In late 1940, Hitler signed an ominous document - Directive 21, which became known as the "Barbarossa" plan. The attack on the USSR was originally planned for May 15: the German command planned to end the Red Army before autumn. However, the Balkan operation launched by Germany to seize Yugoslavia and Greece pushed the date of the attack to 22 June.
If you want peace, prepare for war
The emergence of Plan Barbarossa 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, which provided for the redistribution of spheres of influence in Eastern Europe. What has changed in relations between the recent "allies"? First, in June 1940, France, Hitler's most serious enemy on the continent, surrendered to German troops. Secondly, the recent winter war of the USSR against Finland showed that the Soviet combat vehicle was not so powerful, especially against the background of German successes. And, thirdly, Hitler was still afraid of launching 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.
Finland and Romania were to play an important role in the implementation of the Barbarossa plan. Quite recently, the Soviet Union seized the Karelian Isthmus with Vyborg from the Finns, and Bessarabia from the Romanians, i.e. lands that were previously part of the Russian Empire. The leadership of these countries was eager for revenge. According to the Barbarossa plan, the Finnish troops were to pin down the Soviet troops with their offensive in the north, and the Romanians in the south. While the German units will deal a crushing blow in the center.
During the Second World War, Sweden officially declared its neutrality. However, in the Barbarossa plan, the role of Sweden is clearly spelled out - the Swedes had to provide their railways for the transfer of 2-3 German divisions to help Finland. Everything went according to plan - in the very first days of the war, a German division was allowed through the territory of Sweden to operate in Northern Finland. True, the Swedish Prime Minister soon promised the frightened Swedish people that no German divisions would be allowed through Sweden again and that the country would not enter the war against the USSR. However, in practice, the transit of German military materials to Finland began via Sweden; German transport ships transported troops there, hiding in the territorial waters of Sweden, 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.
In the 30s, on the western borders of the USSR, a powerful system of defensive structures was built, which consisted of fortified areas from the Karelian Isthmus to the Black Sea, in the West it was called the Stalin line. The fortification included casemates, positions for field artillery, bunkers for anti-tank guns. After the partition of Poland and the return of Western Ukraine and the Baltic States, the border was pushed back and the Stalin line was in the rear, some of the weapons were transferred to new borders, but Zhukov insisted that some of the artillery weapons be retained in the disarmed areas. The Barbarossa plan called for a breakthrough of the border fortifications by tank forces, but the German command apparently did not take into account Stalin's line. 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.
The fierce resistance of the Soviet troops, the great elongation of the troops, the guerrilla war in the rear led to the fact that Hitler decided to seek his fortune in the south. On August 21, 1941, Hitler issued a new directive, which stated that the most important task before winter was not to seize Moscow, but to seize Crimea, industrial and coal regions on the Donets River and block the Russian oil supply routes from the Caucasus. The Barbarossa plan, which called for a march to Moscow, cracked at the seams. Part of the troops of Army Group Center was transferred to the aid of 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.
Promotional video:
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 advance of the Germans slowed down significantly, the war dragged on, and the civilian population did not meet the winners as obedient Europeans and, at the first opportunity, retaliated against the invaders. Italian observer Curzio Malaparte noted: “When the Germans start to fear, when a mysterious German fear creeps into their hearts, you begin to be especially afraid for them and feel sorry for them. They look pitiful, their cruelty is sad, their courage is silent and hopeless. Here the Germans start to get angry … They start killing prisoners who have rubbed their legs and can no longer walk. They begin to burn villages that have failed to provide the required amount of grain and flour, barley and oats,heads of cattle and horses. When there are almost no Jews left, they hang the peasants. The people responded to the atrocities of the fascists by leaving for the partisans, the club of the people's war, without examining anything, began to nail the Germans in the rear.
The blitzkrieg plan captivated Hitler so much that the fact of the protracted war was not even considered during its development. The attack was originally planned for May 15 to end the Soviets before autumn, but in reality, Hitler's Balkan operation to seize Yugoslavia and Greece pushed the date of the attack to June 22 - it took time for the transfer of troops. As a result, General Zima, as the Germans called him, took the side of the Russians. By the winter, the Hitlerite army was completely unprepared, the captured Germans sometimes found themselves dressed in work clothes, stretched over uniform trousers and jackets and lined with unnecessary paper, including leaflets calling for surrender, which were scattered from aircraft behind the front line over the locations of the Russians. Hands without mittens froze to the metal parts of the weapon,and frostbite became no less formidable enemy of the Germans than the pushing Soviet units.