Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East

502 Pages·2009·2 MB·English

by  David Stahel

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 Using previously unpublished archival records, David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.
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Operation Barbarossa and
Germany’s Defeat in the East
David Stahel
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521768474
(cid:2)C DavidStahel2009
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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