Assess the key factors that led to the defeat of Germany on the Eastern front in World War II.
'If one needs space and territory in Europe, then by and large, this can only be attained at the expense of Russia'-Adolf Hitler
Due to the tremendous scale and length of Germany's epic undertaking, there can be found such a multitude of factors, like the uniting of the Russians or the German problem of isolation, which would contribute to the capitulation of Hitlers seemingly invincible Wehrmacht forces in Russia. But some of the most critical turning points in the war, for example the onset of the crippling Russian winter or the German loss at Moscow, can actually be linked back to Hitler's own arrogance and irrationality-his underestimation of Russian capability and overestimation of his own forces, driven blindly by harsh ideology, The fuhrer himself would bring about many costly consequences for his armies. Hitler's arrogance can be summed up when he declared the 'Soviet Union, merely a ramshackle affair. One good kick and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down.' These, when coupled with the steadily increasing galvanization and success of the Russian forces, would ensure the German forces would run themselves into the ground at the Eastern Front, isolated and depleted.
From the very beginning of the offensive, Adolf Hitler's sightlessness in his goal of Russia, and that the Slavs were merely a race of sub-humans, would work against the Germans on the eastern front. Initially, German troops had been greeted almost everywhere with cheering crowds who saw them as liberators, but Hitler shunned this support, and by way of Himmler's SS and Einsatzgruppen, began enforcing Nazi ideology, that is, killing Jews, enslaving Slavs for work and general brutality. In response, Stalin forsook his elevated and daunting image and began to appeal to his 'brothers and sisters' in what he emotively painted as a great patriotic war in which the very survival of Russia... [continues]
'If one needs space and territory in Europe, then by and large, this can only be attained at the expense of Russia'-Adolf Hitler
Due to the tremendous scale and length of Germany's epic undertaking, there can be found such a multitude of factors, like the uniting of the Russians or the German problem of isolation, which would contribute to the capitulation of Hitlers seemingly invincible Wehrmacht forces in Russia. But some of the most critical turning points in the war, for example the onset of the crippling Russian winter or the German loss at Moscow, can actually be linked back to Hitler's own arrogance and irrationality-his underestimation of Russian capability and overestimation of his own forces, driven blindly by harsh ideology, The fuhrer himself would bring about many costly consequences for his armies. Hitler's arrogance can be summed up when he declared the 'Soviet Union, merely a ramshackle affair. One good kick and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down.' These, when coupled with the steadily increasing galvanization and success of the Russian forces, would ensure the German forces would run themselves into the ground at the Eastern Front, isolated and depleted.
From the very beginning of the offensive, Adolf Hitler's sightlessness in his goal of Russia, and that the Slavs were merely a race of sub-humans, would work against the Germans on the eastern front. Initially, German troops had been greeted almost everywhere with cheering crowds who saw them as liberators, but Hitler shunned this support, and by way of Himmler's SS and Einsatzgruppen, began enforcing Nazi ideology, that is, killing Jews, enslaving Slavs for work and general brutality. In response, Stalin forsook his elevated and daunting image and began to appeal to his 'brothers and sisters' in what he emotively painted as a great patriotic war in which the very survival of Russia... [continues]
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