Video Timestamps

Q1 [Jen and Aaron] Can you talk a bit about the Russian Winter of 1941? And why has so little been written about the 1941-42 Soviet winter offensive? 00:35

Q2 [Semih Sander] What if the German Army retreated to the pre-Barbarossa positions upon failure to take Moscow, maybe as early as November 41? 09:10

Q3 [Olaf] Assuming that an important objective of Barbarossa was to secure access to raw materials, such as oil and grain; how did the Nazi's initially try to accomplish that? 12:13

Q4 [Ken Goss] How did the Soviets have enough fuel for their 42-45 offensives? 16:10

Q5 [Aaron again] Why do you (TIK) say the Germans replenished their losses when Glantz says Hitler was told they were a million men understrength in 1942? 19:27

Q6 [SparkyBoomer and Craig] Can you further elaborate about their issues with logistics and the apparently long suffering logistics officers who were seemingly constantly ignored? And who were the people responsible for rear echelon logistical security? 26:07

Q7 [Dekabr] Is this blog http://tankarchives.blogspot.com trustworthy. And what would be your thoughts on the soviets "lying" on purely internal documents? 35:09

Q8 [Alexandre] Did the Battle of Stalingrad impact the theory of Urban Warfare? And how much did the Battle of Berlin owe to the Battle of Stalingrad in terms of Urban Warfare doctrine? 43:17

Q9 [Milan] Are you going to further specialize on the eastern front, especially bringing russian sources to the english-speaking audience? 48:34

Q10  [Kirin] What do you think of Budyonny? 52:50

Q11 [Timo] How is your German coming along? What is the first German source you want to use once you master the language enough? 57:33

Q12 [Ricky] What books would you recommend for the North African theater in WWII? 59:26

Q13 [Gregory Mackay]  Were you able to find any good books or papers on tanks, and if so what were they? 01:01:53

Q14 [Jen] What's your opinion on Alternate History and self-described "Educational" channels? 01:03:37

Books used/referenced in the video

Liedtke, G. “Enduring the Whirlwind: The German Army and the Russo-German War 1941-1943.” Helion & Company LTD, 2016.
Pitt, B. “The Crucible of War Volume 1: Wavell’s Command. The Definitive History of the Desert War." Cassell & Co, 2001.
Pitt, B. “The Crucible of War Volume 2: Auchinleck’s Command. The Definitive History of the Desert War." Cassell & Co, 2001.
Pitt, B. “The Crucible of War Volume 3: Montgomery and Alamein. The Definitive History of the Desert War." Cassell & Co, 2001.
Pöhlmann, M. "Der Panzer und die Mechanisierung des Krieges: Ein deutsche Geschichte 1890 bis 1945." Schöningh, 2016.
Stahel, D. “The Battle for Moscow.” Cambridge University Press, Kindle, 2015.
Stahel, D. “Operation Barbarossa: Germany’s Defeat in the East.” Cambridge University Press, Kindle, 2010.
Wette, W. & Ueberschär, G. "Stalingrad: Mythos und Wirklichkeit einer Schlacht." 2013.
Wette, W. "The Wehrmacht: History, Myth, Reality." Harvard University Press, 2006.
“Germany and the Second World War: Volume IV/I, The Attack on the Soviet Union.” Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt (Research Institute for Military History) Potsdam, Germany. Oxford University Press, 2015.

The books on tanks (and guns) that I said weren’t great -

Fletcher, D. "Crusader and Covenanter Cruiser Tanks 1939-45." Osprey Publishing, 2007.
Henry, C. "British Anti-tank Artillery 1939-45." Osprey Publishing, 2004.
Henry, C. "The 25-pounder Field Gun 1939-72." Osprey Publishing, 2011.
Newsome, B. "Valentine Infantry Tank 1938-45." Osprey Publishing, 2016.
Perrett, B. "Panzerkampfwagen III Medium Tank 1936-44." Osprey Publishing, 2009.
Perrett, B. "Panzerkampfwagen IV Medium Tank 1936-45." Osprey Publishing, 2007.
Zaloga, S. "BT Fast Tank: The Red Army's Cavalry Tank 1931-45." Osprey Publishing, 2016.
Zaloga, S. "T-26 Light Tank: Backbone of the Red Army." Osprey Publishing, 2015.
Zaloga, S. "T-34/76 Medium Tank 1941-45." Osprey Publishing, 2010.
Zaloga, S. "M3 & M5 Stuart Light Tank 1940-45." Osprey Publishing, 2009.

Thanks for watching!

"The reason why the Soviets win is because they don't lose." -TIK

Germany: attacks Soviet Union
Soviet Union: counterattacks
Hitler: "it's freezing outside"

You open a Red Army and you find  another Red Army, you open that Red Army and find yet another Red Army... So the Germans were defeated by General Matryoshka not General Winter.

I'd recommend Marshal Zhukov's autobiography, for many reasons, but his thoughts on weather are relevant here. "YOU THINK WE DIDN'T GET STUCK IN THE MUD!!?? YOU THINK WE DIDN'T FREEZE!!??"

Long story short, he didn't think highly of people who said the Germans were defeated by the weather.

Barbarosa in a nutshel:
Step 1: Defeat Red Army
Step 2: ?????
Step 3: Profit

Step 1: Defeat the Red Army
Step 2: If Step 1 fails, see Step 3
Step 3: See Step 1 !

"we'll just draw a line from arkhangelsk to astrakhan"
hey works in hoi4

"I'm agreeing with Hitler" -TIK, July 30 2018

So the lesson is
A. The German's terrible logistic
    cost them Barbarossa
B. Memes are not always correct

I think it was historian John Keegan who said something along the lines of:

“Battles are won not when the enemy is defeated, but when their will to resist is. The Soviet Union’s will to resist was never defeated.”

It's ridiculous that people even need to be told about this. Not just WW2 even Napoleonic war, FFS check the date when Napoleon begin his retreat, it's not winter.

Summary:
1. Barbarossa was a plan without any constructive targets in perspective, just to defeat Red Army.
2. German preparation (stockpiles of materials, human resources, equipment, etc.) before invasion was more of a good wish than solid economical calculation.
3. Germans are not that good with building supply lines in the east.
4. Soviet hospitality can be extremely cold.
Why this war lasted that long? They should gone confused, cold and lost in Russian steppes. Hände hoch and Siberian vacation... meanwhile retreat took a lot of time and Germans managed to employ (too late) lots of military inventions during that time. Fatalities went in tens of millions and now instead of solid historical basis we got alternative history... somebody, give me grenade.

If you want something interesting, contrary to the "invading Russia in winter meme", the failed invasions are usually started in Summer. As for foes who invaded in winter,  the Commonwealth, Swedes, Mongols, they usually actually won. So yes invading Russia in winter is a good idea.

The renaming of Persia into Iran took place in 1935.

"The reason the Russians win is because they do not lose."
I always find it interesting that you still see this in Russians today, in everything they do up to and including how they play video games. Rather than Soviet leadership, this seems to be a mentality of the Russian culture. They simply refuse to lose, even when everything seems hopeless. To cite an interesting quote:

"What really scares me about the Reds is that they don’t follow the normal rules of alliances. Usually if you defeat an alliance they shatter. The Reds have lost all their territory and still come back with disciplined, vicious, and effective assaults against innumerable foes, and they’ve been in non-stop combat for almost three full years now. It’s just insane."
- 'The Mitanni', Goonswarm Spymaster, EVE Online, when talking about the Russian Red Alliance.

It is hard to make a nation surrender after you started fighting a war of annihilation. Armistice gains defeated nation almost nothing. It’s do or die.

What is incredible from a western point of view is our winters. Always Winter !
Winter is a natural element to which we must adapt, quite simply. despite "warm clothes", the Russian Soldier also suffered from the extreme cold.
I am sad because i am a bad woman and not because i am a Russian woman, i am human first...
...and for harsh winters, I have no antifreeze in my blood.

On the question on the oil supply in the Soviet Union and lend lease:  first and probably most important thing - Germany actually 'outconsumed' the Soviet Union in oil products till late 1943 or so. Wermacht literally used more fuel than Red Army for the first half of the war. The main reason here is that while Soviets had more crude oil production their refineries produced mostly heavy oil/masut which was not really suitable as vehile fuel. It was also a reason why Soviets liked diesel engines - diesel fuel was much easier to produce for them than gasoline.

And lend-lease factor played its role in high octane aviation gasoline mostly.  About third of the Soviet avgas was American in origin.

"The Soviets didn't win any battles but  they carried on fighting", sounds familiar to to the American war of independence, the Vietnam war, and every campaign fought in Afghanistan since Alexander the Great.