German had once again initiated hostilities with its neighboring countries, which then grew into another World War. Germany had quickly taken Poland in 1939 and then moved to take France using its very effective method of waging war, which was its Army’s mobility or “Blitzkrieg”. This method prevented its enemies from developing a proper defense, but also cost Germany a large amount of resources to support its advancing Army. Even with the heavy demands and multiple open fronts to contend with, Germany was still able to successfully invade the Soviet Union with Operation Barbarossa. Germany took early steps to secure its eastern front from the Soviet Union taking action against them while they were busying invading and conquering the rest
Stalin wished to have complete and total control of his nation to include his military. Stalin decided to purge his Officer Corps after observing weaknesses in his Army and in doing so eliminated anyone who was forward thinking and went against his military vision.8 This purge forced a complete reorganization of the Soviet Red Army, which lacked experience and training under their new origination.9 In 1940, the Red Army attempted to correct any weakness created by the purge and reform the dissolved armored formations.10 The Red Army was in every sense a new and untried force expected to defend against any threat that most likely had more combat experience than they did. Sensing trouble on his western border, Stalin sent the best of his Army to defend against possible invasion.11 Stalin assumed that if Germany was to invade, they would enter through the south and positioned sixty divisions in Ukraine, forty held the center of the frontier and thirty held the Baltic States.12 Even with his forces dispersed and ready to defend the motherland, Stalin failed to reequip his forces in a timely
After years of preparations to include the signing of Pacts, Germany began its invasion of the Soviet Union with Operation Barbarossa breaking the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact on June 22, 1941. Germany succeeded in taking the Soviet troops by surprise using its highly mobile ground forces and its highly experienced Luftwaffe to strike deep into the Soviet Union. Germany quickly gained air superiority by destroying nearly 1200 combat aircraft in the first eight and half hours of the operation.14 Germany had an invading Army experienced in joint combat operations, air superiority and surprise, which was no match for the in experienced Red Army that was still recovering from a purge and reorganization of its forces. This led to the early success of Operation Barbarossa for Germany even with known logistical issues and with an open Western
Russia entered the war when Nazi Germany executed Operation Barbarossa. They missed their start date by 3 months and that would lead to one of the many problems Nazi Germany faced during the war on the Eastern front. Russia delivered Germany their biggest defeats including The Battle of Stalingrad and the battle of Kursk. Without these two battles Germany would not have had the significant personnel and supplies lost they faced for the final 3 years of the war.
The Soviet Union’s massive success in this battle marked the war turning in favor of the Allies. The Battle of Stalingrad was fought from July 1942 to February 1943. On 19 November 1942, the Red Army launched a carefully planned counteroffensive led by General Georgy Zhukov. By the time of the counteroffensive, the Germans were outnumbered 1,011,000 to 1,103,000.
Germany was economically frail subsequent to World War I. The Treaty of Versailles had held them accountable for the cause, and the Great Depression further deteriorated their condition. Germany was ambitious for power and resources. Envisioning world domination, Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany, led his Nazi Party to invade Poland in 1939. France and Britain guaranteed to offer military support if Poland were to become attacked; they declared war, initiating World War II.
During World War II, Germany’s military was superior to anyone else in the world, with far more advanced technology, tactics, and weaponry. They had a fearless leader who would stop at nothing to make his country great again. Their closest rival, the Soviet Union, was almost out of the picture with a death toll of over 26 million. On top of that, Germany had nothing to lose, and would not conceivably stop. So how then, with all odds against them, did the Allies win the war? A combination of factors affected Germany’s downfall, such as lack of morale, unwieldy weapons, and failure to work with its so-called allies.
... the regime began to make concrete plans to overthrow it. Stalingrad was the beginning of the end for the Third Reich.
World War II was seen around the globe as a war to end all wars. Combat like this had never been experienced before and it was the largest scale battle in recent history. The death tolls for all sides skyrocketed to heights that had never been reached in any battle ever before. There was one man at the center of it all, one man who came to personify the root of living, breathing evil. That man was Adolf Hitler and to the rest of the world, he was a superhuman military machine who had no other goal but to achieve world domination through destruction. But the roots of the Battle of Stalingrad all began in 1941 when Hitler launched operation Barbarossa. Hitler’s powerful army marched across the east, seemingly unstoppable to any force. Stalin’s Red Army was caught completely off guard and their lines were completely broken apart. A majority of the country’s air force was destroyed when airfields were raided and many of the planes never even got the chance to leave the ground. Hitler’s army finally came to Leningrad where the city was besieged. The city held for 900 days and never gave way to the relentless Germans. At the cost of 1.5 million civilians and soldiers, the Red Army stopped Hitler from advancing further and postponed his plan to sweep over the south. Another cause for the retreat of Hitler was the brutal Russian winter, which Hitler and his army were completely unprepared for and the icy cold deaths would continue to haunt the Germans.
In the spring of 1940 Europe was enveloped in war. The German military machine had already conquered Poland, Denmark, and Norway. However, not content with northern and eastern expansion, Adolf Hitler wanted to control the western countries in Europe. Hitler had long been obsessed with attacking and controlling France. After their defeat in World War I, the German people, government, and military were humiliated by the enormous post war sanctions leveraged against them from the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler wanted to defeat and humiliate the French people in the same way that his country had to experience. For him, revenge was necessary. The German plan was to swing into France using a new tactic know as Blitzkrieg or “Lightning War”. Blitzkrieg used speed and surprise along with highly concentrated tank corps, supported by mechanized infantry and airplanes.
The effects of the purges on the political structure and community of the USSR can be described (as Peter Kenez asserts) as an overall change from a party led dictatorship to the dictatorship of a single individual; Stalin. Overall power was centred in Stalin, under whom an increasingly bureaucratic hierarchy of party officials worked. During the purges Stalin's personal power can be seen to increase at the cost of the party's. It could be argued that this increasing power for the single leader drawn from his party was due to the need for fast, decisive and unquestioned leadership of the type needed in battle. After all Russia was portrayed by the Soviet propaganda machine as being at war with its own industrial backwardness as workers were urged to industrial `fronts'. If the period of the 1930s is considered, it was a time of crisis. The building tension due to the rise of Nazi Germany making European foreign politics a risky place to navigate, the economic onslaught at home in Russia and the economic depression in the rest of the world making the times harsh. This change then could be argued as being beneficial to the USSR as only a single individual can provide the strong leadership needed, amongst a large group of individuals disputes would hinder the decision making process. However, the idea of the...
People say that the Stalin’s Great Purges could otherwise be translated as Stalin’s Terror. They grew from his paranoia and his desire to be absolute autocrat, and were enforced the NKVD and public show trials. When someone went against him, he didn’t really take any time in doing something about it. He would “get rid of” the people that went against industrialization and the kulaks. Kulaks were farmers in the later Russian Empire. (“Of Russian Origin: Stalin’s Purges). There were many reasons as to what caused the Great Purges but the main one seems to be Stalin. He believed that the country had to be united under the circumstances that he becomes the leader if it was to be strong. The Soviet Union was industry was weal and in the decline, obviously lacking the capacity to produce enough meal and heavy machinery for the imminent war.
During the early stages of the war, most of Germany’s victories were because of the success of blitzkrieg, or lightening war. Blitzkrieg tactics emphasised mobility and the concentrated use of armour and air power to overwhelm an enemy. Blitzkrieg was especially successful in flat, open countryside and was supremely suited for the Polish campaign in 1939. It was with blitzkrieg, as well as Germany’s superior tactics, effective use of armour, airpower and modern equipment, plus with the support of the USSR that the Germans used to overwhelm Poland in only 5 weeks. Two days after the German troops entered Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Hitler did not want this because it was a distraction from his main aim, to attack the USSR.
Stalin’s hunger for power and paranoia impacted the Soviet society severely, having devastating effects on the Communist Party, leaving it weak and shattering the framework of the party, the people of Russia, by stunting the growth of technology and progress through the purges of many educated civilians, as well as affecting The Red Army, a powerful military depleted of it’s force. The impact of the purges, ‘show trials’ and the Terror on Soviet society were rigorously negative. By purging all his challengers and opponents, Stalin created a blanket of fear over the whole society, and therefore, was able to stay in power, creating an empire that he could find more dependable.
The Red Army was a massive and strong army, but they had no intellect or skills. Stalin of course had many who had animosity towards him, and the generals of the Red Army sure did. They betrayed him during World War II, and he had them all imprisoned. He wanted them to be tortured and feel pain because of their
The war started in September 1, 1939 when Germany invaded the territory of Poland, which was allied with Great Britain and France. German officials signed a peace treaty in August 24-25 with the Soviet Union to prevent them from acting in the invasion and to stay in peace between both countries. So Great Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declared war on Germany the day of September 3, 1939. After this event, Canada also declared war on Germany at September 10, 1939. Germany rapidly crushed Poland, since it had an incredible army with 100 infantry divisions and six armored divisions. Due to the peace treaty between Germans and Soviets, in September 17th the Soviet also invaded and took eastern Poland. Later in the year, on November 30th, the USSR invaded Finland while Great Britain and France where occupied with Germany. At this time, Japan was in the Far East, and had Asia in turmoil. Imperial Japan invaded china and various other territories ...
Causes and Consequences of Operation Barbarossa On June 22nd 1941, German forces crossed the Russian frontier and began to fight their way into Soviet territory. Operation Barbarossa Hitler's codename for the attack on Russia, had begun. In this essay I am going to describe the causes, events and consequences of Operation Barbarossa. What happened when the 'unbeatable' Hitler and Germany met?
On the 22nd June 1941, German forces invaded the Soviet Union under Directive 21. Under the codename “Operation Barbarossa”, it was recorded as the largest military operation ever seen in history as it involved more than 3 million Axis soldiers and 3,500 armoured vehicles. Throughout the war Operation Barbarossa was a conflict that demoralised the Germans and significantly contributed to the Allied victory. Catalysts for the Event: The invasion of Russia came as no surprise to the Soviets as Hitler made it evident on multiple occasions that he would invade the country.