Operation Braunschweig (''Brunswick''), named after

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

, was the German summer offensive that began on 28 June 1942. The operation was initially named ''

Fall Blau Case Blue (German: ''Fall Blau'') was the ''Wehrmacht'' plan for the 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia between 28 June and 24 November 1942, during World War II. The objective was to capture the oil fields of Baku (Azerbai ...

'' (Case Blue), which is the common name used for the whole offensive. The name was changed from ''Blau'' to ''Braunschweig'' on 30 June. The plans following the original Case Blue (originally named ''Blue I'' and ''Blue II'') were renamed to Operation Clausewitz and Operation Dampfhammer. ''Clausewitz'' detailed the beginning of the operations of

Army Group A Army Group A () was the name of three distinct army groups of the ''German Army (1935–1945), Heer'', the ground forces of the ''Wehrmacht'', during World War II. The first Army Group A, previously known as "Army Group South", was active from Oct ...

in July 1942, ''Dampfhammer'' the follow-up operations in July 1942. In

Führer Directive The following is a list of the ''Führer'' directives and ''Führer'' Orders issued by Adolf Hitler over the course of World War II: The directives References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuhrer Directives Orders by Adolf Hitler, Military plans ...

No. 45, dated 23 July 1942,

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

outlined new goals for Operation ''Braunschweig''. The German forces were to advance towards the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

(

Operation Edelweiss The Battle of the Caucasus was a series of Axis powers, Axis and Soviet Union, Soviet operations in the Caucasus as part of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-D ...

) and Stalingrad (

Operation Fischreiher Operation Fischreiher (German for heron) was an extension of Case Blue, part of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II. General Friedrich Paulus' 6th Army, and part of the 4th Panzer Army under General Hermann Hoth, was to adv ...

). Hitler had personally intervened in the plans for this operation, and ordered a split in

Army Group South Army Group South () was the name of one of three German Army Groups during World War II. It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland, Army Group South was led by Ge ...

. This division of Army Group South had caused alarm in the General Staff, and Hitler was warned repeatedly about the dangers this division entailed. Complaints from the field caused Hitler to dismiss and replace the Commander of Army Group South, Field Marshal Fedor von Bock on July 15. Later studies confirmed this split to be one of the main causes for the eventual demise of the German 6th Army in Stalingrad. Hitler persisted in this division of Army Group South for strategic reasons: acquiring the oilfields in the Caucasus region and cutting Soviet supply transports along the

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

through Stalingrad. On July 23, 1942 Hitler met with Chief of staff Lutze and SA Obergruppenführer Jüttner at the Werwolf headquarters. They discussed several events but the key discussion surrounded Directive Number 45, which was a continuance of Operation Braunschweig. In this meeting Hitler stated several directives that, “

take the Caucasus and Baku (Operation Edelweiss), while

Army Group B Army Group B () was the name of four distinct German Army Group, army group commands that saw action during World War II. The first Army Group B was created on 12 October 1939 (from the former Army Group North) and fought in the Battle of France ...

was supposed to conquer Stalingrad and, if possible, Astrakhan (Operation Heron – Fischreiher because of the fish in the Volga River).

Army Group North Army Group North () was the name of three separate army groups of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Its rear area operations were organized by the Army Group North Rear Area. The first Army Group North was deployed during the invasion of Pol ...

was instructed to conquer Leningrad (Operation Fireworks because of artillery fire).” The directive said: :“In a campaign of little more than three weeks, the ultimate goal I had set the south wing of the eastern front have already been accomplished. Only some rather weak enemy forces belonging to the armies of

Semyon Timoshenko Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko (; ; – 31 March 1970) was a Soviet military commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union, and one of the most prominent Red Army commanders during the Second World War. Born to a Ukrainian family in Bessarabia, ...

have managed to escape the envelopment and reach the bank of the Southern Don. These will presumably receive reinforcements from the Caucasus area. :Currently the enemy is massing another army group in the Stalingrad area, where stiff resistance is to be expected.”Domarus, Max. ''Speeches and Proclamations, 1932–1945''. Wauconda, Il: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers Inc., 2004. (p. 2654) The directives went on to explain just what each individual army should do in the upcoming assault.

Bibliography

* Domarus, Max. ''Speeches and proclamations, 1932–1945''. Wauconda, Il: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers Inc., 2004. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Braunschweig, Operation Military operations of World War II involving Germany Battles and operations of the Soviet–German War