Politics makes strange bedfellows – and what can be classified as perhaps the strangest international bedfellow mix was that of Nazi Germany and the communist Soviet Union.
Hitler, a rabid anti-Communist, agreed with the Soviet Union to partition Poland in 1939. He had planned all along to destroy the country, but needed to secure one border while he waged war in the West against France, Britain, Belgium, and the Low Countries.
Hitler had the plans for attacking the Soviet Union drawn up in in the fall of 1940, but the stubbornness of Great Britain in withstanding the attacks of the German air force and naval units at home and abroad, postponed the plans for a year. In 1941 – despite the continued resistance of Britain at home and in North Africa, Hitler decided he had to destroy his ideological enemy, the Soviet Union. Actually, Josef Stalin, the dictator of the Soviet Union, had foreseen an upcoming war with Germany – but on his terms and his plans, which involved plans for an attack against Germany in July of 1941.
While Operation Barbarossa was scheduled to start on May 15, 1941, but difficulties in the Balkans – where German forces rushed in to assist the Italians in Greece and Crete – and the sending of the Afrika Corps to North Africa temporarily drained some of the troops and equipment needed
At 3:15 a.m. on Sunday, June 22, 1941, the largest invasion in history began – some 3.9 million German and allied soldiers, 3580 tanks, 7184 artillery guns, 1830 planes and 750,000 horses. The delay in launching the attack was costly – Hitler made the same mistakes as Napoleon did in 1812, seeking to conquer territory and cities and placing a priority on complete destruction of the enemy’s military machine. His troops were stopped at the gates of Moscow, and the next four years would be long, bloody, and epic in their suffering and destruction.
While arguably Hitler made many blunders during World War II, this was perhaps the biggest one, setting up a two-front war, leaving a defiant England behind, draining troops and equipment that was needed on other fronts (most specifically North Africa), and repeating the mistakes of Napoleon from almost a hundred and thirty years before.
Overextended supply lines, underestimating the resiliency of their opponents, faulty intelligence, overextension of German forces involved in a two (actually three, including North Africa at the time) front war would cause a catastrophic failure that in the end would result in the destruction of Germany.
I can’t help but wonder if historians will look back and lay an ‘Operation Barbarossa’ at America’s feet – and what that act will be. Is such an event in our near or distant future – or has it already occurred and we don’t realize it.
Essential Question: How can we best utilize events of the past in an engaging and interactive way to create an understanding of the wider scope of history to our students?
Hitler, a rabid anti-Communist, agreed with the Soviet Union to partition Poland in 1939. He had planned all along to destroy the country, but needed to secure one border while he waged war in the West against France, Britain, Belgium, and the Low Countries.
Hitler had the plans for attacking the Soviet Union drawn up in in the fall of 1940, but the stubbornness of Great Britain in withstanding the attacks of the German air force and naval units at home and abroad, postponed the plans for a year. In 1941 – despite the continued resistance of Britain at home and in North Africa, Hitler decided he had to destroy his ideological enemy, the Soviet Union. Actually, Josef Stalin, the dictator of the Soviet Union, had foreseen an upcoming war with Germany – but on his terms and his plans, which involved plans for an attack against Germany in July of 1941.While Operation Barbarossa was scheduled to start on May 15, 1941, but difficulties in the Balkans – where German forces rushed in to assist the Italians in Greece and Crete – and the sending of the Afrika Corps to North Africa temporarily drained some of the troops and equipment needed
At 3:15 a.m. on Sunday, June 22, 1941, the largest invasion in history began – some 3.9 million German and allied soldiers, 3580 tanks, 7184 artillery guns, 1830 planes and 750,000 horses. The delay in launching the attack was costly – Hitler made the same mistakes as Napoleon did in 1812, seeking to conquer territory and cities and placing a priority on complete destruction of the enemy’s military machine. His troops were stopped at the gates of Moscow, and the next four years would be long, bloody, and epic in their suffering and destruction.
While arguably Hitler made many blunders during World War II, this was perhaps the biggest one, setting up a two-front war, leaving a defiant England behind, draining troops and equipment that was needed on other fronts (most specifically North Africa), and repeating the mistakes of Napoleon from almost a hundred and thirty years before.
Overextended supply lines, underestimating the resiliency of their opponents, faulty intelligence, overextension of German forces involved in a two (actually three, including North Africa at the time) front war would cause a catastrophic failure that in the end would result in the destruction of Germany.
I can’t help but wonder if historians will look back and lay an ‘Operation Barbarossa’ at America’s feet – and what that act will be. Is such an event in our near or distant future – or has it already occurred and we don’t realize it.
Essential Question: How can we best utilize events of the past in an engaging and interactive way to create an understanding of the wider scope of history to our students?
Photo Resources:
01. German infantry: Discovery Channel
02. Invasion map: Century of Flight
03. Soviet poster during WW II: Soviet Library
02. Invasion map: Century of Flight
03. Soviet poster during WW II: Soviet Library
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