The Failure of Operation Barbarossa

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On 22 June 1941, Hitler broke the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Act with the Stalin when he put Operation Barbarossa into action. The assault was met with failure in 1941 when German’s army was exhausted in term of equipments and troops. Although Hitler’s miscalculation and confidence play an important role in its failure, the tough terrains, advanced equipment and Soviet’s strong will to fight also played a role in German’s defeat in Operation Barbarossa.
When Hitler failed to occupy the British Isles in November of 1940, he became impatient and started to make plan for an invasion of the Soviet. He believed that Soviet’s defeat will allow Japan to focus its force against America, diverting Washington’s attentions to Pacific. Without America, Great Britain would lose its supporter and the war would come to a close. However, by raging war with the Soviet, Hitler introduced a new eastern front that divided the military resources as well as troop divisions. Despite Bismarck’s warnings, Hitler felt confident that the Soviet Union would quickly collapse. In May 1941, Hitler had a chance to eliminate Britain from the war in the Mediterranean; however, he didn’t make use of the opportunity because he already set his heart on Operation Barbarossa. This failure to act ensured a two fronts war for Germany. Another mistake that Hitler made was pushing back Operation for several weeks to June 22, 1941 due to the conquest of Yugoslavia and Greece. Although he could have push Operation Barbarossa back to the next year, he let his ambition for a Lebensraum in Russia, clouded his judgment. By starting late, Germany had less time to defeat the Soviet before the harsh winter came. The winter hits German troops especially hard when Hitler faile...

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... only were the new tanks (T-34 and KV-1) and artillery (Katyusha rockets) technically better, they were also equipped to fight in the snow. Soviet’s overwhelming manpower also helped them pushed back the assault. While Germany started the assault with about 137 divisions, the Soviet had 200 divisions, and the number continued to increase into 360. The Red Army is many in numbers, and strong in spirit. There were times when they would charge on weaponless to the point that German’s machine guns overheated from shooting so many of them. The Soviet also used propaganda to publicized German atrocities against the civil population. The people as a whole were outraged by the violation of the Motherland and would enlist in the army. When patriotism doesn’t work, Soviets used cruelty to forced loyalty from the troop. Their family would be executed if they surrender.

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