Why Was Hitler Unable To Defeat Russia?

A further factor in the German defeat was leadership. Both Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin played a major role in the war on the western front. Hitler was very confident about being able to defeat the Red Army as he considered the Russians sub-human so they should be no match for his strong Arian army, but he underestimated Stalin and the Russian people. During the war, the Russian people showed great heroism, partly due to Stalin's arousing speeches. They found comfort in the fact that he stayed in Stalingrad during its siege. One of Stalin's most effective tactics was moving his tank factories from the west, where they could suffer from a German attack, to the east. This formed a town called Tankograd, so if the Germans tried to attack them they would have to cross the Ural mountains. This explains why Germany was unable to defeat Russia as they could continue to produce new tanks and war equipment faster then the Germans could. In 1941, Stalin appointed Marshall Zhukov, whose expertise enabled the Russians to defeat Germany at the siege of Stalingrad in 1941. As the town is spread out along a river it was too big for Germany to surround so a direct hit was necessary. Zhukov's army broke through the north and south fronts and surrounded the German army, trapping 278,000 soldiers inside the town and causing them to surrender. This helps to explain why Russia defeated Germany as it boosted the morale as the first time a Germany army had been defeat and it also effected the Germans as the public started to question whether they were actually a master race. The defeat at Stalingrad is sometimes considered the end for the Nazis, so this is another reason why Stalin's leadership helped the Russians defeat the Germans

A further factor in the Russian defeat of Germany was the heroism of the Russian people. On 3rd July, Stalin called on his people to flee their towns and destroy anything that could be of use to the advancing Germans. This involved digging tank traps, burning their properties and killing animals that the Germans could eat. This had a huge effect on the Germans as during the winter they could not find shelter as it had been burned by the Russians. A further reason for this Russian heroism was the Germans atrocities, when they occupied a town they brutally massacred anyone they could find. This gave the Russians an incentive to follow Stalin's instructions. Many Russians worked 13 hour shifts in Tankograd to build new tanks and equipment. This helped the Russians as they were producing tanks faster than the Germans. Russian women also fought in the war. This is something that was almost unheard of at the time. This gave the Russians an advantage as they had more men and women to fight than the Germans.

Another reason for the Russian victory was allied help. When the USA was bombed at Pearl Harbour by Japan, they immediately entered the war. Along with Britain they became Russia's allies and the Japanese joined the Germans. The allied help that Russia received came mainly in the form of supplies being brought to the country. This helped Russia hugely during the siege of Leningrad as when Lake Lagoda froze supplies could be taken across. After the tank battle at Kursk in 1943 the Russians started to push the Germans back out of Russia and when they finally attacked the Germans in Belo-russia Britain landed in Normandy at the same time. This meant that Germany had to fight on two fronts, so the number of troops fighting the Russians was immediately halved. This gave Russia a huge advantage, as they were numerically stronger than the Germans. After the liberation of France and Russia's sweeping victory in Belo-russia, the allies and Russia pushed the Germans back into Berlin.

The final reason for Russia's victory was new technology. The German army's most deadly weapon was their tank as it was the most manoeuvrable and had the best firepower of the time. Russia secretly developed a tank called the T34, which has since been referred to as the "Queen of Tanks". It was much more manoeuvrable than the German one. In response to this, the Germans developed a new tank called the Tiger. Although technically this was a very good design it was too big a slow to successfully defeat the T34 in a tank battle. As the Russians had moved their factories behind the Ural mountains, they had a constant flow of new tanks. New technology helped Russia defeat Germany as the T34 played a vital part in Russia's victory at Kursk in July 1943. The Germans launched an attack on the Russians, but the Russians defended with 850 tanks. The battle lasted a full week and the Germans lost so many men and tanks that they never launched an offensive attack again. This meant that the Russians could begin push the Germans back and launch offensive attacks on them. In May 1945 the Red Army reached Berlin and ended the war.

There were important factors in the Russian defeat of Russia. Allied help played a big part, especially at the end of the war, when they landed France and forced Germany to fight on two fronts. However, I think the most important factor in Russia's defeat of Germany was the heroism of the Russian people. As they continued to work in factories and produce tanks and weapons, the Red Army had a constant flow of new equipment. The Russians also destroyed their homes, crops and farm animals so that the German army could not take them. I think this takes tremendous courage as, in many cases, they were destroying their livelihood. Russian endurance was also an important factor especially during the siege of Leningrad, which lasted 900 days without the Russians surrendering. I think that without the Russian heroism they would not have won the war as it played such a vital part in many different ways.