Beyond Barbarossa: The Eastern Front of World War 2

"From the moment Stalin heard that the Americans were across the Rhine, he knew that the race for Berlin was on.”—Antony Beevor. WIth the Allies on the Elbe, and the Red Army on the Oder, nazi Germany was being terminally squeezed by April 1945. But before they can drive on the prize, Berlin, the Red Army must take Vienna. Map 1: The Red Army’s advance, 1944–1945 Map 2: The Red Army on the Oder and Niesse Map 3: Advance into ViennaMap 4a: European front line, 1 April 1945Map 4b: European front line, 15 April 1945Historical photosGeorgy Zhukov, Marshal of 1st Belorussian Front Ivan Konev, Marshal, 1st Ukrainian Front Rodion Malinovsky, Marshal, 2nd Ukrainian Front Fyodor Tolbukhin, Marshal, 3rd Ukrainian Front Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The #6 Top World War 2 podcast continues following the Red Army’s advance into Hungary and Germany—and the expensive failure of the German Operation Spring Awakening. Map 1: Front lines in Europe, 1 March 1945 Map 2: Operation Southwind/Sudwind Map 3a: German plans for Operation Spring Awakening Map 4: The Soviet counter-attack, The Lake Balaton counter-offensive Map 5: Following Operation Spring Awakening Map 6: Upper Silesian locations in 2026 Map 7: The front lines, Europe, 1 April 1945 PeopleRodion Malinovsky Fyodor Tolbukhin Heinz Guderian Friedrich Schorner Walther Nehring (right) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Red Army penetrates deep into Germany, leading to the redrawing of eastern European borders after. Map 1: The Oder offensive–March 1945 Map 2: The Lower Silesian Offensive Map 3: The East Pomeranian Offensive Map 4a: European fronts, 15 February 1945 Map 4b: European fronts, 15 March 1945 PhotosMarshal Ivan Konev, Commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front General Walther Wencke, chief of staff, Army Group Vistula, February 1945 Child soldiers in the wehrmacht: Hitler Youth in Breslau (Wroclaw), February 1945 Breslau (Wroclaw) in fighting, 1945 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why did the Yalta Conference end the way it did? Why did Churchill try an end-run around Roosevelt? Why did Roosevelt try to curry Stalin’s favour? What would this mean to post-war history?Author Giles Milton joins to discuss some of the Second World War’s most perplexing questions. PeopleAuthor Giles MiltonHis latest book, The Stalin Affair: The impossible alliance that won the war The Big Three: Soviet Premier Josef Stalin, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill Kathleen “Kathy” or “Puff” Harriman, daughter of Roosevelt’s right hand and Ambassador to the USSR in 1945, Averell Harriman Averell Harriman Pamela Churchill, WInston Churchill’s daughter-in-law in 1945, and later, Mrs. Averell Harriman Stalin and Churchill at the Moscow Conference, 1944 Franklin Roosevelt in 1945Map 1: The division of Germany after May 1945 Map 2: Invasion of Poland, 1939Map 3: Poland moves 100 km west SourcesGiles Milton, author: https://www.gilesmilton.com/Bookspodcast: Ministry of Secrets Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why were the Yalta Conference’s decisions so vague? Why did Stalin get everything he wanted? And why did Roosevelt act so naively? Giles Milton, bestselling author of The Stalin Affair: The Impossible Alliance that Won the War, joins the podcast today to help understand the relationships that had the greatest impact on the second meeting of the Big Three of the Second World War.PhotosAuthor Giles Milton The Stalin Affair: The Impossible Alliance that Won the War by Giles Milton The Big Three at Yalta, February 1945. Roosevelt would be dead in two months. Map 1: Yalta in Crimea, on the Black Sea, site of the 1945 Yalta Conference of the Big Three Map 2: The tortured road from Saky Airfield to YaltaSourcesGiles Milton, author: https://www.gilesmilton.com/Bookspodcast: Ministry of Secrets Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt meet in Malta in the Mediterranean in February 1945, to prepare to meet Josef Stalin in the second Big Three conference on Soviet territory—Yalta. It was a meeting that shaped the world for decades. Map 1: Malta to Yalta Map 2: The Western Front, 1 February 1945 Map 3: The Pacific Theatre, 1 February 1945Map 4: Poland’s shift west, 1945Photos Left: Franklin Roosevelt in 1944. Right: Roosevelt and Churchill at Malta, 2 February 1945. Averell Harriman and daughter Kathleen The Vorontsov Palace, quarters for the British delegation The Livadia Palace, quarters for the American delegation The Yusupov Palace, housing the Soviet delegation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Red Army continues its continual advance onto German soil—and the flight of German civilians and military. Map 1: The siege of Kongisberg Map 2: SamlandThe Samland Peninsula in 1905, showing city and town names still present in 1945. Map 3: The (second) East Prussian Offensive Map 4: The advance across Poland Historical photos Franklin Roosevelt meets Winston Churchill in Malta, 2 February 1945 Civilians from Konigsberg walk across frozen Vistula Lagoon, January 1945 CIvilians flee Lodz, Poland, January 1945 Red Army arrives in Lodz, Poland, January 1945 Hitler shakes hands with Col. Claus von Stauffenberg at the “Wolf’s Lair," July 1944. Ruins of the Wolfsschanze, “Wolf’s Lair,” Hitler’s headquarters in East PrussiaSourcesAntony Beevor, The Second World War. New York, NY, USA: Little, Brown and Company, 2012. Scott Bury, Walking Out of War: Volume 3 of the Eastern Front Trilogy. Ottawa, Canada: The Written Word, 2017.Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin’s War, 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017.David Sumner, Europe at War: A podcast about lesser-known battles of the Second World War. https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/europe-at-war-a-ww2-podcast/id1788043665 Larysa Zariczniak, Wandering the Edge: Ukrainian history and culture https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/wandering-the-edge/id1547149262David Sumner, Europe at War: A WW2 podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/europe-at-war-a-ww2-podcast/id1788043665Morse code by Thane BrownMusic composed and recorded by Nicolas Bury Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After 10 shattering blows on the Eastern Front in 1944, the Western Allies and the USSR continue to compress nazi Germany in January 1945. Map 1: The compressing front 1a: 1 January 1944 1b: 1 January 1945 1c: 15 January 1945 Map 2: The siege of Budapest, January 1945 Map 3: The Vistula-Oder campaign, January 1945 Map 4: The East Prussia offensivePhotosThe Budapest Chain Bridge destroyed, January 1945 Ruins of Warsaw, even in 1947 Source: New York photographer Henry N. Cobb, taken in 1947, via Rare Historical Photos. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Budapest lay athwart the main entry route to Austria and Bohemia. It was the main railway hub of the region and also the largest Danubian port. The Red Army could not bypass it. This was the first time in the war that the Red Army had to lay siege to a major city." The Red Army assaults the capital of nazi Germany’s final remaining partner in the Second World War. The war appears to be almost lost—but that’s seen through hindsight. No one at the time knew that.Map 1: The Eastern Front, December 1944Map 2: Germany’s eastern and western fronts, 1 December 1944Map 3: The Petsamo-Kirkenes operation in northern FinlandMap 4: The Red Army attacks BudapestOperation Konrad IIPeople Mihai I, King of Romania, 1944–1947 Miklos Horthy, Regent of Hungary Miklos Horthy Jr. Ference Szalasi, nazi dictator of Hungary, 1944–1945 Edmund Veesenmayer, Hitler’s “Special Envoy” to Hungary, 1944–1945 SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch, commander of IX SS Mountain CorpsHistorical photos: Fighting in Budapest SourcesAntony Beevor, The Second World War. New York, NY, USA: Little, Brown and Company, 2012. Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin’s War, 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017.Morse code by Thane BrownMusic composed and recorded by Nicolas Bury Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There was a lot of action on the Eastern Front in the autumn of 1944. In late September, the Red Army and its new allies enter Yugoslavia and connect with communist Partisans led by a man called Tito. The results will echo across the decades. Map 1: The Balkan military theatre, September 1944–January 1945Map 2: The Bulgarian incursionMap 3: The Battle of BelgradePhotos The Lockheed P-38 Lightning and the Focke-Wulf fw189 The Yakovlev Yak-9 in flight The Yakovlev Yak-9 in the Russian military museum Josip Broz, a.k.a. Tito, far right, with his staff.SourcesAntony Beevor, The Second World War. New York, NY, USA: Little, Brown and Company, 2012. Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. Giles Milton, The Stalin Affair: The impossible alliance that won the war. New York, NY, USA: Henry Holt and Company, 2022.Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin’s War, 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017.Morse code by Thane BrownMusic composed and recorded by Nicolas Bury Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In October 1944, the Red Army entered East Prussia, the heart of German militarism. Horrific war crimes ensued.Map 1: The Red Army’s advances all across the broad front Map 2a: European Theatre, 1 October 1944 Map 2b: European Theatre, 1 November 1944 Map 3a: The Pacific Theatre, 1 October 1944 Map 3b: The Pacific Theatre, 1 November 1944 Map 4: The Gumbinnen Operation Historical photos Konigsberg Castle before World War 1 German officers find evidence of massacre at Nemmersdorf, East Prussia Civilians killed at Nemmersdorf, 1944SourcesAntony Beevor, The Second World War. New York, NY, USA: Little, Brown and Company, 2012. Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. Pat McTaggart, "Goldap Operation: Soviets in the Prussian Heartland,” in WWII History, vol. 14, No. 2, February 2015. Cited in Warfare History Network, February 2015, https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/goldap-operation-soviets-in-the-prussian-heartland/ Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin’s War, 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017.Morse code by Thane BrownMusic composed and recorded by Nicolas Bury Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the autumn of 1944, nation after nation abandons the cruel, insane Axis to join the Western Allies or USSR: Romania, Bulgaria, Slovkia … as Finland signs an armistice with the USSR. With the Red Army on the border of Germany itself, Hungary faces the choice: to fight on with, or against, the nazis.Map 1: The Red Army invades SlovakiaThe Dukla Pass is to the right. Map 2: The Battle of Debrecen PhotosGeneral (later Marshal) Rodion Malinovsky, 1944 General (later Marshal) Fyodor Tolbukhin, 1944 Marshal Ivan Konev, 1945 Milos Horthy, Regent of Hungary, 1944 Ferenc Szalisi, Leader of the Hungarian Nation, 1944 General Heinz Guderian, Inspector-General of the Army, 1944 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By the autumn of 1944, everyone could see which way the Second World War was going — even the Axis commanders. Still, they were able to hold the Red Army back in key locations like Courland and Memel. Map 1: The Courland and Memel pockets, to the end of 1944 Map 2: The Memel pocket, 1944 Image 1: Hovhannes Bagramyan in 1955 Image 2: Army of Worn Soles, volume 1 of the Eastern Front Trilogy https://www.amazon.com/Army-Worn-Soles-Scott-Bury/dp/0987914197/ Image 3: Walking Out of War, volume 3 of the Eastern Front Trilogy https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1987846052 SourcesScott Bury, Army of Worn Soles: Volume 1 of The Eastern Front Trilogy. Ottawa: The Written Word Publishing Co., 2014.Scott Bury, Walking Out of War: Volume 3 of The Eastern Front Trilogy. Ottawa: The Written Word Publishing Co., 2014.Prit Buttar, The Reckoning: The Defeat of Army Group South, 1944 . Okford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2020. Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. Morse code by Thane BrownMusic composed and recorded by Nicolas Bury Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Describing the Eastern Front chronologically gets very difficult in the second half of 1944, because there’s so much happening everywhere, all at the same time. After the Warsaw Rising, as described in Episode 83, the Red Army surged past its borders into Finland, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, and farther. Meanwhile, the Western Allies are taking France, Belgium and Italy from Hitler. But there is still a lot of fighting and death to come. Map 1: The Gothic Line, Italy Map 2: The Continuation War ends, Finland Map 3: The advance of the Red Army, August 1943–December 1944 Maps 4A and 4B: Advances of the front lines, east and west 4A: 15 August 19444B: 1 October 1944 SourcesAntony Beevor, The Second World War. London, UK: Little, Brown and Co., 2012. Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. Anthony Tucker-Jones, Stalin’s Revenge: Operation Bagration and the Annihilation of Army Group Centre. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen and Sword Books, 2009. Morse code by Thane BrownMusic composed and recorded by Nicolas Bury Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, Beyond Barbarossa fulfills a promised made at the start of this podcast: a meaningful donation to help refugees of Russia’s unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine, to the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.We’re joined by Valeriy Kostyuk, Executive Director of the Canada-Ukraine Foundation, which runs the appeal.LinksCanada-Ukraine FoundationUkraine Humanitarian AppealMedical javelinsThornhill Medical and their MOVES SLC mobile life-support system. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In August 1944, the Red Army steamrolled across eastern Europe. Yet when Warsaw rose up against the nazi occupiers, they found themselves alone. Historic photosTadeusz Bor-Komorowski (right), Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Home Army AK fighter with flamethrower Home Army soldiers from Kolegium "A" of Kedyw formation on Stawki Street in the Wola District of Warsaw, September 1944. Source: Wikipedia Commons Jewish POWs freed by AK The remains of Warsaw after the Germans “withdrew.” SourcesAntony Beevor, The Second World War. London, UK: Little, Brown and Co., 2012. Norman Davies, Rising ’44: The Battle for Warsaw. London, UK: Macmillan, 2004.Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. Anthony Tucker-Jones,Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin’s War 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017. Music by Nicolas Bury.Morse code from Thane Brown. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode of the podcast on the Eastern Front of World War Two, we go beyond Beyond Barbarossa and beyond the end of the Second World War.80 years ago to the day of this publication a handsome young man approached Canadian media and officials with proof that the Soviet Union was spying on its allies. The Cold War was on. Former Soviet cypher clerk Igor Gouzenko, hooded to protect his identity, being interviewed by Associated Press reporter Saul Pett in Montreal in 1954. The Gouzenkos’ apartment building on Somerset Street in central Ottawa. There is no plaque commemorating Igor Gouzenko. (Photo by Scott Bury, 2025.) Igor Gouzenko in Canada, 1946. SourcesWinston Churchill, “The Sinews of Peace,” speech given at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, U.S.A., 5 March 1946. https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/winstonchurchillsinewsofpeace.htmJ.L. Granatstein and David Stafford, Spy Wars: Espionage and Canada from Gouzenko to Glasnost. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1990.John Sawatsky, Gouzenko: The Untold Story. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1984Wikipedia, Gouzenko Affair. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouzenko_AffairWondery Podcasts, “The Spy Who, Season 7: The Spy Who Started the Cold War” https://wondery.com/shows/the-spy-who/season/7/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In summer 1944, "the Red Army’s seemingly unstoppable streamroller took Stanislav in the Carpathian foothills, Bialystok in northern Poland, Dvinsk in Latvia and the Siauliai (also spelt Shaulyai) rail junction between Riga and East Prussia.” — Anthony Tucker-Jones.Even so, the steamroller suffered ferocious mauling. If you can transcribe the morse code signal during “What else is happening in the war,” send an email to [email protected]. If you’re correct, I will send you a free autographed copy of The Eastern Front Trilogy.Map 1a: The Eastern Front, July 1944Map 1b: The front, August 1944 Map 2: The Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive, detail Map 3: The Narva OffensiveMusic by Nicolas Bury.Morse code from Thane Brown. Some sound effects from Zapsplat.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.