In this episode, we discuss:
*Why Hitler wanted Ukraine
*How the average Ukrainian viewed the Soviets and Germans on the eve of Operation Barbarossa and how these perceptions changed over the course of the war
*How fighting in Ukraine went for the Soviets during Barbarossa
*The First Battle of Kiev and the largest battle of encirclement and capture of prisoners in the history of warfare
*The Enormity of the war against the Soviet Union
*The German massacre of Jews at Babi Yar
*The effect of ethnic cleansing of Jews and other populations on the Germans’ war effort
*The first Battle of Kharkov
*Some of the standout German and Soviet senior military leaders in the fighting for Ukraine in 1941
*The Axis allied forces that fought in Ukraine in Barbarossa and beyond
*The Soviet offensives at and near Stalingrad
*The subsequent Axis race to the Dnieper and Soviet pursuit
*Field Marshall Erich von Manstein’s defense of the Don River in February 1943 and his famous so-called “Backhand Blow” against the Soviets
*The accuracy of Manstein’s description of the Donets Campaign in his memoirs
*The accuracy of the description of the fighting in Ukraine in German General Herman Balck’s book, Order from Chaos
*The accuracy of Soviet memoirs of the war in Ukraine
*The logistics situation for both the Axis and Soviet forces in Ukraine in the winter of 1943
*What the Germans should have done with their forces in Ukraine in 1944
*The Soviet recapture of the Crimea in 1944
*The operations concerning the capture of the city of Lviv in 1944
*The encirclement and defeat of German troops at the city of Brody
*The roles that Hitler and Stalin had in operation in Ukraine and how these changed over time
*How well the Soviets and Germans learned from their experiences in Ukraine and how these experiences affected the Soviet way of war after WW II
*How does the war on other fronts—in North Africa, Italy, France—affected the fighting in Ukraine
*What aspects of the war in Ukraine Prit thinks deserves more attention or research
*The Germans’ use of Auftragstaktik or mission-type orders in Ukraine and the lack thereof of this approach in the Soviet forces
*The toll the war in Ukraine took on the civilian population there
*What books Prit recommends to Marines and soldiers wanting to learn more about operations in Ukraine in WWII
*What’s the one thing you’d want Marines and soldiers to take away about the war in Ukraine in World War II?
*What links, connections, or parallels can you draw from the fighting in Ukraine in WWII to the war we’re seeing there now, whether that be militarily, economically, culturally, or politically?
*What’s your assessment of the Russian army’s performance in Ukraine so far? What’s surprised you? What hasn’t? What about the Ukrainians’ performance?
Links
On a Knife's Edge: The Ukraine, November 1942–March 1943 by Prit Buttar
Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943 by Prit Buttar
The Reckoning: The Defeat of Army Group South, 1944 by Prit Buttar
Lost Victories: The War Memoirs of Hitler's Most Brilliant by Erich von Manstein
Order in Chaos: The Memoirs of General of Panzer Troops by Hermann Balck
Battle for the Ukraine: The Korsun-Shevchenkovskii Operation Translated and Edited by David Glantz and Harold Orenstein
Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941–44 by Robert Forczyk