This figure charts how far the German Wehrmacht would have had to travel to reach Moscow. The Germans pushed through the town of Smolensk winning a victory and continue with their advance. Had Nazi Germany succeeded in Operations Barbarossa and Typhoon they would have moved over a million men a distance of 1830 km.
Hitler Heads East
It was in June of 1941 when the German Wehrmacht
(Armed Forces) launched Operation Barbarossa. It was a military campaign designed to defeat the Soviet Union. The German Wehrmacht used blitzkrieg tactics, which was essentially a heavily mobilized invasion mounted by the
Panzer Corps, Army, and the Luftwaffe (German Air Force). This was a surprise that caught General Secretary Joseph Stalin and the rest of Kremlin (General Assembly) off guard. Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union had signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in August 1939, which was a non-aggression treaty between the two states and among other secret protocols guaranteed to divide Poland amongst themselves and cede the region of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to the Soviet Union and Lithuania to Nazi Germany (Craig 23; Neimanis 53). In addition to these military and territorial agreements, there
was an economic factor where Nazi Germany would trade military supplies for raw the rich raw materials
the Soviet Union possessed in Siberia and Ukraine such as petroleum, lumber, and wheat.
The German Wehrmacht pressed deep into Soviet territory and was known to be very brutal with the
Slavic and Jewish people who they deemed subhuman (Roberts 84; Braithwaite 175). Einsatzkommandos,
or death squads coming behind the infantry and Panzers would find those men and women the Nazi
regime viewed racially and ideologically impure including but not limited to Jews, Communists, gypsies,
and homosexuals (Craig 11). The Soviet Union was forced to make a tactical withdrawal. Joseph Stalin
ordered that the Red Army initiate a scorched earth policy over all landthat the generals of the Wehrmacht
were projected to take. This meant that they would destroy anything that the enemy could use such as
petrol, houses, livestock, and crops.
One of the other major setbacks for the Soviet Union was when the German Luftwaffe destroyed over 1200
aircraft of the Red Air Force on the first day of the invasion (Breitwaite 68). This gave the Luftwaffe
considerable air superiority and their supply lines were protected from Soviet counterattacks. The
Wehrmact fielded a force of roughly 3.5 million men including the Romanian and Finnish divisions and
were later supported in their invasion by divisions from Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, Spain, and Croatia
(Craigx xiv; Roberts, 82). The Soviet Union suffered enormously high casualties in the several weeks leading
up to the invasion losing 750,000 men (Roberts 89).
For the Soviet Union, their withdrawal while seemingly beneficial to the Wehrmacht initially, was taking its
toll. The Russians were able to retreat with the majority of their troops and mechanized vehicles and the
sheer amount of land they were giving up made it so that the Germans were advancing so quickly that their
supply lines could not keep up with the forces on the frontline (Craig 18). This was a great logistical problem
and the roads to the capital in Moscow were not well maintained. Another problem during the initial advance
was that across the steppes of Russia dust was kicked up by the wind that cause the engines of the tanks and
transport vehicles to sputter along as they inhaled the dust (Braithwaite, 9). Despite these problems the
German soldiers’ morale was quite high.
Though the Soviet Union’s Red Army was in tactical withdrawal, it was still putting up fight. Joseph Stalin
was feverously working to mobilize all the men from the interior of Soviet Union tothe frontline. This
mobilization period would take several months to conscript the millions of fighting age men. It took roughly
three months more them to finally assemble a defensive force suitable of protecting the capital of the Kremlin,
Moscow.
(Armed Forces) launched Operation Barbarossa. It was a military campaign designed to defeat the Soviet Union. The German Wehrmacht used blitzkrieg tactics, which was essentially a heavily mobilized invasion mounted by the
Panzer Corps, Army, and the Luftwaffe (German Air Force). This was a surprise that caught General Secretary Joseph Stalin and the rest of Kremlin (General Assembly) off guard. Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union had signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in August 1939, which was a non-aggression treaty between the two states and among other secret protocols guaranteed to divide Poland amongst themselves and cede the region of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to the Soviet Union and Lithuania to Nazi Germany (Craig 23; Neimanis 53). In addition to these military and territorial agreements, there
was an economic factor where Nazi Germany would trade military supplies for raw the rich raw materials
the Soviet Union possessed in Siberia and Ukraine such as petroleum, lumber, and wheat.
The German Wehrmacht pressed deep into Soviet territory and was known to be very brutal with the
Slavic and Jewish people who they deemed subhuman (Roberts 84; Braithwaite 175). Einsatzkommandos,
or death squads coming behind the infantry and Panzers would find those men and women the Nazi
regime viewed racially and ideologically impure including but not limited to Jews, Communists, gypsies,
and homosexuals (Craig 11). The Soviet Union was forced to make a tactical withdrawal. Joseph Stalin
ordered that the Red Army initiate a scorched earth policy over all landthat the generals of the Wehrmacht
were projected to take. This meant that they would destroy anything that the enemy could use such as
petrol, houses, livestock, and crops.
One of the other major setbacks for the Soviet Union was when the German Luftwaffe destroyed over 1200
aircraft of the Red Air Force on the first day of the invasion (Breitwaite 68). This gave the Luftwaffe
considerable air superiority and their supply lines were protected from Soviet counterattacks. The
Wehrmact fielded a force of roughly 3.5 million men including the Romanian and Finnish divisions and
were later supported in their invasion by divisions from Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, Spain, and Croatia
(Craigx xiv; Roberts, 82). The Soviet Union suffered enormously high casualties in the several weeks leading
up to the invasion losing 750,000 men (Roberts 89).
For the Soviet Union, their withdrawal while seemingly beneficial to the Wehrmacht initially, was taking its
toll. The Russians were able to retreat with the majority of their troops and mechanized vehicles and the
sheer amount of land they were giving up made it so that the Germans were advancing so quickly that their
supply lines could not keep up with the forces on the frontline (Craig 18). This was a great logistical problem
and the roads to the capital in Moscow were not well maintained. Another problem during the initial advance
was that across the steppes of Russia dust was kicked up by the wind that cause the engines of the tanks and
transport vehicles to sputter along as they inhaled the dust (Braithwaite, 9). Despite these problems the
German soldiers’ morale was quite high.
Though the Soviet Union’s Red Army was in tactical withdrawal, it was still putting up fight. Joseph Stalin
was feverously working to mobilize all the men from the interior of Soviet Union tothe frontline. This
mobilization period would take several months to conscript the millions of fighting age men. It took roughly
three months more them to finally assemble a defensive force suitable of protecting the capital of the Kremlin,
Moscow.