Operation Barbarossa, The Siege of Leningrad, and the Battle of Stalingrad -The turning point of WW2 By: Keara Haack, Avery Escobar, Reilly Amrine, Megan Sakamoto and Abby Dean

Thesis Operation Barbarossa was the Nazis start to a massive invasion on the Soviet Union but Hitler had underestimated the capability of the Russian people. In the battle of Leningrad, Russia had the upper hand as the Nazis were fighting a two front war and lacked many resources. The battle of Stalingrad was the first major defeat against the axis and this lead to gained confidence in the allies ability to win and the beginning of the turning point in the war.

Operation Barabarossa

Operation Barbarossa Invasion of the Soviet Union Nazis goal is to exterminate Jews and enslave Slavic people. Nazi Germany was forced to fight a two front war making it harder to win Russia threw millions of willing civilians into war to fight against the Nazis and defend the Soviet Union

Operation Barbarossa Timeline v 1941 v June 22nd -German invasion of the Soviet Union (Barbarossa begins) v June 29th -Russian army forces are encircled at key cities across the Soviet Union v July 9th-Soviet defenses at Brest-Litovsk, Bialystok, Volkovysk, Gorodishche and Minsk fall to the invading German Army v July 13th-The Soviet 20th Army arrives in Smolensk v July 16th- Smolensk falls to the German 29th Motorized Division v July 16th- Marshal Timoshenko and his 4th and 13th Armies near the Sozh River counter attack the Germans at Smolensk v July 22nd- The German Army begins to encircle in Soviet Army pockets held up outside of the Smolensk, Vitebsk and Mogilev. v July 17th-The German Army begins to tighten the noose around the encircled Soviet forces numbering some 25 divisions v July 24th-The German encirclement of Soviet forces is completed v July 22nd-A Soviet offensive meant to break the German stranglehold fails due to poor coordination v July 19th-A German High Command directive calls for the army to complete the destruction of Soviet forces around Smolensk and then head south to tackle forces in Kiev instead of marching on Moscow himself-this decision is viewed as the turning point to Germany’s defeat in Russia v August 5th- The Soviet defense of Smolensk is obliterated and falls taking with it the end of the Soviet 16th and 20th Armies v August 5th-300,000 Soviet prisoners, 3,200 tanks and 3,100 artillery guns are captured by the Germans at Smolensk

Siege of Leningrad Significant for how long it was, lasted almost 900 days Resulted in the death of over 1 million citizens Soviets created the ice and water road across Lake Ladoga to resupply its three million encircled soldiers and civilians. Germany maintained their siege of Leningrad with a single army showing that taking over Leningrad was of little importance. However, with the Soviets win, it inspired their war efforts as a whole.

Video: Siege of Leningrad

Leningrad Timeline v Sep 1st- German army elements begin the shelling of Leningrad v Sep 15th-the soviet fortress at schlusselburg southeast of Leningrad falls to the Germans v Sep 15th- the Germans now control the southern end of Leningrad, cutting its citizens off from the rest of the soviet union v Oct 1st-dec 31st- as rations begin to run out in the encircled city of Leningrad, its citizens begin to starve v Dec 10th-the soviets retake the town of tikhvin v Dec 10th-the soviet supply route is restarted across frozen lake ladoga v 1942 v Jan 1st-july 31st-some 800,000 of leningrads citizens are evacuated through frozen passage above lake ladoga v Jan 7th-along the volkhov front to the south of Novgorod, the soviets launch a major offensive v March1st-30th-the whole soviet 2nd shock army is lost near Novgorod v July 1st-31st-Hitler orders two directives in the operation against Leningrad. The first calls for its immediate encirclement and the second for its immediate destruction from land and air v August 19th-sep 30th-a soviet offensive aimed at smashing through the German lines fails v Sep 25th-with winter upon the German army once more, Hitler orders a halt to any major offensives around Leningrad

Leningrad Timeline Continued v 1943 v Jan 12th- the soviets enact operation spark and cut a path through the German lines clearing a path to Leningrad. This offers the citizens of the city some much needed food rations v Jan 19th-the soviets retake the city of Shlisselburg v 1944 v Jan 14th-soviet armies from the 2nd Baltic, volkhov and Leningrad fronts overtake German army group north in a massive two-week offensive v Jan 28th-German army group north is pushed away from the city of Leningrad v Jan 27th-the Moscow-Leningrad railway route is reopened in favor of the soviets v Jan 27th-the siege of Leningrad is declared by the soviet leader Stalin as over

Battle of Stalingrad Marked the end of German advances into Eastern Europe. It was the first major German loss during WW2 Almost all of the German 6th army was wiped out after being encircled at Stalingrad. It was one of the biggest battles fought during WW2 Germany lost about 1,000,000 men and nearly 90,000 German officers and soldiers surrendered One of the bloodiest battles with over 2 million casualties Almost all of Germany’s forces from Army Group Center and large parts of Army Group South were used in the battle, which made it nearly impossible to win the war on two fronts.

Stalingrad Timeline v August 7th- German army attacks soviet forces near Kalach v August 25th-stalingrad is officially under siege by the German army v Sep 3rd-Germans enact an offensive aimed at the heart of Stalingrad v Sep 15th-the Soviet Army is unleashed on Voronezh v Oct 9th-The Soviet government hands all military powers to the soviet army v Oct 14th-Adolf Hitler stops all further offensives against Soviet and orders his commanders to hold their positions until 1943 v Nov 19th-Soviets enact part 1 of Operation Uranus v Nov 20th- part 2 is enacted v Nov 22nd-Soviet Army encircles German 6th Army at Stalingrad v Rest of 1942-Soviet continues to capture cities v 1943 v Jan 8th-Soviet Generals send in formal request for surrender of the German 6th Army (it is rejected) v Jan 14th- Germans ask the Baltic people for service v Jan 17th-German Panzer Corps at the Don are officially surrounded v Jan 25th-Soviet offensive splits the German 6th army at Stalingrad v Jan 25th-German forces retreat v Jan 31st- Germans formally surrender to Soviet v Feb 2nd-Stalingrad officially over

Location and Movement -Hitler launches his armies eastward to invade the Soviet Union -covered a front from the North Cape to the Black Sea -First month of Operation Barbarossa → German armies deep in Soviet territory → panzer armies encircled large Soviet forces at Minsk and Smolensk,while armored spearheads reached two-thirds of the distance to Moscow and Leningrad.

Key Facts: Operation Barbarossa: Siege of Leningrad (900-day siege): Barbarossa was the crucial turning point in World War II, for its failure forced Nazi Germany to fight a two- front war against a coalition possessing immensely superior resources. Barbarossa had three primary objectives – the Baltic states and Leningrad in the north, Moscow in the center, and the economic resources of the Ukraine and southern Russia in the south Codenamed “Barbarossa” after a 12th-century Holy Roman Emperor who won land for the Germans from the Slavs. “Commissar Order” included killing every communist official Frustrated by the failure of Barbarossa, Hitler vented his anger against the Jews of Western and Southern Europe, reasoning that they all somehow shared responsibility for German setbacks in the East. Siege of Leningrad (900-day siege): German bombers dropped propaganda leaflets on the city, claiming the city would starve to death if they didn’t surrender Starvation was Germany's greatest weapon Citizens resorted to cannibalism Hitler and Alfred Jodl issued an order that Leningrad must be taken without giving the Russians any chance to surrender

Key Facts (Cont.) Battle of Stalingrad: Marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. Stalingrad became a desperate ordeal of rodent like scurrying from hole to hole. Germans saw the conquest of Stalingrad as essential to their campaign in southern Russia Urban street fighting of the most bitter sort, occasioning tremendous losses on both sides. Soviet victory at Stalingrad was a great humiliation for Hitler, who had elevated the battle’s importance in German opinion

Effects Operation Barbarossa marked significant setback for German military Siege of Leningrad inspired soviet war efforts Battle of Stalingrad first major German loss, halting Hitlers advance on eastern front

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