he told his staff that it was a war of annihilation didn't he he he sort of a war of survival and it was going to be the survival of the fittest and it didn't take and started to realize the consequences of thought that there would be horrific losses. and that was indeed how unexpected was the invasion i mean hitler and stalin had signs that. pact making them allies on easy allies of course but allies nonetheless they were allies and the soviet union was caught by surprise and this was stalin's great. stalin was not naive but he thought that germany would not attack in nine hundred forty one he thought the attack would come late and he believed that he could use this pact to develop the soviet union's and sphere of influence and at the same time. the radhasoami and transfer industry was beyond your own mountains but in fact he got it very very badly wrong and of

course the red army was caught deeply unprepared in nine hundred forty one your book is about the sort of human story behind the how did it develop militarily during the cold. war the beginning in one nine hundred forty one the red army was hunted. by the autumn of one nine hundred forty one of the last between two and three million tons of killed in this thing and captured. i think few are in the world could do sustain that level of punishment and still carried on fighting and it was not from this high come on to believe at that point the soviet union. what was it that kept the red army fighting that's the sixty four thousand dollar question an extraordinary mix of. brutal leadership tough leadership from stalin but it was necessary to be tough and the origin of nine hundred forty one.

installed in result most would be defended and they would keep fighting but it was a. profound truth to see that the red army recovered from the initial crisis realized it was a battle for survival and what was at stake was not just a communist system but russia as a country in the soviet union i was in the boardroom so it's not really did become a part of it war it was unusual time in the developed quite a lot during the time it comes to what do you think explains the mox difference in its effectiveness from say nine hundred forty one it to for example the battle of stalingrad in which it secured a stunning victory one of course the technical reasons that the red army in the midst of war is retraining. and of course it's the worst possible time to do it but they are doing it and to give them credit this begins to make a difference they transfer their industry as they get them up and running and

certainly by the end astonishing that better try and better equipped but the germans still from the do both and i believe there was just the science or the technical side germany could very well have won it either in one nine hundred forty one nine hundred forty two but it was the love of the model and it was this extraordinary determination to carry on fighting that the germans underestimated to hit wanted a short sharp shock and quick campaign was crucial but it didn't work out like us are told that he thought it would all be over and he was not alone off to the will of the german general just since we were against it but at the time many of them agreed with hitler they thought the wall could be very quickly in three months and of course we won't make the same mistake because napoleon we won't have a winning tool because we'll want to buy the oil they were carried away by their own successes their previous successes blitzkrieg brightening war and they believe that if they have. they're out on the front too. but they are underestimated the

right and they underestimated the soviet union and was that a turning point or was it just onset of the winter when the weather they just weren't prepared for well the germans blame the weather. again and you could just pop seen that one coming but they were caught by surprise and they said the weather rolled them but in fact i think the weather was part of the story and the other part that was much harder for them to acknowledge was that an army that seemed to feed to demoralize them lost in a matter of weeks and days turned itself around and started fighting and resisting with stupendous on the first turning point was outside moscow the germans expected to take the capital they were later than they thought but they still thought that would end the war and it was the strength and determination of resistance that caught me by surprise ahead of the campaign hit was repeatedly advised taking

western russia would in fact be more of a drain on germany's economic resources than it would be beneficial why did he go ahead with the campaign anyway well he was motivated by his own son of leadership he believed he had a mission almost divine mission a very dark vennochi to lead his people to great success and it was this mission that he was going to follow on on a fundamental level he was never really going to listen to advice that he perceived that the soviet union was the enemy and he also believed its resources could be plundered and used for a greater germany at the end of the day he was going to follow. what were the consequences of the ultimate failure of operation. well it destroyed the german army it destroyed the. throughout. war the majority of its resources were

concentrated on the eastern front and even after d.-day more three quarters. divisions military divisions were fighting on the eastern front so it was where the biggest battles took place the biggest casualties took place under. the road system and more casualties than the city could also replace the casualties. so it became a war of attrition and ultimately it was going to be germany that would lose that war and it was destroyed it frays a war on two fronts wasn't it well believed that a war on two fronts could work if you won the war against the soviet union quickly and of course if had been won quickly that could have well been the case but once the war started dragging on into nine hundred forty two nine hundred forty three germany was lost and that mocked which had behaved with

a deal of decorum on the western front behaved in a completely different way in the east didn't it what do you put that down to well after the war the german claimed it was fighting a clean war and it was it was the units behind the army and it was the us that were doing all the unpleasant stuff that was not true that some soldiers on the eastern front with decent behave decently but many were infected by the race proper counted towards the smallest towards the jews and the german army i the participated in a special statistic oncet use against the russian civilian population or certainly knew they were going on and justified i mean the justification was we were fighting a brutal war of survival. bit but war with darker than any other war in the twentieth century indeed possibly in human history. the role played by the sea

. is vastly entre pre-stated in the west why is that. one part it's the legacy of the cold war surprisingly history is normally written they say by the victors is that view of this part of our history is very strongly determined by the germans because the german view became incorporated into the historical frank thinking in the in with the cold war so there was an underestimation or willingness to recognize the soviet union fully and i think the cold war in part was the reason for that but i think the other reason is the scale is so i mean we're talking about twenty seven million and the civilian and military casualties and i think the other reason is simply it's so big the people who struggle to really comprehend it and one of the things i wanted to do in my book is to make that story comprehensible to

give it a human voice so that people can relate and that just being a mass of or all the overwhelming statistics that's michael james thank you very much thank you. famille. the limits of the service. system is.

the so was. today children play war in the old case me. but in june one hundred forty one these walls were the first barrier from another troops on the way to moscow. centers and restless were dying one by one under siege the such a and want to achieve to. pick up in the last shelter an unnamed soldier left a few simple words farewell mother mum i'm dying but i'm not surrendering.

this.

a ten year old who was pulled from the wreckage of a russian plane crash has died now in hospital that brings the number of those killed in the instant to forty five news comes as aviation experts examine the black box recorders from the passenger jet blue plane of the area. the greek government survives a critical vote of confidence and it's a sturdy drive i mean here is protests that one of the people is being ignored parliament must now decide whether to impose austerity measures with billions of euros to secure a second you played out. and former soviet republics more than the twenty seven million victims killed in the fight against it was troops on this day seventy years ago invasion of the soviet union at least the bloodiest conflict in the region's history known as the great patriotic war. but it's time for the latest

from world of sports union and a huge year for russian rugby fans i'll get some to get this weekend you know yeah of course those fans can rejoice kerry later in the year because the world cup is happening russia first time ever they are going there but this weekend as you rightly say it's seven time we're going to have a look at that plus much much more in just a sec. very warm welcome to sports today i'm going to be your headlines this. all through the flyer maria sharapova makes it look easy in our opening clash of wimbledon rushing the russian ahmed check the. busy roland of russian premier league football gets on the way a little later that helps them all fixed before a month long summer break. on foot to the floor former ones

most decorated team squad for rory take part in the historic drive on the kremlin. tennis first where maria sharapova is off the mark at the third grand slam of the year now the russian one wimbledon as a seventeen year old in two thousand and four and is aiming for more success in london after dropping our competitors on the checkered toddy in round one no worries at all for the siberian native really on center court dropping just three games on route to a six two six one straight sets when the fifth seed meets the winner of the laura robson kerber. played again against an opponent that's been the top ten before hasn't had the best results this year but i. don't quite know what to expect because she. had nothing to lose and i thought she played a. good match. there's been an emotional comeback to wimbledon for serina

williams the defending champion bursting into tears following a hard fought victory over frenchwoman or ravine. williams recently returned from a year long way off from heart. three three six six one joy and relief all in one for the third time grand slam winner. elsewhere a world number one caroline wozniacki didn't mess around against spain's over one chef par at some tanya but. she has become the biggest casualty to date crushing greece melinda sink appear ranked outside the top two hundred. over the men's side of action roger federer novak djokovic suffered few difficulties on route to the second stage federer in for a record tying seventh hole in the craw not pushing himself too hard against. the

swiss. banks seven six six four six games. joining the swiss maestro there in the next round is novak djokovic the serbian simply and devastating form against france and germany shard a six four six one six one how the tie jumped over never reached the final. goal is a man on his way home the russian seen off by extremely intelligent prodigy bernard told me that he had too much in the tank for germany's. best while another russian the country's highest ranked here in london notts mikhail youzhny was i'd lost it on the day if i won minako following the top five set in country. brings the football on the russian premier league where the games are coming thick and fast these days another part schedule later on wed and stay up and ultimately run before a month long summer break to last would always keeping things interesting leading c.s.k. out moscow they have one fine. all their last proper dozen games on. t.v.

another all capital and country. in what will be the visitors first game with in charge informed. concurrently the top two scorers in the league the and. trouble to the face twice former championship include being second from bottom to top welcome high flying on g m tall will be fewer to claim them points at the expense of rock bottom. crust and are their their terek for company while f.c. . pulled with the rust off in a couple of hours. meanwhile martin all has signed a two year deal to take over the managerial premier league side fullam the dutchman stating he still alive had to be getting back to work after taking a year long break. i don't want to tell the. same story every day. everybody knew that i would like to come back to the international when i left. why

it was schwarzenegger will be back so. that the terminator himself may be busy preparing for their make an appearance at the rigby world cup in new zealand in september but another form of the sport rugby sevens will be heading moscow this very weekend the russian capital once again hosting the second of the four stages of the european grand prix series russia set fifth overall for the season opening round the on last week while in that lead the way ahead of spain twelve teams in all will take part making for a packed schedule of matches on saturday on sunday when on home turf for the young russian team is what they'll be aiming for but the ultimate goals lie further. you know. a lot is now being done we've worked out a program for the russian national team as they prepare for the twenty sixteen summer olympics in rio these are the first games to feature rugby sevens tournament

but our main goal now is to in the thirteen when most schools teach the world cup and we hope russia will go into these events in top form and produce the best possible result. ok let's talk basketball where one of the most highly anticipated moves of the year has occurred spanish hot prospect ricky rubio finally touching down in minneapolis after a two year wait the twenty year old aiming to change the fortunes of the n.b.a.'s worst team last season. do we hear the most important thing is next year i'm going to play for minnesota. going to try to wean her and try to be a better team i'm so happy to be here ok moving to formula one where team for henri had been revving up in the russian capital for the very first time the marinello wife it taking part in the annual moscow city recent event set the backdrop of red square it's the fourth straight year of the high octane occasion house while the local funds three former one teens and on making an appearance mcclaren former

world champion jenson button sitting behind the wheel store's a second time. car and shunt off where the representatives from lotus but to the delight of motor sports promise or as it was ferrari's drive that really heated things up thirty eight year old john carlo physicality doing the honors for one successful squad that is because current racers fernando alonso conflict and also are taking a break of july's busy schedule. we believe the peace and opportunity to meet the no religion in the culture over our sport from one to one who grew up in new countries. meet. the support of the more understandable and more close to the fans which is the fundamental thing for a one on one. let's finish things off by getting a reminder of each and every strike that flew in this past weekend in the russian

premier league sixteen efforts in all finding their way past the line ending in c.s.k. moscow staying solve all of the title charge so sit back relax it is goals go to war time. looks. like.

eleven. eleven. eleven. o'clock.

clock. and that's where we end the sport for this hour where weather is coming up just around the corner then kerry is here with all the news at the top of the hour. for the full story we've got. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers. wealthy british. market. find out what's really happening to the global

economy.

the official. from the. video on demand. and. with the palm of your. mission. in india. the. president. beatriz of. taj mahal hotel. to leave the. sheraton hotel. babyhood clearing collection. made. paul. robeson. for.

a ten year old victim of a russian plane crash dies in hospital bringing the number of those killed in the accident to forty five. families of the survivors and the victims rushed the sides of their loved ones and the people of the town. for flowers and prayers at the site join me for the details of a few moments. of. the greek government survives a critical vote of confidence to drive i made furious protests that the will of the people is being the. page in history former soviet republics. killed in the second world war. the soviet union. to reverse the trend of.

these twenty four hours a day you're watching our. ten year old child pulled from the wreckage of the passenger plane that crashed in northwest russia. bringing the death toll to forty five spend two days fighting to save the boy's knife. the. investigation. into terrible time for editors. the will of the relatives of. the survivors some of them have already made their way here saw bars still on the way. a ten year old boy had passed away at the hospital injuries so his family

definitely going through an emotional time now it will be a tough day for their families because we have the task for those family members have been killed they have the task of identifying the bodies the borg we were told that several have been identified but still quite a large number still have to be identified they were still. body parts from the wreckage so again an emotional day for them and as for the locals here they also have been going through. grief the friends of those who have died most of them. had already come here bringing flowers offering prayers there was a service offered to them a lot of crying expressing their grief and also we have spoken to some of those who were first at the scene they were telling us about what they had seen where the plane had crashed bodies body parts and bodies all over the place and one man who had rescued one of the men in the hospital had said that when he pulled out of the wrecked.