The Soviet Juggernaut (World War II)

216 Pages·1980·33.928 MB·English

by  Earl Frederick Ziemke

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Advancing through Holand, boviei inidnirymfn
expandtheirbridgeheadon the west bank
ofthe Vistula in September 1944 With the
crossingofthe river, troops ofthe RedArmy
tookagiantstep in theirrelentless drive
westward, which in two years brought them
,400miles from Stalingradmto Germany.
1
THE SOVIE! JUGGERNAUT
[TlMg
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Previous World War Volumes:
II
Prelude to War
Blitzkrieg
The Battleof Britain
The Rising Sun
The Battleofthe Atlantic
Russia Besieged
The War in the Desert
The Home Front: U.S.A.
China-Burma-India
Island Fighting
The Italian Campaign
Partisans and Guerrillas
The Second Front
Liberation
Return to the Philippines
The Air War in Europe
The Resistance
The Battle ofthe Bulge
The Road to Tokyo
Red Army Resurgent
The Nazis
Across the Rhine
War underthe Pacific
War in the Outposts
WORLD WAR II TIME-LIFE ROOKS • ALEXANDRIA. VIRGINIA
BY EARL ZIEMKE
F.
AND THE EDITORS OF TIME-LIFE ROOKS
Time-LifeBooks Inc. The Author: EARL F. ZIEMKE, a research professor of
isawhollyownedsubsidiaryof history at the University of Georgia, specializes in
TIMEINCORPORATED German history and World War II. After wartime ser-
vice as a U.S. Marine in the Pacific, he received his
Founder: Henry R. Lute 1898-1967 Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin and worked
as a supervisory historian at the Department of the
Editor-in-Chiet: Henry Anatole Grunwald Army in Washington, D.C. His books include Stalin-
President: ). Richard Munro grad to Berlin: The German Defeat in the East, The
Chairman ofthe Board: Ralph P. Davidson German Northern Theater of Operations and Battle
Executive Vice President: Clifford ). Grum for Berlin. He served as a consultant on the Time-Life
EVdiicteorCihaaliDrimraenct:orA:rtRhaulrphTeGmrpalvees Books World War II volume Red Army Resurgent.
TIME-LIFEBOOKSINC. The Consultants: COLONELJOHN R. ELTINC, USA (Ret.),
Managing Editor: jerry Korn is a military historian and author of The Battle of
fxecutive Editor: David Maness Bunker's Hill, The Battles of Saratoga and Military
Assistant Managing Editors: Dale M. Brown History and Atlas ofthe Napoleonic Wars. He edited
(planning), George Constable, Thomas H. Flaherty Jr. Military Uniforms in America: The Era of the Ameri-
(acting), Martin Mann, John Paul Porter can Revolution, 1755-1795 and Military Uniforms in
Art Director: Tom Suzuki America: Years of Growth, 1796-1851, and was asso-
ChiefofResearch: David L. Harrison ciateeditorofThe WestPointAtlas ofAmerican Wars.
DirectorofPhotography: Robert G. Mason
Assistant Art Director: Arnold C. Holeywell
Assistant ChiefofResearch: Carolyn L. Sackett CHARLES V. P. VON LUTTICHAU served in the German
Assistant DirectorofPhotography: Dolores A. Littles armed forcesduring World War II on the Eastern Front. Af-
Chairman: Joan D. Manley terstudies In Berlin and Munichand atTheAmerican Uni-
PErxeesciudteinvte:V)iochenPDr.esiMdceSntwse:eCnaeryl G. Jaeger, vatertshiteyUi.nS.WaAsrhmiyngCteonnt,erDo.fC,MilhietabryecHaismteoray,sesnpieocriahliisztionrgiainn
John Steven Maxwell, David Walsh Southeast Asian and European militaryand diplomatic his-
VSitceephPernesLi.deBnatisr:(lGeegaolrgceouAnrstela)nJ.;diPe(tceormpGt.roBlalrenr)e;s; tcoiraly.hiHsetorhyassecrioenstrTihbeuteUd.St.oAnrummyerionusWovrolldumWeasrofII.the offi-
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WORLDWAR
II
Editorial Stafffor The Sovietjuggernaut
Editor: Gerald Simons
Designer/Picture Editor: Raymond Ripper
ChiefResearcher: Charles S. Clark
Picture Editor: Josephine Burke
Text Editors: Brian McGinn, Robert Menaker,
Henry Woodhead
StaffWriters: Donald Davison Cantlay,
Peter Kaufman, John Newton
Researchers: LaVerle Berry, Loretta Y. Britten,
Mary G. Burns, Cronin Buck Sleeper, Jayne T. Wise,
Paula York
Art Assistants: Mikio Togashi, Susan White
Editorial Assistant: Connie Strawbridge
Special Contributors (text)
Champ Clark, David S. Thomson, Robert Wallace,
A. B. C. Whipple
Editorial Production LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationData
Production Editor: Douglas B. Graham Ziemke, Earl Frederick, 1922-
Operations Manager: Gennaro C. Esposito, TheSovietjuggernaul.
Gordon E. Buck (assistant)
Ass/s(an( Production Editor: Feliciano Madrid (WorldWarII;V, 25)
Quality Control: Robert L. Young (director), Bibliography: p.
JMaimcehsaeJl. CGo.xW(iagshsitst(aansts)o,ciDaatneise)l J. McSweeney, I1.nWcolurdledsWianrde,x.1939-1945—Campaigns—Eastern.
ACrotpCyooStradfif:naStuosra:nABn.nGealB.loLwaandyr(ychief), Allan Fallow, W2.orRlusdsiWaar(.1912933-9-1945. U.S.S3..RW.o).rlAdrmWiari,a—1H9i3s9t-o1r9y4-5—
Victoria Lee, Barbara F. Quarmby, Celia Beattie Diplomatichistory. I.Time-LileBooks. II.Title.
Picture Department: Betty Hughes Weatherley III.Series.
Traffic: Jeanne Potter D764.Z4928 940.54'21 80-23634
ISBN0-8094-3389-3
ISBN0-8094-3388-5(lib. bdg.l
ISBN0-8094-3387-7(retailed.)
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CHAPTERS
1 The Battle of 3,500 Tanks 20
:
2: Manstein's Flaming Retreat 54
3: The "Three Blows" 96
4: Clearing the Russian Land 26
1
5: The Doomed Uprising 154
6: Stalin Triumphant 178
PICTURE ESSAYS
The Last German Victory 6
A Clash of Titans 40
Operation "Scorched Earth" 72
A Raging Guerrilla War 84
The Red Air Force Reborn 112
Year of Victories 138
Revolt in Warsaw 1 64
Returning Home 190
Bibliography 202
Acknowledgments 203
Picture Credits 204
Index 205
CONTENTS
GERMAN
THE LAST VICTORY