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At war's summit : the Red Army and the struggle for the Caucasus Mountains in World War II / Alexander Statiev (University of Waterloo, Ontario).
Van Pelt Library D764.7.C3 P67 2018
Available
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Statiev, Alexander, 1956- author.
- Series:
- Cambridge military histories
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Soviet Union. Raboche-Krestʹi︠a︡nskai︠a︡ Krasnai︠a︡ Armii︠a︡--Mountain troops.
- Soviet Union.
- Soviet Union. Raboche-Krestʹi͡anskai͡a Krasnai͡a Armii͡a.
- Germany. Heer.
- Mountain troops.
- Germany. Heer--Mountain troops.
- Germany.
- World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Caucasus.
- World War, 1939-1945.
- Operation Edelweiss.
- World War, 1939-1945--Mountain warfare.
- Mountain warfare.
- History, Military.
- Caucasus--History, Military--20th century.
- Caucasus.
- Military campaigns.
- Caucasus Region.
- Genre:
- Military history.
- Physical Description:
- xiii, 440 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.
- Other Title:
- Red Army and the struggle for the Caucasus Mountains in World War II
- Place of Publication:
- Cambridge, United Kingdom : Cambridge University Press, 2018.
- Summary:
- This is the story of the highest battlefield of World War Two, which brings to life the extremes endured during this harsh mountain warfare. When the German war machine began faltering from a shortage of oil after the failed Blitzkrieg against the Soviet Union, the Wehrmacht launched Operation Edelweiss in the summer of 1942, a bold attempt to capture the Soviet oilfields of Grozny and Baku and open the way to securing the vast reserves of Middle Eastern oil. Hitler viewed this campaign as the key to victory in World War Two. Mountain warfare requires unique skills: climbing and survival techniques, unconventional logistical and medical arrangements and knowledge of ballistics at high altitudes. The main Caucasus ridge became the battleground that saw the elite German mountain divisions clash with the untrained soldiers of the Red Army, as they fought each other, the weather and the terrain.
- Contents:
- Introduction: the path towards the top summits of World War II
- ch.1. Russia's historical experience in mountain warfare
- ch.2. Soviet preparations for war in the mountains
- ch.3. First battle tests and the handicaps of selective learning
- ch.4. Contest of follies: Plan Edelweiss and the German offensive across the high Caucasus
- ch.5. 'Not a step back!': the German mountain corps hits the wall
- ch.6. The Soviet counteroffensive: a stalemate snatched from the jaws of victory
- ch.7. Mosaics of mountain warfare: comparative military effectiveness in the high Caucasus
- ch.8. Learning mountain warfare the hard way
- ch.9. Lessons ignored: d�ej�a vu at Tuapse (1942) and in the Carpathians (1944)
- ch.10. Disdain for military professionalism as a component of the universal Stalinist paradigm.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 350-427) and index.
- ISBN:
- 9781108424622
- 1108424627
- OCLC:
- 1011009436
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