Transcript Battle of Moscow and Stalingrad

The Road To Moscow
Hitler and Stalin
"They crossed over the border
the hour before dawn ..."
• The Nazi-Soviet nonaggression pact was
signed on August 23, 1939.
• Anti-communist Germany came to terms with
the USSR to open an opportunity for the
invasion of Poland.
• World War II began within weeks with the
German invasion of Poland.
• The pact was broken when the Germans
invaded the USSR in June, 1941.
"Most of our planes were destroyed
on the ground where they lay ..."
• On June 22, 1941 the German's launched their attack
on Russia.
• The Russians admitted to the loss of 1,200 aircraft in
the first 9 hours.
• Within a week 90 percent of the Soviet front line
strength had been destroyed.
• At the start of the war Russian Aircraft were outdated
and no match for the German's.
• They were later supplemented by British aircraft
including Spitfires and Hurricanes, and designed new
aircraft of their own (Yaks and MiGs).
"Smolensk and Viasma soon fell ..."
• Smolensk is a Russian city on the Dnieper
River. The city was taken by the Germans
during July and August of 1941. It became a
central battlefield in the drive towards
Moscow.
• Moscow was only 200 miles east of the city,
along a road that had been taken by
Napoleon in 1812. It was liberated by
Russian troops in the winter of 1942-43.
• Out of an original force of 500,000-600,000,
only 40,000 frost-bitten and half starved
survivors stumbled back into France.
"By autumn we stood with our
backs to the town of Orel ..."
• Orel fell under German control October
8, 1941.
• The Press - "For all military purposes
Soviet Russia is done with. The British
dream of a two-front war is dead."
"General Guderian stands at the
crest of the hill ...."
• Heinz Guderian was a German military
strategist who developed the Blitzkrieg, and
was a primary proponent of tank warfare.
• Guderian's tactics were extremely successful
during the invasion of Poland (September
1938).
• Guderian was put in charge of the German
invasion of Russia, and was known for having
many disagreements with Adolph Hitler with
regards to strategy.
"Winter brought with her the rains,
oceans of mud filled the roads ..."
• Guderian noted that it started to snow
on October 6, and reported that it was
STILL snowing on October 12. By
November he was reporting severe
cases of frostbite, and no sign of winter
clothing from headquarters.
"In the footsteps of Napoleon the shadow
figures stagger through the winter ..."
• General Blumentritt wrote "With amazement and
disappointment we discovered in late October and
early November that the beaten Russians seemed
quite unaware that as a military force they had almost
ceased to exist."
• On December 4 Guderian noted that the Second
Panzer Army's drive to Moscow had been halted. The
temperature had fallen to 31 below zero, and this was
causing the ill-prepared German troops hardships. On
December 5 the temperature had fallen another 5
degrees.
• On December 6 General
Georgi Zhukov unleashed 100
divisions of troops equipped
and trained for the harsh
conditions on the German
invaders. For weeks
afterwards the Germany army
retreated, their front lines
constantly pierced by Soviet
troops.
• German military leaders could
not help but compare their
situation to that of Napoleon's
defeated Grand Army, 130
years earlier.
"Falling back before the gates of Moscow "
• On December 5 the Germans had been
stopped everywhere along a 200 mile semicircular front around Moscow.
• Guderian had to pull back.
"The morning road leads to Stalingrad ..."
• The Battle of Stalingrad was a pivotal Soviet victory.
• The German battle plan for 1942 moved away from Moscow towards the oil
fields of the Caucasus and the warm water ports on the Caspian sea.
• In July 90 divisions of German troops set out towards Stalingrad, and by
September had a foothold in Stalingrad.
• On November 23 a two-pronged Soviet counterattack surrounded the
German 6th Army. Hitler forbade a German retreat.
• An attempt to help them was stopped. The troops were frozen and starved,
and their vehicles only had fuel for 20 miles.
• Germany surrendered February 2, 1943 and lost approximately 150,000
troops.
"Two broken Tigers on fire in the night ..."
• The tank-to-tank battles of World War II resulted in
intensive research and development in armored
vehicles. Germany upgraded the designs of previously
used tanks, and developed several new models.
These included the Tiger (1942), the Panther (1943)
and the Royal Tiger (1943).
• During the Russian push towards Berlin in the latter
days of the war there were a number of massive tank
battles, at times involving hundreds of Russian and
German tanks. Eye witness accounts of some of these
battles speak of the hulks of tanks burning like
torches.
"The flames of the Tigers are lighting the road to Berlin..."
• In January 1945 the Russians mounted their greatest
offensive of the war. Stalin sent 180 divisions, many
heavily armored, into Poland and East Prussia.
• Eisenhower informed Stalin on April 12 that US troops
were going to make advances on Leipzig. Berlin was
to be left pretty much to the Soviets.
• On April 16, Soviets launched a final attack on Berlin.
German civilians and troops, expecting revenge from
the Soviets, rushed to surrender to American and
British troops in the city.
Surrender
• On April 25 patrols of the US 69th Infantry
Division met with elements of the Russian 58th
cutting off Berlin.
• On April 26 Russian shells began falling on the
Chancellery in Berlin.
• Hitler committed suicide in his bunker on April
30, 1945.
• The German surrender was signed on May 7,
1945.
"They only held me for a day,
a lucky break I say ...."
• Russian prisoners of war who managed
to escape their captors really did not
fare much better. Fearing these men
had been co-opted, Stalin ordered that
they all be sent into a sort of internal
exile in Siberia.