What Is The Turning Point Of Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa, the unparalleled assault that opened an Eastern against the Soviet Union, was the largest military offensive in known history, and became a turning point in World War II. Following the initial success came slowly formed failures, and set the stage for the Soviet Union to repel the largest assault in history, turning it into a counter attack with The Red Army’s eyes set on Berlin. The German military, widely regarded as the most experienced fighting force in the world, was at war with the remnants of the United Kingdom, and had already conquered Poland and France; now they aim for a much more prestigious sight: Moscow. Believing in German supremacy, the fall of Moscow, and subsequently the Soviet Union, was expected to take between two and three months - the beginning of Operation Barbarossa only reinforced that idea.
Nazi Germany, an already hardened foe, had directed all of their most experienced …show more content…
commanders to fight on the Eastern front and make the fall of the Soviet Union swift. The technology used to achieve dominance could be described as nothing other than brilliance at the time, no other nation was able to match the engineers of the German Reich. Because of this, the Soviet Union was already at a major disadvantage, not including how little its military was mobilized and how vulnerable all of their vehicles and supplies were. In the first few days of the assault, with the initial force of over 3.8 million personnel [Clark 2012, p. 73.], and no regard for the life of the Soviets, would destroy almost all of the Red Army’s air fields and supply lines with ease. Following suit, the front line would crumble and the Red Army would be sent into a long retreat that would last several weeks. The surprise of this assault was overwhelming and seemingly impossible to stop by the Red Army high command; morale was at an all-time low and these events would mark the beginning of the long road from defeat, to victory.
The Red Army quickly refit an old, World War 1, set of trenches and fortifications that would now be dubbed, “The Stalin Line” by Red Army soldiers. The purpose of this was nothing other than to slow down the advance of the German Armed Forces and allow time for reinforcements from the Far East to be shipped westward, to defend the Ukrainian capital of Kiev and the Russian capital of Moscow. Due to the unmatched technology of the German Reich, new tank destroyers and self-propelled guns would make the systematic dismantling of the Stalin Line a very simple and straightforward task, the line only slowed them down for a few days in some areas, though slightly longer in others. The Siege of Kiev was near, and there were not enough defenders to successfully push back the advancing German Army. Consequently, Kiev was then surrounded, defenders were starved out and attacked frequently, and Nazi Germany had eventually captured the esteemed capital of Ukraine. Now, nothing stopped the German Reich from ordering the march to Moscow, and their goal of defeating the Soviet Union seemed inevitable.
On the road to Moscow, German scouts and spies had, allegedly, thoroughly surveyed the defenders and the surroundings of the city – because of this, German commanders believed there was nothing that would stop them from entering the city, and the inferior technology and light resistance would allow them to capture Moscow quickly. The Red Army had closed down almost every road or highway into the city from the German perspective, forcing them to either attack on rough terrain or take a series of highways that were presumed to be guarded or trapped. After capturing necessary roads, the German Armed Forces successfully overtook all Red Army strongpoints outside of the city, and even surrounded multiple Soviet divisions – however, the weather began to change and snow began to slow down the German assaults, wet ground would almost completely halt German Panzer divisions and allow the Soviets precious time to regroup and retreat to new positions. On October 6th, 1941, Marshal Georgy Zhukov had arrived in Moscow and was ordered to reorganize the defenses and make sure Moscow would never fall to enemy hands. In combination with bad weather and logistical problems, Zhukov did exactly that, and the German offensive near Moscow would have to be halted, leading to their armies being worn down over time and an eventual retreat being necessary due to the increasing number of Soviet reserves making their way to Moscow by train.
The next major battle that would continue to offset the powerful German Armed Forces would be the battle of Stalingrad, beginning in the year of 1942, the same year the battle of Moscow had ended.
Stalingrad would be the tomb of many German and Soviet soldiers alike, the amount of men and vehicles lost to this city, which was turned to rubble, would be unmatched by any other battle in history. This was regarded as one of the biggest turning points in the war, and destroyed any offensive German capabilities in the southern regions of the Soviet Union. Next, the battle of Kursk, the other major turning point in the war against the Axis Forces. Kursk was the largest tank battle in history, and also included over two million soldiers actively fighting for such a small piece of land. The swift defeat of German forces, by comparison to other battles, would leave the German Army in a state of disrepair. Furthermore, there would be absolutely no way for the German Army to resume any large scale offensive operations, the predators had become the
prey. Following Moscow, Stalingrad and Kursk, it seemed impossible for the enormous number of Red Army conscripts to ever be defeated by the German Reich, and the counteroffensive began. Broken into operations like Bagration, which called for a massive Northern offensive to retake lost territories, would reverse the previous state of the war. Germany was now the one on the long retreat home, the one who would struggle to defend their capital against invaders, and would never be able to call themselves the victor of World War 2. It was after those battles that the Soviet Union could finally take the full force of the largest military offensive in history, and turn it into a counter-offensive that would be the fall of the German Reich before the summer of 1945. The cost, tens of millions of civilians and soldiers dead, was unbearable to any nation, and the actions of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany would echo throughout history for decades to come, and the Soviet Union would be known as one of the biggest factors towards the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War 2.
Nazi Germany, an already hardened foe, had directed all of their most experienced …show more content…
commanders to fight on the Eastern front and make the fall of the Soviet Union swift. The technology used to achieve dominance could be described as nothing other than brilliance at the time, no other nation was able to match the engineers of the German Reich. Because of this, the Soviet Union was already at a major disadvantage, not including how little its military was mobilized and how vulnerable all of their vehicles and supplies were. In the first few days of the assault, with the initial force of over 3.8 million personnel [Clark 2012, p. 73.], and no regard for the life of the Soviets, would destroy almost all of the Red Army’s air fields and supply lines with ease. Following suit, the front line would crumble and the Red Army would be sent into a long retreat that would last several weeks. The surprise of this assault was overwhelming and seemingly impossible to stop by the Red Army high command; morale was at an all-time low and these events would mark the beginning of the long road from defeat, to victory.
The Red Army quickly refit an old, World War 1, set of trenches and fortifications that would now be dubbed, “The Stalin Line” by Red Army soldiers. The purpose of this was nothing other than to slow down the advance of the German Armed Forces and allow time for reinforcements from the Far East to be shipped westward, to defend the Ukrainian capital of Kiev and the Russian capital of Moscow. Due to the unmatched technology of the German Reich, new tank destroyers and self-propelled guns would make the systematic dismantling of the Stalin Line a very simple and straightforward task, the line only slowed them down for a few days in some areas, though slightly longer in others. The Siege of Kiev was near, and there were not enough defenders to successfully push back the advancing German Army. Consequently, Kiev was then surrounded, defenders were starved out and attacked frequently, and Nazi Germany had eventually captured the esteemed capital of Ukraine. Now, nothing stopped the German Reich from ordering the march to Moscow, and their goal of defeating the Soviet Union seemed inevitable.
On the road to Moscow, German scouts and spies had, allegedly, thoroughly surveyed the defenders and the surroundings of the city – because of this, German commanders believed there was nothing that would stop them from entering the city, and the inferior technology and light resistance would allow them to capture Moscow quickly. The Red Army had closed down almost every road or highway into the city from the German perspective, forcing them to either attack on rough terrain or take a series of highways that were presumed to be guarded or trapped. After capturing necessary roads, the German Armed Forces successfully overtook all Red Army strongpoints outside of the city, and even surrounded multiple Soviet divisions – however, the weather began to change and snow began to slow down the German assaults, wet ground would almost completely halt German Panzer divisions and allow the Soviets precious time to regroup and retreat to new positions. On October 6th, 1941, Marshal Georgy Zhukov had arrived in Moscow and was ordered to reorganize the defenses and make sure Moscow would never fall to enemy hands. In combination with bad weather and logistical problems, Zhukov did exactly that, and the German offensive near Moscow would have to be halted, leading to their armies being worn down over time and an eventual retreat being necessary due to the increasing number of Soviet reserves making their way to Moscow by train.
The next major battle that would continue to offset the powerful German Armed Forces would be the battle of Stalingrad, beginning in the year of 1942, the same year the battle of Moscow had ended.
Stalingrad would be the tomb of many German and Soviet soldiers alike, the amount of men and vehicles lost to this city, which was turned to rubble, would be unmatched by any other battle in history. This was regarded as one of the biggest turning points in the war, and destroyed any offensive German capabilities in the southern regions of the Soviet Union. Next, the battle of Kursk, the other major turning point in the war against the Axis Forces. Kursk was the largest tank battle in history, and also included over two million soldiers actively fighting for such a small piece of land. The swift defeat of German forces, by comparison to other battles, would leave the German Army in a state of disrepair. Furthermore, there would be absolutely no way for the German Army to resume any large scale offensive operations, the predators had become the
prey. Following Moscow, Stalingrad and Kursk, it seemed impossible for the enormous number of Red Army conscripts to ever be defeated by the German Reich, and the counteroffensive began. Broken into operations like Bagration, which called for a massive Northern offensive to retake lost territories, would reverse the previous state of the war. Germany was now the one on the long retreat home, the one who would struggle to defend their capital against invaders, and would never be able to call themselves the victor of World War 2. It was after those battles that the Soviet Union could finally take the full force of the largest military offensive in history, and turn it into a counter-offensive that would be the fall of the German Reich before the summer of 1945. The cost, tens of millions of civilians and soldiers dead, was unbearable to any nation, and the actions of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany would echo throughout history for decades to come, and the Soviet Union would be known as one of the biggest factors towards the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War 2.