Why did Germany invade the Soviet Union during World War II?

Question

Why would they pursue a war on two fronts simultaneously? Weren't the Germans concerned about stretching their resources? Was there a rational strategy behind this policy?

Answer 1

BLITZKRIEG,
my friend - the Germans didn't start a two front (not in the traditional sense when Operation Barbarrosa began). The war with England was under way, but an English Channel prevented that full blown war on the ground that never materialized. When Operation Barbarrosa began the Germans hadn't lost ANY battle. Every country was completely scared of them, so there was no real "two Front" scenario at the time - hindsight consideration of what we know now following the Normandy invasion.

The strategy was rational to Hitler and his henchmen; however, no one at the top level ever questioned the strategy. Generals like Rommel (Afrika Korps) and Guderian on the other hand saw the "fault line" in the sand; both worked with the best hands they were dealt in the process. Where judgement was lacking at the top - on the field strategy was key to survival, Hitler never saw that but, he thought that "he knew". Resources? Considered in propaganda for the front and within munition factories. During the "up" years it was OK and all was good - but the down years were a different story and things just got moved around for accomodation purposes.

Answer 2

Germany invaded the Soviet Union because Hitler was desperate for raw materials that were not available in lands that the Nazis had conquered in 39-40, and didn't want to become dependant on the Soviet Union as an ally (which the the Soviet Union was from 39-41), so he decided to conquer and therefore dominate Russia as a conquerer. The war would also be convienent for Hitler, as it would put him directly in conflict with the forces he believed to be his biggest enemies, Judism and Communism.

Hitler pursued the war because he had seen the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939 and saw that the Soviets, despite having the largest army in the world, barely defeated the Fins who were no wheres near as advanced as the Soviets and certianly not as advanced as Germany. Because of this he believed that Russia could be easily and quickly beaten. He would comment to his inner circle, "You simply have to kick in the door, and the whole rotting structure will come crashing down." The fact that Britain couldn't attack him in the west at the time was only of minor importance. The Soviets looked weak at the time.

Many of Germany's generals however had different reactions from Hitler. While few had any real opposition to attacking the Soviets, many were highly critical of the Barbarossa plan. Guderian of Hoth, the two top tank commanders of the battle wanted to exploit Russia's vast open plans for a masterstroke of Blitzkrieg tactics, as they had proven that an opposing army didn't have to be destroyed in order to gain victory (France and Britain had more troops in the field in May 1940). In this they were probably concerned about their resources and Russian resistance. While Barbarossa inflicted extremely heavy casualties on the Soviets, it took too long to do so, and by the time that the German armies neared their prime objective, Moscow, winter had begun and they were frozen. If a more traditional "blitzkrieg" had been launched, while it would have produced fewer Soviet casualties, it could have created so much disruption and chaos that the Russian army might not have been able to fuction effectively, as the French and British suffered in 1940. However, Hitler was the Fuhrer and the entire German military had sworn an oath to obey his orders. This meant that his orders were to be followed.

Answer 3

It was not Hitler's plan to have a 2 front war. He had hoped to knock out the Western powers and then turn his attention to the Soviet Union. His reasons for attacking for the Soviet Union was written in Mein Kampf. He thought the Slavs were an inferior race of people. They needed to be wiped off the face of the Earth or at least be enslaved by the Aryan race. He was somewhat concerned about stretching the resources of Germany, but he wanted to get rid of the Soviet Union. He did not care how it was done as long as it was done. There really was no rational strategy in any of his policies. He wanted to be master of Europe, though he did want peace with Britain. He only went after France for revenge. He wanted to erase the memories of the Treaty of Versailles.

Answer 4

Marc,

An excellent question. They key is that the leader of Germany, Adolph Hitler, was not a rational man. He was great at whipping up the masses and arousing German nationalism, but he really knew little of how to rationally conduct military operations. As your question indicates, having to fight on a second front made no sense logically.

In short, there was no logical basis for invading the Soviet Union. It gave Great Britain a chance to survive. The short answer to the question is in Hitler's "My Struggle." In this book he stated his views that the Ayran race should take the world over and destroy inferior ones, such as the Slavick Russians. He deemed them unworthy of living and that they should be wiped out. Hitler's invasion was a rare case of him being true to his word. Unfortuntately, few read or took seriously his formula for world domination. "My Struggle" stated what he would do.

While military operations are normally directed by politics, they must be carried out by the soldiers, officers. Some persons may not be aware that many in the German high command did not like Hitler's recklessness, as in invading the Soviet Union, and earlier. Some were brave enough to tell Hitler this, including in person. Those actually knowledgeable of military operations and tactics, such as Field Marshalls von Runstedt and Erich von Manstein knew how to properly fight, disagreed with Hitler, and lost power. They were ignored, and the Third Reich turned to rubble; it was annilated in the end.

The key is that Hitler did not fight war rationally. Those under him suffered under that handicap.

Answer 5

Hitler's plan was always to expand eastwards by invading the slavic nations. In Mein Kampf, he wrote about giving Germans "lebensraum" or more living space and this is what he envisioned by invading the Soviet Union (the largest country in the world at the time).
He didn't actually want a war with western europe and was disappointed when they declared war after his invasion of Poland. Still he figured if he could quickly knock out the French and British military, he may be able to fully concentrate his resources on the Soviets, his main target.

Answer 6

Hitler had, up to that time, overestimated the power of his own army, and underestimated the power of the Russians (and the Allies). The man was delusional and felt the entirety of Europe would be under one flag one day as a German-controlled empire.

Yes, certain people among his military advisors were concerned, but by that time, it had become a crime to doubt the supremacy of Germany as an all-powerful nation, and Hitler as her leader. Result: No one says "no" to Hitler.

Of course, the real mistake wasn't so much in invading Russia, it was invading when they did. The Soviet army was used to the harsh winters. The German army was not.

I would imagine the thought process was that they figured invading every other European country had been something of a walk in the park, so why wouldn't Russia be easy as well?

Answer 7

It was spelled out in Mein Kempf during the 20's....."Libensraum".... living space for the German folk.

Hitler also was against a 2-front war and had spoken negatively about it regarding the first world war. But in the Spring of 1941, Russia WAS the only front. The war against Britain was a stalemate, the Germans couldn't invade and the British were not vanquished. The 2nd front didn't materialize until 1944.

Answer 8

the answers you were given are correct. Hitler defeated France the same way Germany defeated them in WWI. He seeks a truce with Great Britain, but did not get it. Since the Battle of Britain was lost, the hopes of an invasion of the UK was impossible. Hitler didn't want a two front war. He did everything he could to gain peace with England. At the same time he was moving most of his forces to the Eastern front.
Stalin and his generals saw this, but, Stalin didn't think Hitler would attack as long as Hitler was at war with England. Stalin knew Hitler didn't want a two frontal assault, and refused to bring his forces to the border. It wasn't until Hitler actually attacked that Stalin understood his intentions.

Hitler despised the Russians. He basically considered them second class people. He even treated the Soviet prisoners differently than American or British. But, he loved their natural resources, especially the oil. That was one of the things Hitler went after, during the attack...

Answer 9

Germany invaded Czechoslovakia (for sudetenland), then the entire nation of Czech., then Poland (which began WW2), then France, Britain, and finally the Soviet Union (before moving on to exterminating groups of people such as Slavs and Jews) The Germans were considered a totalitarian regime and wanted "elbow room"

Answer 10

You have some good answers and opinions so far.

The irrational part of the reason was Hitler's conviction of Aryan racial superiority to Slavs, therefore German armies would easily beat Russian armies.

The rational part was the need for oil supplies. To enable Germany to hold on to its conquered territories in Europe, either Rommel had to punch his way through Egypt to the Arabian oilfields, or Operation Barbarossa had to reach the Russian oilfields around the Caspian Sea. After El Alamein and Kursk, neither of these was going to happen, and Allied victory in the long run was certain.