So, with Stalingrad behind them and the Sixth Army still intact, the Germans confidently advance towards their main goal, the oilfields in the Caucasus.
Read more about: Battles What was the worst military decision in history? With plenty of manpower still at their disposal, the German army continues pushing east.
As per the first scenario though, the supply line situation remains the Achilles heel for the German army. Without also having the time and money to invest in upgrading the transportation network in Russia, the small amount of resources the Germans can extract from the Caucasus proves to be of little help in keeping their war machine fed.
However, with the Soviets now being starved of oil and with no great propaganda victory at Stalingrad, morale is at an all-time low in Russia. In the immediate term the Soviets are unable to shift the Germans from their country, but at the same time, the Germans are unable to inflict the killer blow to the Soviets due to logistics and supply.
Instead, a stalemate ensues. With Moscow still in Soviet hands, Stalin continues to orchestrate attacks on the German forces. With Germany still fighting a war on two fronts, in the end, it becomes too much to bear; Russia bleeds the Germans dry whilst the Western Allies apply the final blow. In many scenarios it is hard to envisage Nazi Germany ever defeating the Soviet Union in the way Hitler wanted — complete extermination.
With no heavy loses at Stalingrad, Germany still have the battle-hardened troops available to continue their expansion eastwards. They now also have fully operational oil refineries at their disposal whilst the Soviets would be cut off from their main supplies.
Read more about: Battles The Battle of Kursk: the largest tank battle in history. With a significant military power now out of the war and the vast resources of the country at the disposal of the Germans, millions of soldiers and thousands of aircraft and tanks fighting on the Eastern Front are now freed up to be used elsewhere.
Constant uprisings in Russia plague the Third Reich whilst it struggles to immerse the country into its empire. With the atomic bomb being dropped on a number of German cities, the Nazi regime, just like the Japanese before them, is forced to sue for peace.
Although it is the worst possibility of them all, it is perhaps the least likely. Stalingrad it seems was one such sliding doors moment, a battle that could put Germany on a path to overall victory. After brief deliberation American officers found them guilty, and ordered the usual penalty for spies: death by firing squad. To stop infiltrators, the U. Omar Bradley recalled, according to the Washington Post.
It meant that we were alive for one more day. Dwight D. Eisenhower , the supreme Allied commander, and Lt. George S. Patton Jr. In the small, pivotal Belgian town of Bastogne, the Germans surrounded thousands of Allied troops. Eisenhower, in response, sent in more units, including the famed st Airborne Division.
Claiming victory of the battle on January 25, , and the Allies headed for Berlin. In what ways did he typify the American character—and fighting tactics? It's difficult to discuss the Bulge without referring to George Patton, with his cigars and trademark pearl-handled revolvers.
He is so American, from a British point of view. What do I mean by that? Well, he had unbounded confidence. And, I think, one thing that marks out successful captains in history is a superb confidence that almost borders on arrogance.
That's something Patton has. He would always say that a perfect plan is not as good as an imperfect plan that's executed violently and immediately. One of the key aspects of the battle is the speed with which he can reorientate his Third Army, which is to the south of the Bulge, and get them to counterattack the Germans by moving north. To turn a whole army around on its axis by 90 degrees and move north in the middle of winter at almost no notice is almost unheard of.
But Patton achieves this within a couple of days—much to the amazement of the Germans and even more to the amazement of his fellow Allies. He says he will do it. Most people don't believe he can. Yet, my goodness me, he delivers, and delivers in spades. On the other side, one of the most compelling characters is the German Panzer commander, Joachim Peiper.
He was nasty bit of work, wasn't he? Joachim Peiper was a year-old true believer in the Nazi faith. His whole life had been acted out in the shadow of Hitler and the Third Reich. He'd come to prominence early. He was a colonel in the Waffen SS and worked as an adjutant to Himmler.
He was involved in a whole series of war crimes on the eastern front, where he taught his men to regard Russian lives as being worth nothing. He and his men bring this mentality to the western front when they fight in the Bulge in , and it's they who perpetrate the famous massacre just outside the town of Malmedy. I also wanted to try and strip the gloss off Joachim Peiper as a brilliant military commander. One of the points I make in the book is that he had passed his best in a military sense.
His performance wasn't nearly as good as he claimed it to be. When I went back through the records, I found he'd lied about the progress he'd made during the Battle of the Bulge. One of the things that most surprised me was your contention that the use of crystal meth was widespread in the German army. The Germans routinely encouraged their soldiers to take what we would now call crystal meth before battle. It would whip them up into a fury and may explain some of the excesses they committed.
It's a way of motivating scared young men. And some of the Germans are very young indeed. I found lots of evidence of year-olds being put into uniform and sent into battle. So I think you're reaching for every possible technique to exaggerate your soldiers' combat performance. This wasn't just an SS thing. The German army was not below stooping to use drugs to increase its soldiers' effectiveness on the battlefield. What are the most important lessons, militarily and personally, you took away from studying the battle?
Writing military history is fascinating because you never end up where you think you will. View the list of all donors. Trending keywords:. Featured Content. Tags Find topics of interest and explore encyclopedia content related to those topics. Browse A-Z Find articles, photos, maps, films, and more listed alphabetically.
For Teachers Recommended resources and topics if you have limited time to teach about the Holocaust. Wise — International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. About This Site. Glossary : Full Glossary. Key Facts.
0コメント