HIST 388 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Panzer Division, Order No. 227, Operation Barbarossa
18 Nov 2016
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Document Summary
Spring 1942: war in the soviet union renewed. There remained an acute soviet weakness . (1) germany occupied ukraine, the breadbasket of ussr (2) millions of soviet soldiers had been captured and killed. Soviet industrial production in coal, steel, and iron was cut drastically with the occupation in the donbas region. German production totals for war materials now more than quadrupled soviets". (3) to make things worse, a disastrous attempt by stalin to take kharkov, an important railhead in. Ukraine, only further jeopardized the red army"s chances for survival. German troops captured several soviet armies in kharkov, and in the ensuing battle, unleashed brutal reprisals against civilians. By the beginning of june, 239k prisoners had been taken, 1230 tanks destroyed. The scene was set for a repeat of 1941"s disasters. Hitler, sensing opportunity, seized the initiative, and decided for a strike towards the caucasus region, to link up with the forces at the suez.
