Terrain Factors in the Russian Campaign

This study was compiled from a series of reports written especially for the Historical Division, EUCOM, by several former German generals. All of these officers had extensive combat experience during World War II, especially on the eastern front. The principal author, for example, was successively chief of staff of a corps in France and Holland (1939-40) , commander of an infantry division in northern and central Russia (1941-43) , instructor at a school for division commanders in Berlin (1943) , commander of a corps in southern Russia (1943-44) , and acting commander of an army in southern Russia (1944) . Terrain Factors in the Russian Campaign describes only the salient geographic features of areas in European Russia actually entered by German troops during World War II, the terrain problems encountered, and German methods of dealing with those problems. The effect of climate upon terrain is dealt with here only in general terms. Arctic warfare is excluded. In its original form, this study consisted of a treatise on Russian terrain by the principal author and eleven tactical narratives by other officers, illustrating the effect of various types of terrain upon combat. The description of Russian terrain by the principal author and his observations on the strategic significance of these geographic factors are carefully preserved and find the same expression in the following translation as in the original German. The subsidiary tactical examples have been screened for pertinence to the main subject, for clarity and brevity, and for interest to the American reader. The editors have made every effort to retain the method of presentation, the expressions, and even the prejudices of the principal author. The reader is reminded that all publications in the GERMAN REPORT SERIES were written by Germans and are, therefore, from the German point of view.