Operation Barbarossa: Difference between revisions

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A strategic surprise to [[Joseph Stalin]] and the [[Soviet Union]], '''Operation Barbarossa''' was the German code name for its invasion of Russia on 22 June 1941.  Stalin had believed the [[Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact]] promising nonaggression from the Germans.
A strategic surprise to [[Joseph Stalin]] and the [[Soviet Union]], '''Operation Barbarossa''' was the German code name for its invasion of Russia on 22 June 1941.  Stalin had believed the [[Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact]] promising nonaggression from the Germans.
==Stalin's failure to prepare==
==Failure to prepare==
Both Stalin and [[Adolf Hitler]], in various ways, were unprepared for the reality of the conflict. Stalin was surprised, tactically and strategically, by the invasion. Hitler was overconfident in a quick victory.
===Stalin===
[[Stalin]] received a warning document, in May 1939, about ''The Future Plans of Aggression by Fascist Germany,'' based on a German briefing obtained by Soviet spies in Warsaw. A Soviet agent first reported that [[Hitler]] planned to declare war on the Soviet Union in March 1941, and refined the estimate, by February 28, to May 20.
[[Stalin]] received a warning document, in May 1939, about ''The Future Plans of Aggression by Fascist Germany,'' based on a German briefing obtained by Soviet spies in Warsaw. A Soviet agent first reported that [[Hitler]] planned to declare war on the Soviet Union in March 1941, and refined the estimate, by February 28, to May 20.


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*50 of the 57 corps commanders
*50 of the 57 corps commanders
*154 of the 186 division commanders
*154 of the 186 division commanders
==Hitler's failure to prepare==
==Hitler ==
==Order of battle==
==Initial order of battle==
===Germany===
===Germany===
*Army Group North ([[Wilhelm von Leeb]]), (20 divisions)
*[[Army Group North (Russian Front)]] ([[Wilhelm von Leeb]]), (20 divisions)
**XVIII Army ([[Georg von Kuechler]]))
**[[Eighteenth German Army]] ([[Georg von Kuechler]]))
**IV Panzergruppe ([[Erich von Hoepner]])
**IV Panzergruppe ([[Erich von Hoepner]])
**XVI Army ([[Ernst Busch]])
**[[Sixteenth German Army]] ([[Ernst Busch]])
**Luftflotte I ([[Alfred Keller]])
**Luftflotte I ([[Alfred Keller]])
**[[Einsatzgruppe A]] ([[Franz Walter Stahlecker]])
**[[Einsatzgruppe A]] ([[Franz Walter Stahlecker]])


*Army Group Center ([[Fedor von Bock]]) (51 divisions)
*[[Army Group Center (Russian Front)]]  ([[Fedor von Bock]]) (51 divisions)
**III Panzergruppe ([[Hermann Hoth]])
**III Panzergruppe ([[Hermann Hoth]])
**IX Army ([[Adolf Strauss]])
**[[Ninth German Army]] ([[Adolf Strauss]])
**IV Army ([[Guenther von Kluge]])
**[[Fourth German Army]] ([[Guenther von Kluge]])
**II Panzergruppe ([[Heinz Guderian]])
**II Panzergruppe ([[Heinz Guderian]])
**Luftflotte II ([[Albert Kesselring]])
**Luftflotte II ([[Albert Kesselring]])
**[[Einsatzgruppe B]] ([[Artur Nebe]])
**[[Einsatzgruppe B]] ([[Artur Nebe]])


*Army Group South ([[Gerd von Rundstedt]]) (40 divisions; 14 Rumanian divisions; Hungarian Army Corps)
*[[Army Group South(Russian Front)]] ([[Gerd von Rundstedt]]) (40 divisions; 14 Rumanian divisions; Hungarian Army Corps)
**VI Army ([[Walter von Reichenau]])
**VI Army ([[Walter von Reichenau]])
**I Panzergruppe ([[Ewald von Kleist]])
**I Panzergruppe ([[Ewald von Kleist]])
**XVII Army ([[Carl-Heinrich von Stuelpnagel]])
**XVII Army ([[Carl-Heinrich von Stuelpnagel]])
**Hungarian Army Corps (Carpathian Group)
**Hungarian Army Corps (Carpathian Group)
**III Rumanian Army ([[Petre Dumitrescu]])
**[[Third Rumanian Army]] ([[Petre Dumitrescu]])
**XI Army ([[Eugen von Schobert]])
**[[Ninth Russian Army]] ([[Eugen von Schobert]])
***Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia
***Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia
***[[Einsatzgruppe D]] ([[Otto Ohlendorf]])
***[[Einsatzgruppe D]] ([[Otto Ohlendorf]])
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===Soviet Union===
===Soviet Union===
*Baltic Special Military District (Kuznetsov) 26 Divisions including 6 armoured ones; became Northern Front ([[Markian Popov]])
*Baltic Special Military District (Kuznetsov) 26 Divisions including 6 armoured ones; became Northern Front ([[Markian Popov]])
**8th Army (Sobennikov)
**[[Eighth Red Army]](Sobennikov)
**11th Army (Morosov)
**[[Eleventh Red Army]] (Morosov)
*27th Army (Berzarin)
**[[Twenty-seventh Red Army]] (Berzarin)
**Western Special Military District (Pavlov) faced Army Group Centre 36 divisions including 10 armoured ones; became Northwestern Front ([[Fyodor Kuznetsov]])
**Western Special Military District (Pavlov) faced Army Group Center 36 divisions including 10 armored ones; became Northwestern Front ([[Fyodor Kuznetsov]])
**3rd Army (Kuznetsov)
**[[Third Red Army]] (Kuznetsov)
**10th Army (Golubev)
**10th Army (Golubev)
**4th Army (Korobkov
**4th Army (Korobkov

Revision as of 14:30, 8 January 2011

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A strategic surprise to Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa was the German code name for its invasion of Russia on 22 June 1941. Stalin had believed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact promising nonaggression from the Germans.

Failure to prepare

Both Stalin and Adolf Hitler, in various ways, were unprepared for the reality of the conflict. Stalin was surprised, tactically and strategically, by the invasion. Hitler was overconfident in a quick victory.

Stalin

Stalin received a warning document, in May 1939, about The Future Plans of Aggression by Fascist Germany, based on a German briefing obtained by Soviet spies in Warsaw. A Soviet agent first reported that Hitler planned to declare war on the Soviet Union in March 1941, and refined the estimate, by February 28, to May 20.

This intelligence was corroborated by sources in Bucharest, Budapest, Sofia and Rome, to say nothing of the information provided by the spy Richard Sorge (code-named Ramsay) in Tokyo [1] in which the authors detail the undercover operations of the spy ring headed by Richard Sorge and Hotsumi Ozaki which transmitted highly secret information from Tokyo to the Soviet Union between 1933 and 1941. On April 17 a Prague informant predicted a German invasion in the second half of June. The precise date and time of the invasion were revealed by a reliable source in Berlin fully three days before the Germans attacked.

All of this Stalin ignored. Typically, he scrawled on the bottom of the Prague report: English provocation! Investigate! On May 19, Sorge predicted that 150 divisions were being readied by the Germans for an invasion of the Soviet Union. Stalin retorted with an expletive.

The result was that literally nothing was done to prepare for the German assault. Soviet planes were not camouflaged. Troops were not in defensive positions; indeed they were ordered not to occupy such positions, for fear of provoking the Germans.

Worse, Stalin had to the gathering storm with yet another purge of suspected threats to his own authority, having had shot Mikhail Tukhachevsky and:

  • 2 of the oher 5 Marshals
  • 13 of the 15 army commanders (full generals) and 8 of the 9 equivalent admirals
  • 50 of the 57 corps commanders
  • 154 of the 186 division commanders

Hitler

Initial order of battle

Germany

Soviet Union

  • Baltic Special Military District (Kuznetsov) 26 Divisions including 6 armoured ones; became Northern Front (Markian Popov)
  • Kiev Special Military District (Kirponos faced Army Group South 56 divisions including 16 armoured divisions
    • 5th Army (Potapov)
    • 6th Army (Muzychenko)
    • 26th Army (Kostenko)
    • 12th Army (Ponedelin)
  • Odessa Special Military District (Tyulenev) which faced Army Group South 14 divisions including 2 armoured divisions
    • 9th Army (Cherevichenko)

References

  1. Gordon Prange (1984). Target Tokyo: The Story of the Sorge Spy Ring. McGraw-Hill. 

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