Download Hitler thought that attacking Stalin`s Soviet Union would give him a

By Zach Holdridge and
Andy Mahler
Beginning of Operation Barbarossa
On June 22, 1941 Hitler broke the Non-Aggression
pact with the soviet union and declared war. He
attacked on the eastern front using is famous
blitzkrieg style warfare. The soviets were unprepared
for war because of the previously negotiated Nonaggression pact.
Germany attacked Russia with more than 3 million
soldiers. They had more than 3,000 tanks, 2,500 aircraft,
7,000 artillery contributions, 600,000 motor vehicles,
and 625,000 horses in use. The Soviet Union had a mere
2,500,000 soldiers at the front, and another 2,000,000
guarding Moscow, and other major cities.
Hitler had three main
groups to attack the Soviet
Union along an almost one
thousand mile long front.
He had the Army Group
North, Center, and South.
There plan was to attack as
much land as possible.
Hitler started is blitzkrieg
with bombing naval and air
bases destroying almost a
quarter of the Soviet Unions
Air Force.
From March 1941 until October
1945, the United States
provided the Russians with
15,000 aircraft, 7,000 tanks,
350,000 tons of explosives,
51,000 jeeps, 375,000 trucks,
2,000 locomotives, 11,000 rail
wagons, 3 million tons of
gasoline, and 15 million pairs of
boots. Britain contributed
another 5,000 tanks and 7,000
aircraft.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/ww2/barbarossa.html
The beginning of the downfall of German soldiers wasn’t
really inflicted by any Soviet force. The Germans had not
prepared for the length that the battle took place, and
has estimated that it would have ended a lot sooner.
Therefore, the soldiers weren’t suited for the harsh
winter weather. The cold was wearing down the troops,
and there was nothing to harvest from the land since it
was covered in snow. They didn’t pack enough clothing or
medicinal aid for their siege to take over the Soviet
Union.
On October 19, 1941 Stalin declares that there is a siege at
Moscow, known as “Operation Typhoon,” and orders heavy
resistance to defend the ongoing German Army. Severe frost
and cold weather weakens the attacking soldiers, as Stalin’s
army strengthens. On December 6, 1941 the Soviets initiated
another major counterattack on the German army, and this
force blew back the Army Group Center away from Moscow.
By December 13, 1941 Moscow had been fully defended. On
June 28, 1942, Hitler begins his attacks on Stalingrad. Many
fronts have now been halted by Soviet Forces, but the last
and final battle that stopped Hitler’s army was on January 31,
1943 when the German military leader Marshall Paulus was
trapped and surrendered. The Nazi army was no longer in
power.
Hitler thought that attacking Stalin’s
Soviet Union would give him a great
amount of space, and natural resources.
He didn’t think that they would have
much resistance, and that overtaking the
USSR, he would gain more power, than if
he’d attacked anywhere else.
If Hitler hadn’t attacked the Soviet Union when he
did, he could have expanded in other areas, and
gotten more people and resources to then attack the
USSR. Hitler got so power hungry, that he just went
for the biggest kill he could find. In this case, the
outcome was reversed and Hitler’s army got killed
instead. If Hitler would have tried to expand his
power in Europe, he could have gotten more people
to fight, and more time to plan his attack on the
Soviet Union and then may have come out
successful.
Bard, Mitchell G. “Operation Barbarossa.” The Complete Idiots Guide to WWII. Alpha
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/ww2/barbarossa.html
Books 2004. 31 May 2011.
COPYRIGHT © UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM, WASHINGTON, D.C JANUARY 6,
2011. 5/31/201 http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005164
Daniels, Michaels W. "New Evidence on the 1941 'Barbarossa' Attack: Why Hitler
Attacked Soviet Russia When He Did." The Journal for Historical Review
18.3 (1999): 40. Institute for Historical Review. Web. 31 May 2011.
<http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v18/v18n3p40_Michaels.html>.
Tedor, Richard. “Why Hitler Invaded Soviet Union.” The Scriptorium 2002. 31 May 31,
2011.
www.wintersonnenwende.com/scriptorium/english/archives/articles/stalwarplans.html
“The Invasion of the Soviet Union” 31 May 2011
http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0212881/ir.html
Webb, Chris. “Operation Barbarossa.” Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team 31 May 31, 2011
http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/nazioccupation/opbarb.html