The cold war in Europe - Essay Example

It was in 1940, all was quite at the eastern front, Germany and Russia, each hesitant to make the first move toward the other. At this time, Germanycontinued its battles in the west, but kept a keen eye at the eastern front, because the Russians were unpredictable. As the year 194 unfolded, Hitler and his army chose not to invade Britain, because they considered them as weak, and as a result not a threat. His attention was now focused on the east, towards Russia. The Soviet Union, at this time was very strong and united, and its leaders never cherished the thought that Hitler would dare try to attack them.

At this time, Russia attempts to pursue its own plans of attacking Finland at the far north. The cold proves to be a big problem to him because his troops are under-prepared for the arctic winter that awaits them. In addition to this, Russia’s leadership in this campain is poor, and even though they manage to win, they suffered losses, and their pride was humbled. In 1941, Germany launched one of the biggest military invasions ever undertaken, he calls it, Barbarossa. Hitler’s plan is to take and also hold a line located eastward of Moscow.

The Russians are caught unaware by this strategic move on the part of the third Reich’s cunning leader. Germany gained a lot through this campaign, and it even managed to gather prisoners of war, but later died. This move on the part of Germany angered the Russians, and they were resolved to destroy the third Reich. Some people have wondered, ‘at what year did the Germans reach the point of no return at the eastern front’? When we take a look back at history, we can observe the actions that took place at the eastern front 1942, between Germany and Russia.

“Germany renewed its attacks on Russia, this time concentrating its attacks on Southern Russia, capturing the Crimea and Sevastopol after a siege. This was one of the few times their huge barrage gun, Big Bertha, was ever called into use. The ultimate plan was the capture of the oil fields in the Caucus. The sixth army, 320,000 men strong, under the command of General Von Paulus, drove into Stalingrad, a city on the Volga named after the Russian leader. Stalingrad became one of the biggest killing grounds of World War 2, as the name and strategic importance drove both Hitler and Stalin into a huge conflict” (RSS, 2010).

Stalingrad was where the Germans reached the point of no return. The Germans bravely went through until they were a few a hundred miles to reach the Volga. They were then stopped by attacks from the Russian army, which outnumbered them in manpower. After some intense fighting, Russia was able to turn the tide and, under general Zhukov, conduct deadly counter attacks. At that moment, the German generals requested Hitler to withdraw the troops from Stalingrad, for they were in a hopeless situation, but Hitler stubbornly refused, and asked that his military be reinforced from the sky.

It proved hopeless, for only a few air supplies were able to come through. After deadly confrontations, the Russian army finally enclosed the German army at Stalingrad. Then it was just a matter of time until Germany’s sixth army met its destiny. During that time, “just before the end, Hitler promotes Von Paulus to field-marshal, with the message that no Field-Marshall of the German army has ever surrendered to the enemy. The implication is clear, suicide or a fight to the death is expected.

Von Paulus ultimately ignored this advice and surrendered anyway, along with a final 12,000 bedraggled and starved German soldiers. In the end, 100,000 German prisoners were marched eastward to forced labour in the Siberian gulags. Less than 10,000 of them lived to see Germany again” (RSS, 2010). After this deadly blow to the third Reich, both sides accumulated massive losses. But the German loss was far greater than the Russian because Russia had a lot of manpower for replacement. And this was manifested as the war proceeded in other parts.

Germany would have avoided this massive loss if only its leader Hitler’s had heeded the words of his generals. Hitler should have known that Russia is known for its skills in street to street fighting, but he chose to engage them in that way. Hitler also knew that his forces at Stalingrad were far outnumbered by the Russians, and in addition to this, they had plenty of reinforcements, for it was their land. Once again, Hitler should have heeded the words of his generals when they requested that they withdraw the troops from Stalingrad.

This would have saved the third Reich the loss of its finest soldiers, and would give the German army a chance to regroup, strengthen, then attack again more strategically. Works Cited: RSS. (2010) “Eastern Front; The epic struggle to the death between Germany and Russia in WW2” Retrieved from: (June 21, 2010)