The Greatest Battle

I just finished reading this book and have to say that it was really well written. It is about the Battle of Moscow in 1941 and what the author states is the "greatest battle of World War 2" (also called the Great Patriotic War in Russia.) I have been to Russia - including Moscow - many times and know that every Russian town/city has a monument to the war and those that fought and died - an estimated 27 million Soviets died during the war with 9 million of them being soldiers.

The author, Andrew Nagorski, shows why he believes the Battle of Moscow is not only the greatest battle of the war, but also the turning point. Had Moscow fallen to the Germans it would have opened the rest of the country (not already occupied by the Nazis) to be over-run. Moscow was the capital and "headquarters" of the Soviet Union and to loose it could have led to the collapse of Stalin's Government and the end of Communism - which may not have been a bad thing - but that would also have meant the Nazis were winning - which would be a very bad thing.

One item that I was surprised to learn about from reading this book (and looking it up afterwards in other places) was the chaos that hit Moscow in October 1941 when the Nazis were within sight of the city. I had always read (and heard from Russians) that things remained calm throughout the war - even when all hope seemed lost. It would only make sense that people would panic when the threat of a foreign invasion of their city or even country was upon them especially when you see the government and all the factories, etc fleeing the capital for safety.

Every person who drives on the main highway from Sheremetevo Airport to downtown Moscow has seen the monument near the Ikea that shows the furthest advance of the Germans to Moscow - and it is pretty close.

I don't know if the Battle of Moscow should be considered the turning point of the war - even in the European Theater - but do believe it is a major, epic battle that could have altered the war if the Germans had captured Moscow.