The Strategy of Barbarossa

Abstract

Throughout this essay, numerous parallels are drawn between the campaigns of Hitler and of Napoleon. Clausewitz' assessment of Napoleon's 1812 campaign can be applied almost word for word to Hitler's 1941 Barbarossa: We maintain that the 1812 campaign failed because the Russian government kept its nerve and the people remained loyal and steadfast.... the fault ... lay in his being late in starting the campaign, in the lives he squandered by his tactics, his neglect of matters of supply and of his line of retreat. (3:628) We might also point to the overconfidence, vanity and hubris that these two men had in common. Neither seemed capable of owning up to a monumental error in judgement or of calling a retreat even when faced with certain disaster.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1983
Accession Number
ADA132378

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  • Austin C. Wedemeyer

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  • Air War College

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