Balkans resistance. Because, ya know... geography ;)
OFC I don't mean, that Balkan people didn't suffer, they bravely fought against Germans.
Also - when you mention "Balkans welcomed Germans"... ya... don't do it. Situation too messed up.
But in fact, there was Croatian collaboration goverment, and Romanians, Bulgarians and (sadly) Hungarians were on the "wrong" side. And they're quite big part of the Balkans...
You are a Polish person who likes Hungary, right?
+Tesla-Effect Ok, I'm not going into the Balkans part, because it was always a mess, and a lot of people suffered. But talking about Eastern Front and saying, that Balkan Resistance was one of the key parts of interrupting German warfare and logistics... Maybe because I'm Polish, but most of supplies from Germany went through Poland, not Balkans... I dunno.
Because of theme and focus, they barely mentioned MAJOR events on the western front let alone specific resistance activities.
***** Because of Balkan affair, Barbarossa started a month later, than it supossed to launch. And many historicians say, that Germans needed a week of good weather to capture Moscow.
Anyway, it's fascinating with history, that it makes you think of many possibilities. So... good work on that, EC! Still, waiting for Lies episode :)
Yes they were on the wrong side but most of them were allied because they had no choice and germany would just take them over, my great grandpa was Romanian and he fought both on the axis and allies side
Great video. You did what many people did not and explained how a major reason the Germans did not take Moscow was because of supply lines.
The Soviet Union *SMASHED THAT LIKE BUTTON*
Smashed that Reich button