| Summary/Abstract |
In fall, 1941, the Wehrmacht’s Army Group Center launched its last offensive of the year: Operation Typhoon. It was to destroy the Soviet forces west of Moscow and open the way to the capital. Despite a rapid victory that destroyed three Soviet fronts, the offensive ground to a halt before it could take the city. Soviet memoirists and historians claimed that the resistance of the Red Army caused Operation Typhoon to fail. This claim is dismissed by almost all Western historians, who offer a simple explanation: mud. ‘General Mud’ foiled the Germans, leaving them pinned until mid-November frosts again rendered the ground passable.
Our examination of the fighting in October 1941 and Wehrmacht records has led us to conclude that it was not mud that stopped the Wehrmacht. Mud was a contributing factor to the breakdown of Operation Typhoon, but it was far from the only, or even most important factor.
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