The Biggest Nazi Mistake in WWII Operation Barbarossa The Biggest Nazi Mistake in WWII

Up to this point Nazi’s had successfully invaded numerous countries with little trouble. The US has stayed out of the war at this point Britain’s back was up against the ropes Germany & Russia had a Non-aggression Pact

June 22, 1941 Operation Barbarossa kicked off, Nazi Germany and its Axis allies began a massive invasion of the Soviet Union Named after Frederick Barbarossa, the medieval Holy Roman Emperor Barbarossa means “Red Beard” in Italian 4.5 million troops launched a surprise attack deployed from German-controlled Poland, Finland, and Romania Hitler’s main goal was to capture the Soviet resources they had, i.e.-oil, Lebensraum

Battle Plan

In the Beginning Within a single week, German forces advanced 200 miles into Soviet territory, destroyed nearly 4,000 aircraft, and killed, captured, or wounded some 600,000 Russians Germans capture Minsk, Kiev, Rostov, Odessa, Kharkov, Sevastopol, and many other key Soviet Union cities

Turning Point of the Operation and WWII By December of 1941, German troops were within sight of Moscow, and they laid siege to the city. But when the notorious Russian winter (nicknamed "General Winter") set in, German advances came to a halt

In the End… By the end of this, one of the largest, deadliest military operations in history, Germany had suffered some 775,000 casualties. More than 800,000 Soviets had been killed, and an additional 6 million Soviet soldiers had been wounded or captured Despite massive advances, Hitler's plan to conquer the Soviet Union before winter had failed

Russian POW Camp

http://youtu.be/lhlDMYAGoMo