投稿類別：英文寫作類

篇名：

Analysis on Nazi Germany’s Invasion of the

作者：蔡崇德。臺南一中。高一 18 班

指導老師：朱達鈞老師

Analysis on Nazi Germany’s Invasion of the Soviet Union

I. Introduction

The Eastern Front of Europe of World War II (June 22nd, 1941 to May 9th, 1945) began with the surprise German attack on the USSR, codenamed . It caused the deaths of over 4 million Germans, more than on any other front. The invasion would also prove to be one of the worst mistakes Nazi Germany made during the war, eventually leading to the collapse of the Third Reich in 1945. The objective of this study is to investigate why the German command waged such a disastrous campaign, and what convinced them that a victory against the Soviet Union was plausible.

Motivation Since World War II in Europe is far away from us, in depth details about the conflict are not readily available to the general public. In addition, most circulating messages around us regarding this subject are subject to the viewpoint of the Western Allies, simply because we are heavily under the influence of the United States of America after WWII, and thus little was mentioned about the German-Soviet war. This motivates the author to further explore the topic and clarify the reasons behind the German invasion against the USSR.

II. Thesis

1. Background World War II in Europe began on September 1st, 1939, with the German invasion of the Second Polish Republic. Over the following two years, the European Axis launched a series of campaigns across Europe, subjugating many Allied states in the process. In spring 1941, shortly before Germany initiated Operation Barbarossa, Greece and Yugoslavia fell to a joint German, Italian, Hungarian, and Bulgarian invasion. On the eve of the German-Soviet war, the British Commonwealth was the only Allied state in Europe still fighting the Axis coalition.

2. Previous military records of Russia (the Soviet Union) In the 20th century, both the Red Army of the USSR and, before that, the Imperial Russian Army of Tsarist Russia, participated in multiple campaigns in Europe, some of which went disastrously and indicated the weakness of the Russian military. A few examples are listed below.

2.1 Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 In 1904, both the Russian and Japanese Empire aimed to extend their influence into East Asia, namely Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula. When the interests of these two states collided with each other, fighting broke out on February 4th, 1904. Surprisingly, Japan, which had not been expected to win against a superpower like Russia, achieved victory after victory in Manchuria and Korea, and even annihilated the Russian Eastern Fleet based in Port Arthur. The war ended on September 5th th1905 with the Treaty of Portsmouth, under the mediation of Theodore Roosevelt. Russia was forced to accept humiliating terms, including 1

Analysis on Nazi Germany’s Invasion of the Soviet Union

returning its leases of Port Arthur and Dalien to China, turning over the South Manchuria Railway and its mining concessions to Japan, and the loss of south Sakhalin to the Japanese.

2.2 The Eastern Front of WWI The Eastern Front of World War I was one of the bloodiest conflicts in the entire war, and was mostly fought between the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria) and Russia. Following the German declaration of war on Russia, fighting began on the Eastern Front on August 17th, 1914, with the Russian offensive into East Prussia, Germany. The Russians quickly suffered several catastrophic defeats against their enemies, such as during the battles of the Masurian Lakes, where the outnumbered German army managed to inflict heavy losses on their enemies. By 1917, the Central Powers had advanced deep into Russia, occupying Russian and large portions of the Baltics. Russian morale then collapsed completely with the February Revolution, but the new Republican government refused to end the war. Eventually, the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin executed the October Revolution, and in a bid to end the war in Russia, signed a humiliating treaty with the Central powers at Brest- Litovsk, giving up Poland, the Baltics, , and parts of Byelorussia to foreign occupation.

Figure 1. Left: Map of territorial changes following the Treaty of Brest- Litovsk (lands in pink were given to the Central Powers after the treaty)

(Source: United States Military Academy Department of History. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.usma.edu/history/SiteAssets/SitePages/World%20War%20I/ WWOne41.jpg)

2.3 The Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1920

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Analysis on Nazi Germany’s Invasion of the Soviet Union

After the capitulation of the Central Powers in 1918, new states were formed in the lands previously granted to Germany at Brest-Litovsk. The newly established Bolshevik Russia considered this the chance to reconquer territories they had lost in the Great War. The Polish- Soviet War was one of their efforts to do so. Initially, the Polish made significant advances into Byelorussia and Ukraine, and even captured Minsk and Kiev. Yet as the Russian Civil War turned in favor of the Bolsheviks in 1920, the Red Army was able to focus on its war with Poland, and drove the Polish all the way to Warsaw. However, when the numerically superior Red Army was preparing to seize the Polish capital, a surprise Polish counterattack trapped them deep inside Poland. Consequently, the Bolshevik offensive was routed, with most of their forces either surrendering or fleeing into East Prussia, where they were interned by German authorities before being sent back to Russia.

2.4 The Winter War The Winter War was fought between the USSR and Finland from November 30th, 1939 to March 13th, 1940. After the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was signed between Nazi Germany and the USSR in 1939, the USSR began its expansion into the Baltic states and Finland. These states had only achieved their independence from Russia in 1917-20 in the aftermath of World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution. (Jowett & Snodgrass, 2002) Therefore, the USSR initiated an attack on the Finnish in the same year, starting the Winter War. The Soviet command expected total victory in weeks against the Finns. However, Finnish forces managed to hold the Red Army off for months until the Soviet forces eventually overran the Mannerheim line (a series of Finnish defenses on the Karelian Isthmus). A peace treaty was then signed in Moscow, in which Finland ceded some borderlands to the USSR. Although the Soviet Union had won the war, it was a costly one, with the Red Army suffering more than four times the casualties than that of the Finnish.

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Analysis on Nazi Germany’s Invasion of the Soviet Union

Figure 2. Map of the Winter War and the Mannerheim Line

(Source: United States Military Academy Department of History. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.usma.edu/history/SiteAssets/SitePages/World%20War%2 0II%20Europe/WWIIEurope16Combined.gif)

Table 1. Statistics of conflicts involving Russia Conflict Russo-Japanese The Polish- The Winter War War of 1904- Soviet War of 1905 1920 Russian 699,000 800,000 450,000 strength Enemy 650,000 738,000 300,000- strength 340,000 Russian 43,300 60,000 130,000- losses 170,000 Enemy losses 86,100 47,000 26,000 Outcome Japanese victory Polish victory Soviet victory (Information Source: a) Dumas, S. & Vedel-Petersen, K. O. (1923), Losses of Life Caused by War (57, 58), Oxford: The Clarendon Press: H. Milfor b) Jowett, Philip & Snodgrass, Brent (2002), Finland at War 1939–45 (10), Oxford: Osprey Publishing)

3. Inexperience of Soviet commanders Red Army commanders at the start of Operation Barbarossa were mostly younger and less experienced than their German counterparts were. 4

Analysis on Nazi Germany’s Invasion of the Soviet Union

3.1 The Great Purge The great Purge happened between 1936 and 1938, and resulted in the deaths of many senior Red Army officers. In a bid to remove opposition in the Communist Party, Joseph Stalin started the “Moscow Trials”, branding many of his political opponents as “Trotskyists” or members of the right opposition, many of which were part of the Red Army command. Three of five marshals, thirteen of fifteen army commanders, eight of nine admirals, and many others did not survive the purge. As a result of the purge and the rapid increase of the Red Army’s size (which grew from around 800,000 men in the 1920s to 5 million in 1941), the USSR was extremely short of officers in the late 30s and early 40s. Therefore, it was forced to promote young and inexperienced officers to higher ranks and positions prematurely. On the other hand, German commanders in Operation Barbarossa had much more combat experience, and many of them had even studied in military academies in their youth.

Table 2. Information of German and Soviet Commanders in Soviet-German War Commander Allegiance First year of Age at eve of Position at eve military Barbarossa of Barbarossa service Fedor von Nazi 1898 60 Commander of Bock Germany Army Group Center Wilhelm Nazi 1895 64 Commander of Ritter von Germany Army Group Leeb North Gerd von Nazi 1892 65 Commander of Rundstedt Germany Army Group South Dmitry G. Soviet Union 1916 43 Commander of Pavlov the Western Front Mikhail P. Soviet Union 1915 49 Commander of Kirponos the Southwestern Front Ivan V. Soviet Union 1913 49 Commander of Tyulenev the Southernn Front (Source: Table made by author)

3.2 German combat in the west

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Analysis on Nazi Germany’s Invasion of the Soviet Union

Unlike the Soviet Union, which had not fought a large-scale war for more than a decade, the German army had participated in the Western Front of World War II shortly before invading the Soviet Union. This provided a valuable opportunity for the Germans to experiment some of their new tactics, especially those concerning blitzkrieg and tank warfare. Such tactics were used in the Eastern Front, and proved useful against the Red Army. Additionally, the Western Front gave both senior and junior German officers invaluable combat experience. Many of these officers participated in Operation Barbarossa in 1941.

4. Lack of preparation for a defensive war on Soviet side 4.1 The Stalin and Molotov Lines The USSR had two major sets of defenses in the west—the and the Molotov line—in 1941. Construction on the Stalin line began in the 1920’s, and consisted of a network of fortified districts, including bunkers and gun emplacements. It was similar to the French Maginot line, but was less elaborate. As Soviet influence spread into , the Baltics, and eastern Poland in the late 30’s, the USSR decided to establish a new line of defenses further west to replace the Stalin line. These defenses were later known as the Molotov line. However, before construction on it could be completed, the Germans began their invasion. (Short, 2008) Thus, the line was of little value in stopping the enemy offensive. The Red Army was forced to recommission the Stalin Line, which had fallen into disarray after being abandoned, and only parts of it were prepared in time to offer resistance against the German forces.

4.2 Stalin’s reluctance to mobilize The rapid German conquest of Western Europe greatly shocked Stalin. Taking into account the condition the Red Army was in, he was determined to delay a war with Germany as long as possible, lest the fate of France, Norway, and others should befall the USSR. Even as British, American, and even Soviet intelligence were indicating an imminent German invasion of Russia in 1941, Stalin was reluctant to mobilize the Red Army on the Soviet-German frontier, fearing such an act would provoke Germany. It was only until a week before Operation Barbarossa that Stalin ordered reinforcements sent to the border, after the Germans refused to negotiate. Many Soviet units were still moving west to face the Axis threat when the war broke out.

5. Former successes of German army The Germans had been extremely successful in the first years of WWII, especially against France, which was forced to sign an armistice after just six weeks of fighting. The Germans had also managed to launch naval landings in Norway and conquered the country, despite British dominance of the seas.

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Analysis on Nazi Germany’s Invasion of the Soviet Union

With so many countries (especially superpowers like France) falling rapidly to German invasion, it seemed reasonable to believe that the USSR would not stand a chance in a war against the Third Reich.

6. Technological gap of tanks between Germany and the USSR The military technology of the USSR was far behind that of Germany’s in 1941, especially in the category of tanks. The Red Army of 1941 possessed a vast amount of tanks, which totaled to about 11,000 at the front, compared to Germany’s 3,350. (Mercantante, 2012) Yet only 1,861 of those were T-34 and heavy KV tanks. (Bartov, 1992) Most of the others were the outdated BTs and T-26s, which were of no match against the German Panzer IIIs and IVs, which composed of nearly half the German tank force. The thin armor of the Soviet light tanks was highly vulnerable to the German medium tanks. This weakness was clearly shown on the first days of the Eastern Front, where the Soviets lost more than 20,000 tanks in 1941 alone. The following table shows the statistics of tanks mentioned above:

Table 3. Statistics of German and Soviet tanks in 1941 Tank Panzer III Panzer IV BT T-26 Country Nazi Nazi USSR USSR Germany Germany Designed 1935-1937 1936 1930-1931 1928-1931 Armor 30 mm 10-80 mm 6-13 mm 6-15 mm Operational 165 km 200 km 200 km 240 km Range Maximum 40 km/h 42 km/h 72 km/h 31 km/h Speed Fuel Capacity 310 L 470 L 360 L 290 L (Source: Table made by author)

7. Hopes of Great Britain giving up the war The setbacks Nazi Germany suffered in their conquest of Britain made them desperate to conclude the war quickly, something they hoped could be achieved through victory against the USSR.

7.1 Battle of Britain After the fall of France, Germany planned to eliminate the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and gain air supremacy before starting an invasion of Britain (Operation Sea Lion). However, the RAF put up fierce resistance against the bombers of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), and caused significant losses in both personnel and aircraft on the German side. Eventually, the Luftwaffe gave up on the Battle of Britain in late 1940, and Operation Sea Lion was postponed indefinitely.

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Analysis on Nazi Germany’s Invasion of the Soviet Union

Table 4. Statistics of the Battle of Britain Faction Allied Powers Axis Powers Belligerents United Kingdom Nazi Germany Canada Italy Strength 754 single-seat 805 single-seat fighters fighters 224 two-seat fighters 149 two-seat fighters 998 medium bombers 560 bombers 261 dive-bombers 500 coastal aircraft 151 reconnaissance 80 coastal aircraft Losses 1,542 killed, 2,585 killed, 1,744 aircraft lost 1,977 aircraft lost (Information Source: a) Bungay, Stephen (2000), The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain (107). London: Aurum Press. b) Wood, Derek & Dempster, Derek (2003), The Narrow Margin: The Battle of Britain and the Rise of Air Power (318), 1930–1949, London: Pen & Sword)

7.2 Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic initially went well for the Germans after the fall of France, when Britain lost the support of most of the French fleet. Additionally, with revised U-boat tactics, such as the fighting of U-boats in “wolf packs” (Dönitz, 1958), the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) launched successful attacks against Allied convoys. However, the British began to improve the protection of their convoys in spring 1941. This caused the Kriegsmarine to lose many of its elite commanders and U-boats.

7.3 Hitler’s belief Hitler was convinced that the defeat of the USSR would leave the United Kingdom isolated in Europe, deprived of any potential allies. Therefore, he reasoned that the British would sue for peace once the USSR was defeated, and even if they didn’t, the Germans would defeat Great Britain with resources from the East.

8. Resources The Soviet Union encompassed multiple regions across Eurasia in 1941, some of which contained resources seen as important by Germany to continue its war and to fulfill the needs of its population.

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Analysis on Nazi Germany’s Invasion of the Soviet Union

8.1 Ukraine There were plenty of plains and plateaus suitable for farming in Ukraine due to its mild climate. The geography of Ukraine also gave it an advantage in agriculture. Rivers like the Bug, the Danube, the Dnieper, and the Dniester flowed through, providing good sources for irrigation. Additionally, two-thirds of Ukraine was covered in “black earth” (chernozem), making the land of Ukraine fertile and suitable for farming. The Nazi German regime planned to encourage the settlement of German farmers in this region in order to satisfy Germany’s need for food.

8.2 The Caucasus The region north and south of the Caucasus mountains provided a wide variety of resources, and had been considered extremely important to the Third Reich. The Caucasus region was a production center of grain, corn, sugar beets and cotton, which were important for domestic needs. It was also rich in coal, peat, and manganese. Nonetheless, what was considered most important was its oil deposits. The oilfields in Grozny and Maykop (both located in modern-day Russia) produced ten percent of all Soviet oil, while the ones in Baku (located in modern day Azerbaijan) produced eighty percent. The Baku oilfields produced about 24 million tons of oil in 1942 alone. This was quite desirable to the Germans, since the ongoing British naval blockade had left them reliant on European countries like Romania for fuel. Obtaining these resources would both satisfy Germany’s domestic needs and support its war effort.

III. Conclusion

Considering the aforementioned points, it seemed quite reasonable that the Soviet Union, which was not regarded as a military power then, would not stand a chance against the German armed forces, which had swept through much of Europe undefeated. However, Hitler’s regime had underestimated the strength and determination of their eastern opponent, and, combined with several severe mistakes committed on Germany’s behalf, led to the Reich’s downfall. As a result, the Soviet Red Army, against all expectations, pushed the German military all the way to central Europe, and played a pivotal role in the ultimate capitulation of the Third Reich. This would also mark the beginning of a half-century long Cold War, in which a stronger Soviet Union faced off the coalition led by the U.S.A. What Nazi Germany failed to realize was that the USSR was different from the countries it had subdued on the Western Front. Its landmass denied the Germans a swift victory, its massive population provided a large pool of manpower for its army, and its vast amount of resources allowed the continuation of the war effort. No nation in the west had had such advantages, and therefore, Germany did not realize the significance of such aspects. In short, the Germans did not lose the war due to their military weakness, but instead, failed because they tried to take too much. The leaders of the Third Reich had set themselves an unrealistic goal, and brought about their own downfall in trying to achieve it.

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Analysis on Nazi Germany’s Invasion of the Soviet Union

IV. References

1. Dönitz, Karl (1958), Zehn Jahre und zwanzig Tage, Bonn: Athenäum-Verlag Junker & Dünnhaupt, K.G. 2. Dumas, S. & Vedel-Petersen, K. O. (1923), Losses of Life Caused by War, Oxford: The Clarendon Press : H. Milford 3. Bartov, Omer (1992), Hitler's Army: Soldiers, Nazis, and War in the Third Reich, New York: Oxford University Press 4. Short, Neil (2008), The Stalin and Molotov Lines: Soviet Western Defences 1928–41, Oxford: Osprey Publishing 5. Mercatante, S. D. (2012), Why Germany Nearly Won: A New History of the Second World War in Europe, Santa Barbara: Praeger 6. Bungay, Stephen (2000), The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain. London: Aurum Press. 7. Wood, Derek & Dempster, Derek (2003), The Narrow Margin: The Battle of Britain and the Rise of Air Power, 1930–1949, London: Pen & Sword 8. Jowett, Philip & Snodgrass, Brent (2002), Finland at War 1939–45, Oxford: Osprey Publishing 9. United States Military Academy Department of History. Mar 25 2018, retrieved from https://www.usma.edu/history/SitePages/Our%20Atlases.aspx

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