Beyond Barbarossa: The Eastern Front of World War 2

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     Photos Minsk, July 1944   Destroyed German armour on road to M...

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. Luther The 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 P...

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 Pol...

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. Links Episode 50: Looking back, taking stock https://beyondbarbarossa.podbean.com/e/looking-back-taking-stock-episode-50/ The Battle(s) of Kursk Episode 51: Summer 1943 plans https://beyondbarbarossa.podbean.com/e/summer-1943-plans-s...

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...

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-Jones His website and books: https://atuckerjones.com/ Maps Map 1: The front lines, 15 April 1945    Map 2: The front lines, 1 May 1945     M...

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 R...

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  Ukra...

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 Line Map 2: The front lines, 15 November 1943     Map 3: The front lines, 31 December 1943    Historical photos: The...

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, podcaster Map: The Battle of the Halbe Pocket, April 1945   Photos from David Sumner   The Halbe f...

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, 1941–1943 Source: Ukraine, A Historical Atlas by Paul Robert Magosci and Geoffrey J. Matthews Sources Lubomyr Luciuk, The Galicia Division : They Fought for Ukraine. The Kashtan Press, 2023. Scott Bury, Under the Nazi Heel . Ottawa, ON: The...

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. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy 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 1944 Map 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 Ch...

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 Peipus What 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 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, 1941–1943 Map 4: Leningrad lifeline     Map 5: Operation Iskra    Map 6: Operation Polar Star    Map 7: Liberation of Leningrad, push to Panther Line   Sources Antony Beevor,  The Second W...

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 d...

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 Stalin, 1939–1941. He joins the podcast in a two-...

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 ...

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 Children The Spy Who Loved The Women Who Flew for Hitler Agent Zo: The Untold Story of a Fearless World War II Resistance Fighter     Map...

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, 1943-44 Map 2: Battle of Kursk   Map 3: Another map of the Battle of Kursk    Image 1: The Tiger heavy tank Image 2: The Panther tank    Image 3: The Ferdinand or "Elefant" self-propelled gun    Restored Elefant at...

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, 1943 Source: Warfare History Network.com   Map 2: German war map of the Battle of Kyiv, 1943 Note the crossing at Ljutesch, German spelling of Lyutizh (Ukrainian) or Liutezh (Russian). Source:  Alchetron, the Free Social Encyclope...

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. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy 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 Dnipro Map 2: The Bukrin Bend    Sources: Prit Buttar, Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943 . Osford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2020. Evan Mawdsley, Thunde...

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...

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 Magos...