A fascinating history of the great summer offensive launched by the Red Army in 1944 which turned the tide of the war.
Throughout the war on the Eastern Front, there were two consistent trends. The Red Army battled to learn how to fight and win, while involved in a struggle for its very survival. But by 1944 it had a leadership that was able to wield it with lethal effect and with far more effective equipment than before. By contrast, the Wehrmacht had commenced a slow process of decline after the invasion of the Soviet Union. Hitler became increasingly unwilling to delegate decision-making to commanders in the field, which had been crucial to earlier success. The long years of fighting had also taken a heavy toll. Thousands of irreplaceable junior officers and NCOs were dead, wounded or prisoners.
Renowned Eastern Front expert Prit Buttar expertly brings these contrasting fortunes to life, trends which culminated in the huge battles of Bagration. As this masterful study conclusively shows, in 1944 the Red Army finally put together a campaign that utterly destroyed the German Army Group Centre. The Wehrmacht suffered the loss of over 300,000 men killed, wounded or taken prisoner and the Red Army rolled forward across Belarus to the outskirts of Warsaw. The end of the war was still many months away, and the Germans managed to reconstruct their line on the Eastern Front, but final victory for the Soviet Union was now only a matter of time as a direct consequence of Bagration.
A fascinating history of the great summer offensive launched by the Red Army in 1944 which turned the tide of the war.Arvustused
A dynamic and engrossing read Buttar captures the drama and detail of one of the most important campaigns of the Second World War. * David Stahel, author of 'The Battle for Moscow and Hitlers Panzer Generals' * Buttars meticulously researched account will be of particular interests to enthusiasts of second world war history, as well as those wanting to gain a greater insight into the battles, conditions, and tactics on the Eastern Front. * Morning Star *
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A fascinating history of the great summer offensive launched by the Red Army in 1944 which turned the tide of the war.
List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Dramatis Personae
Introduction: Tehran
Chapter 1: Fritz and Ivan: The State of the Armies of the Eastern Front
Chapter 2: The Front Behind the Front: Partisans in Belarus
Chapter 3: Preparing the Blow
Chapter 4: Waiting for the Hammer to Fall
Chapter 5: A Fateful Anniversary: 2224 June
Chapter 6: The Floodgates Open: 2528 June
Chapter 7: Exploitation: 29 June3 July
Chapter 8: The Surge to the Frontier: 48 July
Chapter 9: Vilnius: 914 July
Chapter 10: Fire Brigades: The Panzer Divisions and the Red Army, 919 July
Chapter 11: Interlude: Make Peace, You Fools! What Else Can You Do?
Chapter 12: High Tide for the Red Army
Chapter 13: Praga and Warsaw
Chapter 14: The Third Reich on the Brink
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Prit Buttar studied medicine at Oxford and London before joining the British Army as a doctor. After leaving the army, he worked as a general practitioner. An established expert on the Eastern Front in 20th-century military history, his most recent titles include the critically acclaimed new history of the siege of Leningrad: To Besiege A City: Leningrad 194142 and Hero City: Leningrad 194344. He lives in Kirkcudbright, Scotland.
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