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Private Notes
This episode follows the travails of Army Group Center, the group tasked with the capture of Moscow. Barely turned aside during bitter winter fighting, this Group came closest to winning the war with Soviet Russia. Later, the collapse of Army Group Center during the Soviet Operation Bagration, would lead to the collapse of Nazi Germany and the triumphant entry of Soviet forces into Berlin.
June 1941 saw Hitler launch his audacious bid to conquer Russia and his attempt to succeed where Napoleon had failed. Army Group North swept through the Russian defences and closed in on the iconic city of Leningrad in less then two months. So began the now infamous siege that would cost the lives of soldiers and civilians alike, and coin the phrase "the eternal war of the poor man". Away from Leningrad a titanic struggle ensued all along the front line, including operations in and around the Baltic Sea, Norway and Finland.
The objective of Army Group South was to capture the oil fields surrounding the Caucasus Mountains. This oil was critical to the future of the Nazi war effort. Their indecision about whether the primary goal of the campaign should be Moscow or these oil fields effectively hamstrung the German Campaign and led to the eventual Soviet victory. Also covered is the disastrous battle of Stalingrad, perhaps the most vicious of any battle during the war.
