Soviet Rifleman vs German Infantryman

This fully illustrated account assesses the Soviet and German foot soldiers who fought in Operation Bagration, Stalin’s bid to drive the Axis forces from Soviet territory in World War II.

In the summer of 1944, the Red Army launched Operation Bagration, aiming to liberate Belarus and cripple the Wehrmacht’s Eastern Front capability. In just five weeks, Soviet forces reached the gates of Warsaw, inflicting catastrophic losses on the Germans – over 300,000 men, a toll even greater than Stalingrad.

In this study, Jacek Zabielski assesses the infantrymen fighting on both sides in the Vitebsk–Orsha Offensive, the battle for Minsk and the struggle for Vilnius. He highlights how, seeking to conduct high-tempo operations reminiscent of the German Blitzkrieg doctrine of 1939–41, the Red Army concentrated its forces to achieve decisive breakthroughs, pursuing the destruction of Axis forces despite enormous casualties. In contrast, the Wehrmacht was in rapid decline. Hitler’s increasing unwillingness to delegate decision-making to field commanders hampered German effectiveness, while years of relentless combat had depleted their ranks of experienced junior officers and NCOs.

The war’s end was still many months away, but Operation Bagration made Soviet victory inevitable, setting the stage for the Red Army’s advance into East Prussia, the Baltic and South-eastern Europe.