The Road to Barbarossa Soviet-German Relations 1917-1941

The Road to Barbarossa Soviet-German Relations 1917-1941 written by

Norman Ridley and published by Frontline Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 320

From the chaos of the First World War, during which Germany and Russia had fought each other to a standstill, there emerged two societies whose diametrically opposed ideologies of communism and fascism represented the opposite extremes of the political spectrum. Despite this, in time the governments and military establishments in both countries were able to create an environment where political expediency led to both cooperation and an eventual alliance.

Western democracies found both systems repellent but the two countries, Germany and the Soviet Union, embodied vast resources of, in the case of the Soviets, raw materials and, in the case of Germany, huge intellectual, scientific and industrial expertise. Both offered massive opportunities for trade, but neither made comfortable partners. Britain, whose sympathies lay more with the Germans, and France, whose history tied them more to Eastern Europe, tended to treat both Germany and the Soviet Union as outcast states. 

Whilst animosity was rampant on a political level, both countries, now having equal pariah status in the eyes of the Western allies, began to see huge benefits in military and economic cooperation. Collaborative ventures for covert armament production and training facilities were initiated in 1921. These schemes would continue, with varying degrees of success, for more than a decade until the rise of Nazism in Germany put an end to it.

The Spanish Civil War saw not only thee two rival political philosophies but opposing military doctrines also being tested against each other on the field of battle. It is remarkable, therefore, that these two nations emerged from this maelstrom to re-discover the ‘spirit of Rapallo’. It was a spirit which culminated in the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in August 1939. Within weeks, both sides would display their unity as they fell together with ruthless efficiency upon the hopless Poland.

This book looks at how these two ‘strange bedfellows’ dealt with western hostility and found ways to accommodate each other in a bid to recover from the economic devastation and dismantling of their historic territorial boundaries. The extent to which cooperation was achieved is unusual given the circumstances, especially as they had to contend with the machinations of the Western Powers. 

I really looked forward to reading this book, and I can say I wasn’t disappointed. I think I was just looking forward to the fact that it was about the Eastern Front, but it was giving the reader that extra dimension of concentrating more on the political/relations/pre-war part of the Eastern Front. Whilst there is nothing wrong with the battles or military side of things, it’s just nice to get the added story and depth that the political part brings to the story, a bit like getting more of the story. The book covers fascinating part of relations such as The Bolshevik Revolution, The Lorcarno Treaties, The Rise of Nazism, The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and more. The book is well written and Ridley is an excellent writer in making the information easy to understand with all the various personalities involved. The book contains excellent sources and notes, and definitely a good book if you prefer reading more about the paperwork side of war. Highly Recommended.

The Waffen-SS Armour on the Eastern Front 1941-1945

The Waffen-SS Armour on the Eastern Front 1941-1945 written by Ian Baxter

and published by Pen & Sword Books - £14.99 - Softcover - Pages 144

Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union, codename Operation Barbarossa, was arguably the pivotal moment of the Second World War. Initially, the onslaught was staggeringly successful with, as the superb contemporary images in this book show, Waffen- SS armoured divisions leading the charge. But the Nazis had underestimated the Russians’ determination to defend their homeland and the logistical problems compounded by the extreme winter weather conditions.

After early victories such as the recapture of Kharkov in early 1943 and the Kursk offensive, commanders and crews of armoured vehicles such as Pz.Kpfw.I, II, III, IV, Panther, Tiger, King Tiger, assault and self-propelled guns had to adapt their tactics and equipment to what became a desperate defensive withdrawal eventually back across a scarred and devastated Eastern Front. Even during the last months of the war as the Panzers withdrew through Poland and into the Reich, these exhausted elite units, broken down into small battle groups or Kampfgruppen, fought to the bitter end.

With authoritative text supported by a plethora of rare fully captioned photographs, this classic Images of War book informs and inspires the reader revealing the key role played by Waffen-SS Panzer units in this most bitter campaign.

The Eastern Front, one of the more important parts of World War Two in which sent many troops and vehicles into Russia during Operation Barbarosa, it also looks at how hard the Germans found the war, enemy and weather conditions. Much like Russia today, even today people (Putin) still haven’t learnt from history in that if you start a war in the winter, your going to get bogged down/stuck and if your far from supplies you're going to run out of fuel. Once again this is another fascinating book as we see a good number of tanks and crew going to war and then being forced to retreat. It’s finally twigged with me especially the ‘land’ books of the images of war series’, that the vast majority of the photos are taken by the soldiers/crews in the situations. This makes the photos all the more better because you have soldiers in the situation knowing what to photograph and what is important. This is why so many of the photos consist of soldiers in their everyday working life, going through the good times and the bad.

Another fantastic book and as you know already I would happily recommend all these

Images of War books. I should also add there are always great appendices in the back

of these books, which probably often get overlooked.