Battle of Moscow

The Battle of Moscow was the final phase of Operation Barbarossa, which had begun on June 22, 1941. This German assault on the capital of the Soviet Union was called Unternehmen Taifun (Operation Typhoon). It was designed to capture Moscow permanently and ensure a final victory over Russia. Although some German Generals had warned against launching a new military offensive at that time of the year, for the Russian winter was about to begin, Adolf Hitler gave the go ahead for the offensive in September.

Unternehmen Taifun consisted of two pincer movements to surround Moscow and encircle most of the Red Army divisions. They were to be conducted by Army Group Center’s units; the first offensive would be carried out by the 3rd and 4th Panzer Groups to the north of Moscow against the Kalinin Front, cutting the Moscow-Leningrad railway; the other jaw of the pincers was composed of Guderian’s 2nd Panzer Group and the 2nd Army, which would swing around to the south of Moscow, fighting against the Soviet Western Front armies, south of Tula. Meanwhile, the 4th Army would advance directly towards Moscow from the west. A separate operational German plan, code-named Operation Wotan, was to be initiated in the final phase of the German offensive to mop up the pocket of resistance.

Operation Typhoon was set in motion on October 2, 1941, when more than one million men, along with 1,500 tanks and 14,000 guns, started their drive eastwards. Despite the initial success, with the Panzer groups and infantry units pummeling their way deep into Soviet territory, the Fall rains began, turning the Soviet dirt roads into a quagmire as German tanks and trucks got bogged down. By October 14, Kalinin fell in German hands, but Soviet resistance started to stiffen.

Despite the initial German success, Operation Typhoon ground to a halt in December 1941, when the severe Russian winter began to set in, freezing the armored vehicles fuel and artillery pieces breech systems. Then the Soviet forces, under the command of General Zhukov launched a counter offensive which drove the Germans back 100 km and the extremely cold weather conditions began to take its toll. Thus, the Wehrmacht lost thousands of men to the merciless winter.

Below, as the Russian winter set in, the German soldiers, lacking proper winter clothing and snow camouflage, had to make do with bed linen.

Below, the Russian winter was the best ally the Red Army had to defeat the Germans who had arrived at the gates of Moscow too late, when the weather conditions were too severe. Here, the Soviet T-34 tanks on the Red Square before the battle. They were better equipped to cope with the severe winter conditions, with wider tracks, diesel antifreeze, and mechanically reliable.