The Soviet Role in World War II - Antony Beevor

Russian officers who interviewed captured German officers were surprised at how many of them had copies of "With Napoleon in Russia: The Memoirs of General De Caulaincourt, Duke of Vicenza." A Russian asked a German officer "Why do so many of you have this book?" The German answered "We want to know how this is going to end."

As a Russian, I'am thankful for all the help USA provided in crushing fascism. I'd like to also point out that my great grandpa who fought in the war did so not for Communism or for Stalin, but for his people. Most soldiers did not care about any of that. Ideologies don't matter when you are in a trench!

"The British supplied time, the Americans supplied treasure, the Russians supplied blood". A fair summing up of what was after all, a collective effort.

Hitler wrote about Lebensraum already in Mein Kampf. The russians fought against enslavement and/or extermination. The clichés about fighting by patriotism or for communism were mere secondary reasonings, but are now very popular outside the USSR.

if they come to take your life, your family, your belongings, you fight, no matter the Politics. Nation or religion.

I think Churchill summed it up best, "The Russian (Soviet) Bear clawed the guts out of the Nazi War machine."

I can only imagine the chaos if the commenters to this video were in attendance at this talk and participated in live Q&A.

I learn so much every time I read one of his books and/or watch him speak or be interviewed. No one can do this consistently unless they really know the subject.

24 million is total casualties, among which 8 million military, and about 13 million civilians 7 million were killed for the fact they were russians 2 million in germany on slave labor 4 million - famine, ilnesses, lack of medical support There may be some debates about proportions and total number but during the blockade of Leningrad - 0.6million people died and it just 4 minutes in the video, trilled to know more

Col Douglas Macgregor Retired briefly mentioned that high ranking officials and military officers privately thought that Britain was fighting the wrong enemy (in their private diaries)

Reinhard gehlen, chief of intel for foreign army eastern front has a lot of valuable info on logistics during the campaign.

I saw an interview with Sir Antony in which he explained that after his work on the battle of Berlin, and the subsequent outrage coming out of the former USSR, he can no longer do research there but must instead rely on former Soviet citizens to research the archives

I’m always impressed by the depth of knowledge of people like Beevor : for example how he disproves people who keep saying the bombing of Germany was useless, by citing the numbers of 88mm guns and fighter aircrafts withdrawn from the eastern front to defend German city’s.

Esteemed Sir Antony Beevor, The psychological turning point didn't come after the Soviet victory in Stalingrad (23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943)! It took place after the battle of Moscow (October 1941 and January 1942)! This was exactly the moment for Stalin to quote Churchill: "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning". This was the moment when the first candle was lit in the darkness of the fate of the people of the Soviet Union!!!

This is a spectacular college. We are financial supporters of this college. I have one suggestion when you put these programs on or anytime have these young girls speak they all sound like chipmunks to the elderly crowd. Please impress upon these girls to speak up and slow down. I’ve been in the audience where half of the continent of these young girls is not understood or heard. Thank you so much.

With all due respect, it does seem plausible that Stalin was planning an invasion of Germany himself. For all the criticism of the Icebreaker theory, no-one has explained, why did the soviets have more detailed maps of German cities than, say, the Smolensk area, and German phrase books with things like "where is the local administration building"? And why production of tanks before 1941 was focussed on light assault BT tanks suitable for German/European roads not for marshy territories of Belarus and Ukraine. Why so many troops, machinery and ammo where at the border, and became an easy target for the Germans?

One very important point Antony Beevor makes is that it was Churchill's decision to use strategic bombing to placate Stalin while the Allies prepared for the second front. It was NOT Arthur Harris, who as leader of Bomber Command and a loyal subordinate to the PM, could not have done anything other than show enthusiasm for a task he knew would certainly cost the lives of thousands of his men: and it did: 44% of them, the highest losses sustained by any body of fighting men in WW2, apart from the German U-boat service. Yet, at the end of the war, despite Churchill being the architect of the bombing campaign, he still turned his back on Harris and the 55,673 men of Bomber Command who died, which was disgraceful and simply showed Churchill for what he was: a pure politician and just has ruthless as Stalin when it came to throwing away lives to serve his purpose. Nonetheless, Churchill is still regarded nowadays as the "greatest of all Englishmen". In my view he was nothing more than an opportunistic political turncoat who believed he was a military genius with a divine right to lead because he was the ancestor of the Duke of Marlborough; was also an opportunistic turncoat and owed his own military reputation to a considerable extent to the Duke of Savoy. British people seem to forget Churchill was also the architect of the disastrous Gallipoli landings in WW1 and the unnecessary "soft belly" of Italy campaign in WW2, besides being a drunk and an intolerant bully who rarely listened to anyone else's opinion.

What seems to be forgotten in Russia is the fact that the U.S. waged a planetary war at sea,in the air and on land. The russian navy was insignificant compared to the U.S. navy, Royal Navy and even the canadian navy. The russian air force was important but never used at a strategic level ,unlike the U.S. army air force and the Commonwealth air forces. Ww2 was a total war at all levels. War on the russian front was titanic but chiefly a land warfare.

"It is necessary to write (and speak) the truth about Stalin as a military leader during the war years. He was not military, but he had a brilliant mind. He knew how to penetrate deeply into the essence of the issue and suggest military solutions" Marshal A.M. Vasilevsky When Stalin said in 1931, "If we don't produce 10 million tons of steel a year, in less than 10 years we will be crushed," he was right. Ten years, that is, 1941. If he had not made that incredible effort, which was indeed, from a human point of view, very expensive, we would still be living in the Auschwitz era." Roger Garaudy (France) "Deep knowledge, fantastic ability to delve into details, quick wit, and incredibly subtle understanding of human character ... I found him better informed than Roosevelt, more realistic than Churchill, and in some sense the most effective of military leaders. " A.HARRIMAN, US Ambassador to the USSR

"Please join me in welcoming Sir Anton Beevor." One would have thought she could get the name right.