On December 18, 1940, Hitler signed Directive Number 21, better known as Operation Barbarossa.

The first
sentence of the plan was explicit: "The German armed forces must be ready before the end of the war
against Great Britain to defeat the Soviet Union by means of Blitzkrieg.

Operation Barbarossa

By Camilla and Sonia

Assess the Vocab

reasons for the -Operation Barbarossa

German defeat -Blitzkrieg

in Operation
Barbarossa.
 What was Operation
Barbarossa?

What were the reasons for

An Sd.Kfz-250 half-track in front of German tank
units, as they prepare for an attack, on July 21,
the defeat of the Germans
1941, somewhere along the Russian war front,
during the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
in Operation Barbarossa?

Break it down Which reason is the most

Assess the reasons for significant,why?

the German defeat in

Operation Barbarossa.
What Happened?
Germans invaded the USSR on the 22nd June 1941

Biggest operation of WW2

-3 million Axis troops and 3,500 tanks
-Blitzkrieg (“lightning war”) strategy
attack

When the attack happened, the Russian forces

were annihilated since Stalin killed off most
of his army generals during the Purges
-Stalin refused to believe that the
attack did indeed happen
-He locked himself in his house for three Hitler and his advisers
discussing the attack plans
days on the USSR
What Happened?
Objectives:

-The Baltic states and Leningrad in the north

-Moscow in the centre
-The economic resources of the Ukraine and
southern Russia in the south

Over 800,000 losses from the Russian part

-Russia didn’t care
-Stalin refused to let his army retreat.. Ex.
General Demitry Pavlov was forced to retreat and
within six days, the German Army had captured the
city. When he heard the news Stalin told Lavrenty
Beria: "This is a monstrous crime. Those
responsible must lose their heads."
All of this, and Germany still lost. Why?
 Reasons Germany Lost
Russian
soldiers, left,
marched back to
the rear of the
German lines on
July 2, 1941,
as a column of
1. Soviet war strategy Nazi troops
move up to the
2. Germany overstretched. front
3. Hitler’s fault.
● Despite the enormous losses of the Soviet (250,000 were lost in a big encirclement around Minsk at
the end of June, 180,000 were taken prisoner at Smolensk), the Germans didn’t have an enormous impact
on the Soviets. They had underestimated the Soviet Union’s resources and didn’t expect them to fight
back.
○ “The resistance also became stiffer, and the Russians began to cover their front with
minefields. It was easier for them to block the way because there were so few roads.” In 1948
General Guenther Blumentritt told Basil Liddell Hart (english historian) about the problems that
the German Army had during the invasion of the Soviet Union.
○ “We have seriously underestimated the Russians, the extent of their country and the treachery of
their climate. This is the revenge of reality.” Colonel-General Guderian, November 9 1941, in a
letter to his wife.
● The Germans ran out of resources and had to temporarily stop for supplies, giving time to the Soviet
Union. Also a lot of their tanks were difficult to bring around with them. “It was appallingly
difficult country for tank movement - great virgin forests, widespread swamps, terrible roads, and
bridges not strong enough to bear the weight of tanks.”In 1948 General Guenther Blumentritt told
Basil Liddell Hart about the problems that the German Army had during the invasion of the Soviet
Union.
Reasons Germany Lost
● Hitler insisted that the divisions of Army Group Centre, which were advancing on Moscow,
○ Diverted to overcome resistance in the north and south,
○ Took more time and the operation didn’t resume until October,
○ Renamed operation Typhoon.
● Germans were only 90 miles from Moscow,
○ Germans were forced to stop
■ heavy Russian resistance, mud and rain, and German casualties.
● By the start of December, the Germans were close to Moscow,
○ German army to retreat
○ Heavy Soviet counterattack, supported by T-34 tanks,
● Russian winter set in
○ It was impossible for the Germans to continue fighting,
○ Didn’t have the protection necessary, and were forced to abandon.

“The Intelligence had information that 600 to 700 tanks a month were coming out of the Russian
factories, in the Ural Mountains and elsewhere. When Halder told him of this, Hitler slammed
the table and said it was impossible. He would not believe what he did not want to believe.”
In 1948 General Guenther Blumentritt told Basil Liddell Hart about the problems that the
German Army had during the invasion of the Soviet Union
Significance of the Battle
German losses over 775,000

Russian losses over 800,00

The Soviet army was not swayed by the enormous losses and were still
relentless in their defenses

Showed the world the strength and carelessness of the Soviet military
strategy. They were the first to defeat the Germans.

When Germany turned their attention from the Battle of Britain to invading
the USSR, it guaranteed their loss of the war. Also it gave hope to Britain
for a two front war.

Not the most significant because it had no impact on the west.


Answer the Question
Assess the reasons for the
German defeat in Operation
Barbarossa.
● Operation Barbarossa was an attack led by
Hitler on the USSR on June 22nd 1941
● Soviet war strategy → Stalin refused to let
the army retreat and refused to give up. The
Germans had underestimated their resources
and didn’t expect them to fight back so
soon.
Germany overstretched → Germany wanted to
conquer not only Russia, but also the
Ukraine, thus the army wasn’t concentrated
and strong in one point, didn’t have enough
resources, and attacked in different places
with weaker armies.
Even though these two reasons were
important the most significant reason is:
Hitler is the most significant reason from
the German defeat → A lot of sources
assured Hitler that the Russian army was
stronger than he thought, but he didn’t
listen, and this caused the war to extend,
going into the winter, and the winter
caused the German army to retreat.
“The last German military attack in Moscow,
General Kostring - a very able man-had kept
us well informed about the state of the
Russian Army. But Hitler refused to credit
his information.”General Paul von Kliest was
interviewed by Basil Liddell Hart about Operation
Barbarossa in his book The Other Side of the
Hill (1948)
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