Is it possible, that despite popular belief, autumn was a greater issue than winter to Nazi Germany during Operation Barbarossa?

by Rutheven

It's mentioned quite often that winter was one of the causes to halt the German offensives.

From my perspective, it seems a lot of people also believe that the main reason for German failure was winter.

Was it actually that bad? From what I've researched, I found out that autumn caused way more logistical and tactical issues than winter itself, not to mention it was the reason why Battle of Moscow was ended abruptly, was it not? Wanted to know what other people think about this issue.

(Sorry for bad English)

And_G

Autumn, winter, and spring each presented problems. The main obstacle to logistics and operational mobility was almost always muddy ground. Heavy rainfall in autumn (or early snow, as in 1941) would of course create muddy conditions. Once the temperatures dropped in winter, the ground would become frozen and tanks and trucks could roll again. Extremely cold temperatures posed their own issues but were of comparatively lesser concern. Spring then became the biggest problem of all since the thawing of the ground went on for months.

There's a Russian word for this, распутица ("rasputitsa", meaning "road-less period"). Napoléon had the same problem, especially with his artillery.

The Soviets of course were well familiar with these conditions and took them into consideration for their tank designs. That's why the T-34 has much wider tracks than the German PzKpfw III and IV (at similar weight), allowing it to be operational in conditions where other tanks would be stuck.

Comparison of specific ground pressures:

Year | Series | Weight | Track width | Ground pressure

  • | - | - | - | - 1935 | BT-7 | 13.8 t | 26 cm | 0.65 kg/cm² 1939 | PzKpfw III E | 19.5 t | 36 cm | 0.99 kg/cm² 1939 | PzKpfw IV D/E | 20 t | 38 cm | 0.91 kg/cm² 1940 | T-34/76A | 26.3 t | 56 cm | 0.64 kg/cm² 1941 | PzKpfw III J | 21.5 t | 40 cm | 0.94 kg/cm² 1942 | PzKpfw VI E | 57 t | 80 cm | 1.06 kg/cm² 1943 | PzKpfw IV H/J | 25 t | 40 cm | 0.89 kg/cm² 1943 | PzKpfw V | 44.8 t | 66 cm | 0.87 kg/cm² 1944 | T-34/85 | 30 t | 56 cm | 0.83 kg/cm² 1944 | PzKpfw VI B | 69.8 t | 80 cm | 1.02 kg/cm² 1944 | IS-2 / Object 240 | 46 t | 65 cm | 0.82 kg/cm²

As you can see, although there was a trend towards increasingly heavier (and larger) tanks, the Soviet tanks consistently stayed below the German tanks in regards to ground pressure. Starting in 1944, older tanks (mostly PzKpfw IV) were being equipped with wider so-called Ostketten ("East Front tracks") in order to increase operational capability in muddy conditions, but since these tracks could be widened only on the outside (picture) the actual benefits of this were marginal.