The Second World War on the Eastern Front

Russia's engagement with Germany on the Eastern Front during World War II was ferocious, unprecedented and bloody, costing millions of civilian and military lives. In this challenging new book, Lee Baker distinguishes myth from reality and deflates the idea that this war, while gargantuan in scale, was in essence a war like any other.

Dr. Lee Baker is Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Cincinnati.

Contents Acknowledgments List of Maps List of Plates Chronology Who's Who Glossary Maps Part One: Analysis 1. Introduction 2. The Background a. The Origins of the War on the Eastern Front b. Planning 'Operation Barbarossa' c. Soviet Preparations for War 3. 22 June 1941: The Invasion a. The Border Battles b. The Battle for Leningrad b. The Battle for Kiev c. The First Major German Defeat: Rostov d. Mass Murder in the USSR d. The Battle for Moscow 4. The War turns against the Germans, 1942-43 a. 'Operation Blue' b. The Battle for Stalingrad c. German Efforts to Halt the Red Army d. The Partisans d. Operation Citadel 5. The Soviet Union on the Offensive a. Battles for the Ukraine b. Relief of Leningrad c. 'Operation Bagration' d. The Destruction of Army Groups North and South d. The Battle for Berlin 6. Assessment Part Two: Documents 1. Nazi-Soviet Pact, 23 August 1939 2. Hitler Letter to Mussolini, 21 June 1941 3. Directive for 'Operation Barbarossa' 4. Directive for Special Areas during 'Barbarossa,' 13 March 1941 5. Decree for the Conduct of Courts-Martial in the East, 13 May, 1941 6. 'Commissar Decree,' 6 June, 1941 7. Stalin's Speech on 3 July, 1941 8. Decree on Treatment of Civilians, 23 July, 1941 9. Halder's Diary, 3 July 1941 10. Halder's Diary, 11 August 1941 11. Field Marshal Walter von Reichenau's order, 10 October, 1941 12. Hitler comments on motorization, 29 October, 1941 13. Order for German forces to go on the defensive, 8 December 1941 14. Hitler comments on the winter, 12 and 17 January, 1942 15. Order for 'Operation Blue,' 5 April 1942 16. Soviet order concerning discipline in the Red Army, 28 July, 1942 17. A German Witness to a mass shooting, 5-6 October, 1942 18. A German soldier describes the retreat in the Ukraine, summer 1943 19. 'Fortified Areas' Order, 8 March 1944 20. A Soviet soldier on combat during 'Operation Bagration, 29 June, 1944 21. A German Soldier on the Eastern Front, 14 January, 1945. 22. Decree for the destruction of German industry, 30 March 1945 23. Hitler's Last Proclamation to the Eastern Front, 15 April 1945 Guide to Further Reading References Index