When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler

451 Pages·1998·41.72 MB·English

by  David M. Glantz

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When Titans Clashed
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MODERN
WAR
STUDIES
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Theodore A. Wilson
General Editor
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Raymond A. Callahan
J. Garry Cl ifford
Jacob W. Kipp
Jay Luvaas
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Allan R. Mi llett
Carol Reardon
Dennis Showalter
David R. Stone
Series Editors
as e ,.,,.,.
How THE RED ARMY STOPPED HITLER
David M. Glantz
Jonathan M. House
Maps by Darin Grauberger and George McCleary,Jr.
F.
/
./
University Press of Kansas
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1995 by the University Press of Kansas
©
All rights reserved
Published by the University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas 66049),
which was organized by the Kansas Board of Regents and is operated and
funded by Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Kansas
State University, Pittsburg State University, the University of Kansas, and
Wichita State University
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Glantz, David M.
When Titans clashed : how the Red Army stopped Hitler David M.
I
Glantz, Jonathan M. House.
p. cm. - (Modern war.studies)
and index.
Includes bibliographical references
ISBN 0-7006-0717-X ISBN 0-7006-0899-0 (pbk.)
(cloth)
1. Soviet Union. Raboche-Krest 'ianskaia Krasnaia Armiia­
History-World War, 1939-1945. 2. World War, 1939-1945-
Campaigns-Eastern Front. I . House, Jonathan M. (Jonathan
Mallory) , 1950- . II. Title. III. Series.
D764. G557 1995
947. 084-dc20 95-24588
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the
American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials Z39. 48-1984.
In memory of an able historian and fine friend,
Colonel Paul Adair, British Army Retired,
who worked so hard to reveal the human dimension of
the War on the Eastern Front
...
Contents
List of Maps and Illustrations •
ix
Acknowledgments •
xi
Introduction 1
PRELUDE: 1918-1941
1 The Red Army, 19 18-1939 5
2 Armed Truce, 1939-1941 15
3 Opposing Armies, 1941 28
FIRST PERIOD OF WAR: J UNE 1941-NOVEMBER 1942
4 German Onslaught 49
5 Soviet Response 62
6 To Moscow 74
7 Rasputitsa, Spring 1942 98
8 Operation Blau: The German Drive on Stalingrad 108
SECOND PERIOD OF WAR: NOVEMBER 1942-DECEMBER 1943
9 Operation Uranus: The Destruction of Sixth Army 129
10 Rasputitsa and Operational Pause, Spring 1943 148
1 1 Kursk to the Dnepr 160
THIRD PERIOD OF WAR: J ANUARY 1944-M AY 1945
12 Third Winter of the War 179
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13 Operation Bagration: The Death of Army Group Center 195
14 Clearing the Flanks 216
15 Battles in the Snow, Winter 1945 233
16 End Game 256
17 Conclusion 277
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When Titans Clashed
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Appendixes: Statistical Tables 291
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Archival Sources 309
Notes 321
About the Authors 381
Index 383
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Maps and Illustrations
MAPS
Theater of Operations • • • • •
Xll-Xlll
Threat Assessment and Deployment Plan, October 1941 40
Summer-Fall Campaign (1), 22 June-30 September 194 1 50
Soviet Dispositions on 3 1 July 1941 and Reinforcements to
31 December 1942 69
Summer-Fall Campaign (2) , 1 October-December 1941 84
Winter Campaign, December 1941-April 1942 88
Summer-Fall Campaign, May-October 1942 109
Soviet Dispositions on 30 April 1942 and Reinforcements to
3 1 December 1942 1 18
Winter Campaign, November 1942-March 1943 131
Soviet Counteroffensives at Stalingrad 135
Operation Mars 137
Summer-Fall Campaign, June-December 1943 161
Soviet Defensive Actions in the Battle of Kursk,
5-23 July 1943 164
Winter Campaign, December 1943-April 1944 185
Summer-Fall Campaign, June-October 1944 197
Belorussian Operation, June-August 1944 200
Winter Campaign to April 1945 239
Berlin Operation I , 16-19 April 1945 264
Berlin Operation I I , 19-25 April 1945 267
Berlin Operation III, 25 April-8 May 1945 270
Assault on Berlin, 21 April-5 May 1945 271
ILLUSTRATIONS (PHOTO INSERT)
''Under the banner of Lenin, forward to victory! '' (poster, 194 1)
''The Motherland calls !'' (poster, 1941)
Chiefs of the Red Army
Marshal of the Soviet Union G . K . Zhukov, Stavka representative,
Western and 1st Belorussian Front commander
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IX