Hitler’s Invasion on Russia

According to R.G. Grant, an officer of the 24th Panzer division described how relentless the invasion of Russia was by stating, We have fought for fifteen days for a single house Already by the third day 54 Germans are strewn in the cellars, on the landings and stair cases (308). Hitler was relentless in his war tactics that spread through Russia during the Second World War and lead to his dominance throughout. Through strategies, devastating tactics, and realistic battle, Hitler was able to invade Russia during World War II.

When Hitler went to attack Russia, he had a pre-invasion plan he had already talked about before going into the war. In the spring of 1940 they called an assembly for the officers, where it was announced there would be an attack on the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the spring of the 40s. As stated by Ivor Mantanle, At a briefing, Hitler announces he will be taking out every power of Russia. This non-aggressive pact was to buy the Germans time to defeat the rest of the west before turning east.(96) Hitler had always wanted to attack Russia, but he knew that he would need to take over Western Europe before heading eastward. Consequently, Britain did not fall as the other European countries had and through him underestimating Britain and its ability to recover from the war, Hitler began to fall. As Lees states, There remained the powerful British Navy Hitler was not fully committed to invading Britain. It would have been a distraction. Britain contained neither the space, nor the raw materialsneeded.(4) This confirms that Hitler underestimated Britain and the fact that he needed to take it over before trying to invade Russia. Later, the German groups were attacking Russian troops, trapping them, so when June approached, Hitler could launch the first attack by dropping bombs on the Russian's airfields. Of course, the Germans thought the decision to invade Russia was a rational attack in pursuit of German self-interest, which would be good for their country.

The scale of destruction that happened in this war was horrific, no matter how many death counts were calculated, how many buildings were destroyed, or any other terrible things that could have happened. According to Laurence Rees, In the whole of history, there has never been a war like it. In its scale of destruction...(1) He is referring to where Hitler used about three-thousand-six hundred tanks and about seven hundred thousand horses in the invasion in Russia, along with large groupings of soldiers in this war. Through this annihilation of the enemy and merciless acts by the Germans or the Russians, both sides felt the massive destruction. For example, according to Rees One week into the German invasion, one hundred fifty thousand Soviet soldiers were either dead or wounded- more than during five months at the Battle of Somme.(9) This signifies Hitler's fast paced killing men in large numbers in a short span of time when other battles took months to claim the same amount of lives. In addition, by using tanks, soldiers, and horses, the Soviet Union was crippled as its broken country was divided with much of the territory lost and at least twenty-six million people dead.

The realistic life of the war was a gruesome one where Hitler dominated over Stalin and his army in most cases. The Russians, at this point, had no escape with nearly three thousand captured by the ruthless Hitler army. At this point, it was mid-July and no one would give up, the Russians remained strong until the winter approached. During this time, the Russians would be able to have an advantage over the German army and Hitler, but according to Ivor Matanle, General Georgi created a defensive line and pushed the Russians back.(95) This would help Hitler gain time and momentum to decide that his plan of invading Britain was not the best one and the better plan would be to invade the Soviet Union because he knew their military plan. He was fully aware that this was the German's best chance of winning the war in Europe.

In summary, Hitler was able to invade Russia during World War II with complete devastation on his enemies through his use of keen military plans and the proper use of weapons. Although the Germans were unable to defeat Russia in this battle, Hitler's military leadership was considered one of the greatest commands of any army because of this invasion. In addition, through Hitler's inability to be discouraged, World War II will forever be considered one of the biggest and deadliest war in history.

Cite this page