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WW II - 1941: The Axis Advances
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WW II - 1941: The Axis Advances |
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"The Soviet war effort was so overwhelming that impartial historians
of the future are unlikely to rate the British and American contribution to the European theatre as much more than a sound supporting role." Norman Davies Europe at War 1939-1945, 2007 |
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" ... the most odious criminal regime in Europe's history was defeated
by an even more murderous regime, if numbers are the yardstick -- which significantly tarnishes any notion of the 'Good War.'" Benjamin Schwarz "Stalin's Gift", The Atlantic Magazine, May 2007 |
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Lesson Objectives
• Describe and analyze the German decision process to attack the Soviet Union in June 1941. • Describe and analyze the operational and logistic implications of Operation Barbarossa. • Understand and be able to discuss the impact of total war within the Soviet Union. • Understand how the initial successes of the German invasion of the USSR turned into such a total disaster. • Be able to describe the magnitude of the Soviet-German War and its impact on the outcome of World War II. |
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Study Guides
• What was Hitler's motivation for attacking the Soviet Union? • What were the strategic objectives and assumptions of Operation Barbarossa? • Describe the extent of the German success in their invasion of the USSR? • How did the Soviet Union initially respond to the attacks? • What factors allowed the USSR to turn the tide of the Soviet-German War and repulse the German invasion? • What was the significance of the Soviet-German War on the outcome of World War II and the post-war era? |
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Assignment
Readings: Why Hitler Attacked Soviet Russia Danial W. Michaels The Journal of Historical Review, May/June 1999 The Soviet-German War 1941-1945 Richard Overy BBC History Soldiers of the Great War (interactive map) Pobediteli ("victors") • More detail than you probably wanted to know about The Russo-German War, but stick with this interactive map to gain a better perspective of the magnitude of this pivotal conflict. Russia at War 1941-1945: The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union • This piece could be in the Supplemental Resources, but it is here to focus your attention on an unusual view of the Eastern Front in World War II. • This is propaganda, pure and simple, but it presents a Russian perspective of the Soviet-German War not often seen in the West. • There are some stark images on this site, but spend some time perusing this page and some of the related links to gain a better perpective of the role of the Soviet Union in the defeat of Germany. Supplemental Resources: The French Invasion of Russia (1812) Wikipedia • NOTE: Pay particular attention to the section on Logistics Charles Joseph Minard: Mapping Napoleon's March (1861) John Corbett Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science • Translated version of Minard map • "It may well be the best statistical graphic ever drawn." (Edward Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 1983). Eastern Front (World War II) Wikipedia • This is a detailed description of "The Great Patriotic War" "Stalin's Gift" Benjamin Schwarz The Atlantic, May 2007 "The Icebreaker Controversy: Did Stalin Plan to Attack Hitler?" Teddy J. Uldricks Slavic Review, Vol. 58, No. 3 (Autumn, 1999), pp. 626-643 • NOTE: Requires access to JSTOR database through Georgia Tech Library. The Soviet-German War 1941-1945: Myths and Realities Colonel David M. Glantz, US Army (Retired) 20th Anniversary Distinguished Lecture Strom Thurmond Institute of Government and Public Affairs Clemson University, SC, October 11, 2001 |
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