The purpose of this paper is to apply critical reasoning techniques to Operation Barbarossa, which was a German offensive in 1941 agsinst the Soviet Union during the early onset of World War II (WWII). I will identify the events leading up to the operation, and provide an overview of the execution of operation. I will also identify alternative intelligence assets which could have been employed by both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union to develop alternative courses of action / outcome of this operation. In addition to these alternative courses of action, I will identify second and third order effects, which could have changed the outcome of WWII and potentially the world as we know it today.
Background
Prior to WWII, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact in 1939. This agreement stated that “the two countries agreed not to attack each other, either independently or in conjunction with other powers; not to support any third power that might attack the other party to the pact; to remain in consultation with each other upon questions touching their common interests; not to join any group of powers directly or indirectly threatening one of the two parties; to solve all differences between the two by negotiation or arbitration. The pact was to last for 10 years, with an automatic extension for another 5 years unless …show more content…
Germany began experiencing difficulties transporting supplies to the fronts due to severely degraded road conditions due to weather considerations. Furthermore, the Soviet Union began utilizing a scorched earth policy, Soviet troops destroyed anything of use that the invading German forces could utilize; while factories, supplies, machinery and train sets were shipped deeper into Russia in order to maintain the Soviet’s war effort (Taylor,
Background
Prior to WWII, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact in 1939. This agreement stated that “the two countries agreed not to attack each other, either independently or in conjunction with other powers; not to support any third power that might attack the other party to the pact; to remain in consultation with each other upon questions touching their common interests; not to join any group of powers directly or indirectly threatening one of the two parties; to solve all differences between the two by negotiation or arbitration. The pact was to last for 10 years, with an automatic extension for another 5 years unless …show more content…
Germany began experiencing difficulties transporting supplies to the fronts due to severely degraded road conditions due to weather considerations. Furthermore, the Soviet Union began utilizing a scorched earth policy, Soviet troops destroyed anything of use that the invading German forces could utilize; while factories, supplies, machinery and train sets were shipped deeper into Russia in order to maintain the Soviet’s war effort (Taylor,