The Eastern Front

The reason German defeat

• Bombing

• Aid

• Determination

• D-Day

• Interference

• Eastern front

• Separation

Interference of Hitler

• Hitler interfered in military matters on too many

occasions because his overconfidence of winning the

war. For example:

• In May 1940, he ordered the tanks to stop on the

outskirts of Dunkirk.

• He also stopped attacks on Fighter Command in

September and switched to the Blitz and

• He held back production of U-boats in 1939 and 1940,

so that when the Battle of the Atlantic began in 1941,

the German Navy only had 37 submarines.

Eastern Front

• Perhaps the most important reason, however, were

the body blows received on the Eastern Front courtesy

of the Soviets. Here, the German armed forces

suffered 90% of their total casualties in the war.

Separation of Army

• In 1943 Hitler sent aid to Mussolini when Italy was invaded by the Allies. This, along with the division of the army in the Soviet Union, meant that the German forces were very thinly spread.

• Leningrad, Ukraine, Crimea were under siege and almost reached Moscow.

• Hitler wanted his armies to concentrate on capturing the Southern oilfields, whilst the generals wanted to capture Moscow.

Operation Barbarossa

• The first attack started in the spring of 1941, this meant be last short (before winter) and Hitler expected an easy victory, just like western front.

• An attempt to seize the coal and oil rich land of Ukraine and Caucasus with its agricultural capacity.

• Secondly to take the Baltic area and also drive on Moscow

The USSR reorganises

• More freedom for USSR’s officers and independent act.

• The Red army created its own specialist tank armies and air forces.

• New effective weapons, such as T34 tank.

• Adopted radio communications and put radios into all tanks and aircraft.

• Specialist units were create to listen in to German radio signals and disrupt them if possible.

The Soviet war economy• The German advances of 1941 captured half of

the USSR’s food supply, 40 % of its electricity generating power and 75% of its supplies of iron, coal and steel.

• In response, the Soviets dismantled over 2500 major industrial complexes and transported them east by rail to the region safe from the German army.

• The Soviet harsh use of female workers. Half the workforce was female.

The end

• http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_Operation_Barbarossa

• The failure of Operation Barbarossa: The German Invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941

• http://ww2history.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_failure_of_operation_barbarossa#ixzz0bidqbpWw

• GCSEmodernworldhistorysecondedition.p286

Followed by additional information

Bombing

• From 1942, the RAF began to

bomb Germany every night and

the USA by day. Bomber raids

plastered German cities with

incendiaries and heavy

explosive which disrupted

production and damaged morale

Invariable aid from Roosevelt

• Britain received invaluable aid

from Roosevelt, who stepped up

war production after joining the

war in 1941.

• By 1943, the USA was producing 4x

as much each month as Germany and

in the end the military and

economic might of the USA was to

be a key factor in victory.

Determination of British people

• The determination of the British

people in holding on alone during

the Battle of Britain and the

Blitz(1940-1)showed that the

British were not prepared to give

in.

• This had been possible because of

Churchill’s morale-boosting

speeches and visits to bombed

areas.

D-Day

• Although the war lasted another eleven months, the superiority of the Allies in men and supplies was overwhelming.

• By 1945, Germany was on its knees, having been bombed constantly and starved by the Allied naval blockade.

• German forces were pushed back until finally German high command surrendered on 7th May 1945.