PRELUDE TO BERLIN. THE RED ARMY'S OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS IN POLAND AND EASTERN GERMANY, 1945.pdf

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Prelude to Berlin: The Red Army’s Offensive Operations in Poland and
Eastern Germany 1945
offers a panoramic view of the Soviet strategic
offensives north of the Carpathians in the winter of 1945. During the course
of this offensive the Red Army broke through the German defences in Poland
and East Prussia and eventually occupied all of Germany east of the Oder
River.
The book consists primarily of articles that appeared in various military
journals during the first decade after the war. The General Staff’s directorate
charged with studying the war experience published these studies, although
there are other sources as well. A particular highlight of these is a personal
memoir that offers a rare insight into Soviet strategic planning for the winter–
spring 1945 campaign. Also featured are documents relating to the
operational-strategic conduct of the various operations, which were compiled
and published after the fall of the Soviet Union.
The book is divided into several parts, corresponding to the operations
conducted. These include the Vistula–Oder operation by the First Belorussian
and First Ukrainian Fronts out of their respective Vistula bridgeheads. This
gigantic operation, involving over a million men and several thousand tanks,
artillery and other weapons sliced through the German defences and, in a
single leap, advanced the front to the Oder River, less than 100 kilometres
from Berlin, from which they launched their final assault on the Reich in
April. Equally impressive was the Second and Third Belorussian Fronts’
offensive into Germany’s East Prussian citadel. This operation helped to clear
the flank to the north and exacted a long-awaited revenge for the Russian
Army’s defeat here in 1914. This effort cut off the German forces in East
Prussia and concluded with an effort to clear the flanks in Pomerania and the
storming of the East Prussian capital of Königsberg in April. The study also
examines in considerable detail the First Ukrainian Front’s Upper and Lower
Silesian operations of February–March 1945. These operations cleared the
army’s flanks in the south and deprived Germany of one of its last major
industrial and agricultural areas.
Richard W. Harrison earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees from
Georgetown University, where he specialized in Russian area studies. In
1994 he earned his doctorate in War Studies from King’s College London.
He also was an exchange student in the former Soviet Union and spent
several years living and working in post-communist Russia.
Dr. Harrison has worked for the US Department of Defense as an
investigator in Russia, dealing with cases involving POWs and MIAs. He has
also taught Russian history and military history at college and university
level, most recently at the US Military Academy at West Point.
Harrison is the author of two books dealing with the Red Army’s
theoretical development during the interwar period:
The Russian Way of War:
Operational Art, 1904–1940
(2001), and
Architect of Soviet Victory in World
War II: The Life and Theories of G.S. Isserson
(2010). He has also authored a
number of articles on topics in Soviet military history. He is currently
working on a history of the Red Army’s high commands during World War II
and afterwards.
Dr. Harrison currently lives with his family near Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
PRELUDE TO BERLIN
THE RED ARMY’S OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS IN
POLAND AND EASTERN GERMANY, 1945
PRELUDE TO BERLIN
The Red Army’s Offensive Operations in Poland and
Eastern Germany, 1945
Soviet General Staff
Edited and translated by Richard W. Harrison

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