Episode 6 of Beyond Barbarossa, the first English-language podcast to focus on the Eastern Front of World War II, looks at Germany approaching the zenith of its hold on Europe, having conquered Ukraine already.
Having captured most of Ukraine and with a choke-hold on Leningrad, Germany appears to be winning as it advances on Moscow. But the big picture looks different close up.
The Battle of Smolensk may just be the big turning point in the was in the East.
This episode sponsored by The Eastern Front Trilogy, the true story of a Canadian drafted into the Red Army in World War II.
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All proceeds from the sales of The Eastern Front Trilogy in paperback or its constituent e-books will go to helping Ukrainian refugees until all Ukrainians can return home safe from Russian military aggression.
Contact the author by email to contact@writtenword.ca
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Map 1: The situation in the summer of 1941
Map 2: The Battle of Smolensk
The best tank of the war: the Soviet T34
This file is licensed under the Creative CommonsAttribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Attribution: Лишь человек
The Soviet KV-1 heavy tank
The Soviet PTRD-41 anti-tank gun
Source: RIA Novosti archive, image #4408 / N. Bode / CC-BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Katyusha
The Katyusha in action
Attribution: RIA Novosti archive, image #303890 / Zelma / CC-BY-SA 3.0
Books cited in this episode:
David Glantz: Operation Barbarossa: Hitler’s Invasion of Russia 1941. Stroud, Gloucetershire, UK, 2011.
David Stahel: Operation Barbarossa and Germany’s Defeat in the East. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009.