Operation Barbarossa? (November 1940)

General Heinz Guderian
November 1940

For the past few months, the tension between us and Russia had increased due to a number of incidents. Molotov the Soviet Foreign Commissar was invited to Berlin to resolve these issues.

“Shortly after Molotov’s visit, my new Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-colonel Freiherr von Liebenstein, and my first general staff officer, Major Bayerlein, were summoned to a conference by the Chief of the Army General Staff; there they heard for the first time about the proposed campaign against Soviet Russia, Operation Barbaross.”

UNBELIEVABLE! Didn’t Hitler criticize the leaders of German policy of 1914 for their failure to avoid a war on two fronts? Has he now decided to open this second-front war against the Russian? With the war with England still ongoing, invading Russia will without a doubt, leave us committed to a two-front war.

From my two officers, I understand that studies have been made and it is calculated that Russia would fall in the span of eight to ten weeks. The preliminary plan was an offensive force of three army groups with diverging objectives. From my professional point of view, there is no clear single operational objective and it did not look at all promising. Furthermore, the operation does not seem important compared to the task we face in the west and will in no way improve our situation. If we are to commit to Russia, our position will certainly become increasingly difficult.

It is clear that our preparations for this massive campaign is inadequate, but it seems that the victory in Poland and France have befuddled the minds of our supreme commanders. It appears that the OKW and OKH are convinced with unshakable optimism about Operation Barbarossa.

Heinz Guderian