So now at last I turn to my main focus of this WWII phase, a deep dive on the eastern front of World War II. The past few weeks have been building up to this show down between Hitler vs Stalin; fascism vs communism. As I mentioned before I have made various studies on the western theater (see World War II Summary, Western Front) but know very little about the eastern theater. Obviously as an American we mostly see the western and Pacific War perspective, glorified in films such as Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers. It's without question these were very brave men that played an essential role in the defeat of the Axis Powers. However to be fair, the causalities on the western front we're only a fraction compared to the blood loss on the eastern front.
It's estimated that 60% of the death toll in WW2 occurred on the Eastern front, while 35% in Asia, and only 8% in the western theater. The poor Soviets were especially decimated during the war, losing roughly 25 million soldiers and civilians; next up would be China at 20 million, Germany at 8 million, Poland at 6 million (majority of Holocaust), Japan at 3 million, and the US at 418,000 deaths. These numbers alone sadly show the devaluation of human life especially in Russia and China. I think this aspect of history is often overlooked by the atrocities of the Holocaust. The eastern front was a meat grinder of military but also civilian causalities.
In this post I basically want to lay out the timeline of Operation Barbarossa (1941) to the final Battle of Berlin (1945). I've been reading the book Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor, which offers great historical insight on both sides. Also I've been watching some great documentaries and the films Stalingrad (1993) and Enemy at the Gates (2001). The questions I'd like to focus on here, is what made Hitler so intent on invading the east? What was Stalin's preparation and reaction? What were the key battles that turned the invasion around? What were the military tactics and the fighting conditions like? I just love studying maps, and this will be a great way to understand the flow of the war while learning more about Eastern Europe.
Hitler's vision for Lebensraum
In my previous studies on the ideology of Nazism, I learned that Hitler didn't just hate the Jews, but he hated everything about Eastern Europe. He hated communism, and he especially saw the race of Slavs as inferior (which included Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the Balkan states). Even though they were white, he saw them as a race of uncivilized sub-human peasants inferior to the Aryan Germans. He also hated communism with a passion, and saw the east as a great threat to his fascist ideology. Therefore he made it quite clear in his Mein Kampf (1924), that the eastern lands were meant for German living space, referred to as Lebensraum.
What's especially odd however is that Stalin and most of Europe were aware of Hitler's deep rooted hatred towards eastern Europe. Surely they knew his radical intentions would come to reality as soon as he took power in the 1930s. So why didn't the Jews or Slavs prepare better? In my last post on Stalin, I learned that he was very paranoid most of his life, and was very aware of the threat Hitler posed. He even ramped up military production throughout the late 1930s. However Stalin also purged his greatest military leaders and in truth it seemed he began to fear the rise of Hitler and the Nazis.
In 1939 Stalin pushed for the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which was a non-aggressive pact with Germany. While Stalin hoped this agreement could establish the roots of a long-term partnership, Hitler saw this treaty merely as a temporary truce. Both Hitler and Stalin were able to divide Poland with this agreement, furthermore it allowed the Nazis to focus on the western front. The Soviets had time to rebuild and gain a military advantage over the Nazis while they attacked on the west, however they did not. Instead Stalin was shocked and even subdued by the Nazi's rapid blitzkrieg tactics. Stalin even attempted to join the Axis power, as a means to strengthen his grip on eastern Europe, but surely this was foolhardy. For Hitler the Western front was just the staging ground for his main assault on the East. Stalin was foolish to not see it coming all along.
Operation Barbarossa
After coming to a stalemate with Britain, Hitler turned his attention to the east towards the end of 1940. He signed off on the final details of Operation Barbosa on December 18, 1940, while Stalin was still considering neutrality talks with Germany. This laid out the plan of the full scale invasion of Eastern Europe to be initiated in the summer of 1941. It was to be the largest invasion in history with 3 million troops, 3600 tanks, and 2700 aircraft spanning across 1800 miles on the Russian border. Throughout the winter and spring of 1941, Stalin had received intelligence on this potential invasion, but was in denial. He felt it made no sense for Hitler to wage a 2-front war. Furthermore Stalin trusted in the pact so much that he decided not to build up the defenses so as to show good faith in Germany. This of course was a fatal mistake at the start of the invasion.
The preparation and speculation became official on June 22, 1941 at 3:15 am when Operation Barbarossa began. The German army was divided into three groups along the Eastern borders; Army Group North would target Leningrad (General Wilhelm von Leeb); Army Group Center would target Moscow (General Fedor von Bock) ; and Army Group South would target Ukraine and Stalingrad (General Gerd von Rudnstedt). The first stage of the assault was aerial bombardments by the Luftwaffe against Soviet airfields. This included the bombing of Minsk (Belarus), Kiev (Ukraine), Riga (Latvia), Brest (Belarus), Kaunas (Lithuania), and Smolensk (Russia). The next phase was blitzkrieg ground assaults using their panzer tank formations.
The news of the invasion brought total shock to Stalin, who initially felt it was some sort of misunderstanding. He did not accept the news until later that day where he mobilized the army, and had the premier Vyacheslav Molotov announce it to the nation. Stalin then spent a few days in refuge, until he accepted the reality and met it head on. He addressed the nation on July 3rd, with a fiery call to arms, declaring this as "The Great Patriotic War". He also began a mass relocation effort to move all industry production further inland to the Ural Mountains. This way military production would not be disrupted at the front line cities of Leningrad, Moscow, and Stalingrad.
Nazi Blitzkrieg in the Borderlands
The Nazis used their same blitzkrieg tactics that had brought them success on the Western front. Since Stalin had not anticipated the invasion, the borderline was not well defended. From The Nazis easily captured the northern Baltic cities of Brest, Kaunas, Riga, and Minsk by July 11th. 300,000 Soviet trips were encircled and captured in Minsk. It's worth mentioning here that many of these rural towns on the eastern borders (especially in Ukraine) welcomed the Nazis as liberators from Soviet repression. However that changed quickly when they discovered the Nazis antisemitic and anti-slav policies.
The Nazis quickly reached Russia on July 10th, where they were finally met with heavy Soviet resistance at the Battle of Smolensk. This battle waged on for nearly two months until finally the German army under von Bock encircled the Soviets (once again capturing another 300,000 prisoners). Despite another significant victory for the Germans, it put them behind schedule to reach Moscow. The Nazis were racing against the brutal winter of Russia. Furthermore they had used up more resources then anticipated and their supply lines were already beginning to be stretched.
The Battle of Smolensk is notable as causing the first tactical rift between Hitler and his field generals. While the Center Army wanted to press full on to Moscow, Hitler ordered a detachment be pulled from their army to join the Southern Army in a pincer tactic at Kiev. At the time Hitler felt the Soviets were already defeated and saw more value in the agriculture of Kiev, rather then the capital city of Moscow. This essentially allowed Stalin more time to prepare the defenses of Moscow. The Battle of Kiev was another decisive victory for the Nazis, and they achieved one of the largest encirclements in history (taking 600,000 Soviets prisoner). It was a massive victory for Hitler, just as he had envisioned, however it came at great cost. The full assault on Kiev, delayed the push to Moscow, to late September which made for terrible weather conditions.
After the victory at Kiev, the southern army was riding high and had the majority of the manpower and resources. The German Army captured the industrial city of Kharkov in October. Meanwhile the Romanian Army joined them to lay siege to Odessa from Aug-Oct as well as in Crimea and the Donbas region. The German Southern Army also achieved a massive victory in the central city of Uman, once again encircling another 100,000 Soviet prisoners. These POWs were put into labor camps to contribute to the war effort. Hitler intended for the southern army to keep pushing towards Stalingrad however by October they ran into very muddy conditions. Similar to the north and central armies, their supply lines had also been far too stretched. By late winter of 1941-1942, the southern army went into a winter pause to prepare for the siege of Sevastopol and Stalingrad.
Siege of Leningrad
Meanwhile the German northern army had reached Leningrad by September 8th to begin laying siege to the current city of St. Petersburg. To further add injury to insult, the German army was joined by the Finnish resistance seeking to regain lost territory after the Winter War of 1939. Hitler gave orders that the city was to be bombarded, blockaded, systemically starved, and completely erased. He did not seek to capture the city, the same way he did for Kiev or Moscow. Thus the intent was for a long-term siege, not a ground force invasion, which lasted for 872 days. It became the most destructive siege in history, causing 1.5 million Soviet deaths.
Despite this 2 year bombardment however the people of Leningrad showed incredible resilience. Underground facilities were established to continue normal operations such as education or social functions. Meanwhile production in the urban factories continued despite the destroyed roofs or walls. Starvation became the main issue, when their central food hub, the Badaev warehouse was targeted and destroyed by the Nazis. Stalin coordinated air drop shipments as well as a supply line from the frozen Lake Ladoga to bring food into the city. The greatest act of defiance and moral boosting came from Shostakovich who performed his Symphony No. 7 in the city during bombardment.
Battle of Moscow
As the capital of the Soviet Union, capturing the city of Moscow was a priority for both Hitler and the Central Army. It was referred to as Operation Typhoon. However Hitler made a controversial decision in August of 1941, by pulling a large division from the central army to flank the city of Kiev. While this was a successful maneuver in the south it ultimately weakened the center's manpower. This greatly frustrated the central command, as it delayed their march on Moscow, which meant they would be facing the brutal winter conditions of Russia. The Nazi supply lines had become outstretched, and the terrain was especially difficult due to muddy roads.
The German Central Army began their assault on Moscow on October 2, 1941. Their army consisted of 2 million men, broken up into two divisions with the intent to encircle the city as they did on Kiev. The Nazis managed to capture 600,000 Soviet troops on the outskirts of the city (in Vyazma and Bryansk). Despite early losses, the city had time to prepare it's defenses and kept sending in new waves of resistance against the German attacks. The conditions grew especially difficult for the Germans in mid October, when they had trouble moving their tanks and aircrafts thru the boggy mud. To encourage morale, Stalin defiantly chose to stay in the city and ordered a military parade on Nov 7th in the Red Square of Moscow. By December when the grounds froze the Nazis resumed their attack still intent on their pincer maneuver to fully encircle the city.
By early December the winter cold dropped down to -30 degrees, which favored the Soviets and led to their counteroffensive. The Soviet army led by General Georgy Zhukov pushed back at the German's pincer divisions, thru reinforced Siberian armies (renown for their white camouflage suits and ski tactics). The Soviets also launched their their superior T-34 tanks, which were better at navigating in the snow then the German tanks. The Germans were not as prepared for the brutal cold weather as the Russians were and quickly caved to the counteroffensive. By January of 1942 the Central German Army retreated from it's assault. This marked the first major military defeat for the Nazis and the end to the Operation Barbosa campaign.
Case Blue
Following their victory at Moscow, the Soviets launched an offensive winter campaign in 1941-1942. They were able to push the German army further away from Moscow by 150 miles to the west. They even attempted to reclaim the city of Kharkov in May of 1942 but were pushed back by the Nazis. The Nazis achieved another key victory that summer in the south when Sevastopol, Crimea was finally forced to surrender after a 250 day siege. This paved the way for Hitler's second major offensive in the southern region, known as Case Blue. The primary goal for Hitler was to take possession of the Caucus oilfields near Baku, Azerbaijan which he felt could bring the total collapse of the Soviet Union.
Part of the offensive consisted of splitting the southern army into two divisions; Operation Edelweiss would target the oil fields of Baku, while Operation Fischreiher would target the industrial city of Stalingrad, along the Volga River. Part of the plan consisted of a major decoy effort to attack Moscow once again, known as Operation Kremlin (effectively fooling the Soviets). Throughout the summer of 1942 the Nazi armies achieved key victories at Kharkov and the Rostov-on-Don. In August of 1942 Operation Edelweiss managed to capture the oilfield of Maikop, however they met heavy resistance in the region of Grozny. Furthermore much of the oil refineries were destroyed by the Soviets as a form of scorched earth tactics. This army would eventually be forced to retreat.
In response to this offensive by the Nazis, Stalin issues his infamous "Not a Step Back" mandate in July 28th, 1942. This consisted of harsh policy against cowardice, desertion, and surrender. The NKVD oversaw the policy with strict rearguard detachments which would prevent unauthorized retreats. Furthermore anyone caught fleeing, would not only face execution, but their family would also be punished. This instilled an extremist discipline in the Soviets that they were to fight to the death. This mandate helped the Soviets defend the Caucus Region, but would also lead to the staggering high death toll at the Battle of Stalingrad.
Battle of Stalingrad
The key to capturing the Caucus oilfields, was to secure the city of Stalingrad which was a main transport hub along the Volga river. This was not only a logistical target for Hitler, but also the symbolic aspect to conquering the city named after Stalin. On the flip side Stalin also shared the similar stubbornness to defend this city at all costs, especially since it was named after him. During the Russian Civil War, Stalin organized it's defenses against the White Army, and thus it held a special place for him (which is why it was renamed from Tsaritsyn to Stalingrad in 1925). The city also had major industrial significance with the production of tanks, aircraft, and heavy machinery. Thus it was a crucial target for Hitler; for it's logistics, the propaganda, and to protect the southern Caucus army.
The Axis army was led by General Friedrich Paulus with a force of 300,000 that consisted of Germans, Romanians, Italians, and Hungarians. They began their assault in August of 1942 with an aerial bombardment from the Luftwaffe. This was one of the most devastating air bombings of the European theater, 1000 tons of high explosives and incendiaries. The city was bombed intensely for most of August-Sept, which leveled many of the buildings and resulted in civilian deaths of 40,000-70,000. However this destruction would later turn as an advantage for the Soviets, who used the rubble as coverage during the urban warfare battles.
Following the bombing campaign, the Nazis began to advance into the city of rubble, where they met heavy Soviet resistance. It was a battle in the streets, the buildings, the sewers, and all throughout the ruined city, later referred to as a "rat war". Machine guns, grenades, flame-throwers, and Molotov cocktails were frequently in use. Snipers played a huge role in the battle, being able to take coverage at high vantage points. The Soviet sniper, Vasily Zaitsev became a hero during this battle after killing 225 Nazi soldiers. Many times the fighting was so close in proximity that soldiers resorted to hand-to-hand combat, bayonets, and knives. This brutal fight in the streets went on day-and-night for nearly 7 weeks.
By late November as the weather began to cool, the Nazis were running out of supplies, and the Soviets began to take the initiative. General Zhukov organized the counteroffensive known as Operation Uranus which would be a pincer attack on the German army position. They first began their assault on the weaker Romanian, Hungarian, and Italian divisions before flanking the German forces. The entrapment was quickly achieved within a week by Nov 23rd, 1942. However Hitler gave defiant orders that the army was not to surrender at all costs. He even gave a public speech in Munich that the city would still be captured. Throughout December-January conditions quickly worsened for the Nazis who were forced with freezing temperatures, starvation, and very low morale.
On December 12th, the Nazis made one final push to break thru the encirclement in Operation Winter Storm. Despite making some minimal gains, the Soviets were eventually able to repel the offensive and tighten their encirclement. Throughout Janurary General Paulus was faced with a massive dilemma of watching his soldiers freeze and starve to death, while Hitler would not allow surrender. Even though Hitler knew the battle was loss, he was now invested on making this a propaganda story that would glorify the Nazi courage. Hitler even promoted Paulus to field marshal, expecting him to commit suicide rather then surrender. The following day however on Feb 2nd, 1943 Paulus surrendered to the Soviets with 91,000 Nazi soldier taking prisoner. The Battle of Stalingrad resulted in approximately 1.5 million deaths (700,000 Axis soldiers, 500,000 Red Army, 70,000 civilians). It was the deadliest battle in WW2 yet a major Soviet victory and turning point in the Eastern theater.
Battle of Kursk
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Following the defeat of Stalingrad, the Nazi propaganda began to fear a turn in the tide. The situation was also worsening on the Northern African/Italian theater due to the Allied advances. Goebbels gave his famous "Total War" speech in February of 1943 declaring all citizens to prepare to take arms and fight to the death. Hitler also began to display more indecisiveness when it came to their next move on the eastern theater. The Soviets continued their counterattack from Stalingrad pushing the remaining Axis soldiers out of the Caucus southern territory. The Soviets made another attempt to re-capture Kharkov in March, but were once again repelled by the German occupants. This victory encouraged Hitler to launch another offensive known as Operation Citadel. He appointed Field Marshal Eric von Manstein to lead the next attack in Russia.
The city of Kursk (near Kharkov) was chosen as Hitler's next target in Operation Citadel, to attempt to regain momentum in the east. The plan was to break the Russian's line at the middle, and encircle it's forward bulge at Kursk (a similar tactic it would later use against the western allies at the Battle of the Bulge). The German army of 900,000 soldiers with 2700 tanks and 2000 aircraft began their open-field assault on July 5, 1943. They were broken up into two main divisions to perform their iconic pincer encirclement movement. The only problem however is the Soviets knew the attack was coming from British intelligence. Thus the Red Army built up their defenses at Kursk with nearly 2 million soldiers, 5000 tanks, 3000 aircraft, trenches, barbwire, and over a million land mines.
The German southern attack made further advancement, then the northern attack which was quickly stalled by Soviet defenses. On July 12 at Prokhorovka the largest battle of machinery ever fought took place with both tank and aerial engagement. 2000 German Luftwaffe aircraft faced off against 3000 Soviet aircrafts seeking to gain air superiority (500 planes destroyed completely). Meanwhile the Germans fielded 700 tanks (Panzers, Panther, and Tigers) against 1200 Soviet tanks (T-34s, KV1s) most of which were also destroyed. Despite this aggressive clash of metal, the Nazis were simply outnumbered and out-machined and could not break thru the Soviet lines.
By mid July once the German offensive was halted, the Soviets began their own counteroffensive to drive the Germans back. By this point the battle was lost, especially when Hitler decided to start pulling reserves to send to northern Italy. The Nazis fully retreated by August 23rd. It was one of the top 5 bloodiest battles in WWII with over 300,000 deaths. Much of the fighting broke out into nearby villages in house-to-house and hand-to-hand combat. The German defeat at Kursk marked the final turning point in the eastern front, and the beginning of the end for the Nazis. The Soviets continued from Kursk with their Belgorod-Kharkov offensive, to finally capture Kharkov in August 1943.
The Soviet 1944 Push
Following their victory at Kursk, the Soviets had all the momentum going forward. This was especially aided with Stalin's new Big 3 partnership with the western allies of Britain and the United States. The Soviets followed up their victory at Kharkov with a campaign along the Dnieper River which included liberating Smolensk on Oct 2nd, and Kiev on November 6th. Thru the winter of 1943-1944 they initiated a southern campaign liberating much of the Crimea region which included victories in Odessa and Sevastopol. Also by March of 1944 the Soviets were finally able to end the 2 year siege of Leningrad and drive the Nazis back from the north.
By the summer of 1944 the Soviets were coordinating multiple offensives across Eastern Europe reclaiming land the Nazis had occupied. The Nazis were in continuous retreat most of the summer destroying all bridges, railways, and any resource the Soviets might use. In the north the Soviets pressed on from Leningrad and liberated the Baltic regions. They began southern offensives in Romania, Bulgaria, and the Balkan regions. They initiated Operation Bagration to encircle the Nazi pockets and liberate regions throughout Belarus. They also cleared western Ukraine and began their offensive into Poland by August of 1944. Also in October of 1944, the city of Belgrade, led by Josef Tito, expelled the Nazi occupiers. Similiar pockets of resistance were spreading all throughout Eastern Europe, such as in Warsaw, Poland.
Invasion of Germany
By June 6, 1944 the Allies landed in Normandy, France and began their western push on the Germans. The Nazis were now faced with an impossible two front war, being squeeezed on both sides. The Soviets continued their advances into Central Europe and Poland by the fall of 1944-1945. They discovered the first Jewish Holocaust camps in Lublin, Poland on July 1944. They then pushed into central and western Poland during the Vistula-Oder campaign where they liberated Warsaw and Lodz. It was here that the Soviets discovered the Auschwitz camp in January 1945. They also made advances into Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, and Czechia during the spring of 1945.
By this stage in the war the Soviet Union found itself in a race with the western allies for land supremacy. Furthermore it was agreed by the Big 3, that the Soviet Union should be the ones to take down the city of Berlin. The Soviet army led by Zhukov crossed into Germany on January 31st, 1945 via the Oder River where they began preparing their final assault on Berlin. From Feb-April, they strengthened their northern flank in the Baltic coastlines of Germany and Poland. They also led a campaign on south-eastern Germany, which included key battles Halbe, the Vienna offensive, and the Prague offensive.
By April 16, 1945 the Soviets began their assault on Berlin, positioned from the east, north, and south. This did not fully encircle the city, however the western corridor was facing the oncoming allied armies who were near the Elbe river (about 45 miles away). By April 25th, the Soviets army established a western position so they could properly encircle the city. Hitler however refused to escape from his bunker, and gave defiant orders that every citizen was to fight to the death. The battle was quite similar to the urban warfare of Stalingrad, leveled buildings, street fighting, incoming artillery shells. By April 30th Hitler accepted defeat and committed suicide. The German army surrendered on May 2nd, 1945 to bring an end to this terrible European war.
Thru this victory over Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union had proclaimed itself as a new global superpower. Whilst it came at an enormous cost of life, they played the pivotal role of defeating the Nazis on the Eastern front. One can't help but wonder how the war may have gone, if Hitler didn't foolishly decide to invade motherland Russia and fight a two-front war. It's quite likely Germany could of held it's western position against the Americans if it didn't sink so much into the eastern theatre. But sooner or later Hitler would be have been consumed by his antisemitic/anti-slav/lebensraum rhetoric to invade Russia. So it's mostly thanks to the good ole Russians that the Jews were freed in Poland, and the wicked Nazis were defeated.
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