Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Seelow Heights
We talked in class about the large number of Soviets that died and I was just wondering if they had to take the Seelow Heights or if they could have gone around. It may have taken longer but they would not have lost as many men. I was just wondering if the Soviets wanted to end the war quickly and going through Seelow Heights was the way to do it or if they could have done it another way. Did Seelow Heights have to be taken to take Germany?
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2 comments:
Seelow Heights was a necessary objective politically for the Soviets. Yes, they could have surrounded the defending forces and done a siege or perhaps gone straight for Berlin. But that would have left several Nazi sympathizers in their rear that would hurt them from occupying Germany after the war's aftermath. Remember at this point, the end conclusion of the war was not in doubt, just who would get what after the war. Read "Soldat" a novel from a German soldier in the end of the war in which he describes how in the latter parts of the war, Germans were fighting to keep the Soviets from occupying their country.
I, too, do not understand the reason for this battle, because the casualty loss here was so extreme. Maybe the Russians felt they had to battle a wide spread area to Berlin to ensure that they would not be cut off in any way on their pursuit and capture of the city.
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