Hitler Invading The Soviet Union History Essay

Hitler Invading The Soviet Union History EssayDuring the summer day of July 22nd, 1941, Adolf Hitler attacked the largest country, geographically, in the world, Russia (Hitlers intrusion and Russia). The people of Ger legion(predicate) thought that Hitler was insane if he wanted to actually invade the Soviet Union (Hitlers Invasion). Three military groups attacked Russia on June 22nd 1941. Army root North, led by von Leeb, Army Group Centre, commanded by von Bock and Army Group South commanded by von Rundstedt (Trueman, Barbarossa). Russia was defended by four army units. though Russia had a large army, the purges had wiped out a considerable part of the armys senior commanders (Trueman, Barbarossa). Hitlers forces initially won many an(prenominal) battles and had many victories against the Russians (Trueman, Barbarossa). However, these victories soon turned bad delinquent to several crucial mis offsprings that Hitler let slip. Hitler should not father attacked Russia because of his failure to anticipate the abilities of the fierce Army, the weather of Russia, and his faulty leadership during the operation.The German Armys failure to anticipate the abilities of the Russia Red Army was virtuoso of its key springs for failure. The Red Army was able to mobilize twice as many troops as the Germans had initially estimated (Barbarossa). The Russians were able to tack their fallen armies far quicker than the Fuehrer had expected and therefore the German Army had to halt in order to get more supplies (Barbarossa). This contributed to Germanys encountering of the Russian Winter. Furthermore, the Russians were prepared to lag hundreds of thousands of men and were prepared to sacrifice equipment as shown in their victory at Kursk (Kursk). The Russian Army also proved its ability to replace its soldiers quickly allowed it to fastening losses in the Army while the German Army lost people while its resources were lagging behind (Stalingrad). The Soviets also pro ved in truth competent in raising and training many new armies from the different ethnic populations of the far flung republics. (Barbarossa). This allowed them to survive the critical six months of the battle even if they had poor equipment and training. agree to operating room Barbarossa, the German army had problems with their infantry throughout the conflict while Russia had a well numbered force. Though the German army won many victories, this gave the Russians near advantage. With these kinds of crucial underestimations, the Germans became under-supplied and their forces began to progressively weaken. In addition to the tactical failures, the German control also underestimated the leadership of the Soviet Union. The Germans thought that the Soviet government was completely otiose (Barbarossa). With this belief the Germans hoped that the government would collapse from the attack. This, thus far, did not happen. This made it harder for the Germans who were anticipating a s hort battle that was to end by fall of 1941 (Barbarossa). The Germans failure to anticipate the Russian potential difference was one of their key factors in losing the Russian Invasion.Another crucial factor that became an obstacle for the Germans was the Russian winter. Hitler had prepared for a quick war, in turn he failed to prepare well to wage battle during the harsh Russian winter (Barbarossa). The temperatures dropped to 50 degrees below the zero (Stalingrad). Entire divisions died from the brutal temperatures (Russian Winter). The equipment and vehicles that they had froze (Barbarossa). This significantly affected deed Barbarossa overdue to the large losses. The German offensive was slowed to a crawl because of the numeral failures that were inflicted by the Russian winter (Russian Winter). When winter struck, the German troops lacked the winter equipment involve and the rations that the Army required (Stalingrad). German weapons malfunctioned in the cold. Lubricating oi ls were unsuitable for these temperatures, leading to engine malfunction and misfiring weapons (Barbarossa). Without the airplanes and weapons, the Germans were virtually defenseless. At this point, the German army was at an especial disadvantage. check to the article Operation Barbarossa, the soviet soldiers did not have such severe problems. The Russians used insulating blankets to cover their aircrafts so that the engines did not freeze and lighter-weight oil was used. Germans had problems with their fuel due to the lack of anti-freeze (Barbarossa). The Russian winter caused great losses for the German army and after the Battle of Moscow, the Germans had to retreat and revise their war plans regarding Russia. The Russian winter again crippled the Germans, who even after the experience, did not prepare better for the siege of the Crocuses and Stalingrad (Stalingrad). The German haste for victory and battle severely affected them in their preparations regarding Operation Barbaross a and, therefore, the Russian winter took the Germans by surprise. In addition, Hitlers decision to stay even after knowing that a repetition ofNapoleons disastrous retreat from Moscow (Barbarossa) was very likely, led to loss of valuable men and resources. With the Russian winter being the most severe that year than any other, the Russians were able to maintain their position.The third reason that Germany should not have attacked Russia was that the plan lacked logistical planning. One example is the winters of 1941 and 1942. Both times the Germans were caught by the horrendous Russian winter unprepared (Barbarossa and Stalingrad). One would deliberate that at least after experiencing the cold winter of 1941 the Germans would have prepared better for the winter of 1942 when they invaded Stalingrad. The German Army command also ignored one crucial warning. The German army could not be continuously supplied to wage long combat (Barbarossa). During the Battle of Stalingrad, the army had to stop several times so that its resources could control up and usually resources were lagging far behind (Stalingrad). The Nazi command assumed that it would within five weeks the army would be able to take down the Red Army (Barbarossa). According to Operation Barbarossa, the German infantry rushed ahead about 300 mi. (480km) while the supplies were struggling to barely catch up. The lack of constant supplies slowed down the blitzkrieg down significantly. The Germans had seriously overestimated the quality and condition of the Russian transportation network. The differences in the railroad configurations and the fact that the Russian people had dismantled the railroads near the border (Barbarossa). In addition to the supply problem, the German army executed certain simulated military operation that made their defeat possible. One of these tactics was sending the bulk of the sixth army in Stalingrad (Trueman). Marshall Zhukov was able to surround the army of Paulus in the ci ty and destroyed virtually the entire army by depriving them of supplies (Stalingrad). Planning errors such as not securing the transportation before proceeding, and sending almost the entire army into a city, caused huge problems and losses for the Germans. improper planning was a main problem that Hitler should have considered before attacking Russia.Hitlers decision to attack was supported by Germanys military status at the time, however due to some serious flaws that could have been prevented before attacking the Soviet Union. Hitlers racial views toward the Russian people blinded him to the real facts that were there (Hitlers Invasion). Hitler should also have analyzed history better because no one has ever conquered Russia completely. Russias large size and horrendous weather were able to protect it even though many loyal Russian soldiers gave up their lives for mother Russia. Also by enraging Russia, Hitler caused his own downfall and the defeat of Germany. Russia destroyed almost three times as many divisions as the Allies during D-Day in Normandy (Hitlers Invasion). The invasion of Russia was a fatal mistake for Hitler and Germany.