Anglo-French plans for an attack on the USSR. Attack of Hitler Germany on the USSR

The German attack on the USSR was a serious, pre-planned operation. Several variants of conquest are known.

One of the first special plans for an attack on the USSR was the calculations of General E. Marx, according to which it was envisaged to defeat Soviet troops in two strikes within 9-17 weeks and reach a line from Arkhangelsk through Gorky to Rostov-on-Don.

Further study of the issue was entrusted to Paulus, as well as to those generals who were planned to be involved in the operation. By mid-September 1940 the work was completed. In parallel with this, B. Lossberg was working on developing a plan for war with the USSR at the headquarters of the operational leadership. Many of his ideas were reflected in the final version of the attack plan:

• lightning-fast actions and surprise attacks;
• devastating border battles;
• consolidation at a certain point;
• three army groups.

The plan was reviewed and approved by Brauchitsch, the commander-in-chief of the ground forces. On December 18, 1940, the Fuhrer signed Directive No. 21, according to which the plan was called “Barbarossa”.

Plan Barbarossa contained the following main ideas:

• blitzkrieg.
• The frontier for the Wehrmacht forces: the line from Arkhangelsk to Astrakhan.
• The fleet performed auxiliary tasks: support and supply.
• A strike in three strategic directions: northern - through the Baltic states to the northern capital, central - through Belarus to Moscow. The third direction - through Kyiv it was necessary to reach the Volga. This was the main direction.

It is noteworthy that the Barbarossa plan, according to Directive No. 32, dated June 11, 1941, was to be completed at the end of autumn.

A group of armies, called “Center,” under the leadership of Bok, were given the main tasks: to defeat Soviet troops in Belarus with a subsequent attack on Moscow. The tasks were only partially completed. The closer German troops came to Moscow, the stronger the resistance of the Soviet troops became. As a result, the speed of German advance dropped. In 1941, at the beginning of December, Soviet troops began to push the Germans away from Moscow.

The army group located in the north received the same name. General management was carried out by Leeb. The main task is to capture the Baltic states and Leningrad. Leningrad, as you know, was not captured, so main task turned out to be a failure

The southern grouping of the German armies was called "South". General management was carried out by Rundstedt. He was instructed to carry out an offensive operation from the city of Lviv, through Kyiv to reach the Crimea, Odessa. The final goal was Rostov-on-Don, under which this group failed.

The German plan for attacking the USSR “Barbarossa” included blitzkrieg as an indispensable condition for victory. The key ideas of Blitzkrieg were to achieve victory in a short-term campaign by completely defeating the main enemy forces in border battles. Moreover, the result had to be achieved due to superiority in the management and organization of interaction of forces, their concentration on the directions of the main attacks, and speed of maneuver. Within 70 days, German forces were to reach the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line. Despite the long preparation of offensive plans, the Barbarossa plan had serious shortcomings:

• there were no provisions in case the advance of German troops was delayed;
• lack of reliable data on the potential of Soviet industry;
• misunderstanding of the geographical scale of the operation (for example, the German command considered it possible to bomb the entire eastern territory USSR from Moscow).

And most importantly, the German command did not take into account all the dedication Soviet people and all the desire to repel the fascists, who, ultimately, were the reason for the failure of the Barbarossa plan.

We were told in the 90s that no one had ever intended or was going to attack us, that it was We, the Russians, who were a threat to the whole world! Now let's look at the facts and quotes.

Quotes that are impossible to dispute

“No, and there can be no other alternative other than war with the Soviet Union, unless the Soviet Union agrees to surrender...”
1981 Richard Pipes, adviser to President Reagan, professor at Harvard University, member of the Zionist, anti-communist organization "The Present Danger Committee"

“The coming destruction of the Soviet Union must be the decisive, final battle - the Armageddon described in the Bible.”
Reagan. October 1983 Interview with the Jerusalem Post newspaper.

“The Soviet Union will be finished within a few years.”
1984 R.Pipes:

1984 Evgeny Rostov, one of the main founders of the “Committee of Existing Danger,” emphasized:
“We are not in the post-war period, but in the pre-war period.”

“I signed the legislative prohibition of the Soviet Union.
The bomb attack will begin in five minutes.”
1984 Reagan.

NATIONAL ATTACK PLANS (USA) ON THE SOVIET SOUTH WEST

1. JUNE 1946 plan called “PINSCHER” - “PICKS”.
Reset 50 nuclear bombs for 20 cities of the USSR.

5. End of 1949 plan “DROPSHOTS” - INSTANT IMPACT.”
Drop 300 atomic bombs on 200 cities of the USSR within a month, if the USSR does not surrender, continue bombing with conventional charges in the amount of 250 thousand tons, which should lead to the destruction of 85% of Soviet industry.

Simultaneously with the bombing, in the second stage, ground forces in the amount of 164 NATO divisions, of which 69 are US divisions, occupy the starting positions for the offensive.

In the third stage, 114 NATO divisions from the west go on the offensive.
From the south, in the area between Nikolaev and Odessa (where NATO “peacekeepers” constantly practice the invasion in the “SI-BREEZ” exercises), 50 naval and airborne divisions land on the Black Sea coast, whose task is to destroy the Soviet armed forces in Central Europe.

By the time of the invasion it was planned to accumulate maximum quantity NATO ships in the Black Sea in order to prevent the Black Sea Fleet from blocking the Bosphorus Strait, and, consequently, the entry of NATO ships into the Black Sea to the shores of the USSR.

To ensure maximum effectiveness of combat operations and minimal losses, the task was set to constantly conduct reconnaissance of coastal defenses and terrain folds of the Black Sea coast before the invasion, using any opportunities, including excursions, friendly matches, sports meetings, etc.

IN THE PROCESS OF THE WAR AGAINST THE USSR, it was planned to involve:
250 ground divisions - 6 million 250 thousand people.
In addition, aviation, navy, air defense, support units - plus 8 million people.

NATO's plans for the Black Sea region, described in "The US is preparing to attack Russia", coincide with the Drop Shot plan.

After the occupation, the USSR is DIVIDED INTO OCCUPIATION ZONES:

1. Western part of Russia.
2. Caucasus - Ukraine.
3. Ural - Western Siberia- Turkestan.
4. Eastern Siberia - Transbaikalia - Primorye.

OCCUPATION ZONES are divided into 22 SUB-AREAS of responsibility

It is determined that AFTER THE OCCUPATION, NATO OCCUPATION FORCES are stationed on the TERRITORY of the USSR to carry out OCCUPATION FUNCTIONS in the amount of 38 ground divisions of 1 million people, of which 23 divisions perform their functions in the Central part of the USSR.

DISTRIBUTION OF OCCUPATION FORCES centered in cities:
Two divisions in Moscow. One division each in: Leningrad, Minsk, Kiev, Odessa, Murmansk, Gorky, Kuibyshev, Kharkov, Sevastopol, Rostov, Novorossiysk, Batumi, Baku, Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Tashkent, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok.
The occupation forces include 5 air armies, 4 of which are dispersed on Russian territory.
They are introduced into the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea via an aircraft carrier formation.

To the above, the expression of the ideologist of the colonization of the USSR B. Brzezinski is appropriate: “... RUSSIA WILL BE Fragmented AND UNDER GUARDIANESS.”

1991

NATO is preparing for military actions on the territory of Russia and other Eastern European states.
One NATO document states:
“We must be prepared for military intervention in this region.”
“There may be a need to intervene in the affairs of the Arab world-the world of Islam.” The issue of intervention in the Mediterranean is being considered: “In Algeria, Egypt, the Middle East - in regions where we must be prepared for military actions.”
“NATO must be prepared to intervene anywhere in the world.”
Pretext:
“Terrorist activity of a particular state, accumulation and storage of chemical weapons, etc.”
The need for preparation is emphasized public opinion, its processing by means mass media, conducting propaganda preparations for the intervention

REASONS WHY NATO COUNTRIES DIDN'T ATTACK THE USSR

NATO was opposed by a powerful military bloc of the Warsaw Pact countries,
with its mighty army, vast territory, reserves of manpower, which in turn:

1. It did not allow a lightning war to be carried out, even in the event of a treacherous attack.
2.In 20 days the USSR was able to occupy the entire Western Europe.
3. In 60 days, England would have been destroyed along with its bases, which were of paramount importance for the attack.
4.The United States would not be able to protect its territory from retaliation.
5. The unity of our people in all respects was frightening.
6. Our enemies remembered the courage and heroism of our people in all wars to defend our Fatherland and in fulfilling their international duty.
7. The enemy understood that partisan warfare would be organized in the occupied territory, and only a few would be lackeys and traitors.
CONCLUSION: IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO DEFEAT OUR PEOPLE! And now???
The NATO countries, knowing that they would receive a retaliatory blow, still did not abandon the idea of ​​attacking the USSR, constantly improving their plans.
The so-called “brothers” imposed on us have already achieved a lot from their plans. “new strategic partners”, all that remains is to buy up everything (including land) for their own papers or to fool them for consumer goods, put their soldier on our necks, leave the required number of slaves, reducing the population according to the principle: a slave must make a profit or die (Who needs a slave who will eat and not work?) Will something change in the actions of the occupier, in his attitude towards us, towards our children, grandchildren, if we let him go voluntarily, “entering” NATO?

The art of war is a science in which nothing succeeds except what has been calculated and thought out.

Napoleon

Plan Barbarossa is a plan for a German attack on the USSR, based on the principle of lightning war, blitzkrieg. The plan began to be developed in the summer of 1940, and on December 18, 1940, Hitler approved a plan according to which the war was to end in November 1941 at the latest.

Plan Barbarossa was named after Frederick Barbarossa, the 12th century emperor who became famous for his campaigns of conquest. This contained elements of symbolism, to which Hitler himself and his entourage paid so much attention. The plan received its name on January 31, 1941.

Number of troops to implement the plan

Germany was preparing 190 divisions to fight the war and 24 divisions as reserves. 19 tank and 14 motorized divisions were allocated for the war. The total number of contingents that Germany sent to the USSR according to different estimates ranges from 5 to 5.5 million people.

The apparent superiority in USSR technology is not worth taking into account, since by the beginning of the war, Germany's technical tanks and aircraft were superior to those of the Soviet Union, and the army itself was much more trained. Enough to remember Soviet-Finnish war 1939-1940, where the Red Army demonstrated weakness in literally everything.

Direction of the main attack

Barbarossa's plan determined 3 main directions for attack:

• Army Group "South". A blow to Moldova, Ukraine, Crimea and access to the Caucasus. Further movement to the line Astrakhan - Stalingrad (Volgograd).
• Army Group "Center". Line "Minsk - Smolensk - Moscow". Promotion to Nizhny Novgorod, aligning the Volna - Northern Dvina line.
• Army Group "North". Attack on the Baltic states, Leningrad and further advance to Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. At the same time, the “Norway” army was supposed to fight in the north together with the Finnish army.

Around the end of October 1941, the German command planned to reach the Volga - Northern Dvina line, thereby capturing the entire European part of the USSR. This was the idea behind the lightning war. After the blitzkrieg, there should have been lands beyond the Urals, which, without the support of the center, would have quickly surrendered to the winner.

Until about mid-August 1941, the Germans believed that the war was going according to plan, but in September there were already entries in the diaries of officers that the Barbarossa plan had failed and the war would be lost. The best proof that Germany in August 1941 believed that there were only a few weeks left before the end of the war with the USSR was Goebbels’ speech. The Minister of Propaganda suggested that the Germans collect additional warm clothes for the needs of the army. The government decided that this step was not necessary, since there would be no war in the winter.

Implementation of the plan

The first three weeks of the war assured Hitler that everything was going according to plan. The army rapidly moved forward, winning victories, but the Soviet army suffered huge losses:

• 28 divisions out of 170 were put out of action.
• 70 divisions lost about 50% of their personnel.
• 72 divisions remained combat-ready (43% of those available at the start of the war).

Over the same 3 weeks, the average rate of advance of German troops deep into the country was 30 km per day.

By July 11, the Army Group “North” occupied almost the entire Baltic territory, providing access to Leningrad, the Army Group “Center” reached Smolensk, and the Army Group “South” reached Kyiv. These were the latest achievements that were fully consistent with the plan of the German command. After this, failures began (still local, but already indicative). Nevertheless, the initiative in the war until the end of 1941 was on the side of Germany.

Germany's failures in the North

Army “North” occupied the Baltic states without any problems, especially since there was practically no partisan movement there. The next strategic point to be captured was Leningrad. Here it turned out that the Wehrmacht was beyond its strength. The city did not capitulate to the enemy and until the end of the war, despite all efforts, Germany was unable to capture it.

Army Failures Center

Army "Center" reached Smolensk without problems, but was stuck near the city until September 10. Smolensk resisted for almost a month. The German command demanded a decisive victory and the advancement of troops, since such a delay near the city, which was planned to be taken without large losses, was unacceptable and called into question the implementation of the Barbarossa plan. As a result, the Germans took Smolensk, but their troops were pretty battered.

Historians today assess the Battle of Smolensk as a tactical victory for Germany, but a strategic victory for Russia, since it was possible to stop the advance of troops towards Moscow, which allowed the capital to prepare for defense.

The advance of the German army deep into the country was complicated by the partisan movement of Belarus.

Failures of the Army South

Army “South” reached Kyiv in 3.5 weeks and, like Army “Center” near Smolensk, was stuck in battle. Ultimately, it was possible to take the city due to the clear superiority of the army, but Kyiv held out almost until the end of September, which also hampered the advance of the German army, and made a significant contribution to the disruption of Barbarossa’s plan.

Map of the German advance plan

Above is a map showing the German command's offensive plan. The map shows: in green – the borders of the USSR, in red – the border to which Germany planned to reach, in blue – the dislocation and plan for the advancement of German troops.

General state of affairs

• In the North, it was not possible to capture Leningrad and Murmansk. The advance of the troops stopped.
• It was with great difficulty that the Center managed to reach Moscow. At the time the German army reached the Soviet capital, it was already clear that no blitzkrieg had happened.
• In the South it was not possible to take Odessa and seize the Caucasus. By the end of September, Hitler's troops had just captured Kyiv and launched an attack on Kharkov and Donbass.

Why Germany's blitzkrieg failed

Germany's blitzkrieg failed because the Wehrmacht prepared the Barbarossa plan, as it later turned out, based on false intelligence data. Hitler admitted this by the end of 1941, saying that if he had known the real state of affairs in the USSR, he would not have started the war on June 22.

The tactics of lightning war were based on the fact that the country has one line of defense on the western border, all large army units are located on the western border, and aviation is located on the border. Since Hitler was confident that all Soviet troops were located on the border, this formed the basis of the blitzkrieg - to destroy the enemy army in the first weeks of the war, and then quickly move deeper into the country without encountering serious resistance.

In fact, there were several lines of defense, the army was not located with all its forces on the western border, there were reserves. Germany did not expect this, and by August 1941 it became clear that the lightning war had failed and Germany could not win the war. The fact that the Second World War lasted right up to 1945 only proves that the Germans fought in a very organized and brave manner. Thanks to the fact that they had the economy of the whole of Europe behind them (speaking of the war between Germany and the USSR, many for some reason forget that the German army included units from almost all European countries) they were able to fight successfully.

Did Barbarossa's plan fail?

I propose to evaluate the Barbarossa plan according to 2 criteria: global and local. Global(landmark - Velikaya Patriotic War) - the plan was thwarted, since the lightning war did not work out, the German troops were bogged down in battles. Local(landmark – intelligence data) – the plan was carried out. The German command drew up the Barbarossa plan based on the assumption that the USSR had 170 divisions on the country’s border and there were no additional echelons of defense. There are no reserves or reinforcements. The army was preparing for this. In 3 weeks, 28 Soviet divisions were completely destroyed, and in 70, approximately 50% of the personnel and equipment were disabled. At this stage, the blitzkrieg worked and, in the absence of reinforcements from the USSR, gave the desired results. But it turned out that the Soviet command had reserves, not all troops were located on the border, mobilization brought high-quality soldiers into the army, there were additional lines of defense, the “charm” of which Germany felt near Smolensk and Kiev.

Therefore, the failure of the Barbarossa plan should be considered as a huge strategic mistake of German intelligence, led by Wilhelm Canaris. Today, some historians connect this man with English agents, but there is no evidence of this. But if we assume that this is really the case, then it becomes clear why Canaris palmed Hitler off with the absolute lie that the USSR was not ready for war and all the troops were located on the border.

After Nazi Germany was defeated, the United States was so frightened by the strength of the Soviet Army that it was forced to develop a special strategy - “Dropshot”. The plan to attack the USSR and allies was to stop their subsequent invasion of Western Europe, the Middle East and Japan.

It is important to note that plans for an attack on the USSR were fully developed even before the Second World War, during and after. Such thoughts are still present today, threatening Russia as the legal successor of the Soviet Union. But the most likely period for the realization of the “American Dream” was precisely the times of the Cold War. We have already written about some of the incidents that took place earlier. Today we’ll talk about the latest declassified documents from the US National Military Archives - a plan for an attack on the USSR under the meaningless name “Dropshot”

BASES FOR CREATION

The main strategy has been developed by the Pentagon since the beginning of 1945. It was at that time that the so-called threat of the subsequent “communization” of the entire Eastern Europe, as well as an extravagant version of Stalin’s alleged intentions to invade the territory of Western states under the pretext of clearing them of the remaining German occupiers.

The official version of the “Dropshot” plan was to counter the proposed Soviet invasion of Western Europe, the Middle East and Japan. On December 19, 1949, the plan was approved in the United States.

The prerequisites were several previous American projects. The code name of the plan to attack the USSR changed several times, and its main directives changed just as many times. The Pentagon developed the likely actions of the communists and designed its methods of counteraction. New strategies replaced each other, replacing one another.

This is interesting: the name “Dropshot” itself was coined to be deliberately meaningless. Ours translated it as: Instant blow, Short blow, Last shot. It is curious that today the term Dropshot means a shortened stroke in tennis, and among professional fishermen - Dropchot known as fishing tackle and as one of the methods of spinning fishing, used successfully in America and Europe. This method is not popular among Russian spinning anglers.

FOR UNDERSTANDING - “DROPSHOTS” IN ACTION

The plan envisaged dropping 300 atomic bombs of 50 kilotons and 200,000 tons of conventional bombs on 100 Soviet cities at the first stage, of which 25 atomic bombs on Moscow, 22 on Leningrad, 10 on Sverdlovsk, 8 on Kyiv, 5 on Dnepropetrovsk, 2 - to Lviv, etc.

To make economical use of available funds, the plan provided for the development of ballistic missiles. In addition to nuclear weapons, it was planned to use 250 thousand tons of conventional bombs at the first stage, and a total of 6 million tons of conventional bombs.

The Americans calculated that as a result of massive atomic and conventional bombing, about 60 million inhabitants of the USSR would die, and in total, taking into account further hostilities, over 100 million would die Soviet people.

AMERICANS APPEAR ATOMIC WEAPONS

The US “Dropshot” plan was first announced in the White House after the Potsdam Conference, which was attended by the leaders of the victorious states: the USA, Great Britain and the USSR. Truman arrived at the meeting in high spirits: the day before, test launches of atomic warheads had been carried out. He became the head of a nuclear state.

Let us analyze the historical reports of a specific period of time in order to then draw the appropriate conclusions.

. The meeting was held from July 17 to August 2, 1945.

. The test launch was carried out on July 16, 1945 - the day before the meeting.

The conclusion is: The Pentagon tried to bring the first nuclear test to the beginning of the conference, and the atomic bombing of Japan to the end. Thus, the United States tried to establish itself as the only state in the world that owns atomic weapons.

PLAN IN DETAILS

The first mentions available to the world public appeared in 1978. American specialist A. Brown, working on the secrets of World War II, published a whole series documents confirming that the United States was indeed developing the Dropshot strategy - a plan to attack the USSR. The action plan of the American “liberation” army should have looked like this:

First step: as mentioned above, hostilities were supposed to begin on January 1, 1957. And at the very short terms it was planned to drop 300 nuclear weapons and 250,000 tons of conventional bombs and shells onto the territory of the Soviet Union. As a result of the bombing, it was planned to destroy at least 85% of the country's industry, up to 96% of the industry of countries friendly to the Union and 6.7 million of the state's population.

Next step- landing of NATO ground forces. It was planned to involve 250 divisions in the attack, of which the Allied troops numbered 38 units. The occupation actions were to be supported by aviation, in the amount of 5 armies (7400 aircraft). At the same time, all sea and ocean communications must be captured by the NATO Navy.

The third step of Operation Dropshot- plan for the destruction of the USSR and erasing it from political map peace. This meant using all known species weapons: atomic, small arms, chemical, radiological and biological.

Final stage- this is the division of the occupied territory into 4 zones and the deployment of NATO troops in largest cities. As stated in the docs: « Special attention focus on the physical destruction of communists."

USSR RESPONSE

“The problem of a retaliatory strike unacceptable to the enemy has arisen in full force. The difficulty of solving it was that the Americans were going to bomb us nuclear weapons from European bases, and we could stop them only by retaliatory bombing directly on US territory. Launch vehicles, as is known, appeared in service with the Soviet troops only in 1959. At the time of the deployment of Operation Dropshot, we could only rely on long-range aviation.

After a secret test of the first Soviet atomic bomb On September 1, 1949, the US military detected radioactive traces of a nuclear test in an air sample during a routine flight over the Pacific Ocean. After this, it became clear that a gratuitous strike was impossible from now on.

On September 26, 1956, we completed a flight at a range corresponding to the distance to the United States and back, with in-flight refueling. From this moment on, we can assume that the US nuclear blackmail against the USSR has completely lost all meaning. N. S. Khrushchev personally monitored the progress of the tests, and when they ended, information was leaked that the USSR now had the ability to retaliate.” Sergei Turchenko, military observer

BROKEN DREAMS

There was no reaction from Truman to the message, he was so discouraged. Only after some time did information about this appear in the press. The government was afraid of an inadequate reaction in the form of panic among the ordinary population. Pentagon scientists found a way out of the situation by offering the president the development of a new, more destructive bomb - the hydrogen bomb. It must be in service with the States to pacify the Soviets.

Despite the difficult financial and economic condition, in creating the atomic bomb, the Soviet Union was only 4 years behind the Americans!

ARMS RACE

Considering further development events, “Dropshot” - a plan to attack the USSR, was doomed to failure. The following scientific and high-tech developments of the Country of Soviets are to blame:

. 08/20/1953 - the Soviet press officially announced that a hydrogen bomb had been tested.

. On October 4, 1957, the first satellite, owned by Soviet Union. This became a guarantee that intercontinental-range missiles had been created, as a result of which America ceased to be “out of reach.”

It is worth thanking the scientists who, in post-war conditions, developed the Soviet response to American “encroachments.” It was their heroic work that allowed subsequent generations not to recognize own experience, what is “Dropshot” - a plan to destroy the USSR, “Troyan” or “Fleetwood” - similar operations. Their developments made it possible to achieve nuclear parity and bring world leaders to the next negotiating table related to reducing the number of nuclear weapons.

By the way, there were many such failed plans, and not only among the Americans. It is known that former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill suggested that the United States nuclear attack according to the USSR. This became known from declassified FBI documents, which were published by The Daily Mail.

One is left to wonder why exactly the West is demonstrating its weakness, its failures and failures by publishing more and more supposedly secret evidence and facts about the alleged attack on the USSR, which is why they so urgently needed to publicly declare their vile intentions? Where is the meaning? What is this - window dressing, another informational stuffing, or information leakage?

The scale of aggressive measures today is surprising. True, in the 21st century, in order to launch a global attack on a country with missiles, you don’t need to just play around with quotes, introduce sanctions... And instead of all sorts of “Dropshots” and “Trojans”, tirelessly print dollars, which we still can’t refuse.

Operation Barbarossa (Barbarossa plan 1941) - a plan for a military attack and rapid seizure of USSR territory by Hitler’s troops during.

The plan and essence of Operation Barbarossa was to quickly and unexpectedly attack Soviet troops on their own territory and, taking advantage of the enemy’s confusion, defeat the Red Army. Then, within two months, the German army was to advance deep into the country and conquer Moscow. Control over the USSR gave Germany the opportunity to fight with the United States for the right to dictate its terms in world politics.

Hitler, who had already managed to conquer almost all of Europe, was confident of his victory over the USSR. However, the Barbarossa plan turned out to be a failure; the protracted operation turned into a long war.

The Barbarossa plan received its name in honor of the medieval king of Germany, Frederick 1st, who bore the nickname Barbarossa and was famous for his military achievements.

Contents of Operation Barbarossa. Hitler's plans

Although Germany and the USSR made peace in 1939, Hitler still decided to attack Russia, as this was a necessary step towards world domination by Germany and the Third Reich. Hitler instructed the German command to collect information about the composition Soviet army and on this basis draw up a plan of attack. This is how Plan Barbarossa came into being.

After an inspection, German intelligence officers came to the conclusion that the Soviet army was in many ways inferior to the German one: it was less organized, less prepared, and the technical equipment of Russian soldiers left much to be desired. Focusing precisely on these principles, Hitler created a plan for a rapid attack that was supposed to ensure Germany's victory in record time.

The essence of the Barbarossa plan was to attack the USSR on the borders of the country and, taking advantage of the enemy’s unpreparedness, defeat the army and then destroy it. Hitler placed the main emphasis on modern military equipment, which belonged to Germany, and the effect of surprise.

The plan was to be carried out at the beginning of 1941. First, German troops were to attack the Russian army in Belarus, where the bulk of it was gathered. Having defeated Soviet soldiers in Belarus, Hitler planned to advance towards Ukraine, conquer Kyiv and the sea routes, cutting off Russia from the Dnieper. At the same time, a blow was to be delivered to Murmansk from Norway. Hitler planned to launch an attack on Moscow, surrounding the capital from all sides.

Despite careful preparation in an atmosphere of secrecy, from the first weeks it became clear that the Barbarossa plan was a failure.

Implementation of the Barbarossa plan and results

From the very first days, the operation began to not be as successful as planned. First of all, this happened due to the fact that Hitler and the German command underestimated the Soviet troops. According to historians, the Russian army was not only equal in strength to the German one, but in many ways superior to it.

The Soviet troops turned out to be well prepared, in addition, military operations took place on Russian territory, so the soldiers could use the natural conditions, which they knew better than the Germans, to their advantage. The Soviet army was also able to hold its own and not fall apart into separate units thanks to good command and the ability to mobilize and make lightning-fast decisions.

At the beginning of the attack, Hitler planned to quickly advance deep into the Soviet army and begin to split it into pieces, separating units from each other in order to avoid mass operations from the Russians. He managed to advance, but failed to break the front: Russian detachments quickly gathered together and brought up new forces. This led to the fact that Hitler’s army, although winning, moved deeper into the country catastrophically slowly, not by kilometers, as planned, but by meters.

Only a few months later, Hitler managed to approach Moscow, but the German army did not dare to launch an attack - the soldiers were exhausted from prolonged military operations, and the city was never bombed, although something else was planned. Hitler also failed to bomb Leningrad, which was besieged and blockaded, but did not surrender and was not destroyed from the air.

It began, which lasted from 1941 to 1945 and ended with the defeat of Hitler.

Reasons for the failure of Plan Barbarossa

Hitler's plan failed for several reasons:

• the Russian army turned out to be stronger and more prepared than the German command expected: the Russians compensated for the lack of modern military equipment with the ability to fight in difficult natural conditions, as well as competent command;
• the Soviet army had excellent counterintelligence: thanks to intelligence officers, the command almost always knew about the enemy’s next move, which made it possible to quickly and adequately respond to the actions of the attackers;
• inaccessibility of territories: the Germans did not know the territory of the USSR well, since it was extremely difficult to get maps. In addition, they did not know how to fight in impenetrable forests;
• loss of control over the course of the war: the Barbarossa plan quickly showed its inconsistency, and after a few months Hitler completely lost control over the course of hostilities.