History 07/03/20 Russian “General frost”, who he “fought” in fact,
“General frost” has helped the Russian to win victories in the two world wars. Such a cliche often seen in Western historiography. Is it for Russian weather in 1812 and in 1941 was different than the French and the Germans?
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In the Bulletin drawn up by Napoleon 3 Dec 1812, reported: “the Frost that began with the 7th (November), suddenly increased… denote horses were falling every night, not hundreds, but thousands… the Army, the former 6th number in the best condition, the 14th was quite different: she lost cavalry, artillery and transports”. Temperature, according to Napoleon, fell to 18 degrees below zero.
the Emperor, to this researcher’s advice stramash it frosts generals, was clearly concerned about the situation. Historian Sergey Teplyakov draws attention to the fact that the Napoleonic wars took place in the era, when war was preferred in the summer, so the French command did not bother about the tents and warm clothes.
anyway, the assertion that Russian frosts did not give the French to complete his victorious campaign was on hand to Napoleon. On the one hand, they wrote off the responsibility from the Emperor on the vagaries of nature, with another – devaluing the heroism and bravery of the Russian soldier driving a Great Army to Paris.
Yes, hunger and cold assailed the French, but Russian troops were in the same conditions. So, a cavalry officer Lansky recalled: “the Onset of the frosts even more hunger plagued our troops… All obmundirovka during the campaign managed to turn the filthy rags and replace them with nothing”.
the Russian army, as the French had no tents, and the soldiers slept on the frozen ground. Our soldiers, like the French hundreds were dying of frostbite and hypothermia. From the mass of Russian losses was saved only by the ability to find shelter, food and warm clothes in burned and devastated villages.
And yet the French can’t complain about the cold autumn slush, weighed down by protracted rains, looked far more serious challenge. French General Armand de Caulaincourt wrote: “If the frost has weakened over the last three days, resumed on the eve with the same force, it would not have been able to save any of the gun carriage, as the ground was marshy and was shaking under my feet.”
He was echoed by the aide-de-camp of Napoleon Gaspard Gurgo: “Cold, dry and moderate, who accompanied the troops from Moscow before the first snow, was more useful than disastrous”. Napoleon destroyed not cold, and to his army, which helped the Russian troops. Winter only accelerated the inevitable defeat of the arrogant French.
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Hitler was aware that the Russian frosts can seriously slow down the advancing German forces, so the operation “Barbarossa” had to be completed before the end of September 1941. The result is known to all. With the onset of cold weather, the German generals, it became evident that before a year elapsed the war is not over.
Serious frosts hit in the second half of December: battle of Moscow the mercury in thermometers fell to –28ºS, near Leningrad – up to –35 ° C. The German offensive to a halt. The cold made itself felt: not working radio, denied scopes of tanks, freezing the lubricant and pneumatic control system transmission, and the lack of on the tracks of armored vehicles special spines was not possible to overcome the icy slopes.
But the Fuhrer continued to build more grandiose plans, while ordinary German soldiers, in the words of British historian John Erickson, “fought for a simple and salutary heat.” Berlin was in no hurry to send to the front with winter clothing. The expense of frostbite was in the thousands. 20 Dec Guderian reported to Hitler: “the Loss from frostbite twice higher than combat losses”.
For the soldiers of the red Army, the weather was equally unmerciful. They also ptableyou of the time spent in the open air, unable to get warm. At the initial stage of the Battle for Moscow, many militia fighters were forced to fight without warm clothes. Extreme cold had an impact on Soviet weapons. Often denied when firing and self-loading rifle Tokarev and Degtyarev machine gun.
Marshall Konstantin Rokossovsky in his memoirs noted that deep snow and hard frosts to interfere with the conduct of the maneuver, able to cut off the enemy from the roads. The Germans, according to legendary military commander, was supposed to be grateful to the Russian winter that it allowed them to distance themselves from Moscow with minimal losses.
the Nazis in 1941, as the French in 1812, was more afraid slushy autumn, not cold, who did the limp the soil suitable for the rapid promotion of personnel and equipment. The fate of Moscow and the entire campaign of the Reich decided a completely different reason.
Taras Repin
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