Operation Barbarossa: Germans advance on Moscow

A clip from the BBC documentary series "War of the Century". An excellent documentary, I strongly recommend buying it if you're interested in the subject. It features new archive material, including information about Stalin's peace offers to the Germans (in the summer and autumn of '41).

Some background information:
"Operation Barbarossa (German: Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 2,900 km (1,800 mile) front. It was the largest military offensive in history, and as well as the large number of troops it also involved 600,000 motor vehicles and 750,000 horses."

"The German strategic offensive named Operation Typhoon was planned to conduct two pincer offensives, one to the north of Moscow against the Kalinin Front by the 3rd and 4th Panzer Groups, simultaneously severing the Moscow - Leningrad railway, and another to the south of Moscow Oblast against the Western Front, south of Tula by the 2nd Panzer Army, while the 4th Army advanced directly towards Moscow from the west. A separate operational German plan, codenamed Operation Wotan, was included in the final phase of the German offensive."

"Near Vyazma, the Western and Reserve fronts were quickly defeated by the highly mobile forces of the 3rd and 4th Panzer groups that exploited weak areas in the defenses and then quickly moved behind the Red Army lines. The defense setup, still under construction, was overrun as both German armored spearheads met at Vyazma on October 10, 1941. Four Soviet armies (the 19th, 20th, 24th and 32nd) were trapped in a huge pocket just west of the city."

"The magnitude of the initial Soviet defeat was appalling. According to German estimates, 673,000 soldiers were captured by the Wehrmacht in both pockets, although recent research suggests a significantly lower—but still enormous—figure of 514,000 prisoners, reducing Soviet strength by 41 %. The personnel losses (permament as well as temporary) calculated by the Soviet command are smaller but still enormous, namely 499,001. The desperate Red Army resistance, however, had greatly slowed the Wehrmacht. When, on October 10, 1941, the Germans arrived within sight of the Mozhaisk line, they found a well-prepared defensive setup and new, fresh Soviet forces. That same day, Georgy Zhukov was recalled from Leningrad to take charge of the defense of Moscow."

"Frostbite and disease caused more casualties than combat, and dead and wounded had already reached 155,000 in three weeks. Some divisions were now at fifty percent strength. The bitter cold also caused severe problems for their guns and equipment, and weather conditions grounded the Luftwaffe. Newly built-up Soviet units near Moscow now numbered over 500,000 men and on 5 December they launched a massive counterattack which pushed the Germans back over 320 kilometers (200 miles)"

Category:

Education

Tags:

• world
• war
• operation
• barbarossa
• soviet
• union
• nazi
• germany
• hitler
• stalin

[RaceismyCreed]

@4demolition No single country could have ever defeated Germany in this time. It took over 50 countries to do so and invading Russia was not a mistake. They would have won had not an early Russian winter come, you know more German troops died to the cold then actual soldiers in the initial invasion. This gave time for British military to rebuild and launch bombings with American fighter planes on Germany cities and factories while Germans were dying to the ice cold in Russia.

[bammerburn]

@Rautaristi86 90% of Nazi causalities were done by the Soviets. They absorbed the brunt of the Nazi monster. They would've done fine without our invasion of Europe. We have much to thank them for.

[MrAndidavenport]

"...and Russian troops were so cowardly..."

offensive nazi bastard, obviously he never got sent to Stalingrad. It was .the Russians stopped the wermacht, they just refused to give up. Paratroopers dropping into snowdrifts because they had no parachutes...their main ally was the austrian corporal dementing with syphylis. Victory to the red army!

[shahidjkful]

Hitler did great service not only to europe but entire world BECAUSE stalin was already about to attack on germany and then annexing wqhole europe including britain to communist.though hitler barbarossa apparently failed but not totally barbarossa saved today europe from tyrant clutches of stalinist communism

[fluffy1931]

@bammerburn lol,..The Soviet Union & Nazi Germany both 'BFF' in a military alliance since even before 1939' Ribbentropp-Molotov-Pact which carved up eastern europe into spheres of influence and both invaded Poland together. As early as 1922' both exchanged military attaches & conducted joint military excercises with Soviet Union providing the German luftwaffe valuable training airfields etc. Up until the day of Germanys cockblocking their 'BFF' on 22 June 1941.

[Rautaristi86]

Usa saved soviets ass!!!

[kevin5fan]

@SuperBomber01 hitler invented the blitzkreig which was probably the why he was able to conquer almost all of europe, his defeat was caused by radical decisions.

[Alexsuper15]

@MrMazos1978 Dam nazi dogs good that in the end soviets had the uper hand

[MrMazos1978]

that old man is a nazi still loyal..crap..human being