The Defence of Stalingrad

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[@st.denysthemartyr791]

Anyone who can sit in front of a camera and keep a straight face while saying, "Operation Uranus called for two powerful thrusts" is a true professional. Bravo, Simon.

[@Warhawk76]

That he was able to do that makes him a legend. I can't even watch it without cracking up!

[@Maxislithium]

HOW MANY TAKES?! THE WORLD MUST KNOW.

[@alaric_]

@@Maxislithium One. Just one.

[@badluck5647]

I'm imagining Sam, the memeologist from Brain Blaze, is disappointed at the missed opportunity.

[@johnyoung4163]

@@badluck5647 golden opportunity for the butt plug meme

[@minervacuervo4662]

“Shockingly Hitler wasn’t a man of his word” is peak British sarcasm. Thank you Simon and the writers, whoever they are

[@arthas640]

The whole molotov ribbentrop pact was hilarious. Its was like 2 cellmates each waiting for the other to fall asleep first so he could rape the other. Stalin was desperate to get german technology and spy on german tactics while Hitler needed someone with even fewer moral scruples them himself so he could test said technology and tactics somewhere, and they signed their pact in polish blood

[@arthas640]

@Ewan Callister Stalin was inept but it's unlikely he ever thought Hitler would abide by the pact. Hitler was rabidly anti-communist and Stalin was rabidly anti-fascist. They'd worked together since they were both ideologically isolated and they both knew that the Western Allies were a bigger threat, and both needed to rearm in secret. Stalin had vast tracts of land that no western observer and few western spies could penetrate and his authoritarian rule and state terror allowed him to keep anyone away from testing grounds and keep their mouths shut about anything they saw, but his country was laughably backwards compared to the rest of Europe. Hitler meanwhile had plenty of western observers and spies in his country but had some of the worlds best scientists and engineers. They both had what the other needed so they worked together. Stalin thought he could beg, borrow, buy, and steal tech from the Germans and with his spies, and like many Russian empires before and after him (even like Putin recently) he fell into a common trap with autocrats: he severly overestimated both his own personal power and listened to the sycophants around him when they reported on how work was progressing. He thought his purges had left his army with a united purpose when it actually left them weakened and terrified into inaction. An ongoing problem with the Soviets too was that since the leaders set unreasonably high work goals while also cutting supplies, food, and laborers it forced factories, mines, farms, etc to lie about their output so the higher ups thought things were doing far better than they were. He probably thought his army was stronger then it really was and thought he could rearm faster then it was capable of. Hitler meanwhile was in a similar predicament. He routinely overestimated both his own tactical/strategic genius and his armies ability to fight, as well as overestimating his peoples loyalty to him. Commanders, especially towards the end, often disobeyed his orders or "creatively interpreted" them, which worked fine during the earlier parts of the war when he had highly trained soldiers and capable officers but when those got exhausted or were otherwise unavailable commanders either followed the stupid, suicidal orders or completely ignored commands and stayed put. Another big motivator for Hitler to break the pact that Stalin hadn't foreseen (for reasons previously mentioned) was the Winter War. Stalin performed so poorly that Hitler was certain the USSR was teetering on the edge of collapse, especially since they'd also been suffering famine after famine for decades. Hitler likely would have waited longer to go to war with the USSR and focused on the Western Allies first but decided to strike before he'd defeated the British, fully defeated the French, conquered any real European colonies, or fully consolidated the territory he'd taken.

[@asimhusain8087]

Adolph Hitler was inflexible and couldn't listen to anyone like a megalomaniac

[@williamsherman1942]

@Ewan Callister Stalin wasn’t inept, he saw Hitler for what he was. He just didn’t expect Hitler to start a second front, one thing the predicted wrongly since Hitler was absolutely nuts.

[@47Mortuus]

I don't get the joke - guess I'm too educated about Hitler to find it funny, since he truly was a man of his word. He even announced the Holocaust and promised it would happen. Get a clue.

[@sibire8284]

The street is no longer measured by meters but by corpses... Stalingrad is no longer a town. By day it is an enormous cloud of burning, blinding smoke; it is a vast furnace lit by the reflection of the flames. And when night arrives, one of those scorching howling bleeding nights, the dogs plunge into the Volga and swim desperately to gain the other bank. The nights of Stalingrad are a terror for them. Animals flee this hell; the hardest stones cannot bear it for long; only men endure.

[@ak203]

Superbly vivid language. Who wrote it?

[@ImperialLegionTV]

Source? Incredible excerpt.

[@shouphf]

Google says Max Hastings, Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945

[@djquinn11]

That is a fantastically written description

[@johnwolf2829]

According to the series World At War (1966), it was written by a German officer that was at Stalingrad. Great series, I highly recommend it. But if you want to know the full truth about Stalingrad, and have days of free time to kill, watch what TIK is doing, right here on KZbin

[@Hitdablunt23]

“Operation Uranus called for two powerful thrusts” lmfaoooo

[@Chef_PC]

…after flanking around the sides and meeting up behind the Germans. Lol

[@worldoftancraft]

What an Ideal way for making a show. Combine not propaganda + foo_nie features of English's not_rerarded pronouncings.

[@Pingolinou]

Moscow was saved not by winter but a mix of having fresh very well trained troops from Siberia after they had received confirmation that Japan won't invade and that Zhukov came to the scene to re organize the army. This caught the germans completely by surprise as they thought that the red army lacked any reserves to push them back. Then the stretch of their supply lines were a factor.

[@elgatoconbolas]

I understand that the Battle of Khalkhin Gol where Japan was utterly defeated by Zhukov himself, sealed the Manchukuo frontier and put and end to japanese ambitions towards USSR.

[@seanmccarty1176]

This may be a bit less of a factor but most German soldiers were armed with K98 Mauser rifles. Their actions were crippled by the gun pull freezing solid in the bolts. The Russians had experience with this problem and added gasoline to their gun oil.

[@gutzzgutzz6795]

It was the worst most brutal winter in over 140 years...very ironic timing. Yes it indeed crippled the wehrmacht.

[@lif3andthings763]

The soviets kept a million men on the border with Japan the whole war im pretty sure.

[@arthas640]

People love to overstate the effect winter had on the war, as if soviets weren't dealing with the exact same climate and werent dropping like flies since they had even less food and fuel. If it was all about the cold then Hitler would have just pulled back or hunkered down until the thaw and then blitzkrieg to the Pacific in the spring

[@eugeneoliveros5814]

“The Sound of the mortars, the music of Death! We’re playing the Devil’s Symphony! Where the Violins are Guns, Conducted from Hell!!!” - Stalingrad, Sabaton

[@Ghent2007]

Nice to meet you!

[@gadick]

"Stalin's fortress on fire Is this madness or hell"

[@r77madder]

Kursk fortifications could qualify as a Mega Project...

[@joshuasinger8385]

Kursk was brushed aside by Stalin's steamroller

[@DanteKenchi]

@@joshuasinger8385 He means operation 'citadel'. Russia had fortified the Kursk region to defend against germans 1943 offensive that failed because of the fortifications.

[@edge1247]

@@DanteKenchi sheer soviet will biggest tank battle in human history.

[@joemiller9931]

@@DanteKenchi Yes. They knew about Zitadelle in advance, and had anti-tank trenches, mine fields, artillery, and tanks ready to deal with the attack.

[@grapeshot]

I remember a movie called The Beast about a Soviet tank crew in Afghanistan. And the tank commander talked about how when he was 8 years old he took part in the defense of Stalingrad. And how they used to lower him down with a rope and he would stick Molotov cocktails underneath the manifolds of the Nazi tanks. They said they start calling him Tank Boy. He said he took out a lot of Nazi tanks.

[@polreamonn]

That's a good show.

[@michaelhowell2326]

That's definitely on any tanker's shortlist. For some reason I think you already know this.

[@nigeh5326]

Great movie

[@ratagris21]

Tank Boy!!! Tank boy!!!

[@grapeshot]

@@ratagris21 oh yeah I remember that part.

[@stephenphillip5656]

The bombing of Stalingrad to rubble at the start of the battle played right into the Russian defender's hands as it robbed the German tank forces of their one significant advantage - mobility. It also forced the Wermacht into fighting hand-to-hand urban warfare, something they'd never trained for. There's many "turning points" in WW2, Stalingrad (& the Russian victory at Kursk 5 months later) I rate amongst the most important, certainly on the Eastern Front.

[@blueberrypirate3601]

Greatest clash of ideology since the Thirty Years War.

[@ExarchGaming]

it wasn't one of the, it was the most important. 2/3rd of the axis forces were at stalingrad, the USSR snapped the spine of the Wehrmact war machine, and they had hundreds of thousands of soldiers surrender after they were encircled. They made the Nazis pay for every inch they took in gallons of blood. After Kursk The Axis forces in europe didn't win another battle, and it was full steam ahead for Berlin. The second most important battle of the war was of course the Ardennes Forest. The Battle of the Bulge. The American and other allied landings at Normandy made sure that they couldn't pull the significant amount of forces they had to slow Stalin down.

[@ExarchGaming]

We're often taught here in America, that we did everything, and we won the war single handedly. We saved Britain, and liberated France. But the Soviet contribution is often downplayed to the point of getting little mention outside of stalingrad. a byproduct of mcarthyism.

[@barrymccokiner7559]

I can regurgitate something I heard on a documentary too

[@benallen7704]

@@barrymccokiner7559 Then do it.

[@blakemuller1258]

Suggestions: Illinois & Michigan Canal connecting Mississippi River to Great Lakes, Sears Catalog & its impact, Gateway Arch in St Louis, and Sears Tower.

[@BFSilenceDogood]

Asian carp!

[@unsmilyman]

Damming the Columbia river in Washington and Oregon! Hanford nuclear plant! Building the space needle!

[@kevinfreeman3098]

If I didn't know better I'd think you were digging up local history which would locate you somewhere in about North Central Illinois.

[@BFSilenceDogood]

West side of Michigan (here). Asian carp have no natural predators in Lake Michigan and are a result of the channel. Also chefs can't seem to make them into anything that tastes good.

[@kevinfreeman3098]

@@BFSilenceDogood fish and dogfood is about all I'm aware of, well fertilizer, that's it as far as major industry goes. I was referring to the o.p. as far as location goes.

[@misledpoet]

"Operation Uranus called for two powerful thrusts" I can't believe he didn't go all business blaze and crack up laughing

[@tailssonicteam1604]

I mean this is an edited video. There's bound to be outtakes of him cracking up 😂

[@simul8rduude]

@@tailssonicteam1604 and knowing Simon there's something in there where he says "they went deep" before eventually making a cocaine reference. 😂

[@megaprojects9649]

@@tailssonicteam1604 Hahahaha actually that one just went right over my head. Whooosh

[@nucleargandhi101]

".... And meet BEHIND the German forces"

[@woodenseagull1899]

That must have felt painful!

[@timmystwin]

An actually well researched video on Stalingrad - this is surprising, most just repeat Wehraboo myths. The winter may have been harsh, but the real reason they avoided Moscow was they simply couldn't take it. Their panzer divisions had done literally all the fighting, so while on paper had won every engagement, some were so shattered they were basically infantry divisions. Losing 1 man to every 4 Russians seems all well and good, until you realise those 4 Russians were conscripts, and that one man was an elite Panzer crewmember. Whose crew no longer has a tank. Combine that with the Red army moving forces to the flanks, they had to stop. Stalingrad etc had to be taken first, to help shore up said flanks. (Which was ultimately always the plan.) The units that got to Moscow were scouts, and the group was by no means capable of taking it. By the time the Siberian soldiers arrived, due to the Russian/Japanese non aggression pact, it was never going to be taken. I love that you mentioned the 1077th - far too few know of their heroism. It's yet another example of women doing a job to an insane degree during the war that people often forget. I wish things like BFV had gone in to that instead of making shit up. You said Stalingrad was the turning point - at the time of the 1077th delaying the Panzers, there weren't even many citizen militias, letalone Red army units. The Germans could literally have waltzed in virtually unopposed. The 1077th, and other militias, held off for more militias to form and red army units to arrive, so they quite literally saved the city. While I don't think the Germans would ever have won, so I don't think it changed the ultimate outcome, it's amazing how few know of this in such a key battle. Stalin's order 227 wasn't really followed very much. Killing a retreating, capable, loyal, soldier was just madness. They can live to fight again and cause yet more carnage, and quite often would just be rolled in to the inevitable counterattack in places like Stalingrad. If you retreated for good reason you wouldn't be shot. Do it too much and you might, but blocking battalions were only really a thing for penal troops - normal troops were more valuable alive. The myth of the conscripts not having weapons come from the event portrayed in Enemy at the gates - during the actual crossing the rifle divisions sent across did not have heavy weapons with them. They had weapons, but no mortars (at first), no artillery etc. This slowly morphed in to them having no weapons, but in reality they were heavily armed - because again, an equipped armed soldier that succeeds is far better than just sending him to die unequipped. The battle didn't end just because Paulus surrendered - there were some, often quite large, pockets of Germans who fought on in some cases for months - they thought the Russians would kill them (and in the case of small pockets were often correct) so many either fought to do as much damage as possible, or went underground and tried to fight their way out. From what I've read, very few were successful.

[@axentic]

I agree to every word you put in here. Regarding the blocking regiments - that was more a motivating tool rather than punishing. During 4 years of war less than 5,000 were shot or executed as the result of these regiments activities, which is a fraction of the number of people lost by Germans to friendly fire.

[@Vandil_the_Rogue]

A well-reasoned comment?! Oh, it's the end times for sure! /s (Thanks for the perspective!)

[@davidnemoseck9007]

The no one step back thing has been taken out of contexts. For example, if you attacked, and it failed, you were allowed to go back to your starting place. And it was mostly aimed at officers and commizars because they were giving unautherized orders to retreat. And agree with what was said about routed troops. The vast amount of time, they were just rounded up and sent back to their units. Another interesting reason for Germans failure at Stalingrad, is that the 6th Army wasn't getting the reinforcements it needed. If you looked at the numbers, all the other armies were getting the reinforcements they needed to make up for their loses, while the 6th Army never got anywhere near they needed as replacements. Want more indept info on this battle, look of TIK here on youtube.

[@billd.iniowa2263]

I have to correct you on one point @Timmystwin. You must be a younger guy, because the story of Soviet troops going into battle unarmed goes way way back. "Enemy At The Gates" just portrayed that myth. Probably because it has been so popular for ages. I first heard it in the 1980s at a wargaming club day. -- In 1941 the Soviets were right in the middle of a huge reorganizing effort. Men were sent to a place and their equipment to another. There were tank companies that had little to no ammo. If they had some ammo there was no fuel. Drivers who only had a few hours of training, etc... You get the picture. I've even heard that once the invasion began, there Were Soviet officers sending out recon missions... not to find the Germans, but to find out where their own troops were! -- Well, you got the rest pretty much right, near as I know anyway, so good job and thanx for the input. I like reading the comments almost as much as watching the videos! :-)

[@timmystwin]

I'll clarify - while low supply was a known thing, the idea of it happening often stems from mistranslations or exaggerations of that event, because Russian, and German, reports at the time suggested they were lacking heavy equipment/weapons. Not because it wasn't there, they just couldn't get it across the river. Enemy at the gates portrayed the myth as it was retelling that event, but in reality they were heavily armed all things considered. Grenades, smg's etc.

[@harryobriensmith40]

Why is it whenever im about to crash (at like 4am, jesus), you've put out an absolute banger of a video

[@BrandyHoelscher]

Simple. They’re all absolute bangers. 👍

[@piccalillipit9211]

How did the next day go???

[@harryobriensmith40]

@@piccalillipit9211 perfectly fine, 3 hours sleep and I was golden

[@alexbowman7582]

After the Russian encirclement the Germans blamed their allies, the Romanians, and Hungarians for the predicament. The Hungarians pointed out that of 4 of their senior officers killed 3 had died in hand to hand combat.

[@Strothy2]

"Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight. If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve. Officers and men alike will put forth their uttermost strength. Soldiers when in desperate straits lose the sense of fear." - Sun Tzu on the Art of War

[@xerothedarkstar]

Smashing the pots, eh? Basically creating a cornered animal and a shaped charge all in one.

[@billd.iniowa2263]

Been hearing that one alot lately.

[@chrisyorke6175]

Did Sun Tzu write a chapter on how to get out of a siege when your army is starving, out-gunned and out-numbered? By the start of 1943, Paulus' demoralized remnants were in such desperate straits they couldn't fight to save their lives.

[@eriktempelman2097]

If you want to get a feel for this siege, I recommend "Life and Fate" by Vassily Grossman. The siege of Stalingrad plays a prominent role in that novel. Warning: it is a tough book to read. Very tough. But strangely and universally rewarding those who pull through.

[@trooperdgb9722]

@Rachel Pinter That was Vasily Zaitzev...and the movie was only loosely based on the facts... more on the "legend". Which is fair enough! (it wasn't a doco!)

[@BartAnderson_writer]

A life-changing novel

[@timjaeger6589]

Easily the greatest book I’ve ever read

[@ARIXANDRE]

Stalingrad never gets old. It's just fascinating carnage.

[@SitInTheShayd]

Neither do the people who lived there in '42

[@seanmccarty1176]

It was also the deadliest battle in human history.

[@krisztianwolf8668]

@@seanmccarty1176 specifically speaking, yes the deadliest battle, but the Siege of Leningrad was more destructive and deadly

[@tobystewart4403]

Referring to the sixth army in Stalingrad as "sacrificial lambs" is a truly amazing use of language. It is not often a lamb forces its way into a temple, attempts to lay waste to everyone in it, and is then sacrificed. That, I suggest, is a rare lamb indeed.

[@StealthyDead]

Those are some mighty high words of defense of Nazis. The 6th army he is referring to is the Germans. The Nazi Germans. Not Stalin, even though he was horrendously brutal as well. The Nazis were on another level. And here you sit praising them and being offended that he called them sacrificial lambs. I think that says a whole, whole lot about you, Toby Stewart.

[@brett4264]

"The Art of War" says that if an army is placed with their backs to the wall, they will fight like crazy.

[@Strothy2]

"Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight. If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve. Officers and men alike will put forth their uttermost strength. Soldiers when in desperate straits lose the sense of fear." to be precise

[@ThorfinnSkullsplitter-fz7ff]

Not only did Stalin threaten to shoot anyone who retreated, he threatened to kill their families too.

[@rockets4kids]

* except france

[@jimaanders7527]

@@rockets4kids This doesn't translate well into french.

[@tedmoss]

@Ruán Conán Yeah, but for a different reason.

[@MrWolf-kd8yh]

Fascinating video and much appreciate the upload! My family has fought for the Wehrmacht during WW2. My Grandfather was in the 6th army 44th infantry division and saw action in Poland, France and Kharkov. He was later captured along with thousands of men at Stalingrad. Ultimately he lost 80 pounds of body weight moving around different Russian labour camps post war before finally returning home to Germany in the 1950 and lived a long peaceful life. His younger brother started off the war in the East as part of the 439th Regiment of the 134th Division and was at the battle of Moscow then later he was one of 9 survivors out of 1,000 men in his regiment to die in the battle of Kursk where he was injured. He survived the end of the war as part of the 512th heavy tank destroyer battalion as a loader for the Jagdtiger when he surrendered to the Americans by the end of the war in May 1945. The eldest brother out of the 3 served in the German navy as an officer. He was on submarine U-107 which sank British ship Colonial off Guinea, French West Africa; the entire crew of 100 survived and rescued by HMS Centurion.

[@dongately2817]

That's amazing all three survived when so many others perished. Your family is very lucky.

[@kjlahti782]

Wow that is amazing in particular the relative who survived the labor camps.

[@bigvinnie3]

you sir have an amazing and fascinating family history

[@js3244]

Hmmm

[@adrianmcroberts4936]

Your great uncles must have had a lot of fascinating stories to tell about their combat lives. I would have loved to talk with them. Heroes.

[@thedarkonestaint6105]

Operation Uranus consisted of two powerful thrusts aimed at the flanks. Yeah, we caught that Simon.

[@jonwatson654]

I don't think Simon did 😆

[@camaro69green31]

HAHAHA Thats perceptive of you! I never caught that........ Funny and sick at the same time.

[@yottamozg]

We should have started catching it from the 12:17 "...or consign it as just another footnote in the annals of the Third Reich..."

[@madzak9847]

Мне вот интересно неужели это так совпало..) I wonder is that really a coincidence..)

[@nucleargandhi101]

@@yottamozg "...and meet Behind.."

[@TheSpinkels]

"Their attention had been so focused on the center of the city, they had failed to properly reinforce their flanks." *OPERATION URANUS*

[@Lupinthe3rd.]

When a battle is so brutal it deserves its own campaign medal.

[@samcook4082]

Would like to see a MEGA disasters channel to cover all forms of disasters from natural to man made. The stats would be extremely interesting to find out the human impact, environmental impact, cost and lessons learned

[@robertcoleman349]

Me: This doesn't seem like a mega project. Simon: We really are pushing the definition of a mega project aren't we? Me: He lampshaded it, this is acceptable.

[@kevinmccann2797]

Dude you have so many awesome channels! Unreal the amount of content you can produce, keep it up!!

[@marcos340loko]

Hey, the A10 Warthog could be an interesting video for Megaprojects, just saying, great engineering on it, massive gun, depleted uranium ammunition, also the sound it makes while shooting is iconic

[@darthdooku6246]

I wonder if the plane was designed to fit the gun or the other way round

[@marcos340loko]

@@darthdooku6246 I’d say plane around the gun, they’ve probably developed this massive weapon but couldn’t use in any existing plane (aside perhaps the AC130) effectively

[@CZPanthyr]

@@marcos340loko I was an aircraft fuel systems mechanic back in the day and worked on A10s when they first came out of prototype and were assigned to squadrons. They are amazing planes!

[@LysanderSpooner-zl5vm]

Perhaps a great follow up to the Warthog video would be the health ramifications on soldiers and civilian populations from the use Depleted Uranium ammunition?

[@djquinn11]

Great job Simon and staff, really enjoyed this one.

[@drmattconrad77]

You could do a megaprojects on Detroit’s conversion from cars to military manufacturers in WW2. Seeing the Germans using horses reminded me of the logistics advantage the Allies had with Jeeps and heavy trucks.

[@Tutel9528]

Germans used horses because they didn’t have enough oil supplies to make a 200-300 division army full mechanized,not because they lacked industrial capacity.Though obviously they were nowhere near on par with industrial complex of United States but who were really? And use of horses is kinda exaggrated as Red Army used even more horses than Wehrmacht.

[@dbmail545]

"Rattenkreig" Tim Robbins' "War of the Rats" was one of the best novels of this and provided the dramatic basis for the movie "Enemy at the Gates".

[@dongately2817]

It’s authenticity is questionable and there’s huge holes in the entire work.

[@dongately2817]

I understand it’s fictional but it’s not for someone looking to get a solid base of facts - it was entertaining

[@eliasthienpont6330]

Nice. I had been following both TIK and Indie Niedell in their WWII series, at the moment also looking at Stalingrad. I have Stalingrad up to here, and still can not get enough of it.

[@ianm9817]

Thank you Simon. I know now how to fortify my room over this three day weekend so that no one may try and drag me away from my computer. Not one step outside!

[@worldoftancraft]

Хыыыыы ыыы ыыыы Nou ane step autside ыыыы

[@luccalannes1870]

I've just finished reading "Stalingrad" by Anthony Beevor. It is Very Sad to imagine the horror both sides soldiers Saw

[@benjyjuarez5328]

Any book with a Russian author or about Russia will leave u hallow and depressed.

[@charliedontsurf4543]

A good read also is the gulge archipelago by Alexander solzhenitsyn

[@bigvinnie3]

it really is because the "men" on both sides were often boys by todays standards 16-20

[@JB-rl7hh]

Simon, great job! Your new megaprojects gig should be similar to this Stalingrad segment. You will of course have to come up with a new name for it. You can cover from things like the Civil War, Vietnam, WWI, WWII, Soviet Afghanistan/US Afghanistan, or any conflict worldwide. Sort of like offense/defense. You can use for example why was the US not allowed to bomb Hanoi during Vietnam, but wasn't later until Nixon came onboard. However, what was the strategic point if any taking Hanoi. This is an example program.

[@burryhulbertjr1429]

I love all your content n knowledge. Its awsome to actually see someone that believes in history as it was rather than how they decide make it. I'm a older country boy from southern ohio. But had amazing history teachers n elders.. thankyou

[@raminghaderpanah6723]

Good stuff. And one day in the midst of all that siege and fighting, Soviet soldiers find a gramophone with only one playable record. They played the record and all of the sudden the fighting stops for a little while. Music was being heard by the foes and friends … And all that happened at the Pavolov’s house! Something like that I remember! Thanks, love your show.

[@FTATF]

Have you covered the construction of the Alcan yet? True mega project and done on an incredible time scale that you can't truly understand unless you've seen it.

[@mykemech]

I want to say I think he did, but I cannot be 100 % positive

[@PunksloveTrumpys]

I'd highly recommend the book "Stalingrad" by UK historian Anthony Beevor if you want to learn more about this

[@trooperdgb9722]

Agreed. Very readable...not a dense academic tome... I know he has his critics but for us amateurs I think his books are excellent. Berlin-The Downfall is I think his best work.

[@chrisoldcorbettsntstuff6136]

agreed!

[@DerptyDerptyDUM]

Definitions be damned!! This was an excellent installment of Megaprojects. 🏆

[@junglelane]

The interstate through the Rockies. I -70 Especially the Glenwood canyon section. Very impressive project not finished until the 1990s

[@--enyo--]

Suggestion: A channel for war/conflicts/battles/sieges etc. These military conflict/battle videos seem to do really well, and people always suggest more engagements to cover. If you made a ‘Battlegraphics’ or ‘Warographics’ channel it would be really interesting. It could be specific engagements (e.g. - Overlord, Waterloo) or entire conflicts (e.g. - Columbia’s Thousand Days’ War). Or Australia losing a war to emus, if you were so inclined. 😂 Otherwise military tactics or famous strategies occasionally to mix things up.

[@--enyo--]

Good job, past me. 🤣

[@cutl00senc]

“Enemy at the Gates”….not the movie, but the book, is definitely worth reading. It should be required reading for anyone who plans to enter into military service.

[@PaulRudd1941]

100% agree. The book was excellent. The movie, however, had a lot of subtle anti-soviet propaganda.

[@worldoftancraft]

@@PaulRudd1941 subtle? More like "use your hand to clean your visor" type

[@PaulRudd1941]

@@worldoftancraft maybe I'm just an idiot but I knew it was there at least.

[@worldoftancraft]

@@PaulRudd1941 there is an abundant amount of it

[@cookingwithchefluc7173]

This one along with Simon's video on the Atlantic Wall. Shot Simon this is the best video you guys have made ✌✌🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@newtagwhodis4535]

Thank you for the great work you folks do! Excellent history doc ya’ll.

[@FectacularSpail]

"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" -Stalin, probably

[@uberbob8389]

He should do a megaprojects video about the SpaceX Starship, maybe after Booster 4 Ship 20 (first orbital flight) in a month or two? I think the largest rocket ever built and the first entirely reusable rocket would count as a mega project.

[@eldavieo]

We have to see if it works first

[@uberbob8389]

It probably will blow up, my bet is on reentry. Elon mentioned he is unsure about if the tps system on the flap joints will work, considering Elon is rather optimistic I don't have too high of hopes. Either way I think it still deserves a megaprojects video more than some videos on this channel and I think there would be enough to talk about considering you could easily make an hour long video on the raptor engine alone.

[@jackw9385]

It's megaprojects, not megashitprojects

[@eldavieo]

@@uberbob8389 time will tell mate , but yeah those raptor engines are a piece of work like

[@danielgregus9456]

Yet another great video Simon . You should do one on the raid of san nazaire

[@morenofranco9235]

Excellent, Simon. Thank you.

[@Jonathan.D]

Have you done a video about the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer located on the International Space Station? It was supposed to be one of the most important instruments installed on the ISS. However, it almost didn't make it up there because the guy in charge of the space shuttle missions said there wasn't enough room. It's a great story of how it was made, what it does, and how it got up there. Thank you for all the amazing stories.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:00 - Chapter 1 - Operation barbarossa 3:20 - Chapter 2 - Race to the oilfields 4:30 - Chapter 3 - Stalingrad 6:35 - Chapter 4 - It begins 7:15 - Chapter 5 - The resistance 9:25 - Chapter 6 - The rat war 10:50 - Chapter 7 - Clinging on 12:05 - Chapter 8 - Operation uranus 13:00 - Chapter 9 - The cauldron 14:40 - Chapter 10 - Aftermath

[@GeirAndreTonning]

Even in the 1950's there was coaguleated blood and skinns found at Volga river, and wherever you satt and spade in Volgograd's soil, you would hit something from the battle of Stalingrad. Am a norwegian x-military and Nato veteran but also fought with russian soldiers as contractnik for Russia truh contractor firm in UK, we fought in Grozny 1994-1995, so i know a bit how it was, but just a bit.

[@Jotun1307]

In this same vein, I think a rundown of the siege of Leningrad would also fit quite well, there's a lot to cover there too.

[@fps079]

Sobering to see what people can do to each other, small scale and large scale.

[@guyi2545]

Ooh time for that sweet sweet fix...

[@joethegeographer]

Excellent topic, thanks! Please consider a similar topic, the Defense of Leningrad, another truly epic story.

[@WasabiSniffer]

Dropping these Cold War projects again The A10 and the Bradley IFV. Or more Ancient Rome, the ramp/siege of Masada

[@alexgummer4979]

I'd say technically Stalingrad isn't a seige. Linengrad was, but not Stalingrad. They always help a side and they made it into the city.

[@johnyoung4163]

“Operation Uranus called for two powerful thrust to push around on both German flanks”

[@Rettilos]

Perfect name for a counter attack operation lmao

[@dzd2371]

@@Rettilos Yeah at least they kept their sense of humor 🤣 Though I doubt Uranus translates the same in Russian, I'd like to think it does.

[@johnyoung4163]

@@dzd2371 so my Russian is no good. But the Germans referred to this maneuver as the “buttenpluggenz”

[@dzd2371]

@@johnyoung4163 🤣

[@madzak9847]

@@dzd2371 хахаха )) да.. I think someone in charge had known English , don’t want to believe it is a coincidence… anus in russian sounds and means the same

[@secretsfullofsaucers]

I would add that Zhukov had planned the counteroffensive from the start of the siege and that he said the city just had to hold on long enough so things were ready for attacking the weakened flanks

[@JohnSuave]

Friggin beautifully written and delivered

[@cte4dota]

This and Kursk are most insane battles of WW2.

[@blueberrypirate3601]

Claws of Steel Leo Kessler

[@SuperErickelrojo]

and Operation Bagration

[@mdiciaccio87]

Dont forget about Japan's campaign in China...

[@owenkuntz9108]

“Operation Uranus called for two powerful thrusts. “ I am so immature…

[@Foxxy_Steve]

Hi Simon love the content! I would love a mega project video on the Chicago L train!

[@thetangieman3426]

Simon cover the Hone Bridge and/or Marquette Interchange in Milwaukee, WI please. It's got an interesting history.

[@bipedalame]

Most brutal battle of WWII. Damoi Pavlov and Kurgan Mamayev Historic

[@worldoftancraft]

Building of Pavlov. Not "damoi". Speak English, please. Don't take ridiculous loanings

[@HOTSHTMAN53]

The not a step back part mentioned was not accurate. Stalin wrote an essay to military command as to why it should be implemented.

[@iVETAnsolini]

Broooo!! You just made my day!

[@omarkassas2760]

Big misconceptions about the eastern front: 1.At the start of the war the axis attacked with 4 million soldiers while the soviets has only 2.7 outnumbering them. 2. Both the germans and soviets suffered from shortages of men and bad logistics through the war. 3. The winter was bad on both sides not only the germans. 4. The soviets didn't point guns at their slodiers back again they had severe men shortages to the point in stalingrad alot of women were inlisted in stalingrad. Also they could 't send mass human waves for the same reason. 5. At no point the soviets send men to battle wothout weapons or unarmed. 6. By november 1941 the germans had already lost 1 million soldiers so the idea that they went unopossed is wrong. At the end of stalingrad 1 million soviet died for 900k of axis. (500k were germans).

[@ivokantarski6220]

TIK Youtobe channel guy makes good point on the purges too. The quantity of those killed is nothing compared to the need of new qualified for the rapidly expanding Soviet army. The German and US armies also were rapidly expanding. The big stupidity was assigning commisars to Red army commanders so it be dual command. On the frontline Germany outnumbers the Soviets at the beggining.

[@omarkassas2760]

@@ivokantarski6220 I learned a lot from TIK. Been waching his channel for over a year now. Can't wait for episode 27 about stalingrad.

[@adastra3280]

i mean the defense of stalingrad is truly a project

[@ComaDave]

Hitler's strategy for the region was doomed once he split his Army Group South into two, sent part to the Caucasus and part to Stalingrad. Thus, they were never in a position to mutually support one another should the worst happen. The worst happened.

[@georgewilliams8448]

Another excellent video! So with all the channels that you do when do you sleep? Here's a suggestion for an ancient Megaprojects; The Great Wall of China.

[@MrAshCarr]

You could do a Megaprojects video about the Bismarck *and* the subsequent hunt for it

[@saladinbob]

Actually I disagree. Defence on this scale is the very definition of a mega project. The D-day landings would fall into a similar vein because of the sheer level of organisation and logistics required.

[@cleverusername9369]

Simon, you're worrying too much about whether or not your videos neatly fall within whatever criteria makes something a megaproject. We don't care, the bald bearded bespectacled British man is talking, we're listening. You could read a phone book and call it a Megaproject, for all we care.

[@DoctorProph3t]

Idk if it’s been done but how about the famous Australian Rabbit-Proof fence, it was a stretch of farm fence 1500 miles long split down the centre of Australia, from South Australia to the Northern Territory. It was a feeble attempt to try and hold back the tide of rabbits that had infested Australia from rich boogie silk stockings bringing them over from Europe to continue their favourite past time; rabbit hunting.

[@Thusal99]

I suggest a video on the japanese seige of corregidor. The hell ships. Mukden POW camp. And Unit 731.

[@kiberburjui9608]

Simon sorry, the most brutal siege was the siege of Leningrad

[@thebeamerdreamer]

Yeah true I was thinking the same thing

[@vulpes7079]

900 days of pure hell... Anyone who lived through that and still kept their humanity isn't a human, they're an angel

[@thebeamerdreamer]

@@vulpes7079 true, even reading about it makes me shiver just like the first time I read it and you can also say that for most of the eastern front.

[@florians9949]

The fact that Stalingrad was six time shorter does say somethign about how bad things were.

[@thebeamerdreamer]

@@florians9949 on the whole eastern front (if you will) on both the sides you would be a person fighting for a psychopath who didn't gave two sh*ts about you living or dying add to that the atrocities that normal people committed and it was hell and surely became worse than hell if you ask me

[@corvus2512]

Battles like this and Verdun are literally WH40k battles in the real world

[@lukalovric2463]

If only GW knew how to count

[@ZeeBri]

I can very very much recommend Dan Carlin's Ghosts of the Ostfront. Really incredible series

[@69FTWB]

An actual mega project you should do is the Gardiner Dam in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is one of the largest earth filled dams in the world

[@daviddubois4051]

Such a bizarre (and biased) contradiction of statements when he qualifies Soviet leadership as "psychopaths" for telling the people of Stalingrad to stay, while minutes later remarking their "extraordinary" heroism. Which is it then?

[@Loreless]

bipolar disorder

[@thefutureisnowoldman7653]

Try using your brain its not a contradiction. One abouts the leader and the other about the people. Put down the meth pipe pillbilly

[@daviddubois4051]

@@thefutureisnowoldman7653 Funny how triggered you are little snowflake ;) you obviously don’t understand that the leadership decision to have people defend the city was therefore a good in spite of the huge human cost. Go to sleep

[@joemiller9931]

I think he was talking of Stalin's complete disregard for human lives when it came to fighting the Germans, and the heroism of the people who had to deal with that disregard.

[@freeradicalpanda]

Well the battle of Stalingrad wasn’t so much a siege as a continual depraved dive into the deepest crevasses of human depravity. The Germans and Russians dived right into the meat grinder at the tractor factory, the Volga banks etc., so it wasn’t even a real siege in the classical sense.

[@aristedecomgmailcom]

The Red Army at Stalingrad was heroic.

[@danielduncan6806]

This was a mere summary, a summary of a summary even.

[@gojo76]

It wasnt only the oil fields of the Caucasus, it was also the railroad route going from British-Soviet controlled Iran all the way to Stalingrad and the rest of Soviet Russia. It was an alternative route, the other one was the perilous maritime route through the Northern Sea, it was a tricky route due to the Kriegsmarine wolfpacks sinking the allied shipping to the ports of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk.

[@MattBellzminion]

The "aftermath" segment should've included the grisly fate of the ~91K Germans taken prisoner. Systematically underfed, underwatered, brutalized, and worked hard, only a few thousand (IIRC, around 3K) were ever returned to Germany -- and most of those did so only after years of hard labor in various camps. Their hard labor was justified, but certain humane and legal standards must be maintained lest camp conditions amount to yet more war crimes, and of course the Stalin administration couldn't have cared less. This is not surprising, considering the purges and gulag conditions he and his goons had already imposed on millions of Soviet citizens. The harsh and sometimes sadistic abuse of the German POWs began on their long train transport in which they were packed like cattle (conditions which the Germans had subjected millions of Jews and other prisoners on their way to concentration and extermination camps) all the way to Siberia. I've read that the prisoners in at least a few instances were tossed some fish, but given no water to wash it down. Starving, the men attacked the food, only to realize too late that it was salted-cured, and far more harmful than eating nothing at all when water was not forthcoming. On a few of the trains, some cannibalism occurred, but that practice apparently increased greatly in the camps, where the men remained underfed, were always cold in winter, and worked hard, and the less scrupulous ones formed murderous gangs preying on weaker, more socially isolated POWs. By camp orders, any prisoner caught red-handed in the act of cannibalism was shot immediately, but it didn't seem to matter, and the hideous practice continued.

[@eskanderx1027]

Вечная память героям! 😢 Eternal memory to heroes!

[@piccalillipit9211]

*STUNNING*

[@minisforerbody]

I think it’s definitely a megaproject. I only wish you’d gone into even more detail. I think showing more of the plans and tactics or supply problems and solutions would’ve taken it further towards a megaproject. There’re cool stories like how they were manufacturing PPS43 submachine-guns inside the city and test firing them out of the windows toward the German lines (possibly apocryphal and extremely doubtful that they ever hit anyone, at least not deliberately). As the design of the guns was being finalised they were being trialed against the enemy in the same city in which they were made. Furthermore they were so short of materials that the buffer in the back of the receiver that prevents the bolt from making steel-to-steel contact, was designed to be made of rubber but they were forced to use leather as a substitute. There’re so many amazing stories. Terrible, but amazing.

[@kennypool]

I spoke to a German survivor of Stalingrad, and he told me how they were eating the bodies of the dead. Not quite as glamorous as you make it.

[@tornfrayed4977]

I spoke to Elvis and he said peanut butter and banana sandwiches were overrated.

[@Thrashman-ye4cf]

@@tornfrayed4977 thank you 😂

[@TheWhiteDragon3]

You see, I found out that the kill bots have a pre-programmed maximum kill counter. With that in mind, I sent waves and waves of my own men at them and easily secured victory!

[@michaelhowell2326]

Right, men? You suck!

[@firstnamelastname6216]

This was a good one!!!

[@knowledgerocket2818]

Simon - excellent video as always. I think a great follow up would be the Battle of Battle of the Seelow Heights (German: Schlacht um die Seelower Höhen) (16 April-2 May 1945). the last soviet push before Berlin that featured the WORLDS GREATEST ARTILLERY BARRAGE OF ALL TIME. I think Soviet, WW2 and Artillery would make for a popular video - and this is logical conclusion of the soviet push back.

[@kidwithface4]

You should just call this channel “All Things Mega” or just “Mega”.

[@beachboy0505]

Megaproject, amazing video 📹

[@aaroncharet2174]

If you haven't already, please do a video on the Mir Space Station. It's very interesting and there aren't nearly enough videos talking about it.

[@subroc12]

FDNY SUPER PUMPER & TENDER! Really cool concept and one of kind for its time.

[@bazzab1000]

Super informative yet harrowing to believe.

[@Kirovets7011]

Good video, Simon. However, there's one error: The Germans did not have 600.000 vehicles available. They could only DREAM of such numbers! Yes, they had trucks, but NOT as much as they wanted/needed. About a few thousand. To make things worse, most of those trucks were not German-made, but captured from the French, during their campaingn there. But these trucks were far from reliable and so, they were forced to use horses, wich was of course terrible for their militairy operations in the Soviet-Union.

[@eas2252]

Years ago, while working as a lifeguard, one of our regular customers was an elderly German American woman. She was a young girl in Germany during the war. Her brother was in the army. She told me of the last time he came home on leave before being sent to stalingrad. They never heard from him again. In the years after the war, the names of soldiers who were released from the soviets would be read over the radio. Her mother would stay by the radio and cry for hours, hoping to hear her sons name. They never learned what happened to him whether he was killed in the fighting or in the prisoner camps afterwards.

[@stormthrush37]

11:58 "...they had failed to properly reinforce their flanks." OPERATION URANUS LMAO