The Eastern Front As you go through the slide show, fill in the areas with red ink. In class on Friday you need to fill in the empty space during class.

The Eastern Front Hitler had strategic and ideological reasons for invading Russia What was Hitler’s reasoning for invading Russia?

Operation Barbarossa Hitler based his plan on the assumption he could destroy the Soviet Union within one year Critical to his success would be to catch and destroy the Soviet Army at the border areas If that did not occur, the Russians could use their vast territory to trade space for time and cause the Germans huge logistical problems

Operation Barbarossa What is Hitler’s plan for Operatoin Barbarossa? warii/a/wwiisoviet.htm

Operation Barbarossa: Battle of Moscow With the Germans ’ successes in the north and south, Hitler assumed that Stalin ’ s regime was on the verge of collapse He authorized an advance on Moscow before the onset of winter Already however the Germans were suffering from serious supply shortages – By September the supply system was only meeting current tactical consumption needs – No supply stores for the winter season were being built

Germans Problems Operation Barbarossa: Battle of Moscow What are some problems Germans soldiers face during the winter months in Moscow? (German soldiers frozen to death section) _p4.shtml German soldier during the battle of Moscow

Operation Barbarossa: Battle of Moscow How does Stalin respond to the German advance? Which general is in charge? viet.htm

Operation Barbarossa: Battle of Moscow By Dec 4 the Germans had clawed their way to Moscow ’ s outskirts, but they could not continue – That night temperatures were -25 degrees Fahrenheit

Strategic Situation On Dec 7, 1941, Japan attacked the US at Pearl Harbor

Operation Barbarossa : Battle of Moscow As the Russians pushed forward, Hitler refused to allow a retreat and relieved or court-martialed generals who did so

Stalingrad As spring 1942 approached, German commanders recommended remaining on the defensive but Hitler believed the Germans must destroy Soviet military potential before the American industrial power could come into play Hitler developed a plan to capture Soviet oil – At first Hitler considered Stalingrad of little importance other than the fact that its capture might block the movement of petroleum up the Volga River

Stalingrad On June 28 the Germans launched their summer offensive The Germans made good headway with one advance moving east toward Stalingrad and the Volga River and another moving south into the Caucasus In August Hitler ’ s erratic attention swung from the Caucasus to Stalingrad

Stalingrad On Aug 24 the Germans attacked Stalingrad ’ s suburbs and began fighting their way into the city Hitler began shifting forces from the Caucasus to Stalingrad The nature of the urban fighting favored the defenders and the Soviets mounted a stubborn defense

Stalingrad Using the following website, find four photos that protray the descruction of the city and the human struggle. focus/2011/09/world-war-ii- the-eastern-front/100150/

Stalingrad

On Nov 19 the Soviets launched a massive counterattack north of Stalingrad

Stalingrad All attempts to breakout or break through failed and on Feb 2 the Germans surrendered – Out of 250,000 soldiers trapped in the Stalingrad pocket, approximately 90,000 became prisoners – Barely 5,000 survived the war German POWs

Greatest Extent of Axis Control

The Eastern Front Ultimately enormous logistical shortcomings made Barbarossa a failure – Germany proved capable of fighting battles very well, but was less capable of fighting a war of prolonged duration What is the aftermath of the Eastern Front on the Germans?

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