Summary: The key themes that were covered in unit two were the Battle of Britain, Operation Barbarossa, and Stalingrad. In chapter two of the book, The West Point History of World War 2 volume 1, the key point consisted of the initiative and success the Germans had in both Western and Eastern Europe. For example, Robert Citino writes, “Since this was a war of choice-a war that Adolf Hitler and the German high command had opted to fight rather than one they had thrust upon them- the Germans held the initiative at the start” (Citino, 2015, p. 47).When it comes to the Battle of Britain, June 1940 was a very hopeless situation for the British. With the French defeated and the United States remaining neutral, the British had nearly no help but
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This operation however, never took place due to Germany’s insufficient naval fleet in comparison to the Royal Navy’s massive fleet. Operation Barbarossa however, was the strategic plan of invading Russia using the Blitzkrieg method. Invading Russia was one of Hitler’s long term goals however in the short term, invading and destroying the Soviet Union would annihilate Britain’s last hope for survival. This operation consisted of a three pronged attack on Russia’s three major economy driving cities. The German army would attack Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev in hopes to defeat Russia’s military and to cause an economic collapse of the Soviet state. Although the Germans had much success, they would later suffer a great amount of casualties and slowly erode their progress. The final key theme that we covered in unit 2 was the theme of Stalingrad. This consisted of the end of operation Barbarossa and the beginning of the Soviet counter attack. The reason the German’s turned their attention toward Stalingrad was simply due to the strategic and symbolic significance with regard to the cities vicinity of resources like oil. Also, Stalingrad is symbolic for the destruction of the German 6th Army and the extensive urban combat that …show more content…
All of these topics encompassed in the Operation of Barbarossa have really put World War 2 into perspective for me. This unit has affected and advanced my thinking about World War 2 by showing me the genius use of Blitzkrieg. Although Hitler had an arrogant attitude toward his army, the strategy for defeating the Soviet army and collapsing the Soviet economy was absolutely brilliant. When it comes to the strategy of Blitzkrieg, the idea is to encircle the enemy and to cut off their supply to the rest of the enemy military. The reason why this was so brilliant, is because the strategy was to quickly rush in to the Soviet Union and encircle their three most prosperous cities that drove the Soviet war machine and their economy. If this use of the Blitzkrieg was successful, the economic collapse alone could have totally defeated Russia. This affected and advanced my thinking about World War 2 because it showed me the vigilance and detail that was placed into World War 2 era strategies that utilized the least amount of effort but resulted in maximum
This operation however, never took place due to Germany’s insufficient naval fleet in comparison to the Royal Navy’s massive fleet. Operation Barbarossa however, was the strategic plan of invading Russia using the Blitzkrieg method. Invading Russia was one of Hitler’s long term goals however in the short term, invading and destroying the Soviet Union would annihilate Britain’s last hope for survival. This operation consisted of a three pronged attack on Russia’s three major economy driving cities. The German army would attack Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev in hopes to defeat Russia’s military and to cause an economic collapse of the Soviet state. Although the Germans had much success, they would later suffer a great amount of casualties and slowly erode their progress. The final key theme that we covered in unit 2 was the theme of Stalingrad. This consisted of the end of operation Barbarossa and the beginning of the Soviet counter attack. The reason the German’s turned their attention toward Stalingrad was simply due to the strategic and symbolic significance with regard to the cities vicinity of resources like oil. Also, Stalingrad is symbolic for the destruction of the German 6th Army and the extensive urban combat that …show more content…
All of these topics encompassed in the Operation of Barbarossa have really put World War 2 into perspective for me. This unit has affected and advanced my thinking about World War 2 by showing me the genius use of Blitzkrieg. Although Hitler had an arrogant attitude toward his army, the strategy for defeating the Soviet army and collapsing the Soviet economy was absolutely brilliant. When it comes to the strategy of Blitzkrieg, the idea is to encircle the enemy and to cut off their supply to the rest of the enemy military. The reason why this was so brilliant, is because the strategy was to quickly rush in to the Soviet Union and encircle their three most prosperous cities that drove the Soviet war machine and their economy. If this use of the Blitzkrieg was successful, the economic collapse alone could have totally defeated Russia. This affected and advanced my thinking about World War 2 because it showed me the vigilance and detail that was placed into World War 2 era strategies that utilized the least amount of effort but resulted in maximum