Hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers were killed or captured in huge encirclement battles. Army Group North, under Field Marshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb, plunged towards Leningrad, with General Erich Hoepner's Panzer Group 4 in the lead. Operation Barbarossa failed because Germany used weak military forces, had poor logistics and planning, and failed to win the Battle of Stalingrad, which is one of the main battles in Operation Barbarossa. But Hitler regarded the resource-rich Ukraine as more important. The Germans are not only planning on a fast Blitzkrieg campaign that's going to knock the Soviet Union out of the war in six to eight weeks, but they need a fast victory. Guderian and several other senior generals who advised withdrawal were sacked. Fighting in the Fog: Who Won the Battle of Barnet? Hitler invaded Poland in 1931, attacked Belgium, France, and Holland, battle with Britain. World War II: Battle of Stalingrad. German engineers struggled to convert the Russian railway gauge to one which their own locomotives and rolling stock could use. The German Army was a war machine that was decimating their enemies. Hitlers war of extermination began on 22 June with an artillery barrage. Besides transportation problem caused by the winter, Germans army were also affected by the winter. German officers could see the Kremlin buildings through their field glasses. 2009. Why did Operation Barbarossa fail for kids? James Rogers visits Esbjerg in Denmark to explore the history of Hitler's Atlantic Wall. To export a reference to this article please select a referencing stye below: If you are the original writer of this essay and no longer wish to have your work published on UKEssays.com then please: Our academic writing and marking services can help you! TheT-34in particular was a major leap in tank design and came as a complete shock to the Germans when it was first encountered in July 1941. Army Group North was to head through the Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and take Leningrad. What Was the Atlantic Wall and When Was It Built? It is estimated that during WW2, 80% of German casualties came on the Eastern Front, equating to more than three million lives. Not only were the distances much greater than they had been during the French campaign, but the Soviet transport infrastructure was much poorer. The whole strategy is a resumption of the Blitzkrieg idea that's been so successful in France, that is you win by not fighting. It was Hitler's first defeat on land in the second world war. The Soviets were totally unprepared and communications became paralysed in the chaos. Whereas in actual fact by Christmas 1941, German armies have captured three million Soviet soldiers and they're still fighting. Even back in 'Mein Kampf' in the mid-1920s, he's planning to attack the Soviet Union. Operation 'Barbarossa' had clearly failed. Moscow was always a more important objective to the German High Command than it was to Hitler, who was more concerned with destroying Soviet field armies and capturing vital industrial resources. Has Russia ever lost a war? Under Hitler's direct orders the target was the Caucasus in the south and a city called Stalingrad. The Russians were down to about 90,000 men. The panzer divisions stormed ahead and over 600,000 Russian soldiers were captured in two more huge encirclements near the cities ofBryanskandVyazma. Operation Barbarossa failed because Germany used weak military forces, had poor logistics and planning, and failed to win the Battle of Stalingrad, which is one of the main battles in Operation Barbarossa. Answer (1 of 46): The German Operation Barbarossa and the subsequent Operation Typhoon did actually very nearly succeed. Operation Barbarossa was Nazi Germanys ambitious plan to conquer and subdue the western Soviet Union. On the first day they lost 1,800 aircraft to the Germans 35. The shock value of the initialBlitzkriegwas dissipated by the vast distances, logistical difficulties and Soviet troop numbers, all of which caused attritional losses of German forces which could not be sustained. 12 May 2015. Machine guns became encrusted with ice, recoil liquid froze in guns, ammunition supply failed. 12 May 2015. Germany has over underestimated Soviet Union, and their army, supplies were too confident. The objectives of Operation Barbarossa were quite unrealistic from the very beginning. 12 May 2015. Beginning in June 1941, this blitzkrieg attack on Russia and its leader Joseph Stalin would ultimately decide the Second World War. Sara Vladic is one of the world's leading experts on the USS Indianapolis, having met and interviewed 108 of the ships survivors. The opening day of Operation Barbarossa also meant the last day of diplomatic relations between the Third Reich and the . about education. Logistics was another hugely important factor in the German defeat. Having defeated France and the Low Countries in just six weeks, Germany was confident of capturing that land from the Soviet Union. German Landsers, as humble infantry soldiers were known, smile for the camera in a Russian town. The German military plan called for an advance up to a hypothetical line running from the port ofArchangelin northern Russia to the port ofAstrakhanon the Caspian Sea the so-called 'A-A line'. The British Army's role was pivotal, but victory came at a price. Rain, snow and mud increasingly slowed the German advance and supply lines could not keep up with the advance. But as they reached the approaches to Moscow, the German formations slowed to a crawl. Army Group Centre was pushed back up to 150 miles from Moscow. Despite the huge upheavals as industrial plants were relocated eastwards, Soviet war production expanded dramatically during the second half of 1941. Three army groups set out for three different targets, Army Group North heading for Leningrad, Army Group Centre aiming for Moscow, and Army Group South heading for Kyiv. Soviet Union was also surprised by this invasion, due to Stalins belief Germany wont attack its own allied, especially after signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In contrast, the new generation of Soviet tanks such as the T-34 and KV had wider tracks and were far more mobile in these conditions. (Operation Barbarossa) According to the information above, Soviet Union has more reliable and improved vehicles than Germanys. Why Barbarossa Was Doomed To Failure. The invasion had three main objectives. By mid-September, the Soviet field armies were finally finished and the drive on Moscow could begin. So actually these big encirclements behind the German lines became a real problem in that they could now attack into the German lines of communication and cut them off from the front line. Zhukov, Russian commander, used strategy to go around the city and trap Germans army. But Soviet tank development and production was already superior to that of the Germans. Ultimately, the Allies failed to make a concerted effort to work together to prevent Hitler's attack on Poland. Operation Barbarossa was a huge undertaking that offered Hitler myriad opportunities. Anne Franks Legacy: How Her Story Changed the World. In this episode of IWM Stories, John Delaney takes a look at why Operation Barbarossa failed with the help of archive film, photographs and battle maps. They're going to invade with about 3 million men and they expect the total Soviet army to be roughly the same. They get encircled completely cut off, hundreds of thousands of men. In 1940, Hitler did the seemingly impossible. He had advocated an all-out drive on the capital. The Allied failure to reach the paras before their destruction was the result of several factors ranging from happenstance to poor leadership. Because the invasion of the Soviet Union was one of Hitler's major failures during World War II, Operation Barbarossa was the turning point of the war. One of the most important reasons for this was poor strategic planning. The objectives of Operation Barbarossa were quite unrealistic from the very beginning. Though these new troops were undersupplied and under-trained, new supplies were beginning to arrive from Britain. Russian forces in this sector were thinly spread and the panzers covered 500 miles (804 km) in three weeks. Hitler expected these all to be attained in approximately ten weeks. Soviet industry was deemed incapable of producing modern weapons. It was the turning point of World War Two. 2014. Is Cauldrons of War - Stalingrad your favourite steam game? Background This, and the sheer volume of manpower, delayed the Germans just long enough in their advance on Moscow, the environs of which were reached by the end of November. At the same time, the first arctic convoys are arriving in Murmansk and Archangel bringing supplies from Britain, just giving enough equipment for the soviets to sort of stay in the field. By December 1941, the combined German armies had killed 360,000 Soviet soldiers, wounded one million, and captured two million more, for total Red Army losses of around 3.4 million by the end of the year. Mental_floss. Beginning in June 1941, this blitzkrieg attack on Russia and its leader Joseph. While the Germans underestimated the military potential of their opponents, they also exaggerated the capabilities of their own forces, most significantly the four Panzer Groups. We're here to answer any questions you have about our services. The creation of a Germanic Aryan Empire in Eastern Europe that would grant the resources needed for self-sufficiency. 12 May 2015. The first T-34s were also prone to mechanical breakdowns. But almost nothing went to plan. That leads to unrealistic, poor strategy and logistics. Consequently, Hitler eventually had to concede by mid-September that Operation Sea Lion would not work. The Germans completely underestimated the Soviet will to fight. Over a million Soviet troops were deployed for this attack, which confounded the Germans who believed Stalin's forces to be close to collapse. Document Information click to expand document information. Operation Barbarossa failed because Germany used weak military forces, had hapless logistics and planning, and failed to win the Battle of Stalingrad, which is one of the chief conflicts in Operation Barbarossa. While Stalin's purges of the Soviet Officer Corps left his army poorly led. Many of these divisions don't have uniforms they're just civilian clothes, some of the divisions they have to share rifles there's not enough rifles to go around. One of the most important reasons for this was poor strategic planning. But when Hitler resumed the assault with Operation 'Typhoon' it was too late. They had secured the Balkan states and Greece, from where the British were forced to withdraw, with little effort over the course of April. It was theRasputitsa- the 'quagmire season' - and wheeled and horse-drawn transport became hopelessly stuck. Achieving complete tactical and strategic surprise, German forces, numbering more than three . Mortar shells detonated in deep snow with a hollow, harmless thud, and mines . A German salient around Yelnya, south-east of Smolensk, was recaptured in a costly but successful counterattack. It was the largest military attack in World War Two. By 5 December, after four days of battle, Soviet defence had turned into counter-attack. Meanwhile, Army Group North, consisting of 700,000 troops, 770 tanks and 4,000 artillery pieces. (Erik Sass, Operation Barbarossa: The Biggest Military Adventure in History) Hitler uses the strategy called blitzkrieg, or lightning war. As the German columns advanced across the seemingly infinite spaces of the steppe towards their distant objectives, including a city namedStalingrad, the victory in the East that had once seemed so certain receded even further from sight. Operation Barbarossa failed because Germany used weak military forces, had poor logistics and planning, and failed to win the Battle of Stalingrad, which is one of the main battles in Operation Barbarossa. First of all, Germany has weak army and military forces. Operation Barbarossa: Operation Barbarossa was a major Nazi offensive launched against the Soviet Union during World War II. That makes Germany harder to defeat their enemies. But by early July von Rundstedt had pushed out beyond the pre-1939 Polish frontier. These light tanks were completely outclassed, even by older Soviet models, but were used in some numbers during 'Barbarossa' to make up for the shortfall in PzKpfw III and IV production. Operation Barbarossa inflicted huge casualties on the Soviet Army and there were great territorial gains, but it failed to achieve Hitler's primary objective - to force the capitulation of the Soviet Union. The Red Army's initially calamitous response to the invasion looked set to prove the Germans right. Barbarossa was a good plan :the Germans had resources for a short campaign only,thus they planned a short campaign,they had to win before the SU could mobilise its superior manpower and industrial resources (the German assumption was that it would take at least 10 weeks for the Russians to mobilise ),but the Russian mobilisation started Browse our online shop for products inspired by peoples's experiences of war. IWM collections. Provisioning issues that partly resulted at first from limited transport infrastructure and by Stalins scorched earth tactics were exacerbated. To operate furnaces and heaters, the Germans also burned precious fuel that was difficult to re-supply. (Operation Barbarossa). I'm not an expert but here are a few. Lubricants for vehicles were also useless as well in such a cold weather in Russia. Though it escaped his generals Hitler had now realized this was a war of attrition and material whether he liked it or not. On the first day alone 1,800 Soviet aircraft were destroyed, most of them on the ground. BBC. Through inverted logic, Stalin retained greater faith in Hitler than his own advisors right up to the point of attack. However the Luftwaffe was weak after over three months of sustained operations. They mistakenly assumed that the campaign would be a short one, and that the Soviets would give in after suffering the shock of massive initial defeats. If you want to find out more about Blitzkrieg and how it works I've put a link to our video on the subject in the description. He believed the Russians had been fatally weakened and lacked the strength to defend their capital - one more push would see it fall and victory would be his. . A total of 148 divisions - 80 per cent of the German Army - were committed to the enterprise. The Father of History: Who Was Herodotus. The first to fall when the Great Patriotic War started in June 22, 1941 was the fortress of Brest.. Just 20 miles short of their objective, the Soviets launched a sudden counter-attack forcing the Germans onto the defensive. The Russian soldier was found to be a hardy and implacable foe, and quickly gained the respect of the majority of German front-line troops. 8 pages. In conclusion, Operation Barbarossa was one of the greatest mistakes Hitler had made. Though it escaped his generals Hitler had now realized this was a war of attrition and material whether he liked it or not. Operation Barbarossa had failed in that the Soviet Union had not surrendered and Moscow had not been captured. Probably the biggest reason Operation Barbarossa failed was an old military problem that even Hitler wouldn't remember and couldn't allow to get in the way of a quick victory: an attenuated supply line. Essay, 5 pages (1300 words) Download PDF; DOCX; To achieve that victory Germany mustered over three million men, the largest invasion force in the history of warfare to that point. Instead, Hitler ordered that it be starved into submission. German motorcyclists pass one of the seemingly endless columns of Russian prisoners. Web. That operation was launch on June 22, 1941, and because it was launched at that time, Germany has to deal with one of the biggest problem when they were invading Soviet Union winter. This pause to look behind and clear up behind, to allow everybody to catch up. The Soviet army was taken completely by surprise and had not had time to fortify their new border in Poland. Russians consider it to be the greatest battle of their Great Patriotic War, and most historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. (Battle of Stalingrad) The Battle of Stalingrad was started at 17 July 1942, in this battle Soviet Union successfully defend the city of Stalingrad. When the new year came they planned to finish the job, however little did they know the Soviets had an ace up their sleeve. IWM collections. Operation Barbarossa failed because Germany used weak military forces, had poor logistics and planning, and failed to win the Battle of Stalingrad, which is one of the main battles in Operation Barbarossa. Do you have a 2:1 degree or higher? Two more Russian armies were trapped and destroyed, andanother 300,000 troops taken prisoner. Soviet tanks, poorly maintained and manned by inexpe- 39/97 fArmy Group South Operation Barbarossa June 1941 40 rienced crews, suffered an appalling rate of breakdowns. Operation Barbarossa may well be one of the most intriguing events in military history In any case, the German invasion of the Soviet Union was the largest military operation until then. The German plan was aided by Stalins refusal to believe that it was coming. why Hitler's military machine failed in its endeavor to defeat the Soviet union in 1941. The Soviets were completely fooled by German moves. The Nazi-Soviet Pact came as a complete surprise to other nations, given the ideological differences between the two countries. And that wasn't the only problem for Germany. Though the Germans began in an extremely strong position in the summer of 1941, Operation Barbarossa failed as a result of stretched supply lines, manpower problems and indomitable Soviet resistance. Why did Operation Barbarossa fail? BetweenD-Dayand the end of August some 83,000 British, Canadian and Polish troops became casualties, of whom almost 16,000 were killed. Russian industry was already gearing up to turn it out in huge numbers. The Germans suffered over 750,000 casualties during Operation 'Barbarossa', with some 200,000 men killed. As the Germans progressed, however, the front widened by several hundreds of miles and although Soviet losses were as high as 2,000,000, there was little evidence to suggest that further causalities could not be absorbed long enough to drag the fighting into winter. It was the largest invasion force to date. Despite the failure and huge losses of 'Barbarossa', Hitler launched another major strategic offensive in June 1942, this time towards the Caucasus mountains and the oil fields of Baku beyond. Food was never important to Hitler. In October Kharkov fell, but by now the Germans were exhausted. We will send you the latest TV programmes, podcast episodes and articles, as well as exclusive offers from our shop and carefully selected partners. It meant that despite the early defeats, the Soviet Union was far better prepared for a long war than the Germans, whose own production of tanks and other weapons would be feeble by comparison. Whereas in the Battle of France the French and British armies would see themselves just about to get cut off and would decide 'oh time to retreat'. Operation Blue was the codename for the attack ordered by Adolf Hitler on the Soviet Union's oil fields in the Caucasus region in 1942.Operation Blue was to fail when the Sixth Army was effectively destroyed at the Battle of Stalingrad. Operation Barbarossa failed because Germany used weak military forces, had poor logistics and planning, and failed to win the Battle of Stalingrad, which is one of the main battles in Operation Barbarossa. Looking for a flexible role? Battle of Stalingrad. By contrast, Russian T-34 tanks had wide tracks and traversed difficult terrain with greater ease. Army Group South would attack into the Ukraine towards Kiev and the Donbas (Donets Basin) industrial region. Almost a million Soviet troops were in place, although they had few tanks and aircraft left. One of the reasons is because Germany was way too confidents, theyve over underestimated Soviet Union. So at this point, Hitler said 'well hang on stop'. This failure was a contributing factor in the outbreak of the Second World War. So actually these big encirclements behind the German lines became a real problem in that they could now attack into the German lines of communication and cut them off from the front line. Its reliable diesel engine gave it a good range and turn of speed, and its wide tracks could cope with mud or snow. On December 6th they counter-attacked. Well, before we answer that question, a reminder to subscribe to the Imperial War Museum's YouTube channel for more videos just like this every two weeks. Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, had begun brilliantly on June 22, 1941. The distances involved were far too great and the wear and tear on vehicles was immense. Weary German troops of Army Group North, their faces caked in dust, cross a bridge near Jonava in Lithuania. The Nazi-Soviet Pact came as a complete surprise to other nations, given the ideological differences between the two countries. The main cause of German failure was faulty logistical planning. First of all, Germany has weak army and military forces. The objectives of Operation Barbarossa were quite unrealistic from the very beginning. It was the turning point of World War Two . Hitler ordered that Paulus should fight to the last bullet, and to encourage Paulus, he promoted him to field marshal. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UKEssays.com. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . Get time period newsletters, special offers and weekly programme release emails. Why did Operation Barbarossa come so close to success before falling at the final hurdle? Red Army soldiers. Within fourteen days Hitler saw Germany as being on the verge of victory and reckoned that conquest of the huge Russian landmass could be completed on the timescale of weeks rather than months. Worst of all though was the rapidly deteriorating Russian weather. To fully comprehend Operation Barbarossa, one must fIrst . They did not provide sufficient food and medicines, as they had expected their military personnel to live off the land of a conquered Soviet Union at the expense of the local population. Study for free with our range of university lectures! New World Encyclopedia. Hitler's infamous 'Commissar Order', which sanctioned the execution of all captured political officers, also stiffened Russian resolve. Hitler had assured the High Command that 'We have only to kick in the front door and the whole rotten edifice will come tumbling down'. Hitler's ideological assumption that Soviet society would collapse when they kicked the door in could not have been further from the truth. Germany has over underestimated Soviet Union, and their army, supplies were too confident. Alternatively, search more than 1 million objects from On 1 September 1939 the German Army, supported by the Air Force (Luftwaffe) and Navy (Kriegsmarine) invaded Poland from three sides. The major problem that leads to the failure of this operation was the winter in Russia. The German forces were split into three army groups, each with a specific objective. Germans commander was General Paulus, and his main goal was to secure the oil field in Caucasus, on the other hand, Russia would try not to let Germany secure the oil field. The naval port ofOdessaon the Black Sea was also besieged. Operation Barbarossa: The Biggest Military Adventure in History. Meanwhile the multitude of lorries and horse-drawn wagons in which the supplies were transported were forced to negotiate Russian dirt roads, which became virtually impassable after prolonged rain. The delay had given the Soviets time to bring in further reinforcements, including reservists and troops from Siberia and the eastern borders. And they launched this big Soviet counter-offensive in front of the gates of Moscow and catch the Germans completely by surprise and force them onto the retreat and that's the end of Barbarossa. By mid-July they were only 60 miles (96 km) from their objective. Supply lines kept up a steady pace in the early stages of Operation Barbarossa during good summer weather. The idea of invading Soviet Union is not the problem, but the way Hitler did it. But the Germans had completely underestimated the size of the Soviet army. Even after Operation 'Typhoon' ground to a halt in early December, the Germans still chose to believe that the Soviets had nothing left to stage a counterattack. In reality, they too were complicit in the failure of Typhoon. Post navigation. But it also threw away Germany's only real chance of outright victory. Most importantly, Russian troop numbers and fighting strength were continually underestimated, so that despite the losses inflicted in early encirclement battles, the Germans always faced yet more reinforcements. As I understand, the German plan was to use blitz warfare to. Which enables the German army to move freely across the battlefield, thrust deep into the Russian interior and encircle the frontier armies. By mid-September, the Soviet field armies were finally finished and the drive on Moscow could begin. It gives a breather for the Soviets to redefine their own front line and bring up more units into the front line dig in before Moscow. The problem isn't the idea of conquering the Soviet Union; it's how Hitler accomplished it. Regardless of recent economic and political co-operation, the Soviet Union was regarded as the natural enemy of Nazi Germany and a key strategic objective. They've managed to transfer the majority of those Russian divisions which were on the eastern side of the Soviet Union, those that had been facing Mongolia and the Japanese because they'd learned that the Japanese were not going to attack. Even in mid-1941 only 250 new tanks were being built each month, insufficient to properly equip the army on the eve of a major new campaign, or keep up with the inevitable mechanical and combat losses. Web. The Russians succeeded in crushing various German formations in encirclements of their own. The start of the war was the most favorable for Germans, as they took the Soviets by surprise and destroyed a large part of the Soviet army in the . Explore our award-winning list brought to print by the IWM publishing team. The Germans needed a quick victory, but the Soviets had managed to stay in the fight and turn the Blitzkrieg Barbarossa into a war of production. Over half the tanks committed to 'Barbarossa' were obsolescent light tanks and Czech-built models, rather than the more capable PzKpfw III and IV. A new generation of tanks had entered service, namely the T-34 and KV-1. Well, before we answer that question, a reminder to subscribe to the Imperial War Museum's YouTube channel for more videos just like this every two weeks. Despite Barbarossa's failure to finish the Soviets quickly, a new German offensive began in 1942. More than 3 million men attacked along the 2,900 km front, making it the largest military invasion in human history. That leads to unrealistic, poor strategy and logistics. The mass mobilisation of Soviet industry had been set in train, which included relocating vital tank, aircraft and munitions factories eastwards to theUrals. The fighting had severely depleted their ranks and supply lines were stretched to the limit. In May 1940 the Blitzkrieg rolled westwards and France was conquered in six weeks. Why the Ardennes Offensive was Hitler's last. Meanwhile, Army Group Centre's supply situation was becoming critical. Germany seemed to be on the brink of another major victory. PingNews, CC0, via Flickr The Soviet Union Could Not Be Defeated The most famous criticism is that the Soviet Union is too vast and that Germany never had the equipment or personnel needed to complete the invasion. They can't have a slow attritional war because there's not enough reserves of men and material to turn this into a long war we need to win quickly. They were greatly helped by the Luftwaffe's bombing of Soviet airfields, artillery positions and troop concentrations. But Russia was not France.