Operation Barbarossa LTC Oakland McCulloch. Outline Non-Aggression Pact and Polish Deal Operational Goal of the German Invasion Plans and Preparation.

Operation BarbarossaOperation Barbarossa

LTC Oakland McCullochLTC Oakland McCulloch

OutlineOutline

• Non-Aggression Pact and Polish Deal

• Operational Goal of the German Invasion

• Plans and Preparation for the Battle– Germany– Soviet Union

• The Battle– Phase I: 22 June – 03 July 1941– Phase II: 03 July – 02 October 1941– Phase III: 02 October 1941 – 07 January 1942

• Reasons for Failure

German-Soviet Treaty of Non-Aggression• Signed 23 August 1939• Set the stage for the first two years of World War II• Why would the two cooperate?

• Both had fundamental objections to the Versailles Treaty • Both wanted territory in Eastern Europe• Neither side really trusted the other

Polish Deal• Germans and Soviets decided how to divide up Poland

• Germans occupied a little less than half of Poland, the Soviets occupied the rest plus the Baltic States

• Both were very brutal in their methods

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Operational Goal of German Invasion• The rapid conquest of the European part of the Soviet Union• Hitler’s justification of the invasion

• Pre-emptive (somewhat)• Lebensraum – Living Space

• land• raw materials

• Slave Labor • Reliable source of agriculture (Ukraine)• Isolate the United Kingdom• Oil from the Baku Oilfields

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German Plan (Hitler’s Plan)• A coordinated attack along the entire Soviet front

• a northern assault towards Leningrad• a symbolic capturing of Moscow• an economic strategy of seizing oil fields in the south

• German Generals disagreed• wanted Moscow as the main objective• Moscow was communication hub and correct center

• No agreement was reached on main objective* At the strategic level – destroy the Soviet army before it could retreat east* At the tactic level – battle of encirclement just as in the West

Operation BarbarossaOperation BarbarossaPlan for the Battle

German Forces • 153 Divisions, 3.6 million soldiers, 3,600 tanks, 2,700 aircraft• Army Group North (von Leeb)

• 26 Divisions (1 Panzer Army) & Luftflotte I• Army Group Centre (von Bock)

• 51 Divisions (2 Panzer Armies) & Luftflotte II • Army Group South (von Rundstedt)

• 40 German Divisions (1 Panzer Army) & Luftflotte IV• 14 Rumanian Divisions & Hungarian Army Corps

• 22 Divisions in reserve (including 2 Armored Divisions)

Operation BarbarossaOperation BarbarossaPlan for the Battle

Soviet Plan (Stalin’s Plan)• Defend the entire Soviet front

• do not give up an inch of Soviet soil• no retreat and no surrender

• Soviet Generals disagreed but could not voice objections• Stalin had already purged Soviet Generals in 1939• wanted more flexibility

• 41% of Soviet bases were located within 200 km from the border

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Plan for the Battle

Soviet Forces • 140 Divisions plus 40 brigades, 2.9 million soldiers, 15,000 tanks, 8,000 aircraft• Baltic Special Military District (Kuzmetrov)

• 26 Divisions including 6 Armored• Western Special Military District (Pavlov)

• 36 Divisions including 10 Armored • Kiev Special Military District (Kirponos)

• 58 Divisions including 16 Armored• Odessa Special Military District (Tyulenev)

• 14 Divisions including 2 Armored

Operation BarbarossaOperation BarbarossaPlan for the Battle

The BattlePhase I: 22 June – 03 July 1941

• Operation Barbarossa began at 0315 on 22 June 1941 • 129th Anniversary of Napoleon’s crossing of the Neman River

• Axis forces attacked along the entire 1,800 mile front

• Achieved complete tactical surprise

• Soviet forces quickly encircled• Minsk and Smolensk pockets• Soviet forces overwhelmed

• Results of Phase I

The BattlePhase II: 03 July 1941 – 02 October 1941

• Infantry had caught up with Panzer Divisions

• Smolensk encirclement – 180,000 Soviet forces captured

• Several Soviet counterattacks – all defeated

• Germans begin to realize they had grossly underestimated the strength of the Soviets

• Leningrad encircled• Hitler orders destruction without prisoners

• Kiev encirclement – 300,000 Soviet forces captured

• Results of Phase II

The BattlePhase III: 02 October 1941 – 07 January 1942

The Drive on Moscow • German Army exhausted & equipment in bad shape

• Soviets have 800,000 soldiers to defend Moscow

• Encirclement at Bryansk nets 600,000 Soviet forces• 90,000 men & 150 tanks remain for defense of Moscow

• Poor weather slows German advance (rain)

• 02 December within 15 miles of Moscow• first blizzards begin

• 05 December Soviet reinforcements from Siberia arrive• 500,000 men launch a massive counterattack

• German advance halted – Hitler orders no retreat

•Results of Phase III

The BattlePhase III: 02 October 1941 – 07 January 1942

The Drive on Moscow

Reasons for Failure

• Hitler’s over confidence

• Late start to the operation

• Poor strategic planning

• Underestimation of size of Soviet Army

• Huge distances (poor road & rail network)

• Fateful decision to postpone attack on Moscow

• Winter!!!

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Resources

• Hitler’s Panzers East: World War II Reinterpreted, R.H. Stolfi• Hitler Moves East, 1941-1943, Paul Carell• Scorched Earth: The Russian-German War 1943-1944, Paul Carell• Operation Barbarossa: Strategy and Tactics on the Eastern Front, 1941, Bryan I. Fugate• The Russo-German War 1941-45, Albert Seaton• Deadlock Before Moscow: Army Group Center 1942/1943, Franz Kurowski

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Questions ?Questions ?

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