0 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,000 We are going to explain from here, exactly. 1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:13,000 So what happened on the eastern front from the spring of 1942 2 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,000 up to the end of the year? 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:20,000 We are going to explain from the spring in 1942 4 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,000 up to February in 1943. 5 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:28,000 And we are going to focus on the eastern front. 6 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,000 So the spring of 1942, we are going 7 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:37,000 to travel to the spring of 1942. 8 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:42,000 The spring of 1942 brought the same rainfall 9 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,000 than in the autumn. 10 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:51,000 So it was very, very, very difficult for the German army 11 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:52,000 to advance. 12 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,000 And remember that the Germans were defeated 13 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:59,000 in the Battle of Moscow in December. 14 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:07,000 So Hitler, in the Battle of Moscow and even before, 15 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:12,000 made another mistake, one more. 16 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,000 When Hitler was defeated in the Battle of Moscow, 17 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:20,000 when he saw the level of rainfall in the spring, 18 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:23,000 he took another decision. 19 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:33,000 He made another mistake because he drove his troops. 20 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:37,000 He took his troops after the Battle of Moscow 21 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:42,000 from the center to the city of Stalingrad. 22 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:43,000 Why? 23 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:49,000 Because I will say that in the spring of 1942, 24 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,000 production was really important for the Germans. 25 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:00,000 They were focused on production because they ran out of oil. 26 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,000 They were looking for more resources. 27 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:07,000 They knew that in order to carry on in this war, 28 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,000 they needed oil, petrol. 29 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,000 They didn't have enough oil, and that's 30 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:21,000 why Hitler took this decision to move his troops 31 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:26,000 from the center, from Moscow, to the city of Stalingrad. 32 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,000 Hitler moved his troops to Stalingrad 33 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:34,000 because he was looking for the resources in the Caucasus 34 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:35,000 mountains. 35 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:39,000 In the area of Baku, in the Caucasus mountains, 36 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:43,000 it was the area of the main reserves of oil 37 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:45,000 in the Soviet Union. 38 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:49,000 And Hitler moved his troops to the south 39 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:54,000 in order to take these resources that Germany needed to carry 40 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:56,000 on fighting in this war. 41 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,000 So he moved his troops from Moscow 42 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:02,000 to the city of Stalingrad. 43 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,000 And it was another mistake. 44 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,000 Actually, the Allies were planning 45 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,000 to assassinate Hitler many, many times. 46 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:13,000 There were many, many attempts. 47 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:19,000 But in this moment, they stopped all these plans 48 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,000 to assassinate Hitler because they would prefer 49 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,000 to have Hitler in power. 50 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:28,000 Hitler was making many, many mistakes. 51 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,000 And at this point of war, the Allies 52 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,000 would prefer to have Hitler in power 53 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:40,000 instead of looking for missions to assassinate him. 54 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,000 They would prefer him in power. 55 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,000 So we are going to see in this lesson the three 56 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:52,000 different ways, or there were three different push 57 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:56,000 to defeat the Soviet Union, the Germans. 58 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,000 We are going to see in this lesson the three 59 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:05,000 different ways that the Germans undertook, 60 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,000 that the Germans undertook, llevaron a cabo, 61 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,000 three different ways that the Germans undertook 62 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,000 to defeat the Soviet Union. 63 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:16,000 The first one was in August. 64 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,000 The second one was in October. 65 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:22,000 They tried the final one in November. 66 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:26,000 But we will see what happened. 67 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:27,000 We have one question. 68 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,000 You want to ask me one question? 69 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:39,000 Now is everything clear so far? 70 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:40,000 Yes? 71 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:41,000 OK. 72 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,000 I'm going to carry on. 73 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,000 So what happened in these three different ways? 74 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:47,000 We need to remember the first one. 75 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:51,000 The first one was in August. 76 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:55,000 On the 23rd of August in 1942, it 77 00:04:55,000 --> 00:05:00,000 was the moment when the Germans launched a huge attack 78 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,000 over the city of Stalingrad. 79 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:07,000 Remember, they moved basically all their troops 80 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:10,000 from the center to the city of Stalingrad. 81 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:15,000 And in August, they launched a massive attack, 82 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:20,000 a massive bombing over the city of Stalingrad. 83 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,000 They did to Stalingrad what they 84 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:28,000 had done before to Warsaw, Rotterdam, and also 85 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,000 several cities in Great Britain. 86 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:38,000 So as a consequence, they left the city a pile of rubble, 87 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:44,000 a pile of escombros, due to this massive bombing. 88 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:48,000 But they left the city a pile of rubble, 89 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:49,000 but they couldn't advance. 90 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:55,000 The Germans couldn't advance, because all the roads 91 00:05:55,000 --> 00:06:01,000 were a quack mire, quack mire. 92 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,000 Estaban en malas condiciones. 93 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:06,000 Las carreteras se habían convertido en pantanosas, 94 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,000 quack mires. 95 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,000 And also, the city was a pile of rubble, 96 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,000 and they couldn't advance. 97 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,000 So it was another mistake. 98 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:17,000 They bombed the city. 99 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,000 There was a massive bombing, but it wasn't decisive. 100 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,000 They couldn't advance. 101 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:26,000 And what was the answer for the Soviet Union 102 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:31,000 when the Germans bombed the city of Stalingrad? 103 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:35,000 The answer for the Soviet Union was the following. 104 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:36,000 What happened at that time? 105 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:39,000 What happened was the following. 106 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,000 The Soviet Union fought. 107 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,000 They used one special tactic. 108 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,000 The Soviet Union and Stalin decided 109 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:52,000 to fight for every house, for every factory 110 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:57,000 in the city of Stalingrad, because they turned this attack 111 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,000 into a symbol for the Soviet Union. 112 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:04,000 Stalin thought that the main way to win this war 113 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,000 was to resist in Stalingrad. 114 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,000 And for this reason, the Soviet Union 115 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:15,000 fought for every house, for every factory, for every bridge. 116 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:20,000 The Germans called this war the War of Rats. 117 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:20,000 Why? 118 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:24,000 Because Stalin used all the resources 119 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:30,000 that he had to defeat the Germans in Stalingrad. 120 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:36,000 For example, 200 citizens were used to build fortresses, 121 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,000 to dig entrenchments. 122 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,000 And actually, Stalin gave the order 123 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:48,000 to the Soviet Union forces who were fighting in Stalingrad 124 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:53,000 to retreat, basically to arrest anyone 125 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,000 who retreated without orders. 126 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,000 So imagine the situation. 127 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:01,000 Stalin gave the order to the troops 128 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:06,000 to arrest anyone who retreated from the front. 129 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:13,000 And also, Stalin created some special units 130 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:17,000 who were behind the advanced troops. 131 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:19,000 So imagine the advanced troops. 132 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:22,000 Imagine advancing troops who were 133 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:24,000 fighting against the Germans. 134 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:28,000 Stalin created a special unit who 135 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:35,000 was behind the advancing troops to gun down anyone 136 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:41,000 or every soldier who turned around to flee. 137 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:45,000 So it was very, very tough. 138 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:49,000 Stalin wanted to resist it up to the end. 139 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:50,000 And questions up to here? 140 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:59,000 If these units, these special units that Stalin established, 141 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:03,000 had a name or something to it? 142 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:08,000 They were part of the troops. 143 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:11,000 They were part of the Soviet Union army. 144 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:16,000 And as far as I know, they didn't have a special name. 145 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:18,000 But it was very representative that Stalin 146 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:22,000 was very committed to win this battle against Hitler 147 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:25,000 because he understood from the very beginning 148 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:27,000 that it was decisive. 149 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:28,000 OK, perfect. 150 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:29,000 Thank you. 151 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:31,000 So let's carry on. 152 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,000 What happened next? 153 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:40,000 So from August in 1942, I will say, up to October, 154 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:42,000 the Germans of the Soviet Union were 155 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:47,000 fighting for every street in Stalingrad. 156 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:51,000 And they couldn't, both armies were not 157 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:56,000 able to advance from August up to October. 158 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,000 And the Germans in October, they were 159 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:08,000 waiting for more resources, more weaponry, fresh troops. 160 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:12,000 Tropas de reemplazo, fresh troops. 161 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:16,000 So the Germans were waiting from August to October 162 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:20,000 for more resources, because in October, 163 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:27,000 they prepared another push, another wave of attacks. 164 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:35,000 So in October, pay attention to this data, to this figure. 165 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:43,000 22nd German divisions besieged the city of Stalingrad. 166 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:52,000 On the 4th of October, 22 German divisions besieged the city 167 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,000 of Stalingrad. 168 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:57,000 It was the 6th German army. 169 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:05,000 And the 6th German army, under the command of von Paulus, 170 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:09,000 surrounded and sieged the city of Stalingrad, 171 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:12,000 because they were looking for another push. 172 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:18,000 It was the decisive wave of attacks from the Germans. 173 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:23,000 But they couldn't win this battle. 174 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:26,000 Basically, for three different reasons 175 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:31,000 that I'm going to explain right now. 176 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:36,000 Stalin and General Zhukov knew about the German attack. 177 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:41,000 They knew in advance about the German tactic. 178 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:45,000 But they didn't have the same opinion 179 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:50,000 about how to defend the city, because Stalin 180 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:55,000 wanted to use all resources available. 181 00:11:55,000 --> 00:12:00,000 But General Zhukov didn't agree with this idea. 182 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:06,000 And he convinced his boss, he convinced Stalin 183 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:09,000 to change his tactic. 184 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:15,000 So Stalin wanted to use all resources available 185 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:18,000 in terms of weaponry, in terms of soldiers. 186 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:22,000 But General Zhukov had more experience in war. 187 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:28,000 And he convinced his boss, Stalin, to change his tactic. 188 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:35,000 So Zhukov, for example, knew that the best German armies 189 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:42,000 were in the west, in the west of the city of Stalingrad. 190 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:47,000 And Zhukov knew that, in terms of technology, 191 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,000 the Soviet Union was superior to the Germans. 192 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,000 Because the Soviet Union were producing, 193 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:59,000 at that point in war, 2,000 tanks. 194 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:02,000 And the Soviet tanks were superior. 195 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:07,000 The T-34, the Soviet tank, the T-34, 196 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:12,000 was superior to the Panzers or German Tigers. 197 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:14,000 That's why I don't agree with this idea 198 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:19,000 that they didn't have enough weaponry in the year of 1942. 199 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,000 Because in terms of technology, in 1942, 200 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:27,000 they were superior to the Germans by a long way, 201 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:31,000 as you can see here within this figure. 202 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:37,000 So Zhukov basically was planning the following. 203 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:40,000 He was planning, I don't know if you are following me, 204 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:47,000 he was planning to move the Soviet troops from the south 205 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:52,000 up to the east, and from the east 206 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:56,000 to move his troops up to the north. 207 00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:02,000 Because General Zhukov knew that the Italians and the Romanians 208 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:10,000 were defending the German line in the north. 209 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:13,000 So Zhukov knew that the best of the German army 210 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,000 was in the west, and he knew also 211 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:19,000 that the worst of the German troops 212 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:22,000 were in the north, because they were composed 213 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:25,000 by Italians and Romanian troops. 214 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:27,000 And they didn't have as much experience 215 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:31,000 as the German troops. 216 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:37,000 So in September, I don't know if you can see here perfectly 217 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:40,000 the movement in September. 218 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:45,000 Basically, Zhukov moved his troops 219 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:50,000 from the south up to the east, and from the east 220 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,000 up to the north. 221 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:55,000 As you can see, the Italians and the Romanians were here. 222 00:14:55,000 --> 00:15:00,000 And General Zhukov launched a huge counterattack 223 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:06,000 in November, because he was planning 224 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:14,000 to look up, to lock up, to encircle the Germans. 225 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:17,000 It was the brilliant Soviet tactic 226 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:21,000 that General Zhukov carried out during the month 227 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:25,000 at the end of September and at the beginning of November 228 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,000 in 1942. 229 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:30,000 Questions up to here? 230 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:32,000 Ask me, Lara. 231 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,000 Lara, do you have a question? 232 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,000 No, I think it was from before. 233 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:37,000 OK. 234 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:41,000 Thank you. 235 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:43,000 Could you repeat the thing you just said? 236 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,000 It's just that I didn't hear it. 237 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:47,000 OK. 238 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:49,000 The Zhukov tactic. 239 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:51,000 Yes. 240 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:52,000 Yes. 241 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:57,000 Zhukov was planning to encircle. 242 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:03,000 He wanted to lock up the German divisions. 243 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:07,000 For this reason, Zhukov used the technology 244 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:13,000 to move very, very quickly his forces, first of all, 245 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:19,000 from the south to the east, and from the east to the north. 246 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,000 Because he knew that the worst of the German troops 247 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:24,000 were in the north. 248 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:28,000 In the north, the German troops were composed mainly 249 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,000 by Italians and Romanians. 250 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:33,000 They didn't have as much experience 251 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:38,000 as the Germans who were in the west. 252 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:41,000 The best of the German troops were in the west. 253 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:48,000 It was the 6th German Army under the command of von Paulus. 254 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:53,000 And Zhukov used this brilliant tactic, as you can see here, 255 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:57,000 to move very, very quickly his troops 256 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:02,000 and to push here, to attack here the Italians and the Romanians, 257 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:06,000 because he wanted to complete the encirclement. 258 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:08,000 He was planning to encircle. 259 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:14,000 He was planning to look up the Germans in a circle 260 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:18,000 around the city of Stalingrad. 261 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,000 So the push began in what month? 262 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,000 At the end of? 263 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:25,000 At the end of October? 264 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:26,000 No. 265 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:26,000 No? 266 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:27,000 Yes. 267 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:28,000 No. 268 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:29,000 November? 269 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:34,000 At the end of September, it began the encirclement. 270 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:39,000 Zhukov knew that the Germans were preparing an attack 271 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:41,000 at the beginning of October. 272 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:45,000 The Germans had 20 second divisions. 273 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:51,000 It means almost, pay attention, 300,000 soldiers 274 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,000 to defeat Stalingrad. 275 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:58,000 So Hitler put everything, all his resources 276 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:02,000 available to conquest Stalingrad. 277 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:06,000 And Zhukov knew that the Germans were preparing the push, 278 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,000 the final attack in October. 279 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:12,000 So he began to move his troops in September. 280 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:16,000 He carried out in October. 281 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:21,000 And in November, in November, at the beginning of November, 282 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:28,000 he was close to complete the encirclement, the encirclement. 283 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:30,000 OK? 284 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:33,000 So what do you think? 285 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:37,000 Did the encirclement succeed or not? 286 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,000 Yes, exactly. 287 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:46,000 On the 19th of November, Zhukov completed the encirclement. 288 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:52,000 And the Italians, Romanians, and above all, Germans 289 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:55,000 were caught in the middle. 290 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:59,000 They were surrounded completely by the Soviet Union 291 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:03,000 with this brilliant tactic of General Zhukov. 292 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,000 And what happened next? 293 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:11,000 Obviously, since that moment, since that moment, 294 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:14,000 the Germans didn't have enough resources. 295 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:21,000 They couldn't get more resources, troops, food from abroad. 296 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:25,000 And the encirclement is rank. 297 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:27,000 The Germans, the Italians, and the Romanians 298 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,000 were caught in the middle. 299 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:35,000 And the only way out was to surrender. 300 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:35,000 OK? 301 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:40,000 The Soviet Union won the Battle of Stalingrad 302 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,000 at the end of December. 303 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:46,000 At the end of December and at the beginning of January, 304 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:54,000 the Soviet Union won this battle because, basically, the Germans 305 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:58,000 didn't get the resources that they needed to carry on. 306 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:03,000 But as I said in another class, because Alejandro Loera also 307 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:07,000 asked me this question, which was really, really nice, 308 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:13,000 the Soviet Union hadn't won this war. 309 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:26,000 I would say that it wouldn't be impossible for the Soviet Union 310 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:30,000 to win this battle without the resources from the United 311 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:35,000 States, which were coming from here, from the north. 312 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:36,000 OK? 313 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:42,000 If it hadn't been for the resources of the United States, 314 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,000 it would not have, the Soviet Union 315 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:50,000 would not have won this war, this battle. 316 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:53,000 The resources came from the north. 317 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:57,000 And it was key when, it was very important in this battle 318 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:01,000 when the United States and the Soviet Union 319 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:05,000 signed this treaty, the Land Lease Act. 320 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:11,000 It was the moment in 1941, it was the moment in 1941 321 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:15,000 when the Soviet Union, since that treaty, 322 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:19,000 they received the resources from the north, from this point, 323 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:24,000 from the port of Archangel and Mumarks. 324 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:26,000 And the Soviet Union got the resources 325 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:31,000 from the north to the resistance of the siege in Moscow, 326 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:35,000 Leningrad, and also Stalingrad. 327 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:40,000 This moment wouldn't be impossible 328 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:45,000 without the resources from the United States. 329 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,000 So as I said before, von Paulus, Alejandro, tell me. 330 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,000 This, what you have just said, is 331 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:57,000 that without the help of the Americans, 332 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,000 they wouldn't have been able to win in Stalingrad, right? 333 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:04,000 Yes, exactly. 334 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:10,000 If it hadn't been for the resources from the States, 335 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,000 the Soviet Union would not have won this battle 336 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:16,000 because it was true. 337 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:21,000 In 1940 and in 1941, they were in crisis. 338 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:27,000 The Soviet troops were in chaos, disarray. 339 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:33,000 And they needed more weaponry, more oil, more food 340 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:39,000 to resist it against the Germans. 341 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:43,000 And it was key this moment when the United States in March 342 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:47,000 in 1941, and we really need to pay attention 343 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:49,000 because it was before Pearl Harbor. 344 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:54,000 It was before Pearl Harbor because Pearl Harbor took place 345 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,000 in December. 346 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:59,000 And in March, United States signed a treaty 347 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:04,000 with the UK and the Soviet Union to provide them resources. 348 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:17,000 So as I said, von Paulus surrendered in January in 1942. 349 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:22,000 And what happened from January onwards? 350 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:26,000 What happened was the following. 351 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:30,000 The Soviet Union withstood the siege, 352 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,000 and von Paulus surrendered. 353 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:38,000 And from that moment, the German troops 354 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:45,000 retreated from Stalingrad up to the city of Kiev. 355 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,000 Once the Germans were defeated in Stalingrad, 356 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:52,000 von Paulus, once the Germans were defeated in Stalingrad 357 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:59,000 in January in 1933, the Germans retreated from Stalingrad 358 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,000 up to the city of Kiev. 359 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:06,000 But they were persecuted by the troops, 360 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,000 by the Soviet Union troops. 361 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:12,000 And there was the decisive, and it 362 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:16,000 happened, the decisive battle on the Eastern Front. 363 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:22,000 After the Battle of Stalingrad, the vast majority 364 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,000 of the people remember the Battle of Stalingrad. 365 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:29,000 But actually, it was even more decisive, 366 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,000 the Battle of the Kursk, that I'm 367 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:35,000 going to explain in a minute. 368 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,000 Because after Stalingrad, the German troops 369 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,000 retreated to Kiev. 370 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,000 They were persecuted by the Soviet Union, 371 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:49,000 by General Sukhov, up to the city of Kursk, close to Kiev. 372 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:52,000 And it was the moment when the Germans 373 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:57,000 decided to have another, the last one, the last battle 374 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,000 against the Soviet Union. 375 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:00,000 Questions? 376 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,000 Alejandro, Acetuno? 377 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:03,000 No, Antonio was first. 378 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:04,000 Hold on. 379 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:13,000 Gau Paulus surrendered the- 380 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:17,000 On the 30th of January, 19- 381 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:18,000 43, será? 382 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,000 Yes, it's a mistake. 383 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:22,000 Thank you so much, Antonio. 384 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:23,000 Nada. 385 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:24,000 Who was Gau Paulus? 386 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:25,000 O sea, Bon Paulus. 387 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:29,000 Bon Paulus was the general of the 6th Army, 388 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:32,000 the general who was in charge of the 6th Army. 389 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:33,000 Thank you for the question. 390 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:38,000 Do you remember the 6th Army who were in the West, 391 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:40,000 who were waiting for the resources 392 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:44,000 to attack finally in October Stalingrad? 393 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:46,000 Bon Paulus was the general who was 394 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:51,000 in charge of this final wave, of this final push 395 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:55,000 over the city of Stalingrad. 396 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:56,000 Bueno, era eso. 397 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,000 Thank you. 398 00:25:58,000 --> 00:25:59,000 Thank you for the questions. 399 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:00,000 To clarify. 400 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:04,000 Luis? 401 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:06,000 Alejandro, Acetuno. 402 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:10,000 You said before that there were campaigns in August, 403 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,000 which was the first one, then in October, which was this one 404 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,000 that you explained finally, and then in November. 405 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:23,000 Are you considering October and November together, or no? 406 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:28,000 In November, Bon Paulus was preparing the final attack 407 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:35,000 in October, but as he couldn't get the resources 408 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:40,000 that he needed to undertake the final push, 409 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:45,000 he was waiting also to November to carry on fighting 410 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:46,000 against the Soviet Union. 411 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:52,000 But the counterattack from the Soviet Union came before. 412 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:57,000 It came before, and Bon Paulus didn't have enough time 413 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:01,000 to undertake his final push. 414 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:02,000 He was surprised. 415 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:06,000 He was surprised by the Soviet Union tactic, 416 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:12,000 and he was caught in the encirclement. 417 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,000 More questions? 418 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:17,000 So what happened in the Battle of the Kursk? 419 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:20,000 We all know about the Battle of Stalingrad. 420 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:24,000 Have you heard about the Battle of the Kursk? 421 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:25,000 No? 422 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:25,000 No. 423 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:30,000 It was more decisive than the Battle of Stalingrad. 424 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:31,000 I would say that the Battle of Stalingrad 425 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:35,000 was a moral defeat by the Germans, 426 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:40,000 but the final defeat took place in the Battle of the Kursk. 427 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:41,000 What happened? 428 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:45,000 The Germans retreated from Stalingrad up to Kiev, 429 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:50,000 more or less, and they were persecuted by General Zhukov 430 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:54,000 and the Soviet Union, and Hitler gave the order 431 00:27:54,000 --> 00:28:00,000 to Erich von Manstein to have a final battle 432 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,000 in the Battle of the Kursk. 433 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:06,000 Erich von Manstein was the one who 434 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:11,000 had the idea to attack through their wings 435 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:13,000 on the Western Front. 436 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:17,000 I don't know if you remember, but it was the same general. 437 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:19,000 So the final battle on the Eastern Front 438 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,000 took place in the Battle of the Kursk, 439 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,000 and we are going to see who was the winner. 440 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:25,000 Elisa? 441 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:29,000 I have a question. 442 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:36,000 Why did the Soviet Union let the Germans retreat 443 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:40,000 from Stalingrad to have another battle in Ukraine? 444 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:45,000 Really good question, because the Soviet Union 445 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:48,000 didn't want to take more prisoners, 446 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:55,000 because it meant to feed them, and that's 447 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:57,000 why they opened the encirclement. 448 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:01,000 They knew that the Germans were defeated, 449 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:08,000 and they knew that the Germans would retreat to Germany. 450 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:17,000 But Hitler was very proud of himself, 451 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,000 and he gave the order to Erich von Manstein 452 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:24,000 to resist in Kiev around Ukraine, 453 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:28,000 because he wanted to keep the resources. 454 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,000 Remember that the Ukraine was the breadbasket of Europe, 455 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:37,000 and Hitler needed the Ukraine to feed the German population. 456 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:41,000 That's why Hitler gave the order to resist up to the end. 457 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:42,000 And one question. 458 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,000 If they didn't want to take prisoners, 459 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,000 why didn't they just kill them? 460 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:54,000 Because it wasn't necessary. 461 00:29:54,000 --> 00:30:00,000 I mean, 100,000 soldiers were resisted. 462 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:04,000 German soldiers resisted up to the end. 463 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:10,000 So imagine killing 100,000 soldiers. 464 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:13,000 Imagine killing this amount of soldiers. 465 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:17,000 It would be genocide, and for this reason, 466 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:20,000 they released them from the encirclement, 467 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,000 because they knew that they were defeated. 468 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:26,000 But instead, it was another mistake for Hitler, 469 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,000 because instead of using these soldiers 470 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:32,000 to defend his own country, he decided 471 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:35,000 to use them in the final battle of the Kursk. 472 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:39,000 OK, Elisa? 473 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,000 Yeah. 474 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:41,000 Alejandro? 475 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:47,000 And that I would like to say in response to Elisa, 476 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:54,000 that killing soldiers from other army was like a war crime, 477 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,000 I think. 478 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:57,000 It's a war crime. 479 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:01,000 If you have prisoners, you have to maintain them. 480 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:02,000 Exactly. 481 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:03,000 You couldn't just kill them. 482 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,000 Exactly. 483 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:09,000 Because obviously, Hitler didn't follow the orders 484 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:14,000 from the League of Nations, from the international law. 485 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:19,000 But the Soviet Union and the Allies were following the law. 486 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:21,000 They were following the international law. 487 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:23,000 And according to international law, 488 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:27,000 you have to maintain all these soldiers to feed them. 489 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:28,000 You can't kill them. 490 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:31,000 Alejandro, what do you think? 491 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,000 That I understand what you're saying, 492 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:37,000 but at the same time, the Soviet Union 493 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:40,000 were having the gulags and all this kind of stuff. 494 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:41,000 Yes. 495 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:45,000 But they were giving one impression to abroad, 496 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:48,000 and other things happened. 497 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:50,000 Other things were the internal affairs of the Soviet Union 498 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:52,000 before the Second World War. 499 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:54,000 There were many contradictions in this war. 500 00:31:54,000 --> 00:32:00,000 And also, Stalin gave the order to kill the police officers. 501 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:05,000 20,000 officers, police officers, 502 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:08,000 were called in the forest of Katyn. 503 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:12,000 And Stalin said that it was Hitler's fault, 504 00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:13,000 but it was his own fault. 505 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:15,000 He gave the order, Stalin gave the order 506 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:18,000 to kill all these police officers 507 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:22,000 in the forest of Katyn. 508 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:23,000 Many contradictions. 509 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:24,000 Yes, class, exactly. 510 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,000 Thank you for the questions. 511 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,000 So what happened in the Battle of the Kursk? 512 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,000 In this battle, the tanks were key. 513 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:35,000 They were the key weaponry, because it 514 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:41,000 was the battle in which the tanks were very, very decisive. 515 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:44,000 And at this point in war, the Soviet tanks 516 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:48,000 were superior than the Tigers and the Panzers. 517 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,000 The T-34, this is an image of the T-34. 518 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,000 Yes, it's impressive. 519 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:56,000 Impressive. 520 00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:01,000 The T-34 were superior than the Tigers and the Panzers. 521 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:04,000 And also, the Soviet Union were able to produce more tanks 522 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:06,000 than the Germany. 523 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:10,000 At this point in war, the industrialization, 524 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:16,000 which was undertaken by Stalin, was 525 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:20,000 able to produce more tanks than the Germans. 526 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:23,000 And it was true that the Soviet Union lost a lot of tanks 527 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:27,000 in these battles, even more than the Germans. 528 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,000 But they can't afford to do it, because they 529 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:34,000 were able to replace all these tanks, 530 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:38,000 because its own industrialization 531 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:42,000 was superior than the German industrialization 532 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:43,000 at this point. 533 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:45,000 They can't afford it. 534 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:48,000 And they won, because they had more tanks, 535 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:51,000 and because the T-34 was superior than the Tigers 536 00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:54,000 and Panzers. 537 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:55,000 So they won this battle. 538 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:56,000 They won this battle. 539 00:33:56,000 --> 00:34:01,000 And after this, in July 1943, the Germans 540 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:05,000 retreated to the territory of Germany. 541 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:11,000 Now, Hitler was committed to defend its own territory. 542 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:15,000 The Soviet Union were the winners on the Eastern Front. 543 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,000 They released the Ukraine. 544 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:22,000 The Ukraine, the breadbasket of Europe, 545 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:26,000 belonged from that moment to the Soviet Union. 546 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:28,000 That's why the Soviet Union occupied the Ukraine 547 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:30,000 at the end of the war. 548 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:34,000 And also, it was the moment after the Battle of Kursk 549 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:40,000 when Stalin gave the order to release 550 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,000 the siege of Leningrad. 551 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:46,000 And they expelled the Germans from there. 552 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:51,000 So it was terrible for the citizens of Leningrad, 553 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:53,000 because they were under the rule. 554 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:56,000 They were under the rule of the Germans 555 00:34:56,000 --> 00:35:08,000 from the beginning of this war, from 1941 up to 1944. 556 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:13,000 And also, as I said before, if it 557 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:19,000 hadn't been for the resources from the United States, 558 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:24,000 they would not have resisted up to the end. 559 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:25,000 It was key. 560 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:29,000 Also, the Lend-Lease Act and the Lend-Lease Bill 561 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:31,000 for the citizens of Leningrad. 562 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:32,000 We have finished. 563 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:35,000 Time for your questions.