Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa | |||
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Part of World War II | |||
Date | 1941-1942 | ||
Place | The Soviet Union | ||
Result | Axis Victory
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Belligerents | |||
Leaders | |||
Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the planned invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and its Axis allies during the Second World War, beginning on 22th June 1941, It was the largest land offensive in human history, involving around 10 million combatants and resulting in over 8 million casualties by the end of the operation.
The Red Army and Airforce, along the frontline was taken by surprise, with many Red Army units encircled and destroyed within weeks, and many Red Airforce planes destroyed on the ground by the Luftwaffe. Despite Red Army counterattacks, the Wehrmacht would reach the gates of Moscow by Christmas Day 1941. Moscow would fall soon after, and the Soviet Union as a whole, became a hollow shell of itself.
The success of Operation Barbarossa gave Nazi Germany near-total dominance over the whole of Eastern Europe, allowing the Nazi war-machine to invade the British Isles in Operation Sealion, and establish the German hegemony across the European Continent.
Background[edit | edit source]
Germany Preparations[edit | edit source]
Since Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1933, German-Soviet relations became strained due to the Nazi ideology of racial superiority and anti-communism. Following the invasion of Poland and the lack of reaction from Bukharin's USSR, the German Reich saw this as further proof of the Soviet Union’s decline. Although Hitler was warned by high-ranking military officers, such as Friedrich Paulus, that an invasion and occupation of Russia could lead to an enormous drain on resources, Hitler countered with the argument that striking first was the best chance to defeat the "Red Menace," given that the Soviet Union was suffering from frequent strikes, famines, internal corruption, and a lack of modern equipment in the Red Army, As he described later:
"We only have to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down".
By June 1941, the Axis Powers held over 3,500,000 soldiers along the border.
Soviet Situation[edit | edit source]
Since his creation, the Soviet Union struggled to properly modernize. Despite Bukharin’s plans during the 1920s and early 1930s, these efforts only resulted in disastrous famines across Ukrainian and Belarusian territories, which led to protests. The Red Army, on the other hand, lacked nearly every aspect of modern weaponry. Despite the conquest of the Baltic, The Army deficiency was evident during the Winter War, where Finland not only managed to stop Soviet forces but even pushed them back, Forcing an White Peace, leading to further protests within both military and political circles. To make matters worse, the surprising German attacks on Poland and the fall of France sparked panic, as there was no guarantee that the USSR would not be next[1] . Despite being aware of these vulnerabilities, Bukharin could do almost nothing to reverse the worsening situation in time. The Soviet Army, which had only fought against untrained peasants, held positions along the border with the Axis Powers, During the operation, The Red Army was able to mobilize over 10,000,000 troops.
Invasion[edit | edit source]
At around 03:00 on 22 June 1941, the Axis Powers commenced their invasion of the Soviet Union with the bombing of major cities in Soviet-occupied Lithuania and Belarus SSR, followed by an artillery barrage. Simultaneously, Wehrmacht troops crossed the border, joined in some areas by partisans. During the first hours, the Soviet command was in total chaos, as the Axis Powers’ ground and air attacks completely paralyzed the Red Army.
At the same time, the Finnish forces attacked the Soviets, successfully seizing large areas of Karelia. Leningrad, the cradle of the revolution, began to suffer continuous air raids and artillery attacks from Finnish forces on the Karelian Isthmus.[2]
By September, Germany had captured Minsk and laid siege to Leningrad. Their most decisive victory, however, came at Kiev, where they encircled and captured a large portion of Soviet forces on the southern front. After this disastrous defeat, the Red Army lost its numerical advantage over the Germans, which had been its primary strength, In the wake of this and Bukharin’s failure to halt the German advance, a significant number of soldiers, including generals, began defecting to the East, the Middle East, and even to Germany. With little resistance remaining in the South and Zhukov’s forces struggling to hold the North, the Germans set their sights on Moscow, which fell with minimal resistance in the final days of 1941.
Realizing he had lost the war, Bukharin was overthrown in a coup by Iósif Stalin. Despite the animosity and betrayal among his old comrades, Bukharin managed to flee to Siberia, where he disappeared.
Stalin attempted to maintain unity among the remaining Soviet Republics, but it was too late. One by one, warlords claimed new territories as the Japanese occupied Vladivostok, dismantling any remaining cohesion and marking the end of the Soviet Union. Between January and February of 1942, the first discussions about a ‘peace’ began between some Soviet generals and the Axis Powers.