The Nazi-Soviet War was the largest and most brutal theatre of the Second World War, fought between two of the most ruthless states ever to exist. Bringing together twenty-four of the most accomplished authors in both German and Soviet history, this Cambridge Companion provides the most authoritative, and yet highly accessible, guide to the conflict. Each chapter examines a key aspect of the war from war planning, the opposing forces and the campaigns to criminality and occupation, alliances, the home fronts and postwar legacies and myth-making. The authors demonstrate that the Nazi-Soviet war was both a conventional clash of arms in which millions of soldiers fought in titanic battles, but also a non-conventional war in which soldiers and security forces murdered countless non-combatants. It was a war of resources, industry, mobilisation, administration, and popular support, with implications that still drive European security debates today.
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List of figures; List of contributors; Introduction David Stahel; Part I. Conceptions of War: 1. German-Soviet relations and military collaboration in the inter-war period Ian Ona Johnson; 2. Political thinking and strategic planning for Hitler's lebensraum in the east Ben Shepherd; 3. Stalin's political delusions and military preparations for war with Nazi Germany Hiroaki Kuromiya; Part II. Opposing Forces: 4. The Ostheer: leadership, command, motivation and experience Jeff Rutherford and David Harrisville; 5. The Red Army: leadership and command Alexander Hill; 6. The Red Army: motivation and experience Roger Reese; Part III. Campaigns: 7. Operation Barbarossa, 1941 David Stahel; 8. Stalingrad and the eastern Front, 1942 Adrian E. Wettstein; 9. Kursk, 1943 Roman Töppel; 10. The Siege of Leningrad, 1941–1944 Evan Mawdsley; 11. Operation Bagration, 1944 David R. Stone; 12. The soviet conquest and occupation of Germany, 1945 Alexander Statiev; Part IV. Criminality and Occupation: 13. German occupation and mass murder in the east, 1941–1944 Alex J. Kay; 14. Soviet crimes at times of war, 1941–1945 Mark Edele; Part V. Home Fronts: 15. The German home front Bastiaan Willems; 16. The soviet war effort Wendy Z. Goldman; Part VI. Comrades in Arms: 17. Germany and the axis in the east Oleg Beyda, Grant T. Harward, Richard Carrier and Henrik Meinander; 18. The big three and the eastern front Geoffery Roberts; Part VII. Post-War Legacies and Myth Making: 19. Germany's selective memory of the eastern front Jörg Echternkamp; 20. The politics of war memory in the USSR and post-Soviet Russia Jonathan Brunstedt; A guide to further reading; Index.
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An authoritative and accessible history of the Nazi-Soviet War - the largest and most costly conflict ever fought.

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781009656696
Publisert
2025-10-31
Utgiver
Cambridge University Press
Aldersnivå
G, 01
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
406

Forfatter

Biografisk notat

David Stahel is Associate Professor of History at the University of New South Wales. He has authored ten previous works about aspects of the Nazi-Soviet War, including Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East (2009), Joining Hitler's Crusade (2016), Retreat from Moscow (2019) and Hitler's Panzer's Generals (2023).