Operation Barbarossa, The Siege of Leningrad, and the Battl - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Operation Barbarossa, The Siege of Leningrad, and the Battle of Stalingrad

-The turning point of WW2

By: Keara Haack, Avery Escobar, Reilly Amrine, Megan Sakamoto and Abby DeanSlide2

Thesis

Operation Barbarossa was the Nazis start to a massive invasion on the Soviet Union but Hitler had underestimated the capability of the Russian people. In the battle of Leningrad, Russia had the upper hand as the Nazis were fighting a two front war and lacked many resources. The battle of Stalingrad was the first major defeat against the axis and this lead to gained confidence in the allies ability to win and the beginning of the turning point in the war.Slide3

Operation BarabarossaSlide4
Slide5

Operation Barbarossa

Invasion of the Soviet Union

Nazis goal is to exterminate Jews and enslave Slavic people.

Nazi Germany was forced to fight a two front war making it harder to win

Russia threw millions of willing civilians into war to fight against the Nazis and defend the Soviet Union Slide6

Operation Barbarossa Timeline

v

1941

v

June 22

nd

-German invasion of the Soviet Union (Barbarossa begins)

v

June 29

th

-Russian army forces are encircled at key cities across the

Soviet Union

v

July 9

th

-Soviet defenses at Brest-Litovsk, Bialystok, Volkovysk, Gorodishche and Minsk fall to the invading German Army

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July 13

th

-The Soviet 20

th

Army arrives in Smolensk

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July 16

th

- Smolensk falls to the German 29

th

Motorized Division

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July 16

th

- Marshal Timoshenko and his 4

th

and 13

th

Armies near the Sozh River counter attack the Germans at Smolensk

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July 22

nd

- The German Army begins to encircle in Soviet Army pockets held up outside of the Smolensk, Vitebsk and Mogilev.

v

July 17

th

-The German Army begins to tighten the noose around the encircled Soviet forces numbering some 25 divisions

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July 24

th

-The German encirclement of Soviet forces is completed

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July 22

nd

-A Soviet offensive meant to break the German stranglehold fails due to poor coordination

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July 19

th

-A German High Command directive calls for the army to complete the destruction of Soviet forces around Smolensk and then head south to tackle forces in Kiev instead of marching on Moscow himself-this decision is viewed as the turning point to Germany’s defeat in Russia

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August 5

th

- The Soviet defense of Smolensk is obliterated and falls taking with it the end of the Soviet 16

th

and 20

th

Armies

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August 5

th

-300,000 Soviet prisoners, 3,200 tanks and 3,100 artillery guns are captured by the Germans at Smolensk

Slide7

Siege of Leningrad

Significant for how long it was, lasted almost 900 days

Resulted in the death of over 1 million citizens

Soviets created the ice and water road across Lake Ladoga to resupply its three million encircled soldiers and civilians.

Germany maintained their siege of Leningrad with a single army showing that taking over Leningrad was of little importance.

However, with the Soviets win, it inspired their war efforts as a whole.Slide8

Video: Siege of LeningradSlide9

Leningrad Timeline

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Sep 1

st

- German army elements begin the shelling of Leningrad

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Sep 15

th

-the soviet fortress at schlusselburg southeast of Leningrad falls to the Germans

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Sep 15

th

- the Germans now control the southern end of Leningrad, cutting its citizens off from the rest of the soviet union

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Oct 1

st

-dec 31

st

- as rations begin to run out in the encircled city of Leningrad, its citizens begin to starve

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Dec 10

th

-the soviets retake the town of tikhvin

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Dec 10

th

-the soviet supply route is restarted across frozen lake ladoga

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1942

v

Jan 1

st

-july 31

st

-some 800,000 of leningrads citizens are evacuated through frozen passage above lake ladoga

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Jan 7

th

-along the volkhov front to the south of Novgorod, the soviets launch a major offensive

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March1st-30

th

-the whole soviet 2

nd

shock army is lost near Novgorod

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July 1

st

-31

st

-Hitler orders two directives in the operation against Leningrad. The first calls for its immediate encirclement and the second for its immediate destruction from land and air

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August 19

th

-sep 30

th

-a soviet offensive aimed at smashing through the German lines fails

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Sep 25

th

-with winter upon the German army once more, Hitler orders a halt to any major offensives around LeningradSlide10

Leningrad Timeline Continued

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1943

v

Jan 12

th

- the soviets enact operation spark and cut a path through the German lines clearing a path to Leningrad. This offers the citizens of the city some much needed food rations

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Jan 19

th

-the soviets retake the city of Shlisselburg

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1944

v

Jan 14

th

-soviet armies from the 2

nd

Baltic, volkhov and Leningrad fronts overtake German army group north in a massive two-week offensive

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Jan 28

th

-German army group north is pushed away from the city of Leningrad

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Jan 27

th

-the Moscow-Leningrad railway route is reopened in favor of the soviets

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Jan 27

th

-the siege of Leningrad is declared by the soviet leader Stalin as overSlide11

Battle of Stalingrad

Marked the end of German advances into Eastern Europe.

It was the first major German loss during WW2

Almost all of the German 6th army was wiped out after being encircled at Stalingrad.

It was one of the biggest battles fought during WW2

Germany lost about 1,000,000 men and nearly 90,000 German officers and soldiers surrendered

One of the bloodiest battles with over 2 million casualties

Almost all of Germany’s forces from Army Group Center and large parts of Army Group South were used in the battle, which made it nearly impossible to win the war on two fronts.Slide12

Stalingrad Timeline

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August 7

th

- German army attacks soviet forces near Kalach

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August 25

th

-stalingrad is officially under siege by the German army

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Sep 3

rd

-Germans enact an offensive aimed at the heart of Stalingrad

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Sep 15

th

-the Soviet Army is unleashed on Voronezh

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Oct 9

th

-The Soviet government hands all military powers to the soviet army

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Oct 14

th

-Adolf Hitler stops all further offensives against Soviet and orders his commanders to hold their positions until 1943

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Nov 19

th

-Soviets enact part 1 of Operation Uranus

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Nov 20

th

- part 2 is enacted

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Nov 22

nd

-Soviet Army encircles German 6

th

Army at Stalingrad

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Rest of 1942-Soviet continues to capture cities

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1943

v

Jan 8

th

-Soviet Generals send in formal request for surrender of the German 6

th

Army (it is rejected)

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Jan 14

th

- Germans ask the Baltic people for service

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Jan 17

th

-German Panzer Corps at the Don are officially surrounded

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Jan 25

th

-Soviet offensive splits the German 6

th

army at Stalingrad

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Jan 25

th

-German forces retreat

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Jan 31

st

- Germans formally surrender to Soviet

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Feb 2

nd

-Stalingrad officially overSlide13

Location and Movement

-Hitler launches his armies eastward to invade the Soviet Union

-covered a front from the North Cape to the Black Sea

-First month of Operation Barbarossa

→ German armies deep in Soviet territory

→

panzer armies encircled large Soviet forces at Minsk and Smolensk,while armored spearheads reached two-thirds of the distance to Moscow and Leningrad. Slide14

Key Facts:

Operation Barbarossa:

Barbarossa was the

crucial

turning point in World War II, for its failure forced Nazi Germany to fight a two-front war against a coalition possessing immensely superior resources.

Barbarossa had three primary objectives – the Baltic states and Leningrad in the north, Moscow in the center, and the economic resources of the Ukraine and southern Russia in the south

Codenamed “Barbarossa” after a 12th-century Holy Roman Emperor who won land for the Germans from the Slavs.

“Commissar Order” included killing every communist official

Frustrated by the failure of Barbarossa, Hitler vented his anger against the Jews of Western and Southern Europe, reasoning that they all somehow shared responsibility for German setbacks in the East.

Siege of Leningrad (900-day siege):

German bombers dropped propaganda leaflets on the city, claiming the city would starve to death if they didn’t surrender

Starvation was Germany's greatest weapon

Citizens resorted to cannibalism

Hitler and Alfred Jodl issued an order that Leningrad must be taken without giving the Russians any chance to surrenderSlide15

Key Facts (Cont.)

Battle of Stalingrad:

Marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies.

Stalingrad became a desperate ordeal of rodent like scurrying from hole to hole.

Germans saw the conquest of Stalingrad as essential to their campaign in southern Russia

Urban street fighting of the most bitter sort, occasioning tremendous losses on both sides.

Soviet victory at Stalingrad was a great humiliation for Hitler, who had elevated the battle’s importance in German opinionSlide16

Effects

Operation Barbarossa marked significant setback for German military

Siege of Leningrad inspired soviet war efforts

Battle of Stalingrad first major German loss, halting Hitlers advance on eastern frontSlide17

Work Cited

http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa

http://mentalfloss.com/article/28033/operation-barbarossa-biggest-military-adventure-history

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/siege_of_leningrad.htm

http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/operation-barbarossa-the-drive-on-smolensk.asp

http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_stalingrad.htm

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/562720/Battle-of-Stalingrad

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/ww2/Stalingrad.html

http://www.kingsacademy.com/mhodges/03_The-World-since-1900/07_World-War-Two/pictures/1942-43%20Stalingrad-02.jpg

https://theundergroundgirls.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/stalingrad1.jpg

http://i019.radikal.ru/1407/9c/b5278d045d0a.jpg

http://ww2today.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Ladoga-ice-road-april-1942.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JauUWXgnCBo/UQ0xNwm1tEI/AAAAAAAAFZw/oeQmMqTps2Q/s1600/ScanImage12.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1981-149-34A,_Russland,_Herausziehen_eines_Autos.jpg