In the first months of the campaign, the German armies advanced deep into Soviet territory. In a single week, German forces advanced 200 miles deep into Soviet territory, and by December, Moscow was within their grasp. However, when the notorious Russian winter set in, the German advance came to a halt. German planners expected a Soviet collapse before winter, and thus they failed to provide adequate supplies to the army by the end of the year. Furthermore, the German troops advanced too rapidly and outran their supply lines, leaving their flanks vulnerable to Soviet counterattack. Unknown to the Germans at the time, this would spell out catastrophic failure for their entire operation.
The Soviets began to launch counterattack after counterattack, driving the Germans westward and crushing their dreams of a German-controlled Russia. Even though the Red Army experienced greater losses than the Germans, the inability of the Germans to crush and defeat the Soviets marked the end of Germany's unmatched military dominance in Europe. The German forces were eventually forced out of Russia altogether, and the Red Army proceeded to advance into Germany territory in its march towards Berlin.
Sources:
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa
https://www.britannica.com/event/Operation-Barbarossa
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005164
Cody, I liked your analysis of how Operation Barbarossa affected the results of World War II. I thought it was interesting how this operation may have been the cause of Hitler's defeat. This led to a war on two fronts as well as a powerful new enemy which could have been avoided. This brings up the question of how the result could have changed had Hitler adhered to the non-aggression pact. Would he have been able to defeat the Allies? In addition, why didn't Hitler choose to defeat Britain first before pursuing an attack on Russia? Was he simply too caught up in his domination of Europe or was there a different reason?
ReplyDeleteCody, this is a very interesting post. I like how you pointed out how fatal a move, Operation Barbarossa was for Hitler and how it eventually led to his defeat. However, I am confused as to why Hitler would even attack Russia in the first place. I understand that he wanted the land and power that would come with it but at this stage in the war Germany did not have the industrial strength or military power to hold all of Russia and Europe. I think that if Hitler were to attack Russia at all it would have been wiser to do so after the Western European front had been conquered. Thanks for such an interesting post!
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