Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, was the biggest invasion in human history. Millions of soldiers and vehicles faced off in a brutal war in which no mercy was given by either side. The frontline stretched for thousands of miles, and over the course of four years, the bloodiest battles of the war were fought, claiming the lives of tens of millions of soldiers and civilians on an unprecedented scale.
The list of operational and strategic factors involved in the conflict is indeed long and, at times, confusing and fascinating, despite the atrocious loss of life.
Here are nine facts about the war on the Eastern Front.
1. It Was Called the Great Patriotic War by the Soviets
In ex-Soviet countries, the period between June 22, the start of Operation Barbarossa, and May 9, the final defeat of Germany, is known as the Great Patriotic War and is often thought of in separate terms to the rest of the Second World War.
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In some cases, the Great Patriotic War is considered to have ended on May 11, as the fighting in Prague continued past the official surrender of the Third Reich.
2. It Was the Biggest Invasion in History
On June 22, 1941, the Germans launched the invasion of the Soviet Union. This invasion was known as Operation Barbarossa, and it lasted until January 6, 1942. At the start of the invasion, the total number of German Personnel involved stood at 3.8 million, making Operation Barbarossa the biggest invasion in history. Facing them, the Soviet forces numbered under 3 million and were completely taken by surprise.
By contrast, Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 consisted of 685,000 soldiers.
3. Stalin Was Taken by Surprise
On the first day of the invasion, June 22, the German onslaught seemed invincible. Communication lines were cut, the Soviets found themselves surrounded, and cities were bombed. One thousand two hundred Soviet aircraft were destroyed, most of them on the ground, on the first day alone.
Josef Stalin was aware that the Germans were going to invade the Soviet Union at some point, but he was taken completely by surprise when it happened far earlier than he had anticipated.
Initially, Stalin seemed convinced that the invasion was just the result of a few rogue German generals, but when it became apparent it was a full-scale invasion, he slowly began to accept the reality of the situation. He didn’t, however, take command of the situation immediately. He left the announcement to the Soviet people to his minister of foreign affairs, Vyacheslav Molotov.
By the tenth day, the Germans had captured 400,000 Soviet troops and the city of Minsk. 90% of the Soviet mechanized forces were destroyed, and the Germans achieved almost complete air superiority. Stalin had a nervous breakdown and retreated to his dacha (summer house), where he drank heavily for several days.
On June 30, several high-ranking officers mustered the courage to visit him. Stalin was a complete mess and thought his officers had come to arrest him. Instead, they convinced him to return to the Kremlin to take charge of the situation.
4. Soviet Women Served in Great Numbers
Communist ideals promoted equality between the sexes, which was apparent when it came to the defense of the Soviet Union. Eight hundred thousand women signed up for service in the armed forces. Although it was rare to see women serving as frontline infantry(wo)men, they performed many other combat functions, serving as anti-aircraft gunners, snipers, and pilots. In conquered territories, women commonly took up arms and fought as partisans.
Not only did women fight, but they achieved great respect doing so, and many became famous. Sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko was credited with 300 kills, while the all-female bomber squadron known as the “Night Witches” became particularly feared by the Germans who were subject to their nighttime raids.
5. The Eastern Front Was Far More Brutal Than the Western Front
For both the Soviets and the Nazis, the conflict was not just about conquering and winning. It was about national and human survival. There was no expectation that the end of hostilities would end in a peace agreement. There was, instead, the expectation of complete genocide and destruction of the opposing nation.
The Germans were aiming for Lebensraum (living space) in the east and had plans to kill, enslave, or deport the Soviets. The Soviets were aware of this and gave no quarter in response.
Behind the German advance, Einsatzgruppen, often referred to as “mobile killing units,” were tasked with mopping up soldiers and civilians, brutally executing them, burning villages, and committing the most vile atrocities.
Some of the brutality was sickening beyond belief. There is even evidence to suggest that the Soviets, including children, were drained of blood to supply the needs of German soldiers on the frontline.
6. Some of the Bloodiest Battles in History Took Place on the Eastern Front
It is difficult to determine the exact number of casualties in each battle but to be sure, the war on the Eastern Front formed the bloodiest period in all of human history.
The Siege of Leningrad lasted for 900 days, and estimates of casualties range from 1,117,000 to 5,500,000.
The Battle of Stalingrad is considered by many to be the biggest and most important battle of the entire war. This turning point of the war is estimated to have claimed the lives of between 1,300,000 and 2,500,000 soldiers and civilians.
Other major battles include the Battle of Kyiv, which claimed the lives of 761,783 people, the First Battle of Voronezh, which claimed the lives of 662,847, and the Siege of Budapest, in which 422,000 people died.
The final battle of the war was the Battle of Berlin, in which over one million people are also thought to have died.
Ultimately, it is thought that around 40 million people died on the Eastern Front. To put this in perspective, it is estimated that approximately 70 to 85 million people were killed in the Second World War altogether.
These figures suggest more than four-fifths of German military casualties happened against the Soviets.
7. German Logistics Problems
The Germans had expected the campaign to be short, so when the Soviets managed to halt the German advance at the gates of Moscow, the Germans had little in the way of prepared plans. The need for long-term supply had been a factor that had not been given enough thought. As a result, it ended up being a major contributing factor to the eventual German defeat.
The Russian landscape and the seasons had a devastating effect on German supply lines. Trucks were bogged down on dirt roads that turned to mud in the rain and when snow melted.
To add to these woes, the Soviet infrastructure was poor, and the rail network used a wider gauge than the rest of Europe. German trains and rolling stock thus could not navigate the railways without being modified.
Ammunition and fuel were prioritized so that when winter set in, the Germans, unprepared for the cold, shivered and starved. They had truly overestimated their own strength and grossly underestimated the Soviet resolve as well as the Russian terrain and weather.
8. Misconceptions of Lend-Lease Program
There is a common misconception that the Lend-Lease program instituted by the United States was critical in saving the Soviet Union from the German invasion. While there are opinions from high-ranking Soviet officials, and even from Stalin himself, that support this claim, the statistics paint a different picture from what is commonly believed, even by those who were in command.
By the end of 1942, the total Lend-Lease material supplied to the Soviet Union consisted of just 16.1% of the total amount that would be given by the end of the war in 1945. American historian David M. Glantz points out the following:
“Lend-Lease aid did not arrive in sufficient quantities to make the difference between defeat and victory in 1941–1942; that achievement must be attributed solely to the Soviet people and to the iron nerve of Stalin, Zhukov, Shaposhnikov, Vasilevsky, and their subordinates.”
He further states that the end result of the war would have been the same, but the Soviets would have taken 12 to 18 months longer to defeat the Nazis.
While this latter point is debatable, evidence suggests the Soviets would have withstood the German invasion. Whether they would have managed to launch the counter-offensives that ended the war is a question that is difficult to answer.
By the time Lend-Lease supplies arrived in significant quantities, the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk had already been won, and the back of the German invasion had been broken.
In short, Lend-Lease did not have a significant impact in saving the Soviets, but it had a significant impact in helping them drive toward Berlin to defeat the Germans once and for all.
9. It Wasn’t Only the Germans Who Invaded
Across the Eastern Front, Germany had many allies that helped in the fight against the Soviet Union. Romania, Finland, Hungary, and Italy stand out as countries that contributed major elements to the war, while Croatia and Slovakia also supported the Nazi war effort. Croatia, however, did not form part of the initial invasion force. While Spain was neutral, thousands of soldiers formed volunteer brigades and fought on the Eastern front next to their fascist allies.
In addition, many Soviet citizens from conquered territories took up arms against the Soviets. These soldiers were known as Hilfswilligers or Hiwis (Auxiliary Volunteers). For the most part, Hiwis were made up of Lithuanian, Latvian, and Ukrainian POWs who willingly switched sides.
There were hundreds of thousands of Hiwis, particularly from Ukraine, where many tens of thousands even joined the SS and voluntarily took part in the extermination of the Jews. It is estimated that around 250,000 Ukrainians served in Germany’s armed forces across Europe.
The war on the Eastern Front was, by far, the most important part of Germany’s war effort. Hitler’s entire plan hinged on defeating the Soviets and extending the Reich eastwards. The results were genocidal in scope, forming one of the darkest hours in all of human history.
