Operation Barbarossa: The Invasion That Doomed Nazi Germany | How The Nazis Lost | War Stories

[Applause] when you're the Aryan Master race friends don't come naturally people outside the room can hear you know the fists pounding on the table and voices raised there's a great degree of mistrust there however when a World War loans allies become essential we won't attack you if you get involved in a war we won't attack you if you get involved in a war [Music] through the relationship that particularly well with only dictators and despots to choose from the risks are high I suppose this phrase Beggars can't be choosers and the end results this is enormous disasters unprecedented disasters dysfunction at almost every level [Music] thank you [Music] November 1918. Germany had just lost the war she was about to sign a deeply humiliating and financially crippling treaty and she had no friends but this was just how she liked it or at least the right-wing opportunist did by placing the burden of guilt entirely on an embarrassed Germany and by imposing impossibly harsh reparation payments the West unwittingly created the ideal conditions for populist politics and demagoguery to prosper unrest resentment and anger simmered in a desperate and disillusioned public [Music] house and Hitler played them like a violin ruthlessly capitalizing on the massive National sulk Germany had been experiencing since defeat he fermented a xenophobic hatred of Outsiders while encouraging the classic victim hero complex on a grand scale and guess who's putting his hand up for the hero goal with the rise of national socialism and Hitler's coming to power in the early 30s all the elements were in place for another massive global conflict Hitler was politician driven by ideology and that ideology was ultimately confrontational and demanded a great deal from other countries in terms of having to sacrifice economic power or maybe even territory and Hitler wasn't afraid of Confrontation even if the other countries were as a result of that his the ideology was based upon military power and ultimately military confrontation if required and so in a sense what Hitler was asking for was not going to be given without a fight as World War II loomed the closest friendships Germany could claim were nothing more than uncomfortable uneasy alliances yet they needed allies or at least short-term sham friendships their choices were limited on the available list was an international prior to the east in Russia but a communist state was hardly a natural fit with fascist Germany there was a like-minded predator in fascist Italy and a hyper militaristic Japan with friends like those who needed enemies on September the 27th 1940 Italian foreign minister count galiatsucciano El Duce son-in-law arrived in Berlin from Rome at 1pm in the Reich Chancery it was announced that Japan Germany and Italy had signed a military Alliance directed against the United States [Music] the Axis powers aligned in a pact with the devil but all these relationships were doomed from the start tenuous and disinterested at best toxic and sabotaging at worst Germany's choice of strange bedfellows would come back to haunt them and they would ultimately pay a high price for those decisions [Music] Dawn June 22nd 1941 German bombers are attacking Russian cities from Leningrad to Sebastopol it marked the start of the largest military operation in the history of the world Operation Barbarossa it was also to become the bloodiest [Music] but Russia and Germany were supposedly Bound by a non-aggression pact so how did it come to this welcome to a world of Deceit and double dealing between wartime friends history hit is an award-winning streaming platform built by history fans for history fans by subscribing to history hit you can access hundreds of hours of military history documentaries On Demand follow in the footsteps of the Essex dogs with Dan Jones will discover the history of archery with Ramirez we've built up an extensive library of history programs hundreds of hours of documentaries exclusive original films interviews and ad-free podcasts made for proper history fans sign up now for a free trial and War Stories fans get 50 of their first three months just be sure to use the code War Stories at checkout Germany and Russia had been building a secret tryst since the early twenties since they first began making eyes at each other they were always going to make strange bedfellows since any military development had been prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles Germany needed a place to begin rearming out at the prying eyes of the West Soviet Russia was the perfect spot [Music] in the early 1930s there is actual military cooperation between the Soviets and the Germans we have German officers going secretly to the Soviet Union and there they're subverting the the their constraints of the Treaty of Versailles and they are testing Weaponry aircraft and tanks that Germany is not allowed to have the benefit for the Soviets is they're getting the virtue of this learning curve they're getting the insight into how German staff work and they are also taking photos of some of the pieces of equipment that the Germans are developing in those spaces implacable ideological enemies neither side was ever comfortable with the relationship but it was the Germans who did best out of the deal it accounts for the fact that when Hitler rearms after taking power in 1933 he already has the basis for the the reconfiguration of the Vermont the German Armed Forces into you know you know into tank divisions infantry divisions he already has the basis for a big Air Force the lufafa he's got the shape of the of the of the Creek's Marina the the Nazi Navy worked out it's also good for the Russians the Russians are poised to become what they are in 1949 the biggest mechanized military in the world thanks in large part to the training and Technology transfer has given them by the Germans in the 1920s and 1930s the Soviets might have secured a bigger Advantage from their relationship had Stalin not set out on a murderous Purge of the Red Army leadership in 1937. with the world lurching towards War it was a policy of utter Madness Stalin basically kills off almost every Marshal in the Soviet Army kills off almost every Army Commander core Commander divisional Commander kills eight of nine admirals because he fears that they've become tainted by this collaboration with the Germans what he was left with was nothing but incompetence at the top of his military [Music] shooting himself in the foot but such is the mammoth weight of the Soviet Union in terms of Manpower and Industrial resources its ability to replace these people with often less capable commanders but good enough that they survive I don't know Stalin was under no apprehension as to Hitler's intentions after all he was a man after his own heart he'd already walked into Austria and those areas of Czechoslovakia known as the sedating land inhabited predominantly by German speakers having been unable to reach an agreement with Britain and France against Nazi Germany with whom he'd been playing footsie behind Hitler's back Stalin was left dangerously exposed [Music] the problem for the Soviets is they see what happens to Czechoslovakia and they start to realize those Western Powers have walked away from their Eastern Ally they've left them in the Lurch and therefore if we're interested in security we cannot rely on those Western powers and this starts to change the idea for Stalin who's looking always to buy time by early 1939 he faced the daunting Prospect of having to resist German expansion into the East all alone for his part Hitler needed a pact with Russia so he could invade Poland on a post after which he could deal with Britain and France to the West importantly he wouldn't have to worry about fighting the Russians at the same time in the east but Hitler was always going to betray Russia and Stalin knew it [Music] on May the 3rd 1939 foreign ministers monotoff and ribbon trop with Stalin Gravely looking on signed a non-aggression pact between Russia and Germany how they all kept a straight face remains one of the great achievements of totalitarian International diplomacy the molotov Ruben trough pact is going to buy the Soviet Army more time to build weaponry and it's also going to give the Soviet Union the opportunity to watch Germany fight against other capitalist powers and hopefully wear each other down over years for Hitler the idea is very simple this is a tactical maneuver this is going to allow him to have a free hand to fight in Poland promptly put Poland to the sword and unfortunately for Stalin then conquered much of Western Europe easily the inevitable eventually rolled around Nazi Germany attacked Russia without warning in operation Barbarossa by June 1941 the agreement between Germany and Soviet Russia was dead and buried [Music] did Hitler betray Stalin it's hard to summon any sympathy for either of these two fruits you know uh I think they both knew what they were getting into by signing this pact with each other so they were both playing a very cynical game it's just that Hitler broke the agreement first Hitler had stabbed his partner in the back who in their right mind would ever trust the Nazis again as the self-proclaimed Master race there was no room for Germany to Foster any genuine or lasting International friendships however expedience ruled and the most natural match for the Nazis was their fellow fascist European power Italy the partnership between the two Powers was to prove an unmitigated disaster as reflected through the prison of the personal relations between Hitler and Mussolini [Music] you can make a case that both of them were Supreme narcissists now what happens if you put the two of them together do you have Atomic fission or nuclear explosion in psychological terms what you really have is the stronger narcissist will win out in the end and if you look at Mussolini he was a far more complex figure than Hitler and prone to obvious depression oh [Music] since 1925 the Italian people had been laboring under a fascist regime ruled over by Benito Mussolini or ilduche Italian fascism was regarded as the original and the best and very much the elder brother of Nazism [Music] thank you in 1922 when Mussolini LED thousands of fascists and supporters into the Italian capital in his divining march on Rome Hitler was hooked well Hitler's an is an early and Ardent admirer of Mussolini Mussolini is first on the scene he launches his fascist party before Hitler's Nazi party he executes the march on Rome in 1922 and insinuates himself into the Italian government appointed prime minister by the Italian king he immediately embarked on the fascistization of Italy with big public buildings parades fascist monuments Hitler is in awe of this Hitler at the time sort of in love with Mussolini and he emulates Mussolini over the coming years the two despots continue to Cozy up with Mussolini even providing some financial support to the rising Nazi party it's no surprise that in private Mussolini thought very little of Hitler in fact he considered him a socially awkward Galloping boar and of course as Mussolini had more than a touch of egomania about him he maintained that Hitler's rise to the top was far less glorious than his own he was the father of fascism Hitler merely a progeny to his genius and when Hitler came to power in 1933 Mussolini was quick to bask in reflected Glory claiming victory for himself and his own fascist ideology this fascist thing was really starting to catch on [Music] the first actual meeting between them in Venice in 1934 went very poorly Hitler is completely upstaged by Mussolini who arrives in fascist uniform and looks you know very martial and severe and Hitler shows up in sort of a baggy overcoat and a fedora hat he hasn't adopted the Nazi uniform yet and they're particularly exercised over the issue of Austria Mussolini says look you know hands off Austria it must remain independent and Hitler and Muslim get into this like raging argument people outside the room can hear you know the fists pounding on the table and voices raised they pretend to be good friends but they're beginning to drift apart strategically the meeting served as confirmation for both that neither man cared at all for the other [Music] you were not natural friends or colleagues but Germany required the Italian military machine to do its bidding if you like by proxy in North Africa for example and of course Italy was only too willing to do that Italy also recognized that for Mussolini to develop his own foreign policy aims he needed the the backing of a big military machine a nation that was more progressed more aggressive and more feared than his own by 1936 Mussolini was talking it up declaring that Nazi Germany and fascist Italy shared a common Destiny and that the relationship between the two was the axis around which Europe would evolve on March the 3rd 1938 the weirdness continued when Hitler arrived in Rome with enough Pomp and ceremony to please any dictator it was a wildly over-the-top welcome including a whole new train station constructed just for the Nazis arrival and a new road for Hitler to be driven along via Adolf Hitler however the king and the Vatican were decidedly called towards him and despite all the pageantry Mussolini refused Hitler's offer of military Alliance the Italians were hedging their bets finally the two reluctant friends came together and signed The Pact of Steel in 1939 formalizing the alliance with military Provisions join together by Mutual self-interest the two strong men of fashion view the results of their long struggle for dominance in Europe with unconcealed satisfaction but Mussolini had already comprehensively failed Hitler with his never-ending vacillation and maddening uncertainty his army was completely unprepared for war underfunded poorly equipped with poor leadership and training to match it didn't help that on the eve of War Mussolini fired his chief of staff with the dictator arrogantly taking on the role of micromanaging the military himself on top of this Italy was on the brink of bankruptcy by any measure a failing partnership and the war had not even begun [Music] Italy was a relatively weak country in terms of its economy its society and its um its military State as well Mussolini was desperately trying to raise the standard of of living in Italy was doing that very slowly but like many nations and many leaders in history they looked outside their own borders for a sense of power and gain that would perhaps unite the country around the leader and so provide great internal benefit and that's where of course Hitler and Germany's aims came into play when war finally arrived in September 1939 Italy did not support its Ally from the start instead Mussolini made the heroic decision to remain on the sidelines Mussolini very much wanted to see the way in which the wind was blowing he was an opportunist like Hitler and didn't want to attach himself to a nation that could possibly due to its grandiose Ames and the variety of Nations um against him eventually be defeated and he didn't want to go down with that particular sinking ship foreign and then when it becomes very clear in the French campaign that Germany is going to succeed Germany is going to conquer France remarkable as that may seem Mussolini is an opportunist like so many of these guys and sees the opportunity to be at that peace table and to get us through the real France a part of France that he's always wanted a as soon as Hitler becomes increasingly successful he decides it's it's an opportunity to show his colors finally Mussolini declares war on the allies [Applause] [Applause] and straight away made a mess of things so Mussolini has announced that he is going to join the war but he hasn't considered that 40 of his Merchant Navy is on the high seas or in foreign ports and will immediately be impounded that will all be lost to the Italians it was not a great start for the Italians and it didn't stop there one of the problems that the Italians have is that they're not made aware that the declaration of war on the Allies is coming so Mussolini is not just fighting on the Italian French border there is now a new border between Italian occupied Libya and the British possessions in Egypt and one of the first Maneuvers that takes place sees British forces instituting a short raid into Italian positions so a large number of Italian prisoners take place in the initial days of this war partly because those men don't know they're at War to add to this Hitler was keeping all his War plans secret from his allies under the guise that it would spoil the surprise Mussolini was not at all happy about his obvious relegation to Junior partner in the affair childlessly contrived way to pay Hitler back as he openly put it Mussolini had wanted Romania but Hitler had already moved in but if he couldn't have Romania in a typically bratty fit of jealousy he ordered his troops to strike out through Albania to try for Greece instead without informing the Germans of course that would show him uh you know the the Italians who are vaunted as this as a great power send you know 200 000 troops into Greece to fight sixty thousand Greeks and their roundly defeated they're not only like destroyed on the battlefield but they're chased back into Albania which they've conquered in 1939 and the Greeks helped themselves to a third of Albania what a shared Hitler was a debacle the man in Rome Charleston carries into his troops proclaims his early victories to the world and then Greece turns his armies upside down and throws them back at it drew Goldberg in the New York Germany was forced to rush to Italy's rescue sending in troops to drive out the British and Greek forces Hitler decided to dispatch one of his most respected gun commanders Albert kesslering to take control in the Mediterranean a great degree of mistrust there there is not a common sense of commitment to this war when Mussolini takes the decision to invade Greece he doesn't tell Hitler when Hitler takes the decision to invade the Soviet Union he doesn't tell Mussolini now if you had any kind of common cause if you had any kind of common Alliance you'd be setting similar objectives and you'd be working toward those objectives so when we talk about to what extent is their cooperation at the most basic level that cooperation is failing meanwhile things were going south in North Africa for the Italians [Music] in North Africa they invade Egypt hoping to take the Suez Canal and Destroy British power in the Mediterranean with over 200 000 troops facing about 40 000 British troops and they're roundly beaten by the British and uh which this is the occasion from Anthony Eden's famous quip that never in the history of warfare has so much been surrendered by so many to so few so they're really a liability foreign ER then decided General Rommel was to be dispatched in an effort to bring some order to the North African theater the whole thing proved a massive distraction as well as a train on German resources the Nazis were wondering what on Earth they'd got themselves into with the Italians [Music] the fact that Italy couldn't do that job on its own and eventually required increasing German resources was of course a great disadvantage to Adolf Hitler in Germany because just at the time he was invading the Soviet Union and that campaign was developing he was having to devote more resources unfortunately the Italians didn't have enough strength enough power enough capability to win those battles themselves and so the Germans find themselves drawn into theaters of war that were secondary to them in order to prop up their weak Ally [Music] support for the war effort continued to crumble as officials realized that they were staring at the catastrophic failure of the fascist regime overall we can see it as a failed relationship but when defeat looked as though um it was on the cards for um The Alliance certainly in Sicily that's when the Italian people really realized that uh Mussolini had led the nation astray [Music] the Allies quickly took Sicily now they were ready to move into Europe proper [Music] that Invasion therefore made the Italian people think actually now is going to be the Italian Mainland next pushing into what Churchill called the soft underbelly of Europe President Roosevelt warns Italy quit the war now and urges Italy to revolt against iltuce Mussolini came to The Reluctant conclusion that The Jig was up the fall of Sicily was the final straw Mussolini was arrested and imprisoned with Mussolini banished to the sidelines and the fascist government deposed his former Chief of Staff General Pietro badoglio quickly negotiated a surrender to the Allies allowing the Americans to land in southern Italy turns out the U.S was the friend they needed all along Hitler meanwhile sprang into action launching the occupation of Italy he ordered a daring rescue of Mussolini from his isolated Mountain eerie Benito Mussolini Fallen star of fascism is liberated by Hitler's parachutism shown in these captured German films but despite the dramatic rescue Mussolini was doomed he'd now been reduced to Leading a puppet-german state in the north of Italy on October the 14th 1943 Italy's new leader General Pietro badoglio declares war on Germany throwing in his lot with the allies and plunging the country into Civil War [Music] thank you Italian troops finally cooperated with the Allies to drive the Germans out of Rome he was at last feeling the Winds of Change from tyranny to Freedom [Music] American forces received the surrender of German troops in Milan the city controlled by Italian partisans the Nazis held out in a hotel in April 1945 with the Allies on his doorstep and partisans on the warpath Mussolini fled disguised in a German uniform trying for the Swiss border but all that publicity he had craved backfired his trademark bonehead and deeply said jaw giving him away he was recognized by partisans just a few miles from the border he was so close to making it to Freedom Mussolini and his mistress Clara patachi were shot to death before a firing squad near Lake Como together with other executed fascists his body was hung out in the Town Square to be publicly humiliated and degraded when world of this reached Hitler in his Berlin bunker and with the Russians bearing down on him he is said to have made a vow this will never happen to me days later he was dead by his own hand [Music] Hitler's old friend of me had succeeded in one final and fatal influence fascist Italy had failed spectacularly socially militarily and ideologically and helped drag their German allies down with them through the 1930s Japanese militaristic goals became more extreme and as the drum beat of fnatic nationalism grew louder the grand plan for Japan to establish a major Asian Empire was driving them further from the west and into the orbit of like-minded Nazi Germany and fascist Italy although self-serving and completely independent of Nazi thinking Hitler could hear the call he now saw Japan as a power he could do business with well the anti-common turn pact was a pact signed by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in 1936 reflecting the fact that Hitler wanted a an ideological document not a mere military Alliance but an ideological document committing Germany and Japan against the threat of bolshevism against Soviet communism and the Japanese were willing to sign up for this because at the time they were involved in a seven or eight year border war with the Soviet Union over who would control the disputed regions of Manchuria and Mongolia Germany and Japan had if you like Mutual interests when it comes to the Soviet Union the Soviet Union was a huge Nation with great potential capability and there is no way that the Germans could ever foresee themselves advancing across tens of thousands of miles if Japan could attack in the East put pressure on the Soviet Union in areas that Germany couldn't get to physically there was a greater opportunity for Germany to bring the Soviet Union to its knees but events were about to dictate that once again Hitler could not rely on his friends and they could not rely on him and the ramifications were to decide the fate of Nations Japanese expansion into Northeast China bordering Soviet territory had led to grow tensions in fact there have been border clashes serious border clashes with thousands of casualties in 1938 and 1939 this is undeclared war between Japan and the Soviet Union and those contests are one hands down by the Soviet Union this also then convinces enough people in the Japanese military that a northern strategy is not a good idea and that in an ongoing war against China this is the principal war that Japan is fighting the Japanese had discovered the hard way that the Soviets were Superior in numbers as well as in armaments especially tanks meanwhile an impatient Hitler tired of waiting for Japan to commit to anything to do with the Soviet Union sign the very temporary Molotov ribbon crop packed with Russia as his insurance policy without telling Japan or Italy Japan was utterly outraged they saw this as a complete abandonment of the of the German Japanese anti-common term pact of 1936 when they had resolved to fight together against the Menace of bolshevism and now you have Hitler saying that he will take he will take no position in a Soviet War elsewhere that he will not aggress against the Soviet Union thus basically setting the Japanese up for failure if the Soviets decide to sort of push this campaign in uh in Mongolia and Manchuria this is a classic example of Hitler's failure to grasp Foreign Affairs and he lost out badly in April 1941 Japan followed the Germans lead and signed their own non-aggression pact with the Soviets now it was Hitler's turn to be angry he knew he had a big problem Hitler often felt betrayed when Foreign Affairs didn't develop in the way that he had anticipated felt that many nations had let him down not thinking that of course they have their own pressures and influences and they weren't always thinking about what is best for Germany but there's little doubt that with Japan and the Soviet Union coming together to agree that they wouldn't fight each other that massively undermined his ability to do what was an absolutely central part of his ideological philosophy which was to crush the Soviet Union with the Japanese refusal to play this gave the Russians some breathing room they could now be confident the Japanese would not come at them from the East this allowed them to divert massive numbers of troops to the main game the Battle of Moscow in September 1941. this was enough to prevent the advance of Germany and it saved Russia from utter defeat from here on Japan and Germany would essentially be Allied on paper only two Powers would be in reality fighting two separate Wars in Tokyo Premier Tojo made it official the Imperial rescript declaring war has just been promulgated Hitler had provided himself with so much to do in Europe and in North Africa that he couldn't think outside the Realms of Europe as far as he was concerned the Japanese were in their theater operations he was in his and eventually the two might be able to cooperate more significantly together but that wouldn't happen until the Soviet Union was brought to his knees like all Hitler's dealings it was a relationship characterized by mistrust resentment and Petty jealous is on either side rather than any sense of shared values or objectives German alliances are characterized by dysfunction we see that in the way in which Hitler engages with his allies he never gets together there's no Supreme command to bring together ideas there's no free flow of information he deals with the fellow dictators one-on-one and he can often play them off against each other that's very much how he constructs his alliances such as they are and Hitler did this beautifully with his other European allies [Music] apart from her so-called best friends Germany kept strategic company with a number of smaller Powers mainly in East Central Europe whom Hitler hoped would help him construct a strategic Corridor to the east one of the big points in the Eastern Front Is the participation of the Romanians which are one of the most important powers and the hungarians but the Romanians and the hungarians have a tremendous degree of antipathy between them and Hitler's always able to talk about the post-war settlement and he's always able to talk about whoever serves best in their contribution to the common war effort might just be the one who gets what they want in their own rivalries in the end Slovakia Romania Hungary Bulgaria Croatia and Yugoslavia all joined the Axis powers either willingly or very reluctantly they sign for many different reasons economic dependence on Germany protection from the Soviets or just outright fear of the Nazis but it was a trade-off Germany was the major power in the area the smaller States provided their natural resources in exchange for Nazi military protection this proved a drain on Hitler's troops and supplies which could have been better employed elsewhere [Music] the failings of these smaller Partnerships became evident during The crucial Battle of Stalingrad in 1942. by August 23 the Germans were in the suburbs fighting the Russians amongst the rubble it was then Stalin issued his Infamous order not one step back he was never going to give up the city that bore his name to make his point there were squads stationed just behind his troops to shoot deserters meanwhile Hitler desperately counted by ordering more and more men into the battle way more than they could afford as the fighting reached fever pitch the Russians came up with their Master stroke they proposed a massive double encirclement of the entire German sixth Army another disastrous failure of Hitler's alliances was about to play out Germany always had to look at how it used troops from other countries because they never quite matched the professionalism and the capability of their own homegrown troops and as a result of that they were often used as what we'd call lines of communication troops those that weren't necessarily doing the fighting but were doing the supporting of the fighting or they were used to hold the flanks of course the Soviets knew that they recognized that there were certain weaknesses within this broader German Alliance that they were fighting and that they could exploit them [Music] on the snowy foggy morning of November the 19th the Soviet struck 1.2 million Soviet soldiers drove into the weekly guarded flanks a two-prong pincer attack led by Soviet tanks smashed right into the hapless hungarians Romanians and Italians they voted quickly and the entire German Army was surrounded it was now a freezing living hell for the German soldiers but Hitler demanded they fight to the last condemning them to almost certain death with supplies cut off it was hopeless January the 31st 1943 Field Marshal Powers disobeyed Hitler and surrendered together with the remaining 91 000 skeletal troops only six percent of these would survive the total axis losses Germans Romanians Italians and hungarians are estimated to have been eight hundred thousand it was the psychological turning point of the war as German prisoners shuffled out of Stalingrad an old Russian colonel was heard to yell this is how Berlin is going to look [Music] came clear in most people's minds stunningrad signified that Germany was going to lose the war the Nazis had suffered not only its first major defeat but one that essentially paved the way for the collapse of the Third Reich foreign it was a failure of leadership a failure of planning and a failure of partnership and Alliance at the heart of the Nazi Credo was an utterly misguided belief in their own superiority which meant them incapable of mutual trust and of forging alliances that could be anything other than self-serving but Germany Italy and Japan all failed each other and their people and so they failed to win the war [Music]

Channel: War Stories

Views: 45,502

Keywords: military history, war, war documentary, military tactics, war stories, history of war, battles, Full Documentary, Operation Barbarossa, Eastern Front, WW2, Hitler, Stalin, Nazi Germany

Id: ZLtyDk118i4

Length: 46min 47sec (2807 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 09 2023