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Case Blue
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===Background=== On 22 June 1941, Germany launched [[Operation Barbarossa]] with the intention of defeating the Soviet Union in a [[Blitzkrieg|quick offensive]] which was expected to last only 3 months. The Axis offensive had met with initial success and the Red Army had suffered some major defeats before halting the Axis units just short of [[Battle of Moscow|Moscow]] (November/December 1941). Although the Germans had captured vast areas of land and important industrial centers, the Soviet Union remained in the war. In the winter of 1941β42, the Soviets struck back in a series of successful counteroffensives, pushing back the German threat to Moscow. Despite these setbacks, Hitler wanted complete destruction of Russia, for which he required the oil resources of the Caucasus.{{sfn|Antill|2007|pp=7β12}} By February 1942 the German Army High Command ([[OKH]]) had begun to develop plans for a follow-up campaign to the aborted Barbarossa offensive β with the [[Caucasus]] as its principal objective. On 5 April 1942, Hitler laid out the elements of the plan now known as "Case Blue" (''Fall Blau'') in ''[[FΓΌhrer Directive]]'' ''No. 41''. The directive outlined the main goals of the 1942 summer campaign on Germany's [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]]: holding attacks for [[Army Group Centre|Army Group (AG) Centre]], the capture of [[Leningrad]] and the link-up with [[Military history of Finland during World War II|Finland]] for [[Army Group North|AG North]], and the capture of the Caucasus region for Army Group South. The main focus was to be the capture of the Caucasus region.{{sfn|Glantz|1995|pp=108β110}}{{sfn|Wegner|1990|p=761}}
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