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Hitler had one shot, and only one shot at the Soviet Army. June 1941 was it. It wasnt just a question of Holding the Dneiper it was to destroy the soviet state and enslave its peoples. The key to success was the treatment of the non-russian states in the Soviet Union such as Byelorussia and Ukraine. If the 3rd Reich had treated those peoples better then they may have supported Hitler over Stalin. Problem was, german ideology dictated that these people were to be treated the same as the Russians. so they were on a hiding to nothing. If they couldnt knock the russians out with Blitzkrieg then they would be overwhelmed.
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"The Eastern front is like a house of cards. If the front is broken through at one point all the rest will collapse."
- General Heinz Guderian |