2. Operation Barbarossa, the Battle of Stalingrad and the significance of the Russian campaign Flashcards
Operation Barbarossa:
what played vital role in defeat of Nazi Germany?
Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa:
Hitler’s motive of invasion was?
was ideological (lebensraum),
racial (Slavs of Russia inferior -> slave force for Germans and Jews in Russia),
strategic (defeat Russia = isolate Britain)
economic (provide land, grain, oil and other resources needed by Reich)
Operation Barbarossa:
when did Wehrmacht begin Operation on Soviet Union?
22 June, 1941 with the largest invasion force that had been seen to that time
Operation Barbarossa:
statistics of what invaded the poorly prepared Soviet frontier defences?
3 million troops with panzers, field guns and aircraft
Blitzkrieg tactics
Operation Barbarossa:
In first three weeks of campaign, the losses of the Red army were paramount, with ?
2 million dead
Operation Barbarossa:
However, these factors denied Hitler his much needed quick victory:
- size of Soviet Union (“The vastness of Russia devours us” – General Rundstedt),
- determination and resilience of Soviet resistance (industry met demands of war and produced high quality and quantity tanks to match panzers),
- ruthless nature of Stalinist regime (threat, propaganda, execution etc),
- Hitler’s interference towards generals
Operation Barbarossa:
what did Germany suffer?
harsh Russian winter and war of attrition they could not win – brought same result as WW1- economic decline and collapse of Germany
Operation Barbarossa:
what was Leningrad facing?
under constant siege by Wehrmacht from Sept 1941 to Jan 1944
Operation Barbarossa:
October, Hitler launched?
Operation Typhoon, attack on Moscow
Operation Barbarossa:
effect of Russian Winter?
German soldiers who were neither equipped nor trained for such freezing conditions. When close to Moscow, soldiers weak due to short of food, medicine and ammunition
Operation Barbarossa:
General Zhukov in charge of defence of Moscow showed?
organisational skills plus weaponry (e.g. tanks) appropriate to Russian winter turned tide against the Wehrmacht,
allowing for Soviet counter attack in December, pushing Germans back up to 300km in places
Operation Barbarossa:
outcome?
Moscow saved, Blitzkrieg failed and Hitler faced drawn-out campaign against revived Red Army
Operation Barbarossa:
what does David Christian see failure of Barbarossa as
crucial moment in war
Operation Barbarossa:
Christian quote?
“…A longer, more savage war enabled Russia to exploit to the full its huge reserves of raw materials and labour. In this sense, the Battle of Moscow was a turning point”
Operation Barbarossa:
Bullock?
“…the great gamble had failed and 1941 would end without the long-heralded victory in the east”
The Battle of Stalingrad:
what focus after failure of Barbarossa?
focus on Stalingrad, named after Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, for psychological victory. Not strategically important
The Battle of Stalingrad:
what did Hitler launch in April?
a two pronged attack, Operation Blue
The Battle of Stalingrad:
what did General Paulus launch in August?
massive two day aerial bombardment which destroyed more than three-quarters of the city, with Germans occupying 90% of city at one stage
The Battle of Stalingrad:
fighting done in?
close proximity, often ending in hand to hand combat
The Battle of Stalingrad:
key figures in fighting?
Lone snipers
The Battle of Stalingrad:
what did General Zhukov do at Stalingrad?
trapped German forces inside the city (Operation Uranus)
The Battle of Stalingrad:
what happened for five months?
German and Soviet forces fought for control of Stalingrad, and in November, the 300 000 German troops left inside city were cut off and forced to surrender, despite refusal by Hitler
The Battle of Stalingrad:
Martin McCauley?
“…Germany’s greatest defeat was a turning point. From now on it was not a matter of how the war would end, but when”
Significance of Russian Campaign:
what were major turning points in conflict in Europe?
Surrender at Stalingrad and the subsequent defeat in Battle of Kursk in July 1943
Significance of Russian Campaign:
effect of loss of major tank battle?
German forces would never launch great offensives on the eastern front again
Significance of Russian Campaign:
what was the biggest german defeat?
Russian campaign
major turning point in war
Significance of Russian Campaign:
what did German defeat boost?
Soviet and Allied moral
Significance of Russian Campaign:
Hitler was deprived of?
raw materials and lost millions of men he could ill-afford to lose
Significance of Russian Campaign:
what was the Germany army now on?
the defensive while the Red Army began the long advance that eventually took its troops to Berlin
Significance of Russian Campaign:
what does AJP Taylor state?
“Attrition not strategic penetration, was the Russian method, and it was succeeding” – the German army was being worn down
Significance of Russian Campaign:
What does Overy state about Soviet success at Kursk?
“was the most important single victory of the war…it was the point at which the initiative passed to the Soviet side”
