TOEFL Experts Reading Practice 19
On June 22, 1941, one year to the day after the signing of an armistice following his successful invasion of France, Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, the code name for Nazi Germany’s invasion of Russia (then the dominant part of the Soviet Union). Hitler had amassed an invading army of over 3 million soldiers, still the largest invading force in world history. What followed paralleled, in many ways, another failed invasion of Russia more than 100 years earlier by another tyrant: Napoleon Bonaparte, ruler of France. For both leaders, invading Russia would be the turning point in a war they had previously dominated, and would lead to their final defeat elsewhere in Europe.
Operation Barbarossa involved an invasion along three fronts. Army Group North was to conquer the Baltic countries and ultimately Leningrad. Army Group Center was to invade the heartland of present-day Russia and proceed to Moscow, the Soviet capital. Army Group South had orders to invade and conquer Ukraine and various southern cities in Russia to capture key economic resources, such as grain and oil. The conquest was one of annihilation: Nazi Germany viewed Soviet communism (“Bolshevism”) as the mortal enemy of the Nazi’s “National Socialist” political doctrine. Furthermore, National Socialism viewed Slavic and Jewish people—both predominant in Russia—as inferior to Germans. Therefore, the war was about conquest of land at all costs, and many civilians were targeted for forced labor or assassination.
By contrast, Napoleon’s invasion was based on a trade disagreement. The real enemy of Napoleon was Britain, with whom France was at war, and his invasion of Russia was intended to force the Russian nobility to stop trading with Britain. His goal was to use his grande armée (French for “great army”) to swiftly defeat the inferior Russian defending forces, march to Moscow, and force Tsar Alexander I to sign an agreement ceasing all trade with Britain. This would culminate in Britain’s inability to continue to wage war with France, Napoleon reasoned. Britain would have to seek peace, thereby ending the decade-long Napoleonic Wars. Supposedly thus “fighting for an end to fighting,” Napoleon’s forces began the invasion on June 24, 1812, crossing the Neman River into Russia.
For each leader, the invasion had substantial initial success but ultimately met disaster. Russia is an enormous country geographically, and the distance to Moscow dwarfed that covered by any other invasion that either leader had successfully completed before. Supply lines for both invading armies quickly became stretched thin; troops and equipment were faced with exhaustion. To make matters worse, Russians engaged in scorched-earth tactics: as they retreated from the invading army, they burned or otherwise destroyed everything of value, so that no invading forces could use it. This dashed any hopes of living off the land. In addition, the Russian winter is exceptionally cold, and both leaders failed to make appropriate provisions for winter warfare, as both thought their invasion could be successfully completed before winter set in.Finally, while Russian armed resistance was light at first, it dramatically intensified as the invaders approached Moscow. By the end, invading troops met fierce Russian opposition while also combating hunger, privation, and extremely cold temperatures.
Unlike Hitler, Napoleon did successfully reach Moscow, only to find it ablaze and vacated. He waited with his army, trying to force the Russian tsar, now in exile, to sign a treaty. Meanwhile his army continued to starve, and the weather turned sharply colder. Napoleon was thus forced to leave Moscow to find provisions and shelter for his army, and this departure turned into an all-out retreat as appropriate provisions and shelter could not be found. As it attempted to flee Russia, Napoleon’s army was massacred by hunger and temperatures of –25⁰ Celsius much more than by Russian troops.
Hitler’s invasion took a somewhat different path to disaster. While Army Groups North and South succeeded in fulfilling their objectives, Hitler’s Army Group Center was stopped about 15 miles short of Moscow by a Soviet counteroffensive. Army Group Center successfully fended off the Soviets and survived the cold Russian winter, but had suffered heavy losses. In 1942, German strategic objectives changed, and much of the strength of the invading force was redirected to southern Russia. The German advance to Moscow was thereby halted, and resounding defeats at the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk permanently crippled the German war machine. It was only a matter of time before Soviet forces from the East and other Allied troops from the West could overwhelm and defeat Nazi Germany.
On June 22, 1941, one year to the day after the signing of an armistice following his successful invasion of France, Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, the code name for Nazi Germany’s invasion of Russia (then the dominant part of the Soviet Union). Hitler had amassed an invading army of over 3 million soldiers, still the largest invading force in world history. What followed paralleled, in many ways, another failed invasion of Russia more than 100 years earlier by another tyrant: Napoleon Bonaparte, ruler of France. For both leaders, invading Russia would be the turning point in a war they had previously dominated, and would lead to their final defeat elsewhere in Europe.
Operation Barbarossa involved an invasion along three fronts. Army Group North was to conquer the Baltic countries and ultimately Leningrad. Army Group Center was to invade the heartland of present-day Russia and proceed to Moscow, the Soviet capital. Army Group South had orders to invade and conquer Ukraine and various southern cities in Russia to capture key economic resources, such as grain and oil. The conquest was one of annihilation: Nazi Germany viewed Soviet communism (“Bolshevism”) as the mortal enemy of the Nazi’s “National Socialist” political doctrine. Furthermore, National Socialism viewed Slavic and Jewish people—both predominant in Russia—as inferior to Germans. Therefore, the war was about conquest of land at all costs, and many civilians were targeted for forced labor or assassination.
By contrast, Napoleon’s invasion was based on a trade disagreement. The real enemy of Napoleon was Britain, with whom France was at war, and his invasion of Russia was intended to force the Russian nobility to stop trading with Britain. His goal was to use his grande armée (French for “great army”) to swiftly defeat the inferior Russian defending forces, march to Moscow, and force Tsar Alexander I to sign an agreement ceasing all trade with Britain. This would culminate in Britain’s inability to continue to wage war with France, Napoleon reasoned. Britain would have to seek peace, thereby ending the decade-long Napoleonic Wars. Supposedly thus “fighting for an end to fighting,” Napoleon’s forces began the invasion on June 24, 1812, crossing the Neman River into Russia.
For each leader, the invasion had substantial initial success but ultimately met disaster. Russia is an enormous country geographically, and the distance to Moscow dwarfed that covered by any other invasion that either leader had successfully completed before. Supply lines for both invading armies quickly became stretched thin; troops and equipment were faced with exhaustion. To make matters worse, Russians engaged in scorched-earth tactics: as they retreated from the invading army, they burned or otherwise destroyed everything of value, so that no invading forces could use it. This dashed any hopes of living off the land. In addition, the Russian winter is exceptionally cold, and both leaders failed to make appropriate provisions for winter warfare, as both thought their invasion could be successfully completed before winter set in.Finally, while Russian armed resistance was light at first, it dramatically intensified as the invaders approached Moscow. By the end, invading troops met fierce Russian opposition while also combating hunger, privation, and extremely cold temperatures.
Unlike Hitler, Napoleon did successfully reach Moscow, only to find it ablaze and vacated. He waited with his army, trying to force the Russian tsar, now in exile, to sign a treaty. Meanwhile his army continued to starve, and the weather turned sharply colder. Napoleon was thus forced to leave Moscow to find provisions and shelter for his army, and this departure turned into an all-out retreat as appropriate provisions and shelter could not be found. As it attempted to flee Russia, Napoleon’s army was massacred by hunger and temperatures of –25⁰ Celsius much more than by Russian troops.
Hitler’s invasion took a somewhat different path to disaster. While Army Groups North and South succeeded in fulfilling their objectives, Hitler’s Army Group Center was stopped about 15 miles short of Moscow by a Soviet counteroffensive. Army Group Center successfully fended off the Soviets and survived the cold Russian winter, but had suffered heavy losses. In 1942, German strategic objectives changed, and much of the strength of the invading force was redirected to southern Russia. The German advance to Moscow was thereby halted, and resounding defeats at the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk permanently crippled the German war machine. It was only a matter of time before Soviet forces from the East and other Allied troops from the West could overwhelm and defeat Nazi Germany.