Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to the Nazi-Soviet War
- Cambridge Companions to History
- The Cambridge Companion to the Nazi-Soviet War
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Conceptions of War
- Part II Opposing Forces
- Part III Campaigns
- 7 Operation Barbarossa, 1941
- 8 Stalingrad and the Eastern Front, 1942
- 9 The Battle of Kursk, 1943
- 10 The Siege of Leningrad, 1941–1944
- 11 Operation Bagration, 1944
- 12 The Soviet Conquest and Occupation of Germany, 1945
- Part IV Criminality and Occupation
- Part V Home Fronts
- Part VI Comrades in Arms
- Part VII Post-war Legacies and Myth-Making
- A Guide to Further Reading
- Index
11 - Operation Bagration, 1944
from Part III - Campaigns
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 November 2025
Edited by
Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to the Nazi-Soviet War
- Cambridge Companions to History
- The Cambridge Companion to the Nazi-Soviet War
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Conceptions of War
- Part II Opposing Forces
- Part III Campaigns
- 7 Operation Barbarossa, 1941
- 8 Stalingrad and the Eastern Front, 1942
- 9 The Battle of Kursk, 1943
- 10 The Siege of Leningrad, 1941–1944
- 11 Operation Bagration, 1944
- 12 The Soviet Conquest and Occupation of Germany, 1945
- Part IV Criminality and Occupation
- Part V Home Fronts
- Part VI Comrades in Arms
- Part VII Post-war Legacies and Myth-Making
- A Guide to Further Reading
- Index
Summary
After a year of advance following the failed summer 1943 German offensive at Kursk, the Soviet High Command decided on a renewed assault against Germany’s Army Group Centre in Belarus. After successful deception operations, in June 1944 the massive Soviet operation Bagration overwhelmed the outmanned and outgunned troops of Army Group Centre by combining masses of men and material with partisan activity to prevent German evacuation or reinforcement. Within weeks, the German position had collapsed and Soviet forces raced west into Poland. Combined with the Western allies’ landings in Normandy, Bagration convinced many in the German High Command that the war was lost, and Hitler’s assassination was the only hope to salvage acceptable peace terms. The headlong Soviet advance reached the Vistula River, triggering an attempt by the Polish Home Army resistance to seize power in Warsaw ahead of Soviet occupation. The Soviet advance ground to a halt on the east bank of the Vistula, and Hitler’s forces systematically crushed Polish resistance.
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- The Cambridge Companion to the Nazi-Soviet War , pp. 190 - 206Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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