Question by blank: How did the Germans lose in Russia after they gotten so far into it?
It seemed like they were going to take Russia easy but they got pushed out? Why and how?
Answers and Views:
Answer by gamafoo
simple they were not prepared for the winter and out ran there supply lines and got cut off when fighting on two fronts
What do you think? Answer below!
Spellbound says
There are several, often interlinked reasons for the success of the Soviets in WWII.
1) They were fighting on their soil, this gave them an advantage not only because they wanted to kick out the Germans, but also because they had local knowledge. This knowledge of the forests and marshes allowed them to forage for food, and to find ways through difficult terrain that the Germans did not know.
2) They had superb machinery the T-34 was probably the best tank of the war, not because it was technologically better – the Germans would win that race, but because it was simple, and because its sloping armour offered better protection than similar straight armour. It was also easy to manufacture, easy to repair in the field and was built in huge numbers. They also had superb aircraft, such as the IL-2 and the Yak-1, again built in vast numbers.
3) Supply. It is easier to supply an army in your own country. The Germans had to send spare parts all the way from the factories in Germany – in some cases over 1500 miles. The Soviets did not have this problem. The German supply lines were strained to breaking point at Stalingrad.
4) The weather, not just the winters – both sides had to endure them. But the Soviets were used to the heat of the Soviet summer and the cold of the winters.
5) Political Leadership. Hitler tried to micro-manage battles. Telling his commanders exactly what he wanted them to do, even though his information was often very out of date, and riddled with optimistic lies. Stalin did this early in the war, but soon realised his military limitations, so he set up the Soviet High Command – the Stavka. The Stavka was the only place in the whole country where someone could have a heated disagreement with Stalin and live to tell the tale.
6) Military leadership. Stalin was very lucky in that he had some of the finest military minds on his side. Zhukov, Chuikov and Konev were geniuses. They were the decisive factor in many of the battles with the Germans, overcoming the odds to give Stalin the victory.
7) The Soviet people. The Soviet people had endured a tough two decades before the war, with the country almost on a military footing in its drive to industrialise. This enabled them to endure unimaginable hardships, and to accept the privations of war.
8) Information: The spies Richard Sorge – based in Tokyo and the spy "Lucy" – still unidentified – but based in the Nazi High Command – provided excellent, up to the minute information. This allowed Stalin's commanders to know what the enemy was going to do, almost as soon as the enemy knew it themselves.
See:
The Road to Stalingrad – John Erickson
The Road to Berlin – John Erickson
Russia's War – Richard Overy
Barbarossa – Alan Clark
MrAUDU says
The German word for their type of warfare is "Blitzkrieg". Literally translated – "lightening war". Get in, win & occupy. The Germans got in, got way in, got slowed down and stuck in. Got slaughtered trying to pull out.
rowlfe says
Whale oil… or rather a LACK of whale oil. Germany was a wholly mechanized army. The thing about a mechanized army is that without the mechanized part, it becomes infantry. Infantry does NOT work very well in the cold, especially when there is a lack of cold weather clothing. Also weapons tend to jam when the lubrication fails. Germany lacked the proper clothing to protect the troops from the cold. So, in the end, it was the weather which caused the army to retreat. The question is this: so what caused the machinery to fail? Again, the cold. Germany invaded at the wrong time of the year and failed in the same manner as Napoleon did. Lubricants do not do well for the most part in dense cold. Petroleum products tend to turn into glue instead of lubrication. Grease turns rock hard and bearings seize until warmed back up again. Oil turns into molasses or worse. Russia knew this, and long before learned that whale oil does NOT harden as petroleum products do. Today, Russia does not hunt whales as they used to up to as recently as the mid 70's. So far, there is NO substitute that that works as well in the cold as whale oil does as a lubricant. Even NASA recognizes this and uses whale oil on spacecraft sent into deep space so they will continue to operate without heaters. The Voyager mission, two craft launched in 1979 which did a flyby of the outer planets Jupiter, Neptune and Saturn and currently about 10 billion miles away, are still alive and well, sending back information about their environment in deep space, are lubricated with whale oil. So, there you have it. A lack of simple lubrication brought the German army to a halt and the infantry could not wage war in the cold to advance nor maintain a supply line to hold their position, hence the retreat. Napoleon was not mechanized as Germany was, but his army was likewise unprepared for the cold and also outran his supply lines, which is why he retreated. You've heard the saying, that people who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, right? Well, Hitler failed to learn from the failure of Napoleon. Historians knew, if Hitler had bothered to listen, that it was the severe cold which defeated Napoleon. Hitler repeated the history of Napoleon by ignoring the advice of his military commanders to wait for warmer weather and ordering the army into the field. NOW, you know why history is an important subject…
Vlad says
The stretched out supply lines and the winter took its tole.
Big Bad Wolf says
1. Adolf Hitler was a lousy military strategist
2. Over extended supply lines
3. Russian winter
Alex S says
Precisely because of that 🙂
Russia was outnumbering German troops by a factor of 2 – 5:1 in virtually every aspect. Still Germany managed to push very quickly and deep into Russia. But the Blitzkrieg model is not designed for long term operations far into enemy territory with extremely extended supply lines. You first lose air support and then your tank force will eventually lose momentum due to a lack of supplies. Keeping tanks rolling was quite some task during WW2. When Germany couldn't keep up the pressure the very cold winter stopped virtually any activity and that gave Russia enough time to recover, dig in and throw in the full force of the advantage they actually had from the beginning.
If spearheading forces are in retreat it is virtually impossible to revert that. Germany tried at Kursk and nearly succeeded despite being outnumbered ridiculously. The Russian losses at Kursk are hard to put into perspective.
Bret says
Russian winter. Same as Napoleon.
German equipment and logistics expected a quick spring-summer war. Germany's primary thrust weapon the Panzer was inferior in snow than Russian T-32s, due to the latter's wider tracks which provided better flotation in snow and mud. Germany didn't provide appropriate winter attire, which caused more casualties than any Russian weapon.
That's how Hitler's "Operation: Barbarossa" failed. In it's simplest form.
Brandon Di Rocco says
2 main reasons that were the biggest
first they were not prepaired for a brutal winter while russians were used to it and easially manuevered around them and cut their supply lines freezing and starving them out
2 the germans were quality troops and that being said they were not prepaired or willing to lose millions of soldiers where russia would send a million men to their death arming the front line men with rifles and the rest with ammo and order them to fight to the death the front man would fall and the men behind him would continue on and pick up the rifle. basically in a war of attrition russia was willing and able to send 2million men to their death to the russians to achieve their goals life was expendable
smsmith500 says
The same thing stopped the Germans as stopped napoleon, the Russian winter. That plus several glaring mistakes by Hitler lost the war in Russia for the Germans.