the operation barbarosa

7/27/2019 The Operation Barbarosa

1/30

Operation Barbarossa 1

Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa (named for Frederick Barbarossa, the medieval German ruler who, as myth had it, would

rescue Germany in her time of need) was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World

War II that began on 22 June 1941.[1] [2] Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a

2900 km (1800 mi) front.[3] , the largest invasion in the history of warfare. In addition to the large number of troops,Barbarossa involved 600,000 motor vehicles and 750,000 horses.[4] The ambitious operation marked both a

manifestation of Hitler's persistent desire to conquer the Russian territories and the start ofthe battle which proved

most pivotal in deciding the victors of the war. A study of Barbarossa allows an appreciation of the role of grave

eminence which the Soviet Union played in the defeat of Nazi Germany; the operation resulted in 95% of all German

casualties from 1941 to 1944 and 65% of all the allied military casualties accumulated throughout the war. Planning

for Operation Barbarossa started on 18 December 1940; the secret preparations and the military operation itself

lasted almost a year, from spring to winter 1941. The Red Army repelled the Wehrmacht's strongest blow, and Adolf

Hitler did not achieve the expected victory, but the Soviet Union's situation remained dire. Tactically, the Germans

won resounding victories and occupied some of the most important economic areas of the country, mainly in

Ukraine.[5] Despite these successes, the Germans were pushed back from Moscow and could never mount an

offensive simultaneously along the entire strategic Soviet-German front again.[6]

Operation Barbarossa's failure led to Hitler's demands for further operations inside the USSR, all of which eventually

failed, such as continuing the Siege of Leningrad,[7][8] Operation Nordlicht, and Battle of Stalingrad, among other

battles on the occupied Soviet territory.[9][10][11][12][13]

Operation Barbarossa was the largest military operation in human history in both manpower and casualties. [14] Its

failure was a turning point in the Third Reich's fortunes. Most important, Operation Barbarossa opened up the

Eastern Front, to which more forces were committed than in any other theater of war in world history. Operation

Barbarossa and the areas that fell under it became the site of some of the largest battles, deadliest atrocities, highest

casualties, and most horrific conditions for Soviets and Germans alike

all of which influenced the course of bothWorld War II and 20th century history. The German forces captured 3 million Soviet POWs, who did not enjoy the

protection stipulated in the Geneva Conventions.[15] Most of them never returned alive.[16] They were deliberately

starved to death in German camps as part of a Hunger Plan, i.e., the program to reduce the Eastern European

population.[17]

German intentions

German theory regarding the Soviet Union

As early as 1925, Hitler suggested in Mein Kampf("My Struggle") that he would invade the Soviet Union, asserting

that the German people needed Lebensraum ("living space", i.e. land and raw materials) and that these should be

sought in the East. Nazi racial ideology cast the Soviet Union as populated by "Untermenschen," ethnic Slavs ruled

by their "Jewish Bolshevik" masters.[18][19]Mein Kampfsaid Germany's destiny was to turn "to the East" as it did

"six hundred years ago" and "the end of the Jewish domination in Russia will also be the end of Russia as a

State."[20] Thereafter, Hitler spoke of an inescapable battle against "pan-Slav ideals", in which victory would lead to

"permanent mastery of the world", though he said they would "walk part of the road with the Russians, if that will

help us."[21] Accordingly, it was Nazi stated policy to kill, deport, or enslave the Russian and other Slavic

populations and repopulate the land with Germanic peoples (see New Order). Timothy Snyder wrote that:

Hitler imagined a colonial demodernization of the Soviet Union and Poland that would take tens of millions of

lives. The Nazi leadership envisioned an eastern frontier to be depopulated and deindustrialized, and then

remade as the agrarian domain of German masters. This vision had four parts. First, the Soviet state was to

collapse after a lightning victory in summer 1941, just as the Polish state had in summer 1939, leaving the
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jewish_Bolshevismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Policyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Policyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deportationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slaveryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Order_%28Nazism%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Timothy_Snyderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Timothy_Snyderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Order_%28Nazism%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slaveryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deportationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Policyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jewish_Bolshevismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slavshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Untermenschhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Racial_policy_of_Nazi_Germanyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Raw_materialhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lebensraumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_Unionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mein_Kampfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hunger_Planhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Geneva_Conventionshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nazi_crimes_against_Soviet_POWshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eastern_Front_%28World_War_II%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Third_Reichhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Stalingradhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Nordlichthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Siege_of_Leningradhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet-German_fronthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Moscowhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ukrainehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adolf_Hitlerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adolf_Hitlerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wehrmachthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Axis_powershttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=World_War_IIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=World_War_IIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_Unionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nazi_Germanyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Code_namehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frederick_I%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor


2/30


Germans with complete control over Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, western Russia, and the Caucasus. Second, a

Hunger Plan would starve to death some thirty million inhabitants of these lands in winter 1941-1942, as food

was diverted to Germany and western Europe. Third, the Jews of the Soviet Union who survived the

starvation, along with Polish Jews and other Jews under German control, were to be eliminated from Europe in

aFinal Solution. Fourth, a Generalplan Ostforesaw the deportation, murder, enslavement, or assimilation of

remaining populations, and the resettlement of eastern Europe by German colonists in the years after the

victory.[17]

19391940 German-Soviet relations

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact had been signed shortly before the German and Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. A

secret protocol to the pact outlined an agreement between the Third Reich and the Soviet Union on the division of

the border states between their respective "spheres of influence".[22] The pact surprised the world[23] because of the

parties' mutual hostility and their competing ideologies. As a result of the pact, Germany and the Soviet Union had

reasonably strong diplomatic relations and an important economic relationship. The countries entered a trade pact in

1940, in which the Soviets received German military and industrial equipment in exchange for raw materials, such as

oil, or wheat to help Germany circumvent a British blockade.[24]

But despite the parties' ongoing relations, both sides were strongly suspicious of each others' intentions. After

Germany entered the Axis Pact with Japan and Italy, it began negotiations about a potential Soviet entry into the

pact.[25] After two days of negotiations in Berlin from November 1214, Germany presented a proposed written

agreement for Soviet entry into the Axis. The Soviet Union offered a written counterproposal agreement on 25

November 1940, to which Germany did not respond.[26][27] As both sides began colliding with each other in Eastern

Europe, conflict appeared more likely, though they signed a border and commercial agreement addressing several

open issues in January 1941.

Germany plans the invasion

Situation in Europe by May/June 1941, at the end of the

Balkans Campaign and immediately before Operation

Barbarossa

Joseph Stalin's reputation contributed both to the Nazis'

justification of their assault and their faith in success. In the

late 1930s, Stalin had killed or incarcerated millions of

citizens during the Great Purge, including many competent

and experienced military officers, leaving the Red Army

weakened and leaderless. The Nazis often emphasized the

Soviet regime's brutality when targeting the Slavs with

propaganda. German propaganda claimed the Red Army

was preparing to attack them, and their own invasion was

thus presented as pre-emptive.[28]

In the summer of 1940, when German raw materials crises

and a potential collision with the Soviet Union over territory

in the Balkans arose, an eventual invasion of the Soviet

Union looked increasingly like Hitler's only solution.[29]

While no concrete plans were made yet, Hitler told one of

his generals in June that the victories in western Europe

"finally freed his hands for his important real task: the

showdown with Bolshevism",[30] though German generals

told Hitler that occupying Western Russia would create "more of a drain than a relief for Germany's economic

situation."[31] TheFhreranticipated additional benefits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=F%C3%BChrerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=F%C3%BChrerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=F%C3%BChrerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=F%C3%BChrerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pre-emptive_warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Purgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_Stalinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AEurope_before_Operation_Barbarossa%2C_1941_%28in_German%29.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Balkans_Campaign_%28World_War_II%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German%E2%80%93Soviet_Border_and_Commercial_Agreementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German%E2%80%93Soviet_Axis_talkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German%E2%80%93Soviet_Axis_talkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tripartite_Pacthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German-Soviet_Commercial_Agreement_%281940%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German-Soviet_Commercial_Agreement_%281940%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nazi%E2%80%93Soviet_economic_relations_%281934%E2%80%931941%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ideologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Border_stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_invasion_of_Polandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Invasion_of_Polandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Molotov-Ribbentrop_Pacthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generalplan_Osthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Final_Solutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hunger_Plan


3/30


When the Soviet Union was defeated, the labor shortage in German industry could be relieved by demobilization

of many soldiers.

Ukraine would be a reliable source of agricultural products.

Having the Soviet Union as a source of forced labor under German rule would vastly improve Germany's

geostrategic position.

Defeat of the Soviet Union would further isolate the Allies, especially the United Kingdom.

The German economy needed more oil and controlling the Baku Oilfields would achieve this; as Albert Speer, the

German Minister for Armaments and War Production, later said in his interrogation, "the need for oil certainly

was a prime motive" in the decision to invade.[32]

Weisung Nr. 21: Fall Barbarossa

On 5 December 1940, Hitler received military plans for the invasion,

and approved them all, with the start scheduled for May 1941.[33] On

18 December, Hitler signed War Directive No. 21 to the German High

Command for an operation now codenamed "Operation Barbarossa"

stating: "The German Wehrmacht must be prepared to crush Soviet

Russia in a quick campaign."[33] [34] The operation was named after

Emperor Frederick Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire, a leader ofthe Third Crusade in the 12th century. The invasion was set for 15 May

1941.[34] In the Soviet Union, speaking to his generals in December,

Stalin mentioned Hitler's references to an attack on the Soviet Union in

Mein Kampf, and said they must always be ready to repulse a German

attack, and that Hitler thought the Red Army would need four years to

ready itself. Hence, "we must be ready much earlier" and "we will try

to delay the war for another two years."[35]

In autumn 1940, high-ranking German officials drafted a memorandum

on the dangers of an invasion of the Soviet Union. They said Ukraine,

Belorussia and the Baltic States would end up as only a further

economic burden for Germany.[36] Another German official argued

that the Soviets in their current bureaucratic form were harmless, the occupation would not produce a gain for

Germany and "why should it not stew next to us in its damp Bolshevism?"[36]

Hitler ignored German economic naysayers, and told Hermann Gring that "everyone on all sides was always raising

economic misgivings against a threatening war with Russia. From now onwards he wasn't going to listen to any more

of that kind of talk and from now on he was going to stop up his ears in order to get his peace of mind." [37] This was

passed on to General Georg Thomas, who had been preparing reports on the negative economic consequences of an

invasion of the Soviet Union that it would be a net economic drain unless it was captured intact.[37]

Rudolf Hess and others at Heinrich Himmler's

"Building and Planning in the East" March 1941

Exhibition

Beginning in March 1941, Gring's Green Folder laid out details of theSoviet Union's proposed economic disposal after the invasion. The

entire urban population of the invaded land was to be starved to death,

thus creating an agricultural surplus to feed Germany and allowing the

urban population's replacement by a German upper class. In the

summer of 1941, German Nazi-ideologist Alfred Rosenberg suggested

that conquered Soviet territory should be administered in the following

Reichskommissariates:

Ostland (The Baltic countries and Belarus, extended eastward by

about 500 km) Ukraine (Ukraine, enlarged eastwards to the Volga)
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Volgahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ukrainehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichskommissariat_Ukrainehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Belarushttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baltic_countrieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichskommissariat_Ostlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichskommissarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alfred_Rosenberghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ideologisthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Goering%27s_Green_Folderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3ABundesarchiv_Bild_183-B01718%2C_Ausstellung_%22Planung_und_Aufbau_im_Osten%22.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heinrich_Himmlerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rudolf_Hesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hermann_G%C3%B6ringhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mein_Kampfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Third_Crusadehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Holy_Roman_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frederick_Barbarossahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emperorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AFall_Barbarossa_1.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Albert_Speerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baku_Oilfieldshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Allies_of_World_War_IIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ukrainehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Demobilizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Labor_shortage


4/30


Kaukasus (Southern Russia and the Caucasus region)

Moskowien (Moscow metropolitan area and the rest of European Russia)

Turkestan (Central Asian republics and territories)

Nazi policy aimed to destroy the Soviet Union as a political entity in accordance with the geopolitical Lebensraum

idea ("Drang nach Osten") for the benefit of future generations of the "Nordic Aryan master race" .[28]

We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down

Adolf Hitler

Operation Barbarossa was to combine a northern assault towards Leningrad, a symbolic capturing of Moscow, and

an economic strategy of seizing oil fields in the south beyond Ukraine. Hitler and his generals disagreed on which of

these aspects should take priority and where Germany should focus its energies; deciding on priorities required a

compromise. Hitler thought himself a political and military genius. While planning Barbarossa in 19401941, in

many discussions with his generals, Hitler repeated his order: "Leningrad first, the Donetsk Basin second, Moscow

third."[1] [38] Hitler was impatient to get on with his long-desired invasion of the east. He was convinced Britain

would sue for peace, once the Germans triumphed in the Soviet Union, the real area of Germany's interests. General

Franz Halder noted in his diaries that, by destroying the Soviet Union, Germany would destroy Britain's hope of

victory.

Hitler had grown overconfident from his rapid success in Western Europe and the Red Army's ineptitude in the

Winter War against Finland in 19391940. He expected victory within a few months and therefore did not prepare

for a war lasting into the winter. This meant his troops lacked adequate warm clothing and preparations for a longer

campaign when they began their attack. The assumption that the Soviet Union would quickly capitulate would prove

to be his undoing.[39]

German preparations

Further information: Lossberg study

When Barbarossa commences, the world will hold its breath and make no comment.

Adolf Hitler

The Germans had begun massing troops near the Soviet border even before the campaign in the Balkans had

finished. By the third week in February 1941, 680,000 German troops were stationed on the Romanian-Soviet

border.[24] In preparation for the attack, Hitler moved 3.5 million German soldiers and about 1 million Axis soldiers

to the Soviet border, launched many aerial surveillance missions over Soviet territory, and stockpiled materiel in the

East. The Soviets were still taken by surprise, mostly due to Stalin's belief that the Third Reich was unlikely to attack

only two years after signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The Soviet leader also believed the Nazis would be likely

to finish their war with Britain before opening a new front. He refused to believe repeated warnings from his

intelligence services on the Nazi buildup, fearing the reports to be British misinformation designed to spark a warbetween Germany and the USSR.[40]

Spy Dr. Richard Sorge gave Stalin the exact German launch date; Swedish cryptanalysts led by Arne Beurling also

knew the date beforehand, but Sorge and other informers (e.g. from Berlin Police dept.) had previously given

different invasion dates which passed peacefully before the actual invasion. In addition, British intelligence

gathering information through Ultra warned the Soviet Union of impending invasion several months prior to 22 June

1941.[41]

The Germans set up deception operations, from April 1941, to add substance to their claims that Britain was the real

target: Operations Haifisch and Harpune. These simulated preparations in Norway, the Channel coast and Britain.

There were supporting activities such as ship concentrations, reconnaissance flights and training exercises. Some

details of these bogus invasion plans were deliberately leaked.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Haifischhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Harpunehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Haifischhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Harpunehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Harpunehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Haifischhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ultra_%28cryptography%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arne_Beurlinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cryptanalysthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Sorgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Molotov-Ribbentrop_Pacthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_Stalinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sovietshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Materielhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reconnaissancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Balkans_Campaign_%28World_War_II%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lossberg_studyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Winter_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Franz_Halderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leningradhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Master_racehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aryan_racehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nordicismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Drang_nach_Ostenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Geopoliticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_Central_Asiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichskommissariat_Turkestanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=European_Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Moscow_metropolitan_areahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichskommissariat_Moskowienhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caucasushttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Southern_Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichskommissariat_Kaukasus


5/30


German military planners also researched Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia. In their calculations they concluded

that there was little danger of a large-scale retreat of the Soviet army into the Russian interior, as it could not afford

to give up the Baltic states, the Ukraine, or the Moscow and Leningrad regions, all of which were vital to the Red

Army for supply reasons and would thus have to be defended.[42]

The strategy Hitler and his generals agreed on involved three separate army groups assigned to capture specific

regions and cities of the Soviet Union. The main German thrusts were conducted along historical invasion routes.Army Group North was to march through the Baltics into northern Russia, and either take or destroy the city of

Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). Army Group Center would advance to Smolensk and then Moscow, marching

through what is now Belarus and the west-central regions of Russia proper. Army Group South was to strike the

heavily populated and agricultural heartland of Ukraine, taking Kiev before continuing eastward over the steppes of

the southern USSR to the Volga with the aim of controlling the oil-rich Caucasus.

Hitler, the OKW and the various high commands disagreed about what the main objectives should be. In preparing

for Barbarossa, most of the OKW argued for a straight thrust to Moscow, but Hitler kept asserting his intention to

seize the resource-rich Ukraine and Baltics before concentrating on the Soviet capital. An initial delay, which

postponed the start of Barbarossa from mid-May to the end of June 1941, may have been insignificant, especially

since the Russian muddy season came late that year. However, more time was lost at various critical moments asHitler and the OKW suspended operations in order to argue about strategic objectives.

The Germans also decided to bring rear forces (mostly Waffen-SS units and Einsatzgruppen) into the conquered

territories to counter the partisan activity they knew would erupt in areas they controlled.[28]

Soviet preparations

Despite the impressions of Hitler and others in the German high command, the Soviet Union was by no means weak.

Rapid industrialization in the 1930s had led to industrial output second only to that of the United States, and equal to

Germany. Production of military equipment grew steadily, and in the pre-war years the economy became

progressively more oriented toward military production. In the early 1930s, a very modern operational doctrine forthe Red Army was developed and promulgated in the 1936 field regulations.

On 5 May 1941, Stalin gave a speech to graduates of military academies in Moscow declaring: "War with Germany

is inevitable. If comrade Molotov can manage to postpone the war for two or three months that will be our good

fortune, but you yourselves must go off and take measures to raise the combat readiness of our forces".[43]

Development of the armed forces of the Soviet Union

from 1939 to 1941[44]

1 January 1939 22 June 1941 % increase

Divisions calculated 131.5 316.5 140.7

Personnel 2,485,000 5,774,000 132.4

Guns and mortars 55,800 117,600 110.7

Tanks 21,100 25,700 21.8

Aircraft 7,700 18,700 142.8

According to Taylor and Proektor (1974), the Soviet armed forces in the western districts were outnumbered, with

2.6 million Soviet soldiers vs. 4.5 million for the Axis. The overall size of the Soviet armed forces in early July

1941, though, amounted to a little more than 5 million men, 2.6 million in the west, 1.8 million in the far east, with

the rest being deployed or training elsewhere.[45] These figures, however, can be misleading. The figure for Soviet

strength in the western districts of the Soviet Union counts only the First Strategic Echelon, which was stationed on

and behind the Soviet western frontier to a depth of 400 kilometers; it also underestimates the size of the First
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vyacheslav_Molotovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Doctrinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_Unionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_partisanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Einsatzgruppenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Waffen-SShttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caucasushttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Volgahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steppehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kievhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ukrainehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Army_Group_Southhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Belarushttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Smolenskhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Army_Group_Centerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saint_Petersburghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Siege_of_Leningradhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baltic_stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Army_Group_Northhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Army_grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=French_invasion_of_Russia


6/30


Strategic Echelon, which was actually 2.9 million strong. The figure does not include the smaller Second Strategic

Echelon, which as of 22 June 1941 was in process of moving toward the frontier; according to the Soviet strategic

plan, it was scheduled to be in position reinforcing the First Strategic Echelon by early July. The total Axis strength

is also exaggerated; 3.3 million German troops were earmarked for participation in Barbarossa, but that figure

includes reserves which did not take part in the initial assault. A further 600,000 troops provided by Germany's allies

also participated, but mostly after the initial assault.

Total Axis forces available for Barbarossa were therefore in the order of 3.9 million. On 22 June, the German

Wehrmacht achieved a local superiority in its initial assault (98 German divisions), including 29 armoured and

motorized divisions, some 90% of its mobile forces, attacking on a front of 1200 km (750 mi) between the Baltic Sea

and the Carpathian Mountains, against NKVD border troops and the divisions of the Soviet First Operational

Echelon (the part of the First Strategic Echelon stationed immediately behind the frontier in the three western Special

Military Districts) because it had completed its deployment and was ready to attack about two weeks before the Red

Army was scheduled to have finished its own deployment with the Second Strategic Echelon in place. At the time,

41% of stationary Soviet bases were located in the near-boundary districts, many of them in the 200 km (120 mi)

strip around the border; according to Red Army directive, fuel, equipment, railroad cars, etc. were similarly

concentrated there.[46]

Moreover, on mobilization, as the war went on, the Red Army gained steadily in strength. While the strength of both

sides varied, in general the 1941 campaign was fought with a slight Axis numerical superiority in manpower at the

front. According to Mikhail Meltyukhov (2000:477), by the start of war, the Red Army numbered altogether

5,774,211 troops: 4,605,321 in ground forces, 475,656 in air forces, 353,752 in the navy, 167,582 as border guards

and 171,900 in internal troops of the NKVD.

In some key weapons systems, however, the Soviet numerical advantage was considerable. In tanks, for example, the

Red Army had a large quantitative superiority. It possessed 23,106 tanks, [47] of which about 12,782 were in the five

Western Military Districts (three of which directly faced the German invasion front). However, maintenance and

readiness standards were very poor; ammunition and radios were in short supply, and many units lacked the trucks

needed for resupply beyond their basic fuel and ammunition loads.

Also, from 1938, the Soviets had partly dispersed their tanks to infantry divisions for infantry support, but after their

experiences in the Winter War and their observation of the German campaign against France, had begun to emulate

the Germans and organize most of their armored assets into large armour divisions and corps. This reorganization

was only partially implemented at the dawn of Barbarossa, [48] as not enough tanks were available to bring the

mechanized corps up to organic strength.

The German Wehrmacht had about 5,200 tanks overall, of which 3,350 were committed to the invasion. This yields

a balance of immediately available tanks of about 4:1 in the Red Army's favor. The newest Soviet tank, the T-34,

was arguably the best in the world, and the KV series the best armored. The most advanced Soviet tank models,

however, the T-34 and KV-1, were not available in large numbers early in the war, and only accounted for 7.2% ofthe total Soviet tank force. But while these 1,861 modern tanks were technically superior to the 1,404 German

medium Panzer III and IV tanks, the Soviets in 1941 still lacked the communications, training and experience to

employ such weapons effectively.

The Soviet numerical advantage in heavy equipment was also more than offset by the greatly superior training and

readiness of German forces. The Soviet officer corps and high command had been decimated by Stalin's Great Purge

(19361938). Of 90 generals arrested, only six survived the purges, as did only 36 of 180 divisional commanders,

and just seven out of 57 army corps commanders. In total, some 30,000 Red Army personnel were executed, [49]

while more were deported to Siberia and replaced with officers deemed more "politically reliable." Three of the five

pre-war marshals and about two thirds of the corps and division commanders were shot. This often left younger, less

experienced officers in their places; for example, in 1941, 75% of Red Army officers had held their posts for lessthan one year. The average Soviet corps commander was 12 years younger than the average German division
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Siberiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marshal_of_the_Soviet_Unionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marshal_of_the_Soviet_Unionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marshal_of_the_Soviet_Unionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Siberiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Purgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Panzer_IVhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Panzer_IIIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KV-1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=T-34http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wehrmachthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Winter_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=NKVDhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Internal_troops_%28Russia%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Border_guardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Navyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Air_forceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mobilization


7/30


commander. These officers tended to be very reluctant to take the initiative and often lacked the training necessary

for their jobs.

The number of aircraft was also heavily in the Soviets' favor. However, Soviet aircraft were largely obsolete, and

Soviet artillery lacked modern fire control techniques.[50] Most Soviet units were on a peacetime footing, explaining

why aviation units had their aircraft parked in closely bunched neat rows, rather than dispersed, making easy targets

for theLuftwaffe in the first days of the conflict. Prior to the invasion the VVS(Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily, Soviet AirForce) was forbidden to shoot down Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft, despite hundreds of prewar incursions into

Soviet airspace.

The Soviet war effort in the first phase of the Eastern front war was severely hampered by a shortage of modern

aircraft. The Soviet fighter force was equipped with large numbers of obsolete aircraft, such as the I-15 biplane and

the I-16. In 1941, the MiG-3, LaGG-3 and Yak-1 were just starting to roll off the production lines, but were far

inferior in all-round performance to the Messerschmitt Bf 109 or later, the Fw 190, when it entered operations in

September 1941. Few aircraft had radios and those that were available were unencrypted and did not work reliably.

The poor performance of the VVSduring the Winter War with Finland had increased the Luftwaffe's confidence that

the Soviets could be mastered. The standard of flight training had been accelerated in preparation for a German

attack that was expected to come in 1942 or later. But Soviet pilot training was extremely poor. Order No 0362 ofthe People's Commissar of Defense, dated 22 December 1940, ordered flight training to be accelerated and

shortened. Incredibly, while the Soviets had 201 MiG-3s and 37 MiG-1s combat ready on 22 June 1941, only four

pilots had been trained to handle these machines.[51]

The Red Army was dispersed and unprepared, and units were often separated and without transportation to

concentrate prior to combat. Although the Red Army had numerous, well-designed artillery pieces, some of the guns

had no ammunition. Artillery units often lacked transportation to move their guns. Tank units were rarely

well-equipped, and also lacked training and logistical support. Maintenance standards were very poor. Units were

sent into combat with no arrangements for refueling, ammunition resupply, or personnel replacement. Often, after a

single engagement, units were destroyed or rendered ineffective. The army was in the midst of reorganizing the

armor units into large tank corps, adding to the disorganization.

As a result, although on paper the Red Army in 1941 seemed at least the equal of the German army, the reality in the

field was far different; incompetent officers, as well as partial lack of equipment, insufficient motorized logistical

support, and poor training placed the Red Army at a severe disadvantage.

In August 1940 British intelligence had received hints of German plans to attack the Soviets only a week after Hitler

informally approved the plans for Barbarossa.[41] Stalin's distrust of the British led to his ignoring the warnings,

believing it to be a trick designed to bring the Soviet Union into the war.[41][52] In the spring of 1941, Stalin's own

intelligence services and American intelligence made regular and repeated warnings of an impending German

attack.[53] However, Stalin chose to ignore these warnings. Although acknowledging the possibility of an attack in

general and making significant preparations, he decided not to run the risk of provoking Hitler.[54]

He also had anill-founded confidence in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which had been signed just two years before. Last, he also

suspected the British of trying to spread false rumours in order to trigger a war between Germany and the USSR. [55]

[56] Consequently, the Soviet border troops were not put on full alert and were sometimes even forbidden to fire back

without permission when attacked though a partial alert was implemented on 10 April they were simply not

ready when the German attack came.[52]

Enormous Soviet forces were massed behind the western border in case the Germans did attack. However, these

forces were very vulnerable due to changes in the tactical doctrine of the Red Army. In 1938, it had adopted, on the

instigation of General Pavlov, a standard linear defence tactic on a line with other nations. Infantry divisions,

reinforced by an organic tank component, would be dug in to form heavily fortified zones. Then came the shock of

the Fall of France. The French Army, considered the strongest in the world, was defeated in a mere six weeks. Sovietanalysis of events, based on incomplete information, concluded that the collapse of the French was caused by a
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Military_tacticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Military_doctrinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dmitry_Pavlovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Infantry_divisionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fall_of_Francehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fall_of_Francehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Military_tacticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Military_doctrinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dmitry_Pavlovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Infantry_divisionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fall_of_Francehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fall_of_Francehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Infantry_divisionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dmitry_Pavlovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Military_doctrinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Military_tacticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Molotov-Ribbentrop_Pacthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Intelligence_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ammunitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-3http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Radiohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fw_190http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Messerschmitt_Bf_109http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yak-1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=LaGG-3http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MiG-3http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polikarpov_I-16http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biplanehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polikarpov_I-15http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_Air_Forcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aircrafthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eastern_Front_%28World_War_II%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reconnaissance_aircrafthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_Air_Forcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luftwaffehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aviationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peacetimehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Artillery


8/30


reliance on linear defence and a lack of armored reserves.

The Soviets decided not to repeat these mistakes. Instead of digging in for linear defence, the infantry divisions

would henceforth be concentrated in large formations.[57] Most tanks would also be concentrated into 29 mechanized

corps, each with over 1031 tanks.[58] Should the Germans attack, their armoured spearheads would be cut off and

wiped out by the mechanized corps. These would then cooperate with the infantry armies to drive back the German

infantry, vulnerable in its approach march. The Soviet left wing, in Ukraine, was to be enormously reinforced to beable to execute a strategic envelopment: after destroying German Army Group South, it would swing north through

Poland in the back of Army Groups Centre and North. With the complete annihilation of the encircled German Army

thus made inevitable, a Red Army offensive into the rest of Europe would follow.[59][60]

The Soviet offensive plans theory

German soldiers with Soviet civilians

propaganda photo

Immediately after the German invasion of the USSR, Adolf Hitler put

forward a thesis that the Red Army made extensive preparations for an

offensive war in Europe, thus justifying the German invasion as a

pre-emptive strike.[61] After the war this view was brought forward by

some Wehrmachtleaders, like Wilhelm Keitel.[62]

This thesis was reiterated in the 1980s[61] based on the analysis of

circumstantial evidence.[63] Thus, it has been found that a proposal was

drawn up by Zhukov and signed by Vasilevsky and Vatutin suggesting

secret mobilization and deploying Red Army troops on the Western

border, under the cover of training. The proposed operation's objective

was to cut Germany off from its allies, and especially Romania with its oilfields that Germany needed to conduct the

war.[64]

According to Viktor Suvorov, Stalin planned to use Germany as a proxy (the Icebreaker) against the West. Stalin's

idea was to fuel Hitler's aggressive plans against Europe, and only after the countries had fought each other andexhausted themselves to some extentwould the USSR make their strike. For this reason Stalin provided significant

material and political support to Adolf Hitler, while at the same time preparing the Red Army to liberate the whole

of Europe from Nazi occupation. Suvorov argued that German Barbarossa actually was a pre-emptive strike that

capitalized on the Soviet troop concentrations immediately on the 1941 borders. Some others who support the idea

that Stalin prepared to attack, like Mikhail Meltyukhov, reject this part of Suvorov's theory, arguing that both sides

prepared for attack on their own, not in response to the other side's preparations.

Although this thesis has drawn the attention of the general public in some countries,[61] and has been supported by

some historians (examples include Vladimir Nevezhin, Boris Sokolov, Valeri Danilov, Joachim Hoffmann and Mark

Solonin), it has not been accepted by the majority of western historians.[61][65]

Order of battle
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mark_Soloninhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mark_Soloninhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joachim_Hoffmannhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Valeri_Danilovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boris_Vadimovich_Sokolovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vladimir_Nevezhinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mikhail_Meltyukhovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adolf_Hitlerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Viktor_Suvorovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mobilizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nikolai_Fyodorovich_Vatutinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aleksandr_Vasilevskyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Georgy_Zhukovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wilhelm_Keitelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wehrmachthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pre-emptive_strikehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3ABundesarchiv_Bild_101I-020-1262-26%2C_Russland-S%C3%BCd%2C_Soldaten_mit_Zivilbev%C3%B6lkerung.jpg


9/30


Strength of the opposing forces on the

Soviet Western border. 22 June 1941

Germany and allies Soviet Union Ratio

Divisions 166 190 1 : 1.1

Personnel 4,306,800 3,289,851 1.3 : 1Guns and mortars 42,601 59,787 1 : 1.4

Tanks (incl assault guns) 4,171 15,687 1 : 3.8

Aircraft 4,389[66]

11, 537[] 1 : 2.6

Source: Mikhail Meltyukhov Stalin's Missed Chance table 47,[67]

Composition of the Axis forces

Franz Halder as the Chief of General Staff OKH concentrated the following WehrmachtandLuftwaffe forces for the

operation:Army Group North (Heeresgruppe Nord) (Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb) staged in East Prussia with (29 divisions):

16th Army (16. Armee) (Ernst Busch)

4th Panzer Group (Panzergruppe 4) (Erich Hoepner)

18th Army (18. Armee) (Georg von Kchler)

Air Fleet 1 (Luftflotte eins) (Alfred Keller)

Army Group Centre (Heeresgruppe Mitte) (Fedor von Bock) staged in Eastern Poland with (49 divisions):

4th Army (4. Armee) (Gnther von Kluge)

2nd Panzer Group (Panzergruppe 2) (Heinz Guderian)

3rd Panzer Group (Panzergruppe 3) (Hermann Hoth)

9th Army (9. Armee) (Adolf Strau)

Air Fleet 2 (Luftflotte zwei) (Albert Kesselring)

Army Group South (Heeresgruppe Sd) (Gerd von Rundstedt) was staged in Southern Poland and Romania with

(41 divisions):

17th Army (17. Armee) (Carl-Heinrich von Stlpnagel)

Slovak Expeditionary Force (Ferdinand atlo)

Royal Hungarian Army "Fast Moving Army Corps"(Bla Mikls)Initially part of a larger "Carpathian

Group" (Karpat Gruppe)

1st Panzer Group (Panzergruppe 1) (Ewald von Kleist)

11th Army (11. Armee) (Eugen Ritter von Schobert)

Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia, CSIR) (Giovanni Messe)

6th Army (6. Armee) (Walther von Reichenau)

Romanian 3rd Army (Petre Dumitrescu)

Romanian 4th Army (Tancred Constantinescu)

Air Fleet 4 (Luftflotte vier) (Alexander Lhr)

Staged from Norway a smaller group of forces consisted of:

Army High Command Norway (Armee-Oberkommando Norwegen) (Nikolaus von Falkenhorst) with two Corps

Air Fleet 5 (Luftflotte fnf) (Hans-Jrgen Stumpff)

Numerous smaller units from all over Nazi-occupied Europe, like the "Legion of French Volunteers Against

Bolshevism" (Lgion des Volontaires Franais contre le Bolchvisme), supported the German war effort.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=L%C3%A9gion_des_Volontaires_Fran%C3%A7ais_contre_le_Bolch%C3%A9vismehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nazi-occupied_Europehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hans-J%C3%BCrgen_Stumpffhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luftflotte_5http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nikolaus_von_Falkenhorsthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Army_Norway_%28Germany%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexander_L%C3%B6hrhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luftflotte_4http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tancred_Constantinescuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=4th_Territorial_Army_Corps_%28Romania%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Petre_Dumitrescuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Third_Army_%28Romania%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walther_von_Reichenauhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sixth_Army_%28Germany%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Giovanni_Messehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Italian_Expeditionary_Corps_in_Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eugen_Ritter_von_Schoberthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eleventh_Army_%28Germany%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Ludwig_Ewald_von_Kleisthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=First_Panzer_Army_%28Germany%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=B%C3%A9la_Mikl%C3%B3shttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gyorshadtesthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ferdinand_%C4%8Catlo%C5%A1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slovak_Republic_%281939%E2%80%931945%29%23The_Slovak_Expeditionary_Army_Group_in_Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carl-Heinrich_von_St%C3%BClpnagelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Seventeenth_Army_%28Germany%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gerd_von_Rundstedthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Army_Group_Southhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Albert_Kesselringhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luftflotte_2http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adolf_Strau%C3%9Fhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ninth_Army_%28Germany%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hermann_Hothhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Third_Panzer_Army_%28Germany%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heinz_Wilhelm_Guderianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Second_Panzer_Group_%28Germany%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=G%C3%BCnther_von_Klugehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fourth_Army_%28Germany%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fedor_von_Bockhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Army_Group_Centrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alfred_Kellerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luftflotte_1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Georg_von_K%C3%BCchlerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eighteenth_Army_%28Germany%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Erich_Hoepnerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fourth_Panzer_Army_%28Germany%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ernst_Busch_%28military%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sixteenth_Army_%28Germany%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=East_Prussiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wilhelm_Ritter_von_Leebhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Army_Group_Northhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=OKHhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Franz_Halderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stalin%27s_Missed_Chancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mikhail_Meltyukhovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Assault_gun


10/30


Composition of the Soviet Forces

At the beginning of the German Reichs invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 the Red Army areas of

responsibility in the European USSR were divided into four active Fronts. More Fronts would be formed within the

overall responsibility of the three Strategic Directions commands which corresponded approximately to a German

Army (Wehrmacht Heer) Army Group (Heeresgruppen) in terms of geographic area of operations.

On Zhukov's orders immediately following the invasion the Northern Front was formed from the Leningrad MilitaryDistrict, the North-Western Front from the Baltic Special Military District, the Western Front was formed from the

Western Special Military District, and the Soviet Southwestern Front was formed from the Kiev Special Military

District. The Southern Front was created on the 25 June 1941 from the Odessa Military District.

The first Directions were established on 10 July 1941, with Voroshilov commanding the North-Western Strategic

Direction, Timoshenko commanding the Western Strategic Direction, and Budyonny commanding the

South-Western Strategic Direction.[68]

The forces of the North-Western Direction were:[69]

The Northern Front (Colonel General Markian Popov) bordered Finland and included the 14th Army, 7th Army,

23rd Army and smaller units subordinate to the Front commander. The North-Western Front (Colonel General Fyodor Kuznetsov) defended the Baltic region and consisted of the

8th Army, 11th Army, and the 27th Army and other front troops (34 divisions).

The Northern and Baltic Fleets

The forces of the Western Direction were:

The Western Front (General Dmitry Grigoryevitch Pavlov) had the 3rd Army, 4th Army, 10th Army and the

Army Headquarters of the 13th Army which coordinated independent Front formations (45 divisions).

The forces of the South-Western Direction were:

The South-Western Front (Colonel General Mikhail Kirponos) was formed from the 5th Army, 6th Army, 12th

Army and the 26th Army as well as a group of units under Strategic Direction command (45 divisions). The Southern Front (General Ivan Tyulenev) was created on 25 June 1941 with 9th Independent Army, 18th

Army, 2nd and 18th Mechanized Corps (26 divisions).

The Black Sea Fleet

Beside the Armies in the Fronts, there were a further six armies in the Western region of the USSR: 16th Army, 19th

Army, 20th Army, 21st Army, 22nd Army and the 24th Army that formed, together with independent units, the

Stavka Reserve Group of Armies, later renamed the Reserve Front nominally under Stalin's direct command.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_Stalinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_Reserve_Fronthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stavkahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=24_Army%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=22nd_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=21st_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=20th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=19th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=19th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=16th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black_Sea_Fleethttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mechanized_Corps_%28Soviet%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=18th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=18th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=9th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ivan_Tyulenevhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Southern_Front_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=26_Army%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=12th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=12th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=6th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=5th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mikhail_Kirponoshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_Southwestern_Fronthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=13th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=10th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=4th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=3rd_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dmitry_Pavlovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Western_Front_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baltic_Fleethttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Northern_Fleethttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=27th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=11th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=8th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baltic_republicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Feodor_Isodorovich_Kuznetsovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=North-Western_Fronthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=23rd_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=7th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=14th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Markian_Popovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Northern_Front_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theatre_of_Military_Operationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Budyonnyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theatre_of_Military_Operationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Timoshenkohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theatre_of_Military_Operationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theatre_of_Military_Operationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kliment_Voroshilovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Odessa_Military_Districthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_Southern_Fronthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kiev_Special_Military_Districthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kiev_Special_Military_Districthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_Southwestern_Fronthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Belorussian_Military_Districthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Western_Front_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baltic_Military_Districthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=North-Western_Fronthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leningrad_Military_Districthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leningrad_Military_Districthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Northern_Front_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zhukovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Area_of_operationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Army_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wehrmacht_Heerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theatre_of_Military_Operationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Front_%28Soviet_Army%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German_Reich


11/30


The invasion

Phase 1: The Frontier Battles (22 June 19413 July 1941)

German advances during the opening phases of Operation Barbarossa

At 03:15 on Sunday, 22 June 1941, the

Axis bombed major cities in

Soviet-occupied Poland. It is hard topinpoint the opposing sides' strength in

this initial phase, as most German

figures include reserves allocated to

the East but not yet committed, as well

as several other comparability issues

between the German and USSR's

figures. Roughly three million

Wehrmacht troops went into action on

22 June, and they faced slightly fewer

Soviet troops in the border MilitaryDistricts. The contribution of the

German allies would generally not

make itself felt until later. The surprise

was complete: though the Stavka,

alarmed by reports that Wehrmacht

units were approaching the border, had at 00:30 ordered that the border troops be warned that war was imminent,

only a small number of units were alerted in time.

Aside from the roughly 3.2 million German ground troops engaged in, or earmarked for the Eastern Campaign, about

500,000 Romanian, Hungarian, Slovakian, Croatian, and Italian troops accompanied the German forces, while theArmy of Finland made a major contribution in the north. The 250th Spanish "Blue" Infantry Division was a

formation of volunteered Spanish Falangists and Nazi sympathisers.

Luftwaffe reconnaissance units worked frantically to plot troop concentration, supply dumps, and airfields, and mark

them for destruction. TheLuftwaffe's task was to neutralize the Soviet Air Force. This was not achieved in the first

days of operations, despite the Soviets having concentrated aircraft in huge groups on the permanent airfields rather

than dispersing them on field landing strips, making them ideal targets. The Luftwaffe claimed to have destroyed

1,489 aircraft on the first day of operations.[70] Hermann Gring Chief of theLuftwaffe distrusted the reports

and ordered the figure checked. Picking through the wreckages of Soviet airfields, the Luftwaffe's figures proved

conservative, as over 2,000 destroyed Soviet aircraft were found. [70] TheLuftwaffe lost 35 aircraft on the first day of

combat. The Germans claimed to have destroyed only 3,100 Soviet aircraft in the first three days. In fact Soviet

losses were far higher: some 3,922 Soviet machines had been lost (according to Russian Historian Viktor

Kulikov).[71] The Luftwaffe had achieved air superiority over all three sectors of the front, and would maintain it

until the close of the year.[72] The Luftwaffe could now devote large numbers of its Geschwader (see Luftwaffe

Organization) to support the ground forces.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luftwaffe_Organizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luftwaffe_Organizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hermann_G%C3%B6ringhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_Air_Forcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Falangistshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blue_Divisionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Continuation_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USSR_Border_Troopshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stavkahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Military_Districthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Military_Districthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Axis_Powershttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AOperationBarbarossa.PNG


12/30


Invasion musical theme

Each German invasion of a foreign country had an official musical theme that was frequently played for the purposes

of Nazi propaganda over the totally government controlled radio stations after the invasion was officially announced

to whip up enthusiasm for the military operation among the German population. The theme song for Operation

Barbarossa was Les preludes by Franz Liszt. [73]

Army Group North

Crossing of the Daugava (Dvina) river by the

20th Panzer Division

Opposite Army Group North were two Soviet armies. The Wehrmacht

OKH thrust the 4th Panzer Group, with a strength of 600 tanks, at the

junction of the two Soviet armies in that sector. The 4th Panzer Group's

objective was to cross the Neman and Daugava Rivers which were the

two largest obstacles in the advance to Leningrad. On the first day, the

tanks crossed the River Neman and penetrated 50 mi (80 km). Near

Raseiniai, the armoured units were counter attacked by 300 tanks of

the 3rd and 12th Soviet Mechanized Corps. It took four days for the

Germans to encircle and destroy the Soviet armour who lacked fuel,ammunition and coordination. By the end of the first week the Soviet

Mechanized Corps had lost 90% of its strength.[74] The Panzer Groups

then crossed the Daugava near Daugavpils. The Germans were now

within striking distance of Leningrad. However, due to their deteriorated supply situation, Hitler ordered the Panzer

Groups to hold their position while the infantry formations caught up. The orders to hold would last over a week,

giving time for the Soviets to build up a defence around Leningrad and along the bank of the Luga River. Further

complicating the Soviet position, on 22 June the anti-Soviet June Uprising in Lithuania began, and on the next day

an independent Lithuania was proclaimed.[75] An estimated 30,000 Lithuanian rebels engaged Soviet forces, joined

by ethnic Lithuanians from the Red Army. As the Germans reached further north, armed resistance against the

Soviets broke out in Estonia as well. The "Battle of Estonia" ended on 7 August, when the 18th Army reached theGulf of Finland coast.[76]

Army Group Centre

Captured Soviet equipment.

Opposite Army Group Centre were four Soviet armies: the 3rd, 4th,

10th and 11th Armies. The Soviet Armies occupied a salient that jutted

into German occupied Polish territory with the Soviet salient's center at

Biaystok. Beyond Biaystok was Minsk, both the capital of

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic and a key railway junction. AG

Centre's two Panzer Groups' goal was to meet at Minsk, denying theRed Army an escape route from the salient. The 3rd Panzer Group

broke through the junction of two Soviet Fronts in the north of the

salient, and crossed the River Neman while the 2nd Panzer Group

crossed the Bug River river in the South. While the Panzer Groups

attacked, the Wehrmacht Army Group Centre infantry Armies struck at the salient, eventually encircling Soviet

troops at Biaystok.

Moscow at first failed to grasp the dimensions of the catastrophe that had befallen the USSR. Marshall Timoshenko

ordered all Soviet forces to launch a general counter-offensive, but with supply and ammunition dumps destroyed,

and a complete collapse of communication, the uncoordinated attacks failed. Zhukov signed the infamous Directive

of People's Commissariat of Defence No. 3 (he later claimed under pressure from Stalin), which ordered the Red

Army to start an offensive. He commanded the troops to encircle and destroy the enemy grouping near Suwaki and
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marshall_Timoshenkohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Panzer_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bug_Riverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neman_Riverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Railway_junctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Byelorussian_Soviet_Socialist_Republichttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Minskhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bia%C5%82ystokhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Salients%2C_re-entrants_and_pocketshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=11th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=10th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=4th_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=3rd_Army_%28Soviet_Union%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Army_Group_Centrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AOperation_Barbarossa_-_German_loot.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gulf_of_Finlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eighteenth_Army_%28Germany%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Estonia_in_World_War_II%23Summer_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Forest_Brothershttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lithuaniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lithuanian_1941_independencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luga_Riverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Daugavpilshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Raseiniaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leningradhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Daugavahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nemanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Army_Group_Northhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3ADvina_crossing.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Franz_Liszthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Les_preludes_%28Liszt%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nazi_propaganda


13/30


to seize the Suwaki region by the evening of 26 June" and to encircle and destroy the enemy grouping invading in

Vladimir-Volynia and Brody direction and even to seize the Lublin region by the evening of 24.6[77] This

maneuver failed and disorganized Red Army units were soon destroyed by the Wehrmacht forces.

On 27 June, 2 and 3 Panzer Groups met up at Minsk, advancing 200 mi (320 km) into Soviet territory and a third of

the way to Moscow. In the vast pocket between Minsk and the Polish border, the remnants of 32 Soviet Rifle, eight

tank, and motorized, cavalry and artillery divisions were encircled.

Army Group South

Ukraine, early days of Barbarossa

In the south, opposite Army Group South

were three Soviet armies, the 5th, 6th and

26th. Soviet commanders reacted quicker

and Germans faced determined resistance

from the start. The German infantry Armies

struck at the junctions of these armies while

the 1st Panzer Group drove its armored

spearhead of 600 tanks right through theSoviet 6th Army, aiming to take Brody. On

26 June, five Soviet mechanized corps with

over 1,000 tanks mounted a massive

counter-attack on the 1st Panzer Group. The

battle was among the fiercest of the

invasion, lasting over four days; in the end

the Germans prevailed, though the Soviets inflicted heavy losses on the 1st Panzer Group.

With the Soviet counter-offensives' failure, the last substantial Soviet tank forces in Western Ukraine had been

committed, and the Red Army assumed a defensive posture, focusing on a strategic withdrawal under severepressure. The Soviet air arm, the VVS, lost 1,561 aircraft over Kiev.[78] The battle was a huge tactical (Hitler thought

strategic) victory, but it had drawn the German forces away from an early offensive against Moscow, and had

delayed further German progress by 11 weeks. General Kurt Von Tippleskirch noted, "The Russians had indeed lost

a battle, but they won the campaign".[78]
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Brody_%281941%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Brody_%281941%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mechanized_corps_%28Soviet%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brodyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Army_Group_Southhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3ABundesarchiv_Bild_101I-020-1268-36%2C_Russland%2C_russischer_Gefallener%2C_Panzer_BT_7%2C.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lublinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Suwa%C5%82ki


14/30


Summary of the first phase

By the end of the first week, all three German Army Groups had achieved major campaign objectives. However, in

the vast pocket around Minsk and Biaystok, the Soviets were still fighting; reducing the pocket was causing high

German casualties and many Red Army troops were escaping. The usual estimated casualties of the Red Army

amount to 600,000 killed, missing, captured or wounded.

Phase 2: Battle for Smolensk (3 July 19415 August 1941)

German advances during Operation Barbarossa, 22 June 1941 to 9 September 1941.

On 3 July, Hitler finally gave the

go-ahead for the Panzers to resume

their drive east after the infantry

divisions had caught up. However, a

rainstorm typical of Russian summers

slowed their progress and Russian

defenses stiffened. The delays gave the

Soviets time to organize a massive

counterattack against Army Group

Center. Army Group Center's ultimate

objective was Smolensk, which

commanded the road to Moscow.

Facing the Germans was an old Soviet

defensive line held by six armies. On 6

July, the Soviets attacked the 3rd

Panzer Army with 700 tanks. The

Germans defeated this counterattack

with overwhelming air superiority. The

2nd Panzer Army crossed the River Dnieper and closed on Smolensk from the south while the 3rd Panzer Army,

after defeating the Soviet counter attack, closed on Smolensk from the north. Trapped between their pincers were

three Soviet armies. On 18 July, the Panzer Groups came to within 10 miles of closing the gap but the trap would not

snap shut until 26 July. When the Panzer Groups finally closed the gap, 180,000 Red Army troops were captured [79]

but liquidating the pocket took another 10 days in which time 100,000 Soviet troops escaped to stand between the

Germans and Moscow.

Four weeks into the campaign, the Germans realized they had grossly underestimated Soviet strength. The German

troops had used their initial supplies without attaining the expected strategic freedom of movement. Operations were

now slowed down to allow for resupply; the delay was to be used to adapt strategy to the new situation. Hitler had

lost faith in encirclement as large numbers of Soviet soldiers had escaped the pincers. Hitler now believed he could

defeat the Soviets by economic damage, depriving them of the industrial capacity to continue the war. That meant

seizing the industrial center of Kharkov, the Donets Basin and the oil fields of the Caucasus in the south and a

speedy capture of Leningrad, a major center of military production, in the north. He also wanted to link up with the

Finns to the north.

Fedor von Bock and almost all the German generals involved in Operation Barbarossa, vehemently argued in favor

of continuing the all-out drive toward Moscow. Besides the psychological importance of capturing the enemy's

capital, the generals pointed out that Moscow was a major center of arms production and the center of the Soviet

communications and transportation system. More importantly, intelligence reports indicated that the bulk of the Red

Army was deployed near Moscow under Semyon Timoshenko for an all-out defense of the capital. But Hitler was

adamant, and issued a direct order to Guderian, bypassing his commanding officer von Bock, to send Army Group

Centre's tanks to the north and south, temporarily halting the drive to Moscow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Semyon_Timoshenkohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guderianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Von_Bockhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guderianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Von_Bockhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Von_Bockhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guderianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Semyon_Timoshenkohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fedor_von_Bockhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caucasushttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Donets_Basinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kharkovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Smolenskhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AEastern_Front_1941-06_to_1941-09.png


15/30


Phase 3: Kiev and Leningrad (5 August 19412 October 1941)

By mid-July below the Pinsk Marshes, the Germans had come within a few kilometers of Kiev. The 1st Panzer Army

then went south while the German 17th Army struck east and in between the Germans trapped three Soviet armies

near Uman. As the Germans eliminated the pocket, the tanks turned north and crossed the Dnieper. Meanwhile, the

2nd Panzer Army, diverted from Army Group Centre, had crossed the River Desna with 2nd Army on its right flank.

The two Panzer armies now trapped four Soviet armies and parts of two others.

Killing of Jews at Ivangorod, Ukraine, 1942

For its final attack on Leningrad, the 4th Panzer Army was reinforced

by tanks from Army Group Centre. On 8 August, the Panzers broke

through the Soviet defenses; the German 16th Army attacked to the

northeast, the 18th Army and the Estonian guerilla Forest Brothers

cleared the country and advanced to Lake Peipus.[80] By the end of

August, 4th Panzer Army had penetrated to within 30 mi (48 km) of

Leningrad. The Finns had pushed southeast on both sides of Lake

Ladoga, reaching the old Finnish-Soviet frontier.

At this stage, Hitler ordered the final destruction of Leningrad with no

prisoners taken, and on 9 September, Army Group North began the

final push which within ten days brought it within 7 mi (11 km) of the city. However, the advance over the last

10 km (6.2 mi) proved very slow and casualties mounted. At this stage, Hitler lost patience and ordered that

Leningrad should not be stormed but starved into submission. Deprived of its Panzer forces, Army Group Center had

remained static and was subjected to numerous Soviet counter-attacks in particular the Yelnya Offensive in which

the Germans suffered their first major tactical defeat since their invasion began. These attacks drew Hitler's attention

back to Army Group Center and its drive on Moscow. The Germans ordered the 3rd and 4th Panzer Armies to break

off their siege of Leningrad and support Army Group Center on its attack on Moscow.

Before the attack on Moscow could begin, operations in Kiev needed to be finished. Half of Army Group Centre had

swung to the south in the back of the Kiev position, while Army Group South moved to the north from its Dnieprbridgehead. The encirclement of Soviet Forces in Kiev was achieved on 16 September. A savage battle ensued in

which the Soviets were hammered with tanks, artillery, and aerial bombardment. In the end, after ten days of vicious

fighting, the Germans claimed over 600,000 Soviet soldiers captured. Actual losses were 452,720 men, 3,867

artillery guns and mortars from 43 Divisions of the 5th, 37th, 26th and 21st Soviet Armies. [81]
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yelnya_Offensivehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lake_Ladogahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lake_Ladogahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lake_Peipushttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Estonia_in_World_War_II%23Summer_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Estoniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AKiev_Jew_Killings_in_Ivangorod_%281942%29.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kievhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pinsk_Marshes


16/30


Phase 4: Operation Typhoon (2 October 19415 December 1941)

The eastern front at the time of the Battle of Moscow: Initial Wehrmacht advanceto 9

July 1941 Subsequent advancesto 1 September 1941 Encirclement and battle of Kiev

to 9 September 1941 Final Wehrmacht advanceto 5 December 1941

Armour of KV-1 after battle, Stalingrad 1942

After Kiev, the Red Army no longer

outnumbered the Germans and there

were no more directly available trained

reserves. To defend Moscow, Stalin

could field 800,000 men in 83divisions, but no more than 25

divisions were fully effective.

Operation Typhoon, the drive to

Moscow, began on 2 October. In front

of Army Group Centre was a series of

elaborate defense lines, the first

centered on Vyazma and the second on

Mozhaysk.

The first blow took the Sovietscompletely by surprise as 2nd Panzer

Army returning from the south took

Oryol which was 75 mi (121 km) south

of the Soviet first main defense line.

Three days later the Panzers pushed on

Bryansk while 2nd Army attacked

from the west. The Soviet 3rd and 13th

armies were now encircled. To the

north, the 3rd and 4th Panzer Armies

attacked Vyazma, trapping the 19th,20th, 24th and 32nd Soviet Armies.

Moscow's first line of defence had

been shattered. The pocket yielded

673,000 Soviet prisoners, bringing the

tally since the start of the invasion to three million Soviet soldiers captured. The Soviets had only 90,000 men and

150 tanks left for the defense of Moscow.

On 13 October, 3rd Panzer Army penetrated to within 90 mi (140 km) of the capital. Martial law was declared in

Moscow. Almost from the beginning of Operation Typhoon the weather had deteriorated. Temperatures fell while

there was a continued rainfall, turning the unpaved road network into mud and steadily slowing the German advance

on Moscow to as little as 2 mi (3.2 km) a day. The supply situation rapidly deteriorated. On 31 October, the German

Army High Command ordered a halt to Operation Typhoon while the armies were re-organized. The pause gave the

Soviets, who were in a far better supply situation, time to consolidate their positions and organize formations of

newly activated reservists. In little over a month the Soviets organized eleven new armies which included 30

divisions of Siberian troops. These had been freed from the Soviet far east as Soviet intelligence had assured Stalin

there was no longer a threat from the Japanese. With the Siberian forces came over 1,000 tanks and 1,000 aircraft.

The Germans were nearing exhaustion, they also began to recall Napoleon's invasion of Russia. General Gnther

Blumentritt noted in his diary:

They remembered what happened to Napoleon's Army. Most of them began to re-read Caulaincourt's

grim account of 1812. That had a weighty influence at this critical time in 1941. I can still see Von

Kluge trudging through the mud from his sleeping quarters to his office and standing before the map
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Armand_Augustin_Louis_de_Caulaincourthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=G%C3%BCnther_Blumentritthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=G%C3%BCnther_Blumentritthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Napoleon%27s_invasion_of_Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Sorgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rasputitsahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vyazmahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bryanskhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oryolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mozhayskhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vyazmahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Typhoonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3ABundesarchiv_Bild_169-0441%2C_Russland%2C_bei_Stalingrad%2C_Panzer_KW-1.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AEastern_Front_1941-06_to_1941-12.png


17/30


with Caulaincourt's book in his hand.[82]

On 15 November, with the ground hardening due to the cold weather, the Germans once again began the attack on

Moscow. Although the troops themselves were now able to advance again, there had been no delay allowed to

improve the supply situation. Facing the Germans were the 5th, 16th, 30th, 43rd, 49th, and 50th Soviet armies. The

Germans intended to let 3rd and 4th Panzer Armies cross the Moscow Canal and envelop Moscow from the

northeast. 2nd Panzer Army would attack Tula and then close in on Moscow from the south. As the Soviets reactedto the flanks, 4th Army would attack the center. In two weeks of desperate fighting, lacking sufficient fuel and

ammunition, the Germans slowly crept towards Moscow. However, in the south, 2nd Panzer Army was being

blocked. On 22 November, Soviet Siberian units augmented with the 49th and 50th Soviet Armies attacked the 2nd

Panzer Army and inflicted a shocking defeat on the Germans. However, 4th Panzer Army pushed the Soviet 16th

Army back and succeeded in crossing the Moscow canal and began the encirclement.

On 2 December, part of the 258th Infantry Division advanced to within 15 mi (24 km) of Moscow, and could see the

spires of the Kremlin,[83] but by then the first blizzards of the winter began. A Reconnaissance-Battalion also

managed to reach the town of Khimkisome 8 km (5.0 mi) away from Moscowand captured its bridge over the

Moscow-Volga Canal as well as its railway station, which marked the farthest advance of German forces on

Moscow.[84][85] The Wehrmachtwas not equipped for winter warfare. Frostbite and disease caused more casualtiesthan combat, and dead and wounded had already reached 155,000 in three weeks. Some divisions were now at 50%

strength. The bitter cold also caused severe problems for their guns and equipment, and weather conditions grounded

theLuftwaffe. Newly built-up Soviet units near Moscow now numbered over 500,000 men, and on 5 December, they

launched a massive counterattack which pushed the Germans back over 200 mi (320 km). The invasion of the USSR

eventually cost the German Army over 250,000 dead and 500,000 wounded, the majority of whom became casualties

after 1 October and an unknown number of Axis casualties such as Hungarians, Romanians and Waffen SS troops as

well as co-belligerent Finns.

Events

German Soldiers with a destroyed Soviet KV1

tank at Kaunas

Shirer argues that the fatal decision of the operation was the

postponement from the original date of 15 May because Hitler wanted

to intervene against an anti-German coup in Yugoslavia and Greek

advances against Italy's occupation of Albania. However, this was just

one of the reasons for the postponement the other was the late

spring of 1941 in Russia, compounded by particularly rainy weather in

June 1941 that made a number of roads in western parts of the Soviet

Union impassable to heavy vehicles. During the campaign, Hitler

ordered the main thrust toward Moscow to be diverted southward to

help the southern army group capture Ukraine. This move delayed theassault on the Soviet capital, though it also helped secure Army Group Center's southern flank. By the time they

turned to Moscow, the Red Army's fierce resistance, the mud following the autumn rains and, eventually, snow,

brought their advance to a halt.

In addition, resistance by the Soviets, who proclaimed a Great Patriotic War in defence of the motherland, was

much fiercer than the German command had expected. The border fortress of Brest, Belarus illustrates that tenacity:

attacked on the very first day of the German invasion, the fortress was expected to fall within hours, but held out

over a week. (Soviet propaganda later asserted it held out for six weeks). [86] German logistics also became a major

problem, as supply lines grew very long and vulnerable to Soviet partisan attacks in the rear. The Soviets carried out

a scorched earth policy on some of the land they were forced to abandon in order to deny the Germans food

the operation barbarosa

Documents