Psychological warfare : the German defeat in the East by 1943 /

Abstract

On June 22, 1941 Adolf Hitler, the Fuhrer of Germany, launched the greatest military campaign in history when he sent his troops into the Soviet Union. Operation Barbarossa, as it was called, was the realization of a plan that Hitler envisioned since the early 1920s-the annihilation of the Soviet people and the seizure of Russian territory for the German Reich. For two decades Hitler pressed his sadistic views upon anyone who would listen, and by 1941 he convinced enough people to believe in his rants. Hitler's propaganda concerning the Slavs of Eastern Europe ensured that this war would be like no other. Unlike the Wehrmacht's previous campaigns, success was measured in enemy casualties rather than ground gained; however, despite Nazi Germany's overwhelming achievements during the early phase of hostilities, the Russians refused to concede to the Germans. The Wehrmacht had finally met its match on the battlefield, and Hitler had met his match in the ruthless leadership of Joseph Stalin. The Soviets' stubborn resistance to the overconfident Germans coupled with the hardships created by the intense Russian climate wore at the nerves of the German soldiers and caused them to lose hope for victory. After the major setbacks of 1943, German morale, from soldier to Hitler himself, had evaporated. Victory in the East was no longer feasible for Germany. Less than two years after the German invasion began, the Red Army succeeded in gaining the initiative from their seemingly invincible opponent. The mental defeat of Nazi Germany by 1943 led to the military destruction of the Reich two years later. Hitler's gamble in the East had failed. The Nazis' dream of a Thousand Year Reich ended after just twelve years while the Soviet Union established itself as a legitimate world power.