Operational Logic And Identifying Soviet Operational Centers Of Gravity During Operation Barbarossa, 1941
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The second phase was selected because it was during this phase that the focus of the German military effort became diverse. Two competing strategies within the German political and military command structure caused this. While political-ideological and economic factors influenced one, purely military concerns influenced the other. In the end, the Germans diluted combat power in phase two towards three operational objectives: Moscow, Leningrad, and the Ukraine.
Thus, the research question for this monograph is: Which, if any, of the German operational objectives for the second phase of the campaign were also Soviet operational centers of gravity?
The analysis of operational objectives uses Colonel William Mendel’s and Colonel Lamar Tooke’s analytical model called “Operational Logic: Selecting the Center of Gravity.” Potential centers of gravity are analyzed using a validity and a feasibility test.
This monograph concludes that Moscow was the operational center of gravity for the campaign by virtue of its direct and intrinsic relationship to the strategic center of gravity—the Soviet Military.
Major David J. Bongi
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Operational Logic And Identifying Soviet Operational Centers Of Gravity During Operation Barbarossa, 1941 - Major David J. Bongi
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Text originally published in 1994 under the same title.
© Pickle Partners Publishing 2015, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Publisher’s Note
Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.
We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.
OPERATIONAL LOGIC AMD IDENTIFYING SOVIET OPERATIONAL CENTERS OF GRAVITY DURING OPERATION BARBAROSSA, 1941
by
MAJ David J. Bongi, USA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS 4
ABSTRACT 5
I. INTRODUCTION 6
Methodology 7
II. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPT OF CENTER OF GRAVITY 9
III. GERMAN STRATEGY: OPERATION BARBAROSSA 16
Strategic Setting 16
Political-Ideological and Economic Aims: Operation Barbarossa 17
Military Forces 18
Other Factors—Time, Space, and Terrain 20
Military Strategy 20
Strategic Objectives 21
Strategic Center of Gravity 22
Operational Plans 22
Operational Objectives 23
IV. ANALYZING GERMAN OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVES 25
The Validity Test 26
Leningrad 27
Ukraine 27
Moscow 28
The Feasibility Test 30
V. CONCLUSIONS 32
APPENDIX A—KEY TERMS 33
APPENDIX B: OPERATIONAL AREA MAP 34
REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 35
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 36
BOOKS 36
GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS 37
ARTICLES 37
ABSTRACT
This monograph examines Soviet operational centers of gravity during Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Specifically, the examination focuses in two areas: (1) German planning for Operation Barbarossa; (2) the operational objectives selected for the second phase of the campaign.
The second phase was selected because it was during this phase that the focus of the German military effort became diverse. Two competing strategies within the German political and military command structure caused this. While political-ideological and economic factors influenced one, purely military concerns influenced the other. In the end, the Germans diluted combat power in phase two towards three operational objectives: Moscow, Leningrad, and the Ukraine.
Thus, the research question for this monograph is: Which, if any, of the German operational objectives for the second phase of the campaign were also Soviet operational centers of gravity?
The analysis of operational objectives uses Colonel William Mendel’s and Colonel Lamar Tooke’s analytical model called Operational Logic: Selecting the Center of Gravity.
Potential centers of gravity are analyzed using a validity and a feasibility test.
This monograph concludes that Moscow was the operational center of gravity for the campaign by virtue of its direct and intrinsic relationship to the strategic center of gravity—the Soviet Military.
I. INTRODUCTION
At 0330 on 22 June 1941, the German Army invaded the Soviet Union. Operation Barbarossa, the code name for the invasion, involved more than three million men, 3,350 tanks, and 7,134 artillery pieces.{1} With the war still unfinished in the West, Germany opened a second front,