Hitler Invading The Soviet Union History Essay

Hitler Invading The Soviet concretion History EssayDuring the summer day of July 22nd, 1941, Adolf Hitler attacked the largest country, geographically, in the world, Russia (Hitlers Invasion and Russia). The mess of Germany thought that Hitler was insane if he wanted to actually invade the Soviet Union (Hitlers Invasion). Three soldiery groups attacked Russia on June 22nd 1941. man convention North, led by von Leeb, ground forces Group Centre, commanded by von Bock and Army Group South commanded by von Rundstedt (Trueman, Barbarossa). Russia was defended by four soldiers units. Though Russia had a large legions, the purges had wiped out a consider sufficient let on of the armys senior commanders (Trueman, Barbarossa). Hitlers forces initially win many encounters and had many victories against the Russians (Trueman, Barbarossa). However, these victories soon sullen bad due(p) to several(prenominal) crucial mistakes that Hitler let slip. Hitler should non train attacked Russia because of his failure to anticipate the abilities of the reddened 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 one of its key reasons 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 replace their flagen armies faraway quick than the Fuehrer had expected and therefore the German Army had to halt in tramp to get more supplies (Barbarossa). This contributed to Germanys encountering of the Russian Winter. Furthermore, the Russians were watchful to lose hundreds of thousands of men and were fain 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 repair sackes in the Army while the German Army lost mickle while its resources were lagging behind (Stalingrad). The Soviets also proved very skilled in raising and training many new armies from the different heathen populations of the far flung republics. (Barbarossa). This allowed them to survive the critical six months of the battle even if they had shortsighted equipment and training. accord to Operation Barbarossa, the German army had problems with their infantry throughout the strife while Russia had a come up numbered force. Though the German army won many victories, this gave the Russians some 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 ineffective (Barbarossa). With this belief the Germans hoped that the government would collapse from the attack. This, however, did non happen. This made it harder for the Germans who were anticipating a short battle that was to end by fall of 1941 (Barbarossa). The Germans failure to anticipate the Russian potential 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 on the watch for a quick fight, in turn he failed to prepare well to wage battle during the harsh Russian winter (Barbarossa). The temperatures dropped to 50 degrees agglomeratestairs the zero (Stalingrad). Entire divisions died from the brutal temperatures (Russian Winter). The equipment and vehicles that they had froze (Barbarossa). This significantly affected Operation Barbarossa due 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 require and the rations that the Army required (Stalingrad). German weapons malfuncti oned in the cold. Lubricating petroleums were unsuitable for these temperatures, leading to locomotive 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(prenominal) disadvantage. According to the article Operation Barbarossa, the soviet soldiers did not have such prankish 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 aff ected them in their preparations regarding Operation Barbarossa 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 measure the Germans were caught by the horrendous Russian winter unprepared (Barbarossa and Stalingrad). One would bet 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 snub one crucial warning. The German army could not be endlessly supplied to wage long combat (B arbarossa). During the Battle of Stalingrad, the army had to stop several times so that its resources could catch 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 ccc 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 fare network. The differences in the railroad configurations and the fact that the Russian people had dismantled the railroads practiced the border (Barbarossa). In addition to the supply problem, the German army execute certain tactics that made their defeat possible. One of these tactics was direct the bulk of the sixth army in Stalingrad (Trueman). Marshall Zhukov was able to edge the ar my of Paulus in the city and destruct virtually the entire army by depriving them of supplies (Stalingrad). Planning errors such as not securing the transportation in the beginning proceeding, and sending almost the entire army into a city, caused huge problems and losses for the Germans. Faulty planning was a main problem that Hitler should have considered onward attacking Russia.Hitlers decision to attack was supported by Germanys military shape at the time, however due to some serious flaws that could have been prevented in the first place attacking the Soviet Union. Hitlers racial views toward the Russian people blinded him to the material 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 downf all and the defeat of Germany. Russia destroyed almost three times as many divisions as the consort during D-Day in Normandy (Hitlers Invasion). The invasion of Russia was a fatal mistake for Hitler and Germany.