Russian Life & People Digest
Question by : Why was it so important for Hitler to take Moscow before the Russian winter?
Some people say that Hitler had lost the war with Soviet when he did not manage to take Moscow before the russian winter in 1941. Why is this?
Answers and Views:
Answer by Bo Jangles
Uh…look at WHAT happened when he failed to do just that…pretty self explanatory…
Read all the answers in the comments.
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Bill says
The same reason Napoleon was unable to beat Russia. They both underestimated the severity of the Winter Storms in that area.
It is impossible to move an Army through deep snow with the temperatures bellow -20 Degrees.
jon g says
Two basic reasons. First he need a logistics dump (food and supplies) winter quarters(you only want to fight in winter when it is to your advantage) deny a logistics base to the soviets(in other words they get to stay in the snow) Secondly it was the command and control center for quite a bit of the soviet army if the Germans had taken it they would have incapacitated the whole of the soviet union forcing them to go else where and rebuild another one while the Germans could control the country side from this location. I could write a book on the subject
Vulcan says
Oh ya – Hitler lost the war when he got going on the Russian campaign WAAAY later in the spring than he should have.
Imagine if Hitler would have used some money and built a huge railroad into Poland and on into Russia and traded with those people instead of attacking them! Novel idea, hu? He would have ended up winning the war with England – and 100 million lives would have been saved. All of Eastern Europe would soon have been pro-German.
Hitler was a self-defeating dickhead.
Questioner says
Because he would’ve controlled Russia basically. Plus it would be a major R&R place for troops continuing to take Russia. Really if he had decided to force the majority of his troops into Moscow and only put a fraction in Tver he would’ve had russia.
oldwolf1951 says
As Moscow was the capital of the U.S.S.R. back then even as it is the capital of Russia today, Hitler had to take it to destroy Stalin’s central authority and seat of power. Once the winter closed in getting supplies to his troops would be very difficult as it proved around Stalingrad. Air re-supply was going to be iffy at best and Hitler did not have the lift capacity by air either.
Vietnam Veteran says
Gave the Soviets time to get their act together. If he had not diverted forces he could have done it. Without Hitler’s interference, the Nazi probably would have won the war.