World War Two on the eastern front

1. World War Two on the eastern front

2. War on the Eastern Front • Called the “Great Patriotic War” in Russia • The bloodiest war ever fought in Europe • A war fought between races and ideologies rather than by states • The Soviet Union lost around 12 million civilians and 10 million soldiers in the war • 14% of its population • Nazi Germany lost around 5 million soldiers and suffered 1.5 million civilian casualties (including from allied strategic bombing) • 10% its population • The population of Canada was 11 million in 1939

3. Reasons for Invasion • Germany’s invasion of Russia appears to be one of Hitler’s biggest mistakes • He felt compelled to invade due to his racial ideology and the perceived need of lebensraum • “We’ll take away its character of an Asiatic steppe, we’ll Europeanize it… There’s only one duty: to Germanize this country by the immigration of Germans and to look upon the natives as Redskins” – Adolf Hitler • The Soviet Union’s military appeared weak during their 3.5 month war with Finland

4. Operation Barbarossa • On June 22nd 1941, Germany caught the Soviet Union completely off guard when Operation Barbarossa • Stalin, who did not think Germany would invade, suffered a nervous breakdown • Soviet armies collapsed, with over 4 million soldiers being taken prisoner (POW) • Many people in the western USSR welcomed the Germans as liberators • Germany was helped by Axis friends Romania, Hungary, Finland, Slovakia, Croatia and Bulgaria

5. The German blitzkrieg was so successful that they gained 200 miles in one month • The Soviets practiced “scorched earth,” where they burned farms and destroyed factories, mines and roads as they retreated • The soviets managed to relocate many of their factories to Siberia

6. The Battle of Moscow • The Germans reached the outskirts of Moscow on October 10th 1941 • However, Hitler did not equip his soldiers for winter and his soldiers and equipment started freezing • MarshallZhukov managed to successfully defend the Soviet capital and start counterattacking • This marks the failure of Operation Barbarossa

7. Racial Warfare • The battle on the Eastern Front was a war of extermination • The Germans used brigades called Einsatzgruppen to find and kill Jews and communist party members • Local collaborators would often help the Nazis find and kill Jews • The Slavic inhabitants of the western USSR were deprived of health care, education and basic services to reduce their numbers in preparation for German colonization

8. 60% of Soviet POWs were died in German POW camps or gas chambers • 7 million Soviet civilians were victims of Genocide • Blond haired blue eyed Belorussian and Ukranians were spared for future use as slaves • Many civilians became to Partisans to fight Nazi occupation

9. The Battle of Stalingrad • One of the decisive battles of World War Two • Started in late August 1942 • Represented the farthest extent of German conquests • Hitler was obsessed with taking Stalingrad • Stalin was obsessed with defending it • Each threw everything their respective countries had into the battle, even though the city had only moderate strategic value

10. There was a battle for every house • At one point, Germany controlled 90% of the city • The Soviets managed to break the Hungarian and Romanian flanks and surrounded the city • The Germans lasted until February, when they surrendered, with 300,000 casualties

11. The Battle of Kursk • The largest tank battle in history • In the spring of 1943, Germany made its last major offensive against the Soviets • The Germans wanted to encircle a Soviet army, however Soviet intelligence learned of this • The Soviets used defense in depth and defeated the Germans • By 1944, the Germans were pushed out of Soviet territory and Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary had all surrendered