|
|
|
|
Picture from USMA Operation Barbarossa is the culmination of many of the beliefs that Hitler stated in Mein Kampf. With this decisive strike, he intended to destroy the evil that is Bolshevikism, seize lebenstraum in the East for the German people, slaughter most of the Slavic untermensch that currently lived in these areas, and seize the vital strategic resources that this area possesses. With this, he hoped to force the British to surrender, as they would have no ally on the Continent to turn to. This would make Hitler the undisputed master of Europe, which is what he truly wanted to do. This massive operation was scheduled to begin on May 15, 1941, but Hitler's Balkan campaign to help his ally, Mussolini as well as seize the oil fields in Rumania, cost him critical time, and caused the operation to be postponed until June 22. When the operation began, the Germans experienced great successes. The Soviets were caught totally off guard, and many of them were killed or captured before they even knew the war had begun. Also, many of the soldiers wished to be captured, as they wanted to not be in Stalin's oppressive regime, not knowing what their alternative was, only assuming it was better. The Luftwaffe also enjoyed similar success, destroying a vast majority of the Soviets air force in the first few days, mostly on the ground.
Picture from www.geipel.net The Germans were getting many Soviets to surrender themselves to them at the beginning of the war, but Hitler's attitude towards the Soviet people changes all of that. As stated earlier, Hitler felt that the Russians, who are of the Slavic race, were untermensch and thereby deserved to be slaughtered. He started doing this with the SS shortly after the land was seized by the Army. They would kill many of the Russians that they came across, and this would be many, as they were marching with the Army. This callous action towards the Soviet people helped them rally against Nazi Germany, and for Stalinist Russia, despite the evils of Stalin's regime; Hitler's was far worse for them. This caused greatly increased partisan activity behind the lines, and disrupted supply lines as well as weakened the morale of the Wehrmacht. The Soviet Union was also able to rally itself to defense after it recovered from the initial shock of the invasion. They were thought of by the Germans as the enemy they would least likely face, and were fanatical and tenacious in the defense of their homeland, knowing that dying in a defense, even a failed one, was far better than the alternative, capture by an army and nation that considers them to be subhuman. Also, Stalin had the great industries of Russia taken apart and moved behind the Urals, nearly 750 miles from Moscow. As the Luftwaffe was designed to support the operations of the army, they had no long range bombers, and the Soviet industry was immune to bombing, and was vastly superior to that of the Germans. Russia also had many more men in their country that they could mobilize than Germany did, which meant that they could absorb the tremendous casualties of the opening months of the war far better than the Germans expected. All of these factors made it look like a long war of attrition favored the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany. |
