World War II: A Very Short Introduction by Gerhard L. Weinberg

Author:Gerhard L. Weinberg
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780199688777
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: 2014-09-24T04:00:00+00:00

6. German–Soviet Front, 1941

The second main factor, however, that enabled the Germans to hold in the centre and avert disaster was the decision of Stalin to launch offensives on the northern and southern sections of the frontline. Instead of concentrating on a follow-up to the initial victory before Moscow, Stalin now underestimated the Germans in the same way that Hitler had earlier underestimated the Soviets. The Red Army offensives made only minimal gains at considerable cost while the Germans had time to stabilize the centre of the frontline. That front was one that looked most erratic, but it symbolized the total defeat of Germany’s hopes of destroying the Soviet Union on the one hand, and the expectation of an exceedingly long and difficult set of campaigns ahead for the Soviets on the other. As fighting continued after the stabilization of the front in March–April 1942, it would remain the place where most of the fighting of World War II occurred.

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