Hitler’s Dream and Folly Operation Barbarossa Hitler’s Dream and Folly

OVERVIEW In this lesson, you will examine: Hitler’s reasons for invading the USSR Factors leading to initial success Stalin’s response Hitler’s miscalculations

“Lebensraum” Despite the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, Hitler had long planned to invade Russia for various reasons: Slavic people were seen as inferior and therefore should be slaves of the Aryans The Nazi war machine needed the wheat fields of Ukraine and the oil of the Caucasus mountains

Success Operation Barbarossa was a complete surprise to Soviet forces when it launched in June 1941. By October 1941… Soviets tanks and aircraft were completely destroyed or captured in Western Russia Over 2 million prisoners had been captured German armies were about to capture the cities of Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad Stalin ignored intelligence reports about the coming invasion.

Stalin’s response After the initial shock of the invasion, Stalin and the Soviet leadership acted swiftly and pragmatically. The Soviets… Used “scorched earth” tactics Moved their factories to eastern Russia Promoted the war as a nationalist struggle

Grave miscalculations Based on their early success, the Germans believed victory was imminent. As a result, German forces had… Issued no winter clothing Stretched out their supply lines – no local resources Spread out across great distances and had too many goals Underestimated the total number of Soviet forces

SUMMARY QUESTIONS Why did Hitler invade Russia even though Britain had not been defeated? What were the early results of Operation Barbarossa? How did the Soviets respond to the invasion? In what ways were the German forces over-confident about defeating the Soviet Union?