The Battle of Kursk - Preparations - Extra History - Part 2

📜 The Battle of Kursk - Part 2 - Extra History
Richard "the Challenger" Cutland, ex British tankie and military specialist at Wargaming, stops by to talk about the types of tanks involved in the Battle of Kursk! Early in Operation Barbarossa, the Germans didn't expect much from their opponents. They did not know about the T-34 and KV-1 tanks, which turned out to be superior designs. The Germans deployed a special commission to study Soviet tank designs and soon introduced the Tiger, Panther, and Ferdinand tanks which Hitler believed were key to victory. The Panther in particular was now outclassing Soviet tanks, but it had giant mechanical issues and broke down frequently. The Soviets had produced a new T-43 model tank, but it was designed to tackle the old German Panzer IV and didn't measure up well to the new German tanks. So they preferred to focus on the trusty T-34 tanks, which made up in speed and numbers what they lacked in range and firepower. The Kursk region also played to the Soviets' advantage in Russia: the dust storms and mudfields hindered air support from the Luftwaffe and the advance of the Wermacht. Erich von Manstein, the German commander, decided not to advance. Instead he yielded ground to the Soviets in an attempt to lure them into overextending. He successfully caught them out at the First Battle of Kharkov, but even though the Soviets suffered heavy casualties there, it wasn't enough to make a dent in their huge army. Manstein needed to do something more drastic. Both he and the Soviets recognized that the Soviet line had a weakness where it bulged out to defend the city of Kursk, making it an obvious target for the next stage of operations.

*Miss an episode in our Battle of Kursk Series?*

Artist: Heather McNabb I Writer: James PortnowI Voice: Daniel FloydI Editor: Carrie Floyd

#ExtraHistory #BattleofKursk #History

[cowtaplayz]

Simple history: educational and short

Armchair historian: short documentaries

Oversimplified: funny approach to learning

Extra history: friendly and fun vibe while learning

[bobbyferg]

Richard Cutland legit has a documentary voice

[Aurelio]

I have to say, "Fear Naught" is a pretty badass motto.

[WargamingEurope]

we are live with the episode two !
We hope you folks will enjoy the appearance of the Bean Challenger and some very rare historical tank photos :)

[ItsmeInternetStranger]

I know a lot of the people in this series are monsters and have done terrible, terrible things but...still weird seeing literally Hitler in your cute, endearing cartoony style.

[Krieger]

Now I want to play Hearts of Iron IV. Best advertising for that game.

[GamerFromJump]

So, we've learned:

1 - "Awesome, but impractical" is not just a trope, but a lesson.
2 - Tech without logistics fails.

[extrahistory]

Richard "The Challenger" Cutland joins us for a close look at the tanks and field conditions that would be crucial in the Battle of Kursk!

[asafkatz]

Your next series should be about the life of Otto Von Bismarck. He was a brilliant politician and tactician, would really like to learn more about him, as I think others would too.

[Mjiujtsu]

as a former sergeant of one of the few Royal Tank Regiment cadet forces in England, hearing him say "Fear Naught" and seeing the black beret and badge, almost brought a tear to my eye ;(

[jotjotpoland]

2:11 Small but important note: the Warsaw Uprising took place in summer and early autumn of 1944. The uprising mentioned here is the Warsaw *Ghetto Uprising* lead by Mordechaj Anielewicz and Marek Edelman (spring of 1943).

[LordRexasaur]

Great video, incredibly well explained by Richard Cutland for those of us who don't really know that much about tank warfare!

[manband]

You know who lead the Soviets to victory at the Battle of Kursk and effectively defeated the Germans in the East?
Walpole.

[Edax_Royeaux]

I like that you show that it was both Russian men AND women who built those tanks.

[sofielee]

That accent rivals that of the Mighty Jingles himself!

[projectRaMan]

Awesome video as always! People always say, "WWII is played out." Thing is, what our media, teachers, and history books teach us about WWII, and what actually occurred during WWII are grossly incomparable. So much more interesting things happened that the U.S. had nothing to do with, that the masses don't really know about. For instance, The Battle of Kursk and Operation Mince Meat. I vote for the next Extra History to be about Operation Mincemeat.

[Overhazard]

Was this the battle where dogs were trained to bring bombs to tanks to blow them up, but the dogs were accidentally trained to look for their own country's tanks?

[steinway]

Kharkov deserves special mention as it was probably the most fought over city of the entire war and was the last distinctive German victory on the Easter Front.

[phoeniximperator]

it's the exact same thing happening in Ukraine... Logistics are their weakness

[commanderkruge]

One tiny nitpick:

Mannstein is pronounced "Mann-stine", not "Mann-Steen". The German "ei" sounds like the English "I" as in "I robot".