Sevastopol 1942

Sevastopol 1942
Author: Robert Forczyk
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Total Pages: 96
Release: 2008-01-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781846032219

In late July 1941, Hitler ordered Army Group South to seize the Crimea as part of its operations to secure the Ukraine and the Donets Basin, in order to protect the vital Romanian oil refineries at Ploesti from Soviet air attack. After weeks of heavy fighting, the Germans breached the Soviet defenses and overran most of the Crimea. By November 1941 the only remaining Soviet foothold in the area was the heavily fortified naval base at Sevastopol. Operation Sturgeon Haul, the final assault on Sevastopol, was one of the very few joint service German operations of World War II, with two German corps and a Romanian corps supported by a huge artillery siege train, the Luftwaffe's crack VIII Flieger Korps and a flotilla of S-Boats provided by the Kriegsmarine. This volume closely examines the impact of logistics, weather and joint operational planning upon the last major German victory in World War II (1939-1945).

The Defence of Sevastopol, 1941–1942

The Defence of Sevastopol, 1941–1942
Author: Clayton Donnell
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2016-02-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 1473879264

This vividly detailed WWII history chronicles one of the hardest-fought battles of the Crimea Campaign. In December 1941, while America was reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor and the offensives of the German Army Groups North and Center were stalled in the brutal Russian winter, the German Eleventh Army encircled the vast fortress of Sevastopol in the Crimea. The Red Army faced massive air, artillery and land attacks against their heavily defended positions in one of the most remarkable campaigns in the history of modern warfare: The Siege of Sevastopol. Drawing on his expert knowledge of the history of modern fortifications, Donnell describes the design and development of the Red Army’s formidable base at Sevastopol. He then chronicles the sequence of attacks mounted by the Wehrmacht against the city’s strongpoints. The forts and bunkers had to be taken one by one in a bitter six-month struggle with sever casualties on both sides. Using documentary records and a range of personal accounts, Clayton Donnell reconstructs the events and experience of the campaign in vivid detail.

Blood and Iron

Blood and Iron
Author: C. G. Sweeting
Publisher: Potomac Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2005-10
Genre: Sevastopol (Ukraine)
ISBN: 9781574887976

Narrates the epic World War II battles for the most strongly fortified city in the world.

Sevastopol’s Wars

Sevastopol’s Wars
Author: Mungo Melvin CB OBE
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 800
Release: 2017-05-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 1472822277

Sevastopol's Wars is the first book in any language to cover the full history of Russia's historic Crimean naval citadel, from its founding through to the current tensions that threaten the region. Founded by Catherine the Great, the maritime city of Sevastopol has been fought over for centuries. Crucial battles of the Crimean War were fought on the hills surrounding the city, and the memory of this stalwart defence inspired those who fruitlessly battled the Germans during World War II. Twice the city has faced complete obliteration yet twice it has risen, phoenix-like, from the ashes. In this groundbreaking volume, award-winning author Mungo Melvin explores how Sevastopol became the crucible of conflict over three major engagements – the Crimean War, the Russian Civil War and World War II – witnessing the death and destruction of countless armies yet creating the indomitable 'spirit of Sevastopol'. By weaving together first-hand interviews, detailed operational reports and battle analysis, Melvin creates a rich tapestry of history.

Retreat from Moscow

Retreat from Moscow
Author: David Stahel
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2019-11-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 0374714258

An authoritative revisionist account of the German Winter Campaign of 1941–1942, with maps: “Hair-raising . . . a page-turner.” —Kirkus Reviews Germany’s winter campaign of 1941–1942 is commonly seen as its first defeat. In Retreat from Moscow, a bold, gripping account of one of the seminal moments of World War II, David Stahel argues that instead it was its first strategic success in the East. The Soviet counteroffensive was in fact a Pyrrhic victory. Despite being pushed back from Moscow, the Wehrmacht lost far fewer men, frustrated its enemy’s strategy, and emerged in the spring unbroken and poised to recapture the initiative. Hitler’s strategic plan called for holding important Russian industrial cities, and the German army succeeded. The Soviets as of January 1942 aimed for nothing less than the destruction of Army Group Center, yet not a single German unit was ever destroyed. Lacking the professionalism, training, and experience of the Wehrmacht, the Red Army’s offensive attempting to break German lines in countless head-on assaults led to far more tactical defeats than victories. Using accounts from journals, memoirs, and wartime correspondence, Stahel takes us directly into the Wolf’s Lair to reveal a German command at war with itself as generals on the ground fought to maintain order and save their troops in the face of Hitler’s capricious, increasingly irrational directives. Excerpts from soldiers’ diaries and letters home paint a rich portrait of life and death on the front, where the men of the Ostheer battled frostbite nearly as deadly as Soviet artillery. With this latest installment of his pathbreaking series on the Eastern Front, David Stahel completes a military history of the highest order. “An engaging, fine-grained account of an epic struggle . . . Mr. Stahel describes these days brilliantly, switching among various levels of command while reminding us of the experiences of the soldiers on the ground and the civilians caught up in the Nazi ‘war of annihilation.’” —The Wall Street Journal

Lake Ilmen, 1942

Lake Ilmen, 1942
Author: Óscar González
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2019-04-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1526719959

This WWII combat history sheds light on the Battle for Staraya Russa, in which German soldiers and Spanish volunteers bitterly fought the Red Army. In January 1942, in the Staraya Russa sector south of Lake Ilmen, the 16th German Army clashed with Vasili Morozov's 11th Soviet Army for possession of the region. Fighting alongside the Germans were the Spanish volunteers of the Blue Division. Though the fighting lasted for nearly a month, the battle for Staraya Russa is all but forgotten in studies of the Second World War’s Eastern Front. In Lake Ilmen, 1942, the authors present a strategic framework of the battle from both the German and Russian perspectives. They also recount the hard fighting and extreme weather endured by both sides, bringing the human aspect of the conflict to life through a survey of individual volunteers who fought in it.

The Caucasus 1942–43

The Caucasus 1942–43
Author: Robert Forczyk
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2015-05-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 1472805852

Much has been written of the titanic clashes between the Wehrmacht and the Red Army at Stalingrad. This volume tells the other, equally important half of the story of Fall Blau (Case Blue). Learning from their experiences during the sweeping advances of Operation Barbarossa a year before, Wehrmacht commanders knew that Nazi Germany's lack of oil was a huge strategic problem. Seizure of the Caucasus oilfields, which were responsible for 82% of the Soviet Union's crude oil, would simultaneously alleviate the German army's oil shortages whilst denying vital fuel resources to the Red Army. Whilst Army Group B advanced along the Volga towards Stalingrad, Army Group A, spearheaded by Ewald von Kleist's elite Panzerarmee 1 was to advance into the Caucasus to seize the oilfields of Maikop, Grozny and Baku. Featuring full-colour artwork, archival photos and detailed analysis, this book follows the vicious, intense fighting that characterised one of the most important campaigns of World War II.

Warships of the Soviet Fleets 1939–1945

Warships of the Soviet Fleets 1939–1945
Author: Przemyslaw Budzbon
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2022-10-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1526751968

Seventy-five years after the end of the Second World War the details of Soviet ships, their activities and fates remain an enigma to the West. In wartime such information was classified and after a brief period of glasnost (‘openness’) the Russian state has again restricted access to historical archives. Therefore, the value – and originality – of this work is difficult to exaggerate. It sees the first publication of reliable data on both the seagoing fleets and riverine flotillas of the Soviet Navy, listing over 6200 vessels from battleships to river gunboats, and mercantile conversions as well as purpose-built warships. Divided into three volumes, this first covers major surface warships down to MTBs and armored gunboats, as well as submarines. For every class there is a design history analyzing strategic, tactical and technical considerations, and individual ship detail includes construction yard, key building dates, commissioning, fleet designations, relocations and ultimate fate. Once a closely guarded secret, the wartime loss of every ship and boat (over 1000) is described. Furthermore, the confusion caused by frequent name changes is clarified by indexes that run to 16,000 items. By following the ships through both their wartime and earlier history, the book reveals many aspects of Russian history that remain highly sensitive: clandestine co-operation with Weimar Germany and fascist Italy, the NKVD-enforced closure of Soviet borders, the ‘Gulag Fleet’, the faked Metallist sinking that excused the military occupation of Estonia, and the ill-conceived pact with Nazi Germany. Restrictions recently imposed on historical publications in Russia mean this book could certainly not have been published there – as proven by the fact that most of the authors' Russian collaborators preferred not to disclose their identities. This is undoubtedly one of the most important naval reference works of recent years and will be welcomed by anyone with an interest in warships, the Soviet Navy or wider maritime aspects of the Second World War.

Leningrad 1941–44

Leningrad 1941–44
Author: Robert Forczyk
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2009-09-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781846034411

Osprey's Campaign title for Hitler's protracted siege of Leningrad, which resulted in one of the most brutal campaigns on the Eastern Front during World War II (1939-1945). The German Army Group North was able to isolate the city and its garrison for a period of 900 days, during which an estimated 1.5 million Soviets died from combat, disease and starvation. For over two years, German forces pounded the city with artillery and air assaults while the Soviets made repeated efforts on the frozen swamplands of the Volkhov Front to break through. Finally, in January 1944, the Soviets were able to break Army Group North's front and relieve Leningrad. While most histories of the siege of Leningrad focus on the plight of the starving civil population, this refreshing title instead examines the strength of the garrison's defenses - which ultimately prevented the Germans from capturing the city - and the growing sophistication of Soviet offensive tactics. Dr. Forczyk also provides an assessment of how weather and terrain factors shaped the campaign in this superb addition to the history of the Eastern Front.

Turizm

Turizm
Author: Anne E. Gorsuch
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2018-09-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1501727230

In the Soviet Union and the eastern bloc, the idea of "vacation" was never as uncomplicated as throwing some suitcases in the car and heading for the beach. The emphasis was on individual self-improvement within the framework of the collective, an approach manifest in everything from the scheduling of physical exercise to the group tours organized for factory workers, Party cadres, and other segments of society. Like other Soviet-style utopian projects, socialist tourism, which was often heavily laden with rules and prescriptions, was a consciousness-raising project, part of the vast effort to forge new socialist men and women. Turizm is the first book to examine the history of tourism in Russia and eastern Europe from the tsarist period to the age of Soviet and east European mass tourism in the 1960s and 1970s. The contributors to this volume address topics including the roots of socialist tourism, the role of tourism in the making of nations and maintenance of empire, and ways in which the men and women of the "margins of Europe" understood themselves in relation to "Europe." Especially interesting are chapters that show how individuals pursued their own consumerist goals within the framework of collective tourism, obliging the regimes to adapt. Illustrated with period photographs and promotional materials, Turizm will appeal not only to historians of the region but also to anyone with an interest in consumer culture, travel, leisure, and nation-building.