EXTRA CREDIT

The Forgotten Front (Advance)

World War 2 is a topic that peaks my interest but in the last few years I have found the eastern front (forgotten front) far more intriguing than any other aspect of the war. The average American usually has little to no knowledge about the events on the eastern front (1939-1945) other than what they may have seen in Hollywood films such as Enemy at the Gates. I find the tactics and people of this campaign very interesting.

In 1939 the start of the campaign on the eastern front began with Germany advancing into Poland.  Russia and Germany had previously signed a peace agreement to split the nation Poland and remain allies, but this agreement did not last long.  In early summer of 1941 the Germans cut Russian communications lines and advanced across Russia’s border surprising them. The operation was called

Operation Barbarossa.  German blitzkrieg units advanced quickly across the sparsely defended steppe at an alarming rate. 

The idea of blitzkrieg (lightning war), I think was a very revolutionary idea. Sending armor units through the front to harass the enemy from the rear really wreaked havoc on the opposing troops. And with soldiers distracted with the tanks infantry had a relatively easy job over taking the position. It also helped that at this time in the war Russian troops were under trained and under supplied.

Armor and artillery played huge rolls in the German advance to Moscow, Stalingrad, and the city of Leningrad. From biographies and the written soldier’s accounts I have read both sides feared shelling and were almost constantly shelled.  German soldiers later in the war particularly feared the Russian t34 tank, arguably the deadliest tank of the war.

Fun fact: The soviets used dogs with mines strapped to their backs as anti-tank weapons, but most times the dogs blew up Soviet t34’s because that is the tank the dogs were trained with.

 The German’s advance was halted at cities like Stalingrad, Leningrad and Moscow where Russian troops put up fierce resistance. Fighting was barbaric unlike anything ever seen before. For the first time in modern history house to house fighting was used on a large scale. The implement of the oh so controversial sniper also played a huge role in the battles  for Russia’s Industrial giants. The fighting that took place was so barbaric yet so modern all at the same time. Respect for human life was out the window. So many atrocities against civilians and prisoners happened  during those crucial years of the war, worsening the severity of battle. 

Fun fact:  Vasily Zaitsev(star of Enemy at the Gates) is not even in the top ten best soviet snipers- Ivan Mihailovich Sidorenko is the #1 soviet sniper with a recorded 500 kills.

I believe the turning point in the campaign on the eastern front was the arrival of the Russian winter. The men of the German army had never experienced such fierce weather. This is where the Russians had the upper hand, they were accustomed to the extreme conditions. The tide had turned, now the Germans were fighting without winter gear and there precision made weapons could not hold up to the ice.  They were in the same exact shoes as the great conqueror Napoleon had been a couple hundred years earlier. Frozen on the vast Russian steppe

This is the beginning of the end…