Operation Wotan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wotan may also designate a part of German East Wall defensive line or a code name for a German radar project.

Operation Wotan

Date	9 September-November, 1941
Location	the outskirts of Moscow, Soviet Union
Result	Temporary draw, subsequent Soviet victory

Belligerents

Germany

Soviet Union

Commanders

Heinz Guderian
Albert Kesselring
Ewald von Kleist
Erich Hoepner
Maximilian von Weichs

Andrei Yeremenko
Andrey Vlasov

v • d • e

Eastern Front

Barbarossa – Baltic Sea – Black Sea – Finland – Leningrad and Baltics – Crimea and Caucasus – Moscow – 1st Rzhev-Vyazma – 2nd Kharkov – Blue – Stalingrad – Velikiye Luki – 2nd Rzhev-Sychevka – Kursk – 2nd Smolensk – Dnieper – 2nd Kiev – Battle of Narva – Korsun – Hube's Pocket – Baltic – Bagration – Lvov-Sandomierz – Lublin-Brest – Balkans (Iassy-Kishinev) – Budapest – Vistula-Oder – East Prussia – East Pomerania – Silesia – Vienna – Berlin – Prague

Operation Wotan was a codename for the German tank operation with the goal of capturing Moscow during the World War II, developed mainly by Hitler.^[1] The name refers to Wotan, a Germanic god.

The operation was scheduled to be launched by Army Group South on September 9, 1941 and to last no more than eight weeks.^[1] The date was established on August, 29 in declaration addressed to the OKH. The start was slowed down by initial Soviet attacks of Semyon Budyonny and Semyon Timoshenko. However Guderian's tank units soon smashed the Soviet troops between Oryol and Kursk, forming a gap which was used by Kleist's 1st Panzer Group. It was decided to make the main strike towards the Dankov-Kasimov-Gorkiy direction, but it was changed by Kesselring. However the German troops experienced severe difficulties concerning the casualties and the subsequent frosts. An opportunity for Soviet counter-offensive occurred shortly after.