Lesson 7 - The war becomes global - 2. The Eastern Front
Hitler prepared a huge army of 3 million men, 3,580 tanks and 1,830 aircraft for the invasion of Russia. Remembering the Russian defeats in 1914, the chaos which enveloped Russia for much of the interwar period and the wholesale slaughter of the upper ranks of the Red Army in the purges of 1937, it is not at all surprising that Hitler thought that 'we have only to kick the door in and the whole rotten edifice will collapse'. He understood that the huge size of the USSR made it difficult to defeat, but reasoned that if he could drive Stalin's forces out of European Russia the Communists would be forced to sue for peace. Even over the much greater distance, the German Army's blitzkrieg tactics were successful. Hitler's front line was 1,000 kilometres into Russia by the end of 1941 (see below).
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In Berlin on 4 October 1941 Hitler announced to his people that the Soviet enemy was beaten and would never rise again. This turned out to be one of Hitler’s most profound misjudgements. Over the next two years the Soviet Union proved to be the graveyard of the German war effort. Few historians now dispute that the Eastern Front was the critical battleground of the Second World War... the Soviet system organised a massive war effort which blunted, and then reversed, the tide of Germany victory.
British historian, Professor Richard Overy, writing in 2000
Why was 1941 a turning point?
In June 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Over 3 million German soldiers participated in what was the largest military assault in history. They were assisted by smaller contingents from Romania, Hungary and Italy. Within months this invasion force had advanced hundreds of kilometres, vastly extending the territory of German controlled Europe. Approximately 5.5 million Soviet soldiers were taken prisoner by the Germans during the War and of these 3.3 million died, or were murdered, in captivity.
In June 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Over 3 million German soldiers participated in what was the largest military assault in history. They were assisted by smaller contingents from Romania, Hungary and Italy. Within months this invasion force had advanced hundreds of kilometres, vastly extending the territory of German controlled Europe. Approximately 5.5 million Soviet soldiers were taken prisoner by the Germans during the War and of these 3.3 million died, or were murdered, in captivity.
Soviet T-34 tank at the London Imperial War Museum.
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However, Germany was unable to achieve victory; the Soviets were able to concede territory in order to buy time. Factories were moved east beyond the range of German planes and production steadily increased. In an ever more destructive war of attrition the Soviets could replace troop losses at a rate the Germans could not match. During the first winter of the campaign the Soviets halted the German advance and over the following year fought bitterly to turn back the invaders. Following the devastating German defeat at Stalingrad in January 1943, the Red Army began to drive the Germans back in a series of emphatic victories. 75% of Germany’s total war casualties occurred on the Eastern Front where all restraints were abandoned in what had become a war of annihilation.
Civilians resisted even under siege conditions, as in Leningrad, where the city held out for about 900 days despite starvation and constant bombardment. In November 1941 ordinary civilians received only 125 grams of bread a day, and manual workers 250 grams. Estimates of civilian deaths start at around 700,000 and go above one million. Across the country, the Germans made the people more determined to resist. They destroyed over 1,700 towns and forced thousands of people into slave labour. Stalin also allowed the Church, which Communists had attacked for years, to support the war effort, and it raised 150 million roubles. As the Red Army retreated it destroyed anything the enemy could use, a policy known as "scorched earth". Partisan fighters behind German lines carried out sabotage, disrupted supplies, and kept alive the spirit of resistance. Walsh estimates that 700,000 resistance fighters were active in 1942. In June 1944, just before the great Soviet offensive in Belarus, partisans laid around 40,000 explosives in five nights to cut German railway lines.
The German advance in 1941 captured half of the USSR's food supply, 40 per cent of its electricity and 75 per cent of its iron, coal and steel. In response, the Soviets dismantled over 2,500 major industrial complexes and sent them east by rail to the Urals, Siberia and Kazakhstan, safe from German attack. About 25 million workers moved with them. Within months the factories were producing weapons on a massive scale. By 1942 Soviet war production equalled and then passed German production, and by 1943 the USSR was building 1.5 times as many aircraft and twice as many tanks as Germany. The cost was very high. Women made up half of the workforce, adults received no food unless they worked for the war effort, and citizens lived on about one fifth of the British wartime ration.
Technology gave the Soviets important advantages. The T-34 tank was fast, heavily armoured, and easy to repair, making it one of the best tanks of the war. Nearly 59,000 T-34 tanks were built, more than any other armoured vehicle. After 1941 the Red Army also learned from the Germans, copying some of their tactics and adding radios to tanks and aircraft so units could work together. Specialist units listened to German radio signals and disrupted almost two thirds of German radio messages. Soviet artillery and the fearsome Katyusha rocket launchers gave their armies overwhelming firepower in key battles such as Kursk. There the Red Army had discovered the German plan in advance and prepared its defences. The result was the greatest tank battle in history, and the German army was destroyed.
The Soviet air force, initially crippled by German attacks in 1941, recovered by 1942 and 1943. The Red Army created its own specialist air forces, and new aircraft models, better training, and improved organisation meant that the Red Air Force could once again challenge the Luftwaffe. At Stalingrad, Soviet air power gradually cut off the supplies of the trapped German army. By Kursk the Soviets had ten times as many aircraft as the Germans, including ground-attack aircraft that fired rockets at tanks.
In October 1941 the Germans almost reached Moscow, and Soviet records show that Stalin seriously considered surrender. He decided to stay in the capital, and he inspired the Soviet people with his calls to defend "Mother Russia" in a "Great Patriotic War". After the first defeats, Stalin gave officers greater freedom and banned Communist Party officials from interfering in military decisions. He also used terror. Order 227 of July 1942, known as "not a step back", meant that retreat led to arrest and execution, and thousands were executed. Military leaders such as Zhukov and Chuikov proved resourceful. Chuikov's soldiers held the ruined streets of Stalingrad in savage hand-to-hand fighting. On 19 November 1942 Zhukov's counter-attack closed around the German army from north and south, and on 31 January 1943 the German commander, Paulus, surrendered with 300,000 soldiers. Later, Soviet generals planned and executed the huge tank battle at Kursk, which marked the final turning point in the East.
The efforts of the Soviet people, industry, technology, air force and leaders were helped by events outside Soviet control. Historians group these into German mistakes and help from the Allies.
German mistakes. Hitler was overconfident. He expected a quick victory, so his soldiers had no winter clothing when the cold arrived. Even before the frost, autumn mud from 7 October 1941 slowed the advance, and by late October only about a third of German motor vehicles were still working. In December 1941, with German scouts only 30 kilometres from the Kremlin, temperatures fell far below freezing and over 130,000 German soldiers suffered frostbite. The Soviets counter-attacked on 5 December. The Germans also relied heavily on horse-drawn transport, and their supply lines stretched along a front over 1,600 kilometres long. Hitler often interfered with the plans of his generals. In 1942 he pushed his armies towards the oil fields of the Caucasus as well as the city of Stalingrad, and he later ordered Paulus to fight on when his army was trapped. German weapons production was less efficient than Soviet production, using more raw materials to make fewer weapons.
Help from the Allies. Britain and the USA sent vast supplies to the USSR, often on dangerous sea routes through the Arctic, where about 7 per cent of the goods were lost. Through its Lend-Lease programme the USA alone delivered about 11 billion dollars of goods. These included over 500,000 motor vehicles, around 1,900 locomotives and about 11,400 aircraft, as well as millions of tonnes of food and fuel. Marshal Zhukov himself said the Americans helped greatly with gunpowder and explosives. Allied bombing also damaged German arms factories and railways, and forced Germany to pull aircraft away from the Eastern Front to defend its own cities. By the time of Kursk, Germany could not replace its lost tanks and aircraft as quickly as the Soviet Union could.
How important were outside factors? Historians disagree. The American historian David Glantz suggests that the Soviet Union would still have won without Allied supplies, although the war might have lasted twelve to eighteen months longer. Walsh points out that mass production alone does not win a war, because victory still had to be won on the battlefield at Stalingrad and Kursk. German mistakes created chances for the Red Army, and Soviet soldiers and generals had to take them.
Civilians resisted even under siege conditions, as in Leningrad, where the city held out for about 900 days despite starvation and constant bombardment. In November 1941 ordinary civilians received only 125 grams of bread a day, and manual workers 250 grams. Estimates of civilian deaths start at around 700,000 and go above one million. Across the country, the Germans made the people more determined to resist. They destroyed over 1,700 towns and forced thousands of people into slave labour. Stalin also allowed the Church, which Communists had attacked for years, to support the war effort, and it raised 150 million roubles. As the Red Army retreated it destroyed anything the enemy could use, a policy known as "scorched earth". Partisan fighters behind German lines carried out sabotage, disrupted supplies, and kept alive the spirit of resistance. Walsh estimates that 700,000 resistance fighters were active in 1942. In June 1944, just before the great Soviet offensive in Belarus, partisans laid around 40,000 explosives in five nights to cut German railway lines.
The German advance in 1941 captured half of the USSR's food supply, 40 per cent of its electricity and 75 per cent of its iron, coal and steel. In response, the Soviets dismantled over 2,500 major industrial complexes and sent them east by rail to the Urals, Siberia and Kazakhstan, safe from German attack. About 25 million workers moved with them. Within months the factories were producing weapons on a massive scale. By 1942 Soviet war production equalled and then passed German production, and by 1943 the USSR was building 1.5 times as many aircraft and twice as many tanks as Germany. The cost was very high. Women made up half of the workforce, adults received no food unless they worked for the war effort, and citizens lived on about one fifth of the British wartime ration.
Technology gave the Soviets important advantages. The T-34 tank was fast, heavily armoured, and easy to repair, making it one of the best tanks of the war. Nearly 59,000 T-34 tanks were built, more than any other armoured vehicle. After 1941 the Red Army also learned from the Germans, copying some of their tactics and adding radios to tanks and aircraft so units could work together. Specialist units listened to German radio signals and disrupted almost two thirds of German radio messages. Soviet artillery and the fearsome Katyusha rocket launchers gave their armies overwhelming firepower in key battles such as Kursk. There the Red Army had discovered the German plan in advance and prepared its defences. The result was the greatest tank battle in history, and the German army was destroyed.
The Soviet air force, initially crippled by German attacks in 1941, recovered by 1942 and 1943. The Red Army created its own specialist air forces, and new aircraft models, better training, and improved organisation meant that the Red Air Force could once again challenge the Luftwaffe. At Stalingrad, Soviet air power gradually cut off the supplies of the trapped German army. By Kursk the Soviets had ten times as many aircraft as the Germans, including ground-attack aircraft that fired rockets at tanks.
In October 1941 the Germans almost reached Moscow, and Soviet records show that Stalin seriously considered surrender. He decided to stay in the capital, and he inspired the Soviet people with his calls to defend "Mother Russia" in a "Great Patriotic War". After the first defeats, Stalin gave officers greater freedom and banned Communist Party officials from interfering in military decisions. He also used terror. Order 227 of July 1942, known as "not a step back", meant that retreat led to arrest and execution, and thousands were executed. Military leaders such as Zhukov and Chuikov proved resourceful. Chuikov's soldiers held the ruined streets of Stalingrad in savage hand-to-hand fighting. On 19 November 1942 Zhukov's counter-attack closed around the German army from north and south, and on 31 January 1943 the German commander, Paulus, surrendered with 300,000 soldiers. Later, Soviet generals planned and executed the huge tank battle at Kursk, which marked the final turning point in the East.
The efforts of the Soviet people, industry, technology, air force and leaders were helped by events outside Soviet control. Historians group these into German mistakes and help from the Allies.
German mistakes. Hitler was overconfident. He expected a quick victory, so his soldiers had no winter clothing when the cold arrived. Even before the frost, autumn mud from 7 October 1941 slowed the advance, and by late October only about a third of German motor vehicles were still working. In December 1941, with German scouts only 30 kilometres from the Kremlin, temperatures fell far below freezing and over 130,000 German soldiers suffered frostbite. The Soviets counter-attacked on 5 December. The Germans also relied heavily on horse-drawn transport, and their supply lines stretched along a front over 1,600 kilometres long. Hitler often interfered with the plans of his generals. In 1942 he pushed his armies towards the oil fields of the Caucasus as well as the city of Stalingrad, and he later ordered Paulus to fight on when his army was trapped. German weapons production was less efficient than Soviet production, using more raw materials to make fewer weapons.
Help from the Allies. Britain and the USA sent vast supplies to the USSR, often on dangerous sea routes through the Arctic, where about 7 per cent of the goods were lost. Through its Lend-Lease programme the USA alone delivered about 11 billion dollars of goods. These included over 500,000 motor vehicles, around 1,900 locomotives and about 11,400 aircraft, as well as millions of tonnes of food and fuel. Marshal Zhukov himself said the Americans helped greatly with gunpowder and explosives. Allied bombing also damaged German arms factories and railways, and forced Germany to pull aircraft away from the Eastern Front to defend its own cities. By the time of Kursk, Germany could not replace its lost tanks and aircraft as quickly as the Soviet Union could.
How important were outside factors? Historians disagree. The American historian David Glantz suggests that the Soviet Union would still have won without Allied supplies, although the war might have lasted twelve to eighteen months longer. Walsh points out that mass production alone does not win a war, because victory still had to be won on the battlefield at Stalingrad and Kursk. German mistakes created chances for the Red Army, and Soviet soldiers and generals had to take them.
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Activity
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Begin by watching this recent short news report which helps to explain the significance of Stalingrad, perhaps the key battle of the Second World War. Complete the following essay plan. It is basically a plan for an essay (think oral for you) that simply explains why the Soviet Union won on the Eastern Front.
Begin by the text above ot textbook 286-289 looking for examples of where the Soviet people, industry, technology, air force and leaders contributed to the victory. You will also need to consider the importance of external factors to Soviet succes. |
Extras and extension.
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Streamed live on 7 Sept 2021
Live from Conway Hall, acclaimed historian Antony Beevor speaks about the role and experience of the Soviet Union during WW2, as well as the way that history has been interpreted and used in the modern day. |