PLAN "BARBAROSSA" The victorious year 1945 will come, and many researchers will call the plan "Barbarossa" the biggest adventure and gross mistake of the military-political leadership of Hitler's Germany. Here it is necessary to separate two components: the political decision to attack

At the end of 1940, Hitler signed an ominous document - Directive 21, which became known as Plan Barbarossa. The attack on the USSR was initially planned for May 15: the German command planned to finish off the Red Army before the onset of autumn. However, the Balkan operation launched by Germany to seize Yugoslavia and Greece pushed back the date of the attack to June 22.

If you want peace, prepare for war

The emergence of the Barbarossa plan may seem strange at first glance. Only a year ago, a non-aggression pact was signed between Germany and the Soviet Union - the so-called Ribbentrop-Molotov Treaty, which provided for the redistribution of spheres of influence in Eastern Europe. What has changed in the relations between the recent “allies”? Firstly, in June 1940, before by German troops France, Hitler’s most serious continental opponent, capitulated. Secondly, the recent winter war of the USSR against Finland showed that the Soviet combat vehicle was not so powerful, especially against the backdrop of German successes. And thirdly, Hitler was still afraid to launch a military operation against England, having Soviet divisions in the rear. Therefore, immediately after the French signed the surrender, the German command began to develop a plan for a military campaign against the USSR.

Tooth for tooth

Finland and Romania were to play a large role in the implementation of the Barbarossa plan. More recently, the Soviet Union captured the Karelian Isthmus with Vyborg from the Finns, and Bessarabia from the Romanians, i.e. lands that were previously part of Russian Empire. The leadership of these countries longed for revenge. According to the Barbarossa plan, Finnish troops were supposed to pin down Soviet troops with their offensive in the north, and Romanian troops in the south. While the German units will deliver a crushing blow in the center.

Neutrality in Swedish

During World War II, Sweden officially declared its neutrality. However, in the Barbarossa plan, the role of Sweden is clearly stated - the Swedes had to provide their railways to transfer 2-3 German divisions to help Finland. Everything went according to plan - in the very first days of the war, a German division was sent through Swedish territory to operate in Northern Finland. True, the Swedish Prime Minister soon promised the frightened Swedish people that not a single German division would be allowed through Swedish territory and that the country would not enter the war against the USSR. However, in practice, the transit of German military materials to Finland took place through Sweden; German transport ships They transported troops there, taking refuge in Swedish territorial waters, and until the winter of 1942/43 they were accompanied by a convoy of Swedish naval forces. The Nazis achieved the supply of Swedish goods on credit and their transportation mainly on Swedish ships.

Stalin line

In the 30s, a powerful system of defensive structures was built on the western borders of the USSR, which consisted of fortified areas from the Karelian Isthmus to the Black Sea; in the West it was called Stalin’s line. The fortified area included casemates, positions for field artillery, and bunkers for anti-tank guns. After the partition of Poland and return Western Ukraine and the Baltic border moved back and the Stalin line was in the rear, some of the weapons were transported to the new borders, but Zhukov insisted that some of the artillery weapons be retained in the disarmed areas. The Barbarossa plan provided for the breakthrough of border fortifications by tank troops, but the German command, apparently, did not take Stalin’s line into account. Subsequently, some fortified areas played a role in the war; their assault made it possible to delay the advance of the Nazis and disrupt the blitzkrieg.

And we'll go south!

The fierce resistance of the Soviet troops, the large stretch of troops, and the partisan war in the rear led to Hitler deciding to seek his fortune in the south. On August 21, 1941, Hitler issued a new directive stating that the most important task before the onset of winter is not the capture of Moscow, but the capture of Crimea, industrial and coal areas on the Donets River and blocking the Russian oil supply routes from the Caucasus. The Barbarossa plan, which envisaged a march on Moscow, was bursting at the seams. Part of the troops of Army Group Center was redeployed to help Army Group South in order to achieve a strategic advantage in Ukraine. As a result, the attack on Moscow began only at the end of September - time was lost and the Russian winter loomed ahead.

Club of the People's War

The plan developed by the German generals did not take into account the resistance of the civilian population at all. With the onset of autumn, the German advance slowed down significantly, the war dragged on, and the civilian population did not greet the victors as submissive Europeans and, at the first opportunity, struck back at the invaders. Italian observer Curzio Malaparte noted: “When the Germans begin to be afraid, when the mysterious German fear creeps into their hearts, one begins to especially fear for them and feel pity for them. They look pathetic, their cruelty is sad, their courage is silent and hopeless. This is where the Germans begin to go berserk... They begin to kill prisoners who have rubbed their feet and can no longer walk. They begin to burn villages that failed to provide the required amount of grain and flour, barley and oats, cattle and horses. When there are almost no Jews left, they hang the peasants.” The people responded to the atrocities of the fascists by joining the partisans, the cudgel people's war, without understanding anything, began to nail the Germans in the rear.

General "Winter"

The blitzkrieg plan captivated Hitler so much that during its development the fact of a protracted war was not even considered. The attack was originally planned for May 15 to finish off the Soviets before the onset of autumn, but in reality Hitler's Balkan Operation to seize Yugoslavia and Greece pushed the date of the attack to June 22 - time was needed to transfer troops. As a result, General “Winter,” as the Germans called him, came out on the side of the Russians. Hitler’s army was completely unprepared for winter; captured Germans sometimes found themselves dressed in work clothes, pulled over uniform trousers and jackets and lined with unnecessary paper, including leaflets calling for surrender, which were scattered from airplanes behind the front line over Russian locations. Hands without mittens froze to the metal parts of the weapon, and frostbite became no less a formidable enemy of the Germans than the advancing Soviet units.

The operation was supposed to ensure a quick and unconditional victory of Nazi Germany over the USSR thanks to the surprise factor. However, despite preparations in secrecy, the Barbarossa plan failed, and the war between the Germans and domestic troops dragged on and lasted from 1941 to 1945, after which it ended in the defeat of Germany.

The Barbarossa plan got its name in honor of the medieval King of Germany, Frederick 1, who was a glorious commander and, as was previously believed, planned raids on Rus' in the 12th century. Later, this myth was debunked.

Contents of the Barbarossa plan and its significance

The attack on the USSR was supposed to be Germany's next step towards world domination. The victory over Russia and the conquest of its territories should have opened up the opportunity for Hitler to enter into an open conflict with the United States for the right to redistribute the world. Having managed to conquer almost all of Europe, Hitler was confident of his unconditional victory over the USSR.

In order for the attack to go smoothly, it was necessary to develop a plan for a military attack. This plan became Barbarossa. Before planning the attack, Hitler ordered his intelligence officers to collect detailed information about the Soviet army and its weapons. After analyzing the information received, Hitler decided that the German army was significantly superior to the Red Army of the USSR - based on this, they began to plan the attack.

The essence of the Barbarossa plan was to strike the Red Army suddenly, on its own territory and, taking advantage of the unpreparedness of the troops and the technical superiority of the German army, to conquer the USSR within two and a half months.

At first it was planned to conquer the front line located on the territory of Belarus by wedging German troops with different sides Soviet army. The disunited and unprepared Red Army had to quickly surrender. Then Hitler was going to move towards Kyiv in order to conquer the territory of Ukraine and, most importantly, its sea ​​routes and cut off the paths of Soviet troops. Thus, he could give his troops the opportunity to further attack the USSR from the south and north. In parallel, Hitler's army was supposed to launch an offensive from Norway. Having surrounded the USSR on all sides, Hitler planned to move towards Moscow.

However, already at the very beginning of the war, the German command realized that the plans began to collapse.

Conducting Operation Barbarossa and its results

First and main mistake Hitler was that he underestimated the strength and weapons of the Soviet army, which, according to historians, was superior to the German in some areas. In addition, the war took place on the territory of the Russian army, so the fighters easily navigated the terrain and could fight in different natural conditions, which was not so easy for the Germans. One more distinctive feature Russian army, which greatly influenced the failure of Operation Barbarossa was the ability of Russian soldiers in as soon as possible mobilize to resist, which did not allow the army to be divided into disparate units.

Hitler set his troops the task of quickly penetrating deep into the Soviet army and dividing it, not allowing Russian soldiers to carry out major operations, as this may be dangerous. The plan was to split the Soviet army and force it to flee. However, everything turned out the other way around. Hitler's troops quickly penetrated deep into the Russian troops, but they were unable to conquer the flanks and defeat the army either. The Germans tried to follow the plan and encircled the Russian detachments, but this did not lead to any results - the Russians quickly emerged from the encirclement thanks to the surprisingly clear and competent leadership of their military leaders. As a result, despite the fact that Hitler’s army still won, it happened very slowly, which ruined the entire plan of rapid conquest.

On the approaches to Moscow, Hitler's army was no longer so strong. Exhausted by endless battles that dragged on for a long time, the army could not go on to conquer the capital, in addition, the bombing of Moscow never began, although according to Hitler’s plans, by this time the city should no longer be on the map. The same thing happened with Leningrad, which was besieged, but never surrendered and was not destroyed from the air.

The operation, which was planned as a swift, victorious attack, turned into a protracted war and stretched from two months to several years.

Reasons for the failure of Plan Barbarossa

The main reasons for the failure of the operation can be considered:

• Lack of accurate data on the combat power of the Russian army. Hitler and his command underestimated the possibilities Soviet soldiers, which led to the creation of an incorrect plan of attack and battles. The Russians gave a strong resistance, which the Germans did not count on;
• Excellent counterintelligence. Unlike the Germans, the Russians were able to establish good reconnaissance, thanks to which the command was almost always aware of the enemy’s next move and could respond adequately to it. The Germans failed to exploit the effect of surprise;
• Difficult territories. It was difficult for Hitler's troops to get maps of the Soviet terrain, in addition, they were not used to fighting in such conditions (unlike the Russians), so very often impenetrable forests and swamps helped the Soviet army escape and deceive the enemy;
• Lack of control over the course of the war. The German command already in the first few months lost control over the course of military operations, the Barbarossa plan turned out to be impracticable, and the Red Army led a skillful counter-offensive.

In his book, which was pompously titled “My War,” as well as in numerous speeches, Hitler proclaimed that the Germans, as a superior race, needed more living space.

At the same time, he did not mean Europe, but the Soviet Union, its European part. Mild climate, fertile lands and geographical proximity to Germany - all this made Ukraine, from his point of view, an ideal place for a German colony. He took the experience of British colonization in India as a basis.

According to his plan, the Aryans should live in beautiful houses, enjoy all the benefits, while the fate of other peoples is to serve them.

Negotiations with Hitler

Although the plan was excellent, certain difficulties arose with its implementation. Hitler understood perfectly well that it would hardly be possible to conquer Russia so quickly, due to its territorial size and large population, like Europe. But he firmly hoped to carry out a military operation before the onset of the famous Russian frosts, realizing that getting bogged down in the war was fraught with defeat in it.

Joseph Stalin was not ready for the start of the war. According to some historians, he sincerely believed that Hitler would not attack the USSR until he defeated France and Great Britain. But the fall of France in 1940 made him think about the possible threat from the Germans.

Therefore, Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov was delegated to Germany with clear instructions - to delay negotiations with Hitler for as long as possible. long term. Stalin's calculation was aimed at the fact that Hitler would not dare to attack closer to the fall - after all, then he would have to fight in the winter, and if he did not have time to act in the summer of 1941, then he would have to postpone his military plans until next year.

Plans to attack Russia

Plans for an attack on Russia by Germany have been developed since 1940. Historians believe that Hitler canceled Operation Sea Lion, deciding that with the fall of the Soviet Union the British would surrender on their own.

The first version of the offensive plan was made by General Erich Marx in August 1940 - in the Reich it was considered the best specialist across Russia. In it, he took into account many factors - economic opportunities, human resources, vast territories of the conquered country. But even careful reconnaissance and development of the Germans did not allow them to discover the reserve of the Supreme High Command, which included armored forces, engineering troops, infantry and aviation. Subsequently, this became an unpleasant surprise for the Germans.

Marx developed an attack on Moscow as the main direction of attack. Secondary strikes were to be directed at Kyiv and two diversionary strikes through the Baltic states to Leningrad, as well as Moldova. Leningrad was not a priority for Marx.

The plan was developed in an atmosphere of strict secrecy - disinformation about Hitler’s plans to attack the Soviet Union was spread through all channels of diplomatic communication. All troop movements were explained by exercises or redeployments.

The next version of the plan was completed in December 1940 by Halder. He changed Marx's plan, highlighting three directions: the main one against Moscow, smaller forces were to be concentrated on advancing towards Kyiv, and major attack should have gone to Leningrad.

After the conquest of Moscow and Leningrad, Harold proposed moving towards Arkhangelsk, and after the fall of Kyiv, the Wehrmacht forces were to head to the Don and Volga region.

Third and last option was developed by Hitler himself under the code name "Barbarossa". This plan was created in December 1940.

Operation Barbarossa

Hitler put the main focus of military activity on moving north. Therefore, Moscow and Leningrad remained among the strategically important targets. Units moving south were to be tasked with occupying Ukraine west of Kyiv.

The attack began early on the morning of Sunday 22 June 1941. In total, the Germans and their allies committed 3 million soldiers, 3,580 tanks, 7,184 artillery pieces, 1,830 aircraft and 750,000 horses. In total, Germany assembled 117 army divisions for the attack, not counting the Romanian and Hungarian ones. Three armies took part in the attack: “North”, “Center” and “South”.

“You just need to kick in front door, and the entire rotten Russian structure will collapse,” Hitler said smugly a few days after the start of hostilities. The results of the offensive were truly impressive - 300,000 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers were killed or captured, 2,500 tanks, 1,400 artillery pieces and 250 aircraft were destroyed. And this is only based on the central advance of German troops after seventeen days. Skeptics, seeing the catastrophic results of the first two weeks of hostilities for the USSR, predicted the imminent collapse of the Bolshevik empire. But the situation was saved by Hitler’s own miscalculations.

The first advances of the fascist troops were so fast that even the Wehrmacht command was not prepared for them - and this jeopardized all supply and communication lines of the army.

Army Group Center stopped on the Desna in the summer of 1941, but everyone believed that this was only a respite before the inexorable movement. But in the meantime, Hitler decided to change the balance of power of the German army. He gave the order military units led by Guderian to head towards Kyiv, and the first tank group to go north. was against Hitler’s decision, but could not disobey the Fuhrer’s order - he repeatedly proved his rightness as a military leader with victories, and Hitler’s authority was unusually high.

Crushing defeat of the Germans

The success of the mechanized units in the north and south was as impressive as the attack on June 22 - huge numbers of dead and captured, thousands of units of equipment destroyed. But, despite the results achieved, this decision already contained defeat in the war. lost time. The delay was so significant that the onset of winter occurred before the troops achieved the goals set by Hitler.

The army was not equipped for the winter cold. And the frosts of the winter of 1941-1942 were especially severe. And this was a very important factor that played a role in the loss of the German army.

The collapse of Plan Barbarossa. Volume II [Blitzkrieg thwarted] Glanz David M

Objectives of Operation Barbarossa

Objectives of Operation Barbarossa

According to the plans of Hitler and his generals, during the implementation of their “Barbarossa” plan, Smolensk was by no means assigned the role of an army cemetery; the ancient Russian city of Smolensk was to become only a milestone on the path to Moscow and a quick victory. The German Plan Barbarossa called for an invasion of the Soviet Union with three army groups numbering over 3 million men, led by an armada of four tank groups consisting of 19 tank and 15 motorized divisions and approximately 3,350 tanks. Having suddenly attacked with the support of the Luftwaffe, consisting of 2,770 fighters and bombers, these forces had to “destroy the main forces of the Russian ground forces in Western Russia with the bold actions of tank wedges penetrating far into enemy territory, preventing the withdrawal of combat-ready enemy troops into the interior of the country” 1 . In other words, defeat most of the Red Army west of the Western Dvina and Dnieper rivers.

After completing this task, the Wehrmacht had to, in the course of a rapid advance, destroy the remnants of the Red Army, capture cities such as Leningrad and Kyiv, the breadbasket of the Soviet Union, Ukraine, as well as the capital of the Stalinist Soviet Union, Moscow. The Barbarossa plan did not contain a schedule for the advance of troops, but it prescribed reaching a line “due to which the Russian Air Force would not be able to carry out raids on targets on the territory of the German Reich,” that is, to the foothills of the Urals east of Moscow. Although the completed plan allowed the tank forces to turn north (“So, the strong moving parts conditions must be created for a turn to the north"), if necessary, and the capture of Moscow, the version of the operation presented by Hitler to the generals on December 5, 1940, stipulated that "the decision whether to attack Moscow or not or to the territories east of Moscow cannot be adopted before the final defeat of the Soviet forces trapped in the supposed Northern and Southern boilers" Hitler also emphasized that “the Russians cannot be allowed to create a line of defense” 2.

Thus, the key premises on which the Barbarossa plan was built were the following:

– the main forces of the Russian ground forces should be defeated west of the Western Dvina and Dnieper rivers;

– the Luftwaffe destroys the Red Air Force with surprise attacks on the ground or in the air in the first days after the start of the operation;

– do not allow Russian troops to retreat and create rear lines of defense;

- the Wehrmacht does not launch an attack on Moscow until the Russian forces in the supposed Northern and Southern Pockets are completely defeated [but in the final version of Hitler’s plan, only the Northern Pocket was discussed].

Other important prerequisites that are not clearly stated in the plan:

– judging by the failures of the Soviet-Finnish war and the actions during the occupation of Eastern Poland, the Red Army, although numerous, is extremely slow;

– due to Stalin’s purges of 1937–1938. the command cadres of the Red Army are inexperienced, highly “politicized” and lack initiative;

– The Red Army consists of 190 divisions capable of conducting active combat operations and numerous tank brigades and in the event of a general mobilization being announced, it is capable of calling into its ranks human potential, allowing the staffing of over 300 more divisions;

– the undeveloped communications network of the Soviet Union does not allow for rapid mobilization, therefore the regular army must be destroyed even before, as a result of mobilization, the enemy has the opportunity to bring the army to the previous level or increase the size of the army;

– the Slavs, unlike the Germans, are in principle incapable of conducting effective combat operations;

– national minorities of the Soviet Union (Ukrainians, Belarusians, peoples of the Caucasus and Central Asia) were and remain disloyal to the existing state system and will not fight for Stalin's communist regime.

Thus, Germany, having invaded the Soviet Union, was unshakably confident of an imminent victory. And in accordance with the plan, on June 22, the German Luftwaffe actually destroyed most of the Red Army Air Force on the ground, and its armies and tank groups, breaking through the Russian defenses, rushed into the depths of the Soviet Union. Although the Germans were quite surprised that the Russians had large quantity tanks and armored vehicles, in no way inferior to modern German vehicles and even superior to German ones (for example, KV and T-34 tanks), German troops were able to destroy and encircle many of the Soviet armies defending the border areas. Except in Ukraine, where huge Soviet tank and mechanized forces did slow the advance of Army Group South. As for the armies and tank groups of Army Group Center and Army Group North, they managed to defeat three soviet armies in Belarus and two in the Baltic states, forcing them into a disorderly retreat.