BATTLE OF THE BALTICS Photo by fotoreporter sovietico sconosciuto / Public

domain

WHAT WAS THE BATTLE

OF THE BALTICS?

▪The Battle of the Baltics was compromised of two major components

▪1.) Baltic Operation: Germany took over the Baltic territories in 1941

▪2.) Baltic Offensive: U.S.S.R. took the Baltic territories back from Germany in 1944

BALTICS

▪The contested territories were:

▪Latvia

▪Estonia

▪Lithuania

THESIS

Soviet occupation of the Baltic States in 1940 led

to Hitler's failed decision to invade the USSR,

demoralizing German troops and wasting

German resources which ultimately led to the

collapse of the Third Reich.

CONTEXT FOR BALTIC

OPERATION

▪Non-Aggression Pact (1939):

▪ Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania were given to U.S.S.R

▪ U.S.S.R built Soviet governments in these territories

▪ Carried out mass deportations

▪Operation Barbarossa (1941):

▪ Germany's plan to invade Baltics

▪ U.S.S.R tries to defend Baltics – this is the Baltic Operation

IMPORTANT FIGURES-GERMANY▪ Ferdinand Schörner

▪ General/Later Field Marshal

▪ Born in Munich, Germany on June 12th, 1892

▪ Joined in WWI

▪ Strong belief in Fascism led him to be well liked by Hitler

▪ Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb▪ Born on September 5th, 1876

▪ Artillery officer during WWI

▪ In Operation Barbarossa, Leeb was given the command of Army Group North

▪ Walther von Brauchitsch▪ Born October 4th, 1881 in Berlin, Germany

▪ Head of the German army in 1938

▪ Key instrument in planning attacks in the Balkans/the Soviet Union

IMPORTANT FIGURES-U.S.S.R▪ Ivan Bagramyan

▪ Born December 2, 1897

▪ Soviet-Armenian military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union

▪ First non-Slavic military officer to become a commander of a Front

▪ Became communist Party member in 1941

▪ Planned defensive attacks against Germans

▪ Failure led to demotion to chief of staff of Soviet 28th Army

▪Fyodor Isodorovich Kuznetsov

▪ Born September 29, 1898 in Bolbechino, Belarus

▪ Commanded the Northwestern Front during the Baltic Operation until June 30, 1941

BALTIC OPERATION▪On June 22, 1941, German army groups invaded USSR

territory of Latvia and Lithuania

▪ U.S.S.R. tried to defend the Baltics (failed)

▪Battle of Raseiniai:

▪Tank battle between Germany and USSR

▪ Soviet army was heavily defeated

▪Germany gains control of the Baltics

▪ This allowed them to cross the Daugava River towards the Baltics

BALTIC OPERATION

▪Battle of Hanko

▪Finland attempted to regain control of the Hanko Naval Base

▪USSR was cornered by war with both Finland's army and Germany's army

▪Had no choice but to retreat from the base

▪USSR retreated until Germany was able to regain control of the Baltics

▪ Soviet Union and NAZI’s lost thousands of men

▪ NAZI claim over the Baltic States

▪ Heavily persecute and punish Jews of the Baltics

▪ Led to the formation of ghettos and concentration camps around the region

▪ USSR war production continued to develop at an astounding pace▪ Most of equipment – especially aircraft – was destroyed and

replaced by more reliable and durable equipment

▪ Exploited new sources of many strategic raw materials

▪ To accommodate for war production, production for civilian needs was drastically reduced to a minimum level

BALTIC OFFENSIVE

▪Fought between Germany and USSR after the Baltic Operation

▪September 1944 through November 1944

▪USSR victory

▪Map

CONTEXT FOR BALTIC

OFFENSIVE

▪After two years of continuous war, the Germans launched Operation Zitadelle

▪Operation Zitadelle was aimed at trying to conquer the USSR – it failed

▪The Germans tried to retreat, but this led to the Baltic Offensive

IMPORTANT FIGURES-GERMANY▪ Erich von Manstein

▪ Born Nov. 24, 1887 in Berlin, Germany

▪ Fought in WWI on both Russia/Western Fronts

▪ Promoted to major general in 1936 and to lieutenant general in 1938

▪ Walter Model▪ Born January 24, 1891 in Genthin, Germany

▪ Strong support for the Nazi cause, made him well liked

▪ Took command of Army Group North (January 1944), the North-Ukraine Army Group (March 1944), and Army Group Central (June 1944) on the Eastern Front

IMPORTANT FIGURES-U.S.S.R▪ Georgiy Zhukov

▪ Born December 1, 1896 in Kaluga, Russia

▪ Appointed commander in chief of the western front after

defense in Leningrad

▪ In 1942, became the chief member of Stalin's supreme

headquarters

▪ Planned/executed the Soviet Union's major engagements in

WWII

▪ Leonid Govorov

▪ February 22, 1897 in Sovetsky District, Russia

▪ as commander he captured the Baltic states and trapped

German troops remaining in Soviet territory

▪ Later became marshal of the Soviet Union and later named

Hero of the Soviet Union.

SOVIET SUB-OFFENSIVES▪ 1. Riga Offensive: Sept 14th - Oct 24, 1944

▪ 2. Tallinn Offensive: Sep 17 – Sep 26, 1944

▪ 3. Moonsund Land Operation: Sep 29 – Nov 24, 1944

▪ 4. Memel Offensive: Oct 5 – Oct 22 1944

▪ 5. Courland Pocket: Oct 10, 1944 – May 9, 1945

GERMAN COUNTER-OFFENSIVES▪ 1. Operation Doppelkopf: Aug15 – 16, 1944

▪ 2. Operation Cäsar: Sept 16 - Sept 21, 1944

▪ June 1944

▪ USSR used a military strategy invented in the 1920s and 1930s

▪ Caused chaos and disruption among enemy

▪ Soviets overestimated the amount of German troops they opposed

▪ Caused a delay to the offensive

▪ Soviets gathered over 1.2 million soldiers

▪ Soviets almost had a 10-to-1 numerical advantage with armor and 7-to-1 with aircraft

▪ Germans were stunned at the size and strength of the attack

▪ Germans underestimated Soviets

▪ German officers ignored the warning about Soviet movements

▪ Did not recognize the threat until three days into the operation

Size of armies:

▪Germans

▪495 tanks

▪2,500 artillery pieces

▪602 aircrafts

▪Soviets

▪4,000 tanks

▪34,000 artillery pieces

▪4,800 aircrafts

OPERATION DOPPELKOPF▪ August 15 -16, 1944

▪ Counter-attack carried out by Army Group Centre

▪ Two goals:▪ 1. To restore a land connection between

army groups Center and North

▪ 2. To re-open the highway running from Riga to East Prussia

▪ The Germans attacked the Red Army on the Gulf of Riga from east and west

▪ But then they were stopped by several Soviet rifle divisions and several tank corps

▪ Ultimately, the Germans had re-opened a land route from East Prussia to Riga and stabilized the German line, but failed to make a large impact on the Soviet front

▪ Sept 14th - Oct 24, 1944

▪ In 1944, Riga was the center of the German military position

▪ Riga is the capital of Latvia

▪ Following Operation Bagration, Soviet armies attacked towards Riga on the Baltic coast

▪ Soviets drove Germans out of the coast of Gulf of Riga

▪ Germany reacted quickly and successfully at first

▪ Launched counter attack named Operation Doppelkopf

OPERATION CÄSAR▪ September 16 through September 21, 1944

▪ A German counter-offensive in response to Soviet's Riga offensive

▪ Germans were able to gain back a few miles until the Soviet resistance became too strong

▪ German forces went back on the defense

TALLINN OPERATION

▪Sep 17, 1944 – Sep 26, 1944

▪Soviets moved to capture Tallinn (capital of Estonia)

▪Overall a very quick event: minimal fighting

▪Germans evacuated Tallinn in a rush

▪USSR regained control of the majority of Estonia

COURLAND POCKET

▪Oct 10, 1944 – May 9, 1945

▪As a result of the Riga Offensive, the German army was forced back to the Courland Peninsula

▪The Red Army surrounded the German Army Group North when they reached the Gulf of Riga

▪Germans used the help of their navy to fight the Soviets

▪Germans were not strong enough to keep waging war:▪ 10 German tanks vs. 50 Soviet tanks

▪German troops fled back to Germany and the USSR regained control of Latvia

MOONSUND LAND OPERATION

▪Sep 29, 1944 – Nov 24, 1944

▪Blocked German access to the Gulf of Riga

▪Germany evacuated from Estonia

▪German troops go back to the peninsula

▪Troops eventually leave despite Hitler's commands

▪ October 5 – October 22 1944

▪ Soviet attack after Operation Casar

▪ Final stages of Baltic Offensive

▪ Soviets opened fire against the Germans

▪ Aimed for the coast north of Memel

▪ 2 days into the attack, it had reached the south of Memel

▪ German army commander said on October 9th that he would stop the attack on Memel if troops from Riga could be evacuated

AFTERMATH▪ Soviets re-claimed the Baltics

▪ Isolated the German Army Group North

▪ Liberated the Baltic people from the NAZI's horrid command

▪ Both armies suffered tremendous damage to their troops ( June-August 1944)

▪ Economic and military dislocation was severe

▪ To recover from the economic damage suffered by the invasions, the Soviets re-installed Stalinism and returned back to their stages of collectivized farms

▪ Soviet war production outpaced German production

▪ Soviets were able to weaken and spread out NAZI forces, making the Soviet victory easier

▪ Marks the end of the NAZI group as they could not recover from their losses

▪Baltic population suffers drastically

▪General Population Loss in the Baltics

▪Estonian population loss of 25%

▪Lithuanian population loss of 15%

▪Latvia population loss of 30%

▪General Deaths from War or Occupation in the Baltics

▪180,000 deaths within Latvia

▪250,000 deaths within Lithuania

▪90,000 deaths within Estonia

OVERALL IMPACT (JUNE 1941 TO MARCH 1945)▪Germany casualties:

▪Total of 6,255,000▪1,001,000 killed▪3,966,000 wounded▪1,288,000 missing▪2,289,600 taken prisoner

▪Soviet casualties▪Total of 28,199,127

▪10,008,434 killed and missing▪18,190,693 wounded▪5,245,000 taken prisoner

OVERALL IMPACT (JUNE 1941 TO MARCH 1945)

▪Greatest land campaign ever fought during WWII

▪Soviet population loss was around 23.5 percent

▪ The physical destruction was enormous

▪1,170 towns, 31,850 industrial plants, 84,000 schools, and 7 million dwellings

THESIS

Soviet occupation of the Baltic States in 1940 led

to Hitler's failed decision to invade the USSR,

demoralizing German troops and wasting

German resources which ultimately led to the

collapse of the Third Reich.

WORK CITED▪ Axelrod, Alan, and Charles L. Phillips. “World War II on the Russian Front.” Wars in the Early 20th Century (1900 to 1950), Facts On File, 2015,

online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=&itemid=&articleId=208115. Accessed 21 Apr. 2018.

▪ Axelrod, Alan. “Invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II.” Encyclopedia of World War II, Vol. 2, Facts On File, 2013. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=150531&itemid=WEHRC&articleId=265139. Accessed 17 Apr. 2018.

▪ Axelrod, Alan. “Latvia during World War II.” Encyclopedia of World War II, Vol. 2, Facts On File, 2013. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=150531&itemid=WEHRC&articleId=264967. Accessed 17 Apr. 2018.

▪ Axelrod, Alan. “Lithuania during World War II.” Encyclopedia of World War II, Vol. 2, Facts On File, 2013. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=150531&itemid=WEHRC&articleId=265212. Accessed 17 Apr. 2018

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▪ Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Walther Model.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 14 Apr. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Walther-Model.

▪ Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Walther Von Brauchitsch.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 20 Oct. 2011, www.britannica.com/biography/Walther-von-Brauchitsch.

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▪ Holmes, James, et al. “Operation Bagration.” The National Interest, The Center for the National Interest, nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/operation-bagration-the-shocking-story-how-russia-crushed-23792'.

▪ Senn, Alfred Erich. “The Sovietization of the Baltic States.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 317, 1958, pp. 123–129. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1031085.09.

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