Figure 1.--Here a unit of Army Group North in the first days of Barbaroossa moving toward Virbalis in Lithuania. The country had been seized by the Soviets a year earlier (June 1940). Despite the enormous successes, problems are already vissible in this early photograph. The German infantry moved into the vast Soviet Union on foot an amazing effort given the distances involved. The Germans had powerful Panzer divisions, but many German units were not mechanized or not equipped with powerful panzers. And a hodge-podge of foreign milirary and civilian vehickes were used to support operations. This would create a logistical nightmare and the weakest point of Barbarossa was logistics. Barbarossa planners who has asked invonvenient questions about logistics had been replaced. The issue was essentially ignored. The vehicle here is a French Renault UE carrier, part of the war booty from France. It is being used to move an artillery piece and supplies. Also look at the road. Lithuania was realtively close to the Germam border. As the Wehrmacht moved east, it no longer enjoyed the advantages offered by the developed infrastructure of the West which had aided their victories. This road actually was better than what they found further east. The further east they moved the less developed were the roads and other infrastructure.

Britin and the United States were aware that the Germans were about to strike. The British knew because of Ultra. The Americans knew because of Magic. Stalin at the time had signed an alliance with Hitler. He was convinced that the Germans would never attack as long as they were still at war with the British. He considered these British and American warnings a conspiracy to involve the Soviet Union in a war with Germany. And his own intelligence services were reporting the same which he saw as treasonous disinformation. The Germans struck (June 22). German Panzer armies quickly penetrated deep into Soviet lines, moving rapidly east and taking large numbers of prisoners. Here Stalin had played into the German hands. By theatening subordinates with arrest if they broufght informtion vout German preparations and allowing german overflights, he greatly assisted in the initial German success. He had also moved a substantial part of the Red Army forward from prepared defenses into the areas of Poland and other countries (Finland, the Baltics, and Romania. This put these units within the striking distabce of the whermacht while units were still close to supply bases afording the German surpise attack abd force of the offensive maximum impact. The Red Air Force was largely destoyed during the first week of Barbarossa. The Soviets had a massive, if largely obsolete air force. And the quick destruction of that force was a prerequisite for success on the ground. Army Group South with Romanian allies drove toward Kiev and the Dnieper. Despite rapid advances, progress was disappointing because Stlain had concentrated his armor here. Army Group Center captured Minsk in only a week (June 28). Army Group North smacshed into the Baltics aiming at Leningrad. Lithuanian fell in a few days. The germans moved over 200 miles in a week. The advancing Panzer armies surrounded 15 Soviet divisions which surrendered. Within 2 weeks the Wehrmacht had reached the Dnieper in the South. Not only divisions, but whole Soviet Armies surrendered, often without meaningful resistance. Wehrmacht generals were amazed at the seemingly endless lines of dejected Soviet POWs as they plunged deep into the Soviet Union. Much of the land seized in the first weeks was the territory seized by Stalin in the Baltics and Poland (1939-40) or the restive Ukraine. This was not yet the Russian hearland. Many of the people in these areas as a result of brutal Soviet repression could have been turned into Germn allies. Flush with victory, however, Hitler ordered the occupation authorities to make it clear that the Wehrmacht had not come as libertors. Whermacht commanders had seen similar scenes on a smaller scale in the West. They were convinced that they were seeing a defeated eneny. The worls shudered at the enormity of the campaign and the rapid German advances. The Soviet Union at first looked to the world as one more country that the NAZIs would roll over in another Blitzkrieg campaign. Many Western military analysts gave the Soviets only a few months. Hitler was jubilent. Stalin was stunned and withdrew to his dakha, refusing to speak to the Soviet people.

Warnings

Britin and the United States were aware that the Germans were about to strike. The British knew because of Ultra. The Americans knew because of Magic. Stalin at the time had signed an alliance with Hitler. He was convinced that the Germans would never attack as long as they were still at war with the British. He considered these British and American warnings a conspiracy to involve the Soviet Union in a war with Germany. And his own intelligence services were reporting the same which he saw as treasonous disinformation.

German Explanations

It was of course impossible for the Germans to hide the massive movement of men and equipment east. It was the greastest mmovement and men and material until the Red Army began to revover later in the war. The Germans had a cover story. The Soviets were told that the Wehrmacht was being deployed east beyond the range of the Royal Air Force until the invasion of Bitain could be organized. It is unclear if Stalin actually believed this. It is likely he saw this as a German demonstration of force in the negotiations between the two countries. There were a range of issues between the two countries which had been cooperationg since the signing of the Non-Aggression Pact (August 1939). The Soviets had been complaining that the Germans were not delivering promised manufactured goods and weaponry. The Germans wanted more raw material and agricultural products. There were also border differebces.

Stalin's Orders

Here Stalin had played into the German hands. By theatening subordinates with arrest if they broufght informtion vout German preparations and allowing german overflights, he greatly assisted in the initial German success. He had also moved a substantial part of the Red Army forward from prepared defenses into the areas of Poland and other countries (Finalnd, the Baltics, and Romania. This put these units within the striking distance of the whermacht while units were still close to supply bases afording the German surprise attacking force the maximum offensive impact.

Moscow

Evening (June 21)

Stalin in the Kremlin began to become increasingly worried. Yhe NKVD brought a report tht there were 39 Luftwaffe incursions the previous day. A German deserter, a Communist before theNAZI takeover, warned of an attack coming June 22. Stalin ordered him shot for spreading 'disinformation'. His only concession to his generals was to put the antiaircraft units around Moscow on 'standby'. Border units were ordered to prepare, but 'not to fireback'. Stalin still believed Hitler would not order an invasion. He was convinced that the German generals were engineering an incident designed to provole a Soviet respmse and justify a war. Stalin retired to his dacha just outie Moscow, earlier than usual.

Morning (June 22)

Zukov phoneed Stalin early in the morning and demanded that he be woken (4:45 am). There werecreports of auftwaffe raid in the naval base at Sebastopol as wll as other attacks. Heordered Zuknov not to have the the troops resomd with artillery and to summon a meeting of thePolitburo in the Kremlin. The Politburo assembed (5:45 am). Stalin was still convinced that Hitler was not responsible. He told Foreign Minister Molotov to summon Ambassador Schulenbug. The Ambassador who had actually been warning of an attack informed Molotov that a state of war existed. He was stunned that Molotov was surprised. Molotov returned to the Politburo meeting to tell stalin that they were at war wuth Germany. One historian repors, "An oppressive silence followed." [Beevor, p. 191.] Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov addressed the Soviet people on thereadio, "This war has been forced upon us, not by the German people, not by German workers, peasants and intellectuals, whose sufferings we well understand, but by the clique of bloodthirsty Fascist rulers of Germany who have enslaved Frenchmen, Czechs, Poles, Serbians, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Greece and other nations," Molotov said. "The government of the Soviet Union expresses its unshakable confidence that our valiant army and navy and brave falcons of the Soviet Air Force will acquit themselves with honor in performing their duty to the fatherland and to the Soviet people, and will inflict a crushing blow upon the aggressor.

Berlin

Hitler The Axis was a far cry from the Anglo-American alliance. There was no joint planning and development of mutual goals. Hitler did not inform Mussolini of Barbrossa until hours before launching the invasion. He write Mussolini, "Duce! I am writing this letter to you at a moment when months of anxious deliberation and continuous nerve-racking waiting are ending in the hardest decision of my life. I belief—after seeing the latest Russian situation map and after appraisal of numerous other reports—that I cannot take the responsibility for waiting longer, and above all, I believe that there is no other way of obviating this danger—unless it be further waiting, which, however, would necessarily lead to disaster in this or the next year at the latest. The situation: England has lost this war. With the right of the drowning person, she grasps at every straw which, in her imagination, might serve as a sheet anchor. Nevertheless, some of her hopes are naturally not without a certain logic. England has thus far always conducted her wars with help from the Continent. The destruction of France—fact, the elimination of all west-European positions—directing the glances of the British warmongers continually to the place from which they tried to start the war: to Soviet Russia. .... I waited until this moment, Duce, to send you this information, it is because the final decision itself will not be made until 7 o'clock tonight," Hitler wrote. "I earnestly beg you, therefore, to refrain, above all, from making any explanation to your Ambassador at Moscow, for there is no absolute guarantee that our coded reports cannot be decoded. I, too, shall wait until the last moment to have my own Ambassador informed of the decisions reached." Hitler then addressed the German people. "German people! National Socialists! After long months when I was forced to keep silent, despite heavy concerns, the time has come when I can finally speak openly. When the German Reich received England’s declaration of war on 3 September 1939, the British attempted once again to frustrate any attempt to begin a consolidation, and thus a strengthening, of Europe by fighting the then strongest power on the Continent. England formerly destroyed Spain through many wars. For the same reason it waged its wars against Holland. With the help of all of Europe it later fought France. And around the turn of the century, it began to encircle the German Reich and it began the World War in 1914. .... " (June 22, 1941). Hitler moved to the Wolf's Lair from which he would guide Barbarossa (June 23). It was locted in the Masurian woods about 8 km (5.0 mi) east of the small East Prussian town of Rastenburg. He would spend more than 800 days at the Wolfsschanze during a 3½-year period until his final departure as the Red Army approached (November 20, 1944). In the summer of 1944, work began to enlarge and reinforce many of the Wolf's Lair original buildings. The work was , however, never completed because of the rapid advance of the Red Army during the Baltic Offensive (Autumn 1944). The comolex was de,olishd (January 5, 1945). It was abandoned 48 hours before the arrival of Soviet forces.

Invasion: Launching Barbrossa (June 22 -- )

The Germans struck just before daybreak (June 22). Some three million men along a 1,800 mile front from the Baltic to Black Seas plunged into the Soviet Union. A huge force of 156 divisions, including 19 mechanized panzer divisions smashed everything in their way. They were equioped with 3,000 tanks and 7,000 pieces of artillery supported by 2,500 aircraft. Soviet border units were unsure how to respond. The Soviets had more men, tnks, artillery, and planes, but nowhere were the Soviet forces able to stop the Germans. Stalin before the invasion had ordered the border forces not to fire on the Germans least an accidental incursion start a war. He also believes the German generals were plotting to start a. Ironicall, Stalin who rusted no one, actuall was sure that his ally, Adolf Hitler, wouls not laubcg an invasion. German Panzer armies quickly penetrated deep into Soviet lines, moving rapidly east and taking large numbers of prisoners.

Red Air Force

The Red Air Force was largely destoyed during the first week of Barbarossa. The Soviets had a massive, if largely obsolete air force. And the quick destruction of that force was a prerequisite for success on the ground. The destruction was so massive that it would not be until Stalingrad (November 1942) that the Red airforce could begin to challenge the Luftwaffe. The fact that the Red air Force was destroyed on the grojud. meant that the planes and not the pilots were destoyed. this would be a factor in the future recovery of the Red Air Force.

Advance

German armies slashed into the Soviet Union in three gigantic formations on a immemce streaching some 2,000 miles from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south--essentiallthhe breath of the continental United States. Army Group North from East Prussia attacked into the former Baltic Republics aiming for Lenningrad. They were supported by the Finnish Atmy to the north attempting to regain the territory seized by Stalin in 1939. Army Group Center, the strongest German formation, moved through what was formerly eastern Poland toward Moscow. Army Group South moved into the Ukraine headed toward the Don Bas and the oil rich Caucasus. Not only divisions, but whole Soviet Armies surrendered, often without meaningful resistance. Wehrmacht generals were amazed at the seemingly endless lines of dejected Soviet POWs as they plunged deep into the Soviet Union. Much of the land seized in the first weeks was the territory seized by Stalin in the Baltics and Poland (1939-40) or the restive Ukraine. This was not yet the Russian heartland. Many of the people in these areas as a result of brutal Soviet repression could have been turned into German allies. Flush with victory, however, Hitler ordered the occupation authorities to make it clear that the Wehrmacht had not come as libertors. Whermacht commanders had seen similar scenes on a smaller scale in the West. They were convinced that they were seeing a defeated eneny. The world shudered at the enormity of the campaign and the rapid German advances. The Soviet Union at first looked to the world as one more country that the NAZIs would roll over in another rapid Blitzkrieg campaign. Many Western military analysts gave the Soviets only a few months. Hitler was jubilent. Stalin was stunned and withdrew to his dakha, refusing to speak to the Soviet people.

Army Group North

Army Group North smashed into the Baltics aiming at Leningrad. In the far north, German mountain divisions which had moved into northern Finland struck across the Soviet bordere to take the important Murmansk and the Kola Peninsula to isolate the Soviets. A few days later, the Finnish Army with supporting German units attacked durther south to cut the Soviet rail links with Murmanksk port. They also attacked along both sides of Lake Lagoda toward Lenningrad. Their objective, however, was not Lenningrad, but Karelia, the area of Finlnd the Sovierts had seized in the Winter War (1939-40). Army Group North consisted of three armies based in East Prussia overan Lithuanian in only a few days. The Lithuanians received the Germans a liberators, having no understanding what the Germans had in mind for them. They crossed the Dvina River and began moving into Latvia. The Germans moved over 200 miles in a week. The advancing Panzer armies surrounded 15 Soviet divisions which surrendered.

Army Group Center

Armny Group Center was the strongest German formation with the assignment of tajing Moscow. It was composed of four armies and attacked in the area between the Balticc Republics and the Priipet Mrshes. Guderian's Panzers advanced 50 miles on the first day of Barbarossa. The rapidly seized what had been eastern Poland. Army Group Center captured Minsk, some 250 miles from the start line in only a week (June 28). Within 2 weeks the Wehrmacht had reached the Dnieper in the South. Army Group Center seized Lviv (Lemburg) in Soviet occupied eastern Poland (June 30). The Germans occupiyers committed terrible atrocities. Lviv was annexed by the Soviet Union after the War and is now part of Ukraine.

Army Group South

The southern-most Baarbarossa force was the German 11th Army which attacked across the Pruth River into Bessarabia, a Romania province seized by the Soviets (1940). They were followed by the Romanian 3rd and 4th Armies. Army Group South was composed of three armies including the Romanian allies. They drove east toward Kiev and the Dnieper, encountering more resistance than expected. Odessa held for some time. Despite rapid advances, progress was disappointing because Stlain had concentrated his armor here, anticipating tht the Germans would want the rich agricultural lands. The great tank battles of World War II took place on the Eastern Front. One of the first great tank battle occurred in the northwestern Ukraine--the Bloody Trangle. The German Army Group South were surprised with the armored strength they encountered in the Ukraine. The Germans methodically and decisively defeated the Soviets who had not yet mastered armored tactics. The battle was a week-long slug fest (June 23-30). It would be the largest tank battle of the war until Kursk (July 1943). The German victory opened the way into the Ukraine, but the Barbarossa time table was disrupted. [Kamenir]

Einsatzgruppen

Behind the Panzers came the Einsatzgruppen.. They had bee handpicked and trained by Heydrich. Even so their oders wwere not written down and not entirely clear. The killing of Jewish men began at once. It took a couple weeks before the commanders undersyood tht they were to kill women and chidren as well. Jews were not the only targets, but they were the only population where whole communities were being killed. Bletchely Park almost immediately began picking up rrports from the Einsatzgruppen of their gastly tallies. They were being transmitted in low-level police codes. We are not sure just when Churchill was first told. Nor do we know if Churchill ever discussed this with President Roosevelt or any other Amerivan official. There were so many of these reports and they came in so regulkarly that the Bletchly Park code brekers had to ask if they were to continue reporting.

Sources

Beevor, Anthony. The Second World Wat (Back Bay Books: New York, 2012), 863p.

Kamenir, Victor J. The Bloody Triangle: The Defeat of Soviet Armor in the Ukraine, June 1941, 320p.

Created: 9:07 PM 2/16/2013
Last updated: 12:40 AM 5/30/2019