Download Eastern Front - BellWorldHistory

• Lebensraum-Living
Space
• Must clear out E.
Europe for German
settlement
Dream of Lebensraum
– Remove Jews
– Enslave the Slavs
• Slavs-Untermenschen“Sub-human”
• GB-Not a threat– U-boats still successful
in the Atlantic
• Himmler tried to
convince Hitler not to
invade
Operation
Barbarossa
• Hitler never impressed with
Soviet Army
• Must win btwn May &
October 1941
– Used 183 divisions
– Didn’t want to fight in Winter
– Why Not?
• Soviets still have formidable
force: Remember their
vastness
– 170 infantry divisions (only
54% of their strength)
– 46 armored divisions
– 20,000 Tanks-superior to the
Germans-KV &T34
– Weakness-Airforce
• Soviet Problem-Stalin’s
purges-eliminated a lot of
Soviet generals
The German Bliztkrieg
in the USSR
German 3-prong attackTook Soviets by surprise
•Army Group North-27
infantry divisions-Drive
thru Baltic States & take
Leningrad
•Army Group Center-42
infantry divisions-take
Moscow
•Army Group South-38
infantry divisions-take
Ukraine and Caucasus oil
fields
•Making way for German
settlements
•Eisatzgrubben- followed
killing Jews-many methods
1941 Summer
German Successes:
•Army Group NorthSurrounded LeningradPlaced in a seige-over
900 days
•Army Group CenterDrove within 18 miles of
Moscow-bogged down in
rain
•Army Group SouthDrove through Ukrainemade way to oil fieldsWhy important?
•Hitler wanted
Stalingrad- Why?
• Soviets used a scorched
earth policy
– Burned anything
– Took all that could be
moved
– Where have we seen this
before?
• General Winter
– Nov. 1941-Winter freezes
the wet soil
– German troops without
winter supplies
– Soviets launch counterattack & retake ground
Hitler’s Greatest
Blunder
German Advances on Stalingrad, 1942
Hitler’s Second Great Blunder- Why does he want it?
Battle for Stalingradturning point of War
•Not strategically imp.
•Stalin’s City
•Hitler wanted it
•Germans took 90% of
city
•Street to Street
Fighting-Soviets lost
200,000 including
civilians
•Vassili Zaitsev-Soviet
sniper-raised morale of
Soviets
•Soviets defeat German
6th Army
Hitler’s Europe at the end of 1942
1943 Soviet
Counterattack
• Stalin had moved entire industrial force
east behind Urals (VAST!)
• Producing more equipment
– Tanks, Guns, Planes
• Battle at Kurszk– Hitler needed a victory after Stalingrad
– Largest tank battle ever
– German Tiger & Panzer tanks vs. Soviet
KV’s& T34’s
• Soviets Assembled:
– 1.3 million men; 3,600 tanks, 20,000
artillery pieces, & 2,400 aircraft
• Germans Assembled:
– 900,000 men, 2,700 tanks & 2,400 aircraft
Battle of
• Germans-pinch off the Soviet
bulge
– Soviets placed strong defenses
on front
– Wear down Germans
• Soviet counterattacked to
surround the Germans
– Close range fighting ensued
– German tanks ineffective
without machine gun protection
• Germans forever on the
defensive
Kurszk
– Had to divert troops to Sicily
– Kept Germans away from oil
fields
Where are the
Allies?
• By end of 1943 Soviet fighting
Germans by themselves for 2
1/2 years
• Stalin demands opening of a
second front Why?
– Must fight/defend along an 1,800
mile front
• Late 1943 Allies land in Sicily
& then Italy
• Not until June 6, 1944 do
Allies invade France
– By this time, Soviets are steadily
pushing Germans back
• How do you think this affected
Soviet/US relations?
• After Battle of Kurszk
1944 Soviet Advances
– Soviets steadily moving west
– Soviet Industrial capability now
hitting full stride
• Soviets advance from one
river to the next
– Volga, Don, Dnieper, Dniester
– Vistula (Poland), Elbe
(Germany)
• Early 1944 liberated Ukraine
& rescued Lenningrad
• Fall 1944: liberate Belarus,
invaded Romania & Baltic
States
• Took two years to go from
Kurszk to Berlin
• Why do you think so?
– What can the Germans do at
each river?
• Take every inch of Soviet soil
back from the Reich
• A lot like the Western Allies
Plan
• Long & Protracted war
1945 Soviet Strategy
– Cost the Soviets literally millions
of lives
– Soviets were ruthless towards the
Germans- Why?
• Once in Poland-drive for
Germany
– How does geography affect the
path of the Soviets?
• Stalin determined to be in
Berlin by May 1, 1945
– Had to make a final push to Berlin
– Why do you think Stalin wanted to
get there first?
Battle of
Seelow Heights
• Large Plateau outside of Berlin-35
miles away
– Easy to defend
– Needed to take before Berlin
– Not since 1200’s had Berlin been
attacked from East
• Was a battle of attrition• 1st day Soviet Casualties:
– 75 tanks, 2,250 killed, 3,400 wounded,
12 fighter-bombers lost
– Germans-2 tanks, 300 men, 10 planes
• In 3 days, only 2Km had been gained
• One week long
– Killed: Red Army-30,000 Germans80,000
• Soviets just had too many men &
supplies
• By April 12 in the suburbs of Berlin
• Soviets-1.3 million men to attack
• Soviets had a military advantageOutnumbered Germans
–
–
–
–
Men 5 to 1
Guns 15 to 1
Tanks 5 to 1
Planes 3 to 1
• Intense Street to Street Fighting
– Berlin reduced to rubble
• Soviets lost 600,000 men
• Hitler committed suicide April 30
in his bunker
• Stalin on Hitler’s death:
– "So that's the end of the bastard. Too
bad it was impossible to take him
alive."
• City surrendered May, 2
• May 8-Victory in Europe
Battle of Berlin
April 16, 1945