operation barbarossa
- Created by: ojcookie
- Created on: 06-05-15 16:38
View mindmap
- Operaion Barbarossa
- Began with 3 million troops, mainly Germans but some of her allies.
- Germans made rapid advance along all 3 fronts.
- By November 1941 Leningrad and Moscow were under siege and 3 million Soviets taken prisoner.
- Attack was on 3 fronts: North to capture Leningrad, Centre to attack Moscow and South to over run Ukraine and Crimea.
- Hitler hoped to repeat BLITZKRIEG success against Poland (1939) and France (1940).
- Germans made rapid advance along all 3 fronts.
- Vast distances, poor roads, partisanactivity and 'scorched-earth policy' of retreating Russians delayed German advance.
- By December heavy snow + freezing temperatures = German standstill 30 miles West Moscow.
- Germans were totally unprepared for extreme conditions.
- Hitler had underestimated the strength and resistance of Red Army.
- Despite Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939 Hitler always intended to invade Russia.
- Why? Lebensraum, Slav labour, oil reserves in Caucasus and grain supply in Ukraine.
- Began with 3 million troops, mainly Germans but some of her allies.
Comments
No comments have yet been made