Historian Reacts - WW2 - Western Front, 1944-1945. Part 1 by Eastory 

Indeed, the Russian Front. Where the war was truly fought, in terms of sheer human effort and sacrifice.

@Robert Kaevur He was - he left in order to work on his own channel and other projects last year I believe.

@@thedoctor755 The war was "truly" fought all over the world. People over the last 10 years have been trying to make-up for the lack of coverage in the Eastern front of WW2 from that time prior but have now been going to far with it, making it sound like the rest of the war didn't even matter and had no effect on how the war ended. The Allied efforts in WW2 played a major impact in the USSR winning the war. The Axis had more then 50% of their airforce at all times facing up against the Western allies. The Germans dedicated more then 50% of their GDP to air-defense equipment while only using 3% on armored equipment because of the allied bombings of Germany and other Axis nations. The Axis also had to keep millions of men to cover their captured territory and held within their own home territory to fight defensively against the threat of the allied invasion force and the allied bombing campaigns. The Eastern front of WW2 was the major front in terms of on the ground fighting from 1941 onwards but people (especially on the internet) are now starting to over compensate on how important the Eastern front was to the rest of the countries fighting in the war. It is completely arguable that the USSR does not win the war against the Axis forces if the Axis were at peace with the rest of the world. The USSR is then not getting lend lease supplies, which was far more then just military equipment that people like to focus on. Millions of tons of medical and logistical equipment were sent to the USSR prior to the millions of tons of military equipment was sent to the USSR. In addition to that the Axis then could have been buying oil and other supplies from American companies greatly helping their war effort. And most of all with out the allies in the war that opens of millions more Germans who were defending the coasts of their captured territories and operating air-defense roles to be able to help on the Eastern front of the war as either front line soldiers or in logistical roles. The Germans would also have been able to stop building and dedicating so much of their GDP to air-defense equipment and instead build anything else they wanted to in order to help win the war in the East (trains, supply planes, more tanks, ect).

Definitely second watching the Eastern front, it's an excellent video

Yeah if i could only subscribe to 5 channels Eastory would be one of them. The graphic overview of the flow of the war is just awesome, fills out the history so well

Yeah, I think the german best of the best panzer divs were used in that battle

Having read into it, it annoys me no end when you see people basically going "British troops were rubbish" or basically bigging up the Germans as it were. As another commenter points out, the Germans had their best panzer divisions there, particularly fanatical SS ones who often did fight to the last man. To that end, the only way to victory was to essentially wear the German forces down which was not what the Allies were expecting. When they had faced Rommel in the past, he often deployed a flexible series of defences as he had done in North Africa and Italy. Here though, he was ordered by Hitler to give up no ground at all, even when his forces were still in range of Allied naval guns. In the end, this just made the breakthrough all the more spectacular when it did happen. Also worth noting that while the Allies failed to take most of their initial targets on D-day, they expected to take Paris in around 90 days. I believe they achieved it 10 days earlier than planned, but that never gets mentioned for some reason, especially in comparison to the D-day targets anyway...

@@cobbler9113 I've said this for a long time, as much as anyone will hear me on D-Day content. The Germans held all of their elite troops north of the Seine, expecting the Calais hit. It's a real who's who of ''elite German Panzer divsions on the Western Front'' - The 1st and 2nd SS Panzer Korps (so the 1. SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler/2. SS Das Reich/12. SS Hitlerjugend ect), the Panzer Lehr, 2nd, 9th, 10th, 21st Panzer divisions, all the Heavy Tiger Battalions (with the fabled M. Witmann), and so on. In the Battle of Caen the Germans had 7 Infantry divisions , 8 Panzer divisions and the 3 Heavy Panzer battalions against the British and Canadians. Also, let us not forget the 21st Panzer Division actually made it to the beach between the British and Canadian landings during D-Day and was fought off, while the troops manning the rest of the beaches were forced conscripts, stomach battalions, divisions gutted of any mechanical equipment and injured troops on leave. Not to downplay the efforts elsewhere - static divisions with second rate troops can inflict major damage from a machine gun nest - but the Brits and Canadians faced the bulk of the elite troops in the initial period after D-Day, and that should not be forgotten (and often is entirely overshadowed by Omaha).

Thanks for sticking around since nearly the beginning. Grateful for your support.

🇫🇷🇺🇸🇬🇧🇺🇦🇷🇺

He used to, but left last year I believe

@@2Links Really? where did you hear that? I am a patrion of the WW2 channel but have not heard at all that he left the project. If he did I'm not sure who is working on the maps now as they still seem like his work.

@@PhillyPhanVinny On ig i asked them about it. They said Eastory no longer makes maps for them to due to his lack of time

@@b4nterontilt245 they are still using all of his maps and templates, suggesting that within Timeghost he likely handed off to an apparently well/trained successor, as the quality has continued (thus I have to believe they’re still using the same sources as Eastory does) and again it’s still the same style, while Eastory still makes occasional map videos of his own on his channel.

Coen: he is not really that detailed. He never mentioned that Canadians landed on Juno beach, lumped them in with the British . Only mentioned Canada in passing. Canada was the only nation to surpass their objectives on D Day, and had to help the British out by taking an airfield. As well, he did not mention the Battle of the scheldt, where Canadians with help from Polish and British troops cleared the estuary around Antwerp. Canada made their own declaration of war, independent of Britain, unlike other British dominions like Australia and New Zealand. South Africa, Tonga declared war independently as well, though Tonga was not a dominion.

Pretty easy to just forget Canada exists. Most of the world does it everyday.

Appreciate that Ron! And you're always welcome to express those disagreements. That's how we learn and grow, to have our views challenged.

Yes also the “new” Great War channel’s videos on the Latvian War of Independence, where after three years of German military rule the the long-standing Baltic German lords briefly re-established their sovereignty over Latvia for the first time since the 1500s, with the brief formation of a vassal state of the German Empire in 1918, followed by German reconquest in 1919 in which settlement in Courland and Livonia was promised to the German Freikorpsman, with a Baltic German republic formed, but this was again defeated, in part by British pressure. This aborted quest for settlement in the East is what largely led to the “stab in the back” idea, much more so than the western front. There was a a sense that Germany had been denied its destiny in the east that it was beginning pacification of the “wild” Eastern Baltic for settlement, akin to other settler projects and much closer to the German heart than their lost colonies in Africa.

There is no bridge north of Arnhem. At least, none of military importance that the Allies needed to get across. The next stage after Market Garden was to be twofold. First, a hook north east to get behind the Siegrfried Line/Reichswald and into the Ruhr area. The second part, much less discussed, was a push NNW along the IJssel river. This would cut off the Germans 25th Army in Holland and hopefully deliver the Dutch ports into allied hands, plus the Scheldt estuary. That was the important part because at this stage of the war, all supplies were still being moved through Normandy, and they were running out. People love shittalking Monty over Market Garden, but it was the best plan the allies had to do something decisive with the last of their supplies. It sure beats out Patton's lunge into the middle of Germany, which would only make the supply situation worse.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QPrJ_cYvvzs.html

Sadly we don't have a Hollywood to rewrite history and make it look that Omaha was the biggest thing since sliced bread

Small correction, King Lothaire I was deposed by his three sons, and it was King Lothaire II who was crushed by his Uncles, Charles the Bald of West Francia (France) and Louis (Ludwig) the German of East Francia (Germany)

I absolutely do. I value our community as a family for sure. Feel better soon!