Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East PDF
Preview Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East
Operation Barbarossa and Germany’s Defeat in the East OperationBarbarossa,theGermaninvasionoftheSovietUnion,began thelargestandmostcostlycampaigninmilitaryhistory.Itsfailurewasa keyturningpointoftheSecondWorldWar.Theoperationwasplanned as a blitzkrieg to win Germany its Lebensraum in the east, and the summerof1941iswellknownfortheGermanarmy’sunprecedented victories and advances. Yet the German blitzkrieg depended almost entirelyuponthemotorisedpanzergroups,particularlythoseofArmy Group Centre. Using previously unpublished archival records, David StahelpresentsanewhistoryofGermany’ssummercampaignfromthe perspectiveofthetwolargestandmostpowerfulpanzergroupsonthe easternfront.Stahel’sresearchprovidesafundamentalreassessmentof Germany’s war against the Soviet Union, highlighting the prodigious internal problems of the vital panzer forces and revealing that their demiseintheearliestphaseofthewarunderminedthewholeGerman invasion. DAVID STAHEL isanindependentresearcherbasedinBerlin. CambridgeMilitaryHistories Editedby HEWSTRACHAN,ChicheleProfessoroftheHistoryofWar, UniversityofOxford,andFellowofAllSoulsCollege,Oxford GEOFFREYWAWRO,MajorGeneralOlintoMarkBarsanti ProfessorofMilitaryHistory,andDirector,CenterfortheStudyof MilitaryHistory,UniversityofNorthTexas Theaimofthisnewseriesistopublishoutstandingworksofresearchonwarfare throughout the ages and throughout the world. Books in the series will take a broad approach to military history, examining war in all its military, strategic, politicalandeconomicaspects.TheseriesisintendedtocomplementStudiesin theSocialandCulturalHistoryofModernWarfarebyfocusingonthe‘hard’military history of armies, tactics, strategy and warfare. Books in the series will consist mainly of single-author works – academically vigorous and groundbreaking – whichwillbeaccessibletobothacademicsandtheinterestedgeneralreader. Titlesintheseriesinclude: E. Bruce Reynolds Thailand’s Secret War: OSS, SOE and the Free Thai Under- groundduringWorldWarII RobertT.FoleyGermanStrategyandthePathtoVerdun:ErichvonFalkenhaynand theDevelopmentofAttrition,1870–1916 ElizabethGreenhalghVictorythroughCoalition:BritainandFranceduringtheFirst WorldWar JohnGoochMussoliniandhisGenerals:TheArmedForcesandFascistForeignPolicy, 1922–1940 Alexander Watson Enduring the Great War: Combat, Morale and Collapse in the GermanandBritishArmies,1914–1918 MustafaAksakalTheOttomanRoadtoWarin1914:TheOttomanEmpireandthe FirstWorldWar J.P.HarrisDouglasHaigandtheFirstWorldWar Operation Barbarossa and Germany’s Defeat in the East David Stahel CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,Singapore, Sa˜oPaulo,Delhi CambridgeUniversityPress TheEdinburghBuilding,CambridgeCB28RU,UK PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress, NewYork www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521768474 (cid:2)C DavidStahel2009 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithout thewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2009 ThirdPrinting2010 Firstpaperbackedition2010 PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata Stahel,David,1975– OperationBarbarossaandGermany’sdefeatintheEast/byDavidStahel. p. cm.–(Cambridgemilitaryhistories) Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-0-521-76847-4(hardback) 1.WorldWar,1939–1945–Campaigns–EasternFront. 2.WorldWar, 1939–1945–Tankwarfare. 3.SovietUnion–History–Germanoccupation, 1941–1944. I.Title. II.Series. D764.S795 2009 940.54(cid:3)217–dc22 2009016993 ISBN978-0-521-76847-4hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor accuracyofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredto inthispublicationanddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuch websitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. Contents Listofillustrations pagevii Listofmaps ix Acknowledgements xi Glossaryofterms xiii Tablesofmilitaryranksandarmystructures xv Introduction 1 PartI Strategicplansandtheoreticalconceptionsfor waragainsttheSovietUnion 1 Fightingthebear 33 Theevolutionofearlystrategicplanning 33 Twowaystoskinabear–theMarcksandLossbergplans 39 Crisispostponed–fromwargamestoDirectiveNo.21 54 2 Thegatheringstorm 70 Thearmydeploymentdirective 70 Thedysfunctionalorder–delusionasoperativediscourse 84 Barbarossa–thezenithofwar 95 3 Barbarossa’ssword–Hitler’sarmedforcesin1941 105 Carryingfearbeforethemandexpectationbehind–Hitler’spanzerarm 105 Standingbeforetheprecipice–theinfantryandLuftwaffeontheeveof Barbarossa 117 Theimpossibleequation–thelogisticsandsupplyofBarbarossa 127 4 Theadventofwar 139 ‘Welcometohellonearth’ 139 v vi Contents PartII ThemilitarycampaignandtheJuly/Augustcrisis of1941 5 Awakeningthebear 153 Indecisiveborderbattlesandthesurfacingofstrategicdissent 153 TheBelostok–Minskpocket–anatomyofahollowvictory 170 Strainingthelimits–Bock’sracetotherivers 186 6 Theperilousadvancetotheeast 209 ForgingacrosstheDvinaandDnepr–thethresholdtodemise 209 ‘TheRussianisacolossusandstrong’(AdolfHitler) 228 Caughtinthehinterlands 245 7 ThebattleofSmolensk 260 Theendofblitzkrieg 260 Crisisrising–theGermancommandatwar 273 ‘Iamonthebrinkofdespair’(FranzHalder) 290 8 TheattritionofArmyGroupCentre 306 ThekillingfieldsatYel’nya 306 SealingtheSmolenskpocketandArmyGroupCentre’sfate 324 VictoryatSmolensk?Theparadoxofabattle 344 9 Insearchofresurgence 361 Thearduousroadtorenewal 361 ‘Todayisthebeginningofpositionalwarfare!’(FedorvonBock) 380 Embracingworldwarandapocalypse–Hitlerreachesresolution 400 10 Showdown 423 Hitler’striumphindefeat 423 Conclusion 439 Bibliography 452 Index 474 Illustrations FIGURES 1.1 HitlerrewardinghisgeneralsafterthePolishcampaign, 1939.Ullsteinbild–ullsteinbild. page36 2.1 Hitler,HalderandBrauchitschplanningoperationsin theeast.Ullsteinbild–SV-Bilderdienst. 80 3.1 PanzermodelsavailableforOperationBarbarossaon 22June1941.Rolf-DieterMu¨ller,‘Vonder WirtschaftsallianzzumkolonialenAusbeutungskrieg’, p.185. 116 5.1 TheGermanadvanceintotheSovietUnion. Milita¨rgeschichtlichesForschungsamt,Potsdam. 157 5.2 Sovietroadsandtheproblemofdust.Bundesarchiv, Bild101I-136-0882-12. 168 5.3 Germanmotoriseddivisionsquicklyoutpacedtheslow movinginfantrydivisions.Milita¨rgeschichtliches Forschungsamt,Potsdam. 171 5.4 GermaninfantrymarchingintotheSovietUnion. Ullsteinbild–SV-Bilderdienst. 197 5.5 Afieldconferenceon8July1941betweenBock, HothandRichthofen.Bundesarchiv,Bild 101I-265-0048A-03,Photographer:Moosdorf. 205 5.6 Summerdownpoursslowthespeedoftheadvance. Ullsteinbild–SV-Bilderdienst. 207 6.1 ManybridgesintheSovietUnioncouldnot supportGermantanks.Bundesarchiv,B145 Bild-F016208-0012. 225 6.2 Sovietambusheswerecommononthenarrowforest roads.Milita¨rgeschichtlichesForschungsamt,Potsdam. 245 7.1 AGermanwarcemeteryfromtheearlydaysofthe campaign.Milita¨rgeschichtlichesForschungsamt, Potsdam. 267 vii viii Illustrations 7.2 ExhaustedGermaninfantryafterweeksofhard marching.Ullsteinbild–SV-Bilderdienst. 272 7.3 CombatreadinessofPanzerGroup3on21July1941. ‘PanzerarmeeoberkommandosAnlagenzum Kriegstagesbuch“Berichte,Besprechungen, BeurteilungenderLage”Bd.IV22.7.41–31.8.41’ BA-MARH21–3/47.Fol.112(23July1941). 282 7.4 ThethinGermanlineseastofSmolensk,July/August 1941.Ullsteinbild–SV-Bilderdienst. 294 7.5 RoadsidegravesmarkArmyGroupCentre’ssummer advance.Ullsteinbild-ullsteinbild. 304 8.1 A1941Sovietpropagandaposter.Ullsteinbild– SV-Bilderdienst. 312 8.2 CombatreadinessofPanzerGroup2on29July1941. ‘KTBNr.1Panzergruppe2Bd.IIvom22.7.1941bis 20.8.41’BA-MARH21–2/928.Fols.78–79(29July 1941). 316 8.3 CapturedRedArmysoldiers.Milita¨rgeschichtliches Forschungsamt,Potsdam. 318 8.4 PublichangingswereacommonfeatureofGermany’s warofannihilation.Ullsteinbild–SV-Bilderdienst. 351 9.1 Positionalwarfareinthesummerof1941. Milita¨rgeschichtlichesForschungsamt,Potsdam. 364 9.2 HalderandBrauchitschdiscussingoperationsforthe east.Ullsteinbild. 389 9.3 Guderianwithhistroopsintheeast.Bundesarchiv,Bild 101I-139-1112-17,Photographer:Knobloch,Ludwig. 399 9.4 CombatreadinessofPanzerGroup3on21August 1941.‘PanzerarmeeoberkommandosAnlagenzum Kriegstagesbuch“Berichte,Besprechungen, BeurteilungenderLage”Bd.IV22.7.41–31.8.41’ BA-MARH21–3/47.Fols.78–79(21August1941). 418 9.5 CombatreadinessofPanzerGroup3on4September 1941.BurkhartMu¨ller-Hillebrand,DasHeer1933–1945, BandIII,p.205. 420 9.6 CombatreadinessofPanzerGroup2on4September 1941.BurkhartMu¨ller-Hillebrand,DasHeer1933–1945, BandIII,p.205. 421 TABLE 1.1 DivisionofforcesinMarcks’plan.ErhardMoritz(ed.), FallBarbarossa,p.126. 43
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