The Invasion of Russia-Operation Barbarossa

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The Invasion of Russia-Operation Barbarossa
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Goals

• Destroy communism
• Use Russians as slave labour
• Use Russia itself for lebensraum

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Strategies

• Hitler believed he could defeat Russia in 6
  months (blitzkrieg)
• Russian army still reeling from Stalins purges

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The Attack

• Began in late June, 1941-Three German armies
  drove the Russians back
• Many Russians greeted the Germans as liberators,
  but German treatment of the Slavs turned them
  against the Germans

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• Russians adopted a scorched earth policy-retreat
  and destroy everything
• by Dec., 1941, the Germans had reached the Sea of
  Azov in the south, Moscow in the center, and
  Leningrad in the north.

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Hitlers Errors

• underestimated Russian forces-thought they had
  140 divisions, but they actually had 320
• Too overconfident that the German troops would
  win before winter, but when winter came early,
  his army was completely unprepared
• unable to control Russian industry

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Russian Winter
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Stalingrad (Turning Point in the Russian campaign)

• Hitler felt that the main German objective should
  be the oil fields in the Caucuses AND
  Stalingrad-split his forces in half.
• The siege of Stalingrad lasted almost 18 months
• Sept., 1942-Germans under von Paulus in
  Stalingrads suburbs, but they were encircled by
  General Zhukov (pincer movement). Von Paulus
  troops(250,000) trapped-by the time he was
  allowed to surrender in Jan., 1943, there were
  only 91,000 left

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Tide Turned

• After the Battle of Stalingrad, the Germans were
  on the defensive
• At the tank battle of Kursk (July 1943), the
  Germans were beaten and her remaining armies
  continued to retreat
• By Jan., 1944, the only Germans left in Russia
  were prisoners