Intelligence failure basically describes a situation in which mistakes and misunderstandings results to enforcement of inappropriate measures by the government. The operation Barbarossa was a mission planned by Hitler to attack Russia in 1941.
However, the operation Barbarossa failed to realize its objectives which defeat of Germany in the 1941 war (Spencer, 2010, p. 1). The major factors that resulted to the failure were political, ethnic and military based. Hitler’s much blame for the failure lay on the German staff that was responsible for the escape of Lenin and his colleagues.
The powerful leaders and the German society as a whole had no trust on Hitler. They viewed him as an uneducated street man who lacked cultivation. One of the most possible causes for the intelligent failure is overestimation where the state over evaluated the missile gap between America and the Soviet Union. However, underestimation of warnings by political leaders may have contributed to the failure as well. Stain never paid much attention to warning made by the Americans and British (Murphy, 2007, p. 1).
The failure to trust foreign intelligence might have led to unpreparedness by Stalin’s government which resulted to its failure and defeat. Stalin has therefore been blamed for his believes and blind correspondence which led to inability to resolve the problem.
Hitler had expected that the war would last for not more than three months but to his surprise, the war became a long one and since his army troops were not prepared for a long war, he found himself in trouble as the Soviet Union did not collapse as he had expected. The operation simply had many goals and high expectations of securing Moscow, Ukraine and Leningrad within only twelve weeks (Ruzza, 2006, p. 1).
The plan for the operation was difficult to realize as it was planned for a short war as Germans expected that the war would be finished before Russia could organize its advanced troops and other resources.
However, Russia did get ready for the war immediately and due to the inadequate resources by the Germans, they had to lose the war to Russians. Hitler’s plan to invade Greece and Yugoslavia at the same time that he had planned on infesting Moscow did not seem to be a wise decision because it made him lack enough time to hit Moscow (Vale, 2009, p. 1).
The winter weather conditions in Russia were not favorable for war which was a big mistake by Hitler just as Napoleon had attacked Russia towards the end of year. The German troops were given twenty days after the first period of the war to relax and gather other supplies before going for the final episode.
This gave the Russians the chance to come together and strategize their tactics as well as increasing their very advanced resources which made them stronger to attack and defend their country (Kirchubel, 2008, p. 1). Basically, Hitler’s miscalculation led to the defeat of the Germans by the Russians. His ignorance could be associated with his lack of knowledge and education since he had not gone outside the country and he certainly could not estimate the capacity of Russia’s resources for war (Flemming, 2004, p. 1).
From this incidence, it is clear that miscalculation of defense capabilities of another country is a very serious matter. If German were to invade other country, it would be wise to first get hold of information on the country’s defense mechanisms so that it can prepare enough for the longest time possible.
Reference List
Flemming, P. (2004). Operation Barbarossa. Web.
Kirchubel, R. (2008). Operation Barbarossa 1941. Web.
Murphy, D. (2007). What Stain Knew: The Enigma of Barbarossa. Web.
Ruzza, M. (2006). The Failure of Operation Barbarossa. Web.
Spencer, H. (2010). The History and Lessons of Intelligence Failure. Web.
Vale, B. (2009). The Failure of Operation Barbarossa. Web.