Planning and Preparation for Operation Bagration by the Soviet High Command

Planning and Preparation for Operation Bagration by the Soviet High Command
With H.G.W. Davie
Operation Bagration Week
• Operation Bagration
Part of our ongoing Eastern Front series on WW2TV
• Eastern Front Week
Also part of our 80th Anniversary Series
• 80th Anniversary Special
In 1926 Boris Shaposhnikov wrote his classic study on the subject of High Command in his book "The Brain of the Army" and he was Chief of the General Staff in the dark days of 1941 when the German Army. His writings inspired the creation of the Soviet system of High Command: the State Defence Committee (GKO), Stavka, Genstab, Strategic Direction Commands, Stavka Representatives and Front Commands.
How did these bodies work together to control an army of 12 million especially in the climactic days of the summer of 1944? How does this system compare to the Allied system of multi-national command?
One of the problems facing historians is that there is no single work in English on the Soviet High Command during the war. John Erickson's classic study only covers the period 1918-1941 and little has been written since then.
Today's talk will look at all levels of the Soviet High Command and how they interacted together, how we might interpret the role of Stalin and the implications of the structure in delivering Soviet victories. We will compare Soviet accounts of the war and see how they differ from Anglo-Saxon interpretations and what this reveals. Then using this understanding, we will look at the details of the planning that went into the successful Operation Bagration.
You can do some background reading in the Journal of Slavic Military Studies in the paper "Patterns of War: A Re-interpretation of the Chronology of the German-Soviet War 1941-1945"
www.tandfonlin...
This presentation is based on lectures given for the MA Second World War: Conflict Society and Holocaust at the University of Wolverhampton. Taught on a Saturday and online, it is specifically designed for part time students. If you are interested in taking your historical research a step further you can find further details here:
www.wlv.ac.uk/...
• Second World War Histo...
H.G.W. Davie's previous appearances:
The Red Army Motor Fleet and Lend-Lease
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Railways in German occupied Eastern Europe
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[@hond654]

He is one of the biggest expert on logistics. I am simple guy, when I see his name, i just click and like.

[@kennethhoppe2259]

This Channel Rocks

[@WW2TV]

Thanks Kenneth

[@michaelavanzini9092]

This was a fantastic discussion on Soviet operations.

[@Splodge542]

That was a real education. Thank-you.

[@DanielHammersley]

HGW Davie gave a masterpiece of how the Soviet Planning was built, worked, and performed during the War. BRAVO! The Bagration (series of) offensive(s) was a game changer from their 1943 previous years' worth of sequentially launched attacks. Absolute gold minted here in this video! Thank you Mr. Davie & Woody! LUV'D it!

[@scottgrimwood8868]

Excellent presentation! I am learning a lot about Operation Bagration in these past few shows.

[@Bratstvoijedinstvo1945]

Another incredible show. Loving the in-depth coverage of Bagration. Incredible stuff!

[@meddy833]

I wanted to catch this live but the replay will be excellent I am sure. Mr. Davie does great work. Thanks again for another quality guest.

[@WW2TV]

Our pleasure!

[@jimwalsh1958space]

this was one of the best shows in ages. thank you WW2TV

[@thcdreams654]

Awesome content. Appreciate it. Great work all around. Always insightful, entertaining, and informative.

[@peterhanlon8324]

One of the best WW2 presentations I have seen
Enjoyed the attention to doctrine (towards the end) regarding broad front versus focused attacks

[@georgecooksey8216]

Excellent presentation. Thank you gentlemen

[@KevinJones-yh2jb]

Just watching now on a rerun, fantastic presentation from Mr H.G.W. Davie, a very interesting insight into how the Soviet High Command operated. Thank you Woody for putting this together with Mr Davie. WW2TV always at its best

[@ivanconnolly7332]

Brilliant.

[@Waterflux]

Another excellent coverage on the Soviet side of the war.
Politburo members also tasked with Soviet industries would be consistent with the Soviet way of supply management--i.e., "supply-push". In the West, you would dispatch requisition orders for supplies (which is also known as "demand-pull"), but, in the Soviet Union, whatever supplies you get depends on where you stand in the list of priorities from your superiors' points of view.
A side-note: I feel sorry for General Pavlov who was executed for the collapse of the Western Front in Belarus. I think he was put into an impossible situation. Furthermore, I am not even sure if a better rated general would have resulted in a different outcome. (1) Due to the way the frontline was shaped, Belarus was already semi-encircled at the start of the Barbarossa; (2) telephone lines that connected the Western Front HQ to Moscow were subjected to both sabotage and aerial bombing; (3) widespread lack of experience among both the front staff and subordinate commands.

[@FlytheW11216]

Great discussion on a topic I’m not very familiar with. Learning a lot about Bagration.

[@michaelfleming6420]

Great insight into the Soviet conduct of the War.

[@LTrotsky21stCentury]

When I was young in the 1970s and 80s, I played a lot of wargames which involved the Eastern Front. But there was very little literature on the subject which used Soviet sources.
Thankfully that has now changed, and we've learned a great deal more about this conflict - some of which comes as a great shock to most Americans and those in Western Europe.

[@HGmusiclist]

Great show :)

[@JFB-Haninge]

Excellent presentation..

[@dexterscott7824]

Excellent presentation! First class! Only thing missing was discussion of the effect of lend lease to increase Soviet mobility during Bagration.

[@WW2TV]

There's only so much that can be said on one show

[@ianprice9563]

I undertook my MA alongside Hugh. He’s a very talented chap - and now an actual academic! 👍

[@marchuvfulz]

Great presentation. The discussion of the attritional warfare preceding Bagration is great background for understanding the latter operation.

[@sparkey6746]

Fascinating

[@brucealbert4686]

Excellent guest.. congratulations!

[@vladimirpecherskiy1910]

That was extremely professional presentation. Even for such a snob as me.

[@mjstbnsn6294]

I knew of B.M. Shapasnikov from the book Stalin's Generals by Harold Shukman.

[@davidsabillon5182]

❤

[@arebee-kh2xn]

Resource management (and limitations) ... still relevant today, eh ? (with recent changes at the high command in Moscow)