This is the third of six documentary presentations in this series. These episodes use colorized original footage with narration. This episode documents the fall of Paris. It then continues to describe the Battle of Britain. Germany was anxious for more space, more resources. As they could not extend through Britain, the direction took was to attack the Soviet Union, an ally. However, Russia had been an ally of convenience. They had split Poland, but in this case, the reason for doing this was to keep the Russians closer, so the would be available to be attacked. The Russians were surprised by the turn of the Germans. They had heard rumors, but did not believe them. The result of this surprise is the Germans were able to destroy most of the Russian Air Force while it was still on the ground. Without air support, the Russians were vulnerable.
Of course the invasion of Russia was not easy. Russia has much more space, and greater distances, resulting in longer supply lines. Stalin at first hid himself, but then developed a strategy, a scorched earth strategy. Fall back, but don't leave anything for the Germans. This policy kept taking its toll, and there was stiff resistance at the major cities.
The Germans bogged down 30 miles short of Moscow. A pincer counterattack by the Russians. drove them back 300 miles before winter set in.
No comments:
Post a Comment