Eastern Front animated: 1943/44

As 1942 ended, it became clear that Germany would not be able to defeat the Red Army. The question was, now that the resources of the Soviet Union had been greatly reduced and the Germans had the defensive advantage, did the Red Army have the strength to push the Germans back and avoid a stalemate?

Sources:
David Glantz - When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler.
Earl F. Ziemke, Magna E. Bauer III - Moscow To Stalingrad: Decision In The East.
Gregory Liedtke - Enduring the Whirlwind: The German Army and the Russo-German War 1941-1943.
Karl-Heinz Frieser - Germany and the Second World War - Volume VIII - The Eastern Front 1943-1944

Unit symbols:

Order of Battle:

Map:
Terrain
Europe: Elevation map of Europe - European Environment Agency.

Infrastructure:
USSR: Europa 1: 2,500,000 Deutsche Heereskarte: Europaische Russland. 1943.
Other: British 1944 1:2000,000 maps of Europe.

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

This video could not have seen the light without my Patrons:

[brotherbisquick]

I Just wanted to acknowledge the tremendous effort that it would take to research and animate something like this, and express my appreciation.

[rifkinr]

DUDE YOU’RE KILLING ME! THIS SERIES IS SO FREAKIN’ GOOD

[Sphynra]

This is insanely high-effort content. I can't believe the research it must have taken to track the movements of every single division in the Eastern Front, it helps me have a much better sense of context whenever I read about WWII now, kudos to the creator.

[wolfdima]

My Grandfather fought Germans in one of those square boxes, died somewhere near Kharkov. From what the vets tell us - the fighting was extreme, both sides fought with utmost ferocity AND skill.

[CRE-cldv]

I have never been so entertained by bubbles floating around on a map

[SorensiCSteeL]

Takes notes for next Hearts of Iron 4 game

[der_baerlauch]

Incorporating all the 1943 soviet divisions must have been a terrible lot of work.
Very well done.

[angelovalavanis]

Just imagine all of the men, materials, vehicles, and planes that were needed for the whole of the Eastern Front. It's astounding to even think about the sheer numbers from both sides.

[BornIn]

A lot of people have the impression that the Soviets succeeded just by throwing cannon fodder at the Germans and that the winter did most of the killing. The truth is that there was some really good generalship in the Red Army too.

[MatiasKiviniemi]

It's very interesting to realize that the "battle of Kursk" was not a singular event (~armies collide at a field) as it's often portrayed but a rather a long sequence of continuous maneuvers.

[aserehuehue]

I was waiting for this, nice work as always :D

[InspectHistory]

Very great & informative video as always, can't wait for the western front series 44/45

[benfelts]

The graphic depiction of the German pocket's retreat and escape at ~10:17 was brilliant. Shrinking the circles to reflect the effect of lack of supply and disorganization on the combat effectiveness of the trapped units, and restoring the size to illustrate their return to combat effectiveness on escape, was a very effective use of simple graphics to convey a nuanced situation. Well done!

[punchdreadnought]

Imagine the number of ARMIES ( represented by tiny numbers). I have just read about the North African Front and the battles only happened with few armies. The Eastern Front was insane and breathtaking.

[Papageno]

After watching your eastern front videos I am realizing, that this battle front has been the greatest of all human history.

[bobgatewood]

youtube historians have completely replaced all of TV's "educational" channels

[todo]

This series really demonstrates how the German mastery of maneuver warfare and superior experience was countered by the Russians mastery of attrition warfare and their General's rapidly increasing skill and familiarity with German tactics. You can actually see the Russians trying new things as their troops become more experienced and disciplined, this is a great way to learn about this stuff.

[Capitalx]

AMAZIN' !!!! I HAD BEEN WAITING SO LONG FOR THIS

[TheeEmperor]

Who else predicted this to be posted today ? (FEBRUARY 2nd) the day the germans surrendered in Stalingrad.

[yatsumleung]

8:00
KIROVOGRAD.
We have heard stories about the fierce defence capabilities of US airborne at Bastogne and British airborne in Arnhem. Here we have the German 2nd airborne aiding the defence of Kirovograd (as element of 11th Infantry Corp shown on the map) until spring while being vastly outnumbered and armed only with Panzerschrecks against Soviet tanks, losing half of the division in the process. The division would then be redeployed to fight against the D-Day invasion in Normandy, as seen in Band of Brothers episode 3.
The German 1st airborne is more well know. See 10:35, in Italy. Monte Cassino.