Operation Barbarossa: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{Short description|1941–1942 invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and its allies}}

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| territory = Axis captured approximately {{cvt|600,000|sqmi|sqkm}} of Soviet territory but failed to reach the [[A-A line]]

| combatant1 = {{indented plainlist|

* {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} '''[[Nazi Germany|Germany]]'''{{efn|Germany's allies, in total, provided a significant number of troops and material to the front. There were also numerous units under German command recruited in [[German-occupied Europe]] and sympathetic [[puppet state|puppet]] or neutral states, including the Spanish [[Blue Division]], the [[Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism]], ~~and~~ the [[369th Croatian Reinforced Infantry Regiment (Wehrmacht)|369th Croatian Infantry Regiment]], the [[Croatian Air Force Legion]], and the [[Croatian Naval Legion]].}}

* {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Romania}}

* {{flag|Finland}}

* {{flagcountry|Fascist Italy (1922–1943)}}{{efn|The [[Light Transport Brigade (Independent State of Croatia)|Light Transport Brigade]] from Croatia was attached to the [[3rd Cavalry Division "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta"]]}}

* {{flagcountry|Fascist Italy (1922–1943)}}

* {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)}}

* {{flagcountry|Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|name=Slovakia}}

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The operation, [[code-name]]d after [[Frederick Barbarossa|Frederick I "Barbarossa"]] ("red beard"), a 12th-century [[Holy Roman Emperor]] and [[The Crusades|Crusader]], put into action Nazi Germany's ideological goals of eradicating [[communism]], and conquering the western Soviet Union to [[Repopulation|repopulate]] it with [[Germans]]. The German {{lang|de|[[Generalplan Ost]]}} aimed to use some of the conquered people as [[forced labour]] for the Axis war effort while acquiring the oil reserves of the [[Caucasus]] as well as the agricultural resources of various Soviet territories, including [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukraine]] and [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussia]]. Their ultimate goal was to create more {{lang|de|[[Lebensraum]]}} (living space) for Germany, and the eventual extermination of the native [[Slavs|Slavic peoples]] by mass deportation to [[Siberia]], [[Germanisation]], enslavement, and [[genocide]].{{sfn|Rich|1973|pp=204–221}}{{sfn|Snyder|2010|p=416}}

In the two years leading up to the invasion, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|signed political]] and [[Nazi–Soviet economic relations (1934–41)|economic pacts]] for strategic purposes. Following the [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina]], the [[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht|German High Command]] began planning an invasion of the Soviet Union in July 1940 (under the code-name [[Operation Otto]]). Over the course of the operation, over 3.8 million personnel of the Axis powers—the largest invasion force in the [[history of warfare]]—invaded the western Soviet Union, along a {{convert|2900|km|mi|sp=us|adj=on}} front, with 600,000 motor vehicles and over 600,000 horses for non-combat operations. The offensive marked a ~~massive~~major escalation of World War II, both geographically and with the [[Anglo-Soviet Agreement]], which brought the USSR into the [[Allies of World War II|Allied coalition]].

The operation opened up the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]], in which more forces were committed than in any other [[theatre of war]] in human history. The area saw some of history's largest battles, most horrific [[war crime|atrocities]], and highest [[World War II casualties|casualties]] (for Soviet and Axis forces alike), all of which influenced the course of World War II and the subsequent [[history of the 20th century]]. The German armies eventually captured ~~some~~ five million Soviet [[Red Army]] troops{{sfn|Chapoutot|2018|p=272}} and deliberately [[German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war|starved to death or otherwise killed]] 3.3 million Soviet prisoners of war, and millions of civilians, as the "[[Hunger Plan]]" worked to solve German food shortages and exterminate the Slavic population through starvation.{{sfn|Snyder|2010|pp=175–186}} [[Einsatzgruppen|Mass shootings]] and [[Gas chamber|gassing operations]], carried out by German death squads or willing collaborators,{{Efn|See for instance the involvement of Latvian and Ukrainian forces in killing Jews cited by historian Raul Hilberg.{{sfn|Hilberg|1992|pp=58–61, 199–202}}}} murdered over a million [[Soviet Jews]] as part of [[the Holocaust]].{{sfn|United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|1996|pp=50–51}}

The failure of Operation Barbarossa reversed the fortunes of Nazi Germany.{{sfn|Rees|2010}} Operationally, German forces achieved significant victories and occupied some of the most important economic areas of the Soviet Union (mainly in Ukraine) and inflicted, as well as sustained, heavy casualties. ~~Despite these early successes, the~~The German offensive came to an end during the [[Battle of Moscow]] near the end of 1941,{{sfn|Mawdsley|2015|p=54}}{{sfn|Anderson|Clark|Walsh|2018|pp=48–49, 51}} and the subsequent [[Battle of Moscow#Soviet counter-offensive|Soviet winter counteroffensive]] pushed the Germans about {{convert|250|km|abbr=on}} back. German high command anticipated a quick collapse of Soviet resistance as in the [[~~Invasion~~invasion of ~~Poland|~~Poland]], analogous to the reaction Russia had during World War I.,{{sfn|Clairmont|2003|pp=2818–2823}} ~~However, no such collapse occurred;~~but instead the Red Army absorbed the German ''[[Wehrmacht]]''{{'}}s strongest blows and bogged it down in a [[Attrition warfare|war of attrition]] for which the Germans were unprepared. Following the heavy losses and logistical strain of Barbarossa, the ''Wehrmacht''{{'}}s diminished forces could no longer attack along the entire Eastern Front, and subsequent operations to retake the initiative and drive deep into Soviet territory—such as [[Case Blue]] in 1942 and [[Operation Citadel]] in 1943—were weaker and eventually failed, which resulted in the ''Wehrmacht''{{'}}s defeat. These Soviet victories ended Germany's territorial expansion and presaged the eventual defeat and collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945.

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At around 01:00 on 22 June 1941, the Soviet military districts in the border area{{efn|name=western military districts Soviet Union}} were alerted by NKO Directive No. 1, issued late on the night of 21 June.{{sfn|Clark|2012|p=81}} It called on them to "bring all forces to combat readiness", but to "avoid provocative actions of any kind".{{sfn|Glantz|2011|p=287}} It took up to two hours for several of the units subordinate to the Fronts to receive the order of the directive,{{sfn|Glantz|2011|p=287}} and the majority did not receive it before the invasion commenced.{{sfn|Clark|2012|p=81}} A German communist deserter, [[Alfred Liskow]], had crossed the lines at 21:00 on 21 June{{efn|The [[NKGB]] learned about Liskow only at 03:00 on 22 June.{{sfn|Czak|2014|pp=1, 120}}}} and informed the Soviets that an attack was coming at 04:00. Stalin was informed, but apparently regarded it as disinformation. Liskow was still being interrogated when the attack began.{{sfn|Erickson|1972|pp=526–527}}

On 21 June, at 13:00 Army Group North received the codeword "Düsseldorf", indicating Barbarossa would commence the next morning, and passed down its own codeword, "Dortmund".{{sfn|Kirchubel|2013|p=136}} At around 03:15 on 22 June 1941, the Axis Powers commenced the invasion of the Soviet Union with the bombing of major cities in Soviet-occupied Poland{{sfn|Kirchubel|2007|pp=33–34}} and an artillery barrage on Red Army defences on the entire front.{{sfn|Clark|2012|p=81}} Air-raids were conducted as far as [[Kronstadt]] near Leningrad~~, [[Izmail|Ismail]] in Bessarabia,~~ and [[Sevastopol]] in the Crimea. At the same time the [[German declaration of war on the Soviet Union|German declaration of war]] was presented by Foreign Minister [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]]. Meanwhile, ground troops crossed the border, accompanied in some locales by Lithuanian and Ukrainian partisans.{{sfn|Seaton|1972|p=98}} Roughly three million soldiers of the ''Wehrmacht'' went into action and faced slightly fewer Soviet troops at the border.{{sfn|Kirchubel|2007|pp=33–34}} Accompanying the German forces during the initial invasion were Finnish and Romanian units as well.{{sfn|Pohl|2018|p=246}}

[[File:Первый день войны. Объявление о начале Великой Отечественной войны. Улица 25-го Октября.jpg|thumb|Moscovites gather by a loudspeaker to listen to Molotov's speech, 22 June 1941]]

At around noon, the news of the invasion was broadcast to the population by Soviet foreign minister [[Vyacheslav Molotov]]: "... Without a declaration of war, German forces fell on our country, attacked our frontiers in many places ... The Red Army and the whole nation will wage a victorious Patriotic War for our beloved country, for honour, for liberty ... Our cause is just. The enemy will be beaten. Victory will be ours!"{{sfn|Clark|2012|p=70}}{{sfn|Braithwaite|2010|p=74}} By calling upon the population's devotion to their nation rather than the Party, Molotov struck a patriotic chord that helped a stunned people absorb the shattering news.{{sfn|Clark|2012|p=70}} Within the first few days of the invasion, the Soviet High Command and Red Army were extensively reorganised so as to place them on the necessary war footing.{{sfn|Seaton|1972|p=99}} Stalin did not address the nation about the German invasion until 3 July, when he also called for a "Patriotic War... of the entire Soviet people".{{sfn|Clark|2012|p=92}}

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On 2 July and through the next six days, a rainstorm typical of Belarusian summers slowed the progress of the panzers of Army Group Centre, and Soviet defences stiffened.{{sfn|Glantz|2010a|p=63}} The delays gave the Soviets time to organise a massive counterattack against Army Group Centre. The army group's ultimate objective was Smolensk, which commanded the road to Moscow. Facing the Germans was an [[Stalin line|old Soviet defensive line]] held by six armies. On 6 July, the Soviets launched a massive counter-attack using the V and VII Mechanised Corps of the 20th Army,{{sfn|Glantz|House|2015|p=70}} which collided with the German 39th and 47th Panzer Corps in a battle where the Red Army lost 832 tanks of the 2,000 employed during five days of ferocious fighting.{{sfn|Bellamy|2007|p=240}} The Germans defeated this counterattack thanks largely to the coincidental presence of the ''Luftwaffe''{{'}}s only squadron of tank-busting aircraft.{{sfn|Bellamy|2007|p=240}} The 2nd Panzer Group crossed the Dnieper River and closed in on Smolensk from the south while the 3rd Panzer Group, after defeating the Soviet counterattack, closed on Smolensk from the north. Trapped between their pincers were three Soviet armies. The 29th Motorised Division captured Smolensk on 16 July yet a gap remained between Army Group Centre. On 18 July, the panzer groups came to within {{convert|10|km|mi|spell=in}} of closing the gap but the trap did not finally close until 5 August, when upwards of 300,000 Red Army soldiers had been captured and 3,205 Soviet tanks were destroyed. Large numbers of Red Army soldiers escaped to stand between the Germans and Moscow as resistance continued.{{sfn|Murray|Millett|2000|pp=123–124}}

[[File:Niemiecka piechota i wojska pancerne wśród pól rzepakowych na froncie wschodnim. (2-975).jpg|thumb|right|German mechanized forces pushing east through a rapeseed field, August 1941.]]

Four weeks into the campaign, the Germans realised they had grossly underestimated Soviet strength.{{sfn|Dear|Foot|1995|p=88}} The German troops had used their initial supplies, and General Bock quickly came to the conclusion that not only had the Red Army offered stiff opposition, but German difficulties were also due to the logistical problems with reinforcements and provisions.{{sfn|Keegan|1989|p=189}} Operations were now slowed down to allow for resupply; the delay was to be used to adapt strategy to the new situation.{{sfn|''Battle for Russia''|1996}} In addition to strained logistics, poor roads made it difficult for wheeled vehicles and foot infantry to keep up with the faster armoured spearheads, and shortages in boots and winter uniforms were becoming apparent. Furthermore, all three army groups had suffered 179,500 casualties by 2 August, and had only received 47,000 replacements.{{sfn|Glantz|House|2015|p=86}}

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Before the war, Hitler had issued the notorious Commissar Order, which called for all Soviet political commissars taken prisoner at the front to be [[Summary execution|shot immediately without trial]].{{sfn|Kershaw|2001|pp=357–359}} German soldiers participated in these mass killings along with members of the {{lang|de|SS-Einsatzgruppen}}, sometimes reluctantly, claiming "military necessity".{{sfn|Wette|2007|pp=198–199}}{{sfn|Förster|1998|pp=507–513}} On the eve of the invasion, German soldiers were informed that their battle "demands ruthless and vigorous measures against Bolshevik inciters, guerrillas, saboteurs, Jews and the complete elimination of all active and passive resistance". Collective punishment was authorised against partisan attacks; if a perpetrator could not be quickly identified, burning villages and mass executions were considered acceptable reprisals.{{sfn|Förster|1988|p=26}} Although the majority of German soldiers accepted these crimes as justified due to Nazi propaganda, which depicted the Red Army as {{lang|de|Untermenschen}}, a few prominent German officers openly protested against them.{{sfn|Ueberschär|Müller|2008|p=246}} An estimated two million Soviet [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] died of starvation during Barbarossa alone.{{sfn|Hartmann|2013|pp=89–94}} By the end of the war, 58 percent of all Soviet prisoners of war had died in German captivity.{{sfn|Glantz|2011|p=48}}

Organised crimes against civilians, including women and children, were carried out on a huge scale by the German police and military forces, as well as the [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|local collaborators]].{{sfn|Glantz|House|1995|pp=56–57}}{{sfn|Browning|1998|pp=10–12}} Under the command of the Reich Security Main Office, the {{lang|de|Einsatzgruppen}} killing squads conducted large-scale [[massacre]]s of Jews and [[Communism|communists]] in conquered Soviet territories. [[Holocaust]] historian [[Raul Hilberg]] puts the number of Jews murdered by "mobile killing operations" at 1,400,000.{{sfn|Hilberg|1961|p=767}} The original instructions to kill "Jews in party and state positions" were broadened to include "all male Jews of [[Military-age male|military age]]" and then expanded once more to "all male Jews regardless of age". By the end of July, the Germans were regularly killing women and children.{{sfn|Beevor|2012|p=213}} On 18 December 1941, Himmler and Hitler discussed the "Jewish question", and Himmler noted the meeting's result in his appointment book: "To be annihilated as partisans". According to [[Christopher Browning]], "annihilating Jews and solving the so-called 'Jewish question' under the cover of killing partisans was the agreed-upon convention between Hitler and Himmler".{{sfn|Browning|2000}} In accordance with Nazi policies against "inferior" Asian peoples, [[Turkmens]] were also persecuted. According to a post-war report by Prince Veli Kajum Khan, they were imprisoned in concentration camps in terrible conditions, where those deemed to have "Mongolian" features were murdered daily. Asians were also targeted by the {{lang|de|Einsatzgruppen}} and were the subjects of lethal medical experiments and murder at a "pathological institute" in Kiev.{{sfn|Breitman|1990|pp=341–343}} Hitler received reports of the mass killings conducted by the {{lang|de|Einsatzgruppen}} which were first conveyed to the RSHA, where they were aggregated into a summary report by [[Gestapo]] Chief [[Heinrich Müller (Gestapo)|Heinrich Müller]].{{sfn|Langerbein|2003|pp=33–34}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-212-0212A-19, Russland, SS-Brigdeführer und Erich Hoepner.jpg|thumb|upright|General [[Erich Hoepner]] (right) with commander of [[SS Polizei Division]], [[Walter Krüger (SS general)|Walter Krüger]], in October 1941]]

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==Historical significance==

Barbarossa was the largest military operation in ~~history – more~~history—more men, tanks, guns and aircraft were deployed than in any other offensive.{{sfn|Overy|1996|p=68}}{{sfn|Anderson|Clark|Walsh|2018|p=7}} The invasion opened the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]], the war's largest theatre, which saw clashes of unprecedented violence and destruction for four years and killed over 26 million Soviet people, including about 8.6 million [[World War II casualties of the Soviet Union|Red Army soldiers]].{{sfn|Moskoff|2002|p=236}} More died fighting on the Eastern Front than in all other fighting across the globe during World War II.{{sfn|Weinberg|1994|p=264}} Damage to both the economy and landscape was enormous, as approximately 1,710 Soviet towns and 70,000 villages were razed.{{sfn|Hartmann|2013|p=160}}

Barbarossa and the subsequent German defeat changed the political landscape of Europe, dividing it into Eastern and Western blocs.{{sfn|Hartmann|2013|pp=152–153}} The political vacuum left in the eastern half of the continent was filled by the USSR when Stalin secured his territorial prizes of 1944–1945 and firmly placed the Red Army in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the eastern half of Germany.{{sfn|Hartmann|2013|p=153}} Stalin's fear of resurgent German power and his distrust of his erstwhile allies contributed to Soviet pan-Slavic initiatives and a subsequent alliance of Slavic states.{{sfn|Roberts|2014|pp=258–260}} The historians David Glantz and [[Jonathan House]] assert that Barbarossa influenced not only Stalin but subsequent Soviet leaders, claiming it "colored" their strategic mindsets for the "next four decades".{{efn|Glantz and House use the expression "The Great Patriotic War", the Soviet name for World War II—but this term represents by and large, the contest between the U.S.S.R. and Nazi Germany.}} As a result, the Soviets instigated the creation of "an elaborate system of [[Buffer state|buffer]] and [[client state|client]] states, designed to insulate the Soviet Union from any possible future attack".{{sfn|Glantz|House|2015|p=364}} In the ensuing [[Cold War]], Eastern Europe became a [[Eastern Bloc|Soviet sphere of influence]] ~~in political disposition~~, and Western Europe aligned itself with the United States.{{sfn|Hartmann|2013|pp=154–155}}

==See also==

* [[A-A line]]

* [[Black Sea Campaigns (1941-44)|Black Sea campaigns]]

** [[Romanian Navy during World War II]]