Barbarossa Operation Case Study

1540 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Hitler's actions that led to ww2

On June 22, 1941, the world’s biggest military, which is Barbarossa Operation, was beginning. Barbarossa is the code name German used in World War II to invade the Soviet Union. Hitler who was the German Führer sent his army across the borders of the Soviet Union, starting nearly 4 years of the most violent and cruel conflict humanity has ever experienced. His army was divided in three groups which was the army group North, led by von Leeb, Von Bock commanded the Centre group army and Von Rundstedt led the south group army ( The Biggest Military Adventure in History, 2011).. They breached Russia on a front spreading from the Baltic Coast to the Black Sea. On The Führer’s instructions, one and a half million soldiers of the Wehrmacht destroyed …show more content…

The book talked about the fact that Germany need to invade the Soviet Union, asserting that the German people needed Lebensraum. When Hitler became Führer, every country began to fear Germany. Hitler did not take in consideration the condition of Versailles Treaties. He made decisions such as mandatory military service. Every country knew that German and Russians did not like each other, but they were surprised when the two countries signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. At the period of time, the pact was signed, the Wehrmacht was preparing for the war so the Western Country knew that the war was approaching. After the war began, Hitler desired to strike against Russia so he will become one of the greatest in the world. With his politics of Lebensraum, on June 22, 1941, he ordered the Wehrmacht to attack …show more content…

Before the operation, Stalin had made numerous decisions that damaged his country’s capacity to respond to the German attack. First, during 1930s Stalin purges. If you are found guilty or a threat, you are sent to labor in Siberia or were executed. With this politic, Stalin executed 81 of the 103 generals and admirals .At that moment of the war, Red Army leadership were less experienced than before. Second, Stalin did not consider his military leader recommendations which were to mobilize more forces to protect the boarder (BBC, 2013).On the other hand, the German Army was developed. They had one of the best Armies in the

Show More
Related

  • Operation Barbarossa Significance

    1605 Words  | 4 Pages

    His future plans for the nation were set by his strategic, racial, economic and ideological motives: • One of Hitler’s long-term aims was live-in-a-room. He planned on creating an empire of 250 million Aryans. For this to be successful, he would need more living space. A powerful nation such as Russia would not only provide land, but also grain, oil and other assets, which would support the German empire. Kenneth Macksey – British Historian: Macksey believes the invasion of Russia was destined to fail at the beginning due to the unpreparedness of the German forces and their overconfidence in a swift victory.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Dieppe Raid

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... control under allied empower, Hitler appeared to look nervous from the actions that had taken place. Hitler’s force couldn’t resist the cold of Russia of which they had pushed too far into for further enhancements. Hitler would soon learn an enduring lesson since the push he had made in Russia would eventually backfire on him. The deceptive strategy by the Soviets would work perfectly on the German force. For example, Stalin let Hitler’s force into Russia but for the better of the Allied union. He knew that Hitler’s army would suffer and die from the extensive cold and lack of nourishment in Russia. He would then play an offensive move by counter-attacking and pushing all the way back into Germany. The devious tactics played by the allied force surely was a significant lesson learned from the raid, which in the end made Hitler surrender to its “Fortress Europe.”

    Read More

  • The Battle Of The Bulge: The Ultimate Downfall Of Nazi Germany

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    The battle of the bulge was the final battle to defeat Nazi Germany in Europe. Russia did not have actual soldiers in the battle however, it was their strong efforts that drove Germany west enough for Great Britain and the United States to attack Germany on two sides.

    Read More

  • The Battle Of Stalingrad: The Turning Point Of World War II

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Great War, now known as World War II, devastated Europe, leaving political and economic instability in Germany to aid the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist (Nazi) Party. World War II began when Hitler invaded Poland on the 17 September 1939. The war lasted from 1939 to 1945 and directly involved over 100 million people. With an estimated death toll of 75 million, World War II is the deadliest conflict in history. Although there can be no definite turning point, many historians consider the Battle of Stalingrad to be the greatest and most significant battle in the war. The Soviet Union’s massive success in this battle marked the war turning in favor of the Allies.

    Read More

  • The origins of World War One

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    3.     Once the war began, Germany developed a clear set of aims, already discussed before the war, to gain large territorial gains in central and eastern Europe, very similar to Hitler’s later craving for Lebensraum (‘living space’) in eastern Europe

    Read More

  • Hitler's Invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941

    409 Words  | 1 Pages

    Hitler's Invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 I think that Hitler had always planned to attack Russia, even as he agreed to the signing of a non aggression pact with Russia, his plans to invade were beginning to come together as the pact split up Poland, enabling Germany to have a border with Russia. The pact was signed by Ribentrop from Germany and Molotov from Russia This was vital as German tactics relied on fast, effective and surprise attacks known as blitzkrieg; with Poland standing between Germany and Russia, in the time that it would take the German army to advance Poland and reached Russia, the Russian army would be aware and ready for battle; the element of surprise would be gone and Germany would be at a disadvantage. Also using blitzkrieg tactics would enable them to destroy the Russian air force while it was on the ground Hitler had stated in his book 'Mein Kampf' that he very much-disliked communism, he thought of the Russian people as inferior, this however would be one of the contributing reasons for the downfall of Germany, Hitler would underestimate the Russian people thinking they were inferior. He also stated that he would give the German people 'Lebensraum' (living space) and that living space would be in the east, this almost definitely meant Russia.

    Read More

  • Were Hitler's Actions The Main Cause Of World War Two

    966 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hitler made a number of Military actions that can be attributed to him being the major cause of World War Two. The two main actions are the rearmament of Germany and the assistance his country provided in the Spanish Civil War. Hitler secretly began the rearmament of the German armed forced in 1932, this was in direct violation of The Treaty of Versailles. “Navy: 30 warships (1932) - 95 (1939) Air Force: 36 Aircraft (1932) - 8,250 (1939) Soldiers: 100,000 men (1932) - 950,000 (1939)” These statistics show a dramatic increase in the military power that Germany had. The increase in strength gave Hitler more confidence and power over other countries most importantly Germany’s smaller neighbours. “Hitler felt confident enough to publicly announce that there would be compulsory military conscription in Nazi Germany and that the army would be increased to 550,000 men.” The reintroductio...

    Read More

  • Joseph Stalin: The Worst Totalitarian Leader Of The Soviet Union

    1673 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Soviet Union’s economy and essential needs would eventually start to fall apart and crumble one by one. "Food supplies fell. Factories faced closures as metal, oil and other raw materials failed to be delivered. Banks ceased to bail out industrial enterprises. The civilian administrative system, which was already creaking under wartime strains, started to collapse. Transport and communication became unreliable. Workers called for higher pay and secure employment. Soldiers in the garrisons supported a peace policy: they were horrified by the possibility of being transferred to the front line (UKEssays). All of the Soviet Union’s power sources has now been hindered. Many areas now seen this as a golden opportunity to bring down the Soviet Union. Stalin was very aware that his death was near because he killed many officials from rival areas. Stalin knew he wasn’t going out without fighting because he had much more pride than that so he ordered his men to fight. Stalin then met Hitler and they signed an agreement to not have any aggressive attacks. Little did Stalin know that Hitler was actually planning a huge attack against Stalin. “Over the next few days, the members would vote on Supreme Commander. It was not until the 10th of July, that Stalin was appointed the position. As the three million German forces crept closer to Moscow, panic began to pervade all of USSR because

    Read More

  • The Duel

    1039 Words  | 3 Pages

    The next day, Hitler said that the English response meant that the German attack would commenec on Britain in a few days. Looking back at how these events unfolded, everyone should be glad that Hitler made such a mistake. I, for one couldn't believe that Hitler made this mistake. Throughout reading this entire book Hitler usually makes swift, decisive actions that get results and that is why Lukacs stresses this string of events in the book. Overall, this book is wonderfully written on a very interesting topic.

    Read More

  • The History of Stalingrad

    4706 Words  | 10 Pages

    The battle fought between the Soviet Red Army and the Nazi Wehrmacht over the “city of Stalin” for four long months in the fall and winter of 1942-3 stands as not only the most important battle of the Eastern front during World War II, but as the greatest battle ever fought. Germany’s defeat at Stalingrad ended three years of almost uninterrupted victory and signaled the beginning of the end of the Third Reich. In this way, Stalingrad’s significance was projected beyond the two main combatants, extending to all corners of the world.

    Read More

  • The Battle of Stalingrad

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    The time would soon come for Hitler to seek out his revenge on the nation that delayed his imminent world domination. One year after the siege at Leningrad, Hitler’s once indestructible Axis power had begun to weaken. Hitler began to see his dream fading away. He realized that to maintain hope, he and his army must remain on the offensive, so he decided to go after his most glaring defeat, which was Russia.

    Read More

  • Adilf Hitler

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nazi belief, and murder of the Jews a key policy. 2 German laws made by Hitler soon required everyone who had one or more Jewish grandparent to register. Those with one grandparent may have escaped but if you had two grandparents you were sent to a concentration camp and classifed as a Jew. One night symbolizing the begining of mass persecution was Kristallnacht, November 10th, 1938, "the night of broken glass". Jewish stores and houses were attacked, synagogues burned, and many Jews were sent to concentration camps. During this time, there were a few countries that would accept Jews. Hitler launched World War 2 by marching into Poland in 1939. Most of Western Europe then fell into the Führer (Hitler), who had personal command of the troops. Germany invaded the soviet Union in 1941, but Hitler, Crazed with power, had lost his military judgement. His failure to Capture Stalingrad, 1942 - 1943, was the turning point; unable to cope with defeat, he refused to recognize it or negotiate for peace. As the tide of war turned against him, his mass annhiliation of Jews, socialists, gypsies, and others was excelerated. After the Second World War had began in 1939, the Nazi's dropped all restrictions they had previously made towards the systematic murder of all Jews. In countries such as Europe, steps were made for Jews to follow in order to be seperated from the rest of the population. First Jews were required to register, then they were known to the Gestapo. Some families sent their children to live with christian families and live under an assumed identity. Hitler sent The Jews of Poland to live in poverty stricken ghettos where they were exposed to disease and malnutrition. With the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the Nazi policy of murder began to operate with no restrictions. The armies in Russia were followed by an "extermination squad" who shot hundreds of thousands of people, the majority being Jewish. The Nazis had already setup thousands of concentration camps to imprison anyone who imposed them. These now began to operate as factories of death. Auschwitz was the biggest of these death camps, a city of barricks where hundreds of thousands of people starved to death amid indescribable brutality. At it's center stood gas chambers and creamatoria design to take train loads of human beings, gas them and burn them.

    Read More

  • The Axis Powers

    1372 Words  | 3 Pages

    Germany also signed another pact because Hitler believed that Germany had lost World War I due to the fact that Germany had to fight on two sides. The pact was a ten-year, non-aggression pact between the USSR and Germany. The pact was later abolished when the USSR began to help the Allied Powers fight Germany.

    Read More

  • Nazi Germany

    664 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1941, the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union, under the code name Operation Barbarossa. Almost four million soldiers invaded making it the largest invasion in the history of warfare. The invasion was authorized by Hitler on December 18th, 1940 and began on June 22, 1941. The German invasion caused a high rate of fatalities. 95% of all German Army casualties that occurred from 1941 to 1944, and 65% of all Allied military casualties from the entire war took place during this invasion. The German forces captured over three million Soviet prisoners of war, and intentionally forced the prisoners to starve to death in order to further reduce the Eastern European population. Most of ...

    Read More

  • Appeasement Essay

    966 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...t, Hitler believed that the British government would reconsider its policy of appeasement. He thus decided to invade Poland on September 1st 1939, on 3rd, British declared war against Hitler (Scaife 121). Hitler’s invasion of Poland was from the hope that the policy of appeasement would be used to solve the matter, but it failed.

    Read More

More about Barbarossa Operation Case Study

Open Document