Reddit reviews Barbarossa: The Russian-German Conflict, 1941-45

There wasn't much of a plan, and Stalin was in disbelief when Germans flooded across the border. There was resistance at first, but it was futile and really lent credence to Hitler's notion that all you had to do was kick in the door of the Soviet Union and the entire house would collapse.

Now, I may muddle some of the chronology or details here. Once it was evident that stopping Germany would take time and extensive resources. Moscow was determined to be a fortress city (to bleed out Germans in the winter of 41-42), while industry was disassembled and moved east, out of the range of the Luftwaffe. Once it was settled that Japan did not plan to invade the USSR from the east, Stalin decided to go full-fledged against Germany during and after Stalingrad.

As I said, I may be a bit off on some of the details/chronology.

For more information, check this book out: https://www.amazon.com/Barbarossa-Russian-German-Conflict-Alan-Clark/dp/0688042686

The idea that the Germans lost on the Eastern Front primarily because of Hitler is false. That idea is a result of the fact that after the war the only people willing to talk about the Eastern Front with western historians were usually the German generals, who had been there. And they were unwilling to attribute their defeat to themselves.

No dont get me wrong, Hitler meddled quite a bit, and sometimes it could be good, and sometimes not so much, especially towards the end of the war, it was not so good. But he wasn't the reason that Germany lost the war.

Also, you are totally correct about wikipedia. Its a fantastic source of information on world war 2. And the reference section is often a great place to look for more in depth websites and books.

Also, anyone interested in the Eastern Front should read this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Barbarossa-Russian-German-Conflict-Alan-Clark/dp/0688042686

Its a fantastic single volume history of the war that anyone just getting into the Ostfront should read. It is slightly outdated though, being written in the 60's I think. It was updated though at one point by the author.

http://www.amazon.com/Barbarossa-Russian-German-Conflict-Alan-Clark/dp/0688042686/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1293382981&sr=8-2

phenomenal book, but it is lengthy.

Alan Clark's book on Operation Barbarossa is the one that I remember most vividly. It's old enough to be considered a classic text by now. It captures the sheer, terrifying scale of the Eastern Front. Really sunk in how earth-shattering that campaign was. 560 walloping pages, and possibly dated by now, but to me it's the definitive text.

By the time the US got involved with boots on the ground, aside from the tons of supplies, aid, and indirect support given throughout Europe, the Russians were actually losing. The soldiers who fought at Stalingrad were reservists being scraped from Siberia. The aircraft that were left were outdated, and the Germans had captured the industrial regions of southern Russia, meaning that all the tanks currently fielded were all the tanks left in the Russian Army.

Undoubtedly, if the US had not directly engaged in the war, the Germans would have held the winter out, even if they had to retreat back across the border, and then counterattacked and been able to not only commit the soldiers holding down Europe, but also the Afrika Corps under Rommel as the US General Patton would have never defeated him on that front. As well, the Germans would have probably had time to finish and perfect their rocket technology without the pressure lead by the US forces coming from France, and the Japanese would have been able to join the fight without the US Pacific Fleet kicking their asses across the great blue sea.

Indisputably, the Russians did a huge amount of damage to German forces, and the war would not have been one without them, but the Axis would have won the war if not every Allied nation did everything within its power to fight them. If the Russians hadn't fiercely defended their nation, or the French, Chinese and Philippians resisted occupation, or the British lent their troops to harass the German Army every step of the way, or the US finally invading and liberating France. It was a mass combination of efforts that prevented what may of been the most terrible age the world would ever see.

Source: Operation Barbarossa

I had this recommended to me

http://www.amazon.com/Barbarossa-Russian-German-Conflict-Alan-Clark/dp/0688042686/ref=sr_1_15?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415030211&sr=1-15&keywords=Operation+Barbarossa

If interested in Barbarossa; The Book by Alan Clark is a good and informative read.

The First Hand Accounts within I still think about.