Lesson 1 – week beginning 1st June

Title: Why did Operation Barbarossa fail?

WHY DID OPERATION BARBAROSSA FAIL?

‘When Barbarossa commences, the world will hold its breath,’ Hitler said of his bold plan to invade
the Soviet Union. The scale of the campaign was certainly huge. Hitler assembled 3 million troops,
3500 tanks and 2700 aircraft for ‘Operation Barbarossa’ - the German code name for the attack
on Russia.

Why did Hitler break the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact?

Hitler invaded the Soviet Union on the 22nd June 1941, ordering his troops to ‘flatten Russia like a
hailstorm’. The reasons for the invasion were a mixture of the military and the political. Hitler
needed Russia's plentiful raw materials to support his army and population. There was oil in the
Caucasus (southern Russia) and wheat in the Ukraine.

He was also obsessed by racial ideas. The Russians, he believed, were an inferior ‘Slav’ race which
would offer no real resistance (i.e. they wouldn’t be able to fight back) to ‘racially superior’
Germans. Russia's fertile plains could provide even more Lebensraum (living space) than Poland.
Russia was also at the heart of world communism, and Hitler detested communists.

The Russian Red Army had done very badly during its brief war with Finland in the winter of 1939 –
40. This convinced Hitler the Soviet Union and its Red Army could be beaten in four months. His
confidence was also boosted by the fact that in the late 1930s, Stalin, the Soviet dictator, had shot
35,000 officers (43% of all his officers) in ‘purges’ of the Red (Russian) Army. Stalin believed that
the army was plotting against him.

But the invasion of Russia was Hitler’s biggest mistake of the war so far - especially with Britain
still undefeated in the West. Germany was now committed to a war on two fronts (fighting on
Germany’s east and western borders). Hitler’s arrogance and contempt for his enemies was to prove
his most serious failing.

Despite that, no foreign army had successfully invaded Russia before, Hitler was confident that his
army would easily defeat the Russians. He could match the Soviet army in size and would have
much better equipment. For example, only 1500 of Russia’s 10,000 tanks were capable of fighting
the German tanks so Germany ought to have a huge advantage.
 What happened when Hitler
invaded in June 1941?

The Russians were taken

completely by surprise by the
German invasion and quickly ‘fell
back’ or retreated, trading men
and territory for time. As they
retreated, they ‘scorched the
earth’, destroying everything which
could provide food or shelter for
the Germans. This proved very
serious for the Germans when
winter set in.

The Germans captured huge

numbers of Soviet troops –
3 million by the end of 1941.
However, Stalin managed to
balance out the losses of
men and materials by taking
advantage of Russia’s size.
He ordered 1500 factories
(80% of Russia's industrial
output) to be moved by rail
far to the East, away from
the fighting. Here, these
factories quickly started to
manufacture once more,
producing essential war
materials.

No matter how many tanks the Germans destroyed, and however many men they killed or captured,
they seemed to face an endless supply of both. The Russian troops were courageous and strongly
committed to defending both Russia and communism. They were also supported by civilians (non-
soldiers) who joined a resistance against the German army due to the brutal treatment of ordinary
Russians by the Germans.

The Battle of Stalingrad

By the end of 1941, Hitler only managed to achieve one of his aims, capturing Ukraine. The two
major cities of Leningrad and Moscow remained under Russian control. Hitler did not give up, and
ordered a new attack in summer 1942, this time on the city of Stalingrad. The battle was fierce and
closely fought, but by November 1942, 300,000 German soldiers were trapped in the city. Hitler
refused to allow them to surrender.
 The German army had not been prepared to fight a winter
battle and many died of exposure due to their light summer
uniforms, and of starvation. The ground was too hard to
dig trenches in and almost all buildings which might have
provided shelter had been destroyed. When they finally did
surrender in January 1943, only 90,000 German troops
remained. (pic: a German Prisoner of War)

Operation Citadel, aka the Battle of Kursk

In July 1943, the Germans tried once more to stop the Russians in the Battle of Kursk. By the end,
Germany had just 2500 tanks in Russia whilst the USSR had 8200 – and were on home turf. By late
1944, the Russian Red Army had turned tables completely and was ready to invade Germany!

Interpretations of Operation Barbarossa

Whilst German generals claimed that Barbarossa failed simply because the Russians had more of
everything – tanks, planes and man – the truth is a little more complex. What do you think?

Starter:

“We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down.”

Hitler, talking about Russia in 1941. What do you think that Hitler is saying about Russia here?

I think that Hitler is saying…

Task 1:
By early 1941. Hitler’s blitzkrieg tactic was proving
very successful; France, Luxembourg, Holland,
Belgium, Poland, Norway, Denmark, Yugoslavia and
Greece were occupied or controlled by the Nazis.

However, Hitler had failed to defeat the British Air

Force in the Battle of Britain and now turned his
attention to Russia. In 1939, the Russian and
German Foreign Ministers had signed an agreement
between their countries (the Molotov-Ribbentrop
Pact) promising that Russia would not oppose
Germany if Hitler decided to invade Poland (which
he did, a few weeks after signing the pact).

Cartoon analysis:

Look carefully at this cartoon – it shows Hitler, leader of Germany, and Joseph Stalin, the leader of
the USSR (Russia). Answer in the boxes.

Think:
 What does this cartoon tell you that Hitler and
Stalin WANTED people to think about their
relationship?

What does the cartoonist think their relationship is

REALLY like?

Task 2

Comprehension - What was Operation Barbarossa?

First, watch this clip – it will make you laugh! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irh104wDntE

Then, read through the information sheet about Operation Barbarossa (the information at the
beginning of this booklet) and answer the following questions (the boxes will expand as you type in
them!):


1) Operation Barbarossa was a code name for the invasion of Russia. What did Hitler think Germany
would gain by invading Russia?

2) Why did Hitler think that his invasion would be successful?

3) How did the Russians react when the Germans invaded? Was it what Hitler had predicted?


4) Is it accurate to say that Russian fighters were more committed to the fight than the Germans?
Explain your answer.
5) How did Russia’s size and weather affect the outcome of the German invasion?

6) How did Hitler’s leadership affect the outcome of the German invasion?


7) Is the German general’s claim that Barbarossa failed simply because the Russians had more of
everything true?
Explain your answer: Aim to write a paragraph explaining why it might be true, and another one look
at different reasons. Write a conclusion too - if you disagree, what do you think the real reason was?
Do any reasons link together?

It may be true that Barbarossa failed because Russia had more of everything because…

On the other hand, there are other reasons why Operation Barbarossa failed. For example…

In conclusion, the main reason why Barbarossa failed was…

Task 3:
Caption competition: Look at the cartoons about Hitler and his invasion of Russia.

Look carefully at what is happening, and think about what the cartoonist is trying to say. Think of a
caption for each of them!

Example:

What is shown? What is the cartoonist

trying to say?

This cartoon shows the Russian leader,

Joseph Stalin, as a waiter. Instead of a
knife and fork, he holds the symbols of
communism, the hammer and sickle. Adolf
Hitler is shown as a roasted pig which
suggests that he has been defeated – as
we know that he was in Russia after
Operation Barbarossa.
What caption would you give the
cartoon?
NB: I didn’t make this one up, it’s the real
one – but I’d like you to have a go at
inventing your own.
The caption is “They’re serving Roast
Adolf at Joe’s House tonight’, suggesting
that the Russians are celebrating their
victory.

Cartoon 1

What is shown? What is the cartoonist

trying to say?

What caption would you give the

cartoon?

Cartoon 2

What is shown? What is the cartoonist

trying to say?
What caption would you give the
cartoon?

Cartoon 3

What is shown? What is the cartoonist

trying to say?

What caption would you give the

cartoon?

Cartoon 4
Some context for this cartoon – the USA joined the war in December 1941, on the same side as
Russia, Britain and their allies.

What is shown? What is the cartoonist

trying to say?
What caption would you give the
cartoon?