Operation BARABARROJA in World War II

The entry of the USSR into World War II It was a key event for the Allies to turn the war around, but the USSR did not enter into the war without prior provocation, since its entry was due to the German attack on the ground Soviet. To talk about Hitler's plan to defeat the USSR, and that ended up being key to the German defeat, in this lesson from a PROFESSOR we offer you a brief summary of operation Barbarossa.

It is thought that, from the beginning, the Hitler was to expand eastward, partly because of his hatred of the Slavs, but also because of his political differences with communism. Although he was known to all for Hitler's hatred of the USSR, that did not prevent Germany and them from reaching an agreement in 1939, the so-called Ribbentrop-Molotov pact or Non-Aggression Treaty whereby Germany ceded Poland and the Baltic states to the USSR, and these in return agreed not to enter the Second World War. This happened because Hitler feared that if the USSR entered the war it could be attacked by the West and East at the same time, this being the end of the war for Germany.

In the following months, the agreement had serious problems, some of these being the cut of supply to Germany by countries that were in conflict with the USSR, Mussolini's refusal to sign agreements with the Soviets, or that the USSR seemed weaker every day in Hitler's eyes.

By June 1941, the map of Europe had changed a lot and Germany already had control of large regions like France or Yugoslavia. At that time when France had already fallen and the United States had not yet fully entered the war, the German state counted as the only great enemy with the United Kingdom and for that reason they considered that it was the moment to attack the USSR.

Hitler expected that a swift attack on the USSR would end her, just as he had done with France, but he was counting on neither her great size nor the dangers of winter. On the other hand Stalin, leader of the USSR, did not believe that Hitler would attack, since he considered that the reports about a German attack were a trap by the English, thinking that this was all a plan by Churchill to sever relations between Hitler and Stalin. It was in this situation that Germany started Operation Barbarossa.

Hitler knew the stories of how Napoleon had been defeated in Russia and therefore from the very beginning he commanded a huge amount of troops to quickly finish off the enemy. Hitler created three divisions with a plan for each of them, attacking the first Leningrad, the second to attack Moscow and other areas of central Russia and the third to take Kiev.

Hitler's attack was intended to be lightning, but the defeat of Italy in different areas and the support that Germany had to give to its ally made the operation take longer than expected to start. All this being a key time for the USSR could increase its defenses at the border for a possible attack.

At first, the German victories were very numerous, advancing with ease through the Russian lands without the army of the USSR being able to do anything to stop their advance. By autumn, German troops were already on the outskirts of Stalingrad and Moscow, while the Soviets the only thing they could do was use guerrilla techniques and the well-known What Burned ground, which consisted of burning all possible supplies and food on their retreat so that the advancing German troops would have nothing to eat. The victory of the Germans seemed clear, but it was at that moment that winter has arrived, which turned the tables in a very short time.

The failure of the conquest of Moscow by the German troops was key to the start of counterattack of the USSR and the Germans had to begin the withdrawal. The Soviet defense and the arrival of winter had caused Germany's blitzkrieg plan to fail for the first time, and it did not take long for Germany to be expelled From Russia.

To continue with this summary of Operation Barbarossa we must talk about the consequences that had the failure of the German plan and the counterattack of the USSR. The main consequences of Operation Barbarossa not working were the following:

• The German casualties during the operation they were huge.
• After the defeat, many renowned generals They were expelled by Hitler, changing the entire military organization of Germany.
• The number of troops sent to the USSR made Germany lost positions in other places for lack of men.
• Germany lost a lot of supplies during operation.
• It was considered the larger operation of all history, by the number of men sent.
• The damage to the economy and landscape It is considered the largest in the entire Second World War, and is considered the place with the highest deaths of the entire war.
• The USSR joined the allies in war, being key to Hitler's defeat in World War II.