Beyond Barbarossa:

The first English-language podcast to focus on the history of the eastern front of the Second World War.

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Episodes

Tuesday Sep 20, 2022

My apologies. It will be another week for the full episode 10 on Operation Silver Fox. BUT there is a bonus episode available for supporters. 

Operation Typhoon: Episode 9

Tuesday Sep 06, 2022

Tuesday Sep 06, 2022

German's final, final assault on the capital of the USSR in November 1941. 
Map 1: The Battle of Moscow, November 1941.
Map 20: The bigger picture. 
Source: U.S. Army archives. 
Soviets fighting back during "offensive weather":
Rasputitsa: 
Defense of Moscow: 
Women militia training in Moscow, fall 1941:
New T-34 tanks roll off the assembly line, 1941
Soviet air power: 
The Yakovlev Yak fighter
Ilyushin Il-2 in flight near Moscow, December 1941
Winter 
Abandoned German vehicles in the snow, on the highway from Volokolamsk to Moscow, December 1941:
Wrecked Panzer III, December 1941:

Tuesday Aug 23, 2022

The Wehrmacht assembles its biggest concentrated force for the largest single campaign of Operation Barbarossa. 
 
Image 1: German half-track, deep in the mud of rasputitsa. 
Image 2: Pulling vehicles through the mud of Russia in fall. 
Image 3: Eventually, the Germans had to resort to horses to haul even their field guns during rasputitsa. 
Map: The push toward Moscow in the fall of 1941. 
If you enjoyed this podcast, consider leaving a five-star rating on your preferred podcaster.
You can also support the podcast through Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/BeyondBarbarossa
Sources: 
David M. Glantz: Operation Barbarossa: Hitler's Invasion of Russia 1941. Stroud, Gloucesgershire, UK, The History Press, 2013. 
Peter G. Tsouras, editor: Fighting in Hell: The German Ordeal on the Eastern Front. New York, NY: Ivy Books, 1995.
David Stahel: Operation Typhoon: Hitler's March on Moscow, October 1941. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013. 
David Stahel: Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 

Tuesday Aug 09, 2022

Sponsor: The Eastern Front Trilogy by Scott Bury
The true story of a Canadian drafted into the Soviet Red Army in World War II. 
https://scottburyauthor.com/books/the-eastern-front-trilogy/
As the Germans strangle Leningrad and sweep across Ukraine, we can see just how complicated the Eastern Front is, and how connected to events and decisions a world away. 
Map 1: Closing on Leningrad.
Photos: Rasputitsa
Horses sank up to their bellies in mud in Ukraine during rasputitsa. 
Even tracked vehicles became mired in the deep mud. 
 

Wednesday Jul 27, 2022

Having captured most of Ukraine and with a choke-hold on Leningrad, Germany appears to be winning as it advances on Moscow. But the big picture looks different close up. 
The Battle of Smolensk may just be the big turning point in the was in the East. 
This episode sponsored by The Eastern Front Trilogy, the true story of a Canadian drafted into the Red Army in World War II. 
The Eastern Front Trilogy.
All proceeds from the sales of The Eastern Front Trilogy in paperback or its constituent e-books will go to helping Ukrainian refugees until all Ukrainians can return home safe from Russian military aggression. 
Contact the author by email to contact@writtenword.ca 
Support the podcast on Patreon.
Map 1: The situation in the summer of 1941
Map 2: The Battle of Smolensk 
The best tank of the war: the Soviet T34
 
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Attribution: Лишь человек
 
The Soviet KV-1 heavy tank 
 
The Soviet PTRD-41 anti-tank gun 
Source: RIA Novosti archive, image #4408 / N. Bode / CC-BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. 
The Katyusha 
 
The Katyusha in action 
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Attribution: RIA Novosti archive, image #303890 / Zelma / CC-BY-SA 3.0 
 
Books cited in this episode: 
David Glantz: Operation Barbarossa: Hitler's Invasion of Russia 1941. Stroud, Gloucetershire, UK, 2011.  
David Stahel: Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
 

Tuesday Jul 19, 2022

After the Battle of Smolensk, Germany changes its strategy. It diverts forces away from the drive on Moscow toward two other key objectives: Leningrad in the north, and Kyiv in Ukraine. 
This is how that played out. 
 
Map source: US Military Academy. 
Bibliography:
Glantz, David: Operation Barbarossa: Hitler’s Invasion of Russia, 1941. The History Press, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, 2001. https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/ 
Bury, Scott: Army of Worn Soles. The Written Word Publishing Company, Ottawa, Canada, 2012. https://writtenword.ca/books-by-scott-bury/army-of-worn-soles/
Music by Nicolas Bury. 

Episode 4: The Soviet Response

Wednesday Jul 13, 2022

Wednesday Jul 13, 2022

Operation Barbarossa caught the USSR unready. But that doesn't mean they were helpless. They hit back—hard. 
 
 
 

Episode 3: The Face-Off

Tuesday Jul 05, 2022

Tuesday Jul 05, 2022

Beyond Barbarossa, the first English-language podcast in the world to focus on the Eastern Front of World War II, takes a close look at the opposing forces facing off across the border on June 22, 1941. 
Music by Nicolas Bury. 
Links
Beyond Barbarossa: the website for more maps and information. 
Enjoy this podcast? Support us on Patreon to help cover the costs of production. 
The Eastern Front Trilogy: the true story of a Canadian drafted into the Soviet Red Army in 1941—just in time for Operation Barbarossa. 
Maps: 
The initial OKH plan for Operation Barbarossa
 
German advances to August 1941
 
Maps sources: World War II Database, United States Military Academy

Tuesday Jun 28, 2022

What brought Nazi Germany and the USSR to the brink of war in June 1941? What about their odd alliance in the late 1930s? 
The relationship between these opposite tyrannies played out like the macabre inverse of a romantic comedy. Nothing was funny.
Maps to help: 
Battle of Khalkin Gol 
 
German invasion of Poland: 
 
Soviet invasion of Poland 
 
Finland 1940 
 
 
 

Episode 1: Blitzkrieg

Sunday Jun 19, 2022

Sunday Jun 19, 2022

The first day of the biggest land invasion in the history of warfare.
See the maps on the website, https://beyondbarbarossa.podbean.com.
Sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com.
Music by Nicolas Bury. 
Support the program by becoming a Patreon patron: https://www.patreon.com/BeyondBarbarossa 
Get all the info on the web page. 
Contact us by email: contact@writtenword.ca 
Follow the author on Twitter @ScottTheWriter 
Visit the Facebook page 
 
 
 
 

Monday Jun 13, 2022

Beyond Barbarossa: The first English-language podcast to focus on the biggest part of World War II— the largest war in human history—the Eastern Front, launches June 22, 2022.
Music by Nicolas Bury. 

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Bonus series: Georgy Zhukov

A series for Beyond Barbarossa patrons and supporters: a profile of Marshal Georgy Zhukov, the greatest general of the USSR in World War II. 

Join Beyond Barbarossa's Patreon patrons to listen

Episode 6: Germany ... triumphant?

We focus on the progress of German Army Group Centre to Smolensk in July 1941. 

This episode sponsored by The Eastern Front Trilogy, the true story of a Canadian drafted into the Red Army in World War II. 

The Eastern Front Trilogy.

All proceeds from the sales of The Eastern Front Trilogy in paperback or its constituent e-books will go to helping Ukrainian refugees until all Ukrainians can return home safe from Russian military aggression. 

Contact the author by email to contact@writtenword.ca 

Support the podcast on Patreon.

Books cited in this episode: 

David Glantz: Operation Barbarossa: Hitler's Invasion of Russia 1941. Stroud, Gloucetershire, UK, 2011.  

David Stahel: Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

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Map 1: the situation in the summer of 1941. 

The pink area shows the depth of the invasion from June 22 to August 25. The dashed blue line through it shows the approximate position of the front line on July 16. 

Note the encirclements at Bialystock, west of Minsk, at Smolensk, and in Ukraine, around Uman. 

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Map 2: The Battle of Smolensk

Guderian's salient is the deepest German penetration pictured here. Diagram by Livedawg via Wikimedia Commons.

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PTRD-41 anti-tank gun

Source: RIA Novosti archive, image #4408 / N. Bode / CC-BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. 

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Stalin's organs: the Katyusha rocket launcher

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Attribution: RIA Novosti archive, image #303890 / Zelma / CC-BY-SA 3.0
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Thank you for your support

I want to express my deep appreciation to all who supported Beyond Barbarossa in the start-up phase. 

You can continue to support the costs of producing the podcast through Patreon

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Now available on Stitcher

In addition to the podcasting platforms across the header image, you can now also listen to Beyond Barbarossa on Stitcher

Visit https://www.stitcher.com/show/beyond-barbarossa-eastern-front-of-world-war-ii.

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From Blitzkrieg to Berlin

The eastern front was by far the largest part of the European theatre of World War Two. Yet compared to the Western Allies, there is little material available in English about the Soviets' fight. This podcast covers the history of the clash of two inimical tyrannies. 

Music by Nicolas Bury

Sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com

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Operation Barbarossa: The plan

The German General Staff, OKW, planned Operation Barbarossa meticulously. The Wehrmacht, with support of the Luftwaffe, attacked in three main thrusts: Army Group North through the Baltic SSRs, Army Group Centre in two axes from the Bialystok Salient, that bulge just north of Brest-Litovsk, and Army Group South, into Ukraine. 

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