Tom Brennan Case

During the European war, operation Barbarossa was the major turning point. Though Germany had early success, the Russian campaign would reveal weaknesses in Hitler's leadership and blitzkrieg tactics and a stronger red army than Germany had expected in battle such as Kursk and Stalingrad. However the failure of the Russian invasion and the attrition style conflict that led to allow for other Turing points such as the allied bombing of Germany and the north Africa campaign to be successful.

One reason why operation Barbarossa is a Turing point in the European conflict is that it revealed weaknesses in Hitler as a leader. Hitler was also known as a micromanager meaning he was trying to control everything even though he was not a military professional. Also his lack of trust and faith in his generals contributed to the final defeat of Germany. Decisions made directly by Hitler negatively impacted the performance of the Germans and ultimately contributed to their failure in taking the targets of Leningrad and Moscow. Historian Overy says that Hitler "took it upon himself to order the deployment of even the smallest military units and refused to accept his limitations" suggesting that Hitler was a micromanager and if it was not for his interruptions Germany could have had more success. Operation Barbarossa failure made it the major turning point of the European conflict due to Hitler's poor leadership.

Another reason why operation Barbarossa is a Turing point in the European conflict is the use of Blitzkrieg tactics. Blitzkrieg means lightning war in consisted of force concentrations of tanks, infantry, artillery, combat engineers and air power, concentrating overwhelming force at high speed to break through enemy lines, and, once the lines are broken, proceeding without regard to its flank. For a successful Blitzkrieg there should be victory in one campaign. From June they only had time until November to finish it because after that, weather conditions became too bad for a fast moving war. Geographical, the Russian infrastructure wasn't sufficient for sustaining a campaign on such a large scale. A huge mistake was the lack of adapting German trains to the Russian track in winter time, trains were the only decent way of transport over land. Thereby the European part of Russia was covered in forests, swamps and rivers that made the Blitzkrieg tactic harder. Historian says "a longer and more savage war enabled Russia to exploit its huge reserves of raw materials and labour" suggesting that the invasion has failed and the use of blitzkrieg tactics was ineffective for a victory. Operation Barbarossa failure made it the major turning point of the European conflict due to the failure of Blitzkrieg tactics.

Also why operation Barbarossa is a Turing point in the European conflict is the Russian red army. In November, 1941, the German Army launched a new offensive on Moscow. The Soviet army held