The Eastern Front in
World War II
VS
The Battle of Moscow
Another “Blitzkrieg”?
On June 22, 1941 Germany attacked the Soviet Union – “Operation Barbarossa”
began! Stalin was not ready to wage war and his Red Army was not prepared. In just
three weeks 28 Russian divisions were put out of action and more than 70 lost 50%
of their men and equipment. The battle of Smolensk proved Germany’s supremacy –
Hitler was ready to attack Moscow
“Operation Typhoon”
At 5.30 a.m. on October 2, 1941 “Operation Typhoon” – the attack on Moscow finally
started and ironically the weather was very good. Hitler ordered units in other parts
of the Russian campaign to be moved to Moscow. For the attack Field Marshall von
Bock had at his disposal 1 million men, 1,700 tanks, 950 combat aircraft and 19,500
artillery guns – 50% of the German men in Russia and 75% of all the tanks. To
defend Moscow, the Russians had under 500,000 men, less than 900 tanks and
about 300 combat planes. “The Führer has reaffirmed his decision that the
surrender of Moscow will not be accepted, even if it is offered by the enemy.”
The Tension continues to grow
The attack started well for the Germans and by October 7th even Marshall Zhukov
had to admit that all major roads to Moscow were open to the Germans; two large
parts of the Red Army had been encircled at Vyazma and near Bryansk. However,
these trapped armies caused many problems to the Germans, because they had to
take the Russians with them and that slowed their advance to Moscow – the Red
Army could reorganize itself. Zhukov organized his defence along the so-called
“Mozhayk Line” and Moscow itself was turned into a fortress with 422 miles of antitank butches being dug – many “resistance groups” were also formed.
Second German Assault
The second assault in the middle of November narrowed its target area but it was
met with fierce Russian resistance. In just 20 days of the second offensive, the
Germans lost 155,000 men while the Russians had 58 infantry and cavalry divisions
in reserve.
Russian Counter-Offensive
Stalin himself made it clear to Zhukov that he expected a counter-attack to start on
December 5th to the north of Moscow and on December 6th to the south. These
attacks proved extremely effective against an enemy who was hit hard by
temperatures of minus 50 degrees Celsius. The Wermacht was pushed back between
60 and 155 miles in places and by January, 1942 the threat to Moscow had passed
Battle of Moscow Importance:
At the gates of the Soviet capital, the myth of Germany’s invincibility broke apart,
and Hitler had a premonition that his “game” would be lost. The Russians
demonstrated their high spirit, patriotism and determination to fight for their
country. The Red Army reversed the tide, eventually causing the definitive defeat of
Germany, but this defeat unfortunately took another three and a half years.
Battle of Kursk
•
The Battle of Kursk began on July 5th, 1943, and continued up to August 1943.
•
Initially, the German offence was successful, but lost much machines and
troops to the ferocious Soviet defense.
•
By July 10th, the German army had lost 2/3rds of its tanks
•
July 12th, greatest tank battle of WWII at Prokhorovka. No German
breakthrough, heavy losses for both sides
•
By then the strength of the Nazi had diminished and the Soviets launched
several counterattacks, the first on July 12th.
•
By July 23rd, the German army lost all ground it had gained previously and
began to retreat.
•
The USSR air force and the partisan movement destroyed many rail roads
and made retread even harder.
•
On August 13th, the Russians broke through the German defenses of Kharkov
and the city was liberated. This marked the end of the battle of Kursk.
Partisan resistance movement
 Began as an answer to the German atrocities
 The partisan bases were in impossible to police territories, such as lush
forests and marshes.
 May 1942: a Central Staff was set up to direct partisan activities.
 Partisans dropped with parachutes and fell deeply behind enemy lines
 They were not well armed (mostly had only a pistol or small submachine
gun)
 Hit and run tactics (but they were as organized as the army)
 Assaults on bridges, supplies, communications, equipment, gasoline storages
and even some German officers (generally urban fights)
 Burned archives
 Germans could only retaliate against non-partisan civilians, which created a
vicious circle of more Russians joining the resistance movement.
 Most partisan groups were self-contained and did not have equipment on par
with the Germans, but the Central Staff offered support on Stalin’s orders.
 The brutality of partisans was aimed not only against the Germans, but also
against collaborators and possible traitors.
 After the defeat at Stalingrad, the German army was retreating while being
surrounded by the Red Army on one side and partisans on another.
 July 1943: “rail war”, destroying rail networks to cut enemy supplies.
 Enormous damage on German morale.
 The population provided much assistance for the partisans, as well as for the
Red Army.
 Women, elderly men and children distributed food.
 Elderly men worked for the intelligence
 Women worked in the factories and participated in the Red Army generally
as radio operators
 Near the end of the war, when there was a shortage of male soldiers, women
took part even as pilots, soldiers, partisans and spies
 A very common role women played was to “comfort” German officers in
order to get intelligence
Works Cited
Trueman, Chris. “The Battle for Moscow.” History Learning Site.
<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/_for_moscow.htm>.
- - -. “The Battle of Kursk.” History Learning Site.
<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/_of_kursk.htm>.
- - -. “Siege of Leningrad.” History Learning Site .
<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/_of_leningrad.htm>.
- - -. “Partisan Resistance Movement” History Learning Site .
<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/_civilian_involvement.htm>.