The Eastern Front Week by Week Podcast Por theeasternfront arte de portada

The Eastern Front Week by Week

The Eastern Front Week by Week

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Join us as we delve into the gripping events of the Eastern Front during World War II, week by week. Each episode uncovers battles, strategies, and personal stories, providing a detailed narrative of this pivotal theater in history. Tune in for insightful analysis and captivating tales from the frontlines.Copyright 2025 All rights reserved. Mundial
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  • Eastern Front #7 the Fall of Smolensk

    Eastern Front #7 the Fall of Smolensk
    Jul 17 2025
    Last time we spoke about the beginning of the battle for Smolensk. The Wehrmacht, having swiftly advanced through the Soviet Union, prepared to engage the Red Army in fierce combat. The Luftwaffe had dominated the skies, severely diminishing Soviet air power. However, unbeknownst to the Germans, the Soviets, under General Timoshenko, were regrouping and mobilizing hidden reserves, readying themselves for a counteroffensive. Amidst logistical chaos and heavy losses, the Soviets utilized their cadre system, rapidly generating new field armies. While the Germans celebrated captures, they failed to recognize the Soviets' latent strength. As the Germans advanced toward Smolensk, the Red Army struggled but exhibited resilience, relocating factories eastward to maintain wartime production. This industrial mobilization became vital, allowing the Soviets to outproduce the Germans in tanks and aircraft by late 1941. The intense fighting around Smolensk evidenced the brutal realities of warfare, with both sides suffering greatly. This episode is the Fall of Smolensk Well hello there, welcome to the Eastern Front week by week podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800’s until the end of the Pacific War in 1945. A heavy smoke of battle clings to the air above the city of Smolensk, a crucial location in western Russia. It’s July 15, 1941, and the gates to Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union are creaking ominously under the relentless pressure of the German advance. Army Group Center, under the command of General Fedor von Bock, is launching a fierce attack against the newly fortified defenses of the Western Front, commanded by Marshal Semyon Timoshenko. He is desperately fighting to hold Smolensk, a strategically vital city that stands as a key to unlocking the road to Moscow. We witnessed the Wehrmacht commencing their assault on Smolensk. Meanwhile, in the north, their drive toward Leningrad continued relentlessly, and in the south, Army Group South had pivoted to encircle Uman after being thwarted in their advance on Kyiv. In the early days of July, while army commanders were focused on the day-to-day challenges of the campaign, Adolf Hitler began to look further ahead. His well-known hesitance about continuing the operation beyond the great rivers towards Moscow was a source of concern for both General Franz Halder and General Walther von Brauchitsch. However, they believed that the ongoing successes of the campaign offered the best assurance for maintaining a forward advance across all fronts. As early as July 3 and 4, Hitler voiced his interest in halting the panzer groups under General Heinz Guderian and using them to support flanking advances instead. On July 5, General Alfred Jodl contacted Brauchitsch by telephone, urging him to meet with Hitler and present his views on the strategic choices for the northern and southern fronts. Jodl posed several crucial questions regarding both the necessity and feasibility of these operations, highlighting the growing tension between the OKW and OKH over the future direction of the campaign. He stressed the urgency of the army's involvement in the discussion, stating, “Given that the Führer’s thoughts, and those of others, are shifting towards an early turning of the panzer groups toward the northeast or south, General Jodl considers it essential that the Commander-in-Chief of the Army promptly meets with the Führer for a discussion.” The meeting took place at Hitler’s headquarters on July 8, with Halder accompanying Brauchitsch. Both men presented before Hitler and his staff. Brauchitsch began by summarizing the latest tactical reports, after which Halder outlined the army’s assessment of the enemy situation and progress within the three army groups. The tone of Halder’s presentation was characteristically optimistic, aimed at instilling confidence in the army's management of the war and reaffirming its strategic direction. Halder firmly believed that the German forces were now in a commanding position to secure victory. He cited the most recent intelligence report from Colonel Kinzel, which indicated that of the 164 identified Soviet rifle divisions, 89 had been either completely or largely eliminated. From the remaining 75 divisions, 46 were actively opposing the German front, while 18 were engaged on...
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    37 m
  • Eastern Front #6 Battle for Smolensk Begins

    Eastern Front #6 Battle for Smolensk Begins
    Jul 10 2025
    Last time we spoke about the Red Army on the Run. In the second week of Operation Barbarossa, the progress of the German forces was marked by swift victories and severe challenges. The Luftwaffe's dominance in the skies led to significant destruction of Soviet aircraft, with Germany claiming thousands downed. However, the Soviet Air Force, with hidden reserves, began to regroup under General Timoshenko, setting the stage for resilience. Amid these chaotic battlefields, disorganization plagued the Red Army, which struggled to adapt its tactics against the more cohesive German forces. Despite losing heavily, Soviet commanders sought to turn the tide, but logistical issues and fierce German assaults exacerbated their plight. As the Germans captured crucial territories like Riga, their strategic goal conflicted with rising concerns from within their command. While Hitler believed victory was within reach, generals like Halder worried about underestimating Soviet strength. The relentless advances led to fierce fighting at the edges of Smolensk, where both armies braced for an inevitable and consequential clash. This episode is the beginning of the Battle for Smolensk Well hello there, welcome to the Eastern Front week by week podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800’s until the end of the Pacific War in 1945. Well hello there, we are back and its week three of Operation Barbarossa. On July 8, Army Group Centre officially proclaimed that it had captured 287,704 prisoners, destroyed or seized 2,585 tanks, and taken 1,449 guns. While these numbers do reflect considerable gains, they do not necessarily indicate that the Soviet Union was on the brink of collapse, in fact, the opposite was true. As the German offensive strength began to wane, the Soviet Union was implementing one of the most remarkable mobilization programs in military history. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the Red Army had developed a cadre system, maintaining a small number of active-duty soldiers in peacetime that could be rapidly expanded by reservists during wartime. This system received a boost with the 1938 Universal Military Service Law, which extended the age of enlistment for army reserves to 50 and established numerous military schools to accommodate the influx of recruits. By the time of the German invasion, the Red Army boasted a mobilization base of 14 million men. By the end of June 1941, 5.3 million reservists had been called up, with subsequent mobilizations continuing to swell the ranks. This cadre system allowed for an unprecedented rate of force generation, catching German intelligence completely off guard and concealing the true strength of the Soviet military. In July 1941, an astounding 13 new field armies emerged, followed by another 14 in August. While these reserve armies were not as well-equipped or trained as their professional counterparts, as the German mobile forces weakened, many of the frontlines began to settle into positional warfare. This shift granted the new armies the time they needed to improve. While it would be unreasonable to downplay the magnitude of the Western Front’s military disaster in Belorussia, it is important to recognize that the Soviet Union’s system for generating forces allowed it to quickly replace losses and expand the size of the Red Army. On June 22, 1941, the Red Army counted 5,373,000 men. By August 31, despite heavy losses, this number had surged to 6,889,000, and by December 31, 1941, it reached an estimated 8 million. After the war, German military officer Blumentritt acknowledged the fundamental issue of latent Soviet military strength. He recalled the German offensive plans aimed at encircling and destroying the Red Army before reaching the Dnieper and Dvina Rivers, ultimately asking, “But what if armies, millions strong, had not yet even been mobilized, and only parts of the Red Army were in western Russia?” The loss of tanks weighed heavily on the Soviets, as these assets were much harder to replace. However, historians have often overstated the extent of German victories, particularly regarding the Soviet tank fleet. At the war's outset, the Soviets had an astonishing total of 23,767 tanks, but this figure included many that were already obsolete. Around 15,000 of those were older T-26 and BT models, most of...
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    46 m
  • Eastern Front #5 Red Army on the Run

    Eastern Front #5 Red Army on the Run
    Jul 3 2025
    Last time we spoke about Day 4 Operation Barbarossa: Chaos in Ukraine. As Operation Barbarossa unfolded, Army Group South advanced into Ukraine, driven by the need to secure critical oil reserves for Germany’s war machine. Initial gains were swift, as the German forces used air superiority to capture key positions. However, logistical issues quickly surfaced, revealing the vulnerabilities of their supply lines. Soviet General Kirponos, although initially caught off guard, managed to organize defenses and counterattacks thanks to a well-structured communication system. Despite their numerical advantages, the Red Army was plagued by disorganization and outdated tactics. The clash at Dubno highlighted this struggle, with Soviet forces launching piecemeal assaults that were easily countered by the more coordinated German defenses. As battles raged, both sides faced the brutal realities of war, heavy losses and the harsh conditions of the Eastern Front. This episode is the Red Army on the Run Well hello there, welcome to the Easter Front week by week podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800’s until the end of the Pacific War in 1945. Well hello there, welcome back, we have just got through week one of Operation Barbarossa and now its time to head into week two. In the opening days of Operation Barbarossa, the Luftwaffe achieved remarkable success, obliterating a staggering number of Soviet aircraft. The air battle on the Eastern Front was indeed a chaotic spectacle, yet it's important to note that it wasn't as one-sided as some histories have portrayed. In the early days of Operation Barbarossa, the Luftwaffe unleashed devastation upon the Soviet Air Force, racking up staggering losses that reached into the thousands. One source reported that by the end of June, the Luftwaffe had destroyed 4,614 Soviet aircraft, with 3,176 of those taken out on the ground and 1,438 in aerial combat. In stark contrast, German losses amounted to just 330 planes. These figures highlight a clear German superiority in the skies, but for various reasons, this supremacy was fleeting. Following the doctrines of blitzkrieg, the Luftwaffe's primary objective in the East was to gain immediate control of the airspace above Soviet territory. In an impressive display of force, they achieved total domination of the skies within just two days, inflicting chaos on Soviet airfields in the western districts. This victory enabled the Luftwaffe to shift focus toward supporting ground operations. However, lurking behind the front lines were thousands of Soviet aircraft, strategically stationed further back from the border and in the Soviet interior. These planes had managed to survive the initial onslaught and would eventually be relocated to new airfields. During this brief window of Luftwaffe dominance, concerns began to surface. Major General Hoffman von Waldau, head of the Luftwaffe's operations department, conveyed his worries to Halder on July 1st. "The air force has greatly underestimated the numerical strength of the enemy," he warned. "It's quite evident that the Russians initially had far more than 8,000 planes." Just two days later, he further reflected in his diary that the Soviet military capabilities were significantly stronger than pre-war assessments indicated. “The material quality is better than expected. Though we achieved great successes with relatively low losses, a large number of Soviet aircraft remain to be destroyed.” Despite the Luftwaffe's initial triumphs, they now faced the daunting challenge of balancing support for the army while contending with a resurgent Soviet aerial presence. As the operational theater expanded at a rapid pace, the Luftwaffe's already limited resources became stretched thin. Air bases had to be relocated eastward to newly established, poorly equipped airfields, where inadequate supply lines hindered their effectiveness just as much as they did for the ground troops. These new airfields were also particularly vulnerable to attacks from roaming enemy groups infiltrating the rear areas. While the Luftwaffe experienced significant successes, the Soviet Air Force was not without its victories. In July 1941, Soviet pilots managed to raid German airfields, inflicting damage on the Luftwaffe as well. One Soviet pilot vividly recalled an ...
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    46 m
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