The Most Decisive Operation in World War 2 'Operation Bagration' Pt. 2

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This is the video you have all been waiting for. Months of planning, heavy research, and editing has led me here. I would like to thank each and every one of you for being so patient with this. I do hope you all enjoy this fascinating documentary that covers both the strategic, operational, and doctrinal developments of Operation Bagration; namely the most decisive Operation in the entirety of the war. Now, why would I say this? The reason is that this was one of the first full-scale Operations to be treated with a degree of finesse when it came to planning. The correlation of forces, as well as careful deceptive calculations (maskirovka) ensured a degree of seriousness when it came to the execution of the operation.

The second part is mainly focused on the reason for the Operation being in Belorussia. It also focuses on Operational directions as well as the basic correlations of forces. This is why the chapters are dubbed 'The Strategy' and 'The Deployments'. Hence, we have narrowed down from abstract military theory to the strategic level of warfare. In subsequent chapters, we will narrow further to the Operational level, and finally to the actual operation itself.

If you enjoyed this video, then please consider checking my other videos out. I do not just focus on military history. I really focus on overall Russian and Eastern European history, with strengths in the early 19th century.

[Sources]
Glantz's transfer dates for the 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Front do not match the dates from the official Russian ministry of defense website, so I went with the latter.
Commentary by Professor Richard Tempest
When Titans Clashed by David Glantz and Jonathan House (1st & 2nd Editions)
Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front 1943-1945 by Robert Forcyzk
The Rhzev Slaughterhouse by Svetlana Gerasimova
Analysis of Deep Attack Operations: Operation Bagration by William Connor
SOVIET GENERAL STAFF : ANTECEDENTS AND CURRENT ORGANIZATION by Bruce Menning
ENCIRCLED FORCES: THE NEGLECTED PHENOMENON OF WARFARE by Paul Tiberi
Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945 by Georg Tessin
Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492-2015, 4th ed. by Michael Clodfelter
The Eastern Front 1943-1944: The War in the East and on the Neighbouring Fronts
By Karl-Heinz Frieser, Klaus Schmider [Minor Order of Battle research]
PLICATION OF THE SOVIET THEORY OF “DEEP OPERATION” DURING THE
1939 SOVIET-JAPANESE MILITARY CONFLICT IN MONGOLIA by OLEKSIY NOZDRACHOV
Bagration 1944 by Steven Zaloga
Understanding the Operational Effect by Gary Petrole
Stalingrad to Berlin: The German Defeat in the East by Earl Ziemke
The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union by Richard Sakwa (for Molotov-Ribbentrop information)
Stalin by Richard Service (very minor details entailing the naming of the Operation)
The Soviet Economy and Relations with the United States
and Britain 1941-45 by Mark Harrison
The Evolution of Operational Art by Georgy Isserson
Operation Bagration, 23 June-29 August 1944: The Rout Of The German Forces In Belorussia by the Soviet General Staff
After Hitler by Michael Jones
Russia and the Russians by Geoffrey Hoskings
TACTICAL DEEP BATTLE: THE MISSING LINK by Charles Pickar

[Sources for Borders]

[lolcreepypasta]

I've never seen Deep Battle Doctrine explained in a way that doesn't generalize it to combined arms theory, or a Soviet take on Blitzkrieg. Excellent content

My opinion on the war is German biased extraordinarily. Your Bagration series let me appreciate the strategic levels of Soviet Operations that capitulated the German War Machine in 1944. Thank you?

[profesercreeper]

You should do a series like this on the Soviet battle of Manchuria where I get operation bag ration vibes.

[loganmiller]

i work 8 hour shifts at a hotel and have just got done watching ALL of your videos quite amazing work you deserve more than a sub!

[CenturionBC]

I really like how you explain the swap between Hitler and Stalin where it concers the method of warfare. As from 1943 onward Hitler centered more and more on himself (and his 'clap-louder' crew of generals and officials) to lead the war, whereas Stalin had apparently received and read the memo on topic of delegation to his generals as well as the one on allowing initiative and flexibility (however one might contemplate on what that would look like in Soviet understanding.) of operations. Also, you made the distinction between 'Deep Battle' and 'Blitzkrieg' doctrines nicely clear. There are few who are even aware of these distinctions and even fewer who can explain it succinctly to a broader audience. Good work!

[Bratstvoijedinstvo]

Great video that was definitely worth the wait! I'm really looking forward to the next one, the first two parts have done an excellent job establishing the background behind Operation Bagration. As someone who's looking to create a historical youtube channel, (or any way of indepedently presenting historical creativity) your videos are quite inspiring to watch. Cheers!

[More_Row]

That’s some crazy effort you did with the maps and other graphics, good job man.

[BlitzOfTheReich]

3:26 Partisan figures found in Earl Ziemke's book.

I have used the terms Stavka and General Staff quite interchangeably even though they were different organizations. 5:04

[Desh]

Большое спасибо за твоё видео и за твою работу 🙏

Низкий тебе поклон

[samj.s]

Enjoying the series, I appreciate the work champ 👍

[adamstephenson]

I just discovered your channel. I love your videos and appreciate all the work you do 😎🤙

[borromine]

This is very very good. I was born before the Russians won at Stalingrad. And have been reading about wwii since the 1960s. yours is one of the best channels!

[ragt]

I know this is not about Bagration BUT the army that took Koszalin was the 19th (that split the 3rd Panzer Army from the East Prussia Army) and Rostock was taken by the 70th army (Rostock was defended by the XXXII German Corps)

[Lucianoarqueologia]

Can't wait for part 3. Great Work.

[RomanianJ]

It's finally here, and it was definitely worth the wait!

[JohnGaltAustria]

7:33: You should mention that at the beginning of the war it was the exact opposite: Stalin didn't trust his generals at all, but Hitler trusted his.

[simonblake]

Well researched and ever entertaining. Many thanks

[peknive]

Fantastic videos! I’ve watched three videos and already subbed

[miamiq]

This analysis is breathtaking, great work

[richardsimms]

Your presentation here represents a tremendous amount of work on your part. Thank you.
RS. Canada

[nobody]

Another point to the "tanks were moved south for defence" theory, is the fact Model himself was considered a specialist in defence rather the offence.