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Text: Qiao Song
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introduction
When people think of Moscow, the first thing that comes to mind is the beautiful Orthodox architecture and the Soviet aesthetic. In addition to this, Moscow, as the capital of Russia, is also one of the coldest cities in the world. The average winter temperature in Moscow is minus 6 degrees Celsius, and the lowest temperature can be minus 30 degrees Celsius.
(Moscow)
Such low temperatures are already a great challenge for the people who live there, let alone for outsiders who want to conquer the city.
Historically, there are two famous examples, Napoleon and Nazi Germany, both of whom suffered crushing defeats in the winter offensive in Moscow. Among them, Napoleon buried his army and empire because of his defeat in the war against Tsarist Russia. So today, I will mainly talk to you about how Nazi Germany failed because of the winter in Moscow.
1. The beginning of the demise of Nazi Germany
Before the invasion of the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany's mad chariot had been in motion for a long time, almost dominating the European continent. Similarly, after Nazi Germany faced the defeat against Britain, the problem of the lack of resources of the Nazi German war machine began to become more and more serious, so they also chose to deal with it in the same way as Napoleon, that is, to invade this cold land, Moscow.
(Soviet-German War)
Nazi Germany was known for its blitzkrieg, so in Hitler's Barbarossa Action Plan, it only took a few months to destroy the Soviet Red Army, occupy major cities in the Soviet Union, and seize Soviet resources and land.
In drawing up the plan, Nazi Germany drew on the reasons for the failure of Napoleon's expedition to Tsarist Russia and planned the entire offensive in May, when Moscow was warm and dry, and it was very suitable for war.
Moreover, Nazi Germany believed that the Soviet Union could not abandon Moscow and other elite lands to implement a scorched earth policy like Tsarist Russia, so there was not much pressure on its own supplies. So Nazi Germany led an army of about 4 million people, known as the "Eastern Front Army", divided into three directions and attacked the Soviet Union.
(Blitzkrieg)
Its plan was to first capture Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev, and then advance towards the Ural Mountains and the Caucasus.
However, the story is not surprising, starting with the fact that the Barbarossa plan was delayed for more than a month due to Italy's defeat in Greece, which prevented Nazi Germany from taking Moscow before the onset of the Russian cold, and the stubborn resistance of the Soviet Union exceeded Germany's expectations.
(Greek Campaign)
II. General Winter's blow to Nazi Germany
The Soviet army was unwilling to give up an inch of land, but entered into a bloody battle with the German army. When Nazi Germany finally began its general assault on Moscow on October 2, it found that the Soviet Union had received aid from Britain and the United States, adding new troops, weapons, and supplies.
(Battle of Moscow)
At the beginning of November, winter came in Moscow, a disaster that the Germans did not expect. Winters in Moscow are notoriously cold, with lows of minus 40 degrees Celsius. In such cold, German soldiers not only had to face the fierce attacks of the Soviet army, but also had to endure frostbite, colds, pneumonia and other diseases.
Many German soldiers froze on the battlefield or slept dead in tents at night. Some German soldiers had to use their own guns and ammunition for fuel to keep warm, or to loot the clothing and food of the local people.
(Winter Operations)
During this cold season, German soldiers were forced to advance on foot through heavy layers of snow. The snow-covered roads made the march extremely difficult, and every step seemed to drain the last of their physical strength.
At the same time, the winter in Moscow also brought extreme cold, which put the soldiers' equipment and weapons at the risk of freezing, and even the bolts of the soldiers' rifles could not be opened, further adding to their plight.
(Winter in Moscow)
Under such low temperatures, the Germans did not prepare enough warm clothing. Because according to Hitler's assumption, the Soviet Union should have been powerless to resist at this time, and Germany only needed to defend in the winter and wait until the spring to launch an offensive.
3. Nazi Germany like Napoleon
But what I didn't expect was that Germany was still fighting a bloody war with the Soviet Union, at this time Nazi Germany fell into the same stalemate as Napoleon, and the logistics of the German army became one of the main problems.
The Soviet Union adopted a scorched-earth policy to destroy all the land that was about to be evacuated, so that Germany could not use its food and fuel.
(German army at low temperatures)
Despite all the difficulties, Nazi Germany continued to attack and advance, and even once hit the outskirts of Moscow, you can see the spire of the Kremlin.
But it was after the famous review of Red Square that Soviet fighters struck out in anger. At the same time, reinforcements from Siberia arrived, and these troops were well equipped and supplied for the winter.
(Military parade on Red Square)
They were exposed to the cold weather of Siberia for a long time, and it was easy to adapt to winter operations, on the other hand, most of the German troops, like Napoleon, came from Europe with a Mediterranean climate, and rarely felt the cold of the Soviet Union.
The low temperature led to a decline in the morale and combat effectiveness of the German army, and in addition, many of the weapons and tanks that the German army was most proud of could not move, and the combat effectiveness dropped significantly.
(Siberia)
In addition, the entire German army had no place to hide near Moscow, and had to be stationed in place to survive the harsh winter. As a result, the Soviets quickly repulsed all the German forces approaching Moscow and pushed back to the pre-winter front in the ensuing counterattack.
Although Nazi Germany returned to the results of the pre-winter period at this time, the Nazi army at this time suffered very heavy losses, and the losses in men, weapons, and morale were intangible.
Eventually, thanks to the concerted efforts of the Soviet people, the myth of Germany's inevitability was shattered. The two sides engaged in a bloody tug-of-war with the Soviet Union, and finally in the Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviet Union successfully resisted the German attack and eliminated the German living forces, which became one of the turning points of World War II.
(Battle of Stalingrad)
We are all familiar with the rest of the story, the Allied landing in Normandy and the Soviet attack on Berlin, all of which marked the end of World War II and the end of Nazi Germany. And all this because of the low temperature in Moscow.
epilogue
Winter in Moscow was a formidable enemy, having once defeated two powerful invaders, Napoleon and Nazi Germany. It brought them unimaginable suffering and made their dreams come to naught. As can be seen from the examples of the above two wars, the winter in Moscow had a fatal effect on the invading Russian army.
(Winter Operations)
Winter in Moscow is not only a natural phenomenon, but also a force of history. Winter in Moscow protected Russia's sovereignty and territory, and also changed the fate of Europe and the world.
Winter in Moscow is an invincible enemy, a factor that cannot be ignored, an unpredictable variable. How cold is the winter in Moscow? cold enough to freeze an empire, cold enough to freeze a dream, cold enough to freeze a war.
Resources:
Veterans recall the Battle of Moscow: The weather is on the side of the Soviet Union.Fuxing.com,2015-07-28
The Battle of Moscow to Turn the Tide: The Weather Is Not on Hitler's Side.Beijing News,2015-07-27