Zhukov's Greatest Defeat: The Red Army's Epic Disaster in Operation Mars, 1942 (Modern War Studies) - Hardcover

Glantz, Colonel David M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 070060944X ISBN 13: 9780700609444

Publisher: University Press of Kansas, 1999

Synopsis

One of the least known stories of World War II, Operation Mars was a military disaster on an epic scale. Designed to dislodge the German Army from its position west of Moscow, it cost the Soviets an estimated 335,000 dead, missing and wounded men and over 1,600 tanks. But in Russian history books, it was a battle that never happened. It became instead another victim of Stalin's postwar censorship. This book offers an account of this forgotten catastrophe, revealing the key players and detailing the major events of Operation Mars. Using sources in both German and Russian archives, he reconstructs the historical context of Mars and reviews the entire operation from High Command to platoon level. Orchestrated and led by Marshal Georgy Kostantinovich Zhukov, one of the Soviet Union's great military heroes, the twin operations Mars and Uranus formed the centrepiece of Soviet strategic efforts in the fall of 1942. Launched in tandem with Operation Uranus, the successful counteroffensive at Stalingrad, Mars proved a monumental setback. Fought in bad weather and on impossible terrain, the ambitious offensive faltered (despite spectacular initial success in some sectors). Zhukov kept sending in more troops and tanks only to see them decimiated by the entrenched Germans. Illuminating the painful progress of Operation Mars with battle scenes and numerous maps and illustrations, Glantz presents Mars as a major failure of Zhukov's renowned command. Yet, both during and after the war, that failure was masked from public view by the successful Stalingrad operation, thus eliminating any stain from Zhukov's public image as a hero of the Great Patriotic War. For three gruelling weeks, Operation Mars was one of the most tragic and agonizing episodes in Soviet military history, Glantz's reconstructon of that failed offensive should fills a gap in our knowledge of World War II, even as it raises important questions about the reputations of national military heroes.

About this title

Review

"The Soviet dead, missing and wounded were estimated at a staggering 335,000. Glantz describes the appalling carnage that occurred in the forests, mud, fog, freezing temperatures and raging snowstorms of western Russia [and] brings Operation Mars vividly to life."--New York Times Book Review

"This gripping study of the Soviet counter-offensive--a work of permanent value--reveals the full extent of Zhukov's failure."--New York Review of Books

"Shows how greatly Soviet leaders distorted the war's history in their attempts to present themselves as incapable of error."--International History Review

"Vivid, powerful, compelling."--World War II

The Soviet dead, missing and wounded were estimated at a staggering 335,000. Glantz describes the appalling carnage that occurred in the forests, mud, fog, freezing temperatures and raging snowstorms of western Russia [and] brings Operation Mars vividly to life.--New York Times Book Review

This gripping study of the Soviet counter-offensive--a work of permanent value--reveals the full extent of Zhukov's failure.--New York Review of Books

Shows how greatly Soviet leaders distorted the war's history in their attempts to present themselves as incapable of error.--International History Review

Vivid, powerful, compelling.--World War II

"This is an outstanding contribution to the military history of a very important and little-known event in the campaign on the Eastern Front. That this major setback should have been so concealed from the outside world is characteristic of Soviet censorship; but the depth in which Glantz has studied the whole operation from High Command level to company or platoon using the widest range of source material deserves the highest praise. Also significant is Glantz's placement of Operation Mars alongside the much better-known Stalingrad battle (Operation Uranus) in Soviet political-strategic planning. Glantz's evidence is impressive, his conclusions totally convincing, and the actual military detail unrivaled in the literature. A truly important work."--Malcolm Macintosh, author of Juggernaut: A History of Soviet Armed Forces

"A very important book that radically challenges the 'received wisdom' about Stalingrad, the full significance of which cannot be grasped without understanding the role of Operation Mars. That story has remained largely unknown or unexplored for half a century, systematically concealed in Soviet historiography and deliberately misrepresented by Zhukov himself. Glantz's indispensable account, fundamentally important for a proper understanding of the Soviet-German front in late 1942, rescues Operation Mars from such terrible oblivion."--John Erickson, author of The Road to Stalingrad

"Redressing a major imbalance in the historical record, Glantz does a remarkable job of unearthing the Soviet side of Operation Mars. This book is well worth reading for anyone interested in the Soviet Union's monumental struggles in World War II."--Roger Reese, author of Stalin's Reluctant Soldiers: A Social History of the Red Army, 1925-1941

About the Author

David M. Glantz is the author of The Battle for Leningrad, 1941–1944, Stumbling Colossus: The Red Army on the Eve of World War, Zhukov’s Greatest Defeat: The Red Army’s Epic Disaster in Operation Mars, and When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler, all published by Kansas.

Edition details

• Publisher: University Press of Kansas
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 070060944X
• ISBN 13: 9780700609444
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 448