operation barbarossa
On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany and its Axis allies began a massive invasion of the Soviet Union named Operation Barbarossa -- some 4.5 million troops launched a surprise attack deployed from German-controlled Poland, Finland, and Romania. Hitler had long had his eye on Soviet resources. Although Germany had signed a non-aggression pact with the USSR in 1939, both sides remained suspicious of one another, and the agreement merely gave them more time to prepare for a probable war. Even so, the Soviets were unprepared for the sudden blitzkreig attacks across a border that spanned nearly 2,900 km (1,800 mi), and they suffered horrible losses. Within a single week, German forces advanced 200 miles into Soviet territory, destroyed nearly 4,000 aircraft, and killed, captured, or wounded some 600,000 Red Army troops. By December of 1941, German troops were within sight of Moscow, and they laid siege to the city. But, when the notorious Russian winter (nicknamed "General Winter") set in, German advances came to a halt. By the end of this, one of the largest, deadliest military operations in history, Germany had suffered some 775,000 casualties. More than 800,000 Soviets had been killed, and an additional 6 million Soviet soldiers had been wounded or captured. Despite massive advances, Hitler's plan to conquer the Soviet Union before winter had failed, at great cost, and that failure would prove to be a turning point in the war. >>>>> GISEL EDIT
These pictures below will show the destruction caused by Operation Barbarossa. Many soldiers were shot down while vigilantly fighting for their country.
The chaos of the mission is evident through these photos. Many soldiers were killed on the battlefield. The top left picture shows the remains left by the end of Operation Barbarossa. The top right picture shows soldiers posing on their tank, representing their country proudly. The bottom left picture shows a man that got killed inside his tank. His surroundings are bare, with no survivors. The bottom right picture shows tanks going to war.
On Day 17 of the attack, 300,000 Russians had been captured, 2,500 tanks, 1,400 artillery guns and 250 aircrafts had been captured or destroyed. This was only in the territory attacked by Army Group Centre. From any military observer the Russian Army was on the verge of a total collapse and Moscow seemed to be destined to fail.
The German advance had been so fast that it had compromised the entire army’s supply and communication lines. The Army Group Centre paused on the Desna, but it was thought that it was only catching its breath before moving on. However it seemed now that the German army was compromised by its own leader, Hitler.
Hitler had ordered that the Army Group Centre’s Panzer Group, led by Guderian, should move south-east on to Kiev. 1 Panzer Group was given the orders to head north. This took away from the Centre group two’s most potent fighting forces. Guderian was angered by this order but Hitler proved himself in war. He knew better than to question his Führer.
The mechanized sweeps north and south had the same massive success as the initial assault on June 22nd. Hordes of Russians prisoners were captures and a vast quantity of Russian equipment was destroyed. However, the orders of Hitler had one direct effect- loss of time. The delay was huge that the impact of the winter occurred before the Germans could reach the objectives set by Hitler. Few in the German Army were trained to cope with the cold and the army, used to advancing they found themselves much affected by the freezing temperatures. A war of movement as seen s much in June/July 1941 became an attack blighted by freezing weather that could hinder any army let alone one so ill-prepared for such weather conditions.
The German advance had been so fast that it had compromised the entire army’s supply and communication lines. The Army Group Centre paused on the Desna, but it was thought that it was only catching its breath before moving on. However it seemed now that the German army was compromised by its own leader, Hitler.
Hitler had ordered that the Army Group Centre’s Panzer Group, led by Guderian, should move south-east on to Kiev. 1 Panzer Group was given the orders to head north. This took away from the Centre group two’s most potent fighting forces. Guderian was angered by this order but Hitler proved himself in war. He knew better than to question his Führer.
The mechanized sweeps north and south had the same massive success as the initial assault on June 22nd. Hordes of Russians prisoners were captures and a vast quantity of Russian equipment was destroyed. However, the orders of Hitler had one direct effect- loss of time. The delay was huge that the impact of the winter occurred before the Germans could reach the objectives set by Hitler. Few in the German Army were trained to cope with the cold and the army, used to advancing they found themselves much affected by the freezing temperatures. A war of movement as seen s much in June/July 1941 became an attack blighted by freezing weather that could hinder any army let alone one so ill-prepared for such weather conditions.