How sad that so many Russian soldiers died because of Stalin's paranoia and incompetence! In the end 20 million died to obtain a victory in a war that could have been very different if only Stalin had listened to his generals. What if the Germans had been stopped, and even pushed back? Russia could have been on the road to Berlin in a year instead of 3 years, would Europe look different today? What if the Russians had merely held to their original borders after fighting Germany to a stalemate?
@Bullettube I think the death toll for the USSR would be at 10 million or above that above. Don't forget, when the Germans had attacked. It was 75% of their most experienced and well equipped and well supplied army.
The Germans were not just defeated because of Hitler's incompetence but because of a war of attrition. It did not have the resources needed to supply a huge tank and air army.
Maybe the USSR could have been in Berlin in 1943 or 1944 by the latest.
@sheemsheem although i would not like to agree with Hitler but remember 'Market Garden'.
If the German army had attacked and occupied Moscow, they risked exposing themselves to being outflanked by the army in Kiev and Leningrad. The German flanks were not secured. Best option was actually to destroy the army in Kiev and not attack Moscow until March 1942.
Great documentary series. Historically accurate and doesnt sell myths about of waves of "poor" Russians vs German technology. I noticed that people living in the "west" always tend to underestimate people from the "east".Real events often force them to revise their views .Even now russian technology is commonly consider as inferior when compare to NATO technology- I hope world will never have opportunity to verify these claims
@garden2010city "You think you're country's better than mine? Oh yeah? Well, in fact, MY country is better than YOURS!" Isn't that the sort of ignorant rhetoric that gave us the first two world wars...? I've noticed that people in general, regardless of country, tend to have an exaggerated sense of their own superiority.
@garden2010city When I grew up I was always told how it was the Soviets who played such a major part in WW2 and about how the Soviet Union and the Red Army fought with such courage. I know that a lot of people I grew up with (I am only 31) thought that the USA won the war single handed.
Very interesting scene at 6:06 They run a tyre over the planted mine to make it look as if other vehicles have passed that way and that it's therefore safe.
It amazes me how incapable SOviet Amry was at the very beginning. They had lost close to 6,500,000 men in the first 40 days of war, as well as more supplies that the whole German production could not produce in one whole year. THis came just after huge Stalin purges of the Red Army staff. It is still very hard to commprehend the awesome power and ability of the RUssian nation. IT is still true today. If it came to all out war, Russia is the strongest, jsut beause they are 100% self reliant.
If we were to compare the might of USA, it is as strong as its weakest link. We all know that USA is starved for energy and that it relies on the good will of foreign nations such as Canada, S. Arabia, and others for most of its oil supplies. Same goes for its electrical power, as well as raw materials. What good are your $200 million/pop aircraft, when you have no gas to power them.
@tropickman I think you may have overstated that first figure. Also, hard to call Russia "self-reliant" when for most of its history it has had to count on vast amounts of food imports just to feed its own people. Soviet system also brought out the worst in the Russian people, hence their poor performance at the start of the war. Notice what a difference it made, though, once they were exhorted to fight "the Great Patriotic War" for Mother Russia, rather than for world socialism....
@tjhoenecke: time for YOU to know FACTS before YOU froth about shit YOU know shit about: Russia TODAY is a major grain (i.e. wheat) exporter.... as it was before the bolshevik revolution.
Russia - EVEN WITHOUT THE UKRAINE - is a massive flat land ideal for wheat..... incredible amounts of wheat.
It was due to the stupidly inefficiencies of the command structure of the Soviet system that all that wheat was "lost" thus forcing the Soviet Union to have to import grain.
@tjhoenecke: when the stupid inefficiencies of the Soviet system was jettisoned starting in the 1990s lo-and-behold Russia suddenly becomes the 3rd largest grain exporter after Canada and America.
The Red Army soldier came from strong Peasant stock. They died in the millions and the Germans showed no mercy to their POW's. In My Opinion the Soviet Soldier was absolutely THE toughest in WW2. They showed courage in ways that most of us couldn't imagine. Sleeping in the snow, facing the ultra-professional Wehrmacht with little more than a Mosin Nagant rifle, a couple of grenades and a shot of Vodka. Now that takes BALLS!!
@randy95023 The average Red Army soldier had Nothing on your average Waffen-SS soldier. My opinion, the toughest SOBs ever in the history of the world.
@MrSelfDestrukt7- I will agree with you that the German Soldier was far superior to the Red Army Soldier, man for man. If you re-read my comment I stated that the Soviet Soldier was the "toughest" soldier to be found in the war. They had little training and very poor logistical support yet after mid '42 their morale remained quite high. They survived through miserable conditions and continued making harsh assaults in terrible weather with little food or sleep. Stalin was a cruel master.
continued- German/American/British soldiers were "better" than the ill trained Reds but NOT tougher. Red Army Soldier was dealt a very bad hand, yet played it well to the end. In Berlin, 1945 you could witness the vulgar, yet tough and hard men that had survived a very bitter war, many walking thousands of kilometers to even get there. Soviets suffered hardships in the field that would, and did break their German counterparts. Red Army soldiers were like wild beasts. Tough survivors.
DAMN...just damn....It would have sucked to be a soldier in those days. Feel sorry for them. Most of em were probably guys in their late teens or early twenties (like me), no idea where the hell they were or what the hell they were trying to accomplish, just fighting a war in the hope of peace for their country. We often remember generals for their tactics but forget those who were actually in the field.
Rest in peace brave warriors. I hope this kind of bloodshed never happens again.
A fantastic series of most important world history that should always be remembered and taught. Thank you for the postings... a great gift so that many may see. I do find the narrator quite annoying in his inability to pronounce Russian or Japanese names and places with the flare he pronounces English, German and French. After a while it grates on my nerves. Oh well. Still, that doesn't detract from the excellent basic historical lessons of these films. :)
After watching so many of these videos I find myself saying "however" and "moreover" a lot more frequently.
However, I still like this series and, moreover, I wish, given the resources and bad weather, there were more!
Bullettube 2 months ago 2
How sad that so many Russian soldiers died because of Stalin's paranoia and incompetence! In the end 20 million died to obtain a victory in a war that could have been very different if only Stalin had listened to his generals. What if the Germans had been stopped, and even pushed back? Russia could have been on the road to Berlin in a year instead of 3 years, would Europe look different today? What if the Russians had merely held to their original borders after fighting Germany to a stalemate?
Bullettube 2 months ago
@Bullettube And what if fools like you were educated properly and stopped speaking nonsense?
Nikitns 3 weeks ago
@Bullettube I think the death toll for the USSR would be at 10 million or above that above. Don't forget, when the Germans had attacked. It was 75% of their most experienced and well equipped and well supplied army.
The Germans were not just defeated because of Hitler's incompetence but because of a war of attrition. It did not have the resources needed to supply a huge tank and air army.
Maybe the USSR could have been in Berlin in 1943 or 1944 by the latest.
nodinitiative 2 weeks ago
Looks like the fighting was in a bread basket region of Russia. Is that right?
RobertMOdell 4 months ago
i like guderians plan of taking moscow with a armored strike...the russians wouldn't even know what to do
sheemsheem 4 months ago
@sheemsheem although i would not like to agree with Hitler but remember 'Market Garden'.
If the German army had attacked and occupied Moscow, they risked exposing themselves to being outflanked by the army in Kiev and Leningrad. The German flanks were not secured. Best option was actually to destroy the army in Kiev and not attack Moscow until March 1942.
nodinitiative 2 weeks ago
Great documentary series. Historically accurate and doesnt sell myths about of waves of "poor" Russians vs German technology. I noticed that people living in the "west" always tend to underestimate people from the "east".Real events often force them to revise their views .Even now russian technology is commonly consider as inferior when compare to NATO technology- I hope world will never have opportunity to verify these claims
garden2010city 10 months ago
@garden2010city "You think you're country's better than mine? Oh yeah? Well, in fact, MY country is better than YOURS!" Isn't that the sort of ignorant rhetoric that gave us the first two world wars...? I've noticed that people in general, regardless of country, tend to have an exaggerated sense of their own superiority.
tjhoenecke 9 months ago
@garden2010city When I grew up I was always told how it was the Soviets who played such a major part in WW2 and about how the Soviet Union and the Red Army fought with such courage. I know that a lot of people I grew up with (I am only 31) thought that the USA won the war single handed.
coveneyr 9 months ago
@garden2010city It's already been verified. And verified quite well. Soviet and Russian equipment is vastly inferior -especially today.
supobostarman 6 months ago
Very interesting scene at 6:06 They run a tyre over the planted mine to make it look as if other vehicles have passed that way and that it's therefore safe.
JFDA5458 1 year ago
3:23 what a shot !
infoxtrott 1 year ago
It amazes me how incapable SOviet Amry was at the very beginning. They had lost close to 6,500,000 men in the first 40 days of war, as well as more supplies that the whole German production could not produce in one whole year. THis came just after huge Stalin purges of the Red Army staff. It is still very hard to commprehend the awesome power and ability of the RUssian nation. IT is still true today. If it came to all out war, Russia is the strongest, jsut beause they are 100% self reliant.
tropickman 1 year ago
If we were to compare the might of USA, it is as strong as its weakest link. We all know that USA is starved for energy and that it relies on the good will of foreign nations such as Canada, S. Arabia, and others for most of its oil supplies. Same goes for its electrical power, as well as raw materials. What good are your $200 million/pop aircraft, when you have no gas to power them.
tropickman 1 year ago
@tropickman Not true. If a major war breaks out all we have to do is open up Alaska for oil drilling.
OzzyFan87 10 months ago
Hey bud, I completely agree with you. The US intends to drain all of the world's reserves, and then go after Alaska.
tropickman 8 months ago
@tropickman I think you may have overstated that first figure. Also, hard to call Russia "self-reliant" when for most of its history it has had to count on vast amounts of food imports just to feed its own people. Soviet system also brought out the worst in the Russian people, hence their poor performance at the start of the war. Notice what a difference it made, though, once they were exhorted to fight "the Great Patriotic War" for Mother Russia, rather than for world socialism....
tjhoenecke 9 months ago
@tjhoenecke: time for YOU to know FACTS before YOU froth about shit YOU know shit about: Russia TODAY is a major grain (i.e. wheat) exporter.... as it was before the bolshevik revolution.
Russia - EVEN WITHOUT THE UKRAINE - is a massive flat land ideal for wheat..... incredible amounts of wheat.
It was due to the stupidly inefficiencies of the command structure of the Soviet system that all that wheat was "lost" thus forcing the Soviet Union to have to import grain.
lukebccb 8 months ago
@tjhoenecke: when the stupid inefficiencies of the Soviet system was jettisoned starting in the 1990s lo-and-behold Russia suddenly becomes the 3rd largest grain exporter after Canada and America.
Learn FACTS.
lukebccb 8 months ago
@lukebccb "for most of its history"
tjhoenecke 8 months ago
Thanks for the upload, I haven't seen such a detailed documentary of the eastern front in a long time.
IAteBrownies 1 year ago
The Red Army soldier came from strong Peasant stock. They died in the millions and the Germans showed no mercy to their POW's. In My Opinion the Soviet Soldier was absolutely THE toughest in WW2. They showed courage in ways that most of us couldn't imagine. Sleeping in the snow, facing the ultra-professional Wehrmacht with little more than a Mosin Nagant rifle, a couple of grenades and a shot of Vodka. Now that takes BALLS!!
randy95023 1 year ago
@randy95023 The average Red Army soldier had Nothing on your average Waffen-SS soldier. My opinion, the toughest SOBs ever in the history of the world.
MrSelfDestrukt7 1 year ago
@MrSelfDestrukt7- I will agree with you that the German Soldier was far superior to the Red Army Soldier, man for man. If you re-read my comment I stated that the Soviet Soldier was the "toughest" soldier to be found in the war. They had little training and very poor logistical support yet after mid '42 their morale remained quite high. They survived through miserable conditions and continued making harsh assaults in terrible weather with little food or sleep. Stalin was a cruel master.
randy95023 1 year ago
continued- German/American/British soldiers were "better" than the ill trained Reds but NOT tougher. Red Army Soldier was dealt a very bad hand, yet played it well to the end. In Berlin, 1945 you could witness the vulgar, yet tough and hard men that had survived a very bitter war, many walking thousands of kilometers to even get there. Soviets suffered hardships in the field that would, and did break their German counterparts. Red Army soldiers were like wild beasts. Tough survivors.
randy95023 1 year ago
@randy95023 ...and, as you said, VODKA! And lots of it!
supobostarman 6 months ago
DAMN...just damn....It would have sucked to be a soldier in those days. Feel sorry for them. Most of em were probably guys in their late teens or early twenties (like me), no idea where the hell they were or what the hell they were trying to accomplish, just fighting a war in the hope of peace for their country. We often remember generals for their tactics but forget those who were actually in the field.
Rest in peace brave warriors. I hope this kind of bloodshed never happens again.
evolveinside 1 year ago
europeans just love to kill each other,gee
elyex91909 2 years ago 3
@elyex91909 shutup nigger
naltrexone23X 1 year ago
@elyex91909
today it's even worse. now they play pasifist :P
ABhaim 1 year ago
@elyex91909 and Americans just love to play fucking stupid comments randomly.
LlamasOnAcid 1 year ago
A fantastic series of most important world history that should always be remembered and taught. Thank you for the postings... a great gift so that many may see. I do find the narrator quite annoying in his inability to pronounce Russian or Japanese names and places with the flare he pronounces English, German and French. After a while it grates on my nerves. Oh well. Still, that doesn't detract from the excellent basic historical lessons of these films. :)
ImpulseGuy2006 2 years ago 22
@ImpulseGuy2006
worth to mention also that the narrator confused several times the names of Hitler and Stalin...
lazaraza 1 year ago
@ImpulseGuy2006
His German pronunciation is even worse. Like 50% of the names would be impossible torecognize, if it wasnt for the subtitles
seienchin88 11 months ago
yeah it was really hell on earth
capacopkilla123 2 years ago 5
did the narrator say "germanese" at 00:36?
Great vid, as always. Keep up the good work GD! I love the pre-made Playlists too.
lbridet 3 years ago