The Strategic Errors That Caused The Failure Of Operation Barbarossa | WW2 in Colour | War Stories

[Music] sh [Music] to Adolf Hitler had never disguised his belief that the Soviet Union would be his regime's Ultimate [Applause] Enemy he hated communism and saw the vast open spaces and abundant natural resources of Soviet Russia as the prize which would finally enable the German people to become the [Applause] masteris throughout the early months of 1941 as he stayed at the burkhoff his country retreat in the Bavarian Alps Hitler planned his greatest gamble operation Barbarosa The Assault on the Soviet Union [Music] steadily his armies were redeployed to the East and re-equipped for what would be their greatest challenge in theory Stalin Soviet Union was still Hitler's Ally and Stalin was Keen to keep it that way for his country was woefully unprepared for war the mighty Red Army once the largest and most technologically advanced in the world had been devastated by Stalin's purges in the late 1930s some 3/4s of its senior officers had been shot or [Music] imprisoned despite appearances there had been a catastrophic collapse in morale and [Music] efficiency as German soldiers now flooded into neighboring Poland Stalin desperate to maintain the peace gave orders that nothing should be done to offend [Applause] Hitler but Hitler had one other task to perform before he could push on to Russia he needed to secure his Southern flank Romania Bulgaria and Hungary were Germany's firm allies but in March 1941 the Yugoslav government sympathetic to Germany was overthrown by pro- British forces its nextdoor neighbor Greece was also pro- British so on April the 6th 1941 the German Army invaded the balcans 33 German divisions moved into Yugoslavia they swiftly tore its defenses apart the capital Belgrade surrendered on April 12th Greece fell almost as quickly despite British help Athens was captured in less than 3 weeks the way was now clear for operation Barbarosa over 4 million men were to be deployed they were supported by more than 3,000 aircraft The Plan called for three simultaneous thrusts Army Group North would overrun the Baltic states and seize Leningrad Army group Center was to advance to Moscow and army group South would occupy the Ukraine Hitler's generals went silent when he showed them the plan they were worried it was too ambitious and would spread their forces too thinly but none dared voice their doubts the Red Army was much bigger it had nearly 2 million men within Striking Distance of the Western Front and millions more in reserve the Russians also had more than 20,000 taxs far outnumbering Germany's 6,000 they were older and less powerful but they were still a formidable fighting [Music] force the issue for Germany was could its Superior technology and speed overwhelm the Russians before the red Army's vast numbers ground them down operation Barbarosa began at 3:15 a.m. on June the 22nd 1941 the lft buffer joined in at dawn targeting Soviet [Music] airfields simultaneously the ground attack began the Germans swiftly crossed the river bug on the border between Poland and the Soviet Union Hitler's panzas were soon thrusting deep into Soviet territory within 2 days the pansas had penetrated more than 50 miles ill coordinated Red Army counterattacks were swiftly brushed aside tens of thousands of prisoners were rounded up meanwhile the Luft baffer had Total Domination of the air the red Army's leadership seemed Paralyzed by the German onrush on June the 29th 7 days after the start of the assault two pan thrusts met up near Minsk surrounding huge pockets of Soviet troops as the follow-up infantry arrived more than 300,000 prisoners were taken often the Germans found themselves welcomed as liberators particularly in the Ukraine where anti-russian feeling was [Applause] [Music] widespread in Moscow Stalin appeared to have suffered a near breakdown at the news of his betrayal by Hitler he remained silent for more than a week not until July the 3D did he appeal to his people's patriotism to save the motherland in Britain the Prime Minister Winston Churchill received the news of operation Barbarosa with very different feelings it meant the country no longer stood alone he announced that any enemy of Nazi Germany was a friend of Britains no matter what the politic iCal differences in the past he then sent a mission to Moscow to sign a treaty of mutual assistance with Soviet foreign minister veslav Molotov but apart from ascending Aid by C there was Little Britain could do immediately to help the Soviet Union as June turned to July the German Blitz Creek slashed deeper into Soviet territory it was beginning to look as if nothing could stop Hitler but he was about to make his first major strategic [Music] blunder in early July 1941 over 300,000 Red Army troops were surrounded west of Minsk Hitler's Panza commanders in particular General Hein scaran begged to be allowed to race on operation Barbarosa was working like clockwork within a week the panzas were at smallin deep inside Russia and only a couple of hundred miles from Moscow on July the 22nd a Panza pins movement met to the east of smallet trapping another 300 110,000 Soviet [Music] troops here there was a brief pause while the rest of the army caught up though the tanks could move at spectacular Speed Most of the army still had to walk or rely on horsedrawn transport but it still only took them 5 days before they arrived red and began mopping up the operation was completed in just nine more days vast Columns of Soviet prisoners began trudging West to captivity over 2 and a half million never returned discover the past with exclusive military history documentaries and AD free podcast presented by world-renowned historians all on History hit watch them on your smart TV or on the- go with your mobile device download the app now to watch everything from the gripping story of the Band of Brothers to operation Barbarosa and D-Day immerse yourself in the dramatic stories of this remarkable era by signing up via the link in the description Moscow was now only 200 M away and the road lay open it seemed certain it would fall by by the end of the summer as planned but elsewhere the German Advance was finding the going more difficult the Red Army was counterattacking more effectively and by mid July Army group South was still more than 50 mi from [Music] KF Hitler decided garan's panzas should delay their Advance on Moscow and swing South to KF to provide help Garian objected strongly but Hitler was adamant there should be no further Advance on Moscow until KF had fallen it would turn out to be a fateful decision there were already worrying signs the Red Army was not going to be The Pusher over Hitler had been expecting Soviet Manpower seemed endless more than 16 million troops were now mobilized and the Red Army now had some formidable new weapons in particular a new tank the 37 T t34 it had a 76 mm gun and was faster and better cross country than the Panza [Music] markv yet as the blitz cre continued it was easy to miss the warning signs the Darian paner group began its thrust South on August of 23rd 1941 the panzas of army group South struck North 3 weeks later the pincers met east of KF on September the 16th two more Soviet armies were utterly destroyed half a million men were killed or captured on the same day more than a thousand miles to the north Army Group North surrounded the city of Leningrad today's St Petersburg it was immediately cut off from the rest of the Soviet [Music] Union the city was besieged Hitler decided not to storm it and the German troops settle down to starve it into surrender conditions in the city became dark the only link to the rest of the Soviet Union was across Lake ladoga to the east but only a small amount of food could come in by [Music] water starvation set in over 11,000 people died in [Music] November not until December could an i Road be opened across the lake and there was a slight increase in rations but 3,700 people died of starvation on one day in December [Music] alone meanwhile Army group center now prepared for the final assault on Moscow the Darian panas had rejoined it to lead the Blitz grp the Germans had a 2:1 superiority in tanks and Men of the front and 3 to one in [Music] aircraft the assault started on September the 20th 1941 once again Garian panzas slashed deep through the red arm by October the 7th yet more Soviet troops were surrounded but Stalin was determined to defend Moscow to the last he appointed Marshall Gori jukov to organize the defense of the [Music] city the people of Moscow were mobilized to dig a SE series of defensive [Music] lines but the real obstacle to German Advance would be the weather on October the 8th Heavy Rain set in German vehicles soon became bogged down in a sea of mud by late o October appalling weather and an increasingly stubborn Soviet resistance meant Army group Center was still some 50 m short of Moscow Hitler was finally paying the price for his decision earlier in the year to delay his Advance on Moscow at around the same time Army group South reached the Black Sea trapping yet more Soviet soldiers another 100,000 prisoners were [Music] taken but they too were hampered by the weather even so the city of kov was captured on October the 24th 1941 but the weather was now starting to freeze the German forces confident the campaign would be over by the summer were caught unprepared with no winter clothing they now suffered terribly on the Moscow front Army group Center was now beginning its final push to capture the Soviet [Music] capit by December the 4th its leading units were just 19 mil from Red were some reconnaissance patrols claimed they could see the golden domes of the Kremlin glinting in the distance but that night the temperature plunged again tank engines would not start weapons froze many soldiers were severely frosted on December the 5th the Germans halted the attack winter had come to the rescue of the Red Army but the Germans were confident that come the spring they could finish the job for much of autumn 1941 Stalin's armies wheeled under the German arm [Music] Onslaught but all the while he had another worry that the Japanese would attack his forces in Siberia but in November the Soviet dictator received a message from his top spy in Japan assuring him the Japanese had no such intention immediately more than 30 divisions began moving West along the Trans Siberian Railway to Moscow they were well equipped and well trained in Winter fighting by early December more than half a million extra men were in position near the capital on December the 5th just as the Germans were abandoning their attempt to capture Moscow they were hit by a Savage Russian [Music] attack first came a massive Soviet artillery barrage then swarms of Soviet t-34s crashed through the German defenses stunned by the savagery of the attack by an enemy they had assumed was on the ropes the Germans fell back for the next 7 Days the Soviet troops tore into the German forces for Hitler who had only reluctantly agreed to Hal the attack on Moscow it was a terrible blow on December the 19th he sacked his overall commander-in-chief Field Marshal valter Von braic and assumed command himself hin Garian was also sacked along with 35 other senior officers Hitler now ordered that there would be no more Retreats the German troops should fight and if necessary die where they stood it worked the German line gradually [Music] steady but Stalin elated by the red Army's success now demanded a massive Advance across the whole front Marshall zukov one of Stalin's most trusted commanders tried to dissuade him but Stalin was [Music] determined for the next 4 months fighting swirled inconclusively around a German defensive positions for Hitler this was a very uncomfortable situation he was used to and expected quick results now he was dangerously bogged down in the Soviet Union and facing an enemy that never seemed to give up nor was Russia his only headache on December the 7th 1941 Germany's Allied Japan attacked the United States without warning Hitler with almost no thought also declared war on the US with no Advanced planning he had taken on a massive new [Music] enemy as 1941 became 1942 Hitler remained determined to go on the offensive again in Russia but he needed a new strategy the original plan of fighting across the whole front was no longer tenable moreover as his economic advisers told him Germany's oil supplies were running low so he decided to Halt the attack in the north and instead head for Russia's oil fields in the South the initial plan for Operation Blue as it was called envisaged an assault south of kov with army group a swinging down to seize the oil fields while Army Group B covered its flank along the river [Music] Dawn straight away there was a brutal encounter with Soviet forces trying to retake kov another 200,000 Soviet troops were captured 70,000 were killed as part of the same operation the Germans tightened their Siege of the port of Sebastopol in the Crimea for8 months The Defenders had been under constant bombardment from German artillery including a massive 400 MM Railway gun in late June 1942 Sebastapol finally fell to the Germans it was now safe to head for the oil fields on June the 28th the offensive began Army Group B forced its way through to the river Dawn and advanced along its Western path back Army group a faced stronger resistance but by July the 9th it was close to rosof Hitler now made a series of what would turn out to be serious strategic blunders as Army Group B made its way along the dawn the fura ordered it to capture Stalingrad even though the city had no immediate strategic significance the Army had suddenly been given a massive new [Music] task two weeks later Hitler compounded his misjudgement frustrated by the slow progress of the campaign in the Caucasus he diverted the bulk of his panzas down to the mountains the march on Stalingrad slowed noticeably the reinforced Army group a now raced across the Caucasus to within 70 miles of the caspan threatening to cut off all the Soviet armies in the area [Music] but then Hitler changed his mind again and raged by Army group B's slow progress to Stalingrad he now ordered the pancers back up north on August the 9th Army group a seized the first of the Southern oil fields at M it found them comprehensively trashed but without reinforcements it could get no further and the huge oil fields in the central Caucasus and those near the Caspian Sea remained Beyond its grasp but by now Hitler's attention had shifted again in late August German forces were within Striking Distance of Stalingrad The Assault on the city which bore the name of Hitler's Arch Enemy had begun it would be one of the most crucial battles of World War II on August the 17th 1942 General Friedrich pulis's 6th Army crossed the Dawn and began a final push on [Music] Starling 6 days later one Panza thrust had reached the vulga River just north of the city and German forces were fighting in the outer [Music] summs Hitler seemed poised for a famous Victory Stalingrad was an important industrial center it straggled for more than 12 miles along the West Bank of the river its factories produced over a quarter of the Soviet Union's tractors and trucks as well as tanks and guns the Russian people had turned it into a formidable Fortress they had been helped by Hitler's decision to send Army group B's panzas to the South this had given them another two weeks to prepare the German plan was to make a direct assault on the city now began one of the most prolonged and intense battles of World War [Music] II slowly the Germans edged Forward Street by street with stooker dive bombs blitzing just ahead of [Music] them [Music] the fighting was Savage house to house room by room the Soviet Defenders used the sewers for shelter and Communications and the ruins above for sniping Russian reinforcements had to be brought across the [Music] river often they were under assault from the [Music] air but even so thousands got through by late September the Germans had pushed their way through most of the city almost to the VA for Hitler the capture of Stalingrad was now an obsession on October the 4th 1942 General paulus launched what was meant to be the final assault on Stalingrad tanks led the way grinding over the rubble and firing Point Blank into Courtyards one German officer said the advance is measured in corpses not [Music] meters German Victory seemed certain but in fact the Germans were dangerously overextended by mid November the Soviet Army was bringing in reinforcements more than a million troops 132,000 guns 900 tanks and over 1,000 aircraft were secretly moved to the Battle [Music] Zone on November the 19th they attacked the Germans Northern flank [Music] after a massive artillery barrage the t-34s and assault infantry burst through the German positions now it was the Germans who surrendered in their thousands the next day a Soviet result in the South was equally successful and on November the 23rd these Piner movements met west of Stalingrad cutting off the German sixth Army general porus in charge of the German forces could have broken out but Hitler ordered him to stand and fight the fura had been assured by the Lu buffer that sufficient supplies could be airlifted into Stalingrad this was enough for him to announce that the German positions must hold out until relieved to help Paula's Field Marshal Eric Fon manstein the overall German commander in the region launched operation winter storm on December the 12th it was an attempt by the German panzas to break the Soviet encirclement of the city [Music] for 2 days it went well but then Red Army resistance increased by December the 23rd the German rescue attempt had ground to a halt about 30 m from the [Music] city manin advised The Bard paus to attempt to break out of staling but paulus wanted Hitler's permission this was refused it was probably too late anyway Marshall zukov now unleashed the next stage of his master plan it was a massive assault on the Panza relief operation [Music] the panzas were pushed back away from the city and by the end of December all hope of relieving the German forces in Stalingrad had gone worse still plans to airlift Aid into the city were a fiasco the German troops needed 700 tons of supplies a day to survive they never received more than 80 the weather was too bad and the red Air Force now commanded the skies steadily the Soviet troops squeezed in on the encircle Germans 200,000 men were trapped on January the 8th the Soviets called on the Germans to surrender they [Music] refused on January the 31st 1943 paulus was forced to [Music] surrender over a 100,000 men stumbled off into captivity only 5,000 would ever return to Germany [Music] staling groud had been a bloody battle the Germans had been Savaged they had lost some 300,000 of their men and at least as many of their [Music] allies the Russians had lost about the same number including thousands of civilians it was Germany's greatest catastrophe in the war so far but it wouldn't be the last the Red Army was now inflicting massive defeats on Hitler's forces across the whole Eastern [Music] FR Stalingrad had been a great Triumph for the Soviet Army now its operational Commander Marshall zukov set his sights on Germany's army group a still camped in the Caucasus Soviet troops thrust their way west of Stalingrad and by early December 1942 were within 120 Mi of rosoff there was a real possibility all the German forces in the South would be cut off with little Choice Hitler reluctantly gave Army group a permission to fall back over the next month the Germans fought a skillful rear guard [Music] action hundreds of thousands of troops withdrew then on January the 12th 1943 zukov launched an allout assault the Soviets attacked along a 500 Mile front outnumbered 7 to1 Fon manstein the overall commander of German forces in the region fought a brilliant mobile retreat but by the end of February the Red Army had recaptured both KK and the nearby city of kov this Russian winter offensive had struck a crippling blow to German power over a matter of months it had lost a million men and vast numbers of tanks and guns the Red Army still had enormous reserves of Manpower it was also benefiting from a huge increase in weapons production and aid from the United States and Britain the Germans also no longer had the technological upper hand the t34 tank was more than a match for the PanAm Mar for and they also had the terrifying katucha multiple rocket system which shattered German troops yet Hitler refused to give up hope he still dreamed of a preemptive summer assault that would throw the Soviet Union off balance and regain the initiative the city of kque seemed the obvious place to start here the Soviet assault had pushed a bulge deep into the German lines it looked temptingly exposed Hitler decided it should be cut off and annihilated he also had an ace up his sleep the German Counterattack would be led by a new generation of German tanks specially designed to combat the formidable Russian t34 the massive but slow 55ton tiger had a lethal 88 mm gun and its frontal armor made it almost impervious to Soviet tank duns and then there was the faster 43 ton Panther with a new 75 mm gut also capable of knocking out the [Music] t34 these tanks were so new Hitler was forced to delay the attack whilst sufficient numbers were manufactured and delivered to the [Music] front but even as the German forces began to assemble the Soviet Commander Marshall zukov guessed what was about to happen soon afterwards he received information from a Soviet spiring inside the German High command confirming the sight of the attack zukov ordered the construction of a series of defensive lines with anti-tank ditches minefields and deep belts of barbed wire he also massively built up Soviet forces in the area pulling in troops and tanks from less vulnerable parts of the font by the eve of the assault on kusk the Germans were hugely outnumbered by Soviet Defenders who also knew exactly when the Germans would attack on July the 5th 1943 just as the German troops prepared to assault they were hit by a huge Soviet artillery [Music] bombardment even so the next morning the panzas still rolled forward but this time they were up against a well-entrenched enemy there was no realistic chance of a lightning Blitz Greek [Music] breakthrough the results were disastrous in the north the German Army gained a mere 6 miles for the loss of 25,000 men and more than 200 tanks in the South the Germans fared a little better the wedge 25 M deep was driven into the Soviet defenses but it also came at a high [Music] price 10,000 men were killed and 350 tanks [Music] destroyed but for a brief moment it looked as if a German breakthrough might be possible then zukov threw in his reserves on July the 12th 1943 900 tanks charged into the German [Music] flag [Music] almost 2,000 tanks now engaged in what was the largest armored battle of World War [Music] II the Soviet t-34s drove into the German lines and opened fire at Point Blank [Music] Range after a single day of brutal combat the Germans had lost a further 350 tanks and were [Music] retreating meanwhile overhead there was an epic Air [Music] Battle eventually the Soviet Air Force established Supremacy over the LT [Music] buffer now the Russians could unleash their formidable uin il2 storic tank kill by July the 23rd the Germans had lost any ground they had gained and with it the cream of their [Music] army Hitler's Adventure at K had cost him at least 50,000 troops and more than 700 tanks never again would the Germans launch a major offensive on the Eastern Front the Russians had turned the tide of the [Music] war [Music]

Channel: War Stories

Views: 312,441

Keywords: Eastern Front battles, History Hit podcasts, Hitler's downfall, Hitler's miscalculations, Hitler's mistakes, Matt Lewis documentaries, Military History Channel, Nazi aggression, Soviet-German conflict, battlefield stories, battlefield tactics, captivating military history., colorized war footage, failed military campaigns, historical conflicts, historical warfare, invasion of Russia, military analysis, military blunders, wartime documentaries

Id: YgX_kCmczZ0

Length: 52min 7sec (3127 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 17 2024