Barbarossa: The Russian-German Conflict 1941-45

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Hitler ordered the preparation of an attack on Russian as early as 21 July 1940. The first plans of OKH (Oberkommandodes Heeres/Army High Command) envisaged two major thrust to Moscow and Kiev with a covering thrust in the north. This was altered after war games, to include a major attack in the north, the main objective still being Moscow. However, at planning conferences early in December, Hitler directed that Leningrad was the most urgent target, and tat part of the central thrust might be diverted after the capture of Smolensk to support this plan. It was on this general idea that 'Barbarossa', the final plan was drawn up. The Germans aimed for a rapid campaign with deep armoured penetrations to surround and smash the Red Army well before winter. The massive German build-up had, of course, been observed by the Russians, but Stalin was so determined not to give Hitler any excuse to attack that in 1941 the Red Army was still on a peacetime footing with most units widely scattered for summer training. Barbarossa was the greatest and longest land battled which mankind has ever fought. Unfortunately the scale of historical works available on the operation is often very small, or else it consists of personal memories, and is subject to the limitations of viewpoint and objectivity that are inseparable from this form. Although there are major works dealing with certain aspects, taken as a whole this period had been neglected by historians. It is a tribute to Alan Clark that he has, besides carrying out a strategic evaluation of the campaign in this book, followed closely the sumer and autumn of 1941 when everyday was critical and has dealt in sufficient detail with the battles till 1944.Table of ContentsMaps Acknowledgements Chronology of Development in the Eastern Campaign 1941-523 Book One: The 'Eastern marshals The State of the Wehrmacht Mother Russia The Clash of Arms The First Crisis The Lotzen Decision Leningrad: Hypothesis and Realty Slaughter in the Ukraine The Start of Moscow Offensive The Battle of Moscow Book Two: Stalingrad Planning and Preliminaries The Wehrmacht at High Tide Verdun on the Volga The Entombment of the 6th Army The Advent of General von Manstein Chrisis and Recovery The 'Consolidation Period' The Great Tank Battle in History The Aftermath Book Four: Nemesis The Floodgates are Creaking' Eastern Europe Changes Hands Black January The Fall of Berlin Epilogue The Commissioned Ranks of the Waffen ss and their Army Equivalents Glossary of Most Frequently Used Abbreviations Bibliography Appendix 1 Appendix 2