By July of 1944 (with the Allied success of D-Day coupled with the even bigger Soviet success of Bagration) it was obvious Germany had lost the Second World War. The German military commander-in-chief of the western front was Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. By that point in the war Rundstedt had acquired a reputation for saying and doing what he saw fit, regardless of the consequences.
So, perhaps it was no surprise that on July 1, 1944 he bluntly informed Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel (the head of the German armed forces high command - OKW) that they had no choice but to make peace
Perhaps no military establishment in the world has focused more heavily on operating interceptors, ground-based radars, and surface to air missile systems than Russia. The two-volume set recently published by Krzysztof Dabrowski explains the long gestational process that has produced a modern Russian surface to air missile based defense force that is one of the world's best. You can read my review here.
I last commented on the Russian-Ukrainian war about eight months ago. In that article I speculated on whether or not a breakthrough of the first Ukrainian defensive line in the Donbas would lead to a Russian breakout. That could have meant a potential return to the sweeping war of maneuver that had characterized the initial weeks of the Russian invasion (or "special military operation"). Since then quite a bit has changed, not least of which is a reappraisal of Russia's methodology for fighting this war.
Just to recap, Russia opened the war in February by invading with a small force of
The footage coming out of the Ukraine is truly overwhelming. The ubiquity of smart phones and social media have enabled all of us to see things happening in real-time that previous generations couldn't imagine. However, that is not to say the information we are being presented is as consistently accurate. In fact, from the perspective of trying to understand in an operational military sense what is happening on the ground...well, let's just say that's another story.
There are alot of agendas being pushed. This creates a distorted view of the military situation in the Ukraine.
This month's book review delves into StuG Abteilung 191. The book provides rich insight into the German usage of assault guns during the Second World War, all while paying attention to the kind of details that other works may overlook.
During the spring of 1944 the Red Army finally began wrapping up its enormously expensive eight month campaign to evict German forces from the Ukraine. The linchpin of this effort came against Army Group South's left wing - defended by its First and Fourth Panzer Armies. On March 4th Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov's 1st Ukrainian Front, spearheaded by the 3rd Guards Tank Army and 4th Tank Army, attacked German Army Group South's left wing. Zhukov's men forged numerous penetrations in German defensive lines already heavily weakened following the battle for the Korsun pocket.
Though the Wannsee Conference of January 20, 1942 is often remembered as the seminal planning event of the Third Reich's genocidal strategic goals; in reality it represented a part of a much larger and horrific plan for mass murder. For on June 21, 1941, Heinrich Himmler had ordered planning to begin for a massive demographic reorganization of Eastern Europe, including the territories of the western Soviet Union. Professor Konrad Meyer authored this plan; labeled Generalplan Ost. Meyer’s genocidal plan went far beyond eliminating Europe’s Jews.
