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.

Stalin’s one-two punch against Germany is the Lvov-Sandomierz offensive, hitting in Ukraine as Bagration smashes into Byelorussia. It also lays bare the brutality within the Red Army. Map 1: The Byelorussian Balcony Map 2: The Lvov-Sandomierz Operation Map 3: The Eastern Front, 15 June 1944 Map 4: The Eastern Front, 15 July 1944 Map 5: The Eastern Front, 15 August 1944 Ivan Konev, commander, 1st Ukrainian Front Lt. General Pavel Rybalko, commander, 3rd Guards Tank Army Josef Harpe, Commander, Army Group North Ukraine Sources:Antony Beevor, The Second World War. London, UK: Little, Brown and Co., 2012. Prit Buttar, Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2019.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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did the Lend-Lease program save the Soviet Union? For the Season 3 finale, Angus Wallace of the World War 2 podcast joins to offer a nuanced interpretation. Angus Wallace, host and producer of The World War 2 podcast The Lend-Lease Act British Valentine tanks to be sent to USSR under Lend-Lease, 1942. The Bell P-39 Aircobra, one of the fighters the U.S. sent to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease. A Hawker Hurricane fighter sent for the Red Air Force. Fleets of Studebaker, Ford and Chevrolet trucks sent to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease. U.S. jeeps sent to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease made Life magazine. The Western Allies sent millions of tons of food aid to the Soviet Union during World War 2. The Red Army moved tanks to the front by rail, on flatcars, with locomotives often supplied by the U.S. Much of the rail was also supplied by the U.S. The “Big Three,” Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin, at the Yalta Conference in 1945. Roosevelt was clearly unwell by this point. This conference decided the post-war division of Europe between West and East, meaning USSR.MapsMap 1: Lend-Lease shipping routesLend-Lease shipping literally spanned the globe. Map 2: The Arctic route (polar projection) Map 3: The Persian Corridor. Ships arrived in Persian Gulf ports, then goods were transshipped by train through Iran to be loaded onto ships again at the Caspian Sea. Map 4: The Pacific route. Note the proximity to Japan as ships approach Vladivostok in the Russian Far East. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The USSR’s answer to D-Day in June 1944 takes the Germans by surprise—and annihilates a whole army group.Map 1: The Vyborg-Petrozavodsk Offensive, the end of the Continuation War against Finland Map 2: The "Byelorussian Balcony” Map 3: Attack on Vitebsk Map 4: Rokossovsky’s attack on Bobruisk Map 5: Attack on Minsk PhotosMinsk, July 1944 Destroyed German armour on road to Minsk German POWs in Moscow, July 1944 Soviet and Polish Home Army (AK) soldiers together in Vilnius, July 1944. The AK soldiers were then arrested by the NKVD and sent to Gulags. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author Craig W.H. Luther joins us to compare two anniversaries on the same date, 22 June, three years apart: Operations Barbarossa in 1941, and Operation Bagration in 1944. Craig W.H. LutherThe First Day on the Eastern Front: Germany Invades the Soviet Union, June 22, 1941 Barbarossa Unleashed: The German Blitzkrieg through Central Russia to the Gates of Moscow, June–December 1941 Guderian’s Panzers: From Triumph to Defeat on the Eastern Front, 1941 Map 1: Operation Barbarossa, 22 June 1941 Map 2: The Byelorussian balcony, June 1944 Map 3: Operation Blue, summer 1942 Craig W.H. Luther Archive: https://www.barbarossa1941.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A major army, 400,000 strong, made a major difference in World War 2. Yet it doesn’t get enough attention in the West (nor, unfortunately, on this podcast). It’s the Armia Krajowa, the Polish Home Army. From exposing the Holocaust, to breaking the German Enigma Code, to helping destroy V-2 rockets, the AK bridged the Eastern and Western Fronts of the Second World War.Map 1: German invasion of Poland, September 1939Map 2: Soviet invasion of Poland, September 1939Historic photosFlag of the Armia Krajowa, Polish Home ArmyGen. Michal Tadeusz Tokarzewski-Karaszewicz second-in-command of the Army of WarsawWladyslaw Sikorski, Prime Minister of Polish Government-in-ExileElzbieta Zawacka, “Agent Zo"Elzbieta Zawacka’s story, Agent Zo by Clare Mulley Jewish resistance fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, 1943 SS burns the Warsaw Ghetto, 1943 SS transports Jewish survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto to extermination campsAK fighters Polish Boy Scouts in AK, 1944 Women members of AK Enigma, the German coding machineThe three Polish cryptologists who broke the German Enigma code: left to right, Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Rozycki, and Henryk Zygalski Sources:Antony Beevor, The Second World War. London, UK: Little, Brown and Co., 2012. Richard Lukas, The Forgotten Holocaust. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1986, and University of Kentucky Press, 1986.Home Army Museum/Muzeum Armii Krajowej, https://muzeum-ak.pl/Wikipedia, various pages. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s been a year of stunning, swift change on the Eastern Front of World War 2. And momentous events are coming soon — so it’s high time for a recap of the past year.LinksEpisode 50: Looking back, taking stock https://beyondbarbarossa.podbean.com/e/looking-back-taking-stock-episode-50/The Battle(s) of KurskEpisode 51: Summer 1943 planshttps://beyondbarbarossa.podbean.com/e/summer-1943-plans-season-3-opener-episdoe-51/Episode 52: Zitadelle, the Battle of Kursk, Part 2https://beyondbarbarossa.podbean.com/e/zitadelle—the-battle-of-kursk-part-2-episode-52/Episode 53: The Battle of Kursk, part 3https://beyondbarbarossa.podbean.com/e/the-battle-of-kursk-part-3-episode-53/Episode 67: The Red Army has the momentum https://beyondbarbarossa.podbean.com/e/the-red-army-has-the-momentum-episode-67/Friedrich Paulus, commander of the German 6th Army in 1942, the only German Field Marshal ever to surrenderMapsMap 1: The Axis’ high-water mark, EuropeMap 2: Axis’ high-water mark, Asia-PacificMap 3: North Africa, summer 1942Map 4: Germans advance to the VolgaMap 5: Operation Winter StormMap 6: 4th Battle of KharkivMap 7: Battle of KurskMap 8: Operation Little SaturnMap 9: Rzhev SalientMap 10: Korsun/Cherkassy pocketMap 11: Crushing blows: the front lines in the Eastern Front, April 1944 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 2 May 1945, Red Army soldiers raised the Soviet Red Banner with hammer and sickle on the cupola of the Reichstag in Berlin. For the 80th anniversary of that famous photograph, Anthony Tucker-Jones joins the ‘cast to discuss the Fall of Berlin. “Raising a Flag over the Reichstag” shows Red Army soldier Aleksei Kovalev hoisting the Red Banner over the cupola of the Reichstag. This was staged on 2 May 1945, after the Red Army had taken full control of the building. Historian and author Anthony Tucker-Jones Two of his books Learn more about Anthony Tucker-Jones on his website. Map 1: Three Red Army Fronts advance on Berlin Map 2: The final battle for Berlin Movies cited: Downfall, in German with subtitlesCome and See, in Russian Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode, we jump forward for the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe. To guide us through the battles for Berlin, we are joined by the author of The Fall of Berlin: The Final Days of Hitler’s Evil Regime. Author Anthony Tucker-JonesHis website and books: https://atuckerjones.com/MapsMap 1: The front lines, 15 April 1945 Map 2: The front lines, 1 May 1945 Map 3: Final operations, April-May 1945 Map 4: The Red Army’s Vistula-Oder offensive Map 5: 1st Belorussian Front’s drive through the Seelow Heights to Berlin Map 6: The battles for Berlin at the end of April 1945 Books Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1944, the Red Army delivers its third crushing blow on the Axis forces in eastern Europe: two major offensives to recapture the rest of Ukraine, and the Crimean peninsula. Map 1: Northern Black Sea coast and southern Ukraine The range where the two mighty blows were delivered. Ploesti, Romania is to the far left of the map, just north of Bucharest. Map 2: Map by Scott Bury Map 3: The Red Army’s Crimean offensive, 1944 Image 1: Issa Pliyev, Commander, Cavalry-Mechanized Group The Red Army, 4th Guards Cavalry Corps advancing across southern Ukraine, 1944 Miklós Horthy, Regent of Hungary, with Adolf Hitler in Budapest, 1938 The Red Army marches into “liberated” Odesa, 1944 Note the women soldiers in the ranks. Sources:Prit Buttar, The Reckoning: The Defeat of Army Group South, 1944. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2020.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. Wikipedia: The Crimean Offensive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_offensive— The Odesa Offensive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odessa_Offensive Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the beginning of Russia’s illegal and brutal assault on sovereign Ukraine, Ukraine: The Latest has covered the war every week day. Francis Dearnley, Executive Editor for Audio for Ukraine: The Latest, joins the podcast to look at the historical links and parallels with the Eastern Front of World War 2.Francis Dearnley, Executive Editor for Audio, Ukraine: The Latest, from The Telegraph Ukraine: The Latest, daily podcast from The Telegraph David Knowles, creator of the Ukraine: The Latest podcast LinksUkraine: The Lateston Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ukraine-the-latest/id1612424182and available on all major podcast platforms.Francis Dearnley’s interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Winston Churchill’s World War II memoirs Guy Sajer’s The Forgotten Soldier Antony Beevor’s Berlin 1945 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 63: at the end of 1943, the situation for nazi Germany and communist USSR on the Eastern Front is radically different from the end of 1942. Plus, the Cairo and Tehran Conferences promise to reshape the geo-political world.Map 1: The Red Army advances to, and past the Wotan LineMap 2: The front lines, 15 November 1943 Map 3: The front lines, 31 December 1943 Historical photos: The German Panther (Panzer V) vs. the Soviet T-34-85 Soviet photo loading artillery at Nikopol bridgeheadSources:Antony Beevor, The Second World War. London, UK: Little, Brown and Co., 2012. Prit Buttar, Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2019.Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beyond Barbarossa is no longer the only podcast focusing on the Eastern Front of World War II. David Sumner, host and producer of the Europe at War podcast, joins to discuss the Battle of the Halbe Pocket. The Europe at War podcast on all platforms: https://pohttps://tr.ee/faCigcYaE5 David Sumner, podcasterMap: The Battle of the Halbe Pocket, April 1945 Photos from David Sumner The Halbe forest, 2025 A defensive hole dug in the floor of the Halbe Forest A bullet shell with the round still inside it, the outer shell which corroded from being in the ground for eight decades. The comb David Sumner found in the Halbe Forest From the Halbe Pocket battle General Theodor Busse General Walther Wenke Arden nazi Ferdinand Shorner Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russian occupation of Ukraine today is not the first time. Here are some readings that can make it real for today’s listeners. Map: Ukraine under occupation, 1941–1943Source: Ukraine, A Historical Atlas by Paul Robert Magosci and Geoffrey J. MatthewsSourcesLubomyr Luciuk, The Galicia Division: They Fought for Ukraine. The Kashtan Press, 2023.Scott Bury, Under the Nazi Heel. Ottawa, ON: The Written Word Communications Co., 2016. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A special episode of Beyond Barbarossa.What happened in Washington DC on 28 February 2025 has echoes of 1938, and ominous omens for the future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the north and the south, the Red Amy makes great advances in the Eastern Front in February 1944. Map 1: The Eastern Front, February 1944Map 2: Popov’s Baltic Front pushes the Germans back to Lake Peipus Map 3: German forces in the Dnipro Bend, February 1944 Map 4: The European theatre at the end of February 1944. Map 5: The Pacific theatre Markian Popov Nikolai Vatutin The Chindits in Burma, 1944 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In January and February 1944, Stalin's "broad front" strategy takes hold and the Red Army gains the momentum in the war on the Eastern Front.Map 1: The Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket Map 2: The Advance on Narva Map 3: The Battle of Narva and Lake PeipusWhat looks like "Hapba" is Cyrillic script for "Narva." The inset shows the southern end of Lake Peipus and the Red Army's temporary bridgehead on the west side.Map 4: The Panther Line Map 5: The breakout to Lysyanka Map 6a: The Eastern Front 15 January 1944 Map 6b: The Eastern Front 15 February 1944 Image 1: Ivan S. Konev, commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front Image 2: Nikolai Vatutin, commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front 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.Orest Subtelny, Ukraine: A History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988.Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin's War 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017.Wikipedia, various pages. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first two of ten "crushing blows" against the German invaders of the USSR in 1944: Zhitomyr and Leningrad. Map 1: The Zhitomyr-Berdichiv Offensive Map 2: Cherkassy or Kherson Pocket Map 3: Leningrad, 1941–1943Map 4: Leningrad lifeline Map 5: Operation Iskra Map 6: Operation Polar Star Map 7: Liberation of Leningrad, push to Panther Line 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.Anna Reid, Leningrad: Tragedy of a City Under Siege, 1941–44. Toronto: Allen Lane Canada, 2011.Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin's War 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017.Prit Buttar, Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2019. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What was the USSR doing between September 1939 and June 1941? It was allied with nazi Germany, of course. Historian Roger Moorhouse, author of books including The Devils' Alliance, describes the lasting impact of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, and the strategic factors that ended it. Roger Moorhouse The Devils' Alliance Roger Moorhouse's books: https://www.rogermoorhouse.com/books Map: The division of eastern Europe according to the secret protocols of the pact Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact of 1939 gave Hitler and the nazis the green light to invade Poland and start World War 2. Two weeks later, Stalin's Red Army joined the nazis in dismembering Poland. Historian and author Roger Moorhouse has dived deep into this notorious but poorly understood alignment in The Devils' Alliance: Hitler's Pact with Staline, 1939–1941. He joins the podcast in a two-part discussion of the importance of the agreement between the 20th century's two bloodiest tyrannies.Roger Moorhouse The Devils' Alliance Roger Moorhouse's books: https://www.rogermoorhouse.com/books The famous cartoon by David Low Hitler: "The scum of the earth, I believe?"Stalin: "The bloody assassin of the workers, I presume?"Map: The division of eastern Europe according to the secret protocols of the pact Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Looking for a break in the Christmas season sweetness? Beyond Barbarossa returns you to the Eastern Front in December 1942. Hitler and Stalin's mutual stubbornness collide on the Russian steppe. For the Germans of the 6th Army, Christmas 1942 was a hungry Yule in the freezing Cauldron.Map 1: Operation Uranus, November and December 1942 Map 2: Operation Winter Storm: The German relief attempt Map 3: Operation Winter Storm stalled Failure: Luftwaffe supplies the trapped 6th Army in the Kessel Failure: Operation Winter Storm German soldiers in the Kessel/Cauldron Red Army soldier writes home, December 1942 By December, the Red Army soldiers' morale was very different from the Germans'. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author Clare Mulley and I discuss her latest book, the story of one of the Allies' most valuable intelligence agents, Elzbieta Zawacka, known as Agent Zo. Visit Clare Mulley's website: https://claremulley.com/ Clare Mulley's books: The Woman Who Saved the ChildrenThe Spy Who LovedThe Women Who Flew for HitlerAgent Zo: The Untold Story of a Fearless World War II Resistance Fighter Map 1: Molotov and Ribbentrop's division of eastern Europe Map 2: German invasion of Poland, 1 September 1941 Map 3: Soviet invasion of Poland, 17 September 1943 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What I thought would be a single episode has turned into a series. Here is Part 2 of the biggest tank battle in history — or at least, of the Second World War.Map 1: The Eastern Front, 1943-44Map 2: Battle of Kursk Map 3: Another map of the Battle of Kursk Image 1: The Tiger heavy tankImage 2: The Panther tank Image 3: The Ferdinand or "Elefant" self-propelled gun Restored Elefant at the United States Army Ordnance Training and Heritage Center. Source: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elefant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After crossing the Dnipro at Bukrin and getting bogged down by the panzers, the Red Army shifts focus northward to take the Ukrainian capital.Map 1: The Battle of Kyiv, 1943Source: Warfare History Network.com Map 2: German war map of the Battle of Kyiv, 1943Note the crossing at Ljutesch, German spelling of Lyutizh (Ukrainian) or Liutezh (Russian).Source: Alchetron, the Free Social EncyclopediaPhoto 1: Crossing the Dnipro Soviet sappers building a raft to cross the Dnipro. The sign reads, in Russian, "To Kiev!" The soldier in the foreground appears to be looking up at approaching aircraft.Photo 2: Pavel Rybalko, commander of the Third Guards Tank ArmyPhoto 3: Kirill Moskalenko, commander of the 38th Army during the second Battle of KyivPhoto 4: Kyiv after recapture by the Red Army Links:The attack on Stalingrad: Episode 31 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In honour of Remembrance Day, 11 November 2024, this is a special episode available to all. A reading from Army of Worn Soles: Volume 1 of The Eastern Front Trilogy. Available exclusively on Amazon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's hard to believe we've reached the 60th episode!This is a big one: the Red Army reaches, and crosses the German East Wall along the Dnipro River in Ukraine. At a cost, of course. Let me know what you think.Crossing the DniproMap 2: The Bukrin Bend Sources:Prit Buttar, Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943. Osford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2020.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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk of the Royal Military College of Canada and University of Toronto returns to describe the reality for eastern European people under occupation during the Second World, and draws the line from then to today. Latest book:Enemy Archives: Soviet Counterinsurgency Operations and the Ukrainian Nationalist Movement – Selections from the Secret Police Archives Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2023.Available from Amazon and McGill-Queen's University Press Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Professor of political geography at the Royal Military College of Canada and Senior Research Fellow of the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto, shares his knowledge and insight into the experience of Ukraine under occupation by nazi and Soviet forces during the Second World War. Map: Ukrainian lands during World War II Source: Ukraine: A Historical Atlas, by Paul Robert Magosci and Geoffrey Matthews Image 1: Dr. Luciuk's latest publication, Enemy Archives.With Volodymyr Viatrovych. Available from Amazon and McGill-Queen's University Press. Image 2: An UPA unit in the Carpathian Mountains collecting intelligence. Image 3: Galicia Division machine gun unit at the Battle of Brody Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Smolensk has a war history that is far more significant than its size would suggest. In September 1943, it was a key to Soviet Red Army strategy, and for the German defence.The best English-language podcast for staying up to date on the war in Ukraine is Ukraine: The Latest from the Daily Telegraph. Its creator and executive producer was David Knowles, who passed away unexpectedly in September. My condolences and sympathies to Mr. Knowles' family, friends, co-workers and colleagues.Map 1: Battle of Smolensk, 1943 Map 2: Operation Suvorov Map 2: Smolensk region This gives you an idea of where the smaller towns are in relation to Smolensk.Photo 1: Gen. Yeremenko (right) with Nikita Khrushchev (left) during the Battle of Stalingrad. Photo 2: Yeremenko in about 1970 Photo 3: Gen. Vasily Sokolovsky in 1946 Sources:Antony Beevor, The Second World War. London, UK: Little, Brown and Co., 2012. Robert Forczyk, Smolensk 1943: The Red Army's Relentless Advance. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2019.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, 2017Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smolensk_operation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After the Battle of Kursk, Stalin and the Stavka set their sights on recapturing Smolensk, and farther south, the wealth of the Donbas and eastern Ukraine.Map 1: The Chernihiv-Poltava OffensiveMap 2: The Red Army perspectiveI guess you have to be a Red Army officer to understand this one. Photos:Ivan Konev, Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1945 General Nikolai Vatutin, Commander of the Voronezh Front, 1943 Konstantin Rokossovsky, Marshal of the USSR. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Germany attacked Kursk in 1943, they found an enemy that had prepared a complex strategy, and assembled immense forces poised to act as soon as the German attacks stalled. This strategy began with three operations named for three Russian generals from history: Kutuzov, Rumyantsev, and Suvorov — the practice for Operation Bagration.Map 1: Operation Kutuzov and revenge for Kursk Map 2: Operation Rumyantsev and the Fourth Battle of Kursk Map 3: Operation Suvorov, the liberation of Smolensk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.