The Defence of Stalingrad 

Anyone who can sit in front of a camera and keep a straight face while saying, "Operation Uranus called for two powerful thrusts" is a true professional. Bravo, Simon.

The street is no longer measured by meters but by corpses... Stalingrad is no longer a town. By day it is an enormous cloud of burning, blinding smoke; it is a vast furnace lit by the reflection of the flames. And when night arrives, one of those scorching howling bleeding nights, the dogs plunge into the Volga and swim desperately to gain the other bank. The nights of Stalingrad are a terror for them. Animals flee this hell; the hardest stones cannot bear it for long; only men endure.

“Shockingly Hitler wasn’t a man of his word” is peak British sarcasm. Thank you Simon and the writers, whoever they are

“Operation Uranus called for two powerful thrusts” lmfaoooo

Moscow was saved not by winter but a mix of having fresh very well trained troops from Siberia after they had received confirmation that Japan won't invade and that Zhukov came to the scene to re organize the army. This caught the germans completely by surprise as they thought that the red army lacked any reserves to push them back. Then the stretch of their supply lines were a factor.

“The Sound of the mortars, the music of Death! We’re playing the Devil’s Symphony! Where the Violins are Guns, Conducted from Hell!!!” - Stalingrad, Sabaton

Kursk fortifications could qualify as a Mega Project...

The bombing of Stalingrad to rubble at the start of the battle played right into the Russian defender's hands as it robbed the German tank forces of their one significant advantage - mobility. It also forced the Wermacht into fighting hand-to-hand urban warfare, something they'd never trained for. There's many "turning points" in WW2, Stalingrad (& the Russian victory at Kursk 5 months later) I rate amongst the most important, certainly on the Eastern Front.

After the Russian encirclement the Germans blamed their allies, the Romanians, and Hungarians for the predicament. The Hungarians pointed out that of 4 of their senior officers killed 3 had died in hand to hand combat.

Stalingrad never gets old. It's just fascinating carnage.

Suggestions: Illinois & Michigan Canal connecting Mississippi River to Great Lakes, Sears Catalog & its impact, Gateway Arch in St Louis, and Sears Tower.

An actually well researched video on Stalingrad - this is surprising, most just repeat Wehraboo myths. The winter may have been harsh, but the real reason they avoided Moscow was they simply couldn't take it. Their panzer divisions had done literally all the fighting, so while on paper had won every engagement, some were so shattered they were basically infantry divisions. Losing 1 man to every 4 Russians seems all well and good, until you realise those 4 Russians were conscripts, and that one man was an elite Panzer crewmember. Whose crew no longer has a tank. Combine that with the Red army moving forces to the flanks, they had to stop. Stalingrad etc had to be taken first, to help shore up said flanks. (Which was ultimately always the plan.) The units that got to Moscow were scouts, and the group was by no means capable of taking it. By the time the Siberian soldiers arrived, due to the Russian/Japanese non aggression pact, it was never going to be taken. I love that you mentioned the 1077th - far too few know of their heroism. It's yet another example of women doing a job to an insane degree during the war that people often forget. I wish things like BFV had gone in to that instead of making shit up. You said Stalingrad was the turning point - at the time of the 1077th delaying the Panzers, there weren't even many citizen militias, letalone Red army units. The Germans could literally have waltzed in virtually unopposed. The 1077th, and other militias, held off for more militias to form and red army units to arrive, so they quite literally saved the city. While I don't think the Germans would ever have won, so I don't think it changed the ultimate outcome, it's amazing how few know of this in such a key battle. Stalin's order 227 wasn't really followed very much. Killing a retreating, capable, loyal, soldier was just madness. They can live to fight again and cause yet more carnage, and quite often would just be rolled in to the inevitable counterattack in places like Stalingrad. If you retreated for good reason you wouldn't be shot. Do it too much and you might, but blocking battalions were only really a thing for penal troops - normal troops were more valuable alive. The myth of the conscripts not having weapons come from the event portrayed in Enemy at the gates - during the actual crossing the rifle divisions sent across did not have heavy weapons with them. They had weapons, but no mortars (at first), no artillery etc. This slowly morphed in to them having no weapons, but in reality they were heavily armed - because again, an equipped armed soldier that succeeds is far better than just sending him to die unequipped. The battle didn't end just because Paulus surrendered - there were some, often quite large, pockets of Germans who fought on in some cases for months - they thought the Russians would kill them (and in the case of small pockets were often correct) so many either fought to do as much damage as possible, or went underground and tried to fight their way out. From what I've read, very few were successful.

"Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight. If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve. Officers and men alike will put forth their uttermost strength. Soldiers when in desperate straits lose the sense of fear." - Sun Tzu on the Art of War

"Operation Uranus called for two powerful thrusts" I can't believe he didn't go all business blaze and crack up laughing

I remember a movie called The Beast about a Soviet tank crew in Afghanistan. And the tank commander talked about how when he was 8 years old he took part in the defense of Stalingrad. And how they used to lower him down with a rope and he would stick Molotov cocktails underneath the manifolds of the Nazi tanks. They said they start calling him Tank Boy. He said he took out a lot of Nazi tanks.

Why is it whenever im about to crash (at like 4am, jesus), you've put out an absolute banger of a video

"Their attention had been so focused on the center of the city, they had failed to properly reinforce their flanks." *OPERATION URANUS*

Me: This doesn't seem like a mega project. Simon: We really are pushing the definition of a mega project aren't we? Me: He lampshaded it, this is acceptable.

Operation Uranus consisted of two powerful thrusts aimed at the flanks. Yeah, we caught that Simon.

If you want to get a feel for this siege, I recommend "Life and Fate" by Vassily Grossman. The siege of Stalingrad plays a prominent role in that novel. Warning: it is a tough book to read. Very tough. But strangely and universally rewarding those who pull through.

"The Art of War" says that if an army is placed with their backs to the wall, they will fight like crazy.

Fascinating video and much appreciate the upload! My family has fought for the Wehrmacht during WW2. My Grandfather was in the 6th army 44th infantry division and saw action in Poland, France and Kharkov. He was later captured along with thousands of men at Stalingrad. Ultimately he lost 80 pounds of body weight moving around different Russian labour camps post war before finally returning home to Germany in the 1950 and lived a long peaceful life. His younger brother started off the war in the East as part of the 439th Regiment of the 134th Division and was at the battle of Moscow then later he was one of 9 survivors out of 1,000 men in his regiment to die in the battle of Kursk where he was injured. He survived the end of the war as part of the 512th heavy tank destroyer battalion as a loader for the Jagdtiger when he surrendered to the Americans by the end of the war in May 1945. The eldest brother out of the 3 served in the German navy as an officer. He was on submarine U-107 which sank British ship Colonial off Guinea, French West Africa; the entire crew of 100 survived and rescued by HMS Centurion.

Referring to the sixth army in Stalingrad as "sacrificial lambs" is a truly amazing use of language. It is not often a lamb forces its way into a temple, attempts to lay waste to everyone in it, and is then sacrificed. That, I suggest, is a rare lamb indeed.

When a battle is so brutal it deserves its own campaign medal.

Dude you have so many awesome channels! Unreal the amount of content you can produce, keep it up!!

Great job Simon and staff, really enjoyed this one.

Would like to see a MEGA disasters channel to cover all forms of disasters from natural to man made. The stats would be extremely interesting to find out the human impact, environmental impact, cost and lessons learned

"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" -Stalin, probably

Thank you Simon. I know now how to fortify my room over this three day weekend so that no one may try and drag me away from my computer. Not one step outside!

1:00 - Chapter 1 - Operation barbarossa 3:20 - Chapter 2 - Race to the oilfields 4:30 - Chapter 3 - Stalingrad 6:35 - Chapter 4 - It begins 7:15 - Chapter 5 - The resistance 9:25 - Chapter 6 - The rat war 10:50 - Chapter 7 - Clinging on 12:05 - Chapter 8 - Operation uranus 13:00 - Chapter 9 - The cauldron 14:40 - Chapter 10 - Aftermath

Good stuff. And one day in the midst of all that siege and fighting, Soviet soldiers find a gramophone with only one playable record. They played the record and all of the sudden the fighting stops for a little while. Music was being heard by the foes and friends … And all that happened at the Pavolov’s house! Something like that I remember! Thanks, love your show.

"Rattenkreig" Tim Robbins' "War of the Rats" was one of the best novels of this and provided the dramatic basis for the movie "Enemy at the Gates".

You could do a megaprojects on Detroit’s conversion from cars to military manufacturers in WW2. Seeing the Germans using horses reminded me of the logistics advantage the Allies had with Jeeps and heavy trucks.

Simon, great job! Your new megaprojects gig should be similar to this Stalingrad segment. You will of course have to come up with a new name for it. You can cover from things like the Civil War, Vietnam, WWI, WWII, Soviet Afghanistan/US Afghanistan, or any conflict worldwide. Sort of like offense/defense. You can use for example why was the US not allowed to bomb Hanoi during Vietnam, but wasn't later until Nixon came onboard. However, what was the strategic point if any taking Hanoi. This is an example program.

Nice. I had been following both TIK and Indie Niedell in their WWII series, at the moment also looking at Stalingrad. I have Stalingrad up to here, and still can not get enough of it.

Excellent, Simon. Thank you.

Hey, the A10 Warthog could be an interesting video for Megaprojects, just saying, great engineering on it, massive gun, depleted uranium ammunition, also the sound it makes while shooting is iconic

Have you covered the construction of the Alcan yet? True mega project and done on an incredible time scale that you can't truly understand unless you've seen it.

Thank you for the great work you folks do! Excellent history doc ya’ll.

I love all your content n knowledge. Its awsome to actually see someone that believes in history as it was rather than how they decide make it. I'm a older country boy from southern ohio. But had amazing history teachers n elders.. thankyou

I've just finished reading "Stalingrad" by Anthony Beevor. It is Very Sad to imagine the horror both sides soldiers Saw

I'd highly recommend the book "Stalingrad" by UK historian Anthony Beevor if you want to learn more about this

Definitions be damned!! This was an excellent installment of Megaprojects. 🏆

This one along with Simon's video on the Atlantic Wall. Shot Simon this is the best video you guys have made ✌✌🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

“Operation Uranus called for two powerful thrust to push around on both German flanks”

“Enemy at the Gates”….not the movie, but the book, is definitely worth reading. It should be required reading for anyone who plans to enter into military service.

Yet another great video Simon . You should do one on the raid of san nazaire

Broooo!! You just made my day!

Sobering to see what people can do to each other, small scale and large scale.

Suggestion: A channel for war/conflicts/battles/sieges etc. These military conflict/battle videos seem to do really well, and people always suggest more engagements to cover. If you made a ‘Battlegraphics’ or ‘Warographics’ channel it would be really interesting. It could be specific engagements (e.g. - Overlord, Waterloo) or entire conflicts (e.g. - Columbia’s Thousand Days’ War). Or Australia losing a war to emus, if you were so inclined. 😂 Otherwise military tactics or famous strategies occasionally to mix things up.

The interstate through the Rockies. I -70 Especially the Glenwood canyon section. Very impressive project not finished until the 1990s

Excellent topic, thanks! Please consider a similar topic, the Defense of Leningrad, another truly epic story.

“Operation Uranus called for two powerful thrusts. “ I am so immature…

Most brutal battle of WWII. Damoi Pavlov and Kurgan Mamayev Historic

Friggin beautifully written and delivered

Even in the 1950's there was coaguleated blood and skinns found at Volga river, and wherever you satt and spade in Volgograd's soil, you would hit something from the battle of Stalingrad. Am a norwegian x-military and Nato veteran but also fought with russian soldiers as contractnik for Russia truh contractor firm in UK, we fought in Grozny 1994-1995, so i know a bit how it was, but just a bit.

This and Kursk are most insane battles of WW2.

Have you done a video about the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer located on the International Space Station? It was supposed to be one of the most important instruments installed on the ISS. However, it almost didn't make it up there because the guy in charge of the space shuttle missions said there wasn't enough room. It's a great story of how it was made, what it does, and how it got up there. Thank you for all the amazing stories.

Hi Simon love the content! I would love a mega project video on the Chicago L train!

"Do not count days, do not count miles, count only the number of Germans you have killed” - Soviet journalist Ilya Ehrenburg

Ooh time for that sweet sweet fix...

He should do a megaprojects video about the SpaceX Starship, maybe after Booster 4 Ship 20 (first orbital flight) in a month or two? I think the largest rocket ever built and the first entirely reusable rocket would count as a mega project.

"Operation Uranus called for 2 powerful thrusts" OK, now have Brain Blaze Simon read the same thing.

Simon cover the Hone Bridge and/or Marquette Interchange in Milwaukee, WI please. It's got an interesting history.

I'd say technically Stalingrad isn't a seige. Linengrad was, but not Stalingrad. They always help a side and they made it into the city.

Hitler's strategy for the region was doomed once he split his Army Group South into two, sent part to the Caucasus and part to Stalingrad. Thus, they were never in a position to mutually support one another should the worst happen. The worst happened.

FDNY SUPER PUMPER & TENDER! Really cool concept and one of kind for its time.

In this same vein, I think a rundown of the siege of Leningrad would also fit quite well, there's a lot to cover there too.

i mean the defense of stalingrad is truly a project

Simon sorry, the most brutal siege was the siege of Leningrad

11:58 "...they had failed to properly reinforce their flanks." OPERATION URANUS LMAO

*STUNNING*

The not a step back part mentioned was not accurate. Stalin wrote an essay to military command as to why it should be implemented.

Simon, you're worrying too much about whether or not your videos neatly fall within whatever criteria makes something a megaproject. We don't care, the bald bearded bespectacled British man is talking, we're listening. You could read a phone book and call it a Megaproject, for all we care.

This was a good one!!!

"Operation uranus called for two powerful thrusts" huehuehue

Battles like this and Verdun are literally WH40k battles in the real world

The "aftermath" segment should've included the grisly fate of the ~91K Germans taken prisoner. Systematically underfed, underwatered, brutalized, and worked hard, only a few thousand (IIRC, around 3K) were ever returned to Germany -- and most of those did so only after years of hard labor in various camps. Their hard labor was justified, but certain humane and legal standards must be maintained lest camp conditions amount to yet more war crimes, and of course the Stalin administration couldn't have cared less. This is not surprising, considering the purges and gulag conditions he and his goons had already imposed on millions of Soviet citizens. The harsh and sometimes sadistic abuse of the German POWs began on their long train transport in which they were packed like cattle (conditions which the Germans had subjected millions of Jews and other prisoners on their way to concentration and extermination camps) all the way to Siberia. I've read that the prisoners in at least a few instances were tossed some fish, but given no water to wash it down. Starving, the men attacked the food, only to realize too late that it was salted-cured, and far more harmful than eating nothing at all when water was not forthcoming. On a few of the trains, some cannibalism occurred, but that practice apparently increased greatly in the camps, where the men remained underfed, were always cold in winter, and worked hard, and the less scrupulous ones formed murderous gangs preying on weaker, more socially isolated POWs. By camp orders, any prisoner caught red-handed in the act of cannibalism was shot immediately, but it didn't seem to matter, and the hideous practice continued.

Dropping these Cold War projects again The A10 and the Bradley IFV. Or more Ancient Rome, the ramp/siege of Masada

This was a mere summary, a summary of a summary even.

Actually I disagree. Defence on this scale is the very definition of a mega project. The D-day landings would fall into a similar vein because of the sheer level of organisation and logistics required.

Вечная память героям! 😢 Eternal memory to heroes!

Super informative yet harrowing to believe.

Interesting Topic. I love it.

Such a bizarre (and biased) contradiction of statements when he qualifies Soviet leadership as "psychopaths" for telling the people of Stalingrad to stay, while minutes later remarking their "extraordinary" heroism. Which is it then?

You should just call this channel “All Things Mega” or just “Mega”.

You will end up creating a new channel dedicated to history, apart from Biographics, my man is the king of RU-vid, Mr Blaze

Excellent - well written and presented.

I spoke to a German survivor of Stalingrad, and he told me how they were eating the bodies of the dead. Not quite as glamorous as you make it.

Well the battle of Stalingrad wasn’t so much a siege as a continual depraved dive into the deepest crevasses of human depravity. The Germans and Russians dived right into the meat grinder at the tractor factory, the Volga banks etc., so it wasn’t even a real siege in the classical sense.

Just the intro alone cracked me up already 🤣🤣🤣👏👏

Simon - excellent video as always. I think a great follow up would be the Battle of Battle of the Seelow Heights (German: Schlacht um die Seelower Höhen) (16 April-2 May 1945). the last soviet push before Berlin that featured the WORLDS GREATEST ARTILLERY BARRAGE OF ALL TIME. I think Soviet, WW2 and Artillery would make for a popular video - and this is logical conclusion of the soviet push back.

You see, I found out that the kill bots have a pre-programmed maximum kill counter. With that in mind, I sent waves and waves of my own men at them and easily secured victory!

Great content

I can very very much recommend Dan Carlin's Ghosts of the Ostfront. Really incredible series

Loved it

Megaproject, amazing video 📹

I would add that Zhukov had planned the counteroffensive from the start of the siege and that he said the city just had to hold on long enough so things were ready for attacking the weakened flanks

Very interesting subject.

Another excellent video! So with all the channels that you do when do you sleep? Here's a suggestion for an ancient Megaprojects; The Great Wall of China.