The original name of Hitler's plan 1940. German plan barbarossa briefly

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

Reasons 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 all of Eastern Europe appeared, as well as the extravagant version of Stalin's intention to invade the territory of Western states under the pretext of clearing them of the remaining German occupiers.

Several previous American projects served as prerequisites. The code name of the plan of attack on the USSR changed several times, as did its main directives. The Pentagon worked out the probable actions of the communists and designed their own methods of counteraction. New strategies came to replace each other, replacing one another.

Operation Dropshot: Background

Now it is known for certain that there were several specific plans that ordinary Americans did not even suspect. These are the operations:

"Totality" - was developed by D. Eisenhower during World War II;
"Charoitir" - an updated version, entered into force in the summer of 1948;
"Fleetwood" - was ready for the third anniversary of the end of World War II;
"Troyan" - the plan was developed in anticipation of the start of the bombing of the Union on 01/01/1957;
Dropshot assumed that sudden bombing should begin on 01/01/1957.

As can be seen from the declassified documentation, the States really planned to unleash a third world war, which would turn into a nuclear one.

Americans have atomic weapons

For the first time, the US “Dropshot” plan was announced in the White House after which the leaders of the victorious states took part: the USA, Great Britain and the USSR. Truman arrived at the meeting in high spirits: test launches had been made the day before atomic warheads. He became the head of a nuclear state.

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

The meeting was held from 17.07 to 02.08.1945.
The test launch was carried out on 07/16/1945 - the day before the meeting.
On August 6 and 9, 1945, two such shells completely burned Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

The conclusion suggests itself: 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 detail

The first mentions available to the world public appeared in 1978. American specialist A. Brown, working on the mysteries of the Second World War, published whole line documents confirming that the United States was indeed developing the Dropshot strategy - a plan to attack the USSR. The scheme of actions of the American "liberation" army was supposed to look like this.

In a short time, it was planned to drop 300 atomic ammunition and 250,000 tons of conventional bombs and shells into 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.
The next step is landing ground forces NATO. It was planned to involve 250 divisions in the attack, of which the Allied troops numbered 38 divisions. 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 should be captured by the NATO Navy.
The third step of Operation Dropshot is a plan to destroy the USSR and erase it from the political map of the world. This meant using all known species weapons: atomic, small arms, chemical, radiological and biological.
The final stage is the division of the occupied territory into 4 zones and the deployment of NATO troops in major cities. As stated in the documents: "Pay special attention to the physical destruction of the communists."

shattered dreams

The Americans failed to implement their Dropshot strategy, the plan of attack on the USSR was not carried out due to one event. 09/03/1949, the pilot of an American bomber flying over Pacific Ocean, using instruments, recorded a sharply increased radioactivity in the upper atmosphere. After processing the data, the Pentagon was extremely disappointed: Stalin is testing

Truman's reaction to the message was not followed, he was so discouraged. Only after some time in the press there was information about this. The government was afraid of an inadequate reaction in the form of panic among the common population. Pentagon scientists found a way out by offering the president the development of a newer, more destructive hydrogen bomb. It must necessarily be in service with the States to pacify the Soviets.

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

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 were to blame for everything:

08/20/1953 - the Soviet press officially announced that the
On 10/04/1957, the one belonging to the Soviet Union was launched into the Earth's orbit. This became a guarantee that intercontinental-range missiles were created, as a result of which America ceased to be "out of reach."

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

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

The plan and essence of Operation Barbarossa was to quickly and unexpectedly attack the Soviet troops on their own territory and, taking advantage of the confusion of the enemy, to defeat the Red Army. Then, within two months, the German army was to move inland and conquer Moscow. Control over the USSR gave Germany the opportunity to fight 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 in his victory over the USSR. However, the plan "Barbarossa" was a failure, a protracted operation turned into a long war.

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

Contents of Operation Barbarossa. Hitler's plans

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

German intelligence officers, after checking, came to the conclusion that the Soviet army was in many ways inferior to the German one: it was less organized, worse prepared, and the technical equipment of Russian soldiers left much to be desired. Focusing precisely on these principles, Hitler created a plan for a swift attack, which was supposed to ensure the victory of Germany 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 unpreparedness of the enemy, smash the army and then destroy it. Hitler made the main emphasis on the 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 assembled. Having defeated the 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 struck at Murmansk from Norway. Hitler planned to launch an offensive against Moscow, surrounding the capital from all sides.

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

Implementation of the Barbarossa plan and results

From the very first days, the operation did not go as successfully 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 surpassed it.

The Soviet troops turned out to be well prepared, in addition, military operations were taking 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 resist and not fall apart into separate detachments thanks to good command and the ability to mobilize and make lightning-fast decisions.

At the beginning of the attack, Hitler planned to quickly move deep into the Soviet army and begin to break it into pieces, separating the detachments from each other in order to avoid massive operations by the Russians. He managed to advance, but he did not manage to break the front: the Russian detachments quickly gathered together and brought up new forces. This led to the fact that Hitler's army, although winning, was advancing catastrophically slowly inland, 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 by prolonged hostilities, and the city was never bombed, although otherwise 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 dragged on from 1941 to 1945 and ended with the defeat of Hitler.

Reasons for the failure of the Barbarossa plan

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 the scouts, the command almost always knew about the next step of the enemy, 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 proved to be ineffective, and after a few months Hitler completely lost control over the course of hostilities.

At the end of 1940, Hitler signed the ominous document - Directive 21, which became known as the "Barbarossa" plan. The attack on the USSR was originally planned for May 15: the German command planned to finish off the Red Army before the onset of autumn. However, the Balkan operation launched by Germany to seize Yugoslavia and Greece pushed back the date of the attack to June 22.

If you want peace, prepare for war

The emergence of the Barbarossa plan may seem strange at first glance. Only a year ago, a non-aggression pact was signed between Germany and the Soviet Union - the so-called Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, which provided for the redistribution of spheres of influence in Eastern Europe. What has changed in relations between the recent "allies"? First, in June 1940, France, Hitler's most serious continental opponent, capitulated to the German troops. Secondly, the recent winter war of the USSR against Finland showed that the Soviet combat vehicle was not so powerful, especially against the backdrop of German successes. And, thirdly, after all, Hitler was afraid to start military operation against England, with Soviet divisions in the rear. Therefore, immediately after the signing of the surrender by the French, the German command began to develop a plan for a military campaign against the USSR.

tooth for tooth

Finland and Romania were to play a big role in the implementation of the Barbarossa plan. Most recently, the Soviet Union seized from the Finns - the Karelian Isthmus with Vyborg, from the Romanians - Bessarabia, i.e. land that was formerly part of Russian Empire. The leadership of these countries longed for revenge. According to the Barbarossa plan, the Finnish troops were to hold down the Soviet troops with their offensive in the north, and the Romanian troops in the south. While the German units will deal a crushing blow in the center.

Swedish neutrality

During World War II, Sweden officially declared its neutrality. However, in the Barbarossa plan, the role of Sweden is clearly spelled out - the Swedes were to provide their railways for the transfer of 2-3 German divisions to help Finland. Everything went according to plan - in the very first days of the war, a German division was passed through the territory of Sweden for operations in Northern Finland. True, the Prime Minister of Sweden soon promised the frightened Swedish people that not a single German division would be allowed through the territory of Sweden and that the country would not enter the war against the USSR. However, in practice, the transit of German military materials to Finland began through Sweden; German transport ships transported troops there, hiding in the territorial waters of Sweden, and until the winter of 1942/43 they were accompanied by a convoy of the Swedish naval forces. The Nazis achieved the supply of Swedish goods on credit and their transportation mainly on Swedish ships.

Stalin Line

In the 1930s, a powerful system of defensive structures was built on the western borders of the USSR, which consisted of fortified areas from the Karelian Isthmus to the Black Sea, in the West it was called the Stalin Line. The fortified area included casemates, positions for field artillery, bunkers for anti-tank guns. After the partition of Poland and the return Western Ukraine and the Baltic states, the border moved back and the Stalin line ended up in the rear, part of the weapons were transferred to the new borders, but Zhukov insisted that part of the artillery weapons be kept in the disarmed areas. The Barbarossa plan provided for a breakthrough of the border fortifications by tank troops, but the German command, apparently, did not take Stalin's line into account. Subsequently, some fortified areas played a role in the war, their assault made it possible to delay the advance of the Nazis and disrupt the blitzkrieg.

And we're going south!

The fierce resistance of the Soviet troops, the large stretch of the troops, the guerrilla war in the rear led to the fact that Hitler decided to seek his fortune in the south. On August 21, 1941, Hitler issued a new directive stating that the most important task before the onset of winter was not to capture Moscow, but to capture the Crimea, industrial and coal areas on the Donets River and block the Russian oil routes from the Caucasus. The Barbarossa plan, which included a march on Moscow, was cracking at the seams. Part of the troops of the Army Group "Center" was transferred to the aid of the Army Group "South" in order to achieve a strategic advantage in Ukraine. As a result, the attack on Moscow began only at the end of September - time was lost and the Russian winter loomed ahead.

Cudgel of the People's War

The plan developed by the German generals did not take into account the resistance of the civilian population at all. With the onset of autumn, the advance of the Germans slowed down significantly, the war dragged on, and the civilian population met the winners not at all like submissive Europeans and, at the first opportunity, inflicted counter attack. The Italian observer Curzio Malaparte noted: “When the Germans begin to be afraid, when the mysterious German fear creeps into their hearts, you begin to especially fear for them and feel sorry for them. They look pathetic, their cruelty is sad, their courage is silent and hopeless. This is where the Germans begin to go berserk... They begin to kill prisoners who have rubbed their feet and can no longer walk. They begin to burn villages that have not been able to provide the amount of grain and flour, barley and oats, cattle and horses set in accordance with the requirements. When there are almost no Jews left, they hang the peasants.” The people responded to the atrocities of the Nazis by leaving for the partisans, cudgel people's war, without understanding anything, began to nail the Germans in the rear.

General "Winter"

The blitzkrieg plan so captivated Hitler that when it was developed, the fact of a protracted war was not even considered. The attack was originally planned for May 15 to finish off the Soviets before the fall, but in reality, Hitler's Balkan operation to seize Yugoslavia and Greece pushed back the date of the attack to June 22 - time was needed for the transfer of troops. As a result, General "Winter", as the Germans called him, took the side of the Russians. By the winter, the Nazi army was completely unprepared, the captured Germans sometimes turned out to be dressed in work clothes, stretched over uniform trousers and jackets and lined with unnecessary paper, including leaflets calling for surrender, which were scattered from aircraft over the front line over the positions of the Russians. Hands without mittens froze to the metal parts of the weapon, and frostbite became no less formidable enemy of the Germans than the pushing Soviet units.

The operation was supposed to ensure a quick and unconditional victory of fascist Germany over the USSR due to the surprise factor. However, despite the preparations in secrecy, the Barbarossa plan failed, and the war of the Germans with domestic troops dragged on and lasted from 1941 to 1945, after which it ended with the defeat of Germany.

Plan "Barbarossa" got its name in honor of the medieval King of Germany Frederick 1, who was a glorious commander and, as was previously believed, planned raids on Russia in the 12th century. Later, this myth was debunked.

The content of the plan "Barbarossa" and its significance

The attack on the USSR was to be Germany's next step towards world domination. The victory over Russia and the conquest of its territories should have opened up for Hitler the opportunity to enter into an open clash with the United States for the right to redistribute the world. Having managed to conquer almost all of Europe, Hitler was confident in his unconditional victory over the USSR.

In order for the attack to go smoothly, it was necessary to develop a plan for a military attack. That plan was Barbarossa. Before planning the attack, Hitler ordered his intelligence officers to collect detailed information about the Soviet army and its weapons. After analyzing the information received, Hitler decided that the German army was significantly superior to the Red Army of the USSR - based on this, they began to plan the attack.

The essence of the Barbarossa plan was to strike at the Red Army suddenly, on its own territory and, taking advantage of the unpreparedness of the troops and the technical superiority of the German army, conquer the USSR within two and a half months.

At first, it was planned to conquer the front line located on the territory of Belarus by wedging German detachments from different parties Soviet army. The disunited and unprepared Red Army had to surrender quickly. Then Hitler was going to move towards Kyiv in order to conquer the territory of Ukraine and, most importantly, its sea routes and cut off the paths of Soviet troops. Thus, he could enable his troops to further attack the USSR from the south and north. In parallel, Hitler's army was to launch an offensive from Norway. Surrounding the USSR on all sides, Hitler planned to move on Moscow.

However, already at the very beginning of the war, the German command realized that the plans began to crumble.

Operation Barbarossa and results

Hitler's first and main mistake was that he underestimated the strength and armament of the Soviet army, which, according to historians, was superior to the German one in some areas. In addition, the war was on the territory of the Russian army, so the soldiers easily navigated the terrain and could fight in different natural conditions, which was not so easy for the Germans. Another distinctive feature of the Russian army, which greatly influenced the failure of the Barbarossa operation, was the ability of Russian soldiers to mobilize in the shortest possible time to fight back, which did not allow the army to be divided into scattered detachments.

Hitler set his troops the task of quickly penetrating deep into the Soviet army and dividing it, not allowing Russian soldiers to carry out major operations, as this could be dangerous. The plan was to split the Soviet army and force it to flee. However, the opposite happened. Hitler's troops quickly penetrated deep into the Russian troops, but they could not conquer the flanks and defeat the army too. The Germans tried to follow the plan and surrounded the Russian detachments, but this did not lead to any results - the Russians quickly got out of the encirclement thanks to the surprisingly clear and competent leadership of their commanders. As a result, despite the fact that Hitler's army still won, it happened very slowly, which ruined the whole plan for a swift conquest.

On the approaches to Moscow, Hitler's army was no longer so strong. Exhausted by endless battles that dragged on for a long time, the army could not go on to conquer the capital, in addition, the bombing of Moscow never began, although according to Hitler's plans, by this time the city should not have been on the map. The same thing happened with Leningrad, which was taken under blockade, but never surrendered, and was not destroyed from the air.

The operation, which was planned as a swift victorious attack, turned into a protracted war and stretched from two months to several years.

Reasons for the failure of the Barbarossa plan

The main reasons for the failure of the operation can be considered:

The lack of accurate data on the combat power of the Russian army. Hitler and his command underestimated the capabilities of the Soviet soldiers, which led to the creation of an incorrect offensive and battle plan. The Russians gave a strong rebuff, which the Germans did not count on;
Excellent counterintelligence. Unlike the Germans, the Russians were able to establish intelligence well, thanks to which the command was almost always aware of the next step of the enemy and could adequately respond to it. The Germans failed to play on the element of surprise;
Difficult areas. It was difficult for Hitler's troops to get maps of the Soviet terrain, in addition, they were not used to fighting in such conditions (unlike the Russians), so very often impenetrable forests and swamps helped the Soviet army to leave and deceive the enemy;
Lack of control over the course of the war. The German command already in the first few months lost control over the course of hostilities, the Barbarossa plan turned out to be unworkable, and the Red Army waged a skillful counteroffensive.