2. Some thoughts:
• Now a 2-front war
• Not a surprise: Lebensraum vs. Nazi-Soviet
Pact
• A HUGE battle front
• Success at first – but the beginning of the end
for GERMANY!
• The 5 Year Plans had been working!
14. T-34 Medium Tank
"It was the most excellent example of the
offensive weapon of the Second World
War."
General Mellentin
"Their T-34 was the best in the world."
Field Marshal Kleist
17. The End of Barbarossa?
The attack stalled in December,
1941 (after about six months of
fighting) and this signaled the end of
Barbarossa – the war on the Eastern
Front continued until Berlin fell at
the end of April 1945.
18. The German losses
sustained in the first year
of warfare led to a less
ambitious series of
objectives being specified
for the second summer
campaign. Hitler's focus
was on gaining control of
the resources in the
Caucasus. After the
campaign was underway,
the city of Stalingrad on
the Volga became another
objective. The extended
left flank was eventually
defended by relatively
weak German allied
armed forces from
Rumania, Hungary and
Italy.
=
^^^^^^^^^
23. Do you supposethere
really is
black gold
on theother sideof them
hills?
ThisPzKw is
surenoisy - what
did you say about
Goebbels?
24. 21 Aug, 1942 - 31 Jan 1943
Battle of Stalingrad:
Turning Point!
25. Approach to Stalingrad
By mid-August 1942, German
armored forces were pressing the
Soviet armies defending the front
before Stalingrad into the city
itself. Panzers attached to the
6th
Army pushed east in
conjunction with the 4th
Panzer
Army striking northward.
26. Battle of Stalingrad: the
Street Fighting
September 12 - November
18, 1942
As German armed forces
pressed forward into the city
of Stalingrad during
September, they encountered
increasingly effective
resistance from the defending
Soviet troops. Within
Stalingrad, various complexes
became battlegrounds.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37. TheRussianshad burst out of Stalingrad in aseriesof pincer
movementsto encircletheGerman forces. Thisphoto depictsthe
meeting of anorthern and southern faction of theRussian forces.
41. Why did Blitzkrieg fail?
• Lines of communication (supplies + fuel)
• Cold climate (engine starting, breakdowns,
metal fatigue)
• Troops ill-equipped for a long winter fight
When Barbarossa begins Hitler has all of Europe (except a few neutral countries). He has expanded into the Balkans + eastern Europe in spite of the Nazi – Soviet Pact. Stalin wants to appease Hitler to give more time – remember the PURGE. Many were warning Stalin but he kept holding up his end of the Pact: ex. Far East rubber shipments to Hitler.
Marck’s Plan
The initial German military proposal for an invasion of the Soviet Union which called for two army groups and primary strikes in the direction of Moscow and Kiev with a secondary attack toward Leningrad. The northern army group would push southward after reaching Moscow, linking up with the southern group at Kharkov.
OKH = Oberkommando der Heeres (High Command of the German Army) The revised German Army High Command proposal for an invasion of the Soviet Union added weight to the attack toward Leningrad and called for a separate army group for this purpose. It also anticipated further eastward exploitation, independently, by the central and southern army groups.
1) Just like in North Africa, armies couldn’t over-stretch their logistical limits. 2) diesel engines (even gas) don’t start well in sub-zero conditions – especially those of 1930s technology. Driving over frozen ground rattled the vehicles to pieces. 3) Hitler anticipated a quick victory, so troops weren’t given winter kit.