Eastern Front animated: 1941

In the summer of 1941 German army was the strongest in Europe and was preparing to use its superiority to defeat the Soviet Union in a three-month lightning campaign. The Soviets, on the other hand, were preparing for a long war and had built up a strong war economy, but the modernization and expansion of the Red Army was still underway and its methods and organization were not yet fully tested in battle. Can the Wehrmacht damage the Soviet Union enough to prevent a recovery or can the Soviets hold until their long-term advantages start to have a strong impact on the war?

Symbols:

Main sources for orders of battle and frontline positions:

80% of the divisional OOB and 95% of corps OOB shown in the video may be considered correct, (in places, where it is not simplified.)

Troop and POW numbers:

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

[kaen_tqk]

I never knew moving lines and circles could be satisfying.

[marcinzysko]

Crazy to think that this was one long frontline, stretched thousands of miles, and each of those miles filled with soldiers, constantly fighting.

[redacted]

This. This is what history documentaries should look like. Well done.

[johns]

By the way this is the PERFECT format for war history fans! Seriously please make tons of these. I would love nothing more than a few playlists of these day by day videos of every battle and frontline change for the entire war.

[rafaelomansan]

The fidelity to the dates, troop movements and even to the individual numbers of the Divisions involved is truly astonishing! This truly shows the quality of the content and the amount of research put into it. Nice Work!

[NoahWeaverRacing]

It's insane to think how close the Germans really got to Moscow. The more i read into the eastern front the more it amazes me with its ferocity, and horror. I can't imagine living in those times

[abdallah-nash-ramadan]

The USSR pulled the greatest "They had us in the first half" in history

[traceptor]

The numbers really hit you, imagine having 1 million troops defending moscow, but all of a sudden half of that 1 million is encircled and captured all of a sudden, imagine being a soviet commander in that moment.

[KyleLi]

Holy. Crap. I need more, I've never been so hyped up at little lines and numbers before.

[salokin]

The complexity and detail is astounding! Where can I donate? We need a whole series!

[deadlyknights]

You guys did a really good job at animating the feeling of a struggle, the way the units push and pull back, it’s felt immensely. Especially in the 1943 video.

[Winner]

Honestly, if I had played as Stalin, I'd have ragequitted after the Kiev encirclement.

[newsheed]

Its insane if you realize how succesful germans were in the first year of the war yet they still did not manadge to break the russians.

[leshiyrus]

Let me remind you that Crimea and Sevastopol in particular were defended longer than the whole of France.

[stian]

I've probably watched this over 20 times by now, it's just so interesting.
Very good job

[economicapple]

1941: Germans in Rostov.
1945: Soviets in Rostock.

[ebin]

This is by far the best video on the eastern front.

[bennyblancormthaBX]

The Soviet Union was truly a behemoth. They lost the equivalent of the entire German army in a few months and were still able to mount a successful defense. Incredible.

[Gerbs]

Germans in 1941: This will be easy.
Germans in 1945: Well that was the worst idea we've had.

[Eastory]

I'd like to continue with 1942, but I don't know where to find the best sources. Could you suggest some sources that cover the overall strategic situation of the 1942 Eastern front (preferably located online)?