What Was The Significance Of Germany Acquiring Crimea?

[Hikari]

Is Crimea more livable than Ukraine? I think that might be a real estate issue...

[Art]

Crimea comprises several widely different natural zones from arid steppes in the north to the subtropical Riviera along the south coast. I guess, the climate is a little too hot for German natives.

[EwenS]

Geographically, from Crimea it is a short hop across the Kerch Strait to the Caucasian oil fields. Cuts out having to go the long way around the Sea of Azov or generates an opportunity for a pincer movement on Soviet troops south of Stalingrad. Even the threat forces Stalin to maintain troops in the rear. Ultimately the Soviets fought tooth and nail to hold Sevastopol and Kerch until mid 1942.

Or Possibly a means of trying to cut USSR off from the British Empire in the Middle East and a potential source of supply.

Sevastopol was the main Soviet Navy base in the Black Sea so eliminating that protects the Black Sea flank.

Around May 1941 Britain occupied Iraq. Then in Aug/Sept Persia/Iran was occupied jointly by Britain and the USSR. That generates a major lend-lease supply route.

Plenty of sound strategic reasons before we even get to the philosophic Nazi stuff.

[DougW60]

I do not remember where I read the following (not quoting): Occupation of Crimea was considered important in order to remove the threat of aerial attack on the Ploesti oil fields. Distance from the Crimea to Ploesti is about 550 kilometers and in 1941, the Soviets did have a few aircraft capable of conducting bombing raids at this distance. But capabilities change constantly and the Germans expected the Soviets to continue developing their long range bombing capability thereby increasing the risk that the Ploesti area will be bombed. By occupying the Crimea, Germany effectively removed this threat for the foreseeable future.

[Art]

I do not remember where I read the following (not quoting): Occupation of Crimea was considered important in order to remove the threat of aerial attack on the Ploesti oil fields.

In the Hitler's directive of 12 August 1941?
http://der-fuehrer.org/reden/english/wa ... s/34a.html

Distance from the Crimea to Ploesti is about 550 kilometers and in 1941, the Soviets did have a few aircraft capable of conducting bombing raids at this distance.

There was a quite a number of Soviet bombers with sufficient range which were mostly employed for unrelated tasks including strafing of German motorized columns. Anyway, the Soviet air force did launch aerial raids against Romania which was a motivation for Hitler's directives.

[Kelvin]

In accordance with Anders Wladyslaw old book Hitler defeat in Russia, he suggested no need to care Crimea, once German march on the Volga and Caucasuss, The Crimean Front would be cut off from the Soviet and will collapse. That mean what Manstein done in Operation Trappenjagd and Storfang were unnecesarry.

[Dann Falk]

I'm quoting from my new book "The 7th Guards Army from Kursk to Prague" (Not Released Yet) https://falkenbooks.com/

1 Nov 43...Hitler needed to be worried, as the Soviets were the first to bomb Ploiesti starting on 13 July 1941, losing four of six bombers, but this small force managed to destroy 9,000 tons of oil. During the following weeks, the VVS had continued to bomb Romanian oil targets including the port city of Constanta, which suffered more than 50 small raids. These nuisance raids only ended after German and Romanian forces captured most of the Crimea in mid-November 1941. The potential loss of the Crimea once again would put Ploiesti in danger from the East.

1 Feb 1944...Large numbers of Axis forces continued to be deployed to the Crimea for three main reasons:
• To control the north coast of the Black Sea and to disrupt Soviet operations on land, sea and air.
• To retain the powerful political influence the Crimea had upon the Axis Balkan states of Romania, Bulgaria, and even neutral Turkey.
• To keep the Red Army Air Force (VVS) out of range of the absolutely vital Romania oil fields and refineries in and around the city of Ploesti.

The oil fields were the most important reason Hitler felt Germany needed to control the Crimea at all costs.

[charwo]

This was an historic matter. The Goths had occupied the Crimea some 2,000 years before and Hitler wanted to assimilate all previously held German territory.

In WWII it was important to deprive the Allies of the use of the Crimea as an air base against the vital Ploiesti oil fields in Romania. The fall of Sebastopol also secured the western basin of the Black Sea.

So far as I am aware, it had no particular resource value to Germany.

Cheers,

Sid

Actually when I play this out in strat games like Civilization, my reason for taking Crimea is realtively simple: I want to turn the Black sea into a German lake, which means getting ALL the Red subs out of the Black Sea. Then I can reinforce by sea without having to worry about partisans, and though not simulated, wear and tear on trucks. It gives me the ability to dance around Soviet roadblocks and haul in heavy artillery as needed.

Because of the Turks closing off the Bosphorous to all wartime shipping, it's not the prize it could be if the whole Italnian Navy got in it, but an uncontested sea is an uncontested sea.