The Battle of Kursk - Operation Barbarossa - Extra History - Part 1

📜 The Battle of Kursk - Part 1 - Extra History
June 1941, Nazi Germany launched an attack upon the Soviet Union. The German Reich had been building up forces along the Eastern Front for a long time, but the sudden aggression caught Soviet forces unprepared. Many troops were captured and the Germans quickly conquered territory from the Soviet states. But the Soviets reorganized, improved their communication structure, and pulled together a defense at Smolensk. Although they lost again, they critically slowed the German advance and halted their race towards Moscow. Instead, the Germans tried to lay siege at Leningrad, only to be struck themselves by insufficient supply lines and a brutal winter that claimed the lives of many soldiers. With that, the Wehrmacht withdrew and redirected its efforts towards Stalingrad. Josef Stalin refused to let them take any land "further than the Volga" in Russia, and mounted a stiff defense. Even when the Luftwaffe, the German air force, reduced the city to rubble, Soviet soldiers continued to wage war from the debris. Meanwhile, the Germans were so focused on their offensive that they let their defensive lines collapse, and in October 1941 the Soviets managed to surround and pin down the German 6th Army. Their commander refused surrender terms because he didn't want to displease Adolf Hitler, but the 6th Army's resistance inevitably collapsed in February 1942.
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Part 2 - • The Battle of Kursk - ...
Part 3 - • The Battle of Kursk- O...
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#ExtraHistory #BattleofKursk #History

[@Marconius6]

"I want you to draw Hitler really happy, with a big smile on his face, surrounded by roses." That must have been an interesting conversation.

[@thomasedwardharrison2879]

Yeah

[@joeziadeh6158]

Timestamp? I can’t find it

[@spryte1936]

@@joeziadeh6158 1:36

[@Nerdddestroyer]

Yeah

[@Dr_Blockhead]

Indeed

[@wiggumesquilax9480]

The Germans' mistake was in rushing Pavlov's house directly, rather than taking C first.

[@BenignGamer]

I see I'm not the only who's played RO2...

[@GhostRider659]

+Wiggum Esquilax Not the only thing about Germany and Germany's strategy that Hitler wrecked... If the nazis had been pure anti-communists as opposed to anti-semites and anti-slavics, they might have stood a much better chance, as well as being much less dickish.

[@twiliblade]

+Benign Gamer pavlov was a real place held by a real man and a small squad called pavlov for the majority of the battle for stalingrad, the germans codenamed the area "castle" while the russians just called it "pavlov's house"

[@BenignGamer]

+twiliblade But I don't think the real Pavlov's House had a cap point labelled "C" right in front of where that goddamned T-34 tanker keeps camping. Also, screw every single tanker that ever happened to that map...

[@richardj9016]

+Wiggum Esquilax hahahahahaha I'm actually clapping right now

[@orcaeng5793]

when one city owns 2 places for the most deadly sieges.

[@vaports6984]

Wrong petersburg

[@aviatorraj7820]

@@vaports6984 yeah it's the US Petersburg

[@vaports6984]

@@aviatorraj7820 I know

[@JustAGuyWhoLikesStuff.]

I'm sorry but grammar?

[@VaIinar]

I see nothing wrong with the grammar

[@andro7862]

''I was killed near Rzhev In a nameless bog, In fifth company, On the Left flank, In a cruel air raid I didn’t hear explosions And did not see the flash Down to an abyss from a cliff No start, no end And in this whole world To the end of its days - Neither patches, nor badges From my tunic you’ll find I am where the blind roots Seek for food in the dark I am where the rye waves On a hill in the dust'' -Alexander Tvardovsky

[@helloworld2848]

Why do you only have one like?

[@officerchad1213]

Andro A I've seen this before on the soviet storm documentary the Rzhev meat grinder

[@user-uv4xm1lw9c]

Andro A what r u saying

[@nataliyaturushkina6654]

Andro A u

[@lzedhunger]

Soviet Poem of a fallen Soldier

[@TheKMB787]

5:11 I never knew that Operation Barbarossa involved France invading Germany.

[@florians9949]

TheKMB787 who’s turned to surender now pointy hats. Whait, wrong conflict.

[@tornado1050]

@@florians9949 Though the french army is funny to laugh at, the french leadership was responsible for the French collapse since army doctrine was incorrect for the war they were fighting.

[@jocelynndotson7273]

France didn't invade Germany but there was one time during the invasion of Poland that the French launched a small operation to invade Germany while the Germans were focused on Poland

[@tornado1050]

@@jocelynndotson7273 The Saar offensive which gives a great show of how "perfect" French high command was.

[@georgeikram9695]

Omg WTF

[@jeffreyzheng8875]

Germany: Peace was never an option! Russia, smiling: *NOR WAS WINTER*

[@Zalidia]

Winter was never an option?

[@Sparky579]

​@@Zalidia Winter is not an option, it's a mandatory state

[@Turbopotato-fp9yd]

6:15 so glad you used a picture of "Pavlov's House". The whole story about the brave soviets holding that appartment is incedebly heroic. So much so in fact, that "call of duty" had a level about it in the original COD game. It's genuinly a wikipedia article i enjoyed reading.

[@Bizmarckus]

German Empire: Takes down Russia The third Reich: takes down France I see...

[@BentlyyArsenal]

уе

[@imperiumCirca41]

The fourth Reich: Takes down Britain

[@johnlemon9021]

To be fair, Russia took down Russia, with a little help from the Kaiser of course

[@Bizmarckus]

@@johnlemon9021 This is true

[@AVK1988]

0:29 there is a mistake (?) the one in the left is Ribbentrop and the one of the right is Molotov.

[@michaelvincentrosete2061]

Hahaha

[@PAINNN666]

@@michaelvincentrosete2061 He is right

[@szariq7338]

Plus Barbarossa didnt start 21st June, only 22nd.

[@superswag6975]

You’re a mistake

[@placeholder8768]

miłosz szczypior the orders to attack were given on the 21st.

[@pythonkill3r]

Operation Barbarossa? Adidas? Check Vodka? Check Tanks that malfunction every 2 minutes? Check I'm ready.

[@anonimo2932]

+Dylan Seaton trow some kiks and it'll be all ok

[@viking8796]

RUSH B! RUSH B! FOR THE MOTHERLAND! FOR RUSSIA!

[@bt4670]

You forgot your ushanka, komrad

[@pythonkill3r]

***** Ya I heard the Soviet's T-26 tanks were very unreliable and inferior to German armor at the time and later even their famed T-34 had it's several flaws and disadvantages against German tanks.

[@pythonkill3r]

***** So basically it was quantity over quality at that point? Wow. I wonder how many defective deathtraps they've produced that malfunctioned during the heat of battle..

[@Hamsterdami]

*CORRECTION! Baltics,* *not Balcans*

[@Vk-wd5we]

I think he thought of the Balkans

[@Boss-hc6sy]

Vk 20239 CORRECTION! Balkan, Not balcan

[@mr.haroldthetoaster6263]

When your correction gets corrected

[@Hamsterdami]

smh my head

[@harrydowning8278]

It’s actually both

[@alexisarteev-salazar9247]

One of my grandfathers died in Kursk the other in Stalingrad and the husband of my great-grandmother (she remarried) fought and survived in Berlin.

[@PolishBehemoth]

Do any of your relatives have funny mustaches or have a problem with jews?

[@thehistoricalgamer]

When you say the Germans are hailed as liberators in the "Balkans" I assume you mean the "Baltic" states that the USSR occupied in 1940 (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania).

[@user-dp4ok9ox5w]

You mean that Soviet Union got them back since they were part of the Russian Empire still before 1917 and some of them never had even existed as countries? Occupation where their population exploded, with new factories and sea ports (that are being used to this day) being built? Then after 20 years since the end of their "occupation" their population has dropped by 20-30%.

[@levvy3006]

The Balkans hate Nazis

[@Sreck01]

Not all of balkan, NDH was a nazi puppet. They praised the invader and backstabbed Serbia.

[@user-ep9tp4sf8c]

@@user-dp4ok9ox5w all economic benefits, factories and the amount of population can't be worth of Stalin's repressions, executions, deportations and the loss of freedom and independence that the Baltic states and their native* people have suffered during the Soviet rule.** People of many small countries are not willing to compete for being strong and influential, instead they can be proud of their national identity and their way of life without necessarily possessing tons of nuclear misslies/factories/territories/tanks, etc. They just want to be independant and determine the way they live THEMSELVES because they can cope with this better than any foreign occupying power, because it's THEIR country and THEIR future. Moreover, many Russians are obsessed with the idea of "great Russia at any cost", even if they have to struggle for living. But any nation is its people, not a territory or national interests. So if Russia is superpowerful in military, resources and economics and has a big population and vast territories - this doesn't yet mean that Russia is successful. Successful is the country where people live happily and share a high level of life. Statistics doesn't matter, it's people's lives that matter. * primarily estonians, latvians and lithuanians. You are telling about the population explosion - but that was mostly due to newcoming Russian settlers, so this doesn't count a lot as a benefit ** Russians have suffered a lot as well - but this doesn't mean that making the Baltics to suffer along with Russians somehow justifies Stalin or lessens the degree of the Baltics' sufferings

[@mahiramerulislam3382]

Stop acting over Smart

[@WargamingEurope]

Aaaannd we are live! Thank you Extra Credits team for a wonderful presentation of history. We hope everyone enjoys this episode.

[@johnmills9388]

Dude, I'll check this game out just because you sponsored this channel. It shows you have good taste.

[@Nosgoroth]

+Wargaming Europe Thank you for this! I'll go try WoT now.

[@jaypillsbury843]

+Wargaming Europe Thanks for sponsoring this! I have to respect any developer who uses their game as a teaching opportunity. :)

[@Zen-rw2fz]

wot is awesome i downloaded it cuz of my shitty pc

[@nguyenthangthi3880]

of course (PS I'm a kid and I'm not trolling you

[@NikolaFilajdic]

There are a few major inaccuracies which should be addressed. Firstly, the commander of the 6th army (Friedrich Paulus) did not "refuse to surrender" as you've said, in fact the truth of the matter is quite the opposite, he beseeched Hitler to allow him to surrender, but was emphatically denied. As it were, he DID surrender anyway-- openly defying Hitler's orders so that he could save the remnants of the 6th. When Stalingrad was encircled, the pocket was eventually split into three, with the command network fragmented. The northern pocket (NOT commanded by Paulus) fought on until February 2nd, which is what might have led you to believe they refused to surrender, but they too DID surrender as well by that point. It's true though that the Russians did ask the Germans over loudspeaker to surrender, and to that, they did refuse, but again that was earlier on and not what you're talking about. I think you should make a point to correct this. It's really an affront to the dignity of all those who died at Stalingrad.

[@urbxy1954]

Nikola Filajdic Can you just be happy with what he tried to find out? I mean, you are being a little bit of a pain in the ass.

[@Chaika1974]

urbxy He isn't; The video was just miss leading and wrong.

[@kristophernekula5151]

Also, Paulus eventually turned traitor and worked with the Soviets, he eventually became the first general in the East German Army.

[@fu_ck1]

urbxy There's always a reason to correct misinformation, especially when talking about history. You could mind as well be given a fantasy book and be told it's real history and you'd probably believe it

[@ImperativeGames]

They surrendered when they starved and had no ammution. Most of the army died from starvation (POWs were so thin and sick that they died, ~95% of them died until the end of war againt ~30% of entire German POWs). They were getting a couple of pieces of bread each *day* for weeks in the Russian winter, fighting Soviet soldiers. Sick and starved, starved and sick... P.S. They got a taste of their own medicine - they decimated Leningrad & Stalingrad, millions of civillians.

[@MsErtwer]

The moral of the the story? Don't invade Russia kids, Napoleon tried it and it was his downfall as well.

[@103035icle]

Johny Etwer mongolains say otherwise.

[@MsErtwer]

Robert Harris They are the descendants of the Mongols. Russia is what is left of it.

[@103035icle]

Johny Etwer uh. Most everywhere is to some dgree decendent of the mongols. But they actualy went and raided and salightered everything there.

[@keraatkins7833]

í thought it was to be very well prepared when attacking Rússia. í mean had Napoleon and Hitler started earlier they could have been victorious.

[@robotube7361]

The Mongolians never fought Russia. They subdued Russian principalities. Once Russia was united - the Mongols were crushed. Nobody ever beat UNITED RUSSIA.

[@MT5647]

That's the type of sponsoring more companys should do. Just awesome!

[@jimmyyang5193]

+Misael Ramirez Or about the story of Vaqueros in both the Mexican and American frontier. Or of American immigration policy from the 1850s to the 1960s.

[@olofnoaksson1387]

+Reichtangle Wanna source that statement? If they have as you say, "pro soviet bias", whatever that means. A lot of people are biased against the nazis for being such assholes. It's not really anything weird about it. It doesn't make the soviets good, however we can count ourselves lucky they fought against the nazis. Just because ww2 is basically the story of how nazis did horrible things which they were punished for, doesn't mean that by mere mention of that fact ignores all the horrible things the west or soviets did. Or the japanese.

[@ernestogarciavera6469]

+Olof Noaksson soviet union winn alone the 2 world war

[@nikolanikolov7947]

+Reichtangle Found the nazi descendant. Poor you, Russia occupied your shit hole of a country for more than 40 years.

[@BillNyeTheBountyGuy]

+MT5647 Sponsoring education relevant content to your game should become common place.

[@ColegaBill]

WTF is that "And in the Balkans..." part? Oh, you mean Baltics. Indeed.

[@AndroidPhantom]

Balkans: the area of Europe east of Italy and south of Hungary (give or take). Includes Croatia, Macedonia, Greece, Albania, Serbia, etc

[@BlackWolf9988]

yeah they made an error there

[@kb17_17]

+AndroidPhantom Why you skipped Bulgaria ? The Balkan mountains are crossing the whole country.

[@irunnerftw6653]

Are you stupid?? Balkan is south Europe you dumb and there was fightning there

[@AndroidPhantom]

4393kb Etcetera or etc.: and others. There are more to name (Montenegro, Kosovo), but I needn't name them all to get the point across

[@justinleea2609]

No one can defeat Russia in the winter... except the mongols!

[@The_Daily_Tomato]

Que the Mongol-tage ;)

[@TheStargatefan1000]

Germany did actually defeat Russia during WW I. They even made a seperate peace with them. It's all about riling up the minorities against the Russians.

[@justinleea2609]

Unkraut That doesn't really count.

[@TheStargatefan1000]

Because?

[@coran4802]

Unkraut the didnt, the russians had their civil war, and wouldve continued to fight if there had been no civil war

[@SgtSoda]

“Operation Barbarossa” (shows arrows going from France to the Rhineland)

[@jameswxy1736]

You labeled Molotov and Ribbentrop as one another at 0:29, it should be the other way around.

[@raul-alexandrupetrescu4284]

Wow , i haven't even noticed nice job man

[@Pedro-yy2xj]

good job

[@pavelZhd]

I just want to point out that a great lack of competence in Soviet command in the beginning of the War, was not entirely due to purges Stalin made out of his bloodlust, of fear of opposition. A much greater role in this was due to a civil war thar raged in USSR a few decades bofere. Before USSR was even born, Russian army was loyal to Russian Emperor. And with Emperor being effectively dethroned by the time Soviets were grabbing the Power meant that many officers refused to serve Soviets. Or even worse -took arms against them. And beside this, common soldiers (who supported Soviets mostly) often killed their officers withour asking if those officers would support the new power - in anger for the massivelossesRussian Army took in first World War. So by the time Stalin got to power, he had not so many competent officers to begin with... So even without the purges, conpetence of Soviet Army during the initial stagesof the war would not be soaring. *** And on a side note. It alwyas astonish me why people never mentioned how much of the tactics used by Soviets to stall German winter offensive operations were actually learned by Russian from Finns, during the Winter War...

[@frog_man_ree]

I ain't reading all that

[@appropinquo3236]

Thats a good point the Soviets definitely took some lessons from the Finns, in terms of planning and strategy.

[@mhyc22]

@@frog_man_ree lazy

[@Preussensprinz]

​@@frog_man_reeit's less than a minute read

[@mightyfishbat8791]

0:15 Kursk was not the largest tank battle in history. That was Dubno/Brody, in 1941. 0:58 Soviet leadership was also struggling because of the large influx of new units, which would not have had enough officers even without the purges. 1:28 Baltic states, not Balkan states 3:24 The Reich was desperately short of oil and seizing Moscow may not have collapsed Soviet resistance. There is a good argument for Hitler's decision to seize the oilfields. 4:00 The Axis forces began hostilities with greater manpower than the Soviet Union, despite common myths. 4:45 The Soviets had not merely stalled the Wehrmacht at Moscow. In the first 9 months of the war the Axis sustained over a million casualties. 5:30 Stalingrad only one of many minor objectives in the 1942 campaign. It did not have great significance to the OKH until 6th army became bogged down there. 6:45 The Romanian forces were also accompanied by Italian and Hungarian forces.

[@belgarath6508]

THANK YOU!

[@dynastywarriorlord07]

@@belgarath6508 at 0:28, they got Molotov and Ribbentrop mixed up

[@arvojustice]

Thank you!!! Absolutely correct

[@vladimirputin.1067]

Anyone’s gonna talk about how he confused Molotov and Ribbentrop on 0:29 ?

[@extrahistory]

For those asking about the Justinian & Theodora series, it will continue airing as normal on Saturdays! These bonus episodes are just that - BONUS episodes!

[@donscottr]

hi just like you thank you for your work on Justinian and Theodora has inspired me to research the period.I have just started writing a fiction on the period.So thank you

[@ryankrebs9755]

More extra history? I am okay with this decision

[@m1ndf8ke]

+Extra Credits phew.. was worried for a sec there

[@isaacgr7314]

+Ryan Krebs I am more than okay with this.

[@isaacgr7314]

+donscottr that sounds awesome !!!

[@kingbyrd.1512]

5:19 that is adorable extra credits your artists are the best!

[@dorkfish1275]

*INTO THE MOTHERLAND THE GERMAN ARMY MARCH!*

[@airracer28]

sabaton?

[@meetingoftheminds5926]

oNE MILLION MEN AT WAR THE SOVIET WRATH UNLEASHEd

[@BruhBruh-bg5cz]

In the soviet union... Summer 1943...

[@airracer28]

@@BruhBruh-bg5cz tanks line up in thousands, as far the eye can see

[@brane4859]

PANZERS ON RUSSIAN SOIL, A THUNDER IN THE EAST

[@nicolasnechaevski5866]

2:30 "The holes in the leadership left by Stalin's purges were filled..." by Stalin lol.

[@TaercEum]

Yes, he realized that Zhukov would be the one to save his bacon. He saw that Zhukov was competent (rather than being an ideological appointee) after winning the Battle of Khalkin Gol in 1939.

[@AC-hj9tv]

Classic Stalin

[@Stephen-Fox]

Very awesome to see this sort of marketing, yes.

[@Stephen-Fox]

Misael Ramirez I'm hoping someone has a game they want EC to a video on the real world origins of some mythological origins of some creatures or gods for, so Extra Mythology can be born...

[@SUFHolbek]

+Misael Ramirez One of the ERBs was actually sponsored by Ubisoft. Blackbeard vs Al Capone, to celebrate the launch of Assasins Creed Blackflag

[@WargamingEurope]

+Gizensha Fox We do like mythology...

[@Hitsyfication]

+Misael Ramirez Epic Rap Battles? :P

[@eitkoml]

+Gizensha Fox Marketing is all right as long as it offers something of value. Not like most advertisements that are just horrible to watch.

[@bplup6419]

YES! YES! YEEEEEESSSSSSSSS! It should really be called The War for Kursk. I giggle about how insanely large that battle was. It's like two children taking all their plastic soldiers and toys and just mashing them together in the dirt making explosion noises.

[@BenignGamer]

If those two children and their plastic soldiers making explosion noises resulted in a total casualty count of 1,310,939 men, tanks, guns, and aircraft (not counting damaged vehicles).

[@dylanrodrigues]

Although usually, "toys" don't bleed or scream in pain or die gruesome deaths...

[@lathyrusloon]

Ford Prefect what? Really? Huh. Mine always did. You sure your toys weren't just defective?

[@dylanrodrigues]

Lathy Loon well, I did say "usually"...

[@URANOMNOM]

Whatefuck is wrong with you? Do you think it was a game for the soviets? It was a battle for survival! My family fought in Kursk and Leningrad and I am extremely proud of the soviet people

[@mr.matrix9723]

You changed Ribbentrop and Molotow 0:29

[@royalewithcheese7]

I'm glad I'm not the only one to notice

[@rizaldorizkyramadhan5850]

🤣

[@tzeentchvonsheo9868]

On purpose probably? Must be some kind of trolling.

[@williammartin9612]

You guys are easily my favorite channel on KZbin. I love the history, you guys really know how to weave a narrative. We’ll miss you Dan, you beautiful high-pitched bastard, God bless.

[@extrahistory]

We've teamed up with Wargaming to bring you an extra series of Extra History about World War II: The Battle of Kursk! Make sure you watch the additional video with a comment from James: bit.ly/1Pzy1k5

[@dragonkingofthestars]

+Extra Credits B.B.B.But, it's monday.

[@ReinAfterDark]

+dragonkingofthestars ssshhhh

[@willmueller4984]

Yay more extra history!!!!

[@midnightshaddow7612]

+Extra Credits You guys are still going to keep going with Justinian and Theodora one right?

[@johnmills9388]

This made my day. WW II Extra History on Monday! *grabs popcorn*

[@MrMrtvozornik]

What are you people talking about? Germans met as liberators? Mates, that would be only true maybe in far far west part of Yugoslavia. Greece fought Germans and Yugoslavia as a whole, sure, she didn't last a lot, got overrun and THEN you could see supports for Germans. Biggest supporters were Croatians and Slovakians, but on the other side, whole Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro was against Germans, from start of the war till end of it. Lets not depict it like people on Balkans were happy to ''get out of Soviet union regime'' cause it wasn't really like that. Sure, Yugoslavia didn't like Russia for simple reason, she was monarchy while S.U was filled with commies but after the war Yugoslavia became communistic so it's not really about that. Germans were NOT met with open hands as liberators. If that ever happened, that would be just in out most western parts of Yugoslavia. EDIT: Also,I hope you gonna mention a precious Russian spy in middle of Germany who grew up there and was pretending to be a German and even got rank of an officer and was going to marry a dougther of some bigger rank all while every day after work he would go to near by forest where he lived and report back to Russia. He was key point to tell S.U. where Germans will try to strike to save up that very 6th army. Imagine that, being behind the enemy, pretending you are one of them, even going to marry. And his future father-in-law made a slip about where attack is going to happen even though this particular rank shouldn't know it cause it was top secret and because of that information Russians knew exactly where to make bigger defenses to fight off Germans while they collaps from the other side.

[@spiritbond8]

+Stefan Kojadinov Bulgaria also aligned with the Reich

[@MrMrtvozornik]

antari And there's reason for it. Bulgarians held grudge over Serbia for taking Macedonia from them in Balkan wars. Macedonia (and by Macedonia I don't mean real Macedonia in Greece but country nowdays known as F.Y.R.M. as short for Former Yugoslav Republic Macedonia) was supposed to split in 3 ways, one Bulgaria, one Serbia and one to Greece, but Serbians deemed Bulgarians uneffective in war against Turks and decided they deserve 2/3 of the profit. Which was kinda right, cause Bulgarians didn't really do proper 33%, it was mostly Serbia and Greece but STILL a massive dick move. That happened just 30 years before WW2. Then Bulgaria made second war attacking Serbians for that part of Macedonia, but Serbians and Greece united and kicked Bulgaria's ass (almost literally). And cause of that, Bulgarians saw opportunity to side with side that Serbia was against, so they can reclaim some territories. WW2 is not ''out of the blue'' stuff, to really understand WW2 you gotta understand 40 years of history before that.

[@kb17_17]

+Stefan Kojadinov " ...but Serbians and Greece united and kicked Bulgaria's ass (almost literally) " or more like sneaky Romanians attacking from the North and stealing Northern Dobruja and the Turks coming back and invading Thrace from South-East.Yeah fighting on 4 fronts is not really fair.

[@maneatingcheeze]

+Stefan Kojadinov He misspoke. Meant Baltic not Balkans. Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia hated Soviet rule and wanted liberty, and believed that liberty would be obtained through Hitler.

[@MrMrtvozornik]

4393kb Fair? Sorry, haven't heard of that fairy tale. Life isn't fair. Bulgarians sneak attacked Serbia borders, Romanians sneak attacked Bulgaria borders. Does it really matter though? Bulgaria made a terrbile move when doing that, even if Greece and Romania would (by some miracle) not come to war, Serbia was still strong enough to fight them, I am not saying they would crush or anything, but it would be a war, that sneak attack wouldn't suddenly bring them victory. That's really not the point though, the point is about holding the grudge for it.

[@ayeemoto]

When you're a Wermacht soldier and you hear Soviet soldiers shouting "URA"

[@anabsolutemess8850]

Ураааааааа!

[@marshaloftheussr8239]

The Germans actually outnumbered the USSR at the front so saying the Germans culled the red army to the Wehrmacht's size would be incorrect or at best misleading. The human wave tactics and lack of strategic thinking of the USSR are a common and often deliberate misrepresentation made by western historians relying on Nazi sources and propaganda for their numbers. It's a shame to see this here. For anyone interested in a detailed and unbiased coverage of the eastern front I would recommend the channel TIK and star media's "the Great Patriotic War" documentary series.

[@jonathanh5762]

Not by 1942.

[@MagentiumPRIME]

Western sources literally say all of this lol

[@hagamapama]

Well you got the German tanks right for Barbarossa, the short barreled PzIV is a good representation of what they were armed with in 1941... unfortunately, you're using the T-34-85 for the Soviets and the T-34-85 came...somewhat later, IIRC the T-34-85 wasn't even present at Kursk, or if it was, it was in small numbers. The Soviets fought mostly with the T-34-76 at Kursk. The 85 first started showing up in numbers only after Operation Bagration. TL:DR You should be using the model of the T-34-76, which has a much smaller turret and a much shorter gun.

[@hagamapama]

Yeah, I was right. Kursk was 43, the T-34-85 started rolling off the assembly line in February of 44

[@blacklupos]

+hagamapama I noticed that too, but not everyone are tank nuts like us...

[@hagamapama]

Well this one's sponsored by Wargaming, so they're gonna get comments from those of us that are. :p The artist probably drew the first T-34 he/she saw on an Internet search which unfortunately happened to be a T-34-85

[@matt238a]

+hagamapama at least he has done proper tanks rather than a generic tank shape

[@hagamapama]

History is made of minutae.

[@SpectatorAlius]

How could anyone in the Balkans be "looking westward for salvation from the brutal Soviet regime? (1:35)" The Soviets did not rule anywhere in the Balkans. Communism had come to Hungary, but not yet to Romania or any other Balkan country. The only people in the Balkans I ever heard of welcoming the Germans were Bosnians and Croats, which is why the old resentments burst out again during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s as both Bosnians and Croats took arms against Serbs and vice versa.

[@Graczent.D]

He Meant Baltic States chill tf out lol

[@apocbandit9126]

SpectatorAlius infact the kosovar albanian communist leader began removing pro nationalist serbs and albanians and wanted to maintain brotherhood and unity and wanted to live with the serbs together in kosovo and the albanians protested on this

[@connorbranscombe6819]

@@Graczent.D Its a pretty big distinction lmao

[@Graczent.D]

@@connorbranscombe6819 So What they Mistook something and even Edited the Diffrence in so why is everybody going on about that when they know themselves

[@TyGuyMLG]

Thank you so much. I am working on a project for Global and this video really helped pick out the important parts of these events. I love this channel thanks guys!

[@Warrior00013]

When the story mentioned Stalingrad, I had to laugh. This story will forever echo through time as the time when Russia herself fought the great war.

[@Foureye15]

Could you do an episode on the finnish winter war? I find it really cool (no pun intended) how such a small country could withstand the soviet union for so long.

[@Foureye15]

Galaith100 Yes i know but it's still impressive that the Finns were able to hold of the soviets even if they were so incredibly outnumbered.

[@BenignGamer]

+Galaith100 I believe stupidity in terms of Russian planning for the war is a gross understatement. The only Generals (except for two) were basically Stalin's political friends who had no idea how an army was meant to function. They sent men in Khaki uniforms to fight in the white setting of winter, they sent men from Southern Ukraine to fight in a Finnish winter; many of those men had never seen snow before in their lives, and were suddenly waist deep in it in -40°C temperatures. They sent consistent suicide charges against Finnish positions, which, although lightly manned, were well equipped to fight infantry, especially with Soviet artillery firing on its own men. The Soviets also attempted to send tanks into central and northern Finland, where there were barely any roads, and Finns could chuck molotov cocktails and snipe officers at their leasure. Not to mention, the Soviets failed to adapt to the invention of the Molotov; which cost thousands of tank crews their lives.

[@BenignGamer]

+Benign Gamer In fact, the Soviets failed for the longest time to experiment with new tactics. Stalin adored the idea of the German Blitzkriegs, however when his armies failed to do that, they kept on doing what they failed at; this goes for all branches of the Red Army. The air force consistently bombed civilian centers, and failed to destroy most of the production, at the cost of hundreds of bomber crews (but not many fighter crews because the Soviet air force failed to send escorts). And I could go on and on, the Winter War was a mess for the USSR, and only ended when the Finns were effectively drowning in Russian bodies and out of all ammunition, with peace talks in Moscow, not Helsinki, as Stalin had hoped.

[@AgentClank]

+Foureye15 Finland is awesome, would love a section on Simo Hayha with that.

[@KaiserBob99]

+Galaith100 Meh. The Red Army back then was a 3rd rate military force

[@ElBandito]

Stalingrad? More like, Stallingrad, amirite? :p

[@WargamingEurope]

+El Bandito *slow claps*

[@RadierGummiWars]

slow claps

[@pacificstatesofamerica]

*Very slow claps*

[@agenerictemplarknight3724]

*Grabs Walther P38 and BANG....DED*

[@onik7000]

Well ) The "grad" means "city". So this is city named after Stalin.

[@tmwilligar]

To the Extra History and Extra Credits team: You are making a difference every day. You are an amazing crew

[@thatguyinthegroup2728]

"Hey, how big is the front we'll be fighting on?" 'Really big'

[@dragonkingofthestars]

I like how it's taken so long to get to world war 2, it's one of the most highly covered events in western history, so it's nice that you've covered lots of other interesting and esoteric topics like the South Sea Bubble before you got to the second world war.

[@cjgrovecj]

you forgot eastern prussia in the map

[@cjgrovecj]

And Wehrmacht is written with an h

[@umartdagnir]

+Admiral Ackbar They forgot a lot on this map. Soviet Union and Nazi Germany had a common border by the start of the German-Soviet war.

[@tibne2412]

Our maps can't withstand mistakes of that magnitude!!!

[@mergele1000]

+Dmitrij Bugajev I think they were going for the pre-war borders with that map. (Not entirely sure when the 3 baltic countries where annexed though)

[@cjgrovecj]

+mergele1000 eastern Prussia was german before the war too you know

[@somebody3143]

The kitty cat used to represent the surprise of the Soviets was awfully surprised!

[@FAAMAN841]

Great compilation of interesting facts. Love the World War II coverage. Thank you.

[@BlackWolf9988]

i love looking neutral at this war. one of my ancestor was fighting in stalingrad for the russians the other was fighting in france for germany.

[@AegixDrakan]

+BlackWolf9988 Those historical situations are always interesting. I have one half of my family who were civilians in Hungary dealing with the horrible stuff that went down there, and on the other side, I have a great grandpa who literally fought in the Battle of Verdun and only survived because of sheer blind luck. History is a funny thing when you think down to the level of individual troops and civilians involved

[@dasdasdus]

I try to look the same since I had two brothers in my family that were on the same eastern front. One on each side.

[@vonhaig]

+BlackWolf9988 I remember meeting a very nice American man in Berlin who had fought in the Vietnam war, and whose father had been a conscript in the Wehrmacht. We had a very interesting conversation about how soldiers are in a very real way non-political, in his opinion both he and his father had fought in morally unjustified wars but he argued that neither of them were responsible, and that the average soldier in every war is functionally the same. Sam Pekinpah's film Cross of Iron really captures that.

[@BlackWolf9988]

JohnTheGreat7822 you can't say it like this sure 75% of the german army was fighting on the easter front but still the western front wasn't a joke (d-day and other battles just saying).

[@SawedOffLaser]

Even more history? I'll take it.

[@frankcolon3005]

That moment that the choice of animation makes it so easy to not have to a certain symbol prominent in an episode! love the series!

[@Freedomfighter205]

In to the motherland the German army marched

[@namingisdifficult408]

BuckSlinger02 and failed

[@renzoberzabatneyradelacruz9733]

Comrades stand side by side to stop the nazi charge

[@agenerictemplarknight3724]

And our brave soldiers from the motherland marched to Berljin (Russian launguage of Berlin)

[@friendcomputer5276]

One million men at war, Soviet wrath unleashed!

[@texannationalist5887]

Fields of Prokorovka Where the heat of battle burned

[@WorasLT]

World of Goldammo Tanks.

[@MaxHDAvenger]

+Ratticus Finch depends, strong frontal and rear armor but flat and not very good side armor as well a 150mm howitzer.

[@WorasLT]

Manuel Fernandez Also slow and size of a map.

[@GearyDigit]

+Ratticus Finch Because you're hitting it from the front and letting it angle its armor.

[@ProvidenceNL]

+Geary implying you ALWAYS have a choice to flank them.

[@WorasLT]

Providencenl Not in those maps :D

[@extrahistory]

Part 2 is now live! Time to take a close look at the tanks and field conditions that would play crucial roles in the Battle of Kursk. Watch: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5WuY4afosSNiLc

[@Yorvics]

Have you seen the documentary soviet storm war in the east ( I think that's what it called ) it shows of the conflict with Russia from the binging of the war till the end. It is really cool you guys should see it

[@G.O._MEDIA]

plz wittman video

[@bthsr7113]

I'd like them to cover the African front at some point. And the Italian front too.

[@nickthegreek1861]

Im proud that my great grandfather fought heroically in the battle of kursk 🇷🇺🇷🇺

[@nikolauz3162]

As you should bro

[@Mr_Geo]

Is your great grandfather Argentinian by any chance.

[@luigimrlgaming9484]

@@Mr_Geoobviously not

[@historycenter4011]

1. you look awesome 2. that is the cutest Hitler ever

[@alexiarai955]

Did you really just say that

[@MikeJones-qn1gz]

Little correction the commander of the 6th Army, Field Marshal Fredrick Paulus, was orderd to fight to the last man by Hitler and as a gesture to encourage him to commit suicide, when it was realized that the army was lost, rather than be captured Hitler had Paulus promoted to Field Marshal because no German officer of that rank was ever captured to that point but in response Paulus himself organized the surrender of his remaining forces in the Stalingrad pocket and would spend the rest of the war in a Soviet POW camp. Hitlers order to stand his ground and fight to the last man offended him so much that he allowed himself to be captured with what was left of his army as an act of defiance against Hitler. Other than that love to see Extra credit doing this and cant wait to see more, keep it up.

[@ol-si4lx]

i love this videos my dream job now is a history professor and I'm getting super smart because of you thank you thank you so much.

[@CMDRFandragon]

Kursk, largest tank battle in history, after Dubno-Brody.

[@pumpkin2477]

What are you talking about? Wasn't Kursk much bigger? Im sorry if Im getting anything wrong all the sources I find say that

[@jadenfairbanks7794]

Bruh u be on crack

[@SC-lc5wg]

Wtf is Dubno-Brody ??

[@AsianWarsaw]

Man I'm super happy you guys did a session about the Battle of Kursk. It's one of my favorite battles of World War 2, along with the Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of the Bulge.

[@suckyourdeadnan4805]

You’ve got favourite battles it’s not a game it was real life millions died

[@AVK1988]

0:48 Operation Barbarossa (the invasion) start the 22 of June (at 4am) not the 21.

[@Mrtweet81]

Andrei Khakhaev Saved me the comment.

[@khalassword7885]

4 Am for Soviets, other time for Americans and Britans

[@justinian-the-great]

@@khalassword7885 Yes, but rule is that invasion date is the one by which battling countries or other forces count their time. Or should we some American dates call by our dates? Should 9/11 be 9/10 or 9/12?

[@thatdude3938]

@@justinian-the-great 11/9, actually, day goes before month almost everywhere

[@Hey-zi4fw]

More stories about famous generals and battles and armies I really enjoy videos like that

[@Bee-od1vb]

I flipping love this channel. Its so interesting!

[@Akouryo-]

Long time watcher of Extra History/Credit, first time commenting and I absolutely love this bonus series already. As a cartoonist I absolutely LOVE every bit of art in all of your guys videos, that and I really like the little pop ups you've got going, allows for additional information that isn't important enough to be featured in the video but is interesting to still be conveyed and I'm absolutely all for that. All in all, fantastic work from everyone working on this and everything else, can't freaking way for Part 2

[@historycenter4011]

So I went into history class and get my homework and I see in one question what are the 3 key battles that won the war for the Allies and one thing I wrote was the battle of Stalingrad but that was incorrect and I was extremely surprised. the battle of Stalingrad was the key battle for the war. it showed how the Nazis can be defeated. the answers showed how America and Eurocentric the history classes are and if you agree with me that Stalingrad was key for victory like me then reply and like this comment

[@frogchip6484]

What were the actual answers? If Midway and Leyte Gulf get in then it's American Bias.

[@FalkenThunder]

you can't objectively say which battle was the most important. It's subjective.

[@kokolorus2]

It wasnt just one battle. War was lost for germany in october 41. The plan was to surrender the SU in 10 weeks, there was no plan B.

[@sellers737]

idk is Stalingrad considered a battle? I’d say it’s more of a siege or campaign. A “battle” doesn’t usually last for years. I’m probably nitpicking but that may also be why your answer was considered wrong

[@randycheow4268]

The battles that I will pick is Midway, Battle of Britain, El Alamein and the ones that I would add just to be save are Kursk, the Guadalcanal campaign and Stalingrad

[@sentinelvortex8433]

Thanks for the info about the Bismarck, I wrote a short story titled "An Hour Aboard the Bismarck", about a German man aboard the Bismarck during the 50 minutes it was shelled by the English Royal Navy.

[@familyrics2919]

Me and my cousins has repeated this saga over a dozen and 3 times we never get bored. This is our 14 th time watching this again

[@BrightHelix]

Huh, when you guys said you were being sponsored to do a WWII episode, I expected it to be from Paradox, since they're making a new Hearts of Iron

[@paisleepunk]

Right after this, Paradox sponsored a series about the economics of WWII.

[@FlyingJetpack1]

I'm surprised you guys didn't mention Russia's tactic of 'scorched earth'. By burning all crops, oil rigs and supplies every time they lost a front, they exausted the nazi's ability to resupply. Not to mention how hard it was already for them to get supplies from the rear, as germany was far away from the scene. I wanted to also mention another thing that you slightly hinted at, but i'm sad that you didn't draw it 4:59 At the harsh winters of russia, the fuel of the tanks reached to a freeze, and made tanks come to a halt. They had to use blow torches to heat up the fuel tanks or waste a lot of fuel by keeping the engines running.

[@geraldvelie6724]

this video is full of info helped in a important project :)

[@DaxRaider]

my grandfather fought there (on the german side in the wehrmacht) so i got alot of informations first hand, rly intresting to hear a person who was rly there ^^

[@razeul]

I think you mixed ribbentrop and molotov in the photo

[@TheShadowWolfie]

They also completely misunderstood the geopolitics behind it. They seem to be under the impression that it was some kind of alliance, rather than a desperate measure taken after being denied help from the Allies.

[@waldemarmichel]

+Razeul Yeah. Completely stupid that they mixed the two up. Right at the beginning!

[@michalpavlat3943]

After long years of friendly cooperation both the dictators decided to sign a formal treaty. Publicly it was announced as a "non-aggression pact", but in fact they divided Eastern Europe between both their empires of terror. And then they attacked Poland together and started the war. Why should Stalin seek the help of Allies in 1939?! Namely against his best foreign friend Hitler? Its an ridiculous idea really. :o) It's easy to find the facts, no need to repeat the old nazi/commie propaganda. Pls see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pact .

[@maury11196]

Michal Pavlát Let me guess, Polish, right? I don't know what kind of history they teach you over there but anyone with basic knowledge is aware of Stalin's efforts to march against Hitler and even get the British and French on board. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/3223834/Stalin-planned-to-send-a-million-troops-to-stop-Hitler-if-Britain-and-France-agreed-pact.html Ironically, because the Polish refused the idea of Soviet troops crossing through Poland to attack Germany these plans never came to fruition and they ended up being split in half by both Axis and Soviets.

[@MrLolx2u]

It wasn't Stalin that seek help from the Allies 1st but it was Churchill who warned Stalin that Hitler was amassing forces in the Balkans for a strike on the Russian heartlands and when it did, it spiralled out of control then Stalin knew that all the support he had given to Hitler was all for naught thus he switched side on the behest of Britain and worked with them. Which turned out well...

[@stopnow8752]

what the hell is that map at ? 5:11 one that is not Germany two that is a map of France invading Germany ? what the hell ?

[@cigbhungus3359]

That map is why the Germans never took Moscow, they got lost on the way there

[@Art210495]

Slightly innacurate maps are a local ongoing meme. Just like Walpole.

[@frogchip6484]

It's 6D chess, they get D-Day'd by invading Russia

[@user-wt3qs2df3e]

very detailed and well illustrated! wonderful!

[@NathanTAK]

The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact? I hear the cocktails at the signing were wonderful; the cocktail mixer was on _fire_ that day.

[@Cometstarlight]

YES, I was hoping you'd cover a WWII story!

[@CJ1777]

I thought Barbarossa began on June 22?

[@heinrichb]

2:10 Except that didn't happen. You are likely refering to the population of Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian SSRs, as those were the places where that occurred. The popular opinion about Germans had no changed. For Germans, Lithuanians, Estonians and Latvians were not in fact subhuman (or Untermeschen), unlike the Slavic population of the USSR. Not only that, but the Baltic population would also see Germans as liberators due to the fact that their countries got annexed back in 1940 per the terms of the Molotov-Rubbentrop pact. By letting the Soviets take over the Baltic states, Germans ensured that the locals would see them in good light once the war between the two would've started.

[@heinrichb]

Except that's still wrong. The Baltic states did not suffer from mass executions because they didn't have that many Slavs living there to begin with.

[@Hansen1918]

Yo Heinrich, u a national socialist or a fascist?

[@heinrichb]

Neither.

[@Hansen1918]

A shame

[@heinrichb]

Why the hell would I want to be a leftist?

[@XKsavX666]

0:31 Ribbentrop is the man on the left standing and Molotov is seated signing the pact

[@ABC-ui7uq]

30 seconds into this video and I died when I saw that you labeled Ribbentrop as Molotov and Molotov as Ribbentrop

[@ArchArturo]

Now watch this video with Sabaton playing in the background (I recommend 'Price of a Mile' 'Into the fire' and 'Stalingrad').

[@nanaya7e433]

+ArchArturo and I recommend Panzerkampf.

[@Nobody-tu5wt]

Quality,quality,quality concent with such cute execution

[@NixiePixie22]

love your vids I really like history!! ^^ could you make vid(s) of Finland in WW2? .w.

[@marvelfannumber1]

Since when was the Soviet Union supposed to be part of the axis as implied? Secondly why is Denmark a part of the Third Reich on the map and why is East Prussia mysteriously absent? Not to mention mixing up the Baltics with the Balkans.....

[@puccipuu1797]

You make the video them ffs

[@giannis_m]

@@puccipuu1797 A history video should not misrepresent history. Corrections for mistakes are a necessity.

[@thisishowirelax148]

Please, please, PLEASE cover the Persian Wars (479 BCE) or the Peloponnesian War! I love Extra History and as a Classics major it would be amazing.

[@HazyFelix]

only it was 22nd of june,4 am.EXCELENT XTRA HISTORY

[@whoareyouyouareclearlylost323]

You guys deserve an award for this!

[@somepretentiousguy3492]

3:08 Hitler giving the victory V? Seems legit.

[@simongreve]

As a danish bloke I am not sure how comfortable I am with Denmark being labeled as nazi germany on that map :P

[@jonaemo9314]

+simongreve Im not happy about it either, but its true and you know it.

[@cjgrovecj]

+Jona Emo yeah, the even show slowakia as part of the Reich (you can argue about that ) but forgot the until 1945 german Eastern Prussia

[@simongreve]

Jona Emo How so? We were occupied but none of our territory was ever officially annexed as far as I know. We never became a part of germany, none of our military ever helped germany and we kept sovereign rule for most of the occupation, specifically disbanding our government when the occupation started demanding too much of us. There is no way denmark being a part of nazi germany is true.

[@cjgrovecj]

+simongreve "sovereign rule" ha ,good one

[@BlackWolf9988]

+simongreve well the wehrmacht wasnt only german there were thousands of non germans in the army including Denmark

[@oscar_eslava_]

Let me point (if nobody has yet) that in 0:29 the names of Ribbentrop and Molotov are swapped. You've got a nice, comprehensible and funny to watch channel. Thanks!

[@daimyokupopoo9500]

Ahhh I watched a documentary about this battle such a brutal fight. So many tanks were left behind when they broke down.

[@u.h.forum.]

Brody was the largest tank battle ever

[@JustAGuyWhoLikesStuff.]

Is there a joke I'm missing?

[@u.h.forum.]

Nicholas Hakala no, the battle of Dubno Brody was the largest tank battle of the war, taking place in 1941

[@JustAGuyWhoLikesStuff.]

Ok. interesting

[@kevindevoe7338]

Stop it!!! You are making me want to play HOI3.

[@mergele1000]

+Kevin Devoe Stay strong, that *thing* eats time like crazy.

[@tomkitchen9269]

Kevin Devoe iii

[@ybbetter9948]

*hoi4

[@someguy6651]

Victoria is the better series

[@DrunkenJoeh]

HoI 4 wasn't even released when he posted this comment

[@Jesu-s0967]

2:50 Those are T-34-85s which where not made till 1944

[@warsazk1014]

man i was to a esa for world war 2 and this made me leand so fast

[@evilcuteaardvark]

The French invasion of Germany failed horribly at 5:10 xD Also I think that you mistake the Baltic states for the Balkans at a few places. The countries in the Balkans had already joined or been subjugated by Germany prior to Barbarossa. The Baltic states had been annexed by the Soviets in 1940 due to the Molotov - Ribbentrop pact :)

[@gaycat]

4:00 i think it is spelled as Wehrmacht... (?)

[@Nate9273]

+nx4 You are goddamned right.

[@jacksons9546]

They're not speaking German so they're allowed to not use the "v" Do you expect people to pronounce paris as "pahri"? Mecca as makkah? Mexico as meheeco?

[@geraldvelie6724]

Really funny video lots of info for me thanx EXTRA CREDITS!!! :)

[@shaunlevin5081]

Great video. You did what many people did not and explained how a major reason the Germans did not take Moscow was because of supply lines.